750 



PARAFFIN 



PARAGUAY 



gallons of <-ni.il- nil i XT ton, and over 60 gallons of 

 niiunonia water. Tlii> water, now -u.-h a valuable 

 product to tin- nil manufacturer, was allowed for 

 yean to go to waste ; Imt in 1864 was for the first 

 tim.- utilised liy Mr Bell, who recovered ammonia 

 from it in the form of sulphate. 



The operations of the oil-refinery are : ( 1 ) dis- 

 tillation, (2) treatment with cl 1Mb, (3) cooling 



and pressing the heavy oil contninin;,' paraffin so as 

 to separate the solid hydrocarbons from the liquid. 

 The oils are distilled several times and are frac- 

 tionated into the various qualities required ; and 

 lietween each distillation the oil is treat.-.! witli oil 

 of vitriol and with caustic soda. After the finishing 

 treatment with acid anil soda some of the soda o. mi 

 iHiunds are retained in solution by the oil; these 

 have to be carefully removed by washing with 

 water. The absence of acid and alkaline com- 

 pounds, and thorough fractionation of the oil, are 

 the great secrets in the refining of burning oils; 

 and at some of the works in Scotland the best 

 burning oils that can lie obtained are now pro- 

 duced, and the safety of the Scotch oils can 

 be relied upon. In lubricating oils the essential 

 features are high viscosity, high flash-point, and 

 low setting-point. The first two depend on proper 

 fractionation ; and the third is secured by careful 

 refrigeration, so that the lowest forms of solid 

 paraffin may be crystallised and separated from 

 the oil. 



The crude paraffin scale or wax is refined either 

 by chemicals, by sweating, or by treatment with 

 naphtha. The chemical treatment is seldom used, 

 the greater portion Ix-ing purified under the sweat- 

 ing process, which is simple and effective. The 

 temperature of the sweating clmmlier is raised 

 from 2* to 3 above the setting-point of the paraffin 

 required ; the oil then drains oil. carrying most of 

 the other impurities with it. Hut the best qualities 

 of refined paraffin require a treatment or two 

 with shale naphtha. The paraffin is melted, and 

 about 30 per cent, of spirit run in, and after careful 

 stirring together the mixture is allowed to cool 

 down ; it is then pressed, when the naphtha runs 

 out, taking the colouring matter with it. This 

 pre-ned paraffin is again melted and steam blown 

 through it. which carries off the remainder of the 

 naphtha, and finally the melted paraffin is stirred 

 with animal charcoal, settled, and then filtered 

 through cloth ami lilter-pa|ier, and nin into pans to 

 solidify into cakes of c..n\ iii.-ni -i/.>. 



I'ariiuua, Philippine Islands. See PALAWAN. 



Parajftiay. an important river of South Amer- 

 ica, an affluent of the Parana (q.v.), rises in the 

 Brazilian state of Mat to (i rosso. The sources of 

 the river are a number of deep lakes, and 8 miles 

 from its source the stream already has considerable 

 volume. Pursuing a south-west course, and after 

 (lowing through a level country covered with thick 

 i.n. -:-. the Paraguay is joined from the west by 

 tl>- Jauru in 16 30 S. fat. It then continues to 

 flow south through the Marsh of Xarayes, which, 

 during the season when the stream rises, is an 

 expansive waste of waters, stretching far on each 

 side of the stream, and extending from north to 

 south over about 200 miles. The river still pursues 

 a generally southward course, forming from 20* to 

 22" 8. the boundary line between Brazil and 

 Bolivia, thence flowing south-south-west through 

 the territories of Paraguay to its junction with the 

 Parana, a few miles alnve Comentes. It* chief 

 affluent* are the Cuyah.-i, Tacuary, Mondego, 

 and Apa on the left, and the Jauru, Pilcomayo, 

 and Vermejo on the right. Kvcpt in the marshy 

 districts, the country on both banks of the river is 

 rich and fertile, and abounds in excellent timber. 

