Each of these 10 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
compounds s in which one or more atoms of hydrogen are replaced by an equivalent quantity of nitryl (NO₂); thus, lactic acid C3H6O3, becomes nitro-lactic acid C3H6 (NO₂) Oz. The nitro compounds are nitro-marin, nitro-tartaric acid, nitrosaccharose, benzoic acid, nitro-carbolic acid, nitro-coumarin, etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
an oily body prepared by gradually adding benzene to cold fuming nitric acid. It is a yellowish liquid with a sweet taste, and an odor of oil of bitter almonds. Much used by perfumers under the name of oil of mirbane, and manufactured in large quantities for the preparation of aniline and its derivatives.
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Important: Safety Warning
This page contains instructions involving gunpowder or other explosive or pyrotechnic compositions. Preparing explosives as described has caused severe injuries and deaths, and is illegal in most places.
In addition, this page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
the product of the reaction between cellulose and nitric to the product formed by the nitration of nitrocelluloses and is known as guncotton. When strong acids are used and the process of manufacture properly conducted, guncotton consists chiefly of tri-nitrocellulose, CoH7O2 (NO₂)s, but ditetra and penta-nitrocellulose are usually present. Nitrocellulose was first made in 1832 by Braconnot, by treating starch with nitric acid. Its explosive properties were discovered by Schönbein in 1845. It is insoluble in water, soluble in a mixture of alcohol and ether, and in ethyl acetate, nitrobenzene, benzol, acetone, amyl acetate and ketone oils. When cotton is treated with nitric and sulphuric acid in the presence of water, collodion Con cotton, C18H 2108 (OH) (NO₂) is produced. This material is used in the manufacture of collodion varnish, pyroxylin, artificial leather, celluloid, and many other products. The cotton used in making nitrocellulose must be free from oil and rosin, and after the acid treatment it must be washed until all traces of acid are removed.
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GENERAL GEORGES ROBERT, French army officer; born in 1857, educated at the Ecole Polytechnique and St Cyr. Early noted for his horsemanship, he entered the artillery and his first military service was in Algeria. During the Boxer Rebellion, Major Nivelle served with the Allied expeditionary force in the rescue of the Legations. At the outbreak of the World War Colonel Nivelle commanded the 5th Artillery of the 7th French Army Corps. He was with the French forces during the offensive in Alsace and was cited for bravery in capturing ng a German gun post. At the Battle of the Ourcq, in the first Battle of the Marne in September, 1914, as the Germans were crossing the river, Colonel Nivelle gathered together 18 guns and fired point-blank at the enemy, cutting them to pieces. Made a Brigadier-General, Nivelle fought at Soissons and broke the German line at Quennevières. Called to Verdun in March, and 1916, he held the Germans at bay, ay, recaptured Forts Vaux and Douaumont on Oct. 23, 1916. Was appointed Commander-in-Chief in 1917. He visited the United States in November, 1920.
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a town of Belgium; province of Brabant; on the Thines river; 19 miles S. of Brussels. Its fine Romanesque church (1045) contains the relics of Pepin's daughter, St. Gertrude. In 1381 the townsfolk of Ghent were defeated here by Count Louis of Flanders, and 6,000 burned in a monastery. Has manufactures of linen, cotton, and lace. Pop. about 13,000.
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a name applied to outlying districts in various countries, especially at one time to what now corresponds mainly to Griqualand East; also to a territory of 80,000 square miles in South Australia; to a strip ceded by Texas to the United States in 1850, for many years without any government, now constituting Beaver co., Okla.; to a small island 3 miles S. W. of Martha's Vineyard, Mass.; and to a strip of land bordering on Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, still in dispute. Used in the World War, 1914-1918, to describe the ground between the German and the Allies front lines.
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one of the alkaloids of opium, and the first base extracted from that substance, discovered by Derosne in 1803. It forms lustrous rhombic prisms, which melt at 170°, and decompose at 220°. Insoluble in water and alkalies, but soluble in alcohol and ether. It is less poisonous than morphine, and its salts are very unstable.
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the tenth male in descent from Adam, in the line of Seth; was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah. According to the Scriptural story he received the divine command to build an ark in which he and his family escaped the Deluge (Gen. v: 29-ix: 29).
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a French family which dates from the 11th century, and played an important part in history from the reign of Louis XIV. to the Revolution. Antoine (1504-1562) was ambassador in England in 1553-1556, and Admiral of France. Anne Jules (1650-1708), son of the first duke, commanded against the Huguenots and in Spain during the war of the Spanish succession, and was made marshal; while his brother, Louis Antoine (1651-1729), was Archbishop of Paris from 1695 till his death, and was made cardinal in 1700. The third duke, Adrien Maurice (1678-1766), won the marshal's baton in the wars of Louis XV. in Spain, Italy, and Germany. The fifth duke, Paul François (1739-1824), attained eminence as a chemist and was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1777; his brother, Emmanuel Marie Louis (1743-1822), was French ambassador at Amsterdam (1770-1776), London (1776-1783), and Vienna (1783- 1792). The sixth duke, Paul (1802- 1885), wrote historical works, and was elected to Chateaubriand's chair in the Academy in 1849. His second son Emmanuel Victorien (born 1830), was ambassador at Washington (1872), Rome (1873), and Constantinople (1882-1886), and wrote works on the history and literature of Poland. A grandson of the third duke, Louis Marie (1756-1804), served in the American Revolutionary War under his brother-in-law Lafayette, embraced for a while the French Revolution, and defended San Domingo against the British.
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ALFRED BERNHARD, a Swedish chemist and physicist; born in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 21, 1833. His father, Emmanuel Nobel, originally an architect, and appointed a professor of ALFRED BERNHARD NOBEL geometry at the age of 26, became interested in explosives, and founded extensive engineering and shipbuilding works at St. Petersburg, Russia; in 1859 he left these in charge of his second son, Louis, and, with the rest of his family returned to Stockholm where he founded the Noble firm engaged in the manufacture of explosives. In 1863 Alfred took out a patent for the manufacture of an explosive composed of nitroglycerin and ordinary blasting powder, and in 1864 a second patent. In 1867 he invented dynamite; in 1876 gelatinous nitroglycerin; in 1889 ballistite, which led the way to the invention of smokeless powder. The Nobel firm in 1886-1896 employed constantly 12,000 persons in the manufacture of dynamite alone, and in 25 years the firm never had a strike. Alfred invented also artificial gutta-percha; manufactured cannon, and, with his brother, Louis, developed the petroleum deposits at Baku, in the Caucasus. He subscribed half the sum for fitting out the ill-fated Andrée balloon expedition. He lived for a long time in Paris, but had a villa and laboratory at San Remo, Italy, where he died Dec. 10, 1896.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia