aass:=l 
 
 USE OF OILS 
 
 IN 
 
 TEXTILE MILLS 
 
 GILL 
 
 I 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 NCSU Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/useofoilsintextiOOgill 
 
USE OF OILS 
 
 IN 
 
 TEXTILE MILLS 
 
 BY 
 
 AUGUSTUS H. GILL, PH. D. 
 
 PROHESSOR OP TECHNICAL ANALYSIS, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE 
 OF TECHNOLOGY. CAMBRIDGE. MASS. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 TEXTILES 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
Copyright, 1920 
 By SAMUEL S. DALE 
 
Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 Mineral Oils 4 
 
 Organic Oils 8 
 
 Castor Oil 10 
 
 Cocoanut Oil 10 
 
 Com or Maize Oil 11 
 
 Cottonseed Oil 11 
 
 Klaine or Keil Oil 11 
 
 Horse Oil 12 
 
 Lard Oil 12 
 
 Linseed (Jil 13 
 
 Neatsfoot Oil 13 
 
 Olive Oil 13 
 
 Palm Oil 14 
 
 I'alui Kernel Oil 14 
 
 Kapeseed Oil 14 
 
 Uosin Oil 15 
 
 Sesanig or Teel Oil 15 
 
 Soya Oil 15 
 
 Sperm Oil 15 
 
 Tallow or Ox Oil 16 
 
 Turpentine 16 
 
 Whale Oil 10 
 
 Blown Oils 16 
 
 Wool Fat 17 
 
 Distilled Grease 18 
 
 Oil Foots 19 
 
 Fuller's Grease 20 
 
 Black Oil 20 
 
 Garbage Grease 21 
 
 Lubricating Greas« 21 
 
 Fiber Grease 22 
 
 Gear Grease 22 
 
 Pinion Grease 22 
 
 Grapbite Grease 22 
 
 Petroleum Grease 2-i 
 
 Hot Ne<'k Grease 2: J 
 
 Miscellaneous Oils 24 
 
 (Jas Engine Oils 24 
 
 Belt Oils or Dressing 24 
 
 Crank Case Oils 24 
 
 ^'ydinder Oils 24 
 
 I^ressing or Finishing Oils 25 
 
 Engine Oils 25 
 
 Milling Machine or Soluble Oils 25 
 
 Neutral Oil 25 
 
 Oilless Bearings 26 
 
 Screw Cutting Oils 26 
 
 Loom Oil 26 
 
 Spindle Oil 26 
 
 Stainless Oils 26 
 
 Turbine Oil , 20 
 
 Wool Oils 26 
 
iv CONTF^NTS— Cnnlinued 
 
 Page 
 
 Properties and Tests of Lubricants -T 
 
 Rapid Tests 27 
 
 Heat Test 27 
 
 Kiuiilsiflcation Ti-st -'8 
 
 More Thorough Tests 28 
 
 (iaso-linc Test 28 
 
 Viscosity Test 28 
 
 Visoosimeter 29 
 
 Specific Gravity 31 
 
 Cold Test 33 
 
 < Flash-l'oint 33 
 
 Fire Test 35 
 
 Cummiug Test 35 
 
 Test for Acidity 36 
 
 Tests for Animal and Veiretable Oils in Mineral Oils 36 
 
 Detection of "Oil Tliiolcener" 36 
 
 Evaporation Test 37 
 
 Friction Test 37 
 
 Tests of Burning Oils 39 
 
 Flasli Test 39 
 
 Fire Test 41 
 
 Specific Gravity 41 
 
 Sulphuric Acid Test 42 
 
 Tests for Animal and Vegetable Oil 42 
 
 Physical Tests 43 
 
 Specific Gravity 44 
 
 Valenla Test 44 
 
 Klaidin Test 45 
 
 ]\Iaumen6 Test 46 
 
 Halphen's Test for Cottonseed Oil 47 
 
 Tests for Unsaponifinble Oils 48 
 
 Saponification Number 48 
 
 Iodine Value 48 
 
 Spontaneous Combustion Test 49 
 
 General Considerations 51 
 
 Gravity and Baum6 53 
 
 Tests of Certain Oils 53 
 
 AVoar and Tear of Oils 54 
 
Introduction 
 
 Oils are nearly colorless, yellowish, brownish red, or 
 black liquids having a peculiar fluidity or "body." They are 
 thicker than water on which they usually float, and are 
 neither acid nor alkaline in character. 
 
 According to their origin, they are divided into two great 
 classes: 
 
 (1) Mineral oils, coming from the earth. 
 
 (2) Organic oils, the product of animal or vegetable life. 
 The mineral oils are similarly divided into two classes: 
 
 those of paraffin base and those of asphaltic base. The 
 former are more extensively used as lubricants, although 
 the use of the latter for this purpose is increasing. Certain 
 thick asphaltic oils when heated, and a current of com- 
 pressed air blown through them, change into asphalt, "oil," 
 or "artificial asphalt," whereas the paraffin oils remain 
 practically unchanged. 
 
 Organic oils are obtained from the seeds of plants or the 
 fat of animals, and are also divided into two classes: fixed 
 or fatty oils, and essential or volatile oils. The fixed oils, 
 like lard or olive, leave a permanent stain on cloth or paper, 
 while the spot made by volatile oils like turpentine or clove, 
 evaporates completely on exposure to the air. 
 
 The fixed or fatty oils are subdivided into three groups: 
 the drying, the semi-drying, and the non-drying oils. A dry- 
 ing oil hardens and soon forms a skin on exposure to the 
 air, by the absorption of oxygen, as shown with linseed oil. 
 The semi-drying oil tends to the same condition, but natur- 
 ally contains too many non-drying compounds to permit it. 
 Cottonseed or corn oil is an example of this, thickening 
 fiomewhat on exposure to the air. The non-drying oils, such 
 as olive or lard, as their name denotes, change but little even 
 on very long exposure. 
 
 The volatile oils are the substances that impart the char- 
 acteristic odor to plants and animals. They are Interesting 
 to us only as they serve to mask some familiar or disagree- 
 able odor of an oil in a lubricating compound. 
 
Having defined the various oils, it is interesting to see 
 how these differences are accounted for and learn something 
 more about their properties. 
 
 The mineral oils are composed of hydrocarbons, that is, 
 liquids made up of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrogen (H) is a 
 gas used in filling balloons, while carbon (C) is familiar to 
 us in coal, coke, black lead and the diamond. Wlien chem- 
 ically bound to hydrogen, it makes natural gas (mainly CH4, 
 the simplest hydrocarbon), gasoline (CcH„), kerosene, spin- 
 dle oil and all the various mineral lubricating oils, and finally 
 solid paraffin. 
 
 The symbols or formulas Just used (CH<, CcHjJ are In the 
 first place abbreviations; but they mean more than the ferr. 
 sulph. (ferrous sulphate) and pot. nitr. (potassium nitrate) 
 of the apothecary; they show by a small figure (4, 6, 14) writ- 
 ten after the element and below the line, the number of 
 atoms or smallest parts of each element in a molecule or 
 smallest part of a substance. 
 
 Thus CH« means in marsh gas (methane) that we find 1 
 atom of carbon and 4 atoms of hydrogen, or since every 
 atom of carbon weighs 12 units and hydrogen, 1, there are 
 12 parts, 75 per cent., by weight of carbon in a molecule of 
 marsh gas and 4 parts, 25 per cent, by weight of hydrogen. 
 So with Cr,Hi«, the symbol means there are 6 atoms of carbon 
 and 14 atoms of hydrogen combined to make a molecule of 
 hexane; or there are 72/86th of 84 per cent, carbon and 
 14/S6ths or 16 per cent, hydrogen in the compound. < 
 
 So it is with every chemical formula. If we let the num- 
 ber of carbon atoms be represented by n, we shall find that 
 hydrogen atoms can be represented by 2n-(-2; this is the 
 general formula of the parafiln series. 
 
 Besides this we have several other series— the define 
 CnH,n, members of which are also found In lubricating oils, 
 CnH,n'2; the acetylene series, CnH,n-6; the aromatic series, 
 and others, the basis of many of the perfumes, dyes and 
 drugs. Toluene (toluol) one of Its members, is used to make 
 T.N.T, tri-nitro-toluene or toluol. 
 
 These hydrocarbons, particularly the paraffins, are neu- 
 tral, Inert, inactive compounds, the word "neutral" meaning 
 "without affinity." They are insoluble in water and cannot 
 be saponified; this Is why it Is that spots of loom oil are so 
 
 2 
 
dlCBcult to remove. Some of them In thin layers even tena 
 to gum or reslnify, making their removal Btlll harder. All 
 that soaps or alkalis do to them Is to emulsify or split them 
 up Into exceedingly small globules and envelop them with a 
 film of soap, preventing them from sticking to the fabric or 
 each other, in which condition they can be washed off. 
 
 Organic oils, like the preceding, are made up of hydrogen 
 and carbon and also oxygen. They are compounds of glycer- 
 ine and fatty acids — organic salts of organic acids. By the 
 term salt Is meant a compound formed by the union of an 
 acid and a base. Acids are contained In vinegar. In sour 
 milk and fruits, and "soldering acid": they have a sour taate 
 and turn vegetable blues red. 
 
 Bases or alkalis are exactly opposite In character to the 
 acids, they are familiar to us In slaked lime, "household am- 
 monia" and lye. They have a biting taste and a "soapy feel," 
 actually dissolving the skin, and turn vegetable reds blue. 
 The base in the case of these oils is glycerine C,H,(OH),. 
 The acid may be one of a number of fatty acids, stearic 
 C„H,.COOH, or oleic C„H„COOH; In the animal fats and 
 oils — olive or neatsfoot for example. It Is largely oleln, hav- 
 ing the formula 
 C.,H„COO 1 
 C„H„COO } C.H, 
 C„H.,COO J 
 which Is oleate of glyceryl. When these oils are made Into 
 soap, glycerine Is always formed, and, as Is well known. Is a 
 by-product of the soap factories. An Idea of what takes 
 place may be gained from the expression: 
 
 Oil -f lye gives soap -f glycerine, oi as the chemist would 
 express It: 
 
 C„H,.COO ] NaOH C„H„COONa f OH 
 
 C„H,.COO [ C.H, -(- NaOH =C„H„COONa + C,H, ^ OH 
 C„H„COOJ NaOH C„M„COONa ( OH 
 
 Glyceryl oleate + soda = soap + glycerine 
 
 Oleln (olive oil) lye 
 
 The reaction, as It Is called, pictures the process known as 
 saponification, and explains the washing out of wool oils 
 from fabrics, the soap formed being dissolved in water. 
 
 Inasmuch as machine oils, usually hydrocarbon oils, are 
 unsaponifiable, It explains why these are so difficult to remove. 
 
 3 
 
Many experiments have been made, and much time con- 
 sumed In attempts to saponify hydrocarbon oils, but it Is 
 impossible, and the explanation ju.si given shows why it is. 
 The most that has been accomplished, is to mix the soap and 
 mineral oil together, the soap emulsifying the latter and en- 
 abling it to be partially washed out. 
 
 Mineral Oils. 
 Several theories have been proposed as to the origin of 
 petroleum. One is that it was formed from the flowerless 
 plants and simple animals at about the same time and in a 
 
 <rroc//fe/ /.eye/ 
 
 1 ig. 1— PETROLEUM STILL. 
 
 similar manner as was coal. Another that it was produced 
 by the natural distillation of the fat of the fish that were so 
 abundant just subsequent to the coal period. Professor 
 Engler has substantiated this theory by distilling half a ton 
 of menhaden oil at a prespure of l-"0 pounds and obtaining 
 a product resembling crude petroleum, from which, by dis* 
 tillation, a good illuminating oil was prepared. 
 
 Petroleum (rock oil) is found in many localities, of which 
 those in North America, Canada, :\Iexico and Russia are the 
 more important. It is obtained by drilling a well, like an ar- 
 
tesian well, until the oil-sands are reached, usually at a depth 
 of 1,800 or 2,000 feet, whence the oil gushes for a time and 
 afterward requires to be pumped. 
 
 It finds its way by pipe lines and storage tanks into the 
 still, Figs. 1 and 2. This still resembles a hofizontal tubular 
 boiler 42 feet long x 15 feet in diameter, holding about 50,- 
 000 gallons. This is heated at the end or side, using coal or 
 oil as fuel. The vapors formed by the heat pass out by 
 domes and goosenecks to the condenser, Fig. 3, which are 
 coils of pipe, and set in tanks of running water. 
 
 The vapors are condensed to a liquid, and products of dif- 
 
 Figr. 2— rKTROLEUM STILL. 
 
 ferent densities are obtained, the lighter portions coming off 
 first, the different portions being separated according to the 
 indications of the hydrometer. These portions are known as 
 the "naphtha di.slillate," the "burning oil distillate" and the 
 "lubricating oil distillate." These are treated in tall tanks, 
 called "agitators," with sulphuric acid to remove the 
 "skunks," as the bad smelling portions are called, and then 
 washed with alkali and water. 
 
 This is the treatment more particularly for oils that have 
 been prepared by the "cracking process," which consists of 
 breaking down the molecules of the very heavy oils into 
 
 5 
 
smaller and lighter ones, just as a dish is cracked into small 
 fragments. Oils which have been prepared by straight distil- 
 lation, particularly one in which dry steam Is used, to lift 
 the heavy vapors out of the still, are not usually acid 
 treated. 
 
 Fig. 3— PETROLEUM CONDENSER. 
 
 Both classes of oils may be filtered through bone charcoal 
 or fuller's earth to Improve the color. There seems to be a 
 clearly defined impression that the loss of color Is also ac- 
 companied by a loss In the lubricating value. Acid-treated 
 oils emulsify more readily with water, partly on account of 
 
 6 
 
the "sulpho" compounds which they contain, and are less de- 
 sirable as lubricants. Sulphonic and sulphuric acids are dif- 
 ficult to remove completely. 
 
 The following table shows some of the principal products 
 derived from petroleum, together with their properties and 
 uses: 
 
 Naphthas. 
 Name Gravity Be. Boils, °F. Use 
 
 Cyraogene , 110-100 32 Ice machines 
 
 Rhigolene 100-90 65 Anesthesia 
 
 Petroleum ether 90-80 100-150 Gas machines 
 
 Gasolene 80-75 150-190 1 Oil extraction 
 
 Naphtha 76-70 160-210 j Motor stoves 
 
 Ligroine 67-62 160-225 Motors for 
 
 Benzine 62-57 225-300 turpentine 
 
 Burning Oils. 
 
