NATURE "INVENTS" SOAP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 307, 28 December 1934, Page 15

NATURE "INVENTS" SOAP.

Soap from the bulbs of the Porto-Rico soap plant was used for washing purposes long before man (thought of manufacturing soap from fat and other substances. Its smell "Is exactly the same as London-made olcl brown Windsor, which is an exact imitation of the natural soap. At one time the world was lighted at night by "farthing dips," long sticks of compressed fat, with a thin string running through the centre. Before that the seeds of the tallow-tree, which grows in Algeria, Sumatra, and China, were used for lighting purposes. The seeds, which are of a good size, need but a wick to burn with a clear, white (lame. It will, therefore, be seen that the idea for both ancient and modern candles were taken directly from Nature. No one thought of making and using pitch until an explorer discovered the famous pitch-lakes in Trinidad. lie sent home samples of the pitch. Manufacturers, recognising its utility, found of what it was composed, and started making artificial pitch in large quantities.