Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 283

The most powerful illuminator is the ELECTRIC LIGHT, which is now being subjected to trial in many cities for street illuminations, &c., in place of coal-gas. It is usually produced by the pa.s.sage of a strong current of electricity between two pencils of hard carbon. The electric light has been successfully applied to lighthouse illumination. Hitherto it has been found too intense and too costly for application to domestic purposes. See CANDLES, FLAME, GAS, PHOTOMETRY, &c.

=ILLU'TATION.= See BATH (Mud).

=IMAGINA'TION.= The influence of the imagination, both in the production and cure of disease, has been long admitted by medical pract.i.tioners. It is probably the most powerful therapeutic agent known. "Extraordinary cures have been ascribed to inert and useless means, when, in fact, they were referable to the influence of the imagination." (Dr Pereira.)

=IMPE'RIAL.= _Syn._ POTUS IMPERIALIS, PTISANA I., L. _Prep._ 1. Cream of tartar, 1/4 oz.; 1 lemon, sliced; lump sugar, 2 oz.; boiling water, 1 quart; infuse, with occasional stirring until cold, then pour off the clear portion for use.

2. A lemon, sliced; sugar, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1 pint.

3. Yellow rind and juice of lemon; citric acid, 1 dr.; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; hot water (which has been boiled), 1 quart; as No. 1. Refrigerant and slightly diuretic. Used as a common drink in fevers, dropsy, &c., and as a summer beverage.

=IM'PLEMENTS (Agricultural).= "Almost all the operations of agriculture may be performed by the plough, the harrow, the scythe, and the flail; and these are the sole implements in the primitive agriculture of all countries. With the progress of improvement, many other implements (and machines) have been introduced, the more remarkable of which are the DRILL PLOUGH, the HORSE HOE, the WINNOWING MACHINE, the THRESHING MACHINE, the HAY-MAKING MACHINE, and the REAPING MACHINE. The object of all these implements and machines is to abridge human labour, and to perform the different operations to which they are applied with a greater degree of rapidity, and in a more perfect manner than before." (Loudon.) On the perfection of agricultural implements and machines depends much of the improvement of which this art is susceptible. See AGRICULTURE, &c.

=IMPROV'ING.= The trade name for 'doctoring,' 'adulterating,' or 'lowering,' the quality of any substance, with the view of cheapening it or increasing its bulk. See WINE, &c.

=IN'CENSE.= _Prep._ 1. Olibanum, 2 or 3 parts; gum benzoin, 1 part.

2. Olibanum, 7 parts; gum benzoin, 2 parts; cascarilla, 1 part. Placed on a hot plate or burned, it exhales an agreeable perfume. Used in some of the rituals of the Roman Catholic church.

3. Benzoin and storax, of each 4 oz.; labdanum and myrrh, of each 6 oz.; cascarilla 3 oz.; oil cinnamon, 8 minims; oils bergamot and lavender, of each 20 minims; oil cloves, 10 minims; mix, and pa.s.s through a coa.r.s.e sieve.

=INCINERA'TION.= The reduction of organic substances to ashes by combustion. See CALCINATION.

=INCOMBUSTIBIL'ITY.= The property of being incapable of being kindled, or of being consumed by fire. Substances possessing this property are said to be 'incombustible' or 'fire-proof.'

=INCOMBUST'IBLE FAB'RICS.= _Syn._ NON-INFLAMMABLE FABRICS. The fashion of wearing light gauzy dresses extended by hoops or crinoline has made death from fire a common casualty. With a view of diminishing the danger to which women expose themselves, chemists have lately devoted considerable attention to the problem of rendering muslin and other light fabrics non-inflammable. This object may be attained by steeping the fabric in almost any saline solution. Thus, cotton or linen stuffs prepared with a solution of borax, phosphate of soda, phosphate of ammonia, alum, or sal ammoniac, may be placed in contact with ignited bodies without their suffering active combustion or bursting into flame. The salts act by forming a crust of incombustible matter on the surface of the fibres. They do not, however, prevent carbonisation taking place, when the temperature is sufficiently high. It is by a knowledge of this property of culinary salt that jugglers are enabled to perform the common trick of burning a thread of cotton while supporting a ring or a small key, without the latter falling to the ground. The cotton is reduced to a cinder, but from the action of the salt its fibres still retain sufficient tenacity to support a light weight.

