Isinglass is brought to market in different forms, sometimes in that of simple plates, at other times rolled up in different shapes, or cut into fine thread. When of good quality isinglass is of a whitish colour, thin, and semi-transparent, but tough and flexible, destitute of taste as well as of smell. The inferior kinds are thicker, yellowish-coloured, opaque, and sometimes have a fishy smell and taste. In boiling water isinglass is entirely dissolved, with the exception of a very minute portion of impurities.
{{RQ:Sterne Tristram Shandy|III|XXIV|pages=123–124|pageref=124|text=can it eſcape your penetration,—I defy it,—that ſo many play-wrights, and opificers of chit chat have ever ſince been working upon Trim's and my uncle Toby's pattern.}}
Hail to thee, blithe spirit! / Bird thou never wert, / That from heaven, or near it, / Pourest thy full heart / In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
With colters bright the rushy sward bisect, / And in new veins the gushing rills direct […] .