 Fire test 
 
 Export oil 57-53 100 Burning(Chlna) 
 
 Export oil 53-50 120 " (Eng.) 
 
 Kerosene 50-47 135-150 " (Amer.) 
 
 Mineral sperm 39-36 300 
 
 Lubricating Oils. 
 
 Gravity "Be. Flash °F. Cold °F. Tiscosity, 
 
 Spindle Oils: Sec. at 70 °F. 
 
 No. 4 Eagle 34.4 320 25 72 
 
 No. 1 Eagle 30.3 390 25 200 
 
 Engine oil 31.7 300 30 49 
 
 Engine oil 27.9 350 32 104 
 
 Engine oil 24.9 395 32 220 
 
 Engine oil 23.1 415 34 400 
 
 Cylinder oil 28.1 500 50.55 117* 
 
 Cylinder oil 27.5 550 50 150 
 
 Cylinder oil 26.1 600 35 200 
 
 •at 212° F. 
 
Organic Oils 
 
 Oil is found in all parts of animals and vegetables, al- 
 though more is contained in certain parts than in others. In 
 land animals the fat occurs on the back, abdomen, and upper 
 parts of the legs; in lish, around the body, as the blubber 
 of the whale; in the head with the blackfish and sperm 
 whale; throughout the whole body, as in the menhaden, and 
 in the liver, as with the codfish and shark. 
 
 With vegetables, oil is mostly found ic the seed, although 
 with the essential or volatile oils, it occurs in the flower, as 
 with the rose; in the bark, as with cinnamon; and in the 
 root, as with sassafras. 
 
 These oils are contained in cells composed of animal mem- 
 branes or of cellulose, and to obtain the oil the cells must be 
 ruptured. This is usually done by heat in the case of animal 
 oils, and with vegetable oils by grinding and pressure. The 
 membranes containing oil soon putrefy on standing, causing 
 the oil to turn rancid and have a bad odor; consequently, ani- 
 mal oils should be rendered as soon as possible. 
 
 The animal fat is cut up into small fragments and filled 
 into large digesters or autoclaves. Fig. 4, heated with direct 
 steam. The apparatus is filled and discharged by manholes 
 at the top and bottom. When steam at 50 pounds pressure is 
 admitted, the cell walls are broken down and the melted fat 
 flows with the water to the bottom of the apparatus. The 
 gases evolved, together with some steam which is condensed, 
 pass to a chimney or sewer. After a few hours' heating the 
 steam Is shut off, the pressure released, and the autoclave 
 allowed to stand in order to separate the oil from the water. 
 
 The separation can be determined by means of cocks at 
 various heights upon the autoclave. When this has taken 
 place, the water Is drawn off as completely as possible 
 through these cocks, and the oil through another. The ani- 
 mal tissue (cell walls or membranes), "scraps" or "crack- 
 lings" are discharged through the bottom manhole. These 
 cocks serve also as exits for the water used in washing the 
 fat after it is packed in the autoclave. 
 
 With the vegetable oils the seeds, hulled in some cases, 
 are crushed by rollers or edge-runners, rupturing the oil- 
 cells, the resulting mass being steamed or "cooked" to com- 
 
plete the rupture and render the oil more fluid, and then 
 pressed in duck or horso-hair bags in a hydraulic press. This 
 press consists of a framework supporting the top, against 
 which the bags are pressed by the ram, which is forced out 
 of Its cylinder by pressure of water or oil. 
 
 Oil obtained by cold and moderate pressing is the best. 
 The yield is small and after pressing in this manner, the 
 press Is enclosed and heated by steam, and the pressure In- 
 ceased with a corresponding Increase in yield. Wedge, 
 screw, knuckle-joint, lever and eccentric presses are also 
 used. 
 
 Fisr. 4— A DIGKSTKR FOR ANOLVL FAT. 
 
 Vegetable oils can be prepared by dissolving them out 
 from the crushed mass with naphtha, carbon bisulphide or 
 tetrachloride. To this end the crushed seeds are filled into 
 boiler-iron extractors like the autoclave, which are provided 
 with false bottoms, and the solvent, as naphtha, caused to 
 circulate through the mass, dissolving the oil. The solution 
 is then heated, and the solvent distilled off. leaving the oil. 
 The condensed solvent can be used again. 
 
 A larger yield of oil is obtained by this method, but it con- 
 
 9 
 
tains more impurities, such as gums, gelatinous matters, etc., 
 for the naphtha dissolves these as well as the oil. Further- 
 more, the odor of the solvent is diflBcult to remove com- 
 pletely from the oil. The residue left in the extractors, con- 
 taining less oil, is not as valuable for cattle feed as the press 
 cake, and can be used only as a fertilizer or fuel. The plant 
 required for this process is more complicated and expensive 
 and more dangerous as a fire risk. 
 
 The oils when freshly expressed or rendered are often 
 dark in color or contain resinous, gummy, or gelatinous mat- 
 ter, fatty acids and water and require to be refined or clari- 
 fied. The treatment varies with the oil. With cotton seed, 
 whale, and sperm oils they are treated with caustic soda lye, 
 which combines with the color and saponifies the fatty 
 acids, the soap thus formed carrying down the gummy mat- 
 ters as "foots." 
 
 Some of the animal oils, as lard, are in addition treated 
 with compressed air and fuller's earth to improve the color. 
 Certain other oils are bleached with acids and bichromate of 
 potassium or sodium peroxide. Frequently, as with linseed 
 oil, water and mucilage are removed by allowing the oil to 
 settle for twelve to eighteen months, becoming an "aged" or 
 "varnish oil." Besides this artificial means, oils are bleached 
 by exposure to sunlight in shallow tanks. 
 
 Castor O.il is semi-drying oil obtained by pressing castor 
 beans, which contain about 50 per cent, of oil. It is a color- 
 less or pale-greenish, heavy, thick, and viscous oil. It is 
 adulterated with blown oil (for few others are heavy enough 
 to serve as adulterants), such as linseed, rape or cottonseed 
 and rosin oils. These, though 10 per cent, be present, cause 
 a turbidity with alcohol with which castor oil is miscible In 
 every proportion. Castor oil is employed in medicine, in the 
 manufacture of Turkey-red (sulphonated) oil, for soap mak- 
 ing, illumination, as a belt dressing, and on steamships as a 
 lubricant. 
 
 Cocoanut Oil or fat is obtained from the fat of the coaconut, 
 the fruit of a species of palm. The finest quality is that pre- 
 pared in Malabar from the fresh fruit. Inferior varieties are 
 made from the dry kernels or "copra," which contain from 
 GO to 70 per cent, of oil. It is a solid, white fat of bland taste 
 and peculiar odor, readily turning rancid. It is soluble in two 
 
 10 
 
volumes of absolute alcohol at 90° F. It is used in soap- 
 making, particularly for salt-water soaps, in candle-making, 
 and as a table fat, the various "nut" margarines. 
 
 Corn or Maize Oil is a semi-drying oil obtained by pressing 
 the germ of the corn separated in the manufacture of starch 
 or alcohol. It is a pale-yellow to golden-yellow oil, excelling 
 cottonseed oil in absorbing oxygen from the air. It is adul- 
 terated with mineral and rosin oils, shown by lowering the 
 Maumen§ value, and in the case of mineral oil by the lower 
 specific gravity. It is used as an adulterant for linseed and 
 lard oils, for painting, burning, lubricating and soap-making, 
 and after treatment with sulphur chloride, as a waterproof 
 and belt dressing and a substitute for rubber. 
 
 Cottonseed Oil is a semi-drying oil prepared by pressing the 
 seeds of the cotton plant, which contain about 25 per cent, of 
 oil. When first pressed, the oil is ruby-red or black, and is 
 purified by treatment with caustic soda, carrying down the 
 color and gelatinous substances as "cottonseed foots." The 
 oil thus obtained varies in color from white to deep yellow. It 
 belongs to the class of the semi-drying oils, slowly absorbing 
 oxygen from the air and "gumming," which renders it less 
 valuable as a lubricant. Cottonseed oil is rarely adulterated. 
 It serves, however, to adulterate other oils, where its pres- 
 ence can be shown by the Halphen test, already described. 
 Other uses are as a screw-cutting oil, for soap-making, and as 
 a salad and hardened cooking oil. 
 
 Elaine or Red Oil. Commercial oleic acid. Oleine. The 
 name "oleine" is applied by the oil trade to a limpid oil, 
 really oleic acid, obtained by the breaking down of a fat, 
 by saponification with a mineral acid or by distillation. Simi- 
 larly the companion term "stearine" (usually wrongly pro- 
 nounced sterreen), really stearic acid, is the solid part 
 obtained, 
 
 Elaine oil is made by heating fat in closed vessels or auto- 
 claves, similar to that shown in Fig. 4, with 2 to 4 per cent, 
 of lime or sulphuric acid. This probably begins the saponifi- 
 cation, as the process is called, which is completed by the 
 steam. It is like the action which takes place in making 
 soap (01-oleic acid): 
 
 CjH.OIa + 3 H,0 = CJL. (OH), + 3 HOI 
 
 oil + water = glycerine -\- oleine 
 
 11 
 
Because these oils are acid they are readily and completely 
 saponifiable, hence they are much used as wool oils, and may 
 be adulterated with any of the cheaper oils, as cottonseed or 
 mineral. In their use it should be borne in mind that they 
 are really acids, not oils, and consequently will corrode metals. 
 This is seen sometimes in their corrosive action upon the 
 pins of the combs in wool combing, the leather backs of the 
 card clothing, and particularly upon articles of brass or 
 copper. 
 
 There has been a more or less justly founded prejudice 
 against the use of elaine oils on account of their liability to 
 produce spontaneous combustion. The writer well reinem- 
 bers some white woolen yarn which had been stored some 
 months "in the grease," on spindles tightly packed in wooden 
 cases in a cool basement. When opened the yarn was rotted 
 and charred, and had it not been for the fact that the cases 
 were tightly closed, preventing a rapid oxidation, fire would 
 undoubtedly have resulted from the spontaneous oxidation 
 of the oil. Recent work of Swett and Hughes seems to in- 
 dicate that a small percentage of iron in the oil will bring 
 about this result. 
 
 Horse Oil is a non-drying oil prepared by rendering dead 
 horses. It varies in consistency from an oil to a grease, and 
 in color from light to deep yellow. It is used for mixing with 
 and adulterating other oils. 
 
 Lard Oil is a non-drying oil obtained by pressing lard. The 
 lard is chilled, brought into press-cloths and pressed in screw 
 or chain presses at a pressure of about four tons to the 
 square inch, yielding from 40 to 60 per cent, of oil. The oil 
 is valued according to color, which varies from reddish brown 
 to very light straw yellow, according to the lard from which 
 it is pressed. Frequently the color is improved by refining 
 with fuller's earth. The grades in the market are Prime, 
 Pure, Extra No. 1, Crackling Oil, No. 1 and No. 2, Prime be- 
 ing the best. The odor varies from almost none to offensive 
 in the No. 2 samples. 
 
 Lard oil is adulterated with cottonseed, corn, and neutral 
 petroleum oils. Cottonseed is shown by the Halphcn test 
 and by the higher Maumene (sulphuric acid) test. Should the 
 oil not give the Ilalphen test, hut show a high Maumene 
 value, it is an indication of the presence of corn oil. Neutral 
 petroleum would be shown by the flash test and a low Mau- 
 
 12 
 
men6 value; ordinary petroleum, by the "bloom" or fluore- 
 scence. The oil is used as a screw-cutting oil, for burning 
 (signal oil, miner's lamp oil), for oiling wool preparatory to 
 spinning, and ir. soap-making. 
 
 Linseed Oil is a drying oil prepared from flaxseed, which 
 contains about 40 per cent, of oil. The oil is called Calcutta 
 and Western oil from the locality where the seed is grown. 
 It is of a golden yellow color and pleasant odor. When ex- 
 posed to the air it absorbs oxygen, forming a thin film of a 
 gummy insoluble substance, hence its use as a paint oil. 
 This film oil is, however, quite porous, and of little protec- 
 tion unless it carries a pigment in it. 
 
 Linseed oil is an example of a drying oil, and it may dry 
 so rapidly as to produce heat and cause fire by spontaneous 
 combustion. Great care shotild consequently be used to burn 
 up all rags or waste saturated with animal or vegetable oils, 
 particularly linseed, not even saving them for use on the fol- 
 lowing day. This caution does not apply to mineral oils or 
 mixtures of the above oils with mineral oils where the latter 
 constitute half the volume of the mixture. The oils which 
 are liable to cause spontaneous coml)usion are: first, the dry- 
 ing oils, as linseed and menhaden; second, the semi-drying 
 oils, as corn, cottonseed, and rapeseed, also neatsfoot, lard, 
 and "red oil." 
 
 Linseed oil is adulterated with corn, cottonseed, menhaden, 
 and rosin oils, all of which retard the drying tendency. 
 
 Neatsfoot Oil is a non-drying oil obtained, as its name sig- 
 nifies, from the feet of neat cattle, that is, steers, cows, etc. 
 The hoofs are separated, the bones of the feet disjointed and 
 the latter boiled with water. The emulsion is allowed to 
 settle and the oil which rises i.s separated. As is the case 
 with all oils, that which is obtained with the least degree of 
 heat or pressure is the best. It is of light yellow color, a 
 bland taste and peculiar odor, with little tendency to turn 
 rancid. It is adulterated with fish, rapeseed, cottonseed, and 
 mineral oils; the first three would raise the Maumenu figure; 
 the last lower it. It is also adulterated with other hoof oils, 
 as shoep-trotter and horscfoot oil, which are difficult of de- 
 tection. It is used as a lubricant by itself or compounded, as 
 for currying leather. 
 
 . Olive Oil is a non-drying oil prepared by pressing or ex- 
 tracting the fruit of the olive tree. The oil varies greatly 
 
 13 
 
according to the tree, there being no less than 300 varieties 
 in Italy alone, and also the degree of ripeness and manner of 
 gathering the fruit itself. It varies in color from almost col- 
 orless to golden yellow or green. As used for oiling wool, 
 it may contain a large amount, from 1 to 24 per cent., of 
 free fatty (oleic) acid. This, while possessing the advantage 
 of being readily scoured out of the finished goods, has a 
 serious disadvantage in that it corrodes the pins of the wool 
 combs, and has a tendency to rot the leather backs of the 
 card clothing. The free fatty acid (more than 5 per cent.) 
 renders it unfit as a lubricant and as a burning oil, as it 
 attacks the metals, and also causes charring of the wick. It 
 is often adulterated, cottonseed, peanut, rape, sesame, poppy 
 seed, and lard oils being used for the purpose. 
 
