Out of one pound weight of cannel coal can be produced dyes sufficient
to color the following lengths of flannel, three quarters of a yard
wide: Eight inches of magenta, two feet of violet, five feet of yellow,
three and a half feet of scarlet, two inches of orange and four inches
of Turkey red.
There are immense varieties of these colors, and the best part about
them is that no illness comes to the hands employed in mixing or using
them, as is the case with some other dyes.
Some years ago, quinine became very dear, but it had no equal as a
medicine for certain purposes, and so experiments were made to produce
artificial quinine by chemical means. In this way "kairene" and
"quinoline" were produced, at about half the price of quinine. But the
most important result of the search was the discovery of anti-pyrine,
which is extensively used in high fevers.
Coal-tar is about the last substance from which a sweet perfume could be
expected, and yet it gives many. All the "extract of new-mown hay" now
comes from it. This lovely scent used to be produced, at great expense,
from scented grasses.
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