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Trinitarians

an order of monks founded at Rome in 1198 by St. John of Matha, a native of Provence, and an old French hermit, Felix of Valois, to redeem Christian captives out of the hands of the infidels. The order was sanctioned by Innocent III.; the rule was that of St. Austin, with particular statutes; the diet was of great austerity; and the habit, at least in France, was a soutane and scapular of white serge, with a red and blue cross on the right breast.

At one time the order possessed 250 houses, and it was estimated in the 17th century, that, since its foundation, it had been instrumental in rescuing more than 30,000 Christian captives from what was practically slavery. A reform took place in 1599, and resulted in the erection of the congregation of Discalced Trinitarians in Spain, in which country the order (reformed and unreformed) was suppressed in the reign of Isabella II. TRINITROTOLUENES, substances formed by the nitration of toluene, having the general formula CoH2CH3 (NO2) 3. There are three compounds of this name, all having the same chemical constitution, but differing in the arrangement TRINITY of the nitro groups in the molecule.

These three are known respectively as A, B, and I trinitrotoluene. The most important of the three is A or symmetrical trinitrotoluene, which forms the constituent of the explosive well known as T. N. T. B and I trinitrotoluene, when fused with sodium sulphide and sulphur, yield dyes which give a deep khaki-brown shade. Most of the T. N. T. used for explosive purposes contains small amounts of the B and I isomers, but for some purposes a very pure T. N. T. is required, and this is produced by recrystallizing the crude product from various solvents such as alcohol, benzene or a mixture of the two. The nitration of toluene can be carried out in two stages or in three. In the three-stage process, mono-nitrotoluene is first produced by nitrating toluene with a comparatively weak solution of mixed nitric and sulphuric acids. From this, by further nitration, dinitrotoluene is produced, and finally by treating the dinitrotoluene with strong mixed acids, trinitrotoluene is produced. By the twostage process, mononitrotoluene is first produced, as above, and then converted direct to trinitrotoluene by treatment with strong mixed acids. A one-stage process has been tried, but is viewed with disfavor, owing to the danger of introducing strong acid direct into toluene. See EXPLOSIVES.