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Bible Encyclopedias
Mattress
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or (O.Fr. materas, mod. matelas; the origin is the Arab. al-materah, cushion, whence Span. and Port. almadraque, Ital. materasso), the padded foundation of a bed, formed of canvas or other stout material stuffed with wool, hair, flock or straw; in the last case it is properly known as a "palliasse" (Fr. paille, straw; Lat. palea); but this term is often applied to an under-mattress stuffed with substances other than straw. The padded mattress on which lay the feather-bed has been replaced by the "wire-mattress," a network of wire stretched on a light wooden or iron frame, which is either a separate structure or a component part of the bedstead itself. The "wire-mattress" has taken the place of the "spring mattress," in which spiral springs support the stuffing. The term "mattress" is used in engineering for a mat of brushwood, faggots, &c., corded together and used as a foundation or as surface in the construction of dams, jetties, dikes, &c.
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Mattress'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/m/mattress.html. 1910.
