Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/770

This page needs to be proofread.

754 COAN COAST RANGE about 55 F. The products obtained are next distilled, and very hot steam is introduced again, if much paraffine rather than oil is de- sired. At different stages of the process dif- ferent products are obtained, which are sepa- rately collected. These are, first a thin, impure eupione oil, to the extent of about one eighth of the fluid ; then a thicker and heavier oil, con- taining paraffine, amounting to two fifths or one half of the fluid ; and lastly, paraffine mixed with heavy oil. The crude eupione oil is purified by adding 5 to 10 per cent, of sulphuric acid, diluted with an equal bulk of water, and half as much by weight of bichromate of potash as of the acid. Heat is then applied, and the mixture is well stirred while heating. When it has reached the temperature of 212 F. it is al- lowed to cool and settle. The eupione, being drawn off, is next treated with a warm solution of caustic soda, and left to settle. It is at last taken off from the heavier fluid and distilled. The heavier oil is treated very much in the same way, the black oxide of manganese instead of the potash salt being sometimes used with the sulphuric acid. The first comings over in the distillation are added to the eupione oil ; but the greater part is the so-called " lubrica- ting oil," the most important product of the process. The last portions are thick like butter, and yield mostly paratfine when treated with that already obtained with the heavy oil. This, after being allowed to crystallize in a cool place, is put in a bag for the oil to drain away. It is then pressed, melted, and when cold press- ed again, the oil being added to that already obtained. It is melted again, and at the tem- perature of about 400 F. from 5 to 10 per cent, its weight of strong sulphuric acid is stir- red in. On boiling, the remaining oil is com- pletely charred, and on cooling settles as a black powder. Another boiling after separa- ting this powder completes the purifying pro- cess, though the parafhne is now after several new methods bleached to a beautiful degree of whiteness. Its properties will be described in the article PABAFFINE. Coal oils have been manufactured at several localities in the United States. Important works at Cloverport, in Breckenridge co., Ky., on the Ohio river, were destroyed by fire in 1 858. They produced large quantities of an oil of excellent quality, which was on trial with a view to its being introduced into our lighthouses; but all the coal oil distilleries have been closed by the dis- covery and wonderful production of petroleum, which amounted to 539,472 barrels in the month of June, 1872, from the Pennsylvania oil regions alone. Not only the cannel coal and other fat coals produce these oils, but the bituminous shales, until of late years regarded as worthless, have been applied at Dartmoor, in the west of England, at Autun, France, and at Buhl in Prussia, to the same purpose. COAN, Titos, an American missionary, born in Killingworth, Conn., Feb. 1, 1801. lie studied theology at Auburn seminary, was ordained as a Congregational minister in Park street church, Boston, in 1833, and the same year went upon an exploring mission to Patagonia, landing near the strait of Magellan. Finding the country unfavorable for the establishment of a mission, he returned to New London, Conn., and thence sailed for the Hawaiian islands, where he arrived in June, 1835, and was sta- tioned at Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, where he has since resided. Apart from his success- ful missionary labors, he has made valuable con- tributions to the knowledge of volcanic erup- tions, published in the "American Journal of Science " and in the " Missionary Herald." COANZA, a river of 8. W. Africa, flowing into the Atlantic ocean on the coast of Lower Guinea, south of St. Paul de Loanda, in lat, 9 20' S. and Ion. 13 12' E. Its source is supposed to lie eastward of Bihe, between lat. 12 and 13 S. and Ion. 17 and 18 E. Its general course thence to the sea is in a north- westerly direction. The entire length of the river is estimated at not less than 500 m. The entrance to the Coanza is obstructed by a bar at its mouth, though the river is navigable for light-draught steamers, if they could gain access to its waters. At the confluence of the Lucal- la, over 100 m. inland, it is about 150 yards wide. Canoe navigation extends to Cam- bambe, 150 m. from the sea, where further ascent is prevented by a large waterfall. There is another cascade above this, at the junction of the Lombe with the Coanza, in lat. 9 41' 8. and about Ion. 16 E., where Livingstone says hippopotami and elephants are frequently swept over and killed. Here the current is rapid and flows over a bed of sandstone rock, with pebbles. A fresh-water fish called cacwu is caught in the river, and is highly relished by the natives, who eagerly purchase it from the fishermen. Shell fish also occur. In the lower part of its course the Coanza forms the boundary between Angola and the other Portuguese dominions on the west coast of Africa. The rich, level, and pro- ductive Portuguese settlements of Cnmbambe, Massangano, Muxima, and Pungo-Andongo bor- der upon its banks. Magnetic iron ore is still worked near Massangano, where are the ruins of a massive foundery erected by the marquis of Pombal in 1758. A canal to connect the Coanza with St. Paul de Loanda was com- menced by the colonial government early in the present century, but remains unfinished. COARI, or t'oary, a river of Brazil, having its whole course in the province of Alto Ama- zonas, runs N. E., forms the boundary between the districts of Teffe and Coari, traverses a considerable lake, and divides near Alvellos into two arms, which join the Amazon. Length of the river, 285 m. COAST RANGE, or Coast Mountains, a mountain range of California, nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, and extending from near the boundary of Oregon into the peninsula of Lower California. Its width is from 30 to 40 m-