EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY harper's MODERN SCIENCE SERIES 
EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
THE CHEMIST'S POINT OF VIEW 
AND HIS RECENT WORK 
TOLD FOR THE LAYMAN 
BY 
ELLWOOD HENDRICK 
HARPER W BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER'S MODERN SCIENCE SERIES 
A new series planned by Harper & Brothers, an entirely modern scien- 
tific series, which will present the latest and most authoritative pictures of 
modern advance in scientific and sociological fields. The new world of 
chemistry, the new discoveries regarding fife, and other subjects of imme- 
diate interest will be presented for the lay reader in this important series, 
which Harper & Brothers have planned as a distinguished feature of 
their centennial year. 
THE OFFENDER 
And His Relations to Law and Society 
By Burdette G. Lewis 
New York City Commissioner of Correction 
" The latest word in theory and practice of dealing with the wayward, 
the delinquents and criminals. . . A great book on a great subject by a 
great man."-Journal of Education {Boston). 
" The great merit of this book is the humanity and intimacy, the famil- 
iarity of detail and truthfulness, with which it treats of four complicated 
aspects of society's dealing with the wrongdoer: the trial of suspected 
criminals, the questions of probation, parole, and the indeterminate sen- 
tence, and the organization, procedure, and discipline of prisons and other 
correctional institutions."-N. Y. Nation. 
EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
The Chemist's Point of View and His Present Work 
By Ellwood Hendrick 
{Other Volumes in Preparation) 
HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK 
[Established 1817] 
Everyman's Chemistry 
Copyright, 1917, by Harper & Brothers 
Printed in the United States of America 
Published October, 1917 
K-R 
©Cl, A 476733 CONTENTS 
CHAP. PAGE 
Preface vii 
PART FIRST 
GENERAL AND INTRODUCTORY 
I. Chemical Miseries 3 
II. The Heart of the Thing 16 
III. Phases of Matter 24 
IV. Elements and Their Compounds 38 
V. Chemical Names and Phrases 54 
PART SECOND 
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY 
VI. Air and Water 59 
VII. More About Air 77 
VIII. The Red-headed Halogens 88 
IX. Sulphur, Sulphuric Acid, and Sulphur Compounds 95 
X. Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth . . 109 
XI. The Alkali Metals 117 
XII. Sand and Clay 130 
XIII. Lime and Magnesia 148 
XIV. Iron and Steel 163 
XV. More Metals 176 
XVI. Still More Metals 195 
XVII. Some of the Rarer Metals 203 
XVIII. Carbon . . 7 219 
PART THIRD 
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 
XIX. Paraffins and Petroleum Bodies 235 
XX. Olefins and Acids 247 
XXI. Alcohols and Some Relatives 258 CONTENTS 
CHAP. PAGE 
XXII. Fats, Oils, and Their Products 268 
XXIII. Sugars, Starch and Gums 282 
XXIV. Cellulose and Nitrogen Compounds 303 
XXV. Aromatic Compounds 315 
XXVI. Coal-tar Intermediates and Finished Products . 326 
Appendix I-The Elements 347 
Appendix II-Bibliography 359 
Index 363 PREFACE 
The second decade of the twentieth century has 
brought to the average man a general, if vague, realiza- 
tion of the tremendous importance of chemistry and 
its application in actual life. I think this has never 
been felt so acutely before, and yet it has seemed to me 
that the same average man is not very well provided 
with a work that he could read and understand easily 
and at the same time get a chemical view of things. 
To produce such a book has been my purpose, and if 
I have not made it interesting I shall be to blame, 
for I assure you the subject is full of interest and de- 
light. Of course this is not a complete treatise on 
chemistry, nor do I pretend that it is a well-balanced 
book. Many important subjects are touched upon 
but lightly, and others of less general value I have 
not hesitated to ramble on about at considerable 
length, so long as they seemed interesting. The 
whole thing is, in a way, a sporting proposition between 
you, the reader, and me. If I can hold your atten- 
tion until you have read it through, I shall have suc- 
ceeded in my undertaking and you will know some- 
thing about the Ways of Stuff as the chemist has to 
do with them. You will be out of the inky darkness. 
You will not think that a barrel of coal - tar, for 
instance, put into a pot and boiled with a teacupful 
of one thing and a tablespoonful of t'other will 
straightway resolve itself into dyestuffs, perfumes, PREFACE 
medicines, and what not, according to the will of the 
man with the thermometer. You will not know how 
the chemist works so much as you will of the way he 
thinks; and instead of presenting him to you as a 
superman with potentialities and powers beyond his 
kind, I have tried to make it clear that his problems 
are very like those of a business man. The difference 
is that the man of affairs deals with others of his 
kind whose minds are hidden from him, trying to 
induce them to do his bidding, whereas the chemist 
deals with molecules and atoms and ions, none of 
which he can see, but which also have ways of their 
own that are often exceedingly difficult to master. 
My only stipulation is that you shall not attempt 
to read the book backward. And yet I pray you to 
refer frequently to the table of elements at the end. 
It contains information that you will find useful as 
you read along, and I should have put it at the be- 
ginning had I not feared that it would frighten you 
away. 
Chemistry would be the dullest study on earth if 
it only had to do with the proportionate amounts of 
oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, etc., that a body contains. 
This is merely the genealogy of things, and bears the 
same relation to them that the names of a man's 
several grandparents do to him. The interest lies in 
what these things will do, just as the interesting 
quality of a man lies in the problem of what he will 
do under more or less known conditions. 
For those who desire to read more profoundly I 
have added a select bibliography of standard works, 
some of which are easy to read and some of which are 
written with the understanding that the reader shall 
have devoted several years to the study of the sub- 
jects treated. This appears in an appendix. PREFACE 
I am indebted to more friends than I can name for 
information. I have consulted with many who are 
actively engaged in special work in chemistry as to the 
status of various industries. I spent some time at 
the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, of the 
University of Pittsburgh, and, thanks to Dr. Raymond 
F. Bacon, the Director, and many of the Fellows of 
the Institute, I have been able to indicate the develop- 
ments of some subjects that would not otherwise have 
been available to me. Prof. William A. Hamor, 
Assistant Director of the Institute, has set aside work 
of pressing importance to go over most of the manu- 
script and make suggestions. The faults are all mine, 
but many of the merits of the book, if it should prove 
to have them, are the result of his encyclopedic knowl- 
edge of chemical literature. In fact, the way in which 
my chemist friends offered their aid as soon as I told 
them what I was about to do has made me not only 
very grateful, but has impressed upon me the need of 
just such a book as I have tried to write. I offer my 
hearty thanks to them all, and I bid you, in all mod- 
esty, to enter with me into what has been called that 
branch of philosophy and poetry which has to do 
with the Ways of Stuff. 
E. H. 
139 East 40th Street, New York, 
June, 1917. PART FIRST 
GENERAL AND INTRODUCTORY EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
I 
CHEMICAL MISERIES 
The Troubles of Neighbor Robinson-The Value of Chemical Advice 
and the Need of Chemical Control-The Legend of the Dunder- 
head Manufacturing Company-"All the Chemistry We Need"- 
Inventors and Their Ways-The Intelligence Department of In- 
dustry 
LET us consider the man on the street-not the 
' one leaning against a lamp-post, but a man of 
circumstance going about his affairs-as meeting a 
friend and walking along with him. After the usual 
preliminary greetings, the following conversation 
might ensue: 
"How is Robinson?" 
"I am afraid Robinson has pneumonia." 
Then we know what would follow. They would 
discuss questions of diet, Robinson's habits of life and 
his age, the peculiarities of the disease, the publications 
of medical research as recorded in the newspapers, 
and they would talk as two intelligent men would 
talk about a frequently occurring disease. They are 
not physicians, but they have a lay understanding of 
the professional life of the physician and the manner 
in which he meets his problems. And they consider 
3 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Robinson's chances of recovery. A similar discussion 
would follow the announcement, had it been made, 
that Robinson had neuritis, peritonitis, appendicitis, 
locomotor ataxia, or any of a score of other diseases 
with names having Latin and Greek entanglements. 
In other words, medicine has broken into society 
and it is an interesting subject of the talk of intelligent 
laity in their hours of leisure. 
Now let us imagine that Robinson is whole in body, 
but is having business troubles. He is a wholesale 
druggist and has been spending a great deal of money 
in advertising Robinson's Liquid Petrolatum, which 
is sold as medicine. Then the conversation might 
take this turn: 
"How is Robinson?" 
"He is in a bad way." 
"Is he ill?" 
"No; it is business. You know that petroleum 
product he has been advertising?" 
"Yes; I thought it was a gold-mine." 
"Not exactly that, although it is an excellent thing, 
but something has gone wrong and the stuff is coming 
back to him by the car-load. Smells like kerosene 
and people don't like the taste of it." 
"What is the matter with it?" 
"They say it is olefins." (In point of fact it might 
be due to other bodies, but the expression is conven- 
ient; let's use it.) 
"Ole Fins? Who's he? Is he a Swede?" 
"No; olefins are some kind of unsaturated hydro- 
carbons and-" 
"Never mind. I don't know anything about 
chemistry." 
"Neither do I, and I'm glad I don't have anything 
to do with it. You never know where you are with 
4 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
chemical products. Here's poor Robinson, who works 
up a nice business with that petroleum stuff of his 
and then for no reason at all it goes back on him." 
"That's right. I'm sorry for Robinson." 
Now the first chapter of a book is, in effect, an 
advertisement, designed to lure the reader on into a 
diligent perusal of what follows. Sugar-coat the pill 
as we may, that is the problem of an author. He 
must, if he can, lure the reader on. So, proceeding as 
though this were printed in large, bold-face type and 
adorned with illustrations supposed to be convincing, 
I ask you to look upon the discussion of the troubles 
of Robinson, which I have just indicated, as typical 
of the conversation of two intelligent laymen who have 
not read this book. Permit me, then, to indicate, in 
a few more imaginary conversations between the same 
gentlemen, types of their intercourse after reading. 
Repeat, if you will, the same talk, beginning with 
"How is Robinson?" until the point is reached where 
olefins are supposed to constitute a Swede. Now 
observe the change: 
"Olefins?" 
"Yes; unsaturated hydrocarbons, you know." 
"Can't they be separated?" 
"I believe they can. Trouble with Robinson is, 
I'm afraid, he is a little too anxious to make money. 
The United States Bureau of Mines has been turning 
out many papers on petroleum, and I understand that 
at Columbia University and at the Mellon Institute in 
Pittsburgh they have been making researches for years. 
Just as likely as not the information that Robinson 
needs has been published already." 
"Maybe he didn't know there were olefines in his 
stuff." 
"Well, he ought to, and if that is not his trouble he 
5 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ought to know what is. What he did, probably, was 
to start with some oil that was pretty clean, and then 
when he ran through a new lot the agony began. 
Robinson is one of those who think that if they have 
a formula for making something, any old raw material 
will do. He was born about forty years too late to 
manufacture that way. Why didn't he take advice? 
I'm sorry for him, but I hope this will make him mend 
his ways." 
This criticism might not be pleasant for Robinson, 
but it might be better for him than sympathy. Let us 
now make believe that Brown, another friend, is 
having trouble because his sheds, which were covered 
with steel sheeting, have rusted so that he is using 
up a lot of his profits in repairs. Then the talk might 
take this turn: 
"Where did he get his steel?" 
"He doesn't know; the contractor bought it." 
"Didn't he specify that he wanted copper alloyed 
with it?" 
"No; he only specified the gauge." 
"Just think of that! Only a little copper in the 
steel, a quarter of one per cent., might have made it 
last years and years instead of no time at all. I'm 
sorry for Brown, but he is getting just what happens 
to men who think a practical man must know every- 
thing. Brown should study, or, better still, seek 
advice." 
This information is not to be found in this book 
alone. It is published elsewhere in much greater 
detail. There is not a single discovery here set forth 
and published for the first time to a supposedly awe- 
inspired world. What I am trying to do is to treat of 
innate matter, not as though it were dead, but rather 
as having within it, as it has, constant potentialities 
6 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
of action. Matter does not act and react according 
to a few fixed rules; there are rules by the hundred, 
and we shall not attempt to repeat them. Then, 
too, time and again, to all intents and purposes, they 
seem to be broken. There are certain general princi- 
ples, however, which seem to hold good, just as certain 
general principles seem to hold good in dealing with 
men. Some of these I shall try to indicate as we 
proceed. Every subject mentioned is a study in itself, 
and concerning which, in many cases, whole libraries 
have been written. 
If you want chemical advice, remember that nobody 
living knows all there is of chemistry, but that some 
men are remarkably well informed on certain subjects. 
How to find the man you need is an undeveloped art, 
but a good thing to do is to get acquainted with a 
sound chemist and consult him or talk with him about 
your business affairs. It is surprising into how many 
places, if he is a sound man, he will be able to throw 
light. It may interest you to know that the Bureau 
of Employment of the Chemists' Club of New York 
maintains an excellent list of consultants and chem- 
ical engineers as well as of chemists who seek employ- 
ment. The editors of the Journal of Industrial and 
Engineering Chemistry of the American Chemical So- 
ciety and of Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering 
are remarkably well posted as to men. Being sincerely 
interested in the development of American industrial 
chemistry, they are glad of the opportunity to help. 
The time is soon coming when manufacturing estab- 
lishments will need a chemist in consultation just as 
much as they need a lawyer now. If they are negotiat- 
ing with customers or with other corporations, they 
need a lawyer to draw their contracts and see that 
they do not make mistakes. Well, if they are nego- 
7 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
tiating with materials, they need a chemist, for chem- 
istry treats of the ways of stuff, and these are full of 
unexpected turnings. Chemical control is needed. 
This is bound to come, but it hasn't arrived yet. 
And when it does come, there are sure to be comedies 
enacted in relation to it, and very expensive comedies 
withal. Now the truth, as you are likely to read 
more than once in this book, is all the facts arrayed 
in their right relation, which is why we do not always 
succeed in telling it, no matter how hard we try. 
Teaching by parable is an old and tried method, and, 
in order to bring out the need of a competent chemist 
in counsel, let us imagine a story. Before we begin, 
however, please remember that chemistry is a very 
broad subject, like farming. In that profession one 
man is good at raising cattle, another breeds horses, 
another is a great expert in vegetables, while others 
are good all-round men who do not profess to know 
everything, but have the knack of getting needed 
information and finding the best authorities. These 
men are likely to succeed as consultants, and of such 
I beg you to consider Doctor Noyadont, who will 
shortly appear. 
Now let us suppose a meeting of the board of the 
Dunderhead Manufacturing Co., and that, in order 
to conform to the prospective fashion of having a 
chemist in counsel, the directors have filled a vacancy 
by electing young Brown, who is engaged in testing 
materials in their cupboard of a laboratory somewhere 
under a stairway. Then suppose the most affluent, 
the most pompous, the vainest if not the richest di- 
rector, the father-in-law of the secretary of the Sand 
& Stone Co., were to offer the following motion: 
"Resolved, That, prices being equal, this corporation 
shall purchase its rock from the Sand & Stone Co." 
8 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
The young chemist apologizes for speaking, and says 
that Sand & Stone are agents for Blue Mountain rock, 
and that this rock seemed to show traces of dubium, 
which he fears might give trouble in the works. 
"Whatcha mean?" roars the affluent one to the 
pale B.S. 
"Well, I-er-it doesn't seem to me that it works 
as well as the Earth & Rock Co.'s product that I 
believe comes from Green Mountain. I thought I 
found traces of dubium there, and, you know, there 
might be a catalytic effect-" 
"Cataclysmic effect," exclaims the old heavyweight. 
"Young man, is that what you think or what you 
guess?" 
"Why, I'm not sure, but I think-" 
"That's what you think, is it? Well, sir, when you 
know something let's hear from you, but we don't 
care for any of your guesses. The Sand & Stone Co. 
are the largest dealers in this material in the world, 
and if I tell them to send us rock without any of this 
here dubium in it, they'll send it. I call for my mo- 
tion, Mr. Chairman." 
The motion is put and carried. 
In one year's time the asset of the corporation's 
name as a trade-mark becomes a liability; they 
cannot persuade people that their product is not 
tainted. Even after they have seen the folly of their 
ways and given up the use of Blue Mountain rock 
and turn out a product better than ever before, their 
reputation is still bad. 
"Better not buy of 'em," says one customer to a 
prospective one. "They tried to run off a lot of 
inferior material on me, but I made 'em take it back." 
"One of their drummers was in not long ago and 
he said they had had a fault, but had corrected it; 
9 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
they had some sort of jubilee or other in the rock 
they make it of, but he says it's all right now." 
' ' That's what they say. J 'ever know a concern that 
wasn't all right when they wanted to make a sale?" 
"That's so. Better be on the safe side," says Mr. 
Prospective Customer, and he buys from the rival 
company. 
Now suppose, instead of electing the young chemist 
from the works, a consulting chemist of standing is 
selected, retained and added to the board to avoid 
mistakes at the start, which is the Grand Economy. 
Let us imagine the same corporation, same chairman 
and president, same pompous old party with a son- 
in-law with Sand & Stone, same general counsel, and 
the same other members, except that Doctor Noya- 
dont of the Noyadont Laboratories sits in the place 
of young Brown, the chemist at the works. Unlike 
Brown, Doctor Noyadont has not bought himself a 
house in the neighborhood of the factory, and has not 
married on the prospects of the good-will of the very 
board of which he is a member. Doctor Noyadont 
likes his annual retainer, which may be more than 
Brown's salary, but he does not live on it. Then let 
us imagine the same proposal of the affluent Mr. 
Fatwad that the corporation procure its rock from 
Sand & Stone. 
Doctor Noyadont speaks up: "Sorry, Mr. Fatwad, 
but I shall have to oppose that motion. I've examined 
the Blue Mountain rock that they handle, and it is 
not good for our purpose." 
"Why not?" 
"Appears to be dubium in it." 
"But these people are the largest producers of rock 
in the world, and do you mean to tell me-?" 
"I mean to tell you not to use any Blue Mountain 
10 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
rock. It's the best there is for some purposes, but 
not for us." 
Old Fat wad observes that Doctor Noyadont is 
neither afraid nor uncertain of his ground. But he 
likes to have his way, and he proposes a committee 
of three, including Doctor Noyadont, to ascertain. 
"No occasion for me to look it up any more," says 
Doctor Noyadont. "Go ahead and buy all the 
Blue Mountain rock you want to," he continues, 
' 'but with it comes my resignation from the board and 
from the office of your consulting chemist. Mr. 
Fatwad expects your processes to move on all calm 
and serene in the presence of a catalytic agent that 
may start up all sorts of reactions that you don't 
want. I can't be sure of your product under those 
conditions. If some member of the board were to 
propose to break the laws of the State or the nation, 
your general counsel here would advise you against 
it, and if you were to persist in it he would resign. 
Well, here you propose to break nature's laws and ex- 
pect to keep out of trouble after you've done it. I 
call for the question, Mr. Chairman, because it in- 
volves a matter about which we should not be in doubt 
for one minute. And I offer my resignation now to 
take effect as soon as the motion is carried." 
Mr. Fatwad then withdraws his motion. He may 
see a light, and again he may not, but the chances 
are that he will, because he is nobody's fool. But 
rich men's vanity is one of the most difficult things to 
overcome. When it is quiescent it is invisible and 
harmless; when it is active it is hard to endure and 
highly dangerous. The only way to deal with it when 
it is active is to whack it on the head. No employee 
can do this without providing for himself first a good, 
safe runway into the tall timber. 
11 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
There should be a chemist on the board of every 
corporation that has to do with chemical processes. 
He should be a man of attainment, of distinction, and 
of backbone. 
So much for imaginary conversations. But I could, 
if I had a mind, tell you true stories of real men that 
sound very like them. Let's content ourselves with a 
single one, drawn from lifel It has to do with a great 
corporation that was in a bad way, especially troubled 
by the ruinous prices that "unprincipled" competitors 
were charging for wares. Later examination proved 
that they were wasting several hundred thousand 
dollars annually from not knowing what was actually 
taking place among the materials in their works. Their 
men were doing as they were told with diligence, but 
their materials were up to mischief. The man in 
authority replied to the suggestion that they have 
their plant examined by a competent chemical engi- 
neer that his boy was a sophomore at Yale and was 
taking up chemistry among his studies, "and so you 
see," he concluded, "we get all the chemistry we need." 
This book is written for the man who shakes his 
head with the exclamation that he does not know 
anything about chemistry whenever the subject is 
mentioned. I have not the ignorant man in mind 
when I say this, but one whose peregrinations in the 
pathways of knowledge have not included the ways 
of so-called inanimate, but, in fact, very lively matter. 
To make things easy, I suggest that we take the point 
of view that matter, instead of being inert, has ways 
of its own, and likes and dislikes and foibles galore; 
in short, that it has personal qualities. This may not 
be taking the most exalted view of the processes of 
nature, and it is not the fashionable method of teach- 
12 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
ing, but it will be a workable view. We need not 
enter into the problem of whether the processes of life 
are wholly of a physico-chemical nature or not. We 
shall not study them profoundly or speculate upon 
them. So far as we are concerned and without growing 
too serious over it, let us go the most enthusiastic 
vitalists one better and, finding motion in the whirling 
atoms of the common stone, call everything alive. 
Even a dead mouse can make trouble. 
Another thing that has bothered me like the voice 
of conscience while planning this work has been the 
way in which chemical undertakings are often organ- 
ized-and then fail. Some inventor comes along with 
what seems like a good idea. Let's admit that it is 
a good idea. The inventor "knows all about chem- 
istry," and he is also certain that other persons en- 
gaged in the effort to produce the same materials have 
not seen the great light that has been revealed to him. 
This great light may be as evident as that two and 
two make four, but the inventor believes himself the 
sole repository of the knowledge. These are danger 
signs, and would be to the wise manufacturer the signal 
to see a competent chemical engineer, get him to look 
up the literature, and then possibly make a trip 
somewhere and find out more about it. He need 
not give the secret away, although the chances are 
ten to one that a full account of the reactions is given 
somewhere in chemical literature. But let us imagine 
that the inventor is right, which is guessing against 
odds, and imagine the company formed to begin 
manufacture. How many chemical inventors are 
good engineers? They are few and far between. The 
tanks and machinery, the valves, pipes, filter presses, 
and what not must be ordered and installed, and 
we meet another chance for failure because of defective 
13 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
mechanical construction. But let us imagine the 
works to be well designed and the goods to be pro- 
duced-not quite in measure and kind as expected- 
but produced. Then comes the problem of business 
administration, and here people fail again. A chem- 
ical enterprise needs just as much business ability 
to operate it as does any other. Why an otherwise 
unfortunate relative or friend out of a job should be 
regarded as the very man to undertake the business 
management of a new industry is hard to understand, 
but it is done time and again. It shows how hope 
springs eternal in the human breast, but it does not 
prove wisdom. 
Now the thing to know first in manufacture is 
that a process is right, not only in glass in the labora- 
tory, but under the entirely different conditions of 
mass and surface and pressure in iron in the works. 
That is the reason why it is so wise to build a test 
plant first and prove out every detail. The laboratory 
must keep on the track of the materials used and 
produced just as the accounting department must 
keep records of costs, and if things go wrong the 
chemical adviser should be called in, just as he was 
at the start, and just as the medical adviser is called 
in at the birth and on the occasion of sickness of a 
person. 
Chemical manufacture is not always a difficult pro- 
cedure. Many processes are by no means so involved 
as making shoes or hats or furniture-all of which 
have a chemical as well as a mechanical side. What 
is needed is a sense of what is going on inside of all 
the pots, kettles, boilers, and containers of one sort 
or another, and then the same requirements hold good 
that are demanded by other industries. 
Of course, many manufacturers have their own 
14 CHEMICAL MISERIES 
secret processes and chemical short-cuts that have 
great value to them, but it is a fair guess that, of 
chemical secrets, at least three-fourths of them are 
known and are of public record. 
Chemistry is not only the intelligence department 
of industry; it is everywhere, and we cannot get 
away from it. Every kitchen is a laboratory, every 
baker is a chemical manufacturer, and every butcher 
is a chemical warehouseman. Chemistry washes us, 
launders our clothes, and bleaches and dyes them; 
it provides us with metals, with our morning paper, 
and with books; it helps the farmer to grow our food; 
and when all is over, whether we be burned to ashes or 
buried in the ground, it is by chemical processes that 
our bodies go back again into the great order of things. II 
THE HEART OF THE THING 
The World beyond the Microscope-The Nature of Matter-Atoms 
and Molecules-Speculations-The Middle of the Road-The 
Law of Avogadro - No Such Thing as Rest - Polygamy in 
Chemistry-A Little Confidential Talk 
THE world beyond the microscope is as vast as 
that beyond the telescope. We can see and 
feel a few things, just a few, within the very narrow 
range of our ken, and all the rest is beyond. We have 
to compute what we know or what seems likely about 
it. There is a kind of cousinship between chemistry 
and astronomy, but their eyes are pointed in different 
directions-astronomy has to do with the ways of 
great masses of matter in their movements through- 
out illimitable space, while chemistry reasons about 
and tries out theories in regard to the ways of parti- 
cles infinitely small. 
The study of chemistry is rather confusing in these 
days, for two reasons. One is that revelations are 
coming so fast that it is hard to digest them, and 
another is that there has been a grand wedding in 
science within the past few years before the war. Phys- 
ics and chemistry have been joined together in such 
intimacy that it is hard to tell where one begins and 
the other ends. And higher mathematics has entered 
into the union, so that chemistry to-day has become 
16 THE HEART OF THE THING 
almost as mathematical a science as is astronomy or 
physics. 
Now we shall not enter into problems of mathe- 
matics or of physics. I shall not even attempt to 
tell you how computations are made, for one reason 
because it would make the book dull reading to those 
who are not mathematicians, and for another reason 
because I couldn't if I tried. 
Let us, nevertheless, enter into a little discussion 
as to the nature of matter. In Athenian days it was 
a popular debate among the Sophists whether, if a 
particle of matter were divided and one of its pieces 
divided again, and one of them divided again, and so 
on and on, granted infinite vision and infinite refine- 
ment of work, an indivisible particle would ever be 
reached. In mathematics one divided by infinity 
equals zero. In chemistry the name of this ultimate 
particle on which the Greeks speculated was taken 
and applied to the smallest particle of any one 
element that combines. The atom has ceased to 
be the smallest particle imaginable, but it is the 
smallest unit of substance that we can conceive of 
any element. 
We must get this idea of atoms and molecules and 
elements clear in our minds, for I shall keep talking 
about them constantly, and I know very well what 
will happen to this book if I do not make it clear to 
you. So let us imagine all matter to constitute a very 
odd world of mankind. Then the eighty-odd elements 
would be the different races, some of them very wide- 
spread and some of them very rare and hardly known. 
Now let's call the atoms the individual persons of 
each race. Then there will be eighty-odd different 
kinds of atoms, some heavy and some light, some one 
color and some another, according to the race or ele- 
17 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ment to which they belong. But all the atoms of any 
one element will have the same qualities. 
The individual atoms do not get bom and die as 
we do; they live right on. Do not think about radium 
or radio-active elements; call that a skeleton in the 
closet and close the closet door. The individuals 
or atoms have no sex, but they mate up in pairs or 
larger numbers, in what we might call families. The 
families are molecules. There is a great deal of race 
prejudice both ways, in favor of mating or grouping 
and against it, among the elements or races. Atoms 
of two elements that will not combine themselves 
may be induced to join in a large molecule of many 
atoms of other elements. Atoms are nearly always 
found in families or molecules; there are no bachelors 
or old maids, except in certain metals in a gaseous 
condition and in the rare gases of the air, like argon, 
krypton, etc., and let us not think about them. We 
say sometimes that the family is the unit of society, 
and it often takes more than a little faith to believe 
it. When we say that the molecule is the unit of 
stuff we are nearer the truth. The atoms often wander 
from one family or molecule to another, sometimes 
singly and sometimes in groups; and sometimes they 
do this with explosive violence, while at others they 
are interminably slow in getting settled. The wan- 
dering of atoms from one molecule to another is what 
we call a chemical reaction. 
It is all imaginary, all theory, and yet it is the 
basis of chemistry. It was said in some verses called 
"Rollo and His Uncle in Chemistry," at a meeting 
of chemists, that 
You'd better join the church before this course is well begun, 
Because you'll need to exercise the art of faith, my son. 
18 THE HEART OF THE THING 
While we are discussing the nature of matter, we 
might as well enter a little way into the pleasant fields 
of speculation about it. For years we have taken it 
for granted that matter is indestructible. Well, is it 
indestructible? Is the cosmic universe bounding 
along, combining elements into molecules of eternal 
atoms and then dissociating them in a kind of ring- 
around-o'-rosy without any change except such mere 
incidents as the drying up of this planet and the 
birth of another? Are the elements really elemental? 
Are they primeval stuff? They may be, but they 
hardly seem so. You will observe later how closely 
related to one another certain of these elements are, 
and it would seem that at least those that are closely 
related have a common origin. And why are some of 
them always found together? 
Then there is radium. It gives off constantly a 
series of rays with a power beyond any force known 
to us. Whence comes this energy? And, again, be- 
sides these rays it gives forth an emanation which 
seems distinct from its rays, and which, by itself, de- 
composes into a radio-active solid and helium gas. 
Helium is an element. Radium is an element, and 
yet a part of radium becomes helium. Here is a fact. 
The theory that matter is indestructible is not so 
certain, after all. 
And this is not all. Combinations of elements are 
usually more stable than the elements are by them- 
selves. Two parts by volume of hydrogen gas, which 
they use to fill balloons because of its lightness, and 
one part by volume of oxygen, a gas which is one- 
fifth of the air, produce water. In its whole nature 
water is something entirely different from either of 
its component parts-less like them than other ele- 
ments are. It has ways of its own, just as elements 
19 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
have. Why, then, just because elements cannot, 
with the means we have, be divided into other bodies, 
should we claim immortality for them? 
Now let us take another point of view. Imagine, 
please, a point of space. Not an atom; let's give the 
atom credit for considerable size. Of course, it's 
beyond the microscope, but because it's smaller than 
a wave of light is no reason why we should call it 
zero. Let's call it large; there's room enough. This 
point of space that we are imagining is not a speck; 
it is just a center of force. It is a charge of electricity. 
Whether it shall have substance or not is according 
to your pleasure. I think the more usual opinion is 
that it has no substance, but if it disturbs you to 
think of it in this connection you might call it primary 
stuff as long as you think it necessary to do so. That 
point of space is, let us say, charged positively with 
electricity. Around and about it whirl other points 
or centers of force, charged negatively. These are 
called electrons. They pass the energy along the 
surface of wires when telegraphic messages are sent. 
The atom of hydrogen, supposed to be the smallest 
atom of all, is seventeen hundred times greater than an 
electron. Doctor Crehore, of Yonkers, who is a 
great mathematician, has computed the atoms of a 
number of elements as systems of electrons positively 
and negatively charged, revolving in their respective 
orbits very much as solar systems, and providing free 
energy to give to atoms all their combining qualities. 
The difference in the organization of these infinitely 
small solar systems would account for the differences 
between the elements. 
This makes every atom itself a solar system. 
Whirling units of force, persevering in their orbits so 
that we cannot break them apart, but definite and 
20 THE HEART OF THE THING 
indestructible only because our vision is so weak, 
our powers so frail, and our lives so short. They will 
not always persevere. They will change. Nothing is 
permanent, nothing immutable, nothing is real 
throughout the ages. 
Strange, how we revert to the philosophy of Bishop 
Berkeley and the wise sayings of the East, and wel- 
come them as the fashion for our thoughts again- 
for a season. 
But let us get back to the middle of the road, to 
more concrete things. Please believe that atoms can- 
not be divided. This is the working hypothesis. We 
find in practice that the elements cannot be split-up 
into other bodies. Iron stays iron, gold remains 
gold, and the same holds true of all of them for all 
practical purposes. They combine with one another 
in definite proportions. They not only mix, they 
combine and produce entirely different bodies. Bring 
two elements that have a liking for each other to- 
gether, and just so much of the one will combine with 
just so much (but not an equal weight) of another. 
Here let us consider another interesting postulate 
called the law of Avogadro. All gases at the same 
temperature and pressure contain the same number 
of molecules within the same volume. More con- 
cretely stated, there are the same number of mole- 
cules in a cubic inch of one gas that there are in a 
cubic inch of another, provided the temperature and 
the pressure are the same. Of course, the molecules of 
one gas differ from those of another in size and weight, 
but in a gas they are far apart, anyway, and they are 
supposed to be flying about all the time like so many 
balloons, hitting one another and bounding back again 
until they strike something else, and then they bound 
off in another direction, for they are supposed to be 
21 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
very elastic. There is nothing to impede them in 
their flight through space except either the walls that 
inclose them or other molecules. It makes no differ- 
ence whether they are molecules of elements or of 
combinations; they all behave in the same way. 
Now I think you will understand what happens when 
you compress a gas; there is such a bombardment 
of molecules against the walls of the container that 
your apparatus will run hot. Keep up the pressure, 
increase it, and cool your apparatus, and the gas will 
turn into a liquid. Cooling slows down the motions 
of the molecules; heating increases it. Then cool the 
liquid still more and it will freeze or turn to a solid. 
Some of the freedom of movement which the mole- 
cules had in the liquid form is lost; in some way they 
seem to clinch-and there is the solid. They are not 
still in the solid, but their movements are much more 
circumscribed. 
In all the chemical world there is no such thing as 
rest and, except as we may speculate upon it, no such 
thing as death. 
Chemically speaking, then, nature has about eighty 
kinds or races of matter called elements, and every- 
thing there is in nature is made up of them. They 
enter into combinations with one another and produce 
bodies that sometimes show a family resemblance, 
but more often are totally unlike the stuffs that they 
are made of. They are given to polygamy and poly- 
andry as matters of entire propriety; and if it were not 
for the fact that we cannot imagine atoms as having 
sex, the way they shift about in their matings would 
scandalize any community. They have rules and 
ways of their own, according to the deductions and 
findings of wise and observant men, and then again 
they appear to break them. Therefore chemistry 
22 THE HEART OF THE THING 
is a study accompanied by constant surprises, and 
the only authority who "knows all about chemistry" 
is a poor creature, bereft of imagination. There are 
vast domains in the subject as yet undiscovered, 
and without doubt some of the favorite hypotheses 
of to-day will fall by the wayside to-morrow. But 
you do not have to know all of human nature to be- 
come interested in persons, and for the same reason 
you do not have to read deeply into this subject before 
its romantic side will begin to appear. If it does not 
show itself to you, the fault will be mine, for I assure 
you the romance is there. 
You need not try to learn anything by heart. 
There is an ample index to what is said, and I have 
no desire to put the burden of memorizing upon you. 
The task that I have set myself is to keep you inter- 
ested as you read along, and if I succeed in this I 
have a feeling that you will want to look things up 
for yourself, for the chemical view of things is very 
fascinating, and it takes in all the processes of nature 
and something of nearly all the industries of man. 
In fact, I shall confess frankly that I am after some- 
thing of yours that is not included in the money you 
pay for this book-I am after your curiosity. If I 
can get that, there will be no holding you back from 
the subject. 
Please do not be frightened if you see some chemical 
formulas that appear bewildering farther along in 
the later pages. I do not think they will worry you, 
if you will only wait until you come to them. The 
whole work is designed as a man's book rather than 
as a torment for the nursery, and so I have not hesi- 
tated to enter into some of the profounder problems. 
But if we only keep good-natured about them there 
is no reason why they should be dull. 
23 HI 
PHASES OF MATTER 
Solids, Liquids, and Gases-The Ways of Gases-Solutions-Ions 
and the Ionic Theory-An Electric Battery-Solvents and So- 
lutes-Solid Solutions-Colloids-Difference between Colloidal 
Particles and Molecules-35,000,000,000 Miles out of a Cubic 
Inch 
WE must, in order to make a reasonable start, 
go over a few points in regard to the conditions 
of matter. It is subject to three states-solid, liquid, 
and gaseous. Water, for instance, is liquid at what 
we call ordinary temperature, solid ice in the cold, 
and steam vapor in heat. Most bodies are subject to 
these three phases at different temperatures and dif- 
ferent pressures, although some go over from the solid 
to the gaseous state almost without entering the 
liquid phase. They sublimate. Iodine is a familiar 
example. 
If we imagine the molecules as each one an indi- 
vidual kind of a balloon, and all of them bobbing 
around loose, with nothing to hold them together 
but as though striving to keep as far as possible from 
one another, they are in the state of a gas. If we 
imagine them as skipping around every which way 
over and under one another, sideways, forward, and 
backward, but held down by a greater tension, we 
may say that the body which they constitute is in a 
liquid state. When they clinch we have a solid. 
24 PHASES OF MATTER 
Even then they continue in motion, dancing around 
all the time. 
We have spoken of the law of Avogadro, whereby 
it is held that at equal temperature and pressure all 
gases contain the same number of molecules within 
the same volume. We note that the molecules are 
in constant motion and that their bombardment of 
the walls of the container is what causes gas pressure. 
Now let us imagine the walls to be absolutely elastic, 
so that they give way to pressure without opposition. 
Then for every degree centigrade that any gas is 
heated, without any increase of pressure from the 
outside its volume will increase 1/273 part, and the 
container will increase in size just 1/273 of its whole. 
And for every degree centigrade that we cool it, it 
will contract just that much-1/273 °f its volume. 
That is the measure of the drive of a gas against the 
walls of a container when you heat it. This is why a 
boiler bursts; its walls are not sufficiently elastic. 
And if you take an inclosed vessel of air or any other 
gas at room temperature and pressure and cool it 
within the container, the pressure will be from the 
outside in, because the ordinary pressure of the air 
upon everything is about fifteen pounds to the square 
inch, while, if you heat it, the pressure will be from 
the inside toward the outside. The temperature of 
- 2730 C. is held to be the absolute zero at which no 
gas can exist as such; it will be liquid or solid. Do 
not forget, however, that the molecules are always in 
motion; more lively in heat than in cold, moving 
faster and with greater push. 
Now let us take a liquid, say water, and put into 
it some common salt, which straightway disappears. 
We say it has gone into solution. These particles, 
the molecules of salt, are there swimming around. 
25 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
They spread themselves throughout all the water 
that is available. If we conduct a current of elec- 
tricity through the solution, some of the salt mole- 
cules will decompose, and, being made up as they are 
of chlorine and sodium, the one element will hasten to 
the positive pole and the other to the negative one. 
Now water alone, pure water, will not conduct elec- 
tricity, but water containing salt or sulphuric acid 
or caustic soda or any other electrolyte will conduct 
it. Those bodies which dissolve in water and whose 
molecules split up when a current of electricity is 
passed through are called electrolytes. 
Here we may as well consider the ionic hypothesis, 
which is one of those things that is very possibly not 
so, or only partially true, and yet it is well to believe 
it, so as to get at the chemical view of what happens. 
To quote from the Rollo verses again: 
I used to think theology was rather hard on doubt, 
But chemistry, with ions, beats theology all out. 
Now please take a fresh grip upon this subject; 
let's go at it from another angle of vision. We have 
to do this constantly in chemistry. Some of the mole- 
cules of salt, on going into solution and without the 
need of our conducting a current of electricity through 
it, dissociated into free chlorine and free sodium atoms 
in solution, each charged with opposite electrical 
charges. Let us say they obtained their electrical 
charges from the force which held them together in 
the salt. In this state the dissociated parts of mole- 
cules are called ions. The freedom of these charged 
atoms or ions is not so great, after all; there is no 
such thing as free electricity, so the ions with a posi- 
tive and those with a negative charge are perfectly 
balanced. There is an equal number of each sort, 
26 PHASES OF MATTER 
They are in equilibrium. We have to suppose that 
these positively and negatively charged atoms or ions 
behave very differently from the same atoms or parts 
of molecules when they cease to be ions - that is, 
when they have given up their electric charges. This 
statement may not be of thrilling interest at this 
point, but we must get it recorded. 
When we put a very little salt into a great deal of 
water, thus making a very dilute solution, it appears 
that all of the solute or salt becomes ionized; we have 
only water and chlorine and sodium ions. As soon 
as we make it more concentrated, only a part of the 
salt becomes ionized, and this proportion decreases 
as the solution becomes more concentrated. It is all 
theory, pure theory, and yet later on you will see how 
useful it is. It would not do to say that these ions, 
these free atoms with electric charges, are the same as 
ordinary atoms of chlorine and sodium, because if they 
were we should have caustic soda and free chlorine 
as the result of putting salt into water. So we say 
that the ions are so perfectly balanced with positive 
and negative charges that nothing happens, so far 
as we can see. 
Then suppose you ask why it is, with free atoms of 
chlorine with a negative charge and of sodium with a 
positive charge swimming around loose, that they 
don't combine right up again to chloride of sodium 
or salt, with all that free energy? I believe the clas- 
sical answer to such questions is that you are too 
young, too immature, to understand these things. 
But the fact is that it has not been answered in any 
satisfactory way. 
Sulphuric acid is another well-known electrolyte, 
and the formula for sulphuric acid being H2SO4 (two 
27 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
atoms of hydrogen, one of sulphur, and four of oxy- 
gen), we find that it dissociates as follows: 
H2SO4 = ii"+ S04. 
But note that these two hydrogen atoms and the 
SO4 group are oppositely charged with electricity. 
Suppose, then, we put into a jar a solution of dilute 
sulphuric acid and dip into the jar two electrodes- 
say, one of zinc and one of^graphite, connected with 
each other by wire. The SO4 ions will wander over 
to the zinc, pull_its molecules apart, take an atom 
of zinc for every S04 ion, and proceed to shape itself 
up into molecules of zinc sulphate, or ZnSO4. (Zn 
is zinc; it has two bonds or units of combining power, 
so that one atom of zinc takes the place of two of 
hydrogen.) The two hydrogen ions wander over to 
the other pole, and, being unable to_combine with the 
graphite for lack of affinity, and the SO4, to which they 
were formerly attached as sulphuric acid, H2SO4, 
being already settled down with the zinc as zinc 
sulphate, ZnSO4, they do what lone ions always do, 
if there is an electrode around. As soon as each hydro- 
gen ion touches the graphite electrode it gives up its 
charge and becomes plain hydrogen again. There is 
nothing in the solution for it to combine with, and 
so, being a very light gas, its atoms couple up to 
molecules and it escapes into the air. 
Now we have made sulphate of zinc and produced 
free hydrogen in our reaction, but we have done some- 
thing else. As soon as we have connected those two 
electrodes of zinc and graphite each with a copper 
wire and connected the wires with a small electric 
lamp, we find that the lamp glows with light, showing 
that an electric current is passing through. And the 
28 PHASES OF MATTER 
current comes from the charge given up by the hydro- 
gen ions where they have touched the graphite elec- 
trode, just as its atoms coupled up to molecules and 
escaped as plain hydrogen gas. On the other side it 
came from the zinc electrode just as the SO4 ions 
touched it and gave up their opposite charge as they 
combined with the zinc to produce zinc sulphate, ZnSO4. 
Suppose the zinc and graphite electrodes had not 
been connected with each other by a wire. Then 
they would not have been electrodes; they would have 
been just a stick of zinc and a stick of inert carbon 
dipped into the solution. The sulphuric acid would 
simply attack the zinc and give up hydrogen at the 
zinc. The word ion means traveler, and the hydrogen 
ions would not have traveled over to the graphite 
and given up their charge over there if there had 
been no connection of one pole with the other. 
I hope the ionic theory will not prove a nuisance 
to you or discourage you at this point. We need to 
have an idea of it in our minds because it is the foun- 
dation of electrochemistry. Let us reverse the opera- 
tion and run an electric current through a solution 
of a salt of a metal. In this instance the dissociated 
metal ions strike the electrode, give up their electric 
charge, and, being unable to escape into the air 
because they are solid at ordinary temperatures, they 
plaster themselves as molecules right upon the elec- 
trode. This is the basis of electroplating, and is the 
principle of the electrolytic refining of copper and 
other metals. 
We may add a crystalline body to hot water until 
we have more in solution than will stay there when 
the water cools. Then the excess will crystallize out 
in regular, mathematically correct forms, according to 
its own form of crystals. We can test and measure 
29 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
just how soluble any crystalline body is in any liquid 
at a given temperature and pressure. The liquid is 
called the solvent, and the body dissolved is called 
the solute. 
So intimately related are solvent and solute that 
they may almost seem to be a chemical combination; 
but they are not. A chemical combination is a defi- 
nite thing-so many atoms of one element with so 
many atoms of one or more others, and their pro- 
portions are fixed. A solution is not fixed in its rela- 
tions of solute to solvent; the proportions may vary 
from a trace of the solute to a saturated solution that 
will not contain any more. 
Now suppose instead of taking water we melt a 
metal and dissolve another metal in it. We can get 
a complete solution with the same relation of solvent 
to solute in all the parts. But just as with water, the 
solvent may not be able to dissolve as much of the 
solute metal when it cools off as it did when it was 
molten and hot, and then you can see the excess of 
the solute oozing out as it cools off. The one will 
dissolve in the other up to saturation, but no more. 
When it cools off we have what is known as a solid 
solution, and here is one of the sportiest fields of 
modern chemistry. 
For instance, when you buy steel you buy it for a 
certain purpose. You want it to be hard or soft or 
resilient or to be chemically resistant, or you may want 
it to give a good cutting edge or to have some other 
quality. The demand is growing in the steel industry 
for special products for special purposes. The buyer 
is growing wise. He is interested in endurance and 
in the quality of his product in the interest of the 
Greater Economy whereby his business may keep him 
for long rather than for a short time. Solutions of 
30 PHASES OF MATTER 
rare and common metals added to steel even in very- 
small quantities give special and particular qualities. 
Again, let us take a substance like gum arabic, 
that is without form and that will mix with its sol- 
vent in any relation, that does not crystallize and that 
will dissolve and dissolve until a thick paste is reached. 
Then we have a different situation. Such a non- 
crystalline body is called a colloid, and its relation to 
its solvent is not the same as that of a crystalline body. 
Many insoluble solids, as, for instance, gold, will 
enter into colloidal solution if the particles are in a 
sufficiently fine-divided state. A colloidal solution 
of gold in water, which requires both art and chemical 
chicanery to prepare, is a red liquid, and the particles, 
if sufficiently finely divided, will not precipitate upon 
the bottom of the vessel. 
Colloids have ways of their own that are very- 
remarkable. If a drop of a colloidal solution of gold 
or a drop of very dilute skim milk is observed under 
an ultra-microscope, the colloidal particles will be 
observed to be constantly and forever dancing around. 
They are never still until a reagent is brought in which 
clots them. This motion is called the Brownian move- 
ment. 
I can do no better on this subject than to give some 
notes that I took at a lecture on colloid chemistry 
given by Prof. Wilder D. Bancroft, of Cornell Uni- 
versity, delivered at a public meeting of the American 
Chemical Society in September, 1916. It would not 
be fair to Doctor Bancroft to hold him responsible 
for the letter of my transcript. I do not know short- 
hand, and this is mostly what I remember of his talk: 
Formerly it was held that a substance was col- 
loidal as distinguished from those that would crystal- 
lize. A better definition is that of the colloidal state, 
31 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
which has to do with substances divided into very 
small particles-not molecules or atoms, but still very 
small. It is the chemistry of grains, drops, bubbles, 
filaments, and films. It touches every-day life and 
industry-cement, brick, pottery, varnish, soap, rub- 
ber, milk, butter, purification of water, sewage, pho- 
tography, the great domain of physiology, and then 
a lot more. 
Very fine particles have a greater proportion of sur- 
face to mass than larger particles, and every surface can 
condense other things upon it. For instance, Doctor 
Cushman found in working on cements that if he got 
his cement ground to a sufficiently fine powder it ran 
like water. The reason was the adhesion, or adsorp- 
tion, as it is called, of a thin film of air around each 
particle. Every grain had something like a pneumatic 
tire surrounding it, and so they all ran easily. 
If you break a piece of china, the pieces will not 
stick together well because of the air film on the 
broken surfaces. Jerome Alexander finds that split 
pieces of mica will coalesce immediately after being 
broken, but if left to stand awhile they will not. To 
adsorb the air film takes time. 
It is hard to make two soap bubbles coalesce, be- 
cause of the air films upon their surfaces. Sir William 
Thomson found that dried oatmeal takes on water 
by this same process; that it takes up as much water 
as sulphuric acid does. 
Dyed fabrics are those in which to every fiber of the 
fabric there adheres a film of the dyestuff. 
So-called "acid soils," if washed out with water, 
will not give an acid reaction to the water; but if 
wet litmus paper is pressed upon the soil, the paper 
turns red. This is because the soil adsorbs some- 
thing alkaline from the litmus paper, leaving some- 
32 PHASES OF MATTER 
thing acid to predominate and thus turn the paper 
red. So, whether the soil is properly called acid or 
not is a problem in the philosophy of Tweedledum 
and Tweedledee, which he could best explain by the 
parable of the bananas. Suppose he were to leave a 
large assortment of both red and yellow bananas on 
his desk and then leave the room. On his return he 
finds many more yellow bananas than red ones, 
whereas before he had to all appearances as many of 
one kind as of the other. Then the problem to de- 
termine is whether some kind friend has secretly pre- 
sented him with an armful of yellow bananas to add 
to his store, or the more likely contingency that some- 
body else has made away with some of the red ones. 
The reasons why minute colloidal particles remain 
in solution are, first, because, being covered by a 
film of something that keeps them apart, they don't 
join. Then, looking at a colloidal solution through 
an ultra-microscope, one sees the particles constantly 
dancing about in their perpetual quadrille-the 
Brownian movements, as stated above. But why do 
they dance? The answer may be found in the com- 
parison of a floating chip with a floating ship. The 
little ripples cause the chip to be engaged in very 
lively tossing and pitching, whereas the ship stands 
still. For the same reason, the colloidal particles, 
bombarded as they are by the molecules of the sol- 
vent, dance about constantly. If the particles are 
large enough, although the bombardment keeps up, 
they are not moved by it. 
If the protective film which covers the particles be 
removed by a chemical reagent which dissolves it or 
precipitates it, then the particles will accumulate in 
groups, their motion ceases, and they sink or rise 
according to their weight. They coagulate. On the 
33 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
other hand, if all the finely divided particles of a col- 
loidal solution should have a negative electric charge, 
they will repel one another and remain suspended. 
The same holds true if all should have a positive 
charge. Alternating currents of high frequency will 
often cause them to coalesce and fall down, while 
direct currents of very high frequency, such as are 
used in the Cottrell process, drive them upon the 
baffle-plates set to catch them. 
Here end my notes on Doctor Bancroft's lecture. 
The line between colloid chemistry and the chem- 
istry of crystalline substances is not at all clear. 
Indeed, likely as not the distinctions now made are 
greater than are warranted. We can see by the ultra- 
microscope the light reflected by colloidal particles. 
We cannot do this with molecules. By computation, 
it is said that forty million molecules of a gas, ranged 
in a row, side by side, would extend the distance of 
one inch-and I do not even know what gas the 
mathematical genius who made the computation had 
in mind. The same authority declared that if the 
molecules of one cubic inch of gas, at ordinary tem- 
perature and pressure, were ranged side by side in a 
row, the row would be thirty-five billion miles long. 
I cannot vouch for this; I never counted them. 
But colloidal particles seem to be aggregates of mole- 
cules and yet small enough to be shaken around by 
the molecular bombardment they receive. We may 
have to revise our ideas about the size of molecules. 
Dr. Irving Langmuir, of Schenectady, is beginning to 
develop some interesting theories in regard to the 
shape of them. But colloidal particles seem to group 
themselves together by means of their free energy, 
with other colloidal particles in indefinite propor- 
34 PHASES OF MATTER 
tions, and thus to provide for an infinite variety of 
such associations. At least this seems to be the case. 
It is held by Jerome Alexander, who is an authority 
on colloid chemistry. But there are those who regard 
it as unlikely. The study of colloid chemistry, which 
might be described as the chemistry of uncrystallized 
matter in very small particles, has shed a great deal 
of light upon chemical philosophy. There were certain 
substances which, it was held, would not combine with 
one another except in solution. Spring, a Belgian 
physicist, discovered that if they were ground to a 
fine enough powder and brought together dry under 
heat and pressure, they would combine. As Professor 
Bancroft points out, in very fine particles we have a 
vastly increased surface in proportion to the mass, 
and that is where chemical energy makes its attack. 
Another interesting fact lately brought out by Dr. 
Colin G. Fink is that electrical conductivity will 
follow the line of smallest particles, other factors be- 
ing unchanged, and thus show a similarity of action 
between chemical energy and electrical conductivity. 
The philosophy of this is, the smaller the particles 
the closer the contact. 
The jingle which follows was written merely to 
wheedle a little amusement out of colloid chemistry. 
But as it may indicate something of the Brownian 
movements of colloidal particles to those who have 
not had the privilege to examine them through the 
ultra-microscope, I shall make bold to print it. 
THE BROWNIAN MOVEMENTS 
The Brownian movements hold their sway 
And grant no rest the livelong day; 
They also rule the dance all night, 
As you may see by proper light, 
35 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
The particles o'er which they rule 
Are like young maids just out of school, 
Or like some youths-the "dancing men' - 
Who work a little now and then, 
But always look at work askance 
When they can enter in a dance. 
And yet these girls and boys are poor, 
Short-winded, listless, slow, and dour 
Compared with particles so fine 
That scorn the music and the wme, 
And whirl and jiggle, up and down, 
And right and left, and almost drown, 
But never stop, and keep it up 
Within the beaker or the cup, 
Or on the microscope's thin slide; 
They chass£ every way, and glide 
And shake, and make a ladies' chain, 
And bow and back away again. 
And when you think they're all undone 
You'll find they've only just begun. 
No wonder we grow weary when 
We watch these spots beyond our ken, 
And see them move and whirl and turn 
And twist and wriggle, skip and chum. 
It makes me wild to see them go 
Without a destination; so, 
While watching I'm disposed to shout, 
"Jerome, please turn that arc-light out." 
I've sometimes thought this Brownian whirl 
Was like a boy or like a girl, 
Or rather, if we'd seek the truth, 
We'd find its simile in youth. 
But youth, as I've already said, 
Is too inert, too slow, too dead, 
To be compared with this untiring, 
Everlasting, unperspiring, 
Rocking, jerking, bobbing way 
Of particles by night and day 
36 PHASES OF MATTER 
That stay distraught, yet permanent, 
In their colloidal tenement. 
And so, I must admit, they strike 
Me as, in fact, being far more like 
A very aged person that 
Has lost his teeth, whose gums are flat 
And smooth, who works his jaw all day 
And chews his senile hours away. 
But similes are all in vain, 
And so we are brought back again 
Where we began: these movements are 
Bewildering and singular. 
The source of most colloidal fright 
Is found in the electrolyte. 
Its advent, though it be disguised, 
Will stop the dance. They're paralyzed, 
The particles. The dance will stop 
And down the particles will drop. 
Well, we're like that. Though young or old, 
We imitate colloidal gold. 
And when the grim electrolyte 
Grips us in his unconquered might 
With skull and cross-bones, then we shout, 
As we fall down: "The light is out." IV 
ELEMENTS AND THEIR COMPOUNDS 
Faith and the Dream-boy-The Periodic Law-Atomic Weights- 
Elemental Families-Elements in Life-The Pons Asinorum of 
Chemistry-Chemical Affinities-Baffling Problems of Valence- 
Inert Elements-Radicals-Acids and Bases-Difference be- 
tween Compounds and their Component Parts-A Man in 
Solution-Catalysis-The Chemical Parson-The Personality of 
Matter-Carbon's Ways 
ON another page at the end of the book you will 
find a list of the elements as we know them to-day. 
I think you will find it convenient to consult the list as 
you go along. I doubt if it is a permanent list. Ele- 
ments come and go according to the latest findings of 
one man of research after another. Among the metals, 
and especially among those found in the rare earths, 
they are very tricky, and, to tell the truth, it takes more 
than a little faith to believe in all of them. As ele- 
ments-that is, as bodies that cannot be resolved into 
simpler substances by any means at our command- 
they should be permanent, if not stable, and in practice 
we shall do well to call them so. Our business is with 
every-day chemistry, and to regard the whole list as 
elemental is the best thing that we can do. 
And yet the dream-boy will beckon us on. There is 
the Periodic Law, of which a chemical rhymester once 
wrote: 
The Periodic Law 
Is like a dogma old; 
It is not what we wish it were 
When everything is told. 
38 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
Just as imperfectly as law rhymes with were, so 
imperfect is the application of this law with the 
knowledge and means at our command. But let us 
get an intimation of it into our minds, if we can. It 
is very interesting. The atomic weight of an element 
is based on its relative or combining weight. For 
instance, one volume of oxygen, weighing sixteen 
ounces, will combine with twice the same volume of 
hydrogen, which weighs only two ounces, to produce 
water. Molecules of oxygen and hydrogen contain 
two atoms each. From this we determine that, count- 
ing the atomic weight of hydrogen as one, that of 
oxygen is sixteen. Now, if we arrange all the elements 
in horizontal rows of eight, the second to the right of 
the first, the third after the second, and so on, begin- 
ning with the lowest atomic weight and ending with 
the highest, we shall have a table of the elements, 
eight wide, like a company of soldiers marching in 
column of eight. Then, after a little needful rearrange- 
ment, we note a remarkable series of relationships, 
of cousinships we might say, among the elements. 
It is not those that stand side by side in this table 
that have similar qualities; the relation between them 
is as they stand in vertical rows, above and below 
one another. As we counted them off, in the hori- 
zontal rows, they show no special relation to one 
another. When wTe consider each as part of a vertical 
row, on the other hand, we find that the elements 
of these groups have the same number of hooks or 
affinities to combine with other bodies; their combi- 
nations with oxygen are of a similar nature, and, with 
frequent exceptions and many differences, they have 
much in common. We shall note these families as 
we proceed. 
With some, as with potassium and sodium (potash 
39 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and soda), the cousinship is so evident that it may be 
seen at first glance. You may guess the relationship 
between gold and silver, but when it comes to the 
similarities of oxygen to sulphur you may prefer to 
be told, and even then not believe it with all your 
heart and all your might. And yet, because of this 
law, Mendeleeff foretold the discovery of three elements 
twenty-five years before they were found, and he 
described what their properties would be and what 
kinds of compounds they would form. There is a 
considerable number of other elements that may 
exist, and, if they do, chemists believe that they know 
about what their atomic weights will be and something 
about their properties, because of the vacant spaces 
in this table of the Periodic Law. There are remark- 
able recurrent qualities that display themselves in this 
rhythm of the elements, but these things have been 
so well described by the late Robert Kennedy Duncan 
and by Geoffrey Martin in their books that I shall not 
try to repeat them. There are dreams of the great 
rhythmic swing of creation in the thought of it; but 
our business is with the tangible things of to-day 
and the working hypotheses about them. 
In other words, here we have the stuff out of which 
everything is combined. When I say everything I 
mean it; the content of every nerve, the place in your 
brain where your memories are stored and all of the 
earth as well as all the suns and stars. The brain 
after death is a different thing from a living brain, 
but there is no reason to believe that either during 
life or after death there are more than five or six 
elements in combination in it at any time. 
Without even touching on the mystery of life and 
its origin, it is interesting to note how few elements 
make up living things. It is also interesting to ob- 
40 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
serve how few elements are here in quantity and how 
many of them exist only in traces on the earth. The 
following table, prepared by Dr. F. W. Clarke in 
1916, gives the average distribution of the elements 
in earth, air, and water at the present time. In con- 
nection with this table, Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn 
calls attention to the fact that life in one form or 
another has taken up and made use of all the elements 
of frequent occurrence except aluminium, barium, and 
strontium, which are extremely rare in life compounds, 
and of titanium, which thus far has not been found 
in any living cell. These can be introduced into arti- 
ficial organic compounds, and it is a fair guess that 
the Missouri clay-eaters have metabolized some alu- 
minium and use it somewhere in their bodies, all 
unconsciously. The elements which enter into life 
forms are in italics. 
Average, 
including 
Earth 
Water 
Air 
Atmosphere 
Oxygen 
47-17 
85-79 
20.8 (variable 
to some extent) 
49 85 
Silicon 
28.00 
26.03 
Aluminium 
7-84 
7.28 
Iron 
4-44 
4.12 
Calcium 
3-42 
-05 
3-i8 
Magnesium 
2.27 
.14 
2.11 
Sodium 
2.43 
1.14 
2-33 
Potassium 
2.49 
.04 
2-33 
Hydrogen 
23 
10.67 
variable 
•97 
Titanium 
44 
.41 
Carbon 
19 
.002 
variable 
■19 
Chlorine 
.06 
2.07 
.40 
Bromine 
.008 
Phosphorus 
.11 
. 10 
Sulphur 
.11 
.09 
.10 
Barium 
09 
•09 
Manganese 
08 
.08 
Strontium 
03 
•03 
Nitrogen 
78.0 (variable 
to some extent) 
•03 
Fluorine 
.10 
. 10 
All other 
Elements 
50 
. . . - . 
-47 
41 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Where are gold, silver, lead, tin, zinc, and the 
heavy elements ? They are negligible in amount com- 
pared to the lighter ones. Look at that absurd sili- 
con; in combination with oxygen it is sand, and as 
silicates of one sort or another it constitutes part of 
most rocks. A few tons are reduced (separated from 
oxygen) daily at Niagara Falls, and this metallic 
silicon is used in the iron industry to lure the oxygen 
away from iron and steel; but we haven't found any 
other general use for it, and we can't eat it. In com- 
bination with oxygen all grains use it to form a sheath 
for their seeds, but its part in life is very slight in 
comparison with much rarer elements. Again, in 
combination with oxygen and with different metals 
we use it as glass; but it is an inert thing at most 
times and seasons. 
This mulling over elements is the pons asinorum 
of chemistry. Along at about this point people are 
likely to say: "What's the use? Chemistry doesn't 
tell us anything worth knowing. You might as well 
say, when I ask you what sort of a fellow John is, 
that he is made of so many pounds of bone, so many 
pounds of flesh, and so many square yards of skin. 
It isn't what I want to know about him at all." 
Then they drop out and declare that they have looked 
into chemistry, and that, while it is doubtless a useful 
study, it is dull and uninteresting. 
This would be true if we stopped right here; but 
we must remember that the study of the elements is 
only the study of the genealogy of things, and that 
is not the end of chemistry by any means. Chemistry 
goes on to study things after they have been pro- 
duced and to find out what they will do. That is 
where the romance comes in. It is in combinations 
of elements that they are interesting, and their com- 
42 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
binations are up to more tricks and have more ways 
of their own than the stuff that they are made of. 
Of course you've heard of chemical affinity and the 
time-worn jokes about it. The subject is not very 
clear, and, in the light of more precise research, the 
grand old rules sometimes wabble and sometimes fall 
down. The list at the end of the book will show you 
how many hooks or bonds each element has-that 
is, its valence-and the whole may best be expressed 
as a display of free energy. Imagine them all to be 
electrically charged; some at the positive end of the 
scale and others at the negative end. The farther 
they are apart the greater their affinity for one an- 
other should be, one being very positive and t'other 
very negative. This rule holds fairly well except 
that some are much more highly charged than others. 
Now the number of hooks for combining seem to be 
separate streams of energy which proceed from each 
atom, electro-positive or electro-negative, according to 
its nature, all atoms of each element being alike. 
This whole subject of valency, which has to do with 
the number of combining hooks of the elements, 
is baffling. We do not know nearly so much about 
the subject to-day as we used to think we did. Usually 
the rules work, but sometimes they do not. Carbon, 
for instance, practically always has four bonds, and 
oxygen two. Then we have carbon monoxide, CO, 
for which there is not any satisfactory explanation. 
And there are other such compounds. Molecules of 
elements act very like molecules of compounds, and 
ions or charged atoms of elements act the same as 
ions of compounds. 
There are great differences in affinity. Sometimes 
it is so great that bodies combine on contact and in 
the dark. Others will not combine in the dark, but 
43 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
will in the light, for light has a considerable influence 
on many molecules and seems to start the atoms 
whirling about in a livelier motion. Many will not 
combine dry, but will in solution. The most frequent 
method of bringing molecules into combination is by 
means of heat. Heat, as we know, is motion among 
the molecules, and with heat many bodies will com- 
bine that will not do so in the cold. Then, again, if 
we increase the heat enough, we can drive the con- 
stituent parts of a body out of combination, some 
with a little heat, while others cling together so tightly 
that the heat of the interior of a blast furnace will 
not drive them apart. And again there is catalysis, 
which we shall take up later. 
Some elements have no affinity at all, and to all 
appearances will combine with nothing. These are 
Sir William Ramsay's inert gases of the air-argon, 
neon, krypton, xenon, and that bewildering helium, 
that shows up so unexpectedly in the sun, in stars, 
in certain rocks, and in meteorites as well as in the 
air. We are not likely to refer to them again. Some 
elements seem inert, and it appears almost impos- 
sible to get them to combine with other elements, 
owing to the tense, unyielding hold the atoms have 
upon one another in the molecule. There's nitrogen, 
for instance, a gas comprising four-fifths of the air. 
It behaves as though nothing would induce it to com- 
bine with anything, and yet, once it is brought into 
combination, it seems as though nothing would drive 
it back into single blessedness again. Most explosives 
are compounds of nitrogen, and when the blow-up 
takes place the nitrogen is forced out of combina- 
tion. Thereupon it usually takes up with some- 
thing else. Nitrogen is the liveliest widower of all 
the elements, and it will not stay single if there is 
44 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
anything else to combine with after it loses its mate. 
We shall discuss some of its ways when we consider 
it separately later on. 
Now let us again arrange the elements in a row 
in accordance with their manifestations in the scale 
of affinity for one another. As we do this, it seems as 
if some old plutonic parrot of John Silver were con- 
stantly crying out the refrain from below, "Pieces 
of eight! Pieces of eight!" for right here we find the 
shadow of the Periodic Law before our eyes once 
more. What is not shadowy at all is their likes and 
dislikes for one another, which are very strongly 
marked. 
Then we have combinations of elements that act 
very like the elements themselves-and often more so, 
to put it in Irish. They are the radicals, or ions of 
which we have spoken, and are composed of two or 
more atoms with unsatisfied affinities. Again there 
are other combinations called acids, on the one hand, 
and bases or alkalies, on the other; and these range 
themselves with the elements in the row, the acids 
with the non-metals, and the bases with the metals. 
It seems as though there were a distaff and a spindle 
side to the house-the acids combine with the bases 
and metals, while the bases combine with the acids 
and non-metals. The products are called salts. But 
I think it will only lead us astray to attribute the 
idea of sex to atoms or to molecules or ions. 
What is an acid and what is a base? An acid has a 
sour taste, and is the opposite of a base-but what 
does that mean? We have seen how the acids range 
themselves along the scale of affinity of the elements, 
on the non-metal side; so the charge is electro-nega- 
tive. It is not an acid save in the presence of water. 
This is another statement that is better taken on 
45 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
faith than tested out. There always is some water 
around, in the air and everywhere, so it is just as 
well not to toy with 100 per cent, sulphuric acid, on 
the ground that it will be inactive. There is always 
one or more hydrogen atoms in the molecule of an acid, 
and these hydrogen atoms are one business end of the 
molecule, and the rest of it is the other. 
I have been urged to elaborate the theory of acids 
and bases to make the conception of them more 
clear. Let us put down the acids as electro-negative, 
and the bases as electro-positive. An acid must have 
water present, and so must a base. An acid will 
often attack a metal, but water must be present in 
the air or on hand to form the metallic hydroxide, the 
combination with the OH radical. The acid gives up 
H (hydrogen) ions, and the base gives up -OH ions, 
and the result is a salt composed of the acid less its 
hydrogen ions combined with the base less its -OH 
ions. And besides the salt we have 
H + 
hydro- 
gen 
ion 
OH = 
oxy- 
hydrogen 
ion 
h2o 
water 
But some acids and bases are very strong, while 
others are very weak. Why is this? The same hydro- 
gen will produce weak H ions in one acid, and very 
powerful or highly charged H ions in another. The 
same holds true with bases. You may recall that we 
said the ions were always in equilibrium, that they 
were balanced, and that for every positively charged 
one there was a negatively charged mate. Very 
well, then, if this affinity for one another is very 
great, the acid or base is strong; if it is slight, it is 
weak. Let us take sulphuric acid, H2SO4, again, 
46 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
because we are familiar with. it. It contains two H 
ions and one SO4 ion. Their affinity is great, and the 
acid is strong. The hydrogen and SO4 ions are sepa- 
rated in the solution, but balanced by a great affinity. 
