Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 81.djvu/34

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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY
Photo, C. R. Toothaker, Phila. Commercial Museum.

Dumping Crude Asphalt into Hold of Vessel.

of the water of hydration of the clay forming part of the mineral matter, which was lost on ignition after the removal of the bitumen by solvents, and that, as a matter of fact, there is practically nothing of the nature of the organic matter not bitumen which has heretofore been attributed to Trinidad asphalt.

In direct contrast to this acid water is that which rises with the soft pitch in the center of the lake, which is alkaline in reaction, and has the following composition:

Grams
per Kilo
Specific gravity 1 .0599
Solids at 110° C 82 .100
Sodium, Na 27 .193
Potassium, K 0 .528
Chlorine, Cl 38 .210
Sulphuric acid, SO3 3 .207
Calcium oxide, CaO Trace
Magnesium oxide, MgO 0 .506
Carbonic acid, CO2 3 .700
Silica, SiO2 0 .222
Organic matter ?
73 .566