The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-28 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

MARCH 26.
I. K. BRUNEL, Esq., F.R.S , in the chair.
Messrs. J. Q. Aubert, W. Cooper, J. S. Coutts,
Faulkner, jun., W. H. Jackson, W. Marchanr, R. V.
Luton, and J. Winter, jun., were elected tnewbers.
The paper read was " Oo the Mantfacture of Soap,"
by Mr. W. Hawes.

The author commenced by showing how this manufac-
ture had been checked ; how every attempt at its lie-
prorement had been thwarted ; bow the cist of the snap
produced had been increased
.;s and how, in fact, by the
odious interference of -the- Excise, a chemical process
had remained with scarcely an impromement fur the
last 200 years. Before describing the manufacture
Mr. Hawes briefly noticed the little known of the
history of snap making. Soft soap, he said, appeared
to have been in general use from time immemorial.
Of hard soap nothing was heard, from its introduc-
tion into this country, early in the 16th century,
until 1622. lie then spoke of the incorporation of the
governor, assistants, and fellows of the Society of Soap-
makers of Westminster, in 1632, and showed ho w a mono-
' poly attempted to be created in their favour completely
failed, the persecutions of many unfortunate soapnaakers
notwithstanding, as the public would not buy their goods.
This brought him to the year 1646, when the soapmakers
petitioned the House of Commons to levy a tax on the raw
material, instead of on the manufactured article ; but in
lieu of this, in 1650, a duty was placed upon the former,
whilst the latter was retained. He then detailed the seve-
ral rates of duty to which soap hail been subject up to
1816, when it was increased to 3d. per lb., or 281. per ton ;
but in 1833, it having been proved to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer that illicit trade was increasing, and the
duty thereby decreasing, the duty was reduced to lsd.
per lb., at which rate it remained until it was finally
abolished in 1852. The soft soap of commerce, he said,
was a simple mixture of oil, vegetable and animal, and
a given quantity of tallow, with a ley of caustic potash.
No more alkali was used than was required to form
the soap, which being aided to the oil and tallow
in a ley of light specific gravity, was gradually concen-
trated till the soap attained the required consistency,
when it was taken from the copper and run into barrels
for sale. This was the cheapest kind of soap, and where
it could be advantageously used, as in washing wool or
cloth, was the most economical. Its smell and its con-
sistency prevent its general use for household purposes.
Hard soap he described as being made from any animal
or vegetable fat or oil ; the white and mottled soaps of
commerce being distinguished from yellow soap by the
absence of resin ; in other respects, though the process
of finishing differed, they were alike. The process was
as follows :—A solution of nearly caustic soda was
added to the fatty matter. These were boiled together
just sufficiently to allow gradual combination of
the alkali with the grease, when the excess of ley
was separated from the imperfect soaps and was run
err into reservoirs below ; another portion of alkali
was then added, and boiling was continued till the
soap was chemically perfect, though not finished com-
mercially ; and here began the processes by which the
special character was given to the different descriptions
of soap. Mottled soap was boiled into a curd on a strong
alkaline ley. and a few hours after the boiling had ceased
was taken direct from the copper to the frame or mould,
where the clarifying process took place; when cold it was
cut up into bars or cakes for sale. Yellow soap on the
other hand was clarified in the copper, whilst white or
curd soap, before being put into the frame to cool, re-
quired frequent crutching or stirring about, in an inter-
mediate vessel, to break and mix the curd, so that when
cool it should he uniform and homogeneous, and no clari-
fying process was necessary, owing to the best materials
only being used for this soap. Mr. Hawes next directed
attention to the materials used in the manufacture ofsoap.
Speaking first of tsllow, he alluded to the great change
which has been caused by the importation of palm oil, by
which, and by the gradually extending use of gas in pri-
vate dwelling-houees, we were in this particular now nearly
independent of Russia. The other raw material wasalkali,
soda for hard soap, and potash for soft soap ; and
here again he drew attention to the effect of the repeal
of an excise duty upon price and quality. After speak-
ing of the patent laws generally, which he considered
were alike injurious to both patentees and the public,
he proceeded to say that the only patent relating to the
manufacture of soap which appeared likely to succeed
practically was that for combining the materials by me-
chanical means without the aid of the fire, the object
being to avoid the formation of glycerine. It was in
this direction, either to prevent the -formation of glyce-
rine, and thus to increase the product of soap from a
given quantity of tallow, or to save and apply to useful
purposes what was now wasted, that he expected to see
the first fruits of the relief of this important branch of
industry from the trammels of the Excise.
After the reading of the paper a discussion took place
in which Messrs. Warren, De la Rue, F.R S., G. F.
Wilson, F.R.S., Degald Campbell, F.C.S., Robert Low,
the Earl of Caithness, and the chairman, with Mr.
Hawes, joined. The author's theory of saponification
was dissented from by several speakers, and also his
views as to the inexpediency of patents ; but in this latter
respect he was supported by the chairman, who holds that
ioventors themselves, as a body, are not being benofitted
to the extent to which they are injured by the deluove
hopes engendered by the patent law.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Hawes concluded the pro-
ceedings.

STRANGE AFFAIR.

A strange affair took Waco three days ago at Chagny
(Saone•et-Loire). A man who arrived by railway front
Paris entered a public-house near the station and ordered
breakfaq. Just as he was served a female entered, and
he displayed great trouble at her appearance ; hut he
approached and asked her to take part in his meal. She
returned no reply, but smiling disdainfully went away.
She proceeded to a house at some distance and the roan
followed her. Presently loud cries were heard from the
house, and it turned out that the man had stabbed the
woman four times with a knife and had then stabbed him-
self twice. Both were conveyed to the hospital, where
every attention was shown them, and the following ex-
planation was then obtained from them :—They were man
and wife, and lived at Paris, where the Pinner carried
on the business of a hairdresser. A short time back he
heard that a report was current that his wife was carry-
ing on an adulterous connection with her gmsia, a
soldier in the gendarmerie of Paris; and four days hack,
happening to find the man with his wife, ho asked him if
there was any truth in the report. The soldier with
great brutality told him that he was the favoured lover
of his wife, and on this the husband kicked him out of
doors. The next day the hairdresser on going home
found that his wife had stripped it of everything of value
and bad taken to flight. Whilst he was making in-
quiries after her he happened to meet the ger,d.srme, who
told him in an insolent and scoffing way that ho had
just accompanied his wife to the railway station. The
husband, supposing that she would most likely go to
Chagny, where her parents resided, went down by the
next train and there fell in with his wife as related'.
When he had followed her into the house, which was that
of her parents, he offered her in presence of the latter a
pardon for her past misconduct and entreated her to re-
turn to him, but she with every mark of contempt and
hatred rejected his pardon and refused his proposal.
On this he became dreadfully exasperated and stabbed
her four times—twice in the leg, once in the left artu,
and once in the groin ; the stabs he inflicted on himself
were in the breast. The woman's wounds, though they
occasioned a great loss of blood, are without. gravity ;
those of the man, though dangerous, are not mortal.