Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and Processes

Chapter I: II III IV V VI (13)

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The bottle or other glass to be marked must be perfectly clean and dry. The etching powder takes better when the vessel is somewhat warm. The stamp should be provided with a roller which is kept constantly supplied with a viscid oil which it distributes on the stamp and which the stamp transfers to the glass surface. The powder is dusted on the imprint thus made, by means of a camel’s-hair brush. Any surplus falling on the unoiled surface may be removed with a fine long-haired pencil. The printed bottle is transferred to a damp place and kept for several minutes, the dampness aiding the etching powder in its work on the glass surface. The bottle is then well washed in plain water.

Glass cylinders, large flasks, carboys, etc., may be treated in a somewhat different manner. The stamp here is inserted, face upward, between two horizontal boards, in such a manner that its face projects about a quarter of a millimeter (say 0.01 inch) above the surface. Oil is applied to the surface, after which the cylinder, carboy, or what not, is rolled along the board and over the stamp. The design is thus neatly transferred to the glass surface, and the rest of the operation is as in the previous case.

For an etching ink for glassware the following is recommended:

Ammonium fluoride 2 drachms Barium sulphate 2 drachms

Reduce to a fine powder in a mortar, {326} then transfer to a lead dish and make into a thin writing-cream with hydrofluoric acid or fuming sulphuric acid. Use a piece of lead to stir the mixture. The ink may be put up in bottles coated with paraffine, which can be done by heating the bottle, pouring in some melted paraffine, and letting it flow all around. The writing is done with a quill, and in about half a minute the ink is washed off.

Extreme caution must be observed in handling the acid, since when brought in contact with the skin it produces dangerous sores very difficult to heal. The vapor is also dangerously poisonous when inhaled.

«Hydrofluoric Formulas.»—I.—Dissolve about 0.72 ounces fluoride of soda with 0.14 ounces sulphate of potash in 1/2 pint of water. Make another solution of 0.28 ounces chloride of zinc and 1.30 ounces hydrochloric acid in an equal quantity of water. Mix the solutions and apply to the glass vessel with a pin or brush. At the end of half an hour the design should be sufficiently etched.

II.—A mixture consisting of ammonium fluoride, common salt, and carbonate of soda is prepared, and then placed in a gutta-percha bottle containing fuming hydrofluoric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid. In a separate vessel which is made of lead, potassium fluoride is mixed with hydrochloric acid, and a little of this solution is added to the former, along with a small quantity of sodium silicate and ammonia. Some of the solution is dropped upon a rubber pad, and by means of a suitable rubber stamp, bearing the design which is to be reproduced, is transferred to the glass vessel that is to be etched.

«Etching with Wax.»—Spread wax or a preservative varnish on the glass, and trace on this wax or varnish the letters or designs. If letters are desired, trace them by hand or by the use of letters cut out in tin, which apply on the wax, the inside contours being taken with a fine point. When this is done, remove the excess of wax from the glass, leaving only the full wax letters undisturbed. Make an edge of wax all along the glass plate so as to prevent the acid from running over when you pour it on to attack the glass. At the end of 3 to 4 hours remove the acid, wash the glass well with hot water, next pour on essence of turpentine or alcohol to take off the wax or the preservative varnish. Pass again through clean water; the glass plate will have become dead wherever the acid has eaten in, only the letters remaining polished. For fancy designs it suffices to put on the back of the plate a black or colored varnish, or tin foil, etc., to obtain a brilliant effect.

«Etching Glass by Means of Glue.»—It is necessary only to cover a piece of ordinary or flint glass with a coat of glue dissolved in water in order to see that the layer of glue, upon contracting through the effect of drying, becomes detached from the glass and removes therefrom numerous scales of varying thickness. The glass thus etched presents a sort of regular and decorative design similar to the flowers of frost deposited on windowpanes in winter. When salts that are readily crystallizable and that exert no chemical action upon the gelatin are dissolved in the latter the figures etched upon the glass exhibit a crystalline appearance that recalls fern fronds.

Hyposulphite of soda and chlorate and nitrate of potash produce nearly the same effects. A large number of mineral substances are attacked by gelatin. Toughened glass is easily etched, and the same is the case with fluorspar and polished marble. A piece of rock crystal, cut at right angles with the axis and coated with isinglass, the action of which seems to be particularly energetic, is likewise attacked at different points, and the parts detached present a conchoidal appearance. The contraction of the gelatin may be rendered visible by applying a coating of glue to sheets of cardboard or lead, which bend backward in drying and assume the form of an irregular cylinder.

Such etching of glass and different mineral substances by the action of gelatin may be employed for the decoration of numerous objects.

Dissolve some common glue in ordinary water, heated by a water bath, and add 6 per cent of its weight of potash alum. After the glue has become perfectly melted, homogeneous, and of the consistency of syrup, apply a layer, while it is still hot, to a glass object by means of a brush. If the object is of ground glass the action of the glue will be still more energetic. After half an hour apply a second coat in such a way as to obtain a smooth, transparent surface destitute of air bubbles. After the glue has become so hard that it no longer yields to the pressure of the finger nail (say, in about 24 hours), put the article in a warmer place, in which the temperature must not exceed 105° F. When the object is removed from the oven, after a few hours, the glue will detach itself with {327} a noise and removes with it numerous flakes of glass. All that the piece then requires is to be carefully washed and dried.

