_Prop., Uses, &c._ It is a deliquescent salt, easily soluble in water, and
has a bitterish taste. It has been used in scrofulous affections,
internally, in doses ranging from 1/8 to 2 gr., thrice daily, and
externally in ointments containing 2 dr. or less to the oz.
=Calcium, Lactophosphate.= This product ought not to be employed except in
the state of solution in water or in syrup. In the pasty or solid state
its solubility varies, and it is always an indefinite compound.
_Solution._ Bibasic phosphate of lime, 17 grams; concentrated lactic acid,
as little as possible; distilled water, 964 grams. Suspend the phosphate
carefully in the distilled water, add the lactic acid, allow solution to
go on for some minutes, and filter.
From 'Formulæ for New Medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical
Society.'
=Calcium, Oxide of.= See LIME.
=Calcium, Phosphate of.= _Syn._ CALCIS PHOSPHAS (Ph. B.). Digest bone-ash,
4 _oz._, in hydrochloric acid, 6 _fl. oz._, diluted with a pint of water,
until it is dissolved.
Filter the solution, if necessary; add water, 1 pint, and afterwards
solution of ammonia (Ph. B.), 12 _fl. oz._, or a sufficient quantity,
until the mixture acquires an alkaline reaction, and having collected the
precipitate on a calico filter, wash it with boiling distilled water as
long as the liquid which passes through occasions a precipitate when
dropped into solution of nitrate of silver acidulated with nitric acid.
Dry the washed product at a temperature not exceeding 212° F.
=Calcium, Phos'phide of.= _Syn._ PHOSPHU'RET OF LIME; CAL'CII
PHOSPHURE'TUM, C. PHOSPHI'DUM, L. _Prep._ By passing the vapour of
phosphorus over lime (in small fragments) heated to redness in a porcelain
tube. A brownish substance, supposed to be a mere mechanical mixture of
phosphide and phosphate of calcium. Thrown into water, it suffers instant
decomposition, and phosphuretted hydrogen gas escapes.
=Calcium, Sulphides of.= Calcium forms with sulphur at least three
different compounds:--
=1. Calcium, Protosul'phide of.= CaS. _Prep._--_a._ From sulphate of lime,
exposed at a high temperature to a stream of hydrogen gas.--_b._ From
dried gypsum, 25 parts; lampblack or finely powdered charcoal, 4 parts;
calcined together at a strong heat in a covered crucible.
=2. Calcium, Bisulphide of.= CaS_{2}. _Prep._ From sulphur and quick-lime,
equal parts; water, q. s.; slake the lime, add the sulphur, and boil until
a solution is obtained, which on cooling deposits crystals.
=3. Calcium, Pentasulphide of.= CaS_{5}. _Prep._ As the last, but
increasing the quantity of sulphur, and continuing the boiling for a
longer period. Little is known about it.
=4. Calcium, Sulphate of.= See GYPSUM.
=5. Calcium, Commercial Sulphuret of.= _Syn._ COMMERCIAL SULPHIDE OF
CALCIUM. _Prep._--_a._ As 1, _b_ (_above_).
_b._ Sulphur, 1 part; hydrate of lime, 3 parts; water, 2-1/2 pints; boil
it until it solidifies on cooling, then pour it out on a cold marble slab,
and when solid break it into pieces and preserve it in a well-corked
bottle.
_c._ (Guibourt.) Quick-lime, 7 parts; sulphur, 4 parts; mix, and heat the
compound for about 2 hours in a covered crucible.
_d._ (Cottereau.) Quick-lime, 2 parts; sulphur, 1 part; water, 5 parts; as
4, _b_ (_above_).
_Obs._ The precise composition of the last three preparations is
uncertain. They are acrid, caustic, stimulant, and diaphoretic. _Dose_, 1
to 3 gr. Sulphide of calcium has been used as a depilatory by applying it
made into a paste with water, and washing it off in about 1/4 of an hour.
Made into an embrocation, it has been strongly recommended in gout,
scabies, &c. Its solution yields pure sulphur on the addition of
hydrochloric acid.
=CALCULA'TIONS= (Useful). 1. To find the Value of a Dozen Articles. Take
the price in pence as shillings, and if there are any farthings in the
price, add threepence for each. Thus 2s. 8d., or 32 pence per yard, is £1
12s. per dozen.
2. To find the Value of One Hundred Articles. For every farthing take as
many pence and twice as many shillings. Thus, 1-1/4d. each is--5d., and
10s. = 10s. 5d. per hundred.
3. To find the Value of a Pound at any price per Ounce. Take the price in
farthings as shillings, and divide by three. Thus, 5-1/4d. per ounce is 21
farthings; taken as shillings, 21 ÷ 3 = 7s. per pound.
4. To find the Value of an Ounce at any price per Pound. Take the
shillings as farthings, and multiply by three. Thus, at 6s.--6 × 3 = 18
farthings, or 4-1/2d. per ounce.
_Obs._ By reversing Nos. 1 and 2, the price of a single article or pound
may be found from the price per dozen or hundred. For several other
calculations, useful in domestic economy, chemistry, &c., see BREWING,
DECIMALS, EQUIVALENTS, MEASURES, PER-CENTAGE, WEIGHTS.
