Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Furthermore, an important part of emerging industry was reliant on using raw
materials that could be supplied only by cities. This is the case, for example, with
vegetable rags used for papermaking for several centuries, but became much more
needed once the papermaking machine was developed.
21
In the 19th century, rags
became a strategic industrial issue (1.5 kg of rags were needed to produce 1 kg of
paper), such that France banned their export from 1771, followed by Belgium,
Holland, Spain, Portugal and a few other countries during the
rst half of the 19th
century.
22
Great Britain and North America fought over the international markets,
their local resources insuf
cient to meet the growing industrial demand, forcing them
to look for rags in countries that did not produce or produced little paper: in 1850,
North America imported 50,000 tons of rags, more than 60,000 tons in 1875.
23
Rag
collection was therefore an urban activity: an urbanite produced on average more
rags than a rural resident which, in addition to the typically more concentrated
population of cities, made the collection of urban rags more pro
table.
24
Thanks to
urban rag collection, production doubled during the
rst half of the 19th century
(Table
7.1
).
Similarly, there was a growing industrial use of animal bones (Fig.
7.2
), which
were also concentrated in urban areas since slaughtering took place in the city (in
butcheries then later in specialized slaughterhouses). Bones were increasingly
needed for their classical use
—
—
as well as
for new market opportunities: from the 1820s, phosphorus was used to make
matches ignited by friction; animal charcoal to re
the manufacture of objects, grease, glue
ne sugar whose consumption was
from 1 kg/capita/year
25
in 1788 to nearly 5 kg/capita/year in 1856 in
France, three times more in England
26
;
growing
—
gelatin (identical to glue except for its use)
for food preparation and later for photographic negatives; and later, superphos-
phates for agricultural fertilization (
—
rst in England and Germany then in France).
Other butchery by-products found market opportunities in the manufacture of
candles and later of stearic candles, Prussian blue, glue, ropes, combs, etc.
Urban by-products emerged from these new industrial products and led to other
market opportunities: used paper gave rise to cardboard industries, tin cans to metal
toys, town gas (obtained from the distillation of coal) to tar which was used in the
manufacture of numerous chemical compounds and, soon after, for surfacing
sidewalks and later streets. Many other examples of the city as a source of raw
materials for industry and for agricultural fertilizers exist.
27
21
Andr
é
(
1996
), Hills (
1988
) and Strasser (
1999
), op. cit. p. 80 sq.
22
Turgan (
1860
-
1885
).
23
Strasser, op. cit. p. 85.
24
Esquiros (
1861
) and Barberet (
1866
1887
).
-
25
Chaptal (
1819
).
26
Payen (
1859
).
27
For more details about urban raw materials, see: Barles (
2005
). op. cit. About industrial use of
urban by-products, see: Guillerme (
2007
). See also: Simmonds (
1862
).