 In view of the fact that a high grade textile oil is some- 
 times used as an edible oil, it is at present denatured with 
 the oil of Rosemary. Cottonseed oil would be shown by the 
 Halphen test, and the high Maumene figure (76), peanut oil 
 would also be shown by the high Maumene figure. The serv- 
 ice of a skilled chemist would be required to determine the 
 presence of these adulterants, with the exception of cotton- 
 seed, and in some cases even he could not be sure. Olive 
 oil is used as a table oil, for oiling wool, as a soap stock and 
 as a burning oil. 
 
 Palm Oil or Fat is prepared from the flesh of the palm nut, 
 which grows in immense quantities on the west coast of Af- 
 rica. The fruit is fermented, whereby the oil rises to the 
 top; or it is expressed from the fresh fruit. Owing to the 
 method of preparation its properties are quite varied. It is 
 of a buttery or tallowy consistency, of orange yellow to 
 dirty red in color, due to carotin, and it has an odor in some 
 samples recalling that of violets. It can be bleached by 
 heating to a high temperature, treatment with acid or sun- 
 ning. Palm oil is used like cocoanut oil for soap and candles 
 and for coloring other oils. 
 
 Palm Kernel Oil is obtained from the seeds or kernels of 
 the fruit from which palm oil is made. It resembles cocoa- 
 nut oil very closely, and, like it. is chiefly used in soap making. 
 
 Rapeseed Oil is a serai-drying oil obtained from seeds of 
 plants belonging to the mustard family, turnips and their va- 
 rieties. The oil is pale yellow to yellow, of a peculiar odor 
 and harsh or pungent taste. It is adulterated with cottonseed 
 
 14 
 
and rctined fish oil. The former would be' detected by the 
 Halphen test; the latter, by the odor. It is used as a lubri- 
 cant, more particularly in Europe, and as a burning oil. 
 
 Rosin Oil is obtained by the distillation of common rosin in 
 stills holding about thirty barrels. About 85 per cent, of 
 oil is obtained. This is distilled, redistilled and sometimes 
 distilled again, giving "rosin oil first run," "second run," 
 "third run," and "fourth run." A small quantity of rosin 
 spirits is obtained at the same time. "First run" is em- 
 ployed in making axle-grease, in oiling leather and making 
 cements; "second run" is used in printing ink, and in curry- 
 ing; and the "third" and "fourth runs" are used to adulterate 
 other oils. Rosin oils are thick, reddish-brown, viscous 
 liquids of high specific gravity, 0.981-0.987, and peculiar odor. 
 Sesame or Teel Oil is a semi-drying oil made from the seeds 
 of the sesame plant. It is, according to the degree of re- 
 finement, of a pale to deep yellow color and pleasant taste. 
 It is adulterated with cottonseed, peanut and rape oils and 
 used as an edible and burning oil and in soap making. 
 
 Soy or Soya, Chinese bean oil, is a drying oil, and, as its 
 name denotes, obtained from the Soy bean, formerly grown 
 chiefly in China and Japan, but now also in this country. It 
 is pale yellow to brown in color. It is employed in soap 
 making, for boiled and blown oils and grinding with colors. It 
 dries slowly and is tacky, and can to a certain extent re- 
 place either cottonseed or linseed oil. 
 
 Sperm Oil. Real sperm oil, a non-drying oil, is obtained 
 from the huge cavity in the head of sperm whales. The 
 term is also applied to the oil obtained by trying out the 
 blubber, as well as to the oil from the Arctic sperm or bot- 
 tlenose whale. The crude oil, as unloaded from the ships, is 
 packed in ice, thus chilling it, is shoveled into bags and 
 pressed after the manner of lard. The solid part after refin- 
 ing forms spex-maceti; and the liquid portion, sperm oil. It 
 Is a limpid oil, of a pale yellow color and faint odor, and one 
 of the best lubricants we have. Of the fatty oils it has the 
 lowest viscosity and it varies loss than that of any other oil 
 with increase of temperature. The common adulterants are 
 whale, mineral and rapeseed oils, also liver oils. Whale oil is 
 indicated by the strong fishy odor and nutty taste; mineral 
 oils, by the low flash test corresponding to a gravity of 
 0.880; and rapeseed oil, by the peculiar odor and taste. It is 
 
 15 
 
used as a lubricating and formerly as a burning oil. 
 
 Tallow or Ox Oil is a non-drying oil obtained from beef 
 tallow after the manner of the manufacture of lard oil from 
 lard. It is a light yellow, bland oil, resembling tallow in 
 odor and is employed in mixing with mineral oils as cylinder 
 oil. 
 
 Turpentine is made by the distillation of pine resin or pitch 
 In copper stills of about 800 gallons capacity. To aid the 
 process, a stream of water is run into the still, making a 
 distillation with steam. The residue in the still is run off 
 into barrels, forming the rosin of commerce. The yield and 
 quality vary according to the length of time the trees have 
 been producing resin, both growing inferior with age. The 
 resin of the first season is called "virgin dip," and produces 
 the finest quality of rosin, "W. W." (water white) or "W|. G." 
 (window glass). Other grades are "V," "U," "T," etc., to 
 "A," which is the poorest and blackest. 
 
 Turpentine is a colorless liquid of peculiar taste and odor. 
 On exposure to the air it evaporates and becomes partially 
 resinous. It is adulterated with petroleum products, benzine 
 and kerosene, which would be shown by the low flash test and 
 gravity, and by the bloom in the case of kerosene. Wood 
 turpentine, obtained from the distillation of pine stumps and 
 wood with steam, is in many ways a satisfactory substitute 
 for the resin turpentine. 
 
 Whale Oil is a non-drying oil prepared from the blubber of 
 whales after the manner of sperm oil, to which it is similar. 
 It has a strong fishy odor, a nutty taste, and is light yellow 
 to brown in color. A customary adulterant is seal oil, which 
 it is practically impossible to detect. It is used as a leather 
 dressing, as a burning oil, and for lubricating purposes. 
 
 Blown Oils. Blown, base, thickened or oxidized oil is 
 usually prepared by heating the oil from IGO to 230° F. in a 
 jacketed kettle and forcing a current of air through it. After 
 the action is once started, no further heating is usually neces- 
 sary. The color of the oil darkens somewhat, but the spe- 
 cific gravity and viscosity are much increased. 
 
 The oils submitted to this process are chiefly rape and cot- 
 tonseed, although it is often applied to linseed, sperm, and 
 seal oils. The blown oils are used to mix with other oils to 
 increase their viscosity for lubricating purposes. 
 
 16 
 
Wool Fat. This is found in commerce in the form of British 
 or American degras, suint, lanoline, wool grease recovered 
 or Yorkshire grease. As the names denote, this is the greasy 
 material obtained in the washing of wool. Wool contains 
 from 20 to 80 per cent, of impurities, made up of (a) wool 
 grease, the fatty matter secreted by the skin of the sheep, 
 amounting to 6 to 17 per cent, of the wool; (6) suint, also a 
 skin secretion but soluble in water, consisting of the potas- 
 sium salts of oleic, valeric and acetic acids, with sulphates, 
 phosphates, chlorides and nitrogenous compounds amounting 
 to 5 ta 24 per cent, of the wool; and (c) dirt, earthy matter 
 and manure. 
 
 These substances are removed from the fiber in two ways, by 
 scouring with soap and alkali, and by exti-action of the grease 
 with solvents, usually naphtha or carbon tetrachloride and 
 subsequent washing. These foul and ill-smelling wash-waters 
 are usually run into the streams and form one of the most 
 troublesome sources of pollution. Wool grease is sfiponifled 
 with difficulty, but readily emulsitiable and is deposited along 
 the entire length of the stream. 
 
 To recover the grease, the wash-waters are allowed to 
 stand to settle out the sand and dirt, then "soured" with sul- 
 phuric acid, whereupon part of the grease floats and part 
 settles. These portions are collected and pressed hot through 
 canvas. The grease thus obtained contains, besides wool 
 grease, the fatty acids of the soaps used and also traces of 
 sulphuric acid. Or the solvent is distilled off from the solu- 
 tion of the grease and the latter strained into barrels. The 
 product thus obtained is of lighter color and better quality 
 than that obtained by the acid process, is free from sulphuric 
 acid and practically so from fatty acids and is the only one to 
 which the term wool grease is properly applied. 
 
 Properties. It is a light or dark brown substance of a pe- 
 culiar, unpleasant odor and salvy consistence. It is not 
 wholly saponified by alcoholic potash, requiring sodium alco- 
 holate to complete the process. It mixes with water readily 
 and forms emulsions which are unusually permanent, par- 
 ticularly if any alkali is present, and which may contain as 
 much as 80 per cent, of water. It is not readily oxidized on 
 exposure to the air. 
 
 Compositions. It is a complex mixture of alcohols and es- 
 
 17 
 
ters, a collection of waxes and not a fat; the esters are 
 largely those of cholesterol and its isomers. Lanocerlc, 
 lanopalmic, myristic, carnaubic and other oily and volatile 
 acids, ceryl and carnaubyl, alcohol, cholesterol and isochol- 
 esterol are some of the compounds which have been found in 
 the grease. 
 
 Constants, From what has been said, it will be seen that 
 it is impossible to give any figuree to which the name con- 
 stant can be properly applied. 
 
 Adulterants. Wool fat is rarely adulterated, the usual one 
 being mineral oil, not intentionally added, but coming from 
 the wash waters. It is detected by its resistance to saponifi- 
 cation and insolubility in acetic anhydride, which converts 
 the cholesterol into the acetate. Rosin oil may also be used 
 and is detected by partial saponification with potash, the 
 object being to saponify the rosin acids in the oil and not 
 the cholesterol esters, and the liberation of the rosin acids^ 
 w^hich are submitted to the Liebermann-Storch test. 
 
 Uses. Degras is used to mix with oils for currying pur- 
 poses, with lard and similar oils for "wool oils," and when 
 purified forms the lanoline of the Pharmacopoeia. This, 
 from the ease with which it is absorbed by the skin, makes 
 an admirable basis for salves and ointments. There are 
 two varieties, one anhydrous (adcps lanae), and one, lano- 
 line proper, with about 25 per cent, of water. It is used to 
 replace tallow in certain cylinder oils. 
 
 Distilled Grease, Oleines and Dressing Oils. This is pre- 
 pared by distilling wool grease in cast-iron stills, using su- 
 perheated steam to carry forward the heavy vapors. A 
 Btearine and oleine are obtained by cooling and pressing the 
 distillate. Wool fat pitch is left in the retort. 
 
 Properties. The crude stearines are brownish and, like all 
 these products, of a peculiar penetrating aldehydic odor. 
 When refined they are white and crystalline. The oleines 
 are light yellow to dark brown and have a greenish fluor- 
 escence, which must not be mistaken for the bluish "bloom" 
 of the mineral oils used as adulterants. 
 
 Composition. The esters originally present in the wool fat 
 are broken down into hydrocarbons and fatty acids of high 
 molecular weight, stearic, palmitic, and oleic, which in turn 
 are dissociated into acids of lower molecular weight and 
 
 18 
 
other hydrocarbons. The following equation, cited by 
 Smith, gives an idtui of what ntay have taken place: 
 C,-,n3.COOC,,.H3c = Ci^Ha.COOH + C„H3, 
 Oetyl palmitate = Palmitic acid -f- Cetene. 
 These hydrocarbons have been investigated by Gill and 
 Forrest. They were found to be olefines, from hepta decy- 
 lene, CnHj, Bpt. at 1 mm. 95°-100°, an oil, to triacontylene 
 C30H00, Bpt. 1S6°-193°, a wax-like solid. They can be distin- 
 guished from hydrocarbons intentionally added, by the deter- 
 mination of the bromine addition^ and substitution numbers, 
 the optical rotation, and index of refraction. These con- 
 stants, obtained on hydrocarbons separated from some dis- 
 tilled grease oleines by Gill and Mason, are shown in the 
 table below. 
 
 Oleine 
 
 
 Bromine 
 
 Optical Refractive 
 
 
 Sp. Gr. 
 
 Add. 
 
 Subs. 
 
 Rotation 
 
 at 20° C. 
 
 A 
 
 0.896 
 
 28.8 
 
 14.2 
 
 -f 17° 58' 
 
 1.4967 
 
 B 
 
 0.902 
 
 25.1 
 
 14.8 
 
 17° 36' 
 
 1.4991 
 
 C 
 
 0.896 
 
 21.5 
 
 16.8 
 
 15° 13' 
 
 1.4948 
 
 
 0.848 
 
 4.4 
 
 5.6 
 
 
 1.4662 
 
 Mineral Oils 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 to 
 
 1°25' 
 
 to 
 
 
 0.863 
 
 5.9 
 
 8.4 
 
 
 1.4760 
 
 The examination of distilled wool grease is conducted 
 upon the same general lines as indicated in the case of wool 
 fat. Lewkowitsch obtained the following results: 
 Free fatty acids (oleic) 37% 47% 52% 37% 
 
 Glycerides 33% 3% 18% 18% 
 
 Unsaponifiable Matter 30% 51% 30% 45% 
 
 Flash point, °F. 364° 360° 370° 346° 
 
 Adulterants. The only adulterant is mineral oil, the detec- 
 tion of which has already been given. 
 
 Uses. Distilled grease stearine is used in soap and can- 
 dle making; the oleine is used as a wool oil. 
 
 Oil Foots. The term "foots" is applied by the oil and paint 
 trade to any sediment obtained in the manufacturing or stor- 
 ing process. It is a mixture of oil, the impurities contained 
 in the oil coming from the seed, or "mucilage," as it is called, 
 coloring matter, water, dirt, and where alkali has been used 
 in the refining process of the saponified oil or soap. 
 
 Properties. Cotton-seed oil foots or soap-stock varies in 
 color from light, dirty yellow, through dark green to deep 
 red, changing to black on exposure to the air. The odor is 
 that of decomposed fish, due probably to methyl amine. If 
 
 19 
 
it contains more than 40 per cent, of water it ferments easily 
 in hot weather, and the soap made therefrom is poorer in 
 color than that made from fresh stock. 
 
 Composition and Analysis. This has been given under 
 preparation; it varies with the amount and strength of the 
 alkalies used. The total fatty acids vary from 35 to 65 per 
 cent, 45 being a fair average; less than 40 per cent, cannot 
 be delivered on contracts. The specific gravity is from 0.97 
 to 1.04, 1.00 being the average. 
 
