SULPHUR. Sulphur, or brimstone, has been known and used from the earliest times. It is found native in mechanical combination with various earthy impuri ties in most volcanic districts, more par ticularly in Sicily and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and in Louisiana and Texas. The native sulphur of commerce was formerly derived chiefly from Sicily, where it occurs in beds of blue-clayey formation. It is found native in two forms—in trans parent amber crystals, as virgin sul phur; or in opaque, lemon-yellow crys talline masses, as volcanic sulphur. It is found in combination with the different metals, forming metallic sulphides, in nearly every portion of the earth. Zinc blende, iron, and copper pyrites, galena, cinnabar, gray antimony, and realgar, are a few instances of the valuable ores containing sulphur. In its oxidized con dition, as sulphuric acid, it is also very largely distributed over the mineral kingdom. Sulphur exists in many or ganic bodies; for example, it is always contained in albumen and the various protein compounds. Native sulphur is purified from the foreign substances mixed with it by distillation in, first, long brick furnaces containing earthen re torts communicating with chambers of the same material; and afterward in iron retorts communicating with cham hers of brickwork, in which the sulphur condenses in light flocks, known as flowers of sulphur. When melted and cast, these form the roll brimstone of commerce. Sulphur can also be easily ex tracted from iron and copper pyrites. At ordinary temperatures, sulphur is a brit tle, insoluble, inodorous solid, of a lemon yellow color, a bad conductor of heat, and a non-conductor of electricity. By friction with silk or wool, it becomes negatively electrified. It is a highly in flammable substance, burning readily in the air at about 450° or 500° F., and giving off suffocating fumes of sulphur ous acid gas. At 239° F. it melts, form ing a yellow liquid, and slightly increas ing in bulk. Provided the above temperature is not exceeded, it remains nearly transparent on cooling, but be comes gradually opaque from interior molecular changes. In close vessels, it may be distilled by raising the heat to about 834° F. Sulphur is very remark able as affording a striking instance of the occurrence of the allotropic condition of matter. Hydrogen and sulphur vapor,
when burnt, form sulphuretted hydrogen. Burnt in oxygen, heated with chlorine, bromine, and iodine, it unites with them, forming well-known compounds. The vapor of sulphur passed over red-hot charcoal forms bisulphide of carbon. Nearly all the metals combine with it at ordinary or increased temperatures. Sulphur combines to form the following acids: Sulphur unites with chlorine in two proportions, forming a dichloride and a chloride. The dichloride, is pre pared by transmitting a current of chlorine over melted sulphur, the result ing dichloride being collected in a per fectly dry receiver. It is a dark yellow liquid, very volatile, and possesses a peculiar penetrating disagreeable odor. It emits fumes when exposed to moist air, and when dropped into water grad ually decomposes into hydrochloric and sulphurous acids and free sulphur. It has a sp. gr. of 1.658, and boils at 280° F. It is used for vulcanizing india-rub ber goods. By saturating dichloride of sulphur with chlorine, a dark red liquid chloride is formed. There is reason to suppose that a bichloride exists but it has not yet been isolated. The corre sponding bromides are liquids analogous to the chlorides. The iodide is a crys talline brittle gray solid. With nitrogen, sulphur forms a bisulphide which crys tallizes in beautiful golden-yellow rhombic crystals. It detonates power fully by percussion, or when heated to 314° F. Bisulphide of carbon dissolves it readily, alcohol, ether, and oil of tur pentine sparingly, and water not at all. Symbol S; at. wt. 32. Prior to 1902 the chief source of sulphur was Sicily. In that year, however, by a remarkable series of inventions, following years of research, Herman Frasch, a chemist, suc ceeded in extracting sulphur from vast deposits in Louisiana and Texas. The process, in brief, consists in melting the sulphur, which lies underground, by superheated water. It is then driven to the surface by compressed air. The pro duction in the United States, almost en tirely from Louisiana, was in 1919, 1,210,000 long tons, valued at $16,750, 000. There were exported 224,712 long tons, valued at $6,325,552.