Celluloid

“ With 10 parts, by weight, of celluloid in 30 parts, by weight, each of sulphuric ether, acetone, amyl acetate, and 4 parts, by weight, camphor. 3. With 5 parts, by weight, celluloid in 50 parts, by weight, alcohol and 5 parts, by weight, camphor. 4. With 5 parts, by weight, celluloid in 50 parts, by weight, amyl acetate. 5. With 5 parts, by weight, celluloid in 25 parts, by weight, amyl acetate and 25 parts, by weight, acetone. {161}
It is often desirable to soften celluloid so that it will not break when hammered. ”

“ A theoretical and practical treatise on the origin, history, chemistry, manufacture, technical application and analysis of the products of acylation and alkylation of normal and modified cellulose, including nitrocellulose, celluloid, pyroxylin, collodion, celloidin, gun-cotton, acetycellulose and viscose, as applied to technology, pharmacy, microscopy, medicine, photography and the warlike and peaceful arts. ”

“ Cellulose in any form, whether made from cotton, linen, wood, or other vegetable fibrous substance, affords a basis which can be treated with dilute acid to produce a horny or parchment-like substance. A modification of this is seen in making celluloid with camphor. These modified forms of organic creation can be combined with other organic substances or minerals in great variety. Thus glycerine, and at times oil of different kinds, in such admixtures confers elasticity, or a diaphanous appearance; ivory-dust has an affinity for oil and glue ”

“ Thus the cellulose nitrates are the bases of our modern high explosives, as well as those now used for military purposes. Their use has been steadily developed and perfected since the middle of the 19th century. The industries in celluloid, xylonite, &c., also depend upon the nitric esters of cellulose, and the plastic state which they assume when treated with solvent liquids, such as alcohol, amyl acetate, camphor and other auxiliaries, in which state they can be readily moulded and fashioned at will. ”

“ Dissolve a weighed quantity of the celluloid in a mixture of ether- alcohol, mixed with a weighed quantity of washed and ignited asbestos, or pumice-stone, dry, and disintegrate the mass, and afterwards extract the camphor with chloroform, dry, and weigh: then extract with absolute methyl-alcohol, evaporate, weigh, and examine the nitro-cellulose in the nitrometer.
~Picric Acid and Picrates.~—Picric acid is soluble in hot water, and to the extent of 1 part in 100 in cold water, also in ether, chloroform, glycerine, 10 per cent. ”

“ That cellulose then becomes mere dust, and is simply beaten out of the intact woollen texture. The cellulose is, in a pure state, a white powder, of specific gravity 1·5, i.e. one and a half times as heavy as water, and is quite insoluble in such solvents as water, alcohol, ether; but it does dissolve in a solution of hydrated oxide of copper in ammonia. On adding acids to the cupric-ammonium solution, the cellulose is reprecipitated in the form of a gelatinous mass. Cotton and linen are scarcely dissolved at all by a solution of basic zinc chloride. ”

“ In the analysis of fodder plants and other vegetable produce, the residue obtained after successive acid and alkaline hydrolysis is the “crude fibre” of the agricultural chemist, and is generally taken as a measure of the actual cellulose contents of the raw material. We give in tabular form the average percentage of crude fibre in typical food-stuffs and agricultural produce:—
The above figures have a purely empirical value, since they represent a complicated mixture of various residues derived from the celluloses and compound celluloses. ”

“ The cell-wall is of cellulose. The cell contains two chloroplastids, or plates coloured with the vegetal pigment "diatomin." Besides ordinary transverse fission in the ordinary encysted state in the ectoplasm of the host, when free they may pass into what is known as a "Palmella-state," the cell-walls gelatinising; in this condition they multiply freely, and constitute a jelly in which the individual cells are seen as rounded bodies. They contain starch in two forms—large hollow granules, not doubly refractive, and small solid granules which polarise light. ”

“ If the chlorinated fibre be directly boiled with the sodium sulphite solution, its resolution into cellulose and soluble non-cellulose derivatives is complete: and this treatment constitutes the most simple and rapid method of estimating the cellulose in lignified tissues. It is only necessary finally to wash the cellulose with hot water containing a little acetic acid (when placed in a funnel it acts as its own filter) , and then with, alcohol, when it may be dried and weighed. ”