=CAL'CULUS.= _Syn._ STONE. In _medicine_, a hard concretion formed within
the animal body by the deposition of matters which usually remain in
solution. The concretions most commonly found are those formed in the
kidneys or bladder, and termed urinary calculi, and those formed in the
gall-bladder or biliary ducts, which are called biliary calculi. Urinary
calculi are in most cases composed of substances which are constituents of
healthy urine, such as uric acid, urate of ammonia, and the phosphates of
lime and magnesia; they are, however, sometimes composed of substances
which are met with in unhealthy urine, such as oxalate of lime, cystine,
&c.
Biliary calculi, or gall-stones, usually contain from 50 to 80 per cent.
of cholesterin, a crystallisable fatty body, constituting a never failing
ingredient in healthy bile, the rest of the concretion being made up of
biliary resin and colouring matter, with a small quantity of inorganic
salts.
Calculus or stone in the bladder, which is a prevalent disease in Norfolk,
both among men and sheep, has been attributed to the use of the hard water
of the district.
Both of these give rise to very painful symptoms, and may even threaten
life. See CHOLESTERIN.
=CALEFACIENTS.= Applications that excite warmth.
=CAL'ENDAR.= _Syn._ CALENDA'RIUM, L.; CALEN'DRIER, Fr. A table of all the
days of the year, arranged in the order of days and weeks, to which are
generally added certain astronomical indications and dates of great civil
and religious events. The most remarkable calendars are the Hebrew
calendar, the calendar of the Greeks, the Roman, or Julian calendar, the
Gregorian calendar (now adopted by all Christian peoples except the Greeks
and Russians), and the French Republican calendar, which, having remained
in force about thirteen years, was abolished by Napoleon I on the 1st of
January, 1806.
=Calendar, Perpet'ual.= A table which furnishes the general indications
necessary to construct a calendar for any year, and to resolve, without
error, many difficulties connected with the verification of dates.
=CAL'ENDERING.= The process of finishing by pressure the surface of linen
or cotton goods. It is usually performed by passing the fabric between
cylinders pressed together with great force. It is necessary that one of
the cylinders, at least, shall be of a material combining considerable
hardness with a slight degree of elasticity; for this purpose the paper
cylinder is used. It is made by forcibly compressing a number of circular
discs of thick pasteboard, each with a square hole in the centre, upon an
iron axis, so as to form a solid cylinder, which is turned perfectly
smooth and true in a lathe. The paper cylinder usually works against a
hollow roller of copper or iron, heated by steam or metallic heaters.
Before the final rolling in the calendering machine the fabric is lightly
smoothed by passing over warm cylinders. Cotton goods are starched, and a
fictitious appearance of stoutness is sometimes given to them by employing
starch thickened with plaster of Paris, porcelain clay, or a mixture of
these. Watering is a beautiful effect, produced by means of a hot cylinder
with a pattern raised upon it. Glazing is produced by combined rubbing and
pressure, the rollers being made to move with unequal velocities, so that
one side of the fabric is rubbed as well as pressed by the roller whose
surface moves with the greater speed. A copper cylinder is preferred for
glazing, and is made so hot that if the machine stops it burns the goods.
The old method of glazing consisted in burnishing the surface of the
fabric with a polished flint.
=CAL'ICO.= See COTTON.
=Cal'ico Printing.= The art of producing figured patterns upon calico by
means of dyes and mordants topically applied by wooden blocks, copper
plates, or engraved cylinders. The goods are either directly printed in
colour, or receive their patterns by being run through a colouring matter
or mordant, when the dye is only produced upon that portion of the ground
previously prepared for it. Of late this system of dyeing has been
extended to silk and woollens.
The mordants are thickened with some glutinous substance, as flour,
starch, or gum, to render them adhesive and to prevent their spreading.
The following are the principal styles of calico-printing, each requiring
a different method of manipulation:--
In the madder, fast colour, or chintz style, the mordants are applied to
the white cloth, and the colours are brought out in the dye bath. This is
the method commonly followed for "permanent prints."
In the padding or plaquage style, the whole cloth is passed through a bath
of some particular mordant, and different mordants are afterwards printed
on it before submitting it to the dye bath. By this means the colour of
the ground and pattern is varied. Like the last, it is much used for gown
pieces, &c.
In the reserve or resist-paste style, white or coloured figures are
produced by covering those parts with a composition which resists the
general dye afterwards applied to form the ground of the pattern. In this
style the dye bath is indigo, or some other substantive colour.
The discharge, or rongeant style, is the reverse of the preceding; it
exhibits bright figures on a dark ground, which are produced by printing
with acidulous or discharge mordants after the cloth has been passed
through the colouring bath.
Steam-colour printing consists in printing the calico with a mixture of
dye extracts and mordants, and afterwards exposing it to the action of
steam.
Spirit-colour printing is a method by which brilliant colours are produced
by a mixture of dye extracts and solution of tin, called by the dyers
"spirits of tin."
Pigment printing consists in applying such colours as ultramarine,
magenta, or aniline purple, to the cloth, and fixing them by such agents
as casein, albumen, or solution of india rubber. This style of printing
has been developed to a great extent since the introduction of the
splendid mauves and purples obtained from aniline.
