T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y . of the oficinas using i t in Tocopilla and Taltal claim a saving of from 20 per cent. to 30 per cent. over the use of coal. The last report of the delegacion fiscal, or board of government engineers, estimates the quantity of nitrate still available to be worked as follows, in Spanish quintals: Tarapaca Pampa, ~ ~ o , o o o , o oAntofagasta, o; Toco, and Taltal pampas, 4,1o3,ooo,m. Total, 4,843,000,000. MARKETING THE OUTPUT.
The Antofagasta Pampa was expected to develop rich deposits, and heavy investments were made in the matter of extraction plants, b u t exploitation discovered that instead of lying in regular strata, as in Tarapaca, the caliche is deposited in irregular patches and in pockets which make successful operation of the oficinas a very difficult matter. The total output of the iodine has been handled for some time b y a London firm acting for the nitrate combination, and a movement is now on foot to centralize the sale of nitrate in the same manner, eliminating brokers and middlemen. The success of this scheme depends on the continuance of the present nitrate combination, which terminates, according to the agreement at its foimation, on March 31, 1909. On account of the drop in the price of nitrate, the combination decided that this year’s quota of Fermitted production should be reduced to 47 per cent. of the originalamount, so that only 3g,500,000 Spanish quintals will be produced during the year ending April I , 1909. Of this amcunt, 85 per cent. may be exForted between April I and December 31, 1908. CATALYTIC REDUCTION OF FATS AND OILS. (From Science, 28, 572, October 23, 1908.)
About four years ago i t was shown by Paal and Amberger’ that palladium could be obtained in a particularly active colloidal aqueous solution (hydrosol). Subsequently the senior author demonstratedZ that this liquid, in presence of hydrogen, was capable of causing the catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene. The work has now been extended toinclude certain other substances, the most generally interesting of which are oleic acid and a number uf oils.4 The acid, in the form of its potassium salt, is dissolved in water and mixed with a small quantity of the palladium solution, the liquid being then intrcduced into a gas burette containing hydrogen, standing over mercury. Absorption of the gas commences immediately and the reaction is completed in a few hours. No heating is required. Oleic acid, under these conditions, is converted almost quantitatively into stearic acid. Castor oil, dissolved in a mixture of ether and alcohol, is transformed into a crystalline fat, which softens a t 69’ and melts at 7 7 O . The behavior of olive oil is very peculiar. I t combines with three times the quantity of hydrogen which was anticipated from its behavior with iodine. The product, which in general properties resembles that from castor oil is still capable of combining with iodine. Unless, therefore, some flaw can be shown to exist in the experiments, i t will be necessary to revise our ideas of the processes which take place during the ordinary testing of oils and fats with iodine (Hiibl’s method). 1
Ber.. 37, 124 (1904); 38, 1398 (1905).
* Ibid., 38,
1406, 2414 (1905); 40, 2209 (1907).
I b i d . . 41, 2273. Ibid., 41, 2282 (1908).
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Train oil absorbed about 30 per cent. more hydrogen than was anticipated. The yield of solid fat was quantitative. Before reduction the train and olive oils were converted into emulsions with water and a little gum arabic. These results promise to be of great importance to plant physiologists, because the reactions proceed under conditions comparable, in a number of respects, with those under which similar or identical products are formed in nature. To the industrial chemists, the results may also prove to be of considerable value; a reasonably cheap method of transforming liquid oils into solid fats has been much sought after . J. BISHOPTINGLE. MCMASTERUNIVERSITY, TORONTO, CANADA.
INDIAN INDIGENOUS DYES. (From Daily Consular and Trade Reborts, No. 3318, Oct. 30, 1908.)
Consul-General William H. Michael, of Calcutta, submits the following results in tests of natural dyestuffs of India in comparison with chemical dyes: Nr. E. R . n’atson, connected with the Asiatic Society of Bengal, has been experimenting with dyes, both indigenous and synthetical, and appears to demonstrate the superiority of the former over the latter so fully and clearly that i t would seem the contention in favor of the latter would cease. Mr. U-atson experimented with ten vegetable dyes, w z . , turmeric, or huldi (Curcuma longa) ; safflower, or kusuni (Carthamus tinctorius) ; spanwood, or bakam (Caesalpinia sappair) ; palas (Butea frondosa) ; annatto, Orleans, or lakkam (Hixa orellana) ; majisto (Rubia cordifolia) ; kamala (Mallotus philippinensis) ; singher, or harsinghar (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) ; jackwood, jack, or kanthal (Artocarpas integrifolia), and lac dye. He followed the native methods of dyeing, and had no occasion to resort to any European as opposed to India method. He used silk cloth purchased from theRajshahi diamond jubilee industrial schools, and his success was greater than in the case of experiments in dyeing cottoii fabrics. The conclusions he arrives a t are that the indigenous dyes of Bengal are considerably more useful for dyeing on silk than for cctton dyeings, and that the dyeings obtained are frequently considerably faster on silk than on cotton. This, taken in conjunction with the fact that many of the commonly used synthetic dyes do not give fast dyeings on silk, causes the indigenous dyes to compare much more favorably with their synthetic adversaries in this field than was the case of the field of cotton dyeing. He says: The shades obtained from bakam on a tannin-iron mordant, from manijisto, from lac, kamala, and jackwood may be said to have all-round good fastness, as in no respect does any one of these dyeings come lower than I11 in the scale. Thus of I O dyestuffs examined 5 have yielded dyeings which may be characterized as all-round good. Of the 1 2 synthetic dyestuffs used for comparison only 4, viz., alizarine, primuline, chrysophenine, and magdala red are capable of yielding dyeings which may by the same criterion be similarly characterized My work would lead me to form a somewhat higher opinion of the value of the kamala as a silk dye than has been recorded by A. G. Perkin. The dyeings with lac proved to be faster to soaping even than the synthetic dyes which were fastest
T H E JOURNAL. OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y .
