Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 124

2. From the stems. From the tender stems, stalks, and midribs of the leaves, as last. Used as a sweetmeat and dessert. It is said to be cordial, stomachic, tonic, and aphrodisiac.

=Candied A'pricots.= From the fruit, scarcely ripe, either whole or cut into quarters, immersed in the syrup (hot), without any further preparation.

=Candied Cit'rons.= From the peels.

=Candied Erin'go.= From the roots, slit and washed.

=Candied Gin'ger.= From the roots of green ginger.

=Candied h.o.r.e'hound.= From a strong decoction or infusion of the root, and lump sugar, 1 pint to 8 or 10 lbs. may be used. Boil the mixture to a candy height, and pour it whilst warm into moulds or small paper cases well dusted with finely powdered lump sugar; or pour it on a dusted slab and cut it into squares.

=Candied Lem'on Peel.= As Candied Citron.

=Candied Or'ange Flow'ers.= From the flowers deprived of their cups, stamina, and pistils (2 oz. to each lb. of sugar), as Candied Almonds, but poured out on a slab.

=Candied Or'ange Peel.= From the peel of the Seville orange, or common orange, as Candied Citron.

=Candied Su'gar.= See SUGAR BOILING. The following are articles of a more special character.

=Candy, Car'away.= 1. From caraway seeds (in fine powder), 1/2 oz.; sugar, 1 lb.

2. Oil of Caraway, 1 dr.; sugar, 1 lb.

=Candy, Diges'tive.= _Syn._ LIVE-LONG CANDY. _Prep._ 1. Rhubarb and bicarbonate of soda, of each 1 dr.; ginger, 1/2 dr.; cinnamon, 20 gr. (all in fine powder); heavy magnesia, 1 oz.; powdered sugar, 2 oz.; mucilage of tragacanth, q. s. to form a lozenge ma.s.s; to be divided into small squares of 18 or 20 gr. each.

2. As the last, but adding finely powdered caraways, 1 dr.; oil of caraway, 15 drops; and sugar, 1 oz. Both are used as heartburn and digestive lozenges.

=Candy, Gin'ger.= _Prep._ 1. From ginger (in coa.r.s.e powder), 3 oz.; boiling water, 1-1/4 pint; macerate in a warm place for 2 hours, strain, add lump and moist sugar, of each 5 lbs., and boil to a candy.

2. Ginger (in very fine powder), 1 oz.; powdered sugar, 2 lbs.; syrup, q.

s. to make a paste. Stomachic and carminative.

For various sweetmeats which might come under the head of CANDY, see CONFECTIONS, DROPS.

=CANKER.= This disease consists in a depraved condition of that part of the sensitive foot of the horse which secretes the h.o.r.n.y frog and sole. It mostly occurs in coa.r.s.ely-bred animals, and is the result of filth, damp, and bad ventilation. The treatment consists in first removing all loose horn, and allowing all pent-up matter to escape; the exuberant granulations must be carefully cut away, and the parts then washed with a tepid lotion of sulphate or chloride of zinc; after drying the surface dust it with oxide of zinc; apply tow dipped in a mixture of tar and lime, and "keep it in firm contact with the parts by means of a leather sole or strips of hoop iron underneath a shoe lightly tacked on. Dress in this manner daily, keeping up the dry pressure for a week." (Finlay Dun.)

=CAN'NON METAL.= See GUN METAL.

=CANTHAR'IDES.= _Syn._ SPANISH FLIES, BLISTERING F., LYT'Tae; CANTHAR'IS, B. P. The _Cantharis vesicatoria_ of Latreille, commonly known as the Spanish fly, is an insect of the order Coleoptera; it abounds in the south of France, Spain, and Italy; and has spread into Germany and the south of Russia. When alive it exudes a strong fetid and penetrating odour.

_Pur., &c._ These insects should be preserved in well-closed bottles or tin canisters. The addition of a few drops of oil of cloves, or of strong acetic acid, or even of a few cloves in substance, will preserve them unchanged for a length of time in closed vessels. The best proof of their goodness is the smell. The powder is constantly adulterated. The plan of the wholesale druggists is to sort out the most worthless flies for powdering, and to compensate for their deficiency of vesicating power by adding 1 lb. of euphorbium to every 12 or 13 lbs. of flies. When a superior article is required, liquorice powder is added (4 or 5 lbs. to every 14 lbs.), along with about 1 lb. of euphorbium, and sufficient blue black or charcoal to turn the yellow of the liquorice to a greenish colour. The best mode of detecting this adulteration is by the microscope.

