Soda water

“ When cold, bottle the liquid, and cork it tightly. The bottles for this purpose should either be quite new, or such as have been used before for lemon syrup. Mixed with ice-water it is a wholesome and refreshing beverage, and if you stir into a half tumbler of the mixture a half tea-spoonful, or more, of carbonate of soda, it will foam up, and be just like the soda-water you buy in the shops at six cents per glass. ”

“ Soda, sō′da, n. oxide of sodium, or its hydrate: the alkali obtained from the ashes of marine vegetables, or by decomposing sea-salt: (coll.) soda-water.—ns. Sō′da-ash, sodium carbonate; Sō′da-crack′er, a biscuit made of flour and water, with salt, bicarbonate of soda, and cream of tartar; Sō′da-fount′ain, a metal or marble case for holding water charged with carbonic-acid gas.—adj. Sodā′ic, pertaining to, or containing, soda.—ns. Sō′da-lime, a mixture of caustic soda and quicklime; Sō′dalite, a mineral composed chiefly of soda, along with silica, alumina, and hydrochloric acid ”

“ Soda water, whiskey, beer, ginger ale, tea, coffee, and chocolate represent enormous industries, and probably all do more harm than they do good. Much inventive genius in the Nineteenth Century has been bestowed upon the soda water fountain, on stills, and processes for aging liquors and processes for brewing beer, on cider and wine presses, on bottling machines and bottle stoppers, on devices for carbonating waters, and in coffee and teapots. ”

“ However, it was well known that a vast magazine of the precious article surrounds us on every side. The sea is water changed to brine by a salt of soda. If only a plan could be contrived for separating this soda from the hydro-chloric acid, which makes it common salt, there is at our doors a depot large enough to form a Mont Blanc of pure soda. ”

“ Everybody, it doesn't make any difference where he lives, likes soda-water, and it was an especially popular thing in the moon, where the plain water is always so full of fish that nobody can drink it. ”

“ All the utensils must be washed in hot soda water and thoroughly dried before putting them away. Having regard to the fact that soda is most injurious to one’s hands, and whether for the mistress or maid the care and appearance of one’s hands is of great importance, it is best to place the saucepans, pans, etc. (not earthenware) on the stove with a certain amount of water and a good piece of soda, and let them stand to soak on the side of the hot stove, together with such articles as ricer, poacher, strainer, etc. ”

“ The bi-carbonate of soda is obtained by passing carbonic acid gas over the carbonate crystals. Soda does not attract moisture from the air. It is used in washing, in glass manufactories, in dyeing, soap-making, etc.
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Sulphate of Soda is “Glauber’s Salt”; it is also employed in glass-making. Mixed with sulphuric acid and water, it forms a freezing mixture. Glass, as we have seen, is made with silicic acid (sand) , soda, potassa, oxide of lead, and lime, and is an artificial silicate of soda. ”

“ As the quantity of soda, in the true soda water, is much too small to neutralize the acid, it is a good practice to add fifteen or twenty grains of the carbonate of soda, finely powdered, to each bottle, which may be done by pouring the contents of a bottle on it in a large glass. ”

“ But a quantity of hot water or a dose of ipecac is sure to relieve the situation. If the person is able to give himself a good moral slap and relax his unruly muscles, he reaches the same end by a much pleasanter road.
Some people are fond of the popular remedy of hot water and soda. Their faith in its efficacy is likely to be increased by the good display of gas which is sure to follow. As any cook knows, soda and acid always fizz. The soda is broken up by the hydrochloric acid of the stomach and forms salt and carbon dioxid, a gas. ”

“ LEMONADE, ROOT BEER, SODA WATER, ETC. Pure soda water, lemonade, root beer and similar drinks are not hurtful, but the sugar they contain increases our thirst and leads us to drink more than is good for us. Water is the provision of nature, and though it has no color, taste or smell, nothing in the world is so delicious and refreshing. ”

“ The soda-water on general sale is frequently contaminated with copper and lead, produced from the action of the carbonic acid contained in the water on the metallic substances of which the apparatus in which it is made is constructed. ”