Now let us bring that SO4 ion within the sphere of 
influence of the salt of a weak acid, say carbonate of 
soda, or soda ash, Na2CO3. Let us bring the Na ions 
of the carbonate of soda in between the SO4 ions 
and the H ions with which it is paired in balance. 
What chance has that poor CO3 ion of carbonic acid, 
H2CO3, which is not even known in a free state? It 
has no chance at all. Right away the sodium ion, 
Na, is grabbed by the SO4 ions, and we have sodium 
sulphate, or Na2SO4. That is a salt. Those two 
H ions of each sulphuric acid molecule find a weak 
CO3 ion which is being turned adrift. They take up 
one atom of oxygen to produce water, H2O, and 
leave CO2 instead of CO3. CO2 is carbon dioxide, 
the so-called carbonic-acid gas which escapes into 
the air. 
There are some acids that need water as much as 
others do for their reactions, but they do not keep 
it in their molecules in a free state. Muriatic or hydro- 
chloric acid, HC1, is a gas very soluble in water. The 
true acid should be H3C10, because HC1 + H2O = 
H3CIO. But only one H atom becomes ionized, not 
the three. Therefore hydrochloric acid is written 
just HC1, and it is one of the strongest acids known. 
A base does business on the metal side. It may be 
a metal or it may have an oxygen atom with a hydro- 
gen atom attached, an -O-H ion, as it is called. That 
hyphen on the left of the O (for oxygen) indicates 
that one of its affinities is free and the other (for 
oxygen is bi-valent) is engaged with the one hook of 
the hydrogen atom. Now let us bring an acid and a 
47 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
base together and see what happens, taking sulphuric 
acid and caustic soda. 
H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
+ 2NaOH 
caustic 
soda 
= NaaSO4 
sodium 
sulphate 
4- 2H2O 
water 
Do you see what happened? The two hydrogen 
ions of each molecule of sulphuric acid and the OH 
ions of the two molecules of the caustic soda combined 
to make two molecules of water, while the sulphur 
ion of each acid molecule combined with the sodian 
ions of both the caustic soda molecules to produce 
a salt, the sulphate of sodium. So an acid and a base 
combine to form a salt, with water on the side. A 
simple test is with the well-known litmus paper, a 
vegetable dyestuff with which unsized paper is colored. 
Acid turns it red and an alkali or base turns it blue. 
All bodies are not either acids, bases, or salts. A 
great many are, but not all. And you observe that 
the frequent allusions to acids and bases as male 
and female are not altogether happy; they do not 
reproduce their kind; there is no happy progeny of 
little acids and bases as the result of their combination. 
They produce salts and water. Chemistry is full of 
romance, but this is not the place to find it. Some 
acids are not known in their acid state; they are known 
as anhydrids-that is, the body which with water 
produces the acid-and they are also known in their 
salts. We often speak of carbonic-acid gas, which 
is carbon dioxide, or CO2. It is not an acid; it is the 
anhydrid of an acid, and the acid is 
C02 
carbon 
dioxide 
+ H2O 
water 
= h2co3, 
carbonic 
acid 
48 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
which nobody has been able to produce in an isolated 
state. But the salts of this acid are among the most 
widely known. For instance, soda ash, as it is called, 
is the carbonate Na2CO3, of which millions of tons 
are produced. So the best guess is that it forms, but 
is too impermanent, water being, let us say, better 
content to be H2O, and carbon dioxide to be CO2 
than to mate up as real carbonic acid except for a 
long enough fraction of an instant to conform to the 
theory-or, to use a biblical expression, "that the 
prophecy might be fulfilled." 
Chemical compounds have very little in common 
with the elements which compose them. As I said 
before, the elements are the genealogical part of the 
study, and genealogy is interesting enough until you 
begin to bore people with it, and then we must not 
blame them if they run away. 
I would like to remind you of a few well-known 
bodies, and point out how vastly they differ from the 
elements that compose them. 
There is sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol, for instance. 
It is a combination of sulphur, oxygen, and hydrogen. 
Nitric acid, composed of the three gaseous elements, 
nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, is another ruthless 
agent of destruction. It used to be transported in 
carboys, which are great glass bottles packed with 
straw in wooden boxes. As soon as a bottle breaks, 
up go the straw and the wood in flames. Now, when 
possible, it is transported mixed with strong sulphuric 
acid, which may be carried in iron tank-cars for rea- 
sons which will be given in the chapter on sulphuric 
acid. 
Dr. Geoffrey Martin tells of a laborer in one of the 
great German chemical works who fell into a large 
vat filled with mixed sulphuric and nitric acids. 
49 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Some one heard him utter a shout, but no one saw 
him. And nobody found him. There was no sign 
of him to be discovered, or of his hair, his hat, his 
boots, or his clothes, or his buttons, or the ladle 
he was supposed to be carrying. He simply was not. 
The widow wanted her life insurance, but the adjuster 
developed the theory that he had gone to America. 
Yet all opportunity for egress from the works was 
carefully watched, and the records showed that he 
was still there. His presence in the vat was proved 
by the percentage of phosphorus which, as a normal 
man, he was supposed to add to it, and which, without 
a man in solution, would not be present. That was 
the proof of loss. 
Alkalies are just as insatiate. Caustic soda, caustic 
potash, caustic lime, combinations of oxygen and hy- 
drogen with the metals sodium, potassium, and cal- 
cium are powerful alkalies, and will drive out any 
frailer bases there may be within reach and combine 
with their acid partners. Fats are split as with a 
cleaver with soda, the base combining with the fatty 
acids to produce soap, and the mild and emollient 
glycerin is set free. Glycerin is mildly basic in its 
nature, but it has no chance with caustic soda 
around. 
A very interesting subject in the study of chemistry 
is called catalysis, and, to my way of thinking, it does 
more to indicate the whimsical nature of things in- 
animate, what might be called the personality of 
matter, than anything else. Let us take two bodies 
that, according to all the rules and all our reasoning, 
should combine when we bring them together. They 
should, but they do not. Of course, there is a reason 
for this, but what we are after is the reaction. If 
you strike a match, the reaction will begin from the 
50 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
heat of the rubbing. Hold the match to the prepared 
surface and nothing will happen. Heat makes the 
atoms move around in the molecule at a livelier pace. 
They seem to swing in a larger orbit and are more 
easily caught up by some other matable atom that 
is swinging around in its molecule. But in these cases 
nothing happens. We have, let us say, two bodies 
which should combine, but don't, dissolved in water 
in one vessel. We heat it and shake it, and still 
nothing happens. Then we add the catalyst, which 
is a foreign body, and to all appearances it has no 
relation to what we have or the combination we want; 
nevertheless, as soon as it is added, sometimes even 
in an absurdly slight amount, presto! the solution 
straightway froths up, there is a grand commotion, 
and a reaction involving every molecule in the solution 
takes place. What we wanted to happen does happen. 
And the little catalyst may be found at the bottom of 
the beaker just as it was when we put it in, to all 
appearances, chemical and otherwise, unchanged. 
There are volumes and volumes written about this, 
and there are theories galore, but I shall not develop 
them. The fact is, the catalyst, which is the active 
agent in the process of catalysis, behaves generally 
like a human trouble-maker. The process comes fre- 
quently into play in the industries, and by means of it 
the Germans have been able to carry on the war- 
as you shall presently see. 
Then there is the very opposite, in which such a 
body can retard or hinder a reaction that otherwise 
would take place. This is also very like some kill- 
joys, who, by their mere entrance into a room, par- 
alyze the energy of every one else, suffuse it with 
silence, and spread inertia. We can find the personal 
qualities of nearly every one we know in the great 
51 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
domain of inanimate things in chemistry. Matter 
is whimsical! 
We have one other subject to consider before we 
go into detail in this book, and that is the compounds 
of carbon. Carbon differs from nearly all other ele- 
ments in that one atom of carbon, with its four hooks 
or bonds, will use up one or more of them with one 
or more other elements or radicals and attach all 
that are left over to another carbon atom. Other 
elements, except silicon, do not seem to care for this 
sort of thing, although it does occur, occasionally. 
Oxygen is sometimes given to the practice, but oxygen 
has only two bonds, and it is, anyway, much more 
conservative in this respect. Carbon atoms hook on 
to other carbon atoms, with hydrogen and oxygen 
and nitrogen and all sorts of other elements and 
radicals on the side, but chiefly with the three I have 
mentioned. Next in order come the halogens, then 
sulphur and phosphorus. 
Carbon compounds, of which there are more than 
all others put together, are called organic because 
everything that has life as we understand it (which, 
for instance, is composed of cells) contains carbon. 
The name was given long ago when it was thought im- 
possible to produce in the laboratory any of the 
products of life. The name sticks, and it is not such 
a bad one, after all. For all the carbon we know has 
had a history of life at one time or another, and if it 
takes a stretch of the imagination to refer to asphalt 
and soap as things having or having had life, it is 
well that this should be so. We may as well get 
used to stretching. When we consider the names 
of wrath that many organic compounds bear, the 
endurance is submitted to a greater strain. 
Carbon has two general schemes of combination. 
52 ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS 
First it combines in strings or chains of one carbon 
atom attached to another, a third attached to the 
second, a fourth to the third, and so on, as far as 
you want to go, with all sorts of developments at- 
tached to the free affinities on the sides. The other 
system is known as the aromatic or benzol group of 
organic compounds, and in these six carbon atoms ar- 
range themselves in a hexagon, or "benzol ring," 
as it is called, and each carbon atom has at least one 
affinity free. Then these hexagonal benzol rings 
mate up with one another and appear as twin rings, 
as in naphthalene, or triplet rings, as in anthracene, 
and at each point, where there is a free affinity or 
where an atom or radical with a lighter grip can be 
substituted for one with a stronger one, another chain, 
or another radical, or another element may be added. 
So the number of combinations is bewildering. We 
shall consider some of these later on. V 
CHEMICAL NAMES AND PHRASES 
How They Are Used-Terminations in ic, ous, ide, ate, and ite- 
The Convenience of Chemical Language-An Attempt to Explain 
Its Ugliness 
THE chemical names of substances are indeed 
words of confusion to the uninitiated. And yet 
they are useful beyond measure. Of course every 
substance must have a name, else it could not be 
catalogued, and we should be unable to distinguish it. 
It would not do to name them in terms of endearment 
and romance, like Pullman sleeping-cars-there are 
not enough names to go round, and that method would 
be more confusing still. What the chemical name 
tries to do is to tell what a thing is made of; it tries 
to describe the molecules, and it succeeds fairly well. 
The elements are referred to by their names. I 
do not want to try your patience, but again I commend 
to you the table of elements at the back of the book. 
And yet only a few of them are often met with. Most 
of them are rare. Compounds of two elements end 
in ide. Thus common salt (NaCl) is chloride of 
sodium; iodide of potash is KI; PbS is sulphide of 
lead; A12S3 is aluminium sulphide, etc. Compounds 
of one element with oxygen are called oxides, and if 
there are several different oxides of the same element, 
the Greek or Latin prefix is used. Thus S02 is sulphur 
54 CHEMICAL NAMES AND PHRASES 
dioxide; SO3 is sulphur trioxide. With carbon, CO 
is carbon monoxide; CO2 is carbon dioxide, etc. 
Sometimes there is more than one oxide, and the rela- 
tion of the other element is complex, as, for instance, 
in the case of iron, of which FeO is ferrous oxide, and 
Fe2O3 is ferric oxide, because the termination ic means 
more oxygen in the molecule in proportion to the 
other element than ous. The termination ic also 
indicates the engagement of a larger number of bonds 
of an element than ous. The Latin expression for 
iron is used because you can't make an adjective 
very well out of iron without the use of ironic, which 
is already pre-empted by literature. 
Again, FeCl2 is ferrous chloride, while FeCl3 is 
ferric chloride. There are more hooks engaged-the 
valency is greater in the ic compounds than in those 
ending in ous. 
With acids, the termination ic is the usual one, the 
one in greatest use or the one first discovered, as 
sulphuric, hydrochloric, or oxalic acids. If there is a 
second acid like the first, but containing less oxygen, 
the term ous is used. For instance, the anhydrid of 
sulphuric acid is SO3, which in effect is sulphuric 
oxide, although it is usually called "S-O-three," or 
sulphur trioxide. Add water (H2O) to SO3, and we 
have H2SO4, which is sulphuric acid. SO2 is the 
product of sulphur when burned. It is sulphurous 
oxide because it contains less oxygen than sulphuric 
oxide. It is also called S-O2 and sulphur dioxide. 
Now add water to it and we have the acid SO2 + 
H2O = H2SO3, or sulphurous acid. So acids ending 
in ous have less oxygen in the molecule in proportion 
to other atoms than acids ending in ic. But sometimes 
there are more than two acids. Then the one contain- 
ing most oxygen has the prefix per and the suffix ic, 
55 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
while the one having the least is hypo ous. For 
instance: 
HCIO4 is perchloric acid. 
HCIO3 is chloric acid. 
HCIO2 is chlorous acid. 
HC10 is hypochlorous acid. 
KC10< is potassium perchlorate. 
KCIO3 is potassium chlorate. 
KCIO2 is potassium chlorite. 
KC10 is potassium hypochlorite. 
Per indicates beyond, above, and so over, while 
hypo means under or less. Acids with names ending 
in ic make salts ending in ate; those ending in ous 
make salts ending in ite. 
Sesqui means one-half more, so that oxides like 
alumina, A12O3; ferric oxide Fe2O3, etc., which appear 
to contain half as much again of oxygen as of the other 
element, are sometimes referred to as sesquioxides. 
The language is not hard to pick up if one only has 
occasion to use it. It is awkward and unconscionably 
ugly, but it tells the story better than any other 
medium that is known. And it is the same in all 
languages. We shall consider the names in organic 
chemistry when we get to them. 
It is really too bad that the language of chemistry 
is so ugly. I venture the belief that it is the lack of art 
in the speech of science that drives people away from 
considering it. Science has not been much taught 
except for the last fifty or seventy-five years, and 
ideas have come faster than good expressions have 
been found for them, so that science and its language 
is very like Coal Oil Johnny with his sudden wealth. 
It has not learned as yet that grace and ease of expres- 
sion that distinguish the Humanities. Words like 
"polymerization" and "specificity" are really too 
awkward for general use, and yet so great has been 
the need for expression to describe the increasing num- 
ber of scientific ideas that we have had to be thankful 
for any old vocal noise that would indicate them. 
56 PART SECOND 
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY VI 
AIR AND WATER 
Oxygen-Its Ubiquity and Avariciousness-The Mystery of Sleep- 
Fire-Ozone-Oxidation and Reduction-Disinfection-Air- 
Effects of Heat-Freezing-Machines-Doctor Cottrell's Inven- 
tion and His Use of It-The Unutilized Power of Air Currents- 
Hydrogen-'Water-Why it Rains-What is Man?:-He is Twelve 
Pounds of Ashes and Eight Buckets of Water-Why it is not 
nearly always winter-Combinations with Water-Hard and 
Soft Water-How to Soften it-Lime-soda Process-Permutit- 
Making Water Wholesome. 
THE heathen in his blindness bows down to 
wood and stone," but if he had studied chem- 
istry he surely would have worshiped oxygen. We 
can imagine him engaging in genuflections before an 
effigy with wings to indicate the air, and the tail of 
a fish to show forth water, and with as many other 
attributes as the devout sculptor could affix to it. 
Oxygen gives us life-in so far as we cannot live 
without it for more than a very few minutes. It is 
the most ubiquitous of the elements. One-half of 
the crust of the earth is oxygen, so is one-fifth of the 
air, and so is one-third by volume, but not by weight, 
of water. We breathe it in in a free state, and exhale, 
in the place of some of it, carbonic-acid gas, or carbon 
dioxide, as it is more properly called. You can prove 
this by buying a little lime-water, pouring it into a 
glass, and blowing through a pipe-stem or a straw 
59 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
into the lime-water. An insoluble, white precipitate 
is immediately formed which is carbonate of lime. 
The carbonic-acid gas which you blow out, and which 
is mildly acid with water, combines with the lime, 
which is a strong alkali, to form this carbonate. Now 
marble is carbonate of lime, so that with lime-water 
enough and wind enough, and the needful procedure 
in fusing afterward, one might produce his grave- 
stone out of his own proper person. It would give 
an aspirant a chance for "a place in the world in the 
eyes of men" after he had passed away, an opportu- 
nity to be both cremated and preserved. 
It appears, from researches made in physiological 
laboratories, that oxygen plays a very important part 
in what we call the mystery of sleep. Although we 
continue both asleep and awake to inhale the free 
oxygen and to exhale oxygen that has done its work 
of oxidation and is in combination with carbon as 
carbon dioxide, there is a difference in the compara- 
tive amounts of oxygen inhaled and exhaled at such 
times. While we are awake it seems we exhale more 
oxygen than we inhale. When we sleep we inhale 
more than we exhale. We deplete the store awake and 
increase it while we sleep. Now we cannot live with- 
out it. It provides by its reactions, by processes of 
oxidation within us, for bodily heat and for the 
chemical processes of life. How needful it is we are 
reminded when we - consider how quickly we are 
drowned. 
In the history of torture one of the most cruel 
methods of putting culprits to death was simply to 
keep them awake until they died. Without sleep they 
could not make up for the oxygen lost and so they 
died of oxygen starvation. It is said that there is no 
record of the ability of executioners to keep any one 
60 AIR AND WATER 
awake over five days. I make this statement from 
memory only. 
Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out 
oxygen. In much less measure, some of them do the 
opposite. 
Oxygen combines with metals to make oxides. 
Many metals are found in this form. The fires that 
we see are chiefly carbon and hydrogen combining 
with oxygen at such a rate that the combining par- 
ticles grow white hot and give light. Oxygen dissolves 
slightly in water, and fish get most of what they 
need that way. It is in rocks and in sand and in all 
living things. The reason why our bodies are main- 
tained at blood heat is because of the oxygen that is 
going into combination within them. We are slowly 
burning so long as we live. If we inhale air that con- 
tains much more than one-fifth part oxygen, it makes 
us hilarious-drunk, in fact. The great melodrama 
in which the dashing speculator leads oxygen into the 
air-ducts of the stock-exchange and so excites the 
traders that stocks go up and he makes his fortune 
has not been written yet, but here is the chance. I 
claim no copyright on the idea. 
The oxygen atom has two hooks, and there are two 
atoms in the molecule, except when a current of elec- 
tricity short-circuits or jumps, as from one cloud to 
another, and thus produces lightning, and then a little 
ozone is formed. Ozone is oxygen, but with three 
atoms in the molecule instead of two, the atoms con- 
nected up, as in the corners of a triangle, with one 
arm or hook engaged on either side. It is not stable; 
the one extra atom soon disengages itself, and then 
it is ready for business to oxidize things. 
Getting one or more atoms of oxygen into a combi- 
nation is called oxidation. Getting atoms of oxygen 
61 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
out of a molecule is called reduction. Ozone, there- 
fore, is an oxidizing agent. On the other hand, small 
particles of iron, heated, will take up oxygen from 
many compounds, and that makes it a reducing 
agent. A smelter, that melts up ores and separates 
the free metals from their oxides, is a reduction works. 
If we imagine the earth as without form and void, 
we might as well imagine that there was much more 
oxygen in a free and uncombined state than now, 
until all the silicon and the metals were oxidized; 
but that they are now in an approximate state of 
equilibrium, animals and fires taking it up and plants 
giving it back to the air again. To produce oxygen 
for the industries, free from nitrogen, two methods 
are most frequently used. One is the electrolysis of 
water, whereby one volume of oxygen collects in a 
vessel over one pole and two of hydrogen over the 
other. The other method is by liquefying air and dis- 
tilling oft the nitrogen. 
The way to determine whether oxygen is present 
in excess in a container or a stream of escaping gas 
is to light a splinter of wood or a straw, blow out the 
flame while leaving a spark, and then hold the end 
with the spark so that it will serve as a test. If oxy- 
gen is present in excess the spark will burst into 
flame. A jet of burning oxygen and hydrogen, called 
the oxy-hydrogen flame, or, better still, oxygen and 
acetylene gas, known as the oxy-acetylene flame, will 
make a flame so hot that it is used for cutting iron 
and steel through almost any thickness. 
Oxygen is one of the great disinfectants. If brought 
into contact with the bacilli of disease it will usually 
oxidize them and render them harmless. If atmos- 
pheric air is pumped into sewage as it comes from 
city sewers, it will cause all the insoluble organic 
62 AIR AND WATER 
matter to precipitate in the form of stable bodies, at 
once harmless and approximately inoffensive, and of 
enormous value as fertilizer. This is the line of re- 
search for the economic and harmless disposal of 
sewage. 
The nature of four-fifths of the air we shall have to 
postpone until we come to nitrogen; but some of the 
physical properties of air we may consider at this 
point. It presses in upon us at about the rate of 
fifteen pounds to the square inch. We live on the 
oxygen, which is about one-fifth of it. According to 
its content of water, carbon dioxide, dust, spores of 
life, a slight divergence in the ratio of oxygen to the 
whole, and smoke or fumes of one sort or another, it 
is pleasant or unpleasant, wholesome or unwholesome. 
The amount of dust that it carries is considerable; 
indeed, it is the minute particles of dust that diffuse 
the light and that may have a marked effect upon 
rainfall. If a beam of light strikes through a dark 
room, we get an idea of the amount of dust there is 
floating around. We can see it then. Air is not a 
carrier of electricity, but the electricity breaks through 
at times under pressure, as we see in lightning. Moist 
air is more of a conductor than dry air; that is, 
electricity breaks through moist air more easily than 
through dry air. Now pure water is not a conductor, 
but even the water up in the sky is not absolutely 
pure. Hardly anything in nature is pure; nature is 
the most omnivorous mixer there is. Like all other 
gases, whether chemically pure or mixed, air grows 
hot as we compress it and cools as it expands. 
You may remember some pages back how gases 
contract as the temperature falls and expand as they 
are heated-1/273 of their volume for each degree 
centigrade. Now suppose we let a gas expand without 
63 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
heating it. While it is expanding it takes up heat 
instead of giving it off, and that produces cold. When 
you build a fire under a boiler, where does the heat 
go? A little of it goes out the chimney, and the rest 
is taken up by the expanding steam. This explains 
how they make freezing-machines: by letting lique- 
fied gases evaporate that want to evaporate so badly 
that they don't need any heat to drive them to it. 
Then they use up what heat there is. In a similar 
way, if you compress a gas, not by cooling it, but by 
force, the molecules will bombard the inclosing walls 
harder and harder until they grow hot. In time an 
equilibrium is reached, but during the process it will 
give off the heat that would have been taken from 
it had you lowered the temperature. 
The inventor who planned to maintain a very high 
temperature by suddenly compressing hydrogen, which 
is the lightest gas, and then "keep up the temperature 
by letting that hot gas escape," forgot to calculate 
that as much cold would be produced by the expan- 
sion of the gas as there would be heat needed for its 
compression. The reason why it makes your hand 
cold to blow it is because it causes the moisture to 
evaporate-to expand as a gas and to produce cold. 
Air isn't so light, after all, as we should discover 
by the way we should puff out and our organs would 
all be disarranged if we attempted to live in an 
atmosphere containing all the oxygen we need but 
with only three pounds' pressure to the square inch- 
i.e., in an atmosphere within an air-tight room from 
which all the nitrogen were extracted. Our eyes 
would pop out and we should burst blood-vessels in 
no time. 
A very interesting and highly useful discovery was 
made by Dr. F. G. Cottrell while professor of physical 
64 AIR AND WATER 
chemistry at the University of California. He found 
that under proper conditions electric currents of very 
high frequency would precipitate particles in sus- 
pension in the air. So he studied and worked on it 
according to his nature, whereby with great eagerness 
he sought to bring down big game that no other 
fellow had ever bagged. Then he covered as much of 
the art as he could with patents. 
The results astounded Doctor Cottrell. There 
were the smelter people, especially the copper pro- 
ducers, in the throes of distress, because in treating 
the sulphurous copper ores they were either sending 
forth sulphurous fumes that killed all vegetation for 
miles around or they were wasting vast fortunes in 
valuable metal dust that left their stacks and settled 
down upon the earth like the ashes of an active vol- 
cano. The Government was after them, and the 
farmers were making themselves heard with voices 
of righteous wrath. So they fell upon Doctor Cottrell's 
neck, beseeching him to save them. The Cottrell 
process does not precipitate gases, and so the SO2 
goes its way. But by this process the particles of 
metal and earthen dust are removed from the gases 
while they are still hot, whereas by all other efforts to 
collect the dust from gases it was necessary to cool 
them first. Now the hot gases, emerging from the 
stack in that condition, continue to expand until 
they are cooled off, by which time they are too dilute 
to do much harm and are very likely to be blown away. 
The sulphur gas, if cool when it comes from the stack, 
will sink right down, because it is heavy-and then 
the trouble begins. 
Details had to be worked out, but there was the 
art established of precipitating particles in suspension 
and thus saving thousands of dollars daily in single 
65 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
plants, and letting the gases escape hot from the 
chimneys. The royalties bade fair to make a million- 
aire of Doctor Cottrell in short order-but who wants 
to be a millionaire? It is, after all, a good deal of a 
nuisance to be rich. It does not seem to improve 
the characters of young people to leave them big 
pots of money. The art of cooking has not developed 
or improved since the days of Rome, although it is 
a chemical process; and as for sleeping, a little house 
is as comfortable as a big one. The administration 
of a fortune takes up a good deal of time and dis- 
turbs one's attention. Of course, we can keep some 
friends by means of it, but those who need help most 
are the very men who will need it again-and perhaps 
be no better for it. Anyway you can put it, it is an 
infernal nuisance to be rich. Getting the big thing 
done is the real fun, the real sport, and so Doctor 
Cottrell organized a good working laboratory in Cali- 
fornia to treat with the smelter managers and work 
out their problems in consideration of fat royalties, 
and then came to New York and organized the 
Research Corporation, to engage in scientific research. 
The stock can pay no dividends, and is held by men 
of consequence for the Smithsonian Institution. He 
turned over the royalties from all but three; Pacific 
coast States to the Corporation, and used the proceeds 
coming in to him from the excepted territory to start 
the thing. Then, when all was in order, he turned 
over the rights to the excepted States, also to the 
Research Corporation, and took a job in the Bureau 
of Mines. It was work that he liked, and the salary 
gave him a fair living. 
The need of this process of electric precipitation of 
particles in suspension is already very wide-spread. 
As only one result of its application, enormous savings 
66 AIR AND WATER 
have been made in metallurgy and the nuisance of 
sulphur fumes greatly decreased. Where the condi- 
tions and situation warrant it, the sulphurous gas 
SO2 may be worked over into sulphuric acid, as you 
may learn later under sulphur, but this is not feasible 
where the transportation charges for sulphuric acid 
are too great. 
The possibilities of electric precipitation have not 
been nearly reached yet, and the Research Corpora- 
tion is working on them. The fumes of iron blast 
furnaces, for instance, contain, among other things, 
considerable potash, and by putting high potash 
feldspar into the charge-another suggestion from 
Doctor Cottrell's fertile mind-it may result in better 
iron, more free from sulphur, and the precipitation of 
a large quantity of the much-needed potash. It is 
also possible that fog may be dissipated by it, by 
operating an electrically propelled kite or toy aero- 
plane, fastened by long wires to the bow of a ship, 
and between the two poles on the aeroplane and at 
the bow, precipitating the fog at sea that is in the path 
of the steamship. At least, this is a possibility. 
There are vast potentialities of power in compressed 
air; a whole undiscovered realm is in this. And 
with steady winds, such as we have over so much of 
this country, it does seem as though we were "not 
very bright" to use so little of it for power, doesn't 
it ? The wind is there, and so is the power; and, with 
all our great inventive genius, we manage to pump 
up a little water for the cows! So we had better order 
some more coal to grind the feed. 
Hydrogen is the lightest of the elements; so light 
that its atomic weight is fixed at one, and the atomic 
weight of the other elements are multiples of the 
weight of hydrogen. Refinements of research have 
67 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
resulted in fixing 16 as the atomic weight of oxygen, 
and hydrogen then shows 1.008 instead of 1 in its 
combinations; but we shall not concern ourselves 
about this. 
Hydrogen has been found in a free state in nature, 
but only in minute quantities. Most of it that is 
freed soon combines with oxygen to produce water. 
Hydrogen is very widely used in chemical industry. 
It is easily prepared by the electrolysis of water, 
H2O, which gives two volumes of hydrogen for every 
one of oxygen. Still another way is to pass steam 
over finely divided iron or over certain iron ores that 
are short of all the oxygen that they can carry in 
combination, heated to a white glow. The steam 
decomposes to oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen 
is taken up by the ore, and the hydrogen passes on 
through the tubes from which it is collected. Formerly 
the ore, lean in oxygen, was imported from Germany, 
but with the ports closed on account of the war, it 
seemed worth while to look around a little. In Vir- 
ginia an ore better than the imported was found. 
It is also produced by the action of many acids 
upon metals. Let us consider a reaction we employed 
once before-zinc and sulphuric acid: 
Zn 
zinc 
"}~ H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
= ZnSO4 
zinc 
sulphate 
+ H2 
hydrogen 
The hydrogen is set free, and, inasmuch as there 
is nothing for it to combine with, it floats off into the 
air. After it gets there we know very well what will 
happen to it. 
The ubiquity of water is almost as great as oxygen. 
In the form of water vapor it is mixed with air. In 
Samuel S. Sadtler's interesting book Chemistry of 
68 AIR AND WATER 
Familiar Things he gives the number of grains of 
water that one cubic yard of air will contain as the 
maximum of humidity at various temperatures by 
the Fahrenheit scale. Here they are: 
14 degrees. 26.8 grains. 
32 " 58.6 " 
50 " 112.6 " 
68 degrees. 206.5 grains. 
86 " 362.1 " 
212 " 11b. and 81 " 
He adds that one cubic mile of air, saturated with 
moisture at 95 degrees Fahrenheit, would give up 
140,000 tons of water (say 35,000,000 gallons) if 
cooled to 32 degrees, or the freezing-point. 
No wonder it rains! The rays of the sun, which 
produce no heat by their passage through space, do 
produce heat by their passage through the air, and 
at the surface of the earth, where the greatest density 
prevails, the greatest heat is produced. So they 
vaporize the waters of the sea and lakes and rivers 
until the air becomes more or less saturated, accord- 
ing to its temperature. A breeze of cold air up in the 
blue, that we may not feel at all, reduces the tempera- 
ture of that above us and down comes the rain. 
Water is the great natural solvent and carrier. 
A man has been described as about twelve pounds 
of ashes and eight buckets of water. A watermelon 
is ninety-six to ninety-eight per cent, water. 
A peculiar and very important trick of water is 
that just as it freezes it expands about 6 per cent, in 
volume and decreases in weight or density in pro- 
portion. That is why ice floats. If it did not float, 
rivers and streams would freeze solid and-things 
would be different in the spring! 
Hydrogen peroxide, 
or H2O2, is a rather 
69 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
unstable fluid, usually dispensed in dilute solutions 
in water, from which the extra oxygen atom soon 
frees itself under the reaction H2O2 = H2O + O. It 
is the well-known oxidizing agent of the household 
medicine-chest, and it really is an excellent antiseptic 
for that reason. We put it on a sore finger to oxidize 
the foulness, to burn it up without appreciable heat. 
Water has remarkable properties. It behaves very 
like an element in many respects. It makes innu- 
merable chemical combinations with other bodies. 
Many bodies will dissolve in water and crystallize out 
as hydrates which are compounds with water. For 
instance, washing-soda, which is sodium carbonate, 
Na2CO3, is a white, amorphous powder by itself, but it 
will combine with water and go hot in the process un- 
til the decahydrate, which means the tenfold hydrate 
of sodium carbonate, is formed and this is expressed 
as Na2CO3.ioH2O-that is, ten molecules of water to 
one of soda. These crystals are known in every kitchen. 
Copper sulphate by itself is a white substance which 
crystallizes in colorless needle-like prisms. It will 
combine with water, five to one, to make the penta- 
hydrate, or fivefold hydrate (CuSO4.sH2O) which 
crystallizes in big blue crystals of an entirely different 
shape and popularly known as blue vitriol. Heat 
will drive the water off. 
We often speak of hard and soft water, and, while 
we know the difference in practice, we are not all of 
us acquainted with the philosophy of it. There are 
two metals, calcium and magnesium, that are related 
to each other in the periodic system, and they have 
certain qualities in common. Calcium oxide, CaO, 
is lime, and magnesium oxide, MgO, is magnesia, 
and neither is very soluble in water. Both build 
salts with carbonic acid. By contact with the rocks 
70 AIR AND WATER 
the water with carbon dioxide, CO2, in solution, takes 
up some of these metals and carries them in solution 
as bicarbonates. Now, roughly speaking, the bicar- 
bonates are soluble, while the carbonates are not; so 
if you boil the water you shift the bicarbonates over 
into carbonates-and down comes boiler scale: your 
carbonates of lime and magnesium, plus mud held in 
the water in suspension. This is what is called tem- 
porary hardness-the bicarbonates of these two metals 
in solution that precipitate or fall down as insoluble 
carbonates when the water is boiled. But there is 
what is known as permanent hardness, when the 
water contains the chlorides and sulphuric acid salts 
of these metals. Boiling will not bring them down. 
And yet, in proportion as the water contains salts 
of calcium or magnesium, it is called hard. The Ger- 
man scale is universally used as to the hardness of 
water; one degree of hardness represents one part of 
lime in 100,000 parts of water, two degrees is double 
that, etc. Water of no more than three degrees of 
hardness is generally held to be pretty soft. But 
we do not want any lime or magnesia in water for 
many industrial purposes, whether in a soluble form 
or not. In washing, bleaching, scouring, dyeing-in 
nearly all textile works-soap is used. In laundries 
and households we use it, too. But what is soap? 
It is, as a good example, stearate of soda (stearic acid 
is a fatty acid). It is soluble in water. But if the 
water contains calcium or magnesium there is imme- 
diately produced calcium and magnesium soaps, which 
are insoluble. The stearic acid shifts over to all the 
Ca and Mg that is in the water, and we have useless 
lime or magnesium soap, which makes a gray ring on 
the bath-tub, streaks the clothes in the laundry, con- 
fuses the dyer, and costs all sorts of money in wool- 
71 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
scouring and in the bleaching industries by sheer waste 
of soap. West of England woolens have a good repu- 
tation primarily because the water there is soft- 
about three degrees of hardness being the average. 
Calcium and magnesium are not wanted in water used 
in the industries. 
We need not enter into a discussion of the nuisance 
that hard water is in boilers; the scale ruins the tubes, 
and it is such a poor conductor of heat that it runs 
the coal consumption away up. There are all sorts of 
compounds sold to prevent boiler scale, and they are 
usually, if they have any merit at all, designed to 
act chemically on the water and produce a scale that 
is lighter and more porous and so more easily removed. 
Such compounds are soda ash, tannin, caustic soda, 
and also some acids. Others act mechanically on the 
particles of scale as they form, and surround them with 
a slippery film to keep the mass from hardening or 
cementing together. Such compounds are slippery 
elm, starch, fats, and oils. And many of them are 
out and out quack medicines. Honey, soap, mercury, 
tobacco, urine, and cow-dung have been sold as won- 
derful practical remedies. 
zThe lime-soda process was the first scientific method 
introduced to make hard water soft. It consists of a 
great tank for settling, and smaller tanks for reagents, 
with a view to bringing down the soluble salts of Ca 
and Mg as insoluble precipitates. The process requires 
the attention of a chemist, and it does not completely 
soften the water. This method will bring water down 
to four or five degrees German hardness-four or 
five parts lime or magnesia in 100,000 parts of water, 
but not lower. 
Now comes a modern invention called "permutit" 
that is chemically interesting and is of great useful- 
72 AIR AND WATER 
ness. Dr. Robert Gans, of the German Geological 
Survey, while studying the fertility of soils, found 
that certain substances known as zeolites have a re- 
markable quality of swapping bases whenever they 
find a chance to do it. They take up potash, then 
exchange it for something else as the plants are ready 
for the potash, then exchange that something else 
for more potash, and they keep it up indefinitely, 
feeding potash to the plants in this manner. Of course, 
the zeolites of the soil are too weak, too mixed with 
other things, to be commercially valuable, so he pro- 
ceeded to make artificial zeolite by fusing feldspar, 
kaolin, pearlash, and soda together. It is a double 
silicate of aluminium and soda with water. Graphically 
it is said to be represented by the following formula: 
I pray you not to let it frighten you. You observe 
those two Na or sodium atoms on what we might 
call the eastern boundary ? That is where the peculiar- 
ity lies. If you bring a solution containing magnesium 
or calcium into contact with it, it will exchange 
sodium for Mg or Ca, and then, if you bring another 
salt around, it will exchange its Mg or Ca for the base 
contained in the new solution. It has, in other words, 
73 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
no principles of loyalty, no faithfulness, no morals 
whatever. We are accustomed to polygamy in chem- 
istry; it does not shock us, but this "power of ex- 
change" is unique. 
Now let us apply this quality to our own use. An 
upright cylinder contains a layer of marble chips 
over a perforated bottom in its upper part. Below 
this is an air space, and then comes a thick layer of 
permutit, which is a substance very like soapstone 
in appearance, being very porous. This also rests on 
a perforated bottom, and under it is a layer of gravel. 
The water, in passing through this filter, exchanges 
every particle of its lime and magnesia for sodium, 
in whatever form these may be. It makes the shift, 
and at the end of the day (according to its computed 
capacity) you have a lime and magnesium permutit 
in the filter instead of a sodium permutit, as in the 
morning. The water that has passed through it is 
completely soft; it is of zero hardness. In the place 
of all its Ca and Mg it contains soluble Na salts. 
Soap is not wasted in it, boiler scale does not form, 
and the water problem, in many cases, so far as hard- 
ness is concerned, is settled. But the filter is to be 
used next day, and the permutit, being combined with 
Ca and Mg, has nothing to exchange for these ele- 
ments. So we flush out the filter by forcing water 
through it backward for a few minutes and then 
make a 10-per-cent. solution of ordinary cooking salt 
(chloride of sodium, NaCl) in water. This we let 
stand in the filter during the night, and by morning 
the water in it has become exceedingly hard and the 
permutit has become sodium permutit and is ready 
for business again to soften water. The permutit is 
not soluble in water; it will only exchange bases with 
salts in solution. So it is not wasted, it does not get 
74 AIR AND WATER 
tired as some catalysts do, and it lasts permanently, 
day in and day out, making its perpetual exchange. 
The amount of salt required to regenerate the per- 
mutit is about one pound of salt for every one hundred 
gallons of hard water softened. It is a very pretty 
operation, and as useful in the household to produce 
the luxury of soft water as it is in the industries. 
Iron and manganese are also troublesome factors 
in water. Both make stains on cloth. These are re- 
moved by oxidation, the higher oxides of these metals 
being insoluble. There is a modification of permutit 
which also removes them. 
Manganese especially is not desired in city water- 
supplies. So far as we know, its presence does not 
seem to affect the health of persons who drink water 
which contains it, even when we consider mineral 
waters that are high in manganese content. But it 
is a nuisance-worse than iron. Certain microscopic 
growths found in water-pipes absorb the manganese 
into their sheaths and form long, fibrous, gelatinous 
masses which increase the friction of the water, and 
when they are loosened by heavy currents the water 
issues from the faucets in an unsightly condition. It 
is deadly to fish life. The brownish cast of the water 
shuts out the sunlight and stunts the fish growth, 
and the oxide of manganese accumulates in and clogs 
up the fish-gills. Like iron, in laundries it produces 
brownish streaks that show on ironing, and in bleach- 
eries it produces a muddy-white color and occasionally 
brownish spots. It will do the same to the finer 
classes of white paper if employed in paper-mills. 
It injures the fermentation processes of breweries, 
and it spoils the color baths of dye-houses. 
A great contribution to the health of cities and 
villages has been found in the addition of a slight 
75 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
amount of chlorine to the water-supply. Since the 
adoption of the chlorination system by the New York 
City department of water-supply, not a single case of 
typhoid fever has been attributed to city water. 
Another method of destroying bacteria in water is by 
submitting it to the action of ultra-violet rays. These 
are rays that are substantially light rays-or rather 
would produce light if our eyes were equipped to 
observe them. They are the burning, actinic rays of 
the sun-the freckle rays and sunburn rays. The 
method is to use a mercury arc-light which produces 
many ultra-violet rays, but which cannot get through 
glass. They do, however, go right through quartz. 
So the Peter Cooper Hewitt mercury arc light is pro- 
duced in a quartz tube and then water is run over the 
tube. VII 
MORE ABOUT AIR 
Nitrogen-Its Inertia-Nature's Subtle Art-The Need of Fixed 
Nitrogen-Its Satanic Tricks-'The Lean Man and the Fat 
One-The History of an American Invention-How the Great 
War was Made Possible-A New Method of Fixing Nitrogen 
that is Full of Promise-Ammonia-Nitric Acid-Why Explo- 
sives Explode 
NITROGEN, N, is a gas, a little lighter than oxy- 
gen-in the ratio of 14 to 16-and it comprises 
about four-fifths of the air. There is enough going on 
in the air to keep it pretty well mixed. We have al- 
ready spoken of how inert this nitrogen gas is. We 
breathe in the air, take up the oxygen (of which nearly 
all of the other fifth is composed), and breathe out 
the same nitrogen, but not the same oxygen. In the 
exhalations the nitrogen is mixed with some oxygen 
and carbon dioxide, or carbonic-acid gas, instead of 
all of the oxygen that went in. Nothing happens to 
the nitrogen. Its atoms are clinched together in pairs 
as molecules, and they will not loosen up under ordi- 
nary conditions. In a temperature such as is tradi- 
tionally held by orthodoxy to be reserved for sinners, 
we should have an entirely different chemistry of 
every-day life; for extreme heat, such as is found in 
the electric spark, will tear the nitrogen molecule 
apart, and when nitrogen once begins to react, the 
cosmic fur may be said to fly. 
77 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Nature in its quiet way performs the most difficult 
laboratory tricks without any noise or explosion. I 
have said that it is very hard to get nitrogen from 
the air into combination. I meant in the laboratory 
or in the works. On the other hand, clover, cow- 
peas, and other leguminous plants have little nodules 
on their stems just above the earth, and these nodules 
swarm with harmless bacteria which take the nitrogen 
from the air, bring it into combination, and feed it to 
the plant. Plow under your cow-peas or clover and 
you will have provided your soil with fixed nitrogen. 
This is the good old standard way to get fixed or 
combined nitrogen into the soil. The only objections 
to it are the need to hurry up, the demand for farm 
produce from increasing urban populations, the desire 
of the farmer to exchange produce for wealth, and 
the sleepless mortgage. 
Aside from taking up nitrogen from the air, nature 
has a way of giving it back. There are a few chemical 
reactions that give off free nitrogen out of combination, 
but it is quite a laboratory trick to perform them. 
Nature, on the other hand, seems to give it off in 
some sort of a cycle, taking it up by means of bacteria, 
and giving some of it off again when the plants and 
animals are carbonized; and there may be - who 
knows?-some bacteria that consume nitrates and 
set nitrogen free. There must be a nitrogen cycle, into 
life and back again. 
But there we are. We must have nitrogen in com- 
bination for fertilizer and so for food, for clothing, 
for explosives, for mining, and for all sorts of engi- 
neering work and for munitions of war, for dye- 
stuffs, and hundreds of other things. Some foods, 
such as sugar, starch, and fats, contain no nitrogen, 
but the proteins, the stuff that builds muscle and 
78 MORE ABOUT AIR 
brawn, the meat for strong men, all these contain 
nitrogen. 
Of course, there is the great waste of city sewage, 
which contains enormous quantities of nitrogen in 
combination, and we know how to turn it all into in- 
offensive and useful products. I say we know how, 
but we have not, all of us, these facts of chemistry 
alive in our brains, and so we just go on complaining 
and wondering why somebody doesn't do something. 
Let us now consider a little more of this remarkable 
element. It can outdo fire and brimstone in its 
satanic tricks. It will not combine except in its own 
secret way, and once it gets into combination it be- 
comes the business end of nearly all explosives, and 
it is one of the elements which must be present in 
combination if life is to prevail. In the eggs of all 
animals it is present in large proportion. I shall not 
offer to base any conclusions upon this, but merely 
give it as a fact, that the thin, wiry little man, who 
is all nerves and action, contains more nitrogen in 
proportion to his weight than the obese, fat man. 
It is present in all nerve stuff. 
Until lately the only place to get nitrogen in com- 
bination was from the great nitrate-of-soda beds of 
Chile. Ammonia is obtained from the distillation of 
coal, but not in sufficient quantities. This source 
of supply is increasing as by-product coke-ovens are 
built. That comes from the N left over in the plants 
during the ages. We can get it into the earth by 
planting leguminous plants and plowing them under, 
as we have noted, but for manufacturing purposes 
the Chilean nitrate beds were practically the only 
source of supply. This is what has made Chile so rich. 
But that store will not last forever. The best posted 
persons say that at the present rate of consumption 
79 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
it should take from a hundred to a hundred and fifty 
years to exhaust the supply, and for the past twenty- 
five or thirty years the problem of "fixing nitrogen," as 
it is called, has been one of the chemical prizes. As 
soon as nitrogen is in combination it is fixed, and the 
chemist feels that he can negotiate with it. 
An American, Charles S. Bradley, was the first to 
combine nitrogen and oxygen from the air on a factory 
scale by means of an electric arc at Niagara Falls. 
He made considerable progress, developed the art, in 
fact, but he had the misfortune to be first in the 
field. American capital has never been favorably dis- 
posed toward experiment except in mechanics, and 
at the point that Bradley had to stop for lack of funds 
two Norwegian chemists, Birkeland and Eyde, took 
up the problem. With the greater water-power 
available in Norway, and with abundant capital from 
Europe, they have had enormous success. Before 
the Panama Canal was opened their ships with nitro- 
gen fertilizer sailed from Norway around Cape Horn 
and past Chile to the west coast of the United States 
with their product. They make a combination of 
nitrogen with lime for fertilizer. 
Then the Germans took hold of it, and we shall see 
what happened. The results are not due to any special 
superiority of German chemists over others. The 
merit of a chemist depends upon the man, not his 
nationality. We may hold this fact to be self-evident, 
but there are a great many of us who do not seem to 
have grasped it yet. Of course there are more chem- 
ists in Germany than there are elsewhere in propor- 
tion to the population, and I think it true that the 
profession has a better social standing there than in 
other countries. This may sound like tea-parties and 
dances, but it means directorates and banking connec- 
80 MORE ABOUT AIR 
tions. The main feature, however, is that German 
business men are not afraid of that bugaboo of his 
American cousin, to-wit, "the theorist." American 
capitalists will take up an engineering problem and 
look over blue-prints and plotted curves which they 
do not completely understand, but which they will 
try to grasp, and as soon as they get the idea of what 
is to be accomplished and a theory of the method, 
down comes the telephone receiver, and a syndicate 
is formed. The money is straightway available. If 
the problem is a chemical one, it has been his habit 
to close his mind and his eye and to have nothing to 
do with it, whereas his counterpart in Germany would 
go at the proposal with the same lively curiosity and 
interest that he would display in response to a pro- 
posal in engineering. The result is that the American 
business man has neither experience in, nor knowledge 
of, chemistry. He cannot tell one chemist from an- 
other. He doesn't even know where to go to find out. 
Not long ago some Eastern capitalists took under 
consideration a large investment in a chemical works 
engaged in the utmost niceties of chemical manufact- 
ure. The processes were involved and exceedingly 
complex. So, in order to get at the bottom facts 
concerning the industry and the way the problems 
were met, they sent a civil engineer out to examine 
it. They might as well have sent a dentist! 
Now let us get at the way the Herren Doctoren 
Haber and le Rossignol solved their part of the prob- 
lem. There is very little water-power in Germany, 
but catalysis is an art, and it is available everywhere. 
They knew, as every chemist has known for years, 
that if three volumes of hydrogen gas and one volume 
of nitrogen are inclosed in a vessel and an electric 
spark is passed through the mixed gases, a little 
81 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ammonia will be formed. Ammonia is three hydrogen 
atoms hooked on to one nitrogen atom. Its symbol 
is NH3. Not much ammonia will be formed, though, 
and for this reason: at the temperature of the elec- 
tric spark, nitrogen and hydrogen will unite to form 
ammonia, but, at the same time, ammonia is not stable 
at that temperature. It will decompose into nitrogen 
and hydrogen. It is reversible reaction, because it 
works both ways. It is expressed as follows: 
N2 + 
nitro- 
gen 
3H2 
hydro- 
gen 
/ 2NH, 
' ammonia 
But they did not want a reversible reaction; they 
wanted the straight reaction, one in which the arrow 
points in one direction only, and not both ways. 
N + 
nitro- 
gen 
3H > 
hydro- 
gen 
nh3 
ammo- 
nia 
So they conceived the happy idea of sending one 
part of nitrogen and three parts of hydrogen through 
tubes containing various metals with a view to getting 
the metals to act as catalysts. Osmium and uranium 
did it. Details of the process are secret, but by 1913 
an enormous plant, costing $10,000,000, had been 
erected and was in full operation at Ludwigshafen. 
The nitrogen is obtained by making liquid air and 
distilling it off while the hydrogen is obtainable in 
many ways. This gave Germany all the combined 
nitrogen it might care to produce by adding the units 
already established, in the form, you observe, of 
ammonia. 
It never rains but it pours. When one process is 
developed, another is likely to follow shortly after- 
82 MORE ABOUT AIR 
ward. An American chemist, Willson, started to 
make calcium carbide years ago at Niagara Falls by 
treating coke and quicklime in an electric current. 
It takes considerable power to bring this about, but 
only one-fifth as much as is required to fix atmospheric 
nitrogen by the Norwegian process. Calcium carbide 
is a very widely known chemical to-day, and is used 
to make acetylene gas for lighting houses, for automo- 
bile lights, and for enriching city gas. The reaction 
is very simple; put water on it, and the product is 
acetylene gas and slacked lime. 
Now we shall strike a very good example of the 
international nature of science, of how an invention is 
started in one country and developed in another. Here 
we have calcium carbide, developed in the United 
States. Then two German chemists, Frank and Caro, 
discovered that if you heat this carbide and run a 
current of nitrogen over it, the nitrogen will combine 
with it and you have calcium cyanamide, which is 
an excellent nitrogen fertilizer. Let's put these two 
reactions down: 
3C 
coke 
-}- CaO 
quick- 
lime 
= CaC2 
calcium 
carbide 
+ co 
carbon 
monox- 
ide 
CaC2 
calcium 
carbide 
+ n2 
nitro- 
gen 
= CaCN2 
calcium 
cyanamide 
+ c 
car- 
bon 
The extra carbon is burned away in the heat, and 
the cyanamide fertilizer was made in large quantities 
in Germany. 
Now we come to a third reaction that has been 
known for a long time-that superheated steam passed 
83 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
over calcium cyanamide gives as the resultant prod- 
ucts carbonate of lime, or limestone, and ammonia. 
Here is the reaction: 
CaCN2 
calcium 
cyanamide 
+ 3H2O 
water 
= CaCOs 
carbonate 
of calcium 
+ 2NHs 
ammonia 
So here were two methods of making ammonia, 
and from the way in which the output of calcium 
cyanamide has increased in Germany, from 50,000 tons 
annually before the war to 600,000 tons in 1916, it 
would appear that the cyanamide process is the 
cheaper one. 
In the mean time the great Professor Ostwald had 
worked out a method of turning the base ammonia 
into nitric acid, also by catalysis. Nitric acid is one 
nitrogen, one hydrogen, and three oxygen atoms in 
the molecule, and Professor Ostwald found that by 
passing ammonia and oxygen through tubes filled 
with finely divided platinum the following reaction 
takes place: 
NH3 
am- 
monia 
+ 2O2 
oxygen 
= hno3 
nitric 
acid 
+ H2O 
water 
Nitric acid is the one thing most especially needed 
to make explosives. By 1915 Germany within her 
own borders had developed the art of making all things 
needful for munitions of war except copper and cotton. 
Without these processes the war could not have lasted 
over a year, despite the enormous stores of Chilean 
nitrate that were on hand. Indeed, it was these four 
processes of Willson, of Haber and le Rossignol, of 
Frank and Caro, and of Ostwald that have made the 
84 MORE ABOUT AIR 
war endure. Courage would have been of no avail 
without them. 
Very lately Prof. John E. Bucher, of Providence, 
Rhode Island, has proposed a new method. His 
work is based on the fact that nitrogen will combine 
with an alkali and carbon in the presence of iron as a 
catalyst and produce the cyanide, a combination, for 
instance, of sodium, carbon, and nitrogen, NaCN. He 
brings soda ash and powdered coal together with pow- 
dered iron or iron ore-either will do-in a furnace, 
runs air through it at a moderately high temperature, 
and the result is sodium cyanide, with the iron uncom- 
bined. No electric power is needed, no heavy outlay, 
no costly materials; the whole process, apparently, 
may be carried out almost anywhere at a very low 
cost. 
Of course everybody knows that cyanide of soda 
is not a thing to fool with; that it is a deadly poison. 
But by treating it with steam the products become 
sodium bicarbonate and ammonia. Engineering de- 
tails still need to be worked out, and nothing can be 
called a success until it succeeds in practice, but it 
is not more than fair to say that Doctor Bucher is 
busy at them. If the difficulties are overcome, it 
bids fair to make us all sit up and take notice. 
Now let us study the combinations of this absurd 
element with hydrogen and see what results we get. 
I do not know why nitrogen behaves so. There is 
ammonia, NH3. It has an avidity for water which 
is almost insatiate. But when you have NH3 dis- 
solved in water (H2O) you haven't exactly what you 
might think you have. As soon as the ammonia 
reaches water, or as soon as you start a chemical 
reaction going, the nitrogen in the ammonia molecule 
brings its two extra hooks or bonds into play, the 
85 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
molecule of ammonia combines with a molecule of 
water, and we have ammonium hydroxide, or NH4OH. 
Let us put it down graphically: 
Here you get a radical or tail of oxygen and hydro- 
gen just like the OH radical in caustic soda or caustic 
potash, and it behaves that way! It acts just like a 
metal, but like a metal with one bond. Drive it out 
of such a combination, and we shall find that the nitro- 
gen has only three hooks again. And then, having 
determined that ammonia behaves like the metals, we 
should expect it to have no special affinity for them. 
But here we should be wrong again, for it attacks 
metals with energy, just as an acid does, giving up 
its hydrogen and forming nitrides of metals. That 
ide in nitride, you may recall, indicates direct combi- 
nations of a metal with nitrogen. Nitrogen makes 
other compounds with hydrogen, foolish compounds 
which it has no business to make, such as hydrazine, 
N2H4, and hydrazoic acid, N3H, all bristling with un- 
satisfied bonds. Hydrazoic acid is unstable, and very 
explosive as well. 
With oxygen it forms N2O, or nitrous oxide, which 
is laughing-gas, and is largely used as an anesthetic. 
There is nitric oxide, NO, which is unstable, and com- 
bines immediately with more oxygen to form nitro- 
gen dioxide, NO2, which is a reddish gas and violently 
poisonous. Then we come to nitric acid anhydrid, 
N2O6, which, with one molecule of water (H2O), makes 
86 MORE ABOUT AIR 
two molecules of nitric acid (HNO3), one of the most 
powerful acids known: 
N2O6 4- H2O = 2HN03 
"Acids," says the definition, "have one or more 
hydrogen atoms that can be replaced by metals." 
All right; there's nitric acid, but there's ammonia, 
NH3, too, which is not an acid. Then there's the 
opposite: "Bases, or alkalies, include compounds of 
the general type of metal having an OH radical." 
Very well; there is ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH. 
But why does nitrogen work both ways? From the 
standpoint of a lazy, old-fashioned chemist, I should 
say that nitrogen has no chemical conscience whatever. 
Since nitric acid has so much to do with explosives, 
we might as well consider a little about them at this 
point. An explosive is a substance that is capable of 
liberating large quantities of gas as a result of very 
rapid chemical action. The gases set free by the ex- 
plosion of gunpowder occupy about three hundred 
times the volume of the powder, and the heat of the 
explosion expands these gases many times more. In 
gunpowder the carbon and oxygen atoms that unite 
to form carbonic-acid gas and other bodies are in 
different molecules, and the explosion, while instanta- 
neous in appearance, is not so rapid as dynamite. 
In nitroglycerin all the atoms are in the same mole- 
cule, which disintegrates as follows: 
4C3H6(ONO)3 
nitroglycerin 
12CO2 
carbon 
dioxide 
+ ioH2O 
water 
4- 6N2 
nitro- 
gen 
+ ^2 
oxy- 
gen 
These gases take up twelve thousand times the volume 
of nitroglycerin in the dynamite, and by the heat 
produced are expanded nearly eight times farther. 
So one cubic inch of it expands about nine thousand 
times in an instant. No wonder it shakes things up. 
87 VIII 
THE RED-HEADED HALOGENS 
Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine-Four of a Kind, with 
Differences-The Young Devil and the Old Man with a Past- 
Muriatic Acid-Salt-Great Value of Chlorine-Purification of 
Water-Uses of Fluorine, Bromine, and Iodine 
HERE is a family of elements, legitimately con- 
nected according to the Periodic Law, that be- 
have just as a family of persons or elements should 
behave. We are wont to attribute to men and women 
having auburn hair a certain quickness in response 
to a stimulus. This is a distinct quality of the halo- 
gens. As the persons we have in mind grow older we 
observe that they usually grow more sedate and 
circumspect. As the halogens increase in atomic 
weight they grow more biddable and quiet in their 
reactions. Young persons adorned with Titian locks, 
if they be maids or young matrons, are likely to wear 
green gowns. We shall find this taste in color also 
indicated among the halogens. 
They are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. 
Their atomic weights are, in the order named, 19, 
3580, and 127. In the same order they are gas, 
a gas twice as heavy, a liquid, and a solid. In color 
they are, also in the same order, greenish yellow, yel- 
lowish green, brown, and violet-black. All of them 
have one hook or affinity. All of them combine with 
88 THE RED-HEADED HALOGENS 
hydrogen and produce acids, and, in the order of 
their atomic weights, their liking for hydrogen de- 
creases. Bring fluorine and hydrogen together, even 
in the dark, and they will combine to HF, or hydro- 
fluoric acid, with explosive violence. The real acid 
would be hydrogen fluoride, HF, with water, H2O; 
but as there is always water around and only one 
hydrogen atom becomes ionized, we call HF hydro- 
fluoric acid, HC1 hydrochloric acid, etc. Chlorine and 
hydrogen will unite under the influence of light. 
Bromine will unite with hydrogen if passed through 
a heated tube containing platinum gauze. It takes 
still more heat in the presence of platinum black to 
do the same with iodine. Then, again, fluorine will 
drive chlorine out of combination with hydrogen and 
take its place. Chlorine will do the same to bromine, 
and bromine to iodine. Compounds of iodine with 
hydrogen are not very stable, but you can hardly 
drive fluorine and hydrogen apart-until HF meets 
something that fluorine likes better, as, for instance, 
an alkali, a metal, or a salt with a weak acid. Then 
the hydrogen is dropped, and the fluorine goes at it. 
We might say that fluorine is the young devil, and 
iodine is the old man with a past. In valency, too, 
bromine and iodine grow a little irregular. Occa- 
sionally they develop three, five, and even seven bonds 
for combining. This does not appear to be the case with 
fluorine, and chlorine seems to be slightly addicted 
to allotropy, but we do not know much about that yet. 
The family relations toward oxygen are the very 
opposite. Fluorine does not combine with it. Chlo- 
rine does, but the compounds are very unstable. 
Chlorate of potash, for instance, gives off its oxygen 
with explosive violence in the presence of a reducing 
agent. Oxides of bromine are more stable than those 
89 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
of chlorine, and those of iodine are more stable still. 
With sulphur they behave in a somewhat similar 
manner. 
All the halogens are lively in their reactions, fluorine 
being the liveliest, and iodine the least so. 
Fluorine, because it bites its way through glass 
and destroys tissues with such avidity that it is one 
of the rankest of poisons, is no laboratory favorite. 
Of all the elements it has the strongest tendency to 
form compounds. It is found in nature mostly in 
rocks, in combination with calcium as fluorspar. Its 
principal use is for etching glass. The process is 
interesting. The glass vessel which is to be etched is 
covered with wax, which is not disturbed by the 
fluorine or by hydrofluoric acid. The desired figures 
are drawn in the wax, leaving the glass bare wherever 
the lines are. Sulphuric acid will drive fluorine out of 
fluorspar, producing sulphate of calcium, or gypsum, 
on the one hand, and hydrofluoric acid on the other. 
The glass is attacked wherever a line is drawn, or 
wherever the wax is scraped off. An opaque surface 
is produced. If the hydrofluoric acid is dissolved in 
water, and the glass, prepared in the same way, is 
dipped into the solution, the acid will bite out a shiny 
and transparent groove wherever the glass is exposed. 
Ammonium fluoride (NH4F) is generally employed 
in the place of fluorspar in the glass industry. Another 
use for this product is to eat the silicates out of straw 
and then limber it up so that it may be woven into 
straw hats. 
Chlorine is the famous member of the family. It 
is of very widespread occurrence. In combination 
with sodium, one atom of each in the molecule as 
chloride of sodium (NaCl), it is what we know as 
salt, common salt, table salt, and we must have it. 
90 THE RED-HEADED HALOGENS 
When it is scarce we prize it, and when it is lacking 
we will brave almost any danger to get it. I do not 
know what its function is in the process of digestion, 
but it is probable that the hydrochloric acid which we 
have in our stomachs is prepared from salt in one of 
that series of co-ordinated chemical factories that 
each of us has in his body. Chlorine is everywhere in 
varying quantities-in rocks, in the earth, in the sea, 
and deposited in the beds, far under the earth, of ex- 
tinct salt lakes. Nature does not perform a cycle 
with salt; it washes it into the sea and lets it stay 
there. The actual process seems to be that the so- 
dium is carried to the sea mostly in the form of the 
sulphate, and the calcium or lime as a chloride, and 
a shift in the acids takes place after a while in the sea- 
water, the calcium chloride becoming calcium sul- 
phate or gypsum, and the sodium sulphate becoming 
sodium chloride. The sea is growing richer and the 
earth is growing poorer in salt. But we need not 
worry about it. 
Salt is the raw material for the great soda industry, 
which we shall treat of in another chapter. It is also 
used to drive other bodies out of solution in chemical 
industry. 
Like all other members of the family, chlorine com- 
bines with hydrogen as hydrochloric acid or, as it is 
often called, muriatic acid, one atom of each in the 
molecule, or HC1. It is, as we have mentioned before, 
not really an acid until water is brought to it, so that 
the proper formula would be 
HC1 + H2O = H3C10 
But we write it HC1 because the water stays water 
and the one H ion of HC1 does the business. HC1 is 
91 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
a gas, very soluble in water, and is a very strong acid. 
It is very widely used to produce metallic chlorides. 
Many metals are dissolved by it. It has wide-spread 
use in the industries. The grape sugar works take 
large quantities to neutralize the lime in the process. 
Some steel-makers use it for "pickling," or eating off 
the oxides, or rust, from manufactured steel, although 
sulphuric acid is more frequently employed for this 
purpose. 
Chlorine combines with oxygen, always to form 
acids. The natural combination is one atom of 
oxygen to two of chlorine (because of the oxygen's two 
hooks and the chlorine's one), or chlorine monoxide, 
C12O. This is a brownish gas, very dangerous and 
very explosive, breaking up easily into its component 
parts. Mix it with water and you get a solution of 
hypochlorous acid, in which a molecule of water will 
combine with a molecule of the chlorine monoxide 
to form two molecules of hypochlorous acid. This 
may explain it: 
C12O 
chlorine 
monoxide 
+ h2o 
water 
= 2HC10 
hypochlo- 
rous acid 
It cannot be separated, but its salts are known, and 
they are great bleaching agents. The reason why is 
because it gives off oxygen so easily. Thus potassium 
hypochlorite, KC10, becomes potassium chloride, KC1, 
plus oxygen. The Cl slips around the O to get at its 
favorite, K, which it likes better than O. There are a 
number of other combinations of chlorine with oxygen, 
all of them acids, and there is always the likelihood of 
the oxygen atoms wandering away to any other mate 
that they can find. A neat little experiment to show 
this is to mix some powdered sugar and some chlorate 
92 THE RED-HEADED HALOGENS 
of potash together, carefully, and then add a drop or 
two of concentrated sulphuric acid. The whole mass 
will immediately burst into flame, because the sul- 
phuric acid will drive the chlorine dioxide from the 
chlorate of potash, and chlorine dioxide will not endure 
for a minute if there is anything as easy to oxidize as 
sugar at hand. Sugar is composed of carbon, hydro- 
gen, and a little oxygen. 
One of the chief uses of all of these halogen com- 
pounds with oxygen is as oxidizing agents. Oxygen 
does not seem to feel comfortable when combined 
directly with a halogen. 
The greatest use of chlorine in a free state or loosely 
combined is as a bleaching agent. The way it works, 
theoretically, is that one molecule (or two atoms) of 
chlorine gas and one molecule of water unite to form 
two molecules of hydrochloric acid (HC1) and set 
free one atom of oxygen. But chlorine, as well as 
hydrochloric acid, eats into and disintegrates fiber, 
so that laundries which use this easy bleaching agent 
have become the bane of the man with shirts and the 
distress of the housewife with her weekly wash. Wash- 
ing clothes is a chemical problem, by no means made 
perfect as yet, although progress has been and is 
being continually made. What bids fair to be an 
even greater use is in the disinfection of drinking- 
water. Very small quantities of it will effectively 
destroy bacterial life by oxidation, as we have ex- 
plained, even in the effluent from sewage. 
Now that the electrolytic method of producing soda 
has made chlorine plentiful, and since it is easily 
liquefied (by cooling and compressing) and shipped in 
convenient cylinders, there is no more excuse for the 
spread of epidemics through drinking-water. A little 
apparatus in the gate-house of a large municipal 
93 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
water-supply will effectively chlorinate every bit that 
is used. The effluents from sewage-disposal plants, if 
treated with chlorine, may be safely allowed to flow 
into rivers without fear of contaminating the water. 
In his work on Municipal Chemistry, Professor 
Baskerville brought out, several years ago, the value 
that minute quantities of chlorine would have if added 
to the water with which streets are flushed. It was 
later urged by Albert H. Hooker in his book on 
Chloride of Lime and Sanitation. Here we have the 
greatest disinfectant known to man, at once cheap 
and available. And we have in the dust of our streets 
the bacilli of tuberculosis, tetanus, and the germs that 
are said to be active in spreading coughs and colds, 
besides a lot more of the kind. But so far as I know 
the sprinkling of streets of a city with chlorinated 
water has never been thoroughly tried out yet. 
Bromine is used in medicines, the many bromides 
having the effect of inducing sleep. Compounds of 
bromine also are availed of in the dyestuff industry. 
Iodine is principally used in medicine and also in 
laboratories as a reagent in analysis. There is a very 
large quantity of it contained in seaweed, and the new 
potash industry of the Pacific coast, whereby potash 
is extracted from giant seaweed or kelp, will probably 
be glad to hear of a good process whereby iodine may 
be extracted economically as a by-product. IX 
SULPHUR, SULPHURIC ACID, AND SULPHUR COMPOUNDS 
Sulphur's Cousinship with Oxygen-Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde- 
Herman Frasch's Clever Device-A Few Sulphur Combinations 
-Sulphur Oxides-Sulphuric Acid-The Old Horse of Chemistry 
-Its Uses and How it is Made-Chamber and Contact Proc- 
esses-The Chemical Bank-Thiosulphates-Note on the Ele- 
ment Selenium 
SULPHUR is related to oxygen under the Periodic 
Law, although it does not look like it or smell 
like it or make combinations that resemble those of 
oxygen in appearance; it is only when we consider 
them chemically that we note the cousinship. We 
shall touch upon these resemblances as we pass them 
by. 
