Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-01-16
Utilization of Waste Material.

- II -
up some Of the late discoveries in
science by me- ms OF which waste ma
terials are made useful:
Zone of the blessings of modern
science presents itself in the form of
economy ,frugality~, utilization. Things
which were formerly thrown away IS
waste are now applied to mans pur-
poses to an extent far beyond our
general suppOsitiOn. DIR. Lyon Play
fair and Mr.. z. l.. SimmOnds have
frequently drawn attention to this
subject, chiefly in illustration of the
wonders ofchemistry. Mr.. SimmOnds
has recently collected a g budget of
instances, which he has. brought I'M
der the notice of the Society Of Arts.
"BelOre touching On these, let u
refresh the readers memory by a
summary of results already recorded.
/ Beautiful perfumes are produced from
substances not merely trivial, but in
's0me cases fetid and repulsiVe. FuSel
oil, putrid cheese, gas tar, and the
drainage of cOWhOuseS are thus trans
formed. The result is a triumph of
chemistry; but il is commercially
shabby and unfair to call perfumes
thus obtained by such delightful names
] a. Oll VI pOA4oy III " NPPANof "a VI
pineappleS,' oil of grapes oil of
cognac,' oil Of bitter Almonds eau
de miIlefeurs.' Blue dyes are made
from scraps of tin, old wooden rags
and the parings of horses hOOfS. Old
iron hoops are employed IN ink
making; bones as a source of phOsphO-
rus for tipping Congreve matches the
dregs of port wine for making SeidlitZ
---1-.-- A., ,,-,.ITn~- of a,aI tor FLr
producing a havOring cOndiment for
blame mango. Old wooden rags are
the foundation of the prosperity OF
Dewsbury and Bailey in Yorkshire;
these musty, fusty, dusty, trOWzy
fragments being ground up into shOd-
dy and mungO, Other relics OF old
wooden garments are made to yield
flock for wallpaper, padding Tor mat
t~resses, and PrusSsian-biue for the
cOlOr-makerS.
Chemicals are employed to de
strOy the cotton hbres in old WOrn-Out
balzarine5, orleans, cOburgS and other
mixed fabrics for ladies' dresses, and
to liberate the wooden or WOrsted
fbreS for a new career Of usefulness.
Wooden rags, when even the shoddy-
maker will have nothing to do with
them, are choice materials for the far
mer as manure That bones are used
for knife-handleS we know very well;
but it appears they are also used for
comeback by color and varni5h ma
| kers, for size by dyers and cloth-finiSh-
ers, and for manure by farmers.
Horns and hOOfs are a very magazine
of useful products in the hands of the
scientific chemist. WhalebOne cut
tings yield PrUssian-blue; dogs fat is
(shamefully) made into sham codliver
oil; wOOi-ScOurers' waste and washing
reappear as beautiful stearine candles;
bullOck's blood is used refining sugar,
in making animal charcoal, and in
Turkey-red dyeing; OK gall or bile is
used by wOOl-scourers and by color
makers; fishes eyes ara used for buds
in artificial flowers; bAEder5 and in
testineS are made into air-tight cover
ings and into musical strings; all the
odds and ends Of leather and pdrch-
ment dressing are gris5 to the glue
maker; calves aad sleeps feet yield
an oil which is dOctOred up most fla
/ GRAVITY by the perfumer; sinking fish
is always welcome as manure to the
farmer; and a brown dye is extracted
from those small bedroom |acquaint-
ances whom few of Us like 10 talk
about, and none like to see or feel.
''At least fifty thousand tons Of cot
ton waste, the residue and SWeepingS
of the mills, are annually utilized by
being worked up into coarse sheeting,
bed covers, papier-mache, and the com
mOnest kinds of printing paper. Sea
weed is used as u material for paper.
as a lining material for ceilings and
walls, and as q source whence the
chemist can obtain iodine. Various
kinds of seed, when the oil has been
squeezed out of them, are useful cat
! tie ~fatteners as Oilcake. Grape husks
Weld a beautiful black for choice kinds
of ink; raisin stalks constitute q CAPT
tai clarifying agent for vinegar; bran
or corn refuse IS valuable in tanning,
/ calico printing and tin-plate making;
brewers and distiliers' grains are fat
tening food for cattle. Bread raspings
are in France sometimes used as a
substitute for coffee, and as a tooth
powder. Tan-pit refuse is valuable
for the gardeners dollhouse. Dam
aged potatoes, and rice and grain, are
made to yield starch. Ground horse
chestnuts are not unknown to the
makers of cheap maccarOni and YER
micelli. Cork cuttings and scraps are
eagerly sought for stutfing and for
buOyant purposes.
pea shells are used as a food for
mich cows, and spirit may be dis
titled from them. SaWdust is now APP
piled in a prodigiOus number OF ways,
for making paper, distilling OXalic
a9d, smoking fish, clearing iewelry,
filing scent bags, stuffing dolls, etc.
Tobacco ashes are made into tooth
powder.
"ThecOal tar from gas works is made
to yield sulphate of ammonia, sal
ammOniac, printers ink, lampblack,
diSinfectents, naptha, benzole, paraf-
fin, and the magnificent series of ami
line cOlOrs for dyeing and calico print
ing. The sediment in wine casks is
made into cream of tartar, Old kick
ed-of horseshoe nails yield the best of
all iron for musket barrels. As for
the shops in which gold workers, Jew
ellers and goldbeaters work, not only
is the very dust on the floor precious,
but a reiner will gladly give a new
W~aistc0at or apron for ar old one, for
the sake of the auriferous particles
thereby obtained.
MI. OlIlilOlu > uGM DdlCu tOuI-
prises many instances of substances
recently transferred from the domain
of waste to that of utility, and many
suggestions for a similar transference
in other quarters.
First, for the animal kingdom.
Horse flesh is certainly not waste so
long as dogs and cats eagerly feed upon
it; but the French say that we ought
not to leave it to the dogs and eats,
by reason of the excellent qualities it
possesses for human food; however,
we must leave this matter to the hip
pophagic admirers of 'chevaline.'
Fish are applied to more useful pur-
poses than was customary a few years
ago; shark fins are priced as food by
the Chinese; shark liver is boiled
down by them for oil; shark skin is
dried and used for polishing wood and
ivory; dried shark heads are given by
the Norwegians to cattle as food;
/ smoked and dried dogfsh is eaten as
food, as are also the eggs, while the
skin and liver are applied to the same
purposes as those of the shark. The
French procure useful medicinal oil
from the liver of the skate, which used
to be thrown away, but which is now
found to be nearlyas efiicacious as cod
liver oil. A French firm, Messrs. Souf-
frie, make large quantities of useful
taIlow or fat out of the pickings and