The addition of about 1 oz. of alum or sal ammoniac to the last water used to rinse a lady's dress, or a set of bed furniture, or a less quant.i.ty added to the starch used to stiffen them, renders them uninflammable, or at least so little combustible that they will not readily take fire; and if kindled, are slowly consumed without flame. None of the above-named salts are adapted for fine soft muslins, which mostly require chemical treatment, because they injure the texture, rendering the fabric harsh and destroying all its beauty. The salt which is found to answer most completely all the required conditions is TUNGSTATE OF SODA. "Muslin steeped in a solution containing 20% of this salt is perfectly non-inflammable when dry, and the saline film left on the surface is smooth and of a fatty appearance like talc, and therefore does not interfere with the process of ironing, but allows the hot iron to pa.s.s smoothly over the surface. The non-fulfilment of this latter condition completely prevents the use of many other salts--such as sulphate or phosphate of ammonia, which are otherwise efficacious in destroying inflammability--for all fabrics which have to be washed and ironed."

(Watts.)

The addition of a little phosphoric acid or phosphate of soda to the tungstate is recommended, for without this addition a portion of the tungstate is apt to undergo a chemical change and become comparatively insoluble. Messrs Versmann and Oppenheim, the introducers of tungstate of soda, give the following formula for a solution of minimum strength:--

Dilute a concentrated solution of neutral tungstate of soda with water to 28 Twaddell (sp. gr. 114), and then add 3% of phosphate of soda. This solution is found to keep and to answer its purpose very well; it is now constantly used in the Royal Laundry.

PAPER, WOOD, &c., may be also rendered comparatively incombustible by soaking them in saline solutions. See ASBESTOS, FIRE, &c.

=INCOMPAT'IBLES.= In _medicine_ and _pharmacy_, substances which exert a chemical action on each other, and cannot, therefore, with propriety, be prescribed together in the same formula or prescription. The principles on which we should act to avoid prescribing or dispensing incompatibles, are briefly developed under the heads AFFINITY and DECOMPOSITION. To this we may add that, if a substance is endowed with well-marked therapeutical or poisonous properties, independent of those which may exert a chemical effect upon the tissues, its mode of action will neither be changed nor destroyed by the combinations which it forms, provided always that the new compounds are not insoluble in water.

"It is not necessary to give two incompatible medicines at the same time, in order to produce decomposition; it is sufficient if they are given within a very short interval of each other. Thus, a sick person, who has been treated with lead externally, or even internally, will present a discoloration of the skin, if he takes a sulphur bath four or five days after the lead treatment has been discontinued. If a person is rubbed with iodide of pota.s.sium shortly after having applied Vigo's plaster (plaster of ammoniac.u.m with mercury), or the Neapolitan ointment (mercurial ointment), iodide of mercury and caustic potash will be formed, which will cause vesication. So also vomiting occurs if lemonade made with tartaric acid is taken five or 6 days after the administration of white oxide of antimony." (Trousseau and Reveil.)

Lists of incompatibles are published in many pharmaceutical and medical works, but are, in reality, of little use beyond ill.u.s.trating rules and principles which are familiar to every chemist, and which every prescriber should also be intimately acquainted with.

