Part 139

The paper may be dried in any convenient manner and is in condition for most commercial uses, it being greatly strengthened, more flexible, more impervious to moisture, acids, grease, or alkalies, and is suitable for the manufacture of binding-twine, carpets, and many novelties, for dry wrappings and lining packing cases, etc., but is liable to have a disagreeable taste and may carry traces of acids, rendering it impracticable for some uses—for instance, wrapping butter, meats, cheese, etc., after receiving the alkali treatment. The paper is also valuable as a packing for joints in steam, water, and other pipes or connections. For the purpose, therefore, of rendering the material absolutely free from all traces of acidity and all taste and odors and, in fact, to render it absolutely hygienic, it is passed through a bath of water and a volatile alkali (ammonium hydrate), the proportion by preference in a majority of cases being one-hundredth of ammonium hydrate to ninety-nine one-hundredths of water by volume. A small percentage of wood alcohol may be added. This bath is preferably cool, but a variation in its temperature will not interfere to a serious extent with the results. The effect of this bath followed by drying is to complete the chemical reaction and destroy all taste or odor, removing all traces of acids and rendering the paper hygienic in all respects. The material may be calendered or cut and used for any of the purposes desired. If the material is to be subjected to the volatile alkali bath, it is not necessary to dry it between the tempering and volatile alkali baths.

The paper made in accordance with the foregoing will, it is claimed, be found to be greatly strengthened, some materials being increased in strength from 100 to 700 per cent. It will be nonabsorbent to acids, greases, and alkalies, and substantially waterproof, and owing to its component integrate structure will be practically non-conductive to electricity, adapting it as a superior insulating material. It may with perfect safety be employed for wrapping butter, meats, spices, groceries, and all materials, whether unctuous or otherwise.

The term “hydration” means the subjecting of the material (after treatment with glutinous material and formaldehyde and drying) to moisture, whereby the action described takes place.

A sheet or web of paper can be treated by the process as rapidly as it is manufactured, as the time for exposure to the action of the glutinous material need not be longer than the time required for it to become saturated, this, of course, varying with different thicknesses and densities, and the length of time of exposure may be fixed without checking the speed by making the tank of such length that the requisite time will elapse while the sheet is passing through it and the guides so arranged as to maintain the sheet in position to be acted on by such solution the requisite length of time. Four seconds’ exposure to the action of formaldehyde is found sufficient in most cases.

«Waterproof Ropes.»—For making ropes and lines impervious to weather, the process of tarring is recommended, which can be done either in the separate strands or after the rope is twisted. An addition of tallow gives greater pliability.

«Waterproof Wood.»—I.—Soak in a mixture of boracic acid, 6 parts; ammonium chloride, 5 parts; sodium borate, 3 parts, and water, 100 parts.

II.—Saturate in a solution of zinc chloride.

«Wax»

«Adulteration of Wax.»—Wax is adulterated with the following among other substances: Rosins, pitch, flowers of sulphur, starch, fecula, stearine, paraffine, tallow, palm oil, calcined bones, yellow ocher, water, and wood sawdust.

Rosins are detected by cold alcohol, which dissolves all rosinous substances and exercises no action on the wax. The rosins having been extracted from the alcoholic solution by the evaporation of the alcohol, the various kinds may be distinguished by the odors disengaged by burning the mass several times on a plate of heated iron.

All earthy substances may be readily {754} separated from wax by means of oil of turpentine, which dissolves the wax, while the earthy matters form a residue.

Oil of turpentine also completely separates wax from starchy substances, which, like earthy matters, do not dissolve, but form a residue. A simpler method consists in heating the wax with boiling water; the gelatinous consistency assumed by the water, and the blue coloration in presence of iodine, indicate that the wax contains starchy substances. Adulteration by means of starch and fecula is quite frequent. These substances are sometimes added to the wax in a proportion of nearly 60 per cent. To separate either, the suspected product is treated hot with very dilute sulphuric acid (2 parts of acid per 100 parts of water). All amylaceous substances, converted into dextrin, remain dissolved in the liquid, while the wax, in cooling, forms a crust on the surface. It is taken off and weighed; the difference between its weight and that of the product analyzed will give the quantity of the amylaceous substances.

Flowers of sulphur are recognized readily from the odor of sulphurous acid during combustion on red-hot iron.

