Vitriol

vit'ri-ul, or Oil of Vitriol, sulphuric acid. It is composed of hydrogen, sulphur, and oxygen. It is an oily acid with a strong affinity for water. A drop poured on wood absorbs the moisture and leaves a charred spot. Poured on the skin of one's hand it draws out the water and leaves a painful sore difficult to heal. In the laboratory sulphuric acid must be handled with care. A slight amount spilled on woolen clothing will eat holes in it, or, if the amount be sufficient, it will burn the body, causing death. Vitriol or sulphuric acid is used in many industries where it is desired to free substances from animal or vegetable matter. Blue vitriol, consisting chiefly of sulphur and copper, is the basis of Scheele's green and paris green. It is used extensively in coloring papers, calico printing, gravity batteries, electro-plating, and especially as a spray in vineyards to kill insects, etc. Green vitriol, or copperas, literally, copper rose, is a sulphate of iron. It is usually of a green color, and is derived commercially from iron pyrites. It is employed in dyeing black, and as a developing agent in photography. Copperas forms an excellent black ink. It is also added to water, say a pound to the gallon, for a disinfectant for sinks and sewers. The slightest trace, a drop in a million, added to water in a reservoir, kills the typhoid germ. White vitriol is a sulphate of zinc. Red vitriol a sulphate of cobalt. See Spraying; Paris Green; Dyeing