The designs thus obtained are not always the same, the thickness of the coat of glue, the time of drying, and various other conditions seeming to act to modify the form and number of the flakes detached.

It is indispensable to employ glass objects of adequate thickness, since, in covering mousseline glass with a layer of glue, the mechanical action that it has to support during desiccation is so powerful that it will break with an explosion. Glue, therefore, must not be allowed to dry in glass vessels, since they would be corroded and broken in a short time.

«Indelible Labels on Bottles.»—To affix indelible labels on bottles an etching liquid is employed which is produced as follows:

Liquid I, in one bottle.—Dissolve 36 parts of sodium fluoride in 500 parts of distilled water and add 7 parts of potassium sulphate.

Liquid II, in another bottle.—Dissolve zinc chloride, 14 parts, in 500 parts of distilled water, and add 65 parts of concentrated hydrochloric acid.

For use mix equal parts together and add a little dissolved India ink to render the writing more visible.

The mixing cannot, however, be conducted in a vessel. It is best to use a cube of paraffine which has been hollowed out.

«Etching on Marble or Ivory» (see also Ivory).—Cover the objects with a coat of wax dissolved in 90 per cent alcohol, then trace the desired designs by removing the wax with a sharp tool and distribute on the tracing the following mixture: Hydrochloric acid, 1 part; acetic acid, 1 part. Repeat this operation several times, until the desired depth is attained. Then take off the varnish with alcohol. The etching may be embellished, filling up the hollows with any colored varnish, by wiping the surface with a piece of linen fixed on a stick, to rub the varnish into the cavities after it has been applied with a brush. The hollows may be gilded or silvered by substituting “mixtion” for the varnish and applying on this mixtion a leaf of gold or silver, cut in pieces a little larger than the design to be covered; press down the gold by means of a soft brush so as to cause it to penetrate to the bottom; let dry and remove the protruding edges.

«Etching on Steel.»—The print should be heavily inked and powdered with dragon’s blood several times. After each powdering heat slightly and additional powder will stick, forming a heavy coating in 2 or 3 operations. Before proceeding to heat up, the plate should receive a light etching in a weak solution of the acid described later on. The purpose of this preliminary etching is to clean up the print, so that the lines will not tend to thicken, as would be the case otherwise. Next a good strong heating should be given. On top the dragon’s blood plumbago may be used in addition. For etching use nitric acid mixed with an even amount of acetic acid. Some operators use vinegar, based on the same theory. When commencing the etching, start with a weak solution and increase as soon as the plate is deep enough to allow another powdering. If the operator is familiar with lithography, and understands rolling up the print with a lithoroller, the etching of steel is not harder than etching on zinc.

«Liquids for Etching Steel.»—

I.—Iodine 2 parts
Potassium iodide 5 parts
Water 40 parts

II.—Nitric acid 60 parts
Water 120 parts
Alcohol 200 parts
Copper nitrate 8 parts

III.—Glacial acetic acid 4 parts
Nitric acid 1 part
Alcohol 1 part

IV.—Mix 1 ounce sulphate of copper, 1/4 ounce alum, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt (reduced to powder), with 1 gill of vinegar and 20 drops of nitric acid. This fluid can be used either for etching deeply or for frosting, according to the time it is allowed to act. The parts of the work which are not to be etched should be protected with beeswax or some similar substance.

V.—Nitric acid, 60 parts; water, 120 parts; alcohol, 200 parts; and copper nitrate, 8 parts. Keep in a glass-stoppered bottle. To use the fluid, cover the surface to be marked with a thin even coat of wax and mark the lines with a machinist’s scriber. Wrap clean cotton waste around the end of the scriber or a stick, and dip in the fluid, applying it to the marked surface. In a few minutes the wax may be scraped off, when fine lines will appear where the scriber marked the wax. The drippings from a lighted wax candle can be used for the {328} coating, and this may be evenly spread with a knife heated in the candle flame.

VI.—For Hardened Steel.—Heat an iron or an old pillar-file with a smooth side, and with it spread a thin, even coat of beeswax over the brightened surface to be etched. With a sharp lead pencil (which is preferable to a scriber) write or mark as wanted through the wax so as to be sure to strike the steel surface. Then daub on with a stick etching acid made as follows: Nitric acid, 3 parts; muriatic acid, 1 part. If a lead pencil has been used the acid will begin to bubble immediately. Two or three minutes of the bubbling or foaming will be sufficient for marking; then soak up the acid with a small piece of blotting paper and remove the beeswax with a piece of cotton waste wet with benzine, and if the piece be small enough dip it into a saturated solution of sal soda, or if the piece be large swab over it with a piece of waste. This neutralizes the remaining acid and prevents rusting, which oil will not do.