Tallow may be detected by the taste and odor. Pure wax has an aromatic, agreeable taste, while that mixed with tallow is repulsive both in taste and smell. Pure wax, worked between the fingers, grows soft, preserving a certain cohesion in all parts. It divides into lumps, which adhere to the fingers, if it is mixed with tallow. The adulteration may also be detected by the thick and nauseating fumes produced when it is burned on heated iron.

Stearic acid may be recognized by means of boiling alcohol, which dissolves it in nearly all proportions and causes it to deposit crystals on cooling, while it is without action on the wax. Blue litmus paper, immersed in alcohol solution, reddens on drying in air, and thus serves for detecting the presence of stearic acid.

Ocher is found by treating the wax with boiling water. A lemon-yellow deposit results, which, taken up with chlorhydric acid, yields with ammonia a lemon-yellow precipitate of ferric oxide.

The powder of burnt bones separates and forms a residue, when the wax is heated with oil of turpentine.

«Artificial Beeswax.»—This is obtained by mixing the following substances, in approximately the proportions stated: Paraffine, 45 parts, by weight; white Japan vegetable wax, 30 parts, by weight; rosins, or colophonies, 10 parts, by weight; white pitch, 10 parts, by weight; tallow, 5 parts, by weight; ceresine, colorant, 0.030 parts, by weight; wax perfume, 0.100 parts, by weight. If desired, the paraffine may be replaced with ozokerite, or by a mixture of vaseline and ozokerite, for the purpose of varying the fusing temperature, or rendering it more advantageous for the various applications designed. The following is the method of preparation: Melt on the boiling water bath, shaking constantly, the paraffine, the Japan wax, the rosins, the pitch, and the tallow. When the fusion is complete, add the colorant and the perfume. When these products are perfectly mingled, remove from the fire, allow the mixture to cool, and run it into suitable molds. The wax thus obtained may be employed specially for encaustics for furniture and floors, or for purposes where varnish is employed.

«Waxes for Floors, Furniture, etc.»—

I.—White beeswax 16 parts Colophony 4 parts Venice turpentine 1 part

Melt the articles together over a gentle fire, and when completely melted and homogeneous, pour into a sizable earthenware vessel, and stir in, while still warm, 6 parts of the best French turpentine. Cool for 24 hours, by which time the mass has acquired the consistence of soft butter, and is ready for use. Its method of use is very simple. It is smeared, in small quantities, on woolen cloths, and with these is rubbed into the wood.

This is the best preparation, but one in which the beeswax is merely dissolved in the turpentine in such a way as to have the consistence of a not too thin oil color, will answer. The wood is treated with this, taking care that the surface is evenly covered with the mixture, and that it does not sink too deeply in the ornaments, corners, etc., of the woodwork. This is best achieved by taking care to scrape off from the cloths all excess of the wax.

If, in the course of 24 hours, the surface is hard, then with a stiff brush go over it, much after the way of polishing a boot. For the corners and angles smaller brushes are used; when necessary, stiff pencils may be employed. Finally, the whole is polished with plush, or velvet rags, in order not to injure the original polish. Give the article a good coat of linseed oil or a washing with petroleum before beginning work.

II.—Articles that are always exposed to the water, floors, doors, especially of oak, should, from time to time, be {755} saturated with oil or wax. A house door, plentifully decorated with wood carving, will not shrink or warp, even where the sun shines hottest on it, when it is frequently treated to saturation with wax and oil. Here a plain dosage with linseed oil is sufficient. Varnish, without the addition of turpentine, should never be used, or if used it should be followed by a coat of wax.

III.—A good floor wax is composed of 2 parts of wax and 3 parts of Venice turpentine, melted on the water bath, and the mixture applied while still hot, using a pencil, or brush, for the application, and when it has become solid and dry, diligently rubbed, or polished down with a woolen cloth, or with a floor brush, especially made for the purpose.

IV.—An emulsion of 5 parts of yellow wax, 2 parts of crude potassium carbonate, and 12 parts of water, boiled together until they assume a milky color and the solids are dissolved, used cold, makes an excellent composition for floors. Any desired color may be given this dressing by stirring in the powdered coloring matter. Use it exactly as described for the first mass.

