Bear grease

“ The form of the common Indian bamboo grease box is shown at p. 359, illustration No. 3. A good-sized ox-horn makes a convenient grease box. A mixture of Stockholm tar, 6lb., and fat, 1lb., makes a good grease. If a little common plumbago can be got to put into it, so much the better. In countries where native vegetable oils are abundant, they may be used, instead of the fat, to mix with the tar. Bear in mind that keeping the wheels well greased is a duty of no common importance. ”

“ With grease upon their faces, filling their long black hair, shining upon their hands, and smeared upon their bodies, they are as disgusting a race as can be found upon the globe; and after a brief survey of their huts and habits, men of a cleanly nature never desire to see them more. Their limbs bear about as great a proportion to their bodies as the stem of a pipe to the bowl ”

“ We wanted, however, candles to study by, and thought we could obtain grease enough from poor bruin to serve this purpose.
So we cut the body up, hair and all,–for his hide absolutely stuck to his bones,–and that night cleared out one of the kettles, and commenced trying out our bear's grease.
The contents of the kettle sizzled there all the evening, giving off anything but an agreeable odor. We were translating the fable of "The Mouse and the Peasant" that night, and nihil Mehurcule is still mixed up in my mind with the odor of that old bear. ”

“ The fat or grease (BEAR’S GREASE; AD′EPS UR′SI, L.) of all the common species has long been highly esteemed for promoting the growth of the human hair; but apparently without sufficient reason. The mass of that sold under the name in England is simply hog’s lard or veal fat, or a mixture of them, variously scented and slightly coloured. The quantity annually consumed in Great Britain, and exported, is estimated at many tons; being a larger quantity than all the bears at present procurable in Europe would supply, if slaughtered and stripped of their fat. ”

“ A vast number of bear-skins are annually exported to France from Canada. The Indians prepare an oil from bear’s grease, with which in summer they daub their face, hands, and all naked parts of their body, to secure them from the bite of the gnats. With this oil they likewise frequently smear the body, when they are excessively cold, tired with labour, hurt, and in other cases. They believe it softens the skin, and makes the body pliant, and is very serviceable to old age. ”

“ Before hibernating the adults grow very fat, and it is by the gradual consumption of this fat—known in commerce as bear’s grease—that such vital action as is necessary to the continuance of life is sustained.
The bear family is widely distributed, being found in every quarter of the globe except Australia, and in all climates, from the highest northern latitudes yet reached by man to the warm regions of India and Malaya. In the north-west corner of Africa the single representative of the family found on that continent occurs. ”

“ It is not a contagious disease, as some have asserted although when it once appears in a stable, it frequently attacks almost every horse in it.—Bad stable management is the true cause of it. The first appearance of grease is usually a dry and scurfy state of the skin of the heel, with redness, heat and itching. The heel should be well but gently washed with soap and water, and as much of the scurf detached as is easily removed. If the cracks are deep, with an ichorous discharge and considerable lameness, it will be necessary to poultice. ”

“ For, they say, if the bears, beaver, and other wild animals which we capture in hunting should know that their bones were given to dogs and broken to pieces, they would not suffer themselves to be taken so easily. They wipe off upon their hair the grease which is collected from fatty foods; sometimes they smear their cheeks or arms for the sake, as they say, of elegance and health; for they think that not only is the skin made resplendent with grease, but that the limbs are thus strengthened. ”

“ When the heels are imbedded in filth, they are weakened by the constant moisture surrounding them. The absurd practice of washing the feet and legs of horses when they come from their work, and either carelessly sponging them down afterwards, or leaving them to dry as they may, is, however, the most common origin of grease. ”

“ Most of the causes of grease are referable to bad management, especially in regard to great and sudden changes in the exterior temperature of the heels. The feet of the horse may be alternately heated by the bedding and cooled by draft from the open stable door ”

“ The excellent virtue which the fat of Bears possesses, has been experienced by thousands of both sexes, and of all Ages, in this Metropolis. To those who have used the real Bears' Grease, it is evident no Grease whatever beside, retains its moisture so long upon the head, it being the only thing possible to make the Hair grow thick and long, recover it after illness, prevent it falling off, or turning grey, during life: being the most efficacious remedy for making the Hair grow on Horses' knees when broken or chafed. ”

“ When the horse is carefully tended after his work is over, and his legs quickly and completely dried, the less hair he has about them the better, for then both the skin and the hair can be made perfectly dry before evaporation begins, or proceeds so far as to deprive the legs of their heat. Grease is the child of negligence and mismanagement. ”

“ Drum stuffing is not only quicker than hand stuffing, but also makes it possible to use the hard fats, and so make a leather which carries more grease without appearing greasy. Thus in drum stuffing, paraffin wax and wool fat are used, and their penetration assisted by small proportions of cod oil or dégras. If the leather be too wet the grease is not absorbed, whilst if it be drier than usual the leather will take more grease, but the resulting colour is not so good. ”

“ The hide having been still kept damp and soft by being covered with cattle dung, or moist clay, is next taken in hand by half a dozen or more natives, who, sitting around it and grasping each their handful of the edge, compress and rub it in every possible direction, ever and anon driving all their hands together towards the centre, and then simultaneously falling back, stretching the skin to the utmost. Grease has to be applied occasionally, and the skin, when put away for the night, must be carefully rolled up and kept under moist earth till morning. ”

“ A mother will tell her daughter that it is a shame for a woman to have upper front teeth. She should be like the cow.
They are all very fond of grease for their bodies, either animal fat or butter; and in this hot, dry climate this is not so objectionable, if they use it in moderation, by simply oiling the body to prevent the skin from cracking. Many of the women, however, use the grease to excess. They grind red ochre and, mixing it with the grease, paint their bodies, including their hair, red, which is their idea of beauty. ”