Sulphur, like certain other elements that we shall 
consider later, displays what are rather awkwardly 
called "allotropic modifications." We have spoken 
of the personal quality of matter, especially within 
the domain of catalysis, and here we have another 
manifestation that indicates how like persons matter 
is. Many books besides Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 
have been written about the phenomenon of dual or 
multiple personality in individuals. Now allotropy is 
this multiple personality in elements. We recall how 
oxygen is a gas of the air, and that the same oxygen 
may become ozone. The same holds true of sulphur. 
It may be crystalline, and as such it crystallizes into 
95 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
two forms. It occurs in an amorphous state as a 
powder, and as a liquid it has two forms-that of a 
mobile liquid and that of a viscid one. All the time it 
is sulphur, chemically pure sulphur, and nothing else. 
We know how to bring these changes in form about, 
and there is probably some regrouping of the atoms 
in the molecules which causes the changes. 
Sulphur, like oxygen, has two hooks or affinities to 
combine with other atoms; but, unlike oxygen, if it 
needs more than two it displays four, and in still 
other combinations it avails itself of six. I do not 
know of any relation between the number of hooks an 
element shows for combining and its allotropic mod- 
ifications. 
Sulphur is found in volcanoes and in direct combina- 
tions with metals which are called sulphides. In 
Louisiana and Texas there are enormous deposits of 
this element in a free state deep under the quicksand, 
and most of the supply for the United States comes 
from this source. It is obtained by the process de- 
vised by the late Herman Frasch, who sank through 
the sand a six-inch, a three-inch, and a one-inch pipe, 
one inside of the other, and through the six-inch pipe 
he forced water, superheated and under pressure of 
one hundred pounds per square inch. Through the 
three-inch pipe he drove hot, compressed air, and this, 
mingling with the sulphur which the superheated 
water had melted, caused it to flow up through the 
one-inch pipe. A screen at the bottom of the one- 
inch pipe keeps the earth out, and very pure sulphur 
comes up, is cast in tanks, and housed in great blocks. 
In Europe the chief source of supply is Mount Etna, 
in Sicily, and it is also found in extinct volcanoes in 
Japan. 
When we consider that sulphur combines with other 
96 SULPHUR 
elements very much as oxygen does, we can see what 
a vast number of sulphur compounds are possible. 
And it can produce more different kinds of evil-smell- 
ing combinations than any other element. 
Just as oxygen and hydrogen combine to produce 
water, H2O, so sulphur and hydrogen combine to 
produce hydrogen sulphide, H2S, which is a gas and 
smells like rotten eggs. 
Sulphur unites with the halogens somewhat after 
the manner of oxygen, but with entirely different re- 
sults. There is, for instance, the chloride, S2C12, which 
is a liquid with a nasty odor and has the capacity to 
dissolve sulphur. The bichloride, SC12, is also known, 
as well as is the tetrachloride, SC14, and there are 
other halogen compounds. 
With the metals it unites directly to form sulphides, 
just as oxygen forms oxides. Some of these sulphides 
of metals are the crystalline iron pyrites, copper py- 
rites, cinnabar (mercury sulphide), galenite or galena 
(lead sulphide), zinc-blende (zinc sulphide), which are 
well known, but there are very many more of them. 
In combination with iron, as the amorphous sulphide 
of iron, it is a powder without any mechanical quali- 
ties. Sulphur makes iron brittle when present even 
in very small quantities. Coal that contains too 
much sulphur ruins boilers and grate-bars; in fact, 
sulphur is a great nuisance in fuel. 
With carbon it combines to produce carbon bi- 
sulphide, CS2, which will dissolve sulphur and rubber 
and which in the impure commercial state smells 
like destruction. One whiff of it is enough to fix it in 
memory. It is used as an insecticide, and in chemical 
industry to produce carbon tetrachloride, in the pro- 
duction of artificial silk and for other purposes. 
It is with oxygen, however, that sulphur forms the 
97 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
compounds which bring it into most frequent com- 
mercial use. There are four of them known: 
Sulphur sesquioxide S2O3 
Sulphur dioxide SO2 
Sulphur trioxide SO3 
Sulphur heptoxide SjO? 
Of these we shall consider only two, the dioxide and 
the trioxide, and this brings us to the consideration 
of what we may call the Old Horse of Chemistry, or 
sulphuric acid. 
When you get up in the morning and turn on the 
water for your bath, you use a nickel-plated faucet 
which required sulphuric acid in its manufacture. 
Your tub, if it be enameled, has met sulphuric acid 
before it became what it is; and if it is an old-fashioned 
one of tin, plated on sheet copper, it needed even more 
sulphuric acid before it took its place in civilization 
as a bath-tub. The water in which you bathe has 
probably been treated with sulphate of copper to 
clear it of algae. The towel with which you dry your- 
self has met sulphuric acid before you bought it, and 
the soap-maker possibly found it necessary to use 
some in the preparation of your soap. The bristles of 
your hair-brush have been treated with it, and the 
back of your brush, as well as your comb, if they be 
of celluloid, could not be produced without it. Your 
razor, before it reached its present high estate, may 
have been pickled in sulphuric acid after it was an- 
nealed. 
As you put on your underwear you may recall that 
the bleacher and the dyer used sulphuric acid on the 
thread before it was knit or woven, or upon the fabric 
afterward. As you button up your outer garments 
you may be reminded also that sulphuric acid was 
98 SULPHUR 
needed in scouring the wool, in making the dye, and 
in the process of dyeing the cloth. 
The button-maker needed some before your buttons 
were complete. The tanner needed some in making 
the leather for your shoes, and it is also used to pro- 
duce shoe-polish. The cushion upon which you may 
rest your pious knees in your devotions has met 
sulphuric acid in one way or another more than once 
before it reached its present dignity. 
At breakfast your cup and saucer may have come 
into being without the aid of sulphuric acid, but only 
provided they are plain white. To produce the con- 
stituents of aqua regia, which dissolved the gold for 
gilt ornamentation, sulphuric acid was used. The 
silver of which your spoon, knife, and fork are made 
may come from a smelter which has first burned the 
sulphurous ore and made sulphuric acid of the fumes, 
while if they are silver-plated, they were plated in a 
sulphuric-acid bath. The farmer who raised the 
wheat of which your rolls are made probably used 
acid phosphate on his land to encourage the wheat 
to grow. Acid phosphate is phosphate rock treated 
with sulphuric acid. The paper-maker needed some 
sulphonated aniline blue to tint your morning paper, 
even if he used no sulphite pulp, and it would be a 
rare ink that is innocent of the touch of sulphuric acid 
at some point in its history. 
If you eat buckwheat-cakes and syrup, the syrup 
needed it, and as for your artificial light, if you get 
up early enough to need it, you would be driven 
back to candles if it were not for this product. 
It is needed in the refining of kerosene and gas- 
olene, and as for your electric light, brought to 
you by currents of electricity through copper wires 
'-where would the electric-light industry be with- 
99 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
out copper? And where would the copper industry 
be without the electrolytic process of refining, which 
requires enormous quantities of sulphuric acid? It 
would be paralyzed. 
We have heard of the embarrassment of industry 
by the lack of German dyes, but that is a mere baga- 
telle compared with the general break-up that would 
follow a dearth of sulphuric acid. We can neither go 
to war and have smokeless powder nor can we live in 
peace without it. Wherever you go in civilization you 
cannot get out of its path. You may never see it, you 
may not know its qualities and its very remarkable 
chemical personality, and you had better not touch 
it, but almost invariably it has been around before 
you. 
All of this will explain but a fraction of the all- 
pervasive ubiquity of sulphuric acid in the arts of 
what we call civilization. And its use is growing along 
with the development of chemical industry and the 
science of agriculture. 
It has been known as a commercial product in 
the United States since 1793. The first step in the 
process of making it is to burn sulphur. When you 
bum sulphur you produce a gas containing one atom 
of sulphur to two of oxygen in the molecule. Every- 
body knows the choking smell of this gas; you used 
to produce it every time you lighted an old-fashioned 
sulphur match. It is easy enough to produce it on 
a small scale, but when it comes to doing this very 
thing on a large scale, and measuring the units by 
the ton, it will be seen that even here there are engi- 
neering problems involved that are far from easy. 
And we haven't sulphuric acid yet, by long odds. 
We have with our two atoms of oxygen to one of 
sulphur the anhydrid of sulphurous acid, the first 
100 SULPHURIC ACID 
step in the process: what we are after is the anhydrid 
of sulphuric acid; we must worry another atom of 
oxygen into that molecule and make SO3 instead of 
S02. If we leave it by itself an indefinite time and 
allow plenty of air to weaken it, it will change over 
as we want it to, but we never could make a com- 
mercial product that way. No, we must introduce an 
oxygen-carrier into the chamber that contains the 
gaseous product of our first step-'Something that 
will not only give up an atom of oxygen, but find a 
taker in each molecule of S02. Oxides of nitrogen 
will do this, and then get back the oxygen they have 
lost from the air, so that they may be used over again 
and again with very slight loss. That is the way we 
get our S03 in the old chamber process which we shall 
now describe. 
As the first step, either sulphur is burned or the 
sulphurous ore is roasted and the fumes of SO2 are 
passed first through a dust-flue and then through what 
is called a Glover tower, the purpose of which is to 
get a thorough mixture of the gases wanted. This is 
a tower filled with lumps of inert material, and there 
trickles down through the tower sulphuric acid con- 
taining oxides of nitrogen which are dissolved in it. 
The sulphurous fumes ascend against this stream, 
carry along the oxides of nitrogen, and proceed into 
great leaden chambers. Steam is blown into the 
chambers at various points. Here a complicated re- 
action takes place, but in effect nitric oxide, NO, 
unites with the oxygen of the air to form nitrogen 
peroxide, NO2. Then- 
so2 
sulphur 
dioxide 
+ no2 
nitrogen 
peroxide 
+ h2o 
water 
- H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
+ NO 
nitric 
oxide 
101 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and then, again- 
2NO 
nitric 
oxide 
+ C>2 
oxygen 
(from 
air) 
= 2NO2 
nitrogen 
peroxide 
and the cycle is complete. So we have sulphuric acid 
on the floor of the chambers, and the gaseous oxides 
of nitrogen, which must not be lost, mixed with air. 
From the last chamber the gases are led into a tall 
Gay-Lussac tower, filled with coke, and over which, 
from the top downward, there trickles concentrated 
(78 per cent.) sulphuric acid. This dissolves the 
oxides of nitrogen, but not the air, which passes 
out through the stack. The concentrated acid with 
the oxides of nitrogen dissolved in it is then pumped 
over from the bottom of the Gay-Lussac tower to the 
top of the Glover tower, where it proceeds to give up 
the oxides that it has in solution, just as described 
above, and this process goes on over and over again. 
The sulphuric acid taken from the chambers is of 
about 65 per cent, strength, and this is usually 
concentrated by boiling off the water in pans made of 
a very high silicon iron. 
There is no such trouble in getting water attached 
to the SO3 molecule as we had in getting that extra 
atom of oxygen into it. The trouble is to keep the 
water away. The acid that comes out of the leaden 
chambers is strong enough for use in some industries 
(for instance, to produce acid phosphate for fertilizers), 
but it is not strong enough for general commercial 
purposes. Not all the water is boiled off in the con- 
centrating-pans; you cannot produce a 100 per 
cent. H2SO4 by this concentrating process, but it is 
made strong enough for a great many purposes-for 
most purposes, in fact. 
102 SULPHURIC ACID 
Dilute sulphuric acid must not be shipped in iron 
containers because it will eat right through the iron, 
whereas strong sulphuric acid may be hipped in tank- 
cars if the necessary precautions are taken to keep 
water out. This, according to a plausible theory, 
is because the salts of iron, produced by the action 
of the acid upon the iron walls that contain it, are 
very soluble in water, but insoluble in strong sulphuric 
acid, and thus make a protective coating to the inside 
of the walls which cease to be protective as soon as the 
solvent water is introduced. 
The contact process is an achievement in catalysis 
and is a development of the last twelve or fifteen years, 
so far as practice is concerned. It consists in inducing 
the sulphurous fumes (SO2) to unite with oxygen of 
the air and form S03 in the presence of one or more 
catalysts. The pyrites are roasted, and the cinder, 
consisting chiefly of iron oxides, but also some oxides 
of copper, arsenic, and other metals, are used as the 
first step in which about one-half of the S02 (mixed 
with air) is converted to SO3. This is a black, dirty 
gas, mixed SO2, SO3, CO2, O2, and N2. From this 
point it is cooled and cleaned and scrubbed according 
to the process employed and the conditions at hand, 
until a gas of remarkable freedom from foreign mat- 
ter is obtained. This is especially necessary be- 
cause the remaining half of the SO2 is still to be con- 
verted to SO3, and the slightest amount of arsenic or 
any of a number of foreign substances or dust will 
"poison" the catalyst so that it will not do its work. 
So far is this purification carried that among the great- 
est producers the gas will stand the Tyndall test; 
that is, that a beam of very concentrated light passed 
through a dark chamber containing it will not show 
a particle of dust. When we think of the myriads of 
103 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
dust particles we see if a beam of ordinary daylight 
is let into any living-room that is darkened, we can 
imagine how well this work of purification has been 
done. The gases are then passed over devices con- 
taining platinized asbestos, and by the time this 
process is completed practically all the SO2 is con- 
verted to SO3. From this point the process is very 
like the old one; the SO3 is caught up by strong sul- 
phuric acid, which not only absorbs SO3 until it be- 
comes 100 per cent. H2SO4, but 100 per cent, sulphuric 
acid will also dissolve the anhydrid. 
Let us get this a little clearer. SO3, you recall, 
is the anhydrid which with water, H2O, produces the 
acid H2SO4. If you have an acid that is 90 per cent, 
sulphuric acid and 10 per cent, water, then, as SO3 
is added to it, the acid will gradually become 100 
per cent, sulphuric acid. As soon as this stage is 
passed and we have what is known as free anhydrid 
dissolved in the sulphuric acid, it is called oleum. 
This is likely to have about 20 per cent, free anhydrid. 
If the anhydrid only is wanted-i.e., the fuming, solid 
SO3, without any H2SO4 in it-the SO3 is usually dis- 
tilled off from the oleum by gentle heating. 
Some claim that the contact process will in time 
supplant the chamber process, and I think it likely, 
in the course of a pretty long time. The reason is 
that, under ideal conditions and flawless management, 
it should cost no more to make, say, 97 per cent, 
sulphuric acid by the contact process than 65 per 
cent, chamber acid. But it takes years to achieve 
a very high degree of administrative efficiency, and 
the process is more delicate, and there are patents 
covering all sorts of steps in it, and royalties must be 
paid-and the chamber process is easy. I think the 
chamber process will still be in operation when many 
104 SULPHURIC ACID 
of the young fellows of to-day will be referred to as 
graybeards. 
Lately the United States Department of Agriculture 
has proposed still another method that is similar to 
the old one, except that instead of great leaden cham- 
bers for the reaction, it is proposed to use coils of 
lead pipe. The laboratory tests are promising, but 
no large-scale tests have been made, and the propor- 
tion of surface to volume is so different in laboratory 
tests from that in practice that a great deal must be 
done before it is known what value, if any, the pro- 
posed method has. 
This heavy, oily fluid, also known as oil of vitriol, 
that destroys nearly everything with which it comes 
in contact, is like fire or water or electricity-a good 
servant but a bad master. And yet it is about the 
safest and most biddable chemical we know, consid- 
ering its strength. And in its strength is its greatest 
usefulness. We do not employ a Percheron stallion 
to draw a baby-carriage, and yet the Percheron 
stallion is just what we do want for a heavy load on 
a bad road. Now sulphuric acid is one of the great 
dray-horses of chemistry. But if we carry the equine 
simile any further we shall get into difficulties, for 
the main business of sulphuric acid is to bite into things 
chemically and play hobs generally, under control. 
All of its get, its progeny, its colts, or, more properly 
speaking, the sulphates and sulpho-conjugations, are 
not soluble in water, but so many of them are that it 
is fair to say that one of the principal lines of business 
of this chemical is to make things over so that they 
will dissolve in water. Phosphate rock is thus made 
more available in practice for the soil. Being an acid, 
it will neutralize alkali, and a new use for great quan- 
tities of acid produced from smelter fumes in the 
105 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
West has lately been proposed in the reclamation of 
alkali deserts. 
The founders of the Chemical National Bank of 
New York many years ago started in business making 
sulphuric acid. In those days it was made according 
to a "formula" or recipe: burn so much sulphur, 
and do thus and so according to rule and gather in 
your product. There were difficulties of transporta- 
tion and in manufacture because sometimes the cham- 
bers would become sick and not perform their allotted 
tasks, while the demand for the product was irregular 
and slight. So the proprietors closed out their busi- 
ness, and, having a charter bounded hardly short of 
their imagination, they started a bank. Now the 
career of that bank has been so honorable, so useful, 
and so distinguished for sound business methods that 
we are bound to rejoice that the Chemical Bank 
was duly started. But those interested in chemical 
industry cannot wholly free themselves from the 
wish that the same talent for organization and the 
same high character which qualified those men for 
banking might have remained to help along the 
chemical industry in this country in the days of its 
struggles. We might have been further ahead than 
we are now. 
I have intimated that sulphuric acid is the old 
horse of chemistry. Then soda would be the old 
mare. And there is lime. Lime, let us say, is the 
mule, which carries off great loads of waste. 
Before we give up the subject we must consider a 
little trick that sulphur has in working its way into 
molecules, very like the way of oxygen in oxidation. 
For instance, a sulphurous acid salt, if left in the air 
long enough, will go over, by oxidation, into a sul- 
phuric acid salt: 
106 SULPHUR COMPOUNDS 
2Na2SO3 
sodium 
sulphite 
-f- O2 
oxy- 
gen 
= 2Na2SO4 
sodium 
sulphate 
Now, if we digest sodium sulphite with finely di- 
vided sulphur for some time, the sulphur will work 
its way into the molecule in the same way, and we 
have: 
Na2SO3 
sodium 
sulphite 
+ s 
sul- 
phur 
= Na^SaOs 
sodium 
thiosulphate 
There are other ways of doing this, but we shall 
not discuss them. The point is, we have what the 
name implies, a sulpho-sulphate, because the prefix 
thio is taken from the Greek word Oeiov (theion), 
which means sulphur. Thiosulphuric acid is not 
known in a free state, but we have its salts. The 
sodium thiosulphate is called by photographers hypo- 
sulphite of soda, or "hypo," and is used to dissolve 
the chloride or bromide of silver from those places on 
the photographic plate where it is not wanted. We 
shall see how useful it is when we consider pho- 
tography. It forms a soluble silver sodium thiosulphate 
as follows: 
AgCl 
silver 
chloride 
4- Na2S2O3 
sodium 
thiosulphate 
or "hypo" 
= NaCl 
common 
salt 
AgNaS2O3 
silver sodium 
thiosulphate 
The element selenium is very like sulphur in its 
reactions. It is also, like sulphur, known in various 
forms or modifications. It is a brick-red powder, a 
black, brittle, glassy mass, a red crystalline form, and 
a gray metal. It is sometimes found in the deposits 
of Glover towers and chambers of sulphuric acid 
107 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
works, and it has been found in meteoric iron. Its 
chief claim to fame is that in the metallic form it 
conducts electricity very much better in the light than 
it will in the dark. This has led to numerous inven- 
tions and some curious apparatus, among others the 
"electric dog" of J. H. Hammond, Jr., of Gloucester, 
Massachusetts. A little four - wheeled wagon is 
equipped with a chemical battery, and selenium re- 
sistance coils are placed back of glass lights which 
are supposed to represent eyes. If a strong light is 
thrown upon them, this turns the selenium resistance 
coils into a conductor, and the "dog" speeds forward 
and follows the light, being propelled by a storage 
battery which it contains. The light causes the 
selenium coils to conduct the current from the bat- 
tery to the motor. 
The commercial supply of selenium is obtained from 
the electrolytic copper refineries. The present Amer- 
ican production is about thirty thousand pounds per 
annum. Elementary selenium is most largely used 
to give a red color to glass (for railroad signal-lights, 
etc.), and it is also employed to overcome the green 
color of glass. Selenite of soda is used to impart a 
bright red color to enamels. Selenium is also used to 
a limited extent in medicine and bacteriology. X 
PHOSPHORUS, ARSENIC, ANTIMONY, AND BISMUTH 
Phases of Each-Relations to Nitrogen-Phosphorus Fertilizers- 
Matches-A Real Triumph in Manufacturing-The Ironmaster's 
Torment, and Why He Swears-Fish-bones for Brain Food- 
The Unaggressive but Poisonous Arsenic-Its Uses-Antimony 
and Its Trick of Expanding-Use in Type-metal and in Alloys- 
Bismuth 
PHOSPHORUS belongs to the same group as 
nitrogen. It is not found in a free state in 
nature because of its marked affinity for oxygen. It 
has, like nitrogen, sometimes three hooks and some- 
times five, according to its pleasure. When driven 
out of combination it is a heavy, crystalline solid, 
yellowish in color, and it melts at 440 and boils at 
2900 centigrade. In this form it is a rank poison. 
But if we heat it in a closed vessel it turns into a 
reddish brown powder which is stable and inert and 
has little poisonous action, because of the difficulty of 
absorption. There is an intermediate scarlet phos- 
phorus, and yet another violet or black modification, 
all chemically pure phosphorus, but constituting allo- 
tropic modifications, such as we observed in sulphur, 
and showing different phases of the same substance. 
Phosphorus combines with hydrogen to produce 
phosphine, PH3, just as nitrogen produces ammonia, 
NH3. Phosphine is a very poisonous gas and has a 
disagreeable odor, something like spoiled fish. Just 
109 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
as ammonia, NH3, dissolved in water, H2O, produces 
ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH, which is known only 
by its salts, so we get with phosphine, PH3, in water, 
H2O, phosphonium, PH4OH, which is also known 
only in its salts; that is, no one has ever succeeded 
in producing by itself either ammonium, NH4OH, or 
phosphonium, PH4OH, although there are plenty 
of salts in which an acid radical takes the place 
of the OH. Phosphonium is not so strongly alkaline 
as ammonium. 
Then there is a metaphosphoric acid, HPO3, just 
like nitric acid, HNO3, but an entirely different prod- 
uct, and by no means so strong an acid. A more im- 
portant compound with oxygen is known as phos- 
phorus pentoxide, P2O5, which is a white, voluminous, 
snow-like mass, which takes up water to produce ortho- 
phosphoric, or, as it is generally called, phosphoric acid, 
H3PO4. This pentoxide is the most powerful dryer 
known. It will absorb water, if present in sufficient 
quantity, down to one milligram of water in forty 
thousand liters of air. 
About one-tenth of i per cent, of good soil is 
phosphate, and plants need it. So do animals. As 
plants exhaust it from the soil it needs to be replaced, 
and from this requirement comes the great phosphate 
fertilizer industry. The effect of phosphates upon 
plant growth seems to be to increase the prolificacy 
and to hasten the maturity of the crops. The exact 
role that it plays is still rather vague, but its effect is 
seen in increased crops. There are in the United 
States vast deposits of minerals, chiefly in the form of 
various phosphates of calcium. They are found in 
South Carolina, in Florida, in Kentucky, Wyoming, 
and elsewhere. This country is very rich in phosphate 
rock and exports vast quantities of it to Europe in 
110 PHOSPHORUS 
normal times. To prepare it for fertilizer the rock is 
ground fine and treated with about an equal weight of 
sulphuric acid. The product is called "acid phos- 
phate" in the fertilizer industry and is applied to re- 
new the phosphorus taken from the soil by plants. 
We have had the curious situation in this country of 
the manufacturers of acid phosphate urging the farmer 
to buy their product as the thing most needful, the 
German Kali Syndicate urging potash upon the farmer 
as that for which his plants do most ravenously hun- 
ger, and the Chilean nitrate people pressing upon 
the bewildered husbandman his need of fixed nitrogen. 
That situation has improved somewhat, and at the 
time of the present writing, when there is a 
potash famine in the land, it is doubtful if very much 
phosphate or nitrate is offered as a substitute for 
potash. The mining and sale of phosphate rock is 
one of the great industries of the United States. 
The old-fashioned sulphur matches were made by 
dipping the sticks first into molten sulphur and then 
the tips into a paste containing yellow phosphorus, 
an oxidizing agent and a gum to protect the phos- 
phorus from the air and to keep the mass together. 
Enough heat was generated by rubbing the tip against 
any rough surface to start the reaction between the 
phosphorus and the oxidizing agent (manganese di- 
oxide, for instance), and that in turn set fire to the 
sulphur, which ignited the wood. But not only was 
the fire danger of these matches very great: the yel- 
low phosphorus is a nasty poison; the men who worked 
in the industry got "phossy jaw," and died of it, and 
now the manufacture of such matches is forbidden 
by law. The new kind of "strike anywhere" matches 
have a tip of phosphorus sesquisulphide in place of 
the yellow phosphorus. From the structure of these 
111 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
matches, with the ignition surface spreading over the 
tip of the match instead of enveloping the end, the 
fire hazard is lessened. 
Safety matches are made of potassium chlorate, 
powdered glass, rosin, glue, and coloring matter, with 
red or amorphous phosphorus on the sides of the box. 
It is a pleasure to record that the manufacture of 
matches, involving as it does the use of phosphorus, 
has changed entirely so far as it has come within the 
hands of certain great administrators. It is not many 
years ago that to work in a match-factory was a job 
that any man might dread. Phosphorus is a nasty 
poison, and its effects are cumulative and cruel. By 
the substitution of the sesquisulphide for elemental 
phosphorus the hazard to health and life is removed, 
and one large manufacturing company, having useful 
patents covering the process, presented its patents 
to the United States Government, so that any manu- 
facturer of matches may use them. The health record 
of the company's own works is something to be proud 
of, and it enjoys the advantage of well-paid, satisfied, 
and loyal employees. 
Rocks containing phosphates of calcium and phos- 
phorus in other forms are very wide-spread and are 
often found where they are not wanted. For instance, 
when they are found mixed in with iron ores the iron- 
master is likely to become unfit as a member of 
society. You cannot make steel by the old Bessemer 
process unless the amount of phosphorus present is 
very slight, because phosphorus spoils the steel. In 
the open-hearth process more phosphorus can be al- 
lowed, as in this way it is boiled off. But generally 
speaking, phosphorus is to the metals as whisky is 
to man. It has its uses, but it can do all sorts of 
harm. A little phosphorus in iron or steel will make 
112 ARSENIC 
it crystallize, and so it becomes brittle and generally 
unreliable. On the other hand, it is useful in certain 
alloys. Phosphor bronze, for instance, is an alloy of 
phosphorus, copper, and tin. It is very hard and firm, 
and is used in making axle bearings. But there is 
much more effort made to get phosphorus out of metals 
than there is to get it in. 
There used to be a tradition to the effect that phos- 
phorus was food for the mind, because there is a 
slight amount of it found in the brain. It was held 
that a diet of fish was especially to be recommended 
because phosphorus is also found in fish, and therefore 
that the aspirant after intellectual life should address 
himself to codfish, shad, and even bullheads and suck- 
ers. The element is indeed found in fish, but chiefly 
as calcium phosphate in their bones. 
Arsenic behaves something like phosphorus in its 
reactions. Usually it has three hooks, but sometimes 
it has five, and it shows several allotropic modifica- 
tions. It may appear as a gray, crystalline substance, 
and a good conductor of electricity, or it may take the 
form of yellow crystals, or of a gray, amorphous pow- 
der or a black powder. It combines with oxygen to 
produce oxides, and these with water form acids. With 
the halogens it combines every way possible, and 
nearly all of its combinations are poisonous. So is 
pure arsenic. 
With hydrogen it forms two combinations, the im- 
portant one of which is arsine, AsH3. It is a gas, and 
smells like garlic, but no one is able to smell it in 
quantity for any length of time, for the very good 
reason that it is one of the rankest poisons there are, 
nearly as dangerous as prussic acid. 
Arsenic is found in nature in a free state, as an oxide 
113 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
or "white arsenic," and in direct combination with 
metals as arsenides. From a chemical standpoint it 
is not very aggressive, and it would seem that its 
poisonous quality must be due to catalysis. It is 
found in slight quantity in many ores, but is usually 
distilled or sublimated off in the process of smelting. 
Of its two compounds with oxygen, arsenious oxide, 
As2O3, or white arsenic, is the best known. It is used 
in glass-making to remove the color produced by the 
lower oxides of iron. It is also used in enameling, in 
calico-printing, for fireworks, to prevent boiler scale, 
for fly and rat poisons, and as a preservative for 
mounted birds and animals. Paris green is arsenite of 
copper (CuHAsO3), and is a beautiful green pigment 
that was at one time in popular use as a paint, 
for coloring wall-paper, etc., but it is such a vicious 
poison that its use is generally restricted in this re- 
spect. Farmers find it useful for killing potato-bugs. 
Arsenic in one form or another has long been a favorite 
medium of the poisoners, although the tests to detect 
it are among the most delicate known, the presence 
of the most minute quantities being capable of demon- 
stration. So delicate is one test that sometimes the 
slight amount contained in the glass has been partially 
dissolved out during the analysis, and dire confusion 
has resulted. The careful analyst tests his apparatus 
for arsenic first. 
As with many other poisons, one may grow accus- 
tomed to taking arsenic in increasing amounts until 
more than double an ordinary fatal dose is taken with 
impunity. The inhabitants of Styria eat it (white 
arsenic) to increase their endurance. They are said 
to be of fresh complexion and long-lived, but to die 
suddenly. It is occasionally given to horses in small 
quantities to improve the appearance of their coats, 
114 ANTIMONY 
especially when a sale to some one living at a good 
distance away is anticipated. 
In alloys with metals arsenic has a tendency to 
make them brittle. 
Antimony belongs to the same group as arsenic, 
phosphorus, and nitrogen; it has sometimes three 
hooks and sometimes five; it has three allotropic modi- 
fications-it appears as a crystalline, silvery-white, 
brittle, metallic substance, and as a yellow, and as a 
gray powder. The last is known as "explosive anti- 
mony," and when heated or struck or scratched it 
changes into the crystalline form, increasing in density 
and with great heat. 
It is found in small quantities in a free state in 
nature, but usually as an oxide or in combination 
with sulphur, arsenic, and the metals. The most 
common form is the sulphide, called stibnite, Sb2S3. 
It makes, in a general way, combinations similar to 
those of phosphorus and arsenic. 
In alloys with metals it has the general feature of 
making them brittle and hard, but it has the added 
peculiarity of expanding, like water, as it passes from 
a molten to a solid state. In castings, therefore, a 
very sharp impression is produced, and its value in 
type-metal can be readily understood. Type-metal 
is composed (subject to a considerable number of 
variations) of about 50 per cent, lead, 25 per cent, 
antimony, and 25 per cent. tin. Babbitt metal for 
bearings is, according to one recipe: 
7.4 per cent, antimony; 88.9 per cent, tin; 3.7 per cent, copper. 
Britannia metal is 90 per cent, tin and 10 per cent, 
antimony. 
115 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
With copper a brittle metal is produced by alloys 
of increasing proportions of antimony, ranging in 
color from copper red to rose red and from crimson 
over to violet. The violet metal is an alloy of half 
copper and half antimony. 
In medicine we find antimony used in tartar emetic. 
This is a double salt with potash and a radical of 
antimony and oxygen as the two bases in combina- 
tion with tartaric acid. The chemical name for tartar 
emetic is potassium antimonyl tartrate, and the 
formula is K 
(SbO)C4H4O6. 
There are five elements in the nitrogen group, and 
bismuth is the last of them. 
Nitro- 
gen 
Phos- 
phorus 
Ar- 
senic 
Anti- 
mony 
Bis- 
muth 
Atomic weight. .. 
.. 14 
175 
120 
208 
Specific gravity... 
.. 0.88 
1.8-2.1 
47-5-7 
6.7 
9-8 
(Water = i) 
Melting-point.... 
44° 
500° 
430° 
208° 
By the time we reach bismuth we have a real metal. 
Its combinations with oxygen are bases, not acids, 
and it is found chiefly in a native state. It looks very 
like antimony, but it does not appear to be poisonous. 
We might say that bismuth is the old man of the fam- 
ily, and that he had outgrown the poisonous quality 
that begins with phosphorus, is at its peak in arsenic, 
and decreases in antimony. It is used chiefly in mak- 
ing alloys, and in the form known as bismuth sub- 
nitrate it is used in medicine as an astringent and anti- 
septic dusting-powder. XI 
THE ALKALI METALS 
Sodium and Soda-What It Is Not-Frequency-The Chemical 
Old Mare-Its Thirst-Salts and Their Uses-Manufacture-• 
Le Blanc-Solvay, Who Rescued Brussels-The Electrolytic 
Process-Potassium and Potash-Plenty of It-Prospects of 
Catching It-How Trees and Plants Refuse to be Deceived- 
The Legend of the Tree Brought up on a Bottle which could not 
be Weaned-Compounds-Lithium-The Rest of the Family 
THE most frequent sign of soda that meets the 
American eye - being the inviting legend dis- 
played by apothecaries and confectioners-does not 
indicate soda at all. ' ' Ice-cold soda-water ' ' is water 
charged with carbon dioxide, CO2. It obtained its 
name by the old method of dissolving sodium bicar- 
bonate in water and then liberating the gas by a 
mild acid such as cream of tartar. Such a preparation 
is now known as "Seidlitz powders," whereas the old 
name holds to the water which has the bubbles but 
not the soda. 
About 2X per cent, of the crust of the earth is 
sodium, which makes it rank seventh in point of 
quantity among the elements. It has one hook, and 
is found chiefly as the chloride, which we have already 
considered under salt in connection with chlorine. 
It is also found as the nitrate NaNO3 in Chile saltpeter, 
as the sulphate NaSO4 in Glauber's salt, and as 
117 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
the carbonate in the alkali deserts. In cryolite, or the 
ice stone of Greenland, it is found as a sodium alumin- 
ium fluoride. It is found in countless silicates, and, 
as a result of rock decay, it gets into the soil and so 
into animal organisms. Its end product in natural 
processes is salt, and its habitat the sea. 
Sodium is not found in a free state in nature, be- 
cause the pure element, which is a light, silvery, 
white-colored, waxy metal, combines immediately with 
water to produce sodium hydrate or caustic soda: 
Naz 
sodium 
4- 2H2O 
water 
= 2NaOH 
caustic 
soda 
+ H2 
hydro- 
gen 
To prepare metallic sodium this process is reversed, 
practically, with the aid of the electric current. We 
say: 
2NaOH = 2Na + H2O + O 
In practice it isn't so easy. Caustic soda is heated 
in a tank through which an electric current passes. 
The metallic Na formed at the cathode is kept away 
from the anode by an iron net. At the anode, OH 
groups are liberated which yield water and oxygen, 
or 2OH=H2O + O. The oxygen escapes, but the 
water goes back to the other pole, meets the metallic 
sodium, and produces caustic soda again: 
2Na + 2H2O = 2NaOH + Hi 
As a result, the maximum yield for a given quantity 
of electricity is only 50 per cent. 
This lust of sodium for water may be easily shown 
by cutting with a knife a little piece of metallic sodium 
from a bar and throwing it into a pail of water. It 
118 THE ALKALI METALS 
will swim around on the surface, generating hydrogen, 
which escapes, and producing a solution of caustic 
soda in the water. It is well not to stand too near, 
because it sputters, and nobody cares to have a piece 
of sodium busy with water or moisture, or even a 
solution of caustic soda, in his eye or on his counte- 
nance. 
Metallic sodium is used in metallurgy, and is kept 
under kerosene or in some liquid which contains no 
oxygen. It is in the form of the carbonate as soda or 
soda ash, as it is called, Na2CO3, and as the bicarbonate 
NaHCO3, and as lye or caustic soda or sodium hydrox- 
ide, NaOH, that it finds its great use. Note, please, 
that sodium bicarbonate is really a kind of half- 
carbonate, in that to one radical of the carbonic acid 
we have one sodium and one hydrogen atom, whereas 
in the carbonate or monocarbonate there are two Na 
atoms. We said, in considering sulphuric acid, that 
if it were called the old horse of chemistry, we should 
have to regard soda as the old mare. It is the grand 
universal alkali, and it is used everywhere, constantly. 
A few of its uses are given in Chemistry of Common 
Things, by Sadtler, elsewhere referred to, from which 
we shall copy: 
Salt 
NaCl 
Used: Condiment. Chemicals. 
Sodium hydroxide 
NaOH 
Soap. Chemicals. 
(Caustic soda, lye) 
Sodium carbonate 
N a2CO3 
Cleaning. Soap powders. 
(Soda ash, sal soda, 
Chemicals. Scouring. 
soda crystal) 
Sodium bicarbonate 
NaHCO3 
Baking powders. Chemicals. 
(Cooking soda) 
Medicine. 
Sodium sulphate 
Na2SO4 
Glass-making. Wood pulp. 
(Glauber's salt) 
Medicine. 
Sodium phosphate 
Na2HPO4 
Medicine. 
Sodium monophosphate NaH2PO4 
Baking powder (Ryzon). 
Sodium triphosphate 
Na3PO4 
Softening water. 
119 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sodium thiosulphate 
Na^O, 
Used: Tanning and photography. 
(Sodium hyposul- 
phite) 
Sodium nitrate 
NaHO3 
Agriculture. Chemicals. 
Sodium borate 
Na2B4O7 
Cleaning. Mild alkali. 
(Borax) 
Sodium silicate 
Na2SiO3 
Soap-filling. Silk-dyeing. 
(Water glass) 
Bandages. Preserving 
eggs. 
Sodium chlorate 
NaClOs 
Pyrotechnics. Explosives. 
Textile work. 
Sodium peroxide 
Na2O2 
Bleaching. 
Sodium dichromate 
Na2Cr2O7 
Tanning. 
And this is only a hint of its many uses. Making 
soda is one of the leading chemical industries and the 
process always starts with salt. The old standard 
method of producing it was that of Nicholas le Blanc, 
the domestic physician to the Duke of Orleans, who 
in turn provided capital for the start of the industry. 
The French Revolution came along and left poor old 
Doctor le Blanc stranded, while the industry, as in- 
dustries have a way of doing, quietly moved over to 
England. 
This is a great trick of industries which are not 
interested in political economy or human welfare ex- 
cept as it may affect production. At the time of this 
writing there is a movement of electrochemical in- 
dustries from Niagara Falls, where they started, to 
Norway, where there is cheaper power and more of it. 
Whether we shall continue to waste our precious 
power by permitting the continued waste of the wicked 
beehive coke-ovens, which burn up everything except 
the coke produced and do not even conserve the 
power that goes to waste; whether Niagara Falls will 
be turned over entirely to industry or not; whether 
our conservation laws in the United States will be 
modified so as to permit the profitable industrial use 
120 THE ALKALI METALS 
of available water-power sites-are all questions that 
are in the air, and, while they are in process of settle- 
ment, the electrochemical industry will probably set- 
tle down somewhere and take a lead for fifty or a 
hundred years. 
The Le Blanc process consisted in treating salt with 
sulphuric acid, thus producing sulphate of sodium, 
Na2SO4, or salt cake, as it is called. This was heated 
with coal and limestone (calcium carbonate) until the 
mass had fluxed, when the reaction took place. This 
brought the carbonic-acid radical over to the soda, 
and the sulphuric acid produced sulphate of lime or 
gypsum. The alkalies changed acids in the process. 
That is the reason why the soda, being obtained from 
the flux, obtained its name of soda ash. In the first 
process of making salt cake, chlorine was liberated, 
which was conserved as hydrochloric (or muriatic) 
acid, HC1, and it was also used to make bleaching- 
powder, which is obtained by passing chlorine through 
a series of chambers containing slacked lime. The 
Le Blanc process is now nearly obsolete. 
In 1861 Ernest Solvay, of Brussels, patented the 
Ammonia Process, which is that by which the major 
portion of the soda used to-day is made, although we 
shall soon note another process, one that is crowding 
it whenever there is sufficient power available for 
electricity. 
In the Solvay process, common salt, NaCl, is treated 
with ammonium bicarbonate, or successively with 
ammonia and with carbonic-acid gas, at a low tem- 
perature. Sodium bicarbonate and ammonium chlo- 
ride are formed, and the sodium bicarbonate, being 
nearly insoluble in a solution of ammonium chloride, 
NH4C1, it precipitates out. The mother liquor is 
drawn off, treated with caustic lime, which frees the 
121 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ammonia, NH3, and produces calcium chloride. The 
NH3 is saved, and the calcium chloride is waste, or 
nearly so. It is used to keep dusty roads moistened, 
because it draws water from the air. It is also used 
to make anti-freezing mixtures, but if any one will 
discover a steady use for large quantities of it he will 
have no trouble in getting invitations to dinner. 
Instead of using lime, it is possible to employ mag- 
nesia. From the magnesium chloride the chlorine 
may be regained by heating, and the magnesium oxide 
or magnesia, which is formed as soon as the chlorine 
leaves it, may be used over and over again. 
The bicarbonate of soda is changed to the carbonate 
by heating, and caustic soda, NaOH, is made by treat- 
ing the carbonate with quicklime. It was Ernest 
Solvay, who had amassed great wealth from the soda 
industry in Europe and America, who paid the vast 
indemnity demanded by the German invaders as their 
price for not destroying the city of Brussels. 
A still newer method, originating in America and 
developed by various American chemists, is the elec- 
trolytic process. It is not so simple as it looks, but 
in effect the salt brine is led into an electrolytic cell. 
A current of electricity is passed through which splits 
the Na from the Cl, each element going to its respec- 
tive pole. The sodium combines with the water to 
produce caustic soda, as described in the beginning 
of this chapter, and the chlorine is saved, compressed, 
and cooled until a liquid condition is reached, and is 
then sold to bleacheries and to chemical works for 
chlorination processes and for the destruction of bacilli 
in city water. 
Potassium (K, for the Latin word kalium) is the 
elemental or metallic potassium, while potash is the 
122 THE ALKALI METALS 
common term for the carbonate. The nomenclature, 
however, is a little loose, and "potash salts" is used 
to indicate salts of potassium, but chiefly the chloride. 
It is a very close cousin to sodium. It has also only 
one bond, and in a metallic state it is soft, waxy, of a 
silvery-white color, and changes over to the hydroxide 
or caustic potash, KOH, on being brought into contact 
with water. Indeed, a piece thrown into water will 
dance about, liberating hydrogen and casting caustic 
potash into solution at such a lively rate that enough 
heat is generated to set the hydrogen afire. 
Potassium is not found in a free state in nature, for 
the obvious reason that it will not remain free, but 
it is very wide-spread. In the form of nitrate, KNO3, or 
saltpeter, it was formerly found in deposits in India, 
but these have long been exhausted. They were by 
no means so extensive as the Chilean beds of nitrate 
of sodium. The great source of supply has been in 
the deposits of Germany, in Hanover, Westphalia, 
and in Alsace, and at the time of the present writ- 
ing there is a serious potash famine in the United 
States. 
The situation reminds one of the old line about 
"Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink," 
because there is any amount of potassium to be found 
in this country. The greatest supply is in the wide- 
spread mineral called feldspar, which contains up 
to 17 per cent. K, but, alas! it is bound up with 
aluminium as a double silicate, and it is insoluble. 
That is to say, the potash is there in the feldspar, but 
it is in the form of glass and pottery. So far, the only 
way to get it out is by the heat of the electric arc, 
and that takes great quantities of cheap power. This 
problem is sure to be solved some day; there are 
patents by the hundred on various processes to do it. 
123 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
But no large plant of importance is in operation yet, 
nor is there, so far as we know, any in process of con- 
struction at this time. As we have said before, the 
American business man does not like to spend money 
on experiments, and every one of these processes re- 
quires factory demonstration to prove itself. And 
yet, so hopeful are men of the solution of this riddle 
that a syndicate of miners in Colorado are, at the 
time of this writing, setting aside daily two thousand 
tons of finely ground and washed feldspar against the 
time when somebody will appear with a successful 
process. There is some potash in sea-water, and the 
giant kelp of the Pacific coast absorbs it, so that it 
contains from io to 40 per cent, of KC1. Several 
large works are in process of construction in California 
to secure the needed potash from this giant seaweed, 
but these will produce only a very small fraction of the 
potash needed. A very interesting suggestion was 
lately made by a well-known chemical writer. He was 
visiting California, and observed the great activity 
in building plants for the commercial recovery of 
potash. Here are these big seaweeds, thought he, 
which take up a great deal of potash from the very 
small amount held in solution in the ocean. The 
plants do not take in sodium salt, of which there is 
a much greater amount in the sea. The separation is 
accomplished by some kind of semi-permeable mem- 
brane which lets through potash salts and iodine, but 
keeps the soda salts out. "What kind of a membrane 
is it?" he asked. "What is the character of the semi- 
permeable diaphragm, or, generally, what is the 
mechanism of the concentration process?" Here is 
another nut to crack in physical chemistry. If the 
nature of the process by which the giant kelps take up 
the potash salts and leave the compounds of sodium 
124 THE ALKALI METALS 
behind were known, we could put tanks with walls 
of such a nature into the sea and enjoy watching them 
fill themselves with pure solutions of potash. Then 
we might concentrate the liquor, crystallize out the 
potassium salt, dry it, sell it, and send for another 
box of those fifty-cent cigars. It seems likely, though, 
that even if we knew how to turn the trick, it would 
only work with dilute solutions. Then the cost of 
concentration might be too great for us to buy the 
cigars, after all. 
Another source of supply is in the saline deposits 
of dry lakes in southern Utah and California. These 
are being operated in a small way, but not nearly 
enough for our needs. It is said to cost the German 
syndicate about $20 a ton to mine and prepare the 
muriate of potash for market, and they get about 
$40 a ton for it. Or, rather, that was the case before 
August 1, 1914. Since then as high as $450 a ton has 
been paid for it. 
Trees and plants must have potash. The clearest 
evidence that trees need it is the amount of it we 
find in wood ashes, in which it runs as high as 5 or 
6 per cent., despite the fact that some of it goes up in 
smoke. Indeed, that is where it got its English name-• 
the ash from under the pot. Then, to be 'scruciating 
elegant, we have Latinized the word to potassium. 
The Germans stick to the word that came from the 
Arabic alchemists, and call it kalium, which is related 
to the word alkali. 
Just what role potash plays in the nutrition of 
plants it is hard to tell. It used to be so simp e to 
think of soil as consisting of so much clay (silicate of 
aluminium), so much sand (silica), with so much 
fixed nitrogen, potash, and phosphates, and nothing 
else. The idea was that after the chemist had done a 
125 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
little fuddling with it and made his analysis, the 
enlightened farmer would know exactly what to do. 
Things are so easy when we know only a little! Now 
the chemist does rightly and properly analyze soils, 
and the enlightened farmer is greatly helped by his 
results, but remember, please, that agriculture comes 
more properly under the head of plant physiology than 
under chemistry. The soil teems with life. In sum- 
mer from half a million to a million bacteria are found 
in a single grain weight of soil. Besides bacteria, it 
has yeasts, molds, fungi, protozoa, amoebae, nema- 
todes, and worms. Then there is humus, which is 
fermenting organic matter. The nature of soils is 
one of the most complex of studies. There is, however, 
a gross chemical aspect of soils which is the basis of 
the fertilizer business, if not of the use of fertilizers, 
and this we shall consider. We have discussed the 
need of fixed nitrogen, and we know the need of phos- 
phoric-acid salts. What potash seems to do in the 
economy of plant life is to act as a catalyst in that 
marvelous synthetic laboratory in the plants which 
mates up carbon dioxide and water to sugar and starch 
and then to cellulose. The richer plants are in carbo- 
hydrates (sugars, starch, etc.) the more potash they 
seem to contain. It seems to aid in the growth of 
strong, vigorous roots and stems, and in neutralizing 
plant acids it appears to affect favorably the flavor of 
fruits. It is claimed also that plants become more 
resistant to disease if adequate potash is supplied. 
The reason why sodium may not be substituted for 
potassium in plant economy is possibly because the 
potash salts diffuse more readily through the cells 
than those of soda, or because of the greater liking 
that potash salts have for water than soda salts. The 
fact is, however, you cannot substitute soda for potash 
126 THE ALKALI METALS 
in agriculture with success-so far. The plants will 
discriminate. 
The natural history of potash is like that of sodium. 
It exists principally in the silicates, in feldspar and 
mica especially, and upon the decay of these minerals 
some of it is carried into the soil and thence to plants. 
They must have considerable of it for lusty growth, 
and, as we have intimated, many kinds of vegetation 
seem to need it for flavor. The legend is told by a 
gentleman with a lively imagination of a farmer who 
had a wonderful apple-orchard in which everything 
was done which science could provide for his trees. 
Finally, on the ground that a tree is, after all, only an 
osmotic engine, the lord of the orchard bethought 
himself that he could give the needed fertilizer to one 
of his trees by bringing the constituent parts of the 
needed manure or ' ' tree food " into its circulation from 
a solution contained in a bottle and fed by gravity 
through a gimlet-hole. The tree took by gravity 
through the gimlet-hole far more than its sluggish 
roots would absorb, and its carefully balanced rations 
of salts in solution soon began to show results. In 
size, taste, and quality they outshone any apples ever 
grown, but, alas! when cold weather came the tree 
had grown so accustomed to being fed by the bottle 
that its roots had atrophied, and the farmer was 
unable to wean it. We do not know the fate of that 
tree-whether it turned out well or badly, and we 
never have brought ourselves to believe in it thor- 
oughly. We fear it was cut off in the blossom of its 
youth. 
The compounds of potassium are so analogous to 
those of sodium that we shall not mention them in 
great detail. The chloride and sulphate are used for 
fertilizer materials, the bromide is used as a medi- 
127 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
cine, largely for its sedative effect, and the iodide, 
like sodium iodide, is used also in medicine. The 
fluoride has the peculiar quality of forming the double 
halide FK, FH; and the cyanide, like the cyanide of 
sodium, is used to extract gold from its ores. The 
nitrate, KN03, is one of the constituents of gunpowder 
in the proportion 75 saltpeter or KN03, 10 carbon 
(charcoal), and 15 sulphur. When it explodes this 
is about what happens: 
2KNO3 
potassium 
nitrate 
+ S 
sul- 
phur 
+ 3C 
car- 
bon 
= K2S 
potas- 
sium 
sulphide 
+ N2 
nitro- 
gen 
+ 3CO2 
carbon 
dioxide 
This is not entirely correct, because the remaining 
potash is not all in the form of K2S. But the gases 
are chiefly CO2 and some CO. The tension of the 
gaseous products is about 6,500 atmospheres (96,000 
pounds to the square inch) and the temperature 
about 2,200° centigrade. 
The silicate of K is very like Na silicate. The 
sulphides are not very stable and oxidize easily. 
Lithium, sodium, and potassium constitute the prin- 
cipal members of the group known as the alkali 
metals, and lithium is the first of the series. None is 
found free in nature, all are widely distributed, but 
lithium is found only in small quantities. It occurs 
chiefly as the silicate in lepidolite or lithia mica, as the 
phosphate in triphylite, and in company with Al, Na, 
and Fl in amblygonite. Finally it is met with in the 
ashes of certain plants, such as tobacco, showing that 
it is contained in the soil. Minute traces of it are found 
in many minerals. 
Metallic lithium, prepared by electrolysis of the 
128 THE ALKALI METALS 
fused chloride, is the lightest of all solid substances 
except frozen hydrogen. It is but little over half the 
weight (less than six-tenths) of water, and it floats on 
kerosene. It is silvery white, but tarnishes rapidly 
on exposure to moist air. With oxygen it produces 
lithium oxide, Li2O, and this goes over into the hy- 
droxide, LiOH, which dissolves in water, producing a 
strongly alkaline solution, like caustic soda, NaOH, 
or caustic potash, KOH. 
The chloride, LiCl, is very soluble and takes on 
water from the air. 
The carbonate, Li2CO3, is not very soluble in water, 
in which it differs from the Na and K carbonates. 
The phosphate, Li3PO4, shows the same peculiarity. 
Lithium salts are used in medicine. There is but 
little if any technical use for the metal or its com- 
pounds at present. 
The other two members of the family are rubidium 
and caesium, which we shall not consider further than 
to note that they are also soft, silvery-white metals, 
and we mention them only to show the family rela- 
tion, how they progress up in one respect and down 
in another, just like some other families of elements: 
Lithium 
Sodium 
Potas- 
sium 
Ru- 
bidium 
Cesi- 
um 
Atomic weight... 
•• 6.94 
230 
39 10 
85-45 
13281 
Specific gravity .. 
•• 0.534 
0.971 
0.862 
1-532 
1.87 
(Water = i) 
Melting-point ... 
... 1860 
97° 
62° 
62° 
26° 
Boiling-point..... 
. .. 14000 
877° 
7000 
696° 
670° XII 
SAND AND CLAY 
The Enormous Supply of Silicon-Its Inert Ways-The Silicon Man- 
Glass History-The Cautious Venetians and the Glass-makers 
Who Stepped Heavenward-Kinds of Glass-Coloring-Boston's 
Purple Windows-Glass-making in the United States-The Art 
of It-Aluminium-The Young Fellow of Twenty-two Who 
Made It-The Frenchman Who Did the Same Thing-Value of 
Backing by Pittsburgh Millionaires-Clay-Brick-Pottery- 
Glaze-Different Kinds of Clay-Feldspar-Fuller's Earth- 
Mica-Note on Boron and Borax 
ABOUT 50 per cent, of the solid crust of the 
xk globe is oxygen, and about 25 per cent, of it 
is silicon. But silicon is not found in a free state in 
nature; it is too fond of oxygen. It belongs to the 
same group as carbon, and has, consequently, four 
hooks to the atom. It can be driven from its combi- 
nations in the laboratory without great difficulty, but 
it burns back to silicon dioxide, or silica, SO2, at a 
comparatively low temperature. 
In a pure state it is known in three forms: as a 
brown amorphous powder, as graphitoidal silicon (in 
black flakes), and as crystalline (in dark, iron-gray 
crystals). 
As silica, SiO2, it is sand, and it constitutes from 
20 to 35 per cent, of granite and primitive rock, and 
along with compounds of aluminium, which consti- 
tute clay, it is the earth. 
It behaves like carbon in its combinations, except 
130 SAND AND CLAY 
that it may be said to regard this world as a cold, 
bleak place, and it does not care for combining much 
except with oxygen. It can hook up its atoms together 
in chains, as carbon does, and the number of imagin- 
able silicon compounds is beyond compute; but when 
the chemist with infinite pains has negotiated a num- 
ber of silicon compounds that correspond to those 
of carbon, such as, for instance, silicon chloroform, 
SiHCl3 (chloroform being CHC13) ? and similar bodies, 
they disintegrate on contact with water or in the air 
and the silicon atom will yoke itself up with oxygen 
again to SiO2. It may be livelier at high temperatures, 
but that is just where we cannot follow it. Perhaps 
we can get a better idea of this feature of the nature of 
silicon by quoting some verses called "The Silicon 
Man," which appeared several years ago in The Per- 
colator, issued by the Chemists' Club of New York. 
The verses will hardly stand alongside of the rhapso- 
dies of Milton, which are occasionally quoted in popular 
treatises on chemistry; indeed, their feet are so shaky 
that they can hardly stand at all; but they may throw 
a little fight to the chemical imagination as to what 
silicon would do if it only had the temperature-and 
the audience. 
THE SILICON MAN 
I saw a glowing Silicon Man 
Within my chamber fire, 
And heard him cry in agony, 
"More fuel, or I expire!" 
So from the wood-pile I brought in 
Some pine and hickory, 
And as I fed it to the flames 
He straightway piped his eye. 
131 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
"I am," said he, "John Silicon, 
And I am so constructed 
That Silicon's my substitute; 
My carbon's all deducted. 
"My tissues, nerves, and viscera 
Show this phenomenon: 
That just as you of carbon are, 
I am of silicon. 
"In other features we're the same 
(More fuel! The coal flame twinges!) 
The point is that our molecules 
Are different in their hinges. 
"You call those things organic which 
By nature are based on 
Some carbon atoms-more or less- 
We hold to silicon. 
"At temperatures such as you know," 
Said he, "we freeze. We turn 
To consciousness again when you 
Would sizzle up and bum." 
Now this peculiar Silicon Man 
(The fire was bright as gold) 
Seemed suffering, and so I gave 
Him whisky for his cold. 
He liked it; said he never felt 
So well as when he had 
A taste of liquor on his tongue; 
It was his little fad 
To make an ethyl silicohol 
By substituting Si 
For carbon in the alcohol; 
He called it Hades Rye. 
132 SAND AND CLAY 
The Silicon Man drank more and more, 
He grew full talkative, 
And drank the substituted dram 
As though he were a sieve. 
He said he'd lived, lo, many a year- 
An old, old man was he- 
And yet he had not lived so much, 
Because, as you can see, 
At ordinary temp'rature 
His soul was frozen dead, 
And only resurrected when 
The flames were blazing red. 
"This life," said he, "is not so bad 
When once you're used to it: 
To freeze whene'er the fire goes out 
And waken when it's lit. 
"The orthodox concept of hell 
Is partly right," said he, 
"The heresy lies in the claim 
That heat is misery. 
"My needs," said he, "are very few; 
I want no meat nor bread, 
And if you feed the fire well 
You'll never find me dead." 
But when at last my bedtime came 
I heard a painful shout; 
It was a cry for silicohol 
Just as the fire went out. 
We need not worry much about the organic silicon 
compounds. There are a number of stable ones found 
in nature-grains need it in their stalks, and the 
133 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
feathers of birds and the scales of fish carry them. 
But the great mass of it is in the form of silica, SiO2, 
and as such it is found in various forms. It is found 
in a fine state of division consisting of the scales of 
extinct diatoms, and known as kieselguhr, or diatoma- 
ceous earth. This is used for filtering, in the prepara- 
tion of dynamite, and other purposes. Then we find 
it as quartz in crystals, and in another crystalline 
form as tridymite in porphyry and other rocks, and in 
a quasi-amorphous state with water locked in as in 
opals. It melts to a colorless glass, is insoluble in 
water, and is not attacked by acids except hydro- 
fluoric. The amorphous silica is soluble in alkali if 
in a finely divided state, but, when fused, alkali only 
attacks it slightly. Silica is the anhydrid of an acid 
which would naturally be obtained by adding water, 
except that pure silicic acid as such is not known in a 
free state. But its salts are known. Many silicates 
are prepared artificially. 
Silicates of soda and of potash are soluble in water; 
other silicates are not. 
By bringing sand and salt (NaCl) and coke to- 
gether and heating them in an electric arc, Acheson 
produced a crystalline body composed substantially 
of the two elements, or carbide of silicon, CSi. This 
is well known as carborundum, and is made at Niagara 
Falls. It is so hard as to scratch rubies and is not 
acted upon by acids at ordinary temperatures. It is 
one of the hardest abrasives, and has found wide use 
as a substitute for emery. There are silicides of many 
metals, but their relation to iron and steel we shall 
discuss when we come to the iron and steel industry. 
The most extended use of silica, SiO2, in industry is 
in glass and pottery making. 
Glass is a solid solution of indefinite composition, 
134 SAND AND CLAY 
produced by the fusing of sand (silica) with the oxides 
of two or more metals. It has no definite molecular 
structure like a crystalline substance; its component 
parts present the same indefinite arrangement as is 
found in a solution. Glass has the property of being 
transparent and rigid at ordinary temperatures, but 
plastic when heated. Its properties change according 
to its composition, and, while we may say, generally, 
that it is insoluble, this is only approximately true. 
Acids affect it (always excepting hydrofluoric acid) 
less than alkalies, but even water, especially under 
high pressure and high temperature, will corrode some 
glass. 
Glass was made as far back as 1400 b.c., and at 
the dawn of the Christian era it was a thriving in- 
dustry. It degenerated in medieval days, chiefly be- 
cause the natron, or natural sodium carbonate which 
the Romans used, was no more availed of, and impure 
wood ashes were used in the place of it. The Venetians 
kept up the quality of their product by using the ash 
of a sea plant which they called kali for their base. 
In the palmy days the Venetians would not let a man 
escape from the country if he knew how to make 
glass. If he did, they followed him up, and if they 
found him he was supposed to have a harp by the 
time they finished with him. 
If sand, which is nearly pure SiO2, could be melted 
with ease, it would be ideal glass-quartz glass-but 
it is too hard to fuse. So the maker adds fluxes. As 
soon as you add soda to the sand, down comes the 
melting-point of the mixture, and soda is the most 
convenient flux. But when the glass is made, the less 
soda you have in it the better the product is likely to 
be, for silicate of soda is very soluble. Then, too, the 
more soda glass contains the more will it expand and 
135 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
contract in heat and cold-and so be likely to break-• 
and the lower is its tensile strength. To overcome the 
solubility another base is added, and this is usually 
lime. Not always enough lime, however, because the 
more lime the glass-maker puts in the more fuel he 
needs for melting, and sometimes he is of an econom- 
ical turn of mind. Then, too, sometimes the buyer 
wants his window-glass or his bottles a little cheaper 
than he has a right to ask for. 
If a more brilliant and denser glass is wanted, lead 
oxide is added, and the lead becomes a silicate. 
If potash is used in the place of soda, the differences 
are marked. For instance, a vessel made of lime- 
soda glass without enough lime in it becomes covered 
in time with a whitish powder which leaves the glass 
rough. That is, the soda oozes out and by exposure 
to the air becomes carbonate of soda, which is a whitish 
powder. Potash glass without enough lime will also 
sweat out potash, but the carbonate of potash as 
formed draws on water from the air and so runs oft 
without injury to the surface of the glass. Potash 
glass has a bell-like ring which soda glass has not, 
due to greater elasticity, and this makes it more de- 
sirable for tableware. Generally speaking, potash 
glass is cleaner and brighter. 
Cut glass is a potash-lead solution; but there being 
no potash available in the United States these days, 
it is made with soda, and it is hardly likely to stay 
as bright as if it were made as before. On the other 
hand, by that strategy which constitutes research, a 
better electric-light bulb has been produced with soda 
than was formerly made with potash. 
Laboratory glass is now made in the United States 
in large quantities, and the problem is similar to that 
for making glass kitchenware-for, if we but knew it, 
136 SAND AND CLAY 
every kitchen is a laboratory. The product must 
have a low coefficient of expansion and high tensile 
strength. That is, it must not expand and contract 
too much with heat and cold, because if, say, hot 
water is poured into a vessel it will expand where the 
hot water is, but not above it, and there comes the 
breaking strain. And its tensile strength should be 
high, so that if you drop it on the floor it will hold to- 
gether with sufficient tenseness and not break. The 
glass-maker lowers the coefficient of expansion by 
adding boric oxide, and he adds silica and aluminium 
to increase the tensile strength. Here are a number 
of kinds of glass and their special uses: 
Silica, with soda and lime or soda-lime glass. Used 
for window-glass, chemical glassware, and bottles. 
Silica, with soda, lime, and aluminium. Used for 
beer, wine, and spirit bottles, owing to strength and 
insolubility. 
Silica, with potash and lime. Bohemian glass, for 
tableware. 
Silica, with potash and lead. Flint glass, tableware, 
optical goods. 
Boro-silicon, with soda and lime. Optical goods, 
thermometer tubes, and laboratory ware. 
Boro-silicon flint, with potash and lead. Optical 
goods, enamels, imitation gems, etc. 
Borate and phosphate glasses, containing no silicon, 
for certain optical purposes. 
Quartz, pure. Does not obstruct the passage of ultra- 
violet rays as does all other glass, and is not broken 
or cracked by sudden changes of temperature. 
Glass baking-dishes are coming into use, first, be- 
cause they can now be made, and, second, because 
137 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
baking takes place much more rapidly in these than 
in metallic pans. The reason is simple when you 
know it-metal reflects 83 to 99 per cent, of the 
radiant heat that strikes it, while glass reflects only 
3 to 14 per cent. 
The soluble silicate of soda is called "water glass," 
and is used for making bandages for broken limbs, and 
for keeping eggs and other purposes. 
Glass is colored by means of certain metallic oxides. 
Ferric (iron) compounds produce green color; ferrous 
compounds color it yellow. Manganese ranges from 
amethyst to violet color. The full effect is produced 
only when the manganese is fully oxidized, and this 
takes place on long exposure to the actinic rays of 
the light. Manganese is often added to window and 
other glass to correct the green color from iron im- 
purities, and the violet color of arc-light glass is due 
to the oxidation of the manganese by long exposure 
to the light. The same phenomenon may be observed 
in old houses in Boston and in Amsterdam, Holland. 
Very slight quantities of cobalt make glass blue. 
Iron and manganese make it brown, and in excess 
make it black. Colloidal gold imparts a red color to 
it. So will copper if larger amounts are used, but it is 
very difficult to get certain results with copper. 
In making glass it is always necessary to use some 
"cullet," or broken glass, which serves as a flux in 
the glass pots or tanks. When the glass is made there 
is always some scum, called "glass gall," that floats 
on the top. This is skimmed off, and then the tem- 
perature is allowed to cool down until the glass is 
ready for blowing or casting. 
The principal product of the American glass in- 
dustry is building-glass, of which there are three 
classes-sheet (or window), plate, and wire-glass. 
138 SAND AND CLAY 
Four-fifths of the window-glass made here is mechan- 
ically blown, while up to the present time plate-glass 
is always cast. In the near future, however, owing to 
improvements, plate-glass will also be made by means 
of blowing-machines. The difference between plate- 
glass and sheets is of a mechanical rather than a 
chemical nature. Wire-glass is applied in structural 
work, requiring a material of great strength; it is 
especially useful in factory construction, owing to its 
resistance to shock and its fire-retarding qualities. 
In addition to building-glass there is a great pressed 
and blown hollow-ware industry. This includes the 
tableware, kitchenware, and bottle industries. Bot- 
tles of all sizes, from vials to carboys, are now blown 
by machinery. The development of the automatic 
bottle-machine revolutionized the industry. 
Not long ago a friend asked me why we imported 
so much table glassware, the finer sorts being almost 
entirely of European make. The answer is simple- 
we haven't the skilled labor. But the reason why 
we have not the skilled labor is far from simple. Let 
us see, however, if we cannot make a guess at it. 
When a man achieves sufficient skill to make glass- 
ware of exceptional beauty he must have sufficient 
taste to know the difference between that which is 
good and that which is not good; he must be enough 
of an artist to sense beauty when he has it before him. 
If he is only a hand in a factory, with more interest in 
his hours and his pay than he has in the individual 
quality of his work, he can turn out good, standard 
designs, fair enough for anybody to use, but he will 
not, because he cannot, under the circumstances, make 
exceptional wares. To make these requires an artist, 
and the artist, with his discriminating taste, finds de- 
light in the thing of beauty and distress in that which 
139 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
lacks it. He enjoys his work more than the ordinary 
worker, and he suffers more over it. One day is not 
at all like another. In making glass, for instance, 
he has more than a job; he has a profession. Just as 
the physician likes to succeed with a difficult case and 
is disappointed if his methods fail, so this artist worker 
gets nervous over his task and has his good days and 
bad ones. He wants good pay, and he gets it, but he 
wants a great deal more. He wants to speak his own 
language, he wants to select his own friends, he wants 
to hear his good work praised, for comfort's sake, and 
he wants friendly criticism from his fellow-craftsmen. 
The chances are he has never heard of sanitary plumb- 
ing, but it is still more likely that he tends a little 
flower-garden and has a favorite spot of green grass 
where he likes to lie down of a late summer afternoon. 
He takes himself very seriously and expects others to 
consider his individuality. He may be especially fond 
of a local brew of beer or a vin du pays, both of which 
may injure his health, but it is impossible to per- 
suade him that it is so. 
That seems to me to be the reason why we keep on 
importing. At the same time I think it fair to say that 
in cut glass the product of the United States is equal 
to that of any country when the makers can get 
potash to make the quality desired. The work of 
cutting, however, is more mechanical and less artistic 
than required to produce other ornamental glass ob- 
jects. Some day our ornamental glassware may equal 
that of France, Saxony, or Bohemia. This will be when 
we learn how to deal with the artistic temperament. 
To the man with a love for organization and a sense 
of order the artistic temperament offers problems to 
rack his very soul. 
Now let us return to our chemical muttons. 
140 SAND AND CLAY 
Aluminium or aluminum, as it is often called, is a 
metal in nearly every respect except that the hydroxide 
dissolves alkalies to form aluminates, thus acting as a 
very mild acid. It is the third of the elements in the 
way of abundance in the crust of the earth. It is 
not found in a free state, owing to its affinity for oxy- 
gen, and until the hydro-electric development at 
Niagara Falls it was too expensive to prepare to find 
general use. This "silver from clay," as it has been 
called, is now produced in enormous quantities at 
Niagara Falls by the process of the late Charles M. 
