Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 33

=AL'OES WOOD.= _Syn._ AL'OE-WOOD; EAGLEWOOD; AGAL'LOCHUM (-k.u.m), LIG'NUM AL'OeS, L. AGAL'LOCHI, L. A. VE"RI, L. AQ'UILae, L. ASPAL'ATHI, L.; AGALLOCHE, BOIS D'ALOeS, Fr.; ALOEHOLZ, Ger.; CALAM'BAC, CALAM'BOUC, Ind.; XYLO-AL'OeS. A name applied to the wood of _aloex'ylon agal'lochum_ (Lam.), a leguminous tree of Cochin China; and, though apparently less correctly, to that of _aquila"ria agallochum_ and _a. ova'ta_ (Lour.), trees of tropical Asia, belonging to a different nat. order. Both are highly fragrant and aromatic; used in fumigations and pastilles, and occasionally by cabinet makers and inlayers. The essential oil of the wood, dissolved in spirit, was regarded by Hoffmann as one of the best cordials and invigorants known. The same has also been said of a tincture of its resin.

The same name and synonyms are popularly applied to the resin of the above woods (ALOES-WOOD RESIN), of which there are two varieties:--the one, light and porous, and filled with a highly fragrant resinous substance; the other, denser and less resinous. It is an oily concretion in the centre of the tree, the result of disease, which gradually hardens, and, in time, kills it. It is highly fragrant, and is said to be nervine, cephalic, cardiac, and stimulant. The powder is regarded as tonic and astringent. Of all perfumes this is said to be the one most esteemed by oriental nations.

=ALOE'TIC.= _Syn._ ALOeT'ICUS, L.; ALOeTIQUE, Fr. Of or belonging to aloes. In _medicine_, _pharmacy_, &c., applied to any preparation containing aloes as a characteristic ingredient; made or obtained from aloes. Substantively, an aloetic medicine.

=AL'OIN= (-o-in). C_{17}H_{18}O_{7}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AL'oIN; ALO'NA, L. The Messrs T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh, have applied this name to a crystalline substance, which they a.s.sert to be the pure cathartic principle of aloes. Their process is to evaporate to the consistence of a syrup, in vacuo, a solution obtained by exhausting a mixture of aloes and sand, with cold water, and then to set it aside for a few days. The resulting dark crystalline ma.s.s is purified by pressure between folds of bibulous paper, and repeated crystallisation from hot water. Barbadoes aloes are commonly used for the purpose; but soft or semi-liquid Socotrine aloes, or the unevaporated Socotrine-aloes juice, is probably its best source. Tilden gives the following process for the preparation of aloin:--The aloes crushed small is to be dissolved in nine or ten times its weight of boiling water acidified with sulphuric acid. After cooling and standing for a few hours, the clear liquid is decanted from the resin, and evaporated. The concentrated solution deposits a ma.s.s of yellow crystals, which can be purified by was.h.i.+ng, pressure, and recrystallisation from hot spirit. After several recrystallisations the aloin is obtained in the form of beautiful yellow needles, which are pretty soluble in water and in alcohol, but soluble with difficulty in ether.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 gr.

=ALOPE'CIA= (-sh'a). [L.] _Syn._ AL'OPECY, FOX'-EVIL; ALOPeCIE, Fr.; FUCHSRAUDE, Ger. In _pathology_, baldness from disease, often extending to the beard and eyebrows; as distinguished from 'calvities,' or ordinary baldness arising from attenuation of the scalp or defective nutrition. See BALDNESS.

=ALPAC'A.= A species of Llama, popularly known as the PERUVIAN SHEEP, an animal intermediate between the camel and sheep, having long silky hair, nearly as fine as that of the Cashmere goat. It was introduced to the British manufacturers in 1834, when only 5700 lbs. of it was imported; but it soon became an important article of commerce, the quant.i.ty imported having gradually risen to above 2-1/4 millions of lbs. in 1853; whilst the price has risen from about 9d. to 2s. 7d. the lb., in the same time.

The name is also given to fabrics woven from the wool of this animal; and to others in fine wool, made in imitation of them. The gigantic factory, &c., erected at Saltaire, Yorks.h.i.+re, in 1852, for this manufacture, covers about 12 acres of land. See LLAMA.

=ALPENKRAUTER-BRUST-TEIG= (Grablowitz, Gras). Pectoral cakes of Alpine herbs. Gum arabic, 100 parts; sugar, 200 parts; extract liquorice, 1 part; saffron, 1/8th part. Each box contains 48 lozenge-shaped yellowish cakes.

