ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges of 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 at Cornell University 
 
 Gift from the 
 CLIVE M. McCAY LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 Nutrition and Gerontology 
 
Cornell University Library 
 T 9.U755 1866 
 v.2 
 Dictionary of arts, manufactures and min 
 
 3 1924 003 352 261 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003352261 
 
A 
 
 DICTIONARY 
 
 ARTS, MANUFACTURES, 
 
 MINES; 
 
 CONTAINING! 
 
 A OLEAE EXPOSITION OF THEIE PEINCIPLES AND PEACTIOE. 
 
 ANDREW TJRE, M. D., 
 
 F.E.S. M.G.S. M.A.S. LOND. ; M. AOAD. N.S. PHILAD. ; S. PH. SOO. N. GEBM. 
 IIANOV.: MnLII. ETC. ETC. 
 
 IUESTEAIED WITH NEARLY SIXTEEN HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. 
 
 RETKINTED ENTIRE FROM THE LAST 
 
 CORRECTED AND GREATLY ENLARGED ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES- YOL. II. 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 1). APPLETON & COMPANY, 
 
 443 <fc 445 BROADWAY. 
 1866. 
 
DICTIONARY 
 
 OF 
 
 ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND MINES. 
 
 K. 
 
 KALI. The Arabs gave this name to an annual plant which grows near the sea- 
 shore ; now known under the name of sahola soda, and from whose ashes they- extracted 
 i substance which they called alkali, for mating soap. The term kali is used by Ger- 
 man chemists to denote caustic potash; and kalium, its metallic basis; instead of our. 
 potassa and potassium, of preposterous pedigree, being derived from the words pot 
 ashes, that is ashes prepared in a pot. 
 
 KAOLIN, (Terre a porcelaine, Fr. ; Porzellanerde, Germ.), is the name given by the 
 Chinese to the fine white clay with which they fabricate the biscuit of their porcelains. 
 See Clay. Berthier's analyses of two porcelain earths are as follows : — 
 
 ' 
 
 Analyses. 
 
 From Paasau. 
 
 From St. Yrieux. 
 
 
 
 Silica 
 
 45-06 
 
 46-8 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ■ Alumina 
 
 32-00 • 
 
 87-3 
 
 
 
 Lime ■ - 
 
 0'74 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Oxide of iron 
 
 0-90 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 Potass - 
 
 — 
 
 2-5 
 
 
 
 Water - 
 
 18-0 
 
 13-0 
 
 
 
 96-7 
 
 99-6 
 
 
 KARABE', a name of amber, of Arabic origin, in use upon the Continent. 
 
 KELP; (Varec, Fr. ; Wareck, Germ.), is the crude alkaline letter produced by in- 
 cinerating various species of fuci or sea-weed. They are cut with sickles from the 
 rocks in the summer season, dried and then burned, with much stirring of the pasty 
 ash. I have analyzed many specimens of kelp, and found the quantity of soluble mat- 
 ter in 100 parts of the best to be from 63 to 62, while the insoluble was from 47 to 38. 
 The soluble consisted of — 
 
 Sulphate of soda - 
 
 Soda in carbonate and sulphuret 
 
 Muriate of soda and potash ... 
 
 The insoluble matter consisted of- 
 
 Carbonate of lime .... 
 
 Silica 
 
 Alumina tinged with iron oxide - 
 
 Sulphate of lime - 
 
 Sulphur and Iosb 
 
 100-0 100-0 
 
 The first of these specimens was from Heisker, the second from Eona, both in tho 
 Tele of Skye, upon the property of Lord Macdonald. From these and many other 
 Vol. II. 1 
 
 8-0 
 
 19-0 
 
 8-5 
 
 S-5 
 
 36-5 
 
 37-6 
 
 53-0 
 
 62-0 
 
 24-0 
 
 10-0 
 
 8-0 
 
 o-o 
 
 9-0 
 
 io-o 
 
 o-o 
 
 9-5 
 
 6-0 
 
 8-5 
 
2 KERMES. 
 
 analyses -which I have made it appears that kelp is a substance of very variable com- 
 position, and hence it was very apt to produce anomalous results, when employed as 
 the chief alkaline flux of crown glass, which it was for a very long period. The 
 fucus vesiculosus and fucus nodosus are reckoned to afford the best kelp, by incinera- 
 tion ; but all the species yield a better product when they are of two or three years 
 growth, than when cut younger. The varec, made on the shores of Noi'mandy, con- 
 tain almost no carbonate of soda, but much sulphate of soda and potash, some hypo- 
 eulphate of potash, chloride of sodium, iodide of potassium, and chloride of potassium ; 
 the average composition of the soluble salts being, according to M. Gay Lussac, 56 
 of chloride of sodium, 25 of chloride, of potassium, and a little sulphate of potash. 
 The very low priae at which soda ash, the dry crude carbonate from the decomposi- 
 tion of sea salt, is now sold, has nearly superseded the use of kelp, and rendered ito 
 manufacture utterly unprofitable— a great misfortune to the Highlands and Islands 
 of Scotland. 
 
 KERMES. There are two substances so called, of totally different natures. Kermes 
 mineral is merely a factitious sulphuret of antimony in a state of impalpable comminution, 
 prepared in the moist way. Its minute examination belongs to pharmaceutical chemistry. 
 It may be obtained perfectly pure, by diluting the proto-chjoride of antimony with solution 
 of tartaric acid, and precipitating the metal with sulphureted hydrogen ; or by exposing 
 the finely levigated native sulphuret to a boiling solution of carbonate of potash for some 
 time, and filtering the liquor while boiling hot. The kermes falls down in a brown-red 
 powder, as the liquor cools. 
 
 Kermes-grains, alkermes, are the dried bodies of the female insects of the species coccus 
 ilicis, which lives upon the leaves of the quercus ilex (prickly oak). The word kermes 
 is Arabic, signifies little worm. In the middle ages, this dye stuff was therefore called 
 vermiculus in Latin, and vermilion in French. . It is curious to consider how the name 
 vermilion has been since transferred to red sulphuret of mercury. 
 
 Kermes has been known in the East since the days of Moses ; it has been employed 
 from time immemorial in India to dye silk ; and was used also by the ancient Greek 
 nnd Roman dyers. Pliny speaks of it under the name of coccigranum, and says that 
 -here grew upon the oak in Africa, Sicily, &c. a small excrescence like a bud, called 
 rusculium ; that the Spaniards paid with these grains, half of their tribute to the 
 Romans ; that those produced in Sicily were the worst ; that they served to dye purple'; 
 and that thr ;e from the neighborhood of Emerita in Lusitania (Portugal) were the 
 best. 
 
 In Germany, during the ninth/twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, the rural 
 serfs were hound to deliver annually to the convents, a certain quantity of kermes, the 
 coccus polonicus, among the other products of husbandry. It was collected from the trees 
 upon Saint John's day, between eleven o'clock and noon, with religious ceremonies, and 
 was therefore called Johannisblut (Saint John's blood), as also German cochineal. At the 
 above period, a great deal of the German kermes was consumed in Venice, for dyeing the 
 scarlet to which that city gives its name. After the discovery of America, cochineal hav- 
 ing been introduced, began to supersede kermes for all brilliant red dyes. 
 
 The principal varieties of kermes are the coccus quercus, the coccus polonicus, the coccus 
 fragariee, and the coccus uva ursi. 
 
 The coccus quercus insect lives in the south of Europe upon the kermes oak. The 
 female has no wings, is of the size of a small pea, of a brownish-red color, and is covered 
 with a whitish dust. From the middle of May to the middle of June the eggs are collected, 
 and exposed to the vapor of vinegar, to prevent their incubation. A portion of eggs 
 is left upon the tree for the maintenance of the brood. In the department of the Bouches- 
 du-Rhone, one half of the kermes crop is dried. It amounts annually to about 60 quintals 
 or cwts., and is warehoused at Avignon. 
 
 The kermes of Poland, or coccus polonicus, is found upon the roots of the scleranthus 
 perennis and the scleranthus annuus, in sandy soils of that country and the Ukraine. This 
 species has the same properties as the preceding ; one pound of it, according to Wolfe, 
 being capable of dyeing 10 pounds of wool ; but Hermstaedt could not obtain a fine 
 color, although he employed 5 times as much of it as of cochineal. The Turks, Arme- 
 nians, and Cossacks, dye with kermes their morocco leather, cloth, silk, as well as the 
 manes and tails of their horses. 
 
 The kermes called coccus fragarim, is found principally in Siberia, upon the root of the 
 common strawberry. 
 
 The coccus uva ursi is twice the size of the Polish kermes, and dyes with alum a fine 
 red. It occurs in Russia. 
 
 Kermes is found not only upon the lycopodium complanatum in the Ukraine, but upon 
 a great many other plants. 
 
 Good kermes is plump, of a deep red color, of an agreeable smell, and a rough and 
 pungent taste. Its coloring matter is soluble in water and alcohol ; it becomes yellowish 
 or brownish with acids, and violet or crimson with alkalis. Sulphate of iron blackens it 
 
KOUMISS. 3 
 
 With alum it dyes a blood-red j with copperas an agate gray ; with copperas and tartar, 
 a lively gray ; with sulphate of copper and tartar, an olive green ; with tartar and salt 
 of tin, a lively cinnamon yellow ; with more alum and tartar, a lilach ; with sulphate of 
 zinc and tartar, a violet. Scarlet and crimson dyed with kermes, were called grain colors ; 
 and they are reckoned to be more durable than those of cochineal, as is proved by the bril- 
 liancy of the old Brussels tapestry. 
 
 Hellot says that previous to dyeing in the kermes bath, he threw a handful of wool into 
 it, in order to extract a blackish matter, which would have tarnished the color. The red 
 caps for the Levant are dyed at Orleans with equal parts of kermes and madder ; and oc- 
 casionally with the addition of some Brazil wood. 
 
 Cochineal and lac-dye have now nearly superseded the use of kermes as a tinctorial 
 substance, in England. 
 
 KILLAS is the name by which clay-slate is known vmong the Cornish miners. 
 
 KILN {Four, Fr. ; Of en, Germ.) is the name given to various forms of furnaces 
 and stoves, by which an attempered heat may be applied to bodies ; thus there are brick- 
 kilns, hop-kilns, lime-kilns, malt-kins, and pottery-kilns. Hop and malt-kilns, being 
 designed merely to expel the moisture of the vegetable matter, may be constructed in 
 the same way. See Brick, Limestone, Malt, and Pottery, for a description of their 
 respective kilns. 
 
 KINIC ACID ; a peculiar acid extracted by Vauquelin from cinchona. 
 
 KINO is an extractive matter obtained from the nauclea gambir, a. shrub which 
 grows at Bancoul and Sumatra, but principally in Prince of Wales' island. It is of a 
 reddish-brown color, has a bitter styptic taste, and consists chiefly of tannin. It is 
 used only as an astringent in medicine. Kino is often called a gum, but most im- 
 properly. 
 
 KIRSCHWASSER is an alcoholic liquor obtained by fermenting and distilling bruised 
 cherries, called kirschen in German. The cherry usually employed in Switzerland and 
 Germany is a kind of morello, which on maturation becomes black, and has a kernel 
 very large in proportion to its pulp. When ripe, the fruit being made to fall by switching 
 the trees, is gathered by children, thrown promiscuously, unripe, ripe, and rotten into 
 tubs, and crushed either by hand, or with a wooden beater. The mashed materials are 
 set to ferment, and whenever this process is complete, the whole is transferred to an old 
 still covered with verdigris, and the spirit is run off in the rudest manner possible, by 
 placing the pot over the common fire-place. 
 
 The fermented mash is usually mouldy before it is put into the alembic, the capita] 
 of which is luted on with a mixture of mud and dung. The liquor has accordingly, 
 for the most part, a rank smell, and is most dangerous to health, not only from its own 
 crude essential oil, but from the prussic acid, derived from the distillation of the cherry- 
 stones. 
 
 There is a superior kind of kirschwasser made in the Black Forest, prepared with fewer 
 kernels, from choice fruit, properly pressed, fermented, and distilled. 
 
 KNOPPERN are excrescences produced by the puncture of an insect upon the 
 flower-cups of several species of oak. They are compressed or flat, irregularly pointed, 
 generally prickly and hard ; brown when ripe. They abound in Styria, Croatia, Sclavonia, 
 and Natolia ; those from the latter country being the best. They contain a great deal 
 of tannin, are much employed in Austria for tanning, and in Germany for dyeing fawn, 
 gray, and black. Wool, with a mordant of sulphate of zinc, takes a grayish nankeen 
 color. See Galls. 
 
 KOUMISS is the name of a liquor which the Calmucs make by fermenting mare's 
 milk, and from which they distil a favorite intoxicating spirit, called rack or racky. 
 Cow's milk is said to produce only one third as much spirit, from its containing probably 
 less saccharine matter. 
 
 The milk is kept in bottles made of hides, till it becomes sour, is shaken till it casts 
 up its cream, and is then set aside in earthen vessels in a warm place to ferment, no 
 yeast being required, though sometimes a little old koumiss is added. 21 pounds cf milk 
 put into the still afford 14 ounces of low wines, from which 6 ounces of prettv strong 
 alcohol, of an unpleasant flavor, are obtained by rectification. 
 
LABOK-SAVING- MACHINES. 
 
 LABDANUM or Ladanom, 13 an unctuous resin, of an agreeable odor, found b<* 
 smearing the leaves and twigs of the cystus crelicus, a plant which grows in the island 
 of Candia, and in Syria. It is naturally a dark-brown soft substance, but it hardens 
 on keeping. Its specific gravity is l'l 86. It has a bitter taste. Its chief use is in sur- 
 gery for making plasters. 
 
 LABOR-SAVING MACHINES is the Great Exhibition. — Printing and numbering 
 Cards. — It will be remembered, that in the early days of railway travelling, the ticket 
 system then in vogue at the various stations was a positive nuisance ; as every ticket 
 before it was delivered to a passenger had to be stamped, and torn out of a book,— 
 thus causing the loss of considerable time to travellers when many passengers were 
 congregated. But this was the least evil ; for the railway directors had little or no 
 check upon their servants, and therefrom resulted many ingenious and sueeessful 
 frauds. The first to remedy this was Mr. Edmondson, who constructed an ingenious 
 apparatus for printing the tickets with consecutive numbers, and also dating the 
 same. This gave great facilities for checking the accounts of the station clerks ; -but 
 owing to the imperfect manner of inking, consequent on the construction of the ap- 
 paratus, the friction to which the tickets were exposed, before they were delivered 
 up, in a great measure obliterated the printing, and occasionally rendered them quite 
 illegible. By Messrs. Church and Goddard's machine for printing, numbering, cut- 
 ting, counting, and packing railway tickets, this difficulty also is removed, and great 
 speed is attained in manufacturing the tickets, as the several operations which we 
 have enumerated are simultaneously performed. Pasteboard cut into strips by means 
 of rollers, as above explained, is fed into the machine, by being laid in a trough, and 
 brought under the prongs of a fork (working with an intermitting movement), which 
 pushes the strips successively forward between the first pair of a series of guide or 
 carrying rollers. There are four pairs of rollers, placed so as to conduct the strip 
 through the machine in a horizontal line ; and an intermittent movement is given 
 them for the purpose of carrying the strips forward a short distance at intervals. 
 The standards of the machine carry, at the top, a block, termed the " platten," as it acts 
 the part of the press head in the common printing machine, — portions of it projecting 
 downwards between the upper rollers of the first and second, and second and third, 
 pairs of carrying rollers, nearly to the horizontal plane, in which the pasteboard lies, 
 so as to sustain it at those points while it receives the pressure of the printing types 
 and numbering discs, hereafter referred to. The types to designate the nature of the 
 ticket, as "Birmingham, First class," are secured in a "chase," upon a metal plate or 
 table, which also carries the numbering discs for imprinting the figures upon the 
 cards ; and the table by a cam action is alternately raised, to bring the types and num- 
 bering discs in contact with the pasteboard, and then lowered into a suitable position • 
 to admit of an inking roller moving over the types and numbering discs, and applying 
 ink thereto. The table likewise carries at one end a knife, which acts in conjunction 
 with a knife-edge projecting downwards from the fixed head of the machine, and 
 thereby gives the cross cut to the strips between the third and fourth pairs of carry- 
 ing rollers, — thus severing each into- a given number of tickets. The strip of paste- 
 board which is fed into the machine stops on arriving at the second pair of carrying 
 rollers ; and, on the ascent of the printing-table, the types print on that portion which 
 is between the first and second pairs of rollers. The strip then passes on to the third 
 pair of rollers, where it stops ; and, on the table again ascending, the numbering discs 
 imprint the proper number upon the pasteboard between the second and third pairs ; 
 the type, in the meanwhile; printing what is to be the next following ticket. On the 
 next ascent of the table, the strip has advanced to the fourth pair of rollers • and the 
 knives being now brought into contact, the printed and numbered portion of the strip 
 is severed. The now completed ticket is lastly delivered by the fourth pair of rollers 
 into a hollow guide piece, and conducted to a box below, provided with a piston, which, 
 to facilitate the packing of the tickets in the box, can be adjusted to any height to re- 
 _ ceive the tickets as they fall. To avoid the necessity of having to count the tickets after 
 they are taken from the receiving box, a counting apparatus, connected with the work- 
 ing parts of the machine, is made to strike a bell on the completion of every hundred or 
 more tickets, so as to warn the attendant to remove them from the box. The inking 
 apparatus is assimilated in character to self-acting inkers in ordinary printing presses^ 
 and the numbering discs are worked in a manner very similar to those for paging books! 
 A Bimple arrangement of apparatus for printing and numbering cards was exhibited by 
 Messrs. Harrild & Sons. The types are fixed in a metal frame, which also carries the 
 numbering discs. This frame is mounted on a rooking shaft, and is furnished with a 
 
LABOR-SAVING MACHINES. 5 
 
 handle, whereby it is rocked to bring down the types and discs upon the card, to pro- 
 duce the impression. When the frame is raised again, the units disc is moved forward 
 one figure, and the types are inked by a small roller, which takes its supply of ink from 
 en inking table, that forms the top of the frame. This is a usoful description of ma- 
 chine; but the specimen in the Exhibition does not appear to have been properly ad- 
 justed, as the figures of the numbering discs have a tendency to cut through the card. 
 
 M. Baranowski, of Paris, exhibits a machine for printing and numbering tickets, 
 and also indicating the number printed. The types and numbering discs are carried 
 by a horizontal rotating shaft, upon which, near each end thereof, is a metal disc ; 
 and upon the periphery of these discs, a metal frame is affixed, which carries the types 
 and numbering discs, and corresponds in curvature with the edge of the discs. The 
 types for printing the inscription upon the ticket are arranged at right angles to the 
 length of the shaft, which position admits of some lines of the inscription being printed 
 in one color, and the remainder in another color. In the type frame a slot or opening 
 is formed lengthwise of the shaft ; and behind this opening are three numbering discs, 
 and three discs for indicating the quantity of tickets numbered, — all standingin the 
 same row. The numbering discs are made with raised figures, which project through 
 the slot, in order to print the number upon the ticket; and on the peripheries of the 
 registering discs (which move simultaneously with their corresponding numbering 
 discs), the figures are engraved. The tickets to be printed and numbered are placed 
 in a rectangular box or receiver, having at the bottom a flat sliding piece, which has 
 a reciprocating motion for the purpose of pushing the lowest ticket out of the box, 
 through an opening iu the front side thereof, beneath an elastic pressing-roller of In- 
 dia-rubber ; the type frame (with the types and figures properly inked), is at the same 
 time brought^ by the rotation of its shaft, into contact with the ticket beneath the 
 pressing-roller, and as it continues its motion, it causes the ticket to move forward 
 beneath the pressing-roller, and to be properly printed and numbered. The ticket 
 then falls from the machine ; and the type frame, carried on by the revolution of the 
 6haft, brings that number on the registering discs, which corresponds with the num 
 ber printed on the ticket, under a small opening in the case, covered with glass ; 
 whereby the number of tickets printed will be indicated. 
 
 Backing Boohs. — Not altogether foreign to the subject of printing is the contribution 
 of Mr. C. Star, of New- York, United States, who exhibits two machines for booksellers' 
 use, — the one being employed for backing, and the other for finishing the backs of books. 
 The two machines are similar to each other, as regards the subordinate parts, but differ 
 in some other respects. In the backing machine, the stitched sheets, forming the book, 
 are fixed in a paii*of iron clumps, somewhat larger then the book itself. The clumps are 
 mounted on horizontal pivots, and furnished with a weighted lever, which gives them a 
 tendency to move out of the vertical line, and thereby bring the back of the book, which 
 stands up above the edges of the clumps, under the action of a smooth metal roller. This 
 roller turns in bearings which are capable of sliding vertically in the framing of the ma- 
 chine : and the bearings are pressed upon by two weighted levers, when the machine is 
 in use, so as to cause the roller to bear down forcibly upon the book. While the roller 
 is in this position, the weighted lever of the clumps causes the book to oscillate, and 
 thus the rounding of the back is effected. The movement of the clumps under the 
 roller is regulated by the workman through a foot treadle, connected with the lever 
 in the machine for finishing the backs; the roller is engraved with any suitable de- 
 sign ; and the cross piece which supports its bearings, is made hollow, and is heated by 
 steam, for the purpose of communicating heat to the roller. Motion in this case is 
 given to the clump by a winch-handle, instead of the weighted lever, and the pattern 
 on the roller is thereby embossed upon the back of the book. — Newton's Journal 
 
 Washing and Mangling. — The British portion of the Great Exhibition contained nu- 
 merous examples of the application of machinery to economize labor in the processes 
 of washing, wringing, and mangling. The washing machines may be divided into 
 three classes, viz., first, those which have a rotary action ; secondly, those wherein 
 vibrating beaters are employed ; and thirdly, those in which vertical beaters are 
 ultimately raised and permitted to fall upon the clothes. 
 
 In the first class, Mr. V. Price, of Wardour Street, Soho, has a simple machine, con- 
 sisting of a cylinder or drum, to contain the clothes, revolving horizontally in a close 
 wooden vessel, or outer case, which holds the soap-suds. The drum is made with solid 
 ends; but (in order that the soap-suds may have free access to the clothes), the 
 periphery or body thereof is composed of wooden bars or spokes, extending from one 
 end to the other, with a space somewhat greater than the width of a bar between the 
 adjacent bars, so as to resemble what is knpwn to engi neers as a " lantern drum." The 
 slothes are introduced by opening a door in the side of the drum; and on rotary mo- 
 tion being given to the drum by a handle, the soap-suds will be caused to act upon 
 and thorouel'ly cleanse the clothes. 
 
II 
 
 6 LABOR-SAVING MACHINES. 
 
 Mr. J. Adams, of Selby, exhibited a machine, in which the articles to be washed 
 were placed in a oerforated wooden barrel or octagonal vessel, rotating horizontally 
 in an outer case. Above the case two wooden rollers are mounted, one over the other ; 
 and the clothes, when sufficiently washed, are passed between such rollers, so as to 
 squeeze out the soap-suds, instread of wringing the clothes by hand. These rollers 
 may be subsequently used for mangling the clothes. 
 
 Another rotary machine, exhibited by Mr. Pearson, of Leeds, consists of a tub or 
 wooden vessel, in which the clothes are thrown ; and the requisite agitation for wash- 
 ing or discharging the dirt is effected by means of an upright beater, which rotates in 
 the tub in the same manner as the " dasher " of an upright rotary churn. This appara- 
 tus is also provided with a pair of rollers for wringing and mangling the qlothes. 
 
 The next machines of the rotary class which we shall notice, are those of Messrs. 
 Manlove, Alliott, & Seyrig, of Lenton AVorts, Nottingham. In these machines the 
 operations of washing and drying are effected by centrifugal force ; that is on the 
 mass-trundling principle. The utility of this construction of machines, both for wash- 
 ing and drying fabrics, is unquestionable ; and, under slight modifications, they are 
 extensively used for the refining of sugar. Each machine may be described as con- 
 sisting simply of a drum, having its periphery formed of wires, and being fixed to a 
 vertical shaft, which rotates in the centre of a cylindrical metal case. The goods to be 
 washed are put into the drum, and water is supplied thereto through a hollow central 
 shaft. On rapidly rotating the drum, the water is caused, by centrifugal force, to pass 
 outwards through the goods, and through the wire periphery of the drum, into the 
 outer case, from which it is conducted away. To dry washed, or wet goods, they are 
 placed in the drum without access pf water, and by the rapid rotation of the same the 
 moisture in the clothes is discharged, — the time required for drying in no case ex- 
 ceeding five minutes. These machines are suitable for washing and rinsing dyed 
 goods; but theyare not applicable to the washing of thoroughly dirty clothes; theymay, 
 however, be used for rinsing the same after they have been washed by other means. 
 
 Mr. Robinson exhibited a machine for drying wet clothes, which acts upon the same 
 
 rinciple as the above. The drum that receives the wet clothes is formed of round iron 
 
 ars, with spaces between them, and mounted on a horizontal shaft. By means of a 
 row of bars the drum is divided into two compartments, which receive the goods through 
 a door formed in the drum-ends; and the whole is enclosed in a circular iron case, which 
 is open below. The goods having been put into the drum, it is caused to revolve with 
 great rapidity, and the moisture is expressed from the goods by centrifugal force, and 
 escapes through the opening in the bottom of the ease. See IIydro-exteactok. 
 
 Another rotary washing machine is exhibited by Mr. Kunn. It eonsists of a large 
 drum, which is mounted upon a horizontal shaft, within a closed vessel or case, and car- 
 ries numerous small rollers all round its periphery, such rollers being capable of turning 
 freely and independently of each other, and their axes being parallel to the axis of the 
 drum. The case contains water or soap-suds, in which the drum is immersed to the 
 extent of about one-fifth or one-sixth of its diameter ; the clothes are kept in contact with 
 the drum, as it revolves by several endless tapes ; and as the clothes successively ar- 
 rive at the upper part of the drum, they are acted upon by five fluted rollers above it. 
 
 Mr. Kunn contributed another machine, which appears to be designed for rinsing 
 tnd wringing only. Two fluted rollers, one above the other, are mounted in the up- 
 per part of a wooden vessel or trough ; an endless band passes over the lower roller, 
 for the purpose of conducting the clothes between the fluted rollers ; and there is ano- 
 ther endless band below, immersed in the water which fine vessel contains, and pass- 
 ing over a roller at each end ef the vessel, its apparent use being to receive the clothes 
 as they fall from the first band, and bring them again to that end of the vessel where 
 they were introduced. 
 
 Machines of the second class, viz. those wherein vibrating beaters are employed were 
 exhibited by Messrs. Fryer, Taster, Marsden and Reid. In Mr. Fryer's machines an 
 upright board or beater, having vertical slots or openings in it, is' caused to vibrate 
 or swing to and fro in a segmental vessel (containing the clothes to be washed and a 
 suitable quantity of soap-suds), and beat the clothes against the side of the vessel 
 until they are thoroughly cleansed. 
 
 In Mr. Tasker's machine, a beater, with vertical slots or openings in it, vibrates in 
 a trough or vessel having a series of projecting ribs at each side, corresponding with 
 the openings m the beater. 
 
 The beater in Mr. Marsden's machine has a projecting rib affixed to it on each side' 
 between the several slots or openings ; and at each side of the segmental trough or 
 vessel, in which the beater works, there is. hinged a flap or false side, with numerous 
 horizontal slots or openings in it. 
 
 The three last-mentioned machines are all provided with rollers for wringing and 
 mangling the clothes. b 
 
LABOR-SAVING MACHINES. 7 
 
 Mr. lteid's machine consists of a large square box, the bottom of which takes the 
 form of the segment described by a vibrating beater suspended in the box. The ma- 
 chine also contains a " wringer," which is a net formed into a bag, having an opening 
 at the side for the introduction of the wet clothes ; and at each end of the bag there 
 is a screw bolt, with a nut upon it, by one of which the bag is to be secured to the 
 side of the machine, and by the other it is connected to a crank, which, on being 
 actuated, will twist the bag, and thereby. express the water from the clothes. At the 
 back of the machine several rollers are mounted one above the other, for the purpose 
 of mangling the articles. 
 
 Mr. "W. Maealpine, of Hammersmith, exhibited a machine of the third class, con- 
 structed with ascending and descending beaters. It consists of a cylindrical metal 
 vessel, which is fixed upon an upright axis, and is caused to rotate by suitable wheel- 
 work in connection with a steam-engine. The vessel is made with perforated false 
 bottom and sides, so as to form a hollow casing, into which steam may be admitted, 
 and may thence pass through the perforations, and act upon the water and the fabrics 
 to be washed. The process of agitating or washing the fabrics is effected by nine or 
 ten upright beaters, arranged in a row across the interior of the vessel, and alternately 
 elevated and permitted to fall upon the fabrics. 
 
 Messrs. Wilkinson, Stutterd, Baker, Moreton, and others, exhii ited machines for 
 performing the operation of mangling only; but as- these, whatever their respective 
 merits, cannot be said to be new applications of machinery for economizing labor, 
 they do not properly come within our province. 
 
 From the above notice it will be seen that considerable attention has been given 
 by machine makers to that most important branch of domestic economy — washing. 
 There is not, perhaps, one of the machines above described, which would not as effect- 
 ually cleanse all under-clothing as the most fastidious could desire ; and yet we still 
 suffer our clothes to be tortured by the rubbing and wringing of those merciless mo- 
 dern amazons who preside over soap-suds, and allow them to be transformed into lint 
 and ribbons, without an attempt at removing the annoyance ; indeed, so inveterate is 
 prejudice, that the washerwoman may yet look for a long lease of her profession, as 
 it luckily touches upon no established manufacture. 
 
 While on the subject of washing, we may direct attention to a machine exhibited by 
 Mr. C. Farrow, of Great Tower street, for washing bottles. In this machine a hori- 
 zontal metal spindle, carrying a bottle brush at each end, is caused to revolve by being 
 connected with a treadle. A bottle is pushed over each brush by the operator, who 
 holds the bottles one in each hand, whilst by means of his foot he works the treadle 
 and causes the rotation of the brushes. 
 
 Knife-cleaning. — Specimens of those very useful machines which have lately been 
 introduced for cleaning knives and forks are to be found in the building, and demand 
 some notice. Mr. Kent's machine consists of a box or case, containing a couple of 
 wooden discs, fixed near to each other upon a horizontal iron rod or spindle, which 
 passes through the case, and is caused to rotate by means of a winch-handle. Each 
 disc is, for about three-fourths of the area of its inner face, covered with alternate 
 rows of bristles and strips of leather ; and the remaining fourth part is covered with 
 bristles only. The knife-blades to be cleaned are introduced through openings in the 
 case, bs'iween the rubbing surfaces of the discs; and rotatory motion being given to 
 the discs by a winch-handle, the knives are rapidly cleaned and polished. 
 
 The machines exhibited by Mr. Masters are constructed upon the same plan as the 
 above ; but the rubbing surface of each disc is formed of strips of buff leather, with 
 only a narrow circle of bristles around the edge of each surface, to clean the shoulders 
 of the knives ; small brushes are fixed beneath the holes in the ease, through which 
 the blades of the knives are inserted, to prevent the exit of dust from the apparatus. 
 
 Mr. Price exhibited a machine for cleaning knives, and another for cleaning forks. 
 The knife-cleaner consists of a horizontal drum, covered with pieces of leather or felt, 
 and fixed within another drum or circular framing, lined with leather or felt. The 
 knives are introduced through openings, in a movable circular plate, at the front of 
 the outer casing, and enter between the surfaces of the two drums. The plate is fixed 
 upon a horizontal axis, which extends through the eass, and is furnished at the back 
 with a handle ; by turning which the disc is caused to rotate and carry round the 
 long rectangular opening in the side, behind which two brushes are fixed" face to face. 
 Between these brushes the prongs of the forks are introduced, and the handles are 
 secured in a carrier, which is made to advance and recede alternately by means of 
 a throw-crank, and thereby thrust the prongs, into and draw them out of contact with 
 the brushes. The carrier consists of two metal plates, the lower one carrying a cushion 
 of vulcanized India-rubber for the fork handles to rest upon, and the upper being lined 
 with leather ; they are hinged together at one end, and are connected at the other, 
 when the handles have' been placed between them, by a thumb-screw. 
 
8 LABOK-SAVINQ- MACHINES. 
 
 Chojrping-Icnife. — The same exhibitor also contributed a chopping-knife for the re 
 duction of suet, &c, into small particles. It consists of three blades fixed side by side, 
 to the lower surface of a fiat metal frame, which is hinged at one end to a fixed metal 
 pillar or support, and at the other is provided with a handle, whereby the blades ar6 
 alternately lifted and brought down upon the suet or other substance to be chopped, 
 which is laid upon a circular wooden dish or chopping-block. Each time that the 
 knife-frame is raised, a hooked rod, suspended therefrom, catches into the teeth of a 
 ratchet wheel, and turns it partly round ; on the axis of this ratchet wheel is a small 
 cog-wheel, which takes into the teeth of a circular rack or wheel, fixed to the under- 
 side of the chopping-block ; and thus, at each ascent of the knife-frame, the block will 
 be moved partly round, and made to present fresh portions of suet to the action of 
 the descending knives. — Newton' s Journal, xxxix. 132. 
 
 Envelope folding. — In the envelope folding machine of Messrs. DelaRue & Co. each 
 piece of paper previouslycut by a fly press into the proper form, for making an en- 
 velope (and having the emblematical stamp or wafer upon it), is laid by the attendant 
 on a square or rectangular metal frame or box, formed with a short projecting piece 
 at each corner, to serve as guides to the paper, and furnished with a movable bottom, 
 which rests on helical springs. A presser at the end of a curved compound arm 
 (which moves in a vertical plane), then descends and presses the paper down into the 
 box — the'bottom thereof yielding to the pressure; and thereby the four ends or flaps' 
 of the piece of paper are caused to fly up ; the presser may be said to consist of a rec- 
 tangular metal frame, the ends of which are attached to the outer part of the curved 
 arm, and the sides thereof to the inner portion of the arm ; so that the ends and sides of 
 the presser can move independently of each other. The ends of the presser then rise, 
 leaving the two sides of it still holding down the paper ; two little lappet pieces next 
 fold over the two side flaps of the envelope ; and immediately a horizontal arm ad- 
 vances, carrj'ing a V shaped piece charged with adhesive matter or cement (from a 
 saturated endless band), and applies the same to the two fl&pe, A third lappet presses 
 down the third flap of the envelope upon the two cemented flaps, and thereby causes 
 it to adhere thereto ; and then a pressing piece of the same size as the finished enve- 
 lope, folds over the last flap and presses the whole flat. The final operation is to re- 
 move the envelope, and this is effected by a pair of metal fingers, with India-rubber 
 ends, which descend upon the .envelope, and, moving sideways, draw the envelope 
 off the bottom of the box (the pressing-piece having moved away and the bottom of 
 the box risen to the level of the platform of the machine) on to a slowly moving end- 
 less band, which gradually carries the finished envelopes away. A fresh piece of 
 paper is laid upon the box or frame, and the above operations are repeated. 
 
 The working of this ingenious machine appeared to be one of the chief attractions oi 
 the Exhibition, but another, for the same object, invented by Mr. A Eemond, of 
 Birmingham, and shown in operation by Messrs. Waterlow & Sons, of London Wall, 
 was equally deserving attention. The distinguishing feature of this arrangement is the 
 employment of atmospheric pressure to feed in the paper which is to form the envelope, 
 and to deflect the flaps of the envelope into inclined positions, to facilitate the action of 
 a plunger, which descends to complete the folding. The pieces of paper, cut to the 
 proper form, are laid on a platform, which is furnished with a pin at each corner to 
 enter the notches in the pieces of paper, and retain them in the proper position, and 
 such platform is caused alternately to rise and bring the upper piece of paper in con- 
 tact with the instrument that feeds the folding part of the machine, and then to de 
 scend until a fresh piece is to be removed. The feeding instrument consists of a hori- 
 zontal hollow arm, with two holes in the under side, and having a reciprocating 
 movement. When it moves over the upper piece of paper on the platform, a partial 
 vacuum is produced within it, by a suitable exhausting apparatus, and the paper is 
 thereby caused to adhere to it at the holes in its under Burface by the pressure of the 
 atmosphei'e. The instrument carries the paper over a rectangular recess or box, and 
 then, the vacuum within it being destroyed, it deposits the paper between four pins; 
 fixed at the angles of the box, and returns for another piece ot paper. As the paper 
 lies on the top of the box, the flap, which will be undermost in the finished enve- 
 lope, is pressed by a small bar or presser on to the upper edge of two angular feed 
 ers, communicating with a reservoir of cement or adhesive matter, and thereby be- 
 comes coated with cement ; and, at the same time, the outermost or seal flap may be 
 stamped with any required device, by dies, on the other side of the machine. A rec- 
 tangular frame or plunger now descends and carries the paper down into the box ; 
 the plunger rises, leaving the flaps of the envelope upright ; streams of air, issuing 
 from a slot in each side of the box, then cause the flaps to incline inwards ; and the 
 folding is completed by the plunger again descending, the interior and under surface 
 of such plunger being formed with projecting parts, suitable for causing the several 
 flaps to fold in the proper order. The bottom of the box (which is "hinged) opens, 
 
LABOR-SAVING MACHINES. 6 
 
 and discharges the envelope down a shoot on to a table below; the feeding instrument 
 then brings forward another piece of paper ; and a repetition of the above movements 
 takes place. 
 
 A machine for a somewhat similar purpose to the above was exhibited by Mr. J. Black, 
 of Edinburgh. . The object of this machine is to fold printed sheets of paper, and it 
 is proportioned to fold them to the octavo size; but machines may be made, on the 
 same principle, to suit books or pamphlets of other sizes. To fold sheets for an octavo 
 book, three movements are required, viz. : first, to fold the sheet to half size; secondly, 
 to double it at right angles ; and thirdly, to double it again at right angles to the last 
 fold. In the machine these movements are effected by three blades or knives, which 
 are formed with serrated edges, to prevent the paper slipping. The blades are affixed, 
 at one end, to separate shafts or spindles, which simultaneously perform part of a 
 revolution in either direction alternately, and so cause the outer end of each blade 
 to describe an arc of about the fourth part of a circle ; and as the actions of the 
 knives are simultaneous, the machine contains three sheets, in different states of pro- 
 gression at the same time. The sheet of paper is laid on a horizontal platform, in 
 such a position that the first blade in descending will come across that part of the 
 paper where the first fold is to be made, — draw the sheet through a slot or opening 
 made in the platform, and carry it down into a narrow vertical passage, or chamber; 
 by which means it will be folded in half, and left in a vertical position. The second, 
 blade (which vibrates in a horizontal plane), then comes in contact with the central 
 part of the doubled sheet, and folds it at that part, by drawing it into a narrow hori- 
 zontal passage, — leaving such fold in a line at right angles to the vertical passage. 
 The third blade (which vibrates in a vertical plane parallel to the first blade) draws 
 the sheet down a vertical passage, so as to fold' it again, and brings it to a pair of 
 vortical delivering rollers, which pass it from the machine. Accuracy in laying the 
 sheets upon the platform is insured by an arrangement, consisting of a short adjusta- 
 ble straight edge, set parallel to the first blade, and of a projecting nob, set in the 
 same parallel line. The attendant, who feeds the machine, takes hold of the sheet at 
 the edge of the letter-press, and thus lays it on the platform in such a manner that 
 his fingerB come in contact with' the straight-edge and nob, — whereby the central line 
 of the sheet will be caused to lie exactly over the central slot in the platform ; the 
 position of the nob also indicates the point where the corner of the letter-press should 
 be, in order that the subsequent folding in the opposite direction may be accurately 
 performed. This is a very ingenious and efficient contrivance, and is well deserving 
 the attention of bookbinders. 
 
 Paging Books. — A self-acting machine for paging books and numbering documents 
 was exhibited by Messrs. "Waterlow & Sons, and shown in operation. As this class of 
 machines has of late come into extensive use, owing to the protection which is afforded 
 to the merchant and the tradesman by the consecutive paging of account and other 
 manuscript books, it may be well to explain the general construction of the numbering 
 apparatus, and its mode of operation, more especially as it forms an important adjunct 
 to some machines which we shall hereafter have occasion to notice. The numbering ap- 
 paratus consists of five discs, which are provided with raised figures on their periphery, 
 running from 1, 2, 3, &a., to ; and these figures serve (like letter-press type) to print the 
 numbers required. The discs are mounted at the outer end of a vibrating frame or arm 
 on a common shaft, to which the first or units discs is permanently fixed ; and the other 
 four discs (viz., those for making tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands,) are 
 mounted loosely thereon, so that they need not, of necessity, move when the shaft is 
 rotating ; but they are severally caused to move in the following order : — the tens disc 
 performs one-tenth of a revolution for every revolution of the units disc, and so on. Aa 
 the discs rise from the paper after every impression, the units disc is caused to perform 
 one-tenth of a revolution (in order that the next number printed maybe a unit greater 
 than the preceding one), by a driving click taking into the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, 
 fixed on the left hand end of the shaft. The movement of the other discs is effected, 
 at intervals, by means of a spring-cateh, affixed to the side of the units disc, and ro- 
 tating therewith ; which catch, each time that the units disc completes a revolution, 
 is caused by a projection on the inner surface of the vibrating frame to project behind 
 one of the raised figures on the tens disc, and carry it round one-tenth of a revolution 
 on the next movement of the units disc taking place ; and then, the catch having passed 
 away from the projection, no further increase in the number imprinted by the tens 
 disc will be effected until the units disc has performed another revolution. Every time 
 that the tens disc completes a revolution, the spring-catch causes the hundreds disc to 
 move forward one-tenth of a revolution, and similar movements are imparted to the 
 remaining discs at suitable times. The shaft is prevented from moving except when it 
 is acted on by the driving click, by a spring detent, or pull entering the notches in 
 
10 LAC, LAC DYE. 
 
 the periphery of a wheel fixed on the right-hand end of the shaft ; and thus the disci 
 are held steady while numbering, and a clear and even impression of the figures is 
 ensured. The leaves of the book to be paged or numbered are laid on the raised part 
 of the table of themachine, covered with vulcanized india-rubber, and as each page is 
 numbered it is turned over by the attendant, so as to present a fresh page on theii 
 next descent. As the discs ascend after numbering each page, an inking apparatus 
 (consisting of three rollers, mounted in a swing frame and revolving in contact with 
 each other, so as to distribute the ink which is fed to the first roller evenly on to the 
 third or inking roller), descends and inks the figures which are to be brought into ac- 
 tion when the numbering apparatus next descends. By this means books or documents 
 may be paged or marked with consecutive numbers ; for printing duplicate sets of num- 
 bers, as for bankers' books, a simple and ingenious contrivance is adopted. This consists > 
 in the employment of an additional ratchet-wheel, which is acted on by the driving click 
 that moves the ratchet-wheel above mentioned, and is provided with a like number of 
 teeth to that wheel. But the diameter of the additional ratchet-wheel is increased to 
 admit of the teeth being so formed that the driving click will be thereby held back 
 from contact with every alternate tooth of the first mentioned ratchet-wheel ; and thus 
 the arrangement of the numbering discs will remain unchanged, to give, on their next 
 descent, a duplicate impression of the number previously printed ; but, on the reascend- 
 ing of the numbering apparatus, the click will act on a tooth of both ratchet-wheels, 
 and move both forward one-tenth of a revolution ; and as the shaft accompanies the 
 first ratchet-wheel in its movements, the number will consequently be changed. 
 
 Messrs. Schlesinger & Co. also exhibited a paging machine, the capabilities of which 
 are similar to the above, but somewhat differently obtained. The numbering discs in 
 this instance are provided with ten teeth, with a raised figure on the end of each tooth ; 
 and they receive the change motion from cog-wheels mounted below them on the same 
 frame. At each descent of the frame a stationary spring-catch or hook-piece drives 
 round the wheel one tooth, that gears into the teeth of the units disc, and thereby 
 causes the units disc to bring forward a fresh figure. The toothed wheels are some- 
 what narrower than the numbering discs, but one tooth of each wheel is enlarged late- 
 rally to about double the size of the other teeth ; so that at the completion of every 
 revolution of the wheel the projecting tooth shall act upon a tooth of the next disc, 
 and carry that disc forward one tenth of a revolution. By this means the requisite 
 movements of the discs for effecting the regular progression of the numbers are pro- 
 duced ; the first wheel driving its own disc, and communicating motion at intervals to 
 the next disc, and the other wheels each receiving motion at intervals from the disc 
 with which it is connected, and transmitting motion, at still greater intervals of time, 
 to the next disc. 
 
 The machine is caused to print the figures in duplicate by drawing the spring-catch 
 out of action at every alternate descent of the frame, and thereby preventing any 
 change of the figures taking place until after the next impression. 
 
 The numbers may be increased two units at each impression, so as to print all even 
 or all odd numbers, by bringing a second catch into action, which causes the unit disc 
 to advance one step during the ascending movement of the frame, in addition to the 
 advance during the descent of the same. — Newton's Journal, xxxviii. 430. 
 
 LABRADORITE, opaline, or Labradore feldspar, is a beautiful mineral, with brilliant 
 changing colors, blue, red, and green, &c. Spec. grav. 2-70 to 2-75. Scratches glass ; 
 affords no water by calcination ; fusible at the blowpipe into a frothy bead ; soluble in 
 muriatic acid ; solution affords a copious precipitate with oxalate of ammonia. Cleav- 
 ages of 93 J° and 86J° ; one of which is brilliant and pearly. Its constituents are silica, 
 55-75 ; alumina, 26-5 ; lime, 11 ; soda, 4 ; oxyde of iron, 1-25 ; water, 0-5. 
 
 LABYRINTH, in metallurgy, means a series of canals distributed in the sequel of 
 a stamping-mill; through which canals u stream of water is transmitted for suspend- 
 ing, carrying off, and depositing, at different distances, the ground ores. See Metal- 
 lurgy. 
 
 LAC, LAC-DYE (Laque, Fr. ; Lack, Lackfarben, Germ.). Stick-lac is produced by 
 the puncture of a peculiar female insect, called coccus lacca or flats, upon the branches 
 of several plants ; as the ficus religiosa, the ficus indica, the rhamnus jujuba, the croton 
 lacciferum, and the butea frondosa, which grow in Siam, Assam, Pegu, Bengal, and Mal- 
 abar. The twig becomes thereby incrusted with a reddish mammelated resin, bavin" a 
 crystalline-looking fracture. 
 
 The female lac insect is of the size of a louse ; red, round, flat, with 12 abdominal 
 circles, a bifurcated tail, antennae, and 6 claws, half the length of the bodv. The male is 
 twice the above size, and has 4 wings ; there is one of them to 5000 females. In Novem- 
 ber or December the young brood makes its escape from the eggs, lying beneath the dead 
 body of the mother; they crawl about a little way, and fasten themselves to the bark of 
 the shrubs. About this period the branches often swarm to such a degree with this ver- 
 min, that they seem covered with a red dust ; in this case, they are apt to dry up 
 by being exhausted of their juices. Many of these insects, however, become the 
 
LAO, LAC DYE. 11 
 
 prey of others, 01 are carried off by the feet of birds, to which they attach themselves, 
 and are transplanted to other trees. They soon produce small nipple-like incrusta.- 
 tions upon the twigs, their bodies being apparently glued, by means of a transparent 
 liquor, which goes on increasing to the end of March, so as to form a cellular texture. 
 At this time, the animal resembles a small oval bag, without life, of the size of cochineal 
 AX the commencement, a beautiful red liquor only is perceived, afterwards eggs make 
 their appearance ; and in October or November, when the red liquor gets exhausted, 20 
 or 30 young ones bore a hole through the back of their mother, and come forth. The 
 empty cells remain upon the branches. These are composed of the milky juice. -of the 
 plant, which serves as nourishment to the insects, and which is afterwards transformed 
 or elaborated into the red coloring matter that is found mixed with the resin, but in 
 greater quantity in the bodies of the insects, in their eggs, and still more copiously in the 
 red liquor secreted for feeding the young. After the brood escapes, the cells contain 
 much less coloring matter. On this account, the branches should be broken off before 
 this happens, and dried in the sun. In the East Indies this operation is performed twice 
 n the year; the first lime in March, the second in October. The twigs incrusted with 
 the radiated cellular substance constitute the stick-lac of commerce. It is of a red 
 color, more or less deep, nearly transparent, and hard, with a brilliant conchoidal fracture. 
 The stick-lac of Siam is the best ; a piece of it presented to me by Mr. Rennie, of Fen- 
 ehurch-street, having an incrustation fully one quarter of an inch thick all round the 
 twig. The stick-lac of Assam ranks next ; and last, that of Bengal, in which the resinous 
 coat is scanty, thin, and irregular. According to the analysis of Dr. John, stick-la -. 
 consists, in 120 parts, of — 
 
 An odorous commo i resin - - - - 80-00 
 
 > A resin .insoluble in ether - - 20-00 
 
 Coloring matter analogous to that of cochineal ... 4-50 
 
 Bitter balsamic matter .... 3-00 
 
 Dun yellow extract .... 0-50 
 
 Acid of the stick-lac (laccic acid) - 0-75 
 
 Fatty matter, like wax - .... 3-00 
 
 Skin of the insects and coloring matter .... 2-50 
 
 Salts - - .... i.2b 
 
 Earths ...... 0-75 
 
 Loss ...... 4-75 
 
 120-00 
 
 According to Franke, the constituents of stick-lac are, resin, 65-7 ; substance of the 
 lae, 28-3 ; coloring matter, 0-6. 
 
 Seed-lac. — When the resinous concretion is taken off the twigs, coarsely pounded, and 
 triturated with water in a mortar, the greater part of the coloring matter ib dissolved, and 
 the granular portion which remains, being dried in the sun, constitutes seed-lac. It con- 
 tains of course less coloring matter than the stick-lac, siid is much less soluble. John 
 found in 100 parts of it, resin, 66-7 ; wax, 1-7 ; matter of the lac, 16-7; bitter balsamic 
 matter, 2-5; coloring matter, 3-9 ; dun yellow extract, 0-4 ; envelopes of insects, 2-1 ; 
 laccic acid, 0-0 ; salts of potash and lime, 1-0 ; earths, 6-6 ; loss, 4-2. 
 
 In India the seed-lac is put into oblong bags of cotton cloth, which are held over a 
 charcoal fire by a man at each end, and, as soon as it begins to melt, the bag is twisted 
 so as to strain the liquefied resin through its substance, and to make it drop upon smooth 
 stems of the banjan tree (musa paradisa). In this way, the resin spreads into thin 
 plates, and constitutes the substance known in commerce by the name of shellac. 
 
 Tie Pegu stick-lac, being very dark-colored, furnishes a shellac of a corresponding 
 deep nno, and therefore of inferior value. The palest and finest shellac is brought from 
 the northern Circar. It contains very little coloring matter. A stick-lac of an interme- 
 diate kind comes from the Mysore country, which yields a brilliant lac-dye and a good 
 shellac. 
 
 Lac-dye is the watery infusion of the ground stiek-lac, evaporated to dryness, and 
 formed into cakes about two inches'square and half an inch thick. Dr. John found it 
 to consist of coloring matter, 50 ; resin, 25 ; and solid matter, composed of alumina, 
 plaster, chalk, and sand, 22. 
 
 Dr. Macleod, of Madras, informs me that he prepared a very superior lac-dye from 
 stick-lack, by digesting it in the cold in a slightly alkaline decoction of the dried leaves 
 of the Memecylon tinctorium (perhaps the M. capitellatwm, from which the natives of 
 Malabar and Ceylon obtain a saffron-yellow dye). This solution being used along with 
 a mordant, consisting of a saturated solution of tin in muriatic acid, was found to dye 
 woollen clo'h of a very brilliant scarlet hue. 
 
12 LAC. LAC DYE. 
 
 Tlie cakes of lac-dye imported from India, stamped with peculiar marks to designate 
 their different manufacturers, are now employed exclusively in England for dyeins 
 scarlet cloth, and are found to yield an equally brilliant color, and one less easily 
 affected by perspiration than that produced by cochineal. When the lac-dye was first 
 introduced, sulphuric acid was the solvent applied to the pulverized cakes, but as mu- 
 riatic acid has been found to answer so much better, it has entirely supplanted it. A 
 good solvent (No. 1) for this dye-stuff may be prepared by dissolving three pounds of tin 
 in 60 pounds of muriatic acid, of specific gravity 1-19. The proper mordant for the 
 cloth is made by mixing 27 pounds of muriatic acid of sp. grav. 1-17, with 1\ pounds 
 of nitric acid of 1-19 ; putting this mixture into a salt-glazed stone-bottle, and adding 
 to it, in small bits at a time, grain tin, till 4 pounds be dissolved. This solution (No. 2) 
 may be used within twelve hours after it is made, provided it has become cold and clear. 
 For dyeing, three quarters of a pint of the solvent No. 1 is to be poured upon each 
 pound of the pulverized lac-dye, and allowed to digest upon it for six hours. The cloth, 
 before being subjected to the dye bath, must be scoured in the mill with fullers' earth. 
 To dye 100 pounds of pelisse cloth, a tin boiler of 300 gallons capacity should be filled 
 nearly brimful with water, and a fire kindled under it. Whenever the temperature 
 rises to 150° Fahr., a handful of bran and half a pint of the solution of tin (No. 2) 
 are to be introduced. The froth, which rises as it approaches ebullition, must be 
 skimmed off; and when the liquor boils, 10§ pounds of lack-dye, previously mixed with 7 
 pints of the solvent No. 1, and 3£ pounds of solution of tin No. 2, must be poured in. 
 An instant afterwards, 10% pounds of tartar, and 4 pounds of ground sumach, both tied up 
 in a linen bag, are to be suspended in the boiling bath for five minutes. The fire being 
 now withdrawn, 20 gallons of cold water, with 10J pints of solution of tin, being poured 
 into the bath, the cloth is to be immersed in it, moved about rapidly during ten minutes • 
 the fire is to be then rekindled, and the cloth winced more slowly through the bath' 
 which must be made to boil as quickly as possible, and maintained at that pitch for an 
 hour. The cloth is to be next washed in the river ; and lastly, with water only, in the 
 fulling mill. The above proportions of the- ingredients produce a brilliant scarlet 
 tint, with a slightly purple cast. If a more orange hue be wanted, white Florence argai 
 may be used, instead of tartar, and some more sumach. Lac-dye may be substituted for 
 cochineal in the orange-scarlets ; but for the more delicate pink shades, it does not 
 answer so well, as the lustre is apt to be impaired by the large quantity of acid necessary 
 lo dissolve the coloring matter of the lac. 
 
 Shellac, by Mr. Hatchett's analysis, consists of resin, 90-5; coloring matter, 0-5: 
 wax, 4-0 ; gluten, 2-8 ; loss, 1-8 ; in 100 parts. 
 
 The resin may be obtained pure by treating shellac with cold alcohol, and filtering 
 the solution in order to separate a yellow gray pulverulent matter. When the alcohol 
 is again distilled off, a brown, translucent, hard, and brittle resin, of specific gravity 
 1-139, remains. It melts into a viscid mass with heat, and diffuses an aromatic odor. 
 Anhydrous alcohol dissolves it in all proportions. According to John, it consists of two 
 resins, one of which dissolves readily in alcohol, ether, the' volatile and fat oils ; while 
 the other is little soluble in cold alcohol, and is insoluble in ether and the volatile oils 
 Unverdorben, however, has detected no less than four different resins, and some other 
 substances, in shellac. Shellac dissolves with ease in dilute muriatic and acetic acid's- 
 but not in concentrated sulphuric acid. The resin of shellac has a great tendency 
 to combine with salifiable bases ; as with caustic potash, which it deprives of its alkaline 
 taste. 
 
 This .solution, which is of a dark red color, dries into a brilliant, transparent, reddish 
 brown mass ; which may be re-dissolved in both water and alcohol. By passing chlorine 
 in excess through the dark-colored alkaline solution, the lac-resin is precipitated in a 
 color ess state. When this precipitate is washed and dried, it forms, with alcohol, an 
 8X w- l n ^ P "J e i°, w Tarmsh > especially with the addition of a little turpentine and mastic. 
 
 With the aid of heat, shellac dissolves readily in a solution of borax 
 
 The substances which Unverdorben found in shellac are the following- 
 
 1. A resin, soluble in alcohol and ether ; 
 
 2. A resin, soluble in alcohol, insoluble in ether ; 
 
 3. A resinous body, little soluble in cold alcohol ; 
 
 4. A crystallizable resin ; 
 
 tamzable reSin ' ^^ *" f ''' COlnl *** "^ bUt insoluble in Petroleum, and uncrvf. 
 7 ^ e x unsaponined fat of tlle CDCms insect > ^ well as oleic and margaric acids. 
 
 8. The laccine of Dr. John. 
 
 9. An extractive coloring matter. 
 
LACE BOBBINET. 
 
 VS 
 
 Statistical Tabi. 
 
 of Lac-Dye and Lac-Lake, per favor of James Wilkinson, Esq., 
 of Leadenhall street. 
 
 
 Import. 
 
 Export. 
 
 Home 
 Consumption. 
 
 Prices. 
 
 Stocks. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 
 
 
 1802 
 
 253 
 
 
 none 
 
 
 
 
 1803 
 
 1,735 
 
 none 
 
 acciunt burned 
 
 
 
 
 1804 
 
 531 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 1805 
 
 1,987 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1806 
 
 none 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1807 
 
 25,350 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1808 
 
 5,731 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1809 
 
 40,632 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1810 
 
 235,154 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1811 
 
 378,325 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1812 
 
 198,250 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1813 
 
 289,654 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1814 
 
 278,899 
 
 5,071 
 
 133,935 
 
 
 
 
 1815 
 
 598,592 
 
 8,441 
 
 137,915 
 
 
 
 
 1816 
 
 269,373 
 
 27,412 
 
 162,894 
 
 
 
 
 1817 
 
 384,909 
 
 23,091 
 
 234,763 
 
 
 
 
 1 1818 
 
 242,572 
 
 32,079 
 
 323,169 
 
 
 
 
 1819 
 
 179,511 
 
 21,707 
 
 207,063 
 
 
 
 
 ' 1820 
 
 441,486 
 
 49,519 
 
 9»2,514 
 
 
 
 
 1 1821 
 
 641,755 
 
 91,925 
 
 322,83*? 
 
 
 
 
 j 1822 
 
 872,967 
 
 29,578 
 
 349,351 
 
 
 
 
 1 1823 
 
 534,220 
 
 13,050 
 
 414,714 
 
 
 
 
 1824 
 
 604,269 
 
 53,843 
 
 483,339 
 
 
 
 
 1825 
 
 541,443 
 
 61,908 
 
 385,734 
 
 
 
 
 1826 
 
 760,729 
 
 68.603 
 
 395,609 
 
 
 
 
 1827 
 
 756,315 
 
 76,S75 
 
 448,270 
 
 1 9 
 
 4 
 
 11,538 
 
 1828 
 
 512,874 
 
 54,999 
 
 397,867 
 
 1 3 
 
 3 9 
 
 11,085 
 
 1829 
 
 475,632 
 
 39,344 
 
 433,851 
 
 1 3 
 
 3 6 
 
 11,976 
 
 1830 
 
 534,341 
 
 78,099 
 
 548,865 
 
 9 
 
 3 3 
 
 11,834 
 
 1831 
 
 913,562 
 
 175,717 
 
 597,568 
 
 4 
 
 2 6 
 
 12,559 
 
 1832 
 
 378,843 
 
 69,842 
 
 594,155 
 
 4 
 
 2 3 
 
 11,420 
 
 1833 
 
 326,894 
 
 66,447 
 
 426,460 
 
 9 
 
 2 4 
 
 11,457 
 
 1834 
 
 708,959 
 
 89,229 
 
 398,832 
 
 11 
 
 2 4 
 
 11,928 
 
 1835 
 
 528,564 
 
 203,840 
 
 573,288 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 10,454 
 
 1836 
 
 642,436 
 
 200,975 
 
 642,615 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 9,492 
 
 1837 
 
 1,011,674 
 
 133,959 
 
 427,890 
 
 1 
 
 3 9 
 
 8,780 
 
 
 Tl 
 
 e stock includ 
 
 ;s 2,200 chests of 
 
 Lac-lake 
 
 
 -J 
 
 Landings, Deliveries, and Stocks of Lao Dyim. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Landed. 
 
 Delivered. 
 
 Stock let January. 
 
 In December 1851 
 
 464 chests 
 
 192 chests 
 
 — chests 
 
 1S50 
 
 584 
 
 808 
 
 — 
 
 In 12 months 1851 
 
 7133 
 
 4741 
 
 7777 
 
 1S60 
 
 5S60 
 
 4063 
 
 5356 
 
 1849 
 
 8264 
 
 4126 
 
 3559 
 
 1S48 
 
 1577 
 
 8020 
 
 4421 
 
 Layton, Hulbert, & Co.'s Circular, 1th Jan,, 1852. 
 
 The market prices on 8th Jan. 1852 were from Zd. to 2s. id. per lb. 
 
 LACC1C ACID crystallizes, has a wine-yellow color, a sour taste, is soluble in water, 
 alcohol, and ether. It was extracted from stick-lac by Dr. John. 
 
 LACCINE is the portion of shell-lac which is insoluble in boiling alcohol. It is brown, 
 brittle, translucid, consisting of agglomerated pellicles, more like a resin than any 
 thing else. It is insoluble in ether and oils. It has not been applied to any use. 
 
 LACE BOBBINET. Hitherto the threads of silk, flax, or cotton, used as the chain 
 or warp in the manufacture of lace or net, have been warped, or ranged side by side, 
 and in this state wound upon a cylinder, which being mounted upon an axle or shaft, 
 delivers the warp threads as each mesh of the net is formed. By the patented arrange- 
 ment of Mr. W. E. Newton, whatever may be the difference in the consumption of the 
 several threads to produce the fabric, in comparison with other portions of tho warp, 
 the cylinder will always deliver the same quantity in length of each thread. This 
 
 L 
 
14 
 
 LACE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 gives rise to great inconvenience. According to the present invention, for every threr.d 
 a bobbin is provided for regulating its tension; and thus each separate thread 01 
 number of threads may, without inconvenience, furnish a greater or less length of warp 
 as may be required. See the details, with figures, in Newton's London Journal. 
 xxxv. 391. 
 
 LACE MANUFACTURE. The pillow-made, or bone-lace, which formerly gave 
 occupation to multitudes of women in their own houses, has, in the progress of me 
 chanical invention, been nearly superseded by the bobbin-net lace, manufactured at firsi 
 by hand-machines, as stockings are knit upon frames, but recently by the power of 
 water or steam. This elegant texture possesses all the strength and regularity of the 
 ol J. B "™?S ham lace = and is far superior in these respects to the point-net and warp lace, 
 which had preceded, and in some measure paved the way for it. Bobbin-net may be 
 said to surpass every other branch of human industry in the complex ingenuity of its 
 machinery; one of Fisher's spotting frames being as much beyond the most curious 
 chronometer, in multiplicity of mechanical device, as that is beyond a common roasting- 
 jack. s 
 
 The threads in bobbin-net lace form, by their intertwisting and deccussation, regular 
 hexagonal holes or meshes, of which the two opposite sides, the upper and under are 
 directed along the breadth of the piece, or at right angles to the selvage or border. 
 883 Fig. 833 shows how, by the crossing and 
 
 twisting of the threads, the regular six- 
 sided aiesh is produced, and that the tex- 
 ture results from the union of three sepa- 
 rate sets of threads, of which one set pro- 
 ceeds downwards in serpentine ljnes, a 
 second set proceeds from the left to the 
 right, and ' a third from the right to the 
 left, both in slanting directions. These 
 oblique threads twist themselves round the 
 vertical ones, and also cross each other be- 
 twixt them, in a peculiar manner, which 
 may be readily understood by examining 
 the representation. In comparing bobbin" 
 net with a common web, the perpendicular 
 threads in the figure, which are parallel to 
 the border, may be regarded as the warp, 
 and the two sets of slanting threads, as the 
 weft. 
 
 These warp threads are extended up and down, in the original mounting of the niece 
 between a top and bottom horizontal roller or beam, of which one is called the warn 
 beam, and the other the lace beam, because the warp and finished lace are wound upon 
 them respectively. These straight warp threads receive their contortion from the tension 
 of the weft threads twisted obliquely round them alternately to the right and the left 
 hand. Were the warp threads so tightly drawn that they became inflexible like 
 fiddle-strings, then the lace would assume the appearance shown in fig 834- and 
 olthougn this condition does not really exist, it may serve to illustrate the structure of 
 the web. The warp threads stand in the positions a a, a' a', and a" a" ; the one half 
 of the weft proceeds in the direction 4 6, V 6', and b" b" ; and the second crosses the 
 
 first by running in the direction c c. oi 
 C c', towards the opposite side of the fab- 
 nc. If we pursue- the path of a wefl 
 thread, we find it goes on till it reaches 
 the outermost or last warp thread, which i< 
 twists about ; not once, as with the others, 
 but twice ; and then returning towards the 
 other border, proceeds in a reverse direc- 
 tion. It is by this double twist, and by the 
 return of the weft threads, that the selvage 
 is made. 
 
 The ordinary material of bobbin-net is 
 two cotton yarns, of from No. 180 to No 
 2d0, twisted into one thread; but some- 
 times strongly twisted single yarn has been 
 used. The beauty of the fabric depends 
 upon the quality of the material, as well as 
 the regularity and smallness of the meshes. 
 The number of warp threads in a vard in' 
 
LACE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 15 
 
 breadth is from 600 to 900 ; which is equivalent to from 20 to 30 in an inch. The size 
 of the holes cannot be exactly inferred from that circumstance, as it depends partly upon 
 the oblique traction of the threads. The breadth of the pieces of bobbin-net varies 
 from edgings of a quarter of an inch, to webs 12, or even 20 quarters, that is, 5 yards 
 wide. 
 
 Bobbin-net lace is manufactured by means of very costly and complicated machines, 
 called frames. The limits of this Dictionary will admit of an explanation of no more 
 than the general principles of the manufacture. The threads for crossing and twisting 
 round the warp, being previously gassed, that is, freed from loose fibres by singeing with 
 gas, are wound round small pulleys, called bobbins, which are, with this view, deeply 
 grooved in their periphery. Figs. 835. 836. exhibit the bobbin alone, and with its carriage. 
 
 s:;5 
 
 In the section of the bobbin a, fig. 835. the de"ep groove is shown in which the thread is 
 wound. The bobbin consists of two thin discs of brass, cut out in a stamp-press, in the 
 middle of each of which there is a hollow space c. These discs are riveted together, leaving 
 an interau between their edge all round, in which the thread is coiled. The round hole 
 in the centre, with the little notch at top, serves for spitting them upon a feathered rod, 
 in order to be filled with thread by the rotation of that rod in a species of reel, called 
 the bobbin-filling machine. Each of these bobbins (about double the size of the 
 figure), is inserted into the vacant space G, of the carriage, fig. 836. This is a small 
 iron frame (also double the size of the figure), which, at e e, embraces the grooved 
 border of the bobbin, and by the pressure of the spring at /, prevents it from falling.out. 
 This spring serves likewise to apply sufficient friction to the bobbin, so as to prevent it 
 from giving off its thread at g by its rotation, unless a certain small force of traction bo 
 employed upon theUhread. The curvilinear groove h h, sunk in each face or side of 
 the carriage, has the depth shown in the section at h. This groove corresponds to the 
 interval between the teeth of the comb, or bars of the bolt, in which each carriage is 
 placed, and has its movement. A portion of that bolt or comb is shown at a, fig. 837 
 in plan, and one bar of a circular bolt machine at 6, in section. If we suppose <wc 
 such combs or bolts placed with the ends of the teeth opposite each other, but a little 
 apart, to let the warp threads be stretched, in one vertical plane, between their end? or 
 tips, we shall have an idea of the skeleton of a bobbin-net machine. One of these two 
 combs, in the donble bolt machine, has an occasional lateral movement called shogging, 
 equal to the interval of on? tooth or bolt, by which, after it has received the bobbins, 
 ■j^o^^ w it n tne i r carriages, into its teeth, it 
 
 1J|^ can shift that interval to the one 
 
 side, and thereby get into a position 
 to return the bobbins, with their 
 carriages, into the next series of in- 
 terstices or gates, in the other bolt. 
 By tliis means the whole series of 
 carriages receives successive side 
 steps to the right in one bolt, and to 
 the left in the other, so as to per- 
 form a species of countermarch, in 
 the course of which they are made 
 to cross and twist round about the 
 vertical warp threads, and thus to 
 form the meshes of the net. 
 
 The number of movements re- 
 quired to form a row of meshes in 
 the double tier mach.ne, that is, in a 
 frame with two combs or bars, and 
 2 rows of bobbins, is six ; that is. 
 
16 
 
 LAOE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 the whole of the carriages (with their'bobbins) pass from one ban or comb to the other 
 six times, during which passages the different divisions of bobbin and warp threads 
 change their relative positions 12 times. . 
 
 This interchange or traversing of the carriages with their bobbins, which is the most 
 difficult thing to explain, but at the same time the most essential principle of the lace- 
 machine, may be tolerably well understood by a careful study of fig. 838. in which the 
 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 
 
 838 
 
 rrn 
 
 qMot 
 
 mil ii, 
 
 if 
 
 simple line | represents the bolts or teeth, the sign i the back line of carriages, and the 
 sign ^ the front line of carriages. H is the front comb or bolt bar, and i the back bolt 
 bar. The former remains always fixed or stationary, to receive the carriages as they may 
 be presented to it by the shogging of the latter. There must be always one odd carriage 
 at the end ; the rest being in pairs. 
 
 No. 1 represents the carriages in the front comb or bar, the odd carriage being at the 
 left end. The back line of carriages is first moved on to the back bar r, the odd 
 carriage, as seen in No. 1, having been left behind, there being no carnage opposite to 
 drive it over to the other comb or bar. The carriages then stand as in No. 2. The bar 
 r now shifts to the left, as shown in No. 3 ; the front carriages then go over into the 
 back bar or comb, as is represented by Np. 4. The bar i now shifts to the right, and 
 gives the position No. 5. The front carriages are then driven over to the front bar, and 
 leave the odd carriage on the back bar at the right end, for the same reason as before 
 described, and the carriages stand as shown in No. 6. The bar r next shifts to the left, 
 and the carriages stand as in No. 7 (the odd carriage being thereby on the back bar to 
 the left.) The back carriages now come over to the front bar, and stand as in No. 8. 
 The back bar or comb I shifts to the right as seen in No. 9, which completes the traverse. 
 The whole carriages with their bobbins have now changed their position, as will be seen 
 by comparing No. 9 with No. 1. The odd carriage, No. 1 $ has advanced one step to 
 the right, and has become one of the front tier ; one of the back tier or line <j> has 
 advanced one step to the left, and has become the odd carriage ; and one of the front 
 ones' ip has gone over to the back line. The bobbins and carriages throughout the whole 
 width of the machine have thus crossed each other's course, and completed the mesh of 
 net. 
 
 The carriages with their bobltns are driven a certain way from the one comb to the 
 other, by the pressure of two long bars (one for each) placed above the level of the comb, 
 until they come into such a position that their projecting heels or catches i i,fig. 836, are 
 moved off by two other long flat bars below, called the locker plates, and thereby carried 
 completely over the interval between the two combs. 
 
 There are six different systems of bobbin-net machines. 1. Heathcoate's patent 
 machine. 2. Brown's traverse warp. 3. Alorley's straight bolt. 4. Clarke's pusher 
 principle, single tier. 5. Leaver's machine, single tier. 6. Morley's circular bolt. All 
 the others are mere variations in the construction of some of their parts. It is a re- 
 markable fact, highly honorable to the mechanical judgment of the late Mr. Morley 
 of Derby, that no machines except those upon his circular bolt principle have been 
 found capable of working successfully by mechanical power. 
 
 The circular bolt machine (comb with curved teeth) was used by Mr. Morley, for mak- 
 ing narrow breadths or edgings of lace immediately after its first invention, and it has 
 been regularly used by the trade for that purpose ever since, in consequence of the 
 inventor having declined to secure the monopoly of it to himself by patent. At that 
 time the locker bars for driving across the carriages had only one plate or blade. A 
 machine so mounted is now called "the single locker circular bolt." In the year 
 1824, Mr. Morley added another plate to each of the locker bars, which was a great 
 improvement on the machines for making plain net, but an obstruction to the making 
 of narrow breadths upon them. This machine is now distingushed from the former 
 by the term " double locker." * 
 
 A rack of lace, is a certain length of work counted perpendicularly, and contains 240 
 meshes or holes. Well made lace has the meshes a little elongated in the direction of 
 the selvage. 
 
 * By readingthe above brief account of Bobbin-net, in connection -with the most detailed description 
 of it in my Cotton Manufacture op Geeat Britain, a tolerably clear conception of the nature of this 
 •ntricate manufacture may be obtained. 
 
LACTIC ACID. 17 
 
 The term gnu?e, in the bee manufacture, means the number of gates, slits, or in- 
 terstices, in one inch of the bolt-bar or comb ; and corresponds therefore to the number 
 of bobbins in an inch length of the double tier. Thus, when we say " gauge nine 
 points," we mean that there are nine gates with nine bobbins in one inch of the comb 
 or bolt-bar. Each of such bobbins with its carriage is therefore no more than one ninth 
 of an inch thick. The common proportion or gauge up and down the machine is 16 
 holes in the inch for ten bobbins transversely. Circular bolt double tier machines can 
 turn off by steam power fully 360 racks each day of 18 hours, with a relay of superin- 
 tendents. 
 
 The number of new mechanical contrivances to which this branch of manufacture has 
 given rise, is altogether unparalleled in any other department of the arts. Since Mr. 
 Heathcote's first successful patent, in 1809, a great many other patents have been granted 
 for making lace. In the year 1811, Mr. Morley, then of Nottingham, invented his 
 straight bolt frame, more simple in construction, better combined, and more easy in its 
 movements, than the preceding machines ; but the modest inventor did not secure it, as 
 he might have done, by patent. The pusher machine was invented in the same year, by 
 Samuel Mart and James Clark, also of Nottingham. The following year is remarkable 
 in the History of the lace trade, for the invention of the circular bolt machine, by Mr. 
 Morley — a mechanism possessing all the advantages of his straight bolt machine, without 
 its disadvantages. 
 
 Nearly at the same time Mr. John Leaver brought forward the lever machine, con- 
 jointly with one Turtbn, both of New Radford,- near Nottingham. About the year 1817 
 or 1818, Mr. Heathcote applied the rotatory movemement to the circular bolt machine, 
 and mounted a manufactory on that plan, by mechanical power, at Tiverton, after he and 
 his partner, Mr. Boden, had been driven from Loughborough, in 1816, by the atrocious 
 violence of the frame-destroying Luddites. 
 
 Such has been the progress of improvement and economy in this manufacture, that the 
 cost of labor in making a rack, which was, twenty years ago, 3s. 6d., or 42 pence, is now 
 not more than one penny. The prices of this beautiful fabric have fallen in an equally 
 remarkable manner. At the former period, a 24 rack piece, five quarters broad, fetched 
 17Z. sterling, in the wholesale market ; the same is now sold for 7s. ! The consequence 
 is, that in lace decoration, the maid servant may be now more sumptuously arrayed than 
 her mistress could afford to be twenty years ago. 
 
 LACKER, is a varnish, consisting chiefly of a solution of pale shellac in alcohol 
 tinged with saffron, annotto, or other coloring matter. See VAKNrsH. 
 
 LACTIC ACID. {Acids Lactique, Ft. ; Milchsaurc, Germ.) This acid was discovered 
 by Scheele in buttermilk, where it exists most abundantly ; but it is present also in fresh 
 milk in small quantity, and communicates to it the property of reddening litmus. Lactic 
 acid may be detected in all the fluids of the animal body ; either free or saturated with 
 alkaline matter. 
 
 Scheele obtained this acid by evaporating the sour whey of clotted milk to an eighth 
 part of its bulk, saturating this remainder with slaked lime, in order to throw down the 
 subphosphate of lime held in solution, filtering the liquor, diluting it with thrice its weight 
 of water, and, precipitating the lime circumspectly, by the gradual addition of oxalic acid. 
 He next filtered, evaporated to dryness on a water bath, and digested the residuum 
 in strong alcohol, which dissolved the lactic aeid, and left the sugar of milk. On eva- 
 porating off the alcohol, the acid was obtained. As thus procured, it requires to be 
 purified by saturation with carbonate of lead (pure white lead), and precipitating the 
 solution of this lactate with sulphate of zinc, not added in excess. Sulphate of lead 
 falls, and the supernatant lactate of zinc being evaporated affords crystals at first brown, 
 but which become colorless on being dissolved and recrystallized twice or thrice. If 
 the sulphuric acid of the dissolved salt be thrown down by water of baryta, the liquid 
 when filtered and evaporated yields a pure lactic acid, of a syrupy consistence, color- 
 less and void of smell. It has a pungent acid taste, which it loses almost entirely when 
 moderately diluted with water. It does uot crystallize. Its salts, with the exception 
 of those of magnesia and zinc, have a gummy appearance, and are very soluble in 
 alcohol, unless they hold an excess of base. Lactic acid consists of 44'92 carbon ; 6 '55 
 hydrogen; 48'53 oxygen. It contains 9'92 per cent, of water. It has not hitherto 
 been applied to any use in the arts, except by the Dutch in their old process of bleach- 
 ing linen with sour milk. See Fermentation. 
 
 New method of preparing. — The following 'process for procuring lactic acid and the 
 lactates is so simple, as to merit a preference over all others heretofore proposed ; 
 it is as follows: — "Take 3 or 4 (litre = 1'76 pint) of milk, into which you 
 pour a solution of from 200 to 300 grammes (gramme = 15'438 grs. Troy) of 
 sugar of milk ; the liquor is exposed to the air in an open vessel for some days, at 
 a temperature of from 59° to 68° Fahr. It will then be found to have become very 
 acid, and is to be saturated with bicarbonate of soda. After the lapse of 24 ox 
 
 Vol. II. 2 
 
18 LAKES. 
 
 86 hours it becomes again acid, and must be saturated anew, repeatirjrj the process 
 until the whole of the sugar of milk has been converted into lactic acid. When it ij 
 considered that the transformation is complete, the milk must be boiled to coagulate 
 the caseum ; the liquid is next to be filtered and evaporated to the consistence of syrup, 
 taking care that the temperature be moderate. The product of evaporation is taken up 
 by alcohol at 38°, which dissolves the lactate of soda. Into this alcoholic solution an 
 adequate quantity of sulphuric acid is to be poured ; the resulting sulphate of soda falls 
 down, and the liquor by filtration and evaporation affords lactic acid almost pure. 
 To obtain it in a state of great purity, it may be saturated with chalk ; the lactate of 
 lime crystallizes directly in white granules, whence we can separate the lactic acid by 
 the ordinary means. 
 
 It is evident the lactic acid may be saturated with any other base, and afford expe- 
 ditiously crystallized lactates. 
 
 LACTOMETER is the name of an instrument for estimating the quality of milk, 
 called also a Galactometer. The most convenient form of apparatus would be 3 
 series of glass tubes each about 1 inch in diameter, and 12 inches long, graduated 
 through a space of 10 inches, to tenths of an inch, having a stop-cock at the bottom, 
 and suspended upright in a frame. The average milk of the cow being poured in to 
 the height of 10 inches, as soon as the cream has all separated at top, the thickness of 
 its body may be measured by the scale ; and then the skim-milk may be run off 
 below into a hydrometer glass, in order to determine its density, or relative richness 
 in caseous matter, and dilution with water. • 
 
 LAKES. Under this title are comprised all those colors which consist of a vegetable 
 dye, combined by precipitation with a white earthy basis, which is usually alumina. The 
 general method of preparation is to add to the colored infusion a solution of common 
 alum, or rather a solution of alum saturated with potash, especially when the infusion 
 has been made with the aid of acids. At first only a slight precipitate falls, consisting 
 of alumina and the coloring matter ; but on adding potash, a copious precipitation ensues, 
 of the alumina associated with the dye. When the dyes are not injured, but are rather 
 brightened by alkalis, the above process is reversed ; a decoction of the dye-stuff is made 
 with an alkaline liquor, and when it is filtered, a solution of alum is poured into it. The 
 third method is practicable only with substances having a great affinity for subsulphate 
 of alumina ; it consists in agitating recently precipitated alumina with the decoction of 
 the dye. 
 
 Yellow lakes are made with a decoction of Persian or French berries, to which some 
 potash or soda is added ; into the mixture a solution of alum is to be poured as long as 
 any precipitate falls. The precipitate must be filtered, washed, and formed into cakes, 
 and dried. A lake may be made in the same way with quercitron, talcing the precaution 
 to purify the decoction of the dye-stuff- with buttermilk or glue. After filtering the lake 
 it may be brightened with a solution of tin. Annotto lake is formed by dissolving the 
 dye-stuff" in a weak alkaline ley, and adding alum water to the solution. Solution of tin 
 gives this lake a lemon yellow cast ; acids a reddish tint. 
 
 Red lakes. — The finest of these is carmine. 
 
 This beautiful pigment was accidentally discovered by a Franciscan monk at Pisa. He 
 formed an extract of cochineal with salt of tartar, in order to employ it as a medicine, 
 and obtained, on the addition of an acid to it, a fine red precipitate. Homberg published 
 a process for preparing it, in 1656. Carmine is the coloring matter of cochineal, pre- 
 pared by precipitation from a decoction of the drug. Its composition varies according to 
 the mode of making it. The ordinary carmine is prepared with alum, and consists of 
 carminium (see Cochineal), a little animal matter, alumina, and sulphuric acid. See 
 Carmine. 
 
 Ca""minated lake, called lake of Florence, Paris, or Vienna.- For making this pigment, 
 the liquor is usually employed which is decanted from the carmine process. Into this, 
 newly precipitated alumina is put ; the mixture is stirred, and heated a little, but not loo 
 much. Whenever the alumina has absorbed the color, the mixture is allowed to settle 
 and the liquor is drawn off. ' 
 
 Sometimes alum is dissolved in the decoction of cochineal, and potash is then added, 
 to throw down the alumina in combination with the coloring matter ; but in this way an 
 indifferent pigment is obtained. Occasionally, solution of tin is added, to brighten the 
 dye. 
 
 _ A lake may be obtained from kermes, in the same way as from cochineal ; but now il 
 is seldom had recourse to. 
 
 Brazil-wood lakes.— Brazil wood is to be boiled in a proper quantity of water for 15 
 minutes ; then, alum and solution of tin being added, the liquor is to be filtered and a 
 solution of potash poured in as long as it occasions a precipitate. This is separated by 
 
LAMPS. 
 
 19 
 
 the filter, washed in pure water, mixed with a little gum water, and made into cakes. 
 Or, the Brazil wood may he boiled along with a little vinegar, the decoction filtered, alum 
 and salt of tin added, and then potash-ley poured in to precipitate the lake. For 1 pound 
 of Brazil wood, 30 to 40 pounds of water, and from 1| to 2 pounds of alum, may he taken, 
 in producing a deep red lake ; or the same proportions with half a pound of solution of 
 tin. If the potash be added in excess, the tint will become violet. Cream of tartar 
 occasions a brownish cast. 
 
 Madder lake. — A fine lake may be obtained from madder, by washing it in cold water 
 as long as it gives out color ; then sprinkling some solution of tin over it, and setting it 
 aside for some days. A gentle heat may also be applied. The red liquor must be then 
 separated by the filter, and decomposed by the addition of carbonate of soda, when a fine 
 red precipitate will be obtained. Or, the reddish brown coloring matter of a decoction 
 of madder may be first separated by acetate of lead, and then the rose-red color with alum. 
 Or, madder tied up in a bag is boiled in water ; to the decoction, alum is added, and then 
 potash. The precipitate should be washed with boiling water, till it ceases to tinge it 
 fellow ; and it is then to be dried. 
 
 The following process merits a preference : 
 
 Diffuse 2 pounds of ground madder in 4 quarts of water, and after a maceration of 10 
 minutes, strain and squeeze the grounds in a press. Repeat this maceration, &c. twice 
 upon the same portion of madder. It will now have a fine rose color. It must then be 
 mixed with 5 or 6 pounds of water and half a pound of bruised alum, and heated upon 
 a water bath for 3 or 4 hours, with the addition of water, as it evaporates, after which 
 the whole must be thrown upon a filter cloth. The liquor which passes is to be filtered 
 through paper, and then precipitated by carbonate of potash. If the pota?h be added in 
 three successive doses, three different lakes will be obtained, of successively diminishing 
 beauty. The precipitates must be washed till the water comes off colorless. 
 
 Blue lakes are hardly ever prepared, as indigo, Prussian blue, cobalt blue, and ultra- 
 marine, answer every purpose of blue pigments. 
 
 Green lakes are made by a mixture of yellow lakes with blue pigments ; but chrome 
 vellows mixed with blues produce almost all the requisite shades of green. 
 
 LAMLNABLE is said of a metal which may be extended by passing between steel or 
 hardened (chilled) cast-iron rollers. 
 
 For a description of metal rolling presses, see Iron and Mint ; and 
 
 For a table of the relative laminability of metals, see Ductility.. 
 
 LAMIUM ALBUM, or the dead nettle, is said by Leuchs to afford in its leaves a 
 greenish-yellow dye. The L. purpureum dyes a reddish-gray with salt of tin, and a 
 greenish tint with iron liquor. 
 
 LAMPS differ so much in principle, form, and construction, as to render their descrip- 
 tion impossible, as a general subject of manufacture. In fact, the operations of the 
 lampist, like those of the blacksmith, cabinet-maker, cooper, coppersmith, tinman, 
 turner, &c, belong to a treatise upon handicraft trades. I shall here, however, intro- 
 duce a tabular view of the relative light and economy of the lamps most generally 
 known. 
 
 1 
 
 Intensity of light during 
 
 
 Consump- 
 tion per 
 hour in 
 
 Light from 
 
 Kind of Lisps. 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 fi 
 
 7 hours. 
 
 100 parts 
 
 
 hour 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 hours 
 
 
 grammes. 
 
 of oil. 
 
 1. Mechanical lamp of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carcel 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 42 
 
 238 
 
 2. Fountain lamp, } 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and a chimney > 
 
 100 
 
 98 
 
 98 
 
 97 
 
 96 
 
 96 
 
 125 
 
 11 
 
 113 
 
 with flat wick ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Dome argand 
 
 103 
 
 90 
 
 72 
 
 61 
 
 42 
 
 34 
 
 31 
 
 26-714 
 
 116 
 
 4. Sinumbra lamp 
 
 102 
 
 95 
 
 83 
 
 81 
 
 78 
 
 66 
 
 56 
 
 37-145 
 
 150 
 
 5. Do. with fountain 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 above 
 
 100 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 52 
 
 41 
 
 32 
 
 85 
 
 43 
 
 197 
 
 6. Do. with another 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 beak - 
 
 100 
 
 97 
 
 95 
 
 92 
 
 89 
 
 86 
 
 41 
 
 18 
 
 227 
 
 7. Girard's hydrostatic 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lamp - 
 
 101 
 
 96 
 
 84 
 
 81 
 
 76 
 
 70 
 
 63-66 
 
 34-714 
 
 182 
 
 8. Thilorier'sorPar- 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ker's hydrosta- S 
 
 106 
 
 103 
 
 100 
 
 94 
 
 92 
 
 90 
 
 107-66 
 
 51-143 
 
 215 
 
 tie lamp - ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20 
 
 LAMPS. 
 
 In the above table, for the purpose of comparing the successive degrees of intensity 
 100 represents the mean intensity of light during the first hour. The quantity of oil con- 
 sumed per hour is given in grammes, of 15J grains each. The last column expresses the 
 quantity of light produced with a like consumption of oil, which was in all cases lftfl 
 grammes. See Candles. 
 
 The following table of M. Peclet is perhaps more instructive : — 
 
 Natuio of the light. 
 
 Intensity. 
 
 Consump- 
 tion per 
 hour in 
 
 Cost 
 
 Fat pro- 
 ducing the 
 
 Cost 
 per hour. 
 
 per kilo- 
 
 of light 
 
 
 
 grammes. 
 
 gramme. 
 
 per hour. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 francs. 
 
 cents. 
 
 grammes. 
 
 cents. 
 
 1. Mechanical lamp 
 
 100 
 
 42 
 
 1-40 
 
 5-8 
 
 42 
 
 5-8 
 
 2. Flat-wick mechan. do. 
 
 12-05 
 
 11 
 
 1-40 
 
 1-5 
 
 88 
 
 12-3 
 
 3. Hemispherical dome 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lamp - 
 
 31-0 
 
 26-714 
 
 1-40 
 
 3-7 
 
 86-16 
 
 12-0 
 
 4. Sinumbra lamp 
 
 85 
 
 43 
 
 1-40 
 
 6-0 
 
 50-58 
 
 70 
 
 5. Do. with a lateral foun- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tain or vase - 
 
 41 
 
 18 
 
 1-40 
 
 2-5 
 
 43-90 
 
 6-1 
 
 6. Do. with a fountain 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 above - 
 
 90 
 
 43 
 
 1-40 
 
 6-0 
 
 47-77 
 
 6-6 
 
 7. Girard's hydrostatic 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lamp - 
 
 63-66 
 
 34-71 
 
 1-40 
 
 4-8 
 
 54-52 
 
 7-6 
 
 8. Thilorier's or Parker's 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lamp - 
 
 107-66 
 
 51-143 
 
 1-40 
 
 7-1 
 
 47-5 
 
 6-6 
 
 9. Candle, 6 in lb. 
 
 10-66 
 
 8-51 
 
 1-40 
 
 1-2 
 
 70-35 
 
 9-8 
 
 10. Do. 8 in lb. 
 
 8-74 
 
 7-51 
 
 1-40 
 
 1-0 
 
 85-92 
 
 12-0 
 
 11. Do. 6 with smaller 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 wick - 
 
 7-50 
 
 7-42 
 
 2'40 
 
 1-7 
 
 98-93 
 
 23-7 
 
 12. Wax candle, 5 in lb. 
 
 13-61 
 
 8-71 
 
 7-60 
 
 5-7 
 
 64-04 
 
 48 6 
 
 13. Sperm candle, do. 
 
 14-40 
 
 8-92 
 
 7-60 
 
 5-8 
 
 61-94 
 
 47-8 
 
 14. Stearine candle, do. 
 
 14-30 
 
 9-35 
 
 6-00 
 
 5-5 
 
 65-24 
 
 37-1 
 
 15. Coal gas 
 
 127 
 
 136 litres 
 
 
 50 
 
 107 litres 
 
 3-9 1 
 
 16. Oil gas - 
 
 127 
 
 136 do. 
 
 
 5-0 
 
 30 
 
 3-9 ; 
 
 The light of the mechanical lamp is greatly over-rated relatively to that of gas. The 
 cost of the former is at least 10 times greater than of the latter, in London. 
 
 The leading novelty under this title, is the construction of lamps for burning spirits 
 of turpentine, in the place of the fat oils which alone have been in use from the most 
 remote ages down to the present time. Several patents have recently been obtained 
 for these lamps, under the fantastic title of Gamphine; one by Mr. William Young, 
 and anether by Messrs. Rayner and Carter, as the invention of a working miner Ro- 
 berts. Having been employed by the proprietors of th'ese patents to examine the per- 
 formances of their respective lamps, I here insert the two reports drawn up by me on 
 these occasions : — 
 
 " The Vesta Lamp, burning with its utmost brilliancy, without smoke, emits a light 
 equal tovery nearly twelve wax or sperm candles of three or four to the pound ■ and 
 in so doing, it consumes exactly one imperial pint of spirits of turpentine (value six- 
 pence retail) in ten hours ; hence the cost per hour for a light equal to ten such candles 
 is one halfpenny; whereas that from wax candles would be nearly sixpence • from 
 spermaceti ditto, fivepence; from stearine ditto, fourpence ; from Palmer's spreading 
 wiek ditto, nearly threepence ; from tallow moulds, 2Jd. ; from sperm oil in Cm-cells 
 Mechanical French Lamp, l^d. 
 
 " One peculiar advantage of the Vesta Lamp is the snowy whiteness of its light 
 which is such as to display the more delicate colors of natural and artificial objects! 
 flowers, paintings, Ac, m their true tints, instead of the degraded hues visible bv the 
 light of candles and ordinary oil lamps. J 
 
 "The size of the flame from which so much light is emitted in the Testa Lamp is 
 greatly smaller than that of oil or gas Argand flames of equal intensity ; a circumstance 
 to be accounted for from the difference in chemical composition between spirits of tur- 
 pentine and fat oils. The spirits consist entirely of carbon and hydrogen -in the nro 
 portion of 88* of the former element, and 11* of the latter, in 100 parts ; and thev con 
 sume 328 parts of oxygen; whereas sperm and other unctuous oils consist of 78 carts 
 »f carbon, 11J of hydrogen, and 10* of oxygen, in 100 parts; and these consume only 
 
LAMP OF DAVY. 
 
 21 
 
 287 '2 of oxygen, in being burnt; because the oxygen already present in the ail neu- 
 tralizes 2'6 parts of the carbon and 0'4 of the hydrogen, thus leaving only 85|- parts of 
 the combustible elements for the atmosphere to burn. For this reason, 87-J parts bj 
 weight of spirits of turpentine, "will consume as much oxygen as 100 parts of sperm 
 oil ; and will afford, moreover, a more vivid light, because they contain no oxide, as fat 
 oils do, which serves to damp the combustion. In the spirits of turpentine, the affinity 
 of its elements for oxygen is entire, whereas in fat oil the affinity is partially neutral- 
 ized by the oxides it contains ; somewhat as the flame of spirits of wine is weakened 
 by their dilution with water. 
 
 "Among the many applications of science to the useful arts, for which the present 
 age is so honorably distinguished, few are more meritorious than the Camphine lamps, 
 by which we can produce a snow-white flame from the cleanly, colorless spirits of tur- 
 pentine — a pure combustible fluid, in place of the smeary rank oils which contain » 
 seventh part of incombustible matter. Being so rich in hydro-earbon, the spirits re- 
 quire peculiar artifices for complete consumption and the development of their full 
 power of yielding light without smoke or smell. This point of perfection seems to be 
 happily attained by the invention of the two parallel flat rings in the Paragon lamp, 
 a larger and smaller, forming a cone round the margin of the wick, which cause a rapid 
 reverberation of the air against the flame : thus consuming every particle of volatilized 
 vapor, and adding energy to the luminous undulations. Hence the patent Paragon 
 lamp in full action emits a light equal to that of sixteen wax-candles, three to the 
 pound, but of better quality, approaching in purity to that of the sun-beam, — there- 
 fore capable of displaying natural and artificial objects in their true colors. But these 
 lamps are very apt to smoke. 
 
 " One imperial pint of rectified spirits of turpentine, value 6cZ retail, will burn for 
 twelve hours in this lamp, affording all the time the illumination of eleven wax-eandles. 
 
 " The Paragon Camphine lamp is attended with no danger in use. 
 
 "The Cost, as compared with other Lamps or Candles, is as follows: viz. — 
 
 pek nouit. 
 Paragon Camphine Lamp (equal to 11 wax candles), less than One Halfpenny. 
 Wax Candles - &\d. 
 
 Spermaceti ditto - . - 5f 
 
 Adamantean "Wax (Stearic Acid) - 4J 
 
 Palmer's Spread-Wick Candles 34 
 
 Cocoa Nut Candles 4£ 
 
 Moulds (Tallow) - 2f 
 
 Carcel's Lamp, with Sperm oil 2" 
 
 See Illumination, Cost of, for a description of an excellent oil lamp. 
 LAMP OP DAVY consists of a common oil lamp, surmounted with a covered 
 cylinder of wire gauze, for transmitting light to the miner without 
 endangering the kindling of the atmosphere of fire-damp which 
 may eurround him ; because carbureted hydrogen, in passing 
 through the meshes of the eylindric cover, gets cooled by the con- 
 ducting power of the metallic gauze, below the point of its 
 accension. 
 
 The apertures in the gauze should not be more than l-20th of 
 an inch square. Since the fire damp is not inflamed by ignited 
 wire, the thickness of the wire is not of importance, but wire from 
 l-40th to l-60th of an inch in diameter is the most convenient. 
 
 The cage or cylinder should be made by double joinings, the 
 gauze being folded over in such a manner as to leave no apertures. 
 When it is cylindrical, it should not be more than two inches in 
 diameter ; because in larger cylinders, the combustion of the fire- 
 damp renders the top inconveniently hot ; a double top is' always 
 a proper precaution, fixed f or £ of 
 an inch above the first top. See 
 fig. 839. 
 
 The gauze cylinder should be 
 fastened to the lamp by a screw i, 
 fig. 840, of four or five turns, and 
 fitted to the screw by a tight ring. 
 All joinings in the lamp should be 
 made with hard solder ; as the secu- 
 rity depends upon the circumstanea 
 that no aperture exists in the appa- 
 ratus larger than in the wire-gauze. 
 
 840 
 
22 LAMP OF DAVY. 
 
 The parts of the lamp are, 
 
 1. The brass cistern a, d,fig. S40, which contains the oil. It is pierced at one side of 
 the centre with a vertical narrow tube, nearly filled with a wire which is recurved above, 
 at the level of the burner, to trim the wick, by acting on the lower end of the wire e with 
 the fingers. It is called the safety-trimmer. 
 
 2. The rim 6 is the screw neck for fixing on the gauze cylinder, in which the wire- 
 gauze cover is fixed, and which is fastened to the cistern by a screw fitted to b. 
 
 3. An aperture c for supplying oil. It is fitted with a screw or a cork, and communi- 
 cates with the bottom of the cistern by a tube at/. A central aperture for the wick. 
 
 4. The wire-gauze cylinder, fig. 839, which should not have less than 625 apertures to 
 the square inch. 
 
 5. The second top, f of an inch above the first, surmounted by a brass or copper plate, 
 to which the ring of suspension may be fixed. It is covered with a wire cap in the 
 figure. 
 
 "6. Four or six thick vertical wires, g' g' g' g', joining the cistern below with the top 
 plate, and serving as protecting pillars round the cage, g is a screw-pin to fix the cover, 
 so that it shall not become loosened by accident or carelessness. The oil-cistern fig. 840 
 is drawn upon a larger scale than fig. 839, to show its minuter parts. 
 
 When the wire-gauze safe-lamp is lighted and introduced into an atmosphere gradually 
 mixed with fire-damp, the first effect of the fire-damp is to increase the length and size 
 of the flame. When the inflammable gas forms so much as l-12th of the volume of the 
 air, the cylinder becomes filled with a feeble blue flame, while the flame of the wick 
 appears burning brightly within the blue flame. The light of the wick augments till the 
 fire-damp increases to l-6th or l-5th, when it is lost in the flame of the fire-damp, which 
 in this case fills the cylinder with a pretty strong light. As long as any explosive mixture 
 of gas exists in contact with the lamp, so long it will give light ; and when it is extinguished, 
 which happens whenever the foul air constitutes so much as l-3d of the volume of the 
 atmosphere, the air is no longer proper for respiration ; for though animal life will con- 
 tinue where flame is extinguished, yet it is always with suffering. By fixing a coil of 
 platinum wire above the wick, ignition may be maintained in the metal when the lamp 
 itself is extinguished ; and from this ignited wire the wick may be again rekindled, on 
 carrying it into a less inflammable atmosphere. 
 
 " We have frequently used the lamps where the explosive mixture was so high as to 
 heat the wire-gauze red-hot ; but on examining a lamp which has been in constant use 
 for three months, and occasionally subjected to this degree of heat, I cannot perceive that 
 the gauze cylinder of iron wire is at all impaired. I have not, however, thought it pru- 
 dent, in our present state of experience, to persist in using the lamps under such circum- 
 stances, because I have observed, that in such situations the particles of coal dust floating 
 in the air, fire at the gas burning within the cylinder, and fly off in small luminous sparks. 
 This appearance, I must confess, alarmed me in the first instance, but experience soon 
 proved that it was not dangerous. . 
 
 " Besides the facilities afforded by this invention to the working of coal-mines abound- 
 ing in fire-damp, it has enabled the directors and superintendents to ascertain, with the 
 utmost precision and expedition, both the presence, the quantity, and correct situation of 
 the gas. Instead of creeping inch by inch with a candle, as is usual, along the galleries 
 of a mine suspected to contain fire-damp, in order to ascertain its presence, we walk firmly 
 on with the safe-lamps, and, with the utmost confidence, prove the actual state of the 
 mine. By observing attentively the several appearances upon the flame of the lamp, in 
 an examination of this kind, the cause of accidents which happened to the most experienced 
 and cautious miners is completely developed ; and this has hitherto been in a great meas- 
 ure matter of mere conjecture. 
 
 " It is not necessary that I should enlarge upon the national advantages which must 
 necessarily result from an invention calculated to prolong our supply of mineral coal, 
 because I think them obvious to every reflecting mind ; but I cannot conclude without 
 expressing my highest sentiments of admiration for those talents which have developed 
 the properties, and controlled the power, of one of the most dangerous elements which 
 human enterprise has hitherto had to encounter." — See Letter to Sir H. Davy, in Journal 
 of Science, vol. i. p. 302, by John Buddie, Esq., generally and justly esteemed one of the 
 most scientific coal-miners in the kingdom. 
 
 Mr. Buddie, in a letter dated 21st August, 1835, which is published in Dr. Davy's life 
 of his brother Sir Humphrey, says : — 
 
 "In the evidence given in my last examination before a committee of the House of 
 Commons, I stated that after nearly twenty years' experience of ' the Davy' with from 
 1000 to 1500 lamps in daily use, in all the variety of circumstances incidental tc 
 roal mining, without a single accident having happened which could be a'lributed t( 
 
LAMPATES. 
 
 2.3 
 
 a defect in its jrinciple, or even in the rules for its practical application, as laid down by 
 Sir Humphrey — I maintained that ' the Davy' approximated perfection, as nearly as any 
 instrument of human invention could be expected to do. We have ascertained distinctly 
 that the late explosion did not happen in that part of the mine where the Davys were 
 used. They were all found in a perfect state after the accident — many of them in the 
 hands of the dead bodies of the suiferers." 
 LAMP-BLACK. See Black. 
 
 LAMPATES and LAMPIC ACID. When a spirit of wine lamp has its cotton wick 
 surmounted with a spiral coil of platinum wire, after lighting it for a little, it may be 
 blown out, without ceasing to burn the alcohol ; for the coil continues ignited, and a cur- 
 rent of hot vapor continues to rise, as long as the spirit lasts. This vapor was first con- 
 densed and examined by Professor Daniell, who called it lampic acid. It has a peculiar, 
 strongly acid, burning taste, and a spec. grav. of 1-015. It possesses in an eminent de- 
 gree the property of reducing certain metallic solutions ; such as those of platinum, gold, 
 and silver. The lampales maybe prepared by saturating the above acid with the alkaline 
 and earthy carbonates. 
 
 LAPIDARY, Art of. The art of the lapidary, or that of cutting, polishing, and 
 engraving gems, was known to the ancients, many of whom have left admirable specimens 
 of their skill. The Greeks were passionate lovers of rings and engraved stones; and the 
 most parsimonious among the higher classes of the Cyrenians are said to have worn rings 
 of the value of ten minse (about 30Z. of our money.) By far the greater part of the antique 
 gems that have reached modern times, may be considered as so many models for forming 
 the taste of the student of the fine arts, and for inspiring his mind with correct ideas of ' 
 what is truly beautiful. With the cutting of the diamond, however, the ancients wen 
 unacquainted, and hence they wore it in its natural state. Even in the middle ages, thh 
 art was still unknown ; for the four large diamonds which enrich the clasp of the. imperial 
 mantle of Charlemagne, as now preserved in Paris, are uncut, octahedral crystals. But 
 the art of working diamonds was probably known in Hindostan and China, in very remote 
 periods. After Louis de Berghen's discovery, in 1476, of polishing two diamonds by their 
 mutual attrition, all the finest diamonds were sent to Holland to be cut and polished by 
 the Dutch artists, who long retained a superiority, now no longer admitted by the lapida- 
 ries of London and Paris. 
 
 The operation of gem cutting is abridged by two methods; 1. by cleavage ; 2. by cut- 
 ting off slices with a fine wire, coated with diamond powder, and fixed in the stock of a 
 hand-saw. Diamond is the only precious stone which is cut and polished with diamond 
 powder, soaked with olive oil, upon a mill plate of very soft steel. 
 
 Oriental rubies, sapphires, and topazes, are cut with diamond powder soaked with olive 
 oil, on a copper wheel. The facets thus formed are afterwards polished on another cop- 
 per wheel, with tripoli, tempered with water. 
 
 Emeralds, hyacinths, amethysts, garnets, agates, and other softer stones, are cut at a 
 lead wheel, with emery and water; and . are polished on a tin wheel with tripoli and 
 water, or, still better, on a zinc wheel, with putty of tin and water. 
 
 The more tender precious stones, and even the pastes, are cut on a mill-wheel of hard 
 wood, with emery and water; and are polished with tripoli and water, on another wheel 
 of hard wood. 
 
 Since the lapidary emp'oys always the same tools, whatever be the stone which he cuts 
 or polishes, and since the wheel discs alone vary, as also the substance he uses with them, 
 we shall describe, first ot all, his apparatus, and then the manipulations for diamond-cut- 
 ting, which are applicable to every species of stone. 
 
 The lapidary's mill, or wheel, is shown in perspective in fig. 841. It consists of 
 
 a strong frame made of oak carpentry, with 
 tenon and mortised joints, bound together 
 with strong bolts and screw nuts. Its form 
 is a parallelopiped of from 8 to 9 feet long, by 
 from 6 to 7 high ; and about 2 feet broad. 
 These dimensions are .large enough to con- 
 tain two cutting wheels alongside of each 
 other, as represented in the figure. 
 
 Besides the two sole bars n b, we perceive 
 in the breadth, 5 cross bars, c, d, e, *', G. 
 The two extreme bars c and g, are a part of 
 the frame-work, and serve to bind it. The 
 two cross-bars d and f, carry each in the 
 middle of their length, a. piece of wood as 
 thick as themselves, but only 4J inches long 
 'see fig. 842 ), joined solidly by mortises and tenons with that cross bar, as well as 
 
 841 
 
24 
 
 LAPIDARY. 
 
 842 
 
 
 
 
 v 
 
 c 
 
 X 
 
 
 «n, 
 
 
 S<=|Xh. 
 
 W 4 
 
 
 SxF 
 
 
 u 
 
 X 
 
 & 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 
 .843 
 
 844 
 
 with the one placed opposite on the other parallel face. These two pieces are called 
 summers (lintels) ; the one placed at d is the upper ; the one at F, the lower. 
 
 In fig. 842 this face is shown inside, in order to explain how the mill wheel is placed 
 and supported. The same letters point out the same objects, both in the preceding and 
 the following figures. 
 In each of these summers a square hole is cut out, exactly opposite to the other; in 
 which are adjusted by friction, a square piece of oak a, a, fig. 
 842. whose extremities are perforated with a conical hole, 
 which receives the two ends of the arbor H of the wheel i, 
 and forms its socket. The square bar is adjusted at a conve 
 nient height, by a double wooden wedge 6 b. 
 
 The cross bar in the middle e supports the table c c, a 
 strong plank of oak. It is pierced with two large holes whose 
 centres coincide with the centre of the conical holes hollow- 
 ed out at the end of the square pins. These holes, of about 
 6 inches diameter each, are intended to let the arbor pass 
 freely through, bearing its respective wheel. (See one of 
 these holes at I, in fig. 846 below.) 
 
 Each wheel is composed of an iron arbor H, fig. 843. of a 
 grinding-wheel i, which differs in substance according to 
 circumstances, as already stated, and of the pulley J, furnish- 
 ed with several grooves (see fig. 844), which has a square 
 fil. upon the arbor. The arbor carries a collet d, on which 
 >, are 4 iron pegs or pins that en*"r into the wheel to fasten 
 It. 
 
 The wheel plate, of which the pound plan is shown at k, 
 is hollowed out towards its centre to half its thickness ; when 
 it is in its position on the arbor, as indicated in fig. 844. a 
 washer or ferrule of wrought iron is put over it, and secured 
 m its place by a double wedge. In fig. 844 the wheel-plate 
 is represented in sectiqn, that the connexion of the whole 
 parts may be seen. 
 
 • f b ? ari1 g ( see -^- S41 and fig- 849), about 7J inches high, 
 is fixed to the part of the frame opposite to the side at whict 
 the lapidary works, and it prevents the substances made use 
 ot m thccutting and polishing, from being thrown to a dis- 
 tance by the centrifugal force of the wheel-plate. 
 
 Behind this apparatus is mounted for each grindin°--plate. 
 a large wheel l (see fig. 841), similar to a cutler's, outplaced' ' 
 horizontally. This wheel is grooved round its circumfer- 
 ZtlVTT^ l eSS T rd , °[ ban(i '7 hlch P^ses round one of the grooves of the 
 pulley j, fixed below the wheel-plate. Hence, on turning the fly-wheel I the plate re- 
 volves with a velocity relative to the velocity communicated to the wheel l, and to the dif- 
 ference oi diameter of the wheel l and the pulley j. Each wheel L is mounted "on ™ 
 iron arbor, with a crank (see m, fig. 845.) ' moumea on an 
 
 The lower pivot of that arbor h is conical, and turns in a socket fixed in the floor The 
 great wheel I l rests on the co let ,, furnished with its 4 iron pins, for securm" the «on 
 nexion. Above the wheel an iron washer is laid, and the whole is fixed by a double wX 
 which enters into the mortise I, fig. 845. uuuuie weage, 
 
 Fig. 846. exhibits a ground-plan view of all 
 this assemblage of parts, to explain the structure 
 of the machme. Every thing that stands above 
 tlie upper summer-bar has been suppressed in this 
 representation. Here we see the table c c • the 
 upper summer m ; the one wheel-nlate I, the other 
 having been removed to show that the endless cord 
 does not cross ; the two large wheels L L, present 
 m each machine, the crank bar n, seen separata 
 in fig. 847. which serves for turning the wheel l. 
 
 1847 
 
 K 
 
 This bar is formed of 3 iron plates, n, o ; p. q ; and q,rr(fig. 847.) The firsl i s 
 
LAPIDARY. 
 
 25 
 
 bent round at the point n, to embrace the stud s ; the second, p q, is of the same breadth 
 and thickness as the first ; and the third is adjusted to the latter with a hinge joint, al 
 the point q, where they are both turned into a circular form, to embrace the crank si. 
 When all these pieces are connected, they are fixed at the proper lengths by the bucklea 
 or square rings I 1 1, whict embrace these pieces as is shown in fig. 846. 
 
 The stud .«, seen in fig. 847. is fixed to the point v by a wedge key upon the arm p. 
 represented separately, and in perspective in fig. 848. The laborer seizing the two up- 
 right pegs or handles x x, by the alternate forward and backward motion of his arm, he 
 communicates the same mo'ion to the crank rod, which transmits it to the crank of the 
 arbor m, and impresses on that arbor, and the wheel which it bears, a rotatory move- 
 ment. 
 
 Fig. 849. shows piece-meal and in perspective, a part of the lapidary's wheel-mill. 
 There we see the table c c, the grind-plate i, whose axis is kept in a vertical position by 
 the two square plugs a a, fixed into the two summers by the wedges 6 6. On the two 
 sides of the wheel-plate we perceive an important instrument called a dial, which serves 
 to hold the stone during the cutting and polishing. This instrument has received lately 
 important ameliorations, to be described in fig. 850. The lapidary holds this instrument 
 in his hand, he rests it upon the iron pins u » fixed in the table, lest he should be affected 
 by 1he velocity of the revolving wheel-plate. He loads it sometimes with weights e, e, 
 to make it take better hold of the grinding plate. 
 
 One of the most expert lapidaries of Geneva works by means of the following improved 
 mechanism, of his own invention, whereby he cuts and polishes the facets with extreme 
 i egularity, converting it into a true dial. 
 
 Fig. 850. shows this improvement. Each of the two jaws bears a 
 large conchoidal cavity, into which is fitted a brass ball, which carries 
 on its upper part a tube e, to whose extremity is fixed a dial-plate//, 
 engraved with several concentric circles, divided into equal parts, like 
 the toothed-wheel cutting engine-plate, according to the number of 
 facets to be placed in each cutting range. The tube receives with 
 moderate friction the handle of the cement rod, which is fixed at the 
 proper point by a thumb-screw, not shown in the figure, being con- 
 cealed by the vertical limb d, about to be described. 
 A needle or index g, placed with a square fit on the tail of the cement rod, marks by 
 its point' the divisions on the diai plate //. On the side m n of the jaw A, there is fixed 
 by two screws, a limb d, forming a quadrant whose centre is supposed to be at the centre 
 of the ball. This quadrant is divided as usual into 90 degrees, whose highest point is 
 marked 0, and the lowest would mark about 70 ; for the remainder of the arc down to 
 90 is concealed by the jaw. The two graduated plates are used as follows : — 
 
 When the cement rod conceals zero or of the limb, it is then vertical, and serves to 
 cut the table of the brilliant ; or the point opposite to it, and parallel to the table. On 
 making it slope a little, 5 degrees for example, all the facets will now lie in the same 
 zone, provided that the inclination be not allowed to vary. On turning round the 
 cement rod the index g marks the divisions, so that by operating on the circle with 16 
 divisions, stopping for some time at each, 16 facets will have been formed, of perfect 
 equality, and at equal distances, as soon as the revolution is completed. 
 
 Diamonds are cut at the present day in only two modes ; into a rose diamond, and a 
 brilliant. We shall therefore confine our attention to these two forms.. 
 
 The rose diamond is flat beneath, like all weak stones, while the upper face rises into 
 a dome, and is cut into facets. Most usually six facets are put .on the central region, 
 
26 
 
 LAPIDARY. 
 
 Which, are in the form of triangles, and unite at their summit*, i their bases abut upoa 
 another range of triangles, which being set in an inverse position to the preceding, present 
 their bases to them, while their summits terminate at the sharp margin of the stone. The 
 latter triangles leave spaces between them which are likewise cut each into two facets. 
 By this distribution the rose diamond is cut into 24 facets ; the surface of the diamond 
 being divided into two portions, of which the upper is called the crown, and that forming 
 the contour, beneath the former, is called dentelle (lace) by the French artists. 
 
 According to Mr. Jeffries, in his Treatise on Diamonds, the regular rose diamond is 
 formed by inscribing a regular octagon in the centre of the table side of the stone, and 
 bordering it by eight right-angled triangles, the bases of which correspond with the sides 
 of the octagon; beyond these is a chain of 8 trapeziums, and another of 16 triangles. 
 The collet side also consists of a minute central octagon, from every angle of which pro- 
 ceeds a ray to the edge of the girdle, forming the whole surface into 8 trapeziums, each 
 of which is again subdivided by a salient angle (whose apex touches the girdle) into one 
 irregular pentagon and two triangles. 
 
 To fashion a rough diamond into a brilliant, the first step is to modify the faces of the 
 original octahedron, so that the plane formed by the junction of the two pyramids shall 
 be an exact square, and the axis of the crystal precisely twice the length of one of the 
 sides of the square. The octahedron being thus rectified, a section is to be made parallel 
 (9 ihe common base or girdle, so as to cut off 5 eighteenths of the whole height from the 
 upper pyramid, and 1 eighteenth from the lower one. The superior and larger plane 
 thus produced is called the table, and the inferior and smaller one is called the collet ; in 
 this state it is termed a complete square table diamond. To convert it into a brilliant; 
 two triangular facets are placed on each side of the table, thus changing it from a squaro 
 to an octagon ; a lozenge-shaped facet is also placed at each of the four corners of the 
 table, and another -lozenge extending lengthwise along the whole of each side of the ori- 
 ginal square of the table, which with two triangular facets set on the base of each 
 lozenge, completes the whole number of facets on the table side of the diamond ; viz., 8 
 lozenges, and 24 triangles. On the collet side are formed 4 irregular pentagons, alter- 
 nating with as many irregular lozenges radiating from the collet as a centre, and bordered 
 by 16 triangular facets adjoining the girdle. The brilliant being thus completed, is set 
 with the table side uppermost, and the collet side implanted in the cavity made to receive 
 the diamond. The brilliant is always three times as thick as the rose diamond. In 
 France, the thickness of the brilliant is set off into two unequal portions ; one third is 
 reserved for the upper part or table of the diamond, and the remaining two thirds for the 
 lower part or collet (culasse). The table has eight planes, and its circumference is cut 
 into facets, of which some are triangles, and others lozenges. The collet is also cut into 
 facets called pavilions. It is of consequence that the pavilions lie in the same order as 
 the upper facets, and that they correspond to each other, so that the symmetry be perfect, 
 for otherwise the play of the light would be false. 
 
 Although the roseiliamond projects bright beams of light in more extensive proportion 
 often than the brilliant, yet the latter shows an incomparably greater play, from the differ- 
 ence of its cutting. In executing this, there are formed 32 faces of different figures, and 
 inclined at different angles all round the table, on the upper side of the stone. On the 
 collet (culasse) 24 other faces are made round a small table, which converts the culasse 
 into a truncated pyramid. These 24 facets, like the 32 above, are differently inclined and 
 present different figures. It is essential that the faces of the top and the bottom corres- 
 pond together in sufficiently exact proportions to multiply the reflections and refractions, 
 so as to produce the colors of the prismatic spectrum. 
 
 The other precious stones, as well as their artificial imitations, called pastes, are cut in 
 the same fashion as the brilliant ; the only difference consists in the matter constituting 
 
 the wheel plates, and the grinding and polishing powders 
 as already stated. 
 
 In cutting the stones, they are mounted on the cement- 
 rod B,fig. 851, whose stem is set upright in a socket placed 
 in the middle of a sole piece at a, which receives the stem 
 of the cement-rod. The head of the rod fills the cup of A. 
 A melted alloy of tin and lead is poured into the head of the 
 cement-rod, into the middle of which the stone is immediately 
 plunged ; and whenever the solder has become solid, a por- 
 tion of it is pared off from the top of the diamond, to give 
 the pyramidal form shown in the figure at b. 
 There is an instrument employed by the steel polishers for pieces of clock work and 
 by the manufacturers of watch-glasses for polishing their edges. It consists of a 
 solid oaken table, fig. 852. The top is perforated with two holes, one for passins 
 through the pulley and the arbor of the wheel-plate ii, made either of lead or of har? 
 
LAPIDARY. 
 
 27 
 
 wood, according to circumstances; and the other c fcj receiving the upper par. of the 
 arbor of the large pulley d. The upper pulley of the wheel plate is supported by an iron 
 prop e, fixed to the table by two wooden screws. The inferior pivots of the two pieces 
 are supported by screw-sockets, working in an iron screw-nut sunk into the summer-bar 
 f. The legs of the table are made longer or shorter, according as the workman chooses 
 to stand or sit at his employment. Emery with oil is used for grinding down, and tin- 
 putty or colcothar for polishing. The workman lays the piece on the flat of the wheel- 
 plate with one hand, and presses it down with a lump of cork, while he turns round the 
 handle with the other hand. 
 
 The Sapphire, Ruby, Oriental Amethyst, Oriental Emerald, and Oriental Topaz, are 
 gems next in value and hardness to diamond ; and they all consist of nearly pure alumina 
 or clay, with a minute portion of iron as the coloring matter. The following analyses 
 show the affinity in composition of the most precious bodies with others in little relative 
 estimation. 
 
 
 Sapphire. 
 
 Corundum Stone. 
 
 Emery. 
 
 Alumina or clay 
 
 Silica 
 
 Oxyde of iron - 
 
 Lime - 
 
 98-5 
 0-0 
 1-0 
 0-5 
 
 89-50 
 5-50 
 1-25 
 0-00 
 
 86-0 
 3-0 
 4-0 
 0-0 
 
 
 100-0 
 
 96-25 
 
 93-0 
 
 Salamstone is a variety which consists of small transparent crystals, generally six-sided 
 prisms, of pale reddish and bluish colors. The corundum of Battagarnmana is frequently 
 found in large six-sided prisms : it is commonly of a brown color, whence it is called by 
 the natives curundu galle, cinnamon stone. The hair-brown and reddish-brown crystals 
 are called adamantine spar. Sapphire and salamstone are chiefly met with in secondary 
 repositories, as in the sand of rivers, &c, accompanied by crystals and grains of octahe- 
 dral iron-ore and of several species of gems. Corundum is found in imbedded crystals in 
 a rock, consisting of indianite. Adamantine spar occurs in a sort of granite. 
 
 The finest varieties of sapphire come from Pegu, where they occur in the Capelan 
 mountains near Syrian. Some have been found also at Hohenstein in Saxony, Bilin in 
 Bohemia, Puy in France, and in several other countries. The red variety, the ruby, is 
 most highly valued. Its color is between a bright scarlet and crimson. A perfect ruby 
 above 3f carats is more valuable than a diamond of the same weight. If it weigh 1 
 carat, it is worth 10 guineas; 2- carats, 40 guineas; 3 carats, 150 guineas; 6 carats, 
 above 1000 guineas. A deep colored ruby, exceeding 20 carats in weight, is generally 
 called a carbuncle ; of which 108 were said to be in the throne of the Great Mogul, 
 weighing from 100 to 200 carats each; but this statement is probably incorrect. The 
 largest oriental ruby known to be in the world was brought from China to Prince Gar- 
 garin, governor of Siberia. It came afterwards into the possession of Prince Menzikoff, 
 and constitutes now a jewel in the imperial crown of Russia. 
 
 A good blue sapphire of 10 carats is valued at 50 guineas. If it weighs 20 carats, its 
 value is 200 guineas ; but under 10 carats, the price may be estimated by multiplying the 
 square of its weight in carats into half a guinea ; thus, one of 4 carats would be worth 
 42 X I G. = 8 guineas. It has been said that the blue sapphire is superior in hardness 
 to the red, but this is probably a mistake arising from confounding the corundum ruby 
 with the spinelle ruby. A sapphire of a barbel blue color, weighing 6 carats, was dis- 
 posed of in Paris by public sale for 701. sterling ; and another of an indigo blue, weighing 
 6 carats and 3 grains, brought 60Z. ; both of which sums much exceed what the preceding 
 rule assigns, from which we may perceive how far fancy may go in such matters. The 
 sapphire of Brazil is merely a blue tourmaline, as its specific gravity and inferior hard- 
 ness show. White sapphires are sometimes so pure, that when properly cut and polished 
 they have been passed for diamonds. 
 
 The yellow and green sapphires are much prized under the names of Oriental topaz 
 and emerald. The specimens which exhibit all these colors associated in one stone are 
 highly valued, as they prove the mineralogical identity of these varieties. 
 
 Besides these shades of color, sapphires often emit a beautiful ■ play of colors, or 
 chatoiement, when held in different positions relative to the eye or incident light ; and 
 some likewise present star-like radiations, whence they are called star-stones or asterias ; 
 sending forth 6 or even 12 rays, that change their place with the position of the stone. 
 This property, so remarkable in certain blue sapphires, is not, however, peculiar to these 
 £ems. It seems to belong to transparent minerals which have a. rhomboid for their 
 
28 LAPIDARY. 
 
 nudeus, and arises from the combination of certain circumstances in their cutting and 
 structure. Lapidaries often expose the light-blue variety of sapphire to the action cf 
 fire, in order to render it white and more brilliant ; but with regard to those found at 
 Expailly, in France, fire deepens their color. 
 
 3. Chrysoberyl, called by Haiiy, Cymophane, and by others, Prismatic corundum, rank.t 
 next in hardness to sapphire, being 8-5 on the same scale of estimation. Its specific grav- 
 ity is 3-754. It usually occurs in rounded pieces about the size of a pea, but it is alsc 
 found crystallized in many forms, of which 8-sided prisms witK 8-sided summits are per- 
 haps the most frequent. Lustre vitreous, color asparagus green, passing into greenish- 
 white and olive-green. It shows a bluish opalescence, a light undulating, as it were, in 
 the stone, when viewed in certain directions ; which property constitutes its chief at- 
 traction to the jeweller. When polished, it has been sometimes mistaken for a yellow 
 diamond ; and from its hardness and lustre is considerably valued. Good specimens 
 of it are very rare. It has been found only in the alluvial deposites of rivers, along with 
 other species of gems. Thus it occurs in Brazil, along with diamonds and prismatic to. 
 paz j also in Ceylon. Its constituents are alumina, 68-66 ; glucina, 16-00 ; silica, 6-00 
 protoxyde of iron, 4-7 ; oxyde of titanium, 2-66 ; moisture, 0-66 ; according to Seybert'a 
 analysis of a specunen from Brazil. It is difficultly but perfectly fusible before the blow, 
 pipe, with borax and salt of phosphorus. In composition it differs entirely from sapphire, 
 or the rhombohedral corundum. 
 
 4. Spindle Ruby, called Dodecahedral corundum, by some mineralogists, and Balas 
 ruby, by lapidaries. Its hardness is 8. Specific gravitv, 3-523. Its fundamental form is 
 the hexahedron, but it occurs crystallized in many secondary forms : octahedrons, tetra- 
 hedrons, and rhombohedrons. Fracture, conchoidal; lustre, vitreous; color, red, passing 
 into blue and green, yellow, brown, and black ; and sometimes it is nearly white. Red 
 spineUe consists of alumina, 74-5 ; silica, 15-5 ; magnesia, 8-25 ; oxyde of iron, 1.5; lime, 
 0-75. Vauquelin discovered 6-18 per cent, of chromic acid in the red spineUe. The 
 red varieties exposed to heat become black and opaque ; on cooling, they appear first 
 green, then almost colorless, but at last resume their red color. Pleonaste, is a varietv 
 which yields a deep green globule with borax. 
 
 Crystals of spineUe from Ceylon have been observed imbedded in limestone, mixed 
 with mica, or in rocks containing adularia, which seem to have belonged to a primitive 
 district. Other varieties like the pleonaste occur in the drusy cavities of rocks ejected 
 by Vesuvius. Crystals of it are often found in diluvial and alluvial sand and gravel 
 along with true sapphires, pyramidal zircon, and other gems ; as also with octahedral iron 
 ore, in Ceylon. Blue and pearl-gray varieties occur in Sudermannland, in Sweden, im- 
 bedded m granular limestone. Pleonaste is met with also in the diluvial sands of Cey- 
 lon. Clear and, finely colored specimens of spinelle are highly prized as ornamental 
 stones When the weight of a good spinelle exceeds 4 carats, it is said to be valued at 
 
 • I * S7- ce of - a dlamon<1 of th e same weight. M. Brard has seen one at Paris which 
 weighed 21o grams. 
 
 5. Zircon or Hyacinth. Its fundamental form is an isosceles 4-sided pyramid: and 
 the secondary forms have all a pyramidal character. Fracture, conchoidal, uneven 
 lustre more or less perfectly adamantine colors, red, brown, yellow, gray, green? white • 
 which, with the exception of some red tints, are not bright Hardness; 7-5 Specific 
 
 f,Z Y ' ^o Z r° n and , hya ? inth C ° nsist > accordin S t0 gla P r ° a > * almost exacSy he 
 same constituents; namely, zirconia, 70 ; silica, 25 ; oxyde of iron, 5. In th ; white 
 zircoma there is less iron and more silica. Before the blowpipe the hyacinth losel its 
 color, but does not melt. The brighter zircons are often worked up into fftri Lrfform 
 for ornamenting watch cases. As a gem, hyacinth has no high value if has lit oft™ 
 recognised'! St ° neS ' ^ '* VCTy great Specific §ra ^ -kes it to be readUv 
 
 f ™ T u° PaZ ' The fl ^ aamental f °™ is a scalene 4-sided pyramid; but the secondarv 
 
 erally of pale shades. Hardness, 8 ; specific eravirv q-n p\i™„*- F ' • ' g 
 cording to Berzelius, >f alumina, 57^4 -Slffl ll™ ' 'HT* f nS1StS ' ac " 
 
 b.ta h„»l. B, friota, i, ...taSfciSr °"""" *«"«"« °= 
 
 Most perfect crystals of topaz have been found in Rihe™ „r „,.„., m j , . 
 
 colors, along with beryl in the TTrali»n 1„J a r, ■ fe ' n ? na ' of green, blue, and white 
 Brazil, wlie they g^aH^u^ ^Z^^^^ ' 
 
LEAD. 29 
 
 lo iv colors ; and in Mucla, in Asia Minor, in pale straw-yellow regular crystals. Thej 
 are also met with in the granitic detritus of Cairngorm, in Aberdeenshire. The blue 
 "arieties are absurdly called oriental aquamarine, by lapidarfes. If exposed to heat, the 
 Saxon topaz loses its color and becomes white ; the deep yellow Brazilian varieties as- 
 sume a pale pink hue ; and are then sometimes mistaken for spinelle, to which, however, 
 they are somewhat inferior in hardness. Topaz is also distinguishable by its double 
 refractive property. Tavernier mentions a topaz, in the possession of the Great Mogul, 
 which weighed 157 carats, and cost 20,00OZ. sterling. There is a specimen in the museum 
 of natural history at Paris which weighs 4 ounces 2 gros. 
 
 Topazes are not scarce enough to be much valued by the lapidary. 
 
 7. Emerald and Beryl are described in their alphabetical places. Emerald loses its 
 lustre by candle-light ; but as~it appears to most advantage when in the company of dia- 
 monds, it is frequently surrounded with brilliants, and occasionally with pearls. Beryl is 
 the aquamarine of the jewellers, and has very little estimation among lapidaries. 
 
 8: Garnet. See this stone in its alphabetical place. 
 
 9. Chrysolite, called Peridot, by Haiiy j probably the topaz of the ancients, as our topaz 
 was their chrysolite. It is the softest of the precious stones, being scratched by quaitz 
 and the file. It refracts double. 
 
 10. Quartz, including, as sub-species, Amethyst, Rock-crystal, Rose-quart i , Prase, or 
 Chrysoprase, and several varieties of calcedony, as Cat's-eye, Plasma, Chrysoprase, Onyx, 
 Sardonyx, &c. Lustre, vitreous, inclining sometimes to resinous j colors, very various ; 
 fracture, conchoidal ; hardness, 7 ; specific gravity, 2-69. 
 
 3 1. Opal, or uncleavable quartz. Fracture, conchoidal ; lustre, vitreous or resinous ; 
 colors, white, yellow, red, brown, green, gray. Lively play of light ; hardness, 5-5 to 
 6-5; specific gravity, 2-091. It occurs in small kidney-shaped and stalactitic shapes, 
 and large tuberose concretions. The phenomena of the play of colors in precious 
 opal has not been satisfactorily explained. It seems to be connected with the regular 
 structure of the mineral. Hydrophane, or oculis mundi, is a variety of opal without 
 transparency, but acquiring it when immersed in water, or in any transparent fluid. 
 Precious opal was found by Klaproth to consist of silica, 90 ; water, 10 ; which is a 
 very curious combination. Hungary has been long the only locality of precious opal, 
 where it occurs near Caschau, along with common and semi-opal, in a kind of porphyry. 
 Fine varieties have, however, been lately discovered in the Faroe islands ; and most beau- 
 tiful ones, sometimes quite transparent, near Gracias a Dios, in the province of Hondu- 
 ras, America. The red and yellow bright colored varieties of fire-opal are found near 
 Zimapan, in Mexico. Precious opal, when fashioned for a gem, is generally cut with a 
 convex surface ; and if large, pure, and exhibiting a bright play of colors, is of consid- 
 erable value. In modern times, fine opals of moderate bulk have been frequently sold 
 at the price of diamonds' of equal size : the Turks being particularly fond of them. The 
 estimation in which opal yas held by the ancients is hardly credible. They called it 
 Paideros, or Child beautiful as love. Nonius, the Roman senator, preferred banishment 
 to parting with his favorite opal, which was coveted by Mark Antony. Opal which ap- 
 pears quite red when held against the light, is called girasol by the French ; a name also 
 given to the sapphire or corundum asterias or star-stone. 
 
 12. Turquois or Calaite. Mineral turquois occurs massive ; fine-grained, impalpable j 
 fracture, conchoidal ; color, between a blue and a green, soft, and rather bright j opaque ; 
 hardness, 6 ; spec, grav., 2'83 to 3-0. Its constituents are alumina, 73 ; oxyde of copper, 
 4-5 ; oxyde of iron, 4 ; water, 18 ; according to Dr. John. But by Berzelius, it consists 
 of phosphate of alumina and lime, silica, oxydes of copper, and iron, with a little water. 
 It has been found only in the neighborhood of Nichabour in the Khorassan, in Persia ; 
 and is very highly prized as an ornamental stone in that country. There is a totally dif- 
 ferent kind of turquois, called bone turquois, which seems to be phosphate of lime colored 
 with oxyde of copper. When the oriental stone is cut and polished, it forms a pleasing 
 gem of inferior value. Malachite, or mountain green, a compact carbonate of copper, 
 has been substituted sometimes for turquois, but their shades are different. Malachitf 
 yields a green streak, and turquois a white one. 
 
 13. Lapis lazuli is of little value, on account of its softness. 
 
 LAZULITE (Eng. and Fr. ; Zazulith, Germ.); is a blue vitreous mineral, crystalliz- 
 ing in rhomboidal dodecahedrons; spec. grav. 2'76 to2'94; scratches glass; affords 
 a little water by calcination ; fusible into a white glass ; dissolves in acids with loss 
 of color ; solution leaves an alkaline residuum, after being treated with carbonate of 
 ammonia, filtered, evaporated, and calcined. It consists of silica, 35 - 8 ; alumina, 348 ; 
 soda, 23-2; sulphur, 31; carbonate of lime, 8-1. This beautiful stone affords^ the 
 native ultramarine pigment, which was very costly till a mode of making it artificially 
 was lately discovered. See Ultramarine. 
 
 LEAD. (Plomb, Fr. ; Blei, Germ.) This is one of the metals most anciently known 
 
30 LEAD. 
 
 being mentioned in the books of Moses. It has a gray blue color, with a bright metal- 
 -io lustre when newly cut, but it becomes soon tarnished and earthy looking in the 
 air. Its texture is close, without perceptible cleavage or appearance of structure ; the 
 specific gravity of common lead is 11'352; but of the pure metal, from 11"38 to 
 11-44. It is very malleable and ductile, but soft and destitute of elasticity; fusible 
 at 612° Fahr. by Oighton, at 634° by Kupfer, and crystallizable on cooling, into 
 octahedrons implanted into each other so as to form an assemblage of four-sided 
 pyramids. 
 
 There are four oxydes of lead. I. The suboxyde, of a grayish-blue color, which 
 forms a kind of crust upon a plate of lead long exposed to the air. It is procured in a 
 perfect state by calcining oxalate of lead in a retort ; the dark gray powder which re- 
 mains, is the pure suboxyde. 2. The protoxyde is obtained by exposing melted lead to 
 the atmosphere, or,- more readily, by expelling the acid from the nitrate of lead by heat in 
 a platinum crucible. It is yellow, and was at one time prepared as a pigment by cal- 
 cining lead ; but is now superseded by the chromate of this metal. Litharge is merely 
 this oxyde in the form of small spangles, from having undergone fusion ; it is more or 
 less contaminated with iron, copper, and sometimes a little silver. It contains likewise 
 some carbonic acid. The above oxyde consists of 104 of metal, and 8 of oxygen, its 
 prime equivalent being 112, upon the hydrogen scale ; and it is the base of all the salts 
 of lead. 3. The plumbeous suroxyde of Berzelius, the sesquioxyde of some British chem- 
 ists, is the well-known pigment called red lead or minium. It consists of 100 parts of 
 metal and 10 of oxygen. 4. The plumbic suroxyde of Berzelius, or the peroxyde of the 
 British chemists, is obtained by putting red lead in chlorine water, or in dilute nitric acid, 
 tt is of a dark brown, almost black color, which gives out oxygen when heated, and be- 
 comes yellow oxyde. It kindles sulphur when triturated with it. This oxyde is used by 
 the analytical Chemist to separate, by condensation, the sulphurous acid existing in a 
 gaseous mixture. 
 
 Among the ores of lead some have a metallic aspect ; are black in substance, as 
 well as when pulverized ; others have a stony appearance, and are variously colored, 
 with usually a vitreous or greasy lustre. The specific gravity of the latter ores is 
 always less than 5. The whole of them, excepting the chloride, become more or less 
 speedily black, with sulphureted hydrogen or with hydrosulphurets ; and are easily 
 reduced to the metallic state upon charcoal, with a flux of carbonate of soda, after they 
 have been properly roasted. They diffuse a whitish or yellowish powder over the 
 charcoal, which, according to the manner in which the flame of the blowpipe is directed 
 upon it, becomes yellow or red ; thus indicating the two characteristic colors of the oxydes 
 of lead. 
 
 We shall not enter here into the controversy concerning the existence of native lead, 
 which has been handled at length by M. Brongniart in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Nat- 
 urelles, article Plomb, Mineralogie. 
 
 The lead ores most interesting to the arts are : — 
 
 1. Galena, sulphuret of lead. This ore has the metallic lustre of lead with a crystal- 
 line structure derivable from the cube. When heated cautiously at the blowpipe it is 
 decomposed, the sulphur flies off, and the lead is left alone in fusion ; but if the heat be 
 continued, the colored surface of the charcoal indicates the conversion of the lead into 
 its oxydes. Galena is a compound of lead and sulphur, in equivalent proportions, and 
 therefore consists, in 100 parts, of 86$ of metal, and 13* of sulphur, with which numbers 
 the analysis of the galena of Clausthal by Westrumb exactly agrees. Its specific grav- 
 ity, when pure, is 7-56. Its color is blackish gray, without any shade of red, and its pow- 
 der is black, characters which distinguish it from blende or sulphuret of zinc. Its struc 
 ture in mass is lamt iar, passing sometimes into the fibrous or granular, and even compact 
 It is brittle. The specular galena, so called from its brightly polished aspect, is remark- 
 able for forming the slickensides of Derbyshire— thin seams, which explode with a loud 
 noise when accidentally scratched in the mine. 
 
 The argentiferous galena has in general all the external characters of pure galena 
 The proportions of silver vary from one fifth part of the whole, as at Tarnowitz in Sile- 
 sia, to three parts in ten thousand, as in the ore called by the German miners Weisgulti- 
 gerz ; but it must be observed, that whenever this lead ore contains above 5 per cent of 
 silver, several other metals are associated with it. The mean proportion of silver in 
 galena, or that which makes it be considered practically as an argentiferous ore, because 
 the silver may be profitably extracted, is about two parts in the thousand. See Silver 
 The above rich silver ores were first observed in the Freyberg mines, called Himmelsi 
 lurst and Beschertgluck, combined with sulphuret of antimony; but they have been no. 
 ticed since in the Hartz, in Mexico, and several .other places. 
 
 The antimonial galena (Bournonite) exhales at the blowpipe the odor peculiar to anti 
 mony, and coats the charcoal with a powder partly white and partly red. It usuallv con 
 tains some arsenic. ' 
 
LEAD. 31 
 
 2. The Seleniuret of lead resembles galena, but its tint is bluer. Its chemical char 
 acters are the only ones which can be depended on for distinguishing it. At the 
 blowpipe it exhales a very perceptible smell of putrid radishes. Nitric acid liberates 
 the selenium. When heated in a tube, oxyde of selenium of a carmine red rises aIon<> 
 with selemc acid, white and deliquescent. The specific gravity of this ore varies from 
 o-K to 7-69. 
 
 3. Native minium or red lead has an earthy aspect, of a lively and nearly pure red 
 color, but sometimes inclining to orange. It occurs pulverulent, and also compact, 
 with a fracture somewhat lamellar. When heated at the blowpipe upon charcoal, it is 
 readily reduced to metallic lead. Its specific gravity varies from 4-G to 8-9. This ore 
 is rare. 
 
 4. Plornb-gomme.— This lead ore, as singular in appearance as in composition, is 
 of a dirty brownish or orange-yellow, and occurs under the form of globular or gum-like 
 concretions. It has also the lustre and translucency of gum ; with somewhat of a 
 pearly aspect at times. It is harder than fluor spar. It consists of oxyde of lead, 40 ; 
 alumina, 37 ; water, 18-8 ; foreign matters and loss, 4-06 ; in 100. Hitherto it has 
 been found only at Huelgoet, near Poullaouen, in Brittany, covering with its tears or 
 small concretions the ores of white lead and galena which compose the veins of that 
 Jead mine. 
 
 5. White lead, carbonate of lead.— This ore, in its purest state, is ^ orless and trans- 
 parent like glass, with an adamantine lustre. It may be recognised by the following 
 characters : — 
 
 Its specific gravity is from 6 to 6-7 ; it dissolves with more or less ease, and with 
 effervescence, in nitric acid ; becomes immediately black by the action of sulphureted 
 hydrogen, and melts on charcoal before the blowpipe into a button of lead. According to 
 Klaproth, the carbonate of Leadhills contains 82 parts of oxyde of lead, and 16 of car- 
 bonic acid, in 98 parts. This mineral is tender, scarcely scratches calc-spar, and breaks 
 easily with a waved conchoidal fracture. It possesses the double refracting property in a 
 very high degree ; the double image being very visible on looking through the flat "faces 
 of the prismatic crystals. Its crystalline forms are very numerous, and are referrible to 
 the octahedron, and the pyramidal prism. 
 
 6. Vitreous lead, or sulphate of lead. — This mineral closely resembles carbonate of 
 lead; so that the external characters are inadequate to distinguish the two. But the 
 following are sufficient. When pure, it has the same transparency and lustre. It does 
 not effervesce with nitric acid ; it is but feebly blackened by sulphureted hydrogen ; it 
 first decrepitates and then melts before the blowpipe into a transparent glass, which be- 
 comes milky as it cools. By the combined action of heat and charcoal, it passes first into 
 a red pulverulent oxyde, and then into metallic lead. It consists, according to Klaproth, 
 of 71 oxyde of lead, 25 sulphuric acid, 2 water, and 1 iron. That specimen was from 
 Anglesea ; the Wanlockhead mineral is free from iron. The prevailing form of crystal- 
 lization is the rectangular octahedron, whose angles and edges are variously modified. 
 The sulphato-carbonate, and sulphato tri-carbonate of lead, now called Leadhillite, are 
 rare minerals which belong to this head. 
 
 7. Phosphate of lead. — This, like all the combinations of lead with an acid, exhibits no 
 metallic lustre, but a variety of colors. Before the blowpipe upon charcoal, it melts into 
 a globule externally crystalline, which, by a continuance of the heat, with the addition of 
 iron and boracic acid, affords metallic lead. Its constituents are 80 axyde of lead, 18 phos- 
 phoric acid, and 1-6 muriatic acid, according to Klaprofh's analysis of the mineral from 
 Wanlockhead. The constant presence of muriatic acid in the various specimens exam- 
 ined is a remarkable circumstance. The crystalline forms are derived from an obtuse 
 rhomboid. Phosphate of lead is a little harder than white lead ; it is easily scratched, 
 and its powder is always gray. Its specific gravity is 6-9. It has a vitreous lustre, some- 
 what adamantine. Its lamellar texture is not very distinct ; its fracture is wavy, and if 
 is easily frangible. The phosphoric and arsenic acids being, according to M. Mitscher- 
 lich, isomorphous bodies, may replace each other in chemical combinations in every pro- 
 portion, so that the phosphate of lead may include any proportion, from the smallest frac- 
 tion of arsenic acid to the smallest fraction of phosphoric acid, thus graduating indefi- 
 nitely into arseniate of "ead. The yellowish variety indicates, for the most part, tjic 
 presence of arsenic acid. 
 
 8. Muriate of lead. Horn-lead, or murio-carbonate. — This ore has a pale yellow color, 
 is reducible to metallic lead by the agency of soda, and is not altered by the hydrosul- 
 phurets. At the blowpipe it melts first into a pale yellow transparent globule, with salt 
 of phosphorus and oxyde of copper ; and it manifests the presence of muriatic acid by a 
 bluish flame. It is fragile, tender, softer than carbonate of lead, and is sometimes almost 
 colorless, with an adamantine lustre. Spec, grav., 606. Its constituents, according to 
 Berzelius, are lead, 25-84 ; oxyde of lead, 57-07 ; carbonate of lead, 6-25 ; chlorine, 8-84 ; 
 silica, 1-46; water, 0-54 ; in 100 parts. The carbonate is an accidental ingredient, not 
 
32 LEAD. 
 
 betas in equivalent proportion. Klaproth found chlorine, 13-67 ; lead, 39-98 ; oxyde oi 
 lead," 22-57; carbonate of lead, 23-78. . 
 
 9. Jrseniate of had.— lis color of a pretty pure yellow, bordering slightly on the 
 greenish, and its property of exhaling by the joint action of fire and charcoal a very 
 distinct arsenical odor, are the only characters which distinguish this ore from the phos- 
 phate of lead. The form of the arseniate of lead, when it is crystallized, is a prism with 
 six faces, of the same dimensions as that of phosphate of lead. When pure, it is redu- 
 cible upon charcoal, before the blowpipe, into metallic lead, with the copious exhalation 
 of arsenical fumes ; but only in part, and leaving a crystalline globule, wlien it contains 
 any phosphate of lead. The arseniate of lead is tender, friable, sometimes even pulve- 
 rulent and of specific gravity 5-04. That of Johann-Georgenstadt consists, according to 
 Rose, 'of oxyde of lead 77-5; arsenic acid 12-5 j phosphoric acid 7-5, and. muriatic 
 
 B.C1Q 1*5 
 
 10. Red had, or Chromate of lead.— This mineral is too rare to require consideration 
 in the present work. 
 
 11. Plomb vauquelinite. Chromate of >ead and copper. 
 
 12. Yellow had. Molybdate of had. 
 
 13. Tungstate of lead. 
 
 Having thus enumerated the several species of lead ore, we may remark, that galena 
 is the only one which occurs in sufficiently great masses to become the object of mining 
 and metallurgy. This mineral is found in small quantity among the crystalline primitive , 
 rocks, as granite. It is however among the oldest talc-schists and clay slates, that it usu 
 ally occurs. But galena is much more abundant among the transition rocks, being its 
 principal locality, where it exists in interrupted beds, masses, and more rardy in veins. 
 The blackish transition limestone is of all rocks that which contains most galena ; as at 
 Pierreville in Normandy ; at Clausthal, Zellerfeldt, and most mines of the Harz ; at Fahluu, 
 in Sweden ; in Derbyshire and Northumberland, &c. In the transition graywacke of the 
 south of Scotland, the galena mines of Leadhills occur. The galena of the primitive 
 formations contains more silver than that of the calcareous. 
 
 The principal lead mines at present worked in the world, are the following: 1. 
 Poullaoucn and Huelgoet near Carhaix in France, department of Finisterre, being veins 
 of galena, which traverse a clay slate resting upon granite. They have been known for 
 upwards of three centuries ; the workings penetrate to a depth of upwards of 3'0Q yards, 
 and in 1816 furnished 500 tons of lead per annum, out of which 1034 pounds avoirdu- 
 pois of silver were extracted. 2. At Villeforte and Viallaz, department of the Lozere, 
 are galena mines said to produce 100 tons of lead per annum, with 400 kilogrammes of 
 silver (880 lbs. avoird.). 3. At Pezey and Macot, to the east of Moutiers in .Sa-roy, a 
 galena mine exists .in talc-schist, which has produced annually 200 tons of lead, and 
 about 600 kilogrammes of silver (1320 lbs. avoird.). 4. The mine of Vedrin, near 
 Namur in the Low Countries, is opened upon a vein of galena, traversing compact lime- 
 stone of a transition district ; it has furnished 200 tons of lead, from which 385 pounds 
 avoird. of silver were extracted. 5. In Saxony the galena mines are so rich in silver as 
 to make the lead be almost overlooked. They are enumerated under silver ores. 6. The 
 lead mines of the Harz* have been likewise considered as silver ores. 7. Those of Bley- 
 bers in the Eifel are in the same predicament. 8. The galena mines of Bleyberg and 
 Villach in Carinthia, in compact limestone. 9. In Bohemia, to the south-west of Prague. 
 10. The mines of Joachimsthal, and Bleystadt, on the southern slope of the Erzgebirge, 
 produce argentiferous galena. 11. There are numerous lead mines in Spain, the most 
 important being in the granite hills of Linares, upon the southern slope of the Sierra 
 Morena, and in the district of the small town of Canjagar. Sometimes enormous masses 
 of galena are extracted .from the mines of Linares. There are also mines of galena in 
 Catalonia, Grenada, Murcia, and A-lmeria, the ore of the last locality being generally poor 
 in silver. 12. The lead mines of Sweden are very argentiferous, and worked chiefly with 
 a view to the silver. 13. The lead mines of Daouria are numerous and rich, lying in a 
 transition limestone, which rests on primitive rocks ; their lead is neglected on account 
 of the silver. 
 
 14. Of all the countries in the world, Great Britain is that which annually produces the 
 greatest quantity of lead. Accord'' lg to M. Villefosse, m his Eichesse Minerah, published 
 in 1810, we had furnished every par 12,500 tons of lead, whilst all the rest of Europe 
 taken together, did not produce so much ; but from more recent documents, that estimate 
 seems to have been too low. Mr. Taylor has rated the total product of the United King, 
 dom per annum at 31,900 tons, a quantity fully 2| times greater than the estimate of 
 Villefosse (see Conybeare and Phillips's Geology, p. 354). Mr. Taylor distributes this 
 product among the different districts as follows : — 
 
LEAD. 
 
 33 
 
 Wales, (Flintshire and Denbighshire) 
 
 Scotland, (in transition graywacke) 
 
 Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire, (in carboniferous lime) 
 
 Derbyshire, (probably in carboniferous lime) 
 
 Shropshire - - 
 
 Devon and Cornwall, (transition and primitive rocks) 
 
 Tones. 
 
 7,500 
 
 2,800 
 
 19,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 800 
 
 800 
 
 Total - - - 31,900 
 
 We thus see that Cumberland, and the adjacent parts of the counties of Durham and 
 York, furnish of themselves nearly three-fifths of the total product. Derbyshire -was 
 formerly much more productive. In Corn-wall and Devonshire, the lead ore is found 
 in veins in killas, a clay-slate passing into graywacke. In Worth Wales and the adja- 
 cent counties, as well as in Cumberland and Derbyshire, the lead occurs in the carboni- 
 ferous limestone. 
 
 In 1835 the total produced was estimated, by Mr. Taylor, at 46,112 tons; of which 
 19,626 were furnished by Northumberland, Durham, and Cumberland;/ the mines of Mr. 
 Beaumont alone, yielding 10,000. In 1847, the total produce was as follows : — 
 
 
 
 Lead Ore. 
 
 Lead. 
 
 England 
 Wales - 
 Ireland 
 Scotland 
 Isle of Man 
 
 Total 
 
 Tons. 
 
 59,614i 
 
 18, 147 i 
 
 2,251 
 
 1,159 
 
 2,575 
 
 fons. 
 3 i, 507 h 
 12,294 
 1.380 
 
 822 J 
 1,699 
 
 83,747 
 
 55,703 
 
 The English lead-miners distinguish three different kinds of deposites of lead ore ; 
 rake-veins, pipe-veins, and flat-veins. The English word vein corresponds to the French 
 term filon; hut miners make use of it indifferently in England and France, to indicate 
 all the deposites of this ore, adding an epithet to distinguish the different forms ; thus, 
 rake veins are true veins in the geological acceptation of the word vein ; pipe-veins are 
 masses usually very narrow, and of oblong shape, most frequently parallel to the plane 
 of the rocky strata ; and flat-veins are small beds of ores interposed in the middle ol 
 these strata. 
 
 Ralce-veins are the most common form in which lead ore occurs in Cumberland. 
 They are in general narrower in the sandstone which covers the limestone, than in the 
 calcareous beds. A thickness of less than a foot in the former, becomes suddenly 3 or 
 4 feet in the latter ; in the rich vein of Hudgillburn, the thickness is 17 feet in the 
 Great limestone, while it does not exceed 3 ftet in the overlying Watersill -or sandstone. 
 This influence exercised on the veins by the nature of the enclosing rock, is instructive; 
 it determines at the same time almost uniformly their richness in lead ore, an observation 
 similar to what has been made in other countries, especially in the veins of Kongsburg 
 in Norway. The Cumberland veins are constantly richer, the more powerful they are, in 
 the portions which traverse the calcareous rocks, than in the beds of sandstone, and more 
 particularly the schistose rocks. It is rare in the rock called plate (a solid slaty clay) 
 for the vein to include any ore ; it is commonly filled with a species of potter's earth. 
 The upper calcareous beds are also in general more productive than the lower ones. In 
 most of these mines, the veins were not worked till lately below the fifth calcareous bed 
 (the four-fathom limestone), which is 307 yards beneath the mill-stone grit ; and as the 
 first limestone stratum is 108 yards beneath it, it follows that the thickness of the part 
 of the ground where the veins are rich in lead does not in general exceed 200 yards. It 
 appears however that veins have been mined in the neighborhood of Alston Moor, down- 
 wards to the eleventh calcareous stratum, or Tyne bottom limestone, which is 418 yards 
 under the millstone-grit of the coal formation, immediately above the whin-sill ; and that 
 they have been followed above the first, limestone stratum, as high as the grindstone sill, 
 which is only 83 yards below the same stratum of mill-stone grit ; so that in the total 
 thickness of the plumbiferous formation there is more than 336 yards. It has been 
 asserted that lead veins have been traced even further down, into the Memerby scar lime- 
 stone ; but they have not been mined. 
 
 The greatest enrichment of a vein takes place commonly in the points where its two 
 sides, being not far asunder, belong to the same rock ; and its impoverishment occurs 
 when one side is calcareous and the other a schistose clay. The minerals which most 
 Vol. II. * 
 
34 LEAD. 
 
 frequently accompany the galena, are carbonate of Hme, fluate of lime, sulphate of 
 
 baryta, quartz, and pyrites. Q „iHnm of ereat length : but some have a con- 
 
 metalliferous, it is said to be very P™*u*^e. expans ions of the matter 
 
 The flat veins, or srmto veins sc m to be ."^^K, same ores as the veins in 
 of ^^ **^ totf.** °^f ^^us, they are worked along with the adjacent 
 r^flnd^ 
 
 rmlrWh and Nenthead. The rake veins, however, furnish the greater, part 01 ine 
 SSclmbSd and the adjacent counties ^^"^^S&edfa 
 Forster gives a list of 165 lead mines, which have been formeily, or are now, worK.a 
 
 that district of the kingdom. i« n „,i, n f nbmit 25 miles from 
 
 The metalliferous limestone occupies, in Derbyshire, a length ot about 40 miles iioni 
 
 mUlstone grit wnfcll Covers"*, and which is, in. its ton, covered by the coa^rata 
 The nature of the rocks beneath the limestone is not known. In Cumberland me 
 me^lXous limestone includes abed of trap, designated under the name of w hinsU. 
 Tn DerbvsWre the ttap is much more abundant, and it is thrice interposed between the 
 SnStonl These ?w£ rocks constitute of themselves the whole minora mass through a 
 thickness of about I 5 yards, measuring from the millstone grit ; only m the upper 
 po" that is near the millstone grit,, there is a pretty considerable thickness of ar- 
 
 ^fg^eTboSorbeds of limestone are distinguishable, which alternate with ■ 
 three masses of trap, called toadstone. The lead veins exist in the calcareous strata, 
 KJr at the limits of the toadstone. It has now been ascertained, however, 
 
 ^^^ taS^^SoU F. E. S ., 4a Allenheads, Korthu.ber- 
 
 ^j^oftM^a associatedminerals, with examples of the various stages 
 of progress from their being excavated in the mine and carried through the several de- 
 partments of washing and smelting, until furnished and ready for the market in the 
 form of a cake of silver and a pig or piece of lead known as W. B. lead. 
 
 The specimens of minerals usually associated with lead ores are collected from va- 
 rious mines and are fitted together in a separate case, under the direction of the ex- 
 hibitor, bv Messrs. Cain and Wallace of Nenthead, and others. 
 
 The general arrangement of the strata in which these ores and minerals are found is 
 exhibited by a section of part of the leai mining district belonging to Wentworth 
 Blackett Beaumont, Esq., at Allenheads, in the county of Northumberland, and from 
 whose mines the specimens of lead ores and examples of process during conversion 
 into lead and silver are taken; and a further illustration of the geographical struc- 
 ture of this part of England is given by an isometrical plan, and section by the exhibit- 
 or, showing a considerable tract of mining ground m the manor of Alston Moor, m 
 the county of Cumberland. , 
 
 The principal phenomena of mineral veins and displacement of the strata in which 
 lead ore is obtained in the north of England are shown by dissected models, invented 
 bv the exhibitor, and examples of the finished products are contained in a separate case, 
 from Mr. Beaumont's smelt-mills, under the direction of his agent, Mr. Thomas Steel. 
 
 This collection, the general nature of which is here briefly indicated, is intended to • 
 illustrate the geological position and usual products of the north of England lead mines. 
 
 The following is the order of the five several portions, and which are more particu- 
 larly described under these several heads in the sequel. 
 
 1. Sections" of strata at Allenheads and Alston. 
 
 2. Models to illustrate mineral veins, &c. 
 ■ 3. Minerals associated with lead ores. 
 
 4. Examples of the various stages of progress from the mine to the market. 
 
 5. Lead and silver prepared for sale. 
 
 1. As the express object of this- collection is to afford a general view of the whole of 
 the principal features relative to the extensive and important departments of British 
 industry connected with lead mining, and as this information is more expressly intended 
 for the use of those who are not locally conversant with the physical conditions under 
 
LEAD. 35 
 
 which lead ores are usually obtained, the exhibitor has in the first instance thought 
 it necessary to present clear and distinct views of the geological structure of the dis- 
 tricts in which the chief lead mines of the north of England are situated, in order that, 
 without going inta^purely technical details, which are only of local interest, the sev- 
 eral strata and order of superposition may be readily understood. 
 
 As an approximate comparative view of the produce, it may be considered that the 
 lead raised in Mr. Beaumont's mines amounts to about one-fourth of the quantity 
 raised in England, about one-sixth of the produce of Great Britain, and about one- 
 tenth of that of the whole of Europe, including the British Isles. They have been 
 extensively worked from time immemorial ; part of them are situated in the manors" 
 belonging to Mr. Beaumont, in the dales of East and West Allen, in the south-west 
 part of Northumberland, and others are situated in the wild district of moors which 
 forms the western extremity of the county of Durham. 
 
 This part of the country happens to be at once the centre of the island of Great 
 Britain, and by far the most elevated part of it which is thickly populated ; for, scat- 
 tered over hills and dales, which present an aspect of verdant cultivation mixed with 
 heathy moors, are to be found some thousands of inhabitants, nearly the whole of 
 them either employed in lead mines or smelting-mills, or indirectly deriving a liveli- 
 hood from some connection with lead-mining business. Allenheads forms a central 
 position in the midst of these mines; and the agent's house, shown on the section, is 
 exactly 1400 feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest house of its magni- 
 tude in Great Britain ; nor are many of the cottages of shepherds- and other moor 
 land habitations of greater elevation. 
 
 The datum or base line of the Allenheads section is 'JOO feet above the level of the 
 sea. The drawing, 16i feet in length, is on a true scale of 100 feet to an inch; by a 
 true scale being meant, that the lengths and heights are projected to the scale or pro- 
 portion, so that a true miniature profile of the country is given, as well as a correct 
 reduction of the relative size of the various rooks. The extent of country thus shown 
 is not quite 4 miles, being S miles 1220 yards. 
 
 The spectator is supposed to be looking to the north, and the section commences at 
 a point about half a mile eastward from a place called Kilhope Head, which is con- 
 spicuously marked in all English maps, inasmuch as the three counties of Northumber- 
 land, Durham, and Cumberland all meet in one spot. At about three quarters of a 
 enile from the point of commencement, the section represents the hill called Kilhope 
 Law ; it is on the boundary line of the counties of Northumberland and Durham, and is 
 the highest point of land in the last-named county, being 2206 feet above the level of 
 the sea. But out of the limits of this section, and about 10 miles south-west from Kil- 
 hope Law, the same strata which are here delineated reach an altitude of 2901 feet 
 above the sea, and this is the highest elevation attained by the rocks which form the 
 carboniferous or mountain limestone of the north of England. 
 
 Such being the stratification of the central portion of the narrow part of the island 
 of which the coal fields of the Tyne and Wear form the extremity on the east border- 
 ing on the German Ocean, for some distance north and south of Newcastle, while a 
 similar coal field is found at the western extremity near Whitehaven, it may be ob- 
 served with reference to these coal fields, that they lie over or upon the mountain 
 limestone formation. The coal beds so extensively worked in the Newcastle and Dur- 
 ham coal mines or collieries, gradually rise to the west, and one by one crop out or 
 bassett according to the undulations of the country. At length, at about 20 miles 
 west of the German Sea, the lowest of the coal beds crops out, and from beneath it 
 gradually appear the limestone strata, which continue to rise nearly coincident with 
 the general rise of the country, until they reach the summit of Cross Fell (2901 feet). 
 And this general and very gradual inclination of the strata, a feature of the greatest 
 importance in practical mining, is clearly and accurately delineated in this section. 
 
 In a thickness of about 2000 feet of. the alternating beds of sandstone, clay, and 
 limestone, which form the strata of the mining districts of Alladale, Alston, and "Wear- 
 dale, there is one single stratum of limestone, called the "great limestone," the veins in 
 which have produced nearly, if not quite, as much ore as all the other strata put to- 
 gether. This stratum is delineated on the section, and may be observed lying at a 
 depth of about 850 feet below the snmmit of Kilhope Law. Somewhat exceeding two 
 miles eastward of this, at Allenheads, the top of the great limestone is 230 feet from 
 the top of a shaft called Gin-Hill Shaft. Its thickness, which is tolerably uniform over 
 several hundred square miles of country, is about 60 feet ; and it is from this stratum 
 of limestone that nearly all the specimens in this collection have been obtained. 
 
 The dislocations of strata which constitute for the most part important mineral veins, 
 are exhibited more in detail in the series of geological models which form a part of 
 this collection : but some of the great features of displacement may be noticed on the 
 section. 
 
36 LEAD. 
 
 At about a quarter of a mile to the west of, or left hand direction from Kill, ope Law 
 the great limestone, and all other associated beds, are thrown down a depth of abou 
 150 feet for a space of nearly 700 feet ; and again, at the distance of nearly a mile from 
 Allenheads, a vast dislocation takes place, by which the great limestone, it will be seen, 
 is brought nearly to the surface, the amount of displacement being about 400 feet It 
 is in the great limestone that by far the most extensive portion of the workings of Al 
 lenheads lead mines are situated, and the galleries drawn on the section convey a gen 
 eral idea of the position of the mines. In a great thickness of strata above the greai 
 limestone, only two beds of that rook are found. One of these is called little .me- 
 stone." It is from 10 to 12 feet thick, and is 75 feet above the top of the great lime- 
 stone The other is still more inconsiderable, being only 3 or 4 feet thick, and is 440 
 feet above the great limestone. It is remarkable with what exactness this thin bed is 
 found near the summit of hills, the intervening spaces having apparently been removed 
 by denudation, so as to form in one case a gap of 6i miles, and m another oi lfr miles, 
 in which the Tell Top limestone is entirely cut off 
 
 But beneath the great limestone, as will be seen by the lines of blue color, are seve- 
 ral beds of the same description of rock, viz., at distances respectively of 30, 106, 190, 
 250 and 287 feet, and the thickness 2, 24, 10, 15, and 35 feet. These are known by de- 
 scriptive local names, and comprise all that are of significance as regards lead-mining 
 
 ° P The Allenheads mines being situated for the most part at depths from the surface 
 varying from 200 to 600 feet, are drained, partly by ordinary water-wheels, some of 
 which are shown on the section, and partly by the new hydraulic engines invented by 
 Mr. W. G. Armstrong, and four of which are now used for draining and other mining 
 purposes at Allenheads mines. 
 
 Examples of the various Stages of Progress from the Mine to the Market— This part 
 of the collection is arranged in five cases, each containing six boxes of one square foot 
 each, being in all thirty boxes. . 
 
 Fifteen of these boxes, in a line furthest from the front edge of the counter, contain 
 specimens of lead-mining from the excavation of the pre in the mine, and showing the 
 several stages of progress until ready to send to the smelt mill ; and the other fifteen 
 boxes, in a line nearest to the front of the counter, contain specimens of the ore as 
 prepared for smelting, and its various stages of progress until manufactured into lead 
 and the silver separated ; these finished products being contained in division No 5. ol» 
 this collection. . ,.,..; 
 
 Case No. 1. — Lead ore, as first separated from the vein in which it is found, and 
 which in this state is called " bouse " in the north of England lead mines, and the places 
 in which it is deposited at the surface are called bouse teams. The depositing of the 
 ore in these places is greatly facilitated at Allenheads by the use of tipping-frames of a 
 new construction, by Mr. W. G. Armstrong, of the Elswick Engine Works, near New- 
 castle-on-Tyne. This example is from a "flats" vein in Allenheads mines in the great 
 limestone, which rock forms the curiously laminated matrix with which the ore is inter- 
 mixed. The ore and rock thus intermixed require to be separated as is exhibited by the 
 following examples. By a flat vein, or "flats," is meant a horizontal extension of 
 mineral substances to a considerable distance from the ordinary vertical or steeply- 
 inclined veins, which extend in the manner of fissures through the various beds of rook 
 forming the district. The regular lamination of the ore is worthy of attention, as leading 
 to speculations on the origin of mineral veins; a subject of great practical importance. 
 The example here shown is taken from a part of the "flat workings" at a distance of 
 about 20 feet from the principal or nearly vertical part of the vein. 
 
 Case No. 2. — Bouse, or lead ore, as extracted from the vein, and showing an example 
 of the curiously polished surface, which is a frequent characteristic of veins, and which 
 would appear at first sight to have been very carefully polished by artificial means, 
 many of the surfaces being sufficiently clear to reflect the images of objects in a tolera- 
 bly definite form. The local name of such bright and polished surfaces is " slickeu- 
 sides;" and the suggestion mentioned in the notice of the last specimen as to the value 
 of scientific inquiry applies with still greater force to the class of phenomena of which 
 this is one of the most curious indications. 
 
 Case No. 3. contains a portion of the ordinary bouse or ore as newly worked from 
 the vein, and much intermixed with the materials contained in Cases 1. and 2., as well 
 as with other earthy and sparry contents of veins. The produce of mineral veins va- 
 ries from pure galena, of which some Bpeeies are shown, to masses of rock in spar, in 
 which the ore is so thinly disseminated as not to repay the trouble of extraction. 
 
 Case No. 4. — The intermixed rocks and ores shown in preceding cases are first sub- 
 jected to " picking" and then to "washing" on a grate. The first of these operations 
 separates from the general mass all such pieces of galena as are either not mixed with 
 other substanoes, or which can be readily separated with a hammer on what are called 
 
LEAD. 37 
 
 "knockmg stones;" and the second has the effect of clearing away all earthy matter. 
 These specimens, picked from the heap and washing-grate, are ready for smelting after 
 being reduced with a hammer to the size of the ore contained in Case No. 9. 
 
 Case No. 5 contains ordinary bouse or lead ore taken from the trunking-box after 
 passing through the washing-grate, being, in fact, a process of washing and sizing with 
 a view to the further operations exhibited in the following eases. 
 
 Case No. 6 contains specimens of ordinary bouse, which, from the size of the pieces 
 and intermixture of rook and ore, require' to be passed through the rollers of the 
 crushing-mill. 
 
 Case No. 1. — Specimens of the same bouse or ore after having passed through the 
 rollers of the crushing-mill. 
 
 Case No. 8. — So far the processes have consisted simply of extraction of the ore 
 from its place in the mine, — of the pure samples of ore being picked out and washed 
 and sized ready for being smelted at once without further operations, — of the remain- 
 der of poorer samples being washed and separated by an iron grate or sieve into two 
 sizes, the larger having to be ground between rollers to reduce it to the same size as 
 the smaller, which had passed the grate; and when reduced to this stage, the whole 
 is ready for an operation called " botching," which consists in placing the ore in a tub 
 with water. The bottom of this tub is a sieve, — and the whole is subjected to a rapid 
 vibratory vertical movement or shaking, by which a separation of the ore takes place. 
 The water so far lessens the weight as greatly to facilitate the downward movement of 
 the ore, which of course is much heavier than the spar and other materials connected 
 with it. The vibratory movement is sometimes 'given by manual labor ; a long arm 
 moving with a spring is jerked up and down by a strong lad jumping on a raised stand 
 so as to produce the required motion. The same results may be obtained by machin- 
 ery ; and a model of a botching apparatus accompanies these specimens. It repre- 
 sents the mode in which the hotching tubs are worked in some of Mr. Beaumont's 
 mines in "West Allendale : and both the mode of applying the machinery, and the 
 manufacture of the model representing it, are due to the ingenuity of Mr. Joseph 
 Hetherington, one of the engineers or wrights employed at these mines. 
 
 The ore is prepared as has already been described; and after being shaken in the 
 " hotching tub," the upper part is entirely waste or refuse, and is called " cuttings," of 
 which this case, No. 8, contains a specimen. 
 
 Case No. 9 contains lead ore as obtained from the bottom of the hotching-tub, and is 
 ready for being smelted. 
 
 Case No. 10 contains what is called " undressed smeddum," being what has passed 
 through the sieve of the hotching-tub into the box or case of water in which the hotch- 
 ing-tub vibrates. 
 
 Case No. 11 is the " smeddum,' - after being dressed or cleared from all foreign sub- 
 stances in what is locally called a " buddle," and the ore iff being so washed is said to 
 be " buddled." 
 
 Case No. 12. In all operations where a stream of running water is employed to 
 wash lead ore, it is obvious that many of the smaller particles will be carried away 
 with the stream. These particles are allowed to settle by their specific gravity in what 
 are called slime pits, being merely reservoirs in which the water passes over a long 
 spaee with a very tranquil movement. In the Case No. 12 is an example ol the 
 slime or deposit in these slime pits undressed. 
 
 Case No. 13 contains a specimen of what is called slime ore, having been extracted 
 or separated from the slime shown in Case No. 12. The separation is effected by manu- 
 al labor in what are called " nicking-trunks," and is made ready for a final washing or 
 separation in the " dolly-tub." 
 
 Case No. 14 contains slime obtained, not by manual labor, but by means of a pa- 
 tented invention of Mr. Bruton's, by which the slime, being first freely mixed with 
 water, is allowed on a revolving canvas cloth, inclined at a moderate angle, and upon 
 which also drops of water are constantly falling so as to keep the surface well wetted. 
 Heavier particles, being thus free to move, are carried up the slightly inclined sur- 
 face of the canvas, and pass round a roller to a cistern below, in which they are de- 
 posited while the lighter particles of earthy matter and spar are at once carried down 
 the canvas by the stream of water. The ore thus obtained requires finally to be wash- 
 ed in the dolly-tub, after which it is fit for being smelted. 
 
 Case No. 15 contains slime ore as taken from the dolly-tub, which is the last opera- 
 tion connected with the washing and dressing of lead ores as usually practiced in the 
 lead mines belonging to Mr. Beaumont, and in the lead mines generally of this part 
 of the kingdom. , 
 
 The German buddle is also occasionally used in dressing slime ores. A considerable 
 improvement was made in this apparatus about thirty years ago by Mr. Robert Stagg, 
 of Middleton-in-Teesdale. 
 
LEAD. 
 
 Case No. 16 exhibits a specimen of "selected" or superior lead ore in the form it 
 which it is sent to and deposited at the smelt mill ready to be smelted. 
 
 Case No. 17 contains an example of the ordinary or common lead ore as prepared 
 and ready for smelting. 
 
 Cases Nos. 18 and 19 contain the same ores (selected and common), after having un- 
 dergone the operation of being " roasted," or exposed to suitable temperature in a 
 reverberatory furnace, the object being to free, it from the sulphur contained in the 
 galena, pure specimens of which consist of lead 86'6 and sulphur 13'3. 
 
 By this process the ore is rendered more easily reducible. 
 
 Case No. 20. Gray slags formed in the process of ore hearth smelting, and from 
 which the lead is afterwards obtained at the slag hearth. 
 
 Case No. 21. Black slags being the residuum obtained from the slag hearth, and 
 which assume the granulated form from being made to flow, when in a melted state, 
 'into water. 
 
 Cases Nos. 22 and 23 contain examples of the crystals of selected and common 
 lead as formed in the process of separating or desilvering the ore: patented by Mr. H, 
 L. Pattinson, and first brought into operation at Mr. Beaumont's smelt mills. 
 
 Cases Nos. 24, 25, and 26, contain specimens of the fume or deposit in the long flues 
 connected with the smelt mills; that in No. 24 being the ordinary fume collected in 
 the flue : No. 25 the same, after being roasted for the ore hearth, and No. 26 the same 
 roasted for the slag hearth. The flues or chimneys are built of stone, 8 feet by 6 feet 
 inside, and upwards of 8J miles long. 
 
 _ Cases Nos. 27, 28, and 29. Litharge in the ordinary round state, and two varie- 
 ties of linseed litharge which have been passed through a sieve. 
 
 Case No. 30. Skimmings from the surface of melted lead, showin 
 which are frequently of great intensity and beauty. 
 
 A brief statement of the quantity of coals consumed per month in a few of the 
 principal mines will show the extent to which steam power is now employed. 
 
 Fowey Consols, 1835 - 101,246 
 
 Godolphin, 1839 129,801 
 
 Fowey Consols, 1840 203,699 
 
 United Mines, 1842 - 84 862 
 
 The lead mines of Cornwall have produced of the argentiferous sulphuret, during 
 five years, the following number of tons of ore : — 
 
 ping iridescent hues, 
 
 Collington . 
 
 Huel Mary Ann 
 
 Cornubian 
 
 E. and W. Haven 
 
 Huel Trelawney 
 
 Camelford 
 
 E. Huel Rose 
 
 W. Huel Rose 
 
 Cargol 
 
 Oxnams 
 
 Huel Rose 
 
 Huel Penrose 
 
 Holmbush 
 
 New Quay 
 
 Porthleven 
 
 Pentire 
 
 Cubert 
 
 Lemau 
 
 Huel Concord 
 
 Huel Trehane 
 
 Herodscomb 
 
 Herodsfoot 
 
 Great Callestock Moors ■ 
 
 Callestock 
 
 Treyorden 
 
 Huel Penhale 
 
 Huel Golden 
 
 Earthen Consols 
 
 950 
 
 420 
 
 16 
 
 280 
 
 180 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 116 
 
 73 
 
 1846. 
 
 1,138 
 166 
 
 529 
 
 5,191 
 
 306 
 
 188 
 
 375 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 31 
 
 136 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 1847. 
 
 1,249 
 192 
 
 6,424 
 84 
 
 954 
 47 
 
 378 
 
 60 
 
 354 
 
 73 
 
 30 
 
 312 
 
 37 
 
 375 
 
 109 
 
 116 
 
 1848. 
 
 1848. 
 
 957 
 334 
 
 625 
 873 
 
 413 
 
 1,296 
 
 5,333 
 
 30 
 
 964 
 
 470 
 
 399 
 
 4,758 
 
 75 
 
 505 
 
 269 
 
 107 
 
 154 
 
 102 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 459 
 
 721 
 
 1,050 
 
 179 
 
 
 
 28 
 50 
 '80 
 45 
 
LEAD. 
 
 39 
 
 Mines were worked at an early period in the Isle of Man ; but the neighborhood 01 
 Laxey first attracted attention at the commencement of the present century, In 1811 
 only three hands were employed; in 1848 there were at least 800 in the mine. The 
 mine is situated about a mile and a half from the sea, up the Laxey Valley, whore an 
 adit is. driven 400 fathoms into the heart of the mountain. From this adit the shaft 
 has been sunk about 130 fathoms. The returns of lead ore for the lastfive years have 
 been as follows : — 
 
 Yoais. 
 
 Lead Ore. 
 
 Lend. 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1845 
 
 327 
 
 155 
 
 1846 
 
 220 
 
 104 
 
 1847 
 
 375 
 
 247 
 
 1848 
 
 695 
 
 461 
 
 1849 
 
 815 
 
 546 
 
 In addition to this, about 200 tons of the sulphuret of zinc are annually raised. 
 
 The Cardiganshire mines were worked at a very early period, probably by the Ro- 
 mans. Henry VII. encouraged mining by several grants, involving privileges to 
 those who would work these mines. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth there was a 
 grant made of all these mines to Thomas Thurland and Daniel Houghsetter, Germans, 
 who worked them for some time. They eventually passed into ''he hands of Sir 
 Hugh Middleton, who realized a large profit by working them. 
 
 The present value of the Cardiganshire mines will be seen by the following list of 
 their produce : — 
 
 Mines. 
 
 Lead Ore 
 
 Lead 
 
 Eetuvns. 
 
 Returns. 
 
 
 Tons. Owts. 
 
 Tons. Cwts, 
 
 Lisburne Mines 
 
 2.733 
 
 1,804 
 
 Cwm-y-stwyth 
 
 583 
 
 333 
 
 Esgair-hir 
 
 
 
 Cwm-sebon 
 
 55 
 
 33 
 
 Llanfair Clydogan 
 
 206 
 
 134 
 
 Goginan 
 
 1,160 
 
 766 
 
 Gogerddan Mines 
 
 131 
 
 87 
 
 Nanty-y-creiau 
 
 
 
 Pen-y-bout-pren 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 Cefn-cwm-bruzno 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 Bwlch Consols 
 
 635 
 
 425 
 
 rJanteos 
 
 177 
 
 106 
 
 Aberystwyth (small mines) - 
 
 31 
 
 20 
 
 Llanymaror ■ 
 
 
 
 Llanbadarn 
 
 
 
 Bron-berllan - ... 
 
 
 
 Brynarian 
 
 40 
 
 28 
 
 Cwm-erfin - 
 
 116 
 
 78 
 
 Daren 
 
 29 
 
 20 
 
 Eisteddfodd - - 
 
 40 15 
 
 14 
 
 Llwyn, Malys 
 
 3! 0' 
 
 21 
 
 B wlch-c wm-erfi n 
 
 18 
 
 12 
 
 Treatment of the Ores of Lead. 
 The mechanical operations performed upon the lead ores in Great Britain, to bring 
 them to the degree of purity necessary for their metallurgic treatment, maybe divided 
 into three classes, whose objects are, — 
 
 1. The sorting and cleansing of the ores ; 
 
 2. The grinding ; 
 
 3. The washing, properly so called ; 
 
 The apparatus subservient to the first objects are sieves, running budles, and gratings 
 The large- sieves employed in Derbyshire for sorting the ore at the mouth of the mine 
 into coarse and fine pieces, is a wire gauze of iron ; its meshes are square, and an inch 
 long in each side. There i9 a lighter sieve of wire gauze, similar to the preceding, for 
 washing the mud from the ore, by agitating the fragments in a tub filled with water 
 
40 
 
 LEAD. 
 
 But in Derbyshire, instead of using this sieve, the pieces of ore are sometimes merelj 
 stirred about with a shovel, in a trough filled with water. Tins is called a standing buddk ; 
 a most defective plan. . . , 
 
 The running huddle serves at once to sort and cleanse the ore. It consists of a plane 
 surface made of slabs or planks, very slightly inclined forwards, and provided behind 
 and on the sides with upright ledges, the back one having a notch to admit a stream of 
 water The ore is merely stirred about with a shovel, and exposed on the slope to the 
 stream. For this apparatus, formerly the only one used at the mines of Alston Moor, 
 the following has been substituted, called the grate. It is a grid, composed 01 square 
 bars of iron, an inch thick, by from 24 to 32 inches long, placed horizontally, and 
 paraUelly to each other, an inch apart. There is a wooden canal above the grate, which 
 conducts a stream of water over its middle ; and an inclined plane is set beneath it, which 
 leads to a hemispherical basin, about 24 inches in diameter, for collecting the metallic 
 powder washed out of the ore. 
 
 The apparatus subservient to grinding the ore are, — 
 
 1. The bucker, or beater, formed of a cast-iron plate, 3 inches square, with a socket 
 in its upper surface, for receiving a wooden handle. In the neighborhood of Alston- 
 Moor, crushing cylinders have been substituted for the beating bucker ; but even now, 
 in Derbyshire, buckers are generally employed for breaking the pieces of mixed ore, called 
 knock-stone-stuff. 
 
 At the mines of this county, the knacker's workshop, or striking floor, is provided 
 either with a strong stool, or a wall 3 feet high, beyond which there is a flat area 4 feet 
 broad, and a little raised behind. On this area, bounded, except in front, by small 
 walls, the ore to be bruised is placed. On the stool, or wall, a very hard stone slab, oi 
 cast-iron plate is laid, 7 feet long, 7 inches broad, and 1| inches thick, called a knock- 
 s/one. The workmen seated before it, break the pieces of mixed ore, called bowse in Der- 
 byshire, with the bucker. 
 
 Crushing machines are in general use at Alston Moor, to break the mingled ores, 
 which they perform with great economy of time and labor. They have been employed 
 there for nearly forty years. 
 
 This machine is composed of one pair of fluted cylinders, x x, fig. 853, and of two pairs 
 of smooth cylinders z z, z' z', which serve altogether for crushing the ore. The two 
 cylinders of each of the three pairs turn simultaneously in an inverse direction, by 
 aieans cf two toothed wheels, as at m, fig. 854, upon the shaft of every cylinder, which 
 
 853 854 
 
 work by pairs in one another. The motion is given by a single water-wheel, of which 
 the circle a a a represents the outer circumference. One of the fluted cylinders is 
 placed in the prolongation of the shaft of this wheel, which carries^besides a cast-iron 
 toothed wheel geered with the toothed wheels e e, fixed upon the ends of two of the 
 smooth cylinders. Above the fluted cylinders there is a hopper, which discharges 
 down between thein, by means of a particular mechanism, the ore brought forward by 
 the wagons a. These_ wagons advance upon a railway, stop above the hopper, and 
 2mpty their contents into it through a trap-hole, which opens outwardly in the middla 
 
LEAD. 41 
 
 of their bottom. Below the hopper there is a small bucket called a shoe, into which (he 
 ore is shaken down, and which throws it without ceasing upon the cylinders, in conse- 
 quence of the constant jolts given it by a crank-rod i (fig. 854) attached to it, end 
 moved by the teeth of the wheel m. The shoe is so regulated, that too much ore can 
 never fall upon the cylinders, and obstruct their movement. A small stream of water 
 is likewise led into the shoe, which spreads over the cylinders, and prevents them from 
 growing hot. The ore, after passing between the fluted rollers, falls upon the inclined 
 planes n, n, which turn it over to one or other of the pairs of smooth rolls. 
 
 These are the essential parts of this machine ; they are made of iron, and the smooth 
 ones are case-hardened, or chilled, by being cast in iron moulds. The gudgeons of 
 both kinds move in brass bushes fixed upon iron supports fc, made fast by bolts to the 
 strong wood-work basis of the whole machine. Each of the horizontal bars has an 
 oblong slot, at one of whose ends is solidly fixed one of the plummer-bloeks or bearers 
 of one of the cylinders /, and in the rest of the slot the plummer-block of the other 
 cylinder g slides; a construction which permits the two cylinders to come into con- 
 tact, or to recede to such a distance from each other, as circumstances may .require. 
 The moveable cylinder is approximated to the fixed one by means of the iron levers x x, 
 which carry at their ends the weights p, and rest upon wedges m, which may be slidden 
 upon the inclined plane N. These wedges then press the iron bar o, and make it ap- 
 proach the moveable cylinder by advancing the plummer block which supports its axis. 
 When matters are so arranged, should a very large or hard piece present itself to one of 
 the pairs of cylinders, one of the rollers would move away, and let the piece pass without 
 doing injury to the mechanism. 
 
 Besides the three pairs of cylinders which constitute essentially each crushing machine, 
 there is sometimes a fourth, which serves to crush the ore when not in large fragments, 
 for example, the chats and cuttings (the moderately rich and poorer pieces), produced 
 by the first sifting with the brake sieve, to be presently described. The cylinders com- 
 posing that accessory piece, which, on account of their ordinary use, are called chats-roller t, 
 are smooth, and similar to the rollers z z, and z' z'. The one of them is usually placed 
 upon the prolongation of the shaft of the water-wheel, of the side opposite to the princi- 
 pal machine ; and the other, which is placed alongside, receives its motion from the first, 
 by means of toothed wheel-work. 
 
 The stamp mill is employed in concurrence with the 'crushing cylinders. It serves par- 
 ticularly to pulverize those ores whose gangue is too hard to yield readily to the rollers, 
 and also those which being already pulverized to a certain degree, require to he ground 
 still more finely. The stamps employed in the neighborhood of Alston Moor are moved 
 by water wheels. They are similar to those described under Tin. 
 
 Proper sifting or jigging apparatus. — The hand sieve made of iron wire meshes, of 
 various sizes, is shaken with the two hands in a tub of water, the ore vat, being held 
 sometimes horizontally, and at others in an inclined position. This sieve is now in 
 general use only for the cuttings that have passed through the grating, and which though 
 not poor enough to require finer grinding, are too poor for the brake sieve. When the 
 workman has collected a sufficient quantity of these smaller pieces, he puts them in his 
 round hand sieve, shakes it in the ore vat with much rapidity and a dexterous toss, till 
 he has separated the very poor, portions called cuttings, from the mingled parts called 
 chats, as well as from the pure ore. He then removes the first two qualities, with o 
 sheet-iron scraper called a limp, and he finds beneath them a certain portion of ore which 
 he reckons to be pure. , 
 
 The brake sieve is rectangular, as well as the cistern in which it is agitated. The 
 meshes are made of strong iron wire, three eighths of an inch square. This sieve is sus- 
 pended at the extremity of a forked lever, or brake, turning upon an axis by means of 
 two upright arms about 5 feet long, which are pierced with hides for connecting them 
 with bolts or pins, both to the sieve-frame and to the ends of the two branches of the 
 lever. These two arms are made of wrought iron, but the lever is made of wood ; as it 
 receives the jolt. A child placed near its end, by the action of leaping, jerks it smartly 
 up and down, so as to shake effectually the sieve suspended at the other extremity. 
 Each jolt not only makes the fine parts pass through the meshes, but changes the rela- 
 tive position of those which remain on the wires, bringing the purer and heavier pieces 
 eventually to the bottom. The mingled fragments of galena, and the stony substances 
 ealled chats lie above them ; while the poor and light pieces called cuttings, are at top. 
 These are first scraped off by the lirrvp, next the mixed lumps, or chats, and lastly the pure 
 ore, which is carried to the bing heap. The cuttings are handed to a particular class of 
 workmen, who by a new sifting, divide them into mere stones, or second cuttings, and into 
 mixed ore analogous to chats. 
 
 The poor ore, called chats, is carried to a crushing machine, where it is bruised 
 between two cylinders appropriated to this purpose under the name of chats rollers ; after 
 which it is sifted afresh. During the sifting many parcels of small ore and stony sub 
 
42 ' LEAD. 
 
 stances pass thiough the sieve, and accumulate at the bottom of the cistern. "When 
 is two thirds filled, water is run slowly over it, and the sediment called smitham is taken 
 out, and piled up in heaps. More being put into the tub, a child lifts up the smitham, 
 and lays it on the sieve, which retains still on its meshes the layer of fine ore. The siftei 
 now agitates in the water nearly as at first, from time to time removing with the limp 
 the lighter matters as they come to the surface ; which being fit for washing only in 
 boxes, are called buddler's offal, and are thrown into the buddle hole. 
 
 Mr. Petherick, the manager of Lanescot and the Fowey Consol mines, has contrived 
 an ingenious jigging machine, in which a series of 8 sieves are fixed in a stationary cir 
 cular frame, connected with a plunger or piston working in a hollow cylinder, whereby 
 a body of water is alternately forced up through the crushed ore in the sieves, and then 
 left to descend. In this way of operating, the indiscriminate or premature passage of the 
 finer pulverulent matter through the meshes is avoided, because a regulated stream of 
 water is made to traverse the particles up and down. This mode has proved profitable in 
 washing the copper ores of the above mentioned copper mines. 
 
 Proper washing apparatus. — For washing the ore after sifting it, the running buddle 
 already described is employed, along with several chests or buddies of other kinds. 
 
 1. The trunk buddle is a species of German chest (see Metallurgy and Tin) com- 
 posed of two parts ; of a cistern or box into which a stream of water flows, and of a large 
 tank with a smooth level bottom. The ore to be trunked being placed in the box, the 
 workman furnished with a shovel bent up at its sides, agitates it, and removes from time 
 to time the coarser portions ; while the smaller are swept off by the water and deposited 
 upon the level area. 
 
 2. The stirring buddle, or chest for freeing the schlamms or slimy stuff from clay, is 
 analogous to the German chests, and consists of two parts; namely, 1. a trough which 
 receives a stream of water through a plug hole, which is tempered at pleasure, to admit a 
 greater or less current ; 2. a settling tank with a horizontal bottom. The metallic slime 
 being first floated in the water of the trough, then flows out and is deposited in the tank ; 
 the purest parts falling first near the beginning of the run. 
 
 3. The nicking buddle is analogous to the tables called dormantes or jumelles by the 
 French miners. See Metallurgy. They have at their upper end a cross canal or 
 spout, equal in length to the breadth of the table, with a plug hole in its middle for 
 admitting the water. Alongside of this channel there is a slightly inclined plank, called 
 nicking board, corresponding to the head of the twin table, and there is a nearly level 
 plane below. The operation consists in spreading a thin layer of the slime upon the 
 nicking board, and in running over its surface a slender sheet of water, which in its pro- 
 gress is subdivided into rills, which gradually carry off the muddy matters, and ttre-v 
 them over the lower flat surface of the tank, in the order of their density. 
 
 4. The dolly tub or rinsing bucket, fig. 855, has an upright shaft which 
 bears the vane or dolly a b, turned by the winch handle. This apparatus 
 serves to bring into a state of suspension in water, the fine ore, already 
 nearly pure ; the separation of the metallic particles from the earthy ones 
 by repose, being promoted by the sides of the tub being struck frequently 
 during the subsidence. 
 
 5. Slime pits. — In the several operations of cleansing ores from mud, 
 in grinding, and washing, where a stream of water is used, it is impossible to prevent 
 some of the finely attenuated portions of the galena called sludge, floating in the watei. 
 from being carried off with it. Slime pits or labyrinths, called buddle holes in Derbyshire 
 are employed to collect that matter, by receiving the water to settle, at a little distance 
 from the place of agitation. 
 
 These basins or reservoirs are about 20 feet in diameter, and from 24 to 40 inches 
 deep. Here the suspended ore is deposited, and nothing but cleai water is allowed to 
 escape. 
 
 The workmen employed in the mechanical preparation of the ores, are paid, in Cum 
 berland, by the piece, and not by day's wages. A certain quantity of crude ore is deliv- 
 ered to them, and their work is valued by the bing, a measure containing 14 cwts. of ore 
 ready for smelting. The price varies according to the richness of the ore. Certain quali- 
 ties are washed at the rate of two and sixpence, or three shillings the bing; while others 
 are worth at least ten shillings. The richness of the ore varies from 2 to 20 bin»s of 
 galena per shift of ore; the shift corresponding to 8 wagon loads. 
 
 1. The cleansing and sorting of the ores are well performed in Cumberland. Th'esf 
 operations seem however to be inferior to the cleansing on the grid steps, grilles a sradin 
 of Saxony (See Metallurgy), an apparatus which in cleaning the ores, has the advan- 
 tage of grouping them in lots of different qualities and dimensions. 
 
 2. The breaking or braising by means of the crushing machine, is much more expedi- 
 tious than the Derbyshire process by backers ; for the machine introduces not only ".rent 
 economy into the breaking operation, but it likewise diminishes considerably the loss of 
 galena ; for stamped ores may be often subjected to the action of the cylinders withoxi 
 
LEAD. 42 
 
 waste, while a portion of them would hare been lost with the water that runs from the 
 stamp mill. The use of these rollers may therefore he considered as one of the happiest 
 innovations hitherto made in the mechanical preparation of ores. 
 
 3. The brake sieves appear to be preferable to the hand ones. 
 
 4. The system of washing used in Cumberland differs essentially from that of Brit- 
 tany. The slime pits are constructed with much less care than in France and Germany. 
 They never present, as in these countries, those long windings backwards and forwards, 
 whence they have been called labyrinths ; probably because the last deposites, which are 
 washed with profit in France and Germany, could not be so in Cumberland. There is 
 reason to believe, however, that the introduction of brake tables (tables d seccusses s see 
 METALLtrRGy) would enable deposites to be saved, which at present run to waste in 
 England. 
 
 5. From what we have now said about the system of washing, and the basins of de- 
 posite or settling cisterns, it may be inferred that the operation followed in Cumberland is 
 more expeditious than that used in Brittany, but it furnishes less pure ores, and occasions 
 more considerable waste ; a fact sufficiently obvious, since the refuse stuff at Poullaouen is 
 often resumed, and profitably subjected to a new preparation. We cannot however ven- 
 ture to blame this method, because in England, fuel being cheap, and labor dear, there 
 may possibly.be more advantage in smelting an ore somewhat impure, and in losing a little 
 galena, than in multiplying the number of washing processes. 
 
 6. Lastly, the dolly tub ought to be adopted in all the establishments where the galena 
 is mixed with much blende (sulphuret of zinc) ; for schlich (metallic slime) which a.ppears 
 very clean to the eye, gives off a considerable quantity of blende by means of the dolly 
 tub. While the vane is rapidly whirled, the sludge is gradually let down into the revolv- 
 ing water, till the quantity is sufficiently great. Whenever the ore is thoroughly dissem- 
 inated in the liquid, the dolly is withdrawn. The workmen then strike on the sides of 
 the tub for a considerable time, with mallets or wooden billets, to make the slime fall fast 
 to the bottom. The lighter portions, consisting almost entirely of refuse matter, fall only 
 after the knocking has ceased : the water is now run away ; then the very poor slime upon 
 the top of the deposite is skimmed off, while the pure ore found at the bottom of the tub 
 is lifted out, and laid on the bingstead. In this way the blende, which always accompa- 
 nies galena in a greater or smaller quantity, is well separated. 
 
 Smelting of lead ores. — The lead ores of Derbyshire and the north of England were 
 anciently smelted in very rude furnaces, or boles, urged by the natural force of the wind, 
 and were therefore placed on the summits or western slopes of the highest hills. More 
 recently these furnaces, were replaced by blast hearths, resembling smiths' forges, but 
 larger, and were blown by strong bellows, moved by men or water-wheels. The 
 principal operation of smelting is at present always executed in Derbyshire in rever- 
 beratory furnaces, and at Alston Moor in furnaces similar to those known in France by 
 the name of Scotch furnaces. Before entering into the detail of the founding processes, 
 we shall give a description of the furnaces essential for both the smelting and accessory 
 operations. 
 
 1. The reverberatory furnace called cupola, now exclusively used in Derbyshire for 
 the smelting of lead ores, was imported thither from Wales, about the year 1747, by a 
 company of Quakers. The first establishment in this country was built at Kalstedgp, ic 
 the disti ict of Ashover. 
 
 In the works where the construction of these furnaces is most improved, they are 
 interiorly 8 feet long by 6 wide in the middle, and two feet high at the centre. The 
 fire, placed at one of the extremities, is separated from the body of the furnace by a body 
 of masonry, called the fire-bridge, which is two feet thick, leaving only from 14 to 18 
 inches between its upper surface and the vault. From this, the highest point, the vault 
 gradually sinks towards the further end, where it stands only 6 inches above the sole. 
 At this extremity of the furnace, there are two openings separated by a triangular prism 
 of fire-stone, which lead to a flue, a foot and a half wide, and 10 feet long, which is 
 recurved towards the top, and runs into an upright chimney 55 feet high. The above 
 flue is covered with stone slabs, carefully jointed with fire-clay, which may be removed 
 when the deposite formed under them (which is apt to melt) requires to be cleaned out. 
 One of the sides of the furnace is called the laborers' side. It has a door for throwing 
 coal upon the fire-grate, besides three small apertures each about 6 inches square. 
 These are closed with moveable plates of cast iron, which are taken off when the working 
 requires a freer circulation of air, or for the stirring up, of the materials upon the hearth. 
 On the opposite side, called the working side, there are five apertures ; namely, three equal 
 and opposite to' those just described, shutting in like manner with cast iron plates, and 
 beneath them two other openings, one of which is for rnnning out the lead, and another 
 for the scoriae. The ash pit is also on this side, covered with a little water, and so dis- 
 posed as that the grate-bars may be easily cleared from the cinder slag. 
 
 The hearth of the furnace is composed of the reverberatory furnace slags, to which a 
 
44: 
 
 LEAD. 
 
 proper shape has been given by beating them with a strong iron rake, before theH 
 entire solidification. On the laborers' side, this hearth rises nearly to the surface of 
 the three openings, and falls towards the working side, so as to be 18 inches below the 
 middle aperture. In this point, the lowest of the furnace, there is a tap-hole, through 
 which the lead is run off into a large iron boiler (lea-pan), placed in a recess left out- 
 side in the masonry. From that lowest pomt, the sole gradually rises in all directions, 
 forming thus an inside basin, into which the lead runs down as it is smelted. At the usual 
 level of the metal bath, there is on the working side, at the end furthest from the fire, an 
 aperture for letting off the slag 
 
 In the middle of the arched roof there is a small aperture, called the crown-hole, which 
 is covered up during the working with a thick cast iron plate. Above this aperture a 
 large wooden or iron hopper stands, leading beneath into an iron cylinder, through 
 which the contents of the hopper may fall into the furnace when a trap or valve is 
 opened. 
 
 2. The roasting furnace. — This was introduced about 30 years ago, in the neigh- 
 borhood of # Alston Moor, for roasting the ore intended to pass through the Scotch furnace, 
 a process which greatly facilitates that operation. Since its first establishment it has sue 
 cessively received considerable improvements. 
 
 Figs. 856, 857, 858, represent the cupola furnace at the Marquess of Westminster's 
 lead smelting works, two miles from Holywell. The hearth is hollowed out below the 
 middle door of the furnace ; it slopes from the back and ends towards this basin. The 
 distance from the lowest point of this concavity up to the sill of the door, is usually 24 
 inches, but it is sometimes a little less, according to the quality of the ores to be smelted. 
 This furnace has no hole for running off the slag, above the level of the top hole for the 
 lead i, like the smelting furnace of Lea, near Matlock. A single chimney stalk serves 
 for all the establishments ; and receives all the flues of the various roasting and reducing 
 furnaces. Fig. 858 gives an idea of the distribution of these flues, a a a, &o. are the 
 furnaces, 6, the flues, 18 inches square; these lead from each furnace to the principal 
 conduit c, which is 5 feet deep by 1\ wide ; d is 6 feet deep by 3 wide ; e is a round 
 chamber 15 feet in diameter; /is a conduit 7 feet high by 5 wide; g another, 6 feet 
 high by 3 wide. The chimney at h has a diameter at bottom of 30 feet, at top of 12 
 feet including the thickness of its sides, forming a truncated cone 100 feet high ; whose 
 base stands upon a hill a little way from the furnaces, and 62 feet above their level. 
 
 a, figs. 856, 857, is the grate; b, : the door of the fire-plaee ; e, the fire-bridge ; d. +he 
 
 856 
 
 8.58 
 
 jyuLj 
 
 esa ! * • Uw '-- h "" i ■"•""■» "■ "• '»' "" •'» <™"« ■".**: 
 
 This magnificent structure is not destined solelv- fm. +l,„ „„a j.- t ^ 
 dissipating all the vapors which might v™?*^^^^?,^^™*" 
 and to vegetation. "* m me health ol the workpeople 
 
 The ores smelted at Holywell are very refractory galenas,mixed with blende.calamine. 
 
LEAD. 45 
 
 pyrites, carbonate of lime, &c, but without any fluate of lime. They serve mutually as 
 fluxes to one another. The coal is of inferior quality. The sole of each furnace is 
 formed of slags obtained in the smelting, and they are all of one kind. In constructing 
 it, 7 or 8 tons of these slags are first of all thrown upon the brick area of the hearth ; are 
 made to melt by a brisk fire, and in their stiffening state, as they cool, they permit the 
 bottom to be sloped and hollowed into the desired shape. Four workmen, two at each 
 side of the furnace, perform this task. 
 
 The' ordinary charge of ore for one smelting operation is 20 cwts., and it is introduced 
 through the hopper ; see Coppek, fig. 375. An assistant placed at the back doors spreads 
 it equally over the whole hearth with a rake ; the furnace being meanwhile heated only 
 with the declining fire of the preceding operation. No regular fire is made during the first 
 two hours, but a' gentle heat merely is kept up by throwing one or two shovelfuls of small 
 coal upon the grate from time to time. All the doors are closed, and the register-plate of 
 the chimney is lowered. 
 
 The outer basin in front of the furnace is at this time filled with the lead derived from 
 a former process, the metal being covered with slags. A rectangular slit above the tap 
 hole is left open, and remains so during the whole time of the operation, unless the lead 
 should rise in the interior basin above the level of that orifice ; in which case a little mound 
 must be raised before it. 
 
 The two doors in front furthest from the fire being soon opened, the head-smelter 
 throws in through them, upon the sole of the furnace, the slags swimming upon the Bath 
 of lead, and a little while afterwards he opens the tap-hole, and runs off the metallic 
 lead reduced from these slags. At the same time his assistant turns over the ore with 
 his paddle, through the back doors. These being again closed, while the above two front 
 doors are open, the smelter throws a shovelful of small coal or coke cinder upon the lead 
 bath, and works the whole together, turning over the ore with the paddle or iron oar. 
 About three quarters of 'an hour after the commencement of the operation, he throws 
 back upon the sole of the hearth the fresh slags which then float upon the bath of the 
 outer basin, and which are mixed with coaly matter. He next turns over these slags, as 
 well as the ore with the paddle, and shuts all the doors. At this time the smelter runs off 
 the lead into the pig-moulds. 
 
 The assistant now turns over the ore once more through the back doors. A little 
 more than an hour after the operation began, a quantity of lead proceeding from the 
 slag last remelted, is run off by the tap ; being usually in such quantity as to fill one 
 half of the outer basin. Both the workmen then turn over the ore with the paddles, at 
 the several doors of the furnace. Its interior is at this time of a dull red heat ; the 
 roasting being carried on rather by the combustion of the sulphurous ingredients, than 
 by the action of the small quantity of coal in the grate. The smelter, after shutting 
 the front doors, with the exception of that next the fire-bridge, lifts off the fresh slags 
 lying upon the surface of the outside bath, drains them, and throws them back into the 
 furnace. 
 
 An hour and a half after the commencement, the lead begins to ooze out in small 
 quantities from the ore ; but little should be suffered to flow before two hours have ex- 
 " pired. About this time the two workmen open all the doors, and turn over the ore, 
 sach at his own side of the furnace. An hour and three quarters after the beginning, 
 there are few vapors in the furnace, its temperature being very moderate. No more 
 lead is then seen to flow upon the sloping hearth. A little coal being thrown into the 
 grate to raise the heat slightly, the workmen turn over the ore, and then close all the 
 doors. 
 
 At the end of two hours, the first fire or roasting being completed, and the doors 
 shut, the register is to be lifted a little, and coal thrown upon the grate to give the 
 second fire, which lasts during 25 minutes. When the doors are now opened, the inside 
 of the furnace is of a pretty vivid red, and the lead flows down from eve*ry side towards 
 the inner basin. The smelter with his rake or paddle pushes the slags upon that basin 
 back towards the upper part of the sole, and his assistant spreads them uniformly over 
 the surface through the back doors. The smelter next throws in by his middle door, u 
 few shovelfuls of quicklime upon the lead bath. The assistant meanwhile, for a quarter 
 of an hour, works the ore and the slags together through the three back doors, and then 
 spreads them out, while the smelter pushes the slags from the surface of the inner basin 
 back to the upper parts of the sole. The doors being now left open for a little, while 
 the interior remains in repose, the metallic lead, which had been pushed back with the 
 slags, flows down into the basin. This occasional cooling of the furnace is thought to be 
 necessary for the better separation of the products, especially of the slags, from the lead 
 bath. 
 
 In a short time the workmen resume their rakes, and turn over the slags along with 
 the ore. Three hours after the commencement, a little more fuel is put into the grat'^ 
 merely to keep up a moderate heat of the furnace during the paddling. After three 
 
46 
 
 LEAD. 
 
 hours and ten minutes, the grate being charged with fuel for the third fire, the regislel 
 is completely opened, the doors are all shut, and the furnace is left in this state for three 
 quarters of an hour. In nearly four hours from the commencement, all the doors being 
 opened, the assistant levels the surfaces with his rake, in order to favor the descent of 
 any drops of lead; and then spreads the slags, which are pushed back towards him by 
 the smelter. The latter now throws in a fresh quantity of lime, with the view not 
 merely of covering the lead hath and preventing its oxydizemeut, but of rendering the slags 
 less fluid. 
 
 Ten minutes after the third fire is completed, the smelter puts a new charge of fuel 
 in the grate, and shuts the doors of the furnace to give it the fourth fire. In four hours 
 and forty minutes from the commencement, this lire being finished, the doors are 
 opened, the smelter pierces the tap hole to discharge the lead into the outer basin, and 
 throws some quicklime upon the slags in the inner basin. He then pushes the slags 
 thus dried up towards the upper part of the hearth, and his assistant rakes them out by the 
 back doors. 
 
 The whole operation of a smelting shift takes about four hours and a half, or at mosl 
 five hours, in which four periods may be distinguished. 
 
 1. The first fire for roasting the ores, requires very moderate firing and lasts tw : 
 hours. 
 
 2. The second fin, or the smelting, requires a higher heat, with shut doors ; at the enc 
 the^lags are dried up with lime, and the furnace is also allowed to cool a little. 
 
 3. 4. The last two periods, or the third and fourth fires, are likewise two smeltings or 
 foundings, and differ from the first only in requiring a higher temperature. The heat 
 is greatest in the last. The form and dimensions of "the furnace are calculated to cause 
 a uniform distribution of heat over the whole surface of the hearth. Sometimes billets 
 of green wood are plunged info the metallic lead of the outer basin, causing an ebullition 
 which favors the separation of the slags, and consequently the production of a purer lead; 
 but no more metallic metal is obtained. , 
 
 Ten cwts. of coal are consumed at Holywell in smelting one ton of the lead-ore schlich 
 or sludge ; but at Grassington, near Skipton in Yorkshire, with a similar furnace worked 
 with a slower heat, the operation taking from seven hours to seven hours and a half, 
 instead of five, only 7 J cwts. of coal are consumed. But here the ores are less refractory, 
 have the benefit of fluor spar as a flux, and are more exhausted of their metal, being smelt- 
 ed upon a less sloping hearth. 
 
 Theory of the above operation. — At Holywell, Grassington, and in Cornwall, the 
 result of the first graduated roasting heat, is a mixture of undecomposed sulphuret of 
 lead, with sulphate and oxyde of lead, in proportions which vary with the degree of care 
 bestowed upon the process. After the roasting, the heat is. raised to convert the sludge 
 into a pasty mass ; in which the oxyde and sulphate react upon the sulphuret, so as to 
 produce a sub-sulphuret, which parts with the metal by liquation. The cooling of the 
 furnace facilitates the liquation every time that the sub-sulphuret is formed, and the ore 
 has passed by increase of temperature from the pasty into the liquid state. Cooling 
 brings back the sludge to the pasty condition, and is therefore necessary .for the due 
 separation of the different bodies. The drying up of the thin slags by lime is intended 
 to liberate the oxyde of lead, and allow it to react upon any sulphuret which may have 
 resisted roasting or decomposition. It is also useful as s thickener, in a mechanical point 
 f J^ W t 'i,„ i e i,' r0I \ /i % t °°fe Whlch 1 , Wearaway vel Xf a st,is also serviceable in re- 
 f Zlt L f ?■£?■ J h< : ™ aU c ? al added alon S with *e lime at Grassington, 
 
 and also sometimes at Holywell, aids in reducing the oxyde of lead, and in transforming 
 the sulphate into sulphuret. = 
 
 r 3 - T^wfjng furnace or ore ftearffc.— This furnace, called by the French icossais is 
 from 22 to 24 niches in height and 1 foot by 1| in area'inside ; but its LrizontTsect 'on 
 Me' 6 ' mUCh ln US dimensi0ns at diff «' ent tevdsTS shown In 
 
 859 
 
 
 J 
 
 H 
 R 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 Id 
 
 
 i r 
 
 
 JB 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LEAD. 
 
 47 
 
 The hearth and the sides are of cast iron ; the sole-plate a b is also of cast iron, 2| inches 
 thick, having on its back and two sides an upright ledge, A c, 2J inches thick and 4£ 
 high. In front of the hearth there is another cast iron plate m n, called the work 
 s<one_, surrounded on every side excepting towards the sole of the .furnace, by a ledge 
 one inch m thickness and height. The plate slopes from behind forwards, and its pos- 
 terior ledge, which is about 4J inches above the surface of the hearth, is separated from 
 it by a void_ space q, which is filled with a mixture of bone ash and galena, both in fine 
 powder moistened and pressed down together. The melted lead cannot penetrate into 
 this body, but after fining the basin at the bottom of the furnace, flows naturally out 
 by the gutter (nearly an mch deep) through a groove in the work-stone; and then 
 passes into a caldron of reception p, styled the melting-pot, placed below the front edge 
 oi the work-stone. 
 
 The posterior ledge of the sole is surmounted by a piece of cast iron c d, called the 
 back-stone, 28 inches long, and 6 J high; on which the tuyere or blast-pipe is placed. It 
 supports another piece of cast iron e, called pipe-stone, scooped out at its under part, in 
 the middle of its length, for the passage of the tuyere. This piece advances 2 inches into 
 the interior of the furnace, the back wall of which is finally crowned by another piece of 
 cast iron e h, called also back-stone. 
 
 On the ledges of the two sides of the sole, are placed two pieces of cast iron, called 
 bearers, each of which is 5 inches in breadth and height, and 26 inches long. They 
 advance an inch or two above the posterior and highest edge of the work-stone," and con- 
 tribute ettectually to fix it solidly in its place. These bearers support, through the in- 
 tervention of several ranges of fire-bricks, a piece of cast iron called a fore-stone, which 
 has the same dimensions as the piece called the back-stone, on which the base of the 
 blowing-machine rests. This piece is in contact, at each of its extremities, with another 
 mass at cast iron, 6 inches cube, called the key-stone, supported on the masonry. Lastly, 
 the void spaces left between the two key-stones and the back part of the furnace are filled 
 up with two masses of cast iron exactly like the Jc ey-stones. 
 
 The front of the furnace is open for about 12 inches from the lower part of the front 
 cross-piece called /orc-sfone, up to the superior part of the work-stone. It is through this 
 opening that (he smelter operates. 
 
 The gaseous products of the combustion, on escapine from this ore-hearth, are fre- 
 quently made to pass through a long flue, sloped very slightly upwards, in which they 
 deposite all the particles of ore that they may have swept along ; these flues, whose length 
 is sometimes more than 100 yards, are usually 5 feet high and 3 feet wide in the inside 
 and always terminate in a chimney stalk. The matters deposited near the commence- 
 ment of the flue require to be washed ; but not the other dusty deposits The whole 
 may then be earned back to the roasting furnace, to be calcined and re-agglutinated or 
 introduced without any preparation into the staff hearth. 
 ■4. Figs. 860, 861 represent a slag-hearth, theforneau a manc/je (elbow furnace) of the 
 
 JL 
 
 
 .... t 
 
 rhff 
 
 u] 
 
 c 
 c ""' 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 if 
 
 - - 
 
 French, and the krwnmofen (crooked furnace) of the Germans ; such as is used at Alston 
 Moor in Cumberland, for the reduction of the lead-slag. It resembles the Scotch 
 furnace. The shaft is a parallelopiped, whose base is 26 inches by 22 in area inside, and 
 whose height is 3 feet ; the sole-plate a, of cast iron, slopes slightly down to the basin 
 of reception, or the fore-hearth b. Upon both of the long sides of the sole-plate there are 
 cast iron beams, called bearers, c c, of great strength, which support the side walls built 
 of a coarse grained sandstone, aswell as the cast iron plate d {fore-stone), which forms 
 the front of the shaft. This stands 1 inches off from the sole-plate, leaving an empty 
 space between them. The back side is made of cast iron from the sole-plate to the 
 horizontal tuyere in its middle; but above this point it is made of sandstone. The 
 tuyere is from 1£ to 2 inches in diameter. In front of the fore-hearth b, a cistern e is 
 placed, through which water continually flows, so that the slags which spontaneously 
 overflow the fore-hearth may become inflated and shattered, whereby the lead dissemi- 
 nated through them may be readily separated by washing. The lead itself flows from 
 the fore-hearth 6, through an orifice, into an iron pot/, which is kept hot over a fire. 
 The metal obtained from this slag -hearth is much less pure than that extracted directly 
 from the ore. 
 
48 
 
 LEAD. 
 
 The whole bottom of the furnace is filled to a height of 17 inches, that is, to 
 within 2 or 3 inches of the tuyere, with the rubbish of coke reduced to coarse powder 
 and beat strongly down. At each smelting shift, this bed must be made anew, and the 
 interior of the furnace above the tuyere repaired, with the exception of the front, con- 
 sisting of cast iron. In advance of the furnace there is a basin of reception, which is 
 also filled with coke rubbish. Farther off is a pit, full of water, replenished by a cold 
 stream, which incessantly runs in through a pipe. The scoria!, in flowing out of the fur- 
 nace, pass over the coke bed in the basin of reception, and then fall into the water, whose 
 coolness makes them fly into small pieces, after which they are easily washed/so as to 
 separate the lead that may be entangled among them. 
 
 These furnaces are urged, in general, by wooden bellows ; Jig. 862. But at the smelting 
 
 works of Lea, near Matlock, the blowing-machine consists of two casks, which move 
 upon horizontal axes. Each of these casks is divided into two equal parts by a fixed 
 plane that passes through its axis, and is filled with water to a certain height. The water 
 of one side communicates with that of the other by an opening in the lower part of the 
 division. Each cask possesses a movement of oscillation, produced by a rod attached to 
 a crank of a bucket-wheel. At each demi-oscillation, one of the compartments, being in 
 communication with the external air, is filled ; while the other, on the contrary, communi- 
 cates with the nozzle, and supplies wind to the furnace. 
 
 5. Refining or cupellation furnace. See Silver. 
 
 6. Smelting by the reverberatory furnace is adopted exclusively in Derbyshire, and in 
 some works at Alston Moor. The charge in the hopper consists commonly of 16 cwts., 
 each weighing 120 lbs. avoirdupois, composed of an intimate mixture of 5, 6, 7, or even 
 8 kinds of ore, derived from different mines, and prepared in different ways. _The pro- 
 portions of the mixture are determined by experience, and are of great consequence to the 
 success of the work. 
 
 The ore is rather in the form of grains than of a fine schlich ; it is sometimes very pure, 
 and affords 75 per cent. ; but usually it is mixed up with a large proportion of carbonate 
 and fluate of lime ; and its product varies from 65 to 23 per cent. 
 
 After scraping the slaggy matters out of the furnace, a fresh smelting shift is intro- 
 duced at an interval of a few minutes j and thus, by means of two alternate work- 
 men, who relieve each other every seven or eight hours, the weekly operations continue 
 without interruption. The average product in lead of the reverberatory furnaces in 
 Derbyshire, during several years, has been 66 per cent, of the ore. Very fine ore has 
 however, afforded 76. ' 
 
 7. Smelting of the drawn slag, on the slag-mill hearth. — The black slag of the reverbe- 
 ratory furnace is broken by hammers into small pieces, and mixed m proper prcportions 
 with the coal cinders that fall through the grate of the reverberatory fire. The leaden 
 matts that float on the surface of the bath, and the dust deposited in the chimney 
 are added, along with some poor ore containing a gangue of fluor spar and limestone' 
 which had been put aside during the machanical preparation. With such a mixture the 
 slag-hearth, already described figs. 860, 861, is charged. By the action of heat and coal, 
 the lead is revived, the earthy matters flow into very liquid scoria;, and the whole is 
 made to pass across the body of fire into a basin of reception placed beneath The 
 scons are thickened by throwing quicklime upon them, and 'they are then' raked 
 away. At the end of the operation the lead is cast into pigs or ingots of a peculiar 
 form. This is called slag-lead. It is harder, more sonorous than the lead obtained from 
 the reverberatory furnace, and is preferred for the manufacture of minium, lead shot and 
 some other purposes. ' 
 
 8. Treatment of lead ores by the Scotch furnace, or ore-hearth.— This furnace is "ener- 
 ally employed in the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Durham, for the 
 smelting of lead ores, winch were formerly carried to them without any preparation 
 
LEAD. 49 
 
 but now they are exposed to a preliminary calcination. The roasted ore yields in the 
 Scotch furnace a more considerable product than the crude ore, because it forms in the 
 furnace a more porous mass, and at the same time it works drier, to use the founder's ex- 
 pression ; that is, it allows the stream of air impelled by the bellows to diffuse itself more 
 completely across the matters contained in the furnace. 
 
 The charge of the roasting furnace, Jigs. 856, 857, 858, is from 9 to 11 cwts. of o-e 
 put into the furnace without any addition. Three such shifts are usually passed throueti 
 m eight hours. The fire should be urged in such a manner as to produce constantly" a 
 dense smoke, without letting any part of the ore melt and form a slag ; an accident 
 which would obstruct the principal end of the process, which is to burn off the sulphur and 
 antimony, and to expel the carbonic acid of the carbonate of lead. The ore must be fre- 
 quently turned over, by moving it from the bridge to the other end and back again. To 
 prevent the ore from running into masses as it cools, it is made to fall out of the furnace 
 into a pit full of water, placed below one of the lateral doors. 
 
 Smelting of the lead ores in the Scotch furnace.— When a smelting shift has been 
 finished in the Scotch furnace, a portion of the ore, called browse, remains in a semi- 
 reduced state, mixed with coke and cinders. It is found of more advantage to preserve 
 the browse for beginning the following operation, than o take raw or even roasted 
 ore. To set the furnace in action, the interior of it is r lied with peats, cut into the 
 lorm of bricks. The peats towards the posterior part are heaped up without order, 
 but those near the front are piled up with care in the form of a wall. A kindled peat 
 is now placed before the nozzle of the bellows, which are made to blow, and the blast 
 spreads the combustion rapidly through the whole mass. To increase the heat, and to 
 render the fire more steady and durable, a few shovelfuls of coals are thrown over the 
 turf. A certain quantity of the browse is to be next introduced ; and then (or some- 
 times before all the browse is put in) the greater part cf the matters contained in the 
 furnace is drawn over on the work-stone, by means of a large rake called a gowdock ; the 
 refuse of the ore called gray slag, which a skilful smelter knows by its shining more 
 than the browse, is taken off with a shovel, and thrown to the right hand into a corner 
 outside of the furnace. The browse left on the work-stone is to be now thrown back 
 into the furnace, with the addition of a little coal, if necessary. If the browse be not 
 well cjeaned from the slag, which is perceived by the whole mass being in a soft slate, 
 and showing a tendency to fuse, quicklime must be added, which by its affinity for the 
 argillaceous, silicious, and ferruginous substances, dries up the materials, as the 
 * smelters say, and gives to the earthy parts the property of concreting into lumps or 
 balls ; but if, on the other hand, the silicious, argillaceous, or ferruginous parts con- 
 tained in the ore be too refractory, lime is also to be added, but in smaller quantity, 
 which, by rendering them more fusible, communicates the property of concreting into 
 balls. These lumps, called gray slag, contain from one tenth to one fifteenth of the 
 lead which was present in the ore. They must be smelted afterwards at a higher tem- 
 perature in the slag hearth, to extract their lead. After the browse has been thrown 
 back into the furnace, as has been said, a few shovelfuls of ore are to be strewed over 
 it; but before doing this, and after removing the scoriee, there must be always placed 
 before the tuyere half a peat, a substance which being extremely porous and combustible, 
 not only hinders any thing from entering the nozzle of the bellows, but spreads the Hast 
 through all the vacant parts of the furnace. After an interval of from 10 to 15 minutes, 
 according to circumstances, the materials in the furnace are drawn afresh upon the work 
 stone, and the gray slag is removed by the rake. Another peat being placed before the 
 tuyere, and coal and quicklime being introduced in suitable proportions, the browse is- 
 thrown back into the furnace, a fresh portion of ore is charged above it, and left in the 
 furnace for the above-mentioned time. 
 
 This mode of working, continued for 14 or 15 hours, forms what is called a smelting 
 shift ; in which time from 20 to 40 cwts. of lead, and even nore, are produced. 
 
 By this process the purest part of the lead, as well as the t'lver, are sweated out, as it 
 were, from the materials with which they are mixed, witho.lt anything entering into 
 fusion except these two metals in the state of alloy. It is probable that the moderate 
 temperature employed in the Scotch furnace is the main cause of the purity of the lead 
 which it yields. 
 
 9. Smelting of the scoria of the Scotch furnace on the slag hearth. — Before putting fire tt 
 the slag hearth already described, Jigs. 860, 861, its empty space is to be filled with peats, 
 and a lighted one being placed before the tuyere, the bellows are made to play. A layer 
 of coke is to be now thrown upon the burning peats, and as soon as the heat is sufficiently 
 high, a layer of the gray slag is to be introduced, or of any other scoriae that are to 
 be reduced. From time to lime, as the fit moment arrives, alternate strata of coke and 
 slag are to be added. In this operation, though the slag and the lead are brought to a 
 state of perfect fluidity, the melal gets separated by filtering down through the bed of 
 Vol. U. 4 
 
50 LEAD 
 
 peat cinders, which the slag cannot do on account of its viscidity. Whenever that coke 
 bed becomes covered with fluid slag, the workman makes a hole in it, of about an inch 
 diameter, by means of a kneed poker ; and runs it off by this orifice, as it cannot sink 
 down into the hard rammed cinders, which fill the basin of reception. The slag flows 
 over it in a glowing stream into the pit filled with water, where it gets granulated and 
 ready for washing. 
 
 When lead is obtained from galena without the addition of combustible Clatter, we 
 have an example, on the great scale, of the mutual decomposition of the oxydes and sul 
 phates formed during the roasting heat, by the still undecomposed galena, especially when 
 this action is facilitated by working up and skilfully mingling the various matters, as hap- 
 pens in the reverberatory and Scotch furnaces. It is therefore the sulphuret of lead itself 
 which serves as the agent of reduction in regard to the oxyde and sulphate, when little 
 or no charcoal has been added. Sometimes, however, towards the end of the operation 
 in the reverberatory hearth, it becomes necessary to throw in some wood or charcoal, 
 because the oxydizement having become too complete, there does not remain a sufficient 
 body of sulphuret of lead to effect the decompositions and reductions just mentioned, and 
 therefore it is requisite to regenerate some galena by :reans of carbonaceous matter, 
 which immediately converts the sulphate of lead into the sulphuret. The sulphur and 
 oxygen are eventually all separated in the form of sulphurous acid. Roasted galena 
 contains sometimes no less than 77 per cent, of sulphate of lead. 
 
 At Viconago, in the Valais, the process of smelting lead ore in the reverberatory fur- 
 nace, with the addition of iron, as practised at Vienne, on the Isere, was introduced ; 
 but the difficulty of procuring a sufficient supply of old iron has led to an interesting 
 modification. 
 
 On the hearth of the reverberatory furnace, 10 quintals of moderately rich ore are 
 spread ; these are heated temperately for some time, and stirred about to promote the 
 sublimation of the sulphur. After three or four hours, when the ore seems to be suffi- 
 ciently desulphureted, the heat is raised so as to melt the whole materials, and when- 
 ever they flux into a metallic glass, a few shovelfuls of bruised charcoal or cinders are 
 thrown in, which soon thicken the liquid, and cause metallic lead to appear. By this 
 means three fourths of the lead contained in the ore are usually extracted ; but at length 
 the substance, becoming less and less fluid, yields no more metal. Stamped and washed 
 carbonate of iron (sparry iron ore) is now added, in the proportion of about 10 per cent, 
 of the lead ore primarily introduced. 
 
 On stirring and working together this mixture, it assumes the consistence of a stiff 
 paste, which is raked out of the furnace. When this has become cold, it is broken into 
 pieces, and thereafter smelted in a slag-hearth, without the addition of flux. By this 
 operation almost the whole lead present is obtained. 100 quintals of schlich yield 45 
 of argentiferous lead ; and in the production of 100 quintals (cwts.) of marketable lea I 
 140 cubic feet of beech-wood, and 357J quintals of charcoal are consumed. 
 
 This process is remarkable for the use of iron-ore in smelting galena. 
 
 10. Reduction in the reverberatory furnace of the litharge obtained in the refmins, of 
 lead.— The litharge of Alston Moor is seldom sold as such, but is usually converted into 
 lead, in a reverberatory furnace. 
 
 In commencing this reduction, a bed of coal about 2 inches thick is first of all laid 
 on the hearth ; which is soon kindled by the flame of the fire-place, and in a little while 
 is reduced to red hot cinders. Upon these a certain quantity of a mixture of litharge 
 and small coal is uniformly spread ; the heat of the fire-place being meanwhile so man- 
 aged as to maintain in the furnace a suitable temperature for enabling the combustible to 
 deprive the litharge of its oxygen, and to convert it into lead. The metal is run out bv 
 the tap-hole into an iron pot ; and being cast into pigs of hUf a hundred weight, is sold 
 under the name of refined lead at a superior price 
 
 The quantity of small coal mixed with the litharge should be somewhat leas than what 
 may be necessary to effect the reduction, becau.-e if in the course of the process a defi- 
 ciency of it is perceived in any part of the furnace, more can always be added; whereas 
 a redundancy of coal necessarily increases the quantity of slag, which, at the end of the 
 shift, must be removed from the furnace before a new operation is begun, whereby lead 
 is lost. In the reverberatory furnace, six fodders of lead may be revived in nine or ten 
 hours; during the first six of which the mrxture of litharge and coal is added at short 
 intervals. A rodder is from 21 to 24 cwts. 
 
 It deserves to be remarked that the work does not go on so well nor so quick when 
 hecoa and litharge are in a pulverulent form; because the reduction in this case 
 takes place only at the surface, the air not being able to penetrate into the body, and to 
 keep up its combustion, and the mutual action of the litharge and carbon in the interior 
 But, on the other hand, when the litharge is in porous pieces, as large as a hen's e " 
 the action pervades the whole body, and the sooty fumes of the coal effect the reduction 
 
LEAD. 
 
 Dl 
 
 even in the centre of the fragments oi the litharge, penetrating into every fissure and 
 carrying off the oxygen. The heat ought never to be urged so far as to melt the 
 litharge. 
 
 The grounds of the cupel, and the slag of the reduction furnace, being a mixture of 
 small coke, coal ash, and oxyde of iron, more or less imrj^gnated with lead, are smelted 
 upon the slag hearth, along with coke, and, by way of flux, with a certain quantity of the 
 black scorise obtained from the same furnace, prepared for this purpose, by running it 
 out in thin plates, and breaking it into small pieces. The lead thus obtained is usually 
 very white, very hard, and not susceptible of refinement. 
 
 MM. Dufrenoy and Beaumont consider the smelting of lead ore by the reverberatory 
 furnace, as practised in Derbyshire, as probably preferable to that with the slag hearth 
 as carried on in Brittany ; a process which seldom gives uniform products, while it occa- 
 sions a more considerable waste of lead and consumption of fuel. 
 
 The mixed process employed in Cumberland of roasting the ore, and afterwards 
 smelting it in a small furnace resembling that called the Scotch, apparently yields a 
 little less lead than if both operations were executed in the reverberatory furnace ; but 
 according to Mr. Forster (see his Treatise on a Section of the Strata from Newcastle 
 upon Tyne, &c), this slight loss is more than compensated by the smaller consumption 
 of fuel, the increased rapidity of the operation, and especially by the much greater 
 purity of the lead obtained from the Scotch furnace. When it comes to be refined, the 
 loss is only about one twelfth or one thirteenth, whereas the lead revived in the rever- 
 beratory furnace loses frequently a ninth. Moreover, the lead furnished by the first 
 method admits of being refined with profit, when it yields only 5 ounces of silver per 
 fodder of 20 quintals, poids de marc, while that produced by the reverberatory furnace 
 cannot be cupelled unless it gives 10 ounces per fodder; and as in the English cupel- 
 lation lead is constantly added anew without skimming, the litharge obtained in the 
 second case can never be brought into the market, whereas the lilluige of the leads from 
 the Scotch furnace is of good quality. See the new method of enriching lead for cupel- 
 lation, under Silvek. 
 
 As the smelting of galena, the principal ore of lead, is not a little complex, the follow- 
 ing tabular view of the different processes may prove acceptable to the metallurgist : — 
 
 I. Class. 
 Treated in re- 
 verberatory 
 furnaces. 
 
 II. Class. 
 Treated in the 
 mill-slag; 
 hearth, the 
 fourneau !l 
 manche, or 
 Scotch fur- 
 
 A 
 Desulphura- 
 tion by roast- ' 
 ing. 
 
 B 
 
 Desulphura- < 
 tion by iron. ( 
 
 A 
 Founding after 
 roasting in a 
 heap, or in a 
 reverbera- 
 tory. 
 
 B 
 
 Founding with 
 direct de- 
 sulphuration, 
 by metallic 
 iron. 
 
 Treatment of Process of 
 
 Pure ores. Pesey, Spain, &c. 
 
 Ores mixed with ) England, in gen- 
 saline gangues. 5 era l- 
 
 IVicenago, in 
 Italy, and Red- 
 ruth, in Corn- 
 wall. 
 Ores mixed with ' 
 
 sulphu- 
 
 ' Combined with 
 l the above. , 
 
 several 
 
 rets. 
 
 Ores with earthy, ~\ 
 
 saline, and sul- I 
 
 phurous gan- | 
 
 gues. J 
 
 Ores with, mattes, f Vienne, Poulla- 
 
 as at "Vienne, in > ouen, and Tar- 
 
 Dauphiny. J nowitz. 
 
 7. Ores producing ( M ff with raw 
 slags of various \ ,„■ e ? ', , , ■, 
 silicates I Workable lead > 
 
 (_ without mattes. 
 
 ? Mattes and work- 
 
 8. Ores producing | able lead, 
 compound sili- \ 
 
 K cate slags. 
 
 . Ores producing 
 slags composed 
 of silicates and 
 subsilicates. 
 
 I 
 
 Workable lead. 
 
 Mattes and work- 
 able lead. 
 
 j Poor mattes and 
 (_ workable lead. 
 
 Tarnowitz. 
 
52 LEAD-SHOT. 
 
 The annual production of lead in Europe may be estimated ai about 80,000 tons j of 
 which four sevenths are produced in England, two sevenths in Spain, the remainder in 
 Germany and Russia. France does not produce more than one five-hundredth part of th 
 whole ; and only one fiftieth of its consumption. 
 
 See Litharge, Minium, or Red Lead, Solder, Sugar or Jcetati or Lead, Typf 
 Metal, and White Lead. 
 
 LEAD-SHOT (Plomb de chasse, Fr. j Schrot, Flintenschrot, Germ.). The origin of 
 most of the imperfections in the manufacture of lead-shot is the too rapid cooling of the 
 spherules by their being dropped too hot into the water, whereby their surfaces form r 
 solid crust, while their interior remains fluid, and, in its subsequent concretion, shrinks 
 so as to produce the irregularities of the shot. 
 
 The patent shot towers originally constructed in England obviate this evil by exposing 
 the fused spherules after they pass through the cullender, to a large body of air during 
 their descent into the water tub placed on the ground. The greatest erection of this kind 
 is probably at Villach, in Carinthia, being 240 Vienna, or 249 English feet high. 
 
 The quantity of arsenic added to the mass of melted lead, varies according to thi 
 quality of this metal ; the harder and less ductile the lead is, the more arsenic must be 
 added. About 3 pounds of either white arsenic or orpiment is enough for one thousand 
 parts of soft lead, and about 8 for the coarser kinds. The latter are employed preferably 
 for shot, as they are cheaper and answer sufficiently well. The arsenical alloy is made 
 either by introducing some of this substance at each melting, or by making a quantity of 
 the compound considerably stronger at once, and adding a certain portion of this to each 
 charge of lead. If the particles of the shot appear lens-shaped, it is a proof that the 
 proportion of arsenic has been too great ; but rf they are flattened upon one side, if they 
 are hollowed in their middle, called cupping by the workman, or drag with a tail behind 
 them, the proportion of arsenic is too small. 
 
 The following is the process prescribed by the patentees, Ackerman and Martin. Melt 
 a ton of soft lead, and sprinkle round its sides, in the iron pot, about two shovelfuls of 
 wood ashes, taking care to leave the centre clear; then put into, the middle about 40 
 pounds of arsenic to form a rich alloy with the lead. Cover the pot with an iron lid, and 
 lute the joints quickly with loam pr mortar, to confine the arsenical vajrors, keeping up 
 a moderate fire to maintain the mixture fluid for three or four hours ; after which skim 
 carefully, and run the alloy into moulds to form ingots or pigs. The composition tins 
 made is to be put in the proportion of one pig or ingot into 1000 pounds of melted ordi- 
 nary lead. When the whole is well combined, take a perforated skimmer and let a few 
 drops of it fall from some height into a tub of water. If they do not appear globular, 
 some more arsenical alloy must be added. 
 
 Lead'which contains a good deal of pewter or tin must be rejected, because it tends to 
 produce elongated drops or tails. 
 
 From two to three tons are usually melted at once in the large establishments. The 
 surface of the lead gets covered with a crust of oxyde of 'a white spongy nature, some- 
 times called cream by the workmen, which is of use to coat over the bottom of the cul- 
 lender, because without such abed the heavy melted lead would run too rapidly through 
 the holes for tlje granulating process, and would form oblong spheroids. The mounting 
 of this filter, or lining of the cullender, is reckoned to be a nice operation by the -work 
 men, and is regarded usually as a valuable secret. 
 
 The cullenders are hollow hemispheres of sheet iron, about 10 inches in diameter, per- 
 forated with holes, which should be perfectly round and free from burs. These must be 
 of a uniform size in each cullender; but of course a series of different cullenders, with 
 sorted holes for every different size of lead shot, must be prepared. The holes have 
 nearly the following diameters for the annexed numbers of shot. 
 
 No. 0. - - - . . - JL of an inch. 
 
 1 t — 
 
 2 Ill _ 
 
 3. . 6 i 6 _ 
 
 4- . 11 _ 
 
 80 
 
 From No. 5 to No. 9 the diameter decreases by regular gradations, the latter being onhi 
 i^ of an inch. " ' 
 
 The operation is always carried on with three cullenders at a time ; which are sup- 
 ported upon projecting grates of a kind of chafing dish made of sheet iron somewhat like 
 a triangle. This chafing dish should be placed immediately above the fall • while at its 
 bottom there must be a tub half filled with water for receiving the granulated lead The 
 cullenders are not in contact, but must be parted by burning charcoal, in order to keep the 
 lead constantly at the proper temperature, and to prevent its solidifying in the filter The 
 temperature of the lead bath should vary with the size of the shot ; for the largest il 
 
LEAD. 53 
 
 .should be such that a bit of straw plunged into it will be scarcely browned, but for all it 
 should be nicely regulated. The height from which the particles should be let fall varie^ 
 likewise with the size of the shot ; as the congelation is the more rapid, the smaller thej 
 are. With a fall of 33 yards or 100 feet, from No. 4 to No. 9 may be made; but foi 
 larger sizes, 150 feet of height will be required. 
 
 Every thing being arranged as above described, the workman puts the filter-stuff into 
 the cullender, pressing it well against the sides. He next pours lead into it with an iron 
 ladle, but not in too great quantity at a time, lest it should run through too fast. Tht 
 shot thereby formed and found in the tub are not all equal. 
 
 The centre of the cullender being less hot affords larger shot than the sides, which are 
 constantly surrounded with burning charcoal. Occasionally, also, the three cullenders 
 employed together may have holes of different sizes, in which case the tub may contain 
 shot of very various magnitudes. These are separated from each other by square 
 sieves of different fineness, 10 inches broad and 16 inches long, their bottoms being of 
 sheet iron, pierced with holes of the same diameters as those of the cullenders. These 
 sieves are suspended by means of two bands above boxes for receiving the shot ; one 
 sieve being usually set above another in consecutive numbers, for instance, 1 and 2. The 
 shot being put into the upper sieve, No. will remain in it, No. 1 will remain in the 
 lower sieve, and No. 2 will, with all the others, pass through it into the chest below. It is 
 obvious that by substituting sieves of successive fineness^ shot of any dimension may be 
 sortod. 
 
 In the preceding proress the shot has been sorted to size ; it must next be sorted to 
 form, so as to separate all the spheroids which are not truly round, or are defective in any 
 respect. For this purpose a board is made use of about 27 inches long and 16 broad, 
 furnished partially with upright ledges ; upon this tray a handful or two of the shot to be 
 sorted being laid, it is inclined very slightly, and gently shaken in the horizontal direction, 
 . when the globular particles run down by one edge, into a chest set to receive them, while 
 those of irregular forms remain on the sides of the tray, and are reserved to be remelted. 
 
 After being sorted in this way, the shot requires still to be smoothed and polished 
 bright. This object is effected by putting it into a small octagonal cask, through a door 
 in its side, turning upon a horizontal iron axis, which rests in plummer boxes at its ends, 
 and is made to revolve by any mechanical power. A certain quantity of plumbago or 
 black lead is put in along with the shot. 
 
 Lead acted on by pure water so as to make it poisonous. — Dr. H. Guenaude Mussy 
 was summoned to Claremont in the beginning of October, 1848 ; and on his arrival 
 was shown into the room of one of the members of the ex-royal family of France, who 
 had been residing there since the preceding March. He found him lying down, with 
 an anxious countenance, the conjunctiva of a yellowish color, and the flesh flabby, 
 evidently proving a loss of substance. He told him he had been suffering for several 
 days from violent colics, which had been relieved after a constipation of two days by 
 abundant alvine evacuations, pioduced by a purgative draught. _ This was the third 
 attack of the same nature during the space of five weeks. Some time before, towards 
 the end of July, he had been suffering from colic, with nausea, frequent eructations and 
 irregularity of the bowels. 
 
 "I learnt that a brother of my patient had experienced the same symptoms; but no 
 one was astonished at it, as it was supposed he was suffering under a liver complaint 
 contracted on the western coast of Africa. 
 
 "A third patient, of forty-eight years of age, who was also subject to constipation, 
 had violent colic a few days before, attended with nausea and even vomiting. 
 
 "A few days elapsed, and no bad symptoms disturbed our security. My patients 
 had resumed their usual occupations, and good appetites and pretty fair digestion, but 
 were still very weak; and pale sallow complexions had replaced the icteric color. 
 
 " My delusions did not last long. About ten days after, a new access of symptoms 
 began, with a painful sensation of constriction about the epigastric region, anxiety, 
 nausea, and eructations." 
 
 After describing the symptoms and the treatment resorted to before the real cause of 
 the disorder was suspected, the doctor mentions the oircumstanceswhich led to the 
 discovery, which induced him to administer sulphur in combination with iron internally, 
 and to order sulphurous and soapy baths. He proceeds: — 
 
 "The chemical action showed itself almost immediately by the black discoloration 
 of the nails of the feet and hands, and by the appearance of similar spots on different 
 parts of the skin. , 
 
 "One of the patients came out from the second bath with the abdomen entirely black. 
 The soapy frictions and baths usually washed away the spots from the skin, but not 
 those of the nails. The appearance of this reaction, which is very common with men 
 
54 LEATHER. 
 
 working in lead manufactories when using sulphurous baths, is explained by the com 
 bination of sulphur with the saturnine molecules adhering to the skin. 
 
 "In these cases it was evident that the lead was brought to the surface of the body 
 by means either of subdaminal or follicular exhalations, and perhaps by both. 
 
 "The metal is eliminated and transformed into sulphuret of lead by the sulphurom 
 oaths, and then taken off by the soapy frictions and baths. 
 
 "These were not useless, for without them the lead deposited on the surface might 
 have been carried again by absorption into the economy. 
 
 "But the skin was not the only means of giving exit to the poison. I discovered it 
 in the urine by a solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia. Some physicians and chemists 
 look on sulphur as the only efficacious remedy; others, on the contrary, assert that it 
 ia without any effect. 
 
 " What I can tell you is, that the success was beyond my hopes. After two or three 
 weeks I had the satisfaction of seeing my patients progressing rapidly and surely to 
 wards recovery. This happy result induced me to try the same means with another 
 person, older and of a weaker constitution, and consequently for whom I was most 
 uneasy, and the result was as satisfactory. 
 
 " One of my patients was accustomed to drink Vichy water at table. This was a very 
 unfortunate predisposing circumstance : it is probable that the salt of Vichy water, i. a. 
 bicarbonate of soda, united to the bed of Claremont water, had much to do with the 
 violence of the attack under which he suffered. — 
 
 "At the time of my arrival at Claremont, there were thirty-eight inhabitants. 
 
 "Thirteen of these had been attacked, eleven men and two women. Four of them 
 had some symptoms two months previously to my arrival, the other cases occurred 
 under my own eyes. Some even after the pipes had been cut off were affected, and 
 on the continent a week after leaving England. 
 
 " Six children in the household, aged from three to seven years, havte been exempt 
 from it. Only half of the patients have had the gums marked with the siate-eolored line 
 and spots of the same color on the mucous membrane of the mouth, and these spots 
 :ind the bluish line of the gums, were observed on several others who did not experience 
 or exhibit anything else, and those signs of the poison having been taken into the econ- 
 omy have not yet disappeared. The morbid cause has acted in these cases, as it often 
 does, with caprice, and according to individual dispositions which defy every reasoning. 
 
 "The malady has shown no respect for condition, and attacked indiscriminately ser- 
 vants, aides-de-camps and princes. 
 
 "The spring that furnishes the palace of Claremont with water issues from a sand 
 bed at about two miles distance. It was chosen for its uncommon purity from among 
 a great many others in its vicinity, and the water was thirty years ago conducted tc 
 I lie palace through leaden pipes. In the present day some other metal would perhaps 
 have been selected, for experience has taught us that pure water, and especially dis- 
 tilled water, acts rapidly on lead when it comes in contact with it. 
 
 " Thus Tronchin proved that the inhabitants of Amsterdam were indebted to the rain 
 water, kept in leaden cisterns, for the colic they were so much subject to in his time. 
 
 "The purity of the Claremont water becomes a most dangerous property, and not 
 only to it but to other springs. "Whilst I was combating its pernicious effects, I heard 
 that there had been several similar cases in different parts of England ; they are not 
 uncommon in the county of Surrey, and especially in the neighborhood of Claremont. 
 Besides the cases published by Dr. Thompson, I know of several others at Weybridge, 
 Windsor, and in different other places. 
 
 "I should inform you that Professor Hoffman has ascertained the quantity of me- 
 tallic lead contained in the water examined by him. He has found that it amounted 
 to a grain per gallon, an enormous quantity when we consider that the poisoned water 
 was used in all culinary and table purposes; and, previously to the discovery of its 
 deleterious character, even in the preparation of ptisans and lavements." 
 
 Lead Shot has been manufactured in the United States in low towers, provided 
 with an ascending stream of air, drawn up by a fan worked by water power, whereby 
 a like cooling effect is obtained as by letting the melted lead fall from a hi°-h tower. 
 
 LEATHER, (Cuir, Fr. ; Leder, Germ.); is the skin of animals, so modified by ckem- 
 leal means as to have become unalterable by the external agents which tend to de- 
 compose it in its natural state. The preparation in a rude manner of this valuable 
 substance has been known from the most ancient times, but it was not till the end of 
 the last, and the beginning of the present century, that it began to be manufactured 
 upon right principles, in consequence of the researches of Ma'ebride, Deyeux, Seguin, 
 and Davy. There are several varieties of leather; such as sole leather, boot, or uppei 
 leather, shamoy leather, kid or glove leather, &c. Skins may be converted' into lea- 
 ther either with or without their hairy coat. 
 
 We shall treat first of sole and upper leathers, being the most important, and mosl 
 
LEATHER. 55 
 
 cosily and difficult to prepare in a proper manner. These kinds consist of organized 
 fibrous gelatine or skin, combined with the proximate vegetable principle, tannin, and 
 probably also some vegetable extractive. Under the articles Galls and Tannin, will 
 b'3 found an account of the properties of this substance, and the means of obtaining it in a 
 state of purity. Calf leather quickly tanned by an infusion of galls, consists of 61 parts 
 i.f skin, and 39 of vegetable matter in 100 by weight; by solution of catechu, it consists 
 uf 80 of skin, and 20 of vegetable matter ; by infusion of Leicester willow, of 74'5 skin, 
 tuid 25'5 vegetable matter; and by infusion of oak bark, of 73-2 skin, and 26-8 vegetable 
 matter. By the slow process of tanning, continued for three months, the increase of 
 weight upon the skin in its conversion into leather, is greatly less ; the vegetable consti- 
 tuents being from Leicester willow only 13 per cent, of the leather, and from oak bark 
 1 5 per cent. Sofe leather, however, generally contains no less than 40 per cent, of vege- 
 table matter. In every astringent bark, the inner white part next to the alburnum, con- 
 tains the largest quantity of tannin, and the middle colored part contains most extractive 
 matter. The outer surface or epidermis seldom furnishes either tannin or extractive 
 matter. Young trees abound most in the white cortical layers, and are hence more pro- 
 ductive of tannin under equal weights, than the barks of old trees, lr, re case is there 
 any reason to believe that the gallic acid of astringent vegetables is absorbed in the pro- 
 cess of making leather; hence Seguin's theory of the agency of that substance in disoxy- 
 genating skin, falls to the ground. The different qualities of leather made with the 
 same kind of skin, seem to depend very much upon the diilerent quantities of extractive 
 matter it may have absorbed. The leather made with infusion of galls, is generally 
 harder and more liable to crack than the leather obtained from infusions of barks ; and 
 it always contains a much larger proportion of tannin, and a smaller proportion of extrac- 
 tive matter. 
 
 When calf skin is slowly tanned in weak solutions of the bark, or of catechu, it com- 
 bines with a good deal of extractive matter, and though the increase of the weight of the 
 skin be comparatively small, yet it has become perfectly insoluble in water, forming a 
 soft, but at the same time a strong leather. The saturated infusions of astringent barks 
 contain much less extractive matter in proportion to their tannin, than the weak infu- 
 sions ; and when skin is quickly tanned in the former, it produces a worse and less 
 durable leather than when slowly tanned in the latter. In quick tanning, a considerable 
 quantity of vegetable extractive matter is thus lost to the manufacturer, which might 
 have been made to enter as a useful constituent into the leather. These observations 
 show that there is sufficient foundation for the opinion of the common workmen, con- 
 cerning what is technically called feeding of leather, in the slow method of tanning ; 
 and though the processes of this art have been unnecessarily protracted by defective 
 methods of steeping, and want of progressive infiltration of the astringent liquor through 
 the skins, yet in general they appear to have arrived, in consequence of old experience, at 
 a degree of perfection in the quality of the leather, which cannot b,e far exceeded by 
 means of any theoretical suggestions which have been advanced. 
 
 On the first view it may appear surprising, that in those cases of quick tanning, 
 where extractive matter forms a certain portion of the leather, the increase of weight is 
 less than when the skin is combined with the pure tannin ; but the fact is easily account- 
 ed for, when we consider that the attraction of skin for tannin must be probably weak- 
 ened by its union with extractive matter ; and whether we suppose that the tannin and 
 extractive matter enter together into combination with the matter of skin, or unite with 
 separate portions of it, still, in either case, the primary attraction of skin for tan must be 
 to a certain extent dimmshed. 
 
 In examining astringent vegetables in relation to their power of making leather, it 19 
 necessary to take into account not only the quantity they may contain of the substance 
 precipitable by gelatine, but likewise the quantity and the nature of the extractive matter ; 
 »and in cases of comparison, it is essential to employ infusions of the same degree of con- 
 centration. 
 
 Of all astringent substances hitherto examined, catechu is that which contains the 
 largest proportion of tannin ; and_ in supposing, according to the usual estimation, that 
 from four to five pounds of common oak bark are required to produce one pound of 
 leather, it appears, from the various synthetical experiments, that about half a pound of 
 catechu would answer the same purpose. Mr. Purkis found, by the results of different 
 accurate experiments, that 1 pound of catechu was equivalent to 7 or 8 of oak bark. 
 For the common purposes of the tanner, 1 pound of it would be equivalent also to 2J 
 pounds of galls, to 7| of the Leicester willow, to 11 of the bark of the Spanish chestnut, 
 to 18 of the bark of the common elm, to 21 of the bark of the csmmon willow, and to 3 
 pounds of sumach. 
 
 Various menstrua have been proposed for the purpose of expediting and improving the 
 process of tanning, among others, lime water, and solution of pearl-ash ; but as these 
 two substances form compounds with tannin which are not decomposable by gelatine, it 
 
5 6 LEATHER. 
 
 lollows that (heir effects must he prejudicial. There is- very little reason to suppose thai 
 any hodies will he found which, at the same time that they increase the solubility of tan- 
 nin in water, will not likewise diminish its attraction for skin. 
 
 In this country all tanned leather is distinguished into two kinds, called hides and 
 skins; the former term being appropriated to that made from the larger ammals as 
 bulls/buffaloes, oxen, and cows, into thick strong sole leather; and the latter to that 
 made from calves, seals, *c, into thinner and more flexible upper leather. Sometime, 
 the hides are brought into the market merely dried, as from Buenos Ayres ; or dried and 
 salted, as from Bahia and Pernambuco ; but the greater part are fresh from recentlj 
 slaughtered animals. The. heaviest ox-hides are preferred for forming butts or backs, 
 which are manufactured as follows : — * ,. 
 
 The washing process must be more or less elaborate, according to the state ol the sKms 
 Those that are salted and dry require to be steeped, beaten, and rubbed several times al 
 ternatelv, to bring them to the fresh condition. 
 
 After" removing the horns, the softened or recent hides are laid m a heap lor two 01 
 three days, after which they are suspended on poles in a close room called a smoke- 
 house, heated somewhat above the common temperature by a smouldering hre. In tliese 
 circumstances, a slieht putrefaction supervenes, which loosens the epidermis, ana renders 
 the hair easily detachable by the fleshing knife ; a large two handled implement, with a 
 blunt edge, and bent to suit the curvature of the i minded beam of the wooden horse upon 
 which the hide is scraped. See Cubbying. . , nr ,n.v. 
 
 The next step is immersion in a pit containing water impregnated with about a lUUUtn 
 part of sulphuric acid. This process is called raising, because it distends the pores, and 
 makes the fibres swell, so as to render the skins more susceptible of the action oi the tan- 
 ning infusions. Forty-eight hours in general suffice for this operation, but more time may 
 be safely taken. , , . . 
 
 When the hides are found to be sufficiently raised, they are transferred to a pit, in 
 which they are stratified with oak bark, ground by a proper mill into a coarse powder. 
 The pit is then filled up with an infasion of oak bark called ooze, and the hides are 
 allowed to remain in it for about a month or six weeks. By this time the tannin and 
 extractive matter of the bark having combined intimately with the animal fibre, the 
 pit is exhausted of its virtue, and must be renewed, by taking out the spent bark, and 
 subjecting the skins to a fresh dose of oak bark and ooze. The hides which were 
 placed near the top of the first pit, must be placed near the bottom of the next. In this 
 mixture they remain, upon the old practice, about three months. The last process 
 being repeated twice or thrice, perfectly tanned leather is the result. The hides are now 
 removed from the pit, and hung up in a shed. In the progress of drying, which should 
 be slow, they are compressed with a steel tool, and beaten smooth, to render them more 
 firm and dense. 
 
 Some manufacturers place on the bottom of the pit & or 6 inches of spent bark, over 
 it 2 inches of fresh bark, then a skin ; and so, alternately, a layer of new bark and a skin, 
 till the pit is nearly full, reserving a small space at top for a thicker layer of bark, over 
 which weighted boards are laid, to condense the whole down into the tanning infusion. 
 
 The operation of tanning sole leather in the above way, lasts a year or a year and a 
 half, according to the quality wanted, and the nature of the hides. 
 
 A perfect leather is recognised by its section, which should have a glistening marbled 
 appearance, without any white streaks in the middle. 
 
 Crop hides are manufactured by immersion, during three or four days, in pits contain- 
 ing milk of lime ; in which they are occasionally moved up and down in order to expose 
 them equally to the action of this menstruum. They are then removed, and cleared 
 from hair and impurities, by using the fleshing knife upon the horse ; after which they 
 must be completely freed from the lime by a thorough washing. They are next 
 plunged in pits containing a weak ooze or infusion of oak bark, from which they are* 
 successively transferred into other pits with stronger ooze ; all the while being daily 
 handled, that is, moved up and down in the infusion. This practice is continued for 
 about a month or six weeks. They are now ready to be subjected to a mixture of ground 
 oak bark and stronger ooze in other pits, to a series of which they are progressively sub- 
 jected during two or three months. 
 
 The hides are next put into large vats, called layers, in which they are smoothly strati- 
 fied with more oak bark, and a stronger infusion of it. After six weeks they are taken 
 out of these vats, and subjected to a new charge of the same materials for two months. 
 This simple process is repeated twice or thrice, at the option of the manufacturer, till 
 thn hides are thoroughly tanned. They -are then slowly dried, and condensed in the man 
 ner above described. These crop hides form the principal part of the sole leather used 
 for home consumption in England. 
 
 The process of tanning skins (as of calves, seals, &c.) is in some respects, peculiar. 
 Tliey are left in the lime pits for about twelve days, when they are stripped of theii 
 
LEATHER. 67 
 
 nair, washed in water, then immersed in a lixivium of pigeons' dung, called a graincr, ol 
 an alkaline nature. Here they remain from eight to ten days, according to the state of 
 the atmosphere, during which time they are frequently handled, and scraped on both 
 sides upon a convex wooden beam. This scraping or working, as it is termed, joined to 
 the action of the grainer, serves to separate the lime, oil, and glutinous matter, and to 
 render the skin pliant, soft, and ready to imbibe the tanning principle. They are with 
 this view transferred into pits containing a weak solution of bark, in which they undergo 
 nearly the same treatment as described above for crop hides ; but they are not com- 
 monly stratified in the layers. The time occupied in tanning them is usually limited 
 to three months. They are then dried, and disposed of to the currier, who dresses and 
 blackens them for the upper leathers of boots and shoes, for harness, and other 
 purposes. The light and thin sorts of cow and horse hides are often treated like calf 
 skins. 
 