 A typical analysis is as follows: 
 
 Water 36.0 
 
 Fatty anhydrides 48.5 
 
 Glycerine \ 4.0 
 
 Caustic soda, Na.O 5.8 
 
 Uses. It is used for the manufacture of soap, textile or 
 mill soaps particularly, and is by far the cheapest soap- 
 making material on the market. Many of the "washing 
 powders" are composed of settled foots soap and soda ash. 
 In England the foots are distilled with superheated steam, 
 after the manner of wool grease, which has already been 
 described. On oleine, stearine and cotton seed stearine pitch 
 are the products. Other foots beside cotton seed are linseed, 
 whale, sperm and olive oil. 
 
 Fuller's Grease. This product, known as "seek oil" (Eng- 
 land) and recovered oil, is obtained from the water in which 
 woolen cloth has been washed, by a process similar to that 
 by which wool fat is produced. It consists of the oil which 
 has been used in carding and spinning the wool, together 
 with the fatty acids obtained from the scouring soap used, 
 and those which existed in the oils as such. Olive, lara, 
 neat's-foot, saponified, and distilled red, or "elaine oils," "dis- 
 tilled grease" oleines and mineral oils, sometimes mixed 
 with wool fat or degras, or some of the oils used for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Composition. This will vary according to the oils and 
 soaps used, and the results obtained should be compared 
 with the constants of the oils originally employed. If the 
 oil is to be used again as a wool oil, the spontaneous com- 
 bustion and saponification tests should be applied. 
 
 Black Oil. This is the term applied to oil extracted from 
 the greasy waste of woolen mills and, except for mineral oil 
 
 20 
 
coming from the machinery, is the same as that upon the 
 wool itself. It should not be confounded with a petroleum 
 product, black oil, a crude petroleum from which naphtha 
 and burning oil have been distilled and used for freight-car 
 lubrication. 
 
 Garbage Grease. This is a grease obtained by the extrac- 
 tion of garbage with naphtha or carbon tetrachloride. It is 
 used for the manufacture of cheap toilet soap, or distilled as 
 is wool fat. 
 
 Lubricating Greases. 
 
 Gillett divides the greases into six classes: 
 
 1. The tallow type, a mixture of tallow with palm oil soap 
 with some mineral oil; this was common thirty years ago. 
 
 2. The soap thickened mineral oil type, a mixture of min- 
 eral oil usually with lime or sometimes soda soaps, the com- 
 monest type at present. 
 
 3. Types 1 or 2 mixed with graphite, talc, or mica. 
 
 4. The rosin oil type: a mixture of rosin oil thickened with 
 lime, or sometimes litharge, with mineral oil. They contain 
 often 20 to 30 per cent, of water and are used as gear 
 greases. They may contain also tar, pitch, ground wood, 
 or cork, and any of the fillers mentioned in 3. 
 
 5. Slow-flowing oils: Oils or thin greases stiffened with 
 "oil pulp" or "dope," i. e., aluminum oleate. 
 
 6. Special greases with special fillers. 
 
 These greases show a high coefficient of friction at first, 
 causing a rise of temperature which melts the grease — pro- 
 ducing the effect of an oil-lubricated bearing. The graphite 
 greases showed an unexpectedly low lubricating power; the 
 rosin greases showed a high friction at first, but, after the 
 bearing had warmed up, compare well with the more expen- 
 sive greases. The high moisture content would seem to have 
 the advantage of making them less sticky. The lime-soap 
 greases (Class 2) are not as good as the tallow greases (Class 
 1), and are inferior as lubricants to those mixed with soda 
 soaps. 
 
 By choosing the materials, soft or hard soaps, and light, 
 medium or heavy oils, or solid greases, with suitable fillers — 
 talc or graphite — and varying their proportions, greases can 
 be made in any desired consistency, from the semi-fluid oil 
 to the hot neck grease. 
 
 21 
 
Greases are in many cases to be preferred to oils, par- 
 ticularly where oil spots from the bearings are to be avoided; 
 the most fluid grease that will stay in place and do the work 
 should be chosen as with oils. They are used upon dynamos, 
 shafting, gears, and where heavy pressure is applied, as In 
 the trains of rolls in rolling mills. Some of these greases 
 have received special names, as Fiber Grease, Gear or Pinion 
 Grease, Graphite Grease, Petroleum Grease and Hot Neck 
 Grease. 
 
 The following table shows the composition of some of the 
 greases: 
 
 ■ COMPOSITION OF SOME GREASES. 
 
 » S 
 
 ""^^ ^ 1, I & = 5 I £ 
 
 Graphite 105 93 18 tr. 11 IG 56 17 .097 
 
 Summer motor IGO 87 170 tr. 38 .. 36.5 25 tr. .075 
 
 Winter motor 175 86 7 tr. 23 .. 40 37" 6.1 .063 
 
 Ki 193 85 24 0.2 16 .. 67 16 .057 
 
 K, 195 93 66 0.3 20 .. 60 20 0.3 .054 
 
 Auto 190 79 11 1.0 19 .. 00 20 tr. .040 
 
 Tallow 210 52 150t 2.5 .. j 1*' 22 73.5 .022 
 
 Tallow XX 215 49 200 tr. . . 30' 20 48 .029 
 
 Lead re.sin oil 240 102 7 24.7 .. 1.7' .. .067 
 
 Lime resin oil 198 77 31 tr. .. 9.9' .. .048 
 
 Lime resin oil 198 75 4 20.0 . . 7.85 . . . . .0;«5 
 
 Soda urease 215 83 35 .. 22« 78' .019 
 
 Slow-flowins 210 76 27 9.8 12.9« 70.3 7 .026 
 
 No. 4 retrolatum .. 247 47 6 .. ..100-0 018 
 
 Lard Oil 205 5 .. .. 100 .. .011 
 
 tEstlmated. 'Potash =Lead soap. ^caO. ■'Soda soap. 'Mainly palm oil. 
 «011 of 24.2° Be. Taraffln. 
 
 Fiber Grease is so called because it appears to be fibrous, 
 especially when pulled apart; it is an anhydrous soda or 
 potash soap (Class 1) mixed with mineral oil. Gear Grease 
 is usually a mixture of fiber grease with mineral oil, or it 
 may contain rosin oil (Class 4). Pinion Grease is commonly 
 made from petroleum residuum (still bottoms); pine tar is 
 often added, and in some cases the grease consists solely of 
 this tar, to the detriment of its lubricating qualities. Graphite 
 Grease is a mixture of about one part graphite and two parts 
 
gear grease; it is especially useful in wet places, as it is not 
 easily washed out of the bearings, particularly if it be com- 
 pounded with a lime soap. Petroleum Grease is a heavy vase- 
 line-like body obtained from still residues after the cylinder 
 oil has been distilled off. Hot Neck Grease is the stiffest of 
 all the greases; it is usually a stearine or wool grease pitch, 
 or petroleum residuum mixed with rosin talc and graphite. The 
 tests applied to greases are much the same as those applied 
 to the oils modified as the differences in composition and be- 
 tween the solid and liquid state require. 
 
 The following tests are usually applied to the greases: 
 flash, free acid, dropping point, soap content, free oil or fat, 
 saponiflablc and mineral; free lime, fillers and water. 
 
 Grease or "Cup Grease" should be homogeneous, and con- 
 tain at least 80 per cent, mineral oil of 24°-28° B6.; it should 
 bo neutral — containing neither free alkali nor fatty acids, 
 nor should it contain grit nor useless filler, as paraffin wax. 
 The ash should not exceed 2.75 per cent, and the loss or 
 evaporation for an hour at 110° should not exceed 3 per cent. 
 
Miscellaneous Oils. 
 
 Automobile or Gas Engine Oils. Gas engine oils, particu- 
 larly for the cylinders, should possess as their chief requisite, 
 besides that of lubrication, the property of not carbonizing at 
 the temperatures attained. The liability of carbonization seems 
 to be intimately connected with the amount of tarry matter 
 yielded in the gumming test and residue in the carbon residue 
 test. For automobiles, oils of the following characteristics 
 have yielded good results: Flash 400°-470' F., viscosity 180-185 
 at 100° F., gumming tests very slight or slight. For large 
 size gas engines, probably a heavier oil would be required, 
 having these characteristics. Gravity 26-28° Be., flash 400-475° 
 F., viscosity 250 seconds at 100° F. 
 
 Belt Oils or Dressing. Where the object is the softening 
 of the belt these oils are usually mixtures of solid fat, waxes, 
 degras or acidless tallow (70 per cent.) with castor or fish 
 oils (30 per cent.) to make the belts cling; in some cases 
 they are mixtures either of corn or cotton-seed oils which 
 have been treated with sulphur chloride, with mineral oil 
 and thinned with naphtha, or they may be mixtures of the 
 above fats with rosin oil. These latter are less desirable. 
 Preparations containing wood tar are also used. 
 
 Crank Case Oils. These should emulsify but little with 
 water, consequently should be pure filtered mineral oils and 
 not acid treated. Much seems to depend upon the water with 
 which the oil is mixed in the crank case, so it is difficult to 
 predict how oils of practically the same constants will be- 
 have with difEerent waters. An oil giving these figures has 
 proved eminently satisfactory, gravity 26°-27° Be., flash 455° 
 F., viscosity 100 at 212"° F. 
 
 Cylinder Oils. These are divided into low and high pre.s- 
 sure. The problem to be met consists in making the oil 
 adhere to the surfaces of the piston and valves. This is 
 accomplished by the addition of some fatty oil which adheres 
 to the metal and the mineral oil adheres to it. The action of 
 the fatty oils would seem to be analogous to that of a mordant 
 in fixing dyes. Pure fatty oils while they have been, and may 
 now in some cases (with low pressures) be used, are open 
 to the objection that these, being glycerides, are decomposed 
 by high pressure steam with the liberation of fatty acids 
 which attack the iron of the cylinder, causing pitting and 
 scoring. 
 
 24 
 
On the other hand, when the condensed water from the ex- 
 haust steam is used as boiler-fccd water, the fact that these 
 fatty oils emulsify so well with it, renders it necessary to 
 use pure mineral oils. The cylinder stocks, that is, the pure 
 petroleum bases, have the following characteristics: Gravity 
 23-28° B^., flash 500-630° F., viscosity 100-230 at 212° F. For 
 superheated steam, the following figures are given for the oil 
 to be used: flash point 625-640° P., viscosity 315-325 at 212° F. 
 The fatty oils used have already been mentioned and vary 
 In quantity from 1 to 25 per cent.; the wetter the steam, the 
 larger the amount of compounding. 
 
 Dressing op Finishing Oils are usually either distilled 
 grease oleines or soluble oils which are applied to the woven 
 goods to produce a softer finish. 
 
 Engine Oils. Engine oils are classed as light and heavy. 
 A heavy oil has a viscosity of 280-340 seconds at 100° F.; 
 medium 175-200 and lights 50-150 seconds at 100° F. Besides 
 being used for engines they find general employment about 
 the mill or works. Where the duty is heavy or the bearings 
 are rough, they are sometimes mi.\ed with animal oils, as 
 lard or whale. 
 
 For Diesel engines special oils are required as follows: 
 for high speed marine engines, a neutral, filtered oil of 150 
 seconds' viscosity at 100° F.; for heavier engines, a filtered 
 cylinder stock of 150 viscosity at 212° F.; for heavy and slow 
 speed engines, an oil of 450 viscosity at 100° F. 
 
 Milling Machine or Soluble Oils. These are usually lard, 
 sulphonated fatty or mineral oils, or mineral oils held In 
 suspension by soaps or alkalies, as borax, sodium, carbonate; 
 the soaps are either ammonium, sodium or potassium, with 
 oleic, resin or sulpho-fatty acids. They should not appre- 
 ciably attack the metals and should form a persistent emul- 
 sion. The U. S. Navy requirements are that upon 2'4 hours' 
 standing upon polished brass or copper, it must not be turned 
 green; German requirements arc that a steel plate 30 x 30 x 3 
 mm. should not lose more than IS mg. in a 1 or 2 per cent, 
 solution of the oil after lying for three weeks In It. 
 
 Neutral Oil. An oil without "cast" or "bloom," obtained 
 by sunning in shallow tanks. The term was formerly applied 
 to oils of 32°-36° B^., 290°-318° F., flash, and 47-Sl seconds' 
 viscosity at 70° F. At present the term Includes "viscous 
 neutrals," of a viscosity above 135 seconds at 100° F. and 
 "non-viscous neutrals" below this figure. 
 
 26 
 
Oilless Bearings. These are wooden blocks often of maple 
 thoroughly impregnated with 35 to 40 per cent, of grease 
 which replace metal journals; the grease may be a mixture of 
 paraffin, myrtle or beeswax with stearine, tallow or petroleum 
 jelly. 
 
 Screw Cutting Oils. These are often mixtures of 26°-29° 
 Be., paraffin and 25 to 30 per cent, fatty oil, preferably cotton- 
 seed, although lard and whale are sometimes used. 
 
 (a) Loom Oil. This is merely a heavy spindle oil: one 
 which the author tested had a gravity of 28°, flash 360° F., 
 and viscosity of 203 seconds. Here, as in the case of the 
 spindle oils, the evaporation test should be low, as the hy- 
 drocarbon vapors formed have occasioned serious fires. 
 
 (ft) Spindle Oil. This is the lighter and most fluid of " the 
 lubricating oils: the gravity varies from 27-35° B6., the 
 flash from 320° to 430° F., the viscosity 30-400 seconds at 
 70° F., and the evaporation test should not be over 4 per 
 cent. Nowhere is the necessity for low viscosity greater than 
 in the case of these spindle oils when the bearings are mul- 
 tiplied by thousands. A case is on record where the increase 
 in the viscosity of the spindle oil stopped the engine and shut 
 down the mill. Besides being used for spindles, It Is used 
 for sewing machines, typewriters, etc. For bath spindles, the 
 viscosity may be 95 to 100 seconds at 100° F.; for open 
 spindles, this may be increased to 140 or 150 seconds. 
 
 (c) Stainless oils are spindle or loom oils mixed with fatty 
 oils, lard or neatsfoot. The fatty oil being more easily emul- 
 sified or possibly saponified, aids materially in the scouring 
 process in washing out the mineral oil with which It Is mixed. 
 One type of these oils is compounded of 40 per cent, neutral 
 oil, 30 per cent, cotton-seed, 20 per cent, olive and 10 per 
 cent, first pressing castor. 
 
