Corm

“ TRITONIA.—This genus contains a handsome group of plants with fibrous-coated corms, like those of a Gladiolus, but much smaller. The plants formerly known as Montbretia are now also included in this genus, but the corms in some cases (e.g., M. crocosmiæflora) have slender creeping rhizomes, from which [Pg 129] new corms are developed by the end of the season. ”

“ Curious to see a cormorant in a forest, isn't it?"
"It is a bad sign," said Lys. "You know the Morbihan proverb: 'When the cormorant turns from the sea, Death laughs in the forest, and wise woodsmen build boats.'"
"I wish," said I sincerely, "that there were fewer proverbs in Brittany."
We were in sight of the forest now; across the gorse I could see the sparkle of gendarmes' trappings, and the glitter of Le Bihan's silver-buttoned jacket. The hedge was low and we took it without difficulty, and trotted across the moor to where Le Bihan and Durand stood gesticulating. ”

“ Earlier than crocus, as early as snowdrops, comes the winter aconite—Eranthis hyemalis. It is grown in quantity in Holland, but as the corms are so very small, not more than half an inch in diameter, one does not see large stretches. It is said that as many as a thousand good corms can be raised on two square metres of land, so naturally it is sold cheap. We prize it as one of the earliest flowers of the year, and because it is hardy, and will, if left to itself, grow anywhere, even under deciduous shrubs. ”

“ They have fibrous-coated corms, stiffish, ribbed, sword-like leaves, and more or less funnel-shaped flowers. They are indigenous to South Africa, and may be grown in the open air under much the same conditions as Ixias, viz., warm, sheltered spots, and in light sandy soil. In the mildest parts of the kingdom the corms may be left in the ground during the winter, if necessary, but they should be protected in severe weather with litter, &c. In less favoured spots, it is safer to lift the corms in autumn when the leaves have withered, and store them in dry soil or sand until the spring. ”

“ It was the very scene to appeal to the hearts of the people. Cormac was recognised, in spite of his shrouding cloak. Cry after cry to his honour rang through the room. Weapons flashed, and clashed aloft.
“The Black Horse!” they cried, “Cormac of Fail! Cormac and Ethne! Children of Tuathal! Twigs from the tree of Tara! All hail! All hail!” ”

“ Once more the sonorous horn of old Cormac was heard winding, now high, now low, in a long, wild strain, and then ending in three sharp blasts, like the stirring notes of a bugle sounding to the charge. Every archeress now had her brace buckled on her arm, and her shooting-glove buttoned about her wrist; every one had two good arrows in the pouch at her belt, and a third on the string; and each fair girl, attended by her esquire, hastened to the stand by the southernmost target at the sound of the forester's horn—save, in each instance, Kate Bellamont! ”

“ On the hills beyond—sinister background for the reckless warriors—burnt black on ling and heather was the conquering symbol, the [Pg 165] Black Horse. To Cormac’s ears came in uncouth, primitive verse a weird refrain, sung continuously in his honour, a battle song that had been in his family for unknown generations, descended from that dim past whence sprang the origin of his forefathers’ totem, the Horse. ”

“ Some of the animals had been freshly driven in from the plains and wastes—roped with difficulty, and throwing one after another of their nimble riders. In the ranks about Cormac many startled, riderless creatures strove towards him, as though seeking his protection—this sight appealed to his followers, who renewed their cries of “The Horse—the Black Horse!”
[Pg 110]
The sight alone of those beautiful creatures, with their scarlet nostrils and flowing manes, was enough to quicken a young man’s blood. ”

“ Argent a cormorant, in the beak a branch of seaweed all proper, and for crest, on a wreath of the colours, a cormorant, the wings elevated, in the beak a branch of Laver proper. It is more than probable that the bird on the arms suggested the name “Liver” being applied to it. The fiction naturally arose from the desire to find a derivation for the name of the town. It is, however, always depicted as a cormorant. On the shield the bird is always depicted with the wings close, and on the crest the wings are elevated.
[Pg 190]
An Heraldic Tigre passant. ”

