Page images
PDF
EPUB

BLASTING-BLAUBOK

[blocks in formation]

It is impossible to give the total number of blast furnaces in the United States, for the reason that the number of those used for producing copper, silver, etc., are not collated, but lists of the furnaces employed in reducing iron ores are carefully reported by the American Iron and Steel Association. There were, in 1901, in the United States, a total of 411 blast furnaces, whose aggregate reported capacity amounted to 19,000,000 long tons of pig iron, but as all of these furnaces are not active at one time, it is more equitable to consider the practical production as between that reported and the greatest annual output, which, in 1901, amounted to 16,132,408 long tons. See STEEL MANUFACTURE.

Blasting, the technical term for splitting and breaking up any object by means of gunpowder or some of the other powerful explosives now in use. The operation, which is of extensive use in quarrying, mining, and other branches of engineering, is often performed by boring a hole in the substance to be exploded, by means of an iron rod, called a jumper, filling it with gunpowder, and igniting this by means of a match, burning so slowly as to allow the parties employed to remove to a sufficient distance before the explosion takes place. At one time it was supposed that the force of the explosion depended on the firm packing of the gunpowder in the hole by means of small chips of stone, sand, etc. It has since been ascertained that loose sand is as effectual as firm packing, which in consequence has been generally laid aside. One of the most important modern improvements in blasting is the firing of the charge by electricity. This mode is more especially applicable to submarine blasting, and was first practised for that purpose by Gen. Pasley, in 1839. The only thing necessary is to make an interruption in the conducting wire at the point where the explosion is to take place. In passing the electric current, a spark produced at the interruption fires the charge. The effect being instantaneous the operator can fire any number of charges simultaneously. Gun-cotton is often employed in blasting, and nitro-glycerine has also been found to be a very powerful agent in such operations, but its use requires the utmost caution, as it is very liable to explode unexpectedly with most disastrous results. The same objection does not apply to dynamite, which is quite as effective and perfectly harmless when properly handled.

[ocr errors]

One of the greatest blasting operations ever attempted was the removal of the reefs in the East River, near New York, known as Hell Gate. An entrance shaft was sunk on the Long Island shore, from which the reef projected. From this shaft nearly 20 tunnels were bored in all directions, extending from 200 to 240 feet, and connected by lateral galleries. Upward of 52,000 pounds of dynamite, rend rock, and powder were used, and millions of tons of rock were dislodged. Numerous important improvements have been made in blasting by the substitution of rock boring machines for hand labor. Of such machines, in which the jumper or drill is repeatedly driven against the rock by compressed air or steam, being also made to rotate slightly at each blow, there are many varieties. See also EXPLOSIVES.

Blastomeryx. See MERYCODUS.

Blatchford, Samuel, jurist: b. New York, 9 March, 1820; d. Newport, R. I., 7 July 1893. He graduated at Columbia, 1837; became secretary to Gov. W. H. Seward of New York, and practised law at Auburn, N. Y., as a member of the governor's firm, 1845-54. In 1854 he settled in New York as head of the firm of Blatchford, Seward, & Griswold. Though he attained success in general practice, it was his application to admiralty law that gave him his widest repute. On 3 May 1867 he was appointed judge of the United States district court for the Southern district of New York; in March 1878, judge of the United States circuit for the second circuit; and in March 1882 he became an associate justice of the United States supreme court. Here he continued to give close attention to admiralty cases, and also rendered important decisions on bankruptcy, copyright, patent, and libel causes. Publications: 'Reports of Cases in Prize in the Circuit and District Courts for the Southern District of New York 1861-5) (1866); Reports of Cases in the Circuit Court of the United States, Volumes 4-6' (1867-9); 'Circuit Court Reports for the Second Circuit, 1847-75) (12 vols. octavo); 'Reports of the Circuit Courts of the United States, Second Circuit, Volumes 13-20 (N. Y. 187783, 8 vols.); with F. Howland and E. R. Olcott, "United States District Court Reports (Admiralty Cases Decided by Judge Betts) for the Southern District of New York, 1827-47' (N. Y., 2 vols. octavo).

