Part 5

Gunpowder is a mixture of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, and the more completely they are mixed, the more finely ground, and the purer they are, the more perfect will be the gunpowder. The proportions used of these ingredients differ slightly in different powder mills; but the average is about seventy-four parts nitre, ten sulphur, and fourteen charcoal, by weight; the sulphur and nitre can easily be completely purified, but the charcoal differs very much in almost every specimen, and charcoal that has been burnt long ago and exposed to the air and moisture is almost unfit for the purpose, that charcoal which has the least ash when burnt is found to be the best, and the charcoal which has been made in iron cylinders, is better than that made in the usual way, when each of the ingredients are separately powdered and sifted through a kind of sieve of silk called a bolting machine (such as is used in dressing flour), they are mixed in the proper proportions and taken to the mill, where they are moistened with water and ground to a smooth paste, this is pressed hard and then broken up into pieces which are put into a copper sieve, the bottom of which is perforated with small hole; a flat wooden ball is put into each sieve with the pieces of damp powder, and the sieves are all put into a circular motion by machinery, this causes the wooden ball to turn round in the sieve and so rub the damp powder through the little holes; it is collected below in small grains or “corns,” this process is called “corning,” this is now dried, and then put into a “reel” (a sort of barrel which turns round) and the grains, by rubbing against each other, become smoothed on the surface; the dust is now removed by a sieve, too fine to let the grains through; the powder is now fit for use.

Gunpowder was first known in England about five hundred years ago. It is not only used to discharge firearms, but in the more peaceful occupations of quarrying stone, mining, and to get rid of rocks both below and above water; these processes are called “blasting.”

GUN COTTON.

To prepare gun cotton, make a mixture of three parts sulphuric acid and one part nitric acid; when this has cooled (for it becomes hot on mixing), put into it some cotton wool, and let it be stirred about with a glass rod, then taken out, and all the superfluous acid strained from it; it is then to be covered up for an hour or so. It should now be thoroughly washed in cold water, so that all the acid be removed; to ensure this completely, let it be afterwards washed in a very weak solution of potash, and then dried by a very gentle heat, produced by either steam or hot water; when dry, soak it in a solution of nitre and dry it again. It is now so explosive that great care is required in its management, being about three times as explosive as gunpowder.

PHOSPHORUS.

This substance, since the general use of lucifer-matches, has become an important article of manufacture; whereas, but a few years ago, it was a mere chemical curiosity. It is prepared by mixing bone ashes with sulphuric acid, straining off the liquid part, and evaporating it to a syrupy consistence; with this, about a quarter of its weight of powdered charcoal is mixed, and the whole stirred and evaporated to a dry powder; this is put into earthenware retorts, which are connected by copper tubes to receivers filled with water; the retorts are raised to a white heat and maintained at this high temperature as long as any phosphorous passes into the receivers, the water in which is kept warm, so that the phosphorous melts and runs to the bottom, from whence it is taken and strained through chamois leather bags, under warm water, and then cast in glass tubes into sticks. Phosphorous is of a whitish color, like wax, is easily melted, readily takes fire even by slight friction, and, in the air, gives off fumes which in the dark appear luminous. It is chiefly used in the manufacture of lucifer matches, and, mixed with flour, butter, or sugar, is used to poison rats, mice, and other vermin, under the name of “phosphorous paste.” Phosphorous is poison, and most dangerous stuff to handle, minute particles often getting under the nails and causing painful sores.

WHITE LEAD.

Illustration: WHITE LEAD BED.

Illustration: FIG. 1. (‡ LEAD GRATE.)

White Lead is used in very large quantities by painters, not only as white paint, but to mix with and qualify every shade of color, and to give body to them. It is prepared by different processes, and several patents have been taken out for improvements in its manufacture; but the most usual, and, perhaps, the best process, is as follows:--A layer of spent tan (from the tanner’s pits) is spread out three or four feet thick, and in it a number of earthen pots are arranged in rows, each partly filled with a mixture of vinegar, water, and treacle, or some other acid fermenting liquid, each of these pots is covered with a piece of lead made in the form of a grating (fig. 1), and over all these a flooring of boards, and then again a layer of tan, pots covered with lead, and boards, two or three times repeated; this is called a white lead bed, and is left for several weeks; the tan ferments and gets warm, causing the acid vapours to rise and corrode the lead, at the same time giving off carbonic acid. At the end of about three months the leaden covers are found to have become completely changed into a white shining substance (carbonate and oxide of lead), this is washed from impurities and ground in a mill, under water, to a fine powder. It is the white lead of commerce; but what is familiarly called white lead, is this substance ground up with linseed oil into a thick paste so as to be ready for the use of painters.