«Gilders’ Wax.»—For the production of various colorings of gold in fire gilding, the respective places are frequently covered with so-called gilders’ wax. These consist of mixtures of various chemicals which have an etching action in the red heat upon the bronze mass, thus causing roughness of unequal depth, as well as through the fact that the composition of the bronze is changed somewhat on the surface, a relief of the gold color being effected in consequence of these two circumstances. The gilding wax is prepared by melting together the finely powdered chemicals with wax according to the following recipes:

I II III IV V

Yellow wax 32 32 32 96 36 Red chalk 3 24 18 48 18 Verdigris 2 4 18 32 18 Burnt alum 2 4 — — — Burnt borax — — 2 1 3 Copper ash — 4 6 20 8 Zinc vitriol — — — 32 18 Green vitriol — — — 1 6

«Grafting Wax.»—

I.—Beeswax 7 parts Purified rosin 12 parts Turpentine 3 parts Rape oil 1 part Venice turpentine 2.5 parts Zinc white 2.5 parts

Color yellow with turmeric.

II.—Japan wax 1 part Yellow wax 3 parts Rosin 8 parts Turpentine 4 parts Hard paraffine 1 part Suet 3 parts Venice turpentine 6 parts

«Harness Wax.»—

Oil of turpentine 90 parts Wax, yellow 9 parts Prussian blue 1 part Indigo 0.5 parts Bone black 5 parts

Dissolve the wax in the oil by aid of a low heat, on a water bath. Mix the remaining ingredients, which must be well powdered, and work up with a portion of the solution of wax. Finally, add the mixture to the solution, and mix thoroughly on the bath. When a homogeneous liquid is obtained, pour into earthen boxes.

«Modeling Wax.»—I.—Yellow wax, 1,000 parts; Venice turpentine, 130 parts; lard, 65 parts; bole, 725 parts. The mixture when still liquid is poured into tepid water and kneaded until a plastic mass is obtained.

II.—Summer Modeling Wax.—White wax, 20 parts; ordinary turpentine, 4 parts; sesame oil, 1 part; vermilion, 2 parts.

III.—Winter Modeling Wax.—White wax, 20 parts; ordinary turpentine, 6 parts; sesame oil, 2 parts; vermilion, 2 parts. Preparation same as for Formula I.

«Sealing Waxes.»—The following formulas may be followed for making sealing wax: Take 4 pounds of shellac, 1 pound of Venice turpentine, and 3 pounds of vermilion. Melt the lac in a copper pan suspended over a clear charcoal fire, then add the turpentine slowly to it, and soon afterwards add the vermilion, stirring briskly all the time with a rod in either hand. In forming the round sticks of sealing wax, a certain portion of the mass should be weighed while it is ductile, divided into the desired number of pieces, and then rolled out upon a warm marble slab by means of a smooth wooden block like that used by apothecaries for rolling a mass of pills.

The oval and square sticks of sealing wax are cast in molds, with the above compound, in a state of fusion. The marks of the lines of junction of the mold box may be afterwards removed by holding the sticks over a clear fire, or passing them over a blue gas flame. Marbled sealing wax is made by mixing {756} two, three, or more colored kinds together while they are in a semi-fluid state. From the viscidity of the several portions their incorporation is left incomplete, so as to produce the appearance of marbling. Gold sealing wax is made simply by adding gold chrome instead of vermilion into the melted rosins. Wax may be scented by introducing a little essential oil, essence of musk, or other perfume. If 1 part of balsam of Peru be melted along with 99 parts of the sealing-wax composition, an agreeable fragrance will be exhaled in the act of sealing with it. Either lampblack or ivory black serves for the coloring matter of black wax. Sealing wax is often adulterated with rosin, in which case it runs into thin drops at the flame of a candle.

The following mistakes are sometimes made in the manufacture of sealing wax:

I.—Use of filling agents which are too coarsely ground.

II.—Excessive use of filling agents.

III.—Insufficient binding of the pigments and fillings with a suitable adhesive agent, which causes these bodies to absorb the adhesive power of the gums.

IV.—Excessive heating of the mass, caused by improper melting or faulty admixture of the gummy bodies. Turpentine and rosin must be heated before entering the shellac. If this rule is inverted, as is often the case, the shellac sticks to the bottom and burns partly.

Great care must be taken to mix the coloring matter to a paste with spirit or oil of turpentine before adding to the other ingredients. Unless this is done the wax will not be of a regular tint.

«Dark Blue Wax.»—Three ounces Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 ounce rosin, 1 ounce Prussian blue, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce magnesia.

