Chapter C: W. HEATON, F.I.C., F.C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry at the (8)

_Obs._ White ale is said to be very feeding, though apt to prove laxative to those unaccustomed to its use. It is drunk in a state of effervescence or lively fermentation; the glass or cup containing it being kept in constant motion, when removed from the mouth, until the whole is consumed, in order that the thicker portion may not subside to the bottom.

=Ales, Med'icated.= _Syn._ BRYT'OLES; BRUTOLÉS, Fr.; CEREVIS'IÆ MEDICA'TÆ, L. In _pharmacy_, ale prepared by macerating medicinal substances in it, either at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, or when heated; infusions and decoctions, in which ale or beer is employed as the menstruum. The old dispensatories enumerate several medicated ales; such as CEREVISIA OXYDOR'CICA, for the eyes; C. ANTI-ARTHRIT'ICA, for the gout; C. CEPHAL'ICA, for the head; C. EPILEP'TICA, against epilepsy; &c. Preparations of this kind are now seldom ordered by the faculty, and their use is chiefly confined to the practice of empirics, and to domestic medicine. Bark, rue, savine, antiscorbutic plants, aromatic bitters, and stomachics, are the substances most commonly administered in this way. Ale in which wormwood, gentian, orange-peel, and the like, have been steeped, taken warm early in the morning, is much esteemed as a restorative tonic by drunkards and dyspeptics. See BEER, PURL, &c.

=ALE'BERRY.= A beverage made by boiling ale with spice, sugar, and bread-sops; the last commonly toasted. A domestic remedy for a cold.

=ALE'GILL= (_g_ hard). Ale or beer flavoured or medicated by infusing the leaves of ground ivy in it; pectoral, stomachic, and nervine.

=ALE'WIFE.= The _clupea serrata_, an American species of herring. Its proper name is a'loof, although the established pronunciation and common orthography is ale-wife.

=ALEM'BIC.= _Syn._ MOORS'HEAD[dagger]; ALEM'BICUS, L.; ALAMBIC, Fr.; DESTILLIRKOLBEN, Ger. An old form of distillatory vessel usually made of glass or earthenware, but sometimes of metal. The body (_a_) which holds the liquid for distillation is called the CU'CURBIT; the upper part (_b_) the HEAD or CAP'ITOL; (_c_) is the RECEIVER. It is still employed in the laboratory, in the distillation of articles that are apt to spurt over into the neck of the common retort, and thus vitiate the product.

=ALEUROM'ETER.= _Syn._ ALEUROMÈTRE, Fr. An instrument for determining the quantity and quality of gluten in wheat-flour, invented by M. Boland. It essentially consists of a hollow copper cylinder, about 6 inches long, and 3/4 of an inch internal diameter. This tube has two principal parts; the one, about 2 inches long, is closed at the lower end, forming a kind of cup, into which the gluten is placed; it screws into the remainder of the cylinder. The cup being charged with a sample of gluten, and the upper part of the cylinder being screwed on, it is exposed in an oven, or (preferably) in an oil bath, to a temperature of 350 to 380° Fahr.[17] From the length of the tube the gluten occupies in swelling, as measured by a graduated scale, its quality is determined. The 'crude gluten' of good wheat-flour augments to four or five times its original volume, when thus treated; but that from bad flour does not swell, becomes viscid and semi-fluid, and generally gives off a disagreeable odour; whilst that of good flour merely suggests the smell of hot and highly baked bread.

[Footnote 17: Mr Mitchell recommends the heat to be 420°; whilst Dr Masprett gives 284° Fahr. as the proper temperature; but of these the first is too high, and the other too low. About 210 gr. are also ordered to be taken for examination; but the exact quantity is immaterial. (See Mitchell's 'Falsification of Food.')]

=AL'GA.= (-g[)a]). [L.] Sea-weed. A common name of grass-wrack ('zostera marina'--Linn.), though not one of the algæ.

=AL'GÆ.= ([)a]l'-j[=e]). [L. pl.] _Syn._ AL'GALS; ALGÆ (DC.), AL'GALES (Lindl.), L.; ALGUES, VARECH, Fr.; ALGE, MEERGRASS, SEEGRASS, Ger. Sea-weeds. In _botany_, an order of Thallogens living in water or very moist places, nourished throughout their whole surface by the medium in which they live, having no distinct axis of vegetation, and propagated by zoöspores, coloured spores, or tetraspores. Linnæus defines them--"plants, the roots, leaves, and stems of which are all in one." The algæ consist either of simple vesicles lying in mucus, or of articulated filaments, or of lobed fronds formed of uniform cellular tissue. Those that vegetate in salt water are popularly called SEA-WEEDS (fu'ci, L.) and LA'VER (ulvæ, L.); those found in fresh water CONFER'VÆ. One of their divisions (the _Zoöspermeæ_) comprehends the lowest known forms of vegetable life, being merely adhering cells, emitting, at maturity, seeds or sporules having a distinct animal motion. In _Oscillatorias_, the whole plant twists and writhes spontaneously; and _Zymenas_ actually copulate like animals. Some of the Algæ possess great beauty. In the lower grades the colour is green; in the higher, red or purple.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ None of the Algæ are poisonous. Several are nutritious, emollient, and demulcent, from containing mucilage (carrageenin), starch, sugar (mannite), and a little albumen; and are hence used as esculents. The ash from the dried weed varies in different varieties from 9% to fully 25%; and contains variable quantities of potassa, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, manganese, and silica, with sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, chlorine, and a little iodine and bromine. (Schweitzer; Forchhammer; Gödechens.) Sea-weeds, their charcoal, and their ashes, have been long regarded as alterative and resolvent; and anti-phthisic virtues have been attributed to them by Laennec and others. They were formerly much given in scrofulous affections and glandular enlargements; but their use is now almost superseded by that of iodine and its preparations. Dr Stenhouse has proposed some of the algæ as furnishing an economical source of mannite. The sea algæ are used for manure; their ashes form KELP.