 In all the above processes, as the animal fibres on the surface of the skin absorb most 
 readily the tanning principles, and thereby obstruct, in a certain degree, their passage 
 into the interior fibres, especially of thick hides, it becomes an object of importance to 
 contrive some method of overcoming that obstacle, and promoting the penetration of 
 the tan. The first manufacturer who appears to have employed efficacious mechanical 
 means of favoring the chemical action was Francis G. Spilsbury, who in April, 1823, 
 obtained a patent for the following operation : — After the hides are freed from the 
 hairs, &c. in the usual way, they are minutely inspected as to their soundness, and if 
 any holes be found, they are carefully sewed up, so as to be water tight. Three frames 
 of wood are provided of equal dimensions, fitted to each other, with the edges of 
 the frames held together by screw bolts. A skin about to be tanned is how laid upon 
 the frame, and stretched over its edges, then the second frame is to be placed upon 
 it, so that the edges of the two frames may pinch the skin all round and hold it securely ; 
 another such skin is then stretched over the upper surface of the second frame, in like 
 manner, and a third frame being set upon this, confines the seconc ;_kin. The three 
 frames are then pinched tightly together by a series of screw bolts, passing through ears 
 set round their outer edges, which fix the skin in a proper manner for being operated upon 
 by the tanning liquor. 
 
 A space has been thus formed between the two skins, into which, when the frames 
 aie set upright, the infusion is introduced by means of a pipe from the cistern above, 
 while the air is permitted to escape by a stopcock below. This cock must of course be 
 shut whenever the bag is filled, but the one above is left open to maintain a communica- 
 tion with the liquor cistern, and to allow the hydrostatic pressure to force the liquoi 
 through the cutaneous pores by a slow infiltration, and thus to bring the tannin into con- 
 tact with all the fibres indiscriminately. The action of this pressure is evinced by a con- 
 stant perspiration on the outer surfaces of the skins. 
 
 When the tanning is completed, the upper stopcock is closed, and the under is opened 
 to run off the liquor. The frames are now removed, the bolts are unscrewed, and the 
 pinched edges of the skins pared off; after which they are to be dried and finished in the 
 usual manner. 
 
 A modificatiwi of this ingenious and effectual process was made the subject of a 
 patent, by "William Drake, of Bedminster, tanner, in October, 1831. The hides, after 
 the usual preparatory processes, are immersed in a weak tan liquor, and by frequent 
 handling or turning over, receive an incipient tanning before being submitted to the 
 infiltration plan. Two hides, as nearly of the same size and shape as possible, are placed 
 grain to grain, when their ' corresponding edges are sewed firmly together all round 
 by shoemakers' waxed thread, so as to form a bag sufficiently tight to hold tan liquor. 
 This bag must then be suspended by means of loops sewed to its shoulder end, upon 
 pegs, in such a manner that it may hang within a wooden-barred rack, and be confined 
 laterally into a book form. About an inch of the bag is left unsewed at the upper end, 
 for the purpose of introducing a funnel through which the cold tan liquor is poured into 
 the bag till it be full. After a certain interval which varies with the quality of the hides, 
 the outer surface becomes moist, and drops begin to form at the bottom of the bag. These 
 are received in a proper vessel, and when they accumulate sufficiently may be poured 
 back into the funnel ; the bag being thus, as well as by a fresh supply from above, kept 
 eonstantly distended. 
 
 "When the hides are observed to feel hard and firm, while every part of them feels 
 equally damp, the air of the tanning apartment having been always well ventilated, is 
 now to be heated by proper means to a temperature gradually increasing from 70° 
 to 150° of Fahrenheit's scale. This heat is to be maintained till the hides become 
 firmer and harder in all parts. When they begin to assume a black appearance in some 
 parts, and when the Un liquor undergoes little diminution, the hides may be considered 
 to be tanned, and the bag may bt "emptied by cutting a few stitches at its bottom. 
 The outer edges being pared off, the hides are to be finished in the usual way. During 
 
58 LEATHER. 
 
 their suspension within the racks, the hides should he shifted a little sideways, to 
 prevent the formation of furrows by the bars, and to facilitate the equable action of the 
 Uquor. 
 
 By this process the patentee says, that a hide may be tanned as completely in ten 
 days as it could be in ten months by the usual method. I have seen a piece of sole leather 
 thus rapidly tanned, and it seemed to be perfect. How it may wear, compared with tha: 
 made in the old way, I cannot pretend to determine. 
 
 Messrs. Knowlys and Duesbury obtained a patent in August, 1826, for accelerating 
 the impregnation of skins with tannin, by suspending them in a close vessel, from which 
 the air is to be extracted by an air pump, and then the tanning infusion is to be admitted. 
 In this way, it is supposed to penetrate the hide so effectually as to tan it uniformly in a 
 short time. 
 
 About 32 years ago, a similar vacuum scheme was employed to impregnate with 
 weavers' paste or starch, the cops of cotton weft, for the dandy looms of Messrs. Eadcliff 
 and Ross, of Stockport. 
 
 Danish leather is made by tanning lamb and kid skins with willow bark, whence it de- 
 rives an agreeable smell.* It is chiefly worked up into gloves. 
 
 Of the tawing or dressing of skins for gloves, and white sheep leather. 
 
 The operations of this art are : 1. washing the skins ; 2. properly treating them with 
 lime ; 3. taking off the fleece ; 4. treatment in the leather steep. 
 
 A shed erected upon the side of a stream, with a cistern of water for washing the 
 skins ; wooden horses for cleaning them with the back of the fleshing knife ; pincers 
 for removing the fibres of damaged wool ; a plunger for depressing the skins in the 
 pits ; a lime pit ; a pole with a bag tied to the end of it ; a two-handed fleshing knife ; 
 a rolling pin, from 15 to 18 inches long, thickened in the middle; such are some of the 
 utensils of a tawing establishment. There must be provided also a table for applying the 
 oil to the skins ; a fulling mill, worked by a water-wheel or other power ; a dressing peg ; 
 a press for squeezing out the fatty filth ; a stove ; planks mounted upon legs, for stretch- 
 ing the skins, &c. 
 
 Fresh skins must be worked immediately after being washed, and then dried, other- 
 wise they ferment, and contract either indelible spots, or get tender in certain points, so 
 as to open up and tear under the tools. When received in the dry state they should 
 be steeped in water for two days, and then treated as fresh skins. They are next strongly 
 rubbed on the convex horse-beam with a round-edged knife, in order to make them pli- 
 ant. The rough parts are removed by the fleshing knife. One workman can in this way 
 prepare 200 skins in a day. 
 
 The flesh side of each being rubbed with a cold cream of lime, the skins are piled 
 together with the woolly side of each pair outermost, and the fl esh sides in contact. 
 They are left in this state for a few days, till it is found that the wool may be easily re 
 moved by plucking. 
 
 They are next washed in running water, to separate the greater part of the lime, 
 stripped of the wool by small spring tweezers, and then fleeced smooth by means of the 
 rolling-pin, or sometimes by rubbing with a whetstone. Unless they be fleeced soon 
 after the treatment with lime, they do not well admit of this operation subsequently, as 
 they are apt to get hard. 
 
 They are now steeped in the milk of lime-pit, in order to swell, soften, and cleanse 
 them ; afterwards in a weak pit of old lime-water, from which they are taken out and 
 drained. This steeping and draining upon inclined tables, are repeated frequently during 
 the space of 3 weeks. Only the skins of young animals, or those of inferior value, are 
 tawed. Sometimes the wool is left on, as fur housings, &e. 
 
 The skins, after having been well softened in the steeps, are rubbed on the outside 
 with a-whetstone set in o wooden case with two handles, in order to smooth them 
 completely by removing any remaining filaments of wool. Lamb skins are rubbed 
 with the pin in the direction of their breadth, to give them suppleness ; but sheep skins 
 are fulled with water a.one. They are now ready for the branning, which is done by 
 mixing 40 lbs. of bran with 20 gallons of water, and keeping them in this fermentable 
 mixture for three weeks — with the addition, if possible, of some old bran water. Hero 
 they must be frequency turned over, and carefully watched, as it is a delicate operation. 
 In the course of two days in summer, and eight in winter, the skins are said to be 
 raised, when they sink in the water. On coming out of the bran, they are ready 
 for the white stuff; which is a bath composed of alum and sea-salt. Twelve, fourteen, 
 and sometimes eighteen pounds of ohm for J00 skins, form the basis of the bath- to 
 Which two and a half pounds of salt are added in winter, and three in summer. These 
 ingredients are introduced into a copper with !welve gallons ot water. The salt aids 
 in the whitening action. When the solution is about to boil, three gallons of it are 
 
LEATHER. 59 
 
 passed through the cullender into a basin ; in this 26 skins are ■worked one after another, 
 and, after draining, they are put together into the bath, and left in it for ten minutes to 
 imbibe the salts. They are now ready to receive the paste. For 100 skins, from 13 to 
 15 pounds of wheat flour are used along with the yolks of 50 eggs. After having warmed 
 the alum bath through which the sldns have been passed, the flower is dusted into it, 
 with careful stirring. The paste is well kneaded by the gradual addition of the solution, 
 and passed through the cullender, whereby it becomes as clear as honey. To this the 
 yolks being added, the whole is incorporated with much manual labor. The skins are 
 worked one after another in this paste ; and afterwards the whole together are left im- 
 mersed in it for a day. They are now stretched and dried upon poles, in a proper apart- 
 ment, during from 8 to 15 days, according to the season. 
 
 The effects of the paste are to whiten the skins, to soften them, and to protect them 
 from the hardening influence of the atmosphere, which would naturally render them 
 brittle. They would not bear working upon the softening iron, but for the emulsion 
 which has been introduced into their substance. With this view they are dipped in a tub 
 of clear water during five or six minutes, and then spread and worked upon the board. 
 They are increased by this means in length, in the proportion of 5 to 3. No hard points 
 must be left in them. The whiteness is also better brought out by this operation, which 
 is performed upon the flesh side. The softening tool is an iron plate, about one foot 
 broad, rounded over above, mounted upon an upright beam, 30 inches high, which 
 is fixed to the end of a strong horizontal plank, 3J feet long, and 1 broad. This plank 
 is heavily loaded, to make it immoveable upon the floor. Sometimes the skins are next 
 spread over an undressed clean skin upon the horse, and worked well with the two-handled 
 knife, for the purpose of removing the first and second epidermis, called the flew and 
 arriere-fleur by the French megissiers. They are then dried while stretched by hooks and 
 strings. When dry they are worked on the stretching iron, or they are occasionally pol- 
 ished with pumice stone. A delicate yellow lint is given by a composition made of two 
 parts of whitening, and one of ochre, applied in a moistened state, and well worked in 
 upon the grain side. After being polished with pumice, they are smoothed with a hot 
 iron, as the laundresses do linen, whereby they acquire a degree of lustre, and are ready 
 to be delivered to the glover. 
 
 For housings, the best sheepskins are selected, and such as are covered with the longest 
 and most beautiful fleece. They are steeped in water, in order to be cleansed and soft- 
 ened ; after which they are thinned inside by the fleshing knife. They are now steeped 
 in an old bran pit for 3 or 4 days, when they are taken out and washed. They are next 
 subjected to the white or alum bath, the wool being carefully folded within ; about 18 
 pounds of alum being used for 100 skins. The paste is made as for the fleeced skins, but 
 it is merely spread upon their flesh side, and left upon them for 18 hours, so as to stiffen. 
 They are then hung up to dry. They are next moistened by sprinkling cold water 
 upon them, folded up, piled in a heap, and covered with boards weighted with heavy 
 stones ; in which state they remain for two days. They are next opened with a round 
 iron upon the horse, and subjected to the stretching iron, being worked broadwise. They 
 are dried with the fleece outermost, in the sun if possible ; and are finished upon the 
 stretcher. 
 
 Calf and lamb skins with their hair and wool are worked nearly in the same manner ; 
 only th 5 thicker the skin, the stronger the alum bath ought to be. One pound of alum 
 and one of salt are required for a single calf skin. It is left four days in this bath, after 
 which it is worked upon the stretcher, then fulled ; when half dry the skins are opened 
 upon the horse. In eight days of ordinary weather, they may be completely dressed. 
 Lamb skins are sometimes steeped during eight days in a bath prepared with unbolted 
 rye flour and cold water, in which they are daily moved about two or three times. 
 They are then dried, sti Etched upon the iron, and switched upon the fleecy side. 
 
 Chamois or Shamoy leather. — The skins are first washed, limed, fleeced, and branned 
 as above described. They are next efflowered, that is, deprived of their epidermis by a 
 concave knife, blunt in its middle part, upon the convex horse-beam. The cutting part 
 strves to remove all excrescences, and to equalize the thickness, while the blunt part 
 softens and smooths. The skins of goats, does, and chamois, are always treated in this 
 way. They are next subjected to the fermenting bran steep for one or two days, in 
 ordinary weather ; but in hot weather for a much shorter time, sometimes only moving 
 them in the sour bran liquor for a few minutes. They are lastly wrung at the peg, and 
 subjected to the lulling mill. 
 
 When the skins have been sufficiently swelled and suppled by the branning, they may 
 receive the first oil as follows : a dozen skins being stretched upon the table, the fingers 
 are dipped in the oil, and shaken over the skins in different places, so as to impart 
 enough of it to imbue the whole surface, slightly, by friction with the palms of the 
 hands. It is to the outside or grain that the oil is applied. The skins are folded four 
 together, go as to form balls of the size of a hog's bladder, and thrown into tne trough 
 
60 LEATHER. 
 
 of the fulling mill, to the number of twelve dozen at once. Here they remain exposed 
 to the heater for two, three, or four hours, according to their nature and the state of th« 
 weather. They are taken out, aired, oiled, and again fulled. The airing and fulling 
 are repeated several times, with more or less frequent oilings. Any cheap animal oil il 
 employed. 
 
 After these operations, the skins require to he subjected to a fermenting process, to dilate 
 their pores, and to facilitate their combination with the oil. This is performed in a cham- 
 ber only 6 feet high, and 10 or 12 feet square. Poles are suspended horizontally a fevl 
 inches from the ceiling, with hooks fixed in them to which the skins are attached. A 
 somewhat elevated temperature is maintained, and by a stove if need be. This opera- 
 tion requires great skill and experience. 
 
 The remainder of the epidermis is next removed by a blunt concave knife and the 
 horse ; whereby the surface is not cut, but rather forcibly scraped. 
 
 The skins are now scoured to carry off the redundant oil ; which is effected by a pot- 
 ash ley, at two degrees Baume, heated no hotter than the hand can bear. In this they are 
 stirred briskly, steeped for an hour, and lastly wrung at the peg. The soapy liquor thus 
 expelled is used for inferior purposes. The clean skins, after being dried, are finished 
 first on the stretcher-iron, and then on the herse or stretching frame. 
 
 Leather of Hungary. — This is manufactured by impregnating strong hides with alum, 
 common salt, and suet ; by a rapid process which is usually completed in the space of 
 two months. The workshop is divided into two parts : 1. A shed on the side of a 
 stream, furnished with wooden horses, fleshing knives, and other small tools. In one 
 corner is a furnace with a boiler for dissolving the alum, a vat for immersing the hides 
 in the solution, and several subsidiary tubs. 2. A chamber, 6 feet high, by 15 feet 
 square, capable of being made very tight, for preserving the heat. " In one corner is a 
 copper boiler, of sufficient size to contain 170 pounds of tallow. In the middle of the 
 stove is a square stone slab, upon which an iron grate is placed about a yard square. 
 This is covered with charcoal. At each side of the stove are large tables, which occupy 
 its whole length, and on which the leather is spread to receive the grease. The upper 
 part below the ceiling is filleifwith poles for hanging the leather upon to be heated. 
 The door is made to shut perfectly close. 
 
 The first operations are analogous to -those of tanning and tawing; the skins being 
 washed, cut in halves, shaved, and steeped for 24 hours in the river. They are then 
 cleaned with 5 or 6 pounds of alum, and 3 J pounds of salt, for a piece of hide which 
 weighs from 70 to 80 pounds. The common salt softens the effect of the alum, attracts 
 the moisture of the air, and preserves the suppleness of the skin. When the alum and 
 salt are dissolved, hot water is poured upon the hides placed in a vat, and they are tramped 
 upon by a workman walking repeatedly from one end of the vat to the other. They are 
 then transferred into a similar vat containing some hot water, and similarly tramped upon. 
 They are next steeped for eight days in alum water. The same round of operations is 
 repeated a second time. 
 
 The skins are now dried either in the air, or a stove room ; but before being quite dry, 
 they are doubled together, well stretched to take out the wrinkles, and piled up. When 
 dry, they are again tramped to open the pores as well as to render the skin pliant, after 
 which they are whitened by exposure to the sun. 
 
 Tallow of inferior quality is employed for greasing the leather. With this view the 
 nides are hung upon the poles in the close stove room, then laid upon the table, and be- 
 smeared with the tallow melted till it begins to crackle. This piece is laid on another 
 table, is there covered with a second, similarly greased, and so forth. Three pounds of 
 fat are commonly employed for one piece of leather. 
 
 When the thirty strips, or fifteen hides passed through the grease in one operation 
 are completed, two workmen take the first piece in their hands, and stretch it over the 
 burning charcoal on the grate for a minute, with the flesh side to the fire. The rest 
 are passed over the flame in like manner. After flaming, the pieces are successively 
 laid on an inclined table exposed to the fire, where they are covered with a cloth. They 
 are finally hung upon poles in the air to dry ; and if the weather be warm, they ar c 
 suspended only during the night, so as to favor the hardening of the grease. Instead 
 of the alum bath, M. Curaudau has erryibyed with advantage a sleep of dilute sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
 Riisnia leather. — The Russians have long been possessed of a method of making a 
 peculiar leather called by them juclen, dyed red with the aromatic saunders wood. 
 This article has been much souglrt after, on account of not being subject to mould in 
 damp situations, being proof against insects, and even repelling them from the vicinity 
 of its odor. The skins are freed from the hair or fleece, by steeping in an ash-lye toe 
 weak to act upon the animal fibres. They are then rinsed, failed for a longer or shorter 
 lime according to their nature, and fermented in a proper steep, after having been 
 washed in hot water. They are taken out atthe end of a week, but they may be steeped 
 
LEATHER. 61 
 
 a secoud time il deemed necessary, to open their pores. They are now cleaned by 
 working them at the horse on both the flesh and grain sides 
 
 A paste is next composed, for 200 skins, of 38 pounds of rye flour, which is set to 
 ferment with leaven. This dough is worked up with a sufficient quantity of water to 
 form a bath for the skins, in which they are soaked for 48 hours ; they are then trans- 
 ferred into small tubs, where they remain during fifteen days, after which they are washed 
 at the river. These operations serve to prepare the skins for absorbing the astringent 
 juices with uniformity. A decoction of willow bark (saiix cherea, and salix caprea) be- 
 ing made, the skins are immersed in the boiler whenever the temperature of the liquor is 
 sufficiently lowered not to injure the animal fibres, and handled and pressed for half an 
 hour. This manipulation is repeated twice daily during the period of a week. The 
 tanning infusion is then renewed, and applied to the same skins for another week ; after 
 which, being exposed to the air to dry, they are ready for being dyed, and then curried 
 with the empyreumatic oil of the bark of the birch tree. To this substance the Russia 
 leather owes its peculiarities. Many modes have been prescribed for preparing it ; but 
 the following is the one practised in Russia. 
 
 The whitish membranous epidermis of the birch, stripped of all woody parts, is intro 
 dnced into an iron boiler, which, when stuffed full, is covered tight With a vaulted iron lid, 
 having a pipe rising from its centre. A second boiler into which this pipe passes without 
 reaching its bottom, is set over the drst, and is luted to it at the edges, after the two are 
 bolted together. They are then inverted, so that the upper one contains the birch bark. 
 The under half of this apparatus is sunk in the earth, the surface of the upper boiler is 
 coated over with a clay lute, then surrounded with a fire of wood, and exposed to a red 
 heat, till the distillation be completed. This operation, though rude in appearance, and 
 wasteful of wood, answers its purpose perfectly well. The iron cylinder apparatus used 
 in Britain for distilling wood vinegar, would, however, be much more convenient and pro- 
 ductive. When the above toilers are unluted, there is found in the upper one a very light 
 powder of charcoal, and in the under one which served as a receiver, there is an oily, 
 brown, empyreumatic fluid, of a very strong smell, which is mixed with the tar, and which 
 floats over a small quantity of crude vinegar. The former matter is the oil employed to 
 impregnate the skins, by working it into the flesh side with the currier's tools. It is diffi- 
 cult to make this oil penetrate with uniformity ; and the Russians do not always succeed 
 in this process, for they turn out many skins in a spotted state. This oil is at present 
 obtained in France by distilling the birch bark in copper stills, and condensing the pro- 
 ducts by means of a pipe plunged in cold water. About 60 per cent, of the weight of 
 the bark is extracted. 
 
 The skins imbibe this oil most equally before they are fully dry. Care must be taken 
 not to apply too much of it, for fear of its passing through and staining the grain side of 
 the leather. Chevreul has investigated the chemical nature of this odoriferous substance, 
 and finding it to be a peculiar compound, has called itbetitline. 
 
 In the Franklin Institute for February, 1843, Mr. Gideon Lee has published some ju- 
 dicious observations on the process of tanning. He believes that much of the original 
 gelatine of the hides is never combined with the tannin, but is wasted ; for he thinks 
 that 100 lbs. of perfectly dry hide, when cleaned from extraneous matter, should, on 
 chemical principles, afford at least 180 lbs. of leather. The usual preparation of the 
 hide for tanning he believes to be a wasteful process. In the liming and bating, or 
 the unhairing and the cleansing, the general plan is first to steep the hides in milk of 
 lime for one, two, or three weeks, according to the weather and texture of the skin, 
 until the hair and epidermis be so loosened as to be readily removed by rubbing down, 
 by means of a knife, upon a beam or block. Another mode is to suspend the hides in 
 a close chamber, heatc-i slightly by a smouldering fire, till the epidermis gets loosened 
 by incipient putrefacti ;n. A third process, called sweating, used in Germany, consists 
 in laying the hides in a pack or pile, covered with tan, to promote fermentative heat, 
 and to loosen the epidermis and hairs. These plans, especially the two latter, are apt 
 to injure the quality of the hides. 
 
 The bate, consists in steeping the haired hides in a solution of pigeon's dung, con- 
 taining, Mr. Lee says, muriate of ammonia, muriate of soda, &c. ; but most probably 
 phosphates of ammonia and lime, with urate of ammonia, and very fermentable animal 
 matter. The dry hides are often subjected first of all to the operation of the fulling- 
 stocks, which opens the pores, but at the same time prepares them for the action of the 
 liming and bate ; as also for the introduction of the tanning matter. When the full- 
 ing is too violent, the leather is apt to be too limber and thin. Mr. Lee conceives 
 that; tk e liming is injurious, by carrying off more or less of the gelatine and albumen 
 of the skin. High-limed leather is loose, weighs light, and wears out quickly. The 
 subsequent fermentation in the bating aggravates that evil. Another process has there- 
 fore been adopted in New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and some parts of Philadel- 
 phia, called, but incorrectly, cool sweating, which consists in suspending the hides in a 
 
 I 
 
62 LEATHER. 
 
 subterranean vault, in a temperature of 50° Fahr., kept perfectly damp, by the trick 
 ling of cold spring water from points in the roof. The hides being first soaked, are sus- 
 pended in this vault from 6 to 12 days, when the hair is -well loosened, by the mere 
 softening effect of moisture, without fermentation. 
 
 LEATHER, MOROCCO. (Maroquin, Fr. ; Saffian, Germ.) Morocco leather of 
 the finer quality is made from goatskins tanned with sumach ; inferior morocco leather 
 from sheepskins. The goatskins as imported are covered with hair ; to remove which 
 they are soaked in water for a certain time, and they are then subjected to the operation 
 called breaking, which consists in scraping them clean and smooth on the flesh side, 
 and they axe next steeped in lime-pits (milk of lime) for several days, during which 
 period they are drawn out, with a hook, from time to time, laid on the side of the pit to 
 drain, and replunged alternately, adding occasionally a little lime, whereby they are 
 eventually deprived of their hair. When this has become sufficiently loose, the skins are 
 taken out one by one, laid on convex beams, the work-benches, which stand in an inclined 
 position, resting on a stool at their upper end, at a height convenient for the workman's 
 breast, who scrapes off the hair with a concave steel blade or knife, having a handle at 
 each end. When unhaired, the skins are once more soaked in milk of lime for a few 
 days, and then scraped on the flesh side to render it very even. For removing the lime 
 which obstructs their pores, and would impede the tanning process, as well as to open 
 these pores, the skins are steeped in a warm semi-putrid alkaline liquor, made with 
 pigeons' and hens' dung diffused in water. Probably some very weak acid, such as fer- 
 mented bran-water, would answer as well, and not be so offensive to the workmen. 
 (In Germany the skins are first washed in a barrel by a revolving'axle and discs.) They 
 are again scraped, and then sewed into bags, the grain outermost, like bladders, leaving 
 a small orifice, into which the neck of a funnel is inserted, and through which is poured 
 a certain quantity of a strong infusion of the sumach ; and they are now rendered tight 
 round the orifices, after being filled out with air, like a blown bladder. A parcel of these 
 inflated skins are thrown into a very large tub, containing a weaker infusion of sumach, 
 where they are rolled about in the midst of the liquor, to cause the infusion within to 
 act upon their whole surface, as well as to expose their outsides uniformly to the tan- 
 ning action of the bath. After a while these bladder-skins are taken out of the bath, 
 and piled over each other upon a wooden rack, whereby they undergo such pressure as 
 to force the enclosed infusion to penetrate through their pores, and to bring the tannin 
 of the sumach into intimate contact, and to form a chemical combination with the skin 
 fibres. The tanning is completed by a repetition of the process, of introducing some 
 infusion or decoction into them, blowing them up, and floating them with agitation in 
 the ><ath. In this way goatskins may be well tanned in the course of one dav. 
 
 The bags are next undone by removing the sewing, the tanned skins are scraped as 
 before on the currier's bench, and hung up in the drying loft or shed ; they are said 
 now to be " in the crust." They are again moistened and smoothed with a rubbing, 
 tool before being subjected to the dyeing operations,in which two skins are applied face 
 to face to confine the dye to one of their surfaces only, for the sake of economizing the 
 dyeing materials which may be of several different colors. The dyed skins are grained 
 by being strongly rubbed with a ball of box-wood, finely grooved on its surface. 
 
 Preparatory to being dyed, each skin is sewed together edgewise, with the grain on 
 the outside, and it is then mordanted either with a solution of tin, or with alum water. 
 The color is given by cochineal, of which from 10 to 12 ounces are required for a dozen 
 of skins. The cochineal being boiled in water along with a little tartar or alum for a 
 few citrates, forms a red liquor, which is filtered through a linen cloth, and put into a 
 clean cask. The skins are immersed in this bath, and agitated in it for about half an 
 hour; they are taken out and beaten, and then subjected to a second immersion in the 
 cochineal bath. After being thus dyed, they are rinsed and tanned with Sicilian su- 
 mach, at the rate of two pounds for a skin of moderate size. This process is performed 
 in a large tub made of white wood, in the liquor of which the skins are floated like 
 so many bladders, and moved about by manual labor during four hours. They are 
 then taken out, drained, and again subjected to the tanning liquor; the whole pro- 
 cess requiring a space of twenty-four hours. The skins are now unstitched rinsed 
 fulled with beetles, drained, rubbed hard with a copper blade, and lastly hung up to 
 
 Some manufacturers brighten the color by applying to the surface of the skins in a 
 damp state, a solution of carmine in ammonia with a sponge ; others apply a decoction 
 of saffron to enliven the scarlet tint. At Paris the morocco leather is tanned by agita- 
 tion with a decoction of sumach in large casks made to revolve upon a horizontal axis 
 like a barrel churn. White galls are sometimes substituted for sumach • a pound beind 
 used for a skin. The skins must be finally cleaned with the utmost care 
 
 The black dye is given by applying with the brush a solution of red acetate of iron to 
 the gram side. Blue is communicated bv the common cold indigo vat ; violets with s 
 
LEATHER. CS 
 
 light blue followed by cochineal red ; green, by Saxon blue followed by a yellow dye, 
 ustfally made with the chopped roots of the barberry. This plant serves also for yel- 
 lows. To dyo olive, the skins are first passed through a weak solution of green vitriol, 
 and then through the decoction of barberry root, containing a little Saxon blue. Puce 
 color is communicated by logwood with a little alum; which may be modified by the 
 addition of a little Brazil wood. In all these cases whenever these skins are dyed, they 
 should be rinsed, wrung, or rather drained, stretched upon a table, then besmeared on 
 the grain side with a film of linseed oil applied by means of a sponge in order to pro- 
 mote their glossiness when curried, and to prevent them becoming horny by too rapid 
 drying. 
 
 The last process in preparing morocco leather is the currying, which brings out the 
 lustre, ahd restores the original suppleness. This operation is practised in different 
 manners, according to the purpose the skins are to serve. For pocket-books, portfolios, 
 and case-making in general, they must be thinned as much as possible upon the flesh 
 side, moistened slightly, then stretched upon the table, to smooth them ; dried again, 
 moistened, and lastly passed two or three times through the cylinder press in different 
 directions, to produce the crossing of the grain. The skins intended for the shoemaker, 
 the saddler, the bookbinder, <fcc, require more pliancy, and must be differently curried. 
 After being thinned, they are glazed with a polisher while still moist, and a grain is 
 formed upon the flesh side with the roughened lead plate or grainer of the curriers, 
 called in French pmnmette; they are glazed anew to remove the roughne=s produced 
 by the pommel, and finally grained on the flesh side with a surface of cork applied under 
 a pommel of white wood. 
 
 Tawing of Skins. (Megisserie, Fr. ; Weissgerberei, Germ.) The kid, sheep, and 
 Iamb skins, are cleansed as has been described under leather in the Dictionary. In some 
 factories they receive the tanning power of the submuriate of alumina (from a solution 
 of alum and common salt) in a large barrel-churn apparatus ; in which they are sub- 
 jected to violent agitation, and thereby take the aluming in the course of a few minutes. 
 In other cases, where the yolks of eggs are added to the above solution, the mixture, 
 with the skins, is put into a large tub, and the whole trampled strongly by the naked 
 feet of the operator, till the emulsion of the egg be forced into the pores of the skin. 
 The tawed skins, when dry, are " staked," that is, stretched, scraped, and smoothed, by 
 friction against the blunt edge of a semicircular knife, fixed to the top of a short beam 
 of wood set upright. The workman holding the extremities of the skin with both hands, 
 pulls it in all directions forcibly, but skilfully, against the smoothing " stake." 
 
 In an entertaining article on tanning in the 11th volume of the Penny Magazine, at 
 page 215, the following description is given of one of the great tawing establishments 
 of London : — 
 
 " In the production of ' imitation' kid leather, the skin of lambs is employed ; and 
 for this purpose lambskins are imported from the shores of the Mediterranean. They 
 are imported with the wool yet on them ; and as this wool is valuable, the leather- 
 manufacturer removes this before the operations on the pelt commence. The wool is 
 of a quality that would be greatly -injured by the contact of lime, and therefore a kind 
 of natural fermentation is brought about as a means of loosening the wool from the pelt. 
 At the Neckinger establishment of Messrs. Bevington and Co., Bermondsey, one of the 
 buildings presents, on the ground floor, a flight of stone steps, leading down to a range 
 of subterranean vaults or close rooms, into which the lambskins are introduced in a 
 wet state, after having been steeped in water, ' broken' on the flesh side, and drained. 
 The temperature of these rooms is nearly the same all the year round, a result obtained 
 by having them excluded as much as possible from the variations of the external atmo- 
 sphere ; and the result is that the skins undergo a kind of putrefactive or fermenting 
 process, by which the wooi becomes loosened from the pelt. During this chemical 
 change ammonia is evolved in great abundance ; the odor is strong and disagreeable ; 
 a lighted candle, if introduced, would be instantly extinguished, and injurious effects 
 would be perceived by a person remaining long in one of the rooms. Each room is 
 about ten feet square, and is provided with nails and bars whereon to hang the lamb- 
 skins. The doors from all the rooms open into one common passage or vault, and are 
 Kept close, except when the skins are inspected. It is a point of much nicety to deter- 
 mine'when the fermentation has proceeded to such an extent as to loosen the wool from 
 the pelt ; for if it be allowed to proceed beyond that stage, the pelt itself would become 
 injured." 
 
 When the fermentation is completed, generally in about five days, the skins are re- 
 moved to a beam, and there ' slimed' — that is, scraped on the flesh side, to remove a 
 slimy substance which exudes from the pores. ' The wool is then taken off, cleaned, 
 and sold to the hatters, for making the bodies of common hats. The stripped pelts are 
 steeped in lime-water for about a week, to kill the grease ; and are next " fleshed on Ihe 
 beam." After being r laced in a " drench," or a solution of sour bran for some days to 
 
64 LEATHER. 
 
 remove the lime and open the pores, the skins are alumed, and subjected to nearly 
 the same processes as the true, kidskins. (See Leather.) These Mediterranean lamb- 
 skins do not in general measure more than about 20 inches by 12; "and each one fur- 
 nishes leather for two pairs of small gloves. These kinds of leather generally leave the 
 leather-dresser in a white state ; but undergo a process of dyeing, softening, " stroking," 
 &c, before being cut up into gloves. 
 
 The tanning of one average-sized skin requires about 1\ lbs. of good Sicilian 
 sumach ; but for leather which is to receive a bright scarlet dye, from one half to three 
 quarters of a pound of gall-nuts are employed in preference. Inferior goatskins are 
 tanned with a willow-bark infusion, in pits, in which they are turned repeatedly, and 
 laid out to drain, as in tanning sole-leather. The finest skins for the brightest scarlet 
 are cured with salt, to prevent their receiving damage in the transport, and are dyed 
 befor.e being tanned. This method is practised in Germany and France. 
 
 Leather of deer and sheep-skins is prepared with oil, for the purpose of making 
 breeches, &c, and for wash-leather, used in cleaning plate. After they are completely 
 washed, limed, and beamed, as above, described, they have their " grain''-surface re- 
 moved, to give them greater softness and pliability. This removal of the grain is 
 called " frizing," and it is done either with the round edge of a blunt knife, or with 
 pumice-stone. After being freed from the lime by steeping in fermented bran-water, 
 they are pressed as dry as may be, and are then impregnated with cod-oil, by beating 
 with stocks in the trough of a kind of fulling-mill. Previously to the application of 
 the oil, they are usually beat for some time alone to open their substance. The oiled 
 skins are stretched, hung up for some time in the air, then fulled with oil as before — a 
 process which is 8 or 9 times repeated. The oil is slowly and evenly poured upon the 
 skins in the trough, during the action of the beaters. One hundred skins usually take 
 up in this way from two to three gallons of oil. The fulled oiled skins are thrown into 
 large tubs, and left for some time to ferment, and thereby to combine more intimately 
 with the oil. They are lastly subjected to a weak potash ley bath, to strip them of the 
 loosely adhering oil. They are then hung up in the air to dry, and dressed for the 
 market. 
 
 The quantity of hides and skins converted into leather yearly in England is almost 
 incredibly large. At Messrs. Bevington's establishment alone there are about 250,000 
 skins annually converted into leather by the aluming or tawing process ; 220,000 by 
 the sumach tanning process ; as also a small number by the oil-dressing process. For 
 the importation and exportation of skins, untanned and tanned, see Hides. 
 
 Leather and Skins in the Exhibition. — The present class includes a variety of manu- 
 facturing processes relating to the commercial preparation of animal substances in the 
 form of leather, skins, fur, hair, and feathers. Until .within a recent period, experience 
 rather than science has directed the labors of manufacturers in their operations upon 
 these substances. And at present the rules taught by experience are, in many cases 
 still pursued in practice, with, however, such modifications as an intelligent compre- 
 hension of the operations of the chemical and other philosophical laws put into force 
 in the processes would suggest. , « 
 
 The following sub-classes are recognized in this class ; a, leather, as rough and tanned 
 curried, enamelled, dyed; oil-leather, as buckskin, doeskin, Ac. ; white and alum lea- 
 ther; sheep and skin nigs, parchment and vellum; b, saddlery, and harness ; c mis- 
 cellaneous; d, shink and furs of all descriptions for personal and domestic use'- e fea- 
 thers, as those of ostrich, marabout, &a. ; r, hair, ornamentally and usefully applied 
 
 The localities in which the manufactures concerned in this "class are carried on and 
 from- whence articles for exhibition have chiefly been derived, are Bermondsey where 
 the preparation of leather has been successfully conducted during a very long period 
 Hull, Swansea, Bristol, Cork, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Falmouth. ' 
 
 The manufacture of leather has been estimated as only fourth in importance among 
 the national manufactures of Great Britain. A large amount of capital is employed in 
 its production, and the number of artisans and others directly supported by this branch 
 ot industry has been taken to amount to nearly a quarter of a million. The total an- 
 nual value of the leather manufactures is computed at about fourteen millions sterling 
 It appears probable that in the mere article of boots and shoes,upwards of seven millions 
 sterling are annually expended by the inhabitants of this country. If it be considered that 
 rather more than half the leather produced is thus applied, the remainder is employed 
 in the production of harness, saddlery, gloves, and the multifarious purposes for which 
 leather is applicable _ Of late, chemistry has been studied attentively by those dependent 
 upon this branch of industry, and successful results have ensued. A variety of patent 
 processes existby which the enormous amount of time involved in tanning on the old 
 system is abridged to a surprising extent With some specimens of leather it has not 
 been unusual to devote eighteen months or upwards to their combination with the 
 native principles of the bark. A few weeks are sufficient, under several of the new 
 
LEATHEE. 
 
 65 
 
 systems to effect the same obj< «,t. But it is stated that the leather produced rapidly 
 differs from that produced by the slower process of combination in its durability and 
 solidity. And it is considered by some, that time is an essential element in the manu- 
 facture, and that it cannot be advantageously shortened to any considerable extent. 
 
 Leather is unquestionably a chemical compound, and this renders it probable that 
 a slow and gradual process of combination between the gelatine of the skin and the 
 tannic acid of the bark may produce a leather to some extent of different properties 
 to that formed by a quicker operation. A very large amount of leather is, however, 
 manufactured by the rapid process, from which it may be concluded that the product 
 possesses great commercial value. A great variety of leathers in all conditions and 
 states of manufacture is exhibited, with instructive series illustrating the peculiarities 
 of different methods of manufacture, according to the difference of the purposes for 
 which the prepared skin is to be afterwards applied. 
 
 An extensive and interesting collection of furs is exhibited. Probably the oppor- 
 tunity has never before presented itself for a complete study of this class of manufac- 
 ture. Furs of the^ most rare description, devoted only to the use of monarchs, are 
 among these specimens. To the naturalist dejrous of ascertaining the genera and 
 species yielding^ the fifrs of commerce — a subject on which much conflicting opinion 
 exists — these objects, which are fully and correctly described in the catalogue of this 
 class, will be highly interesting and instructive. Feathers and hair are also repre- 
 sented by various interesting objects, possessing their peculiar merits and attraction. 
 The number of exhibitors in this class is considerable: but since it includes boots and 
 shoes, and other articles of personal and domestic use in addition to saddlery, Ac, the 
 
 cial sense, vendors of manufactured.articles. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company, producers. — Specimens . of skins from the Arctic regions, 
 belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, selected for the Exhibition from their im- 
 portation of 1851,'prepared and arranged by the exhibitors from No. 1. to No. 27. 
 
 The immense tracts of country over which the Hudson's Bay Company has control 
 may be considered as vast hunting-grounds, affording a varied and exhaustless supply 
 of furs. The territorial possessions of this Company cover nearly one-eighth of the 
 habitable globe. Russia is. next in order and importance in this respect, but with a 
 different race of animals. The fur produce of North America and the Canadas is also 
 important. As we approach the tropics and the warmer regions, the silky fur with 
 which the animals are clothed in the northern climes disappears, and fur of a totally 
 different character is met with, which, although splendid in appearance, is not 
 adapted for warmth or general use. 
 
 Table of Imports and Exports. 
 
 Racoon - 
 
 Total 
 
 Importation into 
 
 England. 
 
 Exported. 
 
 Consumed in 
 England. 
 
 525,000 
 
 525,000 
 
 none 
 
 Beaver - 
 
 60,000 
 
 12,000 
 
 48,000 
 
 Chinchilla 
 
 85,000 ' 
 
 30,000 
 
 55,000 
 
 Bear - 
 
 9,500 
 
 8,000 
 
 1,500 
 
 Fisher 
 
 11,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 none 
 
 Fox, red - - - - 
 
 60,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 none 
 
 " cross 
 
 4,500 
 
 4,500 
 
 none 
 
 " silver 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 none 
 
 " white - 
 
 1,500 
 
 500 
 
 1,000 
 
 " gray 
 
 20,000 
 
 18,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 Lynx .... 
 
 55,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 Martin - - - 
 
 120,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 105,000 
 
 Mink 
 
 "< ^245,000 
 1,000,000 
 
 75,000 
 
 170,000 
 
 Musquash 
 
 150,000 
 
 850,000 
 
 Otter 
 
 17, 500 
 
 17,500 
 
 none 
 
 Fur, seal 
 
 15,000 
 
 12,500 
 
 2,500 
 
 Wolf - 
 
 15,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 none 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
86 
 
 LEATHER. 
 Eckopean Furs. 
 
 Martin, stone and baum 
 
 120,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 115,000 
 
 Squirrel - - - - 
 
 2,271,258 
 
 77,160 
 
 2,194,098 
 
 Fitch 
 
 65,091 
 
 28,276 
 
 36,815 
 
 Kolinski 
 
 53,410 
 
 200 
 
 53,210 
 
 Ermine 
 
 187,104 
 
 none 
 
 187,104 
 
 1. Group of black and silver furs ( Vulpis pelvis, var. argentatus). 
 
 2. Group of foxes {Vulpis fulvis, var. decussatus). 
 
 3. Group of red and silver foxes (Vulpis fidvis). 
 
 4. " white " ( Vulpis lagopus). 
 
 5. " kitt " (Vulpis velox). 
 
 The black and silver fox is the most valuable of his tribe; they are generally pur 
 chased for the Russian and Chinese markets, being highly prized in those countries. 
 The cross and red fox are used by the Chinese, Greeks, Persians, &a., for cloak-linings 
 and for trimming dresses. The white and blue fox is used in fhis and other countries 
 for ladies' wear. In the sumptuary laws passed in the reign of Henry III., the fox is 
 named with other furs then in use. 
 
 7. Group of beaver (Castor Americanus). 
 
 The beaver in former years was one of the Hudson's Bay Company's most valuable 
 productions ; but since its use has been almost entirely discontinued in the manufae • 
 ture of hats, it has lost much of its value. Experiments have, however, been made, 
 and with prospect of success, to adapt its fine and silky wool to weaving purposes. 
 The Bkin of the beaver is prepared by a new process, after which the surface is cut by 
 a new and ingenious machine, and the result is a,beautiful fur for ladies wear. It is 
 exported in its prepared state to various parts of Europe and the East. 
 
 The rich white wool from the under part of the beaver is largely exported to France. 
 
 8. Group of lynx (Felis Canadensis). 
 
 9. " lynx cat (Felis rufa). 
 
 Both .the above furs, when dyed, were formerly much used. It is still dyed aDd 
 prepared, and exported in large numbers for the American market. In its natural 
 state, it is a grayish white, with dark spots and is used by the Chinese, Greeks, Per- 
 sians, and others, for cloaks, lining, facings, &c. ; it is very soft, warm, and li°\ht. 
 The fur formerly called the lucern 'is the lynx. 
 
 21. Group of black bear ( Ursus Americanus). 
 
 22. " brown bear ( Ursus, var. Americanus). 
 
 23. " gray bear (Ursus ferox). 
 
 The large North American black bear is technically termed the army bear, because 
 it is generally used for military purposes in this and other countries, for cap's, pistol- 
 holsters, rugs, carriage hammer-cloths, sleigh-coverings, &a. The fine black cub bears 
 are much sought after in Russia for making shube-linings, coat-linings, trimmings, 
 facings, &c. The other sorts with the large gray bears, for sleigh-coverings, and ac- 
 companiments, &a. The white polar bear, the supply of which is very limited, is 
 generally made into rugs, which are often bordered with the black and gray bear. 
 The brown or Isabella is at the present time used for ladies' wear in America. 
 
 301a. Nicholay, John Aug., & Son, 82 Oxford-street. Collectors, Importers, 
 Manufacturers, &c. Selected -from Canadian importation, with the assistance of C M. 
 iLampsqn, Esq. ■ ' "' 
 
 28.' Group pf racoon (Prpcffon lator). 
 
 The finest racoon furs are produced in North America, and are imported into this 
 country in immense numbers. They are purchased here by the merchants who at- 
 tend the periodical fur sales, and who dispose of large quantities at the great fair at 
 Leipsic; they are principally used in Russia and throughout Germany, for lining 
 shubes and coats, and are exclusively confined to gentlemen's wear. The dark skins 
 are the choicest and are very valuable. 
 
 64. Group of seal, (Phoca), Georgia, Shetland Isles, Falkland Isles, Lomar's Island, 
 and Cape. 
 
 65 - plucked and prepared seal, natural color. 
 
 66- plucked and prepared seal, dyed. 
 
 67. Greenland and Newfoundland seal. 
 
 68. Greenland and Newfoundland seal, dyed. 
 
 69. spotted and silver seal. 
 
 The seal is an inhabitant of most countries ; it is found in the high northern latitude 
 in immense numbers ; ships are purposely fitted for its capture ; the oil produced by the 
 »nimal, together with its skin, render it (connected as it is with the whale fishery' 
 
LEATHER. 67 
 
 important to the trader and interesting to the naturalist. The skins are salted and 
 packed in casks, in which state they are sent to this country ; they are then sorted 
 and selected for various purposes; those suitable for leather pass into the tanners' 
 hands, and make a beautiful leather, which is used for ladies' shoes. The blue back, 
 the hair and the silver seal are dressed and used in their natural state, and also dyed 
 and exported in large quantities. The fur seal, the supply of which is always small 
 compared with the other kinds, undergoes a process to prepare it for its intended use. 
 It is brought at the present time to a great degree of perfection in this country : when 
 divested of the long, coarse hair (which protects it in its native element) there re- 
 mains the rich, curly, silky, yellowish down, in which state it was formerly used for 
 travelling caps and other purposes. It is now seldom made use of in that state, but 
 dyed a beautiful Vandyke brown, giving it the appearance of the richest velvet, and 
 is manufactured in every variety of shape and form, as articles of dress for ladies', 
 gentlemen's and children's wear. 
 
 South American. — 70. Group of chinchilla, Buenos Ayres {Chinchilla lanigcra). 
 
 71. Group of chinchilla, Arica (Chinchilla lanigera). 
 
 72. Group of bastard cliinehilla or Lima (Chinchilla lanigera). 
 
 The chinchilla is exclusively a South American animal, and was introduced into 
 this country and France about forty years since. 
 
 Group, of ermine (Mustela erminea). 
 
 The ermine is produced in most countries, but the best is from Russia, Sweden, and 
 Norway, and is killed in winter when the fur is pure white (except the tail, with its 
 jet black tip), it being in that season in its greatest perfection ; in summer and spring 
 it is gray, and of little or no value. It is the weasel of more southern climes. The 
 ermine is the royal fur of Russia, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy. <fee, In England 
 at the coronation of the sovereign, the minever, as the ermine is styled in heraldic 
 language, is used, being powdered, % that is studded with black spots. The spots or 
 powdered bars on the minever capes of the peers and peeresses being in rows, and the 
 number of rows or bars denoting their various degrees of rank ; the sovereign alone 
 and the blood royal having the minever of the coronation robes powdered all over, a 
 black spot being inserted in about every square inch of the fur, crimson velvet being 
 used on that occasion. The crown is also^adorned with a band of minever, with a 
 single row of spots ; the coronets of the peers and peeresses having a similar arrange- 
 ment. The black spots are made of the black Astracan lamb. On state occasions in 
 the House of Lords, the peers are arrayed in their robes of state, of scarlet cloth and 
 gold lace, with Bars or rows of pure minever, more or less according to their degrees 
 of rank, the sovereign alone wearing the royal minever powdered all over. The 
 judges in their robes of office are clad in scarlet and pure ermine. The ermine,' with 
 the tail of the animal inserted therein, is used as articles of dress for ladies in every 
 variety of shape and form, according to the dictates of fashion, and also as cloak linings. 
 
 The minever can only be worn on state occasions by those who by their rank are 
 entitled to its use, but as an article of fashion for ladies' wear there is no prohibition 
 in force. In the reign of Edward III., furs of ermine were strictly forbidden to be 
 worn by any but the royal family, and its general use is prohibited in Austria at the 
 present time. In mercantile transactions, ermine is always sold by the timber, which 
 consists of forty skins. The minever fur of a former era was the white belly of the 
 gray squirrel. 
 
 36. Group of kolinski (Mustela Sibirica). 
 
 The kolinski or Tartar sable is produced from Russia, belongs to the weasel tribe, 
 and is in color a bright yellow; it is much used in its natural state and also dyed to 
 imitate the cheaper sables. 
 
 37. Group of squirrel, black (Sciurus niger). 
 
 38. " squirrel, blue (Sciurus, var. niger). 
 
 39. " squirrel, kazan (Sciurus, var. Griscus). 
 
 40. '' squirrel, red (Sciurus vulgaris). 
 
 The squirrel abounds in Russia (where it in produced in the greatest perfection) 
 in such immense numbers as would appear almost incredible : the importation from 
 thence to this country alone last year exceeding 2,000.000. The celebrated "Weisen- 
 fels lining is made from the white part of the dark blue squirrel. A full-sized cloak 
 lining weighs only 25 ounces ; it is known as the petit gris. For colder climates, the 
 linings are made from the back or plain gray part of the squirrel, the best*, having 
 part of the tail left on'eaeh skin. Russia produces about 23,000,000 annually ' 
 
 41. Group' of fitch or pole-eat (Putorius fcetidus). 
 
 About 40 years since this fur was more largely used than at present. It is pro- 
 duced in the greatest perfection in this country. 
 
 42. Grou.p of Crimea gray lamb. 
 
 43. " Ukraine black lamb. 
 
 L- 
 
68 LEATHER SPLITTING. 
 
 44. Gronp of Astracan black lamb. 
 
 45. " Astracan gray lamb. 
 46! " Persian black lamb. 
 417, " Persian gray lamb. 
 
 48. " Spanish lamb. fl 
 
 49. " Hungarian lamb. 
 
 50 " English lamb. , . , , ■, . ■,. 
 
 The gray and black Persian lamb is mostly used for gentlemen s cloak and cod- 
 ings for facings, 'collars, caps, &c, and also for army P^poses The Astracan lamb « 
 K wavy, flossy, black skin, very short in the fur, having the appearance. of W 
 tiful watered silk: in order to obtain this choice skin, it is averred that the parent 
 he^p is destroyed a certain time before the birth of the lamb. The Persian gray and 
 Sack lamb is covered with very minute curls; this is produced it is said, by the ani- 
 mal being as soon as born sewn up tightly in a leathern skm, which prevents the cur 
 e^andTng. The Hungarian lamb is produced in that country in immense numbers ; 
 ofitTe National coat, called the Juhasz Bunda, is.made. In the summer or wet w a- 
 ther the fur or woolly part is worn outside ; in winter, when warmth is required, it H 
 reveled: the skin is Lnned or dressed in away peculiar to theVountry, »d^> ed 
 and embroidered in accordance with the means and taste of the wearer. In Spam the 
 uX is .used for the well-known characteristic :short jacket ,of that country, which >s 
 adorned with filigree silver buttons; the coarser kinds of both colors are used for our 
 cava?ry,Ind is also employed for mounting and bordering skins, as leopards, tigers, 
 Z. for ornamental and domestic purposes. In the reign of Richard II the sergeant- 
 at-law wore a robe furred inside with white lambskin and a cape of the same. 
 
 51. Group, of Perewartzki. 
 
 62. " ' Hamster. ,. ,,,..■ a • t 
 
 The above are from Russia: the former is used by ladies; the latter is made into 
 cloak linings, which are exceedingly light, durable, and cheap. 
 
 53. Group of colored cat. 
 
 54. " black cat. 
 
 55. " black Dutch. 
 
 66. " colored Dutch. , . 
 
 The cat, properly attended to and bred purposely for its skin supplies a most use- 
 ful and durable fur: in Holland it is bred and kept in a confined state till the fur is 
 in its gre»est perfection, and is fed entirely on fish. In other countries and especially 
 in our own, it is produced in large numbers. The wild cat is much larger and longer 
 in the fur, and is met with in extensive forests, particularly m Hungary : the color is 
 erav spotted with black, and its softness and durability render it suitable for cloak 
 Ind coat linings, for which purposes it is much used. The black species is also much m 
 request, and similarly used, and with the spotted and striped varieties, is made intc 
 wrappers for open carriages, sleigh coverings, and railway travelling. 
 
 92. Group of dyed lynx, see No. 8. 
 
 94. " penguin (Speniscus aptenodytes). 
 
 95. " grebe (Podiceps cristata). 
 
 The grebe is an aquatic bird, inhabiting most of the large lakes in Europe. The 
 choicest specimens are from Geneva, Italy, and Holland. The feathers are of rich 
 white having the appearance of polished silver, the plumage on the outer edge of the 
 skin being a rich dark brown ; it is used by ladies and forms a beautiful article ol 
 dress arid "is worn as trimmings for the trains of court and drawing-room dresses, 
 .for muffs, cuffs, boas, &l. It is verv durable ; the exquisite smoothness of its fea- 
 thers prevents its soiling with wear.- 
 
 96. Specimen of swan feathers. 
 g>7. " goose feathers. 
 98. " eider down. 
 
 The bird from which the down is taken is found in large numbers in Iceland, Nor- 
 way, Sweden, &c; its color is dark gray, and its elasticity, lightness, and_ resistance 
 to wet, are prominent amongst its other advantages: it is used for the inside stuffing 
 of muffs. On the continent the well-known eider-down quilts are largely used. 
 
 . 99 ii5. Suits of Russia sable; Hudson's Bay sable; sable tail, mink; chinchilla; 
 
 grebe; sea otter; Siberian squirrel, with tails; kolinski; minever; ermine; moleskin; 
 natural beaver; dyed beaver; seal; swan; goose-down. 
 
 The down of the goose is manufactured by being sewn on textile fabrics. It is a 
 specimen of Irish industry, and has been patronized and sold in England extensively 
 for the benefit of the Irish female poor, by whom it has been made up. The Rrice, 
 compared with the true swan's down, is very moderate. Being sewn upon cloth, it 
 ;an be washed. 
 
 LEATHER SPLITTING. This operation is employed sometimes upon certain 
 
LEATHER SPLITTING. 
 
 69 
 
 torts of leather for glovers, for bookbinders, sheath-makers, and always to give a uni- 
 form thickness to the leather destined for the cotton and wool card-makers. 
 
 Figa. 863, 864, 865, 866, represent a well-contrived machine for that purpose, of which 
 fig. 863 shows the front view, fig. 864 a view from the left side, fig. 866 a ground plan, 
 an d fi9- 865 a vertical section across the machine, a is a strong table, furnished with 
 four legs 4, whijh to the right and left hand bears two horizontal pieces c. Each of 
 
 863 
 
 e_ 
 
 • l>S>I>j 
 
 these pieces is cut out in front, so as to form in its substance a half-round fork, that 
 receiyes a cylinder d, carrying on its end a toothed spur-wheel e. Motion is com- 
 
 865 a' rt 
 
 municated to the wheel by means of the handle/, upon whose axis the pinion, t, is fixed, 
 working into the wheel d, made fast to the end of the cylinder round which the leathei 
 is rolled. The leather is fixed at one of its ends or edges to the cylinder, either with a 
 wedge pressed into a groove, or by a moveable segment of the cylinder itself. 
 
 The table, a, is cut out lengthwise with a slot, that is widened below, as shown in 
 fig. 865. , 
 
 The knife h (/Jgs.865and866) is fixed flat upon the table with screw bolts, whcs* 
 
 866 
 
 (H 
 
 ft 
 
 V »l 
 
 
 t t\ 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 X 
 
 _0 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 u 
 
70 LEGUMINE. 
 
 heads are countersunk into the table, and secured \yith taps beneath [fig. 865), the edg* 
 of the knife being placed horizontally over the opening, and parallel with it. 
 
 In fig. 865, the leather, k, is shown advancing against the knife, getting split, and has 
 a portion coiled round the cylinder, which is made to revolve in proportion as the 
 leather is cleft. The upper portion of the leather is rolled upon the cylinder d, while 
 the under half, I, falls through the oblong opening upon the ground. 
 
 In regulating the thickness of the split leather, the two supports, m, act; they are 
 made fast to the table a (one on each side of the knife), and are mortised into the table 
 by two tenons secured beneath. These supports are furnished near their tops with 
 keyed slots, by means of which the horizontal iron rod o (figs. 863, 865,) is secured, and 
 outside of the uprights they press upon the springs p p, which tend to raise the rod, o, in 
 its two end slots ; but the adjusting screws q, which pass down through the tops of the 
 supports into the mortise n (fig. 865), and press upon the upper half of the divided 
 tenon, counteract the springs, and accordingly keep the rod, o, exactly at any desired 
 height or level. The iron rod, o, carries another iron bar, r, beneath it, parellel and 
 also rectangular, fig. 865. This lower bar, which is rounde,d at its under face, lies upon 
 and presses the leather, by the action of two screws, which pass through two upright 
 pieces s (figs. 863, and 865,) made fast to the table ; thus the iron bar, r, may be made 
 to press forwards theedge of the knife, and it may be adjusted in its degree of pressure, 
 according to the desired thickness of the leaf of split leather, that passes through 
 inder it. 
 
 Fig. 865, shows that the slant or obliquity of the knife is directed downwards, over 
 ane of the edges «of the oblong opening g ; the other edge of this opening is provided 
 with an iron plate t (figs. 865, 866), which serves to guide the blade in cutting the 
 leather to the proper depth. For this purpose the plate is made adjustable by means of 
 the four springs u (figs 865, 866), let into the table, which press it downwards. Four 
 screws, v, pass down through the table, each belonging to its respective springs u, and 
 by means of these screws the plate, t, may be raised in any desired degree. Each of 
 the screws, u, has besides a small rectangular notch through which a screw bolt, x, passes, 
 by which the spring is made fast to the table. Thus also the plate, t, may be made to 
 approach to or recede from the knife. 
 
 V, infigs. 863, and 865, is a fiat board, laid upon the leather a little behind the edge 
 of the plate I; this board is pressed by the cylinder a, that lies upon it, and whose 
 tenons rest in mortises cut out in the two supports a'. The cylinder, 2, is held in its 
 position by a wedge or pin b (figs. 863, and 864), which passes through the supports. 
 When the leather has been split, these pins are removed, and the cylinder rises then 
 by means of the two counter weights, not shown in the figures. 
 
 The operation of the machine is as follows;— The edge or end of the leather being 
 secured to the cylinder d, the leather itself having the direction upon the table shown 
 in fig. 865,_ and the bar, r, its proper proportion over the knife, the edge begins to enter 
 in this position into the leather, while the cylinder, d, is moved by the handle or winch 
 and the piece gets split betwixt the blade and the roller d. When the other end of the 
 leather, k, advances to the knife, there is, consequently, one half of the leather split ; 
 the skin is to be then rolled off the cylinder d; it is turned; the already split half, or 
 the end of the leather k, is made fast into the wood of the cylinder, and the other half 
 is next split ; while the knife now acts from below, in an opposite direction to what it 
 did at first. 
 
 That the unrolling of the leather from the cylinder, d, may not be obstructed by the 
 pinion i, the stop-wedge e (figs. 863, 864) is removed from the teeth. In the process of 
 splitting, the grain side of the leather is uppermost, and is therefore cut of an uniform 
 thickness, but the underside varies in thickness with the inequality of the skin. 
 
 The quantity of leather gloves of Foreign production exported in 1850. was 401 009 
 pairs, and in 1851, 107,925 pairs. See Hides. 
 
 Exports of Leather of British Produce and Manufacture. 
 
 Leather, unwrought, ewts. 
 Wrought, viz. gloves, lbs. 
 Of other sorts, lbs. . 
 
 Saddlery and harness, value £ 
 
 LEDUM PELUSTRE. This plant is employed in Eussia to tan the skin of goats" 
 calves and sheep, mto a reddish leather of an agreeable smell; as also in the prepara- 
 U ^ °^ e „°jL of • lb 0r makm » g what M comm °nly called Russia leather. 
 
 LEGUMINE, is the name of a vegeto-alkali supposed to exist in leguminous 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Declared Value. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 £ 
 1850. 
 
 £ 
 1851. 
 
 32,205 
 
 25,525 
 
 181,737 
 
 152,070 
 
 31,124 
 
 27, 141 
 
 18,821 
 
 19,781 
 
 1,619,463 
 
 1,625,565 
 
 284,347 
 
 288,543 
 
 
 — 
 
 123,960 
 
 138,168 
 
LIMESTONE. 71 
 
 LEMONS. See Citric Acid, and Oils, Essential. 
 
 LEVIGATION is the mechanical process whereby hard substances are reduced to a 
 very fine powder. 
 
 LEUCITE is a hard Vesuvian mineral, consisting of silica, 54 ; alumina., 23 j pot- 
 ash, 23. 
 
 LEUCINE is a white crystalline substance produced by acting upun flesh with sulphu- 
 ric acid. 
 
 LEWTS is the name of one kind of shears used in cropping woollen cloth. 
 
 LIAS is a fine-grained argillaceous limestone, whose geological position is under the 
 oolite ; it is the proper lithographic stone. 
 
 LIBAVIOS, LiQ.troR or, is the bichloride of tin, prepared by dissolving that metal, with 
 the aid of heat, in aqua regia, or by passing chlorine gas through a solution of muriate 
 of tin till no more gas be absorbed, evaporating the solution, and setting it aside to crys- 
 tallize. The anhydrous bichloride is best prepared by mixing four parts of corrosive sub- 
 limate with one part of tin, previously amalgamated with just so much mercury as to 
 render it pulverizable ; and by distilling this mixture with a gentle heat. A colorless 
 fluid, the dry bichloride of tin, or the proper fuming liquor of Libavius, comes over. 
 When it is mixed with one third of its weight of water it becomes solid. The first 
 bichloride of tin is used in calico-printing. 
 
 LICHEN. See Archil. 
 
 LIGNEOUS MATTER is vegetable fibre. See Fibrous Matter. 
 
 LIGNITE is one of the most recent geological formations, being the ci. Donaceous 
 remains of forest trees. From this substance, as found in the neighborhood of Cologne,, 
 'he brown colors, called umber and earth of Cologne, are prepared. 
 
 LILACH DYE. See Calico-printing and Dyeing. 
 
 UMESTONE (Calcaire,Fic. ; Kalskitein, Germ.), may be classed under the following 
 heads : — • 
 
 1. Calcareous spar occurs in colorless crystals or crystalline masses ; dissolves with 
 effervescence in muriatic acid ; is scratched by soft iron, but not by the nail ; specific 
 gravity 2-7 ; loses 46 per cent, by the expulsion of carbonic acid, and calcines into quick- 
 lime. 
 
 2. Calcsinter, or stalactitic carbonate of lime, called also concretionary limestone, because 
 formed of zones more or less undulated, and nearly parallel. These zones have a fibrous 
 structure, arising from the successive deposites of the crystalline limestone from its sol- 
 vent water. The long conical pieces called stalactites, show fibres converging to the 
 axis. The tubercular consists of irregular lumps often sprinkled over with small crystals, 
 and associated so as to exhibit the appearance of cauliflower. The stratiform, commonly 
 called stalagmite, or alabaster limestone, represents zones not dicentric, but spread out, 
 waving, and parallel ; its texture is sometimes lamellar, and sometimes fibrous. These 
 waving strata are distinguishable from one another by their different densities, and r>; 
 their degrees of translucency. This stalagmitic mass bears the name of oriental alabaster, 
 when it is reddish-yellow with distinct zones, and is susceptible of a fine polish. Stalac- 
 tites are formed in the large excavations of calcareotj rocks. The water percolating 
 down through them, and dropping from the roofs of the caverns, is usually charged with 
 carbonate of lime held in suspension by an excess of carbonic acid. The exposure to air, 
 the motion, and the consequent diminution of pressure, cause the precipitation of the car 
 bonate of lime in the solid state. Each drop of water, on falling through the vault, aban 
 dons a small film of limestone, which enlarges by degrees, and forms either a cylinder or 
 solid mass. This alabaster differs from marble in its parallel and waving layers, and its 
 faint degree of transparency. 
 
 This alabaster serves for the decoration of public buildings, and is occasionally intro- 
 duced into certain pieces of furniture. The fine Egyptian alabaster was anciently 
 brought from the mountains of the Thebaid, between" the Nile and the Red Sea, near 
 a town called Alabastron, whence probably the name. Very fine red alabaster, of great 
 hardness, was found at one time in the quarries of Montmartre, but the stock was soon 
 exhausted. 
 
 The incrusting concretionary limestone differs little from the preceding except in 
 the rapidity of its formation, and in being moulded upon some body whose shape it 
 assumes. These deposites from calcareous springs, form equally on vegetable bodies, on 
 stones, metals, within pipes of cast iron, wood, or lead. The incrustations on vegetable 
 and animal substances are vulgarly called petrifactions, as the organic fibres are replaced 
 by stone. One of the most curious springs of this nature is at the baths of Saint Philip, 
 in Tuscany, where the water flows in almost a boiling state, over an enormous mass oi 
 alabaster which it has produced. The carbonate of lime seems to be held in solution 
 here by sulphureted hydrogen, which flies off when the water issues to the day. Dr. 
 Vegny has taken advantage of this property of the spring, to obtain basso-relievo figures 
 of great whiteness and solidity. He makes use of sulphur moulds. 
 
72 LIMESTONE. 
 
 Calcareous luf consists of similar incrustations made by petrifying rivulets running 
 over mud, sand, vegetable remains, &c. It is porous, even cellular, somewhat soft, 
 impure, and of a dirty gray color. Its surface is wavy, rough, and irregular. These 
 incrustations or deposites are, however, sometimes so abundant, and the resulting stony 
 matters so hard that buildings may be constructed with them. The stone with which the 
 town of Pasti, in Italy, is built has been called pipe-stone by the Italians ; and it has ap- 
 parently derived its origin from incrustations upon large reeds. 
 
 The travertino, which served to construct all the monuments of Rome, appears to 
 have been formed by the deposites of the Anio and the solfatara of Tivoli. The temples 
 of Paestum, which are of extreme antiquity, have been built with a travertino formed 
 by the sediment of the waters which still flow in this territory. All these stones acquire 
 great hardness in the air, and M. de Breislak thinks that it is to the happy union of 
 travertino and pouzzolana in the same spot, that the monuments of Rome owe their great 
 solidity. 
 
 Spongy limestone, usually called Agaric mineral, stone marrow, &c, belongs to this 
 kind of formation. It has a very white color, a very fine grain, is soft to the touch, very 
 tender, and light enough to float for an instant on wat«x It occurs in rather thin layers, 
 in the crevices of calcareous rocks, and is so common in Switzerland as to be employed 
 for whitening houses. 
 
 3. Compact limestone, is of a grain more or less fine, does not polish, nor afford laige 
 blocks free from fissures, has a eonchoidal, or uneven scaly fracture. Colors very 
 various. Its varieties are ; a, The sub-lamellar, compact, with some appearaiu e of a 
 foliated texture, b, Compact fine-grained limestone, the zechstein of the Germans, to 
 which M. Brongniart refers the lithographic stone in his classification of rocks (Diction- 
 naire des Sciences Natnrelles), but the English geologists place the locality of the famous 
 lithographic quarry of Solenhofen much higher in the plane of secondary superposition. 
 Its fracture is eonchoidal ; color from gray to whitish ; c, Compact common limestone. 
 Grain of middle size ; earthy aspect j uneven fracture ; perfectly opaque ; color, 
 whitish to pale gray, yellow, or reddish. The limestones of the Jura formation are 
 referred to this head, as well as most of those interspersed among the coal strata, d, The 
 coarse compact, or Cornbrash; texture somewhat open, earthy aspect, rough to the touch, 
 ragged fracture, color yellow, gray, or dirty red. e, Compact cellular, the Rauchekalk 
 and Holekalk of the Germans, on account of the numerous holes or caverns distributed 
 through it. 
 
 4. Oolite or roe-stone. — It consists of spherical grains of various size, from a millet 
 seed, to a pea, or even an egg ; texture compact ; fracture even ; colors, whitish, yellow, 
 gray, reddish, brownish. The larger balls have almost always a foreign body for their 
 centre or nucleus. 
 
 5. Chalk ; texture earthy ; grains fine, tender, friable ; colors white, grayish, or pale 
 yellowish. 
 
 6. Coarse-grained limestone; an earthy texture, in large particles, often loose; frac- 
 ture folialed, uneven; color pale and dirty yellow. Coarse lias has been referred to this 
 head. 
 
 7. Marly limestone ; lake and fresh water limestone formation ; texture fme-grained, 
 more or less dense ; apt to crumble down in the air ; color white or pale yellow ; fracture 
 rough-grained, sometimes eonchoidal; somewhat tenacious. Texture occasionally cavern 
 ous ; with cylindrical winding cavities. This true limestone must not be confounded with 
 the lime-marl, composed of calcareous matter and clay. 
 
 8. Silicious limestone ; of a compact texture ; scratching steel, and scratched by it ; 
 leaves a silicious residuum after the action of muriatic acid. 
 
 9. Calp; texture compact; fine-grained; schistose structure; bard, as the pre- 
 ceding ; not burning into quicklime, affording to dilute muriatic acid a copious residuum 
 of clay and silica ; color blackish ; found in beds in the transition district near 
 Dublin. 
 
 10. Luc.ullite or stinkstone ; texture compact cr sub-lamellar, color grayish ; emits the 
 smell of sulphureted hydrogen by friction or a blow. It occurs at Assynl, in Sutherland- 
 ehire; in Derbyshire ; counties of Kilkenny, Cork, and Galway. 
 
 11. Bituminous limestone; black or blackish color; diffusing by the action of fire a 
 bituminous odor, and becoming white. 
 
 Of all common limestones the purity may most readily be determined by the quantity 
 of carbonic acid which is evolved during their solution in dilute nitric or muriatic acid. 
 Perfect carbonate of lime loses in this way 46 per cent. ; and if any particular limestone 
 loses only 23 per cent., we may infer that it contains only one half its weight of calcareous 
 carbonate. This method is equally applicable to marls, which are mixtures in various 
 proportions of carbonate -if lime, clay, and sand, and may all be recognised by their effer- 
 vescing with acids. 
 
 The chief use of calcareous stones is for procuring quicklime by calcination in propel 
 
LIMESTONE. 
 
 7-3 
 
 furnaces j and they are all adapted to this purpose provided they are not mixed with too 
 ,'arge a proportion of sand and ferruginous clay, whereby they acquire a vitrescent 
 texture in a high heat, and will not burn into lime. Limestone used to be calcined in 
 a very rude kiln, formed by enclosing a circular space of 10 or 15 feet diameter, by rude 
 stone walls 4 or 5 feet high, and filling the cylindrical cavitywith alternate layers of 
 turf or coal and limestone broken into moderate pieces. A bed of brushwood was 
 usually placed at the bottom, to facilitate the kindling of the kiln. Whenever the com- 
 bustion was fairly commenced, the top, piled into a conical form, was covered in with 
 sods, to render the calcination slow and regular. This method being found relatively 
 inconvenient and ineffectual, was succeeded by a permanent kiln built of stones or brick- 
 work, in the shape of a truncated cone with the narrow end undermost, and closed at 
 bottom by an iron grate. Into this kiln, the fuel and limestone were introduced at the 
 top in alternate layers, beginning of course with the former ; and the charge was either 
 allowed to burn out, when the lime was altogether removed at a door near the bottom, or 
 the kiln was successively fed with fresh materials, in alternate beds, as the former supply 
 sunk down by the calcination, while the thoroughly burnt lime at the bottom was succes- 
 sively raked out by a side door immediately above the grate. The interior of the lime kiln 
 has been changed of late years from the conical to the elliptical form ; and probably the 
 best is that of an egg placed with its narrow end undermost, and truncated both above 
 and below ; the ground plot or bottom of the kiln being compressed so as to give an 
 elliptical section, with an eye or draft-hole towards each end of that ellipse. A kiln 
 thus arched in above gives a reverberatcry heat to the upper materials, and also favors 
 their falling freely down in proportion as ;:ie finished lime is raked out below ; advan- 
 tages which the conical form does not afford. The size of the draft-notes for extracting 
 the quicklime, should be proportionate to the size of the kiln, in order to admit a suffi- 
 cient current of air to ascend with the smoke and flame, which is found to facilitate 
 the extrication of the carbonic acid. The kilns are called perpetual, because the operation 
 is carried on continuously as long as the building lasts ; and draw-kilns, from the mode of 
 discharging them by raking out the lime into carts placed against the draft-holes. Three 
 bushels of calcined limestone, or lime-shells, are produced on an average for every bushel 
 of coals consumed. Such kilns should be built up against the face of a cliff, so that easy 
 access may be gained to the mouth for charging, by making a sloping cart road to the toy 
 of the bank. 
 
T4 LIMESTONE. 
 
 Fig. 867, 868, 869, 8*70, represent the lime-kiln of Rudersdorf near Berlin, upon the 
 continuous plan, excellently constructed for economizing fuel. It is triple, and yields a 
 threefold product. Fig. 869, is a view of it as seen from above ; fig. 870, the elevation 
 and general appearance of one side; fig. 867. a vertical section, and. fig. 868, the ground 
 plan in the line a b cd of fig. 867. The inner shaft fig. 868. has the form of two truncated 
 cones, with their larger circular ends applied to each other ; it has the greatest width at 
 the level of the fire-door b, where it is 8 feet in diameter ; it is narrower below at the 
 discharge door, and at the top orifice, where it is about 6 feet in diameter. The interior 
 wall d, of the upper shaft, is built with hewn stones to the height of 38 feet, and below 
 that for 25 feet, with fire-bricks d' d', laid stepwise. This inner wall is surrounded with 
 a mantle e, of limestone, but between the two there is a small vacant space of a few 
 inches filled with ashes, in order to allow of the expansion of the interior with heat 
 taking place without shattering the mass of the building. 
 
 The fire grate, 6, consists of fire-tiles, which at the middle, where the single pieces 
 
 Eress together, lie upon an arched support/. The fire-door is also arched, and is secured 
 y fire-tiles, g is the iron door in front of that orifice. The tiles which form the grate 
 have 3 or 4 slits of an inch wide for admitting the air, which enters through the canal h. 
 The undei' part of the shaft from the fire to the hearth is 7 feet, and the outer enclosing 
 wall is constructed of limestone, the lining being of fire-bricks. Here are the ash-pit i, 
 the discharge outlet <z, and the canal h, in front of the outlet. Each ash-pit is shut with 
 an iron door, which is opened only when the space i becomes filled with ashes. These 
 indeed are allowed to remain till they get cool enough to be removed without incon- 
 venience. 
 
 The discharge outlets are also furished with iron doors, which are opened only foi 
 taking out the lime, and are carefully luted with loam during the burning. The outei 
 walls I m n of the kiln, are not essentially necessary, but convenient, because they afford 
 room for the lime to lie in the lower floor, and the fuel in the second. The several stories 
 are formed of groined arches o, and platforms p, covered over with limestone slabs. In 
 the third and fourth stories the workmen lodge at night. See fig. 870. Somp enter their 
 apartments by the upper door q ; others by the lower doo'" s. r is one of the chimneys for 
 the several fire-places of the workmen, tuv are stairs. 
 
 As the limestone is introduced at top, the mouth of the kiln is surrounded with a 
 strong iron balustrade to prevent the danger of the people tumbling in. The platform is 
 laid with rails w, for the wagons of limestone, drawn by horses, to run upon, x is 
 another rail-way, leading to another kiln. Such kilns are named after the number of their 
 fire-doors, single, twofold, threefold, fourfold, &c. ; from three to five being the most usual. 
 The outer form of the kiln also is determined by the number of the furnaces ; being a 
 truncated pyramid of equal sides ; and in the middle of each alternate side there is a lire- 
 place, and a discharge outlet. A cubic foot of limestone requires for burning, one and five 
 twelfths of a cubic foot of wood, and one and a half of turf. 
 
 When the kiln is to be set in action, it is filled with rough limestones, to the height 
 c d, or to the level of the firing ; a wood fire is kindled in «,~and kept up till the lime is 
 calcined. Upon this mass of quicklime, a fresh quantity of limestones is introduced, not 
 thrown in at the mouth, but let down in buckets, till the kiln be quite full ; while over 
 the top a cone of limestones is piled up, about 4 feet high. A turf-fire is now kindled 
 in the furnaces b. Whenever the upper stones are well calcined, the lime under the 
 fire-level is taken out, the superior column falls in, a new cone is piled up, and the 
 process goes on thus without interruption, and without the necessity of once putting a fire 
 into a; for in the space c E, the lime must be always well calcined. The discharge of 
 lime takes place every 12 hours, and it amounts at each time in a threefold kiln, to from 
 20 to 24 Prussian tonnes of 6 imperial bushels each; or to 130 bushels imperial upon 
 the average. It is found by experience, that fresh-broken limestone which contains a 
 little moisture, calcines more readily than what has been dried by exposure for some 
 time to the air ; in consequence of the vapor of water promoting the escape of the 
 carbonic acid gas ; a fact well exemplified in distilling essential oils, as oil of tur- 
 pentine and naplha, which come over with the steam of water, at upwards of 100 degrees 
 F. below their natural term of ebullition. Six bushels of Rudersdorf quicklime wei<*h 
 from 280 to 306 pounds. ° 
 
 When coals are used for fuel in a well-constructed perpetual, or draw kiln about 1 
 measure of them should suffice for 4 or 5 of limestone. 
 
 The most extensive employment of quicklime is in agriculture, on which subject in- 
 structive details are given in Loudon's Encyclopaedias of Agriculture and Gardening 
 
 Quicklime is employed in a multitude of preparations subservient to the arts'- for 
 clarifying the juice of the sugar-cane and the beet-root; for purifying coal gas-' for 
 rendering the potash and soda of commerce caustic in the soap manufacture and in the 
 bleaching of linen and cotton; for purifying animal matters before dissolving out their 
 gelatine ; for clearing hides of their hair in tanneries ; for extracting the pure volatile 
 alkali from muriate or sulphate of ammonia ; for rendering confined portions of air verj 
 
LIQUATION. 
 
 75 
 
 dry; for stopping the leakage of stone reservoirs, when mixed with clay and thrown 
 into the water ; for making a powerful lute with white of egg or serum of blood ; foi 
 preparing a depilatory pommade with sulphuret of arsenic, &o. Lime water is used in 
 medicine, and quicklime is of general use in chemical researches. Next to agriculture 
 the most extensive application of quicklime is to Moktak Cements, which see. 
 LINEN. See Flax, and Textile Fabrics. 
 
 Linen distinguished f ram cotton. — Cotton may be distinguished from linen or flax by 
 immersing the former, well washed and dried, for about a minute in strong sulphuric 
 acid. It is then to be withdrawn and washed with water containing a little alkali. 
 The cotton will dissolve as a gummy mass, while the linen will retain its thready 
 texture. 
 
 LINSEED (Oraine de Un, Fr.; Leinsame, Germ.); contains in its dry state, 21-263' 
 of oil; 0.146 of wax; 2.488 of a soft resin; 0.550 of a coloring resinous matter; 
 0-926 of a yellowish substance analogous to tannin ; 6-154 of gum ; 15-12 of vegetable 
 mucilage; 1-48 of starch; 2-932 of gluten; 2.782 of albumine ; 10'8S4 of sachcarine 
 extractive ; 44 - 382 of envelopes, including some vegetable mucilage. It contains also 
 free acetic acid ; some acetate, sulphate, and muriate of potash, phosphate and sulphate 
 of lime; phosphate of magnesia ; and silica. See Oils, Unctuous. 
 
 LINSEED AND FLAXSEED. Imported, for home consumption, in 1850, 
 608,984 quarters; in 1851, 630,471 qrs., ; dutyfree. 
 
 LINSEED OIL, drying without heat. When linseed oil is carefully agitated with 
 vinegar of lead (tribasic acetate of lead) and the mixture allowed to clear by settling, 
 a, copious white cloudy precipitate forms, containing oxide of lead, whilst the raw oil 
 is converted into a drying oil of a pale straw color, forming an excellent varnish, 
 which when applied in thin layers, dries perfectly in twenty-four hours. It contains 
 from four to five per cent, of oxide of lead in solution. The following proportions 
 appear to be the most advantageous for its preparations. 
 
 In a bottle containing 4i pints of rain water, 18 ounces of neutral acetate of lead are 
 placed, and when the solution is complete, 18 ounces of litharge in a very fine powder 
 are added ; the whole is then allowed to stand in a moderately warm place, frequently 
 agitating it to assist the solution of the litharge. This solution may be considered as 
 complete when no more small scales are apparent. The deposit of a shining white 
 color (sexbasic acetate of lead) may be saparated by filtration. . This conversion of 
 the neutral acetate of lead into vinegar of lead, by means of litharge and water, ia 
 effected in about a quarter of an hour, if the mixture be heated, to ebullition. When 
 heat is not applied, the process will usually take three or four days. The solution of 
 vinegar of lead, or tribasic acetate of lead, thus formed, is sufficient for the preparation 
 of 22lbs. of drying oil. For this purpose, the solution is diluted with an equal volume 
 of rain water, and to it is gradually added, with constant agitation, 221bs. of oil, with 
 which 18 ounces of litharge have previously been mixed. 
 
 When the points of contact between the lead, solution and the oil have been fre- 
 quently renewed by agitation of the mixture three or four times a day, and the mixture 
 allowed to settle in a warm place, the limpid straw-colored oil rises to the surface, 
 leaving a copious whitish deposit. The watery solution rendered clear by filtration, 
 contains intact all the acetate of lead first employed, and may be used in the next 
 operation, after the addition to it as before of 18 ounces of litharge. 
 
 By filtration through paper or cotton the oil may be obtained as limpid as water 
 and by exposure to the light of the sun it may also be bleached. 
 
 Should a drying oil be required absolutely free from lead, it may be obtained by the 
 addition of dilute sulphuric acid to the above, when, on being allowed to stand, a 
 deposit of sulphate of lead will take place, and the clear oil may be obtained free from 
 all trace of lead. 
 
 Lint for surgery, has been made the subject of a patent by Mr. Thomas Ross, of 
 Coleman Street, which consists in the employment of peculiarly constructed scrapers 
 for braiding the surface of tlie linen cloth, and producing a pile or nap upon it. The 
 scrapers are worked by a rotary motion. 
 
 Instead of rotary scrapers, a reciprocating pendulous movement is sometimes applied 
 to a single scraper. Chisel-formed blades are claimed by the patentee as scrapers for 
 raising the pile, by working with the bevel edges forwards, so as to scrape and not to 
 cut the fabric. He has in the rotary form a ledge or bed concentric with the axis of 
 the scraper, which he- also claims ; both of which seem to be serviceable. The details 
 and figures may be seen in Newton's Journal, xxxvii. 301. 
 
 LIQUATION (Eng. and Fr. ; Saigerung, Germ.) ; is the process of sweating out, by 
 a regulated heat from an alloy an easily fusible metal from the interstices of a metal 
 difficult of fusion. Lead and antimony are the metals most commonly subjected to 
 liquation ; the former for the purpose of carrying off by a superior affinity the silver 
 
76 LIQUATION. 
 
 present in any complex alloy, a subject discussed under Silver; the latter will b« 
 
 considered here, as referred to from the article Antimony. 
 Fi's 871 SI" 873 represent the celebrated anlimonial liquation furnaces ot Malbosc 
 
 in the department of Ardeche, in France. Fig 
 871 is a ground plan taken at the level of the 
 draught holes g g, fig. 872, and of the dotted line 
 E f ; fig. 872 is a vertical section through tho 
 
 dotted line A b, of fig. 871 ; and fig. 873 is a 
 vertical section through the dotted line c d of 
 fig. 871. In the three figures, the same letters 
 denote like objects, a b c are three grates upon 
 the same level above the floor of the works, 4J 
 feet long, by 10| inches broad ; between which 
 are two rectangular galleries, d e, which pass 
 transversely through the whole furnace, and lie 
 at a level of 12 inches above the ground. They 
 »re separated by two walls from the three fire-places. The walls have three open- 
 ings,/ g h, alternately placed for the flames to play through. The ends of these galleries 
 are shut in with iron doors i i, containing peep holes. In each gallery are two conical 
 cast-iron crucibles k k, into which the eliquating sulphuret of antimony drops. Their 
 height is from 12 to 14 inches, the width of the mouth is 10 inches, that of the bottom is 
 6, and the thickness four tenths of an inch. They are coated over with fire-clay, to pre- 
 vent the sulphuret from acting upon them ; and they stand upon cast-iron pedestals with 
 projecting ears, to facilitate their removal from the gallery or platform. Both of these 
 galleries are lined with tiles of fire-clay 1 1, which also serve as supports to the vertical 
 liquation tubes in m, made of the same clay. The tiles are somewhat curved towards the 
 middle, for the purpose of receiving the lower ends of these tubes, and have a small hole 
 at n, through which the liquid sulphuret flows down into the crucible. 
 
 The liquation tubes are conical, the internal diameter at top being 10 inches, at 
 bottom 8 ; the length fully 40 inches, and the thickness six tenths of an inch. They have 
 at their lower ends notches or slits o, fig. 873, from 3 to 5 inches long, which look out- 
 wards, to make them accessible from the front and back part of the furnaces through 
 small conical openings p p, in the walls. These are closed during the operation with 
 clay stoppers, and are opened only when the gangue, rubbish, and cinders are to be raked 
 out. The liquation tubes pass across ti'e arch of the furnace q q, the space of the arch 
 being wider than the tubes ; they arc stout in at top with fire-covers r r. s s, the middle 
 part of the arch, immediately under the middle grate, is barrel-shaped, so that both 
 arches are abutted together. The flames, after playing round about the sides of the 
 liquation tubes, pass off through three openings and flues into the chimney t, about 13 
 feet high; « being the one opening, and v the two others, which are provided with 
 register plates. In front of the furnace is a smoke flue «, to carry off the sulphureous 
 vapors exhaled during the clearing out of the rubbish and slag ; another, x, begins, 
 over y y, at the top of the tubes ; a wall z, separates the smoke flue into halves, so 
 that the workmen upon the one side may not be incommoded by the fumes of the other. 
 This wall connects at the same time the front flue w with the chimney t. a' a' and 
 6' 6' are iron and wooden bearer beams and rods for strengthening the smoke-flue, c' if 
 
LIQUEURS. 1-7 
 
 are arches upon both sides of the furnace, which become narrower from without inwards, 
 and are closed with well-fitted plates d' d'. They serve, in particular circumstances, 
 to allow the interior to be inspected, and to see.if either of the liquation furnaces be out 
 of order. 
 
 Each tube being charged with about 500 lbs. of the antimonial ore, previously 
 warmed upon the roof of the furnace, in a short time the sulphuret of a blue color 
 begins to flow out. Whenever the liquation ceases, the cinders are raked out by the 
 side openings, and the tubes are charged afresh. The luted iron crucibles are suffered 
 to become three-fourths full, are then drawn out from the galleries, left to coo], and 
 emptied. The ingots weigh about 85 pounds. The charging is renewed every three 
 hours, and when the process is in good train, 100 lbs. of sulphuret of antimony are 
 obtained every hour. The average duration of the tubes is 3 weeks, though in some 
 cases it may be 40 days. The product from the ore is from 40 to 50 per cent. The 
 above plan of operation is remarkable for the small consumption of fuel, the economy 
 of labor, and the complete exhaustion of the ore. 
 
 LIQUEURS, LIQUORISTE ; names given by the French to liquors compounded o* 
 alcohol, water, sugar and different aromatic substances ; and to the person who com 
 pounds them. I shall insert here a few of their most approved recipes. 
 
 Infusion of the peels of fruits. — The outer skin pared off with a sharp knife, is to be 
 dropped into a hard glazed jar, containing alcohol of 34° B., diluted with half its bulk 
 of water, and the whole is to be transferred into well-corked carboys. After an infusion 
 of six weeks, with occasional agitation, the aromatized spirit is to be distilled off. In 
 this way are prepared the liquors of cedrat, lemons, oranges, limettes (a sort of sweet 
 lemon), poncires (the large citron), bergamots, &c. 
 
 Infusion of aromatic seeds. — These must be pounded, put into a carboy, along with 
 alcohol diluted as above, infused with agitation for six weeks, and then distilled. 
 
 Infusion of aromatic woods are made in the same way. 
 
 The liqaorist should not bring his infusions and tinctures into the market till six 
 months after their distillation. 
 
 Liqueurs have different titles, according to their mode of fabrication. 
 
 Thus waters, are liquors apparently devoid of viscidity; creans and oils possess it in 
 a high degree. 
 
 "Water of cedrat, is made by dissolving six pounds of sugar in seven quarts of water , 
 adding two quarts of spirit of cedrat, and one of spirit of citron. Boil the whole 
 for a minute, and filter hot through a proper bag. Set it for a considerable time aside 
 in a corked carboy, before it be bottled. 
 
 Oil or cream of cedrat. — Take eight quarts of river water, two of spirits of cedrat, 
 one of spirit of citron, and as much rich syrup as is necessary to give the mixture an 
 oily consistence. SJir it well and set it aside in carboys. Should it be at all clouded, 
 it must be filtered till it be perfectly pellucid. 
 
 Balm of Molucca, is made by infusing for ten days, in a carboy capable of holding 
 fully four gallons, 10 pounds of spirits of 18° B., 4 pounds of white sugar, 4- pounds of 
 river water, 4 draehms of pounded cloves, and 48 grains of pounded mace. The mix- 
 ture is to be shaken 3 or 4 times daily, colored with caramel (burnt sugar), filtered at 
 the end of ten days, and set aside in bottles. 
 
 Tears of the widow of Malabar, are compounded with the preceding quantity of spirits, 
 sugar, and water, adding four drachms of ground cinnamon, 48 grains of cloves, and a 
 like quantity of maee, both in powder. It may be slightly colored with caramel. 
 
 The delight of the Mandarins. — Take spirit, sugar and water, as above, adding 4 
 drachms of anisum Ohinm (Oingi), as much ambretta (seeds of the hibiscus abelmoschus, 
 Lin.) all in powder ; 2 draehms of safflower. 
 
 The siglis of love. — Take spirits, water, and sugar, as above. Perfume with essence 
 (otto) of roses ; give a very pale pink hue with tincture of cochineal, filter and bottle up. 
 
 Crime de macarons. — Add to the spirit, sugar, and water as above, half a pound of 
 bitter almonds, blanched and pounded ; cloves, cinnamon, and mace in powder, of 
 each 48 grains. A violet tint is given by the tinctures of turnsole and cochineal. 
 
 Guracoa. — Put into a large bottle nearly full of alcohol of trente-six (34° Baume), 
 the peels of six smooth Portugal oranges, (Seville ?) and let them infuse for 15 days ; 
 then put into a carboy 10 pounds of spirits of 18° B., 4 pounds of white sugar, and 4 
 pounds of river water "When the sugar is dissolved, add a sufficient quantity of the 
 orange zestes to give flavor, then spice the whole with 48 grains of cinnamon, and 
 as much maee, both in powder. Lastly introduce an ounce of ground Brazil wood, and 
 infuse during 10 days, agitating 3 or four times daily. A pretty deep hue ought to ha 
 given with caramel. v 
 
 Swiss extract of wormwood, is compounded as follows : — • 
 Tops of the absinthium majus 4 pounds ; 
 Ditto, absinthium minus 2 pounds ; 
 
rs 
 
 LITHOGRAPHIC PRESSES. 
 
 >• of each a few grains at pleasure ; 
 
 Roots oi angelica, 
 
 Calamus aromaticus, 
 
 Seeds of the anisum Chinee, 
 
 Leaves of the dittany of Crete, J 
 
 Alcohol of 20° B., four gallons Imp. 
 Macerate these substances during eight days, then distil by a gentle fire ; draw offtwc 
 gallons of spirits, and add to it 2 drachms of essential oil of anise-seed. The two gallonj 
 left in the still serve for preparing the vulnerary spirituous water. 
 
 Of coloring the liqueurs. 
 
 Yellow is given with the yellow coloring matter of sunflower (carthamus), which is 
 readily extracted by water. 
 
 Fawn is given by caramel, made by heating ground white sugar in an iron spoon 
 over a charcoal fire, till it assumes the desired tint, and then pouring it into a little 
 cold water. 
 
 Red is given by cochineal alone, or with a little alum. 
 
 Violet is given by good litmus (turnsole). 
 
 Blue and green. — Sulphate of indigo gives the first. After saturating it nearly with 
 chalk, alcohol being digested upon it, becomes blue. This tincture mixed with that 
 of carthamus forms a good green. 
 
 LIQUIDAMBER, is obtained from the liquidambar styraeijlua, a tree which grows 
 in Mexico, Louisiana and Virginia. Some specimens are thin, like oil, and others are 
 thickish, like turpentine. It is transparent, amber colored, has an agreeable and power- 
 ful smell, and an aromatic taste, which feels pungent in the throat. Boiling alcohol 
 dissolves it almost entirely. It contains a good deal of benzoic acid, some of which 
 effloresces whenever the liquidamber hardens with keeping. 
 
 LITHARGE (Eng. and Fr. ; Glatte, Germ.) ; is the fused yellow protoxide of lead, 
 which on cooling passes into a mass consisting of small six-sided plates, of a reddish 
 yellow color, and semi-transparent. It generally contains more or less red lead, whence 
 the variations of its color; and carbonic acid, especially when it has been exposed to 
 the air for some time. See Lead and Silver, for its mode of preparation. 
 
 LITHIA, is a simple earthy or alkaline substance, discovered not many years ago in 
 theminerals called petalite and tiphane. It is white, very caustic, reddens litmus and 
 red cabbage, and saturates acids with great facility. When exposed to the air it 
 attracts humidity and carbonic acid. It is more soluble in water than baryta ■ and has 
 such a ^strong affinity for it as to be obtained only in the state of a hydrate. ' It forms 
 
 It is most remarkable for its power of acting upon or 
 
 neutral salts with all the acids, 
 corroding platinum. 
 
 LITHIUM, is the metallic basis of lithia 
 metal, and 123 of oxygen. 
 
 the latter substance consists of 100 o( 
 
 LITHOGRAPHIC PRESS. , The lithographic press in common use has lone been 
 regarded as a very inadequate machine. The amount of manual power recurred to 
 work it, and the slow speed at which, under the most favorable circumstances copie= 
 can be produced, disables lithography in its competition with letter-press A career ' 
 of brilliant success has attended the efforts of scientific men towards speed and r,e,> 
 fection m this latter branch of the art; and the present printing machines surpass the 
 hand-press somewhat m the same ratio, as does our express speid the log trot of our 
 forefathers. The engravings annexed will serve to illustrate Messrs. sfpier & Song 
 
 engine, and to run upon the pulleys ,, i,, o. P Th/S p^ey! l^ZttZZLt 
 
LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 79 
 
 spindle d, and the other two work loose, or " dead," on the same spindle ; these bands 
 with their striking forks, a, are arranged so as to be brought alternately upon the 
 fixed pulley, b, and thus a reversing motion is given to the screw. The nut in which 
 the screw works is fixed to a crosspiece e, which braces the sideframesF, r, together at 
 bottom, while the bar G, performs the samo office at top ; the scraper box, 11, is sustained 
 between these frames at bearings I, and is so fitted as to work freely. To support the 
 frames and scraper box independent of the screw, and maintain them in position, allow- 
 ing freedom of action, the rollers J, J, are provided, which run in the planed recesses, 
 K, along the top of the main standards l. 
 
 The machine is shown with its tympan down, ready for starting ; this is effected by 
 pressing lightly upon the lever, b, which raises a catch, and allows the weight M, to 
 descend in the direction of its present inclination, and act upon the connections with the 
 striking forks, so as to bring one of the bands upon the fast pulley b, and make the 
 scraper and its frames move forward. The return is caused by the frame f, coming in 
 contact with a stop o, which yielding, acts upon the striking forks by its bar d, upon 
 which it maybe adjusted to give the travel required. On the return being accomplished 
 the machine stops itself by a striking action against stop e, the catch 6, falling in to 
 prevent the weight descending to its full throw, and thus retaining the two bands upon 
 the two dead pulleys, a and o, while the machine is prepared for another impression. 
 
 The action of the scraper is peculiar and novel ; it is balanced, so that its tendency is 
 to remain slightly raised, but in its forward movement, and at the point desired, it is 
 made to descend by a stop fixed upon the top of the main standard, l, into a position 
 vertical or nearly so, in which position it is retained by its own onward progress against 
 6trong abutments projecting from the frames, f ; on the return it resumes its raised posi- 
 tion and passes back without impediment. The scraper may be adjusted to give the 
 pressure desired, or the table on which the stone is placed regulated by screws. 
 
 The advantages embodied in this machine will be at once recognized by those in- 
 terested. The pulling down of the scraper, and the labor and inconvenience attendant 
 upon that operation, are entirely superseded by the simple and effectual valve-like 
 movement just explained, which forms the groundwork of this combination, although 
 it will alike apply to the press-work by hand, and is the most striking novelty in the 
 machine. " 
 
 LITHOGRAPHY. Though this subject belongs rather to the arts of taste and design 
 than to productive manufactures, its chemical principles fall within the province of this 
 Dictionary. 
 
 The term lithography is derived from Xiflos a stone, and ypa<pii, writing, and designates 
 the art of throwing off impressions upon paper, of figures and writing previously traced 
 upon stone. The processes of this art are founded : — 
 
 1. Upon the adhesion to a smoothly-polished limestone, of an encaustic fat which 
 forms the lines or traces. 
 
 2. Upon the power acquired by the parts penetrated by this encaustic, of attracting 
 to themselves, and becoming covered with a printer's ink, having linseed oil for its basis. 
 
 3. Upon the interposition of a film of water, which prevents the adhesion of the ink 
 in all the parts of the surface of the stone not impregnated with the encaustic. 
 
 4 Lastly, upon a pressure applied by the stone, such as to transfer to paper the 
 greater part of the ink which covers the greasy tracings of the encaustic. 
 
 The lithographic stones of the best quality are still procured from the quarry of 
 Sulenhofen, a village at no great distance from Munich, where this mode of printing 
 had its birth. They resemble in their aspect the yellowish white lias of Bath, but thei" 
 geological place is much higher than the lias. Abundant quarries of these fine-grained 
 
80 LITHOGRAPHY. 
 
 limestones occur in the county of Pappenheim, along the banks of the Danube, pre 
 senting slabs of every required degree of thickness, parted by regular seams, and ready 
 for removal with very little violence. The good quality of a lithographic stone is gen- 
 erally denoted by the following characters: its hue is of a yellowish grey, and uniform 
 throughout ; it is free from veins, fibres, and spots ; a steel point makes an impression 
 on it with difficulty ; and the splinters broken off from it by the hammer display a eon- 
 choidal fracture. 
 
 The Munich stones are retailed on the spot in slabs or layers of equal thickness; 
 they are quarried with the aid of a saw, so as to sacrifice as little as possible of the ir- 
 regular edges of the rectangular tables or plates. One of the broad faces is then dressed, 
 and coarsely smoothed. The thickness of these stones is nearly proportional to their 
 other dimensions; and varies from If inches to 3 inches. 
 
 In each lithographic establishment, the stones receive their fminishing, dressing and 
 polishing ; which are performed like the grinding and polishing of mirror plate. The 
 word is done by hand, by rubbing circularly a moveable slab over another cemented 
 in a horizontal position, with fine sifted sand and water interposed between the two. 
 The style of work that the stone is intended to produce determines the kind of polish 
 that it should get. For crayon drawing the stone should be merely grained more or 
 lessens according to the fancy of the draughtsman. The higher the finish of the sur- 
 face, the softer are the drawings ; but the printing process becomes sooner pasty, and a 
 smaller number of impressions can be taken. Works in ink require the stone to be 
 more softened down, and finally polished with pumiee and a little water. The stones 
 thus prepared are packed for use with white paper interposed between their faces. 
 
 Lithographic crayons. — Fine lithographic prints cannot be obtained unles the crayons 
 possess every requisite quality. The ingredients composing them ought to be of such 
 a nature as to adhere strongly to the stone, both after the drawing has undergone the 
 preparation of the acid, and during the press-work. They should be hard enough to 
 admit of a fine point, and trace delicate lines without risk of breaking. The following 
 composition has been successfully employed for crayons by MM. Bernard andDelarue, 
 at Paris. 
 
 Pure wax, (first quality) • - - £ 
 
 Dry white tallow soap 2 
 
 White tallow - 2 
 
 Gum lac ... 2 
 
 Lamp-black, enough to give a dark tint 1 
 
 Occasionally copal varnish - 1 
 
 The wax is to be melted over a gentle fire, and the lac broken into bits is then to be 
 added by degrees, stirring all the while with a spatula ; the soap is next introduced in 
 fine shavings ; and when the mixture of these substances is very intimately accomplished, 
 the copal-vanish, incorporated with the lamp-black, is poured in. The heat and 
 agitation are continued till the paste has acquired a suitable consistence; which may 
 be recognized by taking out a little of it, letting it cool on a plate, and trying its 
 quality with a penknife. This composition, on being cut, should afford brittle slices. 
 The boiling may be quickened by setting the rising vapors on fire, which increases the 
 temperature, and renders the exhalations less offensive. When ready, it is to be poured 
 into a brass mould, made of two semi-eylinders joined together by clasps or rings, 
 forming between them a cylindric tube of the crayon Bize. The mould should be pre- 
 viously smeathed with a greasy cloth. 
 
 _ M. Lasteyrie prescribes a more simple composition, said to be equally fit for the 
 lithographer's use : — 
 
 Dried white tallow soap - 6 parts. 
 
 White wax • g 
 
 Lamp-black - . . 1 
 
 The soap and tallow are to be put into a small goblet and covered up. When the 
 whole is thoroughly fused by heat, and no clots remain, the black is gradually sprinkled 
 in with careful stirring. 
 
 Lithographic ink is prepared nearly on the same principle : 
 
 Wax - - 16 parts. 
 
 Tallow .... 6 r _ 
 
 Hard tallow soap - g 
 
 Shell-lac - - - . . . -12 
 
 MaBtic in tears - ... 3 
 
 Venice turpentine ... - - 1 
 
 Lamp-black ..... ..4 
 
LITHOGRAPHY. 81 
 
 The mastic and lac, previously ground together, are to be heated -with care in the 
 turpentine ; the wax and tallow are to be added after they are taken off the fire, and 
 when their solution is effected, the soap shavings are to be thrown in. Lastly the lamp 
 black is to be well intermixed. Whenever the union is accomplished by heat, the 
 operation is finished ; the liquor is left to cool a little, then poured out on tables, and, 
 when cold, cut into square rods. 
 
 Lithographic ink of good quality ought to be susceptible of forming an emulsion so 
 attenuated, that it may appear to be dissolved when rubbed upon a hard body in dis- 
 tilled or river waler. It should be flowing in the pen, not spreading on the stone j capa- 
 ble of forming delicate traces, and very black to show its delineations. The most essen- 
 tial quality of the ink is to sink well into the stone, so as to re-produce the most delicate 
 outlines of the drawing, and to afford a great many impressions. It must therefore be 
 able to resist the acid with which the stone is moistened in the preparation, without let- 
 ting any of its greasy matter escape. 
 
 M. de Lasteyrie states that after having tried a great many combinations, he gives the 
 preference to the following : — 
 
 Tallow soap, dried ----- 30 parts 
 
 Mastic, in tears ... - 30 — 
 
 White soda of commerce - - - 30 — 
 
 Shellac 150 — 
 
 Lamp-black ------ 12 — 
 
 The soap is first put into the goblet and melted over the fire, to which the lac being 
 added fuses immediately ; the soda is then introduced, and next the mastic, stirring all 
 the while with a spatula. A brisk fire is applied till all these materials be melted com- 
 pletely, when the whole is poured out into the mould. 
 
 The inks now prescribed may be employed equally with the pen and the hair pencil, 
 for writings, black-lead drawings, aqua tinta, mixed drawings, those which represent en- 
 gravings on wood (wood cuts), &c. When the ink is to be used it is to be rubbed down 
 with water, in the ma,nner of China ink, till the shade be of the requisite depth. The 
 temperature of the place ought to be from 84° to 90° Fahr., or the saucer in which the 
 ink-stick is rubbed should be set in a heated plate. No more ink should be dissolved 
 than is to be used at the time, for it rarely keeps in the liquid state for 24 hours ; and it 
 should be covered or corked up. 
 
 jiatographic paper. — Autography, or the operation by which a writing or a drawing is 
 transferred from paper to stone, presents not merely a means of abridging labor, but also 
 that of reverting the writings or drawings into the direction in which they were traced, 
 whilst, if executed-directly upon the stone, the impression given by it is mverted. Hence, 
 a writing upon stone must be inverted from right to left to obtain direct impressions. 
 But the art of writing thus is tedious and difficult to acquire, while, by means of the 
 autographic paper and the transfer, proofs are obtained in the same direction with the 
 writing and drawing. 
 
 Autographic ink. — It must be fatter and softer than that applied directly to the stone, 
 so that though dry upon the paper, it may still preserve sufficient viscidity to stick to the 
 stone by mere pressure. 
 
 To compose this ink, we take — 
 
 White soap - - - - - -100 parts 
 
 White wax of the best quality - - 100 — 
 
 Mutton suet ------30 — 
 
 Shellac 50 — 
 
 Mastic -50 — 
 
 Lamp-black - - - - - 30 or 35 — 
 
 These materials are to be melted as above described for the lithographic ink. 
 
 Lithographic ink and paper. — The following recipes have been much commended : — 
 
 Virgin or white wax ----- 8 parts 
 
 White soap ------ 2 — 
 
 Shellac 2 — 
 
 Lamp-black ------ 3 table-spoonsfui. 
 
 Preparation. — The wax and soap are to be melted together, and before they become so 
 bot as to take fire, the lamp-black is to be well stirred in with a spatula, and then the 
 mixture is to be allowed to burn for 30 seconds ; the flame being extinguished, the lac is 
 to be added by degrees, carefully stirring all the time ; the vessel is to be put upon the 
 fire once more in order to complete the combination, and till the materials are either 
 kindled or nearly so. After the flame is extinguished, the ink must be suffered to cool a 
 little, and then put into the moulds. 
 Vol. II. 
 
82 LIXIVIATION. 
 
 With the ink crayons thus made, lines may be drawn as fine as with the point of the 
 graver and as full as can be desired, without risk of its spreading in the carnage. Its 
 traces will remain unchanged on paper for years before being transferred. 
 
 S^may think it strange that there is no suet in the above composition, but , it hae 
 been foun d that ink containing it is only good when used soon after it is made, and when 
 immediately transfe! red to the stone, while traces drawn on paper with the suet ink be- 
 come defective after 4 or 5 days. . 
 
 Lithographic paper.— Lay on the paper, 3 successive coats of sheep-leet jelly, 
 
 1 layer of white starch, 
 1 layer of gamboge. 
 The first layer is applied with a sponge dipped in the solution of the hot jelly, very 
 equally over the whole surface, but thin; and if the leaf be stretched upon a cord, the 
 gelatine will be more uniform. The next two coats are to be laid on, until each ^is dry 
 The layer of starch is then to be applied with a sponge, and it will also be very thin and 
 equal. The coat of gamboge is lastly to be applied in the same way. When the paper 
 isdry.it must be smoothed by passing it through the lithographic press ; and the more 
 polished it is, the better does it take on the ink in fine lines. 
 
 Transfer.-When the paper is moistened, the transfer of the ink from the gamboge is 
 perfect and infallible. The starch separates from the gelatine, and if, after taking the 
 paper off the stone, we place it on a white slab of stone, and pour hot water over it, it 
 will resume its primitive state. ..,.,, ». t ■ „ -. 
 
 The coat of gamboge ought to be laid on the same day it is dissolved, as by keeping it 
 becomes of an oily nature ; in this state it does not obstruct the transfer, but it gives a 
 gloss to the paper which renders the drawing or tracing more difficult, especially to per- 
 sons little habituated to lithography. „ . . j , n 
 
 The starch paste can be employed only when cold, the day after it is made, and alter 
 having the skin removed from its surface. 
 
 A leaf of such lithographic paper may be made in two minutes. 
 
 In transferring a writing, an ink drawing, or a lithographic crayon, even the impression 
 of a copper-plate, to the stone, it is necessary, 1. that the impressions be made upon a thin 
 and slender body like common paper ; 2. that they may be detached and fixed totally on 
 the stone by means of pressure ; but as the ink of a drawing sinks to a certain depth in 
 paper, and adheres pretty strongly, it would be difficult to detach all its parts, were there 
 not previously put between the paper and the traces, a body capable of being separated 
 from the paper, and of losing its adhesion to it by means of the water with which it 13 
 damped. In order to produce this effect, the paper gets a certain preparation, which con- 
 sists in coating it over with a kind of paste ready to receive every delineation without 
 suffering it to penetrate into the paper. There are different modes of communicating this 
 property to paper. Besides the above, the following may be tried. Take an unsized 
 paper, rather strong, and cover it with a varnish composed of: — 
 
 Starch 120 parts 
 
 Gum arabic - - - 40 — 
 
 Alum 20 — 
 
 A paste of moderate consistence must be made with the starch and some water, with 
 the aid of heat, into which the gum and alum are to be thrown, each previously dissolved 
 in separate vessels. When the whole is weil mixed, it is to be applied, still hot, on the 
 leaves of paper, with a flat smooth brush. A tint of yellow color may be given to the 
 varnish, with a decoction of the berries of Avignon, commonly called French berries by 
 our dyers. The paper is to be dried, and smoothed by passing under the scraper of the 
 lithographic press. 
 
 Steel pens are employed for writing and drawing with ink on the lithographic 
 stones. 
 
 LITMUS (Tournesol, Fr. ; Lackmns, Germ.) is prepared in Holland from the species 
 of lichen called Lecanora tartarea, Roccella tartarea, by a process which has been kept 
 secret, but which is undoubtedly analogous to that for making archil and cudbear. The 
 ground lichens are first treated with urine containing a little potash, and allowed to fer- 
 ment, whereby they produce a purple-red ; the colored liquor, treated with quicklime and 
 some more urine, is set again to ferment during two or three weeks, then it is mixed with 
 chalk or gypsum into a paste, which is formed into small cubical pieces, and dried in the 
 shade. Litmus has a violet-blue color, is easy to pulverize, is partially soluble in water 
 and dilute alcohol, leaving a residuum consisting of carbonate of lime, of clay, silica, 
 gypsum, and oxyde of iron combined with the dye. The color of litmus is not altered by 
 alkalis, but is reddened by acids ; and is therefore used in chemistry as a delicate test of 
 acidity, either in the state of solution or of unsized paper stained with it. It is employed 
 to dye marble blue. 
 LIXIVIATION (Lcssivage, Fr. ; duslagen, Germ.) signifies the abstraction by wate 
 
LUBRICATION. 83 
 
 of the soluble alkaline or saline matters present in any earthy admixture ; as from 
 that of quicklime and potashes to make potash lye, from that of effloresced alum 
 schist to make aluminous liquors, Ac. 
 
 LOADSTONE, MAGNETIC IRON-STONE (Fer oxydvli, Fr. ; Magneteisenstein, 
 Germ.) ; an iron ore consisting of the protoxide and peroxide of iron in a state of 
 combination. 
 
 LOAM (Terre limoneuse, Fr. ; Lehm. Germ.) ; a native clay mixed with quartz sand 
 and iron ochre, and occasionally with some carbonate of lime. 
 
 LOCK (BANK SAFE). The peculiarity of this lock consists in an extension of the 
 bey after it is inserted in the lock, and a secret connection between the interior of the 
 key and two of the players. The two inclined planes on the under side of the wards 
 open or shut the extension of the key as it passes over them : the part of the key thus 
 extended operates on two players placed beyond the reach of picklocks, while at the 
 same time the main part of the key works other two players, which are again operated 
 on by the secret apparatus in the interior of the key. This secret apparatus can be 
 removed at pleasure, and the proper key then becomes unfit to work the lock, and 
 skeleton keys, however well fitted to pass the wards, will not operate on the players. 
 
 LODE is tne name given by the Cornish miners to a vein, whether it be filled with 
 metallic or earthy matter. 
 
 LOGWOOD {Bobs de Camptehe, Bois bleu, Fr. ; Blauholz, Germ. ; is the wood of the 
 Hosmatoxylon Campeckianum, a native tree of central America, grown in Jamaica since 
 1715. It was first introduced into England in the reign of Elizabeth, but as it afforded 
 to the unskilful dyers of her time a fugitive color, it was not only prohibited from 
 being used, under sever* penalties, but was ordered to be burned wherever found, by a 
 law passed in the 23d year of her reign. The same prejudice existed, and the same law 
 was enacted against indigo. At length, after a century of absurd prohibition, these 
 two most valuable tinctorial matters, by which all our hats, and the greater part of 
 our woollen cloths are dyed, were allowed to be used. 
 
 Old wood, with black bark and with little of the white alburnum, is preferred. Log- 
 wood is denser than water, very hard, of a fine compact grain, and almost indestruct- 
 ible by the atmospheric elements; it has a sweet -and astringent taste, and a peculiar 
 not inoffensive smell. 
 
 For its chemical composition, see Hematin. 
 
 When chipped logwood is for some time exposed to the air, it loses a portion of its 
 dyeing power. Its decoction absorbs the oxygen of the atmosphere, and then acquires 
 the property of precipitating with gelatine, which it had not before. The dry extract 
 of logwood, made from an old decoction, affords only a fugitive color. 
 
 For its applications in dyeing, see Black Dye; Beown Dye; Calico Printing; 
 Dyeing ; Hat Dyeing, *fee. 
 
 The imports of logwood were in 1850, 34,690 tons ; in 1851, 21,240 tons ; of which 
 3,721 tons and 3,010 tons respectively were re-exported. 
 
 LOOM (Metier « tinser, Fr. ; Weberstuhl, Germ.); is the ancient and well-known 
 machine for weaving cloth by the decussation of a series of parallel threads, which run 
 lengthwise, called the warp or chain, with other threads thrown transversely with the 
 shuttle, called the woof or weft. See Jacquakd Loom Weaving. 
 
 LUBRICATION. The following simple and efficacious plan of lubricating the 
 joints and bearings of machinery by capillary attraction, has been kindly communi- 
 cated to me, by its ingenious inventor, Edward Woolsey, Esq. : — 
 
 Fig. 876. represents a tin cup, which has a small tin tube a, which passes through 
 the bottom, as shown by the dotted lines. It may have a tin cover to keep out the dust. 
 
 Fig. 877. is a plan of the same. 
 
 Fig. 878. is a section of the same. Oil is poured into the cup, the one end of a 
 worsted or cotton thread is dipped into the oil, and the other end passed through the 
 tube. The capillary attraction causes the oil to ascend and pass over the orifice of the 
 tube, whence it gradually descends, and drops slower or quicker, according to the 
 length of the thread or its thickness, until every particle of oil is drawn over by this 
 capillary syphon. The tube is intended to be put into the bearings of shafts, &c, and 
 is made of any size that may be wished. If oil, or other liquids, is desired to be 
 dropped upon a grindstone or other surface, this cup can have a handle to it, or be 
 hung from the ceiling. 
 
 Fig. 879. It is frequently required to stop the capillary action when the machinery 
 is not going; and this has been effected by means of a tightening screw, which passes 
 through a screw boss in the cover of the cup, and presses against the internal orifice 
 of the tube preventing the oil from passing. 
 
 Fig. 880. As I find when these screw cups (Jig. 879), are used upon beams of engines 
 and moving bearings, that the screw is apt to be tightened by the motion ; and also as 
 I think the action of the screw is uncertain, from the workmen neglecting to screw it 
 down sufficiently, it answers best to take out the capillary thread when the lubrication 
 
84 
 
 LTTPULINE. 
 
 is not required ■ and to effect this easily, I have a tin top to the cup, with a round 
 pipe soldered to it : this pipe has a slit in it, like a pencil case, and allows a bolt B, 
 to slide easily in it In fig. 881, the bolt is down ; in fig. 882, the bolt, which is a 
 piece of brass wire, is drawn up, and there is no capillary action between the thread 
 and the oil. In fig. 882, it will be observed, that the bolt is kept in its place by its head 
 o, resting in a lateral slit in the pipe, and, it cannot be drawn out on account of the 
 pin e. One end of the thread is fastened to the eye hole at the bottom of the bolt, 
 and the other end is tied to a small wire which crosses the lower orifice of the tube at 
 D, and which is shown in plan fig. 883. 
 
 By this simple contrivance the capillary action can be stopped or renewed in » 
 second, without removing the top of the lubricator. 
 
 The saving by this plan, instead of pouring oil into the bearings, is 2 gallons out oi 
 8, while the beariDgs are better oiled. 
 
 819 811 818 816 
 
 " 1 send you the drawings of the lubricators, with a detailed explanation. I have 
 omitted to state, that the saving in labor is considerable where there are many joints 
 to keep oiled three or four times a day ; and that the workman does not with this 
 apparatus, run the risk of being caught by the machinery. Perhaps your friends may 
 be at a loss how to tie on the cotton or worsted thread. I pass a long thread through 
 the eye-hole e of the bolt, and then draw the two ends through the tube by a fine wire 
 with a hook to it, one end on one side of the cross wire e, and the other end on the othei 
 side. I then put the cover on, and the bolt in the position sho-vn in fi«. 882 • when by 
 drawing the two ends of the thread, and tying them across the wire d, you have' the exact 
 ength required. When you wish to see the quantity of oil remaining in the lubricator, 
 the bolt must be dropped as in fig. 881, and you can then lift the cover a little way off 
 without breaking the thread, and replenish with oil. The cost of fig. 881, in tin plate, U 
 9d. The figures m the wood cuts are one third of the full size. 
 
 " Believe me to be yours sincerely, 
 
 " E. J. Woolsey." 
 
 LUPININE, is a substance of a gummy appearance, so named by M. Cussola, becausa 
 It was obtained from Lupines. ^ 
 
 nop UP S^BEf H C:0m ' H " m " feii " i> "'" S; iSthe pecuUar Wtter aromatic principle of the 
 
MACERATION. 85 
 
 LUTE (from lutum, clay; Zut, Fr. ; Kitte, Beschldge, Germ.), is a pasty or loamy 
 matter employed to close the joints of chemical apparatus, or to coat their surfaces, 
 and protect them from the direct action of flame. Lutes differ according to the nature 
 of the vapors which they are destined to confine, and the degree of heat -which they 
 are to be exposed to. 
 
 1. Lute of linseed meal, made into a soft plastic dough with water, and immediately 
 applied pretty thick to junctions of glass or stone ware, makes them perfectly tight, 
 hardens speedily, resists acid and ammoniacal vapors, as also a moderate degree of 
 heat. It becomes stronger when the meal is kneaded with milk, lime-water, or solu- 
 tion of glue. 
 
 2. Lute of thick gum-water, kneaded with clay, and iron filings, serves well for per- 
 manent junctions, as it becomes extremely solid. 
 
 3. By softening in water a piece of thick brown paper, kneading it first with rye- 
 flour paste, and then with some potter's clay, till it acquire the proper consistence, a, 
 lute is formed which does not readily crack or scale off. 
 
 4. Lute, consisting of a strong solution of glue kneaded into a dough with new 
 slaked lime, is a powerful cement, and with the addition of white of egg forms the lute 
 (fane ; — a composition adapted to mend broken vessels of porcelain and stone-ware. 
 
 5. Skim-milk cheese, boiled for some time in water, and then triturated into paste 
 with fresh-slaked lime, forms also a good lute. ' 
 
 6. Calcined gypsum, diffused through milk, solution of glue or starch, is a valuable 
 lute in many cases. 
 
 7. A lute made with linseed, melted caoutchouc, and pipe-elay, incorporated into a 
 smooth dough, may be kept long soft, when covered in a cellar, and serves admi- 
 rably to confine acid vapors. As it does not harden, it may therefore be applied and 
 taken off as often as we please. 
 
 8. Caoutchouc itself, after being melted in a spoon, may be advantageously used for 
 securing joints against chlorine and acid vapors, in emergencies when nothing else 
 would be effectual. It bears the heat at which sulphuric acid boils. 
 
 9. The best lute for joining crucibles inverted in each other, is a dough made with 
 a mixture of fresh fire-clay and ground fire-bricks, worked with water. That cement, if 
 made with solution of borax, answers still better, upon some occasions, as it becomes a 
 compact vitreous mass in the fire. See Cements. 
 
 Lote for confining acids. 1 part of caoutchouc dissolved in two parts of hot linseed- 
 oil, and worked up with pipe olay (3 parts) into a plastic mass. Linseed meal and 
 water forms the best lute for fluo-silicie acid. 
 
 LUTEOLINE, is a yellow coloring matter discovered by Chevreul in weld. "When 
 sublimed, it crystallizes in needles. 
 
 LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM. The seeds of the lycopodium ripen in September. 
 They are employed, on account of their great combustibility, in theatres, to imitate 
 the sudden flash of lightning, by throwing a quantity of them from a powder puff, or 
 Itellows, across the flame of a candle. 
 
 LYDIAN STONE, is flint-slate. 
 
 M. 
 
 MACARONI, is a dough of fine wheat flour, made into a tubular or pipe form, of 
 the thickness of goose-quills, which was first prepared in Italy, and introduced into 
 commerce under the name of Italian or Genoese paste. The wheat for this purpose 
 must be ground into a coarse flour, called gruau or sentoule, by the French, by means of 
 a pair of light mill-stones, placed at a somewhat greater distance than usual. This 
 semoule is the substance employed for making the dough. For the mode of manufac- 
 turing it into pipes, see Verm;celij. 
 
 MACE i s a somewhat thick, tough, unctuous membrane, reticulated or chapt, of a 
 yellowish-brown or orange color. It forms the envelope of the shell of the fruit of the 
 myristica moschata, which contains the nutmeg. It is dried in the sun, after being 
 dipped in brine ; sometimes it is sprinkled over with a little brine, before packing, 
 to pre vent the risk of moulding. Mace has a more agreeable flavor than nutmeg; with 
 a warm and pungent taste. It contains two kinds of oil ; the one of which is unctuous, 
 bland, and of the consistence of butter ; the other is volatile, aromatic, and thinner. 
 The membrane is used as a condiment in cookery, and the aromatic oil in medicine. 
 
 The quantity imported in 1850 was 77,337 lbs. ; in 1851, 74,863 lbB. ; entered for 
 consumption, 1850, 21,997 lbs. ; 1851, 21,695 lbs. ; duty received, respectively, 2,887 1 
 »nd 2,847/. 
 
 MACERATION (Eng. and Fr. Mnweichen, Germ.), is a preparatory steep tc 
 
86 MACHINES (SELF-ACTING). 
 
 which certain vegetable and animal substances are submitted, with the riew of di» 
 tending their fibres or pores, and causing them to be penetrated by such menstrua as 
 are best adapted to extract their soluble parts. Water, alone, or mixed with acids, 
 alkalis, or salts; alcohol and ether, are the liquids usuallyemployedfor that purpose 
 MACHINES (Self-acting.) The application of self-acting Machines to the Construe- 
 Hon of Machinery. It is nearly half a century since I first became acquainted with 
 the engineering profession, and at that time the greater part of our mechanical opera- 
 tions were done by hand. On my first entrance into Manchester there were no self- 
 acting tools, and the whole stock of an engineering or machine establishment might be 
 summed up in a few ill-constructed lathes, a few drills, and boring machines of rude 
 construction. Now compare any of the present works with what they were in those 
 days, and you will find a revolution of so extraordinary a character, as to appear to those 
 unacquainted with the subject as scarcely entitled to credit. The change thus effected, 
 and the improvements introduced into our constructive machinery, are of the highest 
 importance ; and it gives me pleasure to add that they chiefly belong to Manchester, 
 are of Manchester growth, and from Manchester they have had their origin. It may 
 be interesting to know something of the art of tool-making, and of the discoveries and 
 progress of machines which have contributed so largely to multiply the manufactures, 
 as well as the construction of other machines employed in practical mechanics. In 
 Manchester the art of calico-printing was in its infancy forty years ago ; the flat press, 
 and one or at the most two colored machines, were all that were then in use ; the 
 number of those machines is nowgreatly multiplied, and some of them are capable of 
 printing eight colors at once ; and the arts of bleaching, dyeing, and finishing, have 
 undergone equal extension and improvement. In the manufacture of steam-engines 
 there were only three or four establishments that could make them, and those were 
 Bolton and Watt, of Soho ; Fenton, Murray and Wood, of Leeds, and Messrs. Sh'erratts 
 of this town. The engines of that day ranged from 3 to 50 or at the most 70 horses' 
 power; now they are made as high as 500, or in pairs from 1,000 to 1,200 horse. An 
 order for a single engine at that time was considered a great work, and frequently 
 took ten or twelve months to execute ; now they are made by dozens, and that with a 
 degree of despatch as to render it no uncommon occurrence to see five or six engines of 
 considerable power leave a single establishment in a month. In machine making the 
 same powers of production are apparent. In this department we find the same activity, 
 the same certainty of action, and greatly increased production in the manufacture of the 
 smaller machines, than can possibly be attained in the larger and heavier description of 
 work. The self-acting, turning, planing, grooving, and slotting machines have afforded 
 60 much accuracy and facility for construction, as"to enable the mechanical practitioner 
 to turn, bore, and shape with a degree of certainty almost amounting to mathematical 
 precision. The mechanical operations of the present day could not have been accom- 
 plished at any cost thirty years ago, and what was considered impossible at that time, 
 is now performed with a degree of intelligence and exactitude that never fail to accom- 
 plish the end m view, and reduce the most obdurate mass to the required consistency 
 in all those forms so strikingly exemplified in the workshops of engineers andmachinists 
 To the intelligent and observant stranger who visits these establishments, the first thing 
 that strikes his attention is, the mechanism of the self-acting tools, the ease with which 
 they cut the hardest iron and steel, and the mathematical accuracy with which all the 
 parts of a machine are brought into shape. When these implements are carefully 
 examined, it ceases to be a wonder that our steam-engines and machines are so beau- 
 tifully and correctly executed. We perceive the most curious and ingenious contri- 
 vances adapted to every purpose, and machinery which only requires the attendance of 
 a boy to supply the material and apply the power, which is always at hand. In conclu- 
 sum, 1 would observe that it is an honor to this country, that we stand at the head o1 
 the engineering and mechanical profession. It is an art— I would call it a science— 
 whichhas occupied the attention of the greatest men from the days of Galileo and New- 
 ton down to those of Watt and Smeaton, and it now receives attentive consideration 
 from some of the ablest and most distinguished men of the present time. And of these 
 I may matinee Poncelet, Morm, Humboldt, Brewster, Babbage, Dr. Robinson (of Ar- 
 magh), Willis and many others, to show the interest that is taken by these great men 
 in the advancement of mechanical science. A great deal has been done, bfit a Meat 
 deal more may yet be accomplished, if by suitable instruction we carefully stori the 
 Z™.i v r iorem ^ a ^. operatives with useful knowledge, and afford tlem those 
 opportunities essential to its acquisition. We must try to unite theory with practice, 
 and bring the philosopher into close contract with the practical mechanic. We must 
 try to remove prejudices and to encourage a sounder system of. management in the 
 7„?, nn IT'' 'T' an i * T T cta . oi the "rfol arts. When this is accomplished, we 
 fii g f ^T abortions m construction, but a carefully well-digested system 
 of operations, founded on the unerring laws of physical truth.- W. Fairbairn Esq 
 
MADDER. 87 
 
 MACHINERY for cask-making. A novel method of constructing casks, barrels, and 
 all vessels connected with cooperage, may be seen in operation at the Patent Cooper- 
 age Works in Wenlock Eoad, City Road. By the employment of the steam-engine, 
 the circular saw, and a" recently-invented jointing and backing machine, a cask of the 
 largest dimensions can be completely formed and made ready for use in the short space 
 of hve minutes, from the raw material, viz., a piece of oak. The staves of the cask are 
 first cut with straight sides, the circular saw being placed at a right angle with the 
 oak plank. The stave is then placed horizontally, and bent into a curve by a power- 
 ful machine, and brought into contact with a circular saw on each side of it, placed at 
 an angle. This process gives the proper shape to the stave, the sides being gradually 
 tapered at the ends, and made to bulge in the middle. The jointing and backing ma- 
 chine, the new invention, is also used for this purpose, and is more rapid in its execu- 
 tion than the angular saws ; it in fact works with the most marvellous rapidity and 
 precision. The staves and one end of the cask are then placed in a machine formed of 
 iron rods, called a trussing machine; each rod acts upon a separate stave, and the 
 whole of the staves being equally compressed into a circle, the hoops are placed around 
 them, and the cask is complete. The neatness and finish of the work are equal to what 
 a good cabinet-maker can produce, every part being true and accurate. The calcula- 
 tion is, that 15 workmen, with the use of this machine, can make 150 casks a day; 
 whereas the same number of persons, using only manual labor, could scarcely produce 
 a seventh part of that number. The importance of the invention and the application 
 of steam power to it, may be imagined from the fact that the great brewing firms of 
 the metropolis alone expend many thousand pounds annually in cooperage, that the 
 expenditure of the Navy is still greater, and that the demand of the vintages of the 
 continent is so great that a great deal of wine is lost from the difficulty of furnishing 
 vessels to hold it. The process of this invention will repay the time of a visit to the works. 
 
 MACLE, is the name of certain diagonal black spots in minerals, like the ace of dia- 
 monds in cards, supposed to procegd from some disturbance of the particles in the act 
 of crystallization. 
 
 MADDER (Garanee, Fr. ; Faberrothe, Germ.), a substance very extensively used in 
 dyeing, is the root of the Rubia tinctorum, a plant of which two species are distin- 
 guished by Linnaeus. 
 
 The best roots are those which have the size of a writing quill, or, at most, of the 
 little finger. They are semi-transparent, and reddish; have a strong odor, and a smooth 
 bark. They should be of two or three years' growth. 
 
 The madder, taken from the ground and picked, must be dried in order to be ground 
 and preserved. In warm climates it is dried in the open air; but elsewhere stoves 
 must be employed. 
 
 The stringy filaments and epidermis are to be removed, called mulle ; as also the pith,. 
 80 as to leave nothing but the ligneous fibres. 
 
 The preparation of madders is carried on in the department of tjje Rhone, in the fol- 
 lowing manner. 
 
 The roots are dried in a stove heated by means of a furnace, from which the air is 
 allowed to issue only at intervals, at the moment when it is judged to be saturated with 
 moisture. The furnace-flue occupies a great portion of the floor ; above are three close 
 gratings, on which the roots are distributed in layers of about two decimetres (nearly 8 
 inches). At the end of 24 hours, those which are on the first grated floor directly above 
 the stove are dry, when they are taken away and replaced by those of the superior floors. 
 This operation is repeated whenever the roots over the stove are dry. The dry roots are 
 thrashed with a flail, passed through fanners similar to those employed for corn, and then 
 shaken upon a very coarse sieve. What passes through is farther winnowed and sifted 
 through a finer sieve than the first. These operations are repeated five times, proceeding 
 successively to sieves still finer and finer, and setting aside every time what remains on 
 the sieve. What passes through the fifth sieve is rejected as sand and dust. After these 
 operations, the whole fibrous matters remaining on the sieve are cleaned with common 
 fanners, and women separate all the foreign matters which had not been removed before. 
 For dividing the roots, afterwards, into different qualities, a brass sieve is made use of, 
 whose meshes are from six to three millimetres in diameter (from fth to flh inch E.) 
 What passes through the finest is rejected; and what passes through the coarsest is re- 
 garded as of the best quality. These roots, thus separated, are carried into a stove, of a 
 construction somewhat different from the first. They are spread out in layers of about 
 a decimetre in thickness (nearly 4 inches E.), on large lattice work frames, and the dry- 
 ing is known to be complete, when on taking up a Tiandful and squeezing it, the roots 
 break easily. On quitting the stove, the madder is carried, still hot, into a machine, 
 where it is minced small, and a sieve separates the portion of the bark reduced to powder. 
 This operation is repeated three or four times, and then the bolter *s had recourse to. 
 What passes through the sieve, or the brass meshes of the bolter, is regarded as com- 
 
88 MADDER. 
 
 mem madder ; and what issues at the extremity of the holier is called the flour. Last.y 
 the madder which passes through the bolter is ground m a mill with vertical stones, and 
 then passed through sieves of different sizes. What remains above is always better 
 
 W TL S madde r r of h Alsace is reduced to a very fine powder, and its coloring matter is ex- 
 tracted by a much longer ebullition than is necessary for the lizari of the Levant. I he 
 prepared madders ought to be carefully preserved from humidity, because they easily im- 
 bibe moisture, in which case fermentation spoils their color. 
 
 D'Ambourney and Beckman have asserted, that it is more advantageous to employ the 
 fresh root of madder than what has been submitted to desiccation, especially by means 
 of stoves. But in its states of freshness, its volume becomes troublesome m the dyeing 
 bath, and uniform observation seems to prove that it ameliorates by age. Besides, it 
 must be rendered suceptible of keeping and carrying easily. 
 
 It appears that madder may be considered as composed of two coloring substances, one 
 of which is dun (tawny), and the other is red. Both of these substances may combine 
 with the stuff. It is of consequence, however, to fix only the red part. The dun portion 
 appears to be more soluble, but its fixity on stuffs may possibly be increased by the affinity 
 which it has for the red portion. , . 
 
 The different additions made to madder, and the multiplied processes to which it is 
 sometimes exposed, have probably this separation for their chief object. 
 
 The red portion of madder is soluble, but in small quantity, m water. Hence but a 
 limited concentration can be given to its solution. If the portion of this substance be 
 too much increased, so far from obtaining a greater effect, we merely augment the pro- 
 portion of the dun part, which is the more soluble of the two. 
 
 In consequence of the Societe Industrielle of Mulhausen having offered in the year 
 1826 large premiums to the authors of the best analytical investigation of madder, eight 
 memoirs were transmitted to it in the year 1827. They were examined with the greatest 
 care by a committee consisting of able scientific and practical men. ISone of the com- 
 petitors however fulfilled the conditions of the programme issued by the society; but tour 
 of them received a tribute of esteem and gratitude from it ; MM. Robiquet and Colin at 
 Paris, Kuhlmann at Lille, and Houton-Libillardiere. Fresh premiums were offered for 
 next year, to the amount of 2000 francs. 
 
 Every real discovery made concerning this precious root, would be of vast consequence 
 to dyers and calico-printers. Both M. Kuhlmann, and Robiquet and Cohn, conceived 
 that they had discovered a new principle in madder, to which they gave the name 
 alizarine. The latter two chemists treated the powdered madder with sulphuric acid, 
 •'akin" care to let it heat as little as possible. By this action the whole is carbonized, 
 "xeept perhaps the red matter. The ch£ic"jal thus obtained is pulverized, mixed with 
 water, thrown upon a filter, and well washed in the cold. It is next dried, ground, and 
 diffused through fifty parts of water, containing six parts.of alum. This mixture is then 
 boiled for one quarter of an hour, and thrown upon a filter cloth while boiling hot. The 
 residuum is once more treated with a little warm alum water. The two liquors are to 
 be mixed, and one part of sulphuric acid poured into them ; when they are allowed to 
 cool with occasional agitation. Mocks now make their appearance ; the clear liquid is 
 decanted, and the grounds are thrown upon a filter. The precipitate is to be washed, 
 first with acidulated water, then with pure water, and dried, when the coloring matter 
 is obtained in a red or purple state. This purple substance, when heated dry, gives out 
 alizarine, and an empyreumatic oil, having an odor of animal mattei ; while a charcoally 
 matter remains. 
 
 M. Dan.'Kcechlin, the justly celebrated calico-printer of Mulhausen, has no faith in 
 alizarine as the dyeing principle of madder ; and thinks moreover that, were it of value, 
 it could not be extracted on the great scale, on account of the destructive heat which 
 would result from the acid acting upon a considerable body of the ground madder. Their 
 alizarine is not a uniform substance, as it ought to be, if a proximate principle ; for sam- 
 ples of it obtained in different repetitions of the process have produced veiy variable ef- 
 fects in dyeing. The madders of Avignon, though richer in color than those of Alsace, 
 afford however little or no alizarine. In fact, purpurine, the crude substance from which 
 they profess to extract alizarine, is a richer dye than this pure substance itself. 
 
 Madder contains so beautiful and so fast a color, that it has become of almost 
 universal employment in dyeing ; but that color is accompanied with so many other 
 substances which mask and degrade it, that it can be brought out and fixed only after a 
 series of operations more or less difficult and precarious. This dye is besides so little 
 soluble, that much of it is thrown away in the dye-house ; the portion supposed to be 
 exhausted being often as rich as other fresh madder ; hence it would be a most valuable 
 improvement in this elegant art to insulate this tinctorial body, and make it a new product 
 •f manufacture. 
 Before the time of Haussmann, an apothecary at Colmar, the madder bath wai subject 
 
MADDER. 89 
 
 to many risks, which that skilful chemist taught dyers how to guard against, ly intro- 
 ducing a certain quantity of chalk into the hath. A change of residence led Haussman 
 to this fortunate result. After having made very fine reds at Rouen, he encountered 
 the greatest obstacles in dyeing the same reds at Logelbach near Colmar, where he went 
 to live. Numerous trials, undertaken with the view of obtaining the same success in 
 his new establishment, proved that the cause of his favorable results at Rouen existed in 
 the water, which contained carbonate of lime in solution, whilst the water of Logelbach 
 was nearly pure. He then tried a factitious calcareous water, by adding chalk to his 
 dye bath. Having obtained the most satisfactory results, he was not long of producing 
 here as beautiful and as solid reds as he had done at Rouen. This practice became 
 soon general among the calico-printers of Alsace, though in many dye-works the chalk 
 is now replaced by lime, potash, or soda. But when the madder of Avignon is used, . 
 all these antacid correctives become unnecessary, because it contains a sufficient quantity 
 of carbonate of lime ; an important fact first analytically demonstrated by that accurate 
 chemist M. Henri Schlumberger of Mulhausen. Avignon madder indicates the pre- 
 sence of carbonate of lime in it, by effervescing with dilute acids, which Alsace madder 
 does not. 
 
 M. Kuhlman found a free acid resembling the malic, in his analysis of madders. But 
 his experiments were confined to those of Alsace. The madders of Avignon are on the 
 contrary alkaline, as may be inferred from the violet tint of the froth of their infusions ; 
 whereas that of the Alsace madders ia yellowish, and it strongly reddens litmus paper. 
 This important difference between the plants of these two districts, depends entirely upon 
 the soil ; for madders grown in a calcareous shelly soil in Alsace, have been found to be 
 possessed of the properties of the Avignon madder. 
 
 The useful action of the carbonate and the phosphate of lime in the madder of Avignon, 
 explains why madders treated with acids which remove their calcareous salts, without 
 taking away their coloring matter, lose the property of forming fast dyes. Many manu- 
 facturers are in the habit of mixing together, and with advantage, different sorts of mad- 
 der. That of Avignon contains so much calcareous matter that, when mixed with the 
 madder of Alsace, it can compensate for its deficiency. Some of the latter is so deficient 
 as to afford colors nearly as fugitive as those of Brazil wood and quercitron. The Alsace 
 madders by the addition of chalk to their baths, become as fit for dyeing Turkey reds as 
 those of Avignon. When the water is very pure, one part of chalk ought to be used to 
 five of Alsace madder, but when the waters are calcareous, the chalk should be omitted. 
 Ltme, the neutral phosphate of lime, the carbonate of magnesia, oxyde and carbonate of 
 zinc, and several other substances, have the property of causing madder to form a fast 
 dye, in like manner as the carbonate of lime. 
 
 The temperature of from 50° to GO" R. (145° to 167° F.), is the best adapted to the 
 solution of the coloring matter, and to its combination with the mordants ; and thus a 
 boiling heat may be replaced advantageously by the long continuance of a lower tempera- 
 ture. A large excess of the dye-stuff in the bath is unfavorable in two points of view ; 
 it causes a waste of coloring matter, and renders the tint dull. It is injurious to allow 
 the bath to cool, and to heat it again. 
 
 In a memoir published by the Society of Mulhausen, in September, 1835, some 
 interesting experiments upon the growth of madders in factitious soils are related by 
 MM. Kcechlin, Persoz, and Schlumberger. A' patch of ground was prepared contain- 
 ing from 50 to 80 per cent, of chalky matter, and nearly one fifth of its bulk of good 
 horse-dung. Slips of Alsace and Avignon madders were planted in March, 1834, and 
 a part of the roots were reaped in November following. These roots, though of only six 
 months growth, produced tolerably fast dyes, nor was any difference observable between 
 the Alsace and the Avignon species ; whilst similar slips or cuttings, planted in a natural 
 non-calcareous soil, alongside of the others, yielded roots which gave fugitive dyes. 
 Others were planted in the soil of Palud, transported from Avignon, which contained 
 more than 90 per cent, of carbonate of lime, and they produced roots that gave still faster 
 dyes than the preceding. Three years are requisite to give the full calcareous impregna- 
 tion to the indigenous madders of Avignon. 
 
 As to the function of the chalk, valuable observations, made long ago by M. Daniel 
 Kcechlin, have convinced him, that the combination of two different bases with a coloring 
 matter, gave much more solidity to the dye, in consequence, undoubtedly, of a greater 
 insolubility in the compound. Experiments recently made by him and his colleagues 
 above named, prove that in all cases of madder dyeing under the influence of chalk, a 
 certain quantity of lime becomes added to the aluminous mordant. In the subsequent 
 clearing with a soap bath, some of the alumine is removed, and there remains upon the 
 fibre of the cloth a combination of these two earths in atomic proportions. Thus the 
 chalk is not for the purpose of saturating the acid, as had been supposed, but of forming 
 a definite compound with aiumiiia, and probably also with the fatty bodies, and the color- 
 ing matter itself. 
 
90 MADDER. 
 
 The red mordants are prepared commonly in Alsace, as follows :— The crushed alum 
 and acetate of lead being weighed, the former is put into a deep tub, and dissolved by 
 addin" a proper quantity of hot water, when about one tenth of its weight of soda crystals 
 is introduced to saturate the excess of acid in the alum. The acetate of lead is now mix- 
 ed in • and as this salt dissolves very quickly, the reaction takes place almost instantly. 
 Care must be taken to stir for an hour. The vessel should not be covered, lest its con- 
 tents should cool too slowly. 
 
 The different mordants most generally employed for madder, are detailed under Colors, 
 in Calico-Printing and Mokdant. 
 
 Much mordant should not be prepared at once, for sooner or later it will deposite some 
 sub-acetate of alumina. This decomposition takes place even in corked vials in the cold ; 
 and the precipitate does not readily dissolve again in acetic acid. All practical men know 
 that certain aluminous mordants are decomposed by heating them, and restored on cooling, 
 as Gay Lussac has pointed out. He observed, that by adding to pure acetate ot alumina, 
 some alum or sulphate of potash, the mixture acquires the property of forming a precipi- 
 tate with a heat approaching the boiling point, and of re-dissolving on cooling. The pre- 
 cipitate is alumina nearly pure, according to M. Gay Lussac ; but, by M. Kcechlin^s more 
 recent researches, it is shown to be sub-sulphate of alumina, containing eight times as 
 much base as the neutral sulphate. 
 
 Madder dye.— On account of the feeble solubility of its coloring matter in water, we 
 cannot dye with its decoction ; but we must boil the dye-stuff along with the goods to be 
 dyed ; whereby the water dissolves fresh portions of the dye, and imparts it in succession 
 to the textile fibres. In dyeing with madder, we must endeavor to fix as little of the dun 
 matter as possible upon the cloth. 
 
 Dyeing on wool. — Alumed wool takes, in the madder bath, a red color, which is not 
 so bright as cochineal red, but it is faster ; and as it is far cheaper, it is much used in 
 England to dye soldiers' cloth. A mordant of alum and tartar is employed ; the bath of 
 madder, at the rate of from 8 to 16 ounces for the pound of cloth, is heated to such a de- 
 gree that we can just hold our hand in it, and the goods are then dyed by the wince, with- 
 out heating the bath more till the coloring matter be fixed. Vitalis prescribes as a mor- 
 dant, one fourth of alum, and one sixteenth of tartar; and for dyeing, one third of madder, 
 with the addition of a 24th of solution of tin diluted with its weight of water. He raise; 
 the temperature in the space of an hour to 200", and afterwards he boils for 3 or 4 min- 
 utes ; a circumstance which is believed to contribute to the fixation of the color. The 
 bath, after dyeing, appears much loaded with yellow matter, because this has less affinity 
 for the alum mordant than the red. Sometimes a little archil is added to the madder, to 
 give the dye a pink tinge ; but this is fugitive. 
 
 Silk is seldom dyed with madder, because cochineal afforis brighter tints. 
 Dyeing on cotton and linen. — The most brilliant and fastest madder red is the Turkey or 
 Adrianople. The common madder reds are given in' the following way : — The yarn or 
 cloth is boiled in a weak alkaline bath, washed, dried, and galled, by steeping the cotton 
 in a decoction of bruised galls or of sumach. After drying, it is twice alumed ; for which 
 purpose, for every 4 parts of the goods, one part of alum is taken, mixed with l-16th of 
 its weight of chalk. The goods are dipped into a warm solution of the alum, wrung out, 
 dried, and alumed afresh, with half the quantity. The acetate of alumina mordant, de- 
 scribed above, answers much better than common alum for cotton. After the goods are 
 dried and rinsed, they are passed through the dye-bath, which is formed of J lb. of good 
 madder for every pound of cotton ; and it is raised to the boiling point by degrees, in the 
 space of 50 or 60 minutes. Whenever the ebullition has continued a few minutes, the 
 goods must be removed, washed slightly, and dyed a second time in the same way, with 
 as much madder. They are then washed and passed through a warm soap bath, which 
 removes the dun coloring matter. 
 
 Holterhoff prescribes for ordinary madder red the following proportions : — 20 pounds 
 of cotton yarn; 14 pounds of Dutch madder; 3 pounds of nut-galls ; 5 pounds of alum ; 
 to which j lb. of acrtote of lead has been first added, and then a quarter of a pound of 
 chalk. 
 
 In the calico-print works the madder goods are passed through a bran bath first, im- 
 mediately after dyeing ; next, after several days exposure to the air, when the dun dye has 
 become oxydized, and is more easily removed. An addition of chalk, on the principles 
 explained above, is sometimes useful in the madder bath. If bran be added to the madder 
 bath, the color becomes much lighter, and of an agreeable shade. Sometimes bran-water 
 is added to the madder bath, instead of bran. 
 
 Adrianople or Turkey red. — This is the most complicated and tedious operation in the 
 srt of dyeing ; but it produces the fastest color which is known. This dye was discover- 
 ed in India, and remained long a process peculiar to that country. It was afterwards 
 practised in other parts of Asia and in Greece. In 1747, Ferquet and Goudard brought 
 Greek dyers into France, and mounted near Rouen, and in Languedoc, Turkey-red 
 
. MADDER 9 ] 
 
 dye works. In 1765, the French government, convinced of the importance of this 
 business, caused the processes to he published. In 1808, Reber, at Marialdrch, furnish- 
 ed the finest yarn of this dye, and M. Kochlin became celebrated for his Turkey-red 
 cloth. 
 
 _ Process for Turkey-red.— The first step consists in clearing the yarn or cloth in alka- 
 line baths, and dipping them in oily liquors, to which sheep's dung was formerly added. 
 This operation is repeated several times, the goods being dried after each immersion. 
 There next follows the cleansing with alkaline liquors to remove the excess of oil, the 
 galling, the aluming, the maddering, the brightening or removing the dun part of the dye 
 by boiling, at a high temperature, with alkaline liquid, and the rosing by boiling in a bath 
 of salt of tin. We shall give some details concerning this tedious manipulation, and 
 the differences which exist in it in the principal dye-works. 
 
 At Ro^en, where the process was first brought to perfection, two methods are pursued, 
 called the gray and the yellow course or march. In the gray, the dye is given immediately 
 after the cotton has received the oily mordant, the gall, and the alum, as it has then a 
 gray color. In the yellow course, il is passed through fresh oils, alum, and galls before 
 the maddering, the cotton having then a yellow tint. 
 
 Different views have been taken of the principles of the Turkey-red dye, and the ob- 
 ject and utility of the various steps. The most ancient notion is that of animalizing 
 the cotton by dung and blood, but experience has proved that without any animal matter 
 the finest color may be obtained. According to Dingier, the cotton is imbued with oil by 
 steepiag it in combinations of oil and soda ; the oil is altered by repeated dryings at a high 
 temperature ; it attracts oxygen from the air, and thereby combines intimately with the 
 cotton fibre, so as to increase the weight of the stuff. The dung, by a kind of fermenta- 
 tion, accelerates the oxydizement, and hence crude oil is preferable to pure. In England, 
 the mucilaginous oils of Gallipoli are preferred, and in Malabar, oils more or less 
 rancid. The drying oils do not answer. The subsequent treatment with the alkaline 
 liquors removes the excess of oil, which has not been oxydized and combined ; a hard 
 drying completely changes that which remains in the fibres ; the alnming which follows 
 combines alumina with the cotton ; the galling tans the fibres, producing a triple com- 
 pound of oil and alum, which fixes the coloring matter. The object of the other steps 
 is obvious. 
 
 According to Wuttich, the treatment with oil opens the cotton so as to admit the mor- i i 
 
 dant and the coloring matter, but the oil and soap do not combine with the fibres. 
 In fne alkaline baths which follow, the oil is transformed into soap and removed ; ! 
 
 whence the cotton should not increase in weight in the galling and aluming; the co'toa 
 suffers a kind of tanning, and the saline parts of the blood assist in fixing the madder ) 
 
 dye. 
 
 The German process improved, according to Dingier, consists of the following opera- 
 tions : mordant of an oily soap or a soapy liniment, hard drying; alkaline bath, drying, 
 steeping, rinsing away of the uncombined mordant, drying; galling, drying; aluming, 
 drying, steeping in water containing chalk, rinsing ; maddering, airing, rinsing ; bright- 
 ening with an alkaline boil, and afterwards in a bath containing salt of tin ; then wash- 
 ing and drying. 
 
 The yarn or the cloth must be first well worked in a bath of sheep's dung and oil, com- 
 pounded as follows :— 25 pounds of sheep's dung are to be bruised in a solution of 
 pure caustic potash of hydrometer strength 3°, and the mixed liquor is to be passed 
 through a sieve. Two pounds of fine oil are now to be poured into 16 pounds of his ley, 
 after which 30 pounds of coarse oil are to be added, with agitation for \ of an hour. 
 Other 4 pounds of hot ley are to be well stirred in, till the whole is homogeneous. This 
 proportion of mordant is sufficient for 100 pounds of cotton yarn, for 90 pounds of un- 
 bleached or 100 pounds of bleached cotton goods. The cotton stuff, after being well 
 wrung out, is to be laid in a chest and covered with a lid loaded with weights, in which 
 state it should remain for five days. At the end of 24 hours, the cotton becomes hot with 
 fermentation, gets imbued with the mordant, and the oil becomes rapidly altered. The 
 goods are next exposed freely to the air during the day, and in the evening they are dried 
 in a hot chamber, exposed to a -emperature of 158° F., for 6 or 8 hours, which promotes 
 the oxydizement of the oil. 
 
 The goods are now passed the second time through a soapy-oil mordant similar to the 
 first, then dried in the air by day, and in the hot stove by night. The third and fourth 
 oil-soap steeps are given in the same way, but without the dung. The fifth steep is com- 
 posed of a ley at 2', after which the goods must also be dried. Indeed, from the first to 
 the fourth steep, the cotton stuff should be put each time into a chamber heated tc 1^5° 
 F. for 12 or 15 hours, and during 18 hours after the fifth steep. 
 
 The uncombined oil must, in the next place, be withdrawn by the degraissage, which 
 consists in steeping the goods for 6 hours in a very weak alkaline ley. After rinsing and 
 wringing, they arc dried in the air. and then out into the hot stove. 
 
9 2 MADDER. 
 
 The goods are now galled in a bath formed of 36 pounds of Sicilian sumach, boileJ toi 
 3 hours in 260 pounds of water, and filtered. The residuum is treated with 190 fresh 
 Dounds of water. This decoction is heated with 12 pounds of pounded nut-galls to the 
 boilin" noint, allowed to cool during the night, and used next morning as hot as the hand 
 can bear • the mods being well worked through it. They are again dried in the air, and 
 afterwards placed in a stove moderately heated. They are next passed through a tepid 
 alum bath, containing a little chalk ; left afterwards in a heap during the night, dried in 
 the air, and next in the stove. The dry goods are finally passed through hot water con- 
 taining a little chalk, wrung out, rinsed, and then maddered. 
 
 For dyeing, the copper is filled with water, the fire. is kindled, and an ounce and a 
 half of chalk is added for every pound of madder; a pound and a quarter of madder 
 bein» taken for every pound of cotton yarn. The goods are now passed through the bath, 
 so that they penetrate to near its bottom. The fire must be so regulated, that the copper 
 will begin to boil in the course of from 2| to 3 hours; and the ebullition must be 
 continued for an hour; after Which the yarn is aired and rinsed. Cloth should bej put 
 into the dye-bath when its temperature is 77° and winced at a heat of from 100° to 
 122? during the first hour ; at 167° during the second; and at the boiling point when the 
 third hour begins. It is to be kept boiling for half an hour; so that the maddenng 
 lasts four hours. Dingier does not add sumach or galls to the madder bath, because 
 their effect is destroyed in the subsequent brightening, and he has no faith in the utility 
 of blood. . , 
 
 After being dyed, the goods are washed, pressed, and subjected to a soapy alkaline batn 
 at a high heat, in a close boiler, by which the dun parts of the galls and the madder are 
 dissolved away, and the red color remains in all its lustre. This operation is called 
 brightening. It is repeated in a similar liquor, to which some muriate of tin is added for 
 the purpose of enlivening the color and giving it a rosy tint. Last of all, the goods are 
 rinsed, and dried in the shade. 
 
 The Elberfeld process consists for 100 lbs. of the following steps :— 
 
 1. Cleaning the cotton by boiling it for four hours in a weak alkaline bath, cooling and 
 rinsing. 
 
 2. Working it thoroughly four times over in a steep, consisting of 300 pounds of water 
 15 pounds of potash, 1 pailful of sheep's dung, and 12| pounds of olive oil, in which l 
 should remain during the night. Next day it is drained for an hour, wrung out and drier., 
 This treatment with the dung steep, and drying, is repeated 3 times. 
 
 3. It is now worked in a bath containing 120 quarts of water, 18 pounds of j>otash. 
 and 6 quarts of olive oil ; then wrung out and dried. This steep is also repeated 4 
 times. 
 
 4. Steeping for a night in the river is the next process ; a slight rinsing without wring- 
 ing, and drying in the air. 
 
 5. Bath made of a warm decoction ( 100° F.) of sumach and nut-galls, in which tho 
 goods remain during the night ; they are then strongly wrung, and dried in the air. 
 
 6. Aluming with addition of potash and chalk ; wringing ; working it well through 
 this bath, where it is left during the night. 
 
 7. Draining, and strong rinsing the following day ; piling up in a water cistern. 
 
 8. Rinsing repeated next day, and steeping in water to remove any excess of alum 
 from the fibres ; the goods continue in the water till they are taken to the dyeing-bath. 
 
 9. The maddering is made with the addition of blood, sumach, and nut-galls ; the bath 
 is brought to the boil in 1 hour and |, and kept boiling for half an hour. 
 
 10. The yarn is rinsed, dried, boiled from 24 to 36 hours in a covered copper, with an 
 &ily alkaline liquid ; then rinsed twice, laid for two days in clear water, and dried. 
 
 1 1. Finally, the greatest brightness is obtained by boiling for three or four hours in a 
 soap bath, containing muriate of tin ; after which the yarn is rinsed twice over, steeped 
 in water, and dried. 
 
 Process of Haussmann. — He treats cotton twice or 4 times in a solution of aluminated 
 potash, mixed with one thirty-eighth part of linseed oil. The solution is made by adding 
 caustic potash to alum. He dries and rinses each time, and dries after the last operation. 
 He then rinses and proceeds to the madder bath. For the rose color, he takes one pound 
 of madder for one pound of cotton ; for carmine red, he takes from 2 to 3 pounds ; and 
 for the deepest red, no less than 4 pounds. It is said that the color thus obtained sur- 
 passes Turkey red. 
 
 The French process, by Vitalis of Rouen. — First operation. Scouring with a soda 
 ley, of 1° Baume, to which there is usually added the remainder of the white prepara- 
 tion bath, which consists of oil and soda with water. It is then washed, wrung out, and 
 dried. 
 
 In the second operation, he states that from 25 to 30 pounds of sheep's dung are 
 commonly used for 100 pounds of cotton yarn. The dung is first steeped for some davs 
 
MADDER. 93 
 
 ui a ley of soda, of 8° to 10° B. This is afterwards diluted with ahout 500 pints of a 
 weaker ley, and at the same time bruised with the hand in a copper basin whose bottom 
 is pierced with small holes. The liquor is then poured into a vat containing 5 or 6 
 pounds of fat oil (Gallipoli), and the whole are well mixed. The cotton is washed in 
 this, and the hanks of yarn are then stretched on perches in the open air, and turned from 
 time to time, so as to make it dry equably. After receiving thus a certain degree of de- 
 siccation, it is carried into the drying house, which is heated to 50° Reaumur (144° 
 Fahrenheit), where it loses the remainder of its moisture, which would have prevented 
 it from combining with the other mordants Which it is afterwards to receive. What is 
 left of the bath is called avances, and is added to the following bath. Two, or even three 
 dung baths are given to the cotton, when it is wished to have very rich colors. When 
 the cotton has received the dung baths, care must be taken not to leave it lying in heaps 
 for any length of time, lest it should take fire; an accident which has occasionally 
 happened. 
 
 The white bath is prepared by pouring 6 pounds of fat oil into 50 pints of soda water, 
 at 1° or sometimes less, according as, by a preliminary trial, the oil requires. This bath 
 ought to be repeated two, three, or even a greater number of times, as more or less body 
 is to be given to the color. 
 
 To what remains of the white bath, and which is also styled avances, about 100 pints 
 of soda ley of two or three degrees are added. Through this the cotton is passed as 
 usual. Formerly it was the practice to give two, or three, or even four oils. Now, two 
 are found to be sufficient. 
 
 The cotton is steeped for five or six hours in a tepid solution of soda, of ]° at most ; 
 it is set to drain, is then sprinkled with water, and at the end of an hour is washed, hank 
 by hank, to purge it entirely from the oil. What remains of the water of degraissage, 
 serves for the scouring or first operation. 
 
 For 100 pounds of cotton, from 20 to 25 pounds of galls in sorts must be taken, which 
 are bruised and boiled in about 100 pints of water, till they crumble easily between the 
 fingers. The galling may be done at two operations, dividing the above quantity of galls 
 between them, which is thought to give a richer and more uniform color. 
 
 The aluming of 100 pounds of cotton requires from twenty-five to thirty pounds 
 of pure alum, that is, alum entirely free from ferruginous salts. The alum should 
 be dissolved without boiling, in about 100 pints of river or rain water. When the 
 alum is dissolved, there is to be poured in a solution of soda, made with the sixteenth 
 part of the weight of the alum. A second portion of the alkaline solution must not 
 be poured in till the effervescence caused by the first portion has entirely ceased — and 
 so in succession. The bath of saturated alum being merely tepid, the cotton is passed 
 through it, as in the gall bath, so as to impregnate it well, and it is dried with the pre- 
 cautions recommended above. The dyers who gall at two times, alum also twice, for 
 like reasons. 
 
 For 25 pounds of cotton, 25 pints of blood are prescribed, and 400 pints of water. 
 Whenever the bath begins to warm, 50 pounds of madder are diffused through the 
 bath ; though sometimes the maddering is given at two operations, by dividing the mad- 
 der into two portions. 
 
 The brightening bath is prepared always for 100 pounds of cotton, with from four to 
 five pounds of rich oil, six pounds of Marseilles white soap, and 600 litres of soda water 
 of2°B. 
 
 The rosing is given with solution of tin, mixed with soap water. 
 
 The Turkey-red dye of Messrs. Monteith and Co., of Glasgow, is celebrated all ovei 
 the world, and merits a brief description here. 
 
 The calico is taken as it comes from the loom without bleaching, for the natural coloi 
 of the cotton wool harmonizes well with the dye about to be given ; it is subjected to a 
 fermentative steep for 24 hours, like that preliminary to bleaching, after which it is wash- 
 ed at the dash wheel. It is then boiled in a ley, containing about 1 pound of soda crys- 
 tals for 12 pounds of cloth. The oiling process now begins. A bath is made with 10 
 gallons of Gallipoli oil, 15 gallon measures of sheep's dung not indurated ; 40 gallons of 
 solution of soda crystals, of 1-06 specific gravity ; 10 gallons of solution of pearl-ash of 
 spec. grav. 1-04; and 140 gallons of water; constituting a milk-white, soapy solution of 
 about spec. grav. 1-022. This liquor is put into a large cylindrical vat, and constantlj 
 agitated by the rotation of wooden vanes, which are best constructed on the plan of the 
 mashing apparatus of a brewery, but far slighter. This saponaceous compound is let off 
 as wanted by a stopcock into the trough of a padding machine, in order to imbue every 
 fibre of the cloth in its passage. This impregnation is still more fully ensured by laying 
 the padded cloth aside in wooden troughs during 16 or 18 days. The sheep's dung has 
 b?en of late years disused by many Turkey-red dyers, both in England and France, but it 
 is found to be advantageous in producing the very superior color of the Glasgow estab. 
 lishment. It is supposed, also, to promote the subsequent bleaching during the exposure 
 
 L 
 
I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 94 MADDER. 
 
 on the green; which is the next process in favorable weather, but in bad weather the 
 goods are dried over a hot-flue. 
 
 The cloth is padded again with the saponaceous liquor; and again spread on the grass, 
 or dried hard in the stove. This alternation is repeated a third time, and occasionally, 
 even a fourth. 
 
 The cloth by this time is varnished as it were with oil, and must be cleansed in a cer- 
 tain degree by being passed through a weak solution of pearl-ash, at the temperature of 
 about 122° F. It is then squeezed by the rollers and dried. 
 
 A second system of oiling now commences, with the following liquor : — 10 gallons 
 of Gallipoli oil ; 30 gallons of soda crystals ley, of spec. grav. 1-06 ; and 10 gallons of 
 caustic potash ley, of specific gravity 1-04, thoroughly diffused through 170 gallons of 
 water. With this saponaceous liquor the cloth is padded as before, and then passed be- 
 tween squeezing-rollers, which return the superfluous liquor into the padding-trough. 
 The cloth may be now laid on the grass if convenient ; but at any rate it must be hard 
 dried in the stove. 
 
 These saponifying, grassing, and drying processes, are repeated three times ; whereby 
 the cloth becomes once more very oleaginous, and must be cleansed again by steeping 
 in a compound ley of soda crystals and pearl-ash of the spec. grav. 1-012, at the tempera- 
 ture of 122°. The cloth is taken out, squeezed between rollers to save the liquor, and 
 washed. A considerable portion of the mingled alkalis disappear in this operation, as if 
 they entered into combination with the oil in the interior of the cotton filaments. The 
 cloth is now hard dried. 
 
 Galling is the next great step in the Turkey-red preparation; and for its success all the 
 oil should have been perfectly saponified. 
 
 From 18 to 20 pounds of Aleppo galls (for each 100 lbs. of cloth) are to be bruised 
 and boner! for 3 or 4 hours, in 25 gallons of water, till 5 gallons be evaporated ; and 
 the decoction is to be then passed through a searce. Two pounds of sumach may be 
 substituted for every pound of galls. The goods must be well padded with this decoction, 
 kept at 90° F., passed through squeezing-rollers, and dried. They are then passed through 
 a solution of alum of the spec. grav. 1-04, to which a certain portion of chalk is added to 
 saturate the acid excess of that super*alt ; and in this cretaceous mixture, heated to 110°, 
 the cloth is winced and steeped for 1Z hours. It is then passed between squeezing-rollers 
 and dried in the stove. ' 
 
 The maddering comes next. 
 
 From two to three pounds of madder, ground to powder in a proper mill, are taken 
 for every pound of cloth. The cloth, as usual in maddering, is entered into the cold 
 bath, and winced by the automatic reel during one hour that the bath takes to boil, and 
 during an ebullition of two hours afterwards. One gallon of bullock's blood is added to 
 the cold bath for every 25 pounds of cloth ; being the quantity operated upon in one bath. 
 I he utility of the blood in improving the color has been ascribed to its colorin" particles • 
 but it is more probably owing to its albuminous matter combining with the mar^arales of 
 soda and potash condensed in the fibres. D 
 
 As madder contains a dingy brown coloring matter associated with the fine red the 
 goods must be subjected to a clearing process to remove the former tinge, which is more 
 fugitive than the latter. Every hundred pounds of cloth are therefore boiled during 1? 
 hours at least with water containing 5 pounds of soda crystals, 8 pounds of soap, and 
 16 gallons ol the residual pearl-ash and soda ley of the last cleansing operation By this 
 powerful means the dun matter is well nigh removed; but it is completely so by a second 
 boil, at a heat of 250' F., m a light globular copper, along with 5 pounds of soap, and 1 
 pound of muriate of tAi crystals, dissolved in a sufficient bodv of water for 100 pounds 
 of cloth. The muriate of tin serves to raise the madder red "to a scarlet hue A mar 
 garate of tin is probably fixed upon the cloth in this operation. 
 
 When the weather permits, the goods should be now laid out for a few days on the 
 grass. Some manufacturers give them a final brightening with a weak bath of a chloride 
 of lime ; but it is apt to impoverish the color. 
 
 According to the latest improvements of the French dyers, each of the four processes 
 above m ° rdaIltlnS ' dyem => and bn S hten "ig differs, in some respects, from the 
 
 1. Their first step is boiling the cloth for four hours, in water containing one pound of 
 soap for every four pieces. Their saponaceous bath of a creamy aspect is used at i tern 
 perature of 75° F; and it is applied by the padding machine o'times \ 11 the grassin°" 
 and drying alternations. In winter, when the goods cannot be exposed on the grass! no 
 kss than 12 alternations of the saponaceous or white bath are employed and 8 in snr n» 
 They consider the action of the sun-beams to aid greatly in brigh" e/ing this dye ; but f i 
 toSeT 1 "' contmuetl more ^an 4 hours, the scarlet color produced begins to be 
 
 They conceive that the oiling operation impregnates the fibres with super-margarate of 
 
MAGNESIA. 95 
 
 potash or soda, insoluble sails which attract and condense the alumina, and the red color- 
 ing particles of the madder, so firmly that they can resist the clearing boil. 
 
 2. Their second step, the mordanting, consists first in padding the pieces through a c e~ 
 coction of galls mixed with a solution of an equal weight of alum ; and after drying in 
 the hot-flue, &c, again padding them in a solution of an acetate of alumina, made by 
 decomposing a solution of 16 lbs. of alum with 16 lbs. of acetate of lead, for 6 pieces of 
 cloth, each 32 amies long. 
 
 3. The maddering is given at two successive operations ; with 4 pounds of Avignon 
 madder per piece at each time. 
 
 4. The brightening is performed by a 12 hours' boil in water with soda crystals, soap, 
 and salt of tin ; and the rosing by a 10 hours' boil with soap and salt of tin. Occasion- 
 ally, the goods are passed through a weak solution of chloride of potash. When the red 
 has too much of a crimson cast, the pieces are exposed for two days on the grass, which 
 gives them a bright scarlet tint. 
 
 Process of M. Werdet to dye broadcloth and wool by madder : — 
 
 " Preparation for 24 pounds of scoured wool : 
 
 " Take 4J pounds of cream of tartar, 4| pounds of pure alum ; boil the wool gently 
 for 2 hours, transfer it into a cool place, and wash it next day in clear water. 
 
 "Dyeing. — 12 pounds of Avignon madder, infused half an hour at 30° R. (100° F.) 
 Put into the bath 1 pound of muriate of tin, let the color rose for three quarters of an 
 hour at the same heat, and drain or squeeze the madder through canvass. The whole of 
 the red dye will remain upon the filter, but the water which has passed through will be 
 as deep a yellow as a weld bath. The boiler with the lye must now be filled up with 
 clear river water, and heated to 100° F. Two ounces of the solution of the tartar and 
 alum must be poured into it, and the wool must be turned over in it for an hour and a 
 half, while the heat is gradually raised to the boiling point. The wool is then removed 
 and washed. It must be rosed the following day. 
 
 "Rosing. — Dissolve in hot water 1 pound of white Marseilles soap ; let the bath cool, 
 and pass the wool through it till it has acquired the desired shade ; 15 or 20 minutes arc 
 sufficient. On coming out of this bath it should be washed. 
 
 " Solution of deulo-muriate of tin ; — 
 
 " 2 ounces of pure muriatic acid ; 4 drachms of pure nitric acid ; 1 ounce of distilled 
 water. Dissolve in it, by small portions at a time, 2 drachms of grain tin, in a large 
 bottle of white glass, shutting it after putting in the tin. This solution may be preserved 
 for years, without losing its virtue." 
 
 I have inserted this process, as recently recommended by the French minister of com- 
 merce, and published by M. Pouillet in vol. i. of his Portefeuille Industrie!, to show what 
 official importance is sometimes given by our neighbors to the most frivolous things. 
 
 MADREPORES are calcareous incrustations produced by polypi contained in cells of 
 greater or less depth, placed at the surface of calcareous ramifications, which are fixed at 
 their base, and perforated with a great many pores. The mode of the increase, repro- 
 duction, and death of these animals is still unknown to naturalists. Living madrepores 
 are now-a-days to be observed only in the South American, the Indian, and the Red seas ; 
 but although their polypi are not, found in our climate at present, there can be no doubt 
 of their having existed in these northern latitudes in former times, since fossil madrepores 
 occur in both the older and newer secondary strata of Europe. 
 
 MAGISTERY is an old chemical term to designate white pulverulent substances, 
 spontaneously precipitated in making certain metallic solutions ; as magistery of 
 bismuth. 
 
 MAGISTRAL, in the language of the Spanish smelters of Mexico and South 
 America, is the roasted and pulverized copper pyrites, which is added to the ground 
 ores of silver in their patio, or amalgamation magma, for the purpose of decomposing 
 the horn silver present. See Silver, for an account of this curious process of 
 reduction. 
 
 MAGMA is the generic name of *:>y crude mixture of mineral or organic matters, in 
 a thin pasty state. 
 
 MAGNANIER is the name given in the southern departments of France to the pro- 
 prietor of a nursery in which silk-worms are reared upon the great scale, or to the manage! 
 of the establishment. The word is derived from magnans, which signifies silkworms in 
 the language of the country people. See Silk. 
 
 MAGNESIA (Eng. and Fr. ; Bittererde, Talkerde, Germ.) is one of the primitive 
 earths, first proved by Sir H. Davy to be the oxyde of a metal, which he called mag- 
 nesium. It is a fine, light, white powder, without taste or smell, which requires 5150 
 parts of cold water and no less than 36,000 parts of boiling water for its solution. Its 
 specific gravity is 2-3. It is fusible only by the heat of the hydroxygen blowpipe. A 
 natural hydrate is said to exist which contains 30 per cent, of water. Magnesia changes 
 
96 MAGNET NATIVE. 
 
 the purple infusion of red cabbage to a bright green. It attracts carbonic acid from tnt 
 air, but much more slowly than quicklime. It consists of 61-21 parts of metallic basis, 
 and 38-79 of oxygen ; and has, therefore, 20 for its prime equivalent upon the hydrogen 
 scale. Its only employment in the arts is for the purification of fine oil, in the prepara- 
 tion of varnish. 
 
 Magnesia may be obtained by precipitation with potash or soda, from its sulphate 
 commonly called Epsom salt ; but it is usually procured by calcining the artificial or 
 natural carbonate. The former is, properly speaking, a subcarbonate, consisting of 44-69 
 magnesia, 35-86 carbonic acid, and 19-45 water. It is prepared by adding to the solution 
 of the sulphate, or the muriate (the bittern of sea-salt evaporation works), a solution of 
 caibonate of soda, or of carbonate of ammonia distilled from bones in iron cylinders. 
 The sulphate of magnesia is generally made by acting upon magnesian limestone with 
 somewhat dilute sulphuric acid. The sulphate of lime precipitates, while the sulphate 
 of magnesia remains in solution, and may be made to crystallize in quadrangular prisms, 
 by suitable evaporation and slow cooling. Where muriatic acid may be had in profusion 
 for the trouble of collecting it, as in the soda works in which sea salt is decomposed by 
 sulphuric acid, the magnesian limestone should be first acted upon with as much of the 
 former acid as will dissolve out the lime, and then, the residuum being treated with the 
 latter acid, will afford a sulphate at the cheapest possible rate ; from which magnesia and 
 all its other preparations may be readily made. Or, if the equivalent quantity of calcined 
 magnesian limestone be boiled for some time in bittern, the lime of the former will dis- 
 place the magnesia from the muriatic acid of the latter. This is the most economical 
 process for manufacturing magnesia. The subcarbonate, or magnesia alba of the apoth 
 ecary, has been proposed by Mr. E. Davy to be added by the baker to damaged flour, tr 
 counteract its acescency. 
 
 MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE (Dolomie, Pr. ; Bittertalk, Talhspath, Germ.), is a 
 mineral which crystalizes in the rhombohedral 'system. Spec. grav. 2.86 ; scratches 
 calc-spar ; does not fall spontaneously into powder, when calcined, as common limestone 
 does. It consists of 1 prime equivalent of carbonate of lime = 50, associated with 1 
 of carbonate of magnesia = 42. 
 
 Massive magnesian limestone, is yellowish-brown, cream-yellow, and yellowish-gray; 
 brittle. It dissolves slowly and with feeble effervescence in dilute muriatic acid; whence 
 it is called Calcaire lent dolomie by the French mineralogists. Specific gravity 2-6 
 to 2-Y. 
 
 Near Sunderland, it is found in flexible slabs. The principal range of hills com- 
 posing this geological formation in England extends from Sunderland on the northeast 
 coast to Nottingham, and its beds are described as being about 300 feet thick on the east 
 of the coal field in Derbyshire, which is near its southern extremity. On the western 
 side of the Cumberland mountains magnesian limestone overlies the coal measures near 
 Whitehaven. The stratification of this rock is very distinct, the individual courses of 
 stone not exceeding in general the thickness of a common brick. 
 
 The lime resulting from the calcination of magnesian limestone appears to have an 
 injurious action on vegetation, unless applied in quantities considerably less than com- 
 mon lime, when it is found to fertilize the soil. After two years, its hurtful influence 
 on the ground seems to become exhausted, even when used in undue quantity. Great 
 quantities of it are annually brought from Sunderland to Scotland by the Fifeshire 
 farmers, and employed beneficially by them as a manure, in preference to other kinds 
 of lime. It has been unfairly denounced, by Mr. Tennent and Sir H. Davy, as a 
 sterilizer. 
 
 This rock is used in many places for building ; indeed, our most splendid monument oi 
 Gothic architecture, York Minster, is constructed of magnesian limestone. 
 
 MAGNESIA, NATIVE (Brncite; Guhr-magnesien, Fr.; Wasseitalh, Germ.), is a 
 white, lamellar, pearly-looking mineral, soft to the touch. Spec. grav. 2-336; tender; 
 scratched by caic-spar; affording water by calcination ; leaving a white substance which 
 browns turmeric paper; and, by calcination with nitrate of cobalt, becoming of a 
 lilach hue. It consists of 69-75 magnesia, and 30-25 water. It occurs in veins in the 
 serpentine at Hoboken, in New Jersey, as also at Swinaness, in the island of Unst, 
 Shetland. 
 
 MAGNESITE, Giobertite ; native carbonate of magnesia occurs in white, hard, stony 
 masses, in the presidency of Madras, and in a few other localities. It dissolves very 
 slowly in muriatic acid, and gives out carbonic acid in the proportion of 22 parts by 
 weight to 42 of the mineral, according to my experiments, and is therefore an atomic car. 
 bonate. It forms an excellent and beautiful mortar cement for terraces ; a purpose ta 
 which it has been beneficially applied in India by Dr. Macleod. 
 
 MAGNET, NATIVE, is a mineral consisting of the protoxyde and peroxyde of iron 
 combined in equivalent proportions. See Iron. 
 
MALT. 
 
 97 
 
 MAHALEB. The fruit of this shrub affords a violet dye, as well as a fermented 
 
 \tat a , m rsohwasser - tt is a species of cherry cultivated in our gardens. 
 
 MALACHITE, or mountain green, is native carbonate of copper of a beautiful green 
 color, with variegated radiations and zones; spec. grav. 3-5 ; it scratches calc-spar, but 
 not fluor; by calcination it affords water and turns black. Its solution in the acids 
 deposits copper upon a plate of iron plunged into it. It consists of carbonic acid, 18-5 , 
 deutoxide oi copper, 72-2; water, 9-3. 
 
 MALATES, are saline compounds with the bases, with 
 _ MALIC ACID. _ (Aside malique, Fr. ; Aepfeltaure, Germ.) This acid exists in the 
 juices of many fruits and plants, alone, or associated with the citric, tartaric, and oxalic 
 acids ; and occasionally combined with potash or lime. Unripe apples, sloes, barberries, 
 the berries of the mountain ash, elderberries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, rasp- 
 berries, bilberries, bramblebernes, whortleberries, cherries, ananas, afford malic acid : 
 the nouseleek and purslane contain the malate of lime. 
 
 The acid may be obtained most conveniently from the juice of "the berries of the 
 mountain ash, or barberries. This must be clarified by mixing with white of egg, and 
 heating the mixture to ebullition ; then filtering, digesting the clear liquor with car- 
 bonate of lead, till it becomes neutral ; and evaporating the saline solution, till crystals 
 ot malate of lead be obtained. These are to be washed with cold water, and purified 
 by recrystalhzation. On dissolving the white salt in water, and passing a stream of 
 sulphuretted hydrogen through the solution, the lead will be all separated in the form 
 ot a sulphuret, and the liquor, after filtration and evaporation, will yield yellow gra- 
 nular crystals, or cauliflower concretions of malic acid, which may be blanched byre- 
 dissolution and digestion with bone-black, and re-crystallization 
 
 Malic acid has no smell, but a very sour taste, deliquesces by absorption of moisture 
 from the air is soluble in alcohol, fuses at 150° Fahr., is decomposed at a heat of 348°, 
 and affords by distillation a peculiar acid, the pyromalic. It consists in 100 parts of 
 41-47 carbon; 3-51 hydrogen; and 55 -02 oxygen ; having nearly the same composition 
 as citric acid. A crude malic acid might be economically extracted from the fruit of 
 the mountain ash, applicable to many purposes; but it has not hitherto been manufac- 
 tured upon the great scale. 
 
 MALLEABILITY, is the property belonging to certain metals, of being extended 
 under the hammer. A table of malleability is given in the article Ductility 
 
 MA ^J; ( En §- and f r -; Mal ^ Germ.) is barley-corn, which has been subjected to 
 an artificial process of germination. See Beee. 
 
 The Quantity of Malt consumed by the undermentioned Brewers ot" London and iii 
 Vicinity, from 10th October, 1830, to 10th October, 1842. 
 
 
 1831. 
 
 1632. 
 
 1833. 
 
 1834. 
 
 1835. 
 
 1836. 
 
 1837. 
 
 1838. 
 
 1839. 
 
 1840. 
 
 1841. 
 
 1842. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qis. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Barclay and Co. - 
 
 97,198 
 
 96,612 
 
 93,175 
 
 99,674 
 
 106,098 
 
 108,715 
 
 100,326 
 
 107,455 
 
 114,827 
 
 115,561 
 
 106,345 
 
 114,090 
 
 Hanbury and Co. 
 
 50,724 
 
 58,512 
 
 58,497 
 
 74,982 
 
 78,087 
 
 89,303 
 
 81,440 
 
 90,140 
 
 91,069 
 
 98,210 
 
 88,132 
 
 92,466 
 
 Whitbread and Co. 
 
 49,713 
 
 53,541 
 
 50,067 
 
 49,105 
 
 55,209 
 
 53,694 
 
 47.012 
 
 45,460 
 
 51,979 
 
 53,622 
 
 51,457 
 
 52,098 
 
 Reid and Co. 
 
 43,380 
 
 44,420 
 
 40,810 
 
 44,210 
 
 49,430 
 
 49,831 
 
 42,700 
 
 44,928 
 
 44,010 
 
 48,130 
 
 47,980 
 
 50,120 
 
 Meux and Co. 
 
 24,339 
 
 22,062 
 
 20,718 
 
 26,161 
 
 24,376 
 
 30,775 
 
 30,623 
 
 35,065 
 
 38,466 
 
 40,787 
 
 49,797 
 
 43,340 
 
 Combe and Co. 
 
 34,684 
 
 36,948 
 
 36,070 
 
 35,438 
 
 36,922 
 
 42,169 
 
 40,454 
 
 43,444 
 
 40,712 
 
 38,368 
 
 36,460 
 
 40,484 
 
 Calvert and Co. 
 
 30,525 
 
 32,812 
 
 31,433 
 
 31,460 
 
 33,263 
 
 30,859 
 
 32,325 
 
 31,529 
 
 31,028 
 
 30,872 
 
 30,614 
 
 30,660 
 2?,607 
 
 Hoare and Co. 
 
 24,102 
 
 26,821 
 
 25,407 
 
 29,796 
 
 31,525 
 
 32,623 
 
 32,347 
 
 31,278 
 
 31,008 
 
 30,310 
 
 29,450 
 
 Elliot and Co. - 
 
 19,444 
 
 20,061 
 
 19,899 
 
 25,009 
 
 28,728 
 
 28,338 
 
 24,150 
 
 22,486 
 
 22,990 
 
 25,367 
 
 25,379 
 
 27,050 
 
 Thome, T. and Son 
 
 1,445 
 
 2,543 
 
 5,136 
 
 8,496 
 
 10,913 
 
 12,657 
 
 16,404 
 
 18,545 
 
 19,578 
 
 20,864 
 
 22,413 
 
 22,022 
 
 Charringlon and Co. 
 .Steward and Co. - 
 
 10,531 
 8,116 
 
 9,648 / 
 6,872 ( 
 
 15,617 
 
 18,197 
 
 19,213 
 
 19,445 
 
 18,842 
 
 20,290 
 
 18,688 
 
 18,328 
 
 17,840 
 
 20,423 
 
 Taylor and Co. - 
 
 21,845 
 
 21,735 
 
 21,115 
 
 20,835 
 
 23,885 
 
 24,971 
 
 23,556 
 
 27,320 
 
 25,955 
 
 27,300 
 
 21,424 
 
 19,430 
 
 Goding, J. and Co. 
 
 16,307 
 
 14,874 
 
 14,279 
 
 15,256 
 
 16,312 
 
 i 3,321 
 
 }}14,023 
 
 14,028 
 
 12,145 
 
 ' 18,517 
 
 16,018 
 
 17,071 
 
 Coding, Thomas - 
 
 9,987 
 
 8,971 
 
 7,630 
 
 8,824 
 
 7,618 
 
 11,784 
 
 7,095 
 
 7,551 
 
 f 5,758 
 
 Ramsbottom and Co. - 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 315,364 
 
 15,227 
 
 13,012 
 
 
 
 
 
 Broadwood and Co. - 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10,610 
 
 14,630 
 
 15,791 
 
 16,688 
 
 Gardner, H. W. and P. 
 
 6,666 
 
 5,904 
 
 7,471 
 
 11,429 
 
 14,699 
 
 15,369 
 
 15,256 
 
 16,921 
 
 17,504 
 
 15,559 
 
 13,126 
 
 14,546 
 
 Mann, James 
 
 - 
 
 1,056 
 
 1,332 
 
 1,757 
 
 2,780 
 
 4,840 
 
 6,588 
 
 10,326 
 
 11,599 
 
 11,679 
 
 12,111 
 
 13,53? 
 
 Courage and Co. 
 
 8,116 
 
 7,607 
 
 7,546 
 
 8,079 
 
 8,790 
 
 9,239 
 
 9,286 
 
 10,723 
 
 10,456 
 
 11,532 
 
 12,328 
 
 13,016 
 
 Wood and Co. - 
 
 5,469 
 
 5,560 
 
 5,547 
 
 7,602 
 
 7,320 
 
 7,961 
 
 7,834 
 
 8,506 
 
 7,607 
 
 7,194 
 
 7,268 
 
 7,651 
 
 More, Robert 
 
 2,535 
 
 1,040 
 
 1,890 
 
 4,713 
 
 4,130 
 
 5,255 
 
 6,025 
 
 6,129 
 
 6,413 
 
 6,954 
 
 7,175 
 
 7,026 
 
 Harris, Thomas - 
 
 4,778 
 
 4,780 
 
 4,540 
 
 4,940 
 
 4,964 
 
 4,998 
 
 5,042 
 
 5,888 
 
 5,256 
 
 5,152 
 
 5,291 
 
 6,022 
 
 Hazard and Co. - 
 
 - 
 
 6,126 
 
 6,203 
 
 7,094 
 
 - 
 
 6,597 
 
 6,674 
 
 6,552 
 
 6,250 
 
 6,729 
 
 5,758 
 
 5,556 
 
 Tubb, William - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 80 
 
 200 
 
 1,516 
 
 2,826 
 
 3,365 
 
 4,060 
 
 4,478 
 
 4,944 
 
 5,50* 
 
 Richmond and Co. 
 
 3,785 
 
 3,503 
 
 3,256 
 
 3,520 
 
 3,268 
 
 3,551 
 
 3,174 
 
 4,058 
 
 4,536 
 
 4,964 
 
 5,030 
 
 5,4%l 
 
 Hodgson and Co. 
 
 1 4,206 
 
 3,522 
 
 3,870 
 
 2,080 
 
 2,414 
 
 3,400 
 
 2,400 
 
 1,790 
 
 5,358 
 
 5,704 
 
 5,862 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,983 
 
 Manners and Co. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,552 
 
 6,121 
 
 7,030 
 
 5,334 
 
 4,819 
 
 4,831 
 
 Halo, George 
 
 4,584 
 
 4,322 
 
 3,633 
 
 3,281 
 
 3,466 
 
 3,768 
 
 4,547 
 
 5,039 
 
 4,816 
 
 4,443 
 
 4,418 
 
 4,468 
 
 Halford and Co. ) 
 
 3,215 
 
 3,187 
 
 3,330 
 
 3,545 
 
 - 
 
 3,763 
 
 3,786 
 
 4,685 
 
 3,967 
 
 3,585 
 
 
 
 Kempson and Co. J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3,155 
 
 3,878 
 
 Karren and Till - 
 
 ( 
 
 3,139 
 
 3,217 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 4,048 
 
 4,783 
 
 4,599 
 
 4,400 
 
 4,425 
 
 
 
 Thome, J. M. and Son 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 3,860 
 
 3,676 
 
 Duggan and Co. - 
 
 ( 
 
 - 
 
 -!" 
 
 
 3,201 
 
 2,665 
 
 2,288 
 
 3,C^ 
 
 3,001 
 
 2,5f'i 
 
 
 Gaskell and Downs • 
 
 i • 
 
 - 
 
 -I 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 t. 
 
 - 
 
 3.354 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 MALT. 
 
 Mo. Lcod, R. 
 Plimmei - 
 &.axton and Bryaii 
 Draper and Co. 
 'Miller and Oa- 
 lCocne and Co. 
 Lane and Boiv,lpu 
 Fleming and Co. 
 Clarke^Charles 
 Gurney, J. and Co. 
 Stains and Fox 
 Verey, W. and G. 
 Jones, T. 
 
 Herington and Wells 
 Hill and Kice - 
 Holt and Sons - 
 Cox, John 
 Griffith, P. 
 Ufford and Co. 
 Masterman and Co. 
 Johnson and Co. 
 Wyatt - 
 Turner, K. 
 Dickenson, G. - 
 Koneyball, Edward 
 Jenner, R. aad H. - 
 Church, J. L. - 
 Blosg, B. 
 
 M'Leod, J, M. and Co. 
 Satchell and Son 
 Knight - 
 Chadwick, W. 
 Turner, John 
 (Locke, R. 
 Hume, George 
 Collins, W. L. - 
 West, J. II, - 
 Mantell and Son 
 Addison - 
 Martin and Co. 
 Allan 
 
 Hood and Co. - 
 Clarke, W. 
 Clarke, S. 
 Bye, W. and H. 
 Clarke - 
 Rndge 
 
 Bricheno, Henry 
 Lamont and Co. 
 Filmer and Gooding 
 Wood and Co. 
 Brown, late Hicks 
 Manvell, Isaac 
 Abbott, E. 
 Cooper, W. 
 Samnders 
 West, J. W. - 
 Harris, Robert 
 
 1831. 1882. 1833. 1834. 1885. 1836. 1887. 1888. 
 
 Qrs. 
 1,656 
 
 2,235 
 
 5S5 
 
 2,910 
 1,113 
 2,802 
 2,146 
 
 1,704 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 2,947 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 4,23' 
 
 8,020 2,941 
 
 463 
 
 1,748 
 
 754 
 
 2.279 
 
 1,530 
 
 128 
 719 
 
 2,508 
 
 634 
 
 8,117 1 
 
 Qrs. 
 5,479 
 
 8,508 
 
 1,006 1,008 
 
 2,168 
 844 
 
 337 
 
 1,974 
 
 717 
 
 4,871 
 
 1,063 
 
 1,830 
 
 218 
 801 
 
 ;m 
 
 594 
 
 674 
 
 1,018 
 •205 
 
 946 
 1ST 
 756 
 
 722 
 
 545 
 
 5,687 
 1,646 
 
 752 
 691 
 244 
 
 584 
 99 
 9S6 
 176 
 577 
 840 
 590 
 
 040 
 259 
 975 
 254 
 324 
 914 
 696 
 
 V 
 
 1,140 
 
 375 
 
 v 
 
 794 
 2,446 
 1. 
 
 203 
 1,S10 
 
 341 
 
 677 
 
 422 
 
 1,427 
 
 441 
 
 322 
 850 
 653 
 
 Qrs. 
 5,360 
 
 4,187 
 
 8.106 
 
 1,208 
 
 248 
 
 2,042 
 734 
 
 2,499 
 
 2, 
 472 
 
 1,877 
 
 Sim 
 734 
 
 2,147 
 
 709 
 
 496 
 
 1,256 
 
 519 
 
 406 
 757 
 
 271 
 
 876 1 933 
 
 719 780 747 
 
 5,732, 7,120 
 856 8S3 
 
 713, 
 
 924 
 525 
 443 
 
 179 
 451 
 
 9,950 
 657 
 
 884 
 654 
 199 
 
 255 
 49U 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 4,689 
 
 1,249 
 
 3,788 
 
 1,302 
 
 700 
 
 1,872 
 818 
 2,018 
 2,324 
 '731 
 1,789 
 2,809 
 
 716 
 1,087 
 1,103 
 
 772 
 
 756 
 1,067 
 
 748 
 2,177 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 1,330 
 
 1,783 
 
 1,573 
 
 956 
 
 1,853 
 756 
 2,151 
 2,221 
 958 
 1,914 
 2.S09 
 
 712 
 
 1,025 
 
 1,512 
 
 833 
 
 742 
 
 943 
 
 820 
 
 1,411 
 
 7S6 
 
 620 
 
 1,285 
 
 527 
 
 406 
 807 
 619 
 
 Qrs. 
 4,700 
 
 8,167 
 
 1,787 
 1,624 
 
 8,749 
 7.785 
 
 7,38S 
 
 1,911 
 846 
 1,991 
 1,884 
 1,291 
 1,847 
 
 897 
 1,010 
 1,714 
 
 „1,006 
 
 978 
 
 1,481 
 
 671 
 
 793 
 
 706 
 
 9,762 
 
 403 
 
 169 861 
 
 766 821 
 
 651; 725 
 
 1,126, 1,060 
 
 598, 407 
 
 565 
 
 749 
 650 
 812 
 501 
 
 9,885 
 2,085 
 1,' 
 
 884 
 654 
 199 
 
 400 
 557 
 
 205 
 497 
 
 741 
 
 201 
 834 
 
 8,600 
 1,298 
 
 824 
 500 
 315 
 
 1839. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 8,213 
 1,658 
 
 855 
 2,826 
 1,275 
 1,795 
 1,1 
 
 614 
 2,072 
 1,749 
 1,555 
 1,538 
 1,885 
 
 307 
 1,861 
 1,553 
 1,241 
 1,789 
 2,412 
 
 70S 
 260 
 
 8,857 
 6,251 
 1,291 
 
 750 
 441 
 870 
 81 
 251 
 456 
 
 1,013 
 
 1,020 
 
 1,402 
 
 856 
 
 975 
 
 1,143 
 
 877 
 
 1,475 
 
 532 
 a58 
 760 
 812 
 302 
 594 
 694 
 637 
 549 
 
 547 
 
 340 
 
 8,699 
 
 7,638 
 
 1.674 
 
 1,493 
 
 1,851 
 
 579 
 
 312 
 
 434 
 
 811 
 
 290 
 
 405 
 
 1840. 
 
 Qrs. 
 8,410 
 7S8 
 2,658 
 1,711 
 1,167 
 2,345 
 1,964 
 2,159 
 1,! 
 1,903 
 2,406 
 1,762 
 1,879 
 1,905 
 1,677 
 1.093 
 1,723 
 1.916 
 1,201 
 1,672 
 2,413 
 
 1,077 
 
 1,100 
 
 1,055 
 
 929 
 
 949 
 
 1,034 
 
 782 
 
 78 
 775 
 
 728 
 778 
 791 
 620 
 
 027 
 723, 
 72 
 
 594 
 462 
 450 
 
 438 
 
 1841. 1842. 
 
 8,805 
 1,658 
 2,579 
 1,787 
 1,740 
 2,645 
 2,010 
 2,417 
 2,124 
 2,597 
 2,528 
 1,825 
 1,810 
 1,746 
 1,697 
 972 
 1,528 
 1,419 
 1,350 
 1,892 
 2,204 
 
 1,219 
 
 1,058 
 955 
 
 1,049 
 
 1,118 
 797 
 
 1,1 
 i 
 
 820 
 768 
 765 
 718 
 627 
 708 
 641 
 63S 
 
 637 
 644 
 
 5116 
 502 
 
 555 449 
 ■ 13,475 18,087 
 
 1,688 
 
 1,442 
 
 1,450 
 
 782 
 
 487 
 
 503 
 
 1,514 
 
 1, 
 
 1,300 
 770 
 490 
 485 
 471 
 444 
 441 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 8,125 
 
 8.001 
 
 2,797 
 
 2,777 
 
 2,685 
 
 2,445 
 
 2,432 
 
 2,256 
 
 2,255 
 
 2,211 
 
 2,050 
 
 1,840 
 
 1,808 
 
 1,806 
 
 1,628 
 
 1,583 
 
 1,520 
 
 1,429 
 
 1,860 
 
 1,295 
 
 1,267 
 
 1,254 
 
 1,135 
 
 1,087 
 
 1,067 
 
 1,065 
 
 1,045 
 
 1,025 
 
 945 
 
 86 ■ 
 
 846 
 
 754 
 
 737 
 
 708 
 
 705 
 
 702 
 
 650 
 
 640 
 624 
 52» 
 520 
 510 
 
 501 
 
 Quantity of Malt which, paid Duty, and Amount of Duty, in the Years 1842 to 1845. 
 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Amount of duty. 
 
 England - 
 Scotland - 
 
 Ireland 
 
 Total - 
 
 1842. ' 1848. 
 
 1844 
 
 1S45. 1 1842. 
 
 1348. 
 
 1844. 
 
 1845. 
 
 Quarters. 1 Quarters. 
 
 8,654,850 8,850,567 
 484,778 446,220 
 180,297 1 162,886 
 
 Quarters. 
 
 8,979,020 
 478,562 
 159,655 
 
 Quarters. 
 
 8,925,871 
 
 543,596 
 
 218,020 
 
 * 
 
 3,959,420 
 
 525,176 
 
 141,156 
 
 4,171,417 
 433,405 
 176,459 
 
 4,810,605 
 518,442 
 172,970 
 
 * 
 
 4,258,027 
 
 688,895 
 
 286,196 
 
 4,269,925 | 4,459,678 
 
 4,617,247 
 
 4,687,487 
 
 4,625,751 
 
 4,881,311 
 
 5,078,116 
 
 5,078,118 
 
 Quantity of Malt wetted in Public Brewing in the United Kingdom in the 
 , undermentioned years. 
 
 QUARTERS.! QUARTERS. 
 
 3.566,8001850 - - 6,188,617 
 8:701,707 1851 (10 months) 4,858,114 
 - 8,749,1241 
 
 
 QUARTERS. 
 
 
 QUAUTER8. 
 
 
 1SB7 - 
 
 4,030,534 
 
 1S40 - 
 
 8,935,272 
 
 1843 
 
 1838 - 
 
 4,040,895 
 
 1841 - 
 
 8,678,018 
 
 1844 
 
 1889 ■ 
 
 4,062,863 
 
 1842 
 
 8,588,477 
 
 1845 
 
MALT. 
 
 9& 
 
 An Account of the Quantities of Malt brewed by the Twelve principal London Porter 
 and Ale Brewers, during the Five Years ending with October, 1842 (from Slater's 
 Brewers' Malt List). 
 
 
 1888. 
 
 | 1839. 
 
 1840. 
 
 1841. 
 
 1842. 
 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Barclay & Co. - 
 
 107,455 
 
 112,276 
 
 115,561 
 
 106,345 
 
 114,090 
 
 Hanbury <fe Co. - 
 
 90,140 
 
 91,069 
 
 98,210 
 
 88,132 
 
 92,469 
 
 Whitbread & Co. 
 
 45,460 
 
 51,979 
 
 53,622 
 
 51,457 
 
 62,098 
 
 *Eeid & Co. 
 
 44,928 
 
 44,010 
 
 48,130 
 
 47,980 
 
 50,120 
 
 *Meux & Co. 
 
 35,065 
 
 38,465 
 
 40,787 
 
 39,797 
 
 40,340 
 
 Combe <fe Co. 
 
 43,444 
 
 40,712 
 
 38,368 
 
 36,460 
 
 46,484 
 
 Calvert & Co. - 
 
 31,529 
 
 31,028 
 
 30,872 
 
 30,615 
 
 30,660 ■ 
 
 Hoare & Co. 
 
 31,278 
 
 31,008 
 
 30,310 
 
 29,450 
 
 29,607 
 
 Elliot & Co. 
 
 22,000 
 
 22,990 
 
 25,255 
 
 25,379 
 
 27,050 
 
 Charrington & Co. 
 
 20,290 
 
 18,688 
 
 18,328 
 
 17,840 
 
 20,423 
 
 Taylor <St Co. - 
 
 27,320 
 
 25,955 
 
 27,800 
 
 21,424 
 
 19,530 
 
 Courage & Co. - 
 
 10,723 
 
 10,466 
 
 11,532 
 
 12,328 
 
 13,016 
 
 * Those marked thus * brew porter only. 
 Quarters of Malt consumed in the undermentioned Tears, ending 10th October. 
 
 By the Brewers of London and its Vicinity. 
 
 1831 
 
 1882 
 
 622,549 
 604,477 
 
 1883 
 1834 
 
 578,688 
 662,718 
 
 1885 
 1836 
 
 702,538 1 1887 
 754.313 1 1838 
 
 714.488 
 742,597 
 
 1889 
 1840 
 
 750,176 
 776,219 
 
 1841 
 1842 
 
 784,295 
 741,651 
 
 By the Twelve principal Brewers of London. 
 
 1881 
 1882 
 
 432,521 
 488,046 
 
 1S33 
 1834 
 
 427,087 
 470,123 
 
 1885 
 1836 
 
 508,048 
 526,092 
 
 1837 
 1883 
 
 490,179 
 517,940 
 
 1839 
 1840 
 
 528,259 
 547,908 
 
 1841 
 1842 
 
 617,293 
 541,710 
 
 Table of the Quantity of Malt from Barley, which 
 
 paid Duty in 
 
 Teats. 
 
 England and "Wales. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 
 Bushels. 
 
 Bushels. 
 
 Bushels. 
 
 18S4 
 
 34,449,646 
 
 4,491,292 
 
 2,204,653 
 
 1835 
 
 36,078,855 
 
 4,459,553 
 
 2,353,645 
 
 1836 
 
 37,196,998 
 
 4,903,187 
 
 2,287,635 
 
 1837 
 
 33,692,356 
 
 4,583,045 
 
 2,275,347 
 
 1838 
 
 33,823,958 
 
 4,419,141 
 
 2,262,440 
 
 1839 
 
 33,826,016 
 
 4,360,363 
 
 1,744,550 
 
 1840 
 
 36,653,442 
 
 4,397,304 
 
 1,406,116 
 
 1841 
 
 30,956,394 
 
 4,058,249 
 
 1,149,692 
 
 1842 
 
 30,796,262 
 
 3,786,476 
 
 1,268,656 
 
 
 Amount of Duties Paid : 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 1834 
 
 4,449,745 
 
 553,567 
 
 272,291 
 
 1835 
 
 4,660,185 
 
 651,096 
 
 288,602 
 
 1836 
 
 4,804,612 
 
 611,910 
 
 288,857 
 
 1837 
 
 4,351,929 
 
 678,515 
 
 286,470 
 
 1838 
 
 4,368,931 
 
 557,913 
 
 284,954 
 
 1839 
 
 4,369,193 
 
 652,107 
 
 218,503 
 
 1840 
 
 4,841,229 
 
 672,544 
 
 178,703 
 
 1841 
 
 4,198,460 
 
 539,672 
 
 151,210 
 
 1842 
 
 4,176*742 
 
 503,829 
 
 168,009 
 
 Exports in 1850, 182,480 barrels; in 1851, 191,639 barrels: declared value, 1850, 
 558,794?., in 1861, 677,874;. 
 
100 MALT. 
 
 MALT. British beer brewing is sadly oppressed by fiscal folly and ignorance. The 
 regulations as to the manufacture of malt are embodied in the aots 7 it 8 Geo. 4, c. 52, 
 and 11 Geo. 4, c. 17. The former act is an admirable specimen of legislative injustice 
 the latter was intended to ameliorate the provisions of its predecessor, and does, in s 
 degree, effect that object. The first contains no less than 83 clauses; and the regula- 
 tions in it, though frequently repugnant to the plainest principles of common sense, are. 
 nevertheless, enforced by 106 penalties, amounting in the aggregate to theincredible 
 sum of 13,500/. How much of this is negatived by the subsequent act it is not very 
 easy to determine, though, as far as it goes, the effect of No. 2 is to stultify the regula- 
 tions of No. 1. Woe to that man, however, who begins the manufacture of malt with- 
 out having duly studied these incompatible aets. Having been favored with a perusal 
 of the genuine "instructions for officers who survey maltsters," a clear insight may be 
 had into the actual practice of the excise ; for our copy is duly emblazoned with the 
 arms of England, and marked "by authority;" — being, moreover, of so late a date as 
 1842, it offers unexceptionable evidence. The necessary apparatus for the production 
 of malt is extremely simple, — that is to say, a cistern for steeping the grain ; a floor in 
 which it may be suffered to heat and vegetate ; and, lastly, a stove or kiln in which the 
 newly-formed malt may be dried. Specific size, or force, or other arrangement, there 
 needs none ; and such is actually the condition of the malt manufacture in most eoun 
 tries at this day. With us, however, a very different system prevails ; — the cistern or 
 steeping vessel must be of a determinate form and construction ; it must have been ap- 
 proved of by a supervising officer ; its cubical contents must have been very accurately 
 ascertained, by actual admeasurement, and it must be placed in such a situation that 
 the officer gauging it may have sufficient light, and a clear open space of 48 inches, at 
 the least, above every part of such cistern, for the purpose of facilitating the process of 
 gauging; and, lastly, if such light be an impossibdity, from local obstacles, the malt- 
 ster must enter into an engagement to keep, at his own expense, lamps or candles burn- 
 ing, for the convenience of the officer. From what we have now said, as well as from 
 the notoriously uncertain character of grain, it might naturally be inferred, that the 
 process of steeping would be left entirely to the judgment of the maltster, who would 
 determine according to his experience, and the nature of the resulting phenomena, when 
 the grain had been steeped long enough in the water and when it had not. The law, 
 however, allows him no such privilege; whether the grain be old and dry, or new and 
 .moist, is all one, — "maltsters are required to keep their corn or grain covered with 
 water for the full space of 40 hours, under the penalty of 1001." Nor will any change 
 occurring in the appearance of the grain, and seeming to require its immediate removal, 
 justify or excuse the maltster in so doing, unless indeed he shall have anticipated the 
 occurrence, by giving notice of his intention to do so in his original notice " to wet "— 
 which must date 24 hours previously to commencing that operation, — andgive the day 
 and hour of the daj' for beginning the steep, — all under the usual penalty of 1002. 
 Nor may he "begin to wet at any other time than between the hours of 8 in the morning 
 and 2 in the afternoon," under a penalty of 1002., nor may he take corn or grain from any 
 cistern at any other time than between the hours of 7 in the morning and 4 in the after- 
 noon. To empty corn or grain out of any cistern until the expiration of 96 hours from 
 the time of the last preceding emptying of any cistern in the establishment involves a. 
 penalty of 2002. ; and the same infliction occurs, "if the corn or grain be not emptied 
 out of, all sueh cisterns at one and the same time, or within three hours after the clear- 
 ing of the first cistern was commenced." 
 
 Maltsters are not to mix, either on the floor or kiln, any corn or grain of one wetting 
 with corn or grain of another wetting, under a penalty of 1002. What is termed the 
 couch, or place in which the grain, after being steeped, is laid together for the purpose 
 of germination, is a supplementary apparatus of excise ingenuity, and no way neces- 
 sary to the success of the malting process. Here the grain, after having been gauged 
 in the steep, is again to be gauged with great care ; and if the maltster should tread or 
 compress the couch, so as to diminish its bulk, a penalty of 1002. is imposed, though it 
 is obvious that a power qf loosening or compressing this couch according to its temper- 
 ature would greatly improve the formation of malt. However, " all corn or grain 
 emptied into the couch frame is to be laid flat and level by the maltster, and so kept 
 for 24 hours at the least," and similarly the floors are all to be placed level on pain ol 
 1002. fine, so that any experimental essay at improvement is very likely to end in the- 
 Court of Exchequer. Again, it frequently happens, or rather we should say it gener- 
 ally happens, that too little water is absorbed by the grain during the operation ol 
 steeping ; the consequence of which is, that after being removed from the couch to the 
 floor, the grain desiccates, and, ceasing to germinate, speedily evolves a sickly odor, and 
 becomes mouldy, — the incipient radicles at the same time drying and shrinking up for 
 (vant of moisture : in fact the grain withers and perishes from the effect of drought, 
 This condition is very frequent about the third and fourth day from the couch 
 
MALT. 101 
 
 and is easily and effectually put a stop to by the application of a little water. But now 
 comes a rather awkward dilemma for the maltster : if the grain continue on the fiooi 
 without being sprinkled, it is greatly damaged or altogether spoilt ; if water be sprinkled 
 upon it to restore vitality, the ltiw says, that " corn or grain, making into malt, must 
 not be wetted or sprinkled with water before the expiration of 12 days, or 288 hours, 
 after the same shall have been taken from or out of the cistern, under a penalty of 2001." 
 Where, however; the steep has lasted for the full period of 60 hours and where, conse 
 quently, the want of water is less likely to be felt, the maltster may sprinkle at the end 
 of six days, or 144 hours ; but in no case less than this, — though, as we have stated, 
 the great urgency for the sprinkling process occurs generally on the third day ; and it 
 is an undeniable fact, that in spite of the heavy risk incurred, maltsters do almost 
 invariably sprinkle their floors at about this period, and are thus driven to the necessity 
 of trusting in the good faith and discretion of some favorite workmen, to the infinite 
 injury of both parties. But the vast discriminating power confided to excise officers in 
 these matters is positively incredible. "Whenever there shall be reason to suspect, from 
 the appearance of the grain on the floor, that it has been illegally wetted or sprinkled, 
 the officer must give immediate notice to the maltster, or his servant, of such suspicion, 
 and make a memorandum thereof, upon the specimen paper, and in the memorandum 
 book, mentioning whether anything, and what was stated by sue! maltster, or any 
 person on his behalf," &c. Nay, the jaundiced views of the officer are ordered to be put 
 on record, as to an immense number of fortuitous circumstances, all of which, of course, 
 receive an unfavorable signification : for instance, "how the kiln was lqaded, and 
 whether fed by a brisk or slow fire ? — whether the house seemed in a state for running 
 or wetting, or committing any other and what fraud ? — what the trader says, and what 
 character he bears in his concerns with the revenue?" — and so on, in the most arbi- 
 trary and unconstitutional spirit imaginable. Indeed, lest any doubt should exist 
 concerning the opinion which the excise authorities entertain towards the trade in 
 general, the officer is specially instructed to make sudden and unexpected returns 
 or visits, at unusual periods, "which we call doubling on them," so as to discover any 
 suspicious indications. Again, of the three separate gauges of malt which he may take, 
 whether in the cistern, in the couch, or on the floor, the officer must select the largest for 
 charging duty upon. Thus, if in the cistern he finds "78J bushels indicated in the couch, 
 subsequently 81J indicated, and on the floor 83J, then the latter is preferred; and so 
 with regard to the highest wherever found — the order being that "when the cistern or 
 couch gauge is equal to or exceeds the floor gauge, then the best cistern or couch gauge 
 will be the charge ; but if that be less than the floor gauge, then the floor gauge will 
 be the charge." Any accident or loss arising after the cistern gauge, is therefore thrown 
 wholly on the maltster, who, far from being able to employ his ingenuity in the 
 improvement of his business processes, finds himself more than fully occupied in a per- 
 petual effort to protect his interests from the rapacious grasp of fiscal regulations 
 conceived in the most hostile spirit to that industry by which alone they exist. The 
 malice, carelessness, or ignorance of common workmen may at any moment subject the 
 most honest maltster in the kingdom, not merely to charges of dishonesty but even to 
 penal inflictions ; which have ceased to carry moral degradation with them, only because 
 of the popular belief of their gross injustice. It would be impossible, nor is it requisite, 
 to follow out or reeapitulati the innumerable annoyances to which the manufacturer of 
 malt is subjected at present: we have thus briefly noted down a few, in order that the 
 admirers of Bavarian and other foreign beers may take into account the very different 
 st:ite of the malt manufacture in this country, as compared with that brought about 
 by an unrestricted liberty to use or apply any means which the nature of the grain, 
 the condition of the atmosphere or other accidental circumstances, may require during 
 the process of germination. 
 
 Before quitting this subject, there are, however, two considerations that require no- 
 tice. The first of these is the peculiarly unwise regulation of allowing no drawback of 
 the malt duty upon exported ale or beer, unless the same shall have been brewed from 
 wort at a specific gravity of not less than 1 '054. Now, in most of our colonies, and in 
 all warm climates, beer, to be agreeable and refreshing, should be weaker than this 
 minimum gravity. In fact, a specific gravity of 1*047 forms by far the best beverage 
 for exportation to a tropical country, as it is not only less heady in its effects, but fer- 
 ments more kindly and completely than in a heavier wort, and when well hopped is not 
 liable to secondary fermentation. Nevertheless, beer of this kind, brewed in this 
 country, and exported, suffers under the expense of the malt duty, and has to compete 
 in the markets of our own colonies, as well as in the neutral markets of other countries, 
 with ales brewed by American brewers, who pay no duty. The result, of course, is, that 
 the supply of these weak beers has passed entirely out of the hands of English brewers. 
 
 The employment of malt in the rearing of cattle is the other consideration to which 
 we alluded. This has been hitherto totally prevented by the excessive duty; fov, 
 
102 MALT. 
 
 though some very absurd experiments hare been made, with a view to decide the re* 
 pective merits of malt and barley as nutritive agents, yetthe only question which 
 physiology points out as interesting and beneficial, remains without even the semblancq 
 of a trial. Malt, in a dry state, differs little or nothing from barley, except in the pos- 
 session of an extremely minute quantity of a substance called diastase; but as diastase 
 cannot exert its peculiar powers, excepting under the influence of water and a some 
 what high temperature, the only conclusion to be drawn from the experiments mad« 
 in feeding cattle on malt, is that the experimentalists were profoundly ignorant res 
 pecting the most important elements involved in the investigation. If, therefore, such 
 experiments have proved that malt is no better than its equivalent in barley, for the 
 fattening of cattle, we can only say that this fully equals our expectations, for there can 
 be no doubt that the heat evolved during the malting process has robbed the grain of 
 a portion of carbon, which is, consequently lost to the feeder of cattle. Malt cannot 
 equal its equivalent of barley in nutritious power, unless we take advantage of the dias- 
 tase it contains to render soluble, and therefore more easy of asaimilatiojn, not only 
 its own starch, but also the farinaceous ingredients of other kinds of food. When ground 
 malt, or a portion of diastase and water, are digested with starch, or anything contain- 
 ing it, at a temperature of 170° Fahr., the starch rapidly dissolves, and gradually passes, 
 first, into gum or dextrine, and then into sugar. Thus, for example, if potatoes be mixed 
 with a tenth of their weight of powdered malt, and the whole subjected to the action 
 of water, treated as above, the resulting products will be gum and sugar in a soluble 
 state ; and, consequently, in that condition best of all suited to relieve or assist any 
 digestive imperfection in the animal economy. Indeed, the process of digestion may 
 then be said to have commenced, ere the food had reached the stomach of the animal, 
 and the effects of diastase, heat and moisture, applied externally, substitute the action 
 of the gastric juice within. For young or sickly animals, or those which it is desired tc 
 bring forward speedily to perfection, the use of malt, applied thus, cannot fail to ensure 
 the most beneficial results. The nutritive powers of gum and sugar are very well known 
 to physiologists, the first being largely used as food by the Moors, Bosjesmen of South- 
 ern Africa, and the inhabitants of Sendar in Dongofia; amongst whom "six ounces 
 of gum are found sufficient for the daily support of an adult," according to Jackson; 
 whilst in respect to sugar, it is quite notorious that, though the labor to the negroes, du- 
 ring the sugar season, is excessive, they nevertheless become extremely fat at that time 
 from the nutritive quality of the sugar they consume. If, therefore, it is desired to ascer- 
 tain the true value of malt, in aiding the digestive power of an animal, it is clear that this 
 can be done only by taking advantage of the catalytic agency of the diastase it contains, 
 and which seems so closely to resemble the animal principle "pepsine," to the influence 
 of which the action of the gastric juice is now almost universally ascribed by chemists. 
 Nor would there be the slightest difficulty in carrying this improvement into practice 
 as most large farmers now prepare hot mashes for their cattle ; though these are, for 
 the most part, unwisely made from carrots, turnips, and such like vegetables as contain 
 gum and sugar ready formed by nature ; whereas the indication points to those of a 
 starch kind, where the nutritive matter is insoluble and therefore liable to pass away 
 from the animal unassimilated. True, indeed, the malt duty offers an impediment ; but 
 the admitted suffering of the agricultural interest is a powerful instrument of honesty 
 in a just cause, and a drawback is no novelty to the Exchequer, There is, however, an 
 objection of a social and moral character to be urged against the malt duty which 
 appears altogether unanswerable. From what we have stated concerning the action 
 of diastase, it must be obvious that a mixture of barley and malt would make quite as 
 good a wort as malt alone ; that is to say, one part of malt and seven parts of barley 
 •mashed together would afford a wort exactly resembling that from eight parts of malt 
 alone. Thus, then, by taking advantage of his scientific knowledge, the brewer might 
 diminish his malt duty to one-eighth, or even less; but this the law will not allow, 
 though, in foreign countries, it may be and is done, even though the difference in cost 
 between barley and malt is but trifling in such places. But, strange to say, that which 
 the legislature denies to the brewer, it freely accords to the distiller, who may use a 
 mixture of malt and barley, in any proportion he pleases ; thus indicating that ardent 
 spirits are less injurous to the social status of the lower orders than beer — a perfectly 
 untenable line of argument, but failing which necessitates the conclusion that little heed 
 is taken of the moral sanity of the nation, so long as the vices of the people tend to 
 replenish the exchequer. Having thus thrown together a few remarks calculated tc 
 explain the mode in which the excise duty on malt interferes with the industrial de- 
 velopement of Great Britain, we refer to the article Beer for the peculiar changes 
 which occur from the mash-tun to the finished product, as "fined for the market, 
 Let us here, however, notice the fact, that malt differs very largely indeedin the amount 
 »f its available constituents, which, by analysis, may be shown to range from about 
 32 to 70 of soluble extract per cent, — the average composition. being as under: — 
 
isture. 
 
 Insolublo matter. 
 
 Extract. 
 
 6-8 
 
 27-5 
 
 65-7 
 
 9-1 
 
 24-9 
 
 66-0 
 
 5-7 
 
 27-1 
 
 97-2 
 
 MALT. 103 
 
 Moisture - . - - - 6'5 
 
 Insoluble matter 26 1 
 
 Soluble extract - 66 '8 
 
 Now it is a remarkable illustration of the benumbing effect of excise intenerenoe, 
 that, though these great differences exist, yet no process of analysis is adopted by any 
 brewer of the present day, other than the uncertain indication of taste, and the still more 
 equivocal guidance of weight per bushel, — for it cannot be called specific gravity. 
 Therefore, although, in some of our large breweries not less than, perhaps, 100,000 
 quarters of malt are used every year (a single percentage upon which would equal the 
 value of 1,000 quarters), yet no attempt is made, by direct experiment before buying, 
 to determine the true worth of the article submitted for sale. The consequence of this 
 system is not difficult to be foreseen; in a vast majority of cases a higher price is pro- 
 portionally given for bad than for good malt; and the proper yield from the mash -tun 
 being entirely unknown, there is no possibility of determining whether this operation 
 has been well or ill-performed. A striking example of the errors induced by this ran- 
 dom mode of valuing malt is now before us. Of three samples marked respectively 
 Nos. 1, 2, and 3, the second was valued as 3s. better than the third ; and the first as 
 2s. 4d. better than the second, the estimates being those of an eminent London brewer. 
 The following table, however, which shows their real value, as found by analysis, de- 
 monstrates the total incorreotness of the above method : — 
 
 Ho. 1 yielded 
 No. 2 
 No. 3 
 
 So that the sample reported to be the worst is actually that which affo:ds the largest 
 amount of extract, though it seems that No. 2 is the best malt; but, being a twelve- 
 month old, its content of moisture is large. The mode of estimating the true value of 
 malt is very easy ; and, but for the circumstance that brewers are afraid of the very name 
 of chemistry, from its vulgar association with drugs, there is little doubt that, in common 
 with every other variable article, its worth would be determined by the unerring rules 
 of science. The day must, however, speedily come, when this coyness can no longer 
 prove compatible with the brewing interest; and, therefore, we proceed to describe 
 the method of executing a chemical analysis of malt. Having ground a quantity of 
 the malt in question to powder (and for this purpose, an ordinary coffee-mill answers 
 perfectly), weigh out 100 grains of the powder, and expose it for half an hour to the 
 heat of boiling water, in an oven or compartment surrounded by that fluid ; at the end 
 of this time weigh it again ; the loss indicates the quantity of moisture present in the 
 malt. While this operation is going on, 100 grains of the same powder are to be placed 
 in a cup, with about six ounces of cold water, and then exposed to the heat of a steam- 
 bath, with occasional stirring. This operation may continue also for half an hour, 
 when the whole is to be thrown upon a clear linen filter ; and, as soon as the wort or 
 fluid has drained away, the residue must be well washed with boiling water ; then 
 dried and weighed. The weight represents the amount of insoluble matter, and, con- 
 sequently, if, from the total weight=100, we deduct that of the moisture and insoluble 
 matter, the remainder must represent the proportion of soluble extract, or, in other 
 words, the saccharine value of the malt. This, as we have stated,*may be taken on an 
 average at 66 per cent. ; and if we assume the quarter of malt at 324 lbs. weight, ther 
 the total saccharine extract from the quarter becomes 213.84 lbs. avoirdupois; but as 
 this, in taking on the form of gum and sugar, chemically combines with the elementa 
 *of water, so the extract, if evaporated to dryness, would reach very nearly 231 lbs.'; 
 and this reduced to the basis of a barrel, of 36 gallons, becomes, in the language of the 
 brewer, 87 lbs. per barrel, which, however, merely means, that the wort from a quar- 
 ter of malt, if evaporated down to the bulk of a barrel, or 36 gallons, would weigh 87 
 lbs. more than a barrel of water. As a rule, 52| lbs. of saccharine extract indicate 20 
 brewers' pounds, or give a barrel of wort, having a specific gravity=l - 0556 nearly. 
 
 There are some doubts as to the effect of retaining malt in a bruised or powdered 
 state for any considerable period prior to mashing. By a few brewers this is deemed 
 hurtful, though the majority seem to regard it as indifferent. We have made a few 
 practical experiments on this subject, and find that, within a very extensive range, the 
 process of mashing is rather improved than otherwise by exposing the malt to the action 
 of the air, as, by this means, it not only attracts moisture from the atmosphere, and is 
 thereby more easily commingled with the water in the mash-tun, but a portion of the 
 gluten seems also oxidized by this exposure ; and hence a finer and clearer wort is 
 produced. A three months' exposure of bruised malt had not at all injured either the 
 quantity or quality of the extract in our experiments. It might be supposed that the 
 umplest mode of determining the value of malt would be to mash a portion with care, 
 
104 
 
 MALT KILN. 
 
 and then ascertain the specific gravity of the solution, but, from the circumstances pre- 
 viously stated, this cannot be done, as water continues to combine chemically with ths 
 extract until nothing but sugar exists, and this would require many hours' exposure to 
 a regulated temperature ; hence, the process above given is both th e most exact and 
 the most expeditious. In mashing, much depends upon the kind or strength of wort 
 required, as well as upon the circumstance whether table beers and strong beers are 
 brewed in the same establishment, or merely strong beers alone. Any wort weighing, 
 in the language of the brewer, less than 15 lbs., is, properly speaking, a table or small 
 beer wort. The wort of the common porter, drunk in this town, or London beer, 
 weighs 20 lbs., and the strongest bottling stout is about 35. Some of the Burton and 
 Scotch ales run, however, as high as 38 lbs. Under Brewing, the means are pointed 
 out by which any given sample of ale or beer may be analyzed so as to determine ex- 
 actly the weight of the wort from which it was brewed. At present, however, we 
 must turn our attention to the wort as existing in, and flowing from, the mash-tun. In 
 a general way, about 10 gallons of water may be taken lor every bushel of malt in the 
 first mash; and, after well mixing the two together, the whole should be closely cov- 
 ered down for three hours, ere any attempt is made to draw off the wort. It is imma 
 terial whether the water be added to the malt, or the malt to the water ; but the tem 
 perature of this latter is of great importance. In mild or warm weather a heat of 175° 
 Fahr. is sufficient; but, in winter, 180° will be requisite, as the malt then cools down 
 the average heat more than in summer ; in either case, the temperature, after mixing, 
 should not exceed nor fall much short of 170° Fahr. At the expiration of three hours, 
 this wort may be withdrawn into a proper vessel, or under-back, where it must be 
 kept warm. Its specific gravity should be about 1-092, or weigh 33 lbs. per barrel 
 more than water. So soou as the first wort has been withdrawn (and the quantity of 
 which is seldom more than Jths of the water employed), another portion of water must 
 be poured upon the malt, in the ratio of. about eight gallons to the bushel of malt em- 
 ployed, and of a temperature somewhat higher than the first. After standing two 
 hours this is drained away, like the first, when a quantity of boiling water is slowly 
 trickled down upon the grains from an apparatus called a "sparger," until the wort, 
 which flows away, ceases to po?6ess any appreciable gravity beyond that of water. The 
 worts are then mixed together, in these cases, where table beer is not made, and the 
 whole reduced, by boiling, to the desired gravity of the beer meant to be brewed. 
 Where table beer, however, is manufactured, the strong worts are kept apart and the 
 weak ones alone are fermented for this purpose. In both cases, the strong beers are 
 brewed from worts having a technical weight of from 20 to 36 lbs. per barrel. It has 
 long been supposed, that wort, as usually manufactured, consisted chiefly of sugar, but 
 this is a great error, for there is seldom so much as one-third of all the extract in wort 
 saccharified. The ordinary proportion is, one part of grape-sugar and three of dextrine. 
 MALT KILN (Dam, Germ.) The improved malt kiln of Pistorius is represented, 
 fig. 884, in a top view ; fig. 885, in a longitudinal view and section ; and fig. 886, in 
 transverse section, a a are two quadrangular smoke flues, constructed of fire-tiles, ot 
 fire-stones, and covered with iron plates, over which a pent-house roof is laid; the 
 whole bound by the cross-pieces b (figs. 885, 886.) These flues are built above a grating 
 c c, which commences at c' ; in front of c' there is a bridge of bricks. Instead of such a 
 brick flue covered .with plates, iron pipes may be used, covered with semi-cylin- 
 drical tiles, to prevent the malt that may happen to fall from being burned, d d are 
 the breast walls of the kiln, 3 feet high, furnished with two apertures shut with iron 
 
MANGANESE. 105 
 
 doors, through which the malt that drops down may be removed from time to time, 
 e is a beam of wood lying on the breast wall, against which the hurdles are laid down 
 slantingly towards the back wall of the kiln ; // are two vertical flues left in the 
 substance of the walls, through which the hot air, discharged by open pipes laid in a 
 subjacent furnace, rises into the space between the pent-house roof and the iron plates, 
 and is thence allowed to issue through apertures in the sides, g is the discharge flue in 
 the back wall of the kiln for the air now saturated with moisture ; h is the smoke-pipe, 
 from which the smoke passes into the anterior flue a, provided with a slide-plate, for 
 modifying the draught; the smoke thence flows off through a flue fitted also with a 
 damper-plate into the chimney i. k is the smoke-pipe of a subsidiary fire, in case no 
 smoke should pass through ft. The iron pipes are 11 inches in diameter, the air-flues/i 5 
 inches, and the smoke-pipe ft, 10 inches square; the brick flues 10 inches wide, and the 
 usual height of bricks. 
 
 MALTHA ; Bitume GMineux, or mineral pitch. It is a soft glutinous substance, with 
 the smell of pitch. It dissolves in alcohol, but leaves a bituminous residuum ; as also in 
 naptha, and oil of turpentine. It seems to be inspissated petroleum. 
 
 MANGANESE (Eng. and Fr. ; Mangan, Braunsteinmetal, Germ.) is a grayish-white 
 metal, of a fine-grained fracture, very hard, very brittle, with considerable lustre, of 
 spec. grav. 8-013, and requiring for fusion the extreme heat of 160° Wedgewood. It 
 should be kept in closely stoppered bottles, under naptha, like potassium, because with 
 contact of air it speedily gets oxydized, and falls into powder. It decomposes water 
 slowly at common temperatures, and rapidly at a red heat. Pure oxyde of manganese 
 can be reduced to the metallic state only in small quantities, by mixing it iv.ith lamp 
 black and oil into a dough, and exposing the mixture to the intense heat of a smith's 
 forge, in a luted crucible ; which must be shaken occasionally to favor the ag- 
 glomeration of the particles into a button. Thus procured, it contains, however, a little 
 carbon. 
 
 Manganese is susceptible of five degrees of oxygenation. 
 
 1. The proloxyde may be obtained from a solution of the sulphate by precipitation with 
 carbonate of potash, and expelling the carbonic acid from the washed and dried car 
 bonate, by calcination in a close vessel filled with hydrogen gas, taking care that no 
 air have access during the cooling. It is a pale green powder, which slowly attracts 
 oxygen from the air, and becomes brown ; on which account it should be kept in glass 
 tubes, containing hydrogen, and hermetically sealed. It consists of 77-57 metal and 22-43 
 oxygen. It forms with 24 per cent, of water a white hydrate ; and with acids, saline 
 compounds ; which are white, pink, or amethyst colored. They have a bitter, acerb taste, 
 and afford with hydrogenated sulphuret of ammonia a flesh-red precipitate, but with 
 caustic alkalis, one which soon turns brown-red, and eventually black. 
 
 2. The deutoxyde of manganese exists native in the mineral called Braunite ; but it maj 
 be procured either by calcining, at a red heat, the proto-nitrate, or by spontaneous oxydize 
 ment of the protoxyde m the air. It is black ; when finely pulveVized, dark brown, ana 
 is convertible, on being heated in acids, into protoxyde, with disengagement of oxygen gas. 
 It consists of 69-75 metal, and 30-25 oxygen. It forms, with 10 per cent, of water, a liver- 
 brown hydrate, which occurs native under the name of Manganite. It dissolves readily 
 in tartaric and citric acids, but in few others. This oxyde constitutes a bronze ground in 
 calico-printing. 
 
 3. Peroxyde of manganese; nraunstein, occurs abundantly in nature. It gives out 
 oxygen freely when heated, and becomes an oxydulated deutoxyde. It consists of 63-36 
 metal, and 36-64 oxygen. 
 
 4. Manganesic acid forms green-colored salts, but has not hitherto been insulated from 
 the bases. It consists of 53-55 metal, and 46-45 oxygen. 
 
 5. Hypermanganesic a~ii consists of 49-70 metal, and 50-30 oxygen. 
 
 Ores of manganese. — T5.:re are two principal ores of this metal which occur in great 
 masses ; the peroxyde and the hydrated oxyde ; the first of which is frequently found in 
 primitive formations. 
 
 1. Metalloide oxyde of manganese ; pyrolusite, or gray manganese ore ; .has a metallic 
 lustre, a steel gray color, and affords a black powder. Spec. grav. 4-85. Scratches ealc- 
 spar. It effervesces briskly with borax at the blow-pipe, in consequence of the disengage- 
 ment of oxygen gas. This is the most common ore of manganese, and a very valuable 
 one, being the substance mostly employed in the manufacture of chloride of lime and of 
 flint-glass. It is the peroxyde. Great quantities are found near Tavistock, in Devon- 
 shire, and Launceston, in Cornwall. 
 
 2. Braunite, is a dark brown substance, of a glassy metallic lustre, affording a brown 
 powder. Spec. grav. 4-8. It scratches feldspar ; but is scratched by quartz. Infusible 
 at the blow-pipe, and effervesces but slightly when fused with glass of borax. It is the 
 deutoxyde. It gives out at a red heat only 3 per cent, of oxygen. 
 
 3. Manganite, or hydroxyde of manganese ; is brownish-black or iron-black, powder 
 
106 MANGANESE. 
 
 brown, with somewhat of a metallic lustre. Spec. grav. 4-3. Scratches flno: sparj 
 affords water by calcination in a glass tube ; infusible at the blow-pipe ; and effervesces 
 slightly when fused with glass of borax. It consists of about 90 of deutoxyde, and 10 
 of water. 
 
 4. Haussmanite, black braunstein ; is brownish-black, affords a reddish-brown pow- 
 der. Spec. grav. 4-7; scratches fluor spar; infusible at the blow-pipe; does not effer- 
 vesce when fused with borax. It is a deutoxyde. This is a rare mineral, and of no value 
 to the arts. 
 
 5. Barytic oxyde of manganese ; fibrous wad. It is a combination of deutoxyde and 
 peroxyde, with some baryta. 
 
 6. Manganese blende, or sulphuret of manganese ; has a metallic aspect ; is black, or 
 dark steel gray ; spec. grav. 3-95 ; has no cleavage ; cannot be cut ; infusible, but affords 
 after being roasted distinct evidence of manganese, by giving a violet tinge to soda at the 
 blow-pipe. Soluble in nitric acid ; solution yields a white precipitate with the ferro-cya 
 nide of potassium. It consists of sulphur 53-65; manganese 66-35. 
 
 7. Carbonate of manganese ; dialogite. Spec. grav. 3-4 ; affords a green frit by fusion 
 with carbonate of soda ; is soluble with some effervescence in nitric acid ; solution when 
 freed from iron by succinate of ammonia, gives a white precipitate, with ferrbcyanide of 
 potassium. It consists of 28 carbonic acid, 56 protoxyde of manganese, 5-4 of lime, 4-5 
 protoxyde of iron, and 0-8 magnesia. 
 
 8. Hydrosilicate of manganese is a black metallic looking substance, which yields a 
 yellowish-brown powder, and water by calcination ; is acted upon by muriatic acid, but 
 affords no chlorine. It consists of silica 25 ; protoxyde of manganese 60; water 13. 
 
 9. Ferriferous phosphate of manganese is brown or black. Spec. grav. 36 ; scratches 
 fluor ; affords by calcination a very little of an acid water which corrodes glass ; very 
 fusible at the blow-pipe into a black metalloid magnetic bead ; is acted upon by nitric 
 acid ; solution lets fall a blue precipitate with ferrocyanide of potassium ; which tested 
 by soda is shown to be manganese. It consists of phosphoric acid 32-78 ; protoxyde of 
 iron 31-90; protoxyde of manganese 32-60; phosphate of lime 3-2. Another phosphate 
 called hureaulite, contains 38 of phosphoric acid; 11-10 of protoxyde of iron; 3285 of 
 protoxyde of manganese, and 18 of water. 
 
 Black wad, is the old English name of the hydrated peroxyde of manganese. If 
 occurs in various imitative shapes, in froth-like coatings upon other minerals, as also 
 massive. Some varieties possess imperfect metallic lustre. The external color is 
 brown of various shades, and similar in the streak, only shining. It is opaque, very 
 scctile, soils and writes. Its specific gravity is about 3-7. Mixed with linseed oil into 
 a dough, black wad forms a mass that spontaneously inflames. A variety from the 
 Hartz, analyzed by Klaproth, afforded peroxyde of manganese 68 ; oxyde of iron 6-5 j 
 water 17-5 ; carbon 1 ; barytes and silica 9. The localities of black wad are particu- 
 larly Cornwall and Devonshire, the Hartz, and Piedmont. I have analyzed many 
 varieties of the black wad sold to the manufacturers of bleaching salt and flint glass, 
 and have found few of them so rich in peroxyde of manganese as the above. "Very 
 generally they contained no less than 25 per cent, of oxyde of iron, 8 or 9 of silica, about 
 7 of water, and the remainder amounting to only 60 per cent, of the peroxyde. 
 
 M. Gay Lussac has proposed to determine the commercial value of manganese ore, 
 by the quantity of chlorine which it affords when treated with liquid muriatic acid. He 
 places the manganese powder in a small retort or matrass, pours over it the acid, and the 
 chlorine being disengaged with the aid of a gentle heat, is transmitted into a vessel con- 
 taining milk of lime or potash water. This liquor is afterwards poured into a dilute 
 solution of sulphate of indigo ; and the quantity of chlorine is inferred from the quantity 
 of the blue solution which is discolored. I pass the chlorine into test solution of indigo. 
 
 The manufacturer of flint glass uses a small proportion of the black manganese ore, 
 to correct the green tinge which his glass is apt to derive from the iron presentin the 
 sand he employs. To him it is of great consequence to get a native manganese con- 
 taining as little iron oxide as possible; since in fact the color or limpidity of his pro- 
 duct will depend altogether upon that circumstance. 
 
 Sulphate of manganese has been of late years introduced into calico printing, to give 
 a chocolate or bronze impression. It is easily formed by heating the black oxide, 
 mixed with a little ground coal, with sulphuric acid. See Calico Printing. 
 
 The peroxide of manganese is used also in the formation of glass pastes, and in 
 making the black enamel of pottery. See Oxalic Aoid. 
 
 The recovery of manganese in the state of peroxide for the chemical arts, in which 
 it is so extensively consumed, has been long a desideratum in manufactures. 
 
 M. de Sussex pretends to reconvert the residuum that is left after the disengage- 
 ment of chlorine or oxygen from manganese, and which is a product of little 01 
 no value, into a substance of great value, namely, that superoxide of manganese 
 ivhich is peculiarly fitted, by the large proportion of oxygen it contains, to serve 
 
MANGANESE. 10T 
 
 the purpose of affording either chlorine or oxygen gas again, according to the process 
 it is subsequently subjected to. The said residuary matters, after the extrication of 
 the chlorine in the manufacture of chloride of lime, or bleaching powder, and of chlo- 
 rate or hyperoxymuriate of potash, consist principally of chloride and sulphate of 
 manganese ; but as these residuums may and have been occasionally converted more 
 or less into sulphuret of manganese when they are used to purify coal gas from its 
 sulphur or sulphuretted hydrogen, the patentee includes not only the above sulphate 
 and chloride, but also the sulphuret of manganese, among the waste or refuse products, 
 which he converts into a valuable peroxide ol that metal. He applies, moreover, this 
 invention to the conversion of all oxides, carbonates, and other combinations of man- 
 ganese whatever, whether native or factitious, which contain the metal in an inferior 
 Btate of oxidation, into a superoxide of manganese, adapted to produce chlorine by 
 the agency of hydrochloric acid, and oxygen by the agency either of heat alone, or of 
 heat along with sulphuric acid. 
 
 The manner in which the said invention is to be carried into execution is as follows: 
 
 The conversion of manganese, whether combined or uncombined from a lower state 
 of oxidation into the higher state of superoxide, is effected by t%vo distinct operations. 
 First, it is well known that when peroxide of manganese, called in its purest native 
 state, pyrolusite, and also gray manganese ore, is digested with hydrochloric or mu- 
 riatic acid, the oxygen of the metal combines with the hydrogen of the acid to form 
 water, and leave the chlorine of the acid free, while the manganese, thus partially 
 stripped of its oxygen, combines with the rest of the hydrochloric acid to form a mu- 
 riate of manganese. Likewise, when more or less dilute sulphuric acid, common salt 
 (chloride of sodium), and peroxide of manganese, are so mixed and treated as to be 
 made to react on one another the hydrochloric acid, which is disengaged, is converted 
 by the oxygen of the manganese into water and chlorine, while both the soda pro- 
 duced from the common salt, and the partially deoxidized manganese, combine with 
 the sulphuric acid into sulphate of soda and sulphate of manganese. He converts 
 either the chloride, sulphate, sulphuret, or carbonate, into a sesquioxide or deutoxide 
 of manganese, by one or other of the three following processes: — First, he subjects 
 dried chloride of manganese to a strong heat, produced either by the united action of 
 burning fuel, and a jet or jets of an oxy-hydrogen blowpipe, or of a stream of atmos- 
 pheric air thrown upon the burning fuel by a fan or other suitable impulsive power, 
 thus forming a kind of blowpipe or blast-furnace, in which the chemical decomposi- 
 tion and reaction are rendered quicker and more complete. The furnace is constructed 
 like an ordinary reverberatory furnace, with the addition of a box or chest of iron 
 open at top, set in the fire-place, close to the bridge, which box is filled with iron 
 turnings, borings, or other small fragments of iron, upon which, in their strongly ig- 
 nited state, water is allowed to trickle or drop down slowly from a pipe, so as as to 
 be decomposed, and to disengage a stream of hydrogen, which is impelled over the 
 bridge of the furnace upon the hearth by means of a fan or other blowing machine 
 acting at the entrance or door of the fire-place. The manner in which the furnace is 
 regulated is as follows: — The fuel, either common coals, coke, anthracite, wood, turf, 
 &c, is first lighted upon the grate, and being subjected to the blast of air, soon creates 
 such a temperature as to raise the box of iron turnings to a red-white heat, in which 
 state the water being allowed to trickle down into the said box, is decomposed with 
 the copious disengagement of hydrogen gas. The chloride of manganese may be ex- 
 posed on the hearth of the reverberatory furnace either in a more or l&js concentrated 
 liquid state, or in a dry Btate, to the action of the intensely powerful flame, generated 
 as above described, and becomes thereby decomposed by the hydrogen* with the dis- 
 engagement of its chlorine in the state of hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid gas, while 
 the remaining protoxide of manganese becomes at the same time oxidized into the 
 deutoxide. The hydroeloric acid gas disengaged is condensed by means of vaults 
 or large chimneys, containing wet eoke or flint nodules in the way often practised 
 in sodafenanufactories. Instead of the above-described hydrogen flame, he employs 
 sometimes a simple reverberatory furnace with ordinary fuel, either with or without 
 blast, in which he resolves the chloride of manganese into hydrochloric acid and per- 
 oxide of manganese, but he prefers the compound flame of hydrogen and ordinary fuel. 
 
 In his second process, instead of acting on chloride of manganese by the flame of 
 combustible matter on the hearth of a furnace, he subjects the chloride of manganese, 
 put into fire-clay retorts, to an intense heat, by which he expels the chlorine partly 
 in the state of hydrochloric acid, and partly of chlorine, and the manganese left in the 
 retorts may be afterwards peroxidized by a process to be presently described. 
 
 In his third process he mixes together chloride of manganese and carbonate of lime, 
 or quicklime, in the proper equivalent proportions for mutual decomposition, and he 
 subjects that mixture to the strong heat of the above-described compound hydrogen 
 flame, whereby he obtains a mixture of chloride of calcium (muriate of lime), and oxids 
 
108 MANGANESE. 
 
 of manganese, which he peroxidizes by a process about to be described. Magnesia, 01 
 magnesian limestone, may be substituted for lime, or its carbonate, in this process. 
 When the carbonate of lime is used with rather too low a heat in the furnace, carbon- 
 ate of manganese may be formed. In all cases, the resulting mixture of chloride of 
 calcium or magnesium, and oxide of manganese is to be treated with water, so as to 
 dissolve out the said chlorides, and leave the oxide of manganese. 
 
 The following is the plan of decomposing sulphate of manganese, however formed, so 
 as to obtain from it an oxide of manganese, to be peroxidized by an after process : — 
 
 He mixes the sulphate of manganese with sawdust, ground coke or charcoal, or any 
 like combustible matter, only in such proportion as to be capable of decomposing the 
 sulphuric acid present, when the mixture is subjected to a strong calcining heat in re- 
 torta of iron, or preferably of fire-clay, whereby he obtains a sulphuret of manganese, 
 mixed with more or less oxide of manganese. He finishes this operation by introduc- 
 ing into the said residuary mixture, fragments of coke, charcoal or coal, and continu- 
 ing the application of heat for some time, while the mouth of the retort is left open, 
 whereby he desulphurates the manganese in a greater or less degree, and converts its 
 sulphuret into an oxide. In case any salt, or other compound of soda, should have been 
 mixed with the sulphate of manganese, the soda compound is to be separated from 
 the manganese by means of water, after the above-described calcination m the retorts. 
 The sulphuret of manganese sometimes produced in coal gas works, as a residuum of 
 the purification of the gas, may be desulphurated in retorts as above described, or pre- 
 ferably by exposing it mixed with pieces of coke, charcoal, coal or wood, on the hearth 
 of the above-described reverberatory hydrogen furnace. The coke, cfcc, should be used 
 not in powder, but in distinct pieces, whereby it may be readily separated from the 
 oxide of manganese afterwards, either by a sieve or other suitable means. 
 
 The following is his manner of performing the second operation, or series of opera- 
 tions, whereby he converts the deutoxide of manganese produced in the before-des- 
 cribed processes, as also all lower oxides and the carbonated oxide of manganese, whe- 
 ther natural or factitious, into a superoxide fit for affording chlorine by the action of 
 hydrochloric acid, and oxygen by heat ; and he produces the said peroxidizement in 
 one or other of the three following ways. First, he converts the said oxides or carbon- 
 ates from their lower to the much higher state of oxidation of an acid of manganese, 
 by subjecting a mixture of them with alkaline matters, such as potash or soda, eithcT 
 caustic or carbonated, on the hearth of a reverberatory furnace, to the joint agency of 
 heat and atmospherical oxygen, which may or may not be impelled and diffused by 
 mechanical means. He finds that about one part of the oxide or carbonate of man- 
 ganese, mixed with about three parts of alkaline matter, forms a suitable proportion 
 for the production of an acid of manganese. The said mixture fuses with the produc- 
 tion of a manganate or permanganate of potash or soda, according as one or other al- 
 kali has been used in the mixture. The fused mass is run or laded out of the furnace, 
 and when cooled is dissolved in hot water. This solution, of what is sometimes called 
 chameleon mineral, on being exposed freely to the air, becomes decomposed, by the 
 absorption of carbonic acid gas, into peroxide of manganese, which precipitates in a 
 black powder, and^ carbonated alkali which remains in solution. Where carbonic 
 acid can be conveniently procured at a very cheap rate, the above described decom- 
 position of the chameleon mineral may be promoted by a due application of the said 
 acid gas. Or, otherwise, the alkaline bicarbonates obtained from a preceding decom- 
 position of chameleon mineral may be employed for decomposing a fresh made solution 
 of the said cliameleon, whereby a precipitate of peroxide of manganese is immedi- 
 ately obtained. The supernatant alkaline liquor is in all cases decanted or run off, 
 and reserved for subsequent use. He also decomposes chameleon mineral with the 
 production of peroxide of manganese by the action of various organic products such 
 as starchy or gummy matters, but he greatly prefers to effect the desired produc- 
 tion of peroxide of manganese by carbonic acid gas, or an alkaline bicarbonate 
 His second method of producing peroxide of manganese from its lower oxidflor ear 
 bonate, consists in subjecting a mixture of about one equivalent chemical proportion 
 of either of these, and about one equivalent of lime, to the chlorine expelled bv 
 heat from chloride of manganese, contained in the retort, as heretofore described 
 Or, by treating one equivalent proportion of that lower oxide of manganese, called 
 by chemists sesquioxide or deutoxide, with one-half of an equivalent proportion of 
 aqueous or liquid hydrochloric acid, he obtains simultaneously one-half of an equiva- 
 lent proportion of protochloride of manganese in solution, and one-half an equivalent 
 of peroxide in the state of a black powder. A like reaction, with the production of 
 a solution of protochloride of manganese, and black peroxide, may be effected bv 
 treating the said sesquioxide with aqueous hydrochloric acid in one vessel, and trans, 
 mtting therefrom Jie chlorine disengaged into another vessel, containing a like sea 
 quioxide mi a moist state. 
 
MANFACTURING INDUSTRY. 109 
 
 The third method of converting into peroxide of manganese its lower oxide or car- 
 bonate consists in directing over the surface of either of these, in a moist state, tha 
 deutoxide of azote, frequently called nitrous gas, which is obtained as a waBte product 
 in certain chemical operations, as in the manufacture of oxalic acid, or nitrate of lead, 
 or of copper, &c. 
 
 Iu this case, the nitrous gas becomes reduced to a lower state of oxidation, and by 
 imparting oxygen to the lower oxide of manganese, converts it into peroxide 
 
 MANGANESE, OXIDE OF; for a simple method of ascertaining the value of this 
 substance in the production of chlorine, and the manufacture of the chlorides and 
 chlorates, see Chemistry Simplified. 
 
 MANGLE. (Calandre, Fr. ; Mangel, Germ.) This is a well known machine for 
 smoothing table cloths, table napkins, as well as linen and cotton furniture. As 
 usually made, it consists of an oblong rectangular wooden chest, filled with stones, 
 which load it to a degree of pressure that it should exercise upon the two cylinders 
 on whieh it rests, and which, by rolling backwards and forwards over the linen spread 
 upon a polished table underneath, render it smooth and level. The moving wheel, 
 being furnished with teeth upon both surfaces of its periphery, and having a notch cut 
 out at one part, allows a pinion, uniformly driven in one direction, to act alternately 
 upon its outside and inside, so as to cause the reciprocating motion of the chest. This 
 elegant and much admired English invention, called the mangle-wheel, has been in- 
 troduced with great advantage into the machinery of the textile manufactures. 
 
 Mr. Wareup, of Dartford, obtained a patent several years ago for a mangle, in which 
 the linen being rolled round a cylinder revolving in stationary bearings, is pressed 
 downwards by heavy weights hung upon its axes, against a curved bed, made to slide 
 to and fro, or traverse from right to left, and left to right alternately. 
 
 Mr. Hubie, of York, patented in June, 1832, another form of mangle, consisting of 
 three rollers placed one above another in a vertical frame, the axle of the upper roller 
 being pressed downwards by a powerful spring. The articles intended to be smoothed 
 are introduced into the machine by passing them under the middle rolller, whieh is 
 made to revolve by means of fly wheel ; the pinion upon whose axis works in a large 
 toothed wheel fixed to the shaft of the same roller. The linen, &e. is lapped as usual 
 in protecting cloths?* This machine is merely a small Calender. 
 
 MANIFOLD BELL-PULL. (Exhibition.) 45 Bryden and Sons, Rose Street, Eilin- 
 buryh. Inventors and Manufacturers. — A manifold bell-pull constructed upon an en- 
 tirely new plan, by which one pull is made to ring bells in any number of rooms. 
 When the pointer is placed opposite to any name on the dial plate, and knob pulled 
 out, the bell is then rung in the room indicated. 
 
 An improved circular telegraph bell having two dials, numbered in the same man- 
 ner, by means of which eight different clerks or workmen may be called. 
 
 An air signal mouth piece and bell, by blowing into the mouth-piece the bell is rung, 
 at any distance less than 1,000 feet. This is an improved method of ringing a bell in 
 places too distant or not suited for working cranks and wires. 
 
 A single voice tube mouth-piece and bell-pull. "When drawn out the tube orifice is 
 opened, and the signal bell being rung, the attendant is called to the other end of the 
 tube. 
 
 A revolving mouth-piece for voice tubes, with bell-pull combined ; contrived so 
 that one mouth-piece connects with six or any greater number of voice tubes, and at 
 the same time with a similar number of bells. 
 
 Specimen of a self-closing valve mouth-piece for voice tube ; and of a spring covered 
 mouth-piece for voice tube. 
 
 MANIOC, is the Indian name of the nutritious matter of the shrub jatropha mani- 
 liot, from which cassava and tapioca are made in the West Indies. 
 
 MANNA, is the concrete saccharine juice of the Fraxinus ornus, a tree much culti- 
 vated in Sicily and Calabria. It is now little used, and that only in medicine. 
 
 MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, during the Last and Present Century, by Wm. 
 Fairbaim, Esq., F. R. S., Member of the Institute of France. — If we take, I will not 
 say a statistical, but a very cursory view of the recent position of Manchester and 
 the surrounding districts, and compare it with what it was at the close of the last and 
 the commencement of the present century, we shall find that at that period the use- 
 ful and industrial arts were comparatively of little importance. We shall also find 
 that the grafts of a new, and above all others an important branch of manufacturing 
 industry springing into existence. I have no returns of the state of our manufacturing 
 industry at that period, but the writings of one of our earliest and most intelligent 
 spinners, to whom this country is indebted for many improvements in machinery, Mr. 
 John Kennedy, informs us, that the spinning of cotton yarn antecedent to the year 1168, 
 tvas of an exceedingly limited description. That gentleman in his account of the riss 
 
110 MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY. 
 
 and progress of the cotton trade, stated that the hand-loom as a machine remained 
 stationary for a great number of years without any attempt at improvement until 17 50, 
 when Mr. John Kay, of Bolton, first introduced the fly-shuttle, and that the spinning 
 of cotton yarn from that period, and for many years previous, was almost entirely 
 performed by the family of the manufacturer at his own house. This united and simple 
 process went on till it was found necessary to divide their labors, and to separate the 
 weaving from the spinning, and that again from the carding and other preparatory 
 processes. This division of labor as Mr. Kennedy truly says, led to improvements in 
 the carding and spinning, "by first introducing simple improvements in the hand instru- 
 ments, with which they performed these operations, till at length they arrived at a ma- 
 chine, which, though rude and ill-constructed, enabled them considerably to increase 
 their produce." Thus it was that improvements, and the division of labor, first led to 
 the factory system, and that splendid and extensive process which at the present mo- 
 ment and for many years to come will affect the destinies of nations. From 1750 to 
 1770, when Mr. Hargreaves, of Blackburn, first introduced his spinning jenny, (by 
 means of which a young person could work from ten to twenty spindles instead of 
 one), there was little or no change, but a very material alteration took place shortly 
 after the introduction of these improvements, which were immediately followed by Mr. 
 Arkwright's machinery for carding and roving. These accompanied by the introduc- 
 tion of Mr. Crompton's mule, in 1780, may be justly considered to constitute the origin 
 of the factory system, which has now grown to such colossal dimensions, as to render 
 it one of the most important and most extensive systems of manufacture ever known 
 in the history of ancient or modern times. Mr. Arkwright built his first mill at Crom- 
 ford in Derbyshire (I again quote from Mr. Kennedy) " in 177 1. It was driven by water, 
 but it was not till 1790, or sometime after, when the steam engine of Watt came into 
 use, that the cotton trade advanced at such an accelerated speed, as to render its in 
 crease and present magnitude almost beyond conception. This immense extension is 
 not only a subject of deep interest to the philosopher and statesman, but one which is 
 likely to furnish a large field of observation for the future historian of his country." 
 I will not trouble you with the statistics of the cotton trade as it now exists, but 
 simply observe, as many of you are doubtless better informed on this subject than my- 
 self, that I am within the mark, when I state that no less than 31,500 bales of cotton 
 are consumed weekly, in the two kingdoms, England and Scotland; that nearly 
 21,000,000 spindles are almost constantly in motion, spinning upwards of 105,000,000 
 hanks, or 50,000,000 miles of yarn per day — in length sufficient to circumscribe the globe 
 2,000 times. Out of this immense production about 131,000,000 pounds of yarn are 
 exported; the remainder is converted into cloth, lace and other textile fabrics. This 
 marvellous increase, this immense extent of production could not be effected without 
 considerable changes in the prospects of the moral as well as the physical condition 
 of society. It has entirely changed the position of the resident population of the dis- 
 trict ; and the secluded valleys, farm-houses and cottages, the beauties of a Lanca- 
 shire landscape of the last generation, are rapidly giving way to the conversion of 
 villages into populous towns, with innumerable erections which resound with the 
 busy hum of the spindle and the Bhuttle. Along with these changes we see a new 
 generation springing into existence, factories, steam-engines, and tall chimneys rising 
 in every direction, and the noise and smoke which meet the eye and the ear of the 
 stranger at every step give evidence of the activity and prosperity of the industrious 
 hive, which at some future time in English .history will announce to succeeding gene- 
 rations the inventions and the discoveries of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In this attempt to place before you a short account of the use and progress of our 
 national industry, I must not forget that yarn, however finely or dexterously spun is 
 not cloth ; and here we enter upon another, and equally ingenious process. The yarn 
 must be woven before it is fit for use, and we shall be weaving one of the most interest- 
 ing as well as elaborate operations of the useful arts. I need not inform you that the 
 ancient Hindoos, Egyptians, and probably the early Chinese converted their yarn into 
 cloth. The Indian and Oriental department of the Great Exhibition exhibited the mode 
 and primitive character of their looms and other implements, which have been handed 
 down from generation to generation from the earliest periods, without change or im- 
 provement to the present day. Looms of this rude construction were introduced into 
 Europe during the first glimpses of civilization, and for many centuries even the most 
 advanced nations were content to use the same instruments, almost without improve- 
 ment, until the introduction of the flying shuttle and the subsequent invention of Hall 
 and Arkwright opened a new and untrodden field for improvements in every depart- 
 ment of art and manufacture. Power looms at that period were unknown, and although 
 attempts were made by Mr. Cartwright, as early as 1774, to convert the hand loom 
 into a machine to be moved by power, it was not until the beginning of the present cen- 
 tury that the power-loom assumed its present form, and presented that intelligence of 
 
MANURE. Ill 
 
 etructui a which rendered it self-aeting, and enabled it to compete with the hand-loom 
 weaver. From that time (about 1810 or 1812), we may dato the commencement of 
 that increase to which that important branch of our manufacture was extended. The 
 improvements introduced by Mr. Bennet Wooderoft and other for weaving twills and 
 similar fabrics created new expedients and applications, and greatly increased the de- 
 mand of this description of manufactures, whilst the inventions of Jaequard for weav- 
 ing figured cloth startled every one wi th their extreme ingenuity and beauty, and accom- 
 plished the perfection of machinery for the production of textile fabrics. The increase 
 and extent of cloth manufactured from power-looms may be estimated from official 
 returns, kindly furnished by Mr. Leonard Horner. There are now at work in the 
 United Kingdom above 250,000 power-looms. Now as each loom will upon the aver- 
 age form five to six pieees of cloth per week, each piece 28 yards long, say 25 yards 
 a. day per loom, we have 250,000, which multiplied by 25 gives 6,250,000 yards, or 
 3,551 English miles of cloth per day, the distance between Liverpool and New York. 
 