 Turbine Oil. Steam turbines require a pure filtered, non- 
 emulsifiable, mineral oil of excellent quality — free from acid 
 and the tendency to resinify, and low In sulphur. As the 
 oil is circulated around the bearings by a pump it should 
 be of low viscosity and gravity, and free from mechanical 
 impurities. An oil of 29-31 B6., 145-180 seconds' viscosity at 
 100° F. and 390 to 420° flash has given good results. 
 
 Wool Oils. The various oils used in oiling wool have been 
 mentioned under Organic Oils. A wool oil should be ex- 
 amined for flash-point, unsaponifiable matter, for fatty acids, 
 the extent to which it will gum on exposure to the air, and 
 liability to occasion spontaneous combustion. 
 
 16 
 
Properties and Tests of Lubricants. 
 
 A good lubricant should possess: 
 
 (1) Minimum cohesion among its own particles. 
 
 (2) Maximum adhesion to the surfaces to be lubricated. 
 
 (3) Slight changeability as regards oxidation by the air 
 or by changes in the temperature or pressure of the bearings. 
 
 (4) Freedom from acid. 
 
 (5) Purity. 
 
 A thin film of oil should interpose itself between the bear- 
 ing metal and the shaft, as the rotation of the latter sep- 
 arates the particles of oil, low cohesion makes rotation 
 easier. High adhesion prevents the oil from running off iho 
 shaft and out of the bearing. Exposure to the air may result 
 in rancidity with the animal and vegetable oils, or in reslnl- 
 fication with the mineral oils; this is aided by heat and 
 dust. Heat produces an evaporation of hydrocarbon gases 
 from petroleum oils, particularly the lighter or spindle oils, 
 increasing the danger from fire. 
 
 Inability to withstand cold — high cold test — may result in 
 freezing the oil in the bearings and stopping lubrication. 
 The oil should be sufficiently viscous to prevent it from 
 being squeezed out of the bearing, except by unusual pres- 
 sures. 
 
 Acid attacks and roughens the shaft and bearings. It can 
 be formed by oxidation of the oil or come from the sulphuric 
 acid used in refining. 
 
 Purity is freedom (o) from water, which may emulsify the 
 oil and diminish its lubricating power (water also gets into 
 the lubricating wicks and diminishes their capillarity); (6) 
 from solid matter which would stop up the oilers. This may 
 be metal from the machinery, stearin, dirt, chips, etc., glue 
 from the barrels; coke with mineral oils, cracklings with 
 animal oils, and cellulose or gelatinous matter with vegetable 
 oils. 
 
 Rapid Tests. 
 The Heat Test. Heat about an ounce of the oil in a flask 
 nearly to the flashing point and keep it at this temperature 
 for 15 minutes. A satisfactory oil will darken, but remain 
 clear even after standing a day. A poorly refined oil changes 
 to Jet black, and forms a carbon-like precipitate, In conse- 
 quence of the "sulpho" compound previously mentioned. 
 
 27 
 
Emulsification Test. This shows the extent to which oil 
 will emulsify with water, and should be conducted with a 
 known oil as a means of comparison. The oils are thoroughly 
 shaken together with an equal volume of distilled water and 
 allowed to settle for a day. If "sulpho" compounds are pres- 
 ent, they cause the oil to mix with the water, forming a 
 milky suspension with curds in it. A good oil shows a clear, 
 well-defined line between the oil and water with little or no 
 turbidity. The results of this test should coincide with those 
 of the heat test and will usually reveal an "acid-treated" oil, 
 since a filtered oil emulsifies less than a "red" oil. 
 
 More Thorough Tests. 
 
 The other tests to be made will naturally vary according 
 to the use for which the oil is intended. The viscosity and 
 gumming tests are of cardinal importance, and should be 
 applied to all lubricating oils. If the oil is to be used In- 
 doors, the flash, fire and evaporation tests should be applied, 
 as they measure the fire risk. The cold test indicates the 
 availability of the oil at the working temperature. The 
 emulsification test shows the behavior of the oil when In 
 contact with water in the crank case or turbine. The gaso- 
 line test shows the heat treatment of the oil or Its adultera- 
 tion with "still bottoms," heavy residues left in the stills. The 
 gravity test indicates the base of an oil, whether paraffin or 
 asphaltic, and the iodine, Maumeng (pronounced as if spelled 
 "momenay," with accent on last syllable) and saponification 
 tests serve usually to identify the organic oils. 
 
 Gasoline Test. This is performed by dissolving about a 
 teaspoonful of the oil in twenty times as much 86° gasoline 
 from Pennsylvania crude, and noting the amount of precipi- 
 tate or tar produced. It indicates adulteration with heavy 
 asphaltic oils or tarry still residues. 
 
 Viscosity Test. By viscosity we understand the degree of 
 fluidity of an oil or its internal friction, or its "body" or 
 "greasiness," as it is sometimes expressed. Other things be- 
 ing equal, the least viscous oil should be chosen, or, in other 
 words, the most fluid oil that will stay in place and do the 
 work. A case is on record in which the changing of a spindle 
 oil to one slightly more viscous caused the stopping of an 
 engine, and hence the whole mill, due to the increase In 
 friction. Within certain limits, the viscosity may be taken 
 as the measure of the value of an oil as a lubricant, par- 
 
 28 
 
ticularly if the viscosity of the oil under examination is com- 
 pared witli that of other oils which have been found to yield 
 good results in practice. 
 
 The Instruments employed for the determination of viscos- 
 ity are constructed upon two different principles: one de- 
 pending upon the time required for a certain quantity of the 
 oil to flow through a standard orifice; and the other, upon 
 the degree to which a rotating disk is retarded by the viscos- 
 ity of the oil. 
 
 Fie:. 5— SAYBOLT VISCOSIMETER. 
 
 An apparatus, which may be taken as a type of the orifice 
 instruments, is made in four forms, A, B, and C, and the Uni- 
 versal, Apparatus "A" is the standard for testing at 70° F. 
 Atlantic, red, paraffin, and other distilled oils; "B," for test- 
 ing at 70° black oils of 0°, 15°, 25°, and 30° cold test, and other 
 reduced oils up to and not including summer cold test oil; 
 and "C" is used for testing at 212° reduced, summer, cylinder, 
 filtered cylinder, XXX valve, 26.5° Be., and other heavy oils. 
 The results are reported in seconds. 
 
 The Universal Viscosimeter. This instrument. Figs. 5 and 
 6, consists of a brass tube A forming the body of the pipette 
 provided with a jet K. The upper part of the pipette is sur- 
 rounded with a gallery B which enables a workman to fill it 
 
 29 
 
to the same point every time. The pipette is contained in a 
 water bath C, which can be heated either by steam or a ring 
 burner D. A tin cup with spout, a strainer, thermometer, 
 pipette with rubber bulb, stop watch and beaker for waste 
 oil, complete the outfit. 
 
 It may be used for testing cylinder, valve, and similar oils 
 with the bath at 212°, and oil at 210°; for testing reduced 
 
 rig:. 6— SAYBOLT VISCOSI3IETEB. 
 
 and black oils with bath and oil at 130°; for testing spindle, 
 paraffin, red, and other distilled oils, with bath and oil at 
 100°. When used for testing at 212", it may be used with 
 either gas or steam alone or both in combination. If with 
 both, the steam may be introduced slowly; more for its 
 condensation to replace evaporation than for real heating 
 purposes, depending upon the gas flame to reach the boiling 
 point, and keeping it there during the operation of 
 test. The bath vessel should always be kept full dur- 
 ing a test, whether at 212°, 130° or 100°. When used at 
 
 30 
 
130° or 100°, gas alone is used to bring the bath to the pre- 
 scribed temperature, and is turned off during the operation 
 of test, the large size of the bath usually permitting one test 
 to be made without reheating. The instrument is manipulated 
 as follows: 
 
 1. Have the bath of water prepared at the prescribed tem- 
 perature. 
 
 2. Have the oil strained into one of the tin cups, in which 
 cup it may be heated up to about the standard temperature. 
 
 3. Clean out the tube with some of the oil to be tested 
 by using the plunger sent with the instrument. 
 
 4. Place the cork (as short a distance as possible) into the 
 lower outlet coupling tube, just enough to make it air-tight, 
 but not far enough to touch the small outlet jet of the tube 
 proper (one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch may be enough). 
 
 5. Pour the oil from the tin cup (again through the 
 strainer) into the tube proper until it overflows into the over- 
 flow cup up to and above the upper edge of tube proper. 
 
 6. Again see that the bath is at the prescribed tempera- 
 ture. 
 
 7. Use the thermometer sent with the instrument by stir- 
 ring to bring the oil just to the standard temperature. 
 
 8. Remove the thermometer. 
 
 9. Draw from the overflow cup, with a pipette, all the sur- 
 plus of oil down to and below the upper edge of tube proper. 
 This insures a positive starting head. 
 
 10. Place the 60cc. flask under and directly in line with 
 the outlet jet and as close to the coupling tube as is practi- 
 cable to permit of room for drawing the cork. 
 
 11. Start the watch and the instant the second hand 
 crosses the sixty seconds mark twist out the cork with the 
 right hand. 
 
 12. The time required for the delivery of 60cc. indicates 
 the viscosity. 
 
 13. Clean out the tube proper before ea'ch test with some 
 of the oil to be tested. 
 
 14. No drill or other instrument should ever be used in the 
 small outlet jet of tube proper. 
 
 The tube should be cleaned out before each test with some 
 of the oil to be tested, using the plunger P for this purpose. 
 Black oils or any oil containing sediment should be carefully 
 strained before testing or "running," as it is technically 
 termed. The instruments should be carefully guarded from 
 dust when not in use. 
 
 Specific Gravity. By specific gravity we understand the 
 weight of a substance compared with the weight of an equal 
 volume of water. The specific gravity of iron is 7.8. This 
 means that a cubic inch of iron weighs 7.8 times as mucn as a 
 
 31 
 
cubic inch of water. For accurate work attention has to he 
 paid to the temperature. 
 
 In the case of mineral oils, the specific gravity or "gravity" 
 is expressed in terms of the Baume scale for liquids lighter 
 than water. This is an arbitrary scale, in which water counts 
 as 10°. For example, a 76° naphtha and a 25° lubricating oil, 
 mean that the Baume hydrometer would sink in the naphtha 
 to the seventy-fifth degree and in the lubricating oil to the 
 twenty-fifth degree, both these liquids being cooled to C0° F. 
 
 The mineral oils are usually designated by the Baurn^ scale, 
 
 
 Fig. 7— HVUKOMliTKK. 
 
 while the animal and vegetable oils are spoken of in terms of 
 specific gravity. Cotton seed oil, for example, has a gravity of 
 0.922, meaning that a quart of cottonseed oil is nine hundred 
 and twenty-two thousandths as heavy as a quart of water. 
 
 The chief value of the test is to characterize the oil. It 
 is usually made by the hydrometer. A hydrometer jar is 
 four-fifths filled with the oil, a Baume hydrometer introduced 
 into it, and the depth to which the instrument sinks in the 
 oil read off. This may be effected by placing a strip of white 
 
 32 
 
paper back of the jar and noting the point at which the lower 
 meniscus or curve of the surface of the oil touches the scale, 
 as at 20", Fig. 7. The temperature of the oil is taken at the 
 same time, and in case it is not 60° F. (15.5° C), for every 
 Increase of 10° F. (5.5° C), subtract 1° B. from the hydro- 
 meter reading. The specific gravity may be found by the 
 following formula, in which B represents the Baum6 reading: 
 140 -- (130 + B°) 
 Cold Test. This may be defined as the temperature at 
 which the oil will just flow. The importance of this test is 
 seen wherever oils are exposed to freezing temperatures, as in 
 railroad use on car axles. If the oil is chilled, it ceases to 
 flow and the bearing becomes hot; or, as happened on the 
 East Prussian railroad during the World War, the freezing of 
 the oil In the axle-boxes stops the running of the trains. 
 
 The testing apparatus required consists of a 4-ounce vial, 
 a thermometer, a quart can and a freezing mixture. 
 
 The four-ounce vial is one-fourth filled with the oil to be 
 examined, a short and rather heavy thermometer inserted In 
 It, and the whole placed in a freezing mixture. When the oil 
 has become solid throughout, the vial is removed, the oil 
 allowed to soften, and thoroughly stirred until it will run 
 from one end of the bottle to the other. The reading of the 
 thermometer is now taken by withdrawing it and wiping off 
 the oil with waste to render the mercury visible. 
 
 The chilling-point Is the temperature at which flakes or 
 scales begfn to form in the liquid, and is determined similarly, 
 by cooling the liquid five degrees at a time. 
 The freezing mixtures are: 
 
 For temperatures above 35° F., cracked ice and water. 
 Between 35° and 0° F., 2 parts of Ice and 1 part of salt. 
 From 0° to 30° below zero, 3 parts of crystallized calcium 
 chloride and two parts of fine ice or snow. 
 
 A still more convenient means is the use of solid carbonic 
 acid, "carbonic acid snow," dissolved in ether or alcohol, 
 which readily gives 50° F. below zero. 
 
 Flash-Point. By flash-point is understood that temperature 
 at which an oil gives off vapors in suflBcient quantity to ex- 
 plode when mixed with air. This point is reached by burning 
 oils in testing when a blue flame passes entirely over the 
 surface of the oil. Like specific gravity, the chief use of 
 the test with lubricating oils is to ascertain if any change 
 
 33 
 
has been made in the oil supplied. With burning oils it 
 determines the safety of the oil. In considering the results 
 of this test, differences of 5 to 7° F. may be disregarded, as 
 duplicate tests upon the same sample may vary as widely as 
 this. 
 
 Several forms of apparatus for testing the flash-point of 
 lubricating oils have been devised. Pensky-Martens' closed 
 
 r\ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Fig. 8— CLEVELAND CUP. 
 
 tester employing a stirrer is used in Germany. Martens states 
 that stirring is unnecessary. Dudley and Pease use an open 
 porcelain dish heated with a Bunsen burner. In this country 
 the "Cleveland cup," Fig. 8, is extensively used. This con- 
 sists of an open spun brass cup, 1% inches high by 2^ inches 
 in diameter, heated by a Tirrell burner in an air bath. The 
 thermometer is suspended from the wire support directly 
 over the center of the cup so that its bulb is entirely covered 
 with oil, but does not touch the bottom of the cup. The test- 
 ing flame is a gas jet about % inch in length. 
 