It should be borne in mind that only those flies which have attained their full growth possess blistering properties. The immature or undersized insects are dest.i.tute of epigastric power.

_Ant._ An emetic of sulphate of zinc, followed by the stomach-pump, if necessary. The vomiting may be promoted by copiously drinking warm bland diluents, such as broth, linseed tea, milk, &c. Friction on the spine, with volatile liniment and laudanum, and the subsequent administration of draughts containing musk, opium, and camphorated emulsion, have been strongly recommended.

_Tests._ By the microscope very minute particles may be discovered in the stomach and intestines, on a post-mortem examination. Orfila thus found particles of cantharides in a body that had been interred nine months.

_Uses, &c._ Spanish flies are used externally to raise blisters, and internally as a stimulant and diuretic, generally in the form of tincture.

In excess they produce strangury, b.l.o.o.d.y urine, satyriasis, delirium, convulsions, and death. See TINCTURES, VESICANTS, &c.

=CANTHARI'DIN.= C_{5}H_{12}O_{2}. Isomeric with picrotoxin. This substance is found in, and is the vesicating principle of, the Spanish fly, Chinese blistering fly, and other coleopterous insects. _Prep._ Pulverised cantharides are allowed to remain in contact for 24 hours with twice their weight of chloroform, in a displacement apparatus. The chloroform is then drained off, and finally displaced by alcohol, and the solution is left to evaporate. The cantharidin crystallises out, saturated with green oil. In order to purify the cantharidin it is laid on bibulous paper, which absorbs the greater part of the oil, and then crystallised out of a mixture of alcohol and chloroform. (Procter.)

_Prop._ Prismatic crystals, melts at 200 C., volatilises in white fumes, which strongly irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and condenses in rectangular prisms. Cantharidin is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, acetic acid, and in the fixed and volatile oils. Its solution in any of the liquids above mentioned possesses vesicating properties, which, however, is not exhibited by solid cantharidin.

=CAOUT'CHOUC.= _Syn._ INDIA RUBBER, ELASTIC GUM. India rubber is the concrete juice of the _Ficus elastica_, _Siphonia elastica_, the _Urceola elastica_, and many other tropical plants. The fresh milky juice is spread over moulds of unbaked clay, and is then exposed to the heat and smoke of a fire, or torches, to dry it, whence it derives its dark colour.

Successive coats of juice are laid on, and the operation of drying repeated until the bottles acquire sufficient thickness. When it has become thoroughly hard and dry, the clay is beaten out. In this form it is commonly imported.

_Prop., &c._ The general properties of india rubber, as well as its numerous applications, are well known. The fresh juice has a cream-like appearance and consistence, is coagulated by heat, and is miscible with water, alcohol, and wood naphtha; sp. gr. 1012 to 1041; it yields from 18% to 45% of solid caoutchouc, either by heat or evaporation. By excluding it from the air it may be preserved unchanged for a considerable period.

Solid caoutchouc has a sp. gr. ranging between 919 and 941; it melts at 248 Fahr. into a viscid ma.s.s, which does not again harden on cooling; it is unaltered by chlorine, hydrochloric acid, sulphurous acid, fluosilicic acid, ammonia, caustic alkaline lyes (even when boiling), and most similar substances; nitric acid and sulphuric acid act on it only by long contact when concentrated. Some specimens of caoutchouc are harder than gutta percha itself, and equally inelastic, whilst others never perfectly solidify, but remain in a condition resembling that of birdlime or printers' varnish.

The best solvents of caoutchouc are rectified sulphuric ether (which has been washed with water to remove alcohol and acidity), chloroform, bisulphide of carbon, a mixture of bisulphide of carbon and absolute alcohol (94 of the first to 6 or 7 of the last), and caoutchoucin. All these liquids dissolve india rubber rapidly in the cold, and leave it unaltered on evaporation. The first two are, however, too expensive to be generally employed. The others have a disagreeable odour, but are much cheaper than the rest, and possess the advantage of leaving the film of caoutchouc in a firmer and stronger condition than other solvents.

Pyrogenous oil of turpentine is another cheap and good solvent. Benzol, rectified mineral or coal-tar naphtha, crude petroleum, and oil of turpentine dissolve india rubber by long digestion and trituration (with heat), otherwise they merely form with it a glutinous jelly that dries very slowly and imperfectly, leaving it much reduced in hardness and elasticity. The fats and fixed oils also readily dissolve caoutchouc (with heat), forming permanently glutinous solutions or pastes; so also do most of the volatile oils, but the solutions with the majority of them dry with difficulty.