“ You cannot cure grease with preservatives. You may fill a fat duck skin half full of arsenic, and yet the oil will ooze out through the skin on the other side, turning the feathers a dirty yellow color. The dermestes can eat every feather, and also the skin itself, from the outside, with [65] out getting a morsel of the arsenic. The fat simply acts as an impervious wall between the poison and the skin. Clean a duck skin thoroughly or else throw it away. ”

“ After the skin is off the body, and before you turn it right side out, scrape the inside to get the oil off, absorb it with your absorbent material, and scrape it again and again until the grease is practically all off, and you have only the skin remaining. This takes work. There is no royal road to making good duck skins. If you think you can get along all right by overwhelming the grease on the skin with arsenic and alum, and venture to leave it half cleaned, you will pay the penalty later, and it will serve you right. ”

“ At a London eating-house things are often not very nice, but your meat is put on a plate and comes before you in an edible shape. At these hotels it is brought to you in horrid little oval dishes, and swims in grease. Gravy is not an institution at American hotels, but grease has taken its place. It is palpable, undisguised grease, floating in rivers,—not grease caused by accidental bad cookery, but grease on purpose. A beef-steak is not a beef-steak unless a quarter of a pound of butter be added to it. ”

“ There is nothing that starts dry grease as quickly as a little well-directed steam; but steam is a powerful shrinking agency, and it must be used with judgment.
Usually an old skin is so dirty that it requires to be "plastered" all over. If you have no steam, attack the greasy portions first with warm water (but no soap) , to warm up the grease and soften it. Time and patience are both necessary. Next, wipe off the water, and with a wad of cotton cloth, tow, or cotton batting, dip from your dish of turpentine, and apply it as a wash upon the feathers, always rubbing with the grain, of course. ”

“ Brown grease is a product of a lower grade than white grease and is made usually by rendering the whole animal. It is one of the by-products in the manufacture of tankage from condemned animal carcasses, the tankage being used as fertilizer. Both white and brown grease are used chiefly in the manufacture of low grade lard oil and in the making of soap. ”

“ To remove grease from stone steps or passages, pour strong soda and water boiling hot over the spot, lay on a little fullers’ earth made into a thin paste with boiling water, let remain all night, and if the grease be not removed, repeat the process. Grease may sometimes be taken out by rubbing the spot with a hard stone—not hearth-stone—using sand and very hot water, with soap and soda. ”

“ As it is found on the sheep, the wool is soiled by the sweat of the animal and by dust, which together form a layer of dirt called natural grease. An energetic washing is necessary to remove these impurities. The best way is to wash the sheep itself before shearing. The flock is driven to the edge of a stream, not so cold as to endanger the health of the animals, and there each sheep is seized in turn by men who plunge it into the water and rub and squeeze the fleece with their hands until the grease has disappeared and the water runs clear from the tufts of wool. ”

“ From a dungeon lamp up to a candle, you have always grease burning in the air at the end of the threads of a wick. It does not burn equally well everywhere, and does not always give the same amount of light; but that is all the difference. From the mammal to the fish, it is always hydrogen and carbon (as we have said of the grease) which oxygen sets on fire in the human body at the fine-drawn extremities of the blood-vessels; only the fire is lower in some than others, and the life with it. Let us now look at the circulation of water in the fish's body. ”

“ The careful wife of an industrious Hampshire labourer obtains all her fat for nothing; for she saves the scummings of her bacon-pot for this use; and, if the grease abounds with salt, she causes the salt to precipitate to the bottom, by setting the scummings in a warm oven. Where hogs are not much in use, and especially by the seaside, the coarser animal-oils will come very cheap. A pound of common grease may be procured for fourpence, and about six pounds of grease will dip a pound of rushes, and one pound of rushes may be bought for one shilling ”

“ The question may be asked, and has been asked, Why use the intervention of grease in the process of extraction? Why not apply alcohol or some substance of similar powers directly? Chemists have offered ether, sulphide of carbon, chloride of methyl, chloroform, and other scientifically prepared solvents, to have them rejected, and have blamed the manufacturers of Grasse for adhering to barbarous processes, and for their inability to escape their antiquated routine. A more scientific spirit would lead them to inquire if there were not some reason for preferring grease. ”

“ The {732} old-fashioned lotion of train oil and black sulphur serves well enough, but for stabled animals something is wanted which will effectually destroy the parasites in harness and saddlery without injury to those expensive materials. The creosote emulsions and coal-tar derivatives generally are fatal to the sarcopts if brought into actual contact, but a harness pad with ridges of accumulated grease is a sufficient retreat for a few pregnant females during a perfunctory disinfection, and but a few days will be needed to reproduce a new and vigorous stock. ”

“ Bright, fresh, wholesome food and pure water easily replace bad food and water to the permanent good of the stock. Cattle ticks quickly disappear when the grease brush is applied. And so in every direction you take to fight the disease: find the [96] cause and then remove it, and half the battle is fought.
If disease-producing germs cannot be killed at the moment, it is still possible to diminish their number or to modify their virulence. Thus to open an abscess is to remove the pus-producing bacteria, and hence to hasten recovery. ”

“ Varnishing the common entomological pins with a hard and nearly colourless varnish has been tried with good effect, though it is a trial of patience to do this to pins one by one. Really the only thing to stop grease appearing in the bodies of moths, to the subsequent breaking of your pins and soiling of your cabinet paper or velvet, is to open all the insects underneath, take out all their internal organs, carefully paint the inside with a little of the corrosive sublimate preparation (see Chapter IV) , and fill up the void with cotton wool. ”