Blatchley, Willis Stanley, naturalist: b. Madison, Conn., 6 Oct. 1859. He graduated at Indiana State University 1887, and was successively an assistant on the Arkansas Geological Survey 1889-90, a member of Scoville's scientific expedition to Mexico 1891, and assistant on the United States Fish Commission in 1893. In 1894 he was elected State geologist of Indiana, and re-elected 1898. Besides his annual reports his scientific writings include: Gleanings from Nature (1899); Locustidæ and Blattide of Indiana (1892); Some Indiana Acridida' (1891-8); and Descriptions of New Species of Orthoptera.'

Blat'tidæ. See COCKROACH.

Blaubok, blow'bok, a large antelope of South Africa (Hippotragus niger). It is of a

BLAUVELT - BLEACHING

bluish hue, and has long, stout horns which sweep back from its forehead like those of its relatives, the isabel and equine antelopes. It formerly occurred in large herds, but had a limited habitat, and is now probably extinct.

Blauvelt, blow'vělt, Mme. Lillian Evans (MRS. WM. F. PENDLETON), prima donna: b. Brooklyn, N. Y., about 1870, of Welsh and Dutch ancestry. When eight years old she made her début as a violinist. She studied (voice) with M. Jacque Bouhy, of Paris, for three years. Her début in opera was made at the Theatre de la Mormari, Brussels, and she has taken the principal roles in 'Faust, Romeo and Juliet, Myna,' etc. Of late her work has been chiefly in concert and oratorio. Besides Great Britain, Canada, and the United States, she has sung in Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, and Switzerland.

Blavatsky, bla-väts'ke, Helene Petrovna, Russian theosophist: b. Yekaterinoslay, Russia, 1831; d. London, 8 May 1891. She traveled in all parts of the world and succeeded in entering Tibet. In 1873 she came to the United States, founded the Theosophical Society in New York, and aided in establishing The Theosophist.

She studied the East Indian esoteric doctrines

and Buddhist philosophy, and by her writings contributed to make this philosophy popular. She wrote 'Isis Unveiled'; The Secret Doctrine'; 'Key to Theosophy.' See THEOSOPHY.

Blazing Star. Various hardy perennial plants. See LIATRIS.

Blazonry, the art of describing a coat of arms in such a way that an accurate drawing may be made from the verbal statements given. To do this a knowledge of the points of the shield is particularly necessary. Mention should be made of the tincture or tinctures of the field; of the charges which are laid immediately upon it, with their forms and tinctures; which is the principal ordinary, or, if there is none, then which covers the fess point; the charges on each side of the principal one; the charges on the central one, the bordure-with its charges; the canton and chief, with all charges on them; and, finally, the differences or marks of the cadency and the baronet's badge.

Bleaching (Fr. blanchiment, "whitening"), the process of removing the coloring matters from fabrics of cotton, linen, wool, silk, etc., or from the raw materials, and also from straw, wax, and other substances, and leaving them perfectly white. Steeping cloths in lyes extracted from the ashes of plants, appears to have been practised by the ancient Egyptians for this purpose. In modern times the Dutch have almost monopolized the business, at least till within about 100 years. Previous to this time the brown linens manufactured in Scotland were regularly sent to Holland to be bleached. A whole summer was required for the operation; but if the cloths were sent in the fall of the year, they were not returned for 12 months. It was this practice which caused the name of Hollands to be given to these linens. The Scotch introduced the business of bleaching for themselves about the year 1749; but it was long believed that the peculiar properties of the water about the bleaching grounds of Haarlem gave to this neighborhood advantages which no other region could possess. The use of chlorine as a bleaching agent was first proposed by Ber

thollet in 1785, and shortly afterward introduced into Great Britain, where it was first used simply dissolved in water, afterward dissolved in alkali, and then in the form of bleaching powder, commonly called chloride of lime, the manufacture of which was suggested by Mr. Tennant, of St. Rollox, Glasgow, in 1798. At first he passed the chlorine into milk of lime, and thus obtained the solution known as bleach liquor. In 1799 he took out a patent for absorbing chlorine by dry lime, and thus obtained bleaching powder. Bleaching powder has little bleaching action till the chlorine is liberated by the action of an acid. The best bleaching powder contains about 36 per cent of available chlorine; that is, chlorine which is liberated by acid.

