n^o  Glycerin^  its  Early  Manufacture.  {AmjS%g^4te' 
as  there  was  at  that  time  no  demand  for  the  article,  this  "  waste"  was 
allowed. 
I  at  once  set  about  producing  the  specimen  for  Prof.  Procter.  As 
near  as  I  can  remember,  taking  about  five  gallons  of  water  in  which 
lead  plaster  had  been  kneaded  and  cooled,  1  turned  it  into  an  evaporat- 
ing pan  (jacketed),  passed  on  the  steam,  keeping  it  below  the  boiling 
point,  evaporated  the  fluid  to  the  consistence  of  a  thin  syrup.  Trans- 
ferring this  to  a  glass'vessel,  a  current  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  was 
passed  through  it,  to  precipitate  the  oxide  of  lead  held  in  solution,  then 
filtered  it,  and  my  glycerin  was  completed.  Of  this,  my  first  effort,  I 
sent  Mr.  Procter  a  part,  retaining  the  balance,  which  was  often  shown 
as  a  curiosity. 
This  was  about  the  year  1846.  Although  glycerin  had  been  discov- 
ered by  Scheele  more  than  60  years  before  that  time,  it  had  not  come 
into  use  (at  least  in  this  country),  and  there  was  no  demand  for  it. 
After  this  (about  1848)  I  made  a  larger  quantity,  it  having  been 
recommended  in  a  French  medical  journal  as  a  curative  in  pulmonary 
affections.  The  paper  was  translated,  and  appeared  in  one  or  more  of 
our  medical  journals  ;  it  came  to  be  prescribed  by  some  of  our  physi- 
cians. 
Looking  back  over  my  books,  I  find,  the  first  entry  charging  glycerin 
under  date  of  "  6th  mo.  1st,  1848,"  and  this  was  to  Edward  Parrish, 
then  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Ninth  streets.  The  quan- 
tity was  small,  only  \  lb.,  and  the  price  charged  was  $4.00  per  lb.  The 
next  sale  was  to  a  New  York  house,  at  same  price,  and  for  a  larger 
quantity.  The  entire  product  sold  in  1848  was  about  15  lbs.  In  1849  I 
reduced  the  price  to  $3.00  per  lb.,  and  it  remained  steadily  at  this  figure 
until  near  the  close  of  1850,  when  it  fell  to  $2.75.  The  quantity  sold 
in  1849  was  aDout  200  lbs.  The  demand  rapidly  increased,  and  in 
1850  the  quantity  sold  was  much  larger,  but  I  find  no  charge  at  a  less 
price  than  $2.70  per  lb. 
I  find  sales  entered  to  druggists  (beside  those  in  this  city)  in  New 
York,  Boston,  Providence,  Baltimore,  Louisville,  New  Orleans,  etc. 
The  greatest  demand,  however,  came  from  our  own  wholesale  houses, 
the  manufacturing  chemists  being  the  largest  buyers.  Glycerin  now 
began  to  be  imported  from  England  (Price's),  and  sold  at  a  price  below 
what  it  cost  me  to  produce  it,  and  so  I  gradually  ceased  to  make  it. 
This  English  article  was  made  from  "soap  liquor.'* 