The following table, showing the results of several analyses of different kinds of algæ, and illustrating the very large amount of nitrogen contained in them, is from Mr Walter Blyth's excellent dictionary of 'Hygiene and Public Health.'

-----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------
| | | Per cent. | Protein
Kinds of Algæ. | Water. |Dry matter.|Nitrogen in|contained in
| | |dry matter.|dry matter.
-----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------
_Chondrus crispus_, | 17·92 | 82·08 | 1·534 | 9·587
bleached, from Bewlay | | | |
Evans. | | | |
_Chondrus crispus_, | 21·47 | 78·53 | 2·142 | 13·387
unbleached, Ballycastle. | | | |
_Gigastina mamillosa_, | 21·55 | 78·45 | 2·198 | 13·737
Ballycastle. | | | |
_Chondrus crispus_, | 19·79 | 80·21 | 1·485 | 9·281
bleached, second | | | |
experiment. | | | |
_Chondrus crispus_, | 19·96 | 80·04 | 2·510 | 15·687
unbleached second | | | |
experiment. | | | |
_Laminaria digitata_, or | 21·38 | 78·62 | 1·588 | 9·925
dulse tangle. | | | |
_Rhodomenia palmata._ | 16·56 | 83·44 | 3·465 | 21·656
_Porphyra laciniata._ | 17·41 | 82·59 | 4·650 | 29·062
_Iridæa edulis._ | 19·61 | 80·39 | 3·088 | 19·300
_Alaria esculenta._ | 17·91 | 80·09 | 2·424 | 15·150
-----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------

From the above, we learn the important fact that the sea-weeds found on our coasts are amongst the most nutritious of vegetable substances, and that they, when dry, are even richer in nitrogenous matter than either oatmeal or Indian corn in the same state. The following are the chief varieties of algæ which are used as food by the dwellers on our coasts as well as on the continent:--PORPHYRA LACINIATA and VULGARIS, called _laver_ in England, _stoke_ in Ireland, and _slouk_ in Scotland. CHONDRUS CRISPUS, called _carrageen_ or _Irish moss_, and also _pearl-moss_, and _sea-moss._ LAMINARIA DIGITATA, known as the _sea-girdle_ in England, _tangle_ in Scotland, and _red-ware_ in the Orkneys; and LAMINARIA SACCHARINA, ALARIA ESCULENTA, or _bladder-lock_, called also _henware_, and _honey-ware_ by the Scotch. ULVA LATISSIMA or GREEN LAVER--RHODOMENIA PALMATA or _dulse_ of Scotland. Under the name of "marine sauce" the LAVER was esteemed a luxury in London, where it may now occasionally be met with in the shops of provision merchants. The employment of the CHONDRUS CRISPUS or _Carrageen_ in the form of an aliment for consumptive and weakly persons, would seem from the analysis of it given above to be fully justified. In preparing the algæ for food, they must be soaked in water to remove the saline matter, and where they are possessed of a bitter flavour this may be removed by adding a little carbonate of soda to the water. They should then be stewed in water or milk till they are tender. The best flavourings are pepper and vinegar. See JELLY.

=ALGARO'BA.= _Syn._ CA''ROB-TREE, ST. JOHN'S BREAD; CERATO'NIA SIL'IQUA, Linn. A leguminous tree of southern Europe, Palestine, and part of Africa. Pods (ALGAROBA BEANS), used for food, and to improve the voice; they contain a sweetish, nutritious powder, and are supposed to have been the 'locusts' on which St. John fed in the wilderness; their decoction has been used as a pectoral in asthma and coughs.

=Algaroba or Algarovil'la.= The astringent pods of prosopis pallida, p. siliquastrum, and Inga Marthæ (South American trees), bruised and more or less agglutinated by the extractive exudation of the seed and husks. They are used in tanning, for which purpose they have been strongly recommended; indeed that of Chili, and of Santa Martha (New Carthagena), is said to possess "four times the power of good oak bark" (Ure); and in dyeing are only inferior to oak-galls.

=ALGONTINE.= A mouth and tooth wash. An aqueous solution of nitrate of potassium, aromatised with oil of peppermint, tincture of myrrh, and tincture of cinnamon.

=ALGOPHON= (Bernhard, Salzburg). For pains in decayed teeth. A solution of ethereal oil of mustard (2 grms.) in spirit of cochlearia (30 grms.), coloured green by saffron and litmus. (Wittstein.)

=AL'IMENT.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALIMEN'TUM, L.; NAHRUNG, SPEISE, Ger. Food; nutriment; anything which nourishes or supports life.

=ALIMENT'ARY= _Syn._ ALIMENTA''RIUS, L.; ALIMENTAIRE, Fr.; ZUR NAHRUNG GEHÖRIG, Ger. Pertaining to food or aliment; nutrimental; nourishing.

=Alimentary Canal'.= _Syn._ ALIMENTARY DUCT; CANA'LIS ALIMENTA''RIUS, L. In _anatomy_, the cavity in the bodies of animals into which the food is taken for the purpose of being digested; the whole passage or conduit extending from the mouth to the anus. In some of the lower animals this is a simple cavity, with only one opening; when the same aperture which admits the food also gives egress to the excrementitious matter. In others it is a true canal, with both a mouth and an outlet. Another step, and we find this canal is divided into a stomach and intestines. In the higher grades, a mouth, pharynx, and [oe]sophagus precede the stomach. Birds have one or two sacculi or crops added to the [oe]sophagus. The stomach of the ruminants consists of four sacs or parts, each of which may be regarded as a separate stomach; that of the bottle-nose whale contains no less than seven of such sacs. The part below the stomach, forming the intestines, is also variously subdivided, complicated, and connected. In man, these subdivisions are termed--DUODENUM, JEJU'NUM, IL'EUM, CÆ'CUM, CO'LON, and REC'TUM; the lower end or orifice of the last being called the A'NUS. The existence of an alimentary canal is said to be the only true characteristic of an animal. Plants have no common receptacle for their food, nor canal for carrying away effete matter; but every animal, however low in the scale of being, possesses an internal cavity which serves it as a stomach.