In Silesia and Bohemia, where the chlorine process is not adopted, the linens are exposed to a fermenting process, then washed, and steeped in alkaline liquors, with alternate exposures upon grass, which processes are repeated a great number of times for 60 to 70 days; but to render them properly white, they with sulphuric acid, then treated again with are afterward passed through a bath acidulated the potash lye several times and alternately excleansed by washing in a revolving cylinder posed on the grass, and finally thoroughly called a dash-wheel. This machine is also employed in the English and Scotch processes for washing the goods without subjecting them to unnecessary wear. The frequent repetition of the different processes is rendered necessary by the complete diffusion of the coloring matters through the flax fibres, and their close union with them; each operation decomposing and removing in succession small portions only.

In the bleaching of cotton cloth, the pieces, after being singed, by passing them over a redhot plate or a semi-cylinder of iron or copper, are steeped in lukewarm water or old lyes, till they are completely soaked, which loosens any paste or filth got during weaving; they are then well washed through the dash-wheel, and put through the hydro-extractor or drying machine. If the cotton is in the hank, this process of steeping and washing is not required.

The mechanical operations of the bleaching house vary considerably, according to the quality of the goods and the facility for mechanical appliances. In the chemical operations of whitening the cloth there is little variation, further than that heavy fabrics require longer time and more frequent repetition of the processes. The first operation, after steeping and washing, is boiling. The boiling liquor is made by adding a quantity of water to slaked lime, and when the grosser particles of lime have settled to the bottom of the vessel, the milky liquor is put into the boiler, or, it may be, filtered through a cloth. Some bleachers use with the lime a little carbonate of soda; the quantity of lime varies from four pounds to eight pounds for every 100 pounds of cotton, and from one pound to two pounds of soda ash, where this is used. The boilers used for boiling the goods are called kiers, and many kinds are used, the boiling liquid being made to shower over the goods and percolate down through them. This is effected by having a false bottom or frame fitted inside the boiler at about one third of its depth from the bottom, upon which the goods are laid. The space between the false bottom

BLEACHING

and real bottom of the boiler is filled with the liquor or lye, connected with which is a pipe leading to the top of the boiler. When the heat is applied, either by steam or fire, and the liquor begins to boil, it is forced up through this pipe, which is made to shower its contents over the surface of the goods. This boiling is continued, according to the quality of the goods, from 6 to 12 hours. The goods are now removed from the boiler and washed in water; they are then passed through dilute hydrochloric acid, again washed, and boiled for 12 hours with dilute caustic soda, after which they are passed into a solution of bleaching powder contained in a large stone or wooden trough or cistern, where they are left for from two to four hours. The bleaching solution is prepared by first dissolving a quantity of bleaching powder in water in a large cask and allowing the whole to settle; a quantity of the clear liquor is then drawn from the cask and put into the large bleaching cisterns, which have been previously nearly filled with water. To ascertain the necessary quantity of this strong bleaching liquor to be added to the troughs or cisterns, a certain measure of sulphate of indigo is taken in a graduated vessel, termed a test glass, and then, according to the number of graduated measures of the bleaching solution required to decolor the sulphate of indigo, the strength of the bleaching liquor is regulated. These test glasses and sulphate of indigo are carefully prepared for the purpose. Instead of dash wheels, a more improved method of cleaning and washing is adopted by some bleachers previous to boiling the goods. They are all sewed together, end to end, making one line of the whole. This line of pieces is drawn along by machinery between rollers and squeezers, with a plentiful supply of water, and having been thus thoroughly washed and cleaned, is at last laid out by a mechanical contrivance into the bleaching trough. The goods are allowed to steep in the bleaching liquor from two to four hours; they are then lifted and washed, either by the dash wheel or rollers, as before, and are then laid in a sour, made by adding about one pint of hydrochloric or sulphuric acid to every four gallons of water. After steeping in the sour for four hours, the goods are again washed, as before, and are subjected to another boiling for eight hours; but this time the lye is caustic soda or potash, generally the former, made caustic by boiling together a quantity of soda ash and slaked lime, and allowing the sediment to settle, and using only the clear solution. About eight pounds of soda ash suffice for 100 pounds of goods. After the boiling the goods are again washed and steeped in the bleaching liquor for eight hours, and again washed and soured—the sour in this case being always made with sulphuric acid. Light fabrics require no further treatment; but heavy fabrics need a clearing process, which is a repetition of the last course, the liquors being generally, however, a little weaker, and the processes shorter. Cotton, in the hank, undergoes the same operation, except in the washings, which are performed by hand, not with the wheel. The goods being bleached and dried by the extractor, are now prepared for the operations of finishing. For this purpose they are stretched by women to their breadth, and the folds, as much as possible, taken out by beating them; then they are stitched together by the