For further information on this subject the reader is referred to Ure's
'Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines,' Calvert's 'Dyeing and
Calico Printing,' edited by Stenhouse and Groves; Wagner's 'Clinical
Technology,' and Crooke's 'Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Printing,'
where he will find the several processes of calico printing fully treated
on, and most ably and accurately described. To enter largely into the
subject in this work might amuse the reader, but would be of no practical
value; as calico printing is an art only practised on the large scale, and
by men who obtain their whole knowledge of it in the laboratories and
printing rooms of the factories.
=CAL'OMEL.= See MERCURY (Chlorides of).
=CALOTRO'PIS PROCE'RA.=, =CALOTRO'PIS GIGAN'TEA.=, (Ind. Ph.). _Syn._
MUDAR.--_Habitat._ One or other of these species, everywhere in
India.--_Officinal part._ The root-bark, dried (_calotropis cortex_).
Small flat or arched pieces, brownish externally, yellow-greyish
internally, peculiar smell, and mucilaginous, nauseous, acrid taste. Its
activity appears to reside in a peculiar extractive matter named
_mudarine_.--_Properties._ Alterative tonic; diaphoretic, and, in large
doses, emetic.--_Therapeutic uses._ In leprosy, constitutional syphilis,
mercurial cachexia, syphilitic and idiopathic ulcerations, in dysentery,
diarrh[oe]a, and chronic rheumatism, it has been used with alleged
benefit.
=Powder of Mudar.= (_Pulvis Calotropis._) Take of the roots of mudar,
collected in the months of April and May from sandy soils, a sufficiency;
carefully remove, by washing, all particles of sand and dirt, and dry in
the open air, without exposure to the sun, until the milky juice contained
in it becomes so far inspissated that it ceases to flow on incisions being
made in it. The bark is then to be carefully removed, dried, and reduced
to powder. Preserve in well-corked bottles.--_Dose._ As an alterative
tonic, 3 grains, gradually increased to 10 grains or more, thrice daily.
As an emetic, from 1/2 to 1 drachm.
=CAL'OTYPE.= See PHOTOGRAPHY.
=CALUM'BA.= _Syn._ CALUMBÆ RADIX, B. P. CALUM'BA-ROOT; KALUMB, Hind. The
root of a plant of Eastern Africa, extensively used in _medicine_ as a
stomachic and mild tonic. _Dose_, 10 to 20 grains, three or four times a
day. The botanical name of this plant is _Jateorhiza palmata_, or
_Cocculus palmatus_. See CALUMBINE (_below_); also INFUSIONS and
TINCTURES.
=CALUM'BA WOOD.= This wood, which is used as a tonic by the Cingalese, is
not the produce of the true calumba plant, but of _Menispermum
fenestratum_. It contains the alkaloid BERBERINE (which _see_).
=CALUM'BINE.= _Syn._ CALOM'BINE, _Calum'bina_. A bitter substance
discovered by Wittstock in calumba root.
_Prep._ 1. Digest calumba root (in coarse powder) in water acidulated with
acetic acid; express, filter, boil to one half, again filter, add
carbonate of calcium, in slight excess, and evaporate to dryness in a
water bath; reduce the residuum to powder, and digest it in boiling
alcohol; the latter will deposit crystals of CALUMBINE on cooling.
2. (Wittstock.) Evaporate tincture of calumba root (made with rectified
spirit) to dryness; dissolve the residuum in water, and agitate the
solution with an equal bulk of ether; after repose for a short time,
decant the ethereal portion, distil off most of the ether, and set the
liquid aside to crystallise.
_Prop., &c._ Impure calumbine occurs as a yellow-brown mass; when pure, it
forms rhombic prismatic crystals or delicate white needles; it is only
slightly soluble in alcohol, ether, and water; 40 parts of boiling
rectified spirit take up only 1 part of calumbine. Its best solvent is
acetic acid; it is also soluble in acidulated and alkalised water. Neither
nut-galls nor metallic salts affect its solution. Concentrated sulphuric
acid dissolves it, and assumes first a yellow, and then a red colour. Its
properties indicate that weak vinegar or sour wine would be the best
menstruum for extracting the medicinal virtues of calumba root. _Dose_, 1
to 3 gr. twice a day as a tonic and stomachic, in dyspepsia, debilitated
stomach, bilious vomiting, &c.; and in the later periods of dysentery and
diarrh[oe]a.
=CALX.= This term was formerly applied to the residuum of the combustion
of any substance; or to any substance which had been exposed to a strong
heat. See CALCINATION, LIME, &c.
=CAMBOGE'.= See GAMBOGE.
=CAM'ERA LU'CIDA.= [L. and Eng.] When a ray of light (_r_) falls upon a
quadrangular glass prism (_a_), it is bent by two reflections (at _c_ and
_d_), and thrown upwards where it may be received by the eye, to which it
will appear described on the table or sheet of paper (_f_) placed to
receive it. The point of a pencil used to trace any object on the paper
can also be seen, and by its means the picture can be easily copied. When
the prism is mounted on a stand, and a thin brass plate with a small hole
through it for the eyepiece adjusted thereto, it forms the CAMERA LUCIDA
of the opticians. The image may be magnified or lessened by placing a lens
so as either to intercept the rays before they strike the prism, or before
they reach the eye. An ingenious person will readily be able to set up
this instrument, than which a more useful one cannot exist.
