48 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
aifluence it would exercise on their children, and of the 
trifling cost in money of such additions as these; they 
could not help but admit their error. 
In the construction or repairing of any and every coun- 
try house three things should be kept constanti}’' in view, 
viz : convenience for domestic duties, proportion and 
synmietry, and bold projections for casting shadows. In 
addition, the yard should be w'd! supplied with oraarnen- 
tal, vines,, shrubs, flowers, and shade trees! 
pKRs'iruMON. 
Aihin, S. C. , ilik/rc.li , 3, l85o. 
“'THE AND FRINCIPEES Dl'' SDAF 
Slaking'.” 
» 
A CoHRESPONOENT, Writing over the sigriature ot ‘‘fl. 
B.,” whose comunication may be found on page 34 of oar 
last number, “thinks” our “remarks on the art and prin- 
ciples of soap-making,” published in May last, calculated 
to mislead our leaders. Thence he proceeds to point out 
sundry errors, as he supposes; and says : “If! am wrong, 
I shall be glad to get right.” 
Soap being an article of universal consumption, audits 
home production on the plantation a matter of good econ- 
omy, the subject is ofsufticient importance to w’arrant a 
thorough discussion in this family journrd. We stated 
that “water slowly decomposes soap.” Our friend asks: 
“Is it not the lime and salts in the water which decompose 
thesoapi” We ansv/er, no ; in the case to which o.ur 
remarks applied. Everybody knows, or at least ought'to 
know, that earthy so.lts in spring and well water decom- 
pose soap, and often so injure the water that it is nearly 
valueless for washing purposes. We wej'e explaining 
how the niilk-hke apearance of soapsuds is produced in 
-pur-^ water. Oar correspondent fals entirely to give the 
rationale this interesting phenomenon. A solution of 
gypsum, copperas, alum, or other salt not unusually found 
in w'ater that has passed over or through a mass of earth 
or soil, seriously impairs the quality of soap suds, or the 
emulsion of oil or other grease in water. In a word, the 
decomposition of soap in thetwo cascs.is.difxerc.ru; giv- 
ing rise to a wide difference in the detergent power and 
value of the suds. So long as the chemical compound 
called soap remains perfectly- soluble' in Wii.t-^r, its soiu-’ 
tion is clear and translucent; but as the most satisfactory 
analjsishas shown , that pure water 11 abstract one- 
fourth of the alkaline base from oleic acid, this oil is left 
diffused through the water in infinitely small particles, and 
in the early stages of the formation of suds, gives ro the 
water the appearance of fine white clay' being similarly 
diffused through it. The milkiness of the water increases, 
and the suds thicken as washing and the decomposition 
of the olcate of potash or soda ad'vances,' • “R. B sug- 
gests that Knapp is mistaken in his views on the subject, 
we will here state .Ur. Knapp is a Pro.Rssor in the Univer- 
sity of Giesen, which is more distinguished than any other 
in Europe for the skill and thoroughnes.s v/ith which ana- 
lytical chemistry is studied and taught therein. LtEBiO, 
Eres ENtus, Will and Knapp have given to its Chemical [ 
Science a world- wide reputatibn. Neither Europe nor 
America affords higher authority than the author of 
** Chemical Technology,” w'ho, asvre stated in our former 
article on this subject, devotes forty-eight pages to its 
elucidation. He says; “Cold water never dissolves the 
oleate, raargerate or stearate of an alkali — the soap of 
commerce therefove— without decomposi/iov. The neau- 
tra! salts arc resolved into an alkali which dissolves, and 
iiito an acid salt that is precipitated. The same decorn- 
|>osition occurs when hot solutions of soap — particularly 
weak solutions — are cooled.” The critical reader wilt 
note in the above, the absence of all allusion to the 
agency of lime, or other earthy salts ixt decomposing soap 
in water, Knapp farther remarks; “Chkvhell investi- 
gated this decomposition, in the case of' .stearate of pbtash, 
with the greatest accuracy, and the results of iris exarru- 
natioa are vrei! suited to illustrate lim action of soaps in 
general. When a solution of neutral .'C :irstc of potash is 
cooled, one -fourths ofitspotasii remains oi so'tuion, and a 
mixture of neutral with acid stearate of potash is separat- 
ed. If the same salt is allowm-d to dissolve in 5000 parts Of 
cold w ater, the acid stearate [of the mixture] is alone pre- 
cipitated,- in the form of scales, possessing liie lustre of the 
mother of pearl, and the half of the piotush remains in so- 
lution. This behavior is common to 'the neutral margar- 
ates and oleates of potash and soda : and it explains why, 
in using soup, even with the ivalsr, u whitish tur- 
bidnesa.— soap suds~is always obudned. The alkaline 
property of soapsuds is ’ due to the liberation of a 
portion of the caustic 'potash or soda; and this it is that 
affords the possibility of removing fciity impurities in water, 
which is the sole object of washing w’ith soap,” 
Our friendly critic will .see that bur theory of the deter- 
gencyofsoap isfuilynsustained by the most reliable author- 
ity, and that such' detergency is chemical in its action, and 
not mechanical as he evidently believes when he says.- 
speakingof turpentine soap : “It unites with grease with 
remarkable facility, and by the friction- which it induces, 
greatly promotes the cleansing of cloth, while pure tallow 
or oil soap causes the folds of cloth -to slide quickly and 
smoothly over each other, so that little dr no inotioa takes 
place in the 'fibres of the cloth, and 'the I'cmova! of dirt 
from the interstices ts thus retarded. Good housewives 
always adds rosin or turpentine in their soap boiling, 'fi r 
the impiroved quality of. the soap thus yielded.'’ 
No one has a higher opinion cf -‘good haUse'WLvea" 
than the vi-riter ; yet, have they that critical knowledge 
'pf 'the chemistry of domestic aflairs, particularly in refer- 
ence to the manufacture of soap, -wlfich entiile.s their 
opinions to overrule, on a puVely chemical question, a dis- 
luiguisli'ed Professor pf the Geisea University 1 To do 
“good housewives” no more than justice, we are constrain- 
ed to remark that very few are, from choice.in the nabit oi 
washing their hands with “rosin soap” to avail themselves 
of that excellent ^fneiion'’ which commends itself so 
highly to the favorable notice of “R, B.” At th.e .same 
time, we would state.that we have nothing to say against 
“good turpentine soap.” It was a bad x^rticle that wc 
condemned. The idea that either rosin or iurpentine. is 
better than fat or tallow to make soap is an injurious enror. 
The former have cheapness in their favor — nothing more. 
Again, “ Ji B.”'asks : “.Uocs not the addition of salt 
