Pil′low.
1. (Machinery.) a. The rest or bearing (a) of a gudgeon. A brass; usually, however, of bronze (copper, 96 to 108; tin, 11) and not brass (copper and zinc). Other materials have been used:— Babbitt-metal (which see). Hard cast-iron. Soap-stone. Unseasoned green thornwood. Box-wood. Green oak soaked in oil. Compressed paper. See pillow-block.
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| Pillow-block. A, base. B, pedestal. C, pedestal-cover. D, pillow. E, cap. |
2. (Shipbuilding.) A block of wood on which the inner end of the bowsprit rests.
3. (Fabric.) A kind of fustian having a fourleaved twill. 4. A cushion for the head. The ancient Egyptians used a head-rest for a pillow (b), very similar to that now used in China and called a “head-stool,” or rather by its equivalent in Chinese. It looks uncomfortable, but no doubt was preferred to our kind of pillow in a hot climate. These Egyptian head-rests are mentioned by Porphyry. They were made of wood or alabaster. They are still used in China, Japan, Abyssinia, Ashantee, and Otaheite. Wood, stone, and earthen ware are the modern as they were the ancient materials. They are from 4 1/2 to 10 inches high. Many of them are preserved in the British Museum. One of wood, 6 1/4 inches high, and inscribed with the name and titles of Mas-khar-hao. Another of arragonite, 6 7/8 inches high, with a fluted column, and the name and titles of Atai in front. [1705] Others might be cited. It appears to have been a regular piece of household furniture. The Egyptians were not ignorant of the use of soft pillows. A cushion with a linen cover and filled with the feathers of water-fowl is preserved in the British Museum. Michal, when she sought to save her husband David from the fury of her father Saul, took an image and laid it in the bed, pillowing its head upon a bolster of goat's hair covered with a cloth. Cushions and pillows are common in the East, formed of sheep's fleeces or goat-skins stuffed with cotton.