One of the most remarkable properties of india rubber is the great amount of heat which is disengaged during its condensation by pressure or in the exercise of its elasticity. During the process of kneading the raw caoutchouc in the "masticators," the cold water thrown in to reduce the temperature soon becomes boiling hot. When no water is added, a temperature so high is often reached as to occasion the melting of the rubber. This is particularly the case during the process of "dry kneading"

with quick-lime. A tube 2-1/4 inches in diameter, impactly secured, was subjected to a force of 200 tons. The result was a compression amounting to 1-10th; great heat was evolved, and the excessive elasticity of the substance caused a fly-wheel weighing five tons to recoil with alarming violence. Mr Brockedon states that he succeeded in raising the temperature of an ounce of water 2 in about fifteen minutes by collecting the heat evolved by the extension of a small thread of caoutchouc. He refers this effect to the change in specific gravity, and contends that the heat thus produced is not due to friction, because the same amount of friction is occasioned in the contraction as in the extension of the substance, and the result of this contraction is to reduce the caoutchouc thus acted upon to its original temperature.

The edges and surfaces of india rubber are readily and perfectly joined by mere contact and intense pressure. On the small scale the edges may be moistened with ether, naphtha, oil of turpentine, or some other solvent, or by long boiling in water, and immediately pressed tight together and held in contact for some time.

Elastic tubes are readily formed of india rubber by cutting it into uniform slips of proper thickness and winding them round rods of polished gla.s.s or metal, so that the edges are in close contact or "overlapping." A piece of tape is then wound round outside it, and the whole boiled in water for 2 or 3 hours, after which time the edges will be found to be sufficiently adherent. A better plan is to immerse the "rubber" in a mixture formed of bisulphide of carbon, 95 parts, and rectified spirit, 5 parts, until it swells into a pasty ma.s.s, which may then be moulded into any desired form or pa.s.sed through the die of a tubing machine. For chemical purposes, brewing, &c., vulcanised india-rubber tubing has now taken the place formerly occupied by the unprepared material.

The once celebrated "Mackintoshes" are made by spreading two or more coats of a paste made of caoutchouc and rectified coal-tar naphtha over the surface of the stuff or cloth, and, when it has become partially dry, pressing two such surfaces evenly together by pa.s.sing the goods between a pair of cylinders or rollers. The articles are then placed in a stove room for the composition to harden, and to remove the odour of the naphtha. Of late years vulcanised or mineralised rubber (coloured) has been used for this purpose, and being spread on the outside of the stuff instead of the inside forms an ornamental and thoroughly waterproof material.

India-rubber thread is prepared by stretching it (previously cut into coa.r.s.e filaments) to 5 or 6 times its length in boiling water or hot air, in which state it is allowed to cool slowly. This process is repeated again and again until it reaches 16,000 or 17,000 times its original length, when it is glazed by agitating it with powdered sulphur or French chalk. This thread is readily joined or "pieced," as it is called, by paring the ends obliquely with a pair of scissors or a knife, and then pressing the clean ends strongly together with the fingers. When the coa.r.s.e filaments from the cutting machine are simply stretched with the moistened thumb and finger in the act of "reeling" to about 8 or 9 times their length, they are said to be "inelasticated," and are ready to be made into elastic braces, elastic web, and other like elastic tissues and fabrics in the braiding machine.

=Caoutchouc, Vul'canised.= _Syn._ VULCANISED INDIA RUBBER, MINERALISED I.

R., SULPHURETTED I. R. The discovery of the singular action of sulphur and the mineral sulphides on caoutchouc was made by Mr Charles Goodyear, of New York, in 1842, at which date the manufacture of vulcanised india rubber may be said to have commenced. In 1843 Mr Thomas Hanc.o.c.k patented a process for vulcanised india rubber in these countries, founded on that of Mr Goodyear. A sheet of caoutchouc immersed in melted sulphur absorbs a portion of it, and at the same time undergoes important changes in many of its leading characteristics. So prepared, it is no longer affected by changes of temperature; it is neither hardened by cold nor softened by any heat insufficient to destroy it. It loses its solubility in the solvents of ordinary caoutchouc, whilst its elasticity is greatly augmented, and has become permanent.