White lead is a very poisonous substance, and produces the disease called painters’ colic, when taken into the system in minute quantities and for a long time, so that all who have much to do with this dangerous substance, as house-painters and artists, should be extremely careful that their hands are well washed frequently, and especially before going to meals. Cisterns of lead, used for containing water, very soon become coated inside with a thin film of sulphate of lead, this prevents the water from acting further on the lead, and the water from such cisterns is never found to be poisonous; but, if distilled water were used, it would act rapidly on the lead, corroding it, and causing a deposit in the water of white lead, which would render such water dangerous in the extreme.

PRUSSIAN BLUE.

This beautiful blue color is made by mixing solutions of sulphate of iron (green vitriol) and prussiate of potash together, when the Prussian blue falls in the form of a precipitate, or moist powder, of a pale greenish color, but which, by exposure to the air and the addition of a little nitric acid, becomes intensely blue; but the Prussian blue of commerce is never pure, for the solution of prussiate of potash is used as it comes from the factory, before being crystallized, and contains carbonate of potash, to get rid of which, alum is added, and the result is, the formation of a considerable amount of alumina, which is a white earth produced from the alum, and which falls down in the precipitate mixed with the Prussian blue, which is thereby increased in bulk and but little injured in color; when a larger quantity of this alumina is purposely produced, the result is a blue of a rather less intense color, called “Antwerp blue.” The chemical name for pure Prussian blue is percyanide of iron. Chinese blue is this substance in its purest state.

PRUSSIATE OF POTASH.

Prussiate of potash is the commercial name given to what chemists call “ferrocyanide of potassium,” it is used largely for the production of Prussian blue, and also in the art of electro-plating, which, of late, has greatly increased the demand for its manufacture, and many patents have been taken out for various modifications in the form of production, the result, however, is the same, and it occurs in commerce in magnificent crystals of a square form, with bevelled edges, and of a yellow color; there is, however, another kind called the “red prussiate,” which is much used in the process of calico printing. Prussiate of potash is made by heating together carbonate of potash, scraps of iron, and any kind of animal refuse, as blood, horns and hoofs, clippings of skin or old woollen rags; these are stirred together, and the heat raised, till they form a sort of paste of a black color, which, when cold, is thrown into water and all the soluble parts washed out; this fluid is filtered till quite clear, evaporated, and set aside that crystals may form; these are dissolved and again crystallized. The red prussiate is made by passing chlorine over the yellow prussiate in powder dissolving and crystallizing.

The most deadly of all poisons, prussic or hydrocyanic acid, is obtained from the ferrocyanide of potassium, or prussiate of potash, by adding diluted sulphuric acid and distilling the vapour into an ice-cold receiver. This experiment should never be made by any but those well conversant with such matters.

SULPHATE OF IRON.

Also called “Green Vitriol” and “Green Copperas,” is a combination of sulphuric acid and oxide of iron, and may be made by putting iron filings or pieces of iron into a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, and when all action has ceased evaporating the liquid, and setting it by till crystals form--these are of a pale green color. The sulphate of iron of commerce is formed by exposing the iron pyrites found in the coal districts to the air till it falls to powder; water is then poured over this substance, and the fluid collected and evaporated. Sulphate of iron is used chiefly to form the black dye so much in demand to dye cloth, and also in making writing ink.

SULPHATE OF COPPER.

This substance is also known by the names, “Blue Vitriol” and “Blue Stone.” It is a combination of sulphuric acid with oxide of copper, and may be made by uniting those substances; but what is used on a large scale for commercial purposes is obtained from the waters which flow into copper mines where “copper pyrites” abound; this water is evaporated, and the sulphate of copper crystallizes. Sulphate of copper has of late been in great demand for the electro-deposition of copper.

CHLORIDE OF LIME.