=INCRUSTATION, Prevention of, in Steam Boilers.= With all qualities of water commonly used for feeding steam boilers there is a tendency to the production of hard calcareous deposits or layers of incrustation within the boilers, due to the separation of lime salts (particularly the carbonate and sulphate, or mixtures of these with a certain amount of carbonate of magnesia) as the direct consequence of the acc.u.mulation of these impurities from large quant.i.ties of water evaporated. The sparing solubility of the sulphate of lime (gypsum) in hot water fully accounts for its deposition in the boiler, and the carbonate of lime (chalk) is thrown down, not only as the result of direct evaporation, but by the ebullition expelling free carbonic acid, which holds this body to some extent in solution. Rain water, which of itself is too pure to give rise to these incrustations, cannot be used _alone_ for boiler purposes, for it has been found to exert a highly corrosive action upon the iron plates and fittings. It can, however, be advantageously employed in conjunction with 'hard' spring or river waters, and has the effect of diminishing the incrustation merely as the result of dilution. The drain pipes leading from the roof of the factory may be placed in connection with the tank or well from which the supply of water is drawn for the boilers. It will be seen hereafter that the self-same remedy is efficient both as a means of preventing incrustation and obviating corrosion, and that by using one of the alkaline substances about to be specified this twofold advantage may be secured. Iron will not rust when immersed in water containing a mere trace of caustic alkali, and it is a common observation that the iron vessels used in the preparation of potash and soda remain for any length of time free from all appearance of rust. This singular property is, no doubt, susceptible of important applications, amongst them may be mentioned the better protection of iron ships from the attack of bilge water, of hydraulic rams, moulding boxes, smith's tools, and other objects liable to be placed at times under the influence of water. Some forms of surface condensers become quickly corroded in consequence of the purity of the water acc.u.mulating in them by the process of distillation, and a small dose of caustic alkali is then useful as a means of protection; the engine-cylinders also to some extent are preserved when alkaline anti-incrustation fluids are introduced into the boilers, for the minute quant.i.ty which is carried forward mechanically in the form of spray mixed with the steam, suffices to preserve the iron. Whilst a tendency to 'priming' undoubtedly results from a too liberal use of soda or other alkali in the boiler, it will in practice be found easy to adjust the proportion of this ingredient, so as to secure immunity from corrosion and incrustation, and at the same time, avoid the tumultuous kind of ebullition known as 'priming.' In all cases it is advisable to carry out a rigid system of inspection, and it is only in the way of saving fuel and labour that the application of boiler fluids is to be recommended.

Much benefit has often resulted from a coating of coal-tar or 'dead oil'

applied to the interior surfaces below the water line, when the boiler is opened for cleaning and inspection. These will tend very considerably to lessen the adhesion of calcareous crusts, and are not in any way affected by the boiler fluids in common use. Soda crystals and caustic soda may be used with great success in boilers to effect the immediate precipitation of the lime salts, and they act by throwing down a finely divided form of carbonate of lime, which in time furnishes nuclei for the deposition of subsequent accretions both of the carbonate and sulphate, so that they are prevented from crystallising upon the walls of the boiler. A granular mud is thus formed, which subsides quickly and may be for the most part got rid of through the 'blow-off c.o.c.k,' which should be opened for this purpose two or three times every day, and run out with as little water as possible.

The use of caustic soda has undergone a thorough trial at the hands of Mr J. Spiller, F.C.S., in the boilers of the Royal a.r.s.enal, Woolwich, and we are favoured with the following general instructions regarding its use, which are based upon an experience of upwards of ten years. The caustic soda should be dissolved in water so as to make a concentrated solution of specific gravity 1300. This, being perfectly miscible with water, may be introduced into the boiler with the feed-water at any time when, from the pressure of steam, it may not be convenient to pour it through the safety valve or other openings in the boiler. But when the steam is down there is no difficulty in introducing the prescribed dose by using a tin funnel with flattened aperture to pa.s.s it through the safety valve; or a tubular arrangement with double c.o.c.ks will answer at all times. Half a gallon per diem is the average quant.i.ty found sufficient for a 20-horse stationary boiler, working with Thames water for ten hours daily. If the water should happen to be unusually hard a larger dose may be employed, but it would not be expedient to add in one charge more than the amount required for the day's consumption. Locomotive and mult.i.tubular boilers have been worked successfully with caustic soda, and it is here that the importance of using anti-incrustation fluids makes itself most apparent.