«Green Wax.»—Two ounces Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces rosin, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce chrome yellow, 1⁠/⁠4 ounce Prussian blue, 1 ounce magnesia.

«Carmine Red Wax.»—One ounce Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 ounce rosin, colophony, 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces Chinese red, 1 drachm magnesia, with oil of turpentine.

«Gold Wax.»—Four ounces Venetian turpentine, 8 ounces shellac, 14 sheets of genuine leaf gold, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce bronze, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce magnesia, with oil of turpentine.

«White Wax.»—I.—The wax is bleached by exposing to moist air and to the sun, but it must first be prepared in thin sheets or ribbons or in grains. For this purpose it is first washed, to free it from the honey which may adhere, melted, and poured into a tin vessel, whose bottom is perforated with narrow slits. The melted wax falls in a thin stream on a wooden cylinder arranged below and half immersed in cold water. This cylinder is turned, and the wax, rolling round in thin leaves, afterwards falls into the water. To melt it in grains, a vessel is made use of, perforated with small openings, which can be rotated. The wax is projected in grains into the cold water. It is spread on frames of muslin, moistened with water several times a day, and exposed to the sun until the wax assumes a fine white. This whiteness, however, is not perfect. The operation of melting and separating into ribbons or grains must be renewed. Finally, it is melted and flowed into molds. The duration of the bleaching may be abridged by adding to the wax, treated as above, from 1.25 to 1.75 per cent of rectified oil of turpentine, free from rosin. In 6 or 8 days a result will be secured which would otherwise require 5 or 6 weeks.

II.—Bleached shellac 28 parts Venetian turpentine 13 parts Plaster of Paris 30 parts

WAX FOR BOTTLES: See Photography.

WAX, BURNING, TRICK: See Pyrotechnics.

WAXES, DECOMPOSITION OF: See Oil.

WAX FOR IRONING: See Laundry Preparations.

WAX FOR LINOLEUM: See Linoleum.

«Weather Forecasters»

(See also Hygrometers and Hygroscopes.)

I.—It is known that a leaf of blotting paper or a strip of fabric made to change color according to the hygrometric state of the atmosphere has been employed for weather indications in place of a barometer. The following compound is recommended for this purpose: One part of cobalt chloride, 75 parts of nickel oxide, 20 parts of gelatin, and 200 parts of water. A strip of calico, soaked in this solution, will appear green in fine weather, but when moisture intervenes the color disappears. {757}

II.—Copper chloride 1 part Gelatin 10 parts Water 100 parts

III.—This is a method of making old-fashioned weather glasses containing a liquid that clouds or solidifies under certain atmospheric conditions:

Camphor 2 1⁠/⁠2 drachms Alcohol 11 drachms Water 9 drachms Saltpeter 38 grains Sal ammoniac 38 grains

Dissolve the camphor in the alcohol and the salts in the water and mix the solutions together. Pour in test tubes, cover with wax after corking and make a hole through the cork with a red-hot needle, or draw out the tube until only a pin hole remains. When the camphor, etc., appear soft and powdery, and almost filling the tube, rain with south or southwest winds may be expected; when crystalline, north, northeast, or northwest winds, with fine weather, may be expected; when a portion crystallizes on one side of the tube, wind may be expected from that direction. Fine weather: The substance remains entirely at bottom of tube and the liquid perfectly clear. Coming rain: Substance will rise gradually, liquid will be very clear, with a small star in motion. A coming storm or very high wind: Substance partly at top of tube, and of a leaflike form, liquid very heavy and in a fermenting state. These effects are noticeable 24 hours before the change sets in. In winter: Generally the substance lies higher in the tube. Snow or white frost: Substance very white and small stars in motion. Summer weather: The substance will lie quite low. The substance will lie closer to the tube on the opposite side to the quarter from which the storm is coming. The instrument is nothing more than a scientific toy.

WEATHERPROOFING: See Paints.

WEED KILLERS: See Disinfectants.

«Weights and Measures»

«INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC WEIGHTS.»

