Index to Volume Seven - The People - Dock Family Trees - Glossary . . .

Borax - A white compound which occurs as a mineral in some alkaline salt deposits and is used in making glass and ceramics, as a metallurgical flux, and as an antiseptic. [400] - Besides being a treatment for thrush in horses hooves it was used as a fire retardant, a flux used by blacksmith's during forge welding and a preservative in taxidermy, etc., etc..

Brimstone - Sulphur [400] - Sulphur deposits in Sicily were the dominant source for more than a century. By the late 18th century, about 2,000 tons per year of sulphur were imported into Marseilles, France for the production of sulphuric-acid by the Leblanc process. In industrialising Britain, with the repeal of tariffs on salt in 1824, demand for sulphur from Sicily surged upward. The increasing British control and exploitation of the mining, refining, and transportation of the sulfur, coupled with the failure of this lucrative export to transform Sicily's backward and impoverished economy, led to the 'Sulfur Crisis' of 1840, when King Ferdinand II gave a monopoly of the sulfur industry to a French firm, violating an earlier 1816 trade agreement with Britain. A peaceful solution was eventually negotiated by France. [043]

Cogwood or Greenheart - Chlorocardium rodiei, commonly known as Cogwood or Greenheart.   A South American evergreen tree of the laurel family, yielding hard greenish timber which is used for marine work because of its resistance to marine borers. [400] It was used at Penarth Dock for the timbers of the gridiron - see page 02_03_01.html onwards.

Creosote - A dark brown oil containing various phenols and other organic compounds, distilled from coal tar and used as a wood preservative. [400] A very common use of creosote was as a preservative for softwood railway sleepers. By the 1880's creosote was impregnated under pressure into wood and a number of plants were set up by the railway companies to assure their supply of sleepers.

Sago - Edible starch which is obtained from a palm and is a staple food in parts of the tropics. The pith inside the trunk is scraped out, washed, and dried to produce a flour or processed to produce the granular sago used in the West. - A sweet dish made from sago and milk. [400]

Roundwood - Timber which is left as small logs, not sawn into planks or chopped for fuel, typically taken from near the tops of trees and used for furniture. [400]

Sac - definition required - help please!