Many other methods have at various times been proposed to prevent the formation of deposits in steam boilers. Dr Ritterband's method consists in simply throwing a little sal ammoniac into the boiler, by which carbonate of ammonia is formed, which pa.s.ses off with the steam, and chloride of calcium, which remains in solution. In Holland this plan has been used with satisfaction for locomotive boilers. About 2 oz. of the salt may be placed in the boiler twice a week. The chloride of tin is equal to sal ammoniac, and is similar in its action. Carbonate of soda has been recommended by Kuhlmann and Fresenius of Germany, and by Crace Calvert of England. It is now employed generally in the boilers of engines in Manchester. The common plan adopted by working engineers to prevent incrustations from either variety of water is, on each occasion of cleaning out the boiler, to introduce some substance which, by its mechanical action, shall prevent the precipitated earthy matter caking together, or adhering to the boiler plates. Some common tar, bitumen, or pitch, appears to answer well under most circ.u.mstances. Mr Ira Hill recommends the use of 3 or 4 shovelfuls of course sawdust. He states that, after adopting the use of this article, he never had any difficulty from lime, although using water strongly impregnated with it, and has always found the inside of his boilers as smooth as if just oiled. Mr De Haen recommends the sulphate and bicarbonate of calcium to be decomposed by adding barium chloride and milk of lime in the proper proportion; when the water is at a temperature of 35-45 C. the whole becomes clear in about ten minutes, a precipitate consisting of a mixture of barium sulphate and calcium carbonate deposits; if the water be cold, the greater part separates in ten minutes, but a little turbidity is noticeable for some hours due to suspended matter.

Protzen recommends the introduction of a piece of zinc into the boiler, this determines a galvanic current, which protects the iron against oxidation and corrosion, and causes the mineral ingredients of the water to be deposited as a fine loose mud, entirely preventing the formation of incrustation.

Slippery elm bark, and spent bark from the tan works have also been suggested. We (A. J. Cooley) have worked a powerful boiler daily for months without opening the 'man-hole,' after throwing a few pounds of potatoes into it. In all cases, when the earthy matter can be kept in a state of solution, or precipitated in a pulverulent form, it is easily removed from the boiler by what engineers term 'priming,' which is allowing the hot water to be blown over with the steam, so that, after a sufficient time, the whole original contents of the boiler are removed, and replaced by fresh water. Before doing so, however, it is of consequence to cut off the communication with the cylinders, and to open the waste-steam c.o.c.k. Consult a pamphlet on 'Boiler Incrustation and Corrosion' by F. J. Rowan, published by Spon, London.

=INCUBA'TION (Artificial).= The hatching of eggs by artificial heat. This has been practised by the Egyptians from a very remote period. M.

Bonnemain has the honour of having introduced this art to Western Europe, in 1775, and having been the first to pursue it successfully on the commercial scale. The source of heat employed by him was a circulatory hot-water apparatus, and the temperature maintained by it 100 Fahr. His plan was to introduce, daily, 1-20th only of the eggs the apparatus was capable of receiving, so that on the 21st day the first chickens were hatched, and a like number every day afterwards as long as the supply of eggs was kept up. Among the trays containing the eggs he placed saucers of water, to compensate for the absence of moisture derived in natural incubation by transpiration from the body of the hen. The chickens, as soon as hatched, were transferred to a 'nursery' or 'chick-room,' also artificially heated, and were fed with crushed millet seed. Several attempts have been made of late years to introduce artificial incubation into this country, with variable success.

=IN'CUBUS.= See NIGHTMARE.

=IN'DIA RUB'BER.= See CAOUTCHOUC.

=INDIGES'TION.= See DYSPEPSIA.

=IN'DIGO.= _Syn._ INDIc.u.m, PIGMENTUM INDIc.u.m, L. A blue dyestuff extracted from several plants growing in India and America, especially from the leguminous species _Indigofera tinctoria_ and _I. crulea_. It exists in the plant as a colourless juice. The method of manufacture consists in steeping the plant in water until fermentation sets in; the colouring matter dissolves in the water, forming a yellow solution, which is drawn off from the rest of the vegetable matter, and agitated and beaten to bring it freely into contact with the air for about 2 hours; this treatment causes the indigo to form and settle down as a blue precipitate; this is cut, while soft, into cubical cakes, and dried by artificial heat.

To hasten the formation of the indigo, a little lime water is sometimes added to the yellow solution. The indigo of commerce contains INDIGO-BLUE or INDIGOTIN, its most important const.i.tuent, INDIGO-RED, and many other substances, some of which must be regarded as accidental impurities or adulterations.