The International Committee on Atomic Weights have presented this table as corrected:

O=16 H=1 Aluminum Al 27.1 26.9 Antimony Sb 120.2 119.3 Argon A 39.9 39.6 Arsenic As 75 74.4 Barium Ba 137.4 136.4 Bismuth Bi 208.5 206.9 Boron B 11 10.9 Bromine Br 79.96 79.36 Cadmium Cd 112.4 111.6 Cæsium Cs 132.9 131.9 Calcium Ca 40.1 39.7 Carbon C 12 11.91 Cerium Ce 140.25 139.2 Chlorine Cl 35.45 35.18 Chromium Cr 52.1 51.7 Cobalt Co 59 58.55 Columbium Cb 94 93.3 Copper Cu 63.6 63.1 Erbium Er 166 164.8 Fluorine F 19 18.9 Gadolinium Gd 156 154.8 Gallium Ga 70 69.5 Germanium Ge 72.5 72 Glucinum Gl 9.1 9.03 Gold Au 197.2 195.7 Helium He 4 4 Hydrogen H 1.008 1 Indium In 115 114.1 Iodine I 126.97 126.01 Iridium Ir 193 191.5 Iron Fe 55.9 55.5 Krypton Kr 81.8 81.2 Lanthanum La 138.9 137.9 Lead Pb 206.9 205.35 Lithium Li 7.03 6.98 Magnesium Mg 24.36 24.18 Manganese Mn 55 54.6 Mercury Hg 200 198.5 Molybdenum Mo 96 95.3 Neodymium Nd 143.6 142.5 Neon Ne 20 19.9 Nickel Ni 58.7 58.3 Nitrogen N 14.04 13.93 Osmium Os 191 189.6 Oxygen O 16 15.88 Palladium Pd 106.5 105.7 Phosphorus P 31 30.77 Platinum Pt 194.8 193.3 Potassium K 39.15 38.85 Praseodymium Pr 140.5 139.4 Radium Ra 225 223.3 Rhodium Rh 103 102.2 Rubidium Rb 85.5 84.9 Ruthenium Ru 101.7 100.9 Samarium Sm 150.3 149.2 Scandium Sc 44.1 43.8 Selenium Se 79.2 78.6 Silicon Si 28.4 28.2 Silver Ag 107.93 107.11 Sodium Na 23.05 22.88 Strontium Sr 87.6 86.94 Sulphur S 32.06 31.82 Tantalum Ta 183 181.6 Tellurium Te 127.6 126.6 Terbium Th 160 158.8 Thallium Tl 204.1 202.6 {758} Thorium Th 232.5 230.8 Thulium Tm 171 169.7 Tin Sn 119 118.1 Titanium Ti 48.1 47.7 Tungsten W 184 182.6 Uranium U 238.5 236.7 Vanadium V 51.2 50.8 Xenon Xe 128 127 Ytterbium Yb 173 171.7 Yttrium Yt 89 88.3 Zinc Zn 65.4 64.9 Zirconium Zr 90.6 89.9

«UNITED STATES WEIGHTS AND MEASURES»

(According to existing standards)

«LINEAL»

│ Inches. Feet. Yards. Rods. Fur’s. Mile. │ 12 inches = 1 foot. │ 12 = 1 3 feet = 1 yard. │ 36 = 3 = 1 5.5 yards = 1 rod. │ 198 = 16.5 = 5.5 = 1 40 rods = 1 furlong. │ 7,920 = 660 = 220 = 40 = 1 8 furlongs = 1 mile. │ 63,360 = 5,280 = 1,760 = 320 = 8 = 1

«SURFACE—LAND»

144 sq. inches = 1 square foot. │ Feet. Yards. Rods. Roods. Acres. 9 square feet = 1 square yard. │ 9 = 1 30.25 square yards = 1 square rod.│ 272.25= 30.25= 1 40 square rods = 1 square rood. │ 10,890= 1,210= 40= 1 4 square roods = 1 acre. │ 43,560= 4,840= 160= 4= 1 640 acres = 1 square mile. │27,878,400= 3,097,600= 102,400= 2,560= 640

«VOLUME—LIQUID»

4 gills = 1 pint. │ Gills. Pints. Gallon. Cub. In. 2 pints = 1 quart. │ 32 = 8 = 1 = 231 4 quarts = 1 gallon. │

«FLUID MEASURE»

Gallon. Pints. Ounces. Drachms. Minims. Cubic Centimeters.

1 = 8 = 128 = 1,024 = 61,440 = 3,785.435 1 = 16 = 128 = 7,680 = 473.179 1 = 8 = 480 = 29.574 1 = 60 = 3.697

16 ounces, or a pint, is sometimes called a fluidpound.

«TROY WEIGHT»

Pound. Ounces. Pennyweights. Grains. Grams.