JShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
73 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
Chemical Action of Soap 
When I wasli iny Ii.-inds in soapy water, 
is the action chemical or merely mechan¬ 
ical? Why does jiasoline set the 5 ;rai)hite 
on my hands after cleaniiift my <-ar? 
New York. c. \v. 
This question about soap seems to come 
ui> about every so often, which is one of 
the proofs that it is not easy to answer. 
Chemists have been workiiif? on it for 
many years, and are working all the hard¬ 
er now that soap is scarce and high, for 
tons of soap are used in various manufac¬ 
turing operations. It is one of the prac¬ 
tical sides of the problem of stickiness; 
that is. what will make water stickier 
towards “dirt" than the hand? For. of 
course, if the water is more sticky to¬ 
ward any particular “dirt" it will leave 
the hand and stick to the water, and the 
hand is clean and the water dirty. So 
the kind of dirt has a large influence. 
The action seems to lie in that little- 
known borderland between mechanics; 
that is. the actions of bodies large enough 
to have appreciable mass, and chemistry, 
the actions of the ultimate particles of 
matter. But the particles of “dirt" .are 
frequently so small that they approach 
that of the larger chemical particles 
(molecules), and. in addition both soaii 
and some kinds of “dirt" are able to as¬ 
sume that pt'culiar (‘ondition of matter 
called, because it was first studied with 
glue, “colloidal." So that many things 
which will make water foamy will act as 
soaps, even though they appear to have 
no chemical action at all. But if there 
is a little free alkali iiresent. it C(>rtain1y 
assists the soap, since there are usually 
things in the dirt which will join with it 
to make more soap, fl’liis answer <‘ould 
have been, "Probably both, avi' don't 
know." but it has been e.xiianded to show 
some of the reasons Avhy we don’t know. 
'J'he gasoline greatly thins the oil. 
which is the bimh'r for the graiihite. 
Avhich is very fine, and both sink into the 
minute pores and cracks of the skin, 
where the graphite sticks, only to be car¬ 
ried out as the skin wiairs olT and is ri*- 
newed. Wash off the graiihite with a 
heavy oil. .some of the cylinder oil. then 
use soap. F. n. c. 
rare that the best scheme .seems to lie to 
wash all the .sugar and gum. and starch- 
soiled dishes in i lenty of water as hot as 
can be managed, and u.se slightly soapy 
hot water for those with fatty soil or 
mixed soil. In any event the hot Avater 
is the most active agent you can use, and 
the more the better. A bit of steel avooI 
Avill scour better than anything else, and 
will not hurt tin' surface of dishes if 
used with care. I’artly because their 
grandmothers did it, and partly because 
they do not stop to balance the amount of 
work, many iiersons deliberately double 
the dishwashing by soiling the clean bot¬ 
toms by piling one dish on another, but 
the apparent saving in handling is more 
than covi'red by the incri'ased work in do¬ 
ing twice the washing afterward. With 
A'ery hot. slightly soapy Avater, and a little 
mop on a stick, there is little that Avill 
not yield to one swift swish. folloAved by 
a second in hot rimse water, and the hands 
need not even be wet. There are many, 
hoAvever. Avho have to use Avater that is 
rather hard, and they are indeed unfor¬ 
tunate. In some cases a little borax helps, 
and in any ease of lime hardue.ss a few 
drops of a solution of ammonia and am¬ 
monia carbonate will put the lime out of 
reach of the soa]). \Yhen there is also 
magnesia hardness jiresent thi' ammonia 
treatment ma.v be followed by a little 
sodium iicid phosphate, but it is usually 
better ami simpler in tlii'se, and in <‘ases 
of extreme lime hardni'ss, to use cocoanut- 
Reproduced from the N. Y. Evening Telegram 
oil -soap, sold usually as “salt water 
soap.” 