_Prop._ Tasteless; scentless; of an intense blue colour, pa.s.sing into purple; when rubbed with a smooth hard body, it a.s.sumes a coppery hue; insoluble in water, cold alcohol, ether, alkalies, hydrochloric acid, dilute sulphuric acid, and the cold fixed and volatile oils; slightly soluble in boiling alcohol and oils; freely soluble in concentrated sulphuric acid, and, when decoloured or reduced by contact with deoxidising substances, in alkaline lyes; soluble in creasote; its colour is destroyed by chromic acid, nitric acid and chlorine; when suddenly heated, it gives off rich purple fumes, which condense into brilliant copper-coloured needles.

_Pur._ The best indigo is that which has the deepest purple colour, that a.s.sumes the brightest coppery hue when rubbed with the nail; its fracture is h.o.m.ogeneous, compact, fine-grained, and coppery; its powder is of an intensely deep blue tint, and light enough to swim on water; and it leaves only a fine streak when rubbed upon a piece of white paper. In general, when indigo is in hard, dry lumps of a dark colour, it is considered of bad or inferior quality. Indigo, when in hard or brittle lumps, or in dust or small bits, is often adulterated with sand, pulverised slate, and other earthy substances.

_Estimation._ Various methods for estimating the value of samples of indigo have been proposed, but none of them can be depended upon to give perfectly accurate results. The plan recommended by O'Neill[353] is perhaps the best; it is performed as follows:--

[Footnote 353: See 'Dictionary of Calico Printing and Dyeing.']

Weigh 25 gr. of a fair sample of the indigo finely ground; and to soften or disintegrate it still further, boil it for a short time with weak caustic soda, and then, if there be any soft lumps or clots, strain through calico; mix this with 3 quarts of water in a narrow-necked bottle which it will nearly fill, and add 400 gr. of quicklime, which has been slaked as perfectly as possible; shake well up and add a 1000 gr. measure of solution of green copperas (protosulphate of iron) at 30 Twaddell; cork the bottle closely, and leave it for three days, frequently shaking it in the interval. The indigo will be dissolved by this time; 1 quart of the clear solution is drawn off, shaken up in a bottle to oxidise it, acidified with acetic acid, and the pure indigo (INDIGOTIN) collected upon a filter, dried, and weighed. Four times the weight of the pure indigo is the per-centage of indigo in the sample.

_Uses._ As a dye stuff indigo is of great importance, both from the beauty and permanence of the colour it yields, and from the ease with which it is applied to fabrics of all materials. As a medicine it has been employed in various affections of a spasmodic character, as ch.o.r.ea, convulsions, epilepsy, hysteria, &c. In large quant.i.ties it often induces giddiness, vomiting, and diarrha; and when continued for sometime, muscular twitchings, resembling those arising from strychnine.--_Dose._ Beginning at about 15 gr., and gradually increased to 1, 2, or even 3 dr., at which it should be continued for 3 or 4 months; made into an electuary with honey or sugar, to which some aromatic may be added. See INDIGO DYE, INDIGOTIN, &c.

=Indigo, Sul'phate of.= _Syn._ SULPHINDYLIC ACID, SULPHINDIGOTIC A., SAXONY BLUE, SOLUBLE INDIGO.

_Prep._ By gradually adding indigo (in fine powder), 1 part, to fuming sulphuric acid (Nordhausen sulphuric acid), 5 parts, or oil of vitriol, 8 parts contained in a stone-ware vessel placed in a tub of very cold water, to prevent the mixture heating; the ingredients are stirred together with a gla.s.s rod at short intervals until the solution is complete, after which the whole is allowed to repose for about 48 hours, by which time it becomes a h.o.m.ogeneous pasty ma.s.s of an intense blue colour, which in a dull light appears nearly black.