Made into a ma.s.s with decoction of marsh mallow. (Hager.)

=ALPENKRAUTER GESUNDHEIT'S LIQUEUR= (Rudolph Bohl). Medicinal liqueur of Alpine herbs. A bottle containing 350 grammes of a liqueur which is an extract of star anise, ca.s.sia, frangula bark, centaury, chicory, gentian, and a little aloes. (Hager.)

=ALPENKRAUTER-MAGENBITTER= (Hauber). Stomachic bitters of Alpine herbs. A brown liqueur of bitter, spirituous, and slightly aromatic flavour, containing in 100 parts: oil of anise, 05; oil of cloves, 05; aloes, 15; alcohol, 40; water, 50. 157 grammes in each bottle. (Wittstein.)

=ALPHA-ORSELL'IC ACID.= See ORSELLIC ACID.

=ALPINE ROSE SOAP, SWISS.= A preservative against syphilitic infection (G.

A. Sarpe, Zurich). A gla.s.s cylinder corked and sealed, about 2 inches long, and containing a hard brownish-grey ma.s.s weighing 12 grammes, prepared thus:--Ammonia, 1 part; sublimate, 3 parts; tannin, 2 parts; chloride of lime, 24 parts; Castile soap, 190 parts; oil of cloves, 1 part; spirit of wine, q. s. (Hager.)

=AL'QUIFOU= (-ke-foo). _Syn._ BLACK LEAD-ORE, POTTER'S ORE. A native sulphide of lead used by potters to give a green glaze to coa.r.s.e wares.

=ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS.= (Ind. Ph.) _Habitat._ Common in forests throughout India.--_Officinal part._ The bark (_Alstoniae cortex_). It occurs in thick, irregular, more or less contorted pieces, easily broken. It consists of a rough greyish epidermis, investing a buff or pale cinnamon-coloured bark; internally, still lighter in colour, and of a spongy texture, having a very bitter taste, but devoid of odour.--_Properties._ Astringent, tonic, anthelmintic, antiperiodic--_Therapeutic uses._ In chronic diarrha and the advanced stages of dysentery; also as a tonic in debility after fevers, and other exhausting diseases.--_Dose._ 3 to 5 grains, either alone or combined, in bowel affections, with small doses of ipecacuanha and extract of gentian.--_Preparations._ TINCTURE OF ALSTONIA (_Tinctura Alstoniae_). Take of alstonia bark, bruised, 2-1/2 ounces; proof spirit, 1 pint. Macerate for seven days in a closed vessel, with occasional agitation; filter, and add sufficient proof spirit to make 1 pint. Or prepare by percolation, as Tincture of Calumba.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 fluid drachms.

=Alstonia, Infusion of.= (_Infusum Alstoniae._) Take of alstonia bark, bruised, 1/2 an ounce; boiling water, 10 fluid ounces. Infuse in a covered vessel for an hour and strain.--_Dose._ From 1 to 2 fluid ounces twice or thrice daily. A good serviceable tonic.

=AL'TERATIVE= (awl'-ter-a-tiv). _Syn._ AL'TERANT*; AL'TERANS (al'-), L.; ALTeRANT, ALTeRATIF, Fr. In _medicine_, having power to alter; applied to substances and agents which occasion a change in the habit or const.i.tution, and thus re-establish the healthy functions of the body, or any part of it, without producing any sensible evacuation or other obvious effect.

=ALTERATIVE EXTRACT=, or =GOLDEN MEDICAL DISCOVERY= (Dr Pierce, Buffalo), for the cure of all severe, acute, chronic, or long-standing coughs, inflammations, hoa.r.s.eness, scrofulous, and syphilitic diseases. A clear light-brown fluid, 220 grms., composed of 15 grms. purified honey, 1 grm.

extract of lettuce, 2 grms. laudanum, 100 grms. of proof spirit tasting of fusel oil and wood spirit, and 105 grms. water. (Hager.)

=AL'TERATIVES= (-tivz). _Syn._ ALTERAN'TIA, L.; ALTeRATIFS, &c., Fr.

Alterative medicines or agents. The preparations of mercury and iodine, when properly administered, are the most useful members of this cla.s.s; and are those which are now the most generally employed.

=ALTHE'IN= (al-the'-in). _Syn._ ALTHae'INA, L. The name given by Braconnot to a substance identical with asparagin, which he discovered in the 'marsh-mallow' (_althae'a officina'lis_, Linn.).

