Shabbos, Mishnah 4. We continue the discussion of the amounts that are significant enough for a person to be liable for carrying them out.
"Devek" (glue):
How much glue is considered significant enough to be liable for? Its measure is "kedei liten b'rosh hashavshaves" - enough to place on the tip of a bird trap. The shavshaves was a branch smeared with glue and used for catching birds: the birds would land on it and stick to it, and that was the way they were trapped.
"Zefes v'gofris" (pitch and sulfur):
Their measure is "kedei la'asos nekev" - enough to make a hole. What is this referring to? To the mercury that was in use in those days. This is explained in two ways:
The mercury was stored in a jug, and the mouth of the jug was sealed with sulfur or pitch. In that seal they would make a small hole through which the mercury could come out, and that is the measure.
According to another explanation, it refers to the amount of sulfur or pitch needed to seal a hole.
"Sha'avah" (wax):
The measure of wax is small: the amount needed to be placed as a seal over a small hole.
"Charsis":
This is the material from which a brick is made, after it has been ground; and some explain that it is a type of earth from which earthenware vessels are made. Its measure is enough to make the opening of a crucible for melting gold: a small hole through which the bellows was inserted, to blow air into the fire and make it hotter, and that opening was made of this material.
Rabbi Yehudah says that the measure of this material is enough to make a base, that is, a leg for a stove, which is a measure of its own.
"Sovin" (bran):
This refers to the bran of grain, and its measure is enough to place in the opening of the furnace of gold smelters. This bran was used to get the fire going quickly and make it burn fast.
"Sid" (lime):
The first opinion: The measure is the amount smeared on the youngest of girls. Lime served as a kind of hair removal paste, and if hair grew on them earlier than usual, it was used to remove it.
Rabbi Yehudah: Its measure is enough to make a 'kilkul', which is the smoothing of curly hair so that it lies flat, a sort of hair straightener.
Rabbi Nechemyah: Its measure is enough to make 'andifi'.
Several approaches are given in explaining 'andifi':
Some understand that it was commonly used to redden the forehead.
And some understand that it was used inside vessels, to mark the lines of the various measures within the vessel.
In summary: This Mishnah lists the measures of glue (enough to place on the tip of a bird trap), pitch and sulfur (enough to make a hole), wax (enough to seal a small hole), charsis (the opening of a gold smelters' crucible, and according to Rabbi Yehudah, a leg for a stove), bran (the opening of the furnace of gold smelters), and lime, whose measure was disputed by the Tannaim between smearing the youngest of girls, 'kilkul' and 'andifi'.