Chloride of lime or “bleaching-powder” is made for the purposes of bleaching calicoes, linens, &c., and also for purifying foul air, which it does by giving out chlorine, a gas capable of uniting with and changing the injurious properties of foul air (which generally contains some combination of sulphur and hydrogen). Chloride of lime is made on the large scale by mixing hydrochloric acid with black oxide of manganese. This mixture gives off chlorine. This is made to pass over a layer of slaked lime, which absorbs it greedily, and becomes converted into the bleaching powder. The hydrochloric acid used is a product resulting from the manufacture of soda, and was formerly wasted; it is now used in large quantities for the process above described. “Burnett’s Disinfecting Fluid” is a solution of chloride of zinc. It is made by dissolving scraps of zinc in hydrochloric acid; hydrogen gas is given off, with effervescence, and the liquid remaining is the solution of chloride of zinc, which acts like chloride of lime, by giving off chlorine; for the chloride is slowly decomposed by the air, the oxygen of which takes the place of the chlorine, uniting with the zinc to form oxide of zinc, while the chlorine is set free.

SULPHURIC ACID.

This was formerly called “Oil of Vitriol,” because it has an oily consistence, and was originally distilled from green vitriol. Sulphuric acid is one of the most useful chemical agents known; scarcely a process in chemical manufacture can be performed without its assistance. Sulphuric acid is colorless, and very heavy, being nearly double that of water (the proportion is 1·842, while water is 1,000); it is powerfully acid, even when largely diluted with water, and during this mixture with water gives out great heat, a mixture of equal parts will become hotter than boiling water; if it be mixed, however, with snow instead of water, it becomes extremely cold (below zero).

Sulphuric acid is made by burning sulphur in a furnace, and causing the vapours to pass into a large chamber lined with lead, and having some water at the bottom; into this chamber the vapours arising from nitre mixed with sulphuric acid are also admitted, together with air and a jet of steam. These arrangements require to be properly and nicely regulated, and it was only by study of the complicated changes which take place between these gases (sulphurous acid, nitric oxide, and atmospheric air), that this arrangement has been devised and adopted, a great part of the product having been formerly wasted in a more clumsy mode of preparation. The sulphuric acid condensed in the water at the bottom of the leaden chamber is too weak for use, and is concentrated by evaporating the water from it; for this purpose it is placed in shallow leaden pans placed on the bars of a furnace, and finally distilled in glass retorts, or retorts of iron lined with platinum. Sulphuric acid has such a powerful attraction for water, that an open vessel half-full of strong acid placed in a damp situation will attract enough water from the atmosphere to cause it to be quite full before long. This power of attracting water has been taken advantage of to procure ice in those places where it is not to be had naturally, as India, &c. If a vessel of water be placed under the receiver of an air-pump, and the receiver exhausted of air, the vapour of the water will speedily fill it, taking the place of the air, and so stop any further evaporation; but if another vessel containing some sulphuric acid be placed also in the receiver, the acid will absorb the vapour of water as fast as it is formed, and this rapid evaporation continuing produces such cold, that the remaining water is shortly frozen. Iron and zinc dissolve rapidly in diluted sulphuric acid, giving off abundance of hydrogen gas, and this was the way this gas was formerly produced for the inflation of balloons, but the common coal-gas being easily obtainable in almost any quantity in all towns, it is now used for that purpose instead of hydrogen gas. Sulphuric acid (chemically considered) consists of 1 equivalent of sulphur with 3 of oxygen, and 1 of water. Pure sulphuric acid (without water) is in the form of fine crystals, much resembling snow, which, on exposure to air containing the slightest quantity of moisture, absorbs it, and becomes converted into the ordinary sulphuric acid.

If this acid (even when greatly diluted) be spilt on cotton or linen it destroys it, producing a hole; this is owing to the acid converting the fibre into sugar. A proposition was once made to produce sugar from this source, but linen and cotton rags are in too great demand for paper-making to allow of its being done.

LEATHER.

Illustration: TAN-YARD AND PITS.

Tanning is the name given to the process for converting the skins of animals into leather, by combining them with a substance called “Tannin.” This tannin exists in many vegetable substances, such as oak-bark, gall-nuts, catechu, sumach, &c.: all of these, and many more, are used for tanning, but, on account of its cheapness, oak-bark is the usual substance employed. It is tannin which gives the quality of astringency to many vegetables, and this very taste of astringency is produced by a partial combination of the tannin with the surface of the mouth.

Illustration: UNHAIRING THE SKIN.

The skins (called “hides” or “pelts”) are first freed from all loose pieces of flesh, fat, or skin; the hair is then removed by soaking them in lime and water. The skins are then laid in the “tan-pit” between layers of crushed oak-bark until the pit is nearly full; water is then pumped in, and the whole is allowed to remain for several weeks or months (according to the thickness of the skin), during which time, however, the skins are changed in position by removing them from one pit to another with fresh bark in it, so that those taken from the top of the first are placed at the bottom of the next; and this is done from time to time, in order that all may receive the same pressure and strength of tan-liquor. Very thick hides take a year to tan perfectly in this way, and consequently many processes have been tried to quicken the operation; but the leather made most slowly seems to wear the best, and consequently fetches the higher prices.