“ Viewed as a chemical substance, cellulose is white, translucent, and somewhat heavier than water. It is tasteless, inodorous, absolutely innutritious, and is insoluble in water, alcohol, and oils. Dilute acids and alkalies, even when hot, scarcely affect it. By prolonged boiling in dilute acids, however, cellulose undergoes a gradual change, being converted into hydro-cellulose. It is also affected by boiling water alone, especially under high pressure, if boiled for a lengthened period. ”

“ If you press some of the
cells lightly they will burst, the soft inside part will flow out and leave the empty sac just the shape of the cell except where it is torn. This shows that the outside is much stronger and tougher than the inside. Chemists have found that this wall of the cell is made exactly the same as the tough cells of wood—it is called cellulose.
The light-colored jelly inside the sac has a long name of its own—protoplasm—which means first form or mould, because this seems to be the first form of all life. The green and the red colored grains are called chlorophyll. ”

“ We may take this opportunity of pointing out that the celluloses not only suggest with some definiteness the connection of the structural properties of visible aggregates—that is, of matter in the mass—with the configuration of the chemical molecule or reacting unit, but supply unique material for the actual experimental investigation of the problems involved. Of all the 'organic' colloids cellulose is the only one which can be converted into a variety of derivative forms, from each of which a regular solid can be produced in continuous length and of any prescribed dimensions. ”

“ CELLULOSE, the name given to both an individual—cellulose proper, in the restricted sense of a chemical individual—and to a group of substances, the celluloses or cellulose group, which constitute in infinitely varied forms the containing envelope of the plant cell. They are complex carbohydrates, or “saccharo-colloids” (Tollens) , and are resolved by ultimate hydrolysis into monoses. The typical cellulose is represented by the empirical formula C6H10O5, identical with that of starch, with which it has many chemical analogies as well as physiological correlations. ”

“ Cellulose is extremely resistant to the action of dilute alkalis: a 1–2% solution of sodium hydrate having little action at temperatures up to 150° hence the use of caustic soda, soda ash and sodium silicate in bleaching processes, i.e. for the elimination of the non-cellulose components of the raw fibres. Oxidation in acid solutions gives compounds classed as “oxycelluloses,” insoluble in water, but more or less soluble in alkalis; continued oxidation gives formic, acetic and carbonic acids. Oxidation in alkaline solution is more easily controlled and limited ”

“ Plant tissues, however, seldom, if ever, consist of pure cellulose, but contain besides, other products of growth either chemically combined with the cellulose or mechanically bound up with the tissue, which are, according to the nature of their union, removable either by means of fundamental chemical resolution or by the application of simple solvents. A general method for the isolation of cellulose consists in exposing the moist tissue to the action of chlorine gas or of bromine water in the cold, and subsequently boiling in dilute ammonia ”

“ Other compounds exist in more intimate association with the cellulose nitrates causing instability which cannot be removed by exhaustive washing with either hot or cold water, by digestion in cold dilute alkaline solutions such as sodium carbonate, or by extracting with ether, alcohol, benzene, &c. ”

“ This formula is very largely used for the production of pyroxyline varnish, which is used for varnishing pens, pencils, &c., also brass-work and silver-ware.
The body known as oxy-cellulose [A] is formed by the action of nitric acid upon cellulose when boiled with it. The quantity formed is about 30 per cent. of cellulose acted upon. When washed free from acid, it gelatinises. It is then soluble in dilute alkalies, and can be reprecipitated from solution by alcohol, acids, or saline solutions. Messrs Cross and Bevan assign to it the formula C_{18}H_{26}O_{16}. ”

“ Those which may be carried out in a reasonably short time are deficient in two directions: (1) they yield a 'cellulose' containing more or less oxycellulose; (2) the celluloses themselves are attacked under the conditions of treatment, and the end product or cellulose merely represents a particular and at the same time variable equilibrium, as between the resistance of the cellulose and the attack of the reagents employed; this attack being by no means confined to the non-cellulose constituents. ”