ends with a sailor's needle, and being thus prepared for the mangle the cloth is now starched, common wheat flour and a portion of porcelain clay being employed. It is then subjected to to the action of the stiffening machine, and having been thus impregnated with starch, the superfluous portion of which is pressed out as it passes through the rollers above, the goods are then hung upon rails in an apartment, called the stove, heated by two furnaces from which flues are led through the room. The heat thus generated is sometimes so great that the workmen, in hanging up the cloth, are obliged to throw off most of their clothes. When the goods are dried thoroughly, they are taken from the stove and carried to the damping machine, where they are subjected to the action of a shower of water. When the cloth comes from the damping machine, it may be seen covered with wet spots, the greater portion, however, being dry, but after remaining some time it becomes uniformly damp. The goods are now passed through the calender; they are then regularly folded and put into a Bramah press, with a sheet of pasteboard between each, and, being sufficiently pressed, they are then finished for the market. The process has been greatly shortened by the introduction of the Mather-Thompson process (1884). In this process an important feature is the use of the steamer kier, in which the goods are submitted to the action of low-pressure steam. The material is passed through soda lye, squeezed, and washed; then through boiling caustic soda, squeezed, and run into a steamer kier, where it is boiled for four hours under a pressure of four pounds, washed with hot water, and then passed continuously through a series of vats containing water, bleaching powder solution, carbonic acid gas, water, alkaline solution, water, bleaching powder, carbonic acid gas, water, hydrochloric acid.

The bleaching of linen is conducted after a similar manner to that of cotton; but there is much more coloring matter in the former than in the latter, and it is therefore found necessary in the bleaching of linen to repeat the boiling in lye and the steeping in chloride of lime three or four times. An electrolytic method of bleaching (the Hermite process) has recently been introduced. The chlorine for bleaching is liberated by the action of an electric current on Wool and silk cannot be bleached with chlorine, solutions of calcium or magnesium chloride. so sulphur dioxid, usually prepared by burning sulphur, is used instead. In the case of wool, the material is well washed with water and

scoured with alkaline solutions to remove fatty matters. It is then exposed, while still wet, to action of sulphur dioxid in a brick the chamber for six or eight hours,- or it may be soaked for several hours in a solution of sulphurous acid,- after which it is well washed. Silk is treated with dilute acid, then worked in a soap bath for about 20 minutes to remove the gummy matter present, after which it is rinsed, tied up in bags of cotton, and boiled for from one to three hours in water, and rinsed in dilute alkali and finally in water. The bleaching is effected by stoving in sulphur dioxid, exactly as in the case of wool. In place of sulphur dioxid, hydrogen peroxid is coming into use for both wool and silk bleaching.

BLEACHING POWDER-BLEEDING

Bleaching Powder, a compound of lime, chlorine, and oxygen, greatly used for bleaching purposes, and as a disinfectant. It is commonly known also as "chloride of lime," a name somewhat unfortunately chosen, since it appears to imply that the substance is simple chloride of the element calcium, which is far from being the case. Its precise chemical nature has never been satisfactorily demonstrated, but it is believed to consist essentially of a mixture of calcium chloride and calcium hypochlorite. In preparing bleaching powder on a commercial scale, slaked lime is spread out, in a thin layer, on the floor of a chamber constructed of stone, or lined with lead. Chlorine gas is then admitted to the chamber, and allowed to act upon the lime until the latter has absorbed considerable of it, and has been superficially transformed into the substance desired. The lime on the floor is then thoroughly raked over, so as to expose a fresh surface to the chlorine, and the process is continued until samples of the powder, withdrawn for the purpose of analysis, are found to contain about 37 per cent of available chlorine. The lime used in the process should be as free from magnesia as possible, as otherwise more or less of the chlorine is wasted by the formation of undesirable compounds of chlorine and magnesium. The chlorine used in the manufacture of bleaching powder has been largely produced, in the past by heating manganese dioxid with the hydrochloric acid obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of soda from common salt. The tendency in recent times, however, has been toward the more direct manufacture of soda by the electrolysis of a solution of salt in water. Free chlorine gas is given off at the anode during this electrolytic process, and this is now largely utilized for the manufacture of bleaching powder; bleaching powder and soda being both produced in the same factory. Large works embodying this idea are in operation at Niagara Falls, and most of the soda and bleaching powders manufactured in the United States now come from that place. Bleaching powder is white, or nearly so, and has a strong smell of chlorine. Its disinfecting properties are supposed to be due to the slow liberation of that gas, which is a powerful germicide.