“ The cortex or outer bark serves to protect the stem of the tree from extremes of heat and cold, from atmospheric changes, and from the browsing of animals. It is made up of a tough water-proof layer of cork which has taken the place of the tender skin or "epidermis" of the twig. Because it is water-proof the outside tissue is cut off from the water supply of the tree, and so dries up and peels off, a mass of dead matter. The cork and the dead stuff together are called the bark. ”

“ Bobbing up and down with every ripple, a semicircle of cork-floats tells us the position of the net; the busy crew haul upon the lines, and every minute the dancing curve lessens in diameter. Women have come upon the scene, and creels are countless. Flash! A single white belly glistens in the moonlight; the corks come closer and closer; fish after fish shows his glittering sides above the water, and in a minute more the red pebbles gleam with their living load; thousands upon thousands of jumping and writhing mackarel are lying on the bank, while men and women rush, creel in hand, upon them. ”

“ Take a cork that exactly fits into the bowl of the other pipe, cut a hole through it large enough to insert the mouth-piece already broken off, and draw this through the opening till its larger end is even with the surface of the cork. Insert the cork in the bowl, and fill the end of the stem which touches the flame with a tiny ball of clay or chalk. Through this clay make a hole with a needle, and a blowpipe is the result, which answers very well for any experiment a boy may be likely to try. ”

“ Never since the world began had man or beast fallen into that bog and come out again alive. But this giant had saved his horse and himself. Plainly a giant endued with the mastery of the elements, lord of earth and water and air and fire, a magician to be worshipped like the storm-cloud. Fearing doom for himself and all the little people, came Corb. ”

“ CORK is the external bark of a species of oak (Quercus suber) which grows in Spain, Portugal, and other southern parts of Europe, and is distinguished by the fungous texture of its bark; and by its leaves being evergreen, oblong, somewhat oval, downy underneath, and waved. The principal supply of the cork that is consumed in Europe, is obtained from Catalonia in Spain; and the culture and the preparation of it yield to the inhabitants of that province near 250,000l. per annum. ”

“ It appears that the word “cork” [21] in botany signifies a growth peculiar to all plants and pertaining to none in particular, being described as “a peculiar tissue in the higher plants forming the division of the bark (which name is sometimes restricted to the dead tissues lying outside the cork) ; consisting of closely packed air-cells nearly impervious to air and water and protects the underlying tissues.” ”

“ The greatest care is used to avoid injuring the inner bark. These slabs of bark are heated and slightly scorched; this causes them to flatten, closes up the pores, and gives toughness to the whole material. What should we do without cork for jackets, cork legs and arms, cork apparatus in lifeboats, and other appliances for saving people from drowning? Our cork tree with its marvellous bark is by no means the least valuable specimen in our wonder grove. ”

“ I further take the precaution of compressing, and, as it were, biting the cork, three-fourths of its length, by means of the instrument already described (fig. 3) , beginning at the small end. The cork is rendered more supple; the pores of the cork are brought closer; it is somewhat lengthened, and its thickness is so much diminished at the extremity which is put into the mouth of the bottle, that a large cork may be made [22] to enter a very moderate opening. The action of the heat within the vessel is such, that the cork swells within, and the corking is thus rendered perfect. ”

“ But the natural cork which they furnish, and which is called male or virgin cork, has, whatever its thickness, but slight commercial value; and it is not employed industrially till it has been improved by cultivation. An article of cork, a bottle-cork, for example, is therefore doubly an industrial product: first, as a substance, the qualities of which have been brought out by perfected processes of cultivation and harvesting; and, secondly, as an article that has been manufactured, either by the hand of man or by a machine. ”

“ The horn-pout bobs your floating cork usually twice or three times, a very different bob from either that of the sunfish or the yellow perch. It is a steady, solid down pull each time, taking the cork half under water. Then he takes hold in earnest, and the float goes steadily down and out, as if this were a matter of no child’s play, but meaning something that is solid and substantial on the other end of the line. Oftentimes [Pg 103] this is true indeed, for the black-coated one may weigh a pound or two and double your birch rod into a good half-circle before he lets go his grip on the water. ”

