 Section 8 of the Book of Isis, Ice Beverages, Ice Creams, and Isis. This is a LibriVox recording. LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Betty B. The Book of Isis, Ice Beverages, Ice Creams, and Isis by Mrs. H. Llewellyn-Williams. Ice making and ice keeping As there are occasions when ice is wanted, at any cost, for the sake of health or luxury, various machines for making it have been constructed. But for the most part, they are for production on a large scale and beyond the needs and means of the family. But as the crude chemicals used for freezing mixtures, refrigerants or frigorifics can usually be obtained at a reasonable cost. Wherever there is a drug, the recipes for a number of these substitutes for ice are here given. The apparatus they require is simple and usually in the house already. Freezing mixtures Great care must be exercised in the handling of these compounds into which acids and caustics enter and which sometimes send out fumes hurtful to breathe. When, however, the noxious hydrochloric acid is in union with sulfate of soda, the odor is killed by it. At the same time, with care and a reasonable amount of intelligence, fortunately abounding in the American housewife, the great good derived amply compensates for any slight trouble. The production of cold in this way is easily explained. Solid bodies cannot pass into a liquid form without absorbing heat from the substances with which they come into contact. The names in chemistry are given, but they need not alarm any lay reader as they are simple salts and common acids. But these names are used by drugists and are generally understood by the workmen handling them. Recipes All parts by weight A. Six parts of sulfate of soda Glober salts Four hydrochlorate of ammonia Two hydrochlorate of potash And four of nitric acid This will lower the temperature more than 30 degrees B. Five parts hydrochlorate of ammonia Five nitrate of potash And ten of water Making about the temperature of the common ice cream freezing mixtures of salt and ice C. Five parts of hydrochlorate of ammonia Five nitrate of potash Eight sulfate of soda and sixteen water D. Nitrate of ammonia and water equal parts E. Sulfate of soda Glober salts and diluted nitric acid Three to two parts F. Six parts sulfate of soda Four hydrochlorate of ammonia Two nitrate of potash And four diluted nitric acid G. Six parts sulfate of soda Five nitrate of ammonia Four diluted nitric acid H. Nine parts phosphate of soda And four diluted nitric acid I. Nine parts phosphate of soda Six nitrate of ammonia Four diluted nitric acid K. Eight parts sulfate of soda And five hydrochloric acid L. Five parts sulfate of soda And four diluted sulfuric acid M. Five phosphate of soda Three nitrate of ammonia Four diluted nitric acid N. 57 parts hydrochlorate of potash 33 of ammonia Ten of soda Making 100 parts Shake briskly in four parts of water And the temperature will drop from 20 degrees above zero To five below A saline mixture in the same proportions Will produce the same effect Ice with chemicals For excessive cold Besides obtaining a coldness valuable for the confectioner And family With plain chemical compounds as shown These again may be mixed with snow Or pounded ice to increase their natural coldness The salts that liquefy and various acids Are used as follows And the list is arranged to show the amount of cold Attained The least powerful refrigerants being first given And that producing the maximum amount of cold At the last A snow or pounded ice And diluted sulfuric acid Four to five parts This lowers the temperature nearly ten degrees B the same in the proportion of three To two parts A little colder C the ordinary ice cream freezing mixture Equal parts of common salt Hydrochlorate of sodium And snow or ice Some put a quart of salt to the ice To fill the outer vessel of a five or six quart freezer D snow and diluted nitric acid Equal parts Or E snow and diluted sulfuric acid Three to two parts Either lowers twenty degrees F snow and hydrochlorate of lime In crystals one to three parts G Snow eight parts diluted sulfuric acid Three diluted nitric acid five H snow five parts And hydrochlorate of soda And hydrochlorate of ammonia Each one part I if you will mix the compound of two parts Snow to three of hydrochlorate of lime With that of seven parts of snow To four nitric acid At the same temperature The cold will be intensified K Snow twenty four parts Hydrochlorate of soda ten Hydrochlorate of ammonia five Nitrate of potash five L Snow and hydrochloric acid Eight to five parts M Snow and diluted nitric acid Seven to four parts N Snow and hydrochlorate of lime Four to three parts O The same with proportions reversed I e three to four parts Is somewhat colder P Snow and hydrochlorate of lime in crystals Four to five parts Q Sulfate of soda six parts Hydrochlorate of ammonia four Hydrochlorate of potash two And