Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-08-06
The Manufacture Of Oxygen.

The chemical wonder of the Ions
don inventions exhibition, the manu-
facture of oxygen by the process of
Brien Freres, is thus described: They
have made what is really an artificial
mineral lung of anhydrous oxide of
barium, and with this, by an ingen-
ious process, they simply take up the
oxygen from the atmospheric air.
They decompose the air, so to speak.
and absolutely do what they like with
it. First the air is drawn by means
of a partial vacuum through a vessel
of quicklime, which absorbs all the
carbonic acid and moisture and re-
duces it to mixture of oxygen and
nitrogen. These gases are then drawn
into the retorts heated at 500 degrees,
and the artificial lung absorbs the
oxygen, while the nitrogen is drawn
off to a gasometer for conversion into
amonia, etc. The novelty is in the
manufacture of an artificial lung.
The Brins for the first time have made
this iudestructible. The use of baryta
for the purpose is not unknown, but
hitherto the baryta has been perish
able and has required renewal every
"A hours at great expense. They
make it virtually indestructihle and
Interchangeable. In this way they claim
to have effected an absolute revolu-
ton In chemistry, for which a lung
for the machine and the atmospheric
air for the material they can make
just as much oxygen as they like, and
the uses Of this fluid, present and pros
pectlve, are almost innumerable and
incalcuculable. The doctors would
be very glad to have it for purposes
OF inhalation, only as it has been
hitherto made from chlorine it con-
tains a trace of that poison, and is
therefore a perilous thing to play
with. We are now to have, accord>
ing to the inventors, oxygen not only
for the sick chamber, but for the puri-
fication of ordinary dwelling-houses,
and especially of theaters and public
halls. Il is simply to be turned on
into a vitiated atmosphere like a
stream of fresh air. Then the oxygen
is forced into water to make a new
table beverage OF the most refreshing
and invigorating kind, arated without
the slow poison of carbonic acid. It
is to burn with gas or lamp light, and
make a flame which is to rival cleo
tricity in brightness and brilliancy,
and altogether surpass it in cheap~
ness, besides being the one light in
the world which shows all colors at
their absolute daylight value. In
metallurgy it is TO produce nothing
short of revolution, it will feed a
fire up to the highest temperature
known. In another of its uses, dis
solved in water, it is to effect much of
the same revolution in the bleaching
trade. The nitrogen, which was at
first looked upon as waste product
incidental to the manufacture of oxy~
gen, is now, by a process due to the
ingenuity of the same inventors, to be
turned into ammoniacal salts fer
manure. Most of the uses of these
products were formerly known but
this invention. If we are to believe
what is claimed for it, tends to make
them universal by an almost fabulous
reduction in the cost of production.
The chemical text books, according to
Messrs. Brln, are at fault as to the
possibilities of baryta. They all teach
that it is destructible; ald the Brins
maintain that as they know how to
treat il it is indestructibie. This is the
essence of their invention, and accord
ing to taem the failure to discover
the secret accounts for tfe fact that so
many men of science, beginning with
Priestly and Lavoisler, have vainly
tried TO extract oxygen from atmos-
pheric air. Their efforts have been
persistent in proportion to the magni-
tude of the reward in view. Oxygen
in large quantities means a revolution
in half the processes of chemical in.
dustries.