“ The intense blue of the sky had altered since noon; the west became gradually duller and the air stiller; and now, over the Gayfield hills, a tall cloud thrust up silvery-edged convolutions toward a zenith still royally and magnificently blue.
She had been sitting there watching her swimming cork for over an hour when the first light western breeze arrived, spreading a dainty ripple across the pond. Her cork danced, drifted; beneath it she caught the momentary glimmer of the minnow; then the cork was jerked under; she clasped the pole with all her strength, struck upward ”

“ Just what the cork does for the bottle, the sheets of cork wrapping round the branches do for the plant. They prevent it from being dried up by cold winds, and they keep out the heavy rains of winter which would injure it. Roots have a cork coating also when they get old. As you may remember, it is only the tip of the root which can absorb water for the plant, so that in the young part of the root a cork layer would be very much out of place, and you will never find it there. ”

“ Finally, cork parings and waste, properly carbonized, produce Spanish or cork black, one of the most beautiful and durable blacks known in painting.”
The recent uses for corkwood are, as a float in the carburetter of an automobile, the cork insert in the periphery of a pulley, [33] cork paper for cigarette tips, a wadding for shot-gun cartridges, cork-coated fabric for balloons, as a filling for automobile tires, as a disk in the non-refillable bottle, for the making of casks and barrels in which to store wine, and the ground cork wood for shipping fruit, etc. in, to prevent spoiling. ”

“ You know that the cork does not fly out till the rod is pushed a considerable way down into the tube or barrel of the gun, and then it flies out all at once with a popping noise. What makes it fly out? It is not the rod alone, for it does not touch the cork. It is the air that is between the rod and the cork that gives it the push that makes it fly out, and it gives so quick a push as to make the pop. ”

“ The inner bark, moreover, if left untouched, will form yearly new layers of cork which may ultimately, when they have become thick enough, be removed in their turn, and furnish the cork of commerce, also called female cork. ”

“ Unfortunately, the herds in foraging for food destroy the young trees and thus do serious and permanent injury by preventing new growth.
The “corkwood,” or cork of commerce, is the outer bark of the cork oak. When it has attained a diameter of approximately five inches, or, to be more exact, measures forty centimeters in circumference according to the Spanish governmental regulations, which the tree does usually by the time it is twenty years old, the virgin cork, as the first stripping of bark is called, is removed. ”

“ The development of the layers of cork which now surround the thickening axis-cylinder go on forming year after year, as the cambium forms more xylem and phloëm and so thickens the root; were this not the case, the layer of cork would soon be ruptured as the root increases in diameter. Such rupture, in fact, does occur, but the cork-forming tissue in the pericycle goes on growing and acts as a cork-cambium, and repeatedly develops more cork to make good the layers which are being split and worn off in the soil. ”

“ The cork goes dancing down the swift rushing stream, amid the weeds and sands, when suddenly, by a coincidence never to be remembered, emerges this fabulous inhabitant of another element, a thing heard of but not seen, as if it were the instant creation of an eddy, a true product of the running stream. ”

“ Is it not the very place for a richly carved surs (corbel) ?”
“Ay, that is it, that is it! A corbel which should spring from the pillar, and follow the line of the arch. We must reflect on this, Master Gervase, and they shall be of finest cutting, and each varying from the other. But we may not think of this yet awhile, for truly there is enough on hand to call for all thy skill and industry. How fair it looks, with the winter sunshine striking on the fair stonework! ”

“ As years go on, and this layer in its turn splits and peels, others are formed further inward, and if it is remembered that a layer of cork is particularly impervious to water and air, it is easy to understand that each successive sheet of cork cuts off all the tissues on its exterior from participation in the life processes of the plant: consequently we have a gradually increasing bark proper, formed of the accumulated cork layers and other dead tissues. ”

“ The inner cannot be removed without destroying the life of the tree.
Virgin cork is not of much value; it is employed only for nets, and has no elasticity.
Only after the third harvest is the cork in perfect condition. The tree is then about forty years old. It is first skinned (démasclée) when the tree is aged twenty or five-and-twenty. The second peeling takes place when it is aged thirty or five-and-thirty. The third and best is collected when the tree is between forty and forty-five years old. ”