=Alimentary Sub'stances.= _Syn._ ALIMENTS; MATE''RIA ALIMENTA''RIA, L. Substances employed as food.

=ALIMENTA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALIMENTA'TIO, L.; NAHRHAFTIGKEIT, Ger. The act, process, power, or state of nourishing, or being nourished.

=AL'IZARI.= [Tur., ali-zari.] The commercial name of madder in the Levant.

=ALIZARIN.= C_{10}H_{6}O_{3} . 2H_{2}O. _Syn._ LAZARIC ACID. A red colouring matter obtained from madder.

_Prep._ 1. Exhaust madder with boiling water, and precipitate the decoction by sulphuric acid. Wash the precipitate, and, while yet moist, boil it with a concentrated solution of hydrate of aluminum in hydrochloric acid, and mix the solution with hydrochloric acid; red flakes of impure alizarin deposit. Dissolve this precipitate in alcohol or in dilute ammonia, and treat the solution with hydrate of aluminum. Boil the aluminum compound thus formed with carbonate of sodium, and, after freeing it from resinous impurities by digestion with ether, decompose it with hot hydrochloric acid. Wash the alizarin thus separated, dry it by simple exposure to air, and purify it by repeated crystallisation out of alcohol.

2. Sublime on a paper an alcoholic extract of madder. This method yields the purest alizarin.

_Props._ Red prisms; sublimes at 419° F.; odourless, tasteless, and neutral to test-paper; sparingly soluble in water, even at the boiling temperature; soluble in alcohol and ether; not decomposed by hydrochloric acid; dissolved, without decomposition, by strong sulphuric acid; soluble in solutions of the alkalies and their carbonates; acids precipitate alizarin from its alkaline solutions in orange-coloured flakes; alumina decolorises an alcoholic solution of alizarin, forming a red lake.

=ALIZARIN, ARTIFICIAL.= C_{14}H_{8}O_{4}. This colour was first obtained by Graebe and Liebermann in 1869 from anthrachinon, an oxidation product of anthracen, this latter being a substance which is formed during the destructive distillation of coal-tar. These chemists converted anthracen into antichinon by means of nitric acid.

The crude anthracen is previously purified by treatment with benzoline (petroleum spirit), aided by heat, and by being subjected to the action of the centrifugal machine to fusion, and to sublimation.

According to the original method of preparing alizarin, the anthrachinon was first converted into a dibromide of anthrachinon by treatment with bromine, and this bromated compound, by further treatment either with caustic potash or soda at a temperature of 180° to 200° C., converted into alizarin-potassium (or alizarin-sodium if caustic soda has been used), from which the alizarin is set free by means of hydrochloric acid.

Alizarin is now procured from anthrachinon by treatment at a temperature of 260° C., with concentrated sulphuric acid of 1·84 sp. gr., the anthrachinon being converted into a sulpho-acid; this acid is next neutralised with carbonate of lime, the fluid decanted from the deposited sulphate of lime, and carbonate of potash added to it, with the object of throwing down all the lime. The clear liquid is then evaporated to dryness, the resulting saline mass is converted into alizarin-potassium by heating it with caustic potash. From the alizarin-potassium thus obtained the alizarin is set free by the aid of hydrochloric acid.

In another method the preparation of anthrachinon is avoided, and anthracen employed directly, by first converting it, by means of sulphuric acid and heat, into anthracen sulphonic-acid. After having been diluted with water, the solution of this acid is treated with oxidising agents (peroxides of manganese, lead, chromic acid, nitric acid), and the acid fluid is afterwards neutralised with carbonate of lime. When peroxide of manganese has been used, the manganese is also precipitated as oxide. The oxidised sulpho-acid having been previously converted into a potassium salt, the latter being heated with caustic potash, alizarin is obtained. The details of these two processes will be found set forth in the terms of the patent taken out by Messrs Caro, Graebe and Liebermann, further on.

The following method of preparing alizarin from anthracene paranaphthalene and their homologues is by Girard. The material used is that which distils between 290° and 360°; it is purified by distillation and pressure, the portion which passes over, between 300° and 305°, being collected separately. This mixture is treated with potassium chlorate and hydrochloric acid, whereby it is converted into tetra-chlorinated products. These are oxidised either by nitric acid in the water bath, or by a metallic oxide (red or brown oxide of lead), and sulphuric or acetic acid. In the first place a mixture of dichloranthraquinine and chloride of chloroxyanthranyl are obtained. These substances are treated in presence of a metallic oxide (oxide of zinc, oxide of copper, or litharge), with an alcoholic solution of sodium acetate. The metallic oxide removes the last atom of chlorine from the sodium chloroxyanthranilate, and converts it, like the dichloranthraquinine, into alizarin. The purification is effected by means of benzine, petroleum, &c., which dissolve out the foreign matters, and by successive precipitation from the alkaline solutions by mineral acids. The foreign matters may also be separated by means of a little alum, when it is necessary to work with neutral potash or soda salts.

Another method for the preparation of alizarin has been patented by Dale and Schorlemmer. It is as follows: 1 part of anthracen is boiled with 4 to 10 parts of strong sulphuric acid, then diluted with water, and the solution neutralised with carbonate of calcium, barium, potassium, or sodium. The resulting sulphates having been removed by nitration or crystallisation, the solution is heated to between 180° and 260° with caustic potash or soda, to which a quantity of potassium nitrate or chlorate has been added, about equal in weight to the anthracen, as long as a blue-violet colour is thereby produced. From this product the alizarin is separated in the usual way by precipitation with an acid. Several other patents have been taken out for the preparation of artificial alizarin.