But the cooking pots, especially when 
something has “jest ketched a little,” are 
another matter. Here again plenty of hot 
water is the best “chemical." but a bit of 
washing soda Avill help a lot, and steel 
wool acts like magic. A tuft of it can be 
Avashed and shaken out and Avill last sev¬ 
eral weeks if put Avhere it will dry quick¬ 
ly. The soda water Avill roughen the skin, 
but if the hands are dried at once jier- 
fectly dry. not imu-ely Aviiied, but rubbed 
till entirely dry. and then a little mutton 
talloAV used, it will not be .so bad. '’I’lie' 
tallow can be scmiteil with a drop or so of 
oil of lavender, if (h'sired, and Avill beat 
most of the iiroprietary stulT, although' 
there are som(> skins which do as well or ’ 
better on Avhite A’aseline. f. d. c. i 
Liquid Smoke | 
I ha\-e hearfl of a prepared smoke, sold 
to use on meat insti'ad of smoking it the 
old way ; is it good. hoAV is it used, and ■ 
Avho .sells it? n. x. i,. 
Harinarville, Ba. 
tuuler the name of “Liquid Smoke."! 
‘Prepared Smoke,"’ etc., there is marketed 
a fluid AA'hich is, so far as we knoA\’. a 
.solution of A’arious creosotes, and this is 
diluted and painted on the meat, or else 
the meat is diiiped in a tank of it. Th(> ' 
stulT is about the .same thing that smoke-! 
hou.se smoke leaves on the meat, and it is 
a preservative, but we cannot believe that 
it will give the same flavor or that its use , 
will be as satisfactory as the .slower meth- 
od. The reason is that Avhen meat is' 
smoked a series of changes take place. ! 
and time is a factor in them as well as the ' 
sloAV application of the bodies in the ' 
smoke. The j . eparation can be obtained j 
through the large drug supply hou.ses, and 
directions are given by the makers. We 
would be glad to hear from anyone Avho 
has used this .stuff and been satisfied. 
F. D. c. 
I 
Stark City Roots —Heavy, Wide-spreading, Full of Vitality 
Plant Stark City Roots 
for quality fruits 
Chemicals for Dishwashing 
Is there any chemical preparation to 
help in disliAvashing? I know of one 
Avoman who uses a sjiray of kerosene, and 
claims it is an almost jierfect cleanst'r. 
but her men folks do not like it. 
New .lersey. c. av. ii. 
Some men are rather finicky, but. aside 
from that, the kerosene method Avill only 
help Avith the grease. There is probably 
no duty more tiresome in the long run 
than disliAvashing. Doing it once a <lay 
in a washer is possible only in rather 
small families, and if you add up the time, 
the machiiu' does not shoAV siudi a great 
gain, but is ixuliaiis pleasanter. So it is 
no womh'r that clumiists, Avho have been 
asked f<ir almost everything, are called 
upon for some jiowder or fluid, Avliich. 
added to the dishwater, Avill reduce the 
labor to a dip and a Avipe. But none' is 
knoAvn and none in jirospect. for there 
are three difi’erent tyiies of ‘•dirt” to be 
taken off; tlu' sugar and gummy matter, 
soluble in Avater, more (piickly in hot Ava¬ 
ter; the more* or h'ss cookml starchy mat¬ 
ter, slightly soluble and entirely mixable 
with Avater, the warmer the better; and 
the fatty matter, mostly insoluble in wa¬ 
ter. but largely fluid in warm, and en¬ 
tirely fluid in hot Avater. 
Plenty of hot water will Avork better 
than any chemical on the first two classes, 
but the grease complicates matters, partly 
because it is insoluble, and partly Ix'cause 
it covers tin* soluble things. To make the 
grease stick to the Avater rather than to 
the dish, some soap and a little alkali, 
usually as ready combined iii a ".soap 
powder,” are the best things to add to 
the Avater. But even a little of these, if 
long in contact Avith line di.shes, destroys 
the ornamentation, which is only skin 
deep, so the better class of dishes cannot 
be alloAved to stay long in the solution. 
If running hot Avater is at hand, almost 
no soap is needed, and very little more 
Avater is used than in a pan. but this is so 
Success with fruit growing is avcII started when you have chosen the best 
strains of fruits, and have i)Ianted strong, sturdy trees, with healthy, 
vigorous root .systems. 
None but the best A-Jiricties of fruits art* propagated at Stark City, jiiid none but 
the best trees and plants that arc* groAvn lu're are off(‘red for sale—the rest are 
burned. This assnr(‘s you the highest grade nur.sery stock. 
Read What Growers Say: 
“.Ml of your troo.s and vinos arc the host I over planted."—.Tohn Itapelyo, Xoav York. 
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