THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



69 



lessen the losses and pain and unhappiness pro- 

 duced by disease and death. — Ed. F. R. 



1. Is your region or neighborhood subjected to 

 autumnal fevers, (the eH'ecte of malaria,) or any 

 other diseases produced by local causes— andj to 

 what extent and degree, in general? 



2. What are the supposed local causes or parti- 

 cular sources oC malaria, and their comparaiive 

 injurious power— aa rapid rivers and smaller 

 streams sometimes overflowing the bordering 

 low-lands, tide- water marshes, salt or li-eph, 

 swamps, mill-ponds, and the passage oC floods 

 Irom mill-ponds, at uncertain and irregular times, 

 orer salt tide marshes'? 



3. Have diseases from such causes increased or 

 diminished in frequency or virulence within any 

 certain past time, and if so, to what circumstances 

 are the changes ascribed 1 



4. Can the lessening or removal of malaria and 

 its effects be effected by the action of the residpnt>', 

 either operating alone, or necessarily requirint); 

 new legislation, or general police, in regard to 

 drainage, mill-ponds, removal of nuisances. Sic"? 



5. In illustration, and as proof, state particulaily 

 any known facts, and ihe authority on which tliey 

 rest, which serve to confirm the opinions expressed 

 in answer to the preceding queries. 



RECEIPT FOR MAKING SOAP. 



From tlie Massacliusetts Plongliman. 



Mr. Buckminster : — I am not quite satisfied 

 with your explanation and recipe lor making 

 Boft soap. This article is a compound of potash 

 and tallow, or grease, which union is formed in 

 conformity with the laws of chemical affinity, 

 and in diH'erent proportions. Whenever they 

 are brought together in these proportions, so that 

 their respective particles come into uniform con- 

 tact, unless some counteracting substance is min- 

 gled with them, the union is inevitable and its 

 result good soap. In order that these particles 

 may be brought into complete and uniform con- 

 tact, agitation with water is necessary. 



The quantity of water required, depends on 

 the quality of soap you wish to produce. A bar- 

 rel of soap may be three-fourths water. With 

 this quantity and the proper proportions of potash 

 and grease, it will be very good soap. It is how- 

 ever more commonly seven-eighths water, and 

 sometimes reduced much more, and then, of 

 course, it is very inferior in quality, not that it 

 will not do its office, and do it as well, but it does 

 less. If this process be so simple and its result 

 eo inevitable, your correspondent wishes to know 

 why any person who attempts it has " bad luck" 

 and fails. There are several causes of this. A 

 very common one is that either the potash or 

 grease is in excess. 



The former ought always to be so to some ex- 

 tent, to make the soap effective for cleansing 

 whatever it may be applied to. That part of the 

 potash which is in excess is always ready to 

 combine with any substance which is brought 

 into contact with it, for which it has an affinity. 

 For animal fat of all kinds this affinity is very 

 strong, and more or less so for all kinds of animal 

 matter, as washwomen, who have used that 



whicJi has loo much uncombined pota&h, have 

 often found out by its effect upon iheir hands. 

 Cloth made of wool, or part wool,- will be ruined 

 by ii — the otfiiiiiy of potvish and wool being 

 such, that a very good soft soap can be made of 

 them. 



On the other hand, if the grease ia in excess 

 the soap is good lor nothing ; the alkali in the 

 compound being already surcharged with grease, 

 has no power lor removing dirt, siains, &c. — 

 while the uncombined yrease defiles whatever it 

 is applied to. As belore remarked, for the ordi- 

 nary purposes, lor whirh this kind of soap is 

 wanted, the potash Fhould be in excess?. If it is 

 too much so, however, the soap, as the saying is, 

 " will not come" — nor will it if the grease is so in 

 the elightest degree. If either of these causes 

 is operating to prevent its "coming," the best 

 way to ascertain ii ii:! by touching the soap 

 to the longui^. If the [XJlnsh pri'dominates to an 

 extent sufficient to prevent the soap from coming 

 into work, its effect upon that organ will be rather 

 severe. If the potash is not left at all, more lie 

 must be added. But, as I have belore intimated, 

 there are ©iher causes of failure besides these two. 

 A very small portion of common, or any other 

 kind of salt, or ol any kind of acid, will prevent 

 the combination desired. The Ibrmer unites with 

 the water, Ibrme a brine and settles to the bottom, 

 and on being permitted to cool, will leave a great- 

 er or less thickness at the top of an inferior kind 

 of hard soap; according to the greater or less 

 amount of grease used. Acid will unite with the 

 potash — make a brine of the water which will 

 settle to the bottom, and if there is enough of it 

 in leave the clear grease at the top. 



There is generally some salt in family grease 

 unless it has been boiled upon water. Sulphate 

 of lime or magnesia is in some wells so abundant 

 as lo render it impossible to make good soft soap 

 with the water. The sulphuric acid of these sub- 

 stances having a stronger affinity for potash than 

 lor these, leaves the latter, unites with the former, 

 and forms a salt called sulphate of potash, which 

 being dissolved in the water forms a brine and 

 settles to the bottom. 



Again, carbonic acid, (a gas,) which is con- 

 stantly floating in the air, has a strong affinity for 

 potash, and when united with it forms a salt 

 (pearl-ash) which will prevent soft soap from 

 "coming." This union is constantly going on 

 with the potash, even before it is leached from 

 the ashes, so that if they are very old, so much 

 of this kind of salt is formed that unless it is in 

 some way removed, soap cannot be made of the 

 lie. For the same reason old potash, which is on 

 the outside of the lump, where the air has come 

 into contact with it, will be pretty sure to disap- 

 point the expectation of the soapmaker. This 

 difficulty, which always occurs to a greater or 

 less extent, must be removed, and lor this purpose 

 (not, as you seem to intimate, for "its strength") 

 lime is used, it having a stronger affinity for car- 

 bonic acid than potash has. Consequently when 

 they are brought into contact, the acid leaves the 

 potash — combines with the lime and forms an 

 insoluble substance called carbonate of lime, and 

 is simply pulverized limestone. There are other 

 difficulties in the way of making this kind of 

 soap in Boston and vicinity. Coal ashes produce 

 no potash. The same is the fact with turf or peat 



