Timbers, 



220 



[April 1907. 



opinion seemed to controvert Professor Fittiea's original argument, and Woelien 

 blatt mentioned C. D. Ekmann as the father of the sulphite industry. About the 

 year 1872 a well-known publication, in discussing this particular matter, argued 

 that it was due to Ekmann that the manufacture of Mitscherlick's cellulose on a large 

 scale was rendered chemically possible. Prof. Pittica, however, who stuck to his 

 guns in championing Mitscherlich, said that Ekmann did not operate with calcium 

 sulphite according to Mitscherlich's process, but he used magnesium sulphite, a salt 

 that was without value owing to its inconstancy, and, consequently, was of no 

 technical consequence as compared with calcium sulphite, but subsequently Ekmann 

 undoubtedly made a success of the magnesium sulphite process. However, his 

 method was kept secret, so that even for that reason the same could nob have been, 

 in Fittiea's opinion, used by Mitscherlich. In this connection it is worth while 

 remembering that originally Ekmann's mill was in operation from 1874 to 1879, but 

 was, of course, re-opened later, Fittica further stated that Tilghman was ahead 

 of Mitscherlich, in so far as he used diluted sulphurous acid for transforming wood 

 into cellulose, and it is significant that in the year 1866 Tilghman, in his patent 

 No. 2921, mentions that "an addition of bi-sulphite of calcium to sulphurous 

 acid is advantageous." However, it subsequently appeared that he had not used 

 the salt alone, nor did he use the comparatively low temperature recommended 

 by Mitscherlich. Moreover, he was unable to surmount the technical difficulties 

 combined with these stated processes, and subsequently discontinued his experiments 

 in the year 1867, after struggling for two years, and losing 20,000 dols. or over. In 

 the year 18S2, Ritter and Kellner took out a patent, and at this time Mitscherlich's 

 factory in Munden Avas flourishing, having been started in 1875, and having 

 made considerable progress, and the friends of Mitscherlich claim that the 

 early manufactures, in a general and theoretical way, operated on the Mitscherlich 

 principles, their process differing only in insignificant arrangements. Prof. Kirschuer 

 states in his work "Zellstoff," that F. A. liismuller was the first to produce 

 practically valuable cellulose on a considerable scale, under Mitscherlich's direction? 

 in his factory. The name of O. Vogel, in Zell, is also alluded to by Prof. Kirschner, 

 but there is no evidence that Vogel played any great part in the actual inven- 

 tion, although there is evidence that at one time he was assistant to Mitscherlich. 

 and subsequently Vogel put down his own plant, which was arranged according to 

 the Mitscherlich process. In 1884, in favour of Tilghman, Mitscherlich's patent 

 No. 4179 was suspended by the German Court, and historv would support 

 Tilghman'si contention. Some reliable authorities point out that sulphurous 

 acid and its preparations had formerly been used only for bleaching cellulose 

 wood pulp, and as late as 1867, after the issue of Tilghmau's patent, Mr. Kreig 

 — whose opinion is worth something — emphasised the fact "that wood pulp 

 was not suitable for fine papers." Heldt states that in 1869 sulphurous 

 acid should not only be called bleaching material, but bad bleaching material, 

 because it imparts a yellow colour. At about that time, apparently new methods 

 were discovered to change the wood into cellulose by the use of alkalies, and it is 

 recorded that in 1872 considerable progress was made in this direction. A year later, 

 in 1873, Menzies published a new process, according to which wood was treated in the 

 damp state with chlorine, and in that same year Aussedat seems to have paid 

 considerable attention to bringing wood and chlorine together in steam pressure, 

 and Blyth and Suthby made combinations of both the first and last mentioned 

 methods by first submitting the wood to the action of alkalies, and subsequently to 

 high steam pressure, and this method was amplified aud improved by Ungerer. 

 Then Mitscherlich came into the market with a new arrangement to use bi-sulphite 

 of calcium, and demonstrated that by a, solution of calcium sulphite with strong 

 acids, he prepared a solution of calcium di-sulphite. Following this success, and 



