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prettygoodwordganister (GAN-uh-ster) - n., a fine-grained quartzose sandstone used to line refractory furnaces; a similar synthetic product made by mixing ground quartz with fire-clay.
Bessemer furnaces could not be made with ordinary fire-clay bricks, and could not be developed until someone realized that quartz-like ganister (to use the name Cornish miners used for it) that lay underneath coal seams had a much higher melting temperature and so could be used to line the furnace. The name is first recorded in 1811, but aside from the Cornish connection, origin unknown.
---L.
Bessemer furnaces could not be made with ordinary fire-clay bricks, and could not be developed until someone realized that quartz-like ganister (to use the name Cornish miners used for it) that lay underneath coal seams had a much higher melting temperature and so could be used to line the furnace. The name is first recorded in 1811, but aside from the Cornish connection, origin unknown.
---L.