 Only think of the importance and extent of a manufacture that employs upwards of 
 12,000 hands in weaving alone, supplying from that souree (the power-loom) an an- 
 nual produee of cloth that would extend over a surface in a direct line of upwards of 
 1,000,000 miles. 
 
 But although much has been done, much has yet to be accomplished before the 
 supply equals the demand. It must appear obvious to those who have studied and 
 watched the unwearied invention and continued advancement which has signalized 
 the exertions of our engineering and meehanieal industry. But neither difficulties nor 
 danger, however formidable, can stand against the indomitable spirit, skill, and per- 
 severance of the English engineer ; nor will it be denied that the ingenuity and never- 
 failing resources of our meehanieal population are not only the sinews of our manu- 
 factures, railways, and steamboats, but the pride and glory of our own country. 
 
 It is for this important class, that I have ventured to address you, and I trust the 
 time is not far distant, when we shall witness establishments suitable for their educa- 
 tion, such as will teach them to reason and to think, and to impart that knowledge 
 essential to a more correct acquaintance with physical truth, and a clearer conception 
 of the varied manipulations of those arts in which consist the true interests of the 
 country. — Lecture at Manchester. 
 
 MANURE. A patent for an excellent artiele of this kind was obtained in May, 
 1842, by J. B. Lawes, Esq., for a full description of which the reader is referred to the 
 articles Cop-eolites. He decomposes bones, apatite, and other subphosphates of lime 
 by mixing them in powder with as much sulphuric acid as will liberate enough of the 
 phosphorie to dissolve the phosphate of lime. The free phosphoric acid is thereby 
 ready to combine with the various alkaline earths contained in the soil, while the 
 phosphate of lime is brought to a state of more minute division than is possible by 
 mechanical means. Mr. Lawes also proposes to mix the above soluble superphosphate 
 with sueh alkalis as are deficient in the soil, and thus to form a manure adapted to fer- 
 tilize it His third improvement in manure is the formation and application of a 
 liquor of flints, for sueh soils as are deficient in soluble siliea. The last compound he 
 considers to be valuable for grounds much cropped with wheat and other cereals that 
 require a good deal of siliea for their growth. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted, that this most important subject of scientific research, 
 lias hitherto been treated too much in a one-sided manner; that is, either by individuals 
 little conversant with practical farming, or by farmers little acquainted with the nature 
 of soils, and the changes produced on them by the cultivation of different orders of plants. 
 
 Under the auspices of the British Association, Professor Liebig, in the year 1840, 
 first promulgated his views on agriculture, from which date we may trace a spirit of 
 investigation into it, such as had not previously existed in this country. Among 
 other laborers in this field, we must state that Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamstead, in 
 Hertfordshire, was oecupied several years prior to the first edition of Professor Liebig's 
 work, in investigating the action of differeut chemical combinations when applied as 
 manures, to the most important crops of the farm; and having ever since continued 
 his experimental researches with all the lights of science, with which he is familiar, 
 aided by Dr. J. H. Gilbert, a skilful analytical chemist, he has been able to arrive at 
 conclusions of greater value and precision than the merely theoretical determinations 
 of the German professor. In the course of this inquiry, the whole tenor of the results 
 of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, and also of information derived from intelligent agri- 
 cultural friends, upon every variety of land in Great Britain, has forced upon them 
 opinions different from those of Professor Liebig, on some important points; and more 
 especially, in relation to his so-called " mineral theory," which is embodied in the follow- 
 ing sentence to be found at page 211. of the third edition of his work on Agricultural 
 Chemistry; where he says " the crops on a field diminish or increase in exact proportion 
 to the diminution or increase of the mineral substanees conveyed to it in manure." 
 
 Of the vast importance, both in a scientific and a practical point of view, of correct 
 
112 MANURE. 
 
 ideas on the subject here at issue, a judgment may be formed from the manner it 
 which the professor himself speaks of the mineral theory in the new edition of his let- 
 ters on chemistry. Thus at page 482., he says of the agriculturists of England that 
 " sooner or later they must see that iu the so-called mineral theory in its development 
 and ultimate perfection lies the whole future of agriculture." 
 
 "Looking upon the subject in a chemical point of view only, it would seem that an 
 analysis of the soil upon which crops were to be experimentally grown, as woll as a 
 knowledge of the composition of the crop should be the first points ascertained, with 
 the view of deciding in what constituents the soil was deficient ; and at the commence- 
 ment of our more systematic course of field experiments, the importance of these points 
 was carefully considered. When we reflect, however, that an acre of soil six inches 
 deep may be computed to weigh about 1,344,000 lbs. (though the roots of plants take 
 a much wider range than this), and taking the one constituent of ammonia or nitrogen 
 as an illustration, that in adding to this quantity of soil a quantity of ammoniacal salt, 
 containing 100 lbs. of ammonia, which would be an unusually heavy and very effective 
 dressing, we Bhould only increase the per centage of ammonia in the soil by O'OOO 1 ?, it 
 is evident that our methods of analysis would be quite incompetent to appreciate the 
 difference between the soil before and after the application, — that is to say, in its state 
 of exhaustion, and of highly productive condition, so far as that constituent is con- 
 cerned ; and from our knowledge of the effects of this substance on wheat, we may con- 
 fidently assert that the quantity of it supposed above would have given a produce at 
 least double that of the unmanured land. The same kind of argument might, indeed, 
 be adopted in reference to the more important of those constituents of a soil which 
 are found in the ashes of the plants grown upon it, and we determined, therefore, to 
 seek our results in another manner. Indeed, the imperfection of our knowledge of the 
 productive quality of a soil, as derived from its per centage composition, has been am- 
 ply proved by the results of analysis which have been published during the last ten 
 years ; and in corroboration we need only refer to the opinions of Professor Magurs on 
 this subject, who, in his capacity of chemist to the ' Landes-Ockonomie Kollegium' of 
 Prussia, has published the results of many analyses of soils. The truth is, that little 
 is as yet known of what a soil either is, or ought to be, in a chemical point of view ; 
 but when we call to mind the investigations of Professor Mulder, in relation to the 
 organic acids found in soils, and of Mr. "Way and others, as to the chemical and' phy- 
 sical properties of soils, in relation to the atmosphere, and to saline substances exposed 
 to their action in solution, we may at least anticipate for chemistry that she will ere 
 long throw important light on this interesting but intricate subject. 
 
 "In our field experiments, then, we have been satisfied with preserving specimens of 
 the soils which were to be the subjects of them, and have sought to ascertain their 
 deficiency in regard to the production of different crops, by means which we conceive 
 to be not only far more manageable, but in every way more conclusive and satisfac- 
 tory in their result. To illustrate, — what is termed a rotation of crops is at least of 
 such universality in the farming of Great Britain, that any investigation in relation 
 to the agriculture of that^ country may safely be grounded on the supposition of its 
 adoption. Let us, then, direct attention for a moment to some of the chief features of 
 rotations. "What is called a course of rotation is the period of years which includes 
 the circle of all the different crops grown in that rotation or alternation. The crops 
 which thus succeed each other, and constitute a rotation, may be two, three, four, or 
 more, varying with the nature of the soil and the judgment of the farmer; but what- 
 ever coursebe adopted, no individual crop — wheat, for example, is grown immediately 
 succeeding one of the same description, but it is sown again only after some other 
 crops have been grown, and at such a period of the rotation, indeed, as by experience 
 it is known that the soil will, by direct manure or other means, have recovered its 
 capability of producing a profitable quantity of the crop in question. 
 
 " On carefully considering these established and well-known facts of agriculture, it 
 appeared to us that, by taking soils either at the end of the rotation, or at least' at 
 that period of it when the ordinary course of farming farm-yard manure would be 
 added before any further crop would be grown, we should then have the soils in what 
 may be termed a normal, or, perhaps better still, a practically and agriculturally ex- 
 hausted state. 
 
 ''Now, if it is found, in the experience of the farmer, that land of any given quality with 
 which he is well acquainted, will not, when in this condition of practical exhaustion, 
 yield the quantity he usually obtains from it of any particular crop, but that after apply- 
 ing farm-yard manure it will do so, it is evident that if we supply to different plots of 
 this exhausted land the constituents of farm-yardmanureboth individually and combined, 
 and if by the side of these plots we also grow the crop both without manure of any 
 kind and with farm yard manure, we shall, in the comparative results obtained, have a 
 far more satisfactory solution of the question as to what constituents were, in this ordin- 
 ary course of agriculture, most in defect in respect to the proportion of the particular 
 
HANTJEE. 118 
 
 crop experimented upon, than any analysis of the soil could have given us. In other 
 words, we should have before us very good ground fur deciding to which of the con- 
 stituents of the farm-yard manure the increased produce was mainly due on the plat 
 provided with it, in the case of the particular crops ; not so, however, unless the soil had 
 been so far exhausted by previous cropping as to be considered practically unfit for the 
 growth of the crop without manure. We lay particular stress on this point, because we 
 believe that the vast discrepancy in the results of comparative trials with different 
 manures, by different experiments, arise more from irregularity in what may be called 
 the floating capital of the soil than from irregularities in the original character of the 
 soil itself, or from any other cause, unless we include the frequent faulty methods of 
 application. 
 
 " It is then, by this synthetic rather than by the analytic method that we have sought 
 our results; and in the carrrying out of our object we have taken wheat as the type 
 of the cereal crops, turnips as the type of the root crops, and beans as the i jprosenta- 
 tive of the leguminous corn crop must frequently entering into rotation ; and having 
 selected for each of these a field which, agriculturally considered, was exhausted, we 
 have grown the same description of crop upon the same land, year after year, with dif- 
 ferent chemical manures, and in each ease with one plot or more continuously unma- 
 nured, and one supplied every year with a fair quantity of farm-yard manure. In 
 this way 14 acres have been devoted to the continuous growth of wheat since 1843, 8 
 acres to continuous growth of turnips from the same date, and, 5 to 6 acres to that of 
 leguminous corn crops since 1846. And of field experiments, beside these which 
 amount in each year to from 30 to 40 on wheat, upwards of 90 on turnips, and 20 to 30 
 on beans, others have been made, viz., some on the growth of clover, and some in rela- 
 tion to the chemical cireumstances involved in an actual course of rotation, comprising 
 turnips, barley, clover, and wheat, grown in the order in which they are' here stated. 
 
 " It may be stated, too, that in addition to these experiments on wheat, and the other 
 crops usually grown upon the farm, as above referred to, we have for several yearabeen 
 much occupied also with the subjectof the feeding of animals, viz. bullocks, sheep, and 
 pigs, — as well as in investigating the functional actions of the growing plant in rela- 
 tion to the soil and atmosphere ; and in connection with each of these subjects much 
 laboratory labor has constantly been in progress. 
 
 "The scope and object of our investigation has been therefore to examine in the 
 field, the feeding shed, and the laboratory, into the chemical circumstances connected 
 with the agriculture of Great Britain in its four main features ; namely — 
 
 "First, the production of the cereal grain crops ; secondly, that of root crops ; thirdly, 
 that of the leguminous corn and fodder crop ; and fourthly, and lastly, that of the 
 consumption of food on the farm for its double produce of meat and manure. 
 
 "So much then for the rationale and general plan of the experiments themselves, 
 and we now propose tq call attention to some of the results which they have afforded us. 
 
 "Hitherto, only part of the results of the wheat experiments of the harvests of 
 1844, 1845, and 1846, and of these seasons only, have been published ; those on tur- 
 nips, only for the seasons 1S43, 1844, and 1845 ; those on the leguminous crops not at 
 all as yet ; and those onfeeding, only as far as sheep are concerned, and chiefly too 
 in relation to the one point only of the increase of live weight obtained from a given 
 quantity of food, or its constituents. Of the laboratory results, but few have been 
 given in relation to any of these branches up to the present time. The vast accumu- 
 lation of results, indeed, will neeessarily still further postpone the publication of them 
 in any extended form ; and hence it seems the more desirable to take advantage of the 
 present opportunity to attempt to bring together into one view some of the general 
 indications which have been arrived at in relation to a few important points. 
 
 " With this view, it is to the field experiments on wheat that we shall chiefly confine 
 our attention on this occasion ; for wheat, which constitutes the principal food of our 
 population, is with the farmer the most important crop in his rotation, all others being 
 considered more or less subservient to it; and it is, too, in reference to the production 
 of this crop in agricultural quantity that the mineral theory of Baron Liebig is perhaps 
 more prominently at fault than in that of any other. It is true, that in the case of 
 vegetation in a native soil, manured by art, the mineral constituent of the plants being 
 furnished from the soil, the atmosphere is found to be a sufficient source of the nitrogen 
 and carbon ; and it is the supposition that these cireumstances of natural vegetation apply 
 equally to the various crops when grown under cultivation that has led Baron Liebig to 
 suggest that, if by artificial means we accumulate within the soil itself a sufficiently lib- 
 eral supply of those constituents found in the ashes of the plant, essentially soil constitu- 
 ents, we shall by this means be able in all cases to increase thereby the assimilation of the 
 vesetable or atmospheric constituents in a degree sufficient for agricultural purposes. 
 But agriculture is itself an artificial process ; and it will be found that, as regards the 
 production of wheat more especially; it is only by the accumulation within the soil itself 
 Voi. 11. 8 
 
114 
 
 MANURE. 
 
 of nitre-en naturally derived from the atmosphere, rather than of the peculiarly so* 
 constituent* that our crops of it can be increased. Mineral substances will, indeed, 
 materially develope the accumulation of vegetable or atmospheric constituents when 
 applied to" some of the crops of rotation ; and it is thus chiefly that these crops become 
 subservient to the growth of the cereal grains, but even in these cases it is not the con- 
 stituents as found collectively in the ashes of the plants to be grown, that are the most 
 efficient in this respect ; nor can the demand which we find thus made for the produc- 
 tion of crops in agricultural quantity be accounted for by the mere idea of supplying 
 the actual constituents of the crop. It would seem, therefore, that we can only arrive 
 at correct ideas in agriculture by a close examination of the actual circumstances of 
 growth of each particular crop when grown under cultivation. We now turn to the 
 consideration of our experiments upon this subject. It has been said that all the ex- 
 perimental fields were selected when they were in a state of agricultural exhaustion. 
 The wheat fields, however, after having been manured in the usual way for tur- 
 nips at the commencement of the previous rotation, had then grown barley, peas, wheat, 
 and oats, without any further manuring ; so that when taken for experiment m 1844, it 
 was, as a grain-producer, considerably more exhausted than would ordinarily be the 
 case. It was, therefore, in a most favorable condition for the purposes of our experi- 
 ments. . 
 
 "In the first experimentalseason, the field of 14 acres was divided into about 20 plots, 
 and it was by the mineral theory that we were mainly guided in the selection of ma- 
 nures : mineral manures were therefore employed in the majority of cases. Ammonia, 
 on the other haud, being then considered as of less importance, was used in a few 
 instances only, and in these in very insignificant quantities. Rape-cake, as being a well 
 recognised manure, and calculated to supply, besides some minerals and nitrogen, a 
 certain quantity of carbonaceous substance in which both corn and straw so much 
 abound, was also added to one or two of the plots. 
 
 Table 1. — Harvest 1844. Summary. 
 
 
 
 Dressed Corn 
 
 Total 
 
 Straw 
 
 Description of the Manures, 
 
 
 per Acre, 
 in Bushels 
 and Pecks. 
 
 Corn 
 
 per Acre, 
 
 in lbs. 
 
 per Acre, 
 In lbs. 
 
 
 
 bush. 
 
 pecks 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Plot 3. TJnmanured 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 923 
 
 1120 
 
 " 2. 14 tons of farm-yard manure 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 1276 
 
 1476 
 
 " 4. The ashes of 14 tons of farm manure 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 888 
 
 1104 
 
 " 8. Minimum produce of 9 plots, with ar- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tificial mineral manures 
 
 
 ► 
 
 
 
 
 
 Superphosphate of lime 350 lbs. 
 Phosphate of potass 364 lbs. 
 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 980 
 
 1160 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Plot. 15. Maximumiproduce of 9 plots with ar- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tificial mineral manures - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Superphosphate of lime 350 lbs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Phosphate of Magnesia 168 lbs. 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 34 
 
 1096 
 
 1240 
 
 do potass 150 lbs 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Silicate do. 112 lbs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mean of the 9 plots with artificial mineral 
 
 ma- 
 
 
 
 
 
 nures - - - 
 
 - 
 
 16 
 
 ■6i 
 
 1009 
 
 1155 
 
 Meau of 3 plots with mineral manures, and 65 
 
 
 
 
 
 lbs. each of sulphate of ammonia 
 
 - 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 1275 
 
 1423 
 
 Mean of 2 plots with mineral manures, and 150 
 
 
 
 
 
 lbs. and 160 lbs. of rape-cake respectively 
 
 
 18 
 
 1* 
 
 1078 
 
 1201 
 
 Plot 18. "With complex mineral manure, 55 lbs. of 
 
 
 
 
 
 sulphate of ammonia, and 150 lbs. of rape 
 
 cake 
 
 22 
 
 »i 
 
 1368 
 
 17S8 
 
 '■"The indications of the table are seen to be most conclusive, as showing what was 
 the character of the exhaustion which had been induced by the previous heavy crop- 
 ping, and what, therefore, should be the peculiar nature of the supply in a rational 
 system of manuring. If the exhaustion had been connected with a deficiency of 
 mineral constituents, we might reasonably have expected that by some one at least 
 of the nine mineral conditions,— supposing in some cases an abundance of every min- 
 eral constituent which the plant could require, — this deficiency would have been made 
 up ; but it was not so. 
 
 " Thus, taking the column of bushels per acre as given in this summary as our guide, 
 it will be seen that whilst wehave without manure only 16 bushels of dressed corn, wa 
 
MANURE. 
 
 115 
 
 have by farm-yard manure 22 bushels. The athes, of farm-yard manure give, however, 
 no increase whatever over the unmanured plot. Again, out of the plots supplied 
 with artificial mineral manures, we have in no case an increase of 2 bushels by this 
 means; the produce of the average of the 9 being not quite 17 bushels. On the other 
 hand we see that these addition to some of the purely mineral manures of 65 lbs. of sul- 
 phate of ammonia — a very small dressing of that substance, and containing only about 
 14 lbs of ammonia — has given us an average produce of 21 bushels. An insignificant 
 addition of rape-cake too, to manures otherwise ineffective, has given us about 18£ 
 bushels; and when, as in plot 18., we have added to the inefficient mineral manures 
 65 lbs. of ammoniacal salts, and a little rape-cake also, we have a produce greater 
 than by the 14 tons of farm-yard manure. 
 
 "The quantities of rape-cake used were small, and the increase attributable to it 
 also small, but it nevertheless was much what we should expect when compared with 
 that from the ammoniacal salts, if, as we believe is the ease, the effect of rape-cake 
 oh grain-crops i9 due to the nitrogen it contains. 
 
 "Indeed, the coincidence in the slight or non-effect throughout the mineral series 
 on the one hand, and of the marked and nearly uniform result of the nitrogenous sup- 
 ply on the other, was most striking in the first year's experimental pK/duce, and such 
 as to lead us to give to nitrogenous manures in the second season even greater promi- 
 nence than we had done to minerals in the previous one. This is in some respects. 
 perhaps, to be regretted, as had we kept a series of plots for some years continuously 
 under minerals alone, the evidence, though at present sufficiently conclusive, would 
 have carried with it somewhat more of systematic proof. 
 
 "In Table II. we have given a few results selected from those obtained at the har- 
 vest of 1845, the second of the experimental series. By the table it is«een that we 
 have, at the harvest of 1845, a produce of rather more than 23 bushels without manure 
 of any kind, instead of only 16 as in 1844 ; and in like manner the farm-yard manure 
 gives 82 bushels in 1845, and only 22 in 1844. We have shown in a former number 
 of the Journal how clearly these differences can be traced to variations in the climatic 
 character of the season, but this is not the point under consideration just now. 
 
 Ta3le II. — Harvest 1845. Selected results. 
 
 
 Dressed Com 
 
 Total 
 
 
 Description and Quantities of the Manures per Acre. 
 
 per Acre 
 in Bushels 
 
 Corn 
 per Acre, 
 
 Straw 
 per Acre, 
 
 
 and Pecks. 
 
 in lbs. 
 
 in lbs. 
 
 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Section ]. 
 
 
 
 
 Plot 3. No manure ..... 
 
 23 0$ 
 
 1441 
 
 2712 
 
 " 2. 14 tons of farm-yard manure 
 
 32 OJ 
 
 1967 
 
 3915 
 
 Seetion 2. 
 
 
 
 
 " 5a. Ho manure 
 
 22 2| 
 
 1431 
 
 2684 
 
 " 86. Top-dressed with 252 lbs. of carbonate 
 
 
 
 
 of ammonia (dissolved), at 3 times, 
 
 
 
 
 during the spring .... 
 
 26 3} 
 
 1732 
 
 3599 
 
 Section 3. 
 
 
 
 
 „ „ j Sulphate of ammonia 168 lbs. )top-dress'd 
 ' ( Muriate of ammonia 168 lbs. ) at once 
 
 33 U 
 
 2131 
 
 4058 
 
 
 „.„ j Sulphate of ammonia 168 lbs. i top-dress'd 
 ' j Muriate of ammonia 168 lbs. j at 4 times. 
 
 31 Si 
 
 1980 
 
 4266 
 
 "We assume, then, 23 bushels or thereabouts to be the standard produce of the soil 
 and season, without manure, during this second experimental year ; and as part of plot 
 5. (previously manured with superphosphate of lime), and which is now, also, without 
 manure, gives rather more than 22 1 bushels of dressed corn, the correctness of the 
 result of plot 3., the permanently unmanured plot, is thereby fully confirmed. 
 
 " This plot No. 5., previously two-thirds of an acre, was, in this second year, divided 
 into two equal portions ; one of these ('plot 5a ') being, as just said, unmanured, and 
 the other ('plot 56') having supplied to it in solution, by top-dressings during the 
 spring, the medicinal carbonate of ammonia, at the rate of 250 lbs. per acre ; and it is 
 seen that we have, by this pure but highly volatile ammoniacal salt alone, the produce 
 '•aised from 22i bushels to very nearly 27 bushels 1 
 
 "In the nextsection of the table are given the results of plots 9. and 10., the former oi 
 
116 
 
 MANUKE. 
 
 which had in the previous year been manured by superphosphate of lime and a smaL 
 quantity of sulphate of ammonia, and the latter by superphosphate of lime and silieaia 
 of potass. To each of the plots 1£ cwt. of sulphate and 1£ cwt. of muriate of ammo- 
 nia were now supplied. Upon plot 9. the whole of the manure was top-dressed, at 
 once, early in the spring ; but on plot 10. the salts were put on at four successive peri- 
 ods. The produce obtained by these salt3 of ammonia alone is 33 bushels and three- 
 eighths, when sown all at once, and nearly 32 bushels when sown at four different times 
 — quantities which amount to about 10 bushels per acre more than was obtained with- 
 out manure. In the case of No. 9., indeed, the produce exceeds by li bushel that 
 given by farm-yard manure, and in that of No. 10. it is all but identical with it. And 
 if we take the weights of total corn, instead of the measure of the dressed corn, to 
 which latter we chiefly refer, merely as a standard more conventionally understood, 
 No. 10., by ammonia only, has given both more corn and more straw than the farm- 
 yard manure, with all its minerals and carbonaceous substance. 
 
 " Let us see whether this almost specific effect of nitrogen, in restoring, for there- 
 production of corn, a corn-exhausted soil, is borne out by the results of succeeding 
 years. 
 
 "We should have omitted all reference to the results obtained with the wheat ma- 
 nure of Professor Liebig, had not the professor, in the new edition of his 'Letters,' 
 whilst fully admitting the failure of the manure — the composition of which, to use hia 
 own words when commenting upon it, ' could be no secret, since every plant showed 
 by its ashes the due proportion of the constituents essential to its growth' (page 482), 
 — not expressed any doubt as to the principle involved in such a manure, but on 
 the other hand, implied that the failure was due to a yet imperfect knowledge of the 
 mechanical form and chemical qualities required to be given to the necessary con- 
 stituents in order to fit them for their reception and nutritive action on the plant, 
 rather than to any fallacy in the theory which would recommend to practical agri- 
 culture the supply by artificial means of the constituents of the ashes of plants as 
 manures. 
 
 "The following table gives our selection of the results of the third season, 1846: — 
 
 Table III. — Harvest 1846. Selected Results. 
 
 
 Dressed Com 
 
 Total 
 
 Straw 
 per Aero, 
 
 Description and Quantities of the Manures per Acre. 
 
 per Acre, 
 in Bushels 
 
 Corn 
 per acre, 
 
 
 and Pecks. 
 
 in lbs. 
 
 in lbs. 
 
 Section 1. 
 
 bush, pecks. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Plot 3. No manure 
 
 17 3} 
 
 1207 
 
 1513 
 
 " 2. 14 tons of farm-yard manure 
 
 27 0} 
 
 1826 
 
 2454 
 
 Section 2. 
 
 
 
 
 " 106. No manure 
 
 17 n 
 
 1216 
 
 1455 
 
 " 10a. Sulphate of ammonia 224 lbs. 
 
 27 lj 
 
 1850 
 
 2244 
 
 Section 3. 
 
 
 
 
 " 5a 1 . Ash of 3 loads of wheat straw . 
 
 19 0| 
 
 
 1541 
 
 " 5a a . Ash of 3 loads of wheat straw, and top- 
 
 
 
 
 dressed with 224 lbs. of sulphate of 
 
 
 
 
 ammonia 
 
 27 
 
 — 
 
 2309 
 
 Section 4. 
 
 
 
 
 " 6a. Liebig's wheat manure 448 lbs. . 
 
 20 ij 
 
 1400 
 
 1676 
 
 " 66. Liebig's wheat manure 448 lbs., with 
 
 
 
 
 1121bs. each of sulphate andmuriate 
 
 
 
 
 of ammonia 
 
 29 0} 
 
 1967 
 
 2571 
 
 " At this third experimental harvest we have on the continuously unmanured plot, 
 namely, No. 3., not quite 18 bushels of dressed corn, as the normal produce of the 
 season; and by its side we have on plot 106— comprising one-half of the plot 10 
 of the previous years, and so highly manured by ammoniacal salts in 1845 but 
 now unmanured,— rather more than 17* bushels. The near approach, a^ain to 
 identity of result from the two unmanured plots, at once gives confidence' in 'the 
 accuracy of the experiments, and shows us how effectually the preceding crop had 
 in a practical point of view, reduced the plots, previously so differently circumstanced 
 both as to manure and produce, to something like an uniform standard as regards 
 
MANURE. 117 
 
 their grain-producing qualities. AVe take this opportunity of particularly calling atten- 
 tion to these coincidences in the amount of produce in the two unmanured plots of 
 the different years, because it has been objected against our experiments, as already 
 published, that confirmation was wanting as to the natural yield of soil and season. 
 
 " Plot 2 has, as before, 14 tons of farm-yard manure, and the produce is 274; bushels, 
 or between 9 and 10 bushels more than without manure of any kind. 
 
 " On plot 10a, which in the previous year gave by ammomacal salts alone a pro- 
 duce equal to that of the farm-yard manure, we have again a similar result: for 2 cwt. 
 of sulphate of ammonia has now given 1850 lbs. of total corn, instead of 1826 lbs., 
 which is the produce on plot 2. The straw of the latter is, however, slightly heavier 
 than that by the ammoniacal salt. 
 
 "Again, plot 5a, which was in the previous season unmanured, was now subdivided : 
 on one-half of it (namely, 5a') we have the ashes of wheat-straw alone, by which there 
 is an increase of rather more than 1 bushel per acre of dressed corn ; on the other 
 half (or 5 2 ) we have, besides the straw ashes, 2 c wts. of sulphate of ammonia put on as 
 a top-dressing: 2 cwts. of sulphate of ammonia have, in this case, only increased the 
 produce beyond that of 5a' by 7 -J bushels of corn and T68 lbs. of straw, instead of by 
 tff bushels of corn and 789 lbs. of straw, which was the increase obtained by the same 
 amount of ammoniacal salt on 10a, as compared with 106. It will be observed, how- 
 ever, that in the former case the ammoniacal salts were top-dressed, but in the latter 
 they were drilled at the time of sowing the seed ; and it will be remembered that in 
 1845 the result was better as to corn on plot 9, where the salts were sown earlier, 
 than on plot 10, where the top-dressing extended far into the spring. We have had 
 several direct instances of this kind in our experience, and we would give it as a sug 
 gestion, in most cases applicable, that manures for wheat, and especially ammoniacal 
 ones, should be applied before or at the time the seed is sown; for although the ap- 
 parent luxuriance- of the crop is greater, and the produce of straw really heavier, by 
 spring rather than autumn sowings of Peruvian guano and other ammoniacal manures, 
 yet we believe that that of the com will not be increased in an equivalent degree. 
 Indeed, the success of the crop undoubtedly depends very materially on the progress 
 of the underground growth during the winter months ; and this again, other things 
 being equal, upon the quantity of available nitrogenous constituents within the soil, 
 without a liberal provision of which, the range of the fibrous feeders of the plant will 
 not be such as to take up the minerals which the soil is competent to supply, and in 
 such quantity as will be required during the after progress of the plant for its healthy 
 and favorable growth. 
 
 "The next result to be noticed is that obtained on plot 6, now also divided into two 
 equal portions, designated respectively 6a and 66. Plot So. 6 had for the crop of 
 
 1844 superphosphate of lime and the phosphate of magnesia manure, and for that of 
 
 1845 superphosphate of lime, rape-cake, and ammoniacal salts. For this the third ex 
 perimental season, it was devoted to the trial of the wheat manure manufactured 
 under the sanction of Professor Liebig, and patented in this country. 
 
 "Upon plot 6a 4 cwts. per acre of the patent wheat-manure were used, which gave 
 20J- bushels, or rather more than 2 bushels beyond the produce of the unmanured 
 plot ; but as the manure contained, besides the minerals peculiar to it, some nitrogen- 
 ous compounds, giving off a very perceptible odor of ammonia, some, at least, of the 
 increase would be due to that substance. On plot 66, however, the further addition 
 of 1 cwt. each of sulphate and muriate of ammonia to this so-called " mineral manure" 
 gives a produce of 294, bushels. In other words, the addition of ammoniacal salt to 
 Llebig's mineral manure has increased the produce by very nearly 9 bushels per acre 
 beyond that of the mineral manure alone, whilst the increase obtained over the un- 
 manured plot, by 14 tons of farm-yard manure, was only 9£ bushels. 
 
 "If, then, the 'mechanical form and chemical qualities' of the so-called 'mineral 
 manure' were at fault, the sulphate of ammonia has, at least, compensated for the de- 
 feet ; and even supposing a mineral manure, founded on a knowledge of the composi- 
 tion of the ashes of the plant, be still the great desideratum, the farmer may rest con- 
 tented, meanwhile, that he has in ammonia, supplied to him by Peruvian guano, by 
 ammoniacal salts, and by other sources, so good a substitute. 
 
 " It surely is needless to attempt further to justify, by the results of individual years, 
 our assertion, that in practical agriculture nitrogenous manures are peculiarly adapted 
 to the growth of wheat. We shall therefore conclude this part of our subject by di- 
 recting attention to the history of a few of the plots throughout the entire series of 
 years, as compared with that of the unmanured plot during the same period. 
 
 " In support of the view that leguminous plants do possess a superior power of reli- 
 ance upon the atmosphere for their nitrogen, and, indeed, that it is to this property 
 that they materially owe their efficacy in rotation wilh grain, we may refer to the 
 admirable investigations into the chemistry of agriculture of M. Boussingault. His 
 experiments, however, have not received the attention which they merit from th« 
 
118 
 
 MANURE. 
 
 agriculturists of this country; probably on account of the small amounts of product 
 which he obtained. But it must be remembered that his investigation had for its ob- 
 ject to explain the practices of agriculture as he found them in his own locality, before 
 attempting to deviate from its established rules. M. Boussingault states the rotation 
 usually adopted at Beehelbronn, and throughout the greater part of Alsace, to be as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Potatoes or beet-root;'' "Wheat;" "Clover;" "Wheat;" 
 and that the average of wheat so obtained is, after potatoes 19£ bushels, after beet- 
 root 17 bushels, after clover 24 bushels. Sow we find by reference to his table that 
 the first crop of wheat, grain, and straw removed 17 lbs. of phosphoric acid and 24 lbs. 
 of potash and soda; the following clover crop, 18 lbs. of phosphoric aeid and 77 lbs. 
 potash and soda ; and after this removal of alkalis and phosphates by the clover a 
 larger crop of wheat is obtained. Surely it would seem impossible to reconcile this 
 result with a theory which supposes the produce of wheat to rise and fall with the 
 quantity of minerals available within the soil. If, however, we admit that the first crop 
 of wheat could not take up the mineral matters existing in the soil for want of nitro- 
 genous supply, and that the clover crop, not being so dependent upon supplied nitro- 
 gen, was able to take up the minerals required for its growth, and that it moreover 
 left in the soil sufficient ammonia, or its equivalent of nitrogen in some form, to give 
 the increased crop of wheat,we have amuch more consistent and probable solution of the 
 results. There is little doubt that AT. Boussingault could have increased his produce 
 of wheat by means of ammoniaeal salts : whether he could have done so economically 
 is another question, depending of course upon the relative prices of grain and ammonia. 
 
 "The striking effect of phosphoric aeid upon the growth of the turnip, indeed, is a 
 fact so well known to every intelligent agriculturist in Great Britain, that it would 
 seem quite superfluous to attempt to illustrate it by any direct experiments of our 
 own. However, as Professor Liebig has again, in the recent edition of his 'Letters,* 
 expressed an opinion entirely inconsistent with such a result, we will refer to one or 
 two of the results obtained in our experimental turnip-field, which bear upon the 
 opinion he has reiterated as follows : thus, speaking of the" exhaustion of phosphate 
 of lime and alkaline phosphates by the sale of flour, cattle, <fec, he says : — ' It is certain 
 that this incessant removal of .the phosphates must tend to exhaust the land and 
 diminish its capability of producing grain. The fields of Great Britain are in a state 
 of progressive exhaustion from this cause, as is proved by the rapid extension of the 
 cultivation of turnips and mangold-wurzel, plants which contain the least amount of 
 the phosphates, and therefore require the smallest quantity for their development.' 
 Kow we do not hesitate to say that, however small the quantity of phosphates con- 
 tained in the turnip, the successful cultivation of it is more dependent upon a large 
 supply of phosphoric acid in the manure than that of any other crop. 
 
 "In the following table, then, is given the amounts of bulb, since 1843, of — 
 
 First, the continuously unmanured plot; 
 
 Secondly, that with a large amount of the superphosphate of lime alone each year ; and 
 
 Thirdly, that with a very liberal supply of potash with some soda and magnesia 
 also, in addition to superphosphate of lime. 
 
 Tears. 
 
 Plot 
 continuously Un- 
 manured. 
 
 Plot 
 
 with Superphosphate 
 
 of Lime alone every 
 
 Tear. 
 
 Plot 
 
 witli Superphosphate 
 
 of Lime and mixed 
 
 Alkalis. 
 
 1843 
 1844 
 1845 
 1846 
 1847 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 
 Tons. 
 4 
 2 
 
 
 cwts. qrs. 
 
 3 3 
 
 4 1 
 13 2 
 
 lbs. 
 
 2 
 
 
 24 
 
 Tons, cvvts. qrs. lbs. 
 
 12 3 2 8 
 7 14 3 
 
 12 13 3 12 
 1 18 
 5 11 1 
 
 10 11 8 
 3 15 
 
 11 9 
 
 Tons. 
 
 11 
 5 
 
 12 
 3 
 5 
 9 
 3 
 9 
 
 cwts. qrs. lbs. 
 17 2 
 
 13 2 
 
 12 2 8 
 10 1 20 
 10 
 
 14 2 
 
 13 2 8 
 7 1 12 
 
 Totals. 
 
 — — 
 
 — 
 
 65 16 1 1 
 
 62 
 
 5 1 20 
 
 Means. 
 
 — 
 
 — — 
 
 — 
 
 8 4 2 4 
 
 1 
 
 15 2 20 | 
 
 "It is seen then, that in the third season, viz. 1845, the produce of the unmanured 
 plot is reduced to a few hundred weights, and since that period the size of the bulbs had 
 been such that they have not been considered worth weighing. On the other hand on 
 the plot with- superphosphate of lime alone for eight successive years, we have an average 
 uroduee of about 8£ tons of bulb! varying, however, exceedingly, rear by year, mjeurd 
 
MANURE. 119 
 
 ing to lh% season. We see, too, that by the addition to superphosphate of limo of ,i 
 large quantity of_ the alkalis, much greater than could be taken off in the crop, the 
 average produce is not so great by nearly half a ton as by the superphosphate of limo 
 alone. It must bo admitted that this extraordinary effect of superphosphate of limo 
 cannot be accounted for by the idea of merely supplying in it the actual constituents 
 of the crop, but that it is due to some special agency in developing the assimilative 
 processes of the plant. This opinion is favored by the fact that in the case where 
 the superphosphate of lime is at once neutralized by alkalis artificially supplied, the 
 efficacy of the manure would seem to be thereby reduced. And from this again, Ave 
 would gather that the effect of the phosphoric acid, as such, cannot be due merely to 
 the liberation within the soil of its alkalis, or wo should suppose that the artificial 
 supply of these would at least have been attended with some increase of produce. 
 But this is not the case, notwithstanding that by means of superphosphate of limo 
 alone there has been taken from the land more of the alkalis in which the ash of the. 
 turnip so peculiarly abounds, than would have been Ictt from it in a century under 
 the ordinary course of rotation and home manuring ! Collateral experiments also 
 clearly prove the importance of a liberal supply of organic substance rich in carbon 
 — which always contains a considerable quantity of nitrogen also — if wo would iu 
 practical agriculture increase the yield much beyond the amount which can be ob- 
 tained by mineral manures alone ; and these conditions being fulfilled, the direct supply 
 of nitrogen, on the other hand, is by no means so generally essential. And it is where 
 we have provided a liberal supply of constituents for organic formations, in addition 
 to the mineral manures, that we have found the use of alkalis not to be without effect. 
 
 " But it is at any rate certain that phosphoric acid, though it forms so small a proportion 
 of the ash of the turnip, has a very striking effect on its growth when applied as ma- 
 nure ; and it is equally certain that the extended cultivation of root crops in Great 
 Britain cannot be due to the deficiency of this substance for the growth of corn, and 
 to the less dependence upon it of the root crops, as supposed by Baron Liebig. 
 
 " These curious and interesting facts in relation to the growth of turnips, as well as 
 those which have been given in reference to wheat and to the leguminous crop.-;, are 
 sufficient to prove how impossible it is to form correct opinions on agricultural chemistry 
 without the guidance of direct experiment in the field. And we are convinced that if 
 Baron Liebig had watched the experiments which we have had in progress during the 
 last eight years, he would long ago have arrived at conclusions in the main agreeing 
 with those to which we have been irresistibly led: and we are disposed to believe 
 that had he even seen the more detailed accounts of our results given in our own 
 papers in this Journal, instead of the mere reference to them made by Mr. Pusey, he 
 would rather have accepted them, as a step in an inquiry to which his own researches 
 and writings had given such an impetus, than have designated them, as he has done, 
 as entirely without value. 
 
 "So much, then, for the results of experiments in the field, and for the considera- 
 tions in relation to the functional actions of plants, as bearing upon the character of 
 the manure required for their growth in a course of practical agriculture. Let us now 
 consider for a few moments what really are the main and characteristic features of 
 practical agriculture, as most generally followed in this country. 
 
 "Let us suppose that the rotation adopted is that of turnips, barley, clover, wheat; 
 that the turnips and clover are consumed upon the farm by stock, and that the meat thus 
 produced, 40 bushels of barley and 30 bushels of wheat,are all the exports, from the farm, 
 1 he manure from the consumed turnips and clover, and the straw, both of barley and of 
 wheat being retained Jipon the farm. "W e have in this ease, by the sale of grain, a loss 
 of minerals to each acre of the farm of only 20 to 24 pounds of potass and soda, and 26 
 to 30 pounds of phosphoric acid, in the course of the rotation, or an average of 5 to 6 lbs. 
 of potass and soda, and 6£ to "7i lbs of phosphoric acid per acre per annum. In the sale 
 of the animals there would of course be an additional loss of phosphoric acid, though, 
 especially if no breeding stock were kept, this would be even much less considerable 
 than in that of the grain ; and the amount of the alkalis thus sent off the farm would, 
 according to direct experiments of our own upon calves, bullocks, lambs, sheep, and 
 pigs, probably be only about one-fourth that of the phosphoric acid. It has, however, 
 long been decided in practical agriculture that phosphoric acid may be advantageously 
 provided in the purchase of bones or other phosphatic manures, though in practice 
 these are not found applicable as a direct manure for the wheat crop ; and as we have 
 already said, even when employed for the turnip, its efficacy is not to be accounted 
 for merely as supplying a sufficiency of that substance to be stored up in the crop. 
 
 " In conclusion, then : if the theory of Baron Liebig simply implies that the growing 
 plant must have within its reach a sufficiency of the mineral constituents of which it is 
 to be built up, we fully and entirely assent to so evident a truism ; but if, on the other ' 
 hand, he would have it understood that it is of the mineral constituents, as would be 
 collectively found in the ashes of the exported produce, that our soils are deficient rela 
 tively to other constituents, and that, in the present condition of agriculture in Great 
 
120 MARBLE. 
 
 Britain, ' we cannot increase the fertility of our fields by a supply of nitrogenized pro 
 ducts, or by salts of ammonia alone, but rather that their produce increases or dimi- 
 nishes, in a direct ratio, with the supply of mineral elements capable of assimilation, 1 
 we do not hesitate to say that every fact with which we are acquainted, in relation to 
 this point, is unfavorable to such a view. "We have before stated, that if a cheap 
 source of ammonia were at command, the available mineral constituents might in 
 their turn become exhausted by its excessive use. 
 
 " Note. — This important paper so completely establishes what I wrote in our last 
 Number on the entire failure of the mineral theory as a guide to the use of manures 
 in practical farming, that I need only express my regret for the annoyance which its 
 author has publicly expressed, as I am told, at those remarks. In cautioning .the 
 English farmer against what seemed to me a dangerous error, I certainly endeavored 
 to do justice to the real discoveries of Baron Liebig. Since the experiments, how- 
 ever, of Mr. Lawes and Dr. Gilbert have, as I hear, been disputed, I am bound to say 
 that my confidence in the scrupulous accuracy of those gentlemen has been only 
 strengthened by a subsequent visit to Eothamsted, in company with that eminent 
 philosopher, lions. Dumas. The extent of the experimental ground— the expenditure 
 at which it has been kept up — the perseverance with which, year after year, it has 
 been maintained, are such as might rather be expected from a public institution than 
 a private landowner, and render Rothamsted, at present, the principal source of trust- 
 worthy scientific information on agricultural Chemistry." — Ph. Pusey. 
 
 MANURE MANUFACTURE. The foecal matter so abundantly collected and dried 
 in Paris, to form their dry portable manure, called poitdrette, is now mixed in its pre- 
 paration with a small portion of a solution of sulphate of iron (copperas), whereby it 
 loses its offensive smell, and may be evaporated without causing a nuisance to the 
 neighborhood. The ammonia, as well as the sulphuretted and phosphuretted hydro- 
 gen, which together concur to produce the nauseous effluvia, are at onee condensed 
 by this salt ; the ammonia by its acid, and the gases by its oxide. When the putrid 
 contents of a cesspool are mixed with a little copperas, they soon become nearly in- 
 odorous. This cheap metallic compound should be applied, under the administration 
 of the police, to all the masses of putrefying dung which are deposited in the purlieus 
 of London, and of the other large towns in the United Kingdom. 
 
 Estimated Quantities of Peruvian Guano. 
 Sections. k Islands. Deposits in Tons. Tons. 
 
 'Chipana . . . 5280,609] 
 
 Huanillos . . . 1,612,506 ] 
 Punta de Lobos . . 1,460,790 j- 7,621, 407 
 
 Peballon de Pica . . 2,975,050 
 Puerto Ingles . . . 1,292,610 J 
 
 South Islands 
 
 Central Islands, or Chincha 
 Islands. 
 
 North Islands, or Lobos 
 Islands. 
 
 North Island . 7. 600,000 ] 
 Middle do. ... 6,450,000 f- 1S,250,000 
 
 South do. 4,230,000 j 
 
 'Lobos de Tierra . . 476,858 | 
 
 Lobos deAfuera . 265,718 I 
 
 Guanape . . .70 810 f 854,086 
 Ferrol ... 
 
 30.700J 
 
 Twelve Islands, Total 27,024,493 
 
 The importations of Peruvian guano into Great Britain, according to the Parli* 
 mentary Returns, have been, — 
 
 1846 22,410 tons 1849 78,567 tons 
 
 1848 57,762 1850 95,0S3 
 
 1848 61,055 1851 199,732 
 
 showing an enormous progressive increase. 
 
 _ MARBLE. This title embraces such of the primitive, transition, and purer compact 
 limestones of secondary formation, as may be quarried in solid blocks without fissures and 
 are susceptible of a fine polished surface. The finer the while, or more beautifully varie- 
 gated the colors of the stone, the more valuable, ceteris paribus, is the marble. Its Gen- 
 eral characters are the following : — 
 
 Marble effervesces with acids ; affords quicklime by calcination ; lias a conchoidal 
 scaly fracture ; is translucent only on the very edges ; is easily scratched by the knife- 
 has a spec. grav. of 2-7 ; admits of being sawn into slabs, and receives a brilliant polish' 
 These qualities occur united in only three principal varieties cf limestone ; in the sac^ 
 charoid limestone, so called from its fine granular texture resembling that of loaf su°-ar* 
 and which constitutes modern statuary marble, like that of Carrara ; 2. in the foliated 
 limestone, consisting of a multitude of small facets formed of little plates applied to one 
 mother in every possible direction, constituting the antique statuary marble, like that of 
 
MARBLE. 121 
 
 Paros; 3. in many of the transition and carboniferous, or cncrinitic limestones, subordh 
 uate to the coal formation. 
 
 The saccharoid and lamellar, or statuary marbles, belong entirely to piimitive and 
 transition districts. The greater part of the close-grained colored marbles belong also 
 to the same geological localities ; and become so rare in the secondary limestone for- 
 mations, that immense tracts of these occur without a single bed sufficiently entire 
 and compact to constitute a -workable marble. The limestone lying between the 
 calcareo-silicious sands and gritstone of the under oolite, and which is called Forest 
 marble in England, being susceptible of a tolerable polish, and variegated with imbedded 
 shells, has sometimes been worked into ornamental slabs in Oxfordshire, where il 
 occurs in the neighborhood of Whiehwood forest; but this case can hardly be con- 
 sidered as an exception to the general rule. To constitute a profitable marble-quarry, 
 there must be a large extent of homogeneous limestone, and a facility of transportine 
 the blocks after they are dug. On examining these natural advantages of the beds of 
 Carrara marble, we may readily understand how the statuary marbles discovered in the 
 Pyrenees. Savoy, Corsica, &c. have never been able to come into competition with it in 
 the market. In fact, the two sides of the valley of Carrara may be regarded as moun- 
 tains of statuary marble of the finest quality. 
 
 Gypseous alabaster may be readily distinguished from maables, :/ecause it does not 
 effervesce with acids, and is soft enough to be scratched by the nail ; stalagmitic alabaster 
 is somewhat harder than marble, translucent, and variegated with regular stripes or undu- 
 lations. 
 
 Some granular marbles are flexible in thin slabs, or, at least, become so by being dried 
 at the fire ; which shows, as Dolomieu suspected, that this property arises from a diminu- 
 tion of the attractive force among the particles, by the loss of the moisture. 
 
 The various tints of ornamental marbles generally proceed from oxydes of iron ; but 
 the blue and green tints are sometimes caused by minute particles of hornblende, as in 
 the slate-blue variety called Turchino, and in some green marbles of Germany. The 
 black marbles are colored by charcoal, mixed occasionally with sulphur and bitumen ; 
 when they constitute stinkstone. 
 _ Brard divides marbles, according to their localities, into classes, each of which contains 
 eight subdivisions : — 
 
 1. Uni-colored marbles ; including only the white and the black. 
 
 2. Variegated marbles ; those with irregular spots or veins. 
 
 3. Madreporic marbles, presenting animal remains in the shape of white or gray spots, 
 with regularly disposed dots and star's in the centre. 
 
 4. Shell marbles ; with only a few shells interspersed in the calcareous base 
 
 5. Lumachella marbles, entirely composed of shells. 
 
 6. Cipolin marbles, containing veins of greenish talc. 
 
 7. Breccia marbles, formed of a number of angular fragments of different marbles, 
 urfited by a common cement. 
 
 8. Puddingstone marbles ; a conglomerate of rounded pieces. 
 
 Antique marbles. — The most remarkable of these are the following : — Parian marble, 
 called lychnites by the ancients, because its quarries were worked by lamps ; it has a yel- 
 lowish-white color ; and a texture composed of fine shining scales, lying in all directions. 
 The celebrated Arundelian tables at Oxford consist of Parian marble, as well as the 
 Medicean Venus. Pentelic marble, from Mount Penteles, near Athens, resembles the 
 Parian, but is somewhat denser and finer grained, with occasional greenish zones, pro- 
 duced by greenish talc, whence it is called by the Italians Cipolino staiuario. The 
 Parthenon, Propyleum, the Hippodrome, and other principal monuments of Athens, 
 were of Pentelic marble ; of which fine specimens may be seen among the Elgin col- 
 lection, in the British Museum. Marmo Greco, or Greek white marble, is of a very 
 lively snow white color, rather harder than the preceding, and susceptible of a very fine 
 polish. It was obtained from several islands of the Archipelago, as Scio, Samos, Lesbos, 
 &c. Translucent white marble, Marmo staiuario of the Italians, is very much like the 
 Parian, only not so opaque. Columns and altars of this marble exist in Venice, and 
 several towns of Lombardy; but the quarries are quite unknown. Flexible white marble, 
 of which five or six tables are preserved in the house of Prince Borghese, at Rome. The 
 white marble of Luni, on the coast of Tuscany, was preferred by the Greek sculptors to 
 both the Parian and Pentelic. While marble of Carrara, between Specia and Lucca, is 
 of a fine white color, but often traversed by gray veins, so that it is difficult to procure 
 moderately large pieces free from them. It is not so apt to turn yellow as the Parian 
 marble. This quarry was worked by the ancients, having been opened in the time of 
 Julius Caesar. Many antique statues remain of this marble. Its two principal quarries 
 at the present day are those of Pianello and Polvazzo. In the centre of its blocks very 
 'impid rock-crystals are sometimes found, which are called Carrara diamonds. As the 
 Snest qualities are becoming excessively rare, it has risen in price to about 3 guineas the 
 
122 MARBLE. 
 
 cubic foot. The White marble of Mount Hymettus, ;n Greece, was not of a very purs 
 white, but inclined a little to gray. The statue of Meleager, in the French Museum, is 
 of this marble. 
 
 Black antique marble, the Nero antico of the Italians. This is more intensely blaelt 
 than any of our modern marbles ; it is extremely scarce, occurring only in sculptured 
 pieces. The red antique marble, Egyptum of the ancients, and Rosso antico of the Italians, 
 is a beautiful marble of a deep blood-red color, interspersed with while veins and witl. 
 very minute white dots, as if strewed over with grains of sand. There is in the Gri- 
 mani palace at Venice, a colossal statue of Marcus. Agrippa in rosso antico, which waa 
 formerly preserved in the Pantheon at Rome. Green antique marble, verde antico, is a 
 kind of breccia, whose paste is a mixture of talc and limestone, while the dark green 
 fragments consist of serpentine. Very beautiful specimens of it are preserved at Parmh. 
 The best quality has a grass-green paste, with black spots of noble serpentine, but i,s 
 never mingled with red spots. Red spotted green antique marble, has a dark green groun? 
 marked with small red and black spots, with fragments of entrochi changed into white 
 marble. It is known only in small tablets. Leek marble ; a rare variety of that color, 
 of which there is a table in the Mint at Paris. Marmo verde pagliocco is of a yellowish 
 green color, and is found only in the ruins of ancient Home. Ccrrelas marble of a 
 deep red, with numerous gray and white veins, is said to be found in Africa, and highly 
 esteemed in commerce. Yellow antique marble, giallo antico of the Italians; color of 
 the yolk of an egg, either uniform or marked with black or deep yellow rings. It is 
 rare, but may be replaced by Sienna marble. Red and white antique marbles, found only 
 among the ruins of ancfent Rome. Grand antique, a breccia marble, containing shells, 
 consists of large fragments of a black marble, traversed by veins or lines of a shining 
 tvhite. There are four columns of it in the Museum at Paris. Jntique Cipolino marble. 
 Cipolin is a name given to all such marbles as have greenish zones produced by green 
 talc ; their fracture is granular and shining, and displays here and there plates of talc. 
 Purple antique breccia marble, is very variable in the color and size of its spots. 
 Antique African breccia has a black ground, variegated with large fragments of a gray- 
 ish-white, deep red, or purplish wine color ; and is one of the most beautiful marbles. 
 Rose-colored antique breccia marble is very scarce, occurring only in small tablets. 
 There are various other kinds of ancient breccias, which it would be tedious to par- 
 ticularize. 
 
 Modern marbles. — 1. British. Black marble is found at Ashford, Matlock, and 
 Monsaldale in Derbyshire ; black and white in the north part of Devonshire ; the varie- 
 gated marbles of Devonshire are generally reddish, brownish, and grayish, variously 
 veined with white and yellow, or the colors are often intimately blended ; the marbles 
 from Torbay and Babbacombe, display a great variety in the mixture of their colors ; 
 the Plymouth marble is either ash-colored with black veins, or blackish-gray and white' 
 shaded with black veins; the cliffs near Marychurch exhibit marble quarries not only 
 of great extent, but of superior beauty to any other in Devonshire, being either of a 
 dove-colored ground with reddish-purple and yellow veins, or of a black ground mottled 
 with purplish globules. The green marble of Anglesea is not unlike the verde antico ■ 
 its colors being greenish-black, leek-green, and sometimes dull purplish, irregularly 
 blended with white. The white part is limestone, the green shades proceed from 
 serpentine and asbestos. There are several fine varieties of marble in Derbyshire • the 
 mottled-gray in the neighborhood of Moneyash, the light gray being rendered extremely 
 beautiful by the number of purple veins which spread upon its polished surface in elegant 
 irregular branches ; but its chief ornament is the multitude of etitrochi, with which°thia 
 transition limestone-marble abounds. Much of the transition and carboniferous lime- 
 stone of Wales and Westmoreland is capable of being worked up into agreeable dark 
 marble?. 
 
 In Scotland, u particularly fine -variety of white marble is found in immense beds at 
 Assynt m Sutherlandshire. A beautiful ash-gray marble of a very uniform grain and 
 susceptible of a fine polish, occurs on the north side of the ferry of Ballachulish in In 
 vernesshire. One of the most beautiful varieties is that from the hill of Belephetrich in 
 Tiree, one of the Hebrides. Its colors are pale blood-red, light flesh-red, and r»ddish. 
 white, with dark green particles of hornblende, or rather sahlite, diffused throu«-h the 
 general base. The compact marble of Iona is of a fine grain, a dull white color%ome- 
 what resembling pure compact feldspar. It is said by Bournon, to consist of an intimate 
 mixture of tremolite and carbonate of lime, sometimes with yellowish or greenish-yellow 
 spots. The carboniferous limestone of many of the coal basins in the lowlands of Scot 
 land may be worked into a tolerably good marble for chimney-pieces. 
 
 In Ireland, the Kilkenny marble is the one best known, having a black ground more or 
 less varied with white marks produced by petrifactions. The spar which occupies the 
 place of the shells, sometimes assumes a greenish-yellow color. An exceedingly fine 
 slack marble has also been raised at Crayleath in the countv of Down. At Louthfou-her 
 n the county of Tipperary, «, fine purple marble is found, which when polished looks 
 
MARBLE. 123 
 
 very beautiful. The county o. Kerry affords several variegated marbles, not unlike the 
 Kilkenny. 
 
 France possesses a great many marble quarries which have been described by Brard, 
 and of which a copious abstract is given under the article marble — lives' Cyclopedia. 
 
 The territory of Genoa furnishes several beautiful varieties of marble, the most re- 
 markable of which is the polzevera di Genoa, called in French the vert d'JSgypte and vert 
 ie mcr. It is a mixture of granular limestone with a taleose and serpentine substance 
 disposed in veins ; and it is sometimes mixed with a reddish body. This marble was for- 
 merly much employed in Italy, France, and England, for chimney-pieces, but its sombre 
 appearance has put it out of fashion. 
 
 Corsica possesses a good statuary marble of a fine close grain, and pure milky white- 
 ness, quarried at Ornofrio ; it will bear comparison with that of Carrara ; also a gray 
 marble (bardiglio), a cipolin, and some other varieties. The island of Elba has immense 
 quarries of a white marble with blackish-green veins. 
 
 Among the innumerable varieties of Italian marbles, the following deserve especial 
 notice. 
 
 The rovigio, a white marble found at Padua; the white marble of St. Julien, at Pisa, 
 of which the cathedral and celebrated slanting tower are built ; the Biancone marble, 
 white with a tinge of gray, quarried at Magurega for altars and tombs. Near Mergozza 
 the white saline marble with gray veins is found ; with which the cathedral of Milan is 
 built. The black marble of Bergamo is called paragone, from its black color, like touch- 
 stone ; it has a pure intense tint, and is susceptible of a fine polish. The pure black 
 marble of Como is also much esteemed. The polveroso of Pistoya, is a black marble 
 sprinkled with dots ; and the beautiful white marble with black spots, from the Lago 
 Maggiore, has been employed for decorating the interior of many churches in the Milanese. 
 The Margorre marble found in several parts of the Milanese, is bluish veined with brown, 
 and composes part of the dome of the cathedral of Milan. The green marble of Florence 
 owes its color to a copious admixture of steatite. Another green marble, called verde di 
 Prado, occurs in Tuscany, near the little town of Prado. It is marked with spots of a 
 deeper green than tire rest, passing even into blackish-blue. The beautiful Sienna 
 marble, or brocatello di Siena, has a yellow color like the yolk of an egg, which is dis- 
 posed in large irregular spots, surrounded with veins of bluish-red, passing sometimes 
 into purple. At Montarenti, two leagues from Sienna, another yellow marble is met 
 with, which is traversed by black and purplish-black veins. The Brema marble is yellow 
 with white spots. The mandelato of the Italians is a light red marble with yellowish- 
 white spots, found at Luggezzana, in the Veronese. The red marble of Verona is of a 
 red rather inclining to yellow or hyacinth ; a second variety of a dark red, composes the 
 vast amphitheatre of Verona. Another marble is found near Verona, with large white 
 spots in a reddish and greenish paste. Very fine columns have been made of it. The 
 occhio di pavone is an Italian shell marble, in which the shells form large orbicular spots, 
 red, white, and bluish. A madreporic marble known under the name of pietra stellaria, 
 much employed in Italy, is entirely composed of star madrepores, converted into a gray 
 and white substance, and is susceptible of an excellent polish. The village of Bretonico, 
 in the Veronese, furnishes a splendid breccia marble, composed of yellow, steel-gray, and 
 rose-colored spots. That of Bergamo consists of black and gray fragments in a greenish 
 cement. Florence marble, called also ruin and landscape marble, is an indurated calca- 
 reous marl. 
 
 Sicily abounds in marbles, the most valuable of which is that called by the English 
 stone-cutters, Sicilian jasper ; it is red with large stripes like ribands, white, red, and 
 sometimes green, which run zigzag with pretty acute angles. 
 
 Among the Genoese marbles we may notice the highly esteemed variety called portor, 
 on account of the brilliant yellow veins in a deep black ground. The most beautiful 
 kind comes from Porto-Venese, and Louis XIV. caused a great deal of it to be worked up 
 for the decoration of Versailles. It costs now two pounds per cubic foot. 
 
 Of cutting and polishing marble. — The marble saw is a thin plate of soft iron, continu- 
 ally supplied during its sawing motion, with water and the sharpest sand. The sawing 
 of moderate pieces is performed by hand, but that of large slabs is most economically 
 done by a proper mill. 
 
 The first substance used in the prlishing process is the sharpest sand, which must be 
 worked with till the surface becomes perfectly flat. Then a second, and even a third 
 sand of increasing fineness is to be appljed. The next substance is emery of progressive 
 degrees of fineness, after which tripoli is employed ; and the last polish is given with 
 tin-putty. The body with which the sand is rubbed upon the marble, is usually a plate 
 of iron ; but for the subsequent process, a plate of lead is used with fine sand and emery. 
 The polishing rubbers are coarse linen cloths, or bagging, wedged tight into an iron 
 planing tool. In every step of the operation, a constant trickling supply of water is 
 required. 
 
124 MATCHES. 
 
 Visitors of Derby may hare an opportunity of inspecting Brown's extensive ma 
 ehineryfor cutting marble into many ornamental forms, which has beenwel.' described 
 m Rees's Cyclopedia. 
 
 Sir James Jelf patented, in 1S22, a combination of machinery for cutting any de- 
 scription of parallel mouldings upon marble slabs, for ornamental purposes; in which 
 tools, supplied with sand and water, are made to traverse to and fro. 
 
 Mr. Tullock obtained a patent, in 1824, for improvements in machinery for sawing 
 and grooving marble; the power being applied by means of toothed wheels bearing 
 cranks, which gave the see-saw motion to the cutting iron plates. 
 
 In November, 1829, Mr. Gibbs secured, by patent, an invention for working orna- 
 mental devices in marble, by means of a travelling drill, guided by a mould of wood, 
 <fcc, in counter relief; and in April, 1 833, Mr. G. W, Wilds obtained a patent for ma- 
 chinery, which consists of a series of circular cutters, for separating slabs from a block 
 of marble; the block being advanced slowly to meet the cutters, by the progressive 
 movement of a platform upon wheels, driven by the agency of a rack and pinion, as in 
 the cylinder boring machine of the steam-engine manufacturer. Sand and water must 
 be supplied, of course, from a hopper, to these smooth-cutting discs of iron or copper. 
 See Glass-Ccttixg. He proposes also to mould and polish marble, by applying a 
 rotatory wheel or cylinder of anj' shape to it, in its carrying frame. 
 
 MARCASITE, is a variety of iron pyrites, containing generally a little arsenic. 
 
 MARGARATES, are saline compounds of margarie acid with the bases. 
 
 MARGARIG ACID, is one of the acid fats, produced by saponifying tallow with 
 alkaline matter, and decomposing the soap with dilute acid. The term Margarie sig- 
 nifies PEAEiY-looking. 
 
 The physical properties of the margarie and stearic aeids are very similar ; the chief 
 difference is that the former is more fusible, melting at 140° F. The readiest mode of 
 obtaining pure margarie acid, is to dissolve olive oil soap in water, to pour into the 
 solution a solution of neutral acetate of lead, to wash and dry the precipitate, and then 
 to remove its oleate of lead by ether, which does not affect its margarate of lead. The 
 residuum being decomposed by boiling hot muriatic acid, affords margarie acid. When 
 heated in a retort this acid boils. It is insoluble in water, very soluble in alcohol and 
 ether ; it reddens litmus paper, and decomposes, with the aid of heat, the carbonates 
 of soda and potash. 
 
 MARGARIG ACID is obtained most easily by the distillation of stearic acid. The 
 humidity at the beginning of the process must be expelled by a smart heat, otherwise 
 explosive ebullitions are apt to occur. Whenever the ebullition becomes uniform, the 
 fire is to be moderated. 
 
 MARINE ACID. See Muriatic Acid and Hydrochloric Acid. 
 
 MARINE SALT. See Salt. 
 
 MARL (Marne, Fr. ; Mergcl, Germ.), is a mixed earthy substance, consisting of 
 carbonate of lime, clay, and siliceous sand, in very variable proportions; it is some- 
 times compact, "sometimes pulverulent. According to the predominance of one or 
 other of these three main ingredients, marls may be distributed into calcareous, clayey, 
 and sandy. See Limestone. 
 
 MARQUETRY, is a peculiar kind of cabinetwork, in which the surface of wood U 
 ornamented with inlaid pieces of various colors and forms. The marqueteur puts gold, 
 silver, copper, tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, horn, <fec, under contribution. 
 These substances being reduced to laminse of proper thinness, are cut out into the 
 desired forms by punches, which produce at once the full pattern or mould, and the 
 empty one, which enclosed it ; and both serve their separate purposes in marquetry. 
 For the methods of dyeing the woods, <to., see Ivory. 
 
 MARTIAL, signifies belonging to iron; from Mars, the mythological name of this 
 metal. 
 
 MASSICOT, is the yellow oxide of lead. 
 
 MASTIC (Eng. and Fr. ; -Vastix, Germ.), is a resin produced by making incisions in 
 the Pistacia Lentiscus, a tree cultivated in the Levant, and chiefly in the island of 
 Chios. It comes to us iu yellow, brittle, transparent, rounded tears; which soften 
 between the teeth ; with bitterish taste and aromatic smell, and a specific gravity of 
 l - 07. Mastic consists of two resins ; one soluble in dilute alcohol ; but both dissolve 
 in strong alcohol. Its solution in spirit of wine constitutes a good varnish. It dis- 
 solves also in oil of turpentine. See Vaknish. 
 
 MATCHES, CHEMICAL. Put 40 grains of phosphorus into a wide-mouthed 
 bottle. Add enough oil of turpentine to cover the phosphorus ; then mix in 10 grs. of 
 flower of sulphur. Put the bottle into hot water until the phosphorus is entirely dis> 
 solved ; stop the mouth of the bottle with a cork, and well shake the whole until it 
 has become cold; afterwards pour off the supernatant oil of turpentine. Into the 
 mixture of phosphorus which remains in the bottle dip the extremities of the matches, 
 and, after some time, when they have become a little dried, dip them again into the 
 following mixture ' 
 
MATCHES. 125 
 
 Dissolve 30 grains of gum ai'abic in a small quantity of water; add to it 20 grs. of 
 chlorate of potash, and mix them intimately together; then again add 10 grs. of soot 
 previously mixed with a few drops of spirits of wine. 
 
 In about 12 hours the matches will be perfectly dry, when they will ignite on rub- 
 bing them over a rough surface. 
 
 MATCHES, INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT, without Sulphur andwithout Noise. Boett- 
 cher has published the following formula for the preparation of chemical matches, 
 which ignite without noise : — 
 
 Take of Gum Arabic 16 parts. 
 
 Phosphorus 9 — 
 
 Nitrate of potash 1-1 — 
 
 Manganese 16 — 
 Mix, so as to form a perfectly homogeneous mass. 
 
 More recently, this chemist, being desirous of making a mass equally good, but at 
 a lower price, fixed en the following formula : — 
 
 Take of Phosphorus - 4 parts. 
 
 Nitrate of potash \ 10 — 
 
 Carpenter's glue - 6 — 
 
 Minium, or red ochre - 5 — 
 
 Smalt - 2 — 
 
 The glue is cut and soaked in a little water for 24 hours ; it is then put into a 
 porcelain mortar, previously heated, so as to cause its liquefaction. The phosphorus 
 is then added, afterwards the nitrate of potash, and lastly the minium and smalt, 
 mixing the ingredients constantly with the pestle, until a perfectly homogeneous mix- 
 ture is formed which may almost be drawn out in threads. 
 
 During this operation the temperature must never be allowed to rise above 16T 
 F., to prevent the inflammation of the particles of phosphorus. 
 
 This paste may be applied to wood prepared for the purpose, or to amadou previ- 
 ously dried for eight or twelve hours. 
 
 Paper matches may be made, which will afford an agreeable odor on igniting, by 
 wetting slips of paper on both sides with tincture of benzoin, and then applying a 
 small quantity of the above composition to their extremities, by means of a small 
 brush. On rubbing one of these on a rough surface, the mass inflames and ignites the 
 paper without the intervention of a coating of sulphur. 
 
 Matches of wood may be made that will inflame without sulphur, by slightly car- 
 bonizing the ends of them, by placing them against a red hot plate of iron, and then 
 dipping them intc melted wax. 
 
 M. Diesel, of Ebersdorf, pupil of M. Wackenroder, has analyzed an excellent inflam- 
 mable mass, and found the following proportions of ingredients in 100 parts: — ■ 
 Phosphorus - 17 
 
 Nitrate of potash - 38 
 
 Minium - - 24 
 
 Glue 21 
 
 MATCHES, LUCIFER. According to Dr. R. Boettger, in Annalen der Chemie uvM 
 Pharmacie, vol. xlvii. p. 334, take 
 
 Phosphorus - 4 parts. 
 
 Nitre 10 — 
 
 Fine glue - 6 — 
 
 Red ochre, or red lead 5 — 
 
 Smalt - 2 — 
 
 Convert the glue with a little water by a gentle heat into a smooth jelly, put it into 
 a slightly warm porcelain mortar to liquefy ; rub the phosphorus down through this 
 gelatine at a temperature of about 140° or 150° Fahr. ; add the nitre, then the red 
 powder, and lastly the smalt, till the whole forms a uniform paste. To make writing- 
 paper matches, which burn with a bright flame and diffuse an agreeable odor, moisten 
 each side of the paper with tincture of benzoin, dry it, cut it into slips, and smear one 
 of their ends with a little of the above paste by means of a hair pencil. On rubbing 
 the said end after it is dry against a rough surface the paper will take fire, without 
 the intervention of sulphur. 
 
 To form lucifer wood matches, that act without sulphur, melt in a flat-bottomed, 
 tin pan as much white wax as will stand one-tenth of an inch deep ; take a bundle ol 
 wooden matches free from resin, rub their ends against a red hot iron plate till the 
 wood be slightly charred ; dip them now in the melted wax for a moment, shake them 
 well on taking them out, and finally dip them separately in the viscid paste. Whex 
 dry, they will kindle readily by friction. 
 
12G 
 
 MATCHES. 
 
 For the rapid manufacture of the wooden splints for Iucifer matches, a patent ua. 
 granted to Mr, Reuben Partridge, in March, 1842. He emplo3'S a perforated metallic 
 plate, having a steel face, strengthened by a bell-metal back; see Jigs. 881, 88S. The 
 size of the perforations must depend on that of the desired splint*, but they must be 
 as close together as possible, that there may be a very small blank space betweeu 
 them, otherwise the plate would afford too great resistance to the passage of the wood. 
 By this construction, the whole area of the block of wood may be compressed laterally 
 into the countersunk openings, and forced through the holes, which are slightly coun- 
 tersunk to favor the entrance and separation of the wooden fibres. 
 
 
 Fig. 881 represents the face of one of these plates ; and Jig. 888 is a rectangular section 
 through the plate. A convenient size of plate is three inches broad, six inches long 
 and one thick. The mode of pressing is by fixing the back of the plate against a firm 
 resisting block or bearing, having an aperture equal to the area of the perforations in 
 the plate, and then placing the end of the piece or pieces of wood in the direction oi 
 the gram against the face of the plate within the area of the perforated portion A 
 plunger or lever or other suitable mechanical agent being then applied to the back or 
 reverse end of the piece of wood, it may be forced through the perforations in the 
 plate, being first split as it advances by the cutting edges of the holes, and afterward* 
 compressed and driven through the perforations in the plate, coming out on the oppo- 
 site side or back of the plate in the form of a multitude of distinct splints, aoreeablv to 
 the shapes and dimensions of the perforations.— Newton's Journal, C. S vol xxii 268 
 
 Manufacture of Lucifer s. The first stage in the manufacture of lucifers'is the cut 
 ting the wood, which is done according to the extent of the manufactory, either bv 
 hand or by machinery. This, as well as the subsequent process of counting and placing 
 the matches in frames, is in itself necessarily free from any inconvenience or evil eon 
 sequences ; nor does it appear that the third stage, which consists in melting the sulphur 
 and dipping the heads of the matches in it, produces any inconvenience The fourth 
 nith, sixth, and seventh stages comprise the grinding, mullering and mixing of the ex' 
 plosive compound; the process of dipping the matches in it, the counting and boxing 
 Ine dipping, counting, and packing, appear to be, according to Mr. Qeist, the onlv & 
 partments in which the workpeople are in any way affected with peculiar complaints • 
 we would even limit the appearance of the jaw disease to those engaged in dipping-' 
 at least all that we have examined on the subject were unanimous as to the fact that 
 dippers only were attacked. There is a certain degree of secresy observed relative to 
 the proportions of the composition ; and the mixture of the materials is generally per 
 formed by the proprietor ot the manufactory, or by a confidential workman. Chlorate 
 of potash is considered an essential ingredient in England; but in the manufactories at 
 Numburg it has not been employed for a number of years, as its explosive properties 
 much endangered the safety of the buildings and the limbs of the workmen P 
 
 The composition used in Kiirnberg consists of one-third of phosphorus, of gum 
 arable (which is eschewed by English manufacturers on account of its hygrometric 
 property), of water, and of coloring matter, for which either minium or Prussian Hu« 
 
MEATS, PRESERVED. 127 
 
 is employed. If ignition be required without a flame, the quantity of phosphorus is 
 diminished, or nitrate of lead is added. The mixing is conducted in a water bath, 
 and during this process, and as'long as the phosphorus is being ground or " mullered," 
 copious fumes are evolved. The dipping is performed in. the following manner:— The 
 melted composition is spread upon a board covered with cloth or leather, and the work- 
 man dips the two ends of the matches alternately that are fixed in the frame; and as 
 this is done with great rapidity, the disengagement of fumes is very considerable, and 
 the more liable to be injurious, as they are evolved in a very concentrated form close 
 to the face of the workmen. This department is generally left to a single workman ; 
 and the average number that he can dip in an hour, supposing each frame to hold 
 3,000 matches, would be 1,000,000. 
 
 After the matches have been dipped, they require to be dried. This is generally 
 done in the room in which the former process is carried on ; and as a temperature of 
 from 80° to 90° Fahr. is necessary, the greatest quantity of fumes is evolved at this 
 stage. When the matches are dried, the frames are removed from the drying room, and 
 die lueifers are now ready to be counted out into boxes. As this is done with great 
 rapidit3', they frequently take fire, and, although instantly extinguished in the saw- 
 dust or the water which is at hand, the occurrence gives rise to an additional andfre^ 
 quent evolution of fumes. 
 
 MATRASS, is a bottle with a thin egg-shaped bottom, much used for digestions in 
 chemical researches. 
 
 MATTE, is a crude black copper reduced, but not refined from sulphur and other 
 heterogeneous substances. 
 
 MEADOW ORE, is conehoidal bog iron ore. 
 
 MEATS, PRESERVED. _ The interest which has of late attached to the subject 
 of such meats, warrants us in bringing under examination the principles and practice on 
 which this important branch of industry is based. The art itself is of modern invention, 
 and differs in every respect from the old or common modes of preserving animal food. 
 These, as is well known, depend on the use of culinary salt, saltpetre, sugar, or similar 
 substances, which, when in solution, do not possess the power of absorbing oxygen gas, 
 and therefore cut off effectually all access of air to the meat they protect. It might be 
 imagined that water alone would answer this purpose ; but the contrary is the case, for 
 pure water absorbs oxygen, and is, therefore, all the less adapted for preserving meat, in 
 proportion as it is free from saline matter, since it is then so much the more capable ot 
 combining with oxygen gas. Thus, snow, which is pure water crystallized, has a power 
 of producing the panary fermentation when mixed with flour ; and this it is able to do 
 in consequence of the large quantity of gaseous oxygen which it contains. Similarly, 
 rain water, and especially dew, will bring on the putrefaction of animal matters much 
 sooner than spring water ; and the vulgar prejudice respecting the effect of the moon's 
 rays in accelerating the corruption of meat, is, beyond doubt, dependent upon the fact, 
 that during clear moonlight nights, there is always a large deposition of dew; and this 
 having fallen in a minutely divided state, possesses the largest amount of free oxygen, 
 which pure or distilled water is capable of absorbing from the atmosphere, and, there- 
 fore, has a proportionate power of decomposing, — just as it also has of bleaching. 
 
 Thus far our remarks have been applied solely to raw or uncooked meats ; but the 
 practical bearing of the object which we have in hand really points to those which are 
 more or less cooked or preserved. It is with reference to provisions of this kind, that a 
 parliamentary inquiry is now in progress ; and we cannot do better than show the great 
 importance of such a subject to a maritime nation like Great Britain, by stating, that 
 these provisions, when sound, are an absolute preventive of sea-scurvy, — a disease said, 
 on good authority, to have destroyed more life, and to have done more damage to our 
 navy, than all the enemies and tempests which that navy ever encountered. We need 
 not go far in search of evidence to prove the fearful havoc caused by this disease ; for we 
 are well furnished by the history of Admiral Anson's memorable expedition, to damage 
 the interests of Spain in the Pacific Ocean, by intercepting the annual treasure-ship or 
 galleon on her return to Europe. In spite of every thing that care and experience could 
 do, Anson tells us that he lost, in all, fully four-fifths of his people by scurvy.' Of 400 
 men with whom the " Centurion" departed from England, only 200 lived to reach the isl- 
 and of Juan Fernandez, and no more than 8 of these were capable of doing duty ; and 
 but for a supply of others at St. Helena, there would not have been strength remain- 
 ing to carry the ship to her anchorage. After describing, in the most pathetic manner, 
 the dreadful sufferings of his crew, and rejoicing at the improvement caused by the so- 
 journ at Juan Fernandez, the writer concludes, — "I therefore shall sum up the total of 
 our loss since our departure from England, the better to convey some idea of our past 
 sufferings and our present strength. We had buried on board the ' Centurion,' since 
 leaving St. Helena, 292 men, and had remaining on board 214. This will, doubtless, 
 appear a most extraordinary mortality ; but yet, on board the ' Gloucester' (his other 
 ship of war) it had been much greater: for, out of a much smaller crew than ours, 
 they had buried the same number, and had only 82 remaining alive. It might," con- 
 
128 MEATS, PBESEEVED. 
 
 tinues Anson, " have been expected that, on board the ' Tryal' (a provision ship), the 
 slaughter would have been most terrible ; but it happened otherwise, for she escaped 
 more favorably than the rest, since she only buried 42, and has now 39 remaining." 
 The real object of the voyage was, however, not yet commenced ; though out of 960 
 men, with which the three vessels left England, 626 were dead before this time. 
 
 It is almost superfluous to multiply instances of the same kind ; though, in order 
 to demonstrate the great utility of preserved meats in the navy, we shall give two or 
 three other examples, as there is evidently a desire, in certain quarters, to get rid of a 
 trifling labor and responsibility, by excluding this class of provisions altogether from 
 our victualling departments. In October, 1788, the fleet of Admiral Keppell came into 
 harbor, and, before the end of December had sent 3,600 sick to the hospital at Has- 
 lar. In 1779, the channel fleet under Sir C. Hardy, sent 2,S00 to the hospital, and re- 
 tained more than 1,000 on board for want of hospital accommodation. Within 4 
 months during a subsequent year, 6,064 were sent to Haslar, and Sir H. Hawkins 
 asserts, that, within the space of 20 years, to his own knowledge, not less than 10 000 
 men had died of scurvy. When Admiral Geary's fleet returned to Portsmouth, after 
 a ten weeks' cruise in the Bay of Biscay, 2,400 men were ill of the scurvy ; and the 
 gross number of admissions into the hospital that year was 11,732, of whom 909 died. 
 .Now the highest medical authorities in this kingdom, and also on the continent, have 
 all expressed the opinion that this fearful disease and mortality is altogether caused 
 by the use of salt provisions ; and the evidence of a host of navy surgeons and officers 
 can be adduced to corroborate the truth of this view; therefore, not only motives of 
 humanity, but also of self-interest, imperatively demand that, wherever unsalted pro- 
 visions can be used, their employment should be insisted on, by the voice of the en- 
 tire nation. Such being the case, it becomes necessary for us to inquire how far the 
 art ot preserving unsalted provisions has reached that degree of uniformity, and cer 
 
 ■Pi ty c result ' wni °h aloa e can warrant their introduction into the navy. 
 
 Ihe first successful attempt at the preservation of unsalted meats is of French origin 
 and due to the inventive skill of M. Appert. This gentleman, so long ago as the year 
 1S10, received from the board of Arts and Manufactures of Paris the sum of 12 000 
 francs for his disco very of a mode of preserving animal and vegetable substances ;' the 
 results ol which had been then amply attested, by a prolonged experience in the French 
 navy. Shortly after this period, Appert induced a Mr. Duraut to visit London, for the 
 purpose of taking out a patent; and this was accordingly done towards the end of the 
 year 1811. In this patent, however, the claims were ridiculously wide, so much so 
 that the patent-right was subsequently infringed with impunity. The claims included 
 all kinds ot irurt, meat, and vegetables, when subjected to the action ofheat in closed 
 vessels more or less freed from air. As, however, the Society of Arts in London had 
 presented in 1807 a premium to a Mr. J. Suddington, for " a method of preserving fruit 
 without sugar for house or sea stores"— which method is exactly the same as that of 
 M. Appert,— the validity of Durant's patent was at once called in q uestion. Ne verthe - 
 less so satisfactory were the results, when applied to animal food, or mixed provisions 
 that the patent was eventually purchased from Durant by Messrs. Donkin, Hall and 
 Gamble, for the sum of 1000?.; and the firm, thus established, became at once the sole 
 manufacturers of preserved meats in this country. The process of Appert was how- 
 ever, extremely defective in a manufacturing point of view. Nothing but glass bot- 
 tles were to be used for containing the meats, and M. Appert remarks,—" I choose glass 
 tor this purpose, as being the most impenetrable to air, and have not ventured to 
 makeany experiment with a vessel made of any other substance." Of course the 
 fragility of this material, and the great difficulty of hermeticallv sealing the bottle 
 with corks threw an incalculable impediment in the way of the proeess as a commer- 
 cial undertaking Nor was it until after a long series of difficult and expensive ex- 
 S?ZS5 th f 'i^ e . SSrS - D™km Hall and Gamble, were able to overcome the primary 
 difficulties of this invention, and produce provisions successfully preserved in fin plate 
 vessels. Since that time but little alteration, and less improvement, has beerfmade 
 
 m FrnT t h! S I P Tl? le ~ are l aT m ° re . com P lex than has hitherto b een supposed 
 From the researches of M. Gay Lussac, it appeared that the absence of oxygen was 
 requisite to prevent fermentation ; but it is now certain, that oxygen may be present 
 with fermentable matters without producing any effect whatever. As there are sub 
 stances and conditions which cause or accelerate fermentation, so there are others which 
 S^n? wi™ f lt k aUd 'J" 3 - i8 tr , Ue ' whatev er be the nature of the fermentation 
 Although, therefore, the exclus.ou of oxygen be a means of preventing putrefaction it 
 is not the only means nor is it, indeed, the easiest or simplest in amplication. The 
 process of Appert certainly does not depend upon the exclusion of oxygen from the 
 provisions he preserved, nor is this principle included in the improved process still 
 practised, with such marked success, by the well known firm of Gamble, at Cork We 
 have had an opportunity of examining the air contained in perfectly sound canisters ol 
 Gambles provisions, and have constantly found it to afford distinct evidences of the 
 
MEATS, PRESERVED. 129 
 
 presence of oxygen gas, even in eases several years old. The quantity is, indeed, muoh 
 less than that in atmospheric air, but its existence is clear and undeniable. Hence we 
 must look for some other theory than that which refers putrefaction to the presence of 
 • uncombined oxygen, if we wish to speculate upou the modus operandi of Gamble's 
 method. Appert seems to have had a decided doubt as to the sufficiency of the oxygen 
 theory, for he tells us that "fire .'las a peculiar property, not only of changing the 
 combination of the constituent parts of vegetable and animal productions, but also of 
 retarding, for many yea™s at least, if not of destroying altogether, the natural tendency 
 of these same products to decomposition." And this opinion is confirmed from many 
 startling facts, which cannot be reconciled to the supposition that oxygen is the sole or 
 even principal agent of decomposition. Thus milk, which has been merely scalded, will 
 keep much longer from the effect of this process, even though freely exposed to, 01 
 purposely impregnated with, oxygen gas. All kinds of meat exhibit a similar result. 
 Again, very minute qualities of some mineral substances, as arsenic and corrosive sub- 
 limate, or of organic matters, such as creosote, naphtha, and the volatile oils, have the 
 same action when applied to meat or vegetables; and generally speaking, any thing 
 which will coagulate albumen has a preservative power upon organic substances. So 
 that oxygen appears to exert a decomposing force only when one or other of the forms 
 of soluble albumen is present. Now, the method of Appert, as improved by Gamble 
 (for the firm of Donkin, Hall, and Gamble no longer exists), is to render the albumen 
 of the meat or vegetable insoluble, and therefore scarcely, if at all, susceptible of the 
 action of atmospheric oxygen. By this means the total exclusion of air from the tin 
 cases is rendered unnecessary, for even if a small quantity of air remain in the case, it 
 will exert no more influence than happens to a piece of coagulated albumen, or hard 
 boiled white of egg, which, as is well known, maybe exposed to tt. ir for years without 
 sensible alteration,though in its uncoagulated state it immediitely putrefies. If, 
 therefore, we were desired in a few words to express the essential characteristics of 
 Gamble's process, it would not be by referring to the exclusion of air, but to the tho- 
 rough coagulation of the albumen, that we should look for a satisfactory description. 
 In this process the meat, more or less cooked, is placed, with a quantity of gravy, in 
 a tin vessel, capable of being hermetically sealed with solder; it is then heated, for 
 sometime in a bath of muriate of lime, and the aperture neatly soldered up. After this 
 it is again exposed to the action of the heated bath for a period, which varies with the 
 size and nature of the contents of the vessels ; and to prove that this latter operation is 
 really the most important of the whole, it sometimes happens that cases whieh have 
 begun to decompose are opened, resoldered, and again submitted to the muriate of 
 lime bath, with the most perfect success, as regards the ultimate result. There is, 
 however, no little difficulty in effecting the thorough coagulation of albumen by heat, 
 when, the quantity of albumen is small in proportion to the water present. A long 
 continued and rather high temperature is then needed ; more especially if vinegar or 
 lactic acid be present in the fluid, as these tend to retain the albumen in solution : 
 much must therefore depend upon practical experience ; and it is not improbable that a 
 heat in the bath but little higher than that of boiling water, would afford more uniform 
 results, than would be obtained with a boiling saturated solution of muriate of lime. 
 This subject will, however, be more fully discussed when speaking of Goldner's processes. 
 
 Although by no means free from occasional failures and certainly requiring im- 
 provement, the system of Gamble ha3 in practice worked well ; and provisions have 
 been kept in this way, for a period of more than twenty-six years, without the slight- 
 est alteration in their particular qualities ; and so well is this fact known and appre- 
 ciated by British naval officers in general, that few vessels now leave our ports with- 
 out at least a proper supply for cabin use. It was found by Sir John Eoss that a 
 number of those eases of these preserved provisions left for many years upon Fury 
 beach and exposed to excessive variations of temperature, were, nevertheless, perfectly 
 sound and wholesome as food when opened. 
 
 Guided probably by theoretical considerations, and too much impressed with the 
 necessity of excluding oxygen, a Mr. Goldner, some few years ago, adopted the idea 
 originally conceived by Sir Humphry Davy, of enclosing cooked provisions in a com- 
 plete vacuum. For this purpose the provisions, slightly cooked on the surface, were 
 enclosed in canisters, similar to those of Gamble, but stronger, and provided with a 
 small opening in the cover. At this moment a slight condensation was effected by 
 the application of a cold and damp rag or sponge, and simultaneously with this the 
 small opening was soldered up. In theory, nothing could seem better adapted to in- 
 sure success ; but, from the late parliamentary disclosures, it is evident that the prac- 
 tical working of the invention affords any things but a satisfactory result. Nor is there 
 much difficulty in conceiving how this may arise, as in the first place the application 
 of a sudden heat to non-conducting materials is almost certain to give rise to that 
 peculiar condition of water called the spheroidal state, and by which tho interior of 
 Vox, II. q 
 
 L- 
 
130 MEATS, PRESERVED. 
 
 the meat will be as thoroughly protected from the effect of heat as if no neat wen 
 applied. Hence, even though steam in abundance may issue from the small opening 
 in the cover, this is no proof that the meat in the centre of the vessel is even warmed ; 
 and still less docs it warrant the supposition that the soluble albumen is thoroughly 
 coagulatcd; and without which, as we have stated, preservation is scarcely possible. 
 But, in addition to this, the application of a damp rag, in the way described, is, of all 
 others, that by which a portion of air is most likely to be drawn into the vessel at the 
 very moment when its total expulsion is taken for granted ; and both these circum- 
 stances are more liable to happen with large than with small canisters. If, however, 
 the meat has been but partially cooked, in consequence of the water in it assuming the 
 spheroidal condition, and, at the same time, atmospheric oxygen is included, there can 
 be no manner of doubt that putrefaction will occur, and run its course with the same 
 rapidity as if no process whatever had been employed to prevent it. That water so situ- 
 ated in the substance of flesh is extremely prone to take on the form called spheroidal, 
 needs no other proof than that the human hand may be deliberately passed through 
 molten brass or iron with perfect impunity, and without even sensibly warming the 
 fingers, as illustrated by M. Boutigny. It is not, therefore, enough to expose -these 
 canisters of provisions to heat, unless that heat be so gradually applied as to prevent 
 the assumption of a spheroidal state by the watery portion of the food ; and we can- 
 not help thinking that much of the disappointment and loss, consequent upon this kind 
 of manufacture, has its origin in a want of attention to the above circumstance. 
 Where all power of circulation is prevented, as in the instance of these semi-solid 
 meats, the tendency of the part in immediate contact with the source of heat to ac- 
 quire a temperature capable of inducing the spheroidal condition, must be very great 
 indeed ; and hence, in speaking of the muriate of lime bath, employed by Gamble, we 
 took occasion to hint, that more uniform results might perhaps be obtained by a mo- 
 derate than by a high temperature. The probability is, that no advantage is gained 
 oy exceeding 220° Fahr. ; and viewing the subject chemically, even this seems too 
 high, where time is less an object than perfection of manufacture. 
 
 It now remains only to offer a few remarks on the cooking of animal food, and its 
 application to the wants of humanity. If flesh be digested for a short time in cold 
 water or brine, it parts with several of its most important constituents, and therefore 
 the practice of large and repeated washing is an unwise and foolishly fastidious opera- 
 tion. Cold water dissolves from meat its soluble phosphates, its lactie acid, its kreu- 
 tine, and kreatinine, as well as its albumen. Without these constituents, however, the 
 meat neither is nor can be fitted to supply the muscular wear and tear of the human 
 frame. In fact, one of these substances (kreatine) has evidently a singular connection 
 with muscular energy, as it exists in greatest quantity in the flesh of animals most 
 remarkable for muscular power and activity. To exclude it, therefore, is to introduce 
 an element of weakness in the dietary of our seamen, that cannot fail, in the long run, 
 to show itself; and henee the enormous prostration of strength which accompanies 
 the sea-scurvy ; for it happens that, as kreatine is soluble in brine, but little of this 
 valuable element remains in the contracted and solidified mass, known by the name 
 of salt junk, and employed as food in the Navy, upon much the same principle as 
 that ascribed to alligators, who swallow stones to appease the cravings of an empty 
 stomach. If, however, there is an error in the commencement of our Navy victual- 
 ling, there is still greater in the treatment of salt junk by its prejudiced and ill-in- 
 formed consumers. Having had its albumen and other valuable matters removed by 
 a cold solution of common salt, the junk is next deprived of its gelatine and osmazome 
 by the action of boiling water ; and this gelatine, which, with the kreatine and lactic 
 acid, would greatly facilitate the process of digestion, is thrown away as worthless • 
 and nothing but a hard mass of fibrine, scarcely, if at all, susceptible of assimilation 
 by the powers of the animal economy, remains to give the appearance of food to the 
 product, and, as it were, keep the word of promise to the eye, " to break it to the 
 hope." The following quotation from Liebig's Researches on the Chemistry of Food 
 may fitly occupy a place here : "It is obvious, that if flesh employed as food 'is again 
 to become flesh m the body — if it is to retain the power of reproducing itself in its 
 original condition— none of the constituents of raw flesh ought to be withdrawn from 
 it during its preparation for food. If its consumption be altered in any way— if one 
 of the constituents which belong essentially to its constitution be removed— a corres- 
 ponding variation must take place in the power of that piece of flesh to reassume in 
 the living body, the original form and quality on which its properties in the living c 
 crflnisrti dpneTid " Tt. follows fpnm tliic +liof Vinlla/l fl™l. *..! __i. -ii __ . ., ° 
 
 lepend. It follows from this, that boiled flesh when eaten without the soup 
 formtd in boiling it, is so much the less adapted for nutrition, the greater the quantitv 
 of water in which it has been boiled, and the longer the duration of the boiling 
 
 Under such circumstances, we cannot wonder that in spite of the acknowledged purity 
 of sea-water, disease to a large extent should prevail in our Navy, and that when an v 
 active malady makes its appearance, the mortality should greatly exceed that of the 
 
MELLITIO ACID. 131 
 
 army under similar circumstances. This is a more natural sequence of the system pur 
 sued with regard to provisions ; and so far from abandoning altogether the employment 
 of preserved meats from the casual putrefaction of a few cases, if seems to us that a 
 wise government would rather seek to run all this inconvenience, by calling in the aid 
 of science, than fall back into a supine condition, when the interest of the nation so 
 loudly calls for activity. After all, however, we can find no proof that these preserved 
 provisions have failed, except in the case of Goldner; for there are many other manu- 
 facturers, both in this country and in France, whose productions no more warrant 
 the ban of exclusion, than a trifling accident deserves to be deemed a deliberate 
 crime. If failure be a sufficient reason for interdicting further operations, how shall 
 we account for the persevering assiduity of our dock yard authorities in respect to 
 ship-building? We sincerely hope that the parliamentary committee, now sitting, 
 will not separate until the whole subject of preserved provisions has been fully and 
 impartially investigated in all its details. 
 
 MEDALS. For their composition, see Bkonze and Copfek. 
 
 The Industrial Exhibition of 1851 has called into requisition, among others, the 
 skilled labor of the medallist die-sinker. As a consequence, medals of all kinds and 
 prices are being produced. A medal die is thus formed : — Steel of an uniform texture 
 and kind being selected, it is forged, softened by annealing, and the face and check for 
 the collar turned. The design approved of, the die-sinker proceeds to cut away those 
 parts of the greatest depth by means of small chisels : the more minute details are 
 taken out by gravers, chisel-edged, and gauged steel tools fitted into wood handles very 
 short, and to fit the palm of the hand. As the work proceeds, proofs are taken in wax ; 
 when defective in form the cutting is corrected, deficient in relief, it is sunk deeper. 
 It will of course be borne in mind that, what will be relievo in the medal, is in 
 taglio in the die. The inscription is introduced by means of small letter-punches. 
 Then follows the hardening of the die, a stage of the business the most critical, as a 
 defect in the steel will at once be made apparent thereby, and the labor of months 
 rendered useless in a few minutes. If the die endures this, it has only another test, viz.,. 
 the making of a " hub," or copy of the die in steel, and used for the coirection of the 
 duplicate copies of the die. The danger in this case arises from the want of uniformity 
 of hardness. If irregular, one portion of the die must suffer, and become valueless. 
 
 Medal-making or stamping is thus carried on : — The press consists of a large and 
 close threaded screw, to the top of which a large wheel is attached horizontally. The 
 bed of the press is fitted with screws to secure the die in its place ; when this is done 
 the collar which gives the thickness of the medal is fitted on, the die forming the 
 reverse of the medal is attached to the screw ; a blank (a piece of metal cut out to 
 form the medal) is then introduced. Motion is imparted to the wheel, which operates 
 on the screw ; a blow is given, and if the impression is soft and shallow, a medal is 
 produced ; but if deep, repeated blows are given to bring the impression up. When 
 bronze or silver is the material in which the medal is to be produced, as many as 20 or 
 even 30 blows are necessary. The medal is then taken out of the press, the edge 
 turned, and the operation is complete. 
 
 By collar' die, is meant that portion which gives the thickness to the medal or coin 
 to be struck. All medal dies are of three parts, viz., the reverse, obverse, and collar. 
 The smaller class of dies are eut in steel entirely, the larger kinds for brass foundry 
 and other purposes are ''laid" or covered with steel on a foundation of iron. When 
 indentations occur, the die is what is called " fullered," or hollowed, and the steel 
 follows the same in a parallel thickness. 
 
 MEERSCHAUM (Germ. ; sea-froth, Eng. ; Ecume cle Iter Magnesie carbonatee sili- 
 cifire, Fr.), is a white mineral, of a somewhat earthy appearance, always soft, but 
 dry to the touch, and adhering to the tongue. Specific gravity, 2'6 to 3 - 4; affords 
 water by calcination ; fuses with difficulty at the blowpipe into a white enamel ; and 
 is acted upon by acids. It consists, according to Klaproth, of silica, 41 '5 ; magnesia, 
 1 8'25 ; water and carbonic acid, 39. Other analysts give, silica 50, magnesia 25, water 
 25. It occurs in veins or kidney-shaped nodules, among rooks of serpentine, at Egri- 
 bos, in the island of Hegropont, Eski-Schehir in Anatolia, Brussa at the foot of Mount 
 Olympus, at Baldissero in Piedmont, in the serpentine veins of Cornwall, &c. 
 
 When first dug up, it is soft, greasy, and lathers like soap ; and is on that account 
 used by the Tartars in washing their linen. The well known Turkey tobaeco-pipes 
 are made from it, by a process analogous to that for making pottery ware. The bowls 
 of the pipes, when imported inte Germany, are prepared for sale by soaking them first 
 in tallow, then in wax, and finally by polishing them with shave-grass. 
 
 MELLITE (Eng. and Fr. ; Honigstein, Germ.) See Honeystone. 
 
 MELLITIO ACID, which is associated with alumina in the preceding mineral, 
 crystallizes in small colorless needles, is without smell, of a strongly acid taste, perma 
 nent in the air, soluble in water and alcohol, as also in boiling hot concentrated sul- 
 phuric acid, but is decomposed by hot nitric acid, and consists of 50-21 carbon, and 
 
13 2 MERCURY. 
 
 49-79 oxygen. It is carbonized at a red heat, without the production of any inflamma. 
 
 " MELLON is a new compound of carton and azote, discovered by M. Liebig,by heating 
 ki-Tulpho-cyanide of mercury. The meUon remains at the bottom of the retort under the 
 
 f ° MENACHANITlf an ore of titanium, found in the bed of a rivulet which flows into 
 the valley Menacan, in Cornwall. . 
 
 MERCURY or QUICKSILVER. This metal is distinguished by its fluidity at com- 
 mon temperatures fits density=13-6 ; its silver blue lustre ; and its extreme mobility A 
 cold of 39° below zero of Fahrenheit, or -40= Cent., is required for its congelation m 
 which state its density is increased in the proportion of 10 to. 9, or it becomes of spec, 
 grav. 15-0. At a temperature of 656" F. it boils and distils off in an elastic vapor ; which, 
 being condensed by cold, forms purified mercury. 
 
 Mercury combines with great readiness with certain metals, as gold silver zinc, tin, 
 and bismuth, forming, in certain proportions, fluid solutions of these metals. Such mer- 
 curial alloys are called amalgams. This property is extensively employed in many arts 
 as in extracting gold and silver from their ores ; in gilding, plating, making looking-glasses, 
 &c Humboldt estimates at 16,000 quintals, of 100 lbs. each, the quantity of mercury 
 annually employed at his visit to America, in the treatment of the mines of New fcpam; 
 three fourths of which came from European mines. 
 
 The mercurial ores may be divided into four species : — . 
 
 1 Native quicksilver.— It occurs in most of the mines of the other mercurial ores, in 
 the form of small drops attached to the rocks, or lodged in the crevices of other ores. 
 
 2 Jrgental mercury, or native silver amalgam.— It has a silver white color, and is 
 more or less soft, according to the proportion which the mercury bears to the silver 
 Its density is sometimes so high as 14. A moderate heat dissipates the mercury, and 
 leaves th- silver. Klaproth states its constituents at silver 36, and mercury 64, in 100 ; 
 but Cordier makes them to be, 27£ silver, and 72| mercury. It occurs crystallized in a 
 variety ol forms. It has been found in the territpry of Deux-Ponts, at Rozenau and 
 Niderstana, in Hungary, in a canton of Tyrol, at Sahlberg in Sweden, at Kolyvan in 
 Siberia, and at Allemont in Dauphiny; in small quantity at Almaden in Spam, and at 
 Idria in Carniola. By the chemical union of Uys mercury with the silver, the amalgam, 
 which should by calculation have a spec. grav. of only 12-5, acquires that of 14-11, at- 
 cordins to M. Cordier. . ■,.-,<•• 
 
 3. Sulphuret of mercury, commonly called Cinnabar, is a red mineral ol various 
 shades; burning at the blowpipe with a blue flame, volatilizing entirely with the smell 
 of burning sulphur, and giving a quicksilver coating to a plate of copper held in the 
 fumes. Even the powder of cinnabar rubbed on copper whitens it. Its density varies 
 from 6-9 to 10-2. It becomes negatively electrical by friction. Analyzed by Klaproth, 
 it was found to consist of mercury 84-5, sulphur 14-75. Its composition, viewed as a 
 bisulphuret of mercury, is, mercury 86-2, sulphur 13-8. The finest crystals of sulphuret 
 of mercury come from China, and Almaden in Spain. These contain, according to Klap- 
 roth, 85 per cent, of mercury. ' 
 
 A bituminous sulphuret of mercury appears to be the base of the great exploration ol 
 Idria • it is of a dark liver-red hue ; and of a slaty texture, with straight or twisted plates. 
 It exists in large masses in the bituminous schists of Idria. M. Beurard mentions also 
 the locality of Mnnster Appel, in the dutchy of Deux-Ponts, where the ore includes im- 
 pressions of fishes, curiously spotted with cinnabar. 
 
 The compact variety of the Idria ore seems very complex in composition, according 
 to the following analysis of Klaproth : — Mercury, 81-8 ; sulphur, 13-75 ; carbon, 2-3 j 
 silica, 0-65 ; alumina, 0-55 ; oxyde of iron, 0-20 ; copper, 0-02 ; water, 0-73 ; in 100 parts. 
 M. Beurard mentions another variety from the Palatinate, which yields a large quantity 
 of bitumen by distillation ; and it was present in all the specimens of these ores analyzed 
 by me for the German Mines Company. At Idria and Almaden the sulphurets are ex- 
 tremely rich in mercury. 
 
 4. Muriated mercury, or the Chloride of mercury, commonly called Horn mercury. 
 This ore occurs in very small crystals of a pearl-gray or greenish-gray color, or in small 
 nipples which stud, like crystals, the cavities, fissures, or geodes among the ferruginous 
 "an^ues of the other ores of mercury. It is brittle, and entirely volatile at the blow-pipe, 
 characters which distinguish it from horn silver. 
 
 The geological position of the mercurial ores, in all parts of the world, is in the strata 
 which commence the series of secondary formations. Sometimes they are found in the 
 red sandstone above the coal, as at Menildot, in the old dutchy of Deux-Ponts, at 
 Durasno in Mexico, at Cuenca in New Granada, at Cerros de Gauzan and Upar in 
 Peru ■ in the subordinate porphyries, as at Deux-Ponts, San Juan de la Chica in Peru, 
 md at Cerro-del-Fraile, near the town of San Felipe ; they occur also among the strata 
 lelow, or subordinate to the calcareous formation, called zechstein. in Germany, or 
 
MERCURY. 138 
 
 among the accompanying bituminous schists, as at Idria in Carniola ; and, lastly, they 
 form masses in the zechstein itself. Thus, it appears that the mercurial deposites are 
 confined within very narrow geological limits, between the calcareous beds of zechstein, 
 and the red sandstone. They occur at times in carbonaceous nodules, derived from the 
 decomposition of mosses of various kinds ; and the whole mercurial deposite is occasion- 
 ally covered with beds of charcoal, as at Durasno. 
 
 They are even sometimes accompanied with the remains of organic bodies, such as 
 casts of fishes, fossil shells, silicified wood, and true coal. The last fact has been 
 observed at Potzberg, in the works of Drey-Koenigszug, by M. Brongniart. These 
 sandstones, bituminous schists, and indurated clays, contain mercury both in the state of 
 sulphuret and in the native form. They are more or less penetrated with the ore, form- 
 ing sometimes numerous beds of very great thickness ; while, in the more ancient or 
 the primitive formations, these ores exist only in very small quantity associated with tin. 
 Mercury is, generally speaking, a metal sparingly distributed in nature, and its mines are 
 very rare. 
 
 The great exploitations of Idria in Friuli, in the county of Goritz, were discovered in 
 1497, and the principal ore mined there is the bituminous sulphuret. The workings 
 of this mine have been pushed to the depth of 280 yards. The product in quicksilver 
 might easily amount annually to 6000 metric quintals=600 tons British ; but, in order to 
 uphold the price of the metal, the Austrian government has restricted the production to 
 150 tons. The memorable fire of 1803 was most disastrous K these mines. It was ex- 
 tinguished only by drowning all the underground workings. The sublimed mercury in 
 this catastrophe occasioned diseases and nervous tremblings to more than 900 persons in 
 the neighborhood. 
 
 Pliny has recorded two interesting facts : 1. that the Greeks imported red cinnabar 
 from Almaden 700 years before the Christian era ; and 2. that Rome, in his time, annu- 
 ally received 700,000 pounds from the same mines. Since 1827, they have produced 
 22,000 cwts. of mercury every year, with a corps of 700 miners and 200 smelters ; and, 
 indeed, the veins are so extremely rich, that though they have been worked pretty con- 
 stantly during so many centuries, the mines have hardly reached the depth of 330 yards, 
 or something less than 1000 feet. The lode actually under exploration is from 14 to 16 
 yards thick; and it becomes thicker still at the crossing of the veins. The totality of the 
 ore is extracted. It yields in their smelting works only 10 per cent, upon an average, 
 but there is no doubt, from the analysis of the ores, that nearly one half of the quicksilver 
 is lost, and dispersed in the air, to the great injury of the workmen's health, in conse- 
 quence of the barbarous apparatus of aludels employed in its sublimation ; an apparatus 
 which has remained without any material change for the better since the days of the 
 Moorish dominion in Spain. M. Le Play, the eminent Ingenieur des Mines, who published, 
 in a recent volume of the Annales des Mines, his Itineruire to Almaden, says, that the 
 mercurial contents of the ores are notabkment plus elevles than the product. 
 
 These veins extend all the way from the town of Chillon to Almadenejos. Upon 
 the holders of the streamlet Balde Azogues, a black slate is also mined which is abun- 
 dantly impregnated with metallic mercury. The ores are treated in 13 double fur- 
 naces, which I shall presently describe. " Le mercure," says M. Le Play, " a sur la 
 sante des ouvriers la plus funeste influence, et 1' on ne peut se defendre d' un sentiment 
 penible en voyant 1' empressement avec lequel des jeunes gens, pleins de force et de 
 sante, se disputent la faveur d' aller chercher dans les mines, des maladies cruelles, et 
 souvent une mort premaluree. La population des mineurs d' Almaden meritent le plus 
 haut interet." These victims of a deplorable mismanagement are described as being a 
 laborious, simple-minded, virtuous race of beings, who are thus condemned to breathe 
 an atmosphere impregnated far and near with the fumes of a volatile poison, which 
 the lessons of science, as I shall presently demonstrate, might readily repress, with the 
 effect of not only protecting the health of the population, but of vastly augmenting the 
 revenues of the state. 
 
 These celebrated mines, near to which lie those of Las Cuebas and of Almadenejos, 
 were known to the Romans. After having been the property of the religious knights of 
 Calatrava, who had assisted in expelling the Moors, they were farmed ofl' to the celebrated 
 Fugger merchants of Augsbourg; and afterwards explored on account of the government, 
 from the date of 1645 till the present' time. Their produce was, till very lately, entirely 
 appropriated to the treatment of the gold and silver ores of the new world. 
 
 The mines of the Palatinate, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, though they do not 
 approach in richness and importance to those of Idria and Almaden, merit, however, all 
 the attention of the government that farms them out. They are numerous, and varied ir. 
 geological position. Those of Drey-Koenigszug, at Potzberg, near Kussel, deserve par- 
 ticular notice. The workings have reached a depth of more than 220 yards ; the oje be- 
 ng a sandstone strongly impregnated with sulphuret of mercury. The produce of these 
 nines is estimated at about 30 tons per annum. 
 
134 
 
 MERCURY. 
 
 There are also in Hungary, Bohemia, and several other parts of Germany, some incon- 
 eiderable exploitations of mercury, the total produce of which is valued at about 30 or 40 
 tons on an average of several years. 
 
 The mines of Guancavelica, in Peru, are the more interesting, as their products are 
 directly employed in treating the ores of gold and silver, which abound in that portion! 
 of America. These quicksilver mines, explored since 1570, produced, up to 1800, 53,706 
 tons of that metal ; but the actual produce of the explorations of these countries was, 
 according to Helms, about the beginning of this century, from 170 to 180 tons per 
 annum. 
 
 In 1782, recourse was had by the South American miners to the mercury extracted in 
 the province of Yun-nan, in China. 
 
 The metallurgic treatment of the quicksilver ores is tolerably simple. In general, 
 when the sulphuret of mercury, the most common ore, has been pulverized, and some- 
 times washed, it is introduced into retorts of cast-iron, sheet-iron, or even stoneware, in 
 mixture with an equal weight of quicklime. These retorts are arranged in various 
 ways. 
 
 Prior to the 17th century, the method called per desccnmm was the only one in use 
 for distilling mercury ; and it was effected by means of two earthen pots adjusted over 
 each other. The upper pot, filled with ore, and closed at the top, was covered over with 
 burning fuel; and the mercurial vapors expelled by the heat, passed down through small 
 holes in the bot'om of the pot, to be condensed in another vessel placed below. 
 However convenient this apparatus might be, on account of the facility of transporting 
 it, whe' ever the ore was found, its inefficiency and the losses it occasioned were eventu- 
 ally recognised. Hence, before 1635, some smelting works of the Palatinate had given 
 up the method per dcscensum, which was, however, still retained in Idria j and they sub- 
 stituted for it the furnaces called galleries. At first, earthenware retorts were employed 
 in these furnaces ; but they were soon succeeded by iron retorts. In the Palatinate this 
 mode of operating is still in use. At Idria, in the year 1750, a great distillatory appa- 
 ratus was established for the treatment of the mercurial ores, in imitation of those which 
 previously existed at Almaden, in Spain, and called aludel-furnaces. But, since 1794, 
 these aludels have been suppressed, and new distillatory apparatus have been constructed 
 at Idria, remarkable only for their magnitude ; exceeding, in this respect, every other 
 metallurgic erection. 
 
 There exist, therefore, three kinds of apparatus for. the distillation of mercury : 1. the 
 furnace called a gallery; 2. the furnace with aludels; and 3. the large apparatus of 
 Idria. I shall describe each of these briefly, in succession. 
 
 1. Furnace called Gallery of the Palatinate. — The construction of this furnace is dis- 
 posed so as to contain four ranges, a a', b b', of large retorts, styled cucurbits, of cast-iron, 
 in which the ore of mercury is subjected to distillation. This arrangement is shown in 
 fig. 889, which presents a vertical section in the line a b of the ground plan,_/ig. 890. In 
 the ground plan, the roof e e' of the furnace (fig. 889) is supposed to be. lifted off, in 
 order to show the disposition of the four ranges of cucurbits upon the grate c f, 
 figs. 889, 890, which receives the pit-coal employed as fuel. Under this grate extends 
 an ash-pit d. Fig. 891, which exhibits an elevation of the furnace, points out this 
 ash-pit, as well as one of the two doors c, by which the fuel is thrown upon the grate 
 
 889 
 
 890 
 
 c /. Openings e e, (fig. 889,) are 
 left over the top arch of the fur- 
 nace, whereby the draught of air 
 may receive a suitable direction. 
 The grate of the fireplace extends 
 over the whole length of the fur- 
 nace, fig. 890, from the door c to 
 the door f, situated at the opposite 
 extremity. The furnace called gal- 
 lery includes commonly 30 cucurbits, 
 and in some establishments even 
 52. Into each are introduced from 
 56 to 70 pounds of ore, and 15 to 
 18 pounds of quicklime, a mixture 
 which fills no more than two thirds 
 of the cucurbit; to the neck a 
 stoneware receiver is adapted, con- 
 taining water to half its height. 
 The fire, at first moderate, is eventually pushed till the cucurbits are red hot. The 
 operation being concluded, the contents of the receivers are poured out into a wooden 
 bowl placed upon a plank above a bucket ; the quicksilver falls to the bottom of 
 the bowl, and the water draws over the black mercury, for so the substance that coats 
 
MERCURY. 
 
 135 
 
 the inside of the receivers is called. This is considered to be a mixture of sulplmret 
 and oxyde of mercury. The black mercury, taken out of the tub and dried, is distilled 
 anew with excess of lime ; after which the residuum in the retorts is thrown away, as 
 useless. 
 
 Aludel furnaces of Mmaden. — Figs. 892 and 893 represent the great furnaces with 
 aludels in use at Almaden, and anciently in Idria ; for between the two establisnments 
 there was in fact little difference before the year 1794. Figs. 892 and 895 present two 
 vertical sections ; figs. 893 and 894 are two plans of two similar furnaces, conjoined in 
 
 one body of brickwork. In the four 
 figures the following objects are to be 
 remarked : a door a, by which the wood 
 is introduced into the fire-place 6. This 
 is perforated with holes for the passage 
 of air ; the ash-pit c is seen beneath. 
 An upper chamber, d, contains the mer- 
 curial ores distributed upon open arches, 
 which form the perforated sole of 
 this chamber. Iiunediately over these 
 arches, there are 'piled up, in a dome 
 form, Ifcirge blocks of a limestone, very 
 poor in quicksilver ore; above these 
 are laid blocks of a smaller size, then 
 ores of rather inferior quality, and 
 stamped ores mixed with richer mine- 
 rals. Lastly, the whole is covered up 
 with soft bricks, formed of clay kneaded 
 with schlich, and with small pieces of 
 sulphuret of mercury. Six ranges of 
 ■ aludels or stoneware tubes//, of a pear 
 shape, luted together with clay, are 
 mounted in front of each of the two fur- 
 naces, on a double sloping terrace, having 
 in its lowest middle line two gutters t v, 
 a little inclined towards the intermediate wall m. In each range the aludel placed at the 
 line t m v of fig. 893 that is to say, at the lowest point, g, figs. 892, 895, is pierced with 
 
 894 
 
 a hole. Thereby the mercury which had been volatilized in d, if it be already condensed 
 by the cooling in the series of aludels / g, may pass into the corresponding gutter, next 
 
 895 
 
 into the hole m, fig. 893, and after that into the wooden pipes h h',fig. 892, which con- 
 duct it across the masonry of the terrace into cisterns filled with water; see q,fig. 894, 
 which is the plan of fig. 895. 
 The portion of mercury not condensed in the range of aludels,/ g, which is the most 
 
136 
 
 MERCURY. 
 
 considerable, goes in the state of vapor, into a chamber k ; but in passing under a 
 partition I I, a certain portion is deposited in a cistern i, filled with water. The greater 
 part of the vapors diffused in the chamber k' is thereby condensed, and the mercury 
 falls down upon the two inclined planes which form its bottom. What may still exisl 
 as vapor passes into an upper chamber fe', by a small chimney n. Cn one cf the sides 
 of this chamber there is a shutter which may be opened at pleasure from below upwards, 
 and beneath this shutter, there is a gutter into which a notable quantity of mercury 
 collects. Much of it is also found condensed in the aludels. These facts prove that this 
 process has inconveniences which have been tried U e remedied by the more extensive 
 but rather unchemical grand apparatus of Idria. 
 
 Details of the aludel apparatus : 25 are set in each of the 12 ranges, seen in. fig. 894. 
 constituting 300 pear-shaped stoneware vessels, open at both ends, being merely thrust into 
 one another, and luted with loam. What a multitude of joints, of which a great many 
 must be continually giving way by the shrinkage of the luting, whereby the mercurial 
 fumes will escape with great loss of product, to poison the air ! 
 
 a, is the door of the fire-place ; c, the perforated arches upon which the ore is piled in 
 the chamber c, through the door d, and an orifice at top ; the latter being closed during 
 the distillation ; // are vents for conducting the mercurial vapors into two chambers i, 
 separated by a triangular body of masonry mn; h is the smoke chimney of the fire-place; 
 i) o, are the ranges of aludels, in connexion with the chamber j, which are laid slantingly 
 towards the gutter q, upon the double inclined plane terrace, and terminate in the 
 chamber h q ; this being surmounted by two chimneys t. The CPicury is collected in 
 these aludels and in the basins at } and p, fig. 894. r is a thin s.one partition set up 
 between the two principal walls of each of the furnaces, v is the stair of the aludel ter- 
 race, leading to the platform which surmounts the furnace ; z is a gutter for conducting 
 away the rains which may fall upon the buildings. 
 
 Great apparatus of ldria. — Before entering into details of this laboratory, it will not 
 be useless to recapitulate the metallurgic classification of the ores treated in it. 1. the 
 »res in large blocks, fragments, or shivers, whose size varies from a cubic foot to that of 
 a nut. 2. The smaller ores, from the size of a nut to (hat of grains of dust. 
 
 The first class of large ores comprises three subdivisions, namely ; a, blocks of metal- 
 liferous rocks, which is the most abundant and the poorest species of ore, affording only 
 one per cent, of mercury; b, the massive sulphuret of mercury, the richest and rarest ore, 
 yielding 80 per cent, when it is picked ; r, the fragments or splinters proceeding from the 
 breaking and sorting, and which vary in value, from 1 to 40 per cent. 
 
 The second class of small ores comprises : d, the fragments or shivers extracted from the 
 mine in the state of little pieces, affording from 10 to 12 per cent. ; e, the kernels of ore 
 separated on the sieve, yielding 32 per cent. ; /the sands and paste called schlich, obtain- 
 ed in the treatment of the poorest ores, by means of the stamps and washing tables ; 
 100 parts of this schlich give at least 8 of quicksilver. 
 
 The general aspect of the apparatus is indicated by figs. 896, 89*7, and 898. Fig. 89S 
 
 represents the exterior, but only on« 
 half, which is enough, as it resembles 
 exactly the other, which is not shown. 
 In these three figures the following ob- 
 jects may be distinguished ; figs. 896, 
 897, a, door of the fire-place; 6, the 
 furnace in which beech-wood is burned 
 mixed with a little fir-wood; c, door 
 of the ash-pit, extended beneath; d, 
 a space in which the ores are deposited upon the seven arches, 1 to 7, as indicated in 
 figs. 896, and 899 ; c e, brick tunnels, by which the smoke of the fuel and the vapors of 
 merenry pass, on the one side, into successive chambers/ fe. 
 
 897 
 
 £e£',:',jfc£ itl 
 
 
 & ssESm 
 
 3BBE 
 
 
 fghijklare passages which permit the circulation of the vapors from the furnace 
 lb cd, to the chimneys 1 1. Figs. 896 and 897 exhibit clearly the distribution of these 
 
MERCURY. 
 
 137 
 
 openings on each side of the same furnace, and in each half of the apparatus, which is 
 double, as fig. 897 shows ; the space* without letters being in every respect similar to the 
 spaces mentioned below. Fig. 897 is double the scale of fig. 896. 
 
 m m', fig. 897, are basins of reception, distributed before the doors of each of the 
 chambers/ kf k'. The condensed mercury which flows out of the chambers is conveyed 
 thither, n n' is a trench into which the mercury, after being lifted into the basins m, is 
 poured, so that it may run towards a common chamber o, in the sloping direction 
 indicated by the arrows, o leads to the chamber where the mercury is received into a 
 porphyry trough ; out of which it is laded and packed up in portions of 50 or 100 lbs. 
 in sheep-skins prepared with alum, pp', fig. 896, are vaulted arches, through which a 
 circulation may go on round the furnace a b c d, on the ground level, q q' are the vaults 
 of the upper stories, r r', fig. 898, vaults which permit access to the tunnels e' e", 
 fig. 896. - ' " 
 
 s s' and t t',fig. 898, are the doors of the chambers/ k and/ 7c'. These openings are 
 shut during the distillation by wooden doors faced with iron, and luted with a mrartar of 
 clay and lime, u u' is the door of the vaults 1 to 7 of the furnace represented in 
 fig. 896. These openings are hermetically shut, like the preceding. vv',fig. 896, are 
 superior openings of the chambers, closed duing the operation by luted plugs ; they are 
 opened afterwards to facilitate the cooling of the apparatus, and to collect the mercurial 
 soot, x y z, fig. 899, are floors which correspond to the doors u n' of the vaults 1 to 7, 
 
 899 
 
 fig. 898. These floors are reached by stairs set up in the different parts of the building, 
 which contains the whole apparatus. 
 
 On the lower arches the largest blocks of metalliferous rock are laid ; over these the 
 less bulky fragments are arranged, which are covered with the shivers and pieces of less 
 dimension. On the middle vaults, the small ore is placed, distributed into cylindrical pip- 
 kins of earthenware, of 10 inches diameter and 5 inches depth. The upper vaults receive 
 likewise pipkins filled with the sands and pastes called schlich. 
 
 In 3 hours, by the labor of 40 men, the two double sets of apparatus are charged, and 
 all the apertures are closed. A quick fire of beech-wood is then kindled ; and when the 
 whole mass has become sufficiently heated, the sulphuret of mercury begins to vapor- 
 ize ; coming into contact with the portion of oxygen which had not been carbonated, 
 by combustion, its sulphur burns into sulphurous acid, while the mercury becomes free, 
 passes with the other vapors into the chambers for condensing it, and precipitates in the 
 liquid form at a greater or less distance from the fire-place. The walls of the chambers 
 and the floors, with which their lower portion is covered, are soon coated over with a 
 black mercurial soot, which, being treated anew, furnishes 50 per cent, of mercury. The 
 distillation lasts from 10 to 12 hours ; during which time the whole furnace is kept at 
 a cherry-red heat. A complete charge for the two double apparatus, consists of from 
 1000 to 1300 quintals of ore, which produce from 80 to 90 quintals of running mercury. 
 The furnace takes from 5 to 6 days to cool, according to the state of the weather ; and 
 if to that period be added the time requisite for withdrawing the residuums, and attend- 
 ing to such repairs as the furnace may need, it is obvious that only one distillation can be 
 performed in the course of a week. 
 
 In the works of Idria, in 1812, 56,686 quintals and a half of quicksilver ores were dis- 
 tilled, after undergoing a very careful mechanical preparation. They afforded 4832 quin- 
 tals of running mercury j a quantity corresponding to about 8| per cent, of the ore. Thes* 
 smelting works are about 180 feet long and 30 feet high. 
 
 Upon the preceding three systems of smelting mercurial ores, I shall now make some 
 observations. 
 
 It has been long well known, that quicksilver may be most readily extracted from 
 cinnabar, by heating it in contact with quicklime. The sulphur of the cinnabar com- 
 
138 
 
 MERCURY. 
 
 bines, by virtue of a superior affinity with the lime, to the exelnsion of the quicksilver, 
 to form sulphurets of lime and calcium, both of which being fixed hepars, remain in the 
 retort while the mercury is volatilized by the heat. In a few places, hammerschlag, 01 
 the iron cinder, driven off from the blooms by the tilting hammer, has been used' instead 
 of'lime in the reduction of this mercurial ore, whereby sulphurous acid and sulphuret of 
 iron are formed. 
 
 The annual production of the Bavarian Rhine provinces has been estimated at from 
 400 to 550 quintals ; that of Almaden, in the year 1827, was 22,000 quintals ; and of 
 Idria. at present, is not more than 1500 quintals. 
 
 All the plans hitherto prescribed for distilling the ore along with quicklime, are re- 
 markably rude. In that practised at Landsberg by Obermoschel, there is a great waste 
 of labor, in charging the numerous small cucurbits ; there is a great waste of fuel in the 
 mode of heating them ; a great waste of mercury by the imperfect luting of the retorts 
 to the receivers, as well as the imperfect condensation of the mercurial vapors ; and 
 probably a considerable loss by pilfering. 
 
 The modes practised at Almaden and Idria are, in the greatest degree, barbarous ; the 
 ores being heated upon open arches, and the vapors attempted to be condensed by enclo- 
 sing them within brick or stone and mortar walls, which can never be rendered either 
 sufficiently tight or cool. 
 
 To obviate all these inconveniences and sources of loss, the proper chemical arrange- 
 ments suited to the present improved state of the arts ought to be adopted, by which 
 labor, fuel, and mercury, might all be economized to the utmost extent. The only 
 apparatus fit to be employed is a series of cast-iron cylinder retorts, somewhat like 
 those employed in the coal gas works, but with peculiarities suited to the condensation 
 of the mercurial vapors. Into each of these retorts, supposed to be at least one foot 
 square in area, and 7 feet long, 6 or 7 cwts. of a mixture of the ground ore with the 
 quicklime, may be easily introduced, from a measured heap, by means of a shovel. 
 The specific gravity of the cinnabar being more than 6 times that of water, a cubic foot 
 of it will weigh more than 3J cwts. ; but supposing the mixture of it with quicklime 
 (when the ore does not contain the calcareous matter itself) to be only thrice the 
 density of water, then four cubic feet might be put into each of the above retorts, and 
 still leave 1 J cubic feel of empty space for the expansion of volume which may take place 
 in the decomposition. The ore should certainly be ground to a moderately fine powder, 
 by stamps, iron cylinders, or an edge wheel, so that when mixed with quicklime, the cin- 
 nabar may be brought into intimate contact with its decomposer, otherwise much of it will 
 be dissipated unproductively in fumes, for it is extremely volatile. 
 
 Figs. 900, 901, 90'', represent a cheap and powerful apparatus which I contrived at 
 the request of the German Mines Company of London, and which is now mounted at 
 Landsberg, near Obermoschel, in the Bavarian Rhein-Kreis. 
 
 Fig. 900, is a section parallel to the front elevation of three arched benches of retorts, 
 
 900 
 
 or the size above specified. Each bench contains 3 retorts, of the form represented by 
 a a t. i, is the single fire-place or furnace, capable of giving adequate ignition by 
 coal or wood, to the three retorts. The retorts were built up in an excellent manner, 
 by an English mason perfectly acquainted with the best modes of erecting coal-^aa 
 -etorts, who was sent over on purpose. The path of the flame and smoke is precisely 
 similar to that represented in fig. 670, page 847, whereby the uppermost retort is 
 immersed in a bath of uniformly ignited air, while the currents reverberated from the 
 op, play round the two undermost retorts, in their way to the vent-flues beneath 
 
MERCURY. 
 
 130 
 
 them. The bottom of the uppermost retort is protected from the direct impulse of the 
 flame by iire-tiles. The dotted lines k k, show the paths of the chimneys which rise at 
 the back ends of the retorts. 
 In the section, Jig. 901, a is the body of the retort ; its mouth at the right hand end 
 901 is shut, as usual, by a luted iron lid, secured 
 
 with a cross-bar and screw-bolts ; its other 
 end is prolonged by a sloping pipe of cast 
 iron, 4 inches in diameter, furnished with a 
 nozzle hole at L, closed with a screw plug. 
 Through this hole a wire rammer may 
 be introduced, to ascertain that the tube is 
 pervious, and to cleanse it from the mer- 
 curial soot, when thought necessary, c, is 
 a cross section of the main condenser, shown 
 in a longitudinal section at c o, fig. 902. 
 This pipe is 18 inches in diameter, and 
 about 20 feet long. At a a, &c, the back 
 ends of the retorts are seen, with the 
 slanting tubes b b, &c, descending through 
 orifices in the upper surface of the con- 
 denser pipe, and dipping their ends just 
 below the water-line h i. g, is the cap of 
 a water valve, which removes all risk from 
 sudden expansion or condensation. The 
 condenser is placed within a rectangular trough, made either of wood or stone, through 
 which a sufficient stream of water passes to keep it. perfectly cool, and repress every 
 tract of mercurial vapor, and it is laid with a slight inclination from i to h, so that the 
 condensed quicksilver may spontaneously flow along its bottom, and pass through the 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ft 
 
 (Z 
 
 a 
 
 * j& 
 
 ■=t 
 
 HJ=tHJ=lH.-j 
 
 ok\ 
 
 c 
 
 J u u u u 
 
 ^1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 4J:u 
 
 vertical tube d into the locked up iron chest, or magazine e. This tube D is from the 
 beginning closed at bottom, by immersion in a shallow iron cup, always filled with mer- 
 cury, k is a graduated gauge rod, to indicate the progressive accumulation of quicksilvei 
 in the chest, without being under the necessity of unlocking it. 
 
 This air-tight apparatus was erected about a year ago, and has been found to act 
 perfectly well ; I regret, however, that my professional engagements at home have not 
 hitherto permitted me to conduct its operations personally for some days. The average 
 samples of cinnabar ore from Obermoschel are ten times poorer than those of Almaden. 
 Were such an apparatus as the above, with some slight modifications which have lately 
 occurred to me, mounted for the Spanish mines, I am confident that their produce in 
 quicksilver might be nearly doubled, wilh a vast economy of fuel, labor, and human 
 life. The whole cost of the 9 large retorts, with their condensing apparatus, iron 
 magazine, &c, was very little more than two hundred pounds ! As the retorts are kept 
 in a state of nearly uniform ignition, like those of the gas works, neither they nor 
 the furnaces are liable to be injured in their joints by the alternate contractions and 
 expansions, which they would inevitably suffer if allowed to cool ; and being always 
 ready heated to the proper pilch for decomposing the mercurial ores, they are capable 
 of working off a charge, under skilful management, in the course of 3 hours. Thus, 
 in 24 hours, with a relay of laborers, 8 charges of at least 5 cwts. of ore each, 
 might be smelted =2 tons, with 3 retorts, and 6 tons *vith 9 retorts; wilh a daily 
 product from the rich ores of Almaden, or even Idria, of from 12 cwts. to 20 cwts. 
 Instead of 3 benches of 3 retorts each, I would recommend 15 benches, containing 45 
 retorts, to be erected for either the Almaden or Idria mines ; which, while they would 
 smelt all their ores, could be got for a sum not much exceeding WOOL, an outlay which 
 they would reimburse within a month or two. , 
 
 The following letter from Dr. Tobin gives an interesting account of the mercuna, 
 
 mines in California. 
 
140 MERCURY. 
 
 " That part of California where I have been residing, and that which I have just visited, 
 consists of three long ranges of trapp mountains, with two wide valleys dividing them, 
 the valley of the San Joaquin, and the valley of Santa Clara. Near this last place are 
 the quicksilver mines of New Almaden, where I have been working. The matrix of the 
 cinnabar ore is the same trapp of which the mountain ranges are composed, and as yet 
 only one great deposit of this ore has been found, though traces of quicksilver ores have 
 been discovered in other places. The ores are composed solely of sulphuret of mercury, 
 (averaging 36 per cent), red oxide of iron and silica; and had the mine been properly 
 worked from the commencement al most any quantity of ore might be extracted ; it now, 
 however, more resembles a gigantic rabbit warren than amine. The owners have lately 
 sent out an old German miner, an experienced and practical man, who, if he stays here, 
 will eventually put it into some kind of order. Its greatest depth is about 150 feet, and 
 the weekly extraction of ores varies from 100 to 150 tons. Upon arriving here I found 
 the concern in such a state of disorganization, that, after waiting three months in vain, 
 and not having received a single cylinder or piece of machinery, I returned to Mexico 
 to fetch up one of the proprietors. During my absence the former director, who in his 
 life had never seen a mine, much less smelting works, put up four of the cylinders, sup- 
 porting them solely upon their two ends without any fire-brick guards or pillars. Of 
 course, when heated they sunk or sagged in the middle. Upon my return with one of 
 the owners, something like order was established by him, and I got 16 cylinders at 
 Trork, producing 1400 to 1500 lbs. daily. The result to me was satisfactory, but not 
 so to the proprietor, on account of the expense of fuel and labor; he accordingly got a 
 blacksmith, who had been sent here to put np the water-wheel, to build him a small 
 furnace, without consulting me at all. This man sent a friend of his, not liking to come 
 himself, to look at the plans I had of the furnaces of Idria and Almaden, and then 
 erected a small and miserable furnace to hold one ton of ore, upon a disimproved plan 
 of those of Idria. With this he obtained from the richest ores (65 to 72 per cent.) 38 
 per cent, of mercury, of course with the consumption of very little wood and with little 
 labor; (the loss of per centage was not thought about I) The proprietor immediately 
 determined to have six similar furnaces built, and with great regret allowed me to 
 erect one good furnace, and afterwards a second one. 
 
 " N ow take the results of the year's work, and you can judge whether the report sent you 
 is true or not, that the Yankee blacksmith has superseded me or not. Before the year was 
 half out, he got tired of attempting to compete with my furnaces, and left in disgust. 
 
 The cylinders produced - - - 251,616 lbs. Mercury 
 
 (but were stopped in November on account 
 of expense of working) 
 
 The first furnace, working only from November 1st to 
 
 July 1st, 1851, gave - 620,513 
 
 The second furnace, working only from March 18th to 
 
 July 1st* gave - 383,825 
 
 Total 1,255,954 
 
 " The product of the Yankee's six furnaces, working for a much longer period, as 
 they went into operation long before mine, was only 544,000 lbs., making a'total pro- 
 duct for the year of about 18,000 quintals." 
 
 Quicksilver is a substance of paramount value to science. Its great density and its 
 regular rate of expansion and contraction by increase and diminution of temperature, 
 give it the preference over all liquids for filling barometric and thermometrie tubes. In 
 chemistry it furnishes the_ only means of collecting and manipulating, in the pneumatic 
 trough, such gaseous bodies as are condensible over water. To its aid, in tins respect, 
 the modern advancement of chemical discovery is pre-eminently due. 
 
 This metal alloyed with tin-foil forms the reflecting surface of looking-glasses, and 
 by its ready solution of gold or silver, and subsequent dissipation by a moderate heat, 
 it becomes the great instrument of the arts of gilding and silvering copper and brass. 
 The same property makes it so available in extracting these precious metals from their 
 ores. The anatomist applies it elegantly to distend and display the minuter vessels of 
 the lymphatic system, and secretory systems, by injecting it with a syringe through all 
 their convolutions. It is the basis of many very powerful medicines, at present proba- 
 bly too indiscriminately used, to the great detriment of English society; for it is far 
 more sparingly prescribed by practitioners upon the continent of Europe, not other- 
 wise superior in skill or science to those of Great Britain. 
 
 The nitrate of mercury is employed for the secretage of rabbit and hare-skins, that is, 
 for communicating to fur of these and other quadrupeds the faculty of felting, which 
 they do not naturally possess. _ "With this view the solution of that salt is applied to 
 them lightly in one direction with a sponge. A compound amalgam of zinc and tin ia 
 probably the best exciter which can be applied to the cushions of electrical machines 
 
MERCURY. 14] 
 
 _ The only mercurial compounds -which are extensively used in the arts, are factitious 
 cinnabar or Vermilion, and corrosive sublimate. Quantity imported for home con- 
 sumption in 1850, 355,079 pounds; in 1851, 27,370 pounds. 
 
 A large quantity of mercury or quicksilver is annually produced in Idria, a town 
 in the duchy of Carniola, the inhabitants of which are chiefly occupied in its extrac- 
 tion. The quicksilver mines are extremely productive. The cinnabar ore yields 
 when very rich, 50 per cent, of this metal. This ore is a sulphuret of mercury, and 
 gives up the latter metal by sublimation. 
 
 With the quicksilver mines of Idria is connected a manufactory of vermilion, which 
 produced, in the year 1847, 981 cwt. of that pigment. The residue of the q-uieksilvei 
 is used up to some small extent, about 300 cwt., for technical purposes and prepara- 
 tions; but the greater portion of it is sent abroad. The exports of quicksilver 
 amounted to an annual average of 2,341 cwt. (in the year 1846 they reached 5,478 
 cwt.), and of preparations derived from it, such as corrosive sublimate, calomel, etc., 
 to 41 cwt. By the consumption of quicksilver, for the manufacture of vermilion and 
 for other technical purposes, the value of the annual produce of the raw material is 
 greatly increased. The mines have been worked for upwards of three centuries and 
 a hal^ and were originally discovered by an accident. 
 
 MERCURY, BICHLORIDE OF ; Corrosive sublimate (1 eutochlorure de mercure, Fr. ; 
 detzendes quecksilber sublimat, Germ.), is made by subliming a mixture of equal parts of 
 persulphate of mercury, prepared as above described, and sea-salt, in a stoneware cucur- 
 bit. The sublimate rises in vapor, and incrusts the globular glass capital with a white 
 mass of small prismatic needles. Its specific gravity is 5-14. Its taste is acrid, stypto- 
 metallic, and exceedingly unpleasant. It is soluble in 20 parts of water, at the ordinary 
 temperature, and in its own weight of boiling water. It dissolves in 2J times its weight 
 of cold alcohol. It is a very deadly poison. Raw white of egg swallowed in profusion 
 is the best antidote. A solution of corrosive sublimate has been long employed for pre- 
 serving soft anatomical preparations. By this means the corpse of Colonel Morland was 
 embalmed in order to be brought from the seat of war to Paris. His features remained 
 unaltered, only his skin was brown, and his body was so hard as to sound like a piece of 
 wood when struck with a hammer. 
 
 In the valuable work upon the dry rot, published by Mr. Knowles, secretary of the 
 committee of inspectors of the navy, in 1821, corrosive sublimate is enumerated amon" 
 the chemical substances which had been prescribed for preventing the dry rot in timber"; 
 and it is well known that Sir H. Davy had, several years before that date, used and 
 recommended to the Admiralty and Navy Board, corrosive , sublimate as an anti-dry ro! 
 application. It has been since extensively employed by a joint-stock company for the 
 same purpose, under the title of Kyan's patent. 
 
 MERCURY, PROTOCHLORIDE OF; Calomel; (Protochlorure de mercure, Fr.; 
 Versilsstes quecksilber, Germ.) This compound, so much used and abused by medical 
 practitioners; is commonly prepared by triturating four parts of corrosive sublimate along 
 with three parts of running quicksilver in a marble mortar, till the metallic globules 
 entirely disappear, with the production of a black powder, which is to be put into a glass 
 balloon, and exposed to a subliming heat in a sand bath. The calomel, which rises in 
 vapor, and attaches itself in a crystalline crust to the upper hemisphere of the balloon, 
 is to be detached, reduced to a fine powder, or levigated and elutriated. 200 lbs. of mer- 
 cury yield 236 of calomel and 272 of corrosive sublimate. 
 
 The following more economical process is that adopted at the Apothecaries' Hall, 
 London. 140 pounds of concentrated sulphuric acid are boiled in a cast iron pot upon 
 100 pounds of mercury, till a dry persulphate is obtained. Of this salt, 124 pounds are 
 triturated with 81 pounds of mercury, till the globules disappear, and till a protosulphate 
 be formed. This is to be intimately mixed with 68 pounds of sea-salt, and the mixture, 
 being put into a large stone-ware cucurbit, is to be submitted to a subliming heat. See 
 Calomel. 
 
 From 190 to 200 pounds of calomel rise in a crystalline cake, as in the former pro- 
 cess, into the capital ; while sulphate of soda remains at the bottom of the alembic. 
 The calomel must be ground to an impalpable powder, and elutriated. The vapors, 
 •instead of being condensed into a cake within the top of the globe or in a capital, may be 
 allowed to diffuse themselves into a close vessel, containing water in a state of ebulli 
 tion, whereby the calomel is obtained at once in the form of a washed impalpable 
 powder. Calomel is tasteless and insoluble in water. Its specific gravity is 7'176. 
 
 For the compound of mercury with fulminic acid, see Fulminate. Periodide of 
 mercury is a bright but fugitive red pigment. It is easily prepared by dropping a so- 
 lution of iodide of potassium into a solution of corrosive sublimate, as long as any pre- 
 cipitation takes place, decanting off the supernatant muriate of potash, washing and 
 drying the precipitate. 
 
 Mercury; new test for, by Mr. Morgan of Dublin. If a strong solution of iodide of 
 potassium be added to a minute portion of any of the salts of mercury, placed on s 
 
 I 
 
142 METALLIC ANALYSIS. 
 
 bright clean plate of copper, the mercury is immediately deposited in the metallic state 
 as a silvery stain upon the copper. JSo other metal is separated by like means. By 
 this method corrosive sublimate may be detected in a drop of solution unaffected 
 either by caustic potash or iodide of potassium. In a mixture of calomel and sugar, in 
 the proportion of one grain to 200, a distinct metallic stain will be obtained with one 
 grain, which of course contains 55-ir of a grain of calomel. In like manner j-J^j- of a gram 
 of peroxide of mercury may be detected, although the mixture with sugar is not in the 
 least colored by it. With the preparations of mercury in the undiluted state, this 
 process acts with remarkable accuracy, the smallest quantity of calomel or peroxide, 
 placed on copper as above, will give with iodide of potassium a distinct metallic stain, 
 Mr. Morgan supposes that the iodide of potassium forms a soluble salt with the several 
 salts of mercury, which is easily decomposed. — Ph. Journ., Feb. 1852. 
 
 METALLIC ANALYSIS. Professor Liebig has lately enriched this most useful 
 department of practical chemistry, by the employment of the cyanide of potassium 
 prepared in his economical method (see this article). This salt is the best reagent for 
 detecting nickel in cobalt. The solution of the two metals being acidulated, the cyanide 
 is to be added until the precipitate that first falls is redissolved. Dilute sulphuric acid 
 is then added, and the mixture being warmed and left in repose, a precipitate does not 
 fail to appear sooner or later, which is a compound of nickel. Cyanide of potassium 
 serves well to separate lead, bismuth, cadmium, and copper, four metals often associated 
 in ores. On adding the cyanide in excess to the solution of these metals in nitric acid, 
 lead and bismuth fall as carbonates, and may be parted from each other by sulphuric' 
 acid. Sulphuretted hydrogen is passed in excess through the residuary solution, and 
 the mixture being heated, a small quantity of cyanide is added : a yellow precipitate in- 
 dicates cadmium; and a black precipitate falls on the' addition of hydrochloric acid, if 
 copper be present. 
 
 If into a crucible (containing the cyanide fused by heat), a little of any metallic ox- 
 ide be thrown at intervals, it will be almost immediately reduced to the reguline state 
 When the fluid mass is afterward decanted, the metal will be found mixed with the 
 white saline matter, from which it may be separated by water. 
 
 Even metallic sulphurets are reduced to the state of pure metals by being projected 
 in a state of fine powder into the fused cyanide. When an iron ore is thus introduced, 
 along with carbonate of potash or soda, and the mixture is heated to fusion, which re- 
 quires a strong red heat, the alumina and silica of the ore fuse into^l slag ; from which, 
 on cooling, the metallic iron may be separated by the action of water, and then weighed. 
 If manganese exist in the ore, it remains in the state of protoxide ; to be determined by 
 a separate process. When oxide of copper is sprinkled on the surface of the fused cy- 
 anide, it is immediately reduced, with the disengagement of heat and light. The mix- 
 ture being poured out of the crucible and concreted, is to be ground and washed, when 
 a pure regulus of copper will be obtained. 
 
 The process of reduction is peculiarly interesting with the oxide of an*imony and tin ; 
 being accomplished at a low red heat, hardly visible in daylight. Even the sulphurets 
 of these metals are immediately stripped of their sulphur, with the formation of sulpho- 
 cyanide of potassium. 
 
 Cyanide of potassium, mixed with carbonate of soda, is an excellent re-agent in blow- 
 pipe operations for distinguishing metals. The reductions take place with the utmost 
 facility, and the fused mixture does not sink into the charcoal, as carbonate of soda 
 alone is apt to do in such cases. Hence the grains or beads of metal are more visible, 
 and can be better examined. 
 
 When the cyanide is heated along with the nitrates and chlorates (of potash), it causes 
 a rapid decomposition, accompanied with light and explosions. • 
 
 Arsenic may be readily detected in the commercial sulphuret of antimony, by fusing 
 it with three fourths of its weight of the cyanide in a porcelain crucible over a spirit 
 lamp, when a regulus of antimony is obtained. The metal may then be easily tested 
 for arsenic, since none of this volatile substance can have been lost, owing to the \ov 
 temperature employed. 
 
 When arsenious acid, or orpiment, or any of the arseniates, are mixed with six times 
 their weight of the mixture of cyanide and carbonate of soda in a tube with a bulb at 
 one end, and heat applied with a spirit lamp to the glass, very beautiful rings of me- 
 tallic mirror are formed by the reduced arsenic. The arseniates of lead and peroxide 
 of iron, however, do not answer to this test. 
 
 When sulphates of lead and barytes, along with silica, are mixed with four or five 
 times their weight of the aoove mixed cyanide and carbonate, and fused, the sulphate 
 of lead is reduced to the metallic state, the sulphate of barytes becomes a carbonate, and 
 the silica gets combined with the alkali into a soluble glass. 
 
 METALLIC FUMES (CONDENSTATION OF), by the Duke of Buecleugh.—ln all 
 great smelting works of lead and copper, the smoke rising from the furnaces is highly 
 charged with the most noxious vapors, containing, besides other poisonous matter, n 
 
METALLIC STATISTICS. 143 
 
 large quantity of lead. Many attempts have been made to obviate this nuisance; and 
 the system adopted by the exhibitor lias been found to be very successful. 
 
 An oblong building in solid masonry, about 30 feet in height, is divided by a parti- 
 tion wall into two chambers, having a tall chimney or tower adjoining, which commu- 
 nicates with one of the chambers at the bottom. The smoke from the various furnaces, 
 eight in number, and about 100 yards distance from the condenser, is carried by separ- 
 ate flues into a large chamber; from thence by a larger flue it enters the first chambei 
 of the condenser at the very bottom, and is forced upwards in a zigzag course towards 
 the top, passing four times through a shower of water constantly percolating from a 
 pierced reservoir at the summit of the tower. The smoke is again compelled to filter 
 a fifth time, through a cube of coke, some 2 feet square, through which a stream of 
 water filters downwards, and which is confined to its proper limits by a vertical grat- 
 ing of wood. The smoke having reached the top, is now opposite the passage into the 
 second or vacuum chamber. 
 
 This is termed ihe exhausting chamber, and is above 5 feet by 1 feet inside, and 30 
 or more feet in height. On its summit is fixed a large reservoir, supplied by an ample 
 stream of water, always maintaining a depth of 6 to 10 inches. 
 
 The bottom of this tank is of iron, having several openings or slots, 12 in number, 
 about an inch in width, and extending across the whole area of the reservoir, commu- 
 nicating directly with the chamber beneath. On this iron plate worKs a hydraulic 
 slide plate, with openings corresponding in one position with those in the reservoir. 
 
 This plate receives a horizontal reciprocating motion from a water-wheel or other 
 power, driven by means of a connecting-rod and crank. 
 
 In the middle of every stroke, the openings in the plate correspond with those in the 
 bottom of the reservoir, and a powerful body of water falls as a shower-batn the whole 
 height of the vacuum chamber; and, in doing so, sweeps the entire inside area, carry- 
 ing with it every particle of insoluble matter, held suspended in the vapors coming 
 from the furnaces. 
 
 The atmospheric pressure, of course, acts in alternate strokes as a blast at the fur- 
 nace mouths, and causes a draft sufficiently strong to force the impure vapors through 
 the various channels in connection with the water, the wet coke and exhausting cham- 
 bers, until it passes, purified and inert, into the open atmosphere. 
 
 The water saturated with particles of lead, ifec, held in mechanical solution, finally 
 passes into great dykes or reservoirs excavated for the purpose ; and then deposits at 
 leisure its rich charge of metal. 
 
 Formerly the noxious fumes passing from the shafts of the furnaces poisoned the 
 neighborhood; the heather was burnt up, vegetation destroyed, and no animal could 
 graze or bird feed near the spot. 
 
 Now, the green heather is seen in all its native luxuriance close around the establish- 
 ment ; and the sheep graze within a stone's throw of the chimney's base, and game on 
 all sides take shelter. 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. The county of Cornwall is the most important mineral 
 district of the United Kingdom for the number of its metalliferous minerals, many ol 
 which are not found in any other part of our islands. At a very early period of our 
 history, mines were worked around the sea-coasts of Cornwall, of which the evidences 
 are still to be seen at Tol-pedden-Penwitb, near .the Land's End; in Gwennap, near 
 Truro ; and at Cadgwith, near the Lizard Point. The traditionary statements that the 
 Phoenicians traded for tin with the Britons in Cornwall are very fairly supported by 
 corroborative facts ; and it is not improbable that the lctes or Iktis of the ancients was 
 St. Michael's Mount, near Penzance. 
 
 In the reign of King John, the mines of the western portion of England appear to 
 have been principally in the hands of the Jews. The modes of working must have 
 been very crude, and their metallurgical processes exceedingly rough. From time to 
 time the remains of furnaces, called Jew's houses, have been discovered, and small blocks 
 of tin, known as Jew's tin, have not unfrequently been found in the mining localities. 
 Till a comparatively recent date, tin was the only metal which was sought for ; and 
 in many eases, the mines were abandoned when the miners came to the yellows, that is, 
 the yellow sulphuret of copper. The greatest quantity of tin has been produced by 
 streaming (as washing the debris in the valleys is termed) ; and this variety, called stream 
 tin, produces the highest price in the market. 
 
 The conditions under which these deposits occur are curious and instructive. At the 
 Carnon Tin Stream Works, north of Falmouth, the rounded pebbles of tin are found at 
 a depth of about 50 feet from the surface, beneath the bottom of an estuary, where trees 
 are discovered in their places of growth, together with human skulls, and the remains 
 of deer, amidst the vegetable accumulations which immediately cover the stanniferous 
 beds. According to Mr. Henwood's measurement, the section presents fii'Bt about 50 
 feet of silt and gravel; then a bed of 18 inches in thickness of wood, leaves, nuts, &a.. 
 resting on the tin ground, composed of the debris of quartz, slate, and granite, and the 
 
144 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 tin ore. At the Pentuan Works, near St. Austell, similar deposits ocour, proving a 
 material alteration in the level during the period expended in the formation of this de- 
 posit. Tin is also worked out of the lode in many parts, the ore occurring both in the 
 slate and the granite formations. The modes of dressing the tin ore, preparing it for 
 the smelter, and the process of smelting, are illustrated in the Exhibition. 
 
 There has been a remarkable uniformity in the quantity of tin produced in Cornwall 
 during a long period, as will be seen from the following table: — 
 
 Tears. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Price per cwt. 
 
 
 
 £, a. 
 
 1750 
 
 1,600 
 
 
 1760 
 
 1,800 
 
 
 1770 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 1780 
 
 1,800 
 
 3 
 
 1790 
 
 2,000 
 
 3 15 
 
 1800 
 
 1,500 
 
 5 
 
 1810 
 
 1,400 
 
 7 
 
 1820 
 
 1,700 
 
 3 5 
 
 1830 
 
 3,500 
 
 3 
 
 1840 
 
 5,000 
 
 3 15 
 
 rhe produce of this metal within the last few years has been as follows : — 
 
 Tears. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1844 
 
 7,507 
 
 1845 i 
 
 7,739 
 
 1846 
 
 8,945 
 
 1847 J 
 
 10,072 
 
 1848 
 
 10,176 
 
 1849 
 
 10,719 
 
 The produce of zinc is not easily attainable, but it is now somewhat considerable, as 
 is also that of arsenic, and of the iron pyrites, used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. 
 The number of individuals employed in 59 Cornish copper mines was computed by 
 Sir Charles Lemon in 1837, to be — 
 
 Men - 10,624 
 
 Women - 3,802 
 
 Children - - 3,490 
 
 The men alone work underground ; the women and children are employed on the 
 surface picking and dressing the ore. 
 Mr. W. Henwood estimates the number employed at — 
 
 Men - - 18,472 
 
 Women - 5,764 
 
 Children - - 5,764 
 
 30,000 
 
 Tin appears to have been raised in Cornwall from a very early period. Traditionary 
 evidence, supported by strong corroborative facts, appears to prove that the kingdoms 
 around the Mediterranean Sea were supplied with. tin from Cornwall by the Phoenician 
 merchants at a very early date. The circumstance of this metal being found in the 
 beds of Btreams, and in deposits at the base of the primary rooks, from which it could 
 be obtained without much labor, may have been the cause of its being early known to 
 the Britons. 
 
 The oxide of tin is usually found deposited in beds in water-worn pebbles, and mixed 
 with the debris of the neighboring hills. There can be but little doubt that these tin 
 deposits are the result of the disintegrating action of the atmospheric causes and of 
 water. Some of the tin beds, 30 or 50 feet from the present surface, contain vegetable 
 matter, as branches of trees and large logs of wood ; and at Carnon Stream Works, 
 human skulls were discovered amidst the debris, 53 feet below the surface. Tin is also 
 found in the lode, either as peroxide, cupreous-sulphuret of tin, or tin pyrites, the 
 analysis of the peroxide giviDg peroxide of tin, 96'265; silica, 0'750; peroxide of iron 
 and manganese, 3'395. 
 
 Many indications of early tin-mining are to be found in Cornwall, as stated in pre- 
 ceding note. For many centuries the Duke of Cornwall drew a large revenue from its 
 tin. The tin, when smelted into blocks, was forwarded to the nearest coinage town, 
 there to be stamped by the duchy officers, who cut a piece of the corner of each block, 
 which was retained as the duchy's dues. In 1337, Edward the Black Prince was cre- 
 ated Duke of Cornwall, and then the averago profit of the coinage was 4,000 marks 
 
METALLIC STATISTICS. 145 
 
 per annum. In 1814, the revenues to the duchy from tin Was about 8,500?., and the 
 average tin revenue from 1820 to the abolition of the coinages in October, 1838, has 
 been estimated at 12,000?. per annum. In 1750, about 2,000 tons of tin were produced 
 in Cornwall, and in 1838, about 5,000. Since that period the quantity can be accu- 
 rately ascertained, the trade in tin being in the hands of a few, and the purchases of ore 
 being usually made by private contract. 
 
 By the returns to five several orders made by the House of Commons, which were 
 obtained by the exertions and perseverance of Sir J. J. Guest, Sir C. Lemon, and Mr. 
 Evans (M. P. for North Derbyshire), we are enabled to lay before our readers a most 
 correct account of the various exports and imports of iron and iron ore, hardware, cutlery, 
 &e.., copper ore, tin, zinc, lead ore, and lead, for the year ending Jan. 5, 1844. 
 
 Commencing with iron, it appears there was imported in the year, iron ore, 131 
 tons; chromate of iron, 1393 tons; pig-iron, 243 tons; nnwrought iron in bars, 
 12,795 tons; bloom, 563 tons; rod-iron, 12 tons; old, broken, and east-iron, 286 
 tons ; cast-iron, only 8 tons ; steel, unwrought, 1697 tons — of these, 97 tons only 
 were entered by weight, the remainder by value, 11035?. 6s. 9d Of the several 
 countries from which these importations came, the principal is Sweden, whence we 
 have received of iron 10,909 tons, and steel 1558 tons, leaving but a small portion to 
 divide between twenty other places. Our exports of foreign iron have been, unwrought, 
 in bars, 3986 tons ; rod, 10 tons ; hoops, 2 tons ; cast-iron, 11 cwt. ; steel, unwrought, 
 1456 tons. The total quantity of foreign iron retained for home consumption was 
 14,782 tons, upon which the net amount of duty was 14,563?. The exportation of 
 that staple produce of our own country, British iron, was as follows : — Bar-iron, 
 176,148 tons; bolt and rod, 22,625 tons; pig-iron, 154,770 tons; cast-iron, 16,449 
 tons; iron wire, 1508 tons; wrought-iron, consisting of anchors, grapnels, &a., 3058 
 tons; hoops, 14,591 tons; nails, 6020 tons; and all other sorts, except ordnance, 
 44,577 tons; old iron for manufacture, 5924 tons; and unwrought steel, 3199 tons. 
 Those places which have taken the greatest portions of this produce are — Russia, 
 10,963 tons of bar-iron; Denmark, 10,447 tons bar, and 7010 tons pig; Prussia, 12,009 
 tons bar, 17,480 tons pig; Germany, 13,298 tons bar, 6322 tons pig, 1339 tons cast; 
 Holland, 17,509 tons bar, 75,953 tons pig; 4317 tons cast; Belgium, 4270 tons cast; 
 France, 4237 tons bar, 22,103 tons pig ; Italy, 21,930 tons bar, 3982 tons bolt and 
 rod, 3005 tons pig; Turkey, and Continental Greece, 6412 tons bar; East Indies 
 and Ceylon, 20,620 tons bar, 2967 tons bolt; British North American Colonies, 6837 
 tons bar, 1995 tons cast; Foreign West Indies, 5Q43 tons bar, 1646 tons cast; and to 
 the United States, 21,336 tons bar, and 7148 tons pig. The largest quantity of 
 unwrought steel has been to the latter place — viz. 1336 tons. 
 
 Of British hardware and cutlery, we exported in the year 17,183 tons, valued at 
 1,745,518?. ; the principal of which has been — to Germany, 1237 tons, value 159,889?. ; 
 East Indies, 1402 tons, value 142,607?. ; British North American Colonies, 1129 tons, 
 value 102,260?.; British "West Indies, 997 tons, value 80,040?.; Foreign West Indies, 
 657 tons, value 48,609?. ; United States, 4282 tons, value 448,341?. ; Brazil, 943 tons, 
 value, 80,070?. ; and divers other places, varying from 100 to 500 tons. 
 
 We now come to copper. Of foreign copper ores, we have imported 55,720 tons, 
 and of metallic copper, unwrought and wrought plates, and coins, 805 tons. Of the 
 ores, the greatest quantities have come from Cuba and Chili. 
 
 We have exported 1819 tons of British, and 650 tons of foreign tin — of which 
 France has taken 626 tons, Russia 480 tons, Italy 183 tons, Turkey 250 tons, and the 
 remainder distributed among twenty-seven places. 
 
 Of foreign zinc, we have imported as follows: — 
 
 Countries from whence imported. 
 Denmark 
 Prussia 
 Germany 
 Holland 
 Belgium 
 Syria and Palestine 
 
 Total import of foreign zinc Tons 10,173 4 3 23 
 
 Of this, we retained for home consumption 4102 tons, on which the nett duty was 
 223?. 2s Wd.; and we have exported 1395 tons of British, and 6445 tons of foreign spelter. 
 Of foreign lead, we have imported 2863 tons — of which 2775 tons were pig and 
 sheet, 68 tons ore, and 19 tons white lead; 157 ton3 were retained for home con- 
 sumption, on which the duty was 165?.; and we imported from the Isle of Man, duty 
 free, 2415 tons of lead ore. Our exportation of foreign lead amounted to 2439 tons — 
 while of British, we exported, 176 tons of ore, 14,610 tons pig and sheet, 378 tons 
 litharge, 707 tons red lead, and 1224 tons white lead — making a total of 17,097 tons. 
 — Raiiway and Commercial Gazette, May 18, 1S44. 
 Vol. II. 10 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Cwt Qrs. 
 
 Lba, 
 
 268 
 
 19 2 
 
 21 
 
 6860 
 
 15 3 
 
 22 
 
 3000 
 
 1 2 
 
 11 
 
 20 
 
 3 2 
 
 1 
 
 21 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 

 
 
 
 An Account of Sales, by Public Ticketing, of the British and Foreign Copper Ores in Corn wal* and Swansea, from the 30th of June, 1832, to the 80th of "g 
 June, 1849, showing the Averages of the per Centage of Produce in Metal Prices, computed Quantities of Fine Copper, with General Averages, Total o 
 Pioduce in Metal, and Money Yalue of the whole. Also giving the Yalue of Ore computed to produce a Ton of Copper. 
 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 
 
 
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 £ 
 953,717 
 1,021,723 
 1,117,393 
 1,29T,T7Y 
 1,257,590 
 1,339,103 
 1,530.294 
 1,466/770 
 1,691,197 
 1,631,053 
 1,609,659 
 1,697,814 
 1,595,850 
 1,635,700 
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 15.4S9 
 14,783 
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 19|511 
 20,277 
 19,274 
 20,788 
 22,855 
 22.5S8 
 22,236 
 20,823 
 21,514 
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 95,008 
 188,821 
 223,990 
 340,025 
 338,976 
 481,823 
 597,996 
 674,012 
 871,248 
 808,182 
 805,218 
 882,563 
 759,999 
 748,915 
 676,069 
 629,660 
 604,245 
 
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 9 17 6 
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 1,158 
 1,580 
 2,833 
 3,849 
 8,960 
 5,906 
 7,296 
 8,473 
 
 10,290 
 9,878 
 9,862 
 
 11,108 
 
 10,349 
 9,788 
 8,857 
 8,645 
 9,011 
 
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 13,101 
 1S,112 
 28,771 
 84,366 
 84,216 
 42,931 
 49,474 
 56,279 
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 56,821 
 60,554 
 65,520 
 62,950 
 64,987 
 53,284 
 50,731 
 49,135 
 
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 858,709 
 887,902 
 893,403 
 957,752 
 918,614 
 857,780 
 932,298 
 792,758 
 819,949 
 822,871 
 804,446 
 815,246 
 835,351 
 886,785 
 830,739 
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 716,917 
 
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 11,185 
 11,225 
 12,272 
 11,640 
 10,823 
 11,527 
 12,451 
 11,038 
 9,987 
 9,896 
 10,926 
 11,247 
 12,239 
 12,448 
 11,966 
 12,870 
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 138,800 
 143,296 
 150,617 
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 146,688 
 159,551 
 147,266 
 135,090 
 135,531 
 144.S06 
 152,667 
 157,000 
 158,918 
 148,674 
 155,616 
 144,983 
 
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 *B O 
 
 -* 
 
 i!0 
 
 CM 
 
 o 
 
 lO 
 
 9 
 
 <0 
 
 
 CR 
 
 ■ 
 
 r-l 
 
 iH 
 
 iH 
 
 
 rH 
 
 
 So 
 
 cfl » 
 
 lO 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 ■"* 
 
 L0 
 
 
 +3 
 
 ■d 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ph 
 
 -ti 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C rrj 
 
 _fl 
 
 3 . 
 
 'S 
 
 . 
 
 rH 
 
 ■H 
 
 t- 
 
 <N 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 4J 
 
 ll 
 
 ■a" E& 
 
 CO 
 
 ■4* 
 
 o 
 
 C4 
 
 CO 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 So 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .3 
 
 o o 
 
 
 
 1-1 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 ^g 
 
 <* 
 
 
 rH 
 
 •*# 
 
 xH 
 
 ia 
 
 •* 
 
 
 t^o 
 
 £j 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C3 CS 
 P CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "^H 
 
 *" CO 
 
 »o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 CM 
 
 co 
 
 &% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s* 
 
 Ss 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CD 
 
 
 « 
 
 f 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 <« a. 
 
 =a t-i 
 
 tH 
 
 1-1 
 
 T-l 
 
 r-l 
 
 TH 
 
 jij 
 
 to 
 O 
 
 I" 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Qj"S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 2 
 
 A. 
 
 PS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 P- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i: 1 * 3 
 
 -d 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "w 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •~m £3 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <^) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^s 
 
 ■r 
 
 ti 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OJ 
 
 >> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •S-S 
 
 CD 
 
 "s 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 g-a 
 
 io 
 
 
 <U3 
 
 CO 
 
 -•* 
 
 CSJ 
 
 
 e u 
 
 <S 
 
 3 
 
 1H 
 
 c^ 
 
 o 
 ■_-.' 
 
 CO 
 
 io 
 
 CO 
 CI 
 
 
 31 
 
 CM 
 
 3 
 
 co" 
 
 '■'■ 
 o 
 
 CD 
 
 CO 
 CO" 
 CI 
 
 I's 
 
 •3 
 O 
 
 1" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i-T 
 
 of 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 §3 
 
 T3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 _g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CS^ 
 
 C 
 c3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 _« 
 
 "S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CS 5 
 
 "c3 
 
 1<5 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fi 
 
 §o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 £8" 
 
 += 
 
 OJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J2 
 
 o «> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S"3 
 
 cc 
 
 
 
 
 »o 
 
 o 
 
 CM 
 
 CJ 
 
 CM 
 
 '3 
 
 
 CO 
 
 tH 
 
 o 
 
 CI 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 p 
 
 S.9 
 
 
 
 j.Ti 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 
 CO 
 
 Ph 
 
 
 V 
 
 lO 
 
 o 
 
 OJ 
 
 CO 
 
 °P 
 
 
 <1 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 Ci 
 
 OS 
 
 rH 
 
 -# 
 
 CM 
 
 
 
 -1 
 
 ca 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 CN 
 
 jS 
 
 b|j_2 
 
 CM 
 
 C4 
 
 1-1 
 
 CM 
 
 CM 
 
 CM 
 
 a. 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ ** 
 
 a> 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 p* ^ 
 
 o 
 
 S"3 
 
 1! 
 
 a 
 o 
 H 
 
 cu 
 
 8 
 
 l-O 
 
 1-1 
 
 •■J-J 
 
 Cv 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 I— 
 
 to_ 
 
 O 
 
 P. 
 
 o 
 O 
 
 |P 
 
 ll 
 
 in 10 
 a w 
 o -I-T 
 
 O 
 Ci 
 
 co" 
 
 r-l 
 
 CM 
 
 I- 
 
 CQ 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 lO 
 HO 
 
 £5 
 
 o 
 
 g i 
 
 
 |z; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 S 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 & 5 
 
 u 
 
 CD 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "5 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s s 
 
 Ph 
 Oh 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .o 
 PR 
 
 ft 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 *4-l 
 o 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 I— 
 
 <n 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 i-l 
 
 - «H 
 
 o 
 
 Cfi 
 
 
 . o 
 
 )3 CO 
 
 
 CJ 
 
 3 
 
 CI 
 
 1. 
 
 L0 
 HO 
 
 CO « 
 CO <u 
 
 to 
 
 5« 
 
 O 
 
 1- 
 
 co 
 
 o 
 
 CO" 
 
 to" 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 *"5 
 
 
 E-* o 
 
 co" 
 
 
 O 
 
 co" 
 
 o" 
 to 
 
 <p 1=1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ bO 
 
 '.P 
 
 p. 
 ft 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (=1 
 
 CM 
 ft 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 eg 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 g<2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 +^ 
 
 
 « 
 
 
 CO 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 co 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 tj 
 
 CO 
 
 5 
 
 1T3 
 
 
 K; 
 
 'ea 
 
 is 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 co 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 
 tH 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CW 
 
 "o 
 
 H ^3 
 
 
 r* 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 TH 
 
 *" 
 
 rt 
 
 &H 
 
 
 
 r-l 
 
 
 
 
 E-i 
 
 O « 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r-l 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
[136J 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 Imports of Foreign Copper and Copper Ore into the United Kingdom from 1832 tr 
 
 1849, inclusive. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 ba 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copper manufactures. 
 
 lb 
 
 Copper 
 nnwrouglit. 
 
 
 Part 
 wrought. 
 
 
 Platen and 
 Coin. 
 
 
 Old for remnnufac- 
 
 ture. 
 
 Ore. 
 
 
 
 £* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 T. 
 
 ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. 
 
 Ct qr. lb. 
 
 T. 
 
 ct qr. 
 
 lb. 
 
 T. 
 
 ct qr. 
 
 lb. 
 
 T. ct qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct qr.lbJ £ & d. 
 
 1833 
 
 
 . — . 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 25 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 2,258 6 
 
 IMS 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 2 1 
 
 22 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 2,883 18 6 
 
 1834 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 . — . 
 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 2,345 2 10 
 
 1835 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 6 3 4 1,555 6 
 
 1S36 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — . 
 
 1 13 2 2 2,28T 16 
 
 1837 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 1 5,914 16 4 
 
 1888 
 
 
 — . 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 — . 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 1 3,601 13 
 
 1839 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 2 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2(1 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 6 2,543 19 
 
 1840 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 12 4 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 7 2 
 
 2 
 
 — . 
 
 — 
 
 1.S97 14 
 
 1841 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 o 2 o ; 
 
 — 
 
 1,780 3 6 
 
 1842 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 1 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 1 1 25 
 
 — 
 
 1,451 6 
 
 1S43 
 
 
 1 
 
 . — 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 9 2 1 14 
 
 — 
 
 1,936 6 
 
 1844 
 
 il 
 
 IS 1 15 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 13 3 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 — , 
 
 2,7SS 4 10 
 
 1845 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 12 3 
 
 14 
 
 2 1 19 
 
 1 15 10 
 
 2.318 18 11 
 
 1S46 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 ' 3 15 
 
 — 
 
 2,894 19 2 
 
 1847 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 1 
 
 5 
 
 US 4 
 
 — 
 
 3,059 2 7 
 
 1S48 
 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 9 2 
 
 20 
 
 32 4 12 
 
 114 
 
 2,841 10 
 
 1849 
 
 94 
 
 14 23 . 9 
 
 7 14 
 
 
 ~ 
 
 
 
 
 18 1 
 
 4 
 
 45 6 
 
 " 
 
 2,704 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 1 
 
 1884 
 
 
 
 9 3 15 
 
 
 
 2 8 19 
 
 
 
 13 8 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 10 2 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 1,518 4 
 
 1885 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1 8 11 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 2 
 
 10 
 
 — 
 
 4 3 8 
 
 2,161 10 4 
 
 1886 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 3 2 8 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 9 8 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 5 19 1 20 
 
 2,903 19 6 
 
 1887 
 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 11 8 8 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 3 
 
 19 
 
 8 8 2 25 
 
 2S 2 2 
 
 2,061 5 2 
 
 1838 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 3 7 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 14 
 
 2 19 
 
 12 22 
 
 1,211 13 41 
 
 1839 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 15 2 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 5 3 
 
 17 
 
 125 18 27 
 
 1 4 2 19 
 
 1,866 8 2 
 
 1840 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 5 2 14 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 2 
 
 6 
 
 — 
 
 3 15 
 
 318 12 
 
 1841 
 
 
 — . 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 21) 
 
 — 
 
 10 17 1 7 
 
 827 2 6 
 
 1842 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 8 3 
 
 21 
 
 33 
 
 28 IS 21 
 
 249 11 
 
 1848 
 
 
 — . 
 
 
 
 2 28 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 12 14 8 20 
 
 557 7 6 
 
 1844 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1 8 7 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 5 3 2 
 
 101 6 6 
 
 1S45 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 6 2 23 
 
 1 
 
 14 8 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 12 3 
 
 8 
 
 — 
 
 6 1 16 
 
 204 
 
 1846 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 1 
 
 10 15 1 17 
 
 295 
 
 1847 
 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 17 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 11 14 2 21 
 
 402 4 
 
 1S4S 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 10 9 
 
 
 
 18 2 
 
 18 
 
 5 
 
 IS 2 
 
 25 
 
 — 
 
 24 2 24 
 
 520 6 
 
 1849 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 6 1 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 14 8 
 
 6 
 
 
 ' 
 
 1,152 5 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 
 1S82 
 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 _ 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 7 
 
 1S33 i 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 . — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 2 5 
 
 1S81 ! 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 6 5 
 
 1835 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 — 
 
 
 2 7 1 20 
 
 9 5 
 
 1836 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 2 3 
 
 14 
 
 — 112 
 
 ISO 
 
 1837 13 
 
 18 1 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 1 17 22 24 B 
 
 183S 41 
 
 1 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 ■ — 
 
 
 16 11 2 2 4 19 
 
 18 
 
 1S39 
 
 — 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 — v 
 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 1S40 4 
 
 15 8 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 — 
 
 
 SO 19 12 — 
 
 18 18 
 
 1S41 
 
 5 2 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 20' 
 
 — 
 
 
 102 13 1 14 — 
 
 1 19 
 
 1S42 
 
 — 
 
 
 __ 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10' 
 
 — 
 
 
 245 10 24 
 
 
 
 28 8 
 
 1S13 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2' 
 
 — 
 
 
 824 9 1 4 
 
 
 
 
 1S44 
 
 2 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 °i „ 
 
 — ■ 
 
 
 305 17 8 24 
 
 2 14 17 
 
 159 
 
 1845 
 
 
 
 8 1 26 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 1 ° 
 
 8 1 
 
 24 558 10 8 8 
 
 14 2 3 
 
 10 10 
 
 1846 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 3 - 
 
 — 
 
 |640 11 2 14 
 
 1 19 1 
 
 58 12 6 
 
 1847 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 11 2 
 
 8 676 16 2 2 
 
 16 8 6 
 
 87 
 
 1S43 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 2 
 
 11 8 
 
 16 207 2 3 8 
 
 10 1 13 
 
 ISO 
 
 1349 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 ~. 
 
 
 ~ 
 
 
 1 
 
 12 1 
 
 18 
 
 123 8 3 6 
 
 
 68 S 
 

 .METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 [131j 
 
 Imports of Foreign Copper and Copper Ore — continued. 
 
 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 
 
 Yenr 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■~- 
 
 
 ending 
 Jan. 5. 
 
 Copper 
 unwrought. 
 
 Pnrfc 
 
 wrought. 
 
 Flutes and 
 Coin, 
 
 Old, for rema- Q re> 
 mifacturo. 1 
 
 Copper Manufactures. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 1 1 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. T. ct. qr. lb. T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 £ a. d. 
 
 
 1882 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 3 12 
 
 . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1S83 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1SS4 
 
 5 12 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 IS 
 
 __ 
 
 
 
 
 
 1835 
 
 5 1 23 
 
 26 19 1 IS 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 . — 
 
 
 
 7 10 
 
 
 
 1836 
 
 9 12 4 
 
 16 1 1 14 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 41 15 
 
 
 
 1887 
 
 3 22 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 — 
 
 3 1 11 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 1838 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 20 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1839 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 113 5 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1840 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 8 23 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1S41 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — . 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1842 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 22 o o ; 
 
 
 1S43 
 
 . — 
 
 . — 
 
 . — 
 
 2 24 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 46 15 6 
 
 
 1 
 
 1844 
 
 3 4 18 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 18 7 
 
 — 
 
 17 16 
 
 2 17 
 
 
 
 1S45 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 . — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 96 15 
 
 
 
 1846 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1 5 2 14 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1 12 2 16 
 
 62 10 
 
 
 
 1847 
 
 32 2 3 2 
 
 — 
 
 . — 
 
 12 3 4 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1848 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 10 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 14 15 
 
 
 
 1S49 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 11 1 24 
 
 
 
 8 10 
 
 
 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 
 
 
 1884 
 
 
 
 2 25 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1835 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 2 1 
 
 43 18 20 
 
 4 5 2 25 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 
 1836 
 
 7 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 — . 
 
 — 
 
 23 3 2 23 
 
 59 
 
 
 
 1S37 
 
 17 8 16 
 
 1 3 12 
 
 — 
 
 3 21 
 
 57 8 
 
 9 2 16 
 
 72 1 6 
 
 
 
 183S 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 35 16 
 
 10 18 13 
 
 24 19 6 
 
 
 
 1839 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 7 
 
 — 
 
 33 
 
 — "- 
 
 59 5 
 
 
 
 1840 
 
 1 14 2 7 
 
 1 12 
 
 — 
 
 3 0, 50 ii ii 
 
 — 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 1841 
 
 — , 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 40 6 
 
 1 20 
 
 65 8 
 
 
 
 1842 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 14 
 
 — 
 
 90 1 
 
 :* 3 18 
 
 512 3 
 
 
 
 1S43 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 13 5 2 
 
 23 17 2 5 
 
 288 6 
 
 
 
 1844 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 63 IS 2 14 
 
 33 2 3 6 
 
 114 10 
 
 
 
 1845 
 
 „ 
 
 1 2 23 
 
 2 
 
 — . 
 
 89 16 8 25 
 
 15 8 15 
 
 296 5 
 
 
 
 1846 
 
 
 
 1 22 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 110 5 3 11 
 
 27 9 3 3 
 
 670 15 
 
 
 
 1847 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 13 2 9 
 
 2 12 8 3 
 
 32 12 10 
 
 1,033 17 
 
 
 
 1843 
 
 
 
 1 IS 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 76 10 
 
 14 10 8 
 
 221 1 
 
 
 
 1849 
 
 
 
 
 19 8 16 10 10 1 9 
 
 
 3,948 12 6 
 
 
 
 
 NORWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 1935 
 
 
 
 
 2 15 
 
 116 5 2 10 — 
 
 
 
 
 1S36 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 507 11 13 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 183T 
 1S3S 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 182 17 1 16 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1S39- 
 1840 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 4 2 17 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1841 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 73 17 11 — 
 
 57 8 2 14 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1842 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 1 1 18 1 25 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 __ 
 
 
 
 1S43 
 
 79 9 1 13 
 
 — 
 
 50 10 5 — 
 
 89 6 1 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1S44 
 
 — 
 
 45 14 , 3 22 
 
 23 12 1 2 
 
 — 
 
 5 10 1 20 — 
 
 
 
 
 i 1S45 
 
 148 5 3 6 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 IS 1 9 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 1S46 
 
 69 9 2 13 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 4 7 2 21 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 1 1847 
 
 — 
 
 69 19 4 
 
 — 
 
 . — 
 
 - — — 
 
 — 
 
 
 . 1848 
 
 32 17 3 27 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 2 19 
 
 10 — 
 
 334 10 [ 
 
 
 1849 
 
 — 
 
 62 12 3 11 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — — 
 
 — 
 
 
 ,. .. 
 
 
 
 
 
[138] 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 Quarterly Sales of Copper Ores in Cornwall for the Six Years ending the 31st of 
 December, 1849. 
 
 Quarter endiDg March 31, 1344, . 
 June 80, 1844,. 
 
 September 30, 1844, 
 December 31, 1844, . 
 
 Total,. 
 
 Quarter ending March 31, 1845, 
 
 „ June 80, 1845, 
 
 „ September 30, 1845, . 
 
 „ December 81, 1845,.. 
 
 Total,. 
 
 Quarter ending March 31, 1S46, 
 June 80, 1S40, , 
 
 September 30, 1846, . 
 December 81, 1S4C, . 
 
 Total,. 
 
 Quarter ending March 31, 1847, , 
 June 30, 1847, . 
 
 September 30, 1847, . 
 December 31, 1847, . 
 
 Quarter ending March 81, 1843, 
 
 „ June 80, 1848, 
 
 „ September 80, 1S48, , 
 
 December 31, 1848,., 
 
 Total,. 
 
 Quarter ending March 31, 1849, . 
 June 80, 1849,. 
 
 September 30, 1849, 
 December 81, 1849,. 
 
 Total,. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 39,874 
 87,306 
 38,073 
 87,716 
 
 152,969 
 
 40,367 
 49.S34 
 42,420 
 38,926 
 
 32,232 
 87,784 
 85,079 
 
 144,430 
 
 38,071 
 84,875 
 40,174 
 40,000 
 
 153,120 
 
 35.582 
 37,905 
 86,287 
 85,972 
 
 147,701 
 
 36,093 
 36,681 
 87,108 
 86,508 
 
 146,335 
 
 s. d. 
 
 219,019 8 
 188,721 8 
 195,626 17 
 198,066 16 
 
 801,434 4 6 
 
 215,284 S 
 
 226,373 8 
 
 250,257 1 6 
 
 228,019 18 6 
 
 919,934 
 
 207,697 10 
 
 200,810 11 6 
 
 196,4S6 16 
 
 191,197 9 
 
 796,192 6 6 
 
 222,542 9 
 
 204,662 4 6 
 
 229,909 2 6 
 
 216,262 14 
 
 873,436 10 
 
 202,517 9 
 
 176,330 17 
 
 164,409 10 6 
 
 176,883 6 
 
 720,090 17 
 
 188,507 
 
 187,167 15 6 
 
 194,495 11 6 
 
 193,444 11 6 
 
 763,614 19 
 
 Quarterly Sales of Copper Ores in Corn-wall for the Year 1849. 
 
 Quarter ending. 
 
 Ore in TonB 
 01' 21 Cwt. 
 
 Fine Copper. 
 
 Amount of 
 Money. 
 
 Average per 
 Cent. 
 
 Average 
 Standard. 
 
 Per Ton. 
 
 
 86,093 
 
 86,681 
 37,103 
 86,508 
 
 2,981 11 
 2,906 14 
 2,992 17 
 2,810 2 
 
 £ «. d. 
 
 188,507 6 
 
 137,167 15 6 
 194,495 11 6 
 193,444 11 6 
 
 8} 
 
 n 
 
 Si 
 7} . 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 98 12 
 
 98 16 2 
 97 14 1 
 104 10 11 
 
 £ ». d. 
 
 5 4 5 
 
 6 2 2 
 5 4 10 
 5 5 7 
 
 September 80, .... 
 
 
 146,335 
 
 11,691 4 
 
 763,614 19 
 
 8 
 
 99 18 8 
 
 5 4 8 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. [139] 
 
 
 
 
 Imports of Foreign Copper and Copper Ore — Continued. 
 
 
 
 
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 
 
 
 Tear 
 ending 
 Jan. 0. 
 
 Copper 
 
 Part 
 
 Plates and 
 
 Old for Ee- 
 
 Ore. 
 
 Copper Manufactures. 
 
 
 
 umvrought. 
 
 "wrought. 
 
 Coin. , 
 
 manufacture. 
 
 Weight 
 
 Value. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr.ib. 
 
 T. ct qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr.lb. 
 
 £ S. d. 
 
 
 
 
 1832 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 714 14 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1883 
 
 — 
 
 1 17 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 866 6 82 
 
 _ 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 1834 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 789 18 2 9 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1835 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 635 3 10 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1836 
 183T 
 
 11 14 2 11 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 493 9 26 
 1905 8 3 18 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1838 
 1S39 
 
 1S40 
 
 45 7 3 21 
 277 11 2 8 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 10 2 3 
 
 1469 10 
 718 15 2 11 
 501 18 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1841 
 1S42 
 1S43 
 
 191 18 1 14 
 126 6 8 
 55 11 2 21 
 
 «• 
 
 - 
 
 18 
 
 23 10 
 16 12 14 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1844 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1845 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 1S46 
 
 — 
 
 2 15 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 1847 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 1S4S 
 1849 
 
 2 6 
 
 1 19 8 27 
 
 - 
 
 7 3 24 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 = 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Imp 
 
 orts of Copper and Copper Ore from the whole of Europe into the United 
 Kingdom, from 1832 to the 5th of January, 1849. 
 
 
 
 Copper 
 
 wrought in 
 
 or Pigs, I 
 
 Copper an 
 
 Coppe 
 
 Bricks 
 .ose 
 t Cast 
 
 Part wrought 
 
 Bars, Rods or Jn- 
 
 gotfl, hammered 
 
 or raised. 
 
 Plates and Coin. 
 
 Old forRemanu- 
 i'acture. 
 
 Ore. 
 
 Copper Manufactures. 
 
 1 
 
 Entered by 
 Weight. 
 
 Entered by 
 Value. 
 
 T. ct. 
 
 jr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 T. ct qr. lb. 
 
 . ct qr. lb. 
 
 £ S. a. 
 
 
 
 
 *23 16 
 
 25 
 
 1 8 11 
 
 1 11 
 
 1 14 5 
 
 714 14 4 
 
 — 
 
 2,920 13 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 11 
 
 26 
 
 4 10 
 
 3 10 
 
 5 11 2 24 
 
 400 4 2 16 
 
 — 
 
 4,5S9 16 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 8 
 
 6 
 
 2 8 19 
 
 16 22 
 
 2 6 3 23 
 
 880 18 2 6 
 
 — 
 
 3.378 11 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 1 16 
 
 28 6 1 
 
 22 
 
 2 18 7 
 
 S51 10 3 24 
 
 4 17 1 9 
 
 3,739 14 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 17 15 
 
 23 
 
 16 4 3 17 
 
 • 2 16 
 
 5 10 1 13 
 
 1065 9 1"21 
 
 3t IS 2 23 
 
 5,326 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 334 17 
 
 2 18 
 
 4 15 1 7 
 
 1 
 
 7 5 3 12 
 
 2173 16 2 25 
 
 38 1 3 
 
 8,081 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 177 2 
 
 3 14 
 
 3 7 
 
 114 
 
 8 12 2 9 
 
 1522 2 1 
 
 23 8 2 16 
 
 2,8S9 11 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 55 7 
 
 3 21 
 
 16 23 
 
 3 13 
 
 1 12 1 13 
 
 882 13 3 21 
 
 18 2 3 
 
 4,002 17 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 237 6 
 
 13 
 
 T 2 2 
 
 1 21 
 
 7 15 1 12 
 
 582 17 2 21 
 
 t 15 
 
 2,836 3 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 162 4 
 
 3 25 
 
 1 21 
 
 74 1 26 
 
 2 8 2 3 
 
 226 11 1 3 
 
 10 18 1 27 
 
 2,190 18 
 
 
 
 
 
 126 16 
 
 3 
 
 1 1 23 
 
 3 18 
 
 4 2 20 
 
 3S5 4 3 7 
 
 31 19 11 
 
 2,274 17 6 
 
 
 
 
 , :u 8 
 
 3 2 
 
 2 33 
 
 50 10 2 12 
 
 16 3 11 
 
 394 18 3 8 
 
 36 12 1 25 
 
 2,833 
 
 
 
 
 
 28 15 
 
 5 
 
 86 6 1 
 
 54 5 1 20 
 
 4 15 22 
 
 672 IS 3 
 
 41 17 13 
 
 8,217 1 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 140 14 
 
 1 4 
 
 8 1 18 
 
 1 15 2 4 
 
 6 10 3 11 
 
 674 5 1 20 
 
 35 18 3 1 
 
 2,990 18 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 69 10 
 
 3 
 
 2 1 8 20 
 
 5 2 27 
 
 1 11 1 15 
 
 860 18 2 26 
 
 49 11 15 
 
 3,634 17 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 44 9 
 
 1 
 
 70 19 22 
 
 18 2 
 
 8 11 8 
 
 715 17 2 16 
 
 49 2 1 2 
 
 4,689 9 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 194 
 
 17 
 
 70 7 6 
 
 59 18 13 
 
 6 10 12 
 
 316 6 2 5 
 
 42 15 1 
 
 4,222 11 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 105 14 
 
 I 1 
 
 76 1 2 14 
 
 7 10 
 
 28 11 14 
 
 302 8 1 23 
 
 - 
 
 8,076 11 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 * In this table the returns are also made up for the years 1832-48. 
 
 
 
 
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 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 [141] 
 
 
 
 Account of Sales of Copper Ores in Cornwall, 1849. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FIEST QUAETEE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Date of Sale. 
 
 Average 
 Standard. 
 
 Average 
 Produce. 
 
 Price. 
 
 Quantity 
 of Ore. 
 
 Computed 
 Quantity of 
 tine Copper. 
 
 Amount of 
 Sales. 
 
 Value of Ore 
 o produce one 
 Ton of Copper. 
 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 21 Owt. 
 
 Ton8.Cwt. 
 
 & a. d. 
 
 £ 8. d. 
 
 
 
 January 11 .... 
 
 87 7 
 
 8} 
 
 4 12 6 
 
 1,813- 
 
 152 18 
 
 8,876 13 
 
 54 15 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 18.... 
 
 84 12 
 
 »* 
 
 5 9 
 
 2,633 
 
 255 8 
 
 14,346 18 6 
 
 56 4 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 25.... 
 
 93 10 
 
 Ik 
 
 4 13 
 
 8,841 
 
 804 
 
 17,874 10 
 
 58 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 February 1 
 
 95 16 
 
 1i 
 
 4 6 
 
 8,9S3 
 
 298 
 
 17,166 12 
 
 58 11 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 8.... 
 
 91 16 
 
 9 
 
 5 10 
 
 2,145 
 
 192 19 
 
 11,819 1 
 
 61 5 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 22.... 
 
 90 8 
 
 9} 
 
 5 IS 6 
 
 2,990 
 
 287 
 
 17,723 1 
 
 61 15 1 
 
 
 
 
 March 1 .... 
 
 104 
 
 7 
 
 4 10 6 
 
 2,664 
 
 1T8 14 
 
 11,535 16 6 
 
 64 11 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 8.... 
 
 105 18 
 
 8 
 
 5 14 6 
 
 8,684 
 
 278 6 
 
 19,832 16 6 
 
 71 5 8 
 
 
 
 
 15 ... 
 
 104 12 
 
 8} 
 
 C 5 6 
 
 2,6TT 
 
 231 2 
 
 16,818 1 
 
 72 15 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 22.... 
 
 99 T 
 
 n 
 
 6 13 
 
 2,885 
 
 272 7 
 
 19,122 
 
 70 4 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 29 .... 
 Total .... 
 
 107 5 
 
 li 
 
 5 6 
 
 8,665. 
 
 276 10 
 
 19,598 6 6 
 
 70 17 7 
 
 
 
 98 12 
 
 81 1 5 4 5 1 36,093 
 
 2,981 11 
 
 183,507 5 
 
 63 4 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 SECOND QUAETEE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 April 5.... 
 
 106 13 
 
 7* 5 6 8,942 
 
 298 8 20,90T 8 6 
 
 70 7 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■> 12.... 
 
 104 14 
 
 Si 
 
 5 18 
 
 2,54T 
 
 210 12 
 
 15,048 10 
 
 71 9 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 19 ... . 
 
 99 17 
 
 9} 
 
 6 16 6 
 
 2,741 
 
 262 15 
 
 18,699 8 6 
 
 71 8- 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 26.... 
 
 112 8 
 
 6| 
 
 4 18 6 
 
 2,671 
 
 176 5 
 
 12,423 5 6 
 
 70 9 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 May 3 ... 
 
 105 8 
 
 n 
 
 5 6 6 
 
 8,791 
 
 290 11 
 
 20,206 
 
 69 10 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 10.... 
 
 100 9 
 
 Sb 
 
 5 8 6 
 
 2,584 
 
 210 19 
 
 14,092 6 6 
 
 66 16 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 IT ... . 
 
 93 18 
 
 4 
 
 6 7 6 
 
 2,398 
 
 232 15 
 
 15,278 11 
 
 65 12 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 24.... 
 
 98 5 
 
 n 
 
 4 5 
 
 8,961 
 
 281 T 
 
 16,785 18 6 
 
 59 9 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 81 ... . 
 
 93 1 
 
 ?! 
 
 4 9 
 
 8,94S 
 
 805 18 
 
 17,612 1 
 
 6T 11 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 7 
 
 90 14 
 
 8 
 
 4 11 
 
 2,490 
 
 201 7 
 
 11,407 19 6 
 
 56 13 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 21 .... 
 
 86 16 
 
 9 
 
 5 2 
 
 2,929 
 
 264 18 
 
 14,916 18 
 
 56 8 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 28.... 
 Total .... 
 
 99 3 
 
 6j 
 
 3 14 
 
 2,628 
 
 170 19 
 
 9,724 8 6 
 
 56 IT 8 
 
 
 
 98 16 2 
 
 7-935 
 
 5 2 2 
 
 86,631 
 
 2,906 14 
 
 187,167 15 6 
 
 64 7 e 
 
 
 
 
 
 THIED QUAETEE. 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 July 5 .... 
 
 96 IT 
 
 7} 4 18 8,598 274 6 
 
 16,679 6 
 
 60 16 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 12 .... 
 
 94 9 
 
 8} 
 
 5 10 6 
 
 2,588 
 
 221 2 
 
 13,918 5 
 
 62 18 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 19 .... 
 
 91 11 
 
 10 
 
 6 9 
 
 2,115 
 
 212 14 
 
 18,662 IT 
 
 64 4 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 26 .... 
 
 100 
 
 71 
 
 4 10 6 
 
 8,623 
 
 264 6 
 
 16,4T3 4 6 
 
 62 6 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 August 2 . . . . 
 
 98 14 
 
 n 
 
 4 8 
 
 3,881 
 
 280 15 
 
 17,037 2 6 
 
 60 18 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 9.... 
 
 95 19 
 
 9? 
 
 5 10 6 
 
 2,595 
 
 224 2 
 
 14,863 6 
 
 64 1 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 23 .... 
 
 94 1 
 
 6 2 6 
 
 8,041 
 
 296 19 
 
 18,624 9 6 
 
 62 14 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 80 .... 
 
 108 2 
 
 n 
 
 8 18 
 
 2,977 
 
 188 
 
 11.599 15 6 
 
 68 2 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 September 6 
 
 " 13 ... . 
 
 103 8 
 
 5 8 
 
 3,801 
 
 800 10 
 
 20,549 12 6 
 
 68 7 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 103 16 
 
 Si 
 
 5 16 6 
 
 2,617 
 
 220 16 
 
 15,563 15 6 
 
 70 9 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 20 .... 
 
 99 IT 
 
 n 
 
 6 14 
 
 2,467 
 
 233 
 
 16,475 8 
 
 70 14 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 « S7 .... 
 
 Total.... 
 
 106 10 
 
 7* 
 
 5 2 6 
 
 8.T90 
 
 281 7 
 
 19,554 5 6 
 
 69 10 
 
 
 
 9T 14 1 
 
 8-066 
 
 5 4 10 
 
 37,103 
 
 2,992 17 
 
 194,495 11 6 
 
 64 19 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 FOUETH QUAETEE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 October 4 . . . . 
 
 1 106 7 
 
 n 
 
 4 16 
 
 8,998 283 6 19,126 13 
 
 67 10 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 11 
 
 102 7 
 
 8} 
 
 6 10 
 
 1,926 
 
 164 19 
 
 11,5S7 15 6 
 
 70 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 18 .... 
 
 98 1 
 
 n 
 
 6 10 6 
 
 2,594 
 
 246 9 
 
 16,938 10 6 
 
 69 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 25 
 
 110 8 
 
 «i 
 
 4 6 
 
 2,713 
 
 166 T 
 
 10,906 6 
 
 65 11 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 November 1 . . . . 
 
 104 8 
 
 7? 
 
 4 18 6 
 
 3,965 
 
 291 6 
 
 19,516 2 6 
 
 66 19 11 
 
 
 
 
 
 •i 8 
 
 102 1 
 
 3 
 
 5 11 
 
 2,577 
 
 209 5 
 
 14,267 8 6 
 
 68 3 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 22 .... 
 
 97 16 
 
 6 11 
 
 2,358 
 
 224 13 
 
 15.494 6 6 
 
 68 19 5 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 " 29 .... 
 
 103 
 
 T 
 
 4 16 
 
 4,220 
 
 293 16 
 
 20,121 16 
 
 68 9 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 December 6 . . . • 
 
 108 15 
 
 71 
 
 5 2 6 
 
 4,864 
 
 817 8 
 
 22,527 2 
 
 70 19 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 « X3 
 
 104 18 
 
 8 
 
 5 12 
 
 2,887 
 
 229 8 
 
 16,124 19 
 
 70 5 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 " 20 .... 
 
 100 18 
 
 9 
 
 6 T 
 
 2,527 
 
 228 1 
 
 16,059 16 
 
 70 8 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 « 2T .... 
 Total 
 
 110 IT 
 ' 104 10 11 
 
 6} 
 
 4 10 6 
 
 2,379 
 
 156 4 
 
 10,773 16 
 
 68 19 6 
 
 
 
 7-696 | 5 5 7 
 
 86,508 
 
 2,810 2 
 
 193,444 11 6 
 
 68 16 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
142] 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 Produce of Lead Ore and Lead in the United Kingdom, for the Year 181& 
 By Robert Hunt, Esq., Keeper of the Mining Records. 
 
 Mines. 
 
 Cornwall, 
 
 Calington, 
 
 Huel Mary Ann, . . , 
 
 Iluel Trelawny 
 
 Huel Trehane 
 
 Herodsfoot 
 
 Eest Huel Rose 
 
 North Huel Rose.., 
 
 Cargol 
 
 Oxnams 
 
 Huel Rose 
 
 Cubert 
 
 Holmbush 
 
 Callestock 
 
 Devonshire. 
 
 Tamar 
 
 Huel Adams 
 
 East Tamar Consols 
 
 Huel Friendship 
 
 Huel Betsey 
 
 Lydford Consols 
 
 Cumberland and Alston 
 Moor. 
 
 Rampgill 
 
 Scaleburn, 
 
 Carrs and Hanging Shaw . . 
 
 ! Capel Cleugh 
 
 i Small Cleugh 
 
 ! Middle Cleugh 
 
 Guddamgill 
 
 Long Cleugh 
 
 Bro wngill *..... 
 
 Bentyfields Veins 
 
 Cowperdyke Heads 
 
 Brigalb urn "Veins 
 
 Brownley Hill Veins 
 
 Bentfield Bun. V. E. Eng. . . 
 
 Blagill Veins 
 
 Carrs West of Nent Vein . . . 
 
 Grass Fields Veins 
 
 Gallfgill Syke Veins 
 
 Galligill Burn 
 
 Hudgill Burn 
 
 Holynelds Veins 
 
 Wellgill Cross Vein 
 
 Rodderup Cleugh "West End 
 
 Tyne Bottom Veins 
 
 Park Grove Sun Vein 
 
 Low Birchy Bank ' 
 
 Dowkeburn "West End 
 
 Sundry mines under 10 tons 
 
 Driggith Beck "Waste 
 
 Dry Mill Mine 
 
 Greensides 
 
 Woodend .. 
 
 Force Cragg 
 
 Keswick Mine 
 
 Slaty Syke 
 
 Calvert 
 
 Slow Craig 
 
 Crossfell Mines 
 
 Sundry, under 10 tons 
 
 Durham & Northumber- 
 land. 
 E. and W. Allendale and 
 
 Weardale 
 
 Tcesdale Mines 
 
 Yarnberry 
 
 Silver Tongue 
 
 Derwent Mines 
 
 Stanhope Burn 
 
 Holly-well 
 
 Lane Head 
 
 AUer Gill 
 
 Bollihope 
 
 Fallow-fleld 
 
 "Whitfield 
 
 Lend Ore 
 Returns. 
 
 Lead 
 Returns. 
 
 Tons, 
 957 
 
 Tons. 
 632 
 
 834 
 
 250 
 
 413 
 
 298 
 
 422 
 
 279 
 
 721 
 
 570 
 
 6,833 
 
 «,191 
 
 60 
 
 49 
 
 964 
 
 577 
 
 470 
 
 288 
 
 399 
 
 239 
 
 68 
 
 41 
 
 154 
 
 90 
 
 179 
 
 110 
 
 1,022 
 
 631 
 
 56 
 
 80 
 
 287 
 
 178 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 424 
 
 2S2 
 
 238 
 
 156 
 
 146 
 
 97 
 
 139. 
 
 91 
 
 31 
 
 21 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 SO 
 
 83 
 
 1,664 
 
 1,142 
 
 603 
 
 400 
 
 85 
 
 21 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 244 
 
 163 
 
 227 
 
 143 
 
 119 
 
 80 
 
 76 
 
 51 
 
 89 
 
 26 
 
 81 
 
 20 
 
 176 
 
 117 
 
 24 
 
 16 
 
 188 
 
 120 
 
 58 
 
 88 
 
 98 
 
 66 
 
 1,470 
 
 9S0 
 
 80 
 
 54 
 
 21 
 
 14 
 
 19 
 
 12 
 
 95 
 
 63 
 
 44 
 
 29 
 
 80 
 
 15 
 
 40 
 
 27 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,200 
 
 3J 
 
 24 
 
 43 
 
 82 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 47 
 
 85 
 
 11 
 
 C 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 25 
 
 16 
 
 44 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 3,230 
 
 9.0S0 
 
 8,827 ' 
 
 1,490 
 
 100 
 
 75 
 
 139 
 
 95 
 
 1,480 
 
 1,046 
 
 220 
 
 160 
 
 67 
 
 45 
 
 24 
 
 17 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 61 
 
 40 
 
 143 
 
 105 
 
 Mines. 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 Dufton and Silverband . . , 
 
 Hilton and Marton 
 
 Derbyshire. 
 Sundry Mines 
 
 Sliropshire. 
 
 Snail Beach 
 
 "White Grit and Batholes. 
 
 Bog Mine 
 
 Pennerley 
 
 Somersetshire. 
 
 Mendip Hills 
 
 Yorkshire. 
 Swale Dale and Arkendale . 
 
 Cononley 
 
 Grassington and Garnbury . 
 Pateley District 
 
 Cardiganshire, 
 
 Lisburne Mines 
 
 Cwm-ystwyth 
 
 Esgair-hir 
 
 Cwin-sebon 
 
 Llanfair 
 
 Goginan 
 
 Gogerddan Mines 
 
 Nant-y-creiau. 
 
 Pen-y-bont-pren 
 
 Cefn-cwm-brwyno 
 
 Llwyn-malys 
 
 Bwlch-cwm-erfin 
 
 Bwlch Consols 
 
 Nanteos 
 
 Aberystwith, small mines . . 
 
 Llanymaron 
 
 Llanbadarn 
 
 Bron-berllan 
 
 Carnarvonshire. 
 
 Penrhyn-du 
 
 Carmarthenshire. 
 
 Nant-y-Mwyn 
 
 Flintshire. 
 
 Talargoch 
 
 Fronfownog 
 
 Hendre 
 
 Maes-y-Safn 
 
 Pen-y-rhenblas 
 
 Mold Mines 
 
 Long Rake 
 
 Milwr 
 
 Dinglo and Deep Level .... 
 
 PaiVs Mine 
 
 Trelogan 
 
 "Westminster Mines 
 
 HalkinHall 
 
 Garreg-y-boeth 
 
 Bodelwyddan 
 
 Belgrave 
 
 Bryng-gwyrog 
 
 Jamaica 
 
 Bwlch-y-ddaufryn 
 
 Gwern-y-mynydd 
 
 Mostyn 
 
 Bagillt (ore sold at) 
 
 Billings 
 
 Caelanycraig 
 
 Mostyn \ 
 
 Clwtmilitia 
 
 Montgomeryshire. .... 
 
 Llangynnog 
 
 Cae-conroy 
 
 Rhos-wydol 
 
 Dwn-gwm, or Dyfagwm... 
 
 Craig-Rhiwarth 
 
 Biyndail and Pen-y-clyn . . 
 
 Gorn 
 
 Machynlleth, includine 
 Deiife...! !.... 
 
 Lend Ore 
 Returns, 
 
 Tons. 
 246 
 273 
 
 5,185 
 
 307 
 
 546 
 
 Lend 
 Returns. 
 
 Toas. 
 
 184 
 204 
 
 3,463 
 
 2,436 
 
 506 
 
 239 
 
 139 
 
 72 
 
 22 
 
 15 
 
 41 
 
 29 
 
 4,053 
 
 8,040 
 
 699 
 
 437 
 
 1.159 
 
 707 
 
 937 
 
 609 
 
 2,454 
 
 1,624 
 
 120 
 
 71 
 
 116 
 
 70 
 
 31 
 
 17 
 
 80 
 
 53 
 
 1,238 
 
 816 
 
 243 
 
 162 
 
 17 
 
 10 
 
 88 
 
 22 
 
 86 
 
 24 
 
 51 
 
 83 
 
 40 
 
 26 
 
 289 
 
 192 
 
 50 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 5 
 
 83 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 7 
 
 1,500 
 
 SSO 
 
 1,695 
 
 1,168 
 
 1,040 
 
 888 
 
 1,188 
 
 824 
 
 1.160 ' 
 
 819 
 
 219 
 
 153 
 
 39 
 
 21 
 
 117 
 
 81 
 
 SS7 
 
 643 
 
 21 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 659 
 
 451 
 
 89 
 
 26 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 106 
 
 69 
 
 875 
 
 261 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 835 
 
 599 
 
 20 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 13 
 
 18 
 
 8 
 
 46 
 
 20 
 
 45 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 26 
 
 11 
 
 51' 
 
 81 
 
 88 
 
 20 
 
 26 
 
 15 
 
 13 
 
 / 9 
 
 2T 
 
 16 
 
 155 
 
 100 
 
 43 
 
 80 
 
METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 [148] 
 
 Montgomeryshire, 
 
 Nantmelyn . . . . 
 
 Frontbalfan 
 
 Merionethshire. 
 
 Cowarch 
 
 Tyddynghvadus 
 
 Ieeland. 
 
 Newtonards 
 
 Conlig 
 
 Shallee 
 
 Glenmalure 
 
 Luganure 
 
 Barristown 
 
 Lead Ore 
 
 Lend 
 
 Rotums. 
 
 Returns. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 19 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 
 T 
 
 74 
 
 42 
 
 18 
 
 12 
 
 616 
 
 866 
 
 814 
 
 179 
 
 840 
 
 202 
 
 45 
 
 39 
 
 422 
 
 295 
 
 175 
 
 116 
 
 Scotland, 
 
 "Woodhead 
 
 Afton Lead Mines . . 
 
 Stroniton Mines 
 
 Cairnsmore 
 
 Black Crais; 
 
 Lead Hills Mine 
 
 "Wanlock Mine 
 
 Isle of Man. 
 
 Foxdale Mines, including Peel's 
 
 shipment, &e 
 
 Laxey 
 
 Douglas 
 
 
 Lead 
 
 Returns. 
 
 Returns. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 450 
 
 820 
 
 80 
 
 56 
 
 286 
 
 141 
 
 476 
 
 811 
 
 86 
 
 53 
 
 800 
 
 200 
 
 960 
 
 650 
 
 1,566 
 
 1,084 
 
 695 
 
 461 
 
 260 
 
 170 
 
 Table showing the Total Quantity of Lead Ore raised and Lead smelted in the United 
 
 Kingdom in 1848. 
 
 Cornwall 
 
 Devonshire 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 Durham and Northumberland 
 
 "Westmoreland 
 
 Derbyshire 
 
 Shropshire 
 
 Somersetshire 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 "Wales: — 
 
 Cardiganshire 
 
 Carnarvonshire 
 
 Carmarthenshire 
 
 Flintshire 
 
 Montgomeryshire 
 
 Merionethshire 
 
 Ireland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Isle of Man 
 
 Making a Total of. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 10,494 
 
 1,384 
 
 8,272 
 
 18,815 
 
 519 
 
 5,185 
 
 4,180 
 
 41 
 
 6,848 
 
 55,683 
 
 4,902 
 
 21 
 
 807 
 
 10,056 
 
 927 
 92 
 
 Tons. 
 
 0,614 
 
 844 
 
 5,684 
 
 14,658 
 
 888 
 
 3,870 
 
 2,762 
 
 29 
 
 4,793 
 
 • 89,142 
 
 3,180 
 
 14 
 
 204 
 
 7,069 
 
 601 
 
 54 
 
 11,122 
 1,188 
 1,786 
 1,665 
 
 54,853 
 
 Lead Ore and Lead imported and exported during 1848. 
 
 Imported:. — 1,298 tons of lead ore ; pig and sheet lead, 8,78S tons : retained for homo consumption, 
 2,157 tons. 
 
 Exported.— 135 tons of lead oro ; pig and rolled lead, 4,977 tons ; shot, 1,151 tons ; litharge, red and 
 white lead, 2,292 tons; foreign lead, in sheet and pig, 8,747 tons. 
 
 The "Welsh sales include also the following lead ores:— Australian, 69 tons ; Belgian, 85 tons ; German, 
 44 tons ; Portugal, 79 tons ; Prussian, 112 tons ; Sardinian, 112 tons. 
 
 The total amount of lead ore raised and sold in the United Kingdom, for the year 1848, was 7S,964 tons, 
 and metallic lead sold 54,853 tons; while in 1847, the amount of lead ore was 79,811 tons, and lead 53,410 
 tons— snowing a decrease in the quantity of ore in 1848, as compared with a former year, of 347 tons, but 
 an Increase in the metal of 1,443 tons. 
 
 The price of English pig at the close of 1847 was 171. 10s. per ton, and at the same period of 1S48, 151. 
 15s. per ton. A comparison of the two years thus shows no very great fluctuation in home trade ; but, on 
 referring to the imports and exports, we find a great increase in the latter year. The imports of lead ore 
 in 1847 were 507 tons, and pig and sheet lead 894 tons ; and the exports 86 tons of ore, and 3,435 tons of 
 metal: while in 1848 the imports were 1,298 tons of ore, and 3,788 tons of metal; and the exports 185 tons 
 of ore, and 6,128 tons of metal — showing an increase in the imports of 791 tons of ore, and 8,894 tons of 
 metal; and in the exports of 49 tons of ore, and 2,698 tons of pig, sheet lead, and shot, and exclusive of 
 manufactured m stal in the shape of litharge and red and white lead. 
 

 [144] 
 
 METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 
 
 The whole produce of Tin Mines in tlie Counties of Cornwall and Devon must not be estimated hy the above returns, inasmuch that such ouly relates to tlie public sales, to which we' 
 have access of information, while the greater portion is disposed of by private contract Since the repeal of tho coinage duty in 16S8, it has been found impracticable to obtain any accu- 
 rate returns, and hence the imperfect table herewith presented. 
 
 o5 
 «& 
 
 00 
 1— I 
 
 3 
 .a 
 
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 0) 
 
 p 
 
 o 
 ta 
 
 <D 
 
 faO 
 C 
 
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 t< 
 
 D 
 
 a 
 
 CO 
 
 q 
 
 rH 
 
 s 
 4) 
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 3 
 
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 SB 
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 3 
 
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 V 
 
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 5 
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 tn 
 
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 CO 
 
 3 
 
 H 
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 CO 
 
 1 
 
 S 
 
 M 
 
 r 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 3d, J 71 1 1 8 
 
 11,982 16 8 
 
 6,365 1 9 
 
 4,280 7 6 
 
 3,898 12 1 
 
 3,846 10 7 
 
 8,1 IT 16 7 
 
 8,261 8 
 
 2,242 1 10 
 
 1,668 11 6 
 
 1,463 4 3 
 
 1,453 2 6 
 
 1,041 8 
 
 893 10 
 
 421 18 2 
 
 388 13 1 
 
 249 8 6 
 
 214 IS 
 
 209 4 
 
 96 11 3 
 
 89 6 2 
 
 68 10 6 
 
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 £ a. d. 
 18,726 12 iy 
 15,933 13 4 
 13,282 103^ 
 12,375 8 1 
 8,219 15 6 
 3,683 2 9 
 4,919 12 12 
 421 13 2 
 
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 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 319 19 1 10 
 354 8 21 
 310 5 1 17 
 287 6 7 
 19B 14 3 21 
 94 10 8 1 
 124 6 2 13 
 7 19 1 9 
 
 C4 
 
 1 
 
 Is 
 4" 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 7,464 5 
 
 2,831 1 6 
 
 406 1 10 
 
 1,338 18 2 
 1,041 2 
 982 11 
 585 5 
 399 2 6 
 123 1 6 
 182 13 8 
 
 188 "0 
 69 
 
 196 6 1 
 132 8 6 
 214 12 
 209 4 
 
 o 
 
 ! 
 
 .a 
 
 2>. 
 
 Eg 
 
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 £ s. d. 
 2,907 18 2 
 3,055 13 11 
 3,164 7 
 1,872 4 3 
 2,163 13 2 
 2,685 19 
 
 464 12 11 
 
 ^" 
 
 I 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 180 
 11 10 
 10 
 
 30 9 16 
 28 1 
 22 11 1 16 
 14 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 4 10 3 2 
 
 4 
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 4 15 
 4 3 
 4 4 3 24 
 4 10 
 
 -a- 
 
 c6 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 10 14 2 19 
 75 6. 2 19 
 74 It? 2 14 
 46 1 8 21 
 63 2 2 50 
 14 19 3 25 
 
 11 1 3 23 
 
 s 
 
 
 If 
 I 1 
 
 £ ' b. d. 
 
 6,819 2 6 
 
 3,091 3 9 
 
 440 11 6 
 
 2,559 13 11 
 1,955 6 1 
 
 658 5 
 428 4 4 
 308 
 146 19 5 
 
 3S0 6 
 
 79 2 G 
 117 
 
 96 11 3 
 68 10 6 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 h 
 
 •a 
 P 
 
 ll 
 
 6* 
 
 1 
 
 £ e. d. 
 2,819 10 6 
 2,817 11 1 
 2,574 13 11 
 1,949 9 S 
 2,241 17 5 
 
 146 19 5 
 4,515 
 
 1 
 
 1<5 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 170 
 79 10 
 11 
 
 67 18 3 20 
 44 19 2 10 
 
 14 
 10 
 7 
 
 3 15 1 14 
 
 9 10 
 
 2 3 
 
 4 
 
 2 10 
 1 9 27 
 
 ■* 
 
 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 70 18 2 19 
 10 12 2 18 
 64 16 1 3 
 48 13 3 18 
 56 3 9 
 3 15 14 
 112 18 2 18 
 
 s 
 
 5 
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 £ b. A. 
 8,327 1 9 
 3,103 6 2 
 1,050 13 9 
 
 1,050 19 4 
 1,218 9 6 
 
 481 2 6 
 1,137 10 
 
 401 10 0" 
 
 263 4 3 
 113 5 
 
 89 5 2 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 & 
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 c 
 
 I 
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 2* 
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 £ B. d. 
 4,205 6 3 
 3,610 8 11 
 3,897 6 8 
 S,480 7 3 
 2,051 19 3 
 
 •* 
 
 1 
 
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 3 
 
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 T. ct, qr. lb. 
 
 100 
 88 1 2 18 
 95 7 2 
 86 12 3 26 
 50 11 2 18 
 
 tt 
 
 | 
 
 fa 
 
 ij 
 
 S3 
 •< 
 
 £ b. A. 
 
 7,837 1 
 
 " 2,900 19 3 
 
 3,457 8 3 
 
 4,280 7 6 
 
 850 4 4 
 
 1,134 6 3 
 
 889 1 3 
 
 933 12 6 
 
 123 1 7 
 1,453 2 5 
 199 16 9 
 824 10 
 421 18 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2* 
 I s 
 
 (0 r- G> -3) t- 10 ■* 00 
 
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 T. ct. qr. lb. 
 
 164 10 
 69 
 73 5 
 83 
 
 15 15 >2 18 
 37 10 
 11 10 
 
 19 5 
 
 2 
 14 2 1 8 
 28 
 
 3 10 
 
 20 16 
 7 19 1 9 
 
 3 
 
 r 
 
 £ooocoooo a 
 *^o 00 — 00 ' — 
 
 $ 
 
 J 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 Great Polgooth • 
 Polborrow - 
 Charleston - 
 Wheal Essex - 
 Tincroft - 
 Le W i s _ 
 Drake Walla - 
 WeBt WhenlJewel - 
 Wheal Anderton 
 East Crowndale 
 Ashbnrton United 
 Budwick Consols 
 Runnaford Combe 
 Wheal Friendship - 
 West Wheal Providence - 
 South Friendship 
 Kingston Downs 
 Beam Mine - 
 Brick Tor - - - - - 
 Wheal Anne - 
 Wheal Bal - - - 
 Mineral Court - 
 
 Total - 
 
 1 
 
 § 
 
 Calenick Smelting Company 
 
 Williams & Co.- 
 
 Daubnz & Co. -. 
 
 H. J. Enthoven & Co. 
 
 Bissoe Company 
 
 Various - 
 
 Union Smelling Company - 
 
 Treloweth Company - 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
METALLIC STATISTICS. 
 
 [1451 
 
 CORNISH COPPER ORES. 
 
 Annual average Produce, Price, and Standard for Nine Tears, from 1841 tc 1849, 
 inclusive, of Copper Ores sold at Cornish Ticketing, -with the highest and lowest 
 Prices of Cake Copper in each Year, 
 
 Tear. 
 
 Standard. 
 
 Produce. 
 
 Price. 
 
 Cake Copper— per Tod. 
 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 
 £ «. a. 
 
 £ £ a. d. 
 
 1841 
 
 125 1 
 
 7i 
 
 6 6 
 
 100 to 95 
 
 1842 
 
 112 18 
 
 n 
 
 5 12 1 
 
 96 to 83 
 
 1843 
 
 109 8 
 
 7* 
 
 5 10 
 
 88 to 78 10 
 
 1844 
 
 107 8 
 
 w 
 
 5 4 9 
 
 88 to 88 8 
 
 1845 
 
 106 2 
 
 n 
 
 5 18 
 
 93 to 84 
 
 1846 
 
 102 2 
 
 n 
 
 5 5 10 
 
 93 to 88 10 
 
 1847 
 
 103 11 
 
 81 
 
 5 14 1 
 
 98 to 93 
 
 1848 
 
 90 13 
 
 8 5-16 
 
 4 18 9 
 
 93 to 87 
 
 1849 
 
 99 18 S 
 
 8 
 
 5 4 3 
 
 86 to 79 10 
 
 Declared Value of Exports of British and Irish Metals for the Tears ending the 5th 
 of January, 1847, 1848, 1849, and 1850. 
 
 
 1847. 
 
 1848. 
 
 1849. 
 
 1850. 
 
 £ 
 
 4,178,026 
 
 1,558,187 
 
 147,170 
 
 107,456 
 
 639,223 
 
 £ 
 
 5,265,779 
 
 1,541,868 
 
 179,344 
 
 159,466 
 
 462,889 
 
 £ 
 
 4,747,009 
 
 1,272,675 
 
 117,181 
 
 148,436 
 
 530,061 
 
 £ 
 
 4,966,978 
 
 1,204,801 
 
 287,337 
 
 141,577 
 
 711,649 
 
 
 
 
 
 Exports of English and Irish Metals and Minerals. 
 
 The following particulars are extracted from an account of the exports of the principal articles of British 
 and Irish produce and manufactures in the twelve months ending on the 5th of January, 1846, 1847, 1848, 
 1849, and 1850. 
 
 Coals, culm 
 
 Earthenware.... 
 
 Glass 
 
 Hardware, cutlery. , 
 
 Machinery 
 
 Iron, steel 
 
 Copper, brass . .. 
 
 Lead 
 
 Tin, t nwrought . . 
 
 Tin plates 
 
 Salt 
 
 1846. 
 
 £ 
 
 978,635 
 
 828,182 
 
 857,421 
 
 2,183,000 
 
 904,961 
 
 8,501,895 
 
 1,694,441 
 
 210,974 
 
 48,777 
 
 615,729 
 
 21P,302 
 
 1847. 
 
 £ 
 
 971,174 
 
 793,166 
 
 262,547 
 
 2,180,587 
 
 1,117,470 
 
 4,178,026 
 
 1,558,187 
 
 147,170 
 
 107,456 
 
 639,223 
 
 205,005 
 
 1848. 
 
 £ 
 
 976,377 
 
 834,151 
 
 292,033 
 
 2,846,255 
 
 1,228,091 
 
 5,272,942 
 
 1,467,498 
 
 181,771 
 
 159,098 
 
 459,265 
 
 260,591 
 
 1849. 
 
 £ 
 
 1,088,221 
 722,012 
 287,573 
 
 1,860,150 
 234,132 
 
 4,777,965 
 
 1,257,945 
 115,547 
 148,085 
 582,142 
 266,480 
 
 1850. 
 
 £ 
 
 1,088,148 
 807,466 
 277,175 
 
 2,198,597 
 154,707 
 
 4,947,643 
 
 1,863,287 
 287,887 
 141,577 
 711,649 
 254,126 
 
 The total amount of exports shows— in 1846, 53,298,026?. : in 1847, 51,227,0602. ; in 184S, 60,897,7902. ; in 
 1849, 48,946,8252. ; and in 1S50, bS.S4%t:4il. 
 
 Vol. II. 11 
 
146 METALLURGY. 
 
 METALLURGY (Erzkunde, Germ.) is the art of extracting metals from their ores. 
 This art, which supplies industry with the instruments most essential to its wants, is 
 alike dependant upon the sciences of chemistry and mechanics ; upon the former, as 
 directing the smelting processes, best adapted to disentangle each melal from its mineral 
 rzer ; upon the latter, as furnishing the means of grinding the ores, and separating the 
 light stony parts from the rich metallic matter. 
 
 Notwithstanding the striking analogy which exists between common chemical and 
 metallurgic operations, since both are employed to insulate certain bodies from others, 
 there are essential differences which should be carefully noted. In the first place, the 
 quantity of materials being always very great in metallurgy, requires corresponding adap- 
 tations of apparatus, and often produces peculiar phenomena ; in the second place, the 
 agents to be employed for treating great masses, must be selected with a view to economy, 
 as well as to chemical action. In analytical chemistry, the main object being exactness 
 of result, and purity of product, little attention is bestowed upon the value of the rea- 
 gents, on account of the small quantity required for any particular process. But in 
 smelting metals upon the great scale, profit being the sole object, cheap materials and 
 easy operations alone are admissible. 
 
 The metallic ores as presented by nature, are almost always mixed with a considerable 
 number of foreign substances ; and could not therefore be advantageously submitted tc 
 metallurgic operations, till they are purified and concentrated to a certain degree bj 
 various methods. 
 
 OF THE PREPARATION OP ORES FOR THE SMELTING HOUSE. 
 
 There are two kinds of preparation; the one termed mechanical, from the means em- 
 ployed, and the results obtained, consists in processes for breaking and grinding the ores, 
 and for washing them so as to separate the vein-stones, gangues, or other mixed earthy 
 matters, in order to insulate or concentrate the metallic parts. 
 
 Another kind of preparation, called chemical, has for its object to separate, by means 
 of fire, various volatile substances combined in the ores, and which it is requisite to 
 clear away, at least in a certain degree, before trying to extract the metals they may 
 contain. 
 
 Lastly, an indispensable operation in several circumstances, is to discover, by simple 
 and cheap methods, called assays, the quantity of metal contained in the different species ' 
 of ores to be treated. 
 
 This head of our subject, therefore, falls under three subdivisions : — 
 
 § 1. The mechanical preparation of ores, including picking, stamping, and different 
 modes of washing. 
 
 § 2. The chemical preparation, consisting especially in the roasting or calcination of 
 the ores. 
 
 § 3. The assay of ores, comprehending the mechanical part : that is, by washing; the 
 chemical part, or assays by the dry way ; and the assays by the moist way. 
 
 Section 1. Of the mechanical preparation or dressing of ores. — I. The first picking or 
 sorting takes place in the interior, or underground workings, and consists in separating 
 the fragments of rocks, that apparently contain no metallic matter, from those that con- 
 tain more or less of it. The external aspect guides this separation ; as also the feeling 
 of density in the hand. 
 
 The substances, when turned out to the day, undergo another sorting, with greater or 
 less care, according to the value of the included metal. This operation consists in 
 breaking the lumps of ore with the hammer, into fragments of greater or less size, usually 
 as large as the fist, whereby all the pieces may* be picked out and thrown away that 
 contain no metal, and even such as contain too little to be smelted with advantage. 
 There is, for the most-part, a building erected near the output of the mine, in which the 
 breaking and picking of the ores are performed. In a covered gallery, or under a shed, 
 banks of earth are thrown up, and divided into separate beds, on each of which a thick 
 plate of cast iron is laid. On this plate, elderly workmen, women, and children, break 
 the ores with hand hammers, then pick and sort them piece by piece. The matters so 
 treated, are usually separated into three parts; 1. the rock or sterile gangue, which is 
 thrown away ; 2. the ore for the stamping mill, which presents too intimate a mixture 
 of rock and metallic substance to admit of separation by breaking and picking ; and 
 3. the pure ore, or at least the very rich portion, called the sorted mine or the fat ore. 
 On the sorting floors there remains much small rubbish, which might form a fourth 
 subdivision of ore, since it is treated in a peculiar manner, by silling, as will be presently 
 mentioned. 
 
 The distribution of fragments more or less rich, in one class or another, is relative to the 
 value of the included metal, tailing into account the expenses necessary for its extraction. 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 147 
 
 903 
 
 Thus in certain lead mines, pieces of the gangues are thrown away, which judged by tha 
 eye may contain 3 per cent, of galena, because it is known that the greater portion of 
 this would be lost in the washings required for separating the 97 parts of the gangue, 
 and that the remainder would not pay the expenses. 
 
 II. The very simple operations of picking are common to almost all ores ; but there 
 are other operatior s requiring more skill, care, and expense, which are employed in theii 
 final state of perfection only upon ores of metals possessing a certain value, as those of 
 lead, silver, &c. We allude to the washing of ores. 
 
 The most simple and economical was'hmgs are those that certain iron ores, particularly 
 the alluvial, are subjected to, as they are found near the surface of the ground aggluti- 
 nated in great or little pieces. It is often useful to clean these pieces, in order to pick out 
 the earthy lumps, which would be altogether inj urious in the furnaces. 
 
 This crude washing is performed sometimes by men stirring in the midst of a stream 
 of water, with iron rakes or shovels, the lumps of ore placed in large chests, or basins of 
 wood or iron. 
 
 In other situations, this washing is executed more economically by a machine called 
 a buddle or dolly-lub by our miners. A trough of wood or iron, with a concave bottom, 
 is filled with the ore to be washed. Within the tub or trough, arms or iron handles 
 are moved round about, being attached to the arbor of a hydraulic wheel. The trough 
 is kept always full of water, which as it is renewed carries oft' the earthy matters, diffused 
 through it by the motion of the machine, and the friction among the pieces of the ore. 
 When the washing is finished, a door in one of the sides of the trough is opened, and the 
 current removes the ore into a more spacious basin, where it is subjected to a kind of 
 picking. It is frequently indeed passed through sieves in different modes. See Lead and 
 Tin, for figures of baddies and dallies. 
 
 III. Stamping. Before describing the refined methods of washing the more valuable 
 ores of copper, silver, lead, See., it is proper to point out the means of reducing them 
 into a. powder of greater or less fineness, by stamping, t- called from the name stamps of 
 the pestles employed for that purpose. Its usefulness is not restricted to preparing the 
 ores ; for it is employed in almost every smelting house for pounding clays, charcoal, 
 scoria?, &c. A stamping mill or pounding machine, fig. 903 consists of several 
 
 moveable pillars of wood / I I, 
 placed vertically, and supported 
 in this position between frames 
 of carpentry k k k. These pieces 
 are each armed at their under end 
 with a mass of iron m. An arbor 
 or axle a a, moved by water, and 
 turning horizontally, tosses up 
 these wooden pestles, by means 
 of wipers or cams, which lay 
 hold of the shoulders of the pes- 
 tles at II I. These are raised in 
 succession, and fall into an ob- 
 long trough below m m, scooped out in the ground, having its bottom covered either 
 with plates of iron or hard stones. In this trough, beneath these pestles, the ore to be 
 stamped is allowed to fall from a hopper above, which is kept constantly full. 
 
 The trough is closed in at the sides by two partitions, and includes three or four pes- 
 tles ; which the French miners call a battery. They are so disposed that their ascent and 
 descent take place at equal intervals of time. 
 
 Usually a stamping machine is composed of several batteries (two, three, or four), and 
 the arrangement of the wipers on the arbor of the hydraulic wheel is such that there is 
 constantly a like number of pestles lifted at a time ; a circumstance important for main- 
 taining the uniform going of the machine. 
 
 The matters that are not to be exposed to subsequent washing are stamped dry, that 
 is, without leading water into the trough ; and the same thing is sometimes done with the 
 rich ores, whose lighter parts might otherwise be lost. 
 
 Most usually, especially for ores of lead, silver, copper, &c, the trough of the stamper 
 is placed in the middle of a current of water, of greater or less force ; which, sweeping 
 off the pounded substances, deposites them at a greater or less distance onwards, in the 
 order of the size and richness of the grain ; constituting a first washing, as they escape 
 from beneath the pestles. 
 
 In the dry stamping, the fineness of the powder depends on the weight of the pestles, 
 the height of their fall, and the period of their action upon the ore ; but in the stampers 
 exposed to a stream of water, the retention of the matters in the trough is longer or 
 shorter, according to the facility given for their escape. Sometimes these matters flow 
 out of the chest over its edges, and the height of the line they must surmount has an 
 influence on the size of the grain ; at other times, the water and the pounded matter 
 
 
 _ Jjjf 
 
 ■ 
 
 *-iF" — 
 
 J J 
 
 "Idj 
 
 HP? 
 
 1 
 
 !^* 
 
 jCJ 
 
 23L 
 
 1 
 
148 METALLURGY. 
 
 which it carries off,- are made to pass through a grating, causing a kind of sifting at the 
 same time. There are, however, some differences in the results of these two methods. 
 Lastly, the quantity of water that traverses the trough, as well as its velocity, has an 
 influence on the discharge of the pounded matters, and consequently on the products of 
 the stampers. 
 
 The size of the particles of the pounded ore being different, according to the variable 
 hardness of the matters which compose them, suggests the means of classing them, and 
 distributing them nearly in the order of their size and specific gravity, by making the 
 water, as it escapes from the stamping trough, circulate in a system of canals called a 
 labyrinth, where it deposites successively, in proportion as it loses its velocity, the earthy 
 and metallic matters it had floated along. These metalliferous portions, especially when 
 they have a great specific gravity like galena, would be deposited in the first passages, 
 were it not that from their hardness being inferior to that of the gangue, they are reduced 
 to a much finer powder, or into thin plates, which seem to adhere to both the watery and 
 earthy particles ; whence they have to be sought for among the finest portions of the pul- 
 verized gangue, called slime, schlich, or schlamme. 
 
 There are several methods of conducting the stamps; in reference to the size of the 
 grains wished to be obtained, and which is previously determined agreeably to the 
 nature of the ore, and of the gangue; its richness, &c. The height of the slit that 
 lets the pounded matters escape, or the diameters of the holes in the grating, their distance, 
 the quantity of water flowing in, its velocity, &c, modify the result of the stamping oper- 
 ation. 
 
 When it is requisite to obtain powder of an extreme fineness, as for ores that are to be 
 subjected to the process of amalgamation, they are passed under millstones, as in common 
 corn mills ; and after grinding, they are bolted so as to form a species of flour ; or they 
 are crushed between rolls. See Lead and Tin. 
 
 Washing of ores. 
 
 IV. The ores pounded under the stamps are next exposed to very delicate operations, 
 both tedious and costly, which are called the washings. Their purpose is to separate 
 mechanically the earthy matters from the metallic portion, which must therefore have a 
 much higher specific gravity ; for otherwise, the washing would be impracticable. 
 
 The medium employed to diminish the difference of specific gravity, and to move along 
 the lightest matters, is water ; which is made to flow with greater or less velocity and 
 abundance over the schlich or pasty mud spread on a table of various inclination. 
 
 But as this operation always occasions, not only considerable expense, but a certain 
 loss of metal, it is right to calculate what is the degree of richness below which washing 
 is unprofitable ; and on the other hand, what is the degree of purification of the schlich al 
 which it is proper to stop, because too much metal would be lost comparatively with the 
 expense of fusing a small additional quantity of gangue. There cannot, indeed, be any 
 fixed rule in this respect, since the elements of these calculations vary for every work. 
 
 Before describing the different modes of washing, we must treat of the sifting or 
 riddling, whose purpose, like that of the labyrinth succeeding the stamps, is to distribute 
 and to separate the ores (which have not passed through the water stamps) in the order 
 of the coarseness of grain. This operation is practised particularly upon the debris of 
 the mine, and the rubbish produced in breaking the ores. These substances are put into 
 a riddle, or species of round or square sieve, whose bottom is formed of a grating instead 
 of a plate of metal pierced with holes. This riddle is plunged suddenly and repeatedly 
 into a tub or cistern filled with water. This liquid enters through the bottom, raises up 
 the mineral particles, separates them and keeps them suspended for an instant, after 
 which they fall down in nearly the order of their specific gravities, and are thus classed 
 with a certain degree of regularity. The sieve is sometimes dipped by the immediate 
 effort of the washer ; sometimes it is suspended to a swing which the workman moves ; 
 in order that the riddling may be rightly done, the sieve should receive but a single 
 movement from below upwards ; in this case the ore is separated from the gangue, and 
 if there be different specific gravities, there are formed in the sieve as many distinct strata, 
 which the workman can easily take out with a spatula, throwing the upper part away 
 when it is too poor to be re-sifted. This operation by the hand-sieve, is called riddling 
 in the tub, or riddling by deposite. 
 
 We may observe, that during the sifting, the particles which can pass across the holes 
 of the bottom, fall into the tub and settle down there ; whence they are afterwards gath. 
 ered out, and exposed to washing when they are worth the trouble. 
 
 Sometimes, as at Poullaouen, the sieves are conical, and held by means of two handles 
 by a workman ; and instead of receiving a single movement, as in the preceding method) 
 the sifter himself gives them a variety of dexterous movements in succession. His object 
 is to separate the poor portions of the ore from the richer; in order to subject the former 
 to the stamp mill. 
 
 Anions; the sittings and washings which ores are made to undergo, we must notice as 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 149 
 
 among the most useful and ingenious, those practised by iron gratings, called on the Con- 
 tinent grilles anglaises, and the step-washings of Hungary, laveries a gradins. These 
 methods of freeing the ores from the pulverulent earthy matters, consist in placing them, 
 at their out-put from the mine, upon gratings, and bringing over them a stream of water, 
 which merely takes down through the bars the small fragments, but carries oft' the pulver- 
 ulent portions. The latter are received in cisterns, where they are allowed to rest long 
 enough to settle to the bottom. The washing by steps is an extension of the preceding 
 plan. To form an idea, let us imagine a series of grates placed successively at different 
 levels, so that the water, arriving on the highest, where the ore for washing lies, carries 
 off a portion of it, through this first grate upon a second closer in its bars, thence to a 
 third, &c, and finally into labyrinths or cisterns of deposition. 
 
 The grilles anglaises are similar to the sleeping tables used at Idria. The system of the;. 
 en gradins is represented in fig. 904. There are 5 such systems in the works nt Idria, fo' 
 904 | 
 
 the sorting of the small morsels of quicksilver ore, intended for the stamping mill. These 
 fragments are but moderately rich in metal, and are picked up at random. .-? various sizes, 
 from that of the fist to a grain of dust. 
 
 These ores are placed in the chest a, below the level of which 7 grates are distributed, 
 so that the fragments which pass through the first b, proceed by an inclined conduit on to 
 the second grate c, and so in succession. (See the conduits I, o, p). In front, arid on a 
 level with each of the grates b, c, d, &c, a child is stationed on one of the floors, 1, 2 3, 
 to 7. 
 
 A current of water, which falls into the chest a, carries the fragments of ore upon the 
 grates. The pieces which remain upon the two grates 6 and c, are thrown on the adjoin- 
 ing table v, where they undergo a sorting by hand; there the pieces are classified, 1. into 
 gangue to be thrown away ; 2. into ore for the stamp mill ; 3. into ore to he sent directly 
 to the furnace. The pieces Which remain on each of the succeeding grates, d, e,f, g, h, 
 are deposited on those of the floors 3 to 7, in front of each. Before every one of these 
 shelves a deposite-sieve is established, (see t, «,) and the workmen in charge of it stand 
 in one of the corresponding boxes, marked 8 to 12. The sieve is represented only in front 
 of the chest h, for the sake of clearness. 
 
 Each of the workmen placed in 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, operates on the heap before him; Hip 
 upper layer of the deposite formed in his sieve, is sent to the stamping house, and the in 
 ferior layer directly to the furnace. 
 
 As to the grains which, after traversing the five grates, have arrived at the chest x, 
 they are washed in the two chests y, which are analogous to the German chests to be 
 presently described. The upper layer of what is deposited in y is sent to the furnace ; 
 the rest is treated anew on three tables of percussion, similar to the English brake-sieves, 
 also to be presently described. 
 
 After several successive manipulations on these tables, an upper stratum of schlich is 
 obtained fit for the furnace ; an intermediate stratum, which is washed anew by the same 
 process; and an inferior stratum, that is sent to the system of stamps, fig. 905. 
 
 905 
 
 E5MB BE """ - 
 
 This figure represents the general ground plan of a stamping and washing mill. The 
 Stamps f are composed of two batteries similar to fig. 903. The ore passes in succession 
 nnder three pestles of cast iron, each of which is heavier the nearer it is to the sieve 
 through which the sand or pounded matter escapes. 
 
 In the upper part of the figure we see issuing from the stamps, two conduits destined 
 .o receive the water and the metalliferous sand with which it is loaded. The first, marked 
 r. s, w, is used only when a certain quality of ore is stamped, richer in metal than is 
 
150 
 
 METALLURGY. 
 
 906 
 
 g^flfessn 
 
 usually treated by meai.s of the second conduit, the first being closed. The second con. 
 duit, «• that employed for ordinary manipulation when the other is shut, is indicated by 
 F, 0-7, B ; then by 0-58 and 0-29. These numbers express the depth of the corresponding 
 portions of this conduit. From f to b, the conduit or water-course is divided into three 
 portions much shallower, called the rich conduit, the middle conduit, and the inferior 
 Beyond the basin B, the conduit takes the name of labyrinth. There the muddy sedi 
 ments of ore are deposited ; being the finer the further they are from the stamps F. 
 Darts indicate the direction of the stream in the labyrinth. On the German chests, placed 
 at 3, the sand derived from the rich and middle conduits is treated, in order to obtain 
 three distinct qualities of schlich, as already mentioned, r is a cloth-covered table, for 
 treating the deposite of the German chests at 3. m n are two sweep tables (d balai), for 
 treating the ore collected in the lower conduit, which precedes the midmost of the three 
 German chests. Upon the three similar tables bit, are treated in like manner the muddy 
 deposites of the labyrinth, which forms suite to three parallel German chests situated at 3, 
 not shown for want of room in the figure, but connected in three rectangular zigzags 
 with each other, as well as by a transverse branch to the points 0-7 and p. At the upper 
 part of these five sweep tables, the materials which are to undergo washing are agitated 
 in two boxes o o, by small paddle-wheels. 
 
 We shall now describe the percussion-tables used in the Hartz, for treating the sand of 
 ore obtained from the conduits represented above. 
 Figs. 906. 907. and 908, exhibit a plan, a vertical section, and elevation, of oue 
 
 of these tables, taken in the 
 direction of its length. The 
 arbor or great shaft in prolonga- 
 tion from the stamps mill, is 
 shown in section perpendicularly 
 to its axis, at a. The cams or 
 wipers are shown round its cir- 
 cumference, one of them having 
 just acted on n. 
 
 These cams, by the revolu- 
 tion of the arbor, cause the 
 alternating movements of a 
 horizontal bar of wood o, a, 
 which strikes at the point « 
 against a table d, b, c, u. This 
 table is suspended by two chains 
 t, at its superior end, and by 
 two rods at its lower end. 
 After having been pushed by 
 the piece o, u, it rebounds to 
 strike against a block or bracket 
 b. A lever p, q, serves to adjust 
 the inclination of the moveable 
 table, the pivots q being points 
 of suspension. 
 
 The ore-sand to be washed, 
 is placed in the chest a, into 
 which a current of water runs. 
 The ore floated onwards by the 
 water, is carried through a 
 sieve on a sloping small table 
 x, under which is concealed 
 the higher end of the moveable 
 table d, b, c, u ; and it thence 
 falls on this table, diffusing itself 
 uniformly over its surface. The 
 particles deposited on this table 
 form an oblong talus (slope) 
 upon it; the successive per- 
 cussions that it receives, deter- 
 mine the weightier matters, and 
 consequently those richest in 
 metal, to accumulate towards 
 its upper end at u. Now the 
 workman by means of the lever 
 P, raises the lower end d a little 
 in order to preserve the samf 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 151 
 
 degree of inclination to the surface on which the deposite is strewed. According as the 
 substance s are swept along by the water, he is careful to remove them from the middle 
 of the table towards the top, by means of a wooden roller. With this intent, he walks on 
 the table dbcu, where the sandy sediment has sufficient consistence to bear him. When 
 the table is abundantly charged with the washed ore, the deposite is divided into three 
 bands or segments d b, b c, c u. Each of these bands is removed separately and throwr 
 into the particular heap assigned to it. Every one of the heaps thus formed becomes 
 afterwards the object of a separate manipulation on a percussion table, but always accord, 
 ing to the same procedure. It is sufficient in general to pass twice over this table the mat- 
 ters contained in the heap, proceeding from the superior band c u, in order to obtain a pure 
 schlich ; but the heap proceeding from the intermediate belt 4 c, requires always a greater 
 number of manipulations, and the lower band d b still more. These successive manipu- 
 lations are so associated that eventually each heap furnishes pure schlich, which is obtained 
 from the superior band c u. As to the lightest particles which the water sweeps away 
 beyond the lower end of the percussion table, they fall into conduits ; whence they are 
 lifted to undergo a new manipulation. 
 
 Fig. 909 is a profile of a plan which has been advantageously substituted, in the 
 Hartz, for that part of the preceding apparatus which causes the jolt of the piece o u 
 against the table dbcu. By means of this plan, it is easy to vary, according to the 
 circumstances of a manipulation always delicate, the force of percussion which a bar 
 r y, ought to communicate by its extremity y. With this view, a slender piece of wood 
 it is made to slide in an upright piece, v x, adjusted upon an axis at v. To the piece u 
 a rod of iron is connected, by means of a hinge z ; this rod is capable of entering more 
 or less into a case or sheath in the middle of the piece v x, and of being stopped at the 
 proper point, by a thumb-screw which presses against this piece. If it be wished to 
 increase the force of percussion, we must lower the point z ; if to diminish it, w. must 
 raise it. In the first case, the extremity of the piece u, advances so much further under 
 
 910 
 
 909 
 
 MIMM 
 
 the cam of the driving shaft t ; in the second, it goes so much less forwards ; whereby 
 
 the adjustment is produced. 
 
 Figs. 910 and 911 represent a complete system of sleeping tables, tables dormantes ; 
 911 such as are mounted in Idria. 
 
 Fig. 91 1 is the plan, and fig. 910 a 
 vertical section. The mercurial ores, 
 reduced to a sand by stamps like 
 those of fig. 905 pass into a series 
 of conduits a a,bb,cc, which form 
 three successive floors below the level 
 of the floor of the works. The sand 
 taken out of these conduits is thrown 
 into the cells q ; whence they are 
 transferred into the trough e, and 
 jjijjj gy ^ 8 BSraSEJM Will IIS water is run upon them by turning 
 
 two stopcocks for each trough. The 
 sand thus diffused upon each table, 
 
 iSS 
 
 do 
 
 runs off with the water by a groove /, comes upon a sieve h, spreads itself upon the 
 board g, and thence falls into the slanting chest, or sleeping table i k. The under surface 
 k of this chest is pierced with holes, which may be stopped at pleasure with wooden 
 plugs. There is a conduit m, at the lower end of each table, to catch the light par- 
 ticles carried off by- the water out of the chest i k, through the holes properly opened, 
 while the denser parts are deposited upon the bottom of this chest. A general conduit 
 n passes across at the foot of all the chests i k ; it receives the refuse of the washing 
 operations. 
 
 Fig. 912 is a set of stamping and washing works for the ores of argentiferous galena, 
 as mounted at Bockwie.se., in the district of Zellerfeldt, in the Hartz. 
 
 A is the stamp mill and its subsidiary . parts ; among which are a, the driving or 
 
152 
 
 METALLURGY. 
 
 main shaft; b, the overshot water-wheel; c c, six strong rings or hoops of cast iron, 
 for receiving each a cam or tappet; g, the brake of the machine; k, k, k, the three 
 912 standards of the stamps ; 2 I, &c. six pestles of pine 
 
 wood, shod with lumps of cast iron. There are 
 two chests, oat of which the ore to be ground falls 
 spontaneously into the two troughs of the stamps. 
 Of late years, however, the ore is mostly supplied 
 by hand ; the water-course terminates a short dis- 
 tance above the middle of the wheel 6. There is 
 a stream of water for the service of the stamps, 
 and conduits proceeding from it, to lead the water 
 into the two stamp troughs; the conduit of dis- 
 charge is common to the two batteries or sets of 
 stamps through whiiA the water carries off the 
 sand or stamped ore. There is a moveable table 
 of separation, mountec with two sieves. The 
 sands pass immediately into the conduit placed 
 upon a level with the floor, and separated into 
 two compartments, the first of which empties its 
 water into the second. There are two boards of 
 separation, or tables, laid upon the ground, with 
 a very slight slope of only 15 inches from their 
 top to their bottom. Each of these boards is 
 divided into four cases with edges; the whole 
 being arranged so that it is possible, by means of 
 a flood-gate or sluice, to . cause the superfluous 
 water of the case to pass into the following ones. 
 Thus the work can go on without interruption, 
 and alternately upon the two boards. There are 
 winding canals in the labyrinth, N, N, N, in which 
 are deposited the particles carried along by the 
 water which has passed upon the boards. The depth 
 of these canals gradually increases from 12 to 20 
 inches, to give a suitable descent for maintaining 
 the water-flow. At D, two percussion ta"bles are 
 placed, f G are two German chests. H J are two 
 percussion tables, which are driven by the cams z z, 
 fixed upon the main shaft x y. K k' are two sloping 
 sweep tables (it balai). 
 
 The German chests are rectangular, being 
 about 3 yards long, half a yard broad, with edges 
 half a yard high; and their inclination is such 
 that the lower end is about 15 inches beneath 
 the level of the upper. At their upper end, 
 asually called the bolster, , a kind of trough or 
 box, without any edge at the side next the chest, is placed, containing the ore to be washed. 
 The water is allowed to fall upon the bolster in a thin sheet. 
 
 The shaping tables have upright edges ; they are from 4 to 5 yards long, nearly 2 yards 
 wide, and have fully a yard of inclination. 
 
 The preceding tables are sometimes covered with cloth, particularly in treating ores 
 that contain gold, on a supposition that the woollen or linen fibres would retain more 
 surely the metallic particles ; but this method appears on trial to merit no confidence, for 
 it produces a very impure schlich. 
 
 Fig. 913 is a swing-sieve employed in the Hartz, for sifting the small fragments of 
 (he ore of argentiferous lead. Such an apparatus is usually set up in the outside of 
 a stamp and washing mill; its place being denoted 
 by the letter A, in. jig. 905. The two moveable chests or 
 boxes A e, of the sieve, are connected together, at theii 
 lower ends, with an upright rod, which terminates at 
 one of the arms of a small balance beam, mounted be- 
 tween the driving shaft of the stamps and the sieve, 
 perpendicularly to the length of both. The opposite 
 arm of this beam carries another upright rod, which 
 ears (cams or mentonnets), placed on purpose upon the 
 driving shaft, may push down. During this move- 
 ment the two lower ends A, b, are raised; and when the peg-cam of the shaft quits the 
 rod which it had depressed, the swing chests fall by their own weight. Thus thei 
 
METALLURGY. 163 
 
 are made to vibrate alternately upon tueir axes. The small ore is put into the upper 
 part of the chest A, over which a stream of water falls from an adjoining conduit. The 
 fragments which cannot pass through a cast iron grid in the bottom of that chest, arc 
 sorted by hand upon a table in front of a, and they are classed by the workman, either 
 among the ores to be stamped, whether dry or wet, or among the rubbish to be thrown 
 away, or among the copper ores to be smelted by themselves. As to the small particles 
 which fall through the grid upon the chest b, supplied also with a stream of water, they 
 descend successively upon two other brass wire sieves, and also through the iron wire r, 
 in the bottom of B. 
 
 In certain mines of the Hartz, tables called a balais, or sweeping tables, are employed. 
 The whole of the process consists in letting flow, over the sloping table, in successive 
 currents, water charged with the ore, which is deposited at a less or greater distance, as 
 also pure water for the purpose of washing the deposited ore, afterwards carried off by 
 means of this sweeping operation. 
 
 At the upper end of these sweep-tables, the matters for washing are agitated in a 
 chest, by a small wheel with vanes, or flap-boards. The conduit of the muddy waters 
 opens above a little table or shelf; the conduit of pure water, which adjoins the preceding, 
 opens below it. At the lower part of each of these tables, there is a transverse slit, cov- 
 ered by a small door with hinges, opening outwardly, by falling back towards the foot of 
 the table. The water spreading over the table, may at pleasure be let into this slit, by 
 raising a bit of leather which is nailed to the table, so as to cover the small door when it 
 is in the shut position; but when this is opened, the piece of leather then hangs down 
 into it. Otherwise the water may be allowed to pass freely above the leather, when the 
 door is shut. The same thing may be done with a similar opening placed above the con- 
 duit. By means of these two slits, two distinct qualities of schlich may be obtained, which 
 are deposited into two distinct conduits or canals. The refuse of the operation is turned 
 into another conduit, and afterwards into ulterior reservoirs, whence it is lifted out to un- 
 dergo a new washing. 
 
 In the percussion tables, the water for washing the ores is sometimes spread in slender 
 streamlets, sometimes in a full body, so as to let two cubic feet escape per minute. The 
 number of shocks communicated per minute, varies from 15 to 36 ; and the table may be 
 pushed out of its settled position at one time, three quarters of an inch, at another nearly 
 8 inches. The coarse ore-sand requires in general less water, and less slope of table, than 
 the fine and pasty sand. 
 
 The mechanical operations which ores undergo, take place commonly at their out-put 
 from the mine, and without any intermediate operation. Sometimes, however, the hard- 
 ness of certain gangues (vein-stones), and of certain iron oies, is diminished by subjecting 
 them to calcination previously to the breaking and stamping processes. 
 
 When it is intended to wash certain ores, an operation founded on the difference of their 
 specific gravities, it may happen that by slightly changing the chemical state of the sub- 
 stances that compose the ore, the earthy parts may become more easily separable, as also 
 ttfe other foreign matters. With this view, the ores of tin are subjected to a roasting, 
 which by separating the arsenic, and oxydizing the copper which are intermixed, furnishes 
 the means of obtaining, by the subsequent washing, an oxyde of tin much purer than could 
 be otherwise procured. In general, however, these are rare cases ; so that the washing 
 almost always immediately succeeds the picking and stamping ; and the roasting comes 
 next, when it needs to be employed. 
 
 The operation of roasting is in general executed by various processes, relatively to the 
 nature of the ores, the quality of the fuel, and to the object in view. The greatest 
 economy ought to be studied in the fuel, as well as the labor; two most important cir- 
 cumstances, on account of the great masses operated upon. 
 
 Three principal methods may be distinguished ; 1. the roasting in a heap in the open 
 air, the most simple of the whole ; 2. the roasting executed between little walls, and 
 which may be called case-roasting (rost-stadeln, in German); and 3. roasting in 
 
 We may remark, as to the description about to be given of these different processes, 
 that in the first two, the fue is always in immediate contact with the ore to be roasted, 
 whilst in furnaces, this contao: may or may not take place. 
 
 1. The roasting In the open air, and in heaps more or less considerable, is practised 
 apon iron ores, and such as are pyritous or bituminous. The operation consists in general 
 in spreading over a plane area, often bottomed with beaten clay, billets of wood arranged 
 like the bars of a gridiron, and sometimes laid crosswise over one another, so as to form a 
 uniform flat bed. Sometimes wood charcoal is scattered in, so as to fill up the interstices, 
 and to prevent the ore from falling between the other pieces of the fuel. Coal is also 
 employed in moderately small lumps ; and even occasionally turf. The ore, either simply 
 broken into pieces, or even sometimes under the form of srhli ch, is piled up over the fueli 
 most usually alternate beds of fuel and ore are formed. 
 
154 
 
 METALLURGY. 
 
 The fire, kindled in general at the lower part, but sometimes, however, at the middle 
 chimney, spreads from spot to spot, putting the operation in train. The combustion 
 must be so conducted as to be slow and suffocated, to prolong the ustulation, and let the 
 whole mass be equably penetrated with heat. The means employed to direct the fire, 
 are to cover outwardly with earth the portions where too much acti ?ity is displayed, 
 and to pierce with holes or to give air to those where it is imperfectly developed. Eains, 
 winds, variable seasons, and especially good primary arrangements of a calcination, have 
 much influence on this process, which requires, besides, an almost incessant inspection at 
 the beginning. 
 
 Nothing in general can be said as to the consumption of fuel, because it varies with 
 its quality, as well as with the ores and the purpose in view. But it may be laid down 
 as a good rule, to employ no more fuel than is strictly necessary for the kind of calci- 
 nation in hand, and for supporting the combustion ; for an excess of fuel would produce, 
 besides an expense uselessly incurred, the inconvenience, at times very serious, of such 
 a heat as may melt or vitrify the ores ; a result entirely the reverse of a well-conducted 
 ustulation. 
 
 Figs. 914, 915, 916, represent the roasting in mounds, as practised near Goslar in the 
 914 915 
 
 1 «' l. 
 
 916 
 
 Harlz, and at Chessy in the department of the Rhone. Fig. 914 is a vertical section 
 in the line h c of figs. 915 and 916. In fig. 915 there is shown in plan, only a little 
 more than one half of the quadrangular truncated pyramid, which constitutes the heap. 
 Fig. 916 shows a little more than one fourth of a bed of wood, arranged at the bottom 
 of the pyramid, as shown by a a, fig. 914 and c g It, fig. 916 c is a wooden chimney, 
 
 formed within the heap of ore, at whose bottom e. 
 there is a little parcel of charcoal; d d are large 
 lumps of ore distributed upon the wooden -pile 
 a a; c c are smaller fragments, to cover the larger; 
 / / is rubbish and clay laid smoothly in a slope 
 over the whole, g, fig. 916 a passage for ait 
 left under the bed of billets ; of which there is 
 a similar one in each of the four sides of the base 
 a a, so that two principal currents of air cross under 
 the upright axis c c, of the truncated pyramid indi- 
 cated in fig. 914. 
 
