Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 27 April 1911, Page 787

Science Siftings

—* ——- BY ‘VOLT’

A Ton of Coal. As an illustration of the resources of modern chemistry, it may bo mentioned that from one ton of ordinary gas coal may be produced 1500 pounds of coke, 20 gallons of ammonia water, and 140 pounds of co?,l-tar. By destructive distillation the coal-tar will yield 69.6 pounds of pitch, 17 pounds of creosote, 14 pounds heavy oils, 9.5 pounds naptha (yellow), 6.3 pounds napthaline, 4.75 pounds napthol, 2.25 pounds alazarin, 2.4 pounds solvent naphtha, 1.5 pounds phenol, 1.2 pounds aurine, 1.1 pounds benzine, 1.1 pounds aniline, 0.77 of a pound toluidine, 0.46 of a pound anthracine, and 0.9 of a pound toluene. From the latter is obtained the new substance known as saccharine, which is 230 times as sweet as the best cane sugar, one part of it giving a very sweet taste to 1000 parts of water. The Useful Sunflower. The most remarkable use to which the sunflower has been put is in the construction of battleships. The stalk of the plant is very pithy, and even when compressed into blocks this pith is capable of. absorbing a tremendous quantity of water. These blocks, in which the pith retains some of its flexibility, have been employed with much success in the solution of the vexed problem of the lining of a battleship’s sides. They are placed between two walls of steel, and the substance is so resilient that it completely closes up the hole made by a projectile, keeping out the water for a long time. Another little known use of the sunflower is in the manufacture of cigars. There is not a part of the plant that is without commercial value. The seed, which is raised by hundreds of millions of pounds every year in Russia, makes a palatable edible oil, with a residue of seed cake for cattle; or it- may be fed in the kernel to poultry. The blossoms furnish honey first and then an excellent yellow dye. As for the stalks, the Chinese are clover enough to get a sort of silky fibre from them, and they are also good for fuel and for the production of potash. In New England it is believed that the blossoms follow the sun in its daily course, but that is not true. Making Rico Paper. The so-called rice-paper is not made from rice, as its name implies, but from the snow-white pith of a small tree belonging to the genus Aralia. The tree grows in Formosa, and, so far as is known, nowhere' else. The stems are transported to China, and there the rice paper is made. It is used, aside from a number of other purposes, by the native artists for water-color drawings, and sometimes it is dyed in various colors and made into artificial flowers. The tools of the pith worker comprise a smooth stone, about a foot square, and a larg/j knife or hatchet, with a short wooden handle. The blade is about a foot long, two inches broad, and nearly half an inch thick at the back, and it is as sharp as a razor. Placing a piece of the cylindrical pith on the stone, and his left hand on the top, the pith worker will roll the pith backward and forward for a moment until he gets it in the required position. Then, seizing the knife with his right hand, he will hold the edge of the blade, after a feint or two, close to the pith, which he will keep rolling to the left with his left hand until nothing remains to unroll; for the pith has, by the application of the knife, been pared into a square white sheet of uniform thickness. All that remains to be done is to square the edges. If one will roll up a sheet of paper, lay it on a table, place the left hand on top, and gently unroll it to the left he will have a good idea of how the feat is accomplished. In Place of Wool. Referring to the which are being made to find a substitute for wool, the Sydney Daily Telegraph says; ‘ On this side of the world the bed of the ocean is to be exploited to secure a fibre which, it is fondly hoped, will fill the bill in some directions. It is somewhat strange that the scheme which bids fair to supply the greatest bulk of materialwe say nothing for or against its adaptibility, which has to bo proved by experience— have originated so near to the seat of wool-production. It is not generally known that wood-pulp has for some years been used for,. the production of cloth. This is, however, the case in several factories in England. In one factory alone no fewer than 2000 tons annually are spun into yarn. Experiments of an important nature arc being carried on elsewhere with a view to still further extending the use of wood-pulp in the same direction, and in all likelihood the near future will see wood-pulp largely used, more particularly m some of'the cotton factories. In some parts of Austria there are mills making cloth from grass. It is poor stuff at best, unhealthy, and, though of considerable thickness, gives comparatively little warmth. The danger from fire with most of these substitutes is excessive, sufficient really to warrant the prohibition of their use. Cloth made from: the coarsest or cheapest wool would at all, times be preferable to the most attractive fabrics made either from most similar substitutes.’