If it is desired to coat the piece with beeswax without heating it, dissolve pure beeswax in benzine until of the consistency of thick cream and pour on to the steel, and even spread it by rocking or blowing, and lay aside for it to harden; then use the lead pencil, etc., as before. This method will take longer. Keep work from near the fire or an open flame.

EUCALYPTUS BONBONS FOR COLDS AND COUGHS: See Cold and Cough Mixtures.

EXPECTORANTS: See Cold and Cough Mixtures.

«Explosives»

Explosives may be divided into two great classes—mechanical mixtures and chemical compounds. In the former the combustible substances are intimately mixed with some oxygen supplying material, as in the case of gunpowder, where carbon and sulphur are intimately mixed with potassium nitrate; while gun cotton and nitro-glycerine are examples of the latter class, where each molecule of the substance contains the necessary oxygen for the oxidation of the carbon and hydrogen present, the oxygen being in feeble combination with nitrogen. Many explosives are, however, mechanical mixtures of compounds which are themselves explosive, e. g., cordite, which is mainly composed of gun cotton and nitro-glycerine.

The most common and familiar of explosives is undoubtedly gunpowder. The mixture first adopted appears to have consisted of equal parts of the three ingredients—sulphur, charcoal, and niter; but some time later the proportions, even now taken for all ordinary purposes, were introduced, namely:

Potassium nitrate 75 parts Charcoal 15 parts Sulphur 10 parts ──── 100 parts

Since gunpowder is a mechanical mixture, it is clear that the first aim of the maker must be to obtain perfect incorporation, and, necessarily, in order to obtain this, the materials must be in a very finely divided state. Moreover, in order that uniformity of effect may be obtained, purity of the original substances, the percentage of moisture present, and the density of the finished powder are of importance.

The weighed quantities of the ingredients are first mixed in gun metal or copper drums, having blades in the interior capable of working in the opposite direction to that in which the drum itself is traveling. After passing through a sieve, the mixture (green charge) is passed on to the incorporating mills, where it is thoroughly ground under heavy metal rollers, a small quantity of water being added to prevent dust and facilitating incorporation, and during this process the risk of explosion is greater possibly than at any other stage in the manufacture. There are usually 6 mills working in the same building, with partitions between. Over the bed of each mill is a horizontal board, the “flash board,” which is connected with a tank of water overhead, the arrangement being such that the upsetting of one tank discharges the contents of the other tanks onto the corresponding mill beds below, so that in the event of an accident the charge is drowned in each case. The “mill cake” is now broken down between rollers, the “meal” produced being placed in strong oak boxes and subjected to hydraulic pressure, thus increasing its density and hardness, at the same time bringing the ingredients into more intimate contact. After once more breaking down the material (press cake), the powder only requires special treatment to adapt it for the various purposes for which it is intended.

The products of the combustion of powder and its manner of burning are {329} largely influenced by the pressure, a property well illustrated by the failure of a red-hot platinum wire to ignite a mass of powder in a vacuum, only a few grains actually in contact with the platinum undergoing combustion.

Nitro-glycerine is a substance of a similar chemical nature to gun cotton, the principles of its formation and purification being very similar, only in this case the materials and product are liquids, thereby rendering the operations of manufacture and washing much less difficult. The glycerine is sprayed into the acid mixture by compressed-air injectors, care being taken that the temperature during nitration does not rise above 86° F. The nitro-glycerine formed readily separates from the mixed acids, and being insoluble in cold water, the washing is comparatively simple.

Nitro-glycerine is an oily liquid readily soluble in most organic solvents, but becomes solid at 3° or 4° above the freezing point of water, and in this condition is less sensitive. It detonates when heated to 500° F., or by a sudden blow, yielding carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, and water. Being a fluid under ordinary conditions, its uses as an explosive were limited, and Alfred Nobel conceived the idea of mixing it with other substances which would act as absorbents, first using charcoal and afterwards an infusorial earth, “kieselguhr,” and obtaining what he termed “dynamite.” Nobel found that “collodion cotton”—soluble gun cotton—could be converted by treatment with nitro-glycerine into a jellylike mass which was more trustworthy in action than the components alone, and from its nature the substance was christened “blasting gelatin.”

Nobel took out a patent for a smokeless powder for use in guns, in which these ingredients were adopted with or without the use of retarding agents. The powders of this class are ballistite and filite, the former being in sheets, the latter in threads. Originally camphor was introduced, but its use has been abandoned, a small quantity of aniline taking its place.

Sir Frederick Abel and Prof. Dewar patented in 1889 the use of trinitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerine, for although, as is well known, this form of nitro-cellulose is not soluble in nitro-glycerine, yet by dissolving the bodies in a mutual solvent, perfect incorporation can be attained. Acetone is the solvent used in the preparation of “cordite,” and for all ammunition except blank charges a certain proportion of vaseline is also added. The combustion of the powder without vaseline gives products so free from solid or liquid substances that excessive friction of the projectile in the gun causes rapid wearing of the rifling, and it is chiefly to overcome this that the vaseline is introduced, for on explosion a thin film of solid matter is deposited in the gun, and acts as a lubricant.