 The entire length of the river is estimated at 1800 

 miles ; it is navigable for steamers to the mouth of 



the Cuyalwt. The waters of the Paraguay, which 

 are quite free from olistructions, were declared o|x-n 

 to ail nation- in 1S52 ; and now Brazilian mail- 

 steajiiers ply monthly between Hi.> <!> Janeiro and 

 Cuyabd, on the river of the same name, am) there 

 are several lines of steamers bet\\ .-. n Ku.'iios Ayres 

 an.! Asuncion. 



Paraguay* an inland republic of South 

 America, divided into two distinct portions by the 

 river so mimed. Eastern Paraguay, or Paraguay 

 proper, is a well -defined territory, nearly in the 

 shape of a parallelogram, extending from 22 to 

 27 20 7 S. lat. and 54 to 68 40' W. long., bounded 

 on the N. by the rivers Apa and Estrella, on 

 the I'., by the mountain-chains of Amamlav and 

 Mbaracayii and by the river Parana, and on the S. 

 liv tlii:* same river. It contains an area of alxuit 

 99,000 sq. in., and is Ixirdered by the Braxilian 

 and Argentine republics. Western Paraguay, 

 or the Chaco (see GRAN ClIACO), is a quadrilateral, 

 of which one side is formed bv the river 1'aragiuiy 

 between the mouth of the Pilcomnyo and that of 

 the Kio Negro. On the west the only definition of 

 a boundary is a line of separation between the 

 Chaco and Bolivia, which has never yet been 

 geographically determined, but which is supposed 

 to pass along the meridian 64 30' W. The 

 total area of Paraguay is estimated at al>out 

 142,000 sq. m. a territory considerably larger than 

 Great Britain and Ireland. The population of 

 Paraguay is composed of whites of Spanish descent, 

 Indians, a few negroes, and a mixture of these 

 several races, and in 1895 was estimated at 500,000, 

 exclusive of the Indians in the Chaco. A moun- 

 tain-chain called Sierra Amambay, running in the 

 general direction of from north to south, and 

 Bifurcating to the east and west towards the 

 southern extremity, under the name of Sierra 

 MliaracayiS, divides the tributaries of the ParanA 

 from those of the Paraguay, none of which are very 

 considerable, although they are liable to frequent 

 and destructive overflows. The northern portion 

 of Paraguay is in general undulating, covered by 

 low, gently-swelling ridges, separated by large 

 grass plains, dotted with palms. There are moun- 

 tains in the north-east and north-west corners. 

 The southern portion is one of the most fertile 

 districts of South America, consisting of hills and 

 gentle slopes richly wooded, of wide savannahs, 

 which afford excellent pasture-ground, and of rich 

 alluvial plains, some of which, indeed, are marshy, 

 or covered with shallow pools of water (only one 

 lake, that of Ypoa, deserving special mention ), hut 

 a large proportion are of extraordinary fertility and 

 highly cultivated. The banks of the rivers Paranii 

 and Paraguay are occasionally belted with forest ; 

 but in general the lowlands are destitute of trees. 

 The climate, for the latitude, is temperate, the 

 temperature occasionally rising to 100 in sum- 

 mer, but in winter being usually about 45. In 

 geological structure the southern part belongs 

 generally to the Tertiary formation ; but the north 

 and east present greywaoke rocks in some dis- 

 trict*. The natural productions are very varied, 

 although they do not include the precious metals or 

 other minerals common in South America. Much 

 valuable timlier is found in the forests, and the 

 wooded districts situated upon the rivers jMissess a 

 ready means of transport Among the trees are 

 several species of dye-wood, several trees which 

 yield valuable juices, as the india-rubber and its 

 cognate trees, and an especially valuable shrub, 

 the Matt (q.v.), or Paraguay Tea, which forms one 

 of the chief articles of commerce, being in general 

 use throughout great part of South America. The 

 shrub or tree grows wild in the north-eastern dis- 

 tricts, and the gathering of its leaves gives em- 

 ployment in the season to a large number of the 