[Illustration]
=CAM'ERA OBSCU''RA.= [L. and Eng.] An optical instrument for producing
upon a screen the image of a field of view more or less extensive. It was
invented by Baptista Porta in the 16th century. The principles and
construction of the camera obscura may be thus described:--A convex lens
(_B_) is placed in a hole admitting the light into a darkened box or
chamber (_A_), which, falling on a white ground (_D_), produces an
inverted picture of every object within its range. The image thus formed
may be restored to its natural position, by allowing the rays of light to
pass through two lenses instead of one, or by receiving the rays on a
mirror placed at an angle of 45°, when the image will be thrown on the
floor in its original position. The picture may be viewed through an
oblong aperture cut in the box, or the experiment may be performed in a
darkened room, by placing the lens in a hole in the shutter, and allowing
the image to fall on the wall, or on a sheet of white paper stretched to
receive it.
[Illustration]
In the simplest form, when intended for taking views or portraits, the
image is thrown upon a mirror placed at an angle of 45°, and resting on
the bottom of the box, by which means it is thrown upwards against a plate
of glass, also placed at a similar angle. On this is laid a piece of
semi-transparent tracing paper, on which the object is distinctly seen
painted, and may be traced out with a pencil. When the camera is used in
photography, slides are provided to retain the sensitive paper in the
proper position in the box or dark chamber to receive the image, and the
whole apparatus is adjusted with screws, and slides of the most delicate
description. Achromatic glasses are also employed. See PHOTOGRAPHY.
=CAM'PHINE.= The name given by the trade to rectified oil of turpentine
when sold for burning in lamps, in order that purchasers may not be aware
of the inflammable character of the liquid. Since the introduction of the
hydro-carbon oils from coal, shale, and petroleum, camphine has been
little used for burning. To rectify the turpentine, it is passed in vapour
through a solution of caustic potash, soda, or lime; or through sulphuric
acid.
=CAM'PHOR.= C_{10}H_{16}O. _Syn._ CAM'PHIRE, LAU'REL CAM'PHOR; CAMPHO'RA,
B. P. A crystalline substance found in many plants; though only obtained
in large quantities from two, namely, _Camphora officinarum_ and
_Dryobalanops aromatica_. The first, commonly known as the laurel camphor
tree of China and Japan, yields the camphor of commerce; the latter, the
Sumatra or Borneo camphor, and the peculiar fluid known as liquid camphor.
It is found that several of the essential oils, by carefully distilling
off about one third their volume, yield a species of camphor. By
collecting this, and redistilling the remainder of the oil 2 or 3 times,
a farther quantity of camphor may be obtained. Oil of rosemary, treated in
this way, yields about 10% of camphor; oil of sweet marjoram the same; oil
of sage yields 13%; oil of lavender, 25%. By keeping the oils loosely
corked, and in a cool place, they produce a larger portion of this
camphor. Aniseed camphor is the congealable portion of oil of aniseed,
separated from the liquid oil, which it resembles in odour and flavour.
=Camphor, Am'ber.= See PYRETINE (Crystallised).
=Camphor, Com'mercial (Crude).= The produce of the laurel camphor tree,
brought to Europe chiefly from China and the island of Formosa, in the
form of greyish grains, aggregated into crumbling cakes.--_Prep._ The
Chinese and Japanese extract the camphor by cutting the wood into small
pieces, and boiling it with water in iron vessels, which are covered with
large earthen capitals or domes, lined with rice straw. As the water
boils, the camphor is volatilised along with the steam, and condenses on
the straw.
=Cam'phor, Commercial (Refined).= _Syn._ WHITE CAMPHOR; CAMPHO'RA, B. P.
_Prep._ 100 parts of crude camphor are mixed with 2 parts each of
quick-lime and animal charcoal, both in powder, and the mixture is placed
in a thin, globular, glass vessel, sunk in a sand bath. The heat is then
cautiously applied, and the vessel gradually and carefully raised out of
the sand as the sublimation goes on. When the process is complete, the
subliming vessel is removed and allowed to cool.
_Obs._ The whole process of refining camphor requires great care and
experience to ensure its success. If conducted too slowly, or at a heat
under 375° Fahr., the product is found to be flaky, and consequently
unsaleable, without remelting or subliming. An improvement on the common
method is simply to sublime the above mixture in any convenient vessel
furnished with a large and well-cooled receiver, and to remelt the product
in close vessels under pressure, and to cool the liquid mass as rapidly as
possible.
_Prop., &c._ A white, semi-crystalline solid, very volatile at common
temperatures; freely soluble in alcohol, ether, bisulphuret of carbon,
benzol, oils, and acetic acid, and sufficiently so in water (about 1-1/4
gr. to 1 oz.), to impart its characteristic smell and taste; 100 parts of
alcohol (sp. gr. ·806) dissolve 120 parts of camphor; concentrated acetic
acid dissolves twice its weight of camphor; average sp. gr. ·990. It fuses
at 347°, boils at 400° Fahr., and when set fire to, burns with a bright
flame. It evaporates slowly at ordinary temperatures, and crystallises on
the inside of bottles. While floating on water it undergoes a curious
rotatory movement.
