Chapter VI: Introduction (3)

The average percentage yield of the various products is given in the following table:

Naphtha. 5
Kerosene. 42
Gas oil. 8
Tar. 25
Coke. 10
Loss (including water). 10
---
100

There are a dozen petroleum refineries in Canada, and the annual outturn of kerosene is about 200,000 barrels of 45 imperial gallons per annum. The total consumption of kerosene in Canada is about 300,000 barrels, one-third of which is manufactured in the United States. The United States oil is subject to a duty of 40 cents on the package and 7-1/5 cents per imperial gallon on the contents, besides which there is an inspection fee of 30 cents per package. Of lubricating oils the outturn is from 75,000 to 100,000 barrels per annum.

The quality of Canadian kerosene has been greatly improved of late years, but notwithstanding the elaborate process of refining, the oil, though thoroughly deodorized and of good color, contains sulphur, and of course evolves sulphur compounds in its combustion.

The rules of the Petrolia Oil Exchange provide that refined kerosene shall be of the odor "locally known as inoffensive," and shall "absolutely stand the test of oxide of lead in a strong solution of caustic soda without change of color."

The "burning percentage" in the case of "Extra Refined Oil," "Water White" in color, and of specific gravity not exceeding 0.800, is required to be not less than 70; in the case of "No. 1 Refined Oil," "Prime White" in color, not less than 60; and in the case of "No. 2 Refined Oil," "Standard White" in color, to be not less than 55.

The "burning percentage" is determined by the use of a lamp thus described: "The bowl of the lamp is cylindrical, 4 in. in diameter and 2¾ in. deep, with a neck placed thereon of such a height that the top of the wick tube is 3 in. above the bowl. A sun-hinge burner is used, taking a wick 7/8 in. wide and 1/8 in. thick, and a chimney about 8 in. long." The test is conducted as follows: "The lamp bowl is filled with the oil and weighed, then lighted and turned up full flame just below the smoking point, and burned without interference till 12 oz. of the oil is consumed. The quantity consumed during the first hour and the last hour is noted." The ratio of the two quantities is the measure of the burning quality, and the percentage that the latter quantity is of the former is the "burning percentage" referred to.

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TREES FROM A SANITARY ASPECT.

BY CHARLES ROBERTS, F.R.C.S., ETC.

As this is the usual time of the year for planting, pruning, and removing forest trees and shrubs, it is a fit time for considering the influence which trees exert on the sanitary surroundings of dwelling places. The recent parliamentary report on forestry shows that trees are now of little commercial value in this country. And we may conclude, therefore, that they are chiefly grown for picturesque effect, and for the shelter from the sun and winds which they afford.

The relation of forests to rainfall has been studied by meteorologists, but little attention has been given by medical climatologists to the share which trees take in determining local variations of climate and the sanitary condition of dwellings, notwithstanding they play as important a part as differences of soil, of which so much is said and written nowadays. This remark does not apply to large towns, where trees grow with difficulty and are comparatively few in number, and where they afford a grateful relief to the eye, shade from the sun, and to a very slight extent temper the too dry atmosphere, but to suburban and country districts, where it is the custom to bury houses in masses of foliage--a condition of things which is deemed the chief attraction, and often a necessary accompaniment, of country life.

Trees of all kinds exercise a cooling and moistening influence on the atmosphere and soil in which they grow. The extent of these conditions depends on the number of trees and whether they stand alone, in belts, or in forests; on their size, whether tall trees with branchless stems or thickets of underwood: on their species, whether deciduous or evergreen; and on the season of the year. The cooling of the air and soil is due to the evaporation of water by the leaves, which is chiefly drawn from the subsoil--not the surface--by the roots, and to the exclusion of the sun's rays from the ground, trees themselves being little susceptible of receiving and radiating heat. The moisture of the atmosphere and ground about trees is due to the collection by the leaves and branches of a considerable portion of the rainfall, the condensation of aqueous vapor by the leaves, and the obstruction offered by the foliage to evaporation from the ground beneath the trees.

The experiments of M. Fautrat show that the leafage of leaf bearing trees intercepts one-third, and that of pine trees the half, of the rainfall, which is afterward returned to the atmosphere by evaporation. On the other hand, these same leaves and branches restrain the evaporation of the water which reaches the ground, and that evaporation is nearly four times less under a mass of foliage in a forest, and two and one-third times under a mass of pines, than in the open. Moreover, trees prevent the circulation of the air by lateral wind currents and produce stagnation. Hence, as Mr. E.J. Symons has truly observed, "a lovely spot embowered in trees and embraced by hills is usually characterized by a damp, misty, cold, and stagnant atmosphere," a condition of climate which is obviously unfavorable to good health and especially favorable to the development of consumption and rheumatism, our two most prevalent diseases.

Now, if we examine the surroundings of many of our suburban villas and country houses of the better sort, we shall find them embowered in trees, and subject to all the insanitary climatic conditions just mentioned. The custom almost everywhere prevails of blocking out of view other houses, roads, etc., by belts of trees, often planted on raised mounds of earth, and surrounded by high close walls or palings, from a foolish ambition of seeming to live "quite in the country."

