Re: Oil of Delft

In Reply to: Re: Oil of Delft posted by James Morton on 08/31/00 at 8:39 PM:

>>>>(modern stand oil i.e. oil polymerized at high temperature in the absence of oxygen is not mentioned in the early accounts nor is damar resin which came into use in the late 19th century)<<<

Actualy, people were very aware of how to heat oils in an oxygen-free atmosphere well before the Industrial Revolution. Let's not forget that one of the biggest businesses in Holland during the time of Rubens and, later, Rembrandt, was the manufacture of high quality lenses. Making microscopes is also not an occupation done by technically backward people. They also came up with the chemical manufacture of an inexpensive and improved synthetic vermilion, a solid formula we have not altered to date.

We like to flatter ourselves that scientific thought did not begin until a few month's ago, but a quick perusal of Diderot's engravings shows those oddly dressed geezers involved in all sorts of technologically advanced manufacturing. Thus, adding a dash of carbolic to an enclosed tank of oil and heating it to 535F was something of which they were easily capable. Whilst the old writings might not mention it, that does not mean anything other than we are not reading all of the ancillarywritings, but only those translated into our language and aimed at a narrow audience. Remember, the new writngs such a Mayer and Doerner do not mention electricity because it is so common as to not bear mentioning.

BTW Stand Oil is in no way polymerized. That implies a compositional change that either add or remove molecules. That's Sun Thickened. That has a different molecular weight than does raw oil. Stand Oil has had the molecules REARRANGED but nothing is added or taken away. The molecular weight is identical with that of raw oil. It is VERY different from Sun-Thickened oil and far, far more stable. It was well-known to Rubens and is not Sun-Thickened oil that was renamed for the convenience of dilatory scholars.
 
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