The specification of Messrs Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann, and dated June 25th, 1869, was the first which was taken out in England. We quote it here because it enters more fully into detail than any of the others.

"Our invention is carried into effect by means of either of the two processes which we will proceed to describe.

"In the one process we proceed as follows--We take about one part by weight of anthraquinone and about three parts by weight of sulphuric acid of about specific gravity of 1·488, and introduce the same into a retort, which may be made of glass, or porcelain, or of any other material not easily acted upon by sulphuric acid, and the contents are then to be heated up to about 260° Centigrade, and the temperature is maintained until the mixture is found no longer to contain any appreciable quantity of unaltered anthraquinone. The completion of this operation may be ascertained or tested by withdrawing a small portion of the product from time to time, and continuing the operation at the high temperature until such product upon being diluted with water is found to form a substantially perfect solution, thereby indicating that the anthraquinone has become either entirely or in greater part converted into the desired product. The products thus obtained are then allowed to cool, and are diluted with water; carbonate of lime is then added in order to neutralise and remove the excess of sulphuric acid contained in the solution; the mixture is then filtered, and to the filtrate carbonate of potash, or carbonate of soda, by preference in solution, is to be added until carbonate of lime is no longer precipitated; the mixture is then filtered, and the clear solution is evaporated to dryness, by which means the potash or soda salts of the sulpho-acids of anthraquinone are obtained, and which are to be treated in the following manner:--We take about one part by weight of this product, and from two to three parts by weight of solid caustic, soda, or potash; water may be added or not, but by preference we add as much water as is necessary to dissolve the alkali after admixture; we heat the whole in a suitable vessel, and the heating operation is continued at a temperature of from about 180° to 260° Centigrade, for about one hour, or until a portion of the mixture is found upon withdrawing and testing it to give a solution in water, which being acidulated with an acid, for example, sulphuric acid, will give a copious precipitate of the colouring matters. The heating operation having been found to have been continued for a sufficient time, the resulting products are then dissolved in water, and we either filter or decant the solution of the same, from which we precipitate the colouring matters or artificial alizarin, by means of a mineral or organic acid, such, for example, as sulphuric or acetic acid. The precipitated colouring matters thus obtained are collected in a filter or otherwise, and after having been washed may be employed for the purpose of dyeing and printing, either in the same way as preparations of madder are now used or otherwise.

"In carrying out our other process we proceed as follows:--We take about one part by weight of anthracene and about four parts by weight of sulphuric acid of specific gravity of about 1·848, and the mixture being contained in a suitable vessel, is heated to a temperature of about 100° Centigrade, and which temperature is to be maintained for the space of about three hours; the temperature is then to be raised to about 150° Centigrade, which temperature is to be maintained for about one hour, or until a small portion of the product when submitted to the two subsequent processes hereinafter described is found to produce the desired colouring matters; we then allow the result obtained by this operation to cool, and dilute it with water, by preference in the proportion of about three times its weight. To the solution thus obtained we add for every part of anthracene by weight which had been employed in the previous operations, from about two to three parts by weight of peroxide of manganese, preferring to employ an excess, and we boil the whole strongly for some time, and in order fully to ensure the desired degree of oxidation the mixture may be subsequently concentrated, and by preference be evaporated to dryness, and the heat be continued until a small portion of the oxidised product, when submitted to the subsequent processes hereinafter described will produce the desired colouring matters. We then neutralise and remove the sulphuric acid contained in this mixture, and at the same time precipitate any oxides of manganese that may be held in solution, by adding an excess of caustic lime, which we use by preference in the form of milk of lime, and we add the same until the mixture has an alkaline reaction. We then filter, and add to the filtrate carbonate of potash or soda, until there is no further precipitation of carbonate of lime. The solution is then filtered and evaporated to dryness, and we thus obtain the potash or soda salts of what we call the sulpho-acids of anthraquinone.

"In effecting the conversion of the oxidised products thus obtained into colouring matters, or into what we call artificial alizarin, we proceed as follows:--We take one part by weight of this product, and from two to three parts by weight of solid caustic soda or potash, and water may be added or not, but by preference we add as much water as may be necessary to dissolve the alkali. After admixture we heat the whole in a suitable vessel, and continue the heating operation at a temperature of about 180° to about 260° Centigrade for about one hour, or until a portion of the mixture is found to give a solution in water, which upon acidulation with an acid, for example, sulphuric acid, is found to give a copious precipitate of the colouring matters. The heating operation having been found to have been continued for a sufficient time, we then dissolve the product in water, and either filter or decant the solution of the same, from which we precipitate the colouring matters or artificial alizarin by means of a mineral or organic acid, such, for example, as sulphuric or acetic acid. The precipitated colouring matters thus obtained are collected on a filter or otherwise, and after having been washed may be employed for the purpose of dyeing and printing, either in the same way as preparations of madder are now used or otherwise.

"Instead of acting upon anthracen by means of sulphuric acid of the density before mentioned, fuming sulphuric acid may be employed, but we prefer to use the ordinary kind before described.

"In order to effect the process of oxidation, before referred to, other oxidising agents may be used in the place of the oxide of manganese, before mentioned, such, for example, as perioxide of lead, or chromic, nitric, or other acids capable of effecting the desired oxidation may be employed."

Mr W. H. Perkin's patent is similar in principle to that of Messrs Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann, and is dated only one day later.

The following is an outline of a patent taken out in France in May, 1869, by MM. Br[oe]nner and Gutzkon, for the manufacture of artificial alizarin. One part of anthracen is heated with two parts of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1·3 to 1·5. The anthraquinone thus produced is washed and dissolved at a moderate heat in sulphuric acid. Mercuric nitrate is now added, which converts the anthraquinone into alizarin, The mass thus formed is dissolved in an excess of alkali, which precipitates the oxide of mercury, and retains the colouring matters in solution. The alkaline liquor is decanted and neutralised with sulphuric acid, and the precipitate thus formed is washed and collected. If not quite pure the treatment with alkali must be repeated. (The complete specification of this patent is published in the 'Moniteur Scientifique,' vol. xi, p. 865.)

