817 



STEARAXILIDE. 



STEAROPTEN. 



818 



keel, 26 feet draft of water, and of the burden of 6177 tons, builder's 

 measurement ; fitted with screw propeller, and her engines, constructed 

 by Penn and Sons, are of 1250 horse-power. She is built of iron, but 

 her great peculiarity is that 205 feet of her length is protected by 4^- 

 inch plates of solid iron, backed with two layers of teak timber, one of 

 10 inches next the armour, and another within that of 8 inches. Her 

 armour extends to 9 feet below load-water line ; and at the extremities 

 of the armour-clad portion of her hull, and quite across the ends of 

 the ship at those parts, iron bulkheads of strength equal to the sides 

 (being 44-inch iron backed with IS inches teak timber), protect the 

 engines and stores from shots which might enter obliquely from head 

 or stern ; and this inclosed space is divided into sis water-tight com- 

 partments, her two boilers being each in its own separate compartment. 

 In addition to this arrangement inner bulkheads extend all round the 

 protected portion of her hull, leaving passages 34 feet wide, so that 

 any leakage-water runs below, and this affords room for necessary 

 repairs if injured by shot, &c. Her main deck-ports are about 83 feet 

 above water (at load- water line), while her ports are 154 fo* apart; 

 thus ample space is given for working her guns, and for warlike opera- 

 tions. With the spars and sails of an 80-gun ship (but barque-rigged, 

 having no crossjack yard), she will be immensely superior to the 

 La Gloire. 



The Warrior is nominally a 36-gun ship, but her guns will be 

 68-pounders, 95 cwt., for the main deck, 10 Armstrong (70-pounders) 

 on the spar-deck, and 2 pivot 100- pounders (Armstrong's also), one at 

 each end in all 48 guns ; and the number can easily be increased. 



As a comparison, the Warrior's superiority to the La Gloire may be 

 thus briefly stated : ' 



Porte much higher out of the water, therefore could fight her guns 

 in bad weather when La Gloire could not open her ports. 



Her deck is much higher, to facilitate boarding. 



Has more space in which to work her guns. 



Draws 18 inches less water than La Gloire. 



Is leas dependent on steam, being nearly full rigged. 



Has greater speed, perhaps of 2 knots per hour. 



Has heavier armament. 



Besides having very superior accommodation for her officers and 

 crew. 



In closing this important detail it should be remarked, that early in 

 1859 Sir John Pakington, the first lord of the Admiralty, invited the 

 naval architects from the coast to f urnish plans for a mail-clad ship, and 

 although numerous plans were forwarded (from Mr. Scott Russell, 

 Mr. Samuda, Mr. Laird, Mr. Napier, &c.), the design adopted originated 

 entirely in the office of the late Controller of the Navy, Sir Baldwin 

 Walker, it being conceived by the Admiralty that such design con- 

 tained the average proportions and qualifications of all the others. 



The last suggestion as to steam vessels for war purposes is that by 

 Captain Cowper P. Coles, R.N., who proposes certain sloping armour 

 plates which shall throw off shot ; and also certain modifications in 

 the mode of arming men-of-war so constructed; inasmuch as he would 

 have only one row of guns on the upper deck placed amidships, but 

 placed on revolving, powerfully screened platforms. His highly in- 

 genious proposals have already been well received by the Admiralty, 

 and experiments on a ship fitted by him have been ordered, and will 

 probably commence in a few months. 



The following outline sketches, drawn accurately to a scale of 240 

 feet to an inch, give an illustration of the relative sizes of the Great 

 Eastern, H.M. S. Duke of Wellington, the Warrior, La Gloire, the 

 Himalaya, and the Great Britain, some of the most noted among 

 English steam vessels. 



Great Eastern, 601 feet. 



^:.:.:.:.!.y.:.;.:.j.^ 



H.M.S. Duke of Wellington, HI guns, 241 feet. 



TT fl 1 



1I.M.S. Warrior, 380 feet. 



' US 

 L Oloire, 253 feet. 



Himalaya, 311 feet. 



Great Britain, 300 feet. 



\UAMLIDE. [STEARIC ACID.] 

 8TEARENE. [STKARIC ACID.] 

 STKAUIC ACID (HO,C M H.,,0 3 ). This body is the most abundan 



ARTS AND SCI. DIV. V>L. VII. 



onstituent in all solid fatty substances. It exists in them in the state 

 f stearin, a combination of stearic acid with the basis of GLYCERIN. 

 he relation wlu'ch stearic acid bears to other acids, that occur in fats 

 nd oils, will be readily seen on perusing the article on FATTY ACIDS. 

 itearic acid is sometimes met with under the name of bassic acid and 

 tearopltanic acid, and under the name of anamirtic acid occurs in the 

 eeds of the anamirta coccidus. 

 Stearin is, for experimental purposes, generally prepared from 



mutton suet, from a solution of which in hot ether it crystallises out 

 n cooling. By one or two recrystallisations it is perfectly purified. 