 The kindling is thrown in by the chimney e. 
 The charcoal c, and the wood a a, take fire ; the 
 sulphureous ores d e f are heated to such a high 
 temperature as to vaporize the sulphur. In the 
 Lower Hartz, a heap of this kind continues roasting during four months. 
 
 2. The second method. The difficulty of managing the fire in the roasting of sub- 
 stances containing little sulphur, with the greater difficulty of arranging and supporting 
 in their place the schlichs to be roasted, and last of all, the necessity of giving successive 
 fires to the same ores, or to inconsiderable quantities at a time, have led to the contrivance 
 of surrounding the area on which the roasting takes place with three little walls, or with 
 four, leaving a door in the one in front. This is what is . called a walled area, and some, 
 times, improperly enough, a roasting furnace. Inside of these little walls, about 3 feet 
 high, there are often vertical conduits or chimneys made to correspond with an opening 
 on the ground level, in order to excite a draught of air in the adjacent parts. When the 
 roasting is once set agoing, these chimneys can be opened or shut at their upper ends ac- 
 cording to the necessities of the process. ' 
 
 Several such furnaces are usually erected in connexion with each other by their lateral 
 walls, and all terminated by a common wall, which forms their posterior part ; sometimes 
 they are covered with a shed supported partly by the back wall, built sufficiently hi°4i for 
 this purpose. These dispositions are suitable for the roasting of schlichs, and in general 
 Df all matters which are to have several fires ; a circumstance often indispensable to a 
 Jua separation of the s Uphur, arsenic, &c. 
 3 The furnaces em Joyed for roasting the ores and the mattes differ much, according 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 155 
 
 to the nature of the ores, and the size of the lumps. We shall content ourselves with 
 referring to the principal forms. 
 
 When iron ores are to be roasted, which require hut a simple calcination to disengage 
 the combined water and carbonic acid, egg-shaped furnaces, similar to those in which 
 limestone is burned in contact with fuel, may be conveniently employed ; and they pre- 
 sent the advantage of an operation which is continuous with a never-cooling apparatus. 
 The analogy in the effects to be produced is so perfect, that the same furnace may be 
 used for either object. Greater dimensions may, however, be given to those destined for 
 the calcination of iron ores. But it must be remembered that this process is applicable 
 only to ores broken into lumps, and not to ores in grains or powder. 
 
 It has been attempted to employ the same method a little modified, for the roasting of 
 ores of sulphuret of copper and pyrites, with the view of extracting a part of the sulphur. 
 More or less success has ensued, but without ever surmounting all the obstacles arising 
 from the great fusibility of the sulphuret of iron. For sometimes it runs into one mass, 
 or at least into lumps agglutinated together in certain parts of the furnace, and the opera- 
 tion is either stopped altogether, or becomes more or less languid ; the air not being able 
 to penetrate into all the parts, the roasting becomes consequently imperfect. This incon- 
 venience is even more serious than might at first sight appear ; for, as the ill-roasted ores 
 now contain too little sulphur to support their combustion, and as they sometimes fall 
 into small fragments in the cooling, they cannot be passed again through the same furnace, 
 and it becomes necessary to finish the roasting in a reverberatory hearth, which is much 
 more expensive. 
 
 In the Pyrenees, the roasting of iron ores is executed in a circular furnace, so disposed 
 that the fuel is contained and burned in a kind of interior oven, above which lie the 
 pieces of ore to be calcined. Sometimes the vault of this oven; which sustains the ore, 
 is formed of bricks, leaving between them openings for the passage of the flame and the 
 smoke, and the apparatus then resembles certain pottery kilns ; at other times the vault 
 is formed of large lumps of ore, carefully arranged as to the intervals requisite to be left 
 for draught over the arch. The broken ore is then distributed above this arch, care being 
 taken to place the larger pieces undermost. This process is simple in the construction 
 of the furnace, and economical, as branches of trees, without value in the forest, may be 
 employed in the roasting. See Lime-kiln figures. 
 
 In some other countries, the ores are roasted in furnaces very like those in which 
 porcelain is baked 5 that is to say, the fuel is placed exteriorly to the body of the furnace 
 in a kind of brick shafts, and the flame traverses the broken ore with which the furnace 
 is filled. In such an apparatus the calcination "is continuous. 
 
 When it is proposed to extract the sulphur from the iron pyrites, or from pyritous min- 
 erals, different furnaces may be employed, among which that used in Hungary deserves 
 notice. It is a rectangular parallelopiped of four walls, each of them being perforated 
 with holes and vertical conduits which lead into chambers of condensation, where the 
 sulphur is collected. The ore placed between the four walls on billets of wood arranged 
 as in figs. 914, 915, 916, for the great roastings in the open air, is calcined with the dis- 
 engagement of much sulphur, which finds more facility in escaping by the lateral conduits 
 in "the walls, than up through the whole mass, or across the upper surface covered over 
 with earth ; whence it passes into the chambers of condensation. In this way upwards 
 of a thousand tons of pyrites may be roasted at once, and a large quantity of sulphur 
 obtained. — See Copper. 
 Ryr.%tins of Pyrites. — .Figs. 917, 918, represent a furnace which has been long em- 
 
 .. ployed at Fahlun in Sweden, and 
 
 917 .if^UJa several other parts of that kingdom, 
 
 f <>jU§iS for roasting iron pyrites in order to 
 
 f '"c m JL-imi . . s^ pwntfll obtain sulphur. This apparatus was 
 
 constructed by the celebrated Gahn. 
 Fig. 917 is a vertical section, in the 
 line 7c d n of fig. 918 which is 
 a plan of the furnace ; the top being 
 supposed to be taken off. In both 
 figures the conduit may be imagined 
 to be broken off at e; its entire 
 length in a straight line is 43 feet 
 beyond the dotted line, e n, aefore the bend, which is an extension of this conduit. Upon 
 the slope a b of a hillock ab c, lumps r of iron pyrites are piled upon the pieces of wood 
 i i for roasting. A conduit dfe forms the continuation of the space denoted by r, which 
 is covered by stone slabs so far as/; and from this point to the chamber h it is constructed 
 in boards. At the beginning of this conduit, there is a recipient g. The chamber ft is 
 flinded into five chambers by horizontal partitions, which permit the circulation of the 
 
156 METALLURGY. 
 
 vapors from one compartment to another. The ores r being distributed upon th. billets 
 of wood i i, whenever these are fairly kindled, they are covered with small ore, and then 
 with rammed earth 1 1. Towards the' point m, for a space of a- foot square, the ores are 
 covered with moveable stone slabs, by means of which the fire may be regulated, by the 
 displacement of one or more, as may be deemed necessary. The liquid sulphur runs intG 
 the recipient g, whence it is laded out from time to time. The sublimed sulphur passes 
 into the conduit / e and the chamber ft, from which it is taken out, and washed with 
 water, to free it from sulphuric acid, with which it is somewhat impregnated ; it is after- 
 wards distilled in cast-iron retorts. The residuum of the pyrites is turned to account in 
 Sweden, for the preparation of a common red color much used as a pigment for wooden 
 buildings. 
 
 The reverberatory furnace affords one of the best means of ustulation, where it is 
 requisite to employ the simultaneous action of heat and atmospherical air to destroy 
 certain combinations, and to decompose the sulphurets, arseniurets, &c. It is likewise 
 evident that the facility thus offered of stirring the matters spread out on the sole, in 
 order to renew the surfaces, of observing their appearances, of augmenting or diminish- 
 ing the degree of heat, &c, promise a success much surer, a roasting far better executed, 
 than by any other process. It is known, besides, that flame mingled with much unde- 
 composed air issuing from the furnace, is highly oxydizing, and is very fit for burning 
 away the sulphur, and oxydizing the metals. Finally, this is almost the only method of 
 rightly roasting ores which are in a very fine powder. If it be not employed constantly 
 and for every kind of ore, it is just because Jnore economy is found in practising calcina- 
 tion in heaps, or on areas enclosed by walls ; besides, in certain mines, a very great num- 
 ber of these furnaces, and many workmen, would be required to roast the considerable 
 body of ores that must he daily smelted. Hence there would result from the construction 
 of such apparatus and its maintenance a very notable outlay, which is saved in the other 
 processes. 
 
 But in every case -where it is desired to have a very perfect roasting, as for blende from 
 which zinc is to be extracted, for sulphuret of antimony, &c, or even for ores reduced to 
 a very fine powder, and destined for amalgamation, it is proper to perform the operation 
 in a reverberatory furnace. When very fusible sulphurous ores are treated, the workman 
 charged with the calcination must employ much care and experience, chiefly in the man- 
 agement of the fire. It will sometimes, indeed, happen, that the ore partially fuses j 
 when it becomes necessary to withdraw the materials from the furnace, to let them cool 
 and grind them anew, in order to recommence the operation. The construction of these 
 furnaces demands no other attention than to give to the sole or laboratory the suitable 
 size, and so to proportion to this the grate and the chimney that the heating may be 
 effected with the greatest economy. 
 
 The reverberatory furnace is always employed to roast the ores of precious metals, and 
 especially those for amalgamation ; as the latter often contain arsenic, antimony, and other 
 volaiile substances, they must be disposed of in a peculiar manner. 
 
 The sole, usually very spacious, is divided into two parts, of which the one farthest 
 off from the furnace is a little higher than the other. Above the vault there is a space 
 or chamber in which the ore is deposited, and which communicatees with the laboratory 
 by a vertical passage ; which serves to allow the ore to be pushed down, when it is dried 
 and a little heated. The flame and the smoke which escape from the sole or laboratory 
 pass into condensing chambers, before entering into the chimney of draught, so as to 
 deposite in them the oxyde of arsenic and other substances. When the ore on the part 
 of the sole farthest from the grate has suffered so much heat as to begin to be roasted, 
 has become less fusible, and when the roasting of that in the nearer part of the sole is 
 completed, the former is raked towards the fire-bridge, and its ustulation is finished by 
 stirring it over frequently with a paddle, skilfully worked, through one of the doors left 
 in the side for this purpose. The operation is considered to be finished when the vapors 
 and the smell have almost wholly ceased ; its duration depending obviously on the nature 
 of the ores. 
 
 When this furnace is employed to roast very arsenical ores, as the tin ores nf Schlack- 
 enwald in Bohemia, and at Ehrenfriedensdorf in Saxony, the arsenical pyrites of Geyer 
 (in Saxony), &c, the chambers of condensation for the arsenious acid are much more 
 extensive than in the furnaces commonly -ised for roasting galena, copper, or even silver 
 ores. 
 
 Figs. 919,-920, 921, represent a reverberatory furnace employed in the smelting 
 works of Lautenthal, in the Hartz, for roasting the schlichs of lead ores, which contain 
 much blende or sulphuret of zinc. \nfig. 919 we see that the two parts A b, b c, are 
 absolutely like, the two furnaces being built in one. body of brickwork. Fig. 920 is 
 the plan of the furnace n c, taken at the level e f of Jig. 919. Fig. 921 is a vertical 
 section of the similar furnace a b, taken in the prolongation of the line a h in 
 fig. 920. 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 157 
 
 a is, the fire-pla:e of the furnace, its grate and ash-pit. b '.$ the conduit of vaporiza- 
 tion, Which communicates with the chambers c ; c, chambers into which the vaporized 
 
 019 
 
 A B C 
 
 substances are deposited ; d, chimney for the escape of the smoke of the fire place a, 
 after it has gone through the space b c c ; c', is the charging door, with a hook hanging 
 
 in front to rest the long iron rake upon, with which 
 the materials are turned over ; f, chamber contain, 
 ing a quantity of schlich destined for roasting ; this 
 chamber communicates with the vaulted corridor 
 (gallery) n, seen in fig. 919 ; g, orifice through 
 which the schlich is thrown into the furnace ; h, 
 area or hearth of the reverberatory furnace, of which 
 the roof is certainly much too high ; i, channels for 
 the escape of the watery vapors ; k, I, front arcade, 
 between which and the furnace, properly speaking, 
 are the two orifices of the conduits, which termi- 
 nate at the channels m, m'. m is the channel for 
 carrying towards the chimney d, the vapors which 
 escape by the door e'. n is a walled-up door, which 
 is opened from time to time, to take out of the 
 chambers c, c, the substances that may be deposited 
 in them. 
 
 At the smelting works of Lautenthal, in such a 
 roasting furnace, from 6 to 9 quintals (cwts.) of 
 schlich are treated at a time, and it is stirred frequent- 
 ly with an iron rake upon the altar h. The period 
 of this operation is from 6 to 12 hours, according as 
 ............... the schlich may be more or less dry, more or less 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^SJt- rich in lead, or more or less charged with blende. 
 When the latter substance is abundant, the process requires 12 hours, with about 60 
 cubic feet of cleft billets for fuel. 
 
 In such furnaces are roasted the cobalt ores of Schneeberg in Saxony, the tin ores of 
 Schlackenwald in Bohemia, of Ehrenfriedersdorf in Saxony, and elsewhere ; as also the 
 arsenical pyrites at Geyer in Saxony. But there are poison towers and extensive con- 
 densing chambers attached in the latter case. See Arsenic. 
 
 Figs. 922, 923, 924, represent the reverberatory furnace generally employed in the 
 
 Hartz, in the district of Mansfeldt, Saxony, 
 Hungary, &c, for the treatment of black cop- 
 per, and for refining rose copper upon the great 
 scale. An analogous furnace is used at Andreas- 
 berg for the liquefaction or purification of the 
 mattes, and for workable lead when it is much 
 loaded with arsenic. 
 
 Fig. 922 presents the elevation of the fur- 
 nace parallel to the line I K, of the plan fig. 9 2 3 ; 
 which plan is taken at the level of the tuyere n, 
 of fig. 924; fig. 924 is a vertical section in the line l m, fig. 923. k represents one of 
 two basins of reception, brasqued with clay and charcoal ; n, n, two tuyeres, through which 
 enters the blast of two pairs of bellows, like those shown at Cupellation of Silver ; q, 
 door by which the matter to be melted is laid upon the sole of the furnace ; v, v, two 
 points where the sole is perforated, when necessary to run off the melted matter into 
 cither of the basins h ; x, door through which the slags or cinders floating upon the sur- 
 
158 
 
 METALLURGY. 
 
 face of the melted metal are raked out ; y, door of the fire-place. The fuel is laid upon a 
 grate above an ash-pit, and below the arch of a reverberatory which is contiguous to the 
 dome or cap of the furnace properly so called. In the section, fig. 924 the following 
 parts may be noted ; 1, 2, 3, mason-work of the foundation; 4, vapor channels or con- 
 
 duits, for \s e escape of the humidity; 5, bed of clay; 6, brasque composed of clay and 
 charcoal, which forms the concavity of the hearth. 
 
 905 , Figs. 925, 926, 92*7, show the 
 
 | j gj r^^ furnace employed for liquation in 
 
 > ^- sssg iBlllBpl one of the principal smelling works 
 of the Hartz. 'Fig. 927 exhibits 
 the working area charged with the 
 liquation cakes and charcoal, sup- 
 ported by sheets of wrought iron ; 
 being an image of the process in 
 action. Fig. 926 is the plan, in the 
 line F G, of fig. 925. 
 
 A liquation cake is composed 
 of— 
 
 Black copper holding at least 5 
 or 6 loihs (2| or 3 oz.) of silver per 
 cwt., and weighing 90 to 96 lbs. 
 
 Lead obtained from litharge, 2 
 cwts. Litharge, J cwt. 
 
 From 30 to 32 cakes are suc- 
 cessively worked in one operation, 
 which lasts about j5 hours; the fur- 
 nace is brought into action, as usual, 
 with the aid of slags ; then a little 
 litharge is added; when the lead 
 begins to flow, the copper is intro- 
 duced, and when the copper flows, 
 lead is added, so that the mixture 
 of the metals may be effected in the 
 best way possible. 
 From 8 to 16 of these cakes (pains') are usually placed in the liquation furnace, ties. 
 925, 926, 927. The operation lasts 3 or 4 hours, in which time about 1| quintals of char- 
 coal are consumed. The cakes are covered with burning charcoal, supported, as I have 
 said, by the iron plates. The workable lead obtained flows off towards the basin in front 
 ol the furnace ; whence it is laded out into moulds set alongside. See fig. 926 If the 
 lead thus obtained be not sufficiently rich in silver to be worth cupellation,' it is employed 
 to form new liquation cakes. When it contains from 5 to 6 lolhs of silver per cwt. it is 
 submitted to cupellation in the said smelting works. See Silver. 
 
 The trompe, or water blowing engine, figs. 928, 929, 930." Fig. 928 is the elevation • 
 fig. 929 is a vertical section, made at right angles to the elevation. The machine is formed 
 of two cylindrical pipes, the bodies of the trompe b b, set upright, called the funnels, which 
 terminate above m a water cistern a, and below in a close basin under c, called the tub or 
 
METALLURGY. 
 
 159 
 
 *""■ T 110 conical part p, of the funnel has teen called etranguillm, being ttranghd, 83 
 it were, in order that the water discharged into the body of the trompe shall not fill the 
 
 928 
 
 pipe in falling, but be divided into many streamlets. Below this narrow part, eight holes, 
 q q, are perforated obliquely through the substance of the trompe, called the vent-holes 
 or nostrils, for admitting the air, which the water carries with it in its descent. The air 
 afterwards parts from the water, by dashing upon a cast-iron slab, placed in the drum 
 upon the pedestal d. An aperture 2, at the bottom of the drum, allows the water to flow 
 away after its fall ; but, to prevent the air from escaping along with it, the water as it 
 issues is received in a chest I m n o, divided into two parts by a vertical slide-plate be- 
 tween m n. By raising or lowering this plate, the water may be maintained at any desi- 
 red level within the drum, so as to give the included air any determinate degree of pressure. 
 The superfluous water then flows off by the hole o. 
 
 The air-pipe e, fig. 929 is fitted to the upper part of the drum ; it is divided, at the 
 point /, into three tubes, of which the principal one is destined for the furnace of cupel- 
 .ation, while the other two g g, serve for different melting furnaces. • Each of these 
 tubes ends in a leather pocket, and an iron nose-pipe Is., adjusted in the tuyere of 
 the furnace. At Pesey, and in the whole of Savoy, a floodgate is fitted into the upper 
 cistern a, to regulate the admission of water, into the trompe J but in Carniola, the funnel 
 p is closed with a wooden plug, suspended to a cord, which goes round a pulley mounted 
 upon a horizontal axis, as shown in fig. 930. By the plug a being raised more or less, 
 merely the quantity of water required for the operation is admitted. The plug is pier- 
 ced lengthwise with an oblique hole c c, in which the small tube c is inserted, with its top 
 some way above the water level,»through which air may be admitted into the heart of the 
 column descending into the trompe p q. 
 
 The ordinary height of the trompe apparatus is about 26 or 27 feet to the upper level 
 of the water cistern ; its total length is 11 metres (36 feet 6 inches), and its width 2 feet, 
 
160 
 
 METALLURGY. 
 
 to give room for the drums. It is situated, 10 metres (33J- feet) from the melting 
 furnace. This is the case at the smelting works of Jauerberg, in Upper Carniola. 
 
 OF THE ASSAY OF OR&S. 
 
 Assays ought to occupy an important place in metallurgic instructions, and there is 
 reason to believe that the knowledge of assaying is not sufficiently diffused, since.its 
 practice is so often neglected in smelting houses. Not only ought the assays of the 
 ores under treatment to be frequently repeated, because their nature is subject to vary ; 
 but the different products of the furnaces should be subjected to reiterated assays, at the 
 several periods of the operations. When silver or gold ores are in question, the doci- 
 mastic operations, then indispensable, exercise a salutary control over the metallurgic 
 processes, and afford a clear indication of the quantities of precious metal which thej 
 ought to produce. 
 
 By the title Assays, in a metallurgic point of view, is meant the method of ascertain- 
 ing for any substance whatever, not only the presence and the nature of a metal, but its 
 proportional quantity. Hence the operations which do not lead to a precise determi- 
 nation of the metal in question, are not to be arranged among the assays -now undei 
 consideration. Experiments made with the blow-pipe, although capable of yielding most 
 useful indications, are like the touchstone in regard to gold, and do not constitute genuine 
 assays.' 
 
 Three kinds of assays may be practised in different circumstances, and with more or 
 less advantage upon different ores. 1. The mechanical assay j 2. the assay by the dry 
 way ; 3. the assay by the humid way. 
 
 1. Of mechanical assays. — These kinds of assays consist in the separation of the 
 substances mechanically mixed in the ores, and are performed by a hand-washing, in a 
 small trough of an oblong shape, called a sebitta. After pulverizing with more or less 
 pains the matters to be assayed by this process, a determinate weight of them is put into 
 this wooden bowl with a little water j and by means of certain movements and some 
 precautions, to be learned only by practice, the lightest substances may be pretty exactly 
 separated, namely, the earthy gangues from the denser matter or metallic particles, with- 
 out losing any sensible portion of them. Thus a schlich of greater or less purity will be 
 obtained, which may afford the means of judging by its quality of the richness of the as- 
 sayed ores, and which may thereafter be subjected to assays of another kind, whereby the 
 whole metal may be insulated. 
 
 "Washing, as an assay, is practised on auriferous sands ; on all ores from the stqmps, and 
 even on schlichs already washed upon the great scale, to appreciate.more nicely the degree 
 of purity they have acquired. The ores of tin in which the oxyde is often disseminated 
 in much earthy gangue, are well adapted to this species of assay, because the tin oxyde 
 is very dense. The mechanical assay may also be employed in reference to the ores 
 whose metallic portion presents a uniform composition, provided it also possesses con- 
 siderable specific gravity. Thus the ores of sulphurel of lead (galena) being susceptible 
 of becoming almost pure sulphurets (within 1 or 2 per cent.) by mere washing skilfully 
 conducted, the richness of that ore in pure galena, and consequently in lead, may be at 
 once concluded ; since 120 of galena contain 104 of lead, and 16 of sulphur. The sul- 
 phuret of antimony mingled with its gangue may be subjected to the same mode of assay, 
 and the result will be still more direct, since the crude antimony is brought into the mar- 
 ket after being freed from its gangue by a simj'.e fusion. 
 
 The assay by washing is also had recourse to for ascertaining if the scoria or other 
 products of the furnaces contain some metallic grains which might be extracted from 
 them by stamping and washing on the great scale ; a process employed considerably with 
 the scoria of tin and copper works. 
 
 Of assays by the dry way.— The assay by the dry way has for its object, to show 
 the nature and proportion of the metals contained in a mineral substance. To make a 
 good assay, however, it is indispensably necessary to know what is the metal associated 
 with it, and even within certain limits, the quantity of the foreign bodies. Only one 
 metal is commonly looked after ; unless in the case of certain argentiferous ores. The 
 mineralogical examination of the substances under treatment, is most commonly sufficient 
 to afford data in these respects ; but the assays may always be varied with different views, 
 before stopping at a definite result ; and in every instance, only such assays can be con- 
 fided in, as have been verified by a double operation. 
 
 This mode of assaying requires only a little experience, with a simple apparatus ; and 
 is of such a nature as to be practised currently in the smelting works. The air furnace 
 and crucibles employed are described in all good elementary chemical books. These 
 assays are usually performed with the addition of a flux to the ore, or some agent for 
 separating the earthy from the' metallic substances ; and they possess a peculiar advan- 
 tage relative to the smelting operations, because they offer many analogies between 
 
METALLURGY. 161 
 
 results on the great scale and experiments on the small. This may even enable us 
 often to deduce, from the manner in which the assay has succeeded with a certain flux, 
 and at a certain 1 degree of heat, valuable indications as to the treatment of the ore in 
 the great way. See Furnace. 
 
 In the smelting houses which purchase the ore, as in Germany, it is necessary to 
 bestow much attention upon the assays, because they serve to regulate the quality and 
 the price of the schlichs to be delivered. These assays are not by any means free 
 from difficulties, especially when ores containing several useful metals are treated, and 
 which are to be dosed or proportioned ; ores, for example, including a notable quantity 
 of lead, copper, and silver, mixed together. 
 
 In the central works of the Hartz, as well as in those of Saxony, the schlichs as de- 
 livered are subjected to docimastic assays, which are verified three times, and by three 
 different persons, one of whom is engaged for the interests of the mining partners, 
 another for that of the smelting house, and a third as arbiter in case of a difference. If 
 the first two results of assaying differ by J loth (or J ounce) of silver per cwt. of schlich, 
 the operations must be resumed ; hut this rarely happens. When out of the three assays, 
 the one. differs from the two others by no more, than I loth of silver per cwt., hut by 
 more in one, and by less in another, the mean result is adopted. As to the contents of the 
 schlich in lead, the mean results of the assays must be taken. The differences allowed 
 are three pounds for the schlich, when it contains from 12 to 30 per cent, of lead, increas- 
 ing to six pounds for schlich, when it contains less than 55 pejr cent, of that metal. 
 
 Assaying forms, in great establishments, an important object in reference to time and 
 expense. Thus, in the single work of Franckenscham, in the Hartz, no less than 300 
 assays have to be made in a threefold way, every Monday, without taking into account 
 the several assays of the smelting products which take place every Thursday. Formerly 
 fluxes more or less compound were employed for these purposes, and every assay cost 
 about fifteen pence. At present all these assays are made more simply, by much cheaper 
 methods, and cost a penny farthing each upon an average. 
 
 _ Of the assays by the. humid way. — The assays by the humid way, not reducible to very 
 simple processes, are true chemical analyses, which may in fact be applied with much 
 advantage, either to ores, or to the products of the furnace ; but which cannot he expected 
 to be practised in smelting-houses, on account of the complication of apparatus and 
 reagents they require. Moreover, an expert chemist is necessary to obtain results that 
 can be depended on. The directors of smelting-houses, however, should never neglect any 
 opportunities that may occur of submitting the materials operated upon, as well as their 
 products, to a.more thorough examination than the dry way.alone can effect. One of the 
 great advantages of similar researches is to discover and appreciate the minute quantities 
 of injurious substances which impair the malleability of the metals, which give them seve- 
 ral bad qualities, about whose nature and cause more or less error and uncertainty prevail. 
 Chemical analysis, rightly applied to metallurgy, cannot fail to introduce remarkable 
 improvements into the processes. See the different metals, in their alphabetical places. 
 
 For assays in the dry way, both of stony and metallic minerals, the process of Dr. 
 Abich deserves recommendation. It consists in mixing the pulverized mineral with 4 or 
 6 times its weight of carbonate of baryta in powder, fusing the mixture at a white heat, 
 and then dissolving it, after it cools, in dilute muriatic acid. The most refractory mine- 
 rals, even corundum, cyanate, staurolite, zircon, and feldspar, yield readily to this treat- 
 ment. This process may be employed with advantage upon poor refractory ores. The 
 platinum crucible, into which the mixed materials are put for fusion, should be placed ip 
 a Hessian crucible, and surrounded with good coke. 
 
 The manganese raised in England exceeds 2000 tons. 
 
 M. Heron de Villefosse inserted in the last number of the Aimates des Mines for 1827j 
 the following statistical view of the metallic products of France : — 
 
 j. • . Tons - 
 
 Lead in pigs (saumons) - - . 103 
 
 Litharge ..... - - 513 
 
 Sulphuret of lead, ground galena (alquifoux) - - 1.12 
 
 Black copper ...... . 164 
 
 Antimony --.....91 
 
 Manganese ....... 765 
 
 Crude cast-iron ..... . 25,606 
 
 Bar iron ........ 127,643 
 
 Steel 3,500 
 
 Silver in ingots ....... 11 
 
 Vol. H. 12 
 
162 METER, GAS. 
 
 The total value of which is estimated at 80 millions of francs, or about 3,400,000 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 METALS ; (Metaux, Fr. ; Metalle, Germ.) are by far the most numerous class of 
 undecompouuded bodies in chemical arrangements. They amount to 43 ; of which 7 
 form, with oxygen, bodies possessed of alkaline properties: these are, 1. potassium j 
 2. sodium; 3. lithium; 4. barium; 5. strontium; 6. calcium; 7. magnesium; for even 
 magnesia, the last and feeblest base, tinges turmeric brown, and red cabbage,* green. 
 The next five metals form, with oxygen, the earths proper ; they are, 8. yttrium ; 9. 
 glucinum; 10. aluminum; 11. zirconium; 12. thorium. The remaining 31 maybe 
 enumerated in alphabetical order, as they hardly admit of being grouped into subdi- 
 visions with any advantage. They are as follows: 13. antimony; 14. arsenic; 15. 
 bismuth; 16. cadmium; 17. cerium; 18. chromium; 19. cobalt; 20. copper; 21. gold; 
 22. iridium; 23. iron; 24. lead; 25. manganese; 26. mercury; 27. molybdenum; 28. 
 nickel; 29. osmium; 30. palladium; 31. platinum; 32. rhodium; 33. silver; 34. tan- 
 talum; 35. tellurium; 36. tin; 37. titanium; 38. tungstenium; 39. vanadium; 40. 
 uranium; 41. zinc; 42. niobium; 43. pelopium. 
 
 1. They are all, more or less, remarkable for a peculiar lustre, called the metallic 
 This property of strongly, reflecting light is connected with a certain state of aggrega- 
 tion of their particles, but is possessed, superficially at least, by mica, animal charcoal, 
 selenium, polished indigo ; — bodies not at all metallic. 
 
 2. The metals are excellent conductors of caloric, and most of them also of electricity, 
 though probably not all. According to Despretz, they possess the power of. conducting 
 heat according to the following numbers: — gold, 1000; platinum, 981; silver, 973; 
 copper, 89.8; iron, 374; zinc, 363; tin, 304; lead, 179'6. 
 
 Becquerel gives the following table of metals, as to electrical conduction: — '■ 
 Copper, 100; gold, 93'6; silver, 73'6; zinc, 28-5; platina, 16'4; iron, 15-8; tic, 
 
 155; lead, 8'3; mercury, 3'5; potassium, 1'33. 
 The metals which hardly, if at all, conduct electricity; are, zirconium ; aluminum ; 
 
 tantalum, in powder; and tellurium. 
 
 3. Metals are probably opaque ; yet gold leaf, as observed by Newton, seems to 
 transmit the green rays, for objects placed behind it in the sunbeam appear green. 
 This phenomena has, however, been ascribed to the rays of light passing through an 
 infinite number of minute fissures in the thinly hammered gold. 
 
 4. All metals are capable of combining with oxygen, but with affinities and in quan- 
 tities extremely different. Potassium and sodium have the strongest affinity for it, 
 arsenic and chromium the feeblest. Many metals become acids by a sufficient dose of 
 oxygen, while, with a smaller dose, they constitute salifiable bases. 
 
 5. Metals combine with each other, forming a class of bodies called alloys, except 
 when one of them is mercury, in which case the compound is styled an amalgam. 
 
 6. They combine with hydrogen, into hydrurets ; with carbon, into carburets ; with 
 sulphur, into snlphurets; with phosphorus, into phosphurets ; with selenium, into 
 seleniurets ; with boron, into borureU {boridesl); with chlorine, into chlorides ; with 
 iodine, into iodides ; with cyanogen, into cyanides ; with silicon, into silicides ; and with 
 fluorine, into fluorides. 
 
 7. Metallic salts are definite compounds, mostly crystalline, of the metallic oxides 
 with the acids. See Haloid. 
 
 METEORITES, (Aerolithes, Fr.), are stones of » peculiar aspect and composition, 
 which have fallen from the air. 
 
 METER, GAS. Since the article Gas was printed 1 have had occasion to examine 
 very carefully the construction, performance, and comparative merits of the four gas- 
 meters most generally used in Great Britain, and have been led to conclude that the 
 surmises concerning the correctness of the indications of several of them, but too well 
 founded. The instruments on which my observations were made were all new, and 
 just out of the hands of their respective patentees. 
 
 1. The meter of Mr. West is, no doubt, accurate while t the water-line is rightly ad- 
 justed ; but as I find that it will admit an extra pint of water, it may be rendered un- 
 just towards the consumers of gas ; and then if it receives a little more water by con- 
 densation of vapor, or by accident, its siphon gets filled, which causes the extinction 
 of the lights. 
 
 2. The meter of Mr. Bottom has also several defects, and occasions nuisance by letting 
 its overflow water trickle upon the floor. 
 
 3. The meter of Mr. Crossley may be made to err in its measurements fully 20 pel 
 cent, by dexterous repletion with water, and that in favor of the gas companies 
 
 These three meters are furnished with the vertical float valve, so apt to rust and stick ; 
 they also allow gas to escape at the discharge plug, to the imminent risk of occasion- 
 mg fire with ignorant or careless servants ; and finally, they have the complex dial- 
 plate indexes, so liable to misapprehension. 
 
MILK. 163 
 
 4. The meter of Mr. Edge. This instrument is quite exempt from all the above 
 defects, and is equally delicate and just in its indications, being mounted with a level 
 valve of great mobility, and a new index, "which any one who knows numbers cannot 
 miscount. I have subjected this meter to every kind of test, and find that it cannot be 
 made to give false indications, either by awkwardness or intention. Its inventor is 
 therefore well entitled to the warm patronage both of the public and all gas companies 
 who love fair dealing. 
 
 METHYLE'NE, a peculiar liquid compound of carbon and hydrogen, extracted from 
 pyroxylic spirit, which is reckoned to be a bi-hydrate of methylene. 
 
 _ METRICAL MEASURES. The phrase " metrical measures " appears to an or- 
 dinary reader to savor of tautology. It is really not so, however, in the present 
 instance ; for the expression simply means a set of measures founded on the standard 
 called the "metre," which was adopted by the government of France at the epoch of 
 the first revolution. This standard is the ten-millionth part of the quadrant of the ter- 
 restrial meridian, and from the measurements and calculations which were made at 
 that period on an arc of the meridian which extended from Barcelona to Dunkirk, it 
 was reckoned to be 39-371 inches of the English standard yard, which contained 36 
 inches. Thus the French metre, which is longer than the English yard by 3£ inches, 
 or more accurately by 3'37 inches, is the standard of all the measures and weights 
 of France. Its decimal multiples are successively denoted 'by the prefixes deca, heca, 
 chiles, &c, which signify 10, 100, 1000, &c, times respectively; and its decimal sub- 
 multiples or fractions successively by the prefixes deci, centi, milli, &o., which signify 
 rif! T"J"5i irViri <^ c '> parts respectively. The metre itself was made the unit of lineal 
 measure and itinerary distances. 
 
 The deca metre squared, which was called the arc, and consequently contains 100 
 square metres, was made the unit of superficial or land measure ; its centesimal mul- 
 tiple hecteare contains 10,000 square metres, and its centesimal submnltiple centeare 1 
 square metre. 
 
 The decimetre cubed, which was called the litre, and therefore contained a thousandth 
 part of the metre cubed, was made the unit of capacity for liquids ; its decimal multiple 
 decalitre contains 10 cubic decimetres, and its decimal submultiple decilitre one-tenth 
 part of the cubic decimetre. The litre and its successive multiples decalitre, hectolitre, 
 &o., were also made the measures for dry goods, such as corn, &o. The cubic metre 
 itself was made the unit of solid measures, and called the stere ; its decimal submultiple 
 the decistere containing a tenth part of the cubic metre. The weight of a cubic centi- 
 metre of distilled water at the maximum density was called the gramme, and made the 
 unit of all measures of weight. This unit was found by careful experiments to be 
 equivalent to 15-484 grains of English troy weight; hence the kilogramme, the usual 
 unit for eommercial purposes in France, weighs a trifle more than 2'2 pounds of Eng- 
 lish avoirdupois weight. From the decimal relations which subsist among these different 
 weights and measures, it plainly appears that the kilogramme is equal to the weight of 
 a cubic decimetre of water, or of a litre of the same liquid at the maximum density. '• 
 The capacity of the litre is therefore a trifle more than 61 English cubic inches, or about 
 two-ninths of an English gallon diminished by a hundredth part of the two-ninths. 
 
 MICA is a finely foliated mineral, of a pearly metallic lustre. It is harder than 
 gypsum, but not so hard as calc-spar; flexible and elastic; spec. grav. 2-65. It is an 
 ingredient of granite and gneiss. The large sheets of mica exposed for sale in London, 
 are mostly brought from Siberia. ' They are used, instead of glass, to enclose the fire, 
 without concealing the flame, in certain stoves. * 
 
 The mica of Fahlun, analyzed by Rose, afforded silica, 46-22; alumina, 34*52; per- 
 oxide? of iron, 6-04; potash, 8'22; magnesia, with oxide of manganese, 2*11; fluoric 
 acid, 1-09; water, 0'98. 
 
 MICROCOSMIC SALT; a term given to a salt extracted from human urine, 
 because man was regarded by the alchemists as a miniature of the world, or the mi- 
 crocosm. It is a phosphate of soda and ammonia; and is now prepared by mixing 
 .equivalent proportions of phosphate of soda and phosphate of ammonia, each" in solu- 
 tion, evaporating' and crystallizing the mixture. A small excess of ammonia aids the 
 crystallization. 
 
 MILK ; {Lait, Fr. ; Milche, Germ.) owes its whiteness and opacity to an emulsion 
 composed of the caseous matter and butter, with sugar of milk, extractive matters, 
 salts, and free lactic acid ; the latter of which causes fresh milk to redden litmus paper. 
 Milk, in general, contains from 10 to 12 per cent, of solid matter, on being evaporated 
 to dryness by a steam heat. The mean specific gravity of cows' milk is 1 -030, but it 
 is less if the milk be rich in cream. The specific gravity of the skimmed milk is 1 -035 
 »nd of the cream is 1*0244 100 parts of creamed -milk contain: — 
 
164 , MILL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Caseous matter, containing some butter, - - 2 - 600 
 
 Sugar of milk, ' - - - - - 3-500 
 
 Alcoholic extract^ lactic acid, and lactates, .... 0-600 
 Salts ; muriate and phosphate of potash, and phosphate of lime, - 0-420 
 Water, - . - - - - 92-875 
 
 Cream consists of — 
 Butter separated by churning, - .... 4-5 
 
 Caseous matter precipitated bv the coagulation of the milk of the butter, 3 - 5 
 Butter-milk, ■ - ' "- 92-0 
 
 When milk contained in wire-corked bottles is heated to the boiling point in a 
 water-bath, the oxygen of the included small portion of air under the cork seems to be 
 carbonated, and the milk will afterwards keep fresh, it is said, for a year or two ; as 
 green gooseberries and peas do by the same treatment. _i 
 
 Milk has been adulterated with a solution of potato starch, from which it derives a 
 creamy consistence. This fraud may be detected by pouring a few drops of iodine 
 water into it, which immediately causes it to assume a blue or purple tint. Emulsion 
 of sweet almonds, with which the milk at Paris has been adulterated, may be readily 
 detected by the taste. 
 
 MILL ARCHITECTURE, is a science of recent origin, which even at this day is 
 little understood beyond the factory precincts. It ,had been ably begun by Mr. Watt, 
 but till it 'fell into the hands of Messrs. Fairbairn and Lillie, etninent engineers of 
 Manchester, it was too subject to the whims of the several individuals, often utterly 
 ignorant of statics or dynamics, or the laws of equilibrium and impulse, who had 
 capital to lay out in building a mill. Each had his own set of caprices and prejudices, 
 which he sought to embody in his edifice, little aware how much the different orders 
 of machines depended for the productiveness and precision of their performance on 
 the' right magnitudes, proportions, and adjustments of the main shafting and wheel 
 gearing. These are in fact the grand nerves and arteries which transmit vitality and 
 volitipn, so to speak, with due steadiness, delicacy, and speed, to the automatic organs. 
 Hence, if they be ill-made or ill-distributed, nothing can go well. 
 
 Mr. Fairbairn has for many years entered largely into the line of a factory architect, 
 for which his three-fold great workshops are admirably adapted. The capitalist has 
 merely to state the extent of his resources, the nature of his manufacture, its intended 
 site and facilities of position in reference to water or coal, when he will be furnished 
 with designs, estimates, and offers on the most economical terms consistent with excel- 
 lence, according to a plan combining elegance of external aspect with solidity, con- 
 venience, and refinement in the internal structure. As engineer, he becomes respon- 
 sible for the masonry, carpentry, and other woi'k of the building, for the erection of a 
 sufficient power, whether of a steam-engine or water-wheel, to drive every machine it 
 is to contain, and for the mounting of all the shafts and great wheels by which the 
 power of the first mover is distributed. ' 
 
 The recent innovations in proportioning the sizes, regulating the connections, and 
 adjusting the movements of the system of shaft-gearing, form a fine feature in the 
 philosophy of manufactures. Thus not only an improvement has been made in the 
 regularity of impulsion, but a considerable increase of power from the same prime- 
 mover has been obtained ; amounting in Borne cases, of old mills remounted by Messrs. 
 , Fairbairn and Lillie, to fully 20 percent. The durability of shafts so exquisitely turned 
 and polished is another great advantage. The spinning factory of Messrs. Ashworth, 
 at Egerton, which has been at work for several years, exhibits an excellent pattern of 
 the engineering just described : for it has some subordinate shafts, hardly thicker than 
 the human wrist, which convey the power of ten horses, and revolve with great speed, 
 without the slightest noise or vibration. The prime-mover of the whole is a gigantic 
 water-wheel of 60 feet diameter, and 100 horses' power. I have frequently been at a 
 loss in walking through several of the mill-wright factories, to know whether the 
 polished shafts that drive the automatic lathes and planing machines were at rest or • 
 in motion, so truly and silently did they revolve. 
 
 The method of increased velocities in the driving arms or shafts of factories is un- 
 doubtedly one of the most remarkable improvements in practical dynamics. It dimi- 
 nishes greatly the inertia of the mass to be moved, by giving to much lighter shafts and 
 wheels the same momentum ; and it permits the pulleys or drums, which immediately 
 impel the machines by straps, to be reduced to a size much nearer to that of the steam 
 pulleys fixed on the main axes of these machines. About thirty years ago the velocities 
 of the main shafts proceeding from the moving power, whether of steam or water, 
 amounted to no more than from 30 to 40 revolutions per minute ; and of the smallei 
 »nd remoter shafts, to only 40 or 50. At the same period the drums were heavy tubs 
 
MINING. 165 
 
 and from 30 to upwards of 60 inches in diameter. This improved system is under 
 deep obligations for its actual state of perfection to the above-named engineers, though 
 it had commenced, as we have stated, before their time. In the mills mounted by these 
 gentlemen, it is interesting to see slender shafts, like small sinewy arms, rapidly trans 
 mitting vast power, through all the ramifications of a great factory. 
 
 The following details will place this matter in the clearest light : — A mill propelled by 
 a 6team-engine of 50 horses' power, was formerly geered with shafts, having an average 
 transverse section of 36 square inches, or varying in size from 4 to 8 inches square. An 
 engine of like power at the present day will, in consequence of the increased velocities 
 above described, work with cylindrical shafts not exceeding 5i, and often only 3 inches 
 in diameter; possessing, therefore, an average area of only 15 square inches, instead of 
 36. The horizontal shafts that run under the ceilings of the different working-rooms ■ 
 are 2 inches, and seldom exceed 2J in diameter. Hence the mass of geering has been 
 reduced fully one-half. But the shafts now make from 120 to 150 revolutions in a 
 minute, and occasionally, as where throstles are turned, so many as 200 in the same 
 time. Thus we see the requisite momentum is gained with a light shaft, while the 
 friction is proportionally diminished, and the driving-drum revolves with a velocity in 
 accordance with the accelerated pace of the modern machines. The several speeds 
 are given in discussing their" respective subjects.- 
 
 The philosophy of manufactures investigates, in the next place, the most economical 
 and energetic modes of applying the motive force to the various working organs; the 
 carding engines, the drawing heads, the roving frames, the throstles, the mules, the 
 power-looms, the dressing-machines, Ac. 
 
 The British capitalist is vigorously seconded by the British engineer, and need not, 
 like the continental adventurer, leave his funds long dormant, after an opportunity of 
 placing them profitably in factory enterprise occurs. Fairbairn's millwright establish- 
 ment in Manchester turns out from 300 to 400 yards of shaft-geering every week, 
 finely finished at a very moderate price, because almost every tool is now more or less 
 automatic, and performs its work more cheaply and with greater precision than the 
 hand could possibly do. Where many counterparts or similar pieces enter into spinning 
 apparatus, they are all made so perfectly identical in form and size, by the self-acting 
 tools, such as the planing and key-grove cutting machines, that any one of them will 
 at once fit into the position of any of its fellows in the general frame. 
 
 MILL-STONE, or Buhr-Stone. This interesting form of silica, which occurs in great 
 masses, has a texture essentially cellular, the cells being irregular in number, shape, and 
 size, and are often crossed by thin plates, or coarse fibres of silex. The Buhr-stone has 
 a straight fracture, but it is not so brittle as flint, though its hardness is nearly the same. 
 It is feebly translucent ; its colors are pale and dead, of a whitish, grayish, or yellowish 
 cast, sometimes with a tinge of blue. 
 
 The Buhr-slones usually occur in beds, which are sometimes continuous, and at others 
 interrupted. These beds are placed amid deposites of sand, or argillaceous and ferru- 
 ginous marls, which penetrate between them, filling their fissures and honeycomb cavities. 
 Buhr-stones constitute n very rare geological formation, being found in abundance only in 
 the mineral basin of Paris, and a few adjoining districts. Its -place of superposition is 
 well ascertained : it forms a part of the lacustrine, or fresh-water formation, which, in 
 the locality alluded to, lies above the fossil-hone gypsum, and the stratum of sand and 
 marine sandstone which covers it. Buhr-stone constitutes, therefore, the uppermost solid 
 stratum of the crust of the globe ; for above it there is nothing but alluvial soil, or diluvial 
 gravel, sand, and loam. , 
 
 Buhr-stones sometimes contain no organic forms, at others they seem as if stuffed full 
 of fresh- water shells, or land shells and vegetables of inland growth. There is no excep- 
 tion known to this arrangement ; but the shells have assumed a silicious nature, and their 
 cavities are often bedecked with crystals of quartz. The best Buhr-stones for grinding 
 corn, have about an equal proportion of solid matter, and of vacant space. The finest 
 quarry of them is' upon the high ground, near La Ferte-sous-Jouarre. The stones are 
 quarried in the open air, and are cut out in cylinders, from one to two yards in diameter, 
 by a series of iron and wooden wedges, -gradually but equally inserted. The pieces of 
 buhr-stones are afterwards cut in parallelopipeds, called panes, which' are bound with iron 
 hoops into large millstones. These pieces are exported chiefly to England and America. 
 Good millstones of a bluish white color, with a regular proportion of cells, when, six feet 
 and a half in diameter, fetch 1200 francs a-piece, or 48Z. sterling. A coarse conglom- 
 erate sandstone or breccia is, in some cases, used as a substitute for' buhr-stones ; but 
 it is a poor one. 
 
 MINERAL WATERS. See Soda Water, and Waters, Mineral. 
 
 MINES (Bergwerke, Germ.) Amidst the variety of bodies apparently infinite, which 
 compose the crust of the elobe, geologists have demrnstrated the prevalence of a few 
 
166 MINES 
 
 general systems of rocks, to which they have given the name of formations or deposites. 
 A. large proportion of these mineral systems consists of parallel planes, whose length and 
 breadth greatly exceed their thickness; on which account they are called stratified rocks j 
 others occur in very thick blocks, without any parallel stratification, or horizontal seams 
 of considerable extent. 
 
 The stratiform deposites are subdivided into two great classes ; the- primary and the 
 secondary. The former seem to have been called into existence before the creation of 
 organic matter, because they contain no exuviae of vegetable or animal beings ; while 
 the latter are more or less interspersed, and sometimes replete with organic remains. 
 The primary strata are characterized, moreover, by the nearly vertical or highly inclined 
 position of their planes ; the secondary lie for the most part in a nearly horizontal 
 position. 
 
 Where the primitive mountains graduate down into the plains, rocks of an intermediate 
 character appear, which, though possessing a nearly vertical position, contain a few 
 vestiges of animal beings, especially shells. These have been called transition, to indicate 
 their being the passing links between the first and second systems of ancient deposites ; 
 they are distinguished by the fractured and cemented texture of their planes, for which 
 reason they are sometimes called conglomerate. 
 
 Between these and the truly secondary rocks, another very valuable series is interposed 
 in certain districts of the globe ; namely, the coal-measures, the paramount formation of 
 Great Britain. The coal strata are disposed in a basin-form, and alternate with parallel 
 beds of sandstone, slate-clay, iron-stone, and occasionally limestone. Some geologists 
 have called the coal-measures the medial formation. 
 
 In every mineral plane, the inclination and direction are to be noted; the former being 
 the angle which it forms with the horizon, the latter the point of the azimuth or horizon, 
 towards which it dips, as west, north-east, south, &c. The direction of the bed is that 
 of a horizontal line drawn in its plane ; and which is also denoted by the point of the 
 compass. Since the lines of direction and inclination are at right angles to each other, 
 the first may always be inferred from the second ; for when a stratum is said to dip to the 
 east pr west, this implies that its direction is north and south. 
 
 The smaller sinuosities of the bed are not taken into account, just as the windings of 
 a river are neglected in stating the line of its course. 
 
 Masses are mineral : deposites, not extensively spread in parallel planes, but irregular 
 heaps, rounded or oval, enveloped in whole or in a great measure by rocks of a different 
 kind. Lenticular masses being frequently placed between two horizontal or inclined 
 strata, have been sometimes supposed to be stratiform themselves, and have been accord- 
 ingly denominated by the Germans liegende stocke, lying heaps or blocks. 
 
 The orbicular masses often occur in the interior of unstratified mountains, or in the 
 bosom of one bed. 
 
 Nests, concretions, nodules, are small masses found in the middle of strata ; the first be- 
 ing commonly in a friable state ; the second often kidney-shaped, or tuberous ; the third 
 nearly round, and incrusted, like the kernel of an almond. 
 
 Lodes, or large veins, are 'flattened masses, with their opposite surfaces not parallel, 
 which consequently terminate like a wedge, at a greater or less distance, and do not run 
 parallel with the rocky strata in which they lie, but cross them in a direction not far 
 from the perpendicular ; often traversing several different mineral planes. The lodes are 
 sometimes deranged in their course, so as to pursue for a little way the space between 
 two contiguous strata ; at other times they divide into several branches. The matter 
 which fills the lodes is for the most part entirely different from the rocks they pass 
 through, or at least it possesses peculiar features. 
 
 This mode of existence, exhibited by several mineral substances, but which has 
 been long known with regard to metallic ores, suggests the idea of clefts or rents 
 having been made in the stratum posterior to its consolidation, and of the vacuities 
 having been filled with foreign matter, either immediately or after a certain interval. 
 There can be no doubt as to the justness of the first part of the proposition, for there 
 may be observed round many lodes undeniable proofs of the movement or dislocation of 
 the rock ; for example, upon each side of the rent, the same strata are no longer situated 
 in ihe same plane as before, but make greater or smaller angles with it ; or the stratum 
 upon one side of the lode is raised considerably above, or depressed considerably below, 
 }ts counterpart upon the other side. With regard to the manner in which the rent has 
 been filled, different opinions may be entertained. In the lodes which are .widest near 
 the surface of the ground, and graduate into a thin wedge below, the foreign matter 
 would seem to have been introduced as into a funnel at the top, and to have carried 
 along with it in its fluid state portions of rounded gravel and organic remains. In 
 othor cases, other conceptions seem to be more probable ; since many lodes are largest 
 at i heir under part, and become progressively narrower as they approach the surface; 
 t""o.:i which circumstance it has been inferred that the rent has been caused hv a» 
 
MIKES. 167 
 
 expansive force acting from within the earth, and that the foreign matter, having been 
 injected in a fluid state, has afterwards slowly crystallized. This hypothesis accounts 
 much better than the other for most of the phenomena observable in mineral veins, 'for 
 the alterations of the rock at their sides, for, the crystallization of the different substances 
 interspersed in them, for the cavities bestudded with little crystals, and for many minute 
 peculiarities. Thus, the large crystals of certain substances which line the walls of 
 hollow veins, have sometimes their under surfaces besprinkled with small crystals of 
 sulphurets, arseniurets, &c, while their upper surfaces are quite smooth ; suggesting 
 the idea of a slow sublimation of these volatile matters from below, by the residual 
 heat, and their condensation upon the under faces of the crystalline bodies, already 
 cooled. This phenomenon affords a strong indication of the igneous origin of metalli- 
 ferous veins. 
 
 In the lodes, the principal matters which fill them are to be distinguished from the 
 accessory substances ; the latter being distributed irregularly, amidst the mass of the first, 
 in crystals, nodules, grains, seams, &c. The non-metalliferous exterior pi.fftion. which is 
 often the largest, is called gangue, from the German gang, vein. The position of a vein 
 is denoted, like that of the strata, by the angle of inclination, and the point of the horizon 
 towards which they dip, whence the direction is deduced. 
 
 Veins, ar.e merely small lodes, which sometimes traverse the great .ones, ramifying :i 
 various directions, and in different degrees of tenuity. 
 
 A metalliferous substance is said to be disseminated, when it is dispersed in crystals 
 spangles, scales, globules, &c, through a large mineral mass. 
 
 Certain ores which contain the metals most indispensable to human necessities, have 
 been treasured up by the Creator in very bountiful deposites ; constituting either great 
 masses in rocks of different kinds, or distributed in lodes, veins, nests, concretions, or beds 
 with stony and earthy admixtures ; the whole of which become the objects of mineral ex- 
 ploration. These precious stores occur in different stages of the geological formations ; 
 but their main portion, after having existed abundantly in the several orders of the pri- 
 mary strata, suddenly cease to be found towards the middle of the secondary. Iron ores 
 are the only ones which continue among the more modern deposites, even so high as the 
 beds immediately beneath the chalk, when they also disappear, or exist merely as color- 
 ing matters of the tertiary earthy beds, 
 
 The strata of gneiss and mica-slate constitute in Europe the grand metallic domain. 
 There is hardly any kind of ore which does not occur there in sufficient abundance to 
 become the object of mining operations, and many are found nowhere else. The tran- 
 sition rocks, and the lower part of the secondary ones, are not so rich, neither do they 
 contain the same variety of ores. But this order of things, Which is presented by Great 
 Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway, is far from forming a general law ; since 
 in equinoctial America the gneiss is but little metalliferous ; while the superior strata, 
 such as the clay-schists, the sienitic porphyries, the limestones, which complete the tran- 
 sition series, as also several secondary deposites, include the greater portion of the immense 
 mineral wealth of that region of the globe. 
 
 All the substances of which the ordinary metals form the basis, are not equally abundant 
 in nature ; a great proportion of the numerous mineral species which figure in our classi- 
 fications, are mere varieties scattered up and down in the cavities of the great masses or 
 lodes. The workable ores are few in number, being mostly sulphurets, some oxydes, and 
 carbonates. These occasionally form of themselves very large masses, but more frequent- 
 ly they are blended with lumps of quartz, feldspar, and carbonate of lime, which form the 
 main body of the deposite ; as happens always in proper lodes. The ores in that case are 
 arranged in small layers parallel to the strata of the formation, or in small veins which 
 traverse the rock in all directions, or in nests or concretions stationed irregularly, or 
 finally disseminated in hardly visible particles. These deposites sometimes contain appa- 
 rently only one species of ore, sometimes several, which must be mined together, as they 
 seem to be of contemporaneous formation ; whilst, in other cases, they are separable, 
 having been probably formed at different epochs. In treating of the several metals in 
 their alphabetical order, I have taken care to describe thei peculiar geological positions, 
 and the rocks which accompany or mineralize them. 
 
 In mining, as in architecture, the best method of imparting instruction is to display 
 the master-pieces of the respective arts, which speak clearly to the mind through the 
 medium of the eye. It is not so easy, however, to represent at once the general effect of 
 a mine, as it is of an edifice; because there is no point of sight from which the former 
 can be sketched at once, like the latter. The subterraneous structures certainly afford 
 some of the finest examples of the useful labors of man, continued for ages, under the 
 guidance of science and ingenuity ; but, however curious, beautiful, and grand in them- 
 selves, they cannot become objects of a panoramic view. It is only by the lights of ge- 
 ometry and geology that mines can be contemplated and surveyed, either as a whole or in 
 their details ; and, therefore, these marvellous subterranean regions, in which roads are cul 
 
168 
 
 MINES. 
 
 many hundred miles long, are altogether unknown or disregarded by men of the world. 
 Should any of them, perchance, from curiosity or interest, descend into these dark 
 recesses of the earth, they are prepared to discover only a few insulated objects which thej 
 may think strange or possibly hideous ; but they cannot recognise either the symmetrica. 
 ' disposition of mineral bodies, or the laws which govern geological phenomena, and 
 serve as sure guides to the skilful miner in his adventurous search. It is by exac! 
 plans and sections of subterraneous workings, that a knowledge of the nature, extent, 
 and distribution of mineral wealth can be acquired. 
 
 931. A general view of mining operations. 
 
 
 As there is no country in the world so truly rich and powerful, by virtue of its mineraj 
 stores, as Great Britain, so there are no people who ought to take a deeper interest in 
 their scientific illustration. I have endeavored in the present article to collect from 
 the most authentic sources the most interesting and instructive examples of mining 
 operations. 
 
 To the magnificent work of Ville-Fosse, Sur la Richesse Minerale, no longer on sale, 
 I have to acknowledge w >'ghty obligations ; many of the figures being copied from his 
 great Atlas. 
 
 Lodes or mineral veins are usually distinguished by English miners into at least four 
 species. 1. The rake vein. 2. The pipe vein. 3. The flat or dilated vein ; and 4 
 The interlaced mass (stoclc-werke), indicating the union of a multitude of small veins 
 mixed in every possible direction with each other, and. with the rock. 
 
 1. The rake vein is a perpendicular mineral fissure; and is the form best known 
 among practical miners. It commonly runs in a straight line, beginning at the super- 
 ficies of the strata, and cutting them downwards, generally further than can be reached. 
 This vein sometimes stands quite perpendicular ; but it more usually inclines or hangs 
 over at a greater or smaller angle, or slope, which is called by the miners the hade or 
 hading of the vein. The line of direction in which the.fissure runs, is called the beating 
 of the vein. 
 
 2. The pipe vein resembles in many respects a huge irregular cavern,' pushing forward 
 into the body of the earth in a sloping direction, under various inclinations, from an 
 angle of a few degrees to the horizon, to a dip of 45°, or more. The pipe does not in 
 general cut the strata across like the rake vein, but insinuates itself between them ; so 
 that if the plane of the strata be nearly horizontal, the bearing of the pipe vein will be 
 conformable; but if the strata stand up at a high angle,, the pipe shoots down nearly 
 headlong like a shaft. Some > pipes are very wide and high, others are very low and 
 narrow sometimes not larger "than a common mine or drift. 
 
 3. The flat or dilated vein, is a space or opening between two strata or beds of stone, 
 the one of which lies above, and the other below this vein, like u stratum of coal 
 
MINES.. 160 
 
 between its roof and pavement ; so that the vein and the strata are placed in tiie same 
 plane of inclination. These veins are subject, like coal, to be interrupted, broken, and 
 thrown up or down by slips, dikes, or other interruptions of the regular strata. In the 
 case of a metallic vein, a slip often increases the chance of finding more treasure. Such 
 veins do not preserve the parallelism of their beds, characteristic of coal seams ; but 
 vary excessively in thickness within a moderate space. Flat veins occur frequently in 
 limestone, "either in a horizontal or declining direction. The flat or strata veins open and 
 close, as the rake veins also do. 
 
 4. The interlaced mass has been already denned. 
 
 To these may be added the accumulated vein, or irregujar mass (buizenwerlce), a great 
 deposite placed without any order in the bosom of the rocks, apparently filling up cavern- 
 ous spaces. 
 
 The interlaced masses are more frequent in primitive formations, than in the others; 
 and tin is the ore which most commonly affects this locality. See figure of Tin mine. 
 
 The study of the mineral substances, called gangues or vein-stones, .which usually 
 accompany the different ores, is indispensable in the investigation and working of mines. 
 These gangues, such as quartz, calcareous spar, fluor spar, heavy spar, &c:, and a great 
 number of other substances, although of little or no value in themselves, become of great 
 consequence to the miner, either by'pointing out by their presence that of certain useful 
 minerals, or by characterizing in their several associations, different deposites of ores of 
 which it may be possible to follow the traces, and to discriminate the relations, often of a 
 complicated kind; provided we observe assiduously the accompanying gangues. 
 
 Mineral veins are subject to derangements in their course, which are called shifts or 
 faults. Thus, when a transverse vein throws out, or intercepts, a longitudinal one, we 
 must commonly look for the rejected vein on the side of the obtuse angle which the 
 direction of the latter makes with that of the former. When a bed of ore is deranged 
 by a fault, we must observe whether the slip of the strata be upwards or downwards ; for 
 in either circumstance, it is only by pursuing the direction of the fault that we can 
 recover the ore ; in the former case by mounting, in the latter by descending beyond 
 the dislocation. 
 
 When two veins intersect each other, the direction of the offcast is a subject of interest, 
 both to the miner and the geologist. In Saxony it is considered as a general fact that 
 the portion thrown out is always upon the side of the obtuse angle, a circumstance which 
 holds also in Cornwall ; and the more obtuse the angle, the out-throw is the more con- 
 siderable. A vein may be thrown out on meeting another vein, in a line which approaches 
 either towards its inclination or its direction. The Cornish miners use two different 
 terms to defnote these two modes of rejection ; for the first case, they say the vein is 
 heaved ; for the second, it is started. \ 
 
 The great copper lode of Carharack, d,fig. 932, in the parish of Gwenap, is one of the 
 most instructive examples of intersection. The power 
 or thickness of this vein is 8 feet ; its direction is 
 nearly due east and west, and it dips towards the 
 north at an inclination of two feet per fathom ; its 
 upper part being in the killas (a greenish clay-slate) ; 
 its lower part in the granite. The lode has suffered 
 two intersections ; the first produced by meeting the 
 vein ft, called Steven's fluckan, which runs from north- 
 east to south-west, and which throws the lode 
 several fathoms out ; the second is produced by 
 another vein i, almost at right angles with the first, and which occasions another out- 
 throw of 20 fathoms to the right side. The fall of the vein occurs therefore in the one 
 case to the right, and in the other to the left ; but in both it is towards the side of the 
 obtuse angle. This distribution is very singular; for one part of the vein appears to 
 have mounted while the other has descended, n. s. denotes North and South, d is 
 the copper lode running east and west, h, i, are systems of clay-slate veins called 
 fluckans; the line over s, represents the down shift, and' d' the up-shift. 
 
 General observations on the localities of ores, and on the indications of metallic mines. 
 
 1. Tin exists principally in primitive Tocks, appearing either in interlaced masses, in 
 beds, or as a constituent part of the rdck itself, and more rarely in distinct veins. Tin 
 ore is found indeed sometimes in alluvial land, filling up low situations between lofty 
 mountains. 
 
 2. Gold occurs either in beds or in veins, frequently in primitive rocks ; though in 
 other formations, and particularly in alluvial earth, it is also found. When this metal 
 exists in the bosom of primitive rocks, it is particularly in schists ; it is not found in serpen- 
 tine, but it is met with in graywacke in Transylvania. The gold of alluvial districts, 
 
 L. 
 
170 
 
 MINES. 
 
 sailed gold of washing or transport, occurs, as well as alluvial tin, among the debits oi 
 the more ancient rocks. 
 
 3. Silver is found particularly in veins and beds, in primitive and transition formations 
 though some veins of this metal occur in secondary strata. The rocks richest in it are, 
 gneiss, mica-slate, clay-slate, graywacke, and old alpine limestone. Localities of silver- 
 ore itself are not numerous, at least in Europe, among secondary formations; hut it 
 occurs in combination with the ores of copper or of lead. 
 
 4. Copper exists in the three mineral epochas ; I. in primitive rocks, principally in the 
 state of pyritous copper, in beds, in masses, or in veins ; 2. in transition districts, some- 
 times in masses, sometimes in veins of copper pyrites; 3. in secondary strata, especially 
 in beds of cupreous schist. 
 
 5. Lead occurs also in each of the three mineral epochas ; abounding particularly in 
 primitive and transition grounds, where it usually constitutes veins, and occasionally beds 
 of sulphureted lead (galena). The same ore is found in strata or in veins among 
 secondary rocks, associated now and then' with ochreous iron-oxyde and calamine 
 (carbonate of zinc) ; and it is sometimes disseminated in grains through more recent 
 strata. . . 
 
 6. Iron is met with in four different mineral eras, but in different ores. Among primi- 
 tive rocks, magnetic iron ore and specular iron ore "occur chiefly in beds, sometimes of 
 enormous size ; the ores of red or brown oxyde of iron (hematite) are found generally in 
 veins, or occasionally in masses with sparry iron, both in primitive and transition rocks ; 
 as also sometimes in secondary strata; but more frequently in the coal-measure strata, as 
 beds of clay-ironstone, of globular iron oxyde, and carbonate of iron. In alluvial districts 
 we find ores of clay-ironstone, granular iron-ore, bog-ore, swamp-ore, and meadow-ore. 
 The iron ores which belong to the primitive period have almost always the metallic aspect, 
 with a richness amounting even to 80 per cent, of iron, while the ores in the posterior 
 formations become in general more and more earthy, down to those in alluvial soils, some 
 of which present the' appearance of a common stone, and afford not more than 20, per 
 cent, of metal, though its quality is often excellent. 
 
 7. Mercury occurs principally among secondary strata, in disseminated masses, along 
 with combustible substances ; though the metal is met with occasionally in primitive 
 countries. 
 
 8. Cobalt belongs to the three mineral epochas ; its most abundant deposites are veins 
 in primitive rocks ; small veins containing this metal are found, however, in secondary 
 strata. 
 
 9. Antimony occurs in veins or beds among primitive and transition rocks. 
 
 10. 11. Bismuth and nickel do not appear to constitute the predominating substance 
 of any mineral deposites ; but they often accompany cobalt. 
 
 12. Zinc occurs in the three several formations : namely, as sulphuret or blende, partic- 
 ularly in primitive and transition rocks ; as calamine, in secondary strata, usually along 
 with oxyde of iron, and sometimes with sulphuret of lead. 
 
 An acquaintance with the general results collected and classified by geology must be 
 our first guide in the investigation of mines. This enables the observer to judge whether 
 any particular district should, from the nature and arrangement of its rocks, be suscepti- 
 ble of including within its bosom, beds of workable ores ; it indicates also, to a certain 
 degree, what substances may probably be met with in a given series of rocks, and what 
 locality these substances will preferably affect. For want of a knowledge of these facts, 
 many persons have gone blindly into researches equally absurd and ruinous. 
 
 Formerly, indications of mines were taken from very unimportant circumstances ; 
 from thermal waters, the heat of which was gratuitously referred to the decomposition of 
 pyrites ; from mineral waters, whose course is however often from a far distant source ; . 
 from vapors incumbent over particular mountain groups ; from the snows melting faster 
 in one mineral district than another ; from the different species of forest trees, and from 
 the greater or less vigor of vegetation, &c. In general, all such indications are equally 
 fallacious with the divining rod, and the compass made of a lump of pyrites suspended by 
 a thread. 
 
 Geogrcostic observation has substituted more rational characters of metallic deposites, 
 some of which may be" called negative and others positive. 
 
 The negative indications are derived from that peculiar geological constitution, which 
 from experience or general principles excludes certain metallic matters ; for example, 
 granite, and in general every primitive formation, forbids the hope of finding within them 
 combustible fossils (pit-coal,) unless it be beds of anthracite ; there also it would be vain 
 to seek for sal gem. It is very seldom that granite rocks include silver ; or limestones, 
 ores of tin. Volcanic territories never afford any metallic ores worth the working; nor 
 do extensive veins usually run into secondary and alluvial formations. The richer ores 
 of iron do not occur in secondary strata ; and the ores of this metal peculiar to these 
 localities, do not exist among primary rocks. 
 
MINES. 
 
 171 
 
 Among positive indications, some are proximate and others remote. The. proximate 
 are, an efflorescence, so to speak, of the subjacent metallic masses;' magnetic attraction 
 for iron ores ; bituminous stone, or inflammable gas for pit-coal ; the frequent occurrence 
 of fragments of particular ores, &c. The remote indications consist in the geological 
 epocha, and nature of the rocks. From the examples previously adduced, marks of 
 this kind acquire new importance when in a district susceptible of including depositcs of 
 workable ores, the gangv.es or vein-stones are met with which usually accompany any 
 particular metal. The general aspect of mountains whose flanks present gentle and 
 continuous slopes, the frequency of sterile Veins, the presence of metalliferous sands,, the 
 neighborhood of some known locality of an ore, for instance, that of iron-stone in 
 reference to coal, lastly, the existence of salt springs and mineral waters, may furnish 
 some indications ; but when ferruginous or cupreous waters issue from sands or clays, 
 such characters merit in general little attention, because the waters may flow from a great 
 distance. No greater importance can be attached to metalliferous sands and saline 
 springs. 
 
 In speaking of remote indications, we may remark that in several places, and partic- 
 ularly near Clausthal in the Hartz, a certain ore of red oxyde of iron occurs above the 
 most abundant deposites of the ores of lead and silver ; whence it has bSen named by 
 the Germans the iron-hat. It appears that the iron ore rich in silver, whicn is worked 
 in America under the name of pacos, has some analogy with this substan6e ; but iron ore 
 is in general so plentifully diffused on the surface of the soil, that its presence can be re- 
 garded as only a remote indication, relative to other mineral substances, except in the 
 case of clay iron-stone with coal. _ 
 
 Of the instruments and operations of subterranean operations. — It is by the aid of ge- 
 ometry in the first place that the miner studies the situation of the mineral deposites, on 
 the surface and in the interior of the ground ; determines the several relations of the 
 veins and the rocks ; and becomes capable of directing the perforations towards a suitable 
 
 The instruments are, 1. the magnetic compass, which is employed to measure the 
 direction of a metallic ore, wherever the neighborhood of iron does not interfere with its 
 functions ; 2. the graduated semi-circle, which serves to measure the inclination, which is 
 also called the clinometer. 
 
 3. The chain or cord for measuring the distance of one point from another. 
 
 4. When the neighborhood of iron renders the use of the magnet uncertain, a plate or 
 plane table is employed. . . 
 
 The dials of the compasses generally used in the most celebrated mines, are graduated 
 into hours ; most commonly into twice 12 hours. Thus the whole limb is divided into 
 24 spaces, each of which contains 15° = 1 hour. Each hour is subdivided into 8 
 
 ^ Means of penetrating into the interior of the earth.— In older to penetrate into the inte- 
 rior of the earth, and to extract from it the objects of his toils, the miner has at his dis- 
 posal several means, which may be divided into three classes; 1. manual tools, 2. gun. 
 powder, and- 3. fire. 
 
 The tools used by the miners of Cornwall and Devonshire are the following: 
 Fig. 933. The pick. It is a light tool, and somewhat varied in shape according to cir- 
 
 935 933 
 
 936 
 
 cumslances One side used as a hammer is called the poll, and is employed to drive in 
 the gads, or to loosen and detach prominences. The point is of steel, carefully tempered, 
 and drawn under the hammer to the proper form, The French call it pomterolle. 
 
172 MINES. 
 
 Fig. 934. The gad. It is a wedge of steel, driven into crevices of rocks, or into sirajl 
 openings made with the point of the pick. 
 
 Fig. 935 The miner's shovel. It has a pointed form, to enable it to penetrate among 
 the coarse and hard fragments of the mine rubbish. Its handle being somewhat bent, a 
 man's power may be conveniently applied without bending his body. 
 
 The blasting or shooting tools are : — 
 
 A sledge or mallet .... fig. 936. 
 
 Borer - - — 937. 
 
 Claying bar - - - — 938. 
 
 Needle or nail - - - — 939. 
 
 Scraper - - . . _ 940. 
 
 Tamping bar — 941. 
 
 Besides these tools the miner requires a powder-horn, rushes to be filled with gunpow- 
 der, tin cartridges for occasional use in wet ground, and paper rubbed over with gunpow- 
 der or grease, for the smifts or fuses. 
 
 The "fcorer, fig. 937, is an iron bar tipped with steel, formed like a thick chisel, and 
 is used by one man holding it straight in the hole with constant rotation on its axis, while 
 another strikes the head of it with the iron sledge or mallet, fig. 936. The hole is cleared 
 out from time to time by the scraper, fig. 940, which is a flat iron rod turned up at one. 
 end. If the ground be very wet, and the hole gets full of mud, it is cleaned out by a sti-k 
 bent at the end into a fibrous brush, called a swab-stick. 
 
 Fig. 942 represents the plan of blasting the rock, and a section of a hole ready foi 
 
 firing. The hole must be rendered as 
 dry as possible, which is effected very 
 simply by filling it partly with tenaci- 
 ous clay, and then driving into it a 
 tapering iron rod, which nearly fills its 
 calibre, called the. claying bar. This 
 being forced in with great violence, 
 condenses the clay into all the crevices 
 of the rock, and secures the dryness of 
 the hole. Should this plan fail, re- 
 course is had to tin cartridges furnish- 
 ed with a stem or tube, (see fig. 943,) 
 through which the powder may be in- 
 flamed. When the hole is dry, and 
 the charge of powder introduced, the nail, a small taper rod of copper, is inserted so as 
 to reach the bottom of the hole, which is now ready for tamping. By this difficult and 
 dangerous process, the gunpowder is confined, and the disruptive effect produced. 
 Different substances are employed for tamping, or cramming the hole, the most usual 
 one being any soft species of rock free from silicious or flinty particles. Small quan- 
 tities of it only are introduced at a time, and rammed very hard by the tamping-bar, 
 which is held steadily by one man, and struck with a sledge by another. The hole 
 being thus filled, the nail is withdrawn by putting a bar through its eye, and striking 
 it upwards. Thus a small perforation or vent is left for the rush which communicates 
 the fire. 
 
 Besides the improved tamping-bar faced with hard copper, other contrivances have 
 been resorted to for diminishing the risk of those dreadful accidents that frequently occur 
 in this operation. Dry sand is sometimes used as a tamping material, but there are man} 
 rocks for the blasting of which it is ineffective. Tough clay will answer better in several 
 situations. 
 
 For conveying the fire, the large and long green rushes which grow in marshy 
 ground are selected. A slit is made in one side of the rush, along which the sharp 
 end of a bit of stick is drawn, so as to extract the pith, when the skin of the rush closes 
 again by its own elasticity. This tube is filled up with gunpowder, dropped into the 
 vent-hole, and made steady with a bit of clay. A paper smift, adjusted to burn a proper 
 time, is then fixed to the top of the rush-tube, and kindled, when the men of the mine re T 
 tire to a safe distance. < 
 
 In fig. 942 the portion of the rock which would be dislodged by the explosion, is 
 that included between A and b. The charge of powder is represented by the white part 
 which fills the hole up to c ; from which point to the top, the hole is filled with tamping. 
 The smift is shown at D. 
 
 Fie. 944 is an iron bucket, or as it is called in Cornwall, a kibble, in which the ore 
 !b raised in the shafts, by, machines called whims, worked by horses. The best kibbles 
 
MINES. 
 
 173 
 
 are made of sheet-iron, and hold each about three hundred weight of ore ; 
 are supposed to dear a cubic fathom of rock. 
 
 945 
 
 120 kibbles 
 
 Fig. 945 represents the wheelbarrow used under ground for conveying ore and waste 
 jo the foot of the shafts. It is made of light deal, except the wheel, which has a narrow 
 •im of iron. 
 
 Fig. 946 represents Mr. Taylor's ingenious ventilator, or machine for renewing fresh 
 air in mines. It is so simple in construction, so complete in its operation, requires so 
 little power to work it, and is so little liable to injury from wear, that nothing further 
 of the kind can be desired in ordinary metallic mines. The shaft of the mine is repre- 
 sented at A ; at either the top or bottom of which the machine may be placed, as is 
 found most convenient, but the foul air must be discharged into a floor, furnished with 
 a valve-door to prevent its return into the mine. E is the air-pipe from the mirie, pass- 
 ing through the bottom of the fixed vessel or cylinder c, which is formed of timber, and 
 bound with iron hoops. It is filled with water nearly to the top of the pipe b, on which 
 is fixed a valve opening upwards at r. E, the air, or exhausting cylinder of cast-iron, 
 open at bottom, and suspended over the .air-pipe, but immersed some way in the water. 
 It is furnished with a wooden top, having an aperture fitted with a valve likewise open- 
 ing upwards at f. This exhausting cylinder is moved up and down by the bob, g, brought 
 into connexion with any engine, by the horizontal rod h ; the weight of the cylinder 
 being balanced, if necessary, by the counterpoise i. The action is as follows : — When 
 the cylinder rises, the air from the mine rushes up through the pipe and valve D ; and 
 when it descends, this valve shuts, and prevents the return of the air, which is expelled 
 through the valve f. With a cylinder two feet in.diameter and six feet long, working 
 from two to three strokes per minute, 200 gallons of a'- may be discharged in the 
 same time. 
 
 Gunpowder is the most valuable agent of excavation ; possessing a power which has 
 no limit, and which can act everywhere, even under water. Its introduction, in 1615, 
 caused a great revolution in the mining art. 
 
 ' It is employed in mines in different manners, and in different quantities, according to 
 circumstances. In all cases, however, the process resolves itself into boring a hole, and 
 enclosing a cartridge in it, which is afterwards made to explode. The hole is always 
 cylindrical, and is usually made by means of the borer, Jig. 93*7, a stem of iron, termi- 
 nated by a blunt-edged chisel. It sometimes ends in a cross, formed by two chisels set 
 transversely. The workman holds the stem in his left hand, and strikes it with an iron 
 mallet held in his right. He is careful to turn the punch a very little round at every 
 stroke. Several punches are employed in succession, to bore one hole ; the first shorter, 
 the latter ones longer, and somewhat thinner. The rubbish is withdrawn as it accumu- 
 lates, at the bottom of the hole, by means of a picker, which is a small spoon or disc 
 of iron fixed at the end of a slender iron rod. When holes of a large size are to be 
 
174 MINES. 
 
 made, several men must be employed ; one to hold the punch, and cne or more to wield 
 the iron mallet. The perforations are seldom less than an inch fi diameter, and 18 inches 
 deep ; but they are sometimes two inches wide, with a depth of 50 inches. 
 
 The gunpowder, when used, is most commonly put up in paper cartridges. Into the 
 side of the cartridge, a.small cylindrical spindle or piercer is pushed. In this state the 
 cartridge is forced down to the bottom of the hole, which is then stuffed, by means of the 
 tamping \iar, Jig. 941, with bits of dry clay, or friable stones coarsely pounded.* The 
 piercer is now withdrawn, which leaves in its place a channel through which fire may be 
 conveyed to the charge. This is executed either by pouring gunpowder into that passage, 
 or by inserting into it reeds, straw sterns, quills,. or tubes of paper filled with gunpowder. 
 This is exploded by a long match, which the workmen kindle, and then retire to a place 
 of safety. 
 
 As the piercer must not only be slender, but stiff, so as to he easily withdrawn when 
 the hole is tamped, iron spindles are usually employed, though they occasionally give 
 rise to sparks, and consequently to dangerous accidents, by their friction against the sides 
 of the hole. Brass piercers have been sometimes tried ; but they twist and break too 
 readily. 
 
 Each hole bored in a mine, should be so placed in reference to the schistose structure 
 of the 'rock, and to its natural fissures, as to attack and blow up the least resisting masses. 
 Sometimes the rock is prepared beforehand for splitting in a certain direction, by means 
 of a narrow channel excavated with the small hammer. 
 
 The quantity of gunpowder should be proportional to the depth of the hole, and the re- 
 sistance of the rock, and merely sufficient to split it. Anything additional would serve no 
 other purpose than to throw the fragments about the mine, without increasing the useful 
 effect. Into the holes of about an inch and a quarter diameter, and 18 inches deep, only two 
 ounces of gunpowder are put. 
 
 It appears that the effect of the gunpowder may be augmented by leaving an empty 
 space above, in the middle of, or beneath the cartridge. In the mines of Silesia, the con 
 sumption of gunpowder has ■ been eventually reduced, without diminishing the pro- 
 duct of the blasts, by mixing sawdust with it, in certain proportions. The hole has also been 
 filled up with sand in some cases, according to Mr. Jessop's plan, instead of being 
 packed with stones, which has removed the danger of the tamping operation. The ex- 
 periments made in this way have given results very advantageous in quarry blasts 
 with great , charges of gunpowder ; but less favorable in the small charges employed 
 in mines. 
 
 Water does not oppose an insurmountable obstacle to the employment of gunpowder ; 
 but when the hole cannot be made dry, a cartridge bag impermeable to water must be had 
 recourse to, provided with a tube also impermeable, in which the piercer is placed. 
 
 After the explosion of each mining charge, wedges and levers are employed, to drag 
 away and break down what has been shattered. 
 
 Wherever the rock is tolerably hard, the use of gunpowder is more economical and 
 more rapid than any tool-work, and is therefore always preferred. A gallery, foi 
 example, a yard and a half high, and a yard wide, the piercing of which by the hammer 
 formerly cost from five to ten pounds sterling the running yard, in German}', is 
 executed at the present day by gunpowder at from two to three pounds, lyhen, how- 
 ever, a precious mass of ore is to be detached, when the rock is cavernous, which nearly 
 nullifies the action of gunpowder, or when there is reason to apprehend that the shock 
 caused by the explosion may produce an injurious fall of rubbish, hand-tools alone must 
 be employed. 
 
 In certain rocks and ores of extreme hardness, the use both of tools and gunpowder 
 becomes very tedious and costly. Examples to this effect are seen, in the mass of 
 quartz mingled with copper pyrites, worked at Rammelsberg, in the Hartz, in the 
 masses of stanniferous granite of Geyer and Altenberg in the Erzgebirge of Saxony, 
 &c. In these circumstances, fortunately very rare, the action of fire is used with 
 advantage to diminish the cohesion of Che rocks and the ores. The employment of this 
 agent is not necessarily restricted to these difficult cases. It was formerly applied very 
 often to the working of hard substances ; but the introduction of gunpowder into the 
 mining art, and the increase in the price of wood, occasion fire to be little used as an 
 ordinary means of excavation, except in places where the scantiness of the poulation has 
 
 * Sir Rose Price invented a cap of bronze alloy, to tip the lower end of the iron rod ; a contrivance 
 now generally used in Cornwall. Before the Geological Society of that county introduced this invention 
 into practice, scarcely a month elapsed without some dreadful explosion sending the miner to an un- 
 timely grave, or so injuring him by blowing out his eyes, or shattering his limbs, as to render him 8 
 miserable object of charity for the rest of .his days. Scarcely has any accident happened since the em- 
 ployment of the new tamping-bar. When the whole bar was made of the tin and copper alloy it was ex- 
 pensive, and apt to bend : but the iron rod tipped with the bronze is both cheap and effectual. An ingenious 
 instrument, called the shifting cartridge, was invented by Mr Chinalls, and is described in the Transaction* 
 ■)f the above society. 
 
MINES. 175 
 
 left a great extent of forest timber, as happens at Kongsberg in Norway, at Dannemora 
 in Sweden, at Felsobanya in Transylvania, &c. 
 
 The action of fire may be applied to the piercing of a gallery, or to the advancemen. 
 of a horizontal cut, or to the crumbling down of a mass of ore, by the successive 
 upraising of the roof of a gallery already pierced. In any of these cases, the process 
 consists in forming bonfires, the flame of which is made to play upon the parts to be 
 attacked. All the workmen must be removed from the mine, during, and even for 
 some time after, the combustion. When the excavations have become sufficiently cool 
 to allow them to enter, they break down with levers and wedges, or evon by means of 
 gunpowder, the masses which have been rent and altered by the fire. 
 
 To complete our account of the manner in which man may penetrate into the interior 
 of the earth, we must point out the form of the excavations that he should make in it. 
 
 In mines, three principal species of excavations may be distinguished ; viz., shafts, 
 galleries, and the cavities of greater or less magnitude which remain in the room of the 
 old workings. 
 
 A shaft or pit is a prismatic or cylindrical hollow space, the axis of which is either 
 vertical or much inclined to the horizon. The dimension of the pit, which is never less 
 than 32 inches in its narrowest diameter, amounts sometimes to several yards. Its depth 
 may extend to 1000 feet, and more. Whenever a shaft is opened, means must be pro- 
 vided to extract the rubbish which continually tends to accumulate at its bottom, as well 
 as the waters which may percolate down into it; as also to facilitate the descent and 
 ascent of the workmen. For some time a wheel and axle erected over the mouth of the 
 opening, which serve to elevate one or two buckets of proper dimensions, may be suffi- 
 cient for most of these purposes. But such a machine becomes ere long inadequate. 
 Horse-whims, or powerful steam-engines, must then be had recourse to ; and effectual 
 methods of support must be employed to prevent the sides of the shaft from crumbling 
 and falling down. 
 
 A Gallery is a prismatic space, the straight or winding axis of which does not \ sually 
 deviate much from' the horizontal line. Two principal species are distinguished ; the 
 galleries of elongation, which follow the direction of a bed or a vein ; and the transverse 
 galleries, which intersect this direction under an angle not much different from 90°. 
 The most ordinary dimensions of galleries are a yard wide, and two yards high ; but 
 many still larger may be seen traversing thick deposites of ore. There are few whose 
 width is less than 24 inches, and height less than 40 ; such small drifts serve merely as 
 temporary expedients in workings. Some galleries are several leagues in length. We 
 shall describe in the sequel the means which are for Uhe most part necessary to support 
 the roof and the walls. The rubbish is removed by wagons or wheelbarrows of 
 various kinds. See Jig. 946. 
 
 It is impossible to advance the boring of a shaft or gallery beyond a certain rate, because 
 only a limited set of workmen can be made to bear upon it. There are some galleries 
 which have taken more than 30 years to perforate. The only expedient for accelerating 
 the advance of a gallery, is to commence, at several points of the line to be pursued, 
 portions of galleries which may be joined together on their completion. 
 
 Whether tools or gunpowder be used in making the excavations, they should be so 
 applied as to render the labor as easy and quick as possible, by disengaging the mass 
 out of the rock at ^wo or three of its faces. The effect of gunpowder, wedges, or picks, 
 is then much more powerful. The greater the excavation, the more important is it to 
 observe this rule. With this intent, the working is disposed in the form of steps, 
 (gradins), placed like those of a stair ; each step being removed in successive portions, 
 the whole of which, except the last, are disengaged on three sides, at the instant of their 
 being attacked. 
 
 The substances to be mined occur in the' bosom of the earth, under the form of 
 alluvial deposites, beds, pipe-veins, or masses, threads or small veins, and rake-veins. 
 
 When the existence of a deposite of ore is merely suspected, without positive proofs, 
 recourse must be had to labors of research, in order to ascertain the richness, nature, 
 and disposition of a supposed mine. These are divided into three kinds ; open workings, 
 subterranean workings, and boring operations. 
 
 1. The working by an open trench, has for its object to discover the outcropping or 
 basset edges of strata or veins. It consists in opening a fosse of greater or less width, 
 which, after removing the vegetable mould, the alluvial deposites, and the matters dis- 
 integrated by the atmosphere, discloses the native rocks, and enables us to distinguish 
 the beds which are interposed, as well as the veins that traverse them. The trench ought 
 always to be opened in a direction perpendicular to the line. of the supposed deposite. 
 This mode of investigation costs little, but it seldom gives much insight. It is chiefly 
 employed for verifying the existence of a supposed bed or vein. 
 
 The subterranean workings afford much more satisfactory knowledge. They are 
 executed by different kinds of perforations ; viz., by longitudinal galleries hollowed out 
 
176 MINES. 
 
 of the mass of the beds or veins themselves, in following their course ; by transven 
 galleries, pushed at right angles to the direction of the veins ; by inclined shafts, which 
 pursue the slope of the deposites, and are excavated in their mass; or, lastly, by perpen. 
 dicular pits. 
 
 If a vein or bed unveils itself on the flank of a mountain, it may be explored, according 
 to the greater or less slope of its inclination, either by a longitudinal gallery opened in 
 its mass, from the outcropping surface, or by a transverse gallery falling upon it in a cer- 
 tain point, from which either an oblong gallery or a sloping shaft may be opened. 
 
 If our object, be to reconnoitre a highly inclined stratum, or a vein in a level country, 
 we shall obtain it with sufficient precision, by means of shafts, 8 or 10 yards deep, dug 
 at 30 yards distance from one another ; excavated in the mass of ore, in the direction of 
 its deposite. If the bed is not very much inclined, only 45°, for example, vertical shafts 
 must be opened in the direction of its roof, or of the superjacent rocky stratum, and 
 galleries must be driven from the points in which they meet the ore, in the line of its 
 direction. 
 
 When the rocks which cover valuable minerals are not of very great hardness, as 
 happens generally with the coal formation, with pyritous and aluminous slates, sal gem, 
 and some other minerals of the secondary strata, the borer is employed with advantage to 
 ascertain their nature. This mode of investigation is economical, and gives, in such 
 cases, a tolerably exact insight into the riches of the interior. The method of using the 
 borer has been described under Artesian Wells. 
 
 OF MINING IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 The mode of working mines is two-fold ; by open excavations, and subterranean. 
 
 Workings in the open air present few difficulties, and occasion little expense, unless 
 when pushed to a great depth. They are always preferred for working deposites little 
 distant from the surface; where, in fact, other methods cannot be resorted to, if the 
 substance to be raised be covered with incoherent matters. The only rules to be 
 observed are, to arrange the workings in terraces, so as to facilitate tke cutting down of 
 the earth ; to transport the ores and the rubbish to their destination at the least possible 
 expense ; and to guard against the crumbling down of the sides. With the latter view, 
 they ought to have a suitable slope, or to be propped by timbers whenever they are not 
 quite solid. 
 
 Open workings are employed for valuble clays, sands, as also for the alluvial soils of 
 diamonds, gold, and oxyde of tin, bog iron ores, &c, limestones, gypsums, building stones, 
 roofing slates, masses of rock salt in some situations, and certain deposites of ores, partic- 
 ularly the specular iron of the island of Elba ; the masses of stanniferous granite of 
 Gayer, Mtenberg, and Seyffen, in the Ertzgeberge, a chain of mountains between Saxony 
 and Bohemia ; the thick veins or masses of black oxyde of iron of Nordmarch, Danne- 
 mora, &c, in Sweden ; the mass of cupreous pyrites of Rseraas, near Drontheim in 
 Norway ; several mines of iron, copper, and gold in the Ural mountains, &c. 
 
 Subterranean workings may be conveniently divided into five classes, viz. : — 
 
 1. Veins, or beds, much inclined to the horizon, having a thickness of at least two 
 yards. 
 
 2. Beds of slight inclination, or nearly horizontal, the power or thickness of which 
 does not exceed two yards. 
 
 3. Beds of great thickness, but slightly inclined. 
 
 4-. Veins, or beds highly inclined, of great thickness. 
 
 5. Masses of considerable magnitude in all their dimensions. 
 
 Subterranean mining requires two very distinct classes of workings ; the preparatory, 
 and those for extraction. 
 
 The preparatory consist in galle^es, or in pits and galleries destined to conduct the 
 miner to the point most proper for attacking the deposite of ore, for tracing it all round 
 this point, for preparing chambers of excavation, and for concerting neasures with a 
 view to the circulation of air, the discharge of waters, and the transport of the extracted 
 minerals. 
 
 If the vein or bed in question be placed in a mguntain, and if its direction forms a 
 very obtuse angle with the line of the slope, the miner begins by opening in its side, at 
 the lowest possible level, a gallery of elongation, which serves at once to give issue to 
 the waters, to explore the deposite through a considerable extent, and then to follow it 
 in another direction; but to commence the real mining operations, he pierces either 
 shafts or galleries, according to the slope of the deposite, across the first gallery. 
 
 For a stratum little inclined to the horizon, placed beneath a plain, the first thing is 
 to pierce two vertical shafts, which are usually made to arrive at two points in the same 
 line of slope, and a gallery is driven to unite them. It is, in the first place, for the sake 
 of circulation of air that these two pits are sunk; one of them, which is also destined 
 for the drainage of the waters, should reach the lowest point of the intended workings. 
 
MINES. 
 
 177 
 
 If a vein is intersected by transverse ones, the shafts are placed so as to follow, or, at 
 least, to out through the intersections. When the mineral ores lie in nearly vertical 
 masses, it is right to avoid, as far as possible, sinking pits into their interior. These 
 should rather be perforated atone side of their floor, even at some considerable distance, to 
 avoid all risk of crumbling the ores into a heap of rubbish, and overwhelming the workmen. 
 
 With a vein of less than two yards thick, as soon as the preparatory labors have 
 brought the miners' to the point of the vein from which the ulterior workings are to 
 ramify, whenever a circulation of air has been secured, and an outlet to the. water and 
 the matters mined, the first object is to divide the mass of ore into large parallelopi- 
 peds, by means of oblong galleries, pierced 20 or 25 yards below one another, with pits 
 of communication opened up, 30, 40, or 50 yards asunder, which follow the slope of 
 the vein. These galleries and shafts are usually of the same breadth as the vein, unless 
 when it is very narrow, in which case it is requisite to cut out. a portion of the roof or 
 the floor. Such workings serve at once the purposes of mining, by affording a portion 
 of ore, and the complete investigation of the nature and riches of the vein, a certain 
 extent of which is thus prepared before removing the cubical masses. It is proper to 
 advance first of all, in this manner, to the greatest distance from the central point which 
 can be mined with economy, and afterwards <to remove the parallelopiped blocks, in work- 
 ing back to that point. 
 
 This latter operation may be carried on in two different ways ; of which one consists 
 in attacking the ore frpm above, and another from below. In either case, the excava- 
 tions are disposed in steps similar to a stair upon their upper or under side. The first is 
 styled a working in direct or descending steps j and the second a working in reverse, or 
 ascending steps. 
 
 1. Suppose, for example, that the post x,fig- 947, included between the horizontal 
 
 gallery A c and the shaft A b, is to be excavated by direct steps; a workman stationed 
 upon a scaffold at the point a, which forms the angle between the shaft and the elong- 
 ated drift, attacks the rock in front of him and beneath his feet. Whenever he has cut 
 out a parallelopiped (a rectangular mass), of from four to six yards broad, and two yards 
 high, a second miner is set to work upon a scaffold at a', two yards beneath the first, 
 who, in like manner, excavates the rock under his feet and before him. As soon as the 
 second miner has removed a post of four or six yards in width, by two in height, a third 
 begins upon a scaffold at a" to work out a third step. Thus, as many workmen are 
 employed as there are steps to be made between the two oblong horizontal galleries 
 which extend above and below the mass to be excavated; and since they all proceed 
 simultaneously, they continue working in similar positions, in floors, over each other, as 
 upon a stair with very long wide steps. As they advance, the miners construct before 
 them wooden floors c c c e, for the purpose of supporting the rubbish which each 
 workman extracts from his own step. This floor, which should be very solid, serves 
 also for wheeling out his barrow filled with ore. The round billets which sup- 
 port the planks sustain the roof or the wall of the mineral vein or bed under 
 operation. If the rubbish.be very considerable, as is commonly the case, the floor 
 planks are lost. However strongly they may be made, as they cannot be repaired, 
 they sooner or later give way under the enormous pressure of the rubbish ; and as all 
 the weight is borne by the roof of the oblong gallery underneath, this must be suffi- 
 ciently timbered. By this ingenious plan, a great many miners may go to work 
 together upon a vein without mutual interference; as the portions which they detach 
 have always two faces at least free, they are consequently more easily separable, either 
 Vol. II. 13 
 
178 
 
 MINES. 
 
 with gunpowder or with the pick. Should the vein he more than a yard thick, or if its 
 substance be very refractory, two miners are set upon each step. 6 5 4 6 indicate tha 
 quadrangular masses that are cut out successively downwards; and 1 1, 2 2, 3 3, for- 
 wards i the lines of small circles are the sections of the ends of the billets which support 
 the floors. '",..,. 
 
 2. To attack amass y,fig. 948, a scaffold m is erected in one of its terminal pits r p, 
 
 at the level of the ceiling of the gallery a r', where it terminates below. A minei 
 placed on this scaffold, cuts off at the angle of this mass a parallelopiped 1, from one 
 to two yards high, by six or eight long. When he has advanced thus far, there is 
 placed in the same pit, upon another scaffold m', a. second miner, who attacks the vein 
 above the roof of the first cutting, and hews down, above the parallelopiped 1, a paral- 
 lelopiped of the same dimensions V, while the first is taking out another 2, in advance of 
 1. When the second miner has gone forward 6 or 8 yards, a third is placed also in the 
 same pit. • He commences the third step, while the first two miners are pushing forwards 
 theirs, and so in succession. 
 
 In this mode of working, as well as in the preceding, it is requisite to support the 
 rubbish and the walls of the vein. For the first object, a single floor nun, may be suf- 
 ficient, constructed above the lower gallery, substantial enough to bear all the rubbish, 
 as well as the miners. In certain cases, an arched roof may be substituted ; and in 
 others several floors are laid at different heights. The sides of the vein are supported 
 by means of pieces of wood fixed between them perpendicularly to their planes. Some- 
 times, in the middle of the rubbish, small pits are le/t at regular distances apart, through 
 which the workmen throw the ore coarsely, picked, down into the lower gallery. The 
 rubbish occasionally forms a slope///, so high that miners placed upon it can work 
 conveniently. When the rich portions are so abundant as to leave too little rubbish to 
 make such a sloping platform, the miners plant themselves upon moveable floors, which 
 they carry forward along with the excavations. 
 
 These two modes of working in the step-form, have peculiar advantages and disadvan- 
 tage's ; and each is preferred to the other according to circumstances. 
 
 In the descending worltings, or in direct steps, Jig. 94.1, the miner is placed on the very 
 mass or substance, of the vein ; he works commodiously before him ; he is not exposed 
 to the splinters which may fly off from the roof ; but by this plan he is obliged to employ 
 a sreat deal of timber to sustain the rubbish ; and the wood is fixed for ever. 
 
 In the ascending workings, or in reversed steps, fig 948, the miner is compelled to work 
 in the re-entering angle formed between the roof and the front wall of his excavation, a 
 posture sometimes oppressive ; but the weight of the ore conspires with his efforts to 
 make it fall. He employs less timber than in the vmleings with direct steps. The sort 
 ing of the ore is more difficult than in the descending working, because tie rich ore is 
 sometimes confounded with the heap of rubbish on which it falls. 
 
 When seams of diluvium or gravel-mud occur on one of the sides of the vein, or on 
 both, they render the quarrying of the ore more easy, by affording the means of uncover- 
 ing the mass to be cut down, upon an additional face. ■ 
 
 Should the vein be very narrow, it is necessary to remove a portion of the sterile rock 
 which encloses it, in order to give the work a sufficient width to enable the miner to ad- 
 vance. If, in this case, the vein be quite distinct from the rock, the labor may be facili- 
 tated, as well as the separation of the ore, by disengaging the vein, on one of its faces, 
 through a certain extent, the rock being attacked separately. This operation is called 
 stripping the vein. When it is thus uncovered, a shot of gunpowder is sufficient to detach 
 a great mass of it, unmixed with sterile stones. 
 
 By the methods now described, only those parallelopipeds are cut out, either in whole 
 or in part, which present indications of richness adequate to yield a prospect of benefit. 
 In other cases, it is enough to follow out the threads of ore which occur, by workings 
 made in their direction. 
 
MINES. 
 
 17!) 
 
 The miner, in searching within the crust of the earth for the riches which it conceals, 
 is exposed to many dangers. The rocks amidst which he digs are seldom or never entire, 
 but are almost always traversed by clefts in various directions, so that impending frag- 
 ments threaten to fall and crush him at every instant. He is even obliged at times to cut 
 through rotten friable rocks or alluvial loams. Fresh atmospheric air follows him with 
 difficulty in the narrow channels which he lays open before him ; and the waters which 
 circulate in the subterranean seams and fissures filter incessantly into his excavation, and 
 tend to fill it. Let us now take a view of the means he employs to escape from these 
 three classes of dangers. 
 
 1. Of the timbering of excavations. — The excavations of mines are divisible into 
 three principal species ; shafts, galleries, and chambers. When the width of these exca- 
 vations is inconsiderable, as is commonly the case with shafts and galleries, their sides 
 can sometimes stand upright of themselves ; but more frequently they require to be 
 propped or stayed by billets of wood, or by walls built with bricks or stones ; or even 
 by stuffing the space with rubbish. These three kinds of support are called timbering, 
 walling, and filling up. 
 
 Timbering is most used. It varies in form for the three species of excavations, accord- 
 ing to the solidity of the walls which it is destined to sustain. 
 
 In a gallery, for example, it may be sufficient 10 support merely the roof, by means 
 i f joists placed across, bearing at their two ends in the rock; or the roof and the two 
 ■vails by means of an upper joist s, fig. 949, which is then called a cap or cornice beam, 
 resting on tw.o lateral upright posts or stanchions, a b, 4 
 to which a slight inclination towards each other is given, 
 so that they approach a little at the top, and rest entirely 
 upon the floor. At times, only one of the walls and the 
 roof need support. This case is of frequent occurrence 
 in pipe veins.' Pillars are then set up only on one side, 
 and on the other the joists rest in holes of the rock. It 
 may happen that the floor of the gallery shall not be 
 sufficiently firm to afford a sure foundation to the stand- 
 ards ; and it may be necessary to make them rest on a 
 horizontal piece called the sole. This is timbering with 
 complete frames. The upright posts are usually jSet 
 directly on the sole ; but the extremities of the cap or 
 ceiling, and the upper ends of the standards, are mortised 
 in such a manner that these cannot come nearer, whereby 
 the cap shall possess its whole force of resistance. In 
 fiiable and shivery rocks there is put behind these beams, both upon the ceiling and the 
 sides, facing boards, Which are planks placed horizontally, or spars of cleft wood, set so 
 close together as to leave no interval. They are called fascines in French. In ordinary 
 ground, the miner puts up these planks in proportion as he goes forwards ; but in a loose 
 soil, such as sand or gravel, he must mount them a little in advance. He then drives 
 into the mass behind the wooden frame-work, thick but sharp-pointed planks or stakes, 
 and which, in fact, form the sides of the cavity, which be proceeds to excavate. Their 
 one extremity is thus supported by the earth in which it is thrust, and their other end by 
 the last framing. Whenever the miner gets sufficiently on, he sustains the walls by a ' 
 new frame. The size of the timber, as well as the distance between the frames or stan. 
 chions, depends on the degree of pressure to be resisted. 
 
 When a gallery is to serve at once for several distinct purposes, a greater height is 
 given to it ; and a flooring is laid on it at a certain level. If, for example, a gallery is 
 to be employed, both for the transport of the ores and the discharge of the waters, a 
 floor e e, fig. 948, is constructed above the bottom, over which the carriages are wheeled, 
 and underwhich the waters are discharged. 
 
 The timbering of shafts varies in form, as well as that of galleries, according to the 
 nature and the locality of the ground which they traverse, and. the purposes which 
 they are meant to serve. The shafts intended to be stayed with timber are usually 
 square or rectangular, because this form, in itself more convenient for the miner, renders 
 the execution of the timbering more easy. The wood-work consists generally of 
 rectangular frames, the spars of which are about eight inches in diameter, and placed 
 at a distance asunder of from a yard to a yard and a half. The spars are never placed 
 in contact, except when the pressure of the earth and the waters is very great. The 
 pieces composing the frames are commonly united by a half-check, and the longer 6f 
 the two pieces extends often beyond the angles, to be rested in the rock. Whether the 
 shaft is vertical or inclined, the frame-work is always placed so that its plane may be 
 perpendicular to the axis of the' pit. It happens sometimes -in inclined shafts that there 
 are only two sides, or even a single one, which needs'to be propped. These are stayed 
 by means of cross beams, which rest at their two ends in the rock. ' When the frames 
 
180 
 
 MINES. 
 
 do not touch one another, strong planks or stakes are fastened, behind them, to sustain 
 the ground. To these planks the frames are firmly connected, so that they cannot slido 
 In this case the whole timbering will be supported, when the lower frame is solidly fixed, 
 or when the pieces from above pass by its angles to be abutted upon the ground. 
 
 In the laige rectangular shafts, which serve at once for extracting the ores, for the dis- 
 charge of the waters, and the descent of the workmen, the spaces destined for these sev- 
 eral purposes are in general separated by partitions, whichi also serve to increase the 
 strength of the timberings, by acting as buttresses to the planks in the long sides of the 
 frame-work. Occasionally a partition separates the ascending from the descending bas- 
 ket, to prevent their jostling.— Lastly, particular passages are left for ventillation. 
 
 As it is desirable that the wood shall retain its whole force, only those pieces are 
 squared which absolutely require it. The spars of the frames in shafts and galleries arc 
 deprived merely of their bark, which by holding moisture, would accelerate the decompo- 
 sition of the wood. The alburnum of oak is also removed. 
 
 Resinous woods, like the pine, last much shorter than the oak, the beech, and the 
 cherry-tree ; though the larch is used with advantage. The oak has been known to last 
 upwards of 40 years ; while the resinous woods decay frequently in 10. The fresher the 
 air in mines, the more durable is the timbering. 
 
 The marginal figs. 950, 951 represent two vertical sections of a shaft, the one at right 
 
 In IB 
 
 Rill 
 
 life'.' 
 
 11 
 
 III 
 
 951 
 
 ingles to the other, with the view of showing the mode of sustaining the walls of thft 
 excavation by timbering. It is copied from an actual mine in the Harlz. There we may 
 observe the spaces allotted to the descent of the miners by 
 ladders, to the drainage of the waters by pumps p, and rods t, 
 and to the extraction of the mineral substances by the baskets 
 jj. u, b, c,f, h, k, various cross timbers ; A, c, E, upright do. ; 
 k, pump cistern ; v, w, corve-ways. The shafts here shown, 
 are excavated in the line of the vein itself, — the rock enclosing 
 it being seen in the second figure. 
 
 In a great many mines it is found advantageous to support 
 the excavations by brick or stone buildings, constructed 
 either with or without mortar. These constructions are 
 often more costly than wooden ones, but they last much 
 longer, and need fewer repairs. They are employed instead 
 of timberings, to support the walls and roof of galleries, to 
 line the sides of shafts, and to bear up the roofs of excava- 
 tions. 
 
 Sometimes the two sides of a gallery are lined with ver- 
 tical walls, and its roof is supported by an ogee vault, or an 
 arch. If the sides of the mine are solid, a simple arch is 
 sufficient to sustain the roof, and at other times the whole surface of a gallery is formed of 
 a single elliptic vault, the great axis of which is vertical ; and the bottom is surmounted 
 by a wooden plank, under which the waters run off; see fig. 951. 
 
 Walled shafts also are sometimes constructed in a circular or elliptic form, which is 
 better adapted to resist the pressure of the earth and waters. Rectangular shafts of all 
 dimensions, however, are frequently walled. 
 
 The sides of an excavation may also be supported by filling it completely with rubbish. 
 Wherever the sides need to be supported for some time without the necessity of passing 
 along them, it is often more economical to stuff them up with rubbish, than to keep up 
 their supports. In the territory of Liege, for example, there have been shafts thus filled 
 up for several centuries ; and which pre found to be quite entire when they are emptied. 
 The rubbish is also useful for forming roads among steep strata, for closing air-holes, and 
 forming canals of ventilation. 
 
 Figs. 952,953,954 represent the principal kinds of mason-work 'employed in the 
 galleries and shafts of mines. Fig. 955 exhibits the walling in of the cage of an over- 
 shot water wheel, as mounted within a mine. Before beginning to build, an exca- 
 
MINES. 
 
 181 
 
 v&tion large enough'must be made in lh° gallery to leave a space three feit and a half 
 high for the workmen to stand in, after the brick-work is completed. Between the 
 two opposite sides, cross beams of wood must be fixed at certain distances, as chords 
 of the vault, over which the rock mast be hollowed out to receive the arch-stones, 
 and the centring must then be placed, covered with deals to receive the voussoirs,- 
 beginning at the flanks and ending with the key-stone. When the vault is finished 
 through a certain extent, the interval between the arch and the rock must be, rammed 
 full', of rubbish, leaving passages, if necessary, through it and the arch, for currents 
 of water. 
 
 In walling galleries, attention must be paid to the direction of the pressure, and to 
 build vertically or with a slope accordingly. Should the pressure be equal in all 
 directions, a closed vault, like fig. 952, should be formed. For walls not far from the 
 vertical, salient or buttressed arches are employed, as shown in fig. 953, called in 
 German uberspringende bogen ; for other cases, twin-arches are preferred, with an upright 
 wall between. 
 
 Fig. 954 is a transverse section of a walled drain-gallery, from the grand gallery of 
 .he Hartz ; see also fig. 955. a is the rock, which needs to be supported only at Uie sides 
 
 and top ; 6, the masonwork, a curve formed of the three circular arcs upon one level i 
 e, the floor for the water-course. Fig. 952 is a cross section of a walled gallery, as at 
 Schneeberg, Rothenburg, Idria, &c. ; d, is the rock, which is not solid either at the flanks, 
 roof, or floor; e, the elliptic masonwork ; /, the wooden floor for the wagons, which is 
 sometimes, however, arched in brick to allow of a water-course beneath it. 
 
 Fig. 953 shows two vertical projections of a portion of a walled shaft with buttresses, 
 as built at the mine Vater Abraham, near Marienberg. J is a section in the direction of 
 the vein g ft, to show the roof of the shaft. I, a section exhibiting the slope of the vein 
 g ft, into which the shaft is sunk ; m is the wall of the vein ; fc is the roof of the same 
 vein ; n, buttresses resting upon the flanks of the shaft ; g, great arcs on which the but- 
 tresses bear ; y, vertical masonwork ; z, a wall which divides the shaft into two compart- 
 ments, of which the larger, p, is that for extracting the ore, and the smaller for the drain 
 ing and descent of the miners. 
 
 Fig. 955, c d is the shaft in which the vertical crank-rods c g, e d, move up and 
 down, f, is a double ro'draulic wheel, which can be stopped at pleasure by a brake 
 mounted upon the machine oT extraction, g, is the drum of the gig or whim for raising 
 the corves or tubs (tonnes) ; H, is the level of the ground, with the carpentry which sup- 
 ports the whim and its roof, k, is the key-stone of the ogee arch which covers the 
 Water-wheel ; a, is the opening or window, traversed by the extremity of the driving 
 Shaft, upon each side of the water-wheel, through which a workman may enter to adjust 
 or repair it j tb, line of conduits for the streams of water which (all 'rpon the hydraulic 
 
182 
 
 MINER 
 
 wheel ; c, g, double crank with rods, whose mouon is taken oft' the left side of the wheel; 
 i, d, the same upon the right side. The distance from h to f is about 22. yards. 
 
 Figs. 956, 957 present two vertical sections of the shaft of a mine walled, like the roof 
 
 of a cavern, communicating with the galleries of the roof and the wall of the vein, and 
 
 • well arranged for hoth the. extraction of the ore, and the descent of the miners. The 
 
 vertical partition of the shaft for separating the passage for the corves or tubs from the 
 
 ladders is omitted in the figure, for the. sake of clearness. 
 
 In fig. 956, A, B are the side walls supported upon the buttresses c and D ; in^g. 95 1 /, 
 E is the masonry of the wall, borne upon the arch r at the entrance to a gallery ; the 
 continuation being at g, which is sustained by a similar arch built lower. 
 
 x., is the vault arch of the roof, supported upon another vault m, which presents a double 
 curvature, at the entrance of a gallery ; at H is the continuation of the arch or vault i, 
 which underneath is' supported in like manner at the entrance of a lower gallery. 
 
 a b, c d,fig. 956, are small upright guide-bars or rods for one of the corves, or kibbles. 
 
 ef, g ft, are similar guide-bars for the other corf. 
 
 i i, are cross-bars of wood, Which support the stays of the ladders of descent. 
 
 k k, are also cross-bars by which the guide-rods are secured. 
 
 t, a corf, or extraction kibble, furnished with friction rollers ; the other corf is supposed 
 to be drawn up to a higher level, in the other vertical passage. 
 
 956 
 
 Figs. 958, 959 represent in a vertical section the mode of timbering the galleries of the 
 silver and lead mines at Andreasberg in the Hartz. Fig. 958 shows the plan viewed 
 from above. Upon the roof of the timbering, the workman throws the waste rubbish, 
 and in the empty space below, which is shaded black, he transports in his wagons or 
 wheelbarrows the ores towards the mouth of the mine. Fig. 959 is the cross section of 
 the gallery. In the two figures, a represents the rock, and b the timbering ; round which 
 .Ihere is a garniture of small spars or lathes for the purpose of drainage and ventilation 
 . with the view of pVomoting the durability of the wood-work, 
 
MINES. 
 
 183 
 
 The wo/king of minerals by the mass is well exemplified a few leagues to the north of 
 Riegen, near the village of Miisen, in a mine of iron and other metals, called Stahlberg, 
 which forms the main wealth of the country. The plan of working is termed the excava. 
 lion of a direct or transverse mass. It shows in its up?er part the danger of bad mining, 
 and in its inferior portion, the regular workings, by whose means ait has eventually pre- 
 vented the destruction of a precious mineral deposite. 
 
 Fig. 960 is a vertical section of the bed of ore, which is a direct mass of sputnws* 
 
 iron," contained in transition rock (graywacke). a, a, a, are pillars of the sparry ore, 
 reserved to support the successive stages or floors, which are numbered 1, 2, 3, &c. ; 
 b, b, b, are excavations worked in the ore; which exhibit at the present day several 
 floors of arches, of greater or less magnitude, according to the localities. It may be 
 remarked, that where the metallic deposite forms one entire mass, rich in spathose iron 
 ore of good quality, there- is generally given to the vaults a height of three fathoms ; 
 leaving a thickness over the roof of two fathoms, on account of the numerous fissures 
 which pervade the mass. But where this mass is divided into three principal branches, 
 the roof of the vaults has only a fathom and a half of thickness, while the excavation is 
 three fathoms and a half high. ' In the actual state of the workings, it may be estimated 
 that from all this direct mass, there is obtained no more out of every floor than one 
 third of the mineral. Two thirds remain as labors of reserve, which may be resumed 
 at some future day, in consequence of the regularity and the continuation of the subter- 
 ranean workings, e is a shaft for extraction, communicating below with the gallery of 
 efflux k ; h is an upper gallery of drainage, whieh runs in different directions (one' only 
 being visible in this section) over a length of 400 fathoms. The lower gallery k runs 
 646 fathoms in a straight line. The mine of Stahlberg has furnished annually on an 
 average since 1760 about 25,000 cubic feet (French) of an excellent spathose ore of iron. 
 m m, represents the mass of sparry iron. 
 
 Figs. 961, 962, 963 represent the cross system of mining, which consists in forming 
 galleries through a mineral deposite, from its wall or floor 
 towards its roof, and not, as usual, in the direction of its 
 length. This mode was contrived towards the middle of 
 the 18th century, for working the very .thick veins of the 
 Schemnitz mine in Hungary, and it is now employed with 
 advantage in many places, particularly at Idria in Carniola. 
 In the two sections figs. 961, 963, as well as in the ground 
 plan fig. 962, the wall is denoted by m m: and the roof by t t. 
 A first gallery of prolongation E F, fig. 963, being formed to 
 the wall, transverse cuts, a a, are next established at right angles to this gallery, so thai 
 between every two there may be room enough to place three others, b, c, b,fig. 962. From 
 tach of the cuts a, ore is procured by advancing' with the help of timbering, till the 
 roof t be reached. When this is done, these first cuts a, are filled up with rubbish, laid 
 upon pieces of timber with which the ground is covered, so that if eventually it should 
 be wished to mine underneath, no downfall of detritus is to be feared. These heaps 
 of rubbish rise only to within a few inches of the top of the cuts a, in order that the 
 working of the upper story may be easier, the bed of ore being there already laid open 
 upon its lower face. 
 
 In proportion as the cuts a, ot the first story e f, are thus filled up, the greater part 
 of the timbering is withdnwn, and made use of elsewhere. The intermediate cuts 
 6, c, b, are next mined in, like manner, either beginning with the cuts c, or the cuts b, ac- 
 cording to the localities. From fig. 962 it appears that the working may be so ar- 
 ■anged, that in case of necessity, there may be always between two cuts in activity the 
 
184 
 
 MINES. 
 
 distance of three cuts, either not made, or filled up with rubbish. Hence, al) the portion 
 of the bed of ore may be removed, which corresponds to a first story e F,fig. 963, and this 
 portion is replaced by rubbish. 
 
 The exploration of the upper stories v.' f', E2 f2, e3 f3, is nz* prepared in a simi.a. 
 manner ; with which view shafts h hi, k fc3, are formed from below upwards- in the wall 
 m of the deposite, and from these shafts oblong galleries proceed, established successively 
 on a level /njith the stories thus raised over one another. See fig. 963. The following 
 objects may be specified in the figures : — 
 
 a a, the first cuts filled up with rubbish, upon the" first story e T,fig. 962. 
 b b, other cuts subsequently filled up, upon the same story. 
 
 c, the cut actually working. 
 
 d, the front of the cut, or place of actual excavstion of the mineral deposite. 
 
 e, masses of the barren rock, reserved in the cutting, as pillars of safety. 
 
 /, galleries, by means of which the workmen may turn round the mass e, in order tc 
 form, in the roof t, an excavation in the 1 direction Of the deposite. 
 
 g, rubbish behind the mass e. 
 
 k k, two shafts leading from the first story e f, to the upper stories of the workings, as 
 already stated. 
 
 m, the wall, and t the roof of the mineral bed. 
 
 In the second story e' f', the gallerv of prolongation T',figs. 961 and 963, is not entirely 
 perforated; but it is further advance.! than that of the third story | which, in its turn, is 
 •nore than the gallery of the fourth. 
 
 From this arrangement there is produced upon fig. 963 the general aspect of a woikin" 
 by reversed steps. . 
 
 Whenever the workings of the cuts c in the first story are finished, those of the second, 
 a' a', may be begun in the second ; and thus by mounting from story to story, the whole 
 deposite of ore may be taken out and replaced with rubbish. One great advantage of this 
 method is, that nothing is lost ; but it is not the only one. The facilities offered by the 
 system of cross workings for disposing of the rubbish, most frequently a nuisance to the 
 miner, and expensive to get rid of, the solidity which it procures by the banking up, the 
 cohsequent economy of timbering, and saving of expense in the excavation of the rock, 
 reckoning from the second story, are so many important circumstances which recommend 
 this mode of mining. Sometimes, indeed, rubbish may be wanted to fill up, but this may 
 always be procured by a few accessory perforations ; it being easy to establish in the 
 vicinity of the workings a vast excavation in the form of a vault, or kind of subterraneous 
 quarry, which may be allowed to fall in with proper precautions; and where rubbish will 
 thus accumulate in a short time, at little cost. 
 
 Fig. 964 represents a section of the celebrated lead mines of Blevberg in Carinthia, not 
 far from Villach. 
 
 b, c, is the ridge of the mountains of compact limestone, in whose bosom the workings 
 are carried, on. 
 
 e is the metalliferous valley running from cas*. to west, between the two parellel 
 
.MINES. 
 
 185 
 
 964 
 
 valleys of the Gail and the Drave, hut at a level considerably above the waters of these 
 rivers. 
 
 f g is the direction of a great many vertical beds of metalliferous limestone. 
 * On considering the direction and dip of the marly schist, and metalliferous limestone. 
 
 in the space w, w, to the west of 
 the line 1, s, it would appear that 
 a great portion of this system of 
 mountains has suffered a slip between 
 1, s, and a parallel one towards the 
 east ; whereby, probably, that ver- 
 tical position of the strata has been 
 produced, which exists through a 
 considerable extent. The metallifer- 
 ous limestone is covered to a certain 
 thickness with a marly schist, and 
 other more recent rocks. It is in 
 this schist that the fine marble known 
 under the narue of the lumachcllo of 
 Bleyberg is quarried. 
 
 The galena occurs in the bosom of this rock in flattened masses, or blocks of a con- 
 siderable volume, which are not separated from the rest of the calcareous beds by any 
 seam. It is accompanied by zinc ore (calamine), especially in the upper parts of the 
 mountain. 
 
 Several of the workable masses are indicated by r, fi ; each presents itself as a 
 solid analogous to a very elongated ellipse, whose axis dips, not according to the inclina- 
 tion of the surrounding rock, but to an oblique or intermediate line between this inclina- 
 tion, and the direction of the beds of limestone ; as shown by rw,r'u. Every thing 
 indicates the contemporaneous formation of the limestone, and the lying beds of the 
 lead ore. 
 
 The accidents or faults called klvft (rent) at Bleyberg are visible on the surface of the. 
 ground. Experienced miners have remarked that the rich masses occur more frequently 
 in the direction of these accidents than elsewhere. 
 
 It is in general by galleries cut horizontally in the body of the mountain, and at differ- 
 ent levels, s, g, sf, that the miner advances towards the masses of ore r, r3. Many of 
 these galleries are 500 fathoms long before they reach a workable mass. The several 
 galleries are placed in communication by a few shafts, such as t; but few of these are 
 sunk deeper than the level of the valley e. • 
 
 The total length of the mines of Bleyberg is about 10,000 yards, parallel to the 
 valley e ; in which space there are 500 concessions granted by the government to various 
 individuals or joint stock societies, either by themselves or associated with the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The metalliferous valley contains 5000 inhabitants, all deriving subsistence from the 
 mines ; 300 of whom are occupied in the government works. 
 
 Each concession has a number and a name ; as Antoni, Christoph, Matthaeus, Oswaldi, 
 2, 8, 3 6, &c. 
 
 Fig. 965 is a section in the quicksilver mine of Idria. 1. is the gray limestone ; 2. is 
 a blackish slate ; 5. is a grayish slate. Immediately above these transition rocks lies the 
 bed containing the ores called corallenerz, which consist of an intimate mixture of sul- 
 phuret of mercury and argillaceous limestone ; in which four men can cut out, in a month, 
 2J toises cube of rock. 
 
 Fig. 966 represents a section 
 of part of the copper mine of 
 Mansfeldt ; containing the cellular 
 limestone, called rauchwacke, al- 
 ways with the compact marl-Iime- 
 stone called zechstein ; the cupre- 
 ous schist, or kupferschiefer ; the 
 wall of grayish- white sandstone, 
 called the weisse liegende ; and the 
 wall of red sandstone, or the 
 rothelie gende. The thin dotted 
 stratum at top is vegetable mould; 
 the large dotted portion to the 
 u iniiimmm'im tyi/it/i/Hiii M r jo- n t f the figure is oolite ; the 
 vein at its side is sand ; next is rauchwacke ; and lastly, the main body of fetid limestone, 
 or stinksiein. 
 
 966 
 
186 
 
 MINES. 
 
 Fig. 967 represents one of the Mansfeldt copper schist mines in the district callel 
 Burgberner, or Preusshoheit. 
 
 1. Vegetable mould, with silicious gravel. 
 
 2. Ferruginous clay or loam. 
 
 . 3. Sand, with fragments of quartz. 
 
 4. Red clay, a bed of variable thickness as well as the lower strata, according as th« 
 cupreous schist is nearer or farther from the surface. 
 
 5. Ooolite (roogenstein). 
 
 6. Newer variegated sandstone (bunler sandstcin). 
 
 7. Newer gypsum ; below which, there is 
 
 8. A bluish marly clay. 
 
 9. Stinkstone, or lucullite. 
 
 10. Friable grayish marl. 
 
 11. Older gypsum, a rock totally wanting in the other districts of the mines of Rothen- 
 berg ; but abounding in Saxon Mansfeldt, where it includes vast caverns known among 
 the miners by the name of schlotten, as indicated in the figure. 
 
 12. The calcareous rock called zechstein. The lower part of this stratum shows ' 
 symptoms of the cupriferous schist that lies underneath. It presents three thin bands, 
 differently modified, which ' the miner distinguishes as he descends by the names of the 
 sterile or rotten (faille) rock ; the roof (dachklotz) ; and the main rock (oberberg.) 
 
 ■JSS 
 
 13. Is a. bed of cupriferous schist (kupferschiefer), also called the bitumino-marlif 
 schist, in which may be noted, n going down, but not marked in the figure : — 
 ' a, the lochberg, a seam 4 .nches thick. 
 
 b, the kammschale, \ of an inch thick. 
 
 c, the kopfschale, one inch thick. 
 
 1 These seams are not worth smelting ; the following, however, are :— 
 
 d, the schiefer kopf, the main copper schist, 2 inches thick. 
 
 e, a layer called lochen, one inch thick. 
 
 •14. The wall of sandstone, resting upon a porphyry. 
 Fig. 968 is a section of. the mines of Kiegelsdorf in Hessia, presenting — 
 1. Vegetable mould. 
 ' 2. Limestone distinctly stratified, frequently of a yellowish color, called lagerhajter 
 kalkstein. 
 
 3. Clay, sometimes red, sometimes blue, sometimes a mixture of red, blue,' and 
 yellow. 
 
 4. The cellular limestone (ranhkalk). This rock differs both in nature and position 
 from the rock of the'same name at Mansfeldt. 
 
 5. Clay, usually red, containing veins of white gypsum, and fine crystals of sele- 
 nitc. 
 
 fi. Massive gypsum of recent formation. 
 
 7. Fetid limestone, compact and blackish gray, or cellular and yellowish gray. 
 
 8. Pulverulent limestone, with solid fragments interspersed. 
 
 9. Compact maTl-limestone, or zechstem, which changes from a brownish color above 
 to a blackish schist below, as it comes nearer the cupreous schist, which seems to form a 
 part of it. 
 
 10. Cupreous schist (Impfersctiiefcr), of which the bottom portion, from 4 to 6 inches 
 thick, is that selected for metallurgic operations. Beneath it, is found the usual wall or 
 bed of sandstone. A vein of cobalt ore a, which is rich only in the grayish-white sand- 
 stone (weisse liegende), traverses and deranges all the beds wherever it comes. 
 
 Of working mines by fire. — The celebrated mine worked since the tenth century in 
 llie mountain called Rammehberg, in the Hartz, to the south of Goslar, presents a stra- 
 
 _J 
 
MINES. 
 
 187 
 
 lified mass of ores, among the beds of the rock which constitute that mountain The 
 mineral deposite is situated in the earth, like an enormous inver.ed wedge, so that its 
 thickness (power), inconsiderable near the surface of the ground, increases as it deseends. 
 At about 100 yards from its outcrop, reckoning in the direction of the slope of the de- 
 posite, it is divided into two portions or branches, which are separated from each other, 
 throughout the whole known depth, by a mass of very hard clay slate, which passes into 
 flinty slate. The substances composing the workable mass are copper and iron pyrites 
 with sulphuret of lead (galena'), accompanied by quartz, carbonate of lime, compact s.:'- 
 phate of baryta, and sometimes gray copper ore, sulphuret of zinc, and arsenical pyrites. 
 The ores, of lead and copper contain silver and gold, but in small proportion, particularly 
 as to the last. 
 
 A mine so ancient as that of Rammelsberg, and which was formerly divided among . 
 several adventurous companies, cannot fail to present a great many shafts and excava- 
 tions ; but out of the 15 pits, only two are employed for the present workings ; namely, 
 those marked A e and e f, in fig. 969, by which the whole extraction and drainage are 
 
 executed. The general system of exploitation by fire, as practised in this mine, consists 
 of the following operations : — 
 
 1. An advance is made towards the deposites of ore, successively at different levels, 
 by transverse galleries which proceed from the shaft of extraction, and terminate at the 
 wall of ,the stratiform mass. 
 
 2. There is formed in the level to be worked, large vaults in the heart of the ore, by 
 means of fire, as we shall presently describe. , 
 
 3. The fldor of these vaults is raised up by means of terraces formed from the rubbish, 
 in proportion as the roof is scooped out. 
 
 4. The ores detached by the fire from their bed, are picked and gathered ; sometimes 
 the larger blocks are blasted with gunpowder. 
 
 5. Lastly, the ores thus obtained are wheeled towards the shaft of extraction, and 
 turned out to the day. 
 
 Let us now see how the excavation by fire is practised ; and in that view, let us con- 
 sider the state of the workings in the mines of Rammelsberg in 1809. We may remark 
 in fig. 969 the regularity of the vaults previously scooped out above the level B c, and 
 the other vaults which are in full activity of operation. It is, therefore, tuwards the 
 lower levels that the new workings must be directed. For this purpose, the transverse 
 gallery being already completed, there is prepared on the first of these floors a vault of 
 exploitation at 6, which eventually is to become similar to those of the superior levels. 
 At the same time, there is commenced at the starting point below it, leached by a small 
 well dug in the line of the mineral deposite, a transverse gallery in the rock, by means 
 of "blasting with gunpowder. The rock is also attacked at the starting-point by a similar 
 cut, which advances to meet the first perforation. In this way, whenever the vaults of 
 the level c are exhausted of ore and terraced up with rubbish, those of the level beneath 
 it will be in full activity. 
 
 Others will then be prepared at a lower level; and the exploitation may afterwards be 
 driven below this level by pursuing the same plan, by which the actual depth of excava- 
 tion has been gained. 
 
 In workings by fire we must distinguish, 1. The case where it is neecessary to open 
 a vault immediately from the floor ; 2. The case where the vault having' already a 
 certain elevation, it is necessary to heighten its roof. In the former case, the wall or floor 
 of the mineral deposite is first penetrated by blasting with gunpowder. As soon' as this 
 penetration is effected over a certain length, parallel to the direction of the futuie 
 vault, as happens at b, there is arranged on the bottom a horizontal layer of billets of 
 firwood, over which other billets are piled in nearly a vertical position, which rest upon 
 the ore, so that the flame in its expansion comes to play against the mineral mass to be 
 
18» MINES. 
 
 detached. When after some similar operations, the flame of the pile can no longei 
 reach the ore of the roof on account of its height, a small terrace of rubbish must be 
 raised on the floor of the deposit? ; and over this terrace, a new pile of fagots is to be 
 heaped up as above' described. The ancient miners committed the fault of constantly 
 placing such terraces close to the roof, and consequently arranging the fagots against 
 this portion of the ore, so that the flame circulated from the roof down to the floor. 
 The result of such procedure was the weakening of the roof, and the loss of much of the 
 ore which could not be extracted from so unstable a fabric ; and besides, much more 
 wood was burned than at the present day, because the action of the flame was dissipated 
 in part against the whole mass of the roof, instead of being concentred on the portion of 
 the ore which it was desired to dislodge. Now, the flame is usually made to circulate 
 from the floor to the roof, in commencing a new vault. 
 
 When the vault has already a certain height, care is always taken that between the 
 roof of the vault and the rubbish on which the pile is arranged, no more than two yards 
 of space should intervene, in order that the flame may embrace equally the whole con- 
 cavity of the vault, and produce a uniform effect on all its parts. Here, the pile is 
 formed of horizontal beds, disposed crosswise above one another, and presents four free 
 vertical faces, whence it has been called a chest by tHe miners. 
 
 It is usually on Saturday that the fire is applied to all the piles of fagots distributed 
 through the course of the week. Those in the upper floors of exploitation are first 
 burned, in order that the inferior piles may not obstruct, by their vitiated air, the com- 
 bustion of the former. Thus, at 4 o'clock "in the morning, the fires are kindled in the 
 npper ranges ; from pile to pile, the fireman and his assistant descend towards the lower 
 floors, which occupies them till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Vainly should we endeavor 
 to describe the majestic and terrific spectacle which the fire presents, as it unfolds its 
 wings under its metallic vaults, soon filled with vast volumes of smoke and flame. Let us 
 mark the useful effect which it produces. 
 
 When .the flame has beat for a few instants on the beds of ore, a strong odor of 
 sulphur, and sometimes of arsenic is perceived ; . and soon thereafter loud detonations 
 are heard in the vaults. Suddenly the flame is 'seen to assume a blue color, or even a 
 white ; and at this period, after a slight explosion, flakes of the ore, of greater or less 
 magnitude, usually fall down on the fire, but the chief portion of the heated mineral 
 still remains fixed to the vault. The ores pass now into a shattered and divided 
 condition, which allows them afterwards to be detached by long forks of iron. In this 
 manner the fire, volatilizing entirely some principles, such as sulphur, zinc, arsenic, and 
 water, changing the aggregation of the constituent parts of the ore, and causing fissures 
 by their unequal expansibilities, facilitates the excavation' of such materials as resist by 
 their tenacity the action of gunpowder. 
 
 The combustion goes on without any person entering the mine from Saturday even- 
 ing till Monday morning, on which day, the fireman and his assistants proceed to 
 extinguish the remains of the bonfires. On Monday also some piles are constructed in 
 the parts where the effect of the'former ones has been incomplete ; and they are kindled 
 after the workmen have quitted the mine. On Tuesday all hands are employed in 
 detaching the ores, in sorting them, taking them out, and preparing new piles against the 
 next Saturday. 
 
 The labor of a week consists for every man of five posts during the day, each of 8 
 hours, and of one post of four hours for Saturday. Moreover, an extra allowance is made 
 to such workmen as employ themselves some posts during the night. 
 
 The labor of one. compartment or atelier of the mine consists therefore in arranging 
 the fagots, in detaching the ore which has already experienced the action of the fire, ip 
 breaking the blocks obtained, in separating the ore from the debris of the pile, and, 
 whenever it may be practicable or useful, in boring holes for blasting with gunpowder. 
 The heat is so great in this kind of mine, that the men are obliged to work in it without 
 clothing. 
 
 We have already remarked, that besides the working, by fire, which is chiefly used here, 
 recourse is sometimes had to blasting by gunpowder. This is done in order either to re- 
 cover the bottom part-or ground of the vaults on which the fire can act but imperfectly, 
 to clear away some projections which would interfere with the effect of the pile, or lastly 
 to strip the surrounding rock from the mass of the ore, and thence to obtain schist proper 
 for the construction of the rubbish-terraces. 
 
 The blasting process is employed when the foremen of the workshop or mine- 
 chamber judge that a hole well placed may separate enough of ore to pay the time, the 
 repair of tools, and the gunpowder expended. But this indemnification is raiely obtain- 
 ed. The following statement will give an idea of the tenacity which the mineral deposite 
 often presents. 
 
 In 1808, in a portion of the Rammelsberg mine, the ore, consisting of extremely com- 
 pact iron and copper pyrites, was attacked by a single man, who bored a mining hole. 
 
MINES 
 
 189 
 
 910 
 
 After 11 posts of obstinate labor, occupying altogether 88 hours, the workman, being 
 vigilantly superintended, had been able to advance the hole to a depth of no more than 
 4 inches ; in doing which he had rendered entirely unserviceable 126 punches or borers, 
 besides 26 others which had been re-tipped with steel, and 201 which' had been sharp- 
 ened ; 6J pounds of oil had been consumed in giving him light ; and half a pound of 
 gunpowder was required for blasting the bore. It was found from a calculation made 
 upon these facts by the administration of mines, that every inch deep of this hole cost, 
 at their low price of labor, nearly a florin, value two shillings and sixpence. 
 
 It is therefore evident that though the timber, of which the consumption is prodigiously 
 great, were much less abundant and dearer than it still is at Raminelsberg, mining by 
 fire would be preferable to every other mode of exploitation. It is even certain, that 
 on any supposition, the employment of gunpowder would not be practicable for every 
 part of the mine ; and. if fuel came to fail, it would be requisite to renounce the 
 workings at Rammelsberg, although this mountain still contains a large quantity of 
 metals. 
 
 If in all mines the free circulation of air be an object of the highest importance, we 
 must perceive, how indispensable it must be in every part of a mine where the mode of 
 exploitation maintains the temperature of the air at 112° Fahr., when the workmen return 
 into it after the combustion of the piles, and in which besides it is necessary that this 
 combustion be effected with activity in their absence. But in consequence of the extent 
 and mutual ramifications of the workings, the number of the shafts, galleries, and their 
 differences of level, the ventilation of the mine is in a manner spontaneously maintained. 
 The high temperature is peculiarly favorable to it. The aid of art consists merely in 
 placing some doors judiciously, which may be opened or shut at pleasure, to carry on 
 the circulation of the air. 
 
 In considering the Rammelsberg from its summit, which rises about 400 yards 
 above the town of Goslar, we observe, first, beds of slaty sandstone, which become the 
 more horizontal the nearer they approach to the surface. At about 160 yards below 
 the top level there occurs, in the bosom of the slaty graywacke, a powerful stratum of 
 shells impasted in a ferruginous sandstone. See d, fig. 963. In descending towards the 
 face of the ore, the parallel stratification of the clay-slate 
 which forms its walls and roof grows more and more 
 manifest. Here the slate is black, compact, and thinly 
 foliated. The inclination of the different beds of rock 
 is indicated at B. The substance of the workable mass 
 is copper and iron pyrites, along with sulphuret of lead, 
 accompanied by quartz, carbonate of lime, compact sul- 
 phate of baryta, and occasionally gray copper (fahlerz), 
 sulphuret of zinc, and arsenical pyrites. 
 
 The ores are argentiferous and auriferous, but very 
 slightly so, especially as to the gold. It is 1he ores of 
 lead and copper which contain the silver, and in the latter 
 the gold is found, but without its being well ascertained in 
 what .mineral it is deposited. Sometimes the copper 
 occurs in the native state, or as copper of cementation. 
 Beautiful crystals of sulphate of lime are found in the old 
 workings. 
 
 In figs. 969. 9"70, A b is the shaft of extraction, called 
 the Kahnenlcuhler ; n is the ventilation shaft, called Bre'it- 
 lingerwetterschacht ; p is the extraction shaft, called Iimur- 
 schacht. 
 
 E f, is a new extraction-shaft, called Neuer treibschacht, 
 by which also the water is pumped up ; by A e, and e f, 
 the whole extraction and draining are carried on. The 
 ores are raised in these shafts to the level of the wagon- 
 gallery (ga.le.rie. de roulage) i, by the whims 1, q, provided 
 with ropes and buckets. 1, 2, 3, 4, fig. 969, represent 
 the positions of four water-wheels for working the whims ; 
 the first two being employed in extracting the ores, the 
 last tJro in draining. The driving stream is led to the 
 wheel 1, along the drift 1 ; whence it falls in succession 
 upon the wheels 2, 3, 4. The general system of working consists of the following 
 operation : — 
 
 1. The bed of ore is got at by the transverse galleries, m, n, o, q, k, s, which branch 
 off from the extraction shaft, and terminate at the wall of the main bed ; 
 
 2. Great vaults are scooped out at the level of the workings, by means of fire i 
 
t90 
 
 MINKS. 
 
 2. Great vaults are scooped out at -the level of the workings, by means of fire ; 
 
 3. The roofs of these vaults are progressively propped with mounds of rubbish ; 
 
 4. The ores thus detached, or by blasting with gunpowder,' are then collected ; 
 
 5. Lastly, they are wheeled out to the day ; and washed near z. 
 
 Comparative Table of celebrated Mines in Europe and America. By F. Burr, Esq 
 {Quarterly Mining Review for July, 1835, p. 60.) 
 
 Nature of the me- 
 talliferous deposits 
 
 Si'.calisn 
 
 Elevation 
 
 Nature or Lhe rock 
 
 Consolidates and 
 
 United Mines. 
 
 (At present the richest 
 mines in Cornwall.) 
 
 Produce of the ores 
 
 Mineral substances 
 accompanying' the 
 
 Depth of the princi- 
 pal shafts 
 
 Two miles east of Redruth. 
 
 Elevation of the surface 
 above the level ot the 
 sea, from 200 to 300 ft.; 
 depth of the bottom of 
 the mine below the level 
 of the sea, about 1,370 
 feet. 
 
 Primaryclny slate resting 
 immediately on granite, 
 a short distance west- 
 ward of the mines. The 
 clay slate is intersected 
 by numerous channels of 
 porphyry, which have 
 nearly the same direction 
 as the mineral veins, and 
 are often of considerable 
 width. The porphyry 
 sometimes appears also 
 to form large irregular 
 masses in the clay slate. 
 Both rocks are traversed 
 by veins of quartz and 
 clay intersecting* the me- 
 talliferous veins. 
 
 In the consolidated mines, 
 the eight following- lodes 
 are extensively worked :— 
 Wheal . Fortune lode t 
 Cusvea lode,. Deeble's 
 lode, OH lode, Taylor's 
 lode, Tregonning's lode, 
 Martin's lode, and Glo- 
 ver's lode. In the united 
 mines, the principal 
 working's are upon the 
 Old lode, and about five 
 or six others are more or 
 less productive. Nume- 
 rous smaller lodes or 
 " branches" occur also 
 in both mines. The 
 principal lodes are from 
 8 or 3, to 7 or 8 feet wide; 
 the " branches" are gen- 
 erally IS or 18 inches 
 wide. The direction of 
 the lodes varies from 
 nearly east and west to 
 about 20 degrees north of 
 east and south of west. 
 The underlie of the prin- 
 cipal lodes is from 2 to 
 3 feet per fathom north, 
 that pi the smaller ones 
 about the same south. 
 
 Chiefly copper ore, occa- 
 sionally native copper, 
 blue and green carbonate 
 of copper. Tin, c-r oxide 
 of tin, amo occuia. but 
 not" in very great abun- 
 dance. 
 
 % per cent of fine copper : 
 average produce iu 100 
 ports of ore. 
 
 Chiefly quartz, of which 
 many varieties occur. 
 
 The ores are generally ac- 
 companied by *' gossan "* 
 in the backs of the lodes, 
 by blende, and by iron, 
 and arsenical pyrilea in 
 depth. 
 
 Wowfa engine-shaft, S48 
 fathoms; Pearce's en- 
 pine-shaft, 275 fathoms. 
 Some of the other en- 
 gine shafts are scarcely 
 inferior in dentil* 
 
 Veta Grande Mimes 
 
 (At present the richest 
 iii.iinB In Mexico.) 
 
 Four miles north of Za- 
 
 catecas. 
 Elevation of the surface 
 above the level of the 
 sea, supposed to be about 
 6000 feet. Elevation of 
 the bottom of the mine 
 above the level of the sea, 
 probably near 6,000 feet- 
 Transition clay si at o, alter- 
 nating with dolomite, 
 and occasionally with 
 greywacke. This clay 
 slate is sometimes de- 
 composed; it rests oi 
 syemtic rocks, and is ii 
 some places covered with 
 porphyry. 
 
 Mine of Vale.vciana 
 
 (Richest of the Mexican 
 
 mines at the oegmniug of 
 
 the present century.) 
 
 One principal *vein (the 
 Veta Grande) which is 
 generally separated into 
 three branches, and 
 sometimes into four. 
 When ramified, thf 
 width extends to 60 oi 
 70 feet ; when united, 
 it varies from 8 or 10 to 
 SO or 30 feet. The 
 branches are generally 
 about 10. or IS feet wide ; 
 and the upper one is 
 most productive. The 
 direction of the Veta 
 Grande is from SO to 
 40 degreeB eouth of east, 
 and north of west, and 
 its underlie, from two to 
 three feet per fathom 
 south. Other veins of 
 less size occur in the 
 neighbourhood of the 
 Veta Grande, which 
 cross it at an acute angle. 
 One of these appears 
 to heave the vein for 
 about 700 feet, being the 
 most remarkable de- 
 rangement of the kind 
 on record. 
 
 Chiefly red silver, native 
 silver, sulphuret of silver, 
 and argentiferous pyrites. 
 
 3 J oz. per quintal 
 
 Chiefly quartz, occasionally 
 amethyst, carbonate of 
 lime, and sulphate of 
 barytes. 
 
 The ores are generally ac- 
 companied by blende, 
 sulphuret of antimony, 
 and iron pyrites. 
 
 Tiro General, 183 fathoms 
 Gallega shaft, 138 fa- 
 thoms. 
 
 One mile north of Gga- 
 naxuato. 
 
 Elevation of the surface 
 above the level of the sea, 
 7,617 feet. Elevation of 
 the bottom of the mine 
 above the level of thi 
 sea, 5,730 feet. 
 
 The Veta Madre of Gua- 
 naxuato, upon which 
 this mine is worked, tra- 
 verses both clay slate 
 and porphyry, but k is 
 most . productive in the 
 former rock. The clay 
 slate is considered by 
 Humboldt to belong to 
 the transition class, but 
 situate near the limits of 
 primary formations. This 
 rock in depth passes into 
 chlorite slate, and talc 
 elate. It contains sub- 
 ordinate beds of syenite, 
 hornblende slate, and 
 serpentine. The por- 
 phyry rests upon the clay 
 slate, and is conformable 
 to it, both in direction 
 and stratification. 
 
 One Veta (lhe ■ Veta 
 Madre) which is oftei 
 separated into tltrei 
 branches, extending from 
 130 to 160 feet in width. 
 When not ramified, its 
 width varies from SO or 
 30 to 60 or 70 feet, but 
 is more commonly from 
 40 to 50 feet. The 
 direction of the vein is 
 north-west and south- 
 east: its underlie is 
 south, and about five 
 six feet per fathom. 
 
 Mine of ■ 
 
 HlHKTELSFuRST. 
 
 (Richest of the 
 
 Saxon mines at the 
 
 beginning of the 
 
 present century.) 
 
 Sulphuret of silver, nathe 
 Bilver, prismatic black 
 silver, red silver, native 
 gold, argentiferous ga- 
 lena. 
 
 Four ounces of silver per 
 quintal of 100 lbs., equi- 
 valent to 21 parts of 
 metal in 1,000 of Gre, or 
 i per cent. 
 
 Quartz, amethyst, car- 
 bonate of time, pearlspar, 
 and hornsione. 
 
 The "ores are accompanied 
 by blende, Bpathose iron, 
 copper and iron pyrites. 
 
 Tva General, 310 fathoms. 
 
 Two miles ' south- 
 east of Freyburg. 
 
 Elevation oj" the sur- 
 face abeve the 
 level of the sea 
 1,346 feet. Eleva- 
 tion of the bot- 
 tom of the mine 
 above the level of 
 the sea, 263 feet. 
 
 The rock prevailing 
 in the neighbour- 
 hood of Freyberg, 
 in which this and 
 most of tfie other 
 mines are situate, 
 is a formation of 
 primary gneiss. 
 
 There are live vei 
 worked m this 
 mii-.s. The prin- 
 cipal vein (Teich- 
 Jlache) is from one 
 foot six inches to 
 three feet in width, 
 the o.thers are from 
 six to twelve incbei 
 wide. The direc- 
 tion of this vein 
 is nearly _ north 
 and south, its un- 
 derlie is west, and 
 about three feet 
 per fathom. Some 
 of the other veins 
 intersect it. 
 
 Argentiferous sul- 
 pTiuret of , lead, 
 native silver, sul- 
 phuret of eilver, 
 red silver. 
 
 !ix to seven ounces 
 of eilver per quin- 
 tal of 100 lta. 
 Equivalent to 
 
 from 3* to 41 
 parts of metal in 
 1,000 of ure, or 
 from 3-Sths to 
 nearly J per cent. 
 Quartz peorlBpar, 
 and calcareous 
 spar. 
 
 The ores are ac- 
 companied by 
 blende, ■pathoie 
 iron, and a little 
 iron and arsenical 
 pyrites. ' 
 
 Frankeneckwihtt 180 
 falhoniB. 
 
 * Gossan, or Gozzan ; oxide of iron and quartz. 
 
MINES. 
 
 191 
 
 .Comparative Table of celebrated Mines 'in Europe and America. 
 By F. Burr, Es<j. — Continued. 
 
 Depth of adit at the 
 uriacipal shaftB 
 
 Quantity of witter 
 
 Height to which the 
 water is raised 
 
 Power employe J in 
 drainage 
 
 Probable equivalent 
 in actual horse- 
 
 Average annual ex- 
 penw ;i: drainage 
 
 iiantity of ore an- 
 nually produced 
 
 Produce in metal 
 
 Total returns, or 
 
 value of the above 
 
 Total costs of the 
 
 Clear profit to the 
 
 pro pne tore 
 Amount of capital 
 
 invested 
 
 Interest on capital 
 invested . 
 
 Proportion of coBts 
 to returns 
 
 Consolidated and 
 United Mines. 
 
 (At present the richest 
 mines ia Cornwall.) 
 
 Veta Grande Mines. 
 
 (At present the richest 
 mines in Mexico.) 
 
 At Woolf's eneine-Bhaft, 
 13 fathoma. The average 
 depth of the -adit at the 
 other engine-shafts is 
 about 30 or 40 fathoms. 
 
 Varies from 2,000 to 3,000 
 gal Ions per minute. 
 
 About 80 gallons per 
 minute. 
 
 About 230 fathoiiB at tne 
 consolidated mines, 
 the united mines, about 
 110 fathoms. 
 
 9 steam-engines ; 3 of 20- 
 inch cylinder, 3 of 85, I 
 of 80, and 2 of 65. A 
 water wheel, 48 feet io 
 diameter. 
 
 1,500 constantly at worki 
 or a total number of 
 above 4,500. 
 
 19,700/. talcing the 
 average of the last 
 ten years. 
 
 1,517 tons of fine cop- 
 per, a little tin. 
 119,800*. 
 
 93,500*. exclusive of 
 lord's dues; 98,500/. 
 including lord's dues. 
 
 21,000*. per annum. 
 
 *,0Q0Z. 
 
 880 per cent, after pay- 
 ing back the original 
 capital. 
 
 CostB exclusive of lord's 
 dues, 78 per cent. 
 
 Number of men em- 
 ployed 
 
 Wages of the mir.ers 
 per day 
 
 Quantity and ex- 
 pense of powder 
 
 Manner in which 
 the ores are dis- 
 posed of 
 
 About 2,500 ' persons, of 
 whom about 1,450 art 
 employed under ground. 
 
 Probably about 3 shillings 
 on an average. 
 
 lold tp the smelting com- 
 panies, and smelted by 
 them at Swansea, " 
 South Wales. 
 
 Mine of Valenciana. 
 
 (Richest of the Mexican 
 
 mines at the beginning of 
 
 the present century.) 
 
 On an average about £0 
 fathoms. 
 
 Usually 10 malacates.* 
 
 3 horses constantly 
 working, or a total 
 number of about 100 
 horses. 
 
 20,000*. per annum. 
 
 21,380 tons of silver 
 ore. 
 
 153,000 lbs. troy of 
 
 silver. 
 423,-400*. per annum. 
 
 252,170*. per annum. 
 
 171,240*. per annum 
 
 130,000*. 
 
 Nearly 700 per cent. 
 after paying back the 
 original capital. 
 
 About 59& per cent. 
 
 About 900, of whom nearly 
 600 are employed under 
 
 fround. 
 out 8 or 9.shillings per 
 day. 
 
 Chiefly reduced by_ the 
 company at the hacienda 
 of Sanceda, by _ smeltinr- 
 and amalgamation. 
 
 There s i 
 mine. 
 
 The Valencianawas a dry 
 mine from iia com- 
 mencement in 1760 to 
 1780, when it first be- 
 came troubled with 
 water, in consequence of 
 some of the workings 
 being inadvertently com- 
 municated with the ad- 
 Joining mine of Tepeyac; 
 which, although upon 
 the same vein,, waf ex- 
 tremely wet. The quan- 
 tity of water raiBed during 
 the late working appears 
 to have been about 110 
 gallons per minute, bui. 
 the regular inllux was 
 much less. 
 
 S10 fathoms. 
 
 A steam-engine of 30 inch- 
 cylindor, and 7 mala- 
 cates. 
 
 65 horses constantly at 
 work, or a total number 
 of about 400. 
 
 About 40,000*. per" 
 
 32,500 tons of silver 
 ore. 
 
 232,900 lbs. troy silver. 
 
 About 600,000*. 
 
 197,900*. per annum. 
 
 ,118,750*. per annum. 
 
 Cannot be ascertained, 
 but known to have 
 been very email. 
 
 Not known, but cer- 
 tainly many hundred 
 per cent. 
 
 Costs 60 per cent. In 
 the nine years follow- 
 ing, the proportion 
 was 80 per cent., at 
 the end of that time 
 the working of the 
 mine was stopped by 
 the revolution, in the 
 
 The adit at the shaft 
 called Franken 
 Bclmcht, is 47 la 
 thorns in depth. 
 
 50 gallons per 
 
 minute. 
 
 zoes, of whom 1800 
 employed under ground. 
 From 4 to 5 shillings. 
 
 1,420 cwt.; value 15,831 
 
 Sold to the Rcscntadores, 
 and reduced by smelting 
 and amalgamation at 
 haciendas, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Guanaxualo. 
 
 Mine of 
 
 HlMMELSFiiRST. 
 
 (Richest of the 
 
 Saxon mines at the 
 
 beginning of the 
 
 present century.) 
 
 Two water-wheels 
 each _42 feet ii 
 diameter. 
 
 16 horses con- j 
 stanlly at work, » 
 or a total num- 
 ber of about 
 50. 
 
 Cannot be tscer- 
 tained, but 
 
 evidently very 
 small. 
 
 630 tons of silver 
 
 6,160 lbB. troy of 
 
 silver. 
 About 18,000*. 
 
 9,500*. per an- 
 num. 
 
 3,560*. per an- 
 num. 
 
 Cannot be ascer- 
 tained, bnl 
 probably very 
 small. 
 
 Not known, but 
 probably very 
 high. 
 
 Costs 73 per 
 cent. 
 
 700 miners, of whom 
 550 are employed 
 underground. 
 
 About Is. 6c*. per 
 day. 
 
 340 cwt. ; value 
 1,070*. 
 
 Delivered to the 
 Government, re- 
 duction works in 
 the neighbourhood 
 of Freyberg, where 
 they are partly 
 smelted, and part 
 ly amalgamated. 
 
 VENTILATION OF MINES. 
 
 When men penetrate by narrow passages into- the interior of the earth, their respir- 
 ation, joined to the combustion of candle and gunpowder, are not long of vitiating 
 the an-. The decomposition of wood contributes to the same effect, as also the 
 mineral bed itself, especially in coal mines, by the carburetted hydrogen and carbonic 
 acid evolved, and from the absorption of oxygen by pyrites. In many cases, arsenical 
 and mercurial vapours are disengaged. Hence the necessity of maintaining in sub. 
 
 * Malacate; a horse whim. 
 
1.92 MIKES, BLASTING. 
 
 •ferranean cavities a continual circulation of air, which may renew the atmosphere round 
 the miners. The whole of the means employed te produce this effect, constitutes what 
 is called the ventilation of mines. 
 
 These means are divided into natural and artificial. The natural means are the car- 
 rents produced hy the difference of density between the air of mines and the external 
 air ; the artificial are air-exhausters or condensers, fires, &c. 
 
 The temperature of the air of the subterranean workings surpasses the mean tem- 
 perature of the place in which the mine is opened. Hence it is lighter in winter, 
 but in summer often heavier than the air of the atmosphere; For this reason, when the 
 mine presents two openings at different levels, the air naturally flows out by the most 
 elevated in winter, and by the lowest in summer. We may take advantage of this 
 circumstance, to lead the air into the bottom of even a very long gallery, opening into 
 the side of the mountain, by piercing a shaft into its roof at some' distance from the 
 entrance, and dividing the gallery by a horizontal floor into two parts, which have no 
 mutual communication, except at the furthest extremity — the upper part communica- 
 ting with the shaft, and the under . with the mouth of the gallery. If the two compart 
 ments have different dimensions, the air in the smaller sooner comes into an equilibrium 
 of temperature with the rock ; and the difference of temperature of the two compart- 
 ments is sufficient to produce a cnrrent. If a streamlet of water flows through this 
 gallery, it facilitates the flow of the air along the lower compartment. If a mine has 
 several openings situated on the same level, it rarely happens but some peculiar circum- 
 stance destroys, during the colds of winter and the heats of summer, the equilibrium of 
 the air. But in spring and autumn, when the externa] air is nearly of the same tem- 
 perature with that of the mines, the above-named causes are almost always too feeble to 
 excite an issuing current. This effect is, however, frequently obtained by raising over 
 one of the shafts a chimney 20 or 30 yards high, which alone produces the effect of an 
 opening at a different level. It has been remarked that stormy weather usually deranges 
 every system of ventilation. See Pitcoal and Ventilation. 
 
 MINES, BLASTING: It has been often noticed that since the application of gun- 
 powder for blasting, few if any improvements have been made in the methods adopted 
 lor cutting tlirough hard rocks ; and the great expense of maintaining engine powei 
 for pumping and winding during the long period required to sink shafts through such 
 rocks has been, and still is the.sole cause of some of the best and richest tracts ol 
 minerals in ftreat Britain lying idle and unproductive, and has been the principal cause 
 of the loss of life so serious and often occurring from explosion in mines. 
 
 The improvements, or rather the new system now introduced, will be better under- 
 stood after a review of the methods and tools heretofore used. 
 
 The oldest method of pumping, or taking up the water from the bottom of the shaft 
 during sinking was the Hogar pipe ; this was about 4 feet in length, made of leather, 
 and stiffened by rings of metal: the constant damage this was liable to in blastinu- 
 caused it to be almost abandoned, and in its place the stock and slide pipe was intro- 
 duced. This consists of two cast-iron pipes sliding into each other as a telescope and 
 kept tight in the joint by a stuffing-box; this contrivance is not only expensive in first 
 cost, but liable to breakage arid heavy to handle. Both these modes of pumping are 
 subject to a still greater defect; the pump can only be made nearly under the pump 
 trees, so that during a long time of the sinking it often occurs that only two or three 
 men can be effectually emplo3'ed in the shaft; this in some of the large shafts (say on 
 a common size used in South Wales, 18 feet by 10 feet) causes serious delay in the pro- 
 gress of the work. 
 
 In boring it has been customary to use a borer, the body of which was made ot 
 wrought iron, and the bit or end of the borer of shear steel welded on the iron. No 
 attempts appear ever to have been made to fix any definite proportion between the 
 size of the stock or handle and the breadth of the bit ; and from this cause a very 
 great portion of the power of the striker has been uselessly expended. 
 
 The use of cast steel borers is, in some respects, entirely new as applied to mining 
 and by the superior hardness of cast steel as compared with shear steel, greatly expe-' 
 dites the process of boring and saves expense ; they have also an advantage in trans 
 mitting the force of the hammer to the bit, on account of their stiffness or rigidity; 
 arid further to prevent loss of power, it is of importance that the bit should be so pro- 
 portioned to the handle or stock as to work freely in the bore-hole, and at the Bame 
 time spring or bend as little as possible under the blow of the hammer. The following 
 proportions appear to answer these conditions. (See top of next page.) 
 
 The suction pipe now used by the exhibitor, about 20 feet in length, is made of gutta 
 percha, and supersedes the use of the leather Hogar, and the stock and slide; it is not 
 liable to accident, andean be repaired easily; it enables the pump slide to be made in 
 any part of the shaft, and a greater number of men to work it in the shaft at one time. 
 
MINES. 10? 
 
 Diameter of -Breadth of 
 
 Octagon Cast SLeel. the face of Bit. 
 
 1 inch. U inch. 
 
 1* „ 1* ,- 
 
 14 „ 2 „ 
 
 If „ 21 „ 
 
 14 „ 2i „ 
 
 The introduction of electricity as the power for blasting in connection with the 
 improvements before explained, may be said to constitute a new era in the history of 
 mining. 
 
 The apparatus at present used for blasting is Grove's battery of 6 inches square : this 
 is placed in some convenient position near the top of the shaft ; two copper wires, coated 
 with gutta percha, are carried down the shafts, and these are connected with the other 
 wires inserted in a small cartridge which is placed in the charge of powder for blasting. 
 MINES. The miner, in sinking into the earth, soon opens up numerous springs, whose 
 waters, percolating into the excavations which he digs, constitutes one of the greatest 
 obstacles that nature opposes to his toils. When his workings are above the level of 
 some valley and at no great distance, it is possible to get rid of the waters by leading them 
 along a trench or a gallery of efflux. This forms always the surest means of drainage ; 
 and notwithstanding the great outlay which it involves, it is often the most economical. 
 The great advantages accruing from these galleries, lead to their being always estab- 
 lished, and without risk, in mines which promise a long continuance. There are many 
 galleries several leagues in length; and sometimes they are so contrived as to discharge 
 the waters of several mines, as may be seen in the environs of Freyberg. Merely such 
 -a slope should be given them as is barely sufficient to make the water run, at the ut- 
 most from T-i— to jifr, so as to drain the mine at the lowest possible level. 
 
 Whenever the workings are driven below the natural means of drainage, or below 
 the level of the plain, recourse must be had to mechanical aids. In the first place, the 
 quantity of percolating water is diminished as much as possible by planking, walling, 
 or calking up with the greatest possible care those pits and excavations which traverse 
 the water levels ; and the lower workings are so arranged that all the waters may unite 
 into wells placed at the bottom of the shafts or inclined galleries ; whence they may be 
 pumped up to the day, or to the level of the gallery of efflux. In most mines, simple 
 sucking pumps are employed, because they are less subject to give way, and more easy 
 of repair ; and as many of these are placed over each other, as the shaft is ten yards 
 deep, below the point where the waters have a natural run. 
 
 These draining machines are set in motion by that mechanical power which happens 
 to be the least costly in the place where they are established. In almost the whole of 
 England, and over most of the coal-mines of France and Silesia,, the work is done by 
 steam-engines ; in the principal metallic mines of France, and in almost the whole of 
 Germany and Hungary, by hydraulic machines ; and' in other places, by machines 
 moved by horses, oxen, or even by men. If it be requisite to lift the waters merely to 
 the leve. of a gallery of efflux, advantage may be derived from the waters of the upper 
 parts of the mine, or even from waters turned in from the surface, in establishing in the 
 mine of the gallery-level, water-pressure machines, or overshot water-wheels, for pump- 
 in" up the lower water. This method is employed with success in several mines of 
 Hungary, Bohemia, Germany, Derbyshire, Cornwall, in those of Poullaouen in Brittany, 
 &c. It has been remarked, however, that the copious springs are found rather toward 
 the surface of the soil than in the greatest depths. 
 
 TRANSPORT OP ORES TO THE SURFACE. 
 
 The ore being extracted from its bed, and having undergone, when requisite, a first 
 sortin", it becomes necessary to bring it to the day, an operation performed in different 
 ways according to circumstances and localities, but too often according to a blind 
 routine. There are mines at the present day, where the interior transport of ores is 
 executed on the backs of men; a practice the most disadvantageous possible, hut which 
 is gradually wearing out. The carriage along galleries is usually effected by means of 
 hurdles, barrows, or, still better, by little wagons. These consist of frames resting on' 
 four wheels ; two larger, which are placed a little behind the centre of gravity, and two 
 smaller, placed before it. When this carriage is at rest, it bears on its four wheels, and' 
 leans forward. But when the miner, in pushing it before him, rests on its posterior 
 border, he makes it horizontal ; in which case it rolls only upon the two larger wheels. 
 Thus, the friction due to four wheels is avoided, and the roller or driver hears no part 
 of the burden, as he would do with ordinary wheelbarrows. To ease the draught stit] 
 more, two parallel rails of wood or iron are laid along the floor of the gallery, to which 
 Vol. II. 14 
 
194 MINES. 
 
 the wheels of the carriage are adjusted. It is especially in metallic mines, where the cr 
 is heavy, and the galleries straight, that these peculiar wagons are employed. In coa 
 mines, carriages formed with a much larger basket, borne on a railroad by four cqua 
 wheels, are preferred. Sometimes the above wain, called on the Continent a dog (chicri), 
 is merely a simple frame on four wheels, on which a basket is set. In the great mines, 
 such as many of the coal and salt mines of Great Britain, the salt mines of Gallicia, the 
 copper mines of Fahlun, the lead mines of Alston-Moor, horses and asses are introduced 
 into the workings to drag heavier wagons, or rather a train of wagons attached to 
 one another. These animals often live many years under ground, without ever revisit- 
 ing the light of day. In other mines, such as those of Worsley, in Lancashire, subter- 
 ranean canals are cut, upon which the ore is transported in boats. 
 
 When the workings of a mine are beginning, when they are still of little depth, and 
 employ few hands, it is sufficient to place over the shaft a simple wheel and axle, by 
 means of which a few men may raise the water-pails, and the baskets or tubs filled with 
 ore; but this method becomes soon inadequate, and should be replaced by more power- 
 ful machines. 
 
 ACCESSORY DETAILS. 
 
 Few mines can be penetrated entirely by means of galleries. More usually 
 there are shafts for mounting and descending. In the pits of many mines, the work- 
 men go down and come up by means of the machines which serve to elevate the 
 ares. In several mines of Mexico, and the north of Europe, pieces of wood, fixed 
 an each side of the pit, form the rude steps of a ladder by which the workmen pass up 
 and down. In other mines, steps are cut in the rock or the ore ; as in the quicksilver 
 mines of Idria and the Palatinate, in the salt mines of Wieliczka, and in some of the 
 silver mines of Mexico. In the last they serve for the transport of the ore, which is 
 carried up on men's backs. Lastly, certain mines are entered by means of slopes, 
 some of which have an inclination of more than 30°. The workmen slide down these 
 on a kind of sledge, whose velocity of descent they regulate by a cord firmly fixed at 
 the upper end. 
 
 Miners derive light from candles or lamps. They carry the candles in a lump of soft 
 elay, or in a kind of socket terminated by an iron point, which serves to fix it to the 
 rock, or to the timbering. The lamps are made of iron, hermetically closed, and 
 suspended, so that they can not droop, or invert and spill the oil. They are usually 
 liung on the thumb by a hook. Miners also employ small lanterns, suspended to their 
 girdles. Many precautions and much experience are requisite to enable them to carry 
 these lights in a current of air, or in a vitiated atmosphere. It is especially in coal 
 mines liable to the disengagement of carburetted hydrogen, that measures of safety are 
 indispensable against the explosions. The appearance of any halo round the flame 
 should be carefully watched as indicating danger ; and the lights should be carried 
 near the bottom of the gallery. The great protector against these deplorable accidents, 
 is the safety lamp. See Lamp or Davy. 
 
 We can not conclude this general outline of the working of mines, without giving 
 some account of the miners. 'Most men have a horror at the idea of burying them- 
 selves, even for a short period, in these gloomy recesses of the earth. Hence mining 
 operations were at first so much dreaded, that, among the ancients, they were assigned 
 to slaves as the punishment of their crimes. This dislike has diminished with the im- 
 provements made in mining ; and finally, a profitable and respected species of labor 
 has given mining its proper rank among the other departments of industry. The esprit 
 de corps, so conspicuous among seamen, has also arisen among miners, and has given 
 dignity to their body. Like every society of men engaged in perilous enterprises, and 
 cherishing the hopes of great success, miners get attached to their profession, talk of t 
 with pride, and eventually in their old age regard other occupations with contempt. 
 They form, in certain countries, such as Germany and Sweden, a body legally consti- 
 tuted, which enjoys considerable privileges. Miners work usually 6 or 8 hours at a 
 time. This period is called a journey (poste, m French). 
 
 Miners wear, in general, a peculiar dress, the purpose of which is to protect them, as 
 much as possible, from the annoyances caused by water, mud, and sharp stones, which 
 occur in the places where they work. One of the most essential parts of the dress of a 
 German miner is an apron of leather fitted on behind, so as to protect them in sitting 
 on moisture or angular rubbish. In England, the miners wear nothing but flannels ; 
 though they frequently strip off all their clothes except their trowsers. In many coun- 
 tries the mallet and the pick, or pointerolle (called in German, Schegel and Eiseri), dis- 
 posed in a Saint Andrew's cross, are the badge of miners, and are engraved on their 
 buttons, and on everything belonging to mines. 
 
 _ Several of the enterprises executed in mines, or in subserviency to them, merit a 
 distinguished rank among the history of human labors. Several mines are worked to 
 a depth of more than 600 yards, some even to a thousand yards below the surface of the 
 
MINES. 195 
 
 soil. A great many descend beneath the level of the ocean ; and a few even'extend 
 under its billows, and are separated from them by a thin partition of rock, which allows 
 their noise, and the rolling of the pebbles, to be heard. 
 
 In 1792, there was opened, at Valenciana, in Mexico, an octagonal pit, fully 7| yards 
 wide, destined to have a depth of 560 yards, to occupy 23 years in digging, and to cost 
 240,0002. 
 
 The great drainage gallery of the mines of Clausthal, in the Hartz, is 1 1,377 yards, or 
 six and a half miles long, and passes upward of 300 yards below the church of Clausthal. 
 Its excavation lasted from the year 1777 till 1800, and cost about 66,000Z. Several 
 other galleries of efflux might also be adduced, as remarkable for their great length and 
 expense of formation. 
 
 The coal and iron mines subservient to the iron works of Mr. Crawshay, at Merthyr- 
 Tydvil, in Wales, have given birth to the establishment, interiorly and above ground, 
 of iron railways, whose total length, many years ago, was upward of 100 English 
 miles. 
 
 The carriage of the coal extracted from the mines in the neighborhood of Newcastle 
 to their points of embarkation, is executed almost entirely, both under ground and on 
 the surface, on iron railways, possessing an extent of upward of 500 miles. 
 
 There is no species of labor which calls for so great a development of power as that 
 of mines ; and accordingly, it may be doubted if man has ever constructed machines so 
 powerful as those which are now employed for the working of some mineral excavations. 
 The waters of several mines of Cornwall are pumped out by means of steam-engines, 
 whose force is equivalent in some instances to the simultaneous action of many hundred 
 horses. 
 
 Mines, General Summary or. 
 
 Mines maybe divided into three great classes : 1. Mines in the gealogical formations 
 anterior to the coal strata ; 2. Mines in the secondary formations ; 3. Mines in alluvial 
 districts. 
 
 The first are opened, for the most part, upon veins, masses, and metalliferous beds. 
 
 The second, on strata of combustibles, as coal ; and metalliferous or saliferous beds. 
 
 The last, on deposites of metallic ores, disseminated in clays, sands, and other alluvial 
 matters, usually superior to the chalk; and even of far more recent formation. 
 
 The mines of these three classes, placed, for the most part in very different physical 
 localities, differ no less relatively to the mode of working them, and their mechanical 
 treatment, thon in a gealogical point of view. 
 
 MINES Or FORMATIONS ANTERIOR TO THE COAL. 
 
 These mines are situated in a few mountainous regions, and their whole amount forms 
 but a small portion of the surface of the earth. The most remarkable of these are— 
 the Cordilleras of South America; the mountains of Hungary; the Altayan mountains; 
 the Ural mountains ; the Vosges and the Black Forest ; the Hartz, and the east of 
 Germany ; the centre of France ; the north of Portugal, and the adjacent portions of 
 Spain ; Britanny ; the corresponding coasts of Great Britain and Ireland ; the north of 
 Europe ; tfis Allegany chain ; the south of Spain ; the Pyrenees ; the Alps ; the schistose 
 districts on the banks of the Rhine and the Ardennes ; the calcareous mountains of 
 England and of Daouria. 
 
 MINES OF THE CORDILLERAS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 Few regions are so celebrated for their mineral wealth as the great chain which, under 
 the name of the Cordillera of the Andes, skirts the shores of the Pacific ocean, from the 
 land of the Patagonians to near the northwest point of the American continent. Who 
 has not heard of the mines of Mexico and Potosi ? The mineral wealth of Peru has 
 passed into a proverb. 
 
 The most important mines of the Cordilleras are those of silver; but several of gold, 
 mercury, copper, and lead, have likewise been opened. These mountains are not equally 
 metalliferous in their whole extent. The workings occur associated in a small number 
 of districts far distant from each other. 
 
 In the Andes of Chili, particularly in the province of Coquimbo, some silver mines 
 are explored, which afford chiefly ores of an earthy or ferruginous nature, mingled with 
 imperceptible portions of ores with a silver base, known there under the name of Pacos. 
 The same province also presents copper mines of considerable importance, from which 
 are extracted native copper, orange oxide of copper, carbonate of copper (malachite), 
 and copper pyrites, associated with some muriate of copper. In a few mines, masses 
 of native copper of extraordinary magnitude have been found. 
 
 The second metalliferous region of the Andes occurs between the 21st pud 1511] 
 3e°rees of south latitude. It includes the celebrated mountain of Potosi, situated m 
 
196 MINES. 
 
 nearly the 20th degree of south latitude, on the eastern slope of the chain, and stveral 
 other districts, likewise very rich, which extend principally toward the northwest, as 
 far as the two banks of the lake Titicaca, and even beyond it, through a total length of 
 nearly 150 leagues. All these districts, which formerly depended on Peru, were united 
 in 1778 to the government of Buenos Ayres. The mines of Potosi were discovered in 
 1545, and have furnished since that period till our days, a body of silver which M. Hum- 
 boldt values at 230,000,000Z. sterling. The first years were the most productive. At 
 that time ores were often found which afforded from 40 to 45 per cent, of silver. Since 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century, the average richness of the ore does not exceed 
 above from 3 to 4 parts in 10,000. These ores are therefore very poor at the present 
 day ; they have diminished in richness in proportion as the excavations have become 
 deeper. But the total product of the mines has not diminished in the same propor- 
 tion : abundance of ore having made up for its poverty. Hence, if the mountain of 
 Potosi is not, as formerly, the richest deposite of ore in the world, it may, however, be 
 still placed immediately after the famous vein of Guanaxuato. The ore lies in veins in 
 a primitive clay state, which composes the principal mass of the mountain, and is cov- 
 ered by a bed of clay porphyry. This rock crowns the summit, giving it the form of a 
 basaltic hill. The veins are very numerous ; several, near their outcrop, were almost 
 wholly composed of sulphuret of silver, antimoniated .sulphuret of silver, 'and native 
 silver. Others, which offered near the surface merely sulphuret of tin, became richer 
 as they descended. In 1790, seven copper mines were known in the viceroyalty of 
 Buenos Ayres, seven of lead, and two of tin ; the last being merely washings of sands 
 found near the river Oraro. 
 
 On the opposite flank of the chain, in a low, desert plain, entirely destitute of water, 
 which adjoins the harbor of Iquiqua, and forms a part of Peru, occur the silver mines 
 nf Huantajaya, celebrated for the immense masses of native silver which have been 
 sometimes found in them. In 1758, one was discovered weighing eight cwts. 
 
 M. Humboldt quotes 40 cantons of Peru as being at the present day most famous 
 for their subterranean explorations of silver and gold. Those of gold are found in the 
 provinces of Huaailas and Pataz ; the silver. is chiefly furnished by the districts of 
 Huantajaya, Pasca, and Chota, which far surpass the others in the abundance of their 
 ores. 
 
 The silver mines of the district of Pasco are situated about 30 or 40 leagues north of 
 Lima, in 10J degrees of south latitude, 4,400 yards above the sea-level, on the eastern 
 slope of the Cordilleras, and near the sources of the river Amazon. They were dis- 
 covered in 1630. These mines, and especially those of Cero of Yauricocha, are actually 
 the richest in all Peru. The ore is an earthy mass of a red color, containing much iron, 
 mingled with particles of native silver, horn silver, &c, constituting what they call Pacos. 
 At first, nothing but these pacos was collected ; and much gray copper and antimoniated 
 sulphuret of silver were thrown among the rubbish. The mean product of all the ores is 
 __!__ : or an ounce and -2 8 p er cw t. : although some occur which yield 30 or 40 per 
 
 T250 100 " , t b i r 
 
 cent. These rich deposites do not seem to be extended to a great depth ; they have not 
 been pursued further than 130 yards, and in the greater part of the workings only tc 
 from 35 to 45. Forty years ago, these mines, which produced nearly 2,000,000 of pias- 
 tres annually, were the worst worked in all South America. The soil seemed as if 
 riddled with an immense number of pits, placed without any order. The drainage of 
 the waters was effected by the manual labor of men, and was extremely expensive. In 
 1816, some Europeans, among whom were several miners from Cornwall, mounted sev- 
 eral high-pressure steam-engines, imported from England, which introduced a consid- 
 erable improvement in the workings. 
 
 The mines of the province of Chota are situated in about seven degrees of south lati- 
 tude. The principal ones are those of Gualcayoc, near Mecuicampa, discovered in 177 1 ; 
 iheir outcrop occurs at the height of 4,500 yards above the sea ; the city of Mecuicampa 
 tself has 4,000 yards of elevation, that is, higher than the highest summits of the Pyre- 
 nees. The climate is hence very cold and uncomfortable. The ore is a mixture of sul- 
 phuret of silver and antimoniated sulphuret, with native silver. It constitutes veins, of 
 which the upper portion is formed of pacos, and they sometimes traverse a limestone 
 and sometimes a hornstone, which occurs in subordinate beds. The annual produce of 
 the mines is 67,000 marcs of silver, according to Humboldt. 
 
 In the districts of Huaailas and Pataz, which are at a little distance from the former 
 two, gold mines are worked. This metal is extracted chiefly from the veins of quartz, 
 which run across the primitive schistose mountains. The district of Huaailas contains, 
 besides, lead mines. Peru possesses, moreover, some mines of copper. 
 
 'Die quicksilver mines of Huancavelica, the only important mine of this species which 
 has been worked in the New World, occurs on the eastern flank of the Andes of Peru, 
 m 13 degrees of south latitude, at upward of 6,000 yards above the level of the sea. It 
 <loes not seem refeirible to the same class of deposites with the mines hitherto mentioned. 
 
MINES. 
 
 197 
 
 indications of mercurial ueposites have been observed in several other points of the Andes 
 of Northern Peru, and of the south of New Granada. 
 
 Lastly, mines of sal-gem are known to exist in Peru, especially near the silver mines 
 of Huantajaya. 
 
 On receding from the district of Chota, the Cordilleras are very indifferently stored 
 with metallic wealth, to the isthmus of Panama, and even far beyond it. The kingdom 
 of New Granada offers but a very small number of silver mines. There are some aurif- 
 erous veins in the province of Antioquia, and in the mountains of Guamoco. The prov- 
 ince of Caracas, the mountains of which may be considered as a ramification of the 
 Cordilleras, presents at Aroa a copper mine which furnishes annually from 700 to 800 
 metric quintals (1,400 to 1,600 cwt.) of this metal. Finally, we may state in passing, 
 that there is a very abundant salt mine at Zipaquira, in the province of Sante F6, and 
 that between this point and the province of Santa-Fe-de-Bogota, a stratum of coal occurs 
 at the extraordinary height of 2,700 yards. 
 
 Although Mexico presents a great variety of localities of ores, almost the only ones 
 worked are those of silver. Nearly the whole of these mines are situated on the back 
 or the flanks of the Cordilleras, especially to the west of the chain, nearly at the height 
 of the great table land which traverses this region of the globe, or a little below its 
 level in the chains which divide it. They lie in general between 2,000 and 3,000 yards 
 above the sea ; a very considerable elevation, which is favorable to their prosperity, 
 because in this latitude there exists at that height a mean temperature, mild, salubrious, 
 and. most propitious to agriculture. There were at the time of Humboldt's visit, from 
 4,000 to 5,000 deposites of ore exploited. The workings constituted 3,000 distinct mines, 
 which were distributed round 500 head quarters or Reales. These mines are not, how- 
 ever, uniformly spread over the whole extent of the Cordilleras. They may be consid- 
 ered as forming eight groups, which altogether do not include a greater space than 
 12,000 square leagues ; viz., hardly more than the tenth part of the surface of Mexico. 
 
 These eight groups are, in proceeding from south to north, 
 
 1. The group of Oaxuaca, situated in the province of this name at the southern extrem- 
 ity of Mexico properly so called, toward the 17th degree of north latitude. Besides 
 silver mines, it contains the only veins of gold explored in Mexico. These veins trav- 
 erse gneiss and mica-slate. 
 
 2. The group of Tasco. The most part of the mines which compose it are situated 
 20 or 25 leagues to the south west of Mexico, toward the western slope of the greal 
 plateau. 
 
 3. The group of Biscania, about 20 leagues northeast of Mexico. It is of moderate 
 extent, but it comprehends the rich workings of Pachuca, Eeal del Monte, and Moram. 
 The district of Real del Monte contains only a single principal vein, named Vela Bezi- 
 cana of Real del Monte, in which there are several workings ; it is, however, reckoned 
 among the richest of Mexico. 
 
 4. The group of Zimapan. It is very near the preceding, about 40 leagues north- 
 west of Mexico, toward the eastern slope of the plateau. Besides numerous silver mines, 
 it includes abundant deposites of lead, and some mines of yellow sulphuret of arsenic. 
 
 5. The Central group, of which the principal point is Guanaxuato, a city of 70,000 in- 
 habitants, placed at its southern extremity, and 60 leagues N. N. W. of Mexico. It 
 comprises among others the famous mine districts of Gmmaxuato, Catorce, Zacatecas, 
 Sombrerete ; the richest in Mexico, and which alone furnish more than half of all the 
 silver which this kingdom brings into circulation. 
 
 The district of Guanaxuato presents only one main vein, called the Vela Main. This 
 vein is enclosed principally in clay-state, to whose beds it runs parallel, but occasionally 
 it issues out of them to intersect more modern rocks. The vein is composed of quartz, 
 carbonate of lime, fragments of clay slate, &c. ; and includes the sulphurets of iron, of 
 lead, and of zinc in great quantities, some native silver, sulphuret of silver, and red 
 silver ; its power (thickness .of the vein) is from 43 to 48 yards. It is recognised and 
 worked throughout a length of upward of 13,000 yards; and contains 19 exploitations, 
 which produced annually well on to 1,200,000,'. in siiver. One of the explorations, that 
 of Valenciana, produces 320,0002. ; being equal to about one fifteenth of the total prod- 
 uct of the 3,000 mines of Mexico. Since 1764, the period of its discovery, its neat 
 annual product has never been less than from two to three millions of francs (80,000/ 
 to 120,000/.) ; and its proprietors, at first men of little fortune, became, in ten years, 
 the richest individuals in Mexico, and perhaps in the whole globe. 
 
 The workings of this mine are very extensive, and penetrate to a depth of 550 yaTds. 
 Thev employ a great many laborers. 
 
 The district of Zacatecas presents in like manner only a single vein in greywacke ; 
 which, however, is the seat ot several workings. 
 
 The deposites mined at Catorce are in limestone ; the mine called Punssima de Catorct 
 has been explored to about 650 yards in depth ; and yielded, in 1796, nearly 20,000/ 
 There are also mines of antimony in the district of Catorce. 
 
198 MINES. 
 
 Toward the western part of the group of which we are now speaking, copper minej 
 are worked in the provinces of Valladolid and Guadalaxara ; the ores being chiefly com- 
 posed of protoxide of copper (orange copper), sulphuret of copper, and native copper. 
 These mines produce about 2,000 metric quintals of copper annually (440,000 lbs. Eng. 
 lish). In the same district, ores of tin are collected in the alluvial soils, particularly 
 near Mount Gigante. The concretionary oxide of tin. so rare in Europe, is here the 
 most common variety. This metal occurs also in veins. 
 
 The central part of Mexico contains many indications of sulphuret of mercury (cin- 
 nabar) ; but in 1804 it was worked only in two places, and to an inconsiderable extent. 
 
 6. The group of new Galliciais situated in the province of this name, about 100 leagues 
 N. W. from Mexico. It comprises the mines of Balanos, one of the richest districts. 
 
 7. The group of Durango and Sonora, in the intendancies of the same name. It is 
 very extensive. The mines are situated in part on the table land, and in pari on the 
 western slope. Durango is 140 leagues N. N. W. of Mexico. 
 
 8. The group of Chinuahua. It takes its name from the town of Chinuahua, situated 
 100 leagues N. of Durango. It is exceedingly extensive, but of little value ; and ter- 
 minates at 29° 10' of north latitude. 
 
 Mexico possesses, besides, several mines which are not included in the eight preceding 
 groups. Thus the new kingdom of Leon, and the province of New Saint-Ander, present 
 abundant mines of lead. New Mexico contains copper mines, and many others. 
 
 Lastly, rock salt is mined in several points of New Spain ; and coal seems to occur in 
 New Mexico. 
 
 The richness of the different districts of the silver mines or reales is extremely unequal. 
 Nineteen twentieths of these reales do not furnish altogether more than one twelfth of 
 the total product. This inequality is owing to the excessive richness of some deposites. 
 The ores of Mexico are principally veins ; beds and masses are rare. The veins traverse 
 chiefly, and perhaps only, primitive and transition rocks, among which certain porphyries 
 are remarked as very rich in deposites of gold and silver. The silver ores are mostly 
 sulphuret of silver, black antimoniated sulphuret of silver, muriate of silver (hornsilver), 
 and gray copper. Many explorations are carried on in certain earthy ores, called 
 collorados, similar to the pacos of Peru. Lastly, there are ores of other metals, which 
 are worked principally, and sometimes exclusively, for the silver which they contain ; 
 such are the argentiferous sulphuret of lead, argentiferous sulphuret of copper, and 
 argentiferous sulphuret of iron. 
 
 Ores of very great richness occur in Mexico ; but the average is only from 3 to 4 
 ounces per cwt., or from 18 to 25 in 10,000. There are some, indeed, whose estimate 
 does not exceed 2j ounces. Almost all the argentiferous veins afford a little gold ; the 
 silver of Guanaxuato, for example, contains J, . The enormous product of the Mexican 
 mines is to be ascribed rather to the great facility of working them, and the abundance 
 of ores, than to their intrinsic richness. 
 
 The art of mining was little advanced in this country at the period of Humboldt's 
 journey; the workings presented a combination of small mines, each of which had only 
 one aperture above, without any lateral communications between the different shafts. 
 
 The form of these explorations was too irregular to admit of their being called workings 
 by steps. The shafts and the galleries were much too wide. The interior transport of the 
 ores is generally effected on the back of men ; rarely by mules. The machines for raising 
 the ore and drawing off the water are in general ill combined ; and the horse gigs for 
 setting them in motion ill constructed. The timbering of the shafts is very imperfectly 
 executed ; the walled portions alone are well done. There are some.galleries of drainage, 
 but they are too few, and ill directed. Latterly, English capitalists and miners have 
 formed companies for working the silver mines of Mexico ; which will probably produce 
 in time a happy revolution. 
 
 The silver ores of Spanish America are treated partly by fusion, and partly by amal- 
 gamation, but more frequently by the latter mode; hence the importation oi" mercury 
 forms there an object of the highest importance, especially since the quicksilver mine of 
 Huancavelica fell in, and ceased to be worked. This mine is the only one in Spanish 
 America which belongs to the government. Tor the modern state of these mines, see 
 Silver. 
 
 The following table shows', according to M. de Humboldt, what was the annual prod- 
 uct of the silver mines of South America, at the beginning of this century. It is 
 r ounded in a great measure, upon official documents : — 
 
 Mexico - 2,196,140 marcs, or 537,512 kil., worth £4,778,000 
 
 Peru - - 573,958 140,478 1,250,000 
 
 Buenos- Ayres 463,098 110,764 984,600 
 
 Chili - 25,957 6,827 60,680 
 
 Total 3,259,153 795,581 7,073,280 
 
MINES. 199 
 
 To complete our picture of the mineral wealth of Spanish America, it remains tn 
 »peak of its principal gold minis ; l>ut these belong to a geological locality, alluvial sands 
 and gravel, very different from that of our present objects. The most important of thesi 
 gold sands are washed on the western slope of the Cordilleras ; viz., in New Grenada, 
 from the province of Barbacoas, to the isthmus of Panama, to Chili, and even to the 
 shores of the seas of California. There are likewise some on the eastern slope of the 
 Cordilleras, in the high valley of the river Amazons. The washings of New Granada 
 produce also some platina. 
 
 The mines, properly so called, and the washings of South America, furnish, altogether, 
 42,575 marcs, or 10.418 kilogrammes (22,920 libs. Eng.) of gold, worth 1,435,720/. 
 
 MINES OF HUNGARY. 
 
 The metallic mines of Ihi-i kingdom, including those of Transylvania, and the Bannat 
 of Temeschwar, form four principal groups, which we shall denote by the group of the 
 N.W"., group of the N.E., group of the E., and group of the S.E. 
 
 The group of the N.W. embraces the districts of Schemnitz, Kremnitz, Kcenigsberg, 
 Neuhsohl, and the environs of Schmcelnitz, Bethler, Rosenau, &c. 
 
 Schemnitz, a royal free city of mines, and the principal centre of the mines of Hun- 
 gary, lies 25 leagues to the north of Buda, 560 yards above the sea, in the midst of a 
 small group of mountains covered with forests. The most part of these mountains, the 
 highest of which reaches an elevation of 1,130 yards above the ocean, are formed of 
 barren trachytes (rough trap rocks) ; but at their foot below the trachytic formation, 
 a formation is observed, consisting of green-stone porphyries, connected with syenites, 
 passing into granite and gneiss, and including subordinate beds of mica-slate and lime- 
 stone. It is in this formation that all the mines occur. 
 
 It has been long known that the green-stone porphyries of Schemnitz have j.itimate 
 relations with the metalliferous porphyries of South America. M. Beudant, on com- 
 paring them with those brought by M. de Humboldt from Guanaxuato, Real del Monte, 
 &c, has recognised an identity in the minutest details of color, structure, composition, 
 respective situation of the different varieties, and even in the empirical character of 
 effervescence with acids. The metalliferous rocks appear at Schemnitz only in o space 
 of small extent, comprehended partly in a small basin, of which the city occupies the 
 south border. They are traversed by veins which, for the most part, cut across the strati- 
 fication, but which also are sometimes obviously parallel to it. These veins are in 
 general very powerful ; their thickness amounting even to more than 40 yards, but their 
 extent in length seems to be visually inconsiderable. They are numerous and parallel 
 to each Other. It appears that they have no side plates of vein-stones (sallebundes), but 
 that the metalliferous mass reposes immediately on the cheeks or sections of the rock, 
 which is usually more or less altered, and includes always much pyrites near the point 
 of con -?.ct, and even to a distance of several feet. The substances which constitute the 
 body of these veins, are drusy quartz, carious quartz, ferriferous carbonate of lime, and 
 sulphate of barytes, with which occur sulphuret of silver mixed with native silver 
 containing more or less gold, which is rarely in visible scales ; sulphuret of silver, argen- 
 tiferous galena, blende, copper and iron pyrites, &c. The sulphuret of silver and the 
 galena are the two most important ores. Sometimes these two substances are insulated, 
 sometimes they are mixed in different manners so as to furnish ores of every degree of 
 richness, from such as yield 60 per cent, of silver down to the poorest galena. The gold 
 seldom occurs alone; it generally accompanies the silver in a very variable proportion, 
 which most usually approaches to that of 1 to 30. 
 
 The ores of Schemnitz are all treated by fusion ; the poor galenas at the smelting 
 house of Schemnitz (bleyhutte), and the resulting lead is sent as working lead to the 
 smelting-houses of Kremnitz, Neusohl, and Schernowitz, whither all the silver ores 
 prepared in the different spots of the country are transported in order to be smelted. 
 
 The mines of Schemnitz, opened 800 years ago, have been worked to a depth of more 
 .than 350 yards. The explorations are in general well conducted. Excellent galleries 
 of efflux have been excavated ; the waters for impulsion are collected and applied 
 with skill. It may be remarked, however, that these mines begin to decline from the 
 state of prosperity in which they stood several years ago ; a circumstance to be ascribed 
 probably to the same pains being no longer bestowed on the instruction of the officers 
 appointed to superintend them. Maria Theresa established in 1760, at Schemnitz, a 
 school of mines. This acquired at its origin, throughout Europe, a great celebrity, 
 which it has not been able to maintain. 
 
 Kremnitz lies about five leagues N.N.W. of Schemnitz, in a valley flanked on the 
 right by a range of hills formed of rocks quite analogous to the metalliferous rocks of 
 Schemnitz. In the midst of these rocks, veins are worked nearly similar to those of 
 Schemnitz ; but the quartz which forms their principal mass is more abundant, and con- 
 tains more native gold. Here also are found sulphuret and hydrosulphuret of antimony, 
 
200 MINES. 
 
 which do not occur at Schemnitz. The metalliferous district is of very moderate extent, 
 and is surrounded by the trachytic district which overlies it, forming to the east and 
 west considerable mountains. 
 
 The city of Kremnitz is one of the most ancient free royal cities of mines in Hjn- 
 gary. It is said that mines were worked there even in the times of the Romans; bu< 
 it is the Germans who, since the middle ages, have given a great development to thest 
 exploitations. There exists at Kremnitz a mint-office, to which all the gold and silvei 
 nf the mines of Hungary are carried in order to be parted, and where all the chemical 
 processes, such as the fabrication of acids, &c, are carried on in the large way. 
 
 About six leagues N.N.E. from Schemnitz, on the banks of the Gran, lies the little 
 village of Neusohl, founded by a colony of Saxon miners. The mountains surrounding 
 it include mines very different from those of which we have been treating. At Herren- 
 grand, two leagues from Neusohl, greywacke forms pretty lofty mountains ; this rock is 
 covered by transition limestone, and is supported by mica-slate. The lower beds con- 
 tain bands of copper ores, chiefly copper pyrites. The mica-slate includes likewise 
 masses of ore, apparently constituting veins in it. These ores have been worked since 
 the 13th century. The copper extracted contains in a hundred weight six ounces ol 
 silver. • ( 
 
 Eighteen or twenty leagues to the east of Neusohl, we meet with a country very rich 
 in iron and copper mines, situated chiefly in the neighborhood of Bethler, Schmcelnitz, 
 Einsiedael, Rosenau, &c. Talcose and clay slates form the principal body of the moun- 
 tains here, along with horneblende rocks. The ores occur most usually in strata. Those 
 of iron, or sparry ore, ani especially hydrate of iron, compact and in concretions, ac- 
 companied with specular iron ore. They give employment to a great many large 
 smelting-houses. The county of Gcemar alone contains 22 works ; and that of Zips 
 also a great number. The copper mines lie chiefly in the neighborhood of Schmcelnitz 
 and Gcelnitz. The copper extracted contains about six or seven ounces of silver in the 
 hundred weight. Near Zalathna there is a quicksilver mine nearly inactive ; and near 
 Rosenau one of antimony. 
 
 To conclude our enumeration of the mineral wealth of this country, it remains merely 
 to state that there are opal mines in the environs of Czervenitza, placed in the trachytic 
 conglomerate. 
 
 GROUP OF THE NORTHEAST, OR Or NAGABANYA. 
 
 The mines of this group lie in a somewhat considerable chain of mountains, which, 
 proceeding from the frontiers of Buchowina, where it is united to the Carpathians, finally 
 disappears amid the saliferous sandstones between the Theiss, Lapos, and Nagy Szamos, 
 on the northern frontiers of Transylvania. These mountains are partly composed of 
 rocks analogous to those of Schemnitz, traversed by veins which have much resemblance 
 to the veins of this celebrated spot. Into these veins a great many mines have been 
 opened, the most important of which are those of Nagabanya, Kapnick, Felsobanya, 
 Miszbanya, Laposbanya, Olaposbanya, Ohlalapos. All these mines produce gold. Those 
 of Laposbanya furnish, likewise, argentiferous galena ; those of Olaposbanya contain 
 copper and iron ; and those of Kapnick copper. Realgar occurs in the mines of Felso- 
 banya ; and orpiment in those of Ohlalapos. Several of them produce manganese and 
 sulphuret of antimony. Lastly, toward the north, in the county of Marmarosh, lies 
 the important iron mine of Borscha, and on the frontiers of Buchowina the lead mine 
 of Radna, in which also much zinc ore occurs. 
 
 The mines composing the group of the East, or of Abrudbanya, occur almost all in the 
 mountains which rise in the western part of Transylvania, between Lapos and Maros, in 
 the environs of Abrudbanya. M. Beudant notices in this region, limestones, sandstones, 
 trachytes, basalts, and sienite porphyries, apparently quite analogous to the greenstone 
 porphyries of Schemnitz. It seems to be principally in the latter rocks that the mines 
 forming the wealth of this country occur ; but some of them exist, also in the mica- 
 slate, the greywacke, and even in the limestone. The principal mines are at Nagyag, 
 Korosbanya, Vorospatak, Boitza, Csertesch, Patzbay, Almas, Porkura, Butschum, and 
 Stonischa. Thei"e are, in all, 40 exploitations ; the whole of which produce auriferous 
 ores smelted at the foundry of Zalathna. These mines contain also copper, antimony, 
 and manganese. They are celebrated for their tellurium ore, which was peculiar to them 
 prior to the dfscovery of this metal a few years back in Norway. The auriferous de- 
 posites contained in the greenstone porphyry are often very irregular. The mines of 
 Nagyag are the richest and best worked. The numerous veins occur partly in the 
 sienite porphyry, and partly in the greywacke. The auriferous ore is accompanied with 
 galena, realgar, manganese, iron, and zinc. There are iron mines in great beds near 
 Vayda-Huniad and Gyalar. Some Cobalt mines are also noticed. 
 
 The group of the S. E., or of the Bannat of Temeschwar, occurs in the mountains which 
 block up the valley of the Danube at Orschova, through a narrow gorge of which the 
 river escapes. The principal mines are at Oravitza, Moldawa, Szaska, and Dognaaczka 
 
MINES. 201 
 
 rhey produce chiefly argentiferous copper, yielding a marc of silver (nearly § pound) 
 in the hundred weight, with occasionally a little gold. Ores of lead, zinc, and iron, 
 are also met with. The mines are famous for their beautiful specimens of blue car- 
 bonate of copper, and various other minerals. The mine of Moldawa affords likewise 
 orpiment. These metallic deposites lie in beds and veins ; the former occurring par- 
 ticularly between tlie mica-slate and the limestone, or sometimes between the limestone 
 and the sienite porphyry. Well-defined veins also are known to exist in the sienite 
 and the mica-slate. The Bannat possesses moreover important iron-mines at Dom- 
 trawa and Ruchersbergj near Doinbrawa sulphuret of mercury is found. Cobalt 
 mines occur likewise in these regions. 
 
 The mines constituting the four groups now described are not the sole metallic 
 mines possessed by Hungary. A few others, but generally of little importance, are 
 scattered over different parts of this kingdom. Several have been noticed in the 
 portion of the Carpathians which separates Transylvania from Moldavia and Wallachia. 
 Their principal object is the exploration of some singular deposites of galena. 
 
 Besides the mines just noticed, Hungary contains some coal mines, numerous mines 
 of rock salt, and several deposites of golden sands situated chiefly on the banks of the 
 Danube, the Marosch, anil the Nera. 
 
 The mines of the kingdom of Hungary produce annually, according to M. Heron de 
 Villefosse, 5,218 marcs, or 2,810 pounds English of gold, worth 175,976?. ; and about 
 85,000 marcs, or 45,767 pounds of silver, worth 186,132?. The mines of Transylvania 
 furnish nearly the half of the whole quantity of gold, and one seventeenth of the silver 
 now stated. The other mines of Europe produce together nearly twice as much silver, 
 but merely a few marcs of gold. Hungary affords besides from 18,000 to 20,000 
 metric quintals (about 4,000,000 libs. English) of copper annually, and a great deal 
 of iron. 
 
 From these mines proceed likewise from 3,000 to 4,000 metric quintals (660,000 to 
 880,000 libs. Eng.) of lead ;.a quantity not more than is neeSed by the refining-houses 
 for the ores of silver and gold. 
 
 MINES OF THE ALTAYAN MOUNTAINS. 
 
 At the western extremity of the chain of the Altayan mountains, which separate 
 Siberia from Chinese Tartary, there exists a number of metalliferous veins, in which 
 several important works have been established since the year 1742. They constitute 
 the locality of the mines of Kolywan ; the richest in the precious metals of the three 
 districts of this kind existing in Siberia. 
 
 These mines are opened up in the schistose formations which surround to the N. and" 
 W. and to the S.VV. the western declivity of the high granitic chain, from which they are 
 separated by formations consisting of other primitive rocks. These schists alternate in 
 some points with quartzose rocks, called by M. Renovantz hornstone, and with lime- 
 stone. They are covered by a limestone, replete with ammonites. The metalliferous 
 region forms a semicircle, of which the first lofty mountains occupy the centre. 
 
 The most important exploration of this country is the silver mine of Zmeof, or 
 Zmein'ogarsk, in German Schlangenberg, situated to the N. W. of the high mountains 
 in 51° 9'25"N. L. and 79° 49' 50" long, east of Paris. It is opened on a great 
 vein, which contains argentiferous native gold, auriferous native silver, sulphuret of 
 silver, hornsilver, gray copper, sulphuret of copper, green and blue carbonated copper, 
 red oxide of copper, copper pyrites, sulphuret of lead, and great masses, of testaceous 
 arsenic slightly argentiferous. There occur likewise sulphuret of zinc, iron pyrites 
 and sometimes arsenical pyrites. The gangues (vein-stones) of these different ores are 
 sulphate of baryta, carbonate of lime, quartz, but rarely fluate of lime. The principal 
 vein, which is of great power, has been traced through a length of several hundred 
 fathoms, and to a depth of no less than 96 fathoms. In its superior portion, it has an 
 inclination of about 50 degrees; but lower down it becomes nearly vertical. Its roof 
 is always formed of clay-slate. On the floor of the vein, the slate alternates with horn 
 stone. This vein pushes out branches in several directions; it is intersected by barren 
 veins, and presents successive stages of different richness. The first years were the 
 most productive. The German miners employed subsequently by the Russian govern- 
 ment have introduced regularity into the workings ; and have excavated a gallery of 
 efflux 585 fathoms long. 
 
 The most important of the other silver mines of this department' are those of Tchere- 
 panofski, 3 leagues S.E. of Zmeof; those of Smenofski, 10 leagues S.E. ; those of 
 Nicolaiski, 20 leagues to the S.S.W. ; and of Philipofski, 90 leagues S.E. of the 
 same place. The last mine lies on the extreme frontier of Chinese Tartary. It is not 
 known whether the southern slope of the Altaic chain within the Chinese territories, 
 tontains metalliferous deposites. 
 
 The ores extracted from these different mines yield on an average per quintal an 
 
202 MINES. 
 
 ounce of silver, which contains 3 per cent, of gold. Their annual product was towari 
 1786, according to M. Patrin, 3,000 marcs, or 1,(315 libs, avoirdupois of gold, worth 
 101,151/. ; and 60,000 marcs, or 31,020 libs, avoird. or silver, worth 130,520/. 
 
 The precious metals are not the sole product of this mineral district. There is an 
 importaat copper-mine 15 leagues N.W. of Zmeof, in a chain of hills formed of gra- 
 nitic rocks, schists, porphyries, and shell-limestone, graduating into the plain. The 
 vein presents copper pyrites, sulphuret of copper, and native copper, disseminated in 
 argillaceous substances, more or less ferruginous, and of different degrees of hardness. 
 This mine, which bears the name of Aleiski-Loktefski, furnished annually at the date 
 of 1782, 1,500 quintals (metric), or 330,000 libs, avoird. of copper, which was coined 
 into money in the country itself. 
 
 At Tchakirskoy, on the banks, of the Tscharisch, toward the northern extremity of 
 the metalliferous semicircle, mentioned above, there is a mine of argentiferous copper 
 and lead, opened in a very large but extremely short vein. Besides' the lead and 
 copper ores, including a little silver, this mine affords a great quantity of ealamine 
 (carbonate of zinc), which forms occasionally fine stalactites of a white or green color. 
 
 The northern flank of the Altai mountains presents few mines. Some veins of 
 copper exist 2,000 leagues east of Zmeof; near the spot where the river Janissei issues 
 from the Saianean mountains, which are a prolongation of the Altayan chain. 
 
 There is no lead-mine, properly so called, in the Altai mountains. Almost all the 
 lead which is required for the treatment of the silver and gold ores is obtained from the 
 department of Nertchinsk, situated 700 leagues off, on the borders of the river jlmour. 
 
 The first smelting-house erected in this district was in the middle of the metalliferous 
 region at Kolywan, the place from which it takes its name. It has been suppressed on 
 account of the dearth of wood in the neighborhood of the mines. The principal exist- 
 ing foundry it that of Bornaoul on the Ob, 50 leagues north of Zmeof. 
 
 MINES OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS. 
 
 This chain of mountains, which begins on the coasts of the icy sea, and terminates 
 in the 50th degree of latitude amid the steppes of the Kerguis, after having formed, 
 through an extent of more than 40 leagues, the natural limit between Europe and 
 Asia, contains very rich and very lemarkablc deposites of metallic ores, which have 
 given rise to important mines of iron, copper, and gold. These explorations are 
 situated on the two slopes, but chiefly on the one that looks to Asia, from the environs 
 of Ekaterinbourg to about 120 or 130 leagues north of that city. They constitute the 
 department of the mines of Ekaterinbourg, one of the three belonging to Siberia. 
 
 The copper-mines are pretty numerous, and lie almost wholly on the oriental slope 
 of the chain. They are opened into veins of a very peculiar nature, and which although 
 very powerful at the surface, do not extend to any considerable depth. These veins 
 are in general filled with argillaceous matters, penetrated with red oxide of copper, and 
 mingled with green and blue carbonated copper, sulphuret of copper, and native copper. 
 The most important workings are those of Tmrinslci and Gonmechafski. 
 
 The first are situated 120 leagues north of Ekaterinbourg, toward the 60th degree 
 of N. latitude, at the eastern base of the Uralian mountains, near the banks of the Touria. 
 They amount to three, opened in the same vein, which turns round an angle presented 
 by the chain in this place. The ground is composed of a porphyry with a hornstone 
 basis of clay-slate, and of a white or grayish limestone, which form the roof and floor 
 of the vein. The ore yields from 18 to 20 per cent., and these mines produced annually 
 in 1786, 10,000 metric quintals (2,200,000 libs, avoird.) of copper. 
 
 The mine of Goumechefski lies 12 or 15 leagues S.W. of Ekaterinbourg, near a 
 lake bordered by primitive mountains, which form in this region the axis of the* chain 
 of the Urals. This mine is celebrated for the beautiful malachites that occur in it. 
 It has furnished almost all the fine specimens of this substance employed in jewellery. 
 The vein, of which the sides are calcareous, is vertical, and runs north and south. 
 It does not sink deeper than about 50 yards, and is filled with a species of coarse 
 pudding-stone', composed of masses of primitive rocks. The ore yields from 3 to 4 
 per cent, of copper, and the mine furnished about the year 1786, 4,400,000 libs, avoird. 
 of this metal per ammm. 
 
 The beds of iron ore occur generally at a certain distance from the axis of the 
 central chain. Those of the western slope lie sometimes in a gray compact limestone, 
 which contains enlrochi and other petrifications, and whose geological age has not been 
 ascertained, but it appears to be much more modern than the rocks of the central chain. 
 Both the one and tie other seem to form large veins, which extend little in depth, or 
 rather fill irregular and shallow cavities. The most common ore is the hvdrate of iron 
 (bog ore), hematite, or compact iron ore, sometimes mixed or accompaniedwith hydrate 
 nf manganese, and occasionally with ores of zinc, copper, and lead. Black oxide 
 of iron, possessing magnetic polarity, likewise frequently occurs, particularly in th« 
 
MINES. 
 
 203 
 
 mines of the eastern slope, on which, in fact, entire mountains of loadstone repose. All 
 these ores, mixed with a greater or less quantity of clay differently colored, are 
 worked by open quarries, and most usually without using gunpowder, or even iron 
 wedges. They yield rarely less than 50 or 60 per cent., and keep in action numerous 
 smelting-houses situated on the two flanks of the chain j the oldest of them have been 
 established since 1628, but the greater number date only from the middle of the 18th 
 century. The most celebrated mines are those of Balgodat and Keskanar, situated on 
 the eastern slope from 30 to 50 leagues north of Ekaterinbourg. In the foundries of 
 tile eastern slope, anchors, cannons, bullets, &.C., are fabricated ; and in the whole a 
 considerable quantity of bar iron. The products of the works on the western side are 
 directly embarked on the different feeders of the Volga, from which they are at no 
 great distance. Those of the eastern slope are transported during winter on sledges to 
 the same feeder streams, after crossing the least elevated passages of the Urals. 
 
 The quantity of materials fabricated by the iron-works of both slopes, amounted 
 annually, toward the year 1790, to more than 11,000,000 lbs. avoird. This country 
 is peculiarly favored by nature for this species of industry ; for vast deposites of excel- 
 lent iron ores occur surrounded by immense forests of firs, pines, and birches ; woods, 
 whose charcoal is excellently adapted to the fabrication of iron. 
 
 The copper-mines of the Uralian mountains, and the greater part of the iron mines 
 and foundries, form a portion of the properties of some individuals, who may be in- 
 stanced as among the richest in Europe. The Russian government has neglected no 
 opportunity of promoting these enterprises. It has established at Tourinsky a consid- 
 erable colony, and at Irbitz a fair which has become celebrated. 
 
 There is only one gold mine in the Ural mountains, that of Beresof, situated three 
 leagues N.E. of Elkaterinbourg, at the foot of the Urals, on the Asiatic side. It is 
 famous for the chroinate of lead, or red lead ore, discovered there in 1776, and worked 
 in the following years, as also for some rare varieties of minerals. The ore of Beresof 
 is a cavernous hydrate of iron (bog ore), presenting here and there some small striated 
 cubes of hepatic iron, and occasionally some pyrites. If contains 5 parts of native 
 gold in 100,000. This deposite appears to have a great analogy with the deposites. of 
 iron ore of the same region. It constitutes a large vein, running from N. to S., 
 encased in a formation of gneiss, hornblende schists, and serpentine, and which does not 
 appear to dip to any considerable depth. It becomes poor in proportion to its distance 
 from the surface. The exploitation, which is in the open air, has dug down 25 yards ; 
 having been carried on since the year 1726. The gold is extracted from the ore by 
 stamping and washing. In 1786, 500 marcs were collected ; but the preceding years 
 had furnished only 200, because they then worked further from the surface. German 
 miners were called in to direct the operations. On some points of the Ural mountains, 
 and the neighboring countries, deposites of an auriferous clay have been noticed ; but 
 they have not hitherto been worked. 
 
 Beds of chromate of iron have also been discovered in these mountains. 
 
 The beautiful plates of mica, well known in mineral cabinets, and even in commerce, 
 under the name of Muscovy talc, or Russian mica, come from the Urals. There are 
 explorations for them near the lake Tschebarkoul, on the eastern flank of this chain. 
 From the same canton there is exported a very white clay, apparently a kaolin. 
 
 25 leagues north of Ekaterinbourg, near the town of Mourzinsk, there occur in a 
 graphic granite, numerous veins, containing amethysts, several varieties of beryl, emer- 
 alds, topazes, &c. 
 
 Table of the Production of the Russian Mines during the years 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 
 and 1834 ; by M. TeplofT, one of their officers. 
 
 Substances. 
 
 1830. 
 
 1831. 
 
 1832. 
 
 1833. 
 
 1834. 
 
 Gold . - 
 Platinum 
 Auriferoussilver 
 
 kil. 
 6,260 
 1,742 
 20,974 
 
 kil. 
 6,582 
 1,767 
 21,563 
 
 kil. 
 6,916 
 1,907 
 21,454 
 
 kil. 
 6,706 
 1,919 
 20,552 
 (3) 
 3,387,252 
 716,500 
 (3) 
 159,118,372 
 
 kil. 
 6,626 
 1,695 
 20,666 
 
 Copper 
 Lead 
 
 8,860,696 
 698,478 
 
 3,904,533 
 792,935 
 
 3,620,201 
 688,351 
 
 ? 
 
 Cast iron 
 
 182,721,274 
 
 180,043,730 
 (2) 
 
 282,821,358 
 9,774,998 
 4,253,000 
 
 162,480,224 
 
 ? 
 
 Salt 
 Coal 
 Naphtha 
 
 342,240,893 
 7,863,642 
 4,253,000 
 
 372,776,283 
 6,596,034 
 4,253,000 
 
 491,862,299 
 8,227,528 
 4,253,000 
 
 ? 
 ? 
 ? 
 
 12 
 
204 MINES. 
 
 MINES OF THE VOSGES AND THE BLACK FOREST. 
 
 These mountains contain several centres of exploration of argentiferous ores of lead 
 and copper, iron ores, and some mines of manganese and anthracite. 
 
 At the Croix-aux-mines, department of the Vosges, a vein of argentiferous lead has 
 been worked, which next to the veins of Spanish America, is one of the greatest known. 
 It is several fathoms thick, and has been traced and mined through an extent of more 
 than a league. It is partly filled with debris, among which occurs some argentiferous 
 galena. It contains also phosphate of lead, antimoniated sulphuret of silver, &c. 
 It runs from N. to S. nearly parallel to the line of junction of the gneiss, and a por- 
 phyroid granite, that passes into sienite and porphyry. In several points it cuts across 
 the gneiss ; but it probably occurs also between the two rocks. It has never been worked 
 below the level of the adjoining valley. The mines opened on this vein produced, it 
 is said, at the end of the 16th century, 26,000Z. per annum ; they were still very pro- 
 ductive in the middle of the last century, and furnished, in 1756, 2,640,000 lbs. avoird. 
 of lead, and 6,000 marcs, or 3,230 pounds avoird. of silver. 
 
 The veins explored at Sainte Marie of the mines, also traverse the gneiss ; but their 
 direction is nearly perpendicular to that of the vein of the Croix, from which they are 
 separated by a barren mountain of sienite. They contain besides galena, several ores 
 of copper, cobalt, and arsenic ; all more or less argentiferous. There is found also at a 
 little distance from Saint Mary of the mines a vein of sulphuret of antimony. The 
 mines of Sainte Marie, opened several centuries ago, are among the most ancient in 
 France; and yet they have been worked only down to the level of the adjoining 
 valleys. 
 
 There has been opened up in the environs of Giromagny, on the southern verge of the 
 Vosges, a great number of veins, containing principally argentiferous ores of lead and 
 copper. They run nearly from N. to S., and traverse porphyries and clay-slates ; a 
 system which has some analogy with the metalliferous district of Schemnitz. The 
 workings have been pushed so far as 440 yards below the surface. These mines were 
 in a flourishing state in the 14th and 16th centuries ; and became so once more at the 
 beginning of the 17th, when they were undertaken by the house of Mazarin. In 1743 
 they still produced 100 marcs, fully 52 libs, avoird. of silver in the month. 
 
 The mines of La Croix, of Sainte-Marie-aux-mines, and of Giromagny, are now 
 abandoned; but it is hoped that those of the first two localities will be resumed ere 
 long. 
 
 In the mountains of the Black Forest; separated from the Vosges by the valley of the 
 Rhine, but composed of the same rocks, there occur at Badenweiler and near Hochberg, 
 not far from Freyburg, workings of lead in great activity. These form six distinct 
 csines, and an nually afford 88,000 libs, avoird. of lead, and 200 marcs of silver. In the 
 Furstenberg near Wolfach, particularly at Wittichen, there are mines of copper, cobalt, 
 and silver. The mines of Wittichen produced, some years ago, 1,600 marcs,' or near 
 880 libs, avoird. of silver per annum. They supply a manufactory of smalt, and one of 
 arsenical products. A few other inconsiderable mines of the same kind exist in the 
 grand dutchy of Baden, and in the kingdom of Wurtemberg. 
 
 Several important iron mines are explored in the Vosges ; the principal are those of 
 Framont, in the department of the Vosges, whose ores are red oxide of iron and brown 
 hematite, which appear to form veins of great thickness, much ramified, and very 
 irregular, in a district composed of greenstone, limestone, and greywacke. The sub- 
 terranean workings, opened on these deposites, have been hitherto very irregular. There 
 has been discovered lately in these mines, an extremely rich vein of sulphuret of copper. 
 At Rothau, a little to the east of Framont, thin veins of red oxide of iron are worked ; 
 sometimes magnetic, owing probably to an admixture of protoxide of iron. These veins 
 run through a granite, that passes into sienite. At Saulnot near Belfort, there are 
 iron mines, analogous to those of Framont. 
 
 In the neighborhood of Ihann and Massovaux, near the sources of the Moselle,- veins 
 are worked of an iron ore, that traverse formations of greywacke, clay-slate, and por- 
 phyry. Lastly, in the north of the Vosges, near Bergzabern, Erelenbach, and"Schen'au, 
 several mines have been opened on very powerful veins of brown hematite and compact 
 bog ore, accompanied with a little calamine, and a great deal of sand and debris. In 
 some points of these veins, the iron ore is replaced by various ores of lead, the most 
 abundant being the phosphate, which are explored at Erlenbach amlKalzenlhal. These 
 veins traverse the sandstone of the Vosges, a formation whose geological position is not 
 altogether well known, but which contains iron mines analogous to the preceding at 
 Langenthal, at the foot of Mount Tonnerre, and in the palatinate. Many analogies 
 seem to approximate to the sandstone of the Vosges, the sandstone of the environs of 
 Saint Avoid (Moselle), which include the mine of brown hematite of Creutzwald, and 
 the lead mine of Bleyberg, analogous to the lead mine of Bleyberg, near Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. 
 
MIWES. 205 
 
 At Cruttnich and Tholey, to the north of the Sairebruck, mines of manganese are 
 worked, famous for the good quality of their products. The deposite exploited at. Crutt- 
 nich seems to be enclosed in the sandstone of theVosges, and to constitute a vein in it 
 analogous to the iron veins mentioned above. 
 
 There has been recently opened a manganese mine at Lavelline, near La Croix-aux- 
 mines, in a district of gneiss with porphyry. 
 
 In the Vosges and the Black Forest there are several deposites of anthracite (stone- 
 coal), of which two are actually worked, the one at Zunswir, near Offenbourg, in the 
 territory of Baden, and the other at Uvoltz, near Cernay, in the department of the Upper 
 Rhine. There are also several deposites of the true coal formation on the flanks of the 
 Vosges. 
 
 MINES OP THE HARTZ. 
 
 The name Hartz is given generally to the country of forests, which extends a great 
 many miles round the Brocken, a mountain situated about 55 miles W.S.W. of Magde- 
 bourg, and which rises above all the mountains of North Germany, being at its summit 
 1226 yards above the level of the sea. The Hartz is about 43 miles in length from 
 fi.S.E. to N.N.W., 18 miles in breadth, and contains about 450 square miles of surface. 
 It is generally hilly, and covered two thirds over with forests of oaks, beeches, and firs. 
 This rugged and picturesque»district corresponds to a portion of the Silva Hercynia of 
 Tacitus. As agriculture furnishes few resources there, the exploration of mines is 
 almost the only means of subsistence to its inhabitants, who amount to about 50,000. 
 The principal cities, Andreasberg, Clausthal, Zellerfeld, Mtenau, Lautenthal, Wildemann, 
 Grund, and Goslar, bear the title of mine-cities, and enjoy peculiar privileges ; the people 
 deriving their subsistence from working in the mines of lead, silver, and copper, over 
 which their houses are built. 
 
 The most common rock in the Hartz is greywacke. It encloses the principal veins, 
 and is covered by a transition limestone. The granite of which the Brocken is formed' 
 supports all this system of rocks, forming, as it were, their nucleus. Trap and hornstone 
 rocks appear in certain points. 
 
 The veins of lead, silver, and copper, which constitute the principal wealth of the 
 Hartz, do not pervade its whole extent. They occur chiefly near the towns of Andreas- 
 berg, Clausthal, Zellerfeld, and Lautenthal ; are generally directed from N.W. to S.E., 
 and dip to the S.W., at an angle of 80° with the horizon. 
 
 The richest silver mines are those of the environs of Andreasberg, among which may 
 be distinguished the Samson and Newfang mines, worked to a depth of 560 yards. In 
 the first of them there is the greatest step exploitation to be met with in any mine. It 
 is composed of 80 direct steps, and is more than 650 yards long. These mines were 
 discovered in 1520, and the city was built in 1521. They produce argentiferous galena, 
 with silver ores properly so called, such as red silver ore, and ore of cobalt. 
 
 The district which yields most argentiferous lead is that of Clausthal ; it comprehends 
 a great many mines, several of which are worked to a depth of 550 yards. Such of the 
 mines as are at the present day most productive, have been explored since the first years 
 of the eighteenth century. The two most remarkable ones are the mines of Dorothy, 
 and the mine of Caroline, which alone furnish a large proportion of the whole net prod- 
 uct. The grant of the Dorothy mine extends over a length of 257 yards, in the direc- 
 tion of the vein, and through a breadth of nearly 22 yards perpendicularly to that direc- 
 tion. Out of these bounds, apparently so small, but which however surpass those, of the 
 greater part of the concessions in the Hartz, there was extracted from 1709 to 1807 in- 
 clusively, 883,722 marcs of silver, 768,845 quintals of lead, and 2,385 quintals of copper. 
 This mine and that of Caroline have brought to their shareholders in the same period 
 of time, more than 1,120,000Z. ; and have besides powerfully contributed by loans with- 
 out interest to carry on the exploration of the less productive mines. It was in order 
 to effect the drainage of the mines of the district of Clausthal, and those of the district 
 of Zellerfeld adjoining, that the great gallery of efflux was excavated. 
 
 Next to the two districts of Clausthal and Zellerfeld, and Andreasberg, comes that of 
 Goslar, the most important working in which is the copper mine of Eammelsberg, opened 
 since the year 968, on a mass of copper pyrites, disseminated through quartz, and min- 
 gled with galena and blende. It is worked by shafts and galleries, with the employmenl 
 of fire to break down the ore. This mine produces annually from 1,200 to 1,300 metric 
 quintals (about 275,000 libs, avoird.) of copper. The galena extracted from it yields a 
 small quantity of silver, and a very little gold. The latter metal amounts to only the 
 five-millionth part of the mass explored ; and yet means are found to separate it with 
 advantage. The mine of Lanterberg is worked solely for the copper, and it furnishes 
 annually Hear 66,000 libs, avoird. of that metal. 
 
 Besides the explorations just noticed, there are a great manv mines of iron in differ- 
 ent parts of the Hartz, which give activity to important forges, including 21 smelting 
 
^206 MINES. 
 
 cupolas. The principal ores are sparry iron, and red and brown hematites, which occw 
 in veins, beds, and masses. Earthy and alluvial ores are also collected. 
 
 The territory of Anhalt-Bernbourg presents, toward the southeast extremity of the 
 Hartz, lead and silver mines, which resemble closely those of the general district. They 
 produce annually 33,000 libs, avoird. of lead. 
 
 At the southern foot of the Hartz, at Ilefeld, there is a mine of manganese. 
 
 The exploration of the Hartz mines may be traced back for about 900 years. The 
 epoch of their greatest prosperity was the middle of the eighteenth century. Their gross 
 annual amount was in 1808 upward of one million sterling. Lead is their principal 
 product, of which they furnish annually 6,600,000 libs, avoird., with 36,000 marcs, or 
 18,700 libs, avoird. of silver, about 360,000 libs, avoird. of copper, and a very great 
 quantity of iron. They are celebrated for the excellence of the mining operations ; and 
 the activity, patience, and skill, of their workmen. 
 
 The Hartz is referred to especially for the manner in which the waters are collected 
 and economized for floating down the timber, and impelling the machinery. With this 
 view, dams or lakes, canals, and aqueducts, have been constructed, remarkable for their 
 good execution- The water-courses are formed either in the open air round the moun- 
 tain-sides, or through their interior as subterranean galleries. The open channels col- 
 lect the rain-waters, as well as those proceeding from the melting of snows, from the 
 springs and streamlets, or small rivers that fall in their Way. The subterranean con- 
 duits are in general the continuation of the preceding, whose circuits they cut short. 
 These water-courses present a development in whole of 125 miles. The banks of some 
 of the reservoirs are of an extraordinary height. In the single district of Claustha] 
 (here are 34 tanks, which supply water to 92 wheels of nearly 30 feet diameter; 55 of 
 these serve for the drainage of water, and 37 for the extraction of ores. 
 
 MINES OP THE EAST OF GERMANY. 
 
 We shall embrace under this head the mines opened in the primitive and transition 
 territories, which constitute the body of a great portion of Bohemia, and the adjacent 
 parts of Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Moravia, and Silesia. 
 
 Among the several chains of small mountains that cross these countries, the richest 
 in deposites of ore is the one known under the name of the Erzgebirge, which separate 
 Saxony from Bohemia on the left bank of the Elbe. 
 
 The Erzgebirge contains a great many mines, whose principal products are silver, tin, 
 and ccfoalt. These mines, whose exploration remounts to the twelfth century, and par- 
 ticularly those situated on the northern slope within the kingdom of Saxony, have been 
 long celebrated. The school of mines established at Freyberg was at one time consid- 
 ered as the first in the world. This is a small city near the most important workings, 
 8 leagues W.S.W. of Dresden, toward the middle of the northern slope of the Erzge- 
 birge, 440 yards above the level of the sea, in an agricultural and trading district, well 
 cleared of wood. These circumstances have modified the working of the mines, and 
 render it difficult to draw an exact parallel between them and those of the Hartz, which 
 are their rivals in good exploration ; they are peculiarly remarkable for the perfection 
 with which the engines are executed both for drainage and extraction of ores, all moved 
 by water or horses ; for the regularity of almost all the subterranean labors ; and for 
 the beauty of their walling masonry. In the portion of these mountains belonging 
 to 'Saxony, the underground workings employ directly from 9,000 to 10,000 men, who 
 labor in more than 400 distinct mines, all associated under the same plan of adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 The silver mines of the Erzgebirge are opened on veins which- traverse gneiss, and 
 though quite different in this respect from the argentiferous veins of Guanaxuato, 
 Schemnitz, and Zmeof, present but a moderate thickness, never exeeeding a few feet. 
 They form several groups, whose relative importance has varied very much. 
 
 For a long time back, those of the environs of Freyberg are much the most produc- 
 tive; and their prosperity has been always on the advance, notwithstanding the increas- 
 ing depth of the excavations. The deepest of the whole is that of Kuhschacht, which 
 penetrates to 450 yards beneath the surface, that is, nearly down to the sea-level. The 
 most productive and the most celebrated is the mine of Himmelsfiirst ; that of Beschert- 
 gluck is also very rich. 
 
 Among the explorations at Erzgebirge, there are ndne which were formerly so flour- 
 ishing as those of Marienberg, a small town situated 7 leagues S.S.W. of Freyberg. In 
 the sixteenth century, ores were frequently found there, even at a short distance from 
 the surface, which yielded 85 per cent, of silver. The disasters of the thirty years' war 
 put a term to their prosperity. Since that period, they have continually languished; 
 und their product now is nearly null. 
 
 Our limits do not permit us to describe in detail the silver mines that occur nem 
 
MINES. 207 
 
 Ehrenfriedersdorf, Johanna-Georgenstadt, Annaberg, Oberwiesenthal, and Schneeberg. 
 Those of the last three localities produce also cobalt. 
 
 The mines of Saint-Georges, near Schneeberg, opened in the fifteenth century as iron 
 mines, became celebrated some time after as mines of silver. Toward the end of the 
 fifteenth century, a mass of ore was found there which afforded 400 quintals of silver ; on 
 that lump, Duke Albert kept table at the bottom of the mine. Their richness in silver 
 has diminished since then ; but they have increased more in importance during the last 
 two hundred years, as mines of cobalt, than they had ever been as silver mines. Saxony 
 is the country where cobalt is mined and extracted in the most extensive manner. It 
 is obtained from the same veins with the silver. Smalt, or cobalt-blue, is the principal 
 substance manufactured from it. The lead and the copper are in this country only ac- 
 cessory products of the silver mines, from which 120,000 lbs. avoird. of the first of these 
 metals are extracted, which are hardly sufficient for the metallurgic operations ; and 
 from 50,000 to 60,000 lbs. of copper. A little bismuth is extracted from the mines of 
 Schneeberg and Freyberg. Some manganese is found in the silver mines of the Erzge- 
 birge, and particularly at Johanna-Georgenstadt. 
 
 The mines of Saxony produce a little argentiferous galena, and argentiferous gray 
 copper ; the minerals with a base of native silver are the principal ores ; they are treated 
 in a great measure by amalgamation. All those of Freyberg are carried to the excel- 
 lent smelting-house'of Halsbruck, situated on the Malde, near that city. The average 
 richness of the silver ores throughout Saxony is only from 3 to 4 oz. per quintal : viz., 
 nearly equal to that of the ores of Mexico, and very superior to the actual richness of 
 <he ores of Potosi. The silver extracted from them contains a little gold. The Saxon 
 mines produce annually 52,000 marcs of silver. Of these, the district of Freyberg alone 
 furnishes 46,000; and among the numerous mines of that district, that of Himmelsfurst 
 of itself produces 10,000 marcs. 
 
 Silver mines exist also on the southern declivity of the Erzgebirge, which belongs to 
 Bohemia, at joachimsthal and Bleystadt, to the northeast of Eger. Argentiferous galena 
 is chiefly extracted from these. The mines of Joachimsthal have been explored to a 
 depth of 650 yards. They were formerly very flourishing ; but in 1805 they were threat- 
 ened with an impending abandonment. The ancient mines of Kuttenberg, situated in 
 the same region, have. been excavated, according to Agricola, to upward of 1,000 yards 
 from the surface soil. 
 
 The southern slope of the Erzgebirge possesses cobalt mines like the northern slope ; 
 but they are of much less importance. Some occur, particularly in the neighborhood 
 of Joachimsthal. Lastly, on the same slope, slightly-productive copper mines are men- 
 tioned at Grfislitz, near Joachimsthal ; at Catharineberg, 8 leagues north of Saatz ; and 
 at Kupferberg, lying between the two. At Grfislitz, the ore is a cupreous pyrites, ac- 
 companied by blende. The ores of Catharineberg are argentiferous. 
 
 Next to the silver mines, the most important explorations of the Erzgebirge are those 
 of tin. This metal occurs in veins, massive, and disseminated in masses of hyalin gray 
 quartz, imbedded in the granite ; it is also found in alluvial sands. The most important tin 
 mine of the Erzgebirge is that of Altenberg, in Saxony, which has been under working 
 since the fifteenth century. Some tin is mined also near Gayer, Ehrenfriedersdorf, Jo- 
 hanna-Georgenstadt, Scheibenberg, Annaberg, Seiffen, and Marienberg, in Saxony. At 
 Zinnwald it is also found ; where the stanniferous district belongs partly to Saxony and 
 partly to Bohemia ; as also important mines occur in the latter territory at Schlacken- 
 wald and Abertham, and slightly-productive ones at Platten and Joachimsthal. In sev- 
 eral of these mines, particularly at Altenberg and Gayer, fire is employed for attacking 
 the ore, because it is extremely hard. In almost the whole of them, chambers of too 
 great dimensions have been excavated, whence have arisen, at different epochs, vexa- 
 tious sinkings of the ground. One of these may still be seen at Altenberg, whihh is 130 
 yards deep, and nearly 50 in breadth. The mines of Abertham are explored to a depth 
 of 550 yards, and those of Altenberg to 330. The tin mines of the Erzgebirge produce 
 annually 484,000 lbs. avoird. of this metal. 
 
 The tin ores are accompanied by arsenical pyrites, which,- in the roasting that it un- 
 dergoes, produces a certain quantity of arsenious acid. 
 
 The Erzgebirge presents also a great many iron mines, particularly in Saxony, at 
 Rodenberg, near Cradorf, in the county of Henneberg, where the workings penetrate to 
 a depth of 220 yards, and in Bohemia, at Platten, where may be remarked especially 
 the great explorations opened on the vein of the Irrgang. 
 
 There is also in the Erzgebirge a mine of anthracite (stone coal) at Schavfeld, near 
 Frauenstein, in Saxony. 
 
 The ancient rock-formations which appear in the remainder of Bohemia, and in the 
 adjacent portions of Bavaria, Austria, Moravia, and Silesia, are much' less rich in metals 
 than the Erzgebirge. No explorations of much importance exist there. 
 The Fichtelgebirge, a group of mountains standing at the western extremity of the 
 
208 MINES. 
 
 Erzgebirge, between Hoff and Bayreuth, contains some mines, among which may be 
 noticed, principally, mines of magnetic black oxide of iron. 
 
 Argentiferous lead mines have been mentioned at Miess, 25 leagues W.S.W. of 
 Prague, at the N.E. base of the western part of Bomerwaldgebirge, a chain of mountains 
 which separate Bohemia from Bavaria. There are some also at Prszibram, 12 leagues 
 S.W. of Prague, at the extremity of the mountains which separate Behrun from Moldau. 
 In the latter, the argentiferous galena is accompanied by blende, in which the presence 
 of cadmium has been observed. These mines, and those of Joachimsthal and of Bleystadt, 
 furnish annually at present 220,000 lbs. avoird. of lead, and from 2,000 to 3,000 marcs 
 of silver. The circle of Behrun, to the S.W. of Prague, contains some inconsiderable 
 mines of mercury. The eastern part of the Bomerwaldgebirge, which separates Bohe- 
 mia from Austria and Moravia, presents some mines on its southeast slope. Those of 
 the environs of Iglau, in Moravia, and some others situated in Austria, produce annu- 
 ally from 4,000 to 5,000 marcs of silver. The mines of these two countries yield also 
 copper, and in several the copper ores are argentiferous. Moravia comprehends sev- 
 eral iron works, which are in part supplied by magnetic iron ores analogous to those 
 of Sweden. 
 
 The northeast slope of the Riesengebirge (giant mountains), which separate Bohemia 
 from Silesia, presents also several explorations. The argentiferous copper mines of 
 Rudolstadt, and of Kupferberg, have been stated as producing annilally a considerable 
 quantity of copper, and from 600 to 700 marcs of silver ; as also the cobalt mine of 
 Maria-anna Querback, the whole in the circle of Quaer ; and the mines of arsenical 
 pyrites at Reichenstein, in the circle of Glatz. A mine of chrysoprase exists in the 
 mountain of Kosennitz. 
 
 MINES OF THE CENTRE OF FRANCE. 
 
 The ancient formations, principally granitic, which constitute the ground of several 
 departments of the centre and south of France, are hardly any richer in explorations 
 than the districts mentioned at the end of the Black Forest. Only some insulated 
 mines are to be observed here, of which a very few possess any importance. These all 
 occur toward the eastern border of the mass of primitive formations, in a zone charac- 
 terized by a great abundance of schistose rocks. 
 
 At Viilefort and at Viallaze, in the department of the Lozere, and in some places ad. 
 joining, several veins of argentiferous galena are worked which traverse the gneiss and 
 the granite. These mines, remarkable at present for the regularity of their workings, 
 employ 300 laborers, and produce annually about 220,000 lbs. avoird. of lead, and 1,600 
 marcs of silver. 
 
 The city of Vienne, in Dauphiny, is built on a hill of gneiss separated by the Rhone 
 from the main body of the primitive formations, and in which veins of galena occur, 
 which are now imperfectly mined. Other lead mines of less importance are observed 
 at St. Julien-Molin-Moletle, department of the Loire, and at Joux, department of the 
 Rhone. 
 
 At Chessy, a village situated 7 leagues northwest of Lyons, there occur in a talcose 
 schist very extensive veins of cupreous pyrites, by no means rich, but which have, never- 
 theless, been worked successfully during the latter part of the eighteenth century, and 
 several years of the present ; at that period, there was found in a sandstone which covers 
 the talcose schist, and which appears referrible to the red sandstone or the variegated 
 sandstone, a bed containing a great quantity of blue carbonate of copper and protoxide 
 of copper, to the working of which the miners have since directed their principal atten- 
 tion. . There exists at Saint-Belle, 2 leagues to the south of Chessy, a deposite of copper 
 pyrites like that of Chessy, which was at one time worked, but is now standing still. 
 At Romanescho, in the department of Saone et Loire, a very abundant deposite of oxide 
 of manganese is observed, apparently forming a mass in the granite, or perhaps above 
 it. The workings are very irregular. 
 
 In the mountain of Ecouchettes, near Couches, in the same department, an ore of 
 oxide of chrome has been occasionally worked. 
 
 At Malbose, in the department of the Lozere, a feeble vein of sulphuret of antimony 
 is mined. I 
 
 There are also in the centre of France some explorations of galena, antimony, and 
 manganese, which appear to be of too little importance to be noticed in detail. 
 
 Some years ago a tin ore was discovered at Vaubry, 6 leagues N.N.W. of Limoges. 
 At present, researches are making with a view of discovering deposites of such magni- 
 tude ps to pay the expense of working it. 
 
 MINES OF THE NORTH OF PORTUGAL AND THE ADJOINING PARTS OF SPAIN. 
 
 The Carthaginians appear to have worked tin mines in this part of the peninsula. It is 
 laid that some formerly existed in Portugal in the environs of Viscu, a province of Beira, a) 
 
MINES. 
 
 209 
 
 a place called Burraco de Stamio. Some veins of the same metal were discovered in 1787. 
 near Monte-Rey, in the south of Gallicia. They were fully two yards thick, and were 
 incased in granite. This province presents also deposites of sulphuret of antimony. 
 Some analogous ores are found in Castillo and Estremadura. Lead ores were worked in 
 the last century not far from Mogadouro, on the banks of the Sabor, in the province of 
 Tras-los-Montes, and near Iiongroiva on the banks of the Rio-Prisco. Mines of plum- 
 bago occur near Mogadouro. There are also some iron mines in the same country near 
 Felguiera and Torredemnacorvo. They supply the iron-works of Chapa-cunha. Two 
 very ancient establishments of the same kind exist in the Estremadura of Portugal; 
 ihe one in the district of Thomar, and the other in that of Figuiero dos Vinhoss : they 
 are supplied by mines of red oxide of iron, situated on the frontiers of this province and 
 of Beira. One deposite of quicksilver ore occurs at Couna in Portugal. At Rio Tinto 
 in Spain, on the frontiers of Portugal, there is a copper mine which produces about 
 33,000 libs, avoird. of this metal per annum. The ore is a copper prices. The moun- 
 tains in the environs of Oporto present everywhere indications of the ores of copper and 
 .ither metals ; and it appears that all this part of the peninsula is in general rich in me- 
 tallic treasures, but that the want of wood prevents their being mined- to advantage. 
 
 Besides, many of the deposites which originally existed there must be in a great meas- 
 ure exhausted. It was in these countries chiefly that the gold and silver mines lay, 
 which the Carthaginians and Romans worked with so much advantage, and contested 
 in so keen a manner. Near Loria (the ancient Numantium), Azagala, and Burgos 
 considerable vestiges of the ancient workings may still- be seen. 
 
 MINES OF BRITANNY. 
 
 Britanny has hardly a better share in mineral wealth than the countries we have just 
 passed in review. There exist in it at this moment only two important exploitations ; 
 which are, the lead mines of Poullaouen and Huelgoat, situated near Carhaix. The mine 
 of Huelgoat, celebrated for the plomb-gomme (hydro-aluminate) discovered in it, is 
 opened on a vein of galena, which traverses transition rocks. The workings have sub- 
 sisted for about three centuries, and have attained to a depth of 220 yards. °The vein of 
 Poullaouen, called the New Mine, was discovered in 1741. It was powerful and very 
 rich near the surface ; but it became subdivided and impoverished with its depth, notwith- 
 standing which the workings have been sunk to upward of 180 yards below the sur- 
 face. In these mines there are fine hydraulic machines for the drainage of the waters with 
 wheels from 14 to 15 yards in diameter ; and water-pressure machines have been recently 
 constructed. The mines employ more than 900 workmen, and furnish annually more than 
 1,200,000 lbs. avoird. of lead, several thousand pounds of copper, and 2,000 marcs, or 
 1,034 lbs. avoird. of silver. These are the most important metallic mines of France. 
 Several veins of galena exist at Chatelaudren, near Saint-Briex, but they are not worked 
 at present. There is also one at Pompean, near Rennes, which has been worked to a 
 "depth of 140 yards, but is in like manner now abandoned. It affords, besides the 
 galena, a very large quantity of blende (sulphuret of zinc), of which attempts are making 
 to take advantage. There occurs, also, a lead mine at Pierreville, department of the 
 Channel, in a formation connected with the system of Britanny. It is opened on a vein 
 which traverses a limestone pretty analogous to that of Derbyshire. The same depart- 
 ment presents a deposite of sulphuret of mercury at Menildot. A few years a<*o, some 
 tin ore was discovered at Pyriac, near Guerande, in the department of the Loire Inferi- 
 eur, but the researches since made to find workable deposites have been unsuccessful. 
 A mine of antimony was worked at La Ramee, department of La Vendee. Several of the 
 coal deposites lately mined' in the departments of La Sarthe, La Mayenne, and Mayenne- 
 et-Loire, ought probably to be legarded as more ancient than the genuine coal measures. 
 Table of the production of the French mines, during the year 1832.* 
 
 Species of Mine. 
 
 Number of 
 mines. 
 
 Extent of 
 
 surface 
 
 conceded. 
 
 Number of 
 workmen. 
 
 Production is in 
 lOths of a ton. 
 
 Value of the 
 
 rough product 
 
 in francs 
 
 Metallic Substances. 
 
 
 Kilom. Carres. 
 
 
 
 
 . Antimony 
 
 i 
 
 16 
 
 93,8954 
 
 130 
 
 Melted antim. 
 1-030,98 
 
 71-232,75 
 
 i Copper 
 
 8 
 
 274,18 
 
 258 
 
 Black copper 
 1-376 
 
 247.680 
 
 Iron 
 
 131 
 
 1-051,391 
 
 8917 
 
 Rough ore 
 15-814,690 
 
 3,630-806,81 
 
 Manganese 
 
 8 
 
 16,54 
 
 66 
 
 6-087 
 
 66-849,88 
 
 Gold 
 
 1 
 
 0-49 
 
 
 
 
 Lead and silver 
 
 33 
 
 614,23 
 
 1259 
 
 8-505 
 
 742-051 
 
 Zinc 
 
 1 
 
 6,80 
 
 
 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 * { Annates dcs Mines^ torn. 
 15 
 
 76). 
 
210 MINES. 
 
 MINES OF THE CORRESPONDING COASTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 
 
 The mines comprehended in this section are situated, 1, in Cornwall and Devonshire 
 2, in the S.E. of Ireland ; 3, in the island of Anglesey and the adjoining part of Wales 
 
 4, in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the north of Lancashire, and the Isle of Man 
 
 5, in the south of Scotland; 6, in the middle part of the same country. 
 
 Cornwall and Devonshire present three principal mining districts ; viz., the portior. 
 of Cornwall situated in the environs and S.W. of Truro, the environs of St. Austle, 
 and the environs of Tavistock. 
 
 The first of these districts is the most important of the three in the number and richness 
 of its mines of copper, tin, and' lead. The ores of copper, which consist almost entirely 
 of copper pyrites and common sulphuret of copper, constitute very regular veins running 
 nearly from east to west, and incased most frequently in a clay-slate of a talcose or horn- 
 blende nature, called killas, and sometimes in granite, which forms protuberances in the 
 middle of the schists. The tin occurs principally in veins, which, like the preceding, 
 traverse the killas and the granite. They are also very often directed nearly from east to 
 west, but they have a different inclination, or dip, freer that of the copper veins, which 
 cut them across and interrupt them, and are consequent!} of more recent formation. The 
 tin ore forms also masses, which appear most usually attached to the veins by one of 
 their points. Lastly, it is found in small veins which traverse the granite, principally 
 near the points where this rock touches the killas. Certain veins present the copper and 
 tin ores together ; a mixture which occurs chiefly near the points of intersection of the 
 two metallic veins. Certain mines furnish at once both copper and tin ; but the most part 
 produce in notable quantity only one of these metals. The most important copper 
 mines are situated near Redruth and Cambornj among which may be noted particu- 
 larly those called Consolidated Mines, United Mines, Huel-Alfred, Dolcoath, Poldice, 
 &c. The principal tin mines are situated still farther to the southwest, near Helston, 
 Saint- Yues, &c. Those called Huel Vor, Great Huas, are particularly noticed. There 
 are several mines in Cornwall of which the crossing veins which at once intersect and 
 throw out the veins of copper and tin, contain argentiferous galena and several ores of 
 silver. There existed formerly mines of argentiferous lead near Helston and Truro. 
 There may be now seen near Saint Michael an ore which, melted and cupelled on the 
 spot, yields from an ounce and a half to two ounces of silver per quintal. Near Cal- 
 stock a silver mine is worked, called Huel-Saint-Vincent, which h"as afforded, it is said, 
 in some months, from 900 to 1,000 lbs. avoird. of that metal. The ore, consisting of 
 hornsilver and native silver, is treated on the spot. 
 
 In the environs of Saint Austle, the copper mines of East Criwnis and West Crinnis 
 deserve to be noticed, as well as me tin mine of Polgooth, opened on a tin vein ; and the 
 mine of Carclaise, explored in the open air on a system of small veins of this metal. 
 
 Near Tavistock there occur mines of copper, tin, and lead. Among the last may be • 
 remarked particularly that called Huel Betsey, of which the ores melted and cupelled 
 on the spot, afford an ounce and a half of silver per cwt. ; and that of Beeralston, 
 whose ore is sent to Bristol to be smelted there. It yields from four to five ounces of 
 silver per cwt. 
 
 There are mines of antimony at Huel-Boys in Devonshire, and at Saltash in Cornwall. 
 
 The tin and copper ores of Cornwall are accompanied with arsenical pyrites, which is 
 turned to some account by the fabrication of white arsenic (arsenious acid). 
 
 Cornwall and Devonshire produce annually about 6,160,000 lbs. avoird. of tin; 
 18,700,000 lbs. avoird. of copper; and 1,760,000 lbs. avoird. of lead. See Copper and 
 Tin. 
 
 The tin is treated at the mine localities : but the copper ores are sent in their natural 
 state to Swansea in South Wales, to be smelted. 
 
 Wood and labor being very dear in Cornwall and Devonshire, the mineral deposites 
 of these counties can not be worked out so completely, nor can the mechanical prepara- 
 tion of the ore be so far pushed, as in several other parts of the world. But all the op- 
 erations which appear advantageous are conducted in the most judicious, most economical, 
 and most expeditious manner. Steam-engines are erected there, some of them posses- 
 sing the power of several hundred horses. Many of the mines are explored to a depth of 
 upward of 400 yards; and several are celebrated for the boldness of their workings.' 
 The one called Bolallock Mine, situated in the parish of St. Just, near the Cornwall 
 cape, is opened amid rocks which form the seacoast, and stretches several hundred 
 yards under the sea, and upward of 200 yards beneath its level. In some points so 
 small a thickness of rock has been left to support the weight of the waters, that the roll- 
 ing of pebbles on the bottom is distinctly heard by miners during a storm. The mine 
 of Huel-werry, near Penzance, was worked by means of a single shaft opened on the 
 toast, in a space left dry by the sea only for a few hours at every ebb. A small wooden 
 ower was built over the mouth of the shaft, which, being carefully calked, kept out 
 
MINES. 211 
 
 Ike waters of the ocean when the tide rose, and served to support the machines for raising 
 the ore and drainage. A vessel driven by a storm overturned it during the nieht, and 
 put a period to this hazardous mode of mining, which has not been resumed. 
 
 The most considerable mines of Ireland are those of CronebaneandTingrony, and of 
 Ballymartagh, situated three leagues S.W. of Wicklow, in the county of the same name. 
 Their object is to work the copper pyrites, accompanied with some other ores of copper, 
 galena, sulphuret of antimony, as well as pyrites of iron, which forms several flattened 
 masses in the clay-slate. Pretty extensive workings have been made here ; and the ore 
 was transported in its natural state to Swansea. Veins or masses of copper pyrites and 
 galena are mined in some other points of the southeast of Ireland, but none of them with 
 any notable advantage. The principal is the lead mine situated in the county of Tipperary, 
 near the village called Silver Mines, absurdly enough, because, though silver was sought 
 for in the lead, none was extracted. Many iron mines anciently existed in Ireland, but 
 the destruction of the forests has considerably diminished their nnmber and activity, so 
 that only a few remain in Kilkenny, Wicklow, and Queen's County. 
 
 The isle of Anglesey is celebrated for its copper mines, the principal of which are 
 Mona-mine and Parys-mountain. The ore is a copper pyrites, sometimes of considerable 
 volume, lying in masses in a formation containing serpentines and different talcose rocks. 
 For a long time the workings were carried on in the open air, but the exterior explora- 
 tion has been thereby compromised. The neighboring coasts of Wales present some 
 mines of the same nature. All the ores are treated in a smelting-house established in 
 the isle of Anglesey. The formation of slate-clay and greywacke, which constitutes the 
 greater part of Wales, and some of the adjoining districts of England, includes several 
 lead mines, of which we shall presently speak in noticing those of far greater importance 
 contained in the more recent limestone formations of the same regions. 
 
 Pretty important mines of copper pyrites and red hematitic :ron are worked in 
 Westmoreland, and in the neighboring parts of Cumberland and Lancashire. The 
 copper ores, and a portion of the iron ones, are, embarked for Swansea. The rest of the 
 iron ore is treated on the spot in blast furnaces supplied with wood charcoal. The 
 isle of Man affords indications of lead, copper, and iron, in the mountains of Snafle, 
 which constitute its centre. At Borrowdale in Westmoreland, a mine of graphite 
 (plumbago) has been worked for a long period. It furnishes the black lead-of the 
 English pencils, so celebrated over the world. The mineral occurs in mass in a talcose 
 formation. 
 
 There are famous lead mines in the south of Scotland, at Leadhills in Lanarkshire ; 
 the veins of which are incased in greywacke. Some manganese has also been found. 
 At Cally, in Kirkcudbrightshire, a copper mine has been lately discovered ; and a mine 
 of antimony has been known for some time at West Kirk in Dumfriesshire ; but neither 
 has been turned to good account. 
 
 In the middle part of Scotland, the lead mines of Strontian in Argyleshire deserve to 
 be noticed, opposite to the northeast angle of the isle of Mull. They are opened on 
 veins which traverse gneiss. According to Mr. John Taylor, these mines and those of 
 Leadhills produce annually 5,610,000 lbs. avoird. of lead. 
 
 Explorations of manganese were begun at Grantown on the banks of the Don, a river 
 which falls into the German ocean at Aberdeen. A mine of coarse graphite has also 
 been worked at Huntley. 
 
 A copper mine was discovered some years back in one of the Shetland isles ; and 
 chromate of iron is now extensively worked there in serpentine and talc. 
 
 MINES OF THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 
 
 Th ese mines are situated for the most part in the south of Norway, toward the middle 
 of Sweden, and in the south of Finland, a little way from the shortest line drawn from 
 the lake Onega to the southwest angle of Norway. A few mines occur in the northern 
 districts of Norway and Sweden. The main products of these several mines are iron, 
 copper, and silver. 
 
 The iron mines of Norway lie on the coasts of the gulf of Christiania, and on the side 
 facin" Jutland, principally at Arendal, at Krageroe, and the neighborhood. The ores 
 consist almost solely of black oxide of iron, which forms beds or veins of from 4 to 60 feet 
 thick incased in gneiss, which is accompanied with pyroxene (augite), epidotes, garnets, 
 &c. These iron ores are reduced, in a great many smelting forges, situated on the same 
 coasts and particularly in the county of Laurwig. Their annual product is about 16§ 
 millions of pounds avoird. of iron, in the form of cast iron, bar iron, sheet iron, nails, 
 &c. ; of which one half is exported. \ 
 
 Norway possesses rich copper mines, some of which lie toward the south and the 
 centre of the country, but the most considerable occur in the north, at Qidkkne, Lakei;, 
 Selboe and Rceraas, near Drontheim. The mine of Rceraas, 16 miles from Drontheim to 
 
212 MINES. 
 
 the S.E. of this city, is opened on a very considerable mass of coppei pyrites, and haa 
 been worked in the open air since 1664. It has poured into the market from that 
 time, tiJl 1791, 77 millions of pounds avoird. of copper. In 1805, its annual production 
 was 864,600 libs. ; while all the other mines of Norway together do not furnish quite 
 one fourth of that amount. 
 
 Norway comprehends also some celebrated silver mines. They are situated from 15 
 to 20 leagues S.W. of Christiania, in a mountainous country near the city of Kongsberg, 
 which owes to them its population. Their discovery goes back to the year 1623, and 
 their objects are veins of carbonate of lime, accompanied with asbestos and other sub: 
 stances in which native silver occurs, usually in small threads or networks, and some- 
 times in considerable masses, along with sulphuret of silver. These veins are very nu- 
 merous, and run thropgh a considerable space, divided into four districts (arrondisse- 
 ments), each of which contains more than 15 distinct explorations. When a new mine is 
 opened, an excavation in the open air is first made, which embraces several veins, and 
 they then prosecute by subterranean workings only those that appear to be of cons'equence. 
 The workings do not exceed 1,000 feet in depth. Fire is employed for attacking the 
 ore. In 1782, the formation of a new gallery of efflux was commenced, destined to have 
 a length of 10,000 yards, and to cost 60,000/. These mines, since their discovery till 
 1792. have afforded a quantity of silver equivalent to four millions of pounds sterling. 
 The year 1768 was the most productive, having yielded 38,000 marcs of silver. At pres- 
 ent they give but a very slender return ; in 1804 they were threatened with a complete 
 abandonment. The ore is treated by fusion ; the lead necessary for this operation being 
 imported from England. There are, however, lead and silver mines in the county of 
 Jarlsberg, but they are very slenderly worked. 
 
 At Edswald, 50 leagues N. of Christiania, a mine is worked of auriferous pyrites, with 
 a very inconsiderable product. 
 
 Cobalt mines may be noticed at Modum or Fossum, 8 leagues W. of Christiania ; they 
 are extensive, but of little depth. 
 
 Lastly, graphite is explored at Englidal; and chromite of iron deposites have been 
 noticed in some points of Norway. 
 
 The irons of Sweden enjoy a merited reputation, and form one of the chief objects of 
 the commerce of that kingdom. Few countries, indeed, combine so many valuable ad- 
 vantages for this species of manufacture. Inexhaustible deposites of iron ore are placed 
 amid immense forests of birches and resinous trees, whose charcoal is probably the best 
 for the reduction of iron. The different groups of iron mines and forges form small 
 districts of wealth and animation in the midst of these desolate regions. 
 
 The province of Wermeland, including the north bank of the lake Wener, is one of 
 the richest of Sweden in iron mines. The two most important are those of Nordmarck, 
 3 leagues N. of Philipstadt, and those of Persberg, 2| leagues E. from the same city. 
 Philipstadt is about 50 leagues W. J N.W. from Stockholm. Both mines are opened 
 on veins or beds of black oxide of iron several yards thick, directed from N. to S. in a 
 ground composed of hornblende, talcose, and granitic rocks. These masses are nearly 
 vertical, and are explored in the opea air to a depth of 130 yards. Formerly this ex- 
 ploitation was effected by iron wedges and pickaxes ; but they have been superseded by 
 gunpowder, since 1650. The province of Wermeland, and that of Dahl which adjoins 
 it, forming the west border of the Wener lake, contained in 1767, 48 smelting cones 
 each going from 4 to 5 months every year. 
 
 The principal iron mines of llosslagie (part of the province of Upland) are those of 
 Dannemora, situated 11 leagues from Upsal. They stand in the first rank of those of 
 Sweden, and even of Europe. The masses worked upon are flattened and vertical, 
 running from N.E. to S.W., and are incased in a ground formed of primitive rocks, 
 among which gneiss, petrosilex and granite are most conspicuous. They amount to three 
 in number, very distinct, and parallel to each other; anl are explored through a length 
 of more than 1,500 yards, and to a depth of above 80j By the employment of lire, and blast- 
 ing with gunpowder. The explorations are mere quarries ; each presenting an open 
 trench 65 yards wide* by a much more considerable length, and an appalling depth. 
 Magnetic iron ore is extracted thence, which furnishes the best iron of Sweden and 
 Europe ; an iron admirably qualified for conversion into steel. In 1767, these minings 
 supplied for a long time, 15 smelting cones situated in Rosslagie, at a distance of 10 
 leagues. 
 