The proportion of the ingredients are:

Nitro-glycerine 58 parts Gun-cotton 37 parts Vaseline 5 parts

Gun cotton to be used for cordite is prepared as previously described, but the alkali is omitted, and the mass is not submitted to great pressure, to avoid making it so dense that ready absorption of nitro-glycerine would not take place. The nitro-glycerine is poured over the dried gun cotton and first well mixed by hand, afterwards in a kneading machine with the requisite quantity of acetone for 3 1/2 hours. A water jacket is provided, since, on mixing, the temperature rises. The vaseline is now added, and the kneading continued for a similar period. The cordite paste is first subjected to a preliminary pressing, and is finally forced through a hole of the proper size in a plate either by hand or by hydraulic pressure. The smaller sizes are wound on drums, while the larger cordite is cut off in suitable lengths, the drums and cut material being dried at 100° F., thus driving off the remainder of the acetone.

Cordite varies from yellow to dark brown in color, according to its thickness. When ignited it burns with a strong flame, which may be extinguished by a vigorous puff of air. Macnab and Ristori give the yield of permanent gases from English cordite as 647 cubic centimeters, containing a much higher per cent of carbon monoxide than the gases evolved from the old form of powder. Sir Andrew Noble failed in attempts to detonate the substance, and a rifle bullet fired into the mass only caused it to burn quietly.

«Dynamite.»—Dynamite is ordinarily made up of 75 per cent nitro-glycerine, 25 per cent infusorial earth; dualine contains 80 per cent nitro-glycerine, 20 per cent nitro-cellulose; rend-rock has 40 per cent nitro-glycerine, 40 per cent nitrate of potash, 13 per cent cellulose, 7 per cent paraffine; giant powder, 36 per cent nitro-glycerine, 48 per cent nitrate of potash, 8 per cent sulphur, 8 per cent rosin or charcoal.

«Smokeless Powder.»—The base of smokeless powders is nitrated cellulose, {330} which has been treated in one of various ways to make it burn slower than gun cotton, and also to render it less sensitive to heat and shocks. As a rule, these powders are not only less inflammable than gun cotton, but require stronger detonators. As metallic salts cause smoke, they are not used in these powders. The smokeless powders now in use may be divided into three groups: (1) Those consisting of mixtures of nitro-glycerine and nitrated cellulose, which have been converted into a hard, hornlike mass, either with or without the aid of a solvent. To this group belongs ballistite, containing 50 per cent of nitro-glycerine, 49 per cent of nitrated cellulose, and 1 per cent of diphenylamin; also cordite (see further on), Lenord’s powder, and amberite. This last contains 40 parts of nitro-glycerine and 56 parts of nitrated cellulose. (2) Those consisting mainly of nitrated cellulose of any kind, which has been rendered hard and horny by treatment with some solvent which is afterwards evaporated. These are prepared by treating nitrated cellulose with ether or benzine, which dissolves the collodion, and when evaporated leaves a hard film of collodion on the surface of each grain. Sometimes a little camphor is added to the solvent, and, remaining in the powder, greatly retards its combustion. (3) Those consisting of nitro-derivatives of the aromatic hydrocarbons, either with or without the admixture of nitrated cellulose; to this group belong Dupont’s powder, consisting of nitrated cellulose dissolved in nitro-benzine; indurite, consisting of cellulose hexanitrate (freed from collodion by extraction with methyl alcohol), made into a paste with nitro-benzine, and hardened by treatment with steam until the excess of nitro-benzine is removed; and plastomeite, consisting of dinitrotoluene and nitrated wood pulp.

Cordite is the specific name of a smokeless powder which has been adopted by the English government as a military explosive. It contains nitro-glycerine, 58 parts; gun cotton, 37 parts; and petrolatum, 5 parts. The nitro-glycerine and gun cotton are first mixed, 19.2 parts of acetone added, and the pasty mass kneaded for several hours. The petrolatum is then added and the mixture again kneaded. The paste is then forced through fine openings to form threads, which are dried at about 105° F. until the acetone evaporates. The threads, which resemble brown twine, are then cut into short lengths for use.

Another process for the manufacture of smokeless powder is as follows: Straw, preferably oat-straw, is treated in the usual way with a mixture of nitric acid and concentrated sulphuric acid, and then washed in water to free it from these, then boiled with water, and again with a solution of potassium carbonate. It is next subjected, for 2 to 6 hours, to the action of a solution composed of 1,000 parts of water, 12.5 parts of potassium nitrate, 3.5 parts of potassium chlorate, 12.5 parts of zinc sulphate, and 12.5 parts of potassium permanganate. The excess of solution is pressed out, and the mass is then pulverized, granulated, and finally dried.

The warning as to the danger of experimenting with the manufacture of ordinary gunpowder applies with renewed force when nitro-glycerine is the subject of the experiment.