_Uses, &c._ Camphor is sedative, narcotic, anodyne, diaphoretic, and
anaphrodisiac. _Dose_, 2 to 10 gr. in the form of pill or bolus, or made
into an emulsion with yolk of egg, mucilage, or almonds. In overdoses it
is poisonous. The best antidote is opium or wine, preceded by an emetic.
It is also used externally in ointments, liniments, and embrocations.
Camphor is frequently put into wardrobes and clothes-trunks, to keep away
insects; it is used to make the white stars and fire of the pyrotechnist;
and by the varnish-maker to increase the solubility of copal and other
gums. Mixed with six times its weight of clay, and distilled, it suffers
decomposition, and yields a yellow, aromatic, volatile oil, smelling
strongly of thyme and rosemary, which is much used by the wholesale
druggists and perfumers to adulterate some of the more costly essential
oils, and by the fancy soap-makers to scent their soaps.
Camphor may be beaten in a mortar for some time, without being reduced to
powder, but if it be first broken with the pestle, and then sprinkled with
a few drops of rectified spirit of wine, it may be readily pulverised. By
adding water to an alcoholic or ethereal solution of camphor, this drug is
precipitated under the form of an impalpable powder of exquisite
whiteness.
_Tests._ Pure camphor is entirely soluble in rectified spirit, oils, and
strong acetic acid; a fragment placed on a heated spoon or in a warm
situation will wholly disappear, and the evolved fumes will be highly
fragrant (camphoraceous), and be free from an acid or terebinthinate
odour. In an alcoholic solution of natural camphor ammonia gives but a
slight precipitate, which is dissolved on shaking the mixture; a similar
solution of artificial camphor under the like treatment gives a flocculent
precipitate, which remains undissolved. See CAMPHOR, FACTITIOUS (_below_).
=Camphor, Facti''tious.= _Syn._ HYDROCHLORATE OF TUR'PENTINE,
HYDROCHLORATE OF CAMPHENE, ARTIFICIAL CAMPHOR. Prepared by passing dry
hydrochloric acid gas into pure oil of turpentine, cooled by a freezing
mixture or pounded ice. After a time a white, crystalline mass is formed,
which must be drained, and dried by pressure between folds of bibulous
paper. It may be purified by solution in alcohol.
_Prop., &c._ It has a camphoraceous taste and odour; burns with a
greenish, sooty flame, and when blown out evolves a terebinthinate odour;
heated a little above the boiling-point of water, slight fumes of
hydrochloric acid gas are perceptible.
=Camphor, Hydrochlo''rate of.= _Syn._ MU''RIATE OF CAMPHOR; CAMPHO'RÆ
HYDROCHLO''RAS, L. By passing hydrochloric acid gas over camphor, in small
fragments, until it ceases to be absorbed.
=Camphor, Liq'uid.= _Syn._ CAMPHOR OIL; O'LEUM CAMPHO'RÆ, L. A pale
yellowish, limpid fluid, which exudes from _Dryobalanops aromatica_, a
tree growing in Sumatra and Borneo, when deep incisions are made in the
trunk. It is supposed that the crystalline SUMATRA CAMPHOR (see _below_)
is deposited from this fluid. The liquid camphor has somewhat the odour of
CAJEPUT OIL, and might, no doubt, be beneficially employed for the same
purpose. It is sometimes imported into Europe.
=Camphor, Monobromated.= C_{10}H_{15}O_{1}Br. Coarsely powdered camphor is
introduced into a flask of about ten times the capacity of the amount it
is intended to prepare. A fine stream of bromine is then allowed to fall
upon the powder with continual agitation; the addition of bromine ceases
when the camphor is liquefied. A large long abductor tube is then fitted
to the flask, and the other end plunged into an alkaline solution, which
will absorb the vapour that would otherwise incommode the operator. The
flask is placed in a water bath that is raised to ebullition, when the
reaction soon commences. This is at first rather active, there being an
abundant evolution of hydrobromic gas, and some vapour of bromine and
undecomposed camphor. The liquid, which is at first dark brown in colour,
acquires an amber colour and the evolution of gas suddenly slackens. The
operation should be carried out at a temperature between 80° and 90° C.
The amber-coloured liquid that remains in the flask solidifies upon
cooling, and appears then as a slightly citrine-coloured friable mass. It
is purified by treating it several times with boiling 90° to 95° alcohol,
filtering the liquor, and leaving it to crystallise. The crystals are to
be dried in the air upon unsized paper.
Dr Bourneville advises monobromated camphor to be administered either in
the form of pills, made up with conserve of roses, or of a mixture rubbed
up with mucilage of gum arabic and syrup. He gives it in doses varying
from twelve to thirty centigrams daily. Where it cannot be taken by the
mouth he injects the following solution subcutaneously:--Monobromated
camphor 3 gr., alcohol 35 gr., glycerin 22 gr.
=Camphor, Nitrate of.= _Syn._ CAMPHOR OIL; O'LEUM CAMPHO'RÆ FACTI''TIUM,
L. Prepared by dissolving camphor in nitric acid, in the cold.
=Camphor, Sul'phite of.= From camphor and sulphurous acid gas, as
hydrochlorate of camphor.
