Whatever else the Renaissance did for art, it elevated this fragile reddish substance, fired for longevity and used for buildings and their decoration since ancient times, to a sculptural material.
Don Victor has "the magic of a shaman" and the wealth of a god, but, once he masters the secret of manufacturing the "fragile, pellucid, mysterious" substance cellophane, Arana unleashes a destructive magic and, with deadpan comic timing, unravels his rain-forest demesne.
Walker echoed his statement in her Brooklyn Rail interview, but added the positive note that "[Sugar is] such a fragile and volatile substance that doesn't like to take on too many forms, which is fine.
The benefits of humus to soil fertility and detoxification have resulted in a growing interest in this remarkable substance and in the fragile A horizon it occupies.
Lila tells Elena she is going to take the test anyway, and no one doubts her: "Although she was fragile in appearance, every prohibition lost substance in her presence".
To make matters even more complicated, the person being confronted is often under the influence of a substance leaving them very fragile, impaired, disinhibited, defensive, and demonstrating poor judgment with an inability to comprehend the nature of the intervention.
To rescue their contents, if not their physical substance, he was copying the most fragile texts by hand, using an ink he makes himself out of gum.
Wigglesworth [2] described the sponge-like body only by its appearance and air content, whereas Lawson [3] described it as being formed by a white substance, light in weight and very fragile.
