Polytechnic Association Proceedings, 793 



SHODDY. 



In 1813, the first attempt was made in England to utilize such 

 waste materials as soft woolen rags, worn-out carpets, flannels, 

 guernseys, stockings, &c. Afterward the shoddy machines were 

 so modified as to utilize what is called " mungo," which consists 

 of threadbare broadcloths and clippings of other woolen cloths of 

 tine quality, and is brought from all countries where such clothes 

 are worn. At present shoddy forms about one-fifth of the weight 

 of the Avoolen and worsted manufactures of West Ridings. Shoddy 

 and mungo, mixed with wool, are made into cheap broadcloths and 

 material for ladies' caps and mantles, for petershams, pilots, pea- 

 jackets and blankets. They enter into the composition of felted 

 cloth used for overcoats, carpets, table covers, etc. It is said the 

 trade could not be carried on without shoddy and mungo; and that 

 the amounts consumed yearly range from 70,000,000 to 80,000,000 

 of pounds. 



IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MAKING BEET SUGAR. 



Carmichel & Co., sugar refiners and distillers, in Fom'-du-piu, 

 France, have had in successful operation for several years Dubru- 

 fant's osmose apparatus for filtering sirups, in which, for a part of 

 the usual quantity of bone-black, is substituted sheets of parchment 

 paper, that is, paper which has been toughened by being dipped in 

 a solution of strong sulphuric acid. Fifty or sixty sheets, stretched 

 on frames, ai*e placed one-half an inch apart, thus forming a series 

 of narrow cells, which are alternately filled with sirup or molasses 

 and with water, so that every cell filled with sirup has water on 

 both sides of it. Each cell has two openings, one below for the 

 entrance of the liquid, and one above for its exit. The liquid is 

 heated to about one hundred and seventy degrees Fah., when the 

 osmose action or impulse by diffusion through the parchment paper 

 commences. Every two days the operation is suspended to clean 

 the apparatus, first with hj'^drochloric acid and then by a steam jet, 

 which takes about four or five hours. The success of the whole 

 operation depends entirely on the most scrupulous cleanliness. 

 One man and a boy will keep a large number of cells in operation, 

 as all they have to do is to regulate the supply of liquid by means 

 of stop-cocks. The expense of labor, parchment, and a small 

 amount of bone-black is about five francs per one hundred kilo- 

 grammes, or less than half a cent per pound of sugar. Mr. 

 Carmichel declares that the expectations of the inventor of this 

 process have been more than realized, as from eight to ten per cent 