“ Adipo-Cellulose.—A distinct compound cellulose present in the complex cuticular tissue of plants, and separated easily by suitable solvents from the wax and oily constituents also present.
Alkali Cellulose.—When cotton pulp is intimately mixed with strong caustic soda solution, this compound is formed. It is utilised in the manufacture of Viscose.
Amyloid.—Strong sulphuric acid acts upon cellulose and converts it into a gelatinous semi-transparent substance to which the name amyloid has been given. (See Parchment Paper.) ”

“ By treating the fibrous cellulose nitrates with liquid solvents of the high nitrate diluted with non-solvent liquids, and more especially water. The optimum effect is a specific disintegration or breaking down of their fibrous structure quite distinct from the gelatinisation which precedes solution in the undiluted solvent, and occurring within narrow limits of variation in the proportion of the diluting and non-solvent liquid—for industrial work the most convenient solution to employ is acetone diluted with about 10 p.ct. ”

“ ZINC CHLORIDE.—To prepare a homogeneous solution of cellulose by means of the neutral chloride, a prolonged digestion at or about 100° with the concentrated reagent is required. The dissolution of the cellulose is not a simple phenomenon, but is attended with hydrolysis and a certain degree of condensation. The latter result is evidenced by the formation of furfural, the former by the presence of soluble carbohydrates in the solution obtained by diluting the original solution and filtering from the reprecipitated cellulose. ”

“ It is easily saponified by boiling with a solution of potassium hydrate, the cellulose being regenerated. No derivative containing more than three acetyl groups has been obtained; but a mixture of the mono-and di-acetyl cellulose is formed in treating cellulose with only twice its weight of acetic anhydride, the formation of these bodies being unattended by their solution.
Whenever cellulose, in any form, is brought into contact with strong nitric acid at a low temperature, a nitro product, or a nitrate, is formed. ”

“ Cellulose burns with a luminous flame to carbon dioxide and water; dry distillation gives a complicated mixture of gaseous and liquid products and a residue of charcoal or pseudo-carbon. Chromic acid in sulphuric acid solutions effects a complete oxidation, i.e. combustion to water and carbonic acid.
Ligno-celluloses.—These compounds have many of the characteristics of the cellulose esters; they are in effect ethereal compounds of cellulose and the quinonoid lignone complex, and the combination resists hydrolysis by weak alkalis or acids. ”

“ In the mercerising reaction, or alkali-cellulose stage, it is true the differences are considerable. With celluloses of the wood and straw classes there is a considerable conversion into soluble alkali-celluloses. If treated with water these are dissolved, and on weighing back the cellulose, after thorough washing, treatment with acid, and finally washing and drying, it will be found to have lost from 15 to 20 p.ct. in weight. The lower grade of celluloses thus dissolved are only in part precipitated in acidifying the alkaline solution. ”

“ Indeed the evidence of biological observation goes to show that the ligno-celluloses are formed, by a process of chemical modification, from some more purely cellulosic tissue, which preceded it, and with this modification there is, nevertheless, a retention of the general features of the original cellulose. In the domain of animal chemistry, recent investigation has also shown that the development of proteid tissues finds its chemical expression in their aldehydic characteristics, or as it has been put, the immediate physical cause of life is to be found in the chemical tension of aldehydes. ”

“ The air, which rests upon the charge, and which offers an enormous resistance to motion at such inconceivably high velocities, serves as a sufficient tamping.
Gun-cotton may be taken as an example of a chemical compound. The woody or fibrous part of plants is called “cellulose.” Its chemical formula is C6H10O5, that is, the molecule of cellulose consists of six atoms of carbon in combination with ten atoms of hydrogen and five atoms of oxygen. If this substance be dipped into concentrated nitric acid, some of the hydrogen is displaced and peroxide of nitrogen is substituted for it. ”

“ When the glands are exhausted by alcohol and potash, and broken by pressure between flat pieces of glass, they separate into individual cells which swell up slightly, while the membranous envelope is completely detached, and appears as a simple coherent film. After this treatment the cells, but not their membranous envelope, acquire by prolonged contact with strong sulphuric acid and iodine water a more or less brown or blue colour: the walls of the cells alone correspond therefore to cellulose. ”