The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1912-06-13
month passes but the discovery Of I
new one is chronicled In patents AM
chemical journals.

a month passes but the discovery Of 9
new one is chronicled In patents ant
Chemical journals.
Coal tar does more than supply rain
low hues. The chemist has discovered
In 1t a host Of medicines for the treat
mCnt Of the most diverse diseases. The
All an sleeping sickness, fever, insom
mia and pains Of every origin are allay-
ed by coal-tar derivatives. Invaluable
antiseptics, such as carbolic acid. ars
yielded by this most protean Of sub
stances. The active principles of anima
glands are reproduced from it and plac
ed at the disposal Of the physicians. II
1t gives us the means of saving life II
also gives the means Of dealing death
for certain ingredients Of coal tar con-
stitute the basic principle OF terrible
smokeless powders and Of powerful ex'
pic sives. compared with which gun pow
der seems well-nigh harmless.
"A host of artificial flavors are deriv.
ed from coal tar flavors that have al
most entirely displaced true fruit fla
| tOTS, UeCduSe tIlelT tdStc anu CIiChiASai
composition are the same. Among them
is vanillin. an exact duplicate OF the ex-
tract of vanilla bean. artificial oils OF
bitter almond and Of musk. and saccha'
rine, sweeter than sugar by five hun
dred and fifty times. With coal tar, too
we protect our wood against insect raw
ages, and preserve the canned foods eat
en- by every soldier, hunter and Arctic ex
plorer. 1t provides US, furthermore, with
naptha, a useful solvent Of gums, resins
rubber, gutta percha and fats; with heav
y and light oils; with pitch, which Is
utilized In road building and in the max
ing of varnish, lamp-black and roofing
felt; and with naphthalene. which is it.
self the source Of many dyes.
Another remarkable example of the
Industrial utilization Of waste. one. more
over, with which the general public is
fairly familiar, Is to be found in the
meat -slaughtering centers Of the coun-
try. The beef and pork that hang In
every butcher shop represent not more
than 56 to s. per cent Of the animal on
hoof. Time was when the remaining "A
to ~ percent was simply thrown away.
Now, it is safe to say that nothing es-
capes the boiling-kettle or the machine.
and that steer is utilized from the tip
Of his horn to the last hair of his tail.
Indeed, a large percentage Of the Amer
lean packing industry's profit is made
from the chemically and mechanical
| ly treated by-products Of the abattotr.
''The hides, as might be expected, are
sold to tanners. Albumin Is extracted
from the blood and passed along to the
calico printer, the tanner and tho su-
gar refiner. The bones are utilized for
score of purposes. Their residual fat
and gelatin are respectively employed for
soap making and for the manufacture OF
various objects. such as medicine cap
sules. Feet are saved for their neat's-
foot oil. The bones left after the oil is
extracted are made into our toothbrush
es knife handles our combs and our
chessmen. The horns sawed off at the
tip, are split and ironed out fiat to fur
nish stock for buttons, combs and brush
backs. The sawed-off horn tips are fash
toned into pipe stems, and the horn scrap
is ground up and turned over to the
farmer for fertilizer. Bristles. of course.
are used for brush-making. and teeth
for studs and buttons. White hoofs are
exported to Japan and come back to us
as art objects; striped hoofs are worked
up into buttons and horn ornaments;
and black hoofs are either employed In
the manufacture of potassium cyanide,
which is used for gold extraction. or
ground up for fertilizer. Oleomargarine.
better known as butterine, Is obtained
from the fats, and 30 are tallow. stear-
| in and glycerin, all three Indispensable
to the manufacturers Of soap and can
dies. Gelatin. or, in its lower grades,
glue. is obtained from sinews, hide trim
mines. bones, skins and hair scraps. Fer
tilizers are produced by treating the
yiscera, short hair and other refuse.
Long hair Is shipped to the spinner ana
| by him sold to the mattress-maker. Thu
It happens that the carcass OF a single
beef may enter into several hundred diI-
ferent articles, and thus 1t happens that
we not only eat steers, calves and hogs
| but brush our teeth and hair with them,
wear them on our clothes, sleep on them
ornament our rooms with them, play
games with them and raise crops with
their aid.
| IAN industry may produce so much
waste that from sheer necessity some
use must be made of that waste. VI
no industries Is this truer than those IN
which wood is employed. Every sawmiil
produces an amount Of sawdust which
must be disposed Of in some way, II II
is not to be piled up in a huge hill, a
prey to spontaneous combustion. Az
tempts have been made to generate gas
for power from sawdust. with more or
less success. Extremely profitable are
| those industries in which sawdust. shaw
ings and other wood refuse are worked
IN lust as II they were as plastic as
clay-an end rendered possible by the
Invention of mixing and kneading ma
chimes. moulds and presses. Artificial
wood. which looks for all the world like
what IL is not is made from hydraulic
ally-pressed sawdust, held together by
.ue-water and soluble glass. or blood
and potassium bichromate. When pol
ished, this bois durci, as the French
call IL, possesses a beauty Of appearance
not found even in ebony, rosewood or ma
hogany.
1.-THE chemist, too has turned wood
wastes to profitable account One OF his
recent achievements is the discovery Of
/ a method Of converting certain ingredi
ents of sawdust into wood alcohol. Fur
thermore, the production of acetic acid
wood naphtha. oxalic acid and tar from
sawdust is a comparatively recent enter
prise. The sawdust from birch and som'
other species Of trees yields palatablt
j sngar after chemical treatment.