 The island of Utoe, situated near the coast of the province of Upland, presents also 
 rich iron mines. The protoxide of iron there forms a thick bed in the gneiss. It is 
 worked in trenches far below the level of the sea. The ore' can not be smelted in the 
 island itself; but is transported in great quantities to the continent. 
 
 The province of Smoland includes also very remarkable mines. Near Jonkoping, a 
 hill called the Taberg occurs, formed in a great measure of magnetic black oxide of iron, 
 contained in a greenstone reposing on gneiss. 
 
MINES. ' 213 
 
 In several parts of Lapland, the protoxide of iron occurs in great beds, or immense 
 masses. At Gellivara, 200 leagues N. of Stockholm, toward the 67th degree of lati- 
 tute, it constitutes a considerable mountain, into which an exploitation has been opened. 
 The iron is despatched on small sledges drawn by reindeer to streams which fall into 
 the Lutea ; and thence by water carriage to the port of Lutea, where it is embarked 
 f or Stockholm. 
 
 There are a great many iron works in Dalecarlia, but a portion of the ores are gol 
 from alluvial deposites. Similar deposites exist also in the provinces of Wermeland and 
 Smoland. 
 
 The mines and forges of Sweden produce annually about 165 millions of pounds 
 avoird. (74,000 tons nearly) of cast iron or bar iron ; of which two thirds are exported 
 chiefly from the harbors of Stockholm, Gottenburg, Geffle, and Norkoping. 
 
 The copper mines of Sweden are scarcely less celebrated than its iron mines. The 
 principal is that of Fahlun or Kopparberg, situated in Dalecarlia, near the town of 
 Fahlun, 40 leagues N.W. of Stockholm. It is excavated in an irregular and very 
 powerful mass of pyrites, which in a great many points is almost entirely ferruginous, 
 but in others, particularly near the circumference, it includes a greater or less portion 
 of copper. This mass is enveloped in talcose or hornblende rocks. More to the west 
 there are three other masses almost contiguous to each other, which seem to bend in 
 an arc of a circle around the principal mass. They are explored as well as the last. 
 This was at first worked in the open air; but imprudent operations having caused the 
 walls to crumble and fall in, since 1647 the excavation presents near the surface noth- 
 ing but frightful precipices. The workings are now prosecuted by shafts and galleries 
 into the lower part of the deposite, and have arrived at a depth of 194 famnars (nearly 
 430 yards). They display excavations spacious enough to admit the employment of hor- 
 ses, and the establishment of forges for repairing the miners' tools. It is asserted that 
 the exploration of this mine goes back to a period anterior to the Christian era. Du- 
 ring its greatest prosperity it is said to have produeed 11 millions of pounds avoird. of 
 copper per annum, or about 5,000 tons. It furnishes now about the seventh part of 
 that quantity ; yielding at the same time about 70,000 lbs. of lead, with 50 marcs of 
 silver, and 3 or 4 of gold. The ores smelted at Fahlun produce from 2 to 2j of copper 
 per cent. But the extraction of the metal is not the sole process; the sulphur is also 
 procured ; and with it, or the pyrites itself, sulphuric acid and other chemical products 
 are made. Round Fahlun, within the space of a league, 70 furnaces or factories of 
 different kinds may be seen. The black copper obtained at Fahlun is converted into 
 rose copper, in the refining hearths of the small town of Ofwostad. 
 
 In the copper mine of Garpenberg, situated 18 leagues from Fahlun, there -occur 14 
 masses of ore quite vertical, and parallel to each other, and to the beds of mica-slate or 
 talc-slate, amid which they stand. This mine has been worked for more than six hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 The mine of Nyakopparberg, in Nericia, 20 leagues W. of Stockholm, presents mas- 
 ses of ores parallel to each other, the form and arrangement of which are very singu- 
 lar. It is worked by open quarrying, and with the aid of fire. 
 
 We may notice also the copper mines of Atwidaberg, in Ostrogothia, which furnish 
 annually the sixth part of the whole copper of Sweden. 
 
 There are several other copper mines in Sweden. Their whole number is ten ; but 
 it was formerly more considerable. They yield at the present day in all, about 2,420,000 
 libs, avoird. (1000 tons) of copper. 
 
 The number of the silver mines of Sweden has in like manner diminished. In 1767 only 
 3 were reckoned under exploration, viz., thai of Hellefors, in the province of Werme- 
 land; that of Segersfors, in Nericia; and that of Sahla or Sahlberg, in Westmannia, 
 about 23 leagues N.W. of Stockholm. The last is the only one of any importance. It 
 is very ancient, and passes for having been formerly very productive, though at present 
 it yields only from 4,000 to 5,000 marcs of silver per annum. Lead very rich in silver is 
 its principal product. It is explored to a depth of more than 200 yards. The sound- 
 ness of the rock has allowed of vast excavations being made in it, and of even the gal- 
 leries having great dimensions; so that in the interior of the workings there are wind- 
 ing machines, and carriages drawn by horses for the transport of the ores. 
 
 At Sahlberg, there are deposites of sulphuret of antimony. 
 
 For the last 30 or 40 years mines of cobalt have been opened in Sweden, principally 
 at Tunaberg and Los, near Nykoping, and at Otward in Ostrogothia. The first are 
 worked upon veins of. little power, which become thicker and thinner successively; 
 whence they have been called bead-veins. It appears that the products of these mines ; 
 though of good quality, are inconsiderable in quantity. ( 
 
 Lastly there is a gold mine in Sweden; it is situated at Adelfors, in the parish of' 
 Alsfeda, and province of Smoland. It has been under exploration since 1737, on veina 
 of auriferous iron pyrites, which -traverse schistose rocks; presenting but a few inches 
 
214 . MINES. 
 
 of ore. It formerly yielded from 30 to 40 marcs of gold per annum, but for the last fe\) 
 years it has furnished only from 3 to 4. 
 
 The mines and smelting works of Sweden gave annually, in' 1809, a gross product 
 worth 1,463,600Z. 
 
 The south of Finland and the bordering parts of Russia contain some mines, bu* 
 they are far from haying any such importance as those of Sweden. 
 
 At Orijerwy, near Helsingfors, a mine of copper occurs whose gangue is carbonate 
 of lime, employed as a limestone. 
 
 Near Cerdopol, a town situated at the N.W. extremity of the Ladoga lake, veins of 
 copper pyrites were formerly mined. 
 
 Under the reign of Peter the Great, an auriferous vein was discovered in the granitic 
 mountains which border the eastern bank of the lake Ladoga, near Olonetz. It was 
 rich only near the surface ; and its working was soon abandoned. 
 
 Latterly an attempt has been made to mine copper and iron ores near Eno, above 
 and to the N.W. of Cerdopol, but with little success. 
 
 Some time ago rich ores of iron, lying in veins, were worked near the lake Shuyna, 
 N.W. from Cerdopol ; but this mine has been also relinquished. 
 
 On the west bank of the Onega lake, there is an iron work at Petrozavodsk, called 
 a zavode, which is the greatest establishment of this kind existing in the 'north of 
 Russia. 
 
 Nothing is now reduced there except bog iron ore, or swamp ore extracted from small 
 lakes in the neighborhood. 
 
 The transition limestone which constitutes the body of Esthonia contains lead ore at 
 Mrossaar near Fellin. These ores were worked when these provinces belonged to th» 
 Swedes. It was attempted in 1806 to resume the exploitation, but without success. 
 
 MINES OF THE ALLEGANY MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The chain of the Alleganys, which traverses the United States of North America 
 from N.W. to S.E. parallel to the coasts of the Atlantic ocean, includes a considera- 
 ble number of deposites of iron, lead, and copper ores : along with some ores of silver, 
 plumbago, and chromite of iron. Attempts have been made to mine a great many o{ 
 these deposites ; but most of these have been unsuccessful. 
 
 A bed of black oxide of iron occurs in gneiss near Franconia in New Hampshire. It 
 has a power of from 5 to 8 feet; and has been mined through a length of 200 feetj and 
 to a depth of 90 feet. The same ore is found in veins in Massachusetts and Vermont, 
 accompanied by copper and iron pyrites. It is met with in immense quantities on the 
 western bank of the lake Champlain, forming beds of from 1 to 20 feet in thickness, 
 almost without mixture, encased in granite. It is also found in the mountains of that 
 territory. These deposites appear to extend without interruption from Canada to the 
 neighborhood of New York, where an exploration on them may be seen at Crown 
 Point. The ore there extracted is in much esteem. Several mines of the same species 
 exist in New Jersey. The primitive mountains which rise in the north of this state 
 near the Delaware, include a bed almost vertical of black oxide of iron, which has been 
 worked to 100 feet in depth. In the county of Sussex the same ore occurs, accompa- 
 nied with Franklinite. At New Milford, in Connecticut, a pretty abundant mine of 
 sparry iron occurs ; the only one of the kind known in the Alleganys. The United 
 States contain a great many iron works, some of which prior to the year 1773, sent over 
 iron to London. They are principally supplied from alluvial iron ore. 
 
 The most remarkable lead mines of the Alleganys are those of Southampton, in Mas- 
 sachusetts, and of Perkiomen creek, in Pennsylvania, 8 leagues from Philadelphia. The 
 first furnishes a galena, slightly argentiferous ; an ore accompanied with various min- 
 erals, with base of lead, copper, and zinc, and with gangues (vein-stones) of quartz, 
 sulphate of baryta, and fluor spar. These substances form a vein which traverses sev- 
 eral primitive rocks, and is said to be known over a length of more than 6 leagues. At 
 Perkiomen creek a vein of galena is mined which traverses a sandstone, referred by 
 many geologists to the old red sandstone. Along with galena a great variety of min- 
 erals is found with a basis of lead, zinc, copper, and iron. The mines of lead worked 
 in Virginia, on the banks of the Kanahwa, deserve also to be mentioned. 
 
 None of the copper mines actually in operation in the United States seem to merit 
 particular attention. The mine of Schuyler, in New Jersey, had excited high hopes, but 
 after the workings had been pushed to a depth of 300 feet, they have been for some 
 years abandoned. The ore, which consisted of sulphuret of copper, with oxide and 
 carbonate of copper, occurred in a red sandstone. 
 
 In some points of the Alleganys, deposites have been noticed of chromite of ircin and 
 graphite. 
 
 ^oal-measures occur in several points of the United States, especially on the N.W 
 
MINES. 215 
 
 slope of the Allegany mountains. The coal is mined successfully on the banks of th*. 
 Ohio, toward the upper part of its course. See Anthracite. 
 
 MINES OP THE SOUTH OF SPAIN. 
 
 The mountains which separate Andalusia from Estremadura, Leon and La Mancha, 
 and those of the kingdoms of Murcia and Grenada, include some celebrated mines. 
 
 We shall mention first the silver mines of Guadalcanal and Cozalla, situated in the 
 Sierra-Morena, 15 leagues north of Seville. Among the ores, red silver and argentiferous 
 gray copper have been specified. Their product is inconsiderable ; but this territory 
 presented formerly much more important mines at Villa-Guttiera, not far from Seville. 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century they are said to have been worked with such 
 activity, that they furnished daily 1-70 marcs of silver. More to the east, there exists 
 in the mountains of La Mancha a mine of antimony, at Santa-Crux-de-Mudela. On 
 the southern slope of the Sierra-Morena, very important lead mines occur, particularly 
 at Linares, 12 leagues north of Jaen. The veins are very rich near the surface, which 
 causes them not to be mined much in depth ; so that the ground is riddled, as it were, 
 with shafts. More than 5,000 old and new pits may be counted, the greater part of 
 which is ascribed to the Moors. Six of these mines are now explored on account of 
 the crown, and they produce on an annual average, according to M. Laborde, 3,320,000 
 libs, avoird. (about 600 tons) of lead, which is too poor in silver for this precious metal 
 to be extracted with advantage. Bowles states that there was found at the c 'nes of 
 Linares, a mass of galena, whose dimensions were from 21 to 24 yards in eve/y direc- 
 tion. Abundant mines of zinc occur near Alcaras, 15 leagues northwest of Linares, 
 which supply materials to a brass manufactory established in that town. There are also 
 lead mines in the kingdoms of Murcia" and Grenada. Very productive cres have been 
 worked for some time near Almeira, a harbor situated some leagues to the west of the 
 cape of Gates. The ore is in part treated on the spot with coal brought from Newcas- 
 tle, and in part sent to Newcastle to be reduced there. The kingdoms of Murcia, Gre- 
 nada, and Cordova, include several iron mines. Near Cazalla and Ronda, in the kingdom 
 of Grenada, mines of plumbago are explored. 
 
 On the northern flank of the Sierra-Morena, lie the famous quicksilver mines of 
 Almaden, situated near the town of the same name in La Mancha. They consist of 
 very powerful veins of sulphuret of mercury, which traverse a sandstone, evidently of a 
 geological age as old at least as the coal formation. Hard by, beds of coal are mined. 
 
 MINES OF THE PYRENEES. 
 
 The Pyrenees, and the mountains of Biscay, of the Asturias, and the north of Galicia, 
 which are their prolongation, are not very rich in deposites of ores : the only important 
 mines that occur there, are of iron ; which are widely spread throughout the whole 
 chain, except in its western extremity. We may mention particularly in Biscay, the 
 mine of Sommoroslro, opened on a bed of red oxide of iron ; and in the province of 
 Guipuscoa, the mines of Mundragon, Oyarzun, and Berha, situated on deposites of sparry- 
 iron. There are several analogous mines in Aragon and Catalonia. In the French 
 part of the Pyrenees, veins of sparry iron are worked which traverse the red sandstone 
 of the mountain Ustelleguy, near Baygorry, department of the Basses-Pyrenees. The 
 same department affords in the valley of Asson the mine of Haugaron, which consists of 
 a bed of hydrate of iron, subordinate to transition limestone. The deposite of hydrate 
 of iron, worked for at immemorial time at Rancie, in the valley of Viedessos, depart- 
 ment of the Arriege, occurs in a similar position. The ancient workings have been 
 very irregular and very extensive ; but the deposite is still far from being exhausted. 
 There are also considerable mines of sparry iron at Lapinouse, at the tower of Batera, 
 at Escaron, and at Eillols, at the foot of the Canigou, in the department of the Oriental 
 Pyrenees. The iron mines of the Pyrenees keep in activity 200 Catalanian forges. 
 Although there exists in these mountains, especially in the part formed of transition 
 rocks, a very great number of veins of lead, copper, cobalt, antimony, &c, one can 
 hardly mention any workings of these metals ; and among the abandoned mines, the 
 only ones which merit notice are — the mine of argentiferous copper of Baygorry, in the 
 department of the Low Pyrenees, the lead and copper mine of Aulus, in the valley of 
 the Erce, department of the Arriege, and the mine of cobalt, of the valley of Gistain, 
 situated in Aragon, on the southern slope of the Pyrenees. It is asserted, however, 
 that a lead mine is in actual operation near Bilboa, in Biscay. The mines of plumbago 
 opened at Sahun, in Aragon, should not be forgotten. Analogous deposites are known 
 to exist in the department of the Arriege, but they are not mined. 
 
 MIXES OF THE ALPS. 
 
 The mines of the Alps by no means correspond in number and richness with Ike 
 extent and mass of these mountains. On their eastern slope, in the department of ih< 
 
216 • MINES. 
 
 high and the low Alps, several lead and copper mines are mentioned, all inconsiderable 
 and abandoned at the present time, with the exception of some workings of galena, 
 which furnish also a little graphite. 
 
 Du ring some of the last years of the eighteenth century, there was mined at la Gardettt 
 in the Oisans, department of the Isere, a vein of quartz which contained native gold 
 and auriferous pyrites ; hut the product has never paid the expenses, and the mine has 
 been abandoned. The Oisans presented a. more important mine, but it also has been 
 given up ; it was the silver mine of Allemonl or Chalanches The ore consisted of 
 different mineral species more or less rich in silver, disseminated in a clay which filled 
 the clefts and irregular cavities in the middle of talcose and hornblende rocks. This 
 mine yielded annually toward the conclusion of the eighteenth century, so much as 2,000 
 marcs of silver, along with some cobalt ore. Among the great number of mineral spe- 
 • cies, wHich occurred in too small quantities to be worked to advantage, there was native 
 antimony, sulphuret of mercury, &c. The Oisans present, moreover, some rather un- 
 productive mines of anthracite. Mines of an analogous nature, but more, valuable, are 
 in activity at the western foot of the Alps, at la Mothe, Notre-des-Vaux et Putteville, a 
 few leagues southeast of Grenoble. 
 
 From the entrance of the valley of the Oisans to the valley of the Arc in Savoy, there 
 ""■occur on the N.W. slope of the Alps, a great many mines of sparry iron. The locality 
 of this ore is here very difficult to define. It anr-ars to form sometimes beds or masses, 
 and sometimes veins amid the talcose rocks. Seme is also found in small veins in the 
 first course of the calcareous formation which covers these rocks. These mines are very 
 numerous ; the most productive occur united in the neighborhood of Mlevard, depart- 
 ment of the Isere, and of Saint Georges d'Huretieres in Savoy. Those of Forneaux and 
 Laprat, in the latter country, are also mentioned. The irregularity of the mining op- 
 erations surpasses that of the deposites ; the mines have been from time immemorial in 
 the hands of the inhabitants of the adjoining villages, who work in them, each on his 
 own account, without any prearrangement, or other rule than following the masses of 
 ore which excite hopes of the most considerable profit in a short space of time. What 
 occurs in almost every mine of sparry iron, is also to be seen here — most imprudent 
 workings. The mine called the Grand Fosse, at Saint Georges d'Huretieres, is prolonged 
 without pillars or props, through a height of 130 yards, a length of 220 yards, and a 
 breadth equal to that of the deposite, which amounts in this place to from 8 to 13 yards ; 
 thus avoid space is exhibited of nearly 300,000 square yards. The sparry iron extracted 
 from these different mines supplies materials to 10 or 12 smelting-furnaces, the cast-iron 
 of which, chiefly adapted for conversion into steel, is manufactured in part in the cele- 
 brated steel works of Rives, department of the Isere. There occurs in some parts of the 
 mines of Saint Georges d'Huretieres copper, pyrites, which is smelted at Aiguebelle. 
 
 Savoy presents celebrated lead mines at Pescy and at Macot, 7 leagues to the east of 
 Moutiers. Galena, accompanied with quartz, sulphate of baryta, and ferriferous car- 
 bonate of lime, occurs in mass in talcose rocks. The mine of Pescy had been restored 
 to activity by the French government, which established there a practical school of mines ; 
 and in its hands the mine produced annually as much as 440,000 libs, avoird. of lead, 
 and 2,500 marcs of silver. It is now explored on account of the king of Sardinia ; but 
 it begins to be exhausted, and yields less products. That of Macot, opened a few years 
 ago, begins to give considerable returns. The mine of copper pyrites of Servoz, in the 
 valley of the Arve, may also be mentioned. The ore occurs both in small veins, and 
 disseminated in a clay^late; but the exploration is now suspended. Lastly, slightly- 
 productive workings of anthracite are mentioned in several points of these mountains, 
 and in the conterminous portions of the Alps. 
 
 There exist in Piedmont some small mines of argentiferous lead. The copper mines 
 of Mlagne, and those of Ollomont, formerly yielded considerable quantities of this metal. 
 Their exploration is now on the decline. The manganese mines of Saint-Marcel have 
 few outlets ; whence they have been feebly developed. Mines of plumbago, little 
 worked, occur in the neighborhood of Vinay, and in the valley of Pellis, not far from 
 Pignerol. Some mines of auriferous pyrites have also been worked in this district of 
 country; among others, those of Macugnaga, at the eastern foot of Monte-Rosa. The 
 pyrites of this mine afforded by amalgamation only 1 1 grains of gold per quintal ; and 
 this gold, far from being fine, contained one fourth of its weight of silver ; they became 
 less rich in proportion as they receded from the surface. The explorations of auriferous 
 pyrites in Piedmont are now abandoned, or nearly so. The only important mines in 
 this country are those of iron. These generally consist of masses of black oxide of 
 iron, of a nature analogous to those of Sweden ; the principal ones being those of 
 Cogne and Traverselle, which are worked in open quarries. Some others, less consid- 
 erable, are explored by shafts and galleries. These ores are reduced in 33 smelting- 
 cupolas, ^5 Catalan jf:rges, and 105 refinery-hearths. The whole produce about 10,000 
 tons of bar-iron. 
 
MINES. 217 
 
 There is a mine of black oxide of iron, at present abandoned, at Bovemier, near Mar- 
 ligny, in the Valais. There is also another iron mine at Chamoissons, in a lofty ealca 
 reous mountain on the right bank of the Rhone. The ore presents a mixture of oxidv 
 of iron and some other substances, of which it has been proposed to make a new mineral 
 species, under the name of Chamoissite. 
 
 The district of the Grisons possesses iron mines with very irregular workings, situated 
 a few leagues from Coin. 
 
 The mountain of Falkenstein, in the Tyrol, formed of limestone and clay-slate, not far 
 from Schwatz, a little below Inspruck, in the valley of the Inn, contains mines of argen- 
 tiferous copper. At one of them, that of Kutz-Puhl, the workings reached, in 1759, 
 according to the report of MM. Jars and Duhamel, nearly 1,100 yards in depth ; and 
 were reckoned the deepest in Europe. But it was intended to abandon them. Analo- 
 gous ores are explored in several other points of i; e same country. The most part of 
 the products of these mines are carried to the foundry of Brixlegg, 4 leagues from 
 Schwatz. The mines of the.Tyrol furnished, on- an average of years, toward 1759, 
 10,000 mares of silver ; at anterior periods, their products had been double ; but now it 
 is a little less. This region contains also gold mines whose exploration goes back a 
 century and a half. They occur near the village of Zell, 8 leagues from Schwatz; the 
 auriferous veins traverse clay-slates and quartz rocks. Lastly, a deposite of oxide of 
 chrome, similar to that of the Ecouchets (Saone and Loire) has been discovered in the 
 Tyrol. An unimportant mine of mercury has also been mentioned in that country, near 
 Brenner. 
 
 In the territory of Saltzburg there are some copper mines. In the environs o Muer- 
 winkel and of Gastein some veins are worked for the gold they contain ; of which the 
 annual return is valued at 118 marcs of this metal. There is an inconsiderable mine 
 of quicksilver at Leogang. 
 
 In the Tyrol and in Saltzburg there are iron mines in a very active state, principally 
 those of Kleinboden, near Schwatz. But the portion of the Alps most abundant in 
 mines of this metal, is the branch stretching toward Lower Austria. We find here, both 
 in Styria and in Austria, a very great number of explorations of sparry iron. The de- 
 posites of the ores of sparry iron of Eisenerz, Erzberg, Admont, and Vordenberg, deserve 
 notice. The latter are situated about 25 leagues southwest of Vienna. 
 
 The southern flank of the Alps contains also a great many mines of the same kind, 
 from the Lago Maggiore to Carinthia. Those situated near Bergamo, and those of 
 Huttenberg and Waldenstein, in Carinthia, are especially mentioned. 
 
 All these mines of sparry iron are opened in the midst of rocks of different natures, 
 which belong to the old transition district of the Alps. They seem to have close geo- 
 logical relations with those of Allevard. 
 
 The branch of the Alps which extends toward Croatia, presents important iron mines, 
 in the mountains of Adelsberg, 10 leagues southwest from Laybach, in Carniola. 
 
 The iron mines just now indicated in the part of the Alps that forms a portion 
 of the Austrian states, supply materials to a areat many smelting-works. In Styria 
 and in Carinthia, more than 400 furnaces or fonges may be enumerated, whose annual 
 product is nearly 25,000 tons of iron. These two provinces are famous for the steel 
 which they produce, and for the steel tools which they fabricate, such as sythes, &c. 
 Carniola contains also u great many forges, and affords annually about 5,000 tons' of 
 iron. 
 
 There are mines of argentiferous copper, analogous to those of the Tyrol, ot Schlad- 
 ming in Styria, at Kirc'hdorf in Carinthia, at Agordo in the territory of Venice, and at 
 Zamabor in Croatia. The latter are remarkable for the great irregularity of the de- 
 posites, and for the richness of the copper pyrites that is mined ; which prod aces 12 and 
 sometimes 27 per cent, of copper. There are some deposites of antimony, mined to a 
 triflin" extent in Carinthia ; and there are a few cobalt mines in Styria, not more actively 
 worked. In the environs of Raibel, in Carinthia, mines of calamine exist, yielding an 
 nually about 200 tons of this substance. Of late, some of it has also been explored in 
 Styria. 
 
 The limestones that cover the northern slopes of the Alps, present, like those of the 
 departments of the lower and upper Alps, several lead mines of little consequence; they 
 also include several celebrated mines of rock salt. 
 
 The analogous limestones which repose on the slopes of the Alps in Carinthia, and 
 in the neighboring provinces, afford likewise lead mines, especially near Willach and 
 Bleyberg. These mines are very numerous, forming more than 500 arrondisscmcnts of 
 concessions. They furnish annually about 1,800 tons of a lead too poor in silver to pay 
 the expense of extracting that precious metal. At the mines of Bleyberg, the galena 
 forms 14 beds or strata, inclined at an angle of from 40 to 50 degrees from the horizon, 
 and alternating with a like number of calcareous strata. The latter are extremely full 
 nf shells. They of course belong to secondary limestcjie. 
 
218 MINES. 
 
 The limestones surmounting the southern slope of the Alps, contain alio some lead 
 mines ; but the quicksilver mines of Idria, situated at the foot of the Alps, 10 leagues 
 N.W. of Trieste, is worthy of particular notice ; it lies in a limestone which everything 
 leads us to refer to the zechstein, the most ancient of the secondary limestones. 
 
 The Apennines, which may be considered as a dependance of the Alps, present a 
 small number of mines. At Chiavary and Pignone, manganese is mined ; and at the be- 
 ginning of the eighteenth century a vein of mercury was worked at Levigliani in Tus- 
 cany. An antimonial mine is mentioned at Pereta in the marshes of Sienna. 
 
 Before quitting these regions, we ought to notice the iron mines of the isle of Elba 
 They have been famous for 18 centuries ; Virgil denotes them as inexhaustible, and 
 supposes them to have been open at the arrival of iEneas in Italy. They are explored 
 by open quarries, working on an enormous mass of specular iron ore, perforated with 
 cavities bespangled with quartz crystal's. The island possesses two explorations, called 
 Rio and Terra-Nuova ; the last having been brought into play at a recent period. The 
 average amount extracted per annum is 15,000 tons of ore, which are smelted in the 
 foundries of Tuscany, Liguria, the Eoman states, the kingdom of Naples, and the island 
 of Corsica. 
 
 There has been worked for a few years a mine of chromite of iron, at Carrada, near 
 Gassino, department of the Var. 
 
 MINES SITUATED IN THE SCHISTOSE FORMATIONS OF THE BANKS OF THE RHINE, AND 
 
 IN THE ARDENNES. 
 
 The transition lands, which form, in the northwest of Germany and in Flanders, a 
 pretty extensive range of hills, include several famous mines of iron, zinc, lead, and 
 copper. The latter lie on the right bank of the Rhine, in the territories of Nassau 
 and Berg, at Baden, Augstbach, Rheinbreitenbach, and near Dillenburg. That of 
 Rheinbreitenbach yielded formerly 1 10,000 libs, avoirdupois of copper per annum, and 
 those of the environs of Dillenburg now furnish annually 176,000 libs. There are also 
 some mines of argentiferous lead in the same regions. The most remarkable are in 
 the territory of Nassau, such as those of Holzapfel, Pfingstiviese, Lcewenburg, and 
 Augstbach on the Wiede, and Ehrenthal on the b*nks of the Rhine, which all together 
 produce 600 tons of lead, and 3,500 marcs of silver. To the above, we must add those 
 of the environs of Siegen and Dillenburg, in the territories of Berg. A little cobalt 
 is explored in the neighborhood of Siegen, and some mines of the same nature arc 
 mentioned in the grand dutchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, and in the dutchy of Nassau 
 Usingen. 
 
 But iron is the most important -product of the mines on the right bank of the Rhine. 
 Veins of hydrate of iron, or brown hematite, are explored in a great many points of 
 Hessia, and the territory of Nassau, Berg, Marck, Tecklenbourg, and Siegen, along 
 with veins or masses of sparry iron, and beds of red oxide of iron. We may note par- 
 ticularly — 1. The enormous mass of sparry iron, known under the name of Stahlberg, 
 mined since the beginning of the fourteenth century in th& mountain of Martinshardt, 
 near Miissen, where improvident excavations have occasioned, at several times, consid- 
 erable downfallings of rubbish ; 2. The abundant and beautiful mines of hydrate of iron 
 and sparry iron on the banks of the Lahn and the Sayn, and among those of the mine 
 of Bendorf ; 3. The mine of Hohenkirchen in Hessia, where a powerful bank of manga- 
 niferous ore is worked, and where the mines are kept dry by a gallery more than 1,000 
 yards long, walled over its whole extent. These several mines supply a great many 
 iron works, celebrated for their steel, and for the objects of hardware, sythes, &c, fab- 
 ricated there. 
 
 The Prussian provinces of the left bank of the Rhine, the dutchy of Luxembourg, 
 and the Low Countries, include also many iron furnaces, of which a great number are 
 supplied, in whole or in part, by ores of hydrate of iron, occasionally zinciferous, ex- 
 tracted from the transition rocks, where they form sometimes veins, and sometimes also 
 very irregular deposites. A portion is explored by open quarrying, and a portion by 
 underground workings. Some of these mines penetrate to a depth of 87 yards, and galle- 
 ries maybe observed in them cut in the form of vaults, and timbered with hooped stays. 
 The Hundsriick, the Eiffel, and the territory of Luxembourg, present a great many of 
 them. 
 
 The Eiffel formerly possessed important lead mines. Some still exist, which are feebly 
 worked at Berncastle, 8 leagues below Treves, on the banks of the Moselle. Those 
 of Trarbach, situated 2 leagues lower, are now completely abandoned ; the same holds 
 with those of Bleyalf, which were opened on veins incased in the greywacke-slate, 3 
 leagues W.N.W. of Prum, not far from the line of separation of the waters of the Mo- 
 selle and the Meuse, in a district from which manufactures and comfort have disap- 
 peared since the mines were given up which sustained them. 
 
 More to the north a great many deposites of calamine occur. The most considerable 
 
 i 
 
MINES. 219 
 
 and the one explored with most activity, is situated in the territory of Limburg 
 (kingdom of the Netherlands), and known under the name of the Great mountain. 
 It presents a mass about 45 yards wide, from 400 to 550 long, and of an unknown 
 depth. The first labors, undertaken several centuries age by the Spaniards, were exe- 
 cuted by open quarrying, and pushed down 32 yards from the surface. The miners were 
 obliged to renounce this mode of operation, and have since penetrated to the depth of 
 88 yards by means of subterranean workings. From 50 to 60 men work in this exca- 
 vation, and exact annually from 700 to 800 tons of calamine, worth from 2,400Z. 
 lo 2,7001. In the adjacent parts of the Prussian territory, not far from Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 calamine is also mined, with ores of lead and iron, with which it is associated, in 
 deposites regarded by M. Bouesnel, as analogous to the vein of Vedrin, to be noticed 
 presently. The exploration is effected by means of small round shafts, from 34 to 44 
 yards deep, which are often wooded only with flexible branches of r ees, or a kind of 
 barrel-hoops. These workings may furnish annually from 1,500 to 2,000 tons of cala- 
 mine, to the brass factories of Stollberg. On the right bank of the Rhine, in the country 
 of la Marck, several small zinc mines i'urnish annually about 130 tons of calam.\-Je .o 
 the brass manufactures of Iserlohn. 
 
 The lead mine of Fedrin, alluded to above, lies at some distance N. of Namur. It is 
 opened on a vein of galena nearly vertical, which crosses from N. to S. a limestone in 
 nc-arly vertical strata, probably analogous into the limestone of Derbyshire. The vein 
 is from 4 to 15 feet thick, and is recognised through a length of half a league. The mine, 
 worked for .two centuries, presents very extensive excavations; particularly a fine 
 gallery of efflux. It has produced annually 900 tons of lead . At the present day the mine 
 of Vedrin, and some adjoining exploitations, afford per annum only about 200 tons of 
 lead, and 700 marcs of silver. 
 
 MINES OF THE CALCAREOUS MOTJNTAIIiS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The limestone formation immediately subjacent to the coal measures, or the mountain 
 limestone, constitutes almost alone several mountainous regions of England and Wales; 
 in which three districts very rich in lead mines deserve to be noted. 
 
 The first of these districts comprehends the superior parts of the valleys of the Tyne, 
 the Wear, and the Tees, in the counties of Cumberland, Durham, and York. Its 
 principal mines are situated near the small town of Alston-Moor, in Cumberland. 
 The veins of galena which form the object of the workings, traverse alternate beds of 
 limestone and sandstone ; and are very remarkable for their becoming suddenly thin 
 and impoverished on passing from the limestone into the sandstone ; and for resuming 
 their richness, and usual size, on returning from the sandstone into the limestone. The 
 exploitations are situated in the flanks of considerably high hills, bare of wood, and 
 almost wholly covered with marshy heaths. The waters are drawn off by galleries of 
 efflux; and the ores are dragged out by horses to the day. The galena extracted from 
 these mines is smelted by means of coal and a little peat, in furnaces of the Scotch con- 
 struction. The lead is very poor in silver ; and there is hardly a single hearth for the 
 purpose of eliminating this metal by cupellation. The mines of this district produce 
 annually 17,200 tons of lead, according to Mr. Taylor's statement, published in the 
 Geology of England and Wales, by Messrs. Conybeare and Phillips. There is more 
 over a copper-mine 2 leagues S.W. of Alston-Moor. The ore is a copper pyrites, ac- 
 companied with galena in a very extensive vein, which does not appear to belong to 
 the same formation as the other veins of this region. 
 
 The second metalliferous district lies in the northern part of Derbyshire, and in the 
 conterminous parts of the neighboring counties. The districts called the Peak and 
 King's-Field are the richest in workable deposites. The mines of Derbyshire are 
 getting exhausted ; they are very numerous, but in general inconsiderable. The 
 galena extracted from them is treated with coal in reverberatbry furnaces ; but the 
 silver is not sought for. They yield annually 900 tons of lead ; with a certain quantity 
 of calamine, and a little copper ore. A vein of copper pyrites occurs at Ecton, in Staf- 
 fordshire, on the borders of Derbyshire. The veins of Derbyshire are famous for the 
 beautiful minerals which they have produced ; and particularly for the interruption which 
 they almost constantly suffer at the contact of the trap-rock, called toadstone, which is 
 intruded among the limestone. 
 
 The third metalliferous distric . is situated in Flintshire and Denbighshire, counties 
 forming the N.E. part of Wales. Next to Alston-Moor this is the most productive ; 
 furnishing annually 6,900 tons of lead, and a certain quantity of calamine. The galena 
 is smelted in reverberatory furnaces, and affords a lead far from rich in silver, which is 
 therefore seldom subjected to cupellation. The mines occur partly in the metalliferous 
 limestone, and partly in several more ancient rocks. 
 
 To the S.E. of this district there exist still some lead mines in Shropshire. Thev 
 
220 MINES. 
 
 lie, like the preceding, partly in the metalliferous limestone, and partly in the subjacent 
 rocks. They yield annually from 700 to 800 tons of lead. 
 
 Some mines of galena and calamine are mentioned in the Mendip hills, to the south 
 of Bristol ; but they seem to be for the present abandoned. 
 
 Besides-the metallic mines just enumerated, the formation of the metalliferous lime- 
 stone presents, in England, especially in the counties of Northumberland and Cumber- 
 land, several coal mines, opened on coal strata included by the sandstone, which alter-, 
 nates with the limestone. 
 
 MINES 01- DAOURIA. 
 
 The name Daouria is given to a great region wholly mountainous, which extends from 
 the Baikal Lake to the eastern ocean. There is, perhaps, no other country in the world 
 so rich in deposites of lead ores, as the part of this district which extends from the junc- 
 tion of the rivers Chilca and Argoun, whose united waters form the river Amour, be- 
 longing to Russia. The mines opened here constitute the third arrondissement of the 
 Siberian mines, called that of Nertchinsk, from the name of its capital, which lies more 
 than 1,800 leagues east of Saint Petersburg. 
 
 The ground of the metalliferous portion of Daouria is formed of granite, horns- 
 chiefer, and schists, on which reposes a gray limestone, sometimes siliceous and argil- 
 laceous, which contains a small number of fossils, and in which the veins of lead occur. 
 The plains of these regions, often salt deserts, exhibit remarkable sandstones and 
 pudding-stones ; as also vesicular rocks of a volcanic aspect. It appears that the metal- 
 liferous limestone is much dislocated, and the lead veins are subject to several irregu- 
 larities, which render their exploitation difficult and uncertain. The mines lie chiefly 
 near the banks of the Chilca and the Argoun, in several cantons, at a considerable dis- 
 tance from one another ; wherefore it was requisite to build a great number of smelt- 
 ing furnaces. The want of wood has placed difficulties in the working of some of 
 them. The ore is galena, sometimes occurring in masses of several yards' in diameter; 
 having commonly for vein-stones ores of iron and zinc, of which no use is made. The 
 galena itself, furnished by these mines in enormous quantities, receives a very different 
 treatment from what it would do in a civilized country ; for, though the lead which it 
 produces contains only from 6 to 10 gros (1 to 1| ounce) of silver per quintal, it is for 
 it alone that these mines are worked. The litharge produced by the cupellation is 
 thrown away as useless ; so that heaps of it exist near the smelting-furnaces, says 
 M. Patrin, higher than the houses. Only an insignificant quantity of it is reduced to 
 lead for the uses of the country, or for those of the foundries in the arrondissement of 
 Kolywan. The silver extracted from the mines of Daouria, contains a very small pro- 
 portion of gold. M. Patrin says that their annual product was, toward the year 1784, 
 from 30,000 to 35,000 marcs of silver. The exploitation of some of the mines of 
 Daouria goes back to the end of the 17th century. It has been commenced in some 
 points by the Chinese, \vhe were not entirely expelled from this territory till the be- 
 ginning of the following century. A great part of the mines, however, has been opened 
 up since 1760. 
 
 Besides the lead mines, there are some unimportant mines of copper in Daouria, and 
 in different explorations of this region, arsenical pyrites, from which arsenious acid is 
 sublimed in factories established at Jutlack and at Tchalbutchinsky. 
 
 About 45 leagues to the south of Nertchinsk, the mountain of Odon-Tchelon occurs, 
 celebrated for the different gems or precious stones extracted from it. It is formed of 
 a friab.2 granite, including harder nobules or balls which enclose topazes; it is very 
 analogous to the topaz rock of Saxony. In this granite there are several veins filled 
 with a ferruginous clay, which contains a great quantity of wolfram, and many emeralds, 
 aqua-marines, topazes, crystals of smoked quartz, &c. Multitudes of these minerals 
 have been extracted by means of some very irregular workings. The mountain of 
 Toutt-Kaltoui, situated near the preceding, offers analogous deposites. The presence 
 of wolfram had excited hopes that tin might be found in'these mountains; hopes which 
 have not hitherto been realized. There are some unworked deposites of sulphuret of 
 antimony in this country. 
 
 ON SOME OTHER LESS KNOWN MINE COUNTRIES. 
 
 There seem to exist in Brazil, besides the washings of the sands that produce the 
 diamonds, the precious stones, the platinum, and almost all the gold of this country, 
 some mines of gold, lead, and iron, opened up in very ancient "geological formations ; 
 but there is no silver mine, which indicates a great difference between the metalliferous 
 deposites of this district and those of Spanish America. The lead mines occur particu- 
 larly in the captainry of Minas-Geraes, canton of Abaite. Their exploitation has 
 been undertaken within a few years. The captainry of Minas-Geraes contains 
 extremely abundant deposites of black oxide of iron, and specular iron, which constitute 
 beds- or enormous masses, forming sometimes entire mountains; along with numerou 
 
MINES. 221 
 
 veins of hematite and red oxide of iron. Lately these have been opened up, and smell- 
 ing-houses have been established at Gaspar-Saarez. There are also iron mines and 
 foundries in the eaptainry of Saint-Paul. A mine of antimony occurs near Sahara, in 
 the eaptainry of Minas-Geraes. 
 
 In Africa, the inhabitants of the countries adjoining to the cape of Good Hope mine 
 and smelt copper and iron j and the Congo produces considerable quantities of these 
 two metals. It is asserted that a great deal of copper exists in Abyssinia. On the 
 banks of the Senegal the Moors and the Pouls fabricate iron in travelling forges. They 
 employ as the ore the richest portions of a ferruginous sandstone, which seems to be a 
 very modern formation. Lastly, the kingdoms of Morocco and Barbary appear to in- 
 clude several copper and iron mines. 
 
 The islands of Cyprus and Negropont, in the Mediterranean, were celebrated, in for- 
 mer times, for their copper mines ; arid several islands of the Archipelago presented 
 gold mines, now abandoned. The same thing may be said of Macedonia and Thrace. 
 The mountains of Servia and Albania contain iron mines; and lead mines occur in 
 Servia. Natolia possesses iron and copper mines in the neighborhood of Tokat. Some 
 also occur in Arabia and in Persia ; and in the territories round Caucasus, the kingdom 
 of Imeretta is distinguished for its iron mines. The celebrity of the Damascus sabres 
 attests the good quality of the products of some of the mines. Persia includes, besides, 
 mines of argentiferous lead at Kervan, a few leagues from Ispahan; and Natolia fur- 
 nishes orpiment. 
 
 Some iron and copper mines have been mentioned in Tartary. Thibet passes for be- 
 ing rich in gold and silver mines. China produces a great quantity of iron and mercu- 
 ry, as well as white brass {tombac), which is much admired. The copper mines of this 
 empire lie principally in the province of Yu Wan and the island of Formosa. Japan, 
 likewise, possesses copper mines in the provinces of Kijunack and Sarunga. They seem 
 to be abundant ; at a period not far back, they exported their products to Europe. Jap- 
 an presents, moreover, mines of quicksilver. China and Japan contain also mines of 
 gold, silver, tin, red sulphuret of arsenic, &c. Large deposites of the latter ore (realgar) 
 are said to occur in the tin mine of Kian-Fu, in China. But in that empire, as in Eu- 
 rope, coal is the most important of the mining products. This combustible is explored, 
 especially in the environs of Pekin, and in the northern parts of the empire. 
 
 Iron mines exist in several points of the Burman empire, and of Hindostan. Near 
 Madras there exist excellent ores of sparry iron, and black oxide, analogous to the Swe- 
 dish ores. The Indian natural steel, named Wootz, has been held in considerable esti- 
 mation among some eminent London cutlers ; but the iron and steel recently manufac- 
 tured upon a great scale, near Madras, by Messrs. Heath and Co., from the crystallized 
 magnetic ore of that country, will probably ere long rival, and eventually supersede in 
 Europe the product of the Dannemara forges. The islands of Macassar, Borneo, and Ti- 
 mor, include copper mines. As to the tin obtained from the island of Banca, from 
 the peninsula of Malacca, and several other points of southern Asia, it proceeds entirely 
 from the washing of sands. The same is undoubtedly true of the gold furnished by 
 the Philippine isles, Borneo, &c. It appears, however, that mines of gold and silver 
 are worked in the island of Sumatra. 
 
 MINES OF THE SECONDARY ROCK FORMATIONS. 
 
 The most important mines of the secondary rocks, and perhaps of all minerals what- 
 soever, are those worked in the most ancient of these strata, in the coal-measures. 
 
 The British islands, France, and Germany, present several groups of small mountains 
 primitive on the ridge, and transition on the flanks; in the sinuosities between which 
 deposites of coal occur. The principal of these have become great centres of manufac- 
 tures ; for Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Birmingham, Saint-Etienne, &c, owe their 
 prosperity and their rapid enlargement to the coal, raised, as it were, at their gates in 
 enormous quantities. Wales, Flanders, Silesia, and the adjacent parts of Gallicia, owe 
 equally to their extensive collieries a great portion of their activity, their wealth, and 
 their population. Other coal districts, less rich, or mined on a less extended scale, have 
 procured for their inhabitants less distinguished, but by no means inconsiderable, ad- 
 vantages ; such, for examples in Great Britain, are Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, 
 Shropshire, Warwickshire, the environs of Bristol &c. ; some parts of Ireland ; in 
 France, Litry department of Calvados, Comanterie, Saint-Georges-Chatelaison, Aubin, 
 Alais, le Creusot ; Ronchamps, in the Prussian provinces of the left bank of the Rhine ; 
 the environs ot Saarebriick; several points of the north of the territory of Berg and La- 
 marck, of Mansfeld, of Saxony, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the United States, &c. 
 
 We need not enter here into ampler details on coal mines, reserving these particulars 
 for the article Pitcoal. 
 
 Nature has deposited alongside of coal an ore whose intrinsic value alone is very 
 small, but whose abundance in the neighborhood of fuel becomes extremely precious to 
 
222 MINES. 
 
 man; we allude to the clay-ironstone of the coal-measures. It is extrtcted in cnor 
 mous quantities from the coal-basins of Scotland, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, 
 and South Wales. 
 
 Much of it is also raised from the coal strata of Silesia ; and the French entertain 
 hopes of finding a supply of this necessary ore in their own country. The iron-works 
 of England, which are supplied almost entirely from this iron-stone reduced with the 
 coke or coal, pour annually into commerce more than one million tons of cast and bar 
 iron, the value of which has been estimated at eight millions sterling; an amount fully 
 equal to the product of all the mines of Spanish America. 
 
 The shale or slate-clay of the coal-measures contains sometimes a very large quan- 
 tity of pyrites, which, decomposing by the action of air, with or without artificial heat, 
 produces sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina ; whence copperas and alum are 
 manufactured in great abundance. 
 
 The lead mines of Bleyberg and Gemiind, near Aix-la-Chapelle, are explored in a 
 sandstone referred by many geologists to the red sandstone. The ore consists princi- 
 pally of nodules, of galena disseminated in this rock. They are vecj abundant, and of 
 very easy exploration. These mines produce annually from 700 to 800 tons of lead, 
 which does not contain silver in sufficient proportion to be worth the extracting. 2,000 
 tons of ore are prepared and.sold in the form of black lead dust (alquifoux). 
 
 The manganese mines worked in the open air near Exeter, in England, occur in a 
 sandstone analogous to the red. 
 
 The calcareous formation which surmounts the coal-sandstone, called by geologists 
 zechstein, magnesian limestone, and older alpine limestone, contains different deposites of 
 metallic ores; the most celebrated being the cupreous schist of Mansfeldt, a stratum of 
 calcareous slate from a few inches to two feet thick, containing copper pyrites in, suffi- 
 cient quantity to afford 2 per cent, of the weight of the ore of an argentiferous copper. 
 This thin layer displays itself in the north of Germany over a length of eighty leagues, 
 from the coasts of the Elbe to the banks of the Rhine. Notwithstanding its thinness 
 and relative poverty, skilful miners have contrived to establish, on different points of 
 this slate, a number of important explorations, the most considerable being in the terri- 
 tory of Mansfeldt, particularly near Rottenburg. They produce annually 2,000 tons of 
 copper, and 20,000 marcs of silver. We may also mention those of Hessia, situated 
 near Frankenberg, Bieber, and Riegelsdorf. In the latter, the cupreous schist and its 
 accompanying strata are traversed by veins of cobalt, mined by the same system of un- 
 derground workings as the schist. These operations are considerable'; they extend, in 
 the direction of the strata, through a length of 8,700 yards, and penetrate downward to 
 a very great depth. Three galleries of efflux are to be observed ; two of which pour 
 their waters into the Fulde, and the third into the Verra. One of them runs about 20 
 yards below the most elevated point of the workings. These mines have been in ac- 
 tivity since the year 1530. Analogous mines exist near Saalfeld, in Saxony. 
 
 To the same geological formation must probably be referred the limestone which con- 
 tains the sparry iron mine of Schmlacalden, at the western foot of Thuringerwald, 
 where there has been explored from time immemorial a considerable mass of this ore 
 known by the name of Stahlberg. The working is executed in the most irregular man- 
 ner, and has opened up enormous excavations ; whence disastrous ruins have taken 
 place in the mines. It furnishes annually 4,500 tons of ore, which keep in play a great 
 number of furnaces, where a deal of iron and steel is manufactured. 
 
 At Tarnowitz, 14 leagues S.E. of Oppeln, in Siberia, the zechstein contains, in some 
 of its strata, considerable quantities of galena and calamine ; into which mines have 
 been opened, that yield annually from 600 to 700 tons of lead, 1,000, to 1,100 marcs of 
 silver, and much calamine. Mines of argentiferous lead are noticed at Olkutch and 
 Jaworno, in Gallicia, about 6 leagues N.E. of Cracow, and 15 leagues E.N.E. of Tarno- 
 witz. Their position seems to indicate that they belong to the same formation ; and 
 possibly those of Willach and Bleyberg in Carinthia have the same locality. 
 
 There has been discovered lately near Confolens, in the department of la Charente, in 
 a secondary limestone, calcareous beds, and particularly subordinate beds of quartz, 
 which contain considerable quantities of galena. At Figeac also, in the department of 
 le Lot, deposites of galena, blende, and calamine, occur in a secondary limestone. At 
 la Voulte, on the banks of the Rhone, there is mined, in the lower courses of the lime- 
 stones that constitute a great portion of the department of the Ardeche, a powerful bed 
 of iron ore. 
 
 It is in the zechstein, or in the sandstones, and trap rocks of nearly the same age, 
 that the four great deposites of the sulphuret of mercury, of Idria, the Palatinate, M- 
 maden, and Huancavelica, are mined. 
 
 The formation which separates the zechstein from the lias (calcaire a gryphites), called 
 new red sandstone and red marl in England, and bunter-sandstein, muschelkalk, and 
 qnai'ersandstein. in Germany, presents hardly any important mines except those of rock 
 
MINES, VENTILATION OF. 223 
 
 salt ; which enrich it, not only in the centre of Europe, as in Cheshire, at Vic, Wieliczka, 
 Boehnia, and Salzbourg, but in many other parts of the world. 
 
 The lias contains often very pyritous lignites, which are mined in many places, and 
 particularly at Whitby and Guisborough in Yorkshire, for the manufacture of alum and 
 copperas. 
 
 The oolitic limestones contain strata of iron ore, which are mined in some districts of 
 France. 
 
 The iron sand (Hastings sand) beneath the chalk formation, is often so strongly im- 
 bued with iron as to be worth the working. 
 
 The lowest beds of the chalk contain iron pyrites, which has become the object of an 
 important exploration al Vissans, on the southern coast of the Pas-de-Calais, where it is 
 converted into sulphate of iron. The - waves turn the nodules out of their bed, and roll 
 them on the shore, where they are picked up. 
 
 If the chalk be poor in useful minerals, this is not the case with the plastic clay for- 
 mation above it; for it contains important mines. In it are explored numerous beds 
 of lignite (wood-coal), either as fuel or a vitriolic earth. From these lignite deposites, 
 also, the yellow amber is extracted. 
 
 The other tertiary formations present merely a few mines of iron and bitumen. 
 
 Several of the secondary or tertiary strata contain deposites of sulphur, which are 
 mined in various countries. 
 
 The formations'of a decidedly volcanic origin afford few mining materials, if we ex- 
 cept sulphur, alum, and opals. 
 
 MINES OF THE ALLUVIAL STRATA. 
 
 This formation contains very important mines, since from it are extracted all the dia- 
 monds, and almost all the precious stones, the platinum, and the greatest part of the gold, 
 with a considerable portion of the tin and iron. The diamond mines are confined nearly 
 to Brazil, and to the kingdoms of Golconda and Visapour in the East Indies. 
 
 MINES, VENTILATION OF. The means adopted in the South Staffordshire 
 coal mines, which have veins varying from 25 to 30 feet in thickness, are well worthy of 
 consideration ; since a solid mass of -that magnitude must be peculiarly difficult to drain 
 of its imprisoned gas. In excavating such coal large masses must "be detached, and 
 pockets or hollows must be formed, which are immediately filled with carburetted hy- 
 drogen: whilst a thin vein, for which a level roof can generally be secured, can be 
 kept tolerably free from such accumulations. 
 
 In December, 1846, in consequence of a frightful explosion which took place at Old- 
 bury, Mr. Benjamin Gibbons was induced to publish a small work descriptive of the 
 principles of ventilation adopted and practised by him for many years before in the 
 thick and thin mines that were worked under his personal superintendence. 
 
 The author first recapitulates the substance of a part of his work, and gives, in addi- 
 tion, the results of an enlarged experience, as well as a slight notice and reply to some 
 of the objections made to his plan. 
 
 Carburetted hydrogen gas, which produces these dreadful explosions, is not explosive 
 until it is united with a certain proportion of ordinary air, say seven to nine times its 
 volume ; when this mixture has taken place, it arrives at what is termed its " firing " or 
 explosive point ; and in that state, if it come in contact with the flame of a candle, it 
 will instantly explode, with similar rapidity and violence to gunpowder. A consider- 
 able volume of this gas is set at liberty in all the thick coal mines, when worked in the 
 Usual manner, and as often as fresh masses of coal are cut through. Some coal mines 
 supply a much greater quantity of gas than others, and these are commonly called 
 " fiery mines ;" but, in all coal mines, a sufficient quantity is extracted to produce the 
 most direful consequences, if it be not neutralized, or its escape duly provided for. 
 
 The generalmode is that of dilutiag the gas with a quantity of atmospheric air ; and 
 a current of air equal to thirty times the volume of gas yielded by the coal, is, in the 
 author's opinion, the bare limit of safety : that is to say, thirty cubic feet of common air 
 must circulate through the mine in the space of time that the coal will give out one 
 cubic foot of gas ; but the quantity of air should exceed this, where this mode of ven- 
 tilation is practised ; for a copious supply of fresh air is needful for the numerous work- 
 men, horses, and candles, employed in the pit. 
 
 Many mechanical plans have been recommended to increase the current of air through 
 the mines ; in some, force pumps, and in others, exhaust pumps, have been proposed, to 
 produce an artificial current of air throughout the workings. These plans, theoretically, 
 may be very correct, but, it is to be observed, that the current of air must be constantly 
 maintained; and in the practical application, the engine that works these pumps, or 
 other mechanical means, may get out of order, and thereby endanger the lives of 
 all the miners. This fatal objection attaches to all mechanical plans of ventilation; 
 and, indeed, to all artificial modes, where the power of ventilation is not self-acting,— 
 
224 MINES, VENTILATION" OF. 
 
 but requires the constant action of machinery, or the constant aid of men ; even includ- 
 ing the ordinary plan of rarefaction of the air- by a separate fire, which may he out 
 when it ought to be in, and ought not to be relied upon as the sole protector, though 
 it will be, in some circumstances, a useful auxiliary. 
 
 ' "We should therefore avail ourselves, as far as possible, of the natural powers that are 
 at our command; and," in this instance, the extreme levity of the gas from which we 
 wish to rid the mines, supplies us, to a considerable extent, with the remedy required. ' 
 But cases may arise where other auxiliaries may be temporarily required, from acci- 
 dental misplacements of the level of the mine ; although, in the author's opinion, these 
 cases may be reduced to a few, if the mines are opened out and worked upon a proper 
 system, as will be further noticed in this paper. Under these circumstances, it may 
 be necessary to employ heat, to rarefy the upcast current of air, to make it specifically 
 lighter than the downcast ; or mechanical means to force air in, or to extract air from 
 the mines, may be required. Where artificial heat is made use of, a steam-jet, from 
 the boiler of the winding-engine, is the most secure method ; because, the steam being 
 supplied from the boiler of the winding-engine, it is clear that the steam is always at 
 command whilst the pit is at work. If mechanical means should become necessary, 
 Mr. Struve's exhausting cylinders supply the most powerful and effective apparatus 
 that has fallen under the author's notice. 
 
 The object of the present paper is to show that there is a constant self-acting power 
 available, which experience has shown will afford the desired proteetion in ordinary 
 temperatures, in the majority of cases; because the carburetted hydrogen of the mines 
 being half the weight of common air (it has an equal ascending power to common air 
 heated to 512°, being of the same specific gravity), will rise to the highest parts of the 
 mine, and would escape with great velocity, if permitted to do so ; forming, in the ag- 
 gregate, a very large ascending power, as exemplified in the balloon; but, in the or- 
 dinary system of working, this escape is unprovided for, indeed, absolutely prevented. 
 
 According to the ordinary system adopted, in the collieries of this district, two shafts 
 are sunk, near together, about 7 to 1\ feet in diameter, each to the bottom of the coal, 
 say about 180 yards depth, the two shafts commencing at the same level, and terminat- 
 ing at the same level. One of these becomes the " downcast pit " down which the air 
 descends, and the other the " upcast pit " up which the air ascends, when a communi- 
 cation is made between them at the bottom ; but the only determining causes for the 
 motion of the air being accidental, it is unknown beforehand what direction the current 
 will take, and which will become the downcast pit. It is generally found that a cur-. , 
 rent of air does take place (it may almost be said always takes place), without any 
 other means being employed ; but the determining power is so faint, that, issuing from 
 the upcast pit with such trifling velocity, it is liable to be deranged by the action of 
 the wind, or by atmospheric changes ; and it sometimes happens that the air becomes 
 quiescent, or an unsteady column, alternately ascending and descending the same 
 shaft ; and then, in miner's language, the pits " fight," and the air will neither ascend 
 nor descend with regularity in one direction. But worst of all, the course of the air 
 will be sometimes inverted or "turned" — that which should be the downcast pit be- 
 coming the upcast; and the mine then becomes exposed to the most fearful results, 
 where the workings have been opened, by the air being driven backwards along the 
 air-head into the reservoirs of gas formed in the upper cavities of the workings, and 
 issuing into the gate-road, charging the gas to the firing point. 
 
 The danger of this change in the direction of the air current is increased by the up- 
 cast pit being used as a working shaft. The upcast pit (which is, in fact, the main gas 
 and air-way, and which ought always to be closed from the external air, and the as- 
 cending air current guarded from disturbance or commotion, to prevent the slightest 
 interruption to the current of air upon which the lives of all depend) is kept in a state 
 of constant agitation by the ascent and descent of the " skips," loaded with coal, which 
 nearly fill the shaft. To crown this, when every skip arrives at the top of the shaft, 
 a carriage, boarded over, called the " runner," is wheeled over the mouth of the pit 
 whilst the coal is landed, and then withdrawn to allow the skip to descend. It is ob- 
 vious that the air, which should never he disturbed, is thus constantly liable to be in 
 conflicting currents, more or less, sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards ; and 
 whenever the mouth of the shaft is covered by the runner, the air is in a state of par 
 tial stagnation. But it sometimes occurs that the chain or tackle, by which the skin 
 is suspended, breaks during the ascent of the upcast shaft; the skip then drops down 
 the shaft, drives the air before it with great velocity along the air-head, and forces the 
 gas out of the cavities into the workings, down upon the candles of the workmen ; anc 
 this the author has known to happen many times. 
 
 When the two pits are sunk down through the stratum of coal 30 ft. in thickness, i 
 " gate-road " or horse-way is next driven in the bottom of the coal, from 8 to 9 ft. high, 
 Mid about the same width, commencing from the bottom of the downcast pit. 
 
MINES, VENTILATION OF. 
 
 225 
 
 At the <sanio time, (or rather before, as it should always precede the gate road) an air 
 head is driven about the middle of the coal, or 15ft. high from the "floor" or bottom 
 of the coal, .commencing from the downcast pit. The gate-road and air-head are then 
 driven in parallel lines, at the same level upon which they commence, for the distance 
 of 100 to 500 yards, or more, according to the quantity of coal intended to be cleared 
 by the pits. 
 
 A series of " spouts " or openings are driven upwards from the gate-road into the air- 
 head, at intervals of 10 or 15 yards (as the coal may give out more or less gas) to carry 
 off the gas, and produce a current of air for the workmen, — each spout being closed up 
 when a new one is made in advance. The excavation of the whole thickness of the 
 Btritum of coal, 30 ft. thick, is then proceeded with, by opening right and left from the 
 end of the gate-road, and excavating a " side of work," which forms a rectangular cavity, 
 say about 90 yards long by 50 yards wide, or about an acre, the whole of the coal be- 
 ing taken away as far as practicable, excepting the pillars of coal (generally 10 yards 
 square and 10 yards distant from each other), which are left to support the superin- 
 cumbent strata. 
 
 The air descending the downcast pit, and travelling along the gate-road into the 
 workings, ascends to the air-head, and, traversing that, ascends the upcast pit, carry- 
 ing with it the gas and impure vapors, as far as such imperfect and interrupted means 
 will effect, and delivering them into the open air. 
 
 By this plan we may contrive (where the system is adopted) to ventilate the mine, 
 though imperfectly, until the lower 15 feet of the coal is excavated ; but where the whole 
 thickness of the coal above the air-head has been removed, by undergoing the coal from 
 the bottom, and dropping it down in large masses, the upper portion of the cavity, being 
 above the level of the air-head, forms a reservoir for gas, which gradually accumulates, 
 and lias no means of escape, — a reservoir of the capacity of some hundred thousand 
 of cubic feet, which may be wholly or in part occupied by gas. An accidental change 
 in the direction of the current of air would turn the course of the air along the air-head 
 into this reservoir of gas, and from thence into the gate-road, and render an explosion 
 very probable. After the coal is extracted, a solid wall or "rib " of coal, from 6 to 10 
 yards thick, which is commonly termed a " fire-rib," is left all round the chamber, sepa- 
 rating it from the next workings ; and the entrance from the gate-road is securely 
 walled up, to exclude the air, and prevent spontaneous combustion, which would 
 otherwise, in a short period, take place. When an explosion occurs, it is generally 
 followed by a second, or more, as proportions of the gas become successively charged 
 with the due proportions of air ; and the liability to these terrible explosions will 
 always remain in mines thus worked, till, by some efficient means, the gas can be 
 allowed a continuous escape, and a current of air can be insured to move always in 
 one direction, with sufficient power to overcome all extraneous disturbing forces, either 
 of the wind or any atmospheric changes. 
 
 In Jig. 971, the system adopted^nd carried into operation by the author is shown. 
 One pit a, is sunk, instead of two; and in the side of the shaft a smaller shaft b is cut, 
 to form an "air chimney," and is afterwards separated from the main shaft; this air 
 chimney is circular, and may be made about 3 feet diameter inside, or more, as may be 
 required. The air-chimney is bricked at the same time with the shaft, — the circular 
 brickwork of each forming a partition of double thickness and secure strength, from 
 the two arches abutting against each other. 
 
 971 W2 
 
 The gate-road c, is driven from the shaft at the bottom of the coal, as in the ordinary 
 plan; but the air-head dis driven from the air chimney within 2 feet of the top oi 
 the coal, or higher if practicable, and runs into the vertical air chimney. The gate- 
 road and air-head are carried forward in a parallel direction to the extent of the work, 
 
 Vol. II. 16 
 
226 MINES, VENTILATION OF. 
 
 as before described in the ordinary system ; and " spouts " 01 openings, e, are driven, 
 apwards, to connect them at about every 15 yards— s^very spout being bricked up close, 
 m successiqn, when a fresh one is made in advance, st? as to make the current of air 
 traverse the whole extent of the gate-road before it rises up to the air-head and passes 
 away to the air chimney. These spouts can only be driven perpendicularly upwards 
 from the gate-road to the air-head ; and each of them being about 18 feet long in the 
 30 feet coal, a formidable practical difficulty was experienced by the author in the King 
 Swinford pits, where the coal being contiguous to a great vault, it abounded in gas to so 
 great a degree that when a spout was carried up a very few feet, it became so filled 
 with gas that no man could work in it. But this difficulty was overcome by boring 
 upwards from the spout a hole, 4 inches in diameter, into the air-head ; the gas then 
 passed off instantly, followed by a stream of air sufficient to ventilate the gate-road, 
 md to enable the men to work with candles in the spout with perfect safety. 
 
 The excavation of the coal is commenced in the same manner as in the ordinary 
 system, by driving at right angles from the end of the gate-road, to begin a " side of 
 work ;" and the ventilation is carried on completely and continuously from the extremity 
 
 ' of the working, whilst the whole of the coal to the top is removed. The whole of the 
 gas is constantly drained off from the upper surface of the coal by the air-head, and the 
 numerous spouts or cross drains, which remain all open to the air-head, by means of a 
 small pipe-hole left in the stopping as they are successively stopped, and which constantly 
 drain off the gas most effectually, by piercing through and cutting the horizontal layers 
 of coal, and thus tapping the several strata at so many different points. By this system 
 the danger of any accumulation of gas in the cavities of the upper part of the workings 
 is effectually prevented. 
 
 In the ordinary system of ventilation, it is manifest that only a very slight determining 
 power compels the air to travel constantly in the same direction. Its current is, at all 
 times, weak and insufficient, and liable to be deranged by the action of the wind, or at- 
 mospheric changes ; and it is under no command whatever. To ensure safety, a constant 
 current of air is indispensably necessary; it should be a current, too, maintained by 
 natural causes, as far as possible, and never interrupted, for the reasons already assigned ; 
 
 . and should be one that would not vary or fail. 
 
 To effect this, the. ascending column of air must be rendered specifically lighter than 
 the air of the descending column, which circulates through the workings; and this 
 difference of specific gravity must be maintained constantly free from disturbance, by 
 accidental causes, and, to such an extent, as to produce, under all circumstances, a total 
 amount of propelling power that is found sufficient for the complete ventilation of the 
 mine. This is accomplished by conducting the whole of the gas in a continuous ascend- 
 ing column, free from interruption or disturbance, up the separate air-chimney ; and this 
 ascending power is further increased by erecting a ventilating chimney.(shownby dots, 
 in the vertical section), of a sufficient height, on the surface of the ground, into the base 
 of which the air-chimney is continued so as to form one uninterrupted air flue, from the 
 top of the ventilating chimney, down to the air-head in the seam of coal. By this 
 means a long experience has shown that a constant draught is established and secured, 
 with the occasional aids of a small furnace or steam jet, which is amply sufficient, in all 
 ordinary cases, to defy wind and weather, and also to produce a current sufficiently 
 strong, that it may be split, and such portions withdrawn from the main stream of air as 
 may be found requisite to carry on the preparatory work to maintain the get of coal. 
 The air in the gate- road and workings is warmed above the temperature of the air on 
 the surface, in ordinary mean temperatures, by the heat of the earth, and is consequently 
 rarefied ; this is aided much more than would be generally supposed, by the heat pro- 
 ceeding from the numerous workmen, horses, and candles, employed in the mine ; and 
 the current is further increased by the escape of the gases, which are specifically lighter 
 than the air, — the air-head forming, with the air-chimney, an uninterrupted and con- 
 tinuous passage from the workings, and delivering the gas into the ventilating chimney: 
 thus a draught is constantly maintained sufficient for all usual purposes. The weak 
 
 r power of draught that exists in the old system is materially diminished by the upcast 
 shaft being of a larger size than the air-head through which the downward current of air 
 must pass. The ascending current, in consequence, is languid and slow; whereas, in 
 the author's judgment, it should have considerable velocity ; and much more important 
 advantages arise from this cause than philosophers account for or will admit. 
 
 Cases may occur in which it is desirable, for temporary purposes, to increase the 
 draught, either when the external air is at a very high temperature, or from other 
 causes ; and this is at once obtained by adding a furnace, or a steam jet, of any required 
 power, to the ventilating chimney. By means of a fire in this furnace, any degree of rare- 
 faction may be produced that isjlesired in the ventilating chimney; and it is recom- 
 mended always to build one where the boiler chimney cannot be used, that it may be 
 nsed if it is wanted. In such cases, the flue of the furnace should be carried up per- 
 pendicularly,' for 30 or 40 feet, against the side of the ventilating chimney, before it is 
 
MINES, VENTILATION OF. 227 
 
 opened into it. This precaution -will render a deflagration of the gases, passing up the 
 chimney, impossible, when the furnace is used. 
 
 The principle of ventilating pits by an air-chimney used for no other purpose than the 
 passage of the gas and the current of air from the workings to the surface, has been 
 adopted by the author, in a more or less perfect form, for more than 30 years, in work- 
 jig the thick and thin mines, and has been found to give a complete and absolute com- 
 mand over the ventilation of every part of the mines. It is only, however, within the 
 last few years, that he has had an opportunity of carrying it through many extensive 
 cits systematically. In the whole of the author's mines, this system of ventilation is 
 now completely carried on. The thick coal is sometimes worked in one pit, and in 
 ■mother pity brooch coal, heathen coal, or the white iron stone lying beneath the coal ; 
 tnd sometimes the thick coal is worked in both. Very little preparation is necessary 
 fortius change from one to -the other, as the air-chimney reaches to the lowest vein ; 
 and, a stopping being put in at the level of the vein intended to be got, a supply of air 
 may be immediately procured at any required level. The thick coal abounded in gas 
 in these pits; but it is now so drained, that all difficulties have disappeared. The use 
 of the safety lamp has become a form rather than. an essential. 
 
 A great improvement is perceptible in the health and comfort of the workmen em- 
 ployed. The air in these pits is always free from gas, and is 10°Fahr. cooler than the 
 neighboring pits, worked on the ordinary system, owing to the regular supply of fresh 
 air. They have been frequently tried, and found to be 62° or 64° in the workings ; 
 whilst, at the same time, the air in the working of pits ventilated in the ordinary way 
 was found, in many cases, to be "72° to 74° : the former, the temperature of a comfortable 
 sitting room, and the latter, that of a heated cotton-mill. 
 
 A great saving of expense from this system will be found also, not only in working 
 the thick coal, but, subsequently, in getting the thinner veins of coal and ironstone. 
 A considerable amount of outlay, as well as frequently a great loss of time, is incurred 
 in obtaining the necessary supplies of air for working the successive strata of a mine. 
 Whereas, the air-chimney is accessible at any point in the shaft ; and the shaft is 
 ilways kept well aired, which is of importance, as it is always found convenient to sus- 
 pend the workings of the pit for a considerable time after the partial exhaustion of one 
 of the strata, and before it may be desirable to commence the working of another. 
 
 It maybe observed here, that an air-chimney may be very easily cut down any shaft 
 that has been sunk in the usual way. The author has cut one down a shaft during the 
 night whilst the pit continued to draw coal during the day. He executed one in a 
 pit 140 yards deep, in about a month, — -the pit continuing to draw coal during the day, 
 whilst the air-chimney was made during the night. 
 
 Where large quantities of coal are to be drawn, a number of shafts are necessary. 
 Two of these may be sunk at the usual distance 10 or 12 yards, near enough to be com- 
 manded by the same winding engine, but the shafts having no communication with each 
 other. But if the form of the mine makes it more convenient, they may be sunk 
 singly in any required situation ; because each separate shaft will provide its own air, 
 and each shaft will "get" the separate section of mine appropriated to it. By this 
 means, small detached portions of mine have been got to advantage, that would not 
 have paid for the expense of two shafts. 
 
 By this arrangement, a smaller quantity of air-heading is required to " get the same 
 area of coal; and the process of complete ventilation can be more easily carried out, 
 as will be hereafter noticed ; and, as communications between different shafts, by the 
 gate-roads, might be occasionally convenient, these communications may be under the 
 care and sole control of the mine director, who may keep the doors locked, if advisable : 
 the ventilation is thus not materially disturbed. 
 
 In the different plans for ventilating mines, the merit appears to have been awai-ded 
 to those more especially who have succeeded in forcing by any means, either mechanical, 
 or by the use of powerful furnaces, the largest possible quantity of air through the work- 
 ings in a given time. The principle explained in the present paper is totally different, 
 and diametrically opposite ; for it consists in draining the gas away from the coal before 
 it is worked, and then getting the coal when it is thus drained, and carrying no more 
 air through the mines than is required for light, life, and health. 
 
 Thus, to illustrate the difference between the two principles of ventilation, supposing 
 that 1,000 cubic feet of gas per minute is emitted by the coal, and passed through the 
 workings, 36,000 cubic feet of air per minute muBt, according to the old method, be 
 passed through the mine,— that is 30,000 feet to dilute the gas, and 5000 feet to supply 
 the workmen, horses, and candles, in the workings ; but, if the whole of this 1000 feet 
 of gas can be carried off by its own levity and intercepted from passing into the workings, 
 then the mine will be better and more safely ventilated by 5000 feet of air permmuto 
 than by 25,000 feet in the former ease ; or, if the whole of the gas cannot be intercepted, 
 then in such proportion as the volume of gas can be intercepted and carried away. And 
 
228 
 
 MINES, VENTILATION OF. 
 
 supposing the opinion of the author to be correct, that the gas can be eiU'ried awa? 
 without passing into the workings, and that therefore, a very greatly reduced quantity 
 of air is necessary in the mine, it follows that (the gas being of the same specific gravity 
 as atmospheric air, heated up to 612°) when the gas becomes diffused and united with 
 the air, the volume of air and gas so united, is of less specific gravity than the air, and 
 will maintain a natural ventilation of considerable power. It may be observed also, 
 that very rapid currents of air through the passages of a mine are always attended 
 with great inconvenience to the workmaD, and may be attended with great practical 
 danger, from the circumstance, that the union or perfect admixture of the carbn- 
 retted hydrogen with atmospheric air, though very rapid, is not instantaneous ; and 
 when in a mine not previously drained of its gas, large quantities of the gas suddenly 
 escaping from powerful "blowers," are driven forwards by a current of air, moving 
 from 7 to 10 feet per second, it is very conceivable that they are not diffused at 
 once, but carried, in some degree, like a cloud of steam, forwards through the mine, 
 till diffusion has brought a portion to the "firing point: " this, meeting with a light, 
 or being driven, as is possible, through the wire of the safety lamp, will inevitably 
 cause an explosion. 
 
 An objection that was made to the adoption of the system was, the possibility of some 
 disturbance of the brickwork, which separated the air-chimney from the main shaft, 
 either by a violent blow from the ascending skip (which, of course, could not be the 
 ease with the guides that are now generally used), or by any accidental explosion that 
 might take place in the mine, which, it was contended, might force it outwards into the 
 main shaft. A mere inspection of the plan must convince any practical person that such 
 an occurrence is impossible. Any force from without would be resisted by the convex 
 surface of the arch which encloses the small shaft, as any operating from within would 
 be as effectually resisted by the convex surface of the main shaft. Mot only did no such 
 occurrence ever take place in the numerous pits where the plan has been used without 
 guides ; but even where the air chimney was cut square, possessing so much less resist- 
 ing power, it remains now perfect and uninjured after a lapse of more than thirty years. 
 
 Another objection was, that the air-chimney was not of sufficient dimensions to 
 ventilate the mine; and this objection was urged and re-urged in the face of the fact, 
 that the author had expressly stated that cases might occur, where even a seven foot air- 
 shaft might be required ana employed to drain very fiery mines. The parties making 
 this 'objection did not happen to recollect, that, in fact, this air-chimney was precisely of 
 the same area as the air-head, which they themselves always employed, to form the 
 communication between the workings and the upcast shaft. That, in fact, the air- 
 chimney was nothing more nor less than a continuation of the air-head from the work- 
 ings to the surface of the ground; and consequently, the effect of enlarging the air-chim- 
 ney would be to diminish the velocity of the ascending column, and to lose the increased 
 temperature the air had acquired in passing through the mine. 
 
 Another objection was, that in some of the thinner veins no upper air-head could be 
 driven at a sufficient height to allow the gas to escape by its own levity, or to prevent it 
 from getting admission to the workings. There may be exceptional cases ; as, for 
 example, if a mine can be supposed to lie upon a perfectly horizontal plane (but the 
 author never saw an instance of a mine to any considerable extent answering this de- 
 scription ; in all mines he has ever seen, the coal forms some angle to the horizon in some 
 direction ; and a very small angle will soon obtain a height of 6 or 1 feet, which is quite 
 sufficient for the present purpose) : in that case the air-head, communicating to the up- 
 cast shaft, may be made always to descend to the higher part of the plane, which will 
 be quite sufficient to keep the mine clear from gas, by allowing it to pass off by its own 
 levity. But, even if such a case ever should occur, a remedy may often be obtained, an 
 instance of which has lately occurred to the author. A disturbance in the thick coal 
 vein was found, breaking the coal through and throwing it into a trough 15 yards below 
 its level : of course if the air-head had continued to follow the vein, it must have been 
 depressed below its level to an extent equal to the whole thickness of the coal, which 
 would have formed a barrier against the passage of the gas, like an inverted syphon, 
 which the gas would not have passed. The remedy adopted by the author was, by 
 commencing an air-head from the air-chimney in another measure, the " flying red," that 
 lay 20 yards above the main coal, and continuing it till it had passed over the depressed 
 point ; a communication was then formed to the upper side of this depressed pdint, which 
 at once established a rising air-head for the whole of the coal on the further side of the 
 depression. 
 
 It may be perceived that the plan of ventilation here recommended is combined, in 
 some measure, with the method of working the mines, and may be made more perfect 
 and efficient by the adoption of a sound system. The common mode is that of working 
 the mines in " panes," or " panels," leaving pillars or portions of coal to be extracted 
 nt a future period; but this is considered by the author as highly objectionable. 
 
 The danger of this method must be sufficiently obvious, when it is seen that the an 
 
MINES. VENTILATION OF. 22? 
 
 must be forced through tho most crooked and winding channels end compelled to pass 
 along by artificial buildings, or " brattices," the accidental destruction or failure o1 
 which may suspend the -whole ventilation. 
 
 But the plan exhibited will show that before any coal is got from the mine, in the 
 method recommended by the author, the roads are carried out to tho extreme extent 
 that the coal is proposed to be worked, accompanied by their air-heads : by this means 
 the complete drainage of the gas from the mass of coal proposed to be worked is ef- 
 fected ; and these roads and their air-heads are originally made at infinitely less ex- 
 pense, and are always in a safe and secure state, as the excavations commence at the 
 outside of the coal thus intended to be got ; and no brattices are necessary, as double 
 doors may be used in any of these roads down which the air is intended to circulate, 
 either to regulate the quantity, or prevent its passage ; and the current of air may be 
 always brought to act directly upon the working face of the coal. 
 
 It may be objected, that these pillars must be left for a support, owing to the nature 
 of the roof of the mine ; but this the author has never yet seen, and is disposed to think 
 it never can happen. He is getting veins of coal of 30 feet in thickness (in two 
 successive workings of 15 feet each), also veins of 6 feet, i feet and 3 feet thicknesses. 
 The roofs of these various coals differ in their tenacity, and some of them are extreme- 
 ly tender, and yet the whole of the coal is extracted from these veins, both the thick- 
 est and the thinnest, both large and small coal, with the greatest facility and safety. 
 
 The dangers obviated by this mode of working are doubly important ; the roof gradu- 
 ally descends as the mine is excavated ; all dangers are left behind ; and the roof is con- 
 solidated into a compact mass by the weightof the superincumbent strata; consequently 
 no " gouf " or hollow is ever formed, and no lodgment of gas can take place. Secondly, no 
 large or small coal being left behind, the heating of the gouf, or the spontaneous combus- 
 tion to which all mines are liable where small coal or slack is left, can never take place. 
 
 In working mines in panes and pillars (where a part of tyie coal is left and even- 
 tually lost, the difficulty of obtaining safe ventilation will be understood from the 
 following remarks. At Neweastle-on-Tyne, the brattices have been all blown down 
 by an explosion, and the workings filled with carbonic acid gas, and no means exist- 
 ing of quickly restoring the ventilation (as at the Felling Colliery), the pits and 
 workings could not be entered, nor the bodies of the men recovered, for weeks, nay, 
 even months. Every man in the mine, though out of the reach of the explosion, 
 necessarily lost his life by the after-damp. A very recent case in Scotland, at Slitshill, 
 where 69 lives were lost, is a striking example ; although this pit had a good and dis- 
 tinct upcast shaft, the brattices were destroyed, the air of course proceeded along the 
 shortest and most direct road from the downcast to the upcast shaft, and all the men 
 who had been supplied with air by the diversion of the currents, depending entirely 
 upon brattices (which were destroyed by the explosion), miserably perished, and the 
 whole of the bodies could not be recovered in a week's time. 
 
 Where shafts are used of large diameter, divided by brattices, and of such large di- 
 mensions as to allow one side of the brattice to form the downcast and the other the 
 upcast shaft, a similar result follows in the event of an explosion, to that last mention- 
 ed. A part of the brattice (probably at a considerable depth) is ruptured, and no 
 current of air can be procured to admit of its repair, except by means which involve 
 loss of much time and expense. In the meantime all those who may have been in the 
 pit, at the time of the explosion, cannot be approached. The author presumes thatsome 
 idea of economy introduced this system ; but he is satisfied that upon this point an 
 erroneous impression has prevailed. The expense of sinking these single divided shafts 
 (of the usual diameter of 15 or 16 feet), is so very great, that it has led to the practice 
 of working very extensive areas of coal by means of a single shaft; and this practice 
 has further led to the different scientific contrivances for impelling the air over these 
 immense areas, by which the ventilation of the works is rendered so much more diffi- 
 cult and uncertain. 
 
 Taking, for example, a pit of this description, of 15 feet diameter, by which is worked 
 an area of 200 acres (and instances might be adduced where four, five, and six times that 
 quantity has been thus worked), it is evident that the ventilation of a coal mine of 
 this description, where the air passages have been extended to the length of 70 miles, 
 must be attended with very great danger and vast expense. 
 
 Now, the author states as his opinion, and thinks he should have no difficulty in pro- 
 ving it correct, that four shafts might have been sunk on this area of 200 acres, 7 J feet 
 diameter each, in proper positions with their air chimneys, for considerably less money 
 than the one shaft cost; and if this can be established, it follows that the 200 acres be- 
 ing divided into sections of 50 acres each, the expense of the underground work would 
 have been most materially diminished, and that the ventilation might havebeen effect- 
 ed with much greater ease and security in separate sections of 50 acres each, and the 
 power of raising coal doubled, as there would be always two ascending and two de- 
 scending curves, instead of one 
 
230 MINT 
 
 To sum up the conditions and principles requisite in carrying out the author's plan 
 effectually, it may be stated! : — 
 
 1st. That the air-head should always open into the highest practicable part of the 
 mines. 
 
 2d. The air-head (or what may be properly called the gas-head), by which is meant, 
 the horizontal air or gas-passage, shall always be in continuous communication from 
 the workings to a vertical air chimney, or separate shaft, of 3, 4, 5 or more feet diame 
 ter, whichever shall be required ; but always of sufficient dimensions to carry off the 
 gas and air from the workings. 
 
 3d. That the air-head, or gas-head, shall not, in any part of its course, be depressed 
 below the level of its opening into the workings. 
 
 4th. That the air-chimney (of such dimensions as the mine requires), by which is 
 meant the vertical air or gas passage, shall never be used for any other purpose than 
 the passage of the current of the gas and air from the workings to the surface; and 
 that it shall be_ closed from the external air, till it arrives at its point of exit. 
 
 5th. That the vertical air-chimney should be closed at the top, and separated from 
 the shaft, and should then be connected to the ventilated chimney, or the chimney 
 connected by a horizontal' flue with the boiler, so that the current of air may not at 
 any time be disturbed or interrupted. 
 
 6th. That the gate roads should always be driven io the extreme point to which the. 
 workings of the eoal are intended to be extended ; : — that the coal may previously be 
 drained of its gas before any eoal is got out; by which means the gate or horse-roads, 
 and the air or gas-head, may be made, and afterwards be maintained, at considerable 
 less expense, in a safe and secure state, and the gases be gradually drained off, before 
 it is necessary to get the coal. 
 
 The author in conclusion states, that the case may be considered as exeptional, 
 rather than general, in which any insurmountable difficulty, in providing the remedy 
 for accidental derangements of the coal strata will present itself, and render it neces- 
 sary to interfere materially with the principles recommended for adoption. 
 
 MINIUM. (Eng. and Fr. ; Red lead; Mennige,_Gexm.) This pigment is a peculiai 
 oxyde of lead, consisting of two atoms of the, protoxyde and one of the geroxyde ; but, as 
 found in commerce, it always contains a little extra protoxyde, or yellow massicot. It 
 is prepared by calcining lead upon a reverberatory hearth with a slow fire, and frequent 
 renewal of the surface with a rake, till it becomes an oxyde, taking care not to fuse it. 
 The calcined mass is triturated into a fine powder in a paint mill, where it is elutriated 
 with a stream of water, to carry off the finely levigated particles, and to deposite them 
 afterwards in tanks. The powder thus obtained, being dried, is called massicot. It is 
 converted into minium, by being put in quantities of about 50 pounds into iron trays, 
 1 foot square, and 4 or 5 inches deep. These are piled up upon the reverberatory hearth, 
 and exposed during the night, for economy of fuel, to the residuary heat of the furnace, 
 whereby the massicot absorbs more oxygen, and becomes partially red lead. This, after 
 being stirred about, and subjected to a similar low calcining heat once and again, will be 
 found to form a marketable red lead. 
 
 The best minium, however, called orange mine, is made by the slow calcination of 
 good white lead (carbonate) in iron trays. If the lead contains either iron or copper, 
 it affords a minium which cannot be employed with advantage in the manufacture of 
 flint-glass, for pottery glazes, or for house-painting. 
 
 Dumas found several samples of red lead which he examined to consist of the 
 chemical sesquioxyde and the protoxyde, in proportions varying from 50 of the former 
 and 50 of the latter, to 95-3 of the former and 4-7 of the latter. The more oxygen 
 gas it gives out when heated, the better it is, generally speaking. See Naples 
 Yellow. 
 
 MINT. (Monnaie, Fr. ; Munze, Germ.) The chief use of gold and silver is to 
 serve for the ^edium of exchange in the sale and purchase of commodities, a function 
 for which they are pre-eminently fitted by their scarcity, by being unalterable by com- 
 mon agents, and condensing a great value in a small volume. It would be very incon- 
 venient in general to barter objects of consumption against each other, because their 
 carriage would be expensive^ and their qualities, in many cases, easily injured by 
 external agents, &c. Gold is exempt from spontaneous change, and little costly in 
 conveyance. Mankind at a very early period recognised how much easier it was to 
 exchange a certain weight of gold or silver for objects of commerce, than to barter these 
 objects themselves ; and thenceforth all agreed to pay for their purchases in bars or ingots 
 of these precious metals. But as their intrinsic value depends upon their purity, it be- 
 came necessary to stamp on these bars their standard quality and their weight. 
 
 The inconvenience of using ingots in general trade, on account of the difficulty of 
 defining fractional values, has determined governments to coin pieces of money, that 
 is, quantities of metal whose weight and standard were made known and guarantied by 
 Ihe effigies of the prince. It is true, indeed, that kings have become frequently coiners 
 
MINT. 231 
 
 of base money, by altering the weight and purity of the pieces apparently guarantied 
 by their impress. By such reductions, modern coins represent less of the precious metal 
 than they did long ago. The ordonnance of 755, for the coining of sous in Trance, proves 
 that there was then as much fine silver in a single sous as there is now in a piece of 5 
 francs. During the last two centuries, indeed, silver coins have been diminished two 
 thirds in weight. 
 
 But since knowledge has become more generally diffused, it has been shown that these 
 rrauds are equally injurious to the prince and to public faith. A sovereign may, it is 
 true, declare by a decree that a shilling-piece is to be held worth five ; but let us consider 
 the :onsequences of this decree. All the individuals who have rents or capital sums to 
 receive will be ruined, by getting in metallic value only one fifth^of what is due to them: 
 for although the nominal value should be the same as what they are entitled to, tne 
 intrinsic value would be but a fifth of the former; so that when they go to purchase the 
 necessaries or comforts of life, the dealer who sells them will at once raise their prict 
 five-fold. Each article of merchandise would thus acquire u. nominal price 5 times 
 greater ; and he who had received payment of a debt in that money could not with it 
 procure more than one fifth of the goods he could have previously commanded. That 
 fraudulent law would, therefore, favor the debtors at the expense of the creditors ; and 
 as the state is commonly a great debtor, especially when it has recourse to the deprecia- 
 tion of the currency, it is obvious, that however illicit the gain which U makes, it still 
 does gain ; and this is the reason why princes have so often tampered with the mint. 
 But let us examine the other consequences of this decree. 
 
 If the sovereign is a debtor, he is also a creditor and consumer, and even the most 
 considerable of any. The taxes which he imposes are paid him in this deteriorated 
 money, returned to him at its nominal value ; and the purveyors of his armies, h;s 
 buildings, and his household, sell him their commodities only at the actual market 
 price. We may infer from this simple development that the . coin with which he pays 
 for any object has the same intrinsic value as the object; and that the name given to 
 the coin is of no consequence. The prince may call it a crown, u ducat, or a rix-dollai 
 at his pleasure ; and he may assign any value to it that his caprice may suggest, yet this 
 will not affect its value ; for this is fixed beyond his control by the general nature of 
 things. The prince may, indeed, at the outset, have profited by defrauding his creditors, 
 and by authorizing each debtor to imitate him, but he will soon lose whatever he may 
 have gained; and he will thus learn to his cost that it was bad policy to sacrifice his 
 character by giving an example of a fraud so truly unprofitable in the issue. More- 
 over, he will lose still as much in the following years, because his treasury will receive 
 only one fifth part of the taxes, unless he has quintupled the imposts. It may be said, 
 indeed, that he might do the one thing along with the other. But every one knows that 
 this power is neither generally permitted to princes, nor, if it were, could it be safely 
 exercised. Serious political crises would combine to endanger the stability of the govern- 
 ment ; which besides, as the main consumer in the nation, must lose always as much as 
 it seems to gain. 
 
 It is therefore manifest, that the alteration of the standard and weight of the coinage 
 is at once a crime and a ruinous action for the sovereign power to commit ; and hence 
 such disastrous measures have been long abandoned in all well-regulated states. A gold 
 s^greign is intrinsically worth 20 shillings, minus the cost of coinage ; for were it worth 
 more, all our sovereign pieces would be exported or melted down, to obtain the difference 
 of value, however trifling it might be ; and were it worth less, it would be the source of 
 loss similar to what the state occasions when it depreciates the coin. 
 
 To comprehend the true value of a coin, we must regard this piece as an article of 
 merchandise, whose value depends, as that of every thing else, on its usefulness, the 
 esteem in which it is held, and the demand for it in the market. Grain increases in 
 value when there are few sellers and many buyers ; gold and silver are in the same pre- 
 dicament. The value of these metals is much augmented, indeed, by the universal cur- 
 rency they obtain when struck into money; a value additional to what they possess as 
 objects of the arts. This value of the precious metals changes with time and place, like 
 that of every merchandise ; their abundance, since the discovery of America, has greatl) 
 lowered their value ; that is, with the same weight of metal, we cannot at the present 
 day purchase the same quantity of corn, land, wool, &c. as formerly. In the countries 
 where silver abounds, this metal has less value, or, in other terms, commodities are 
 dearer. Hence the metal tends to resume its equilibrium in flowing into those places 
 where it is rarer ; which means, that the consumer prefers purchasing his commodities 
 there, rather than in another place, if he can easily transport them to where they are 
 dearer. 
 
 It was formerly believed that a country is rich when it has a great deai of gold and 
 silver ; but this popular illusion has passed away. Spain has never been poorer tliar 
 since the discovery of America, because its national industry has been ruined, ani the 
 
232 MINT. 
 
 capitals merely passed through its hands to spread "ver the rest of Europe, from which 
 it was obliged to import every thing that i'.s want of home manufactures made it neces- 
 sary to procure from abroad. We may add to these the prodigalities of the court, which, 
 supposing its wealth inexhaustible, tried to corrupt all the ministers of the other powers, 
 in furtherance of the chimera of universal dominion. The richest state is that in which 
 there is most industry, whereby the inhabitants may procure every thing. indispensable to 
 the conveniences and comforts of life. Gold as a useful metal, and a medium of exchange, 
 is undoubtedly very precious, and an adequate quantity for these exchanges must be had ; 
 but as it is good for very little besides, nay, as an excess is even hurtful, it soon begins 
 to fly of itself towards the places where it is more needed or less common. 
 
 With regard to the relative value of gold and silver, several details have already been 
 given in our view of the mineral wealth of the globe. Three centuries ago, an ounce 
 of gold was worth at London or Paris 10 ounces of silver ; now it may be exchanged foi 
 15 ounces and a half. 
 
 The par of two co : n3 results from the comparison of their weight and standard fine- 
 ness. Let us take for an example the conversion of English gold sovereigns worth 20 
 shillings or a pound sterling, in relation to the French louis of 20 francs. The standard 
 of the sovereign gold is 0-917, fine gold being 1000 ; its weight is 125,256 gr. English, 
 or 7'980855 grammes ; by multiplying this weight into its standard, we have a product 
 of7-31844403(>; this is, in grammes, the quantity of pure gold contained in the sovereign 
 pisce. The piece of 20 francs has a legal standard of 0-9 ; and multiplying this number 
 by the weight of the louis, 6-45161 grammes, we find that it contains 5-806449 of pure 
 metal. We then make this proportion : — 
 
 As S-806449 : 20 francs : : 7-31844 -. 25-2079 francs ; or the value of the English sove- 
 ■ >i?n is nearly 25-21/ francs, in French gold coin. A similar calculation may be made for 
 "ilver coins. The French rule for finding the par of a foreign gold coin, or its intrinsic 
 alue in francs, is to multiply its weight by its standard or titre, and that product by 3A 
 ".he par of foreign silver money, or its intrinsic value in francs, is obtained by multiplying 
 Is weight in grammes by its standard in thousand parts, and by i. The French 5-franc 
 aiece has its standard or titre at 0-9, and weighs 25 grammes. 
 
 The assaying of gold for coin and trinkets requires very delicate management. The 
 French take half a gramme at most (about 7§ grains) of gold, and fuse it with thrice its . 
 weight of silver, as already described under Assay. The parting is the next operation. 
 For this purpose the'button of gold and silver alloy is first hammered flat on a piece of 
 steel, and then made feebly red hot in burning charcoal or over a lamp flame. After 
 being thus annealed, the metal is passed through the rolling press, till it he con- 
 certed into a plate about J_ of an inch thick. . After annealing this riband, it is coiled 
 into a spiral form, introduced immediately into a small matrass of a pear shape, an assay 
 matrass, and about 500 grains of nitric acid, sp. grav. 1-185, are poured over it. Heat 
 being now applied to the vessel, the solution of the silver and copper alloys ensues, and 
 after 22 minutes of constant ebullition, the liquid is poured off and replaced by an equal 
 quantity of nitric acid, likewise very pure, but of the density 1-28. This is made to boP 
 for about 10 minutes, and is then poured off, when the matrass is filled up with distilled 
 water to the brim. In conclusion, a small annealing crucible is inverted as a cup over 
 the mouth of the matrass, which is now turned upside down with a steady hand ; the 
 slip of metal falls into the crucible through the water ; which by sustaining a part ottts 
 weight softens its descent and prevents its tearing. The matrass is then dexterously 
 removed, without letting its water overflow the crucible. The water is gently decanted 
 from the crucible, which is next covered, placed in the middle of burning charcoal, and 
 withdrawn whenever it becomes red hot. After cooling, the' metal slip is weighed very 
 exactly, whence the weight of fine gold in the alloy is known. Stronger acid than that 
 prescribed above would be apt to tear the metallic riband to p : -.ces, and it would be diffi- 
 cult to gather the fine particles of gold together again. The .netallic plate becomes at 
 last merely a golden sieve, with very little cohesion. When copper is to be separated 
 from gold by cupellation, a higher temperature is requisite than in cupelling silver coin. 
 
 The coining apparatus of the Royal Mint of London is justly esteemed a masterpiece 
 of mechanical skill and workmanship. It was erected in 1811, under the direction of the 
 inventor, Mr. Boulton ; and has since been kept in almost constant emplovment. 
 
 The melting pots (fig. 973) are made of cast-iron, and hold conveniently 400 pounds 
 of metal. They are furnished with a spout or lip for pouring out the metal, and with 
 two ears, on which the tongs of the crane lay hold in lifting them out of the furnace. 
 The pot rests on pedestals on the grate of the furnace, and has a ring cast on its edge 
 Jo prevent the fuel falling into it. Whenever it becomes red hot, the metal property pre- 
 pared and mixed, so as to produce an alloy containing 0-915 parts of gold, is put in, and 
 during the melting, which occupies some hours, it is occasionally stirred. The moulds 
 *e meanwhile prepared by warming them in a stove, and thereafter by rubbing theii 
 
MINT. 
 
 233 
 
 inside surfaces with a cloth dipped in oil, by which means the ingots cast in them gel 
 a better surface. Fig. 974 represents a side view of the carriage, charged with to 
 
 moulds. When the proper number of moulds is introduced, the screws at the end, re 
 presented at 1 1, are screwed fast, to fix them all tight. 
 The pot of fused metal is lifted out of the furnace b; the crane (Jig. 975,) thei 
 
 swung round, and lowered down into the cradle I, m, n, o of the pouring machine, 
 until the ring on the edge of it rests on the iron hoop m, which, being screwed tight up, 
 holds it secure, and the crane-tongs are removed. One of the assistants now takes the 
 winch handle s in one hand, and y in the other. By turning y he moves the car- 
 riage forward, so as to bring the first mould beneath the lip of the melting pot ; and by 
 turning s ) he inclines the pot, and pours the •metal into the mould. He then fills the 
 other moulds in succession. The first portion of liquid metal is received in a small iron 
 spoon, and is reserved for the assay-master ; a second sample is taken from the centre 
 of the pot, and a third from the bottom part. Each of these is examined as to its quality. 
 
 The ingots, which are about 10 inches long, 7 broad, and 6 tenths of an inch thick, are 
 now carried to the rolling mill, 
 
 Fig. 976, where a represents a large spur wheel,' fixed on the extremity of a long 
 
234 MINT. 
 
 horizontal shaft b b, extending beneath the whole anil. This wheel and shaft are driven 
 by a smaller wheel, fixed on the main or fly-wheel shaft of a steam engine of 36-horse 
 power. The main shaft n of the rolling mill has wheels c, d, e fixed upon it, to give 
 motion to the respective rollers, which are mounted at F and g, in strong iron frames, 
 bolted to the iron sills a a, which extend through the whole length of the mill, and rest 
 upon the masonry, in which the wheels are concealed. The two large wheels c and e 
 give motion to the wheels H, I, which are supported on bearings between two standards 
 ■b, b, bolted down to the ground sills. On the ends of 'the axes of these wheels are heads 
 for the reception of coupling boxes d, d, which unite them to short connecting shafts 
 k l ; and these again, by means of coupling boxes, convey motion to the upper rollers 
 e, e, of each pair, at r and G. The middle wheel d upon the main shaft b gives motion 
 to the lower rollers in a similar manner. Thus both the rollers e,f of each frame receive 
 their motion from the main shaft with equal velocity, by means of wheels of large radius, 
 which act with much more certainty than the small pinions usually employed "in rolling 
 mills to connect the upper and lower rollers, and cause them to move together. 
 
 The rolling mill contains four pairs of rollers, each driven by its train of wheel work : 
 the mill, therefore, consists of two such sets of wheels and rollers as are represented iti 
 our figure. The two shafts are situated parallel to each other, and receive their motion 
 from the same steam engine. This admirable rolling mill was erected by Johr 
 Rennie, Esq. , 
 
 The ingots are heated to redness in a furnace before they are rolled. The two fur 
 naces for this purpose are situated before two pairs of rollers, which, from being used tc 
 consolidate the metal by rolling whilst hot, are termed breaking-down rollers. Two 
 men are employed in this operation ; one taking the metal from the furnace with a pair 
 of tongs, introduces it between the rollers; and the other, catching it as it comes 
 through, lifts it over the top roller, and returns it to his fellow, who puts it through 
 
 again, having previously . approximated the ■ 
 rollers a little by their adjusting screws. 
 After having been rolled in this manner four 
 or five times, they are reduced to nearly 
 two tenths of an inch thick, and increased 
 lengthwise to about four times the breadth of 
 the ingot. These plates, while still warm,' 
 are rubbed over with a dilute acid or pickle, 
 to remove the color produced by the heat, 
 and are then cut up into narrow slips across 
 the breadth of the plate, by means of the cir- 
 cular shears Jig. 977. 
 
 This machine is worked by a spur-wheel at the extremity of the main shaft b of the 
 rolling mill (fig. 976.) It consists of a framing of iron A A, supporting two shafts b b, 
 which are parallel to each other, and move together by means of two equal spur-wheels 
 c c, the lower one of which works with the teeth of the great wheel above mentioned, 
 upon the main shaft of the rolling mill. At the extremities of the two shafts, wheels 
 or circular cutters are fixed with their edges overlapping each other a little way. 
 f represents a shelf on which the plate is laid, and advanced forward to present it to the 
 cutter ; and g is a ledge or guide, screwed down on it, to conduct the metal and to regu- 
 late the breadth of the piece to be cut off. • Hence the screws which fasten down the 
 ledge are fitted in oblong holes, which admit of adjustment. The workman holds the 
 plate fiat upon the surface F, and pushing it towards the shears, they will lay hold of it, 
 and draw it through until they have cut the whole length. The divided parts are also 
 prevented from curling up into scrolls, as they do when cut by a common pair of shears ; 
 because small shoulders on e and r>, behind the cutting edge, keep them straight. Be- 
 hind the standard, supporting the back pivots of the shafts B B of the cutter, is a frame /, 
 with a screw m tapped through it. Th/s is used to draw the axis of the upper cutter D 
 endwise, and keep its edge in close contact with the edge of the other cutter e. The 
 slips or ribands of plate are now carried to the other two pairs of rollers in the rolling 
 mill, which are made of case-hardened iron, and better polished than the breaking-down 
 rollers. The plates are passed cold between these, to bring them to exactly the same 
 thickness ; whence they are called adjusting or planishing rollers. The workman here 
 tries every piece by a common gauge, as it comes through. This is a piece of steel 
 having a notch in it ; the inside lines of which are very straight, and inclined to one 
 another at a very acute angle. They are divided by fine lines, so that the edge of the 
 plate being pressed into the notch, will have its thickness truly determined by the depth 
 to which it enters, the divisions showing the thickness in fractions of an inch. 
 
 In rolling the plate the second time, all the plates are successively passed through the 
 rollers ; then the rollers being adjusted, they are passed through another time. This 
 s repeated thrice or even four times; after which they are all tried by the gauge, and 
 
MINT. 
 
 235 
 
 thus sorted into as many parcels as there are different thicknesses. It is a curious cir. 
 cumstance, that though the rollers are no less than 14 inches in diameter, and their frame 
 proportionally strong, they will yield in some degree, so as to reduce a thick plate in a 
 less degree than a thin one ; thus the plates which have all passed through the same 
 rollers, may he of 3 or 4 different degrees of thickness, which being sorted I y the gauge 
 into as many parcels, are next reduced to the exact dimension, by adapting the rollers to 
 each parcel. The first of the parcel which now comes through is tried, by cutting out a 
 circular piece with a small hand machine, and weighing it. If it proves either too lighl 
 or too heavy, the rollers are adjusted accordingly, till by a few such trials they are found 
 to be correct, when all the parcel is rolled through. The trial plates which turn out to 
 be too thin, are returned as waste to the melting-house. By these numerous precautions, 
 the blanks or circular discs, when cut out by the next machine, will be very nearly of the 
 same weight j which they would scarcely be, even if the gauge determined all the plates 
 to the same thickness, because some being more condensed than others, they would weigh 
 differently under the same volume. 
 
 A great improvement has been made on that mode of lamination, by the late Mr. 
 Barton's machine for equalizing the thickness of slips of metal for making coin, which 
 has been for several years introduced into the British mint. A side elevation is thown 
 in fig. 978, and a plan in fig. 979. It operates in the same way as wire-drawing mechan- 
 isms ; namely, pulls the slips of metal forcibly through an oblong opening, left between 
 two surfaces of hardened steel. The box or case which contains the steel dies, composed 
 of two hardened cylinders, is represented at c in fig. 978. The pincers employed to hold 
 the metal, and draw it through, are shown at s r. 
 
 The slips of metal to be operated on by the drawing machine, are first rendered 
 thinner at one end, that they may be introduced between the dies, and also between the 
 jaws of the pincers. This thinning of the ends is effected by another machine, con- 
 sisting of a small pair of rollers, mounted in an iron frame, similar to a rolling-mill. 
 The upper roller is cylindrical, but the lower is formed with 3 flat sides, leaving merely, 
 portions of the cylinder entire, between these flat sides. The distance between the 
 centres of the rollers is regulated by screws, furnished with wheels on their upper ends, 
 similar to what is seen in the drawing dies at c. The two rollers have pinions on their 
 axes, which make them revolve together; they are set in motion by an endless strap 
 passing round a drum, upon whose axis is a pinion working into the teeth of a wheel 
 fixed upon the axis of the lower roller. 
 
 The end of a slip of metal is presented between the rollers while they are in motion, 
 not on Mat side of the roller which would operate to draw in the slip between them, as 
 in the rolling-press above described, but on the contrary side, so that when one of the 
 flat sides of the under roller fronts horizontally the circumference of the upper roller, an 
 opening is formed, through which the slip of metal is to be inserted until it bears against 
 a fixed stop at the back of the rollers. As the rollers .continue to turn' round, the 
 cylindrical portions come opposite to each other, and press the metal between , them, 
 forcing it outwards, and rendering the part which has been introduced between the 
 rollers as thin as the space between their cylindrical surfaces. Thus the end of the slip 
 of metal becomes attenuated enough to pass between the dies of the drawing machine, 
 and to be seized by the pincers. . 
 
 In using the drawing machine, a boy takes hold of the handle s of the pincers, then- 
 hook of connexion with .the endless chain Z, I, not shown in the present figure, being dis- 
 engaged, and he moves them upon their wheels towards the die-box c. In this move, 
 cnent the jaws of the pincers get opened, and they are pushed up so close to the 
 
236 
 
 MINT. 
 
 die-box that their jaws enter a hollow, which brings them near the dies, enabling them 
 to seize the end of the slip of metal introduced between them, by the action of the pre. 
 paratory rollers. The boy now holds the handle s on the top ot the pincers fast, and- with 
 his other hand draws the handle x backwards. Thus the jaws are closed, and the metal 
 firmly griped. He now presses down the handle x till a hook on the under side of (he 
 pincers seizes the endless chain as it moves along, when it carries the pincers, and their 
 slip of metal, onwards with it. Whenever the whole length cf the metallic riband has 
 passed through between the dies, the strain on the pincers is suddenly relieved, which 
 causes the weight r to raise their hook out of the chain, and stop their motion. The ma- 
 chine in the mint has two sets of dies, and two endless chains, as represented in the plan, 
 fig. 979. N N, are toothed wheels in the upper end of the die-box, furnished with pinions 
 and levers, for turning them round, and adjusting the distance between the dies. A large 
 spur-wheel G, is fixed upon the axis F, to give motion to the endless chains ; .see both 
 figures. This spur-wl.eel is turned by a pinion H, fixed upon an axis m, extending across 
 the top of the frame, and working in bearings at each end. A spur-wheel I, is fixed 
 upon the axis m, and works into the teeth of a pinion k, upon a second axis across the 
 frame, which carries likewise a drum wheel L, through which motion is communicated to 
 the whole mechanism bv an endless strap. 
 
 The cutting-out machine is exhibited in^g. 980. A A is a. basement of stone to support 
 
 an iron plate E b, on whicli stand the 
 columns c c, that bear the upper part 
 D of the frame. The iron frame of the 
 machine E, *', jJ, is fixed down upon 
 the iron plate b, b. The punch d is fix- 
 ed in the lower part of the inner frame, 
 and is moved up and down by the screw 
 a, which is worked by wipers turned • 
 by a steam engine, impelling the lever 
 H, and turning backwards and forwards 
 the axis G, through a sufficient space 
 for cutting the thickness of the metallic 
 lamina. A boy manages this machine. 
 There are twelve of them mounted on 
 the same basement frame in a circular 
 range contained in an elegant room, 
 lighted from the roof. The whole are 
 moved by a steam engine of 16 horse 
 power. 
 
 The blanks or planchets thus cut out, 
 were formerly adjusted by filing the 
 edges, to bring them to the exact weight ; a step which Mr. Barton's ingenious mechanism 
 has rendered in a great measure unnecessary. The edge is then milled, by a process 
 which Mr. Boulton desires to keep secret, and which is therefore not shown in our mint. . 
 
 But the French mint employs a very elegant machine for the purpose of lettering 
 or milling the edges, called the cordon des monnaies, invented by M. Gengembre, which 
 has entirely superseded the older milling machine of M. Castaing, described in the 
 Encyclopedias. • The Napoleon coins of France bear on the 
 edge, in sunk letters, the legend, Dim protege la France ; and 
 those of the king, Domine salmmfac regem. This is marked 
 before striking the blank or flan. One machine imprints 
 this legend, and its serfice is so prompt and easy, that a 
 single man marks in a day 20,000 pieces of 5 francs, or 
 100,000 francs. 
 
 Each of the two arc dies E, D, (fig. 981,) carries one half 
 of the legend, engraved in relief on the curved face ; these 
 arcs are pieces of steel tempered very hard, and fixed with 
 two screws, one immoveably at e, on the sill which bears the 
 .apparatus ; the other at r>, at the extremity of the lever p, d, 
 which turns round the axis c. The letters of these demi- 
 legends are exactly parallel, and inscribed in an inverse order 
 on the dies. An alternating circular motion is communi- 
 cated to the handle p. The curvatures of the two dies are 
 arcs of circles described from the centre c ; and the interval 
 which separates them, or the difference of the radii, is pre- 
 cisely the diameter of the piece to be milled. 
 As the centre c sustains the whole strain of the milling, and p-oduces, of consequence, 
 a hard friction, this axis must possess a considerable size. It is composed of a squat 
 
MIRRORS. 237 
 
 truncated cone of tempered steel, which enters into an eye of the moveable piece p, d. 
 This cone is kept on the plate of the metal n n, -which bears the whole machine, by a 
 nut, whose screw, by being tightened or slackened, gives as much freedom as is requisite 
 forthe movement of rotation, or removes the shake which hard service gives to the cone 
 in its eye. The middle thickness of the hole of the moveable piece p, d, and the axis of 
 the lever p, which terminates it, are exactly on a level with the engraved letters of the 
 die, so that no strain can derange the moveable piece, or disturb the centre by its oscil- 
 lations. 
 
 At a is a vertical tube, containing a pile of blanks' for milling. It is kept constantly 
 full ; the tube being open at both ends, a little elevated above the circular space a, 
 E, b, which separates the dies, and fixed by a tail m with a screw to the motionless 
 piece a, b. The branch i, c, moveable with the piece p, s, passes under the tube, and 
 pushes before it the blank at the bottom of the column, which is received into a small 
 excavation in the form of a circular step, and carried forwards. Matters are thus so 
 arranged as to regulate the issue of the blanks, one by one, on the small step, called the 
 posoir (bed.) 
 
 As soon as the blank is pushed forwards into contact with the lower edge of the 
 engraved grooves, it is seized by them, and carried on by the strain of milling" without 
 exposing the upper or under surfaces of the blank to any action which may obstruct the 
 printing on its edge. 
 
 The blank is observed to revolve between the two dies according as the lever p com- 
 pletes its course, and this blank passing from a to k, then to b, meets a circular aperture 
 d, through which it falls into a drawer placed under the sill. 
 
 The range of the moveable lever p is regulated by four pieces, f, f, f, f, solidly sunk in 
 the plate N, n, which bears the whole apparatus. A stud placed on this lever towards d, 
 makes the arm of the posoir I c retire no farther than is necessary for the little blank to 
 issue from the column ; and a spring fixed to the centre c, and supported on a peg, brings 
 back the posoir ; so that when a screw i comes to strike against the column, the posoir 
 stops, and the moveable die D, which continues its progress, finds the blank in a fit 
 position for pressing, seizing, and carrying it on, by reaction of the fixed' die E. Thus 
 the edge of the blank is lettered in half a second. A hundred may easily be marked in 
 about three minutes. 
 
 The coining press is the most beautiful part of the whole mechanism in the British 
 mint ; but the limits of this volume will not allow of its being figured upon an adequate 
 scale. An engraving of it may be seen in the Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 
 The only attention which this noble machine requires is that of a little boy, who stands 
 in a sunk place before the press, and always keeps the tube full of blanks. He has two 
 strings, one of which, when pulled, will put the press in motion by the concealed me- 
 chanism in the apartment above ; and the other string, when snatched, stops the press. 
 This coining operation goes on at the rate of 60 or 70 strokes per minute ; and with 
 very few interruptions during the whole day. The press-room at the Royal Mint 
 contains eight machines, all supported on the same stone base ; and the iron beams be- 
 tween the columns serve equally for the presses on each side. The whole has therefore 
 a magnificent appearance. The eight presses will strike more than 19,000 coins in an 
 hour, with only a child to supply each. The grand improvement in these presses con- 
 sists ; 1. in the precision with which they operate to strike every coin with equal force, 
 which could not be ensured by the old press impelled by manual labor ; 2. The rising 
 collar or steel ring in which they are struck, keeps them all of one size, and makes a fair 
 edge, which was not the case with the old coins, as they were often rounded and defaced 
 by the expansion of the metal under the blow; 3. The twisting motion of the upper 
 die is thought to produce a better surface on the flat parts of the coin ; but this is some- 
 what doubtful ; 4. The feeding mechanism is very complete, and enables the machine 
 to work much quicker than the old press did, where the workman, being in constant 
 danger of having his fingers caught, was obliged to proceed cautiously, as well as to place 
 the coin true on the die, which was seldom perfectly done. The feeding mechanism of 
 the above press is a French invention ; but Mr. Boulton is ^supposed to have improved 
 upon it. 
 
 MIRRORS. See Copper and Glass. 
 
 MISPICKEL is arsenical pyrites. 
 
 MOHAIR is the hair of a goat which inhabits the mountains in the vicinity of Angora, 
 in Asia Minor. 
 
 MOIRE'E METALLIQUE, called in this country crystallized tin-plate, is a 
 variegated primrose appearance, produced upon the surface of tin-plate, by applying to it 
 in a heated state some dilute nitro-muriatic acid for a few seconds, then washing il 
 with water, drying, and coating it with lacker. The figures are more or less beau- 
 tiful and diversified, according to the degree of heat, and relative dilution of the acid. 
 This mode of ornamenting tin-plate is much less in vogue now than it was a few years ago. 
 
238 MORDANT. 
 
 MOLASSK is a sandstone belonging to the tertiary strata, employed under that name 
 by the Swiss for building. 
 
 MOLASSES is the brown viscid uncrystallizable liquor, which drains from cane sugar 
 in the colonies. See Sugab. 
 
 MOLYBDENUM (MolybdZne, Fr. ; Molybdan, Germ.) is a rare metal which occurs in 
 nature sometimes as a sulphuret, sometimes as molybdic acid, and at others as molybdate 
 of lead. Its reduction from the acid state by charcoal requires a very high heat, and 
 affords not . very satisfactory results. When reduced by passing hydrogen over the igni- 
 ted acid, it appears as an ash-gray powder, susceptible of acquiring metallic lustre by 
 being rubbed with a steel burnisher ; when reduced and fused with charcoal, it possesses 
 a silver white color, is very brilliant, hard, brittle, of specific gravity 8-6 ; it melts in a 
 powerful air-furnace, oxydizes with heat and air, burns at an intense heat into molybdic 
 acid, dissolves in neither dilute sulphuric, muriatic, nor fluoric acids, but in the concen- 
 trated sulphuric and nitric. 
 
 , The protoxyde consists of 85-69 of metal, and 14-31 of oxygen ; the deutoxyde con- 
 sists of 75 of metal, and 25 of oxygen ; and the peroxyde, or molybdic acid, of 66-6 of 
 metal, and 33-4 of oxygen. These substances are too rare at present to be used in any 
 manufacture. 
 
 MORDANT, in dyeing and calico-printing, denotes a body which, having a twofold 
 attraction for organic fibres and coloring particles, serves as a bond of union betweer. 
 them, and thus gives fixity to dyes ; or it signifies a substance which, by combining with 
 coloring particles in the pores of textile filaments, renders them insoluble in hot soapy 
 and weak alkaline solutions. In order properly to appreciate the utility and the true func- 
 tions of mordants, we must bear in mind that coloring matters are peculiar compounds 
 possessed of certain affinities, their distinctive characters being not to be either acid or 
 alkaline, and yet to be capable of combining with many bodies, and especially with 
 salifiable bases, and of receiving from each of them modifications in their color, 
 solubility, and alterability. Organic coloring substances, when pure, have a very 
 energetic attraction for certain bodies, feeble for others, and none at all for some. 
 Among these immediate products of animal or vegetable life, some are soluble in pure 
 water, and others become so only through peculiar agents. We may thus readily con- 
 ceive, that whenever a dye-stuff possesses a certain affinity for the organic fibre, it will 
 be able to become fixed on it, or to dye it without the intervention of mordants, if it be 
 insoluble by itself in water, which, in fact, is the case with the coloring matters of 
 safflower, annotto, and indigo. The first two are soluble in alkalis ; hence, in order to 
 use them, they need only.be dissolved in a weak alkaline ley, be thus applied to the 
 stuffs, and then have their tinctorial substance precipitated within their pores, by 
 abstracting their solvent alkali with an acid. The coloring matter, at the instant of 
 ceasing to be liquid, is in an extremely divided state, and is in contact with the organic 
 fibres for which it has a certain affinity. It therefore unites with them, and, being 
 naturally insoluble in water, that is, having no affinity for this vehicle, the subsequent 
 washings have no effect upon the dye. The same thing may be said of indigo, 
 although its solubility in the dye-bath does not depend upon a similar cause, but is due 
 to a modification of its constituent elements, in consequence of which it becomes 
 soluble in alkalis. Stuffs plunged into this indigo bath get impregnated with the 
 solution, so that when again exposed to the air, the dyeing substance resumes at once 
 its primitive color and insolubility, and washing can carry off only the portions in ex- 
 cess above the intimate combination, or which are merely deposited upon the surface of 
 the stuff. 
 
 Such is the result with insoluble coloring matters ; but for those which are soluble 
 it should be quite the reverse, since they do not possess an affinity for the organic fibres, 
 which can counterbalance their affinity for water. In such circumstances, the dyer 
 must have recourse to intermediate bodies, which add their affinity for the coloring 
 matter to that possessed by the particles of the stuff, and increase by this twofold action 
 the intimacy and the stability of the combination. These intermediate bodies are the 
 true mordants. 
 
 Mordants are in general found among the metallic bases or oxydes ; whence they 
 might be supposed to be very numerous, like the metals ; but as they must unite the two- 
 fold condition of possessing a strong affinity for both the coloring matter and the organic 
 fibre, and as the insoluble bases are almost the only ones fit to form insoluble combina- 
 tions, we may thus perceive that their number may be very limited. It is well known, 
 that although lime and magnesia, for example, have a considerable affinity for coloring 
 particles, and form insoluble compounds with them, yet they cannot be employed as mor- 
 dants, because they possess no affinity for the textile fibres. 
 
 Experience has proved, that of all the bases, those which succeed best as mordants are 
 alumina, tin, and oxyde of iron ; the first two of which, being naturally white, are the 
 only ones which can be employed for preserving to the color its original tint, at least 
 
MORDANT. 239 
 
 without much variation. But whenever the mordant is itself colored, it will cause the 
 dye to take a compound color quite different from its own. If, as is usually said, the 
 mordant enters into a real chemical union with the stuff to be dyed, the application of 
 the mordant should obviously be made in such circumstances as are known to be most 
 favorable to the combination taking place ; and this is the principle of every day's prac- 
 tice in the dye-house. 
 
 In order that a combination may result between two bodies, they must not only be in 
 contact, but they must be reduced to their ultimate molecules. The mordants that are 
 to be united with stuffs are, as we have seen, insoluble of themselves, for which reason 
 their particles must be divided by solution in an appropriate vehicle. Now this solvent 
 or menstruum will exert in its own favor an affinity for the mordant, which will prove 
 to that extent an obstacle to its attraction for the stuff. Hence we must select such 
 solvents as have a weaker affinity for the mordants than the mordants have for the stuffs. 
 Of all the acids wnich can be employed to dissolve alumina, for example, vinegar is the 
 one which will retain it with least energy, for which reason the acetate of alumina is 
 now generally substituted for alum, because the acetic acid gives up the alumina with 
 such readiness, that mere elevation of temperature is sufficient to effect the separation of 
 these two substances. Before this substitution of the acetate, alum alone was employed ; 
 but without knowing the true reason, all the French dyers preferred the alum of Rome, 
 simply regarding it to be the purest ; it is only within these few years that fliey have 
 understood the real grounds of this preference. This alum has not, in fact, the same com- 
 position as the alums of France, England, and Germany, but it consists chiefly of cubic 
 alum having a larger proportion of base. Now this extra portion of base is held by the 
 sulphuric acid more feebly than the rest, and hence is more readily detached in the form 
 of a mordant. Nay, when a solution of cubic alum is heated, this redundant alumina 
 falls down in the state of a subsulphate, long before it reaches 1he boiling point. This 
 difference had not, however, been recognised, because Roman alum, being usually soiled 
 with ochre on the surface, gives a turbid solution, whereby the precipitate of subsulphate 
 of alumina escaped observation. When the liquid was filtered, and crystallized afresh, 
 common octahedral alum alone was obtained ; whence it was most erroneously concluded, 
 that the preference given to Roman alum was unjustifiable, and that its only superiority 
 was in being freer from iron. 
 
 Here a remarkable anecdote illustrates the necessity of extreme caution, before we 
 venture to condemn from theory a practice found to be useful in the arts, or set about 
 changing it. When the French were masters in Rome, one of their ablest chemists 
 was sent thither to inspect the different manufactures, and to place them upon a level 
 with the state of chemical knowledge. One of the fabrics, which seemed to him furthest . 
 behindhand, was precisely that of alum, and he was particularly hostile to the construc- 
 tion of the furnaces, in which vast boilers , received heat merely at their bottoms, and 
 could not be made to boil. He strenuously advised them to be new modelled upon a 
 plan of his own ; but, notwithstanding his advice, which was no doubt very scientific, the 
 old routine kept its ground, supported by utility and reputation, and very fortunately, 
 too, for the manufacture ; for had the higher heat been given to the boilers, no more 
 genuine cubical alum would have been made, since it is decomposed at a temperature 
 of about 120° F., and common octahedral alum would alone, have been produced. The 
 addition of a little alkali to common alum brings it into the same basic state as the alum 
 of Rome. 
 
 The two principal conditions, namely, extreme tenuity of particles, and liberty of 
 action, being found in a mordant, its operation is certain. But as the combination to 
 be effected is merely the result of a play of affinity between the solvent and the stuff to 
 be dyed, a sort of partition must take place, proportioned to the mass of the solvent, as 
 well as to its attractive force. Hence the stuff will retain more of the mordant when 
 its solution is more concentrated, that is,. when the base diffused through it is not so 
 much protected by a large mass of menstruum ; a fact applied to very valuable uses by 
 the practical man. On impregnating in calico printing, for example, different spots of 
 the same web with the same mordant in different degrees of concentration, there is 
 obtained in the dye-bath a depth of color upon these spots intense in proportion to the 
 strength of their various mordants. Thus, with solution of acetate of alumina in dif- 
 ferent grades of density, and with madder, every shade can be produced, from the fullest 
 red to the lightest pink ; and, with acetate of iron and madder, every shade from black 
 to pale violet. 
 
 We hereby perceive that recourse must indispensably be had to mordants at different 
 stages of concentration ; a circumstance readily realized by varying the proportions of 
 the "watery vehicle. See Calico-printing and Madder. When these mordants areto 
 be topically applied, to produce partial dyes upon cloth, they must be thickened with 
 starch or gum, to prevent their spreading, and to permit a sufficient body of them to 
 oecome attached to the stuff. Starch answers best for the more neutral mordants, and 
 
240 MORDANT. 
 
 gum for the acidulous ; but so much of them should never be used, as to impede the 
 attraction of the mordant for the cloth. Nor should the thickened mordants be of too 
 desiccative a nature, lest they become hard, and imprison the chemical agent before it 
 has had an opportunity of combining with the cloth, during the slow evaporation of its 
 water and acid. Hence the mordanted goods, in such a case, should be hung up to 
 dry in a gradual manner, and when oxygen is necessary to the fixation of the base, they 
 should be largely exposed to the atmosphere. The foreman of the factory ought, there- 
 fore, to be thoroughly conversant with all the minutiae of chemical reaction. In cold 
 and damp weather he must raise the temperature of his drying-house, in order to com- 
 mand a more decided evaporation ; and when the atmosphere is unusually dry and 
 warm, he should add deliquescent correctives to his thickening, as I have particularized 
 in treating of some styles of calico-printing. But, supposing the application of the 
 mordant and its desiccation to have been properly managed, the operation is by no 
 means complete; nay, what remains to be done is not the least important to success, 
 nor the least delicate of execution. Let us bear in mind that the mordant is intended 
 to combine not only with the organic fibre, but afterwards also with the coloring 
 matter, and that, consequently, it must be laid entirely bare, or scraped clean, so to 
 speak, that is, completely disengaged from all foreign substances which might invest it, 
 and obstruct its intimate contact with the coloring matters. This is the principle and 
 the object of two operations, to which the names of dunging and clearing have been 
 given. 
 
 If the mordant applied to the surface (.i the cloth were completely decomposed, and 
 the whole of its base brought into chemical union with it, a mere rinsing or scouring in 
 water would suffice for removing the viscid substances added to it, but this never 
 happens, whatsoever precautions may be taken; one portion of the mordant remains 
 untouched, and besides, one part of the base of the portion decomposed does not enter 
 into combination with the stuff but continues loose and superfluous. All these par- 
 ticles, therefore, must be removed without causing any injury to the dyes. If in this 
 predicament the stuff were merely immersed in water, the free portion of the mordant 
 would dissolve, and would combine indiscriminately with all the parts of the cloth not 
 mordanted, and which should be carefully protected from such combination, as well as 
 the action of the dye. We must therefore add to the scouring water some substance 
 that is capable of seizing the mordant as soon as it is separated from the cloth, and of 
 forming with it an insoluble compound ; by which means we shall withdraw it from 
 the sphere of action, and prevent its affecting the rest of the stuff, or interfering with the 
 other dyes. This result is obtained by the addition of cow-dung to the scouring bath ; a 
 substance which contains a sufficiently great proportion of soluble animal matters, and of 
 coloring particles, for absorbing the aluminous and ferruginous salts. The heat given to 
 the dung-bath accelerates this combination, and determines an insoluble and perfectly 
 inert coagulum. 
 
 Thus the dung-bath produces at once the solution of the thickening paste; a more 
 intimate union between the alumina or iron and the stuff, in proportion to its elevation 
 of temperature, which promotes that union ; an effectual subtraction of the undecomposed 
 and superfluous part of the mordant, and perhaps a commencement of mechanical separa- 
 tion of the particles of alumina, which are merely dispersed among the fibres ; a separa- 
 tion, however, which can be completed only by the proper scouring, which is done by the 
 dash-wheel with such agitation and pressure (see Bleaching and Dunging) as vastly 
 facilitate the expulsion of foreign particles. See also Bran. 
 
 Before concluding this article, we may say a word or two about astringents, and 
 especially gall-nuts, which have been ranked by some writers among mordants. It is 
 rather difficult to account for the part which they play. Of .course we do not allude to 
 their operation in the black dye, where they give the well known purple-black color 
 with salts of iron ; but to the circumstance of their employment for madder dyes, and 
 especially the Adrianople red. All that seems to be clearly established is, that the 
 ■astringent principle or tannin, whose peculiar nature in this respect is unknown, com- 
 bines like mordants with the stuffs and the coloring substance, so as to fix it ; but as this 
 tannin has itself a brown tint, it will not suit for white grounds, though it answers ^quite 
 well for pink grounds. When white spots are desired upon a cloth prepared with oil and 
 galls, they are produced by an oxygenous discharge, effected either through chlorine 01 
 chromic acid. 
 
 MORDANT is also the name sometimes given to the adhesive matter by wnich 
 gold-leaf is made to adhere lo surfaces of wood and metal in gilding. Paper, vellum, 
 taffety, &c, are easily gilt by the aid of different mordants, such as the following : 1. 
 beer in which some honey and gum arabic have been dissolved ; 2. gum arabic, sugar, 
 and water ; 3. the viscid juice of onion or hyacinth, strengthened with a little gum 
 arabic. When too much gum is employed, the silver or gpld leaf is apt to crack in 
 the drying of the mordant. A little carmine should be mixed with the above colorless 
 
MOROCCO. 241 
 
 liquids, to mark the places where they are applied. The foil is applied by means of a 
 dossil of cotton wool, and when the mordant has become hard, the foil is polished with 
 Uie same. 
 
 The best medium for slicking gold and silver leaf to wood is the following, called mix- 
 tion by the French artists : — 1 pound of amber is to be fused, with 4 ounces of mastic in 
 tears, and 1 ounce of' Jewish pitch, and the whole dissolved in 1 pound of linseed oil ren 
 dered drying by litharge. 
 
 Painters in distemper sometimes increase the effect of their work, by patches of gold 
 leaf, which they place in favorable positions; they employ the above mordant. The 
 manufacturers of paper hangings of the finer kinds attach gold and silver leaf to them by 
 the same varnish. 
 
 MOROCCO. See Leather. 
 
 MOEPHIA (Morphine, Fr. ; Morphin, Germ.) is a vegeto-alkali which exists asso- 
 ciated with opian, codeine, narcotine, meconine, meconic acid, resin, gum, bassorine, lig- 
 nine, fat oil, caoutchouc, extractive, &c. in opium. Morphia is prepared as follows : 
 Opium in powder is to be repeatedly digested with dilute muriatic acid, slightly heated, 
 and sea-salt is to be added, to precipitate the opian. The filtered liquid is to be super- 
 saturated with ammonia, which throws down the morphia, along with the meconine, resin, 
 and extractive. The precipitate is to be washed with water, heated, and dissolved in 
 dilute muriatic acid ; the solution is to be filtered, whereby the foreign matters are sepa- 
 rated from the salt of morphia, which concretes upon cooling, whilp the meconine remains 
 in the acid liquid. The muriate of morphia having been squeezed between folds of blot- 
 ting paper, is to be sprinkled with 'water, again squeezed, next dissolved in water, and 
 decomposed by. water, of ammonia. The precipitate when washed, dried, dissolved in 
 alcohol, and crystallized, is morphia. 
 
 These crystals, which contain 6-32 per cent, of combined water, are transparent, color- 
 less, four-sided prisms, without smell, and nearly void of taste, fusible at a moderate heat, 
 and they concrete into a radiated translucent mass, but at a higher temperature they 
 grow purple-red. Morphia consists of 72-34 of carbon ; 6-366 of hydrogen ; 5 of azote ; 
 and 16-3 of oxygen. It burns with a red and very smoky flame, is stained red by nitric 
 acid, is soluble in 30 parts of boiling anhydrous alcohol, in S00 parts of boiling water, but 
 hardly if at all in cold water, and is insoluble in ether and oils. The solutions have a 
 strong bitter taste, and an alkaline reaction upon litmus paper. The saline com- 
 pounds have a bitter taste, are mostly crystallizable, are soluble in water and alcohol 
 (but not in ether },and give a blue color to the peroxyde salts of iron. It is a very poi- 
 sonous substance. Acetate of morphia is sometimes prescribed, instead of opium, in 
 medicine. 
 
 Preparation of Morphia. — The aqueous extract of opium is to be concentrated by 
 evaporation, and mixed with chloride of tin, till no further precipitate appears. The 
 liquid is then allowed to settle, is poured-off, the precipitate is washed, and the wash- 
 ings mixed with the poured-off liquid. To this mixture is then added ammonia, and 
 the precipitate which it produces is to be digested with ether, in order to remove the 
 narcotine ; and then with alcohol, as long as the latter acquires- a bitter taste. The 
 alcohol being then partially removed by distillation, the pure morphia is obtained in 
 the form of crystals. 
 
 MORTAR, HYDRAULIC, called also Roman Cement, is, the kind of mortar used for 
 building piers, or walls under or exposed to water, such as those of harbors,, docks, <fce. 
 The poorer sorts of limestone are best adapted for this purpose, such as contain from 8 
 to 25 per cent of foreign matter, in silica, alumina, magnesia, &a. These though cal- 
 cined, do not slake when moisted; but if pulverized they absorb water without swell- 
 ing up or heating, like fat lime, and afford a paste which hardens- in a few days under 
 water, but in the air they never acquire much solidity. "Smeaton first discovered these • 
 remarkable facts, and described them in 1759. 
 
 The following analyses of different hydraulic limestones, by Bcrthieiy merit confi- 
 dence [see next page] :— 
 
 Mo. 1 is from the fresh-water lime formation of Chateau-Lan.don,,near Nemours; No. 
 2, the large-grained limestone of Paris ; both of these afford a fat lime when burnt. 
 Dolomite affords a pretty fat lime, though it contains 42 per cent- of carbonate of mag- 
 nesia ; No. 3. is a limestone from the neighborhood of Paris, which yields a poor lime, 
 possessing no hydraulic property ; No. 4 is the secondary limestone of Metz; No. 5 is 
 the lime marl of Senonches, near Dreux; both the latter have the property of harden- 
 ing under water, particularly the last, which is much used at 1'aris on this account. 
 
 All good hydraulic mortars must contain alumina and silica ; the oxides of iron and 
 manganese, at one time considered essential, are rather prejudicial ingredients. _ By 
 adding silica and alumina, or merely the former, in certain circumstances, to fat lime, 
 a water-cement may be artificially formed ; as also by adding to lime any or the follow- 
 ing native productions, which contain silicates ; puzzolana, trass or tarras, pumice-stone, 
 basalt-tuff, slate-clay. Puzzolana is a volcanic product, which forms hills of consider- 
 Vol. II. IV 
 
242 
 
 MORTAR, HYDRAULIC. 
 
 A. Analyses of limestones. 
 Carbonate offime 
 Corbonate of magnesia - 
 Carbonate of protoxide of iron 
 Carbonate of manganese 
 Silica and alumina 
 Oxide of iron 
 
 No.l. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 97-0 
 2-0 
 
 1-0 
 
 98-5 
 1-5 
 
 74-5 
 230 
 
 1-2 
 
 76-5 
 3-0 
 3-0 
 1-5 
 
 I 15-2 
 
 80-0 
 1-5 
 
 I 18-0 
 
 1000 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 B. Analyses of the burnt lime. 
 Lime - 
 
 Magnesia -• - 
 Alumina - - - 
 Oxide of iron 
 
 96.4 
 1-8 
 1'8 
 
 97-2 
 2-8 
 
 78-0 
 
 20-0 
 
 2-0 
 
 68-3 
 2-0 
 
 24-0 
 5-7 
 
 70-0 
 
 1-0 
 
 29-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 1000 
 
 able extent to the south-west of tie Appenines, in the district of Rome, the Pontine 
 marshes, Viterbo, Bolsena, and in the Neapolitan region of Pozzuolo, whence the name. 
 A similar volcanic tufa is found in many other parts of the world. According to 
 Berthier, the Italian puzzolana consists of 44-5 silica; 15 - alumina; 8 - 8 lime; 4-7 
 magnesia; 1-4 potash; 4-1 soda; 12 oxides of iron and titanium; 9"2 water; in lOf 
 parts. 
 
 The tufa stone, which when ground forms trass, is composed of 57-0 silica, 16-0 clay, 
 2-6 lime, 1-0 magnesia, 7-0 potash, 1-0 soda, 5 oxydes of iron and titanium, 9-6 water. 
 This tuff is found abundantly filling up valleys in beds of to or 20 feet deep, in the north 
 pf Ireland, among the schistose formations upon the banks of the Rhine, and at Mon- 
 heim in Bavaria. 
 
 The fatter the lime, the less of it must he added to the ground puzzolana or trass, to 
 form a hydraulic mortar ; the mixture should be made extemporaneously, and must at an 
 rate he kept dry till about to be applied. Sometimes a proportion of common sand mor 
 tar instead of lime is mixed with the trass. When the hydraulic cement hardens too 
 soon, as in 12 hours, it is apt to crack ; it is better when it takes 8 days to concrete. 
 Through the agency of the water, silicates of lime, alumina, (magnesia,) and oxyde of 
 iron are formed, which assume a stony hardness. 
 
 Besides the above two volcanic products, other native earthy compounds are used in 
 making water cements. To this head belong all limestones which contain from 20 to 
 30 per cent, of clay and silica. By gentle calcination, a portion of the carbonic acid is 
 expelled, and a little lime is combined with the clay, while a silicate of clay and lime 
 results, associated with lime in a subcarbonated state. A lime-marl containing less .clay 
 will bear a stronger calcining heat without prejudice to its qualities as a hydraulic 
 cement ; but much also depends upon the proportion of silica present, and the physical 
 structure of all the constituents. 
 
 The mineral substance most used in England for making such mortar is vulgarly 
 called cement-stone. It is a reniform limestone, which occurs distr.'buted in single nodules 
 or rather lenticular cakes, in beds of clay. They are mostly found in those argillaceous 
 strata which alternate with the limestone beds of the oolite formation, as also in the 
 clay strata above the chalk, and sometimes in the London clay. On the coasts of Kent, 
 in the isles of Sheppey. and Thanet, on the coasts of Yorkshire, Somersetshire, and the 
 Isle of Wight, &c, these nodular concretions are found in considerable quantities, having 
 been laid bare by the action of the sea and weather. They were called by the older 
 •mineralogists Septaria and Ludus Helmontii (Van Helmont's coits.) When sawn across, 
 they show veins of calc-spar traversing the silicious clay, and are then sometimes placed 
 in the cabinets of virtuosi. They are found also in several places on the Continent, as 
 at Neusthdt-Eberswalde, near Antwerp, near Altdorf in Bavaria ; as also at Boulogne- 
 sur-mer, where they are called Boulogne-pebbles (galets). These nodules vary in size 
 from that Of a fist to a man's head ; they are of a yellow-gray or brown color, inter- 
 persed with veins of calc-spar, and sometimes contain cavities bestudded with crystals. 
 
 Their specific gravity is 2-59. 
 
 Analyses of several cement-stones, and of the cement made with them : — 
 
MORTAR, HYDRAULIC. 
 
 243 
 
 A. Constituents of the cement- 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No.& 
 
 No. i. 
 
 Nc.5. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 stones. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carbonate of lime 
 
 65-7 
 
 61-6 
 
 . 
 
 82-9 
 
 63-8 
 
 — magnesia - 
 
 0-5 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1-5 
 
 — protoxide of iron 
 
 6-0 
 
 6-0 
 
 - - 
 
 | « 
 
 11-6 
 
 — manganese 
 
 1-6 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 Silica - - 
 
 18-0 
 
 16'0 
 
 . 
 
 13-0 
 
 14-0 
 
 Alumina or clay 
 
 6-6 
 
 4'8 
 
 - . 
 
 trace 
 
 5-7 
 
 Oxide of iron 
 
 . 
 
 3-0 
 
 
 
 
 Water - 
 
 1-2 
 
 6-6 
 
 - - 
 
 - 
 
 9-4 
 
 B. Constituents of the cement. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lime - - - 
 
 55-4 
 
 54 '0 
 
 55-0 
 
 - . 
 
 56-6 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 Alumina or clay 
 
 36-0 
 
 81-0 
 
 38-0 
 
 - - 
 
 21 '0 
 
 Oxide of iron 
 
 8-6 
 
 150 
 
 18-0 
 
 - 
 
 13-7 
 
 No. 1. English cement-stone, analyzed by Berthier; No. 2. Boulogne stone, by Dra. 
 piez; No. 3. English ditto, by Davy; No. 4. reniform limestone nodules from Arkona, 
 by Huhnefeld ; No. 5. cement-stone of Avallon, by Dumas. 
 
 In England the stones are calcined in shaft-kilns, or sometimes in mound kilns, then 
 ground, sifted, and packed ii. iasks. The color of the powder is dark-brown-red. When 
 made into a thick paste with ."ater, it absorbs little cf it, evolves hardly any heat, and 
 soon indurates. It is mixed with sharp sand in various proportions, immediately before 
 using it; and is employed in all marine and river embankments, for securing the seams 
 of stone or brick floors or arches from the percolation of moisture, and also for facing 
 walls to protect them from damp. 
 
 The cement of Pouilly is prepared from a Jurassic (secondary) limestone, which con- 
 tains 39 per cent, of silica, with alumina, magnesia, and iron oxyde. Vicat forms a fac- 
 titious Roman cement by making bricks with a pasty mixture of 4 parts of chalk, and 1 
 part of dry clay, drying, burning, and grinding them. River sand must be added to this 
 powder; and even with this addition, its efficacy is somewhat doubtful ; though it has, 
 for want of a better substitute, been much employed at Paris. 
 
 The cement of Dihl consists of porcelain or salt-glaze potsherds ground fine, and 
 mixed with boiled linseed oil. 
 
 Hamelin's mastic or lithic paint to cover the facades of brick buildings, &c, is com- 
 posed of 50 measures of silicious sand, 50 of lime-marl, and 9 of litharge or red-lead 
 ground up with linseed oil. 
 
 Professor Kuhlmann, of Lisle, obtained a patent in April, 1841, in the name of Mr. 
 Newton, for certain improvements in the manufacture of lime-cement and artificial 
 stone ; and of which he gave me a sample, possessed of a hardness and solidity fit for 
 the sculptor. 
 
 In operating by the dry method, instead of calcining the limestone with sand and 
 clay alone, as has been hitherto commonly practised, this inventor introduces a small 
 quantity of soda, or, preferably, potash, in the state of sulphate, carbonate, or muriate; 
 salts susceptible of forming silicates when the earthy mixture is calcined. The alkaline 
 salt, equal in weight to about one -fifth that of the lime, is introduced in solution among 
 the earths. 
 
 All sorts of lime aro made hydraulic, in the humid way, by mixing slaked lime with 
 solutions of common ah.m or sulphate of alumina ; but the best method consists in em- 
 ploying a solution of the silicate of potash, called liquor of flints, or soluble glass, to 
 mix in with the lime, or lime and clay. An hydraulic cement may also be made which 
 will serve for the manufacture of architectural ornaments, by making a paste of pul- 
 verized chalk, with a solution of the silicate of potash. The said liquor of flints like : 
 wise gives chalk and plaster a stony.hardness, by merely soaking them in it, after they 
 are cut, or moulded to a proper shape. On exposure to the air, they get progressively 
 indurated. Superficial hardness may be readily procured by washing over the surface 
 of chalk, &a., with liquor of flints, by means of a brush. This method affords an easy 
 and elegant method of giving a stony crust to plastered walls and ceilings of apart- 
 ments ; as also to statues and busts, cast in gypsum, mixed with chalk. 
 
 The essential constituents of every good hydraulic mortar are caustic lime and 
 silica; and the hardening of this compound under water consists mainly in a chemical 
 iombi'nation of these two constituents through the agency of the water, producing a 
 
244 
 
 MOTHER OP PEARL. 
 
 hydrated silicate of lime. But such mortars may contain other bases besides lime, a( 
 for example clay and magnesia, whence double silicates of great solidity are formed ; 
 on which account dolomite is a good ingredient of these mortars. But the Bilica musi 
 be in a peculiar state for these purposes ; namely, capable of affording a gelatinous 
 paste with acids ; and if not so already, it must be brought into this condition, by cal- 
 cining it along with an alkali or an alkaline earth, at a bright red heat, when it will 
 dissolve, and gelatinize in acids. Quartsoze sand, however fine_ its powder maybe, 
 will form no water mortar with lime ; but if the powder be ignited with the lime, it 
 then becomes fit for hydraulic work. Ground felspar or clay forms with slaked lime 
 no water cement; but when they are previously calcined along with the lime, the 
 mixture becomes.capable of hardening under water. 
 
 The mastic called Mamelin's, and so much employed in London, is composed of ground 
 Portland stone (roe stone), sand and litharge in the proportion of 62 of the first, 35 of 
 the second, and 3 of the third, in 100 parts; but other proportions will also answer 
 the purpose. I find that chalk will not make a good mastic ; being too compact to 
 permit the air to insinuate between the pores, and to produce the concretion of the 
 linseed oil, with which the above mixture is worked up and applied. This mastic soon 
 acquires great hardness, and is totally impervious to water. The surface to which it 
 is to be applied must be dry, and smeared over with linseed oil. Considerable dexterity 
 is required to make good work with it. The fine dust of sandstone alone, mixed with 
 10 or 12 per cent, of litharge and 1 per cent, of linseed oil, forms an excellent mastic. 
 
 Limestone, which contains as much as 10 per cent, of clay, comports itself after cal- 
 cination, if all the carbonic acid be expelled, just as pure limestone would do. When 
 it is less strongly burned, it affords, however, a mass which hardens pretty speedily 
 in water. If the argillaceous proportion of a marl amounts to 18 or 20 per cent., it still 
 will slake with water, but it will absorb less of it, and forms a tolerably good hydrau- 
 lic mortar, especially if a little good Roman cement be added to it. When the pro- 
 portion of clay is 25 or 30 per cent, after burning, it heats but little with water, nor 
 does it slake well, and must therefore be ground by stampers or an edge millstone, 
 when it is to be used as a mortar. This kind of marl yields commonly the best 
 water cement without other addition. Should the quantity of clay be increased 
 farther, as up to 40 per cent., the compound willnot bear a high or long-continued 
 heat without being spoiled for making ' hydraulic mortar after grinding to powder. 
 When more strongly calcined, it forms a vitriform substance, and should, after being 
 pulverized, be mixed up with good lime, to make a water mortar. If the marls, in 
 any locality, differ much in their relative proportions of lime and alumina, as may be 
 readily ascertained by the use of my lime-proof apparatus (See Jig. 1321.), then the 
 several kinds should be mixed in such due proportions as to produce the most 
 speedily setting, and most highly indurating hydraulic cement See Sons, Analysis 
 of. 
 
 MOSAIC GOLD. For the composition of this peculiar alloy of copper and zinc, 
 called also Or-molu, Messrs. Parker and Hamilton obtained a patent in November, 1825. 
 Equal quantities of copper and zinc are to be "melted at the lowest temperature that 
 copper will fuse," which being stirred together so as to produce a perfect admixture of 
 the metals, a further quantity of zinc is added in small portions, until the alloy in the 
 melting pot becomes of the color required. If the temperature of the copper be too high, 
 a portion of the zinc will fly off in vapor, and the result will be merely spelter or hard 
 solder ; but if the operation be carried on at as low a heat as possible, the alloy wil. 
 assume first a brassy yellow color; then, by the introduction of small portions of zinc, il 
 will take a purple or violet hue, and will ultimately become perfectly white ; which is 
 the appearance of the proper compound in its fused state. This alloy may be poured 
 into ingots ; but as it is difficult to preserve its character when re-melted, it should be 
 cast directly into the figured moulds. The patentees claim the exclusive right of com- 
 pounding a metal consisting of from 52 to 55 parts of zinc out of 100. 
 
 Mosaic gold, the aurum musiimm of the old chemists, is a sulphuret of tin. 
 
 MOSAIC. (Mosaiqtie, Fr. ; Mosaisch, Germ.) There are several kinds of mosaic, 
 but all of them consist in imbedding fragments of different colored substances, usually 
 glass or stones, in a cement, so as to produce the effect of a picture. The. beautiful cha- 
 pel of Saint Lawrence in Florence, which contains the tombs of the Medici, has been 
 greatly admired by artists, on account of the vast multitude of precious marbles, jaspers, 
 agates, avanturines, malachites, &c, applied in mosaic upon its walls. The detailed 
 discussion of this subject belongs to a treatise upon the fine arts. 
 
 MOTHER OF PEARL (Nacre de Perks, Fr. ; Perlen mutter, Germ.) is the hard, 
 silvery, brilliant internal layer of several kinds of shells, particularly oysters, which 
 is often variegated with changing purple and azure colors. The large oysters of the 
 Indian seas alone secrete this coat of sufficient thickness to render their shells available 
 lo (he purposes of manufactures. The genus of shell fish called pentadina furnishes 
 the finest pearls, as well as mother of pearl; it is found in gieatest perfection round the 
 
MURIATIC ACID. 245 
 
 coasts of Ceylon, near 0'rirms in the Persian Gulf, at Cape Comorin, and among some 
 of the Australian seas. The brilliant hues of mother of pearl do not depend upon the 
 nature of the substance, but upon its structure. The mieroscopio wrinkles or furrows 
 which run across the surface of every slice, act upon the reflected light in such a way as 
 to produce the chromatic effect ; for Sir David Brewster has shown, that if we take, with 
 very fine black wax, or with the fusible alloy of D'Arcet, an impression of mother of pearl, 
 it will possess the iridescent appearance. Mother of pearl is very delicate to work, 
 but it may be fashioned by saws, files, and drills, with the aid sometimes of a corrosiva 
 acid, such as the dilute sulphuric or muriatic ; and it is polished by eolcothar of vitriol 
 
 MOTHER- WATER is the name of the liquid which remains after all the salts thai 
 will regularly crystallize have been extracted, by evaporation and cooling, from any saline 
 solution. 
 
 MOUNTAIN SOAP (Savon de moniagne, Fr. ; Bergseife, Germ.) is a tender mineral, 
 soft to the touch, which assumes a greasy lustre when rubbed, and falls to pieces In water. 
 It consists of silica 44, alumina 26-5, water 20-5, oxyde of iron 8, lime 0-5. It occurs in 
 beds, alternating with different sorts of clay, in the Isle of Skye, at Billin in Bohemia, 
 &c. It has been often, but improperly, confounded with steatite. 
 
 MUCIC ACID (Jlcide muciqne, Fr. ; Schleimsaiire, Germ.) is the same as the saclactic 
 acid of Scheele, and may be obtained by digesting one part of gum arabic, sugar of milk, 
 or pectic acid, with twice or thrice their weight of nitric acid. It forms white granular 
 crystals, and has not been applied to any use in the arts. 
 
 MUCILAGE is a solution in water of gummy matter of any kind. 
 
 MUFFLE is the earthenware case or box, in the assay furnaces, for receiving the 
 cupels, and protecting them from being disturbed by the fuel. See Assay and 
 Furnace. • 
 
 MUNDIC is the name of copper pyrites among English miners. 
 
 MUNJEET is a kind of madder grown in several parts of India. 
 
 MURIATIC or HYDROCHLORIC ACID ; anciently marine acid, and spirit of salt. 
 (Acide hydrochloriqiie, and Chlorhydrique, Fr. ; Salzsaure, Germ.) This acid is now extract- 
 ed from sea-salt, by the action of sulphuric acid and a moderate heat ; but it was originally 
 obtained from the salt by exposing a mixture of it and of common clay to ignition, in an 
 earthen retort. The acid gas whieh exhales, is rapidly condensed by water. 100 cubic 
 inches of water are capable of absorbing no less than 48,000 cubic inches of the acid 
 gas, whereby the liquid acquires a specific gravity of 1-2109 ; and a volume of 142 cubic 
 inches. This vast condensation is accompanied with a great production of heat, whence 
 it becomes necessary to apply artificial refrigeration, especially if so strong an acid as the 
 above is to be prepared. In general, the muriatic acid of commerce has a specific gravity 
 varying from 1-15 to 1-20 ; and contains, for the most part, considerably less than 40 
 parts by weight of acid gas in the hundred. The above stronger acid contains 42-68 per 
 cent, by weight ; for since a cubic inch of water, which weighs 252-5 grains, has 
 absorbed 480 cubic inches = 188 grains of gas ; and 2525 -f- 188 = 440-5 ; then 
 440-5 : 188 : : 100 : 42-68. In general a very good approximation may be found to the 
 per centage of real muriatic aeid, in any liquid sample, by multiplying the decimal 
 figures of the specific gravity by 200. Thus for example, at 1-162 we shall have by 
 this rule 0-162 X 200 = 32-4, for the quantity of gas in 100 parts of the liquid. Muriatic 
 acid gas consists of chlorine and hydrogen combined, without condensation, in equal vol- 
 umes. Its specific gravity is 1-247, air = 1-000. 
 
 By sealing up muriate of ammonia and sulphuric acid, apart, in a strong glass tube re- 
 curved, and then causing them to act on ea:h other, Sir H. Davy procured liquid muriatic 
 acid. He justly observes, that the generation of elastic substances in close vessels, either 
 with or without heat, offers much more powerful means of approximating their molecules 
 than those dependant on the application of cold, whether natural or artificial ; for as gases 
 diminish only 1 in volume for every degree of Fahrenheit's scale, beginning at ordinary 
 temperatures, a very slight condensation only can be produced by the most powerful 
 freezing mixtures, not half as much as would result from the application of a strong 
 (lame to one part of a glass tube, the other part being-of ordinary temperature; and when 
 attempts are made to condense gases into liquids by sudden mechanical compression, the 
 heat instantly generated presents a formidable obstacle to the success of the experiment ; 
 whereas in the compression resulting from their slow generation in close vessels, if the 
 process be conducted with common precautions, there is no source of difficulty or danger ; 
 and it may be easily assisted by artificial cold, in cases where gases approach near to 
 that point of compression and temperature at which they become vapors. — Phil. Trans. 
 1823. 
 
 The muriatic acid of commerce has usually a yellowish tinge, but when chemically pure 
 
 jt is colorless. It fumes strongly in' the air, emitting a corrosive vapor of a peculiar 
 
 smell. The characteristic test of muriatic acid in the most dilute state, is nitrate of silver, 
 
 which causes a curdy precipitate of chloride of silver. 
 
 The preparation of this acid upon the great scale is frequently effected in this country 
 
246 MURIATIC ACID. 
 
 by acting upon sea-salt in hemispherical iron pots, or in cast-iron cylinders, with eon 
 centrated sulphuric acid; taking 6 parts of the salt to 6 of the aeid. The mouth of the 
 pot may be covered with a slab of silicious freestone, perforated with two holes of about 
 two inches in diameter each, into the one of which the acid is poured bv a funnel in 
 successive portions, and into the other a bent glass, or stone-ware tube, is fixed, for con- 
 ducting the disengaged muriatic gas into a series of large globes of bottle glass, one 
 third filled with water, and laid on a sloping sand-bed. A week is commonly employed 
 for working off each pot ; no heat being applied to it till the second day. 
 
 The decomposition of sea-salt by sulphuric acid, was at one time carried on by some 
 French manufacturers in large leaden pans, 10 feet long, 5 feet broad, and a foot deep, 
 ;overed with sheets of lead, and luted. The disengaged acid gas was made to circulate 
 in a conduit of glazed bricks, nearly 650 yards long, where it was condensed by a sheet 
 of water exceedingly thin, which flowed slowly in the opposite direction of the gas down 
 a slope 6T 1 in 200. At the end of this canal nearest the apparatus, the muriatic acid 
 was as strong as possible, and pretty pure ; but towards the other end, the water war 
 hardly acidulous. The condensing part of this apparatus was therefore tolerably com 
 plete ; but as the decomposition of the salt could not be finished in the leaden pans, tht 
 acid mixture had to be drawn out of them, in order to be completely decomposed in a 
 reverberatory furnace j in this way nearly 50 per cent, of the muriatic acid was lost. 
 And besides, the great quantity of gas given off during the emptying of the lead-chambers 
 was apt to suffocate the workmen, or seriously injured their lungs, causing severe 
 hemoptysis. The employment of muriatic acid is io inconsiderable, Lnd the loss of it 
 incurred in the preceding process is of so little consequence, that subsequently, both in 
 France and in England, sulphate of soda, for the soda manufacture, has been procured 
 with the dissipation of the muriatic acid in the air. In the method more lately resorte< > 
 to, the gaseous products are discharged into extensive vaults, where currents of watei 
 condense them and carry them off into the river. The surrounding vegetation is thereby 
 saved in some measure from being burned up, an accident which was previously sure to 
 happen when fogs precipitated the floating gases upon the ground. At Newcastle, 
 Liverpool, and Marseilles, where the consumption of muriatic acid bears no proportion 
 to the manufacture of soda, this process is now practised upon a vast scale. 
 
 The apparatus for condensing muriatic acid gas has been modified and changed, ol 
 late years, in many different ways. 
 
 The Sastringue apparatus. At the end of a reverberatory furnace, (see Coffer, 
 smelting of, and Soda, manufacture of,) a rectangular lead trough or pan, about 1 foot 
 deep, of a width equal to that of the interior of the furnace, that is, about 5 feet wide, 
 and 6J feet long, is incased in masonry, having its upper edges covered with cast-iron 
 plates or fire tiles, and placed upon a level with the passage of the flame, as it escapes 
 from the reverberatory. The arch which covers that pan forms a continuation of the 
 roof of the reverberatory, and is of the same height. The flame which proceeds from 
 the furnace containing the mixture of salt and sulphuric acid is made to escape between 
 the vault and the surface of the iron plates or fire tiles, through a passage only 4 inches 
 in height. When the burned air and vapors reach the extremity of the pan, they are 
 reflected downwards, and made to return beneath the bottom of the pan, in a flue, which 
 is afterwards divided so as to lead the smoke into two lateral flues, which terminate in 
 the chimney. The pan is thus surrounded as it were with the heat and flame discharged 
 from the reverberatory furnace. See Evaporation. A door is opened near the end of 
 the pan, for introducing the charge of sea-salt, amounting to 12 bags of 2 cwts. each, or 
 24 cwts. This door is then luted on as tightly as possible, and for every 100 pahs of salt, 
 110 of sulphuric acid are poured in, of specific gravity 1-594, containing 57 per cent, of 
 dry acid. This acid is introduced through a funnel inserted in the roof of the furnace. 
 Decomposition ensues, muriatic acid gas mingled with steam is disengaged, and is con- 
 ducted through 4 stone-ware tubes into the refrigerators, where it is finally condensed. 
 These refrigerators consist of large stone-ware carboys, called dame-jeans in France, to 
 the number of 7 or 8 for each pipe, and arranged so "that the neck of the one communi- 
 cates with the body of the other; thus the gas must traverse the whole series, and gets 
 in a good measure condensed by the water in them, before reaching the last. 
 . When the operation is finished, the door opposite the pan is opened, and the residuum 
 in it is discharged, in the form of a fluid magma, upon a square bed of bricks, exterior 
 to the furnace. This paste speedily concretes on cooling, and is then broken into frag- 
 ments and carried to the soda manufactory. The immense quantity of gas exhaled in 
 discharging the pan, renders this part of the operation very painful to the workmen ; 
 and wasteful in reference to the production of muriatic acid. The difficulty of luting 
 securely the cast-iron plates or fire tiles which cover the pan, the impossibility of com- 
 pleting the decomposition of the salt, since the residuum must be run off in a liquid 
 itate, finally, the damage sustained by the melting and corrosion of the lead, &c, are 
 among the causes why no more than 80 or 90 parts of muriatic acid at 1-170 are collected, 
 
MURIATIC ACID. 
 
 247 
 
 equivalent to 25 per cent, of real acid for every 100 of salt employed, instead of much 
 more than double that quantity, -which it may be made to yield by a well conducted 
 chemical process. 
 
 The cylinder apparatus is now much esteemed by many manufacturers.^ Fig. 982 
 represents, in transverse section, a bench of iron cylinder retorts, as built up in a proper 
 furnace for producing muriatic acid ; anijig. 983, a longitudinal section of one retort 
 
 with one of its carboys of condensation, a is the grate ; b, a fireplace, in which two 
 iron cylinders, c c, are set alongside of each other. They are 5| feet long, 20 inches in 
 
 diameter, about j of an inch 
 thick, and take 1-6 cwts. of 
 salt for a charge ; d is the ash- 
 pit ; e, e, are cast-iron lids, for 
 closing both ends of the cylin- 
 ders;/ is a tube in the pos- 
 \ ^^M YMWMMMWM'Mw, W Mi\ h fc %■ terior lid, for pouring in the 
 ""' — fe^sl ^s^ ==: %-. H « sulphuric acid; g is another 
 
 tube, in the anterior lid, for 
 the insertion of the bent pipe 
 of hard glazed stone-ware h ; 
 i is a three-necked stone-ware 
 carboy; k is a tube of safety; 
 I, a tube of communication with 
 the second carboy ; m m, mm, 
 are the flues leading to the 
 chimney «.* 
 
 After the salt has been introduced, and the fire kindled, 83| per cent, of its 
 weight of sulphuric acid, of spec. grav. 1-80, should be slowly poured into the cylinder 
 through i lead funnel, with a syphon-formed pipe. The three-necked carboys may be 
 cither piaced in a seritfs . or each retort, like a range of Woulfe's bottles, or all the carboys 
 of the front range may be placed in communication with one another, while the last car- 
 boy at one end is joined to the first of the second range ; and thus in succession. They 
 must be half filled with cold water ; and when convenient, those of the front row at 
 least, should be plunged in an oblong trough of running water. The acid which con- 
 denses in the carboys of that row is apt to be somewhat contaminated with sulphuric 
 acid, muriate of iron, or even sulphate of soda ; but that in the second and third will be 
 found to be pure. In this way 100 parts of sea-salt will yield 130 parts of muriatic acid 
 oi spec. grav. 1-19 ; while the sulphate of soda in the retort will afford from 208 to 210 
 of that salt in crystals. 
 
 It is proper to heat all the parts of the cylinders equably, to ensure the simultaneous 
 decomposition of the salt, and to protect it from the acid ; for the hotter the iron, and the 
 stronger the acid, the less erosion ensues. 
 
 Sorne manufacturers, with the view of saving fuel by the construction of their furnaces, 
 oppose to the flame as many obstacles as they can, and make it perform numerous circula- 
 tions round the cylinders ; but this system is bad, and does not even effect the desired 
 economy, because the passages, being narrow, impair the draught, and become speedily 
 choked up with the soot, which would be burned profitably in a freer space ; the decom- 
 position also, being unequally performed, is less perfect, and the cylinders are more in- 
 jured. It is better to make the flame envelope at once the body of the cylinder ;' after 
 
248 
 
 MURIATIC ACID. 
 
 which it may circulate beneath the vault, in order to give out a portion of its calorie, 
 before it escapes at the chimney. 
 
 The fire should be briskly kindled, but lowered as soon as the distillation commences ; 
 and then continued moderate till the evolution of gas diminishes, when it must be 
 heated somewhat strongly to finish the decomposition. The.iron door is now removed 
 to extract the sulphate of soda, and to recommence another operation. This sulphate 
 ought to be white and uniform, exhibiting in its fracture no undecomposed sea-salt. 
 
 Liquid muriatic acid has a very sour corrosive taste, a pungent suffocating smell, and 
 acts very powerfully upon a vast number of mineral, vegetable, and animal substances. 
 It is much employed for making many metallic solutions ; and in combination with nitric 
 acid, it forms the aqua regia of the alchemists, so called from its property of dissolving 
 gold. 
 
 Table of Muriatic Acid, by Dr. Ure. 
 
 Acid 
 of 120 
 
 Specific 
 
 Chlo- 
 
 Muriatic 
 
 Acid 
 of 120 
 
 Specific 
 
 Chlo- 
 
 Muriatie|„f% d n | Specific Chlo- 
 
 Muriatic 
 
 in Kill 
 
 gravity 
 
 rine. 
 
 Gas. 
 
 in 100 
 
 gravity. 
 
 rine. 
 
 Gas. 
 
 in 100 
 
 giavrty. 
 
 nne. 
 
 Gas. . 
 
 100 
 
 1-2000 
 
 39-675 
 
 40-777 
 
 66 
 
 1-1328 
 
 26-186 
 
 26-913 
 
 32 
 
 10637 
 
 12-697 
 
 13-049 
 
 99 
 
 1-1982 
 
 39-278 
 
 40-369 
 
 65 
 
 1-1308 
 
 25-789 
 
 26-505 
 
 31 
 
 1-0617 
 
 12-300 
 
 12-641 
 
 98 
 
 1-1964 
 
 38-882 
 
 39-961 
 
 64 
 
 1-1287 
 
 25-392 
 
 26-098 
 
 30 
 
 1-0597 
 
 11-903 
 
 12-233 
 
 97 
 
 1-1946 
 
 38-485 
 
 39-554 
 
 63 
 
 1-1267 
 
 24-996 
 
 25-690 
 
 .29 
 
 1-0577 
 
 11-506 
 
 11-825 
 
 96 
 
 1-1928 
 
 38-089 
 
 39-146 
 
 62 
 
 1-1247 
 
 24-599 
 
 25-282 
 
 28 
 
 1-0557 
 
 11-109 
 
 11-418 
 
 95 
 
 1-1910 
 
 37-692 
 
 38-738 
 
 61 
 
 1-1226 
 
 24-202 
 
 24-874 
 
 27 
 
 1-0537 
 
 10-712 
 
 11-010 
 
 94 
 
 1-1893 
 
 37-296 
 
 38-330 
 
 60 
 
 1-1206 
 
 23-805 
 
 24-466 
 
 26 
 
 1-0517 
 
 10-316 
 
 10-602 
 
 93 
 
 1-1875 
 
 36-900 
 
 37-923 
 
 59 
 
 J-1185 
 
 23-408 
 
 24-058 
 
 25 
 
 1-0497 
 
 9-919 
 
 10-194 
 
 m 
 
 1-1857 
 
 36-503 
 
 37-516 
 
 58 
 
 1-1164 
 
 23-012 
 
 23-050 
 
 24 
 
 1-0477 
 
 9-522 
 
 9-786 
 
 91 
 
 1-1846 
 
 36-107 
 
 37-108 
 
 57 
 
 1-1143 
 
 22-615 
 
 23-242 
 
 23 
 
 1-0457 
 
 9-126 
 
 9-379 
 
 90 
 
 1-1822 
 
 35-707 
 
 36-700 
 
 56 
 
 1-1123 
 
 22-218 
 
 22-834 
 
 22 
 
 1-0437 
 
 8-729 
 
 8-971 ! 
 
 89 
 
 1-1802 
 
 35-310 
 
 36-292 
 
 55 
 
 1-1102 
 
 21-822 
 
 22-426 
 
 21 
 
 1-0417 
 
 8-332 
 
 8-563 • 
 
 88 
 
 1-1782 
 
 34-913 
 
 35-884 
 
 54 
 
 1-1082 
 
 21-425 
 
 22-019 
 
 20 
 
 1-0397 
 
 7-935 
 
 8-155 
 
 87 
 
 1-1762 
 
 34-517 
 
 35-476 
 
 53 
 
 1-1061 
 
 21-028 
 
 21-611 
 
 19 
 
 1-0377 
 
 7-538 
 
 7-747 ' 
 
 86 
 
 1-1741 
 
 34-121 
 
 35-068 
 
 52 
 
 1-1041 
 
 20-632 
 
 21-203 
 
 18 
 
 1-0357 
 
 7-141 
 
 7-340 
 
 85 
 
 1-1721 
 
 33-724 
 
 34-660 
 
 51 
 
 1-1020 
 
 20-235 
 
 20-796 
 
 17 
 
 1-0337 
 
 6-745 
 
 6-932 
 
 84 
 
 1-1701 
 
 33-328 
 
 34-252 
 
 50 
 
 1-1000 
 
 19-837 
 
 20-388 
 
 16 
 
 1-0318 
 
 6-348 
 
 6-524 
 
 83 
 
 1-1681 
 
 32-931 
 
 33-845 
 
 49 
 
 1-0980 
 
 19-440 
 
 19-980 
 
 15 
 
 1-0298 
 
 5-951 
 
 6-116 
 
 8a 
 
 1-1661 
 
 32-535 
 
 33-437 
 
 48 
 
 1-0960 
 
 19-044 
 
 19-572 
 
 14 
 
 1-0279 
 
 5-554 
 
 5-709 
 
 81 
 
 1-1641 
 
 32-136 
 
 33-029 
 
 47 
 
 1-0939 
 
 18-647 
 
 19-165 
 
 13 
 
 1-0259 
 
 5-158 
 
 5-301 
 
 80 
 
 1-1620 
 
 31-746 
 
 32-621 
 
 46 
 
 1-0919 
 
 18-250 
 
 18-757 
 
 12 
 
 1-0239 
 
 4-762 
 
 4-893 
 
 79 
 
 1-1599 
 
 31-343 
 
 32-213 
 
 45 
 
 1-0899 
 
 17-854 
 
 18-349 
 
 11 
 
 1-0220 
 
 4-365 
 
 4-486 
 
 78 
 
 1-1578 
 
 30-946 
 
 31-805 
 
 44 
 
 1-0879 
 
 17-457 
 
 17-941 
 
 10 
 
 1-0200 
 
 3-968 
 
 4-078 
 
 77 
 
 1-1557 
 
 30-500 
 
 31-398 
 
 43 
 
 1-0859 
 
 17-060 
 
 17-534 
 
 9 
 
 1-0180 
 
 3-571 
 
 3-670 
 
 76 
 
 1-1536 
 
 30-153 
 
 30-990 
 
 42 
 
 1.0838 
 
 16-664 
 
 17-126 
 
 8 
 
 1-0160 
 
 3-174 
 
 3-262 
 
 75 
 
 1-1515 
 
 29-757 
 
 30-582 
 
 41 
 
 1-0818 
 
 16-267 
 
 16-718 
 
 •7 
 
 10140 
 
 2-778 
 
 2-854 
 
 74 
 
 1-1494 
 
 29-361 
 
 30-174 
 
 40 
 
 1-0798 
 
 15-870 
 
 16-310 
 
 6 
 
 1-0120 
 
 2-381 
 
 2-447 
 
 73 
 
 1-1473 
 
 28-964 
 
 29-767 
 
 39 
 
 1-0778 
 
 15-474 
 
 15-902 
 
 fi 
 
 1-0100 
 
 1-984 
 
 2-039 
 
 72 
 
 1-1452 
 
 28-567 
 
 29-359 
 
 38 
 
 1-0758 
 
 15-077 
 
 15-494 
 
 4 
 
 1-0080 
 
 1-588 
 
 1-631 
 
 71 
 
 1-1431 
 
 28-171 
 
 28-951 37 
 
 1-0738 
 
 14-680 
 
 15-087 
 
 3 
 
 1-0060 
 
 1-191 
 
 1-224 
 
 70 
 
 1-1410 
 
 27-772 
 
 28-544 J 36 
 
 1-0718 
 
 14-284 
 
 14-679 
 
 2 
 
 1-0040 
 
 0-795 
 
 0-816 
 
 69 
 
 1-1389 27-376 
 
 28-1361 35 
 
 1-0697 
 
 13-887 
 
 14-271 
 
 1 
 
 1-0020 
 
 o^g-* 
 
 0-408 
 
 68 
 
 1-1369 26-979 
 
 27-7281 34 
 
 1-0677 
 
 13-490 
 
 13-863 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 1-1349 126-583 27-321 1 33 
 
 1-06571 13-094 
 
 13-456 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 In treating of soda, we shall have occasion to comment upon the formation of muri- 
 atic acid; and therefore it is unnecessary to enter into the details of' that operation 
 here. The purest commercial muriatic acid commonly contains sulphureous acid in 
 considerable quantity, which unfits it for many purposes, and ought therefore to be 
 guarded against; but more than this, when made from sulphuric acid containing ar- 
 senic, it is invariably contaminated with that poisonous substance, and hence those 
 persons who are in the habit of making what is called digestive bread, by an admix- 
 ture of bicarbonate of soda and muriatic acid with the flour they employ, cannot be too 
 careful in going to none but the most respectable sources for their acid ; as an enormous 
 amount of rough muriatic acid is constantly passing through the market positively 
 loaded with arsenious impurity. For the same reason, as chloride of lime is manufac- 
 tured from the acid, it must be regarded with a cautious eye ; as, during the action of 
 euch muriatic acid upon peroxide of manganese, a highly volatile chloride of arsenic 
 
MUSQUET. 249 
 
 passes off with the chlorine gas, and is condensed like it by the lime. Since, ho\* ever, 
 this, in the end, becomes arsenite of lime, a salt almost insoluble in water, the tendency 
 to mischief is greatly diminished. Nevertheless, as in some medico-legal works it is 
 recommended to sprinkle cadaverous exhumations with chloride of lime, the ends ol 
 justice may easily be perverted or prevented, if due care be not employed to ascertain 
 beforehand that the chloride of lime is pure. Very little indeed of that to be met with 
 in commerce will bear a careful analytical investigation. 
 
 MURIATES were, till the great chemical era of Sir H. Davy's researches upon chlo- 
 rine, considered to be compounds of an undecomponnded acid, the muriatic, with the 
 different bases ;. but he proved them to be, in reality, compounds of chlorine with the 
 metals. They are all, however, still known in commerce by their former appellation. 
 The only muriates much used in the manufactures are, Muriate of ammonia or Sal-Am 
 moniac; muriated peroxide of mercury, Mercury, bichloride of; muriate of soda, or chlo- 
 ride of sodium, see Salt; muriate of tin, see Calico-Printing and Tin ; Submuriate oj 
 mercury or Calomel. 
 
 MUSK {Muse, Fr. ; Moschus, Germ.) ; is a peculiar aromatic substance, found in a 
 sac between the navel and the parts of generation of a small male quadruped of the 
 deer kind, called by Linnaeus Moschus moschifcrus, which inhabits Tonquin and Thibet. 
 The color of musk is blackish-brown; it is lumpy or granular, somewhat like dried 
 blood, with which substance, indeed, it is often adulterated. The intensity of its smell 
 is almost the only criterion of its genuineness. When thoroughly dried it becomes 
 nearly scentless ; but it recovers its odor when slightly moistened with water of am- 
 monia. The Tonquin musk is most esteemed. • It comes to us in small bags covered 
 with a reddish-brown hair; the bag of the Thibet musk is covered with a silvery -gray 
 hair. All the analyses of musk hitherto made teach little or nothing concerning its 
 active or essential constituent. It is used in medicines, and is an ingredient in a great 
 many perfumes. 
 
 The musk deer, from the male of which animal species the bag containing this valu- 
 able drug is obtained, is a native of the mountainous Kirgesian and Langorian steppes of 
 the Altai, on the river Irtish, extending eastwards as far as the river Jenesi and Lake 
 Baikal; and generally of the mountains of Eastern Asia, between 30° and 60° of N. Lat. 
 Two distinct kinds of musk are known in commerce, the first being the Chinese Ton- 
 quin, Thibetian or Oriental, and the Siberian or Russian. The Chinese is regarded by 
 Dr. Goebel as the result of ingenious adulterations of the genuine article by that crafty 
 people. The Russian musk is genuine, the bags never being opened, are consequently 
 never sewn, nor artificially closed, like those imported into London from China. The 
 former is sometimes so fresh, that moisture may be expressed from the bag by cutting 
 through its fleshy side. The interior mass is frequently of a soft and pappy consist- 
 ence ; but the surface of the bag is perfectly dry. The Chinese bags are found invari- 
 ably to have been opened and again glued together, more or less neatly ; though 
 sometimes the stitches of the sewing are manifest. Mr. Dryssen, an eminent merchant 
 at St. Petersburgh, states that during the many years he has been in the trade, al- 
 though he has received at a time from 100 to 200 ounces from London, yet in no case 
 whatever has he met with a bag which had not been opened, and closed with more or 
 less ingenuity. The genuine contents seem to have been first removed, modified, and 
 replaced. M. Guibourt gives the following as the constituents of a Chinese musk bag : 
 1, water; 2, ammonia; 3, solid fat or stearine; 4, liquid fat or elaine; 5, cholesterine ; 
 6, acid oil, combined with ammonia; 1, volatile oil; 8-10, hydrochlorates of ammonia, 
 potassa, and lime; 11, an undetermined acid; 12, gelatine; 13, albumen; 14, fibrine; 
 15, carbonaceous matter, soluble in water; .16, calcareous salt; 17, carbonate of lime; 
 18, hairs and sand. 
 
 From June 1841 to June 1842, a duty of 6d. per oz. was paid at the port of London 
 alone upon 969 ounces of musk. The prices of grain musk of the best quality (the 
 matter without the bag) varies from 60s. to 95«. per oz. 
 
 There is a superior musk imported now from the United States, which is nearly free 
 from the carbonate of lime, so abundant in the bags of the Siberian musk. 
 
 MUSLIN, is a fine cotton fabric, used for ladies' robes; which is worn either white, 
 dyed, or printed. 
 
 ' MUSQUET. It is now twenty-two years since the Hon. Board of Ordnance, with 
 the view of introducing the use of percussion fire-arms into the British Army, em- 
 ployed me to investigate experimentally the best mode of preparing the priming powder 
 for that purpose. The resu.lt of these experiments was presented in a report, the sub- 
 stance of which is given under the article Fulminate in this Dictionary. During 
 this long interval, Mr. Lovell, inspector of small arms for her Majesty's service, and 
 director of the Royal manufactory, at Enfield Chase, has directed his ingenious mind 
 to the construction of a sure, simple, and strong musquet, with which, under his able 
 superintendence, the whole of her Majesty's soldiers are now provided. Hs has also 
 
250 
 
 MUSQUET. 
 
 furnished them with a short, but clear set of instructions for the cleaning and man- 
 agement of these excellent arms, illustrated by a series of wood engravings. Fix m thii 
 little work, the following notice is copied. 
 
 Fig. 984. The barrel, reduced to one-seventh size, a, the breech; b, the nipple-seat 
 or lump; c, the back-sight; d, the back loop; e, the middle loop; /, the swirel-loop 
 g, (he front-loop with the bayonet spring attached; k, the front sight; i, the muzzle. 
 
 Fig. 985. The breech-pin, half size; a, the tang; 6, the neck; c, the screw threads 
 d, the face. 
 
 988 
 
 T7„ 
 
 985 
 
 d 
 
 
 ^7*z 
 
 n 
 
 Fig. 986. The bayonet-spring, two ways, half size, a, the shank; 6, the neck; c, 
 Ihe hook ; rf, the mortice. ' 
 
 Fig.m. The nipple, full size, a, the cone; b, the'squares ; c, the shoulder; c 
 the screw-threads ; e, the touch-hole. ■ 
 
MYRICINE. 
 
 251 
 
 Fig. 988. The rammer, reduced to one-seventh size, a, the head; b, the shaft; c, 
 the screw-threads. 
 
 Fig. 989. The look outside, half size, a, the plate ; 6, the cock; c, the tumjler-pin 
 d, the hollow for the nipple seat. 
 
 Fig. 990. The lock inside, half size, showing all the parts in their places with the cock 
 down at bearer, a,, the main-spring; b, the sear-spring; c, the sear; d, the tumbler j 
 
 /, the main-spring 
 
 sear-spring-pin; i, the 
 
 the bridle ; 
 oridle-pin. 
 
 MUST is the sweet juice of the grape. 
 
 MUSTARD (Moutarde, Fr. ; Serif, Germ.) is a plant which yields the well-known 
 seed used ns a condiment to food. M. Lenormand gives the following prescription fo.- 
 preparing mustard for the table. 
 
 With 2 pounds of very fine flour of mustard, mix half an ounce of each of the follow- 
 ing f'rssh plants ; parsley, chervil, celery, and tarragon, along with a clove of garlic, and 
 twelve salt anchovies, all well minced. The whole is to be triturated with the flour of 
 mustard till the mixture becomes uniform. A little grape-must or sugar is to be added, 
 to give the requisite sweetness; then one ounce of salt, with sufficient water to form a 
 thinnish paste by rubbing in a mortar. With this paste the mustard pots being near!) 
 filled, a redhot poker is to be thrust down into the contents of each, which removes (it 
 is said) some of the acrimony of the mustard, and evaporates a little water, so as to make 
 room for pouring a little vinegar upon the surface of the paste. Such table mustard not 
 only keeps perfectly well, but improves with age. 
 
 The mode of preparing table mustard patented by M. Soyes, consisted in steeping 
 mustard seed in twice its bulk of weak wood vinegar for eight days, then grinding the 
 whole into paste in a mill, putting it into pots, and thrusting a redhot poker into 
 each of them. 
 
 MUTAGE is a process used in the south of France to arrest the progress ol lermenia 
 tion in the must of the grape. It consists either in diffusing sulphurous acid, from burn 
 Ing sulphur matches in the cask containing the must, or in adding a little sulphite (not 
 sulphate) of lime to it. The last is the best process. See Fermentation. 
 
 MYRICINE is a vegetable principle which constitutes from 20 to 30 per cent, of 
 the weight of bees-wax^ being the residuum from the solvent action of alcohol upon tha> 
 
252 NAILS. 
 
 substance. It lS a grayish-white solid, which may be vaporized almost without alter 
 ation. 
 
 MYRRH is a gum-resin, which occurs in tears of different sizes ; they are reddish- 
 brown, semi-transparent, brittle, of a shining fracture, appear as if greasy under the 
 pestle, they have a very acrid and bitter taste, and a strong, not disagreeable, smell. 
 Myrrh flows from the incisions of a tree not well known, which grows in Arabia and 
 Abyssinia, supposed to be a species of am :ra or mimosa. It consists of resin and gum in 
 proportions staled by Pelletier at 3 1 of tlie former and 66 of the latter j but by Braconot, 
 at 23 and 77. It is used only in medicine. 
 
 N. 
 
 NACARAT is a term derived from the Spanish word nacar, which signifies mothei of 
 pearl ; and is applied to a pale red color, with an orange cast. See Calico-printing. 
 The nacarat of Portugal or Bezetta is a crape or fine linen fabric, dyed fugitively of the 
 above tint, which ladies rub upon their countenances to give them a roseate hue. The 
 Turks of Constantinople manufacture the brightest red crapes of this kind. See Rouge. 
 NAILS, MANUFACTURE OF. (Clou, Fr. ; Nagcl, Germ.) 
 
 The forging of nails was till of late years a handicraft operation, and therefore belonged 
 to a book of trades, rather than to a dictionary of arts. But several combinations of 
 machinery have been recently employed, under the protection of patents, for making these 
 useful implements, with little or no aid of the human hand ; and these deserve to be 
 noticed, on account both of their ingenuity and importance. 
 
 As nails are objects of prodigious consumption in building their block-houses, the 
 citizens of the United States very early turned their mechanical genius to good account in 
 the construction of various machines for making them. So long since as the year 1810, it 
 appears, from the report of the secretary of their treasury, that they possessed a machine 
 which performed the cutting and heading at one operation, with such rapidity that it 
 could turn out upwards of 100 nails per minute. " Twenty years ago," says the secretary 
 of the state of Massachusetts, in that report, "some men, then unknown, and then in 
 obscurity, began by cutting slices out of old hoops, and, by a common vice griping these 
 pieces, headed them with several strokes of the hammer. By progressive improvements, 
 slilting-mills were built, and the shears and the heading tools were perfected ; yet much 
 labor and expense were requisite to make nails. In a' little time Jacob Perkins, Jona- 
 than Ellis, and a few others, put into execution the thought of cutting and of heading nails 
 by water power ; but, being more intent upon their machinery than upon their pecuniary 
 affairs, they were unable to prosecute the business. At different times other men have 
 soent fortunes in improvements and it may be said with truth that more than one mil- 
 lion of dollars has been expended ; but at length these joint efforts are crowned with com- 
 plete success, and we are now able to manufacture, at about one third of the expense 
 that wrought nails can be manufactured for, nails which' are superior to them for at least 
 three fourths of the purposes to which nails are applied, and for most of those purposes 
 they are full as good. The machines made use of by Odiorne, those invented by Jonathan 
 Ellis, and a few others, present very fine specimens of American genius. 
 
 " To northern carpenters, it is well known that in almost all instances it is unneces- 
 sary tc bore a hole before driving a cut nail ; all that is requisite is, to place the cutting 
 edge of the nail across the grain of the wood ; it is also true, that cut nails will hold bet- 
 ter in the wood. These qualities are, in some rough building works, worth twenty per 
 cent, of the value of the article, which is equal to the whole expense of manufacturing. 
 For sheathing and drawing, cut nails are full as good as wrought nails ; only in one 
 respect are the best wrought nails a little superior to cut nails, and that is where it is ne- 
 cessary they should be clinched. The manufacture of cut nails was born in our country, 
 and has advanced, within its bosom, through all the various stages of infancy to manhood; 
 and no doubt we shall soon be able, by receiving proper encouragement, to render them 
 superior to wrought nails in every particular. 
 
 « The principal business of rolling and slitting-mills, is rolling nail plates ; they also 
 serve to make nail rods hoops, tires, sheet iron, and sheet copper. In this State we 
 have not less than twelve. 
 
 "These miUs could roll and slit 7000 tons of iron a year; they now, it is presumed, 
 roil and slit each year about 3500 tons, 2400 tons of which, probably, are cut up into 
 nails and brads, of such a quality that they are good substitutes for hammered nails, and, 
 in fact, have the preference with most people, for the following reasons ; viz., on account 
 of the sharp corner and true taper with which cut nails are formed ; they may be driven 
 into harder wood without bending or breaking, or hazard of splitting the wood, by which 
 
NAILS. 
 
 253 
 
 the labor of boring is saved, the nail one way being of the same breadth or thickness from 
 head to point." 
 
 Since the year 1820, the following patents have been obtained in England for making 
 nails ; many of them of American origin : — 
 
 Alexander Law, September, 1821, for nails and bolts for ships' fastenings, made" in a 
 twisted form, by hand labor. 
 
 Glascott and Mitchell, December, 1823, for ship nails with rounded heads, by hand 
 labor. 
 
 Wilks and Ecroyd, November, 1825, for an engine for cutting wedge-form pieces from 
 plates. 
 
 Ledsom and Jones, December 11, 1827, for machinery for cutting brads and sprigs from 
 plates i it does not form heads. 
 
 The first nail apparatus to which I shall particularly advert, is due to Dr. Church ; it 
 was patented in his absence by his correspondent, Mr. Thomas Tyndall, of Birmingham, 
 in December, 1827. It consists of two parts ; the first is a mode of forming nails, and 
 the shafts of screws, by pinching or pressing ignited rods of iron between indented rol- 
 lers ; the second produces the threads on the shafts of the screws previously pressed. 
 The metallic rods, by being passed between a pair of rollers, are rudely shaped, and then 
 cut asunder between a pair of shears j after which they are pointed and headed, or other- 
 wise brought to their finished forms, by the agency of dies placed in a revolving cylinder. 
 The several parts of the mechanism are worked by toothed wheels, cams, and levers. 
 The second part of Dr. Church's invention consists of a mechanism for cutting the threads 
 of screws to any degree of obliquity or form.* 
 
 Mr. L. W. Wright's (American) apparatus should have been mentioned before the pre- 
 ceding, as the patent for it was sealed in March of the same year ; though an amended 
 patent was obtained in September, 1828. Its object was to form metal screws for wood. 
 I have seen the machinery, but consider it much too complex to be described in the 
 present work. 
 
 Mr. Edward Hancorne, of Skinner street, London, nail manufacturer, obtained a 
 patent in October, 1828, for a nail making-machine, of which a brief description may 
 give my readers a conception of this kind of manufacture. Its principles are similar to 
 those of Dr. Church's more eleborate apparatus. 
 
 The rods or bars having been prepared in the usual way, either by rolling or hammer- 
 ing, or by cutting from sheets or plates of iron, called slitting, are then to be made red- 
 hot, and in that state passed through the following machine, whereby they are at once cut 
 into suitable lengths, pressed into wedge forms for pointing at the one end, and stamped 
 at the other end to produce the head. A longitudinal view of the machine is shown in 
 fig. 991. A strong iron frame-work, of which one side is shown at a a, supports tte 
 whole of the mechanism. 6 is a table capable of sliding to and fro horizontally. 
 
 Upon this table are the clamps, which lay hold of the sides of the rod as it advances; 
 as also the shears which cut the rod into nail lengths. 
 
 These clamps or holders consist of a fixed piece and a movable piece ; the latter be- 
 ing brought into action by a lever.' The rod or bar of iron shown at c, having been made 
 red hot, is introduced into the machine by sliding it forward upon the table b, when the 
 table is in its most advanced position ; rotatory motion is then given to the crank shaft d, 
 
 * For further details, see Newton's Journal, 2nd series, vol. iil. p. 184 
 
254 NAILS. 
 
 by means of a band passing round the rigger pulley e, which causes the table b to Ik 
 drawn back by the crank rod f: and as the table recedes, the horizontal lever is acted 
 upon, which closes the clamps. By these means the clamps lake fast hold of the sides of 
 the heated rod, and draw it forward, when the moveable chap of the shears, also acted 
 upon by a lever, slides laterally, and cuts off the end of the rod held by the clamps : the 
 ■piece thus separated is destined to form one nail. 
 
 Suppose that the nail placed at g, having been thus brought into ihe machine and cut 
 off, is held between clamps, which press it sideways (these clamps are not visible in this 
 view) ; in this state it is ready to be headed and pointed. 
 
 The header is a steel die h, which is to be pressed up against the end of the nail by a 
 cam i, upon the crank-shaft ; which cam, at this period of the operation, acts against the 
 end of a rod k, forming a continuation of the die A, and forces up the die, thus compress- 
 ing the metal into the shape of a nail-head. 
 
 The pointing is performed by two rolling snail pieces or spirals I, 1. These pieces are 
 somewhat broader than the breadth of the nail ; they turn upon axles in the side frames. 
 As the table b advances, the racks m, on the edge of this table, take into the toothed 
 segments n, n, upon the axles of the spirals, and cause them to turn round. 
 
 These spirals pinch the nail at first close under its head with very little force ; but as 
 they turn round, the longer radius of the spiral comes into operation upon the nail, so as 
 to press its substance very strongly, and squeeze it into a wedge form. Thus the nail 
 is completed, and is immediately discharged from the clamps or holders. The carriage is 
 then again put in motion by the rotation of Ihe crank-shaft, which brings another portion 
 of the rod/: forward, cuts it off, and then forms it into a nail. 
 
 Richard Prosser, July, 1831, for making tacks for ornamental furniture, by soldering or 
 wedging the spike into the head. This also is the invention of Dr. Church. 
 
 Dr. William Church, February, 1832, for improvements in machinery for making 
 nails. These consist, first, in apparatus for forming rods, bars, or plates of iron, or other 
 metals; secondly, in apparatus for converting the rods, &c, into nails; thirdly, in im- 
 provements upon Prosser's patent. The machinery consists in laminating rollers, and 
 compressing dies. 
 
 The method of forming the rods from which the nails are to be made, is very advanta- 
 geous. It consists in passing the bar or plate iron through pressing rollers, which have 
 indentations upon the peripheries of one or both of them, so as to form the bar or plate 
 into the required shape for the rods, which may be afterwards separated into rods of any 
 desired breadth, by common slitting rollers. 
 
 The principal object of rolling the rods into these wedge forms, is to measure out a 
 quantity of metal duly proportioned to the required thickness or strength of the nail in lis 
 several parts ; which quantity corresponds to the indentations of the rollers. 
 
 Thomas John Fuller, February 27, 1834, for an improved apparatus for making square- 
 pointed, and also flat-pointed nails. He claims as his invention, the application of ver- 
 tical and horizontal hammers (mounted in his machine) combined for the purpose of 
 taper.ng and forming the points of the nails ; which, being made to act alternately, re- 
 semble hand work, and are therefore not so apt to injure the fibrous texture of the iron, 
 he imagines, as the rolling machinery is. He finishes the points by rollers. 
 
 Miles Berry, February 19, 1834, for machinery for forming metal .into bolts, rivets, 
 nails, and other articles ; being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad. He 
 employs in his machine holding chaps, heading dies, toggle joints, cams, &c, mechan- 
 isms apparently skilfully contrived, but too complex for admission under the article naU 
 in this volume. 
 
 William Soulhwood Stocker, July, 1836. This is a machine apparently of American 
 parentage, as it has the same set of features as the old American mechanisms of Perkins 
 and Dyer, at the Britannia Nail- works, Birmingham, and all the other American machines 
 since described, for pressing metal into the forms of nails, pins, screw-shafts, rivets, &c. ; 
 for example, it possesses pressers or hammers for squeezing the rods of metal, and form- 
 ing the shanks, which are all worked by a rotatory action ; cutters for separating the ap- 
 propriate lengths, and dies for forming the heads by compression, also actuated by revolv- 
 ing cams or cranks. 
 
 Mr. Stocker intends, in fact, to effect the same sorts of operations by automatic me- 
 chanisms as are usually performed by the hands of a nail-maker with his hammer and anvil ; 
 viz., the shaping of a nail from a heated rod of iron, cutting it off at the proper length, and 
 then compressing the end of the metal into the form of the head. His machine may be 
 said to consist of two parts, connected in the same frame ; the one for shaping the shank 
 of the nail, the other for cutting it off and heading it. The frame consists of a strong 
 table to bear the machinery. Two pairs of hammers, formed as levers, the one pair 
 made to approach each other by horizontal movements, the other pair by vertical move 
 ments, are the implements by which" a portion at the end of a redhot rod of iron is 
 beaten or pressed into the wedge-like shape of the shaft of a nail. This having been 
 
NANKIN. 25S 
 
 done, and the rod being still hot, is withdrawn from the heaters, and placed in the other 
 part of the machine, consisting of a pair of jaws like those of a vice, which pinch the 
 shank of the nail and hold it fast. A cutter upon the side of a wheel now comes round, 
 and, by acting as the moving chap of a pair of shears, cuts the nail off from the rod. 
 The nail shank being still firmly held in the jaws of the vice, with a portion of its end 
 projecting outwardly, the heading die is slidden laterally until it comes opposite to the 
 end of the nail ; the die is then projected forward with great force, for the purpose of 
 what is termed upsetting the metal at the projecting end of the nail, and thereby blocking 
 out the head. 
 
 A main shaft, driven by a band and rigger as usual, brings, as it revolves, a cam into 
 operation upon a lever which carries a double inclined plane or wedge in its front or acting 
 part. This wedge being by the rotatory cam projected forwards between the tails of 
 one of the pairs of hammers, causes the faces of these hammers to approach each other, 
 and to beat or press the redhot iron introduced between them, so as to flatten it upon 
 two opposite sides. The rotatory cam passing round, the wedge lever is relieved, when 
 springs instantly throw back the hammers ; another cam and wedge-lever now brings 
 the second pair of hammers to act upon the other two sides of the nail in a similar way. 
 This is repeated several times, until the end of the redhot iron rod, gradually advanced by 
 the hands of the workman, has assumed the desired form, that is, has received the bevel 
 and point of the intended hail. 
 
 The rod is then withdrawn from between the hammers, and in its heated state is in- 
 troduced between the jaws of the holders, for cutting off and finishing the nail. A bevel 
 pinion upon the end of the main shaft, takes into and drives a wheel upon a transverse 
 shaft, which carries a cam that works the lever of the holding jaws. The end of the 
 rod being so held in the jaws or vice, a cutter at the side of a wheel upon the transverse 
 shaft separates, as it revolves, the nail from the end of the rod, leaving the nail firmly 
 held by the jaws. By means of a cam, the heading. die is now slidden laterally opposite 
 to the end of the nail in the holding jaws, and by another cam, upon the main shaft, the die 
 is forced forward, which compresses the end of the nail, and spreads out the nail into the 
 form of a head. As the main shaft continues to revolve, the cams pass away, and allow 
 the spring to throw the jaws of the vice open, when the nails fall out; but to guard 
 against the chance' of a nail sticking in the jaws, a picker is provided, which pushes the 
 nail out as soon as it is finished. 
 
 In order to produce round shafts, as for screw blanks, bolts, or rivets, the faces of the 
 hammers, and the dies for heading, must be made with suitable concavities. 
 
 NAILS. (Exhibition.) John Reynolds, Crown Nail Works, Newton Row, Birming- 
 ham, Manufacturer. 
 
 A case enclosing a card of cut nails, consisting of upwards of 200 distinct varieties 
 of the n. ?st useful strengths and sizes, made of iron, zinc, brass, and copper. 
 
 In this manufacture sheets of iron of the proper thickness are cut across by a pair 
 of cutting edges, which are set in motion by machinery ; the breadth of these strips is 
 equivalent to the length of the nails to be produced from them ; the strip, for the conve- 
 nience of turning, is fastened into a pair of grips attached to a wood shank, resting when 
 in use upon a support immediately behind the workman. The nail machine consists 
 essentially of a pair of cutting chisels or edges, which work perpendicularly, parallel 
 to each other ; a gauge, to determine the breadth of a nail ; a pair of grips, into which 
 at the time the wedge of iron falls, and where it is firmly held until the small horizontal 
 hammer strikes it and produces the head, when it is dropped into a box beneath. Brads 
 are not headed, but are simply cut out of each other ; that is to say, a deficiency in the 
 parallelism of the cutting edge produces the head and prepares for the head of the next 
 brad to be cut therefrom. Glaziers' brads being simple wedge-like pieces of iron, with 
 out any head whatever, are produced by the simple operations of the chisels or cutters. 
 
 When tacks are blued they are done in quantities by exposing them to heat in an 
 oven or muffle, or upon an iron plate. Japanning is performed by the ordinary process. 
 
 NANKIN", is a peculiarly colored cotton cloth, originally manufactured in the above 
 named ancient capital of China, from a native cotton of a brown yellow hue. Nan 
 kin cloth has been long imitated in perfection by our own manufacturers ; and is now 
 exported in considerable quantities from England to Canton. The following is the 
 process for dyeing calico a nankin color. 
 
 1. Take 300 pounds of cotton yarn in hanks, being the quantity which four workmen 
 can dye in a day. The yarn for the warp may be about No. 27's, and that for the weft 
 23's or 24's. 
 
 2. For aluming that quantity, take 10 pounds of saturated alum, free from iron (see 
 Mordant) ; divide this into two portions ; dissolve the first by itself in hot water, so 
 as to form a solution, of spec. grav. 1° Baumee'. The second portion is to be reserved 
 for the galling bath. 
 
 3. Gatling, J is given with about 80 pounds of oak bark finely ground. This bark 
 may serve for two quantities, if it be applied a little longer the second time. 
 
256 NAPHTHA. 
 
 4. Take 30 pounds of fresh slaked quicklime, and form with it a large bath of lime. 
 Water. 
 
 5. Nitro-mnriate of tin. For the last bath, 10 or 12 pounds of solution of tin are used 
 which is prepared as follows : 
 
 Take 10 pounds of strong nitric acid, and dilute with pure water till its specific gravity 
 be 26° B. Dissolve in it 4633 grains (10i oz. avoird.) of sal ammoniac, and 3 oz. of nitre. 
 Into this solvent, contained in a bottle set in cold water, introduce successively, in very 
 small portions, 28 ounces of grain-tin granulated. This solution, when made, must be 
 kept in a well stoppered bottle. 
 
 Three coppers are required, one round, about five feet in diameter, and 32 inches deep, 
 for scouring the cotton ; 2. two rectangular coppers tinned inside, each 5 feet long and 20 
 inches deep. Two boxes or cisterns of white wood are to be provided, the one for the 
 lime-water bath, and the other for the solution of tin, each about 7 feef long, 32 inches 
 wide, and 14 inches deep ; they are set upon a platform 28 inches high. In the middle 
 between these two chests, a plank is fixed, mounted with twenty-two pegs for wringing 
 the hanks upon, as they are taken out of the bath. 
 
 6. Mvming. After the cotton yarn has been scoured with water, in the round copper, 
 oy being boiled in successive portions of 100 pounds, it must be winced in one of the 
 square tinned coppers, containing two pounds of alum dissolved in 96 gallons of water, 
 at a temperature of 165° F. It is to be then drained over the copper, exposed for some 
 time upon the grass, rinsed in clear water, and wrung. 
 
 7. The galling. Having filled four-fifths of the second square copper with water, 40 
 pounds of ground oak bark are to be introduced, tied up in a bag of open canvass, and 
 boiled for two hours. The bag being withdrawn, the cotton yarn is to be winced through 
 the boiling tan bath for a quarter of an hour. While the yarn is set to drain above the 
 bath, 28 ounces of alum are to be dissolved in it, and the yarn being once more winced 
 through it for a quarter of an hour, is then taken out, drained, wrung, and exposed to the 
 air. It has now acquired a deep but rather dull yellowish color, and is ready without 
 washing for the next process. Bablah may be substituted for oak bark with advantage. 
 
 8. The liming. Into the cistern filled with fresh made lime-water, the hanks of cotton 
 yarn, suspended upon a series of wooden rods, are to be dipped freely three times in rapid 
 succession ; then each hank is to be separately moved by hand through the lime bath, till 
 the desired carmelite shade appear. A weak soda ley may be used instead of lime water. 
 
 9.. The brightening is given by passing the above hanks, after squeezing, rinsing, and 
 airing them, through a dilute bath of solution of tin. The color thus produced is said 
 to resemble perfectly the nankin of China. 
 
 Another kind of nankin color is given by oxyde of iron, precipitated upon the fibre 
 of the cloth, from a solution of the sulphate, by a solution of soda. See Calico- 
 printing. 
 
 NAPHTHA, or ROCK-OIL (Buile pHrole, Fr. ; Steinbl, Germ.); the Seneca oil of 
 North America, is an ethereous or volatile oil, which is generated within the crust of 
 the earth, and issues in many different localities. The colorless kind, called naphtha, 
 occurs at Baku, near the Caspian Sea, where the vapors which it exhales are kindled, 
 and the flame is applied to domestic and other economical purposes. Wells are alsp 
 dug in that neighborhood, in which the naphtha is collected. Similar petroleum welS 
 exist in the territory of the Birmans, at Yananghoung, upon the river Irawaddy, 80 
 hours' journey north-east of Pegu, where no less than 220 such springs issue from a 
 pale blue clay, soaked with oil, which rests upon roofing slate. Under the slate is coal 
 containing much pyrites. Each spring yields annually 173 casks of 950 pounds each. 
 Petroleum is also found at Amiano in the duchy of Parma, at Saint Zibio in the grand 
 duchy of Modena, at Neufchatel in Switzerland, at Clermont in France, upon some 
 points of the banks of the Iser, at Gabian, a village near Bezieres, at Tegernsee in Ba- 
 varia, at Val di Noto in Sicily, in Zante, Gallicia, Wallachia, Trinidad, Barbadoes, 
 the United States, Rangoon, near Ava, &c. What is found in the market comes most- 
 ly from Trinidad. The city of Parma is lighted with naphtha* 
 
 The Persian rock-oil is colorless, limpid, very fluid, of a penetrating odor, a hot taste, 
 anda specific gravity of 0-653; it issaidto boilat 160°F. The common petroleum has 
 u. reddish-yellow color, which appears blue by reflected light, is transparent, has a 
 spec grav. of 0'836, and contains, according to Unverdorben, several oils of different 
 degrees of volatility,^ little oleine and stearine, resin, with a brown indifferent sub- 
 stance held in solution. By repeated rectifications its density may be reduced to 
 0-758 at 60° F. Native naphtha of specific gravity 0.749, is said by some to boil at 
 201° F. The condensed vapor consists of 85-05 carbon, and 14-30 hydrogen. 
 
 The naphtha procured by distilling the coal oil of the gas works, is of specific gravi- 
 ty 0-857, boils at 316° F., and consists of, carbon 83-04, hydrosren 12-31, and oxveec 
 4-65, by my experiments. . J 
 
 Rock-oil is very inflammable ; its vapor forms with oxygen gas a mixture which vio- 
 
NAPHTHALINE. 257 
 
 fently detonates, and produces water and carbonic acid gas. It does not unite with 
 water, but it imparts a peculiar smell and taste to it ; it combines in all proportion? 
 with strong alcohol, with ether and oils, both essential and unctuous ; it dissolves sul 
 phur, phosphorus, iodine, camphor, most of the resins, wax, fats, and softens caputchoun 
 m '° ? glairy varnish. When adulterated with oil of turpentine, it becomes thick and 
 reddish brown, on being agitated in contact with strong sulphuric acid. A very fine 
 black pigment may be prepared from the soot of petroleum lamps. 
 
 NAPHTHA AMD ITS USES.— In the JPharm. Journal for July, 1848, a notice was 
 inserted about the curative virtue of mineral naphtha in Asiatic cholera, as verified 
 by Dr. Andreosky, physician to the eommander-in-chief of the Russian army in Cir- 
 cassia. The naphtha there employed has been long known as the produce of springs 
 on the north-west coast of the Caspian Sea, not far from the town of Derbend, near the 
 Gulf of Baku, which was incorrectly printed Beker. It is surprising that in the in- 
 structions of the Petersburg police board just pubL'shed, as to the proper precautions 
 and best remedies against cholera, then beginning its ravages in that capital, no allusion 
 whatever was made to naphtha, or to Dr. Andreosky 's testimony in its favor. Are we 
 hence to infer that the preceding recommendation of that substance is apocrypha] or 
 that it has since lost all credit with the Russian faculty by whom the police bulletin 
 was prepared ? 
 
 The soil nearDerbent, from which the naphtha oozes into wells about thirty inches 
 deep, is a clay marl, which is thoroughly B oaked with that fluid. It has a pale yellow 
 color, tike that of Amiano near Parma, in Italy, but has a specific gravity of 0-853 while 
 that of Amiano is only 0'836. Their boiling point is about 305° Pahr. Submitted to 
 distillation, it affords a colorless fluid of spec. grav. 0.728, which boils at about 176° 
 Fahr., but has acquired an einpyreumatic odor, very different from that of the native 
 product. Barbadoes tar of the best kind differs from these naphthas only in containing 
 a little more bitumen, butitis equally fragrant. When distilled it yields a similar light- 
 er naphtha, but likewise empyreumatic. The native substances are composed of 6 at- 
 oms of carbon and 6 atoms of hydrogen ; or in 100 parts, of 86 and 14, by Hess's analysis. 
 
 Mineral petroleum seems to be very different in constitution and qualities from the 
 fetid, factitious tar, derived from the igneous decomposition of pit-coal. The latter 
 according to Mr. Mansfield, is resolvable into six different substances, which he names 
 alliole, benzole, toluole, camphole, mortuole, and nitro-benzole. I do not believe that a 
 series of similar bodies can be extracted from native bitumen or petroleum. Indeed, 
 he himself informed me that the fluid bitumen at one time pumped up abundantly from 
 the Redding coalmines in Derbyshire, of which I furnished him with a specimen, af- 
 forded no such distinction of products, a result in accordance with my own experience. 
 These differences between the natural and factitious petroleums lead me to conclude 
 that the former are not the result of igneous action, but of that of water upon carbo- 
 nacesus matter in the mineral strata. In confirmation of which view it may be ob- 
 served, that not only in the above-named localities, but also at Monte Ciaro near Pia- 
 cenza, at the Lake of Tegern in Bavaria, near Neufchatel in Switzerland, in the De- 
 partment of the Ain in Prance, &c, the bitumen is accompanied with a copious flow 
 of water, on which it floats, and from which it is skimmed. 
 
 Petroleum of various shades, from the green of the Barbadoes springs to the pale 
 yellow of Amiano, has been long known to possess certain medicinal properties. The 
 rock-oil of Barbadoes, or as it has been vulgarly but improperly called, Barbadoes-tar, 
 has been found an useful stimulant to torpid bo wels, promoting in such a temperament 
 the alvine discharge. Its chief value, however, is as an external remedy in a variety 
 of cutaneous affections. But petroleum, either by itself, or combined with any of 
 its solvent essential oils or spirits, would in general act rather as an irritant and ru- 
 befacient upon the skin in such cases, than as a purifying, cleansing, and soothing ap- 
 plication. In this dilemma the idea occurred of incorporating the green rcck-oil 
 with fine curd soap. Thus a truly balsamic compound has been obtained. When the 
 soap, used with water in the usual way, has cleared out the cutaneous pores, a film of 
 the petroleum is deposited in them, powerfully remedial in many of the morbid affec- 
 tions of the skin. Such petrolized soap has been found to be quite a specific in the 
 prickly heat of tropical regions, and of equal efficacy in the fiery eruptions incident 
 to many persons in temperate climates. Hitherto, no method had been devised for 
 modifying efficaciously the alkalinity of soap, which being, as in the best white curd 
 article, a definite saline compound of stearic acid, and soda in its most caustic condi- 
 tion to the extent of six per cent, cannot fail to excoriate delicate skins. By the pres- 
 ent happy invention, each particle of that salt is enveloped with a film of balsam, 
 which mitigates its irritant, without interfering with its detergent quality. Hence 
 we may account for the preference given to the petroline soap by all who habitually 
 use it at the toilet-table.— Pharm. Journ. vol. viii. No. 2. 
 
 NAPHTHALINE, is a peculiar white crystallizable substance, which may be 
 Vol. IT, jg 
 
258 NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 extracted by distillation from coal tar. It has a pungent aromatic smell and taste, and 
 a specific gravity of 1-048. It is a solid biearburet of hydrogen, consisting, by my ex- 
 periments, of 929 of carbon, and 1 -1 of hydrogen. ' It has not been applied to any use. 
 
 NAPLKS YELLOW (Jaime mineral, Fr. ; Neapelgelb, Germ.); is a fine yellow pig 
 nient called giallolino, in Italy, -where it has been long prepared by a secret process; 
 for few of the receipts which have been published produce a good color. It is em- 
 ployed not only in oil painting, but also for porcelain and enamel. It has a fresh, 
 brilliant, rich hue, but is apt to be very unequal in different samples. 
 
 The following prescription has been confidently recommended. Twelve parts of me- 
 tallic antimony are to be calcined in a reverberatory furnace, along with eight parts 
 of red lead, and four parts of oxide of zinc. These mixed oxides being well rubbed to 
 gether are to be fused ; and the fused mass is to be triturated and elutriated into a fine 
 powder. Chromate of lead has in a great measure superseded Naples yellow. 
 
 NATRON is the name of the native sesquicarbonate of soda, which occurs in Egypt. 
 in the west of the Delta ; also in the neighborhood of Fessan, in the province of Sukena 
 in Northern Africa, where it exists under the name of Trona, crystallized along with sul- 
 phate of soda ; near Symrna, in Tartary, Siberia, Hungary, Hindostan, and Mexico. In 
 the last country, there are several natron lakes, a little to the north of Zucatecas, as well 
 as in many other provinces. In Columbia, 48 miles from Menda, native mineral natron 
 is dug up from the bottom of lakes in large quantities, under the name of Urao. 
 
 According to Laugier, the Egyptian natron consists of carbonate of soda 22-44, sulphate 
 of soda 18-35, muriate of soda 38-64, water 14-0, insoluble matter 6-0. Trona is corni 
 posed of carbonate of soda 65-75, sulphate of soda 7-65, muriate of soda 2-63, water 24, 
 insoluble matter 1. The sesquicarbonate may be artificially prepared by boiling for a 
 short time a solution of the bicarbonate. 
 
 NEALING. . See Annealing. 
 
 NEB-NEB is the East Indian name of Bablah. 
 
 NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. When we consider the simplicity, smallness, and 
 moderate price of a needle, we would be naturally led to suppose that this little instru- 
 ment requires neither much labor nor complicated manipulations in its construction ; hut 
 when we learn that every sewing needle, however inconsiderable its size, passes through 
 the hands of 120 different operatives, before it is ready- for sale, we cannot fail to be 
 surprised. l^jfa 
 
 The best steel, reduced by a wire-drawing machine to the suitable diameter, is 
 the material of which needles are formed. It is brought in bundles to the needle fac- 
 tory, and carefully examined. For this purpose, the ends of a few wires in each bundle 
 are cut off, ignited, and hardened by plunging them into cold water. They are now 
 snapped between the fingers, in order to judge of their quality ; the bundles belonging 
 to the most brittle wires are set aside, to be employed in making a peculiar kind of 
 needles. 
 
 After the quality of the steel wire has been properly ascertained, it is calibred by means 
 of a gauge, to see if it be equally thick and round throughout, for which purpose merely 
 some of the coils of the bundle of wires are tried. Those that are too thick are returned 
 to the wire-drawer, or set apart for another size of needles. 
 
 The first operation, properly speaking, of the needle factory, is unwinding the bundles 
 of wires. With this view the operative places the coil upon a somewhat conical reel, 
 fig. 992, whereon he may fix it at a height proportioned to its diameter. The wire is 
 wound off upon a wheel b, formed of eight equal arms, placed at equal distances round 
 a nave, which is supported by a polished round axle of iron, made fast to a strong 
 upright c, fixed to the floor of the workshop. Each of the arms is 54 inches long ; and 
 one of them d, consists of two parts; of an upper part, which bears the cross barE, to 
 which the wire is applied ; and of an under part, connected with the nave. The part 
 e slides in a slot in the fixed part f, and is made fast to it by a peg at a proper height 
 for placing the ends of all the spokes in the circumference of a circle. This arrange- 
 ment is necessary, to permit the wire to be readily taken off the reel, after being 
 wound tight round its eight branches. The peg is then removed, the branch pushed 
 down, and the coil of wire released. Fig. 993 shows the wheel in profile. It is driv- 
 en by the winch-handle G. 
 
 The new made coil is cut in two points diametrically opposite, either by hand shears, 
 of which one of the branches is fixed in a block by a bolt and a nut, as Bhown \nfig. 
 994, or by means of the mechanical shears, represented in fig. 996. The crank a is 
 moved by a hydraulic wheel, or steam power, and rises and falls alternately. The ex- 
 tremity of this crank enters into a mortise cut in the arm b of a bent lever b g o, and 
 is made fast to it by a bolt. An iron rod d f, hinged at one of its extremities to the 
 end of the arm o, and at the other to the tail of the shears or chisel e, forces it to open 
 and shut alternately. The operative placed upon the floor under F presents the coil 
 to the action of the shears, which cut it into two bundles, composed each of 60 or 
 100 wires, upwards of 3 feet long. The chisel strikes 21 blows in the minute. 
 
NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 259 
 
 996 
 
 
 C ! 
 
 o 
 
 These bundles are afterwards cut with the same shears into the desired needle lengths, 
 these being regulated by the diameter. For this purpose the wires are put into a semi- 
 cylinder of the proper length, with their ends at the bottom of it, and are all cut across 
 by this gauge. The wires, thus cut, are deposited into a box placed alongside of the 
 workman. 
 
 Two successive incisions are required to cut 100 wires, the third is lost ; hence the 
 shears, striking 21 blows in a minute, cut in 10 hours fully 400,000 ends of steel wire, 
 which produce more than 800,000 needles. The wires thus cut are more or less bent, 
 and require to be straightened. This operation is executed with great promptitude, 
 by means of an appropriate instrument In two strong iron rings a b, fig. 996, of which 
 one is shown in front view at o, 6000 or 6000 wires, closely packed together, are put ; 
 and the bundle is placed upon a flat smooth bench l m, fig; 999, covered with a cast-iron 
 plate d E, in which there are two grooves of sufficient depth for receiving the two ring 
 bundles of wire, or two openings like the rule r,fig. 999, upon which is placed the 
 open rule f, shown in front in fig. 998 upon a greater scale. The two rings must be 
 carefully set at the intervals of the rule. By making this rule come and go five or six 
 times with such pressure upon the bundles of wires as causes it to turn upon its axis, all 
 the wires are straightened almost instantaneously. 
 
 The construction of the machine, represented in fig. 999, may require explanation. 
 It consists of a frame in the form of a table, of which l m is the top j the cast- 
 iron plate d e is inserted solidly into it. Above the table, seen in fig. 997 in pl,m, 
 there are two uprights c h, to support the cross bar A A, which is held in forks cut out 
 in the top of each of the two uprights. This cross bar A A, enters tightly into a 
 mortise cut in the swing piece n, at the point n, where it is fixed by a strong pin, so that 
 
 the horizontal traverse communicated to the cross 
 bar A a affects at the same time the swing piece N. 
 At the bottom of this piece is fixed, as shown in the 
 figure, the open rule f, seen upon a greater scale 
 in fig. 998. 
 
 When the workman wishes to introduce the 
 bundle b, he raises, by means of two chains i k, 
 fig. 999, and the lever G o, the swing piece and 
 the cross bar. For this purpose he draws down the 
 chain I ; and when he has placed the bundle 
 properly, so that the two rings enter into the groove 
 e D,fig. 997, he allows the swing piece to fall back, 
 so that the same rings enter the open clefts of the 
 rule f; he then seizes one of the projecting arms 
 of the cross bar A, alternately pulling and pushing 
 it in the horizontal direction, whereby he effects, as 
 already stated, the straightening of the wires. 
 
 The wires are now taken to the pointing-tools, 
 which usually consist of about 30 grindstones 
 arranged in two rows, driven by a water-wheel. 
 
260 
 
 NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 1002 
 □ 
 
 1000 
 
 ^ 
 
 Each stone is about 1 8 in. in diameter, and 4 in. thick As they revolve with great velocit j 
 and are liable to fly in pieces, they are partially encased by iron plates, having a propel 
 slit in them to admit of the application of the wires. The workman seated in front 
 
 of the grindstone, seizes 50 or 60 wires 
 between the thumb and forefinger of his 
 right hand, and directs one end of the 
 bundle to the stone. By means of a bit of 
 stout leather called a thumb-piece, of 
 which A, /ig.l0O0,represents the profile, 
 and b the plan, the workman presses the 
 wires, and turns them about with his fore- 
 finger, giving them such a rotatory mo- 
 tion as to make their points conical. This 
 operation, which is called roughing down, 
 is dry grinding ; because, if water were 
 made use of, the points of the needles would be rapidly rusted. It has been observed 
 long ago, that the silicious and steel dust thrown off by the stones, was injurious to the 
 eyes and lungs of the grinders ; and many methods have been proposed for preventing 
 its bad effects. The machine invented for this purpose by Mr. Prior, for which the 
 Society of Arts voted a premium, deserves to be generally known. 
 
 A A, /ig.l001,is the fly-wheel of an ordinary lathe, round which the endless cord s b 
 passes, and embraces the pulley c, mounted upon the axle of the grindstone d. The fly- 
 wheel is supported by a strong frame e e, and may be turned by a winch-handle, as usual, 
 or by mechanical power. In the needle factories, the pointing-shops are in general 
 very large, and contain several grindstones running on the same long horizontal shaft, 
 placed near the floor of the apartment, and driven by water or steam power. One of the 
 extremities of the shaft of the wheel a has a kneed or bent winch f, which by means of 
 an intermediate crank g g, sets in action a double bellows h i, with a continuous blast, 
 consisting of the air feeder h below, and the air regulator i above. The first is com- 
 posed of two flaps, one of them, a a, being fast and attached to the floor, and the other, 
 e c, moving with a hinge-joint ; both being joined by strong leather nailed to their edges. 
 This flap has a tail g, of which the end is forked to receive the end of the crank g. 
 Both flaps are perforated with openings furnished with valves for the admission of the 
 air, which is thence driven into a horizontal pipe k, placed beneath the floor of the work- 
 shop, and may be afterwards directed in an uninterrupted blast upon the grindstone, by 
 means of the tin tubes n o o, which embrace it, and have longitudinal slits in them. A 
 brass socket is supposed to be fixed upon the ground ; it communicates with the pipe k, 
 by means of a small copper tube, into which one of the extremities of the pipe N is fit- 
 ted ; the other is supported by the point of a screw Q, and moves round it as a pivot, so 
 as to allow the two upright branches o o, to be placed at the same distance from the 
 grindstone. These branches are soldered to the horizontal pipe N, and connected at their 
 top by the tube p. 
 
 The wind whiph escapes through the slits of these pipes, blows upon the grindstone, 
 and carries off its dust into a conduit b, _/ig.l001,which may be extended to s, beyond 
 the wall of the building, or bent at right angles, as at T, to receive the conduits of the 
 other grindstones of the factory. 
 
 A safety valve 3, placed in an orifice formed in the regulator flap i, is kept shut bv 6 
 
NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 261 
 
 spiral spring of strong iron wire. It opens to allow the superfluous air to escape, when, 
 by the rising of the bellows, the tail l presses upon a small piece of wood, and thereby 
 prevents their being injured. 
 
 The wires thus pointed at both ends are transferred to the first workshop, and cut in 
 two, to form two needles, so that all of one quality may be of equal length. For each 
 sort a small instrument, fig.1002, is employed, being a copper plate nearly square, having 
 a turned up edge only upon two of its sides ; the one of which is intended to receive all 
 the points, and the other to resist the pressure of the shears. In this small tool a certain 
 number of wires are put with their points in contact with the border, and they are cut 
 together flush with the plate by means of the shears, fig. 994, which are moved by the 
 knee of the workman. The remainder of the wires are then laid upon the same eoppei 
 or brass tool, and are cut also even ; there being a trifling waste in this operation. The 
 pieces of wire out of which two needles are formed, are always left a little too long, as 
 the pointer can never hit exact uniformity in his work. 
 
 These pointed wires are laid parallel to each other in little wooden hoxes, and transfer- 
 red to the head-flattener. This workman, seated at a table with a block of steel before 
 him, about 3 inches cube; seizes in his left hand 20 or 25 needles, between his finger and 
 thumb, spreading them out like a fan, with the points under the thumb, and the heads 
 projecting -, he lays these heads upon the steel block, and with a small flat-faced hammer 
 strikes successive blows upon all the heads, so as to flatten each in an instant. He then 
 arranges them in a box with the points turned the same way. 
 
 The flatted heads have become hardened by the blow of the hammer ; when annealed 
 by heating and slow cooling, they are handed to the piercer. This is commonly a child, 
 who laying the head upon a block of steel, and applying the point of a small punch to 
 it, pierces the eye with a smart tap of a hammer, applied first upon the one side, and 
 then exactly opposite upon the other. 
 
 Another child trims the eyes, which he does by laying the needle upon a lump of lead, 
 and driving a proper punch through its eye ; then laying it sidewise upon a flat piece of 
 steel, with the punch slicking in it, he gives it a tap on each side with his hammer, and 
 causes the eye to take the shape of the punch. The operation of piercing and trimming 
 the eyes, is performed by clever children with astonishing rapidity ; who become so dex- 
 terous as to pierce with their punch a human hair, and thread it with another, for the 
 amusement of visiters. 
 
 The next operative makes the groove at the eye, and rounds the head. He fixes the 
 needle in pincers, /g.l003,so that the eye corresponds to their flat side ; he then rests the 
 head of the needle in an angular groove, cut in a piece of hard wood fixed in a vice, 
 with the eye in an upright position. He now forms the groove with a single stroke 
 of a small file, dexterously applied, first to the one side of the needle, and then to the 
 other. He next rounds and smooths the head with a small flat file. Having finished, 
 he opens the pincers, throws the needle upon the bench, and puts another in its place. 
 A still more expeditious method of making the grooves and finishing the heads has 
 been long used in most English factories. A small ram is so mounted as to be made to 
 rise and fall by a pedal lever, so that the child works the tool with his foot ; in^he 
 same way as the heads of pins are fixed. A small die of tempered steel bears the form 
 of the one channel or groove, another similar die, that of the other, both being in relief; 
 these being worked by the lever pedal, finish the grooving of the eye at a single blow, by 
 striking against each other, with the head of the needle between them. 
 
 The whole of the needles thus prepared are thrown pell-mell into a sort of drawer or 
 box, in which they are, by a few dexterous jerks of the workman's hand, made to arrange 
 themselves parallel to each other. 
 
 The needles are now ready for the tempering ; for which purpose they are weighed out 
 in quantities of about 30 pounds, which contain from 250,000 to 500,000 needles, and are 
 carried in boxes to the temperer. He arranges these upon sheet-iron plates, about 10 
 inches long, and 5 inches broad, having borders only upon the two longer sides. These 
 plates are heated in a proper furnace to bright redness for the larger needles, and to a 
 less intense degree for the smaller ; they are taken out, and inverted smartly over a cis- 
 tern of water, so that all the needles may be immersed at the same moment, yet distinct 
 from one another. The water being run off from the cistern, the needles are removed, 
 and arranged by agitation in a box, as above described. Instead of heating the needles 
 in a furnace, some manufacturers heat them by means of a bath of melted lead in a state 
 of ignition. 
 
 After being suddenly plunged in the cold water, they are very hard and excessively 
 brittle. The following mode of tempering them is practised at Neustadt. The needles 
 are thrown into a sort of frying-pan along with a quantity of grease. The pan being 
 placed on the fire, the fatty matter soon inflames, and is allowed to burn out; the 
 needles are now found to be sufficiently well tempered. They must, however, be 
 re-adjusted upon the steel anvil, because many of them get twisted in the hardening and 
 temper'ng. 
 
262 
 
 NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 Polishing is the longest and not the least expensive process in the needle manufacture, 
 This is done upon bundles containing 500,000 needles ; and the same machine, undei 
 the guidance of one man, polishes from 20 to 30 bundles at a 'lime ; either by water oi 
 steam power. The needles are rolled up in canvass along with some quartzose sand 
 nterslralified between their layers, and the mixture is besmeared with rape-seed oil. 
 Fig. 1004 represents one of the rolls or packets of needles 12 inches long, strongly 
 
 1010 1011 1005 
 
 □ 
 
 1004 
 
 1009 
 
 bound with cords. These packets are exposed to the to-and-fro pressure of wooden 
 tables* by which they are rolled about, with the effect of causing every needle in the 
 bundle to rub against its fellow, and against the silicious matter, or emery, enclosed 
 in the bag. Fig. 1005 represents an improved table for polishing the needles by attri- 
 tion-bags. The lower table m m is moveable, whereas in the old constructions it was 
 fixed ; the table c has merely a vertical motion, of pressure upon the bundles, whereas 
 formerly it had both a vertical and horizontal motion. Several bundles may obviously 
 be polished at once in the present machine. The table m m may be of any length that 
 is required, and from 24 to 27 inches broad; resting upon the wooden rollers B, b, b, 
 placed at suitable distances, it receives a horizontal motion, either by hand or other 
 convenient power ; the packets of needles A, A, A, are laid upon it, and over them the 
 tables c, c, c, which are lifted by means of the chains K, k, k, and the levers h, l, t, in 
 order to allow the needles to be introduced or removed. The see-saw motion forces 
 the rouleaux. to turn upon their own axes, and thereby creates such attrition among 
 thalr contents as to polish them. The workman has merely to distribute these rolls 
 upon the table m, in a direction perpendicular to that in which the table moves ; and 
 whenever one of them gets displaced, he sets it right, lifting by the help of the chain 
 the loaded table. The table makes about 20 horizontal double vibrations in the minute ; 
 whereby each bundle, running over 24 inches each time, passes through 40 feet per minute, 
 or 800 yards in the hou .-, 
 
 Scouring by the cask. After being worked during 18 or 20 hours under the tables, the 
 needles are taken out of the packets, and put into wooden bowls, where they are mixed 
 with sawdust to absorb the black grease upon their surfaces. They are next introduced 
 into a cask, fig. 1006, and a workman seizing the winch r, turns it round a little ; he now 
 puts in some more sawdust at the door, A, b, which is then shut by the clasps g g, and 
 continues the rotation till the needles be quite clean and clear in their eyes ; which he 
 ascertains by taking out a sample of them from time to time. 
 
 Winnowing is the next process, by means of a mechanical ventilator similar to that by 
 which corn is winnowed. The sawdust is blown away, and the grinding powder is 
 separated from the needles, which remain apart clean and bright. 
 
 The needles are in the next place arranged in order, by being shaken, as above de- 
 scribed, in a small somewhat concave iron tray. After being thus laid parallel to each 
 other, they are shaken up against the end of the tray, and accumulated in a nearly up- 
 right position, so that they can be seized in a heap and removed in a body upon a pallet 
 knife, with the help of the forefinger. 
 
 The preceding five operations, of making up the rouleaux, rolling them under the 
 Abies, scouring the needles in the cask, winnowing, and arranging them, are repeated 
 
NEEDLE MANUFACTURE. 
 
 203 
 
 ten times in succession, in manufacturing the test articles ; the only variation being in 
 the first process. Originally the bundles of needles are formed with alternate layers of 
 silicious schistus and needles ; but after the seventh time, bran freed from flour by sift- 
 ing is substituted for the schistus. The subsequent four processes are, however, repeat- 
 ed as described. It has been found in England, that emery powder mixed with quartz and 
 
 1008 1007 
 
 Jf* 
 
 iai 
 
 mica or pounded granite, is preferable to everything else for j> lishing needles si first by 
 attrition in the bags ; at the second and following operations, emery mixed with olive oil 
 is used, up to the eighth and ninth, for which putty or oxyde of tin with oil is substituted 
 for the emery ; at the tenth the putty is used with very little oil j and lastly bran is em- 
 ployed to give a finish. In this mode of operating, the needles are scoured in the copper 
 cask shown in elevation inyig. 1007 and in section in Jig. 1008. The inner surface of this 
 cask is studded with points to increase the friction among the needles ; and a quantity of 
 hot soap suds is repeatedly introduced to wash them clean. The cask must be slowly 
 turned upon its axis, for fear of injuring the mass of needles which it contains. They 
 are finally dried in the wooden cask by attrition with sawdust ; then wiped individually 
 with a linen rag or soft leather ; when the damaged ones are thrown aside. 
 
 Sorting of the needles. This operation is performed in a dry upper chamber, kept free 
 from damp by proper stoves. Here all the points are first laid the same way ; and the 
 needles are then picked out from each other in the order of their polish. The sorting is 
 effected with surprising facility. The workman places 2000 or 3000 needles in an iron 
 ring,/g.l009,two inches in diameter, and sets all their heads in one plane; then on 
 looking carefully at their points, he easily recognises the broken ones ; and by means of 
 a small hook fixed in a wooden handle,_/iir.l010,he lays hold of the broken needle, and 
 turns it out. These defective needles pass into the hands of another workman, who 
 points them anew upon a grindstone, and they form articles of inferior value. The needles 
 which have got bent in the polishing must now be straightened. The whole are finally 
 arranged exactly according to their lengths by the tact of the finger and thumb of the 
 sorter. ► 
 
 The needles are divid ji into quantities for packing In blue papers, by putting into a 
 small balance the equivalent weight of 100 needles, anl so measuring them out without 
 the trouble of counting them individually. 
 
 The bluer receives these packets, and taking 25 of their needles at a time between the 
 forefinger and thumb, he presses their points against a very small hone-stone of compact 
 micaceous schist, mounted in a little lathe, as shown in_/sg.l011,he turns them briskly 
 round, giving the points a bluish cast, while he polishes and improves them. This partial 
 polish is in the direction of the axis ; that of the rest of the needle is transverse, which 
 distinguishes the boundaries of the two. The little hone-stone is not cylindrical, but 
 quadrangular, so that it strikes successive blows with its corners upon the needles as it 
 revolves, producing the effect of filing lengthwise. Whenever these angles seem to be 
 blunted, they are set again by the bluer. 
 
 It is easy to distinguish good English needles from spurious imitations j because the 
 former have their axis coincident with their points, which is readily observed by turning 
 them round between the finger and thumb. 
 
 The construction of a needle requires as already stated, about 120 operations ; but 
 they are rapidly and uninterruptedly successive. A child can trim the eyes of 4000 
 needles per hour. 
 
 When we survey a manufacture of this kind, we cannot fail to observe, that the diver- 
 sity of operations which the needles undergo bears the impress of great mechanical refine- 
 ment. In the arts, to divide labor, is to abridge it; to multiply operations, is to simplify 
 them ; and to attach an operative exclusively to one process, is to render him much more 
 economical and .productive. 
 
264 JNKJKEL. 
 
 NEROLI is :he name given by perfumers to the essential oil of orange flowers. It is 
 procured by distillation with water, in the same way as the other volatile oils. Since in 
 distilling water from neroli, an aroma is obtained different from that of the orange-flower, 
 it has been concluded that the distilled water of orange-flowers owes its scent to some 
 principle different from an essential oil. 
 
 NET (Filet, reseau, Fr. ; Netz, Germ.) is a textile fabric of knotted meshes, for 
 catching fish, and other purposes. Each mesh should be so secured as to be incapable of 
 enlargement or diminution. The French government offered in 1802 a prize of 10,000 
 francs to the person who should invent a machine for making nets upon automatic 
 principles, and adjudged it to M. Buron, who presented his mechanical invention to the 
 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. It does not appear, however, that this machine has 
 accomplished the object in view ; for no establishment was ever mounted to carry it into 
 execution. Nets are usually made by the fishermen and their families during periods of 
 leisure. The formation of a mesh is too simple a matter to require description in this 
 Dictionary. 
 
 NEUTRALIZATION is the state produced when acid and alkaline matters are com- 
 bined in such proportions that neither predominates, as evinced by the color of tincture 
 of litmus and cabbage remaining unaffected by the combination. 
 
 NICARAGUA WOOD is the wood of the Ctssalpinia echinata, a tree which grows in 
 Nicaraca. It is used with solution of tin as a mordant to dye a bright but fugitive red. 
 It is an inferior sort of Brazil wood. 
 
 NICKEL is a metal rather sparingly found, and in few localities ; being usually asso- 
 ciated with cobalt. Native nickel occurs at Westerwald in the Erzegebirge, in Bohemia, 
 combined with arsenic, under the significant name of Kupfernickel ; with cobalt, iron, and 
 copper, as Arsenic-nickel, in the Harz ; at Riechelsdorf in Hessia ; as an oxyde, in Nickel- 
 schwdrtze ; as a sulphuret of nickel in Haarkies ; as a sulphuret and arseniate of nickel 
 in Nickelglanz ; and with sulphur and antimony in Nickelspiess glanzerz at Siegen. 
 Nickel is always present in meteoric stones. Kupfernickel occurs in numerous external 
 shapes; as reniform, globular, botroidal, arborescent, massive, and disseminated; fracture, 
 coarse or fine grained, with metallic lustre ; color, copper red, occasionally brown and 
 gray ; in silver and cobalt veins, in gneiss, sienite, mica-slate, kupfer-schiefer, accompa- 
 nied by speisse cobalt, native silver, quartz, &c. II is found in Westphalia near Olpe, in 
 Hessia at Riechelsdorf, and Biber, in Baden ; in the Saxon Erzegebirge near Schnceberg, 
 and Freiberg ; in Bohemia, at Joachimsthal ; in Thuringia, at Saalield ; in Steyermark 
 near Schladming; in Hungary, France, and England. 
 
 Since the manufacture of German silver, or Argentane, became an object of commercial 
 importance, the extraction of nickel ha r been undertaken upon a considerable scale. The 
 cobalt ores are its most fruitful sources, and they are now treated by the method of 
 Wohler, to effect the separation of the two metals. The arsenic is expelled by roasting 
 the powdered speise, first by itself, next with the addition of charcoal powder, till the garlic 
 smell be no longer perceived. The residuum is to be mixed with three parts of sulphur 
 and one of potash, melted in a crucible with a gentle heat, and the product being edul- 
 corated with water, leaves a powder of metallic lustre, which is a sulphuret of nickel 
 free. from arsenic ; while the arsenic associated with the sulphur, and combined with the 
 resulting sulphuret of potassium, remains dissolved. Should any arsenic still be found 
 in the sulphuret, as may happen if the first roasting heat was too great, the above pro- 
 cess mui' be repeated. The sulphuret must be finally washed, dissolved in concentrated 
 sulpnuric acid, with the addition of a little nitric, the metal must be precipitated by a 
 carbonated alkali, and the carbonate reduced with charcoal. 
 
 In operating upon kupfernickel, or speise, in which nickel predominates, after tht 
 arsenic, iron, and copper have been separated, ammonia is to be digested upon the mixed 
 oxydes of cobalt and nickel, which will dissolve them into a blue liquor. This being 
 diluted with distilled water deprived of its air by boiling, is to be decomposed by caustic 
 potash, till the blue color disappears, when the whole is to be put into a bottle tightly 
 stoppered, and set aside to settle. The green precipitate of oxyde of nickel, which slowly 
 forms, being freed by decantation from the supernatant red solution of oxyde of cobalt, is 
 to be edulcorated and reduced to the metallic state in a crucible containing crown glass. 
 Pure nickel in the form of a metallic powder is readily obtained by exposing its oxalate 
 to modern ignition. 
 
 The reduction of the oxyde of nickel with charcoal requires the heat of a powerful air 
 furnace or smith's forge. 
 
 Nickel possesses a fine silver white color and lustre ; it is hard, but malleable, both 
 hot and cold ; may be drawn into wire Jg of an inch, and rolled into plates _JL_ of an 
 inch thick. A small quantity of arsenic destroys its ductility. When fused it has a 
 specific gravity of 8-279, and when hammered, of 8-66 or 8-82 ; it is susceptible of mag- 
 net'sm, in a somewhat inferior degree to iron, but superior to cobalt. Mariners' com- 
 passes may be made of it. Its melting point is nearly as high as that of manganese. It 
 is not oxjdized by contact of air, bu'. may be burned in oxyg«n gas. 
 
NICKEL 265 
 
 There is one oxide and two suroxides of nickel. The oxide is of an ash-gray color 
 and is obtained by precipitation with an alkali from the solution of the muriate or ni 
 trate. The niccolous suroxide of Berzelius is black, and may be procured by exposing 
 the nitrate to a heat under redness. The niecolie suroxide has a dirty pale green co- 
 lor ; but its identity is doubtful. 
 
 Nickel may be detected by cyanide of potassium in an acid solution of it and cobalt; 
 the *anide being added until the precipitate first formed is redissolved : dilute sul- 
 phuric acid is then added, and the mixture warmed and allowed to stand. A precipi- 
 tate appearing shows the presence of nickel, whether it be cobalt cyanide, or simple 
 cyanide of nickel. 
 
 Nickel (analyses of), by H. Rose. Nickel and cobalt are almost always associated to 
 gether, and are very difficult to separate. 
 
 Upon the fact that in a solution of oxide of cobalt containing free muriatic acid, the 
 whole of the metal is converted into the superoxide, by means of chlorine, while the 
 chloride of nickel remains unaltered in the acid solution, Mr. H. Rose based a success- 
 ful method for the separation of the metals. His method is as follows : — Both metals 
 are dissolved in hydrochloric acid ; the solution must contain a sufficient excess of free 
 acid; it is then diluted with much water; if 1 or 2 grammes of the oxide are ; perated 
 on, about 2 lbs. of water are added to the solution. As cobalt possesses a much greater 
 coloring power than nickel, not only in fluxes but also in solutions, the diluted s.-lution 
 is of a rose color, even when the quantity of nickel present greatly exceeds that c f the 
 cobalt. A current of chlorine gas is then passed through the solution for several hours ; 
 the fluid must be thoroughly saturated with it, and the upper part of the flask above 
 the liquid must remain filled with the gas after the current has ceased. Carbonate oi 
 baryta in excess is then added, and the whole altowed to stand for 12 or 18 hours, and 
 frequently agitated. The precipitated superoxide of cobalt and the excess of carbonate 
 of baryta are well washed with cold water, and dissolved in hot hydrochloric acid ; 
 after the separation of the baryta by sulphuric acid, the cobalt is precipitated by hy- 
 drate of potash, and after being washed and dried is reduced in a platinum or porcelain 
 crucible by hydrogen gas. The fluid filtered from the superoxide of cobalt is of a pure 
 green eolor. It is free from any trace of cobalt. After the removal of the baryta by 
 means of sulphuric acid, the oxide of nickel is precipitated by caustic potash. Even this 
 method did not give exact results on the first trial. 0'318 gr. metallic nickel and 0-6U3 
 gr. metallic cobalt were employed, and 0'430 gr. oxide of nickel and 0'580gr. cobalt 
 were obtained : — 
 
 Employed. Obtained. 
 
 Nickel .... 34-53 36 "7 5 
 
 Cobalt - 65-47 6298 
 
 100-00 99-73. 
 
 The cause of these incorrect results is, that the solution was filtered an hour or two 
 after the precipitation of the superoxide of cobalt by the carbonate of baryta. _ It is ne- 
 cessary, however, to wait a considerable time, at least twelve hours, or even eighteen is 
 better, and allow the excess of carbonate of baryta to remain in contact with the solu- 
 tion, as the superoxide of cobalt is precipitated very slowly: this explains the diminu- 
 tion of the cobalt and the increase of the nickel in the above experiment. 
 
 In another experiment, in which 'this source of error was avoided, 0739 gr. metallic 
 nickel and 0*540 metallic cobalt were used, and 0-548 gr. cobalt obtained, that is 42-84 
 per cent instead of 42'22 ; the nickel was not determined. Two experiments were 
 made by M. Weber. In one, 0-818 gr. cobalt, and 0-980 gr. nickel were taken, and 
 0-806 gr. cobalt and 1-274 oxide nickel obtained. 
 
 < Used. Obtained. 
 
 Cobalt - - 45-60 44-77 
 
 Nickel - - - 54-50 65-83 
 
 100-00 100-60 
 
 In the second 0-516 gr. metallic cobalt and 0.637 oxide of nickel were taken, and 
 517 gr. cobalt obtained. 
 
 It will be seen from these experiments, that on the proper precautions being taken, 
 very accurate results may be obtained by this method. It has also this advantage, that 
 it is equally applicable whatever the relative proportions of the cobalt may be. 
 
 This or a similar method may be employed with advantage on a large scale, to procure 
 cobalt and nickel in the purest state. Both metals are more employed in the arts than 
 formerly ; an d in many cases it is important to prepare them as pure as possible. Thu 
 
266 NICKEL. 
 
 is the case when oxide of cobalt is to be employed in printing on porcelain, whon « 
 Very 'small portion of nickel seriously affects the purity of the blue tint to be ob 
 taihed by it. I have at least prepared the pure oxides of nickel and cobalt used in 
 my laboratory in this manner; and in the experiments described above, none but the 
 oxides so prepared were used. The nickel which occurs in commerce contains besides 
 traces of arsenic, cobalt, copper and iron. It should be dissolved in hydrochloric acid, 
 and the cobalt and iron separated by treatment with chlorine and carbonate of L^yta, 
 and then'the copper precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen. 
 
 It will be readily perceived, that not only cobalt, but also other metals, as iion and 
 manganese, may be separated from nickel by this method. On the other hatJ, oxide 
 of cobalt may be separated from the oxide of zinc, and other strongly bas«; oxides, 
 which are not converted into superoxides. Nickel and cobalt can moreover be sepa- 
 rated from metals to which they bear a close analogy in various ways. I have given a 
 method in my " Manual of Analytical Chemistry," by which both these mcials may be 
 separated from manganese, viz., by converting them into chlorides, and treating these 
 by hydrogen, which reduces the chlorides of nickel and cobalt to the metallic state, but 
 not the chloride of manganese. This method affords accurate results, but is rather 
 complicated. Volker has remarked, that at a very strong heat the chloride of man- 
 ganese is slightly volatile. Although this is inappreciable except when the heat has 
 been raised too high, still it is possible to effect their separation by simpler methods. 
 
 With many other chemists, I h ave convinced myself, that the method of Barresvil 
 for the separation of the oxides of cobalt and manganese, by adding carbonate of baryta 
 to the solution, and passing a current of sulphuretted hydrogen through it, is not ap- 
 plicable, since, as indeed might be seen d priori, not only the oxide of cobalt, but also 
 the oxide of manganese, will be precipitated as a sulphuret. 
 
 From nickel, the manganese may be best separated in the same manner as cobalt, as 
 I have remarked above. Manganese may be separated from both of them, however, by 
 a method which, in its essential parts, was proposed by Wackenroder. It is based upon 
 the fact, that although nickel and cobalt are not precipitated from their solutions by 
 sulphuretted hydrogen, especially when they are slightly acid, still the sulphnrets pre 
 cipitated by hydrosulphate of ammonia are not dissolved by very dilute hydrochloric 
 acid. I long ago, in the first edition of my "Manual of Analytical Chemistry," directed 
 attention to this curious property, and made use of it for qualitative experiments, but 
 at that time had not availed myself of it in quantitative separations. When the oxides 
 are contained in an acid solution (which should not contain nitric acid however), it is 
 made ammoniaeal, and they are precipitated as sulphurets by hydrosulphate of ammonia. 
 Very dilute hydrochloric acid is then added to the solution, until it has a very slightly 
 acid reaction ; the sulphurets of nickel and cobalt remain undissolved ; they are washed 
 with water containing a little sulphuretted hydrogen and a trace of hydrochloric acid. 
 The sulphuret of manganese is dissolved with facility, bat although the fluid filtered 
 from the sulphurets of nickel and cobalt gives only a rather dirty flesh-colored precipi- 
 tate on the addition of ammonia and hydrosulphate of ammonia, still the sulphuret of 
 manganese contains small portions of sulphuret of cobalt or nickel ; and when there- 
 fore it is treated anew with very dilute hydrochloric acid, minute quantities of the 
 black sulphurets remain behind. By this repeated treatment, a very nearly correct 
 separation may be obtained ; but the results are more satisfactory in the separation ol 
 cobalt from manganese than of nickel from the latter metal, evidently because nickel 
 is not very perfectly precipitated by hydrosulphate of ammonia: - 300 gr. of metallic 
 cobalt and 0*385 gr. of deutoxide of manganese gave — after the sulphuret had been 
 converted by aqua regia into oxide, and this precipitated by hydrate of potash, and 
 after the chloride of manganese dissolved was free from sulphuretted hydrogen and 
 precipitated by carbonate of soda, — 0"302 metallic cobalt and 0'392 oxide of manganese. 
 
 0'251 gr. of oxide of nickel, and 0296 gr. oxide of manganese, treated in the same 
 manner, gave 0214 oxide of nickel and 324 oxide of manganese. 
 
 Iron also may be separated from nickel, and better still from cobalt, in the slime 
 manner as manganese, since sulphuret of iron, like sulphuret of manganese, is easily 
 soluble in very dilute hydrochloric acid ; but in this case the resolution of the sul- 
 phuret of iron is likewise necessary : 0'425 gr. metallic cobalt and 0"l l 70 gr. sesquioxide 
 of iron, when treated in this manner, gave 0"414 gr. metallic cobalt, and 0"1T2 sesqui- 
 oxide of iron. 
 
 I have already stated, in the last edition of my "Manual of Analytical Chemistry," 
 that the oxide of zinc may be completely precipitated from its solution in acetic acid by 
 means of sulphuretted hydrogen when no strong inorganic acid is present, even though 
 the solution contain a large excess of acetic acid; and recommended the separation oi 
 this oxide from alumina, the oxideB of iron, manganese, and even from those of cobalt 
 and nickel; by this method. This method also succeeds when a considerable addition 
 »f acetic acid is made to the solution, especially if the latter oxides are present. 
 
NICKEL. 267 
 
 From alumina oxide of nickel may be separated by fusing them together with hydrate 
 of potash in a silver crucible ; on treating the fused mass with water, the oxide of nickel 
 remains behind in a dense state. It weighs rather more than the oxide employed, but 
 contains no alumina, and potash must therefore be present. 0'238 gr. oxide of nickel 
 mixed with alumina weighed, after it had been treated in this manner, - 245 gr. By 
 boiling with a solution of potash, nickel cannot be separated from alumina, when both 
 are contained in a solution, not even when the treatment is repeated. "When the 0'245 
 gr. was dissolved in hydrochloric acid with the help of a little sulphuric acid, and the 
 separated solution of alumina in potash, to which more potash was added, mixed with 
 the solution, and the whole boiled, the oxide of nickel separated weighed 0- 320 gr. 
 "When this was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, a considerable quantity of alumina 
 separated on the addition of ammonia in excess. As, however, the fusion of hydrate 
 of potash in a silver crucible is attended with inconvenience, and the oxide of nickel 
 obtained requires to be dissolved and precipitated anew, the separation of these oxides 
 by means of carbonate of baryta is preferable. 
 
 I have tried in vain, by fusing with a fixed alkaline carbonate, to separate auantita- 
 tively alumina from the oxides of cobalt and nickel, and from those of other metals 
 which are incapable of expelling the carbonic acid from an alkaline carbonate at an 
 elevated temperature. It is difficult to obtain a perfectly clear solution by fusing alu- 
 mina with carbonated alkali, and treating the melted mass with water ; it is quickly 
 rendered turbid by the carbonic acid of the atmosphere. A fused mass is much more 
 easily obtained with carbonate of soda than with carbonate of potash. 
 
 Nickel and Cobalt.— Mingled with the beautiful samples of copper pyrites and argen- 
 tiferous galena displayed in Class 1. of the Great Exhibition, there were to be found 
 several specimens of cobalt and nickel ores. These valuable articles lay. buried beneath 
 the huge bulk of their better known compeers, and, unless sought for, would fail to arrest 
 the attention even of a scientific observer ; thus singularly illustrating in the Crystal 
 Palace the obscure position they occupy in the manufacturing industry of the nation. 
 The art of working the ores of cobalt and niukel seems unknown in Great Britain, il 
 we may judge by the fact, that though found in sufficient abundance, they are nowhere 
 in this country converted into zaffre and speiss; the two primary marketable products 
 elsewhere obtained from these ores. Although, therefore, no nation in the world con- 
 sumes in its manufactures more cobalt and nickel than Great Britain, yet for these 
 metals it is entirely dependent upon Norway, Northern Germany and the Netherlands ; 
 from whence we import annually not less than 400 tons of zaffre and smalts, and nearly 
 the same quantity of nickel and speiss, to the conjoint value of about 150,000/. sterling. 
 As these substances serve very different purposes in the arts, we propose to speak of 
 them separately, — merely premising that cobalt forms the bases_ of all the blue colors 
 seen on earthenware, whdst nickel is an indispensable ingredient in the various metallic 
 alloys, known under the terms albata, German silver, ifec. The specimens of ore previously 
 alluded to as existing in the Great Exhibition have been derived from Cornwall, and 
 contain, as is generally the case, both nickel and cobalt, thus far being precisely similar 
 to the ores worked in Norway and Northern Germany. The foreign ores are, however, 
 much richer than the Cornish, since these latter seldom contain more than from 2 to 
 1 per cent, of available metallic matter, whilst the former not unfrequently yield 12 
 or 15 per cent. ; consequently, a process which answers quite well with the one may 
 fail altogether, or prove profitless with the other; and this is exactly the whole secret 
 of our national failure in working cobalt ore. The Swedish method has been tried in 
 several parts of Cornwall, and has not in anyone instance given a satisfactory result ; 
 hence, the Crystal Palace contains no specimen of British zaffre, and our potteries, glass 
 works, and paper manufacturers procure from abroad that which ignorance and apathy 
 deny them at home. In the German ore the quantity of metallic ingredients is not 
 only larger than in the Cornish, but also, of a more fusible character ;" consequently, when 
 simply subjected to heat in a reverberatory furnace, the earthy and metallic elements 
 separate of themselves by the mere disparity of their specific weights ; and the silicious, 
 gangue, with a portion of oxide of iron, rises to the top; leaving a. metallic compound 
 of arsenic, cobalt, nickel, copper, and perhaps iron beneath. This latter, when carefully 
 roasted in an oxidizing furnace, in contact with sand or ground flint, affords at once 
 an impare silicate »f cobalt and arseniuret of nickel, — two marketable products. The 
 Cornish ores, from their metallic poverty, will not undergo the first fusion necessary to 
 separate the silicious matrix of the mineral ; and this trifling impediment seems actually 
 to have benumbed the energy of that indomitable spirit of enterprise for which Britain 
 is in most things justly celebrated. In the manufacture of iron, limestone is used to 
 render the alumina and silica of the ore fusible ; and without this no iron can be pro- 
 cured by the ordinary process. In roasting lead ore, lime cannot be dispensed with. 
 In copper making, not only lime but also fluor spar is frequently needed ; and the 
 commonest cobalt ores of Cornwall clearly require nothing but a proper flux to afford 
 
268 
 
 NICKEL. 
 
 a compound of arsenic, cobalt and nickel, perfectly analogous to that procured from 
 the German ore by mere fusion without a flux. The whole question, therefore, really 
 resolves itself into the discovery of a cheap material capable of easy vitrificatiou with 
 the granitic matrix of the Cornwall ore, and which is nevertheless devoid of action 
 upon the arseniuret of cobalt and nickel. The common fixed alkalis, though answer- 
 ing the first indication admirably, would not comply with the second condition; hence 
 potash and soda, these great helpmates of industrial skill, aie unfortunately excluded 
 from the list of agents, as they act powerfully upon all the arseniurets, and would 
 merejy produce a worthless frit with the ore. Similar objections attach more or less 
 to the alkaline earths, and therefore lime requires to be looked upon with suspicion. 
 Borax would and does yield a satisfactory result, but its high price is an insurmount- 
 able Obstacle. Fluor spar is of no avail, and bottle glass requires too strong a tem- 
 perature, and to be used in too great a quantity, for economical application to a mine- 
 ral already surcharged with extraneous matters. 
 
 These facts serve in some measure to explain, though we cannot iu any way allow 
 that they justify, the present condition of the zaffre market ; since these very difficulties 
 are daily overcome in one of the largest metallurgical operations carried on amongst us, 
 Many of the ores of copper, when first received by Hie manufacturer, are in a state 
 quite parallel to that of the Cornish ores of cobalt, even in regard to poverty of metal. 
 There is the same excess of granitic matrix, the same necessity for avoiding the use of 
 any agent capable of attacking sulphuret of copper, a substance possessing very similar 
 chemical affinities to those of the arseniurets of nickel and cobalt. What then is the 
 flux employed by the copper manufacturer in such cases ? We reply at once, — it is the 
 protoxide of iron which is formed from these poor copper ores by the action of heat, 
 and combines with the silicate of the matrix so as to produce an extremely fusible 
 silicate of iron, which permits the^ulphuret of copper to fall down to the lower part of 
 the reverberatory furnace, whilst the vitrified impurities of the ore are raked from its 
 surface. Oxide of iron would most probably therefore enable a manufacturer, 
 accustomed to furnace operations, to send into the market an arsenical compound of 
 cobalt containing more than 50 per cent, of this.metal, even if his interest failed to 
 convince him of the great advantage resulting from its subsequent conversion into 
 zaffre. Thus, then, the conditions of this seemingly difficult problem are answered, in a 
 commercial sense; for oxide of iron is plentiful and cheap, its combination with silica 
 is sufficiently fusible, and it has no action whatever upon metallic arseniurets. No 
 doubt many other substances might be found equally applicable with the one we have 
 mentioned ; and, indeed, our object in thus dilating upon this and analogous topics is 
 rather to stimulate inquiry than to lay down specific rules for practical guidance ; conse- 
 quently our remarks must be regarded at best as but a shadowy outline, the manu- 
 facturing details of which require careful filling in, to render the whole intelligible and 
 useful. 
 
 Before quiting the subject of cobalt, it may be as.well to advert to a particular ore 
 of that metal, found near Keswick in Cumberland. This ore contains from two to three 
 per cent, of cobalt, but is quite free from nickel, — a very unusual circumstance, — as even 
 in meteoric stones cobalt is constantly accompanied t>y nickel, though this last metal 
 not unfrequently exists without cobalt. As a coloring material, oxide of cobalt is 
 seriously damaged by the presence of oxide of nickel, for these oxides produce colors 
 almost complementary to each other ; and therefore tending, by their'admixture,to yield 
 a neutral tint, as is observable when their saline solutions are united. The great ad- 
 vantage of working an ore of cobalt free from nickel must consequently be obvious to 
 all. The Keswick mine is, nevertheless, almost abandoned at the present moment* 
 through sheer inability to find a market for its produce ; though for the finer kinds 
 of porcelain and for enamel painting, the oxide of cobalt procured from it is worth 
 fully a guinea per pound. 
 
