Anthracene

“ The use of artificial alizarine would doubtless entirely supplant the employment of madder-root if anthracene could be obtained in larger quantities; and the change would be highly advantageous to this country, for as no madder is grown in Great Britain, and we consume nearly half the whole annual growth, it follows that every year a million pounds sterling go out of the country for this commodity. When anthracene is produced from coal in sufficient abundance, this sum will be available for the support of our own population. ”

“ The utilization of the next fraction, anthracene oil, is one of the greatest triumphs which applied chemical science can lay claim to since the foundation of the coal-tar colour industry. This discovery dates from 1868, [Pg 168] when it was shown by two German chemists, Graebe and Liebermann, that the colouring-matter of madder was derived from the hydrocarbon anthracene. Like indigo, madder may be regarded as one of the most ancient of natural dye-stuffs. ”

“ Anthozoa, an′tho-zō-a, n.pl. another name for Actinozoa, one of the three classes of Cœlenterates, including sea-anemones, corals, &c. [Gr. anthos, a flower, zōa, animals.]
Anthracene, an-thra-sēn′, n. a hydrocarbon obtained as one of the last products in the distillation of coal-tar, of value as the source of artificial alizarin. [Gr. anthrax, coal, and -ene.]
Anthracite, an′thras-īt, n. a kind of coal that burns nearly without flame, smell, or smoke, consisting almost entirely of carbon, and not readily ignited.—adjs. Anthracif′erous, yielding anthracite; Anthracit′ic.—n. Anthracit′ism. ”

“ Naphthalene boils as high as 217°, yet a deal goes into this carbolic-acid fraction. As soon as naphthalene begins to crystallize out largely (on cooling down a sample of distillate) , the carbolic acid may be presumed to be over. What follows next is put aside as creosote oil, until, after the disappearance of the naphthalene, a new solid product, namely, anthracene, begins to show itself. With any tar that contains a remunerative proportion of anthracene, the anthracene oil is the most valuable of the products, as the raw material for the making of artificial alizarins. ”

“ According to Armstrong, anthracene behaves unsymmetrically towards substituents, and hence one lateral ring differs from the other; he represents the molecule as consisting of one centric ring, the remaining medial and lateral ring being ethenoid. Bamberger, on the other hand, extends his views on benzene and naphthalene and assumes the molecule to be (1) . For general purposes, however, the symbol (2) , in which the lateral rings are benzenoid and the medial ring fatty, represents quite adequately the syntheses, decompositions, and behaviour of anthracene. ”

“ Anthraquinone crystallizes in yellow needles or prisms, which melt at 277° C. It is soluble in hot benzene, sublimes easily, and is very stable towards oxidizing agents. On the other hand, it is readily attacked by reducing agents. With zinc dust in presence of caustic soda it yields the secondary alcohol oxan-thranol, C6H4 : CO·CHOH : C6H4, with tin and hydrochloric acid, the phenolic compound anthranol, C6H4 : CO·C (OH) : C6H4; and with hydriodic acid at 150° C. or on distillation with zinc dust, the hydrocarbon anthracene, C14H10. When fused with caustic potash, it gives benzoic acid. ”

“ A basic substance has lately been separated by Graebe and Caro from crude anthracene, to which, on account of its irritating action upon the skin and mucous membranes, they have given the name of acridine. This body is obtained by heating the semi-solid portion of coal naphtha, which boils between 300o and 360o, with dilute sulphuric acid, and precipitating the acid solution with potassium dichromate. A dirty brown precipitate is obtained, which dissolves on repeated treatment with boiling water. ”

“ Anthracene heated with excess sulphuric acid yields the water-soluble anthracenesulphonic acid; the latter, when heated with formaldehyde, yields water-soluble, reddish-brown condensation products, which remain soluble on prolonged heating with formaldehyde. The aqueous solution of the condensation product shows no particular reactions; it gives a flocculent precipitate with gelatine and a green precipitate with copper sulphate, soluble with blue colour in excess of the reagent. ”

“ Of the products of the illuminating gas industry tar has considerably the most importance. Coal tar as such has varied use in industry, but far greater use is made of the products obtained by fractional distillation from it such as benzene, toluene, naphthalene, anthracene, carbolic acid, pyridine, and the other constituents of tar, a number of which form the starting-point in the production of the enormous coal-tar dye industry. Especially increasing is the consumption of benzene. In Germany alone this has increased in ten years from 20 to 70 million kilos. ”