 The oil cup is filled with the oil to be tested to within ^4 
 Inch of the top. The burner is adjusted to raise the tempera- 
 ture of the oil 5° per minute. Every thirty seconds, the test- 
 ing flame is brought almost in contact with the surface of 
 the oil. A distinct blue flame or "flash" over the entire sur- 
 
 34 
 
face of the oil shows that the flash point has been reached 
 and the reading of the thermometer is then noted. The flash 
 point determined by the "open cup" is higher sometimes by 5° 
 to 10° than that obtained by the "closed cup." 
 
 For accurate work the thermometers used should either 
 be graduated by the maker to correct for the stem exposure 
 with half-inch immersion in the bath or corrected for stem- 
 exposure. This is found by the formula, 
 
 exposure = (f X 0.00016 (t-t^) ; 
 In which d = length of exposed thread in degrees. 
 
 t = temperature observed. 
 
 t» = temperature of the glass of the thermometer itself as 
 shown by a separate thermometer. This correction is addi- 
 tive and, if 200° were out of the bath and t-t^ equal to 120', 
 would amount to 3.7°. The thermometers should be frequently 
 compared with a standard. 
 
 The free acid contained in an oil lowers its flash point 
 apparently in proportion to the quantity present. 
 
 Fire Test. The heating and application of the testing 
 flame are continued as in making the flash test. The tem- 
 perature is noted at which the oil ignites and burns. The 
 flame is put out by the extinguisher supplied with the 
 apparatus. 
 
 Gumming Test, This test indicates the change that may 
 be expected in a mineral oil when in use. The resinifled 
 products increase the friction of the revolving or rubbing 
 surfaces. The test is applied by thoroughly mixing and beat- 
 ing together about a teaspoonful of the oil in a cordial glass 
 or small wade-mouthed bottle with 170 grains of nitrosul- 
 phuric acid, and cooling by setting the glass in a basin of 
 water at 50° to 60° F. Brownish spots, or, in case of a bad 
 oil, masses form around the edges and gradually cover the 
 whole surface in the course of two hours. As shown by long 
 experience, the oil showing the least tar is the best oil and 
 also absorbs the least oxygen. 
 
 Nitrosulphuric acid is troublesome to prepare, but direc- 
 tions therefor will be found in the writer's "Handbook of Oil 
 Analysis," and it may be replaced by nitric acid and copper. 
 Use ordinary nitric acid, 1.34 sp. gr., drop into this two pieces 
 of No. 15 B. & S. gage copper wire % inch long, and in an 
 hour two more pieces, wetting the wire in water before drop- 
 ping it into the acid. 
 
 35 
 
Test for Acidity. In a petroleum oil the acid present Is 
 usually sulphuric, owing to the acid used in refining not being 
 completely washed out of the oil. Its presence can be de- 
 tected by shaking about one-fourth of a test-tubeful of oil 
 with an equal quantity of warm distilled water in a test tube. 
 The oil is poured off carefully and the water tested with 
 neutral litmus paper, which in presence of acid is changed to 
 red. If the litmus paper used were too blue, the acid might 
 be all used up before the color changes; hence in this case 
 it should be exposed to the fumes of hydrochloric acid until 
 nearly neutral. A test should be made to be sure that the 
 water is not acid. Not more than a faint reddening is allow- 
 able. The acid content should not exceed 0.3 per cent., cal- 
 culated as sulphuric anhydride (SO3). 
 
 Test for animal and vegetable oils in mineral oils. Put 
 about an inch of the oil into each of two test tubes. To one 
 of these add two pieces of metallic sodium as large as half a 
 pea, and to the other a similar quantity of sodium hydrate 
 (caustic soda). Extreme care should be taken in handling 
 these substances as the metallic sodium takes fire if wet, 
 forming caustic soda which vigorously attacks the skin and 
 clothing. If any gets upon either the skin or clothing, wash 
 it off with water and dilute muriatic acid and then remove 
 the acid with water. 
 
 Heat the test tubes in an oil bath to a temperature of about 
 445° F. in case the oil is light colored, and 480° F. If it is 
 dark colored. In case fatty oil is present, the contents of 
 one or both of the tubes show a foam as of soap bubbles on 
 the surface, and solidify to a jelly of greater or less con- 
 sistency, according to the amount of fatty oil present. 
 
 The oil bath is in an iron pot containing heavy cylinder 
 oil, lard or cotton-seed oil deep enough to cover the oil sur- 
 face in the test tubes. 
 
 Detection of "oil-thickener" or "oil-pulp." This is usually 
 an oleate of aluminum, a soap, which is dissolved in the oil 
 to increase its viscosity at ordinary temperatures, but has 
 little effect on the oil at the temperature at which it Is 
 used. It may be detected by diluting the oil with an equal 
 quantity of naphtha and adding about 15 drops of a saturated 
 solution of stick phosphoric acid in absolute (100 per cent.) 
 alcohol. The mixture is allowed to stand and the formation 
 of a flocculent precipitate indicates the presence of soap. 
 
 36 
 
As showing the extent to which it affects the viscosity, a 
 sample of oil containing it would not flow from the viscosi- 
 meter at 70° F., required 1167 seconds at 85° and 181 seconds 
 at 110°. 
 
 Evaporation Test. This is often applied to light oils, like 
 spindle and loom oils. It measures the loss sustained by an 
 oil when exposed on a bearing. It requires a delicate analyti- 
 cal balance, sensitive to a thousandth of a grain, to detect 
 the loss, as the amount of oil used is small (200 milligrams 
 or 3.1 grains). The amount of loss should not exceed 4 per 
 cent. The test is important to the mill owner, as it repre- 
 sents the amount of oil that stays on the bearing and serves 
 Its purpose. It is of even greater importance to the In- 
 surance underwriter, as it measures the amount of volatile 
 inflammable matter passing into the atmosphere and liable 
 to cause a fire. This actually happened in a spinning mill in 
 Maine. The oil contained, however, 25 per cent, of volatile 
 matter; that is, the evaporation test was 25 per cent. As a 
 result of an investigation undertaken by the insurance com- 
 panies, all oils of this type were driven out of use within a 
 year. 
 
 In making this test the oil is exposed upon annular disks of 
 filter-paper 1% inches outside diameter, with the hole 
 % inch in diameter, which have been drying for several days 
 in a sulphuric acid desiccator contained in a flat watch-glass. 
 The watch-glass and paper are weighed to tenths of a milli- 
 gram, and about 0.2 gram of oil brought upon it by dropping 
 from a rod, and accurately weighed. The watch-glass is now 
 placed in an air-bath, the temperature of which remains 
 nearly constant at 140° to 150° F. and heated for eight hours. 
 It is then cooled and reweighed, the loss being figured in per 
 cent. No oil should be passed which gives an evaporation 
 of more than 4 per cent. 
 
 Friction Test. By this is meant the determination of the 
 amount of power required to overcome the resistance of an 
 oil when applied to a bearing. The oil is tested under ideal 
 conditions with a shaft and boxes as nearly perfect as me- 
 chanical skill can make them, with the feed of oil, the tem- 
 perature and pressure on the bearing even, regular and 
 under complete control. 
 
 The small Thurston machine. Figs. 9 and 10, will give an 
 idea of the principle and construction. It consists of the 
 
 37 
 
testing-shaft or journal F, I14 in. long by 1^4, in. in diam- 
 eter, and the bronze bearings GG\ the pressure of which on 
 the shaft can be regulated by the coil spring. The amount 
 of pressure is shown by the index M. A thermometer in Q 
 indicates the temperature of the bearing. The journal la 
 
 1 igs. and 10— TIIURSTOX MACHINE. 
 
 rotated by means of the step-pulley C in the direction of the 
 arrow; this causes a displacement of the pendulum GK, 
 containing the spring J along the arc PP'. 
 
 The amount of displacement along this arc measures the 
 friction of the oil, being large with great friction and small 
 with good lubricants. The arc is so graduated that, divid- 
 ing the reading by the pressure shown by the index M, the 
 coefficient of friction is given. This machine is designed 
 for testing the lighter oils. A larger size of this machine 
 is made with a journal 3% in. in diameter and 7 in. long 
 for heavy lubricants and railroad work. 
 
 The writer is inclined to question the value of the fric- 
 tion test for practical purposes. He believes that equally 
 good or better results can be obtained by comparing the 
 flash, fire, gravity, and viscosity tests of the oil in question 
 with like tests of an oil that has given satisfactory results 
 
 3S 
 
in practice. This is true only of oils coming from the same 
 field or part of the country. Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania 
 oils, or oils having an asphaltic base, cannot be compared 
 with those having a paraffin base, nor those carrying sul- 
 phur with those not carrying sulphur. 
 
 Fig. 11— NEW YORK STATE TESTER. 
 
 Testing of Burning Oils. 
 
 The chief tests to be applied to this class of oils are the 
 flash, fire, specific gravity and sulphuric acid test. 
 
 In making the Flash Test, three different types of testers 
 are used: (1) the open tester, in which the cup containing 
 the oil is not covered or closed, but is freely open to the 
 air; (2) the covered or New York State tester, in which the 
 cup is covered with a glass cover containing two holes; and 
 (3) the closed tester in which the oil is heated in a tightly 
 closed cup which is opened momentarily for the introduc- 
 tion of the testing flame. 
 
 The New York State tester consists of a coi)per oil cup, 
 
 39 
 
Fig. 11, holding about 10 ounces, the quantity usually con- 
 tained in a lamp, and heated in a water-bath by a small Bun- 
 sen flame. The cup is provided with a glass cover, carrying 
 a thermometer and there is an opening for the insertion of 
 a small gas flame V4, inch in length. 
 
 The regulations of the New York State Board of Health 
 stipulate that the test shall be applied according to the fol- 
 lowing directions: 
 
 Remove the oil-cup and fill the water-bath with cold water 
 up to the mark inside. Replace the oil-cup and pour in 
 enough oil to fill it to within one-eighth of an inch of the 
 flange, joining the cup and the vapor-chamber above. Care 
 must be taken that the oil does not flow over the flange. Re- 
 move all air-bubbles with a piece of dry paper. Place the 
 glass cover on the oil-cup and so adjust the thermometer that 
 its bulb shall be just covered by the oil. 
 
 If an alcohol lamp is employed for heating the water-bath, 
 the wick should be carefully trimmed and adjusted to a small 
 flame. A small Bunsen burner may be used in place of the 
 lamp. The rate of heating should be about two degrees per 
 minute, and in no case exceed three degrees. 
 
 As a flash-torch, a small gas jet one-quarter of an inch In 
 length should be employed. When gas is not at hand employ 
 a piece of waxed linen twine. The flame in this case, how- 
 ever, should be small. 
 
 When the temperature of the oil has reached 85 degrees F., 
 the tests should commence. Insert the torch in the opening 
 at such an angle as to clear the cover and to a distance about 
 half-way between the oil and the cover. The motion should 
 be steady and uniform, rapid and without any pause. This 
 should be repeated at every two degrees' rise of the ther- 
 mometer until the thermometer has reached 95 degrees, when 
 the lamp should be removed and the testings should be made 
 for each degree of temperature until 100 degrees is reached. 
 After this the lamp may be replaced if necessary and the test- 
 ings continued for each two degrees. 
 
 The appearance of a slight bluish flame passing entirely 
 over the surface of the oil shows that the flashing-point has 
 been reached. 
 
 In every case note the temperature of the oil before intro- 
 ducing the torch. The flame of the torch must not come In 
 contact with the oil. 
 
 The water-bath should be filled with cold water for each 
 separate test, and the oil from a previous test carefully wiped 
 from the oil-cup. 
 
 40 
 
In making the flash test it should be borne in mind that 
 liberating the vapor quickly from the oil lowers the flash- 
 point. This may be caused by: (1) rapid heating; (2) a 
 large and shallow cup from which the evaporation takes 
 place quickly; (3) a large quantity of oil used for the test; 
 and (4) a large testing flame or one too frequently or closely 
 applied. 
 
 The results obtained with this apparatus are about 5° to 
 8° lower than those obtained with open cups. This cup 
 reproduces more closely than any other the conditions pre- 
 vailing when burning the oil in lamps. The tester, like a 
 lamp, is not freely open to the air, preventing the escape 
 of volatile vapors. This escape takes place with open cups 
 and consequently the results obtained with them are higher. 
 
 The Fire Test is made by raising the cover above the cup 
 and continuing to heat the oil until it gives off vapors which 
 burn continuously when ignited. It is usually 15° to 25° 
 higher than the flash-point. 
 
 In choosing a burning oil, one of a high flash-point rather 
 than one of a high flre-point should be selected, as the 
 flash not the fire-point determines the safety of the oil. 
 Oils having a high flash test are sure to have a high flre 
 test; but those of a high fire test may or may not have a 
 high flash test. That is, in making the first test, no atten- 
 tion is paid to the flash test, and the dangerous volatile con- 
 stituents of the oil (naphtha) escape detection, being driven 
 off. This was well illustrated in a sample of fuel oil sent 
 to the writer for test. The flash-point was 60° F. and the 
 fire-point 143°. Had the flre-point alone been considered it 
 would have been regarded as a safe oil, whereas the flash- 
 point, 60° P., showed it to be dangerous. Too much stress, 
 therefore, cannot be laid on the flash test, which should be 
 at least dlO° F. (or better, 120°), remembering that a safe 
 oil makes safe lamps. Professor Engler states that no lamp 
 should be used which heats the oil more than 10° F. above 
 the surrounding atmosphere. 
 
 The Specific Gravity of burning oils is determined exactly 
 as in the case of lubricating oils. 
 
 41 
 
The Sulphuric Acid Test shows the degree to which an 
 oil is refined; that is, the extent to which the tarry and ill- 
 smelling products in the oil formed during the process 
 of distillation have been removed. It is made by shaking 
 100 parts, by weight, of the oil with 40 parts of sulphuric 
 acid of 1.73 sp. gr. for two minutes, and noting the color of 
 the acid layers. A suitably refined oil should give little or no 
 color. 
 
 Tests for Animal and Vegetable Oils. 
 
 When examining an unknown oil the analyst should as- 
 certain all possible facts about it: its cost, its source, and 
 the use for which it is intended. There is unfortunately no 
 such number of specific tests for the various oils as there 
 are for the various metals. While it is easy to say posi- 
 tively that a certain metal is present or absent, the same 
 cannot be said of many of the oils. We can be practically 
 sure of the presence of cotton-seed, sesame, rosin and min- 
 eral oils, and reasonably certain of peanut, rape, castor, and 
 sperm, but can have only suspicions as to the presence or 
 absence of most of the others. 
 