Bleak, or Blick (Leuciscus alburnus), a small river fish, six or seven inches long, of the carp family. It somewhat resembles the dace, Its back is greenish, otherwise it is of a silvery color, and its silvery scales are used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. It is a good

food fish.

Bleak House, a novel by Charles Dickens (1853). Its secondary theme is the monstrous injustice and even ruin often wrought by delays in the old Court of Chancery, which defeated all the purposes of a court of justice.

Blechen, Karl Eduard, kärl ěd'oo-ard bhěн'en, German landscape artist: b. Kottbus, 1798; d. 1840. After studying art in Italy for some years he settled in Berlin in 1830 and became professor at the Academy of Fine Arts there in 1835. The first representative of the Berlin landscape school, he painted (Villa Este'; Villa Borghese'; 'View Near Nami'; 'View of Naples'; 'View at Tivoli'; etc.

Bled'soe, Albert Taylor, American clergyman and writer: b. Frankfort, Ky., 9 Nov. 1809; d. Alexandria, Va., 1 Dec. 1877. He was assistant secretary of war of the Southern Confederacy, and successively an Episcopal and a Methodist minister. He was also professor of mathematics at Kenyon College and at Miami University, 1833-6. Besides editing the 'Southern Review' and contributing frequently to leading literary, scientific, and theological periodicals, he wrote Examination of Edwards on the Will' (1845); Theodicy) (new ed. 1853); Philosophy of Mathematics) (1868); etc.

Bleecker, Ann Eliza, American poet, daughter of Brandt Schuyler: b. New York, Oct. 1752; d. Tomhanick, near Albany, N. Y., 23 Nov. 1783. She married, in 1769, John J. Bleecker, and moved to Tomhanick, whence she was driven by the news of the approach of Burgoyne's army. Her husband had already left to provide means of escape, when she was obliged to fly on foot, in the midst of her family, and of a crowd of other helpless persons, for refuge from the advancing savages. After enduring great horrors and distresses, they made their escape to Albany, and thence by water to Red Hook, where they remained until the surrender of Burgoyne enabled them to return to their home. Her poems were written as suggested by occasions, without a view to publication. She possessed a sportive fancy, with much tenderness of feeling, but the sad experiences of her life produced upon her such an effect, that she destroyed "all the pieces that were not as melancholy as herself." Her poems are to be found in the earlier numbers of the 'New York Magazine,' and a collection of her stories and "poetics" in a volume published in 1793, by her daughter Margaretta.

Bleeding, the escape of blood from the arteries or veins. Bleeding may be external, and thus readily seen and prevented by proper surgical measures, or it may take place internally, into one of the large body cavities, and is then a serious matter. The amount of blood that is in the human body varies from one tenth to one twelfth of the weight of the individual, and of this from 40 to 60 per cent may be lost without resulting in death from the direct effects of bleeding. Death may result in some individuals from the loss of much smaller quantities, but most persons can lose two fifths of their blood Bleeding varies widely in its and not die. and again bleeding may be very rapid when rapidity. Some wounds ooze, others well-up, a large vessel has been cut.

Bleeding from a vein or an artery may be recognized by the dark color and regular flow from the former, and the brighter red and spurting or throbbing flow from the latter. If bleeding is taking place while pressure is being applied to a cut these differences may not be so pronounced. In emergencies bleeding from an artery may be stopped by direct and hard pressure of the carefully cleaned finger immediately over the source of the issuing jet of blood. This pressure must be hard and continued. will permit time to find the chief artery that is supplying the bleeding vessel, and as soon as this is found pressure upon it will further aid in suppressing the flow. Thus the brachial artery can be found on the inside of the arm by feeling on the patient's well side, and firm pres

This

« PreviousContinue »