A HISTORY of the CHEMICAL APPARATUS INDUSTRY I?. KRAISSL, SR. 501 Fifth Avenue, New Yorlt City
I
N HIS article in THIS JOURNAL on "The History
of Chemical Education in America between the Years 1820 and 1870," Dr. C. A. Browne mentioned' that the story of apparatus development in the United States deserved to be written up. The present writer has been a user as well as a producer of apparatus in this country since 1887 and had occasion to compile a catalog of laboratory ware in 1892. With this experience as a background ,the present conkibution is offered, not as a complete history, but in the hope that it may serve as a stimulus toqurther efforts on the part of others whose information may be more complete. From the founding of this country until the time of the war between the states the domestic production of apparatus for laboratory work was so limited that it could scarcely be classed as an industry. Some few establishments manufactured scales and weights, thermometers and hydrometers, and assayers' implements, but most of the necessary apparatus was imported by dealers in scientific instruments, opticians, 1 BROWNE, C. A , , J. CAEM.EDUC., 9, 712 (Apr., 1932).
or pharmacists. Such items as could he made here were produced in shops that did similar work in other lines. For instance, a wood turner who made howling balls and pins might also make some-turned wood supports for burets, condensers, and funnels. A manufacturer of plumbers' supplies would turn out Bunsen burners, tripods, and similar hardware as a side line. A copper- or tinsmith would build drying ovens and water baths. A glass factory that specialized in druggists' glassware and bottles also made beakers, boiling flasks, and tubing. Until the latter part of the last century, however, there was no firm in America that devoted its entire resources to the production of laboratory apparatus. Indeed, it was not until that time that the expansion of chemical industry and the consequent demand for chemical training increased the need for apparatus sufficiently to warrant investment in extensive productive facilities. The illustration on page 712 in the April, 1932, number of THISJOURNAL shows a typical old-time scientific apparatus store which catered to the wants of professors and students of bygone days and there
are still in existence today some of the old firms which were founded before the Civil War. However, at that time they were merely dealers and importers and only occasionally supplied special apparatus made up by their own mechanics or had such apparatus made in outside shops possessing the requisite mechanics and equipment. Perhaps the earliest records of apparatus produced in this way are to be found in the works of Joseph Priestley. These items were, for the most part, especially adapted to his own experiments, and hence had but little general significance. The first enumeration and description of apparatus used in a regular chemical course in this country was that of the University of Pennsylvania, compiled by Dr. Robert Hare and published by Clark and Raser, Philadelphia, in 1826. The study of chemistry from that time to the latter part of the 19th century was takensup by comparatively few and therefore, as has been remarked, the demand for apparatus was never great enough to justify mass production. The foundation of the American Chemical Society and, later on, the campaign of the Department of Agriculture for pure foods and drugs made the American public more conscious of the r61e that chemistry played in practically all industries. A greater demand for more accurate chemical control, as opposed to former hit-or-miss methods arose and the leading industries correspondingly increased their requirements for the necessary personnel and equipment. Perhaps the
dairy industry may be cited as one of the first which induced many young men to take courses in dairy chemistry in our agricultural colleges, and the production of the apparatus and glassware for the butter-fat test was probably one of the first items of real quantity in that . production . line. Professor S. M. Babcock, who was the originator of the official test for butter fat in milk, published his method about 1890 in a bulletin of the Wisconsin Agricultural E x p e r i m e n t Station. Within a comparatively short time of its publication his test had revolutionized the whole dairy industry of this country. Before that time milk was milk, almost regardless of source or quality, but as soon as dairymen were able to make rapid determination of the valuable constituents, especially the most valuable fat, milk was paid for accordingly. The Babcock test became the standard in this country, as well as in some others, a n d quantity production of the necessary apparatus began. The principal necessities were a hand-operated centrifuge, graduated test bottles, pipets for measuring samples, and little cylinders for measuring the sulfuric acid. The development of the quantity production of these items affords a rather striking illustration of the evolution of better and cheaper methods, so that the apparatus could be sold a t a price that the average dairyman could afford. For example, let us consider the test bottle, which was a t first blown on the lamp. Tubing l'/zx in diameter was cut inproper lengths for making two bottoms. The ends' were drawn out and the center was constricted, then cut apart. The openings were melted in and then flattened with a carbon to form a bottom. After the bottoms were finished, the drawn-out ends were cut off and smaller tubing (of about '/if'inside diameter and the correct length) was attached. The top of the tube was finally flared. After the blank bottles were finished the necks were measured for a scale representing 10% fat, which was equal to a volume of 2 cc. This was a somewhat tedious process. The bottles had to be filled with water to a point just above the bottom of the neck, where the meniscus was marked with a fine black varnish line. An additional 2 cc. of water was then measured in and another varnish mark indicated the new meniscus. At first, in order to guard against the possibility of variation in the inside diameter of the tube neck, it was necessary to calibrate in two stages of 1 cc. each.