=ALTHOFF WATER= (aqua mirabilis), for torpid ulcers. Wine vinegar, 750 parts; sulphate of copper, 100 parts; potash, 25 parts; ammonia, 30 parts; salt of sorrel, 8 parts; French brandy, 375 parts. Digest for a few days in a gla.s.s vessel and distil to dryness from a gla.s.s retort. (Wittstein.)

=AL'UDEL= (-u-). In _chemistry_, a pear-shaped gla.s.s or earthen pot open at both ends, formerly much used for connecting other vessels in the process of sublimation. A number of them joined together are still employed for the distillation of quicksilver, in Spain.

=AL'UM= K_{2}SO_{4}.Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.24Aq. _Syn._ POT'ASH-ALUM, SUL'PHATE OF ALUMINUM AND POTa.s.sIUM, COMMON ALUM; ALU'MEN, A. POTAS'SIc.u.m, L.; ALUN, SULFATE D'ALUMINE ET DE POTa.s.sE, Fr.; ALAUN, Ger.; ALUME, Ital.

The princ.i.p.al alum-works in England, until recently, were those of Lord Glasgow, at Hurlett and Campsie, near Glasgow, and those of Lords Dundas and Mulgrave, at Whitby, Yorks.h.i.+re (est. 1600); but those of Mr Spence, at Manchester, and at Goole (Yorks.h.i.+re), and of Mr Pochin, at Manchester, are now among the largest, if they be not actually the largest in the world.

There are also extensive alum-works at and near Newcastle-on-Tyne; but none of importance, that we know of, in any other part of these realms.

_Nat. hist._ Alum is found native in some places (NATIVE ALUM), either effloresced on the surface of bituminous alum-schist (Gottwigg, Austria); or united with the soil in the neighbourhood of volcanoes (Solfatara, Naples); when it may be obtained by simple lixiviation and evaporation, a little potash being commonly added to convert the excess of sulphate of alumina present into alum. It is also found in certain mineral waters (East Indies).

_Sources._ The alum of commerce is usually obtained from schistose pyritic clays, commonly termed alum-ores, aluminous shale, a.-schist, &c.; and from alum-rock, a.-stone, or alunite. At La Tolfa, Civita Vecchia, where the best Roman-alum is produced, the source is stratified alum-stone. On the Continent, and in Great Britain, it is generally pyritaceous clays, volcanic aluminous ores, aluminous shale, or alum-slate. These minerals contain sulphide of iron, alumina, bitumen or carbon, and frequently a salt of pota.s.sium. Of late years large quant.i.ties of alum have been prepared on the banks of the Tyne from aluminous clay.

_Prep._ The manufacture of alum is technically said to be conducted according to the natural process when prepared from alum-schist or alum-ore; and according to the artificial process when made by acting on clay with sulphuric acid, and adding a pota.s.sium salt to the resulting lixivium. The manufacture of alum and of sulphate of alumina from such materials as contain only alumina, to which consequently sulphuric acid and alkaline salts have to be added, has come largely into practice in England. The materials employed are, in addition to clay, cryolite or Greenland spar, a fluoride of aluminum and soda; bauxite, a hydrate of alumina, of more or less purity; and slag. The following are the details of these processes:--

_a._ From ALUM-ORE, ALUMINOUS SCHIST, or SHALE, &c.:--

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. The mineral (alum-ore, a.-schist, &c.) is placed in heaps, and moistened from time to time with water, when it becomes gradually hot, and falls into a pulverulent state. This decomposition commonly occurs either wholly, or partially, on the floor of the mine. If the ore does not possess this property on mere exposure to air and moisture, it is broken into pieces and laid upon a bed of brushwood and small coal, to the depth of about four feet, when the pile is fired and fresh lumps of the alum-mineral thrown on, until the ma.s.s becomes of considerable height and size. The combustion, as soon as established, is conducted with a smothered fire, until the calcination is complete; care being taken to prevent fusion, or the disengagement of either sulphurous or sulphuric acid, from contact between the ignited stones and the carbonaceous fuel.[35] To promote these ends the pile, at the proper time, is 'mantled'

(as the workmen call it) or covered with a layer of already calcined and exhausted ore, in order to protect it from high winds and heavy rains; as also to moderate the heat, and let it proceed gradually, so that the sulphur present may not be lost or wasted by volatilisation. The roasting is finally checked by a thicker 'mantling,' and the whole allowed to cool.