«Berge’s Blasting Powder.»—This is composed of chlorate of potash, 1 part; chromate of potash, 0.1 part; sugar, 0.45 parts; yellow wax, 0.09 parts. The proportions indicated may vary within certain limits, according to the force desired. For the preparation, the chlorate and the chromate of potash, as well as the sugar, are ground separately and very finely, and sifted so that the grains of the different substances may have the same size. At first any two of the substances are mixed as thoroughly as possible, then the third is added. The yellow wax, cut in small pieces, is finally added, and all the substances are worked together to produce a homogeneous product. The sugar may be replaced with charcoal or any other combustible body. For commercial needs, the compound may be colored with any inert matter, also pulverized.

«Safety in Explosives».—Ammoniacal salts have been used in the manufacture of explosives to render them proof against firedamp, but not with the full success desired. Ammonium chloride has been utilized, but inconveniences are met with, and the vapor is quite disagreeable. In coöperation with equivalent quantities of soda and potash, its action is regarded as favorable. Tests employing benzine vapor and coal dust were made, and the comparative security calculated to be as given below.

I.—Donarite, composed as follows: 80 per cent of nitrate of ammonia, 12 of trinitrotoluol, 4 of flour, 3.8 of nitro-glycerine, and 0.2 per cent of cotton collodion. Security: Donarite alone, 87 parts; 95 per cent of donarite and 5 per {331} cent of ammonium chloride, 125 parts; 90 per cent of donarite and 10 per cent of ammonium chloride, 250 parts; 86 per cent of donarite and 5.5 per cent of ammonium chloride, with 8.5 per cent of nitrate of soda, 425 parts. The force of the explosion is decreased about 8 per cent, while the security is quintupled.

II.—Roburite, with the following composition: 72.5 per cent nitrate of ammonia; 12 binitro-benzol; 10 nitrate of potash; 5 sulphate of ammonia; 0.5 per cent permanganate of potash. Security: Roburite only, 325 parts; ammonium chloride, taking the place of sulphate of ammonia, 400 parts. Here an intensification of the explosive force is simultaneously produced.

III.—Ammon carbonite I, composed thus: 4 per cent nitro-glycerine; 75.5 nitrate of ammonia; 9.5 nitrate of potash; 9.5 coal dust; 10.5 flour. Security: Ammon carbonite I only, 250 parts; 95 per cent A. C. I. and 5 per cent ammonium chloride, 400 parts; 92 per cent A. C. I. and 8 per cent ammonium chloride, 500 parts. The addition of 5 per cent ammonium chloride diminishes the explosive force only 3 per cent.

IV.—An explosive of nitro-glycerine base composed thus: 30 per cent nitro-glycerine; 1 per cent cotton collodion; 52.6 nitrate of ammonia; 13 nitrate of potash; 3 to 4 per cent starch. Security of this mixture, 150 parts.

V.—Thirty per cent nitro-glycerine; 1 per cent cotton collodion; 47.3 nitrate of ammonia; 11.6 nitrate of potash; 3.1 starch; 7 per cent ammonium chloride. This mixture has a security of 350 parts.

«Inflammable Explosive with Chlorate of Potash.»—Take as an agent promoting combustion, potassium chlorate; as a combustible agent, an oxidized, nitrated, or natural rosin. If, to such a mixture, another body is added in order to render it soft and plastic, such as oil, nitro-benzine, glucose, glycerine, the benefit of the discovery is lost, for the mixture is rendered combustible with nitro-benzine, fecula, sulphur, etc., and inexplosive with glycerine, glucose, and the oil.

Of all the chlorates and perchlorates, potassium chlorate (KClO_〈3〉) responds the best to what is desired. As to the rosins, they may be varied, or even mixed. To obtain the oxidation or nitration of the rosins, they are heated with nitric acid, more or less concentrated, and with or without the addition of sulphuric acid. An oxidation, sufficient and without danger, can be secured by a simple and practical means. This is boiling them for several hours in water containing nitric acid, which is renewed from time to time in correspondence with its decomposition. The rosins recommended by M. Turpin are of the terebinthine group, having for average formula C_〈20〉H_〈30〉O_〈2〉. Colophony is the type.

The products, thus nitrated, are washed with boiling water, and, on occasion, by a solution slightly alkaline, with a final washing with pure water, and dried at a temperature of 230° F. or in the open air.

The mixing of the constituents of this explosive is preferably cold. For this purpose they are used in the state of fine powder, and when mixed in the tub, 2 1/2 to 5 per cent of a volatile dissolvent is added, as alcohol, carbon sulphide, ether, or benzine. As soon as thoroughly mingled, the mass is put either in an ordinary grainer, or in a cylinder of wire cloth revolving horizontally on its axis, with glass gobilles forming a screen, by the aid of which the graining is rapidly accomplished. Thus a powder more or less finely granulated is produced free from dust.

The proportions preferably employed are:

1. Potassium chlorate 85 parts
Natural rosin 15 parts

2. Potassium chlorate 80 parts
Nitrated rosin 20 parts

For employment in firedamp mines, there is added to these compounds from 20 to 40 per cent of one of the following substances: Ammonium oxalate, ammonium carbonate, oxalic acid, sodium bicarbonate, calcium fluoride, or other substance of the nature to lower sufficiently the temperature of the explosive flame.

