The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-14 00:00:00

SOAP.

Most people imagine that the best soap is that
which dissolves easily and makes a good deal of froth
in water ; but this is a mistake, for soap cannot
acquire those qualities without being overcharged
with alkalies. The only way of having soap deprived
of causticity is to keep it a long while ; because it
then loses some of the water it contains, whereby
the caustic soda incorporated with the mass is
brought to the surface by efflorescence ; it then com-
bines with the carbonic acid of the air, and becomes
a carbonate. The soap-wort (saponaria) of Egypt
contains a vegetable base called saponine, which
was obtained for the first time in 1832 by Professor
Missy. This principle exists in various other plants.
Dioscorides tells us that the ancients used a plant
called struthion (Lanaria herba, Pliny) for washing
' wool with. Forster states that the root of this
same plant, called chohen in Persian, is reduced
to powder by the people of Thibet, and used to
cleanse the goat's hair with which Cashmere shawls
are manufactured. In all Asiatic intertropical
countries, such as Java, the coast of Coromandel,
and Cochinchina, there is a tree called Sapo
In-
dicus, corrupted into Sapindus, producing red vis-
cous berries much used in those countries for wash-
ing linen. In Chili there is a tree called quillay, first
described in 1716 by Frezier. Its leaves resemble
those of the oak ; its bark produces suds like soap,
and is an excellent detergent of wool, though not
for linen, to which it imparts a yellowish appear-
ance. The Indians wash their hair with it,
under the impression that it makes it blacker. The
wood of this tree is much used for building. In
Europe there are several plants enjoying similar
properties. Soap-wort commonly grows among
the hedges and on the banks of streams, and the
roots of clover are generally employed for washing
linen in many parts of France. M. Duroy extracts
saponine from the above-named quillay, which is
now sold by grocers under the name of Panama
wood. With this saponine a soap is made of a pe-
culiar quality which must surprise those who consider
toilet-soap the best. It does not froth up in water,
and does not stick to the skin, but cleanses it per-
fectly, imparting to it a peculiar softness and elas-
ticity. Pure saponine, however, will produce
abundance of suds ; a centigram in a litre of water
is quite sufficient for the purpose. It decomposes
lime and even sea-water, while these, on the other
hand, decompose soap made with soda, and trans-
form it into pellicles which do not possess the
slightest detergent quality.

THE ALLEGED MURDER OF A CHILD AT WOOL-
morning,an inquest was held in New-
road, Woolwich, on the body of Mary Golden, aged 1 year
and 9 months. From the evidence of Margaret Golden, a
single woman, the mother of the deceased, it was ascertained
that she had left it with a German named Roder, with whom
she lived (but who was not the father of the child) on
Wednesday. It was then in good health, but on her return
she found the child dying, which Roder said was caused
by its falling from a chair. A woman named Boyce said
she had frequently heard Roder beat the child, and on
Wednesday saw him, through the keyhole, beat the child
from half-past 10 o'clock to 11. She had seen him throw the
child from one end of the room to the other. Mary Barrett
gave evidence as to Roder's cruel treatment of the child.
Dr. J. B. Ryloy said that ho had found several bruises on
the child's head, the result of recent blows. The brain was
congested from blows on the forehead, which might have
been caused by a fall or by a clenched fist. Inspector
Brown thought that the police would be able to find Roder,
Nho has for the present disappeared, and the coroner ad-
ourAeci
.y the iuquo§t jpr that purpog