In England a large quantity of artificial alizarin is manufactured by the process of Mr Perkin, and is used as a substitute for madder and madder extract, in Turkey red dyeing and topical styles. The largest makers of artificial alizarin on the continent are Messrs Gessert Frères, of Ebelfort, Messrs Maister, Lucius and Co., of Hæchst, near Frankfort, and the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabric, Mannheim.

The following recipes for printing with artificial alizarin are extracted from Mr Crookes' 'Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico Printing':

REDS.

5 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
16 lbs. thickening;
1 lb. acetate of alumina, at 15° Tw.;
1/2 lb. acetate of lime, at 25° Tw.

PINKS.

The above diluted with 2 or 3 parts of thickening.

For double printing, when deep red is printed on first, the goods must be steamed one hour before the second printing takes place. After the second printing the goods are again steamed for one hour, and aged for twenty-four hours; they are then passed through one of the following baths, at from 120 to 140 F., remaining in the bath not longer than 1 to 1-1/2 minute:--

250 gals. water;
60 lbs. chalk;
3 lbs. tin crystals.

Or, 250 gals. water;
40 lbs. chalk;
10 lbs. arseniate of soda.

The goods are then washed, and cleaned as follows:--

Take, for 10 pieces of fifty yards each,--

1st. Soaping at 120° F., 3 lbs. soap;
1/4 lb. tin crystals.
2nd. Soaping at 160° F., 3 lbs. soap;
3rd. Soaping at 175° F., 3 lbs. soap.
Wash between each soaping.

RED FOR MOSAICS.

8 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
10 quarts thickening;
9-1/2 oz. nitrate of alumina, at 23° Tw.;
19 oz. acetate of alumina, at 15° Tw.;
13 oz. acetate of lime, at 25° Tw.

Or, 10 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
10 quarts thickening;
13 oz. nitrate of alumina, at 23° Tw.;
19 oz. acetate of alumina, at 15° Tw.;
16 oz. acetate of lime, at 25° Tw.

ANOTHER RED WITHOUT OIL.

8-1/2 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
9-1/2 lbs. acetic acid, at 12° Tw.;
3-1/2 lbs. wheat flour;
5 pints water.

Boil well and stir till cold; then add--

1 lb. acetate of lime, at 29° Tw.;
2 lbs. nitrate of alumina, at 23° Tw.;
3 lbs. hyposulphite of lime, at 13° Tw.

PURPLE.

3 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
10 quarts purple thickening;
6 oz. pyrolignite of lime, at 18° Tw.;
12 oz. acetate of lime, at 25° Tw.

The printed goods are steamed for an hour or two, and then aged from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. They are then padded in the chalk and arseniate of soda bath; after which they are washed and soaped in a single soap-bath without tin crystals; and, if needful, cleaned in a weak solution of bleaching powder.

THICKENING FOR REDS.

12 lbs. wheat starch;
40 quarts water;
4 quarts acetic acid, 9^{9} Tw.;
1-1/4 lbs. gum tragacanth;
2 lbs. olive oil.

Boil well together, and stir till cold.

THICKENING FOR PURPLE.

10 lbs. starch;
27 quarts water;
3 quarts acetic acid;
1-1/8 lbs. gum tragacanth;
2 lbs. olive oil.

Boil well together, and stir till cold.

The mordants in the above recipes are prepared as fellows:

ACETATE OF ALUMINA.

Stir 30 lbs. of hydrate of alumina into six quarts of acetic acid, warm, filter, and reduce to the specific gravity required.

The hydrate of alumina is prepared by dissolving 72 lbs. of alum in 100 gals. of water, and 62 lbs. soda in 100 gals. of water. The two solutions are mixed, this precipitate is washed eight times by decantation, collected on a filter and pressed. It must be dissolved on the filter before it gets dry.

NITRATE OF ALUMINA.
2 lbs. nitrate of lead;
2 lbs. alum;
2 quarts water.

Dissolve and filter off the liquid from the precipitate, and dilute to proper standard.

The reds are turned more yellow by nitrate than by acetate of alumina, and when the former is used more acetate of lime is taken in addition.

ACETATE OF LIME.

A solution of acetate of lime at 25° Tw. contains 25 per cent. of acetate of lime; generally 1/10th of the weight of alizarin paste is required; but with a fresh quantity of alizarin it is safer to ascertain, on a small scale, the amount needed.

BROWN.

13-1/4 lbs. alizarin paste (15 per cent.);
9 quarts thickening;
2 lbs. nitrate of alumina, at 29° Tw.;
15 oz. acetate of alumina, at 19° Tw.;
15 oz. red prussiate potash, dissolved in
water;
1 lb. 1 oz. acetate of lime, at 29° Tw.

To obtain a yellower shade, for every quart of mixed colour, 1 oz. bark liquor, at 30° Tw., may be added.

Old spoiled red colours may be advantageously used for browns by adding per quart, 3/4 oz. to 1 oz. red prussiate, dissolved in water.

=ALKALI.= _Syn._ ALKALI, Fr.; LANGENSALZ, Ger. This word has been used in various senses, but is now usually applied to four substances only, viz. the hydrates of potassium, sodium, lithium, and ammonium (the latter being supposed to exist in the aqueous solution of ammonia). In a more general sense it is applied to the hydrates of barium, strontium, and calcium, which, for the sake of distinction, are called the alkaline earths. The following properties are characteristic of the alkalies:--(1) They are soluble in water, the alkalies proper more so than the alkaline earths. (2) They change the hue of many vegetable colouring matters; thus, they turn reddened litmus blue, yellow turmeric brown, and syrup of violets and infusion of red cabbage green. (3) They neutralise the strongest acids. (4) They precipitate most of the heavy metals from solutions of their salts as hydrates or oxides. (5) They saponify the fixed oils and fats. (6) They exert a caustic or corrosive action on animal and vegetable substances.