“ Aniline black, 117, 156 colours, 3, 4, 57, 112, 115, 117, 118, 156, 214, 285-288 (iii) oil, 117, 214 poisoning, 3, 69, 113, 116-119 (i) , 212-214 (ii) , 256-288 (iii) Animal products, 154 Anthracene, 3, 60, 96-97, 101, 107, 108, 111, 113, 285 Anthraquinone, 55, 111 Antimony, 122, 124, 146 (i) chloride and oxide, 37 Antipyrin, 3, 4, 36, 102, 104, 114 Argyria, 45, 152, 188, 329. ”

“ The ancient Greeks called it anthrax, which name is sometimes used in medicine to-day with reference to the severe boil-like inflammation which, from its burning and redness, is called a carbuncle, though it is more usual to apply the word "anthrax" to the malignant cattle-disease which is occasionally passed on to man by means of wool, hair, blood-clots, etc., etc., and almost always ends fatally. A great deal of mystery and superstition has always existed in connexion with this stone—the invisibility of the bearer of the egg-carbuncle laid by a goldfinch, for instance. ”

“ In the second of these processes the anthracine is first treated with bromine or chlorine, and subsequently submitted to an oxidizing process, in order that the desired compounds, videlicet, bibromanthrakinon or bichloranthrakinon, may be obtained. In an analogous manner we now employ sulphuric acid as a substitute for the bromine or chlorine employed in the processes above referred to, and we thus obtain the sulphuric acid derivatives of anthrakinon, which we call the sulpho-acids of anthrakinon.' The specifications then go on to describe the two new processes. ”

“ One part of anthracen is heated with two parts of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1·3 to 1·5. The anthraquinone thus produced is washed and dissolved at a moderate heat in sulphuric acid. Mercuric nitrate is now added, which converts the anthraquinone into alizarin, The mass thus formed is dissolved in an excess of alkali, which precipitates the oxide of mercury, and retains the colouring matters in solution. The alkaline liquor is decanted and neutralised with sulphuric acid, and the precipitate thus formed is washed and collected. If not quite pure the treatment with alkali must be repeated. ”

“ There is a certain malady known, when it attacks cattle and sheep, as ‘charbon’ or ‘sang de rate,’ and when it attacks man, as ‘woolsorter’s disease.’ The term ‘anthrax’ covers the disease in both beast and{121} man; and anthrax is produced by a bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis, which had been recognized and was accused of causing the disease before Pasteur began to interest himself in such matters. It annually carried off 20 per cent. ”

“ The anthrax bacillus cannot produce the hardy spore form within the bodies of animals, but it does outside. Now it has been shown that the bacilli of anthrax taken from the blood of an animal dead of anthrax are destroyed rapidly in ordinary River Thames water, for example, but that if the temperature of the water to which they gain access is somewhat higher than usual, such bacilli are able to sporulate or produce spores in the water, and in that hardy form can retain their vitality and virulence for several months. ”

“ DEFINITION.—Anthrax is an acute, infectious, bacteridian disease, occurring mostly in the Herbivora and Omnivora, but communicable to other mammals (including man) , to birds, and even fishes. Its local manifestations are exceedingly varied in kind, but the malady is characterized by the presence in the tissues or blood, or both, of specific spherical and linear bacteria (micrococcus and bacillus anthracis) , leading to arrest of hæmatosis, to disintegration of the blood-globules, to sanguineous engorgement of the spleen, to capillary embolism, and to a spreading gangrenous inflammation. ”

“ The bacilli seem to die in the carcase of a dead animal within three days [154] after death; and as, for spore formation, the free access of air and a temperature of 70° F. are necessary, it is not likely that this goes on in the earth. Pasteur's assertion that anthrax spores may be brought to the surface by earthworms is discredited by Koch and others. Man, I believe, has never been infected with anthrax except by direct inoculation or, as in the wool-sorter, by inhaling spores from infected wool or hides. ”