“ She wasn’t. When she came up to her room after lunch she was aching and shivering. Soda! That was what she needed, soda water—That would cure anything.
Ca-chew! Yes, if this was a cold soda was the very thing. She’d go right down to the kitchen now and get some. If she went to the infirmary—Well, no use taking a chance. But she was all right. She had to be—Ca-chew! She remembered her last trip for soda and felt her face burning. ”

“ Far better 101 let it have a safe vent than try to suppress it, and take very strong chances of directing it into less desirable channels. At the worst, a deranged stomach can follow, and a glass of bi-carbonate of soda-water is a simple remedy, if not an over-delightful one. I knew all about the feast several days ago, and took my own way of letting the girls know that I’d found it out. It was no use to forbid it for that night, for, just as sure as fate, they would have planned it for another, and devoured a lot of stuff far less wholesome than the contents of Toinette’s box and my tub. ”

“ Lemonade is admissible and soda-water is a safe beverage; brandy and soda may be ordered by those who do not shine as members of a temperance society, but it should be taken with caution and the doses must not be repeated too frequently. All drinks that contain carbonic-acid gas are beneficial, and many persons find relief in occasional small allowances of champagne. ”

“ Precipitate the lime by oxalate of ammonia, and the magnesia by carbonate of ammonia and phosphoric acid. (Page 52.) Then evaporate the liquid thus treated to dryness. A quantity of common salt will remain: let this be exposed to a red heat; 0.4 of its weight indicate the sodium contained in the bulk of water employed; and 0.4 sodium are equivalent to 0.53 of soda.
It seems hardly requisite to mention some other substances that occasionally make their appearance in the waters used for domestic purposes. A fine divided sand is a common constituent, which is easily obtained in a separate state. ”

“ When the protection afforded is not quite complete,—for example in distilled water containing a 4000th of muriate of soda, a 6000th of sulphate of soda, a 15,000th of arseniate of soda, or a 35,000th of phosphate of soda,—besides a powdery crust, small crystals, with several facettes, are sometimes formed on the lead, while, at the same time, a minute white film will very slowly appear on the bottom of the glass, on its side where it is left dry by the evaporation of the water, and likewise on the surface of the water itself. ”

“ Household Soap—No. 1.—Slack six pounds of fresh quicklime in a tub, using just enough water to make it crumble perfectly. Dissolve six pounds of washing soda in four gallons of warm water. Add the slacked lime and the soda solution together and stir well, adding four gallons of boiling water and keep on stirring till mixed, then let it settle. Pour off the clear lye and you have home-made caustic soda. Put this lye into a clean kerosene tin over a gentle fire and add to it 12 pounds of clarified grease, stirring continually, then dust in, a little at a time, four ounces of powdered borax. ”

“ Caustic soda is a white brittle mass, of a fibrous texture, a specific gravity of 1·536, melting at a heat under redness, having a most corrosive taste and action upon animal matters, dissolving readily in both water and alcohol, attracting carbonic acid when exposed to the atmosphere, but hardly any water, and falling thereby into an efflorescent carbonate; it forms soaps with tallow, oils, wax, rosin; dissolves wool, hair, silk, horn, alumina, silica, sulphur, and some metallic sulphurets. ”

“ Oxalate of soda may be made thus—procure 3 lbs. of carbonate of soda, the common washing soda used by the laundress, not bicarbonate of soda; boil it up in a saucepan with just as little water as will suffice to dissolve it. ”

“ The water is very unpalatable; and though a person can not drink more than a swallow or two at first, by sipping at it daily it will at length taste very well, and can be drank freely. The soda-spring is used the most, though the others are best in many cases—according to the complaint. ”

“ Water being present, this becomes muriate of soda,—that is, a compound of muriatic acid and soda: muriatic acid is hydrogen, combined with a most remarkable gaseous body, called, from its yellow colour, chlorine; and soda, oxygen in union with the metal sodium,—therefore, when anhydrous, culinary salt is truly a chloride of sodium. Chlorine in some respects resembles oxygen; it attacks metallic bodies with great energy; and, in many cases, produces the most vivid incandescence, during the process of combination. ”