=Camphor, Suma'tra.= _Syn._ BOR'NEO CAMPHOR, HARD C., DRAGON'S BRAIN
PERFUME. Obtained from _Dryobalanops aromatica_, being found in natural
fissures or crevices of the wood. It resembles ordinary camphor in most
properties, but its odour is not of so diffusible a nature. This kind is
not seen in European commerce.
=CAMPHOR CAKES.= See BALLS (Camphor).
=CAMPHOR'IC ACID.= H_{2}C_{10}H_{14}O_{4}. _Syn._ ACIDUM CAMPHOR'ICUM, L.
_Prep._ From camphor, 1 part; and nitric acid (sp. gr. 1·33), 4 parts;
distilled together in a glass retort, with a gradually increasing heat,
until vapours cease to be evolved; the camphor that has volatilised is
then added to that in the retort, along with 4 or 5 parts more of nitric
acid, and the process repeated again and again, until 20 parts of acid
have been consumed, when crude camphoric acid crystallises out of the
remaining liquor on cooling. The crystals are purified by washing with
cold distilled water, solution in boiling water, and evaporating the
solution until a pellicle forms; crystals of pure camphoric acid are
formed as the liquid cools.
_Prop., &c._ Small, colourless, lamellar or acicular crystals; acid;
bitter; fusible at 158° Fahr.; sparingly soluble in water; soluble in
alcohol; alcoholic solution not precipitated by water, which distinguishes
camphoric acid from benzoic acid. Its salts are called CAMPHORATES. The
soluble camphorates may be made by digesting the carbonate or hydrate of
the metal in a hot solution of the acid, and the insoluble camphorates by
double decomposition. By distillation, camphoric acid yields a colourless,
crystalline, neutral substance, which has been improperly called anhydrous
camphoric acid.
=CAM'WOOD.= This dye-stuff resembles Brazil wood in its properties, and is
used in a similar manner.
=CAN'ADA BALSAM.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM CANADEN'SE, TEREBINTH'INA CANADEN'SIS,
L. A thick, viscid oleo-resin obtained from the _Abies balsamea_
(Lindley), a tree of common growth in Canada and the State of Maine. It is
much employed as a medium for mounting microscopic objects. When pure it
is perfectly transparent, has an agreeable odour (not terebinthinate), and
is wholly soluble in rectified oil of turpentine, with which it forms a
beautiful glassy and colourless varnish, much used for preparing a
semi-transparent copying paper.
A mixture of 3 parts of Canada balsam and one of wax, if added to pile
masses, is said to have the effect of binding together the component parts
of the mass, and of keeping the piles made from it soft and in good shape.
=Canada Balsam, Facti''tious.= _Syn._ BALSAMUM CANADENSE FACTI''TIUM, L.
_Prep._ 1. Yellow resin, 3 lbs.; oil of turpentine, 1 gall.; dissolve, and
add essence of lemon, 2 dr.; oil of rosemary, 1-1/4 dr.
2. To the last add of nut oil, 1 pint. Both are sold in the shops for
Canada balsam.
=CAN'DIES.= See CANDYING.
=CAN'DLES.= Candle-making, once a rude and noisome trade, has, since the
researches of Chevreul and Branconnot into the nature of the fats,
developed into one of the most important branches of scientific industry,
the progressive improvements in which, accompanied by a corresponding
cheapening and immensely increased efficiency in one of our chief means of
artificial illumination, have added greatly to the comfort and enjoyment
of every civilised community. Candles are either dipped, moulded, or
rolled. The cheaper sorts of tallow candles are formed by the first
process, and wax candles by the last; all the other kinds are moulded. The
moulds are tubes of pewter, well polished on the inside, eight or more
being fitted into a frame, the upper part of which forms a trough to
receive the melted candle material. When in the moulds the candles are
inverted; in other words, the bottom of each mould corresponds to the top
of the candle. The wick passes through a small hole at the lower extremity
of the tube, and is held in the axis by a little bar placed across the
top. At the factories of Price's Patent Candle Company the frames of
moulds are ranged close together in long benches, and are filled with hot
candle material from cars running along little railways above them. When
quite cold the candles are withdrawn. The plan of pulling them out one by
one with the aid of a bodkin has been superseded at the factories above
mentioned, by the ingenious device of blowing them out with compressed
air.
The wicks of ordinary tallow candles are made of the rovings of Turkey
skein-cotton, 4 or more of which, according to the intended thickness of
the wick, are wound on a reel, from which they are again run off, and cut
into the proper lengths. Of late years the wicks of the best candles have
been made in such a way that they do not require snuffing. This object is
effected by causing the wick to bend over, and its end to fall outside the
flame, where it is exposed to the oxygen of the air. This bending over is
variously brought about.--1. By twisting the wick with one strand shorter
than the rest, which, being slightly stretched during the moulding of the
candle, contracts again and bends the wick when the fat melts. 2. By
plaiting the cotton into a flat wick, which naturally takes the required
curve. Such a wick is generally dipped in a solution of borax, which
preserves it from being acted upon by the flame except at its extreme
point at the edge of the flame. A very fine wire is sometimes included in
the plaited wick. 3. In Palmer's patent two-wicked candles, which were
formerly much used in lamps, the wicks are saturated with subnitrate of
bismuth ground up with oil; they are then twisted tightly round a wire,
which is withdrawn after the candle is moulded. In burning, the ends
gradually untwist and stand out of the flame on either side. Other devices
are said to be employed.