=ALKALI ACTS.= The principal alkali Act is the 26 and 27 Vict., c. 24, amended by 37 and 38 Vict., c. 43, the amended Act having come into operation in 1875.

Every alkali work must be carried on so as to ensure the condensation of not less than 95% of muriatic acid evolved therein; and it must be so condensed that in each cubic foot of air, smoke, or chimney gases, escaping from the works into the atmosphere, there is not contained more than one fifth part of a grain of muriatic acid. Penalty for first conviction, £50; for second and other offences, £100, or less (26 and 27 Vict., c. 124, s. 4; 37 and 38 Vict., c. 43, s. 4).

The owner of every alkali work is also bound "to use the best practicable means of preventing the discharge into the atmosphere of all other noxious gases arising from such work; or of rendering such gases harmless when discharged."

The noxious gases are defined to be sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid (except that arising from the combustion of coals), nitric acid, or other noxious oxides of nitrogen, sulphuretted hydrogen and chlorine (37 and 38 Vict., c. 43, ss. 5 and 8).

The owner is liable for any offence against the Alkali Acts, unless he prove that the offence was committed by some agent, servant, or workman, and without his knowledge, in which case the agent, &c., is liable (26 and 27 Vict., c. 124, s. 5).

Every alkali work must be registered; penalty for neglect £5 per day (ibid., s. 6).

Powers are given to owners to make special rules for the guidance of their workmen (ibid. s. 13).

=ALKALIM'ETRY.= _Syn._ ALKALIME'TRIA, L.; ALCALIMÉTRIE, Fr. In _chemistry_, the estimation of the strength of the commercial alkalies; the art or process of determining the quantity or proportion of pure caustic alkali, or of its carbonate, in any given sample or simple solution. It is the reverse of 'acidimetry,' and it should be understood that it does not apply to alkalies occurring under any other form or condition than those just mentioned. Alkalimetric assays are now also frequently and conveniently extended to the estimation of the alkaline earths and their carbonates, as hereafter noticed.

_Alkalimetrical processes._ These, like those of 'acidimetry,' are for the most part founded on--the capacity of the bases to saturate acids--the estimation of the quantity of dry carbonic acid liberated from a given weight of an alkaline carbonate under the influence of a stronger acid; and, in the case of the pure alkalies, the sp. gr. of their solutions. From any one of these results the exact amount of alkali, or of alkaline carbonate, present in a sample, is easily found or calculated. These processes are, indeed, precisely similar to those described under ACIDIMETRY; but here the unknown quantity sought is the alkali, instead of the acid.

_Assay._ The SAMPLE is drawn from as near the centre of the cask containing the alkali as possible, and at once placed in a wide-mouthed bottle, which is then closely corked up and numbered. Before proceeding to the assay, the contents of the bottle are thrown on a piece of dry paper, the lumps crushed small, and the whole reduced to coarse powder as rapidly as possible. The number of grains required for the trial are then at once weighed, placed in a phial or small glass tube, and agitated with about 1/2 oz. of hot water. After a short time allowed for repose, the clear liquid is poured off into a beaker-glass or other vessel in which the trial is to be made. This process is repeated with a second and a third quantity of water, or until nothing soluble remains, shown by the last washings not affecting the colour of turmeric paper. The greatest care must here be taken not to waste the smallest portion of the liquid, which would render the results inaccurate.

To the solution in the beaker-glass a little solution of litmus is added, unless the acid is tinted with it when it is unnecessary. The solution is now heated until near its boiling point, and a piece of white paper or porcelain put behind it, to better show up the changes of colour. The alkaline solution is now treated with the standard test-acid, which is poured carefully from an alkalimeter or Mohr's burette, until the solution, after turning a purple red, suddenly assumes a pink colour. Neutralisation being thus effected, the operator allows the sides of the alkalimeter or burette to drain, and then either 'reads off' the number of divisions which have been consumed, or (if using the test-acid by weight) determines the quantity by again weighing the alkalimeter. The common practice is to allow two drops (= 1/5th of an alkalimetrical division by VOLUME, or 2 gr. by WEIGHT) for over-saturation, which is, therefore, deducted from the 'observed quantity' of the test-liquor employed.

In testing solutions of the PURE or CAUSTIC ALKALIES, the colour, on neutralisation, suddenly changes from blue to pink or red, without any intermediate vinous or purple colour being produced.

The quantity of test-acid used gives the absolute or per-centage composition of the sample examined, according to the constitution of the test-acid used.

_Standard Acids._ The various test-acids in use as described below, each being used by different operators as they think best.

The most convenient test-acid, or normal solution, both for commercial and chemical assays, is perhaps dilute sulphuric acid, which, when intended to be used VOLUMETRICALLY, has the sp. gr. 1·032 at 60° Fahr., and contains in 100 alkalimetrical divisions 1000 water-grains measure, or 1 litre, exactly 49 gr. (or grammes) of sulphuric acid; and when intended to be used GRAVIMETRICALLY, or by weight, has the sp. gr. 1·033, and contains in 1000 gr. (or grammes) weight exactly 49 gr. (grammes) of sulphuric acid; and, in both cases, consequently corresponds to 1 equiv. of every other base. These dilute acids are easily prepared by mixing 1 part of the concentrated acid with 11 or 12 parts of distilled water; the precise quantity depending on the strength of the acid employed, and must be so arranged that 1000 grains shall exactly neutralise 1000 grains of water containing 53 grains of pure anhydrous sodium carbonate.

This acid (as well as all those hereafter mentioned) may be kept faintly tinged with litmus, which is often more convenient than tinging the alkaline solution at the time of making the assay.