Later on a more careful selection of the tubing eliminated one determination. The space marked off by the two varnish lines had to be divided into ten parts, each division representing 1%)which again was divided into five subdivisions, making a total of fifty lines and ten numerals. As this work could not be done with sufficient accuracy by the ordinary method of wheel engraving, the lines and figures had to be etched with bydrofluoric acid and, therefore, the entire bottle had to be dipped in molten wax. Then the scale was put on by means of a rather crude ruling device and the numerals were added by hand, the engraver using a needle mounted in a suitable handle. Where the lines and figures were engraved in the wax the surface of the glass was bare and this was exposed to the action of the hydrofluoric acid until the lines and figures were visibly etched out. Then the action of the acid was stopped by brushing with alcohol, the wax was removed by hot water, the line and figures were blackened with printer's ink, and the test bottle was finished. All this was very well when a few dozen of such bottles were to be made, but when the demand came for thousands of dozens, it was obvious that production methods had to be changed. The first change was to blow the bottoms into a mold in a glass factory, select, cut, measure, engrave, and etch the necks separately and then attach them to the bottoms. Of course, many improvements in the various steps in production were gradually introduced. New types of test bottles and measuring devices were invented, but if it had not been for this great demand, there would have been no stimulus to improve methods in the production of graduated volumetric glassware. The discovery of large oil deposits in various parts of our country was another great impetus to the apparatus industry, because oil was not just oil. ,Almost every well spouted a crude of a different value to the refiner and this value had to be quickly determined. Here again the hand centrifuge with graduated testtubes was the best and quickest device for determining how much water, sand, and mud was mixed with the oil so that the refiner could pay for i t accordingly. Thus i t will be seen that the development of the natural resources of this country and the appreciation of their value had a great influence in the development of the apparatus industry. For instance, the payment for grain according to its moisture content, for cottonseed according to its oil content, etc., required
the production of special types of apparatus. Furthermore the passage of the Pure Food and Drugs Act compelled canners and manufacturers to hire chemically trained people to control production. All this encouraged the expansion of chemical education; high Schools introduced courses in chemistry, and many boys continued their chemical education in universities and colleges. There was a correspondingly increased demand for apparatus, glassware, and chemicals, but for many years educational institutions had the right to import these items free of duty and their quantity production did not develop at the same rate as that of apparatus for the industries, which could not be imported duty free. However, at the beginning of the Great War when scientific supplies could no longer be imported from Germany, the apparatus industry expanaed greatly. The only American glass factory that had made laboratory glassware, such as beakers and flasks, before 1914 was soon joined by others. This was the turning point, not only for the mass production of laboratory glassware but also for such other supplies as chemical porcelain, filter paper, laboratory hardware, chemical reagents, balances, microscopes, etc. After the armistice it became apparent that tariff protection was necessary to insure the survival of the new industry and the duty-free provision was omitted from the A C ~ of 1922. One of the most helpful factors in the development of the apparatus industry in this country was and still
is the U. S. Bureau of Standards. Organized as a Bureau of the Department of Commerce a t the beginning of this century under the direction of the late S. W. Stratton, this institution has constantly assisted manufacturers of laboratory apparatus and instruments in improving the adaptability and accuracy of their ware. The various divisions of the Bureau are not only well equipped for the testing of all kinds of ap-
paratus and instruments for accuracy but maintain a personnel capable of assisting manufacturers in the standardization of their products. The following tabulation testifies to the service rendered by the Bureau in one specific field-the testing of volumetric glassware. Incidentally, it may be noted that most of this ware up to 1911 was imported and that since that time practically all of it was made in this countrv.