_Obs._ In this state it forms 'BARTH'S BLUE,' or the 'CHEMIC BLUE' or 'INDIGO COMPOSITION' of the dyer. Diluted with about twice its weight of soft water, it is converted into the 'SAXONY BLUE' or 'LIQUID BLUE' of the shops, also used for dyeing. When commercial sulphate of indigo is diffused through a large quant.i.ty of water, nearly boiling, and wool (old white flannel rags, &c.) is macerated in it for some time, the latter absorbs the whole of the sulphate and is dyed blue, whilst the liquor a.s.sumes a greenish-blue colour. Wool, so prepared, when well rinsed in cold water, and boiled for some minutes in a large quant.i.ty of that liquid containing 1% or 2% of carbonate of pota.s.sa, or a quant.i.ty equal to about 1-3rd that of the indigo originally employed, gives up its blue colour, and becomes of a dull brown. The liquid is now a rich blue-coloured solution of sulphindylate of pota.s.sa, from which the salt may be obtained by cautious evaporation. This compound is prepared on the large scale, by diluting sulphate of indigo with about 12 times its weight of soft water, and imperfectly saturating the solution with carbonate of pota.s.sa; the sulphindylate falls down as a dark-blue coppery-looking powder, soluble in 140 parts of cold water and in about 90 parts of boiling water. This substance is kept both in the moist and dry state, and is known in commerce under the respective names of 'DISTILLED INDIGO,' 'PRECIPITATED INDIGO,' 'SOLUBLE INDIGO,' 'INDIGO PASTE,' 'BLUE CARMINE,' 'DISTILLED BLUE,' 'SOLUBLE BLUE,' &c. It is extensively used in dyeing; and when mixed with starch, whilst in the moist state, and made into cakes or k.n.o.bs, it const.i.tutes the finest variety of the 'BLUE' used by laundresses for tinging linen. The ammonia and soda salts may be prepared in the same way as the pota.s.sa salt, by subst.i.tuting the carbonates of those bases for carbonate of pota.s.sa. The ammonia salt is very soluble.

=INDIGO BLUE.= See INDIGOTIN.

=INDIGO DYE.= There are two methods of preparing solutions of indigo for dyeing.--1. By deoxidising it, and then dissolving it in alkaline menstrua.--2. By dissolving it in sulphuric acid. The former method is used in preparing the ordinary INDIGO VAT of the dyers.

1. _a._ (COLD VAT.) Take of indigo, in fine powder, 1 lb.; green copperas (clean cryst.), 2-1/2 to 3 lbs.; newly slaked lime, 3-1/2 to 4 lbs.; triturate the powdered indigo with a little water or an alkaline lye, then mix it with some hot water, add the lime, and again well mix, after which stir in the solution of copperas, and agitate the whole thoroughly at intervals for 24 hours. A little caustic pota.s.sa or soda is frequently added, and a corresponding portion of lime omitted. For use, a portion of this 'preparation vat' is ladled into the 'dyeing vat,' as wanted. After being employed for some time, the vat must be refreshed with a little more copperas and fresh-slaked lime, when the sediment must be well stirred up, and the whole thoroughly mixed together. This is the common vat for cotton.

_b._ (POTASH VAT.) Take indigo, in fine powder, 12 lbs.; madder, 8 lbs.; bran, 9 lbs.; 'potash,' 24 lbs.; water at 125 Fahr., 120 cubic feet; mix well; at the end of about 36 hours add 14 lbs. more potash, and after 10 or 12 hours longer further add 10 lbs. of potash, and rouse the whole up well; as soon as the fermentation and reduction of the indigo are well developed, which generally takes place in about 72 hours, add a little fresh-slaked lime. This vat dyes very quickly, and the goods lose less of their colour in alkaline and soapy solutions than when dyed in the common vat. It is well adapted for woollen goods.

_c._ (WOOD VAT.) As the last, but employing wood instead of madder; the vat is 'set' at 160 Fahr., and kept at that temperature until the deoxidation and solution of the indigo has commenced. The last two are also called the 'warm vat.'

_d._ (PASTEL VAT.) This is 'set' with a variety of wood which grows in France, and which is richer in colouring matter than the plant commonly known as 'wood.'

_e._ (SCHuTZENBERGER and DE LALANDE'S VAT.) It is known that the low stage of oxidation of sulphur obtained on the reduction of sulphurous acid with zinc, dissolves indigo. On this reaction the following proceedings for dyeing and printing with indigo are founded:--To prepare the reducing liquid, a solution of bisulphite of soda at 35 B. is brought in contact with sheet zinc in a closed vessel, of which the liquid should occupy only one fourth. After the lapse of an hour the zinc is precipitated from the clear liquid by means of milk of lime. It is then diluted or decanted, or filtered with exclusion of air.