It will at once be seen that every alkalimeter division of the first of the above acids, and every 10 gr. of the second, represent the 1/100th part, or 1% of alkali whenever the equivalent weight[18] of the latter is taken for the assay. Every 1-10th part of an alkalimeter-division (or every drop), and every grain weight (when a Schüster's alkalimeter is employed) then respectively represents the 1/10 of 1%; and the result sought is obtained without the necessity of any calculation.

[Footnote 18: See Table II, at the end of this article.]

This is obvious--for if the equivalent of a pure alkali or of its carbonate (_i. e._ one of 100%) requires an equiv. (100 alkalimeter-divisions, or 1000 gr.) of test-acid to saturate it, an alkali or alkaline carbonate of 75%, 50%, or 25%, will respectively require only 75, 50, or 25 divisions, or 750, 500, or 250 gr.; and so of other strengths in proportion. The only precaution necessary is always to take the standard weight for the assay answering to the equiv. of the denomination of the per-centage result sought. Thus, in testing a carbonate of potash, we may either wish to determine its per-centage richness in 'dry carbonate,' or in 'pure potassa,' the latter being usually the case. To obtain the first, we must take 69 gr. for the assay; and to obtain the second, 47 gr. With _CAUSTIC ALKALIES_, or mixtures containing them, the weight, in grains, taken for the assay, must always correspond to the equiv. of the pure base. See Table II, at the end of this article.

In _commercial assays_, when 100 gr. (or some aliquot part thereof) are taken for trial, the per-centage result is obtained from the number of alkalimeter-divisions, or the number of grains, of the test-acid consumed, by the common Rule of Proportion. Thus:--A crude sample of potash having taken 90 alkalimeter-divisions of test-acid to neutralise it, would contain--

100 : 47 :: 90 : 42·30%

or nearly 42-1/3 per cent. of pure potassa. If only 50, 25, or 20 gr. are tested, the result must, of course, be double, quadruple, &c., as the case may be. Or the third term of the proportion may be multiplied by the denominator of the fraction representing the aliquot part. This, in the case of 50 gr. (repeating the above example), would be--

10 : 47 :: 45 × 2 : 42·30%

as before; but even these easy calculations may be simplified, as is shown below.

One of the advantages, and not the least, attending the use of test-acids corresponding to equivalents, is, that by means of the simple Rule of Three, the per-centage quantity of alkali may be found whether 100 or any other number of grains have been submitted to trial. For--The weight of the sample tested (in grains) bears the same relation to the equivalent weight of the alkali under examination, that the number of alkalimeter-divisions or of the grains of test-acid consumed do to the per-centage of alkali sought. Thus, with a sample of 33 gr. of pearlash taking 35 alkalimeter-divisions or 350 grains (every 10 gr. being = 1%) of test-acid for neutralisation, this would be--

33 : 47 :: 35 : 49·85%

or nearly 50 per cent. of pure potassa. By substituting the equiv. of the dry carbonate of potash (69), for that of pure potassa used above, the quantity of that article corresponding to the same weight of the pure alkali may be at once found. Repeating the last example this will be--

33 : 69 :: 35 : 73·18%

or nearly 73-1/4 per cent. The same applies to all the alkaline bases and their carbonates.

For commercial purposes, there is used, amongst others, an empirical solution, as a test-acid for potassa, soda, and ammonia, to save the necessity of calculation.

This is dilute sulphuric acid having a sp. gr. of about 1·071; 100 alkalimeter-divisions (1000 water-grains measure) exactly saturate 100 gr. of pure potassa, or 113 gr. of anhydrous carbonate of soda. The number of measures consumed, read off by mere inspection from the scale of the alkalimeter, gives the exact per-centage of alkali in the sample examined, for POTASH; and by multiplying it by ·66, that for SODA also. By employing ·362 as the multiplier, it gives the like result for AMMONIA. In fact, occasionally, in order to save the necessity of any calculation, two 'test-acids' are frequently employed--the one for potash and the other for soda.

These are made by diluting sulphuric acid to a sp. gr. of near 1·071 and 1·086 respectively; 1000 grains, by measure, of the first neutralising exactly 100 grains of pure potassa, or 113 of pure anhydrous soda carbonate, and the latter neutralising exactly 100 grains of pure soda, or 171 gr. of pure anhydrous sodium carbonate.

There is another system of preparing standard acids by means of a Faraday's alkalimeter. A strong acid is prepared by diluting sulphuric acid to a sp. gr. of 1·1268 at 60°, and 455·7 grains exactly neutralise 100 of anhydrous carbonate of soda.

The glass tube here referred to, and known as Faraday's ALKALIMETER, is graduated centesimally, in the usual manner; but opposite the numbers 22·1, 48·62, 54·43, and 65, are cut the words 'soda,' 'potassa,' 'carbonate of soda,' and 'carbonate of potassa,' to indicate the quantity of the test-acid to be employed for each of these substances. (See _engr._) It is used by pouring the test-liquor into it until it reaches the line marked against the alkali, or carbonate, under examination, the remaining divisions being filled up with pure water, and the whole well mixed by placing the thumb on the orifice of the tube and shaking it well. The measure of the resulting dilute acid must then be very carefully observed, and more water added, if required, to bring it up to the zero (0) or 1000 gr. on the scale; careful agitation being again employed as before. The test-acid thus prepared is then added, with the usual precautions, to the sample until exact neutralisation is effected. The quantity consumed for this purpose, read off from the graduated scale, expresses the exact per-centage of the pure ALKALI, or of its CARBONATE, as the case may be, contained in the sample examined, provided 100 gr. have been taken for the assay.

