Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd].

Date:
[1851]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    988/1000
    1803 YAEN. YTTEIUM. 1304 Y YARN is tlie general name given to the threads which are woven into the various kinds of textile fabrics, whether, cotton, silk, flax, hemp, wool, or worsted; the terms twist, mule-wcj'l, organzine, tram, ahh, line, &c., being particular names applied to pai'ticular sorts. [Cotton Spinning; Fi.ax Manufacture; Silk Manufactuee ; Spinning ; Woollen AND Woested Manufactuees.] The exportation of yam has nbif become very lai'ge,the perfection of English spiiiiiibg- machines enabling foreign weavers to buy ready-spun yam cheaper, in many cases, than they can spin it themselves. The quantities exported and the estimated values, iii 1848, were as foUows:— Cotton Yarn . .133,831,162 lbs. 5,927,831/. LiiienYarn .. 11,722,182 493,449 Woollen Yai-n . 8,429,152 770,975 155,982,496 lbs. 7,198,255/. YEAST, BAEM, or FEEMENT, is a sub- stance which is- deposited in an ilisOliible state dm-ing the fermentation Of win6j beer, and vegetable juices. This substdnce, as is well known, is employed to produce fermen- tation in sacchai-ine solutions. [Beead ; Eeewing; Eeementation.] Y^W. The timber of the yew tree is applied to many useful purposes. In the days of ai-chery, yew was almost exclusively em- ployed for making bows; but vaiious orna- mental woods from South America are now substituted for it in this respect. Yeiv-tree wood is extensively used in cabinet making, as being hard, compact, and of a very fine close grain. It is also much used by turners for making snuff-boxes, musical instruments, &c. YOEKSHIEE. This county is rich in minerals. The lower red sandstone, or Ponte- fract Eock, near Pontefract, is usually a mass of yellowish sands, of the greatest excellence for the use of the metal-founder in the con- struction of his moulds. From beneath the magnesian deposits rise the sandstones, shales, ironstones, and coal of the West Eiding of Yorksliire, and fill an enonnous area in the valleys of the Aire, Calder, Went, Dearn, Dove, and Don. The whole of this large area (not less than 600 squaie miles) yields coal. The whole series of strata is about 4000 feet thick; and of the coal which lies in this series there are about 20 workable beds, yielding about 40 feet of coal, generally of good quality. Ironstones of excellent quality accompany the lower parts of this coal de- posit. The seam of coal are worked in the west of Yorkshire as thin as 18 inches (near HaUfax and Penistoiie), and one as thick as 8, 9,- or 10 feet (Bamsley), but the average is from 3 to 6 feet. The most characteristic rock in the millstone grit of the West Eiding is the qtiartzose conglomerate, used in making millstones. Yorkshire is exceUeritly supplied with canals and railways, in aid of its manufactures and commerce. The manufactm-es of the county are of great importance. The manufactm-e of woollen cloths, at Leeds, Bradford, Haht'ax, Wakefield, and Huddersfield, has been brought to such a degree of perfection as to compete with the woollens of the West of England, while it far exceeds them in quantity. The iron-works are very extensive. ShefiBeld is the great seat of the manufacture of cutleiy of aU kinds, as well as of tools and plated goods. Linens are extensively manufactui-ed at Bai-nsley, blanketing at Dewsbmy, and glass and iron at Eotherham. HuU, mitby, and Goole, ai-e the chief ports. Under the names of the principal towns of the West Eiding, a few details will be found illustrative of the manufactming industry of the county. YTTEIUM, a pecuhar metal discovered by Gadolin in 1794, in the state of oxide, which is named Yitria. It presents the aspect of small briUiant scales, having a perfect metallic lustre. After being washed and diied, it is a briUiant blackish gray powder, composed of small metallic scales. It does not oxidise either by the action of air or water, at common temperatures; but when heated to redness in the au-, it takes fire, burns with much splen- dour, and is converted into ji-tria. Yttrium has not yet been appUed to many useful purposes.