CSKS 



CAHB0NATH OK SODA 



ALKALIS 



REH 



ivrliimutii.il. Me. His., n mnUc- m> mention nf the Indian saltworts, 

 though he refers !< i li-in Salt hush. 



a \vi.l.- range between the saltwu, t- tint may bo grown on soils highly 



impnvnateil with nlkaliri and tho plants that refuse to grow on soils that contuin 



;i particle above what might ho culled normal soil-supply. Mnt. partiality r 



impartiality is nut governed by botanical considerations, since within one and the 



n.ii in -;il order of plants both dispositions may \>e mot with. It would thus 



highly necessary that lists of plants should bo framed, after searching tests 



n performed indicative of tin- selection of saltworts, troon and useful 



that might ho grown progressively on land under reclamation. Arm-in 



,... ,,,<i. ittit,,, n ,,,i<i<>-<i and i>iii>< ?/' Hitman have been spoken of as useful 



. hut th. 's. belong to the Li-:.r.MiNOSJE, a family which shown a stronger 



iun to saline salts than almost any other that might be mentioned. They 



may. however, he good, but are they the beat that could be chosen ? If tho 



most eonv enient and serviceable, at what stage should they bo planted, and with 



what other plants preceded, associated or followed ? Those are questions of the 



greatest pus.-ihle moment to India, but to which at present no satisfactory answer 



an he given. The greatest fault, however, with all Indian endeavours, such as 



they have been, at reclamation and reforestation, has been the impecunious 



craving and short-sighted policy of desiring immediate returns. 



Industrial Uses of Soda. Incidentally this subject has already been dealt 

 with. Throughout India soda soils are washed and more or less pure 

 carbonate obtained. At one time a fairly largo trade was done in this way in 

 South India (Salem, Mysore, etc.) and expectations of a considerable dovelup 

 ment entertained. Licenses were granted in Bihar, tho United Provinces and 

 elsewhere fur the manufacture of aajji and rasi (two qualities of carbonate of 

 so.la) from .-aline earths. The object in licensing the industry is to protect tho 

 revenue, since from the factories concerned fairly largo quantities of common 

 salt are obtained, especially at the factories and refineries for the production of 

 saltpetre. (For method of manufacture, see Glauber's Salt, p. 56.) 



Carbonate of soda of a very pure kind is regularly prepared at the Lonar Lake 

 at Berar. Ball says (Man. Econ. Geol. Ind., 494), " Blocks of mixed salts are 

 obtained by divers in certain parts of the lake, but the waters of the lake, on 

 evaporation, deposit salts among which the principal is carbonate of soda. . . . 

 The local names for these products are dalla, which consists of a close collection 

 of acicular crystals, between two compact surfaces ; kuppal, a thin kind of dalla,, 

 principally of red colour ; papadi or papri, a white saline froth." 



Whether obtained from soil efflorescence or from salt lakes by treatment with 

 sulphuric acid, the mixed salts (especially where the greater proportion is already 

 the sulphate) may be reduced to a salt-cake (similar to that obtained in the first 

 stage in the Le Blanc process of manufacture), and by calcining with lime and 

 coal that may be converted into soda-ash. At Awah, in the United Provinces, 

 an attempt was made, in 1880, to utilise the reh efflorescence in the manufacture 

 of glass and glass-beads. A complete set of tools was imported from Venice, but 

 the following, among other conclusions, appear to have been arrived at regarding 

 these and all such experiments at utilising the alkali deposits in glass-making : 



(a) The impurity of the alkali prevents the formation of good quality 

 of colourless glass. 



(b) It is, therefore, necessary to organise chemical works to produce 

 pure alkali. 



(c) Good beads could be made, but doubtfully at a lower price than 

 they can be imported. 



(d) Improvement of glass manufacture in India would depend on the 

 work being done on a large scale with skilled supervision. 



Wherever soda efflorescence is at all abundant, the Native industry of glass- 

 making (such as it is) is more or less prevalent, especially that of glass bangles. 

 But reh and aajji are put to an infinite variety of other uses by the Natives. They 

 .ue employed for dissolving crude lac and kamela, preparatory to dyeing silk, 

 also for extracting the crimson dye from safflower in cotton dyeing. They are 

 used for bleaching silk, cotton and wool. Sajji is employed, in Farukhabad, in 

 making country paper from hemp. Both salts, in conjunction with shell-lime, enter 

 into the composition of country soap. White reh sprinkled into boiling cane-juice 

 is employed to neutralise the organic acids in the manufacture of sugar, a process 

 very similar to that of the use of lime (p. 712), barium carbonate (p. 57), or strontium 

 carbonate (p. 58) in Europe. Reh is an adulterant of tobacco, and is added to 



55 



I ful Tri-,. 



Returns. 



Industrial 

 Uses. 



Lake Supplies. 



Different 

 Qualities. 



Glass-making. 



Native 



IllillLStrii-S. 



Dyeing. 



Bleaching. 



Tobacco 



Adulteration. 