 In" the hope of drawing attention to a raw material at once so unique and valuable, 
 we give the following original process for extracting pure oxide of cobalt from the 
 Keswick cobalt ore : — Having carefully roasted a quantity of this ore, at a full red heat, 
 in a muffle furnace, for two or three hours, it is next to be reduced to a fine powder, 
 and then digested in muriatic acid of *ie specific gravity 110 or thereabout. And for 
 this use the waste acid of the soda maker is well adapted, even though it may happen 
 to contain arsenic and iron. After a few hours' digestion, the acidulous solution may 
 be poured off and a fresh acid added, so as completely to exhaust the roasted ore, and, 
 dissolve all the metallic matter in it. Then mix the solution thus procured : and 
 having thown in a portion of powdered haematite or other form of peroxide of iron, 
 evaporate the whole to dryness. Next pour boiling water on the dried mass, and 
 stir in an excess of chalk, or finely powdered marble, and preserve the whole at a 
 temperature of about 180° Fahr., until all evolution of carbonic acid ceases; then add 
 & quantity of sulphate of soda, and throw the mixture on a filter, when a solution of chlo 
 
NITRATE OP AMMONIA. 
 
 269 
 
 ride of cobalt will pass through, containing a small quantity of the sulphates of lime 
 »nd soda, but altogether free from metalho contamination. This solution must now 
 be super-saturated with a caustic lye of soda, and the mixture boiled for a few minutes 
 in order to insure the rapid precipitation of the oxide of cobalt; which, after careful 
 washing with hot water, is to be dried, and heated red hot, in a crucible, to give it the 
 character suitable for the English market. One pound of Keswick ore will require 
 about 8 ounces of muriatic acid, of the kind alluded to, with 2 ounces of haematite, 3 
 ounces of chalk, and the same quantity of salt cake or dry sulphate of soda. The ex- 
 planation of this process is very simple : in the first instance, the metallic matters of 
 the ore, consisting of iron, cobalt, arsenic, copper, and perhaps also lead, are dissolv- 
 ed by the muriatic acid; and, as all of these are precipitated by carbonate of lime, 
 except cobalt, the chalk might now be added at once, but for the fact that the Kes- 
 wick ore contains an excess of arsenic, which carries down a portion of cobalt in the 
 state of arsenite of cobalt. To remedy this evil, peroxide of iron or haematite must be 
 added, so as to ensure the existence of au excess of peroxide of iron in the solution; as 
 this, on the introduction of the chalk, will unite to the arsenic, and thus prevent the 
 precipitation of any cobalt at this stage of the operation. The cessation of all efferves- 
 cence, indicates that the chalk has ceased to act, and that the iron, arsenic, copper, and 
 laad are no longer in solution, but have been displaced by the lime of the chalk. To 
 remove this lime, sulphate of soda is employed, since this throws down nearly the whole 
 of the lime in the state of sulphate; after which caustic soda or potash will precipitate 
 nothing from the filtered solution but pure oxide of cobalt. Although apparently 
 somewhat complex in detail, this process i9 extremely simple and efficient in practice ; 
 and possesses, moreover, the advantage of being equally applicable to the treatment of 
 speiss or arseniuret of nickel, from which pure oxide of nickel may be easily procured, 
 — using, however, much more haematite than the quantity above indicated, in conse- 
 quence of the absence of iron in speiss. From this latter circumstance, it must be ob- 
 vious, that cobalt and nickel cannot be separatedin the way just described ; for, as has 
 been stated, they both remain in solution after the employment of the chalk ; and, in- 
 deed, no process has yet been published by which a perfect separation of these two met- 
 als can be effected. Ordinary Swedish zaffre contains, on an average, 15 per cent, ot 
 oxide of cobalt, mixed with about 3 per cent, of oxide of nickel; which latter seri- 
 ously impairs the coloring power of zaffre. Hence it is that we have entered thus fully 
 into this question; for as it is almost impossible to purify cobalt when contaminated 
 with nickel, it is a kind of national disgrace to Great Britain that, having a pure ore 
 of cobalt in the very centre of the island, our manufactures are unable either to com 
 pete with, or so much as contest for, the palm of superiority in the formation of zaffre. 
 
 NICOTIANINE, is the name of an oil recently extracted from the leaves of tobac 
 co, which possesses the smell of tobacco smoke. 
 
 NICOTINE, is a peculiar principle, obtainable from the leaves and seeds of tobacco 
 (nicotiana tabacwm),bj infusing them in acidulous water, evaporating the infusion to 
 a certain point, adding lime to it, distilling, and treating the product which comes over 
 with ether. It is colorless, has an acrimonious taste, a pungent smell, remains liquid at 
 20° Fahr., mixes in all proportions with water, but is in a great measure separable from 
 it by ether, which dissolves it abundantly. It combines with acids, and forms salts 
 acrid and pungent like itself ; the phosphate, oxalate, and tartrate being crystallizable. 
 Nicotine causes the pupils to contract. A single drop of it is sufficient to kill a dog. 
 
 Macerate powdered tobacco for twenty-four hours in water acidulated with sulphu- 
 ric acid ; express the liquor, evaporate to the consistence of syrup, ' and distil the resi- 
 due with a sufficient quantity of potash ; add more water from time to time to prevent 
 the decomposition of the nicotina, in consequence of the potash being too much con- 
 centrated. From this distillation a quantity of nicotina and ammonia will be obtain- 
 ed in the receiver, and these are to be neutralized with oxalic acid. Evaporate now 
 to dryness, and treat the residue with boiling alcohol, which will dissolve the oxalate 
 of nicotina, leaving the oxolate of ammonia unacted upon. Heat the oxalate of nico- 
 tina in solution of potash, and separate the nicotina with ether, in which it is solu- 
 ble, and from which the ether may again be separated by distillation. 
 
 M. Ortigosa considers this nicotina not to be perfectly pure, but to contain a portion 
 of water and of alcohol 
 
 From the analysis of the salt formed by the combination of nicotina with the chlo 
 rides of platinum and mercury, M. Ortigosa has represented the composition of this 
 vegetable principle by the following formula : 
 
 0,0 = 73-26 
 H a = 9-65 
 Az, = 11 -09 
 
 NITRATE OF AMMONIA, is prepared by neutralizing nitric acid with car- 
 
270 NITRATE OP POTASH. 
 
 bonate of ammonia, an d crystallizing the solution. Heat converts it into water and 
 laughing gas. 
 
 NITRATE OF LEAD (Nitrate de plomb, Fr. ; Salpetersaures hleioxyd. Germ.) ; is 
 made by saturating somewhat dilute nitric acid with oxide of lead (litharge) evaporat- 
 ing the neutral so'ution till a pellicle appears, and then exposing it in a hot chamber 
 till it be converted into crystals, which are sometimes transparent, but generally opaque 
 white octahedrons. Their spec. grav. is 4-068 ; they have a cooling, sweetish, pungent 
 taste. They dissolve in 7 parts of cold, and in much less boiling water ; they fuse at a 
 moderate elevation of temperature, emit oxygen gas, and pass into oxide of lead. 
 Their constituents are 67 - 3 oxide and 327 acfd. Nitrate of lead is much employed in 
 the chrome yellow style of Calico printing; which see. 
 
 There are three other compounds of nitric acid and lead oxide; viz., the bi-basic, 
 the tri-basic, and the se-basic ; which contain respectively 2, 3, and 6 atcms of base to 
 I of acid. 
 
 NITRATE OF POTASH, Nitre, saltpetre. (Nitrate de potasae, Fr. ; Sal peter saum 
 kali, Germ.) This salt occurs native as an efflorescence upon limestones, sandstones, 
 marls, chalk, and calctuff ; it forms a saline crust in caverns, as also upon the sur- 
 face of the ground in certain places, especially where animal matters havebeen 
 decomposed. Such caverns exist in Germany near Homburg (Burkardu6h) ; in Apulia 
 upon the Adriatic sea (Pulo di Mofetta); in France; in the East Indies; in Ceylon, 
 where 22 nitriferous caverns are mentioned ; in North America, at Crooked River, 
 Tennessee, Kentucky, and upon the Missouri ; in Brazil, Teneriffe, and Africa. Nitre 
 occurs as an efflorescence upon the ground in Arragon, Hungary, Podolia, Sicily, 
 Egypt, Persia, Bengal, China, Arabia, North America, and South America. Several 
 plants contain saltpetre ; particularly borage, dill, tobacco, sunflowers, stalks of maize, 
 beet-root, bugloss, parietaria, <&e. It has not hitherto been found in animal sub- 
 stances. 
 
 The question has been frequently put ; ho w is nitre annually reproduced upon the 
 surface of limestones and the ground, after it has been removed by washing ? It has 
 been said, in reply, that as secondary limestones contain remains of animal matters, 
 the oxygen of the atmosphere, absorbed in virtue of the porous structure, will com- 
 bine wilh their azote to form nitric acid; whence nitrate of lime will result. Where 
 potash is present in the ground, a nitrate of that base will be next formed. The generation 
 of nitre is in all cases limited to a very small distance from the surface of porous stones; 
 no further, indeed, than where atmospherical air and moisture can penetrate; and none 
 is ever produced upon the surface of compact stones, such as marble and quartz, or of 
 argillaceous minerals. Dr. John Davy and M. Lonschamp have advanced an opinion, 
 that the presence of azotized matter is not necessary for the generation of nitric acid or 
 nitrous salts, but that the oxygen and azote of the atmosphere, when condensed by capil- 
 larity, will combine in such proportions as to form nitric acid, through the agency cf 
 moisture and of neutralizing bases, such as lime, magnesia, potash, or soda. They conceive 
 that as spongy platina serves to combine oxygen and hydrogen into water, or the vapor 
 of alcohol and oxygen into acetic acid, and as the peroxydeas well as the hydrate of iron, 
 and argillaceous minerals, serve to generate ammonia from the oxygen of the air and the 
 hydrogen of water; in like manner, porous limestones, through the agency of water, 
 operate upon the constituents of the atmosphere to produce nitric acid, without the pres- 
 ence of animal matter. This opinion may certainly be maintained; for in India, Spain, 
 and several other countries, at a distance from all habitations, immense quantities of salt- 
 petre are reproduced in soils which have been washed the year before. But, on the 
 other hand, it is known that the production of this salt may be greatly facilitated and in- 
 creased by the admixture of animal offals with calcareous earths. 
 
 The spontaneous generatbn of nitre in Spain, Egypt, and especially in India, is suffi- 
 cient to supply the wants of the whole world. There this salt is observed to form upon 
 the surface of the ground in silky tufts, or even in slender prismatic crystals, particu- 
 larly during the continuance of the hot weather that succeeds copious rains. These saline 
 efflorescences, after being collected by rude besoms of broom, are lixiviated, allowed to 
 settle, evaporated, and crystallized. In France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, &c, vast 
 quantities of nitrous salts are obtained by artificial arrangements called nitriaries. oi 
 nitre-beds. Very little nitrate of potash, indeed, is obtained in the first place; but' the 
 nitrates of lime and magnesia, which being deliquescent, remain in the nitrous earths in 
 a semi-liquid slate. The operation of converting these salts into good nitre is often suf- 
 ficiently complex, in consequence of the presence of several muriates, which are difficult 
 to eliminate. 
 
 The following instructions hate been given by the consulting committee of pondres et 
 aalpetret in France, for the construction of their nitrieres artificielles. The permeability 
 of the materia.? to the atmospherical air, being found to be as indispensable as is the 
 presence of a base to fix the nitric acid at the instant of its formation, the first measun 
 
NITRATE OF POTASH. 271 
 
 is to select a light friable earth, containing as much carbonate of lime or old mortar- 
 rubbish as possible ; and to interstratify it with beds of duns, five or six inches thick, 
 till a considerable heap be raised in the shape of a truncated pyramid, which should be 
 placed under an open shed, and kept moist by-watering it from lime to time. When 
 the whole appears to be decomposed into a kind of mould, it is to be spread under sheds 
 in layers of from two to three feet thick; which are to be watered occasionally with 
 urine and the drainings of dunghills, taking care not to soak them too much, lest they 
 should be rendered impermeable to the air, though they should be always damp enough 
 to favor the absorption and mutual action of the atmospherical gases. Moist garden 
 mould affords an example or the physical condition most favorable to nitre-beds. The 
 compost should be turned over, and well mixed with the spade once at least in every 
 fortnight, and the sides of the shed should be partially closed ; for although air be essen- 
 tial, wind is injurious, by carrying off the acid vapors, instead of allowing them to rest 
 incumbent upon, and combine with, the bases. The chemical reaction is slow and 
 successive, and can be made effective only by keeping the agents and materials in a 
 state of quiescence. The whole process lasts two years ; but since organic matters 
 would yield in the lixiviation several soluble substances detrimental to the extraction of 
 saltpetre, they must not be added during the operations of the latter six months; nor 
 must any thing except clear water be used for watering during this period ; at the end 
 of which the whole organic ingredients of the beds will" be totally decomposed. Where 
 dung is not sufficiently abundant for the above stratifications, a nitre-bed should be 
 formed in a stable with friable earth, covered with a layer of litter; after four months 
 the litter is to be lifted off, the earth is to be turned over, then another layer of fresh 
 earth, 8 or 9 inches thick, is to be placed over it, and a layer of the old and fresh litter 
 over all. At the end of other four months, this operation is to be repealed ; and in the 
 course of a year the whole is ready to be transferred. into the regular nitre-beds under a 
 shed, as above described. Such are the laborious and disagreeable processes practised 
 by the peasants of Sweden, each of whom is bound by law to have a nitre-bed, and to 
 furnish a certain quantity of nitre to the state every year. His nitriary commonly con- 
 sists ot a small hut built of boards, with a bottom of rammed clay, covered by a woouen 
 floor, upon which is spread a mixture of ordinary earth with calcareous sand or marl, 
 and lixiviated wood-ashes. This mixture is watered with stable urine, and its surface 
 is tamed over once a week in summer, and once a fortnight in winter. In some 
 countries, walls 2 or 3 feet thick, and b" or 7 high, are raised with the nitrifying com- 
 post, interspersed with weeds and branches of trees, in order at once to bind Ihem 
 together, and 10 favor the circulation of air. These walls are thatched with straw ; 
 they are placed with one of their faces in the direction of the rains ; and must be moist- 
 ened with water not rich in animal matter. One side of the walls is upright and smooth ; 
 while the other is sloped or terraced, to favor the admission of humidity into their interior. 
 The nitre eventually forms a copious efflorescence upon the smooth side, whence it may 
 be easily scraped off. 
 
 M. Longchamp, convinced that organic matters are a useless expense, and not in the 
 least essential to nitrification, proposes to establish nitre-beds where fuel and labor are 
 cheapest, as amidst forests, choosing as dry and low a piece of ground as possible, laying 
 them out upon a square space of about 1000 feet in each side, in the middle of which the 
 graduation-house may be L-ult, and alongside of it sheds for the evaporation furnaces and 
 pans. Upon each of the four sides the nitrifying sheds are to be erected, 130 feet long 
 by 30 feet wide, where the lixiviation would be carried on, and whence the water would 
 be conducted in gutters to the graduation-house. The sheds are to be closed at the tides 
 by walls of pisS, and covered with thatch. No substance is so favorable to nitrification 
 as the natural stony concretion known under the name of lime-tuf. In Touraine, where 
 it is used as a building stone, the saltpetre makers re-establish the foundations of old 
 houses at their own expense, provided they are allowed to carry off the old tuf, which owes 
 its nitrifying properties not only to its chemical nature, but to its texture, which being of a 
 homogeneous porosity, permits elastic fluids and vapors to pass through it freely in all di- 
 rections. With (he rough blocks of such tuf, walls about 20 inches thick, and moderately 
 high, are to be raised, upon the principles above prescribed ; in the absence of tuf, porous 
 walls may be raised with a mixture of arable soil, sand, and mortar-rubbish, chalk or rich 
 marl. The walls ought to be kept moist. 
 
 In France, the greater part of the indigenous saltpetre is obtained by lixiviating 
 the mortar-rubbish of old buildings, especially of those upon the ground-floor, and in 
 sunk cellars; which are by law reserved for this purpose. The first object of the 
 manufacturer is then to ascertain the richness of his materials in nitrous salts, to see if 
 they be worth the trouble of working ; and this point he commonly determines merely 
 by their saline, bitter, and pungent taste, though he might readily have recourse to the 
 far surer criteria of lixiviation and evaporation. He next pounds them coarsely, and 
 puts them into large casks open at top, and covered with straw at bottom ; which are 
 
272 
 
 NITRATE OF SILVER. 
 
 placed in three successive levels. Water is poured into the casks till they are full, and 
 after 12 hours' digestion it is run off, loaded with the sails, by a spigot near the bottom. 
 A fresh quantity of water is then added, and drawn off after an interval of four hours ; 
 even a third and fourth lixiviation are had recourse to ; but these weak liquors are 
 reserved for lixiviating fresh rubbish. The contents of the casks upon the second and 
 third lower levels are lixiviated with the liquors of the upper cask, till the leys indicate 
 from 12 to 14 degrees of Baume's hydrometer. They are now fit for evaporating to a 
 greater density, and of then receiving the dose of wood-ashes requisite to convert the 
 materials of lime and magnesia into nitrate of potash, with the precipitation of the 
 carbonates of magnesia and lime. The solution of nitre' is evaporated . in a copper 
 pan, and as it boils, the scum which rises to the surface must be diligently skimmed off 
 into a cistern alongside. Muriate of soda being hardly more soluble in boiling than 
 in cold water, separates during the concentration of the nitre, and is progressively 
 removed with cullender-shaped ladles. The fire is withdrawn whenever the liquor has 
 acquired the density of 80° B. ; it is allowed to settle for a little .while, and is then 
 drawn off, by a lead syphon adjusted some way above the bottom, into iron vessels, to 
 cool and crystallize. The crystals thus obtained are set to drain, then re-dissolved and 
 re-crystallized. The further purification of nitre, is fully described under the article 
 Gunpowder. 
 
 The annual production of saltpetre in France, by the above-described processes, dm ing 
 the wars of the Revolution, amounted to 2000 tons (2 millions of kilogrammes) of an ar- 
 ticle fit for the manufacture of gunpowder; of which seven twentieths were furnished by 
 the saltpetre works of Paris alone. . Considerably upwards of six times that quantity of 
 common and cubic nitre were imported into the United Kingdom, for home consumption, 
 during the year ending January 5, 1838. 
 
 Nitrate of potash crystallizes in six-sided prisms, with four narrow and two broad 
 faces : the last being terminated by a dihedral summit, or two-sided acumination ; 
 they are striated lengthwise, and have fissures in their long axis, which are apt to con- 
 tain mother water. The spec, gravity of nitre, varies from" 1-93 to 2-00. It possesses 
 a cooling, bitterish-pungent taste, is void of smell, permanent in the air when pure, 
 fuses at a heat of about 662, into an oily-looking liquid, and concretes upon cooling 
 into a solid mass, with a coarsely radiating fracture. This has got the unmeaning 
 names of sal-prunelle and mineral crystal. At a , red heat, nitre gives out at first a 
 great deal of pretty pure oxygen gas ; but afterwards nitrous acid fumes, while potash 
 remains in the retort. It is soluble in 7 parts of water at 32° ; in about 3§ at 60° F., 
 in less than half a part at 194°, and in four tenths at 212°. It is very slightly soluble 
 in spirit of wine, and not at all in absolute alcohol. It causes a powerful deflagration 
 when thrown upon burning coals ; and when a mixture of it with sulphur is thrown into 
 a red-hot crucible, a very vivid light is emitted. Its constituents are, 46-55 potash, and 
 53-45 nitric acid. 
 
 Nitre is applied to many purposes:— 1.' to the manufacture of gunpowder; 2. to that 
 of sulphuric acid; 3. to that of nitric acid, though nitrate of soda or cubic nitre has lately 
 superseded this use of it to a considerable extent ; 4. to that of flint-glass ; 5. it is used 
 in medicine ; 6. for many chemical and pharmaceutical preparations ; 7. for procuring 
 by deflagration with charcoal or cream of tartar, pure carbonate of potash, as also black 
 and white fluxes ; 8. for mixing with salt in curing butcher meat ; 9. in some countries 
 for sprinkling in solution upon grain, to preserve it from insects ; 10. for making fire- 
 works. See Fire-works. 
 
 Landings, Deliveries, and Stocks of Saltpetre. 
 
 
 
 Landed. 
 
 Delivered. 
 
 Stock 1st January. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 In December 
 
 1851 
 
 415 
 
 551 
 
 
 
 1850 
 
 607 
 
 671 
 
 
 
 In 12 Months 
 
 1851 
 
 7,764 
 
 7,859 
 
 2,321 
 
 
 1850 
 
 9,661 
 
 10,327 
 
 2,416 
 
 
 1849 
 
 9,997 
 
 8,774 
 
 3,082 
 
 
 1848 
 
 11,034 
 
 9,864 
 
 1,794 
 
 Prices. — Bengal, 25s. to 28s. 6d per cwt. ; Madras, 24s. to 25s. 
 
 NITRATE OF SILVER (Nitrate d'argent, Fr.; SMersalpeter, Germ.); is pre- 
 pared by saturating pure nitric acid of specific grav. 1-25 with pure silver, evaporating 
 the solution, and crystallizing the nitrate. When the drained crystals are fuBed in a 
 platina capsule, and cast into slender cylinders in silver moulds, they constitute the 
 lunar caustic of the surgeon. This should be white, and unchangeable by light. It is 
 deliquescent in moist air. The crystals are colorless transparent 4 and 6 sided tables • 
 
NITRATE OF SODA. 
 
 273 
 
 they possess a bitter, acrid, and most disagreeable metallic taste ; they dissolve in their 
 own weight of cold, and in much less of hot water; are soluble in four parts of boiling 
 alcohol, but not in nitric acid ; they deflagrate on redhot coals, like all the nitrates ; 
 and detonate with phosphorus when the two are struck together upon an anvil. They 
 consist of 68-2 of oxyde, and 31-8 of acid. Nitrate of silver, when swallowed, is a very 
 energetic poison ; but it may be readily counteracted, by the administration of a dose 
 of sea-salt, which converts the corrosive nitrate into the inert chloride of silver. 
 Animal matter, immersed in a weak solution of neutral nitrate of silver, will keep 
 unchanged for any length of time; and so will polished iron or steel. Nitrate of 
 silver is such a delicate reagent of hydrochloric or muriatic acid, as to show by a 
 sensible cloud, the presence of one 113 millionth part of it, or one 7 millionth part of 
 sea-salt in distilled water. It is much used under the name of indelible ink, for 
 writing upon linen with a pen ; for which purpose one drachm of the fused salt should be 
 dissolved in three quarters of an ounce of water, adding to the solution as much water 
 of ammonia as will re-dissolve the precipitated oxyde", with sap-green to color it, and 
 gum-water to make the volume amount to one ounce. Traces written with this liquid 
 should . be first heated before a fire to expel the excess of ammonia, and then exposed to 
 the sun-beam to blacken. Another mode of using nitrate of silver as an indelible ink, 
 is to imbue the linen first with solution of carbonate of soda, to dry the spot, and write 
 upon it with a solution of nitrate of silver, thickened with gum, and tinted with sap- 
 green. 
 
 NITRATE OF SODA, Cubical Nitre [Nitrate de soude, Fr. ; Wurfelsalpeter, 
 Germ.), occurs under the nitre upon the lands in Spain, India, Chile, and remarkably 
 in Peru, in the districts of Atacama and Taracapa, where it forms a bed several feet 
 thick. It appears in several places upon the surface, and extends over a space of more 
 than 40 leagues, approaching near to the frontiers of Chile. It is sometimes efflo- 
 rescent, sometimes crystallized, but oftener confusedly mixed with clay and sand. 
 This immensely valuable deposite is only three days' journey from the port of Con- 
 ception in Chile, and from Iquiqui. another harbor situated in the southern part of 
 Peru. 
 
 Nitrate of soda may be artificially prepared by neutralizing nitric acid with soda, and 
 crystallizing^ the solution. It crystallizes in rhomboids, has a cooling, pungent, bitterish 
 taste, less disagreeable than nitre ; it becomes moist in the air ; dissolves in 3 parts of 
 water at 60° F., in less than 1 part of boiling water ; deflagrates more slowly than nitre. 
 and with an orange yellow flame. It consists, in its dry state of 366 soda and 634 
 nitric acid; but its crystals contain one prime equivalent of water ; hence they are 
 composed of, acid 56-84, base 33 - 68, water 9'47. 
 
 It is susceptible of the same applications as nitre, with the exception of making gun 
 powder ; for which it is not adapted, on account of its deliquescent property. 
 
 We extract the following from a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society 
 of London, on the 28th of April, 1851, entitled Observations on the Geography of 
 Southern Peru, &c. &e. by W. Bollaert, Esq. F. R. G. S. 
 
 "The existence of this valuable substance in the province of Tarapaca has been known 
 in Europe about a century. In 1820, some of it was sent to England, but the duty 
 then being so high, it was thrown overboard. In 1827, efforts were unsuccessfully 
 made by an English house to export it. In 1830, a cargo was sent to the United 
 States ; it was found unsalable there, and a part of it taken to Liverpool, but was 
 returned as unsalable in England. A cargo was then sent to France, and in 1831 
 another to England, when it became better known, and sold as high as 30s. to 40«. the 
 cwt. Its price has varied very much ; present quotations (1851) about 15s. Since 1831 
 to 1852, the exports of nitrate from Iquique have been 5,293,478 quintals, equal to 
 about 239,860 tons, some of it being used as a fertilizer of land, some in the manufac- 
 ture of nitric acid. The principal deposits of nitrate of soda, yet known, are found on 
 the western side of the Pampa de Tamarugal, commencing immediately where the level 
 plain ceases, and on the sides of some of the ravines running from the pampa towards 
 the coast and in some of the hollows of the mountains. The nitrate has not been found 
 nearer to the coast than 18 miles, and looks as if it gradually transferred itself into salt 
 as it approached the coast. The officinos or refining works are divided into northern and 
 southern Saletres ; the old Saletres being about the centre of the former, and La KTueva 
 Koria that of the latter ; there are in all about 100 officinos. The nitrate deposits com- 
 mence about Tilineche, and extend south near to Quilliagua with interruptions of deposits 
 of common salt. The nitrate caleche grounds vary in breadth ; the average may be 
 500 yards, and in places 7 to 8 feet thick, and sometimes quite pure. . In the ravines 
 and hollows before mentioned, the nitrate is found on their shelving sides ; the hol- 
 lows look like dried-up cakes, and are covered with salt 2 to 3 feet thick, and on the 
 margins there is nitrate of soda, ofttimes going down to some depth ; in others there is 
 a hard dry crust upon it, occasionally 4 feet thick. The nitrate caleche formed under this 
 Vol. II 19 
 
274 
 
 NITRATE OF STRONTIA. 
 
 crust is in thin layers, and so solid and pure as to be soagtt ^or, although the expensi 
 of blasting is very great. 
 
 "There are several varieties of the nitrate of soda calecte, the following being th« 
 principal. 
 
 " 1. White, compact, containing 64 per cent. 
 
 " 2. Yellow, occasioned by salts of iodine, 70 per cent. 
 
 "3. Gray compact, containing a little iron and a trace' of iodine, 46 percent. 
 
 " 4. Gray crystalline, the most abundant variety, contains from 20 to 85 per cent., 
 affording traces of iodine, with 1 to 8 per cent, of earthy matter. 
 
 " 5. White crystalline : this resembles the refined nitrate. 
 
 "All these contain common salt, sulphate and carbonate of soda, muriate of lime, and 
 occasionally some borate of lime, as found under the nitrate beds : one variety of the 
 latter, composed of boracicacid49-5, soda 8-8, water 26-0, lime 15-7=100, may probably 
 become of use in this country in glass-making, &c. 
 
 "Fragments of shells have been noticed with and under the nitrate bed: this may ac- 
 count in some measure for the lime in the borate and muriate. Mr. Blake mentions that 
 200 feet above the Pampa (which is 3500 above the level of the sea), near to Los Saletres 
 del ports, ' limestone containing shells rises from a bed consisting of pebbles and shells 
 cemented together by salt and nitrate of soda ; part of the shells are decomposed, whilst 
 others are perfect in form, and like those now still found lying on the rocks in the in 
 lets of the sea.' 
 
 "The rough nitrate of soda is broken into small pieces, put into boilers, water intro- 
 duced, and the whole boiled; the nitrate is held in solution, while the earthy matter, 
 salt, phosphates, &c, are separated and fall to the bottom of the vessel : the saturated 
 solution of nitrate is let into a reservoir, where it deposits any remaining earthy mat- 
 ter ; the clear liquor is run into shallow troughs, exposed to the sun, crystallization 
 tafees place, containing only 2 to 3 per cent, of impurities, and is ready to be conveyed 
 to the coast for exportation. The Pampa de Tamaruagal contains sufficient nitrate of 
 s' -t« 7lr the consumption of Europe for ages; the desert of Atacamo yields it ; it has 
 o'vt >;e-j met with on the Andes and in the Eastern plains. 
 
 «srjr,<H* into the United Kingdom from Chili and Peru of Cubic Nitre, compiled 
 from Official Sources. 
 
 Teics. 
 
 Chill. 
 
 Peru. 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1832 
 
 296 
 
 498 
 
 1833 
 
 440 
 
 583 
 
 1834 
 
 2,521 
 
 1,303 
 
 1835 
 
 1,326 
 
 2,068 
 
 1836 
 
 2,183 
 
 1,625 
 
 1837 
 
 1,355 
 
 4,345 
 
 1838 
 
 1,091 
 
 2,099 
 
 1839 
 
 1,488 
 
 2,132 
 
 1840 
 
 2,651 
 
 4,696 
 
 1841 
 
 1,188 
 
 3,546 
 
 1842 
 
 5,048 
 
 4,239 
 
 1843 
 
 5,011 
 
 1,797 
 
 1844 
 
 1,523 
 
 5,531 
 
 1845 
 
 1,437 
 
 6,705 
 
 1846 
 
 2,669 
 
 6,752 
 
 .1847 
 
 j, 1,834 
 
 13,506 
 
 1848 
 
 1,676 
 
 8,425 
 
 1849 
 
 4,154 
 
 8,876 
 
 1850 
 
 1,150 
 
 10,740 
 
 NITRATE OF STRONTIA. (Nitrate de SironHane, Fr. j Salpetersaiirer strmtian, 
 Germ.) This salt is usually prepared from the sulphuret of strontium, obtained by de- 
 composing sulphate of strontia with charcoal, by strong ignition of the mixed powders in 
 a crucible. This sulphuret being treated with water, and the solution being filtered, is 
 to be neutralized with nitric acid, as indicated by the test of turmeric paper ; care being 
 taken to avoid breathing the noxious sulphureted hydrogen gas, which is copiously disen- 
 gaged. The neutral nitrate being properly evaporated and set aside, affords colorless, 
 transparent, slender octahedral crystals. It has a cooling, yet somewhat acrid taste ; is 
 soluble in 5 parts of cold, and in one half part of boiling water, as also in alcohol ; is 
 
NITRIC ACID. 275 
 
 permanent in the air, deflagrates upon burning coals, gives off oxygen when calcined, 
 and leaves caustic strontia. The salt consists of 48-9 strontia and 51-1 nitric acid. That 
 salt is anhydrous ; hut there is another variety of it, which contains nearly 40 per cent, 
 cf water of crystallization, which occurs in large octahedrons. This is preferred for fire- 
 works, because by efflorescence it is easily obtained in a fine powder, which mixes more 
 intimately with the chlorate «f potash and charcoal, for the composition of the brilliant 
 red fires, now so much admired in theatrical conflagrations. 
 
 NITRIC ACID, Aquafortis (Jlcide nitrique, Fr. ; Salpetersailre, Germ.), exists, in com- 
 bination with the bases, potash, soda, lime, magnesia, in both the mineral and vegetable 
 kingdoms. This acid is never found insulated. It was distilled from saltpetre so long 
 ago as the 13th century, by igniting that salt, mixed with copperas or clay, in a retort. 
 Nitric acid is generated when a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen gases, confined over 
 water or an alkaline solution, has a series of electrical explosions passed through it. In 
 this way the salubrious atmosphere may be converted into corrosive aquafortis. When 
 a little hydrogen is introduced into the mixed gases, standing over water, the chemical 
 agency of the electricity becomes more intense, and the acid is more rapidly formed from 
 its elements, with the production of some nitrate of ammonia. 
 
 Nitric acid is usually made on the small scale by distilling, with the heat of a 'sand- 
 bath, a mixture of 3 parts of -pure nitre, and 2 parts of strong sulphuric acid, in a large 
 glass retort, connected by a long glass tube with a globular receiver surrounded by cold 
 water. By a well-regulated distillation, a pure acid, of specific gravity 1-500, may be 
 thus obtained, amounting in weight to about two thirds of the nitre employed. To 
 obtain easily the whole nitric acid, equal weights of nitre and concentrated sulphuric 
 acid may be taken ; in which case but a moderate heat need be applied to the retort. 
 The residuum will be bisulphate of potash. When only the t.jigle equivalent propor- 
 tion of sulphuric acid is used, namely, 48 parts for 100 of nitre, a much higher heat is 
 required to complete the distillation, whereby more or less of the nitric acid is decomposed, 
 while a compact neutral sulphate of potash is left in the retort, very difficult to remove 
 by solution in water, and therefore apt to destroy the vessel. 
 
 Aquafortis is manufactured upon the great scale in iron pots or cylinders of the same 
 construction as I have described under muriatic acid. The more concentrated the sul- 
 phuric acid is, the less corrosively will it act upon the metal ; and it is commonly used 
 in the proportion of one part by weight to two of nitre. The salt being introduced into 
 the cool retort, and the lid being luted light, the acid is to be slowly poured in through 
 the aperture f, fig. 983 j while the aperture g is connected by a long glass tube with a 
 range Df balloons inserted into each other, and laid upon a sloping bed of sand. The 
 bottle i, with 3 tubulures partly filled with water, which is required for condensing 
 muriatic acid gas, must, for the present purpose, be replaced by a series of empty receiv- 
 ers, either of glass or salt-glazed stoneware. The cylinders should be only half filled, 
 and be worked off by a gradually raised heat. 
 
 Commercial aquafortis is very generally contaminated with sulphuric and muriatic 
 acids, as also with alkaline sulphates and muriates. The quantity of these salts may be 
 readily ascertained by evaporating in a glass capsule a given weight of the aquafortis ; 
 while that of the muriatic acid may be determined by nitrate of silver ; and of sulphuric 
 acid, by nitrate of baryta. Aquafortis may be purified in a great measure, by re-distilla- 
 tion at a gentle heat ; rejecting the first liquid which comes over, as it contains the 
 chlorine impregnation ; receiving the middle portion as genuine nitric acid ; and leaving 
 a residuum in the retort, as being contaminated with sulphuric acid. 
 
 Since nitrate of soda has been so abundantly imported into Europe from Peru, it has 
 been employed by many manufacturers in preference to nitre for the extraction of nitric 
 acid, because it is cheaper, and because the residuum of the distillation, being sulphate 
 of soda, is more readily removed by solution from glass retorts, when a range of these 
 set in a gallery furnace is the apparatus employed. Nitric acid of specific gravity 1-47 
 may be obtained colorless ; but by further concentration a portion of it is decomposed 
 whereby some nitrous acid is produced, which gives it a straw-yellow tinge. At this 
 strength it exhales white or orange fumes, which have a peculiar, though not very disa- 
 greeable smell ; and even when largely diluted with water, it tastes extremely sour. The 
 greatest density at which it can be obtained is 1-51 or perhaps 1-52, at 60° F., in which 
 state, or even when much weaker, it powerfully corrodes all animal, vegetable, and most 
 metallic bodies. When slightly diluted it is applied, with many precautions, to silk and 
 woollen stuffs, to stain them of a bright yellow hue. See Calico-printing, page 335. 
 
 In the dry state, as it exists in nitre, this acid consists of 26-15 parts by weight of azote, 
 and 73-85 of oxygen ; or of 2 volumes of the first gas, and 5 volumes of the second. 
 
 When of specific gravity 1-5, it boils at about 210° Fahr. ; of 1-45, it boils at about 
 240°; of 1-42, it boils at 253° ; and of 1-40, at 246° F. If an acid stronger than 1-420 
 be distilled in a retort, it gradually becomes weaker; and if weaker than 1-42, it gradu- 
 ally becomes stronger, till it assumes that standard density. Acid of specific gravity 
 
276 
 
 NITRIC ACID. 
 
 1-485 has no more action upon tin than water has, though whci either stronger ol 
 weaker it oxydizes it rapidly, and evolves fumes of nitrous gas with explosive violence. 
 ' In my two papers upon nitric acid published in the fourth and sixth volumes of the 
 Journal of Science (1818 and 1819), I investigated the chemical relations of these phe- 
 nomena. Acid of 1-420 consists of 1 atom of dry acid, and 4 of water ; acid of 1-485, 
 of 1 atom of dry acid, and 2 of water ; the latter compound possesses a stable equi- 
 librium as to chemical agency ; the former as to calorific. Acid of specific gravity 1-334, 
 consisting of 7 atoms of water, and 1 of dry acid, resists the decomposing agency of 
 light. Nitric acid acts with great energy upon most combustible substances, simple or 
 compound, giving up oxygen to them, and resolving itself into nitrous gas, or even azote. 
 Such is the result of its action upon hydrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, charcoal, sugar, 
 gum, starch, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin, and most other metals._ 
 
 From muriatic to nitric acid the transmission is easy, though nitric acid is never 
 obtained as the waste product of any chemical operation. Its manufacture is invariably 
 the primary object of the process by which it is procured. The ordinary method 
 consists in heating together, in a distillatory apparatus, a mixture of nitrate of soda 
 or potash with sulphuric acid. In this way, the sulphuric acid unites with the soda 
 or polash, as the case may be, forming commercial products, also salt cake and sal- 
 enixen ; whilst the nitric acid combines with the water of the sulphuric acid, and, pass 
 ing away under the influence of the heat, is condensed in the receiver of the apparatus. 
 A decomposition of this kind is sometimes denominated a simple decomposition ; but in 
 reality it is not so, as the transfer of the water completes the cycle of elective affinity. 
 A Table of Nitric Acid, by Dr. Ure. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Liq. 
 
 Dry acid 
 
 Specific 
 
 Ac7d P-y** 5 
 
 Specific 
 
 Liq. 
 
 Dry acid 
 
 Specific 
 
 Liq. 
 Acid 
 
 Dry acid 
 
 gravity. 
 
 in 100 
 
 in 100. 
 
 gravity. 
 
 in 100 
 
 in 100. 
 
 gravity. 
 
 in 100 
 
 in 100. 
 
 gravity. 
 
 in 100 
 
 
 1-5000 
 
 100 
 
 79-700 
 
 1-4189 
 
 75 
 
 59-775 
 
 1-2947 
 
 50 
 
 39-850 
 
 1-1403 
 
 25 
 
 19-925 
 
 1-4980 
 
 99 
 
 78-903 
 
 1-4147 
 
 74 
 
 58-978 
 
 1-2887 
 
 49 
 
 39-053 
 
 1-1345 
 
 24 
 
 19-128 
 
 1-4960 
 
 98 
 
 78-106 
 
 1-4107 
 
 73 
 
 58-181 
 
 1-2826 
 
 48 
 
 38-256 
 
 1-1286 
 
 23 
 
 18-331 
 
 1-4940 
 
 97 
 
 77-309 
 
 1-4065 
 
 72 
 
 57-384 
 
 1-2765 
 
 47 
 
 37-459 
 
 1-1227 
 
 22 
 
 17-534 
 
 1-4910 
 
 96 
 
 76-512 
 
 1-4023 
 
 71 
 
 56-587 
 
 1-2705 
 
 46 
 
 36-662 
 
 1-1168 
 
 21 
 
 16-737 
 
 1-4880 
 
 95 
 
 75-715 
 
 1-3978 
 
 70 
 
 55-790 
 
 1-2644 
 
 45 
 
 35-865 
 
 1.1109 
 
 20 
 
 15-940 
 
 1-4850 
 
 94 
 
 74-918 
 
 1-3945 
 
 69 
 
 54-993 
 
 1-2583 
 
 44 
 
 35-068 
 
 1-1051 
 
 19 
 
 15-143 
 
 1-4820 
 
 93 
 
 74-121 
 
 1-3882 
 
 68 
 
 54-196 
 
 1-2523 
 
 43 
 
 34-271 
 
 1-0993 
 
 18 
 
 14-346 
 
 1-4790 
 
 92 
 
 73-324 
 
 1-3833 
 
 67 
 
 53-399 
 
 1-2462 
 
 42 
 
 33-474 
 
 1-0935 
 
 17 
 
 13-549 
 
 1-4760 
 
 91 
 
 72-527 
 
 1-3783 
 
 66 
 
 52-602 
 
 1-2402 
 
 41 
 
 32-677 
 
 1-0878 
 
 16 
 
 12-752 
 
 1-4730 
 
 90 
 
 71-730 
 
 1-3732 
 
 65 
 
 51-805 
 
 1-2341 
 
 40 
 
 31-880 
 
 1-0821 
 
 15 
 
 11-955 
 
 1-4700 
 
 89 
 
 70-933 
 
 1-3681 
 
 64 
 
 51-068 
 
 1-2277 
 
 39 
 
 31-083 
 
 1-0764 
 
 14 
 
 11-158 
 
 1-4670 
 
 88 
 
 70-136 
 
 1-3630 
 
 63 
 
 50-211 
 
 1-2212 
 
 38 
 
 30-286 
 
 1-0708 
 
 13 
 
 10-361 
 
 1-4640 
 
 87 
 
 69-339 
 
 1-3579 
 
 62 
 
 49-414 
 
 1-2148 
 
 37 
 
 29-489 
 
 1-0651 
 
 12 
 
 9-564 
 
 1-4600 
 
 86 
 
 68-542 
 
 1-3529 
 
 61 
 
 48-617 
 
 1-2084 
 
 36 
 
 28-692 
 
 1-0595 
 
 11 
 
 8-767 
 
 1-4570 
 
 85 
 
 67-745 
 
 1-3477 
 
 60 
 
 47-820 
 
 1-2019 
 
 35 
 
 27-895 
 
 1-0540 
 
 10 
 
 7-970 
 
 1-4530 
 
 84 
 
 66-948 
 
 1-3427 
 
 59 
 
 47-023 
 
 1-1958 
 
 34 
 
 27-098 
 
 1-0485 
 
 9 
 
 7-173 
 
 1-4500 
 
 83 
 
 66-155 
 
 1-3376 
 
 58 
 
 46-226 
 
 1-1895 
 
 33 
 
 26-301 
 
 1-0430 
 
 8 
 
 6-376 
 
 1-4460 
 
 82 
 
 65-354 
 
 1-3323 
 
 57 
 
 45-429 
 
 1-1833 
 
 32 
 
 25-504 
 
 1-0375 
 
 7 
 
 5-579 
 
 1-4424 
 
 81 
 
 64-557 
 
 1-3270 
 
 56 
 
 44-632 
 
 1-1770 
 
 31 
 
 24-707 
 
 1-0320 
 
 6 
 
 4-782 
 
 1-4385 
 
 80 
 
 63-760 
 
 1-3216 
 
 55 
 
 43-835 
 
 1-1709 
 
 30 
 
 23-900 
 
 1-0267 
 
 5 
 
 3-981 
 
 1-4346 
 
 79 
 
 62-963 
 
 1-3163 
 
 54 
 
 43-038 
 
 1-1648 
 
 29 
 
 23-113 
 
 1-0212 
 
 4 
 
 3-188 
 
 1-4306 
 
 78 
 
 62-166 
 
 1-3110 
 
 53 
 
 42-241 
 
 1-1587 
 
 28 
 
 22-316 
 
 1-0159 
 
 3 
 
 2-391 
 
 1-4269 
 
 77 
 
 61-369 
 
 1-3056 
 
 5? 
 
 41-444 
 
 1-1526 
 
 27 
 
 21-519 
 
 1-0106 
 
 2 
 
 1-594 
 
 1-4228 
 
 76 
 
 60-572 
 
 1-3001 
 
 51 
 
 40-647 
 
 1-1465 
 
 26 
 
 20-722 
 
 1-0053 
 
 1 
 
 0-797 
 
 It has been proposed, and even carried into practice, to decompose nitrate of soda by 
 the action of boracic acid, so as to produce biborate of soda, or borax, and thus rendei 
 the nitric acid a secondary product. The success of this process depends, however, 
 upon a circumstance of a somewhat curious kind. Strong nitric acid is much more 
 volatile than weak acid ; and hence it is more easily expelled from its combination with 
 soda in a concentrated than in a diluted form. Now, boracic acid has 3 atoms of water 
 in its crystallized condition ; therefore, if we take 2 atoms of this acid, we have 6 atoms 
 of water to unite with the 1 atom of nitric acid capable of being disengaged from nitrate 
 of soda; whereas this quantity of nitric acid neeeds at most but 2 atoms. The secret, 
 therefore, is to dry the boracic acid in the first instance, so as to get rid of the surplus 
 ™ter ; and this is easily done at a temperature of 212° Fahr., at which two-thirds oi 
 
NITROGEN, DEUTOXIDE OF. 277 
 
 the water readily leave the boracic acid, and thus afford a mono-hydrated compound, 2 
 atoms of which contain precisely the amount of water needed for one atom of nitrio 
 acid, and also of the boracie acid requisite for the production of the biborate of soda. 
 There are some peculiarities connected with the application of the necessary tempe- 
 rature ; but they are of less importance. The biborate of soda is afterwards dissolved 
 in hot water, and crystallized. This process has been patented in France within the 
 last few years, by a M. Mallet, of Paris. One of the most extensive uses of nitric aeid, 
 and for which, indeed, it is chiefly fabricated, is the manufacture of oxalic acid. 
 
 Nitric Acid, anhydrous. — By treating nitrate of silver with perfectly dry chlorine, 
 M. Deville has succeeded in isolating anhydrous nitric acid, the existence of which was 
 demonstrated by numerous analyses. This beautiful substance is obtained in colorless 
 crystals, which are perfectly brilliant and limpid, and may be procured of considerable 
 size ; when they are slowly deposited in a current of gas rendered very cold, their 
 edges are a centimetre in length. These crystals are prisms of 6 faces, which appear 
 to be derived from a right prism with a rhombic base. They melt at a temperature 
 not much exceeding 85-5 Fahr, ; their boiling point is about 113°; and at 50° the ten- 
 sion of this substance is very considerable. In contact with water it becomes very hot, 
 and dissolves in it without imparting color, and without disengaging any gas ; it then 
 produces with barytes the nitrate of that base. When heated, its decomposition ap- 
 pears to commence nearly at its boiling point. This circumstance is an obstacle to the 
 determination of the density of its vapor by the process of M. Dumas. 
 
 The process by which M. Deville obtained anhydrous nitric acid is very simple ; but 
 the readiness with which it penetrates tubes of caoutchouc renders it necessary to 
 unite all the pieces of the apparatus by melting them. The following is the process : — 
 The author employs a U-shaped tube capable of containing 500 gr. of nitrate of silver 
 dried in the apparatus at 356° Fahr. in a current of dry carbonic acid gas. Another 
 very large U tube is connected with this, and to its lower part is attached a small 
 spherical reservoir ; it is in this resorvoir that a liquid is deposited which always forms 
 during the operation, and which is exclusively volatile (nitrous acid?) The tube con- 
 taining the nitrate of silver is immersed in water covered with a thin stratum of oil, 
 and heated by means of a spirit lamp communicating with a reservoir at a constant 
 level. The chlorine issues from a glass gasometer, and its displacement is effected by a 
 slow and constant flow of concentrated sulphuric acid. The chlorine must afterwards 
 pass over chloride of lime, and then over pumice-stone moistened with sulphuric acid. 
 At common temperatures no effect appears to be produced. The nitrate of silver must 
 be heated to 203° Fahr., the temperature being then quickly reduced to 136° or 154°, 
 but not lower. At the commencement, hyponitrous acid, distinguishable by its color 
 and ready condensation, is produced; and when the temperature has reached its lowest 
 point, the production of crystals begins, and they soon choke the receiver, cooled to 6° 
 below zero ; they are always deposited upon that part of the receiver which is not im 
 mersed in the freezing mixture, and M. Deville states that ice alone is sufficient to oe 
 casion their formation. 
 
 The gases are colored, and the small sphere of the cooled tube contains a small 
 quantity of liquid, which must be taken from the apparatus before the nitric acid is 
 removed to another. vessel; this latter operation is readily effected by replacing the 
 current of chlorine by one of carbonic acid. The condenser is then to be no longer 
 eooled, and the vessel for receiving the crystals is to be immersed in a freezing mixture; 
 this is fastened to the producing apparatus by means of a caoutchouc tube furnished 
 with amianthus. The chlorine should pass very slowly at the rate of about 3 or 4 li- 
 tres in 24 hours. All the gas, however, is not absorbed by the nitrate of silver. Oxy- 
 gen is evolved, the volume of which appears to be equal to that of the chlorine em- 
 ployed. An apparatus thus constructed operates day and night without watching, 
 care being however taken to renew the sulphuric acid which displaces the chlorine, the 
 spirit of the lamp, and the ingredients of the freezing mixture. 
 
 The author states that he shall forward hereafter a more complete memoir, in which 
 he will describe the chemical properties of the anhydrous nitric acid, and detail the 
 results of his researches on the action of chlorine and hypochlorous acid on the salts 
 of silver. 
 
 NITROGEN, DEUTOXYDE OF ; Nitrons gas, Nitric oxyde (Deutoxyde d'azote, Fr. ; 
 Stichstoffoxyd, Germ.) is a gaseous body which may be obtained by pouring upon copper 
 or mercury, in a retort, nitric acid of moderate strength. The nitrous gas comes over in 
 abundance without the aid of heat, and may be received over water freed from air, or 
 over mercury, in the pneumatic trough. It & elastic and colorless ; what taste and smell 
 it possesses are unknown, because the moment it is exposed to the mouth or nostrils, it 
 absorbs atmospherical oxygen, and becomes nitrous or nitric acid. Its specific gravity is 
 1-0393 or 1-04; whence 100 cubic inches weigh 36-66 gr. Water condenses not more 
 .han X. of its volume of this gas. It extinguishes animal life, and the flame of many 
 
 =L 
 
278 NITROGEN GAS. 
 
 combustibles ; but of phosphorus well kindled, it brightens the flame in a most re 
 markable degree. It consists of 47 parts of nitrogen gas, and 53 of oxygen gaB, by 
 weight; and of equal parts in bulk, without any condensation; so that the specific 
 Gravity of the deutoxide of nitrogen is the arithmetical mean of the two constituents. 
 The constitution of this gas, and the play of affinities which it exercises in the formation 
 of sulphuric acid, are deeply interesting to the chemical manufacturer. 
 
 The Hyponitrous acid(Salpetrigesaure, Germ.), like the preceding compound, deserves 
 notice here, on account of the part it plays in the conversion of sulphur into sulphuric 
 acid, by the agency of nitre. It is formed by mingling four volumes of deutoxide of 
 nitrogen with one volume of oxygen ; and appears as a dark orange vapor, which is 
 condensable into a liquid at a temperature of 40° below zero, Fahr. When distilled, 
 this liquid leaves a dark yellow fluid. The pure hyponitrous acid consists of 37 - 12 
 nitrogen, and 62 - 88 oxygen ; or of two volumes of the first, and three of J;he second. 
 Water converts it into nitric acid and deutoxide of nitrogen ; the latter of which escapes 
 with effervescence. This acid oxidizes most combustible bodies with peculiar energy ; 
 and though its vapor does not operate upon dry sulphurous acid, yet, through the 
 agency of steam, it converts it into sulphuric acid, itself being simultaneously trans- 
 formed into deutoxide of nitrogen^, ready to become hyponitrous acid again, and to 
 perform ^ circulating series of important metamorphoses. See Sulphueio Acid. 
 
 NITROGEN, PREPARATION OF. This process is founded on the decomposition 
 of nitrate of ammonia, which, as is already known, is resolved into nitrogen and wa- 
 ter under the influence of heat ; but as this salt is difficult to prepare, I replace it by a 
 mixture of an alkaline nitrate of potash and sal ammoniac, a mixture which contains 
 the elements of nitrite of ammonia and chloride of potassium. The best method ol 
 obtaining the nitrite of potash in a convenient state is to pass nitrous acid gas, formed 
 by the action of 10 parts of nitric acid on one part of starch, through a solution oi 
 caustic potash having a sp. gr. 1 '38, until the solution acquires an acid reaction ; and 
 then to add a little caustic potash, so as to render it distinctly alkaline. As the solu- 
 tion thus prepared does not undergo alteration from keeping, it may be held in readi- 
 ness ; and when the nitrogen is required, it is only necessary to mix one volume of the 
 above solution with three volumes of a concentrated solution of sal-ammoniac, and 
 to heat the mixture in a flask. The disengagement of the gas takes place almost im- 
 mediately, and continues with great regularity. 
 
 As it is necessary, in order to make the gas pure, that the nitrate should be alkaline* 
 there will be a disengagement at the same time of a little ammonia, but this is of no 
 consequence ; if the nitrogen be required completely free from ammonia, it is sufficient 
 to pass the gas through a vessel containing water acidulated with a little sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
 The following are the experiments by which I have satisfied myself of the purity 
 of the nitrogen thus obtained : — 
 
 1. After freeing the gas from ammonia as above described, it was conveyed into a 
 tube containing a mixture of zidc, sulphuric acid, and water ; into the presence, there- 
 fore, of nascent hydrogen. The experiment was continued for some time, and when 
 concluded I could not detect a trace of ammonia in the solution. 
 
 The solution was also negative on testing it with sulphate of iron and dilute sul- 
 phuric acid. 
 
 2. I placed in a glass tube, such as is used for organic analysis, a determined quanti- 
 ty of copper recently reduced by hydrogen, and exposed this for half an hour to the 
 action of a red heat and of a current of the nitrogen washed and subsequently dried 
 by passing it through pumice-stone wetted with oil of vitriol ; taking at the same time 
 the precaution not to heat the tube until all the atmospheric air had been displaced by 
 the nitrogen. This experiment was repeated several times, without any alteration 
 being observed either in the exterior appearance of the copper or in its weight. 
 
 NITROGEN GAS, or AZOTE (Eng. and Fr.j Stickstoffgas, Germ.), constitutes 
 about 79 hundredths of the bulk of the atmospheric air ; it is copiously disengaged from 
 several mineral springs, as from the natural basins of hot water which supply the baths 
 of Leuk, near the Gemmi in Switzerland, and from other springs, in the Pyrenees, in 
 Ceylon, South and North America, &c. It exists also in flesh and most animal sub- 
 stances, as well as in some vegetable products, being one of their essential constituents. 
 When phosphorus is burnt within a jar filled with air, standing over water in the pneu- 
 matic trough, it consumes or absorbs the oxygen, and leaves nitrogen, which may be ren- 
 dered pure by agitation with water. By exposing nitrite of ammonia to heat in a retort, 
 nitrogen comes over alone in great abundance ; for the hydrogen of the ammonia is suf. 
 ficient to saturate the oxygen of the acid, and to convert it into water; while the nitro- 
 gen of both constituents is set at liberty. By transmitting chlorine through water of 
 ammonia, or digesting lean flesh in warm nitric acid, nitrogen may also be obtained 
 This permanently elastic gas is destitute of color, taste, and smell ; it has a specific gra 
 
NUTMEG 279 
 
 vity of 0-976, air being 1-000. Hence 100 cubic inches of it weigh 29-7 gr. It extin- 
 guishes all burning bodies, and when respired without oxygen is fatal to animal life. 
 
 NITROGEN, PROTOXYDE OF, Nitrous oxyde {Protoxyde d'azote, Fr. ; Stickstoff 
 oxydul, Germ.), is a gas which displays remarkable powers when breathed, causing in 
 many persons unrestrainable feelings of exhilaration, whence it has been called the laugh- 
 ing or intoxicating gas. It is prepared by exposing crystallized nitrate of ammonia to a 
 heat of about 350° Fahr. in a glass retort. It is much denser than the air of the atmo- 
 sphere, haying a spec. grav. of 1-527,- whence 100 cubic inches weigh 46-6 grains. It 
 consists of 63-64 parts of nitrogen, and 36-36 of oxygen, by weight ; or of two volumes of 
 nitrogen and one volume of oxygen, condensed by reciprocal attraction into two volumes. 
 It is colorless, and possesses all the mechanical properties of the atmosphere. Water 
 previously freed from air absorbs its own volume of this gas; and thus affords a ready 
 criterion for estimating its freedom from ' incondensable gases, as oxygen, nitrogen, and 
 its deutoxyde. Several combustibles burn in this gas with an enlarged blue and very 
 vivid flame ; and it relumes a taper which has been blown out, provided its tip be red- 
 hot. By powerful pressure it may be liquefied. See Gas. 
 
 NITRO-MURIATIC ACID, Aqua regia . (Acide nitro-muriatique, Fr. j Salpeter salz- 
 satire, Kdnisswasser, Germ.) is the compound menstruum invented by the alchemists foi 
 dissolving gold. If strong nitric acid, orange-colored by saturation with nitrous gas 
 (deutoxyde of azote), be mixed with the strongest liquid muriatic acid, no other effect is 
 produced than might be expected from the action of nitrous acid of the same strength 
 upon an equal quantity of water; nor, has the mixed acid so formed any power of 
 acting upon gold or platina. But if colorless aquafortis and ordinary muriatic acid be 
 mixed together, the mixture immediately becomes yellow, and acquires the power of 
 dissolving these two noble metals. When gently heated, pure chlorine gas rises 
 fiom it, and its color becomes deeper; when further heated, chlorine still rises, but now 
 mixed with nitrous acid gas. If the process has been very long continued, till 
 the color becomes very dark, no more chlorine can be procured, and the liquor has lost 
 the power of dissolving gold. It then consists of nitrous and muriatic acids. It appears, 
 therefore, that aqua regia owes its peculiar properties to the mutual decomposi- 
 tion of the nitric and muriatic acids ; and that water, chlorine, and nitrous acid gas are 
 the results of that reaction. Aqua regia does not, strictly speaking, oxydize gold 
 and platinum; it causes merely their combination with chlorine. It may be composed 
 of very different proportions of the two acids; the nitric being commonly of specific 
 gravity 1-34; the muriatic, of specific gravity 1-18 or 1-19. Sometimes 3 parts, and 
 -at others 6 parts of the muriatic acid are mixed with 1 of nitric : and occasionally mu- 
 riate of ammonia, instead of muriatic acid, is added to nitric acid for particular purposes, 
 as for making a solution of tin for the dyers. An aqua regia may also be prepared by 
 dissolving ni .re in muriatic acid. 
 
 NITROUS; ACID (Acide nitreux, Fr. ; Salpetrige salpetersaiire, Germ.) may be pro- 
 cured by distilling, in a coated glass retort, perfectly dry nitrate of lead, into a glass re- 
 ceiver surrounded with a freezing mixture. The acid passes over in vapor, and condenses 
 into a liquid ; oxygen gas escapes through the safety tube ; while oxyde of lead remains 
 in the bottom of the retort. Nitrous acid may also be obtained by distilling strong fuming 
 nitric acid, at the lowest possible temperature, and rectifying what comes over. At 4° — 
 zero, Fahr., this acid is colorless ; at 32 3 it is wax yellow ; at 60° it has an orange hue. 
 It possesses a strong smell, has a very pungent, acrid, sour taste, and a specific gravity 
 of 1-42. It powerfully decomposes organic bodies, staining them yellow. It boil* at 82" 
 Fahr. with the disengagement of red or orange fumes. Its constituents are, 41-34 of 
 hyponitrous acid, and 58-66 of anhydrous nitric acid ; or ultimately, 30-68 nitrogen = 1 
 volume, and 69-32 oxygen = 2 volumes. In its other habitudes, it is quite analogous to 
 hyponitrous acid. 
 
 A mixture of this double or compound acid with nitric acid, constitutes the orange- 
 brown fuming nitrous acid of the British apothecaries. 
 
 The hyponitrous and nitrous are two acids remarkable for containing no water in their 
 composition ; being therefore dry liquids. 
 
 NOPAL is the Mexican name of the plant cactus opuntia, upon which the cochineal 
 insect breeds. 
 
 NUTMEG (Muscade, Fr. ; Muskatennuss, Germ.) is the fruit of the myristica 
 moschata, a beautiful tree of the family of the laurinece of Jussieu, which grows in the 
 Molucca islands. All the parts of this tree are very aromatic ; but only those portions 
 of the fruit called mace and nutmeg are sent into the market. The entire fruit is a 
 species of drupa, of an ovoid form, of the size of a peach, and furrowed longitudinally. 
 The nutmeg is the innermost kernel, or seed, contained in a thin shell, which is surround- 
 ed by the mace ; and this again is enclosed in a tough fleshy skin, which opening at the 
 tip, separates into two valves. The nutmeg tree yields three crops annually ; one in 
 April, '"hich is the best ; one in August ; and one in December. 
 
280 OILS, UNCTUOUS. 
 
 :. Good nutmegs should be dense, and feel heavy in the hand. When they have bee» 
 perforated by worms, they feel light, and though the holes have been fraudulently 
 stopped, the unsound ones may be easily detected by this criterion. 
 
 Nutmegs afford two oily products. 1. Butter of nutmeg, vulgarly called oil of mace, 
 is obtained in the Moluccas, by expression, from the fresh nutmegs, to the amount ol 
 50 per cent of their weight. It is a reddish yellow butter-like substance, intersperse-] 
 with light and dark streaks, and possesses the agreeable smell and taste of the nutmeg, 
 from the presence of a volatile oil. It consists of two fats; one reddish and soft, soluble 
 in cold alcohol; another white and solid, soluble in hot alcohol. 2. The volatile oil is 
 solid, or a stereoptene, and has been styled Myristicine. 
 
 Imported in 1850, 315,126 lbs.; in 1851, 358,820 lbs.; exported, 1850, 153,526 lbs., 
 in 1851, 107,495 lbs. ; retained for home consumption, 1850, 168,403 lbs., in 1851, 
 194,132 lbs.; duty received, 1350, 19.042J., 1851, 21,913/. 
 
 NUT OIL. See Oils, Unctuous. 
 
 NUX VOMICA, a poisonous nut, remarkable for containing the vegeto-alkall 
 Stkychnia* 
 
 0. . 
 
 OAK BARE. See Tan. 
 
 OATS. (Avoine, Fr. ; Safer, Germ.) The composition of oats is less known than 
 that of the other Gerealia. Vogel found that 100 parts of oats afforded 66 parts of flour 
 or meal, and 34 parts of bran; but this proportion would depend upon the quality of 
 the grain. The flour contains 2 parts of a greenish-yellow fat oil; 8 "25 of bitterish 
 sweet extractive; 2 5 of gum ; 3 '30 of a gray substance, more like coagulated albumen 
 than gluten; 59 of starch; 24 of moisture (inclusive of the loss). Sehrader found in 
 the ashes of oats, silica, carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, alumina, with oxides 
 of manganese and iron. 
 
 OBSIDIAN, is a glassy-looking mineral, with a large conchoidal fracture, and of a 
 blackish color, which froths much at the blow-pipe before it melts into a white enamel. 
 
 OCHRE, yellow and brown (Ocre, Fr. ; Ocker, Germ.)'; is a native earthy mixture of 
 silica and alumina, colored by oxide of iron, with occasionally a little calcareous 
 matter and magnesia. Ochre occurs in beds some feet thick, which lie generally above 
 the oolite, are covered by sandstone and quartzose sands more or less ferruginous, and 
 are accompanied by gray plastic clays, of a yellowish or reddish color ; all of them 
 substances which contribute more or less to its formation. The ochry earths are pre- 
 pared for use by grinding under edge millstones, and elutriation. The yellow ochres 
 may be easily rendered red or reddish brown by calcination in a reverberatory oven, 
 which oxidizes their iron to a Uglier degree. 
 
 Native red ochre is called red ;halk and reddle in England. It is an intimate mixture 
 of clay and red iron ochre : is missive ; of an earthy fracture ; is brownish-red, blood- 
 red, stains and writes red. The oxyde of iron is sometimes so considerable, that the 
 ochre may be reckoned an pre of that metal. 
 
 The ochre beds of England are in the iron sand, the lowest of the formations which 
 intervene between the chalk and oolites. Beds of fuller's earth alternate with the iron 
 sand. The following is a section of the ochre pits at Shotover Hill, near Oxford :• 
 
 Beds of highly ferruginous grit, forming the summit of the hill . 6 feet. 
 
 Gray sand 3 do. 
 
 Ferruginous concretions 1 
 
 Yellow sand 6 
 
 Cream colored loam 4 
 
 Ochre 6 inches. 
 
 Beneath this, there is a second bed of ochre, separated by a thin bed of clay. 
 
 Bole, or Armenian bole ; called also Lemnian earth, and terra sigillata, because when 
 refined it was stamped with a seal ; is massive, with a conchoidal fracture, a feeble lustre ; 
 reddish-yellow or brown, a greasy feel ; adheres to the tongue, spec! grav. 1-4 to 2-0. 
 It occurs in the island Stalimene (the ancient Lesbos), and in several other places 
 especially at Sienna ; whence the brown pigment called terra di Siena. 
 
 OILS (Huiles, Fr. ; Oele, Germ.), are divisible into two great classes: the fat or fixed 
 3ils, huiles, grasses, Fr. ; Fette oele, Germ, j and the essential or volatile oils, Huiles vola 
 Hies, Fr. ; Fliichtige. aetherische oek, Germ. The former are usually bland and mild t< 
 
1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OILS, UNCTUOUS. 281 
 
 
 to the_ taste; the latter hot and pungent. The term distilled, applied also to the last 
 
 
 
 __ class, is not so correct, since some of them are obtained by expression, as the whole of 
 
 
 
 the first class may be, and commonly arc. 
 
 
 
 All the known fatty substances found in organic bodies, without reference to their 
 
 
 
 vegetable or animal origin, are, according to their consistence, arranged under the 
 
 
 
 chemical heads of oils, butters, and tallows. They all possess the same ultimate con- 
 
 
 
 stituents, carbon, hydrogen, and generally oxygen, and in nearly the same proportions. 
 
 
 
 The following is a list of the Plants which yield the ordinary Unctuous Oils of 
 
 
 
 
 commeree : 
 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 Plants. 
 
 Oils. 
 
 Specific 
 graviir. 
 
 
 1. 
 
 Linum usitatissimnm et perenne D. 
 
 Linseed Oil - - 
 
 0-9347 
 
 
 
 2. 
 S. 
 
 Corylus avellana ) _ 
 Juglans regia j 
 
 Nut oil 
 
 0-9260 
 
 
 
 
 4. 
 
 Papaver somniferum - T>. 
 
 Poppy oil ... 
 
 0-9243 
 
 
 
 
 1 5. 
 
 Cannabis sativa - D. 
 
 Hemp oil - 
 
 0-9276 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. 
 
 ' Sesamum orientale - - G. 
 
 Oil of sesamum 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. 
 
 Olea Europea - - - G. 
 
 Olive oil - 
 
 0-9176 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. 
 
 Amygdalus communis - G. 
 
 Almond oil 
 
 0-9180 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. 
 
 Guilaridina mohringa - - G. 
 
 Oil of behen or ben 
 
 
 
 
 
 (10. 
 
 Cucurbita pepo, and melapepo D. 
 
 Cucumber oil - 
 
 0-9231 
 
 
 
 
 |1I. 
 
 Fagus silvalica - G. 
 
 Beech oil - 
 
 0-9225 
 
 
 
 
 j 12. 
 
 Sinapis nigra et arvensis - G. 
 
 Oil of mustard 
 
 0-9160 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 1 13. 
 
 Helianthus annuus et perennis D. 
 
 Oil of sunflower - 
 
 0-9262 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 14. 
 
 Brassica napus et campestris - G. 
 
 Rape-seed oil 
 
 0-9136 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 :is. 
 
 Ilicinus communis - D. 
 
 Castor oil - 
 
 0-9611 
 
 
 
 1 16. 
 
 Nicotiana tabacum et rustica - D. 
 
 Tobacco-seed oil - 
 
 0-9232 l 
 
 
 
 17. 
 
 Prunus domestica G. 
 
 Plum-kernel oil 
 
 0-9127 ' 
 
 
 
 18. 
 
 Vitis vinifera - D. 
 
 Grape-seed oil - 0-9202 
 
 
 
 
 .1$. 
 
 Theobroma cacao - G. 
 
 Butter of cacao 
 
 0-892 
 
 
 
 
 |20. 
 
 Cocos nucifera - - G. 
 
 Cocoa-nut ail 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 21. 
 
 Cocus butyracea vel avoira elais G. 
 
 Palm oil 
 
 0-968 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 Laurus nobilis - - - G. 
 
 Laurel oil - 
 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 23. 
 
 Arachis hypogsea G. 
 
 Ground-nut oil 
 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 24. 
 
 Valeria indica - - - G. 
 
 Piney tallow 
 
 0-926 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 25. 
 
 Hespens matronalis - - D. 
 
 Oil of Julienne 
 
 0-9281 
 
 [ 
 
 
 
 
 26. 
 
 Myagrum sativa - - D. 
 
 Oil of camelina 
 
 0-9252 
 
 
 
 
 
 27. 
 
 Reseda luteola - D. 
 
 Oil of weld-seed - 
 
 0-9358 
 
 
 
 
 
 28. 
 
 Lepidium sativum - - D. 
 
 Oil of garden cresses 
 
 0-9240 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 29. 
 
 Atropa belladonna - - D. 
 
 Oil of deadly nightshade - 
 
 0-9250 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 30. 
 
 Gossypium Barbadense - D. 
 
 Cotton-seed oil 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 31. 
 
 Brassica campestris oleifer^ - G. 
 
 Colza oil - 
 
 0-9136 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 32. 
 
 Brassica praecox - - G. 
 
 Summer rape-seed oil 
 
 0-9139 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 
 33. 
 
 Raphanus sativus oleifer G. 
 
 Oil of radish-seed 
 
 0-9187 
 
 
 
 
 
 34. 
 
 Prunus cerasus - - G. 
 
 Cherry-stone oil - 
 
 0-9239 
 
 i 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 35. 
 
 Pyrus malus - - - G. 
 
 Apple-seed oil 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 36. 
 
 Euonymus Europseus - - G. 
 
 Spindle-tree oil 
 
 0-9380 
 
 
 
 
 137. 
 
 Cornus sanguinea - - G. 
 
 Cornil-berry tree oil 
 
 
 
 
 
 [38. 
 
 Cyperus esculenta - G. 
 
 Oil of the roots of cyper grass 
 
 0-9180 
 
 
 
 
 139. 
 
 Hyociamus niger - - G. 
 
 Henbane-seed oil - 
 
 0-9130 
 
 
 
 
 ; 40. 
 
 jEsculus hippocastanum - G. 
 
 Horse-chestnut oil - 
 
 0-927 
 
 
 
 
 
 41. 
 
 Pinus aties - - - D. 
 
 Pinetop oil 
 
 0-285 
 
 , 
 
 ' 
 
 The fat oils are widely distributed through the organs of vegetable and animal nature. 
 
 
 
 They are found in the seeds of many plants, associated with mucilage, especially in 
 
 
 
 those of the bicotyledonous class, occasionally in the fleshy pulp surrounding some 
 
 
 
 seeds, as the olive ; also in the kernels of many fruits, as of the nut and almond tree, 
 
 
 
 and finally in the roots, barks, and other parts of plants. In animal bodies, the oily 
 
 
 
 matter occurs enclosed in thin membranous cells, between the skin and the flesh, 
 
 
 
 between the muscular fibres, within the abdominal cavity in the omentum, upon the 
 
 
 
 intestines, and round the kidneys, and in a bony receptacle of the skull of the spev- 
 
 
 
 
 
282 OILS, UNCTUOUS. 
 
 maceti whale ; sometiii*9 in special organs, as of the beaver ; in tlae gall bladder, <fcc. 
 or mixed in a liquid state with other animal matters, as in the milk. 
 
 Braeonnot, but particularly Easpail, have shown that animal fats consist of small 
 microscopic, polygonal, and partly reniform particles, associated by means of their 
 containing sacs. These may be separated from each other by tearing the recent fat 
 asunder, rinsing it with water, and passing it through a sieve. The membranes being 
 thus retained, the-granular particles are observed to float in the water, and afterwards 
 to separate, like the globules of starch, in a white pulverulent semi-crystalline form. 
 The particles consist of a strong membranous skin, enclosing stearine and elaine, or solid 
 and liquid fat, which may be extracted by trituration and pressure. These are lighter 
 than water, but sink readily in spirit of wine. When boiled in strong alcohol, the oily 
 principle dissolves, but the fatty membrane remains. These granules have different 
 sizes and shapes in different animals ; in the calf, the ox, the sheep, they are polygonal, 
 and from ,'„ to J„ of an inch in diameter ; in the hog they are kidney-shaped, and from 
 i to ^ of an inch; in man, they are polygonal, and from }„ to <&, of an inch; in inseets 
 they are usually spherical, and not more than ^ of an inch. 
 
 The fat oils ire contained in that part of the seed which gives birth to the cotyledons j 
 .hey are not found in the plumula and radicle. Of all the families of plants, the cruci. 
 orm is the richest in oleiferous seeds; and next to that are the drupacese, amentaceffi, 
 nd solanese. The seeds of the gramineae and leguminosse contain rarely more than a 
 trace of fat oil. One root 'alone, that of the cyperns cscuknta, contains a iat oil. The 
 quantity of oil furnished by seeds varies not only with the species, hut in the same seed, 
 with culture and climate. Nuts contain' about half their weight of oil ; the seeds of the" 
 irassica oleracea and campestris, one third ; the variety called colza in France, two fifths ; 
 nempseed, one fourth ; and linseed from one fourth to one fifth. Unverdorben states that a 
 last or ten quarters of linseed yields 40 ahms=120 gallons English of oil; which is about 
 1 cwt. of oil per quarter. 
 
 The fat oils, when first expressed without much heat, taste merely unctuous on the 
 tongue, and exhale the odor of their respective plants. They appear quite neutral by lit- 
 mus paper. Their fluidity is very various, some being solid at ordinary temperatures, and 
 others remaining fluid at the freezing point of water. Linseed oil indeed does not con- 
 geal till cooled from 4° to 18° below 0° F. The same kind of seed usually affords oils 
 of different degrees of fusibility; so that in the progress of refrigeration one portion con- 
 cretes before another. Chevreul, who was the first to observe this fact, considers all the 
 oils to be composed of two species, one of which resembles suet, and was thence styled by 
 him stearine ; and another which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and was called elaine, 
 or oleine. By refrigeration and pressure between the folds of blotting paper, or in linen 
 bags, the fluid part is separated, and the solid remains. By heating the paper in water, 
 the liquid oil may be obtained separate. When alcohol is boiled with the natural oil, the 
 greater part of the stearine remains undissolved. 
 
 Oleine may also be procured by digesting the oil with a quantity of caustic soda equal 
 to one half of what is requisite to saponify the whole ; the stearine is first transformed 
 into soap, then a portion of the oleine undergoes the same change, but a great part of 
 it remains in a pure slate. This process succeeds only with recently expressed or very 
 fresh oils. The properties of these two principles of the fat oils vary with the nature of 
 the respective oils, so that the sole difference does not consist, as many suppose, in the 
 different proportions of these two bodies, but also in peculiarities of the several stearines 
 and oleines, which, as extracted from different seeds, solidify at very different tempera- 
 tures. 
 
 In close vessels, oils may be preserved fresh for a very long time, but with contact of 
 air they undergo progressive changes. Certain oils thicken and eventually dry into a 
 transparent, yellowish, flexible substance ; which forms a skin upon the surface of the 
 oil, and retards its further alteration. Such oils are said to be drying or siccative, and 
 are used on this account in the preparation of varnishes and painters' colors. Other oils 
 do not grow dry, though they turn thick, become less combustible, and assume an offen- 
 sive smell. They are then called rancid. In this state, they exhibit an acid reaction, 
 and irritate the fauces when swallowed, in consequence of the presence of a peculiar 
 acid, which may be removed in a great measure by boiling the oil along with water and 
 a little common magnesia for a quarter of an hour, or till it has lost the property of red- 
 dening litmus. While oils undergo the above changes, they absorb a quantity of oxygen 
 equal to several times their volume. Saussure found that a layer of nut oil, one quarter 
 of an inch thick, enclosed along with oxygen gas over the surface of quicksilver in the 
 shade, absorbed only three times its bulk of that gas in the course of eight months ; but 
 when exposed to the sun in August, it absorbed 60 volumes additional in the course of 
 ten days. This absorption of oxygen diminished progressively, and stopped altogether at 
 the end of three months, when it had amounted to 145 times the bulk of the oil. No 
 water was generated, but 21-9 volumes of carbonic acid were disengaged, while the oi' 
 
OILS, UNCTUOUS. 283 
 
 was transformed in an anomalous manner into a gelatinous mass, which did not stain 
 paper: To a like absorption we may ascribe the elevation of temperature which happens 
 when wool or hemp, besmeared with olive or rapeseed oil, is left in a heap ; circumstances 
 under which it has frequently taken fire, and caused the destruction of both cloth-mills 
 and dock-yards. 
 
 In illustration of these accidents, if paper, linen, tow, wool, cotton, mats, straw, wood 
 shavings, moss, or soot, be imbued slightly with linseed or hempseed oil, and placed in 
 contact with the sun and air, especially when wrapped or piled in a heap, they very soon 
 become spontaneously hot, emit smoke, and finally burst into flames. If linseed oil and 
 ground manganese be triturated together, the soft lump so formed will speedily become 
 firm, and ere long take fire. 
 
 The tat oils are completely insoluble in water. When agitated with it, the mjuure 
 becomes turbid, but if it be allowed to settle the oil collects by itself upon the surface. 
 This method of washing is often employed to purify oils. Oils are little soluble in 
 alcohol, except at high temperatures. Castor oil is the only one which dissolves in cold 
 alcohol. Ether, however, 's an excellent solvent of oils, and is therefore employed to 
 extract them from other bodies in analysis ; after which it is withdrawn by dis- 
 tillation. 
 
 Fat oils may be exposed to a considerably high temperature, without undergoing 
 much alteration ; but when they are raised to nearly their boiling point, they begin to be 
 decomposed. The vapors that then rise are not the oil itself, but certain products gene- 
 rated in it by the heat. These changes begin somewhere under 600° of Fahr., and re- 
 quire for their continuance temperatures always increasing. The products consist at first 
 in aqueous vapor, then a very inflammable volatile oil, which causes boiling oil to take 
 fire spontaneously ; and next carbureted hydrogen gas, with carbonic acid gas. In a 
 lamp, a small portion of oil is raised in the wick by capillarity, which being heated, boils 
 and burns. See Hosin-gas. 
 
 Several fat oils, mixed with one or two per cent, of sulphuric acid, assume instantly 
 a dark green or brown hue, and, when allowed to stand quietly, deposite a coloring 
 matter after some time. It consists in a chemical combination of the sulphuric acid, 
 with a body thus separated from the oil, which becomes in consequence more limpid, 
 and burns with a brighter flame, especially after it is washed with steam, and clarified by 
 repose or filtration. Any remaining moisture may be expelled by the heat of a water 
 bath. 
 
 The oils combine with the salifiable bases, and give birth to the substance called 
 glycerine (the sweet principle), and to the margaric, oleic, and stearic acids. The general 
 product of their combination with potash or soda, is Soap, which see. Caustic 
 ammonia changes the oils very difficultly and slowly into a soap ; but it readily unites 
 with them into a milky emulsion called volatile liniment, used as a rubefacient in 
 meuicine. Upon mixing water with this liquor, the oil separates in an unchanged 
 state. By longer contact, ammonia acts upon oils like the other alkalis. Sea salt dis- 
 solves in small quantity in the oils, and so does verdigris. The latter solution is green. 
 Oils dissolve also several of the vegetable alkalis, as morphia, cinchonia, quinia, strychia, 
 and delphia. 
 
 Olive oil consists of 77-2 carbon, 13-4 hydrogen, and 9-4 oxygen, in 100 parts. Sperm- 
 aceti oil, by my analysis, of 78-9 carbon, 10-97 hydrogen, and 10-13 oxygen. 
 
 Castor oil do. - 
 
 74-0 
 
 10-3 
 
 15-7 
 
 azote, 
 
 Stearine of olive oil 
 
 82-17 
 
 11-23 
 
 6-30 
 
 0-30 Satissttrz. 
 
 Oleine of do. - 
 
 76-03 
 
 11-54 
 
 12-07 
 
 0-35 do. 
 
 Linseed oil 
 
 76-01 
 
 11-35 
 
 12-64 
 
 do. 
 
 Nut oil 
 
 79-77 
 
 10-57 
 
 9-12 
 
 0-54 do. 
 
 Oil of almonds 
 
 77-40 
 
 11-48 
 
 10-83 
 
 0-29 
 
 De Saussure concludes that the less fusible fats contain more carbon and less oxygen, 
 and that oils are more soluble in alcohol, the more oxygen they contain. 
 
 I shall now take a short view of the peculiarities of the principal expressed oils. 
 
 Oil of almonds, according to Gusseron, contains no stearine ; at least he could obtain 
 none by cooling it and squeezing it successively till it all congealed. Braconnot had, on 
 the contrary, said, that it contains 24 per cent, of stearine. I believe that Gusseron is 
 right, and that Braconnot had made fallacious experiments on an impure oil. 
 
 Oil of colza is obtained from the seeds of brassica campestris, to the amount of 39 per 
 cent, of their weight. It forms an excellent lamp oil, and is much employed in France. 
 
 The corylus avellana furnishes in oil 60 per cent, of the weight of the nuts. 
 
 Hempseed 'oil resembles the preceding, but has a disagreeable smell, and a mawkish 
 taste. It is used extensively for making both soft soap and varnishes. 
 
 Linseed oil is obtained in greatest purity by cold pressure; but by a steam heat of 
 about 200° F. a very good oil may be procured in larger quantity. The proportion of 
 
284 OILS, UNCTUOUS. 
 
 si! usually stated by authors is 22 per cent, of the weight of the seed ; but Mr. Blundell 
 informs me, that, by his plan of hydraulic pressure, he obtains from 26 to 27. In the 
 Encyclopaidia Metropolitana, under Oil Press, a quarter of seed (whose average weigh! 
 is 400 lbs.) is said to yield 20 gallons of oil. Now as the gallon of linseed oil weighs 
 9-3 lbs., the total product will be 186 lbs., which amounts to more than 45 per cent. — an 
 extravagant statement, about double the ordinary product in oil mills. Even supposing 
 the gallons not to be imperial, but old English, we should have upwards of 38 per cent, 
 of oil by weight, which is still an impossible quantity. Such are the errors introduced 
 into respectable books, by adopting without practical knowledge, the puffing statements 
 oi a patentee. It dissolves in 5 parts of boiling alcohol, in 40 parts of cold alcohol, and 
 in 1-6 parts of ether. When kept long cool in a cask partly open, it deposites masses of 
 white stearine along with a btownish powder. That stearine is very difficult of saponi- 
 fication. 
 
 Mustard-seed oil. The white or yellow seed affords 36 per cent, of oil, and the black 
 seed 18 per cent. The oil concretes when cooled a little below 32° F. 
 
 Nut oil is at first greenish colored, but becomes pale yellow by time. It congeals at the 
 same low temperature as linseed oil, into a white mass, and has a more drying quality 
 than it. 
 
 Oil of olives is sometimes of a greenish and at others of a pale yellow color. A few 
 degrees above 32° F. it begins to deposite some white granules of stearine, especially if 
 the oil have been originally, expressed with heat. At 22° it deposites 28 per cent, of its 
 weight in stearine, which is fusible again at 68°, and affords 72 per cent, of oleine. 
 According to Kerwych, oleine of singular beauty may be obtained by mixing 2 parts of 
 alive oil with 1 part of caustic soda ley, and macerating the mixture for 24 hours with 
 frequent agitation. Weak alcohol must then be poured into it, to dissolve the stearine 
 soap, whereby the oleine, which remains meanwhile unsaponified, is separated, and floats 
 on the surface of the liquid. This being drawn off, a fresh quantity of spirits is to be 
 poured in, till the separation of all the oleine be completed. It has a slightly yellowish 
 tint, which may be removed by means of a little animal charcoal mixed with it in a warm 
 place for 24 hours. By subsequent filtration, the oleine is obtained limpid and colorless, 
 of such quality that it does not thicken with the greatest cold, nor does it affect either 
 iron or copper instruments immersed in it: 
 
 There are three kinds of olive oil in the market. The best, called virgin salad oil, ia 
 obtained by a gentle pressure in the cold; the more common sort is procured by 
 stronger pressure, aided with the heat of boiling water ; and thirdly, an inferior kind, 
 by boiling the olive residuum or marc, with water, whereby a good deal of mucilaginous 
 oil rises and floats on the surface. The latter serves chiefly for making soaps. A still 
 worse oil is g<yt by allowing the mass of bruised olives to ferment before subjecting it to 
 jressure. 
 
 Oil of olives is refined for the watchmakers by the following simple process. Into a 
 bottle or phial containing it, a slip of sheet lead is immersed, and the bottle is placed 
 at a window, where it may receive the rays of the sun. The oil by degrees gets 
 covered with a curdy mass, which after some time settles to the bottom, while itself 
 becomes limpid and colourless. As soon as the lead ceases to separate any more of 
 that white substance, the oil is decanted off into another phial for use. 
 
 There are four different kinds of olive oil known in the districts where it is pre- 
 pared: 1, the virgin oil; 2. the ordinary oil (huile ordinaire); 3. oil of the infernal 
 regions (huile aVenfer); 4. oil prepared by fermentation. 
 
 1. Virgin oil. In the district Montpellier, they apply the term virgin oil to that 
 which spontaneously separates from the paste of crushed olives. This oil is not met 
 with in commerce, being all used by the inhabitants of the district, either as an emollient 
 remedy, or for oiling the works ot watches. 
 
 In the district of Aix, they give the name virgin oil to that which is first obtained 
 from the olives ground to a paste in a mill, and submitted to a slight pressure 2 or 3 
 days after collecting the fruit Thus, there is no virgin oil brought from Montpellier, ■ 
 but a good deal of it is brought from Aix. 
 
 2. Ordinary oil. In the district of Montpellier, this oil is prepared by pressing the 
 olives, previously crushed and mixed with boiling water. At Aix the ordinary oil is 
 made from the olives which have been used for obtaining the virgin oil. The paste, 
 which has been previously pressed, is broken up, a certain quantity of boiling water 
 is poured over it, and it is then again submitted to the press. By this second expression, 
 in which more pressure is applied than in the previous one, an oil is obtained some 
 what inferior in quality to the virgin oil. The oil is separated from the water in a 
 few hours after the operation. 
 
 3. Oil of the infernal regions (huile aVenfer). The water which has been employed 
 in the preceding operation, is, in some districts, conducted into large reservoirs, called 
 the infernal regions, where it is left for many days. During this period, any oil that 
 
OILS, UNCTUOUS. 285 
 
 might have remained mixed with the water separates, and collects on the surface. 
 This oil being very inferior in quality, is only fit for burning in lamps, for which it 
 answers very well. It is sometimes called lamp oil. 
 
 4. Fermented oil {huile fermentee). This is obtained in the two above-named dis- 
 tricts, by leaving the fresh olives in heaps for some time, and pouring boiling water 
 over them before pressing the oil. But this method is very Beldom put in practice, 
 for the olives during this fermentation lose their peculiar flavour, become much heated, 
 and acquire a musty taste, which is communicated to the oil. 
 
 The fruity flavour of the oil depends upon the quality of the olives from which it 
 has been pressed, and not upon the method adopted in its preparation. 
 
 There are met with in commerce the virgin oil of Aix, rarely the oil obtained by 
 fermentation, and never the oil ofthe infernal regions. 
 
 Palm oil melts at 117 - 5° F., and is said to consist of 31 parts of stearine and 69 of 
 oleine in 100. It becomes readily rancid by exposure to air, and is whitened at the 
 fame time. 
 
 The oil extracted from the plucked tops of the pinus abies, in the Black Forest ir. 
 Germany, is limpid, of a golden yellow color, and resembles in smell and taste the oil of 
 turpentine. It answers well for the preparation of varnishes. 
 
 The oil of plum-stones is made chiefly in Wurtemberg, and is found to answer very well 
 for lamps. 
 
 Poppy-seed oil has none of the narcotic properties of the poppy juice. It is soluble in 
 ether in every proportion. • 
 
 Rape-seed oil has a yellow color, and a peculiar smell. At 25° F. it becomes a yellow 
 mass, consisting of 46 parts of stearine, which fuses at 50°, and 54 of oleine, in which 
 the smell resides. 
 
 The oils of belladonna seeds, and tobacco seeds, are perfectly bland. The former is 
 much used for lamps in Swahia and Wurtemburg. The oil-cakes of both are poi- 
 sonous. 
 
 Oil of wine-stones is extracted to the amount of 10 or 1 1 per cent, from the seeds of 
 the grape. Its color is at first pale yellow, but it darkens with age. It is used as an 
 article of diet. 
 
 FAT OIL MANUFACTURE. 
 
 It is the practice of almost all the proprietors in the neighborhood of Aix, in Pro- 
 vence, to preserve the olives for 15 days in barns or cellars, till they have undergone 
 a species of fermentation, in order to facilitate the extraction of their oil. If this prac- 
 tice were really prejudicial to the product, as some theorists have said, would not the high 
 reputation and price of the oil of Aix have long ago suffered, and have induced them to 
 change their system of working? In fact, all depends upon the degree of fermentation 
 excited. They must not be allowed to mould in damp places, to lie in heaps, to soften so 
 as to stick to each other, and discharge a reddish liquor, or to become so hot as to raise a 
 thermometer plunged into the mass up to 96° F. In such a case they would afford 
 an acrid nauseous oil, fit only for the woollen or soap manufactories. A slight fermenta- 
 tive action, however, is useful, towards separating the oil from the mucilage. The olives 
 are then crushed under the stones of an edge-mill, and next put inlo a screw-press, being 
 enclosed in bulrush-mat bags (cabas), laid over each other to the number of eighteen. 
 The oil is run off from the channels of the ground-sill, into casks, or into stone cisterns 
 called pizes, two thirds filled with water. The pressure applied to the cabas should be 
 slowly graduated. 
 
 What comes over first, without heat, is the virgin oil already mentioned. The cabas 
 being r.ow removed from the press, their contents are shovelled out, mixed with some 
 boiling yater, again put in the bags, and pressed anew. The hot water helps to carry 
 off the oil, which is received in other casks or pizes. The oil ere long accumlates at the 
 surface, and is skimmed off with large flat ladles ; a process which is called lever I'liuile. 
 When used fresh, this is a very good article, and quite fit for table use, but is apt to 
 get rancid when kept. The subjacent water retains a good deal of oil, by the interven 
 tion of the mucilage ; but by long repose in a large general cistern, called I'enfer, it 
 parts with it, and is then drawn off from the bottom by a plug-hole. The oil which re- 
 mains after the water is run off, is of an inferior quality, and can be used only for 
 factory purposes. 
 
 The marc being crushed in a mill, boiled with water, and expressed, yields a still 
 coarser article. 
 
 All the oil must be fined by keeping in clean tuns, in an apartment heated to the 60th 
 decree Fahr. at least, for twenty days ; after which it is run off into strong casks, which 
 are cooled in a cellar, and then sent into the market. 
 
 Oil of almonds is manufactured by agitating the kernels in bags, so as to separate 
 their brown skins, grinding them in a mill, then enclosing them in bags, and squeezing 
 
286 
 
 OILS, UNCTUOUS. 
 
 tnem strongly between a series of cast iron plates, in a hydraulic press j without heat 
 at first, and then between heated plates. The first oil is the purest, and least apt to 
 Decome rancid. It should be refined by filtering through porous paper. Next to olive 
 oil, this species is the most easy to saponify. Bitter almonds, being cheaper than the 
 sweet, are used in preference for obtaining this oil, and they afford an article equally 
 oland, wholesome, and inodorous. But a strongly scented oil may be procured, accord- 
 ing to M. Planche, by macerating the almonds in hot water, so as to blanch them 
 then drying them in a stove, and afterwards subjecting them to pressure. The voiatila 
 oil of almonds is obtained by distilling the marc or bitter almond cake, along with water. 
 See Press Hydraulic, and Stearine. ' 
 
 Linseed, rapeseed, poppyseed, and other oleiferous seeds were formerly treated for 
 the extraction of their oil, by pounding in hard wooden mortars with pestles shod with 
 iron, set in motion by cams driven by a shaft turned with horse or water power, then 
 tne triturated seed was put into woollen bags which were wrapped up in hair-cloths, 
 and squeezed between upright wedges in press-boxes by the impulsion of vertical rams 
 driven also by a cam mechanism. In the best mills upon the old construction, the cakes 
 obtained by this first wedge pressure were thrown upon the bed of an edge-mil), ground anew 
 and subjected to a second pressure, aided by heat now, as in the first case. These mor- 
 tars ana press-boxes constitute what are called Dutch mills. They are still in very 
 general use both in this country and on the Continent ; and are by many persons sup- 
 posed to be preferable to the hydraulic presses. 
 
 The rollsr-mill, for merely bruising the linseed, &c, previous to grinding it under edge- 
 ■tones, and to heating and crushing it in a Dutch or a hydraulic oil-mill, is represented 
 
 in figs. ;101?. and 1013. The iron shaft 
 a, has a winch at each end, with a 
 heavy fly-wheel upon the one of them, 
 when the machine is to be worked ty 
 hand. Upon the opposite end is a pu '- 
 ley, with an endless cord which passt s 
 round a pulley on the end of the fluted 
 roller b, and thereby drives it. This fluted 
 roller ft, lies across the hopper c, and by 
 its agitation causes the seeds to descend 
 equably through the hopper, between the 
 crushing rollers d, e. Upon the shaft a. 
 there is also a pinion which works into 
 two toothed wheels on the shafts of the 
 crushing cylinders d and e, thus commu- 
 nicating to these cylinders motion in 
 opposite directions. /, g ar« two scraper- 
 blades, which by means of the two 
 weights A, ft, hanging upon levers, are 
 pressed against the surfaces of the cyl- 
 inders, and remove any seed-cake from 
 them. The bruised seeds fall through the 
 slit i of the case, and are received into a 
 chest which stands upon the board fe. 
 
 Machines of this kind are now usually 
 driven by power. Hydraulic presses have 
 been of late years introduced into many 
 seed-oil mills in this country ; but it is 
 still a matter of dispute whether they, or 
 the old Dutch oil-mill, with bags of seed 
 compressed between wedges, driven by 
 cam-stamps, be the preferable ; that is, 
 afford the largest product of oil with the 
 same expenditure of capital and power. 
 For figures of hydraulic presses, see 
 Press, and Stearine. 
 
 This bruising of the seed is merely a 
 preparation for its proper grinding under 
 a pair of heavy edge-stones, of granite, from 5 to 7 feet in diameter; because unbruised 
 seed is apt to slile away before the vertical rolling wheel, and thus escape trituration. 
 The edge-mill, for grinding seeds, is quite analogous to the gunpowder-mill represented 
 in fig. 740, page 980. Some hoop the stones with an iron rim, but others prefer, and I 
 think justly, the rough surface of granite, and dress it from time to time with hammers, 
 as it becomes irregular. These stones make from 30 to 36 revolutions upon thei 
 
OILS, UNCTUOUS. 
 
 287 
 
 horizontal bed of masonry or iron in a minute. The centre of the bed, where it is per 
 forated for the passage of the strong vertical shaft which turns the stones, is enclosed by 
 a circular box of east iron, firmly bolted to the bed-stone, and furnished with a cover. 
 This box serves to prevent any seeds or powder getting into the step or socket, and 
 obstructing the movement. The circumference of the mill-bed is formed of an upright 
 rim of oak-plank, bound with iron. There is a rectangular notch left in the edge of the 
 bed, and corresponding part of the rim, which is usually closed with a slide-plate, and 
 * opened only at the end of the operation, to let the pasty seed-take be turned out by 
 the oblique arm of the bottom scraper. The two parallel stones, which are set near eaen 
 other, and travel round their circular path upon the bed, grind the seeds not merely by 
 their weight, of three tons each, but also by a rubbing motion, or attrition ; because theit 
 periphery being not conical, but cylindrical, by its rolling upon a plane surface, must at 
 every instant turn round with friction upon their resting points. Strong cast-iron boxes 
 are bolted upon the centre of the stones, which by means of screw clamps seize firmly the 
 horizontal iron shafts that traverse and drive them, by passing into a slit-groove the 
 vertical turning shaft. This groove is lined with strong plates of steel, which wear rap- 
 idly by the friction, and need to b« frequently renewed. 
 
 The seeds which have been burst between the rolls, or in the mortars of the Dutch 
 mills, are to be spread as equably as possible by a shovel upon the circular path of the 
 edge-stones, and in about half an hour the charge will be sufficiently ground into a paste. 
 This should be put directly into the press, when fine cold-drawn oil is wanted. But in 
 general the paste is heated before being subjected to the pressure. The pressed cake is 
 again thrown under the edge-stones, and, after being ground the second time, should be 
 exposed to a heat of 212° Fahr., in a proper pan, called a steam-kettle, before being 
 subjected to the second and final pressure in the woollen bags and hair-cloths. 
 Fig. 1014 is a vertical section of the steam-kettle of Hallette, and_/ig.l015is -\ view of 
 
 the seed-stirrer. a, is the wall of ma- 
 sonry, upon which, and the iron pillars 
 6, the pan is supported. It is enclosed 
 in a jacket, for admitting steam into the 
 intermediate space d, d, d, at its sides 
 and bottom, c, is the middle of the 
 pan in which the shaft of the stirrer is 
 planted upright, resting by its lower 
 end in the step e ; f, is an opening, by 
 which the contents of the pan may be 
 emptied; g, is an orifice into which 
 the mouth of the hair or worsted bag 
 is inserted, in order to receive the 
 heated seed, when it is turned out by 
 the rotation of the stirrer and the with- 
 drawal of the plug/ from the discharge 
 aperture ; h, is the steam induction 
 pipe; and t, the eduction pipe, which 
 serves also to run off the condensed 
 water. 
 
 The hydraulic oil-press is generally 
 double ; that is, it has two vertical i ams 
 placed parallel to each other, so that 
 while one side is under pressure, the 
 other side is being discharged. The bags of heated seed-paste or meal are put into 
 cast-iron cases, which are piled over each other to the number of 6 or 8, upon the press 
 sill, and subjected to a force of 300 or 400 tons, by pumps worked with a steam engine. 
 The first pump has usually 2 or 2| inches diameter for a ram of 10 inches, and the second 
 pump one inch. Each side of the press, in a well-going establishment, should work 38 
 pounds of seed-flour every 5 minutes. Such a press will do 70 quarters of linseed in 
 the days' work of one week, wilfi the labor of one man at 20s. and three boys at 5s. 
 each ; and will require a 12-horse power to work it well, along with the rolls and the 
 edge-stones. 
 
 I am indebted to my excellent friend Mr. E. Wooisey, for the following most valuable 
 iotes, taken by him at sundry mills for pressing oil; and remarks upon the subject of 
 seed-crushing in general. 
 
 " The chief point of difference depends upon the quality of seed employed. Heavy 
 seed will yield most oil, and seed ripened under a hot sun, and where the flax is not 
 gathered too green, is the best. The weight of linseed varies from 48 to 52 lbs. per 
 imperial bushel ; probably a very fair average is 49 lbs., or 392 lbs. per imperial 
 quarter. I inspected one of the seed-crusher's books, and the average of 15 trials of a 
 
288 
 
 OILS. UNCTUOUS. 
 
 quarter each of different seeds in the season averaged 14| gafis. of 7§ lbs. each ; say, 
 109 lbs. of oil per quarter. This crusher, who uses only the hydraulic press, and on« 
 pressing, informed me that — 
 
 Archangel seed will yield from ... 15 to 16 galls, (of 7J lbs. each) 
 
 Best Odessa ....---18 and even 19 galls. 
 
 Good crushing-seed ------ 15J- do. 
 
 Low seed, such as weighs 48 lbs. per bushel - 13J do. 
 
 " The average of the seed he has worked, which he represents to be of an inferior 
 quality, for the sake of its cheapness, yields 14| galls, per quarter. I had some Ameri- 
 can seed which weighed 52J lbs. per imperial bushel, ground and pressed under my 
 own observation, and it gave me 111 lbs. oil; that is to say, 418 lbs. of seed gave 111 
 lbs. oil=26 T s ^ per cent. A friend of mine, who is a London crusher, told me the oil 
 varied according to the seed from 14 to 17 galls. ; and when you consider the relative 
 value of seeds, and remember that oil and calm from any kind of seed is of the same value, 
 it will be apparent that the yield is very different ; for example, 
 
 osrt t i i sofi ( E. India linseed worth 52s. per quarter. 
 
 Mt . Jul 51> 1 ° a ?> I Petersburg linseed 48 to 52 do. 
 prices of seed. } odessa = . . 52 _ _ 
 
 The difference of 4s. must be paid for in the quantity of oil, which at 38s. 6d. per cwt. 
 (the then price) requires about 11 J lbs. more oil expressed to pay for the difference in 
 the market value of the seed. Another London crusher informed me that East India 
 linseed will produce 17 gallons, and he seemed to think that that was the extreme quan- 
 tity that could be expressed from any seed. The average of last year's Russian seed 
 would be about 14 galls, j Sicilian seed 16 galls. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Place. 
 
 Engine Power. 
 
 Hydraulic 
 Presses. 
 
 Stampers. 
 
 Rollers. 
 
 Edge- • 
 stones. 
 
 Kettles 
 
 Work done, — 
 reduced to 
 an hour. 
 
 ber of 
 press- 
 ings. 
 
 France 
 
 10 horse power 
 
 1 hydrau- 
 
 5 light 
 
 1 pair 
 
 1 pr. edge- 
 
 5 table kettles 
 
 1 English 
 
 2 pres- 
 
 
 
 lic, 200 
 
 stamp- 
 
 mils. 
 
 stones. 
 
 small size 
 
 quarter per 
 
 sings. 
 
 
 
 tons. 
 
 ers. 
 
 
 
 heated by 
 steam. 
 
 working 
 hour. 
 
 
 London 
 
 20 horse power 
 
 1 hydrau- 
 
 13 light 
 
 1 pair 
 
 2 pr. edge- 
 
 8 table kettles 
 
 2 English 
 
 2 ditto 
 
 
 
 lic, 800 
 
 stamp- 
 
 rolls. 
 
 stones. 
 
 small size 
 
 quarters per 
 
 
 
 
 tons. 
 
 ers. 
 
 
 
 heated by 
 fire. 
 
 working 
 hour. 
 
 
 London 
 
 12 horse power, 
 
 none 
 
 9 light 
 
 2 pair 
 
 2 pr. edge- 
 
 4 table kettles 
 
 1 English 
 
 2 ditto 
 
 
 but the engine 
 
 
 stamp- 
 
 rolls, 
 
 stones, 
 
 small size 
 
 quarter per 
 
 
 
 8 used also for 
 
 
 ers. 
 
 used 
 
 used also 
 
 heated by 
 
 working 
 
 
 
 o.'aar work. 
 
 
 
 also for 
 other 
 purposes 
 
 for other 
 purposes. 
 
 fire. 
 
 hour. 
 
 
 Hull 
 
 18 horse engine, 
 
 none 
 
 3 very 
 
 1 pair 
 
 I pr. edge- 
 
 3 double case 
 
 1} English 
 
 1 ditto 
 
 
 old construc- 
 
 
 heavy 
 
 rolls. 
 
 stones. 
 
 large size 
 
 quarter per 
 
 
 
 tion. 
 
 
 stamp- 
 ers. 
 
 
 
 steam 
 kettles. 
 
 working 
 hour. 
 
 
 Ditto 
 
 22 horse engine 
 
 none 
 
 6 very 
 heavy 
 stamp- 
 ers. 
 
 2 pair 
 rolls. - 
 
 2 pr. edge- 
 stones. 
 
 6 double case 
 large size 
 steam 
 kettles. 
 
 Not known. 
 
 1 ditto 
 
 " Rape-seed. — I have not turned my attention to the quantity of oil extracted from this 
 seed; but a French crusher (M. Geremboret), on whom I think one may place consider- 
 able dependance, told me that 
 
 3J lbs. of best Cambray rape-seed yielded - - - 1 lb. oil. 
 
 3 1 — common rape-seed - - 1 lb. oil. 
 
 4| — — poppy-seed ... 1 lb. oil. 
 
 " Rape-seed weighs from 52 to 56 lbs. per imperial bushel." 
 The following are the heads of a reference of machinery for a seed oil-mill : — 
 
 1. Two pairs of cast-iron rollers, 19 inches long, and 10 inches in diameter, fixed in a 
 cast-iron frame, with brasses, wheels, shafts, bolts, scrapers, hoppers, shoes, &c. 
 
 2. Two pairs of edge-stones, 7 feet diameter each, with two bottom stones, 6 fee* 
 diameter each, cast-iron upright shafts, sweepers, wheels, shafts, chairs, brasses, bolts, 
 and scrapers, with driving spur-wheels, &c. 
 
 3. Five steam kettles, with wheels, shafts, and brasses, bolts, breeches, and steam 
 pipes, an upright cast-iron shaft, with chairs and brasses at each end; and a large bevel 
 wheel upon the bottom end of upright shaft, and another, smaller, upon fly-whe~el shaft, 
 or the first motions. 
 
OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 289 
 
 4. Five stamper presses, with press plates of cast-iron, cast-iron stamper shaft with 10 
 arms and 10 rollers, with bosses, brasses, bolts, driving bevel-wheels. 
 
 A well made oil-mill, consisting of the above specified parts, will manufacture 200 
 quarters of seed per week. 
 
 I have been assured by practical engineers, conversant in oil-mills, that a double 
 hydraulic press, with 2 ten-inch rams, will do the work of no more than, two of the 
 stamper presses; that is to say, it will work 22 quarters in 24 hours; while three 
 stamper presses wil. work 33 quarter; in the same time, and produce one half more oil 
 
 Oil, Cocoa-nut, imported in 1850, 98,040 cwts., in 1851, 55,994 cwts. 
 
 Oil, Olive, imported in 1850, 20,784 tuns, in 1851, 11,488 tuns. 
 
 Oil, -Train, Blubber, and Spermaceti, imported in 1850, 21,359 tuns, in 1851, 22,219 
 tuns. For Seal Oil, see Seal Fishery. 
 
 OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL ; Manufacture of. The volatile oils occur in 
 every part of odoriferous plants, whose aroma they diffuse by their exhalation ; but in 
 different organs of different species. Certain plants, such as thyme and the scented 
 labiattB, in general contain volatile oil in all#heir parts ; but others contain it only in the 
 blossoms, the seeds, the leaves, the root, or the bark. It son (times happens that differ- 
 ent parts of the same plant contain different oils ; the orange, for example, furnishes 
 three different oils, one of which resides in the flowers, another in the leaves, and a third 
 in the skin or epidermis of the fruit. The q lantity of oil varies not only with the spe- 
 cies, but also in the same plant, with the so.'l, and especiallj the climate ; thus in hot 
 countries it is generated most profusely. In several plants, the volatile oil is contained 
 in peculiar orders of vessels, which confine it so closely that it does not escape in the 
 drying, nor is dissipated by keeping the plants for many years. In other species, and 
 particularly in flowers, it is formed continually upon their surface, and flies off at thp 
 moment of its formation. 
 
 Volatile oils are usually obtained by distillation. For this purpose the plant is intro- 
 duced into a still, water is poured upon it, and heat being applied, the oil is volatilized by 
 the aid of the watery vapor, at the temperature of 212°, though when alone it would 
 probably not distil over unless the heat were 100° more. This curious fact was first 
 explained in my New Researches upon Heat, published in the Philosophical Transactions 
 for 1818. Most of the essential oils employed in medicine and perfumery are extracted 
 by distillation from dried plants; only a few, such as those of the rose and orange 
 flower, are obtained from fresh or succulent salted plants. When the mingled va- 
 pors of the oil and water are condensed into the liquid state, by the refrigerator of the 
 Btill, the oil separates, and either floats on the surface or sinks to the bottom of the 
 water. Some oils of a less volatile nature require a higher heat than 212° to raise them 
 in vapor, and must be dislodged by adding common salt to the water, whereby the 
 heat being augmented bv 15°, thev readily come over. If in such distillations too much 
 water be added, no oil will be obtained, because it is partially soluble m water; and thus 
 merely an aromatic water is produced. If on the other hand too little water be used, the 
 plant may happen to adhere to the bottom of the still, get partially charred, and thus im 
 part an empyreumatif, odor to the product. But as the quality of water distilled depends 
 less upon the quantity employed, than upon that of the surface exposed to the heat, it is 
 obvious that by giving a suitable form to the still, we may get rid of every inconvenience. 
 Hence the narrower and taller the alembic is, within certain limits, the greater will be 
 the proportion of oil relative to that of the aromatic water, from like proportions of aque- 
 ous and vegetable matter employed. Some place the plants in baskets, and suspend these 
 immediately over the bottom of the still under the water, or above its surface in the steam. 
 But the best mode in my opinion is to stuff an upright cylinder full of the plants, and to 
 drive down through them, steam of any desired force ; its tension and temperature being 
 further regulated by the size of the outlet orifice leading to the condenser. The cylinder 
 should be made of strong copper tinned inside, and incased in the worst conducting species 
 of wood, such as soft deal or sycamore. 
 
 The distillation is to be continued as long as the water comes over of a milky appear 
 ance. Certain plants yield so little oil by the ordinary processes, notwithstanding everj 
 care, that nothing but a distilled water is obtained. In this case, the same water must 
 be poured upon a fresh quantity of the plants in the still ; which being drawn over, is 
 again to be poured upon fresh plants ; and thus repeatedly, till a certain dose of oil be 
 separated. This being ,_ iken off, the saturated water is reserved for a like distillation. 
 
 The refrigeratory vessel is usually a worm or serpentine plunged in a tub of water, 
 whose temperature should be generally cold ; but for distilling the oils of anise-seed, 
 fennel, &c, which become concrete at low temperatures, the water should not be cooler 
 than 45° F. 
 
 The liquid product is commonly made to run at the worm end, into a vessel caded an 
 Italian or Florentine receiver, which is a conical matrass, standing on its base, with 
 a pipe rising out of. the side close to the bottom, and recurved a little above the middle 
 
 Vol. II. 20 
 
290 OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 
 
 of the flask like the spout of a coffee-pot. The -water and the oil collected in this 
 vessel soon separate from each other, according to their respective specific gravities ; the 
 one floating above the other. If the water be the denser, it occupies the under portion 
 of the vessel, and continually overflows by the spout in communication with the bottom, 
 while the lighter oil is left. When the oil is the heavier of the two, the receiver should 
 b"e a large inverted cone, with a stopcock at its apex to run off the oil from the water 
 when the separation has been completed by repose. A funnel, having a glass stopcock 
 attached to its narrow stem, is the most convenient apparatus for freeing the oil finally 
 from any adhering particles of water. A cotton wick dipped in the oil may also serve 
 the same purpose by its capillary action. The less the oil is transvased the better, as a 
 portion of it is lost at every transfer. It may occasionally be useful to cool the distilled 
 water by surrounding it with ice, because it thus parts with more of the oil with which it 
 is impregnated. 
 
 There are a few essential oils which maybe obtained by expression, from' the sub- 
 stances which contain them j such as the oils of lemons and bergamot, found in the 
 pellicle of the ripe fruits of the citrus aurSntium and medica ; or the orange and the 
 citron. The oil comes out in this case with the juice of the peel, and collects upr*. its 
 surface. 
 
 For collecting the oils of odoriferous flowers which have no peculiar organs for impri- 
 soning them, and therefore speedily let them exhale, such as violets, jasmine, tuberose ; 
 and hyacinth, another process must be resorted to. Alternate layers are formed of the 
 fresh flowers, and thin cotton fleece or woollen cloth-wadding, previously soaked in a pure 
 and inodorous fat oil. Whenever the flowers have given out all their volatile oil to i* « 
 fixed oil upon the fibrous matter, they are replaced by fresh flowers in succession, till the 
 fat oil has become saturated with the odorous particles. The cotton or woul wadding be- 
 ing next submitted to distillation along with water, gives up the volatile oil. Perfumers 
 alone use these oils; they employ them either mixed as above, or dissolve them out by 
 means of alcohol. In order to extract the oils of certain flowers, as for instance of white 
 lililes, infusion in a fat oil is sufficient. 
 
 Essential oils differ much from each other in their physical properties. Most of then; 
 are yellow, others are colorless, red, or brown ; some again are green, and a few are blue. 
 They have a powerful smell, more or less agreeable, which immediately after their 
 distillation is occasionally a little rank, but becomes less so by keeping. The odor is 
 seldom as pleasant as that of the recent plant. Their taste is acrid, irritating, and heating, 
 or merely aromatic when they are largely diluted with water or other substances. They 
 are not greasy to the touch, like the fat oils, but on the contrary make the skin feel 
 rough. They are almost all lighter than water, only a very few falling to the bottom of 
 this liquid ; their specific gravity lies between 0-847 and 1-096 ; the first numbci 
 denoting the density of oil of citron, and the second that of oil of sassafras. AlthougL' 
 styled volatile oils, the tension of their vapor, as well as its specific heat, is much less 
 than that of water. The boiling point differs in different kinds, but it is usually aboul 
 316° or 320° Fahr. Their vapors sometimes render reddened litmus paper blue, although 
 ihey contain no ammonia. When distilled by themselves, the volatile oils are partially 
 decomposed ; and the gaseous products of the portion decomposed always carry off a little 
 of the oil. When they are mixed with clay or sand, and exposed to a distilling heat, they 
 are in a great measure decomposed ; or when they are passed in vapor through a redhot 
 tube, combustible gases are obtained, and a brilliant porous charcoal is deposited in the 
 tube. On the other hand, they distil readily with water, because the aqueous vapor 
 formed at the surface of the boiling fluid carries along with it the vapor of the oil produ- 
 ced in virtue of the tension which it possesses at the 212th degree Fahr. In the open 
 air, the volatile oils burn with a shining flame, which depDsites a great deal of soot. The 
 congealing point of the essential oils varies greatly ; somt do notsolidify till cooled below 
 32°, others at this point, and some are concrete at the ordinary temperature of the atmos- 
 phere. They comport themselves in this respect like the fat oils; and they probably con- 
 sist, like them, of two different oils, a solid and a fluid ; to which the names stcaroptine 
 and eleoptine, or stearessence and oleiessence, may be given. These may be separated 
 from each other by compressing the cooled concrete oil between the folds of porous paper ; 
 the stearessence remains as a solid upon the paper ; the oleiessence penetrates the paper, 
 and may be recovered by distilling it along with water. 
 
 When exposed to the air, the volatile oils change their color, become darker, and 
 gradually absorb oxygen. This absorption commences whenever they are extracted 
 from the plant containing them ; it is at first considerable, and diminishes in rapidity as 
 it goes on. Light contributes powerfully to this action, during which the oil disengages 
 a little carbonic acid, but much less than the oxygen absorbed ; no water is formed. 
 The oil turns gradually thicker, loses its smell, and is transformed into a resin, which 
 becomes eventually hard. De Saussure found that oil of lavender, recently distilled, 
 nad absorbed in four winter months, and at a temperature below 54° F., 52 times its 
 
OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 291 
 
 volume of oxygen, and had disengaged twice its volume of carbonic acid gases ; nor was 
 it yet completely saturated with oxygen. The stearessence of anise-seed oil absorbed at 
 its liquefying temperature, in the space of two years, 156 tiroes its volume of oxygen gas, 
 and disengaged 26 times its volume of carbonic acid gas. An oil which has begun to 
 experience such an oxydizement is composed of a resin dissolved in the unaltered oil ; and 
 the oil may be separated by distilling the solution along with water. To preserve oils in 
 in unchanged state, they must be put in vials, filled to the top, closed with ground glass 
 5topplcs, and placed in the dark. 
 
 Volatile oils are little soluble in water, yet enough so as to impart to it by agitation 
 <heir characteristic smell and taste. The water which distils with any oil is in genera] 
 a saturated solution of it, and as such is used in medicine under the name of distilled 
 water. It often contains other volatile substances contained in the plants, and hence is 
 apt to putrefy and acquire a nauseous smell when kept in p.-fectly corked bottles ; but in 
 vessels partially open, these parts exhale, and the water remains sweet. The waters, 
 however, which are made by agitating volatile oil with simple distilled water, are not apt 
 to spoil by keeping in well-corked bottles. 
 
 The volatile oils are soluble in alcohol, and the more so the stronger the spirit is. 
 Some volatile oils, devoid of oxygen, such as the oils of turpentine and citron, are very 
 sparingly soluble in dilute alcohol ; while the oils of lavender, pepper, &c. are considera- 
 bly so. De Saussure has inferred from his experiments that the volatile oils are the more 
 soluble in alcohol, the more oxygen they contain. Such combinations form the odorifer- 
 ous spirits which the perfumers incorrectly call waters, as lavender water, eau de Cologne, 
 eau de jasmin, &c. They become turbid by admixture of water, which seizes the alcohol, 
 and separates the volatile oils. Ether also dissolves all the essential oils. 
 
 These oils combine with several vegetable acids, such as the acetic, Ihe oxalic, the 
 succinic, the fat acids (stearic, margaric, oleic), the camphoric, ant suberic. 
 
 With the exception of the oil of cloves, the volatile oils do net combine with the 
 salifiable bases. They have been partially combined with caustic alkali, as in the case 
 of Starkey's soap. This is prepared by triturating recently fused caustic soda in a 
 mortar, with a litth oil of turpentine, added drop by drop, till the mixture has acquired 
 the consistence of aoap. The compound is to be dissolved in spirits of wine, filtered, and 
 distilled. What remains after the spirit is drawn off, consists of soda combined with a 
 resin formed in the oil during the act of trituration. 
 
 The volatile oils in general absorb six or eight times their bulk of ammoniacal gas; 
 but that of lavender absorbs 47 times. 
 
 The essential oils dissolve all the fat oils, the resins, and the animal fats. 
 
 In commerce these oils are often adulterated with fat oils, resins, or balsam of capivi 
 dissolved in volatile oil. This fraud may be detected by putting a drop of the oil on paper, 
 and exposing it to heat. A pure essential oil evaporates without leaving any residuiim, 
 whilst an oil mixed with any of the above substances leaves a translucent stain upon the 
 paper. If fat oil be present, it will remain undissolved, on mixing the adulterated essen- 
 tial oil with thrice its volume of spirit of wine of specific gravity 0-840. Resinous matter 
 mixed with volatile oil is easily detected, being left in the alembic after distillation. Oil 
 diluted with spirit of wine, forms a milky emulsion on the addition of water ; the alcoholic 
 part is absorbed by the water, and the oil afterwards found on the surface, in a graduated 
 glass tube, will show by its quantity the amount of the adulteration. 
 
 But it. is more difficult to detect the presence of a cheap essential oil in a dear one, 
 which it resembles. Here the taste and smell are our principal guides. A few drops of 
 the suspected oil are to be poured upon a bit of cloth, which is to be shaken in the air, 
 and smelled to from time to time. In this way we may succeed in distinguishing the odor 
 of the oil which exhales at the beginning, and, that which exhales at the end ; a method 
 which serves perfectly to detect oil of turpentine in the finer essential oils. Moreover, 
 when the debased oil is mixed with spirits of wine at sp. gr. 0-840, the oil of turpentine 
 remains in a great measure undissolved. If an oil heavier than water, and an oil lighter 
 than water, be mixed, they may be separated by agitation for some time with that liquid, 
 and then leaving the mixture at rest. Essential oils may also be distinguished by <t care- 
 ful examination of their respective densities. 
 
 Oil of bitter almonds is prepared by exposing the bitter almond cake, from whicii the 
 bland oil has been expressed, in a sieve to the vapor of water rising within the still. The 
 steam, as it passes up through the bruised almond parenchyma, carries off its volatile oil, 
 and condenses along with it in the worm. The oil which first comes over, and which 
 falls to the bottom of the water, has so pungent and penetrating a smell, that it is more 
 like cyanogen gas than hydrocyanic or prussic acid. This oil has a golden yellow color, 
 it is heavier than water ; when much diluted, it has an agreeable smell, and a bitter 
 burning taste. When exposed to the air, it absorbs oxygen, and lets fall a heap of crys- 
 tals of benzoic acid. This oil consists of a mixture of two oils ; one of which is volatile, 
 •ontains hydrocyanic acid, and is poisonous ; the other is less volatile, is not poisonous, 
 
292 OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 
 
 absorbs oxygen, and becomes benzoic acid. If we dissolve 100 parts of the oil of 
 bitter almonds in Bpirit of wine, mix with the solution an alcoholic solution of potash, 
 and then precipitate the oil -with water, we shall obtain a quantity of cyanide of pot 
 ash, capable of producing 22£ parts of prussian blue. Oil of bitter almonds combines 
 with the alkalis. Perfumers employ a great quantity of this oil in scenting their soaps. 
 One manufacturer in Paris is said to prepare annually 3 cwt. of this oil. A similar 
 poisonous oil is obtained by distilling the following substances with water: the leaves 
 of the peach {amygdalus persica), the leaves of the bay-laurel (prunui lauro-cerasus), 
 the bark of the plum tree {prunus padus), and the bruised kernels of cherry and plum- 
 stones. All these oils contain hydrocyanic acid, which renders them poisonous, and 
 they also generate benzoic acid, by absorbing oxygen on exposure to air. 
 
 Oil of bitter almonds, in the crude state, consists of hydruret of benzoyle, hydrocyanic 
 acid, benzoic acid, and benzoine. The two first constituents are essential ones; the others 
 being accidental, and the result of spontaneous reactions. 
 
 The hydruret of benzoyl when pure is colourless, transparent, of spec. grav. 1-043 ; 
 and though it possesses the almond flavour, is not poisonous ; it ought to form 85 to 90 
 per cent, in volume of the crude oil. When oil of vitriol is mixed with that essential oil, 
 it merely gives it a dark reddish brown colour, but does not decompose it. If the said 
 hydruret, however, be exposed to the air, it becomes oxidized, and by the substitution ol 
 one atom of oxygen for one of hydrogen, it is transformed into benzoic acid ; a com- 
 pound often present in oil of bitter almonds. This acid is not coloured by oil of vitriol. 
 Benzoine when present, however, forms a violet coloured compound with sulphuric acid. 
 
 Hydrocyanic acid sometimes is present to the extent of 8 or 10 per cent, in crude 
 oil of bitter almonds, rendering the mixture poisonous. 
 
 To detect alcohol in oil of bitter almonds, nitric acid of specific gravity 1-42 may 
 be employed, as I did in testing for alcohol in wood spirit.* If the oil be free from 
 alcohol, no immediate action occurs, but in the course of 3 or 4 days crystals of benzoic 
 acid begin to appear, and eventually occupy the whole bulk, giving a bright emerald 
 green colour : this quiet reaction is very characteristic. But if alcohol to the amount 
 of 8 or 10 per cent, be present, a violent effervescence ensues in a few minutes after 
 pouring in the nitric acid, with the disengagement of nitrous fumes. By using nitric acid 
 of 1 -5 a very small proportion of alcohol may be recognized. 
 
 Essential oil of bitter almonds, free from adulteration, should have a specific gravity 
 at most of V62. 
 
 "When the crude oil of bitter almonds, and a mixture of milk of lime and protochlo- 
 ride of iron are all agitated together, and subjected to distillation at a gentle heat, the 
 product is an oil of bitter almonds free from hydrocyanic acid. 
 
 Oil essential of bitter almonds. To determine whether the pure oil of bitter almonds-, 
 (hydruret of benzoyle) be poisonous or not, Mr. G. D. Grindley, of the Pharmaceutical 
 school, made the following researches. He at first adopted the usual plan for removing 
 the hydrocyanic acid, by distilling the commercial oil of almonds with a mixture of .proto- 
 chloride of iron and lime ; the product was still contaminated with the acid, and several 
 repetitions, conducted with every precaution, were attended with no better success. He 
 then adopted, by the suggestion of Professor Redwood, the following method, which 
 proved most satisfactory. The oil was mixed with an equal quantity of water, and 
 digested in a water bath with red oxide of mercury, and small quantities of lime and 
 protochloride of iron ; time having been allowed for the decomposition of the acid the 
 whole was introduced into a copper retort on account of the jumpings during distillation. 
 The product consisted of pure hydruret of benzoyle, while bicyanide of mercury, benzoate 
 of lime, chloride of calcium, and oxide of iron, remained in the retort, with benzoyne 
 and an excess of the ingredients employed. The process is founded upon the strong 
 affinity which exists between mercury and cyanogen, so that when binoxide of mercury 
 and hydrocyanic acid are digested together, they are decomposed, bycanide of mercury 
 and water being formed. The protochloride of iron, which with the lime yields pro- 
 toxide, is introduced to prevent the formation of benzoic acid from the oxidation of 
 the oil. For the same reason care should be taken to conduct the process with as little 
 access of air as possible. The oil thus procured was pure and colourless. No trace of 
 nitrogen could be detected by Lassaigne's test, which he found to be exceedingly delicate, 
 affording indications of the presence of that body in extremely minute quantities of 
 morphia, narcotine, &c. This test consists, in adding to a very small quantity of the 
 substance to be tested, in a small German glass tube, a fragment of potassium about 
 the size of a millet seed, and heating the tube over the flame of a spirit lamp, till the 
 organic substance is entirely carbonized. The carbonaceous residue is treate d with cold 
 water, and to the clear decanted liquor a drop of a solution containing the mixed twc 
 oxides of iron is added. A dirty green precipitate is immediately formed, which if nitro- 
 
 * See the pamphlet, Revenue \n Jeopardy 
 
OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 293 
 
 gen be present is changed into a bright blue, on the addition of a drop of hydrochlorio 
 acid. This pure oil was administered to rabbits without injurious effect on their 
 health or spirits. Bitter almond oil should be always purified by this valuable process 
 of Messrs. Redwood and Grindley. 
 
 Oil of anise-seed is extracted by distillation from the seeds of the pimpinella anisum. It 
 is either colorless, or has merely a faint yellow color, with the smell and taste of the seed. 
 It concretes in lamellar crystals at the temperature of 50°, and does not melt again till 
 heated to 64" nearly. Its specific gravity at 61° is 0-9958, and at 77°, 0-9857. It is sol 
 uble in all proportions in alcohol of 0-806 ; bat only to the extent of 42 per cent, in alco- 
 hol of 0-84. When it becomes resinous by long exposure to the air, it loses its congeal- 
 ing property. It consists of two oils ; a solid stearessence, and a liquid oleiessence, which 
 may be separated by compression of the cold concrete oil. 
 
 Oi. of bergamot is extracted by pressure from the rind of the ripe fruit of the citrus 
 bergamium and aurantium. It is a limpid, yellowish fluid, having a smell resembling that 
 of oranges. Its specific gravity varies from 0-888 to 0-885. It becomes concrete when 
 cooled a little below 32°. 
 
 Oil of cajeput is prepared in the Moluccas, by distilling the dry leaves of the melaleuca 
 leucadendron. Cajeput is a native word, signifying merely a white tree. This oil is 
 green ; it has a burning taste, a strong smell of camphor, turpentine, and savine. It is 
 very fluid, and at 48° has a specific gravity of 0-948. The c^ lor seems to be derived from 
 the copper vessels in which it is imported, so that it is removed by distillation with water, 
 which also separates the oil into two sorts ; the first which comes over having a density 
 cf 0-897, the last of 0-920. This has a green color. 
 
 The oil of caraway is extracted from the seeds of the carum carui. It has a pale yellow 
 color, and the smell and taste of the plant. Its specific gravity is 0-960. The seeds of 
 the cnmirmm cyminnm (cumin) afford an oil similar to the.preceding, but not so agreeable. 
 Its specific gravity is 0-975. 
 
 The oil of cassia, from the laurus cassia, is yellow passing into brown, has a specific 
 gravity of 1-071, and aflfords a crystalline stearessence by keeping in a somewhat open 
 vessel. 
 
 The oil of chamomile is extracted by distillation from the flowers of the matricarta 
 ikamomilla. Xt has a deep blue color, is almost opaque, and thick j and possesses the 
 peculiar smell of the plant. In the atmosphere it becomes brown and unctuous. If an 
 ounce of oil of lemons be added to 3 pounds of this oil, they make it separate more 
 readily from the adhering water. 
 
 Other blue oils, having much analogy with oil of chamomile, are obtained by distilling 
 the following plants : Roman chamomile (anthemis nobilis), the flowers of arnica montana, 
 and those of milfoil (achillaa millefolia). The last has a spec. grav. of 0-852. 
 
 Oil of cinnamon is extracted by distillation from the bark of the laurus cinnamomum. 
 It is produced chiefly in Ceylon, from the pieces of bark unfit for exportation. It is 
 distilled over with difficulty, and the process is promoted by the addition of salt water, 
 and the use of a low still. It has at first a pale yellow color, but it becomes brown 
 with age. It possesses in a high degree both the sweet burning taste, and the agreeable 
 smell of cinnamon. It is heavier than water; its specific gravity being 1-035. It con- 
 cretes below 32° F., and does not fuse again till heated to 41°. It is very sparingly 
 soluble in water, and when agitated with it readily separates by repose. It dissolves 
 abundantly in alcohol, and combines with ammonia into a viscid mass, not decomposed 
 on exposure to air. 
 
 When oil of cinnamon is kept for a long time, it deposites a stearessence in large 
 regular colorless or yellow crystals, which may be pulverized, and which melt at a very 
 gentle heat into a colorless liquid, which crystallizes on cooling. It has an odor inter- 
 mediate between that of cinnamon and vanilla ; and a taste at first greasy, but after- 
 wards burning and aromatic. It crackles between the teeth. It requires a high temper- 
 ature for distillation, and becomes then brown and empyreumatic. It is very soluble in 
 alcohol. 
 
 The oil of cloves is extracted from the dried flower buds of the caryophyllus aromat- 
 icus. It is colorless, or yellowish, has a strong smell of the cloves, and a burning 
 taste. Its specific gravity is 1-061. It is one of the least volatile oils, and the most 
 difficult to distil. At the end of a certain time it deposites a crystalline concrete oil. A 
 similar stearessence is obtained by boiling the bruised cloves in alcohol, and letting the 
 solution cool. The crystals thus formed are brilliant, white, grouped in globules, with- 
 out taste and smell. Oil of cloves has remarkable chemical properties. It dissolves in 
 ilcohol, ether, and acetic acid. It does not solidify at a temperature of 4° under 0° F., 
 even when exposed to that cold for several hours. It absorbs chlorine gas, becomes 
 green, then brown, and turns resinous. Nitric acid makes it red, and if heated upon it, 
 converts it into oxalic acid. If mixed by slow degrees with one third of its weight of 
 sulphuric acid, an acid liquor is formed, at whose bottom a resin of a fine purple color is 
 
294 OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 
 
 found. After being washed, this resin becomes hard and brittle. Alcohol dissolves it 
 and takes a red color ; and water precipitates it of a blood red hue. It dissolves also ir, 
 ether. When we agitate a mixture of strong caustic soda ley and oil of cloves in equal 
 parts, the mass thickens very soon, and forms delicate lamellar crystals. If we then pour 
 water upon it, and distil, there passes along with the water, a small quantity of an oil 
 which differs from oil of cloves both in taste and chemical properties. During the cool- 
 ing, the liquor left in the retort lets fall alquantity of crystalline needles, which being 
 separated by expression from the alkaline liquid, are almost inodorous, but possess an 
 alkaline taste, joined to the burning taste of the oil. These crystals require for solution 
 from 10 to 12 parts of cold water. Potash ley produces similar e/fects. Ammoniacal 
 gas transmitted through the oil is absorbed and makes it thick. Theconcrete combina- 
 tion thus formed remains solid as long as the vial containing it is corked, but when open- 
 ed, the compound becomes liquid ; and these phenomena may be reproduced as many times 
 as we please. Such combinations are decomposed by acids, and the oil set at liberty has 
 the same taste and smell as at first, but it has a deep red color. The alkalis enable us 
 to detect the presence of other oils, as ths* of turpentine or sassafras, in that of cloves, 
 because they fix the latter, while the formt .■ may be volatilized with water by distilling 
 the mixture. The oil of cloves found in commerce is not pure, but contains a mixture of 
 the tincture of pinks or clove-gillyflowers, whose acrid resin is thereby introduced. It 
 is sometimes sophisticated with other oils. 
 
 The oil of elder is extracted by distillation from the flowers of the sambucus nigra. It 
 has the consistence of butter. The watery solution is used in medicine. 
 
 Oil of fennel is- extracted by distillation from the seeds of the anethumfceniculum. It is 
 either colorless or of a yellow tint, has the smell of the plant, and a specific gravity of 
 0-997. When treated with nitric acid, it affords benzoin. It congeals at the tempera- 
 ture of 14° F., and then yields by pressure a solid and a liquid oil ; the former appearing 
 in crystalline plates. It is used in this country for scenting soap. 
 
 Oils of fermented liquors. The substances usually fermented contain a small quantity 
 of essential oils, which become volatile along with the alcoholic vapors in distillation, 
 and prosressively increase as the spirits become weaker towards the end of the process. 
 The vapors then condense into a milky liquor. These oils adhere strongly to the 
 alcohol, and give it a peculiar acrid taste. Thev differ according to the vinous wash 
 from which they are obtained, and combine with greater or less facility with caustic 
 alkalis. 
 
 1. Oil of grain spirits. At the ordinary temperature it is partially a white solid ; 
 when cooled lower it assumes the aspect of suet, and therefore consists chiefly of stear- 
 essence. Its taste and smell are most offensive ; it swims upon the surface of water, 
 and even of spirit containing 30 per cent, of alcohol. It sometimes derives a green 
 color from the copper worm of the still. When heated it fuses and turns yellow. 
 When it has become resinous by the agency of the atmosphere, it gives a greasy stain to 
 paper. It dissolves in 6 parts of anhydrous alcohol, and in two of ether ; and is said to 
 crystallize when the spirit solution has been saturated with it hot, and is allowed to 
 cool. By exposure to a freezing mixture, the whiskey which contains it lets it fall. 
 Caustic potash dissolves it very slowly, and Tjims a soap soluble in 60 parts of water 
 It is absorbed by wood charcoal, and still better by bone black ; whereby it may be com- 
 pletely abstracted from bad whiskey. According to Buchner, another oil may also be ob- 
 tained from the residuum of the second distillation of whiskey, if saturated with sea salt, 
 and again distilled. Thus we obtain a pale yellow fluid oil, which does not concrete with 
 coldj possessed of a disagreeable smell and acrid taste. Its specific gravity is 0-835. It 
 is soluble in alcohol and ether. 
 
 2. The oil from potato spirits has properties quite different from the preceding. . t 
 is obtained in considerable quantity by continuing the distillation after most of the al- 
 cohol has come over, and it appears in the form of a yellowish oil, mixed with water 
 and spirits* After being agitated first with water, then with a strong solution of mu- 
 riate of lime, and distilled afresh, it possesses the following properties ; it is colorless, 
 limpid, has a peculiar smell, and a bitter hot taste of considerable permanence. It 
 leaves no greasy stain upon paper, remains liquid at 0° F., but cooled below that point 
 it crystallizes like oil of anise-seed. When pure it boils at 257° F. ; but at a lower 
 degree, if it contains alcohol. Its specific gravity is 0-821, or 0-823 when it contains a 
 little water. It burns with a clear flame without smoke, but it easily goes out, if not 
 burned with a wick. It dissolves in small quantity in water, to which it imparts its 
 taste and the properties of forming a lather by agitation. It dissolves in all proportions 
 in alcohol. Chlorine renders it green. Concentrated sulphuric acid converts it into a 
 crimson solution, from which it is precipitated yellow by water. It dissolves in all pro- 
 portions in acetic acid. Concentrated caustic leys dissolve it, but give it up to water. II 
 does not appear to be poisonous, like the oil of corn spirits j because, when given by 
 spoonfuls to dogs, it produced no other iffect but vomiting. 
 
OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 295 
 
 3. The oil of brandy or grape spirits is obtained during the distillation of the fermented 
 residuum of expressed grapes ; being produced immediately after the spirituous liquor 
 nas passed over. It is very fluid, limpid, of a penetrating odor, and an acrid disagree- 
 able taste. It grows soon yellow in the air. When this oil is distilled, the first portions 
 of it pass unchanged, but afterwards it is decomposed and becomes empyreumatic. It dis- 
 solves in 1000 parts of water, and communicates to it its peculiar taste and smell. One 
 drop of it is capable of giving a disagreeable flavor to ten old English gallons of spirits. 
 It combines with the caustic alkalis, and dissolves sulphur. 
 
 Oil of juniper is obtained by distilling juniper berries along with water. These should 
 be bruised, because their oil is contained in small sacs or reservoirs, which must be laid 
 open before the oil can escape. It is limpid and colorless, or sometimes of a faint 
 greenish yellow color. Its specific gravity is 0-911. It has the smell and taste of the 
 luniper. Water, or even alcohol, dissolves very little of it. Gin contains a very minute 
 quantity of this oil. Like oil of turpentine, it imparts to the urine of persons who swallow 
 it, the smell of violets. Oil of juniper is frequently sophisticated with oil of turpentine 
 introduced into the still with the berries ; a fraud easily detected by the diminished den- 
 sity of the mixture. 
 
 The oil of lavender is extracted from the flowering spike of the lavandula spica. It is 
 yellow, very fluid, has a strong odor of the lavender, and a burning taste. The 
 specific gravity of the oil found in commerce is 0-898 at the temperature of 72° F., and 
 of 0-877 when it has been rectified. It is soluble in all proportions in alcohol of 0-830, 
 but alcohol of 0-887 dissolves only 42 per cent, of its weight. The fresh oil detonates 
 slightly when mixed with iodine, with the production of a yellow cloud. There occurs 
 in commerce a kind of oil of lavender known under the name of oil of aspic or oil of spike, 
 extracted by distillation from a wild variety of the lavandula spica, which has large 
 leaves, and is therefore called lalifolia. This oil is manufactured in the south of Europe. 
 Its odor is less characteristic than that of the lavender, resembling somewhat that of 
 oil of turpentine, with which it is indeed often adulterated. It is also so cheap as 
 to be sometimes used instead pf the latter oil. Oil of lavender deposites, when partially 
 exposed to the air, a concrete oil, which resembles camphor, to the amount of one fourth 
 of its weight. 
 
 Oil of lemons is extracted by pressure from the yellow peel of the fruit of the lemon, or 
 citrus rnedica. In this state it is a yellowish fluid, having a specific gravity of 0-8517; 
 but when distilled along with water till three fifths of the oil have come over, it is ob 
 tairied in a colorless state, and of a specific gravity of 0-847 at 72° F. This oil does nsol 
 become concrete till cooled to 4° below 0° F. 
 
 The oil of lemons has a very agreeable smell of the fruit, which is injured by distilla- 
 tion. It is soluble in all proportions in anhydrous alcohol, but only 14 parts dissolve in 
 100 of spirits of wine of specific gravity 0-837. This oil, especially when distilled, forms 
 with muriatic acid similar camphorated compounds with oil of turpentine, absorbing no 
 less than 280 volumes of the acid gas. 
 
 Oil of lemons kept long, in ill-corked bottles, generates a quantity of stearessente, 
 which when dissolved in alcohol, precipitated by w«.ter, and evaporated, affords brilliant, 
 colorless, transparent needles. Some acetic acid is also generated in the old oil. Accord 
 ing to Brandes, the specific gravity of oil of lemons is 0-8786. 
 
 The oil of mace lets fall, after a certain time, a concrete oil under the form of a crys- 
 talline crust, called by John myristicine. 
 
 The oil of nutmegs is extracted chiefly from mace, which is the inner epidermis of 
 these nuts. It is colorless, or yellowish, a little viscid with a strong aromatic odor 
 of nutmegs, an acrid taste, and a specific gravity of 0-948. It consists of two oils, which 
 may be easily separated from each other by agitation with water ; for one of them, which 
 is more volatile and aromatic, comes to the surface, while the other, which is denser, 
 white, and of a buttery consistence, falls to the bottom. The Utter liquefies by the heat 
 of the hand. 
 
 The oil of orange flowers, called neroli, is extracted from the fresh flowers of the citrus 
 aurantium. When recently prepared it is yellow ; but when exposed for two hours to 
 the rays of the sun, or for a longer time to diffuse daylight, it becomes of a yellowish- 
 red. It is very fluid, lighter than water, and has a most agreeable smell. The aqueous 
 solution known under the name of orange-flower water, is used as a perfume. It is 
 , obtained either by dissolving the oil in water, or by distilling with water the leaves either 
 fresh or salted ; the first being the stronger, but the last being the more fragrant prepar- 
 , ation. Orange-flower water obtained by distillation, contains besides the oil, a principle 
 which comes over with it, of a nature hitherto unknown; it possesses the property of im- 
 parting to water the faculty of becoming red with a few drops of sulphuric acid. The 
 water formed from the oil alone, is destitute of this property. The intensity of the rose 
 jolor is a test in some measure of the richness of the water in oil. 
 
 The oil of parsley is extracted from the apinm vetroselinum. It is of a pale yellow 
 
296 OILS, VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 
 
 tolor, having the smell of the plant, and consists of two oils separable by agitation in 
 water. Its liquid part floats upon the surface in a very fluid form ; its stearessence, 
 which falls to the bottom, is butyraceous and crystallizes at a low temperature. This 
 concrete oil melts at 86° F. 
 
 The oil of pepper is extracted from the piper nigrum. In the recent state it is limpid 
 and colorless, but by keeping it becomes yellow. It swims upon the surface of water. 
 In odor it resembles pepper, but is devoid of its hot taste. 
 
 The oil of peppermint is extracted from the mentha piperita. It is yellowish, and endued 
 with a very acrid burning taste. Its specific gravity is 0-921 At 6° or 7° below 0° F., 
 it deposites small capillary crystals. After long keeping it affads a stearessence resem- 
 bling camphor, provided the oil had been obtained from the dry plant gathered in flower, 
 but not from distillation of the fresh plant. "When artificially cooled, it yields 6 per cent, 
 of stearessence, which crystallizes in prisms with three sides, has an acrid, somewhat rank 
 taste, is soluble in ether and alcohol, and is thrown down from the latter solution by water 
 in the form of a white powder. Peppermint water is characterized by the sensation of 
 coolness which it diffuses in the mouth. 
 
 The oil of pimento is extracted from the envelopes of the fruits of the myrius pimenta, 
 which afford 8 per cent, of it. It is yellowish, almost colorless, of a smell analogous to 
 that of cloves, an acrid burning taste, and a specific gravity greater than water. Nitric 
 acid makes it first red, and after the effervescence, of a rusty brown hue. It combines 
 with the salifiable bases, like oil of cloves. 
 
 The od of rhodium is extracted from the wood of the convolvolus scoparius. It is very 
 fluid, and has a yellow color, which in time becomes red. It has somewhat of the rose 
 odor, and is used to adulterate the genuine otto. Its taste is bitter and aromatic, which 
 it imparts to the otto as well as its fluidity. 
 
 The oil of roses, called also the attar or otto, is extracted by distillation from the petals 
 of the rosa centifolia and sempervirens. Our native roses furnish such small quantities 
 of the oil, that they are not worth distilling for the purpose. The best way of operating 
 is to return the distilled water repeatedly upon fresh petals, and eventually to cool the 
 saturated water with ice ; whereby a little butyraceous oil is deposited. But the oil 
 thus obtained has not a very agreeable odor, being injured by the action of the air in 
 'he repeated distillations. In the East Indies, the attar is obtained by stratifying rose 
 leaves in earthen pans in alternate layers, with the oleiferous seeds of a species of digi- 
 talis, called gengeli, for several days, in a cool situation. The fat oil of the seed absorbs 
 the essential oil of the rose. By repeating this process with fresh leaves and the same 
 seed, this becomes eventually swollen, and being then expressed furnishes the oil. The 
 turbid liquid thus obtained is left at rest, in well-closed vessels, where it gets clarified. 
 The layer of oil that floats on the top is then drawn off by a capillary cotton wick, and 
 subjected to distillation along with water, whereby the volatile otto is separated from the 
 fat seed-oil. 
 
 The oil of roses is colorless, and possesses the smell of roses, which is not however 
 agreeable, unless when diffused, for in its concentrated state it is far from pleasant to the 
 nostrils, and is apt to occasion headaches. Its taste is bland and sweetish. It is lighter 
 than water, and at the temperature of 92 = , its specific gravity compared to that of water 
 at 60° is 0-832. At lower temperatures it becomes concrete and butyraceous ; and after- 
 wards fuses at 90°. It is but slightly soluble in alcohol ; 1000 parts of this liquid at 0-806 
 dissolving only 7| parts at 58° F. This oil consists of two parts, the stearessence and 
 oleiessence ; the latter being the more volatile odoriferous potion. 
 
 The oil of rosemary is extracted from the rosmarinus officialis. It is as limi d as water, 
 has the smell of the plant, and in other respects resembles oil of turpentine. The oil 
 found in commerce has a specific gravity of 0-911, which becomes 0-8886 by rectification. 
 It boils at 320° F. (occasionally at 329°). It is soluble in all portions in alcohol of 0-830. 
 When kept in imperfectly closed vessels, it deposites a stearessence vo the amount of one 
 tenth of its weight, resembling camphor. It is sometimes adulterated with oil of turpen- 
 tine, a fraud easily detected by adding anhydrous alcohol, which dissolves only the oil of 
 rosemary. 
 
 The oil of saffron is extracted from the stigmata of the crocus sativus. It is yellow, 
 rery fluid, falls to the bottom of water, difluses the penetrating odor of the plant, and has 
 an acrid and bitter taste. It is narcotic. 
 
 The oil of sassafras is extracted from the woody root of the laurus sassafras. It is 
 colorless, but at the end of a certain time it becomes yellow or red. It has a peculiar, 
 sweetish, pretty agreeable, but somewhat burning taste. Its specific gravity is 1-094. 
 According tc Bonastre, this oil separates ty agitation with water into an oil lighter and 
 
r~ 
 
 OILS. VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL. 297 
 
 an oil heavier than this fluid. When long kept, it deposites a stearessence in transparent 
 and colorless crystals, which have the smell and taste of the liquid oil. 
 
 The oil of savine is extracted from the leaves of the junipei-us sabina. It is limpid, 
 and has the odor and taste of the plant, which is one more productive of volatile oil than 
 any other. 
 
 The oil of tansy has a specific gravity of 0-946, the penetrating odor of the tanacctum 
 mlgare, with an acrid and hitter taste. 
 
 Oil of turpentine, commonly called essence of turpentine. It is extracted from several 
 species of turpentine, a semi-liquid resinous suhstance which exudes from certain trees 
 of the pine tribe, and is obtained by distilling the resin along with water. This oil is 
 the cheapest of all the volatile species, and, as commonly sold, contains a little resin, 
 from which it may be freed by re-distillation with water.. It is colorless, limpid, very 
 fluid, and has a very peculiar smell. Its specific gravity at 60° is 0-872 ; that of the 
 spirit on sale in the shops is 0-876. This oil always reddens litmus paper, because it con- 
 tains a little succinic acid. 
 
 100 parts of spirits of wine, of specific gravity 0-84, dissolve only 13 J of oil of turpen- 
 tine at 72° F. When agitated with alcohol at 0-830 the oil retains afterwards one fifth 
 of its hulk of the spirit ; hence this proposed method for purifying oil of turpentine is 
 defective. The oil, if left during four months in contact with air, is capable of absorbing 
 20 times its bulk of oxygen gas. One volume of rectified oil of turpentine absorbs at 
 the temperature of 72°, and under the common atmospheric pressure, 163 times its vol- 
 ume of muriatic acid gas, provided the vessel be kept cool with ice. This mixture being 
 allowed to repose for 24 hours, produces out of the oil from 26 to 47 per cent, of a white 
 crystalline substance, which subsides to the bottom of a brown, smoking, translucent 
 liquor. Others say that 100 parts of oil of turpentine yield 110 of this crystalline 
 matter, which was called by Kind, its discoverer, artificial camphor, from its resemblance 
 in smell and appearance to this substance. Both the solid 1 and the liquid are combina- 
 tions of muriatic acid and oil of turpentine ; indicating the existence of a stearine and an 
 oleine in the latter substance. The liquid compound is lighter than water, and is not 
 decomposed by it, nor does it furnish any more solid matter when more muriatic gas is 
 passed through it. The solid compound, after being washed first with water containing 
 a little carbonate of soda, then with pure water, and finally purified by sublimation with 
 some chalk, lime, ashes, or charcoal, appears as a white, translucent, crystalline body, in 
 the form of flexible, tenacious needles. It swims upon the surface of water, diffuses a 
 "afrit smell of camphor, commonly mixed with that of oil of turpentine, and has rather 
 an aromatic than a camphorated taste. It does not redden litmus paper. Water 
 dissolves a very minute quantity; but cold alcohol of 0-806 dissolves fully one thi.d oi 
 its weight, and lot much more, depositing, as it cools, this excess in the form of crystals. 
 The solution is not precipitated by nitrate of silver, which shows that the nature of the 
 muriatic acid is perfectly masked by the combination. It is composed, in 100 parts, of 
 76-4 carhon, 9-6 hydrogen, and 14 muriatic acid. The muriatic acid, or chlorine, may be 
 separated by distilling an alcoholic solution of the artificial camphor 12 or 14 times in | ! 
 
 succession with slaked lime. 
 
 Oil of turpentine is best preserved in casks enclosed within others, with water between 
 the two. Its principal use is for making varnishes, and as a remedy for the tape-worm. 
 
 The oil of thyme is extracted from the thymus serpyllum. It is reddish yellow, has an 
 agreeable smell, and, after being long kept, it lets fall a crystalline stearessence. It is 
 used merely as a perfume. 
 
 The oil of wormwood is extracted from the artemisia absinthium. It is yellow, or 
 sometimes green, and possesses the odor of the plant. Its taste resembles that of 
 wormwood, but without its bitterness. Its specific gravity is 0-9703, according to Brisson, 
 and 0-9725, according to Brandes. It detonates with iodine when it is fresh. Treated 
 with nitric acid of 1-25 specific gravity,' it becomes first blue, and after some time 
 Drown. 
 
 The numerous uses of unctuous oils give importance to their preparation, as articles 
 of food, cr for burning in lamps, and for the manufacture of soaps, ifec. The seeds 
 most productive of oil are those of colza (a species of cabbage, brassica arvensis\ 
 rape, mustard, sesamum, poppy, linseed, hemp, and beech mast. Nuts afford an oil 
 that is much esteemed for certain purposes, and may be easily obtained by pressure. 
 The following Table indicates the quantities of oil which <;an be extracted from differ- 
 ent fruits, and some other substajxfea: — 
 
298 
 
 OILS, VOLATILE OK ESSENTIAL. 
 
 100 Farts of each 
 
 Oil per Cent. 
 
 100 Farts of each. 
 
 Oil per Cent. 
 
 Walnuts ... 
 
 40 to 70 
 
 Wild mustard seed - 
 
 30 
 
 Castor-oil seeds 
 
 62 
 
 Camelina'-seed 
 
 28 
 
 Hazel-nuts ... 
 
 60 
 
 Weld-seed - 
 
 29 to 36 
 
 Garden cress seed - 
 
 56 to 58 
 
 Gourd-seed - - - 
 
 25 
 
 Sweet almonds 
 
 40 to 54 
 
 •Lemon-seed ... 
 
 25 
 
 Bitter almonds 
 
 28 to 46 
 
 Onocardium acanthe, or 
 
 
 Poppy-seeds - - - 
 
 56 to 63 
 
 bear's foot ... 
 
 25 
 
 Oily radish seed 
 
 50 
 
 Hemp-seed - - - 
 
 14 to 25 
 
 Sesamum (jugoline) 
 
 50 
 
 Linseed .... 
 
 11 to 22 
 
 Lime-tree seeds 
 
 48 
 
 Black mustard seed 
 
 15 
 
 Cabbage-seed 
 
 30 to 39 
 
 Beechmast ... 
 
 15 to 17 
 
 White mustard r- 
 
 36 to 38 
 
 Sunflower-seeds 
 
 15 
 
 Rape, colewort, and Swe- 
 
 
 Stramonium, or thorn- 
 
 
 dish turnip seeds- 
 
 33-5 
 
 apple-seeds 
 
 15 
 
 Plum kernels - - - 
 
 33-3 
 
 Grape-stones ... 
 
 14 to 22 
 
 Colza-seed 
 
 36 to 40 
 
 Horse chestnuts 
 
 1-2 to 8 
 
 Rape-seed - 
 
 30 to 36 
 
 St. Julian plum 
 
 18 
 
 Euphorbium (spurge seed) 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 To obtain the above proportions of oil, the fruits must be all of good quality, deprived 
 of their pods, coats, or involucra, and of all the parts destitute of oil, which also must be 
 extracted in the best manner. * 
 
 The following table is given by M. Dumas, as exhibiting the practical results of the 
 French seed oil manufacturers : — 
 
 
 Weight per Hectolitre. 
 
 Produce in Litres. 
 
 Summer colza 
 
 54 to 65 kilogs. 
 
 21 to 25 
 
 Winter colza - . 
 
 56 to 70 — 
 
 25 to 28 
 
 Rape-seed 
 
 55 to 68 — 
 
 23 to 26 
 
 Camelina-seed ... 
 
 53 to 60 — 
 
 20 to 24 
 
 Puppy-seed ... 
 
 54 to 62 — 
 
 22 to 25 
 
 Madia Sativa - 
 
 40 to 50 — 
 
 12 to 15 
 
 Beechmast ... 
 
 42 to 50 — 
 
 12 to 15 
 
 Hemp-seed - - - 
 
 42 to 50 — 
 
 12 to 15 
 
 Linseed - 
 
 By sample, 67. 
 
 10 to 12 
 
 Stripped walnuts - - - 
 
 From 100 kilogs. 
 
 46 to 50 
 
 Sweet almonds - 
 
 — 100 — 
 
 44 to 48 
 
 Olives - 
 
 — 100 — 
 
 10 to 12 
 
 Colza, rape-seed, and cameline oils are employed for lamps; poppy, madia sativa, art 
 employed, when recent, as articles of food — or for soaps and paintings; hemp-seed and 
 linseed for painting, soft soaps, and for printers' ink ; walnut oil, for food, painting, and 
 lamps ; olive oil, for food, soaps, lamps. 
 
 In extracting oil from seeds, two processes are required — 1st, trituration ; 2d, expra. 
 lion ; and the steps are as follows : — 
 
 1. Bruising under revolving heavy-edge millstones, in a circular bed, or trough of iron, 
 bedded on granite. 
 
 2. Heating of the bruised seeds, by the heat either of a naked fire or of steam. 
 
 3. First pressure or crushing of the seeds, either by wedges, screw, or hydraulic presses. 
 
 4. Second crushing of the seed cakes of the first pressure. 
 
 5. Heating the bruised cakes ; and 6. A final crushing. 
 
 The seeds are now very generally crushed, first of all between two iron cylinders 
 revolving in opposite directions, and fed in from a. hopper above them ; after which they 
 yield more completely to the triturating action of the edge stones, which are usually 
 hooped round with a massive iron ring. A pair of edge millstones of about 7 or 7 \ 
 'eet in diameter, and 25 or 26 inches thick, weighing from 7 to 8 tons, can crush, in 
 12 hours, from 2J to 3 tons of seeds. The edge-millstones serve not merely to grini 
 the seeds at first, but to triturate the eakes after they have been crushed in the press. 
 Old dry seeds some! imes require to be sprinkled with a little water to make the oil 
 come more freely away ; but this practice requires great care. 
 
 The apparatus for heating the bruised seeds consists usually of cast iron or copper 
 
 
 _J 
 
OIL MANUFACTURE. 
 
 299 
 
 Eans, 'with stirrers moved by machinery. Figs. 1016 1011 1018 1019 represent the heaters 
 y naked fire, as mounted in Messrs. Maudsley and Field's excellent seed crushing 
 mills, on the wedge or Dutch plan. 
 
 fig. 1016 is an elevation, or side view of the fireplace of a naked heater; fig.1011 
 is a plan, in the line UU of fig. 1016 Fig. 1018 is an elevation and section parallel to 
 the line VV of fig. 1017 Jig-. 1019 is a plan of the furnace, taken above the grate 
 of the fireplace. 
 
 
 
 
 I== 
 
 
 -■ 
 
 i — 
 
 
 
 1019 
 
 A, fireplace shut at top by the cast-iron plate B ; called the fireplate. 
 
 C, iron ring-pan, resting on the plate B, for holding the seeds j which is kept m i'.j 
 ;>iace by the pins or bolts a. 
 
 D, funnels, britchen, into which by pulling the ring-case c, by the handles b, b, the 
 seeds are made to fall, from' which they pass into bags suspended to the hooks c. 
 
 E,Jig. 1018 the stirrer which prevents the seeds from being burned by continued 
 contact with the hot plate. It is attached by a turning-joint to the collar F, which 
 turns with the shaft G, and slides up and down upon it. H, a bevel wheel, in geai 
 with the bevel wheel I, and giving motion to the shaft G. 
 
 K, a lever for lifting up the agitator or stirrer E. e, a catch for holding up the 
 ever K, when it has been raised tn a proper height. 
 
300 
 
 OILS, ADULTERATR N OF 
 
 Fig. 1020 front elevation of the wedge seed-crushing machine, or wcdge-presi 
 Fig. 1021 section, in the line XX, of fig. 1022. 
 
 1021 S ' 1020 j! 
 
 Fig. 1022 horizontal section, in the line YY, of fig. 1021. 
 
 1022 
 
 llio en IDMMn 
 
 A, A, Upright guides, or frame-work of wood. 
 
 B, B, Side guide-rails. 
 
 D, Driving stamper of wood which presses out the oil; C, spring stamper, ar re- 
 lieving wedge to permit the bag to be taken out when sufficiently pressed. E is the 
 lifting shaft, having rollers, b, b, b, b, fig. 1021 which lift the stampers by the cams. 
 a, a, fig. 1021. F, is the shaft from the power-engine, on .which the lifters are filed. ' 
 
 G, is the ca3t iron press-box, in which the bags of seed are placed for pressure, Ver 
 ally by the force of the wedge. 
 
 o, jSg».1019and 1023 the spring, or relieving wedge. 
 
 e, lighter rail ; d, lifting-rope to ditto. 
 
 ft It ft ft flooring overhead. 
 
OILS, ADULTERATION OF. 
 
 301 
 
 g, figs. lOlOand 1023 ;the back iron, or end-plate minutely perforated. 
 h, the horse-hair bags (called hairs), containing the flannel bag, charged with seed; 
 i, the dam-block ; m, the spring wedge. 
 
 Jig. 1022 A, upright gu.des; C, and D, spring and driving stampers; E, lifting 
 roller ; F, lifting shaft ; a, a, cams of stampers. 
 
 Fig. 1023 a view of one set of the wedge-boxes, or presses; supposing the front of 
 them to be removed. 
 
 Fig. 1023; o, driving wedge; g, back 
 
 1023 f~\ iron; ft, hairs; i, dam-block; fe, speer- 
 
 ing or oblique block, between the twc 
 
 stampers ; I, ditto ; n, ditto ; m, spring 
 
 When in the course of a few nn-nutes 
 the bruised seeds are sufficiently heated 
 in the pans, the double door. FF is with- 
 drawn, and they are received in the bags, 
 below the aperture G. These bags are 
 made of strong twilled woollen cloth, 
 woven on purpose. They are then 
 wrapped in a hair-cloth, lined with 
 leather. 
 
 The first pressure requires only a dozen blows of the stamper, after which the pouches 
 sre left alone for a few minutes till the oil has had time to flow out ; in which interval 
 the workmen prepare fresh bags. The former are then unlocked, by making the stamper 
 fall upon the loosening wedge or key, m. 
 
 The weight of the stampers is usually from 500 to 600 pounds; and the height from 
 which they fall upon the wedges is from 16 to 21 inches. 
 
 Such a mill as that now described, can produce a pressure of from 50 to 75 tons 
 upon each cake of the following dimensions : 8 inches in the broader base, 7 inches 
 in the narrower, 18 inches in the height; altogether nearly 140 square inches in surface, 
 and about £ of an inch thick. 
 
 OILS, ADULTERATION OF. M. Heidenreich has found in the application 
 of a few drops of sulphuric acid to a film of oil, upon a glass plate, a means of ascer- 
 taining its purity. The glass plate should be laid upon a sheet of white paper, and a 
 drop of the acid let fall on the middle of ten drops of the oil to be tried. 
 
 With the oil of rape-seed and turnip-seed, a greenish blue ring is gradually formed at 
 a certain distance from the acid, and some yellowish brown bands proceed from the 
 centre. 
 With oil of black mustard, in double the above quantity, also a bluish green color. 
 With whale and cod-oil, a peculiar centrifugal motion, then a red color, increasing 
 gradually in intensity; and after sometime, it becomes violet on the edges. 
 With oil of cameline, a red color, passing into bright yellow. 
 Olive-oil, pale yellow, into yellowish green. 
 
 Oil of poppies and sweet almonds, canary yellow, passing into an opaque yellow. 
 Of linseed, a brown magma, becoming black. 
 Of tallow or oleine, a brown color. 
 
 In testing oils, a sample of the oil imagined to be present should be placed alongside 
 of the actual oil, and both be compared in their reactions with the acid. A good way 
 of approximating to the knowledge of an oil is by heating it, when its peculiar odor 
 becomes more sensible. 
 
 Specific gravity is also a good criterion. The following table is given by M. Hei- 
 denreich : — 
 
 Oleine oi Tallow Oil - 
 Oil of Turnip Seed 
 Rape Oil - 
 Olive Oil - 
 Purified Whale Oil - 
 Oil of Poppies - 
 Oil of Camelina - 
 LHseed Oil- 
 Castor Oil - 
 
 Sp. Gr. 
 
 Gay-Lussac's Alcoliolm. 
 
 0-9003 
 
 66 
 
 0-9128 
 
 60-75 
 
 0-9136 
 
 60-20 
 
 0-9176 
 
 58-40 
 
 0-9231 
 
 55-80 
 
 0-9243 
 
 55-25 
 
 0-9252 
 
 54-75 
 
 0-9347 
 
 50 
 
 0-9611 
 
 33-75 
 
 M. Laurot, a Parisian chemist, finds that colza oil (analogous to rapeseed oil) may 
 be tested for sophistication with cheaper vegetable oils by the irurease of density 
 
302 OILS, TESTS OF. 
 
 which it therefrom acquires, and which becomes very evident when the several oils 
 are heated to the same pitch. The instrument, which he calls an okomtter, is merely 
 a hydrometer, with a very slender stem. He plunges it into a tin cylinder, filled with 
 the oil, and sets this cylinder in another containing boiling water. His oleometer is 
 so graduated as to sink to zero in pure colza oil so heated; and he finds that it stops 
 at 210° in linseed oil, at 124 J in poppy-seed oil, at 83° in fish oil, and at 136° in heirp- 
 seed oil — all of the same temperature. By the increase of density, therefore, or the 
 ascent of the stem of the hydrometer in any kind of colza oil, he can infer its degree 
 of adulteration. 
 
 The presence of a fish oil in a vegetable oil is readily ascertained by agitation with a 
 little chlorine gas, which blackens the fish oil, but has little or no effect upon the 
 vegetable oil. 
 
 I find that lard oil, and also hogs' lard, are not at all darkened by chlorine. 
 
 A specific gravity, bottle or globe, having a capillary tube-stopper, would make an 
 excellent oleometer, on the above principle. The vessel should be filled with the oil, 
 and exposed to the heat of boiling water, or steam at 212 J , till xcquires that tem- 
 perature, and then weighed. The vessel with the pure Colza oil will weigh several 
 grains less than with the other oils similarly treated. Such an instrument would serve 
 to detect the smallest adulterations of sperm oil. Its specific gravity at 60° when 
 pure, is only 0-875; that of southern whale oil is 0-922, or 0-925; and hence their 
 mixture will give a specific gravity intermediate, according to the proportion in the 
 mixture. Thus I have been enabled to detect sperm oil in pretended lard oil, in my 
 examination of oils for the customs. 
 
 OILS ESSENTIAL, Tests of Purity. 1. 01. Amygdalarum amar. (Bitter Almonds). 
 This oil possesses, besides its specific gravity and peculiar smell, so many striking chemi- 
 cal characteristics, that any adulteration of it must be easily detected. To these cha- 
 racteristics belong its great clear solubility in sulphuric acid, with a reddish brown colora- 
 tion and without any visible decomposition ; the very slow action which nitric acid has 
 upon it, without either of the two substances undergoing any change in its physical pro- 
 perties; the only partial slow solution of iodine without further reaction; the indifference 
 to chromate of potash ; the elimination of crystals from its solution in an alcoholic solu- 
 tion of caustic potash ; the peculiar inspissation by caustic ammonia and muriatic acid, 
 and the elimination of crystals from the alcoholic solution of these new compounds, 
 and lastly, the decidedly acid reaction ; in short, almost by every reagent some peculiarity 
 of this oil is displayed, by which its purity can be perfectly and, easily established. 
 
 2. Ol. Caryophyllorum (Cloves). The properties which this oil possesses afford great 
 opportunity of discovering its purity. Firstly, its relation to the alcoholic solution of 
 caustw potash, with which it congeals entirely into a crystalline mass, totally losing at the 
 same time the clove odour. Any foreign substance present would be excluded from this 
 compound, or would interrupt and weaken it. Similar to this, and equally marked, ia 
 the butyraeeous coagulum, which is obtained by shaking the oil with a solution of caus- 
 tic ammonia, and which, after fusion, crystallizes. The spontaneous ready decomposition 
 by nitric acid, and simultaneous formation of a reddish brown solid mass, as also the 
 dark blue coloration of the oil by a small quantity of sulphuric acid, whilst a greater 
 portion of the latter changes the oil into a blood red solid mass, are equally striking 
 tests. To these we may add the perfect decomposition of the oil into brown flakes by 
 chromate of potash, accompanied by the loss of the yellow colour of the solution of thig 
 salt ; the solubility of iodine, which forms with it a liquid extract, with but a small 
 increase of temperature, and also the perfect and easy solubility of santaline in it. 
 
 3. 01. Cinnamomi (Cinnamon). With this oil the question is not merely to detect ar. 
 adulteration with other oils, but also to distinguish the two sorts of this oil from one 
 another, viz., the Ceylon oil (oleum cinnamomi verum) and the Chinese oil (oleum cassia) 
 which differ very much in price. In both cases it is difficult to obtain accurate tests of 
 the properties of these oils, as they are almost exclusively obtained by way of commerce, 
 and vary considerably in their qualities, on account of their age and careless method 
 of preparation. The chief distinction between the two oils is the odour : the Ceylon 
 oil is, moreover, more liquid, and of a less specific weight than the Chinese, and may 
 be exposed to a greater degree of cold than the latter without becoming turbid. The 
 most distinguishing characteristic of the cinnamon oik is, perhaps, their relation to the 
 alcoholic solution of caustic potash : both dissolve in it readily and clear, with a red- 
 dish yellowish brown colour ; after some time, however, the solution becomes very 
 turbid, and a rather heavy undissolved oil precipitates, whilst the solution gradually 
 becomes clear again. 
 
 Another peculiar character is, where the oil is being decomposed by nitric acid a 
 smell of bitter almond oil is perceptible. Both oils are at the same time converted 
 into a brown balsam ; in the Ceylon oil a brisk decomposition occurs sooner, and at a 
 slighter heat. 
 
OILS, TESTS OF. 303 
 
 Iodine dissolves rapidly in the Ceylon oil with a considerable increase of heat, and a 
 slight expulsive movement, a tough extract-like substanee remaining behind. With 
 the Chinese oil the reaction is slaw, the development of heat but very slight, quiet, and 
 the residue a soft or liquid substance. 
 
 Chromate of potash decomposes partially the Ceylon oil into brown flakes, which are 
 suspended in the solution. This is deprived of its yellow colour, whilst the undecom- 
 posed portion of the oil assumes a yellowish light red colour, and becomes thick. The 
 solution treated with Chinese oil does not entirely lose its yellow colour, contains no 
 flakes, and the oil, turbid, emulsive-like, does not become clear again. 
 
 Sulphuric acid also furnishes a good test for these oils ; the Ceylon oil forms with it a 
 solid hard mass, changing from a brownish-green into deep black; in the Chinese oil, 
 this substance 's softer, and deep olive green. A smaller quantity of acid colours the oils 
 purple-red, whilst muriatic acid imparts to them a violet colour. 
 
 i. 01. Sassafras (Sassafras.) This oil is distinguished from most other oils by the 
 clear solution produced by iodine without inspissation. The green colour, which is at 
 first produced by two parts of oil and one part sulphuric acid, is not produced by any 
 otlier oil ; by heat, this colour changes to blood-red. A greater quantity of oil produces 
 in the heated acid a magnificent amaranth red colour, whilst the oil itself appears only 
 brownish or bluish red. With nitric acid the decomposition takes place without heat, 
 and reddish brown resin is formed, which on being heated becomes hard and brittle. 
 The great specific gravity and the low degree of solubility in alcohol will easily lead 
 to the detection of an admixture of the latter which would counteract these properties. 
 
 5. 01. Anisi Stellati (Star Anise.) This oil participates in many properties of those 
 oils of the umbelliferse which contain much stearoptene. Its combination with iodine, 
 which takes place with a less development of vapour and heat, congeals into a solid 
 resinous substance. By sidphuric acid this oil also easily becomes inspissated, is 
 chauged into a solid mass, and becomes by h^at dark blood-red. Nitric acid, however, 
 produces only a thick fluid balsam, whilst the oil becomes yellow, and by heat reddish- 
 brown. The difficulty with which the oil is dissolved in five or six parts of alcohol, 
 and in the alcoholic solution of potash, with slight coloration, as also its relation to 
 cold, are useful tests. 
 
 6. 01. Anisi vulgaris (common Anise). The constant specific gravity of the ol. anisi 
 (from 0'97 to 0'99, and still more frequently from 0'98 to 0'99), as well as its disposition 
 to congeal readily at below a medium temperature, are good tests for this oil. But still 
 more so is its quick congelation into a solid hard mass with iodine, accompanied with a 
 perceptible increase of heat, and the development of yellowish-red and gray vapours. 
 Sulphuric acid heated with the oil, produces a beautiful purple-red colour, and quickly 
 inspissates and hardens it. The other reactions are similar to those of oil of star anise, 
 and will, combined with those here mentioned, sufficiently characterize this oil. 
 
 7. Ol. Rutce (Rue). The high price and strong smell of this oil lead to and facilitate 
 its adulteration. If prepared in the laboratory, this oil is distinguished by being slowly 
 dissolved by iodine, unaccompanied by any external signs of reaction, and the formation 
 of slightly viscid liquid; by this means adulterations with oils of eoniferae, aurantiacese, 
 and most labiatse can be detected in it. Mitrie acid acts but slowly on it, and changes 
 it into a greenish yellow thin liquid balsam ; chromate of potash produces no reaction. 
 By the turbiol solution in alcohol, by the reddish brown solutiorf in liquor potassse, and 
 by the similar but darker coloration which the oil and the acid assume by sulphuric 
 acid, the cheaper oils of the labiatse may be easily detected in it. The commercial 
 compared with these characteristics appeared to be only an adulterated one. 
 
 8. Ol. Cajeputi (Cajeput). Omitting the tests for less frequently occurring 
 adulterations of this oil, 1 confine myself to mentioning only those tests of its purity 
 which are the result of my experiments, chiefly with regard to the rectified oil, which 
 alone ought to be employed for medical purposes. 
 
 The first of these is the nature of the residue, resulting from the reaction of iodine 
 after a slightly energetic reciprocal action, during which the temperature was but little 
 increased and the development of yellowish-red vapours but slight (in another crude oil 
 no such development took place), the residue becomes immediately inspissated into a 
 loose coagulum, which is soon changed into a dry greenish-brown brittle mass. Ful- 
 minating oils are therefore easily detected, also the more energetically acting oils of the 
 .a hiatus; viz., ol. lavendul. spirea? origani. But also the less violently acting oils cf 
 abiatse, such as ol. rorismarini, which serves most frequently for adulteration, but 
 which are distinguished by the energetic action of a solution of iodine, can be recog- 
 nised by the degree of energy with which this reaction takes place; all, however, 
 would materially alter the nature of the residue of the iodine test above described. 
 The ol. rorismarini manifests under certain circumstances, also, some coagulating solid 
 parts in its residue, but which always has the consistency of a soft extract. 
 The slight changes of colour which are produced by chromate of potash, are some- 
 
304 OILS, TESTS OF. 
 
 what more marked with the ol. rorismarini, but the equally slight colour of the 
 solution in liquor potasses, which is clear in the cold and turbid when warm, is the 
 same in the ol. rorismarini. The latter oil could not be detected by the sulphuric acid 
 test ; the latter assumes a deep red yellowish colour, and the oil becomes brownish ; 
 by this, however, many other adulterations may be indicated. The weak colorations 
 of the ol. cajeputi by nitric acid, which imparts only a reddish and brownish colour, 
 accompanied by a violent reaction and formation of a liquid balsam, will easily dis- 
 tinguish it from some other oils, but not from ol. rorismarini. Its relation to iodine 
 is, therefore, the safest test: it can also be recognized by a sensation of cold which it 
 leaves behind in the mouth. Its specific gravity being below 0"91 to 0'92, will show 
 the presence of lighter oils and alcohol, and a divided rectification, and its relation to 
 water will detect the adulteration with camphor. 
 
 9. Ol. Mentha Piperita! (Peppermint). — Any adulteration of this oil, except with alco- 
 hol or other mint oils, could be easily detected by the peculiar smell and taste of this oil. 
 The presence of alcohol is betrayed by the specific gravity, which is seldom under 0"90, 
 and which must be considerably lower if the alcohol be stronger. Of the other mint 
 oils we certainly are only acquainted with that of M. crispa and crispata ; we may, 
 however, conclude from the deviating relation of the ol. menth. piperit. to chromate of 
 potash and to iodine, that the other sorts differ from it chemically, as well as the plants 
 from which they are obtained differ from one another in smell. 
 
 The most distinguishing character, which the peppermint oil shares with no other oil 
 of the labiatm, though with some of the compositse, is its relation to chromate of potash, 
 which communicates to it a deep red brown, colour, and inspissates it into a coagulum 
 more like an extract than a resin, and by motion is divided into a flaky form, whilst 
 the solution of the salt soon loses the whole of its yellow colour, or appears yellowish- 
 green. 
 
 The purple red colour imparted to the oil by the fourth part of its volume of nitric 
 acid, is, at least for the qualities of 0'89 to 0'90, very characteristic. The other oils, 
 which become merely brown, bIiow at least a tendency to red, but all, upon an 
 addition of acid at a higher temperature, change to a reddish-brown, and into a liquid 
 
 Mr. B. Sandrock of Hamburgh, states, that American oil of peppermint is adulterated 
 with oil of turpentine, which appears to be the product of some other species of pinus 
 than ours. He has frequently rectified quantities of from 80 to 100 lbs. of the American 
 oil, in which the smell of oil of turpentine was distinctly perceived ; but not to such 
 a degree as would be the case if common oil of turpentine had been employed. 
 
 Several samples of English oil of peppermint were found by the author to be mixed 
 with this American oil of peppermint, the price of which is only five or six marks per 
 pound. Bley has also perceived this smell of turpentine in the oil of peppermint The 
 smell, however, is no certain criterion in this esse, and the adulteration is better dis- 
 covered by the relation to iodine and alcohol, and by the specific gravity. Pure 
 English oil of peppermint has a specific gravity of 0'910 to 0'920 ; it does not explode 
 with iodine, but forms with it a homogeneous mass, and is soluble in its own weight of 
 alcohol. 
 
 The American oil, in which a great proportion of oil of turpentine is supposed to be 
 contained, is sold by the name of crude oil, in tin bottles of twenty pounds. It is of a 
 yellowish colour, very resinous, often as thick as oil of bitter almonds, and has a strong 
 accessory odour of oil of turpentine. Its specific gravity is 0'855 to 0'859. When 
 distilled with water, half of it passes over with equal parts of water, then the proportion 
 of the water increases, and with the last yellow, somewhat thicker parts of the oil are 
 distilled over, but with difficulty. About five-sixths of the crude oil are obtained per- 
 fectly clear like water. The first half of the rectified oil has a specific weight of - 844, 
 which increases, so that the latter portions, have a specific gravity of 0-875 to 0'880. 
 The oil retains now, as before, the smell and taste of turpentine, is only dissolved in five 
 or six parts of alcohol, and explodes strongly with iodine. The resin which remains 
 after the distillation amounts to about four or five per cent, of the oil, is soft, yellow- 
 ish, turbid, and strongly smells of the oil. Heated for some time at a slight tempera- 
 ture, it changes these properties for all those of the pine resin. 
 
 10. Ol. Thymi (Tiiyme). This oil is distinguished by no peculiarity, and, in most 
 cases where it is employed as perfume or externally, its pure and fine smell will be a 
 sufficient criterion. By its slight reaction upon iodine, the adulteration with turpen- 
 tine oil might be detected, whilst its stronger reaction upon chromate of potash would 
 6erve to detect other admixtures. 
 
 11. Ol. Lavandula! (Lavender). This delicate oil suffers no other admixture but that 
 of alcohol without becoming worthless, and in the inferior cheap qualities which are 
 sold, the presence of alcohol is discoverable by the specific gravity. Of seventeen sam- 
 ples examined, the lowest specific gravity of the inferior oil was 0-86 ; that of the best 
 
OILS, TESTS OF. 305 
 
 qualities, mostly 0'87 to 0'S9. ■ v The peculiar character of the lavender oil by which it ia 
 distinguished, with regard to the degree, from all oils obtained from the labiates, is its quick 
 and violent fulmination with iodine, and the entirely changed, pungent, acidobalsamic 
 smell of the soft, extract-like residue. This character is invariably observed in all genu- 
 ine oils, both commercial, and those prepared in the laboratory. The inferior, cheaper 
 commercial sort, does not fulminate. An intentional addition of one-third of alcohol did 
 not perceptibly weaken the fulmination ; also, one half of alcohol did not destroy, but 
 only weaken it : an equal volume of alcohol being added to the oil no fulmination took 
 place, but a lively ebullition and development of yellowish-red vapours. A moderate 
 proportion of alcohol cannot, therefore, be discovered by these reactions ; for this purpose 
 the almost indifferent relation of the pure oil tb santaline is a safer guide, as that con- 
 taining alcohol dissolves the latter readily and quickly. An adulteration with fulminating 
 oils, which in this case cannot be detected by iodine, would be discovered by the differing 
 relation to caustic potash. The alcoholic solution of the latter forms a clear solution 
 with lavender oil, to which it communicates a dark yellowish-red brown colour, whilst the 
 other oils are dissolved in it with difficulty, and -become turbid, with but a slight color- 
 ation. Among the better tests, we may also reckon the deep reddish-brown colour pro - 
 duced by sulphuric acid accompanied by. a strong inspissation, whilst the equally 
 coloured acid has a slight shade of yellow. 
 
 12. 01. Cubebarium (Oubebs). This oil, which is devoid of oxygen, differs from others 
 having a similar composition by its viscidity and weak action upon iodine, which imparts 
 to it at the beginning of the reciprocal reaction a violet colour. Even absolute alcohol 
 in large proportions, and at a high temperature, forms a solution which is mostly clear ; 
 equal weights produce a very turbid solution, throwing down flakes. The oil which 
 is strongly clouded by nitric acid, becomes by heat only pale red, but is decomposed 
 and converted into consistent resin. Sulphuric acid assumes a red colour, the -oil be- 
 coming crimson. These characteristics will suffice for this oil, which is already difficult 
 to be adulterated on account of its viscidity and want of colour. 
 
 13. 01. Bergamottw (Bergamot). The oils of the aurantiaceffi are in a still higher 
 degree than the lavender "oil protected by their delicate odour from adulteration, ex- 
 cept with alcohol ; on the other hand, a mixture of these oils with one another is easier 
 effected, and detected with greater difficulty. There might, however, be but little in- 
 ducement for doing this, except in the case of ol. flor. aurant, which is proportionately 
 much dearer than the others. The similarity of the respective chemical properties 
 admits also here of no better test than the smell. The unvarying and great sp. gr. 
 (from 087 to 0'88) will serve to detect any admixture of alcohol The relation which 
 the bergamot oil has to this solvent, shows distinctly the difference which exists between 
 its own proportion of oxygen and that of the other oils of the same family; it is readily 
 dissolved in alcohol, but, like the other oils, it makes, at least when fresh, the solution 
 opaque. It is also distinguished from the lemon and orange oils, by being easily and 
 clearly dissolved in liquor potassw. This difference in its elements also is manifested in 
 the reaction upon iodine, not so much with regard to its fulminating property, which, 
 although weaker than in the lemon oil, is rather stronger than in the orange oil, but by 
 the homogeneous nature of the residue, which, in the two last mentioned oils, and 
 in all oils free of oxygen, consists of two combinations, differing in consistency. By the 
 incapacity of dissolving santaline, this oil is, as well as the others of the same family, 
 protected against an admixture of alcohol. One part of alcohol added to five parts of 
 
 •the oil is hardly able to impair the fulmination ; two drops of alcohol added to three 
 drops of oil produce certainly no real fulmination, but still a lively reciprocal action 
 with effervescence. 
 
 14. 01. Copaivce (Copaiva' r Small proportions of turpentine-oil cannot easily be de- 
 tected in this oil, as both rcaat in most cases in the same manner. A chief distinction 
 is the weaker fulmination of Jie ol. copaiv., as also the circumstance that the latter 
 requires double the quantity of alcohol for its solution, which, notwithstanding, still 
 remains turbid. Also its relation to sulphuric acid is somewhat different ; the latter 
 becomes yellowish brown red, but turpentine-oil lively yellowish-red. 
 
 OIL OF VITRIOL, is the old name of concentrated Sdxphueio Acid. 
 
 OLEATES, are saline compounds of oleic acid with the bases. 
 
 OLEFIANT GAS, is the name originally given to bi-earburetted hydrogen. 
 
 OLEIC ACID, is the aeid produced by saponifying olive-oil, and then separating 
 the base by dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid. See Fats, and Steakine. 
 
 This acid is a large product in the manufacture of stearic acid, and has hitherto 
 been of inferior value, as it burned very ill in lamps; but it has been found to be 
 capable of improvement by agitation with dilute sulphuric aeid, and in that state 
 susceptible of affording a good light when the burner-tube of the lamp is kept cool by 
 enclosing it in a perforated small plate, which prevents the flame from heatirg the said 
 
 Vol. II 21 
 
306 OPIUM. 
 
 burner small pipe, in which the wick is supported. Messrs. Humfrey and "Wilson hav 
 patented it. 
 
 OLEINE, is the thin oily part of fats, naturally associated in them with glycerine, 
 margarine, and stearine. 
 
 OLIBANTJM is a gum-resin, used only as incense in Roman Catholic churches. 
 
 OLIVE OIL. See Oils, unctuous. 
 
 ONYX, an ornamental stone of little value ; a subspecies of quartz. 
 
 OOLITE is a species of limestone composed of globules clustered together, commonly 
 without any visible cement or base. These vary in size from that of small pin-heads tc 
 peas ; they sometimes occur in concentric layers, at others they are compact, or radiated 
 from the centre to the circumference ; in which case, the oolite is called roogenstein by the 
 German mineralogists. In geology the oolitic series includes all the strata between the 
 iron sand above and the red marl below. It is the great repository of the best architect- 
 ural materials which the midland and eastern parts of England produce ; it is divided into 
 three systems : — 
 
 1. The tipper oolite, including the argillo-calcareous Purbeclf strata, which sepnate the 
 Iron and oolitic series ; the oolitic strata of Portland, Tisbury, and Aylesbury ; the calca- 
 reous sand and concretions, as of Shotover and Thame ; and the argillo-calcareous forma- 
 tion of Kimmeridge, the oak tree of Smith. 
 
 2. The middle oolite ; the oolitic strata associated with the coral rag ; calcareous sand 
 and grit ; great Oxford clay, between the oolites of this and the following system. 
 
 3. The lower oolite; which contains numerous oolitic strata, occasionally subdivided by 
 thin argillaceous beds ; including the eombrash, forest marble, schistose oolite, and sand 
 of Stonesfield and Hinton, great oolite and inferior oolite ; calcareo-silicious sand passing 
 into the .inferior oolite ; great argillo-calcareous formation of lias, and lias marl, constitu. 
 ting the base of the whole series. 
 
 These formations occupy a zone 30 miles broad in England. 
 
 OOST, or OAST ; the trivial or provincial name of the stove in which the picked hops 
 are. dried. 
 
 OPAL ; an ornamer.tal stone of moderate value. See Lapidary. 
 
 OPERAMETER is the name given Jo an apparatus patented in February, 1829, by 
 Samuel Walker, cloth manufacturer, in the parish of Leeds. It consists of a train of 
 toothed wheels and pinions enclosed in a box, having indexes attached to the central 
 arbor, like the hands of a clock, and a dial plate ; whereby the number of rotations of a 
 shaft projecting from the posterior part of the box is shown. If this shaft be connected 
 by any convenient means to the working parts of a gig mill, shearing frame, or any other 
 machinery of that kind for dressing cloths, the number of rotations made by the operating 
 machine will be exhibited by the indexes upon the dial plate of this apparatus. In dress- 
 ing cloths, it is often found that too little or too much work has been expended upon them, 
 in consequence of the unskilfulness or inattention of the workmen. By the use of the. 
 operameter, that evil will be avoided, as the master may regulate and prescribe beforehand 
 by the dial the number of turns which the wheels should perform. 
 
 A similar clock-work mechanism, called a counter, has been for a great many years 
 employed in the cotton factories to indicate the number of revolutions of the main shaft 
 of the mill, and of course the quantity of yarn that might or should be spun, or of cloth 
 that might be woven in the power looms. A common pendulum or spring clock is 
 commonly set up alongside of the counter; and sometimes the indexes of both are regu.. 
 lated to go together, when the mill performs its average work. 
 
 OPIUM, is the juice which exudes from incisions made in the heads of ripe poppies, 
 (papaver somniferum,) rendered concrete by exposure to the air and the sun. The best 
 opium which is found in the European markets comes from Asia Minor and Egypt ; 
 what is imported from India is reckoned inferior in quality. This is the most valuable of 
 all the vegetable products of the gum-resin family : and very remarkable for the complexity 
 of its chemical composition. Though examined by many able analysts, it still requires 
 further elucidation. 
 
 Opium occurs in brown lumps of a rounded form about the size of the fist, and 
 often larger ; having their surface covered with the seeds and leaves of a species of 
 rumex, for the purpose of preventing the mutual adhesion of the pieces in their semi- 
 indurated state. These seeds are sometimes introduced into the interior of the masses 
 to increase their weight ; a fraud easily detected by cutting them across. Good opium 
 ■« hard in the cold, but becomes flexible and doughy when it is worked between the hot 
 hands. It has a characteristic smell, which by heat becomes stronger, ind very offensive 
 to the nostrils of many persons. It has a very bitter taste. Watei first softens, and 
 then reduces it to a pasty magma. Proof spirit digested upon opium forms laudanum, 
 being a better solution of its active parts than can be obtained by either water or strong 
 alcohol alone. Water distilled from it acquires its peculiar smell, but carries over no 
 folatiJe oil. 
 
OPIUM. 307 
 
 Opium was analyzed by Bucholz ana Braconnot, but at a period anterior to the 
 knowledge of the alkaline properties of morphia and opian (narcotine). Bucholz 
 found in 100 parts of it, 9-0 of resin ; 30-4 of gum ; 35-6 of extractive matter ; 4-8 of 
 caoutchouc ; 11-4 of gluten; 2-0 of ligneous matter, as seeds, leaves, &c. ; 6-8 of water 
 and loss. John, who made his analysis more recently, obtained 2-0 parts of a rancid 
 nauseous fat; 12-0 of a brown hard resin; 10-0 of a soft resin : 2 of an elastic substance ,' 
 J 2-0 of morphia and opian; 1-0 of a balsamic extract ; 25-0 of extractive matter ; 2-5 of 
 the meconates of lime and magnesia ; 18-5 of the epidermis of the heads of the poppy ; 
 15 of water, salts, and odorous matter. 
 
 In the Numbers of the Quarterly Journal of Science for January and June, 1830, 
 I published two papers upon opium and its tests, containing the results of researches made 
 upon some porter which had been fatally dosed with that drug ; for which crime, a man 
 and his wife had been capitally punished, about a year before,, in Scotland.* From the 
 first of these papers the following extract is made :— 
 
 "Did the anodyne and soporific virtue of opium reside in one definite principle, 
 chemical analysis might furnish a certain criterion of its powers. It has been pretty 
 generally supposed that this desideratum is supplied by Sertvirner's discovery of morphia. 
 Of this narcotic alkali not more than 7 parts can be extracted by the most rigid 
 analysis from 100 of the best Turkey opium ; a quantity, indeed, somewhat above the 
 average result of many skilful chemists. Were morphia the real medicinal essence of 
 the poppy, it should display, when administered in its active saline state of acetate, an 
 operation on the living system commensurate in energy with the fourteen-fold concen- 
 tration which the opium has undergone. But so far as may be judged from the most 
 authentic recent trials, morphia in the acetate seems to be little, if any, stronger as a 
 narcotic than the heterogeneous drug from which it has been eliminated. Mr. John 
 Murray's experiments would, in fact, prove it to be greatly weaker; for he gave 2 
 drachms of superacetate of morphia to a cat, without causing any poisonous disorder. 
 This is perhaps an extreme case, and may seem to indicate either some defect in the 
 preparation, or an uncommon tenacity of life in the animal. To the same effect 
 Lassaigne found that a dogr lived 12 hours after 36 grains of acetate of morphia in 
 watery solution had been injected into its jugular vein. The morphia meanwhile was 
 entirely decomposed by the vital forces, for none of it could be detected in the blood 
 drawn from the animal at the end of that period. Now, from the effects produced by 5 
 grains of watery extract of opium, injected by Orfila into the veins of a dog, we may con- 
 clude that a quantity of it, equivalent to the above dose of the acetate of morphia, would 
 have proved speedily fatal. 
 
 " Neither can we ascribe the energy of opium to the white crystalline substance called 
 narcotine, or opian, extracted from it by the solvent agency of sulphuric ether ; for Orfila 
 assures us that these crystals may be swallowed in various forms by man, even to the 
 amount of 2 drachms in the course of 12 hours, with 'mpunity ; and that a drachm of it 
 dissolved in muriatic or nitric acid may be administered in the food of a dog without 
 producing any inconvenience to the animal. It appears, however, on the same authority, 
 that 30 grains of it dissolved in acetic or sulphuric acid caused dogs that had swalloweil 
 the dose to die under convulsions in the space of 24 hours, while the head was thrown 
 backVards on the spine. Oil seems to be the most potent menstruum of narcotine ; for 
 3 grains dissolved in oil readily kill a dog, whether the dose be introduced into the stom- 
 ach or into the jugular vein. 
 
 ••' Since a bland oil thus seems to develop the peculiar force of narcotine, and since 
 opium affords to ether, and also to ammonia, an unctuous or fatty matter, and a resin 
 (the caoutchouc of Bucholz) to absolute alcohol, we are entitled to infer that the activity 
 of opium is due to its state of composition, to the union of an oleate or margarate of nar- 
 cotine with morphia. The meconic acid associated with this salifiable base has no nar 
 cotic power by itself, but may probably promote the activity of the morphia." 
 
 Opian or narcotine, and morphia, may be well prepared by the following process. 
 The watery infusion of opium being evaporated to the consistence of an extract, every 
 3 parts are to be diluted with one and a half parts in bulk of water, and then mixed in 
 a retort with 20 parts of ether. As soon as 5 parts of the ether have been distilled 
 over, the narcotic salt contained in the extract will be dissolved. The fluid contents of 
 the retort are to be poured hot into a vessel apart, and the residuum being washed with 
 5 other parts of ether, they are to be added to the former. Crystals of narcotine will be 
 obtained as the solution cools. The remaining extract is to be diluted in the retort 
 with a little water, and the mixture set aside in a cool place. After some time, some 
 narcotine will be found crystallized at the bottom. The supernatant liquid thus 
 freed from narcotine being decanted off, is to be treated with caustic ammonia; and 
 
 + A country merchant travelling in a steam-boat upon the river Clyde, who had incautiously displayed 
 a good deal ot money, was poisoned with porter charged with laudanum. The contents of the dead man's 
 Itomach were sent to me for analysis. 
 
308 ORCINE. 
 
 the precipitate thrown upon a filter. This, when well washed and dried, is to ba 
 boiled with a quantity of spirits of wine at 0'84, equal to thrice the weight of the 
 opium employed, containing 6 parts of animal charcoal for every hundred parts of the 
 drug. The alcoholic solution being filtered hot, affords, on cooling, colourless crystals 
 of morphia. 
 
 This alkali may be obtained by a more direct process, without alcohol or ether 
 A solution of opium in vinegar is to be precipitated by ammonia ; the washed preci 
 pitate is to be dissolved in dilute muriatic acid, the solution is to be boiled along with 
 powdered bone black, filtered, and then precipitated by ammonia. This, when washed 
 upon a filter and dried, is white morphia, which may be dissolved in hot alcohol, if 
 fine crystals be wanted. See Moephia. 
 
 Analysis of Opium. — Half an ounce of the opium to be examined is cut into small 
 pieces and bruised in a mortar with spirit of alcohol at 71°; the fluid is then expressed 
 through linen, and the refuse washed with from 10 to 12 drachms of the same alcohol ; 
 the alcoholic solution is then to be filtered into a glass containing one drachm of spirits 
 of ammonia. In 12 hours' time all the morphia, with some narcotine and meconate of 
 ammonia, will have become deposited. The separation of the gritty crystals of mor- 
 phia, which adhere to the sides of the vessel from the light, pointed crystals of narco- 
 tine, which for the most part float in the fluid,iis to be effected by decantation, according 
 to Guillermond, but this plan does not leave the morphia free from narcotine. In order 
 effectually to separate the narcotine, the adhering meconate of ammonia must be re- 
 moved by washing in water, and then shaking the crystals in pure ether, or better still 
 in chloroform, by which the narcotine is readily dissolved, while the morphia remains 
 entirely insoluble. After this treatment the morphia is left behind in rather large gritty 
 crystals, slightly discoloured. This process may be varied by employing boiling alco- 
 hol and powdered opium, and adding the solution, still hot, to the solution of ammonia. 
 According to Guillermond, 15 grammes of opium should yield at least l - 25 grammes 
 or 8'33 per cent. Eeich estimates 10 per cent., and others 12 per cent. The author 
 gives the percentage of morphia which is obtained by the various processes of differ- 
 ent experimenters, and states that the largest proportion (13"50 per cent.) is procured 
 by the modification of Guillermond's method, now described, which he also considers 
 the simplest and most certain for ascertaining the proportion of morphia. 
 
 The following process is recommended by Dr. Rieget for the detection of small 
 quantities of opium. To the suspected substance, some potash is to be added, and 
 then it is shaken with ether. A strip of white blotting paper is to be moistened with 
 the solution, several times repeated. When dry, the paper is then to be moistened 
 with muriatic acid, and exposed to the steam of hot water ; if opium be present, the 
 paper will be more or less coloured red. 
 
 Imported, in 1850, 126,102 lbs., in 1851, 106,113 lbs.; retained for consumption, 
 1850, 42,324 lbs., 1857, 50,368 lbs. ; exported, 1850, 87,451 lbs., 1851, 65,640 lbs. ; duty 
 received, 1850, 2,222*., 1851, 2,6452. • 
 
 OPOBALSAM is the balsam of Peru in a dry state. 
 
 OPOPONA^t is a gum-resin resembling gum ammoniac. It is occasionally used in 
 medicine. 
 
 ORANGE DYE is given by a mixture of red and yellow dyes in various proportions. 
 Annotto alone dyes orange ; but it is a fugitive color. 
 
 ORCINE is the name of the coloring principle of the lichen dealbatus. The 
 lichen dried and pulverized is to be exhausted by boiling alcohol. The solution 
 filtered hot, lets fall in the cooling crystalline flocks, which do not belong to the 
 coloring matter. The supernatant alcohol is to be distilled off, the residuum is to 
 be evaporated to the consistence of an extract, and triturated with water till this liquid 
 will dissolve no more. The aqueous solution reduced to the consistence of sirup, and 
 left to itself in a cool place, lets fall, at the end of a few days, long brown brittle 
 needles, which are to be freed by pressure from the mother water, and dried. That 
 water being treated with animal charcoal, filtered and evaporated, will yield a second 
 crop of crystals. These are orcine. Its taste is sweet and nauseous ; it melts readily 
 in a retort into a transparent liquid, and distils without undergoing any changes. It is 
 soluble in water and alcohol. Nitric acid colors it blood-red ; which color afterwards 
 disappears. Subacetate of lead precipitates it completely. Its conversion into the archil 
 red is effected by the action of an alkali, in contact with the air. When dissolved, 
 for example, in ammonia, and exposed to the atmosphere, it takes a dirty brown red 
 hue j but when the orcine is exposed to air charged with vapors of ammonia, it assumes 
 by degrees a fine violet color. To obtain this result, the orcine in powder should be 
 placed in a capsule, alongside of a saucer containing water of ammonia ; and both 
 ihould be covered by a large bell glass ; whenever the orcine has acquired a dark 
 brown cast, it must be withdrawn from under the bell, and the excess of ammonia be 
 allowed to volatilize. As soon as the smell of ammonia is gone, the orcine is to be dis- 
 
ORIJAMENTAL BRASS CASTINGS. 309 
 
 solved in water ; and then a few drops of ammonia being poured into tile brownisli 
 liquid, it assumes a magnificent reddish-violet color. Acetic acid precipitates the red 
 lake of lichen. 
 
 ORES (Mines, Fr. ; Erze, Germ.), are the mineral bodies which contain so much 
 metal as to be worth the smelting, or being reduced by fire to the metallic state. The 
 substances naturally combined with metals, which mask their metallic characters, are 
 -hiefly oxygen, chlorine, sulphur, phosphorus, selenium, arsenic, water, and several acids, 
 of which the carbonic is the most common. Some metals, as gold, silver, platinum, often 
 occur in the metallic state, either alone, or combined with other metals, constituting what 
 are called native alloys. 
 
 I have described in the article Mini:, the general structure of the great metallic 
 repositories within the earth, as well as the most approved methods of bringing them 
 to the surface ; and in the article Metallurgy, the various mechanical and chemical 
 operations requisite to reduce the ores into pure metals. Under each particular metal, 
 moreover, in its alphabetical place, will be found a systematic account of its most impor- 
 tant ores. 
 
 Relatively to the theory of the smelting of ores, the following observations may 
 be made. It is probable that the coaly matter employed in that process is not the 
 immediate agent of their reduction ; but the charcoal seems first of all to be transformed 
 by the atmospherical oxygen into the oxyde of carbon ; which gaseous product then 
 surrounds and penetrates the interior substance of the oxydes, with the effect of decom- 
 posing them, and carrying off their oxygen. That this is the true mode of action, is 
 evident -from the well-known facts, that bars of iron, stratified with pounded charcoal, 
 in the steel cementation-chest, most readily absorb the carbonaceous principle to their 
 innermost centre, while their surfaces get blistered by .the expansion of carbureted 
 ga,ses formed within ; and that an intermixture of ores and charcoal is not always 
 necessary to reduction, but merely an interstratification of the two, without intimate 
 contact of the particles. In this case, the carbonic acid which is generated at the lower • 
 surfaces of contact of the strata, rising up through the first bed of ignited charcoal, be- 
 comes converted into carbonic oxyde ; and this gaseous matter, passing up through the 
 next layer of ore, seizes its oxygen, reduces it to metal, and is itself thereby transformed 
 once more into carbonic acid; and so on in continual alternation. It may be laid 
 down, however, as a general rule, that the reduction is the more rapid and complete, the 
 more intimate the mixture of the charcoal and the metallic oxyde has been, because the 
 formation of both the carbonic acid and carbonic oxyde becomes thereby more easy and 
 direct. Indeed, the cementation of iron bars into steel will not succeed, unless the 
 charcoal be so porous as to contain, interspersed, enough of air to favor the commence- 
 ment of its conversion into the gaseous oxyde ; thus acting like a ferment in brewing. 
 Hence also finely pulverized charcoal does not answer well ; unless a quantity of ground 
 iron cinder or oxyde of manganese be blended with it, to afford enough of oxygen to be- 
 gin the generation of carbonic oxyde gas ; whereby the successive transformations into 
 acid, and oxyde, are put in train. 
 
 OR-MOLU. The or-molu of the brass founder, popularly known as an imitation of 
 red gold, is extensively used by the French workmen in metals. It is generally found 
 in combination with grate and stove work. It is composed of a greater proportion of 
 copper and less zinc than ordinary brass, is cleaned readily by means of acid, and is 
 burnished with facility. To give-this material the rich appearance, it is not unfre- 
 quently brightened up after " dipping " (that is cleaning in acid) by means of a scratch 
 brush (a brush made of fine brass wire), the action of wh'ich helps to produce a very 
 brilliant gold-like surface. It is protected from tarnish by the application of lacquer. 
 
 ORNAMENTAL BRASS ■ CASTINGS. Brass castings are produced in sand, by 
 means of patterns. The making of these patterns or models is a work involving no 
 small amount of skill and knowledge ; the simpler kinds are made by the ordinary 
 workman ; but in cases where figures, foliage, or animals are introduced, the eye and 
 the hand of the artist become necessary. The object is first designed, then modelled 
 in wax ; a, cast in lead is formed ; it is then cast in brass and chased ; this forms the 
 pattern or model for the caster. 
 
 Ordinary globular or simple forms are readily copied ; but when the human figure, 
 animals, or foliage is introduced, the difficulty is increased. The castings can only be 
 effected by means of false coreing, viz., hanging pieces of sand which are made up and 
 lifted out in solid portions, before the model can be removed, and which afterwards are 
 again introduced. An ordinary plaster cast with the seams upon it, if examined, will 
 best explain the meaning of every square inch or compartment marked thereon, and 
 shows when a core has been in a metal casting. To put the sand in a condition to 
 produce a finer impression, powdered charcoal is dusted upon it, the cores being intro- 
 duced, the moulds closed having been previously dried, and runners made for the in- 
 
310 OXALIC ACID. . 
 
 traduction of the metal (which is usually melted in earthen or elay crucibles, and ir 
 an air furnace, the fuel used being coke), follow and complete the operation. 
 
 ORPIMENT (Eng. and Fr., Yellow sulphuret of arsenic; Operment, Rauschgelb, Germ.), 
 occurs in indistinct crystalline particles, and sometimes in oblique rhomboidal prisms j 
 but for the most part, in kidney' and other imitative forms j it has a scaly and granular 
 aspect ; texture foliated, or radiated ; fracture small granular, passing into conchoidal ; 
 splintery, opaque, shining, with a weak diamond lustre; lemon, orange, or honey yellow; 
 sometimes green ; specific gravity, 3-44 to 3-6. It is found in iloetz rocks, in marl, clay, 
 sand-stone, along with realgar, lead-glance, pyrites, and blende, in many parts of the 
 world. It volatilizes at the blowpipe. It is used as a pigment. 
 
 The finest specimens come from Persia, in brilliant yellow masses, of a lamellar tex 
 ture, called golden orpiment. 
 
 Artificial orpiment is manufactured chiefly in Saxony, by subliming in cast iron cucur- 
 bits, surmounted by conical cast-iron capitals, a mixture in Cne proportions of sulphur 
 and arsenious acid (white arsenic). As thus obtained, it is in yellow compact opaque 
 masses, of a glassy aspect ; affording a powder of a pale yellow color. Genuine 
 orpiment is often adulterated with an ill-made compound; which is sold in this 
 country by the preposterous name of king's yellow. This fictitious substance is fre- 
 quently nothing else than white arsenic combined with a little sulphur ; and is quite 
 soluble in water. It is therefore a deadly poison, and has been administered with 
 criminal intentions and fatal effects. I had occasion, some years -ago, to examine such 
 a specimen of king's yellow, with which a woman had lulled her child. A proper 
 «nsoluble sulphuret of arsenic, like the native or the Saxon, may be prepared by trans- 
 mitting sulphureted hydrogen gas through any arsenical solution. It consists of 38-09 
 sulphur, and 60-92 of metallic arsenic, and is not remarkably poisonous. The finest 
 kinds of native orpiment are reserved for artists ; the inferior are used for the indigo 
 vat. They are all soluble in alkaline lyes, and in water of ammonia. 
 
 ORYCTNOGNOSY, is the name given by Werner to the knowledge of minerals ; 
 and is therefore synonymous with the English term Mineralogy. 
 
 OSTEOCOLLA, is the glue obtained from bones, by removing the earthy phosphates 
 with muriatic acid, and dissolving the cartilaginous residuum in water at a temperature 
 considerably above the boiling point, by means of a digester. It is a very indifferent 
 article. 
 
 OSMIUM, is a metal discovered by Mr. Tennant in 1803, among the grains of native 
 platinum. It occurs also associated with the ore of iridium. As it has not been ap- 
 plied to any use in the arts, I shall reserve any chemical observations that the subject 
 may require for the article Platinum. 
 
 OTTO OP ROSES.— Means of determining tlie purity of the Otto of Roses.— Sul- 
 phuric acid test. — One or two drops of the oil to be tested is put into a watch-glass ; 
 the same number of drops of very concentrated sulphuric acid are added, and the two 
 fluids mixed with a glass rod. All the oils are rendered more or less brown by this 
 proceeding ; but the otto of roses retains the purity of its odour. The oil of geranium 
 acquires a strong and disagreeable odour, which is perfectly characteristic. 
 
 OXALATES are saline compounds of the bases with 
 
 OXALIC ACID (Acide oxalique, Fr. ; Sauerkleesaiire, Germ.), which is the object 
 of a considerable chem cal manufacture. It is usually prepared upon the small scale by 
 digesting four parts of nit-l'c acid of specific gravity 1-4, upon one part of sugar, in a glass 
 retort ; but on the large scale, in a series of salt-glazed stoneware pipkins, two thirds 
 filled, and set in a water bath. The addition of a little sulphuric acid has been found to 
 increase the product. 15 pounds of sugar yield fully 17 pounds o; the crystalline acid. 
 This acid exists in the juice of wood sorrel, the oxalis acetosella, in the state of a bi- 
 oxalate ; from which the salt is extracted as an object of cqmmerce in Switzerland, and 
 sold under the name of salt of sorrel, or sometimes, most incorrectly, under that of salt 
 of lemons. 
 
 Some prefer to make oxalic acid by acting upon 4 parts of sugar, with 24 parts of 
 nitric acid of specific gravity 1-220, heating the solution in a retort till the acid begins 
 to decompose, and keeping it at this temperature as long as nitrous gas js disengaged. 
 The sugar loses a portion of its carbon, which combining with the oxygen of the nitric 
 ,acid, becomes carbonic acid, and escapes along with the deutoxyde of nitrogen. The re- 
 maining carbon and hydrogen of the sugar being oxydized at the expense of the nitric acid, 
 generate a mixture of two acids, the oxalic and the malic. Whenever gas ceases to issue, 
 the retort must be removed from the source of heat, and set aside to cool; the oxalic acid 
 crystallizes, but the malic remains dissolved. After draining these crystals upon a filter 
 funnel, if the brownish liquid be further evaporated, it will furnish another crop of them. 
 T-e residuary mother water is generally regarded as malic acid, but it also contains both 
 ?.\alic and nitric acids; and if heated with 6 parts of the latter acid, it will yield 
 i good deal more oxalic acid at the expense of the malic. The brown crystals 
 
OXALIC ACID. 31 J 
 
 now formed being, however, penetrated with nitric, as well as malic acid, must be 
 allowed to dry and effloresce in warm dry air, whereby the nitric acid wili be got rid of 
 without injury to the oxalic. A second crystallization and efflorescence will entirely 
 dissipate the remander of the nitric acid, so as to afford pure oxalic acid at the third 
 crystallization. Sugar affords, with nitric acid, a purer oxalic acid, but in smaller 
 quantity, than saw-dust, glue, silk, hairs, and several other animal and vegetable 
 substances. 
 
 Oxalic acid occurs in aggregated prisms when it crystallizes rapidly, but in tables of 
 greater or less thickness when slowly formed. They lose their water of crystallization 
 in the open air, fall into powder, and weigh - 28 less than before ; but still retain 
 0-14 parts of water, which the acid does not part with except in favor of another oxyde, 
 as when it is combined with oxyde of lead. The effloresced acid contains 20 per cent, of 
 water, according to Berzelius. By my analysis, the crystals consist of three prime 
 equivalents, of water = 27, combined with one of dry oxalic acid = 36 ; or in 100 
 parts, of 42-86 of water with 57-14 of acid. The acid itself consists of 2 atoms of carbon 
 = 12, -4- 3 of oxygen = 24 ; of which the sum is, as above stated, 3(5. . This acid has a 
 sharp sour taste, and sets the teeth on edge ; half a pint of water, containing only 1 gr. of 
 acid, very sensibly reddens litmus paper. Nine parts of water dissolve one part of the 
 crystals at 60° F. and form a solution, of spec. grav. 1-045, which when swallowed acts 
 as a deadly poison. Alcohol also dissolves this acid. It differs from all the other acid pro- 
 ducts of the vegetable kingdom, in containing no hydrogen, as I demonstrated (in my 
 paper upon the ultimate analysis of organic bodies, published in the Phil. Trans, for 1822), 
 by its giving out no muriatic acid gas, when heated in a glass tube with calomel or cor- 
 rosive sublimate. 
 
 Oxalic acid is employed chiefly for certain styles of discharge in calico-printing (which 
 see), and for whitening the leather of boot-tops. Oxalate of ammonia is an excellent re- 
 agent for detecting lime and its salts in any solution. The acid itself, or the bi-oxalate 
 of potash, is often used for removing ink or iron-mould stains from linen. 
 
 A convenient plan of testing the value of peroxyde of manganese for bleachers, &c, 
 originally proposed by Berlhier, has been since simplified by Dr. Thomson, as follows. 
 In a poised Florence flask weigh 600 grains, of water, and 75 grains of crystallized oxalic 
 acid ; add 60 grains of the manganese, and as quickly as possible afterwards from 150 
 to 200 grains of concentrated sulphuric acid. Cover the mouth of the flask with paper, 
 and leave it at rest for 24 hours. The loss of weight it has now suffered corresponds 
 exactly to the weight of peroxide of manganese present ; because the quantity of car- 
 bonic acid producible by the reaction of the oxalic acid with the peroxide is precisely 
 equal to the weight of the peroxide, as the doctrine of chemical equivalents shows. 
 
 By exposing 100 parts by weight of dry sugar to the action of 825 parts of hot nitric 
 acid of 1-38 specific gravity, evaporating the solution down to one-sixth of its bulk, 
 and setting it aside to crystallize, from 58 to 60 parts of beautiful crystals of oxalic 
 acid may h,e obtained, according to Schlesinger. 
 
 Oxalic acid may be produced by the action of nitric acid upon most vegetable sub- 
 stances, and especially from those which contain no nitrogen, such as well washed saw- 
 dust, starch, gum, and sugar. The latter is the article generally employed, and possesses 
 many advantages over every other material. Treacle, which is a modification of sugar, 
 also conies within the same ranges. A very contemptible spirit of exaggeration pre- 
 vails iu respect to the amount of produce attainable by oxalic acid makers from a given 
 weight of sugar. The generality of the statements is absurdly false. One cwt. of good 
 treacle will yield aboiit 116 lbs. of marketable oxalic acid, and the same weight of goid 
 brown sugar may be calculated to produce about 140 lbs. of acid. As a general rule, 
 5 cwts. of saltpetre, or an equivalent of nitrate of soda, with 2£ cwts. of sulphuric acid, 
 will generate sufficient nitric acid to decompose 1 cwt. of good sugar, and yield, as above, 
 140 lbs, of fair marketable. oxalic acid, free from superfluous moisture. Any hope of 
 improvement seems directed rather to an economy of nitric acid, than to an increased 
 production of oxalic acid from a given weight of sugar. The process is carried on 
 either in large wooden vessels, or in small earthenware jars disposed in a water-bath, 
 each jar having a capacity of about a gallon or less ; the specific gravity of the nitric 
 acid need not be so high when operating on the large scale, in a wooden trough, as 
 when employing the earthenware jars. From 1 -200 to 1 -270 is the range ; and the tem- 
 Derature in neither case should much exceed or fall short .of 1 25° Fahr. The favourable 
 symptoms are a regular and tolerably active evolution of gas without the appearance 
 of red fumes, and a peculiar odour which only faintly recals the smell of nitric oxide. 
 The gases evolved consist, nevertheless, of nitric oxide and carbonic acid, but the influ- 
 ence of this latter gas has a remarkable effect in arresting the affinity of the nitric oxide 
 for oxygen. So long as the carbonic acid is present, the mixture may be mingled with 
 its own bulk of oxygen gas, without any diminution of volume, for several minutes, or 
 the production of red fume ; but the moment a little ammonia vapour is applied, so a§ 
 
312 OXALIC ACID. 
 
 to condense the carbonic acid, the whole becomes of a deep orange hue. Herein lies 
 a difficulty connected with the re-conversion of the nitric oxide into nitric acid by the 
 action of atmospheric oxygen ; and for the same reason, the employment of these gases 
 in the manufacture of sulphuric acid has not answered the expectations of those who 
 have tried the experiment practically. Carbonic acid would appear to possess, not sin> 
 ply a neutral agency in obstructing oxidation, but a negative power of preventing it 
 How far blowing atmospheric air through the acidulous saccharine solution, during the 
 process of oxalic acid making, might tend to economize the consumption of nitric acid, 
 we cannot pretend to say ; but as the nitric acid really forms the chief item of expense, it 
 is by such expedients that a saving may possibly be effected. When strong nitric acid 
 is boiled upon sugar, in the way recommended m many chemical worts, for the produc- 
 tion of oxalic acid, a great loss of all the materials ensues ; and most of the oxalic acid 
 being peroxidized passes off as carbonic acid, leaving scarcely as much acid behind 
 as is equivalent to half the weight of the sugar employed. This accounts for the dis- 
 crepancies which have been published in this branch of manufacture. 
 
 Almost the only commercial article'made from oxalic aei i is the binoxalate of potash 
 or salt of sorrel. This substance results from the decomposition of carbonate of potash f 
 by an excess of oxalic acid. The carbonate of potash is first dissolved in hot water, 
 and the oxalic acid added until the effervescence ceases ;'aftcr which a similar quantity 
 of oxalic acid to that previously employed is thrown in, and the solution is boiled 
 for a few minutes; and then it is set aside to crystallize. Th» crystals, after being 
 drained and dried, are fit for the market. 
 
 Manufacture of Oxalic Acid. Oxalic acid is formed by the action of nitric acid on a 
 great number of vegetable substances, such as sugar, rice, starch, washed sawdust, <&c 
 
 Sugar, either in its crystalline state, or in that of molasses or treacle, is the sub- 
 stance more commonly employed in the manufacture of oxalic acid. 
 
 On the addition of nitric acid to the saccharine solution and exposure to heat, a sub- 
 stitution of part of the oxygen of the nitric acid for the hydrogen of the sugar is 
 effected, oxalic acid being formed, and binoxide of nitrogen evolved from the liquor. 
 Other changes than this, however, take place : carbonic acid is often disengaged with 
 the binoxide of nitrogen, and saccharic acid and other products remain in solution 
 with the oxalic acid. 
 
 Instead of cane sugar or treacle, the saccharine substance formed by the action of 
 sulphuric acid on potato or other starch (as in Mr. Nyren's process) is employed. For 
 this purpose the potatoes are well washed, and then reduced into a fine pulp by rasp- 
 ing, grinding, or other suitable means; such pulp is then washed two or three times, 
 by placing it in water and well stirring it therein, then permitting the pulp to subside, 
 and running off the water. The pulp thus obtained is next placed in an open vessel 
 of lead, or wood lined with lead, with as much water as will allow of the mixture 
 being boiled freely, by means of steam passed through leaden pipes placed therein. 
 Into the mixture of pulp and water, about 2 per cent, by weight (of the potatoes em- 
 ployed) of sulphuric aeid is to be stirred in, which will be at the rate of from 8 to 10 
 per cent, of acid on the quantity of farina contained in the potatoes ; the whole is now 
 to be boiled for some hours, until the pulp of the potatoes is converted into saccharine 
 matter, the completion of this process being readily ascertained by applying a drop of 
 tincture of iodine to a small quantity of boiling liquor placed on the surface of a piece of 
 glass, when, if there be any farina remaining unconverted, a purple colour will be pro- 
 duced. The saccharine product thus obtained is then filtered through a horse-hair cloth, 
 a^ter which it is carefully evaporated in any convenient vessel, ur.til a gallon of it weighs 
 about 14 or 14| lbs. ; it is now in a proper condition to be employed in the manufac- 
 ture of oxalic acid, by the application of nitric acid, as in the ease of operating from 
 sugar or treacle. Horse-chesnuts, deprived of their outer shells, are also applicable to 
 the manufacture of oxalic acid, when tinted in the way above described for potatoes. 
 
 Instead of operating with sulphuric acid, the farina of potatoes and of ehesnuts may 
 be treated with diastase, and converted into a liquor similar to that obtained after 
 evaporation from the farina and sulphuric acid before mentioned, using about the same 
 proportion of diastase as before directed for sulphuric acid. In this ease the liquor is 
 made of the required strength at once, and the processes of filtration and evaporation 
 are rendered unnecessary. 
 
 The apparatus requiredin the conversion of the saccharine matter (whether of eane 
 sugar or formed of starch in the way above mentioned) into oxalic aeid is very simple. 
 Usually earthenware jars of about 2 gallons' capacity are employed, which, when 
 charged with nitric acid and the saccharine material used, are placed in water-bathj 
 eapable of holding a hundred or more of these jars. These baths are constructed of 
 brick and lined with lead, and are heated by means of steam passed th rough coils of 
 lead pipe placed therein. 
 
 Instead of earthenware jars, vessels of lead, or of wood lined with lead, may be em- 
 
OXALIC ACID. 
 
 313 
 
 ployed in the manufacture of oxalic acid. For this purpose square open vessels, 8 ft. 
 square and 3 ft. deep, are a convenient size, the liquor being heated by means of steam 
 passed through a coil of lead pipe. A coil of about 48 ft. of one-inch pipe in a vessel 
 of the size above mentioned, is sufficient to keep the liquor at the required temperature. 
 In using these vessels, the liquor [whatever it may be] to be converted into oxalic acid 
 is put into them together with the acid employed, and heated until the required decom- 
 position is effected. The liquor is then drawn off by a syphon, or by a cock placed at 
 the bottom of the vessel, into shallow leaden vessels, or wooden vessels lined with lead, 
 to cool and crystallize, and the mother waters are drawn off from the crystals, and 
 used in the next operation.. 
 
 When the manufacture of this acid is conducted in large vessels, as above mentioned, 
 the specific gravity of the nitric acid may be less than when the earthenware jars are 
 used. From 1-200 to 1-270 are about the limits of the range allowed for the gravity 
 of the acid. As regards the temperatures of the baths, this should be maintained at 
 or about 125° Fahr. Whilst the operation is in progress, the active evolution of gas, 
 without the appearance of red fumes, and the emission of a peculiar smell, slightly 
 indicative of the presence of nitric oxide, are amongst the signs that every thing is in 
 good working condition. The judicious addition of sulphuric acid is found to contri- 
 bute to an increase of the quantity of oxalic acid produced. The product of acid from 
 a given quantity of sugar has been much understated by chemical writers: this has 
 most probably arisen from the circumstance of boiling the sugar with- strong nitric 
 acid, by which means a large quantity of oxalic acid becomes converted, as soon as 
 formed, into carbonic acid, and the result is, that the actual product of oxalic acid ob- 
 tained represents only about one-half of the sugar employed, and therefore not above 
 one-half the quantity which should have been obtained. Thus we find it stated, that 
 from 50 to 60 lbs. of oxalic acid are obtainable from 100 lbs. of good sugar, whereas the 
 auantity actually obtained in practice is from 1 25 to 130 lbs. Treacle of course gives a 
 smaller product; 100 lbs. of fair quality yielding from 105 to 110 lbs. of oxalic acid. 
 
 The mother liquor having been poured off, the crystals of acid obtained are thrown 
 on drainers and washed, then carefully dried in a suitable stove. The mother liquors, 
 when treated with a fresh supply of nitric acid and treacle, are ready for a further 
 operation. 
 
 About 4J cwts. of nitrate of soda, and 2i cwts. of sulphuric acid, are used to furnish 
 the nitric acid required to convert 1 cwt. of good sugar into oxalic acid. 
 
 Mr. Jullion has patented a process for the conversion of formic acid into oxalic aeid. 
 For this purpose, formic acid is saturated with a solution of caustic potash, and then 
 half the quantity of caustic potash required for saturation is added to the above 
 mixture; the whole is then evaporated to dryness, and heated to 560° Fahr. By this 
 process, the formic acid is decomposed, and oxalate of potash formed. Caustic soda 
 may also be employed instead of caustic potash. 
 
 The oxalate of potash or of soda thus obtained is then treated with sulphuret of 
 barium, hydrate of baryta, or any soluble salt of baryta, whereby an oxalate of baryta 
 is precipitated, from whence pure oxalic acid may be obtained by means of sulphuric 
 acid. 
 
 Another mode of obtaining oxalic acid is by the process patented by Dr. "Wilton 
 Turner, who directs the uric acid obtained from guano to be treated with peroxide of 
 lead or manganese suspended in water, at a boiling temperature, by which means it will 
 be decomposed into oxalic acid, allantoin, urea. The oxalic acid forms an insoluble 
 compound with the lead or manganese. The lead process is as follows: A known 
 weight of uric acid is placed in an open cylindrical iron vessel, capable of holding two 
 pounds of water for every pound of the acid, and adapted to boil by steam. A clear 
 saturated solution of lime water is then added, and as soon as it is heated, and in brisk 
 ebullition, the peroxide of lead is added in successive portions, as long as it is observed 
 to be whitened by the boiling liquid. The whitish powder thus obtainedis oxalate of 
 lead. About 240 lbs. of peroxide of lead are required for each 168 lbs. of uric acid 
 employed. The supernatant liquor is next drawn off, and the oxalate of lead washed 
 with clear water ; this is then boiled with dilute muriatic acid [equal parts of acid and 
 water], by means of which oxalic acid is obtained in solution, which is evaporated and 
 crystallized, whilst muriate of lead remains as the precipitate. .... 
 
 The allantoin is also decomposed into oxalic aeid and ammonia by boiling it with 
 caustic alkali. The former unites with the alkali used, while the ammonia passes over, 
 and may be collected as liquid ammonia ; the oxalic acid thus generated may be 
 obtained as oxalate of potash, if potash be the alkali employed, or as oxalic acid if 
 baryta be used, by decomposing the latter oxalate by means of sulphuric acid. In this 
 case, the oxalate of baryta maybe treated in the way previously described for oxalate 
 of lead. This process is delusive. . 
 
 As regards these various methods for obtaining oxalic acid, their employment will 
 
 L. 
 
314 OXALIC ACID. 
 
 of course always be a question of £. s. d., the economy of many operations of maun 
 facturing chemistry being often dependent upon their adaptation to the requirement! 
 or purposes of particular manufactures, in connection with other branches ot manufac- 
 ture carried on by them. 
 
 The low price at -which treacle and sugar are now obtainable is much in farour ol 
 their use in this manufacture. The chief point, however, to which attention must bn 
 directed, in order to lessen the cost of production of this article, is in economizing thf 
 nitric acid used. 
 
 In speaking of the action of nitric acid upon sugar, it was observed that carbonic 
 acid was produced, and that it passes off with the deutoxide of nitrogen also set at 
 liberty. The presence of carbonic acid, in this case, proves a great obstacle in the 
 reconversion of nitric oxide into nitric acid, preventing the union of the oxygen of the 
 air with the nitric oxide. Various processes have been from time to time suggested to 
 effect this economy in the manufacture of oxalic acid : amongst these, the following 
 may more particularly be noticed : — 
 
 In 1846, Mr. Jullion patented a method of converting the oxides of nitrogen given 
 off in the manufacture of oxalic acid, into nitrous and nitric acids. For this purpose, 
 he uses a " generating vessel," which is a vessel something like a 'Woulfes' bottle, only 
 having a moveable top fitting air-tight, and capable of holding about 100 gallons; The 
 materials to form the oxalic acid are introduced, and the vessel heated by a water-bath 
 (by steam or^other convenient means), which surrounds the vessel ; a quantity of nitric 
 acid is then added, and air or oxygen is forced in through a pipe inserted in the top. 
 The oxygen, coming in contact with the evolved oxides of nitrogen, immediately con- 
 verts a portion into nitrous and hyponitrous acids, which are partly again absorbed by 
 the fluid in the vessel ; another portion passes off by a pipe inserted in the upper part of 
 the vessel, which pipe passes through a furnace. This part in the furnace is a little 
 enlarged, and is heated from 600° to 900° Fahr. ; this part of the pipe or tube contains 
 spongy platinum, or other similar substances ; the gases, in coming in contact with the 
 heated platinum, combine to form nitric acid, which is afterwards condensed in vessels 
 arranged as usual in the manufacture of this acid. Instead of platinum a close vessel 
 containing water may be used, which decomposes hyponitrous and nitrous acids, giving 
 rise to nitric acid. This principle is applied in the following ways : — the oxides of 
 nitrogen, as evolved from the liquor in the decomposing vessel, coming in contact with 
 oxygen, are converted into hyponitrous and nitrous acids, which, upon being mingled 
 with steam, are decomposed into nitric acid and binoxide of nitrogen; or the intro- 
 duction of steam may De obviated, by using heated air or oxygen in the decomposing 
 vessels, by which means moisture will be furnished from the liquor ; the amount of 
 evaporation thus caused will also prevent an inconvenient increase of the mother-liquor. 
 The compounds thus formed, when passed through suitable condensers, will, if the 
 supply of atmospheric air or oxygen has been in excess, be all or nearly all condensed 
 into nitric acid. 
 
 The following is a description of Crane and Jullion's continuous method of manu- 
 facturing oxalic acid and nitric acid at one process : — the oxalic acid mother-liquor of 
 a previous process is placed in a close or covered vessel, termed a " generator," formed 
 of slate ; nitric acid and syrup in the usual proportions employed for such quantity of 
 mother-liquor are also placed separately in feeding vessels, over the " generator ;" heat 
 is then applied to the mother-liquor, and the temperature raised as quickly as possible 
 to 180° or 200° Fahr. Streams of nitric acid and syrup are then caused to flow into 
 the generator by means of suitable stop-cocks and funnel-pipes, in such a quantity that 
 the delivery of the whole shall occupy about 18 hours, at the expiration of which time 
 the process will be completed. 
 
 The gases arising from the decomposition of the materials so supplied pass off 
 through an eduction pipe in the top of the generator, into a receiver, into which a stream 
 of chlorine is introduced (from a chlorine generator) sufficient to convert the whole of 
 the oxides of nitrogen into nitric acid. A portion of water in the receiver is decom- 
 posed, its oxygen combining with the oxide of nitrogen to form nitric acid, whilst its 
 hydrogen combines with the chlorine to form hydrochloric acid. These mixed vapours 
 pass over into suitable condensing vessels placed to receive them. The whole of the 
 nitric acid and syrup having been run in, and the liberation of the gases or oxides of 
 nitrogen having ceased, the oxalic acid liquor is drawn off from the generator and 
 crystallized. 
 
 Messrs. M'Dougall and Rawson have patented a method of recovering the vapours 
 which pass off in the manufacture of oxalic acid. To effect this, they direct the 
 employment of a series of vessel? containing water, into the first of which the nitrous 
 gas or fames are passed, through a tube dipping below the surface of the vessel ; air is 
 also admitted, which mixes with the gas bubbling up through the water. Attached to 
 the last vessel of the series is a pneumatic apparatus, by in eans of which the m ixture of 
 
OXALIC ACID. 
 
 315 
 
 nitrous gas and air are drawn through this series of vessels, each containing a tube dip- 
 ping into the liquid, and another tube or pipe attached to its top to connect it with tha 
 next vessel. The nitrous gas thus passing alternately into air and water, becomes 
 converted into nitric acid. In this process, the following reaction is said to take 
 place: — 
 
 On 8 K 0, being passed into water of the temperature of 100° Fahr., or upwards, 
 2 N On + N" 2 result, the 2 N" B , two atoms of .nitric acid, remain in solution, whilst 
 the N O a which is an incondensable gas, bubbles through the liquid, and unites with 
 the air in the vessel above the liquid ; it immediately takes two atoms of oxygen 
 from the air, and becomes "S O t , which passing through the liquid becomes nitric acid 
 and nitrous gas, as before, and thus nearly the whole of the nitrous fumes or gas are 
 reconverted into nitric acid. 
 
 In Ecarnot's patented process for recovering the nitric acid, he fills his regenerating 
 vessels with a porous substance, such as pumice-stone, supplying the oxygen bv a 
 blowing machine, a flow of. steam being brought from a boiler. 
 
 Rationale of the Process for Oxalic Acid. — As no accurate account of the decomposi- 
 tion which ensues in the manufacture of oxalic acid has yet been published, that I am 
 aware of, the following experiments may tend perhaps to draw attention to this subject. 
 
 The apparatus employed consisted of a large glass retort, placed in a water-bath, 
 and luted to a tubulated receiver from the opening in which a tube passed into a two- 
 necked bottle containing a solution of ammonia ; this bottle was connected by a tube 
 with another of the same size and form containing a solution of nitrate of lime, from 
 which an exit tube passed which dipped under water, and allowed the escape of the 
 incondensable gaseous matter. 
 
 The temperature of the water-bath was maintained as nearly as possible at 125° 
 Fahr. for forty-eight hours in each experiment, after which the solution of oxalic acid 
 was set aside for two days to crystallize. The crystals were allowed to effloresce in a 
 drying stove, so as to remove all excess of nitric acid ; they were then dissolved, re- 
 crystallized, dried and weighed. 
 
 The amount of carbonic acid was determined by mixing the solutions of ammonia, 
 and nitrate of lime after each experiment, allowing the carbonate of lime to settle for 
 four-and-twenty hours, after which it was washed, dried, and weighed. The sugar 
 employed was the best refined white, and it lost nothing in weight by prolonged ex- 
 posure to a temperature of 212°- The nitric acid was pure, and of specific gravity 
 1-245 at 60°; it contained as nearly as possible one third of its weight of dry acid, 
 as was proved by the amount of pure carbonate of soda which it neutralized. The 
 following table exhibits the results of eight experiments, showing the amount of sugar 
 and dilute nitric acid employed, and the quantity of oxalic and carbonic acids pro- 
 duced ; the liquor from the receiver and the mother liquor of each experiment being 
 added to the one following. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Employed. 
 
 Obtained. 
 
 
 
 Oxalic Acid in 
 
 Carbonic Acid in 
 
 
 Sugar in Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 1. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 m 
 
 20J- 
 
 2. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 32± 
 
 224. 
 
 3 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 30 
 
 21 
 
 4. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 29-J- 
 
 21J 
 
 6. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 31± 
 
 22 
 
 6. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 30J 
 
 21 
 
 1. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 304 
 
 21J 
 
 8. 
 
 28 
 
 184 
 
 31 
 
 214- 
 
 A large quantity of mother liquor remained, from which no crystals were attempted 
 to be obtained, as these may be set against the small produce of experiment No. 1. If 
 then we omit that experiment altogether, we shall have an average of the seven fol- 
 lowing showing that 196 of sugar and 1288 of diluted nitric acid have produceo 
 214f of oxalic acid, and 150| of carbonic acid, and that the proportion of carbon in 
 the oxalic acid obtained almost exactly equals that in the carbonic acid, and that by 
 the action of nitric acid-in the way described, one half of the carbon of any given 
 quantity of sugar is converted into oxalic acid, and the other half into carbonic acid. 
 I have made many experiments with nitric acid of various densities and at various 
 temperatures, but without obtaining in any instance so large a produce of oxalic acia, 
 as with acid of the strength indicated. "When strong acid is employed, the tempera- 
 ture rises too high, and a quantity of formic acid is occasionally produced, whicn distils 
 
316 OXALIC ACK/. 
 
 over into the receiver and materially diminishes the produce of oxalic acid, i'lom 
 these experiments it would appear that no more than 124 lbs. of oxalic acid can be ob- 
 tained from 1 cwt. of sugar. This I am aware is much below the quantity generally 
 supposed to be produced on the large scale, and which is stated to vary from 135 to 
 140 lbs. for the cwt. of sugar ; Buch acid is, however, contaminated with nitric acid 
 and mother liquor, and is moreover decidedly damp, as shown by the manner in which 
 the crystals cling to the sides of the bottle in which they are contained ; some allow- 
 ance must also be made for the tendency to exaggeration which prevails in our manu- 
 factories. , These proportions do not greatly differ from those employed in practice by 
 oxalic acid makers, when allowance is made for the loss of nitric acid incidental to 
 their mode of manufacture. The following is the general proportion of materials em- 
 ployed : — 
 
 Sugar - 112 lbs. 
 
 Nitrate of potash 560 lbs. 
 
 Sulphuric acid - - - - 280 lbs. 
 
 which are said to produce 135 lbs. of oxalic acid and 490 lbs. of sulphate of potash 
 or sal-enixen. 
 
 Experiment has proved to me that the first change produced is to convert the cane 
 sugar into grape sugar ; and as the first portions of gas evolved consist almost entirely 
 of nitric oxide with little or no carbonic acid, it is clear that some compound is gene- 
 rated in the commencement of this process, which contains the elements of sugar united 
 to an excess of oxygen : the following diagram must therefore be looked on as merely 
 explanatory of the ultimate change. 
 
 Of this, at least, I am sure that in some hundreds of attempts conducted on a pretty 
 large scale, I have never once exceeded the amount here stated (124 lbs.), when the 
 acid was properly purified and freed from adhering moisture. The following diagram, 
 in my opinion, represents the nature of the ultimate decomposition which ensues in 
 this manufacture, although other substances are unquestionably produced in the first 
 instance. — Lewis Thompson. 
 
 Materials employed. Atoms. Products. 
 
 Common sugar, 
 atom - 
 
 Nitric acid, 1 
 atoms 
 
 Carbon - 
 
 6 Carbonic acid. 
 
 Hydrogen 11 j 2 \-J^ 2 Watel , 
 
 Oxygen 
 
 f Nitrogen ' 1 " Jb&C'' 1 Deutoxide of Nitrogen. 
 
 I Oxygen 
 
 Crystallized oxalic acid. 
 
 OXICHLORIDE OF LEAD. A. white pigment patented by Mr. Hugh Lee Pattin- 
 son of Newcastle, which he prepares by precipitating a solution of chloride of lead in 
 hot water with pure lime water, in equal measures ; the mixture being made with 
 agitation. As the operation of mixing the lime water, and the solution of chloride of 
 lead, requires to be performed in an instantaneous maaner, the patentee prefers to em- 
 ploy for this purpose two tumbling boxes of about 16 feet cubic capacity, which ar« 
 charged with the two liquids, and simultaneously upset into a cistern in which oxi- 
 chloride of lead is instantaneously formed, and from which the mixture flows into other 
 cisterns, where the oxichloride subsides. This white pigment consists of one atom of 
 chloride of lead and one atom oxide of lead, with or without an atom of water. 
 
 OXIDES, are neutral compounds, containing oxygen in equivalent proportion. 
 
 OXISELS, are salts, consisting of oxigenated acids and oxides, to distinguish them 
 from the halosels, which are salts consisting of one of the archseal elements i such as 
 chlorine, iodine, bromine, &c, combined with metals. See Salt. 
 
 OXIGEN (Oxigine, Fr. ; Sauerstoff, Germ.); can be examined only in the gaseous 
 form, and is most conveniently obtained pure by exposing chlorate of potash, or red 
 oxide of mercury, in a glass retort, to the heat of a spirit lamp ; 100 grains of the salt 
 yield 115 cubic inches of gas. One pound of nitre, ignited in an iron retort, gives out 
 about 1200 cubic inches of oxygen, mixed with a little nitrogen. .The peroxide of 
 manganese alone, or mixed with a little chlorate of potash, also affords it, either by 
 ignition alone in an iron or earthen retort, or by a lamp heat in a glass retort, when 
 mixed with sulphuric acid. Oxygen is void of taste, colour, and smell. It possesses 
 all the mechanical properties of the atmosphere. Its specific gravity is 1-1026 com- 
 pared to air l'OOOO ; whence 100 cubic inches of it weigh 33 - 85 grains. Combustibles, 
 even iron and diamonds, once kindled, burn in it most splendidly. It forms 21 parts 
 in 100 by volume of air, being the constituent essential to the atmospheric functions 
 of supporting animal and vegetable life, as well as flame. 3 parts of bichromate of 
 
OXYGEN. 
 
 317 
 
 potash in powder, with 4 parts of oil of vitriol, when heat=d, afford oxygen ga? 
 
 The full development of this subject in its multifarious relatiDns will be discussed in 
 my forthcoming new system of chemistry. 
 
 Oxygenated-Muriatic, and Oxymukiatic, are the names originally given by tho 
 French chemists, from false theoretical notions, to chlorine, which Sir H. Davy proved 
 to be an undecomposed substance. 
 
 Oxygen in the atmosphere", method of determining the amount thereof. When some solu- 
 tion of caustic potash is conveyed into a tube filled with mercury, and then a solution of 
 pyrogaUic acid, the liquids mix without any alteration ; but if now a bubble of oxy- 
 gen or of air be passed into the tube, the liquid acquires a blackish red or nearly 
 black colour, and the oxygen is as rapidly absorbed as carbonic acid by caustic potash, 
 The quantity of oxygen which is absorbed under these circumstances by 1 part by 
 weight of pyrogaUic acid is enormous. According to the experiments of Dobereiner, 
 1 gramme of pyrogaUic acid in an ammoniacal solution absorbs 0'38 gramme or 260 
 cub. centim. of oxygen ; this is more than the quantity absorbed by 1 part in weight oi 
 sodium on its conversion into oxide, which only amounts to 236 cub. centim. In one 
 experiment, which was made with especial care, a solution of 1 gramme pyrogaUic 
 acid in caustic potash (K 0, Aq), in order to pass into neutral carbonate, absorbs at 
 32* F. 192 cub. centim. carbonic acid, the absorbent capability of pyrogaUic acid for 
 oxygen, it will be seen, is not less than that of potash for carbonic acid. The follow- 
 ing results, which were obtained with atmospheric air, will give an idea of the accuracy 
 which is obtained by this method : 
 
 
 Volume of Air after Intro- 
 
 Decrease in Volume after 
 
 Per cent, in Volume 
 Oxygen. 
 
 of 
 
 Number. 
 
 duction of the Caustic Pot- 
 ash. 
 
 Introduction of PyrogaUic 
 Acid. 
 
 1. 
 
 221-5 
 
 46-5 
 
 20-99 
 
 
 2. 
 
 201-0 
 
 42-0 
 
 20-89 
 
 
 3. 
 
 193-0 
 
 40-6 
 
 21-03 
 
 
 4. 
 
 210-0 
 
 44-0 
 
 20-95 
 
 
 6. 
 
 204-5 
 
 42-5 
 
 20-77 
 
 
 f 6 - 
 
 195-0 
 
 40-8 
 
 20-92 
 
 
 7. 
 
 200-0 
 
 41-8 
 
 20-90 
 
 
 8. 
 
 200-0 
 
 41-6 
 
 20-80 
 
 
 9. 
 
 200-0 
 
 41 -.5 
 
 20-75 
 
 
 10. 
 
 236-0 
 
 49-0 
 
 20-76 
 
 
 11. 
 
 258-0 
 
 54-0 
 
 20-93 
 
 
 With the expired air of different persons the following results were obtained, some 
 with gallic, others with pyrogaUic acid : — 
 
 No 
 
 Air. 
 
 Decrease in Volume 
 by Solution of Pot- 
 ash. 
 
 Decrease in Volume 
 by Gallic or Pyro- 
 gaUic Acid. 
 
 Volume of Nitrogen. 
 
 I. 
 
 n. 
 m. 
 
 IV. 
 
 220-0 
 221-5 
 200-0 
 194-0 
 
 9-0 
 
 9-0 
 
 11-0 
 
 10-0 
 
 36-0 
 36-0 
 30-0 
 29-0 
 
 175-0 
 175-5 
 158-2 
 155-0 
 
 Consequently, the correspondhg air in the experiments contains : — 
 
 I. II. III. IV. 
 
 Carbonic acid - • 4-09 4-06 5-5 5-41 
 
 Oxygen - - 16'36 16-34 " 15-0 14-95 
 
 Nitrogen - - - 79-55 79-23 79-1 79-90 
 
 These analyses have only been made to test the method, and have no value in a 
 
 physiological point of view. 
 
 The following was the mode of proceeding in the above mentioned analyses : — The 
 air in which the amount of oxygen and carbonic acid was to be determined, was measured 
 in graduated tubes over mercury. The tubes would contain about 30 cubic centim., 
 each cubic centim. divided into 5 parts ; they were filled I with the air, the quantity 
 read off, and now „ to £, of its volume of solution of potash of 1-4 sp. gr. (one part dry 
 
318 PAGO. 
 
 hydrate of potash to two parts water), introduced by means of the common pipette with 
 curved point: by quickly moving ilp and down the tubes in the mercury, the solution 
 of potash is spread over the whole inner surface of the tubes; a'nd when no further 
 decrease of space is perceptible, the decrease of volume is read off. 
 
 "When the air has been previously dried by means of chloride of calcium, the decrease' 
 in volume accurately furnishes the amount of carbonic acid in the air ; but if it were 
 moist, the determination has an error attached to it, which is owing to the absorption 
 of the aqueous vapour by the strong solution of potash. 
 
 After the carbonic acid has been determined, a solution of pyrogallic acid, containing 
 one gramme of acid in 6 to 6 eub. centim. water, is introduced by means of a second 
 pipette into the same tube, and amounting to about half the volume of the solution of 
 potash. The same plan is adopted as in the determination of the carbonic acid, that is 
 to say, the mixed liquids are well shaken over the inner surface of the tube, and when 
 no further absorption is perceptible, the amount of nitrogen is measured off. 
 
 By mixing the solution of pyrogallic acid with the potash, the latter is diluted, and 
 an error arises from the diminution of its tension ; but this appears to be so exceedingly 
 small, that it is not determinable ; at the same time, it may easily be avoided, if, after 
 the absorption of the oxygen, a piece of solid hydrate of potash, corresponding to the 
 amount of water in the solution of pyrogallic acid, is introduced, and its solution awaited. 
 
 Ordinary gallia acid may be employed instead of the pyrogallic acid with the same 
 result ; but its employment has this inconvenience, that the absorption of the oxygen 
 requires a much longer time, at least 1-J 1 to 2 hours, instead of as many minutes. 
 Owing to the sparing solubility of gallic acid in water, it must be previously converted 
 into gallate of potash, a cold saturated solution of which is employed. When this 
 liquid i3 neutral, or contains a very slight excess of acid, it does not experience any 
 alteration in the air. Its property of absorbing oxygen only becomes active in the 
 presence of an excess of alkali. 
 
 When the gallic acid has been mixed with the caustic potash in the tube, the liquid on 
 ■joming into contact with air containing oxygen, assumes a dark red colour ; thin layers 
 acquire almost a blood-red colour, which after a time passes into brown. By the pro- 
 duction of this blood-red colour in the liquid, which moistens the sides of the tube on 
 agitation, the progress of the absorption can be very distinctly traced ; when this colour- 
 ing is no longer exhibited, the operation is complete. With respect to the absorbent 
 capacity of gallic acid for oxygen, it is known, from the experiments of Chevreul, that 
 1 gramme of gallic acid dissolved in strong potash absorbs 290 cub. centim., or nearly 
 0'417 gramme oxygen. In this respect it is in nowise inferior to pyrogallic acid. 
 
 Dr. Stenhouse has described a most excellent method for preparing pyrogallic acid. 
 He obtained, by sublimation from the di'y aqueous extract of the gall nuts, precisely 
 in the same manner as benzoic acid is prepared from benzoin resin, above 10 per cent, 
 in sublimed acid of the weight of the extract. When those who are engaged in pho- 
 tography have become convinced that in many cases pyrogallic acid is preferable to 
 gallic acid, the increased demand for this acid will render its preparation still more 
 productive.* 
 
 The principal error in the above eudiometrical process, which is scarcely to be got 
 rid of, is occasioned by the difficulty of accurately reading off and determining the 
 volume of the air, and its decrease from the absorption of Hie carbonic acid and of the 
 oxygen, owing to the adhesion of the liquid to the sides of the tubes. This error 
 becomes smaller when the precaution is adopted of using nearly the same volume ol 
 air for each analysis; but though this method admits of perfectly trustworthy deter-" 
 minations in comparative analyses, it will not supersede the processes of MM. Dumas 
 and Boussingault, or that of MM. Regnault and Reisit, or that of M. Bunsen for abso- 
 lute determinations. 
 
 It need scarcely be mentioned, that the process described is only an application of 
 the beautiful observations made by Chevreul and Dobereiner on gallic and pyrogallic 
 acids, and that the merit of the discovery belongs to these illustrious individuals. 
 
 PACKFONG, is the Chinese name of the alloy called white copper, or German 
 silver. 
 
 PACO, or PACOS, is the Peruvian name of an earthy-looking ore, which con- 
 sists of brown oxide of iron, with imperceptible particles of native silver disseminated 
 through it. 
 
 * By the dry distillation of so-called Chinese galls, in small retorts capable of holding from 5 to 6 oz. 
 in coarse fragments, a very concentrated solution of pyrogallic acid is obtained, which, evaporated on 
 the water bath, yields of brown crystalline pyrogallic acid nearly 15 per cent, of the weight of the galls. 
 
PAINTS, GRINDING OF. 
 
 319 
 
 PADDING MACHINE (Machine a plaqner, Fr. ; Klatsch, or GrundirmascMne, 
 Germ.), in calico-printing, is the apparatus for imbuing a piece ot cotton cloth 
 uniformly with any mordant. In fig. 1024 a b c d represents in section a cast iron 
 
 frame, supporting two opposite 
 standards above M,in whose vertical 
 slot the gudgeons a b, of two copper 
 or bronze cylinders e f, run; the 
 gudgeons of e turn upon fixed 
 brasses or plummer blocks ; but the 
 superior cylinder f rests upon the 
 surface of the under one, and may 
 be pressed down upon it with 
 greater or less force by means of 
 the weighted lever d e f g, whose 
 centre of motion is at d, and which 
 bears down upon the axle of f. 
 k is the roller upon which the pieces 
 of cotton cloth intended to be pad- 
 ded are wound; several of them 
 being stitched endwise together. 
 They receive tension from the ac- 
 tion of a weighted belt o, n, which 
 passes round a pulley n, upon the 
 end of the roller k. The trough g, 
 which contains the coloring mat- 
 ter or mordant, rests beneath the 
 cylinder upon the table i, or other 
 convenient support. About two inches above the bottom of the trough, there is a 
 copper dip-roller o, under which the cloth passes, after going round the guide roller m. 
 Upon escaping from the trough, it is drawn over the half-round stretcher-bar at I, grooved 
 obliquely right and left, as shown at n, whereby it acquires a diverging exvensio! 
 from the middle, and enters with a smooth surface between the two cylinders e f. 
 These are lapped round 6 or 7 times with cotton cloth, to soften and equalize theii 
 pressure. The piece of goods glides obliquely upwards, in contact with one third of 
 the cylinder f, and is finally wound about the uppermost roller h. The gudgeon of H 
 revolves in the end of the radius ft, k, which is jointed at fc, and moveable by a mortise at i 
 along the quadrantal arc towards I, as the roller k becomes enlarged by the convolutions 
 of the web. The under cylinder e receives motion by a pulley or rigger upon its op- 
 posite end, from a band connected with the driving-shaft of the printshop. To ensure 
 perfect equability in the application of the mordant, the goods are in some works passed 
 twice through the trough ; the pressure being increased the second time by sliding the 
 weight g to the end of the lever df. 
 
 A view of a padding machine in, connexion with the driving mechanism is given unda 
 Hot Flue ; see also Starching Machine. 
 
 PAINT. See Rouge. 
 • PAINTS, GRINDING OF. There are many pigments, such as common orpiment, 
 
 SfTpM 
 
 US=® 
 
320 
 
 PALLADIUM. 
 
 1=3 
 
 or king's yellow, and verdigris, which are strong poisons; others which are very 
 deleterious, and occasion dreadful maladies, such as white lead, red lead, chrome yel- 
 low, and vermillion ; none of which can be safely ground by hand with the slab and 
 muller, but should always be triturated in a mill. The emanations of white lead 
 cause, first, that dangerous disease the colica pictonum, afterwards paralysis, or prema- 
 ture decrepitude and lingering death. 
 Figs. 1025 1026 1027 1028 exhibit the construction of a good color- mill in three views ; 
 
 yicf. 1025being an elevation shown upon 
 the side of the handle, or where the 
 power is applied to the shaft ; fig. 1026 
 a second elevation, taken upon the side 
 of the line c, d, of the plan or bird's-eye 
 ■view, fig. 1021 
 
 The frame-work A A of the mill is 
 made of wood or cast iron, strongly- 
 mortised or bolted together; and 
 strengthened by the two cross iron bars 
 E, p Fig. 1028 is a plan of the mill- 
 stones. The lying or nether millstone c, 
 fig 1026 is of cast iron, and is channelled 
 on its upper face like corn millstones. It 
 is fixed upon the two iron bars p,, b ; 
 but may be preferably supported upon 
 the 3 points of adjustable screws, pass- 
 ing up through bearing-bars. The 
 millstone c is surrounded by a large 
 iron hoop d, for preventing the pasty- 
 consistenced color from running over 
 the edge. It can escape only by the 
 sluice hole e, fig. 1026 formed in the hoop ; and is then received in the tub x placed be- 
 neath. 
 
 The upper or moving millstone f, is also made of cast iron. The dotted lines indi- 
 cate its shape. In the centre it has an aperture with ledges G, G ; there is also a ledge 
 upon its outer circumference, sufficiently high to confine the color which may oc- 
 casionally accumulate upon its surface. An upright iron shaft H passes into the turning 
 stone, and gives motion to it. A horizontal iron bevel wheel k, figs. 1026,1027 fur 
 nished with 27 wooden teeth, is fixed upon the upper end of the upright shaft H. A 
 similar bevel wheel l, having the same number of teeth, is placed vertically upon the 
 horizontal iron axis m, m, and works into the wheel k. This horizontal axis M, M bears, 
 at one of its ends, a handle or winch N, by which the workman may turn the millstone 
 f; and on the other end of the same axis, the fly-wheel o is made fast, which serves 
 to regulate the movements of the machine. Upon one of the spokes of the fly-wheel 
 there is fixed, in like manner, a handle p, which may serve upon occasion for turning 
 the mill. This handle may be attached at any convenient distance from the centre, by 
 means of the slot and screw-nut J. 
 
 The color to be ground is put into the hopper p., below which the bucket s is sus- 
 ^nded, for supplying the color uniformly through the orifice in the millstone G. A 
 cord or chain T, by means of which the bucket s is suspended at a proper height for 
 pouring out the requisite quantity of color between the stones, pulls the bucket obliquely, 
 and makes its beak rest against the square upright shaft h. By this means the bucket 
 is continually agitated in such a way as to discharge more or less color, according to its 
 degree of inclination. The copper cistern x, receives the color successively as it is ground ; 
 and, when full, it may be carried away by the two handles z, z ; it may be emptied by the 
 stopcock v, without removing the tub. 
 PAINTS, VITRIFIABLE". See Porcelain, Potteey, and Stained Glass. 
 PALLADIUM, a rare metal, possessed of valuable properties, was discovered in 1803, 
 by Dr. Wollaston, in native platinum. It constitutes about 1 per cent, of the Columbian 
 ore, and from £ to 1 per cent, of the Uralian ore of this metal ; occurring nearly pure in 
 loose grains, of a steel-gray color, passing into silver white, and of a specific gravity of 
 from 11-8 to 12-14; also as an alloy with gold in Brazil, and combined with selenium in 
 the Harz near Tilkerode. Into the nitro-muriatic solution of native platinum, if a solu- 
 tion of cyanide of mercury be poured, the pale yellow cyanide of palladium will be thrown 
 down, which being ignited affords the metal. This is the ingenious process of Dr. Wol- 
 laston. The palladium present in the Brazilian gold ore may be readily separated as 
 follows : melt the ore along with two or three parts of silver, granulate the alloy, and"di 
 gest it with heat in nitric acid of specific gravity 1-3. The solution containing the silver 
 and palladium, for the gold does not dissolve, being treated with common salt or muriatic 
 
PAPER CUTTING. 321 
 
 acid, 'will part with all its silver in the form of a chloride. The supernatant liquor, being 
 concentrated and neutralized with ammonia, will yield a rose-colored salt in long silky 
 crystals, the ammonia-muriate of palladium, which being washed in ice-cold water, and 
 ignited, will afford 40 per cent, of metal. 
 
 The metal obtained by this process is purer than that by the former ; and if it be 
 fused in a crucible along with borax, by the heat of a powerful air-furnace or forge, a 
 button of malleable and ductile palladium will be produced. When a slip of it is 
 heated to redness, it takes a bronze-blue shade of greater or less intensity, as the slip is 
 cooled more or less slowly ; but if it be suddenly chilled, as by plunging it into water, 
 it resumes instantly its white lustre. This curious phenomenon depending upon oxydize- 
 ment and de-oxydizement, in different circumstances, serves at once to distinguish palla- 
 dium from platinum. 
 
 Pure palladium resembles platinum, but has more of a silver hue j when planished by 
 the hammer into a cup, such as that of M. Breant, in the museum of the Mint at Paris, 
 it is a splendid steel- white metal, not liable, liice silver, to tarnish in the air. Another cup 
 made by M. Breant, weighing 2 lbs. (1 kilogramme), was purchased by Charles X., and 
 is now in the garde-meuble of the French crown. The specific gravity of this metal, when 
 laminated, is stated by Dr. Wollaston at 1 1-8, and by Vauquelin at 12-1. It melts at 
 from 150° to 160° Wedgewood j and does not oxydize at a white heat. When a drop of 
 tincture of iodine is let fall upon the surface of this metal, and dissipated over a lamp 
 flame, a black spot remains, which does not happen with platinum. A slip of palladium 
 has been used with advantage to inlay the limbs of astronomical instruments, where 
 the fine graduated lines are cut, because it is bright, and not liable to alteration, like 
 silver. 
 