 "Tins prepared stearin forms white, pearly, lamellar crystals. When 



^uite dry it is not greasy to the touch, and is easily pulverised. It 



melts when heated to about 144 Fahr., but by repeated fusions 

 jecomes more and more dense, and requires an increased temperature 

 or its liquefaction. It is almost insoluble in water and only slightly 

 oluble in cold alcohol or ether. Seven times its weight of boiling 



alcohol dissolves it, and less than that proportion of hot ether. By 

 .estructive distillation it yields oily and fatty hydrocarbons, acetic 

 cid, acrolein, margaric acid, &c. By heating stearic acid with glycerin 



in closed vessels Berthelot succeeded in obtaining artificial stearins, 

 ontaining one, two, or three equivalents of stearic acid united with 

 glycerin. [GLYCERIN. Afonostearin , Dtstearin, Tristcarin.] 

 Stearic acid. Obtained by saponifying stearin with caustic potash 



and then precipitating the stearic acid by the addition of hydrochloric 

 ir tartaric acid to the hot solution of the resulting soap. It may be 

 >urified by washing with cold alcohol and recrystallising from hot 

 \lcohol. It may also be prepared directly from mutton suet by saponi- 

 ying and decomposing, as above described, and then submitting the 

 >roduet to strong pressure ; the greater part of the oleic acid is in this 

 vay removed and the remaining stearic acid obtained pure after one or 

 ;wo crystallisations. 



Stearic acid crystallises from hot ether in transparent, colourless, 

 amellic, having a rhombic outline. Its fusing point is about 167" 

 ?ahr. ; but it does not resolidify until the temperature falls to about 

 158 Fahr. At higher temperatures it volatilises and is partially 



decomposed. It is insoluble in water ; its alcoholic solution reddens 

 itmus paper ; it slightly decomposes carbonates in the cold, but eom- 

 iletely on being boiled with them. A mixture of stearic and palmitic 

 acids melts at a lower temperature than either acid does alone ; thirty 

 jarts of the former and seventy of the latter fuse nearly 20 degrees lower 

 ;han the mean melting point of the two. Chlorine and bromine act 

 upon stearic acid, especially when they are heated together, giving rise 

 to chlor- and brom- derivatives. Such a body is chlorostearic acid, 

 containing HO,C M H ?5 C1 10 0.,. Nitric acid oxidises it to suberic, pimelic, 

 idipic, succinic, capric, ocnanthylic, caproic, and other acids. Anhydrous 

 phosphoric acid removes from stearic acid the elements of two 

 squivalents of water, and leaves a brittle, obscurely-crystalline mass, 

 having the' composition (C 3a H 31 O.j). Perchloride of phosphorus also 

 acts jenergetieally upon stearic acid. A mixture of stearic acid and 

 glycerin maintained at 212 Fahr., and saturated with hydrochloric 

 acid gives rise to stearocJdorhijdriii, a crystalline body containing 



Uttartmc, itcarene, or margarone, is a colourless crystalline body 

 produced on distilling stearic acid with one fourth its weight of quick 

 lime. It fuses at 171 Fahr. and resolidifies at 162 Fahr. Its com- 

 position has not been satisfactorily determined. 



Stearata are combinations of stearic acid with bases, and the com- 

 pounds, like those of the other FATTY ACIDS, are termed soaps. 

 Stearates are mostly fusible and decompose when strongly heated. 

 Those of the alkalies are readily formed on heating stearin with the 

 alkali, as in the ordinary method of making soap. From the alkaline 

 stearates other stearates may be formed by precipitation with a soluble 

 salt of the metal whose stearate is required ; the alkaline stearates 

 being soluble in water, the stearates of other metallic oxides being 

 insoluble. The neutral stearate of potash contains (KO,C 30 H 3S 3 ) the 

 acid ttearatf (KO,HO,2C M H., S 3 ). Stearate of lime (CaO,C 38 H M 3 ). 

 Stearate of silver (AgO, C 3e H 35 3 ). Slearate of ethyl (stearic ether) 



Stearanilide or phenyl-stearamide is obtained on distilling stearic 

 acid with excess of aniline. It crystallises in needles and contains 

 - .H M 0,> 



For the economical applications of stearic acid, see CANDLE MANU- 

 FACTURE ; SOAP. 



STEARIN. [STEARIC ACID.] 



STEAROCHLORHYDRIN. [STEARIC ACID.] 



STEARONE. [STEAHIO ACID.] 



STEAROPHANIC ACID. [STKAROFHANIN.] 



STEAROPHANIN. (C^H^OJ. Atiamirtin. A fatty matter des- 

 cribed by Francis as existing in the Anamirta Cocculus. By saponificu- 

 tion it yields anamirtic or stearophanic acid, which Hanitz considers 

 to be identical with stearic acid. 



STEAROPTEN. Volatile oils, as obtained by distillation from 

 plants, appear, like expressed oils, to consist of two substances; one 

 solid, which has received the name of stearopten, and the other liquid, 

 called claoptcn: the former generally crystallises when the oil has 

 been long kept. 



3d 