“ The post-mortem appearances in internal anthrax are such as are usually observed in septicaemia, but in addition evidence of extensive inflammation of the lungs, pleura and bronchial glands has in most cases been met with. The blood and other fluids and the diseased tissues are found loaded with the Bacillus anthracis. ”

“ ANTHRAPURPURIN. C14H8O5.—A colouring matter obtained as a secondary product in the preparation of alizarin from anthracen. It may be prepared by dissolving the crude colouring matter in a dilute solution of carbonate of soda, and shaking up the resulting solution with freshly precipitated alumina, which combines with the alizarin, leaving the anthrapurpurin in solution. This is filtered off from the alizarin lake, heated to boiling, and acidified with hydrochloric acid. The colouring matter which is precipitated is thrown on to a filter, washed and dried. ”

“ The bacillus of anthrax, under certain conditions, retains its vitality for a long time, and rapidly grows when it finds a suitable field in which to develop, its mode of multiplication being by scission and the formation of spores, and depending, to a great extent at least, on the presence of oxygen. The morbid action of the bacillus is indeed said to be due to its affinity for oxygen; by depriving the red corpuscles of the blood of that most essential gas, it renders the vital fluid unfit to sustain life. ”

“ In outbreaks of anthrax on farms where many animals are exposed to infection immediate temporary protection can be conferred by the injection of anthrax serum.
Human Beings.—For many years cases of sudden death had been observed to occur from time to time among healthy men engaged in woollen manufactories, particularly in the work of sorting or combing wool. In some instances death appeared to be due to the direct inoculation of some poisonous material into the body, for a form of malignant pustule was observed upon the skin ”

“ If those members of the herd, that show no hyperthermia or other symptom of anthrax, can be held apart as a separate herd, in a disinfected place and under careful thermometric observation, their dairy products may be used.
Immunization. A number of different methods have been practiced of rendering animals refractory to the bacillus anthracis, but all are apparently based on the production in the system of defensive products, as the result of a nonlethal poisoning with anthrax toxins. It is true of anthrax as of many other infections that a first attack protects against a second. ”

“ Anthrax, an′thraks, n. a widely distributed and very destructive disease, most common among sheep and cattle, the first infectious disease proved to be due to the presence of microscopic vegetable organisms (bacilli) —other names are Splenic Apoplexy, Splenic Fever, and as it occurs in man, Malignant Pustule and Woolsorter's Disease: a carbuncle or malignant boil.—adjs. Anthra′cic, An′thracoid. [L.—Gr. anthrax; coal, a carbuncle.]
Anthropical, an-throp′ik-al, adj. (rare) connected with human nature. [Gr. anthropikos, human, anthrōpos, man.] ”

“ It gains entrance to the body by way of the intestinal tract, lungs and air-passages and the skin. The bites of insects play an important part in the distribution of the disease in some localities, but the most common method of infection is by way of the digestive tract, through eating and drinking food and water contaminated with the anthrax germs. The spores of the B. anthracis are very resistant to changes in temperature and drying. They may live for years in rich, moist inundated soils. ”

“ ANTHRAX, OR CHARBON. —An acute, infectious disease of plant-eating animals, which, under favorable conditions, attacks flesh-eating animals as well. It is caused by a microbe which enters the circulating blood and by multiplication therein causes its rapid destruction, and the death of the animal. The disease is as old as human history. It exists in all countries and in all latitudes. It was formerly very destructive to human life, as well as to animals. There is no disease which attacks more different kinds of animals than anthrax, nor one which is more deadly. ”

“ In animals, anthrax is also called charbon, splenic fever, or splenic apoplexy: in man, the name of malignant pustule is given to the sore at the point of accidental inoculation, and the name of woolsorter's disease is given to those cases of anthrax where the lungs are infected by inhalation of the spores of the bacillus anthracis. ”

“ PROPHYLAXIS AND TREATMENT.—The prophylaxis of anthrax in man is to a large extent identical with that for animals. All considerations as regards soil, culture, drainage, sick and dead stock, cremation, burial, disinfection, etc. have a most important if only a secondary bearing on the protection of man. Still more important is the free use of carbolic acid, chloride of lime, or tincture of iodine for the hands of those dressing unhealthy sores in animals or handling suspicious cases of sickness or cadavers, and of those working in hides, wool, hair, horns, hoofs, guts, etc. ”