Another method sometimes used is that of M. Mohr, and practised as follows:--The alkaline solution, slightly coloured blue with litmus, is strongly super-saturated with a standard acid (sulphuric or oxalic) of known strength, supplied from an alkalimeter in the usual manner; the last traces of carbonic anhydride being removed by boiling, shaking, blowing into the flask, and, finally, sucking out the air. A standard solution of caustic soda (of a strength exactly corresponding to that of the test-acid already used) is now cautiously added, drop by drop, until the colour, rendered yellowish-red by the acid, just appears of a light blue. The difference between the quantity of the solution of the test-alkali and of the test-acid consumed, expresses the exact quantity of acid neutralised by the alkali, and hence also its strength.

Besides the above methods, the alkaline carbonates are analysed, by the loss of carbonic anhydride (carbonic acid) they suffer, by being decomposed by a strong acid. The best method in use is that of MM. Fresenius and Will, and depends on the same principle, and is performed in a similar manner and in a similar apparatus to that described under ACIDIMETRY; the only difference being that here the uses of the small tube (_e_) is dispensed with, and that the alkali is tested under the form of carbonate, instead of bicarbonate.

_Oper._ The smaller flask (_B_) is about half filled with concentrated sulphuric acid, and the sample of alkali, in solution (under the form of carbonate), being placed in the larger flask (_A_), water is added until it is about one third full. The tubes are then fitted into the apparatus quite air-tight; the end of the tube (_b_) is fastened with a piece of wax, and the whole is very carefully weighed. The apparatus is now removed from the scales, and a perforated cork, or a small piece of india-rubber tube, being temporarily applied to the end of the tube (_h_), a few bubbles of air are sucked out of the flask (_B_) by means of the lips; the consequence of which is, that on removing the mouth the acid in (_B_) ascends to a certain height in the tube (_c_). If in a short time this little column of liquid maintains its height in the tube, it is a proof that the apparatus is perfectly air-tight, and as it should be. Suction is now again cautiously applied to the tube (_h_) and a little of the acid in (_B_) made to flow over into the flask (_A_), the quantity being proportionate to the vacuum produced by suction, and capable of being regulated at will. No sooner does the acid come into contact with the carbonate in the flask (_A_) than the evolution of carbonic acid commences, and this, from the construction of the apparatus, having to pass through the concentrated sulphuric acid, is rendered quite dry before it can escape by the tube (_d_) into the atmosphere. Whenever the effervescence flags, a little more acid is sucked over, until the whole of the carbonate is decomposed; after which an additional quantity is made to pass into (_A_), so as to raise the temperature considerably, for the purpose of expelling all the gas absorbed by the fluid during the operation. As soon as this is effected, the wax is removed from the aperture (_b_), and suction applied to (_h_), until all the carbonic acid in the apparatus is replaced by atmospheric air. The whole is now allowed to cool, and (together with the piece of wax removed) is again accurately weighed. The loss of weight gives the exact amount of dry carbonic anhydride, or anhydrous carbonic acid, which was contained in the specimen, from which the weight of PURE ALKALI is readily estimated, as every 22 gr. of dry carbonic acid gas evolved represents exactly 31 gr. of pure SODA, 47 gr. of pure POTASSA, &c. &c.; these numbers being the equivalents of the respective substances from which the per-centage strength may be found by the rule of proportion, as before explained.

Thus, in the case of a 100-gr. sample of carbonate of soda which has lost 15-1/4 gr. of carbonic acid, by the assay, this would be--

22 : 31 :: 15-1/4 : 21·48%

or nearly 21-1/2 per cent. of pure soda. If 53, the equiv. of anhydrous carbonate of soda, be taken, instead of 31 (the eq. of pure soda), the answer would have been, in the terms of that substance, 36·748%, or nearly 36-3/4 per cent. When an aliquot part of 100 gr. has been taken for the assay, either the result, or the third term of the proportion, must, of course, he multiplied by the denominator and divided by the numerator of the fraction representing such aliquot part.

By multiplying the weight of carbonic anhydride lost, by the numbers opposite the names of the respective alkalies and their carbonates in the second column of the following _Table_ the equivalent per-centage value of the carbonates examined may be obtained in terms corresponding to the various denominations named therein, when 100 gr., or any aliquot part of 100 gr., have been tested; the result, in the latter case, being, of course, multiplied as before.

By taking certain standard weights for the assay, the quantity of carbonic acid evolved may be made to furnish the per-centage strength or value of the specimen in the terms of either the pure or carbonated alkalies, whether in their anhydrous or hydrated state. The numbers in the second column of the following _Table_ represent the quantity in grains and decimal parts of each of the substances named in the first column, equivalent to one grain of carbonic anhydride. These numbers, as already mentioned, may be employed as factors for converting any numbers representing grains of that acid into the equivalents of these substances, true to 4 places of decimals; and further, they furnish us with the data for determining the exact number of grains which must be tested, so that the loss of weight in carbonic anhydride shall at once give us the per-centage richness of the sample in the terms of the denomination for which it is taken. The numbers in the third column of the _Table_, formed by simply moving the decimal point of the numbers in the second column one figure further to the right, indicate the weights to be taken for the assay, so that the loss of weight, reckoned in tenths of a grain, exactly represents the per-centage strength in the terms sought. The weights corresponding to the numbers in the fifth column give the same results, provided the loss of weight is reckoned in quarter-grains; those in the sixth column effect the same when the loss of weight is reckoned in half-grains; whilst those in the last column require that the gas eliminated should be counted in grains, and are simply the numbers in the second column of the _Table_ multiplied by 100, or reproduced by moving the decimal point two figures to the right.

TABLE I.--_Multipliers and Standard Weights for the
Principal Alkalies and their Carbonates._ (COOLEY.)

KEY:

A - Factors or Multipliers for converting the weight of carbonic
acid expelled into real strengths.
B - Quantity (in grains) to be taken, so that the per-centage
value of the sample tested shall be shown in the terms of
any of the denominations given, by the weight of the evolved
Carbonic Acid reckoned--
C - in tenths of a grain.
D - Whole numbers and decimals.
E - Nearest common numbers.
F - in quarter-grains.
G - in half-grains.
H - in grains.