The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17
THE UTILITY OF NOTHING.
INTENTIONS WBOSE VALUE DE-
PESDs UPoN THE VACUUM.

-FreecrvntiOu OF Foods WOOL y
Cloth, Liquors. stone. and corpses.
Prom the ST. Eouis Giobe. Democrat.
Making money out OF nothinEl Tho notion IL
attractive. Many millions OF dollars In this
country are invested In patents depending upon
a vacuum, which Is less than what most people
call nothing. These inventions cover a great
variety OF industries, such as preserving foods,
tanning. fermentinE, bleaching. hardening
stone. and making woods imperishabIc. Some
of them actually relate to the Keeping of corpscs
and tho manufacture Of mortuary memorials.
The history OF the vacuum In the United States
Patent ONCE IN an interesting one. dating
back to 1888, In which year George II. Richards
took out exclusive rights in n process for prepar-
ing leather from various substances by evapora-
tion in vacuo at n temperature below 2l2', the
object being to avoid inJuring the product by
too great heat. This method Is applied in obtain
ing favors for syrups dispensed mt soda-wateT
fountains. II also serves In making extracts
from malt and hops and from coffee. The fact IL
we'll known that Arms engaged In the business OF
roasting coffee for market deprive the
beans OF their volatile favoring essence and
sell the latter separately. An honest coffee
rooster returns this essence TO the beans. Much
Of 1t passes of during the ordinary cooking proc
streets in the neighborhood OF q grocery store
are fragrant with the odor OF coffee. II 70
agreeable TO the ~nostrils, but very wasteful. A
properly constructed roasting machine saves
and condenses the precious vapor.
There was once n firm of bakers In London
that hit upon n very novel expedient. The
process OF b~readmaking depends upon a fer:
mentntion which develops alcohol. This alcohol
passes Off In vapor from the ovens under ordi-
nary circumstances. The concern u question
the vapor being passed into. n condenser. Un-
fortunately, rival bakers took a notion TO adyer-
s t1fS as WITH w,qSI ali e. th po' siD in f IT," ' As a result the
enterprising establishment lost its trade and
was ruined. To assist the process OF fermente-
tinp mafhO1a have been COntrlVeu Tor partly
baking bread in vacuo. Bakers. by the way,
use STea, n, QUANTITIES HE s of egg sse p S4otsn f inso th IN
nans, the whites and yolks being separated.
They are then, evaporated to absolute dryness:
and granulated by grinding. The product looks
very much like ,sawdust;, IL is comparatively
taxing the place Of fresh eggs when the latter
are scarce, and dear IT is prepared on a oonsid.
eTaoIe sSai in II the en- ma MUnf's OF rs"o'cafied EGG
sibnmen," which is said to be composed largely
like a fine quality Of glue, and costs SO cents .
pound, being used by bakers and for glazing
Several processes have been patented for pre-
serving eggs In their shells by means Of the
chamber. which is then exhausted of air. The
air, containing. the germ OF decomposition, y
gas is forced into the receiver to take the
place of 1t. The eggs are taken out and covered
t Tish a again yaTn,'h A 10 v Srfssi19 Of this his idea fes'' Is 10 % ino
troduce into the receiver melted parafhne.
which IN fill; ;h the m pores S Of fhe s application of tn.
vacuum has been for the preservation OF wood.
scores Of patents in this line have been granted;
Of New York secured exclusive rights in .
process for protecting climber from destruction
t oy w1rm de tary"' oI His " idea 1.i was to exhaust the
air from the wood and I'LL up the pores with coal
industry has since grown up. At Wilmington.
n. C.. piles and railway timbers for the entire
stances. Railway ties are commonly treated in
this manner; while metallic s%olGti9 on are EN-
lions of the devouring shipworm or teredo.
Wood is CRITICALLY solSred by using .h3
which is filled with SOLUTIONS containing pig
ments.- In this manner ordinary pine may 30
stitute for rare and costly. wood. Lumber is sea:
soned offhand by exhaustingt the air from 1t. and
e off the roFG moEist aTy ar W !apd"f Is l hardened a e 70 for orr ali
sorts of purposes, from bridge making to wagon
ing it with sulphur. being thus transformed
hard and Srittlt. This idea was long ago ap-
piled to wood by saturating the latter with
s9inti0p S OF rSSSsF tS Hnd rubber ,bSe aip IS hot as sef s the
wood being subjected to, the action OF hot air
under pressure in a closed chamber. The press
ure prevents the escape Of the sap and gums,
while the heat has a hardening effect. This 10
what is now termed vnlcanizins.
TO show that people in these days are almost as
much interested IN preserving ,corpses as were
are muititudin6ns. One of them describes q
coffin Of glass, which is to be exhausted OF air. q
gas that is destructive of all animal life being
substituted. For this purpose sulphur dioxide
or ~carhonic acid gas will serve. A method q
contents OF the body by means of an air
pump as a preliminary TO forcing, antisep-
Yankee has devised a scheme that is calculated
to he a consolation to surviving relatives. The
emily collected and compressed into a suitable
memorial likeness. bust. or statuette. at once
an air pump shall be employed to facilitate the
drying of the ashes.
foods with the aid OF the vacuum. One idea 10
to extract the mir contained in the meat. fish,
S Snah fF Win w a ]snl @tf TO Of fe ra imI n I fsis ' beins
accomplished. the meat or what not Is to be
taken out and dipped into a solution Of relatine.
outside: Thus it will keep for an indefinite pc;
be kept good by means OF ozone gas. Her ma
chine manufacturer the ozone. which is permit
ted to NJ the exlaust chamber after the air has
been withdrawn. She says that articles thus
treated may he subsequently, exposed to the at
mnsphcre without risk of decay,
Vacuum processes are to-day largely and sue
c%essfuliy employed in the SsltinE and pickliGs
chambers from which the air is Withdrawn.
and brine then forced in under pressure. The
meat Is sometimes stuck full OF tubular per-
forated skewers. to permit the gases to escape
aud to admit the brine to all parts Of the sub,
Withdraw the brine with the mir pump and force
smoke into the meat, whicli, Is thus smoked as
well as sailed, On this idea there Is an inn
provement. which consists In utilizing a smoked
brine, This is prepared hy withdrawing the AIR
from n tank containing the brine and forcing
the smoke into II under pressure. Then the
smoked brine is applied To the meat,
Methods are used on n considerable CONNER
Cial scale for preserving meats and vegetables
by Withdrawing the air from them and substi-
tuting various gases. such AS oxygen. nitrogen.
hydrogen. CArhOnic acid Rns, and even illumi-
mating gas, Argnn has not been suggested for
the purpose as yet. but before long II will he,
doubtless. In 1874 Henry Hunt took nut the
first patent for employing the vacuum in cam
ming food products, such hs would suffer injury
from heating. His idea MAS TO exhaust the air
from the cans in order That no germs Of putre-
faction might remain. \ singular adaptation
nf the same notion is credited To Sat Rnymer OF
New sterling. y, G., who hns. invented q fruit
lar stopper with a short metal tnhc attached TO
l.. The housewife, when she has closed n filled
jar of fruit with such n stopper, has only 10 suck
the tubc aud pinch II with pliers, tusing the end
with a red hot iron. 10 make IL Hir-tight.
EI.,rA Lr. rnnnnl nv iLn NuLnmm nrnreaS. be-