The wicks of candles should be free from knots and inequalities, as well
as from adhering particles of cotton, the presence of all of which are the
cause of the "guttering" one frequently sees in a burning candle. The
finer the thread of which the wick is composed the more complete will be
the combustion of the melted fatty material. Unless the above precautions
are attended to, in selecting the wick, it will not be so entirely
consumed as it ought to be.
=Candles, Com'posite.= Mould candles formed of a mixture of the hard fatty
acid obtained from palm oil and the stearine of cocoa-nut oil. They were
introduced in 1840. Other compositions are occasionally used, such as a
mixture of spermaceti and hard white tallow, to which a little bleached
resin is added.
=Candles, Med'icated.= These have been proposed as a convenient means of
diffusing the active principles of certain volatile substances through the
atmosphere, and for complete and partial fumigations. They are seldom
employed in England.
=Candles, Mercu''rial.= From the red sulphide or the grey oxide of mercury
mixed with wax, and a wick of cotton inserted therein. Recommended by Mr
Colles for partial mercurial fumigation. They are burnt under a glass
funnel with a curved neck, the upper orifice of which is directed to the
diseased part.
=Candles, Par'affin.= From the beautiful translucent substance paraffin
(which _see_). These candles surpass all others in elegance, and are
entirely free from odour and greasiness. The light produced by 98 lbs. of
paraffin candles is equal to that of 120 lbs. of spermaceti, or 138 lbs.
of wax, or 144 lbs. of stearic, or 155 lbs. of the best composite candles
(Letheby). They are sometimes delicately tinted with red, mauve, violet,
crimson, and rose colour. Aniline colours will not dissolve in paraffin.
Stearic acid, however, is a solvent for them, and accordingly when the
candles are tinted with the coal-tar colours these are previously
dissolved in the stearic acid, always mixed with the paraffin. This
insolubility of the aniline colours in paraffin has been suggested as a
test for the purity of this hydrocarbon, and of its freedom from stearic
or other fatty acids. For colouring paraffin candles black the paraffin is
heated nearly to the boiling point with anacardium shells or nuts, which
dissolve readily in the heated paraffin. The Belmontine Candles of Price's
Patent Candle Company are formed of the paraffin of Rangoon tar.
Previous to the paraffin being made into candles, it is necessary that it
should be purified and bleached. Many processes for effecting these ends
have been devised. In the works of Price's Candle Company the method known
as "Hodge's" is had recourse to. This consists in first freeing the crude
paraffin from the coarser impurities, melting it, casting it into cakes,
and allowing it to cool sufficiently slowly, so as to form well-defined
crystals. The cakes are then placed upon a bed of some porous and
absorbent material, and subjected to a temperature not sufficient to melt
the paraffin, but only the liquid hydrocarbons and other more easily fused
bodies, the latter running off from between the crystals of the paraffin,
and being absorbed by the porous substance upon which the paraffin rests.
This process is repeated until the removal of the liquid hydrocarbons from
the solid paraffin has been satisfactorily accomplished. If it be
requisite to subject the paraffin to further purification, the following
method is frequently adopted. The paraffin, previously melted by steam, is
placed in a tank, with from 5 to 10 per cent. of strong sulphuric acid,
and the mixture agitated for some hours by means of air (the time
depending on the quality of the paraffin), the sulphurous acid fumes
resulting from the reaction being carried off by a suitable contrivance.
After the agitation is completed, the paraffin, after being allowed to
stand for some time, is decanted into a suitable vessel containing animal
charcoal, with which it is digested for some hours. Upon the subsidence of
the charcoal the paraffin is drawn off if at all turbid, and is passed
through a funnel heated by means of a steam jacket.
Another method, the invention of Messrs Fordred, Lambe, & Sterry, for the
decolorisation of the paraffin employed in candle manufacture, consists in
digesting the paraffin at a temperature of 230° F. with about 12% of
powdered fuller's earth. Of late this process has supplanted the charcoal
one; and it may be employed, no matter by what means the previous
purification of the paraffin has been carried out. The paraffin and
fuller's earth are to be well agitated together, and when the latter has
fallen down the clear paraffin is decanted from it. The inventors affirm
that their process answers quite as well if marl clay, or any other
similarly constituted and equally abundant natural substance be
substituted for fuller's earth; and that no matter which of these bodies
is employed, they may be re-used, and any adhering paraffin be removed by
washing with agitation, or by other suitable contrivances.
Messrs Smith & Field's patent for the removal of the colouring matters of
the paraffin consists in the employment of silicite of magnesium. The
patentees state that the successful issue of the operation depends not
only upon the careful preparation of the salt used, but upon its being
dried at a temperature of as exactly as possible 212° F. The careful
preparation before insisted on of the magnesium salt, which is procured by
the double decomposition of magnesium, sulphate, and sodium silicate,
includes its thorough washing from adhering sodium sulphate previous to
its desiccation. If this precaution be neglected, the porosity of the
silicate will be impaired, and its bleaching effect more or less
interfered with; and further, the patentees state that if the washed
silicate be heated to redness, its decolourising power will also be lost.
