Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/790

* SULPHURIC ACID. 688 SULPHUB SPRINGS. salts. Nitric, hydrochloric, acetic, picric, phos- phoric, oxalic, tartaric, citric, and stearic acids, chemical manures and fertilizers, are all pre- pared liy the agency of sulphuric .acid. It is also used in the metallurgy of copper, cobalt, nickel, silver, and platinum, as well as in the prepara- tion of sheet iron and wire for galvanizing and tinning: in the preparation of phosphorus, bro- mine, iodine, potassium bichromate, ordinary ether, and various esters (q.v. ), starch, glucose, sugar, and etl'ervescent drinks; in the manufac- ture of parchment papers, cellulose, celluloid, high explosives, nitroglycerin, nitrobenzene, gun- cotton, smokeless powders, pyroxilene. etc. ; in the manufacture of coal-tar colors and dyes; in dyeing, calico printing, and tanning; in refining mineral oils, tallow, benzene, and paraffin; in the preparation of the various sulphates, as those of anunoniiun, potassium, barium, magnesium, alu- minum, iron, zinc, copper, mercury, atropine, hydroscyamine, morphine, quinidine, quinine, strychnine, and others, too numerous to mention and many of which have an extensive application in therapeutics. Hi.sTOKY. Geber was the first to describe sul- phuric acid as a spirit which can be produced from alum and which possesses solvent proper- ties. From the year 161.3 sulphuric acid was pre- pared by the apothecaries by burning sulphur with access of air in moist vessels. In 1606 the addition of a little saltpetre was introduced by Kicholas Lefevre About 1740, at Richmond, near London, England, the first sulphuric acid works on a commercial scale were founded, producing oil of vitriol 'made by the bell' in contradistinc- tion to that distilled from copperas. The birth of the modern method of sulphuric acid making, however, dates from Roebuck's installation of lead chambers in Birmingham in 1746. and his further installation at Prestonpans, in Scotland, in partnersliip with Garljett. As late, however, as 1800 the Prestonpans works only yielded 111 per cent, on the sulphur burned, with a consump- tion of 13 per cent, of nitrate of soda (modern practice would yield 300 per cent, of the acid on sulphur burned with a consumption of less than 3 per cent, nitrate of soda ). The chambers at that time were about 14 feet long, 10 feet high, and 4 feet 10 inches wide. (They are now eom- monlv .50 feet to 100 feet long," 20 feet to 25 feet 'high, and 20 feet to 30 "feet wide.) In 1 827 Gay-Lussac introduced his towers for the re- covery of nitric acid. Another important step was the introduction, in 1859, by John Glover, of liis denitrating and concentrating tower at the ^Vashington Chemical Works, near Durliam, in England. This completed the rational and eco- jiomical method of manufacture known as 'the chamber process.' From that time on the his- tory of the chamber process of manufacturing .sulphuric acid has been largely one of minor improvements, economics, and investigations into the chemical reactions involved in the process. In the meantime, however, as early as 1817, the catalytic action of platinum was discovered by Sir Humphry Day, and this phenomenon was further investigated by Ednnmd Da^-y, Dobereiner, and others. In 1831 Peregrine Phil- lips. .Jr.. an acetic acid manufacturer, discovered and patented the application of the catalytic action of platinum to the production of sulphur trioxide. The matter remained dormant until 1848, when the Belgian Schneider claimed to have discovered in pumice stone a substance of great catalytic activity. From this time on the subject received the attention of many scientists in Europe. But it was not until the publication of the investigations of Clemens Winkler in Dinglor's Juuincil, in 1875, that the foundation of a commercial contact process can be said to have been securely laid. Subsequent work by Haniseh and Schroeder, Messel and Lunge, and others, followed. Finally, about 1880, the matter was taken up by the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrilv in Germany, and this firm, after a long, costly, and obstinate struggle, brought the proc- ess to a commercial success. An output of 18,- 500 tons of sulphur trioxide by tliis firm in 1888 had been increased in 1890 to 116,000 tons. Other manufacturers also have made the contact process an established success, the dilTerent manufacturers working on slightly different metliods or different contact materials. As yet, however, the only contact material of demon- strated commercial value is platinum in one or the other form or combination. In the United States the first contact plant was erected in 1899, at Jlineral Point, Wis., by the New Jersej' Zinc Company under the patents of Schroeder. This plant was almost immediately followed by others, all of which are in successful operation, and while this process cannot be said to have super- seded the old chamber process, its advantages are such that its complete triumph is probably only a matter of time and improved methods. Bibliography. Until the publication of Georg Lunge's Sulphuric Acid and Alkali in 1879 (3d Eng. ed., London, 1903), the literature on this subject was confined entirely to the scientific jour- nals and Proceedings of scientific societies. Consult also a lecture by Dr. Rudolf Kneitsch before the German Chemical Society, October 19. 1901. an English translation of which was published in the Mineral Industry, vol. x. Vols. vii., viii., ix., x. of the Mineral Industry also contain reports on "Progress in the Sulphuric Acid Industry." SULPHURIC ETHER. See Ether. SULPHUROUS ACID (H.SO3). A colorless liquid containing about 6.4 per cent, of sul- phurous anliydride (SO,) and 93.6 per cent, of water. The gas is a valuable disinfectant and has been used for this purpose from the most ancient times. The gas is employed almost imi- versally at the present day to disinfect buildings and rooms, although formaldehyde gas is gradu- ally superseding it. Sulphurous acid is used as a spray or lotion in diphtheria and stomatitis, and is valuable as a wash for indolent ulcers and foul sores. It is an excellent remedy for ringworm. The acid is sometimes given internal- ly to prevent abnormal fermentation in the stomach and intestines in certain varieties of dyspepsia, but its value is problematical, and there are many other drugs suitable for this condition whose action is certain. See Disinfec- tant.? ; Fumigation. SULPHUR SPRINGS. The county-seat of Hopkins County. Texas, 79 miles ea.st by north of Dallas, on White Oak Creek, and on the Saint Louis Southwestern and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroads (Map: Texas G 3). It has cotton gins, a cotton compress, cottonseed-oil mills, and manufactories of leather, brick and