SULPHURATION

is the proce by which woollen, silk, and cotton goods are exposed to the vapours of burning sulphur, or to sulphurous acid gas. In the article Straw-hat Manufacture , I have described a simple and cheap apparatus, well adapted to this operation. Sulphuring-rooms are sometimes constructed upon a great scale, in which blankets, shawls, and woollen clothes may be suspended freely upon poles or cords. The floor should be flagged with a sloping pavement, to favour the drainage of the water that drops down from the moistened cloth. The iron or stoneware ve els, in which the sulphur is burned, are set in the corners of the apartment. They should be increased in number according to the dimensions of the place, and distributed uniformly over it. The windows and the entrance door must be made to shut hermetically close. In the lower part of the door, there should be a small opening, with a sliding shutter, which may be raised or lowered by the mechanism of a cord pa ing over a pulley. The aperture by which the sulphurous acid and azotic gases are let off, in order to carry on the combustion, should be somewhat larger than the opening at the bottom. A lofty chimney carries the noxious gases above the building, and diffuses them over a wide space, their ascension being promoted by means of a draught-pipe of iron, connected with an ordinary stove, provided with a valve to close its orifice when not kindled. When the chamber is to be used, the goods are hung up, and a small fire is made in the draught-stove. The proper quantity of sulphur being next put into the shallow pans, it is kindled, the entrance door is closed, as well as its shutter, while a vent-hole near the ground is opened by drawing its cord, which pa es over a pulley. After a few minutes, when the sulphur is fully kindled, that vent-hole must be almost entirely shut, by relaxing the cord; when the whole apparatus is to be let alone for a sufficient time. The object of the preceding precautions is to prevent the sulphurous acid gas escaping from the chamber by the seams of the principal doorway. This is secured by closing it imperfectly, so that it may admit of the pa age of somewhat more air than can enter by the upper seams, and the smallest quantity of fresh air that can support the combustion. The velocity of the current of air may be increased at pleasure, by enlarging the under vent-hole a little, and quickening the fire of the draught-stove. Before opening the entrance door of the apartment, for the discharge of the goods, a small fire must be lighted in the draught furnace, the vent-hole must be thrown entirely open, and the sliding shutter of the door must be slid up, gradually more and more every quarter of an hour, and finally left wide open for a proper time. By this means the air of the chamber will become soon respirable.