The Romance of Words. MACINTOSH

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 112, 5 February 1935, Page 7

The Romance of Words. MACINTOSH

As you put on yqur macintosh to shield you from a slibwer do you remember the struggles and disappointments, of the man who furnished you with this convenient garment? Charles Macintosh was born at Glasgow in 1766, and after a time in a counting-house, took up chemistry, which subject he had interested himself in in his spare time.

Among the operations carried bn by Macintosh was the treatment of the refuse of gasworks for obtaining various useful products. His endeavour to utilise the coal-naphtha obtained as a by-product on the distillation of tar led to the invention of the waterproof fabrics which perpetuate his name, and have almost obliterated his name as a chemist.

In 1823 he took out a patent for making water-proof fabrics by cementing two thicknesses together with india-rubber dissolved in naphtha. Works were started in Manchester for carrying out the invention. Many practical difficulties had to be overcome, due to the ignorance and obstinacy of tailors; but the material soon came into general use. As early as 1824 Macintosh was in correspondence with ■Sir John Franklin for the supply of waterproof canvas bags, air beds, and pillows for use in an Arctic expedition. • The trade fell off considerably upon the introduction of railways, when travellers were not so much exposed to the weather as on stage coaches.