Fiscal Ycor Endint June 7 0
161 144 131
315
477 405
* (S)-Number
of pieces ruhmitted: (T)-tested;
(P)-pae~ed.
IS1 1921 1925
1931
(Ti
(PI 151 (T1 (PI
IS1 IT1 (PI
(PI
A comparison between the number of pieces tested and passed will show the notable improvement which manufacturers have been able to make with the cooperation of the U. S. Bureau of Standards. Probably the most important quantity item in laboratory equipment is glassware. It may be interesting to retrace our steps chronologically for the sake of supplying a few further details concerning the development of its domestic manufacture. Up to IS78 only glassware imported from Bohemia, then a province of Austria, and from Germany was sold by American dealers. At that time, after considerable effort, the Whitall Tatum Co., operating a glass factory at Millville, New Jersey, started to produce laboratory ware from a potash class very similar to that ised by t h e Bohemian factories. Later on (in 1020) they introduced a glass which was more resistant to the action of chemicals and to thermal shock and marketed laboratory ware made of this glass under the Nonsol trademark. However, due to the fact that the quantity users, niz., educational institutions, government laboratories, etc., could import their laboratory glassware duty free, the market for these American-made flasks, beakers, and test-tubes was confined almost entirely to industrial and private laboratories and therefore the output was rather limited. Very little progress had been made toward mass production methods when the Great War began in 1014 and importation from Germany and Austria practically ceased. The suddenly expanded demand then induced other glass factories to undertake the manufacture of laboratory ware. Foremost was the Corning Glass Works which, after considerable experimentation, succeeded in blowing their very viscous borosilicate glass, .already well known in the form of pressed ware under t$e Pyrex trademark. While the laboratory glassware made by the other American factories compared very favorably with that formerly i m p ~ r t e d ,the ~ Pyrex ware introU S . Bureau of Standards, Bull. 107, 23 (1918).
duced by the Corning Glass Works was more resistant to the action of chemicals. Furthermore, its extremely low thermal expansion enabled the makers to increase wall thicknesses to produce stronger flasks and beakers. So superior was the new ware to that formerly imported that after the war the demand for foreign ware revived only partially. This demand practically ceased when the Tariff Act of 1922 destroyed the price differential between foreign and domestic wares. Manufacturers of American laboratory glassware were then encouraged to spend large sums in achieving economical quantity production. For the development of the mass production of lamproom and graduated ware the Kimble Glass Co. of Vineland, New Jersey, deserves full credit. This type of ware was produced before the war in various small glassblowing shops mostly from tubing imported from Germany. The Kimble Glass Co. had, before 1914, acquired control of a glass factory where they produced their own blanks and tubing from a sodalime glass similar to the German glass. From this they made large quantities of glassware for the Babcock test previously mentioned. Therefore, when the war stopped the importation of this type of ware, they were ready to expand their production, but were obliged to spend large sums for the development of better machines for measuring, dividing, and graduating, to enable them to reduce costs by increased output. So well have they succeeded that only, the most expensive European ware of that type can now compare with the American product in finish and accuracy. Although the writer has used the development of the laboratory glassware industry for his story, not only because it represents the largest quantity item but also because he is more familiar with it, an almost equal development has taken place in the liGe of laboratory porcelain, hardware, reagent chemicals, rubber goods, etc. Space does not here permit an,elaboration of the details of these developments; hence, further articles describing them should be welcome.
