THE POTATO ^85 



of the industries in which tax-free alcohol is of the 

 highest importance. 



**One of the most important technical uses of 

 alcohol is in the manufacture of varnishes and lac- 

 quers, where the gums which are employed are 

 necessarily dissolved in alcohol. The use of alco- 

 hol is extremely important and aflfects a great many 

 industries. 



"The ether of commerce, sometimes called sul- 

 phuric ether, is manufactured exclusively from al- 

 cohol by the action of sulphuric acid and heat. 



"Alcohol is used very extensively in the prepa- 

 ration of medicines. That great body of reme- 

 dies known as tinctures is made by using alcohol 

 as a solvent for the active principle of the herbs 

 and plants from which the tinctures are made. 

 The law, however, does not permit the use of de- 

 natured alcohol for 'Uquid medicinal purposes.' 



"The substance which is known as imitation silk 

 is really a production from cotton or other cel- 

 lulose material which, in its finished state, re- 

 sembles silk somewhat in lustre. It is not silk 

 and hence not even artificial silk. It is a textile 

 product which has the promise of a successful 

 future and is therefore of interest not only to the 

 manufacturer and the consumer but to the farmer 

 who produces the cellulose. Imitation silk is in 

 a measure the same substance as smokeless powder, 

 except that after it is made the nitrogenous con- 

 stituents are removed, so as to restore the finished 

 product again to the condition of ordinary cotton, 

 devoid of explosive properties. In the making of 

 imitation silk a partial nitrification of the cotton is 

 accomplished in much the same manner as in mak- 

 ing smokeless powder. The partially nitrated 

 cotton is then reduced to a paste by solution in 