 There are a protoxyde and peroxyde of palladium. The proto-chloride consists of 60 
 of metal and 40 of chlorine; the cyanide, of 67 of metal, and 33 of cyanogen. 
 
 PALM OIL (Huile de palmc, Fr. ; Palmol, Germ.), is obtained, in Guinea and 
 Guyana, by expressing, as also by boiling, the fruit of the avoira elais. It has an 
 orange color, a smell of violets, a bland taste, is lighter than water, melts at 84° Fahr., 
 becomes rancid and pale by exposure to air, dissolves in boiling alcohol, and consists of 
 69 parts of oleine, and 31 of stearine, in 100. It is employed chiefly for making yellow 
 soap. It may be bleached by the action of either chlorine or oxygen gas, as also by 
 that of light and heat. 
 
 Palm oil imported in 1850, 447,797 cwts., in 1851, 608,550 cwts. ; exported in 1850, 
 73,186 cwts., in 1851, 114,952 cwts. 
 
 PAPER CLOTH. The preparation of this fabric is thus described in the speci- 
 fication of Mr. Henry Chapman's patent of January, 1843. A suitable quantity of 
 canvass, gauze, muslin, calico, linen, &a., is wound upon a roller, which is introduced 
 between the third press felt of a Fourdrinier paper machine ; and between the above 
 roller and the endless felt a trough is introduced, containing a solution of gum, glue, 
 <feo., with a roller partially immersed in it. Pulp being now allowed to flow upon the 
 endless wire wheel of the machine, paper is made in the ordinary way ; and when the 
 endless sheet of paper has been led through the machine, the end of the cloth is 
 brought over the upper part of the roller in the trough, and moved onwards in the 
 direction the paper is proceeding. The motion of the cloth causes the roller to revolve, 
 and the adhesive material carried upon its surface is imparted to the cloth, which is 
 then laid upon the paper, as it passes over the roller immediately preceding the third 
 or last press-roller. By passing between these rollers, the cloth and paper are firmly 
 united, and being dried by the steam cylinders, form the compound fabric. If required, 
 a paper surface may be applied to the other side of the cloth, by repeating the opera- 
 tion. If the cloth be dressed with strong starch,,the bath of adhesive solution may be 
 dispensed with. The following prescription is given for making that solution : — 
 
 Dissolve in 15 parts of water, 4 of soda, and combine with this solution, by means 
 of heat, 9 parts of yellow rosin ; boil for an hour, adding a little linseed oil to prevent 
 frothing, and add 1 part of glue to the mixture ; after which dilute the whole with one 
 and a half times its weight of water, and strain through flannel. Thirty parts of this 
 composition are to be mixed with one part of flour-paste, and six parts of paper-pulp 
 which mixture is to be used warm. 
 
 PAPER CUTTING. Mr. T. B. Cronlpton, of Farnworth, Lancashire, who ob- 
 tained a patent in May, 1821, for proposing to conduct the newly formed web of 
 paper in the Fourdrinier machine over heated cylinders, for the purpose of drying it 
 expeditiously, in imitation of the mode so long practised in drying calicoes, obtained, 
 along with Enoch Miller, another, in May, 1828, for cutting the endless web of paper 
 lengthwise, by revolving circular blades, fixed upon a roller, parallel to a cylinder, 
 round which the paper is lapped, and progressively unwound. 
 
 A patent had been obtained two months before, for certain improvements in cutting 
 
 Vol. H. 22 
 
322 
 
 PAPER CUTTING. 
 
 paper, by Mr. Edward Cowper, consisting of a machine, with a reel on which the wek 
 of paper of very considerable length has been previously wound, in the act of being made 
 in a Fourdrinier's machine j this web of paper being of sufficient width to produce two, 
 three, or more sheets, when cut. 
 
 The several operative parts of the machine are mounted upon standards, or frame- work 
 of any convenient form or dimensions, and consist of travelling endless tapes to conduct 
 the paper over and under a series of guide rollers ; of circular rotatory cutters for the 
 purpose of separating the web of paper into strips equal to the widths of the intended 
 sheets ; and of a saw-edged knife, which is made to slide horizontally for the purpose of 
 separating the strips into such portions or lengths as shall bring them to the dimensions 
 of a sheet of paper. 
 
 The end of the web of paper from the reel a, fig 1029 is first conducted up an inclined 
 plane i by hand ; it is then taken hold of by endless tapes extended upon rollers, a3 
 in Mr. Cowper's Printing Machine, which see. These endless tapes carry the web of 
 paper to the roller c, which is pressed against the roller d by weighted levers, acting 
 upon the plummer blocks that its axle is mounted in. The second roller d may be 
 either of wood or metal, having several grooves formed round its periphery for the 
 purpose of receiving the edges of the circular cutters e, (see Cakd-cuttinq) mounted 
 upon an axle turning upon bearings in the standards or frame. 
 
 In order to allow the web of paper to proceed smoothly between the two rollers, e, 
 d a narrow rib of leather is placed round the edges of one or both of these rollers. 
 
 for the purpose of leaving a free space between them, through which the paper may 
 ' pass without wrinkling. 
 
 From the first roller c, the endless tapes conduct the paper over the second d, and 
 then under a pressing roller/, in which progress the edges of the circular knives e, re- 
 volving in the grooves of the second roller d, cut the web of paper longitudinally into 
 strips of such widths as may be required, according to the number of the circular 
 nutters and distances between them. 
 
 The strips of paper proceed onward from between the knife roller d and pressing rol- 
 ler/, conducted by tapes, until they reach a fourth roller g, when they are allowed to descend, 
 and to pass through the apparatus designed to cut them transversely ; that is, into sheet 
 lengths. 
 
 The apparatus for cutting the strips into sheets is a sliding knife, placed horizontally 
 upon a frame at h, which frame, with the knife e, is moved to and fro by a jointed rod i, con- 
 nected to a crank on the axle of the pulley k. A flat board or plate I is fixed to the standard 
 frame in an upright position, across the entire width of the machine ; and this board or 
 
PAPER CUTTING 
 
 323 
 
 plate has a groove or opening cut along it opposite to the edge of the knife. The paper 
 descending from the foui th roller g passes against the face of this board, and as the carriage 
 with the knife advances, two small blocks, mounted upon rods with springs m m, come 
 against the paper, and hold it tight to the board or plate I, while the edge of the knife is 
 pi\*i"uded forwards into the groove of that board or plate, and its sharp saw-shaped teeth 
 passing through the paper, cut one row of sheets from the descending strips ; which, on 
 the withdrawing of the blocks, falls down, and is collected on the heap below. 
 
 The power for actuating this machine is applied to the reverse end of the axle, on which 
 the pulley fe is fixed, and a band n, «, n, n, passing from this pulley over tension wheels o, 
 drives the wheel q fixed to the axle of the knife roller d ; hence this roller receives the 
 rotatory motion which causes it to conduct forward the web of paper, but the other rollers 
 c and/, are impelled solely by the friction of contact. 
 
 The rotation of the crank on the axle of fe, through the intervention of the crank-rod i, 
 moves the carriage h, with the kn ife, to and fro at certain periods, and when the spring 
 blocks m come against the grooved plate I, they slide their guide rods into them, while the 
 knife advances to sever the sheets of paper. But as sheets of different dimensions are 
 occasionally required, the lengths of the slips delivered between each return of the knife 
 are to be regulated by enlarging or diminishing the diameter of the pulley fe, which will of 
 course retard or facilitate the rotation of the three conducting rollers, c, d,f, and cause a 
 greater or less length of the paper to descend between each movement of the knife carriage. 
 
 The groove of this pulley fe, which is susceptible of enlargement, is constructed of 
 wedge-formed blocks passed through its sides, and meeting each other in opposite direc- 
 tions, so that on drawing out the wedges a short distance, the diameter of the pulley be- 
 comes diminished; or by pushing the wedges further in, the diameter is increased; and a 
 'ension wheel p being suspended in a weighted frame, keeps the band always tight. 
 
 As it is necessary that the paper should not continue descending while it is held by the 
 blocks m, m to be cut, and yet that it should be led on progressively over the knife roller d, 
 the fourth roller g, which hangs in a lever j, is made to rise at that time, so as to take up 
 the length of paper delivered, and to descend again when the paper is withdrawn. This 
 is effected by a rod r, connected to the crank on the shaft of the aforesaid roller fe, and also 
 to the under part of the lever j, which lever hanging loosely upon the axle of the knife 
 roller d, as its fulcrum, vibrates with the under roller g, so as to effect the object in the 
 way described. 
 
 The patentee states that several individual parts of this ma;hine are not new, and that 
 JOme of them are to be found included in the specifications of other persons, such as the 
 circular cutlers e, which are employed by Mr. Dickinson (Card-cutting), and the horizon- 
 tal cutter h, by Mr. Hansard ; he therefore claims only the general arrangement of the parts 
 in the form of a machine for the purpose of cutting paper, as the subject of his invention. 
 
 The machine for cutting paper contrived by John Dickinson, Esq. of Nash Mill 
 was patented in January, 1829. The paper is wound upon a cylindrical roller a, fig. 1030 
 
 mounted upon an axle, supported in an iron frame or standard. From this rdler the 
 paper in its breadth is extended over a conducting drum b, also mounted upon an axle 
 turning in the frame or standard, and after passing under a small guide roller, it 
 proceeds through a pair of drawing or feeding rollers c, which carry it into the Butting 
 machine. 
 
 Upon a table a, d, firmly fixed to the floor of the building, there is a series of chisel-edged 
 knives e, e, e, placed at such distances apart as the dimensions of the cut sheets of paper are 
 intended to be. These knives are made fast to the table, and against them a series of 
 yrcular cutters /, /, /, mounted in a swinging frame g, g, are intended to act. The length 
 
324 
 
 PAPER CUTTING. 
 
 of paper oeing brought along the table over the edges of the knives, up to a stop ft, th* 
 cutters are then swung forwards, and by passing over the paper against the stationary 
 knives, the length of paper becomes cut into three separate sheets. 
 
 The frame g, g, which carries the circular cutters/, /,/, hangs upon a very elevated axle, 
 in order that its pendulous swing may move the cutters as nearly in a horizontal line as 
 possible; and it is made to vibrate to and fro by an eccentric, or crank, fixed upon a 
 horizontal rotatory shaft extending over the drum ft, considerably above it, which may be 
 driven by any convenient machinery. 
 
 The workmen draw the paper from between the rollers c, and bring it up to the stop ft, 
 in the intervals between the passing to and fro of the swing-cutters. 
 
 The following very ingenious apparatus for cutting the paper web transversely into 
 any desired lengths, was made the subject of a patent by Mr. E. N. Fourdrinier, in 
 Tune, 1831, and has since been performing its duty well in many establishments. 
 
 *7?. 1031is an elevation, taken upon one side ot the machine ; and fig. 10S2is a longi 
 
 tudinal section, a, a, a, a, 
 are four reels, each cover- 
 ed with one continuous 
 sheet of paper; which reels 
 are supported upon bear- 
 ings in the frame-work 
 6, 6, ft. c, c, c, is an end- 
 less web of felt-cloth passed 
 over the rollers d, d, d, d, 
 which is kept in close con- 
 tact with the under side of 
 the drum e, e, seen best in 
 fig. 1032. 
 
 The several parallel 
 layers of paper to be cut, 
 being passed between the 
 drum e, and the endless 
 felt c, will be drawn off 
 their respective reels, and 
 fed into the machine, when- 
 ever the driving-band is slid 
 from the loose to the fast 
 pulley upon the end of the 
 main shaft /. But since 
 the progressive advance of 
 the paper-webs must be 
 arrested during the time of 
 making the cross cut 
 through it, the following 
 apparatus becomes neces- 
 sary. A disc g, which 
 carries the pin or stud of a 
 crank i, is made fast to the 
 end of the driving shaft /. 
 This pin is set in an adjust- 
 able sliding piece, which 
 may be confined by a screw 
 within the bevelled gra- 
 duated groove, upon the 
 face of the disc g, at vari- 
 able distances from the ax- 
 is, whereby the eccentricity of the stud i, and of course the throw of the crank, may be 
 considerably varied. The crank stud i, is connected by its roij, to the swinging curvilin- 
 ear rack fe, which takes into the toothed Wheel I, that turns freely upon the axle of the 
 feed drum e, e. From that wheel the arms m, m, rise, and bear one or more palls n, which 
 work in the teeth of the great ratchet wheel o, o, mounted upon the shaft of the drum e. 
 
 The crank-plate g being driven round in the direction of its arrow, will communi- 
 cate a see-saw movement to the toothed arc h, next to the toothed wheel I in gearing 
 with it, and an oscillatory motion to the arms m, m, as also to their surmounting pall n. 
 
PAPER-HANGINGS. 
 
 325 
 
 In its swing to the left hand, the catch of the pall will slide over the slope of the teeth 
 of the ratchet wheel o ; but in its return to the right hand, it will lay hold of these teeth 
 and pull them, with their attached drum, round a part of a revolution. The layers of 
 paper in close contact with the under half of the drum will be thus drawn forward at 
 intervals, from the reels, by the friction between its surface and the endless felt, and in 
 lengths corresponding to the arc of vibration ot the pall. The knife for cutting these 
 lengths transversely is brought into action at the time when the swing arc is making its 
 inactive stroke, viz., when it is sliding to the left over the slopes of the ratchet teeth o. 
 The extent of this vibration varies according to the distance of the crank stud i, from 
 the centre/ - , of the plate g, because that distance regulates the extent of the oscillations 
 of the curvilinear rack, and that of the rotation of the drum e, by which the paper is fed 
 forwards to the knife apparatus. The proper length of its several layers being by the 
 above described mechanism carried forward over the bed r of the cutting knife or shears 
 r, v, whose under blade r is fixed, the wiper s, in its revolution with the shaft/, lifts the 
 tail of the lever t, consequently depresses the transverse moveable blade v (as shown ir 
 fig. 1033), andslidesthe slanting blades across each other obliquely, like a pair of scissors, 
 so as to cause a clean cut across the plies of paper. But just before the shears begin tc 
 operate, the transverse board u descends to press the paper with its edge, and hold it fast 
 upon the bed r. During the action of the upper blade v, against the under r, the fall 
 board u, is suspended by a cord passing across pulleys from the arm y of the bell-crank 
 lever t, t. Whenever the lifter cam s, has passed away from the tail of the bell-crank t, 
 the weight z, hung upon it, will cause the blade v, and tb<? pinching board u, to be 
 moved up out of the way of the next length of paper, whicr :b regularly brought for- 
 ward by the rotation of the drum e, as above described. The apper blade of the shears 
 is not set parallel to the shaft of the drum, but obliquely to it, and is, moreover, some- 
 what curved, so as to close its edge progressively upon that of the fixed blade. The 
 blade v may also be set between two guide pieces, and have the necessary motion given 
 5o it by levers. 
 
 PAPER-HANGINGS, called more properly by the French, papiers peints. The 
 art of making paper-hangings, papier de tenture, has been copied from the Chinese, 
 among whom it has been practised from time immemorial. The English first imported 
 and began to imitate the Chinese paper-hangings ; but being exposed till very lately to a 
 high excise duty upon the manufacture, they have not carried it to that extent and pitch 
 of refinement which the French genius has been enabled to do, unchecked by taxation. 
 The first method of making this paper was stencilling'; by laying upon it, in an extended 
 state, a piece of pasteboard having spaces cut out of various figured devices, and apply- 
 ing different water colors with the brush. Another piece of pasteboard with other pat- 
 terns cut out was next applied, when the former figures were dry, and new designs were 
 thus imparted. By a series of such operations, a tolerable pattern was executed, but 
 with no little labor and expense. The processes of the calico printer were next resorted 
 to, in which engraved blocks of the pear or sycamore were employed to impress the col- 
 ored designs. 
 
 Paper-hangings may be distinguished into two classes ; 1. those which are really 
 painted, and which are designed in France under the title of papiers peints, with bril- 
 liant flowers and figures ; and 2. those in which the designs are formed by foreign mat- 
 ters applied to the paper, under the name of papier tontisse, or flock paper. 
 
 The operations common to paper-hangings of both kinds, may be stated as follows : — 
 
 1. The paper should be well sized. 
 
 2. The edges should be evenly cut by an apparatus like the bookbinder's press. 
 
 3. The ends of each of the 24 sheets which form a piece, should be nicely pasted 
 together j or a Fourdrinier web of paper should be taken. 
 
 4. Laying the grounds, is done with earthy colors or colored lakes thickened with 
 size, and applied with brushes. 
 
 An expert workman, with one or two children, can lay the grounds of 300 pieces in a 
 lay. The pieces are now suspended upon poles near the ceiling, in order to be dried. 
 They ars then rolled up and carried to the apartment where they are polished, by being 
 laid upon a smooth table, with the painted side undermost, and rubbed with the polisher. 
 Pieces intended to be satined, are grounded with fine Paris plaster, instead of Spanish 
 white ; and are not smoothed with a brass polisher, but with a hard brush attached to 
 the lower end of the swing polishing rod. After spreading the piece upon the table with 
 the grounded side undermost, the paper-stainer dusts the upper surface with finely pow- 
 dered chalk of Briancon, commonly called talc, and rubs it strongly with the brush. In 
 this way the satiny lustre is produced. 
 
 THE PRINTING OPERATIONS. 
 
 Blocks about two inches thick, formed of three separate boards glued together, of 
 which two are made of poplar, and one (that which is engraved) of pear-tree or syea 
 
326 PAPER-HANGINGS. 
 
 more, are used for printing paper-hangings, as for calicoes. The grain of the upper 
 layer of wood should be laid across that of the layer below. As many blocks are re- 
 quired as there are colors and shades of color. To make the figure of a rose, for example, 
 three several reds must be applied in succession, the one deeper than the other, a white 
 for the clear spaces, two and rmetimes three greens for the leaves, and two wood colors 
 for the stems ; altogether from 9 to 12 for a rose. Each block carries small pin points, 
 fixed at its corners to guide the workman in the insertion of the figure exactly in its place. 
 An expert hand places these guide pins so that their marks are covered and concealed 
 by the impression of the next block ; and the finished piece shows merely those belonging 
 to the first and last blocks. 
 
 In printing, the workman employs the same swimming-tub apparatus which has been 
 described under block printing (see Calico-printing), takes off the color upon his 
 blocks, and impresses them on the paper extended upon a table in the very same way. 
 The tub in which the drum or frame covred with calf-skin is inverted, contains simply 
 water thickened with parings of paper fro.n the bookbinder, instead of the pasty mixture 
 employed by the calico-printers. In impressing the color by the block upon the paper, 
 he employs a lever of the second kind, to increase the power of his arm, making it act 
 upon the block through the intervention of a piece of wood, shaped like the bridge of a 
 violin. This tool is called tasseau by the French. A child is constantly occupied in 
 spreading color with a brush upon the calf-skin head of the drum or sieve, and in sliding 
 off the paper upon a wooden trestle or horse, in proportion as it is finished. When thf 
 piece has received one set of colored impressions, the workman, assisted by his little aid, 
 called a tireur (drawer), hooks it upon the drying-poles under the ceiling. A sufficient 
 number of pieces should be provided to keep the printer occupied duiing the whole at 
 least of one day, so that they will be dried and ready to receive another set of colored im- 
 pressions by the following morning. 
 
 All the colors are applied in the same manner, every shade being formed by means of 
 the blocks, which determine all the beauty and regularity of the design. A pattern draw 
 er of taste may produce a very beautiful effect. The history of Psyche and Cupid, by M 
 Dufour, has been considered a masterpiece in this art, rivalling the productions of the 
 pencil in the gradation, softness, and brilliancy of the lints. 
 
 When the piece is completely printed, the workman looks it all over, and if there be 
 any defects, he corrects them by the brush or pencil, applying first the correction of one 
 color, and afterwards of the rest. 
 
 A final satining, after the colors are dried, is communicated by the friction of a finely 
 polished brass roller, attached by its end gudgeons to the lower extremity of a long 
 swing-frame ; and acting along the cylindrical surface of a smooth table, upon which the 
 paper is spread. 
 
 The fmuiu or rainbow style of paper-hangings, which I have referred to this place in 
 the article Calico-fkinting, is produced by means of an assortment of oblong narrow 
 tin pans, fixed in a frame, close side to side, each being about one inch wide, two inches 
 deep, and eight inches long ; the colors of the prismatic spectrum, red, orange, yellow, 
 green, -&c, are put, in a liquid state, successively in these pans ; so that when the 
 oblong brush A, b, with guide ledges a, c, d, is dipped into them across the whole of the 
 1034 parallel row at once, it comes out impressed with the different colors 
 
 at successive points e, e, e, e, of its length, and is then drawn by the 
 paper-stainer over the face of the woollen drum head, or sieve of the 
 swimming tub, upon which it leaves a corresponding series of stripes 
 in colors, graduating into one another like those of the prismatic spectrum. By applying 
 his block to the tear, the workman takes up the color in rainbow hues, and transfers these 
 to the paper. /,/,/,/ show the separate brushes in tin sheaths, set in one frame. 
 
 At M. Zuber's magnificent establishment in the ancient chateau of Rixheim, near 
 Mulhouse, where the most beatiful French papiers peinU are produced, and where I 
 was informed that no less than 3000 blocks are required for one pattern, I saw a two- 
 color calico machine employed with great advantage, both as to taste and expedition. 
 Steam-charged cylinders were used to dry the paper immediately after it was'printed, as 
 the colors, not being so rapidly absorbed as they are by calico, would be very apt to 
 spread. T 
 
 The operations employed for common paper-hangings, are also used for making fioclt 
 paper, only a stronger size is necessary for the ground. The flocks are obtained froni 
 the woollen-cloth manufacturers, being cut off by their shearing machines, called lewisei 
 by the English workmen, and are preferred in a white state by the French paper-hanging ; 
 makers, who scour them well, and dye them of the proper colors themselves. Whei i 
 they are thoroughly stove-dried, they are put into a conical fluted mill, like that fofc 
 making snuff, and are properly ground. The powder thus obtained is afterwards sifi , 
 «*; by a bolting-machine, like that of the flour mill, whereby flocks of different degree s 
 of fineness are produced. These are applied to the paper after it has undergone a .' th p 
 
PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. 327 
 
 usual printing operations. Upon the workman's left hand, and in a line with his print, 
 tag table, a large chest is placed for receiving the flock powders : it is seven or eight 
 feet long, two feet wide at the bottom, three feet and a half at top, and from 15 to 18 
 inches deep. It has a hinged lid. Its bottom is made of tense calf-skin. This chest is 
 called the drum ; it rests upon four strong feet, so as to stand from 24 to 28 inches above 
 the floor. 
 
 The block which serves to apply the adhesive basis of the velvet-powders, bears in 
 relief only the pattern corresponding to that basis, which is formed with linseed oil, ren- 
 dered drying by being boiled with litharge, and afterwards ground up with white lead. 
 The French workmen call this mordant the encaustic. It is put upon the cloth which 
 covers the inverted swimming tub, in the same way as the common colors are, and is 
 spread with a brush by the tireur (corruptly styled tearer by some English writers). -The 
 workman daubs the blocks upon the mordant, spreads the pigment even with a kind of 
 brush, and then applies it by impression to the paper. Whenever a sufficient surface of 
 the paper has been thus covered, the child draws it along into the great chest, sprinkling 
 the flock powder over it with his hands ; and when a length of 7 fe^t is printed, he covers 
 it up within the drum, and beats upon the calf-skin bottom with a a,«ple of rods to raise 
 a cloud of flock inside, and to make it cover the prepared portion of the paper uniformly. 
 He now lifts the lid of the chest, inverts the paper, and beats its back lighti/, in order to 
 detach all the loose particles of the woolly powder. 
 
 By the operation just described, the velvet-down being applied everywhere of the 
 same color, would not be agreeable to the eye, if shades could not be introduced to 
 relieve the pattern. To give the effect of drapery, for example, tLc appearance of folds 
 must be introduced. For this purpose, when the piece is perfectly dry, the workman 
 stretches it upon his table, and by the guidance of the pins in his blocks, he applies to 
 the flock surface a color in distemper, of a deep tint, suited to the intended shades, so 
 that he dyes the wool in its place. Light shades are produced by applying some of his 
 lighter water-colors. 
 
 Gold leaf is applied upon the above mordant, when nearly dry ; which then forms a 
 proper gold size j and the same method of application is resorted to, as for the ordinary 
 gliding of wood. When the size has become perfectly hard, the superfluous gold leaf 
 is brushed off with a dossil of cotton wool or fine linen. 
 
 The colors used by the paper-hangers are the following : — 
 
 1. Whites. These are either white-lead, good whitening, or a mixture of the two. 
 
 2. Yellows. These are frequently vegetable extracts j as those of weld, or of Avignon 
 or Persian berries, and are made by boiling the substances with water. Chrome yellow 
 is also frequently used, as well as the terra di Sienna and yellow ochre. 
 
 3. Reds are almost exclusively decoctions of Brazil wood. 
 
 4. Blues are either Prussian blue, or blue verditer. 
 
 5. Greens are Scheele's green, a combination of arsenious acid, and oxyde of copper ; 
 the green of Schweinfurth, or green verditer ; as also a mixture of blues and yellows. 
 
 S. Violets are produced by a mixture of blue and red in various proportions, or they 
 may be obtained directly by mixing a decoction of logwood with alum. 
 
 7. Browns, blacks, and grays. Umber furnishes the brown tints. Blacks are either 
 common ivory or Frankfort black ; and grays are formed by mixtures of Prussian blue 
 and Spanish' white. 
 
 All the colors are rendered adhesive and consistent, by being worked up with gelatinous 
 size or a weak solution of glue, liquefied in a kettle. Many of the colors are previously 
 thickened, however, with starch. Sometimes colored lakes are employed. See 
 Lakes. 
 
 PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. (Papeterie, Fr. ; Papiermacherkunst, Germ.) 
 This most useful substance, which has procured for the moderns an incalculable advantage 
 over the ancients, in the means of diffusing and perpetuating knowledge, seems to have 
 been first invented in China, about the commencement of the Christian era, and was 
 thence brought to Mecca, along with the article itself, about the beginning of the 8th 
 century ; whence the Arabs carried it, in their rapid career of conquest and colonization, 
 1.5 tht coasts of Barbary, and into Spain, about the end of the 9th or beginning of the 
 10th century. 
 
 By other accounts, this art originated in Greece, where it was first made from 
 cotton fibres, in the course of the tenth century, and continued there in common use during 
 the next three hundred years. It was not till the beginning of the 14th century 
 that paper was made from linen in Europe, by the establishment of a paper-mill in 
 1390, at Nuremberg in Germany. The first English paper-mill was erected at Dart 
 ford by a German jeweller in the service of Queen Elizabeth, about the year 1588 
 But the business was not very successful ; in consequence of which, for a long period 
 afterwards, indeed till within the last 70 years, this country derived its supplies of fine 
 writing papers from France and Holland. Nothing places in a more striking light the 
 
328 
 
 PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. 
 
 vast improvement which has taken place in all the mechanical arts of England since the 
 era of Arkwright, than the condition of our paper-machine factories now, compared 
 with those on the Continent. Almost every good automatic paper mechanism at present 
 mounted in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, 
 has either been made in Great Britain, and exported to these countries, or has been con- 
 structed in them closely upon the English models. 
 
 Till within the last 30 years, the linen and hempen rags from which paper was made, 
 were reduced to the pasty state 'of comminution requisite for this manufacture by 
 mashing them with water, and setting the mixture to ferment for many days in close 
 vessels, whereby they underwent in reality a species of putrefaction. It is easy to see 
 that the organic structure of the fibres would be thus. unnecessarily altered, nay, frequently 
 destroyed. The next method employed, was to beat the rags into a pulp by stamping 
 rods, shod with iron, working in strong oak mortars, and moved by water-wheel ma- 
 chinery. So rude and ineffective was. the apparatus, that forty pairs of stamps were 
 required to operate a night and a day, in preparing one hundred weight of rags. The 
 pulp or paste was then diffused through water, and made into paper by methods similar 
 to those still practised in the small hand-mills. 
 
 About the middle of the last century, the cylindc or engine mode, as it u called, of 
 comminuting rags into paper pulp, was invented in Holland ; which was soon afterwards 
 adopted in France, and at a later period in England. 
 
 The first step in the paper manufacture, is the sorting of the rags into four or five 
 qualities. They are imported into this country chiefly from Germany, and the ports of 
 the Mediterranean. At the mill they are sorted again more carefully, and cut into 
 shreds by women. For this purpose a table frame is covered at top with wire cloth, 
 containing about nine meshes to the square inch. To this frame a long steel blade is 
 attached in a slanting position, against whose sharp edge the rags are cut into squares 
 or fillets, after having their dust thoroughly shaken out through the wire cloth. Each 
 piece of rag is thrown into a certain compartment of a box, according to its fineness ; 
 seven or eight sorts being distinguished. An active woman can cut and sort nearly one 
 cwt. in a day. 
 
 The sorted rags are next dusted in a revolving cylinder surrounded with wire cloth, 
 about six feet long, and four feet in diameter, having spokes about 20 inches long, attached 
 at right angles to its axis. These prevent the rags from being carried round with the 
 case, and beat them during its rotation ; so that in half an hour, being pretty clean, they 
 are taken out by the side door of the cylinder, and transferred to the engine, to be first 
 washed, and next reduced into a pulp. For fine paper, they should be previously boiled 
 .'or some time in a caustic ley, to cleanse and separate their filaments. 
 
 The construction of the stuff-engine is represented in figs. 1035 1036 Fig. 1035 is thelon- 
 n n o gitudinal section, and fig. 
 
 1035 ^J^^S^P Ik 1036 the plan of the engine. 
 
 t-m. II ^% — ^sf^J, The large vat is an oblong 
 
 '/Zi\\\ I cistern rounded at the an- 
 
 gles. It is divided by the par- 
 tition b, b, and the whole in- 
 side is lined with lead. The 
 cylinder c, is made fast to 
 the spindle d, which extends 
 across the engine, and is put 
 in motion by the pinion p, 
 fixed to its extremity. The 
 cylinder is made of wood, 
 and furnished with a num- 
 ber of blades or cutters, 
 secured to its circumfer- 
 ence, parallel to the axis, . 
 and projecting about an 
 inch above its surface. 
 Immediately beneath the 
 cylinder a block of wood k 
 is placed. This is mounted 
 with cutters like those of 
 the cylinder, which in thair 
 revolution pass very near to the teeth of the block, but must not touch it. The dis- 
 tance between these fixed and moving blades is capable of adjustment by elevating or 
 depressing the bearings upon which the necks e, e, of Uie shaft are supported. These 
 bearings rest upon two levers g, g, which have tenons at their ends, fitted into upright 
 moitkes, made in short beams ft, A, bolted to the sides of the engine. The one end of 
 
 
PAPER, MANUFACTURE OP. 32& 
 
 the levers g, g, is moveable, while the other end is adapted to rise and fall upon bolts 
 In the beams A, h, as centres. The front lever, or that nearest to the cylinder c, is capa- 
 ble of being elevated or depressed, by turning the handle of a screw (not seen in this 
 view), which acts in a nut fixed to the tenon of g, and comes up through the top of the 
 beam h, upon which the head of the screw takes its bearing. Two brasses are let intc 
 the middle of the levers g, %, and form the bearings for the shaft of the engine to turn 
 upon. The above-mentioned vertical screw is used to raise or lower the cylinder, and 
 cause it to cut coarser or finer, by enlarging or diminishing the space between the fixed 
 cutters in the block and those in the cylinder. 
 
 To the left hand oii,fig. 1035 is a circular breasting made of boards, and covered with 
 sheet lead ; it is curved to fit the cylinder very truly, altd leaves but very little space be- 
 tween the teeth and breasting ; at its bottom, the block fc is fixed. The engine is supplied 
 with water from a pump, by a pipe, which deliws it into a small cistern, near to and 
 communicating with the engine. A stopcock cut "off or regulates the supply of water at 
 pleasure, and a grating covered with hair-cloth is fixed across that small cistern, to inter- 
 cept any filth that may be floating in the water ; in other cases a flannel bag is tied round 
 the nose of the stopcock, to act as a filter. 
 
 The rags being put into the engine filled with water, are drawn by the rapid rotation 
 of the cylinder between the two sets of cutters, whereby they are torn into the finest fila- 
 ments, and by the impulsion of the cylinder they are floated over tl.e top of the breasting 
 upon the inclined plane. In a short time more rags and water are jaised into that part 
 of the engine vat. The tendency in the liquid to maintain an equilibrium, puts the whole 
 contents of the cistern in slow motion down the inclined plane, to the left hand of i, and 
 round the partition 4, 6, (see the arrow), whereby the rags come to the cylinder again in 
 the space of about 20 minutes ; so that they are repeatedly drawn out and separated in 
 all directions till they are reduced to the appearance of a pulp. 
 
 This circulation is particularly useful, by turning over the rags in the engine, causing 
 them to be presented to the cutter at different angles every time ; otherwise, as the 
 blades always act in one direction, the comminution would not be so complete. The 
 cutting is performed as follows : The teeth of the block are set somewhat obliquely to 
 the axes of the cylinder, as shown by fig. 1037 but the teeth of the cylinder c itself are set 
 1037 parallel to its axis ; therefore the cutting edges meet at a 
 
 small angle, and come in contact, first at the one end, and 
 then towards the other, by successive degrees, so that any 
 rags coming between them, are torn as if between the blades 
 of a pair of forceps. Sometimes the blades fc in the block are 
 bent to an angle in the middle, instead of being straight and 
 inclined to the cylinder. These are called elbow plates ; their 
 two ends being inclined in opposite directions to the axis of the cylinder. In either case, 
 the edges of the plates of the block cannot be straight lines, but must be curved, to adapt 
 themselves to the curve which a line traced on the cylinder will necessarily have. The 
 plates or blades are united by screwing them together, and fitting them into a cavity cut 
 into the wooden block fc. Their edges are bevelled away upon one side only. 
 
 The block is fixed in its place by being made dovetailed, and truly fitted into the bottom 
 of the cistern, so that the watet will not leak through its junction. The end of it comes 
 through the woodwork of the chest, and projects to a small distance on its outside, being 
 kept in its place by a wedge. By withdrawing this wedge, the block becomes loose, and 
 can be removed in order to sharpen the cutters, as occasion may be. This is done at a 
 grindstone, after detaching the plates from each other. 
 
 The cutters of the cylinder are fixed into grooves, cut in the wood of the cylinder, 
 at equal distances asunder, round its periphery, in a direction parallel to its axis. The 
 number of these grooves is twenty, in the machine here represented. For the washer, each 
 groove has two cutters put into it ; then a fillet of wood is driven fast in between them, 
 to hold them firm ; and the fillets are secured by spikes driven into the solid wood of the 
 sylinder. The beater is made in the same manner, except that each groove contains three 
 oars and two fillets. 
 
 In the operation of the cylinder, it is necessary that it should be enclosed in a case, 
 sr it would throw all the water and rags out of the engine, in consequence of its great 
 velocity. This case is a wooden box m, m, fig. 1035 enclosed on every side except the 
 oottom ; one side of it rests upon the edge of the vat, and the other upon the edge of the 
 partition 6, b, fig. 1036. The diagonal lines m, r, represent the edges of wooden frames, 
 which are covered with hair or wire-cloth, and immediately behind these the box is furnished 
 with a bottom and a ledge towards the cylinder, so as to form a complete trough. The 
 square figures under n, n, in fig. 1035 show the situation of two openings or spouts 
 through the side of the case,, which conduct to flat lead-pipes, one of which is seen 
 near the upper g in fig. 1036 placed by the side of the vat ; the beam being cut away front 
 them. These are waste pipes to discharge the foul watei from the engine ; because tha 
 
330 PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. 
 
 cylinder, as it turns, throws a great quantity of water and rags up against the sieves 
 the water goes through them, and runs down to the trough under n, n, and thence 
 into the ends of the flat leaden pipes, through which it is discharged, o, o,figAdbt 
 are grooves for two boards, which, when put down in their places, cover the hair 
 sieves, and stop the water from going through them, should it be required in the 
 engine. This is always the case in the beating engines, and therefore they are seldoa 
 provided with these waste pipes, or at most on one side only ; the other side of the cover 
 being curved to conform to the cylinder. Except this, the only difference between 
 the washing engine and the beater, is that the teeth of the latter are finer, there being 
 60 instead of 40 blades in the periphery ; and it revolves quicker than the washer, so that 
 it will tear out and comminute tmbse particles which pass through the teeth of the washer. 
 In small mills, when the supply of water is limited, there is frequently but one engine, 
 which may be used both for washingjfcnd beating, by adjusting the screw so as to let the 
 cylinder down and make its teeth wore finer. But the system in all considerable works, 
 is to have two engines at least, or four if the supply of water be great. The power re- 
 quired for a 5 or 6 vat mill, is about 20 horses in a water-wheel or steam engine. 
 
 In the above figures only one engine is shown, namely, the finisher ; there is an- 
 other, quite similar, placed at its end, but on a level witli its surface, which is called the 
 washer, in which the rags are first worked coarsely with a stream of Water, running 
 through them to wash and open their fibres ; after this washing they are called half- 
 stuff, and are then let down into the bleaching engine, and next into the beating engine, 
 above described. 
 
 By the arrangements of the mill gearing, the two cylinders of the washer and beater 
 engines make from 120 to 150 revolutions per minute, when the water-wheel moves with 
 due velocity. The beating engine is always made to move, however, much faster than 
 the washing one, and nearly in the ratio of the above numbers. 
 
 The vibratory noise of a washing engine is very great j for when it revolves 120 times 
 per minute, and has 40 teeth, each of Which passes by 12 or 14 teeth in the block at every 
 revolution, it will make nearly 60,000 cuts in a minute, each of them sufficiently loud to 
 produce a most grating growling sound. As the beater revolves quicker, having perhaps 
 60 teeth, instead of 40, and 20 or 24 cutters in the block, it will make 180,000 cuts in a 
 minute. This astonishing rapidity produces a coarse musical humming, which may be 
 heard at a great distance from the mill. From this statement, we may easily understand 
 how a modern engine is able to turn out a vastly greater quantity of paper pulp in a day 
 than an old mortar machine. 
 
 The operation of grinding the rags requires nice management. When first put 
 into the washing engine they should be worked gently, so as not to be cut, but only 
 powerfully scrubbed, in order to enable the water to carry off the impurities. This 
 efTect is obtained by raising the cylinder upon its shaft, so that its teeth are separated 
 considerably from those of the block. When the rags are comminuted too much in the 
 washer, they would be apt to be carried off in part with the stream, and be lost ; for at 
 this time the water-cock is fully open. After washing in this way for 20 or 30 minutes, 
 the bearings of the cylinder are lowered, so that its weight rests upon the cutters. Now 
 the supply of water is reduced, and the rags begin to be torn, at first with considerable 
 agitation of the mass, and stress upon the machinery. In about three or four hours, 
 the engine comes to work very smoothly, because it has by this time reduced the rags to 
 the state of half-stuff. They are then discharged into a large basket, through which the 
 water drains away. 
 
 The bleaching is usually performed upon the half-stuff. At the celebrated manu- 
 factory of Messrs. Montgolfier, at Annonay, near Lyons, chlorine gas is employed 
 for this purpose with the- best effect upon the paper, since no lime or muriate of lime 
 can be thus left in it ; a circumstance which often happens to English paper, bleached 
 in the washing engine by the introduction of chloride of lime among the rags, after 
 they have been well washed for three or four hours by the rotation of the engine. The 
 current of water is stopped whenever the chloride of lime is put in. From 1 to 2 
 pounds of that chemical compound are sufficient to bleach 1 cwt. of fine rags, but more 
 must be employed for the coarser and darker colored. During the bleaching oper- 
 ation the two sliders o, o,fig. 1035 are put down in the cover of the cylinder, to prevent 
 the water getting away. The engine must be worked an hour longer with the chloride 
 of lime, to promote its uniform operation upon the rags. The cylinder is usually 
 raised a little during this period, as its only purpose is to agitate the mass, but not to 
 triturate it. The water-cock is then opened, the boards m, m are removed, and the wash- 
 ing is continued for about an hour, to wash the salt away ; a precaution which ought to 
 be better attended to than it always is by paper manufacturers. 
 
 The half-stuff thus bleached is now transferred to the beating engine, and worked into 
 a fine pulp. This operation takes from 4 to 5 hours, a little water being admitted front 
 lime to time, but no current being allowed to pass through, as in the washing engine 
 
PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. 
 
 331 
 
 The softest and fairest water should be selected for this purpose ; and it should be ad 
 ministered in nicely regulated quantilies s so as to produce a proper spissitude of stuff foi 
 making paper. 
 
 For printing paper, the sizing is given in the beating engine, towards the end of its 
 operation. The size is formed of alum in fine powder, ground up with oil ; of which 
 mixture about a pint and a half are thrown into the engine at intervals, during the lasl 
 half-hour's beating. Sometimes a little indigo blue or smalt is also added, when s 
 peculiar b.oom color is desired. The pulp is now run off into the stuff chest, when 
 the different kinds are mixed ; whence it is taken out as wanted. The chest is usually 
 a rectangular vessel of stone or wood lined with lead, capable of containing 300 cubic 
 feet at least, or 3 engines full of stuff. Many paper-makers prefer round chests, as they 
 admit of rotatory agitators. 
 
 When the paper is made in single sheets, by hand labor, as in the older establish- 
 ments, a small quantity of the stuff is transferred to the working-vat by means of a pipe, 
 and there diluted properly with water. This vat is a vessel of stone or wood, about 5 
 feet square, and 4 deep, with sides somewhat slanting. Along the top of the vat a board 
 is laid, with copper fillets fastened lengthwise upon it, to make the mould slide more 
 easily along. This board is called the bridge. The maker stands on one side; and 
 has to his left hand a smaller board, one end of which is made fast to the bridge, while 
 the other rests on the side of the vat. In the bridge opposite to this, a nearly upright 
 piece of wood, called the ass, is fastened. In the vat 'here is a copper, which communi- 
 cates with a steam pipe to keep it hot ; there is also an Agitator, to maintain the stuff in 
 a uniform consistence. 
 
 The moulds consist of frames of wood, neatly joined at the corners, with wooden bars 
 running across, about an inch and a half apart. Across these, in the length of the monlds, 
 the wires run, from fifteen to twenty per inch. A strong raised wire is laid along each of 
 the cross bars, to which the other wires are fastened ; this gives the laid paper its ribbed 
 appearance. 
 
 The water-mark is made by sewing a raised piece of wire in the form of letters, or any 
 figured device, upon the wires of the mould, which makes the paper thinner in_ these 
 places. The frame-work of a wove mould is.nearly the same ; but instead of sewing on 
 separate wires, the frame is covered with fine' wire cloth, containing from 48 to 64 meshes 
 per inch square. Upon both moulds a deckel, or moveable raised edge-frame, is used ; 
 which must fit very neatly, otherwise the edges of the paper will be rough. , 
 
 A pair of moulds being laid upon the bridge, the workman puts on the deckel, brings 
 the mould into a vertical position, dips it about half way down into the stuff before him, 
 then turning it into a horizontal position, covers the mould with the stuff and shakes it 
 gently. This is a very delicate operation ; for if the mould be not held perfectly level, 
 one part of the sheet will be thicker than another. The sheet thus formed has, however, 
 no coherence ; so that by turning the mould, and dipping the wire cloth surface in the 
 vat, it is aeain reduced to pulp if necessary. He now pushes the mould along the small 
 board to the left, and removes the deckel. Here another workman called the coucher 
 receives it, and places it at rest upon the ass, to drain off some of the water. Meanwhile 
 the vat-man puts the deckel upon the other mould, and makes another sheet. The 
 coucher stands to the left side of the vat, with his face towards the vat-man or maker, 
 on his right is the press furnished with felt cloths, or porous flannels ; a three-inch thick 
 plank lies before him on the ground. On this he lays a cushion of felts, and on this 
 another felt ; he then turns the paper wire mould, and presses it upon the felt, where 
 the sheet remains. He now returns the mould by pushing it along the bridge. 
 The maker has by this time another sheet ready for the coucher ; which, like the pre- 
 ceding, is laid upon the ass, and then couched or inverted upon another felt, laid down for 
 the purpose. . . 
 
 In this way, felts and paper are alternately stratified, till a heap of six or eight quires 
 is foimed, which is from 15 to 18 inches hish. This mass is drawn into the press, and 
 exposed to a force of 100 tons or upwards. After it is sufficiently compressed, the 
 machine is relaxed, and the elasticity of the flannel makes the rammer descend (if a hy- 
 draulic press be used) with considerable rapidity. The felts are then drawn out on the 
 other side by an operative called a layer, who places each felt in succession upon one 
 board, and esnh sheet of paper upon another. The coucher takes immediate possession 
 of the felts for his further operations. . 
 
 Two men at a vat, and a boy as a layer or lifter, can make about 6 or 8 reams in JU 
 hours. In the evening the whole paper made during the day is put into another press, 
 and subjected to moderate compression, in order to g.et quit of the mark of the felt, and 
 more of the water. Next day it is all separated, a process called parting, and being again 
 pressed, is carried into the loft. Fine papers are often twice parted and pressed, in order 
 ,o give them a proper surface. . _ 
 
 The next operation is the drying, which is performed in the following way. V osts 
 
 '■M 
 
332 PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 about 10 or 12 feet high are erected at the distance of ten feet from each other, and 
 pierced with holes six inches apart ; two spars with ropes stretched between them, at 
 the distance of 5 inches from one another, called a treble or tribble, are placed about 5 
 feet high between these posts, supported by pins pushed into the holes in the posts. 
 The workman takes up 4 or 8 sheets of paper, and puts them upon a piece of wood in 
 the form of a T ; passing this T between the ropes, he shifts the sheets upon them, ana 
 proceeds thus till all the ropes are full. He then raises the treble, and puts another in 
 its place, which he fills and raises in like manner. Nine or ten trebles are placed in every 
 tet of posts. The sides of the drying-room have proper shutters, which can be opened to 
 any angle at pleasure. 
 
 When the paper is dry, it is taken down, and laid neatly in heaps to be sized. Size 
 is made of pieces of skin, cut off by the curriers before tanning, or sheep's feet, or any 
 other matter containing much gelatine. These substances are boiled in a copper to a 
 jelly ; to which, when strained, a small quantity of alum is added. The workman then 
 takes about 4 quires of paper, spreads them out in the size properly diluted with water, 
 taking care that they be equally moistened. This is rather a nice operation. The super- 
 fluous size is then pressed out, and the paper is parted into sheets. After being once 
 snore pressed* it is transferred to the drying-room, but must not be dried too quickly. 
 Three days are required for this purpose. When the paper is thoroughly dry, it is carried 
 to the finishing-house, and is again pressed pretty hard. It is then picked by women with 
 small knives, in order to take out the knots, and separate the perfect from the imperfect 
 sheets. It is again pressed, given to the finisher, to be counted into reams, and done up. 
 These reams are compressed, tied up, and sent to the warehouse for sale. A good finisher 
 can count 200 reams, or 96,000 sheets in a day. 
 
 Hot pressing is executed by placing a sheet of paper between two smoothed paste- 
 boards, alternately, and between every 50 pasteboards a heated plate of iron, and 
 subjecting the pile to the press. This communicates a fine smooth surface to writing- 
 paper. 
 
 The grain of the paper is often disfigured by the felts, when they are too much used, 
 or when the loose fibres do not cover the twisted thread. The two sides of the felt are 
 differently raised, and that on which the fibres are longest is applied to the sheets which 
 are laid down. As the felts have to resist the reiterated action of the press, their warp 
 should be made stout, of long combed wool, and well twisted. The woof, however, 
 should be of carded wool, and spun into a soft thread, so as to render the fabric spongy, 
 and capable of imbibing much water. 
 
 This operose and delicate process of moulding the sheets of paper by hand, has for 
 nearly thirty years past been performed, in many manufactories, by a machine which pro- 
 duces it in a continuous sheet of indefinite length which is afterwards cut into suitable 
 sizes, by the Paper-cutting Machine. 
 
 In 1799, Louis Eobert, then employed in the paper works of Essonne in France, con. 
 trived a machine to make paper of a great size, ha continuous motion, and obtained for 
 it a patent for 15 years, with a sum of 8000 franc s from the French government, as a re- 
 ward for his ingenuity. The specification of this patent is published in the second volume 
 of Brevets d' Invention expires. M. Leger-Didot, then director of the said works, bought 
 Robert's machine and patent for 25,000 francs, to be paid by instalments. Having be- 
 come proprietor of this machine, which, though imperfect, contained the germ of a val. 
 uable improvement in paper-making, M. Didot came over with it to England, where he 
 entered into several contracts for constructing and working it. 
 
 Meanwhile M. L. Didot having failed to fulfil his obligations to Eobert, the latter 
 instituted a law-suit, and recovered possession of his patent by a decision dated 23d 
 June, 1810. Didot then sent over to Paris the Repertory of Arts, for Sept. 1808, 
 which contained the specification of the English patent, with instructions to a friend to 
 secure the improved machines described in it, by a French patent. The patent was 
 obtained, but became inoperative in consequence of M. L. Didot failing to return to 
 France, as he had promised, so as to mount the patent machine within the two years 
 required by the French patent law. It was not till 1815, that M. Calla, machine- 
 maker at Paris, constructed the paper apparatus known in England by the name of 
 Fourdrinier's, and which, on the authority of the Dictionnaire Technologique, was very 
 imperfect in comparison of an English made machine imported about that time into 
 France. La construction, de ces machines, qui n'offre pourtant Hen de difficile, est restee 
 jusqu' a, cejour exclusivement dans les mains des Jnglais, is the painful acknowledgment 
 pade in 1829, for his countrymen, by the author of the elaborate article Papeterie in that 
 national work. If there be nothing difficult in the construction of these machines, the 
 French mechanicians ought to be ashamed of forcing their countrymen to seek the sole STip. 
 ply of them in England; for the principal paper works in France, as those of MM. Canson, 
 Montgolfier, Thomas Varenne, Firmin Didot, Delcambre, De Maupeon, &c, are mounted 
 with English-made machines 
 
PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 333 
 
 The following, for example, are a few of the paper-mills in France which are mounted 
 frith the self-acting machines of Messrs. Bryan Donkin & Co. 
 
 Messrs. Canson, at Annonay. 
 
 M. de la Place, at Jean d'Heures, Bar-le-duc. 
 
 Societe anonyme, at Sainte Marie, under M. Delatouche 
 
 Echarcon pres Mennecy, (Seine et Oise). 
 
 Firmin Didot, Mesnil sur l'Estree. 
 
 M. F. M. Montgolfier, a Annonay. 
 
 Muller, Bouchard, Ondin and Co's., at Gueures, near Dieppe. 
 
 MM. Richard et Coriip. a Plainfoing. 
 
 M. Callot-Bellisle ; Vieuze et Chantoiseau. 
 
 M. Beche'taile, near St. Etienne, at Bourg Argental. 
 
 It deserves particularly to be remarked, to the honor of English mechanism, that the 
 proprietors of the first five of the above works received gold medals at the last exposi- 
 tion of their papers at the Louvre, and all the rest received medals either of silver o) 
 bronze.* , 
 
 The following is a true narrative of the rise and progress of the paper automaton. 
 
 M. Leger Didot, accompanied by Mr. John Gamble, an Englishman who had resided 
 for several years in Paris, obtained permission from the French government, in 1800, to 
 carry over the small working model of Robert's continuous machiae, with the view of get- 
 ting the benefit of English capital and mechanical skill to bring it into an operative state 
 upon the great scale. Fortunately for the vigorous development of this embryo project, 
 which had proved an abortion in France, they addressed themselves, on the one hand, to 
 a mercantile firm equally opulent and public spirited, and on the other, to engineers dis- 
 tinguished for persevering energy and mechanical resource. A first patent was granted 
 to Mr. Gamble on the 20th of April, 1801, and a second, foe certain improvements upon 
 the former, on the 7th of June, 1803. In January, 1804, Mr. Gamble, for certain consid- 
 erations, assigned these two patents to Messrs. Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier, the house 
 above alluded to, who were at that period, and for several years afterwards, the most con- 
 siderable stationers and paper-makers in Great Britain. By an act of parliament passed 
 on the 4th of August, 1807, Mr. Gamble's privilege of 14 years from April, 1801, was 
 prolonged to 15 years after the date of the act, being an extension of about 7 years upon 
 the original patent. 
 
 The proprietors showed good reasons, in the enormous expense of their experiments, 
 and the national importance of the object, why the patent should have been extended 14 
 years from the latter date, and would have obtained justice from parliament in this respect, 
 but for an unworthy artifice of Lord Lauderdale in the House of Lords. " He, and he 
 only, was the person who took the objection," and, by introducing a regulation in a stand- 
 ing order of the House of Lords, that none but the original inventor should have an ex- 
 tension, though Mr. H. Fourdrinier was the inventor substantially of the operative 
 machine, he defeated the honorable intentions of his brother peers, whose committee said, 
 " We will give seven years, and Mr. Fourdrinier may apply again, if it should turn out 
 that the seven years that we propose to give to Mr. Fourdrinier should not give sufficient 
 time to afford any chance of his receiving any remuneration for the expense that he has 
 incurred in introducing this invention." The bill passed in the House of Commons for 
 14 years, but it was limited by this nise of Lord Lauderdale to 7, <f who put the standing 
 order upon the books (of the upper house) which prevented Messrs. Fourdrinier from 
 having any benefit from the invention. f 
 
 In February, 1808, Mr. Gamble, after losing both his time and money savings 'during 
 eight years of irksome diligence, assigned over to Messrs. Fourdrinier the whole right of 
 his share in the patent to which he was entitled under the act of parliament. 
 
 Dartford in Kent, which had been long conspicuous as the seat of a good manufactoi-y 
 of paper and paper moulds, was selected by the proprietors of the patent as the fittest 
 place for realizing their plans ; and happily for them it possessed, in Mr. Hall's engineer- 
 ing establishment, every tool requisite for constructing the novel automaton, and in his 
 assistant, Mr. Bryan Donkin, a young and zealous mechanist, who, combining precision 
 of workmanship with fertility of invention, could turn his local advantages to the best 
 account. To this gentleman, aided by the generous confidence of Messrs. Fourdrinier, 
 the glory of rearing to a stately manhood the helpless bantling of M. L. Didot is entirely 
 due. In 1803j after nearly three years of intense application, he produced a self-acting 
 machine for making an endless web of paper, which was erected at St. Neot's under the 
 superintendence of Mr. Gamble, and performed in such a manner as to surprise every 
 beholder. 
 Since that important era Mr. Donkin has steadily devoted his whole mind and means 
 
 * Rapport de Jury Central, par M. Le Baron Charles Dupin, vol. ii. p. 278 ; Pans. ISSfl. 
 t See this sl.abby piece of diplomacy unveiled in the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Com 
 iniLt.ee of the House of Commons on Fourdrinier's patent ; Mav, 1837. 
 
334 
 
 PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 to the progressive improvement of this admirable apparatus ; and has, by the unfailing 
 -^gularity, precision, promptitude, and productiveness of its work, earned for himself » 
 place along with Watt, Wedgewood, and Arkwright, in the temple of mechanical fame. 
 
 " La France," says a late official eulogist of her arts, and interpreter of her senti. 
 ments, " ne craint plus la rivalite des autres peuples pour la fabrication des divers genres 
 de papiers et de cartons."* After this boast, one would not expect to hear him imme- 
 diately confess that in 1823 his country possessed only one manufactory of the papier 
 coiitinu, containing one of the Fourdrinier machines made at London by Mr. Donkin, for 
 M. Canson, at Vidalon-les-Annonay ; that in 1827 there were only 4 of these machines 
 in France, and that in 1834 there were not many more than a dozen. He justly 
 observes, that " this mode, being more economical, more rapid, and more powerful, will 
 become henceforth the only one which can be practised without loss. Then will disap- 
 pear the ancient system of hand-work, which likewise involved the inconveniences, we 
 may say dangers, resulting from combinations among the operatives. The machine-made 
 papers possess many advantages : they can receive, so to jpeak, unlimited dimensions ; 
 they preserve a perfectly uniform thickness throughout all their length; they may be 
 fabricated in every season of the year ; nor do they require to be sorted, trimmed, and 
 hung up in the drying-house, operations which occasioned great waste, amounting to no 
 less than one defective sheet out of every five. The continuous paper at one time 
 retained the impression of the wire-wove web on its under side ; a defect from which it 
 has been freed by a pressure apparatus of Mr. Donkin, recently imported from England 
 by M. Delatouche." 
 
 It appears from documents presented to a committee of the House of Lords in /807, 
 that the Messrs. Fourdrinier had, by that time, withdrawn from their stationary business 
 the large sum of 60,000/., to further the object of their patent; so many difficulties did 
 they encounter in bringing the machinery to its then comparatively complete state, and so 
 little encouragement or support did they receive from the paper manufacturers throughout 
 the kingdom. 
 
 The patentees laid a statement before the public in 1806, containing the following 
 comparative estimate of the expense attending seven vats, and that attending a machine 
 employed upon paper sized in the engine, performing the same quantity of work as seven 
 vats, at the rate of 12 hours daily. 
 
 A MACHINE. 
 
 
 
 Day. 
 
 Week. 
 
 Month. 
 
 Year 
 
 
 9. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ «. d. 
 
 £ j. d. 
 
 Journeymen .... 
 
 3 6 
 
 2 2 
 
 8 8 
 
 109 4 
 
 2 Ditto . 
 
 • ■ . 
 
 2 6 
 
 1 10 
 
 6 
 
 78 
 
 2 Finishers . 
 
 • • 
 
 3 6 
 
 2 2 
 
 8 8 
 
 109 4 
 
 2 Dry workers 
 
 • • • 
 
 3 6 
 
 2 2 
 
 8 8 
 
 109 4 
 
 Parters (none) 
 
 • . • 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fire (none) 
 
 • • • 
 
 
 
 
 
 Felting 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 Washing, ditto 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Wire . 
 
 . . - 
 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 . 1 Man, to keep in repair the mill ) 
 and machine . . 5 
 
 Total 9 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 
 7 16 
 
 31 4 
 
 734 12 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Expense of 7 vats per annum (see next page) is . . 2,604 12 
 
 A machine doing 7 vats' work, is, per annum . 
 
 . 734 12 
 
 Balance saved by the machine per annum . 
 
 . £1,870 ■ 
 
 N. B. — There are other advantages, to the amount of full 400Z. per annum, of which 
 
 manufacturers are well aware, although not taken into this calculation. 
 
 * Rapport de Jury Central, sur les Produits de Hndustrie Franchise exposfi en 1834, par Le Baron Charlei 
 Dupni, Membre c'e FInstitut, Rapporteur-gfinfiral et Vice President du Jury Central ; ii. 278. 
 
PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 335 
 
 SEVEN VATS. 
 
 
 
 Day. 
 
 Week. 
 
 Month 
 
 Year. 1 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ a. d. 
 
 £ 
 
 y. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 1 
 
 7 Vatmen, at 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 6 16 6 
 
 27 
 
 6 
 
 354 18 
 
 7 Couchers 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 6 9 6 
 
 25 
 
 18 
 
 336 14 
 
 7 Layers ... 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 6 9 6 
 
 25 
 
 18 
 
 336 14 
 
 3 Finishers .... 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 12 
 
 14 
 
 8 
 
 187 4 
 
 6 Dry workers - - - - 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 5 11 
 
 22 
 
 4 
 
 288 12 
 
 3 Men to go to press, &c. - 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 2 5 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 117 
 
 7 Parters (women) - . - 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 2 16 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 145 12 
 
 Fire 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 364 
 
 Felting - - - - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 140 
 
 Washing ditto, oil, soap, fire, &c. 
 
 
 
 1 11 5 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 81 18 
 
 Moulds - - - - - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 140 
 
 1 Man, and expenses of repairing, } 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 in keeping in order 7 vats, vat- > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
 presses, &c. ) 
 Total 41 persons. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 42 11 
 
 170 
 
 4 2,604 
 
 In the same statement, it was shown that the expense of making paper by hand is 16s. 
 per cwt., whereas by their machine it is cmly 3s. 9d. ; so that upon 432,000 cwts. the 
 quantity annually made in Great Britain and Ireland (as founded upon the fact that one 
 vat can make 480 cwts. of paper, and that there were 900 vats in the kingdom), the 
 annual saving by the machine would be 264,600/., or 345,600/. — 81,000/. 
 
 In a second statement laid before the public in 1807, the patentees observe that their 
 recently improved machine, from its greater simplicity, may be erected at a considerably 
 reduced expense. " Mr. Donkin, the engineer, will engage to furnish machines of the 
 dimensions specified below, with all the present improvements, at the prices specified 
 below. 
 
 
 Inches. 
 
 If driven by straps. 
 
 £ 
 
 715 
 845 
 940 
 995 
 
 3 or 4 vats .... 
 
 6 ditto .... 
 
 8 ditto .... 
 
 12 ditto .... 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 44 
 54 
 
 between the deckles 
 ditto ditto 
 ditto ditto 
 ditto ditto 
 
 
 
 If driven by wheels. 
 
 
 3 or 4 vats .... 
 6 ditto .... 
 8 ditto - 
 12 ditto - 
 
 30 
 40 
 44 
 
 54 
 
 between the deckles 
 ditto ditto 
 ditto ditto 
 ditto ditto 
 
 750 
 880 
 980 1 
 1,040 , 
 
 " Instead of 5 men, formerly employed upon 1 machine, 3 are now (in 1813) fully 
 sufficient, without requiring that degree of attention and skill which was formerly indis- 
 pensable. 
 
 " In 1806 the machine was capable of doing the work of 6 vats in twelve hours ; it 
 is, however, now capable of doing double that quantity, at one fourth of the expense. 
 For by the various improvements enumerated above, the consumption of wire is reduced 
 nearly one half, and lasts above double the time ; the quantity of paper produced is 
 doubled; and, taking into consideration the work which is now performed by the men 
 over and above their immediate attendance upon the machine, it may be fairly stated, that 
 the number of men is reduced to one half; consequently the expense of wire and labor 
 is reduced to one fourth of what it was. 
 
 " The other advantages incidental to the nature of the process of making paper by this 
 machine, may be classed in the following order : — 
 
 " 1st. That the paper is much superior in strength, firmness, and appearance, to any 
 which can be made by hand of the same material. 
 
 "2d. It requires less drying, less pressing and parting, and consequently comes soonei 
 to market; for it receives a much harder pressure from the machine than can possibly 
 be given by any vat press, and is therefore not only drier, but, on account of the close- 
 ness and firmness of texture, even the moisture which remains is far sooner evaporated, 
 on exposure to the air, than it would be from the more spongy or bibulous paper made 
 by hand. 
 
336 PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 "The superior pressure, and the circumstance of one side of the paper passing undei 
 the polished surface of one of the pressing rollers, contribute to that smoothness which 
 in hand-made papers can only be obtained by repeated parting and pressing ; consequentl; 
 a great part of the time necessarily spent in these operations is saved, and the papei 
 sooner finished and ready for market. 
 
 "3dly. The quantity of broken paper and retree is almost nothing compared with what 
 is made at the vats. 
 
 " 4th. The machine makes paper with cold water. 
 
 " 5th. It is durable, and little subject to be out of repair. The machine at Two Waters, 
 in Hertfordshire, for the last three years, has not cost 10/. a year in repairs. 
 
 " 6th. As paper mills are almost universally wrought by streams, which vary con- 
 siderably in their power from time to time, there will result from this circumstance a 
 very important advantage in the adoption of the machine. The common paper mil] 
 being limited by its number of vats, no advantage can be taken of the frequent accessions 
 of power which generally happen in the course of the year; but, on the contrary, as 
 scarcely any mills are capable of preparing stuff for twelve vats, every accession of power 
 to the mill, where a machine is employed, will increase its produce without any additional 
 expense. 
 
 " 7th. The manufacturer can suspend or resume his work at pleasure ; and he is be- 
 sides effectually relieved from the perplexing difficulties and loss consequent upon the 
 perpetual combinations for the increase of wages." 
 
 It is a lamentable fact, that the attention required to mature this valuable invention, 
 and the large capital which it absorbed, led ultimately to the bankruptcy of this opulent 
 and public-spirited company ; after which disaster no patent dues were collected, though 
 twelve suits in Chancery were instituted ; these being mostly unsuccessful, on account 
 of some paltry technical objections made to their well-specified patent, by that un- . 
 x scientific judge Lord Tenterden. The piratical tricks practised by many considerable 
 paper-makers against the patentees are humiliating to human nature in a civilized and 
 soi-disant Christian community. Many of them have owned, since the bankruptcy of 
 the house removed the fear of prosecution, that they owed them from 2000/. to 3000/. 
 apiece. 
 
 Nothing can place the advantage of the Fourdrinier machine in a stronger point of 
 view, than the fact of there being 280 of them now at work in the United Kingdom; 
 making collectively 1600 miles of paper, of from 4 to 5 feet broad, every day ; that they 
 have lowered the price of paper 50 per cent., and that they have increased the revenue, 
 directly and indirectly, by a sum of probably 400,000/. per annum. The tissue paper 
 made by the machine is particularly useful for communicating engraved impressions to 
 pottery ware ; before the introduction of which there was but a miserable substitute. 
 Messrs. R. and J. Clewes, of Cobridge potteries, in a letter to Messrs. Fourdrinier, state, 
 " that had not an improvement taken place in the manufacture of paper, the new style 
 of engraving would have been of no use, as the paper previously used was of too coarse 
 a nature to draw from the fair engravings any thing like a clear or perfect impression ; 
 and the Staffordshire potteries, in our opinion, as well as the public at large, are deeply 
 indebted to you for the astonishing improvement that has recently taken place, both a 
 regards china and earthenware, more particularly the latter." The following rates of 
 prices justify the above statement : — 
 
 1814. 
 
 1822. 
 
 1833. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. d 
 
 12 
 
 9 6 
 
 7 
 
 16 3 
 
 12 
 
 8 9 
 
 Demy pottery tissue 
 Royal - - 
 
 " We have adopted a new mode of printing on china and earthenware, which, but foi 
 your improved system of making tissue paper, must have utterly failed ; our patent ma- 
 chine requiring the paper in such lengths as were impossible to make on the old plan. 
 On referring to our present stock, we find we have one sheet of your paper more than 
 1200 yards long. Signed, Machin and Potts s Burslem, February 25th, 1834." 
 
 I have had the pleasure of visiting more than once the mechanical workshops of 
 Messrs. Bryan Donkin and Co. in Bermondsey, and have never witnessed a more 
 admirable assortment of exquisite and expensive tools, each adapted to perform its part 
 ivith despatch and mathematical exactness, though I have seen probably the best 
 machine factories of this country and the Continent." The man of science will appreciate 
 this statement, and may perhaps be surprised to learn that the grand mural circle of 
 7 feet diameter, made by Troughton, for the Royal Observatory of Greenwich, was turned 
 with final truth upon a noble lathe in. the said establishment. It has supplied no fewer 
 than 133 complete automatic paper machines, each of a value of from 1200/. to 2000/., 
 to different manufactories, not only in the United Kingdom, but in all parts of the 
 civilized world ; as mentioned in the second paragraph of the present article. Each 
 
PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 337 
 
 •»8 
 
 
 (je 
 
 91: 
 
 Vol. 
 
 machine is capable of making, tinder the impulsion of anj 
 
 grime mover, all unwatched by a human eye, and unguided by 
 
 a human hand, from 20 to 50 feet in length, by 5 ieet broad, 
 
 of most equable paper in one minute. Of paper of average 
 
 thickness, it turns off 30 feet. 
 
 .Fig. 1038 is an upright longitudinal section, representing the 
 
 1 machine in its most complete state, including the drying steam 
 
 I cylinders, and the compound channelled rollers of Mr. Wilks, 
 
 I subsequently to be described in detail. The figure in the upper 
 | line shows it all in train, when the paper is to be wound up 
 
 f^i | wet upon the reels e, e, which being moveable round the centre 
 
 I I of a swing-bar, are presented empty, time about, to receive 
 * the tender web. The figure in the under line contains the 
 I steam or drying cylinders ; the points o o, of whose frame, 
 ji replace, at the points P, i", the wet reel frame, P F, p. 
 
 a is the vat, or receiver of pulp from the stuff-chest. 
 
 b is the knot strainpr of 
 Ibotson (p. 341.), to cleai the 
 pulp before passing on to the 
 wire. 
 
 g is the hog, or agitator in 
 the vat. The arrows show 
 the course of the currents of 
 the pulp in the vat. 
 
 i is the apron, or receiver 
 of the water and pulp which 
 escape through the endless 
 wire, and which are returned 
 by a scoop-wheel into the vat. 
 
 6 is the copper lip of the vat, 
 over which the pulp flows to 
 the endless wire, on a leathern 
 apron extending from this lip 
 to about nine inches over the 
 wire, to support the pulp and 
 prevent its escaping. 
 
 c, c are the bars which beat 
 up the small tube rollers that 
 support the wire. 
 
 d, d are ruler bars to suppoi ' 
 the copper rollers over whici 
 the wire revolves. 
 
 E is the breast roller, round 
 
 which the endless wire turns. 
 
 N is the point where the 
 
 shaking motion is given to the 
 
 machine. 
 
 M is the guide roller, having 
 its pivots moveable laterally 
 to adjust the wire and keep it 
 O parallel, 
 t is the pulp roller, or, " dandy," to press out water, and to 
 | set the paper, r, is the place of the second, when it is used. 
 h is the first or wet press, or couching rollers ; the wire 
 | leaves the paper here, which latter is couched upon the 
 | endless felt p; and the endless wire o returns, passing 
 | round the lower couch roller. By Mr. Donkin's happy inven- 
 tion of placing these rollers obliquely, the water runs freely 
 |away, which it did not do when their axes were in a vertical 
 ''line. 
 
 e, e are the deckles, which form the edges of the sheet of 
 | paper, and prevent the pulp passing away laterally. They 
 Iregulate the width of the endless sheet. 
 f,f are the revolving deckle straps. 
 h is the deckle guide, or driving-pulley. 
 , g, g are tube rollers, over which the wire passes, which do 
 ^not partake of the shaking motion ; and, 
 
 23 
 
338 
 
 PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 A, h are moveable rollers for stretching the wire, or Drass carriages for keeping tlw 
 rollers g, g in a proper position, 
 c is the second press, or dry press, to expel the water in a cold state. 
 x, k, &c, in the view of the lower line, are the steam cylinders for drying the endless t 
 sheet. 
 i, i are rollers to convey the paper. 
 
 j, j are rollers to conduct the felt ; which serves to support the paper, and prevent it 
 wrinkling or becoming cockled. 
 
 d, d are the hexagonal expanding reels for the steam-dried paper web, one only being 
 ised at a time, and made to suit different sizes of sheets. I is their swing fulcrum. 
 f, f, f, f, is the frame of the machine. 
 
 The deckle straps are worthy of particular notice in this beautiful machine. Thej 
 are composed of many layers of cotton tape, each one inch broad, and together one 
 half inch thick, cemented with caoutchouc, so as to be at once perfectly flexible and 
 water-tight. 
 
 The upper end of each of the two carriages of the roller i is of a forked shape, and 
 the pivots of the roller are made to turn in the cleft of the forked carriages in sti-ch a 
 manner, that the roller may be prevented from having any lateral motion, while it possesses 
 a free vibratory motion upwards and downwards ; the whole weight of the roller i being 
 borne by the endless web of woven wire. 
 
 The greatest difficulty formerly experienced in the paper manufacture upon the 
 continuous system of Fourdrinier, was to remove the moisture from the pulp, and condense 
 it with sufficient rapidity, so as to prevent its becoming what is called water-galled, and 
 to permit the web to proceed directly to the drying cylinders. Hitherto no invention has 
 answered so well in practice to remove this difficulty as the channelled and perforated 
 pulp rollers or dandies of Mr. John Wilks, the ingenious partner of Mr. Donkin ; for 
 which a patent was obtained in 1830. Suppose one of these rollers (see x, in fig. 1 038 
 and M, m, in ./tg.l043)is required for a machine which is to make paper 54 inches wide, 
 it must be about 60 inches long, so that its extremities (see figs. 1039 and 1040) may extend 
 over or beyond each edge of the sheet of paper upon which it is laid. Its diameter may 
 be 7 inches. About 8 grooves, each l-16th of an inch wide, are made in every inch of 
 the tube ; and they are cut to half the thickness of the copper, with a rectangularly 
 shaped tool. A succession of ribs and grooves are thus formed throughout the whole 
 length of the tube. A similar succession is then made across the' former, but of 24 in. 
 the inch, and oh the opposite surface of the metal, which by a peculiar mode of manage- 
 ment had been prepared for that purpose. As the latter grooves are cut as deep as the 
 former, those on the inside meet those on the outside, crossing each other at right angles, 
 and thereby producing so many square holes j leaving a series of straight copper ribs on 
 the interior surface of the said tube, traversed by another series of ribs coiled round 
 them on the outside, forming a cylindrical sieve made of one piece of metal. The 
 rough edges of all the ribs must be rounded off with a smooth file into a semi-circular 
 
 form. Figs. 1039, and 1040. A A, are por- 
 tions of the ribbed copper tube. Fig. 1039 
 shows the exterior, and fig. 1040 the in- 
 terior surface ; b, b and 6, 6 show the plain 
 part at each of the ends, where it is made 
 fast to the brass rings by rivets or screws ; 
 c, c are the rings with arms, and a centre 
 piece in each, for fixing the iron pivot or 
 shaft b; one such pivot is fixed by rivet- 
 ing it in each of the centre pieces of the 
 rings, as shown at c, fig. 1040 ; so that both 
 the said pieces shall be concentric with the 
 rings, and have one common axis with each 
 other, and with the roller. At a, a, a 
 groove is turned in each of the pivots, for 
 the purpose of suspending a weight by a 
 hook, in order to increase the pressure up- 
 on the paper, whenever it may be found 
 necessary. 
 
 Fig. 1041 is an end view, showing the 
 copper tube and its internal ribs A, a ; the 
 brass rings c, c ; arm d, d, d ; centre piece E, 
 and pivot n. Fig. 1042 is a section of the 
 said ring, with the arms, &c. 
 
 The roller is shown at l, fig. 1038, as 
 lying upon the surface of the wire-web. 
 
 I 
 
 <' 
 
PAPER-MAKING MACHINE. 
 
 339 
 
 The relative position of that perforated roller, and the little rolltr b, over which 
 it lies, is such that the axis of I. is a little to one side of the axis of b, and not in the 
 same vertical plane, the latter being about an inch nearer the vat end. Hence, when- 
 ever the wire-web is set in progressive motion, it will cause the roller t to revolve upon 
 its surface ; and as the paper is progressively made, it will pass onwards with the web 
 under the surface of the roller.' Thus the pulpy layer of paper is condensed by 
 compression under the ribbed roller; while it transmits its moisture through the 
 perforations, it becomes sufficiently compact to endure the action of the wet press 
 rollers H, h, and also acquires the appearance of parallel lines, as if made by hand in a 
 laid mould. 
 
 Mr. Wilks occasionally employs a second perforated roller in the same paper machine, 
 which is then placed at the dotted lines i, i, i. 
 
 The patentee has described in the same specification a most ingenious modification of 
 the said roller, by which he can exhaust the air from a hollowed portion of its periphery, 
 and cause the paper in its passage over the roller to undergo the sucking operation of 
 the partial void, so as to be remarkably condensed ; but he has not been called upon to 
 apply this second invention, in consequence of the perfect success which he has experi- 
 enced in the working of the first. 
 
 The following is a more detailed illustration of Mr. Wilks' improved roller. 
 Fig. 1043 represents two parts of his double-cased exhausting cylinder. 
 
 This consists of two copper tubes, 
 one nicely lining the other; the^ inner > 
 being punched full of round holes, as 
 at K, k, where that tube is shown un- 
 covered ; a portion of the inner sur- 
 face of the same tube is shown at 
 i., l. In this figure also, two portions 
 of the outer tube are shown at m, m, 
 and n, N ; the former being an external, 
 and the latter an internal view. Here 
 we see that the external tube is the 
 ribbed perforated one already described ; 
 the holes in the inner tube being made 
 in rows to correspond with the grooves 
 in the outer. The holes are so dis- 
 tributed that every hole in one row shall 
 be opposite to the middle of the space 
 left between two holes in the next row, 
 as will appear from inspection of the 
 figure. The diameter of each of the 
 punched holes somewhat exceeds the 
 width of each rib in the inside of the 
 outer cylinder, and every inside groove 
 of this tube coincides with a row of 
 holes in the former, which construction 
 permits the free transudation or perco 
 lation of the water out of the pulp. At each end of this double-case cylinder, a part is 
 left at N, N, plain without, and grooved merely in the inside of the outer tube. The 
 smooth surface allows the brass ends to be securely fixed ; the outer edge of the brass 
 rin« fits tight into the inside of the end of the cylinders. 
 
 On the inside of each of these rings there are four pieces which project towards the 
 centre or axis of the cylinder ; two of which pieces are shown at a, a, fig. 1043 in 
 section, b, b, is a brass ring with four arms r, c, c, c, and a boss or centre piece d, d. 
 The outer edge of the last-mentioned ring is also turned cylindrical, and of such a 
 diameter as to fit the interior of the former ring o, o. The two rings are securely 
 held together by four screws. «, e is the hollow iron axle or shaft upon which the 
 cylinder revolves. Its outside is made truly cylindrical, so as to fit the circular holes 
 in the bosses d, d, of the rings and arms at each end of the cylinder. Hence, if the 
 hollow shaft be so fixed that it will not turn, the perforated cylinder is capable of having 
 a rotatory motion given to it round that shaft. This motion is had recourse to, when the 
 vacuum apparatus is employed. But otherwise the cylinder is made fast to the hollow 
 axle by means of two screw clamps. To one end of the cylinder, as at p, a toothed wheel 
 is attached, for communicating a rotatory motion to it, so that its surface motion shall be 
 the same as that of the paper web ; otherwise a rubbing motion might ensue, which would 
 wear and injuie both. 
 
 The paper stuff or pulp is allowed to flow from the vat A, Jig. 1038 on to the surface of 
 the endless wire-web, as this is moving along. The lines o, o, fig. 1038 show the course of 
 
340 PAPER-PULP STRAINER. 
 
 the motion of the web, which operates as a sieve, separating to a certain degree the watet 
 from the pulp, yet leaving the latter in a wet state till it arrives at the first pair of press 
 ing rollers h, h, between which the web with its sheet of paper is squeezed. Thick 
 paper, in passing through these rollers, was formerly often injured by becoming water 
 galled, from the greater retention of water in certain places than in others. But Messrs. 
 Donkin's cylinder, as above described, has facilitated 'vastly the discharge of the water, 
 and enabled the manufacturer to turn off a perfectly uniform smooth paper. 
 
 In fig. 1038, immediately below the perforated cylinder, there is a wooden water 
 trough. Along one side of the trough a copper pipe is laid, of the sam« 
 length as the cylinder, and parallel to it; the distance between them being aboui 
 one fourth of an inch. The side of the pipe facing the cylinder is perforated with a 
 line of small holes, which transmit a great many jets of water against the surface of the 
 cylinder, in order to wash it and keep it clean during the whole continuance of the 
 process. 
 
 The principle adopted by John Dickinson, Esq., of Nash Mill, for making paper, 
 is different from that of Fourdrinier It consists in causing a polished hollow 
 brass cylinder, perforated with holes or slits, and covered with wire cloth, to revolve 
 over and just in contact with the prepared pulp : so that by connecting the cylinder 
 with a vessel exhausted of its air, the film of pulp, which adheres to the cylinder 
 during its rotation, becomes gently pressed, whereby the paper is supposed to be ren- 
 dered drier, and of more uniform thickness, than upon the horizontal hand mo—ds, 
 or travelling wire cloth of Fourdrinier. When subjected merely to agitation, the water 
 is sucked inwards through the cylindric cage, leaving the textile filaments so completely 
 interwoven as, if felted among each other, that they will not separate without breaking, 
 and, when dry, they will form a sheet of paper of a strength and quality relative to the 
 nature and preparation of the pulp. The roll of paper thus formed upon the hollow 
 cylinder is turned off continuously upon a second solid one covered with felt, upon which 
 it is condensed by the pressure of a third revolving cylinder, and is thence delivered to 
 the drying rollers. 
 
 Such is the general plan of Mr. Dickinson's paper machines', into which he has intro- 
 duced numerous improvements since its invention in 1809, many of them secured by 
 patent right ; whereby he has been enabled to make papers of first-rate quality, more par- 
 ticularly for the printing-press. See infr&. 
 
 In July, 1830, Mr. Ibotson of Poyle, paper manufacturer, obtained a patent, see b, fig. 
 1038, which has proved very successful, for a peculiar construction of a sieve or strainer. 
 Instead of wire meshes, he uses a series of bars of gun-metal, laid in the bottom of a box, 
 very closely together, so that the upper surfaces or the flat sides may be in the same plane, 
 the edge of each bar being parallel with its neighbor, leaving parallel slits between them 
 of from about l-70lh to l-100th of an inch in width, according to the fineness or coarseness 
 of the paper-stuff to be strained. As this stuff is known to consist of an assemblage of 
 very fine flexible fibres of hemp, flax, cotton, &c, mixed with water, and as, even in the 
 pulp of which the best paper is made, the length of the said fibres considerably exceeds 
 the diameter of the meshes of which common strainers are formed, consequently the long- 
 est and most useful fibres were formerly lost to the paper manufacturer. Mr. Ibotson's 
 improved sieve is employed to strain the paper-stuff previously to its being used in the 
 machine above described, (see its place at B in the vat.) When the strainer is at work, 
 a quick vertical and lateral jogging motion is given to it. by machinery similar to the jog- 
 ging screens of corn mills. 
 
 Since the lateral shaking motion of the wire-web in the Fourdrinier machine, as origin- 
 ally made, was injurious to the" fabric of the paper, by bringing its fibies more closely 
 together breadthwise than lengthwise, thus tending to produce long ribs, or thick 
 streaks in its substance, Mr. George Dickinson, of Bucltland Mill, near Dover, proposed, 
 in the specification of a patent obtained in February, 1828, to give a rapid up-and-down 
 movement to the travelling web of pulp. He does not, however, define with much pre- 
 cision any proper mechanism for effecting this purpose, but claims every plan which 
 may answer this end. He proposes generally to mount the rollers, which conduct the 
 horizontal endless web, upon a vibrating frame. The forepart of this frame is attached 
 to the standards of the machine, by hinge joints, and the hinder part, or that upon 
 which the pulp is first poured out, is supported by vertical rods, connected with a 
 crank on a shaft below. Rapid rotatory motion being given to this crank-shaft, the 
 hinder part of the frame necessarily receives a quick up-and-down vibratory movement, 
 which causes the water to be shaken out from the web of pulp, and thus sets the fibres 
 of the paper with much greater equality than in the machines formerly constructed. A 
 plan similar to this was long ago introduced into Mr. Donkin's machines, in which the 
 vibrations were actuated in a much more mechanical way. 
 
 John Dickinson, Esq., of Nash Mill, obtained a patent in October, 1830, for a method of 
 nniting face to face two sheets of pulp by means of machinery, in order to produce papei 
 
PAPER-PULP STRAINER. 
 
 341 
 
 ef extraordinary thickness. Two vats are to be supplied with paper stuff as usual ; in 
 which two hollow barrels or drums are made to revolve upon axles driven by any first 
 mover; an endless felt is conducted by guide rollers, and brought into contact with the 
 drums ; the first drum gives off the sheet of paper pulp from its periphery to the felt, 
 which passing over a pressing roller, is conducted by the felt to that part of a second 
 drum which is in contact with another pressing roller. A similar sheet of paper pulp is 
 now given off from the second drum, and it is brought into contact with the former by the 
 pressure of its own roller. The two sheets of paper pulp thus united are carried forward 
 by the felt over a guide roller, and onward to a pair of pressing rollers, where by contact 
 the moist surfaces of the pulp are made to adhere, and to constitute one double thick 
 sheet of paper, which, after passing over the surfaces of hollow drums, heated by steam, 
 becomes dry and compact. The rotatory movements of the two pulp-lifting drums must 
 obviously be simultaneous, but that of the pressing rollers should be a little faster, because 
 the sheets extend by the pressure, and they should be drawn forward as fast as they are 
 delivered, otherwise creases would be formed. Upon this invention is founded Mr. Dick- 
 inson's ingenious method of making safety-paper for Post-office Stamps, by introducing 
 silk fibres, &c, between the two laminae. 
 
 The following contrivance of the same inventive manufacturer is a peculiarly elegant 
 mechanical arrangement, and is likely to conduce to the perfection of machine-made 
 paper. I have already described Mr. Ibotson's excellent plan of parallel slits, or gridiron 
 strainers, which has been found to form paper of superior quality, because it permits all 
 the elongated tenacious fibres to pass, which give strength to the paper, while it intercepts 
 the coarser knots and lumps of the paste, that were apt to spoil its surface. Mr. Turn- 
 er's circular wire sieves, presently to be noticed, may do good work, but they cannot com- 
 pete with Mr. Dickinson's present invention, which consists in causing the diluted paper 
 pulp to pass between longitudinal apertures, about the hundred-and-fifteenlh part of an 
 inch wide, upon the surface of a revolving cylinder. 
 
 The pulp being diluted to a consistency suitable for the paper machine, is delivered 
 into a vat, of which the level is regulated by a waste pipe, so as to keep it nearly full. 
 From this vat there is no other outlet for the pulp, except through the wire-work peri- 
 phery of the revolving cylinder, and thence out of each of its ends into troughs placed 
 alongside, from which it is conducted to the machine destined to convert it into a 
 paper web. 
 
 The revolving cylinder is constructed somewhat like a squirrel cage, of circular rods, 
 or an endless spiral wire, strengthened by transverse metallic bars, and so formed that the 
 spaces between the rings are sufficient to allow the slender fibres of the pulp to pass 
 through, but are narrow enough to intercept the knots and other coarse impurities, 
 which must of course remain, and accumulate in the vat. The spaces between the wires 
 •of the squirrel cage may vary from the interval above stated, which is intended for the 
 finest paper, to double the distance for the coarser kinds. 
 
 It has been stated that the pulp enters the revolving cylinders solely through the inter- 
 vals of the wires in the circumference of the cylinder; these wires or rods are about 
 three eighths of an inch broad without, and two eighths within, so that the circular slits 
 diverge internally. The rods are one quarter of an inch thick, and are riveted to the 
 transverse bars in each quadrant of their revolution, as well as at their ends to the 
 necks of the cylinder. 
 
 During the rotation of the cylinder, its interstices would soon get clogged with the 
 pulp, were not a contrivance introduced for creating a continual vertical agitation in the 
 inside of the cylinder. This is effected by the up-and-down motion of an interior agitator 
 or plunger, nearly long enough to reach from the one end of the cylinder to the other, 
 made of stout copper, and hollow, but water-tight. A metal bar passes through it, to 
 whose projecting arm at each end a strong link is fixed; by these two links it is hung to 
 two levers, in such a way that when the levers move up and down, they raise and depress 
 the agitator, but they can never make it strike the sides of the cylinde^ Being heavier 
 than its own bulk of water, the agitator, after being lifted by the levers, sinks suddenly 
 afterwards by its weight alone. 
 
 The agitator's range of up-and-down movement should be about one inch and a quarter, 
 and the number of its vibrations about 80 or 100 per minute ; the flow of the pulp through 
 the apertures is suddenly checked in its descent and promoted in its ascent, with the 
 effect of counteracting obstructions between the ribs of the cylinder. 
 
 The sieve cylinder has a toothed wheel fixed upon the tubular part of one of its ends, 
 which works between two metal flanches made fast to the wooden side of the vat, for 
 the purpose of keepins the pulp away from the wheel ; and it is made to revolve by a 
 pinion fixed on a spindle, which going across the vat, is secured by two plummer blocks 
 on the outside of the troughs, and has a rotatory motion given to it by an outside rigger 
 »r pulley, by means of a strap from the driving shaft, at the rate of 40 or 50 revolutions 
 
342 PArEK-PULP STRAINER. 
 
 per minute. This spindle has also two double eccentrics fixed upon it, immediate]) 
 under the levers, so that in every revolution it lifts those levers twice, and at the same 
 jme lifts the agitator. 
 
 The diameter of the sieve cylinder is not very material, tut 14 inches have been found 
 a convenient size ; its length must be regulated according to the magnitude of the machine 
 which it is destined to supply with pulp. One, four feet long in the cage part, is sufficient 
 to supply a machine of the largest size in ordinary use, viz., one capable of making paper 
 4 feet 6 inches wide. When the cylinder is of this length, it should have a wheel and 
 pinion at each end. 
 
 Metal flanches are firmly fixed to the sides of the vat, with a water-tight joint, and 
 form the bearings in which the cyliHer works. 
 
 Mr. Turner of Bermondsey, pap r-maker, obtained a patent in March, 183], for a 
 peculiar strainer, designed to arrest .he lumps mixed with the finer paper pulp, whereby 
 he can dispense with the usual vat and hog in which the pulp is agitated immediately 
 before it is floated upon the endless wire-web of the Fourdrinier apparatus. His strainer 
 may also be applied advantageously to hand paper machines. He constructs his sieves 
 of a circular form, by combining any desirable number of concentric rings cf metal, 
 with small openings between them, from the 50th to the 100th part of an inch wide. In 
 order to facilitate the passage of the fine pulp and water, the sieves receive a vibratory 
 motion up and down, which supersedes the hog employed in other paper-making 
 machines. 
 
 A mechanism to serve the same purpose as the preceding, in which Mr. Ibotson's plan 
 of a parallel rod-strainer is modified, was made the subject of a patent by Mr. Henry 
 Brewer, of Surrey Place, Southwark, in March, 1832. He constructs square boxes with 
 gridiron bottoms, and gives a powerful up-and-down vibration in the pulp tub, by levers, 
 rotatory shafts, and cranks. 
 
 As the contrivance is not deficient in ingenuity, and may be useful, I shall describe this 
 mode of adapting his improved strainers to a vat in which paper is to be made by hand 
 moulds. A hog (or churning rotator) is employed for the purpose of agitating the pulp 
 at the bottom of the vat, in which the sieve i» suspended from a crank-shaft, or in any 
 other way, so as to receive the up-and-down vibratory motion for the purpose of straining 
 the pulp. The pulp may be supplied from a chest, and passed through a ecck into 8 
 trough, by which it is conveyed to the strainers. 
 
 A pipe from the bottom of the vat leads into a lifter-box. which is designed to convey 
 thin pulp into the sieve, in order to dilute that which is delivered from the chest. This 
 pipe also allows the small lumps, called rolls; to be re-sifted. The pressure of the pulp 
 and water in the vat forces the pulp up the pipe into the lifter-box, whence it is taken 
 by rotatory lifters, and discharged into a trough, where it runs down and mixes witb 
 the thick pulp from the chest, as before mentioned. By these means the contents of 
 the vat are completely strained or sifted over again in the course of almost every 
 hour. < 
 
 A patent was obtained for a paper-pulp strainer by Mr. Joseph Amies, of Loose, in 
 the county of Kent, paper manufacturer, who makes the bottoms of his improved 
 strainers with plates of brass or other suitable metal, and forms the apertures for the fine 
 fibres of pulp to pass through, by cutting short slits through such plates, taking care 
 that as much metal is left between the ends of each short slit and the next following 
 as will properly brace or stiffen the ribs of the strainer ; and he prefers that the end of 
 one slit shall be nearly opposite to the middle of the two slits next adjoining it, which 
 is commonly called blocking the joints. This is for giving rigidity to the bottom of the 
 strainer, and constitutes the ma"in feature of his improvement. The hottoms of sieves 
 previously constructed with long metallic rods, he considers to be liable to lateial vibra- 
 tion in. use, and thus to have permitted knots and lumps to pass through their expanded 
 intervals. This objection is not applicable to Mr. Dickinson's squirrel-cage strainer, of 
 which the ribs may be made rigid by a sufficient number of transverse bars ; nor in fact 
 is it applicable tcTMr. Ibotson's original strainer, as it is admirably constructed by Messrs. 
 Donkin and Co. Each bar which they make being inflexible by a feathered rib, is render- 
 ed perfectly straight in its edge by grinding with emery upon a flat disc-wheel of block tin, 
 and of invariable length, by a most ingenious method of turning each set of bars in a 
 lathe. The bars are afterwards adjusted in the metallic sieve-frame, or chest, at any 
 desired distance apart, from the 120th to the 60th of an inch, in such a manner as secures 
 them from all risk of derangement by the vibratory or jogging motion in shaking, the 
 pulpy fibres through the lineal intervals between 1hem. 
 
 Mr. James Brown, paper manufacturer, of Esk mills, near Edinburgh, obtained a 
 patent in May, 1836, for a particular mode of applying suction to the pasty web in 
 the Fourdrinier's machine. He places a rectangular box transversely beneath the hori- 
 gonta] wire cloth, without the interposition of any perforated covering, such as had been 
 
PAPER CYLINDER MACHINE. 343 
 
 tried in the previously constructed vacuum machines, and which he considers to have 
 impeded their efficacy in condensing the pulp and extracting the water. 
 
 Upon this and all similar contrivances for making a partial vacuum under the pulpy 
 paper web, it may be justly remarked, that they are more apt to injure than improve the 
 texture of the article ; since when the suction is unequally operative, it draws down not 
 only the moisture, but many of the vegetable fibres, causing roughnesses, and even nu- 
 merous small perforations in the paper. 
 
 A modification of Mr. Dickinson's cylinder-mould continuous paper machine was 
 made the subject of a patent in Nov. 1830, by Mr. John Hall, jun., of Dartford, as 
 communicated to him by a foreigner residing abroad. The leading feature of the 
 invention is a mode of supplying the vat in which the wire cylinder is immersed with a 
 copious flow of water, for the purpose of creating a considerable pressure upon the exter- 
 nal surface of the cylinder, and thereby causing the fibres of the paper pulp to adhere to 
 the mould. 
 
 There is a semi-cylindrical trough, in which the mould is immersed, and made to 
 revolve by any convenient means. The pulp is transferred from tb<° vat into that vessel 
 at its bottom part. On the side of the drum-mould opposite to the vat, th&ie is a cis- 
 tern into which a copious flow of water is delivered, which passes thence into the semi- 
 cylindrical trough. In the interior of the cylindrical mould, a bent or syphon tube is 
 introduced, on the horizontal part of which tube, inside, the mould revolves. This 
 tube is connected at the outside to a pump, by which the water is drawn from the in- 
 terior of the cylindrical mould. Thus the water in the semi-cylindrical trough, on the 
 outside of the drum, is kept at a considerably higher ' level than it is within; and con- 
 sequently the pressure of the water, as it passes through the wire gauze, will, it if sup- 
 posed, cause the fibres of the paper pulp to adhere to the circumference of the mould. 
 The water which is withdrawn from the interior of the drum by the recurved tube, is con- 
 ducted round into the cistern, where its discharge is impeded by several vertical par- 
 titions, which make the water flow in a gentle stream into the semi-cylindrical mould vat. 
 In order to keep the pulp properly agitated in the mould vat, a segment frame, having 
 rails extended across the vat, is moved to and fro ; as the drum mould goes round, the 
 fibres of the pulp are forced against its circumference, and as the water passes through, 
 the fibres adhere, forming the sheet of paper, which, on arriving at a couching roller 
 above, is taken up as usual by an endless felt, conducted away to the drying apparatus, 
 and thence to the reel to be wound up. 
 
 The patentee claims merely the application of a pump to draw the water from the in- 
 terior of the mould drum, and to throw it upon its external surface. 
 
 A ras-cutting and lacerating machine was patented by Mr. Henry Davy, of Camber- 
 well, in September, 1833, being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad. 
 The machine consists of an endless feeding-cloth, by which the rough rags supplied by 
 the attendants are progressively conducted forwards to a pair of feed-rollers (see Cotton, 
 spinning), and on passing through these rollers, the rags are subjected to the operation 
 of rotatory cutters, acting against a fixed or ledger blade, which cut and tear them to 
 pieces. Thence the rags pass down an inclined sieve, upon which they are agitated to 
 separate the dust. The cleaned fragments are delivered on to a horizontal screen or 
 sorting table, to suffer examination. When picked here, they are ready for the pulp- 
 engine. A distinct representation of this machine is given in Newton's Journal, con- 
 joined series, vol. iv. pi. ix. fig. 1. 
 
 Mr. Jean Jacques Jequier obtained a patent in August, 1831, for a mode of making 
 paper on the continuous machine with wire-marks. The proposed improvement 
 consists merely in the introduction of a felted pressing roller, to act upon the paper after 
 it has been discharged fr im the mould, and need not therefore be particularly described. 
 
 In August, 1830, Mr. Thomas Barratt, paper-maker, of St. Mary Cray, in the county 
 of Kent, obtained a patent for an apparatus by which paper may be manufactured in a 
 continuous sheet, with the water-mark and maker's name, so as to resemble in every 
 respect paper made by hand, in moulds the size of each separate sheet. On the wire 
 web, at equal distances apart, repetitions of the maker's name or other device is placed, 
 according to the size of the paper when cut up into single sheets. In manufacturing 
 such paper, the ordinary method of winding upon a reel cannot be employed ; and 
 therefore the patentee has contrived a compensating reel, whose diameter diminishes at 
 each revolution, equal to the thickness of a sheet of paper. See Newton's Journal, C. S. 
 vol. vii. p. 285. 
 
 For Mr. Lemuel Wellman Wright's series of improvements in the manufacture of 
 paper, specified in his patent of November, 1834, 1 must refer to the above Journal,, 
 C. S., vol. viii. p. 86. 
 
 A committee of the Societi d'Encouragement, of Paris, made researches upon the best 
 composition for sizing pa;ier in the vat, and gave the following recipe : — 
 
S44 PAPER, SIZING OF. 
 
 100 kilogrammes of dry paper stuff. 
 12 — starch. 
 
 1 — rosin, previously dissolved in 500 grammes 
 
 of carbonate of soda. 
 18 pails of water. 
 M. Braconnot proposed the" following formula in the 23d volume of the Jbmales dt 
 Chimie et de Physique :— To 100 parts of dry stuff, properly diffused through water, 
 add a boiling uniform solution of 8 parts of flour, with as much caustic potash as will 
 render the liquor clear. Add to it one part of white soap previously dissolved in hot 
 water. At the same time heat half a part of rosin with the requisite ruantity of weak 
 potash ley for dissolving the rosin ; mix both solutions together, and pour into them one 
 part of alum dissolved in a little water. 
 
 Those who color prints, size them previously with the following composition s — i oun- 
 ces of glue, and 4 ounces of white soap dissolved in 3 English pints of hot water. When 
 the solution is complete, two ounces of pounded alum must be added, and as soon as the 
 composition is made homogeneous by stirring, it is ready for use. It is applied cold with 
 a sponge, or rather with a flat camel's hair brush. Ackermann's liquor, as analyzed bv 
 Vauquelin, may be made for sizing paper as follows : — 
 
 100 kilogrammes of dry stuff. 
 4 — glue. 
 
 8 — reslr ous soap. 
 
 8 — alur.. 
 
 The soap is made from 4-8 kilos, of pounded rosin, and 2-22 crystals of carbonate of 
 soda, dissolved in 100 litres of water. It is then boiled till the mixture becomes quite 
 uniform ; the glue, previously softened by 12 hours' maceration in cold water, is to be 
 next added ; and when this is totally dissolved, the solution of alum in hot water is poured 
 in. Three quarts of this size were introduced into the vat with the stuff, and well mixed 
 with it. The paper manufactured with this paste seemed to be of excellent quality, and 
 well sized. 
 
 The Chinese, in manufacturing paper, sometimes employ linen rags, as we do ; at other 
 times, the fibres of the young bamboo ; of the mulberry ; the envelope of the silk-worm 
 cocoon ; also a tree, unknown to our botanists, which the natives call cku or ko-cha ; cot- 
 ton down, and especially the cotton tree. The processes pursued in China to make paper 
 with the inner bark of their paper-tree (Broussonetia-papyrifera), or Chinese mulberry, 
 have been described at great length in the bulletin of the Societe d' Encouragement, for 
 1826, p. 226 ; but they will hardly prove serviceable to a European manufacturer. That 
 iree has been acclimated in France. 
 
 Chinese paper is not so well made as the good paper of Europe ; it is not so white, 
 it is thinner, and more brittle, but extremely soft and silky. \ The longitudinal tenacity 
 of its filaments, however; renders it fitter for the engraver than our best paper. The Chi- 
 nese, after triturating, grinding, and boiling the bamboo, set the paste to ferment in a heap 
 covered with mats. Chinese paper is readily recognised, because it is smooth on one 
 side, and bears on the other the marks of the brush with which it is finished, upon 
 smooth tables, in order to dry it flat. The kind employed for engravings is in sheets four 
 "eet long, and two broad. It is made of the bamboo ; their myrtle-tree paper would be 
 too strong for this purpose. 
 
 Paper, sizing of. Mr. John Dickinson obtained a patent, in 1840, for a mode of 
 sizing paper continuously in a vessel partially exhausted of air, by unwinding a scroll 
 of dried paper from a reel, and conducting it through heated size ; then after pressing 
 out the superfluous size, winding the paper on to another reel ; in the course of which 
 final progress it is dried by steam heat. — Neiptoris Journal, xxiii. 20. 
 
 Tracing Paper. 
 The best paper of this kind, sometimes superfluously called vegetable paper, is made 
 of the refuse of the flax mills, and prepared by the engine without fermentation. It 
 thus forms a semi-transparent paste, and affords a transparent paper. Bank-note paper 
 is made of the same materials, but they always undergo a bleaching with chloride of 
 lime. Great nicety is required in drying this kind of paper. For this purpose, each 
 sheet must be put between two sheets of gray paper in the press ; and this gray paper 
 must be renewed several times, to prevent the bank-note paper from creasing. 
 Paper of Safety or Swety ; Papier de Sureti. 
 This subject has occupied the attention of the French Academy for many years, in con 
 sequence of the number of frauds committed upon the stamp revenue in France. One 
 of the best methods of making a paper which would evince whether any part of a 
 writing traced upon it had been tampered with or discharged, is to mix in the vat 
 
PAPER. 
 
 345 
 
 two kinds of pulp, the one perfectly white, the other dyed of any colour easily affected 
 by chlorine, aoids, and alkalis. The latter stuff being mingled with the former in any 
 desired proportion, will furnish a material for making a paper which will contain 
 coloured points distributed throughout all its substance, ready to show, by the 
 , changes they 6uffev, whether any chemical reaction has been employed. 
 
 PAPER. The construction of wire-web cylinders for paper-making machines, and 
 the combination of two such cylinders in one machine, by the use of which two distinct 
 thicknesses of paper pulp are obtained, and applied face-wise, to form one thick sheet, 
 were made the subject of a patent under the name of John Donkin. Two cylinders 
 are so placed in a vat that their circumferences are nearly in contact, and by being 
 turned in opposite directions, they bring two sheets of paper pulp into contact, and in- 
 corporate them into one, by what is technically termed couching. 
 
 An extensive- patent for improvements in the manufacture of paper was granted to 
 Charles Edward Amos in 1840. These consist, first, in gradually lowering the roll of 
 the engine in which the rags are prepared and converted into pulp ; secondly, in a mode 
 of regulating the supply of pulp to the paper-making machine, in order to produce > apers 
 of any required thickness ; thirdly, in an improved sifter or strainer through which the 
 pulp is passed for clearing it of knobs and lumps; fourthly, in certain modifications of 
 the parts of the machine in which the pulp is deposited and moulded into ccitinuous 
 lengths of paper ; fifthly, in an improved method of heating the cylinders of the drying 
 apparatus ; and, sixthly, in improvements of the machinery for cutting the paper into 
 sheets of any required dimensions. The details of these ingenious contrivances, illus- 
 trated with engravings, are given in Newton's Journal, xx., p. 153., C. S. 
 
 Henry Crossley purposes to manufacture paper from waste tan, and £ient hops — 
 with what success I have not heard. Joseph Hughes gives a higher finish to the long 
 web of paper by friction between two cylinders, the one of which moves much quicker 
 than the other, both being covered with felt or not, at pleasure. 
 
 Mr. John Dickinson, the eminent paper manufacturer, obtained a patent in 1840 
 for a near mode of sizing paper continuously, in an air-tight vessel (partly exhausted 
 of air), by unwinding a scroll of dried paper from u. reel, and conducting it through 
 heated s : ze; then, after pressing out the superfluous size, winding the paper on to an- 
 other reel. 
 
 A longitudinal section of the apparatus employed for this purpose is represented 
 fig. 1044; where a is the air-tight vessel ; 6, the reel upon which the paper to be sized 
 is wound ; whence it proceeds beneath the guide-roller c, and through the warm size 
 to another guide-roller d. It thence ascends between the press-rolls, e,f (by whose 
 revolution the paper is drawn from the reel 6), and is wound upon the reel g. A float 
 h is suspended from the cross-bar i, of the vessel a, for the purpose of diminishing the 
 surface of size exposed to evaporation ; and beneath the bottom of the vessel is am 
 enclosed space j, into which steam or hot water is introduced for maintaining the tern 
 lerature of the' size. — Newton's Journal, xxiii. 20. 
 
 Messrs. Charles Cowan and Adam Ramage, paper-makers, patented, in 1840, im- 
 proved rag machinery; in which a cylindrical sieve or strainer of wire-cloth, of a 
 peculiar construction, is substituted for the ordinary strainers, by which the dirty water 
 S separated from the pulp. They do not claim the cylindric form or sieve, but " the 
 idding or applying, and combining within the interior of such drum, scoops, or 
 buckets, for the purpose of elevating the water, which has entered into it through its 
 wire circumference, so that the water when elevated may be able to run by its own 
 gravity out of the hollow around the central axis of the drum into any suitable shoot 
 or trough, and escape at a level above the surface of the water and rags or materia] 
 eontained in the paper-machine." 
 
346 
 
 PAPEE. 
 
 Thomas Barrett claims, in his patent of 1841, " a mode of drying paper by applying 
 streams of air to its two surfaces, as it passes over the steam cylinders, whether in the 
 state of engine size or water leaf, or after sizing ; as also, the application of currents ol 
 air to the surfaces of paper, after sizing, in order to cool the size ; as the paper is pass. 
 ing to the drying cylinders." . 
 
 The improvements in paper-making, for which T. W. Wrigley, of Bridge Hall' 
 Mills, Bury, obtained a patent In 1842, relate to the rag engine, figs. 1045,1046,1047 
 
 104S. Fig. 1045 is a side elevation ; fig. 1046, a transverse section, taken lengthwise 
 through nearly its middle; fig. 1 047 a plan view of the apparatus detached upon a 
 
 1048 
 
 1047 
 
 larger scale; and fig. 1048 is an elevation. Tfce. vessel in which the rags are placed is 
 Bhown at a a, and in about the centre of this vessel the beating or triturating roll, 4, b, 
 is placed : it is surrounded with the blades or roll bars, c c, fig. 1046. The roll is 
 mounted upon a shaft, d d, one end of which is placed in a pedestal or bearing on the 
 further side of the chamber a, and the other in a bearing upon the arm or level e c*, 
 fig. 1045 which is supported by its fulcrum, at the end c*, in one of the standards,/ /, 
 and at the other end by a pin fixed in the connecting rod, g g. At the upper end of 
 this connecting rod there is a cross-piece, or head A, having turned pivots at each end 
 upon which are placed small rollers, i i, resting upon a horizontal cam, k k, which is 
 made to revolve. This cam, k k, by means of its gearing, causes the roll 6 first of all 
 to wash the rags a short time, then to be lowered at whatever rate is desired for break- 
 ing the fibres ; to be maintained at the lowest point for the required number of revolu. 
 Jons for beating ; and to be raised and retained, as required, for the final purpose of 
 
PAPER. 
 
 34T 
 
 clearing the pulp. The upper or working edge of this cam is to be shaped exactly 
 according to the action required by the engine roll; as, for instance, suppose the 
 previous operation of washing to be completed, and the time required for the operation 
 af the rag machine to be three hours, one of which is required for lowering the roll, 
 that, or the first division of the working surface of the cam, k k, must be so sloped or 
 inclined, that, according to the speed at which it is driven, the rollers upon the cross- 
 head shall be exactly that portion of the time descending the incline upon the cam, 
 and consequently lowering the roll upon the plates it, fig. 1046; and if the second hour 
 shall be required for the roll to beat up the rags, the roll revolving all the time in 
 contact with the plates, the second division of the cam, k k, must be so shaped (that 
 is, made level), that the roll shall be allowed to remain, during that period, at its lowest 
 point ; and if the third portion of the time, or an hour, be required for raising the roll 
 again, either gradually or interruptedly, then the third division of the cam, k, must be 
 suitably shaped or inclined, so as to cause the cross-head to lift the roll during such 
 interval or space of time; the particular shape of the inclined portions of the cam de- 
 pending on the manner in which the manufacturer may wish the roll to approach to or 
 recede from the bottom plates, during its descent and ascent respectively. 
 
 Its mode of connexion and operation in the rag engine is as follows : supposing that 
 the rags intended to be beaten up are placed in the vessel a, fig. 1046, and motion is 
 communicated, from a steam-engine or other power, to the farther end of tne shaft d, 
 the roll ft, will thus be caused to revolve, and the rags washed, broken, and beaten up, 
 as they proceed from the front weir m, over the bottom plates n, and again round by 
 the back weir o. There is a small pulley j>, upon the near end of the shaft d, round 
 which a band q passes, and also round another pulley r, upon the cross shaft s; upon 
 tnis shaft is a worm t, gearing into a worm-wheel «, fixed upon another shaft v, below ; 
 upon the reverse end of which is a pinion to, gearing into a spur-wheel x, upon the end 
 of a shaft y ; and upon the centre of this shaft y, there is another worm z, gearing 
 into a horizontal worm-wheel 1, upon which the cam, 7c k, is fixed. Thus it will be 
 seen, that the requisite slow motion is communicated to the cam, which may be made 
 to perform half a revolution in three hours; or it will be ev lent, that half a revolution 
 of the cam, kk, maybe performed in any other time, according to the calculation of the 
 gearing employed. The shaft may also he driven by hand, so as to give the required 
 motion to the cam. Supposing, now, at the beginning of the operation, the cross head 
 bearing the lever and roll, to be at the highest point upon the cam, k k, as its revolu- 
 tion commences, the roll will revolve for a short time on the level surface of the cam, 
 and will then be lowered until the cam, fe k, has arrived at that point which governs the 
 time that the roll remains at the lowest point, for the purpose of beating the rags into 
 pulp, md as the cam,/cfc, continues to revolve, and thus brings the oppos.te slope upon 
 the third portion of its working surface into action upon the cross head, the roll will be 
 raised, in order to clear the pulp from knotsand other imperfections, and thus complete 
 the operation of the engine. In order to raise the cross head and roll to the height 
 from which it descended without loss of time, or to lift the cross head entirely from off 
 the cam when requisite, a lever, 2, or other suitable contrivance may be attached to the 
 apparatus, also a shaft may be passed across the rag-engine, and both ends of the roll 
 may be raised instead of one only, as above described. 
 
 The patentee does not claim as his invention the lowering and raising the roll of 
 the rag-engine, nor the lowering of it by mechanism, as this was effected in Mr. Amos's 
 patent of 1840 ; but he claims the above peculiar apparatus for this purpose. — Nek- 
 ton's Journal, xxiii. 254. C. S. 
 
 Quantity of Paper charged with Duties of Excise, in the United Kingdom, in 
 
 
 1834. 
 
 1835. 
 
 1836. 
 
 First Class 
 Second Class - 
 Pasteboard, millboard, <fec. 
 
 Stained - 
 
 lbs. 
 
 54,053,721 
 
 16,552,168 
 
 49,392 
 
 yards. 
 
 8,749,144 
 
 ' lbs. 
 
 56,179,555 
 
 17,863,095 
 
 49,772 
 
 yards. 
 
 8,247,931 
 
 lbs. 
 
 66,202,689 
 
 15,906,258 
 
 36,340 
 
 yards. 
 
 8,032,557 
 
 .Amount of duty, first class, 
 
 — second class, 
 
 — pasteboard, &c. 
 
 — stained 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 675,671 10 
 
 103,451 
 
 54,689 
 
 63,795 16 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 702,244 9 
 
 111,644 
 
 54,548 15 
 
 60,141 
 
 W£ g. d. 
 651,699 
 99,414 
 39,557 
 22,112 
 
348 
 
 PAPER. 
 
 The late reduction of the duty, from 3d. to 1£<£ per lb., upon paper of the first class 
 viz., on all descriptions of it, except that made out of tarred ropes only, has been already 
 attended with considerable benefit to the manufacture, and would have acted with much 
 greater effect, but for the American crisis. The gross amount of the paper duty in the 
 year ending 5th January, 1836, was 831,057?., and in the year ending 5th January, 
 1838, it was 554,4911. ; instead of being little more than one half, as might have 
 been the case from the reduction of the duty, which only came into full operation in 
 the year 1837. The gross revenue in 1841 was, 633,520?., the nett, 583,647?.; in 1844, 
 709,320 gross, 609,906?. nett; in 1847, 810,944?. gross, 762,172?. nett; in 1859, 
 915,121?. gross, 852,966?. nett. Paper of all kinds charged with duty in 1850, 
 925,520?. At the same time that the tax on common paper was reduced, that upon 
 stained paper was repealed altogether. The effect of the diminution consequently 
 made in the price of paper-hangings, has been so great as nearly to double the con- 
 sumption of the country, while the manufacture appears to be still rapidly on the 
 increase. 
 
 Declared Value of Stationery 
 
 and Printed Books exported in 
 
 Years. 
 
 Stationery. 
 
 Printed Buoks. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 1827 
 
 195,110 
 
 107,199 
 
 302,309 
 
 1828 
 
 208,532 
 
 102,874 
 
 311,406 
 
 1829 
 
 190,652 
 
 109,878 
 
 300,530 
 
 1830 
 
 171,848 
 
 95,874 
 
 267,722 
 
 1831 
 
 179,216 
 
 101,110 
 
 280,326 
 
 1*2 
 
 177,718 
 
 93,038 
 
 270,756 
 
 1833 
 1S34 
 
 211,518 
 
 124.635 
 
 336,053 
 
 211,459 
 
 122,595 
 
 334,054 
 
 1835 
 
 259,105 
 
 148,318 
 
 407,423 
 
 1836 
 
 301,121 
 
 178,945 
 
 480,063 
 
 Till the paper trade shall escape entirely from the clutches of its ancient dry-nurse, 
 the excise, neither it nor the book trade can acquire the same ascendency in exportation 
 which all other articles of British manufactures have over the French. 
 
 -" The Value of Stationery exported in France, from 1833, was, 
 
 Cartons lustres (polished pasteboards for the cloth manufacture) 18,992 francs 
 
 Cartons en feuilles (pasteboard in sheets) - 6,352 — 
 
 Cartons moules (papier-machfi) - - 215,376 — 
 
 Cartons coupes et assembles ■ 54,184 — 
 
 Wrapping paper - - - 178,544 — 
 
 White paper, and rayfi (ruled) pour musique 2,903,075 — 
 
 Coloured paper in reams - . 58,541 — 
 
 Stained paper (paper hangings) in rouleaux - 1,885,387 — 
 
 Silk paper - - - 3,240 — 
 
 Total (=-£208,000) 
 
 5,323,621 francs 
 
 Mr. John Dickinson's invention for sizing paper, continuously, in an air-tight vessel, 
 partially exhausted of air,) by unwinding a scroll of dried paper from a reel, and con 
 
PAPER. 349 
 
 ducting it through heated size ; then, after pressing out the superfluous size, winding 
 the paper on to another reel. 
 
 A longitudinal section of the apparatus employed for this purpose, is represented in 
 fig. 1049. a, is the. air-tight vessel ; b, the reel upon which the paper to be sized is 
 wound, from whence it proceeds beneath the guide-roller e, and through the heated 
 size, to another guide-roller d; it then ascends between the press-rolls «,/, (by the revo- 
 lution of which the paper is drawn from the reel b (and is wound upon the reel g). 
 A float h, is suspended from the cross-bar *, of the vessel a, for the purpose of diminish- 
 ing the surface of size exposed to evaporation ; and beneath the bottom of the vessel is 
 an enclosed space j, into which steam or hot water is introduced, for raising the tem- 
 perature of the size. 
 
 Water-marks. — In the manufacture of all hand-made papers, for the purpose of 
 writing or printing upon, and of much machine-made paper, for the like purposes, it is 
 the practice to form therein a device, name, and date, or some of them, known as the 
 water-mark. These marks are produced by attaching to the surface of the mould or 
 dandy roller, employed in the manufacture of paper (usually by sewing with fine -wive), 
 t/ylindrical and sometimes flattened wire, previously formed into the designs or marks 
 intended to be produced in the paper; which designs or marks, thus attached to and 
 lying above the general surface of the mould, occupy a space thereon, which, if they 
 had been absent, would have been charged with pulp, and thereby cause the sheet of 
 paper in progress of manufacture to be thinner at the particular parts of the mould 
 where the marks or designs are attached, by the thickness of the wire used in the same 
 marks or designs ; and the same apparent effect is indeed produced upon the sheet of 
 paper in progress of manufacture as is produced by an ordinary die on any substance 
 it may be caused to act upon, — with this difference, however, that on the sheet of paper 
 the impression is the sunken one. 
 
 It is obvious, from the use of cylindrical wire, or flattened wire, having its sides 
 parallel with each other, that the mark ultimately produced will be formed of a number 
 of lines of equal breadth ; unless, indeed, in the same figure, wires of different gauges, 
 thicknesses, or breadths, be employed ; and even in the latter case (which, indeed, in 
 practice, it is believed seldom occurs), the transition from the different gauges would be 
 abrupt and ill adapted to the proposed end. Also in forming designs of intricacy with 
 wire, a frequent crossing of it is necessary; by which means, at the points of crossing, 
 the mark will necessarily be the thickness of two wires, and, consequently, the water- 
 mark on the sheet of paper will be stronger at those points; or, if to avoid the crossing 
 the wire be cut> so that an end might abut against the length of the wire in an intricate 
 design, the pieces of wire would be so short and so numerous as to render the sewing 
 or fastening of them to the mould exceedingly difficult and of great expense, and, in 
 some eases, wholly impracticable. With respect to the imitation of hand-writing, or the 
 introduction of fac-simile autographs as water-marks, it is scarcely necessary to observe, 
 that the observations before made, in relation to general designs, will apply with greater 
 force to them ; and that, at the best, they would be very imperfect, and in many cases, 
 could not be effected at all. The remarks made, with reference to the water-marking 
 upon moulds, is equally applicable to dandy-rollers. 
 
 The object of this invention is to remedy the defects before pointed out, and to pro- 
 duce a simple mark, or one of the highest ornamental character or intricacy; the lines 
 of which may vary from a thin line or faint shade to one of a greater depth of tone or 
 breadth ; or, on the contrary, from a depth of shade to a fainter one ; and also to afford 
 facility for introducing water-marks of the greatest intricacy, without the inconvenience 
 or expense, before alluded to, of crossing the wire, and thus rendering some parts 
 thicker than the main body of the mark, or cutting the wire into innumerable small 
 pieces. 
 
 These effects are attained by the following means, whereby also the patentee is en- 
 abled to produce fac-similes of ordinary hand- writing and of autograph signatures: • 
 
 A plate of brass, copper, or other metal, heing provided, .of. the requisite substance to 
 produce the depth of water-mark impression in the pulp (which substance must be 
 
 determined according to the required weight or thickness of the paper) to one side 
 
 of this plate is to be attached, by glue or other suitable means, apiece of card-board or 
 veneer of wood, for the purpose of giving it rigidity and support ; and the design to be 
 produced in the pulp as a water mark, having been drawn on paper, is then to be 
 affixed, by glue or other suitable means, to the other surface of the plate. If the sheets 
 of paper to be manufactured are not required to be very heavy, the plate may be thin ; 
 and two thin plates of metal may be attached together, and be. operated upon at one 
 time. In this case, the paper, with the draught of the design, may be affixed to the 
 outer surface of one of a pair of plates, previously attached together by glue, or other 
 matter, having a piece of card-board or veneer of wood between them, for the purpose 
 of keeping the two thicknesses of metal in contact, and for giving them rigidity. Th« 
 
850 PAPER. 
 
 plate, supported as stated, or the pair of plates, connected as described, is or are then 
 to be pierced or perforated round the outlines of the device by a saw, adapted to the 
 purpose (after the method of cutting buhl work), according to the pattern or design 
 drawn as before mentioned. The plate or plates haying been so pierced, perforated, or 
 cut to the figure of the device, those portions of the metal intended to form the device 
 or water-mark are then to be disengaged from the parts of the plate or plates not re- 
 quired : which having been done, the drawn paper device, card-board, or veneer, must 
 be removed ; and if two plates of metal have been cut at one operation, they are to be 
 separated from each other : this separation, as well as the removal of the drawn paper 
 device, card-board, or veneer, can be effected by soaking in hot water pr other suitable 
 means. The designs or patterns, thus produced, are now to be attached to the surface 
 01 the mould or dandy-roller employed by the paper-maker : which may be done eithei 
 bv sewing with wire, as in the ordinary method of attaching water-marks to moulds 
 or dandy-rollers, or by solder. 
 
 In cases where a high finish to the water-mark or design is required or desirable, the 
 edges, and such other parts of the metal as may be desired, should be chamfered, off, 
 rounded, or cut down. In order to do this, the metal devices or parts of the plate or 
 plates are to be affixed, by some sufficient means, to a rigid block, to hold them whilst 
 operating upon : the method which the patentee has adopted, is to glue the cut metal 
 device to a flat slab of marble, somewhat larger than the device ; &> d this admits of 
 its being readily removed by soaking in hot water, after the operation, next described, 
 has been performed. The pattern or metal device being thus affixed, the upper surface 
 thereof is then to be dressed by cutting or filing at the parts where it may be necessary, 
 to improve the effect of the pattern ; and the edges which have been left sharp by the 
 saw can be removed or rounded by the scorper or engraver's tool, and then finished 
 off by stoning or other suitable means. The above method of finishing the marks or 
 designs applies only where the device is to be sewn on to the mould or dandy-roller 
 with wire; but when solder is used, the metal device may — after having been cut, as 
 before mentioned, and cleared from the other parts of the out plate, card-board, or 
 veneer — be at once affixed by solder to the mould or dandy-roller ; and the dressing 
 may be then effected by the scorper or engraver's tool, and the subsequent operation 
 of stoning be performed, as before mentioned. 
 
 The patentee, Mr. R. 0. Bancks, claims as his improvement or improvements in the 
 manufacture of paper, the adaptation of marks or devices, pierced or cut from plates 
 of metal, or other suitable substance, by saws or other instruments, as described, to the 
 moulds or dandy-rollers used in the manufacture of paper, for the purpose of producing 
 water-marks therein. 
 
 Messrs. Amps and Clare have obtained a patent for employing in place of the upper 
 couch roll (for working against the upper surface of the paper), a hollow roll, per- 
 forated on its surface, having a section box within it, acted upon by an air-pump, 
 whereby the deposition of colouring matter is rendered equal on both sides of the 
 paper, instead of being greater on the lower side, by the natural subsidence of the 
 colouring matter from the water. They have also specified an improved knotter or 
 pulp strainer, and various other improvements on the ordinary paper machines. — See 
 Newton's Journal, xxxvii. 7: 
 
 PAPER PULP-METER. Patented by Charles Cowan, Valley-field, near Edinburgh. 
 The object of this apparatus- is to measure out a uniform and exact supply of pulp. to 
 the paper machine, according to any width and thickness of the web of paper which 
 it may be desired to make. The pulp, after having been prepared in the engines, and 
 mixed in ascertained proportions of raw materials and water, is kept in the pulp or 
 stuff chest The cup of the pulp-meter which is driven in connection with the paper 
 machine is made to dip into a box, which by means of a ball-cock or valve is always 
 kept full of pulp from the pulp-chest and lifts, and delivers the requisite quantity of 
 pulp to make the width and thickness of the web required. This is done by means of 
 the slide upon the cup, which can be set even while the apparatus is in motion, so as to 
 deliver the number of cubical inches of pulp at each dip required for the particular 
 paper to be made, which can be ascertained by a very simple calculation. In this way 
 uniformity of thickness in every sheet of paper manufactured is readily obtained. 
 
 PAPER AND PRINTING. (Exhibition.) Paper of every description, printing and 
 bookbinding, with the miscellaneous articles connected with correspondence, and use- 
 ful and ornamental stationery, form the subject of the present class. The manufacture 
 of these articles, ministering not to the personal or domestic wants of mankind, so much 
 as to their intellectual requirements, is one the annual increase of which is coextensive 
 with the diffusion of knowledge. And it may be truly said, that, morally and intellec- 
 tually considered, the present class relates to a species of industry exercising indirectly a 
 more extensive influence over social economy than any of those into which the exhibition 
 las been subdivided. Books, it has been said, carry the productions of the human mind 
 
PAPER AND PRINTING. 351 
 
 over the whole world, and may be truly called the raw materials of every kind of 
 science and art and of all social improvement. The sub-classes are as follows : — A 
 paper, in the raw state as it leaves the mill, such as brown paper, millboards, printing, 
 writing, and drawing papers, <&c. ; B. articles of stationery, as envelopes, lace papers, 
 fancy papers, ornamental and glazed papers, sealing wax, wafers, inks of all kinds, 
 <fcc. ; C. pasteboards, cards, <fec. ; D. paper and scaleboard boxes, cartonnerie, ifec. ; E 
 printing, not including printing as a fine art, and printing inks and varnishes ; book- 
 binding in cloth, velvet, vellum, <fec. ; fancy books, portfolios, desks, Ac. 
 
 The localities from whence. the articles exhibited have been sent are much less 
 restricted than in preceding classes. Many of the exhibitors appear in the capacity of 
 producers of small articles for fancy purposes ; and as these are obviously capable of 
 being made at home, requiring taste and minute skill rather than mechanical power 
 for their manufacture, the places from which they have been forwarded for exhibition 
 have not the special interest attaching to great producing towns or cities, where thou- 
 sands of mechanics and operatives are all occupied in one department of manufacture. 
 From the metropolis, however, where a large demand for such articles exists, the great 
 proportion of them are derived. London also represents most largely the enormous 
 printing resources of this country. But of these, as specimens only of single works 
 can appear, but a faint idea can be gained from the examples exhibited. In one of the 
 Greatest establishments of the metropolis, twenty machines are constantly occupied, 
 eacn of which is capable of throwing off from 3,000 to 4,000 impressions per hour, 
 and in addition a large number of printing machines for fine work are employed. 
 These great printing establishments resemble very closely the large manufactories of 
 other districts, only their organization differs with the peculiar nature of the manu- 
 facture, if the mechanical production of printed books may be so termed. 
 
 Paper, more legitimately reckoned among manufactures than printing, has a certain 
 limitation to districts for particular kinds. Considerably more is made in England than 
 in Scotland or Ireland. Kent is celebrated for its fine writing and drawing papers. 
 From Lancashire, Berkshire, Hertford, and Derbyshire, papers of various kinds are 
 supplied. The quantity of paper annually manufactured in England two years ago 
 amounted to 132,132,657 lbs.; in 1834, it was a little more than half that quantity. 
 In 1839 it was estimated that the quantity used, if equally divided among the popula- 
 tion, would have been about three pounds and three quarters for each individual. 
 
 A variety of mechanical improvements, both in the production of paper and in that 
 of printed books, has been introduced of late. In the manufacture of paper, the sub- 
 stitution of machine for hand labour, has been attended with the most momentous 
 results. In 1801, the price of a ream of paper of a particular description was 36s. ; 
 in 1843 the same paper could be purchased for rather less than half this sum. In 1721 
 it is estimated that 300,000 reams of paper were annually produced in Great Britain. 
 In 1841 97,105,550 lbs., were made in the United Kingdom the total annual value is at 
 present not far short of two millions sterling. Much of the increase thus exhibited is 
 due to the introduction of mechanical power ; but the fiscal regulations upon this 
 branch of industry, which were formerly extremely oppressive, having been removed 
 to some extent, another cause of increased production and consumption is thus super- 
 added. Paper may, however, be likewise regarded as a chemical product, as it is cer- 
 tain that a large amount of chemical knowledge has been successfully combined with 
 mechanical skill in its preparation. 
 
 By the co-operative forces of chemical processes and mechanical instruments, the 
 most refuse matter becomes converted into a white and pure material. As an evidence 
 of the enormous length of paper produced by mechanical power two great rolls are 
 exhibited; one is 750 yards long, the other 2,500 yards in length. 
 
 The application of improved machinery to printing is also of recent date, and has 
 been attended with results of great moment. Progress is still made in this direction : 
 an entirely new principle in printing (the vertical) has been introduced, the application 
 of which for the rapid multiplication of newspapers is extending. By this arrange- 
 ment (the vertical), the power of production is only limited by the size of the machine. 
 
 Among many interesting specimens of typography, those which exhibit the produc- 
 tion of books in other tongues, by type cast in England, will attract notice. The Holy 
 Scriptures are exhibited in one hundred and fifty different languages, — a noble evidence 
 of the highest application of industry to the enlightenment and welfare of mankind. 
 Beautiful specimens of the bookbinder's art are likewise shown. 
 
 An enTelope-folding machine, placed at the side of the Main Avenue, is a striking 
 instance of the successful application of mechanical movements to the performance of 
 the most delicate and complicated actions. By this machine, the movements of the 
 hand of the folder are not only exactly imitated, but the result is more accurate and 
 certain, and the power of production is very largely increased. 
 
352 PAPER AND PRINTING. 
 
 The peculiar interest which attaches to the objects in this class, as the most po\t er- 
 ful agents in the social and intellectual improvement of man, cannot faJ to he awakened 
 by the most casual inspection. Papers, printing, and bookbinding, are, however, onlj 
 the raw material, the application and reproduction of which is dependent upon the 
 powers of the mind, not on those of matter. 
 
 10. Fisher, Jabez Henry, New North Road, Hoxton,. Inventor. — Specimen of a bank- 
 note for the prevention of forgery, printed in a chemical watercolour, from a steel plate 
 engraving, the process producing two colours at one operation ; the lettering in black, 
 and the ornamental background in a neutral tint. Any signature upon this note can- 
 not be erased without changing the colour. The letterpress on the note cannot be 
 transferred or copied, and is printed on a prepared paper. 
 
 23. Kirby, John, 103 Cornwall Road, Lambeth, Producer. — Specimens of split paper 
 and improved method of mounting woodcuts, for illustrating books, framing, and other 
 purposes, and for their better preservation. 
 
 The method of splitting paper of the thinnest texture is extremely simple. Two 
 pieces of calico are firmly cemented on the sides of the paper and dried. By a gentle 
 pull on each side, the paper splits into halves, one of which adheres to the calico on 
 one side, and the other to its opposite, the adhesion between the paper and the calico 
 being greater than that of the surfaces of the paper to each other. The split portions 
 may then be removed by damping, and so loosening the paste between the calico and 
 paper. A bank-note, although of extremely thin texture, can in this way be separated 
 into two halves, on one of which remains the impression of the plate, while the other 
 is blank. 
 
 In the interesting collection of paper in the Exhibition from various paper mills, 
 there are groups whose degrees of excellence must be estimated by very different 
 standards ; as, for instance, the brown wrapping and the fine hand-made drawing papers, 
 the sugar and the fine printing papers, the bibulous plate-paper for engravers' use, and 
 the hard sized writing papers. Collectively, it exhibits at one view the various qualities 
 which are sought for by English consumers, and which in many respects differ from 
 those required by our Continental neighbours; as an example, may be quoted the 
 substantial English writing-papers and the thin postj papers of France and Belgium, 
 whose different qualities arise from the difference of postal regulations in those countries. 
 
 The system of producing paper in continuous lengths of machinery was first intro- 
 duced by Messrs. Fourdrinier into this country, they having purchased the patent right 
 of Mr. Gamble, who in 1 804, obtained permission from the French government to bring 
 to England a model of a machine invented in 1799 by Louis Robert, who was then 
 employed in the paper works of Essonne. This machine of Mr. Robert was essentially 
 imperfect, but it was brought to a state of perfection for Messrs. Fourdrinier by the 
 ingenuity of Mr. Bryan Donkin : upon this has been founded the various descriptions 
 of paper-making machines which have since that time been introduced. They consist 
 essentially of contrivances by which the paper pulp is made to flow on the surface of 
 an endless wire web ; a rapid up and down motion being given to it for the purpose 
 of shaking the water out of the pulp, and thus producing a complete interweaving of 
 the textile filaments. The continuous roil of paper thus formed is turned off upon a 
 second solid cylinder covered with felt, upon which it is condensed by a third, and 
 eventually delivered to drying rollers. — Exhibition, Report of. 
 
 Swedish filtering paper is made with pure water, and is more free from impurity 
 than any other ; this is, in fact, pure cellulose, and yields only half a per cent, of ash 
 on incineration. 
 
 Laid papers are those with a ribbed surface ; wove papers those with a uniform 
 surface. Blue papers under the microscope no longer appear of uniform tint ; on the 
 contrary, the particles of colour are seen widely separated. 
 
 In reference to the pulp in its various stages of preparation, it may be stated that 
 numerous attempts have been made to employ, other fibres besides those of cotton and 
 flax, in the manufacture of paper ; for instance, straw, hop-vine, grasses, refuse of 
 sugar cane, wood shavings, &c. ; and, although paper has been produced from Ahesc 
 materials, yet, commercially, the attempts have been unsuccessful. 
 
 16. De la Rue, Thomas, & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, Manufacturers and Proprietors. 
 Envelope-folding machine invented by Edwin Hill and Warren De la Rue.—^The follow- 
 ing is the action of this machine: — The feeding-boy places the previously cut blank 
 envelopes on to a small platform, which rises and falls in the rectangular recess formed 
 by the cylindrical axes of the folders, the bearings of the folders serving by their elon- 
 gation to guide the envelope into its place at the moment of the small platform falling. 
 A plunger now descends and creases the envelope by carrying it between the folder- 
 axes, at the same time turning the flaps upwards in a vertical direction. The plunger, 
 which descends as a whole, now divides into two parts, the ends rising and the sides 
 
PAPER AND PRINTING. 353 
 
 remaining down to hold the envelope until the end-folders have operated ; these latter 
 turn over the flaps, the one on the right of the feeding-lad taking a slight precedence, 
 and being closely followed by the gumming apparatus, which takes gum from an endless 
 blanket working in a trough, and, after applying it to the two end flaps, retires, at the 
 same time the remaining half of the plunger moves upwards, to allow of the side folders 
 turning over the remaining two flaps, and the folder nearest the feeder taking precedence. 
 During these operations, the end folders have remained at rest, and the whole four 
 open simultaneously. The taking-off apparatus with its fingers tipped with vulcanized 
 caoutchouc, now moves forward over the folded envelope, which is lifted upwards by 
 the rise of the small platform and retreats with it, placing each envelope, as it is suc- 
 cessively folded, under those which have preceded it. The envelopes are now knocked 
 over on to an endless blanket, and are conducted by it between two cylinders for a final 
 squeeze, and then rise in a pile up the trough. There is a provision in the machine by 
 which the gummer is prevented placing gum upon the platform, in case the feeder omits 
 feeding in an envelope. This machine works at the rate of 2,700 envelopes per hour, 
 and although superseding hand-labour in folding, it is satisfactory to find that, instead 
 of displacing hands, its introduction, by extending the consumption, has in reality 
 created work for more than it has displaced. 
 
 Although the fashion of using envelopes was common in France, and had been, to a 
 small extent, introduced into England prior to 1839, yet their consumption was too 
 insignificant to call forth any but the rudest mechanical appliances. It is to the 
 stimulus created by the adoption, in 1839, of Mr. Rowland Hill's system of postage 
 reform, and the consequent increased demand for envelopes, that their manufacture 
 owes its rank among the arts, and its possession of some of the most ingenious ma- 
 chinery recently invented. 
 
 The total annual number of letters passing through the Post Office in the United 
 Kingdom before the change in the postage was about 76,000,000. The fourpenny 
 rate and the alteration in the system of charge by number of enclosures to that by 
 weight, was introduced on the 5th of December, 1839, and on the 10th of January, 
 1840, the rate was reduced to one penny; during that year the number of letters in- 
 creased to 169,000,000, about half of which were enclosed in envelopes. The number 
 of letters has been steadily increasing since that period, and during the year 1850, it 
 reached the astonishing number of 347,000,000, or 1,000,000 per day; the proportion 
 of letters enclosed in envelopes has likewise increased from one-half to five-sixths of the 
 total quantity, so that in round numbers 300,000,000 of envelopes pass annually through 
 the Post-OflSce ; besides which there is nearly an equal number used in private con- 
 veyance. What does this million of envelopes contain? Their exposition would 
 furnish an instructive and entertaining study. 
 
 In illustration of the articles sometimes sent by post, it may be cited, that some years 
 back, Professor Henslow was in the habit of receiving from members of an agricultural 
 society which he had established, specimens of living slugs of various kinds, sent for 
 examination, with a view to his advice for their extermination. "Were it not for the 
 cheap postage, many of the publishing societies now in existence would not have been 
 established, on account of the expense of collecting manuscripts, transmitting proofs, 
 and circulating books. But it is not only in this way that the postal reform has 
 extended its benefits, for with the reduction of rates, a liberal policy has increased the 
 facilities of delivery by the establishment since 1839 of 4,600 new post offices, which 
 are estimated as serving about 14,000 villages. 
 
 154. Specimens of Books and Tracts of the Religious Tract Society, instituted 1799. 
 Depositories, 56. Paternoster Row, 65. St. Paul's Churchyard, and 164. Piccadilly. 
 Treasurer, John Gurney Hoare, Esq. : Honorary Secretaries, Rev. W. W. Champneys, 
 M.A., and Rev. Ebenezer Henderson, D.D. ; Corresponding Secretary, Mr. Jones. _ 
 
 The Society was formed to promote the circulation of religious books and treatises in 
 foreign countries, as well as throughout the British dominions. It constitutes a Christian 
 Union of members of the Established Church and of Protestant dissenters. It has 
 printed important tracts and books in about 100 languages ; its annual circulation from 
 the depository in London, and from various foreign auxiliaries, amounts to about 
 24000000; its receipts for sales and benevolent objects, to more than 62,000Z. ; and 
 its'total distribution to March, 1851, including the issues of its affiliated societies, to about 
 549 000,000 copies of its publications. There are now about 4,743 English publi- 
 cations,' besides several hundred in foreign languages, on its catalogue. These works 
 are varied in size and contents, and suited to different classes of the community. Several 
 books and tracts specially designed to improve and commemorate the Great Exhibition 
 have been issued in English, French, German and Italian. By a carefully arranged 
 system in the concerns of the depository, the sale of the publications is made to cover 
 all the expenses of producing them, and of the necessary establishment of the Society. 
 
 Vol. H. 24 
 
364 PAPER AND PRINTING. 
 
 Thus, the whole of the subscriptions, donations and contributions is applied to th« 
 gratuitous circulation of its publications, without any deduction or charge whatever. 
 Ei aid of home and foreign benevolent objects the Society receives about 6,560/., per 
 annum, while its grants during the past year were .8,560/., being 2,0001 beyond the 
 receipts. The committee have supplied 3,028 libraries at half price to national, 
 British, parochial, day, and Sunday schools, which were unable to pay the full 
 amount. 
 
 The total grants of libraries for various interesting objects amount to 6,055. 
 
 The Society has translated, printed; and circulated works in the following languages : 
 
 Northern Europe. — Icelandic, Swedish, Lapponese/Finnisb, Danish, Norwegian. 
 
 Southern Europe. — French, German, Latin, Romanese, Enghadin, Italian, Maltese, 
 Modern Greek, Albanian, Turkish, Turkish in Greek character, Turkish in Armenian 
 character, Moldavian, Bulgarian, Syriac. 
 
 China and Indo-Chinese Countries. — Chinese, Assamese, Shyam, Sagas, Burmese, 
 Peguan, Talung, Karen, Siamese, Laos, Cambodian, Cochin-Chinese, Loo-Chooan, 
 Japanese, Corean, &e. 
 
 Through the disinterested agency of devoted friends and missionaries of different 
 denominations,several languages have, for the first time,been brought into :. written form, 
 and a sacred character has been given by the Christian press to the earliest literature of 
 a people just emerging from a state of barbarism. As an illustration of the extent of 
 the Society's operations, it may be stated that Buny an's celebrated work, " The Pilgrim's 
 Progress," has been issued in 28 of the principal languages of the earth, spoken probably 
 by more than one-half of the human family. In some instances the work has been 
 printed in Roman characters, as in the following example : — 
 
 In Tahitian, for the inhabitants of various islands in the Pacific Ocean, thus : — 
 
 I to'u hahaere raa na roto i medebara o teie nei ao, haeri atura van i te hoe vahi, 
 e ana tei taua vahi ra, tapae atura vau i reira e roohia ihora i te taoto i roto i taua ana 
 ra. 
 
 The original of this translation is the following : — 
 
 As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place 
 where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep, and as I slept I dreamed a 
 dream. 
 
 171. Gall, James, Myrtle Bank, Edinburgh, Inventor. — Gall's triangular alphabet for 
 the blind, which by its similarity to the common Roman alphabet is easily read by the 
 eye, and may be taught without previous instruction. This alphabet is considered as 
 an improvement on circular alphabets, by its angular form ; the letters are rendered 
 more distinct to the touch ; and by the exclusion of the capitals, the attention of the 
 blind is concentrated upon 26 instead of 52 letters, and the size of the printing may be 
 reduced. Volume, containing the Epistle to the Ephesians, printed for the blind in 
 Gall's triangular alphabet with letters serrated. 
 
 Gall's apparatus for writing by and to the blind. — The blind can by this invention 
 readily correspond by post, and can keep books and other memoranda. The apparatus 
 consists of a stuffed frame on which the paper is placed; of a cover with bars to guide 
 the lines, which are written from the bottom upwards ; and of small stamps, with the 
 letters formed of common pins, which are pricked through the paper, and read on the 
 opposite side. By means of the two register points on each side of the frame, and by 
 shifting the cover one half line up, the paper is written on both sides, each perfectly 
 legible either by the fingers, or the eye. 
 
 174. Muir, Robert, 4, Dunlop Street, Glasgow, Inventor. Electro-stereotype plate 
 for letter-press printing. This specimen is from a mould of gutta pereha, taken from a 
 page of diamond types in a screw press. The gutta pereha was laid on warm, the 
 pressure applied immediately, and left on for fifteen minutes. When the mould was 
 taken off, it was brushed over with plumbago, and copper deposited upon it by the 
 known process. When the copper deposit is backed up with gutta pereha, it is ready 
 for press. 
 
 The advantage of electro-stereotype over stereotype is that it will last much longer 
 and work much cleaner. The exhibitor has worked one of each together, and when 
 the stereotype was completely worn, the electro-stereotype was as good as at first. 
 
 Gutta pereha plate to be used in letter-press printing. Plates made of gutta pereha 
 from woodcuts, will work a large impression with letter-press; advantageous when 
 woodcuts are expensive, as the originals might be saved. Gutta pereha plates can be 
 made in a short time at a trifling cost; and when 2, 4, or 6, are worked together, it 
 will greatly facilitate the work, and lessen expense. 
 
 Make a mould from a woodcut by the method above described ; brush it over with 
 plumbago ; lay it on the press, face up, and put warm gutta pereha into it ; apply the 
 pressure as before. Several plates may be got from the same mould. 
 This prooess appears to offer many advantages,if the practical difficulties of completely 
 
PARAFFINE. 35fi 
 
 covering the impressions of the type letters, or the lines of an engraving, with plumbagc 
 are not too great, The gutta percha plate, being properly prepared, is connected with 
 the voltaic battery, and placed in a solution of the sulphate of oojpper, which, when 
 undergoing electro-chemical decomposition, deposits pure copper in all the lines and 
 over the entire surface. It would appear, if lead was used instead of gutta percha 
 for backing the plate, that it would be better fitted for printing than when gutta 
 percha is employed. 
 
 175. Wyld, James, Charing Cross, East, 454, West Strand, 2, Royal Exchange, and 
 the Great Globe, Leicester Square, — Producer. An Atlas of the World, comprehending 
 52 separate maps of its various countries, constructed and drawn from the latest astro- 
 nomical and geographical observations. Imperial quarto, coloured and handsomely 
 half-bound. 
 
 Popular Atlas, containing 48 maps of the various parts of the globe, with letter-press 
 description to accompany each map. 
 
 The World on Mercator's projection. A new map containing the most recent geo- 
 graphical information, and constructed on a new principle; 4 large sheets. The 
 World on Mercator's projection, colored ; one large sheet. 
 
 Post Roads of Germany and. the adjacent states, with the posts marked. The rail- 
 roads, the sea-packet routes, and; the internal steam navigation. Two sheets in cases. 
 The British Isles, with the topographical and physical features; the lines of railway, 
 their primary and intermediate stations; the land and water communications of the 
 counties, and the steam-packet routes, with the distances from port to port. Com- 
 piled from the Ordnance Survey ; 2 sheets. 
 
 England, Wales, and the greater part of Scotland, a railway and topographical map, 
 drawn from the triangulation of the Ordnance Survey, and the surveys of the railway 
 companies and other sources of information, showing the lines of railways, the inland 
 navigation, the great and cross roads, market towns, and villages, with the physical 
 features. 4 sheets. 
 
 Plans of London and Westminster, with the Borough of Southwark, including the 
 adjacent suburbs; wifli all the additions and improvements to the present time, reduced 
 from the large survey, with an alphabetical list of the principal streets, squares, public 
 buildings, <fcc, and reference to their situation on the plan; also a statistical table of 
 population, <fec 2 sheets. 
 
 Map of the country 25 miles round London, upon a scale of 1 inch to the mile, show- 
 ing the turnpike and cross roads, railroads, and stations, rivers, woods, commons, seats 
 of the nobility and gentry, as well as the market towns, villages, <fec. 4 sheets. 
 
 201. British and Foreign Bible Society, Earl Street, Blackfriar, — Producer. Speci- 
 mens, consisting of 165 books in different languages, from 170 versions of the Holy 
 Scriptures, either in whole or in part, which have been published, directly or indirectly, 
 by the Society, of which 118 are from translations never before printed; and of 
 which more than twenty-four millions of copies have been circulated since its institution 
 in 1804. 
 
 Eight specimens of four editions of the English Bible, showing the improvement 
 made between the years 1816 and 1851, in reference to quality of paper, printing and 
 binding, at an average redv.ction of 62 per cent, in the cost price. 
 
 PARAFFINE. Distil beech-tar to dryness, rectify the heavy oil which collects at the 
 bottom of the receiver, and when a thick matter begins to rise, set aside what is distilled, 
 anil urge the heat moderately as long as any thing more distils. Pyrelaine passes over, 
 containing crystalline scales of paraffine. This mixture being digested with its own 
 volume of alcohol of 0-833, forms a limpid solution, which is to be gradually diluted 
 with more alcohol, till its bulk becomes 6 or 8 times greater. The alcohol, which at 
 first dissolves the whole, lets the paraffine gradually fall. The precipitate being washed 
 with cold alcohol till it becomes nearly colorless, and then dissolved in boiling aicohol, is 
 deposited on cooling in minute spangles and needles of pure paraffine. 
 
 Or the above mixture may be mixed with from i to i its weight of concentrated sulphu- 
 ric acid, and subjected for 12 hours to digestion, at a heat of 150° F., till, on cooling, crys- 
 tals of paraffine appear upon the surface. These are to be washed with water, dissolved 
 in hot alcohol, and crystallized. Paraffine is a white substance, void of taste and smell, 
 feels soft between the fingers, has a specific gravity of 0-87, melts at 1 12° Fahr., boils 
 at a higher temperature with the exhalation of white fumes, is not decomposed by dry 
 distillation, burns with a clear white flame without smoke or residuum, does not stain 
 paper, and consists of 85-22 carbon, and 14-78 hydrogen ; having the same composition 
 as defiant gas. It is decomposed neither by chlorine, strong acids, alkalis, nor potas- 
 sium; and unites by fusion with sulphur, phosphorus, wax, and rosin. It dissolves 
 readily in warm fat oils, in cold essential oils, in ether, but sparingly in boiling absolute 
 alcohol. Paraffine is a singular solid bicarburet of hydrogen : it has not hitherto been 
 applied Jo any use, but it would form admirable candles. 
 
356 • PAKAFFINE. 
 
 The interesting researches of Keichenback, above briefly detailed, have latelj 
 begun to assume a more practical aspect in consequence of the efforts made by several 
 companies in this country to work up or utilise the peat bogs of Ireland. The pro- 
 gress yet made in this patriotic endeavour has not been such as to hold out any great 
 hope, either that the project will pay in a commercial sense, or that the peat of Ireland 
 can be utilised at anything short of a great national sacrifice. In fact, all the money 
 hitherto invested in these peat projects has been as completely lost to its owners as if 
 it had not only really, but literally, been thrown into a bog. Part of this unsatisfactory 
 result is no doubt owing to the newness of the undertaking, to the want of practical 
 knowledge, and to the purely visionary and unfounded calculations of the projectors, 
 who have rushed at conclusions in unison rather with their wild hopes than with the 
 sober deductions of scientific experience, and without any solid data upon which to 
 found their eggregious assertions, have made " the wish father to the though^" and 
 declared that to be a fact which had scarcely the consistence of a vague probability. 
 As the subject is one essentially contained within the realms of manufacturing chemistry, 
 we deem it requisite to give a general view of these peat schemes, but without entering 
 into a specific examination of any one project. By one class of schemes, the solid or fixed 
 residue of the peat is chiefly contemplated, by another the fluid and gaseous or volatile 
 products are sought for, whilst a third class unites both fixed and volatile products, and 
 may therefore be said to comprehend the whole question. The first includes the makers 
 of peat charcoal per se ; the two last come more immediately within the scope of our 
 observations, and although these have hitherto failed to elucidate the principles upon 
 which the manufacture of peat into saleable products depends, they have nevertheless 
 brought forth an abundance of evidence, that more is to be done in this way than was 
 
 Ereviously anticipated by scientific men. When peat is subjected to distillation at a red 
 eat, it evolves matters precisely similar to those given off by wood and some kinds of 
 bitumen, that is to say, tar, acetic acid, pyroligneous spirit, ammonia, and gas: these 
 substances, though constant in their presence, are, however, extremely variable in their 
 quantities, owing to the degree of heat which has been employed for their production. 
 Thus, if a very high temperature be employed, little else than gas is produced, 
 whereas with a very low and dull red heat the quantity of tar is prodigiously increased. 
 The latter is therefore the temperature most to be desired, but as this low heat neces- 
 sitates a very slow and long continued process, the common practice is to steer a mid- 
 dle course, between loss from destruction of products on the one hand, and cost from 
 slowness of production on the other. In the case of wood distillation, where the profit 
 is chiefly looked for from acetic acid, this middle course is unquestionably correct, and 
 guiding themselves by this description of experience the distillers of peat have resorted 
 to the same method. Indeed, they have even sought by an increased temperature to 
 quicken their operations, and compensate by this means for the comparative poverty 
 of the article they had to employ, since peat is not nearly so rich in valuable products 
 as wood is. But this had given rise to a great and fatal error, which nothing but a 
 want of perception as regards the differences of the two cases conld for one moment have 
 permitted. With wood it is, as we have said, acetic acid which forms the chief item 
 of value ; with peat the acetic acid is not worth collecting ; with wood the paraffin e is 
 a mere bagatelle, whereas with peat the paraflfine must be regarded as the mainstay of 
 the manufacture, and without which the peat of Ireland will remain as it is, until that 
 seemingly remote period of future history, when the arts and manufactures shall have 
 reached in. that country a degree of perfection akin to what now prevails throughout 
 Great Britain. To make charcoal, or to make any bulky article of merchandise in 
 Ireland, is mere folly at present, for as it cannot be used on the spot, and must come to 
 England for consumption, the cost of transit shuts it out of every market. Therefore a 
 compact valuable substance like parafiine is precisely the kind of goods into which Irish 
 peat may be turned with a fair prospect of remuneration, for were it not for the expense 
 of carriage, the peat itself might be sent to market. In the manufacture of peat-products 
 every effort ought therefore to have been directed to the increase of this article. All 
 else might and ought to have been held subsidiary to this one point, and more especially 
 so as the very means which serve to insure a large formation of paraffine have the same 
 effect upon the production of the pyroligneous spirit, which is the only other article 
 that peat yields of a quality to pay the cost of transit. . 
 
 But no well directed efforts have hitherto been applied in this direction, and 
 the utmost amount of parafljne and pyroligneous spirit obtained by any one of the 
 peat companies now struggling for existence in Ireland has been only at the rate 
 of three pounds. weight of paraffine and half a gallon by measure of pyroligneous 
 spirit from one ton of peat. True, indeed, several gallons of very foetid and 
 worthless oil have also resulted, but these add nothing to the profit of the un- 
 dertaking. As it is very clear that the working of peat at present can never pay 
 urless some very important modifications are introduced into the existing processes, 
 
PARCHMENT. 351 
 
 we shall hera briefly describe the conditions upon which alone success can be hoped 
 for, and leave it to those interested in the practical application of our remarks, to 
 carry the principles out in detail. If either paraffine or pyroligneous spirit be passed 
 in a state of vapour through a red-hot iron or porcelain tube, it will be seen that both 
 of these substances are decomposed and destroyed : from the former a quantity of gas, 
 foetid oil, and charcoal results, from the latter, gas and a minute quantity of volatile oil 
 alone arise. In both cases, however, the material operated upon is destroyed by the 
 heat; and resolved into worthless products, and this is the only observation which need 
 bo made in connexion with such an experiment, for it demonstrates most conclusively 
 that in the distillation of peat as now practised, nearly the whole of the paraffine and 
 pyroligneous spirit must be destroyed, except the small quantity mechanically protected 
 from the heat, and carried forward to the condenser by the gaseous products simul- 
 taneously evolved with it. It is, we say, obvious that the 3 lbs. of paraffine now pro- 
 cured from 1 ton of peat, must have been mechanically carried out of the red-hot furnace 
 or retort too rapidly for the destroying agency of the heat to have acted upon it, and 
 but for this action of the gas, no paraffine, whatever would be obtained, and the same 
 remark applies to the pyroligneous spirit. Such being the ease, it appears to us that the 
 gas given off by peat is not, under any circumstances, very large, this ought to be recon- 
 ducted over fresh peat in the act of distillation, by which the nascent paraffine and 
 pyroligneous spirit will be rapidly swept out of the retort, and carried away from the 
 injurious effect of the heat into the condenser, whence they may be securely taken. 
 It cannot be necessary that we should enter into a detail of the arrangements requisite 
 for completing the idea here developed ; the principle is substantially explained above, 
 and nothing can be simpler than to devise the mechanical construction of retorts adapted 
 for such a purpose. Either a system of reciprocation between one retort and another, 
 or between two separate beds of retorts, or the collection and subsequent use of the gas 
 into and from a holder, might be put in practice. The main feature would still con- 
 tinue, and depend upon the same circumstance, viz., the restricted agency of the heat 
 npon the recently volatilized products of the peat. 
 
 In this way there can be no doubt that much of the paraffine now resolved into 
 worthless gas may be turned into the market in a solid form, and if even the increased 
 production of this article extended no farther than from 3 lbs. to 10 lbs. from every ton 
 of p-eat, yet this alone would be sufficient to resuscitate the hopes of commercial men, 
 and convert the bogs of Ireland into firm and substantial materials for the investment 
 of British capital and enterprise, — " a consummation most devoutly to be wished." — 
 Mr. Lewis Thompson. 
 
 PARCHMENT. (Parckemin, Fr. ; Pergament, Germ.) This writing material has 
 been known since the earliest times, but is now made in a very superior manner to what 
 it was anciently, as we may judge by inspection of the old vellum and parchment 
 manuscripts. The art of making parchment consists in certain manipulations necessary 
 to prepare the skins of animals of such thinness, flexibility, and firmness, as may be re- 
 quired for the different uses to which this substance is applied. Though the skins of all 
 animals might be converted into writing materials, only those of the sheep or the she- 
 goat are used for parchment ; those of calves, kids, and dead-born lambs for vellum ; 
 those of the he-goat, she-goat, and wolves for drum-heads ; and those of the ass for battle- 
 doors. All these skins are prepared in the same way, with slight variations, which need 
 do particular detail. 
 
 They are first of all prepared by the leather-dresser. After they are taken out or 
 the lime-pit, shaved, and well washed, they must be set to dry in such a way as to 
 prevent their puckering, and to render them easily worked. The small manufac- 
 turers make use of hoops for this purpose, but the greater employ a herse, or stout 
 wooden frame. This is formed of two uprights and two cross-bars solidly joined together 
 by tenons and mortises, so as to form a strong piece of carpentry, which is to be fixed up 
 asainst a wall. These four bats are perforated all over with a series of holes, of such 
 dimensions as to receive slightly tapered box- wood pins, truly turned, or even iron 
 bolts. Each of these pins is transpierced with a hole like the pin of a violin, by means 
 of which the strings employed in stretching the skin may be tightened. Above the herse, 
 a shelf is placed, for receiving the tools which the workman needs to have always 
 at hand. In order to stretch the skin upon the frame, larger or smaller skewers 
 are employed, according as a greatei or smaller piece of it is to be laid hold 
 of. Six holes are made in a straight line to receive the larger, and four to receive 
 the smaller skewers or pins. These small slits are made with a tool like a carpenter's 
 chisel, and of the exact size to admit the skewer. The string round the skewer is 
 affixed to one of the bolts in the frame, which are turned round by means of a key, like 
 .hat by which pianos and harps are tuned. The skewer is threaded through the skin in 
 a state of tension. 
 Ereiy thing being thus prepared, and the skin being well softened, the workman 
 
358 PASTES. 
 
 stretches it powerfully by means of the skewers ; he attaches the cords to the skewers, 
 and fixes their ends to the in>"> pegs or pins. He then stretches the skin, first with his 
 hand applied to the pins, and afterwards with the key. Great care must be taken that 
 no wrinkles are formed. The skin is usually stretched more in length than in breadth, 
 from the custom of the trade ; though extension in breadth would be preferable, in orde 
 to reduce the thickness of the part opposite the backbone. 
 
 The workman now takes the fleshing tool represented under Cukbying. It is a semi- 
 circular double-edged knife, made fast into a double wooden handle. Other forms of 
 the fleshing-knife edge are also used. They are sharpened by a steel. The workman 
 seizes the tool in his two hands, so as to place the edge perpendicularly to the skin, and 
 pressing it carefully from above downwards, removes the fleshy excrescences, and lays 
 them aside for making glue. He now turns round the herse upon the wall, in order to 
 get access to the outside of the skin, and to scrape it with the tool inverted, so as to 
 run no risk of cutting the epidermis. He thus removes any adhering filth, and squeezes 
 out some water. The skin must next be ground. For this purpose it is sprinkled 
 upon the fleshy side with sifted chalk or slaked^ lime, and then rubbed in all directions 
 with a piece of pumice-stone, 4 or 5 inches in area, previously flattened upon a sandstone. 
 The lime gets soon moist from the water contained in the skin. The pumice-stone is 
 then rubbed over the other side of the skin, but without chalk or lime. This operation 
 is necessary only for the be.st parchment or vellum. The skin is now allowed to dry 
 upon the frame ; being carefully protected from sunshine, and from frost. In the arid 
 weather of summer a moist cloth needs to be applied to it from time to time, to prevent 
 ts drying too suddenly ; immediately after which the skewers require to be tightened. 
 
 When it is perfectly dry, the white color is to be removed by rubbing it with the 
 woolly side of a lambskin. But great care must beitaken not to fray the surface ; a cir 
 i-umstance of which some manufacturers are so much afraid, as not to use either chalk oi 
 lime in the polishing. Should any grease be detected upon it, it must be removed by 
 steeping it in a lime pit for 10 days, then stretching it anew upon the herse, after which 
 it is transferred to the scraper 
 
 This workman employs here an edge tool of the same shape as the fleshing-knife, but 
 larger and sharper. He mounts the skin upon a frame like the herse above described ; 
 but he extends it merely with cords, without skewers or pins, and supports it generally 
 upon a piece of raw calfskin, strongly stretched. The tail of the skin being placed 
 towards the bottom of the frame, the workman first pares off, with a sharp knife, any 
 considerable roughnesses, and then scrapes the outside surface obliquely downwards with 
 the proper tools, till it becomes perfectly smooth : the fleshy side needs no such operation, 
 and indeed were both sides scraped, the skin would be apt to become too thin, the only 
 object of the scraper being to equalize its thickness. Whatever irregularities remain, 
 may be removed with a piece of the finest pumice-stone, well flattened beforehand upon 
 a fine sandstone. This process is performed by laying the rough parchment upon an ob- 
 long plank of wood, in the form of a stool ; the plank being covered with a piece of soft 
 parchment stuffed with wool, to form an elastic cushion for the grinding operation. It is 
 merely the outs/.de surface that requires to be pumiced. The> celebrated Strasburgh 
 vellum is prepai id with remarkably fine pumice-stones. 
 
 If any small holes happen to be made in the parchment, they must be neatly patched, 
 by cutting their edges thin, and pasting on small pieces with gum water. 
 
 The skins for drum-heads, sieves, and baltledoDrs are prepared in the same way. Tor 
 drums, the 'skins of asses, calves, or wolves are employed ; the last being preferred. Ass 
 skins are used for battledoors. For sieves, the skins of calves, she-goats, andybest of all, 
 he-goals are employed. Church books are covered with the dressed skins of pigs; 
 
 Parchment is colored only green. The following is the process. In 500 parts of rain 
 water, boil 8 of cream of tartar, and 30 of crystallized verdigris ; when this solution is 
 cold, pour into it 4 parts of nitric acid. Moisten the parchment with a brush, and then ap- 
 ply the above liquid evenly over its surface. Lastly, the necessary lustre may be given 
 with white of eggs, or mucilage of gum arabic. 
 
 PARTING {Depart, Fr. ; Scheidung, Germ.), is the process by which gold is separated 
 from silver. See Assay, Gold, Refining, and Silver. 
 
 PASTEL, is the French name of colored crayons. 
 
 PASTEL, is a dye stuff, allied to Indigo, which see. 
 
 PASTES, or FACTITIOUS GEMS. (Pierres prlcieuses artificielles?Fr. ; Glaspasten, 
 Germ.) The general vitreous body called Strass, (from the name of its German inven- 
 tor,) preferred by Fontanier in his treatise on this subject, and which he styles the May- 
 ence base, is prepared in the following manner : — 8 ounces of pure rock-crystal or flint 
 in powder, mixed with 24 ounces of salt of tartar, are to be baked and left to cool. The 
 mixture is to be afterwards poured into a basin of hot water, and treated with dilute nitric 
 »cid till it ceases to effervesce ; and then the frit is to be washed till the water comes off 
 
PASTES. 
 
 359 
 
 tasteless. This is to be dried, and mixed with 12 ounces of fine white-lead, and the mix 
 ture is to he levigated and elutriated with a little distilled water. An ounce of calcined 
 borax being added to about 12 ounces of the preceding mixture in a dry state, the whole 
 is to be rubbed together in a porcelain mortar, melted in a clean crucible, and poured out 
 into col J water. This vitreous matter must be dried, and melted a second and a third 
 time, always in a new crucible, and after each melting poured into cold water, as at first, 
 taking care to separate the lead that may be revived. To the third frit, ground to pow- 
 der, 5 drachms of nitre are to be added ; and the mixture being melted for the last time, 
 a mass of crystal will be found in the crucible, of a beautiful lustre. The diamond may 
 be well imitated by this Mayence base. Another very fine white crystal may be ob- 
 tained, according to M. Fontanier, from 8 ounces of white-lead, 2 ounces of powdered 
 iorax, h grain of manganese, and 3 ounces of rock-crystal, treated as above. 
 
 The colors of artificial gems are obtained from metallic oxydes. The oriental topaz is 
 prepared by adding oxyde of antimony to the base ; the amethyst, by manganese with a 
 little of the purple of Cassius ; the beryl, by antimony and a very little cobalt ; yellow 
 artificial diamond and opal, by horn-silver (chloride of silver) ; blue-stone or sapphire, by 
 cobalt. The following proportions have been given : — 
 
 For the yellow diamond. To 1 ounce of strass add 24 grains of chloride of silver, or 
 10 grains of glass of antimony. 
 
 For the sapphire. To 24 ounces of strass, add 2 drachms and 26 grains of the oxyde 
 )f cobalt. 
 
 For the oriental ruby. To 16 ounces of strass, add a mixture of 2 drachms and 48 
 grains of the precipitate of Cassius, the same quantity of peroxyde of iron prepared by 
 nitric acid, the same quantity of golden sulphuret of antimony and of manganese calcined 
 with nitre, and 2 ounces of rock crystal. Manganese alone, combined with the base in 
 proper quantity, is said to give a ruby color. 
 
 For the emerald. To 15 ounces of strass, aari i drachm of mountain blue (carbonate 
 of copper), and 6 grains of glass of antimony ; or, to 1 ounce of base, add 20 grains of 
 glass of antimony, and 3 grains of oxyde of cobalt. 
 
 For the common opal. To 1 ounce of strass, add 10 grains of horn-silver, 2 grains of 
 calcined magnetic ore, and 26 grains of an absorbent earth (probably chalk-marl) 
 Fontanier. 
 
 M. Douault-Wieland, in an experimental memoir on the preparation of artificial colorea 
 stones, has offered the following instructions, as being more exact than what were pub- 
 lished before. 
 
 The base of all artificial stones is a colorless glass, which he calls fondant, or flux ; 
 and he unites it to metallic oxydes, in order to produce the imitations. If it be worked 
 alone on the lapidary's wheel, it counterfeits brilliants and rose diamonds remarkably 
 well. 
 
 Tlis base or strass is composed of silex, potash, borax, oxyde of lead, and sometimes 
 arsenic. The silicious matter should be perfectly pure ; and if obtained from sand, it 
 ought to be calcined and washed, first with dilute muriatic acid, and then with water. 
 The crystal or flint should be made redhot, quenched in water, and ground, as in the pot- 
 teries. The potash should be purified from the best pearlash ; and the borax should be 
 refined by one or two crystallizations. The oxyde of lead should be absolutely free from 
 tin, for the least portion of this latter metal causes milkiness. Good i;ed-lead is prefera- 
 ble to litharge. The arsenic should also be pure. Hessian crucibles are preferable to 
 those of porcelain, for they are not so apt to crack and run out. Either a pottery or 
 porcelain kiln will answer, and the fusion should be continued 24 hours; for the more 
 tranquil and continuous it is, the denser is the paste, and the greater its beauty. The 
 following four recipes have afforded good strass : — • 
 
 No. I. No. III. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Rock crystal 
 Minium 
 Pure potash 
 Borax 
 Arsenic 
 
 4056 
 
 6300 
 
 2154 
 
 276 
 
 12 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Sand 3600 
 
 Ceruse of Clichy (pure carbonate of 
 
 lead) - ... 8508 
 
 Potash ... - 1260 
 
 Borax 360 
 
 A'semc ... 12 
 
 Rock crystal 
 Minium 
 Potash 
 Borax . 
 Arsenic 
 
 Rock crystal 
 Ceruse of Clichy 
 Potash 
 Borax 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 3456 
 
 5328 
 
 1944 
 
 216 
 
 6 
 
 3600 
 
 8508 
 
 1260 
 
 36a 
 
i860 PATTERN DISPLAYING MACHINE. 
 
 Topaz. Grains. 
 
 Very white paste -------- 1008 
 
 Glass of antimony -------- 43 
 
 Cassius purple ..----.- 1 
 
 Or 
 
 Paste 3456 
 
 Oxyde of iron, called Saffron of Mars ... - 36 
 
 Ruby. 
 M. Wieland succeeded in obtaining excellent imitations of rubies, by making use of 
 the topaz materials. It often happened that the mixture for topazes gave only an opaque 
 mass, translucent at the edges, and in thin plates of a red color. 1 part of this substance 
 being mixed with 8 parts of strass, and fused for 30 hours, gave a fine yellowish crystal, 
 like paste, and fragments of this fused before the blowpipe, afforded the finest imitation 
 of rubies. The result was always the same. 
 The following are other proportions for rubies : — Grains. 
 
 Paste - - 2880 
 
 Oxyde of manganese ----- - 72 
 
 Emerald. 
 
 Paste 4608 
 
 Green oxyde of pure copper ------ 42 
 
 Oxyde of chrome -.--.-.- 2 
 
 Sapphire. Grains. 
 
 Paste 4608 
 
 Oxyde of cobalt °° , 
 
 This mixture should be carefully fused in a luted Hessian crucible, and be left 30 hours 
 in the fire. 
 
 Amethyst. 
 
 Grains. 
 Paste - - - - 4608 
 
 Oxyde of manganese - 36 
 
 Oxyde of cobalt 24 
 
 Purple of Cassius ... 1 
 
 Syrian Garnet, or Ancient Carbuncle. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Paste 512 
 
 Glass of antimony - - 256 
 
 Cassius purple ... - 2 
 
 Oxyde of manganese - - - 2 
 
 Beryl, or Aqua Marina. Grains. 
 
 Paste 3456 
 
 Glass of antimony - - - - 24 
 
 Oxyde of cobalt - - - - 1§ 
 
 In all these mixtures, the substances should be mixed by sifting, fused very carefully 
 and cooled very slowly, after having been left in the fire from 24 to 30 hours. 
 
 M. Lancon has also made many experiments on the same subject. The following are 
 a few of his proportions : — 
 
 Paste. Grains. 
 
 Litharge 100 
 
 White sand ----- 75 
 White tartar, or potash - ■ 10 
 
 Amethyst. Grains. 
 
 Paste 9216 
 
 Oxyde of manganese from 15 to 24 
 
 Oxyde of cobalt ... 1 
 
 Emerald. Grains. 
 
 Paste - - 9216 
 
 Acetate of copper ... - 72 
 
 Peroxyde of iron, or sail'ron of Mars ... 1-5 
 
 PASTILLE is the English name of small cones made of gum benzoin, with powder 
 of cinnamon, and other aromatics, which are burned as incense, to diffuse a grateful odor, 
 and conceal unpleasant smells in apartments. See Perfumery. 
 
 PASTILLE is the French name of certain aromatic sugared confections j called alsc 
 toilettes. 
 
 PATTERN DISPLAYING MACHINE This is an ingenious, contrivance oi 
 Messrs. Stewart and Hutcheson, of Paisley, for inventing and displaying patterns of 
 printed goods or worked patterns, in stripes, cheques, ana tartans by means of sliding 
 mirrors and coloured glass, and is suitable for manufacturers of textile fabrics of all 
 descriptions. 
 The advantages of this machine are the facility with which any pattern, or idea of a 
 
PEARLS, ARTIFICIAL. " 361 
 
 pattern, may be set up and displayed, the variety of designs it can produce, and the easa 
 and simplicity of accomplishing tliem. It is not at all necessary to paint the pattern on 
 paper, after viewing it through the mirrors, as the scales attached show at once the 
 required number of threads of each colour, and how many repeats are necessary for the 
 breadth of the web ; and it displays at once not only the repeat, but the whole breadth, 
 and a considerable portion of the length of the cloth at one view. 
 
 By this invention', the precise effect of a pattern may be produced in the course of a 
 few minutes, without any expense, multiplied to any extent, and it may be enlarged or 
 diminished at pleasure. The chief novelty, however, of this machine, which was exhibited 
 for its simplicity and the ease of its adaptation, is that the precise effect of the cloth in 
 a finished state is accurately represented, the crisp transparent effect of a silk fabric 
 being truly given, as well as the soft and more opaque effect of a woollen fabric. 
 
 This invention is new in principle, being a novel application of coloured glass to 
 useful and essentially practical purposes. 
 
 PEARLASH, a commercial form of Potash, which see. 
 
 PEARLS (Perles Fr. ; Perlen, Germ.), are the productions of certain shell-fjsh. These 
 molluscoe are subject to a kind of disease caused by the introduction of foreign bodies 
 within their shells. In this case, their pearly secretion, instead of being spread in layers 
 upon the inside of their habitation, is accumulated round these particles ; n concentric lay- 
 ers. Pearl consists of carbonate of lime, interstratified with animal meikLirane. 
 
 The oysters whose shells are liehest in mother of pearl, are most productive of 
 these highly prized spherical concretions. The most valuable pearl fisheries are on the 
 coast of Ceylon, and at Olmutz in the Persian Gulf, and their finest specimens are more 
 highly prized in the East than diamonds, but in Europe they are liable to be rated very 
 differently, according to the caprice of fashion. When the pearls are large, truly 
 spherical, reflecting and decomposing the light with much vivacity, they are much 
 admired. But one of the causes which renders their value fluctuating, is the occasional 
 loss of their peculiar lustre, without our being able to assign a satisfactory reason for it. 
 Besides, they can be now so well imitated, that the artificial pearls have nearly as rich an 
 appearance as the real. 
 
 PEARLS, ARTIFICIAL. These are small globules or pear-shaped spheroids of 
 thin glass, perforated with two opposite holes, through which they are strung, and 
 mounted into . necklaces, &c, like real pearl ornaments. They must not only be white 
 and brilliant, but exhibit the iridescent reflections of mother of pearl. The liquor 
 employed to imitate the pearly lustre, is called the essence of the East (essence d' orient), 
 which is prepared by throwing into water of ammonia the brilliant scales, or rather the 
 lamella, separated by washing and friction, of the scales of a small river fish, the Way, 
 called in French ablelte. These scales digested in ammonia, having acquired a degree of 
 softness and flexibility which allow of their application to the inner surfaces of the glass 
 globules, they are introduced by suction of the liquor containing them in suspension. The 
 ammonia is volatilized in the act of drying the globules. 
 
 It is said that some manufacturers employ ammonia merely to prevent the alteration 
 of the scales; that v>.sn they wish to make use of them, they suspend them in a 
 well clarified solution of isinglass, then pour a drop of the mixture into each bead, 
 and spread it round the inner surface. It is doubtful whether, by this method, the same 
 lustre and play of colors can be obtained as by the former. It seems moreover to be 
 of importance for the success of the imitation, that the globules be formed of a bluish, 
 opalescent, very thin glass, containing but little potash and oxyde of lead. In even* roanu. 
 factory of artificial pearls, there must be some workmen possessed ot great experience 
 and dexterity. The French are supposed to excel in this ingenious branch of industry. 
 
 False pearls were invented in the, time of Catherine^ de Medicis, by a person of the 
 name of Jaquin. They are made of small globules of glass, blown by the ordinary 
 lamp. The pearly lustre is communicated by introducing by means of a blow-pipe a 
 small quantity of nacreous substances obtained from the surface of the scale of a 
 small fish very common in the Seine and the Rhine, and also in the Thames. This sub- 
 stance preserved with sal ammoniac in a liquid state is commonly sold under the name 
 of "Oriental essence;" after having covered the inside of the pearl with this liquid, a 
 coating of wax is added, which is coloured to the required shade. The manufacture 
 of pearls is principally carried on in the department of the Seine in France. There are 
 also manufactories in Germany and Italy, but to a small extent. In Germany, or rather 
 Saxony, a cheap but inferior quality is manufactured. The globe of glass forming the 
 pearl in inferior ones being very thin, and coated with wax, they break on the slightest 
 pressure. They are known by the name of Gerraan fish pearls ; Italy also manufac- 
 tures pearls by a method borrowed from the Chb ese ; they are known under the name 
 of Roman pearls, and a very good imitation of natural ones ; they have on their out- 
 side a coating of the nacreous liquid. The Chinese pearls are made of a kind of gum, 
 and are covered likewise with the same liquid. In the year 1834 a French artizan dis- 
 
362 
 
 PEAELS, ARTIFICIAL. 
 
 covered an opaline glass of a nacreous or pearly colour, very heavy and fusible, which 
 gave to the beads the different weights and Varied forms found amongst real pearls : 
 gum instead of wax is now used to fill them, by which they attain a high degree of 
 transparency, and . the glassy appearance has been lately obviated by the use of the 
 vapour of hydro-fluoric acid. . This acts in such a manner as to deaden the surface, 
 and remove its otherwise glaring look. 
 
 PEARLS, ARTIFICIAL, and BEADS. The material out of which these are 
 formed are small glass tubes like those with which thermometers are made. The tubes 
 for the bright red pearls consist of two layers of glass, a white opaque one internally, 
 and a red one externally ; drawn from a ball of white enamel, coated in the Bohemian 
 method with ruby-colored glass, either by dipping the white ball into a pot of red 
 glass, and thus coating it, or by introducing the ball of the former into a cylinder- of 
 the latter glass, and then cementing them so soundly together as to prevent their 
 separation in the subsequent pearl processes. These tubes are drawn in a gallery of 
 the glasshouse to 100 paces in length, and cut into pieces about a foot long. These 
 are afterward subdivided into cylindric portions of equal length and diameter, pre- 
 paratory to" giving them the spheroidal form. From -60 to 80 together are laid 
 horizontally in a row upon a sharp edge, and then cut quickly and dexterously at once 
 by drawing a knife over them. The broken fragments are separated from the regular 
 pieces by a sieve. These cylinder portions are rounded into the pearl shape by softening 
 them by a suitable heat, and stirring them all the time. To prevent them from sticking 
 together, a mixture of gypsum and plumbago, or of ground clay and charcoal,, is thrown 
 in among them. 
 
 Figs. 1049,1050 represent a new apparatus for rounding the heads;, fig. 1049 is a 
 front view of the whole ; fig. 1050 is a section through the middle of the former figure, 
 in the' course of its operation. The brick furnace, strengthened with iron bands, 2, 3, 
 5, 7, 8, has;iniits interior (see fig. 1050.) a nearly ege-shaped space b, provided with 
 the following openings : beneath is the fire-hearth, c, with a round mouth, ani opposite 
 are the smoke flue and chimney, d; in the slanting front of the furnace is a laige open- 
 ing, E, fig. 1049. Beneath are two smaller oblong rectangular orifices, F, G, which 
 extend somewhat obliquely into the laboratory, b. h serves for introducing the wood 
 into the fireplace. All these four openings are, as shown in fig. 1 049, secured from 
 injury by iron mouth-pieces. The wood is burned upon an iron or clay bottom piece, r. 
 A semi-circular cover, n, closes during the operation the large opening, e, which at 
 other times remains open. By means of a hook, m, and a chain, which rests upon a 
 hollow arch, h, the cover, n, is connected with the front end of the long iron lever, b, r . 
 A prop supports at once the turning axis of this lever and the catch, ft, c ; the weight, 
 ft, draws the arm b down, and thereby holds up n; e therefore remains open. Bv 
 
PEAELWHITE. 
 
 365 
 
 rods on the baek wall, t, t, the hook i, in which %' rests, proceeds from/. When a 
 is raised k sinks. The catch c b, enters with its front tooth into a slanting notch upon 
 the upper edge of r, spontaneously by the action of the spring e ; whereby the opening, 
 e, is shut The small door n, rises again with the front arm of the lever by the oper- 
 ation of the weight q of itself, as soon as the catch i3 released by pressure upon e. 
 
 The most important part of the whole apparatus is the drum, K, for the reception 
 and rounding of the bits of glass. It may be made of strong copper, or of hammered 
 
 or cast iron quite open above, and 
 pierced at the bottom with a square 
 hole, into which the lower end of 
 the long rod, t, is exactly fitted, and 
 secured in its place by a screwea 
 collector nut. The blunt point, x, 
 (fig. 1049.) rests during the work- 
 ing in a conical iron step of the 
 laboratory,/^. 1050. Or 'be mouth 
 of the drum k, a strong iron ring 
 is fixed, having a bar across its dia- 
 meter, with a square hole in its 
 middle point, fitted and secured by 
 a pin to the rod t, and turned by 
 . its rotation. The vessel k, and its 
 axle t, are laid in a slanting direc- 
 tion ; the axle rests in the upper 
 ring, s, at the lower end of the 
 rod, I, of which the other end i? 
 hung to the hook, », upon the 
 mantel beam* n. On the upper end 
 of t, the handle, s, is fixed for turn- 
 ing round continuously the vessel, 
 K, while the fire is burning in the 
 furnace, the fuel being put not only 
 in its bottom chamber, but also intr 
 the holes, r, g {fig., 1049). The 
 fire-wood is made very dry before 
 being used, by piling it in logs upon 
 the iron bars, 2, 10, 11, under the mantelpiece, as shown in figs, 1049, 1050. 
 
 After the operation is finished, and the cover, N, is removed, the drum m ercptied of 
 its contents, as follows. Upon the axle, t, there is toward k a projection at «. Along- 
 side the furnace (fig. 1049) there is a crane, m, that turns upon the step j, *, on th« 
 ground. The upper pivot turns in a hole of the mantel-beam, n. Upon the perpen- 
 dicular arm, w, of the crane there is a hook, y, and a ring, q, in which the iron rod, p, 
 is moveable in all directions. When the drum is to be removed from the furnace, the 
 crane, with its arm, w, must be turned inward, the under hook of the rod, p, is to be 
 hung in the projecting piece, », and the rod, /, is lifted entirely put. After this, by 
 means of the crane, the drum can be drawn with its Tod, t, out of the furnace ; and 
 through the mobility of the crane, and its parts, p, q, any desired position can be given 
 to the drum. Fig. 1049 shows how the workman can with his hand applied to s' de- 
 press the axle, t, and thereby raise the drum, K, so high that it will empty itself into 
 the pot, l, placed beneath. When left to itself, the drum on the contrary hangs nearly 
 upright upon the crane by means of the rod, p, and may therefore be easily filled 
 again in this position. The manner of bringing it into the proper position in the 
 furnace by means of the crane and the rod, /, is obvious from fig. 1050. 
 
 The now well-rounded beads are separated from the pulverulent substance with 
 which they were mixed, by careful agitation in sieves ; and they are polished finally 
 and cleaned by agitation in canvass-bags. 
 
 PEARL BUTTONS. Pearl-button making is thus practised ; the blanks are cut 
 out of the shell by means of a small revolving steel tube, the edge of which is toothed as 
 a saw after which they are flattened or reduced in thickness by splitting, which is aided 
 by the laminar structure of the shell. ■ At this stage being held in a spring chuck, they 
 are finished on both sides by means of a small tool : the drilling is effected by the revo- 
 lution of a sharp steel instrument, which acts with great rapidity. Ornamental cut- 
 tings are produced by means of small revolving cutters, and the final brilliant polish 
 is given by the friction of rotten-stone and soft soap upon a revolving bench. 
 
 PEAEL WHITE is a submunate of bismuth, obtained by pouring a solution ot the 
 nilTate of that metal into a dilute solution of sea-salt, whereby a light and very white 
 powder is obtained, which is to be well washed and dried. See Bismuth. 
 
564 PELTRY. 
 
 PECTIC ACID (Jtcide pectiqw, Fr. ; GalUrtsaure, Germ.) s so named on account 
 »f its jellying property, from mjnTit, coagulum, exists in a vast number of vegetables. 
 The easiest way of preparing it, is to grate the roots of carrots into a pulp, to express 
 their juice, to wash the marc with rain or distilled water, and to squeeze it well j 50 
 parts of the marc are next to be diffused through 300 of rain-water, adding by slow 
 degrees a solution of one part of pure potash, or two of bicarbonate. This mixture 
 is to be heated, so as to be made to boil for about a quarter of an hour, and is then to 
 be thrown boiling-hot upon a filter clolh. It is known to have been well enough 
 boiled, when a sample of the filtered liquor becomes gelatinous by neutralizing it with 
 an acid. This liquor contains pectate of potassa, in addition to other matters extricated 
 from the root. The pectate may be decomposed by a stronger acid, but it is belter to 
 decompose it by muriate of lime j whereby a pectate of lime, in a gelatinous form, quite 
 insoluble in water, is obtained. This having been washed with cold water upon a cloth, 
 is to be boiled in water containing as much muriatic acid as will saturate the lime. The 
 pectic acid thus liberated, remains under the form of a colorless jelly, which reddens lit- 
 mus paper, and tastes sour, even after it is entirely deprived of the muriatic acid. Cold 
 water dissolves very little of it ; it is more soluble in boiling water. The solution is 
 colorless, does not coagulate on cooling, and hardly reddens litmus paper ; but it gelatini- 
 zes when alcohol, acids, alkalis, or salts are added to it. Even sugar transforms it, after 
 some time, into a gelatinous state, a circumstance which serves to explain the preparation 
 of apple, cherry, raspberry, gooseberry, and other jellies. 
 
 PECTINE, or vegetable jelly, is obtained by mixing alcohol with the juice of ripe 
 currants, or any similar fruit, till a gelatinous precipitate takes place ; which is to be 
 gently squeezed in a cloth, washed with a little weak alcohol, and dried. Thus pre- 
 pared, pectine is insipid, without action upon litmus, in small pieces, semi-transparent, 
 and of a membranous aspect, like isinglass. Its mucilaginous solution in cold water is 
 not tinged blue with iodine. A very small addition of potash, or its carbonate, converts 
 pectine into pectic acid ; both of which substances are transformed into mucic and oxalic 
 acids by the nitric. 
 
 PELTRY (Pelleterie, Fr. ; Pelxwerk, Germ.), is nearly synonymous with fur, and 
 comprehends the skins of different kinds of wild animals that are found in high 
 northern latitudes, particularly in the American continent ; such as the beaver, bear, 
 moosedeer, marten, mink, sable, wolverine, wolf, &c. When these skins have received 
 no preparation but from the hunters, they are most properly called peltry ; but when they 
 have had the inner side tawed or tanned (see Leather) by an aluminous process, they 
 may then be denominated furs. 
 
 The scouring or cleaning of peltry is performed in a large cask, or truncated cone 
 laid on its side, and traversed by a revolving shaft, which is furnished with a few 
 rectangular rounded pegs. These are intended to stir round the skins, while they are 
 dusted over with Paris plaster, whitening, or sometimes sand, made as hot as the 
 hand can bear. The bottom of the cask should be grated, to allow the impurities to 
 fall out. The lustrage, which the cleansed skins next undergo, is merely a species of 
 dyeins, either topical, to modify certain disagreeable shades, or general, to impart a more 
 beautiful color to the fur. Under the articles Dyeing, and the several colors, as also 
 Hahi and Morocco, sufficient instructions will be found for dyeing fur. The mordants 
 should be applied pretty hot by a brush, on the hair of the skin, stretched upon a solid 
 table ; and after two or three applications, with drying between, the tinctorial infusions 
 may be rubbed on in the same way. The hair must be freed beforehand from all greasi- 
 ness, by lime water, or a weak solution of carbonate of soda; then well washed. Much 
 nicety, and many successive applications of the dye-stuff, are sometimes requisite to bring 
 out the desired shade. 
 
 Under Hat Manufacttjue, I referred to this article for a description of the process 
 of secretage, whereby the hairs of rabbit and hare skins are rendered fit for felting. 
 Dissolve 32 parts of quicksilver in 500 of common aquafortis ; and dilute the solution 
 with one half or two thirds of its bulk of water, according to the strength of the acid. 
 The skin being laid upon a table with the hair side uppermost, a brush, made with the 
 bristles of the wild boar, is to be slightly moistened with the mercurial solution, aiid 
 passed over the smooth "urface of the hairs with strong pressure. This application 
 must be repeated several times in succession, till every part of the fur be equally 
 touched, and till about two thirds of the length of the hairs be moistened, or a Utile 
 more, should they be rigid. In order to complete this impregnation, the skins are laid 
 together in pairs with tile hairy sides in contact, put in this state into the stove-room, 
 and exposed to a heat higher in proportion to the weakness of the mere nrial solution. 
 The drying should be rapidly effected, otherwise the concentration of the nitrate will not 
 take due effect in causing the retraction and curling of the hairs. 
 
 No other acid, or metallic solution, but the above, has been found to answer the de 
 
PENCIL MANUFACTURE, 
 
 365 
 
 sired purpose of the hatmaker. After the hairs are properly secreted, they are plucked 
 off by hand, or shorn off by a machine. 
 
 PENCIL MANUFACTURE. (Crayons, fabrigue de, Fr.; Bleistifte, verfertigwig, 
 Germ.) The word pencil is used in two senses. It signifies either a small hair brush 
 employed by painters in oil and water colors, or a slender cylinder, of black lead or plum- 
 bago, either naked or enclosed in a wooden case, for drawing black lines upon paper. 
 The last sort, which is the one to be considered here, corresponds nearly to the French 
 term crayon, though this includes also pencils made of differently colored earthy compo- 
 sitions. See Crayon. 
 
 The best black-lead pencils of this country are formed of slender parallelopipeds, cut 
 out by a saw from sound pieces of plumbago, which have been previously calcined in close 
 vessels at a bright red heat. These parallelopipeds are generally enclosed in cases made 
 of cedar wood, though of late years they are also used alone, in peculiar pencil-cases, 
 under the name of ever-pointed pencils, provided with an iron wire and screw, to pro- 
 trude a minute portion of the plumbago beyond the tubular metallic ease, in proportion 
 as it is wanted. 
 
 In the year 1795, M. Conte, a French gentleman, well acquainted with the mechanical 
 arts, invented an ingenious process for making artificial black-lead pencils of superior 
 quality, by which he and his successor and son-in-law, M. Humblot, have realized large 
 fortunes. 
 
 Pure clay, or clay containing the smallest proportion of calcareous or silicious matter, 
 is the substance which he employed to give aggregation and solidity, not (mly to plum- 
 bago dust, but to all sorts of colored powders. That earth has the property of diminish- 
 ing in bulk, and increasing in hardness, in exact proportion to the degree of heat it is 
 exposed to, and hence may be made to give 'every degree of solidity to crayons. The 
 clay is prepared by diffusing it in large tubs through clear river water, and letting the 
 thin mixture settle for two minutes. The supernatant milky liquor is drawn oil' by a 
 syphon from near the surface, so that only the finest particles of clay are transferred into 
 the second tub, upon a lower level. The sediment, which falls very slowly in this tub, 
 is extremely soft and plastic. The clear water being run off, the deposile is placed upon 
 a linen filter, and allowed to dry. It is now ready for use. 
 
 The plumbago must be reduced to a fine powder in an iron mortar, then put into a 
 crucible, and calcined at a heat approaching to whiteness. The action of the fire gives 
 it a brilliancy and softness which it would not otherwise possess, and prevents it from 
 being affected by the clay, which it is apt to be in its natural state. The less clay is 
 mixed with the plumbago, and the less the mixture is calcined, the softer are the pencils 
 made of it ; the more clay is used the harder are the pencils. Some of the best pencils 
 made by M. Conte, were formed of two parts of plumbago and three parts of clay ; others 
 of equal parts. This composition admits of indefinite variations, both as to the shade and 
 hardness ; advantages not possessed by the native mineral. While the traces may be 
 made as black as those of pure plumbago, they have not that glistening aspect which 
 often impairs the beauty of black-lead drawings. The same lustre may, however, be ob- 
 tained by increasing the proportion of powdered plumbago relatively to the clay. 
 
 The materials having been carefully sifted, a little of the clay is to be mixed with the 
 plumbago, and the mixture is to be triturated with water into a perfectly uniform paste, 
 A portion of this paste may be tested by calcination. If on cutting the indurated mass, 
 particles of plumbago appear, the whole must be further levigated. The remainder of 
 the clay is now to be introduced, and the paste is to be ground with a muller upon a 
 porphyry slab, till it be quite homogeneous, and of the consistence of thin dough. It is 
 now to be made into a ball, put upon a support, and placed under a bell glass inverted in 
 a basin of water, so as to be exposed merely to the moist air. 
 
 Small grooves are to be made in a smooth board, similar to the pencil parallelopipeds, 
 but a little longer and wider, to allow for the contraction of volume. The wood must be 
 boiled in grease, to prevent the paste from sticking to it. The above described paste 
 being pressed with a spatula into these grooves, another board, also boiled in grease, is 
 to be laid over them very closely, and secured by means of screw-clamps. As the atmo- 
 spheric air can get access only to the ends of the grooves, the ends of the pencil-pieces 
 become dry first, and by their contraction in volume get loose in the grooves, allowing 
 the air to insinuate further, and to dry the remainder of the paste in succession. When 
 the whole piece is dried, it becomes loose, and might be turned out of the grooves. 
 But before this is done, the mould must be put into an oven moderately heated, in 
 order to render the pencil pieces still drier. The mould should now be taken out, and 
 emptied upon a table covered with cloth. The greater part of the pieces will be 
 entire, anJ only a few will have been broken, if the above precautions have been duly 
 observed. They are all, however, perfectly straight, which is a matter of the first im- 
 portance. 
 In order to give solidity to these pencils, they must be set upright in a crucible till 
 
366 PENS, STEEL. 
 
 it is filled with them, and then surrounded with charcoal powder, fine sand, or sifted 
 wood ashes. The crucible, after having a luted cover applied, is to be put into a furnace, 
 and exposed to a decree of heat .regulated by the . pyrometei of Wedgewopd j which 
 degree is proportional to the intended hardness of the. pencils. When they have been 
 thus baked, the crucible is to be removed from the fire, and allowed to cool with the 
 pencils in it. 
 
 Should the pencils be intended for drawing architectural plans, or for very fine lines,, 
 they must be immersed in melted wax or suet nearly boiling hot, before they are put into 
 the cedar cases. This immersion is best done by heating the pencils first upon a grid-iron 
 and then plunging them into the melted wax or tallow. They acquire by this means a 
 certain degree of softness, are less apt to be abraded by use, and preserve their points, 
 much- better. > 
 
 When these pencils are intended to draw ornamental subjects with much shading, they, 
 should not be dipped as above. 
 
 Second process for making artificial pencils, somewhat different from (he precedingr^-AUt 
 the operations are the same, except that some lamp-black is introduced along with the 
 plumbago powder and the clay. In calcining these pencils in the crucible, the contact 
 of air must be carefully excluded, to prevent the lamp-black from being burned away on 
 the surface. An indefinite variety of pencils, of every possible black tint, may thus be 
 produced, admirably adapted to draw from nature. 
 
 Another ingenious form of mould is the following : t 
 
 Models ofrhe pencil-pieces must be made in iron, and stuck upright upon an iron tray, 
 having edges raised as high as the intended length of the pencils. A metallic alloy 
 is made of tin, lead, bismuth, and antimony, which melts at a moderate heat.. This is 
 poured into the sheet-iron tray, and after it. is cooled and concreted, it is inverted, 
 and shaken off from the model bars, so as to form a mass of metal perforated throughout 
 with tubular cavities, corresponding to the intended pencil-pieces. The paste is in- 
 troduced by pressure into these cavities, and set aside to dry slowly. When nearly dry, 
 the pieces get so much shrunk that they may be readily turned out of the moulds upon a 
 cloth table. They are then to be completely desiccated in the shade, afterwards in a 
 Etove-room, next in the oven, and lastly ignited in the crucible, with the precautions above 
 prescribed. 
 
 M. Conte recommends the hardest pencils of the architect to be made of lead melted 
 with some antimony and a little quicksilver. 
 
 In their further researches upon this subject, M. Conte and M. Humblot found that the 
 different degrees of hardness of crayons could not be obtained in a uniform manner by the 
 mere mixture of plumbago and clay-in determinate doses. But they discovered a remedy 
 for this defect in the use of saline solutions, more or less concentrated, into which they 
 plunged the pencils, in order to modify their hardness, and increase the uniformity of their 
 texture. The non-deliquescent sulphates were preferred for this purpose ; such as sul- 
 phate of soda, &c. Even sirup was found useful in this way. 
 
 Messrs. Stevens and Wylder's pencils, pens, and pen holders. — Messrs. Stevens & Wylder 
 obtained a patent in June, 1860, for certain improvements, in which they claim, 
 
 1. (In respect of ever pointed pencils.) The employment of an internal helix in 
 lieu of a propelling screw, by means of which a length of black lead, chalk, or other 
 marking materials may be propelled nearly the whole length of the pencil. 
 
 2. (With reference to pens.} The application of gutta percha to metal pens, be 
 tween the shoulder and the nus, the metal having been first reduced in thickness, 
 either by grinding or otherwise, for the purpose of obtaining greater flexibility. 
 2ndly. The construction of barrel and other pens in metal, to be used with fountain pen 
 holders, having the barrel placed the reverse way, or above instead of below the nibs. 
 
 3. (With respect to penholders.) 1st The use and application of glass to telescopic 
 and other fountain holders, whereby the ink is kept from contact with metal until it 
 reaches the pen. (Query, has not thiB been anticipated by Mr. Thomson's patent ? ) 
 2ndly. The adaptation of a band of flexible material to fountain holders, for the pur- 
 pose of facilitating the flow of ink to the pen, such band being placed around a part 
 of the tube, in which air holes or openings have been previously made. 
 
 PENS, STEEL. The best metal, made from Dannemora or hoop (l) iron, is selected 
 and laminated into slips about 3 feet long, and 4 inches broad, of a thickness corre- 
 sponding to the desired stiffness and flexibility of the pens. These slips are subjected 
 to the action of a stamping-press, somewhat similar to that for making buttons. (See 
 Button and Plated Ware.) The point destined for the nib is next introduced into an 
 appropriate gauged hole of a little machine, and pressed into the semi-cylindrical 
 shape ; where it is also pierced with the middle slit, and the lateral ones, provided the 
 .atter are to be given. The pens are now cleaned, by being tossed about among each 
 other, in a tin cylinder, about 3 feet long, and 9 inches in diameter ; which is suspended 
 at each end upon joints to two cranks, foimed one on each of two shafts. The cylin 
 
PEPPER. 367 
 
 der, by the rotation of a fly-wheel, acting upon the crank-shafts, is' made to describe 
 such revolutions as agitate the pens in all directions, and polish them by mutual attri- 
 tion. In the course of i hours several thousand pens may be finished upon this machine. 
 
 When steel pens have been punched out of the softened sheet of steel by the appro- 
 priate tool, fashioned in the desired form, and hardened by ignition in an oven and 
 sudden quenching in cold water, they are best tempered by being heated to the re- 
 quisite spring elasticity in an oil bath. The heat of this bath is usually judged of by 
 the appearance to the eye ; but this point should be correctly determined by a ther- 
 mometer, according to the scale (see Steel); and then the pens would acquire a 
 definite degree of flexibility or stiffness, adapted to the wants and wishes of the con- 
 sumers. They are at present tempered too often at random. 
 
 Gillott, Joseph, Victoria Works, Birmingham, Inventor and Manufacturer. Specimens 
 of metallic pens. Steel pen making may be briefly described as follows: The steel is 
 procured at Sheffield ; it is cut into strips, and the scales removed by immersion in 
 pickle composed of dilute sulphuric acid. It is passed through rollers, by which it is 
 reduced to the necessary thickness; it is then in a condition to be made into pens, and 
 is for this purpose passed into the hands of a girl, who is seated at a press, and who by 
 means of a bed and a punch corresponding speedily cuts out the blank. The next 
 stage is piercing the hole which terminates the slit and removing any superfluous steel 
 likely to interfere with the elasticity of the pen ; at this stage they are annealed in 
 quantities in a muffle, after which by means of a small stamp the maker's name is im- 
 pressed upon them. Up to this stage the future pen is a flat piece of steel •; it is then 
 transferred to another class of workers, who by means of the press make 't concave, if 
 a nib, and form the barrel, if a barrel pen. Hardening is the next process : to effect 
 this a number of pens are placed in a small iron box and introduced into a muffle ; after 
 they become of a uniform deep red, they are plunged into oil ; the oil adhering is re- 
 moved by agitation in circular tin barrels. The process of tempering succeeds ; and 
 finally the whole are placed in a revolving cylinder with sand, pounded crucible, or 
 other cutting substances, which finally brightens thefn to the natural colour of the ma- 
 terial. The nib is ground with great rapidity by a girl who picks it up, places it in a 
 pair of suitable plyers, and finishes it with a single touch on a small emery wheel. 
 The pen is now in a condition to receive the slit, and this is also done by means 
 of a press; a chisel or wedge with a flat side is fixed to the bed of the press; the de- 
 scending screw has a corresponding chisel cutter, which passes down with the minutest 
 accuracy ; the slit is made ; and the pen is completed. The last stage is colouring 
 brown or blue ; this is done by introducing the new pens into a revolving metal cylin- 
 der, under which is a charcoal stove, and watching narrowly when the desired tint is 
 arrived at. The brilliancy is imparted by means of lac dissolved in naphtha ; the pens 
 are immersed in this, and dried by heat. Then follow the counting and selecting. 
 Women are mostly employed in the manufacture, with skilled workmen to repair and 
 set the tools. This exhibit ->r employs upwards of five hundred hands, of which four- 
 fifths are women. The manufactory has been established upwards of thirty years, 
 and has been the means of introducing many improvements in the manufacture. 
 
 Wiley, W. E. & Go., 34 Great Hampton Street, Birmingham — Manufacturer. Speci- 
 mens of gold, palladium, gold and silver, and silver pens, pointed with the native 
 alloys of iridium and osmium, the hardest of metals. 
 
 These pens, being formed of metals not acted on by the ink, appear almost indes- 
 tructible ; their permanence in use is further maintained by the attachment to the 
 point, by soldering, of a minute portion of the metals named, which are extremely 
 hard and durable. 
 
 Hincks, Wells, & Co., Buckingham street, Birmingham — Manufacturers. Patent self- 
 acting cutting, piercing, and raising pen machine. The ordinary presses are worked 
 by hand. The self-acting machines are driven by steam ; they cut, pierce, and side 
 slit two pens at one stroke, performing six processes at once. 
 
 Specimens of liliputian pens complete, intended to show the skill of the tool cutter 
 and the perfection of the machinery employed. ' A gross pf the smallest weighs less 
 than S4 grains, and can be contained in a barcelona nutshell. 
 
 Specimens of finished pens. Steel in its rough state, and after it has passed through 
 the rolling-mill ; scrap steel from which the pens are cut ; pens cut and pierced. The 
 other processes exhibited in the finished pen. 
 
 Specimens of pierced pens, to show the modern improvements in the art of tool- 
 cutting. 
 
 PEPPER, (Poivre, Fr. ; Pfeffer, Germ.), Black pepper is composed, according to 
 M. Pelletier, of the vegetable principle, piperine, of a very acrid concrete oil, a volatile 
 balsamic oil, a coloured gurny matter, an extractive principle analogous to legumine, 
 malic and tartaric acids, starch, bassorine, ligneous matter, with earthy and alkaline 
 salts in small quantity. Cubebs pepper has nearly the same composition. 
 
368 
 
 PERFUMERY, ART OF. 
 
 PEPPER. The unripe grains or corns are known under the name ol bhick 
 pepper ; the ripe ones, deprived of their epidermis, constitute •white pepper. The 
 latter are very generally bleached by steeping for a little while in a solution of chloride 
 of lime, subsequent washing and drying; a process which improves their aspect, but 
 not their flavor. I was recently led to examine the nature of this substance some- 
 what minutely, from being called professionally to investigate a sample of ground 
 white pepper belonging to an eminent spice-house in the city of London, which pepper 
 had been seized by the Excise on the charge of its being adulterated, or mixed with 
 some foreign matter, contrary to law. I made a comparative analysis of that pepper 
 and of genuine white pepper-corns, and found both to afford like results : viz. in 100 
 grains, a trace of volatile oil, in which the aroma chiefly resides ; about 8| grains of a 
 pungent resin, containing a small fraction of a grain of piperine ; about 60 grains of 
 starch, with a little gum, and nearly 30 grains of matter insoluble in hot and cold 
 water, which may be reckoned lignine. The two chemists in the service of the Excise 
 made oath before the court of judicature, that the said pepper contained a notable 
 proportion of sago, even to the amount of fully 10 per cent. ; grounding their judgment 
 upon the appearance of certain rounded particles in the pepper, and of the deep blue 
 color which these assumed when moistened with iodine water. No allegation could 
 be more frivolous. Bruised corns of genuine white pepper certainly acquire as deep a 
 tint with iodine as any species of starch whatever. But the characters of sago, 
 optical and chemical, are so peculiar, as to render the above surmise no less prepos- 
 terous, than the prosecution of respectable merchants, for such a cause, was unjustifiable. 
 A particle of sago appears in the microscope, by reflected light, to be a spherule of 
 snow, studded round with brilliants ; whereas the rounded particles of the seized peppei 
 seem to be amorphous bits of gray clay. Had the pepper been adulterated with such 
 a quantity of sago, or anything else, as was alleged, it could not have afforded me, 
 by digestion in alcohol, as much of the spicy essence as the bruised genuine pepper- 
 corns did. 
 
 Moreover, sago, steeped for a short time in cold water, swells and softens into a 
 pulpy consistence, whereas the particles of the seized pepper, rounded by attrition in 
 the mill, retain, in like circumstances, their hardness and dimensions. Sago, being 
 pearled by heating and stirring the fine starch of the sago palm in a damp state, upon 
 iron or other plates, acquires its peculiar somewhat loose aggregation and brilliant 
 surface; while, in pepper, the starchy constituent is compactly condensed, and bound 
 up with its ligneous matter. 
 
 The Excise laws are sufficiently odious and oppressive in themselves without being 
 aggravated by the servile sophistry of pseudo-science. 
 
 Four pounds of black pepper yield only about one ounce of piperine, or one 
 636th part. It is an insipid crystalline substance, insoluble in water, but very soluble 
 in boiling alcohol, and is extracted at first along with the resin, which may be separa- 
 ted from it afterward, by potash. 
 
 
 Imported. 
 
 Retained for Con- 
 sumption. 
 
 Exported. 
 
 Duty received. 
 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 lbs. 
 8,082,319 
 3,996,496 
 
 lbs. 
 3,174,425 
 3,303,402 
 
 lbs. 
 3,727,183 
 2,709,755 
 
 £ 
 83,324 
 86,729 
 
 Duty 6<£ per lb. 
 PERCUSSION CAPS, Patent. The total manufacture of percussion caps for sport- 
 ing guns in Europe may be estimated at 1,300,000,000 yearly. Some idea of the im- 
 portance of this article may be formed from the quantity of copper requisite for its 
 production, viz. 396,000 lbs. weight. The great advantages of the percussion princi- 
 
 Ele have been so generally acknowledged, that within the short space of 20 years all 
 inds of guns with flint-locks have been abandoned, and the percussion system has 
 likewise been extended to muskets for the army. The percussion caps exhibited are 
 stated to be remarkable for accuracy and equality of bore, for the malleability of the 
 copper, and superior quality of the powder. The percussion caps coated with varnish 
 exhibited may remain in water for 72 hours and more without losing their power of 
 immediately igniting the powder. 
 
 Nipples (pistons) hermetically closed, a new invention which prevents any moisture 
 from penetrating between the percussion caps and the nipple, and thus preserves the 
 sportsman's powder perfectly dry. 
 
 PERFUMERY, ART OF (Parfumerie, Fr.; Wohlrieckende-hunst, Germ.); consists 
 in the preparation of different products, such as fats or pommades, essential oils, dis- 
 tilled spirits, pastes, pastilles and essences. 
 
PEKfUMERY, ART OF. 369 
 
 Fats ought to be pounded in a marble mortar, without addition of water, till all the 
 membranes be completely torn; then subjected to the heat of a water -bath in a proper 
 vcesel. The fat soon melts, and the albumen of the blood coagulating, carries with it 
 all the foreign substances; the liquid matter should be skimmed, and passed through a 
 canvass filter. ' 
 
 Of pommades by infusion. — Rose, orange-flower, and cassia. Take 334 pounds of 
 hog's lard, and 166 of beef suet. These 500 pounds are put into a pan called bugadier ; 
 and when melted, 150 pounds of rose-leaves nicely plucked are added, taking care to 
 stir the mixture every hour. The infusion thus prepared is to remain at rest for 24 
 hours ; at the end of this time, the pommade is again melted, and well stirred to prevent 
 its adherence to the bottom of the melting-pan. The mass is now to be poured out into 
 canvass, and made into rectangular bricks or loaves, which are subjected to a press, in 
 order to separate the solid matter from the soft pommade. These brick-shaped pieces 
 being put into an iron-bound barrel perforated all over its staves, the pommade is to be 
 allowed to exude on all sides, and flow down into a copper vessel placed under the trough 
 of the [..ress. This manipulation should be repeated with the same fat ten or twelve 
 times ; or in other words, 3000 pounds of fresh rose-leaves should be employed to make 
 a good pommade. 
 
 The pommade of orange-flowers is made in the same manner, as also the pommade of 
 cassia. 
 
 Of pommades without infusion. — Jasmine, tuberose, jonquil, narcissus, and viSlet. 
 
 A square frame, called tiame, is made of four pieces of wood, well joined together, 2 
 or 3 inches deep, into which a pane of glass is laid, resting upon inside ledges near the 
 bottom. Upon the surface of the pane the simple pommade of hog's lard and suet is spread 
 with a pallet knife j and into this pommade the sweet-scented flowers are stuck fresh 
 in diirerent points each successive day, during two or three months, till the pommade 
 has acquired the desired richness of perfume. The above-described frames are piled 
 iloselv over each other. Some establishments at Grasse possess from 3000 to 4000 o- 
 
 Of oils. — Rose, orange-flower, and cassia oils, are made by infusion, like the pom- 
 mades of the same perfumes ; taking care to select oils perfectly fresh. As to those of 
 jasmine, tuberose, jonquil, violet, and generally all delicate flowers, they are made in the 
 following manner. Upon an iron frame, a piece of cotton cloth is stretched, imbued 
 with olive oil of the first quality, and covered completely with a thin bed of flowers. 
 Another frame 'is similarly treated, and in this way a pile is made. The flowers 
 must be renewed till the oil is saturated with their odor. The pieces of cotton cloth 
 are then carefully pressed to extrude the oil. This last operation requires commonly 7 
 or 8 days. 
 
 Of distillation. — The essential oils or essences, of which the great manufacture is in 
 the south of France, are of rose, neroli, lavender, lemon thyme, common thyme, and rose- 
 mary. For the mode of distilling the essential oils, see Oils, essential. 
 
 The essence of roses being obtained in a peculiar manner, I shall describe it here. 
 Put into the body of a still 40 pounds of roses, and 60 quarts of water ; distil off one 
 half of the water. When a considerable quantity of such water of the first distillation 
 is obtained, it must be used as water upon fresh rose-leaves; a process of repetition to 
 be carried to the fifth time. In the distillation of o-ange-flower, to obtain the essence of 
 neroli, the same process is to be followed ; but if orange-flower water merely be wanted, 
 then it is obtained at one distillation, by reserving the first fifth part of water that comes 
 , over. What is called the essence of petit-grain, is obtained by distilling the leaves of the 
 ' orange shrub. The essences of lavender, thyme, &c, present nothing peculiar in theii 
 mode of extraction. 
 
 OF SCENTED SPIRITS, 
 
 From oil of rose, orange, jasmine, tuberose, cassia, violet, and other flowers. 
 
 Into each of three digesters, immersed in water-baths, put 25 lbs. of any one of these 
 oils, and pour into the first digester 25 quarts of spirit of wine ; agitate every quarter of 
 an hour during three days and at the end of this period, draw off the perfumed spirit, and 
 
 Esyril de Suave. 
 7 Eng. qrts. of spirit of jasmine,3d operation. 
 
 7 — cassia, — 
 3 - wine. 
 
 2 — tuberose, — 
 1J ounce essence of cloves. 
 | ounce fine neroli. 
 1| ounce essence of bergamot. 
 
 8 ounces essence of musk, 2d infusion. 
 
 3 Quarts rose water. 
 
 Vol. II. 25 
 
 Spirit of Cylherca. 
 1 quart spirit of violets. 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 jasmine, 2d operation 
 
 1 
 
 — ■ 
 
 tuberose, 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 clove gillyflower. 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 roses, 2d operation. 
 
 I 
 
 — . 
 
 Portugal. 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 orange-floWer water 
 
370 
 
 PERFUMERY, ART OF. 
 
 pour it into the second digester; then transfer it after 3 days into the third digester, 
 treating the mixture in the same way ; and the spirit thus obtained will be perfect. The 
 digesters must be carefully covered during the progress of these operations. On pursuing 
 the same process with the same oil and fresh alcohol, essences of inferior qualities may 
 be obtained, called Nos. 2, 3, and 4. 
 
 Some perfumers state that it is hetter to use highly seented pommades than oilsj but 
 there is probably little differenpe in this respect. 
 
 Spirit of flowers of Italy. 
 2 quarts spirit of jasmine, 2d operation. 
 2 — roses, — 
 
 2 — oranges, 3d — 
 
 The above spirits mark usually 28 alcometric degrees of Gay Lussac. See Alcohol. 
 
 2 quarts spirit of cassia, 2d operation. 
 ]i — orange flower water. 
 
 POMMADES. 
 
 No less than 20 scented pommades are distinguished by the perfumers of Paris. The 
 essences commonly employed in the manufacture of pommades, are those of bergamot, 
 lemons, cedrat, limette (sweet lemon), Portugal, rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, lavender, 
 marjoram, and cinnamon. 
 
 The following may serve as an example : — ^ 
 
 Pommade a la vanille, commonly called Roman. 
 12 pounds of pommade a la rose. 
 3 — oil a la rose. 
 1 — vanilla, first quality, pulverized. 
 6 ounces bergamot. 
 The pommade being melted at the heat of a water-bath, the vanilla is to he introduced 
 with continual stirring for an hour. The mixture is left to settle during two hours. 
 The pommade is then to be drawn off, and will be fojund to have a fine yellow color, in- 
 stead of the brown shade which it commonly has. 
 
 In making odoriferous extracts and waters, the spirits of the flowers prepared by 
 macerating the flowers in alcohol should be preferred to their distillation, as forming the 
 foundation of good perfumery. The specific gravity of these spirits should be always 
 under 0-88. 
 
 Extract of peach blossoms. 
 6 quarts of spirits of wine. 
 6 pounds of bitter almonds. 
 2 quarts of spirits of orange flower, 2d 
 
 operation. 
 4 drachms of essence of bitter almon&a. 
 4 drachms of balsam of Peru. 
 4 ounces of essence of lemons. 
 
 Extract of Nosegay (bouquet). 
 2 quarts spirit of jasmine, 1st ope ation. 
 
 2 — extract of violets. 
 1 — spirit of cassia, 1st — 
 1 — roses, 1st — 
 1 — orange, - 1st — 
 1 — Extract of clove gillyflower. 
 4 drms. of flowers of benzoin (benzoic acid). 
 8 ounces of essence of amber, 1st infusion. 
 
 Eau de Cologne. 
 
 Two processes have been adopted for the preparation of this perfume, distillation and 
 infusion; the first of which, though generally abandoned, is, however, the preferable one. 
 The only essences which should be employed, and which have given such celebrity to • 
 this, water, are the following; bergamot, lemon, rosemary, Portugal, neroli. The whole 
 of them ought to be of the best quality, but their proportions may be varied according to 
 the taste of the consumers. 
 
 Thirty different odors are enumerated by perfumers ; the three following recipes will 
 form a sufficient specimen of their combinations. 
 
 Honey-water. 
 6 quarts of spirit of roses, 3d operation. 
 
 3 do jasmine. 
 3 do. spirits of wine. 
 3 ounces essence of Portugal. 
 i drachms nYwers of benzoin. 
 12 ounces of essence of vanilla, 3d infusion. 
 12 do. musk, do. 
 3 quarts good orange- flower water. 
 
 
 
 Eau de miUe fleurs. 
 
 18 quarts of spirits of wine 
 
 4 
 
 Dunces balsam of Peru. 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 
 essence of bersamot. 
 
 4 
 
 do. 
 
 cloves. 
 
 1 
 
 do. 
 
 ordinary neroli. 
 
 1 
 
 do. 
 
 thyme. 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 
 musk, 3d infusion 
 
 4 quarts orange flower water. 
 
PERFUMERY, ART OF. 371 
 
 Eau de mousseline. 
 
 2 ounces essence of vanilla, 3d infusion, 
 2 do. musk, do. 
 
 4 drachms of sanders wood. 
 1 quart of orange-flower water. 
 
 2 quarts spirit of roses, 3d infusion. 
 2 do. jasmine, 4th do. 
 
 t do. clove gillyflower. 
 
 £ do. orange flower, 4th do 
 
 Almond pastes. 
 
 These are, gray, sweet white, and bitter white. 
 
 The first is made either with the kernels of apricots, or with bitter almonds. They 
 are winnowed, ground, and formed into loaves of 5 or 6 pounds weight, which are put 
 into the press in order to extract their oil ; 300 pounds of almonds affording about 130 of 
 oil. The pressure is increased upon them every two hours during three days ; at the end 
 of which time the loaves or cakes are taken out of the press to be dried, ground, and 
 sifted. 
 
 The second paste is obtained by boiling the almonds in water till their skins are com- 
 pletely loosened ; they are next put into a basket, washed and blanched; then dried, and 
 ■ pressed as above. 
 
 The third paste is prepared like the second, only using bitter almonds. 
 Liquid almond pastes, such as those of the rose, orange, vanilla, and nosegay. The 
 honey paste is most admired. It is prepared as follows ; — 
 
 6 pounds of honey- I 12 pounds oil of bitter almonds. 
 
 6 do. white bitter paste. | 26 yolks of eggs. 
 
 The honey should be heated apart and strained ; 6 pounds of almond paste must then 
 be kneaded with it, adding towards the conclusion, alternately, the quani.'ly of yolks of 
 eggs and almond oil indicated. 
 
 Pastilles a la rose, orange flower, and vanilla. 
 
 Pastilles of orange flower. 
 12 ounces of gum galbanum. 
 12 do. olibanum, in tears. 
 
 12 do. storax, do. 
 
 8 do. nitre. 
 
 1 pound of pure orange powder. 
 3 do. 14 ounces charcoal powder. 
 1 ounce superfine neroli. 
 Pastilles a la vanille. 
 
 Pastilles a la rose. 
 
 12 ounces 
 
 of gum. 
 
 12 do. 
 
 olibanum, in tears. 
 
 12 do. 
 
 storax, do. 
 
 8 do. 
 
 nitre. 
 
 J 6 do. 
 
 powder of pale roses 
 
 3 pounds 14 do. 
 
 charcoal powder. 
 
 1 do. 
 
 essence of roses. 
 
 16 ounces powder of vanilla. 
 
 3 pounds 14 ounces charcoal powder. 
 
 4 drms. essence of cloves. 
 
 8 ounces do. vanilla, 1st infusion. 
 
 12 ounces of gum galbanum. 
 12 do. olibanum, ir. Isars. 
 
 12 do. storax do. 
 
 8 do. nitre. 
 
 8 do. cloves. 
 
 The above mixture in each case is to be thickened with 2 ounces of gum tragacanth 
 dissolved in 2 pints of rose water. It is needless to say that the ingredients of the mix- 
 ture should be impalpable powders. 
 
 Scented cassolettes. 
 
 8 pounds of black amber (ambergris). 
 4 do. rose powder. 
 
 2 ounces of benzoin. 
 
 1 ounce essence of roses. 
 
 1 do. gum tragacanth. 
 
 A few drops of the oil of sanders wood. 
 
 These ingredients are pulverized, and made into a cohesive paste with the gum. 
 
 ESSENCES BY INFUSION. 
 
 Essence of musk. 
 5 ounces of musk from the bladder, cut small. 
 1, do. civet. 
 
 4 quarts of spirit of ambrette (purple sweet sultan). 
 The whole are put into a matrass, and exposed to the sun for two months during 
 the hottest season of the . year. In winter, the heat of a water bath must be re- 
 sorlel to. 
 
372 PERFUMERY. 
 
 Essence of vanilla. 
 
 8 pounds of vanilla in branches, 1st quality, cut small. 
 4 quarts spirit of ambrette. 
 2 drachms of cloves. 
 J do musk from the bladder. 
 The same process must be followed as for the essence of musk. 
 
 Essence of ambergris. 
 
 4 ounces of ambergris, 8 quarts of spirit of ambrette. 
 
 2 ounces of bladder musk. [ Treat as above. 
 
 Spirit of ambrette (purple sweet sultan). 
 
 25 pounds of ambrette are to be distilled with 25 quarts of spirits of wine, adding 12 
 quarts of water, so as to be able to draw off the 25 quarts. 
 
 Artificial Essences of Fruits in the Exhibition. The artificial production of aro- ' 
 matic oils, for industrial objects, can only be traced back a few years. Young, however, 
 as this manufacture is, it appears, nevertheless, to have been in the hands of several 
 distillers, by whom a very considerable amount has been produced. Upon this point 
 the jury became fully convinced by their investigations in this department; both in the 
 English and in the French divisions of the Exhibition a large selection of these chemical 
 perfumeries were to be found, the comparison of which at the same time with other 
 aromatic preparations was satisfactorily illustrated. Most of these oils are poisonous 
 in small quantities, so that in very few instances can their action be asserted without 
 fresh investigations. 
 
 The commonest of these preparations was the pear-oil (Birnol), a favourite fluid, 
 which, by examination, is proved to be an alcoholic solution of acetate of the oxide of 
 amyle. As the author had not sufficient of this satisfactorily to determine its com 
 position by its combustion, he mixed it with potash, by which means fusel oil was im- 
 mediately liberated, and the acetic acid was separated in the form of salt of silver, of 
 which 0-3089 grammes gave 0-1994 grammes silver; the percentage of silver in the acetate 
 being theoretically 64-68, by experiment 64 '55. The acetate of oxide of amyle made ac- 
 cording to the usual process (1 part sulphuric acid, 1 part fusel oil, and 2 parts of 
 acetate of potash), presents a strong fruity odour, and by the addition of about 6 parts 
 of alcohol, yields the flavour of jargonelle pear. Upon closer inquiry of the manufacturers 
 of this substance the author found that it was produced in very considerable quantities 
 (by some between 15 and 20 lbs. weekly). In England i it is extensively employed in 
 flavouring ' pear-drops,' which have almost superseded the common ' barley-sugar drops.' 
 
 Next to the " pear" oil, figures Apple oil, which experiment has shown to he nothing 
 more than a valerianate of oxide of amyle, which yields an insupportable odour of rotten 
 apples, pervading the laboratory where valerianic acid is produced. If the crude pro- 
 duct of distillation be treated with a solution of potash, the valerianic acid is removed 
 and the ether is retained ; the addition to this of 5 or 6 times its volume of alcohol gives 
 off an agreeable odour of apples. 
 
 The essence, however, which was observed to be in the greatest abundance was the 
 " Fine Apple oil," which is simply a butyrate of oxyde of ethyle. This composition, like 
 the two preceding, yields its flavour on the addition of alcohol. The butyric ether, 
 which in Germany is added to inferior sorts of rum, for the purpose of imparting a 
 flavour to a peculiar kind of drink (pine apple ale), is seldom prepared for this pur- 
 pose from pure butyric acid, but from the saponified acid, and the distillation of the 
 soap with concentrated sulphuric acid and alcohol (vide Annalen der Chemie und 
 Pharmacie, xlix. 359.) The fluid thus obtained contains other kinds of ether besides 
 butyric ether, but may, without these, be employed for flavouring. Tire analysis of this 
 ether by means of potash and a salt of silver, gave 0-4404 gr. of salt of silver; - 243'7 
 silver ; the percentage of silver in its butyrate being, theoretically, 55-38, experimen- 
 tally, 55-33. 
 
 . The so-called Cognac oil and Grape oil were contributed to both the English and 
 French departments. They are most frequently employed for giving the cognac flavour 
 to brandies. The grape oil consists of a compound of amyle dissolved in alcohpl, then 
 set free by the addition of concentrated sulphuric acid; the oil of sulphate of amyle is 
 then freed from alcohol by washing with water. Analysed by means of a salt of 
 barium 1-2690 gr. amyl-sulphate of baryta gave 05815 gr. of sulphate of baryta, 
 equal to 45-82 per cent, of sulphate of baryta. According to Cahours, and again more 
 lately, according to Kekule, the analysis of amyl-sulphate of baryta with 2 eq. of water, 
 •ontains 49-95 per cent, of sulphate of baryta. It is certainly remarkable, as has been 
 •bserved, that we have here a body, which, is most carefully excluded from brandy 
 
PERSONAL CLOTHING. 
 
 373 
 
 on aeeount of its intolerable odour, employed again under another form to give it 
 flavour. 
 
 The next object of attention is the artificial oil of Utter almottds. When Mitscherlieh, 
 in 1834, discovered nitro-benzule, he did not foresee the great amount in which this 
 body would be found in an Industrial Exhibition. It is true he had observed the remark- 
 able similarity of its odour to that of oil of bitter almonds, but then the only source 
 whence the nitro-benzule could be obtained, viz., from the oil of compressed gases, and 
 the distillation of benzoic acid, were too costly to admit of the idea of its employment 
 as a substitute for oil of bitter almonds. It remained for the author, in 1845, to detect 
 the presence of benzule in the transformation of coal tar; and in 1849, Mansfield 
 {Chemical Society's Quarterly Journal, i., 244.; Amialen, Ixix. 162.) showed that it 
 eould be obtained with facility in considerable quantities from coal tar. The Great 
 Exhibition has shown that this statement has not been lost sight of. In the French 
 department of perfumery, it was met with under the designation of artificial oil of bit- 
 ter almonds, and under the fantastic name of essence of mirbane, varieties of the oil 
 which, on examination, were found to be more or less pure nitro-benzule. In London 
 it is used in large quantities. Messrs. Mansfield's simple apparatus for its preparation 
 is thus described: — A large glass worm is used, the upper end of which is bifurcated, 
 and forms two tubes of a funnel shape ; into one of these funnels concentrated nitric 
 acid is poured, in the other the benzule is placed (and for this purpose it is not required 
 to be absolutely pure). The two bodies, therefore, meet at the point of junction of 
 these two tubes, the compound is cooled by its course through the windings of the worm, 
 and requires only to be washed with water or diluted solution of carbonate of soda, 
 and it is then fit for use. Although nitro-benzule has an odour so closely resembling 
 oil of bitter almonds, a difference may be detected by an experienced nose. It is, how 
 ever, very generally employed in scenting soapa, in confectionery, and for culinary pur- 
 poses. For the last named purpose it has the advantage of not containing hydrocyanic 
 acid. 
 
 Besides the preceding, many other substances of analogous nature were exhibited, 
 but they were of too complicated characters to be satisfactorily examined in the small 
 quantities to be met with. In many of these essences there was, however, a great 
 similarity of aroma. i 
 
 PERFUMERY, INDIAN. The natives place on the ground a layer of the scented 
 flowers, about 4 inches thick and 2 feet square; cover them over with a layer 2 inches 
 thick of Tel or Sesamum seed wetted ; then lay on another 4 incli bed of flowers, and 
 cover this pile with a sheet, which is pressed down by weights round the edges. After 
 remaining in this state for 18 hours, the flowers are removed and replaced by a similar 
 fresh layer, and treated as before ; a process which is repeated a third time if a very 
 rieh perfumed oil be required. The sesamum seeds thus imbued with the essential oil 
 of the plant, whether jasmine, Bela, or Chumbul, are placed in their swollen state in a 
 mill, and subjected to strong pressure, whereby they give out their bland oil strongly 
 impregnated with the aroma of the particular flower employed. The oil is kept in 
 prepared skins called duhbers, and is largely used by the Indian women. The attar of 
 roses is obtained by distillation at a colder period of the year. 
 
 PERRY, is the fermented juice of pears, prepared in exactly the same way as Cyder. 
 
 PERSIAN BERRIES. See Berries, Persian. 
 
 PERSONAL CLOTHING. The title of the class will suggest the multifarious ob- 
 jects which fall naturally within its comprehensive limits. The sub-classes are as fol- 
 lows: — A hats, caps, and bonnets of various materials; B. hosiery, of cotton, woollen, 
 and silk; C. gloves of leather and other materials; D. boots, shoes, and lasts ; E. under- 
 clothing; F. upper-clothing. 
 
 The manufactories of hosiery, straw plait, and boots and shoes, have a local establish- 
 ment in this country, which is deserving of attention ; that of hosiery is principally 
 eonfined to Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester. Cotton hosiery is chiefly made in Not- 
 tingham, as also is the silk hosiery; the latter being likewise largely conducted in 
 Derby. Woollen hosiery is most extensively produced in Leicestershire The statistics 
 of these trades have been carefully prepared and are very interesting. The annual 
 value of cotton hosiery is taken at 880,000^., that of worsted, &c, is 870,OOOZ., and of 
 silk, 241,000£ In the manufacture of these goods it is estimated that 4,584,000 lbs. of 
 raw cotton wool are used, — 6,318,000 lbs. of English woo], and 140,000 lbs. of silk. 
 The total number of persons deriving support from the manufacture is about 73,000, 
 and about l,050,000t of floating capital is considered to be employed in the various 
 branches of the trade. 
 
 The manufacture of straw plait is carried on chiefly at St. Alban's, Dunstable, Tring, 
 and a few other places. That of boots and shoes is conducted on a very large scale at 
 Northampton, from which place vast quantities of these articles are sent out ready for 
 wear. Worcester, Dundee, and Woodstock are celebrated for their glove manufactures. 
 
374 PHANTASMAGOKIA. 
 
 Gloves are of great antiquity in this island, as the word is evidently derived from 
 the Anglo-Saxon "glof." They are not mentioned in Scripture, but were in use among 
 the Romans in the time of Pliny the Younger. Xenophon states that their use among 
 the Persians was considered a proof of their luxurious habits. Gloves have had many 
 symbolical meanings. The gauntlet or glove thrown down waB a mode of challenge, 
 and still is practised as one of the forms of royal coronation. Queen Elizabeth, it is 
 well known, was very fond of gloves, of which numerous presents were made to her. 
 White gloves are also presented to the judges on occasion of a maiden assize, the 
 exact significance or origin of which practice has never been satisfactorily explained. 
 Leather gloves are now made at Worcester, Yeovil, Woodstock, and London,- and were 
 formerly made at Leominster and Ludlow, but the trade in the latter places is quite 
 decayed. 
 
 Plait straw is the straw of the wheat plant, selected especially from crops grown on 
 dry chalky lands, such as those about Dunstable. The middle part of the straw above 
 the last joint is selected ; it is cut into lengths of eight or ten inches, and these are then 
 split. The Leghorn or Tuscan is the straw of a variety of bearded wheat, grown expressly 
 on poor sandy soils, pulled when green, and then bleached. Other kinds of the grass 
 tribe besides wheat furnish straws available for plait-work. 
 
 PETROLEUM. See Naphtha. 
 
 PE-TUNT-SE, is the Chinese name of the fusible earthy matter of their porcelain. 
 It is analogous to our Cornish stone. 
 
 PEWTER, PEWTERER. (Potier d'eiain, Fr.) Pewter is, generally speaking 
 an alloy of tin and lead, sometimes with a little antimony or copper, combined in 
 several different proportions, according to the purposes which the metal is to serve. 
 The English tradesmen distinguish three sorts, which they call plate, trifle, and ley 
 pewter ; the first and hardest being used for plates and dishes ; the second for beer-pots ; 
 and the third for larger wine measures. The plate pewter has a bright silvery lustre 
 when polished ; the best is composed of 100 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony, 2 parts of 
 bismuth, and 2 of copper. The trifle is said by some to consist of 83 of tin, and 17 of 
 antimony ; but it generally contains a good deal of lead. The ley pewter is composed 
 of 4 of tin, and 1 of lead. As the tendency of the covetous pewlerer is always to put in 
 as much of the cheap metal as is compatible with the appearance of his metal is the 
 market, and as an excess of lead may cause it to aet poisonously upon all vinegars and 
 many wines, the French government long ago appointed Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and 
 other chemists, to ascertain by experiment the proper proportions of a safe pewter 
 alloy. These commissioners found that 18 parts of lead might, without danger of 
 affecting wines, &c, be alloyed with 82 parts of tin ; and the French government in 
 consequence passed a law requiring pewterers to use 83J of tin in 100 parts, with a 
 tolerance of error amounting to 1J per cent. This ordonnance, allowing not more than 
 18 per cent, of lead at a maximum, has been extended to all vessels destined to contain 
 alimentary substances. A table of specific gravities was also published, on purpose to 
 test the quality of the alloy ; the density of whieh, at the legal standard, is 7-764. Any 
 excess of lead is immediately indicated by an increase in the specifie gravity above that 
 number. 
 
 The pewterer fashions almost all his articles by casting them in moulds of brass or 
 bronze, which are made both inside and outside in various pieces, nicely fitted together, 
 and locked in their positions by ears and catches or pins of various kinds. The moulds 
 must be moderately heated before the pewter is poured into them, and their surfaces 
 should be brushed evenly over with pounce powder (sandarach) beaten up with white of 
 egg. Sometimes a film of oil is preferred. The pieces, after being cast, are turned and 
 polished ; and if any part needs soldering, it must be done with a fusible alloy of tin, 
 bismuth, and lead. 
 
 Britannia metal, the kind of pewter of which English tea-pots are made, is said to be 
 an alloy of equal parts of brass, tin, antimony, and bismuth ; but the proportions diffei 
 in different workshops, and much more tin is commonly introduced. Queen's metal is 
 said to consist of 9 parts of tin, 1 of antimony, 1 offbismulh, and 1 of lead ; it serves also 
 (or teapots and other domestic utensils. 
 
 A much safer and better alloy for these purposes may be compounded by adding to 100 
 parts of the French pewter, 5 parts of antimony, and 5 of brass to harden it. The 
 English ley pewter contains often much more than 20 per cent, of lead. Under Tin, 
 trill be found the description of an easy method of analyzing its lead alloys. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA. The phantasmagoria lanterns are a scientific form of magic 
 lantern, differing from it in no essential principle. The images they produce are 
 variously exhibited, either on opaque or transparent screens. The light is an improved 
 kind of solar lamp. The manner in which the beautiful melting pictures called dissolving 
 views are produced, as respects the mechanism employed deserves to be explained. The 
 
PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS. 375 
 
 arrangement adopted in the instrument is the following : — Two lanterns of the same 
 size and power, and in all respects exactly agreeing, are arranged together upon a little 
 tray or platform. They are held fast to this stand by screws, which admit of a certain 
 degree of half-revolving motion from side to side, in order to adjust the foci. This being 
 done in such a manner that the circle of light of each lantern falls precisely upon the 
 same spot upon the screen, the screws are tightened to the utmost extent so as to remove 
 all possibility of further movement. The dissolving apparatus consists of a circular tin 
 plate japanned in black, along three parts of the circumference of which a crescented 
 aperture runs, the interval between the horns of the crescent being occupied by a circular 
 opening, covered by a screwed plate, removable at pleasure. This plate is fixed to a 
 horizontal wooden axis, at the other end of which is a handle, by which the plate can be 
 caused to rotate. The axis of wood is supported by two pillars connected with a flat 
 piece which is secured to the tray. This apparatus is placed between the lanterns in 
 such a manner that the circular plate is in front of the tubes of both, while the handle 
 projects behind the lanterns at the back. The plate can, therefore, be turned round by 
 means of the handle without difficulty, from behind. A peg of wood is fixed into the axis, 
 so as to prevent its effectingmore than half a revolution. The widest part of the creseentie 
 opening in the plate is sufficient to admit all the rays of the lantern before which it 
 happens to be placed. On the plate being slowly turned half round, by means of the 
 handle behind, the opening narrows until it is altogether lost in one of the horns of the 
 crescent The light of that lantern is gradually out off as the aperture diminishes, until 
 it is at length wholly shaded under the moveable cover occupying the interval between 
 the horns of this creseentie opening. In proportion as the light is cut off from one, it is 
 let on from the other tube, in consequence of the gradually increasing size of the crescent 
 revolving before it, until at length the widest part of this opening in the plate is pre- 
 sented before the tube of the second lantern, the first being, as we have seen, shaded. 
 This movement being reversed, the light is cut off from the second lantern, and again 
 let on from the first, and so on alternately. Thus while the screen always presents 
 the same circle of light, yet it is derived first from one lantern, then from the next. 
 
 When in use a slider is introduced into each lantern. The lantern before the mouth % 
 of which the widest part of the opening in the plate is placed, exhibits the painting on 
 the screen, the light of the other lantern being then hid behind the cover. On turning 
 the handle, this picture gradually becomes shaded, while the light from the second 
 lantern streams through the widening opening. The effect on the screen is the melting 
 away of the first picture, and the brilliant development of the second, the screen being 
 at no instant left unoccupied by a picture. 
 
 The principle involved in this apparently complex, but in reality simple mechanism, 
 is, merely the obscuration of one picture, and the throwing of a second in the same 
 place on the screen. And it may be accomplished in a great variety of ways. Thus by 
 simply placing a flat piece of wood, somewhat like the letter Zona point m the centre, 
 so that alternately one or the other of the pieces at the end should be raised or 
 depressed before the'lanterns, a dissolving scene is produced. Or, by fixing a moveable 
 upright shade, which can be pushed alternately before one or the other of the 
 lanterns, the same effect is produced. 
 
 Individuals exirt in this metropolis whose sole occupation consists in painting 
 the minute scenes £>c slides used for the phantasmagoria lanterns. The perfection 
 to which these paintings are brought is surprising. There are two methods by which 
 the sliders now employed are produced. In one of these, the outline and detail are 
 entirely the work of the artist's pencil. For pictures representing landscapes, or wherever 
 a spirited painting is required, this is the exclusive method employed. The colours are 
 rendered transparent by being ground in Canada balsam and mixed with varnish. The 
 other method is a transfer process. The outlines of the subject are engraved on copper 
 plates, and the impression is received from these on thin sheets of glue, and is then 
 transferred to a plate of glass, the impression being burnt in the same manner as is 
 effected in earthenware. Sliders produced in this way receive the distinctive name of 
 copper plate sliders. The subject is merely represented in outline, it being left to the 
 artist to fill up with the necessary tints, &e. The advantages of this method for the 
 production of paintings o'f a limited kind are obvious. Latterly photography on glass 
 Las been employed to obtain pictures for the magic lantern. 
 
 PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS.— Hops. These hops are samples of the 
 varieties in most estimation for the purposes of the brewer. The Goldings take their name 
 from that of a grower who first introduced them; they are considered to be the finest, 
 richest and most valuable in the market, varying, however, according to the soil in which 
 they are grown and the treatment they receive ; Jones's are of shorter growth than the 
 others, and are thus useful by enabling the grower to make use of the poles which would 
 be too short for the Golding or other varieties. Colegates are hardy but backward at 
 harvest, running much to vine and capable of growing in comparatively poor soils. 
 
370 PHOSPHORUS. 
 
 These qualities are, however, of advantage, as the inferior soils may thus be bene 
 fieially occupied by them, and their harvest takes place after the finer sorts are all in. 
 The grape hop takes its name from its habit of growing in clusters like the grape. It 
 is hardy, not so particular as to soil as the ©oldings, and is generally very productive 
 in yield. 
 
 Some conception of the quantity of hops annually produced in Great Britain, prin- 
 cipally in Kent, Sussex, Worcester, and Hereford, may be obtained from the fact 
 that in 1842 the duty (2d per lb.), amounted to 260,978/. : the plant belongs to 
 the same natural family as hemp, Cannalinacece. Its botanical name is Hwnului 
 lupulus. 
 
 Pharmaceutical Extracts. — Pharmaceutical extracts were for a considerable period 
 the most fallacious of all medical preparations. The high temperature to which they 
 were subjected in the manufacture destroyed the active principle sought to be concen- 
 trated. Of late they have been prepared in some instances, by evaporation in the cold, 
 a current of air being driven over the surface of the liquid. They are also safely ob- 
 tainable by using an apparatus similar to that employed in the sugar manufacture. 
 
 Kousso ; a new remedial agent for the removal of tape worm. That it is de- ' 
 Btructive to that parasitic disease has been satisfactorily shown. The plant has been 
 long known in the East, and actively employed in Abyssinia. Dr. Pereira has given 
 an elaborate account of this plant, which is known by the name of Brayera anthel- 
 mintica, from its properties and the name of its discoverer, Dr. Brayer. Wittstein 
 and Martin have given chemical analyses of the plant 
 
 Superphosphate of iron ; a new preparation of iron recently introduced by Dr. Kouth, 
 supposed to be the same salt contained in the blood. It is free from all ferruginous 
 taste, and so well adapted for children : believed to be more speedy in its action than 
 the other salts o'f iron in cases of nervous debility, where there is a large quantity of 
 phosphates voided by the urine, probably because it supplies directly to the brain the 
 phosphorus, on the undue diminution of which the nervous derangement depends. 
 Syrup of superphosphate of iron, adapted for administering the remedy to children, 
 and probably the best form for general use. 
 
 PHOSPHORIC ACID, is the acid' formed by the vivid combustion of phosphorus. 
 In the British portion of the Exhibition, there was one acid missing which existed 
 in great abundance and perfection amongst the German chemical preparations. We 
 allude to the glacial phosphoric acid, of which that displayed by the Royal Prussian 
 chemical manufactory at Schonebeck can scarcely be too highly spoken of. Prom some 
 unknown cause, this has not attracted the attention which it deserves in the arts and 
 manufactures of this country. For many of the wants of the dyer, the calico printer, 
 the enameller, and even in the purification of some oils and fat, the glacial phosphoric 
 acid has much to recommend it over any of the common acids at present in use. Nor 
 need its price prove an insuperable obstacle to its introduction as a practical agent. 
 Finely ground bone-ash, digested with a due proportion of oxalic acid and water, 
 readily yields a solution of phosphoric acid, which requires only to be evaporated in a 
 proper vessel to furnish at once this useful article. Unlike sulphuric and other strong 
 acids, it is not d jcomposed by organic matter ; and might hence be employed with 
 great advantagt 'a the precipitation of carmine and other delicate vegetable colours, 
 as well as for more general purposes. Some experiments have also shown that com- 
 bined with alumina and a little boracic acid, it is capable of producing a glaze for 
 earthenware of extreme beauty and durability, in addition to its perfectly innocuous 
 character and power of improving the colours imparted by most metallic oxides when 
 applied to earthenware. 
 
 PHOSPHORUS. This interesting simple combustible, being an object of extensive 
 consumption, and therefore of a considerable chemical manufacture, I shall describe the 
 requisite manipulations for preparing it at some detail. Put 1 cwt. of finely ground hone- 
 ash, such as is used by the assayers, into a stout tub, and let one person work it into a thin 
 pap with twice its weight of water, and let him continue to stir it constantly with a 
 wooden bar, while another person pours into it, in a uniform but very slender stream, 78 
 pounds of concentrated sulphuric acid. » 
 
 The heat thus excited in the dilution of the acid, and in its reaction upon the calcareous 
 base, is favorable to the decomposition of the bone phosphate. Should the resulting 
 sulphate of lime become lumpy, it must be reduced into a uniform paste, by the addition 
 of a little water from time to time. This mixture must be made out of doors, as under 
 an open shed, on account of the carbonic acid and other offensive gases which are 
 extricated. At the end of 24 hours, the pap may he thinned with water, and, if con- 
 venient, heated, with careful stirring, to complete the chemical change, in a square pan 
 made of sheet lead, simply folded up at the sides. Whenever the paste has lost its gra- 
 nular character, it is ready for transfer into a series of tall casks, to be further diluted 
 »nd settled, wl.ereby the clear superphosphate of lime may be run off by a syphon from 
 
PHOSPHORUS. 3TI 
 
 the deposite of gypsum. More water must then be mixed with the precipitate, after 
 subsidence of which, the superrtatant liquor is again to be drawn off. The skilful operator 
 employs the weak acid from one cask to wash the deposite in another, and thereby saves 
 fuel in evaporation. 
 
 The collected liquors being put into a leaden, or preferably a copper pan, of proper 
 dimensions, are to be concentrated by steady ebullition, till the calcareous deposite be- 
 comes considerable ; after the whole has been allowed to cool, the clear liquor is to be run 
 off, the sediment removed, and thrown on a filter. The evaporation of the clear liquor 
 is to be urged till it acquires the consistence of honey. Being now weighed, it should 
 amount to 37 pounds. One fourth of its weight of charcoal in fine powder, that is, about 
 9 pounds, are then to be incorporated with it, and the mixture is to be evaporated to 
 dryness in a cast-iron pot. A good deal of sulphurous acid is disengaged along with 
 the steam at first, from the reaction of the sulphuric acid upon the charcoal, and ailer- 
 wards some sulphureted hydrogen. When the mixture has become perfectly dry, as 
 shown by the redness of the bottom of the pot, it is to be allowed to cool, and packed 
 tight into stoneware jars fitted with close covers, till it is to be subjected to distillation. 
 For this purpose, earthen retorts of the best quality, and free from air-holes, must be 
 taken, and evenly luted over their surface with a compost of fire-clay and horse-dung. 
 When the coating is dry and sound, the retort is to be two thirds filled with the powder, 
 and placed upon proper supports in the laboratory of an air-furnace, having its fire 
 placed not immediately beneath the retort, but to one side, after the plan of a reverber- 
 atory ; whereby the flatne may play uniformly round the retort, and the fuel may be 
 supplied as it is wanted, without admitting cold air to endanger its cracking. The gal- 
 lery furnace of the palatinate (under Mercury) will show how several retorts may be 
 operated upon together, with one fire. 
 
 To the beak of the retort properly inclined, the one end of a bent copper tube is t'o 
 be tightly luted, while the other end is plunged not more than one quarter of an inch 
 beneath the surface of water contained in a small copper or tin trough placed beneath, 
 close to the side of the furnace, or in a wide-mouthed bottle. It is of advantage to let 
 the water be somewhat warm, in order to prevent the concretion of the phosphorus 
 in the copper tube, and the consequent obstruction of the passage. Should the beak of 
 the retort appear to get filled with solid phosphorus, a bent rod of iron may be heated, and 
 passed up the copper tube, without removing its end from the water. The heat of 
 the furnace should be most slowly raised at first, but afterwards equably maintained in 
 a state of bright ignition. After 3 or 4 hours of steady firing, carbonic acid and sul- 
 phurous acid gases are evolved in considerable abundance, provided the materials had 
 not been well dried in the iron pot; then sulphureted hydrogen makes its appearance, 
 and next phosphureted hydrogen, which last should continue during the whole of the 
 distillation. 
 
 The firing should be regulated by the escape of this remarkable gas, which ought to 
 be at the rate of about 2 bubbles per second. If the discharge comes to be inter- 
 rupted, it is to be ascribed either to the temperature being too low, or to the retort get- 
 ting cracked ; and if upon raising the heat sufficiently no bubbles appear, it is a proof 
 that the apparatus has become defective, and that it is needless to continue the operation. 
 In fact, the great MBety in distilling phosphorus lies in the management of the fire, which 
 must be incessantly watched, and fed by the successive introduction of fuel, consisting 
 of coke with a mixture of dry wood and coal. 
 
 We may infer that the process approaches its conclusion by the increasing slowness 
 with which gas is disengaged under a powerful heat ; and when it ceases to come over, 
 we may cease firing, taking care to prevent reflux of water into the retort, from conden- 
 sation of its gaseous contents, by admitting air into it through a recurved glass tube, or 
 through the lute of the copper adopter. 
 
 The usual period of the operation upon the great scale is from 24 to 30 hours. Its 
 theory is very obvious. The charcoal at an elevated temperature disoxygeiates the 
 phosphoric acid with the production of carbonic acid gas at first, and afterwards carbonic 
 oxyde gas, along with sulphureted, carbureted, and phosphureted hydrogen, from the 
 reaction of the water present in the charcoal upon the other ingredients. 
 
 The phosphorus falls down in drops, like melted wax, and concretes at the bottom 
 of the water in the receiver. It requires to be purified by squeezing in a shamoy leather 
 bag, while immersed under the surface of warm water, contained in an earthen pan. 
 Each bag must be firmly tied into a ball form, of the size of the fist, and compressed, under 
 the water heated to J 30°, bv a pair of flat wooden pincers, like those with which oranges 
 are squeezed. 
 
 The purified phosphorus is moulded for sale into little cylinders, by melting it at trie 
 Bottom of a deep Jar filled with water, then plunging the wider end of a slightly tapering 
 but straight glass tube into th» water, sucking this up to the top ofthe glass, so as to warm 
 
378 PHOSPHORUS. 
 
 it, next immersing the end in the liquid phosphorus, and sucking it up to any desired 
 height. 
 
 The tube being now shut at bottom by the application of the point of the left index, 
 may be taken from the mouth and transferred into a pan of cold water to congeal the 
 phosphorus ; which then will commonly fall out of itself, if the tube be nicely tapered, 
 or may at any rale be pushed out with a stiff wire. Were the glass tube not duly warm- 
 ed before sucking up the phosphorus, this would be apt to congeal at the sides, before the 
 middle be filled, and thus form hollow cylinders, very troublesome and even dangerous 
 to the makers of phosphoric match-bottles. The moulded sticks of phosphorus are finally 
 to be cut with scissors under water to the requisite lengths, and put up in vials of a pro- 
 per size ; which should be filled up with water, closed with ground stoppers, and kept in 
 a dark place. For carriage to a distance, each vial should be wrapped in paper, and fit- 
 ted into a tin-plate case. 
 
 Phosphorus has a pale yellow color, is nearly transparent, brittle when cold, soft and 
 pliable, like wax, at the temperature of 70° F., crystallizing in rhombo-dodecahedrons 
 out of its combination with sulphur, and of specific gravity 1-77. It exhales white 
 fumes in the air, which have a garlic smell, appear luminous in the dark, and spon- 
 taneously condense into liquid phosphorous acid. Phosphorus melts in close vessels, at 
 95° F., into an oily-looking colorless fluid, begins to evaporate at 217 , 5 , boils at 
 554°, and if poured in the liquid state into ice-cold water, it becomes black, but resumes 
 its former color when again melted and slowly cooled. It has an acrid disagreeable 
 taste, and acts deleteriously in the stomach, though it has been administered as a me- 
 dicine by some of the poison-doctors of the present day. It takes fire in the open air at the 
 temperature of 165°, but at a lower degree if partially oxydized, and burns with great vehe- 
 mence and splendor. 
 
 Inflammable match-boxes (briquets phosphoriques) are usually prepared by putting 
 into a small vial of glass or lead a bit of phosphorus, and oxydizing it slightly by 
 stirring it round with a redhot iron wire. The vial should be unstoppered only at 
 the instant of plunging into it the tip of the sulphur match which we wish to kindle. 
 Bendix has given the following recipe for charging such match-vials. Take one part 
 of fine dry cork raspings, one part of yellow wax, eight parts of petroleum, and four 
 of phosphorus, incorporate them by fusion, and when the mixture has concreted by cooling, 
 it is capable of kindling a sulphur match dipped into it. Phosphorus dissolves in fat oils, 
 forming a solution luminous in the dark at ordinary temperatures. A vial half filled with 
 this oil, being shaken and suddenly uncorked, will give light enough to see the dial of a 
 watch by night. 
 > There are five combinations of phosphorus and oxygen : — 1. the white oxyde ; 2. the 
 redoxyde; 3. hypophosphorous acid; 4. phosphorous acid; 5. phosphoric acid. The 
 last is the only one of interest in the arts. It may be obtained from the sirupy 
 superphosphate of lime above described, by diluting it with water, saturating with car- 
 bonate of ammonia ; evaporating, crystallizing, and gently igniting the salt in a retort. 
 The ammonia is volatilized, and may be condensed into water by a Woulfe's apparatus, 
 while the phosphoric acid remains in the bottom of the retort. Phosphoric acid may be 
 more readily produced by burning successive bits of phosphorus in a silver saucer, under 
 a great bell jar inverted upon a gla^s plate, so as to admit a little air to carry on the 
 combustion. The acid is obtained in a fine white snowy deposite ; consisting, in this its 
 dry stale, of 44 of phosphorus and 56 of oxygen. That obtained from the sirupy so- 
 lution is a hydrate, and contains 9-44 per cent, of water. If the atom of phosphorus 
 be called 32 upon the hydrogen radix, then 5 atoms of oxygen = 40 will be associated with 
 it in the dry acid, = 72 ; and an additional atom of water = 9, in the hydrate, will make 
 its prime equivalent 81. Phosphorous acid seems to contain no more than 3 atoms of 
 oxygen. 
 
 The only salts of this acid much in demand, are the phosphate of soda, and the am- 
 monia phosphate of soda. The former is prepared by slightly supersaturating super- 
 phosphate of lime with crystals of carbonate of soda ; warming the solution, filtering, 
 evaporating, and crystallizing. It is an excellent purgative, and not unpalatable. The triple 
 phosphate is used in docimastic operations ; and is described under Metallurgy. 
 
 Phosphorus Amorphous. Amorphous phosphorus was discovered by Dr. Schrotfcer, 
 of Vienna. It is identical in composition with ordinary phosphorus, and may be re- 
 converted into it without loss of weight, and that merely by a change of temperature. 
 This substance remains unaltered in the atmosphere, is insoluble in sulphuret of carbon, 
 in alcohol, ether, and naphtha. It requires a heat of 260° C. to restore it to the crys- 
 talline state, and it is only at that heat that it begins to take fire in the open air. It is 
 not luminous in the dark at any ordinary temperature. The apparatus for making it 
 consists of a double iron pan ; the intermediate space between the two contains a me- 
 tallic bath of an alloy of tin and lead ; with a cast-iron cover to the inner vessel, fitted to 
 the top end by means of a screw, and fastened to the outer vessel by screw pins. In th« 
 
PHOSPHORUS. 319 
 
 interior iron vessel, a glass vessel is fitted, in which the phosphorus to bo operated 
 upon is placed. From this inner vessel a tube passes, and is dipped into water to serve 
 as a safety valve. A spirit lamp is applied under that pipe if necessary, to prevent 
 it being clogged with phosphorus. The phosphorus to be converted is first of all melted 
 and then cooled under water, and dried as much as possible. A fire is now made under 
 the other vessel, and the temperature raised to such a degree as to drive off the air, (fee. 
 The temperature is to be gradually raised, until bubbles escape at the end of the pipe, 
 which take fire as they enter the air, and the heat may soon rise in the bath till it be 
 600° Fahr. This temperature must be maintained for a certain time to be determined 
 by experience : the apparatus may then be allowed to cool. The converted phosphorus 
 is difficult to detach from the glass. It is to be levigated under water, and then drained 
 in a bag. The phosphorus when moist should be spread thinly on separate shallow trays 
 of sheet iron or lead, so placed alongside each other as to receive the heat of steam, and 
 lastly of chloride of calcium or of sand, till the phosphorus,having been frequently stirred, 
 shows no more luminous vapour. The operator should have water at hand to quench 
 any fire that might arise. It is then to be washed till the water shows no trace of acid. 
 Should the resulting phosphorus contain some of the unconverted article, this may be 
 removed by bisulphuret of carbon. Thus, heat alone affects the transmutation. 
 