 The fact that crops vary in quality from year to year, can- 
 not but have its influence upon the qnality of vegetable oils 
 produced. "WTiereas, in the case of an inorganic compound, 
 like soda ash, we can require that it must contain 58 per 
 cent, of oxide of sodium, with less than 1 per cent, varia- 
 tion either way. we cannot prescribe such definite specifica- 
 tions for oils, for the reason just stated, namely, the varia- 
 tion in genuine oils, on account of the change due to the 
 seasons, wet or dry, cold or hot, or the variety of the plant 
 or tree — there are 300 varieties of olive trees in Italy alone. 
 
 These influences change the characteristics, like the spe- 
 cific gravity, Maumene figure, etc., which are our guides for 
 determining the adulteration of an oil. For example, the 
 Maumen^ figure for olive oil varies from 35° to 47° C; 
 consequently, if we find a figure of 44° there are three possi- 
 bilities: (1) that the oil is genuine; (2) that it is an oil orig- 
 inally of a figure of 47°, which has been adulterated with an 
 oil of lower Maumen^ figure; or (3) that the original figure 
 
 42 
 
was 11° and it has been adulterated with an oil of higher 
 Maumene figure. As to which of these is correct, we must 
 be guided by other "constants" and special tests. There la 
 a variation of 12/44 or 27 per cent, in these characteristic 
 "constants"; consequently, the determination of the per- 
 centage of one oil in another may not be accurate within 
 about 14 per cent. On the other hand, it should be noted 
 that the sensitiveness of chemical methods permits the car- 
 rying out of the processes for the determination of these 
 "constants" within at least 1 per cent, or even less. 
 
 Considering the items of cost, source and use, the cost, 
 compared with current prices, will give an idea of the kind 
 of oil if it is uncompounded. It is not usual to find an ex- 
 pensive oil mixed with one of lower price, unless in cer- 
 tain lubricants (cylinder oils). The source or kind of an 
 oil will give an idea of the possible adulterants, and also 
 of the tests and constants to which it should respond. If 
 the source or kind of oil is not known, the use to which the 
 oil is to be put is of material help in determining its com- 
 position. For example, the paint oils are linseed, men- 
 haden ("pogy"), and, in some cases, corn. The currying 
 oils are neatsfoot and "cod." The burning oils are lard, 
 sperm, and rape. The textile oils are olive, oleine, elaine, 
 red, lard, neatsfoot and mineral. The cutting oils are lard 
 and soluble oils. 
 
 Physical Tests. The smell of an oil reveals to the expert 
 much regarding its composition. If the amateur will take 
 the trouble to make a collection of samples of genuine oils 
 for comparison, he will find them very valuable in this con- 
 nection. The odor is best taken by warming the oil in a 
 small beaker or by rubbing a small quantity of the oil between 
 the thumb and finger and smelling them. Marine animal 
 oils are readily detected by their strong, fishy odor, while 
 neatsfoot, tallow, lard, olive, rosin, and linseed oils have each 
 a well-marked and easily distinguishable odor. Many of the 
 statements just made apply with equal force to the taste of 
 oils, rape oil having a harsh, unpleasant taste, and whale oil 
 a nutty flavor. , 
 
 The color of an oil is not to be relied upon for identiflca- 
 
 43 
 
tion, as oils may be colored reddish or greenish by the oleates 
 of iron or copper. The "bloom" fluorescence or peculiar bluish, 
 or greenish streak seen on the sides of a vial containing min- 
 eral oil, is proof positive of the presence of a hydrocarbon or 
 petroleum oil. This can be further shown by putting a few 
 drops of the oil on a piece of hard rubber or other black sur- 
 face and observing the bluish color. 
 
 Specific Gravity. This is determined with a hydrometer In 
 the same way as with mineral oils. If the instrument is grad- 
 uated in Baum6 degrees only, the reading should be con- 
 verted into specific gravity referred to water, as that is the 
 way in which the animal and vegetable oils are designated. 
 Care should be taken to note the temperature of the oil, which 
 should be 60° F., as in the case of petroleum, and for every 
 degree Fahrenheit above 60° add 0.00035 to the observed spe- 
 cific gravity: 
 
 Ex. — The hydrometer shows a reading of 2^.75° Be. at 
 70° F. Find the specific gravity of the oil in question at 
 60° F. Table 1 shows that 23° Be. = 0.9150 and 24° = 
 0.9090, a difference of 0.0060 for 1° Be.; 0.75° Be. (the excess 
 ahove 23° X 0.006 = 0.0045; .9150 — .0045 = .9105. That Is: 
 23.75° Be. = 0.9105 sp. gr. For every degree Fahrenheit 
 above 60, 0.00035 is to be added, or (.00035 X 10) .0035 for 70". 
 Then .9105 -f- .0035 = .9140, the specific gravity of the oil at 
 60° F. 
 
 The fact that the hotter an oil is the lighter it is, should 
 not be forgotten. 
 
 Valenta Test. This depends upon the solubility of the va- 
 rious oils in glacial acetic acid. Glacial acetic acid is so 
 strong that it freezes at 62° F. and hoils at 244° F. Care 
 should be used not to let it come in contact with the body, 
 as it blisters severely. 
 
 A test tube is filled with the oil to the depth of about one 
 inch, the exact height being marked by the thumb. An equal 
 quantity of glacial acetic acid is poured in until the acid 
 reaches the point indicated by the thumb. A light thermom- 
 eter is placed in the tube, which is heated until the oil dis- 
 solves, which Is shown by the liquid becoming homogeneous. 
 The tube Is now allowed to cool, and the point noted at 
 which the oil begins to become thoroughly turbid. It is 
 slightly warmed again until clear and the cooling is repeated. 
 The readings should coincide within half a degree. Castor 
 
 44 
 
oil is soluble at the ordinary temperature, while rape seed is 
 usually insoluble at the boiling-point of the acid. The tem- 
 peratures at which some oils become turbid are shown In 
 Table 3. 
 
 Eiaidin Test. This test depends on the fact that certain 
 oils, rich in olein, like lard and neatsfoot, are changed by 
 nitrous acid into a solid body, having the same composition, 
 eiaidin. It serves to distinguish between the non-drying, 
 semi-drying, and drying oils. When submitted to this test, 
 the non-drying oils usually form a solid cake, so solid that 
 the vessel and contents can be lifted by the rod congealed 
 in the cake of eiaidin. The semi-drying oils form a more or 
 less pasty mass, while the drying oils form a liquid mass 
 with clots floating in it. 
 
 The test is performed as follows: 77 grains of the oil is 
 weighed out into a cordial glass (a small goblet about three 
 inches high) on the horn pan scales, and 108 grains nitric 
 acid of 1.34 sp. gr. weighed into it. The glass is immersed 
 in a pan of iced water, at 50° to 60° F. to within half an inch 
 of the top. After about ten minutes two pieces of copper 
 wire. No. 15, B. & S. gage, %-inch long, are wet in water and 
 dropped in, and the oil and acid stirred together with a short 
 glass rod, with an up-and-down as well as a rotary move- 
 ment, so as to mix the oil, acid, and evolved gas thoroughly. 
 When the wire has dissolved, add two more pieces and allow 
 to stand two hours. This should furnish gas enough, if the 
 liquid has been kept cool and the stirring has been thorough. 
 At the end of the first hour pure lard will usually show flakes 
 of a wax-like appearance, and upon standing without dis- 
 turbance for another hour at the same temperature, the oil 
 will have changed to a hard, solid, white cake. Most of the 
 fish and seed oils yield a pasty or buttery mass, separating 
 from a fluid portion, whereas olive, lard, sperm, and some- 
 times neatsfoot oil, yield a solid cake. 
 
 To make sure of the manipulation, a test should be made 
 at the same time and in the same way with an oil of un- 
 doubted purity, lard oil for example. If a hard cake is ob- 
 tained with the pure oil and a buttery mass with the oil un- 
 der examination, it is very good evidence that the latter is 
 either a seed oil or an olive, lard or sperm oil, adulterated 
 with a seed or mineral oil. 
 
 45 
 
The Maumene Test, or heating test with sulphric acid, 
 is one of the most important tests to determine the variety 
 or kind of an oil; it has the advantage of requiring no com- 
 plicated apparatus and is simple in execution. The under- 
 lying principle is that when oils are mixed with strong sul- 
 phuric acid, heat is produced and the quantity of heat so 
 produced is characteristic of the various oils. 
 
 The apparatus required consists of a rather tall and narrow 
 beaker, holding about 5 ounces (150 cc), which is packed in a 
 tin can, agate-ware cup or larger beaker, with dry cotton 
 waste or hair felt, the packing being perhaps an inch thick. 
 A light thermometer graduated from 0° to 150° or 200° C, a 
 tall 10-cc. graduate and pair of horn pan scales complete the 
 outfit. 
 
 The test is conducted as follows: The beaker is taken out 
 from its packing — disturbing it as little as possible, weighed 
 on the scales and 50 grams of oil weighed into it, to within 
 two drops, the beaker replaced in its jacket, the thermometer 
 inserted in the oil, and its temperature noted. Ten cubic 
 centimeters of strong sulphuric acid is gradually run into the 
 oil, which is stirred at the same time with the thermometer, 
 and the graduate allowed to drain about five seconds — that 
 is, while one counts ten. The stirring is continued until no 
 further increase in temperature is noted. The highest point 
 at which the thermometer remains constant for any appreci- 
 able time is observed, and the difference between this and the 
 original temperature of the oil is the rise of temperature. 
 
 The mixture of oil and acid is thrown on the ash heap, and 
 thermometer and beaker are carefully wiped free of oil with 
 cotton waste, the jacket is allowed to cool to the original 
 temperature, and the apparatus is again ready for use. A 
 duplicate test should always be made and the results should 
 agree within 2 or 3 per cent.; that is, with a rise of 40° C, 
 the results of the two experiments should differ by only one 
 degree. Since the rise of temperature varies with the 
 strength of the acid the experiment should be repeated to 
 secure uniformity, using water instead of oil, and the rise of 
 temperature here obtained, used to divide the rise of tem- 
 perature with the oil, and the result multiplied by one hun- 
 dred. This is called the "specific temperature reaction." The 
 
 46 
 
acid used should be the strongest obtainable and should show 
 a specific gravity of 1.84. Priming sulphuric acid should not 
 be used. 
 
 In case the test is to be applied to a drying or semi-drying 
 oil, it should be diluted with an equal weight of petroleum 
 oil and then thoroughly mixed. The rise of temperature is 
 in this case the rise of temperature of the mixture, minus half 
 the rise of temperature of fifty grams of mineral oil, multi- 
 plied by two. 
 
 For concordant results the conditions should be the same, 
 and the same apparatus should be used. The percentage of 
 one oil in a mixture of two oils can be found by the following 
 formula : 
 
 Let x = percentage of the one oil, and y of the other; 
 further, m = Maumen6 value of pure oil x, and n of pure oil y, 
 and 1 of oil under examination, then 
 
 x= [100 (1— n)] H- {m-^n) 
 
 Suppose we have an olive oil adulterated with cottonseed. 
 The sample in question has a Maumen^ figure of 60. We see 
 from Table 3 that cottonseed oil has a Maumen§ figure of 76 
 and olive oil one of 35. Then, substituting in the formula, 
 j;=(60— 35) -f- (76-35) = 61%. That is, there is about 60 
 per cent, of cottonseed oil in the olive oil. As with other 
 oils, it is advisable to make a test with an oil of known 
 purity. 
 
 Halphen's Test for Cottonseed Oil. This test depends upon 
 the fact that the oil contains a fatty acid, which combines 
 with sulphur, giving a colored compound. The apparatus 
 needed is a large test tube seven or eight inches long by one 
 inch in diameter, fitted with a tube % inch in diameter and 
 about five or six feet long to serve as a condenser for the 
 alcohol which is used in the test. To join or fit the long 
 tube to the test tube, soften a good cork that fits the test 
 tube, by rolling it under a board on the bench. With a 6- 
 inch or 7-inch round-file, bore a hole through the cork from 
 the small end, file this with larger round-files until the long 
 tube fits snugly into the cork. Before trying the tube in the 
 cork, round the sharp edges with a file, otherwise they will 
 cut the cork and make a poor fit. If the tube Is wet, It will 
 slip or twist into the cork much better. Besides this, an 
 
 47 
 
agate-ware cup holding brine, and means of heating it and 
 a water-bath are required. The chemicals or reagents needed 
 are amyl alcohol (fusel oil) and a l^/^ per cent, solution of 
 sulphur in carbon bisulphide. This should not be opened 
 near a fire or flame, as it is very inflammable. 
 
 To make the test, about two or three teaspoonfuls (10-15cc.) 
 of the melted fat or oil (the exact quantity makes no dif- 
 ference) are heated with an equal volume of the amyl alcohol 
 and of the carbon bisulphide solution of sulphur, with occa- 
 sional shaking, in the water-bath and, after the violent boil- 
 ing has ceased, in the brine bath at about 220°-230'' F. for 
 forty-five minutes to three hours, according to the quantity of 
 cottonseed oil present, the tube being occasionally removed 
 and shaken. As little as 1 per cent, will give a crimson- 
 wine coloration in twenty minutes. If the mixture is heated 
 too long, a misleading brownish red color due to burning is 
 produced. 
 
 Test for Unsaponifiable Oils in Animal or Vegetable Fats 
 and Oils. This test depends upon the fact that when a soap 
 solution containing unsaponified oil is diluted with water, it is 
 precipitated, causing an opalescence or turbidity. Six or eight 
 drops of oil are boiled two minutes in a test-tube with a tea- 
 spoonful of 3 per cent, alcoholic-potash solution. This is 
 made by dissolving caustic potash (take care!) in ordinary 
 alcohol or wood spirits. The potash makes soap of the oil 
 and to this soap solution distilled w^ater is gradually added 
 (1^ to 15 cc), and one notices whether the solution remains 
 clear or whether a turbidity appears which clears on the addi- 
 tion of more water. Eh-en 1 per cent, of mineral oil may be 
 detected in this way. 
 
 There are two other tests which are applied to these oils 
 which require considerable experience and a number of re- 
 agents that can be prepared only by a skilled chemist. As 
 these are sometimes referred to in oil analysis they will be 
 defined here. These tests are the Saponification Number and 
 Iodine Value. By the saponification number or value is meant 
 the number of parts by weight of potassium hydrate (KOH), 
 caustic potash, necessary to saponify 1000 parts of the oil. 
 This is nearly the same for many oils, averaging 193. Rape 
 has a number of 178; and sperm, 124-145. The number is 
 mainly of value in detecting the adulteration of animal or 
 
 48 
 
vegetable oils with petroleum or rosin oils which are not 
 saponifiable. 
 
