Chemical Industries and Resources 

 having one free acid valance, and at one time a 

 small quantity was used for producing muriatic 

 acid by a very simple process of roasting this cake 

 with the proper amount of common salt. The small 

 oil refineries throw away the spent sulphuric acid. 

 One large refinery is operating a recovery. Owing 

 to the large amount of carbonaceous matter retained 

 by the spent acid the yields are very poor unless 

 the recovery is run in conjunction with a separate 

 contact system unit. The carbon reduces the sul- 

 phuric acid to sulphurous acid gas and the recoverj' 

 of an oil refinery must also comply with the acid 

 fume regulations. The sulphuric acid industry has 

 been developed to a high degree on this coast and 

 presents but few unsolved problems. An economic 

 use of the nitre cake should be sought. 



Petroleum Refining. — There is one very large 

 plant and a number of smaller ones engaged in the 

 production of the various grades of gasoline, kero- 

 sene, lubricating oils and parafiine and in the com- 

 pounding of greases. The process of distillation 

 is not as a rule carried on until the "cracking" of 

 the oil, which then yields unsaturated compounds, 

 and these are not desirable. By proper regulation 

 of the distillation, the residuum may be made to 

 yield several grades of an excellent asphaltum and 

 a large trade has been worked up for this product. 

 It is used in a number of roofing compounds, forms 

 the basis of roofing paints and the better grades 

 make printers' ink. It is brought on the market 

 under various names, maltha being the first name 

 by which it was known. Maltha has excellent acid 

 and alkali resisting qualities. The California petro- 

 leums belong to the marsh gas or paraffine series; 

 but it is interesting to note that from some localities 

 petroleums have been obtained in which were 

 found members of the benzol or aromatic series. 

 Some of these members have been separated and 

 characterized, the whole investigation being carried 

 on solely as of scientific interest. 



High Explosives. — There are, in this State, three 

 plants manufacturing high explosives, two black 

 powder mills, one cap or detonator factory and one 

 fuse factory; these supply not only the demands 

 of the Pacific states, but also some of the contigu- 

 ous territory. These diff'erent works manufacture 

 nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose both as collodion and 

 gun cotton, nitrostarch, nitroglycol, nitromannite 

 and at times fulminate of mercury. The Bureau 

 of Mines, which is gradually regulating the ex- 

 plosives employed in coal mines, has created a 

 Permissible List of explosives, and it is the en- 



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