isinglass

Noun

1. A form of gelatine obtained from the air bladder of the sturgeon and certain other fish, used as an adhesive and as a clarifying agent for wine and beer.
   • Isinglass flummery.—Put six ounces of isinglass into a quart of new milk, sweeten it, set it over the fire, and keep it stirring one way all the time, till it is jellied; pour it into basins, and when cold turn it out;...
   • Isinglass is a substance well known in commerce, from its employment both in the arts and in domestic economy. It is the purest known form of animal jelly, and is obtained from the swimming bladder of a few kinds of...
   • Isinglass is brought to market in different forms, sometimes in that of simple plates, at other times rolled up in different shapes, or cut into fine thread. When of good quality isinglass is of a whitish colour, thin,...
2. A thin, transparent sheet of mica (probably from its similarity to true isinglass and/or resulting from confusion with the term Muscovy glass for glazing made from mica, but also used for isinglass, which was chiefly produced in the Caspian Sea region of Russia, or Muscovy).
   • TALC. / GENUS I. / ISINGLASS. / VITRUM. / Compoſed of broad, flat, cloſe, poliſhed Plates. - 1771, J[ohn] Hill, Fossils Arranged According to their Obvious Characters; with their History and Description; under the...
   • There is a general error prevalent that mica is isinglass, and many times it is spoken of as isinglass, but there is a great difference between the two. Mica is mainly composed of silicate of aluminum, while isinglass...
   • MICA (ISINGLASS). Mica is valuable because of its perfect cleavage, transparency, elasticity, non-conductivity of heat and electricity, resistance to decomposition, and non-inflammability. It is mostly used as an...