nitric acid four R Snow and hydrochlorate of lime in crystals Two to three parts S Snow and potash three to four parts The same result T Mix the mixture R I e two parts snow To three of hydrochlorate of lime With one made of one part snow And two of the hydrochlorate of lime And the cold will be twice as great U Eight parts of snow And ten weakened sulfuric acid And the maximum of low temperature will be reached 33 degrees below zero For such refrigerants Family chemical freezer The simple apparatus is for the use Of the freezing mixtures described It consists of an interior case Of tin or other metal For the water ice or ice cream Composition to be frozen And an outer case also of metal Say tin for the freezing mixture Which will surround the former case The hole is wrapped round with an old Blanket, rug, carpet, or woolen cloth The larger the inner vessel in circumference The more surface is exposed to the freezing action And the quicker the result Every 15 or 20 minutes The freezing mixture should be renewed But the congelation will be completed in 40 minutes Note, work in a cool place Have the freezing compound in the ice cream Composition cooled Every time the renewal of the freezing mixture Is made, plunge the inner vessel Into a temporary container Filled with the excess of the freezing mixture Left from the previous operation This same waste will continue For a long time, chilly enough To cool wine or water In bottles and decanters, immersed Ice from sulfuric acid You will need an oak box Measuring inside 14 and 1 quarter inches in length 3 and 1 quarter in width And 6 and 1 quarter in height 2 tin boxes alike rectangular But 1 and 1 fourth inches only in length 1 inch wide and 7 inches high The wooden case is to hold the freezing mixture The metal ones the water to be converted into ice This freezing mixture is composed of 7 parts Of sulfuric acid to 5 parts of water Both by weight When the mixture is made There will be a remarkable escape of heat Temperature of the liquor will rise considerably Consequently the water must be poured upon the acid Or the acid put into the water As the case may be with a slow and steady movement A strong earthenware vessel Which will not break must be used When the temperature cools down To that of the air around The mixture is ready for use Operations Having put the quantity of 1 and 1 half pounds Of the liquor into the wooden case You should instantly add 4 pounds Of sulfate of soda Glauber's salts Stir all with a stick And plunge into it the 2 tin boxes Ready filled with pure water Place the 2 boxes so that they will not quite touch The inside of the case And then the acid and salt mixture Can freely circulate around them The effect is that of a lowering Of the temperature by 13 or more degrees In 10 minutes time The water in the tin boxes will begin to be agitated And icicles will form soon on the inside 15 minutes afterwards The water in the boxes and the freezing mixture Will be at the same temperature And then the latter will no longer be useful For continuing the operation A quantity of the fresh mixture Must fill the case again And the tin boxes be once more put in it The icy particles will soon enlarge And cling to the inner side From which they must be carefully But easily knocked off By pressing the metal sides in a little This will go directly into contact With the metal and receive the chill straight This act is of the utmost importance For the success of the operation Depends almost entirely upon it Generally before the end of 50 minutes The water will be frozen If not, which is contrary to the natural result A third bath must be made Of the work gone over with as twice before Each of the tin boxes will then contain A brick of ice, solid and most pure Weighing about a pound and a half General remarks In the summertime it will be better To prepare the mixture in a cellar Where the constant temperature is low Use water drawn from a cool well And store the acid and sulfate of soda In the same cellar beforehand The several stages of the work The process of the operation As drops of the freezing compound Should not fly upon the clothes And must not touch the face They would burn them One drop of this diluted sulfuric acid Remember, entering the eyes Would be almost deadly See that the sulfate of soda is sound And without effervescence As this spent it would have no strength And the work would fail To preserve the ice transiently Wrap in a blanket or pack in straw In the smallest place you can find To make ice at any time in quantity Mix five pounds of sulfate of soda And four pounds of sulfuric acid In a cask and plunge into it at once A metal or earthen vessel full of water Two other like quantities of the mixture Are to be ready for the renewal of the bath By which repetition the water will be frozen If a larger quantity were used The congliation would take place immediately Four, with the