Hall, which he worked out in 1886, a year after he 
graduated from Oberlin College, when he was twenty- 
two. Heroult, a Frenchman of about the same age, 
and also a brilliant metallurgist, devised the same 
process at about the same time in France, but Hall 
had the advantage of a little time, certain practical de- 
tails, and the further convenience of backing by some 
Pittsburgh millionaires. So Hall had the pleasure 
of seeing, within the short span of his life, the price of 
aluminium fall from four dollars a pound in 1886 to 
eighteen cents a pound, and of being the man who 
made it happen. He died at the age of forty, leaving 
a fortune of many million dollars. Heroult, after 
Hall's success, addressed himself to the development 
of the electric-steel furnace. He was well known to 
American chemists from his frequent visits to America, 
and was as joyous and agreeable a companion as one 
is likely to meet. He died shortly after Hall. 
Very fine particles of aluminium will bum to the 
oxide called alumina, A12O3, in an atmosphere of oxy- 
gen, but in bars, sheets, or wire it holds well in the 
air because of a thin film of alumina which is formed 
on the surface. This alumina is found in a mineral 
called bauxite, which contains 50 to 70 per cent. 
141 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
of AI2O3, and is mined in Georgia and Alabama and 
in France. 
Corundum is practically pure alumina, and is one 
of the hardest substances. Emery is impure alumina, 
and contains magnetite and hematite; it is nearly 
black in color. Both corundum and emery are used 
as abrasives. 
Now just as we found silica, SiO2, to be the chief 
ingredient of sand, so silicate of aluminium is the chief 
ingredient of clay. There is an aluminium chloride, 
AICI3, which is an unstable compound, but which is 
used in organic chemistry. Among its various appli- 
cations it is found useful in separating gasolene from 
heavier bodies in crude petroleums. 
Aluminium sulphate, in the form of a double salt with 
an alkali, will crystallize with a great deal of water in 
the crystals. These bodies are called alums. Ordinary 
alum, that we know as a mild astringent in household 
use, is potassium alum. In the dyeing industry this 
is being superseded by aluminium sulphate and so- 
dium aluminate. 
The Hall process requires alumina for the manu- 
facture of metallic aluminium. Indications point to 
the discovery of a more economical process whereby 
the metal will be obtained direct from the silicate, or 
clay. Clay is the generic term for that kind of earth 
composed chiefly of silicate of aluminium. It is never 
pure; it is mixed with silica, and, although a reason- 
ably pure silicate of aluminium called kaolin is white, 
there are not many white clays. Organic matter, 
humus, fossils, shells, limestone, iron as sulphide which 
makes it dark blue and which weathers to brown, and 
oxides of iron making it red and yellow, are some of 
the things found with it. And since clay, when finely 
enough divided, is in a colloidal state, and will slip 
142 SAND AND CLAY 
through almost any filter, it is fair to say that the 
chemistry of clay products is full of difficulties. 
Clay has the property of being soft, coherent, and 
plastic when wet, and when dehydrated one of the 
most indestructible of substances. Heat will not then 
disintegrate it, chemically, save at very high tem- 
peratures, and it does not take on water to go back to 
its original condition. The only trouble is, as every 
housewife knows, things made of clay will break. 
To make brick, clay is shaped into forms and fired. 
There are refinements and difficulties in the handling 
of materials, but we shall not go into them. Fire- 
brick requires a clay very low in iron and rich in silica. 
Pottery is a clay industry, and the number of kinds 
of clay employed in it is legion, but in effect this 
large number is due to the very many kinds and quan- 
tities of impurities there are mixed with aluminium 
silicate. To make flower-pots is no more of an art 
than making brick, but the refinements of the art 
reached by the great Chinese potters baffle the chem- 
ist. The trouble is, the reactions all take place at such 
high temperatures that Mr. Chemist cannot be there 
himself to find out what happens. If he could only 
turn into a "silicon man" and spend a season in a 
pottery kiln and a cement kiln, he would have enough 
material for any number of Ph.D. dissertations. 
When clay is fired it becomes hard and brittle. 
But it is still porous. In order to avoid this porosity 
and to make it easier for the potters, quartz and feld- 
spar are added. Now the less such admixtures are 
present the more difficult the porcelain is to burn, 
but at the same time the less sensitive the ware is 
to changes in temperature. The glaze is produced 
by a second firing, and the effect of the process is to 
cover the earthenware with a kind of glass. In com- 
143 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
mon pottery this is produced by introducing salt, 
NaCl, into the kiln. The hot steam causes the forma- 
tion of hydrochloric acid, HC1, and sodium hydrox- 
ide, NaOH, which unites with the clay to form sodium- 
aluminium silicate-a common glass. Every type of 
potters' clay has its own type of glaze, say the potters, 
although with any good type of plastic clay which 
cannot be fired at the highest temperatures lead 
glazes have proved practicable. This is provided by 
lead oxide. Putting on the glaze is putting a coat of 
glass on a vessel. 
The colors are applied sometimes before the first 
firing and sometimes afterward, but before glazing. 
They are mineral colors, of course, because the heat 
of the kiln would destroy the chemical constitution of 
organic compounds. 
The principal varieties of clay are: 
Clay, the term by which aluminium silicates are gen- 
erally known, and applies to those not otherwise 
classified. 
Ball clay, plastic and of high tensile strength, used in 
making porcelain and to give body, for instance, 
to abrasive wheels. 
China clay, or kaolin, white, consisting almost entirely 
of hydrated silicate of alumina. Used in making 
chinaware, as a filler for cotton goods and paper, 
and in coating book and wall paper, cloth for win- 
dow-blinds, in paint manufacture, and in some 
floorings. 
Fire clays. These differ among themselves, but are 
low in impurities, such as lime, magnesia, iron 
oxide, and the alkalies which are fluxing materials. 
Used for fire-brick and other refractories. 
Pipe clay, plastic, white, and relatively high in silica. 
Used in making porcelain and enamel-ware. Also 
144 SAND AND CLAY 
used in paint-making as a depository for certain 
pigments. Must be free from grit. 
Slip clay, applied to a clay used as a glaze for stone- 
ware. Is high in fluxing impurities and melts to a 
greenish or brown glass. 
Stone clay, usually refractory or semi-refractory, and 
vitrifies without losing its shape. Must have good 
tensile strength and be plastic enough to work on a 
potter's wheel. Used for the body of stoneware. 
Feldspar. In discussing potash we referred to feld- 
spar as an unlimited source of supply, provided only 
the potash could be removed from it. But the 
mineral has other uses, as you shall see. It is a 
very wide-spread mineral, although often found in 
such small grains mixed with other rock as not to 
be available. There are, however, many large 
deposits of it which may be easily mined and sepa- 
rated. The chemical composition is about as 
follows: 
Silica (SiO2), 65 per cent. 
Alumina (A12O3), 18 " 
Potash (K20), 17 
The potash is sometimes partly and sometimes 
wholly replaced by soda. The spar is mined and 
ground usually in pebble-mills lined with quartz 
and using flint pebbles to avoid contact with iron, 
for the chief use of feldspar is in the ceramic arts, 
and the presence of a very small amount of iron 
will affect the color. In the body of porcelain it 
fuses during the firing and forms a firm bond be- 
tween the particles of clay and quartz. In the 
glaze it fuses and forms with the other ingredients 
an opalescent, glassy covering. The melting-point 
depends upon the amount of alkalies (potash and 
145 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
soda) it contains; the more alkali the lower the 
melting-point, and as potash is replaced by soda 
the melting-point goes still lower. It is also used 
in making enamels for brick and metals, for false 
teeth, and inferior qualities are used as bonding 
materials for abrasive wheels, such as emery, corun- 
dum, etc. The addition of alumina to a glass 
mixture makes opalescent glass; and as feldspar 
contains it in a readily fusible form, it is used in 
making opal glass. Very finely ground feldspar is 
used in preparing certain scouring soaps and polishes. 
Fuller's earth is a clay showing no specific quality in 
its chemical analysis, but appears to be a product 
of the degeneration of feldspar. It has the prop- 
erty of absorbing certain substances, and it is 
used in chemical industry for clarifying petroleum, 
lard, cotton-seed, and other oils. Here we touch 
colloidal chemistry again. 
Mica is closely related to feldspar in a chemical sense, 
being a class of minerals consisting of silicates of 
alumina and an alkali. Physically, however, mica 
behaves something like asbestos. It is very re- 
sistant to electricity and to heat. It may be split 
into thin sheets, and is used as insulating material 
in many electrical apparatus as well as for stove 
windows, furnace peep-holes, and the like. Very 
finely ground mica that is free from quartz is mixed 
with heavy grease and used as a lubricant. In 
order to produce a scintillating surface on wall- 
paper, white mica is ground very fine under water 
and then attached to the paper by means of an 
adhesive. It comes from India. 
Boron is related to aluminium in the periodic table, 
and, like aluminium, it is tri-valent. It goes into com- 
146 SAND AND CLAY 
bination very much as aluminium does, but here the 
cousinship ends. Aluminium is a metal, but boron is 
not; in a free state (in which it is not found in nature) 
it is a brown, amorphous powder. It forms an oxide, 
B2O3, which is the anhydrid of boric acid, also known 
as boracic acid; the two expressions are names for 
the same thing. There are several kinds of boric acid, 
differing only in the number of molecules of water 
combined with the boric oxide, B2O3, but we shall not 
consider them in detail. It is a very mild acid. 
The best known salt is borax, which is, chemically 
speaking, sodium tetraborate, Na2B4O7.ioH2O, and 
this is mildly alkaline, because the sodium pulls harder 
one way than the boric acid does in the other. In 
this form boron finds its greatest use-in the glass 
industry, as a preservative, as a mild antiseptic in 
ointments and lotions, in soap, as a cleansing agent 
in laundries, for soldering (to clean metallic surfaces), 
and for many other purposes. XIII 
LIME AND MAGNESIA 
Calcium-Lime and Mortar-Uses of Lime-Calcium Salts-Bleach- 
ing-powder-Carbide of Calcium-Gypsum-Cement-Mag- 
nesium-Uses-Its Virtues and Its Vices-Fixing Nitrogen with 
It-Why Sea-water May Not be Used in Boilers-Meerschaum 
-Asbestos-Talc and Soapstone. 
CALCIUM is another of the chief constituent 
parts of the earth, it being fifth in the order of 
the elements, and constituting about 3)4 per cent, 
of the crust of the earth. It is found in rocks as lime- 
stone, marble, and chalk, and in coral reefs, all of 
which are in the form of the carbonate, with, of course, 
impurities added. Dolomite is a double carbonate of 
magnesium and calcium. Whole ranges of mountains 
are composed of it. As the phosphate it occurs in the 
phosphate rocks of Florida, South Carolina, and else- 
where, so valuable for fertilizer. As gypsum or the 
sulphate, it is also very plentiful, and it is an important 
base in the greater number of natural silicates. Sea- 
water contains calcium salts. The bones of fish and 
of vertebrate animals and the shells of mollusks are 
chiefly calcium phosphate. Calcium salts are always 
present in plant tissues, concentrating mainly in the 
leaves. It enters into many kinds of glass, as we have 
seen, and, as we shall see, it is a necessary constituent 
of cement and mortar. 
148 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
In a pure state it is a silver-colored white metal, 
soft enough to be cut with a knife-but not so soft 
as sodium or potassium-and it may be broken with 
a blow, which shows the fracture to be crystal- 
line. Gently heated in the air, it burns with incan- 
descence to the oxide of calcium, or quicklime, CaO. 
If metallic calcium is heated to a dull-red heat in a 
current of nitrogen, it leaves a spongy mass that con- 
tains nitrogen in combination. It fixes both nitrogen 
and oxygen from the air. Here we have a very simple 
way of getting nitrogen into combination, which is 
so much wanted and which requires so much power 
to accomplish or such a heavy outlay for plant to 
produce ammonia by the Haber process. The only 
difficulty is to get the calcium out of the abundant 
limestone. As yet the process is too expensive. 
Fluorine attacks calcium violently at ordinary tem- 
peratures, but the other halogens do not combine with 
it until heated up to four hundred degrees. There is 
a hydride, CaH2, which is a white solid, which de- 
composes with the liberation of hydrogen in the pres- 
ence of water. 
Lime we know as quicklime, which is the oxide 
CaO, or anhydrous lime, and as slacked lime or calcium 
hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, or amorphous lime; but the term 
is loosely applied to calcium products generally, as 
limestone, the carbonate, and soda-lime glass, the 
double silicate. Let us first consider the oxide, or 
quicklime. It is produced by heating calcium car- 
bonate in one form or another, as limestone, marble, 
chalk, etc., to redness. If the raw material contains 
clayey matter-that is, aluminium silicate-the prod- 
uct is more of a cement than a lime, and these impuri- 
ties may do no harm for building operations, which, 
as we know, is one of the great uses of lime. On the 
149 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
other hand, if the raw material contains magnesium, 
it may cause serious trouble in building, as the mag- 
nesia hydrates, or takes up water much more slowly 
than lime, and this may take place after the mortar 
is in place. Then the expansion due to the slacking 
of the magnesia may destroy the mason's work. 
Did you get this? I think it a very good example 
of the cousinship of elements. First let us note that 
mortar is a mixture of sand and lime. The slacked 
lime and water form a jelly-like mass which is stiffened 
by the sand. Then, when the water evaporates, the 
lime hardens and becomes much stronger. On gradual 
exposure to the air the carbonic-acid gas (CO2), which 
is always present along with moisture, reacts upon 
the lime or calcium hydroxide and forms carbonate of 
calcium or a kind of limestone mixed with the sand. 
(Limestone and marble, you may remember, are both 
of them carbonate of calcium.) Limestone is better 
than mortar; it is stiffer and holds better. This is 
proved by the fact that good mortar becomes stronger 
with age. 
Now, if the lime contains magnesia, the MgO (mag- 
nesium oxide) acts like lime (CaO), only it is very 
much slower. Long after the lime has been slacked, 
the mortar made, and the wall built, the MgO begins 
to slack and swell just as the quicklime did when the 
mason first put water on it. It goes through the 
same process, several weeks or even longer afterward-■ 
and as the wall gives way you proceed to give the 
mason fatherly advice. Calcium and magnesium do 
not drive well in double harness; they have such en- 
tirely different ideas of speed. 
The other great use for quicklime is in chemical 
manufacture. Indeed, lime, either as quicklime or 
slacked (as the oxide or the hydroxide), is probably the 
150 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
best known of all heavy chemicals. It was known 
to the ancients, and the art of making it is so simple 
that it never has died out in all the many centuries 
of ignorance and weariness of spirit that from time to 
time have fallen upon humanity. Of course there 
are refinements in manufacture, and special kilns are 
designed with occasional saving of fuel; but there is 
not very much to worry over in the making of lime 
from limestone except to keep the product dry. The 
graven marble images of the heathen gods of the 
Greeks were effectively turned into this raw material 
for mortar by the pious followers of the Prophet. We 
can well imagine the gusto with which some lovely 
head of Pallas Athene was hurled into a kiln-to 
make the mortar to stop a rat-hole in the hut of a goat- 
herd of a more orthodox if not a more enlightened day. 
The hydroxide of calcium or slacked lime is the 
product of quicklime and water. The operation is 
expressed, chemically, as follows: 
CaO 
calcium 
oxide 
+ H20 
water 
= Ca(OH)2 
calcium hy- 
droxide or 
slacked lime 
It takes place with liveliness and the evolution of 
considerable heat. Owing to this thirst for water, 
lime is extensively used as a drying agent. 
Lime is slightly soluble in water; more so in cold 
than in hot water, which we may put down as one of 
its little individualities. Milk of lime is water with 
more lime in it than will dissolve. 
Calcium chloride, CaCl2, is found in the waters of 
nearly all springs and rivers and in the sea. It seems 
as though nature were engaged in constantly pro- 
151 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ducing more and more calcium chloride and letting it 
be carried down to the sea, where, in the course of 
time, as we have noted before, calcium chloride and 
sodium sulphate seem to exchange their acids and be- 
come sodium chloride, or common salt, and calcium sul- 
phate, or gypsum. Then they stay there. CaCl2 is a 
by-product of a number of chemical processes, especial- 
ly of the manufacture of soda by the Solvay or am- 
monia process. It is one of those chemicals that, as 
noted elsewhere, is still looking for a job, the only gen- 
eral uses being that of keeping roads moist in dusty 
weather, for making anti-freezing mixtures, and other 
purposes, none of which demands the amount that is 
available. It has an intense deliquescent or hydro- 
scopic quality, which means that it has an almost 
human thirst. One hundred parts of chloride of cal- 
cium, exposed to an atmosphere saturated with at- 
mospheric vapor, will absorb 124 parts of water in 
ninety-six days. One hundred kilos (220 pounds) of 
Bavarian man, exposed to opportunity, will absorb 
more than 124 kilos of beer, which is over 90 per cent, 
water, in less than ninety-six days. 
Calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2, may be prepared, 
but bleaching-powder, or "chloride of lime," is more 
interesting. This has enormous uses, and is made 
by allowing chlorine gas to act upon slacked lime 
Ca(OH)2. The lime is spread three or four inches 
deep on perforated shelves in large chambers and the 
lime raked into furrows. Chlorine is led through the 
chambers, and the reaction proceeds rapidly at first 
and then slows down. The lime is occasionally raked 
over to expose fresh surfaces, and after standing twelve 
to twenty-four hours a shower of lime dust is blown 
into the chambers to absorb the excess of chlorine. 
The result is not calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2, nor 
152 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
is it chloride of calcium, CaCl2. It was supposed to 
be a molecular compound of both CaCl2 and Ca(OCl)2; 
but this is not likely, because the chlorine can be 
expelled from it if carbon dioxide, CO2, is blown 
through it, and calcium chloride, CaCl2, will not give 
up its chlorine to CO2. Then calcium chloride is very 
deliquescent-that is, it absorbs water, and bleaching- 
powder does not do this to any appreciable extent. 
It is not calcium hypochlorite, as proved by analysis, 
but it appears to be chiefly a mixed salt of the formula 
^OCl 
Ca-Cl or CaOCl2. With it is some slacked lime, 
because it does not take up the theoretical amount 
of chlorine-and analysis shows this, too. 
In bleaching fabrics they are steeped in a dilute 
solution of bleaching-powder, which is not wholly 
soluble, leaving some lime as a precipitate, and which 
shows a strong alkaline reaction. Then goods are 
dipped in a dilute acid solution, and washed. The 
effect of this alkaline bath and subsequent acid 
bath upon the cellulose of the fabrics is to disturb it 
chemically-'and oxygen is always at hand. The 
oxygen, so to speak, sees its chance, and proceeds 
straightway to oxidize the cellulose to oxycellulose, 
which is an amorphous powder. Then we say the cloth 
is rotten, and complain that they do not make good 
materials any more. 
In sanitation, bleaching-powder is one of the most 
effective agents. It has been claimed that it is more 
effective than chlorine gas, but modem practice seems 
to take to free chlorine, when it can be used con- 
veniently, in preference. 
Calcium carbide, CaC2, is an important product 
made by heating lime and coke in an electric furnace. 
The reaction CaO + 3C = CaC2 + CO takes place, 
153 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and the carbide is used to produce acetylene gas for 
lighting:- 
CaC2 
calcium 
carbide 
+ 2H2O 
water 
= C2H2 
acety- 
lene 
+ Ca(OH)2 
slacked 
lime 
The high temperature of the electric arc is needed 
to make the calcium carbide. A new development of 
the carbide industry is the production of calcium 
cyanamide, CaCN2, or nitrolime, or Kalkstickstof, as 
the Germans call it, meaning chalk-nitrogen. To pro- 
duce it, calcium carbide is brought into contact with 
nitrogen gas, obtained by the distillation of liquid 
air. They are maintained at a heat of 8oo° to 1,000° 
for a time, after which the calcium cyanamide or 
nitrolime is found as a coke-like material. This is 
ground to powder and constitutes one of the great new 
methods of bringing nitrogen into the soil. The art of 
making synthetic ammonia by treating CaCN2 with 
steam we discussed under the subject of nitrogen. 
Calcium phosphide is interesting stuff. It is made 
by heating lime and red phosphorus and is a reddish 
brown crystalline body. When thrown into water it 
instantly decomposes with the evolution of phos- 
phorated hydrogen, which is spontaneously combusti- 
ble. For this reason it is used to make signal-fires at 
sea. About one pound is placed in the lower half of a 
tin can. A hole is jabbed into the bottom and another 
into the top of the can before it is thrown overboard. 
The can is supported by a wooden float. Water pene- 
trates the lower hole and the gas issues from the upper 
outlet, igniting immediately on contact with the air. 
It bums with a flame from nine to eighteen inches 
high and lasts about half an hour. 
Calcium sulphide, CaS, has the peculiar quality, 
154 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
after it has been heated, of shining in the dark for a 
time after exposure to light. It is therefore used in 
the manufacture of luminous paints. Zinc sulphide 
has the same property. 
Gypsum is calcium sulphate, and so is plaster of 
Paris, CaSO4. Gypsum occurs in nature, and when 
a part of the water with which it crystallizes is driven 
off it is called plaster of Paris. As such it finds its 
chief uses as a cement, for plastering walls, and for 
the reproduction of sculpture. The process of setting 
is still within the realm of theory, and we shall not 
try to solve it. Natural gypsum of very fine texture 
and having a translucent quality is called alabaster. 
By cement we mean calcareous compounds used in 
building; not adhesives, as typified by glue. A brick- 
layer named Aspdin, of Leeds, England, in about 1845, 
calcined a mixture of chalk (calcium carbonate) and 
clay (aluminium silicate) and found that the product, 
when ground and mixed with water, would set. In 
other words, he took Thames chalk and Medway mud 
and heated the mixture. It looked like a building- 
stone known in those regions as Portland stone, and 
so the name Portland cement arose. While engaged 
in making his mixture he is said to have attired him- 
self in a long black robe and the pointed cap of the 
necromancer and to have uttered curious incantations 
while at work. He had a tray with several compart- 
ments, in each of which he had various powders which 
he would scatter into the kiln as his operations pro- 
ceeded, and he accompanied this with a grand display 
of jargon which was supposed to be black magic. He 
had also a neighbor named Johnson, and Johnson was 
endowed with more curiosity than belief in magic. 
He discovered that the magic powders on Aspdin's 
tray were powdered sulphate of copper, limestone, 
155 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and other ingredients, but the content of the cement 
baffled him. It also baffled the chemist whom he 
employed to analyze it, for he came to the conclusion 
that it was calcium phosphate. So Johnson proceeded 
to calcine the bones of animals until his neighbors 
protested against the lively smell. But Johnson con- 
tinued to experiment until he succeeded, and then the 
industry really began. 
Portland cement is the most important of all 
cements. It consists of compounds of lime and silica 
and of lime and alumina. These are necessary, but 
it commonly contains other compounds of lime, with 
ferric oxide, magnesia, insoluble silicates, some sul- 
phates, and then some more. The important constitu- 
ents are lime, silica, and alumina in proper propor- 
tions. These bodies exist in the cement in the form 
of double and treble salts-viz.: tricalcium silicate, 
3CaO.SiO2; dicalcium silicate, 2CaO.SiO2; and tri- 
calcium aluminate, 3CaO.Al2O3; and these do not exist 
separately, but rather in a solid solution in the Port- 
land-cement clinker. They are not definite com- 
pounds, but solid solutions, like glass. Just what 
happens when cement sets is not very well determined, 
but what seems probable is that a soluble calcium 
aluminate is dissolved, and that this straightway de- 
posits an insoluble hydrous or combined-with-water 
calcium aluminate, which "sets." 
So, to make cement, one proceeds to heat in a kiln 
limestone, marble, chalk, or marl, all of which con- 
sist chiefly of aluminium silicate. There is, in some 
localities, "cement rock," which contains lime and 
clay materials, but the cement made from this mate- 
rial is usually inferior in quality. The reason is 
simple: if you grind up natural rock and fire it you 
have to take what comes, whereas in making so-called 
156 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
"Portland cement" the proportion and the purity of 
raw materials are under constant control, and a much 
better quality of cement may be obtained. 
In the manufacture of Portland cement, the usual 
proportions are about one part of clay (aluminium 
silicate) to three parts of calcium carbonate (lime- 
stone, etc.), and the materials are thoroughly dried by 
heating in rotating drums. The mixture is very 
finely ground and is fed into the upper end of long, 
rotating cylindrical kilns set on an inclined plane and 
lined with fire-brick. A very hot flame, usually ob- 
tained by burning coal after first bringing it to the 
condition of a fine powder, is forced in at the lower 
end. During the passage the reaction takes place, 
and just before the product reaches the tremendous 
temperature of its melting-point it is removed from 
the kiln. It is called cement "clinker," and it is 
then ground to a fine powder and packed in barrels, 
etc., with the warning pasted on it, "Keep in a dry 
place." 
Natural cements do not require so much heating 
as the Portland variety. 
Another very good cement is made of blast-furnace 
slag. The slag, as it flows in a molten mass from the 
blast-furnace, is granulated by a stream of water 
directed against it. It dries quickly, and then it is 
ground to a very fine powder. Dried slacked lime is 
added to the powder and is ground up with it, and, 
in accordance with the content of the slag, other cor- 
rectives are added. Then it is calcined. The trouble- 
maker is magnesia, MgO, because, as we noted in 
treating of lime and mortar, the magnesia is tricky. 
Since cement will set without the presence of air, 
it will set under water about as readily as it will any- 
where else. 
157 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Cement is not often used alone, but rather in con- 
junction with sand, gravel, broken stone or rubble, 
in the proportion of about one part of cement to four 
parts of rock material. A good concrete of this sort 
will stand pressures of five thousand to seven thou- 
sand pounds per square inch, without being crushed. 
Walls built of concrete hold better if reinforced, as the 
term is, with twisted steel rods, running one way or 
crossed when the concrete is poured into forms, leav- 
ing the rods firmly embedded in the concrete. 
Eighty-seven million six hundred and eighty-five 
thousand barrels of Portland cement were consumed 
in the United States in 1915. All parts of our country 
are now well supplied with mills for the manufacture of 
Portland cement, and the supply of raw materials is 
practically inexhaustible. 
Magnesium is an alkaline metal and is found very 
wide-spread in nature, usually connected up as a 
double salt with some other metal. It is not found in 
a free state because of its avidity for oxygen, with 
which it combines to form magnesia, MgO. In time 
with water this becomes the oxy hydrate Mg(OH)2, 
and again, in more time, the carbonic acid of the air, if 
it can get at it, will produce the carbonate. Although 
in a pure state it can be kept exposed because it be- 
comes coated with a thin crust of MgO, the oxygen 
will surely get it in time. 
It is stable enough with its coating of the oxide, 
provided it is in large enough pieces. If we cut the 
light, silvery-white metal (which pure magnesium is) 
into thin strips, we can light it, and it will burn with 
an intensely luminous flame to the oxide MgO. For 
this reason it is used for fireworks, for shrapnel trailers, 
to show where the projectiles land, and for illuminat- 
ing bombs to make daylight over the enemy's works 
158 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
and trenches. It is also used in photography for 
flash-lights. 
It is produced by fusing minerals containing it and 
making a separation by electricity. Improved meth- 
ods of producing magnesium have been developed in 
the United States since the foreign supply was shut 
off by the war. It appears very likely that the devel- 
opment of these processes will result in much cheaper 
metallic magnesium than we ever have known before. 
Its uses in metallurgy are increasing very rapidly. 
Although, as we have observed, slivers of it will burn 
easily, larger blocks of it will not, and when it is al- 
loyed with other heavier metals this hazard is entirely 
removed. It alloys remarkably well with aluminium 
and with other metals in the place of aluminium. It 
machines easily and well, and it casts beautifully. 
It is one-third lighter than aluminium and over twice 
as strong, so that the prospect of reducing the weight 
of high-speed engines for air work, etc., and at the 
same time increasing their strength, is very favorable. 
Steel-makers find it valuable for ' ' scavenging, ' ' because 
a little magnesium thrown in when the ingots are 
cast will combine with the air that may be bubbling 
through and likely to weaken the center of the ingot 
by not getting out fast enough. That it will combine 
with the oxygen is easy enough to understand, but it 
does more than that. Magnesium combines with 
nitrogen direct to magnesium nitride, Mg3N2, at white 
heat. Here would be another way to fix atmospheric 
nitrogen except for the cost of magnesium. 
We have considered it as a useful metal. As the 
oxide, magnesia, MgO, it is useful, too, but also one 
of the worst of nuisances. We have already referred 
to it in this connection under the subject of lime, with 
which it is so often associated. 
159 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
On the other hand, magnesia is coming into fre- 
quent use in building operations for making fire- 
proof flooring, where the process is kept under chem- 
ical control. Various salts of magnesium are also used 
for this purpose. 
The chloride MgCl2 is important. In the Solvay 
soda process, as you may recall, magnesia may be 
used instead of lime to drive the ammonia from the 
ammonium chloride. The reaction is the same, ex- 
cept that we have as a waste product magnesium 
chloride instead of calcium chloride. But magnesium 
chloride is not very stable, and heat will drive the 
chlorine out of combination with the magnesium. So, 
on heating it, the chlorine is freed and saved, while 
the magnesium oxidizes at that temperature to mag- 
nesia, MgO, and is used over and over again on the 
ammonium chloride. And by this method nothing is 
lost. 
This instability of magnesium chloride is the reason 
why sea-water may not be used in the boilers of steam- 
ships. Sea-water contains it in considerable quantity. 
The heat drives out the chlorine, which takes on 
hydrogen from the water and becomes hydrochloric 
acid, and with free muriatic acid in the boilers we do 
not have to explain what would happen. Here is the 
reaction that takes place: 
CI 
= Mg( 
XOH 
magnesium 
basic 
chloride 
MgCI2 
magnesium 
chloride 
+ h20 
water 
heated 
and con- 
centrated 
+ HC1 
hydro- 
chloric 
acid 
Magnesium chloride is very deliquescent-that is 
to say, it is hygroscopic, which means that it is ex- 
160 LIME AND MAGNESIA 
ceedingly thirsty for water. It is magnesium chloride, 
MgCl2, in common salt as an impurity that makes it 
take on water as it does. 
Magnesium is found in soils, and the German Potash 
Syndicate, which sells a fertilizer of mixed potash and 
magnesium chlorides, advertises that the magnesium 
is of material value in discouraging the development 
of cut-worms and other noxious organisms that de- 
stroy plants. We live and learn. 
Serpentine and meerschaum are hydrated disilicates 
of magnesium. Asbestos is an anhydrous silicate, and 
is found in large deposits in Canada. It is a rock 
crystallized in long, fine fibers of a silky appearance 
which may be easily separated, spun into yarn and 
rope and woven into cloth. Asbestos is not affected 
by heat save on very long exposures; it is in effect non- 
combustible, and it is not attacked by common acids. 
It is widely used for insulation and fire-resisting pur- 
poses. 
Talc and soapstone are acid meta-silicates of mag- 
nesium, or H2O, 3MgO, 4SiO. Finely powdered talc 
is used for toilet-powder, as a filler and coating for 
paper, for cloth window-shades, as filler for cheap 
toilet soaps, and many other purposes. Soapstone is 
used for griddles, stone linings, switchboards, labora- 
tory table-tops, furnace linings and acid tanks. 
The mixtures of calcium and magnesium in min- 
erals is so persistent, especially as carbonates, that 
we may as well review a few of them. 
Calcite or calc spar is calcium carbonate, and is 
common in veins as well as being one of the most wide- 
spread rock-forming minerals. 
Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, and occurs 
generally as a decomposition product of magnesian 
rocks. 
161 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Dolomite is a mixture of calcite and magnesite. 
Limestone is a sedimentary rock, and when pure it 
consists of calcium carbonate. When it is crystalline 
it is called crystalline limestone, and if the texture is 
fine it is called marble. 
Chalk is a soft, powdery white variety of limestone. 
Finely ground chalk from which the impurities have 
been removed is called whiting, or Paris white. 
Calcareous marl is clay mixed with calcium car- 
bonate. XIV 
IRON AND STEEL 
Chemical Habits of Iron-Metallurgy-What Happens in the Blast- 
Furnace-James Gayley's Invention-Furnace Gases-Wrought 
Iron-How Steel Is Made-Bessemer, Open Hearth, Crucible, 
and Electric Processes-Tempering-Special Steels-Combina- 
tions of Iron-Ores-The Future^ 
ABOUT 5 per cent, of the crust of the earth is 
. iron, and it is everywhere. It is not found in 
a pure state because in time the oxygen will get it- 
whether it watches out or not. No kind of paint or 
covering is absolutely stable, and when it cracks there 
come the oxygen and some water from somewhere, 
some time, and the iron turns into rust, which is ore. 
All the iron and steel now manufactured by the mill- 
ions of tons is, cosmically considered, in a transient 
state. It is bound to go back into combination in 
time, and most of it as ferric oxide, Fe2O3. Only in 
one place in nature do we find it in quantity free and 
uncombined, and that is in meteorites, which are 
dropped down upon the earth out of the empyrean. 
So there is no oxygen up there in the blue between 
the stars. 
Iron has two methods of combining-with three 
hooks, called ferric compounds, and with two hooks, 
called ferrous compounds. It occurs most freely as the 
oxides, Fe3O4 and Fe2O3, and as the carbonate, FeCO3. 
163 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
These are the favorite ores. It is also found as pyrites 
or the sulphide, FeS2, which is roasted to get out the 
sulphur for sulphuric-acid works, after which the re- 
maining iron with its impurities is available ore for 
blast-furnaces. It is also found in silicious rocks, in the 
earth, in many plants, and dissolved in water. We 
also have a little of it in our own make-up. 
Of course magnetite, or magnetic ore, is not pure 
Fe3O4, and neither is any other ore pure. If there is 
enough of the oxides or carbonate or other ferric or 
ferrous (iron in combination with three hooks or two) 
compounds the ores are workable. Too much silicate 
makes it hard to manage. 
Theoretically the metallurgy of iron is very simple, 
but in practice it is not simple at all. The problem is 
to bring the iron out of the ore. So coal, usually in the 
convenient form of coke, and iron ore and limestone 
are brought together in the fiery furnace, and air is 
blown in so that a very high temperature is produced. 
The coal is burned to carbon monoxide, CO, and this 
combines with the oxide of iron in the ore to produce 
carbon dioxide, CO2, and sets the iron free. Let us 
write out the equation: 
FeaOs 
Ore 
+ 3C0 
carbon 
monoxide 
= 2Pe 
Iron 
+ 3CO2 
carbon 
dioxide 
The iron, being the heaviest of all the things put into 
the furnace, sinks to the bottom in a molten state. 
But a great many things have been happening in the 
mean time. The iron ore, coke, and limestone are fed 
in separate layers. Then air, which is blown in from be- 
low to feed the fire, partly burns the coke to producer 
gas, CO, and this, combining to CO2, causes heat enough 
164 IRON AND STEEL 
to melt up and generally decompose the compounds 
in the furnace. The carbonic acid, CO2, is driven from 
the limestone and escapes. The calcium from the 
limestone combines to make double salts with the 
silicates which are sure to be in the ore, and this is 
a sort of glass. So now we have at the bottom of this 
long, upright, somewhat egg-shaped blast-furnace 
(with the big end at the bottom) the molten iron in a 
cylindrical extension underneath the big egg. Above 
this is the slag, or molten, glassy silicates of lime with 
other things in suspension or dissolved in it, and over 
that are the layers of the furnace charge, slowly 
moving down. The bosh, or that part of the furnace 
where the sides contract suddenly, provides that the 
pressure upon the slag is not very great. In effect, the 
pressure is only that of a cone of the charge imme- 
diately above it. Air comes through from the bottom 
upward, like real blazes. The heat of the molten iron 
is too great for oxygen to combine with it, and it is 
protected from oxidation from above by the covering 
of the molten, glassy slag. 
At regular intervals the blast is stopped and the 
furnace is tapped to let off the slag in one direction, and 
from another tap, lower down, the iron is run off into 
molds. When it cools and is taken from the molds 
it is pig-iron. The slag formerly had no value except 
to fill in hollow places, as rock, but now it is used to 
make Portland cement, because of its content of the 
silicates of aluminium and calcium. For reasons ex- 
plained elsewhere, no magnesium is wanted in the 
slag that is used for cement. As soon as the iron 
and slag are run off the blast goes on again, and 
the feeding of coke and ore and limestone also 
continues. 
The air always contains moisture, and, as we have 
165 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
observed under "Hydrogen," the warmer the weather 
is the more moisture the air can hold in suspension. 
For many years it was observed that blast-furnaces 
behaved better in winter than in summer. So Mr. 
James Gay ley, a well-known American engineer, con- 
ceived the idea of refrigerating the air before it was 
blown into the furnace, to get out the moisture. He 
was known as a competent engineer and a man of 
ideas, but the wiseacres shook their heads. "Too 
bad about poor Jim Gayley," they said. "He's 
and they tapped their foreheads and shook their coun- 
tenances some more. "He thinks he can heat a blast- 
furnace with an ice-machine," was a characteristic 
comment. And their wives felt very sorry for Mrs. 
Gayley, and wondered if they had not better call and 
see if they could help-and find out something. 
The Gayley process of refrigerating air before use 
in blast-furnaces saves from one to two dollars a ton 
in the cost of pig-iron. And Mr. Gayley is a very 
prosperous man. Some day, maybe, somebody will 
discover a cheap way to separate water into its oxygen 
and hydrogen. It doesn't seem likely, but it may 
come. Then the burning hydrogen would save a great 
deal of coal and the oxygen would be there to burn it 
with. Or a very cheap method of liquefying air may 
come to our ken. Then, with the nitrogen distilled 
off, there would be only one-fifth as much air to heat. 
And yet this might not save so much, because that 
heated nitrogen that goes into the furnace and then 
comes out again does a lot of good work. It helps to 
dry out and pre-heat the ore and coke and limestone 
before the reaction begins. The gases escaping at the 
top of the furnace are not very hot. 
Mr. J. E. Johnston, a well-known authority on 
blast-furnace practice, has computed the results of 
166 IRON AND STEEL 
using a blast of 50 per cent, oxygen, and has designed 
a furnace to meet the situation if some invention 
should provide us with 50 per cent, oxygen at a low 
cost. It looks, after all, as though a considerable 
saving in coal would be effected by it. 
Furnace gases are now studied, and they prove an 
interesting subject. They have sufficient heating 
value to drive the gas-engines to blow the blasts- 
and then some more. They contain pieces of coke, 
which are saved. They have to be washed before they 
are led into the gas-engines to get out the sulphur 
fumes, which would play hob with the cylinders. 
They contain also particles of potash, as sulphide, 
cyanide, and in other forms in suspension. The Re- 
search Corporation is working on the problem of con- 
serving this potash, with a view to bringing it down 
by electric precipitation. A very interesting sugges- 
tion has lately come from Doctor Cottrell which will 
be tried out shortly. It consists in adding high potash 
feldspar to the furnace charge. This should produce 
a better iron by making it more free from sulphur, 
which the potash should carry off in the gases as 
potassium sulphide. And the potash might then be 
brought out of the gases by washing and electric pre- 
cipitation. We referred to this in the introduction. 
Now pig-iron is iron all right, but we must remember 
that it is also a great deal more. We have had it in a 
liquid state, and as a liquid it dissolved some things 
that will and some that will not stay in solution in the 
cold. Pig-iron carries a high percentage of carbon- 
from 3 to 5 per cent. Some of this is combined with 
the iron as iron carbide, Fe3C, but a large part of it is 
scattered through the metal as graphite, in flakes. 
Graphite, as we shall learn when we come to carbon, 
is an allotropic form of that element and is just the 
167 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
thing not to have in iron. It keeps the particles 
apart, makes the iron brittle, and it does not do any 
good at all. Then there are other impurities present, 
such as sulphur, phosphorus, and silicon. Silicon has 
its uses when it is needed, but sulphur and phos- 
phorus are rarely of any use to it, and each of them is 
generally an infernal nuisance-in iron. 
When pig-iron is melted up and cast into molds, it is 
cast-iron. Of course the foundryman should know 
what he is putting into his cupola, so that he may know 
also how his product will behave after it comes into 
use. Any old pig-iron, or "No. 2 Foundry," will not 
take care of the foundryman's problems to-day. 
Steel differs from cast-iron in two particulars: it 
contains less than 2 per cent, of carbon, and what 
carbon there is in it is combined with iron as iron 
carbide, Fe3C. There is no graphite in steel. Gen- 
erally speaking, the higher the carbon content the 
softer the steel. But there are refinements in the 
form in which the carbon exists in the steel which 
we shall discuss when we come to tempering. 
Wrought-iron is also free from graphite and its 
carbon content is low, as low as a low carbon 
steel-from X to per cent. The method of 
manufacture leaves a slight proportion of slag, from 
■nr to 2 per cent. This slag takes the form of long 
threads extending through the iron and thus gives 
to wrought-iron a fibrous structure not known to 
steel. To make wrought-iron, pig-iron and ore are 
heated in a reverberatory furnace, and the puddlers 
work it with rods until the impurities are melted or 
driven out. The more it is wrought (or worked or 
hammered or rolled or pounded) the tougher it be- 
comes. 
To make steel, boil iron, and there are several ways 
168 IRON AND STEEL 
of doing it. The Bessemer process is the cheapest, 
and the worst. The molten iron is run from the blast- 
furnace into a ladle instead of into molds, and is 
poured into a cylindrical vessel with a funnel-shaped 
top, which tips on its axis. This is called a converter. 
Air is blown through from the bottom. This blows 
out the graphite, it oxidizes and blows out the sul- 
phur and other impurities, the remaining carbon is 
converted into carbon dioxide, and we have a much 
purer iron. At this point a special iron rich in carbon, 
manganese, and silicon is thrown in. The carbon 
provides that which is needed in the steel, the man- 
ganese prevents the formation of iron oxides, because, 
all things being equal, oxygen likes manganese better 
than iron, and the silicon is said to prevent the forma- 
tion of bubbles or blow-holes in the ingots, although it 
makes the steel more brittle. And still they suffer 
from blow-holes. Then the converter is tipped on 
its axis and the contents run into great molds. These 
are ingots. Other metals, such as magnesium, etc., 
are sometimes added before the ingots are cast, with 
a view to taking up oxygen and boiling away with it. 
The Bessemer process is a very rapid one; over 
twenty tons of steel may be converted in half an hour 
from pig-iron in a single converter. The operation is 
regulated according to the color of the flame, and it 
is beautiful to watch. If we had only more esthetic 
sense and understanding, Bessemer steel-mills would 
be great show-places. 
One trouble with the process as designed by Sir 
Henry Bessemer was that with the fire-brick lining the 
phosphorus was not driven out. Fire-brick being 
chiefly a silicate of lime, a lining made of them is 
called "acid," because of the SiO2 in them. So Besse- 
mer converters with an "acid" lining are good only 
169 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
for converting high-grade iron, with a very low phos- 
phorus content. Bessemer ore, so called, is that 
which carries very little phosphorus. An improve- 
ment over the acid lining has been devised by sub- 
stituting magnesium and calcium oxides for fire-brick. 
With this, for obvious reasons, so-called basic lining, 
the phosphorus may be more completely eliminated 
and lower grades of iron may be used. 
But the Bessemer process does not make a pure, 
reliable quality of steel. It is used for rails and some 
structural shapes and steel castings, but what with 
the quick work, the high temperatures not under 
good control, and the general slap-dash of the process 
the product is not always dependable. 
The open-hearth process was designed by Sir Will- 
iam Siemens, and it takes nearly as many hours to 
convert a large charge of iron to steel as the Bessemer 
process takes minutes to convert a small one, but it 
makes better steel. The charge is pig-iron, iron oxide 
(ore), limestone, and scrap iron and steel. It is heated 
by a mixed blast of air, and gas is blown over the 
saucer-shaped furnace. The slag is separated and the 
steel cast into ingots. The tendency is to increase the 
size of open-hearth furnaces; some installations with 
a capacity of two hundred tons each are in successful 
operation. 
Later practice shows economy in combining the 
processes. The iron is first treated in a Bessemer 
converter, and then, but for a much shorter time, in 
large open-hearth furnaces. The product is open- 
hearth steel. 
The good old prehistoric way, the method em- 
ployed by the Saracens to make Damascus blades to 
destroy the unbelievers; the sword of the Chinese 
executioner who cut off the heads of his victims with 
170 IRON AND STEEL 
such skill that they did not know anything had hap- 
pened until he graciously gave them a pinch of snuff, 
and, by the jerk of the sneeze which followed, they 
discovered themselves to be headless; the sword of 
Siegfried and the marvelous Excalibur-all these must 
have been made by the crucible process. By this 
method the best steels and those of special contents 
are made, although it is being superseded in many 
places by the electric furnace. The crucibles or pots 
are made of graphite and hold about a hundred pounds 
of iron. To make the best quality, wrought-iron bars 
are melted up with the necessary amount of carbon 
in the form of coke, because the graphite of the pots 
will not combine to produce iron carbide. Often the 
charge is open-hearth or Bessemer steel. Some lime- 
stone is added to make a flux for the impurities, and 
then whatever is needed is added to make the steel 
just what the buyer wants. The operation is under 
constant control, but of course it is expensive. Never- 
theless, makers of machinery are beginning to demand 
the very quality of steel for each part of their machines 
that will best serve its purpose and last longest. The 
discovery of special steel alloys for special purposes is, 
as we have said before, becoming one of the sportiest 
features of applied chemistry, and many of them are 
made in crucibles. Some special steels are made in 
open-hearth furnaces, and still more in electric fur- 
naces. 
The electric furnace is a late development, whereby 
Bessemer or open-hearth steel may be quickly re- 
fined to very high grades. The steel is poured into 
the furnace in a molten state and two carbon (graph- 
ite) electrodes are dipped into it. The passage of 
the current through the molten iron produces great 
heat, and the impurities and nearly all the carbon are 
171 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
driven off. Carbon is reintroduced, together with 
whatever else is needed to make the steel desired, 
and the whole operation, with furnaces containing 
twenty tons and more, is completed within two hours. 
Electric converters are supplanting crucibles in 
considerable measure. According to a recent state- 
ment of the chief engineer of one of the largest auto- 
mobile companies-and these are great consumers of 
special steels-it was declared that they prefer steels 
made in electric furnaces to those made in crucibles. 
The electric converter is in effect a different way of 
doing the same thing that is done in crucibles, but on 
a. much larger scale. The best practice of to-day 
seems to point to steel made in two consecutive stages 
direct from the blast-furnace without cooling-first in 
Bessemer and then in electric converters. This pro- 
vides for economy and quality at the same time. 
Tempering.-If we heat a high carbon steel to a 
high temperature, the very hard iron carbide will dis- 
solve in the iron, and we have a solution of iron car- 
bide in iron. Now if we cool it suddenly the carbide 
will not have a chance to crystallize out, and we have 
a cold solid solution of iron carbide in iron. This is a 
very hard steel, but it is too brittle for most purposes. 
So let us heat it again, but not to so high a temperature 
as before. Some of the iron carbide will come out of 
solution and will stay there, leaving the mass as iron 
with carbide in solution mixed with some carbide 
which is not dissolved in it. The steel is then not so 
hard, but it is less brittle. This is tempered steel, 
tempered according to the quality we want it to have. 
Tempering, of course, treats the steel after it is made, 
and tempering will not make good steel out of poor 
material. 
172 IRON AND STEEL 
We have spoken of the many kinds of steel that 
may be produced by making alloys of it with different 
metals; we shall mention only a few of them: 
Nickel steel contains 3 to 3X per cent, of nickel. 
It is very hard, very elastic, and remarkably ductile. 
It is used for armor plate, bridge cables, propeller- 
shafts, etc. 
Chrome steel, with 2 per cent, chromium, or mixed 
with nickel as chrome-nickel steel, is hard and elastic 
when suddenly cooled. It is used for projectiles, for 
parts of automobiles (as are many other special steels), 
in rock-crushing machinery, and in safes. 
Manganese steel contains as high as 12 per cent, 
manganese and iX per cent, carbon. This is very 
hard, no matter what treatment it receives. It is so 
hard that it has to be cut with emery-wheels; tools 
break on it. If cooled suddenly it becomes ductile, 
and if cooled slowly it becomes brittle-the very 
opposite of high carbon steel. 
Tungsten steel runs from 5 to 10 per cent, tungsten, 
is very hard at high temperatures, and is called "high- 
speed" steel. This is because metal-cutting tools 
made of it may be run at a high rate of speed, some- 
times so fast as to make the cutting edge red-hot, and 
yet the steel does not lose its temper. For the same 
reason it is also sometimes called "self-tempering" 
steel. 
Vanadium steel combines elasticity with great 
tensile strength. 
Copper steel is a late discovery. A small amount 
of copper, about % of 1 per cent., in the steel will 
keep it from rusting for a considerable time. While 
steel alloyed with a small amount of copper does not 
become rust-proof, the copper acts as a rust retardant 
to a remarkable degree. Some authorities deny this 
173 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
with considerable vigor, but it seems to work, never- 
theless. 
The manufacture of steel is the greatest of American 
industries, and when we consider the subsidiary in- 
dustries built up around and about it, it seems to 
spread over everything. At the time of the present 
writing the United States is producing steel at the 
rate of 40,000,000 tons per year. 
When iron is exposed to moist air it becomes covered 
with a loose coating of rust which is approximately 
2Fe2O3.Fe(OH)3. In dry air the reaction does not 
take place. Owing to the double life that iron might 
be said to lead, being bi-valent at one time and tri- 
valent at another time, there are whole series of fer- 
rous and ferric compounds. The oxides, in a more or 
less impure state as they are found in nature, are 
known also by their mineral names. Thus magnetite, 
which is strongly magnetic, is Fe3O4. It is hard, black, 
and of metallic luster. 
Hematite is ferric oxide, Fe2O3, and varies in color 
from red to black in nature, but when finely ground 
it is usually red. This is Venetian red. 
Limonite is a hydrated ferric oxide, 2Fe2O3.3H2O. 
It is also known as brown hematite. 
Ocher is limonite mixed with clay, and if it contains 
an appreciable quantity of manganese it is brown 
and called umber. These oxides, in a more or less 
pure form, are very largely used in the paint industry, 
especially hematite and ocher. 
There are ferrous and ferric chlorides, and other 
salts which we shall not mention in detail, except the 
ferrous sulphate, FeSO4, which crystallizes with seven 
molecules of water and is known as green vitriol, 
FeSO4.7H2O. 
174 IRON AND STEEL 
The iron and steel industry touches us more closely 
than any other, and as wood grows scarcer steel is 
taking its place. Where steel is not available we often 
use Portland cement, which is sometimes a by-product 
of iron, since it may be made from many slags. 
Occasionally the question is raised how long the 
present supplies of ore will last. I have even heard 
fears expressed that civilization itself is threatened 
with the exhaustion of iron ores. When we consider 
that one of the principal uses of steel from 1914 up 
to the present writing in 1917 has been to destroy life 
and property in war, it makes us almost doubt the 
civilizing influence of the great metal. We need not 
fear, however, that it will disappear. There are vast 
supplies of iron constantly being discovered, and con- 
stant advances are being made in the art of concen- 
trating ores so that they may be smelted economically. 
By means of modern concentration processes it is 
estimated that certain deposits in New York and New 
Jersey alone would furnish 50,000 tons of 60 per cent, 
ore per day for 100 years and still not be exhausted. 
Then, too, Tennessee and other Southern States have 
enormous stores of usable ore. And when the time 
comes for iron to be scarce, if it ever does, it is a fair 
guess that aluminium will be obtained direct from 
clay, and of this the supply is as nearly inexhaustible 
as anything on earth. XV 
MORE METALS 
Copper, Zinc, Lead, and Tin-Copper Ores-Flotation-Smelting and 
Refining-The Righteous Wrath of Neighboring Farmers-Cop- 
per Compounds-Alloys-Zinc and Its Ways-Zinc Ores-Pro- 
duction and Use-Galvanized Iron and Brass-Oxides and 
Salts-Tin and Its Tricks-Production and Use-Lead-Chem- 
ical Nature and Sources-Compounds-Production and Use- 
The Storage Battery-White Lead 
OXYGEN is certainly a royal and imperial per- 
sonage among the elements. It claims nearly 
everything and gets as much as it can. An example 
of this is the geological position of copper. There are 
several oxides known, of which the most important 
are cuprous oxide, Cu2O, which occurs in nature as 
cuprite or red copper ore, and cupric oxide, CuO, 
known in its native impure state as melaconite or 
black copper. But, as greater depth is reached, down 
below the old water level, the ore has probably re- 
mained hidden from oxygen and we are more likely to 
get the sulphides. It is a salmon-red metal, which is 
malleable, is a good conductor of heat and electricity, 
and has considerable tensile strength, so copper 
utensils may be made with thinner walls than those 
of iron. The mineral acids dissolve it easily, while the 
weaker organic acids have little corrosive action, and 
that is why cooking utensils are occasionally made of it. 
Ammonia dissolves it, and, just to show the per- 
176 MORE METALS 
versity of nitrogen in all its ways, instead of behaving 
as a base, as it usually does, it behaves as an acid. 
This seems to be the body formed, which is called 
Cuprammonium, and is not known out of solution: 
Cu(NH3)4(OH)2. It is a safe rule never to bet on 
what ammonia will do in a given situation-unless 
you happen to know. Analogy is a will-o'-the-wisp 
in reasoning with ammonia. On the other hand, there 
doesn't seem to be any nitride of copper-a combina- 
tion of nitrogen with copper and nothing else, as there 
is a nitride of magnesium. 
The process of mining, smelting, and refining of 
copper is an enormous industry, and we shall take 
only a short glance at it. Most of the copper ore 
smelted is in the form of sulphides, and there are 
always other metals present with it; but in many 
lean ores smelting is preceded by concentrating in 
one way or another, and of these the process of flota- 
tion is so interesting that we shall have to describe it. 
It consists in grinding the ore to a powder and 
then feeding it into a tank containing water and a 
slight amount of oil. As bubbles are caused to rise 
in the water, by splashing it with ladles or feeding in 
compressed air, the metal-bearing particles attach 
themselves to the bubbles and float to the top, while 
the lighter gangue of limestone or other rock falls to the 
bottom. The phenomenon is regarded as due to the 
fact that the oil wets the metallic surfaces and also 
the surfaces of the bubbles, which carry the oil and the 
metal to the top. The particles of rock, on the con- 
trary, not being wetted by the oil, do not attach them- 
selves to the bubbles and so fall to the bottom. By 
this means a 20 per cent, concentrate may be obtained 
from a 2 or 3 per cent. ore. The process has come 
into very wide-spread use. 
177 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
By burning out the sulphur the smelter owners 
were formerly in sore straits because the sulphurous 
fumes, SO2, did not provide for the enjoyment of this 
life, or even a pleasant intimation of the future in 
their respective neighborhoods. Farmers lost their 
crops, their cattle, their tempers, and their milk of 
human kindness if they chanced to be neighbors. 
The situation was remedied, as we have explained on 
another page, by Doctor Cottrell's process of the 
electrical precipitation of suspended particles, and 
permitting the sulphurous gas to escape hot through 
the high stacks and thus diffuse itself and blow away. 
There are two methods of smelting copper ores in 
vogue: in blast-furnaces, which are upright and con- 
structed a little, but not very much, like small iron 
blast-furnaces; the second method, in reverberatory 
furnaces, accomplishes the same thing in horizontal 
structures in which the fuel is burned in a separate 
compartment from the ore, whereas in a blast- 
furnace they are mixed. The task accomplished is 
the separation of the ore into what is known as copper 
matte and slag. Now matte is cuprous sulphide, 
Cu2S, and iron sulphide, FeS, in varying proportions, 
and the next step is to convert the matte into crude 
copper, which is accomplished usually by melting it 
and blowing air through it somewhat as in a Bessemer 
steel converter. Indeed, the process is called Besse- 
merizing, and the apparatus is known as a converter. 
Copper and some iron are left, and the sulphurous 
fumes escape again, only to be disposed of or to make 
trouble. Then we have a crude, impure copper, which 
needs to be refined. It is cast into plates and these 
are suspended as electric poles in a bath of copper 
sulphate (CuSO4) and sulphuric acid. Very thin sheets 
of pure copper form the opposite poles, and the cur- 
178 MORE METALS 
rents of electricity are started through. What hap- 
pens is that the sheets of pure copper are electro- 
plated with the copper that comes from the sheets 
of crude copper until the crude sheets are eaten away 
and all of their copper has left its estate of impurity 
and gone over to abide in a state of grace on the op- 
posite poles. 
The impurities, of which there are many, go partly 
into the solution and fall partly as slime at the bot- 
tom of the apparatus. Arsenic and antimony, both 
of which are likely to be present, do both. Bismuth 
is precipitated out as its basic salt. Gold, silver, 
platinum, selenium, and tellurium are not dissolved 
by the solution and drop to the bottom of the tanks 
as a mud or slime, from which they are partially re- 
covered. Nickel and cobalt pass into solution and 
are not plated out so long as there is dissolved copper 
present. 
There are many salts of copper, and they are widely 
used. Copper chloride, CuCl2, is one of those thirsty 
chlorine salts. If it is dried in vacuo it is pale blue. 
If crystallized out of a solution it takes with it two 
molecules of water (CuC12.2H2O) and forms beautiful 
grass-green needles. It is a powerful disinfectant, and 
is also used in calico printing as well as in chemical 
processes. This is more properly known as cupric 
chloride; the cuprous chloride, in which copper is 
monovalent, CuCl, is also known. 
Copper sulphate, CuSO4, is a white powder, but 
crystallized with five molecules of water (CuSO4.5H2O) 
it is known as blue vitriol and has many uses, as, for 
instance, in calico printing and dyeing. It is used to 
prevent rot in timber. Farmers soak seeds for some 
hours in a weak solution twenty-four hours before 
sowing, to prevent smut. It is applied to grape-vines 
179 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
in 10 to 20 per cent, solutions to kill fungous growths. 
Large quantities are used, although but very little is 
needed at a time, to kill algae and other vegetable 
growth and scum in lakes and ponds. 
Copper silicide is made by fusing copper and silicon 
in an electric furnace at a very high temperature. 
It is called cuprosilicon, and is silvery white, with a 
metallic luster, and is hard and brittle. It is used for 
hardening copper and to add to tin, zinc, and alu- 
minium bronzes to increase their tensile strength and 
hardness. 
The carbonate has never been prepared in a pure 
state, but compound bodies, such as malachite, which 
is copper carbonate and copper hydroxide, crystal- 
lized together Cu2(OH)2CO3, and azurite, which is 
Cu3(OH)2(CO3)2, are found in nature. These minerals, 
when ground, form fine but expensive green paints. 
Brass contains 18 to 40 per cent, of zinc and melts 
at a lower temperature than does copper. Its great 
merit is its resistance to oxygen and its good mechan- 
ical qualities. A variety made with but little zinc 
may be beaten into very thin sheets, and is called 
Dutch metal. Bronze contains 3 to 8 per cent, of 
tin, 11 or more per cent, of zinc, and some lead, the 
rest being copper. Until iron and steel were brought 
into use, bronze was the metal used for weapons, 
tools, and castings. For works of art it is highly prized 
because of its fusibility, its color, and the beautiful 
patina which covers it, due to surface corrosion. 
Gun-metal contains 10 per cent, and bell-metal 25 
per cent, of tin. 
German silver contains 19 to 44 per cent, of zinc 
ALLOYS OF COPPER 
180 MORE METALS 
and 6 to 22 per cent, of nickel. Aluminium bronze 
contains 5 to io per cent, of aluminium, and looks like 
gold in color. Silicon bronze contains about 5 per 
cent, of silicon. It has less conductivity than pure 
copper, but is twice as tenacious, and is used for over- 
head electric wires. Phosphor bronze is about 90 
per cent, copper, 9 per cent, tin, and 1 per cent, or 
less of phosphorus. Manganese bronze, for ships' 
propellers, contains 30 per cent, of manganese. 
Zinc is always bivalent-that is, it has two bonds 
for combining. It is a bluish white metal, used very 
widely. It is a part of brass, in which it serves the 
purpose of stiffening and hardening the copper and 
tin with which it is alloyed. Chemically, it will be 
electropositive or electronegative, according to the 
company it is in. If the company is very negative, 
more so than the zinc, it will be positive, and vice 
versa. Most of its compounds are what we should 
expect of it as a metal, such as sulphate of zinc 
(ZnSO4), chloride of zinc (ZnCl2), etc.; but along with 
a very positive radical it will turn negative, its oxide 
will act as an acid and produce zincates, like zincate 
of sodium and a few others. 
It changes its nature according to the temperature- 
according to the weather, we might say. Pure zinc, 
cold, is brittle. At i2o°-i5o° centigrade it may be 
rolled into thin sheets between heated rollers, and it 
will then retain its pliability when it becomes cold. 
At 2oo°-3oo° centigrade it becomes brittle again, and 
at 418° centigrade it melts. At 916° centigrade it 
boils. 
It is reasonably permanent in the air because there 
is formed a layer of zinc oxide upon the surface, which 
covers it. Mineral acids attack zinc, liberating hydro- 
181 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
gen except when the metal is pure. Then the reac- 
tion does not proceed, because little bubbles of hy- 
drogen cover the surface of the zinc and protect it 
from the surrounding acid. If the zinc is impure, or 
if a platinum wire or a less positive metal is brought 
into contact with it in the fluid, the bubbles of hydro- 
gen leave the zinc, touch the other body, and fly 
away into the air. 
It occurs in nature as the sulphide known as zinc- 
blende, as the silicate, and as franklinite, which is a 
composite mineral compound of zinc, iron, and man- 
ganese oxides. The predominant mineral is the sul- 
phide, and it is one of the leading raw materials in 
the production of sulphuric acid. The sulphur-free 
ore is then heated in retorts, producing first a dust 
composed of zinc and zinc oxide, and finally molten 
zinc. This is called spelter, and contains lead, ar- 
senic, cadmium, and iron, because these metals are 
always present in zinc-blende. Electrolytic refining 
of zinc has lately been introduced. Over 1,000,000 
tons of spelter, or crude zinc, are consumed in the 
world annually, and of this amount about 300,000 
tons constitute the American consumption. 
Aside from its use in brass, it is used as sheets, 
often in preference to lead, for roofs, gutters, and 
architectural ornaments. Cleaned sheets of steel 
dipped in molten zinc become covered with it, "gal- 
vanized," as the expression is, and this protects the 
iron from rust in two ways: it provides an air-tight 
covering for a while, and even when the zinc is weath- 
ered down it seems to rust in place of iron-that is, 
the iron does not rust until all the zinc is oxidized. 
This is different from copper, which encourages cor- 
rosion if in contact with iron or zinc, and yet, as we 
observed under iron, % of 1 per cent, of copper 
182 MORE METALS 
alloyed with steel seems to decrease corrosion 300 to 
400 per cent. Please excuse me for not explaining this. 
Brass, which is composed of metals of opposite elec- 
trical properties, seems to be nearly electrically neu- 
tral toward iron, unless it is a red brass, in which 
copper predominates. 
Zinc oxide, ZnO, is very widely used as a paint, 
sometimes mixed with white lead and often in sub- 
stitution of it. It does not chalk off as lead does, 
and, on the other hand, it has not the full body. It 
is called zinc-white or Chinese-white. Artists use it 
in connection with vermilion, because that is a sul- 
phide of mercury, and if brought into contact with 
white lead, the sulphur prefers it to the mercury, and 
so sulphide of lead is formed, which is a dirty black 
smudge instead of the beautiful red. This is why 
many beautiful paintings have gone off in quality and 
lost all their reds, which were made of sulphide of 
mercury mixed with white lead. Now the sulphide 
of zinc is white, and if any of it is formed, which is 
not likely, from contact with mercury, the red may be- 
come a little lighter, but that is all. But the prefer- 
ence is usually for white lead if other colors will stand 
it, because of its greater body. A producer of zinc- 
white, however, may deny this with vigor, and call 
you hard names if you say so. 
Zinc chloride, ZnCl2, is used as a caustic, as in the 
presence of water it liberates hydrochloric acid: 
ZnCl2 
+ H20 
= HC1 
+ Zn(OH)Cl 
zinc oxy- 
chloride 
Solutions of it are used to impregnate wood, especially 
railway ties, to prevent the growth of organisms 
which cause decay. It is also used to dissolve the 
183 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
oxides (rust) from surfaces which are to be soldered. 
The equation given above shows how hydrochloric 
acid is liberated, which does the work. Like all salts 
of zinc, the chloride is astringent and poisonous. 
"Barnett's Disinfecting Fluid," so called, is a solu- 
tion of zinc chloride. 
Zinc sulphate, ZnSO4, is a white salt, known also as 
white vitriol. It is used in industry and in medicine 
for external applications. A per cent, solution is 
used in certain eye affections. 
Tin.-If the elements had consciousness, tin would 
need a group of eminent counsel to defend it from 
charges of irregularity. It has two methods of com- 
bining-with two bonds and with four. As tin, tinnic, 
and tinnous compounds did not sound just right to 
the chemical authors, or possibly they did not know 
whether to spell the adjectives with one "n" or two, 
they took the Latin word stannum and made their 
adjectives of that. Stannous compounds are of tin 
with two bonds, while stannic compounds indicate 
that four bonds are engaged. 
Tin is addicted to allotropy in the worst way. It 
is a silver-white, crystalline metal of low tenacity 
but great malleability under ordinary conditions. It 
also retains its luster on exposure to the air. It is 
soft enough to be cut with a knife but harder than 
lead, while not so hard as zinc. Despite its great 
ductility, which is greatest at about ioo° centigrade 
(the boiling-point of water), it grows brittle enough 
to be pulverized when it has been heated up to 200°. 
If a bar of tin is bent, it emits a low, crackling noise, 
called the "tin cry," said to be due to the rubbing 
of the crystal faces, one upon the other. It has a 
great disposition to crystallize on solidification into 
184 MORE METALS 
two different forms of crystals according to conditions, 
tetragonal and rhombic. 
Now if this same tin is cooled to a low temperature 
it will crumble to a gray powder. This takes place 
very slowly at ordinary cold-weather temperature, but 
is likely to proceed very rapidly at -48° centigrade. 
At temperatures lower than this the crumbling slows 
down. Organ pipes and roofs have been observed to 
go to pieces from this "tin pest," or "tin disease," as 
it is called. If a piece of tin in process of change from 
its metallic state to the gray-powder form is brought 
into contact with ordinary white tin, the "disease" 
will catch. And all the while it is neither more nor 
less than tin. These forms are merely its allotropic 
modifications. 
It is found in Cornwall, England, in the Malay 
Archipelago, in Bolivia, Australia, Bohemia, and 
Saxony. The usual ore is tinstone or cassiterite, and 
is stannic oxide, SnO2, combined with the arsenical, 
copper, and other mineral sulphides and tungstates. 
There is also a comparatively rare tin pyrites, being 
sulphide of tin, copper, iron, and sometimes zinc. 
The ore is smelted, and the resultant metal is about 
99^2 per cent. pure. 
It dissolves in hydrochloric acid to stannous 
chloride 
Sn + 2HCI = SnCl2 + H2. 
Cold sulphuric acid attacks it but slightly, while con- 
centrated hot sulphuric acid not only dissolves it, 
forming stannous sulphate, but it liberates sulphur 
dioxide: 
Sn 
tin 
+ 2H2SO4 
sulphuriq 
acid 
= SnSO4 
stannous 
gulphate 
+ so2 
sulphur 
dioxide 
+ 2H2O. 
water 
185 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
It would appear to make the sulphuric acid a little 
nervous by the way it liberates sulphur dioxide. 
Pure nitric acid is practically without action on the 
metal. With dilute, cold nitric acid stannous nitrate 
is formed; but if brought together with somewhat 
stronger nitric acid, it oxidizes to metastannic acid 
-which we shall consider shortly. Observe, please, 
we have been getting stannous compounds with 
Sn11, or with two hooks, rather than the stannic with 
SnIV, or four hooks. 
