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PIPE

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 634 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PIPE , a See also:

term used of a musical See also:wind-See also:instrument of tubular See also:form, and hence of any cylindrical hollow See also:tube. The See also:original application of the term is to the musical instrument (see PIPE AND See also:TABOR below), and the source is to be found in See also:Lat. pipare, to chirp, of a See also:bird. The See also:general meaning of " pipe," in the sense of a tube for such purposes as carrying See also:water, See also:gas, sewage, &c., is treated under TUBE. Among specific uses of the word are those for the hollow See also:stem of See also:clay, See also:wood or other material with a bowl at one end in which See also:tobacco is smoked (see below); for the See also:metal or wooden See also:sound tubes in an See also:organ (q.v.); and for various forms of cylindrical See also:veins, hollows, channels, &c., in See also:mining and See also:geology. The See also:Great See also:Roll of the See also:Exchequer was known as the "Pipe Roll "; this contained the various "pipes" or enrolled accounts of the sheriffs, &c., which were so called either from being sent in a cylindrical See also:case or as resembling a pipe in shape when rolled (see RECORDS). Tobacco Pipe.—The smoking of tobacco in pipes is a See also:custom which prevailed in See also:America for a See also:period of unknown duration previous to the See also:discovery of that See also:continent by See also:Columbus. The most See also:ancient pipes of which remains exist have been found in mounds or tumuli called pipe mounds, principally in See also:Ohio, See also:Indiana, See also:Illinois and See also:Iowa. These See also:mound pipes, which are carved in See also:porphyry and other hard stones, are very See also:uniform in type. The pipe, cut out of a single piece of See also:stone, consists of a slightly See also:convex See also:platform or See also:base, generally from 3 to 4 in. in length, and about an See also:inch broad, with the bowl on the centre. A See also:fine hole is pierced from one end of the platform to the bottom of the bowl, the opposite end being obviously for holding in the See also:hand while the pipe is being smoked. been displayed in See also:carving the See also:bowls into See also:miniature figures of birds,mammals,See also:reptiles and human heads, often See also:grotesque and fantastic, but always vigorously expressed (fig. 2).

These mound or platform pipes with carved human and See also:

animal forms are See also:objects of the highest ethnographic See also:interest and importance, being among the most characteristic remains of the ancient inhabitants of the See also:Mississippi valley. The wide See also:area over which they, as well as remains of baked clay pipes, are found throughout the See also:American continent testifies to the universal prevalence of smoking in the pre-Columbian era. Many of the ancient clay pipes found in See also:Mexico, &c., are elaborately moulded and ornamented, while others show considerable similarity to the See also:early clay pipes of See also:Europe. Among the See also:North-American See also:Indian tribes the tobacco pipe occupies a position of See also:peculiar symbolic significance in connexion with the superstitious See also:rites and usages of the See also:race. The See also:calumet, See also:peace pipe or See also:medicine pipe, is an See also:object of the most profound veneration, entrusted to the care of a highly honoured See also:official, and produced and smoked with much ceremony only on occasions of great importance and solemnity. It is remarkable that, whilst the most ancient American pipes had no See also:separate stem, it is the stem only of the medicine pipe which . is the object of veneration among the See also:Indians, the bowl used being a See also:matter of indifference. The favourite material for Indian pipe bowls is the famous red pipe stone (catlinite), a fine-grained easily-worked stone of a See also:rich red See also:colour of the Coteau See also:des Prairies, See also:west of the Big Stone See also:Lake in S. Dakota. The quarries were formerly neutral ground among the warring Indian tribes, many sacred traditions being associated with the locality and its product. It is disputed whether pipes for smoking were at all known in Europe previous to the discovery of America. That tobacco-smoking was unknown is certain; but pipes of See also:iron, See also:bronze and clay have been so frequently found associated with See also:Roman remains and other antiquities as to See also:lead many authorities to maintain that such pipes must have been anciently used for burning See also:incense or for smoking aromatic herbs or See also:hemp. Through-out Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland small clay pipes are frequently dug up, in some instances associated with Roman See also:relics.

