INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS FOR THE YEAR 1871. xxiii 



now done away with by a reconstruction of the chimney- 

 stacks, by modifications in the form of the furnace, and by 

 the use of the slags for many purposes. There have been 

 few instances of progress of more importance than the man- 

 agement of cinders and slags as now conducted in Europe. 

 What was formerly thrown away is now sold at a profit, and 

 a corresponding deduction in the cost of metals has been ef- 

 fected. 



In the United States the manufacture of cryolite glass bids 

 fair to become of considerable importance. The material 

 made from cryolite is found to possess many advantages over 

 porcelain, especially for the use of the photographer, and the 

 demand for articles made according to the new process is 

 said to be greater than the supply. The use of albumen as 

 a substitute for blood in the refining of sugar is an improve- 

 ment worthy of note, and has occasioned an increased de- 

 mand for the raw material. Albumen is now extensively 

 made from blood, fish-roe and wild birds' eggs, and in Al- 

 satia hens' eggs are in great demand. The sugar refiner, the 

 photographer, and the aniline dyer consume unprecedented 

 quantities of albumen at the present time. 



Nitro-glycerine has been modified in its physical form by 

 the introduction of the explosives called dynamite and dual- 

 in, which are less dangerous in their transportation, while be- 

 ing quite as effective in execution. The manufacture of ox- 

 ygen on a commercial scale can hardly be pronounced a suc- 

 cess, even at this late day. The three leading methods now 

 employed use the atmosphere as the source of supply, and 

 employ manganese and soda, or chloride of copper, or water, 

 as the agents by which the oxygen is detained and subse- 

 quently collected for use. The direct manufacture of chlo- 

 rine from hydrochloric acid, as accomplished in England, is a 

 step in advance of rare value. It will reduce the cost of 

 bleaching powders, and, as a consequence, give us our cloth- 

 ing, our paper, and our books at a much lower rate, and is 

 consequently very properly regarded as one of the most im- 

 portant technical improvements of the year. 



The interests of humanity have been promoted by the in- 

 troduction of condensed food, and new articles of diet, the in- 

 vention of which was a growth of the late disastrous war in 

 France. There has not been sufficient time for all of the im- 