By this time the pile has usually lost about one half its bulk, and become open and porous in the interior, so that the air can circulate freely through the ma.s.s; the latter, in dry weather, as the heap cools, being usually promoted by sprinkling a little water on it, which, by carrying down some of the saline matter, renders the interior still more open to the atmosphere. The whole, when cold, or nearly cold, is, if necessary, still further exposed to the action of air and moisture. The time required to calcine the heap properly, including that taken by the burned ore to cool, varies, according to its size and the state of the weather, from three to nine, or even twelve months. The residuum of the calcination is next placed in large stone or brick cisterns, and edulcorated with water, until all the soluble portion is dissolved out; the solution is then concentrated in another stone cistern, so made that the flame and heated air of its reverberatory furnace sweep the whole surface of the liquor.

(See _engr._) The evaporation is continued until it just barely reaches the point at which crystals are deposited on cooling; when it is run off into coolers. After the sulphate of iron, always present, has been deposited in crystals, the mother-liquor, containing the sulphate of aluminum, is run into other cisterns, and a saturated solution of chloride of pota.s.sium, or of sulphate of pota.s.sium, or (sometimes) impure sulphate or carbonate of ammonium, or a mixture of them,[36] is added until a cloud or milkiness ceases to be produced on addition of more.[37] It is next allowed to settle and get thoroughly cold, and the supernatant 'mother-liquor' being drawn off with a pump or syphon, the precipitate, which is alum in the form of minute crystals (technically termed 'flour'), is well drained, and subsequently washed by stirring it up with a little very cold water, which is then drained off, and the operation repeated a second time with fresh water. A saturated solution of the pulverulent alum ('flour') is next formed in a leaden boiler, and the clear portion is run or pumped off, while boiling hot, into crystallising vessels, called roaching casks (see _engr._), the staves of which are lined with lead, and nicely adjusted to each other. After the lapse of a week or ten days, the hoops and staves of these 'casks' are removed, when a thick crust of crystallised alum is found, which exactly corresponds in form and size to the interior of the cask. A few holes are then made in the sides of this ma.s.s, near the bottom, to allow the contained mother-liquor to drain off, after which the whole is broken up and packed in casks for sale. Sometimes the alum thus obtained, or the lower portion of it, is washed with a little very cold water, and, if discoloured, or small or slimy, is purified by a second crystallisation.

[Footnote 35: The generality of alum-minerals require roasting; and their own bituminous matter is, in many cases, sufficient to produce the heat required, which need not necessarily exceed 600 to 650 Fahr., provided it be continued for a sufficient period. It is only when they are less bituminous or carbonaceous that slack or saw-dust, &c., is employed.]

[Footnote 36: For pure POTASH-ALUM a salt of potash only must be employed.

When ammonia (usually in the form of gas-liquor or gas-sulphate) is used as the precipitant, the product is AMMONIA-ALUM. The ordinary alums of commerce are now generally mixtures of the two.]

[Footnote 37: The respective quant.i.ties required to produce 100 parts of alum from the sulphate of alumina liquor are--

Chloride of pota.s.sium 157 Sulphate of " 184 " ammonium 139

In practice, the exact quant.i.ty required may be found by a previous trial of a little of the aluminous liquor; but the indications mentioned in the text will always show the operator when a sufficient dose is added.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

2. As ammonia-alum (Spence's process; see _below_), but using a potash-salt as the precipitant, either wholly or in part, instead of ammonia; and, in the latter case, supplementing the deficiency of potash with ammonia, as there explained.

_b._ From ALUMINOUS CLAY and OIL OF VITRIOL:--

1. Clay, free or nearly free from carbonate of lime and oxide of iron, is chosen for this purpose. It is moderately calcined (in lumps) in a reverberatory furnace, until it becomes friable; great care being taken that the heat be not sufficient to indurate it, which would destroy its subsequent solubility. It is next reduced to powder, sifted, and mixed with about 45% of its weight of sulphuric acid (sp. gr. 145), the operation being conducted in a large stone or brick basin arched over with brickwork. Heat is then applied, the flame and hot air of a reverberatory furnace being made to sweep over the surface of the liquor. The heat and agitation are continued for 2 or 3 days, when the ma.s.s is raked out and set aside in a warm place for a few weeks (6 to 8), to allow the acid the more perfectly to combine with the clay. At the end of this time the newly-formed sulphate of alumina is washed out, the solution evaporated until of a sp. gr. of about 138 (124 for 'ammonia-alum'), and the salt of potash added. The remaining operations resemble those above described.

Good alum may be produced by this process at about two thirds the cost of rock or mine alum.