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in this respect. I n fact, the general fastness of lac dyeings made i t appear to me a matter of surprise that this material has been so completely superseded by synthetic dyes, the more so as i t is necessarily obtained as a by-product in the purification of lac, a material for which there is an ever rapidly increasing demand.
___ CONCRETE RAILWAY TIES. (From Daily Consular and Trade Reports, No. 3326, Nov. 9, 1908.)
I n the preparation of the following report concerning the manufacture of reenforced cement railway ties in Italy Consul Chapman Coleman, of Rome, says that the information was furnished by the Italian state railway authorities, the Gabellini Cement Company, and others: The Italian Government has ordered 300,000 of these ties, which are now in course of construction. Afew thousand of such ties, ordered for experimental purposes, were constructed by the Gabellini company some years ago, and have been used on the railroad from Castellamare-Adriatic0 to Ancona. As a result of the trials to which the ties were subjected a new design, to be employed in executing the present large order, will replace the old. The principal change will, i t is understood, be found in the introduction into the concrete mass of a larger number of the reenforcing metallic bars, of reduced diameter, in the new design of ties, The cost of a concrete tie is estimated a t about $1.20, and it is believed that its endurance will be from three to four times as great as that of a wood tie. A tie will weigh about 286 pounds, inclusive, of the weight of the metallic reenforce ment, about 28 pounds. A comparison of the respective cost and value of concrete and wooden ties would no doubt give different results in the United States from those afforded in the Italian estimates, owing to varying conditions in the two countries affecting local cost of materials and manufacture, endurance, etc. The belief is largely entertained here that the concrete tie will eventually entirely replace wood tie. SPECIFICATIONS FOR REENFORCED CONCRETE TIES.
The following are the principal features of the technical specifications respecting the furnishing of ties of reenforced cement to the Italian state railways: The materials to be used in construction are normal Portland cement, sand in grains of two sizes, round iron bars, and braces of wood. The cement must not contaiii impurities of any sort, nor more than 2 per cent. of sulphur in any state of oxidation. The tests of the purity of the cement must not show variations in volume nor excessive heat during the process of setting. Tests mechanically conducted with normal sand, which has been kept for twentyeight days under water, must show a coefficient of resistance to strain of not less than IO kilos per square meter and a coefficient of resistance to compression of not less than 100 kilos to the square centimeter. The sand must be calcareoussilicious, containing about 30 per cent. of silex, must be nonbituminous, and must consist of grains of two sizes the half of the quantity necessary must be passed through a screen with circular holes of 5 millimeters in diameter; the other half must be normal sand. At equal prices preference will be given to artificia! sand obtained b y the crushing of calcareous-silicious stone, pro1 J . Soc.
C h e w Ind., 14, 460 (1895).
viding the products respond to the above indicated conditions and the stone resists breaking under a pressure of not less than 500 kilos to the square centimeter. The round reenforcing bars of the ties must support three bending tests a t a temperature of 20 degrees of cold. The use of zinc iron is excluded. Braces must be of wood of strong fiber (male oak, bitter oak, hornbeam, walnut, acacia, etc). The wood must be well seasoned and derived from trees felled while green and a t the proper season of the year. They must be thoroughly permeated with tar oil and must not contain cracks or other defects which may prejudice the use for which they are intended. No tolerance will be given in the dimensions of the braces; they will be provided a t the cost of the furnishing f i m and will be subjected to examination by the agents of the state railways before acceptance. In the construction of the ties a paste or admixture will be employed which shall contain a cubic meter of sand (one-half large, the other normal), 750 kilos of normal Portland cement, with the addition of a little water to give the mass a moist consistency. The sand will be washed with clean water, and so carefully and thoroughly that when fresh water is again applied i t will be found to remain perfectly clear. This mass must be diligently compressed around the armaturt, either by hand or mechanically. For compression by hand work, pestles of a weight not inferior to 750 grams will be employed, and the material to be compressed will be applied in strata of not less than 2 centimetersin thickness and will be continued until complete adjustment is attained. For mechanical compression a pressure nbt inferior to 25 kilos per square centimeter must be employed and applied a t the same time to the entire tie. The ties, as soon as formed and without having been subjected to any bending strain, must be placed upon an even, unbroken surface and covered with powder tufa or earth material, and must be kept constantly moist for a t least fifteen days. After twenty days the ties may be sacked, but must be protected from the action of atmospheric agents for a further period of a t least ten days. The ties may be entirely submerged in water, but only after setting has taken place The agents of the administration of state railways will supe,rvise the manufacture of the ties and will assure themselves that the conditions of these specifications are observed, and will therefore have the right of free entrance to the plant of the furnishing firm at all times. They will also be entitled to break open one tie for every thousand in order to ascertain whether the reenforcement has been done with iron bars of the prescribed diameter ; and wherever i t is found that bars of a less diameter have been used, the entire quantity under manufacture will be rejected. The furnishing firm is required to guarantee the ties for one year from the date of the last receipt of consignment and t o replace or refund the price of any ties which it has become necessary to remove during the period of guaranty because of their unserviceable nature, resulting from defective manufacture; and action in this regard is to be left to the exclusive judgment of the administration of the state railways. Diagrams showing the detailed Italian construction and manufacture and test of concrete railway ties may be seen a t the Bureau of Manufactures.