This is a most unwise proceeding from a sanitary point of view, and should be protested against as strongly by medical men as defective drainage and bad water supply. Many houses stand under the very drip and shadow of trees, and "the grounds" of others are inclosed by dense belts of trees and shrubs, which convert them into veritable reservoirs of damp, stagnant air, often loaded with the effluvia of decaying leaves and other garden refuse, a condition of atmosphere very injurious to health, and answerable for much of the neuralgia of a malarious kind, of which we have heard so much lately. A very slight belt of trees suffices to obstruct the lateral circulation of the air, and if the sun be also excluded the natural upward currents are also prevented.

As far back as 1695 Lancisi recognized the influence of slight belts of trees in preventing the spread of malaria in Rome, and the cold, damp, stagnant air of spaces inclosed by trees is easily demonstrated by the wet and dry bulb thermometer, or even by the ordinary sensations of the body. A dry garden, on gravel, of three acres in extent in Surrey, surrounded by trees, is generally three or four degrees colder than the open common beyond the trees; and a large pond in a pine wood twenty miles from London afforded skating for ninety consecutive days in the winter of 1885-86, while during the greater part of the time the lakes in the London parks were free from ice.

The speculative builder has more sins to answer for than the faulty construction of houses. He generally begins his operations by cutting down all the fine old trees which occupy the ground, and which from their size and isolation are more beautiful than young ones and are little likely to be injurious to health, and ends them by raising mounds and sticking into them dense belts of quick-growing trees like poplars to hide as speedily as possible the desolation of bricks and mortar he has created. It is this senseless outdoor work of the builder and his nurseryman which stands most in need of revision from time to time in suburban residences, but which rarely receives it from a silly notion, amounting to tree worship, which prohibits the cutting down of trees, no matter how injudicious may have been the planting of them in the first instance from a sanitary or picturesque point of view.

The following hints for planting and removing trees may be useful to those persons who have given little attention to the subject. A tree should not stand so near a house that, if it were to fall, it would fall on the house; or, in other words, the root should be as far from the house as the height of the tree. Belts of trees may be planted on the north and east aspects of houses, but on the east side the trees should not be so near, nor so high, as to keep the morning sun from the bedroom windows in the shorter days of the year. On the south and west aspects of houses isolated trees only should be permitted, so that there may be free access of the sunshine and the west winds to the house and grounds.

High walls and palings on these aspects are also objectionable, and should be replaced by fences, or better still open palings, especially about houses which are occupied during the fall of the leaf, and in the winter. Trees for planting near houses should be chosen in the following order: Conifers, birch, acacia, beech, oak, elm, lime, and poplar. Pine trees are the best of all trees for this purpose, as they collect the greatest amount of rainfall and permit the freest evaporation from the ground, while their branchless stems offer the least resistance to the lateral circulation of the air.

Acacias, oaks, and birches are late to burst into leaf, and therefore allow the ground to be warmed by the sun's rays in the early spring. The elm, lime, and chestnut are the least desirable kinds of trees to plant near houses, although they are the most common. They come into leaf early and cast their leaves early, so that they exclude the spring sun and do not afford much shade in the hot autumn months, when it is most required. The lime and the elm are, however, beautiful trees, and will doubtless on this account often be tolerated nearer houses than is desirable from a purely sanitary point of view.

Trees are often useful guides to the selection of residences. Numerous trees with rich foliage and a rank undergrowth of ferns or moss indicate a damp, stagnant atmosphere; while abundance of flowers and fruit imply a dry, sunny climate. Children will be healthiest where most flowers grow, and old people will live longest where our common fruits ripen best, as these conditions of vegetation indicate a climate which is least favorable to bronchitis and rheumatism. Pines and their companions, the birches, indicate a dry, rocky, sandy, or gravel soil; beeches, a dryish, chalky, or gravel soil; elms and limes, a rich and somewhat damp soil; oaks and ashes, a heavy clay soil; and poplars and willows, a low, damp, or marshy soil. Many of these are found growing together, and it is only when one species predominates in number and vigor that it is truly characteristic of the soil and that portion of the atmosphere in connection with it.

Curzon Street, Mayfair, W.--_Lancet._

* * * * *

SOLIDIFICATION BY PRESSURE.

M. Amagat has succeeded in solidifying various liquids, by compressing them in cylinders of bronze and steel. He has also photographed the crystals after crystallization, by means of a ray of electric light traversing the interior of the vessel by glass cones serving as panes. The stages of crystallization can be observed in this way with chloride of carbon, and it is seen that the process varies with the rapidity with which the pressure is produced. If rapidly, a sudden circlet of crystals gathers round the edge of the luminous field, and grows to the center. The pressure being continued, the field becomes obscure, then transparent. As the pressure is diminished the reverse takes place, and the liquid state is reproduced. M. Amagat finds that chloride of carbon solidifies at 19.5° Cent., under a pressure of 210 atmospheres. At 22° Cent., benzine crystallizes with a pressure of about 900 atmospheres.

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