2. (Process of Mr Pochin.) Fine China clay is heated in a furnace, and mixed with a suitable proportion of sulphuric acid; the latter being considerably diluted with water, in order to moderate its action, which would otherwise be far too violent. The mixture is then pa.s.sed into cisterns furnished with movable sides, where, in a few minutes, it heats violently and boils. The thick liquid gradually becomes thicker, until it is converted into a solid porous ma.s.s; the pores being produced by the bubbles of steam which are driven through it, owing to the heat resulting from the reaction of the ingredients on each other. This porous ma.s.s (ALUM-CAKE; CONCENTRATED ALUM) appears perfectly dry, although retaining a large amount of combined water. It also contains all the silica of the original clay, but in such a state of fine division, that the whole appears h.o.m.ogeneous; whilst it imparts a dryness to the touch which can scarcely be given to pure sulphate of alumina. From this substance a solution of pure sulphate of alumina is easily obtainable by lixiviation, and allowing the resulting solution to deposit its silica before using it, but for many purposes the presence of the finely divided silica is not objectionable. The sulphate of alumina solution so obtained is adapted to all the purposes in dyeing for which alum is now employed; the sulphate of potash or of ammonia in the latter being an unnecessary const.i.tuent, and one merely added to facilitate the purification and subsequent crystallisation of the salt. To obtain ALUM from the porous alum-cake, the proper proportion of acid having been used in its preparation, or subsequently added, it is only necessary to precipitate its concentrated solution with a strong solution of a salt of potash, or of ammonia, or a mixture of them, and to otherwise proceed as before.

_Ratio._ In the above process the sulphide of iron of the shale or schist is converted by atmospheric oxygen into sulphate of iron and sulphuric acid; the sulphuric acid decomposes the clay, setting silica free, and producing sulphate of aluminum. The sulphate of iron is mostly got rid of by concentrating the solution of the mixed sulphates, and the mother-liquors are converted into alum by the addition of the salt of pota.s.sium. When chloride of pota.s.sium is used, it yields chloride of iron and sulphate of pota.s.sium, the latter combining with the sulphate of aluminum, and the former remaining behind in the mother-liquor. See ALUMS (in Chemistry).

_Comp._ Pota.s.sium alum has the formula K_{2}SO_{4}.Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.24Aq.

_c._ From CRYOLITE.

1. (Thomson's method.) Decomposition of cryolite by ignition with carbonate of lime. From the ignited ma.s.s the aluminate of soda is obtained by lixiviation with water, and into the solution carbonic acid gas is pa.s.sed, when there result precipitated hydrated gelatinous alumina and carbonate of soda, which remains in solution. If it be desired to obtain the alumina as an earthy compact precipitate, bicarbonate of soda is used instead of carbonic acid. While the clear liquor is boiled down for the purpose of obtaining carbonate of soda, the precipitated alumina is dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid; this solution is evaporated for the purpose of obtaining sulphate of alumina (the so-called concentrated alum), or the solution after having been treated with a pota.s.sa or an ammonia salt is converted into alum.

2. (Sauerwein's method.) Decomposition of cryolite by caustic lime by the wet way. Very finely ground cryolite is boiled with water and lime, the purer the better, and as free from iron as possible, in a leaden pan. The result is the formation of a solution of aluminate of soda, and insoluble fluoride of calcium (lime). When the fluoride of calcium has deposited, the clear liquid is decanted, and the sediment washed, the first wash-water being added to the decanted liquor, and the second and third wash-waters being used instead of pure water at a subsequent operation. In order to separate the alumina from the solution of aluminate of soda, there is added to the liquid while being continuously stirred very finely pulverised cryolite in excess, the result of the decomposition being alumina and fluoride of sodium, (soda). When no more caustic soda can be detected in the liquid, it is left to stand for the purpose of becoming clear. The clarified solution of fluoride of sodium is then drawn off, and the alumina treated as above described. The solution of fluoride of sodium having been boiled with caustic lime yields a caustic soda solution, which having been decanted from the sediment of fluoride of calcium is evaporated to dryness. Recently the fluoride of calcium occurring as a by-product has been used in gla.s.s-making.

3. The decomposition of cryolite by sulphuric acid yields sulphate of soda convertible into carbonate by Leblanc's process, and sulphate of alumina free from iron. This method of decomposing cryolite is, however, by no means to be recommended, as owing to the liberation of hydrofluoric acid, peculiarly constructed apparatus are required, whilst the sulphate of soda has to be converted into carbonate.