46 
MANUFACTURE  OF  CARBONATES  OF  SODA. 
with  water,  in  the  proportion  of  ten  oz.  of  water  to  one  lb.  of  flour 
for  bread,  and  six  oz.  of  water  to  one  lb.  of  flour  for  biscuits,  and 
to  be  baked  at  once  in  a  well-heated  oven.  Carbonate  of  ammo- 
nia, either  alone  or  in  combination  with  tartaric  acid,  is  also  em- 
ployed in  making  bread,  cakes,  &c,  but  great  attention  is  necessary 
to  obtain  such  a  gradual  and' continuous  evolution  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  as  will  prevent  the  bread  sinking  again  before  it  is  placed  in 
the  oven.  A  mixture  of  carbonate  of  ammonia  and  alum  answers 
well,  the  only  objection  to  its  use  arising  from  the  alum  remaining 
in  the  bread.  In  all  cases  in  which  aramoniacal  salts  are  employed 
it  is  generally  found  difficult  to  expel  them  completely  from  the 
bread,  which  is  thus  apt  to  acquire  a  disagreeable  taste. 
The  composition  of  egg  or  baking  powder  is  as  follows  : — Car- 
bonate of  soda  fifty-six  lbs.;  tartaric  acid  twenty-eight  lbs.;  potato- 
flour  one  cwt.;  turmeric  powder  three-quarters  of  a  lb.-— Pharmacu- 
tical  Journal,  Oct.  1853. 
PATENT  GRANTED  TO  WILLIAM  EDWARD  NEWTON,  FOR  IM- 
PROVEMENTS IN  THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  CARBONATES  OF 
SODA. 
In  carrying  out  his  improvements,  the  inventor  takes  sulphate 
of  soda,  as  obtained  by  any  of  the  known  processes,  and  reduces 
it  to  a  coarse  powder ;  and  with  this  he  mixes  about  one-half  its 
weight,  more  or  less,  of  powdered  coal,  charcoal,  sawdust,  or 
other  combustible  matter.  This  mixture  is  subjected  to  a  low 
red  heat,  in  a  suitable  furnace,  until  the  mass  is  melted,  and 
thoroughly  decomposed  into  sulphuret  of  sodium.  It  is  then 
withdrawn  from  the  furnace,  and,  when  cool  enough,  dissolved  in 
water,  and  run  into  suitable  air-tight  vats,  provided  with  pipes 
and  stop-cocks,  and  connected  with  each  other  in  the  manner 
known  among  chemists  as  Woulf's  apparatus ;  which  vats,  for 
greater  convenience,  are  placed  one  above  another.  By  an  air- 
pump,  or  other  suitable  means,  carbonic  acid  is  then  transmitted 
through  the  liquid  in  the  series  of  vats,  entering  the  lower  ones 
first.  It  is  preferred  that  this  carbonic  acid  should  be  obtained 
from  the  escape  gases  from  chimneys,  or  other  parts  of  furnaces 
burning  anthracite  or  other  mineral  coal,  and  especially  from  the 
chimneys  of  steam  boilers.    The  gases  are  first  passed  through 