«Gun Cotton.»—For the production of a high-grade gun cotton, it is important that the cotton used should approach as near as possible pure cellulose. The waste from cotton mills, thoroughly purified, is usually employed. After careful chemical examination has been made to ascertain its freedom from grease and other impurities, the cotton waste is picked over by hand to remove such impurities as wood, cardboard, string, etc. The cotton is then passed through the “teasing machine,” which opens out all knots and lumps, thereby reducing it to a state more suitable for the acid treatment and exposing to view any foreign substances which may have escaped notice in the previous picking. The cotton is then dried. When {332} perfectly dry, it is removed to air-tight iron cases, in which it is allowed to cool. The iron cases are taken to the dipping houses, and the cotton waste weighed into small portions, which are then transferred as rapidly as possible to the mixed acids, allowed to remain a few minutes, then removed to the grating and the excess of acid squeezed out. The cotton now containing about ten times its weight of acid is placed in an earthenware pot and transferred to the steeping pits, where it is allowed to remain for 24 hours, a low temperature being maintained by a stream of cold water.

The cotton is now wholly converted into nitro-cellulose. The superfluous acid is next removed by a centrifugal extractor, after which the gun cotton is taken out of the machine and immediately immersed in a large volume of water, and thoroughly washed until it shows no acid reaction. The moisture is then run out and the gun cotton is conveyed by tramway to the boiling vats, where it undergoes several boilings by means of steam. When the “heat test” shows that a sufficient degree of stability has been obtained, the gun cotton is removed to a beating engine, and reduced to a very fine state of division. When this process is completed the pulp is run by gravity along wooden shoots, provided with “grit traps” and electromagnets, which catch any traces of sand, iron, etc., into large “poachers,” in which the gun cotton is continuously agitated, together with a large quantity of water. In this way it is thoroughly washed and a blend made of a large quantity of gun cotton.

«Soluble Gun Cotton.»—Soluble gun cotton is made on the same lines, except that greater attention has to be paid to the physical condition of the cotton used, and to the temperature and strength of acid mixture, etc.

The term “soluble” usually implies that the gun cotton is dissolved by a mixture of ethyl-ether and ethyl-alcohol, 2 parts of the former to 1 of the latter being the proportions which yield the best solvent action. The classification of nitro-celluloses according to their solubility in ether-alcohol is misleading, except when the nitrogen contents are also quoted.

The number of solvents for gun cotton which have at various times been proposed is very large. Among the more important may be mentioned the following: Alcohols (used chiefly in conjunction with other solvents), methyl, ethyl, propyl, and amyl, methyl-amyl ether, acetic ether, di-ethyl-ketone, methyl-ethyl ketone, amyl nitrate and acetate, nitro-benzole, nitro-toluol, nitrated oils, glacial acetic acid, camphor dissolved in alcohol, etc.

Some of the above may be called selective solvents, i. e., they dissolve one particular variety of gun cotton better than others, so that solubility in any given solvent must not be used to indicate solubility in another. No nitro-cotton is entirely soluble in any solvent. The solution, after standing some time, always deposits a small amount of insoluble matter. Therefore, in making collodion solutions, care should be taken to place the containing bottles in a place free from vibration and shock. After standing a few weeks the clear supernatant liquid may be decanted off. On a larger scale collodion solutions are filtered under pressure through layers of tightly packed cotton wool. The state of division is important. When the end in view is the production of a strong film or thread, it is advisable to use unpulped or only slightly pulped nitro-cellulose. In this condition it also dissolves more easily than the finely pulped material.

«FULMINATES:»

«Fulminating Antimony.»—Tartar emetic (dried), 100 parts; lampblack or charcoal powder, 3 parts. Triturate together, put into a crucible that it will three-fourths fill (previously rubbed inside with charcoal powder). Cover it with a layer of dry charcoal powder, and lute on the cover. After 3 hours’ exposure to a strong heat in a reverberatory furnace, and 6 or 7 hours’ cooling, cautiously transfer the solid contents of the crucible, as quickly as possible, without breaking, to a wide-mouthed stoppered phial, where, after some time, it will spontaneously crumble to a powder. When the above process is properly conducted, the resulting powder contains potassium, and fulminates violently on contact with water. A piece the size of a pea introduced into a mass of gunpowder explodes it on being thrown into water, or on its being moistened in any other manner.

«Fulminating Bismuth.»—Take bismuth, 120 parts; carbureted cream of tartar, 60 parts; niter, 1 part.

«Fulminating Copper.»—Digest copper (in powder of filings) with fulminate of mercury or of silver, and a little water. {333} It forms soluble green crystals that explode with a green flame.

