Gustav Ritter (engineer)

Gustav Ritter was an engineer and producer of the “Desiccator” preservative in Warsaw at the end of the 19th century.

"Desiccator"

Advertisement for "Exsiccator" (1894)

Under the name "desiccator" (from the Latin exsiccare : dry) brought Gustav Ritter in Warsaw end of the 19th century, a drug on the market that supposedly the best means of getting rid of dry rot was. After the inventor statements in the brochure published by him it seemed a product of coal - distillation to be, probably a Carbolineum with strong phenol content .

In a monograph he presented the advantages of his preparation and declared the competing "pompous name-bearing remedies such as: Mycothanaton, Antimeruliun, Carbolineum, Gudronit" to be of little use. The simple “desiccator”, the invention of which was “the fruit of fifteen years of arduous experiments”, was supposed to put an end to all spongy conditions and be the best wood preservative. The price in 1891 was 35 kr. per kilogram, with 1 kilogram it should be possible to coat 12 square meters.

Around 1890 there was another agent, the "waterproof, antiseptic wood preservation and painting oil Siccatin" from C. Haumann's widow and sons in Vienna.

He kept the composition of his desiccator secret after considering the drug as his invention. The effect would be double, physical and chemical, and the inventor explained the following about it:

Due to its high density, the desiccator displaced the water remaining in the pores of the wood and filled all channels continuously. As a result, he removed the porosity of the wood and prevented moisture and atmospheric precipitation from penetrating the interior of the wood. Due to its high boiling point, +295 degrees Celsius , it contributed to the rapid evaporation of all moisture from the wood and was best applied when it was boiling. The desiccator contained, among other components, 25% substances with a high degree of antiseptic action, which not only protected all the components of the wood subject to putrefaction from decomposition, but also killed and destroyed all spores , including those of the dry rot. He also acted very forcefully against all kinds of woodworms , killing the larvae and living animals and clogging their passages. The desiccator was absorbed by the wood, it did not stay on the surface, but flowed deep into the interior of the wood and, since it was completely liquid, without any suspended components, it brought out the grain of the wood by oxidizing the wood nut brown color.

The desiccator was a thick, greasy, dark green liquid that gave the objects it had painted a green-brown color that gradually turned nut -brown as the air oxidized . The coating with the agent dried in the open air within 24 hours, in closed rooms it took five days before it was completely absorbed. But this drying process was accelerated by more frequent airing. On the surface there was sometimes a loose, rubable dust of yellow color, the crystalline components, which evaporated over time. The heating of the desiccator did not pose a fire hazard, as its metal salt content acted as a fire retardant.

Although the desiccator did not contain any strongly corrosive components, it did have some effect on delicate skin parts. The workers involved therefore had to be careful not to touch the face or other parts of the body with hands soiled by the desiccator, as this caused temporary contact with the skin with a burning sensation. On coarser areas of skin, such as B. on the hands, the desiccator had absolutely no effect.

Gustav Ritter was successful with his product and counted the imperial court in Vienna among his customers. For this he was awarded the title of kuk court purveyor.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} K.K. Forest Research Institute in Mariabrunn, Forest Research Institute Mariabrunn, KK University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Forestry chair, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. Forstliche Lehrkanzel (Hrsg.): Centralblatt for the entire forestry . tape 17 . Wilhelm Frick, Vienna 1891, p. 22 ( The wood conservation in the Google Book Search USA [accessed on March 26, 2010]).
2. ^ KK Forstliche Versuchsanstalt in Mariabrunn, Forstliche Versuchsanstalt Mariabrunn, KK Hochschule für Bodenkultur in Vienna. Forestry chair, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. Forstliche Lehrkanzel (Hrsg.): Centralblatt for the entire forestry . tape 17 . Wilhelm Frick, Vienna 1891, p. 22 ( The wood conservation in the Google book search USA [accessed on March 26, 2010] The Centralblatt criticized for the entire forestry in 1891 "The inadequate and incorrect presentation of the wood conservation methods would have been better left out of the brochure.").
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Louis Edgar Andés: The Conserviren des Holzes . A. Hartleben, Vienna 1895, p. 198–200 ( Desiccator to eradicate the wooden sponge in the Google book search USA [accessed on March 26, 2010]).