The same effect is produced when sulphur is kneaded into caoutchouc in a masticator, or by means of powerful rollers, as well as when common solvents (naphtha, spirit of turpentine, &c.) are charged with a sufficient amount of sulphur in solution to become a compound solvent of the rubber. In these cases articles may be made of any required form before heating them for the change of condition technically termed "vulcanisation." It is necessary, however, for this purpose that the form should be carefully maintained both before and during the exposure to the heat.

"A vulcanised solid sphere of 2-1/2 inches in diameter, when forced between two rollers 1/4 inch apart, was found to maintain its form uninjured. In fact, it is the exclusive property of vulcanised caoutchouc to be able to retain any form impressed upon it, and to return to that form on the removal of any disturbing force which has been brought to act upon it." (Brockedon.)

Caoutchouc combines with from 12% to 15% of sulphur; the quant.i.ty of sulphur added to the naphtha paste should not, therefore, exceed 10% or 12% of its weight.

The temperatures for vulcanisation by the common method range from 320 to 330; and the period required is one hour or more, according to the temperature. A much lower temperature is, however, sufficient if the duration of the exposure is much extended or the compound ma.s.s is softened with any of the common solvents of india rubber.

The process of sulphuring, or mineralisation, is differently conducted in different manufactories. Under Mr Burke's patent, oxysulphide or amorphous sulphide of antimony (formed by decomposing a solution of crude antimony in a lye of potash or soda with hydrochloric acid) is employed. This powder he combines with either india rubber or gutta percha, or mixtures of them, by kneading in a "masticator" for 2 or 3 hours, and after strong compression in a mould whilst still warm, he exposes the ma.s.s to a steam heat ranging from 250 to 280 Fahr. The block, so prepared, is afterwards cut into sheets, &c. The advantages possessed by the product are that it possesses no unpleasant odour, nor does the sulphur effloresce on its surface, as in ordinary vulcanised india rubber.

Under Mr Christopher Nickel's patent (1849) 1 part of sulphur is kneaded with 6 parts of caoutchouc, and then pressed into moulds, as before. He also vulcanises rubber by exposing it in a cylinder heated in a steam jacket to the fumes of sulphur or to sulphuretted gases, given off from a retort connected with the apparatus. The rubber thus prepared he next subjects to hydraulic pressure in moulds, at a temperature ranging between 220 and 250 Fahr.

Small articles or sheets of india rubber may be extemporaneously vulcanised at common temperatures by simple immersion, for a minute or two, in a mixture of bisulphide of carbon, 97-1/2 parts, and protochloride of sulphur, 2-1/2 parts; after which they must be well washed first in weak alkaline lye, and next in pure water. Mr Parkes employs 100 instead of 97-1/2 parts of the bisulphide. This method is termed "cold sulphuring."

An excellent method of vulcanisation, recommended by Mr Parkes, particularly applicable to small articles, consists in immersing them for about 3 hours in a close vessel containing a solution of polysulphide of pota.s.sium at 25 Baume (sp. gr. 1197), and of the temperature of 240 Fahr. It is afterwards washed in an alkaline lye, then in pure water, and dried.

Among the many applications of vulcanised india rubber those connected with its elasticity and its enormous contractile power when extended are particularly striking. Under Mr E. Smith's patent, "torsion springs" for roller blinds, door springs, clock springs, carriage springs, &c., are made of it. Mr Hodges, in another patent, has availed himself of the same property as a new mechanical power. Short lengths of caoutchouc, which he terms "vulcanised power purchases," are successively drawn down from or lifted to a fixed bearing, and attached to any weight which it is required to raise; when a sufficient number of these power purchases are fixed to the weight, their combined elastic force lifts it from the ground. Thus, 10 purchases of the elastic strength each of 50 lbs. raise 500 lbs. Each purchase is 6 inches long, and contains about 1-1/2 oz. of vulcanised caoutchouc. These 10 purchases, if stretched to the limit of their elasticity (not of their cohesive strength), will lift a weight exceeding 650 lbs.

The same principle has been applied to relieve and equalise the strain on s.h.i.+ps' cables, especially where several boats are towing one vessel; and as a projectile force. A number of power purchases, attached to the barrel of a gun constructed to project harpoons, will exert a power, if suddenly relieved, proportioned to their aggregate forces. By similar contrivances b.a.l.l.s may be projected 200 yards or more, and a charge of No. 4 shot can be thrown 120 yards. A bow, in which the string alone is elastic (the reverse of the usual form), has been contrived which throws a 30-inch arrow 170 yards.