«Fulminating Mercury.»—Take mercury, 100 parts; nitric acid (specific gravity, 1.4), 1,000 parts (or 740 parts, by measure). Dissolve by a gentle heat, and when the solution has acquired the temperature of 130° F., slowly pour it through a glass funnel tube into alcohol (specific gravity, .830), 830 parts (or 1,000 parts, by measure). As soon as the effervescence is over, and white fumes cease to be evolved, filter through double paper, wash with cold water, and dry by steam (not hotter than 212° F.) or hot water. The fulminate is then to be packed in 100-grain paper parcels, and these stored in a tight box or corked bottle. Product 130 per cent of the weight of mercury employed.

«Fulminating Powder.»—I.—Niter, 3 parts; carbonate of potash (dry), 2 parts; flowers of sulphur, 1 part; reduce them separately to fine powder, before mixing them. A little of this compound (20 to 30 grains), slowly heated on a shovel over the fire, first fuses and becomes brown, and then explodes with a deafening report.

II.—Sulphur, 1 part; chlorate of potassa, 3 parts. When triturated, with strong pressure, in a marble or wedgwood-ware mortar, it produces a series of loud reports. It also fulminates by percussion.

III.—Chlorate of potassa, 6 parts; pure lampblack, 4 parts; sulphur, 1 part. A little placed on an anvil detonates with a loud report when struck with a hammer.

EXPOSURES IN PHOTOGRAPHING: See Photography.

EXTRACTS: See Essences and Extracts.

EXTRACTS, TESTS FOR: See Foods.

«EYE LOTIONS:»

«“Black Eye” Lotion.»—“Black eyes” or other temporary discolorations of the skin may be disguised by the application of pink grease paint, or collodion colored by means of a little carmine. As lotions the following have been recommended:

I.—Ammonium chloride 1 part
Alcohol 1 part
Water 10 parts

Diluted acetic acid may be substituted for half of the water, and the alcohol may be replaced by tincture of arnica, with advantage.

II.—Potassium nitrate 15 grains
Ammonium chloride 30 grains
Aromatic vinegar 4 drachms
Water to make 8 ounces.

III.—The following is to be applied with camel’s-hair pencil every 1, 2, or 3 hours. Be careful not to get it in the eyes, as it smarts. It will remove the black discoloration overnight:

Oxalic acid 15 grains Distilled water 1 ounce

«Foreign Matter in the Eye.»—If a piece of iron or other foreign matter in the eye irritates it, and there is no way of removing it until morning, take a raw Irish potato, grate it, and use as a poultice on the eye. It will ease the eye so one can sleep, and sometimes draws the piece out.

«Drops of Lime in the Eye.»—If lime has dropped in the eye, the pouring-in of or the wiping-out with a few drops of oil is the best remedy, as the causticity of the lime is Arrested thereby. Poppy-seed oil or olive oil is prescribed, but pure linseed oil ought to render the same service, as it is also used in the household. Subsequently, the eye may be rinsed out with syrup, as the saccharine substance will harden any remaining particles of lime and destroy all causticity entirely.

FABRIC CLEANERS: See Cleaning Preparations and Methods and also Household Formulas.

FABRICS, WATERPROOFING OF: See Waterproofing.

FACE BLACK AND FACE POWDER: See Cosmetics.

«Fats»

«Bear Fat.»—Fresh bears’ fat is white and very similar to lard in appearance. The flank fat is softer and more transparent than the kidney fat, and its odor recalls that of fresh bacon. Bears’ fat differs from the fats of the dog, fox, and cat in having a lower specific gravity, a very low melting point, and a fairly high iodine value.

«Bleaching Bone Fat.»—Bone fat, which is principally obtained from horse bones, is very dark colored in the crude state, and of an extremely disagreeable smell. To remedy these defects it may be bleached by the air or chemicals, the former method only giving good results {334} when the fat has been recovered by means of steam. It consists in cutting up the fat into small fragments and exposing it to the air for several days, the mass being turned over at intervals with a shovel. When sufficiently bleached in this manner, the fat is boiled with half its own weight of water, which done, about 3 or 4 per cent of salt is added, and the whole is boiled over again. This treatment, which takes 2 or 3 weeks, sweetens the fat, makes it of the consistency of butter, and reduces the color to a pale yellow. Light seems to play no part in the operation, the change being effected solely by the oxygen of the air. The chemical treatment has the advantage of being more rapid, sufficient decoloration being produced in a few hours. The fat, which should be free from gelatin, phosphate of lime, and water, is placed in an iron pan along with an equal weight of brine of 14° to 15° Bé. strength, with which it is boiled for 3 hours and left to rest overnight. Next day the fat is drawn off into a wooden vessel, where it is treated by degrees with a mixture of 2 parts of potassium bichromate, dissolved in 6 of boiling water, and 8 parts of hydrochloric acid (density 22° Bé.), this quantity being sufficient for 400 parts of fat. Decoloration proceeds gradually, and when complete the fat is washed with hot water.

«Bleaching Tallows and Fats.»—Instead of exposing to the sun, which is always attended with danger of rendering fats rancid, it is better to liquefy these at a gentle heat, and then add 1/5 in weight of a mixture of equal parts of kaolin and water. The fatty matter should be worked up for a time and then left to separate. Kaolin has the advantage of cheapness in price and of being readily procured.