Illustration: DRYING ROOMS.

Skins which are thin, and to be used for fancy work, and for book-binding and glove-making, are either tanned with “sumach,” or with alum and salt made into a paste with flour and yolk of eggs; this is put into a tub, and the mixture and skins worked together with the hands till they are thoroughly united.

Illustration: SUMACH TAN TUBS.

Besides boots and shoes, leather is used for the harness of horses, covers for seats, gloves, and innumerable other purposes.

Illustration: SPLITTING MACHINE.

For some purposes the leather is required to be very thin, and of exactly one thickness. This is obtained by the process of splitting, for which a machine is used whose exactness is such, that one slice is taken from the inner part of the whole skin, reducing it in thickness without cutting a hole in any part. The skin is stretched tightly round a roller, which slowly revolves against a straight knife-edge, fixed at a certain distance from it, according to the thickness of the skin, and which is passed by the machine backwards and forwards, cutting the skin a little further each time.

GLUE AND SIZE.

Glue is made from the clippings of hides or any other refuse of skins, horn shavings, bones, &c. All these substances are piled up in a boiler having a second bottom within, perforated with holes, and kept from the true bottom by short feet; this arrangement is to prevent the substances boiled from burning at the bottom of the boiler. After many hours’ boiling the liquid is tested, and if it “sets” into a sort of jelly readily, the liquor is drawn off into another boiler, where it is kept warm, that it may not set till used. From this boiler it is strained through flannel into square wooden boxes, having ridges at the bottom dividing them into squares (to direct the workmen where to cut the glue when cold); these boxes are set apart, and when the contents have become cold and set into a firm jelly, a knife is passed between the sides of the box and its contents, and the glue turned out in a large solid square. This is now cut by means of a wire with a handle at each end into squares of about eight inches each way and an inch thick; these are now placed on nets made of cord fixed in frames one above another in a “drying-room,” which is open to the air at the sides, and able to be closed up in case of wet weather. In this room the glue dries up, shrinks, and hardens, until it is quite brittle; the marks of the net can be seen on every square of glue.

Size is the same as glue, but instead of being dried it is put into small barrels. Two qualities of size are made, single and double size. It is much used by whitewashers, paper-hangers, and others, but for any purpose requiring good size, it may be made by soaking isinglass or gelatine in cold water till it is softened, and then standing the vessel in boiling water till it is dissolved; this produces a jelly nearly pure. A cheaper kind of size, almost as pure, may be made by boiling clippings of clean parchment till they are dissolved, and straining off the solution. Gelatine is the same as glue, but made of materials that are clean and fresh. Isinglass is the “sound” or swimming-bladder of the sturgeon, cleaned, dried, and cut up into fine shreds.

PARCHMENT.

Parchment is prepared from the skins of sheep, goats, calves, and asses. Sheep-skins furnish by far the greater part of all parchment prepared, indeed all that which is used for deeds and law purposes. From whatever skin prepared, it is first soaked in lime and water to remove the hair and greasiness, and then stretched tightly on a frame, and the surface rubbed smooth with pumice-stone, after which the skin is allowed to dry. Parchment is used for deeds, which require to be very durable and not easily torn, both of which qualities it possesses much more than any kind of paper; it is also used for book-binding, drum-heads, and many other purposes. Clippings of parchment boiled for some time, and the liquid strained off, forms an excellent colorless size. Vellum is a thick kind of parchment, made chiefly of calf-skin.

CATGUT.

What is called catgut is made from the inner or lining membrane of the intestines of sheep. These are washed, soaked, scraped, and otherwise prepared, to render them even and clear; they are then soaked in a solution of pearlash to clear them from grease, twisted, exposed to the vapour of sulphur, polished by rubbing, and afterwards stretched and dried. Catgut is used not only for the strings of violins and other musical instruments, but also for what is called “clock-makers’ cord,” that is to say, for the bow by which the drill is turned, and for several other purposes. It is very strong, and does not easily get ragged, as would any hempen cord.

PAPER.

Illustration: FIG. 1. SECTION OF RAG ENGINE, WITH DOUBLE ROLLER.

Illustration: FIG. 2. PAPER-MAKING MACHINE.