“ Example:—1,000 gallons of weak liquor at a density of 7° Twaddell are reduced to a volume of 200 gallons having a density of 35° Twaddell, or to a volume of 140 gallons with a density of 50° Twaddell, by evaporation.
Preparation of Caustic Soda.—The crude soda ash recovered from previous boiling operations is dissolved in large lixiviating tanks and extracted with hot water. ”

“ When all the water has been expelled, the resulting dry mass is ignited and allowed to burn out, when the black ash that remains, which is carbonate of soda, is afterwards dissolved out, and the alkaline liquor causticised with lime in the usual manner. According to Dunbar, 8 cwt. of recovered ash and 41⁄2 cwt. of good lime will produce 900 gallons of caustic ley at 11° Tw. The liquor is then pumped into settling tanks, from which it is delivered to the boilers when required.
Fig. 64.
Evaporating Apparatus.—An ordinary form of evaporator for the recovery of the soda is shown in Fig. 64. ”

“ In practice, it is seldom necessary to proceed with the determination of the chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda, except with stirred and cocoa-nut oil soaps; certainly less of the truth is seen if, after the above determination of the fatty acids and the effective alkali, the absent per centage of water is introduced in the calculation, than if the water is reckoned, which is never completely evolved from soap, even technically prepared at 302° Fahr., and another determination made of the fatty acids or alkali en bloc the fatty acids, or even the alkaline contents. ”

“ Commercial soda ash (calcined, anhydrous) is rarely pure; the crystallised soda is generally purer. In order to purify it further, it is best to boil a concentrated solution of soda ash until two-thirds of the liquid remain, collect the soda which settles, wash with cold water, and then shake up with a strong solution of ammonia, pour off the residue, and heat. The impurities will then remain in the mother liquors, &c.
Some numerical data may be given for sodium carbonate. The specific gravity of the anhydrous salt is 2·48, that of the decahydrated salt 1·46. ”

“ A little soda is used by many cooks in preparing vegetables; but it is only when one is so unfortunate as to be unable to procure soft water to cook with that we think it can be tolerated. To be sure, it secures a fine green with some articles, such as peas and beans, and makes them very tender, but this is gained at the expense of all sweetness and natural flavor. ”

“ Soda and carbonate of soda are more soluble in water and more strongly alkaline than lime. They, therefore, act on peat more energetically than the latter. It is on account of the formation of soda and carbonate of soda from the lime and salt mixture, that this mixture exerts a more powerful decomposing action than lime alone. Where salt is cheap and wood ashes scarce, the mixture may be employed accordingly to advantage. Of its usefulness we have the testimony of practical men. ”

“ If soda, taken in small quantities after meals, does not relieve the distress, one may rest assured that the fluid is an alkali and requires an acid treatment. Proceed, after eating, to squeeze ten drops of lemon-juice into a small quantity of water, and swallow it. The habit of daily life should be made to conform to the laws of health, or local treatment will prove futile. ”

“ It is needful before adding the stock liquor in making a vat to destroy any oxygen or air which is present in the vat. This may most conveniently be done by adding thereto a solution of hydrosulphite of soda, which may be made by mixing 41⁄2 lb. zinc dust with 5 gallons of water and 3 gallons bisulphite of soda at 70° Tw., stirring well, so that the temperature does not rise too high, there is then added 2 pints caustic soda and 3 pints liquor ammonia, 20 per cent.; when all is dissolved, water is added to make up 13 gallons. ”

“ Soda and Potash.—Unlike the preceding bases, the soaps formed by soda and potash are soluble in water, and constitute the soap of commerce. These reagents are always used in sufficient quantity to combine with the whole of the fatty acids contained in an oil or fat, though doubtless, by the use of considerably smaller quantities, under pressure, complete resolution of the fatty matter into fatty acids and glycerol could be accomplished. ”

“ But it occurred to me that the sulphat of ammonia formed in the solution by the ammoniacal salts which had been introduced for the precipitation of the earths, had probably reacted upon the muriat of soda when urged by heat, so as to decompose it partially, and form the sulphat of soda obtained by the process just described; so that muriat of soda might perhaps in fact be the only alkaline salt contained in the water. ”