Freshly burned animal charcoal would perhaps be a more satisfactory decolorizer than kaolin, but it is more expensive to start with, and not so easy to regenerate.

Exposure of tallow to the action of steam under high pressure (a temperature of 250° or 260° F.) is also said to render it whiter and harder.

«Coloring Matter in Fats.»—A simple method for the detection of the addition of coloring matter to fats is here described. Ten parts, by measure, of the melted fat are put into a small separating funnel and dissolved in 10 parts, by measure, of petroleum ether. The solution is then treated with 15 parts, by measure, of glacial acetic acid and the whole shaken thoroughly. The addition of coloring matter is known by the red or yellow coloration which appears in the lower layer of acetic acid after the contents of the funnel have been allowed to settle. If only a slight addition of coloring matter is suspected, the acetic acid solution is run off into a porcelain basin and the latter heated on a water bath, when the coloration will be seen more readily. This test is intended for butter and margarine, but is also suitable for tallow, lard, etc.

«Fatty Acid Fermentation Process.»—The production of fatty acids from fats and oils by fermentation is growing in importance. These particulars, which are the actual results from recent experiments on a somewhat extended scale, are given: Seven hundred and fifty pounds of cottonseed oil are mixed with 45 gallons of water and 3 1/2 pounds of acetic acid; this mixture is heated to a temperature of 85° F. Castor-oil seeds, 53 pounds, decorticated and ground, are mixed thoroughly with 3 gallons of water and 4 1/2 gallons of the oil, and this mixture is stirred into the oil and water; the whole mass is then kept mixed for 12 hours by blowing air through, after which it is allowed to stand for another 12 hours, being given a gentle stir by hand at the end of every hour. After 24 hours the mass is heated to a temperature of 180° F., which stops the fermentation and at the same time allows the fatty acids to separate more freely. To assist in this effect there is added 1 gallon of sulphuric acid (1 in 3) solution.

After 2 hours’ standing, the mass will have separated into three layers—fatty acids on the top, glycerine water below, and a middle, undefined layer. The glycerine water is run away, and the whole mass left to stand for 2 hours. The middle portion is run off from the separated fatty acids into another vessel, where it is mixed with 10 gallons of hot water, thoroughly stirred, and allowed to stand for 16 hours or more. The watery layer at the bottom, which contains some glycerine, is then run off, while the residue is mixed with a further quantity of 10 gallons of water, and again allowed to stand. The water which separates out, also the layer of fatty acids that forms on the top, are run off and mixed with the portions previously obtained. The various glycerine waters are treated to recover the glycerine, while the fatty acids are made marketable in any convenient way. {335}

«Preservation of Fats.»—To produce fats and oils containing both iodine and sulphur, whereby they are preserved from going rancid, and consequently can be utilized to more advantage for the usual purposes, such as the manufacture of soaps, candles, etc., following is the Loebell method:

The essential feature of the process is that the iodine is not merely held in solution by the oil or fat, but enters into chemical combination with the same; the sulphur also combines chemically with the oil or fat, and from their reactions the preserving properties are derived.

The process consists of heating, for example, 6 parts of oil with 1 part of sulphur to a temperature varying between 300° and 400° F., then, when at about 195° F., a solution of iodine and oil is added to the mixture, which is constantly agitated until cool to prevent lumps forming. A product is thus obtained which acquires the consistency of butter, and contains both iodine and sulphur in combination.

«Purifying Oils and Fats.»—In purifying fatty oils and fats for edible purposes the chief thing is to remove the free fatty acids, which is done by the aid of solutions of alkalies and alkaline earths. The subsequent precipitation of the resulting soapy emulsions, especially when lime is used, entails prolonged heating to temperatures sometimes as high as the boiling point of water. Furthermore, the amount of alkalies taken is always greater than is chemically necessary, the consequence being that some of the organic substances present are attacked, and malodorous products are formed, a condition necessitating the employment of animal charcoal, etc., as deodorizer.

To prevent the formation of these untoward products, which must injuriously affect the quality of edible oils, C. Fresenius proposes to accelerate the dispersion of the said emulsions by subjecting the mixtures to an excess pressure of 1 to 1 1/2 atmospheres and a corresponding temperature of about 220° F., for a short time, the formation of decomposition products, and any injurious influence on the taste and smell of the substance being prevented by the addition of fresh charcoal, etc., beforehand. Charcoal may, and must in certain cases, be replaced for this purpose by infusorial earth or fuller’s earth. When this process is applied to cottonseed oil, 100 parts of the oil are mixed with 1/10 part of fresh, pure charcoal, and 1/2 part of pure fuller’s earth. The mixture is next neutralized with lime-water, and placed in an autoclave, where it is kept for an hour under pressure, and at a temperature of 220° F. Under these conditions the emulsion soon separates, and when this is accomplished the whole is left to cool down in a closed vessel.

FATS, DECOMPOSITION OF: See Oil.

«FEATHER BLEACHING AND COLORING:»

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Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes and ProcessesChapter I: II III IV V VI (13)

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