Now, although tin remains untarnished on exposure 
to the air, its salts, as, for instance, a solution of 
stannous chloride (SnCl2), will absorb oxygen and 
stannic hydroxide (Sn(OH)4) is formed; and if we 
bring ammonia into this solution, there is precipitated 
out stannic acid, H2SnO3. This loses water and goes 
back to the anhydrid, stannic oxide, SnO2. Then if 
we fuse this with caustic soda we have: 
SnO2 
stannic 
oxide 
+ 2NaOH 
caustic 
soda 
- Na2SnO3 
sodium 
stannate 
+ H2O. 
water 
There is another stannic acid, but we shall not 
consider it. What I ask you to do is to look back 
and see how this metal forms salts with acids, prin- 
cipally as a base with two equivalents for combining, 
and then, after a little legerdemain with its chloride, 
comes out in the stannic form with four hooks, oxidizes, 
and proceeds to do business as an acid. 
Of course, truth is relative, and so are acids and 
bases. Ammonia is not a very strong base, and there- 
fore there is no stannate of ammonium. On the 
other hand, sodium is much more alkaline than tin, 
and so we have the stannate of sodium. Why weak 
pitric acid should make a nitrate of tin (stannous 
186 MORE METALS 
nitrate) and strong nitric acid should oxidize, is one 
of those things that are easier to remember than ex- 
plain. We know, however, that nitric acid is a great 
oxidizing agent. 
Stannous chloride, SnCl2, is a white salt used in the 
textile industry and especially in dyeing. It is also 
used for weighting silks, and here again we have 
trouble. Fire insurance men know that silks heavily 
weighted with chloride of tin are liable, under cer- 
tain conditions, to spontaneous combustion. We get 
an intimation of this in the action of the chloride 
above referred to, which absorbed oxygen, produc- 
ing stannic hydroxide and then stannic acid. The 
fire starts in that disposition to oxidize. 
Stannic chloride, SnCl4, is formed by the action of 
chlorine upon stannous chloride SnCl2, and is a 
fuming liquid. 
There are two sulphides: SnS and SnS2, the stan- 
nous compound being a brown, smeary mess, while 
the stannic sulphide is a yellow, crystalline body used 
as "mosaic gold" and "bronze powder." 
The world's output of metallic tin amounted to 
120,400 tons in 1914. This is, of course, mainly con- 
sumed in the manufacture of tin-plate, an important 
industry in this country and in Wales. At the present 
time tin ore, cassiterite from Bolivia, is being smelted 
in the United States; the Straits Settlements, however, 
are the world's principal source. 
Lead.-When you come right down to it, some 
metals are no better than nitrogen in the way of being 
plain-spoken and easily understood. Lead is more 
dependable than tin in its chemical reactions, and 
yet it is full of tricks. Its valency-that is, its num- 
ber of bonds for combining-is like that of tin: some- 
187 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
times there are two and sometimes four. Having 
settled upon this, we shall shortly have to consider 
lead suboxide, Pb2O, and unless we want to guess 
that the molecule is a kind of triangle with two lead 
atoms hooked together in a way that they show no 
disposition to unite- 
Lead Suboxide 
we had better pass over the matter on the ground 
that this is not the proper place to discuss it. 
Lead is found usually as the sulphide in a mineral 
called galena or galenite, so we might well say that 
the inner significance of Galena, Illinois, is sulphide 
of lead. The ores are roasted and smelted some- 
what as tin and zinc, and yet with enough differences 
to make them subjects of separate and special studies. 
Lead is a blue-gray metal with a bright luster when 
freshly cut, which quickly grows dull on exposure to 
the air. This is probably due to a thin film of an oxide 
which in time becomes a carbonate. Perfectly dry 
air and water that is free from dissolved air leave 
it bright-have no action upon it. It is not tough 
enough to be drawn into wire or hammered into thin 
foil, but it may be rolled into sheets of foil and pressed 
into pipes. If lead filings are compressed under a 
pressure of thirteen tons per square inch, they will form 
into a solid block as though they had been melted; 
and if a pressure of thirty-three tons per square inch 
is brought upon the metal, it seems to liquefy. 
If lead is brought into contact with water which 
holds carbon dioxide in solution and is nearly free 
from other bodies, as, for instance, rain-water, a solu- 
ble carbonate of lead may be formed. This is dan- 
188 MORE METALS 
gerous, and if the water-supply of a town is pure 
and free from hardness it is sometimes necessary to 
filter it through limestone or chalk to give it sufficient 
hardness to avoid the formation of the poison from 
lead pipes. Hard water forms a coating of insoluble 
salts which cover it and avoid the danger of poisoning. 
All lead salts are poisonous. 
Lead poisoning is a mean affliction, and is cumu- 
lative-that is, we never get used to it-and as we 
are more and more subjected to it the worse it grows. 
If rain-water is used for drinking, it is better not to 
have the gutters and leaders made of lead; and, owing 
to the solvent action of organic acids upon it, if cook- 
ing-vessels are plated with tin containing lead, they 
may contaminate the food with poisonous lead com- 
pounds. 
There are chlorides and iodides of lead, but they 
are not very important, whereas its oxygen com- 
pounds are five in number and are widely used. 
Lead suboxide, Pb2O, is supposed to be the thin 
coating formed on lead when exposed to the air. 
It may be produced by heating certain organic salts 
of the metal, and is a dark-gray powder. 
Lead monoxide, or litharge, PbO, is a reddish 
yellow crystalline body, sold as a yellow pigment. It 
is also used in glass-making. 
Lead sesquioxide, Pb2O3, is an orange-yellow pow- 
der that is not very stable, going over into the mon- 
oxide and dioxide. 
Lead tetroxide, Pb3O4, red lead or minium, is formed 
by heating lead monoxide or white lead in the air to 
35o°-5oo°. It is a scarlet powder which, on heating, 
grows deeper in tint, then violet, and finally black, 
becoming red as it is cooled off. It is the very oppo- 
site of almost everything else in that, instead of grow- 
189 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ing red-hot, it becomes black-hot and red-cold. Hy- 
drogen sulphide in the air will also turn it black. It 
is not as stable a red as vermilion (mercuric sulphide) 
because of this quality, but it is an excellent paint 
for iron. The reason why it is better as well as 
cheaper for ironwork is because the iron displaces the 
sulphur in mercuric sulphide, but it is unable to lure 
the sulphur away from its combination with lead 
in this form. 
Lead dioxide, sometimes called lead peroxide, PbO2, 
is a brown powder and is an oxidizing agent. For this 
reason it is not very stable. If a stream of hydrogen 
sulphide is brought into contact with it, the gas will 
catch fire. 
About 513,000 tons of lead were produced in the 
United States in 1914. The lead ores of the Missis- 
sippi Valley and a little of the ore received from certain 
of the Western States are almost free from silver, 
and the metal produced from them is known as "soft 
lead." Over 200,000 tons of soft lead were produced 
in 1914. 
The greatest uses of the metal are for protection 
against sulphuric acid, as in acid-chambers and lead- 
lined tanks, and for plumbers' piping and supplies. 
The Storage Battery.-Improvements in storage bat- 
teries provide for the use of other metals than lead, 
but lead is the old standard, and with it the principle 
may be explained. If two corrugated lead plates are 
covered with a paste of litharge, PbO, and dipped 
into a 20 per cent, solution of sulphuric acid, the 
litharge on the plates is converted into the sulphate 
PbSO4. Now if you pass an electric current through 
the cell, hydrogen is evolved at one pole and oxygen 
at the other. You may remember that by a current 
190 MORE METALS 
of electricity through water containing an electrolyte 
like sulphuric acid the water is decomposed into its 
elemental parts, the hydrogen going to one pole and 
the oxygen to the other. Then, having the thin coat- 
ing of lead sulphate on each pole, let us see what 
happens: the hydrogen takes the place of the lead 
in the sulphate, producing a gray film of spongy 
metallic lead and sulphuric acid. Here is the reaction: 
PbSO4 
sulphate 
of lead 
+ H2 
hydro- 
gen 
= H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
+ Pb. 
lead 
At the anode, or other pole, the oxygen goes to 
work also; it transforms the lead sulphate, PbSO4, into 
lead persulphate, Pb(SO4)2, with the help of the sul- 
phuric acid present: 
-J- 2H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
+ O2 
oxy- 
gen 
= 2Pb(SO4)2. 
lead per- 
sulphate 
2PbSO4 
lead 
sulphate 
+ 2H2O. 
water 
This persulphate is acted on by the water, is hydrol- 
ized into sulphuric acid and lead peroxide-here we 
have it: 
Pb(SO4)2 
lead per- 
sulphate 
+ 2H2O 
water 
= PbO2 
lead per- 
oxide 
+ 2H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
-and a dark-brown film of the lead dioxide (or per- 
oxide) is formed on the lead plate. Thus we have 
spongy metallic lead on one pole and brown lead 
peroxide on the other, and we can shut off the current. 
The battery is "charged." 
Now let us hark back to the ionic theory, which we 
considered in the early part of the book, and remem- 
ber that sulphuric acid is an electrolyte and that 
191 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
it splits up into ions with positive and negative 
charges. These ions, hydrogen and SO4, are skim- 
ming about, ready for business. The hydrogen ions 
travel over to the plate with the brown PbO2 powder, 
and they reduce the lead peroxide to lead monoxide, 
or litharge, again. 
Observe: 2H+PbO2 =H2O+PbO, which brings 
us back just where we started, except for the fact 
that the hydrogen ions gave up their positive charge 
as soon as they struck this pole, and for every mole- 
cule of PbO2 reduced to PbO there are two positive 
charges of electricity delivered at that pole. On the 
other hand, the SO4 ions travel over to the other pole 
and convert the spongy lead to the sulphate, thus: 
SO4 
sul- 
phanion 
+ Pb 
lead 
= PbSO4, 
lead 
sulphate 
and the S04 ions, giving up their negative charges 
upon the plate, you have one pole with a positive 
charge and the other with a negative charge. Now, 
as the two leaden plates which serve as poles are con- 
nected by wire, if you measure the current you find 
it to be about two volts, and this will continue for 
about twelve hours. The current continues as long 
as there is any of the brown lead peroxide left on one 
of the plates. When this is gone the battery is said 
to be discharged. 
The situation is then the same as before. The lead 
oxide, or litharge, left by the hydrogen is converted 
into sulphate of lead by the sulphuric acid, and we 
have once more the sulphate on both poles. Then the 
battery is "charged" again by the introduction of 
an electric current. In other words, it is fully charged 
when lead peroxide covers one pole and spongy lead 
192 MORE METALS 
the other. It is discharged when sulphate of lead 
covers both poles. 
There are hydroxides of lead which may be re- 
garded as combinations of the monoxide (litharge) 
with water, and which with acids produce lead salts. 
But with the more alkaline metals sodium and potas- 
sium, they act as an acid toward them, and then 
we have lead behaving like tin and producing plumbic 
acid and forming the plumbates of Na and K. 
There is a whole range of lead salts in which lead 
is the base. The nitrate is soluble, the carbonate is 
not, whereas the bicarbonate is and the acetate is very 
soluble. Because of its sweetish taste the acetate 
is called sugar of lead. This is a misleading name, 
for it is not a sugar in any sense, as we shall observe 
in organic chemistry. Like all lead salts, it is a rank 
poison. The sulphate is insoluble, as is also the 
sulphide, which, as galena, is a crystalline black rock, 
but which, precipitated out of a solution, is a black, 
smeary mass. This is the stuff that develops in oil 
paints when the artist has not known better than to 
mix vermilion (mercuric sulphide) with white lead, 
and the lead drives out the mercury, taking its place 
as lead sulphide. 
White lead is not the insoluble carbonate, but rather 
a basic carbonate or a mixture of lead hydroxide and 
carbonate. The following formula would about rep- 
resent it: Pb(OH)2.2PbCO3. There are many dif- 
ferent ways of making it. The oldest is called the 
Dutch process, in which lead disks, or "buckles," are 
placed in earthen pots that contain a little dilute 
acetic acid. These are piled up in tiers embedded in 
tan-bark or manure in such a way that the air flows 
over them. The tan-bark or the manure ferments and 
produces carbonic acid, which in turn forms the 
193 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
carbonate of lead in the presence of the acetic acid 
which seems to act as a catalyst. The process takes 
ninety days, whereas other processes are very much 
shorter. It seems absurd to spend so much time 
over a problem that should be simple, and those 
who make white lead by a shorter process say their 
product is just as good. The Dutch-process people, 
on the other hand, declare that it is not, and that the 
proof of their contention is their much larger sales. 
We can very well afford to let them fight it out. If the 
Dutch-process product really is better, it may be 
shortened some day with the help of colloidal chem- 
istry. XVI 
STILL MORE METALS 
The Grand Old Tramp Who Left His Mark-Cobalt-Nickel- 
Chromium-The Goldschmidt Process-Thermit-Chromium in 
Combination-Tanning-A Lopsided Leather Test with Police- 
men and Letter-carriers-Manganese-Molybdenum-Tungsten 
-Uranium 
ONE of the fathers of chemistry was old Philippus 
Aureolus Paracelsus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 
known as Paracelsus. He was bom in Switzerland, 
in 1493, and died in Salzburg, in the Austrian Tyrol, in 
1541. "He lived," says one writer of him, "like a 
pig, looked like a drover, found his greatest enjoy- 
ment in the company of the most dissolute and lowest 
rabble, and throughout his glorious life he was gen- 
erally drunk." Another writer says: "It is true that 
his life offered a strong contrast to his mentality, but 
he was a man of noble character and intentions, a 
Christian humanist and ambulatory theosophist, who 
hoped to inspire mankind with a love of conscientious- 
ness and veracity, and to restore the suffering to 
health." Take your choice. I wish we had space 
to devote a whole chapter to the old boy who was 
active as a teacher, chemist, physician, writer (over a 
hundred books are attributed to him), and as a tramp. 
In working over copper and other metals he was 
very much annoyed by two bodies that he could not 
succeed in separating and yet that were neither cop- 
195 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
per nor iron. Sometimes they were present and again 
they were not, and they behaved in a way that was 
no less than devilish. Now in the Harz Mountains 
they have been familiar with evil spirits for many 
centuries, and among the several varieties that enjoy 
the pursuit of happiness, both there and elsewhere, 
is a species called kobolds-which at times I confess 
I am disposed to believe in myself. They are said to 
be less than three inches high, usually, and they can 
get in and out of any place. It is their especial 
pleasure to roll your collar-button under the bed, to 
move your chair around so that you may stub your 
toe against it if you get up during the night, to work 
your penknife, keys, watch, and other valuables into 
upholstered recesses of your sofa or easy-chair, and, 
generally, to hide things. Another species of devils, 
less clearly defined, were known as little Nicks or 
Nickel. So old Bombastus referred to these two metals 
by the names that we know as cobalt and nickel to 
this day. 
They are not very rare, and may be separated 
without much difficulty by electrolytic processes by 
those that know how. Both are silvery white, cobalt 
having a pinkish tinge and nickel a faint yellowish 
hue. Or, lest your eye betray you, let us give the 
definition of another writer and say that cobalt is 
slightly bluer than nickel. The latter definition is 
more evident to me. Cobalt is less tough than iron 
and no great commercial use has thus far been found 
for it as a metal. It makes two series of compounds, 
with two bonds and with three. Cobaltous chloride 
(CoCl2) crystallizes in light-red crystals (CoC12.6H2O) 
that form a nearly colorless solution, but when dehy- 
drated become deep blue. By this means an invisible 
ink is made which does not show until the paper is 
196 STILL MORE METALS 
heated, and thus the water driven oft. Then it be- 
comes blue. Left to itself it gradually takes on water 
from the air and becomes invisible again. A sort of 
cobalt glass is made by fusing sand, cobalt oxide, 
and potassium nitrate, which, when powdered, be- 
comes a blue pigment called "smalt," and is used in 
china-painting and by artists. Thenard's blue is made 
by calcining cobalt oxide with alumina. 
Nickel, on the contrary, is very widely used. It is 
produced in great quantity at Sudbury, Ontario, and 
is found along with copper and iron. A mixture of the 
three metals is called Monel Metal and has great 
strength and endurance. It is used for propellers of 
steamships and a number of other purposes. Nickel 
alloyed with steel, which makes it very hard and 
tough, is used as nickel-steel for parts of machinery 
designed to withstand continuous wear and shocks, 
and in the manufacture of armor, burglar-proof safes, 
etc. As nickel does not tarnish readily in the air and 
is as easy to apply as silver, it is largely used in elec- 
troplating. Nickel coins are three parts copper to one 
of nickel. 
Chromium is another steel-gray metal which does 
not occur free in nature, but usually as an ore called 
chromite, which is a chromite of iron Fe(CrO2)2, or as 
an oxide mixed with earth and known as chrome ocher. 
Traces of it occur in emerald, jade, serpentine, etc. 
The usual method of preparing the metal is by the 
Goldschmidt process, whereby the inventor, Prof. 
Hans Goldschmidt, produces at his works at Essen 
about 100 kilos (220 pounds) at a charge. He mixes 
carefully powdered metallic aluminium and chromium 
oxide and fills a refractory clay crucible two-thirds full 
with it. A mixture of boron peroxide, which gives off 
oxygen very easily, and more aluminium or magnesium 
197 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
powder is placed in a little heap over the center of the 
crucible and the whole covered with a protective layer 
of feldspar. A piece of magnesium ribbon is stuck into 
the pile of boron peroxide and aluminium or mag- 
nesium powder, and when the crucible has been prop- 
erly placed on a sand-bath, and the operator has pro- 
vided himself a good runway to avoid accidents, the 
magnesium ribbon is ignited. In the reaction which 
follows a temperature of 3,000° centigrade is reached: 
Cr2O3 
chromium 
sesqui- 
oxide 
4- 2AI 
alu- 
minium 
= 2Cr 
chro- 
mium 
4- AI2O3. 
alumina 
When the crucible is cold the chromium is found at 
the bottom, while the slag is fused alumina, a kind of 
artificial corundum. A number of other metals, in- 
cluding manganese, vanadium and tantalum, may be 
produced in the same manner, as we shall see. 
The reaction is also the principle of Goldschmidt's 
thermit, which is used for welding shafts, rails, and 
broken pieces of heavy machinery. The crucible for 
this purpose is cone-shaped, and the charge is iron 
oxide with aluminium powder, because molten iron is 
what is wanted. The reaction then is: 
Fe2O3 
ferric 
oxide 
+ 2A1 
alu- 
minium 
= 2Fe 
iron 
4* AI2O3 
alumina 
The ends of the broken shaft or part are heated and 
brought together and a mold built around the place 
to be welded. Then the thermit cone is placed above 
the opening in the mold, little end down, and the 
reaction is started. The molten iron runs right in 
where it is needed, through an opening at the point 
of the cone, making a complete joint. 
198 STILL MORE METALS 
In the steel industry the metal is usually intro- 
duced in the form of ferro-chromium, which is made 
by smelting chromite in an electric furnace. It con- 
tains over 60 per cent, of chromium and less than 
2 per cent, of carbon. Steel with iX or 2 per cent, 
of carbon and 2^2 to 4 per cent, of chromium is drill- 
proof; it cannot be worked with ordinary hardened 
tool-steel. Chrome-nickel steel is used for armor-plate. 
Chromium combines with oxygen and hydrogen to 
a series of oxides and hydroxides that are mild acids 
and bases, very much according to the company they 
are in. They are employed in making paints, of which 
the best known is the oxide to which we have referred, 
and known as yellow ocher. When this has been 
heated it becomes a red orange and is called burnt 
sienna. The well-known intense chrome yellow is a 
chromate of lead, PbCrO4. Chrome green is the 
sesquioxide, Cr2O3. 
Dichromate of potash, K2Cr2O7, is a great oxidizing 
agent, going over on slight provocation to Cr2O3 and 
letting loose a lot of oxygen. This is used in bleach- 
ing, dyeing, calico-printing, and in chemical industry. 
It is employed in photography, because gelatin, mixed 
with it, becomes hard and insoluble in the light. If a 
pigment is mixed with gelatin and dichromate of pot- 
ash in the dark, and, still in the dark, applied to paper 
and put under a photographic negative and then ex- 
posed to the light, the gelatin which holds the pig- 
ment in suspension will glue itself on, hard and insol- 
uble, to the paper wherever the light has struck it. 
Then if, back in the dark-room, the paper is removed 
and washed, everything will wash off except where 
the light has struck through the negative. That is 
the way the beautiful carbon prints are made. 
This effect of dichromate of potash on gelatin gives 
199 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
a hint of the reason for chrome tanning. Tanning is 
still more of an art than a science, as witness the use 
of dog dung for making morocco and horse grease for 
crown leather. There is no reason why such materials 
should not be employed, but they are likely to indi- 
cate that the chemical reactions are not yet thor- 
oughly known. The skins of animals consist in gen- 
eral of two layers, of which the outside, or epidermis, 
is made up of simple, hardened, and flattened cells, 
while underneath these the cells are soft and spherical 
and are referred to as the mucous layer. The harden- 
ing of the gelatinous mass and rendering it so that 
it will not putrefy is the main business of tanning. 
I take it that by this time you will have observed 
that the chemistry of tanning is a very complex sub- 
ject and that many of its problems have not yet been 
mastered. We shall not even take it up in organic 
chemistry. The tannins, which we shall merely note 
in passing later, are found in many woods and barks 
and reach the tanner either as wood or bark or in 
the form of extracts. But the shorter process of min- 
eral tanning has come into frequent use, and here the 
chromium salts lead. It has become a great industry, 
especially in the preparation of upper leathers. There 
is a method of combined chrome and extract tanning 
that produces sole-leather of remarkable endurance. 
A considerable number of policemen and letter- 
carriers were shod with one boot soled with the best 
oak-tanned sole-leather available, and the other with 
that made by the new process. The new-process 
leather outlasted the old in the ratio of nearly three 
to one. Why the new method has not come into use 
would be a mystery if it were not for the fact that 
inventions that offer no immediate profits to industry 
are often hard to get started. When the general 
200 STILL MORE METALS 
public is better informed about chemical processes we 
shall not have to wait so long for improvements. 
Now let us note a few more metals that are 
frequently heard of in connection with the steel in- 
dustry. Some have other uses also. 
Manganese is a gray metal with a reddish tinge that 
rusts in moist air like iron, and is occasionally found 
with that metal in the form of one of its many oxides. 
It is brittle and harder than iron, and is most easily 
prepared, like chromium, by the Goldschmidt process. 
It is frequently brought upon the market in the form 
of ferro-manganese, which contains it in varying pro- 
portions. Ferro-manganese is needed to reduce the 
iron oxides in Bessemer-steel converters, in which the 
manganese picks up the oxygen from the iron and 
goes off with it into the slag. Alloyed with steel, 
manganese makes it very hard and free from air- 
holes. This is frequently used for burglar-proof safes, 
dredge-pins, crusher-plates for ore-mills, and the like. 
Manganese is also alloyed with other metals, chiefly 
for its hardening effect. 
Chemically it is interesting-ano perplexing. In 
the matter of valence it sometimes has two, some- 
times three, and at others four, six, or even seven 
bonds, or hooks, for combining. It forms a whole 
series of oxides, of which the lower ones are basic and 
the higher ones acid in their reactions. Permanganic 
acid makes salts with the alkalies that are great 
oxidizing agents, the permanganate of potash being 
often used in the laboratory and in medicine. Its 
crystals are purple with a greenish luster, but in solu- 
tion it is deep red. When the higher oxides of man- 
ganese are heated they give off oxygen and revert to 
a lower type. We have already noted the use of man- 
ganese compounds in glass-making. 
201 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Molybdenum is found usually as a sulphide, MoS2, 
known as molybdenite, and as wulfenite, a molybdate 
of lead, PbMoO4, but chiefly as the sulphide. The 
pure metal is softer than steel and yields readily to 
forging and welding. But when it is added to molten 
steel in very small quantities, it is reported that 
molybdenum nearly doubles its tensile strength, adds 
to its capacity for elongation, to its toughness, its 
fineness of grain, and retention of magnetism. It has 
been used by the Germans for lining their enormous 
howitzers, while projectiles of molybdenum steel are 
found to have great power of penetration. It is also 
desirable for strong wire, rifle-barrels, propeller-shafts, 
and wherever great strength is needed. 
Tungsten is very like molybdenum in its compounds, 
and it has an effect similar to that of molybdenum 
when alloyed with steel. It is found in the mineral 
scheelite, which derives its properties from tungstate 
of calcium, CaWO4, and wolframite, FeWO4. The 
symbol W is from the German name of the element, 
wolfram. The very weak tungstic acid combines 
with strong alkalies, and of these an interesting use 
has been found for the tungstate of sodium, Na2WO4. 
Cotton cloth soaked in a solution of this will not bum 
with a flame, but at most only smolders away slowly. 
Lead tungstate is a good white paint, while tungsten 
trioxide is a canary-yellow pigment. The greatest use 
for the metal is for filaments in electric-light bulbs. 
Uranium is found in pitchblende, and, like manga- 
nese, molybdenum, and tungsten, is indefinite in 
valency. Sodium diuranate, Na2U2O7, is known as 
uranium yellow, and is used for coloring glass and 
for pottery glazes. Just now there is considerable dis- 
cussion going on as to the merits of alloys of steel 
with uranium. 
202 XVII 
SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
Silver-Its Many Different Colors-Chemistry-Coinage-Electro- 
plating-How to Clean Silver-Silver Salts-Photography-The 
Great Domain of the Chemistry of Light-Gold-All Gold Does 
Not Glitter-Metallurgy-Gold when It Is Red-Some Figures 
About It-Platinum and Its Family-Mercury-Compounds- 
Radium 
SILVER is valuable because it is rare, but if it 
were not so rare we should use a great deal more 
of it. It is a better conductor of heat and electricity 
than copper, and it is ''noble" in that it is more en- 
during than iron, copper, or other metals-that is, 
it is not so easily oxidized. It occurs in a free state 
in nature; occasionally it is found in large masses, 
crystallized in cubes-which fill the miner's heart 
with joy. More frequently, however, it occurs with 
copper and other metals as the sulphide, Ag2S, 
called argenite. 
Its use is older than history. The Phoenicians are 
supposed to have derived their great wealth of it from 
Spain and Armenia. It is a white, lustrous metal, 
but light reflected back and forth from its surfaces 
many times is yellow. Very thin layers of it have a 
blue tint. The vapors of it are green. Powdered 
silver is gray and has an earthy appearance. It is 
highly malleable and ductile. The air does not affect 
it unless it has hydrogen sulphide, H2S, in it; then it is 
203 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
blackened, owing to a thin layer of silver sulphide, 
Ag2S, in which the silver has replaced the hydrogen. 
Dilute sulphuric acid does not affect it, but hot 
concentrated sulphuric acid produces silver sulphate, 
Ag2SO4. Hydrochloric acid acts slowly upon it until 
a high temperature is reached, when the insoluble 
silver chloride, AgCl, is formed. Nitric acid, on the 
other hand, dissolves it readily, hot or cold, strong or 
dilute, forming nitrate of silver, AgNO3. 
The susceptibility of silver to the action of sulphur 
is so great that even that which is contained in the 
yolks of eggs will tarnish a silver chafing-dish if left in 
it any length of time. The sulphur in an ordinary 
elastic rubber band will quickly tarnish a pocketful of 
silver coins. 
Pure silver is rather soft to be used alone, and for 
coins it is usually alloyed with copper. Sterling silver, 
as the British standard of coinage is called, is 92% 
per cent, silver and 7X per cent, copper. The coin- 
age of the United States is 90 per cent, silver and 10 
per cent, copper. Articles of standard silver may be 
heated so as to oxidize the copper near the surface, 
and this oxidized copper is removed by immersing the 
article in a bath of dilute sulphuric acid, which re- 
moves the copper by dissolving it and forming the 
soluble copper sulphate CuSO4, leaving a thin film of 
pure silver behind. This is known as "frosted silver." 
So-called "oxidized silver" is not oxidized at all. 
Silver ornaments are dipped in a solution of an alka- 
line sulphide, and this deposits a film of the dark 
silver sulphide upon the metal, the silver taking up 
the sulphur according to its wont. 
Silver is easily taken out of solution and precipitated 
upon other bodies by electricity, and silver electro- 
plating is an important industry. Sheffield plate, how- 
204 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
ever, is not silver plated upon a baser metal, but, if 
genuine, consists of copper and silver sheets that have 
been rolled together at a little below the melting- 
point of silver. 
To clean silver, the best way is to do so electrically, 
and this may be done conveniently in any kitchen 
or butler's pantry. The first requisite is an earthen- 
ware pot. Metal will not do. Then put into the pot 
one or two pieces of zinc or aluminium, such as may be 
purchased at nearly any hardware-store. One or 
two pieces of sheet-metal, say four by ten inches, 
will be enough. Fill the pot one-half to two-thirds 
full of hot water and add two or three heaping table- 
spoonfuls each of table salt and of bicarbonate of soda. 
These are the electrolytes. Then put in the tarnished 
silverware, and it will grow bright in a little while. 
We must go back to the ionization theory to explain 
this. Both zinc and aluminium are electropositive 
to silver, and a current is set up between them. The 
salt, NaCl, splits into sodium and chlorine ions, the 
chlorine ions going over to the zinc and forming zinc 
chloride, which goes into solution. The sodium ions go 
to the other pole, which are the silver articles. Here 
they act upon water, release hydrogen, and form caustic 
soda: 
Na2 
sodium 
d- 2H2O 
water 
= 2NaOH 
caustic 
soda 
+ H2 
hydro- 
gen 
The hydrogen just released acts upon the silver sul- 
phide and produces hydrogen sulphide and free silver: 
Ag2S 
silver 
sulphate 
+ h2 
hydro- 
gen 
= h2s 
hydrogen 
sulphide 
+ 2Ag 
silver 
That free silver is now just where it is desired-on 
the outside of the spoons, or wherever it was before 
205 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
it was tarnished. All grease must be removed before 
the articles are put into the pot. 
The preparations that are sold that plate silver on 
places where brass or base metal is exposed contain 
a little silver in a condition of chemical instability. 
When it meets the baser metal an exchange of acid 
and base occurs, the silver being deposited upon the 
vessel in the place of the copper taken up by the 
former silver salt solution. 
Cyanide of sodium and of potassium have the 
faculty of making a soluble silver salt. It is not silver 
cyanide, AgCN, which is insoluble, but a double salt, 
the sodium (or potassium) silver cyanide, Na.Ag(CN)2. 
These cyanides are so wickedly poisonous that it is 
no less than a crime to sell them in silver polishes, 
although they dissolve silver in almost any form, 
including the black sulphide. Thiosulphate of soda, 
which the photographic people call "hypo," will also 
make a complex soluble salt, but not so easily as the 
cyanides. 
Cyanide of soda is largely used in the extraction of 
silver from its ores. 
Chloride of silver is a white, cheese-like mass, in- 
soluble in water, and is formed when a solution of a 
silver salt and nearly any chloride are brought to- 
gether. On exposure to the light it turns dark- 
please mark this, as we shall come back to it 
presently. 
Nitrate of silver may be obtained by treating the 
metal with nitric acid. It produces colorless crystals 
which melt at 218° centigrade. It is cast in thin 
sticks and used in medicine as "lunar caustic" because 
it combines with albumens to form insoluble com- 
pounds. It gets its name from the old term of the 
alchemists, who referred to silver as luna, the moon, 
206 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
and had for its sign the crescent. The nitrate is very 
soluble in water. 
There are oxides of silver, but as they are not 
formed on the heating and exposure of the metal to 
the air, we shall not discuss them. 
Since silver salts are the active agents in making 
photographic images, let us consider what happens, 
in a general way, in the making of a photograph. 
You will remember that silver chloride turns dark on 
exposure to the light. The bromide and iodide have 
the same properties, and the bromide has been found 
the more available. It appears that under the action 
of light, a subchloride, Ag2Cl, or a subbromide, Ag2Br, 
is formed, but how they hook up this way in the mole- 
cule is not clear, since both silver and the halogens 
are monovalent. But bromine does some tricks for a 
self-respecting, monovalent element, and we might as 
well admit that this whole subject of valency, or the 
number of combining hooks or bonds that the atom 
of an element has, is full of perplexity. Suffice it to 
say that silver bromide, which is light yellow when 
first produced, becomes dark on exposure to the light. 
The dry photographic plate is coated with an emulsion 
of gelatin (in a colloidal state, you observe), and the 
emulsion contains silver bromide in a very finely 
divided condition. In the case of moving-picture 
films, thin strips of transparent celluloid are coated in 
the same way. Now, as the light strikes these plates 
or films, the bromide of silver is reduced in part, and, 
according to the strength of the light, from silver bromide, 
AgBr, to silver subbromide, Ag2Br. The negatives 
still have a milky white appearance. They are now 
put into a developing bath, and the purpose of this is 
to reduce the silver subbromide to metallic silver. 
The developers are mild reducing agents-ferrous sul- 
207 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
phate, pyrogallol, or organic compounds which have 
trade names such as hydroquinon, metol, etc. What 
they accomplish is to take up that bromine in the 
Ag2Br, but not that in the AgBr, of which, of course, a 
great deal is left on the plate. Then, without letting 
the light reach the plate, it is further immersed in a 
bath of "hypo," which is a solution of sodium thio- 
sulphate, Na2S2O3, and this dissolves out all the un- 
affected silver bromide, AgBr. 
There is now nothing left in the plate but films of 
silver, with particles so close together as to appear 
black where the light has been strongest, particles at 
greater intervals apart in the shadows, and nothing at 
all where there was no light to change the silver bro- 
mide that was originally put on and later taken off 
in the hypo (thiosulphate) bath. This is a negative- 
dark where the original was light and light where the 
original was dark. After it has been dried it is placed 
upon paper that is also coated with a somewhat 
similar solution of gelatin and silver bromide and sub- 
jected to the light. This shines through the light spots 
in the negative and makes the corresponding places 
dark on the paper. And that is the photograph. 
Photochemistry is a very big subject and goes much 
further than taking photographs. It has to do with 
the chemical action of light - and of radiant heat 
obtained from the rays of the sun-and there are 
whole Americas to be discovered within that domain. 
Let us consider what plants do by means of photo- 
chemistry and take a hint or two from them. There 
are two bodies in the leaves of plants called chlorophyl 
and protoplasm. Never mind the chemical formulas 
for them; it would be too much like guessing for us. 
But there they are. They have the power of taking 
up carbon dioxide, CO2, from the air and water which is 
208 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
brought to them in rain and dew, and converting them 
into sugar, starch, and cellulose. Starch, which is 
needed to feed the germ in the seed cell, and cellulose, 
of which all its cells are made, are in effect bunched or 
polymerized molecules of sugar. A plant can do that, 
and we can't, but that is not to the point just now. 
We are discussing the photochemical activities of chlo- 
rophyl and protoplasm. Let us write out what hap- 
pens to the water and carbon dioxide: 
6CO2 
carbon 
dioxide 
+ 5H2O 
water 
- C^Hi 0O5 
sugar 
+ 6O2 
oxygen 
- 671,000 
calories 
of heat 
If there is a loss of 671,000 calories in this reaction, 
where did the plant get the heat to supply it ? If the 
cost of the reaction is 671,000 calories, you must sup- 
ply them if the reaction is to take place. It gets this 
heat from the sun. 
Therefore every stick of wood we burn is energy 
stored up by the sun. The sun furnished the heat to 
cause the reactions. In other words, to make the 
wood out of water and CO2 gas it took a great deal of 
heat. Now, to turn that wood back to water and gas, 
the same heat is given out. That is the way we get 
our sunlight back when we sit around the fire. But 
this is not all. Except the little work done by water- 
power (and the water was lifted by the sun), all the 
energy of men and animals comes from this stored 
energy of the sun. All our food is from that source. 
In every movement, every thought, we avail ourselves 
of energy gathered from the sun. 
Now observe the significance of photochemistry. 
We have touched one little edge of it in making pict- 
ures. We find that ultra-violet rays of light destroy 
bacteria. In chlorination processes, getting chlorine 
209 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
into combination when needed, it is likely that light 
will play a great rdle. Do you grasp what is done in 
this? It is taking power direct from the sun. It is 
getting the effect direct instead of waiting throughout 
eons of years for energy to be stored by means of chlo- 
rophyl and protoplasm into wood and wood to be 
reduced to coal. It is doing ourselves what nature 
does for us. It is a direct reaction gathered in from 
space. How far shall we be able to avail ourselves of 
this illimitable power? Who will grasp this Might 
of Day and master it? 
Gold.-The robber baron would not associate with 
common, honest folk; he held aloof from them and 
would have no dealings with them save to command. 
So he was called noble. Gold long antedates the rob- 
ber barons, but it obtained its title to nobility in the 
same way. It does not combine with free oxygen or 
even hydrogen sulphide. Acids do not attack it as a 
rule, and so it achieved a grand reputation as the 
aristocrat of all the metals. Another likeness to the 
robber barons of old is that the gold strain is found 
everywhere; there are traces of it in sea-water to the 
extent of about three and one-half grains to the ton. 
Granite contains about one part in 7,000,000,000, and 
clays, iron pyrites, and nearly all silver, copper, zinc, 
lead, bismuth, tellurium, and antimony ores contain it. 
In the mass gold is yellow, but light, reflected from 
its surfaces many times before it reaches the eye, is 
red. Gold-leaf is green or blue in transmitted light, 
and if precipitated in a very fine state of subdivision 
the tint varies from red to dark brown. So some 
gold does not glitter. 
The practice of chemistry is a sport, very like 
hunting wild game. As soon as its ways are well 
210 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
enough known the game is likely to be brought down. 
Here is gold with all its far-famed nobility, and yet 
even the medieval alchemists found a solvent for it 
in what they called aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and 
hydrochloric acids. Nitric, hydrochloric, or sulphuric 
acid alone does not affect it, but that aqua-regia 
mixture will dissolve it. 
Gold chloride is soluble, and by treating this with 
an oxidizing agent oxides of gold are formed. They 
are not very stable, and so far no great use has been 
found for them, but there they are. 
Gold is obtained in a number of different ways. 
From alluvial deposits the very heavy metal is sepa- 
rated from the gravel. Whether this is done in pans or 
"cradles" by hand, or in great sluices, the principle 
is the same. The gold stays while the gravel is washed 
away. In vein-bearing mines the gold-bearing quartz 
is blasted out and crushed to a fine powder in stamp- 
mills. Then the powder is floated in troughs as 
"slime" over copper plates amalgamated with mer- 
cury. Gold is very soluble in mercury, and this takes 
up the particles as the slime floats on. The gold 
amalgam is scraped off and the mercury removed by 
distillation. That is the amalgamation process. 
The chlorination process is used in connection with 
sulphur-bearing ores such as pyrites. The ore is first 
roasted, then wet, and the gold is extracted with 
chlorine which goes into solution. The chloride of 
gold is precipitated by means of hydrogen sulphide, 
which brings the gold, but only the gold, back to the 
form of a sulphide again. Then the sulphur is roasted 
away and the gold remains. 
The cyanide process provides that the powdered 
ore be leached with a solution of cyanide of sodium, 
which dissolves the gold as the double cyanide, 
211 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
NaAu(CN)2, and the gold is precipitated out by the 
addition of zinc shavings which take its place in the 
soluble cyanide. 
Colloidal gold is a suspension of particles of this 
heavy metal so small that the bombardment of the 
molecules of the liquid keeps them in suspension. It 
is made as follows: A solution of about one-hundredth 
of one per cent., or less, of gold chloride is made slightly 
alkaline by adding magnesia. Then a few drops of a 
mild reducing agent that will take up the chlorine, such 
as oil of turpentine or carbon monoxide, is added until 
the solution acquires a ruby-red color-if it does. 
The thing is tricky. This is Faraday's gold, as it is 
sometimes called, or colloidal gold, and the particles 
are so small that they will pass right through filter 
paper. It is red because, as we have observed, light 
reflected backward and forward from many surfaces 
of gold is red; and this condition will last, with the 
particles constantly dancing about, as may be seen 
with the ultra-microscope, for an indefinite time. But 
as soon as you add an electrolyte, such as common 
salt or sulphuric acid or caustic soda, the red color 
changes first to blue, then to violet, then to black, 
and finally the gold particles, having coagulated, set- 
tle down on the bottom of the vessel. 
Gold is too soft to be used in a pure state, so for 
coinage in Great Britain 22 carats, or 91.66% per cent, 
gold and 8.33% per cent, copper are used. The mint at 
Sydney, Australia, uses silver instead of copper, so 
that the Sydney sovereign is of a greenish yellow. In 
the United States, France, and Germany an alloy of 
90 per cent, gold and 10 per cent, copper is used. 
Gold is the standard of money, and it is not a very 
good standard because it fluctuates in value itself. 
The world's production of gold in 1915 was 22,758,808 
212 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
fine ounces, valued at $470,466,212, of which the 
United States produced 4,887,604 fine ounces, valued 
at $101,035,700. The world's industrial consumption 
of gold in the same year was $66,651,860, of which the 
United States consumed one-half, or $35,736,700 
worth. The world's production of gold for the ten 
years previous to 1916 in millions of fine ounces has 
been, respectively, 56, 56, 52, 54, 57, 60, 63, 67, 72, 75. 
Platinum is one of a group of six metallic elements 
known as the platinum elements, and they are ruthen- 
ium (Ru),rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), osmium (Os), 
iridium (Ir), and platinum (Pt). They are all silvery 
white and lustrous, chemically inert, and exceedingly 
rare. The great value of platinum is in part due to the 
fact that it is not attacked by air and strong acids 
and the very high temperature at which it fuses, so 
that chemists need dishes and crucibles made of the 
metal. On the other hand, alkalies do attack it, and 
it makes alloys with other metals like lead, silver, and 
zinc, so that the chemist does not like to let the labo- 
ratory boy make free with his expensive platinum 
ware. It has about the same coefficient of expansion 
as glass, so that it is fused in glass to make gas-tight 
joints. Alloys of cheaper metals have, however, been 
devised which also accomplish this purpose. 
When platinum is precipitated from solutions of 
platinum tetrachloride, PtCl4, a velvety black powder 
of pure platinum is obtained which is called platinum 
black. When ammonium chloroplatinate is calcined 
the metal that remains behind resembles coke in ap- 
pearance and this is called platinum sponge. If as- 
bestos is soaked in PtCl4 and ignited, the asbestos 
permeated with platinum is called platinized asbestos. 
These are the forms in which it is frequently used in 
213 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
industry. In finely divided states all metals of this 
group have the faculty of absorbing vast quantities 
of certain gases; of drawing a film of the gas to sur- 
round every particle. This seems to be the reason 
why they are of great value in catalysis. Platinized 
asbestos, you may recall, is used as the catalyst in the 
contact process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. 
It is a great pity that these metals are so dear. 
Mercury.-You can't pick it up, and that is a good 
way to prove that it is a liquid. It is useful in amal- 
gamating gold from its ores because gold is very solu- 
ble in it, and of course it is used for thermometers and 
barometers and in certain chemical industries. A 
liquid over thirteen times as heavy as water naturally 
has its uses. 
It is found in nature chiefly as the sulphide, and mere 
heating is enough to drive the sulphur out of com- 
bination, leaving the metal free. The sulphide is 
known as cinnabar and vermilion, and it is a grand 
red paint unless it comes in contact with white lead, 
when the black lead sulphide is produced, as we have 
noticed elsewhere. Mercury has two methods of 
combining, as monovalent and divalent-that is, with 
one bond and with two. When one bond is engaged 
the compounds are mercurous; when two, they are 
called mercuric. Mercurous oxide is Hg2O, and mer- 
curic oxide is HgO. If the latter is heated we get free 
oxygen and mercurous oxide: 
2HgO = Hg2O 4- O 
If mercury is ground up with, for instance, milk 
sugar it becomes divided into very fine globules, and 
these have, as we were reminded under the head of 
colloidal chemistry, a much greater surface in proper- 
214 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
tion to the volume than the metal has in bulk. This 
is the way blue-pills are prepared, and the mercury 
has in this form an activity which is lacking in larger 
masses. 
Mercurous chloride, HgCl, is calomel. 
Mercuric chloride, or bichloride of mercury, HgCl2, 
is corrosive sublimate. The relation here is a little 
too close for safety, because either salt may be pre- 
pared from the other. For instance, like silver chlor- 
ide, the mercurous chloride (calomel) is darkened by 
light, and chlorine is liberated, but it proceeds to 
abuse its freedom by turning part of the calomel into 
corrosive sublimate: 
HgCl 
calomel 
+ Cl 
chlo- 
rine 
- HgCl2 
corrosive 
sublimate 
Mercurous chloride is used in medicine because it 
stimulates certain organs in producing secretions, but 
care must always be taken that it does not go over to 
the mercuric form and thus become the poisonous 
bichloride. 
Fulminate of mercury is obtained when mercury is 
treated with nitric acid and alcohol is added to the 
solution. The formula is Hg(ONC)2. It decomposes 
suddenly when struck, and is used in making percus- 
sion caps. It is a white precipitate. 
The thiocyanate is another interesting salt. Potas- 
sium thiocyanate, K(SCN), will precipitate it from a 
solution of a mercuric salt. When formed into little 
balls and burned in the air they have a voluminous ash 
and are known as "Pharaoh's Serpents' Eggs." 
Radium.-In 1896, Becquerel discovered that a pho- 
tographic plate inclosed in an envelope of black paper 
which keeps out the light was affected as though light 
215 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
had struck it when a compound of uranium was 
brought into contact with it. He also discovered that 
the air in the immediate vicinity of a compound of 
uranium became a good conductor of electricity-be- 
came ionized-whereas otherwise it was not. Now 
this quality of uranium compounds is proportional to 
the amount of uranium in it. But uranium ores were 
discovered to be four times as active as the uranium it- 
self. This led Professor and Mme. Curie to the discov- 
ery that the pitchblende residues from which the urani- 
um had been extracted were also active. After working 
over a ton of such residues and eliminating that which 
was not active in this manner, they found the quality 
to abide in the barium chloride in which they could 
discover no other element by the ordinary chemical 
tests, and they found that it was sixty times as active 
as uranium. The percentage of chlorine was very 
nearly that to be expected in barium chloride, and yet 
this was not like any other barium chloride; it had 
this remarkable photo-activity and it ionized the air 
so that it became a conductor of electricity. So this 
man and wife in their laboratory purified and crystal- 
lized and recrystallized their barium chloride until 
they separated out a new compound that contained 
less chlorine proportionately than barium chloride 
and showed an entirely different spectrum. It 
proved to be bivalent, to have an atomic weight of 
226.5, and took thereby a vacant place in the periodic 
table. Its activity from a photochemical standpoint 
and its capacity to ionize the air proved to be three 
million times as great as that of uranium. So they 
called it radium, from its disposition to emit rays. 
Now the chemical reactions of barium and radium 
chlorides are so much alike, and they are always found 
together, so that the only way to get them apart is 
216 SOME OF THE RARER METALS 
by taking advantage of their different degrees of solu- 
bility. By means of electrolysis a minute quantity 
of a white metal, which is radium, has been prepared. 
It melts at 7000, turns black in the air, chars paper, 
and dissolves readily in water and dilute hydrochloric 
acid. 
The properties of radium which upset so many of the 
theories in regard to the permanency of matter are due 
to the fact that it is constantly giving off of its sub- 
stance with the development of heat. One gram of 
radium, which is about fifteen and one-half grains Troy 
weight, would produce the same amount of heat, if de- 
veloped spontaneously, as would be caused by the 
combustion of 300 kilograms of hydrogen. Nothing 
else is known to develop such heat. It comes from the 
disintegration of the atom. If this could be brought 
about artificially with other elements, say with carbon, 
a bucketful of coal would propel a ship across the sea- 
if the ship were not too big and the sea were not too 
wide. These rays do all sorts of tricks. They incite 
luminosity in diamonds, rubies, fluorspar, calcium 
sulphide, zinc sulphide, and a number of other bodies. 
Luminous watches and clocks now have the hours 
painted on with a coating of zinc sulphide with which 
an absurdly small amount of radium bromide has been 
mixed. In the dark they glow with a greenish light. 
If a tube of radium salt is held before your fore- 
head, you can see the light through your closed eye- 
lids-but this is not an experiment to be recommended. 
If you carry a tube of radium bromide in your pocket 
for a few hours you will suffer from painful sores that 
are very slow to heal. The rays discolor paper, turn 
oxygen into ozone, reduce bichloride of mercury 
(HgCl2) to calomel (HgCl), and are about the busiest 
mites in nature. 
217 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Three kinds of rays are given forth; and if a strong 
magnet is held above a piece of radium salt, alpha 
rays will go to the negative pole, being positively 
charged, beta rays will go to the positive pole, being 
negatively charged, and the gamma rays are not 
affected-they go right on. For this experiment the 
salt is put into an open lead container, as lead is more 
resistant to the rays than other bodies. 
The alpha rays are projected at a velocity of 20,000 
miles a second, but they have slight penetrative power. 
Even the resistance of a few cubic centimeters of air 
is too much for them. They appear to be positively 
charged electrons. 
The beta rays appear to be negatively charged elec- 
trons, and have more speed than the alpha rays. They 
are projected from the radium salt with a velocity 
approaching 100,000 miles a second. Their properties 
correspond with the cathode rays of a Crookes tube, 
but they do not travel quite so fast. 
The gamma rays have an intense penetrative power 
and are very similar to, if not identical with, the Roent- 
gen or X-rays. Tested in aluminium, the penetrative 
powers of the three types of rays are as follows: 
alpha : beta '.gamma : : 10: 1,000 : 100,000. 
A great deal has been said about the use of radium 
in curing cancer. The matter is still in dispute. If 
the rays are really Roentgen's X-rays, it would seem 
to be beating a long way about the bush to get them 
from radium. But this is no place for the discussion. 
No authority regards radium as a sure cure for all 
malignant growths. XVIII 
CARBON 
Diamonds-Graphite and Amorphous Carbon-Moissan's Artificial 
Diamonds-Acheson's Graphite Preparations-Uses of Graphite 
-Lead-pencils-Charcoals-Fuels of Many Kinds-Gas-engines 
-More About Fuels-Different Kinds of Gas-Present Waste- 
Improvements Possible and Desirable-Carbonic Acid, and a 
Few Carbon Compounds 
CARBON is by far the most profoundly studied of 
all the elements and it almost seems as though less 
were known about it than any other. Of all the many 
compounds recorded in chemistry, over half of them 
are combinations of carbon. Everything that has life 
contains it. The carbon molecule is large-how large 
is not clear, but it must have at least twelve atoms 
in its simplest form. Like interesting persons, it is 
not always the same-it is pure carbon as the diamond, 
as graphite, and as a black, amorphous powder. An- 
thracite coal is 75 to 90 per cent, pure carbon, and the 
rest of it is carbon in combination principally with 
hydrogen and with minerals, such as lime, etc., which 
show in the ash. Let us consider first the states or 
allotropic modifications in which carbon is known in a 
free state. 
The diamond is the hardest substance we know; 
it will scratch any other surface. In the old adage, 
"Diamond cut diamond," it is indicated that each 
both cuts and gives way. It resists the strongest 
219 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
oxidizing agents, as, for instance, a mixture of nitric 
acid and chlorate of potash; and it has no interest 
whatever in acids or alkalies; they do not affect it. 
It would appear to be the form that carbon takes on 
when it wants to be left severely alone, chemically. 
Of course, the diamond miner may get it and you may 
buy it in a ring for your wife, and a thief may steal 
it, all of which does not interest the diamond at all. 
Chemically speaking, it is being left to itself when it 
is stolen. On the other hand, if you try to bring it 
into combination with other elements, it will show 
how inert it is-unless you know the tricks, unless 
you are familiar with that strategy which is the sub- 
stance of research in science. Then you become the 
master and the diamond is no more inert. In this case, 
all you have to do is to heat the diamond to redness 
and dip it into a flask containing oxygen. Then the 
diamond will burn with a bright flame, just like any 
piece of coal. Examine the gas that proceeds from this 
combustion and you prove the diamond to be carbon, 
for the gas is carbon dioxide, CO2, and nothing else. 
Lead it through lime-water and down comes the white 
precipitate of carbonate of lime, or marble. Here is 
another chance for a modest millionaire to construct 
for himself a marble gravestone made of lime and 
diamonds. 
If a diamond is subjected to a very high tempera- 
ture in the absence of air, it turns to graphite. The 
diamond is a very poor conductor of heat and elec- 
tricity. 
Moissan, a French chemist, made diamonds arti- 
ficially in 1893 by dissolving pure carbon made from 
sugar (which is a compound of carbon, hydrogen, and 
oxygen) in molten iron in an electric furnace at about 
3,000° centigrade, and then cooling it suddenly by 
220 CARBON 
pouring the mass into a hole drilled into a copper 
block which was cooled, and covering the cavity with 
an iron stopper. When it had cooled, the metal was 
dissolved away by an acid, and there remained very 
small diamonds, precisely like the rough diamonds 
found in the mines in their crystal form, hardness, etc., 
and they displayed the same rounded edges and 
angles. No one has succeeded in producing diamonds 
of any appreciable size. 
Graphite is also crystallized carbon. Unlike the 
diamond, it is very soft and opaque, and it is a very 
good conductor of heat and electricity. It occurs 
in nature and is made artificially by heating Pennsyl- 
vania anthracite coal finely powdered in an electric 
furnace. It has very wide-spread use. Remember, 
this is carbon, just like the diamond, but there is a 
difference in the arrangement of the atoms in their 
molecules. When two bodies differ, there must be an 
external or internal reason for the difference, whether 
we know it or not. Graphite is exceedingly inert at 
high temperatures, and you cannot make Moissan's 
little diamonds by using graphite instead of sugar 
charcoal. It will withstand any heat we can produce, 
and it remains graphite. But if you treat graphite 
with a mixture of dry potassium chlorate and very 
strong nitric acid, it turns to a yellow crystalline sub- 
stance called graphitic acid, CnH4O5, which, when it 
is heated, decomposes explosively and yields very fine 
amorphous carbon. It is a little too explosive to en- 
courage close study. The diamond, you remember, 
is not affected by the same reagents. 
One of the greatest uses of graphite is for making 
pots or crucibles for crucible steel and for other chem- 
ical reactions in which high temperatures prevail. 
Its physical and chemical inertia is what gives it its 
221 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
value for this. Another great use is for electrodes for 
the same reason, in electric steel furnaces and in 
fixing or combining nitrogen of the air as well as for 
other purposes in electro-chemistry. Then it is a 
wonderful lubricant, being as smooth and unctuous 
as-some men we know. When chemistry grows 
popular and anybody is referred to as being ' ' as smooth 
as graphite," we shall know that butter will not melt 
in his mouth and that he is so oily that he will slip in 
anywhere and that there is never any squeak or cry 
when he is having his own way. Dr. E. G. Acheson, 
who invented carborundum, discovered that by treat- 
ing finely ground artificial graphite with a solution of 
tannin or any one of several organic compounds, it 
takes on such a fine subdivision of its particles that 
they pass through filter paper and remain suspended 
when mixed with water or oil. He calls this form 
"deflocculated graphite," and gave to the mixture with 
water the trade name of "aquadag." It is used to 
aid in cutting metals in machine-shops. Mixed with 
oil, he calls it "oildag," which is a valuable lubricant. 
A cheap oil mixed with deflocculated graphite will do 
the work of a high-grade lubricating oil for the same 
purpose. 
Lead-pencils are not made of lead at all. Graphite 
does the business. The natural graphite is first freed 
from the mica and sand with which it is usually found, 
and then mixed with clay that has also been freed 
from all grit. The mixture is ground with water be- 
tween millstones and passed between rolls and through 
a mixer and then squeezed through a die in the form 
of a rod. This is dried and baked at a high tempera- 
ture for the purpose of toughening the so-called 
"leads." They are then inclosed in wood, and there 
are your pencils. The more graphite in proportion to 
222 CARBON 
the clay the softer and blacker is the pencil; the 
greater the proportion of clay to graphite the harder 
and lighter the pencil. A similar process takes place 
in hardening the clay in the leads of lead-pencils to 
that which occurs in making brick; in fact, the lead 
in a lead-pencil is a mixture of brick and graphite. 
Nothing happens to the graphite in making lead-pen- 
cils; it stays where it is put until it is rubbed off on 
the paper. 
Amorphous Carbon.-This is an indefinite name 
because under it we must consider the approximately 
but not really pure amorphous carbons such as coke, 
charcoal, bone-black, lampblack, etc., and go into 
a discussion of fuels which range from anthracite coal, 
which contains the most carbon, always mixed with 
some minerals, over to peat and wood, in which all 
the carbon is in combination. Pure amorphous carbon 
is not found in nature so far as the writer knows. 
Let us first address ourselves to some of the char- 
coals before we take up the greater problem of fuels. 
Wood charcoal is produced by burning wood with 
the air so shut out from access to the fire that only 
the hydrocarbons which bum most readily are con- 
sumed, leaving the more or less pure carbon, driven 
out of the cellulose of which the cells of the wood are 
composed, unconsumed behind. It is very porous 
and can condense large quantities of gases in its pores. 
For instance, it will take up ninety times its own 
volume of ammonia. When heated it will give the 
gas off again. 
What appears to happen is that the gas is adsorbed; 
that is, that upon every minute filament of the char- 
coal a coating of the gas adheres. 
Some day let us hope that the adsorption of gases 
223 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
may lead us into the study and final understanding 
of the sense of smell. If any one asks us what makes 
things smell, we must answer that we do not know, 
but we have this one point-that odoriferous gases 
seem to be adsorbed by charcoal. This may have 
been studied at length, but I do not know of it. Smell 
is the Cinderella of the senses, and we should know 
much more about it than we do. 
Bone-black is obtained by heating bones away from 
air. It is then treated with hydrochloric acid, to re- 
move the phosphates and carbonates. It has the 
power of absorbing coloring matter, and many evil- 
smelling substances from liquids, and also certain 
salts, as, for instance, the salts of lead. It is also 
called "animal charcoal," and is used in water-filters 
and in sugar-refineries to decolorize the sugar liquids. 
Mixed with linseed-oil it becomes the artist's "ivory 
black"-except when lampblack is employed in the 
place of it. 
Lampblack is made by burning natural gas or pe- 
troleum residue and catching the black smoke. This 
"carbon black" is chiefly used for black ink and paint. 
Coke is the great fuel of the iron and steel industry, 
and at the mere mention of it we Americans might 
well hang our heads in shame. To make coke we distil 
the hydrocarbons out of coal, leaving the compara- 
tively pure, spongy carbon behind. It may be done in 
two ways-by what are known as beehive coke-ovens, 
whereby the coke is saved and everything else burned 
up or allowed to escape; and by by-product ovens, 
whereby the coke is saved and so are the valuable by- 
products. These by-products are a vast amount of gas 
available for power; ammonia, needed as fixed nitro- 
gen in sulphate of ammonia by the farmers; benzol, 
toluol, and other hydrocarbons available for making 
224 CARBON 
dyestuffs, explosives, medicines, and a whole list 
of chemical products, as well as being useful to 
operate explosion engines in the same manner as 
gasolene; phenol or carbolic acid for disinfecting 
and for chemical manufacture; tar and pitch for roofs 
-and many other bodies. Doesn't it seem wrong to 
burn up these useful products? And yet even now, 
with a great rush and hurry to build by-product ovens, 
fully half of the coke produced in the United States 
is still made in the wasteful beehive ovens. We may 
talk as we please about supply and demand, and 
reasons why and convenience, and all sorts of things, 
but some day we are bound to come to a clearer con- 
ception of the maxim that Waste makes Want. Some 
day, unless we go to pieces and lose our arts and 
sciences and take to the woods again like Indians, we 
shall have a sense of the fact that future generations 
have some rights, and that these precious hydro- 
carbons, that it has taken nature hundreds of thou- 
sands of years to produce, should not be idly de- 
stroyed as though we were a nation of drunken sailors. 
There is no use in growing angry or in blaming any- 
body for this cataclysmic waste; but now that we 
know better it is time to stop it. 
Coke is a grand fuel and should be used more than 
it is. In the first place, if made in by-product coke- 
ovens or in gas-works, it has already been used to 
good purpose, so that it isn't all waste. It burns 
rapidly to good effect, giving heat when it is needed. 
Being much purer carbon than ordinary coal, it is used 
in industries. 
Anthracite coal contains about 95 per cent, of 
carbon, either free or combined, and is also a good 
fuel in that it burns with but little ash. Ash is chiefly 
the mineral content of coal. 
225 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Bituminous coal contains 8o-odd per cent, of carbon, 
but unless it is properly fired a great waste takes place. 
It is also a pity to bum up the valuable hydrocarbons 
which it contains, and it is dirty and sooty and makes 
the smoke nuisance. 
With the improvements that are being made in the 
burning of powdered coal in an air-blast it is prob- 
able that ere long most coal will be consumed in this 
manner. The art has been developed from the need 
of a very hot flame for cement manufacture, and it is 
already being proposed for firing boilers with consid- 
erable saving. The only thing that holds it back is 
that the heat is so intense that it destroys the boiler- 
plates. The coal must be ground just as it is fed into 
the boiler because in a finely powdered form coal is 
liable to spontaneous combustion and it is also ex- 
plosive. So in burning coal powder (much finer than 
anthracite culm) it is blown into the fire just as it is 
ground. In other words, the coal-mill operates as the 
fire is fed. There is no smoke and no soot. The com- 
bustion is complete to CO2. It is clean, and the full 
heat of the coal is developed. Now if the inventive 
genius of engineers is not able to meet these problems 
before the next generation comes along, they should 
be spanked and sent to bed. Think what it means: 
much greater efficiency of coal and no more smoke 
nuisance! It is bound to come, with only a few little 
inventions needed. 
The gas-engine, in which the power xS oDrained by 
explosion within the cylinder of producer gas and air, 
or of gaseous hydrocarbons and air, is supplanting the 
steam-engine in many places. Although more ex- 
pensive to build, install, and operate, and composed of 
more parts than the steam-engine, it is more econom- 
ical in principle and already more economical in prac- 
226 CARBON 
tice in some places. Modem blast-furnace practice 
calls for gas-engines for the blowers. 
Lignite coal contains 60 to 70 per cent, of carbon; 
peat, 50 to 60 per cent.; and wood, about 50 per cent. 
Liquid fuels are gasolene, about the lightest of the 
liquid petroleum bodies; kerosene, which is less vola- 
tile; crude oil; and petroleum refuse. The term fuel 
oil in current use indicates any petroleum product 
available for fuel, but it is understood to be freed from 
gasolene. The present value of gasolene assures this, 
and the expression generally represents those petro- 
leum products for which no better market outlet may 
be obtained. We need not discuss them in detail; 
they are all hydrocarbons, and are used or not for fuel, 
according to the price. Alcohol is at present used as 
a fuel on a very small scale. Its use may increase as 
the art of making it from wood waste and other refuse 
is developed, or if better methods for denaturing it are 
discovered. As things are, the present laws governing 
the production of alcohol make the most economical 
manufacture impossible. It's too bad that so much 
may be honestly said against alcohol, which has also 
so many useful qualities. It burns with such a clean 
flame that it is the most agreeable of all fuels. The 
manufacture of alcohol from wood waste, such as saw- 
dust, etc., has passed the stage of preliminary experi- 
ment and is now in operation in a limited way. The 
trick has been turned; it is an economical achieve- 
ment. 
Gaseous Fuels.-Coal-gas is obtained by heating 
soft coal without access of air. The by-products, 
which are similar to those of the coke industry, are 
conserved, and the gas, sold for illumination and 
cooking, contains nearly 50 per cent, of hydrogen and 
227 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
over 40 per cent, of methane, CH4, and about 6 per 
cent, of carbon monoxide. There are a great many 
other hydrocarbons contained in it in small amounts. 
Water-gas is made by heating coke to a high tem- 
perature by blowing a blast of air over it; then steam 
is blown over the white-hot fuel, whereby the water 
is decomposed and carbon monoxide is formed, to- 
gether with free hydrogen-both combustible gases: 
C 
coke 
+ H2O 
steam 
= CO 
carbon 
monox- 
ide 
+ H2 
hydro- 
gen 
But both of these gases bum with a blue flame, so 
that, to make the gas illuminating, "gas-oil" or "solar 
oil" from petroleum is blown in and brought to a 
high temperature with a view to converting the liquid 
hydrocarbons permanently into gases. Water-gas has 
less heating value than coal-gas, but it is cheaper to 
produce. Most large gas companies make both kinds. 
Producer Gas.-This is used chiefly for gas- 
engines and as a furnace fuel. It is made by passing 
air through incandescent coke or coal, but not in suf- 
ficient quantity to insure complete combustion and 
thus produce carbon dioxide, CO2, which will not 
bum. Only enough air is passed through to produce 
carbon monoxide, CO, which, mixed with a great deal 
of nitrogen, is the chief constituent of producer gas. 
Sometimes steam is blown in with the air, decompos- 
ing the water and thus adding hydrogen and oxygen 
to the gas. The gas has a low heat value, but it is 
very cheap to produce. 
By-product gas producers provide for the recovery 
of the nitrogen contained in the coal by injecting 
228 CARBON 
steam into the coal-bed of the producer. The oxygen 
and hydrogen of the steam are torn apart by the heat, 
and the hydrogen combines with the nitrogen fixed in 
the coal to form ammonia, NH3. Leading this into 
sulphuric acid produces ammonium sulphate. In Eng- 
land these by-product producers are largely used on 
low-grade or high-ash coals. 
Natural Gas comes from the petroleum districts 
and is chiefly methane, CH4. We shall discuss this 
gas later. 
Acetylene, C2H2, is a gas of very high illuminat- 
ing power now produced by the action of water upon 
calcium carbide, CaC2: 
CaCz 
calcium 
carbide 
+ 2H2O 
water 
= C2H2 
acetylene 
+ Ca(OH)2 
lime 
It is explosive with almost any mixture of air. 
Before we leave the subject of gas let us do a little 
prophesying. Most municipalities require gas sold 
to residents to have a certain candle-power in order 
that a lighted jet shall give not less than a designated 
measure of light. But since it is much more econom- 
ical to burn gas in incandescent mantles which require 
only heat to make them glow, and no colored flame at 
all, there is no use in demanding a standard of candle- 
power. The requirement should be not twenty-two 
candle-power, but so many "B.T.U.," as British 
thermal units are called; in other words, it should 
produce a given amount of heat instead of a given 
amount of light. That would give us gas burning with 
a blue flame but more efficient with Welsbach mantles 
and for heating, and the cost of enriching it to make 
229 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
a bright light by injecting hydrocarbons would be 
removed. It would give us much cheaper gas and 
would serve instead of coal for nearly all municipal 
uses. It would do away with the smoke nuisance, 
save the by-products, and, as gas could be conveyed 
by pipe-lines over the country, be distributed from 
coke-ovens to any place where it was needed. Then 
the ugly factory chimneys might be tom down and 
the clouds of smoke and rain of soot would disappear. 
It is bound to come. 
We are also sure to come some day to the problem 
of using high-ash-that is, low-grade-coals. Enor- 
mous quantities of these coals are common in the coal- 
fields, but nobody wants to bother with them. In by- 
product producers, however, they can be burned for 
their gas, and this used for the generation of electric 
power which may be transmitted considerable dis- 
tances. High-ash coal does not produce good coke. 
The ammonia and other by-products will be saved. 
Our present methods of wasting coal and befouling 
the air are not quite civilized in the light of present 
knowledge. According to the statistics of the United 
States Geological Survey, there were 266,204,248,000 
cubic feet of artificial gas made in the United States 
in 1915, valued at $173,832,132. This is an increase 
of 25 per cent, in quantity and 13 per cent, in value 
over 1912. It looks rather promising. 
Treating carbon as any other element, we note that 
it combines with hydrogen as methane, CH4, or marsh 
gas, and then in so many thousand other ways that 
we shall drop the subject for the present. 
With oxygen it combines to CO, leaving two 
hooks apparently free. Carbon burned with insuffi- 
cient air produces this gas. It is very poisonous and 
burns to produce C02. It unites directly with nickel 
230 CARBON 
and iron to Ni(CO)4 and Fe(CO)5. Owing to its 
tendency to unite with oxygen to form CO2 at a high 
temperature, it is a good reducing agent-but only at 
high temperatures. 
Carbon dioxide, CO2, is the anhydrid of carbonic 
acid and is known as carbonic-acid gas. It is very 
stable, very wide-spread, and its salts with the CO3 
radical we have already referred to many times. If 
CO2 is the anhydrid of the acid, then CO2 + H2O = 
H2CO3 would indicate the real carbonic acid. But, as 
we have said before, we cannot separate it in this form; 
it goes right over to H2O and CO2. Nevertheless, the 
salts are known. It is a very weak acid, and is easily 
driven off by a stronger one. CO2 is a heavy gas, and 
may be poured from one vessel to another in the air. 
