COAL;
AND WHAT WE GET FROM IT.
THE ROMANCE OF SCIENCE.
COAL
AND WHAT WE GET FROM IT.
A Romance of Applied Science.
EXPANDED FROM THE NOTES OF A LECTURE
DELIVERED IN THE THEATRE OF THE
LONDON INSTITUTION, Jan. 20th, 1890.
BY
RAPHAEL MELDOLA, F.R.S., F.I.C., &C.,
PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE FINSBURY TECHNICAL COLLEGE,
CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE
OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.
LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.;
43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.
BRIGHTON: 135, NORTH STREET. NEW YORK: E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO.
1891.
TO
WILLIAM HENRY PERKIN,
Ph.D., F.R.S.,
THE FOUNDER OF THE COAL-TAR COLOUR INDUSTRY,
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
This is neither a technical manual, nor a treatise dealing with thehistory of a particular branch of applied science, but it partakessomewhat of the character of both. It is an attempt—perhaps somewhatbold—to present in a popular form an account of the great industry whichhas arisen out of the waste from the gas-works. In the strictest sense itis a romance of dirt. To render intelligible the various stages in theevolution of the industry, without assuming any knowledge of chemicalscience on the part of the general reader, has by no means been an easytask, and I have great misgivings as to the success of my effort. Butthere is so much misapprehension concerning the history and the mode ofproduction of colouring-matters from coal-tar, that any attempt to stripthe industry of its mystery in this, the land of its birth, cannot butfind justification. Although the theme is a[Pg vi] favourite one with popularlecturers, it is generally treated in a superficial way, leaving theaudience only in possession of the bare fact that dyestuffs, &c., have bysome means or other been obtained from coal-tar. I have endeavoured to gosomewhat beyond this, and to give some notion of the scientific principlesunderlying the subject. If the reader can follow these pages, in which nota chemical formula appears, with the same interest and with the samedesire to know more about the subject that was manifested by the audienceat the London Institution, before whom the lecture was delivered, myobject will have been accomplished. To the Board of Managers of thatInstitution my thanks are due for the opportunity which they have affordedme of attempting to extend that popular knowledge of applied science forwhich there is such a healthy craving in the public mind at the presenttime.
R. M.
6 Brunswick Square, W.C.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. |