266 SCIENCE IN SHORT CHAPTERS. 



THE OLEAGINOUS PEODUCTS OF THAMES 

 MUD: WHERE THEY COME FROM AND 

 WHERE THEY GO. 



OJSTCE upon a time and not a very long time since a 

 French chemist left the land of superexcellence, and crossed 

 to the shores of foggy Albion. He proceeded to Yorkshire, 

 his object being to make hfs fortune. He was so presump- 

 tuous as to believe that he might do this by picking up 

 something which Yorkshiremen threw away. That some- 

 thing was soapsuds. His chemistry taught him that soap 

 is a compound of fat and alkali, and that if a stronger acid 

 than that belonging to the fat is added to soapsuds, the 

 stronger acid will combine with the alkali and release the 

 fat, the which fat thus liberated will float upon the surface 

 of the liquid, and may then be easily skimmed off, melted 

 together, and sold at a handsome profit. 



But why leave the beautiful France and desolate himself 

 in dreary Yorkshire merely to do this? His reason was, 

 that the clothworkers of Yorkshire use tons and tons of 

 soap for scouring their materials, and throw away millions 

 of gallons of soapsuds. Besides this, there are manufacto- 

 ries of sulphuric acid near at hand, and a large demand for 

 machinery grease just thereabouts. He accordingly bought 

 iron tanks, and erected works in the midst of the busiest 

 centre of the woolen manufacture. But he did not make 

 his fortune all at once. On the contrary, he failed to pay 

 expenses, for in his calculations he had omitted to allow 

 for the fact that the soap liquor is much diluted, and there- 

 fore he must carry much water in order to obtain a little 

 fat. This cost of carriage ruined his enterprise, and his 

 works were offered for sale. 



The purchaser was a shrewd Yorkshireman, who then 

 was a dealer in second-hand boilers, tanks, and other iron 

 wares. When he was about to demolish the works, the 

 Frenchman took him into confidence, and told the story of 

 his failure. The Yorkshireman said little, but thought 

 much; and having finally assured himself that the carriage 



