DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0208
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 175
Pliny, it is evident that he really means soap, although the purpose for which it was
employed creates some difficulty; and it would appear that the soap of the ancients
contained some colouring agent, and served chiefly as a hair-dye, and likewise as a
remedial agent. It does not seem that it was used for the purposes for which it is now
almost exclusively employed. Besides several kinds of fullers'-earth, and plants with
saponaceous juices (strufkiam), the ancients availed themselves of solutions of soda and
potash, which continue in use for washing in the present day. Strabo speaks of an alka-
line water (soda) in Armenia, which was used by the scourers for washing clothes, and
we find express mention of the employment of a lye made with the ashes of plants
(potashes), in cleansing oil and wine jars, and the images of the gods in the temples. The
method of strengthening the lye by means of quick-lime was known, undoubtedly, in the
time of Paulus JEgineta. The agent most commonly used for washing garments, however,
was putrid urine, which is still employed in the cloth districts for washing wool. The
fullers were literally and metaphorically in bad odour, and were required to exercise their
trade outside the town, or in unfrequented streets, but they were permitted to place tubs
at the corners of the streets, for the convenience of passengers and their own profit.
Regarding urine in the light of soap, the Emperor Vespasian may be said to have
originated the soap duty, as this source of revenue was not lost sight of by him, though,
as Beckmann remarks, it does not appear very clear how the tax was collected.
After Pliny, soap is mentioned by Geber, in the second century of the Christian era,
and at a later period, frequently by the Arab writers: but although undoubtedly used
for washing, it is spoken of chiefly as a remedial agent for external application. It
would be a difficult matter to trace the onward progress of soap-making, step by step,
but it is certain that the boiling of soap flourished in the seventeenth century, as we possess
extensive directions of that date for its preparation. It is only in the most modern
times, that the soap-manufacture has attained that extraordinary development which
distinguishes this branch of trade; various circumstances have contributed to produce it.
The valuable researches of Chevreul, although they explain the nature of saponification,
have contributed less to the advance of the soap manufacture than to that of candle-
making, hereafter to be described. On the other hand, the development of the manufac-
ture of soda has proved a most powerful stimulus to that of soap, which, when freed from
its dependence on the uncertain and limited supply of barilla and kelp, made such strides
as could not have been anticipated. Mr. James Muspratt, who was the first in England
to carry out successfully, and on a large scale, Leblanc's method of preparing soda from
chloride of sodium (sea-salt), informs us that he was compelled to give away soda by tons
to the soap-boilers, before he succeeded in convincing them of the extraordinary advan-
tages to be derived from the adoption of this material. As soon, however, as he had
effected this, and when the soap-boilers discovered how much time and money they
saved by using artificial soda, orders came in so rapidly, that Mr. Muspratt, to satisfy
the demand, had his soda discharged red-hot into iron carts, and thus conveyed to the
soap-manufactories. Prom that period, a constant race was kept up between soap-making
and the artificial production of soda; every improvement in Leblanc's process was
followed by an extension of the soap-trade; and it is a curious fact, that the single sea-
port of Liverpool, exports annually more soap at present, than did all those of Great
Britain, previous to the conversion of chloride of sodium into carbonate of soda. The
manufacture of soap has, on the other hand, been a powerful stimulus to the prepara-
tion of soda and of the important secondary product, hypochlorite of lime (bleaching
powder), which are so intimately allied with almost all branches of chemical trades. Thus
soap occupies one of the most important pages in the history of applied chemistry. The
increase in the consumption of this article has led, moreover, to the discovery of new
Pliny, it is evident that he really means soap, although the purpose for which it was
employed creates some difficulty; and it would appear that the soap of the ancients
contained some colouring agent, and served chiefly as a hair-dye, and likewise as a
remedial agent. It does not seem that it was used for the purposes for which it is now
almost exclusively employed. Besides several kinds of fullers'-earth, and plants with
saponaceous juices (strufkiam), the ancients availed themselves of solutions of soda and
potash, which continue in use for washing in the present day. Strabo speaks of an alka-
line water (soda) in Armenia, which was used by the scourers for washing clothes, and
we find express mention of the employment of a lye made with the ashes of plants
(potashes), in cleansing oil and wine jars, and the images of the gods in the temples. The
method of strengthening the lye by means of quick-lime was known, undoubtedly, in the
time of Paulus JEgineta. The agent most commonly used for washing garments, however,
was putrid urine, which is still employed in the cloth districts for washing wool. The
fullers were literally and metaphorically in bad odour, and were required to exercise their
trade outside the town, or in unfrequented streets, but they were permitted to place tubs
at the corners of the streets, for the convenience of passengers and their own profit.
Regarding urine in the light of soap, the Emperor Vespasian may be said to have
originated the soap duty, as this source of revenue was not lost sight of by him, though,
as Beckmann remarks, it does not appear very clear how the tax was collected.
After Pliny, soap is mentioned by Geber, in the second century of the Christian era,
and at a later period, frequently by the Arab writers: but although undoubtedly used
for washing, it is spoken of chiefly as a remedial agent for external application. It
would be a difficult matter to trace the onward progress of soap-making, step by step,
but it is certain that the boiling of soap flourished in the seventeenth century, as we possess
extensive directions of that date for its preparation. It is only in the most modern
times, that the soap-manufacture has attained that extraordinary development which
distinguishes this branch of trade; various circumstances have contributed to produce it.
The valuable researches of Chevreul, although they explain the nature of saponification,
have contributed less to the advance of the soap manufacture than to that of candle-
making, hereafter to be described. On the other hand, the development of the manufac-
ture of soda has proved a most powerful stimulus to that of soap, which, when freed from
its dependence on the uncertain and limited supply of barilla and kelp, made such strides
as could not have been anticipated. Mr. James Muspratt, who was the first in England
to carry out successfully, and on a large scale, Leblanc's method of preparing soda from
chloride of sodium (sea-salt), informs us that he was compelled to give away soda by tons
to the soap-boilers, before he succeeded in convincing them of the extraordinary advan-
tages to be derived from the adoption of this material. As soon, however, as he had
effected this, and when the soap-boilers discovered how much time and money they
saved by using artificial soda, orders came in so rapidly, that Mr. Muspratt, to satisfy
the demand, had his soda discharged red-hot into iron carts, and thus conveyed to the
soap-manufactories. Prom that period, a constant race was kept up between soap-making
and the artificial production of soda; every improvement in Leblanc's process was
followed by an extension of the soap-trade; and it is a curious fact, that the single sea-
port of Liverpool, exports annually more soap at present, than did all those of Great
Britain, previous to the conversion of chloride of sodium into carbonate of soda. The
manufacture of soap has, on the other hand, been a powerful stimulus to the prepara-
tion of soda and of the important secondary product, hypochlorite of lime (bleaching
powder), which are so intimately allied with almost all branches of chemical trades. Thus
soap occupies one of the most important pages in the history of applied chemistry. The
increase in the consumption of this article has led, moreover, to the discovery of new