Sulphur cements which are applied hot, consist of sulphur with various inert mineral fillers and are useful for anchoring metal in stone, such as bolts in engine foundations, iron railings and the securing of chains to granite blocks for buoys, setting electrical insulator pins, doorknobs and a great many other purposes. They are particularly useful for pointing up acid proof brick in order to protect lime mortar, cementing floor blocks in acid-pickling rooms, the pouring of pipe joints both water and acid, and for setting bushings in abrasive wheels.
Other uses for sulphur are the manufacture of sulphur colours, as a preservative for dried fruits and, in the form of tapers, for locating ammonia leaks and sulphuring wine casks. In col loidal form, sulphur is valuable as an intravenous injection for the treatment of certain diseases, and as a recognized curative agent in dermatology, especially for scabies, ringworm, acne, favus, prurigo and psoriasis. The boiling point of sulphur, 444.6° C is used in thermometry for scale determination, while molten sulphur is an excellent heating medium. Synthetic resins result from the interaction of sulphur or sulphur chloride with phenol, and it imparts the dark amber colour to glass bottles. Sulphur is used in making sheep and cattle dips, while it is admixed with the salt given to stock. It is also used for the stoving of wool, and the sulphuring of hops, silks, sponges, feathers and other commodities and is employed for making plaster cast moulds. Sulphur com
pounds are used for the so-called oxidation of silver, bronze and other metals, as well as for the bleaching of brooms, straw, wicker furniture and the tanning of leather.
Sulphur in its more complex phases, especially organic, is of industrial as well as biologic interest. Ally! isothiocyanate, a sul phur compound, is found in mustard oil and is responsible for the irritating action of the ordinary mustard plaster. An important derivative dichloroethyl sulphide, was brought into prominence during the World War as mustard gas. Sulphur may be responsible for the efficacy of certain organic compounds used as flotation oils in the recovery of valuable ores. This is notably the case with the various xanthates. Cellulose xanthate is one of the products in the process of manufacturing artificial silk, or viscose rayon. An al buminoid substance known as keratin occurs in practically all animal and human appendages such as hair, hoof, horn, fur, wool, feathers and nails, and since the keratins are very high in cystine, human hair containing about 14%, its importance is readily seen. Various complex organic sulphur compounds play an important part in the human body, and are vital to our welfare and probably to life itself. (W. H. K.)