It will not support combustion, and, although it is not 
poisonous, it will not support life. In the Dog's 
Grotto (Grotta del Cane) at Naples, where CO2 comes 
from the earth, it remains as a layer on the ground 
while the wind blows the upper layers of it away. 
If a man and a dog go into the grotto, the man passes 
through at his ease while the dog suffocates. 
With nitrogen carbon combines (but not directly) 
to cyanogen, (CN)2. This C=N is a gas. Far bet- 
C=N 
ter known is prussic acid, HCN, which is hydrogen 
cyanide, the most poisonous of gases, which produces 
cyanides of metals and forms innumerable complex 
salts in organic chemistry. 
Of the halogen compounds we shall mention only 
carbon tetrachloride, CC14, which is a heavy liquid, 
over one and one-half times the weight of water, with 
a pungent chloroform-like odor and an anesthetic ac- 
tion. It is used as a solvent and for extinguishing fires. 
231 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Carbon bisulphide, CS2, is a volatile, highly inflam- 
mable liquid that smells like a good old orthodox idea 
of the Judgment Day. It is used to destroy insects, as 
a solvent for rubber and sulphur, and lately it has 
been largely used in the manufacture of artificial silk. PART THIRD 
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY XIX 
PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
Paraffins, or the Fats-The Carbon Chains-Petroleum Industry- 
The Refiner's Problems-Cracking-Oil-gas-Lubricants-The 
Future of Petroleum-List of Paraffins 
WE told in the first chapter about the manner in 
which one carbon atom with its four hooks 
will connect one or more of them with another carbon 
atom, leaving the free hooks to connect up with any- 
thing else that is available. We may represent the car- 
bon atom with its four hooks as 
and the sim- 
plest hydrocarbon, methane, or CH4, as 
Now let us take another body of the same methane 
or paraffin series, called butane, or C4Hi0, and we meet 
a new problem. The arrangement of the atoms in the 
molecule may be- 
235 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and these bodies differ from one another. These are 
the only possible arrangements of the butane mole- 
cule. Try for yourself and see. The next body, ac- 
cording to the number of carbon atoms, pentane, 
C5H12, has three isomeric possibilities, but when we 
go up to, say, Ci3H28, there are 802 of these different 
hydrocarbons possible. We shall not pursue this agony 
any further except to indicate differences in fact when 
there is no difference in the proportionate number of 
carbon, hydrogen, and other atoms in the molecule. 
Two or more bodies having the same chemical content, 
but differing in the arrangement of their molecules, 
are called isomers, and their relation to one another 
is isomeric. 
This means that molecules are real things, having 
shape and form and structure. Just as two different 
houses may be built of the same number and kind 
of brick and stone and yet not be at all alike, so various 
molecules may be constructed of the same number 
of C, H, and O atoms and yet be entirely different 
because the atoms are differently placed in their rela- 
tion to one another. I pray you do not let this arouse 
the fear that you will not understand what follows. 
The subject of the respective places held by atoms in 
molecules is called stereochemistry, and its develop- 
ment is one of the great works of Jacobus Henricus 
van't Hoff, the great Dutch physical chemist; but 
we shall not enter into it. I mention it now so that 
we may point out certain vistas of research as we go 
along in considering the chemistry of living things, 
which is in effect the chemistry of that remarkable 
element carbon. 
Organic compounds are generally of two great 
groups. The first includes the aliphatic compounds, 
to which all animal and vegetable fats belong. The 
236 PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
starting-point is methane, CH4, and the first series 
is the paraffins, which we shall consider immediately. 
The second group embraces the aromatic compounds, 
and many of the first bodies discovered which belong 
to this division are characterized by an agreeable 
aroma. The name, however, is misleading, for some 
dreadful stenches are produced by so-called "aro- 
matic" bodies. The unit of the second group is ben- 
zol, or benzene, C6H6, which we shall consider later. 
Paraffins.-One atom of carbon will combine with 
four atoms of hydrogen and make a stable, satisfied 
compound, indicated by CH4, which is a gas and is 
called methane: C=H4. It is also called marsh gas, 
because if you stir up the bottom of a swamp, bubbles 
of this gas will rise. Natural gas is composed chiefly 
of methane. Now let us take the next in order-two 
atoms of carbon with all the hydrogen we can attach: 
This is C2H6, and is called ethane. 
The next would be 
C3H8, or propane, and the next is 
C4H10, or butane. 
The list goes up to C6oHi22, and higher. 
Now let's get the anatomy of these molecules clear 
237 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
in our minds. They are, you observe, chains of car- 
bon atoms connected with one another by a single link 
or bond, three hydrogen atoms at each end and two 
attached to each intervening carbon atom. There are 
twice as many hydrogen atoms as there are of carbon, 
and then two more, owing to the extra hydrogen atom 
at each end. They are composed only of carbon and 
hydrogen, and the general formula is CnH2n + 2. 
These hydrocarbons are known as paraffins. 
Of course, nature has what appears to be almost a 
passion to mix things up, and so crude petroleum has 
usually a great many other bodies besides this group; 
it contains unsatisfied hydrocarbons called olefins 
and that everlasting sulphur is found in combination 
in many oils, but this CnH2n + 2 is the true petroleum 
or paraffin group. Observe that the names end in 
ane, and after the first four, methane, ethane, propane, 
and butane, they take the Greek or Latin numeral 
corresponding to the number of carbon atoms. Thus 
octane is C8HX8, dodecane is Ci2H26. 
As the number of atoms in the molecule increases, 
they grow heavier and they develop from gases to 
light liquids, over to heavy oils, and finally to wax 
and pitch. This is natural; with a great mass of 
atoms in the molecule, the product is more likely to 
be solid, and with very few it tends to be gaseous. 
This is a truth with so many exceptions as to cast 
doubt upon it, but it should explain why CH4 can be a 
gas. As already noted, we cannot imagine a mole- 
cule of carbon to contain less than twelve carbon 
atoms. Diamond and graphite both surely contain a 
great many more. CH4, on the other hand, contains 
but one, connected up with four light hydrogen atoms. 
No wonder it floats. 
Natural gas is sometimes stripped of its heavier 
238 PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
hydrocarbons, which may be used for gasolene, while 
the remaining methane is sold as fuel or for light. 
The liquid product is known as "casing head" or 
natural-gas gasolene, and this brings a very good price 
because heavier oils may be mixed with it and the 
product sold as gasolene. 
Crude petroleums are exceedingly variable in com- 
position, but it is the business of the refiner to get 
similar marketable products from them. Or, rather, 
it is the business of the refiner to get out of crude 
bodies, oil which he can sell. The art of refining, 
which consists, in effect, in separating the different 
groups of hydrocarbons from one another by distilla- 
tion, is full of difficult problems to be solved. Mr. 
Refiner has his crude oil as the raw product, and with 
his finished products he must meet the market. 
Formerly the great demand was for kerosene: "water 
white," with a fire test of 1500 Fahrenheit (65.5° 
centigrade), and "export oil," with a fire test of ioo° 
Fahrenheit (43.30 centigrade), while gasolene was a 
drug on the market. The difference between these 
bodies is that gasolene is composed of a series of hy- 
drocarbons nearer CH4, while kerosene is made up of 
a higher series, nearer the lubricating oils. 
Some of us can remember when kerosene was usu- 
ally dark yellow or reddish in color, and that lamp- 
wicks used to grow gummy. This is now avoided by 
treating the refined products first with sulphuric acid, 
which drives out of combination the tarry bodies and 
other undesirable products, and then treating with 
caustic soda takes out the remainder of that which is 
not wanted and also neutralizes the sulphuric acid. 
The situation formerly was that the refiner could 
not sell his gasolene, and some of us may remember 
that efforts were made by the refining companies to 
239 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
develop the use of gasolene-stoves and the unwilling- 
ness of the insurance companies to insure houses and 
furniture where gasolene-stoves were used. The re- 
finers wanted to get out all the kerosene and lubri- 
cating oils they could, and as little gasolene. Now 
the tables are turned. The amount of oil refined 
has increased, but not fast enough to produce enough 
gasolene for the increasing number of automobiles 
produced. On the other hand, electricity, coal-gas, 
and acetylene have taken the place of kerosene-oil 
lamps, and what with the war closing European ports, 
the refiners cannot sell their kerosene. Even more of 
a drug is the "export oil," a kerosene which flashes 
at a lower temperature than the United States re- 
quirements. 
To meet the increased demand for gasolene, refiners 
have been sorely put to it. There was not enough, 
and there is not enough to-day. The demand is in- 
sistent. The usual test for gasolene is to measure its 
specific gravity-to let a hydrometer float in it. This 
is a glass bulb with a long graduated stem, and the 
specific gravity may be determined by reading the 
figure on the stem at the surface of the liquid and cor- 
recting the figure to accord with the temperature and 
barometric pressure. The lighter the liquid the deeper 
the hydrometer sinks, and vice versa. Now, instead of 
taking what they call a "single cut" of gasolene-that 
is, the gasolene that distils over at the required tem- 
perature-they take heavier oils and lighter ones and 
mix them together, thus giving the specific gravity 
called for, but containing bodies on both sides of gaso- 
lene as it were-heavier and lighter bodies. The 
chemical structure is not the same. Everything 
goes as gasolene until an oil is reached that is so 
heavy that it will carbonize in the cylinders. This is 
240 PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
not trickiness on the part of the refiners; it is grim 
necessity. 
The heavier the petroleum bodies are the more 
likely they seem to be to go over into their elemental 
carbon and hydrogen and thus produce coke in the 
cylinders rather than to burn to water and carbon 
dioxide, the way the lighter ones do. And the pres- 
ence of the heavy oils in the mixture sold as gasolene 
is a contributing factor to the carbonization of oils in 
cylinders, but it is not the sole cause. Some users 
mix gasolene and kerosene half and half for automo- 
biles in summer, but cranking up a heavy car on this 
mixture in winter would hardly be enjoyable. 
In fact, this will probably be the next step in auto- 
mobile fuel-a starting device with alcohol or gaso- 
lene, and then kerosene for the trip. The tendency of 
kerosene to leave free carbon in the cylinders after 
the explosion is the greatest problem to-day, although 
the number of trucks using kerosene is constantly in- 
creasing. If some one will devise an improved car- 
buretor, or if somebody else will discover an efficient 
oxidizing agent to mix with the kerosene so that it 
leaves the cylinders clean, the problem will be solved; 
but, despite all sorts of claims, nothing satisfactory 
has been brought out yet. It is likely to come soon, 
but whether in the carburetor or in the kerosene 
oxidizing agent is hard to tell. 
Cracking. With the need of so much of the lighter 
oils, the art of "cracking" petroleum has developed. 
This means just what it says: the molecule is split, 
and lighter petroleum hydrocarbons are cracked off of 
it. From the residue still others may be cracked off, 
and in this manner the output of light hydrocarbons 
greatly increased, but there is a limit to this. Cracking 
is the general application of the rule that organic com- 
241 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
pounds are decomposed by heat. It was observed in 
1855 that petroleum or its products could be distilled 
at other temperatures than the normal boiling-points 
of the constituents. What happens is, as we have 
just said, that parts of the molecules split off as lighter 
hydrocarbons, and this is termed "cracking." It is 
now effected by distillation under pressure or by de- 
composing the oil upon a highly heated surface. A 
process as simple as this would seem to be easy of 
solution, but there are tricks to it: in the first place, 
very heavy oils leave a residue of too much coke; 
some Mexican crudes, on ordinary distillation, will 
crack and leave a residue of 40 per cent. coke. Again, 
in all distillation of petroleums some cracking takes 
place. In cracking residues, unless the pressure is 
just right, the result is unsatisfactory because instead 
of paraffins too many unsatisfied hydrocarbons are 
produced which are shy of hydrogen among the lighter 
bodies. A little figuring will show what happens: let's 
take the general formula CnH2n-|-2 and say n=3o. 
Then we should have C3oH62. Now if we were to split 
this in two we should have C15H32+C15H30, and with 
n = i5 we should have for the second body CnH2n 
instead of CnH2n-]-2. This would be an ill-smelling 
olefin. They do no harm, but they do not smell sweet. 
They may be removed by treatment with sulphuric 
acid. There are other reasons, however, why freshly 
cracked gasolene smells badly, which are: presence of 
sulphur compounds and traces of naphthenic acids 
and nitrogen bases, which are too feeble to combine. 
Treatment with metallic sodium or oxide of copper 
will cause the evil smells to disappear. It is a matter 
of expense. Generally speaking, the higher the press- 
ure used in cracking the less light olefins are produced. 
W. M. Burton was the first to develop the art of 
242 PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
successful cracking, and now over 3,000,000 barrels 
a year are produced by his process. After distilling 
off the gasolene and kerosene contained in the crude 
oil, he raises the boiling-point by back pressure upon 
liquid and vapors to 75 pounds per square inch in 
an especially arranged still. 
The Rittman process consists in vaporizing the 
petroleum and passing it into hot tubes, 4500 centi- 
grade, under pressure of 90 to 500 pounds per square 
inch, according to the nature of the oil. The vapors 
are condensed under pressure. 
An interesting chemical process which is not a 
cracking, but which has the same application, consists 
in treating the oils with A1C13, breaking down the high 
boiling oils to lower ones. A number of patents have 
been issued in relation to this. The advantages are 
that very little gas is evolved and the carbon is not 
deposited as hard baked on the bottom of the still, 
but as a granular mass, easily removed. The low- 
boiling oils are sweet-smelling, water white, and need 
no further refining. 
The high-boiling oils are refined and purified, and 
come into use as lubricants, while still higher bodies 
are used for fuels. For instance, the oil that comes 
over after kerosene and before the lubricating oils is 
known as gas-oil, which is used in the manufacture 
of illuminating gas and was referred to under the 
chapter on carbon. This gas-oil, if brought to a high 
temperature, in an apparatus free from air, decom- 
poses. One of the products of the decomposition is 
called oil-gas. Now this oil-gas, duly liquefied under 
pressure, is, in substance, Blaugas, which has found 
considerable domestic use in some localities. Oil- 
gas is rich in ethylene, which, upon treatment with 
chlorine,yields ethylene dichloride, C2H2C1?. The chlo- 
243 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
rine may be replaced by - OH groups, whereby ethy- 
lene glycol, a g'ycerin substitute, is obtained. It is 
predicted that this compound will replace glycerin for 
many purposes, such as the making of anti-freezing 
mixtures, in the treatment of leather, etc. 
Lubricating oils are obtained especially from the 
Appalachian and mid-continent petroleums. The 
most important of these lubricants are so-called engine 
oil and cylinder stocks. The story of lubricating oils 
is an extremely interesting one, but too rich in detail 
to narrate here. Suffice it to say that where they are 
obtained they constitute the most valuable products 
of petroleum, and a great deal of skill is necessary in 
refining them. They range from common engine oils 
to those selling for several hundred dollars a gallon 
for lubricating watches. 
Neither petroleum nor natural gas will last forever, 
especially when we consider the lavish way in which 
we are using up these natural products. But new uses 
loom up that are promising even if the present uses 
should be discontinued on account of cost. For in- 
stance, when the supply of natural gas wanes so that 
it is not economical to sell it for, say, less than fifty 
cents per 1,000 cubic feet, it will come into compe- 
tition with power generated by gas-engines fed by by- 
product coke-oven gas. Then there can develop as 
distinct a natural-gas industry as that of coal-tar. 
For natural gas contains from 85 to 95 per cent, of 
methane, CH4, the starting-point of the half of organic 
chemistry. Now let us imagine this chlorinated to 
carbon tetrachloride, CC14. Here is a solvent that 
needs only to be produced in this manner to find very 
THE FUTURE OF PETROLEUM 
244 PARAFFINS AND PETROLEUM BODIES 
wide-spread use. The same may be said of chloroform, 
CHCI3, and of dichlormethane, CH2C12, which is a bet- 
ter anesthetic than chloroform, and may also be used as 
a solvent. Methyl chloride, CH3C1, is a gas that will 
have wide application as a refrigerating agent; it 
boils at -150 centigrade. These are industries not 
yet developed. Again, by oxidation, the methane 
may be used in the production of formic and oxalic 
acids, and to make formaldehyde and methyl or wood 
alcohol. In petroleum there are seldom found free 
fatty acids, but the fatty hydrocarbons are there. 
By treatment with chlorine and magnesium and CO2 
through a series of processes that we shall not study 
out, and by further treatment with sulphuric acid and 
water, the fatty acids are liberated, although the cost 
of these acids is still too high. But certain of these 
acids may be converted into glycerides, which mean 
real fats, and so, as soon as the processes are perfected, 
edible fats may be made from petroleum. Another 
subject that has already received attention is the rela- 
tion of petroleum to the manufacture of soap. That 
would come from the artificial fatty acids produced. 
Here is a list of some of the paraffin bodies with their 
melting-points and observed boiling-points. Note 
how the names after butane indicate in Latin or 
Greek the number of carbon atoms and how, as they 
increase in the number of atoms in the molecule, they 
are progressively liquids and then solids. This is 
shown in the melting-points and boiling-points. 
Observed 
Formula 
Name 
Melting-point 
Boiling-point 
ch4 
Methane 
-1860C. 
- 16O0C. 
c2h6 
Ethane 
- 172 
- 93 
c3h8 
Propane 
- 45 
C4H,o 
Butane 
1 
245 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Formula 
Name 
Melting-point 
Observed 
Boiling-point 
c6h12 
Pentane 
36.4C. 
UHu 
Hexane 
68.9 
c7h16 
Heptane 
98.4 
c8h18 
Octane 
- 51c. 
125.6 
(J9H20 
Nonane 
149-5 
C1()H22 
Decane 
- 31 
173 
C11H24 
Undecane 
- 26 
194 
C12H26 
Dodecane 
- 12 
214 
C14H30 
Tetradecane 
4 
252 
C16H34 
Hexadecane 
18 
287 
C20H42 
Eicosane 
36.5 
205 
C28H48 
Tricosane 
47-4 
234 
C35H72 
Pentatriacontane 
74 
33i 
C60H122 
Hexacontane 
IOI 
Boiling-points of eicosane, tricosane, and pentatri- 
acontane were observed at 15 mm. pressure instead 
of at that of the atmosphere, which accounts for the 
difference. XX 
OLEFINS AND ACIDS 
Olefins-What Unsatisfied Means in Organic Chemistry-A Little 
Sermon on Possibilities with Acetylene as a Text-Harmless 
Moving-Picture Films-Fatty Acids-Unsaturated or Unsatis- 
fied Acids 
GOING back to the paraffin bodies and bearing in 
mind that they are methane, CH4; ethane, C2H6; 
with the general formula CnH2n+2, the olefins, as 
they are called, have the formula CnH2n, or two atoms 
less of hydrogen. The termination "ylene" is added 
to the type prefix, so that methylene would be CH2 and 
ethylene C2H4. They are not very stable. Methylene 
is not known in a free state and ethylene is a sweetish- 
smelling gas which combines readily with other 
bodies. Ethylene chloride, for instance, is C2H4C12. 
You observe that the halogen adds itself on without 
replacing any hydrogen atoms in the molecule. They 
are formed in the dry distillation of complicated car- 
bon compounds, which accounts for the presence of 
four to five per cent, of them in coal-gas. They 
are also produced by the elimination of the elements 
of water from alcohols and by other means as 
well. The lower members are gases; then, as the 
molecules increase in the number of atoms, they are 
liquids; and finally the highest members are solids. 
These unsaturated hydrocarbons, as they are called, 
are unsaturated because there are one or more carbon 
247 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
bonds that are free or because the carbon atoms are 
hooked together by more than one bond or because 
carbon under certain circumstances has only two or 
three bonds-which looks like a fact, but is too trouble- 
some for us to consider. The lower members of this 
CnH2n group are generally unstable, whereas the 
higher members are stable. 
Another series of unsaturated hydrocarbons have 
the general formula CnH2n - 2, which indicates that 
the carbon atoms are united by a triple bond, as in 
acetylene, C2H2 or H - C=C - H. The second of this 
group, C3H4, is called allylene, and the higher numbers 
are referred to as substituted acetylenes, as C4H6, 
ethylacetylene; C6Hi0, butylacetylene, etc. The most 
important is acetylene, C2H2, or C-H 
C-H 
It is a gas that is full of tricks. Air mixed with from 
3 up to 82 per cent, of acetylene will explode. The 
explosive limits of air with coal-gas are only from 
5 to 28 per cent. Those three bonds that are engaged 
in holding together the two carbon atoms are not 
very closely engaged. Their job is hardly enough for 
all three of them to keep them busy; and if anything 
available to combine with is around, they are likely 
to find it. That is where the danger from impurities 
in acetylene comes in. Let us indicate just one more 
unsaturated group in which there appear two double 
bonds between carbon atoms, like this: 
or C5H8, known as isoprene. 
By the union of two or more molecules it passes over 
248 OLEFINS 
with terpenes, Ci0Hi6, into rubber. This, then, is the 
road to synthetic rubber. 
Acetylene, you may recall, is produced by the action 
of water upon calcium carbide: 
CaC2 
calcium 
carbide 
+ 2H2O 
water 
= C2H2 
acetylene 
+ Ca(OH)2 
slacked 
lime 
Now this triple bond between the two carbon atoms, 
and the fact that we have two atoms of car- 
bon linked together, makes acetylene an interesting 
starting-point for the production of many organic 
bodies, and whole vistas have been opened up as a 
result of research during the past few years. At the 
risk of making acetylene appear of more general im- 
portance than it is, let us consider some of the things 
that may be done with it. It will serve as a good ex- 
ample of the adventures to be met in research in or- 
ganic chemistry. In other words, we started with lime 
and coke to make calcium carbide and by adding water 
we obtained acetylene. Now let us observe whither 
we are led from these modest beginnings, from lime 
and coke at the start. 
Acetylene burns with a very luminous flame and 
is used for domestic lighting. When the carbide 
process was first introduced it was thought that this 
would be its chief use, but, while it has not achieved 
the popularity that was expected of it, the uses of 
acetylene and calcium carbide have increased in other 
directions, while the possibilities are illuminating as 
showing how unexpected the workings of organic 
chemistry are. 
A flame of acetylene burned with oxygen is so hot 
249 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
that it will cut through several inches of iron or steel. 
The street-railway repair gangs are often seen using 
this, and it is interesting to watch them cutting 
through rails or welding them with the infernally hot 
oxyacetylene flame. It is so bright that it is dan- 
gerous to look at for any length of time, and the men 
need to use darkened spectacles to preserve their sight 
when they work with it. 
Acetylene gas is compressed in cylinders by absorp- 
tion in acetone and used for lighting buoys at sea, 
and in rivers and harbors. There are many thousand 
such buoys in use in the United States service. They 
are little lighthouses that keep going day and night 
for weeks at a time and need no keeper. 
Another gas of the petroleum series, ethane, C2H4, 
may be produced by bringing hydrogen together with 
acetylene in the presence of certain metals that act 
as catalysts, or chemical parsons, and perform the 
marriage of hydrogen to acetylene, so that ethane 
results. There does not seem to be much call for 
ethane at present for chemical work, but you never 
can tell how soon somebody may want it in the worst 
way. 
Now let us consider a certain German works in 
operation before the war. Acetylene gas under six to 
ten atmospheres' pressure (90 to 150 pounds to the 
square inch) was led into strong steel cylinders and 
an electric spark was passed through it. Back the 
whole thing went to its elemental parts of carbon and 
hydrogen. But this carbon was in the form of such a 
fine, pure soot that it was sold at handsome prices in 
China and Japan and to European paint manufactur- 
ers for lacquers and black varnishes. 
In two other establishments, by more work with a 
catalyst (and this time antimony did the business), 
250 OLEFINS 
they produced combinations with chlorine, and by 
that kind of chemical chicanery, which is almost more 
of an art than a science, a whole series of ethylene 
chlorides have been produced that are remarkable 
solvents. They are almost indifferent to metals 
(which means that they do not injure their containers); 
they are inactive toward acids and alkaiies, and they 
do not burn easily. They are useful in the varnish, 
soap, and many other industries; they point to the 
possibility of scientific laundries in which clothes may 
be washed without injury, and their wide-spread use is 
only a matter of cost. Another of them, ethylene per- 
chloride, is a solvent for sulphur. Then if we start 
with another of them, ethylene trichloride, and do 
various things to it, according to a Nuremberg patent, 
the result is-indigo! Ethylene chloride is said to be 
used to extract the caffeine from coffee in the Kaffee 
Hag works. 
Beginning once more with acetylene gas and work- 
ing water into the molecule, we have the aldehyde of 
acetic acid or acetaldehyde, and this, on oxidation, 
yields acetic acid. Here we have not only vinegar, 
but an acid greatly needed in chemical manufacture. 
If this were only cheap enough we should have incom- 
bustible celluloid and moving-picture films. Strangely 
enough, the weak acetic acid will combine with cellu- 
lose in the place of nitric acid, so that in the place of 
nitrocellulose or guncotton we can have acetylcellu- 
lose, which is reported to be entirely harmless. It is 
only a matter of cost. As soon as acetic acid is cheap 
enough the unburnable celluloid industry may pro- 
gress. The acetaldehyde is further interesting in that 
by chemical strategy it is easy to make it polymerize, 
as the expression is, which means that its molecules 
may be bunched together into new combinations, and 
251 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
out of this the problem to make fatty acids is not 
difficult. Just how expensive it would be to make the 
higher fatty acids is somewhat of a guess; but from 
the appearance of things and the experience of men of 
research, it should not be very great, once the method 
is worked out. 
Glycerin was made synthetically by Professor Friedel 
in Paris many years ago, but since then no one has 
succeeded in doing it, to my knowledge. It should 
be easy, but it isn't. When you think you have got 
it, you haven't got it at all. But you never can tell; 
really, you never can tell. Some day before long 
somebody is likely to solve it; and glycerin in simple 
combination with the higher fatty acids is lard, tallow, 
shortening, fat-what they are crying for in Germany. 
This is very likely to come some day, and the time 
may not be distant when we shall have good, pure, 
edible fats made from coke and lime as the starting- 
point. 
Now if we reduce this aldehyde, behold alcohol of 
the old John Barleycorn type! But if, instead of 
doing these things, we condense acetylene under cer- 
tain conditions, there results the whole string of coal- 
tar bodies-benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and the rest. 
Again, starting with acetylene, if we mix it with 
ethylene, according to an Austrian patent, and then 
condense, chlorinate, and do other things to it, we 
finally get isoprene. And isoprene, on condensation, 
yields, as we have observed, rubber, synthetic rubber, 
the real gum. Butadiene, a first cousin to isoprene, 
is easy to make from acetylene, and the economical 
production of isoprene, which is most of the way to 
synthetic rubber, may come along any day. 
Some of these processes are practical and some are 
not. Just now, neither indigo nor rubber may be 
252 OLEFINS 
profitably obtained from this source. Acetic acid, on 
the other hand, is made to-day in Canada in very large 
quantities from acetylene gas-pure, glacial acetic 
acid, in competition with that made from the acetate 
of lime of the wood distillers-and from the acetic 
acid they are producing acetone, which is greatly 
needed, among other things, for producing cordite for 
the British navy. 
Fatty Acids. Let us go back to the paraffin bodies 
and negotiate a molecule of carbon dioxide into each of 
them. Then we shall have the fatty acid of the next 
higher body of the series, with the general formula 
CnH2nO2. This may not be very clear, and it is not 
true in regard to the first of the series, but I think the 
idea will show itself in a minute. They are also pro- 
duced by the oxidation of alcohols, but, as we have 
not come to alcohols yet, we can merely record it as a 
fact and wait awhile for the theory of it. Note, 
please, one other thing about orp-anic acids, which 
is that tinav contain the errnnn nr what is 
known as the carboxyl radical, 
In the mean time let us consider the first of the 
series, or formic acid, CH2O2, or, to get it clearer, 
HCOOH. It is called from the Latin formica, which 
means ant; and it is, really, the unpleasant acid stuff 
that some ants exude in defense. It is an important 
acid as we shall see when we come to formaldehyde. 
Of course, these acids are not produced by bubbling 
carbon dioxide (CO2) through gasolene, for instance, 
because the catalyst to turn the trick has not been 
discovered. But if we take marsh gas or methane, 
CH4, and add to it, by chemical chicanery, CO2, we 
have a body set forth as C2H4O2, and that is 
253 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Acetic Acid. Here you observe the CO2 wriggled 
into CH4. This acid has been known longer than any 
other and is obtained by the oxidation of dilute alcohol 
by exposure to the air, besides the method described 
under acetylene. Cider, wine, beer, etc., turn sour 
on being left in the air, and that sour vinegar is acetic 
acid. This is aided by acetic-acid bacteria, called 
"mother" of vinegar. The absorption of O takes 
place only at the surface, and the process is slow. A 
solution of 6 to io per cent, acetic acid is obtained 
after several weeks. In the quick-vinegar process a 
solution of io per cent, alcohol is allowed to trickle 
over beechwood shavings in large vats through which 
the air circulates. The shavings are first drenched in 
old vinegar so as to provide some of the mother. This 
is a ten-day process, and the product contains 4 to 6 
per cent, of acetic acid. It is also obtained by the dis- 
tillation of wood. The distillate contains about 10 per 
cent, of acetic acid, which is caught by treatment with 
quicklime, so that acetate of lime is produced. This 
is again treated with HC1, which drives off the acetic 
acid, which is distilled over. It has very wide-spread 
use in the industries, and certain of its compounds are 
especially good as solvents for organic bodies. Pure 
acetic acid is a solid, crystalline substance which melts 
at 16.6° (about 6o° Fahrenheit), but the addition of 
very little water makes it liquid. 
The next in order is 
Propionic Acid, C2H5COOH, or C3H6O2, which we 
do not come across very often. Then follows 
Butyric Acid, C3H7COOH, or C4H8O2, which we 
occasionally know to our grief. It is the acid of rancid 
butter. It is stable and is occasionally availed of in 
organic research. When a chemist is compelled to 
work with it in the laboratory for any extended time 
254 OLEFINS 
his availability as a society man and dinner guest is 
likely to wane. It is a smell that sticks closer than a 
brother, and it scorns washing and rival perfumes. 
There are, however, some other compounds in which 
sulphur has taken the place of oxygen in alcohols, 
known as mercaptans, that can beat it. So can a 
number of others. In an atmosphere in which methyl 
or ethyl mercaptan abounds, the odor of butyric acid 
almost seems like precious ointment. 
As we go up in the scale of these fatty acids we meet 
palmitic, margaric, stearic, and the higher acids, 
which, attached to glycerin as a base, constitute the 
salts or esters which are animal and vegetable fats 
and oils. Hence the name fatty acids. We shall 
observe something of their ways when we come to 
discuss oils. The easy rule that the more atoms 
there are in the molecule the more solid the product 
does not seem to hold good with fatty acids. Pure 
acetic acid is a solid at ordinary temperatures, and 
very much higher ones are gases. 
Here is a list of some fatty acids. They may come 
in handy for reference some time. 
Name 
Formula 
Melts at 
c. 
Found in 
Formic acid 
H.C.O.OH 
3° 
Red ants. 
Acetic acid 
CH3COOH 
16.6 
Some fruit juices, 
especially vinegar. 
Propionic acid 
C2H6COOH 
-36 
Butyric acid 
c3h7cooh 
- 2 
Rancid butter. 
Valeric acid 
c4h9cooh 
-58.5 
Valerian wood. 
Caprionic acid 
C6HuCOOH 
- 1.5 
Rancid cocoanut oil. 
Palmitic acid 
C15H31COOH 
62.6 
As salts (esters) of 
Margaric acid 
c16h33cooh 
60 
animal and vege- 
Stearic acid 
c17h33cooh 
69 
table oils and fats. 
Unsaturated Acids. 
Oleic Acid Series. Just for record, and because we 
shall have to refer to them again, let us note that 
255 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
these acids contain two atoms of hydrogen less than 
the fatty acids. Note the difference in two of them: 
Propionic Acid (fat group) is C2H5COOH. Acrylic 
Acid (oil group) is C2H3COOH. 
Stearic Acid (fat group) is C17H35COOH. Oleic 
Acid (oil group) is C17H33COOH. 
These higher acids with glycerin as a base are the 
substance of many oils. But nature does not work 
according to military rules; the stearates, for instance, 
are not all lined up in fats and the oleates in oils. On 
the contrary, this base, glycerin, which we shall soon 
have to deal with, has three available bonds, or OH 
tails, and it does not mind at all having that number 
of different acids attached to it. The oleic group is 
found in fats and the fatty group in oils; all we can 
say is that they do not predominate. The rule is that 
fatty acids predominate in fats and oleic acids pre- 
dominate in oils. 
Oxalic Acid, C2H2O4. 
This belongs to a group having two COOH radicals 
and is the only one we shall note. Its formula is 
COOH.COOH, and it is prepared by fusing caustic 
soda and caustic potash with sawdust. This produces 
first a formate, which on further heating loses hydro- 
gen and doubles up to oxalic acid, or rather, to the 
oxalate. Observe, please, how formic acid goes over 
into oxalic: 
KOOC 
= KOOC 
oxalate of 
potash 
2K00CH 
formate of 
potash 
+ h2 
hydro- 
gen 
Again, oxalic acid may be switched over to formic. 
Oxalic acid is very poisonous, although it is often mixed 
with abrasives for cleaning brass and copper oma- 
256 OLEFINS 
ments, because it is not so corrosive as mineral acids. 
The other acids, malonic, succinic, etc., of this series 
we shall not consider, except to note that the longer 
the carbon chain in the molecule the weaker the 
acid. XXI 
ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
Alcohols-List of Many Alcohols-John Barleycorn and the Drinks 
That Contain Him-Industrial Alcohol-Its Great Value-Glyc- 
erin-Esters and Ethers-Aldehydes and Ketones, More Espe- 
cially Acetone-Halogen Compounds 
LET'S go back to our original paraffins again and 
note that if we take out one hydrogen atom and 
substitute an OH-that is, an oxygen atom connected 
to a hydrogen atom in the place of it, we shall get 
the corresponding alcohol. Here is a table of a few 
of them: 
Boiling- 
Paraffin 
Formula 
Alcohol 
Formula 
Spec. Gr. 
point 
c. 
Methane 
ch4 
Methyl, or wood 
ch3oh 
.812 
660 
Ethane 
c2h« 
Ethyl, or grain 
CiHsOH 
.806 
78 
Propane 
c3h4 
Propyl 
C3H7OH 
.817 
97 
Butane 
c4h10 
Butyl 
c4h9oh 
-823 
117 
Pentane 
c6h12 
Amyl, or fruit 
oil 
C6HuOH 
.829 
137 
Hexane 
C,Hu 
Hexyl 
c6h13oh 
•833 
157 
Heptane 
c7h16 
Heptyl 
c7h16oh 
.836 
175 
Octane 
CgHis 
Octyl 
c8h17oh 
•839 
191 
Nonane 
C9H20 
Nonyl 
c9h19oh 
.842 
213 
The lowest, methyl or wood alcohol, is a very light 
liquid; the next, grain alcohol, is too familiar to need 
description. The higher bodies are oily, and as they go 
up the scale they become solid. By shifting that OH 
group around to different parts of the molecule we 
can get an increasing number of isomeric alcohols- 
258 ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
that is, the same in content, but the atoms differently 
arranged in the molecule. We shall not consider 
them. Alcohols with five to eleven atoms of carbon 
are oily, and those containing more than twelve atoms 
of carbon are solid. 
Methyl alcohol is obtained by the dry distillation 
of wood, keeping the air from reaching it. Three 
products are obtained-gases, an aqueous liquid, and 
tar. The liquid contains X per cent, of methyl 
alcohol, io per cent, of acetic acid, and X per cent, of 
acetone, more or less. The chief use of methyl alcohol 
is in the coal-tar color industries, as a solvent for gums 
and varnishes, to denature grain alcohol so that it may 
not be drunk, and in the production of formaldehyde. 
Ethyl alcohol is old John Barleycorn. It is produced 
by the breaking down of sugar by means of a ferment 
known as yeast. We can take up the theory of this 
better later on, when we have considered sugars. 
The greatest use for alcohol still is for drinking, al- 
though it is of enormous value in industry as a solvent, 
in the production of varnishes, etc., in the preparation 
of organic bodies of all sorts, and as a disinfectant and 
preservative. It is said that every shell shot from a 
12-inch gun represents one barrel of alcohol used in 
the manufacture of the powder to fire it. It ranks very 
high as a disinfectant. The following are the principal 
beverages and their alcohol content: 
Beer. Three to 5 per cent, alcohol. Made by 
fermentation of malt, which is barley that has been 
allowed to sprout and then heated to change the 
starch it contains to diastase. The beer family of 
yeast grows on the bottom of the vat and proceeds to 
split the sugar into alcohol, C2H5OH, and carbon di- 
oxide, CO2. Hops are added to give flavor and to add 
to its keeping qualities. Very dark beer is made with 
259 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
burnt malt, and beer of the Munich type is made of 
pure malt and hops, while light beers are made of a 
mixture of malt and rice or malt and corn or a prepa- 
ration of corn. Pilsener is malt and rice-of course, 
with hops added. Cheaper beers are made by substi- 
tutes, a great deal of com for malt and producing the 
dark color by burnt sugar, which is caramel. 
Ale contains from 3 to 8 per cent, of alcohol, and 
some stock ales contain more. The ingredients of ale 
are the same as beer, but the family of yeast is a dif- 
ferent one, and the process is not the same. In ale, 
the yeast grows on the top of the brewing-vat and the 
brewing process is carried on at ordinary temperature 
instead of at a low one. 
Wines are made by fermentation of the sugar in 
grapes. The alcohol content in dry wines is 7 to 12 per 
cent. Sweet wines, such as port, sherry, and madeira, 
contain 15 to 20 per cent, alcohol, but to produce this 
strength it is necessary to add alcohol because the 
yeast plants are killed when the alcohol content of 
fermenting wines reaches 17 per cent. 
Champagne is fermented in the bottle and contains 
8 to 12 per cent, alcohol. 
Whisky contains 25 to 45 per cent, of alcohol, and 
is made of anything that contains sugar, but chiefly 
from corn (Bourbon), rye, and barley malt, and some- 
times potatoes. The distiller first makes a beer and 
then distils over the alcohol. The "proof" of whisky 
is its alcohol content: 100 proof is 50 per cent.; 90 
proof is 45 per cent, of alcohol, etc. 
Brandy, with 40 to 50 per cent, of alcohol, is made 
by distilling wine. 
Gin is grain liquor flavored with juniper berries and 
other extracts. 
Rum is made by distilling fermented molasses. 
260 ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
The experienced rectifier can make a great many 
kinds of wines and liquors with alcohol, water, sugar, 
and some flavoring extracts, although the wine- 
growers of America and the pure-food laws have 
brought about a better condition of alcoholic drinks 
than formerly obtained in this country. A vicious 
adulterant of whisky that was formerly sold by un- 
scrupulous dealers was methyl or wood alcohol. It 
is claimed that if methyl alcohol be chemically pure it 
is no more poisonous than ethyl alcohol, but it is 
rarely made pure. The commercial product contains 
acetone and other impurities, and it is such a mean 
poison that many victims who survive a grand drunk 
on it lose their sight. Those whom it does not 
kill it is likely to blind, as it has a destructive effect 
upon the optic nerve and retina. The demand for 
methyl alcohol has increased the price and the pure- 
food laws have discouraged the practice. Most of the 
ethyl alcohol made for industrial use is produced by 
the fermentation of molasses, after which the spirit is 
distilled off and cooled. It is denatured by adding 
to it ill-smelling substances that make it unfit to 
drink. Pyridine (C5H5N), which smells like stale 
tobacco-smoke with remorse added to it, is often 
used for this purpose. We have never heard of any 
one with a craving for it. The United States Treasury 
Department provides a long list of denaturing agents 
to meet the different industrial uses to which the al- 
cohol is to be put. It has already come into consid- 
erable use for cooking-stoves and for lighting with 
Welsbach mantles. 
GLYCOL AND GLYCERIN 
We have observed how, by substituting OH for H 
in a paraffin, we get an alcohol. Now among the vari- 
261 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ous idiosyncrasies of carbon is the fact that it does not 
like to have more than one OH group attached to 
one carbon atom. You may, by chemical strategy, 
succeed in getting a second OH attached to it, but it 
will not stay, and time and again, when you think you 
are likely to succeed, the whole thing will play a trick 
on you and break down into something entirely dif- 
ferent. But we have those alcohols with one OH, 
and they act something like an alkali; they produce 
salts, or esters, as they are called in organic chemistry, 
with acids. We do not need to put more than one 
OH group upon one carbon atom; there is plenty of 
room for more. So let us add several OH groups and 
see what happens: 
Here we have something sweet and sticky and that 
acts in a mild way as a base. Glycol is a dihydric 
alcohol, and glycerin is a trihydric alcohol. In the 
place of each of those OH groups an acid radical can 
take its place, and this is the great base of oils and 
fats that we find in nature. It is this one particular 
body, C3H8O3, glycerol, or glycerin, as it is more 
popularly called, that we find in all fats and oils, 
instead of a whole series running up and down the list. 
We shall meet its cousins of many atoms when we 
come to sugars, but for the present we are busy with 
nature's great organic base. It is sweet and sticky 
262 ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
and very hygroscopic or deliquescent, which means 
that it has a grand thirst for water. Fats and oils 
that are esters or salts of glycerin with organic acids 
are also called glycerides. Boil up a fat with a caustic 
alkali, such as caustic soda, and you produce soap and 
glycerin. 
Aside from its use in medicine, chiefly as an emol- 
lient, and in chemical industry, in dyeing and printing, 
and for anti-freezing compounds, its greatest use is in 
nitroglycerin for explosives. In the place of each 
of those three OH groups, nitric acid may hook itself 
on and we may have mono-, di-, or tri-nitroglycerin. 
For explosives the trinitrate is employed, and the 
formula is C3H6(NO3)3. It is a heavy, oily liquid 
having a sickly odor, and after it is carefully washed 
and brought to a pure state it does not explode spon- 
taneously. Mixed with infusorial earth, which is in 
effect very finely divided particles of silicon dioxide, 
SiO2, it forms a soft, plastic mass which can be molded 
in the hands. This dynamite is about 25 per cent, 
infusorial earth and 75 per cent, nitroglycerin. This 
was Alfred Nobel's original dynamite; now many 
different mixtures are made, including oxidizing 
agents and nitrocellulose. 
ESTERS AND ETHERS 
If an acid with its hydrogen ion meets a base with 
its OH ion in inorganic chemistry, a salt is formed, 
and the H of the acid and the OH of the base combine 
to produce H2O, or water. In organic chemistry the 
process is much slower; the OH groups of the alcohols 
and other bodies which contain them do unite with the 
H of the acids to produce water, H2O, while the rest of 
the acid and the alcohol, glycerol, or whatever it may 
263 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
be, slowly combine into what is called an ester. Ester 
is the expression for salt in organic chemistry. Whether 
this name came from the Bible or not is more than I 
can say, except that some of the esters are fragrant 
and have strong fruity odors. Many perfumes, whether 
natural or artificial, are complex ethers and esters. 
And Esther of Holy Writ, you may recall, was puri- 
fied, "to wit, six months with oil of myrrh and six 
months with sweet odors and with other things," but 
just how pious the first man was who called these salts 
esters we do not know. 
There are also esters of inorganic acids. Thus if 
we bring alcohol and nitric acid together we have an 
ester. 
C2H6OH 
ethyl 
alcohol 
+ HNO3 
nitric 
acid 
= H2O ri- 
water 
C2h5no3 
ethyl 
nitrate 
Ethers. If we take two molecules of an alcohol, 
and then from the two take one molecule of water, 
leaving one atom of oxygen as a kind of hinge to con- 
nect them together, we have an ether. Let us do 
that in two operations: 
C2H6OH 
ethyl 
alcohol 
ri- H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
= CAHSO, 
ethyl sul- 
phuric acid 
+ h2o 
water 
Now let us add more alcohol, and we have 
C2H5SO4.H 
ethyl sul- 
phuric acid 
+c2h6oh 
ethyl 
alcohol 
= C2H5.O.C2Hi 
diethyl 
ether 
+h2so4 
sulphuric 
acid 
Observe, please, that you get the sulphuric acid back 
again, so that a little of it goes a long way in making 
ether. 
264 ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
The number of possible ethers is twice as many as 
there are alcohols, because two different alcohols may 
be connected up by an oxygen atom. The above, 
diethyl ether, is the one best known and is used in the 
production of anesthesia. 
ALDEHYDES AND KETONES 
If we take two atoms of hydrogen from an alcohol 
we get what is called the corresponding aldehyde, and 
if we add an atom of oxygen to the aldehyde we get 
the corresponding acid. The name aldehyde indicates 
dehydrogenated alcohol, or nZ(cohol) d^yd(rogenatus), 
and that which is best known is formaldehyde, the 
first of the series, corresponding to formic acid, which 
in turn corresponds to the methane group. Methyl 
alcohol is CH3OH, formaldehyde is CH2O, formic acid 
is CHOOH. Ethyl alcohol is C2H5OH, ethyl aldehyde 
is C2H3OH, and acetic acid is C2H3.O.OH. 
Formaldehyde is a gas, soluble in water, and every- 
body knows its unpleasant smell. It is an excellent 
antiseptic and an active poison. It is produced from 
wood alcohol (methyl alcohol). It has the trick of 
polymerizing, as it is called-that is, of multiplying 
up its molecules into other bodies by doubling, tripling, 
quadrupling, etc., until molecules of a very high num- 
ber of atoms are obtained. If brought into contact 
with carbolic acid, it forms a precipitate, and when 
this precipitate is heated and pressed under just the 
right conditions the well-known substance Bakelite 
and other sirtiilar products are made. The method 
is just the one you would expect. Here we have a 
body, which by heating, to loosen up the hooks of the 
atoms in the molecule and by pressing at the same 
265 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
time, we get new molecules with much larger numbers 
of atoms in them. The higher series are gums, and 
Bakelite in its final form is one of the most inert sub- 
stances known in regard to acids, alkalies, and elec- 
tricity. It looks like amber, but can be colored and 
made opaque; it is very largely used in electrical ap- 
paratus; it makes excellent billiard-balls, being some- 
what livelier than ivory, and is used for pipe-stems 
and all other things for which amber is employed. 
Ketones have the same general formula as the alde- 
hydes, but the arrangement of the atoms in the mole- 
cule is different. Acetone, the first of the series, and 
the most popularly known, is represented by CH3- 
CO.CH3. It is, you observe, a methyl group on either 
side of a CO group. There is one free hook to each of 
the CH3 radicals, and there are two left over from the 
CO group of atoms. Acetone is prepared from acetate 
of lime and is used in chemical industry. It is miscible 
with water in all proportions, and is especially valuable 
as a solvent. Acetate of lime, you may recall, is a 
product of the distillation of wood. A new method 
of producing acetone is by means of a yeast which 
ferments sugar into acetone, hydrogen, and other 
bodies. Over half of the world's production of acetone 
is made in one works from acetic acid, which, in turn, 
is obtained from the oxidation of ethyl alcohol. Great 
quantities are needed in the manufacture of cordite. 
As might be expected, the halogens take the place 
of hydrogen in these hydrocarbons, according to their 
nature. Fluorine is very energetic, chlorine less so, 
and iodine will not react directly with them, but 
requires a little chemical coaxing to bring it into com- 
bination. We shall mention only a few of these 
products. 
Chloroform is methane, CH4, with three hvdrocen 
266 ALCOHOLS AND SOME RELATIVES 
atoms substituted by chlorine to CHC13. It is not a 
very stable liquid, decomposing under the influence 
of light and air, and is always preserved by ethyl 
alcohol. Its use is chiefly as an anesthetic, but it has 
also valuable solvent properties. 
Carbon tetrachloride we have already described, and 
iodoform, CHI3, is a yellow crystalline substance used 
in surgery as an antiseptic. XXII 
FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
How Nature Sometimes Makes a Mistake-Need of Fats-A General 
Petition for Cleanliness-Refining Oils-List of Well-known Oils 
-Hardening Oils-Theory and Practice-Oleomargarine-Noth- 
ing to Be Afraid of-Soap-Theory-Practice-Twitchell Process 
-Toilet Soaps-Washing Clothes-Improvements 
WE have discussed at some length the various 
fatty acids and we have also considered the 
base of fats and oils, which is glycerin. Nature has a 
way of storing up energy in fats. They have a high 
value in producing body heat and body energy, and 
they form layers of protective tissue which serve as 
storehouses to be drawn on in emergencies. Of course, 
nature does not always get just the right information 
and sometimes proceeds to provide layer upon layer 
of fat where it is neither wanted nor needed. Metab- 
olism is an odd series of processes, and we do not 
of necessity grow fat by eating glycerides. On the 
other hand, fatty degeneration may set in at any 
time, and the most abstemious and athletic man may 
puff up like a porker for no reason that can be ascer- 
tained, or, at all events, for no reason that will satisfy 
him. There is also a legend to the effect that ladies 
sometimes grow aweary of the increasing abundance 
of their charm. 
In this chapter, however, we are not discussing 
human fat, but rather that of lower animals which is 
268 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
sold as lard or tallow, and the fats of plants, or rather 
seeds, which are usually oils. Both lard and tallow 
are chiefly stearates of glycerin and the principal ob- 
servation that has been made concerning them during 
the past few years is that there is not enough to go 
round; hence the rise in price. We must have fats, 
however, and fortunately a way has been discovered 
to give us all the hard fats we need through the hydro- 
genation of oils. We should remember that these oils, 
whether from plants or animals, are very similar in 
constitution and that they need good treatment, espe- 
cially if they are to be hardened into fats for eating. 
We do not let a hog lie around after it has been slaugh- 
tered before the lard is removed, and no more should 
vegetable oils be allowed to degenerate before they 
are refined. Oils must be fresh and the speed of refin- 
ing as well as the methods by which they are obtained 
are great factors in their quality. 
A large amount of palm and cocoanut oil comes 
from the tropics in very bad condition, although of 
late efforts have been made to improve conditions 
under civilized control. But reforms are slow in com- 
ing about. Not long ago some oil-presses were sent 
to the tropics to press out palm and cocoanut oils, and 
word came back that "the presses were too heavy 
for women and children to operate." Millions of 
dollars would be saved annually in the United States 
alone if oils were properly instead of carelessly ren- 
dered. Peanut oil, for instance, made of Algerian 
peanuts and pressed in France, comes in splendid 
shape. Domestic peanuts, at the present writing, are 
often not even husked before pressing, and they are 
frequently pressed in cotton-seed oil-presses that have 
not even been cleaned before the operation. Let us 
hope that this defect may soon be corrected. 
269 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Cotton-seed oil has the habit of growing rancid in 
the seed if the weather is wet; therefore the cotton- 
oil crop is always poor after a wet season. Corn-oil, 
which contains a considerable amount of unsaponi- 
fiable matter, is usually handled in a clean manner and 
it is growing in favor as an edible oil. 
In refining oils it is preferable to employ physical 
methods rather than chemical reagents, because oils 
are so delicate and complex that it is easy to tear them 
to pieces, constitutionally, with acids and alkalies. 
There are, however, nearly always some free fatty 
acids in oils, and these increase as time goes on. 
To avoid this increase it is necessary to add a slight 
amount of alkali to neutralize them in refining. This, 
of course, produces soap, which is precipitated usually 
with clay. 
After oil is pressed from nuts or seed it should be 
allowed to settle immediately and the pulp and albu- 
minous matter precipitated with clay. Pulp is vexa- 
tious stuff in oils; it darkens them and makes them 
rancid. The color and turbidity are removed by ful- 
lers' earth, and the odor, except that of fullers' earth, 
is removed by passing through charcoal. The earthy 
taste and smell are blown out by steam. Some oils are 
bleached and their pigments oxidized by blowing air 
through them. Linseed and soya-bean oils are 
bleached by heating up to 2000 centigrade, whereby 
the pigments are carbonized and the color grows light. 
An interesting process is that discovered and pat- 
ented by Prof. Charles Baskerville, of New York, 
which provides for immediate refining of oils after 
pressing-a great desideratum. The oils, after press- 
ing, are run into a settling-tank and there treated with 
cellulose, usually in the form of wood-pulp, and a 
slight amount of soda. The pulp absorbs the coloring- 
270 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
matter and other impurities, together with the soap 
produced by the soda, and is separated from the oil 
by filter presses. 
The following are some of the principal oils that 
come upon the markets of the United States: 
Lard and Tallow Oils. Almost entirely used in the 
production of artificial butter. 
Cotton-seed. The old stand-by. The largest use 
is for foods. The next single use is to make "pure 
Castile soap from olive-oil. The olives from the 
Mount of Olives." Marseilles, France, is the head- 
quarters for Castile soap, and the French use chiefly 
cotton-seed, peanut, and sesame oils for their product. 
It is hardened into "Crisco" and similar products, 
and Doctor Wesson has succeeded in refining it into a 
very good salad-oil. 
The Olive is needed in certain industries as well as 
for salads and cooking. The Latin and Mediterranean 
peoples cook with oil, the Teutonic and Slavic peoples 
with hard fats. The line is as clearly drawn as is the 
line of language which divides the races. 
The Soya-bean is a very important oil. It comes 
from China and Indo-China, although it could also 
be grown in many parts of the United States. It is 
edible, is good soap stock, and it is said to have fair 
drying qualities. There appears to be a great future 
for the soya bean. 
Peanut is a good substitute for cotton-seed oil and 
should have a good future. It is edible, hardens well, 
and is good soap stock. 
Fish-oil is sometimes used in cheap mixed paints; 
it hardens well and loses its odor in the process, pro- 
vided it is thoroughly done. 
Castor-oil is a medicine, a lubricant, and used in the 
dyeing industry as Turkey-red oil. 
271 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Cocoanut-oil has advantages in soap-making. It 
contains some low, fatty acids, of which the sodium 
esters, or soaps, are somewhat soluble in hard and salt 
water. This makes cocoanut-oil soaps available over 
a wide range. 
Cocoa butter is that which is pressed from the 
chocolate bean and is the most expensive of the fats 
mentioned. It is used in the manufacture of confec- 
tionery and for toilet preparations. 
Chinese vegetable tallow is an odd fat which usually 
comes here in rather bad shape It is a good soap 
stock, but it has an odd peculiarity that may make 
it a great convenience to some inventor who wants 
just this quality. Like water and antimony, it ex- 
pands as it hardens, so that if it is melted and poured 
into a glass or earthenware vessel of any kind it will 
break the vessel as it hardens. It is hard at ordinary 
temperatures. The peculiarity of hardening as it 
expands would make it valuable in taking the exact 
shape of strong*molds, just as antimony causes type 
metal to take the complete form in the matrix. 
Hardening oils, or hydrogenation of fats, as it is 
called, is one of the noteworthy accomplishments of 
modern industrial chemistry. As a research achieve- 
ment it ranks in importance with the cracking of 
petroleum to produce gasolene and with the flotation 
process for concentrating ores. 
Let us recall what we observed of the comparison 
between fatty acids and those of the oleic group and 
note that their only difference is that of two atoms of 
hydrogen. For instance: 
Propionic Acid (fatty group) is C2H5.COOH. 
Acrylic Acid (oleic group) is C2H3.COOH. 
Stearic Acid (fatty group) is Ci7H35COOH. Oleic 
Acid (oleic group) is Ci7H33.COOH. 
272 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
Now there are other acids found in fats and oils, but 
chiefly in oils, and some contain four atoms of hydro- 
gen less than the corresponding fatty acid. Linoleic 
acid (from linseed-oil) is six hydrogen atoms shy, and 
among fish-oils there is one acid that has eight hydro- 
gen atoms less than the fatty acid with the same num- 
ber of carbon atoms. Linseed and fish oils have dry- 
ing qualities, which may be due to these unsaturated 
bodies, but linseed-oil is far better. 
If, then, in the hard fats the most of the acids are 
like stearic, which has all the hydrogen it can carry-■ 
and most of the acids in the oils have not as much 
hydrogen as they can carry-it follows that if we can 
intrigue a couple or more of hydrogen atoms into the 
molecules of these oils, getting them into their right 
places, we shall shift the series over from the unsatis- 
fied oleic and lower groups into fatty acids. In other 
words, if the only difference between stearic or fat 
acid and oleic or oil acid is hydrogen, then if we put 
the hydrogen in we shall change the oil to a fat. The 
glycerin is not interested in the operation; it is just 
as well satisfied if mated to the one as it is to the other. 
Indeed, it is often combined, as we have said, with 
two or even three different acids at each of its avail- 
able places. Getting the necessary hydrogen atoms 
into the oil molecules is the trick we should like to 
turn, although we can let hydrogen gas bubble through 
cotton-seed or palm or soya-bean or olive or peanut 
or any other oil to our heart's content, and nothing 
will happen. But here comes the catalyst: some 
very finely divided nickel, for instance, or platinum or 
palladium (both of which are too expensive) will intro- 
duce the H atoms. These are led into the oil into 
just the place where they are needed, along with 
the hvdro^en. and uo comes vour oil as nice, clean. 
273 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
white fat. It is fat, stearic, palmitic, etc., glycerol 
esters. 
When we consider the rate at which meats, including 
their fats, have increased in cost of late years and the 
increase of the population of cities, always calling for 
more meat and more fat, we can appreciate the value 
of this invention, which will turn nearly any good, 
pure, non-poisonous oil into edible fat-substantially 
into lard. 
So far, nickel has proved to be the great catalyst 
for this purpose, and the reason why it must be very 
finely divided is that it appears that the H will go 
into combination only when the particles of Ni, oil, 
and H are all three in contact. Another excellent 
reason is that it will not work unless the Ni is very 
finely divided, finer than we can grind it. So it is 
precipitated out of a nickel salt in a condition fine 
enough to do the work. An interesting feature is that 
the nickel apparently gets tired and refuses to work 
after a while. Then it must be heated to drive off 
the oil, whereby it also becomes oxidized. Next it is 
heated again in a current of hydrogen and thus re- 
duced. Then it is ready for business as before. 
After the operation of hardening oils is over there is 
some nickel that remains in the fat, and it is so finely 
divided that it cannot be removed. But this need 
not worry us. There is less nickel in these fats than 
is obtained by cooking in a nickel-plated chafing-dish. 
It is estimated that not over six parts of nickel remain 
in 10,000,000 parts of fat. 
Hydrogen is very slightly soluble in oils, so that a 
general agitation or mixing up is necessary to bring 
about the triple contact. Pressure also speeds up the 
reaction, but it is hard to keep the hydrogen in the 
autoclaves under pressure. To make an autoclave or 
274 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
pressure vessel with an agitator air-tight is quite a 
task; the attempt to make it hydrogen-tight is more 
than likely to involve unprofitable and unsuccessful 
profanity. 
The modem method is to attach the nickel to some 
light, inert substance to keep it afloat, and this aids 
in effecting the triple contact. A fairly high tempera- 
ture is necessary-1800 to 1900 centigrade is best. At 
ioo° centigrade the operation proceeds very slowly. 
There are a great many patents covering various 
processes in the art, and at the present writing oppos- 
ing interests are engaged in trial at law to determine 
their rights and privileges. 
Hydrogenation may be stopped at any stage, and 
very hard fats may be mixed with untreated oils so 
that any degree of hardness or softness may be ob- 
tained. The principal use of hardened oils is for 
cooking and for use in soaps. Soya-bean, peanut, and 
com oils are coming into favor as edible products 
along with cotton-seed oil. 
Oleomargarine.-Three kinds of this artificial but- 
ter are produced: 
1. White; 
2. Tinted (natural color); 
3. Colored (artificially). 
The best is the white, made from the best beef fat, 
neutral lard, with some cotton-seed or peanut oil. 
The tinted includes some of the yellower oleo oils, 
while the colored is colored with annatto, a coloring- 
matter obtained from the seed petals of the annatto 
tree of South America. The ingredients are similar to 
those of the white. 
The so-called oleo oils are the oils of lard and tallow. 
They are expressed in the lard refineries and then 
275 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
beaten up or emulsified with milk. It is very impor- 
tant that a good, rich grade of milk be used which is 
first pasteurized and then allowed to "ripen" or grow 
sour, just as sour cream is used for butter. The oils are 
heated and the fats melted under carefully regulated 
temperatures, then weighed off and run into the churn 
or emulsifier, which contains ripened milk. The 
churning lasts from fifteen minutes to an hour, and 
then the whole is run into a tank under a spray of ice- 
water, whereupon the butter floats on the ice-water 
and milk and is skimmed off. These tanks are called 
crystallizing tanks. The butter is left some time in 
containers to drain and to take on the flavor of the 
milk that is left in it. Then it is worked like real 
butter, salted, and packed for sale. 
The process as carried on in large factories is a clean 
one, and as the fats are practically sterilized and the 
milk pasteurized, oleomargarine does not carry the 
hazard of the bacilli of disease that may be found 
in defective but genuine butter. 
Unsalted oleomargarine has very little taste and 
is not so good a substitute for fresh or unsalted butter 
as it is for that which is salted. The differences in 
taste are greater. 
Oleomargarine yield nearly twice the amount of food 
principle computed in calories compared with that pro- 
vided by butter, although butter fat also carries minute 
peculiar bodies which some maintain are needed in 
animal metabolism. Some manufacturers provide 
along with the best white oleomargarine little tubes of 
annatto, so that the thrifty housewife may color her 
artificial butter as she desires it. The tax on the white 
and tinted product in the United States is one-fourth 
of a cent per pound; the tax on the colored oleo- 
margarine is ten cents per pound. There was pro- 
276 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
duced in the United States from April i, 1915, to 
April 1, 1916, 147,156,197 pounds of oleomargarine. 
Soap.-Fats, as we know them, whether liquid, as 
ohve or cotton-seed oil, or solid, as beef suet, you will 
remember, are esters or salts of the higher fatty or 
oleic acids with glycerin. When these are boiled 
with an alkali such as caustic soda, we get the sodium 
salts or esters of the fatty acids, and that is soap. Any 
strong alkali will produce a soap, and the process of 
splitting a fat into its acid parts and glycerin is called 
saponification. The by-product is glycerin. Potash 
soap is soft; sodium soap is hard, and that is the 
product that we use every day. 
What happens, then, when we wash our hands and 
get rid of the dirt with the soap? In the first place, 
a certain amount of our own fat oozes out through 
the skin constantly, through the sweat-glands-not 
through the pores, as many believe. This fatty 
sweat is sticky, and holds the dirt on. Now soap, 
being a salt of a metallic alkali with a high fatty acid, 
is not a very robust compound; the base is strong, 
but the acid is weak. When dissolved in water it dis- 
sociates in part to free acid and free alkali. If we add 
more water to the solution, more free stearic or pal- 
mitic or whatever the acids may be are freed, as is 
more alkali, but the additional water keeps it in dilu- 
tion, so that we never get very much free alkali from 
a good soap. The free acid combines with another 
molecule of soap and produces a light, insoluble com- 
pound, which is suds. The suds act as a mechanical 
carrier and carry away the particles of dirt which have 
been liberated by the just-enough-but-not-too-much 
free alkali. The free alkali attacks the grease it finds 
and makes more soap of it. That is the theory, or 
277 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
at least a theory, which seems reasonable. Others 
maintain that soap acts as a cleaner because of its 
lubricating and solvent power. Let us not dispute 
over it. 
Caustic soda or sodium carbonate would do just 
as well so far as loosening up the dirt is concerned. 
The trouble is we should get the alkaline solution too 
strong and injure the skin or the cloth. The great 
merit of soap, so far as its free alkali is concerned, is 
its moderation, its temperance. Then the lather is a 
great convenience. 
When soap is made by boiling up fats with caustic 
soda the product is driven out of solution by adding 
salt. Then the soap floats on top in flakes and the 
glycerin and salt water are below. When the soap 
is pressed out it sinks, but it can be made to float by 
blowing air into it. 
Now you may recall why hard water is undesirable 
for use with soap. We explained how the lime and 
magnesia that it contains change place with the so- 
dium in the esters of the fatty acids and produce lime 
and magnesia soaps which are insoluble, while we were 
discussing water. 
An improved method of saponification or the split- 
ting of fats is the process of Dr. Ernest Twitchell, of 
Cincinnati. He provides a catalyst (a "saponifier," 
he calls it), consisting of a fatty acid coupled up with 
naphthalene, and this is further treated with sulphuric 
acid, so that a fatty, aromatic, sulphonic acid is pro- 
duced. A very little of this-of i per cent, of the 
weight of the fat-will effectively split the entire 
batch. The glycerin then contains no salt and very 
few other impurities, while the fatty acids, even if pro- 
duced from low-grade fats, may be purified by distilla- 
tion. Soap is then made by bringing the acids into 
278 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
contact with soda ash instead of the more expensive 
caustic soda that is used in the old method. The 
Twitchell process is in large use by progressive manu- 
facturers. 
Soap is soap-softer if made with potash and harder 
if made with soda. Roughly speaking, cheap soaps 
are likely to be made of vegetable fats to a greater 
extent than expensive products, and yet very often 
the big, yellow cakes of the laundry and the scented 
Thing of Perfection in the boudoir are made from the 
same stock. Many French persons always use Amer- 
ican soaps on the ground that they are the best. 
Many Americans, on the other hand, prefer French 
soaps for toilet use on the ground that they are still 
better. Others buy whichever costs the most in the 
same search after perfection. Now soap, I repeat, is 
soap, and the things you pay for in fancy soaps are 
things to please-perfume, rosin, filler, and emollients 
of one sort or another, not forgetting the wrapper. 
It is not chemistry that makes a piece of good, neutral 
soap with no free alkali a little scented nubbin worth 
fifty cents; it is art. 
Washing clothes or laundering is an art that has 
not changed in any major way for many years. There 
are the clothes and the dirt on the one hand and soap 
and water on the other, and the best we know how to 
do is to rub them all together, rinse them out, and 
dry them. Then after they are bleached, starched, 
and ironed, they are ready for use again. There's 
nothing new in this. But in minor details there have 
been many changes, and it is fair to say that greater 
improvements have been made in the public laundries 
than in the laundry of the household. 
The general practice in commercial laundries is first 
to check and mark the goods. Fine linens that may 
279 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
not be marked up are put into nets and each net bears 
a tag. Then the wash is made up into lots and these 
lots go through the whole process as single batches. 
Each lot then is first put through the wheel in cold 
water, soap, and soda. To about 240 pounds of 
water (30 gallons) X pound of soda and 1 pound of 
soap are used. These amounts vary according to the 
hardness of the water and the condition of the clothes. 
The entire process in the wheel, which is constantly 
in motion, lasts about half an hour, but the cold water 
bath is over in fifteen minutes. The object of the 
cold bath is to remove the albumen which coagulates 
and hardens in the heat. This water is discharged and 
the clothes are rinsed. Then follows a run in hot water 
and soap, 150 to 1800 Fahrenheit (65-80° C.), enough 
soap being used to make a good suds. Here again we 
observe the need of using soft water, because whatever 
measure of hardness there is in the water will destroy 
the corresponding amount of soap by making it in- 
soluble. If the run is on collars and shirts, a little 
bleach, preferably hypochlorite of soda, is put in 
about ten minutes before the end. The goods then 
receive three successive rinses, about five minutes 
each, and then comes the blue solution, usually 
aniline blue and sometimes ultramarine, lukewarm, 
for about ten minutes. There is likely to remain a 
little alkali at this time which tends to give the 
clothes a grayish tinge, which is overcome by a lit- 
tle acetic or oxalic acid, which the laundryman calls 
his "sour." This neutralizes the alkali and brings 
out the blue. Then follow two or three rinsings in 
warm or cold water and the whole lot is put into the 
centrifuge. 
Starched goods are dried and dampened before 
ironing, while underwear and such goods as should 
280 FATS, OILS, AND THEIR PRODUCTS 
be very soft and flexible are dried in a rotary dryer 
with hot air passing through. 
Home washing has the advantage that the clothes 
receive selective treatment; goods are washed until 
they are clean and no longer. 
Commercial laundries make some selection between 
the very dirty and the moderately dirty goods, but the 
selection is not exact. Whatever is put into a lot goes 
through with the lot, whether it needs so much washing 
or not. On the other hand, the laundry wheel does 
not give clothes such rough treatment as a washing- 
board. Scientific laundrymen are much more con- 
scientious as to the materials they use than is the 
casual laundress. 