These are known amongst the See also:

people as elfin, See also:fairy or See also:Celtic pipes, and in some districts supernatural agencies have been called in to See also:account for their existence. The elfin pipes have commonly See also:flat broad heels in See also:place of the See also:sharp See also:spur now found on clay pipes, and on that fiat space the See also:mark or See also:initials of the maker is occasionally found. There is no See also:reason to believe that these pipes are older than the 17th See also:century. The introduction of the tobacco pipe into Europe is generally ascribed to See also:Ralph See also:Lane, first See also:governor of See also:Virginia, who in 1586 brought an Indian pipe to See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Raleigh, and taught that courtier how to use the See also:implement. The pipe-makers of See also:London became an incorporated See also:body in 1619, and from See also:England the other nations of Europe learned the See also:art of making clay pipes. The See also:habit of smoking with pipes spread with incredible rapidity; and among the various peoples the pipe assumed See also:special characteristics, and its modifications became the See also:medium of conveying social, See also:political and See also:personal allusions, in many cases with no little See also:artistic skill and See also:humour. The pipe also became the object of much inventive ingenuity, and it varied as greatly in material as in form—wood, See also:horn, See also:bone, See also:ivory, stone, See also:precious and other metals, See also:amber, See also:glass, See also:porcelain and, above all, clay being the materials employed in various forms. By degrees pipes of special form and material came to be associated with particular people, e.g. the elongated painted porcelain bowls and pendulous stem of the See also:German peasantry, the red clay bowl and See also:long See also:cherry wood stem of the Turk, and the very small metallic bowl and See also:cane stem of the See also:Japanese, &c. Among other kinds of pipe which have been popular at various times are the " See also:corn-See also:cob," where the bowl is made of the cob of See also:maize or Indian corn, and the " See also:calabash " with the bowl of a small See also:gourd. The " See also:churchwarden " is a clay pipe with a slender stem, some 16 or 20 in. long. The most luxurious and elaborate form of pipe is the See also:Persian kalyien, See also:hookah or water tobacco pipe. This consists of three pieces, the See also:head or bowl, the water See also:bottle or base, and the snake or long flexible tube ending in the See also:mouthpiece.

The tobacco, which must be previously prepared by steeping in water, is placed in the head and lighted with live See also:

charcoal, a wooden stem passes from its bottom down into the water which fills the base, and the tube is fitted to a stem which ends in the bottle above the water. Thus the See also:smoke is cooled and washed before it reaches the smoker by passing through the water in the bottle, and by being See also:drawn through the coil of tube frequently some yards in length. The bottles are in many cases made of carved and otherwise ornamented coco-See also:nut shells, whence the apparatus is called nergila, from ndrgil, a coconut. See also:Silver, See also:gold, damascened See also:steel and precious stones are freely used in the making and decoration of these pipes for wealthy smokers. Pipe Manufacture.—The See also:regular pipe-making See also:industries See also:divide into many branches, of which the more important are the clay pipe, See also:meerschaum (real and artificial), and wooden bowl trades. Clay pipes are made in prodigious See also:numbers by hand labour with an iron See also:mould and a steel See also:wire for forming the tube of the stem. Pipe-moulding is a very See also:simple operation in pottery, and the See also:work is performed with astonishing celerity. A number of See also:machines have been devised for automatic pipe-moulding; but the See also:manual operations are so rapid and inexpensive that there is little margin for saving by the substitution of machinery. The pipes are very slightly fired so as to keep them soft and porous; and so cheaply made are they that the commoner kinds can be retailed at a profit for a See also:farthing each. The See also:principal early centres of the clay-pipe See also:industry were at See also:Broseley in See also:Staffordshire, where the See also:trade has been established since the early See also:part of the 17th century, and at See also:Amesbury in See also:Wiltshire. The manufacture is still carried on at Broseley. Meerschaum pipes (see MEERSCHAUM) are the luxury of the See also:European smoker.

The favourite wooden pipe generally known as a briar-wood or briar-See also:

root pipe is really made from the roots of the See also:tree See also:heath, Erica arborea (Fr. bruyere), principally obtained on the hills of the See also:Maremma and taken thence to See also:Leghorn. There the roots are shaped into blocks each suitable for a pipe, the cutting of the wood so as to avoid See also:waste requiring considerable skill. These blocks are simmered in a vat for twelve See also:hours, which gives them the much-appreciated yellowish-See also:brown See also:hue of a See also:good " briar-root." Se prepared the blocks are exported for See also:boring and See also:finishing. Many devices have been invented for the purpose of preventing the See also:nicotine liquor from reaching the smoker's mouth or See also:collecting in and fouling the pipe.

End of Article: PIPE

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PIOZZI, HESTER LYNCH (1741-1821)
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PIPE AND TABOR (Fr. galoubet; Ger. Schwegel or Stam...