It appears that the paraffin employed in making the candles consists of a
mixture of paraffins having different melting points. The following are
the melting points of some of the chief varieties of paraffin:--
Paraffin from Boghead coal at 45° to 52° C.
" " Brown coal " 56° C.
" " Peat " 46·7° C.
" " Rangoon oil or tar 61° C.
" " Ozokerit 65·5° C.
Paraffin candles contain from 5{?} to 15 per cent. of stearin, this
addition being made for the purpose of diluting the paraffin as well as
for raising the melting point of the paraffin where this is low. The
stearin, moreover, serves to preserve the rigidity of the candle in the
candlestick, and to prevent its bending out of the upright position.
Paraffin candles are always moulded, but previous to this being done the
moulds must be heated to a temperature above the melting point of the
paraffin; this may vary from 60°, 70°, and 87° C., according to the
paraffin employed. The moulds having been filled with the melted paraffin
are, after one or two moments only, plunged into cold water, when the
candle immediately becomes solid. Unless this were done the candle would
be spoilt, owing to the crystallisation of the paraffin. A thin wick is
required for paraffin candles.
=Candles, Spermace'ti.= From spermaceti (which _see_). These are very
delicate in appearance, but rather expensive. They burn well, but as the
melting point of spermaceti is low, 120° Fahr., they will not bear
carrying about in the hand without guttering. They are generally
adulterated with stearic acid or hard white tallow.
In candle-making "spermaceti is usually mixed with 3 per cent. of wax or
paraffin to destroy its highly crystalline structure; it is moulded in the
usual way with plaited wicks that require no snuffing. Occasionally the
spermaceti candles are cast without any admixture of wax, the moulds being
raised to a higher temperature just as with stearic acid. Some
manufacturers, in order to make the spermaceti appear like wax, use
gamboge to give the desired tint; such candles are known as transparent
wax."[236] Spermaceti candles are largely consumed in India.
[Footnote 236: 'Chemistry, Theoretical, Practical, and Analytical.']
=Candles, Stear'ic.= Under this head we may place the various sorts of
candles moulded from the hard fatty acids of both animal and vegetable
origin. The principal sources whence British manufacturers derive their
acids are tallow, palm oil, and cocoa-nut oil. The processes employed for
separating them are generally described under Stearic Acid. Candles formed
of the fatty acids can now be prepared so as to imitate and almost rival
those of wax and spermaceti; and they are quite as cheap as the nearly
obsolete mould candles formed of common tallow. They are extremely hard;
they do not grease the hands, and they burn away brightly and steadily,
without giving off any offensive odour. Uncoloured, they are snowy white,
but a yellow tint is frequently given them by gamboge.
=Candles, Tal'low.= From ordinary tallow or from tallow which has been
freed from much of its oleic acid by pressure. These have so unpleasant an
odour and are so apt to gutter, that they will probably ultimately
disappear from use. They are, however, sold at so low a price, that among
the lower classes they must long retain their hold. For dip candles the
wicks are immersed in melted tallow, and after rubbing with the hands are
placed straight and allowed to harden, after which they are arranged upon
the "broaches" ready for dipping. For mould candles the last operation is
omitted. Great care is taken to select a cotton that yields the least
possible quantity of ash after burning.
In the process of "dipping," the "dipping cistern" being filled with
tallow of a proper temperature from the boiler, one of the broaches
covered with wicks is placed upon the end of the "dipping beam," and
pressed down gently into the melted fat; it is then withdrawn, the bottoms
of the candles just touched against a board placed on one side of the
cistern for the purpose, and the frame removed to the rack. This operation
is repeated until the candles acquire a sufficient size, when they are
finally cooled, sorted, weighed, and strung in pounds for sale.
The mould candles once in common use were made of the finer kinds of
tallow only; a mixture of 3 parts of sheep, with 1 part of ox suet, being
preferred. See WAX.
=Candles, Wax.= These are most frequently made by pouring melted white wax
on to the wicks, which are hung upon frames and covered with metal tags at
the ends to protect the cotton from the wax in those parts. The frames are
made to turn round, and melted white wax is poured first down one wick,
and then the next, and so on. When the wicks have been subjected to this
operation once and have become sufficiently cooled, they have a second,
and then a third coat given them, until they are of the required
thickness. The candles are next rolled into proper shape on a marble slab
or wooden board. The conical top is moulded by properly-shaped tubes, and
the bottoms are cut off and trimmed. Wax candles are now seldom moulded,
but if so the same processes are followed as for stearic and paraffin
candles. The large altar candles, which frequently weigh from thirty to
forty pounds, are made by hand.
=Wax Tapers.= These, which are of various degrees of thickness, are not
made of pure wax, but of wax (usually vegetable wax) and tallow, the
latter being added to give them flexibility. When they are required to be
coloured, resin and turpentine are added to the tallow. For further
particulars, consult Wagner's 'Chemical Technology,' "CANDLE-MAKING."
=CANDLE NUTS.= The kernels of the _alearites triloba_, the candleberry
tree, a plant growing in most tropical countries. The nuts when dried, and
stuck upon a reed, are used by the natives of the Polynesian Islands as a
substitute for candles. They contain a large amount of pure palatable oil,
which is sometimes used by artists as a drying oil. After the expression
of this oil the cake has been used as a food for cattle; also as a manure.