The improvements made in the art of washing 
clothes and cloth as the result of chemical research, 
especially at the Mellon Institute of the University 
of Pittsburgh, have done away in good laundries with 
the practice of using lye and bleaching-powder, have re- 
duced the amount of bleach and acid used in very large 
measure, and the present work is toward discover- 
ing the real action of soap solutions and their effects 
upon fibers, the action of plain water and of mechan- 
ical processes. When the best results are discovered 
the methods will be standardized. Many foolish 
preparations sold under fancy names and labels at high 
prices have been analyzed and proved to be mere 
catchpenny devices. XXIII 
SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
The Steps from Paraffins to Sugars-The Many Different Sugars- 
The Study of Them-Emil Fischer and Van't Hoff-Making 
Cane or Beet Sugar-Sucrose and Glucose-Candy-Chewing- 
gum-Gums and Varnishes-Varnishes and Paints-A World 
Full of Troubles 
LET us go back to the paraffins and recall those 
t chains of hydrocarbons in which the carbon atoms 
are linked together by one bond, and the other affini- 
ties satisfied with hydrogen. Methane, CH4, is the 
first of the series; ethane, C2H6, is the next; and 
so on. Then the alcohols are produced by the sub- 
stitution of an OH group for a hydrogen atom, and 
you may remember that a carbon atom does not like 
to carry more than one OH group. Then, recalling 
the note on glycerin, let us repeat the formula given 
to explain it: 
In other words, as we fill up the places of hydrogen 
with OH radicals we get compounds that are sweet 
282 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
and sticky. Now let us make longer chains and we 
have: 
Roughly speaking, then, a sugar is an aliphatic 
chain having many OH radicals and one or more 
CH2OH or CO groups in the molecule. Sugars with the 
group belong to the aldehyde bodies and are 
called aldoses. Those with the CO group, on ac- 
count of their relation to ketones, are called ketoses. 
Such are all simple sugars. "Ose" is the termina- 
tion of the chemical names of all sugars. A simple 
sugar is a sugar of one chain of carbon atoms, and they 
are called monosaccharides. Now let us imagine two 
simple sugars joined together with the loss of water 
(H2O), which is called dehydration, and then we should 
have a sugar composed of two chains, which would 
be called a disaccharide. Here we are getting back to 
familiar ground again, for sucrose is none other than 
cane or beet sugar, the sugar of the household, the 
substance of the lump that goes into the cup of coffee. 
Observe, then, please, that sucrose is a disaccharide 
composed of glucose and fructose, less one molecule 
of water. 
283 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Maltose is a disaccharide composed of two glucose 
molecules joined. 
Milk sugar is a disaccharide composed of glucose 
and galactose, all, of course, less one molecule of 
water. 
Now if we join three simple sugars together we have 
trisaccharides. Thus, raffinose, an impurity of cane- 
sugar, is a trisaccharide. Just as the lower members 
are not exactly sugars, but rather glycol and glycerol 
or glycerin, so the higher members beyond which 
these chains of glucose, fructose, etc., are combined as 
polysaccharides, many in one molecule, cease to be 
sugars but get to be starches and gums. And further 
on, with still more chains of these simple sugars all 
polymerized into molecules as big as your fist, if you 
undertake to write them down and really know their 
constitution, and your writing is not too fine, we 
have cellulose! That is the reason why alcohol may be 
made from sawdust. The whole list is known as carbo- 
hydrates. 
It would seem, then, that it would be an easy task 
to make any sugar we want; that if we have glucose 
and fructose we could "just take and go to work" 
and dehydrate them and there we should have all 
the table sugar we want made out of com and pump- 
kins. But here we come to a difficulty again. By the 
action of acids the polysaccharides are easily broken 
up into simple sugars; that is easy and is the basis 
of the glucose industry. But the other way about, 
the locking up of simple sugars into the more complex 
bodies, is a trick that nature knows but that we haven't 
learned yet. All of these carbohydrates are made by 
nature out of carbon dioxide and water-sugars, 
starches, gums, and cellulose. Two monosaccharides 
have been dehydrated to a disaccharide, but only with 
284 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
great pains and circumstance. And even then it did 
not turn out as it was expected to. 
The history of the study of sugars is interesting. 
They are all sweet and soluble and gummy. Both 
acids and alkalies break them down so effectively that 
their structure is lost in the operation, and so the work 
on sugars was formerly very indefinite. Then the prob- 
lem was to get some crystalline derivative of the 
sugars that was distinctly marked in each case. In 
1887 Emil Fischer discovered this: he found that 
phenylhydrazine in the presence of acetic acid makes 
with sugars beautiful, moderately soluble crystals 
which are called osazones, that every sugar has its 
own distinct characteristics, and that by this means 
the different sugars may be recognized. Just consider 
the patience it must have taken to discover this! 
He had been working for years on the subject. 
But that was not enough. The osazones showed 
that there were a great many kinds of sugars, but 
what were they? The proportions of carbon, hydro- 
gen, and oxygen in the molecule are the same in many 
different kinds-the many isomeric sugars that are 
the same in composition and yet different in the rela- 
tive positions occupied by the atoms within the mole- 
cules. So we must consider the work of Jacobus 
Henricus van't Hoff, a young Dutch chemist from 
Delft. He studied in Paris and in Bonn. As a student 
he was more of a dreamer than a chemist; he had a 
philosophical turn of mind and a head for mathe- 
matics. His avocation was the study of Byron, and 
he caused somewhat of a flutter in the dove-cotes by 
writing very pretty poems in English to the attractive 
girls that he met. When he came to Bonn, where 
Professor Kekule at that time was teaching, and had 
worked out the formula for the benzol ring, he 
285 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
was curious to know where those carbon bonds were. 
If that benzol molecule was a thing, what shape was 
it? If there were those four bonds attached to each 
carbon atom, which way did they reach out? That 
an atom is almost infinitely small did not disturb 
his mathematical mind in the least. The great Kekule 
did not help him, neither did anybody else, so he 
proceeded to work out the study of stereochemistry, 
or place-chemistry, which, as we have said, we shall 
not develop in this work. Suffice it to say that van't 
Hoff worked out his theories and published them 
against angry and scornful opposition. He had re- 
turned to Holland by this time and was lecturing in 
a veterinary college in Amsterdam, and "the Dutch 
horse-doctor" was assured that he was an ignoramus 
and everything else undesirable. But van't Hoff 
bided his time. He had faith. Finally the great 
Emil Fischer applied the work of van't Hoff to his 
sugars. He found, according to stereochemistry, that 
there were sixteen different kinds of glucose possible. 
By 1893 he had made eleven of them, and now they 
have all been produced. Without stereochemistry the 
knowledge of these things would have been impos- 
sible. Since then the study of sugars has been carried 
on by Nef and others, and the subject constitutes one 
of the most thoroughly studied branches of organic 
chemistry. 
Cane-sugar, or sucrose, is found in sugar-cane, in 
beets, sorghum, sugar-maple sap, and honey. At one 
time great hopes were entertained of making sugar 
from sorghum, but the beet-sugar industry has taken 
its place. The tropical sugar-cane is harvested and 
the cane is cut or lacerated, and then run through 
heavy rollers to squeeze out the juice. The beets are 
cut into long, thin slices in order to break up the 
286 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
membranes of the cells which contain the sugar. 
These are placed in vats through which water circu- 
lates, the nearly exhausted material being acted on 
by fresh water while the material richest in sugar is 
treated with the strongest solution, with a view to 
using the least amount of water possible in the process. 
The result is a solution of 12 to 15 per cent, of sugar, 
which is about the proportion contained in the beet 
itself. 
A greatly desired invention would be the ability to 
dry these slivers of sugar-beets so that they might be 
stored and transported, to avoid the necessity of 
extracting the sugar where the beets are grown. As 
it is, the beets are harvested, cut up, and the raw 
sugar extracted in a factory located in the beet dis- 
tricts of Michigan, Colorado, California, or wherever 
else they may grow. The season is hardly over two 
months long and the expensive factories remain idle 
for the other ten months every year. This is bad 
practice and far from economical. A great saving 
would be made if the factories could be centrally lo- 
cated and operated all the year through, and as soon 
as the drying methods are perfected this should be 
possible. Many have tried to do this, but without 
success. I am informed, however, that the art has 
been achieved, although it has not been brought into 
general practice as yet. The same holds true of cane- 
sugar, and I understand the plan is worked out and 
in operation on a small scale to dry the sugar-cane on 
the plantations, bale it, and ship it to temperate cli- 
mates, and there have the sugar extracted from the 
cane all the year round, while the spent cane is then 
used for making paper. 
The treatment of the beet-sugar solution is very 
similar to that of the juice of sugar-cane. Slacked 
287 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
lime is added to neutralize and precipitate the organic 
acids that are present, along with the phosphates. 
This is very necessary, because the presence of the 
acids in solution would decompose or "crack" the 
sucrose to glucose and fructose, which are not wanted 
at all. The lime also precipitates the nitrogenous 
bodies or proteins and some of the coloring-matter. 
Then it is run through a filter press to get rid of the 
lime precipitate and, because sugar does not crystal- 
lize out well if heated to a high temperature, the solu- 
tion of sugar and water is boiled down in vacuum pans. 
As you reduce the air pressure, the boiling-point is 
reduced. Carbon dioxide is run through the syrup 
to get out the lime that remains in solution, and after 
filtration the syrup is still further concentrated until 
crystals begin to appear. Then it is cooled and the 
brown sugar crystallized out. This is separated in a 
centrifugal machine and the molasses, which will not 
crystallize-is molasses. The molasses, except that 
which covers buckwheat cakes and goes into ginger- 
bread and candy, is sold for the production of alcohol. 
Most of the denatured alcohol made in the United 
States at present is the product of molasses. 
Thus we have brown, or raw, sugar. It is dissolved 
again and filtered through bone-black to remove the 
coloring-matter. The filtered solution is then concen- 
trated once more in vacuum pans and run into tanks, 
in which it crystallizes out in the form of granulated 
sugar, the sugar of commerce. It still has a brownish 
or yellowish tinge, and we users of sugar in our coffee 
and tea want the product perfectly pure, or, in other 
words, pure white. Now we can crystallize sugar 
again and again and it will still have a little yellowish 
tinge, because that is its natural color. So Mr. 
Refiner meets the situation by putting a little blue 
288 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
coloring-matter into the solution, which neutralizes its 
yellowish tint. He uses ultramarine, which does us 
no harm. Then the sugar has a beautiful bluish white 
color which satisfies us and satisfies him and enables 
the grocer to make a profit on his high-grade wares. 
Sucrose, or cane-sugar, melts at 1600 centigrade. 
When kept at its melting-point for a time and then 
allowed to cool it solidifies into an amber-colored 
mass that is called in England "barley-sugar," be- 
cause barley-water was at one time generally used in 
its preparation. In the United States it is more likely 
to be called "stick candy," or, going back a genera- 
tion, "Jackson balls." When cane-sugar is boiled 
with dilute acids and so is split into dextrose and levu- 
lose it will not crystallize readily. That is the reason 
why a little vinegar (acetic acid) is added to candy 
that is to be pulled. 
Candy.-The making of candy is an industry based 
in part on the fact that sugar becomes "barley-sugar" 
and is amorphous and glass-like when heated to 1600 
centigrade. When it is heated to 2100 centigrade 
it loses water and becomes caramel. It is an im- 
portant industry when we consider the vast amounts 
that are exported to tropical countries. The greatest 
amount is made in the form of hard candies, which 
are 70 per cent, glucose and the rest sucrose and 
water. Now let us stop right here and fuss and fume 
a little over the good people who fear glucose because 
it is "a chemical product." Let us see how much more 
of a chemical glucose is than cane-sugar. The glucose 
is made from corn and the solution is treated with a 
mild acid to split off the simple sugar from the starch. 
The cane-sugar is extracted from cane or beets and the 
solution treated with an alkali to remove the organic 
acids. This is the chief difference in the processes, 
289 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and if, so far as manufacture goes, glucose is a danger- 
ous chemical while sucrose or cane-sugar is not, then 
we might as well come to the conclusion that caustic 
lime is edible while vinegar is a poison. After that, 
the processes are somewhat similar except that there 
is no artificial coloring-matter in glucose when it comes 
upon the market, whereas there is an infinitesimal 
amount in sucrose, or sugar. The absurd value of the 
advertising slogan "no chemicals used" is not a favor- 
able comment on our intelligence. It is only one step 
in advance of the old patent-medicine advertisements 
that were assured to be harmless because they were 
"purely vegetable" - and so contained nothing 
stronger than 40 per cent, of alcohol, or a little mor- 
phine, strychnine, belladonna, and such other "purely 
vegetable" simples. The superstition that anything 
with a chemical name is dangerous to health is based 
on crass ignorance. Glucose is just as healthy as 
sucrose. Years and years of human experience and 
physiological experimentation prove this. 
To return to hard candies, the mixture of glucose, 
sucrose, and water is heated in open steam-jacketed 
kettles and then boiled down in vacuum pans to pre- 
vent the formation of caramel, while the excess water 
is removed. Here the flavor and coloring-matter are 
put in at the end of the process. Then it is run into 
flat pans on a table, layers of different colors are im- 
posed one upon another, and it is drawn or rolled up 
and worked into the forms and shapes that are 
wanted. 
Gum goods are chiefly glucose and water with very 
little cane-sugar. Gum-drops may contain a little 
gum-arabic, and are molded, dried, put in a pan, and 
covered with a crystallizing syrup which is a solution 
of about 50 per cent, sucrose in water. The syrup 
290 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
is drained off and sugar crystals form on the outside of 
the gum-drops. 
Peanut-brittle is glucose and cane-sugar heated 
until the point is reached where it begins to caramel. 
Then the peanuts are added. Some makers add 
roasted peanuts and some prefer unroasted nuts. The 
syrup is so hot that it cooks them, anyway. Then 
the mixture is poured upon marble slabs and allowed 
to cool. 
Chocolate cream-drops.-The "cream," or inside, is 
cane or beet sugar, for they are the same, and water 
heated together into a creamy consistency, and then 
it is molded and dried. The chocolate coating con- 
tains about 65 per cent, cane-sugar and about 32 per 
cent, cocoa. To get the right consistency, cocoa 
butter is added and then the candy is dipped. Ma- 
chine-dipped candy goes through much faster than 
that dipped by hand, and so the coating is thinner. 
Too much of the coating would stick to the machine 
if it were operated slowly enough to make a thick cov- 
ering. There is considerable art in making a good 
chocolate coating. It should have a good cracking 
quality and break with a snap. If it is not well made 
it lacks this quality. The dipping mass is better if 
it is made and cooled and allowed to stand for a few 
days and then melted for the dipping process. The 
temperature must also be guarded carefully, because 
if the mass is too hot the covering becomes streaky. 
Chocolate is made by roasting cocoa beans and 
pressing out some of the oil which is known as cocoa 
butter. What is known as bitter chocolate, or the 
chocolate sold for cooking purposes, contains about 
50 per cent, of the cocoa oil or butter. The (adjective 
deleted by publisher) stuff known as cocoa powder 
or breakfast-cocoa is the pulp of the cocoa beans with 
291 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
nearly all the oil pressed out. It is, I believe, entirely 
wholesome to drink and eat in quantity. 
Cheap candies are just as wholesome as the expen- 
sive product. The principal difference is that the one 
is worked by machinery, whereas the other is worked 
by hand, and the chocolate coverings are much thicker 
in the more expensive kinds. Poisonous dyes are not 
used in coloring them; but even if those of question- 
able effect were employed, cases of poisoning would 
be more likely to occur as a result of taking too much 
sugar than from the pigment. The amount of pigment 
employed is very, very slight. 
Chewing-gum.-Why Americans chew gum is a fair 
question to bring up before a debating society. It is 
said that some 200,000,000 people chew betel-nut, 
but they are not of the Indo-European races to which 
we belong. Europeans do not seem to take to gum, 
although there is a rumor to the effect that the 
long, silent watches in the trenches have started the 
habit among many soldiers. For the exercise of the 
great American jaw no less than 7,000,000 pounds 
of chicle are imported annually into the United 
States. 
Spruce gum was the secret joy of our childhood, 
although the amount produced was not large. An 
apothecary named Colgan, of Louisville, Kentucky, 
made spruce gum and found a considerable market for 
his product. He read in one of his trade papers that a 
large consignment of a gum called chicle made of the 
sap of the sapota tree had arrived in New York and 
that the consignees were trying to find a market for 
it. It had been hoped that it would serve as a sub- 
stitute for caoutchouc, but this was not successful. So 
the Louisville man sent for a sample order, tried it 
out, found that it succeeded, and speculated on all, 
292 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
or nearly all, of the cargo with signal success. So the 
great jaw-wagging began. 
Chicle is related to the rubbers, and some of its 
constituents are the same. The gum-makers melt it 
in kettles to destroy the fibers and eliminate the 
water, although they do not heat to a high tempera- 
ture. It should then be filtered to clean it, although 
this is not always done. Then glucose is added until 
it reaches the proper consistency, and cane-sugar and 
flavoring are stirred in until thoroughly mixed. It is 
then taken out of the kettle and kneaded into cakes 
of about twenty pounds each and run through sizing- 
rolls to bring it into sheets of the desired thickness. 
Then it is run through scoring-rolls which mark out 
each piece. Then it is cooled, broken into the pieces 
marked by the scoring - rolls, and wrapped and 
marketed. 
Cheaper gums are made in whole or part of deres- 
inified Pontianak rubber, and in some it is possible 
that rubber resins are used. What is needed in the 
industry is to provide that the gums remain soft in 
cold weather and to prevent them from growing 
brittle with age. 
Gums and Varnishes.-Gums are mostly high sugars 
-polymerized sugars with molecules of a great many 
atoms. The more frequently found and consequently 
cheaper ones have an acid reaction which may come 
from impurities. They are built up within the tree 
or plant, which, within its remarkable chemical works, 
brings water and carbon dioxide into combination as 
sugars, and bunches the sugars into gums and starch 
and into cellulose for the walls of its cells. 
Of course these gums are legion in number. The 
cheapest of all is rosin, and some of the most expensive 
ones are fossilized, the latter making excellent var- 
293 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
nishes, but usually hard to dissolve, and a good part 
of them-about 16 per cent, in practice-is lost by 
heat when they are dissolved in oils. 
The business of a varnish is to make a covering for 
objects as though it were covered with liquid glass. 
Paint does similar work except that the covering is 
opaque, and the differences between paint and varnish 
are not very clearly drawn; especially since varnishes 
that are to stand the weather are often loaded up with 
finely divided lampblack or other pigment. But we 
need not bother about that. For the present we have 
to do with varnishes made of gums of one sort or an- 
other which we desire to dissolve and apply. 
Rosin will not do alone for varnish, because it is 
too soft; it has no lasting qualities; nevertheless, it 
is used in some varnishes. Shellac, from the lac tree, 
is often used in spirit varnishes for inside work, but 
it is not an ideal covering, either, because it is too 
waxy. There are trade troubles about it, too. It is 
graded according to color, which means that it is 
submitted to all sorts of chemical bleaching agents 
which often play hob with its chemical structure. 
General tests of shellac will show not less than 5 
per cent, of rosin and vast amounts of rosin are ex- 
ported from Savannah to East India only to be 
brought back mixed with shellac. The best of all gums 
for varnish are copal and fossil resins dissolved with 
good petroleum benzine and mixed with cold, pressed 
linseed-oil. 
There are two kinds of varnish-spirit and oil. 
Spirit varnish is usually shellac dissolved in alcohol, 
and is good for inside work. The point with spirit 
varnishes is to get the coat on and have it ready for 
almost immediate use, and when the varnish is once 
applied we have no further use for the solvent; we 
294 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
want it to hie away as quickly as possible and not 
remain as a boarder. For this purpose many different 
kinds of solvents are used. There are grain alcohol 
and wood alcohol, acetone-which makes the varnish 
thicken too fast-and turpentine and petroleum ben- 
zine, as well as others. The automobile business has 
spoiled the quality of petroleum benzine as we have 
already noted, because instead of providing a series 
of light hydrocarbons they now sell a body of the 
same specific gravity but composed of still lighter 
petroleums, together with those much heavier. A 
petroleum benzine supposed to boil at from 700 to 
1200 centigrade will contain bodies that distil over at 
from 1200 to 2000 centigrade, and by the time varnish 
dissolved in that kind of solvent is thoroughly dry 
your patience is likely to be lost and your temper in 
trouble. 
Fat or oil varnishes are mixed with an oil which 
leaves are sidue that dries slowly as it oxidizes. To 
assist in this process, "driers" are put in, which are 
oxidizing agents, such as lead oxide or manganese 
dioxide. The action is not simple at all. 
Linseed-oil is about the best, but the merits of others 
are urged. Formerly linseed-oil was pressed cold, which 
produced a splendid product, but the yield was small. 
Now in order to improve the yield in bad years it is 
pressed hot, and that brings with it foots and al- 
buminous substances, mucilage, plant tissue, and all 
sorts of things that are not wanted. The supply of 
flaxseed is subject to great variations, being large 
one year and small the next, so while the demand 
is steady, the rule that "the higher the price the 
lower the quality" may nearly be said to hold good. 
The Dutch artists of Rembrandt's time who made 
their own pigments were very particular in regard to 
295 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
their linseed-oil, allowing it to stand many years in 
order to get thoroughly clear. Our current methods 
of the purchase and sale of package goods has resulted 
in unfortunate ignorance on the part of the artists of 
to-day of the materials they use. Sir Joshua Reynolds 
and his colleagues were great hands at trying experi- 
ments, and their pictures tell the story. 
China-wood or Tung oil is an excellent product of 
great elasticity, but it is hard to dry. It has a re- 
markable trick of jellifying after it has been heated 
and growing insoluble so that it cannot be cut. Its 
difficulties, however, are being mastered. Soya-bean 
oil in regard to a medium for paints and varnishes is 
less understood than linseed or Tung. It is also hard 
to dry. Cotton-seed oil and com-oil are often mixed 
with linseed. They have their uses. Generally speak- 
ing, the ultimate use determines how varnishes should 
be made, although a lot of the chemistry of the art is 
still unknown. 
Spar varnish was originally intended for the wooden 
spars of ships, and it is a covering designed to stand 
the worst kind of weather conditions. It is usually a 
slow-drying oil varnish with good hard gum. China- 
wood oil is generally used in spar varnishes. 
As an instance of the need of varnishes and paints, 
steel begins to decay as soon as it leaves the rolls. 
Air, moisture, and sulphur fumes bring this about, 
so it needs to be covered as soon as possible. The final 
covering should be with three coats, and it is well to 
have them of different colors so as to be sure all three 
coats have been put on. Painters, like other men, have 
been known to skip work sometimes, and if the same 
color is used this will not show. But as the pigments 
are likely to be different metallic oxides or salts, there 
is also the danger that with different colored paints 
296 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
electrolytic action may set up between the different 
metals and thus hasten the decay of the steel. This 
world is certainly full of troubles and we need chemical 
advice at every step! 
Starch.-These carbohydrates, including the sweet, 
gummy products ranging from glycerin to the most 
complex sugars, have ways of bunching up their mole- 
cules, sometimes giving up water and sometimes taking 
it on, and forming a long series of bodies that are of 
enormous importance in natural processes, but there 
has not been reached a sufficiently clear agreement and 
understanding on the subject to bring it into popular 
discussion. The trained organic chemist, too, can see 
these molecules in his mind's eye; can be convinced 
at which point each atom or radical is placed, while 
we have not wandered sufficiently far in this book to 
make that problem easy. So we shall only consider 
the subject superficially. 
We know that dextrose, a simple sugar, is easily 
converted into dextrine, and dextrine, with water, is 
a gummy substance. Now starch, which is (C6Hio05)x 
-that is, CeHioCU multiplied by an indefinite number- 
is converted by heat into dextrine, and the hot iron 
of the laundries does this to the starch on linen, 
covering the fibers with a hardened gum. But the 
laundry, while the most familiar, is in effect the least 
use for starch. It is the great assimilation product of 
plants. The seeds contain it, and this feeds the young 
plant until it grows big enough to make the carbo- 
hydrates-that is, the sugars and gums as well as 
starch and cellulose which it needs in the process of 
living and growth, from water and carbon dioxide from 
the air. It is likely that the plants produce sugars of 
one sort or another first and then bunch the molecules 
to gums and starch. We find starch in the following 
297 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
percentages in well-known grains: Winter wheat, 
63.7; spring wheat, 65.8; barley, 63.5; English oats, 
49.7; com, 64.6; rye, 61.8, and Carolina rice (husked), 
77.6. We must have starch in food for both man 
and beast, as well as for plants. We cannot build up 
sugars into starch, as nature does, but we can split 
them down to simpler substances-which nature does 
also. For instance, dilute acids split starch down to 
dextrine and then to dextrose or glucose. Heat does 
this also. In the presence of certain ferments, such as 
saliva or the diastase of malt, starch is changed to 
maltose. 
Starch is a colloid, not exactly soluble in cold water, 
and yet in hot water it absorbs so much that it swells 
up into a pasty mass. This is why rice swells up so 
when it is boiled. It dries out into minute granules of 
different sizes-from 0.004 to 0.0079 of an inch in 
diameter-and in shape according to its origin. Some 
granules are round, some oval, and some truncated. 
Whether prepared from corn (maize), as in the United 
States, or potatoes, as in Europe, or arrowroot, as in 
the West Indies, the process consists in destroying the 
cell tissues, usually by mechanical means, and then 
washing out the starch and drying it carefully. By 
further treatment with a dilute acid and by heating 
it is converted into glucose, or grape or com sugar. 
There is another polyose-now you remember the 
chemical names of all the sugars end in ose, so starch 
is a polyose, or many-sugar-called glycogen, which 
is found in animal organisms and is usually prepared 
from the liver. It has the same formula as starch, 
C6Hio05, multiplied we do not know how many times, 
and this is a white powder which dissolves in water, 
giving an opalescent solution. And these glycogens 
show differences according to the animal from which 
298 SUGARS, STARCH AND GUMS 
they are isolated. For instance, horse meat may be 
recognized by its glycogen content, which is greater 
than that of beef. 
The baking of a loaf of bread is a very interesting 
process, and recent events have proved that it is well 
worth the chemist's attention. Flour is principally 
starch in one of its many forms, with some sugars, 
and then some other bodies. As every baker knows, 
flour is tricky stuff and full of ways that are vain. 
There is great room for chemical research in the milling 
industry, and in baking and cooking, too. 
The ingredients for bread are flour and water, yeast, 
salt, fat, sugar, and milk. Yeast is a member of a 
considerable family of plants, of which each variety has 
ways of its own. You can bake bread with brewers' 
yeast, but distillers' is better, and specially grown 
yeast for baking is better still. In some countries it is 
forbidden to use brewers' yeast for baking. When the 
dough is made it is set aside in a warm place to let 
the yeast grow, and as this microscopic plant proceeds 
to do so it produces, as it matures, two bodies which 
straightway come into use. The first changes the 
sugar that is within the wheat and that which has 
been added into a form that will ferment. The second 
ferments the sugar-that is, it splits it down to ethyl 
alcohol, C2H5OH, and carbon dioxide, CO2. Then the 
bread rises, because the CO2 needs room for itself in 
that solid dough, and it expands wherever it is formed 
in all parts of the bread, making holes for itself be- 
cause the sticky gluten will not let it out. The baker 
or the housewife looks at the dough, observes that it 
has "raised," and then it goes into the oven. 
Here it meets a new situation. In all that heat the 
alcohol is quickly turned to vapor, and it wants to 
escape. So does the carbonic-acid gas. In this, espe- 
299 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
cially the alcohol appears to succeed, for I have yet 
to learn of anybody who was made drunk by eating 
bread. On the outside of the loaf the sugar, by means 
of the heat and the air, is converted into caramel, and 
so the crust has an entirely different taste from that 
of the bread. The yeast is baked, too, but that does 
no harm-it has finished its business. 
Now let us see how chemical research enters into so 
familiar a process as bread-baking. We shall consider 
two improvements, both worked out in the Mellon 
Institute of Industrial Research of the University of 
Pittsburgh after a start at the University of Kansas, 
and both by the same man. When the late Robert 
Kennedy Duncan established industrial fellowships at 
the University of Kansas, the National Association of 
Master Bakers wanted to know how to make "salt- 
risin' bread." This was a product of the frontier, 
where yeast was not to be had. Some forgotten 
woman, with a sense of the reasons why things happen, 
put sour milk and com-meal and salt, and possibly 
something else, together until it proceeded to ferment. 
This she mixed in the dough batch instead of the yeast 
which she did not have, and sometimes the result was 
excellent bread. It was not the same as ordinary 
bread; the holes were smaller and there were more of 
them. Old frontiersmen often cried out for "salt- 
risin' bread"; they wanted it badly, and yet no one 
alive could be sure of success in baking it, no matter 
how carefully the recipes were followed. So the 
bakers' association donated a fellowship, and Professor 
Duncan put Doctor Kohman at work at it. Some- 
times he succeeded, and often he failed, until he dis- 
covered the bacillus that turned the trick, which de- 
veloped in the sour milk, com-meal, and salt. Where 
did it come from? Out of the air! Doctor Kohman 
300 SUGARS AND GUMS 
selected just the right bacillus, made cultures from it, 
and to-day any good baker can make salt-risin' bread 
by using a culture of this bacillus instead of yeast. 
The products of fermentation are hydrogen and CO2 
instead of alcohol and C02, and some persons find 
that they can digest this bread while they cannot 
digest the ordinary product. 
Although other improvements in baking have ema- 
nated from the Mellon Institute, I shall mention only 
one more. This is the discovery of how to make yeast 
do double work, saving some flour, one-half the sugar 
needed, and producing a better bread. The problem 
that Doctor Kohman put to himself was whether the 
yeast, after it had finished its work, had done the best 
it could. It feeds on the very things contained in the 
flour, so that it would seem to have all the advantages 
that growing yeast should have. Right here, I think, 
we can note the way scientific training causes a man's 
mind to work. Here was yeast growing in its "natural 
surroundings," growing just the way it has always 
grown. The unscientific mind would hardly have gone 
much further than to look for the best cultures of 
yeast and the best flour. Now let us follow the 
chemical twist. Doctor Kohman noted that the 
ashes of yeast contain a considerable amount of 
calcium and other metals, and careful determina- 
tions confirmed quantitatively what he already knew 
qualitatively-that the nitrogen content of yeast is 
high. There is some lime and some nitrogenous 
protein in flour, but the question followed naturally 
whether the yeast, that needs considerable lime and 
fixed nitrogen, can get all it needs from the flour and 
milk. So he tried the simple experiment of feeding the 
yeast in the dough batch just enough of what it needs 
in the form of sal ammoniac or ammonium chloride 
301 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
(NH4C1) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) mixed with 
enough flour to keep them dry in the packages in 
which they are sold. The process is patented in ac- 
cordance with the stipulations of the Mellon Institute 
fellowships, which give control of the rights to the 
donors, but the public comes into the advantages with 
better bread all around. 
Just to show what the potential value is of a simple 
invention of this sort, I did a little guessing with Doc- 
tor Kohman. First we imagined all the bread in the 
country to be baked with the yeast properly fed as I 
have described. Then we guessed 80,000,000 barrels 
of flour to be baked into bread annually, and we 
proceeded to figure on the savings. That would be 
about 160,000,000 pounds of sugar, at, say, six cents 
a pound, and 80,000,000 pounds of yeast, worth, say, 
$16,000,500. This is a little matter of over $25,000,000 
a year. But if we leave this item out of consideration 
or give the inventor a slice of it and the owners of the 
patents a hunk of it, we shall still have better, more 
wholesome, and more nutritious bread. XXIV 
CELLULOSE AND NITROGEN COMPOUNDS 
The Universal Need of Starch-Baking Bread-What Really Hap- 
pens-Improvements in Baking-Cellulose-The Chemistry of 
It-Nitrocellulose-Artificial Silk-Permanent Paper-Fermen- 
tation Again-Paper-What It Is-Pulp-Sulphite Pulp-The 
Waste Liquor Nuisance-The Manufacture of Paper-The Future 
in Regard to Paper-A Note on Nitrogen Compounds, including 
Proteins 
CELLULOSE.-Here we have another polyose, 
same formula as starch (C6Hio05)x, but just as 
different from starch as can be. Whether the multiple 
of C6HioOb is greater or less for cellulose than for starch 
does not seem to be clear. Naegeli claimed that by 
treating starch with saliva, salt solutions, and dilute 
acids (which is what we do to it in the process of diges- 
tion) he found two substances-granulose, which was 
soluble, and cellulose, which was not. If Naegeli was 
right, then cellulose is a division product of starch- 
but it doesn't seem established yet. In fact, it looks 
as though Naegeli was wrong. Cellulose is a very 
sturdy compound, much sturdier than starch. You 
can nitrify cellulose just as you can glycerin, and 
make nitrocellulose, an explosive compound known as 
guncotton, for cotton is nearly pure cellulose. If you 
attempt to do this to starch it is apt to split it right 
down to sugars. Mixed nitric and sulphuric acids 
dissolve cellulose to nitrocellulose. 
303 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Very strong alkalies will also dissolve it, and so 
will carbon bisulphide. A solution of mononitro- 
cellulose with alcohol and ether is called collodion. 
When the solvent evaporates it leaves an elastic skin. 
The trinitrocellulose looks like fibers of cotton if 
made from that material. When dissolved in acetone 
or ethyl acetate and the solvent is removed, it is used 
for smokeless powder. Artificial silk is made by dis- 
solving trinitrocellulose in alcohol and ether and pass- 
ing the solution through very fine holes in glass at 
a pressure of about 600 pounds per square inch. 
The filaments are received in water which takes up 
the solvent, leaving a very fine thread which, when ten 
or twenty are spun together, make a thread capable of 
being woven. This, however, would make a guncotton 
gown, because these fibers are of nitrocellulose, and 
wrought into a gown they certainly would not do for 
ladies who smoke cigarettes. So, before being spun or 
woven, the threads are treated with calcium sulphide, 
which takes over the nitro radicals from the nitrocellu- 
lose, leaving pure cellulose, which is just what is wanted. 
The use of cellulose is increasing by leaps and 
bounds. It is the stuff which constitutes the walls 
of the minute cells of all vegetable life. It may be 
spun into threads and woven into cloth or felted into 
paper. It may be made soluble and resolved into the 
finest threads, and these again rendered insoluble and 
woven into fabrics of any thickness desired. Cellulose 
is a generic name; there are many different kinds of it 
and there is still much to be learned about the struct- 
ure of its molecules. Nitrocellulose and camphor make 
celluloid, and if acetic acid, which is another solvent 
for it, were only cheaper, acetyl-cellulose would take 
the place of nitrocellulose, as we have noted before, 
and the fire hazard of moving-pictures and other 
304 CELLULOSE, ETC. 
celluloid objects would be removed. Lately Dr. Wal- 
lace G. Cohoe has invented a permanent paper for 
documents consisting of a finely woven cotton cloth 
covered with a thin film of cellulose. This should be 
good for five hundred years. The process is patented. 
Stable and firm as cellulose is, it has one weakness, 
and when this trouble once begins its days are num- 
bered. It can, by oxidation, go over to oxycellulose, 
which is its oxidation product. This is an utterly 
worthless, amorphous powder, the flour-like stuff that 
is the product of very old newspapers that crumble to 
dust in your hand. It may be produced chemically 
by overnitrifying cellulose until the whole thing is 
oxidized. The nitro radicals are lost in the process. 
But nature can also start it going, especially in paper 
but also in cloth, and once cellulose begins to turn to 
oxy cellulose it goes right on. We shall come to this 
again in the discussion of paper. 
Now let us return to alcohols once more, and espe- 
cially to ethyl or grain alcohol, which seems to be 
nature's favorite. We have a close relation here be- 
tween the alcohols, sugars, gums, starch, and cellulose. 
While we cannot polymerize or bunch together the 
sugar molecules until we have starch, you may recall 
that by heat and pressure and chemical assiduity 
certain artificial gums have been prepared. But we 
can split down the starches and cellulose so that we 
get simple sugars by means of a mild acid. Then, in- 
stead of doing the rest ourselves, we call in the yeast 
plant, of which there are many varieties, and, as we 
mentioned under the head of bread, the yeast cell 
contains two specific bodies, one of which oozes out 
of the cell and converts certain unfermentable sugars 
into those that will ferment. The difference between 
unfermentable and fermentable sugar is that the latter 
305 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
will ooze into the yeast cell, where it meets another 
enzyme, as these catalytic bodies are called in organic 
chemistry, and this second enzyme splits the sugar 
into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The sugars that lack 
this osmotic power to penetrate the yeast cells are the 
unfermentable sugars. Now why will some sugars in 
solution penetrate that membrane while others will 
not? An easy guess would be that monoses, or sugars 
of which the molecules are composed of a single carbon 
chain, would slip through more easily than those of 
two or more carbon chains. The only trouble is, 
it isn't so. Some monoses are fermentable, while 
others are not, and some of more than one carbon chain 
are found to be fermentable. We shall have to let 
the question go unanswered; but I should like to call 
your attention right here to a great field of chemistry 
that we can only note in passing, and that is biological 
chemistry. Questions of fermentation are questions of 
but one branch of biological chemistry. There are 
innumerable bacilli that turn the most unexpected 
tricks for us, such, for instance, as those found in the 
nodules of leguminous plants that combine nitrogen 
of the air with some sap within the plant. There are 
thousands of different varieties of bacilli, each of which 
produces a certain chemical effect under given condi- 
tions, and here is where the biological chemist, usually 
supposed to be working on problems of physiology, is 
beginning to be called for in the industrial research 
laboratory. Many a difficult reaction is accomplished 
by letting just the right bacillus do your work for you. 
This is likely to be one of the next great fields to de- 
velop-the biological chemist in industry. 
Paper.-Although the chief ingredient of clothing 
is cellulose-that being the minute framework which 
306 CELLULOSE, ETC. 
makes up the fibers whether the stuff be wool, cotton, 
linen or silk, we shall restrain ourselves from a dis- 
cussion of the chemical aspect of the clothing business 
and consider the greatest industry dealing chemically 
with cellulose, which is that of paper. Paper is com- 
posed of little filaments of cellulose, matted or felted 
together. Since cellulose is the framework of cells, 
and everything that has life is made up of them, we 
should be able to make paper out of a great many 
different raw materials. But while the industry is a 
chemical one, the knowledge of cellulose and of its 
many varieties is still very limited. 
For centuries paper consisted of the fibers obtained 
by the disintegration of linen and cotton rags, held 
together and given a smooth surface by admixtures of 
starch, glue, clay, and similar loading and surfacing 
materials. With increased demand for paper other 
vegetable fibers came into use. In this way wood 
pulp was introduced. For a long time only mechanical 
pulp was known, and this is produced by tearing the 
fibers of soft wood asunder, grinding diagonally the 
edges of the natural logs with a stone in the presence 
of water. These particles contain a large part of the 
gums and other substances of the tree which are less 
stable than cellulose. They oxidize on long exposure, 
and oxidation, whether slow as in this instance, or 
rapid as with fire, is likely to be contagious; and when 
the whole paper is transformed to oxycellulose it be- 
comes worthless. As we noted a few pages back, 
oxycellulose is an amorphous powder with no mechan- 
ical qualities whatever. 
Mechanical wood pulp was formerly mixed with 
that made of rags, to its cheapening and detriment; 
and the rule holds good to this day that the more of 
this mechanical pulp a paper contains the poorer 
307 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
is its quality. Later a Philadelphia chemist named 
Tilghman made an important discovery. He observed 
that sulphurous acid has a disintegrating action upon 
wood, setting the cellulose fibers free from incrusting 
substances, and this gave a great impetus to the paper 
industry. The usual method is to treat chips of wood, 
hacked out so as to give a good length of fiber, with 
bisulphite of soda, and the sulphurous acid which is 
set free dissolves all the organic substances except the 
cellulose. It takes place under heat and pressure. 
This is sulphite pulp, after it has been treated with 
water to separate the fibers and bleached. To make a 
good newspaper requires about 20 per cent, of this 
product, along with the mechanical pulp. 
A stronger quality of sulphite pulp is made by the 
Mitscherlich process, in which a weaker acid is used. 
This points the way to improvements in the art, such 
as the lately developed kraft paper-a very strong 
wrapping-paper made originally of undercooked pulp. 
It has also developed what is known as the sulphate 
process, which, owing to its milder treatment of the 
wood, is finding increased application. 
We should note right here that sulphite-pulp mills 
have been a great nuisance, because of their waste 
liquors. That sulphurous-acid solution contains every- 
thing in the tree except the cellulose, and it pollutes 
streams, kills fish, and it takes a long-suffering public 
and easy-going lawmakers to stand that sort of thing. 
Modem methods of dehydration bring the solute down 
to a powder which bids fair to have many uses. There 
has also been discovered a curious yeast plant that 
thrives in a sulphurous-acid solution. By means of 
this the waste liquors are treated so as to produce 
about 1 per cent, of alcohol, and the production of 
ethyl (or grain) alcohol from this source is increasing 
308 CELLULOSE, ETC. 
rapidly. So is the impatience of the public with the 
waste-liquor nuisance of those sulphite-mills which do 
not treat their liquors. 
The first process in paper-making is to put the 
pulp into a tub called a beater, in which, with a great 
deal of water, the pulp is made to revolve around a 
center, or "teased," as the expression is, to get the 
fibers softened. The quality of paper to be made is 
determined in the beater. Then clay is added to 
about 15 per cent, of the weight of the pulp, of which 
about 5 per cent, is retained in the final product, and 
then red coloring-matter is put in to overcome the 
yellow tinge of the wood, after which blue is added to 
make it nearer white. 
After coloring, some milk of rosin is thrown in. 
This is ordinary rosin emulsified with soda ash, and 
is called engine sizing. In the cheaper grades very 
little rosin is used. This is followed by alum, which 
distributes the rosin, but why it does so is more than 
I can answer. Let us say that it is for some colloidal 
reason and hurry along to the next subject. All the 
time the fibers have been in constant motion, and when 
a thorough mixing has been reached the bottom of the 
tub is opened and the mass drops down into what is 
called a staff chest. This is a large box agitated with 
a paddle into which water constantly pours. From 
here it is pumped up to the paper-machine floor, where 
it is first refined in what is called a Jordan, which is 
constructed like a meat-chopper, and again it is 
screened, with water pouring over it all the time. It 
takes about one thousand gallons of water to make 
one pound of paper. Then, as a thin, milky 
fluid, it is run into the flow-box of the machine. 
This is a long table of wire screen, through which the 
water flows as the fibers are distributed upon it. The 
309 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
screens are about sixty feet long and from sixty to 
two hundred inches wide. By very cleverly devised 
joggling motions of the screens, which move very 
rapidly, the fibers are so laid that the paper has, in 
effect, a warp and a woof. From the screen the paper 
is picked up and passed through drying-rolls, where the 
rosin becomes more evenly distributed. If the paper 
is to be sized, it is passed through a trough of glue. 
It is then reeled and cut. 
Thus the art of making paper is further advanced 
than the science of it. To furnish the United States 
with paper requires the trees growing on several mill- 
ion acres every year, and not only is there not enough 
spruce, balsam, fir, hemlock, chestnut, and poplar, 
but it seems a shame to use the forests up this 
way. If these woods were cut and the wood planta- 
tions maintained according to enlightened forestry, no 
harm would be done, although less paper would be 
made. But we do not do things that way on a large 
scale in this country as yet. We cut and slash through 
any old way that will pay best, and that is sometimes 
very bad for the land and the people. I do not know 
how to keep up our paper supply and conserve our 
forests at the same time, so that my complaint is not 
much more than a whine, at the best. What is needed 
is something to take the place of these woods, and 
not only United States Government chemists, but 
other men of research, are diligently engaged on the 
problem. 
The first thing to utilize will probably be wood 
waste. Sawdust has not long enough fiber, but slabs 
and stumps, branches, and roots will probably be 
availed of as soon as economical methods are devised. 
Dr. Arthur D. Little, of Boston, a well-known author- 
ity, estimated the daily waste of possible paper in the 
310 CELLULOSE, ETC. 
yellow-pine industry alone to be 40,000 tons! The 
making of kraft paper from slabs and other waste 
is now rather a matter of engineering and transporta- 
tion than of research. Some work is in process already. 
Corn-stalks, rice and flax straw, cotton-stalks, and 
the wild banana are far from a complete list of other 
possible sources of pulp supply. A very interesting 
process well past the theoretical stage is the dehydra- 
tion of sugar-cane on the plantation and the shipment 
of dried and baled cane for the sugar to be extracted 
in temperate climates. We referred to this in dis- 
cussing the manufacture of sugar. It would not only 
enable the sugar-works to operate all the year round 
in temperate climates instead of for a short season 
when the cane is ripe in the tropics, but it would 
also make the planters independent of the tropical 
sugar centrals. The resultant paper is of very fine 
quality. 
In Europe a grass grown in the southern part of 
the continent and in northern Africa called esparto 
is very widely used, and the wild banana of tropical 
and subtropical America is full of promise. But we 
haven't got around to it yet, and so far, so long 
as spruce and other soft woods hold out, they are 
cheaper. 
Aside from the need of new sources of pulp supply, 
paper-makers would like somebody to invent an im- 
proved screen for their Fourdrinier machines. These, 
upon which the paper is finally made, consist of cop- 
per, and copper breaks-the screens are not strong 
enough. If somebody will be good enough to invent a 
non-corrosive alloy with great tensile strength that 
costs no more than copper, the paper-making-machin- 
ery people will have something to say to him for his 
own good. 
311 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS 
Amines.-Ammonia, NH3, has a way of exchanging 
hydrogen atoms for paraffin radicals, and these are 
called amines. Without going into details there are 
combinations of methane, CH4, and ethane, C2H6, with 
ammonia as follows: 
In other words, they may be regarded as derivatives 
of ammonia. The lower members are gases, inflam- 
mable, and are very soluble in water. The succeeding 
members have low boiling-points and are miscible 
with water. Both they and the lower orders have a 
characteristic smell, something like boiled lobsters. 
The higher members are odorless and insoluble in 
water. 
Nitro Compounds.-These contain a N02 group, 
the nitrogen atom being directly linked to carbon. 
CH3NO2 is nitromethane, C2H5NO2 is nitroethane, 
etc. They have the peculiarity of exchanging one 
hydrogen atom for an alkali metal, especially sodium. 
Thus 
C2H6NO2 
nitroethane 
4- Na 
sodium 
= C2H4NaNO2 + H 
312 CELLULOSE, ETC. 
and these sodium compounds are insoluble in absolute 
alcohol, which gives the chemist the key to their 
separation. 
Carbylamines.-Of course the cyanogen, C2N2, radi- 
cal will turn up, and this it does in two different ways: 
with the nitrogen atom linked to the alkyl group, as, 
for instance, C2H5.NC, which is carbylamine or ethyl 
isocyamide. Another name for the group is isonitriles. 
They smell to high heaven. The general character- 
istic is a rank, pungent odor of Simon-pure filth. 
Proteins.-A possibility, but still an unsolved riddle, 
is the synthetic production of protein. Protein is 
a generic name given to those complex bodies con- 
sisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen 
found in both animal and vegetable products which, 
by the metabolism of the body, are changed into tissue. 
It is the stuff that makes muscle, and without protein 
we cannot live. They have molecules of great com- 
plexity, and in addition to the elements named they 
carry sulphur, phosphorus, and other elements. The 
great Emil Fischer, after clearing up the sugar mys- 
teries and blazing the trail so that nearly every pos- 
sible sugar is now known, set himself to the task of 
untangling the protein riddle, and he succeeded in 
producing, synthetically, certain polypeptides which, 
had they first been discovered in nature, would surely 
have been classed as proteins. This is just getting 
under the edge of the subject, and I think it doubtful if 
this generation will see the synthetic production of 
the stuff that meat is made of brought into general 
practice. On the other hand, it will be interesting to 
learn, when the European war is over, how much has 
been accomplished in the way of research to provide 
synthetic foods in Germany during the blockade. It 
is possible that necessity may have incited some very 
313 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
considerable advances where chemical research has 
reached so high a stage as it has in that country. 
They have not, apparently, been able to raise enough 
vegetable oils to be hardened into the much-needed 
fats. XXV 
AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
The Benzol Ring-Why These Compounds Are Called Aromatic- 
The Ways of the Benzol Ring-How the Aromatics Are Formed- 
Tar-The Series-Nitrification-Picric Acid-Other Aromatic 
Acids-Positions on the Ring-Higher Aromatic Hydrocarbons 
WE must treat in a still slighter manner the other 
half of organic chemistry, with a view to giving 
an intimation of the great industries built upon the 
so-called derivatives of coal-tar. 
Substantially all of the products heretofore consid- 
ered in organic chemistry have consisted of open 
chains of carbon atoms linked to one another by one 
and occasionally two and three bonds. Now we come 
to compounds in which six carbon atoms form the 
nucleus of the molecule or group of atoms, attached to 
one another in the form of a hexagon or ring. This 
is the famous benzol ring which is so often spoken of 
in chemistry. The formula is C6H6, and it is graph- 
ically presented as follows: 
315 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
It is often represented as a simple hexagon, 
with all the carbon and 
hydrogen atoms supposed to be present except where 
a substitution is made, as, for instance, in chlorben- 
zol, C6H5C1, 
It acts somewhat like an atom with six bonds at- 
tached to hydrogen, except for the fact that a few 
compounds are known in which a carbon atom is 
replaced by that of another element, but, generally 
speaking, that ring of six carbons holds tight together. 
The substitutions take the places of the hydrogen 
atoms. Benzol, C6H6, is also spelled benzene, and is 
not to be confounded with petroleum benzine, which 
is a solvent composed of aliphatic hydrocarbons and 
is generally lighter than gasolene. 
There are fashions and styles in all things from 
bonnets to coffins, and there are fashions and styles in 
chemistry, even in chemical names. The termination 
"ene" for the primary bodies of the aromatic group, 
such as benzene, toluene, xylene, etc., seems to be in 
greater favor now than "ol." Being somewhat of an 
old fogy myself, my pen is likely to slip into habits 
316 AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
of expression familiar to my youth and to write 
frequently of benzol, etc. 
These benzol rings are also known in double com- 
pounds, in naphthalene, Ci0H8, or 
and triplet, as in anthracene, Ci4Hi0, or 
Now if these carbon atoms are in groups of six, they 
must have a certain form, the molecules must have 
length, breadth, and thickness instead of being geo- 
metric planes. But we shall not enter into that prob- 
lem; the ring is easily imagined and it serves its pur- 
pose. 
The name aromatic came about through the dis- 
covery that certain vegetable substances such as oil 
317 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
of bitter almonds, cumin, vanilla, etc., contained much 
less hydrogen in proportion to the carbon than fatty 
bodies with the same number of carbon atoms in the 
molecule. It was also discovered that these com- 
pounds built themselves up about the benzol ring. 
So the name held, although all benzol derivatives are 
no more odorous than is so-called "butter of anti- 
mony," SbCl3, a butter, or the "sugar of lead" (ace- 
tate of lead), a sugar. It is just a name, and the 
aromatic compounds are those that contain benzol as 
the nucleus, while the paraffins or aliphatic bodies 
might be said to be 'derivatives of methane, CH4. 
We shall have to skip so much in order to get at a 
hasty consideration of dyestuffs and the like that you 
must take all sorts of things for granted. Please ac- 
cept the statement, for instance, that there are aro- 
matic acids and ethers and esters and aldehydes and 
ketones, just as there are aliphatic bodies of this type. 
We may, however, consider a few tricks of this ben- 
zene ring just as a reminder that we are in a different 
field from that of the carbon chains. The saturated 
hydrocarbons of the paraffins are not attacked by 
concentrated acids, and oxidizing agents affect them 
only slightly. The benzol ring, on the other hand, is 
not so robust in this respect. It is neither an acid 
nor a base, but when attacked by sulphuric acid, for 
instance, the resultant bodies are another acid and 
water. The acid is called benzolsulphonic acid, and 
in the making of this one oxygen atom of the sulphuric 
acid goes with one of its own hydrogen atoms and one 
from the benzene ring to produce H2O. Here is the 
reaction: 
QHe 
benzol 
+ H2SO4 
sulphuric 
acid 
= CeHsHSO, 
benzolsul- 
phonic acid 
+ H2O 
water 
318 AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
Nitric acid, HNO3, will do the same thing, leaving a 
NO2 group attached to the molecule. 
When vapors of the aliphatic compounds or carbon 
chains are passed through a red-hot tube, aromatic 
substances are among the products. Heat and press- 
ure, in the absence of air, induce the production of 
aromatic compounds. And Nature produces them in 
her own quiet way, as she pleases. 
When coal is heated in iron retorts, raised to red 
heat, the gas goes out with other vapors while coke 
remains behind in the retorts. Just what all the bodies 
were that were in the coal before it was destroyed by 
distillation nobody knows; it is one of the chemical 
nuts not yet cracked. The reason is that as soon as 
you begin to heat it the bodies change, and so we know 
what is produced by the distillation, but we do not 
know how these atoms were matched up in molecules 
before. We know it was not pure coal, because we 
get so many hydrocarbons and so much ammonia 
from it. 
The first product is a gas, mainly carbon monoxide, 
CO, and with it goes some unsaturated hydrocarbons, 
some cyanogen, C2N2, some sulphur dioxide, and also 
some of the lighter aromatic bodies such as benzol, 
toluol, and xylol. 
The gas' liquor which comes from washing the gas 
with water contains chiefly ammonia. The next goes 
by the generic name of tar, and this is what we have 
to do with now, while 
Coke remains behind, which is approximately, but 
by no means wholly, pure carbon. 
The tar is distilled again and we have as products: 
1. Light oil. 
2. Middle oil. 
3. Heavy oil. 
4. Refined tar. 
5. Pitch. 
319 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
The light oil contains benzol, toluol, the second of 
the group, and xylol, the third member, and some of 
the heavier bodies. 
The middle and heavy oils contain the heavier 
members of the aromatic group. 
Refined tar contains pitch with the heaviest bodies, 
and pitch is pitch. It is used for roofing, and lately 
a method has been discovered and patented for con- 
verting it into coke. This was no little triumph, for 
European chemists have been trying to do this for 
many years. 
Pitch is one of those by-products for which the tar- 
distillers have long sought in vain a good use. Roofing, 
etc., takes up only a very small fraction of that 
which is produced. So to turn it into coke is a great 
achievement, provided always the discovery pans out 
well. So far as I know it is not yet in operation on a 
large scale, therefore the pitch problem is still a prob- 
lem-at least with most coal-tar distillers. 
Now just as methane is the starting-point for the 
aliphatic compounds, so benzol is the starting-point in 
this series. From X to i per cent, of coal-tar is benzol 
and toluol, and there is more benzol than toluol found. 
Toluol is benzol with one hydrogen atom replaced by 
a methyl group: 
320 AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
The third is xylol, C6H4(CH3)2, and so the substitu- 
tions of H atoms in the benzol molecule continue. 
Here are a few of them: 
Benzol or benzene, C6H6 Boils at 80.40 
Toluol or toluene, C«H6CH3 " " no° 
Xylene, C6H6(CH3)2 " " 1390 
Mesitylene, C6H3(CH3)3 • " " 164° 
Then we have ethylbenzene, C6H5C2H5, and innumer- 
able others. 
Just as we can nitrify benzol and make nitro- 
benzol, so we can add nitro radicals not only to 
benzol, but to toluol and the other members of the 
series. They are heavy, oily, and some of them are 
solid. It makes a difference just where the substitute 
bodies go upon the ring. In making nitrotoluol, e.g., 
let us say the methyl or CH3 
group is at point No. 1. Then 
if the NO2 attaches itself at point 2 
or upon the shoulder it is ortho- 
nitrotoluol. If at point 4 or at the 
foot it is paranitrotoluol, and if at 
point 3 or at the knee it is meta- 
nitrotoluol. If a nitro body or NO2 
is attached to all these places it is 
trinitrotoluol or trinitrotoluene, CH3.C6H2.(NO2)3, 
and this is the famous T.N.T. used by the armies 
in siege-guns. 
If nitrobenzol is reduced by means of iron filings 
and muriatic acid, we have the reaction 
QHsNO, 
nitro- 
benzol 
+ 3Fe 
iron 
+ 6HC1 
hydro- 
chloric 
acid 
= C6H6NH2 
aniline 
+ 2H2O 
water 
+ FeCl2 
ferrous 
chloride 
Aniline is the starting-point for many dyestuffs, but 
let us put off consideration of these for the present. 
321 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Starting with phenol or carbolic acid, C6HBOH, let 
us proceed to nitrify it with mixed nitric and sulphuric 
acids. Then we shall finally have trinitrophenol, 
or picric acid, which is at once a yellow dyestuff and 
an explosive. Left by itself, however it will not ex- 
plode, and if it is dissolved in a test-tube in hot water 
and allowed to cool, the long, spear-like, yellow 
crystals form in a beautiful manner. It is a very 
pretty chemical show. 
If we start with benzol again, and add COOH to 
make benzoic acid, and then substitute OH for three 
more hydrogens, we have gallic acid, 
which is found in gall-nuts, tea, 
"divi - divi," and many plants. 
Closely allied to this are the tan- 
nins, or tannic acids, which are very 
widely distributed in the vegetable 
kingdom. Tannin is a bitter astrin- 
gent used in tanning leather and in 
medicine. In making leather the 
hide is saturated with tannin be- 
cause without it it soon dries to a hard, hom-like sub- 
stance which, when moist, becomes rotten. Tannin 
renders it pliant and permanent. 
The benzol ring is as whimsical as an Irish lass. 
Note again, please, the three positions, ortho, meta, 
and para. 
Now whether a body attaches it- 
self to the ortho or para positions 
may be partially but not wholly 
controlled by temperature and 
pressure, while the meta position 
is likely to be taken up after the 
other two are occupied, but not al- 
ways, by any means. Positions 4 and 5, which are also 
322 AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
respectively meta and ortho positions, may, and again 
may not, let some radical attach itself in the place of 
the hydrogen. It requires all the trickiness of an am- 
bulance-chasing lawyer to negotiate some of the aro- 
matic combinations. You can make monohitrotoluol, 
binitrotoluol, and trinitrotoluol if you please, but as 
soon as you have three NO2 groups attached if you 
attempt to nitrify it any more you oxidize the whole 
thing. This trickiness of the benzol ring is why it 
takes so many chemical specialists, for instance, in 
the dyestuff industry, and it explains why the explo- 
sives-works need such great research laboratories. 
There are rules, but they are so many and so con- 
flicting that it requires intense familiarity with the 
individual bodies to be able to change them as desired. 
We noted that there were higher hydrocarbons in 
coal-tar that came over more especially with the heavy 
oil. These were coupled and tripled benzol mole- 
cules, known as naphthalene, Ci0H8, and anthracene, 
Ci4H10, both of them solids at ordinary temperatures. 
Naphthalene is the white, crystalline substance 
used for moth-balls, while anthracene, of which coal- 
tar contains less than it does of naphthalene, crystal- 
lizes in bluish leaflets. Both are largely used in 
making dyes. 
323 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
The chemical philosophy of dyestuffs is not at all 
simple. If they were a series of bodies of one kind 
like the paraffins, the fatty acids, the alcohols, or even 
the sugars, the problems would be easier to explain. 
Of course there is a reason for these tinctorial qualities, 
but it takes a keen vision, a large, catholic sense of the 
reactions of organic chemistry, to see them, and even 
then I may add that the Great Tinctorial Principle is 
not very clearly defined. 
There are three general orders of compounds which 
we have to deal with in this industry which is closely 
be-cousined with that of making explosives, many 
photographic chemicals, synthetic perfumery, a large 
number of medicines, and all sorts of other things. 
These three orders are, respectively, crudes, which 
involve the products distilled from tar, such as benzol, 
toluol, carbolic acid, naphthalene, and the like which 
come from the coal-tar distillers; the second are 
known as intermediates, of which you shall soon learn; 
and the third are the finished products. These in- 
dustries overlap more or less, but they are distinct, 
and each one is full of problems of its own. In regard 
to finished products, no one establishment has ever 
been able to cover the entire ground, and the same 
might be said of the intermediates if the term were 
not so indefinite. The reactions are very subtle, and 
a great deal of specializing is called for. The industries 
are remarkably interdependent, and I think it will 
soon become clear to you why "we"-which means 
the chemical industry of America-cannot proceed to 
put up a few shacks and turn out all the dyestuffs 
there are by a mere resolution to do so. There are 
about two thousand different synthetic dyes known, 
but all that we shall do will be to indicate a few of the 
leading intermediates and then tell something of 
324 AROMATIC COMPOUNDS 
several important colors. All that we shall try to do 
is to lift the lid, just a little, to show the kind of pro- 
cedure involved in this field of applied chemistry. 
Let us begin by mentioning a few intermediates 
which are made from the crudes, while the dyestuffs 
are made from the intermediates. XXVI 
COAL-TAR INTERMEDIATES AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
Aniline and Other Intermediates-Colors-Vat Dyes-Position of 
Dyestuff Industry in the United States-Position of Chemical 
Industry in the United States-Good-by 
A NILINE, as we have noted before, is benzol with 
one NH2 group in the place of one of its hydrogen 
atoms. 
Paranitraniline is aniline with an N02 group in the 
para position 
326 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
Toluidine is toluol. C6H6CH3, with the NH2 group 
attached. 
Phenol is carbolic acid or benzol with an OH group, 
C6H5OH. 
This is found in tar and is also 
made synthetically, starting with benzol. 
Naphthalene, Ci0H8, 
is rather 
a crude, such as benzol, and naphthol is like car- 
bolic acid, except that we start with naphthalene 
instead of benzene. The two bodies with the OH 
radical in two different positions are needed for dif- 
327 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
ferent purposes. In alpha naphthol the OH group is 
in the alpha or first position, 
In beta naphthol the OH group is in the second or 
beta position, 
If you remember that phenol or carbolic acid is 
and naphthol is 
it would 
appear that the naphthols should be good disinfect- 
ants, and you would be right. Here I throw in with 
the price of the book a recipe for one of the best hair 
tonics and dandruff cures: One-half of one per cent. 
328 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
of beta naphthol dissolved in alcohol. If the scalp is 
dry, dissolve a little castor-oil in it and make it as 
oily as you need. 
Beta naphthol has a slight odor, but is a remark- 
able deodorant. The naphtholes are made by fusing 
naphthalene sulphonic acids with caustic soda. 
Alpha and beta naphthylamine correspond to alpha 
and beta naphtholes with NH2 in the place of OH, 
and may be compared chemically with aniline, naph- 
thylamine being described as 
Alpha Napfhy/amine 
Be fa Napfhy/arnine 
whereas aniline is 
I do not know whether 
naphthylamines are poisonous or not, but they smell 
badly enough to keep everybody away from them 
that has no business with them. 
H acid, so called, is i-8-3-6, amidonaphtholdi- 
sulphonic acid. 
329 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
This is very difficult to make until you know just 
how, and then it is easy. I only know of two concerns 
that are producing it successfully in the United States 
at the time of this writing. Before the book is printed 
others may be making it. 
Aniline was first obtained by the dry distillation of 
indigo, from which it derives its name, the Spanish 
word for indigo being anil. It is a colorless liquid, 
oily, peculiar smelling, and boils at 183° centigrade. 
It has an odd kind of poisonous effect: if a small 
quantity of aniline is spilled upon the clothing or the 
skin, it is readily absorbed, the lips turn blue, the skin 
white, and a general collapse follows. The dyes made 
from aniline have not these effects; men may work 
in them and be smeared with them continually with 
no ill effects. 
If we bring together three molecules of toluidine 
and aniline and oxidize them with arsenic acid or 
nitrobenzol, we get a combination as follows: 
which is the color base of aniline red or magenta or 
fuchsine as it is sometimes called, 
330 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
The chloride of this color base, 
is magenta itself. 
As we substitute a phenyl group, as benzol less one 
hydrogen atom is called (C6H5) into the places of 
hydrogen atoms in the red, we get aniline blue; the 
more phenyl groups the more greenish the blue. 
Azo Colors.-There is a series known as "azo" 
compounds of benzol of which the simplest would be 
CeH5.NZZN.CeH5. These two nitrogen atoms in the 
molecule behave like a central hinge and give the 
name diazo to compounds of which the CeH5N2 group 
forms a part. This diazonium group behaves some- 
thing like the ammonium radical - NH4 in its habits 
of combination. Generally speaking, the azo colors 
are obtained by treating diazonium chlorides with 
aromatic amines or with phenols. The simplest azo 
dyes are yellow. Then, as alkyl or phenyl groups 
(paraffins or aromatic bodies) are introduced into the 
molecule and the molecule increases in weight, they 
change from yellow to orange and so on through red, 
violet, and blue. 
Do you catch a little whiff of something that smells 
like a law here? The more we phenylated (i.e., added 
C6H5 radicals to) the rosaniline the more it turned 
from magenta through violet to a pure cerulean qual- 
ity of clear blue. The same tendency holds with these 
azo colors. 
Azo colors are not soluble in water, but are soluble 
331 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
in alcohol, so the usual practice is to treat them with 
concentrated sulphuric acid, thus making the sul- 
phonic-acid conjugations, as in aniline blue, and then 
neutralize with soda. Then they are soluble. 
Now let us take a rest for a minute and get a breath 
of fresh air. We have been trying to treat of coal-tar 
intermediates in an offhand way, and I'll admit that 
my conscience pricks me a little. The subject is inter- 
esting, I assure you, but we have gone too fast. The 
trouble is, the only way to slow down would be to 
make the discourse longer, and that is just what we 
have not the opportunity to do within the space of this 
book. The problems are complex, the names are long, 
and the formulas are bewildering save to those who 
devote their lives to them. I have only indicated a 
very few of the hundreds of intermediates, and indi- 
cated the way over to a couple of color systems, to 
show you what is meant by them. Now let us address 
ourselves to some of the best known colors and see if 
we cannot achieve greater simplicity in the effort. 
Black is the most important color, and of this there 
are several. 
Aniline black is produced by the oxidation of aniline 
upon the fiber of the goods. The usual method is to 
produce first what is called aniline salt by treating 
aniline with hydrochloric acid, and after treating the 
fiber with this to oxidize it with chlorate of potash and 
other oxidizing agents. This is the old aniline black 
that replaced logwood. 
Nigrosine is made by heating aniline salt with nitro- 
benzol until a pasty mass is formed which is dropped 
into water. It is then sulphonated and neutralized 
(to make it soluble) and dried and ground. This is 
the black of shoe-blacking, stove-polish, etc. 
Sulphur black. This involves the process of making 
332 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
sulphur colors, and just what the reactions are it 
would be hard to say. You may gather an armful of 
dried leaves and boil them up in a kettle with sulphide 
of sodium and sulphur, and a brownish vat-dye will 
result. So by treating other materials with sulphide of 
soda and sulphur you get dull browns and yellows and 
blues and greens and a good black. They are very 
fast against washing, but not very fast against light. 
The largest use is for black cotton stockings. To 
make this black we must first produce an intermediate 
which we have not yet described. We start with ben- 
zol, treat it with chlorine, and make chlorbenzol, 
C6H5C1. This is nitrified by means of nitric and sul- 
phuric acids until we have dinitrochlorbenzol. Let's 
make the picture: 
Now let us boil this with soda ash (sodium carbonate) 
and the chlorine will be removed and an OH group goes 
on in the place of it. This gives us dinitrophenol, or 
333 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
By heating this with sodium sulphide and sul- 
phur we get the required sulphur black for socks. 
But note, please, how the cousinship between dye- 
stuffs and explosives may be found right here. One 
method of making picric acid-indeed, the method 
generally in vogue in England-is to follow this same 
process, but go one step further in the nitrification, 
so that trinitrochlorbenzol is produced. 
Then oxidize this to 
and we have trinitrophenol, or picric acid. 
Erie Black, or Direct Black, is the best black there 
is. It was developed at the Schoellkopf works in 
Buffalo, and nothing from any other country is equal 
to it. It is made from H acid, benzidine, meta- 
334 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
phenylendiamine, and aniline. Benzidine is a curious 
thing. If you start with azobenzene, which is 
or two benzene groups hinged together by two nitro- 
gen atoms, and treat this with zinc dust and alcoholic 
potash, you get hydrazobenzene, or 
Now if you treat this with a strong acid, those two 
benzene rings will turn somersaults, joining appar- 
ently by their other ends or else the groups of NH 
will go to the ends, where they will find another hy- 
drogen atom: 
I assure you, there never lived a chemist yet who 
knew all of the devious ways of that benzene ring! 
