The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-01-05
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Something of Interest About Sulphur
 and Civilization.
Cincinnati News Iouinai.l

Cincinnati News Tournal.l
 To say nothing of that mysterious here after, wherein brimstone is popularly sup posed to play no inconsiderable part in the domesic economy of the hades of un- believers, we find no substance SO uniyer- l sally distributed in the animal. vegetable and mineral kingdoms of nature as sul- phur. From the sulphur and molasses oi childhood, the 4th of July gunpowder ot youth, to the sul phur bath inhrmities of age, there is no substance in the realm of nature with which we are brought into more frequent relations or are more fa- miliar. Abstract sulphur from the em- pire of matter, and the universe would once more become a chaos, for it enters into the composition of mineral, plant, and animal alike. Without sulphur there would be no art and no civilization. Simple and unpretending as the bit of yellow mineral which our grandmother used to burn in barrel to bleach bon nets appears, it is monarch of the realms of chemical industries. According to Hahneman, but for the antipsoric prop critics of sulphur all the descendants of Adam would be given over to the inexor- able horrors of an all-pervading itch, and instead sf employing our leisure and gen. ius in the invention of steam engines. teiegraphs, reapers, cotton gins, tele- phones and sewing machines, our me ehanical ingenuity would be taxed to de- vlse scratching machines for the itching millions. Or, according to Boyd Reilly. the inventor of the sulphur bath, we should be nation of cripples, hobbling about on crutches. with rheumatism. lum- bagos, and neuralgias. The virtues of sulphur, as an element in human civili- zation, have been embalmed in history by its classic application in Dotheboys Hall. In fact, sulphur and civilz ation are coequal terms and possibly coe,ernal, for civilization is not possible where sul- ! phur is not, and the bes, test and criterion whereby we may judge of a nations thrift and attanments in art and science may be found in the relative quantity of sulphur used by it. When we consider the omnipresence oi sulphur in the realms of matter. and ind it to be a stepping stone in each stage of progressive art to the higher walks of science, when each new discovery of genius in the work of ameliorating human ills opens new. uses and novel combinations for it. we can no; wonder that the superstitions of men in all ages should have clustered about a substance so simple, potent and univer- sal, nor can we be surprised that alche- mlsts should seek in it the universal sol vent and physician the omnipoten, pana- cea for human ills on eaith, and theolo- gians an efficient and condign instrument of retribution hereafter. As sulphur in some form enters into the composition of earths and minerals and forms a part of all vegetable and animal tissues, the quantity furnished by natures laboratory for her own use, is altogether inealeula- ble, but ever prodigal of her gifts to man. and foreseeing his coming need of the crude material Tn order to meet new ne- eessities by new combinations he devised volcanoes. IS If for the purpose of saving man the trouble of dis,illng the precious element from its earthly combinations, and 1t IS from these erucibles of nature that crude sulphur IS obtained. The most celebrated mines are at Soltafara m Sicily. and the Roman states. also in California and Mexico. The crude sul- phur mixed with earths thus obtained IS placed in earthen or iron retoIis. and hea, applied. IL meits at -,i+ degrees into colorless liquid, which is run of into wooden moulds, and when cool is the roll birthstone of commerce; heated in closed room il sublimes, and the vapor eondenses on the walls into an impalpa. ble dust. called the -four of sulphur. At tempefa,ure of lSc degrees i, suddenly becomes brown and thick. Ii then poured into water l; assumes soft. pliable. nd l. casts of fine medals CT moulds for electrotyping. Bu, the crown ing glory ot sulphur IS in combination with its twin autocra, of matter, oxygen. forming sulphurlc acid. without which we should lapse into barbarism imagine what the condition would be were we suddenly to be deprived of this wonderful hand-maiden ,o modern art. But for sulphur India rubber would be relegated 10 the duty of crasing pencil marks. Telegraphy and electrotyping, lard oil sieafine candles. soap, glass, bleached goods. matches, and the lo.ooo electro chemical devices in daily use would pass away among the lost arts. Sulphuric acid or oh of vitrio1 Is made by burning one part of saltpeter with eight parts of sulphur. The combined gases are passed into iead-lined chamber, the floor of which is covered with water The sul- phurous and nitrous acid gases unite with the water the sulphurous is dissolved in 1t, and the niter and nitrous oxide are SC, tiee 10 unite with more oxygen or sul- phurous acid. When the water becomes suinciently sour It Is drawn of and concentrated 10 the proper strength in platina or glass stills. The triumph of man in new and useful com bination of the crude materials supplied by nature IS complete in sulphuric acid. Near the borax lake in California IS an elevation where constant deposition of sulphur Is going on. through crevices in the earth's crust leading from natures iireless and neNhaustible furnaces. So grea, IS the supply that the hills are called The Sulphur Banks" In Isoe the Island of Saba. one of the Dutch West fnHie< f,nrA