amadou
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A soft spongy substance, consisting of the more solid portion of a fungus (Polyporus fomentarius and other species found growing on forest-trees), steeped in a solution of saltpeter.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun A spongy, combustible substance, prepared from fungus (Boletus and Polyporus) which grows on old trees; German tinder; punk. It has been employed as a styptic by surgeons, but its common use is as tinder, for which purpose it is prepared by soaking it in a strong solution of niter.
Examples
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In the corner behind the door, shining hob-nailed shoes stood in a row under the slab of the washstand, near a bottle of oil with a feather stuck in its mouth; a Matthieu Laensberg lay on the dusty mantelpiece amid gunflints, candle-ends, and bits of amadou.
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With the amadou he lighted up, and after about a dozen whiffs his eyes closed, his pipe escaped from his fingers, and he fell asleep.
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Besides the uses of fungi as scavengers of creation, there are some which have a commercial value and yield an article called “amadou.”
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In this English publication, the word "punk" is not used; the substance is called "amadou."
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Therefore every traveller should carry on his person the means of procuring a light, under ordinary circumstances of wind and weather; that is to say, he should have in his pocket a light handy steel, a flint or an agate, and amadou or other tinder.
The Art of Travel Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries
Note
The word 'amadou' comes from a French word meaning 'tinder, bait'.
