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Ant_222 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Can't understand a sentence, help...

0 Hello all!02br
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00Hereunder is a sentence the structure whereof is obscure and incomprehencible to me:02br
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00The whole paragraph:02br
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00«If a glass be cracked, then wet a linen cloth in the white of an egg beaten to water, and lay upon it, an upon that presently while it is wet, sift some unslaked lime and press it close with your hand. When that is dry, lay on another cloth thus wet as before and on it sift more lime.»02br
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00The strangest fragment is the following: «... an upon that presently while it is wet...»02br
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00Any help in translating it will be appreciated. 0-
  

Top answer

0 Where did you get that?!! Great! I'm not a poet but 01i 00an02i 00 is a mistake and should be 01i 00and.

— Cool Breeze

  • 0 Where did you get that?!!
  • Great!
  • I'm not a poet but 01i 00an02i 00 is a mistake and should be 01i 00and.
  • 02i 00That part (in more comprehensible English) would be: 01i 00and after that soon while it is still wet.
  • Upon02i 00 or 01i 00on02i 00 often means 'soon/immediately after'.
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6 Answers
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0 Where did you get that?!! Great! I'm not a poet but 01i00an02i00 is a mistake and should be 01i00and. 02i00That part (in more comprehensible English) would be: 01i00and after that soon while it is still wet. Upon02i00 or 01i00on02i00 often means 'soon/immediately after'. Perhaps Nona the Brit or somebo
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0 Oh, thanks!02br
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00I am aware of that meaning of "upon" (and "on") but I in no way could suggest "an" should be "and"... So I was getting "upon" as being a noun and thus having troubles.02br
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00That's an old (al)chemical text, "The Art of Distillation" by John French. 0-
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0This sounds like 17th or 18th century instructions to repair a mirror.02br
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00Roughly: If the mirror is cracked, take a piece of linen and soak it in a mixture of water and beaten egg white until it is wet. Then place the cloth on the mirror [on the back, I presume]. Whilst the cloth is still wet, sift [with a sieve to remove lumps] some unslaked lime [this is a kind
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0 Cool Breeze: Sorry, I replied to you as Anonymous, so it'll appear a bit later. I don't want to double the post.02br
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00Lil' Ruby Rose:02br
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00Thank you, but I understood everything after Cool Breeze's reply. The only problem was with the "an(d) upon" part. I quoted the whole paragraph to make the sentence in question easier to understand.02br
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0 Ah! I see. I knew it couldn't be a drinking vessel, and judging by the language, it was a time when 'a glass' was used for a mirror. I would never have guessed it was a distillation vessel - like an alembic or something, then? What's the date of the source, just for curiosity's sake? 0-
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*71*0 01p

00Lil' Ruby Rose: 1651. Being not an alembic in modern sense, the device is like that.02p

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