 By the iodine number or value is understood the number 
 of parts by weight of iodine absorbed by 1000 parts of oil; 
 this varies from 176 with linseed, to 8 with cocoanut oil. This 
 can be used the same as the MaumenS figure for calculating 
 the adulteration in an oil. 
 
 Spontaneous Combustion Test. 
 The liability to gum on exposure to the air can best be 
 determined with the apparatus which enables a current ol 
 
 C^ 
 
 hhn 
 
 Fir. 13— MACKEY'S APPARATUS. 
 
 air to be drawn over the oil, which is exposed in a thin 
 layer at a temperature of 400° F. for two hours. The extent 
 to which the oil gums is measured by noting the percentage 
 increase in its viscosity. An oil showing an increase 
 of over 8 per cent, is liable to give trouble. This 
 method has been tested by Richardson and Jaffe and also by 
 the author and found to give reliable results. 
 
 Finally in making out specifications, certain mechanical 
 details should not be overlooked. The barrels should be 
 clean and the oil should be free from specks, dirt, stearlne, 
 
 49 
 
glue or anything likely to clog the lubricators that may be 
 used; the oil should be free from tar (still bottoms) as 
 shown by the gasoline test, and if compounded should be 
 composed of oils that mix perfectly. 
 
 Mackey's apparatus, Fig. 12, consists of a cylindrical cop- 
 per water-bath 7 In. high and 4 in. inside diameter, sur- 
 rounded with a half-inch water-jacket. The cover is packed 
 with asbestos and carries the draft tubes A and B, i/^ in. In 
 diameter and 6 in. long, which cause a current of air to be 
 sucked down B and up A, thus ensuring a circulation of air 
 in the apparatus. C is a cylinder made of 24-mesh wire 
 gauze 6 in. high and 1^/^ in. in diameter, supported upon a 
 projection from the bottom of the bath. A thermometer pro- 
 jects into the center of the cylinder. If a metal condenser 
 is connected to the water-bath the latter can be used indefi- 
 nitely without refilling and without danger of burning out. 
 
 One hundred and eight grains of ordinary bleached cotton 
 wadding are weighed out in a porcelain dish or on a watch- 
 glass, and 216 grains of the oil to be tested poured upon 
 the cotton and thoroughly worked into It, care being taken 
 to replace any oil that is lost. The cotton Is then placed in 
 the cylinder, packed about the thermometer so that It occu- 
 pies the upper 4^/^ in. of the cylinder, and put into the boil- 
 ing water-bath. At the end of an hour, the bath having been 
 kept in active ebullition, the temperature is read. Any oil 
 which shows a temperature exceeding 100° C. in one hour or 
 200° C. in two hours should be regarded as a dangerous oil 
 liable to produce spontaneous combustion. The following 
 tables show the results obtained in using this apparatus: 
 
 Temperature °C. in 
 
 Oil 1 hr. 
 
 Olive (neutral) 97-98 
 
 Cotton-seed 112-128 
 
 Elaine 98-103 
 
 Olive fatty oils 102-114 
 
 Other values obtained were: 
 
 1% hrs. 
 100 
 
 177-242 
 101-115 
 
 1% hrs. 
 101 
 
 194-282 
 102-191 
 196 
 
 Temp. Time Iodine 
 
 Oil °C. Minutes No. 
 
 Olive 234 130 85.4 
 
 Lard 234 75 75.2 
 
 Oleic Acid 158 188 60.5 
 
 Cotton-seed 234 70 108.9 
 
 Linseed 234 65 168.1 
 
 25° ParaflSn 97 135 16.2 
 
 50 
 
 Free 
 Acid % 
 5.3 
 Trace 
 
 Neutral 
 Neutral 
 
Besides being used for testing oils this apparatus can be 
 applied to testing other materials, oily waste, sawdust, or 
 any mixture suspected of causing spontaneous combustion. 
 
 The results of the greatest practical value obtained in the 
 use of this apparatus have been: (a) determining the cause 
 of fires; (b) second, determining the degree of safety of the 
 various oils used in manufacturing. Mineral oil, as is well 
 known, is not liable to spontaneous combustion; and a cer- 
 tain percentage of animal or vegetable oil may be added to 
 mineral oil without materially increasing the danger under 
 ordinary circumstances. This percentage varies according 
 to the oil. With neatsfoot and first quality lard oil some 
 50 to 60 per cent, may be used. With cotton-seed not over 
 25 per cent, is allowable. The claims so often made for 
 so-called "safe" oils, said to have been changed by special 
 and secret processes of refining so as to be no longer dan- 
 gerous, are easily exposed by this test. 
 
 General Considerations 
 
 According to the results of the viscosity and friction tests, 
 the least viscous oil is to be given the preference. It should 
 be borne in mind, however, that the heat of the journal di- 
 minishes the viscosity. For example, at 60° F., if the vis- 
 cosity of sperm oil be taken as 100, that of 25° paraffin oil 
 is 123; at 100° F. the latter has diminished to 110, and at 
 250° F. the two are practically equal. On account of this 
 change in temperature, as well as the irregularities of the 
 journals, of the feed and of pressure, a too thinly fluid oil 
 must not be chosen. 
 
 The following considerations will aid in the selection of a 
 suitable oil. 
 
 1. The flashing point of the oil should be above 300° F. 
 
 2. The oil should have an evaporation test of less than 5 
 per cent. 
 
 3. On general principles the most fluid oil that will stay 
 in place should be used. 
 
 4. The best oil Is that which possesses the greatest adhe- 
 sion and least cohesion. This condition Is fulfilled first, by 
 
 61 
 
fine mineral oils, except at high temperatures; second, 
 sperm; third, neatsfoot; fourth, lard. 
 
 5. For light pressures and high speeds, mineral oils of 
 specific gravity 30.5° Be., flash point 360° F., sperm, olive, 
 and rape (Thurston adds also cotton-seed) should be em- 
 ployed. 
 
 6. For ordinary machinery, mineral oils of specific grav- 
 ity 25° to 29° B6., flash point 400° to 450° F., lard, whale, 
 neat's-foot, and tallow, also heavy vegetable oils should be 
 used. 
 
 7. For cylinder oils, mineral oils of specific gravity 27° 
 B6., flash point 550° F., alone and with small percentages (1 
 to 7) of animal or vegetable oils are employed; the latter 
 are degras, tallow, linseed, cotton-seed, and blown rape. 
 
 The above specifications apply to oils of paraflBn base; the 
 asphaltic base oils are about 7° B6. heavier, flash lower and 
 are much more viscous than the corresponding paraffin base 
 oils; they also lose their viscosity more rapidly except at 
 high temperatures, when the reverse holds true. Conse- 
 quently when these oils are specified, their viscosity should 
 be from 25 to 50, or in some cases, even 75 per cent, greater. 
 
 8. For watches and clocks, clarified sperm, jaw, and 
 "melon" oils should be employed. 
 
 9. For heavy pressure and slow speed, lard, tallow, and 
 other greases, either by themselves or mixed with graphite 
 and soapstone, should be used. 
 
 10. For very heavy pressure, solid lubricants, as graphite 
 and soapstone, are employed. 
 
 11. To resist cold, as, for example, for lubricating air- 
 driven rock-drills, kerosene has been used. 
 
 12. The oil should contain no acid to corrode the shaft or 
 journal. The German railroads permit no more than 0.1 to 
 0.3 per cent, of acids, calculated as sulphuric anhydride, in 
 their oils. 
 
 In addition to the conditions outlined in considerations 1 
 to 12, the way and manner in which the oil is applied, or the 
 "feed," influences the choice. The various feeds may be di- 
 vided into forced, gravity, ring or wick, splash, flooded hear- 
 
 62 
 
Table 1. Comparison of Specific Gravity with Baume Degrees. 
 (Lighter than water.) 
 
 Baum6 Sp. Gr. Baum6 Sp. Gr. 
 
 10 1.000 29 0.881 
 
 12 0.986 30 0.875 
 
 14 0.972 35 0.848 
 
 16 0.959 40 0.823 
 
 18 0.946 45 0.800 
 
 20 0.933 50 0.778 
 
 21 0.927 55 0.757 
 
 22 0.921 60 0.737 
 
 23 0.915 65 0.718 
 
 24 0.909 70 0.700 
 
 25 0.903 75 0.683 
 
 26 0.897 80 0.666 
 
 27 0.892 85 0.651 
 
 28 0.886 90 0.636 
 The specific gravity can in general be found by the formula 
 
 140-^ (30-f B°). B° represents the reading B^. at 60° F. 
 
 Table 2. Specific Gravity, Degrees Baume, Weight per Gallon 
 and per Cubic Foot of Certain Oils. 
 Sp. Gr. 60° F. Degrees B. Lb. per Gal. Lb. per Cu. ft. 
 
 seed 
 
 Oils 
 
 Castor 
 Cotton 
 Horse 
 Lard 
 Linseed 
 Neat's-foot 
 Olive 
 Rape 
 Sperm 
 Tallow- 
 Turpentine 
 Whale 
 Water 
 
 Castor 
 
 Colza 
 
 Cottonseed 
 
 Horse 
 
 Lard 82.8 
 
 Linseed 80.0 
 
 Neatsfoot 83.7 
 
 Olive 66 
 
 Rape 86.5 
 
 Sperm 73.5 
 
 Tallow 75.0 
 
 Turpentine 
 
 »At 140 deg. F. 
 
 0.961 15.66 8.01 
 
 .922 21.83 7.68 
 
 .919 22.17 7.66 
 
 .915 23.00 7.62 
 
 .934 19.87 7.79 
 
 .915 23.00 7.62 
 
 .916 22.80 7.63 
 
 .916 22.80 7.63 
 
 .880 29.00 7.34 
 
 .916 22.80 7.63 
 
 .866 31.60 7.22 
 
 .927 21.00 7.72 
 
 1.000 10.00 8.33 
 
 Table 3. Tests of Certain Oils. 
 Viscosity 
 
 Doolittle Saybolt Flash Yalenta 
 
 viscid 132> 345 20 
 
 see Rape 
 
 82.5 . 210» 582 
 
 215 530-600 
 
 200' 525 
 
 250 440 
 
 68' 450 
 
 350» 530 
 
 102 430-480 
 
 125' 560 
 
 119-125 .... 
 ' Calculated from Doolittle reading 
 53 
 
 90-110 
 
 54-80 
 
 54-98 
 
 57-79 
 
 62-75 
 
 85-111 
 
 Insoluble 
 
 Insoluble 
 
 71-75 
 
 60.06 
 57.62 
 57.44 
 57.14 
 58.37 
 57.14 
 57.25 
 57.25 
 55.00 
 57.25 
 54.12 
 57.93 
 62.50 
 
 Maumene 
 47 
 
 "76 
 52 
 41 
 111 
 42 
 35 
 55 
 46 
 35 
 
ing and hand feed, or combinations of these. Of these the 
 forced, gravity, and ring or wick, are economical, of high effi- 
 ciency, collect little dirt, and in the case of the first two, fur- 
 nish strained oil and use a light or medium-bodied oil; the 
 same holds true of the flooded bearing, except as regards the 
 efficiency of the recovery of the oil. The chief disadvantage 
 of the splash feed is that any dirt and wear from the bear- 
 ings are not separated from the oil. Hand feeding is most 
 wasteful and inefficient, depending upon the efficiency of the 
 individual. Forced feed is employed with high speed and 
 bearing pressures; it uses a somewhat more viscous oil — 
 particularly with automobiles, than the other types of feed. 
 Wear and Tear of Oils. The question is often asked 
 whether oils "wear out." This continues the Southwick con- 
 ception of the ball bearing and implies that the balls or 
 molecules break or wear out. Carpenter and Sawdon 
 showed that the gravity and viscosity of the oils in circulat- 
 ing systems increased, but the actual friction test was 
 slightly lower at low pressures, and a trifle higher at high 
 pressures. With automobile lubrication, the dilution of the 
 oil by the gasoline residues causes it to become thinner; 
 consequently fresh oil should be added to a circulating sys- 
 tem to keep this viscosity practically constant. 
 
 54 
 
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 Largest (Manufacturers 
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 BOSTON PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Works at ELIZA BETHPORT, NEW JERSEY 
 
For the Lubrication of Textile 
 Machinery 
 
 Slo^Flo 
 
 The Scientific 
 
 LUBRICANT 
 
 possesses many decided advantages. 
 Its lubricating qualities are of the highest. 
 It stays on the bearings— it will neither 
 drip nor spatter. 
 It lasts. 
 
 Its economy has long been recognized in 
 the many mills for which SLO-FLO is sav- 
 ing time— keeping the machinery in better 
 condition and preventing losses from 
 stained goods. 
 Samples and information upon request. 
 
 S & F Wool Oils sualain a high reputation 
 for uni/ormity and quality 
 
 SWAN^FINCH 
 
 COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 Quality Lubricants Since 1853 
 Chicago Philadelphia Boston San Fronciaro 
 Buffalo P'-«'-o:t r>— -•:'■• — r^ »•- ,. /^ >„- . . 
 
 "Scientific Lubricants for Scientific Lubricatort" 
 
Turbo Sprayer 
 
 A New Way of Oiling Stock in Process 
 
 Oil evenly distributed — better pene- 
 tration of fibre. Saves oil — saves 
 labor — saves time in picking — less 
 waste in carding and spinning, ^lore 
 uniform weight — better roping- — ■ 
 stronger yarn — more production — 
 easier scouring of finished product. 
 
 A descriptive booklet is waiting your call; 
 
 IJ Parks -Cramer Compaiiy^ 
 
 Engineers' & Contractors 
 Industrial "Pipixy and Air Conditioning 
 
 Kichbur^ Boston Charlotte 
 
The Service Journal of the 
 Textile Industry 
 
 An illustrated monthly journal 
 which shows live textile mill men 
 the latest and best processes 
 everywhere. 
 
 Answers questions for subscribers 
 free of charge. 
 
 Has unrivalled facilities for secur- 
 ing technical information for 
 textile mill men. 
 
 Subscription $1 .00 per year 
 $1.50 in foreig7i countries 
 
 79 Milk Street, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Our Book Department Can Supply Any Textile 
 Book in Print. Write for Catalogue