amount stated The barrel and the vessel contribute Some of their heat to the liquor The cold is due to the heat in the water Being absorbed by the sulfate of soda On its uniting with the sulfuric acid And liquefying The waste can be soaked up by soda And the whole evaporated Till a thin crust is left Which is sulfate of soda for use next time When it dries in masses, you must powder it Ice houses An ice house is one in which ice is stored in winter To be used in summer And where perishable edibles are preserved And butter and milk prevented from spoiling When the ground is suitable Its construction is not costly It should be wholesome and dam-free Always comprising air of a temperature At which ice will not melt Shut off from communication with the outer air Even when entered to take out The ice or edibles needed for daily consumption And yet ventilated and aerated with dry air In Europe, reliance is placed upon strong, thick-walled buildings Usually on shaded sites And our old-fashioned farmers Still choose caves in hillsides Or in dark glens Where spring water runs convenient For cooling the ice house Neither the solid building nor the cold water Is indispensable It has been found, too, that it was a mistake To try to make the room air tight As that heated the air closely enclosed And the ice became softened into snow on the surface If the pit containing the pile of ice Or snow were too deep Another fault was committed As the earth is warmer The lower one penetrates And again the ice was exposed to the thaw Natural ice house is a dry cavern shaded And yet with the underbrush so cleared out From among the trees as to allow circulation of air Man imitates this arrangement by building Of massive stone blocks, a cell or chamber With as few breaks as possible Balting it over and covering the roof with clay And that with earth, which is sodded A plantation of trees ensures the desired shade These trees, as well by their leaves as by their roots Keep down the temperature If a ditch, more or less, surrounds the ice house It must be well-clayed to prevent any leakage And the water should always run to keep up the coolness The freshly laid masonry must be completely dried Before the ice is put in The least moisture anywhere falls in vapor upon the ice If there are no air holes and no draft The less melting, the less necessity Of having a drainage pit and wastewater channel Either snow or ice or a mixture of both Can be packed away in the house Or the storage choose fine clear weather in the winter But not so cold as to make the shoveling of the snow difficult In any case, the idea is to have the heap As compact as possible Packing and filling In an ice house of the foreign pattern Erect a trellis work of wooden crossbars at the back Or use a kind of coarse crate Of the shape of the chamber but smaller So as to have an interval all around it Above and below to be filled in with non-conductive matter In an American ice silo Have an open work wooden frame for the pile of ice To be built upon The idea is to have the ladder isolated Begin by placing on the impermeable floor Of clay, stone, pounded charcoal or the like A compressed layer of reeds Fine cane rushes or straw On which stand the crate or cage for the ice If you thus prefer building up Whatever the defense The ice must not touch the sides, bottom or roof anywhere Proceed to pack on the straw a layer of ice or snow Where snow can be obtained from Mountain summit gorges Or where it falls a few times in winter And can be saved in ice houses before it melts Or snow and ice If ice it is to be broken up into egg size pieces With the mallet so as to pack most closely If snow it must be compressed tightly If snow and ice press the former into the interstices Of the lumps The object is to avoid any holes or seams And by soaking the snow with water And showering water on the ice So that it will freeze The hole will be united Having made one layer, trim the edges square And lay another lot in the same way When these layers reach a sensible height Pack in the straw or other non-conducting material All around, trampling or beating well down Thus continue until your top layer Reaches within two feet of the roof And is at the top of the crate Then pack in all around Level and cover with straw to the top With just enough room to shove in some heavy planks To keep all firm If your pile of ice is simply in a pit As an ice silo, these planks will be the roof They need only to be laid on so as to keep off rain And not fixed into grooves or fasten strongly Large stones upon them will prevent the wind Dislodging them Some make a peaked plank roof or a straw one If properly made, ice houses will keep their contents Without appreciable loss right into summer And the solid mass will have to be cut off as wanted End of Section 8 End of The Book of Isis, Ice Beverages, Ice Creams and Isis by Mrs. H. Llewellyn-Williams