Metaphenylendiamine is not so bad as it looks. It 
is aniline with another NH2 group in the meta posi- 
tion- 
I do not know what the 
335 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
reactions are that produce Erie black; they are very 
complicated. 
The black for wool and silk which is most generally 
used is called alpha-naphthylamine black. It is made 
by coupling alpha-naphthylamine, which you may re- 
member is like aniline except that it starts with naph- 
thalene instead of benzol and has the NH2 group in 
the first, or alpha, position, coupled with what is known 
as Freund's acid, which is like H acid except that it 
has a hydrogen atom in the place of the OH group. 
This is shaded with other colors. 
Of reds the most widely used is called para red, 
being made from paranitraniline. This 
is diaz- 
otized with sodium nitrite (NaNO2) and mixed with 
beta naphthol. The coupling takes place immediately, 
and the red dyestuff separates out. This red is used 
on bandana handkerchiefs and other cheap cottons; 
it is the red of wagon paint and fire-engines, bam 
doors, and wherever a fiery red is wanted. The con- 
sumption of it is enormous. It is the great cheap red, 
and has replaced Turkey red or madder or alizarine 
(all the same) where cheapness rather than quality is 
wanted. It is not by any means as good a color for 
cotton goods as alizarine. 
The old aniline red or magenta to which we re- 
ferred a few pages back is also called fuchsine, from 
fuchsia, and it is used on print cloths and elsewhere. 
336 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
There are also a whole series of azo reds used as 
scarlets. 
Turkey red is a product of anthracene, CuHi0: 
The first step is to oxidize it by sodium dichromate 
and sulphuric acid, which leaves an oxygen atom at 
positions 9 and 10 and has the formula C44H8O2: 
This is now treated with oleum or fuming sulphuric 
acid containing 50 per cent, sulphur trioxide. This 
forms a sulphonic acid, and when the whole is fused 
with caustic soda in the presence of chlorate of potash, 
the SO3 group is removed and alizarine is formed. 
This is Ci4H6O2(OH)2, or 
337 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
This is the real old Turkey red, formerly produced 
from the madder plant and replaced by this discovery 
of Graebe and Liebermann, away back at the beginning 
of the 'seventies. Alizarine is almost insoluble in 
water, and is only slightly soluble in alcohol. Its 
value as a dye consists in its power to form, with 
metallic oxides, fine colored, insoluble compounds 
called "lakes." When cotton is mordanted with one 
of these oxides it can be dyed with alizarine and the 
color depends upon the oxide used. With ferric oxide 
it is a violet black, with chromium oxide claret color, 
with calcium oxide blue, and with tin and aluminium 
oxides it produces the various shades of Turkey red. 
There are certain colors, some of which are made with 
alizarine as a base and some are not. They belong 
chiefly to the azo group and are reduction colors or 
vat-dyes, being first reduced and then oxidized on the 
fiber. They are the fastest cotton colors known, and 
include the lighter shades of reds, yellows, blues, and 
greens. The principal use is for shirtings and the like. 
They are referred to as the indanthrene group and by 
other names chosen by different makers. Most of 
them are still patented. 
In blues the anilines are still used, as is methylene 
blue, but larger use is found for the H acid as benzo 
sky-blue. In this H acid is coupled with dianisidine, 
a very complex body, by simple coupling, and the blue 
dyestuff separates out. It is especially used on silk 
and cotton. 
Indigo is a romance. The antiquity of its use is 
shown in the fact that many mummy-cloths are dyed 
with it. It was introduced into Europe in 1516, and 
bitter was the fight against the "devilish drug" which 
was declared to spoil fabrics and work all kinds of 
injury by the growers of woad, the rival blue of those 
338 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
days. In 1737 its use was graciously permitted in 
France, and after that the other nations followed suit. 
Natural indigo is produced from a great series of 
leguminous plants grown in India, China, and Egypt, 
the Philippines, and tropical South America and 
Africa. Over 10,000,000 pounds of the dyestuff is 
used annually in the United States alone. With 
untiring patience the great A. von Baeyer worked 
over the problems, then others contributed one idea 
after another, and when it was found that the start 
might be made with naphthalene and aniline the 
Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik began to build. 
Before the first pound of artificial indigo was brought 
upon the market in 1897 the Badische works had 
expended over $5,000,000. By 1911 it had driven the 
use of natural indigo practically from the face of the 
earth, from China and India as well as from Europe 
and America. The artificial is the same as the nat- 
ural, but purer and more reliable. 
We shall not enter into the process, which is very 
complex and has to do with a considerable number of 
catalytic agents. It requires vast quantities of coal- 
tar products-of sulphuric anhydrid (SO3), a great 
deal of mercury, of chlorine, of ammonia, and of 
caustic soda. 
It is a vat-dye-that is, one in which an insoluble 
pigment is treated with an alkaline reducing agent 
whereby it becomes soluble in the alkaline bath. As 
such it is absorbed by the fabric which is dipped 
into it. Then it is oxidized by exposure to the air and 
is thus reconverted into the insoluble pigment again, 
but now thoroughly absorbed by the fibers. 
To get an idea of the situation in this country, let's 
hark back to the dyestuff census that was printed 
after much gnashing of teeth by the United States 
339 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Government in 1916. It contained a list of all the 
dyes imported in 1913. There were a great many 
repetitions in it because different makers had different 
names for similar products. Then, too, different dyes 
were often mixed together in Germany to attain cer- 
tain shades, and new names applied to the mixtures. 
The use of special labels for different customers was 
also a frequent practice among dealers and agents. 
Before the war there were five concerns making 
synthetic dyestuffs in the United States. Now, aside 
from twenty-three concerns producing crudes (and 
these do not include the retort coke-oven plants or 
phenol makers), and sixty-eight makers of the inter- 
mediate materials, there are ninety-eight concerns 
making finished dyes. They are not wholly devoted 
to making these products; some began to make cer- 
tain specialties otherwise unobtainable for their own 
use, and now they produce for the market; others 
confine themselves to one or two colors, and still 
others are only starting up. On the other hand, some 
are vast concerns, working intensely with rare talent 
and skill and rapidly enlarging their capacity and 
variety of product. 
Roughly speaking, 75 per cent, of the dyestuffs 
needed are made in this country and of this three- 
quarters some are made in such excess that a consid- 
erable export trade is carried on to friendly countries, 
especially to England. Of others there is a shortage, 
and this is serious in such basic colors as magenta, 
methylene blue, auramine, methyl violet, and a few 
more. The prices of many of them are away up in the 
air, which has lured into the business a number of 
minor concerns in which the art is lacking to secure 
adequate yields. Some also are under incomplete 
chemical control and fail to purify their materials 
340 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
properly. This is incidental to pressing need and 
hasty establishment which the whip of time will cor- 
rect. On the other hand, the very highest praise 
should be awarded to the conscientious manufacturers 
who have strained every nerve to meet the country's 
needs, often at the expense of profit. 
We have, then, three-quarters of the dyestuffs 
needed, some a-plenty and others scarce. In regard 
to quality, American-made dyes are the same as Ger- 
man dyes, only there are not so many of them. If 
some small makers are still short in their yields, the 
loss is theirs. If they do not purify their materials 
enough, the defect is more likely to be in shade than 
in fastness. This is a complete catalogue of the defects 
of American-made dyes and it does not apply to the 
products of the important makers. Nevertheless, 
dyers have been sorely put to it. They have had to 
use one material when they wanted another, and the 
substitutions have often been unhappy. They have 
also been compelled to relearn the art of using dye- 
woods for many purposes which are new to the present 
generation, and this is not to be learned in a day. 
The trouble, however, has principally come from the 
makeshift substitution of wrong materials for the right 
ones, because the right ones are lacking. The colors 
themselves are the standard articles whether made in 
Germany, France, Switzerland, England, or here. 
And missing and scarce products are coming upon the 
market as agreeable surprises at short intervals. 
In regard to the missing quarter, Congress cut off 
from the tariff bill the ad valorem duty on indigo and 
alizarine products, which discouraged manufacturers 
at the start. Nevertheless, indigo is now being made 
by the Dow Chemical Company at Midland, Michi- 
gan, although at present there is not enough made 
341 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
and natural indigo imported to meet even the needs of 
the United States Navy. But the National Aniline 
& Chemical Works, Inc. is building a great indigo 
plant, and it is generally understood that the Du Pont 
Chemical Company is about to begin, so that with 
these great concerns engaged in it, the production of 
all the indigo we need is only a question of time. In 
chemical research they are the peers of the great 
German establishments. 
Alizarine colors are lacking. There is Turkey red 
for bandana handkerchiefs, towels, and print goods, 
and alizarine blue, employed in connection with indigo 
for navy blues and on serges, dress goods, and suitings. 
Although these are not produced yet, the crude body 
from which they are made, anthracene, is now avail- 
able, and one or two of the largest makers have the 
matter in hand. It is merely a question of time and 
organization. 
Fast cotton vat-dyes of the indanthrene type are 
also missing, but the research laboratories are busy 
and the outlook is hopeful. A good wool black of the 
"Diamond" type is needed. Logwood is now used 
in the place of it, and this is not fast enough against 
light. There is also a shortage of safranines and the 
general class of azine colors, including azo carmine for 
red and pink on silk and for printing, which a large 
print works in New England is beginning to make. 
Besides these, there is wanted a good developed black 
of the diamine or diazo type for a rich, full, bloomy 
black on fine cotton hosiery and cotton-silk goods. 
These are the chief absentees, but by the time this is 
printed their number may be less. 
That is the situation at the end of three years, in 
August, 1917. The number of colors produced to-day 
or the number of dyestuffs missing is not the important 
342 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
fact. In 1914 we had neither crudes nor intermediates 
to speak of. These are now abundant. We then 
made a bare one-fifth of our needs out of foreign 
materials; now we make three-quarters of those 
needed and some for export, all of American materials 
in American apparatus, and by American chemists. 
We have the talent, the organizations, the capital, 
and the will. The men in the business are familiar 
with the financial side of chemical problems; they 
also know what chemical research means. The coal- 
tar product industry is established in this country and 
it is here to stay. The missing quarter of the dye- 
stuffs needed will soon be provided and it looks as 
though only the odds and ends would eventually come 
from abroad. 
Chemical industry in the United States has grown 
by leaps and bounds, but it lacks co-ordination. The 
pressure to produce has made all sorts of odd associa- 
tions in production. I know of a wall-paper manu- 
facturer who is making salicylic acid. He was under 
the necessity of making some dyes which he could not 
purchase, and, having some extra room and a live 
chemical director, he took up this drug as a side line. 
One of the great pulp and paper companies is making 
chlorbenzol and carbon tetrachloride from excess of 
chlorine for bleaching, and also carbon bisulphide- 
because a demand was found for it. Sulphite-pulp 
mills are producing alcohol in increasing quantities, 
and a very large paint-manufacturing firm is one of 
the leading producers of paranitraniline-because they 
needed para red and could not buy it. Chemical in- 
dustry has not yet thoroughly settled down in this 
country. 
It is surely a great deal clearer than mud that the 
dyestuff industry is only a part of the whole. It is so 
343 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
interrelated with others that it cannot be considered 
as a single unit. By means of splendid organizations 
and much more intensive scientific application to the 
task than we or any other folk have been accustomed 
to, together with the aid of government-owned rail- 
ways, subsidized steamship lines, the imperial secret 
service, and laws designed to encourage co-operation 
among manufacturers, the Germans built up almost 
a world monopoly of the dyestuff industry. During 
the three years of war no such machine has been 
established here. No such perfect machine could be 
built up under our laws and customs. For instance, 
in one of the great works in Germany orthonitro- 
toluol was needed as the starting-point for the manu- 
facture of one of its leading products. Now when 
toluol is nitrified some of the NO2 radicals will 
take the ortho position and some will go to the para 
position; but no amount of conniving has enabled 
chemists so far to make orthonitrotoluol without pro- 
ducing at the same time some paranitrot oluol. The 
best practice yields these products in the relation of 
two to one, respectively. It is easy to separate them 
after they have been made. Now in this particular 
reaction only the ortho body was useful; there was no 
use for the para body. What they did with the para 
body no one knew; even their competitors were unin- 
formed. But when Liege fell the secret was out. The 
explosive used was TNT, or trinitrotoluol, and if you 
want to make that you can very well start with para- 
nitrotoluol, because you have it already one-third 
nitrified. The next NO2 group will then take the ortho 
position, and the third will hook on to the meta posi- 
tion, for all TNT is nitrified in each of the 2, 3, and 4, 
or ortho, meta, and para positions. So for ten years 
or more that paranitrotoluol was being quietly shipped 
344 COAL-TAR AND FINISHED PRODUCTS 
to the German government munition-works, made into 
TNT, and stored against the Day of Wrath. 
I do not offer this in praise of German methods. I 
give the incident merely by way of explaining them. 
It would be idle to try to report fully on American 
chemical industry at this time. It is not sufficiently 
co-ordinated. And Congress we have always with us, 
often more vindictive than enlightened. It would be 
unjust and unfair to say that the Government of the 
United States is adverse to industry, but I declare it 
sometimes seems as if, at first sign of any other than 
a fighting relation between this Government and a 
successful industry, the desire ripens in Congress to 
launch a persecution under the name of investigation. 
We have also had more than a little defective chemical 
engineering. There has been a rush and a tumble, and 
a hurry and a scurry, and some men are not up to their 
jobs. Others again are masters, real giants in mind 
and understanding, and they are doing things with a 
big intelligence and with a steady look to the future 
that give one faith in the days to come. American 
industry is launched upon a chemical career. This 
has taken from colleges and universities some of the 
best teachers, while many young men have resolved 
to become chemists who should have resolved to be- 
come almost anything else, so far as chemical progress 
is concerned. So we shall not have smooth sailing. 
Without doubt many small manufacturers will be 
crowded out of business when normal times come 
again and the markets of the world are open; not so 
much because they are small as because when the 
scramble is over and prices become competitive their 
methods will prove to be faulty. On the other hand, 
the great American concerns have gone into chemistry 
to stay. The research laboratories of a number of 
345 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
large American corporations are marvels of scholar- 
ship, thoroughness, and efficiency, and compare favor- 
ably with the great German works. 
When we think how powerless and how dependent 
we were upon Germany in 1914 and how by the pres- 
ent year, 1917, American chemists have met thousands 
of problems that Germans claimed that only they 
could solve, how panic and distress and closed fac- 
tories have given way to the industries of peace as 
well as those of war with merely incidental incon- 
veniences due to the closed German ports, it seems 
no more than fair to take off our hats to the men who 
have done these things and to give them their meed of 
praise. 
We must omit discussion of all sorts of interesting 
subjects, because we have not the space and also 
because we have not entered into organic chemistry 
with sufficient thoroughness to do so. If I have 
allowed my enthusiasm to go further than your in- 
terest will follow, I beg your pardon. We are, all 
of us, poor judges of our own dullness. The main 
thing is to think you can see these things in your 
mind's eye; the wandering of atoms and ions or radi- 
cals from one molecule to another and shaping them- 
selves up into equilibrium. There is chemistry in 
nearly everything that happens, and if your chemical 
sense is aroused everything that takes place becomes 
much more interesting. And if your curiosity is 
quickened, I shall count myself fortunate, because then 
you may follow up the subject, read profound books, 
watch the rushing sap in growing com, observe the 
most marvelous of all chemical processes in nature- 
the synthesis of sugar from water and CO2 in green 
leaves-and maybe, some day, either you or some- 
body else will know how it is done. 
346 APPENDIX I 
THE ELEMENTS 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Al 
Aluminium 
27-3 
3 
1800-1 
Familiar light metal. 
Found in clay, feld- 
spar, bauxite; very 
wide-spread. Melts 
at 657°. 
Sb 
Antimony 
120-4 
5 
I44O 
Sil very-white solid with 
metallic luster. Usu- 
ally found with ar- 
senic, which it resem- 
bles in many ways. 
Melts at 629°. 
A 
Argon 
40-0 
3 
- 186 
One of the inert gases 
of the air, of which it 
forms less than 1 per 
cent. Makes no com- 
binations. 
As 
Arsenic 
75-4 
Steel-gray, metal-like 
substance. Poison- 
ous in all its com- 
pounds. Sublimes 
without melting at 
about ioo°. 
Ba 
Barium 
137-2 
A metal of the alkaline 
earths. Something 
like calcium. Sul- 
phate used as filler 
for paper and for 
paint. Melts at 850°. 
347 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Be 
Beryllium 
9-2 
3 
Silvery metal. Found 
in Beryl. Rare. Be- 
haves like magne- 
sium. Melts above 
960°. 
Bi 
Bismuth 
20-4 
5 
1420 
Grayish-white solid, 
lustrous, same fam- 
ily as As and Sb. 
Melts at 2700. 
B 
Boron 
ii- 3 
I 
Brown powder. Found 
as boric acid and a 
borate of sodium or 
borax. Does not 
melt. Volatilizes 
slightly in electric 
arc. 
Br 
Bromine 
80-3 
5 
7 
59 
Brown liquid. Volatile. 
One of the halogens. 
Cd 
Cadmium 
112-2 
780 
Metal somewhat like 
tin and zinc. The 
yellow sulphite is 
used as a pigment. 
Melts at 320°. 
Cs 
Caesium 
133-1 
1670 
One of the alkali 
metals. Very rare. 
Melts at 26°. 
Ca 
Calcium 
40-2 
One of the alkali met- 
als. Lime is calcium 
oxide. Very wide- 
spread. Melts at 
780°. 
C 
Carbon 
12-4 
Diamond, graphite, 
coal. Everything 
having life contains 
it. Organic chemis- 
try is chemistry of 
carbon compounds. 
Ce 
Cerium 
140-3 
Metal of rare earths. 
348 APPENDIX I 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
4 
Used in gas mantles 
and for striking 
sparks on cigar- 
lighters. Melts at 
623°. 
Cl 
Chlorine 
35-5-1 
- 33 
Greenish gas. Halogen. 
Very wide-spread in 
common salt, in 
rocks everywhere. 
Cr 
Chromium 
52-6 
2200 
Steel-gray metal used 
for hardening steel. 
Salts are used for 
pigments. Melts at 
15200. 
Co 
Cobalt 
59-3 
4 
Hard white metal. 
Very like nickel. 
Compounds used in 
pigments. Melts at 
1478°. 
Cu 
Copper 
63-5-1 
2 
2300 
Next to iron the metal 
in greatest use. 
Melts at 1082°. 
Dy 
Dysprosium 
162.5-3 
Hardly known. Found 
in rare earths. 
Er 
Erbium 
I67-5-3 
Hardly known. Found 
in rare earths. 
Eu 
Europium 
152-3 
Hardly known. Found 
in rare earths. 
F 
Fluorine 
19-1 
- 187 
Greenish-yellow gas. 
One of the halogens. 
Found in fluorspar 
and other rocks. 
Gd 
Gadolinium 
157-3 
Hardly known. Found 
in rare earths. 
Ga 
Gallium 
70-3 
Rare metal something 
like Al. 
Ge 
Germanium 
72-2 
4 
Very rare metal found 
sometimes with Ag 
and Pb. 
Au 
Gold 
197-1 
3 
2530 
Almost more important 
socially than it is 
349 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
He 
Helium 
- 27 
chemically. Melts at 
1064°. 
Companion of argon. 
Ho 
Holmium 
163.5-O 
Spectroscope shows 
it in photosphere of 
the sun. Also found 
occluded in rocks. 
Hardly known. 
H 
Hydrogen 
I-I 
~ 152 
Lightest gas. Two- 
In 
Indium 
115-3 
thirds by volume of 
water. The business 
end of all acids, and, 
with oxygen, the 
business end of 
bases. 
Rare metal. Same 
I 
Iodine 
127-1 
184 
group as Ga. 
Violet-black solid. 
Ir 
Iridium 
2 
193-3 
Found in sea-water 
and marine products. 
Heaviest of the halo- 
gens. 
Grayish - white metal, 
Fe 
Iron 
7 
2 
56-3 
2240 
very like platinum. 
Melts at about 20000. 
The metal in greatest 
Kr 
Krypton 
83-0 
" 152 
use. Melts at 15300. 
An inert gas of the air 
La 
Lanthanum 
139-3 
present to the extent 
of 0.00005 volumes in 
1,000. 
Another element found 
Pb 
Lead 
209-2 
1525 
in the rare earths. 
Gray metal usually 
Li 
Lithium 
4 
7-2 
I4OO 
found as sulphide. 
Poisonous in all com- 
binations. Widely 
used. Melts at 326°. 
An alkali metal, like 
350 APPENDIX I 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Lu 
Mg 
Lutecium 
Magnesium 
174-3 
24-2 
II2O 
sodium and potas- 
sium. The lightest of 
metals. Melts at 
186°. 
Found in rare earths. 
A very light, silvery 
Mn 
Manganese 
2 
3 
55-4 
1900 
metal, that would 
be largely used for its 
mechanical qualities 
if it were cheap 
enough. Melts at 
632°. 
A gray metal, harder 
Hg 
Mercury 
6 
7 
200-1 
357 
than iron, used in 
iron and steel indus- 
try. Melts at 12450. 
Silvery liquid. Dis- 
Mo 
Nd 
Ne 
Molybdenum 
Neodymium 
Neon 
2 
2 
3 
96-4 
5 
6 
144- 
20-0 
- 233 
solves and forms 
amalgams with many 
metals. Solidifies at 
" 39°« 
Black metal alloyed 
with steel to make 
"high speed" tools. 
Mo compounds are 
used in pigments. 
Little known of it. 
Found in rare earths. 
Inert gas of air. 0.015 
Ni 
Nickel 
59-2 
parts per 1,000 of it 
in atmosphere. 
Silvery metal, first cou- 
sin to cobalt. Used 
for alloying steel and 
for nickel-plating. 
Melts at 14520. 
351 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Cb 
Niobium 
3 
59-5 
Rare metal found with 
tantalum. Formerly 
called columbium, 
whence the symbol 
Cb. Melts at 17200. 
Nt 
Niton 
222- 
Name given to radium 
emanation. 
N 
Nitrogen 
14-3 
5 
2 
- 194 
Gas comprising four- 
fifths of air. Hard to 
get into combina- 
tion, but when this is 
achieved it becomes 
very lively. 
Os 
Osmium 
191-4 
6 
Like iridium, one of the 
platinum metals. 
Melts at about 23000. 
0 
Oxygen 
16-2 
2 
- 182 
Gas comprising one- 
fifth of the air. The 
old Jupiter Maximus 
of chemistry. 
Pd 
Palladium 
106-4 
6 
Another rare metal of 
the platinum family. 
Melts at 15490. 
P 
Phosphorus 
31-3 
5 
2 
290 
Poisonous white waxy 
substance, very in- 
flammable, and an 
amorphous brown 
powder. Widespread 
in rocks and living 
things. Melts at 440. 
Pt 
Platinum 
195-4 
6 
2450 
Harder than silver or 
gold. Does not com- 
bine easily with oxy- 
gen or with acids. 
Melts at 17530. 
K 
Potassium 
39-1 
700 
Alkali metal, whitish, 
wax-like substance. 
352 APPENDIX I 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Highly inflammable; 
very wide-spread. 
Melts at 62°. 
Pr 
Praseodymium 
140-3 
Of the rare-earth series. 
Ra 
Radium 
226-2 
White metal that turns 
black in air. Exceed- 
ingly rare, radio-ac- 
tive. Melts at about 
7000. 
Rh 
Rhodium 
103- 
A rare metal of the 
platinum group. 
Melts at 1650°. 
Rb 
Rubidium 
85-1 
696 
A rare alkali metal sim- 
ilar to csesium. Melts 
at 38°. 
Ru 
Ruthenium 
102 
A rare metal of the 
platinum group. 
Melts at about 20000. 
Sm 
Samarium 
150- 
Of the rare-earth series. 
Sc 
Scandium 
44-3 
2 
Very rare. Something 
like Al. 
Sc 
Selenium 
79-4 
6 
688 
Gray, metal-like, solid, 
and amorphous 
brown powder. 
Found associated 
with sulphur. Has 
properties of metal. 
Conductivity of elec- 
tricity is increased in 
the light. Melts at 
170-2170. 
Si 
Silicon 
28-4 
about 
3000 
A brown powder and 
dark - gray crystals. 
Constitutes one- 
fourth of the earth. 
With 0 it is sand. 
Melts at 15000. 
Ag 
Silver 
108-1 
about 
1350 
White metal known 
since prehistoric 
times. Conducts 
353 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Na 
Sodium 
123-I 
877 
heat and electricity 
better than copper. 
Melts at 962°. 
Alkali metal. Consist- 
Sr 
Strontium 
87 • 5-2 
ency of cheese. Oxi- 
dizes on exposure to 
air. Part of common 
salt and very wide- 
spread. Melts at 970. 
One of the alkaline 
S 
Sulphur 
32-2 
448 
earth metals with 
calcium and barium. 
Sr compounds pro- 
duce red flames; used 
for Greek fire. Melts 
at 8oo°. 
Amorphous yellow 
Ta 
Tantalum 
4 
6 
181-4 
powder, yellow crys- 
tals, brown, solid 
and other forms. 
Very wide-spread. 
Melts at 1030. 
Gray metal found usu- 
Te 
Tellurium 
5 
127-2 
1390 
ally with niobium. 
Used for electric 
lamp filaments. 
Melts at about 2850°. 
Silver-gray with metal- 
Tb 
Terbium 
4 
159-0 
lie luster. Similar to 
selenium. Melts at 
453°- 
Metal of the rare 
T1 
Thallium 
204-1 
earths 
Metal, rare, like gal- 
Th 
Thorium 
2 
232-3 
lium and indium. 
Metal of rare earths. 
4 
Used for incandes- 
cent gas mantles with 
5 per cent, of cerium. 
Melting-point very 
high. 
354 APPENDIX I 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points in 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
Tm 
Thulium 
168- 
Metal of the rare 
earths. 
Sn 
Tin 
118-2 
4 
2 
2275 
Ore widely distributed 
but not plentiful. 
One of the very 
trickiest of metals. 
Melts at 231 
Ti 
/ 
Titanium 
48-6 
2 
4 
Found nearly every- 
where in minute 
quantities. Alloyed 
with steel to increase 
toughness. Melts 
at 17950. 
w 
Tungsten 
184-5 
6 
3 
4 
Like molybdenum. 
Uses: electric - light 
filament for the met- 
al and solutions of 
compounds render 
cotton and other fab- 
rics slow burning. 
Melts at about 24500. 
u 
Uranium 
238-5 
6 
2 
Related to molyb- 
denum and tung- 
sten. Compounds 
are used for making 
fluorescent glass. 
Melts at about 
1500°. 
V 
Vanadium 
51-3 
4 
5 
Silvery metal. Head of 
vanadium family 
which includes niobi- 
um and tantalum. 
Increases hardness 
and malleability of 
steel. Melts at 17200, 
355 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sym- 
bols 
Names of 
Elements 
Approx. 
Atomic Wt. 
and 
Valence 
Boiling- 
points m 
Degrees 
Centigrade 
Description 
X 
Xenon 
I3O-O 
- 109 
Inert gas. 1,000 parts 
air contain 0.000006 
parts X. 
Yb 
Ytterbium 
172-3 
Very rare. Same fam- 
ily as scandium, lan- 
thanum, and yttri- 
um. Related to Al. 
Y 
Yttrium 
89-3 
See Ytterbium. 
Zn 
Zinc 
65-2 
916 
Bluish - white metal. 
Almost as tricky as 
tin. Melts at 418°. 
Zr 
Zirconium 
90-4 
Rare - earth metal. 
Used with thorium 
and cerium. Melting- 
point very high. 
In chemical compounds the symbol of an element 
indicates an atom of it. If there is more than one 
atom of any one element to be indicated, a small figure 
at the lower right of the symbol is used. 
The valence of an element is the number of bonds or 
hyphens with which an atom of it is found combined 
with those of other elements in molecules. This is 
not usually indicated by any special sign. 
A formula indicates a single molecule. Thus a mole- 
cule of water is composed of two atoms of hydrogen 
and one atom of oxygen. It is written H2O. Two 
molecules would be 2H2O, and five molecules 5H2O. 
Since hydrogen is univalent-that is, since it has but 
one bond or hook or hyphen for combining, the formula 
shows that oxygen is attached to it in water with two 
bonds. A more graphic way of writing the formula 
for water would be H-0-H. 
A chemical equation indicates a chemical process 
356 APPENDIX I 
and shows the changes in molecules. For instance, 
so3 + h2o = h2so< 
means that one molecule of sulphur trioxide combines 
with one molecule of water to produce one molecule of 
sulphuric acid. 
The metric system of weights and measures is in 
universal use in scientific work, and unless special 
mention is made the centigrade thermometer is indi- 
cated in all records of temperature. It is easy to 
change centigrade to Fahrenheit by multiplying the 
number of degrees centigrade by 1.8 and adding 32. 
To change Fahrenheit to centigrade, deduct 32 and 
divide the remainder by 1.8. APPENDIX II 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
VERY popular and not at all technical are the 
delightful books of the late Robert Kennedy 
Duncan: The New Knowledge, published by the A. S. 
Barnes Company, of New York, and Some Chemical 
Problems of Today, and The Chemistry of Commerce, 
both published by Harper & Brothers. Another ex- 
cellent book, easy to read and which requires no pre- 
vious chemical knowledge, is Samuel T. Sadtler's 
Chemistry of Familiar Things, published by J. B. Lip- 
pincott & Co., of Philadelphia. Geoffrey Martin's 
Triumphs and Wonders of Modern Chemistry, and his 
Modern Chemistry and Its Wonders (D. Van Nostrand 
Company, New York), are also interesting. The 
chemical world is so vast that these popular treatises 
hardly overlap one another in subject. 
I have attempted to go deeper into the chemical 
aspect of things than is usual in popular books, in the 
hope that you may be persuaded to go on with the 
subject after you have had your turn with me. If 
you do, and want to begin with a short text-book, 
there is a good one designed for high schools called 
Chemistry of Common Things, by Brownlee, Fuller, 
Hancock, and Whitsit, four high-school teachers of 
chemistry, that is very well arranged. Allyn & Bacon, 
of New York, publish it. It is a good book to start 
with, but of course it is not comprehensive. If you 
359 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
want to get right into the heart of the thing, I recom- 
mend Modern Inorganic Chemistry, by J. W. Mellor, 
published by Longmans, Green & Co., New York, or 
Alexander Smith's Inorganic Chemistry, brought out 
by the Century Company. I could make a much 
longer list, but these are both good books. In the 
organic field I like Bemthsen's Organic Chemistry 
(D. Van Nostrand Company, New York) and Lessar 
Cohen's Practical Organic Chemistry (Macmillan Com- 
pany). Another good one to start with is Principles 
of Organic Chemistry, by J. F. Norris (McGraw-Hill 
Book Company). A good introduction to physical 
chemistry is found in the first volume (Theoretical 
Part) of Qualitative Chemical Analysis, by Julius 
Stieglitz (Century Company). This leads along into 
the modem theories of solutions; but while the solu- 
tions are usually dilute, the book is rather concen- 
trated. It is a beautiful work, but it was not meant 
to while away an idle hour. On colloid chemistry 
there is Colloids and the Ultra Microscope, by R. A. 
Zsigmondy, translated by Jerome Alexander (John 
Wiley & Sons, New York), and The Chemistry of 
Colloids, by W. W. Taylor (Longmans, Green & Co.). 
In regard to radium and radio activity, going more 
profoundly into the subject than did Doctor Duncan 
in his New Knowledge, there are two good works by 
Ernest Rutherford-one called Radio Activity, and 
published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, and the other 
Radio Active Transformation, bearing the imprint of 
Charles Scribner's Sons. 
The practical man, however, knows very well that 
he cannot get the whole theory of chemistry into his 
head by a twist o' the wrist, and he is likely to be 
anxious to get at the books written on the subjects in 
which he is already interested with a view to under- 
360 APPENDIX II 
standing as much as he can. A good general survey 
of the industrial field may be obtained from Allen 
Rogers's Manual of Industrial Chemistry (Van Nos- 
trand). A new edition will appear about the time 
the present work is issued. A shorter book is Indus- 
trial Chemistry for Engineering Students, by H. H. 
Benson (Macmillan). The following more or less 
technical works (some being more and others less) 
are standard: 
Water Supply, by W. P. Mason. Price, $4. John 
Wiley & Sons, New York. Glass Manufacture, by 
Walter Rosenhain. $2. D. Van Nostrand Com- 
pany, New York. A Treatise on Ceramic Industries, 
by E. Bourry; translated by A. B. Searle. Scott Green- 
wood & Son, London. History of the Clay Working 
Industry in the United States, by Rees & Leighton. 
$2.50. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Clays (more 
comprehensive but more technical than the above), 
by H. Rees. $5. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 
The Chemistry and Testing of Cement, by C. H. Desch. 
Edward Arnold, London. Portland Cement, by Rich- 
ard K. Mead. Chemical Publishing Company, Easton, 
Pennsylvania. Sulphuric Acid and Alkali, by George 
Lunge. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 
Coal-Tar and Ammonia, by George Lunge. D. Van 
Nostrand Company, New York. Principles of Metal- 
lurgy, by C. H. Fulton. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 
New York. Metallurgy, by Herbert Lang. McGraw- 
Hill Book Company, New York. Handbook of Metal- 
lurgy, by Schnabel & Lewis. 2 volumes. Macmillan 
Company, New York. Metallic Alloys, by G. H. 
Gulliver. Clark Griffin & Co., London. The Metal- 
lurgy of Iron and Steel, by Bradley Stoughton. 
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Principles 
of Copper Smelting, by Edward Dyer Peters. Me- 
361 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Graw-Hill Book Company, New York. Practice of 
Copper Smelting, by Edward Dyer Peters. McGraw- 
Hill Book Company, New York. Metallurgy of Lead, 
by H. O. Hofman. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 
New York. Metallurgy of Tin, by Henry Louis. Mc- 
Graw-Hill Book Company, New York. Production 
and Properties of Zinc and Cadmium, by W. R. Ingalls. 
$3. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Metal- 
lurgy of Zinc and Cadmium, by W. R. Ingalls. $6. 
McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. Nitro- 
cellulose Industry, by E. C. Wooden. 2 volumes. 
(Covers entire field from artificial silk and leather to 
celluloid and smokeless powder.) D. Van Nostrand 
Company, New York. Explosives, by Arthur Mar- 
shall. P. Blackiston's Son Company, Philadelphia. 
Explosives, by H. Brunswig; translated by Munroe 
and Kibler. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Ameri- 
can Petroleum Industry, by Bacon and Hamor. $10. 
2 volumes. (New, complete, standard work on sub- 
ject.) McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. 
Industrial Alcohol, by J. D. McIntosh. Scott Green- 
wood & Son, London. Hydrogenation of Oils, by Carl- 
ton Ellis. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. 
Oils, Fats, and Waxes, by J. Lewkowitsch. 3 volumes. 
5th edition. Macmillan Company, New York. INDEX 
A 
Absolute Zero, 25. 
Acetaldehyde, 251. 
Acetic Acid, 251, 254. 
Acetone, 266. 
Acetycellulose, 251, 304. 
Acheson, Edward G., 134, 222. 
Acid Phosphate, ill. 
Soils, 32. 
Acids, 45, 87. 
Acrylic Acid, 256. 
Actinic Rays, 76. 
Adsorption, 32. 
Affinity, 43. 
Air and Water, 59. 
Compressed, 69. 
Pressure, 25. 
Alabaster, 155. 
Alcohols and some Relatives, 258 
List of, 258. 
Aldehydes and Ketones, 265. 
Aldoses, 283. 
Ale, 260. 
Alexander, Jerome, 32, 35. 
Aliphatic Compounds, 236. 
Alizarine, 337. 
Alkali Deserts, 106. 
Metals, 117. 
Alkalies, 45, 50. 
Allotropic Modifications, 95. 
Allotropy, 95. 
Allylene, 248. 
Alpha Naphthol, 328. 
■ Naphthylamine Black, 336. 
Alum, 142. 
Alumina, 141. 
Aluminates, 141. 
Aluminium, 141, 347. 
Bronze, 181. 
Chloride, 142. 
Hydroxide, 141. 
Aluminium, Oxide, 141. 
Silicate, 142. 
Sulphate, 142. 
Aluminum, 141. 
Amines, 312. 
Ammonia, 82, 85. 
Ammonium Fluoride, 90. 
Hydroxide, 86. 
Sulphate, 229. 
Anhydrids, 48. 
Aniline, 321, 326. 
Black, 332. 
Blues, 331. 
Animal Black, 224. 
Annatto, 275. 
Anthracene, 317, 323, 337. 
Anthracite, 225. 
Antimony, 115, 347. 
Sulphide, 115. 
Appendix, 347. 
Apple-tree, The bottle-fed, 127. 
Aquadag, 223. 
Argenite, 203. 
Argon, 44, 347. 
Aromatic Bodies, 237. 
Compounds, 315. 
Arsenic, 113, 347. 
Arsenious Oxide, 114. 
Arsine, 113. 
Asbestos, 161. 
Platinized, 104. 
Atoms, 17. 
Automobile Fuels, 241. 
Avogadro's Law, 21. 
Azobenzene, 335. 
Azo Colors, 331. 
Azurite, 180. 
B 
Babbitt Metal, 115. 
Bacon, Raymond F., 3. 
363 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Bakelite, 266. 
Ball Clay, 144. 
Bancroft, Wilder D., 31, 35. 
Barium, 347. 
Barley Sugar, 281. 
Barrett's Disinfecting Fluid, 184. 
Bases, 45, 87. 
Baskerville, Charles, 94, 270. 
Bauxite, 141. 
Beehive Coke Ovens, 224. 
Beer, 259. 
Beet Sugar, 286. 
Benzidine, 335. 
Benzine, Petroleum, 294. 
Benzoic Acid, 322. 
Benzol, 315. 
or Benzene, 316. 
Ring, Positions in the, 321. 
Benzo Sky Blue, 338. 
Berkeley, Bishop, 21. 
Beryllium, 348. 
Bessemer Converter, 169. 
Sir Henry, 169. 
Steel, 169. 
Beta Naphthol, 328. 
Bibliography, 359. 
Birkeland and Eyde, 80. 
Bismuth, 116, 179, 348. 
Subnitrate, 116. 
Bituminous Coal, 226. 
Black Copper, 176. 
Blast Furnace Gases, 167. 
Blaugas, 243. 
Bleaching, 92, 153. 
Powder, 121, 152. 
Blood, Heat of, 61. 
Blue Ware, 214. 
Vitriol, 179. 
Boiler Scale, 72. 
Boneblack, 224. 
Boracic Acid, 147. 
Borax, 147. 
Boric Acid, 147. 
Oxide, 147. 
Boron, 146, 348. 
Bradley, Charles S., 80. 
Brandy, 260. 
Brass, 180, 183. 
Bread-making, 299. 
Breakfast Cocoa, 291. 
Brick, 143. 
Britannia Metal, 115. 
Bromine, 88, 94, 348. 
Bronze, 180. 
Brownian Movement, 33, 35. 
Bucher, John E., 85. 
Burnt Sienna, 199. 
Burton, W. M., 242. 
Butadiene, 252. 
Butane, 235, 237. 
Butyric Acid, 254. 
By-product Coke Ovens, 224. 
C 
Cadmium, 348. 
Caesium, 129, 348. 
Calcareous Marl, 162. 
Calcite, 161. 
Calcium, 148, 348. 
Carbide, 83, 153. 
Chloride, 91, 151. 
Cyanamide, 83, 154. 
Halogen Compounds, 149. 
Hydride, 149. 
Hydroxide, 149, 151. 
Hypochlorite, 152. 
Nitride, 149. 
Oxide, 149. 
Phosphate, 146. 
Phosphide, 154. 
Silicate, 148. 
Sulphate, 91, 148. 
Sulphide, 154. 
Tungstate, 202. 
Calcspar, 161. 
Calomel, 215. 
Candy, 289. 
Cane Sugar, 286. 
Carbide of Calcium, 83. 
Carbohydrates, 284. 
Carbolic Acid, 327. 
Carbon, 219, 348. 
Amorphous, 223. 
Bisulphide, 232. 
Compounds, 52. 
Dioxide, 47, 59, 231. 
Electrodes, 222. 
Monoxide, 230. 
Tetrachloride, 97, 231. 
Carbonic Acid, 2, 47. 
Acid Gas, 231. 
Carborundum, 134. 
Carbylamines, 313. 
364 INDEX 
Casing Head Gasolene, 239. 
Cassiterite, 185. 
Castor-oil, 271. 
Catalyst, 51. 
Catalysis, 50. 
Caustic Soda, 118, 119. 
Cellulose, 284, 303. 
and Nitrogen Compounds, 
303- 
Natural Production of, 209. 
Cement, 155. 
Clinker, 157. 
from Slag, 157. 
Natural, 156. 
Rock, 156. 
Centigrade and Fahrenheit, 357. 
Cerium, 348. 
Chalk, 149, 162. 
Chamber Acid, 102. 
Champagne, 260. 
Charcoal, 223. 
Chemical Affinity, 43. 
Control, 8. 
Enterprises, 13. 
Equations, 356. 
Miseries, 3. 
Names and Phrases, 54. 
National Bank, 106. 
Chemistry of Common Things, 
119. 
of Familiar Things, 68. 
Chemists' Club, 131. 
Club Employment Bureau, 7. 
Chewing Gum, 292. 
Chicle, 292. 
Chile, Nitrate Beds of, 79. 
Saltpeter, 117. 
China Clay, 144. 
Wood Oil, 296. 
Chinese Vegetable Tallow, 272. 
White, 183. 
Chlorbenzol, 316. 
Chloride of Lime, 152. 
and Sanitation, 94. 
Chlorination of Water Supplies, 
93- 
Chlorine, 76, 88, 349. 
and Oxygen, 92. 
as a Disinfectant, 93. 
Dioxide, 93. 
Monoxide, 92. 
Chloroform, 245, 266. 
Chlorophyl, 208. 
Chocolate, 291. 
Cream Drops, 291. 
Chrome Green, 199. 
Nickel Steel, 199. 
Ocher, 197. 
Steel, 73. 
Tanning, 200. 
Yellow, 199. 
Chromite of Iron, 197. 
Chromium, 197, 349. 
Oxides, 199. 
Cinnabar, 97, 214. 
Clarke, F. W., 41. 
Clay, 142. 
Colloidal, 142. 
Clays, Various Kinds of, 144. 
Coagulation, 33. 
Coal Gas, 227, 319. 
Low Grade, 230. 
Powdered, 226. 
Products, 319. 
Tar Crudes, 324. 
Tar Intermediates, 320. 
Tar Intermediates and Fin- 
ished Products, 326. 
Cobalt, 196, 349. 
Oxide, 197. 
Cobaltous Chloride, 196. 
Cocoa Beans, 291. 
Butter, 277, 291. 
Cocoanut Oil, 272. 
Coke, 224, 319. 
Cold, 44. 
Colgan, Mr., 292. 
Cohoe, Wallace G., 305. 
Collodion, 304. 
Colloid Chemistry, 30. 
Conerite, 158. 
Copper, 176, 349. 
Alloys, 180. 
Matte, 178. 
Pyrites, 97. 
Refining, 178. 
Silicide, 180. 
Smelting, 177, 178. 
Steel, 173. 
Sulphate, 179. 
Sulphides, 178. 
Corrosive Sublimate, 215. 
Corundum, 142. 
Cotton-seed Oil, 271. 
365 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Cottrell, Frederick Gardner, 64, 
167, 178. 
Cottrell Process, 34. 
Cracking Petroleum, 241. 
Crehore, Albert C., 20. 
Crucible Steel, 170. 
Crude Petroleum, 239. 
Cryolite, 118. 
Cullett, 138. 
Cuprammonium, 177. 
Cupric Chloride, 179. 
Oxide, 176. 
Cuprosilicon, 180. 
Cuprous Chloride, 179. 
Oxide, 176. 
Cushman, Allerton S., 32. 
Cyanogen, 231. 
D 
Denatured Alcohol, 261. 
Dextrose, 283. 
Diamond, 219. 
Diamonds, Artificial, 220. 
Diatomaceous Earth, 134. 
Diazonium Group, 331. 
Dicalcium Silicate, 156. 
Dichlormethane, 215. 
Dimethylamine, 312. 
Dinitrochlorbenzol, 333. 
Dinitrophenol, 333. 
Dissociation, 27. 
Dolomite, 148, 162. 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 95. 
Duncan, Robert Kennedy, 40, 300. 
Dunderhead Mfg. Co., 8. 
Dust, 63. 
Dutch Metal, 180. 
Dyestuff Situation in United 
States, 339. 
Dyestuffs, 324. 
Dynamite, 87, 263. 
Dysprosium, 349. 
E 
Electric Dog, 108. 
Precipitation, 65. 
Steel Furnaces, 171. 
Electrochemistry, 29. 
Electrolytes, 26. 
Electrolytic Refining, 29. 
Electrons, 20. 
Electroplating, 29. 
Elements and their Compounds, 
38. 
Descriptive List, 347. 
in Life, 41. 
Emery, 142. 
Employment Bureau, Chemists' 
Club, 7. 
Erbium, 349. 
Erie Black, 336. 
Esparto, 311. 
Esters and Ethers, 263. 
Ethane, 237, 250. 
Ethyl Alcohol, 259. 
Aldehyde, 265. 
Ethylene Chlorides, 251. 
Dichloride, 243. 
Glycol, 244. 
Europium, 349. 
Explosives, 87. 
Export Oil, 239. 
F 
Fahrenheit into Centigrade, 357. 
Fast Cotton Vat Dyes, 338. 
Fats and Oils, 256 
Oils and their Products, 266. 
Fatty Acids, 253. 
List of, 255. 
Fatwad, Mr., 16. 
Feldspar, 145. 
Ferric and Ferrous Compounds, 
163. 
Oxide, 163. 
Ferrochromium, 199. 
Ferromanganese, 201. 
Ferrous Sulphate, 174. 
Firebrick, 143. 
Fire Clay, 144. 
Fischer, Emil, 285, 513. 
Fish Oil, 271. 
Flotation, 177. 
Fluorine, 88, 89, 90, 349. 
Fink Colin, G., 35. 
Fog at Sea, 67. 
Formaldehyde, 265. 
Formic Acid, 253. 
Formulas, 356. 
Frank & Caro, 83. 
Franklinite, 182. 
366 INDEX 
Frasch, Herman, 96. 
Freezing Machines, 64. 
Freund's Acid, 336. 
Fructose, 283. 
Fruit Sugar, 283. 
Fuchsine, 336. 
Fuels, Gaseous, 227. 
Liquid, 227. 
Fuller's Earth, 146. 
G 
Gadolinium, 349. 
Galactose, 284. 
Galena, 188. 
Galenite, 188. 
Gallic Acid, 322. 
Gallium, 349. 
Galvanized Iron, 182. 
Gans, Robert, 73. 
Gas Engines, 226. 
Liquor, 319. 
Natural, 229. 
Standards, 229. 
Statistics in United States, 
230. 
Gaseous Fuels, 227. 
Gases, 21, 24. 
Gasolene Test, 240. 
Gayley, James, 166. 
Process, 166. 
Gay-Lussac Tower, 102. 
German Industrial Chemistry, 343. 
Silver, 180. 
Germanium, 349. 
Gin, 260. 
Glass, 134. 
Baking Dishes, 137. 
Bottles, 139. 
Building, 138. 
Colored, 138. 
Cut, 136. 
Etching, 90. 
Fluxes, 135. 
Gall, 138. 
Kitchenware, 137. 
Laboratory, 136. 
Red, 108. 
Various Kinds, 137. 
Glassmaking, The Art of, 138. 
Glauber's Salt, 117. 
Glazes, 144. 
Glover Tower, ioi. 
Glucose, 283. 
Wholesomeness of, 289. 
Glycerides, 263. 
Glycerin, 252. 
Glycerol, 261. 
Glycogen, 298. 
Glycol and Glycerin, 271. 
Gold, 210, 349. 
Amalgamation Process, 211. 
Chlorination Process, 211. 
Colloidal, 212. 
Color of, 210. 
Cyanide Process, 211. 
Faraday's, 212. 
Production of, 212. 
Sodium Cyanide Process, 212. 
Solvent for, 211. 
Washing, 211. 
Goldschmidt, Hans, 197. 
Process, 197, 201. 
Graebe and Liebermann, 338. 
Grain Alcohol, 259. 
Grape Sugar, 283. 
Graphite, 221. 
Deflocculated, 222. 
in Iron, 167. 
Graphitic Acid, 221. 
Green Vitriol, 174. 
Gums and Varnishes, 293. 
Candies, 290. 
Gunmetal, 180. 
Gunpowder, 87, 128. 
Gypsum, 91, 155. 
H 
Haber & Le Rossignol Process, 81. 
H Acid, 329. 
Hair Tonic, 328. 
Hall, Charles M., 141. 
Process, 142. 
Halogens, 88. 
Oxides of, 89. 
Hammond, John Hays, Jr., 108. 
Hamor, William A., 3. 
Hardening Oils, 277. 
Heart of the Thing, The, 16. 
Heat, 44. 
Helium, 19, 44, 350. 
Hematite, 174. 
Heroult, 141, 
367 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Hewitt, Peter Cooper, 76. 
Holmium, 350. 
Hooker, Albert H., 94. 
Humidity, 69. 
Hydrates, 70. 
Hydrazine, 86. 
Hydrazobenzene, 335. 
Hydrazoic Acid, 86. 
Hydrochloric Acid, 47, 89, 91. 
Hydrofluoric Acid, 89. 
Hydrogen, 67, 350. 
Peroxide, 69. 
Sulphide, 97. 
Hydrogenation of Oils, 272. 
Hypo, 107. 
Hypochlorous Acid, 92. 
Hyposulphite of Soda. 107. 
I 
Ice Stone of Greenland, 118. 
Why it Floats, 69. 
Indigo, 338. 
Indium, 350. 
Inorganic Chemistry, 57. 
Inventors, 13. 
Iodine, 24, 88, 89, 94, 350. 
Iodoform, 267. 
Ion, Meaning of, 29. 
Ionic Hypothesis, 26. 
Ions, 45. 
Iridium, 213, 350. 
Iron, 163, 350. 
and Steel, 163. 
Blast Furnaces, 164, 165. 
Carbide, 167, 168. 
Carbonate, 163. 
Cast, 168. 
Chromite, 197. 
in Water, 75. 
Metallurgy of, 164. 
Ore, Supplies of, 175. 
Ores, 163, 174. 
Oxides, 163, 174. 
Pyrites, 97, 164. 
Rust, 174. 
Salts, 174. 
Sulphide, 97. 
Wrought, 168. 
Isobutane, 235. 
Isomerism, 236. 
Isoprene, 248. 
J 
Johnston, Joseph E., 166. 
Journal of Industrial and Engineer- 
ing Chemistry, 7. 
K 
Kalium, 122. 
Kalkstickstoff, 154. 
Kaolin, 142, 144. 
Kekule, Professor, 285. 
Kelp, Giant, 124. 
Kerosene, 239. 
Ketones, 266. 
Ketoses, 283. 
Kieselgahr, 134. 
Kobolds, 196, 197. 
Kohman, Dr., 300. 
Kraft Paper, 308. 
Krypton, 44, 350. 
L 
Lampblack, 224. 
Langmuir, Irving, 34 
Lanthanum, 350. 
Lard, 269. 
Oil, 271. 
Laundering, 279. 
Lead, 187, 350. 
Acetate, 193. 
Bicarbonate, 193. 
Carbonate, 188, 193. 
Curious Liquefaction of, 188. 
Dioxide, 190. 
Glazes, 144. 
Halogen Compounds, 189. 
Hydroxide, 193. 
Molybdenate, 202. 
Monoxide, 189. 
Nitrate, 193. 
Pencils, 222. 
Peroxide, 190, 191. 
Persulphate, 191. 
Poisoning, 189. 
Salts, 192. 
Sesquioxide, 189. 
Soft, 190. 
Suboxide, 188, 189. 
Sugar of, 193. 
Sulphate, 191, 193. 
368 INDEX 
Lead, Sulphide, 188, 193. 
Tetraoxide, 189. 
Le Blanc, Nicholas, 120. 
Process, 120, 121. 
Lepidolite, 128. 
Levulose, 283. 
Life, Elements in, 41. 
Lignite, 227. 
Lime, 149. 
and Magnesia, 148. 
Chloride of, 152. 
in Glass, 136. 
Kilns, 151. 
Milk of, 151. 
Lime-soda Process for Softening 
Water, 72. 
Limestone, 148, 149. 
Limonite, 174. 
Linoleic Acid, 273. 
Linseed Oil, 296. 
Liquid Fuels, 227. 
Liquids, 22, 24. 
Litharge, 189. 
Lithia Mica, 128. 
Lithium, 128, 350. 
Hydroxide, 129. 
Salts, 129. 
Litmus Paper, 48. 
Little, Arthur D., 310. 
Lubricating Oils, 214. 
Luminous Paints, 155. 
Lunar Caustic, 206. 
Lutecium, 351. 
M 
Magenta, 331. 
Magnesia, 158. 
Magnesite, 161. 
Magnesium, 158, 351. 
Carbonate, 158. 
Chloride, 160. 
Disilicate, 161. 
Hydroxide, 158. 
Metasilicate, 161. 
Nitride, 159. 
Oxide, 158. 
Magnetite, 164. 
Malconite, 176. 
Malonic Acid, 257. 
Maltose, 284. 
Manganese, 201, 351. 
Bronze, 181. 
in Water, 75. 
Steel, 173. 
Marble, 148. 
Margaric Acid, 255. 
Martin, Geoffrey, 40, 49. 
Matches, m. 
Matter, Nature of, 16. 
Phases of, 24. 
Meerschaum, 161. 
Mellon Institute, 35, 281, 300. 
Mendeleef, Professor, 40. 
Mercuric Chloride, 215. 
Oxide, 214. 
Mercurous Chloride, 215. 
Oxide, 214. 
Mercury, 214, 351. 
Arc-light, 76. 
Bichloride, 215. 
Fulminate of, 215. 
Sulphide, 97, 214. 
Thiocyanate, 215. 
Metallurgical and Chemical En- 
gineering, 7. 
Metaphosphoric Acid, 116. 
Metastannic Acid, 186. 
Methane, 235, 237. 
Methylalcohol, 258. 
Methylamine, 312. 
Methylchloride, 245. 
Methylendiamine, 335. 
Methylene Blue, 338. 
Methylethylamine, 312. 
Metric System, 257. 
Mica, 146. 
Milk Sugar, 284. 
Minium, 189. 
Missouri Clay-eaters, 41. 
Mitscherlich Process, 308. 
Modifications, Allotropic, 95. 
Moissan, 220. 
Moisture in the Air, 69. 
Molasses, 288. 
Molecules, 17. 
Molybdenum, 202, 351. 
Steel, 202. 
Sulphide, 202. 
Monel Metal, 197. 
Mononitrocellulose, 304. 
More about Air, 77. 
More Metals, 176. 
369 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Mortar, 150. 
Magnesia in, 150. 
Municipal Chemistry, 94. 
Muriatic Acid, 47, 91. 
N 
Naegeli, Professor, 303. 
Names and Phrases, Chemical, 54. 
Naphthalene, 317, 323, 327. 
Naphthylamines, 329. 
Natrium (see Sodium). 
Natural Gas, 229. 
Nature's Fixation Process, 78. 
Nef, Professor, 286. 
Neodymium, 351. 
Neon, 44, 351. 
Nickel, 179, 196, 197, 351. 
Plating, 197. 
Steel, 173, 197. 
Nigrosine, 332. 
Niobium, 352. 
Niton, 352. 
Nitric Acid, 49, 84, 86, 87. 
Oxide, 86, 181. 
Nitrides, 86. 
Nitrobenzol, 321. 
Nitrocellulose, 354. 
Nitro Compounds, 312. 
Nitrogen, 44, 77, 352. 
Compounds, 312. 
Dioxide, 86. 
Fixation, 80. 
Group, 116. 
Oxides, 101. 
Peroxide, 101. 
Nitroglycerin, 87, 263. 
Nitrolime, 154. 
Nitrotoluol, 321. 
Nitrous Oxide, 86. 
Noyadont, Dr., 8. 
O 
Ocher, 174. 
Oildag, 222. 
Oil Gas, 243. 
of Vitriol, 105. 
Oils and Fats, 256. 
Oils, Hydrogenation of, 272. 
Refining of, 269. 
Olefins, 45. 
Olefins and Acids, 247. 
Oleic Acid, 256. 
Oleomargarine, 275. 
Oleo Oils, 275. 
Oleum, 103. 
Olive Oil, 271. 
Opals, 134. 
Open-Hearth Steel, 170. 
Organic Chemistry, 233. 
Compounds, 52. 
Osazones, 285. 
Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 41. 
Osmium, 213, 352. 
Ostwald, Wilhelm, 84. 
Oxalic Acid, 256. 
Oxidation, 61. 
Oxidizing Agents, 93. 
Oxy-acetylene Flame, 62, 250. 
Oxycellulose, 305. 
Oxygen, 59, 62, 352. 
Oxy-hydrogen Flame, 62. 
Ozone, 61. 
P 
Palladium, 213, 352. 
Palmitic Acid, 255. 
Paper, 306. 
Paper-making, 309. 
Paracelsus, 195. 
Paraffins, 238. 
and Petroleum Bodies, 235. 
List of, 245, 246. 
Paranitraniline, 326, 336. 
Para Red, 336. 
Paris Green, 114. 
Peanut Brittle, 291. 
Oil, 271. 
Pentane, 236. 
Percolator, The, 131. 
Periodic Law, 38. 
Permanganic Acid, 201. 
Permutit, 72, 73. 
Peroxide of Hydrogen, 69. 
Petroleum, The Future of, 244. 
Refining, 239. 
Pharaoh's Serpent's Eggs, 215. 
Phases of Matter, 24. 
Phenol, 327. 
Phosphate, Acid, 105. 
Rock, no. 
Phosphine, 109. 
370 INDEX 
Phosphonium, no. 
Phosphor Bronze, 113, 181. 
Phosphoric Acid, 116. 
Phosphorus, 109, 352. 
and Metals, 112. 
Arsenic, Antimony and Bis- 
muth, 109. 
as Brain Food, 113. 
in Iron, 112. 
Pentoxide, no. 
Sesquisulphide, 112. 
Phossy jaw, in. 
Photochemistry, 208. 
Photographic Prints, 199, 207. 
Photography, 207. 
Pickling Steel, 92. 
Picric Acid, 322, 334. 
Pig-iron, 165, 167. 
Pipe Clay, 144. 
Plaster of Paris, 155. 
Plate Glass, 139. 
Platinized Asbestos, 213. 
Platinum, 213, 352. 
Black, 213. 
Sponge, 213. 
Tetrachloride, 213. 
Plumbates, 193. 
Plumbic Acid, 193. 
Pons Asinorum of Chemistry, 42. 
Porcelain, 143. 
Porphyry, 134. 
Portland Cement, 155, 157. 
Potash, 67. 
Caustic, 123. 
in the Soil, 125. 
Salts, 123. 
Supply, 123, 124, 125, 167. 
Potassium, 122, 352. 
Antimonyl Tartrate, 116. 
Bromide, 127. 
Chlorate, 89, 92. 
Chloride, 127. 
Compounds, 127. 
Cyanide, 128. 
Dichromate, 199. 
Fluoride, 128. 
Hydroxide, 123. 
Hypochlorite, 92. 
Iodide, 128. 
Nitrate, 123. 
Permanganate, 201. 
Silicate, 128, 134. 
Potassium, Sulphate, 127. 
Pottery, 143. 
Praseodymium, 353. 
Producer Gas, 228. 
Propane, 237. 
Propionic Acid, 254. 
Proteins, 313. 
Protoplasm, 208. 
Pyridine, 261. 
Q 
Quartz, 134. 
Glass, 135. 
Quicklime, 149. 
R 
Radicals, 45. 
Radium, 19, 45, 215, 352. 
Raffinose, 284. 
Rain, 69. 
Cause of, 69. 
Ramsay, Sir William, 44. 
Red Lead, 189. 
Reducing Agents, 62. 
Reduction, 62. 
Research Corporation, 66, 167. 
Reversible Reactions, 82. 
Rhodium, 213, 352. 
Rich Man's Vanity, 11. 
Rittman Process, 243. 
Rocks, 42. 
Rollo and His Uncle, 18, 26. 
Rosaniline, 330. 
Rubber, 249. 
Rubidium, 129, 353. 
Rum, 260. 
Ruthenium, 213, 353. 
S 
Saccharides, 282. 
Sadtler, Samuel S., 68, 119. 
Safety Matches, 112. 
Salt, 90. 
Cake, 121. 
Risin' Bread, 300. 
Saltpeter, 123. 
Salts, Dissociation of, 47. 
Nature of, 45. 
Samarium, 353. 
371 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Sand, 42, 130. 
and Clay, 130. 
Scandium, 353. 
Scheelite, 202. 
Sea Water in Boilers, 160. 
Seidlitz Powders, 117. 
Selenium, 107, 179, 353. 
Serpentine, 161. 
Sewage, 62, 79. 
Disposal Plants, 94. 
Siemens, Sir Wm., 176. 
Signal Fires at Sea, 154. 
Silica, 130. 
Silicate of Soda, 138. 
Silicates, 134. 
Silicic Acid, 134. 
Silicon, 130, 353. 
Bronze, 181. 
Carbide, 134. 
Chloroform, 131. 
Man, The, 131. 
Silks, Weighted, 187. 
Silver, 203, 353. 
and Sulphur, 284. 
Bromide, 207. 
Chloride, 204, 206. 
Color of, 203. 
Electrolytic Cleaning, 205. 
Frosted, 204. 
Nitrate, 204, 206. 
Oxides, 207. 
"Oxidized," 204. 
Sodium Cyanide, 206. 
Subbromide, 207. 
Subchloride, 207. 
Sheffield Plate, 204. 
Slacked Lime, 149. 
Sleep, Mystery of, 60. 
Slip Clay, 145. 
Smalt, 197. 
Smell, Sense of, 224. 
Smithsonian Institution, 66. 
Soap, 71, 263, 277. 
Soapstone, 161. 
Soda, Ammonia Process, 121. 
Ash, 49, 119. 
Electrolytic Process, 122. 
Water, 117. 
Sodium, 117, 354. 
Aluminium Fluoride, 118. 
Bicarbonate, 119, 122. 
Carbonate, 118. 
Sodium, Chloride, 90, 91. 
Cyanide, 85. 
Diuranate, 202. 
Hydroxide, 119. 
Iodide, 127. 
Metallic, 118. 
Nitrate, 117. 
Salts, 119. 
Selenite, 108. 
Silicate, 134. 
Stannate, 186, 189. 
Sulphate, 91, 117. 
Tetraborate, 147. 
Softening Water, Lime-soda Proc 
ess, 72. 
Soil, 126, 161. 
Acid, 32. 
Solids, 22, 24. 
Solid Solutions, 30. 
Solubility of Azo Colors, 3, 31. 
Solute, 30. 
Solutions, 25. 
Solvay, Ernest, 121, 122. 
Process, 121. 
Solvent, 30. 
Some of the Rarer Metals, 203. 
Soya Bean Oil, 271. 
Spar Varnish, 296. 
Spelter, 182. 
Spruce Gum, 292. 
Stannic Acid, 185. 
Chloride, 187. 
Hydroxide, 186. 
Oxide, 185, 186. 
Stannous Chloride, 185, 187. 
Compounds, 184. 
Nitrate, 186. 
Sulphate, 188. 
Starch, 297. 
in Grains, 298. 
Natural Production of, 209. 
Stearic Acid, 255. 
Steel, 168. 
Stereochemistry, 236, 286. 
Stibnite, 115. 
Still More Metals, 195. 
Stone Clay, 145. 
Storage Battery, 190. 
Strontium, 354. 
Succinic Acid, 259. 
Sugar, Fermentation of, 305. 
Natural Production of, 209. 
372 INDEX 
Sugar of Lead, 193. 
Starch and Gums, 282. 
Sulphates, 105. 
Pulp, 308. 
Sulphide of Hydrogen, 97. 
Sulphides, 96, 97. 
Sulphite Pulp, 308. 
Waste Liquors, 318. 
Sulpho-con j ugations, 105. 
Sulphonic Acids, 318. 
Sulphur, 95, 354. 
Bichloride, 97. 
Black, 332. 
Chloride, 97. 
Colors, 333. 
Dioxide, 98, 100. 
Heptoxide, 98. 
in Fuels, 97. 
Matches, in. 
Sesquioxide, 98. 
Sulphuric Acid and Sulphur 
Compounds, 95. 
Tetrachloride, 97. 
Trioxide, 98, 101. 
Sulphuric Acid, 49, 98. 
Anhydrid, 103. 
Chamber Process, 101. 
Contact Process, 103. 
Proposed Process, 105. 
Sulphurous Acid, 100. 
Sun's Rays, Power of, 209. 
Symbols, 356. 
T 
Table Salt, 90. 
Talc, 161. 
Tallow, 269. 
Tanning, 200. 
Tannin, 322. 
Tantalum, 354. 
Tartar Emetic, 116. 
Tellurium, 179, 354. 
Tempering Steel, 172. 
Terbium, 354. 
Terpene, 249. 
Test Factories, 14. 
Thallium, 354. 
Th6nard's Blue, 197. 
Thermit, 198. 
Thiosulphuric Acid, 107. 
Thomson, Sir William, 32. 
Thorium, 354. 
Thulium, 355. 
Tin, 184, 355. 
Cry, The, 184. 
Disease, 185. 
Pest, 185. 
Pyrites, 185. 
Sulphide, 185, 187. 
Tinstone, 185. 
Titanium, 355. 
T. N. T., 321. 
Toluidine, 327. 
Toluol, 320. 
Tricalcium Aluminate, 156. 
Silicate, 156. 
Tridymite, 132. 
Trimethylamine, 312. 
Trinitrocellulose, 304. 
Trinitrochlorbenzol, 334. 
Trinitrophenol, 334. 
Trinitrotoluol, 321. 
Triphylite, 128. 
Tungsten, 202, 355. 
Steel, 173. 
Trioxide, 202. 
Tungstic Acid, 202. 
Turkey Red, 337. 
Oil, 271. 
Tweedledum and Tweedledee, 
Philosophy of, 33. 
Twitchell, Ernest, 278. 
Tyndall Test, 103. 
Type Metal, 115. 
U 
Ultra-violet Rays, 76. 
United States Bureau of Mines, 5. 
Unsaturated Acids, 255. 
Hydrocarbons, 247. 
Uranium, 202, 355. 
V 
Valence, 43, 356. 
Vanadium, 355. 
Steel, 173. 
Van't Hoff, Jacobus Henricus, 
236, 285. 
Varnishes, 293. 
Vat Dyes, 339. 
373 EVERYMAN'S CHEMISTRY 
Vermilion, 214. 
Vinegar, 254. 
Vitriol, Oil of, 49. 
W 
Washing Clothes, 93, 279. 
Water, 69. 
Chlorination of, 93. 
Gas, 228. 
Glass, 138. 
Hard and Soft, 70. 
Permanent Hardness, 71. 
Temporary Hardness, 71. 
Whisky, 260. 
White Lead, 193. 
White Vitriol, 184. 
Willson, 83. 
Window Glass, 138, 139. 
Wine, 260. 
Wire Glass, 139. 
Wood Alcohol, 258. 
Pulp, Mechanical, 307. 
Wulfenite, 202. 
Wulframite, 202. 
X 
Xenon, 44, 356. 
Y 
Yeast, 306. 
Food, 301. 
Yellow Ocher, 199. 
Ytterbium, 356. 
Yttrium, 356. 
Z 
Zeolites, 73. 
Zincates, 181. 
Zinc, 181, 356. 
Blende, 97, 182. 
Chloride, 181, 182. 
Dust, 182. 
Oxide, 181, 183 . 
Oxychloride, 183. 
Refining, 182. 
Silicate, 182. 
Sulphate, 28, 181, 184. 
Sulphide, 97, 155, 182. 
White, 183. 
Zirconium, 356. 
THE END