 Phosphorus and its Matches. Professor Schlatter's discovery of amorphous phos- 
 phorus has not hitherto led to any practical application towards diminishing the 
 noxiousness of the manufature of luoifer matches ; though this curious substance may 
 now be had at a moderate price from Messrs. Sturge of Birmingham. At Dixon's 
 manufactory, Newton Heath, near Manchester, piles of timber are stored up ready for 
 use ; it is rapidly reduced into blocks of proper length, and next into tiny sticks, by 
 machinery. These are tied up in bundles of about 8 inches in diameter, and carried 
 into the sulphuring room, where they are dipped, in the melted brimstone contained in 
 an iron pot resting over a moderate fire. Each bundle is turned round and pressed, 
 to prevent the cohesion of the sticks composing it. 
 
 They are now transferred to the phosphorus apartment, where they are dipped into 
 a composition of chlorate of potash, phosphorus and glue, spread in a thin layer on a 
 slab of stone or marble heated beneath by steam or hot water. The bundles are for this 
 purpose arranged in frames about 2 feet long and 1 broad ; but not in contact with each 
 other. The operator holds the frame lengthwise, and dips the ends of the matches in 
 the composition, taking care that all of them are coated. They are now sorted in a 
 separate room, and put into boxes. Each box of lucifer matches, price retail one half-**, 
 penny, passes through the hands of 17 persons, chiefly children, who earn by piece- 
 work from 3«. to 5s. per week; while the adults earn from 9s. to 12s. 
 
 The peculiar and most remarkable disease to which the workers in such a factory 
 are subject is described in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science for August, 1851, 
 by Mr. Harrison. 
 
 The first symptom is toothache, while the jaw is getting into a carious state, and the 
 disease silently creeps on, until the sufferer becomes a loathsome object, or dies, be 
 .coming unable to open his jaws, of which the bones are being necrosed. Dreadful 
 mutilations ensue, from the necessary surgical operations; causing the loss of the 
 greater portion of the lower jaw. There are at this time in the factory several per- 
 sons who have suffered severely. In the Museum of the Manchester Infirmary is the 
 lower jaw of a young woman who is now at work. In some cases the bone in its 
 diseased state has a spongy cellular appearance, with excrescences of a similar character 
 adhering to it. The teeth generally continue sound and white, while the jaw that 
 contains them is altered in texture and-apparently dead. Loss of the greater part or 
 whole of the lower jaw, is a frequent result. The cause, and cure, or prevention of this 
 horrible new disease are still to be discovered. 
 
 Phosphorus paste for the destruction of rats and mice. The Prussian government 
 issued an ordonnance ol. the 27 th April, 1843, directing the following composition to 
 be substituted for arsenic, for destroying rats and mice; enjoining the authorities of 
 the different provinces to communicate, at the_ expiration of a year, the results of the 
 trials made with it, with the view of framing a law on this subject. 
 
 The foDow'ing is the formula for this paste : — 
 
 Take of phosphorus 8 parts, liquefy it in 180 parts of lukewarm water, pour thi 
 whole into a mortar, add immediately 180 parts of rye meal; when cold mix in 100 
 parts of butter melted, and 125 parts of sugar. 
 
 If the phosphorus is in a finely divided state, the ingredients may be all mixed at 
 once, without melting them. 
 
 This mixture will retain its efficacy for many years, for the phosphorus is preserved 
 by the butter, and only becomes oxidixed on the surface. 
 
 Rats and mice eat this mixture with avidity ; after which they swell out and sooi 
 die. 
 
880 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 M. Simon has employed this mixture for many years, with constant success, by 
 placing it in places frequented by these animals. According to him, the phosphorus 
 is less dangerous than arsenic, for supposing the mixture to be badly made, and tli6 
 phosphorus imperfectly divided, the oxidation -which would take place in a few days 
 would render it nearly inactive; and it would be almost impossible to employ it for 
 the intentional poisoning of human beings. 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY is the art of making pictorial impressions of objects by the action 
 of light upon paper, &c, prepared with certain substances, and exposed to the sun or 
 in the focus of a camera obscura to the image of the object to be represented ; which 
 impressions are then fixed by other chemical re-agents. Photographic paper may be 
 made by dipping Whatman's glazed post paper into brine containing 90 grains of com- 
 mon salt dissolved in an ounce of water, wiping it with a towel, brushing over one side 
 of it with a broad camel-hair brush, a solution of nitrate of silver, containing 50 grains 
 to the ounce of distilled water, and drying it in the dark. The paper may be rendered 
 more sensitive by repeating the above operation ; drying it between each step. It 
 affords perfect images of leaves and petals laid upon it, and exposed simply to the sun- 
 beams. A solution of 100 grains of bromide of potassium in an ounce of distilled 
 water answers still better than brine. The paper, when dry, is to be brushed over on 
 one side with a solution containing 100 grains of nitrate of silver to an ounce of 
 water; the paper being brushed, and dried in the dark. If the application of the ni- 
 trate of silver be repeated, it will render the paper more sensitive. The silvered side 
 should be marked. This paper laid flat under painted glass, lace, leaves, feathers, 
 ferns, &c, and exposed to the light of day, takes the impression of the objects. It is 
 to be then washed with lukewarm water, and finally dipped in a solution containing one 
 ounce of hyposulphite of soda, in about a pint of distilled water. The design of the 
 object is necessarily reversed : the light parts forming the .dark shades of the photogenic 
 impression, and the dark parts the lighter ones. But a direct picture may be obtained 
 by applying that paper, rendered transparent with white wax (see Caiotype), upon 
 a sheet of white photogenic paper, and exposing it to the sunbeams, or bright day- 
 light. 
 
 A modification of Photography, called Chrysotype by its inventor, Sir John Herschel, 
 consists in washing the paper in a solution of ammonia-citrate of iron, drying it, and 
 brushing it over with a solution of {erro-sesquicyanure of potassium. This paper, when 
 dried in a perfectly dark room, is ready for use, the image being finally brought out by 
 a neutral solution of silver. 
 
 Another modification by Sir John, called Cyanotype, is as follows : Brush the paper 
 with the solution of the ammonia-citrate of iron, so strong as to resemble sherry-wine 
 in color ; expose the paper in the usual way, and pass over it very sparingly a ti evenly 
 a wash made by dissolving common ferro-cyanide of potassium. As soon as this liquid 
 is applied, the negative picture vanishes, and is replaced by the positive one, of a violet 
 blue color, on a greenish yellow ground, which at a certain time possesses a high de» 
 gree of sharpness, and singular beauty of tint. 
 
 The improved process of photography recently contrived by Mr. Robert Hunt is per- 
 formed by washicg over good letter-paper with the following liquid : — 
 
 A saturated solution of succinic acid 2 drams. 
 
 Mucilage of gum arabic ----- | do. 
 
 Water -' - - - • - - 1| do. 
 
 When the paper is dry> it is washed over once with a solution containing 1 dram of 
 nitrate of silver in 1 ounce of distilled water. The paper is allowed to dry in the 
 dark, and it is fit for use. It can be preserved in a portfolio, and employed at any 
 time in the camera obscura, exposing it to the light from 2 to 8 minutes, according 
 to its vivacity. When the paper is- taken out of the camera, no trace of a picture can 
 be seen. To produce this effect, mix 1 dram of a saturated solution of sulphate of 
 iron, with 2 or 3 drams of mucilage of gum arabic, and brush over the paper evenly 
 with this mixture. In a few seconds the latent images are seen to develop themselves, 
 producing a negative photographic picture. The excess of the iron solution is to be 
 washed off with a sponge whenever the best effect appears. The drawing is then to be 
 soaked a short time in water, and is fixed by washing over with ammonia, or preferably 
 with hyposulphite of soda; taking care to wash out the excess of salt. From the. 
 pictures thu* produced, any number of others, corrected in light and shadow, may be 
 produced by using like succinated papers, in the common way of transfer in sunshine. 
 See also Calotype, Daguerreotype and Heliography. 
 
 William Henry Fox Talbot, Esq., Laycock Abbey, Chippenham, has obtained a pa- 
 tent for improvements in photography. Patent dated June 12th, 1851. 
 
 The first part of this invention consists in obtaining photographic images on plates 
 of glass prepared by the following means : — A plate of glass should be selected having 
 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 381 
 
 a smooth and well polished surface; and in order to obtain a photographic picture, -ho 
 operator proceeds as follows: ' 
 
 1. Takes albumen or white of egg, and mixes the most liquid portions thereof 
 (rejecting the rest) with an equal quantity of water, and having spread the mixture 
 smoothly and evenly over the surface of the glass, allows it to dry spontaneously, or 
 dries it at a fire. 
 
 2. He mixes an aqueous solution of nitrate of silver with a large proportion of alcohol, 
 so that the mixture shall contain about 3 grains of the nitrate to each ounce of liquid. 
 (This proportion may be varied from 1 to 6 graiDS in the ounce of liquid • but 3 grains 
 is considered to be the best proportion.) 
 
 3. He dips the prepared plate for a few seconds into this mixture, then withdraws 
 and dries it by a gentle heat, or allows it to dry spontaneously. 
 
 4.. He dips the plate into distilled water, to remove any superfluous nitrate of silver. 
 
 5. He applies a second coating of albumen, in the same way as above directed, and 
 dries the plate by the application of gentle heat, avoiding the use of too much heat, 
 by which the nitrate of silver might be decomposed. 
 
 6. He takes an aqueous solution of protiodide of iron, containing 140 grains of pro- 
 tiodide to the ounce of water. A small quantity of free iodine in the solution, by 
 which its colour would be rendered slightly yellow, will be found to be of advantage. 
 To one measure of the solution, he adds one of acetic acid and ten of alcohol, and 
 allows the mixture to stand for a few days previous to use. - 
 
 7. He dips the plate into the solution, or allows the liquid to pass over th6 whole 
 of its surface in a continuous stream. It is then dried, when it should be of a pale yel- 
 low colour, very clear, and uniformly transparent; and this completes the preparation 
 of the plates. All the preceding operations may be performed in moderate daylight, 
 but avoiding exposure to too strong a light, or to sunshine. 
 
 8. When it is desired to obtain a photographic picture, the operator takes a solution of 
 nitrate of silver containing 100 grains of nitrate of Bilver to an ounce of wpter, and, hav- 
 ing mixed two measures of the same with two of acetic acid and one of water he dips 
 the albumenized plate therein once or twice, for a few seconds each time (performing 
 the operation in a darkened room or by candlelight), for the purpose of rendering it 
 sensitive. If the weather is cold, the plate should be slightly warmed before so dipping 
 it. He then removes it to the camera without loss of time, as the plate ought to be 
 used a few minutes after taking it out of the solution ; and when a sufficiently strong 
 photographic image is supposed to be obtained, the plate is transferred from the camera 
 to the dark chamber or operating room. 
 
 9. It is then immersed in a solution of sulphate of iron, composed by mixing one 
 measure of a saturated solution thereof in water with two measures of water (but the 
 solution may be stronger or weaker, at the discretion of the operator,), by which the 
 previously invisible images, will be rapidly rendered perceptible. 
 
 10. The plate is then washed, and dipped in a rather strong solution of hyposulphite 
 of soda in 1 water, which, generally, in about a minute renders every part of the image 
 more distinct and visible. The picture is then washed in distilled water, and ths 
 surface of the plate may be cleansed from any particles of dust, or other impurities, 
 by rubbing it gently with cotton dipped in water ; and if the above-described opera- 
 tions have been properly performed, the surface of the plate will not be at all injured 
 by this cleaning. The picture is then dried, and the operation is finished. For the 
 purpose of better preserving the picture, the plate may be covered with a coating of 
 albumen or fine transparent varnish. 
 
 Although throughout the above processes certain proportions of chemical substances 
 have been named, they may be varied very considerably, as is also the ease in photo- 
 
 aphie operations generally. 
 
 The images obtained by this improved method, Mr. Talbot calls "Amphitypes," be- 
 cause they appear either positive or negative, according to the circumstances of light 
 under which they are viewed. Thus, if held against a bright light, or against a sheet 
 of white paper, they appear negative, and the reverse when held against a black sur- 
 face and seen in obliquely reflected light. It is in the power of the operator, by vary- 
 ing the proportions of the chemicals employed, to obtain at pleasure positive images 
 more or less distinct in comparison with the negative images ; when it is intended to 
 copy the image upon paper, it is desirable to obtain as strong a negative as possible 
 on the glass plate, which is then copied on the paper, to produce thereon a pesitive 
 image in the usual manner ; but when the operator wishes to have a picture on the 
 glass, he should endeavour to obtain a strong positive image. When this is obtained 
 to his satisfaction, it may be preserved from injury and from contact with the air, by 
 pouring black paint over the pictured side of the plate, and then by turning the glass 
 th« picture will be seen correctly, and not reversed as regards the right and left sides. 
 This method of blacking one side of the plate is not, however, any part of the present in 
 
382 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 vention. Throughout the specification the words negative and positive are made use of in 
 the senses in which they are generally employed by photographers, viz., a positive image 
 is that in which the lights and shades of the object are represented by lights and shades 
 in the photograph, and a negative image is that in which a reverse effect is produced. 
 
 The method of operating just described is that which Mr. Talbot recommends when 
 the object is close at hand, and the operator is in the vicinity of a darkened room, to 
 which he can retire for the purpose of rendering his plates sensitive ; but under circum- 
 stances where the object is at a distance, and when the operator is on a journey or 
 otherwise removed from any house or place where such conveniences exist, the following 
 method of procedure may be- adopted : — The operator constructs a glass cell with equal 
 and parallel sides, open at the top and closed at the bottom and sides, and quite water- 
 tight^ of a size just sufficient to receive one of the photographic plates, but not much 
 greater, in order that there may be no waste of the chemicals employed. The posterior 
 glass of the cell has one of its sides ground or unpolished, and the cell, when in use, is 
 placed at the hinder part of the camera, so that when directed towards an object, the 
 unpolished or ground surface may answer the purpose of the sheet of ground glass in- 
 troduced in cameras to place the objects in their true focus. Allowance must, of course, 
 be made for the unusual position occupied by the ground glass in this case. The top 
 of the cell is provided at one corner with a funnel for the introduction of liquid, and the 
 bottom is furnished with a stopcock and waste pipe terminating in a caoutchouc tube, 
 whichvnay be moved by hand from one to the other of two vessels which are provided 
 to receive the used liquors escaping from the camera : the nitrate of silver solution is too 
 expensive to be wasted, but the other ingredients, when once used, may be thrown away. 
 These preparations made, the operator pours into the cell a quantity of liquid sufficient 
 to fill it nearly full when it contains one of the photographic plates, and notes the 
 quantity required. He then provides four bottles of that capacity, one of which he fills 
 with solution of nitrate of silver, prepared as before directed under operation 6. ; the 
 second bottle is to contain a solution of sulphate of iron, as directed under operation 
 9. ; the third bottle is filled with water, and the fourth with a strong solution of 
 hyposulphite of soda. These quantities are sufficient for obtaining a single photographic 
 picture, and when they are used, the bottles must be filled again. Having prepared a 
 number of glass plates by means of processes before described, up to No. 7. inclusive, 
 they are to be packed in a box ready for use : the operator, when he desires to obtain a 
 photographic picture of an object, takes one of the plates from the box (which he can do 
 without injury to it, as the plates in this condition are not sensitive to light), and place 
 it in the camera, the focus of which he adjusts to the object. He then closes the front 
 lens or object glass, lowers a curtain over the camera box, leaving exposed only the 
 funnel at the top (and care should be taken to guard against any light entering through 
 this), and the waste pipe at the bottom of the cell, and pours into the cell, through the 
 funnel, the contents of the first bottle (nitrate of silver solution), for the purpose of 
 rendering the plate sensitive to light. He may then proceed in two different ways. 
 That is, he may open the front lens, and obtain the image while the plate is immersed 
 in the solution ; or, before opening the front lens, he may allow the nitrate of silver 
 solution to escape through the waste pipe, and he will then obtain an image on the plate 
 while the liquid is adhering to its sides. In the latter case, or after allowing the solu- 
 tion to escape, if the former method is adopted, he closes the stopcock, and succes- 
 sively pours into the cell the contents of the second and third bottles, allowing each 
 to remain in for about half a minute ; and, finally, he pours in the hyposulphite of soda 
 solution, after which the plate is removed, and the image being now fixed, and not liable 
 fc. J jury from exposure to air, the plate is washed and placed in a box to be finished 
 and varnished when the day's operations are completed. Another method, but one 
 which is less simple, is to use four bottles of larger size than those above described, 
 but containing the same liquids. These bottles are placed on a stand above the camera, 
 and from each of them descends a tube of India rubber furnished with two stopcocks, 
 which are placed at such distances apart, that the interval of tube between them shall 
 be of a capacity equal to that of the cell when it contains a plate. These tubes dip 
 into a funnel which communicates by a suitable pipe with the funnel leading to the cell. 
 The liquids are successfully supplied to the cell from the bottles, and the method of 
 operating according to -this system is the same as that just described. The images 
 •obtained on glass by these means may be copied on to paper, in the usual manner. 
 In fixing the images on paper, it is recommended, after washing them, to immerse the 
 paper in a hot solution of iodide of potassium before dipping in the solution of hypo- 
 sulphite of soda ; by which means a better fixation of the image will be obtained. 
 
 Under this branch of his invention, Mr. Talbot claims the mode of preparing the glass 
 plates, especially the use of a weak solution of nitrate of silver, immediately after the 
 first coating of albumen ; also the conjoint use of protiodide of iron and sulphate of iron, 
 upon albuinenized glass plates ; and also the simultaneous production upon glass platee 
 
PICKLES. 383 
 
 of images which are both positive and negative, according to the light in whicl they 
 are viewed. (In the specification' of a patent granted to Messrs. Malone and Talbot, 
 19th Dec. 1849, a method is described of producing such images, which differs from the 
 present in the prior formation of the negative image, which is afterwards converted 
 into a positive one.) Also the apparatus described to be used along with the camera 
 enabling the operator, to work without the necessity of darkening the apartment in 
 which he works, or of employing a tent or other contrivance for working in the shade, 
 when taking photographic pictures at a distance from any house. The form of the 
 apparatus may be considerably varied, but the essential point is, that the glass plate 
 is placed in the cell in a partly prepared state, in which it is insensible to light, and 
 is not removed from the cell, until the photographic picture is finished, with the excep- 
 tion of the final washing and drying. The patentee does not claim as new the mere 
 use of a glass cell containing nitrate of silver, into which the photographic plate is 
 dropped previous to, or during the formation of the image ; but he claims the addition 
 of the stopcock and waste-pipe, and the general arrangements, which render unne- 
 cessary the removal of the plate from the cell before the picture is finished. He 
 states, also, that he believes the arrangement of four vessels furnished with tubes and 
 stopcocks for pouring measured quantities of different fluids into the glass cell to be 
 a new one. > 
 
 The second part of the invention consists of a method of obtaining, under certain 
 circumstances, the photographic picture of objects which are in rapid motion. An 
 electric battery of the greatest power which can be conveniently obtained, is arranged 
 in a darkened room, and, supposing the moving body whose picture is required is a 
 wheel revolving upon its axis, the camera is placed at a convenient distance from it, 
 and adjusted so as to have the image of the object in its focus. A glass plate is then 
 taken, which has been previously prepared, in the way described above, and it is ren- 
 dered sensitive with nitrate of silver in the way also above described : it is then placed 
 in the camera and the electric battery is discharged, producing a sudden flash of light, 
 which illuminates the object ; the image thus taken on the glass plate is then ren- 
 dered visible, and the process finished, as before directed. If the process is properly 
 conducted, a distinct positive image of the moving body will be seen upon the glass, 
 the rapidity of the motion not affecting the accuracy of the delineation. 
 
 What is claimed under this head of the invention is the use of the instantaneous 
 light of an electric battery in such a way as to obtain the photographic image of a 
 body illuminated thereby. 
 
 PICAMARE, is a thick oil, one of the six new principles detected by M. Eeichen- 
 bach in wood-tar. See Ceeosote and Paeaffinb. Picamare constitutes l-6th of 
 beech-tar. 
 
 PICKLES are various kinds of vegetables and fruits preserved in vinegar. The 
 substances are first well cleaned with water, then steeped for some time in brine, and 
 afterward transferred to bottles, which are filled up with good vinegar. Certain fruits, 
 like walnuts, require to be pickled with scalding-hot vinegar ; others, as red cabbage, 
 with cold vinegar; but onions, to preserve their whiteness, with distilled vinegar. Wood 
 vinegar is never used by the principal pickle-manufacturers, but the best malt or white- 
 wine vinegar, No. 22 or 24. Kitchener says, that by parboiling the pickles in brine, 
 they will be ready in half the time of what they require when done cold. Cabbage, 
 however, cauliflowers, and such articles, would thereby become flabby, and lose that 
 crispness which many people relish. When removed from the brine, they should be 
 cooled, drained, and even dried, before being put into the vinegar. To assist the pres- 
 ervation of pickles, a portion of salt is often added, and likewise, to give flavor, various 
 spices, such as long pepper, black pepper, white pepper, allspice, ginger, cloves, mace, 
 garlic, mustard, horseradish, shallots, capsicum. When the spices are bruised, they 
 are most efficacious, but they are apt to render the pickle turbid and discolored. The 
 flavoring ingredients of Indian pickle are Curry powder mixed with a large proportion 
 of mustard and garlic. Green peaches are said to make the best imitation of the Indian 
 mango. 
 
 I have examined the apparatus in the great fish-sauce, pickle, and preserved- fruit 
 establishment of Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, Sdho square, and found it arranged on 
 the principles most conducive to economy, cleanliness, and salubrity ; no material em- 
 ployed there is ever allowed to come into contact with copper. A powerful steam-boiler 
 is placed in one corner of the ground floor of the factory, from which a steam-pipe is- 
 sues, and is' laid horizontally along the wall about 4 feet above the floor. Under this 
 pipe a range of casks is placed, into the side of each of which a branA steam-pipe, fur- 
 nished with a stop-cock, is inserted, while the mouth of the cask is exactly closed with 
 a pan of salt-glazed earthenware, capable of resisting the action of every acid, and 
 incapable of communicating any taint to its contents. These casks form, by their non- 
 conducting quality as to heat, the best kind of steam-jackets. In these pans the vine- 
 gars with their compounds are heated, and the fish and other sauces are prepared 
 
384 
 
 PIMENTO. 
 
 The waste steam at the farthest extremity of the pipe is conducted into a reservoir of 
 clean water, so as to furnish a constant supply of hot water for washing bottles and 
 utensils. 
 
 The confectionary and ham-smoking compartments are placed in a separate fireproof 
 chamber on the same floor. 
 
 The floor above is occupied along the sides with a range of large rectangular cast • 
 iron cisterns, furnished with a series of steam-pipes, laid gridironwise along their bot 
 toms, which pipes are covered with a perforated wooden shelf. These cisterns being 
 filled up to a certain height above the shelf with water, the bottles full of green goose- 
 berries, apricots, cherries, &c, to be preserved, are set upon the shelf, and the steam 
 being then admitted into the gridiron pipes, the superjacent water gets gradually heated 
 to the boiling point ; the air in the bottles round the fruit is thus partly expelled by 
 expansion, and partly disoxygenated by absorption of the green vegetable matter. In 
 this state the bottles are tightly corked^ and being subsequently sealed, preserve the 
 fruit fresh for a very long period. 
 
 The sauces, pastes, and potted meats, prepared in the above-described apparatus, can 
 seldom be rivalled and probably not surpassed in the kitchens of the most fastidious 
 gastronomes. 
 
 PICROMEL, is the name given by M. Thenard to a black bitter principle which ha 
 supposed to be peculiar to the bile. MM. Gmelin and Ticdemann have since called 
 its identity in question. 
 
 1MCROTOXINE, is an intensely bitter poisonous vegetable principle, extracted from 
 the seeds of the Menispermwm cocculus, (Cocculus Indicus.) It crystallizes in small 
 white needles, or columns, dissolves in water and alcohol. It does not combine with 
 acids, but with some bases, and is not therefore of an alkaline nature, as had been at 
 first supposed. 
 
 PIGMENTS, VITRIFIABLE, belong to five different styles of work : 1. to enamel 
 painting ; 2. to painting on metals ; 3. to painting on stoneware ; 4. to painting on 
 porcelain ; 5. to stained glass. See Vitkifiable Pigments. 
 
 PIGMENTS. 1. White. Alumina, white clay, heavy spar, chalk, gypsum, alabaster, 
 and starch, and sulphate of lead. 
 
 2. Blues. Lapis lazuli blue; azure blue; artificial ultramarine; Thenard's blue or 
 cobaltic ; Giessen blue is Prussian blue dissolved in oxalic acid. 
 
 Copper blue, or hydrated oxide of copper, called mountain blue ; indigo ; litmus 
 blue; blue (violet) from logwood by salt of tin and alkalis. 
 
 3. Green. Bremer ; hydrated oxide of copper by decomposing a salt of copper with 
 alkali; Brunswick and mountain green are arsenites of copper, acetate of copper or. 
 verdigris ; Scheele's green ; mixtures of chrome yellow and Prussian blue ; oxide of 
 chrome as an enamel colour ; green earth, silicate and phosphate of the protoxide of 
 iron ; vegetable green, an extract of buckthorn berries, called also Bap-green. 
 
 4. Yellow. Chrome; yellow antimonite of lead or Naples yellow, orpiment; 
 hydrated oxide of iron ; yellow ochre or Sienna yellow ; gamboge ; turmeric ; yellow 
 wood or fustic ; quercitron ; weld ; yellow berries ; saffron ; annotto. 
 
 Red pigments. Cinnabar ; basic chromate of lead ; red lead ; oxide of iron ; red 
 lake dyes ; carmine ; cochineal ; kermes ; Brazil wood ; madder and its lake ; lac lake ; 
 alkanet root ; sandal wood ; safflower ; umber, or earthy clay ironstone ; Cologne 
 umber ; earthy brown coal, lamp black, and Frankfort vine black ; bone black ; sepia, 
 obtained by drying the black fluid of the cuttle-fish, extracted by means of caustic lye ; 
 catechu ; dyes with mordants. „ 
 
 PIMENTO (Myrtus pimmta, or Jamaica pepper) consists, according to Bonastre's 
 complicated analysis, of — 
 
 
 Shells or capsules. 
 
 Kernels. 
 
 Volatile oil - - - 
 Soft green resin ----- 
 Fatty concrete oil .... 
 Extract containing tannin ... 
 Gum - .... 
 Brown matter dissolved in potash 
 Resinoid matter .... 
 Extract containing sugar .... 
 Gallic and malic acids .... 
 Vegetable fibre - ... 
 Ashes charged with salts .... 
 Moisture and loss .... 
 
 10'0 
 
 8-0 
 
 0-9 
 11-4 
 
 30 
 
 4-0 
 
 1-2 ' 
 
 3-0 
 
 0-6 
 50-0 
 
 2-8 
 
 4-1 
 
 50 
 
 2-5 
 
 1-2 
 39-8 
 
 7-2 
 
 8-0 ' 
 
 3-2 
 
 8-0 
 
 1-6 
 16-0 
 
 1-9 
 
 4'8 
 
TW MANUFACTURE. 
 
 385 
 
 • 
 
 Imported. 
 
 Retained for Consumption. 
 
 Exported. 
 
 Duty Received. 
 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 cwta, 
 20,448 
 14,840 
 
 ewts. 
 3564 
 3935 
 
 ewts, 
 
 8,510 
 
 17,853 
 
 £ 
 
 936 
 1033 
 
 PINCHBECH, is a modification of brass ; Bee that article and Coppeb. 
 
 PINE-APPLE YARN and CLOTH. In Mr. Zincke's process, patented in Decem- 
 ber, 1836, for preparing the filaments of this planl, the Bmmelia ananas, the leaves being 
 plucked, and deprived of the prickles round their edges by a cutting instrument, are 
 then beaten upon a wooden block with a wooden mallet, till a silky-looking mass of 
 fibres be obtained, which are to be freed by washing from the green fecula. The fibrous 
 part must next be laid straight, and passed between wooden rollers. The leaves should 
 be gathered between the time of their lull maturity and the ripening of the fruit. If 
 earlier or later, the fibres will not be so flexible, and will need to be cleared by a boil in 
 soapy water for some hours ; after being laid straight under the pressure of a wooden 
 grating, to prevent their becoming entangled. When well washed and dried, with occa 
 sional shaking out, they will now appear of a silky fineness. They may be then spun 
 into porous rovings, in which state they are most conveniently bleached by the ordinary ' 
 methods. 
 
 Specimens of cambric, both bleached and. unbleached, woven with these fibres, have 
 been recently exhibited, which excited hopes of their rivalling the finest flax fabrics, but 
 in my opinion without good reason, on account of their want of strength. 
 
 PINEY TALLOW is a concrete fat obtained by boiling with water the fruit of the 
 Vateria indica, a tree common upon the Malabar coast. It seems to be a substance in- 
 termediate between tallow and wax; pa .'taking of the nature of stearine. It melts at 
 97J° F., is white or yellowish, has a spve. grav. of 0-926 ; is saponified by alkalis, and 
 forms excellent candles. Dr. Benjamin Babington, to whom we are indebted for all our 
 knowledge of piney tallow, found its ultimate constituents to be, 77 of carbon, 12-3 of 
 hydrogen, and 10-7 of oxygen. 
 
 PIN MANUFACTURE. (Fabriqne d'epingles, Fr. s Nadelfabrik, Germ.) A pin is 
 a small bit of wire, commonly brass, with a point at one end, and a spherical head at the 
 other. In making this little article, there arc no less than fourteen distinct operations. 
 
 1. Straightening the wire. The wire, as obtained from the drawing-frame, is wound 
 about a bobbin or barrel, about 6 inches diameter, which gives it a curvature that must 
 be removed. The straightening engine is formed by fixing 6 ■ or 7 nails upright in a 
 waving line on a board, so that the void space measured in a straight line between the 
 first three nails may have exactly the thickness of the wire to be trimmed ; and that the 
 other nails may make the wire take a certain curve line, which must vary with its thick- 
 ness. The workman pulls the wire with pincers through among these nails, to the length 
 of about 30 feet, at a running draught; and after he cuts that off, he returns for as much 
 more ; he can thus finish 600 fathoms in the hour. He next cuts these long pieces into 
 
 engths of 3 or 4 pins. A day's work of one man amounts to 18 or 20 thousand dozen 
 of pin-lengths. 
 
 2. Pointing is executed on two iron or steel grindstones, by two workmen, one of 
 whom roughens down, and the other finishes. Thirty or forty of the pin wires are ap- 
 plied to the grindstone at once, arranged in one plane, between the two forefingers and 
 thumbs of both hands, which dexterously give them a rotatory movement. 
 
 3. Cutting these wires into pin-lengths. This is done by an adjusted chisel. The inter 
 mediate portions are handed over to the pointer. 
 
 4. Twisting of the wire for the pin-heads. These are made of a much finer wire, coiled 
 into a compact spiral, round a wire of the size of the pins, by means of a small lathe 
 constructed for the purpose. 
 
 5. Catting the heads. Two turns are dexterously cut off for each head, by a regulated 
 chisel. A skilful workman may turn off 12,000 in the hour. 
 
 6. Annealing the heads. They are put into an iron ladle, made redhot over an open 
 fire, and then thrown into cold water. 
 
 7. Stamping or shaping the heads. ' This is done by the blow of a small ram, raised by 
 means of a pedal lever and a cord. The pin-heads are also fixed on by the same operative, 
 who makes about 1500 pins in the hour, or from 12,000 to 15,000 per diem ; exclusive of 
 one thirteenth, which is always deducted for waste in this department, as well as in the 
 rest of the manufacture. Cast heads, of an alloy of tin and antimony, were introduced 
 by patent, but never came into general use. 
 
 8. Yellowing or cleaning the pins is effected by boiling them for half an hojrr in sour 
 beer, wine lees, or solution of tartar ; after which they are washed. 
 
 Vol. II. 26 
 
386 PINS. 
 
 9. Whitemng or tinning. A stratum of about 6 pounds of pins is laid in a copper pan, 
 .hen a stratum of about 7 or 8 pounds of grain tin ; and so alternately till the vessel be 
 filled ; a pipe being left inserted at one side, to permit the introduction of water slowly 
 at the bottom, without deranging the contents. When the pipe is withdrawn, its space is 
 filled up with grain tin. The vessel being now set on the fire, and the water becoming 
 hot, its surface is sprinkled with 4 ounces of cream of tartar ; after which it is allowed 
 to boil for an hour. The pins and tin grains are, lastly, separated by a kind of cullender. 
 
 10. Washing the pins in pure water. 
 
 11. Drying and polishing them, in a leather sack filled with coarse bran, which is agi- 
 tated to and fro by two men. 
 
 12. Winnowing, by fanners, 
 
 13. PricMng the papers for receiving the pins. 
 
 14. Papering, or fixing them in the paper. This is done by children, who acquire the 
 habit of putting up 36,000 per day. 
 
 The pin manufacture is one of the greatest prodigies of the division of labor; it fur- 
 nishes 12,000 articles for the sum of three shillings, which have required the united 
 diligence of fourteen skilful operatives. 
 
 The above is an outline of the mode of manufacturing pins by hand labor, but several 
 beautiful inventions have been employed to make them entirely or in a great measure 
 by machinery ; the consumption for home sale and export amounting to 15 millions 
 daily, for this country alone. One of the most elaborate and apparently complete is 
 that for which Mr. L. W. Wright obtained a patent in May, 1824. A detailed 
 description- of it will be found in the 9th volume of Newton's London Journal. The 
 following outline will give my readers an idea of the structure of this ingenious 
 machine : — 
 
 The rotation of a principal shaft, mounted with several cams, gives motion to various 
 sliders, levers, and wheels, which work the different parts. A slider pushes pincers for- 
 wards, which draw wire from a reel, at every rotation of the shaft, and advance such a 
 length of wire as will produce one pin. A di« cuts off the said length of wire by the 
 descent of its upper chap j the chap then opens a carrier, which takes the pin to the 
 pointing apparatus. Here it is received by a hoJder, which turns round, while a bevel- 
 edged file-wheel rapidly revolves, and tapers the end of the wire to a point. The pin is 
 now conducted by a second carrier to a finer file-wheel, in order to finish the point by a 
 second grinding. A third carrier then transfers the pin to the first heading die, and by 
 the advance of a steel punch, the end of the pin wire is forced into a recess, whereby the 
 head is partially swelled out. A fourth carrier removes the pin to a second die, where 
 the heading is perfected. When the heading-bar retires, a forked lever draws the 
 finished pin >om the die, and drops it into a receptacle below. 
 
 I believe the chief objection to the raising of the heads by strong mechanical com- 
 pression upon the pins, is the necessity of softening the wire previously ; whereby the 
 pins thus made, however beautiful to the eye, are deficient in that stiffness which is so 
 essential to their employment in many operations of the toilet. 
 
 Mdelsten, and Williams, New Hall Works, Birmingham, Manufacturers. Pins, the heads 
 and shafts being formed of one solid piece of metal, in order to render the head im- 
 moveable and smooth in use, made by improved machinery. Model dies to show the 
 formation of the head. Elastic hair-pins. Specimens of iron wire in various sizes. 
 In pin making the wire is brass (a compound of copper and zinc) : it is reduced by the 
 ordinary process of wire drawing to the requisite thickness : in this process it is necessa- 
 rily curved. To remove this it is re-wound, and pulled through between a number of pins 
 arranged at the draw or straightening bench ; it is then cut into convenient lengths for 
 removal, and finally reduced to just such a length as will make two pins. The pointing 
 is done upon steel mills (revolving wheels), the circumference of which is cut with teeth, 
 the one fine, the other coarse. Thirty or forty lengths are packed up at once, and, as 
 in needle-making, the cast of hand given by the workman makes them revolve, and the 
 whole are pointed at once ; the same operation is performed with the other end. The 
 process of heading is next performed as follows : a number of the pointed wires now 
 cut in two, are placed in the feeder of the machine ; one drops, is firmly seized, and, by 
 ' means of a pair of dies, a portion of the metal is forced up into a small bulb ; by a 
 beautifully simple and automatic arrangement, it is passed into another, when a small 
 horizontal hammer gives it a sharp tap, which completes the head. The white colour 
 is produced by boiling in a solution of cream of tartar and tin. They are then dried, 
 and passed into the hands of the wrappers-up. The preparation or marking of the 
 paper is peculiar, and is done by means of a moulded piece of wood, the moulds corre- 
 sponding to those portions which represent the small folds of paper through which the 
 pins are passed, and thereby held. The pins are then taken to the paperers, who are 
 
PITCH. 387 
 
 each seated iu front of a bench, to which is attached a horizontally hinged piece of iron 
 the edge of which is notched with a corresponding number of marks to tiie number of 
 pins to be struck ; the small catch which holds together the two parts of the iron is 
 released, the paper introduced, and a pin inserted at every mark ; the paper is then re- 
 leased, and the task of examination follows, which is the work of a moment. The paper 
 at pins is held so that the light strikes upon it: those defective are immediately detected 
 by the shade, are taken out, and others substituted in their stead. An ancient edict of 
 Henry VIII., held that, " no one should sell any pins but such as were double-headed, 
 and the heads soldered fast on." 
 
 Pitu, Improved. — The selection and preparation of the wir-e. — The iron or steel wire 
 employed should be very round, and, to protect it from rust, it should at the last drawing 
 be lubricated by means of a sponge saturated with oil, placed between the draw-plate 
 and reel. In all the subsequent stages of the manufacture, care should also be taken 
 to preserve the pins from oxidation by keeping them well oiled and greased. 
 
 The ■cleansing and polishing. — The wire being cut into pins, and these headed and 
 pointed, all according to the usual methods, the pins are thrown into a revolving cylinder 
 of wood containing a bath of soap and water in a hot state. It is of the capacity of 
 about 9£ gallons, but should not contain more than about 1 £ gallons of water, with 
 about 2 ounces of soap dissolved therein, as this quantity will be sufficient for the treat- 
 ment of about 13-J lbs. weight of pins at a time. The cylinder, when thus charged, is 
 made to revolve for about a quarter of an hour; at the expiration of which time the 
 pins are found free from the oil with which tliey were previously coated, and also very 
 much smoothed and polished by their rubbing one against the other. 
 
 The drying. The pins are next dried by transferring them to another cylinder par- 
 tially filled with well dried sawdust (preferring for the purpose the sawdust of poplar 
 wood), and causing this cylinder to revolve lor about ten minutes ; or, instead of 
 employing a cylinder of this description, the pins may be thrown into a bag or bags 
 partially filled with the sawdust, and the requisite friction produced by swinging or 
 rolling these bags about for the same length of time. 
 
 The copper coating bath or mixture. — Into a glass or stone vase, tne inventor puts 
 about 1-J gallons of soft water, seven-tenths of a pound of sulphuric acid, six-one hun- 
 dredth lb. of salt of tin, eight-one hundredth lb. of crystallized sulphate of zinc, and 108 
 grs. of pure sulphate of copper, and leaves this mixture to work lor about 24 hours, so 
 that the salts and. sulphates may be properly dissolved. This is found to be, on the whole, 
 the mixture best adapted for the purpose in view ; but most of the ingredients mentioned 
 may have others substituted for them, as, for example, any other acid or substance pro- 
 ducing like effects may be used instead of the sulphuric acid, or. the sulphate of tin may 
 be substituted for the salt of tin. 
 
 The coppes loating process. — The mixture, prepared as last directed, is introduced into 
 another revolving cylinder, and pins about 13£ lbs. weight are thrown into the midst of 
 it. The cylinder is then caused to revolve for about half an hour, which serves at once 
 to remove any verdigris from the pins to impart a high polish to them, and to give a 
 beginning to the copper coating process. At the end of the half hour or thereabouts 
 232 grs. of crystallized sulphate of copper in coarse powder, and 150 grs. of crystallized 
 sulphate of zinc, previously dissolved in soft water, are added to the mixture in the 
 cylinder, and the whole again agitated for about a quarter of an hour. The pins are by 
 this operation not only completely coated, but acquire a very considerable degree of 
 polish. The copper liquors being drawn off, the pins are washed with cold water in the 
 rotating cylinder, and afterwards in a tub with soap and water out of contact with air, 
 where they are well shaken. The contents of the tub are then emptied into a wooden 
 strainer, having a perforated bottom of tin plate iron. The pins are finally dried by 
 agitation with dry sawdust 
 
 The tinning ana blanching, are performed by laying the pins upon plates of very thin 
 tin placed one above another, in a tinned copper boiler containing a solution of about 
 4 two-fifth lbs. of crude tartar or cream of tartar, in about 22 galls, of water, and then 
 setting the whole to boil for about 12 hours. The tartar solution should be prepared 
 at least 24 hours previously. A little more cream of tartar improves the brilliancy of 
 the pins. 
 
 P1PERINE is a crystalline principle extracted from black pepper by means of alcohol. 
 It is colorless, has hardly any taste, fuses at 212° F. ; is insoluble in water, but soluble 
 in acetic acid, ether, and most readily in alcohol. 
 
 PITCH, MINERAL, is the same as Bitumen and Asphalt. 
 
 PITCH of wood-tar (Poix, Fr. ; Peek, Germ.) is obtained by boiling tar in an open 
 iron pot, or in a still, till the volatile matters be driven off. Pitch contains pyroligneous 
 resin, along with colophany (common rosin), but its principal ingredient is the former, 
 called by Berzelius pyretine. It is brittle in the cold, but softens and becomes ducti.e 
 
388 PITCOAL. 
 
 with heat. It melts in boiling water, and dissolves in alcohol and oil of turpentine, at 
 well as in carbonated or caustic alkaline leys. For Pyretine, see the mode of preparing 
 it from birch wood, for the purpose of preparing Russia Leathkb. 
 
 PITCOAL. (Houille, Fr. ; Steinkohle, Germ.) This is by far the most valuable of 
 mineral treasures, and Ihe one which, at least in Great Britain, makes all the others 
 available to the use and comfort of man. Hence it has been searched after with unre- 
 mitting diligence, and worked with all the lights of science, and the resources of art. 
 
 The Brora coal-field in Sutherlandshire is the most remarkable example in this, or in 
 perhaps any country hitherto investigated, of a pseudo coal-basin among the deeper 
 secondary strata, but above the new sandstone or red marl formation. The Eev. Dr. 
 Buckland and Mr. C. Lyell, after visiting it in 1824, had expressed an opinion that the 
 strata there were wholly unconnected with the proper coal formation below the new red 
 sandstone, and were in fact the equivalent of the oolitic series ; an opinion fully confirmed 
 by the subsequent researches of Mr. Murchison. (Geol. Trans, for 1827, p. 293.) The 
 Brora coal-field forms a part of those secondary deposites which range along the south- 
 east coast of Sutherlandshire, occupying a narrow tract of about twenty miles in length, 
 and three in its greatest breadth. 
 
 One stratum of the Brora coal-pit is a coal-shale, composed of a reed-like striated 
 plant of the natural order Equiselum, which seems to have contributed largely 
 towards the formation of that variety of coal. From this coal-shale, the next transition 
 upwards is into a. purer .bituminous substance approachir«r to jet, which constitutes 
 the great bed of coal. This is from 3 feet 3 inches to 3 feet 8 inches thick, and is 
 divided nearly in the middle by a thin layer of impure indurated shale charged with 
 pyrites, which, if not carefully excluded from the mass, sometimes occasions sponta- 
 neous combust'on upon exposure to the atmosphere ; and so much, indeed, is that 
 mineral disseminated throughout the district, that the shales might he generally termed 
 " pyritiferous." Inattention on the part of the workmen, in 1817, in leaving a large 
 quantity of this pyritous matter to accumulate in the pit, occasioned a spontaneous 
 combustion, which was extinguished only by excluding the air ; indeed, the coal-pit was 
 closed in and remained unworked for four years. The fires broke out again in the pit 
 in 1827. 
 
 The purer part of the Brora coal resembles common pitcoal ; but its powder has the 
 red ferruginous tinge of pulverized lignites. It may be considered one of the last links 
 between lignite and true coal, approaching very nearly in character to jet, though less 
 tenacious than that mineral ; and, when burnt, exhaling but slightly the 'vegetable odor 
 so peculiar to all imperfectly bituminized substances. The fossil remains of shells and 
 plants prove the Brora coal to be analogous to that of the eastern moorlands of York- 
 shire, although the extraordinary thickness of the former, compared with any 'similar 
 deposite of the latter (which never exceeds from 12 to 17 inches), might have formerly 
 led to the belief that it was a detached and anomalous deposite of true coal, rather than a 
 lignite of any of the formations above the new red sandstone : such misconception might 
 more easily arise in the infancy of geology, when the strata were not identified by their 
 fossil organic remains. 
 
 On the coast of Yorkshire the strata of this psendo coal formation appear in the follow- 
 ing descending order, from Filey Bay to Whitby. 1. Coral-rag. 2. Calcareous grit. 
 3. Shale, with fossils of the Oxford clay. 4. Kelloway rock (swelling out into an impor- 
 tant arenaceous formation). 5. Cornbrash. 6. Coaly grit of Smith. 7. Pierstone (ac- 
 cording to Mr. Smith, flie equivalent of the great oolite). 8. Sandstone and shale, with 
 peculiar plants and various seams of coal. 9. A bed with fossils of the inferior oolite. 
 10. Marl-stone ? 11. Alum-shale or lias. All the above strata are identified by abundant 
 organic remains. 
 
 In the oolitic series, therefore, where the several strata are developed in conformity 
 with the more ordinary type of these formations, we may venture to predict with 
 certainty, that no carboniferous deposites of any great value will ever be discovered, 
 at all events in Great Britain. A want of such knowledge has induced many persons 
 to make trials for coal in beds subordinate to the English oolites, and even superior to 
 them, in places where the type of formation did not offer the least warrant for such 
 attempts. 
 
 The third great class of terrestrial strata, is the proper coal-measures, called 
 the carboniferous rocks, our leading object here, and to which we shall presently 
 return. 
 
 The transition rocks which lie beneath the coal-measures, and above the primi- 
 tive rocks, or are anterior to the carboniferous order, and posterior to the primitive, 
 contain a peculiar kind of coal, called anthracite or stone-coal, approaching closely in its 
 nature to carbon. It is chiefly in the transition clay-slate that the anthracite occurs in 
 considerable masses. There is one in the transition slate of the little Saint Bernard, 
 iiear the village of la Thuile (in the AIds). It is 100 feet long, and 2 or 3 yards thick 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 389 
 
 The coal burns wilh difficulty, and is used only for burning lime. There are several of 
 ■the same kind in that country, which extend down the reverse slope of the mountains 
 looking to Savoy. The slate enclosing them presents vegetable impressions of reeds or 
 analogous plants. To the transition clay-slate we must likewise refer the beds of anthra- 
 cite that M. Hericart de Thury observed at very great heights in the Alps of Dauphiny, 
 in a formation of schist and gray-wacke with vegetable impressions, which reposes direct- 
 ly on the primitive rocks. 
 
 The great carboniferous formation may be subdivided into four orders , of rocks : 1. the 
 coal-measures, including their manifold alternations of coal-beds, sandstones, and shales ; 
 2. the millstone grit and shale towards the bottom of the coal measures ; 3. the carbon- 
 iferous limestone, which projecting to considerable heights above the outcrop of the coal 
 and grit, acquires the title of mountain limestone ; 4. the old red sandstone, or connect- 
 ing link wilh the transition and primary rock basin in which the coal system lies. 
 
 The coal-fields of England, from geographical position, naturally fall under the follow- 
 ing arrangement: — 1. The great northern district; including all the coal-fields north 
 of Trent. 2. The central district ; including Leicester, Warwick, Stafford, and Shrop- 
 shire. 3. The ivestern district ; subdivided into north-western, including North Wales, 
 and the South-western, including South Wales, Gloucester, and Somersetshire. 
 
 There are three principal coal-basins in Scotland : 1. that of Ayrshire ; 2. that of 
 Clydesdale ; and 3. that of the valley of the Forth, which runs into the second in the 
 line of the Union Canal. If two lines be drawn, one from Saint Andrews on the north- 
 east coast, to Kilpatrick on the Clyde, and another from Aberlady, in Haddingtonshire, to 
 a point a few miles south of Kirkoswald in Ayrshire, they will include between them 
 the whole space where pitcoal has been discovered and worked in Scotland. 
 
 The great coal-series consists of a regular alternation of mineral strata deposited in a 
 great concavity or basin, the sides and bottom of which are composed of transition rocks. 
 This arrangement will be clearly understood by inspecting fig, 1051 which represents a 
 section of the coal-field south of Malmsbury. 
 
 Mendip hills. Dundry hill. Wick rocks. Fog hill, N ofLansdowne 
 
 1, 1, old red sandstone; 2, mountain limestone; 3, millstone grit; 4, 4, coal seams; 
 5, Pennant, or coarse sandstone; 6, new red sandstone, or red marl ; 7, 7, lias ; 8, 8, in- 
 ferior oolite ; 9, great oolite ; 10, cornhrash and Forest marble. 
 
 No. 1, or the old red sandstone, may therefore be regarded as the characteristic lining 
 of the coal basins ; but this sandstone rests on transition limestone, and this limestone on 
 gray-wacke. This methodical distribution of the carboniferous series is well exemplified 
 in the coal-basin of the Forest of Dean in the south-west of England, and has been accu- 
 rately described by Mr. Mushet. 
 
 The gray-wacke consists of highly inclined beds of slaty micaceous sandstone, which on 
 the one hand alternares with and passes into a coarse breccia, having grains as large as 
 peas ; on the other, into a soft argillaceous slate. The gray-wacke stands bare on the 
 north-eastern border of the Foresl, near the southern extremity of the chain of transition 
 limestone, which extends from Stoke Edith, near Hereford, to Flaxley on the Severn. It 
 is traversed by a defile, through which the road from Gloucester to Ross winds. The 
 abruptness of this pass gives it a wild and mountainous character, and affords the best op 
 portunity of examining the varieties of the rock. 
 
 The Transition limestone consists in its lower beds of fine-grained, tender, extiemely 
 argillaceous slate, known in the district by the name of water-stone, in consequence of the 
 wet soil that is found wherever it appears at the surface. Calcareous matter is inter 
 spersed in it but sparingly. Its upper beds consist of shale alternating with extensive 
 beds of stratified limestone. The lowest of the calcareous strata are thin, and alternate 
 with shale. On these repose thicker strata of more compact limestone, often of a dull 
 blue color. The beds are often dolomitic, which is indicated by straw yellow color, or 
 iark pink color, and by the sandy or glimmering aspect of the rock. 
 
 The old red sandstone, whose limits are so restricted in other parts of England, here 
 
390 
 
 1'ITCOAL. 
 
 occupies an extensive area. The space which it coders, its great thickness, its high in 
 elination, the'abrupt character of the surface over which it prevails, and the consequent 
 display of its strata in many natural sections, present in this district advantages for studying 
 the formation, which are not to be met with elsewhere in South Britain. In the neigh- 
 borhood of Mitchel Dean, the total thickness of this formation, interposed conformably 
 between the transition and mountain limestone, is from 600 to 800 fathoms. The old red 
 sandstone is characterized in its upper portion by the presence of silicious conglomerate, 
 containing silicious pebbles, which is applied extensively to the fabrication of millstones 
 near Monmouth, and on the banks of the Wye. This sandstone encircles the Forest with 
 a ring of very elevated ground, whose long and lofty ridges on the eastern frontier over- 
 hang the valley of the Severn. 
 
 The mountain limestone, or carboniferous, is distinguished from transition limestone, 
 rather by its position than by any very wide difference in its general character or organic 
 remains. According to the measurements of Mr. Mushet, the total thickness of the 
 mountain limestone is about 120 fathoms. The zone of limestone belonging to this 
 coal-basin, is from a furlong to a mile in breadth on the surface of the pound, according 
 as the dip of the strata is more or less rapid. The angle of dip on ths northern and 
 western border is often no more than 10°, but on the eastern it frequently amounts to 
 80°. The calcareous zone that defines the outer circle of the basin, suffers only one 
 ' short interruption, scarcely three miles in length, where in consequence of a fault the 
 limestone disappears, and the coal-measures are seen in contact with the old red 
 sandstone. 
 
 Coal measures. — Their aggregate thickness amounts, according to Mr. Mushet, to about 
 500 fathoms. 1. The lowest beds, which repose on the mountain limestone, are about 40 
 fathoms thick, and consist here, as in the Bristol coal- basin, of a red silicious grit, alter- 
 nating with conglomerate, used for millstones ; and with clay, occasionally used for ochre. 
 2. These beds are succeeded by a series about 120 fathoms thick, in which a gray grit- 
 stone predominates, alternating in the lower part with shale, and containing 6 seams of 
 coal. The grits are of a fissile character, and are quarried extensively for flag-stone, 
 ashlers, and fire-stone. 3. A bed of grit, 25 fathoms thick, quarried for hearth-stone, 
 separates the preceding series from the following, or the 4th, which is about 115 fathoms 
 thick, and consists of from 12 to 14 seams of coal alternating with shale. 5. To this 
 succeeds a straw-edlored sandstone, nearly 100 fathoms thick, forming a high ridge in the 
 interior of the basin. It contains several thin seams of coal, from 6 to 16 inches in thick- 
 ness. 6. On this reposes a series of about 12 fathoms thick, consisting of 3 seams of 
 coal alternating with shale. 7. This is covered with alternate beds of grit and shale, 
 whose aggregate thickness is about 100 fathoms, occupying a tract in the centre of the 
 basin about 4 miles long, and 2 miles broad. The sandstone No. 5 is probably the equiva- 
 lent of the Pennant in the preceding figure. 
 
 The floor, or pavement, immediately under the coal beds is, almost without exception, 
 a grayish slate-clay, which, when made into bricks, strongly resists the fire. This fire- 
 clay varies in thickness from a fraction of an inch to several fathoms. Clay-ironstone is 
 often disseminated through the shale. 
 
 The most complete and simplest form of a coal-field is the entire basin-shape, whieh 
 we find in some instances without a dislocation. A beautiful example of this is to be seen 
 at Blairengone, in the county of Perth, immediately adjoining the western boundary of 
 Olackmannai-jhire, as represented in fig. 1052, where the outer elliptical line, marked 
 
 1052 
 
 East Bl 
 
 2 d 
 
 
 C 
 
 b 
 
 a >^^-— 
 
 
 
 
 V\ 
 
 
 
 >\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 A West 
 
 EastB 
 
 1053 
 
 1054 
 
 1055 
 
 A West 
 
 1056 
 
 1061 
 
 A, b, c, d, represents the crop, outburst, or basset edge of the lower coal, and the innel 
 elliptical line represents the crop or basset edge of the superior coal. Fig. 1053is the 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 391 
 
 ■ongitudinal section of the line A b ; and/Jg. 1054 the transverse section of the line c B, 
 All the accompanying coal strata partake of the same form and parallelism. These 
 basins are generally elliptical, sometimes nearly circular, hut are often very eccentric, 
 being much greater in length than in breadth ; and frequently one side of the basin on 
 the short diameter has a much greater dip than the other, which circumstance throws 
 the trough or lower part of the basin concavity much nearer to the one side than to the 
 other. From this view of one entire basin, it is evident that the dip of the coal strata 
 belonging to it runs in opposite directions, on the opposite sides, and that all the strata 
 regularly crop out, and meet the alluvial cover in every point of the circumferential space, 
 like the edges of a nest of common basins. The waving line marks the river Devon. 
 
 It is from this basin shape that all the other coal-fields are formed, which are segments 
 of a basin produced by slips, dikes, or dislocations of the strata. If the coals ( fig. 11)52) 
 were dislocated by two slips 4 c and d e, the slip b c throwing the strata down to the east, 
 and the slip d e throwing them as much up in the same direction, the outcrops of the coals 
 would be found in the form represented in fig. 1055 of which^g,1056is the section in the 
 line A B, a.ndfig.1051 the section in the line c d. 
 
 The chief difficulty in exploring a country in search of coal, or one where coal-fields 
 are known to exist, arises from the great thickness of alluvial and other cover, which 
 completely hides the outcrop or basset edge of the strata, called by miners the rock-head ; 
 as also the fissures, dikes, and dislocations of the strata, which so entirely change the 
 structure and bearings of coal-fields, and cause often great loss to the mining adventurer. 
 The alluvial cover on the other hand is beneficial, by protecting the seams of the strata 
 from the superficial waters and rains, which would be apt to drown.them, if they were 
 naked. In all these figures of coal-hasins, the letter a indicates coal. 
 
 The absolute shape of the coal-fields in Great Britain has been ascertained with sur- 
 prising precision. To whatever depth a coal-mine is drained of its water, from that 
 depth it is worked, up to the rise of the water-level line, and each miner continues to ad- 
 vance his room or working-place, till his seam of coal meets the alluvial cover of the 
 outcrop, or is cut off by a dislocation of the strata. In this way the miner travels in suc- 
 cession over every point of his field, and can portray its basin-shape most minutely. 
 Fig. ]058represents a. horizontal plan of the Clackmannanshire coal-field, as if the 
 1058 strata at the outcrop all around were denuded 
 
 MiaSStass-ss^safe^sfeM j-ag of the alluvial cover. Only two of the con- 
 | centric beds, or of their edges a, a, are repre 
 
 I sented, to avoid perplexity. It is to be re- 
 
 '-"?-?•-■'-> membered, however, that all the series of at- 
 °"t!^ !: S* r '"""^5|^""' l a '' tendant strata lie ' parallel to the above lines. 
 This plan shows the Ochill mountains, with 
 the north coal-fields, of an oblong elliptical shape, 
 JWestfhe side of the basin next the mountains being 
 precipitous, as if upheaved by the eruptive 
 "N. slip. trap-rocks; while the south, the east, and the 
 ' west edges of the basin shelve out at a great 
 distance from the lower part of the concavity 
 or trough, as miners call it. Thus the alternate 
 beds of coal, shale, and sandstone, all nearly 
 concentric in the north coal-field, dip inwards 
 from all sides towards the central area of the 
 trough. The middle coal-field of this district, 
 however, which is formed by the great north 
 ^slip, is merely the segment of an elliptical basin, 
 where the strata dip in i -ery direction to the middle of the axis marked with the letter x j 
 being the deepest part of the segment. The south coal-field, formed by the great south 
 slip, is likewise the segment of another elliptical basin, similar in all respects to the mid- 
 dle coal-field. Beyond the outcrop of the coals and subordinate strata of the south coal- 
 fields, the counter dip of the strata takes plaee, producing the mantle-shaped form ; whence 
 the coal strata in the Dunmore field, in Stirlingshire, lie in a direction contrary to those 
 of the south coal-field of Clackmannanshire, o, are the Ochill mountains. 
 
 Fig. 1059 is intended to represent an extensive district of country, containing a great 
 coal-basin, divided into numerous subordinate coal-fields by these dislocations. The lines 
 marked 6 are slips, or faults ; the broad lines marked c denote dikes ; the former dislocate 
 the strata, and change their level, while dikes disjoin the strata with a wall, but do not 
 in general affect their elevation. The two parallel lines marked a, represent two seams 
 of coal, variously heaved up and down by the faults ; whereas the dikes are seen to pass 
 hrough the strata without altering their relative position. In this manner, partial coal- 
 fields are distributed over a wide area of country, in every direction. 
 The only exception to this general form of the coal-fields in Great Britain, is the in- 
 
 saaaag»««w«8«iagg«3BMBB=nEig»gBeH 
 
392 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 m ted basin shape ; but this is rare. A few examples occur in some districts of Eng 
 Ian I, and in the county of Fife ; but even in extensive coal-fields, this convex form ij 
 ant a partial occurrence, or a deviation N by local violence from the ordinary basin. 
 Ftg.l060is an instance of a convex coal-field exhibited in Staffordshire, at the Castle- 
 
 -12§9 _____ hill, close to the town of Dudley. 
 
 1, 1, are limestone strata ; 2, 2, are coal. 
 Through this hill, canals have been 
 cut, for. working the immense beds of 
 carboniferous limestone. These occui 
 in the lower series of the strata ol 
 the coal-field, and therefore at a dis 
 tance of many miles from the Castle- 
 hill, beyond the outcrop of all the 
 workable coals in the proper basin- 
 shaped part of the field; but by this 
 apparently inverted basin-form, these 
 limestone beds are elevated far above 
 the lcel of the general surface of the 
 country, and consequer !)y above the 
 level of all the coals. We must regard 
 this seeming inversion as resulting from 
 the approximation of two coal-basins, sep- 
 arated by the basset edges of their moun- 
 tain limestone repository. 
 
 Fig. 1061 is a vertical section of the 
 Dudley coal-basin, the upper coal-bed 
 of which has the astonishing thickness 
 of 30 feet ; and this mass extends 7 miles 
 in length, and 4 in breadth. Coal-seams 
 5 or 6 feet thick, are called thin in that 
 district. 
 
 Fig. 1062 is a very interesting section 
 of the main coal-basin of Clackman- 
 nanshire, as given by Mr. Bald in the 
 Wernerian Society's Memoirs, vol. iii. 
 Here we see it broken into three sub-' 
 ordinate coal-fields, formed by two great faults or dislocations of the strata; but 
 independently of these fractures across the whole series, the strata continue quite 
 1061 1064 regular in >their respective alternations, and preserve nearly unchanged 
 their angle of inclination to the horizon. The section shows the south 
 coal-field dipping northerly, till it is cut across by the great south slip x, 
 which dislocates the coal and the parallel strata to the enormous extent 
 of 1230 feet, by which all the coals have been thrown up, not simply 
 to the day, but are not found again till we advance nearly a mile north- 
 ward, on the line of the dip, where the identical seams of coal, shale, &c. 
 are observed once more with their regular inclination. These coals of 
 the middle area, dip regularly northward till interrupted by the great 
 north slip y, which dislocates the strata, and throws them up 700 feet ; 
 that is to say, a line prolonged in the direction of any one well-known 
 seam, will run 700 feet above the line of the same seam as it emerges 
 after the middle slip. Immediately adjoining the north slip, the coals 
 and coal-field resume their course, and dip regularly northward, run- 
 ning through a longer range than either of the other two members of 
 the basin, till they arrive at the valley of the Devon, at the foot of the 
 Ochill mountains, where they form a concave curvature, or trough, a, and 
 
 thence rise rapidly in an almost vertical direction at b. Here the coals, 
 
 With all their associate strata, assume conformity and parallelism with the face of the 
 sienitic-greenstone strata of the Ochill mountains c ; being raised to the high angle of 73 
 degrees with the horizon. The coal-seams thus upheaved, are called edge-metal* by the 
 
 1062 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 393 
 
 In this remarkable coal-field, which has been accurately explored by pitting and 
 ooring to the depth of 703 feqt, there are no fewer than 142 beds, or distinct strata of 
 :oal, shale, and sandstone, &c, variously alternating, an idea of which may be had 
 1063 by inspecting fig. 1063 Among these are 24 beds of coal, which would con- 
 stitute an aggregate thickness of 59 feet 4 inches; the thinnest seam of coal 
 being 2 inches, and the thickest 9 feet. The strata of this section contain 
 numerous Varieties of sandstone, slate-cay, bituminous shale, indurated clay, or 
 fire-clay, and clay ironstone. Neither trap-rock nor limestone is found in con- 
 nexion with the workable coals ; but an immense bed of greenstone, named 
 Abbey Craig, occurs in the western boundary of Clackmannanshire-, under which 
 lie regular strata of slate-clay, sandstone, thin beds of limestone, and large sphe- 
 roidal masses of clay ironstone, with a mixture of lime. 
 
 " With regard to slips in coal-fields," says Mr. Bald, " we find that there is a 
 general law connected with them as to the position of the dislocated strata, 
 which is this : — When a slip is met with in the course of working the mines — 
 if when looking to it, the vertical line of the slip or fissure, it forms an acute angle 
 with the line of the pavement upon which the observer stands, we are certain 
 that the strata are dislocated downwards upon the other side of the fissure. On 
 the contrary, if the angle formed by the two lines above mentioned is obtuse, we 
 are certain that the strata are dislocated or thrown upwards upon the other side 
 of the fissure. When the angle is 90°, or a right angle, it is altogether uncertain 
 whether the dislocation throws up or down on the opposite side of the slip. 
 When dikes intercept the strata, they generally only separate the strata the 
 width of the dike, without any dislocation, either up or down j so that if a coal 
 is intercepted by a dike, it is found again by running a mine directly forward, 
 corresponding to the angle or inclination of the coal with the horizon." — 
 Wernerian Society's Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 133.* 
 
 The Johnstone coal-field, in Renfrewshire, is both singular and interesting. 
 The upper stratum of rock is a mass of compact greenstone or trap, above 100 
 feet in thickness, not at all in a conformable position with the coal strata, but 
 overlying ; next there are a few fathoms of soft sandstone and slate-clay, alter- 
 nating, and uncommonly soft Beneath these beds, there are no fewer than ten 
 seams of coal, lying on each other, with a few divisions of dark indurated clay. 
 These coal-seams have an aggregate thickness of no less than 100 feet j a mass of 
 combustible matter, in the form of .coal, unparalleled for its accumulation in so 
 narrow a space. The greater part of this field contains only 5 beds of coal ; but 
 at the place where the section shown in^g.1064 is taken, these five coals seem to 
 have been overlapped or made to slide over each other by violence. This struc- 
 ture is represented in fig. 1065 which is a section of the Quarrelton coal in the 
 Johnstone field, showing the overlapped coal and the double coal, with the thick 
 bed of greenstone, overlying the coal-field. 
 1065 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 tt^a^^' 
 
 i 
 
 "^SSSssSL— 
 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
 o T" 
 
 ^ta==s5 
 
 y 
 
 
 s 
 
 a. Alluvial cover. e. Position of greenstone, not ascertained. 
 
 A. Bed of trap or greenstone. /. Strata in lyhich no coals have been found. 
 
 c. Alternating coal strata. g. The overlapped coal. 
 
 d. Coal-seams. h. The double coal. 
 
 Before proceeding to examine the modes of working coal, I shall introduce here a de- 
 scription of the two principal species of this mineral. 
 
 1. Cubical coal. — It is black, shining, compact, moderately hard, but easily frangible. 
 When extracted in the mine, it comes out in rectangular masses, of which the smaller 
 raiments are cubical. The lamellae (reed of the coal) are always parallel to the bed or 
 plane on which the coal rests ; a fact which holds generally with this substance. There 
 are two varieties of cubical coal ; the open-burning and the caking. The latter, however 
 small its fragments may be, is quite available for fuel, in consequence of its agglutinating 
 into a mass at a moderate heat, by the abundance of its bitumen. This kind is the true 
 smithy or forge-coal, because it readily forms itself into a vault round the blast of the 
 bellows which serves for a cupola in concentrating the heat on objects thrust into the 
 tavity. 
 
 The open-burning cubical coals are known by several local names ; the rough coal or 
 
 * This paper does honor to its author, the eminent coal-viewer of Scotland. 
 
394 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 ?lod coal, from the large masses in which they may be had and the cherry coal, from 
 the cheerful blaze with which they spontaneously burn ; whereas the caking coals, such 
 as most of the Newcastle qualities, require to be frequently poked in the grate. Its spect 
 fie gravity varies from 1-25 to 1-4. 
 
 2. Slate or splint coal. — This is dull-black, very compact, much harder, and mora 
 difficultly frangible than the preceding. It is readily fissile, like slate, but powerfully 
 resists the cross fracture, which is conchoidal. Specific gravity from 1-26 to 1-40. In 
 working, it separates in large quadrangular sharp-edged masses. It burns without 
 caking, produces much flame and smoke, unless judiciously supplied with air, and leaves 
 frequently a considerable bulk of white ashes. It is the best fuel for distilleries and al 
 large grates, as it makes an open fire, and does not clog up the bars with glassy scoriae. 
 I found good splint coal of the Glasgow field to have a specific gravity of 1-266, and to 
 consist of— carbon, 70-9 ; hydrogen, 4-3 ; oxygen, 24-8. 
 
 3. Cannel coal. — Color between velvet and grayish-black ; lustre resinous ; fracture 
 even ; fragments trapezoidal ; hard as splint coal ; spec. grav. 1-23 to 1-28. In working, 
 it is detached in four-sided columnar masses, often breaks conchoidal, like pitch, kindles 
 very readily, and burns with a bright white projective flame, like the wick of a candle, 
 whence its name. It occurs most abundantly in the coal-field of Wigan, in Lancashire, 
 in a bed 4 feet thick ; and there is a good deal of it in the Clydesdale coal-field, of which 
 it forms the lowest seam that is worked. It produces very little dust in the mine, and 
 hardly soils the fingers with carbonaceous matter. Cannel coal from Woodhall, near 
 Glasgow, spec. grav. 1-228, consists by my analysis of— carbon, 72-22 ; hydrogen, 3-93 ; 
 oxygen, 21-05 ; with a little azote (about 2-8 in 100 parts.) This coal has been found to 
 afford, in the Scotch gas-works, a very rich-burning gas. The azote is there converted 
 into ammonia, of Which a considerable quantity is distilled over into the tar-pit. 
 
 4. Glance coaZ.— This species has an iron-black color, with an occasional iridiscence, 
 like that of tempered steel ; lustre in general splendent, shining, and imjerfect metallic ; 
 loes not soil ; easily frangible ; fracture flat conchoidal ; fragments sharp-edged. It burns 
 without flame or smell, except when it is sulphureous ; and it leaves a white-colored 
 ash. It produces no soot, and seems, indeed, to be merely carbon, or coal deprived of 
 its volatile matter or bitumen, and converted into coke by subterranean calcination, fre- 
 quently from contact with whin-dikes. Glance coal abounds in Ireland, under the name 
 of Kilkenny coal ; in Scotland it is called blind coal, from its burning without flame or 
 smoke ; and in Wales, it is the malting or stone coal. It contains from 90 to 97 per cent, 
 of carbon. Specific gravity from 1-3 to 1-5 ; increasing with the proportion of earthy im- 
 purities. 
 
 The dislocations and obstructions found in coal-fields, which render the search for coal 
 so difficult, and their mining so laborious and uncertain, are the following : — 
 1. Dikes. 2. Slips or Faults. 3. Hitches. 4. Troubles. 
 
 The first three infer dislocation of the strata; the fourth changes in the bed of coal itself. 
 1. A dike is a wall of extraneous matter, which divides all the beds in a coal-field. 
 Dikes extend not 6nly in one line of bearing through coal-fields for many miles, but 
 run sometimes in different directions, and have often irregular bendings, but no sharp 
 angular turns. When from a few feet to a few fathoms in thickness, they occur some- 
 times in numbers within a small area of a coal basin, running in various directions, and 
 even crossing each other. Fig. 1066 represents a ground plan of a coal-field, intersected 
 1066 „ if with greenstone dikes. A B and c h 
 
 are two dike's standing parallel to each 
 other ; e r and G H are cross or oblique 
 dikes, which divide both the coal strata 
 and the primary dikes A b and c d. 
 
 2. Slips or faults run in straight lines 
 
 through coal-measures, and at every 
 
 angle of incidence to each other. 
 
 Fig. 1067 represents a ground plan of 
 
 a coal-field, with two slips A b and c d 
 
 in the line of bearing of the planes of 
 
 the str?»a, which throw them down to 
 
 : A the outcrop. This is the simplest form 
 
 of a slip. Fig. 1068 exhibits part of a 
 
 <3 coal-field intersected with slips, like a 
 
 crackeu sheet of ice. Here A b is a 
 
 dike; while the narrow lines show 
 
 faults of every kind, producing dislo- 
 
 cations varying in amount of slip from a few feet to a great many fathoms. The faults 
 
 it the points a, a, a vanish ; and the lines at c denote four small partial slips called 
 
 'tches 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 396 
 
 The effects of slips and dikes on the coal strata appear more prominently when 
 viewed in a vertical section, than in a ground plan, where they seem to be merely walls, 
 Veins, and lines of demarcation. Fig. 1069 is a vertical section of a coal-field, from dip • 
 crop. 1068 A c 1069 
 
 F D B dip. 
 
 to rise, showing three strata of coal a, b, c. ai represents a dike at right angles to tht 
 plane of the coal-beds. This rectangular wall merely separates the coal-measures, 
 affecting their line of rise ; but further to the rise, the oblique dike c d interrupts the 
 coals a, b, c, and not only disjoins them, but throws them and their concomitant strata 
 greatly lower down ; but still, with this depression, the strata retain their parallelism 
 and general slope. Nearer to the outcrop, another dike e, r, interrupts the coals a, b, c, 
 not merely breaking the continuity of the planes, but throwing them moderately up, so 
 as to produce a steeper inclination, as shown in the figure. It sometimes happens that 
 the coals in the compartment H, betwixt the dikes c and e, may lie nearly horizontal, 
 and the effect of the dike e, f, is then to throw out the coals altogether, leaving no 
 vestige of them in the compartment K. "Such," says Mr. Bald, from whom these 
 illustrations are borrowed, " are the most prominent changes in the strata, as to their 
 Jine of direction, produced by dikes ; but of these changes there are various modifica- 
 tions." 
 
 The effect of slips on the strata is also represented in the vertical section, ^g.lff70where 
 a, b, c are coals with their associated strata. A, b, is an intersecting slip, which throws all 
 10*70 the coals of the first com- 
 
 partment much lower, as is 
 observable in the second, 
 No. 2 ; and from the amount 
 of the slip, it brings in other 
 coal-seams, marked 1, 2, 3, 
 not in the compartment 
 No. 1. c, d, is a slip pro- 
 ducing a similar result, bul 
 not of the same magnitude. 
 e, p represents a slip across 
 i , u the strata, reverse in direc- 
 
 tion to the former ; the effect of which is to throw up the coals, as shown in the area 
 No. 4. Such a slip occasionally brirJgs into play seams seated under those marked a, b, c, 
 
 as seen at 4, 5,6; and it may happen 
 , that the coal marked 4 lies in the pro- 
 longation of a well-known scam, as c, 
 in the compartment No. 3, when the 
 case becomes puzzling to the miner. 
 In addition to the above varieties, a 
 number of slips or hitches are often seen 
 near one another, as in the area marked 
 No. 5, where the individual displace- 
 ments are inconsiderable, but the ag- 
 gregate dislocation may be great, in 
 reference to the seams of the 6th compart- 
 ment. 
 
 The results of dikes and slips on a hori- 
 zontal portion of a field are exemplified in 
 fig. 10*71. Where the coal-measures are 
 horizontal, and the faults run at a greater 
 angle than 45° to the line of bearing, they 
 are termed dip and rise faults, as a b, c n, 
 
 E F. 
 
 Coal-viewers or engineers regard the 
 dislocations now described as being sub- 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 _ Uimli ,,^ 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 a \ 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 1 a 
 
 
 I \ 
 
 a. 
 
 
 6 
 
 I I 
 
 
 c \ 
 
 /? 
 
 
 o 
 
 \ c 
 
 
 K 
 
 1 c 
 
 
 
 
 1C72 
 
 11 "-imimi-ii"- 
 
 
 K P 
 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 'x 
 
 
 Si 
 
 Ifc 
 
 
 A 
 
 ject in one respect to a general law, which may be thus explained : — Let Jig. 1072 
 
~1 
 
 396 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 De a portion of a coal-measure ; A, being the pavement and b the roof of the coal-seam 
 If, in pursuing the stratum at o, a dike d occurs, standing at right angles with the 
 pavement, they conclude that the dike is merely a partition-wall between the beds bj 
 its own thickness, leaving the coal-seam underanged on either side; but if a dike p 
 forms, as at e, an obtuse angle with the pavement, they conclude that the dike is not a 
 simple partition between the strata, but has thrown up the several seams into the pre- 
 dicament shown at g. Finally, should a dike h make at i an acute angle with the 
 pavement, they conclude that the dike has thrown down the coal-measures into the 
 position of k. 
 
 The same important law holds with slips, as I formerly stated ; only when they form 
 right angles with the pavement, the case is ambiguous ; that is, the strata may be dislo- 
 cated either upwards or downwards. 
 
 Dikes and faults are denominated upthrow or downthrow, according to the position 
 they are met with in working the mine. Thus, in fig. 1069 if the miner in advancing to 
 the rise, tie dike a, b obviously does not change the direction ; but c, d is a downthrow 
 dike of a certain number of fathoms towards the rise of the basin, and e, f is an upthrow 
 dike likewise towards the rise. On the other hand, when the dikes are met with by the 
 miner in working from the rise to the dip, the names of the above dikes would be reversed; 
 for what is an upthrow in the first case, becomes a downthrow in the second, relative to 
 the mining operations. 
 
 3. We have seen that hitches are small and partial slips, where the dislocation does not 
 exceed the thickness of the coal-seam ; and they are correctly enough called steps by the 
 miner. Fig. 1073 represents the operation of the hitches a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, on the coal- 
 10*73 measures. Though observed in 
 
 one or two seams of a field, they 
 may not appear in the rest, as is 
 the case with dikes and faults. 
 
 4. Troubles in coal-fields are of 
 various kinds. 
 
 1. Irregular layers of sand- 
 stone, appearing in the middle of 
 the coal-seam, and gradually 
 increasing in thickness till the; 
 separate the coal into two dis- 
 tinct seams, too thin to continue 
 workable. 
 
 2. Nips, occasioned by the 
 gradual approximation of the roof 
 
 and pavement, till not a vestige of coal is left between them ; the softer shale disappear- 
 ing also at the same time. Figs. 1074 and 1075 represent this accident, which is fortu 
 nately rare ; the first being a vertical, and the second a horizontal view. 
 
 3. Shaken coal. It resembles the rubbish of an old waste, being a confused heap of 
 coal-dust, mixed with small pieces of cubical coal, so soft that it'ean frequently be dug 
 with the spade. This shattering is analogous to that observed occasionally in the flint 
 nodules of the chalk formation ; and seems like the effect of some electric tremor of the 
 strata. 
 
 In searching for coal in any country, its concomitant rocks ought to be looked for, 
 especially the carboniferous or mountain limestone, known by its organic fossils ; (see 
 Ure's Geology, p. 175, and corresponding plate of fossils;) likewise the outcrop of the 
 millstone grit, and the newer red sandstone, among some rifts or fa9ades of which, 
 seams of coal may be discerned. But no assurance of coal can be had without boring or 
 pitting. 
 
 Skill in boring judiciously for coal, distinguishes the genuine miner from the empirical 
 adventurer, who, ignorant of the general structure of coal-basins, expends labor, time, 
 and money at random, and usually to no purpose ; missing the proper coal-field, and 
 leading his employer to sink a shaft where no productive seams can be had. A skilful 
 viewer, therefore, should always direct the boring operations, especially in an unexplored 
 country. 
 
 The boring rods should be made of the best and most tenacious Swedish iron ; in 
 area, about an inch and a quarter square. Each rod is usually 3 feet long, terminating 
 in a male screw at one end, and a female screw at the other. The boring chisels are 
 commonly 18 inches long, and from 2 inches and « half to 3 inches and" a quarter at 
 their cutting edge, whiim must be tipped with good steel. The chisel is screwed to an 
 intermediate 18-inch rud, called the double box-rod, forming together a rod 3 feet long. 
 There are, moreover three short rods, a foot, 18 inches, and 2 feet long each, which 
 may be screwed, as occasion requires, to the brace-head, to make the height above th« 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 397 
 
 I mouth of the tore convenient for the hands of the men in 'working th-i rods. Hence 
 the series of rods becomes a scale of measurement for noting the depth of the bore, and 
 keeping a journal of the strata that are perforated. The brace-head rod, also 18 inches 
 long, has two large eyes or rings at its top, set at right ang'es to each other, through 
 which arms of wood are fixed for the men to lift and turn the rods by, in the boring 
 process. 
 
 When the bore is intended to penetrate but a few fathoms, the whole -work may be per- 
 formed directly by the hands; but when the bore is to be of considerable depth, a lofty 
 triangle of wood is set above the bore hole, with a pulley depending at its summit angle, 
 for conducting the rope to the barrel of a windlass or wheel and axle, secured to the ground 
 with heavy stones. The loose end of the rope is connected to the rods by an oval iron 
 ring, called a runner; and by this mechanism they may be raised and let fall in the 
 boring; or the same effect may be more simply produced by substituting for the wheel 
 and axle, a number of ropes attached to the rod rope, each of which may be pulled by a 
 man, as in raising the ram of the pile engine. 
 
 In the Newcastle coal district there are professional master-borers, who undertake to 
 search for coal, and furnish an accurate register of the strata perforated. The average 
 price of boring in England or Scotland, where no uncommon difficulties occur, is six 
 shillings for each of the first five fathoms, twice 6 shillings for each of the second five 
 fathoms, thrice 6 shillings for each of the third five fathoms, and so on ; hence the series 
 will be — 
 
 1st five fathoms 
 2d five fathoms - 
 3d five fathoms 
 4th five fathoms - 
 
 20 fathoms of bore 
 
 6s. each 
 12s. — 
 18s. — 
 24s. — 
 
 £15 
 
 Thus the price increases equably with the depth and labor of the bore, and the under- 
 taker usually upholds his rods. There are peculiar cases, however, in which the expense 
 greatly exceeds the above rate. 
 
 The boring tools are represented in the following figures : — 
 
 1076 
 ® 1 
 13 12 n 9 ' a , 4 ).", . „ » 19 
 
 1 
 
 * 
 
 . 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 [7 
 
 a 
 
 18 10 6 5 
 
 A -Fl 
 
 IMA lA 
 
 Fig. 1016. 
 
 1. The brace-head. 
 
 2. The common rod. 
 
 3. The double-box rod; intermediate 
 piece. 
 
 4. The common chisel. 
 
 5. The indented chisel. 
 
 6. Another of the same. 
 
 7. The cross-mouthed chisel. 
 
 8. The wimble. 
 
 9. The sludger, for bringing up the 
 mud. 
 
 10. The rounder. 
 
 11. The key for supporting the tram of 
 rods at the bore-mouth. 
 
 12. The key for screwing together and 
 asunder the rods. 
 
 13. The topit, or top-piece. 
 
 14. The beche, for catching the rod when 
 it breaks in the bore. 
 
 15. The runner, for taking hold of the 
 topit. 
 
 16. The tongued chisel. 
 
 17. The right-handed worm screw. 
 
 18. The left-handed do. 
 
 19. The finger grip or catch. 
 
 We shall now explain the manner of conducting a series of bores in searching ground 
 for coal. 
 
 Fig. 1011 represents a district of country in which a regular survey has proved 
 the existence and general distribution of coal strata, with a dip to the south, as 
 here shown. In this case, a convenient spot should be pitched upon in the north part 
 
398 PITCOAL. 
 
 of the district, so that the successive bores put down may advance in the line of thi 
 
 Up. The first bore may therefore oe made at No. 1, to the depth of sixty yards. In 
 the progress of this perforation, many diversities and alternations of strata will be 
 probably passed through, as we see in the sections of the strata ; each of which, as tc 
 quality and thickness, is noted in the journal, and specimens are preserved. This bore 
 is seen to penetrate the strata d, c, 6, a, without encountering any coal. Now, suppose 
 that the dip of the strata be one yard in ten, the question is, at what distance from bore 
 No. 1, in a south direction, will a second bore of 60 yards strike the first stratum, d, of 
 the preceding 1 The rule obviously is, to multiply the depth of the bore by the dip, thai 
 is, 60 by 10, and the product, 600, gives the distance required j for, by the rule of three, 
 if 1 yard of depression corresponds to 10 in horizontal length, 60 yards of depression 
 will correspond to 600 in length. Hence the bores marked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are succes- 
 sively distributed as in the figure, the spot where the first is let down being regarded "as 
 the point of level to. which the summits of all the succeeding bores are referred. Should 
 the top of No. 2 bore be 10 yards higher or lower than the top of No. 1, allowance must 
 be made for this difference in the operation j and hence a surface level survey is requisite. 
 Sometimes ravines cut down the strata, and advantage should be taken of them, when 
 they are considerable. 
 
 In No. 2, a coal is seen to occur near the surface, and another at the bottom of the 
 bore ; the latter seam resting on the first stratum d, that occurred in bore No. 1 ; and 
 No. 2 perforation must be continued a little farther, till it has certainly descended to the 
 stratum d. Thus these two bores have, together, proved the.beds to the depth of 120 yards. 
 
 No. 3 bore being placed according to the preceding rule, will pass through two coaU 
 seams near the surface, and after reaching to nearly its depth of 60 yards, it. will touch 
 the stratum ft, which is the upper stratum of bore No. 2; but since a seam of coal was 
 detected in No. 2, under the stratum ft, the proof is confirmed by running the borer down 
 through that coal. The field has now been probed to the depth of 180 yards. The 
 fourth bore isjiext proceeded with, till the two coal-seams met in No. 3 have been pene- 
 trated ; when a depth of 240 yards has been explored. Hence No. 4 bore could not reach 
 the lower stratum a, unless it were sunk 240 yards. 
 
 The fifth bore (No. 5) being sunk in like manner, a new coal-seam occurs within a 
 few yards of the surface ; but after sinking to the depth at which the coal at the top of 
 the fourth bore was found, an entirely different order of strata will occur. In this 
 dilemoa, the bore should be pushed 10 or 20 yards deeper than the 60 yards, to ascertain 
 the alternations of the new range of superposition. It may happen that.no coals of any 
 value shall be found, as the figure indicates, in consequence of a slip or dislocation of the 
 strata at b, whirf - has thrown up all the coals registered in the former borings, to such an 
 extent that the strata 6, a, of the first bore present themselves immediately on perforating 
 the slip, instead of lying at the depth of 300 yards (5 X 60), as they would have done, 
 had no dislocation intervened. Some coal-fields, indeed, are so intersected with slips as 
 to bewilder the most experienced miner, which will particularly happen when a lower 
 coal is thrown upon one side of a slip, directly opposite to an upper coal situated on the 
 other side of it ; so that if the two seams be of the same thickness, erroneous conclusions 
 are almost inevitable. 
 
 When a line of bores is to be conducted from the dip of the strata towards their out- 
 crop, they should be placed a few yards nearer each other than the rule prescribes, lest 
 the strata last passed through be overstepped, so that they may disappear from the regis- 
 ter, and a valuable coal-seam may thereby escape notice. In fact, each successive bore 
 shou.d be so set down, that the first of the strata perforated should be the last passed 
 through in the preceding bore ; as is exemplified by viewing the bores in the retrograde 
 direction, Nos. 4, 3, and 2. But if the bore No. 2 had gone no deeper.than ./, and the 
 bore No. 1 had been as represented, then the stratum e, with its immediately subjacent 
 coal, would have been overstepped, since none of the bores would have touched it ; and 
 they would have remained unnoticed in the journal, and unknown. 
 
 When the line of dip, and consequently the line of bearing which is at right angles to 
 it, are unknown, they are sought for by making three bores in the following position. 
 —Let Jig. 1018 be a hoi izontal diagram, in which the place of a bore, No. 1, is 
 
*/ 
 
 / 
 
 PITCOAL. 389 
 
 shdwn, which reaches a coal-seam at the depth of 50 yards ; bore No. 2 may he mada 
 at B, 300 yards from the former ; and bore No. 3 at c, equidistant from Nos. 1 and 2, 
 
 so that the bores are sunk at the three angles of an 
 
 " 3 c 2 b equilateral triangle. If the coal occur in No. 2 at the 
 
 depth of 30 yards, and in No. 3 of 44 yards, it is 
 manifest that none of the lines a is, b c, or c A, is in 
 the line of level, which for short distances may be 
 1078 ''S, \ \/ / taken for the line of bearing, with coal-seams of mo- 
 
 *V \ ,.•■ '••JL derate dip. But since No. 1 is the deepest of the 
 
 ^.A / three bores, and No. 3 next in depth, the line A c 
 
 /Ny joining them must be nearer the line of level than 
 
 J A either of the lines A B or b c. The question is, there- 
 
 fore, at what distance on the prolonged line b c is the 
 point for sinking a bore which would reach the coal 
 at the same depth as No. 1, namely, 50 yards. This problem is solved by the following 
 rule of proportion : as 14 yards (the difference of depth between bores 2 and 3) is to 300 
 yards (the distance between them), so is 20 (the difference of depth betwixt 1 and 2) to 
 a fourth proportion, ori = 428 yards, 1 foot, and 8 inches. Now, this distance, measured 
 from No. 2, reaches to the point D on the prolonged line B c, under which point r> the 
 coal will be found at a depth of 50 yards, the same as under a. Hence the line A d is 
 the true level line of the coal-field ; and a line B F G, drawn at right angles to it, is the 
 true dip-line of the plane which leads to the outcrop. In the present example the dip is 
 1 yard in 14J ; or 1 in 14J, to adopt the judicious language of the miner ; or the sine is 
 1 to a radius of 14|, measured along the line from b to f. By this theorem for finding 
 the lines of dip and level, the most eligible spot in a coal-field for sinking a shaft may be 
 ascertained. 
 
 Suppose the distance from b to g in the line of dip to be 455 yards j then, since ever) 
 14£ gives a yard of depression, 455 will give 30 yards, which added to 30 yards, the 
 depth of the bore at B, will make 60 yards for the depth of the same coal-seam at g. 
 Since any line drawn at right angles to the line of level a d is the line of dip, so any 
 line drawn parallel to a d is a level line. Hence, if from c the line c E be drawn paral- 
 lel to d a, the coal-seam at the points E and c will be found in the same horizontal plane, 
 or 44 yards beneath the surface level, over these two points. The point e level with c 
 may also be found by this proportion : as 20 yards (the difference in depth of the bores 
 under e and a) is to 300 yards (the distance between them), so is 14 yards (the difference 
 of depth under b and c) to 210 yards, or the distance from B to e. 
 
 As boring for coal is necessarily carried on in a line perpendicular to the horizon, and 
 as coal-seams lie at every angle of inclination to it, the thickness of the seam as given 
 obliquely by the borer, is always greater than the direct thickness of the coal ; and hence 
 the length of that line must be multiplied by the cosine of the angle of dip, in order to 
 find the true power of the seam. 
 
 Of fitting or winning a coal-field. — In sinking a shaft for working coal, the great 
 obstacle to be encountered is water, particularly in the first opening of a field, which 
 proceeds from the surface of the adjacent country; for every coal-stratum, however deep 
 it may lie in one part of the basin, always rises till it meets the alluvial cover, or crops 
 out, unless it I ■ met by a slip or dike. When the basset-edge of the strata is covered 
 with gravel or sand, any body or stream of water will readily percolate downwards 
 through it, and fill up the porous interstices between the coal-measures, till arrested by 
 the face of a slip, which acts as a valve or fiood-gate, and confines the water to one com- 
 partment of the basin, which may, however, be of considerable area, and require a great 
 power of drainage. 
 
 In reference to water, coal-fields are divided into two kinds : 1. level free coal ; 2. 
 coal not level free. In the practice of mining, if a coal-field, or portion of it, is so situated 
 above the surface of the ocean that a level can be carried from that plane 'till it intersects 
 the coal, all the coal above the plane of intersection is said to be level free ; but if 
 a coal-field, though placed above the surface of the ocean, cannot, on account of the 
 expense, be drained by a level or gallery, but by mechanical power, such a coal-field is 
 said to be not level free. - 
 
 Besides these general levels of .drainage, there are subsidiary levels, called off-takes or 
 drifts, which discharge the water of a mine, not at the mouth of the pit, butat some depth 
 beneath the surface, where, from the form of the country, it may be run off level free. 
 From 20 to 30 fathoms off-take is an object of considerable economy in pumping ; but 
 even less is often had recourse to; and when judiciously contrived, may serve to inter- 
 cept much of the crop water, and prevent it from getting down to the dip part of the 
 coal, where it.would become a heavy load on a hydraulic engine. 
 
 Day levels were an object of primary importance with the early miners, who had 
 not the gigantic pumping power Of the steam-engine at their command. Levels ought tc 
 be no less than 4 feet wide, and from 5 feet and a half to 6 feet high ; which is large 
 
400 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 enough for carrying off water, and admitting workmen to make repairs and clear out 
 depositions. When a day-level, however, is to serve the double purpose of drainage 
 and an outlet for coals, it should be nearly 5 feet wide, and have its bottom gutter 
 covered over. In other instances a level not only carries off the water from the col- 
 liery, but is converted into a canal for bearing boats loaded with coals for the market. 
 Some subterranean canals are nine feet wide, and twelve feet high, with 5 feet depth of 
 water. 
 
 If in the progress of driving a level, workable coals are intersected before reaching 
 the seam which is the main object of the mining adventure, an air-pit may be sunk, of 
 such dimension as to serve for raising the coals. These air-pits do not in general 
 exceed 7 feet in diameter; and they ought to be always cylindrical. Jig. 1079 
 represents a coal-field where the winning is made by a day-level ; a is the mouth 
 of the gallery on a level with the sea ; b, c, d, e are intersected coal-seams, to be 
 drained by the -gallery. But the coals beneath this level must obviously be drained by 
 pumping. A represents a coal-pit sunk on the coal e ; and if the gallery be pushed 
 
 forward, the coal-seams /, g, and any others which lie in that direction, will also be 
 drained, and then worked by the pit a. The chief obstacle to the execution of day- 
 levels, is presented by quicksands in the alluvial cover, near the entrance of the gallery. 
 The best expedient to be adopted amid this difficulty is the following : — Fig. 1080 
 represents the strata of a coal-field a, with the alluvial earth a, b, containing 
 the bed of quicksand 6. The lower part, from which the gallery is required to be 
 carried, is shown by the line b d. But the quicksand makes it impossible to push 
 forward this day-level directly. The pit B c must therefore be sunk through the quick- 
 sand by means of tubbing (to be presently described), and when the pit has descended a 
 few yards into the rock, the gallery or drift may then be pushed forward to the point d, 
 when the shaft e d is put down, after it has been ascertained by boring that the rock- 
 head or bottom of the quicksand at F is a few yards higher than the mouth of the small 
 pit b. During this Operation, all the water and mine-stuff are drawn off by the pit B ; 
 but whenever the shaft E d is brought into communication with the gallery, the water 
 is allowed to fill it from c to D, and rise up both shafts till it overflows at the orifice b. 
 From the surface of the water in the deep shaft at a, a gallery is begun of the common 
 dimensions, and pushed onwards till the coal sought after is intersected. In this way no 
 drainage level is lost. This kind of drainage gallery, in the form of an inverted syphon, 
 is called a drowned or a blind level. 
 
 When a coal-basin is so situated that it cannot be rendered level free, the winning 
 must be made by the aid of machinery. The engines at present employed in the drainage 
 of coal-mines are : — 
 
 1. The water-wheel, and water-pressure engine. 
 
 2. The atmospheric steam-engine of Newcomen. 
 
 3. The steam-engine, both atmospheric and double stroke, of Watt. 
 
 4. The expansion steam-engine of Woolf. 
 
 5. The high-pressure steam-engine without a condenser. 
 
 The depth at which the coal is to be won, or to be drained of moisture, regulates the 
 power of the engine to be applied, taking into account the probable quantity of water 
 which may be found, a circumstance which governs the diameter of the working barrels 
 of the pumps. Experience has proved, that in opening collieries, even in new fields, 
 the water may generally be drawn off by pumps of from 10 to 15 inches diameter; 
 excepting where the strata are connected with rivers, sand-beds filled with water, or 
 marsh-lands. As feeders of water from rivers or sand-beds may be hindered from 
 descending coal-pits, the growth proceeding from these sources need not be taken into 
 account; and it is observed, in sinking shafts, that though the influx which cannot be 
 cut off from the mine, may be at first very great, even beyond the power of the engine 
 for a little while, yet as this excessive flow of water is frequently derived from the 
 drainage of fissures, it eventually becomes manageable. An engine working the pumps 
 for 8 or 10 hours out of the 24, is reckoned adequate to the winning of a new col- 
 'jery, which reaps no advantage from neighboring hydraulic powers. In the course 
 of years, however, many water-logged fissures come to be cut by the workings, and the 
 coal-seams get excavated towards the outcrop, so that a constant increase of water 
 ensues, and thus a colliery which has been long in operation, frequently becomes heavily 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 401 
 
 loaded with water, an3 requires the action of its hydraulic machinery hoth nighl ana 
 day. 
 
 Of Engine Pits. — In every winning of coal, the shape of the engine-pit deserves 
 much consideration. Tor shafts of moderate depth, many forms are in use ; as circular, 
 oval, square, octagonal, oblong rectangular, and oblong elliptical. In pits of inconsider- 
 able depth, and where the earthy cover is firm and dry, any shape deemed most 
 convenient maybe preferred; hut in all deep shafts, no shape but the circular should 
 be admitted. Indeed, when a water-run requires to be stopped by tubbing or cribbing, 
 the circular is the only shape which presents a uniform resistance in every point to the 
 equable circumambient pressure. The elliptical form is the next best, when it deviates 
 little from the circle; but even it has almost always given way to a considerable 
 pressure of water. The circular shape has the advantage^, moreover, of strengthening 
 the shaft walls, and is less likely to suffer injury than other figures, should any failure 
 of the pillars left in working out the coal cause the shaft to be shaken by subsidence 
 of the strata. The smallest engine-pit should be ten feet in diameter, to admit of the 
 
 1083 
 
 1082 
 
 1081 
 
 pumps being placed in the lesser segment, and the 
 coals to be raised in the larger one, as shown in 
 fig. 1801 which is called a double pit. If much work 
 is contemplated in drawing coals, particularly if their 
 masses be large, it would be advantageous to make 
 the pit more than 10 feet wide. When the area of a 
 shaft is to be divided into three compartments, one for the engine pumps, and two for 
 raising coals, as in fig. 1082 which is denominated a triple pit, it should be 12 feet in di- 
 ameter. If it is to be divided into four compartments, and made a quadrant shaft, as in 
 fig. 1083 with one space for the pumps, and three for ventilation and coal drawing, the 
 total circle should be 15 feet in diameter. These dimensions are, however, gcj erned by 
 local circumstances, and by the proposed daily discharge of coals. 
 
 The shaft, as it passes through the earthy cover, should be securely faced with masonry 
 of jointed ashler, having its joints accurately bevelled to the centre of the circle. Speci- 
 fic directions for building the successive masses of masonry, on a series of rings or 
 cribs of oak or elm, are given by Mr. Bald, article Mine, Brewster's Encyclopedia, 
 p. 336. 
 
 AVhen the alluvial cover is a soft mud, recourse must be had to the operation of 
 tubbing. A circular tub, of the requisite diameter, is made of planks from 2 to 3 
 inches thick, with the joints bevelled by the radius of the shaft, inside of which are cribs 
 of hard wood, placed from 2 to 4 feet asunder, as circumstances may require. These 
 cribs are constructed of the best heart of oak, sawn out of the natural curvature of the 
 wood, adapted to the radius, in segments from 4 to 6 feet long, from 8 to 10 inches in 
 the bed, and 5 or 6 inches thick. The length of the tub is from 9 to 12 feet, if the 
 layer of mud have that thickness ; but a succession of such tubs must be set on each 
 other, provided the body of mud be thicker. The first tub must have its lower edge 
 thinned all round, and shod with sharp iron. If the pit be previously secured to a 
 certain depth, the tub is made 1o pass within the cradling, and is lowered down with 
 tackles till it rests fair among the soft .alluvium. It is then loaded with iron weights at 
 top, to cause it to sink down progressively as the mud is removed from its interior. 
 Should a single tub not reach the solid rock (sandstone or basalt), then another of like 
 10S4 construction is set on, and the gravitating force is 
 
 transferred to the top. Fig. 1084 represents a bed 
 of quicksand resting on a bed of impervious clay, 
 that immediately covers the rock. A is the finished 
 shaft ; a a, the quicksand ; b b, the excavation 
 necessarily sloping much outwards; c c, the lining 
 of masonry ; d d, the moating or puddle of 
 
 clay, hard rammed in behind the stone- work, 
 
 render the ' latter water-tight. In this case, the quicksand, being thin in body, 
 has been kept under for a short period, by the hands of many men scooping it rapidly 
 away as it filled in. But the most effectual method of passing through beds of quick- 
 sand is by means of cast-iron cylinders ; called, therefore, cast-iron tubbing. When 
 the pit has a small diameter, these tubs are made about 4 feet high, with strong flanges, 
 and bolt holes inside of the cylinder, and a counterfort ring at the neck of the flange, 
 with brackets ; the first tub, however, has no flange at its lower edge, but is rounded 
 to facilitate its descent through the mud. Should the pit be of large diameter, then the 
 cylinders must be cast in segments of 3, 4, or more pieces, joined together with inside 
 vertical flanges, well jointed with oakum and white lead. When the sand-bed is 
 thick eighty feet, for instance, it is customary to divide that length into, three sets of 
 cylinders each thirty feet long, and so sized as to slide within each other, like the eye 
 tubes of a telescope. These cylinders are pressed down by heavy weights, taking care to 
 Vol. II. 27 
 
 to 
 
402 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 Keep the lower part always further down than the top of the quicksand, where the mer. 
 are at work With their shovels, and where the bottom of the pumps hangs for -withdraw 
 ing the surface water. This is an improvement adopted of late years in the Newcastle 
 district with remarkable success. 
 
 The engine pit being secured, the process of sinking through the rock is ready to bs 
 commenced, as soon as the divisions of the pit formed of carpentry, called brattices, 
 are made. In common practice, and where great tightness of jointing is not required, for 
 ventilating inflammable air, bars of wood, called buntons, about 6 inches thick, and 9 
 deep, are fixed in a horizontal position across the pit, at distances from each other of 10, 
 20, or 30 feet, according td circumstances. Being all ranged in the same vertical plane, 
 deals an inch and a half thick are nailed to them, with their joints perfectly close ; one 
 half of the breadth of a bunton being covered by the ends of the deals. In deep pits, 
 where the ventilation is to be conducted through the brattice, the side of the bunions next 
 the pumps is covered with deals in the same way, and the joints are rendered secure hy 
 being calked with oakum. Fillets of wood are also fixed all the way down on each side 
 of the brattice, constituting what is called a double pit. 
 
 When a shaft is to have 3 compartments, it requires more care to form the brattice, 
 as none of the buntons stretch across the whole space, but merely meet near the middle, 
 and join at certain angles with each other. As the bunions must therefore sustain each 
 other, on the principle of the arch, they are not laid in a horizontal plane, but have a 
 rise from the sides towards the place of junction of 8 or 9 inches, and are bound 
 together by a three-tongued iron strap. Fillets of wood are carried down the whole 
 depth, not merely at the joinings of the brattice with the sides of the pit, but also at 
 their central place of union ; while wooden pillars connect the centre of each set of bun- 
 tons with those above and below. Thus the carpentry work acquires sufficient strength 
 and stiffness. 
 
 In quadrant shafts the buntons cross each other towards the middle of the pit, and 
 are generally let into each other about an inch, instead of being half-checked. Fig. 1081 
 is a double shaft : A, the pump pit ; B, the pit for raising coal. Fig. 1082is a triple 
 shaft j in which a is the pump compartment; n and c are coal-pits. ^1^.1083 is a quad- 
 rant shaft : a, the pump pit ; b, pit of ventilation or upcast for the smoke ; c and D, pits 
 for raising coals. 
 
 A depth of 75 fathoms is fully the average of engine pits in Great Britain. In 
 practice, it embraces three sets of pumps. Whenever the shaft is sunk so low that the 
 engine is needed to remove the water, the first set of pumps may be let down by the 
 method represented in fig. 1085 ; where A is the pump ; a, a, strong ears through which 
 pass the iron rods connected with the spears b b; c c are the lashings; 
 d, the hoggar pump ; e, the hoggar ; f fj the tackles ; g g, the single 
 pulleys ; h ft, the tackle fold leading to the capstans ; and i, the pump- 
 spears. By this mechanical arrangement the pumps are sunk in the most 
 gradual manner, and of their own accord, so to speak, as the pit descends. 
 To the arms of the capstans, sledges are fastened with ropes or chains ; 
 these sledges are loaded with weights, as counterpoises to the weight of 
 the column of pumps, and when additional pumps are joined in, more 
 weight is laid on the sledges. As the sinking set of pumps is constantly 
 descending, and the point for the delivery of the water above always vary- 
 ing, a pipe of equal diameter with the pumps, and about 1 1 feet long, but 
 much lighter in the metal, is attached to e, and is terminated by a hose of 
 leather, of sufficient length to reach the cistern where the water is deliv- 
 ered. This is called the hoggar-pipe. In sinking, a vast quantity of air 
 enters with the water, at every stroke of the engine ; and therefore the lift- 
 ing stroke should be very slow, and a momentary stop should take place 
 before the returning stroke, to suffer all the air to escape. As the working 
 barrels are generally 9 or 10 feet long, and the full'stroke of the engine 
 from 7 to 8 feet, when at regular work, it is customary to diminish the 
 length of stroke, in sinking, to about 6 feet ; because, while the pumps are 
 constantly getting lower, the bucket in the working barrel has its working 
 range progressively higher. 
 
 The usual length for a set of pumps, is from 25 to 30 fathoms. When- 
 ever this depth is arrived at by the first set, preparations are made for 
 fixing firmly the upper pit-cistern, into which the upper set of pumps is to 
 De placed, and the water of the second set is to be thrown. If a strong bed of sandstone 
 occurs, a scarcement of it is left projecting about 3 feet into the shaft, which is formed in 
 the course of sinking into a strong chin or bracket, to sustain that part of the cistern in 
 which the superior sef of pumps stands. A few feet beneath this scarcement the shaft 
 resumes its usual shape. 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 403 
 
 Bert although from 20 to 30 fathoms be the common length of a pump-lift, it some, 
 times becomes necessary to make it much longer, when no place can be found in the 
 1086 shaft for lodging a cistern, on account of the tubbing. Hence a pump-lift has 
 teen occasionally extended to 70 fathoms ; which requires extraordinary strength 
 of materials. The best plan for collaring the pumps in the pit, and keeping 
 them steady in a perpendicular line, is to fix a strong buntori of timber under 
 the joints of each pipe ; and to attach the pipes firmly to these buntons by an 
 iron collar, with screws and nuts, as represented injig. 108<>. 
 The water obtained in sinking through the successive strata is, in ordinary cases, 
 conducted down the walls of the shaft ; and if the strata are compact, a spiral groove is 
 cut down the sides of the shaft, and when it can hold no more, the water is drawn off in 
 a spout to the nearest pump-cistern ; or a perpendicular groove is cut in the side of the 
 shaft, and a square box-pipe either sunk in it, flush with the sides of the pit, or it is 
 covered with deal boards well fitted over the cavity. Similar spiral rings are formed 
 in succession downwards, which collect the trickling streams, and conduct them into the 
 nearest cistern ; or rings, made of wood or cast iron, are inserted flush with the sides of 
 the pipe ; and the water is led from one ring to another, through perpendicular pipes, 
 until the undermost ring is full, when*it delivers its water into the nearest pump-cistern. 
 Keeping the shaft dry is very important to the comfort of the miners, and the durability 
 of the work. 
 
 When an engine shaft happens to pass through a great many beds of coal, a gallery 
 a few yards long is driven into each coal-seam, and a bore then put down from one coal 
 to another, so that the water of each may pass down through these bores to the pump- 
 cisterns. 
 
 While a deep pit is sinking, a register is kept of every part of the . excavations, and 
 each feeder of water is measured daily, to ascertain its rate of discharge, and whether it 
 increases or abates. The mode of measurement, is by noting the time, with a seconds 
 watch, in which a cistern of 40 or 50 gallons gets filled. There are three modes of 
 keeping back or stopping up these feeders , by plank tubbing ; iron tubbing ; and by 
 oak cribs. Let fig. 1087 represent the sinking of a shaft through a variety of strata, 
 
 having a top cover of sand, with much water 
 resting on the rock summit. Each plane of the 
 coal-measure rises in a certain direction till it 
 meets the alluvial cover. Hence, th e pressure of 
 the water at the bottom of the tubbing that rests 
 on the summit of the rock, is as the depth of 
 water in the superficial alluvium ; and if a stratum 
 a affords a great body of water, while the superjacent stratum 6, and the subjacent c, are 
 impervious to water ; if the porous bed a be 12 feet thick, while no water occurs in the 
 strata passed through from the rock head, until that depth (supposed to be 50 fathoms 
 from the surface of the water in the cover) ; in this case, the tubbing or cribbing mus 
 sustain the sum of the two water pressures, or 62 fathoms ; since the stratum a meets the 
 alluvial cover at d, the fountain head of all the water that occurs in sinking. Thus we 
 perceive, that though no water-feeder of any magnitude should present itself till the shaft 
 had been sunk 100 fathoms; if this water required to be stopped up or tubbed off through 
 the breadth of a stratum only 3 feet thick, the tubbing floodgate, would need to have a 
 strength to resist 100 fathom: if water-pressure. For though the water at first oozes 
 merely in discontinuous particles through the open pores of the sands and sandstones, 
 yet it soon fills them up, like a Lyriad of tubes, which transfer to the botlpm the total 
 weight of the hydrostatic column of 100 fathoms ; and experience shows, as we have 
 already stated, that whatever water occurs in coal-pits or in mines, generally speaking, 
 proceeds from the surface of the ground. Hence, if the cover be an impervious bed of 
 clay, very little water will be met with among the strata, in comparison of what would be 
 found under sand. * 
 
 When several fathoms of the strata must be tubbed, in order to stop up the water- 
 flow, the shaft must be widened regularly to admit the kind of tubbing that is to be 
 inserted; the greatest width being needed for plank-tubbing, and the least for iron- 
 tubbing. Fig. 1088 represents a shaft excavated for plank 7 tubbing, where a, a, a are the 
 1088 impervious strata, 6, 6 the porous beds water-logged, and c, c the bottom 
 
 of the excavation, made level and perfectly smooth with mason- chisels. 
 The same precautions are taken in working off the upper part of the 
 excavation d, d. In this operation, three kinds of cribs are employed ; 
 called wedging, spiking, and main cribs. Besides the stout plank for 
 making the tub, a quantity of well-seasoned and clean reeded deal is 
 required for forming the joints ; called sheeting deal by the workmen, 
 fhis sheeting deal is always applied in pieces laid endwise, with the end of the fibres 
 owards the area of the pit. Since- much of the security from water depends on the 
 
404 % PITCOAL. 
 
 tightness af the tub at its jointing with the rock, several plans have teen contrived to 
 effect this object; the most approved being represented in fig. 1089. To make room 
 
 1089 for the lower wedging crib, the recess is excavated a few inches wider, as at c; 
 m i and from b to c, sheeting deals are laid all around the circle, or a thin stratum 
 
 ' of oakum is introduced. On this the wedging crib d is applied, and neatly joint- 
 S/l ed in the radius-line of the pit, each segment being drawn exactly to the circle; 
 „■ and at each of its segments sheeting deal is inserted. This wedging crib must 
 be 10 inches in the bed, and 6 inches deep. The vacuity c, at the back of the 
 8/ crib, about 2 and a half inches 1 wide, is filled with pieces of dry clean reeded 
 deal, inserted endwise ; which is regularly wedged with one set of wedges all 
 ^* round, and then with a second and a third set of wedges, in the same regular 
 , style, to keep the crib in a truly circular .posture. By this process, well executed, 
 * no water can pass downwards by the back of the crib. The next operation is to 
 I fix spiking cribs/, to the rock, about 10 or 12 feet from the lower crib, according 
 „j/ to the length of the planks to be used for the tubs. They must be set fair to the 
 ^* sweep of the shaft, as on them its true circular figure depends. The tubbing 
 deals fc, must now be fixed. They are 3 inches thick, 6 broad, and planed on all sides, 
 with the joints accurately worked to the proper bevel for the circle of the pit. The main 
 cribs g, g, are then to be placed as counterforts, for the support and strength of the tub- 
 bing. The upper ends of the first set of tub-planks being cut square and level all round, 
 the second spiking crib I, is fixed, and another set of tubbing deals put round like the 
 former, having sheeting deal inserted betwixt the ends of the two sets at/. When this 
 is wedged, the cribs h, h, are placed. 
 
 Oak cribbing is made with pieces of the best oak, from 3 to 4 feet long, 10 inches in 
 the bed, and 7 or 8 inches deep. 
 
 The third mode of tubbing, by means of iron cylinders cast in segments, is likely 
 henceforth to supersede the wooden tubbing, from the great reduction in the price of 
 iron, and its superior strength and durability. Each segment is adjusted piece to piece 
 in the circular recess of the pit cut out for their reception. The flange for the wedging 
 joint is best turned inwards. In late improvements of this plan, executed by Mr. 
 Buddie, where the pressure amounted to several hundred feet, the segments were 6 
 feet long, 2 feet broad, and an inch thick, counterforted with ribs or raised work oh 
 the back ; the lip of the flange was strong, and supported by brackets. These segments 
 of the iron cylinder are. set true to the radius of the pit ; and every horizontal and per- 
 pendicular joint is ma'de tight with a layer of sheeting deal. A wedging crib is fixed 
 at the bottom, and the segments are built up regularly with joints like ashlerwork. 
 This kind of tubbing can be carried to any height, till the water finds an outlet at the 
 surface, or till strata containing water can be tubbed off, as by the modes of tubbing 
 already described. A shaft finished in this manner presents a smooth lining-wall of iron, 
 the flanges being turned toward? the outside of the cylinders. In this iron tubbing, no 
 screw bolts are needed for joining the segments together ; as they are packed hard with- 
 in the pit, like, the staves of a cask. There is a shaft in the Newcastle dis- 
 trict, where 70 fathoms have been executed in this way, under the direction of Mr. 
 Buddie. 
 
 When a porous thin bed or parting betwixt two impervious strata gives out much 
 water, or when the fissures of the strata, called cutters, are very leaky, the water can be 
 
 1090 completely stopped up by the improved process of wedging. The fissure is 
 cut open with chisels, to a width of two, and a depth of seven inches, as repre- 
 sented in fig. 1090. The lips being rounded off about an inch and a half, 
 pieces of clean deal are then driven in, whose face projects no further than the 
 contour of the lips ; when the whole is firmly wedged, till the water is entirely 
 
 stopped. By sloping back the edges of Ihe fissures, and wedging back from the face of 
 
 the stone, it is not liable to burst or crack off in the operation, as took place in the old 
 
 way, of driving in the wedge directly. 
 
 Ventilation of Engine pits. — In ordinary cases, while the sinking of the shaft is going 
 
 on, the brattice walls produce a circulation, in consequence of the air being slightly 
 „ lighter in one compartment than in another. If this does not occur, the 
 ' circulation of air must be produced by artificial means. The most ap- 
 proved contrivance is, to cover the engine compartment of the shaft with 
 deals, leaving apertures for the pump-spears and tackling to pass through, 
 with hatch-doors for the men, and to carry a brick flue at leat 3 feet 
 square, in a horizontal direction, from the mouth of that compartment 
 to an adjoining high chimney connected with a furnace, as represented 
 in fig. 1091. a, a, are double doors, for the fireman to supply fuel by ; o, the 
 mouth of the horizontal flue; c, the furnace; d, the ash-pit; e, the fur- 
 nace ; /, the upright chimney for draught, from 50 to 100 feet hish, 
 from 8 to 10 feet square at bottom, and tapering upwards to 3 or \ feet 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 405 
 
 iquare inside. Such a furnace and chimney are also needed for ventilating the coal 
 mine through all its underground workings. When a great quantity of gas issues from 
 one' place in a pit, it is proper to carry it up in a sauare wooden pipe, which terminating 
 at some distance above the surface in a heftnet-shaped funnel, fitted to turn like a vane, 
 may cause considerable ventilation of itself; or the top of such a pipe may be connected 
 with a small fireplace, which will cause a rapid current up through it, from the pit 
 The stones and rubbish produced in sinking are drawn up with horse-gins, when the pit 
 is not deep ; but in all shafts of considerable depth, a steam engine is used, and the 
 workmen have now more confidence in them, as to personal safety, than in machines 
 impelled by horses. 
 
 The great collieries of Newcastle are frequently worked by means of one shaft dividod 
 into compartments, which serves as an engine-pit, and coal-pits, and by these the whole 
 ventilation is carried on to an extent and through ramifications altogether astonishing. 
 This system has been adopted on account of the vast expense of a large shaft, often 
 amounting to 60,000/. or 80,000/., including the machinery. The British collieries, how- 
 ever, are in general worked by means of an engine-pit, and a series of other pits, sunk at 
 proper distances for the wants of the colliery. 
 
 WORKING OF COAL. 
 
 A stratum, bed, or seam of coal, is not a solid mass, of uniform texture, nor always 
 of homogeneous quality in burning. It is' often divided and intersected, with its con- 
 comitant strata, by what are named partings, backs, cutters, reeds, or ends. Besides 
 the chief partings at the roof and pavement of the coal seam, (here are subordinate lines 
 of parting in the coal mass, parallel to these, of variable dimensions. These divisions 
 are delineated in fig. 1092 where A, n, c, d, e f g d, represent a portion of a bed of coal, 
 the parallelogram A B D c the parting at the roof, 
 and e f <j the parting at the pavement ; a b, b c, d e, 
 and e /, are the subordinate or intermediate partings ; 
 g h, i k, I m, the backs ; o p, p q, r s, s t, u v, and v w, 
 the cutlers. It is thus manifest that a bed of coal, ac- 
 cording to the number of these natural divisions, is sub- 
 3| divided into solid figures of various dimensions, and of a 
 B cubical or rhomboidal shape. 
 When the engine-pit is sunk, and the lodgment formed, a mine is then run in the 
 coal to the rise of the field, or a cropping from the engine-pit to the second pit. This 
 mine may be 6 or 8 feet wide, and carried either in a line directly to the pit bottom,' or 
 at right angles to the backs or web of the coal, until it is on a line with the pit, where 
 a mine is set off, upon one side, to the pit bottom. This mine or gallery is carried as 
 nearly parallel to the backs as possible, till the pit is gained. Fig. 1093 represents this 
 
 1093 ' mining operation. A is the engine-pit. b, the second or 
 
 by-pit A c, the gallery driven at right angles to the backs. 
 . p c B, the gallery set off to the left hand, parallel to the backs. 
 The next step is to drive the drip-head or main-levels from 
 the engine-pit bottom, or from the dip-hand of the backset 
 immediately contiguous to the engine-pit bottom. In this 
 business, the best colliers are always employed, as the object 
 is to drive the gallery in a truly level direction, independently of all sinkings or risings 
 of the pavement. For coal seams of ordinary thickness, this gallery is usually not more 
 than 6 feet wide ; observing to have on the dip side of the gallery a small quantity of 
 water, like that of a gutter, so thn. it will always be about 4 or 6 inches deep at the 
 forehead upon the dip-wall. When the level is driven correctly, with the proper depth 
 of water, it is said to have dead water at the forehead. In this operation, therefore, the 
 min;r pays no regard to the backs or eutters of the coal; but is guided in his line of 
 direction entirely by the water-level, which he must attend to solely, without regard to 
 slips or dislocations of the strata throwing the coal up or down. In the last figure, the 
 coal-field is a portion of a basin ; so that if the shape be uniform- and unbroken, and if 
 any point be assumed a dipping from the crop, as d, the level lines from that point will 
 be parallel to the line of crop, as d e, d f, and the levels from any point whatever a-dip- 
 ping, will be also parallel to these ; and hence, were the coal-field an entire elliptical 
 basin, the dip-head leyels carried from any point would be elliptical, and parallel to the 
 crop. If, as is more commonly the case, the coal-field be merely a portion of a basin, 
 1094 " formed by a slip of the strata, as represented in fig. 1094 
 
 where a, a, a, is the crop, and A b, a slip of great magnitude, 
 forming another coal-field on the side c, then the crop not 
 c "* only meets the alluvial cover, but is cut off by the slip at A 
 
 and at b. Should any point, therefore, be assigned for an engine-pit, the levels from 
 it will proceed in a line parallel o the Crop, as d d, d c, and the level on both sides of 
 
 
406 PITCOAL. 
 
 !he engine-pit will be also cut off by the slip a b. In this figure, the part included be- 
 tween the two curve lines, is the breadth or breast of coal-field won by the engine-pit d 
 what is not included, is termed the under-dip coal, and can be^ worked only by one or morr 
 new winnings towards the dip, according to Circumstances. 
 
 In British practice, there are four different systems of working coal-mines : — 
 " 1. Working with pillars and roorfls, styled post and stall, where the pillars left bea! 
 such proportion to the coal excavated, as is just adequate to the support of the incum- 
 bent strata. 
 
 2. Working with post and stall, where the pillars are left of an extra size, and strong- 
 er than may be requisite for bearing the superior strata, with the intention of removing 
 a considerable portion of each massive pillar, whenever the regular working of post and 
 stall has been finished in the colliery. 
 
 3. Working with post and stall, or with comparatively narrow rooms or boards, whereby 
 an uncommonly large proportion of coal is left, with the view of working Tback towards 
 the pits, whenever the colliery is worked in this manner to the extent of the coal-field, 
 and then taking away every pillar completely, if possible, and allowing the whole super- 
 incumbent strata to crush down, and follow the miners in their retreat. 
 
 4. Working the long way, being the Shropshire method; which leaves no pillars, but 
 takes out all the coal progressively as the workings advance. On this plan, the incum- 
 bent strata crush down, creeping very close to the heads of the miners. 
 
 The post and stall system is practised with coals of every thickness. The Shropshire 
 method is adopted generally with thin coals ; for when the thickness exeeeds 6 or. 7 feet, 
 this mode has been found impracticable. 
 
 The following considerations must be had in view in establishing a coal-mine : — 
 
 1. The lowest coal of the winning should be worked in such a manner as not to injuri 
 the working or the value of the upper coals of the field ; but if this cannot be done, tin 
 upper coals should be worked in the first place. 
 
 2. The coals must be examined as to texture, hardness, softness, the number and open- 
 ness of the backs and cutters. 
 
 3. The nature of the pavement of the coal seam, particularly as to hardness and soft- 
 ness; and if soft, to what depth it may be so. 
 
 4. The nature of the roof of the coal-seam, whether compact, firm, and strong ; or weak 
 and liable to fall ; as also the nature of the superincumbent strata. 
 
 5. The nature of the alluvial cover of the ground, as to water, quicksands, &e. 
 
 6. The situation of rivers, lakes, or marshes, particularly if any be near the outcrop of 
 the coal strata. 
 
 7. The situation of towns, villages, and mansion-houses, upon a coal-field, as to the ehance 
 of their being injured by any particular mode of mining the coal. 
 
 Mr. Bald gives the following general rules for determining the best mode of working 
 coal : — 
 
 '•'• 1. If the coal, pavement, and roof are of ordinary hardness, the pillars and rooms 
 may be proportioned to each other, corresponding to the depth jf the superincumbent strata, 
 providing all the coal proposed to be wrought is taken away by the first working, as in the 
 first system ; but if the pillars are te be winged afterwards, they must be left of an extra 
 strength, as in the second system. 
 
 " 2. If the pavement is soft, and the coal and roof strong, pillars of an extra size must 
 be let to prevent the pillars sinking into the pavement, and producing a creep. 
 
 "3. If the coal is very soft, or has numerous open backs and cutters, the pillars must 
 be left of an extra size, otherwise the pressure of the superincumbent strata will make the 
 pillars fly or break off at the backs and cutters, the result of which would be a total de- 
 struction of the pillars, termed a crush or sit, in which the roof sinks to the pavement, and 
 closes up the work. 
 
 " 4. If the roof is very bad, and of a soft texture, pillars of an extra size are required, 
 and the rooms or boards comparatively very narrow. 
 
 " In short, keeping in view all the circumstances, it may be stated generally, that when 
 the coal, pavement, and roof are good, any of the systems before mentioned may be pur- 
 sued in the working ; but if they are soft, the plan is to work with rooms of a moderate 
 width, and with pillars of great extra strength, by which the greater part of the coal may 
 be got out at the last of the work, when the miners retreat to the pit bottom, and ther& 
 finish the workings of a pit." 
 
 n|^j — mm Fig. 1096 represents the effects of pillars sinking into the pave- 
 
 1095 ; " '■ : J ment, and producing a creep; and fig. 1096 exhibits large pillars 
 sss#%is and a room, with the roof stratum bending down before it falls at a. 
 
 1096 ___^ -, Thus the roads will be shut up, the air-courses destroyed, and the 
 
 Tjjll whole economy of the mining operations deranged. 
 
 HSU HM The proportion of coal worked out, to that left in the pillars, 
 
 »hen all tbe coal intended to be removed is taken oat at the first working, varies from 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 407 
 
 fqur fifths to two thirds ; but as the loss of even one third of the whote area of coal is far 
 too much, the better mode of working suggested in the third system ought to be 
 - adopted. 
 
 The proportion of a winning to be worked may be thus calculated. Let fig. 1097'be a 
 small portion of the pillars, rooms, and thirlings formed in a coal-field ; 
 a, a, are two rooms ; b, llie pillars ; e, the thirlings (or area worked out). 
 Suppose the rooms to be 12 feet wide, the thirlings to be the same, and 
 the pillars 12 feet on each side ; adding the face of the pillar to the width 
 of the room, the sum is 24 j and also the end of the pillar to the width 
 of the thirling, the sum is likewise 24 : then 24X24=576 ; and the 
 i 9 f area of the pillar is 12X12=144; and as 576 divided by 144 gives 4 
 for a quotient, the result is, that one fourth of the coal is left in pillars, and three 
 fourths extracted. Let d, e,f, g, be one winning, and g, e, k, h, another. By inspect- 
 ing the figure, we perceive the workings of a coal-field are resolved into quadrangular 
 areas, having a pillar situated in one of the angles. 
 
 In forming the pillars and carrying forwards the boards with regularity, especially 
 where the backs and cutters are very distinct and numerous, it is of importance to work 
 the rooms at right angles to the backs, and the thirlings in the direction of the cutters, 
 however oblique these may be to the backs, as the rooms are by this means conducted 
 with the greatest regularity with regard to each other, kept equidistant, and the pillars 
 are strongest under a given area. At the same time, however, it seldom 
 happens that a back or cutter occurs exactly at the place where a pillar 
 is formed ; but this is of no consequence, as the shearing or cutting 
 made by the miner ought to be in a line parallel to the backs and cut- 
 ters. It frequently happens that the dip-head level intersects the cut- 
 ters in its progress at a very oblique angle. In this case, when rooms 
 and pillars are set off, the face of the pillar and Width of the room 
 must be measured off an extra breadth in proportion to the obliquity, 
 as in fig. 1098. By neglect of this rule, much confusion and irregular 
 work are often produced. It is, moreover, proper to make the first set of pillars next the 
 dip-head level much stronger, even where there is no obliquity, in order to protect that 
 level from being injured by any accidental crush of the strata. 
 
 We shall now explain the different systems of working : one of the simplest of which 
 is shown in fig. 1099. ; where A represents the engine-pit, B the by-pit, c D the dip-head 
 
 levels, always carried in advance of the rooms, 
 and e the rise or crop gallery, also carried in ad- 
 vance. These galleries not only open out the 
 work for the miners in the coal-bed, but, being 
 in advance, afford sufficient time for any requisite 
 operation, should the mines be obstructed by 
 dikes or hitches. In the example before us, the 
 rooms or boards are worked from the dip to the 
 crop ; the leading rooms, or those most in ad- 
 vance, are on each side of the crop gallery z j all 
 the other rooms follow in succession, as shown 
 in the figure ; consequently, as the rooms ad- 
 vance to the crop, additional rooms are begun 
 at the dip-head level, towards c and D. Should the coal work better in a level-course 
 direction, then the level rooms are next the dip-head level, and the other rooms follow 
 in succession. Hence the rooms are carried a cropping in the one case, till the coal is 
 cropped out, or is no longer workable ; and in the other, they are extended as far as the 
 extremity of the dip-head level, which is finally cut off, eithe- by a dike or slip, or by the 
 boundary of the coal-field. 
 
 When the winnings are so very deep as from 100 to 200 fathoms, the first workings 
 are carried forward with rooms, pillars, and thirlings, but under aMifferent arrangement, 
 on account of the great depth of the superincumbent strata, the enormous expense 
 incident to sinking a pit, and the order and severity of discipline indispensable to the due 
 ventilation of the mines, the preservation of the workmen, and the prosperity of the 
 whole establishment. To the clebrated Mr. Buddie the British nation is under the 
 greatest obligations for devising a new system of working coal-mines, whereby nearly 
 one third of the coals has been rescued from waste and permanent destruction. This 
 system is named panel work ; because, instead of carrying on the coal-field winning in 
 one extended area of rooms and pillars, it is divided into quadrangular panels, each panel 
 containing an area of from 8 to 12 acres ; and round each panel is left at first a solid 
 wall of coal from 40 to 50 yards thick. Through the panel walls roads and air-courses 
 are driven, in order to work the coal contained within these walls. Thus all the panels 
 are connected together with the shaft, as to roads and ventilation. Fach district or 
 
408 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 panel has a particular name ; so that any circumstance relative to the details of the col- 
 liery, casualties as to falls and crushes, ventilation, and the safety of the workmen, can bs 
 referred to a specific place. 
 
 Fig. 1100 represents a part of a colliery laid out in four panels, according to the 
 improved method. To render it as distinct as possible, the line of the boards is at righ) 
 
 MRS! 
 
 angina with the dip-head level, or level course of the coal. A is the engine-shaft, divided 
 into three compartments, an engine-pit and two coal-pits, like fig.' 1082. One of the 
 coal-pits is the down-cast, by which the atmospheric air is drawn down to ventilate the 
 works ; the other coal-pit is the up-cast shaft, at whose bottom the furnace for rarefying 
 the air is placed, b c, is the dip-head level ; A e, the rise or crop gallery; K, k, the panel 
 walls; F, G, are two panels completed as to the first work ; r, is a panel, with the 
 rooms a, a, a, in regular progress to the rise ; H, is a panel fully worked out, whence 
 nearly all the coal has been extracted ; the loss amounting in general to no more than a 
 tenth, insteaij of a third, or even a half, by the old method. By this plan of Mr. Buddie's, 
 also, the pillars of a panel may be worked out at any time most suitable for the 
 economy of the mining operation ; whereas formerly, though the size of the pillars and 
 general arrangement of the mine were made with the view of. taking out ultimately a 
 great proportion of the pillars, yet it frequently happened that, before the workings were 
 pushed to the proposed extent, some part of the mine gave way, and produced a 
 crush ; but the most common misfortune was the pillars sinking into the pavement, and 
 deranging the whole economy of the field. Indeed, the crush or creep often overran the 
 whole of the pillars . ar.d was resisted only by the entire body of coal at the wall faces ; so 
 that the ventiH'ion wis entirely destroyed, the roads leading from the wall faces to the 
 pit-bottom shut jp and rendered useless, and the recovery of the colliery by means of 
 new air-courses, new roads, and by opening up the wall faces or rooms, was attended 
 with prodigious expense and danger. Even when the pillars stood well, the old method 
 was attended with other very great inconveniences. If water broke out in any particular 
 spot of the colliery, it was quite impossible to arrest its progress to the engine-pit ; -and 
 if the ventilation was thereby obstructed, no idea could be formed where the cause might 
 be found, there being*instances of no less than 30 miles of air-courses in one colliery. 
 And if from obstructs! ventilation an explosion of the fire-damp occurred while many 
 workmen were occupied along the extended wall faces, it was not possible to determine 
 where the disaster had taken place ; nor could the viewers and managers know where to 
 bring relief to the forlorn and mutilated survivers. 
 
 In Mr. Buddie's system all these evils are guarded against, as far as human science 
 and foresight can go. He makes the pillars very large, and the rooms or boards narrow ; 
 the pillars being in general 12 yards broad, and 24 yards long ; the boards 4 yards 
 wide, and the walls or thirlings cut through the pillars from one board to another, only 
 5 feet wide, for the purpose of ventilation. In the figure, the rooms are represented as 
 proceeding from the dip to the crop, and the pane) walls act as barriers thrown round 
 the area of the panel, to prevent the weight of the superincumbent strata from over- 
 running the adjoining panels. Again, when the pillars of a panel are to be worked, one 
 »aiige of pillars, as at I (in H), is first attacked ; and as the workmen cutaway thefurthe 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 409 
 
 pillars, columns of prop-wood are erected betwixt the pavement s.nd the roof, within a 
 lev/ feet of each other (as shown by the dots), till an urea of above 100 square yards is 
 cleared of pillars, presenting a body of strata perhaps 130 fathoms thick, suspended 
 clear and without support, except at the line of the surrounding pillars. This operation 
 is termed working the goaff. The only use of the prop-wood is to prevent the seam, 
 which forms the ceiling over the workmen's heads, from falling down and killing there 
 by its splintery fragments. Experience lias proved, that before proceeding to take awa; 
 another set of pillars, it is necessary to allow the last-made goaff to fall. The workmer 
 tli en begin to draw out the props, which is a most hazardous employment. They begit 
 at the more remote props, and knock them down one after another, retreating quick!) 
 under the protection of the remaining props. Meanwhile the roof-stratum begins t< 
 break by the sides of the pillars, and falls down in immense pieces ; while the workmei 
 still persevere, boldly drawing and retreating till every prop is removed. Nay, should 
 any props be so firmly fixed by the top pressure, that they will not give way to the blows 
 of heavy mauls, they are cut through with axes ; the workmen making a point of hono. 
 to leave not a single prop in the goaff. The miners next proceed to cut away the pillar? 
 nearest to the sides of the goaff, setting prop-wood, then drawing it, and retiring as be 
 fore, until every panel is removed, excepting small portions of pillars which require to b« 
 left under dangerous stones to protect the retreat of the workmen. While this operatioi 
 is going forward, and the goaff extending, the superincumbent strata being exposed with 
 out support over a large area, break progressively higher up; and when strong beds of 
 sandstone are thus giving way, the noise of the rending rocks is very peculiar and terrific ; 
 at one time loud and sharp, at another hollow and deep. 
 
 As the pillars of the panels are taken away, the panel walls are also worked progres- 
 sively backwards to the pit bottom ; so that only a very small proportion of coal is even- 
 tually lost. This method is undoubtedly the best for woiAI.ig such coals as those of New- 
 castle, considering their great depth beneath the surface, their comparative softness, and 
 the profusion of inflammable air. It is evident that the larger the pillars and panel walls 
 are, in the first working, the greater will be the security of the miners, and the greater the 
 certainty of taking out, in the second stage, the largest proportion of coal. This system 
 may be applied to many of the British collieries ; and it will produce a vast quantity of 
 coals beyond the post and stall methods, so generally persisted in. 
 
 In thus tearing to pieces the massive rocks over his head, the miner displays a deter- 
 mined and cool intrepidity ; hut his ingenuity is no less to be admired in contriving modes 
 of carrying currents of pure atmospheric air through every turning of his gloomy labyrinth, 
 so as to sweep away the explosive spirit of the mine. 
 
 The fourth system of working coal, is called the long way, the long-wall, and the Shrop- 
 shire method. The plan must at first have been extremely hazardous ; though now it is so 
 improved as to be reckoned as safe, if not safer, to the workmen, than the other methods, 
 with rooms and pillars. 
 
 The object of the Shropshire system, is to begin at the pit-bottom pillars^ and to cut 
 away at once every inch of coal progressively forward, and to allow the whole superin- 
 cumbent strata io crush down behind and over the heads of the workmen. This plan 
 is pursued chieriy with coals that are thin, and is very seldom adopted when the seam is 
 7 feet thick; from 4 to 5 £?;t being reckoned the most favorable thickness for pro- 
 ceeding with comfort, amidst ordinary circumstances, as to roof, pavement, &c. When 
 a pit is opened on a coal to be treated by this method, the position of the coals above 
 the lowest seam sunk to, must first be considered ; if the coal beds be contiguous, it 
 will be proper to work the upper one first, and the rest in succession downwards 5 but 
 if they are 8 fathoms or more apart, with strata of strong texture betwixt them, the 
 1101 working of the lower coals in the first place will do 
 
 no injury to that of the uppe'r coals, except breaking 
 them, perhaps, a little. In many instances, indeed, 
 by this operation on a lower coal, upper coals are 
 rendered more easily worked. 
 
 When the operation is commenced by working on 
 the Shropshire plan, the dip-head levels are driven in 
 the usual manner, and very large bottom pillars are 
 formed, as represented in fig. 1101. Along the rise 
 side of the dip-head level, chains of wall, or long pil- 
 lars, are also made,"from 8 to 10 yards in breadth, and 
 only mined through occasionally, for the sake of ven- 
 tilation, or of forming new roads. In other cases no 
 
 __ a pillars are left upon the rise side of the level; but, 
 
 instead of them, buildings of stone are reared, 4 feet broad at the base, and 9 or 10 feet 
 from the dip side of the level. Though the roads are made 9 feet wide at first, they 
 are reduced to half that width after the full pressure of the strata is upon them. When 
 
410 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 3ver these points are secured, thj operation ol cuttmg away the whole body of the coal 
 begins. The place where the coal is removed, is named the gobb waste; and gob- 
 Bin, or gobb-stuff, is stones or rubbish taken away from the coal, pavement, or roof, to 
 all up that excavation as much as possible, in order to prevent the crush of superin- 
 cumbent strata from causing heavy falls, or following the workmen too fast in their 
 descent. Coals mined in this manner work most easily according to the way in which 
 the widest backs and cutters ere ; and therefore, in ihe Shropshire mode, the walls 
 stand sometimes in one direction, and sometimes in another ; the mine always turning 
 out the best coals when the open backs and cutters face the workmen. As roads must 
 be maintained through the crushed strata, the miners in the first place cut away about 
 15 feet of coal round the pit-bottom pillars, and along the upper sides of the dip-head 
 chain walls; and then, at the distance of 9 or 10 feet, carry regular buildings of stone 
 3 feet broad, with props set flush with the faces of these, if necessary. As the miners 
 advance, they erect small pillars of roof or pavement stone in regular lines with the wall 
 face, and sometimes with props intermediate. 
 
 There are two principal modifications of the Shropshire plan. The first, or the original 
 system, was to open out the wall round the pit-bottom ; and, as the wall face extended, 
 to set oil' main roads and brandies, very like the branches of a tree. These roads were 
 so distributed, that between the ends of any two branches there should be a distance of 30 
 or 40 yards, as might be most convenient. (See^g. 1101.) Each space of coal betwixt the 
 roads is called a wall ; and one half of the coals produced from each wall is carried to the 
 one road, and the other half to the other road. This is a great convenience when the 
 roof is bad ; and hence a distance of only 20 yards betwixt the roads is in many instances 
 preferred. In fig. 1101 a represents the shaft ; B s, the wall-face ; a, the dip-head level ; 
 b, the roads, from 20 to 40 yards asunder ; c, the gobb or waste, with buildings along the 
 sides of the roads ; and d, the pillars. 
 
 The other Shropshire system is represented in fig. 1102 where A shows the pit, with 
 the bottom pillars; b, the dip-head levels; c, the off-break from the level, where no 
 
 pillars are left ; d, the off-break, where pillars re- 
 main to secure the level. All roads are protected 
 in the sides by stone buildings, if they can be had, 
 laid off 9 feet wide. After the crush settles, the 
 roads generally remain permanently good, and can, 
 in many cases, be travelled through as easily 50 years 
 after they have been made, as at the first. Should 
 stones not be forthcoming, coals must be substituted, which are built about 20 inches 
 in the base. In this Method, the roads are likewise from 20 to 40 yards apart ; but 
 instead of ramifying, they are arranged parallel to each other. The miners secure the 
 vaste by gobbing ; and three rows of props are carried forwards next the wall faces a, 
 with pillars of stone or of coal reared betwixt them. This mode has a more regular 
 appearance than the other ; though, it is not so generally practised. 
 
 In the post and stall system, each man has his own room, and performs all the labor 
 of it; but in that of Shropshire, there is a division of labor among the workmen, who 
 are generally divided into three companies. The first set curves or pools the coal along 
 the whole line of walls, laying in or pooling at least 3 feet, and frequently 45 inches, 
 or 5 quarters, as it is called. These men are named holers. As the crush is constantly 
 following them, and impending over their heads, causing frequent falls of coal, they 
 plant props of wood for their protection at regular distances in an oblique direction 
 between the pavement and wall face. Indeed, "as a further precaution, staples of coal, 
 about 10 inches square, are left at every 6 or 8 yards, till the line of holing or curving 
 is completed. The walls are then marked off into spaces of from 6 to 8 yards in length ; 
 and at each space a shearing or vertical cut is made, as deep as the holing ; and when 
 this is done, the holer's work is finished. The set who succeed the holers, are called 
 getters. These commence their operations at the centre of the wall divisions, and drive 
 out the gibbs and staples. They next set wedges along the roof, and bring down pro- 
 gressively each division of coal ; or, if the roof be hard-bound, the coal is blown down 
 with gunpowder. When the roof has a good parting, the coals frequently fall down the 
 moment the gibbs are struck ; which makes the work very easy. The getters are re- 
 lieved in their turn by the third set, named butty-men, who break down the coals into 
 pieces of a proper size for sending up the shaft, and take charge of turning out the coal 
 from the wall face to the ends of "the roads. This being done, they build ■ up the stone 
 pillars, fill up the gobb, set the trees, clear the wall faces of all obstructions, set the 
 gibbs, and make every thing clear and open for the holers to resume their work. If 
 the roads are to be heightened by taking down the roof, or removing the pavement, 
 these butty-men do this work also, building forwards the sides of the" roads, and secu- 
 ring them with the requisite props. When a coal has a following or roof stone, which 
 -egularly separates with the coal, this facilitates the Kbor, and saves much of the coal] 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 411 
 
 »nd should a soft bed of fire-clay occur a foot or two beneath the coal-seam, the holing 
 is made in it, instead of into the coal, and the stone betwixt the holing and the coa 
 benched down, which serves for pillars and gobbing. In this way all the vendible coa 
 becomes available. * 
 
 Another form of the Shropshire system is, for each miner to have from 6 to 12 feet of 
 coal before him, with a leading-hand man ; and for the several workmen to follow in 
 succession, like the steps of a stair. When the coal has op^n backs and cutters, this 
 work goes on very regularly, as represented in fig. 1103 wl.ere the leading miner is at a 
 next to the outcrop, and 6 b, &c. are the wall faces of each 
 workman ; a being the shaft, and b the dip-head level. 
 In this case the roads are carried either progressively 
 dirough the gobb, or the gobb is entirely shut up ; and 
 the whole of the coals are ' brought down the wall-faces, 
 either to the dip-head level or the road c, c. This method 
 may be varied by making the walls broad enough to 
 hold two, three, or four men when each set of miners 
 performs the whole work of holing, getting, breaking down, 
 and carrying off the coals. 
 B It is estimated that from one eighth to one twelfth part 
 only of the coals remains under ground by the Shropshire plan ; nay, in favorable circum- 
 stances, almost every inch of coal may be taken out, as its principle is to leave no solid 
 pillars nor any coal below, except what may be indispensable for securing the gobb. In- 
 deed, this system might be applied to coal-seams of almost any ordinary thickness, provi- 
 ding stuff to fill up the gobb could be conveniently procured. 
 
 In Great Britain, seams of coal are mined when they are only 18 inches thick ; but if 
 thinner, the working of fire-clay or ironstone immediately adjoining must be included. A 
 few instances may be adduced, indeed, where caking coals of a fine quality for blacksmiths 
 have been worked, though only in 12-inch seams. 
 
 Eighteen-inch seams are best worked by young lads and boys. The coal itself may 
 be mined without lifting the pavement, or taking down the roof in the rooms; but 
 roads must be cut either in the pavement or the roof, for removing the coals to the pit- 
 bottom. All coals less than 2 feet 3 inches thick, are worked with the view of taking 
 out all the coal, either on the Shropshire system, or with pillar-walls and rooms ; with 
 this peculiarity, that, on account of the thinness of the seam, the rooms are worked as 
 wide as the roof will bear up ; or if a following of the roof-stone, or fall of it, can be 
 brought on, it proves advantageous, by not only giving head-room, but by filling up the 
 waste, and rendering the roads easily kept for the working of the pillars. Where no fol- 
 lowing takes place, small temporary pillars, about 8 feet square, are left along the chain- 
 wall side. The walls may vary in thickness from 4 to 16 yards, according to circumstan- 
 ces, and they are holed through only for ventilation. 
 
 Coals from 5 to 8 feet thick are the best suited in every point of view for the effec- 
 tive work of the miner, and for the general economy of underground operations. When 
 they exceed that thickness, they require very excellent roof* and pavements, to render 
 the working either safe or comfortable ; or to enable those who superintend the field 
 to get out a fair proportion of coal from a given area. In such powerful beds the 
 Shropshire method is impracticable, from want of gobbin ; and long props, unless of 
 prodigious girth, would present an inadequate resistance to the pressure of the massive 
 ceiling. 
 
 When coals do not exceed 20 feet in thickness, and have good roofs, they are some- 
 times worked as one bed of coal ; but if the coal be tender or free, it is worked as two 
 beds. One half of such thick coal, however, is in general lost in pillars ; and it is very 
 seldom that less than one third can be left. When the coal is free and ready to crumble 
 by the incumbent, pressure, as well as by the action of the air, the upper-portion of the 
 coal is first worked, then a scaffolding of coal is left, 2 or 3 feet thick, according to the 
 compactness of the coal ; and the lower part of the coal is now worked, as shown in 
 1104 jig, H04. As soon as the workings are completed to the proposed 
 
 extent, the coal scaffoldings are worked away, and as much of the 
 pillars as can be removed with safety. As propwood is of no use in 
 coal-seams of such a height, and as falls from the roof would prove 
 frequently fatal to the miners, it is customary with tender roofs to leave a ceiling of 
 coal from 2 to 3 feet thick. This makes an excellent roof; and should it break, gives 
 warning beforehand, by a peculiar crackling noise, very different from that of roof-stones 
 crushing down. 
 
 One of the thickest coals in Great Britain, worked as one bed from roof to pavement, 
 is the very remarkable seam' near the town of Dudley, known by the name of the ten- 
 yard coal, about 7 miles long, and 4 broad. No similar coal has been found in the 
 island.: and the mode of working it is quite peculiar, being a species of panel work 
 
412 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 totally different from the modern Newcastle system. A compartment, or panel, formed 
 in working the coal, is called a side of work and as the whole operation is exhibited in 
 one of these compartments, it will be proper to describe the mode of taking the coal front 
 one of them, before describing the whole extent of the workings of a mine. 
 
 Let Jig. 1105 represent a side of work ; A, the ribs or walls of coal left, standing round, 
 constituting the side of work; a, the pillars, 8 yards square; c, the stalls, 11 yards wide; 
 1105 d, the cross-openings, or through puts, also 11 yards 
 
 wide ; c, the bolt-hole, cut through the rib from the 
 main road, by which bolt-hole the side of work is 
 opened up, and all the coals removed. Two, three, 
 or even four bolt-holes open into a side of work, ac- 
 cording to its extent ; they are about 8 feet wide, and 
 9 feet high'. The working is in a great measure regu- 
 lated by the natural fissures and joints of the coal- 
 seam ; and though it is 30 feet thick, the lower band, 
 of 2 feet 3 inches, is worked first ; the miners choosing 
 to confine themselves within this narrow opening, in 
 order to gain the greater advantage afterwards, in 
 working the superjacent coal. Whenever the bolt 
 hole is cut through, the work is opened up by driving 
 a gallery forward, 4 feet wide, as shown by the dotted 
 
 i|- lines. At the sides of this gallery next the bolt-hole, 
 
 — ~~ ^~~~ ~ ^~^~~~~~ each miner breaks off in succession a breast of coal, 
 two yards broad, as at /,/, by means of which the sides of the rib-walls A are formed, 
 and the area of the pillars. In this way each collier follows another, as in one of the 
 systems of the Shropshire plan. When the side of work is laid open along the rib-walls, 
 and the faces and sides of the pillars have been formed, the upper coals are then begun 
 to be worked, next the rib-wall. This is done by shearing up to a bed next the bolt-hole, 
 and on each side, whereby the head coals are brought regularly down in large cubical 
 masses, of such thickness as suits with the free partings or subordinate divisions of the 
 coals and bands. Props of wood, or even stone pillars, are placed at convenient • dis- 
 tances for the security of the miners. 
 
 In working the ten-yard coal, a very large proportion of it is left under ground, not 
 merely in pillars and rib-walls, but in the state of small coal produced in breaking out 
 the coal. Hence, from four tenths to a half of the total amount is lost for ever. 
 
 Another method of working coal of uncommon thickness is by scaffoldings or stages 
 of coals, as practised in the great coal bed at Johnstone, near Paisley, of which a section 
 has already been given. In one part of the field the coal is from 50 to 60 feet thick, 
 and in another it amounts to 90 feet. The seams of stone interspersed through the 
 1106 coal are generally inconsiderable, and amount in only two cases to 27 inches 
 in thickness. The roof of the coal is so unsound, and the height so pro* 
 digious, that it could not possibly be worked in one seam, like that of 
 Staffordshire. About 3 feet of the upper coal is therefore left as a roof, 
 under which a band of coal, from 6 to 7 feet thick, is worked on the post 
 and stall plan, with square pillars of extra strength, which are thereafter 
 penetrated. A platform about 3 feet high is left at the sole ; under which 
 the rooms and pillars are set off and worked in another portion of the coal, 
 from 5 to 7 feet thick, great care being had to place pillar under pillar, and 
 partition under partition, to prevent a crush. Where the coal is thickest^ 
 no less than 10 bands of it are worked in this way, as is shown in fig. 1106 
 When any band of the coal is foul from sulphur or other causes, it is left 
 for the next platform, so that a large proportion of it is lost, as in the 
 Staffordshire mines. Much attention must here be paid to the vertical dis- 
 tribution of the pillars and apartments ; the miner's compass must be continually con- 
 sulted, and bore-holes must be put down through the Coal scaffoldings, to regulate cor- 
 rectly the position of the pillars under one another. 
 
 Edge coals, which are nearly perpendicular, are worked in a peculiar manner ; for the 
 
 eollier stands upon the coal, having the roof on the one hand, and the floor on the other, 
 
 1107 like two vertical walls. The engine-pit is sunk in the most pow- 
 
 Jl jBj'<'^iLg- ."" ,"-■■■">"■■" erful stratum. In some instances the same stratum is so vertical 
 
 as to be sunk through for the whole depth of Ihe shaft. 
 
 Whenever the shaft has descended to the required depth, galle- 
 ries are driven across the strata from its bottom, till the coals are 
 intersected, as is shown in fig. 1107 where we see the edge-coals 
 at a, a; A, the engine-pit; b, b, the transverse galleries from the 
 bottom of the slmft ; and c, c, upper transverse galleries, for the greater conveniency of 
 Vorking the coal. The principal edge coal works in Great Britain lie in the neigh 
 
PITCOAL. 413 
 
 borhood of Edinburgh, and the coals are carried on the hacks of women from the wall- 
 face to the bottom of the engine-pit. 
 
 The mode: of carrying coals from the point where they are excavated to the pit bottom 
 are nearly as diversified as the systems of working. 
 
 One method employs hutches, or baskets, having slips or cradle feet shod with iron, 
 containing from 2 to 3 hundred weight of coals. These baskets are dragged along the 
 floor by ropes or leather harness attached to the shoulders of the workmen, who are either 
 the colliers or persons hired on purpose. This method is used in several small collieries j 
 but it is extremely injudicious, exercising the muscular action of a man in the most un- 
 profitable manner. Instead of men, horses are sometimes yoked to these basket-hurdles, 
 which are then made to contain from 4 to 6 hundred weight o*° coals ; but from the mag- 
 nitude of the friction, this plan cannot be commended. 
 
 An improvement on this system, where men draw the coals, is to place the basket or 
 corve on a small four-wheeled carriage, called a tram, or to attach wheels to the corve 
 itself. Thus much more work is performed, provided the floor be hard ; but not on a soft 
 pavement, unless some kind of wooden railway be laid. 
 
 The transport of coals from the wall-face to the bottom of the shaft was greatly 
 facilitated by the introduction of cast-iron railways, in place of wooden roads, first 
 brought into practice by Mr. John Curr of Sheffield. The rails are called tram-rails, 
 or plate-rails, consisting of a plate from 3 to 4 inches broad, with an edge at right angles 
 to it ahout two inches and a half high. Each rail is from 3 to 4 feet long, and is fixed 
 either to cross bearers of iron, called sleepers, or. more usually to wooden bearers. In 
 some collieries, the miners, after working out the coals, drag them along these railways 
 to the pit bottom ; but in others, two persons called trammers are employed to transport 
 the coals ; the one of whom, in front of the corve, draws with harness ; and the other, 
 called the patter, pushes behind. The instant each corve arrives, from the wall-face, at 
 a central spot in the system of the railways, it is lifted from the tram by a crane placed 
 there, and placed on a carriage called a rolley, which generally holds two corves. 
 Whenever three or four rolleys are loaded, they are hooked together, and the rolley driver, 
 1108 with his horse, takes them to the bottom of the engine-shaft. The rolley 
 
 O horses have a peculiar kind of shafts, commonly made of iron, named 
 " limbers, the purpose of which is to prevent the carriage from overrunning 
 them. One of these shafts is represented in fig. 1108. The hole shown 
 at a passes over an iron peg or stud in front of the rolley, so that the horse may be 
 quickly attached or disengaged. By these arrangements the work is carried on with 
 surprising regularity and despatch. 
 
 The power of the engine for drawing the coals up the shaft is made proportional to 
 the depth of the pit and the quantity to be raised, the corves ascending at an average 
 velocity of about 12 feet per second. So admirable is the modern arrangement of this 
 operation, that the corves are transported from the wall-faces to the pit bottom, and 
 moved up the shaft, as fast as the onsetters at the bottom, and the banksmen at the top, 
 can hook the loaded and empty corves on and off the engine ropes. Thus 100 corves of 
 coals have been raised every hour up a shaft 100 fathoms deep, 1 constituting a lift of 27 
 tons per hour, or 324 tons in a day, or shift of 12 hours. Coals mined in large cubical 
 masses cannot, however, be so rapidly raised as the smaller coal of the Newcastle 
 district. 
 
 When coals have so great a rise from the pit bottom to the crop that horses cannot bs 
 used on the rolley ways, the corves descend along the tram-roads, by means of inclined- 
 plane machines, which are moved either by vertical rope-barrels, or horizontal rope- 
 sheaves. These inclined planes are frequently divided into successive stages, 200 or 300 
 yards long, at the end of each of which is an inclined-plane machine, whereby the coals 
 are lowered from one level to another. 
 
 The wheels of the trams and rolleys vary in diameter from 8 to 16 inches, according 
 to the thickness of the coal. In some, the axles not only revolve on their journals, but 
 the wheels also revolve on their axles. 
 
 Various forms of machines have been employed for raising the coals out of the pits. 
 The steam engine with fly-wheel and rope-barrels is, however, now preferred in all con- 
 siderable establishments. When of small power, they are usually constructed with a fly 
 wheel, and short fly-wheel shaft, on which there is a small pinion working into the 
 teeth of a large wheel, fixed upon the rope-barrel. Thus the engine may move with 
 great rapidity, while it imparts an equable slow motion to the corves ascending in the 
 shaft. When the engines are of great power, however, they are directly connected with 
 the rope-barrel ; some of these being of such dimensions, that each revolution of the rope, 
 barrel produces an elevation of 12 yards in the corve. A powerful brake is usually con- 
 nected with the circumference of the fly-wheel or rope-barrel, whereby the brakeman, 
 by applying his foot to the governing lever of the brake, and by shutting at the same 
 tunc the steam valves with his hands, can arrest the corve, or pitch its arrival within a 
 
414 PITCOAL. 
 
 few inches of the required height of every delivery. An endless chain, suspended from 
 the bottom to the top of the shaft, has, in a few pits of moderate depth, been worked by 
 a steam engine, for raising corves in constant succession ; but the practice has not been 
 found hitherto applicable on the greater scale. 
 
 There is a kind of water engines, for raising coals, strictly admissible only in level free 
 pits, where the ascent of the loaded corve is produced by the descent of a cassoon filled 
 with water. When the ascent and descent are throe gh equal spaces, the rope barrels for 
 the cassoon and the corves are of equal diameter ; but when the point from which the 
 coals have to be lifted is deeper than the point of discharge for the water into the dry 
 level, the cassoon must be larger, and the rope barrel smaller; so that by the time tht 
 cassoon reaches to the half-depth, for example, the corve may have mounted through 
 double the space. The cassoon is filled with water at the pit mouth, and is emptied by a 
 self-acting valve whenever it gets to the bottom. The loaded corve is replaced by an 
 empty one at the pit mouth, and its weight, with that of the descending rope, pull up the 
 empty cassoon ; the motions of the whole mechanism being regulated by a powerful 
 brake. 
 
 Various plans have been devised to prevent collision between the ascending and de- 
 scending corves, which sometimes pass each other with a joint velocity of 20 or 30 feet 
 per second. One method is by dividing the pit from top to bottom, so that each corve 
 moves in a separate compartment. Another mode was invented by Mr. Curr of 
 Sheffield, in which wooden guides were attached from top to bottom of the pit ; being 
 spars of deal about 4 inches square, attached perpendicularly to the sides of the shaft, 
 and to buntons in the middle of the pit. Betwixt these guides, friction-roller sliders are 
 placed, attached to the gin-ropes, to which sliders the corves are suspended. In this 
 way, the corves can be raised with great rapidity ; but there is a considerable loss of 
 time in banking the corve at the pit mouth, where shutters or sliding boards must be 
 used. This plan is highly beneficial where the coals are in large lumps. 
 
 Both ropes and chains are used for lifting coals. The round ropes are shroud-laid ; 
 but the preferable rope is the flat band, made of four ropes placed horizontally together, 
 the ropes being laid alternately right and left. In this way, the ropes counteract one 
 another in the twist, hanging like a riband down the shaft ; and are stitched strongly 
 together by a small cord. Such rope bands are not only very pliable for their strength, 
 which protects the heart of the rope from breaking, but as they lap upon themselves, a 
 simple sheave serves as a rope-barrel. They possess the additional advantge, that by so 
 lapping, they enlarge the diameter of the axle in which they coil, and thus make a com- 
 pensation mechanically against the increasing length of rope descending with its corve. 
 Thus the counterpoise chains, used in deep pits to regulate the descent, have been super- 
 ceded. See, Rope-spinning. 
 
 When chains are preferred to ropes, as in very deep pits, the short pudding-link chains 
 are mostly used. See Cable. 
 
 The corves, after being landed or banked at the pit mouth, are drawn to the bin or 
 coal-hill, either upon slips by horses, or by trammers on a tram-road. But with small 
 coals, like the Newcastle, the pit head is raised 8 or 9 feet above the common level of 
 the ground, and the coal-heap slopes downwards from that height. As the bins increase, 
 tram-roads are laid outwards upon them. 
 
 I shall now describe the ventilation of coal mines. Into their furthest recesses, an ade- 
 quate supply of fresh air must be carried forwards, for the purposes of respiration, and 
 the combustion of candles ; as also for clearing oft' the carbonic acid and carbureted hy- 
 drogen gases, so destructive to the miners, who call these noxious airs, from their most 
 obvious qualities, choke-damp and fire-damp. 
 
 Before the steai engine was applied to the drainage of the mines, and the extraction 
 of the coal, the excavations were of such limited extent, that when inflammable air ac- 
 cumulated in the foreheads, it was usual in many collieries to fire it every morning. 
 This was done by fixing a lighted candle to the end of a long pole, which being extended 
 towards the roof by a person lying flat on the floor, the gas was fired, and the blast passed 
 safely over him. If the gas was abundant, the explosive miner put on a wet jacket, to 
 prevent the fire from scorching him. In other situations, where the fire-damp was still 
 more copious, the candle was drawn forwards into it, by a cord passing over a catch at 
 the end of the gallery, while the operator stood at a distance. This very rude and dan- 
 gerous mode of exploding the inflammable gas is still practised, in a few mines, under 
 the name of the firing line. 
 
 The carbonic acid or choke-damp, having a greater specific gravity than atmospheric 
 air, in the proportion of about 3 to 2, occupies the lower part of the workings, and 
 gives comparatively little annoyance. Its presence may moreover, be always safely 
 ascertained by the lighted candle. This cannot, however, be said of the fire-damp, 
 which being lighter and more moveable, diffuses readily through the atmospheric air, so 
 »s to form a most dangerous explosive mixture, even at a considerable distance from 
 
PITCOAL. 416 
 
 the blowers or sources of its extrication from the coal strata. Pure subcarbureted hy. 
 irogen has a specific gravity = 0-555, air being 1 ; and consists of a volume of vapor of 
 carbon, and two volumes of hydrogen, condensed by mutual affinity into one volume, 
 The choke-damp is a mixture of the above, with a little carbonic acid gas, and variable 
 proportions of atmospheric air. As the pure subcarbureted hydrogen requires twice its 
 bulk of oxygen to consume it completely, it will take for the same effect about 10 times 
 its bulk of atmospheric air, since this volume of air contains about two volumes of oxy- 
 gen. Ten volumes of air, therefore, mixed with one volume of subcarbureted hydrogen, 
 form the most powerfully explosive mixture. If either less or more air be intermixed, 
 the explosive force will be impaired ; till 3 volumes of air below or above that ratio, con- 
 stitute non-explosive mixtures; that is, 1 of the pure fire-damp mixed with either 7 or 13 
 of air, or any quantity below the first, or above the second number, will afford an unex- 
 plosive mixture. With the first proportion, a candle will not burn ; with Ihe second, it 
 burns with a very elongated blue flame. The fire-damp should therefore be still further 
 diluted with common air, considerably beyond the above proportion of 1 to 13, to render 
 the working of the mine perfectly safe. 
 
 These noxious gases are disengaged from the cutters, fissures, and minute pores of the 
 coal ; and if the quantity be considerable, relative to the orifice, a hissing noise is heard. 
 
 Though the choke-damp, or carbonic acid gas, be invisible, yet its line of division 
 from the common air is distinctly observable on approaching a lighted candle to the 
 lower level, where it accumulates, which becomes extinguished 
 the instant it comes within its sphere, as if it were plunged in 
 water. The stratum of carbonic acid sometimes lies 1 or 2 feet 
 thick on the floor, while the superincumbent air is perfectly good. When the coal has 
 a considerable dip and rise, the choke-damp will be found occupying the lower parts of 
 the mine, in a wedge form, as represented in fig. 1109 where a shows the place of the 
 carbonic acid gas, and 6 that of the common air. 
 
 When a gallery is driven in advance of the other workings, and a discharge of this gas 
 takes place, it soon fills the whole mine, if its direction be in the line of level, and the 
 mine is rendered unworkable until a supply of fresh air is introduced to dislodge it. As 
 the flame of a candle indicates correctly the existence of the choke-damp, the miners may 
 have sufficient warning of its presence, so as to avoid the place which it occupies, till 
 adequate means be taken to drive it away. 
 
 The fire-damp is not an inmate of every mine, and is seldom found, indeed, where 
 the carbonic acid prevails. It occurs in the greatest quantities in the coal mines of the 
 counties of Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. It 
 is more abundant in coals of the caking kind, with a bright steel-grained fracture, than 
 in cubic coals of an open-burning quality. Splint coals are still less liable to disengage 
 this gas. In some extensive coal-fields it exists copiously on one range of the line of 
 bearing, while on the other range none of it is observed, but abundance of carbonic 
 acid gas. 
 
 In the numerous collieries in the Lothians, south from the city of Edinburgh, the fire 
 damp is unknown ; while in the coal-fields round the city of Glasgow, and along the coast 
 of Ayrshire, it frequently appears. 
 
 The violent discharge of the gas from a crevice or cutter of the coal, is called a blower ; 
 and if this be ignited, it burns like an immense blowpipe, inflaming the coal at the opposite 
 side of the gallery. The gas evidently exists in a highly compressed and elastic state , 
 whence it serins to loosen the texture of the coals replete with it, and renders them more 
 easily worked. The gas is often peculiarly abundant near a great dislocation or slip of 
 •the strata ; so that the fissure cf the dislocation will sometimes emit a copious stream of 
 gas for many years. It has also happened, that from certain coals, newly worked, and 
 let fall from a height into the hold of a vessel, so much inflammable gas has been extri- 
 cated that, after the hatches were secured, and the ship ready to proceed to sea, the gas 
 has ignited with the flame of a candle, so as to scorch the seamen, to,blow up the decks, 
 and otherwise damage the vessel. In like manner, when the pillars in a mine are 
 crushed by sudden pressure, a great discharge of gas ensues. This gas, being lighter 
 than common air, always ascends to the roof or to the rise of the galleries ; and, where 
 the dip is considerable, occupies th^ forehead of the mine, in a wedge form, as shown in 
 __^ fig. 1110 where a represents the fire-damp, and 6 She common air. 
 1110 ^§^^p«=— - In this case, a candle will burn wilhout danger near the point c 
 ' close to the floor ; but if it be advanced a few (feet further to- 
 wards the roof, an explosion will immediately ensue ; since at the lin." where the two 
 elastic fluids are in contact, they mix, and form an explosive body. 
 
 When this gas is ..argely diluted with air, the workmen do not seem t( feel any incon- 
 venience from breathing the mixture for a period of many years ; but ( a inhaling pure 
 carbureted hydrogen, the miner instantly drops down insensible, and, if rot speedily re- 
 moved into fresh air, he dies. 
 
416 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 1111 
 
 The production of these noxious gases renders ventilation a primary object in thi 
 system of mining. The most easily managed is the carbonic acid. If an air-pipe has 
 been carried down the engine pit for the purpose of ventilation in the sinking, other pipes 
 are connected with it, and laid along the pavement, or are attached to an angle of the 
 mine next the roof. These pipes are prolonged with the galleries, by which means the 
 air at the forehead is drawn up the pipes and replaced by atmospheric air, which descends 
 by the shaft in an equable current, regulated by the draught of the furnace at the pit 
 mouth. This circulation is continued till the miners cut through upon the second shaft, 
 when he air-pipes become superfluous ; for it is well known that the instant such com- 
 munication is made, as is represented in fig. 1 111 the air spontaneously descends in the 
 engine pit A, and, passing along the gallery a, ascends in a steady cuirent in the second 
 pit B. The air, in sinking through A, has at first the atmospheric 
 temperature, which in winter may be at or under the freezing point 
 of water ; but its temperature increases in passing down through 
 the relatively warmer earth, and ascends in the shaft b, warmer 
 than the atmosphere. When shafts are of unequal depths, as 
 represented in the figure, the current of air flows pretty uniformly 
 in one direction. If the second shaft has the same depth with the first, and the bottom 
 and mouth of both be in the same horizontal plane, the air would sometimes remain at 
 rest, as water would do in an inverted syphon, and at other times would circulate down 
 one pit and up another, not always in the same direction, but sometimes up the one, and 
 sometimes up the other, according to the variations of temperature at the surface, and 
 the barometrical pressures, as modified by winds. There is in mines a proper heat, pro- 
 portional to their depth, increasing about one degree of Fahrenheit's scale for every 60 
 feet of descent. 
 
 There is a simple mode of conducting air from the pit bottom to the forehead of the 
 mine, by cutting a ragglin, or trumpeting, as it is termed, in the side of the gallery as rep- 
 
 ii-to 5S presented in /ig.1112, where A exhibits the gallery in the coal, and b the 
 
 Ha * II ragglin. which is from 15 to 18 inches square. The coal itself forms 
 three sides of the air-pipe, and the fourth is composed of thin deals applied air-tight, and 
 nailed to small props of wood fixed between the top and bottom of the lips of the ragglin. 
 This mode is very generally adopted in running galleries of communication, and dip-head 
 level galleries, where carbonic acid abounds, or when from the stagnation of the air the 
 miners' lights burn dimly. 
 
 When the ragglin or air-pipes are not made spontaneously actiye, the air is sometimes 
 impelled through them by means of ventilating fanners, having their tube placed at the 
 pit bottom, while the vanes are driven with great velocity by a wheel and pinion worked 
 with the hand. In other cases, large bellows like those of the blacksmith, furnished with 
 a wide nozzle, are made to act in a similar way with the fanners. But these are merely 
 temporary expedients for small mines. A very slight circulation of air can be effected 
 by propulsion, in comparison of what may be done by exhaustion ; and hence it is better 
 to attach the air-pipe to the valve of the bellows, than to their nozzle. 
 
 Ventilation of collieries has been likewise effected on a small scale, by attaching a 
 horizontal funnel to the top of air-pipes elevated a considerable height above the pit 
 mouth. The funnel revolves on a pivot, and by its tail-piece places its mouth so as to 
 receive the wind. At other times, a circulation of air is produced by placing coal-fires 
 in iron grates, either at the bottom of an upcast pit, or suspended by a chain a few 
 fathoms down. 
 
 Such are some of the more common methods practised in collieries of moderate 
 depth, where carbonic acid abounds, or where there is a total stagnation of air. But 
 in all great coal mines the aerial circulation is regulated and directed by double 
 doors, called main or bearing doors. These are true air-valves, which intercept a 
 current of air moving in one direction from mixing with another moving in a dif- 
 ferent direction. Such valves are placed on the main roads and passages of the 
 galleries, and are essential to a just ventilation. Their func- 
 tions are represented in the annexed j5g.lll3Jwhere A shows 
 the downcast shaft, in which the aerial current is made to 
 descend; n is the upcast ghaft, sunk towards the rise of the 
 coal; and c, the dip-head level. Were the mine here figured- 
 to be worked without any attention to the circulation, the air 
 would flow down the pit A, and proceed in a direct line up 
 the rise mine to the shaft B, in which it would ascend. The consequence would there- 
 fore be, that all the galleries and boards to the dip of the pit A, and those lying on each 
 side of the pits, would have no circulation of air; or, in the language of the collier, would 
 be laid dead. To obviate this result, double doors are placed in three of the galleries ad- 
 joining the pit ; viz., at a and b, c and d, e and/,- all of which- open inwards to the shaft A. 
 By this plan, as the air is not suffered to pass directly from the shaft A to the shaft b, through 
 
FITCOAL. 417 
 
 the doors a and 4, it would have taken the next shortest direction by c d and e/i but the 
 doors in these galleries prevent this course, and compel it to proceed downwards to 
 the dip-head level c, where it will spread or divide, one portion pursuing a route tc 
 the right, another to the left. On arriving at the boards g and h, it would have 
 naturally ascended by them j but this it cannot d6, by reason of the building or stop- 
 ping placed at g and ft. By means of such stoppings placed in the boards next the 
 dip-head level, the air can be transported to the right hand or to the left for many 
 miles, if necessary, providing there be a train or circle of aerial communication from 
 the pit A to the pit b. If the boards i and k are open, the air will ascend in them, 
 as traced out by the arrows ; and after being diffused through the workings, will again 
 meet in a body at a, and mount the gallery to the pit e, sweeping away with it the 
 deleterious air which it meets in its path. Without double doors on each main passage 
 the regular circulation of the air would be . constantly liable to interruptions and 
 derangements ; thus, suppose the door c to be removed, and only d to remain in the 
 left hand gallery, all the other doors being as represented, it is obvious, that whenevei 
 the door d is opened, the air, finding a more direct passage in that direction, would 
 mount by the nearest channel /, to the shaft B, and lay dead all the other parts of the 
 work, stopping all circulation. As the passages on which the doors are placed con- 
 stitute the main roads by which the miners go to and from their work, and as the 
 corves are also constantly wheeling along all the time, were a single door, such as d, 
 so often opened, the ventilation would be rendered precarious or languid. But the 
 double doors obviate this inconvenience ; for both men and horses, with the corves, 
 in going to or from the pit bottom a, no sooner enter the door d, than it shuts behind 
 them, and encloses them in the still air contained between the doors d and c ; c having 
 prevented the air from changing its proper course while d was open. When d is again 
 shut, the door c may be opened without inconvenience, to allow the men and horses \; 
 pass on to the pit bottom at A ; the door d preventing any change in the aerial circulation 
 while the door c is open. In returning from the pit, the same rule is observed, of shut- 
 ting one of the double doors, before the other is opened. 
 
 If this mode of disjoining and insulating air-courses from each other be once fairly con- 
 ceived, the continuance of the separation through a working of any extent, may be easil} 
 understood. 
 
 When carbonic acid gas abounds, or when the fire-damp is in very small quan- 
 tity, the air may be conducted from the shaft to the dip-head level, and by placing 
 stoppings of each room next the level, it may be carried to any distance along the dip- 
 head levels ; and the furthest room on each side being left open, the air is suffered 
 to diffuse itself through the wastes, along the wall faces, and mount in the upcast 
 pit, as is represented in fig. 1099. But should the air become stagnant along the 
 wall faces, stoppings are set up throughout the galleries, in such a way as to direct the 
 main body of fresh air along the wall faces for the workmen, while a partial stream of 
 air is allowed to pass through the stoppings, to prevent any accumulation of foul air in 
 the wastes. 
 
 In very deep and extensive collieries more elaborate arraagements for ventilation are 
 introduced. Here the circulation is made active by rarefying the air at the upcast 
 shaft, by means of a very large furnace placed either at the bottom or top of the 
 sluft. The former position is generally preferred. Fig. 1091 exhibits a furnace 
 placed at the top of the pit. When it surmounts a single pit, or a single division of 
 the pit, the compartment intended for the upcast is made air-tight at top, by placing 
 strong buntons or beams across it, at any suitable distance from the mouth. On these 
 bunions a close scaffolding of plank is laid, which is well plastered or moated over with 
 adhesive plastic clay. A little way below the scaffold, a passage is previously cut, either 
 in a sloping direction, to connect the current of air with the furnace, or it is laid horizon 
 tally, and then communicales with the furnace by a vertical opening. If any obstacle 
 prevent the scaffold from being erected within the pit, this can be made air-tight at top, 
 and a brick flue carried thence along the surface to the furnace. 
 
 The furnace has a size proportional to the magnitude of the ventilation, and the chim- 
 neys are either round or square, being from 50 to 100 feet .high, with an inside diameter 
 of from 5 to 9 feet at bottom, tapering upwards to a diameter of from 2 J feet to 5 feet. 
 Such stalks are made 9 inches thick in the body of the building, and a little thicker at bot- 
 tom, where they are lined with fire-bricks. 
 
 The plan of placing the furnace at the bottom of the pit is, however, more advan- 
 tageous, because the shaft through which the air ascends to the furnace at the pit 
 mouth, is always at the ordinary temperature; so that whenever the top furnace is neg- 
 lected, the circulation of air throughout the mine becomes languid, and dangerous to 
 the workmen; whereas, when the furnace is situated at the bottom of the shaft, its sides 
 get hea,ted, like those of a chimney, through its total length, so that though the heat of 
 the furnace be accidentally allowed to decline or become extinct lor a little, the circu- 
 
 Vol. II. 28 
 
418 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 iation will still go on, the air of the upcast pit being rarefied by the heat remaining in 
 the sides of the shaft. 
 
 To prevent the annoyance to the onsetters at the bottom, from the hot smoke, the fol. 
 lowing plan has been adopted, as shown in the wood-cut, jfig. 1114 where a represents 
 1114 M Ik the lower part of the upcast shaft ; b, the furnace, built of 
 ' ' brick, arched at top, with its sides insulated from the solid 
 mass of coal which surrounds it. Between the furnace 
 wall and the coal beds, a current of air constantly passes 
 towards the shaft, in order to prevent the coal catching 
 fire. From the end of the furnace a gallery is cut in a 
 rising direction at c, which communicates with the shaft at 
 d, about 7 or 8 fathoms Irom the bottom of the pit. Thus the furnace and furnace- 
 keeper are completely disjoined from the shaft ; and the pit bottom is not only free 
 from all encumbrances, but remains comfortably cool. To ob- 
 " riate the inconveniences from the smoke to the banksmen in 
 landing the coals at the pit mouth, the following plan has been 
 contrived for the Newcastle collieries. .Fig. 1115 represents the 
 mouth of the jit ; a is the upcast shaft, provided with a furnaee 
 at bottom ; b, the downcast shall, by which the supply of at- 
 mospheric air descends ; and d, the brattice carried above the pit 
 mouth. A little way below the settle-boards, a gallery c is pushed, 
 in communication with the surface from the downcast shaft, 
 over which a brick tube or chimney is built from 60 to 80 feet 
 high, 7 or 8 feet diameter at bottom, and 4 or 5 feet diameter at 
 top. On the top of this chimney a deal funnel is suspended horizontally on a pivot, 
 like a turn-cap. The vane/, made also of deal, keeps the mouth of the funnel always 
 in the same direction with the wind. The same mechanism is mounted at the upcast 
 shaft «, only here the funnel is made to present its mouth in the wind's eye. It is obvious 
 from the figure, that a high wind will rather aid than check the ventilation by this' plan. 
 The principle of ventilation being thus established, the next object in opening up a 
 colliery, and in driving all galleries whatever, is the double mine or double headways 
 course ; on the simple but very ingenious distribution of which, the circulation of air 
 depends at the commencement of the excavations. 
 
 The double headways course is represented in fig. 1116., where a is the one 
 heading or %n[\erj, and b the other; the former being immediately connected wilh 
 if,, „,." , tne upcast side of the pit c, and the latter with the 
 
 downcast side of the pit d. The pit itself is made 
 completely air-tight by its division of deals from top 
 to bottom, called the brattice wall ; so that no air 
 t,an pass through the brattice from d to c^and the intercourse betwixt the two currents of 
 air is completely intercepted by a stopping betwixt the pit bottom and the end of the first 
 pillar of coal ; the pillars or walls of coal, marked e, are called stenling walls ; and the 
 openings betwixt them, walls or thirlings. The arrows show the direction of the air. 
 The headings a and 6 are generally made about 9 feet wide, the stenting walls 6 or 8 
 yards thick, and are holed or thirled at such a distance as may be most suitable for the 
 slate of the air. The thirlings are 5 feet wide. 
 
 When the headings are set off from the pit bottom, an aperture is left in the brattice 
 at the end of the pillar next the pit, through which the circulation betwixt the upcast 
 and downcast pits is carried on ; but whenever the workmen cut through the first 
 thirling No. 1, the aperture in the brattice at the pit bottom is shut ; in consequence of 
 which the air is immediately drawn by the power of the upcast shaft through that thirling 
 as represented by the dotted arrow. Thus a direct stream of fresh air is obviously 
 brought close to the forehead where the mines are at work. The two headings a and b 
 are then advanced, and as soon as the thirling No. 2 is cut through, a wall of brick and 
 mortar, 4-J,- inches thick, is built across the thirling No. 1. This wall is termed a stop- 
 ping j and being air-tight, it forces the whole circulation through the thirling No. 2. In 
 this manner the air is always led forward, and caused to circulate always by the last- 
 made thirling next the forehead ; care being had, that whenever a new thirling is made, 
 the last thirling through which the air was circulated, be secured with an air-tight 
 stopping. In the woodcut, the stoppiugs are placed in the thirlings numbered 1,2,3, 
 4, 5, 6, and of consequence the whole circulation passes through the thirling No. 7, 
 which lies nearest the foreheads of the headings a, b. By inspecting the figure, we 
 observe, that on this very simple plan, a stream of air may be circulated to any required 
 distance, and in any direction, however tortuous. Thus, for example, if while the 
 double headways- course it, b, is pushed forward, other double headways courses are re- 
 luired to be carried on at the same time on both sides of the first headway, the 
 »ame general principles have only to be attended to as shown in Jig. 1117, where 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 419 
 
 a is the upcast, and 6 the downcast shaft. 
 The air advances along the heading c, but 
 cannot proceed further in that direction than 
 the pillar d, being obstructed by the double 
 doors at e. It therefore advances in the direc- 
 tion of the arrows to the foreheads at /, and 
 passing through the last thirling made there, 
 returns to the opposite side of the double doors, 
 ascends now the heading g, to the foreheads at 
 h, passes through the last-made thirling at that 
 point, and descends, in the heading i, till it is 
 interrupted by the double doors at k. The 
 aerial current now moves along (he heading I, 
 to the foreheads at m, returns by the last-made 
 thirling there, along the heading n, and finally 
 goes down the heading o, and mounts by the 
 upcast shaft a, carrying with it all the noxious 
 gases which it encountered during its circui- 
 tous journey. This wood-cut is a faithful representation of the system by which collieries 
 of the greatest extent are worked and ventilated. In some of these, the air courses 
 are from 30 to 40 miles long. Thus the air conducted by the medium of a shaft 
 divided by a brattice wall only a few inches thick, after descending in the downcast in 
 one compartment of the pit at 6 o'clock in the morning, must thence travel through a cir- 
 cuit of nearly 30 miles, and cannot arrive at its reascending compartment on the other 
 side of the brattice, or pit partition, till 6 o'clock in the evening, supposing it to move all 
 the time at the rate of 2§ miles per hour. Hence we see that the primum mobile of this 
 mighty circulation, the furnace, must be carefully looked after, since its irregularities 
 may affect the comfort, or even the existence of hundreds of miners spread over these 
 vast subterraneous labyrinths. On the principles just laid down, it appears that if any 
 number of boards be set off from any side of these galleries, either in a level, dip, or rise 
 direction, the circulation of air may be advanced to each forehead, by an ingoing and re- 
 turning current. 
 
 Yet while the circulation of fresh air is thus advanced to the last-made thirling next 
 the foreheads /, ft, and m,fig. 111 1 ? and moves through the thirling which is nearest to 
 the face of every board and room, (he emission of fire-damp is frequently so abundant 
 from the coaly strata, that the miners dare not proceed forwards more than a few feet 
 from that aerial circulation, without hazard of being burned by the combustion of the gas 
 at their candles. To guard against this accident, temporary shifting brattices are em- 
 ployed. These are formed of deal, about f of an inch thick, 3 or 4 feet broad, and 10 
 feet long; and are furnished with cross-bars for binding the deals together, and a few 
 finger loops cut through them, for lifting them more expeditiously, in or<ler*to place them 
 in a proper position. Where inflammable air abounds, a store of such brattice deals 
 should be kept ready foj: emergencies. 
 
 The mode of applying these temporary brattices, or deal partitions, is shown in the 
 accompanying fisure (fig. 1118, which shows how the air circulates freely through the 
 thirling d, d, before the brattices are placed. At b and c, we see two head- 
 ing boards or rooms, which are so full of inflammable air as to be unwork- 
 able. Props are now erected near the upper end of the pillar e, betwixt the 
 roof and pavement, about two feet clear of the sides of the next pillar, leav- 
 ing room for the miner to pass along between the pillar side and the brat- 
 tice. The brattices are then fastened with nails to the props, the lowei 
 edge of the under brattice resting on the pavement, while the upper edge of 
 the upper is in contact with the roof. By this means any variation of the 
 height in the bed of coal is compensated by the overlap of the brattice 
 boards ; and as these are advanced, shifting brattices are laid close to, and 
 alongside of, the first set. The miner next sets up additional props in the same parallel 
 line with the former, and slides the brattices forwards, to make the air circulate close 
 to the forehead where he is working; and he regulates the distance betwixt the brattice 
 and the forehead by the disengagement of fire-damp and the velocity of the aerial circu- 
 lation. The props are shown at d, d, and the brattices at /,/. By this arrangement 
 the air is prevented from passing directly through the thirling a, and is forced along the 
 right-hand side of the brattice, and, sweeping over the wall face or forehead, returns by 
 the back of the brattice, and passes through the thuiing a. It is prevented, however, 
 from returning in its former direction by the brattice planted in tue forenead c, wnereby 
 it mounts up and accomplishes its return close to that forehead. Thfts headways and 
 boards are ventilated till another thirling is made at the upper part of the pillar. The 
 thirling a is then closed by a brick stopping, and the brattice boards removed forwards for a 
 similar operation. 
 
420 
 
 HTCOAL. 
 
 1119 s> -r > 
 
 1120 
 
 When blowers occur in the roof, and force the strata down, so as to produce a large 
 vaulted excavation, the accumulated gas must be swept away ; because, after filling that 
 space, it would descend in an unmixed state under the common roof of the coal. 
 The manner of removing it is represented in fig. 1119, where a is the bed of coal, 
 b the blower, c the excavation left by the downfall of the 
 roof, d is a passing door, and e a brattice. By this arrange- 
 ment the aerial current is carried close to the roof, and con- 
 stantly sweeps off' or dilutes the inflammable gas of the blow- 
 er, as fast as it issues. The arrows show the direction of the 
 current ; but for which, the accumulating gas would be mixed 
 in explosive proportions with the atmospheric air, and destroy 
 the miners. 
 
 There is another modification of the ventilating system, 
 where the air courses are traversed across ; that is, when one 
 air-course is advanced at right angles to another, and must 
 pass it in order to ventilate the Workings on the further side. 
 This is accomplished on the plan shown in fig. 1120 where a is a main road with an air- 
 course, over which the other air-course b, has to pass. The sides of this air channel are 
 built of bricks arched over so as to be air-tight, and a gallery is driven in the roof strata 
 as shown in the figure. If an air-course, as a, be laid over with planks made air-tight, 
 crossing and recrossing may be effected with facility. The general velocity of the air in 
 these ventilating channels is from 3 to 4 feet per second, or about 2| miles per hour, and 
 their internal dimensions vary from 5 to 6 feet square, affording an area of from 25 to 36 
 square feet. 
 
 Mr. Taylor's hydraulic air-pump, formerly described, p. 113, deserves to_be noticed 
 1121 among the various ingenious contrivances for ventilating mines, particularly 
 when they are of moderate extent, a is a large wooden tub, nearly filled with 
 water, through whose bottom the ventilating pipe b passes down into the recesses 
 of the mine. Upon the top of b, there is a valve e, opening upwards. Over *, 
 the gasometer vessel is inverted in a, having a valve also opening outwards at d.' 
 \ When this vessel is depressed by any moving force, the air contained within it is 
 I expelled through d; and when it is raised, it diminishes the atmospherical pres- 
 * sure in the pipe b, and thus draws air out of the mine into the gasometer ; which 
 cannot return on account of the valve at e, but is thrown out into the atmosphere 
 through d at the next descent. 
 I The general plan of distributing the air, in all cases, is to send the first of the 
 
 | current that descends in the downcast shaft among the horses in the stables, next 
 among the workmen in the foreheads, after which the air, loaded with whatever 
 mixtures it may have received, is made to traverse the old wastes. It then passes 
 through the furnace with all the inflammable gas it has collected, ascends the upcast shaft, 
 and is dispersed into the atmosphere. This system, styled conning the air, was invented 
 by Mr. Spedding of Cumberland. According to the quantity of the fire-damp, the 
 coursing is conducted either up one room, and returned by the next alternately, through 
 the whole extent of the works, or it passes along 2 or 3 connected rooms, and returns by 
 the same number. 
 
 This admirable system has received the greatest improvements from the mining 
 engineers of the Newcastle district, and especially from Mr. Buddie of Wallsend. His 
 plan being a most complete scale of ventilation, where the aerial current is made 
 to sweep away every corner of the workings, is shown in fig. 1122; in which a 
 
 represents the downcast, and b the upcast 
 shaft. By pursuing the track of the arrows, 
 we may observe that the air passes first along 
 the two rooms c, d, having free access to each 
 through the walls, but is hindered from 
 entering into the adjoining rooms by the 
 stoppings which form the air-courses. It 
 sweeps along the wall faces of the rooms c, d, 
 and makes a return down the rooms e, /, 
 but is not allowed to proceed further in that 
 direction by the stoppings g, h. It then 
 JSSilMISySiy-iyi&P proceeds to the foreheads i, k, and single 
 
 courses all the rooms to the foreheads I, m; from this point it would go directly to the 
 upcast pit i, were it not prevented by the stopping n, which throws it again into double 
 coursing the rooms, till it arrives at o, whence it goes directly to t'le furnace, and 
 ascends the shaft 6. The lines across each other represent the passing doors ; pnd these 
 may be substituted in any place for a passage whei e there is a tlop K ir.g. The stopping 
 n, near the bottom of the downcast shaft, is termed a L-.ain stopping; because if it 
 were removed, the Whole circulation would instantly cease, and the air, instead of 
 
 ■file 
 
 iiiiliiiiiiis 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 421 
 
 trnversMg in the direction of the arrows, would go directly from the downcast pit a a t» 
 the upcast pit b, along the gallery q. Hence every gallery and room of the workings 
 would oe laid dead, as it is termed, and be immediately filled with fire-damp, which 
 might take fire either at the workmen's candles, or at the furnace next the upcast 
 shaft 6. Thus also a partial stagnation in one district of the colliery, would be pro- 
 duced by any of the common stoppings being accidentally removed or destroyed, since 
 the air would thereby always pursue the nearest route to the upcast pit. Main stop- 
 pings are made particularly secure, by strong additional stone buildings, and they are 
 set up at different places, to maintain the main air courses entire in the event of an 
 explosion; by which precautions great security is given to human life. This system of 
 ventilation may be extended to almost any distance from the pit-bottom, provided the 
 volume of fresh air introduced be adequate to dilute sufficiently the fire-damp, so that 
 the mixture shall not reach the explosive point. The air, by this management, ven- 
 tilates first one panel of work, and then other panels in succession, passing onwards 
 through the barriers or panel walls, by means of galleries, as in fig. 1100, by the 
 principle either of single, double, or triple coursing, according to the quantity of gas in 
 the mine. 
 
 In ventilating the very thick coal of Staffordshire, though there- is much inflammable 
 air, less care is needed than in the north of England collieries, as the workings are very 
 roomy, and the air courses of comparatively small extent. The air is conducted down 
 one shaft, carried along the main roads, and distributed into the sides of work, as shown 
 in fig. 11<]5. A narrow gallery, termed the air-head, is carried in the upper part of the 
 coal, in the rib walls, along one or more of the sides. In the example here figured, it is 
 carried all round, and the air enters at the bolt-hole e. Lateral openings, named spouts, 
 are led from the air-head gallery into the side of work ; and the circulating stream mixed 
 with the gas in the workings, enters by these spouts, as represented by the arrows, and 
 returns by the air-head at g, to the upcast pit. 
 
 When the fire-damp comes off suddenly in any.case, rendering the air foul and explo- 
 sive at the foreheads, if no other remedy be found effectual, the working of the coal must 
 be suspended, and a current of air sent directly from the fresh in-going stream, in order 
 to dilute the explosive mixture, before it reaches the furnace. This is termed skailhtg 
 the air ; for otherwise the gas would kindle at the furnace, and flame backwards, like a 
 train of gunpowder, through all the windings of the work, carrying devastation and 
 death in its track. By skailing the air, however, time is given for running forward 
 with water, and drowning the furnace. A cascade of water from the steam engine 
 pumps is then allowed to fall down the pit, the power of which, through a fall of 500 or 
 600 feet, is so great in carrying down a body of air, that it impels a sufficient current 
 through every part of the workings. The ventilation is afterwards put into its usual 
 train at leisure. 
 
 In collieries which have oeen worked for a considerable time, and particularly in such 
 as have goaves, creeps, or crushed wastes, the disengagement of the fire-damp from these 
 recesses is much influenced by the state of atmospheric pressure. Should this be suddenly 
 diminished, as shown by the fall of the barometer, the fire-damp suddenly expands and 
 comes forth from its retirement, polluting the galleries of the mine with its noxious 
 presence. But an increase of barometric pressure condenses the gases of the mine, and 
 restrains them within their sequestered limits. It is therefore requisite that the coal- 
 viewer should consult the barometer before inspecting the subterraneous workings of an 
 old mine, on the Monday mornings, in order to know what precautions must he observed 
 in his personal survey. 
 
 The catastrophe of an explosion in an extensive coal-mine is horrible in the extr«me. 
 Let us imagine a mine upwards of 100 fathoms deep, with the workings extended to a 
 great distance under the surrounding country, with machinery complete in all its parts, 
 the mining operations under regular discipline, and railways conducted through all its 
 ramifications; the stoppings, passing doors, brattices, and the entire economy of the 
 mine, so arranged that every thing moves like a well-regulated machine. A mine of 
 this magnitude at full work is a scene of cheering animation, and happy industry ; thf 
 sound of the hammer resounds in every quarter, and the numerous carriages, loaded oi 
 empty, passing swiftly to and fro from the wall faces to the pit bottom, enliven the 
 gloomiest recesses. At each door a little boy, called a trapper, is stationed,- to open and 
 ihut it. Every person is at his post, displaying an alacrity and happiness pleasingly 
 contrasted with the surrounding gloom. While things are in this merry train, it has 
 but too frequently happened that from some unforeseen cause, the ventilation has partially 
 stagnated, allowing a quantity of the fire-damp to accumulate in one space to the explo- 
 sive pitch ; or a blower has suddenly sprung forth, and the unsuspecting miner, entering 
 this fatal region with his candle, sets the whole in a blaze of burning air, which imme- 
 diately suffocates and scorches to death every living creature within its sphere, while 
 multitudes beyond the reach of the flame are dashed to pieces by the force of the explo- 
 sion, rolling like thunder along the winding galleries. Sometimes the explosive flame 
 
422 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 seoms to linger in one district for a few moments ; then gathering stiength for a gian 
 effort, it rushes forth from its cell with the violence of a hurricane, and the sreed ol 
 lightning, destroying every obstacle in its way to the upcast shaft. Its power seems U 
 be irresistible. The stoppings are burst through, the doors are shivered into a thousand 
 pieces; while the unfortunate miners, men, women, and hoys, are swept along with an 
 inconceivable velocity, in one body, with the horses, carriages, corves, and coals. Should 
 a massive pillar obstruct the direct course of the aerial torrent, all these objects are 
 dashed against it, and there prostrated or heaped up in a mass of common ruin, mutila- 
 tion, and death. Others are carried directly to the shaft, and are either buried there 
 amid the wreck, or are blown up and ejected from the pit mouth. Even at this distance 
 from the explosive den, the blast is often so powerful, that it frequently tears the brattice 
 walls of the shaft to pieces, and blows the corves suspended in the shaft as high up into 
 the open air as the ropes will permit. Wot unfrequently, indeed, the ponderous pulley- 
 wheels are blown from the pit-head frame, and carried to a considerable distance in the 
 bosom of a thick cloud of coals and coal dust brought up from the mine by the fire-damp, 
 whose explosion shakes absolutely the superincumbent solid earth itself, with a mimic 
 earthquake. The dust of the ruins is sometimes thrown to such a height above the pit 
 as to obscure the light of the sun. The silence which succeeds to this awful turmoil is 
 no less formidable; for the atmospheric back-draught, rushing down the shaft, denotes 
 the consumption of vital air in the mine, and the production of the deleterious choke-damp 
 and azote. 
 
 Though many of the miners may have escaped by their distance in the workings from 
 the destructive blast and the fire, yet their fate may perhaps be more deplorable. They 
 hear the explosion, and are well aware of its certain consequences. Every one, anxious 
 to secure his personal safety, strains every faculty to reach the pit-bottom. As the 
 lights are usually extinguished by the explosion, they have to grope their way in utter 
 darkness. Some have made most marvellous escapes, after clambering over the rnbbish 
 of fallen roofs, under which their companions are entombed ; but others, wandering into 
 uncertain alleys, tremble lest they should encounter the pestilential airs. At last they 
 feel their power, and aware that their fate is sealed, they cease to struggle with their in- 
 evitable doom ; they deliberately assume the posture of repose, and fall asleep in death. 
 Such has been too often the fate of the hardy and intelligent miners who immure them- 
 selves deep beneath the ground, and venture their lives for the comfort of their fellow- 
 men ; and such frequently is the ruinous issue of the best ordered and most prosperous 
 mining concerns. 
 
 In such circumstances the mining engineers or coal viewers have a dangerous and 
 difficult duty to perform. The pit into which they must descend as soon as possible, is 
 rendered unsafe by many causes ; by the wrecks of loose timber torn away by the 
 eruption, or by the unrespirable gases ; by the ignition perhaps of a portion cf the coal 
 itself, or by the flame of a blower of fire-damp ; either of which would produce violent 
 and repeated explosions whenever the gas may again accumulate to the proper degree. 
 Such a predicament is not uncommon, and it is one against which no human skill can 
 guard. Yet even here, the sense of duty, and the hope of saving some workmen from a 
 lingering death by wounds or suffocation, lead this intrepid class of men to descend amid 
 the very demons of the mine. 
 
 As soon as the ventilation is restored by temporary brattices, the stoppings and doors 
 are rebuilt in a substantial manner, and the workings are resumed with the wonted 
 activity. From an inspection of fig. 1122, p. 420, it is obvious that the stability of the 
 main stopping p, is an important point ; for which reason it is counterforted by strong 
 walls of stone, to resist the explosive force of fire-damp. 
 
 When it is known that fire exists in the wastes, either by the burning of the small 
 coal-dust along the roads, or from the ignition of the solid coal by a blower of gas, the 
 inspection of the mine is incomparably more hazardous, as safety cannot be ensured for 
 an instant ; for if the extrication of gas be great, it rapidly accumulates, and whenever it 
 reaches the place where the fire exists, a new explosion takes place. There have been 
 examples of the most furious detonations occurring regularly after the interval of about 
 an hour, and being thus repeated 36 times in less than two days, each eruption appearing 
 at the pit mouth like the blast of a volcano. It would be madness for any one to attempt 
 a descent in such circumstances. The only resource is to moat up the pit, and check the 
 combustion by exclusion of atmospheric air, or to drown the workings by letting the water 
 accumulate below ground. 
 
 When fire exists in the wastes, with less apparent risk of life, water is driven upon il 
 by portable fire-extinguishing engines, or small cannon are discharged near the burning 
 coal, and the concussion thus produced in the air sometimes helps to extinguish the flame. 
 
 Since the primary cause of these tremendous catastrophes is the accension of the 
 explosive gases by the candle of the miner, it has been long a desideratum to procuie 
 light of such a nature as may not possess the power of kindling the fire-damp. The 
 train of light producible from the friction of flint and steel, by a mechanism called 
 
PITCOAL. 423 
 
 a tleel mill, has been long kncwn, and afforded a tolerable gleam, with which the minen 
 were obliged to content themselves in hazardous atmospheres. 
 
 It consists of a small frame of iron, mounted with a wheel and pinion, which give rapid 
 -otation to a disk of hard«steel placed upright, to whose edge a piece of flint is applied. 
 The use of this machine entailed on the miner the expense of an attendant, called the 
 miller, who gave him light. Nor was the light altogether safe, for occasionally the ignited 
 shower of steel particles attained to a sufficient heat to set fire to the fire-damp. 
 
 At length the attention of the scientific world was powerfully attracted to the means of 
 lighting the miner with safety, by an awful catastrophe which happened at Felling Col- 
 liery, near Newcastle, on the 25th May, 1812. This mine was working with great vigor, 
 under a well-regulated system of ventilation, set in action by a furnace and air-tube, placed 
 over a rise pit in elevated ground. The depth of winning was above 100 fathoms ; 25 
 acres of coal had been excavated, and one pit was yielding at the rate of 1700 tons per 
 week. At 11 o'cloak in the forenoon the night shift of miners was relieved by the day 
 shift; 121 persons were in the mine, at their several stations, when, at half-past 11, the 
 gas fired, with a most awful exr'josion, which alarmed all the neighboring villages. The 
 subterraneous fire broke forth w ilh two heavy discharges from the dip-pit, and these were 
 instantly followed by one from the rise-pit. A slight trembling, as from an earthquake, 
 was felt for about half a mile round the colliery, and the noise of the explosion, though 
 dull, was heard at from 3 to 4 miles' distance. Immense quantities of dust and small 
 coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the air, in the form of an inverted cone. 
 The heaviest part of the ejected matter, such as corves, wood, a) ,d small coal, fell near 
 the pits ; but the dust, borne away by a strong west wind, fell in a continuous shower a 
 mile and a half from the pit. In the adjoining village of Heworth it catised a darkness 
 like that of early twilight, covering the roads where it fell so thickly that the footsteps 
 of passengers were imprinted in it. The heads of both shaft-frames were blown off, 
 their sides set on fire, and their pulleys shattered to pieces. The coal-dust ejected from 
 the rise-pit into the horizontal part of the ventilating tube, was about 3 inches thick, 
 and speedily burnt to a cinder; pieces of burning coal, driven off the solid stratum of the 
 mine, were also blown out of this shaft. Of the 121 persons in the mine at the time' of 
 the explosion, only 32 were drawn up the pit alive, 3 of whom died a few hours after the 
 accident. Thus no less than 92 valuable lives were instantaneously destroyed by this 
 pestilential fire damp. The scene of distress among the relatives at the pit mouth was 
 indescribably sorrowful. 
 
 Dr. W. Reid Clanny, of Sunderland, was the first to contrive a lamp which might burn 
 among explosive air without communicating flame to the gas in which it was plunged. 
 This lie effected, in 1813, by means of an air-tight lamp, with a glass front, the flame of 
 which was supported by blowing fresh air from a small pair of bellows through a stratum 
 of water in the bottom of the lamp, while the heated air passed out through water by a 
 recurved tube at top. By this means the air within the lamp was completely insulated 
 from the surrounding atmosphere. This lamp was the first ever taken into a body of in- 
 flammable air in a coal-mine, at the exploding point, without setting fire to the gas around 
 it. Dr. Clanny mads another lamp upon an improved plan, by introducing into it the 
 steam of water generate^ in a small vessel at the top of the lamp, heated' by the flame 
 The chief objection to these lamps is their inconvenience in use. 
 
 Various other schemes of safe-lamps were offered to the miner by ingenious mechani- 
 cians, but they have been all superseded by the admirable invention of Sir H. Davy, 
 founded on his fine researches upon flame. The lamp of Davy was instantly tried and 
 approved of by Mr. Buddie and the principal mining engineers of the, Newcastle district. 
 A perfect security of accident is therefore afforded to the miner in the use of a lamp which 
 transmits its light, and is fed with air, through a cylinder of wire gauze ; and this inven- 
 tion has the advantage of requiring no machinery, no philosophical knowledge to direct 
 its use, and is made at a very cheap rate. 
 
 In the course of a long and laborious investigation on the properties of the fire-damp, 
 ind (he nature and communication of flame, Sir H. Davy ascertained that the explosions 
 of inflammable gases were incapable of being passed through long narrow metallic tubes ; 
 and that this principle of security was still obtained by diminishing their length and 
 diameter at the same time, and likewise diminishing their length, and increasing their 
 number, so that a great number of small apertures would not pass an explosion, when 
 their depth was equal to their diameter. ■• This fact led him to trials upon sieves made of 
 wire-gauze, or metallic plates perforated with numerous small holes ; and he fcund it was 
 impossible to pass explosions through them. 
 
 The apertures in the gauze should never be more than ]-20th of an inch square. In 
 the working models sent by Sir H.'to the mines, there were 748 apertures in the square 
 inch, and the wire was about the 40th of an inch diameter. The cage or cylinder of 
 wire-gauze should be made by double joinings, the gauze being folded over in such a 
 manner as to leave no apertures. It should not be more than two inches in diameter ; 
 for in large cylinders the combustion of the fire-damp renders the top inconveniently 
 
424 PITCOAL. 
 
 hot ; and a double top is always a proper precaution, fixed at a distance of about half an 
 inch above the first top. The gauze cylinder should be fastened to the lamp by a screw 
 sf 4 or 5 turns. All joinings in the lamp should be made with hard solder ; and the 
 security depends upon the condition, that no aperture exists in the apparatus larger that 
 in the wire gauze. 
 
 The forms of the lamp and cage, and the mode of burning the wick, may be greatly 
 diversified ; but the principle which ensures their safety must be strictly attended to. See 
 Lamp or Davy, Safety Lamp, and Ventilation. 
 
 The state of the air in coal mines, from very early periods till the discovery of the 
 safe-lamp, was judged of by the appearances exhibited by the flame of a candle; and 
 this test must in many circumstances be still had recourse to. When there is merely a 
 defect of atmospheric oxygen, the air being also partially vitiated by a little carbonic acid, 
 either from choke-damp or the lungs and candles of the miners, the lights burn with a 
 very dull flame, the tallow ceases to melt in the cup formed round the wick, till the flame 
 flickers and expires. In this case the candle may be kept burning by slanting it more or 
 less towards a horizontal position, which causes the tallow to melt with the edge of the 
 flame. The candle is thus rapidly wasted, however ; and therefore an oil lamp is prefer- 
 able, as it continues to burn where a candle would be extiapuished. The candles of the 
 collier are generally small, with a very small wick ; such Pemg found to produce a more 
 distinct flame than candles of a large size with a thick wick. 
 
 In trying the quality of the air by the flame of a candle, the wick must be trimmed 
 by taking off the snuff, so as to produce a clear, distinct, and steady burning flame. . 
 When a candle thus trimmed is looked at in common air, a distinct and well-defined cone 
 of flame is seen, of a fine sky-blue at the bottom next the wick, and thence of a bright 
 yellow to the apex of the cone. Besides this appearance, there is another, surrounding 
 the cone, which the brightness of the flame prevents the eye from discerning. This may 
 be seen by placing one of the hands expanded as a screen betwixt the eyes and the 
 candle, and at the distance of about an inch, so that the least point of the apex of the 
 yellow flame may be seen, and no more. By this method, a top, as the miners term it, 
 will be distinctly observed close to the apex of the yellow flame, from an eighth to a 
 quarter of an inch in length. This top is of a yellowish-brown color, and like a misty 
 haze. This haze is seen not only on the top, but it extends downwards and surrounds 
 the flame fully half way, about a twentieth of an inch in thickness ; here it assumes a 
 violet color, which passes into a beautiful blue at the bottom next the wiek. The test of 
 the state of the air in mines, or " trying the candle," as practised by miners, depends 
 entirely on the appearance which this haze assumes in shape and color at the top of the 
 flame. In fact, this top has distinct appearances when burning in atmospheric air, car- 
 bonated air, azotized air, or fire-damp air ; displaying many modifications, according to 
 the proportions of the various admixtures. 
 
 When azote or carbonic acid abounds, the top is frequently an inch or two in length, 
 of a decided brown color, and the flame is short and dim. When they are still more 
 copious, the flame goes out, and the miners immediately retire. 
 
 When inflammable air is imagined to exist in considerable quantity, the miner trins 
 his candle, and advances with cautious step, holding the candle with the left hand, and 
 screening the flame with the right ; and as the fire-damp floats in the upper part of the 
 gallery next the roof, he holds the candle as low as he can, and keeping his eye fixed on 
 the tip, he moves forwards. If the gas be small in quantity, he may reach the forehead 
 without observing any material change in his light. But if in his advance he perceives 
 the tip to elongate, and take a Wuish-gray color, he is put on his guard, and steps on 
 with much caution ; and if the tip begins to spire, he drops down on one knee, and hold- 
 ing the candle near the pavement, gradually raises it up, and watches the change it under- 
 goes as it approaches the roof. If the gas be copious, the flame elongates into a sharp 
 spire, as well as the top. It is in general reckoned dangerous when the tip changes from 
 the bluish-gray to a fine blue color, accompanied with minute luminous points, which pass 
 rapidly upwards through the flame and top. When the symptoms are manifestly danger- 
 ous, a sudden movement of the hands or body is liable to produce ignition by agitation 
 of the fire-damp. The experienced miner therefore slowly and cautiously lowers his 
 candle to the pavement, and then turning round, effects his retreat slowly, or slips up 
 his right hand and extinguishes the flame with his finger and thumb. Shouid he venture 
 too far, and approach the body of gas in an explosive condition, the tip of the candle 
 rapidly elongates, and the wholt rises in a sharp spire several inches in length ; and then 
 the whole surrounding atmosphere is in a blaze, an explosion ensues, and destructive 
 ravage is the consequence, to an extent proportioned to the quantity of fire-damp. See 
 Safety Lamp, and Ventilation. 
 
 This trying the candle is a delicate operation, requiring much practical sagacity, where 
 tne lives of so many men, and the welfare of the whole establishment, are at stake. 
 Almost every colliery, after having been worked for some time, gives a peculiar top td 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 423 
 
 .he candle ; so that while in one mine liable to fire-damp an explosion will take place 
 with a top less than an inch long, in another mine the top may be two inches high, and 
 yet the air be considerably under the point of accension. These differences depend on 
 several particulars. If the gas has not passed through a long course of ventilation, an;? 
 is little mixed with air, it will ignite with a very short top ; while, on the other hand, s 
 gas which has run through a ventilation of 20 or 30 miles may cause the production of 
 a long top without hazard. It is hence obvious, that skilful experience, and thorough 
 practical knowledge^ are the only sure guides in these cases. 
 
 We shall now describe briefly the modern modes of working coals a-dipping of, and 
 deeper than, the engine-pit bottom. One of these consists in laying a working pump 
 barrel with a long wind-bore at the bottom of the downset mine, furnished with a smooth 
 rod working through a collar at the top of the working barrel. At one side of this, 
 near the top, a kneed pipe is attached, and from it pipes are carried to the point oi 
 delivery, either at the engine pit bottom or day level, as represented in fig. 1123. 
 The spears are -worked sometimes by rods connected with the machinery at the 
 
 1123 
 
 1124 
 
 1 
 
 '", 
 
 surface; in which case the spears, if very long, tre either sus- 
 pended from swing or pendulum rods, or move on friction 
 rollers. But since the action of the spears, running with great 
 velocity the total length of the engine stroke, very soon tears 
 every thing to pieces, the motion of thp spears under ground has 
 been reduced from 6 or 8 feet, the length of the engine stroke, 
 to about 15 inches ; and the due speed in the pump is 
 effected by the centring of a beam, and the attachment of the 
 spears to it, as represented in fig. 1124, where a is the working 
 barrel, 6 the beam centred at c, having an arc-head and 
 martingale sinking-chain. The spears d are fastened by a 
 strong bolt, which passes through the beam; and there are several holes, b) 
 means of which the stroke in the pumps can be lengthened or shortened a! 
 convenience. The movement of the spears is regulated by a strong iron 
 quadrant or wheel at the bottom. 
 
 In level-free coals, these pumps may be worked by a water-wheel, stationed 
 near the bottom of the pit, impelled by water falling down the shaft, to be 
 ^discharged by the level to the day (day-level). 
 ■ -1.J& But the preferable plan of working under-dip coal, is that Tecerrn, 
 adopted by the Newcastle engineers; and consists in running a mine a-dipping of tht 
 angine-pit, in such direction of the dip as is most convenient; and both coals and 
 water are brought up the rise of the coal by means of high-pressure engines, working 
 with a power of from 30 to 50 pounds on the square inch. These machines are 
 quite under command, and, producing much power in little space, they are the most 
 applicable for underground work. An excavation is made for them in the strata above 
 the coal, and the air used for the furnace under the boiler, is the returned air of tht 
 mine ventilation. In the dip-mine a double tram-road is laid; so that while a numbei 
 of loaded corves are ascending, an equal number of empty ones are going down. 
 Althou; -. this improved method has been introduced only a few years back, under-dip 
 workings have been already executed more than an English mile under-dip of the 
 engine-pit bottom, by means of three of these high-pressure engines, placed at equal 
 distances in the under-dip mine. It may hence be inferred, that this mode of working 
 is susceptible of most extensive application ; and in place of sinking pits of excessive 
 depth upon the dip of the coal, at an almost ruinous expense, much of the under-dip coal 
 will in future be worked by means of the actual engine-pits. In the Newcastle district, 
 coals are now working in an engine pit 115 fathoms deep under-dip of the engine-pil 
 bottom, above 1600 yards, and fully 80 fathoms of jlfcrpendicular depth more than the 
 bottom of the pit. 
 If an engine-pit be sunk to a given coal at a certain depth, all the other coals of the 
 1 ! - - coal-field, both above and below the 
 
 coal sunk to, can be drained and 
 worked to the same depth, by driving 
 a level cross-cut mine, both to the 
 dip and rise, till all the coals are in- 
 A k. tersected, as represented in fig. 11 2E 
 
 where A is the engine-pit bottom reaching to the coal a; and b, c, d, e,f, coals lyin? 
 above the coal a ; the coals which lie below it, g, ft, i ; k is the forehead of the cross-cut 
 mine, intersecting all the lower coals ; and /, the other forehead of the mine, intersecting 
 all the upper coals. 
 
 In the " Report from the select committee of the House of Lords, appointed to take 
 into consideration the state of the coal trade in the United Kingdom," printed in June, 
 1829, under the head of Mr. Buddie's evidence we have an excellent description of lh« 
 
426 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 nature and progress of creeps, which we have adverted tc in the precedng account 
 The annexed Jig. 1126 exhibits the creep in al] its progressive stages, from its commence- 
 ment until it has completely closed all the workings, and crushed the pillars of coal, 
 The section of the figures supposes us standing on the level of the different galleries 
 which are opened in the seam. The black is the coal pillars between each gallerv ; when 
 these are weakened too much, or, in other words, when their hases become too narrow foi 
 the pavement below, by the pressure of the incumbent stratification, they sink down into 
 the pavement, and the first appearance is a little curvature in the bottom of each gallery : 
 that is the first symptom obvious to sight ; but it may generally be heard before it is seen. 
 The next stage is when the pavement begins to open with a crack longitudinally. The 
 next stage is when that crack is completed, and it assumes the shape of a metal ridge. 
 The next is when the metal ridge reaches the roof. The next stage is when the peak 
 of the metal ridge becomes flattened by pressure, and forced into a horizontal direction, 
 and becomes quite close; just at this moment the coal pillars begin to sustain part of the 
 pressure. The next is when the coal pillars take part of the pressure. The last stage 
 is when it is dead and settled; that is, when the metal or factitious ridge, formed by the 
 sinking of the pillar into the pavement, bears, in common with the pillars of coal on each 
 side, the full pressure, and the coal becomes crushed or cracked, and can be no longer 
 worked, except by a very expensive and dangerous process. Fig. 1126. 
 2 3 4 5 6 
 
 1. First stage of active creep. 
 
 2. Second do. 
 
 3. Third do. 
 
 4. Fourth do. 
 
 5. The metal ridge closed, and the crc"ep 
 beginning to settle. 
 
 6. The creep settled, the metal ridges being 
 closely compressed, and supporting the roof. 
 
 The quantity of coals, cinders, and culm shipped coastwise, and exported from the 
 several ports of the United Kingdom in the year 1837, was 8,204,301 tons ; in 1836, the 
 quantity was 7,389,272 tons, being an increase of 815,029 tons, or 11-03 per cent, in 
 favor of 1837. 
 
 The following Table shows the separate proportions of this quantity supplied by 
 England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland : — 
 
 
 1836. 
 
 1837. ' 
 
 Increase. 
 
 England and Wales 
 Scotland - 
 Ireland 
 
 Total 
 
 Tons. 
 6,757,937 
 624,308 
 7,027 
 
 Tons. 
 7,570,254 
 626,532 
 7,515 
 
 Tims. 
 812,317 or 1202 per cent. 
 2,204 - 0-36 
 488 6-94 
 
 7,389,272 
 
 8,204,301 
 
 815,029 or 11-03 percent. 
 
 PITCOAL, ANALYSIS OF. The greater part of the analyses of coals hitherto 
 published have been confined to the proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, to 
 the neglect of the sulphur, which exists in many coals to a degree unwholesome for 
 their domestic use, pernicious for the smelting of iron, and detrimental to the 
 production of gas; since the sulphuretted hydrogen produced requires so much 
 washing arid purification as at the same time to impoverish the light by condensing 
 much of the olefiant gas, its mos#luminiferous constituent. In the numerous reports 
 upon the composition of coals -which I have been professionally called upon to make, I 
 have always sought to determine the proportion of sulphur, which may be done readily 
 to. one part in a thousand ; as also, that of comhustible gaseous matter, of coke, and 
 of incombustible ashes. 
 
 The following coals have been found to be of excellent quality, as containing very 
 little sulphur, seldom much above 1 per cent., and little incombustible matter, — hence 
 well adapted as fuel, whether for steam navigation, for iron smelting, for household 
 aonsumption or for gas, according to their relative proportions of carbon and hy- 
 drogen: a relative excess of carbon cons/ 'tuting a coal best adapted for furnaces ol 
 various kinds, while a relative excess of hydrogen forms the best eoal for the common 
 grates and gas works. 
 
 1. Mr. PovielVt Duffry or Steam Coal. — Specific gravity, 1-32; ashes, per cent., 2-6 • 
 
PITCOAL. 427 
 
 gaseous products in a luted orueible, 14; brilliant coke, .86 : not more than 1 pel 
 sect of sulphur ; while many of the Newcastle coals contain from 4 to 6, and otheri 
 ■which I have examined from 8 to 10 of the same noxious constituent ; and which is a 
 less powerful calorific constituent than hydrogen and carbon. 
 
 2. The Blaekley Hurst Coal of Lancashire. — Specific gravity, 1 -26 ; ashes per 
 cent., 1-2; combustible gases, 41-5; coke, S8'5 ; sulphur 1. Another specimen had a 
 specific gravity of 1-244; 2 percent, of ashes; 38'5 of combustible gases; 1 of sulphur. 
 This is a very good coal for gas, and for domestic use. 
 
 3. The Varley Rock Vein Coal, near Pontypool; shipped by Mr. John Vipond. — 
 Specific gravity, 1-296; ashes (whitish) 5 per cent.; 32 of combustible gases; 68 
 of coke. Sulphur from 2 to 3 per cent. A good household coal. 
 
 4. The Llangennech Coal has a well-established reputation for the production of 
 steam, and is much employed by the British government for steam navigation, as well 
 as at Meux's, and others of thegreit breweries in London. It affords a very intense heat, 
 with little or no'smoke ; and sufficiently diffusive, for extending along the flues of the 
 boilers ; whereas the anthracite coal, containing very little hydrogen, yields, in common 
 circumstances, a heat too much concentrated under the bottom of the boilers, and 
 acting too little upon their sides. Specific gravity, 1-337 ; intermediate between that 
 of the Newcastle and the anthracite. Ashes per cent, from 3 to 3-35 ; combustible 
 gases, 17 ; coke 83 ; sulphur, only one half per cent. It is therefore a pure and vei'3 
 powerful fuel. 
 
 I have examined many coals with my calorimeter ; of which some account is given 
 under Fuel. 
 
 It is quite susceptible of positive proof that, by no arrangement yet discovered, 
 jan more than two-thirds of the heat generated by a given quantity of coal, during 
 combustion, be fairly absorbed and utilised in any of our manufactories; and, 
 moreover, there are undeniable facts, which demonstrate that seldom, in the burning of 
 coal, are more than thiee-fourths of the total heat, which might be eliminated, actually 
 obtained, thus justifying the supposition, that one half of all the coal now consumed, 
 is virtually wasted, and lost to society. The first of these defects, or the non-absorption 
 of heat by the various objects exposed to the action of fire, has pretty largely attracted 
 the attention of inventors ; and, within the last twenty years, several very satisfactory 
 improvements have been produced, especially with reference to steam-boilers. For the 
 most part these improvements have consisted in lengthening the flues, and exposing a 
 larger surface of the boiler to the action of the heated air passing from the furnace to the 
 chimney From this arrangement, a vast economy of fuel has resulted, and particularly 
 from that form of setting, known under the term " Cornish boiler setting." But there 
 is yet a point in this matter which requires careful investigation, and that is the extent 
 to which the current or draught, in such flues, ought to be retarded, so as to favour the 
 transmission of heat from the flue to the interior of the boiler. Remembering that air 
 is an extremely bad conductor of heat, and that water about to become converted into 
 steam is also a bad conductor, it is evident that time must form an important element 
 in the perfect transmission of heat from one of these to the other ; and h ence, with a 
 great velocity of current existing in the flues, very little heat would pass from air, 
 however high its temperature, to water contained in a boiler, and so circumstanced in 
 respect to its all but gaseous condition. As an illustration of this line of argument, we 
 may adduce the case of gunpowder, which, although forming a most intense heat, by 
 its combustion, scarcely warms the barrel of a gun, through which it rushes during an 
 explosion. .Here the barrel of the gun may be said to represent the flue, the force 03 
 the explosion the draught, and the gaseous products of the gunpowder those of an 
 ordinary fire during combustion ; yet the rapidity with which the heated air passes is 
 so great, that the whole caloric effect is lost, and, as it were, thrown into the chimney. 
 
 In corroboration of these views we may direct attention to the results of some 
 experiments on fuel made at the Museum of Practical Geology by Sir H. de la Beche 
 and Dr. L. Playfair, and which clearly show that, to open the damper of a steam-boiler 
 furnace is pretty generally to diminish the effective power of the fuel : there can, in 
 fact,. be no doubt that great waste of coal now arises from inattention to this simple 
 circumstance ; and that much of the heat of the fire, which ought to go to the boiler, is 
 lost by its hasty transmission to the chimney. If, however, there be thus far room for 
 improvement in the direction just indicated, still wider is the vacant space, caused by 
 imperfect^ combustion, or, in technical phrase, " bad stoking." We cannot sufficiently 
 insist upon the necessity for some speedy and judicious alterations in this matter ; and 
 to be really useful, these alterations should either supersede the employment of a stoker 
 altogether, or render negligence on his part capable of immediate and certain detection. 
 If ;the combustible constituents of common coal be regarded as composed solely oi 
 hydrogen and carbon, and the heating power of hydrogen be, as is represented, th'ce 
 times greater than that :f carbon, no reasonable beimr can fail to nereeive the enormoui 
 
428 PITCOAL. 
 
 folly of permitting any por;ion of the hydrogenous constituent of coal to escape fr >m 
 the furnace unburnt ; for its loss implies the waste of three times its weight of the solid 
 Dr carbonaceous constituent Nevertheless, so uniform and systematic has the waste of 
 hydrogen become, from the prevalence of bad stoking, that several eminent engineers, 
 unacquainted with the real facts of the case, have come to regard the calorific value of 
 a coal as proportioned only to the carbon it contains ; thus attributing no heating powei 
 whatever to the hydrogen ; and this too in the face of the circumstance, that the common 
 gas of our streets is largely used for cooking purposes, and yields, weight for weight, 
 more than double the quantity of heat given out by either coke or charcoal ! As usually 
 employed, fully one half of the hydrogen of bituminous coal passes unconsumed up 
 the chimney, merely because the stoker, to economize his labour, and avoid trouble, 
 throws on to the bars of his furnace a thick layer of fuel ; by which loss is caused in twc 
 or three directions. In the first place, as no atmospheric air can force its way through 
 the heap, a process of distillation takes p-ice from the upper surface of the carbonaceous 
 mass, exactly as happens in a gas retort ; and when the whole of the volatile matters 
 have been thus driven off, and not before, the residuary cinder or coke enters into com- 
 bustion. No wonder, then, that practical men have arrived at the conclusion, that this 
 coke fairly represents the value of the coal ; for, as we have seen, combustion begins only 
 when nothing else is left. But the loss of the hydrogen is not the only waste consequent 
 upon throwing too much coal at once upon the fire-bars. Dr. Kennedy long ago proved 
 that the hottest part of a furnace is about one inch above the fire-bars, for there perfect 
 combustion goes on, and the cj,rbon consumed is converted into carbonic acid, with the 
 total evolution of all its heat. But, let us imagine a mass of red-hot coke or cinder, 
 two or three inches thick, lying above the carbonic acid thus produced, and through 
 which, consequently, it must pass, to communicate its heat to the boiler or chimney. 
 In passing over this red-hot coke, the carbonic acid would be converted into carbonic 
 oxide, and thus not only remove a quantity of carbon equal to its own, without yielding 
 any additional heat, but actually with the production of cold, or, in other words, the 
 absorption of heat ; for the volume of carbonic oxide, engendered in this manner, is 
 double of that of the carbonic acid originally formed ; and hence this expansion must be 
 accompanied by the disappearance of heat, which becomes latent in th* carbonic oxide. 
 Here then are three distinct sources of waste, consequent upon this single mal-practice ; 
 which however entails, as a necessary sequence, the production of loss from a different 
 cause. As by heaping a large quantity of fuel upon the furnace-bars, a stoker is enabled 
 to neglect, with impunity, his duty for many minutes, so it frequently happens that this 
 neglect is continued, until portions of the fire-bars, becoming uncovered with fuel, permit 
 the ingress of cold air in a large quantity through these openings ; and thus not only is 
 the combustion of the remaining coal retarded by this mis-direction of the draught, but 
 the aggregate temperature of the whole furnace is vastly diminished. Now, we can 
 scarcely conceive a more tempting or a more promising field of inquiry than is opened 
 out in the great question, How are these evils to be effectually got rid of? Thousands 
 of individuals in this country have the means daily in their hands of making practical 
 experiments upon this subject j but they are not, perhaps, even aware that such evils 
 exist Let us hope then that some few of these persons may be roused into a state of 
 useful activity, and that the advent of another Exhibition may be preceded by some 
 invention, capable of counteracting this great national loss. It is, beyond all others, a 
 problem within the domain of the humblest working man. Before quitting the article 
 coal, we feel that a few observations on the present modes of estimating the value of 
 that substance, in a commercial point of view, are called for. • 
 
 In the investigation undertaken at the Museum of Economic Geology, three different 
 methods have been adopted : the whole of which, judging by the result^ seem defective 
 and worthless. The experiments were meant to have special reference to the boilers of 
 marine engines, yet those made have been upon a Cornish boiler, set after the Cornish 
 fashion. Independently, therefore, of the fact that the results thus obtained are, to the 
 last degree, unsatisfactory and discrepant, they furnish no guide by which to judge of 
 the effects that might follow when a marine boiler is used. Of the two other methods, 
 the one consists in making an ultimate analysis of the coal by peroxide of copper ; the 
 other by the quantity of litharge capable of being reduced "by a given weight of the 
 coal. Both of these processes seem to have been conducted on by far too small a quantity 
 of matter to yield a result worthy of confidence ; for but 3£ grains of coal were taken, 
 on an average, for ultimate analysis, and only 6 grains for the litharge assay. The errors 
 of manipulation are, therefore, relatively excessive ; and, as a consequent result^ we find 
 these methods contradicting each other, to something like 16 or 16 per cent, — as a 
 careful examination of the parliamentary report will prove. For the sake of illustration 
 we select, at random, from samples of coal thus treated, merely premising that the 
 amount of lead produced from the ultimate analysis was found by estimating the atoms 
 of lead, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, respectively, at the numbers 104, 6, 8, and 1 
 
PITCOAL. 429 
 
 Tims calculated, wo have the following discordant figures given by the two methods 
 in question, 'which, it is needless to say, present differences greater than can possiblv 
 exist between any two kinds of coal whatever: — 
 
 
 
 By Litharge. 
 
 By Analysis. 
 
 Difference. 
 
 Newcastle coals. 
 
 ( BateB' Hartley 
 ( Hastings' do. 
 
 144-6 
 142-8 
 
 162-8 
 166-4 
 
 18-2 
 23-6 
 
 Welsh coal. 
 
 Lynvi 
 
 161-2 
 
 175-8 
 
 14-6 
 
 Lancashire coal. 
 
 Laffak 
 
 134-4 
 
 163-8 
 
 29-4 
 
 Thus Bates' Hartley, which by the litharge essay is better than the Hastings Hart 
 ley and Laffak, turns out, from the ultimate analysis, worse than either of them. Wt 
 deem it useless to pursue this subject further, enough having been shown to prove the 
 utter inadequacy of the means now employed for ascertaining the calorific value of 
 coal. The most likely method of effecting this object would be to burn a given weight 
 of each coal in a vessel filled with pure oxygen gas, and surrounded by a large body 
 oi cold water ; ignition being commenced by a fine platinum wire, heated through the 
 agency of a galvanic battery. Some experiments made in this way, for a special pur- 
 pose, have given the most uniform and satisfactory resajts. 
 
 The only manufactured articles made from coal are coke and coal-gas. The burning 
 of coke resolves itself into two objects; and, as neither of these are gained by gas 
 manufacturers, it becomes necessary to distinguish between what is called gas-coke and 
 oven-coke. The word coke applies, properly, to the latter alone ; for in a manufacturing 
 sense, the former is merely cinder. The production of good coke requires a combination 
 of qualities in coal not very frequently met with ; and hence first-rate coking coals can 
 be procured only from certain districts. The essential requisites are, first, the presence 
 of very little earthy or incombustible ash ; and, secondly, the more or less infusibility of 
 that ash. The presence of any of the salts of lime is above all objectionable, after which 
 may be classed silica and alumina; for the whole of these have a strong tendency to 
 produce a vitrification, or slag, upon the bars of the furnace in which the coke is burnt ; 
 and in this way the bars are speedily corroded or burnt out ; whilst the resulting clinker 
 impedes or destroys the draught, by fusing over the interstices of the bars or air passages. 
 Iron pyrites is a common — but, except in large quantities, not a very serious — obstacle 
 to the coke maker : for it is found in practice, that a protracted application of heat in 
 the oven dissipates the whole of the sulphur from the iron, with the production of 
 bisulphuret of carbon and metallic carburet of iron, — the latter of which alone remains 
 in the coke, and, unless silica be present, has no great disposition to vitrify after oxidation. 
 One object, therefore, gained by the oven coke manufacturer over the gas maker, is the 
 expulsion of the sulphuret of carbon, and consequent purification of the residuary coke. 
 Another, and a still more important consequence of a long sustained and high heat is, 
 the condensation and contraction of the coke into a smaller volume, which, therefore, 
 permits the introduction of a much greater weight into the same space ; an advantage 
 of vast importance in blast furnaces, and, above all, in locomotive engines, as the re- 
 peated introduction of fresh charges of coal fuel is thus prevented. Part of this con- 
 densation is due to the weight of the superincumbent mass of coal thrown into the coke 
 oven, by which (when the eoal first begins to cake or fuse together) the particles are 
 forced towards each other, and the cavernous character of cinder got rid of; but the 
 chief contraction arises, as we have said, from the natural quality of carbon, which, like 
 alumina, goes on contracting, the longer and higher the heatto which it is exposed. 
 Hence, good coke cannot be made in a short time, and that used in locomotive engines 
 is commonly from 48 to 96, or even 120 hours in the process of manufacture. 
 
 The prospects of improvements in coke-making seem not very great, and point rather 
 to alterations in the oven than in the process ; nor does it seem possible to utilize the 
 heat evolved by the gaseous constituents of the coal; for this heat, though large in 
 quantity, is of trifling intensity, and, consequently, admits of but a restricted use in the 
 arts ; moreover, the incessant variations to which it is subject, according to the period 
 of manufacture, still further interfere with its employment even where great intensity 
 of fire is not needed, as in steam boilers, for example. Nevertheless, there appears no 
 valid reason why sets of coke ovens might not be so arranged as mutually to compen- 
 sate for each other, and produce upon one particular flue a constant and uniform effect. 
 Contrivances of this kind have been projected, — but hitherto, we may suppose, without 
 success, as our largest coke makers still continue the old mode of working. 
 
 The process of gas making from coal is in itself so large and singular an operation, 
 and has, besides, such a variety of connections with other branches of industry, that, 
 though its details and possible improvements might very correctly follow upon an 
 analysis of the coke maker's art, yet we prefer to treat of it amongst the more advanced 
 and scientific manufactures, rather than associate its comprehensive traits of civilized 
 skill with the rough and ready exigencies of "raw material" incidental to this eailj 
 
 I 
 
 L 
 
430 PITCOAL. 
 
 stage of our progress. We feel, too, that the introduction of such a subject hers 
 ■would, in some degree, break the geological connection which -exists between coal and 
 iron. — a connection, by the bye, equally remarkable in a mercantile aspect. 
 
 An account of the nature and extent of the various deposits of mineral fuel in variout 
 pirts of the world. Accompanied 6,y a map showing the extent and position of the prin- 
 cipal coal fields of JSurope and North America. By D. T. Ansted, M. A. F. E. S. <fec, 
 Prof. Geol., K. C. L. General account of materials used for fuel. — The chief supplies 
 of valuable fuel are, and always have been, derived immediately or distinctly from the 
 vegetable kindom. Whether in the form of wood, peat, lignite, or coal of various 
 kinds, the original substance of all fuel has been found to have this origin, and thus it 
 would seem that the power of vitality exerted in producing woody fibre has been 
 from time to time stored up, as it were, into vast reservoirs where it might be preserv- 
 ed safely and permanently for an indefinite period. 
 
 In warm climates, where the growth of vegetation is extremely rapid and compara- 
 tively little fuel is needed, or in early periods of civilizatioi before men congregate in 
 large masses in towns, or are actively employed in manufacture, there is little need of 
 more fuel than is supplied by the natural growth of forests; but under other circum- 
 stances where forests are gradually removed, and the consumption of fuel at the same 
 time increases, the reserved stores are greatly needed and must ultimately be reckon- 
 ed among the main sources of a country's wealth. The accumulation of mineral fuel 
 in the British islands may be ranked as one of those natural advantages without which 
 our country could not possibly have taken up and held for a long time the position 
 she occupies among the nations of the earth: and thus, as one of the great and prin- 
 cipal sources of its mineral treasure, the eoal deposits of England demand and deserve 
 our careful attention. The relative supply of other countries, and the activity and 
 energy displayed in taking advantage of the existence of mineral fuel, must also be 
 worthy of attention, as illustrating and explaining the condition of many manufac- 
 tures, and probable advance of the inhabitants of such districts in the refinements of 
 civilization. Since the introduction of steam power for all purposes of machinery, the 
 consumption of coal has very greatly increased, and at present it would be difficult to 
 set any limits to the use of so valuable a material. 
 
 The changes undergone by vegetable matter when buried in the earth, and accumu- 
 lated in large quantities, and the length of time needed to produce any marked 
 alteration, are subjects rather more interesting, it may seem, to the chemist than to the 
 practical man, who looks only for fuel that he may employ economically. But inas- 
 much as the real condition of coal varies considerably, and different kinds are valua- 
 ble for different purposes, it is desirable that the whole history of coal and lignite beds, 
 and of peat and turf, should be generally understood by any one using any or all of 
 these substances extensively. 
 
 Vegetable matter consists of particles of carbon with minute proportions of several 
 other elements arranged round minute cavities or cells, many of these being mechani- 
 cally connected to form the varieties of vegetable fibre. A large quantity of water is 
 also present; and so long as the vegetable lives, there is a constant change of circula- 
 tion of material particles kept up replacing and renewing the different portions. 
 When death takes place, there is a tendency to decomposition, or the separation of 
 the whole into minute atoms having no further relation to each other. But this is 
 frequently checked by various conditions, such as the presence of some substances de- 
 rived from plants themselves, or ,the absence of sufficient oxygen gas to allow th* 
 change to taiie place by mixing with the carbon and becoming carbonic acid gas, the 
 first step in the process of destruction. These causes act constantly but partially, and 
 thus a large quantity of vegetable matter is always in the course of decomposition, 
 while in particular spots a large quantity is constantly being accumulated. The 
 latter condition is seen in our climate in the gradual but steady increase of peat 
 bogs. The former is too common to require further notice. 
 
 2. Peat and Turf. — Accumulations of vegetable matter may be chiefly composed 
 either of succulent vegetation, grasses, or marsh plants, or of trees, and the structure 
 and condition of woody fibre is well known to be very different from that of grasses 
 and succulent plants. There are thus two very distinct kinds of material preserved, 
 the one undergoing change much less rapidly than the other, and perhaps much less 
 completely. It is easily proved that from the accumulation of forest trees has been 
 obtained the imperfect coal called lignite, while from marsh plants and grasses mixed 
 occasionally with wood we obtain peat turf and bog. All these substances consist 
 to a great extent of carbon, the proportions amounting to from 50 to 60 per cent., 
 and being generally greater in lignite than in turf. On the other hand, the propor 
 tion of oxygen gas is generally very much greater in turf than in lignite. The pro 
 portion of ash is too variable to be worth recording, but is generally sufficiently 
 targe to injure the quality of the fuel. 
 
PITCOAL. 431 
 
 As a very large quantity of turf exists in Ireland, covering, indeed, as much as one 
 seventh part of the island, the usual and important practical condition of this substanc« 
 can be best illustrated by a reference to that country. This will be understood by 
 the following account of its origin, abstracted from the "Bog Report" of Mr. Nimmo 
 lie says, referring to cases where clay spread over gravel has produced a kind of 
 puddle preventing the escape of waters of floods or springs, and when muddy 
 pools have thus been formed, that aquatic plants have gradually crept in from 
 the borders of the pool towards their deep centre. Mud accumulated round their 
 roots and stalks, and a spongy semi-fluid was thus formed, well fitted for the growth of 
 moss, which now especially spears Sphagnum began to luxuriate ; this absorbing a large 
 quantity of water, and continuing to shoot out new plants above, while the old were 
 decaying, rottmg and compressing into a solid substance below, gradually replaced the 
 water by a mass of vegetable matter. In this manner the marsh might be filled up 
 while the central or moister portion, continuing to excite a more rapid growth of the 
 moss, it would be gradually raised above the edges, until the whole surface had attained 
 an elevation sufficient to discharge the surface water by existing channels of drainage, 
 and calculated by its slope to facilitate their passage, when a limit would be, in some 
 degree, set to its further increase. Springs existing under the bog or in its immediate 
 vicinity, might indeed still favour its growth, though in a decreasing ratio ; and here if 
 the water proceeding from them were so obstructed as to accumulate at its base, and to 
 keep it in a rotten fluid state, the surface of the bog might be ultimately so raised, and 
 its continuity below so totally destroyed, as to cause it to llow over the retaining 
 obstacle and flood the adjacent country. In mountain districts the progress of the 
 phenomenon is similar. Pools indeed cannot in so many instances be formed, the 
 steep slopes facilitating drainage, but the clouds and mists resting on the summits and 
 sides of mountains amply supply their surface with moisture, which comes, too, in the 
 most favourable form for vegetation, not in a sudden torrent, but unceasingly and 
 gently drop by drop. The extent of Buch bogs is also affected by the nature of the 
 rocks below them. On quartz they are shallow and small; on any rock yielding by 
 its decomposition a clayey coating they are considerable ; the thickness of the bog 
 (for example in Knocklaid in the county of Antrim, which is 168 feet high), being 
 nearly 12 feet. The summit bogs of high mountains are distinguishable from those of 
 lower levels by the total absence of large trees. 
 
 As turf includes a mass of plants in different stages of decomposition, its" aspect and 
 constitution vary very much. Near the surface it is light-coloured, spongy, and contains 
 the vegetable matter but little altered ; deeper, it is brown, denser, and more decom- 
 posed ; and finally at the base of the greater bogs, some of which present a depth of 40 
 feet, the mass of turf assumes the black colour and nearly the density of coal, to which 
 also it approximates very much in chemical composition. The amount of ash contained 
 in turf is also variable, and appears to increase in proportion as we descend. Thus, in 
 the section of a bog 40 feet deep at Tunahoe, those portions near the surface contained 
 1$ per cent, of ashes, the centre portions Zi per cent, whilst the lowest 4 feet of turf 
 contained 19 per cent, of ashes. In the superficial layers, it may also be remarked, that 
 the composition is nearly the same as that of wood, the vegetable material being lost, 
 and in the lower we find the change into coal nearly complete. Notwithstanding 
 these extreme variations, we may yet establish the ordinary constitution of turf, and 
 with certainty enough for practical use, and on the average specimens of turf selected 
 from various localities, the following results have been obtained : — 
 
 The calorific power of dry turf is about half that of coal ; it yields when ignited with 
 lead, about 14 times its weight of lead. This power is however immensely diminished in 
 ordinary use by the water which is allowed to remain in its texture, and of which the 
 spongy character of its mass renders it very difficult to get rid of. There is nothing 
 which requires more alteration, than the collection and preparation of turf; indeed, for 
 practical purposes, this valuable fuel is absolutely spoiled as it is now prepared in 
 Ireland. It is cut in a wet season of the year; whilst drying it is exposed to the 
 weather ; it hence iB in reality not dried at all. It is very usual to find the turf of com- 
 merce containing one-fourth of its weight of water, although it then feels dry to the 
 hand. But let us examine what affects the calorific power. One pound of pure dry 
 turf will evaporate 6 lbs. of water ; now, in 1 lb. of turf as usually found, there are $ lb. 
 of dry turf, and li lbs. of water. The \ lb. can only_ evaporate 4f lbs. of water ; but o\it 
 of this it must first evaporate the \ lb. contained in its mass, and hence the water boiled 
 away by such turf is reduced to 4J lbs. The loss is here 30 per cent, a proportion which 
 makes all the difference between a good fuel and one almost unfit for use. When turf 
 is dried in the air under cover it still retains one tenth of its weight of water, which 
 reduces its calorific power 12 per cent., 1 lb. of such turf evaporating 5-J lbs. of water. 
 This effect is sufficient, however, for the great majority of objects; the further desicca- 
 tion is too expensive, and too troublesome to be used, except in special cases, 
 
432 PITCOAL. 
 
 The characteristic fault of turf as a fuel is its want of density, which renders it diffi- 
 cult to concentrate within a limited space the quantity of neat necessary for many 
 operations. The manner of heating turf is indeed just the opposite to anthracite. The 
 turf yields a vast body of volatile inflammable ingredients, which pass into the flues and 
 chimney, and thus distribute the heat of combustion over a great space, whilst in no 
 one point is the heat intense. Hence for all flaming fires turf is applicable, and in its 
 application to boilers, it is peculiarly useful, as there is no liability to that burning away 
 of the metal, which may arise from the local intensity of coke or coal. If it be required, 
 it is quite possible, however, to obtain a very intense heat with turf. 
 
 The removal of porosity and elasticity of turf, so that it may assume the solidity of 
 coal, has been the object of many who have proposed mechanical and other processes 
 for the purpose. It has been found that the elasticity of the turf fibre presents great 
 obstacles to compression, and the black turf, which is not fibrous, is of itself sufficiently 
 dense. 
 
 Not merely may we utilize turf in its natural condition, or compressed or impregnated 
 pitchy matter, but we may carbonize it, as we do wood, and prepare turf charcoal, the 
 properties of which it is important to establish: — 1. By heating turf in close vessels; 
 by this mode loss is avoided, but it is expensive, and there is no compensation in the 
 distilled liquors, which do not contain acetic acid in any quantity. The tar is often 
 small in proportion, hence the charcoal is the only valuable product. Its quantity 
 varies from 30 to 40 per cent, of dry turf The products of the distillation of 1,157 
 lbs. of turf were found by Blavier to be charcoal, 474 lbs., or 41 per cent. ; watery 
 liquid 226 lbs., or 19-3 per cent. ; gaseous matter 450 lbs., or 39 per cent. ; and tar 7 
 lbs., or 6 per cent. ; but the proportion of tar is variable, sometimes reaching 24'5 per 
 cent., when the turf is coked in close vessels. 
 
 The economical carbonization of turf is best carried on in heaps, in the same manner 
 as that of wood. The sods must be regularly^ arranged, and laid as close as possible ; 
 they are the better for being large, 15 inches long, by 6 broad, and 5 deep. The heaps 
 built hemispherically should be smaller in size than the heaps of wood usually are. In 
 general 6,000 or 6,000 large sods may go to the heap, which will thus contain 1 ,500 
 cubic feet The mass must be allowed to heap more than is necessary for wood, 
 and the process requires to be very carefully attended to, from the extreme combusti- 
 bility of the charcoal. The quantity of charcoal, obtained in this mode of carboniza- 
 tion, is from 25 to 30 per cent, of the weight of dry turf. 
 
 For many industrial uses the charcoal so prepared is too light, as, generally speaking, 
 it is only with fuel of considerable density, that the most intense heat can be produced, 
 but by coking compressed turf, it has already been shown, that the resulting charcoal 
 may attain a density of 1,040,'which is far superior to wood charcoal, and even equal 
 to that of the best coke made from coal. As to calorific effects, turf charcoal is about 
 the same as coal coke, and little inferior to wood charcoal. 
 
 It is peculiarly important, in the preparation of the charcoal from turf, that the ma- 
 terial should be selected as free as possible from earthy impurities, for all such are con- 
 centrated in the coke, which may be thereby rendered of little comparative value. 
 Hence, the coke from surface turf contains less than 10 per cent, of ash, whilst 
 that of dense turf of the lower strata contains from 20 to 30 per cent. This latter 
 quantity might altogether unfit it for practical purposes. 
 
 Nature and Distribution of Goal. — True coal is so little altered from its original 
 vegetable condition as to have left scarcely any trace of its true history. It is generally, 
 however, associated with sands and clays, exhibiting numerous fragments of the ancient 
 vegetation that obtained at the time of its formation ; but these fragments are so far 
 removed in every respect, from the existing form of vegetation, as to afford little clue to 
 the ancient condition of the earth in this respect In coal all trace of true woody fibre 
 has disappeared ; the water originally present, and so injurious in the less altered forms 
 of vegetable fuel, is entirely absent, or, if present at all, is so rather mechanically than 
 chemically, while the water originally in the plant appears to have undergone decom- 
 position, the hydrogen uniting with some part of the carbon, to form carburetted 
 hydrogen gas often existing in the cells, and between the plates of the coal under 
 considerable pressure, and the oxygen being almost entirely removed. The former 
 vegetable has now become a mineral substance, and lies in vast beds of variable thickness, 
 and overlaying each other to the extent sometimes of more than a hundred in a single 
 district ; such beds being regularly interstratified with deposits of sand and clay, and 
 occupying a distinct geological position, being, with only a few exceptions, confined to 
 rocks belonging to the newer part of the palaeozoic series. 
 
 Between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer repose all the principal carboni- 
 ferous formations of our planet. Some detached coal deposits, it is true, exist above 
 and below these limits, but they appear, so far as we know, to be of limited extent 
 Many of these southern coal-fields are of doubtful geological age ; a few are supposed 
 
PITCOAL. 433 
 
 to approximate to the class of true coals, as they are commonly styled, others are de- 
 cidedly of the brown coal and tertiary period, while the remainder belong to various 
 intermediate ages, or possess peculiar characters which render them of doubtful geolo- 
 gical origin. 
 . The coals of Melville Island and Byam Martin's Island certainly appear to' be of the 
 true coal period. We know that coal exists at numerous intermediate points, from the 
 1 5th to the 25th degree of north latitude in America, and abo that it is worked on the 
 Sulado and Rio Grande rivers in Mexico for the use of the steamers. 
 
 Southward of the Tropic of Cancer the existence of coal corresponding with tho 
 European and American hard coal is somewhat uncertain. There seems to be none on 
 the South American continent, unless it be at Ano Paser, which needs confirmation, or 
 in the province of Santa Catharina in Brazil. On the African continent we have had 
 vague accounts of coal in Ethiopia and at Mozambique, also at Madagascar, and quite 
 recently we have had intelligence of large quantities of coal in the newly ceded territory 
 above Port Natal, on the eastern side of Africa, but we believe no geologist has examined 
 these sites. In the Chinese and Burmese empires only brown coal appear^ to approach 
 the Tropic, but true coal seems to exist in the northern provinces. Southward of the 
 Asiatic continent we are uncertain of the exact character of the coal deposits, such as 
 occur abundantly at Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and neighbouring islands. Coal, how- 
 ever, exists in these islands, and is of a fair workable quality. 
 
 In New South "Wales the great coal range on the eastern margin of that continent 
 has sometimes been described as resembling the Newcastle coal in England, and some- 
 times it is described as of more ancient date. This coal differs essentially from that of 
 "any known European formation, but bears a strong resemblance to the Burdwan coal 
 of India. 
 
 We have not yet arrived at the period when we could pronounce with any approach 
 to certainty on the actual number of coal basins in the world ; the total number must, 
 however, amount at least to from 250 to 300 principal coal fields, and many of these are 
 subdivided by the disturbed position of the strata into subordinate basins. 
 
 The basins or coal districts are, however, grouped into a comparatively small number 
 of districts, and even many of these are little known and not at all measured. The 
 greater number occur in Western Europe and Eastern North America, while Central 
 and Southern Africa, South America, and a large part of Asia, are totally without any 
 trace of true carboniferous rocks. The remarks, therefore, that will follow, chiefly refer 
 to our own and adjacent countries, or of the United States and British North America. 
 
 There are various kinds of coal obtained from mines worked in the true coal fields, 
 which may be grouped into bituminous, steam-coal, and anthracite. Of the first, the 
 cannel is a remarkable variety, the coarser kinds of it being called in Scotland " parret," 
 and sometimes splintcoal. It contains from 40 to nearly 60 per cent, of volatile matter, 
 and the proportion of carbon varies within the same limits. It burns readily, taking 
 fire like a candle, and giving a bright light and much smoke. The ash varies from 
 4 to 10 per cent. This coal yields on destructive distillation a very large quantity of 
 gas, and is profitably used for that purpose. The gas is not only large in quantity 
 but remarkably pure, and of excellent quality for purposes of illumination. There 
 is a large quac'ity of this kind of coal in the Scotch coal-fields, and it has also been 
 found in the Newcastle district, in the Wigan portion of the Lancashire coal-field, 
 and in Yorkshire and Derbyshire coal-fields. America yields cannel coal in Kentucky, 
 Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Cannel coal passes into jet, and may, like jet, he 
 worked into various ornaments, but it is brittle and not very hard ;- the seams are 
 generally rather thin, although there are several important exceptions in which the 
 quantity is very considerable. The coal of Belgium from one basin (that of Mons) 
 seems to be of this kind. 
 
 Another and far more abundant kind of bituminous coal is that obtained abundantly 
 in Northumberland and Durham, and commonly used in London and everywhere on 
 the east and south coast of England. This kind is also highly bituminous, burns with 
 much flame, and takes fire readily, often assuming a striking and Very peculiar appear 
 anee, illustrated by a column of coke exhibited by Mr. Cory, and also by other cokes 
 shown by the coal trade of Northumberland and Durham. This caking coal, as it is 
 called, yields on an average of several analyses, about 57 per cent, carbon, about 37 '6 
 volatile matter, and 5 per cent. ash. Its specific gravity is 1'257, but sometimes higher. 
 It leaves a red ash in an open fire, but requires to be deprived of its volatile matter 
 before being exposed to a strong blast, owing to its tendency to cement together in a 
 solid mass and prevent a free draught through the grate or furnace in which it is em 
 ployed. Not only the coals of the Newcastle coal-field in England, but those of France 
 and Belgium generally, of Bohemia, and Silesia in Europe, and of Ohio in North Ame- 
 rica, are of the caking bituminous kind. 
 
 The coals of Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire, North Wales, and 
 
 Vol. II. 29 
 
434 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 many other districts, contain nearly or quite as much bituminous and volatile matter 
 as that of Newcastle, but do not cake and swell in the fire, and may therefore be em- 
 ployed directly where strong heat is required without previous coking. The coke 
 obtained from this coal is little altered in appearance. The coal burns freely with 
 flame and gives much heat, but is generally considered somewhat inferior for household 
 purposes to that of Newcastle. It yields 50 to 60 per cent, carbon- and 35 to 45 vola- 
 tile matter, and a small quantity, often less than 5 per cent., of ash. The ash is often 
 white. Most of the coals from the inland counties readily show white lines on the 
 edges of the beds, owing to the presence of argillaceous earth, which effloresces. In 
 this respect they are less adapted'for general use than the Newcastle coal, but many 
 of them are of excellent quality. 
 
 Next in order to the coals of the midland counties generally, are those of some parts 
 of North Wales and many districts in South Wales, which contain a large percentage 
 of carbon, very little volatile matter and bitumen, and often but little ash, which burn, 
 however, freely, and without smoke, and are all well adapted for steam purposes and 
 the manufacture of iron, or where a strong blast and great heat are required. Such 
 coals exist not only in England, but in France, and Saxony, and Belgium, to some ex- 
 tent They are often tender or powdery, dirty looking, and of comparatively loose 
 texture, but they often stand exposure to the weather without alteration or injury. They 
 are called steam coals, and the inferior kinds are known as culm. They contain carbon 
 81 to 85, volatile matter 11 to 15, a6h 3 or thereabouts. Several varieties well known 
 in commerce are exhibited by different proprietors, and the respective analyses will be 
 found in many cases in the body of the catalogue of the Exhibition. 
 
 The last kind of coal is that called " anthracite," and it consists almost exclusively 
 of carbon. This coal is also called non-bituminous, as the steam coal is semi-bituminous. 
 The anthracites contain from 80 to upwards of 95 per cent, carbon, with a little ash 
 and sometimes a certain small percentage of volatile matter. They are heavier than 
 common coal, take fire with difficulty, but give an intense heat when in full combus- 
 tion with a strong draught. Anthracite occurs abundantly in the western part of 
 South Wales, in the South of Ireland, France, Saxony, Russia, and in North America, 
 and the use of them is greatly on the increase. Amongst other things it is used for 
 hop and malt drying and lime burning with great advantage, but its chief use is in the 
 manufacture of iron.' The appearance is often bright, with a shining irregular fracture; 
 the coal is often hard, but some varieties are tender and readily fractured. The ash 
 of anthracite coal is generally white. As a general rule, the anthracites are deficient 
 in hydrogen, but contain a certain proportion of oxygen gas. 
 
 The relative importance of mineral fuel in various countries, as indicated by the actual 
 coal area and the real production of different districts, may be understood by a reference 
 to the subjoined table. This and other statistical tables are based chiefly upon the 
 authority of Mr. Taylor, but have before been given in their present form by the author 
 of the present essay, Mr. Anstey. 
 
 
 Coal Area in Square 
 
 Proportion of whole 
 
 Annual Production is. 
 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Area of the Country. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 British Islands 
 
 12,000 
 
 1-10 
 
 32,000,000 
 
 France 
 
 2,000 
 
 1-100 
 
 4,150,000 
 
 Belgium - 
 
 520 
 
 1-22 
 
 5,000,000 
 
 Spain 
 
 4,000 
 
 1-52 
 
 550,000 
 
 Prussia ... 
 
 1,200 
 
 1-90 
 
 3,500,000 
 
 Bohemia 
 
 1,000 
 
 1-20 
 
 
 United States of America 
 
 113,000 
 
 2-9 
 
 4,000,000 
 
 BritishNorth America - 
 
 18,000 
 
 
 
 It willbe thus seen how extremely important the coal-fields of the British islands 
 really are when compared with any others elsewhere. This is the case not merely in 
 the total annual production and the proportionate extent of the deposit, but also from 
 the great number of points at which the coal can be advantageously worked. Thii 
 will be best seen by reference to the table appended. 
 
/ 
 
 
 
 
 
 PITCOAL. 
 
 
 
 435 
 
 
 
 Tabu: of the principal Goal Fields of the British Islands, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Estimated 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 
 
 Estimated 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 Thickness 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 workable 
 
 Number oi 
 
 Thickness 
 
 Thickest 
 
 of Coal- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Area in 
 
 workable 
 
 of workable 
 
 Bed in 
 
 bearing 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Acre*. 
 
 Stums. 
 
 Coal in 
 Feet. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Measures 
 in Feet. 
 
 
 
 1. Northumberland and Durham, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 District : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newcastle coal field 
 
 600,000 
 
 18 
 
 80 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Cumberland and Westmore- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 land and West Biding of York- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 shire : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whitehaven and Akerton 
 
 80,000 
 
 7 
 
 — 
 
 8 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 Appleby (three basins) - 
 
 17,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sebergham (Cumberland) 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kirkby Lonsdale - - 
 
 2,500 
 
 4 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Lancashire, Flintshire, °and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 North Staffordshire : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lancashire coal-field - 
 
 880,000 
 
 75 
 
 150 
 
 10 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 Flintshire - - - 
 
 120,000 
 
 5 
 
 89 
 
 9 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pottery, North Staffordshire 
 
 40,000 
 
 24 
 
 28 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cheadle .... 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Derbyshire, <fcc: — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Yorkshire coal-field - 
 
 650,000 
 
 12 
 
 32 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Darley Moor, Derbyshire ) 
 Shirley Moor \ 
 
 1 500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. Shropshire and Worcester- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 shire : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coalbrook Dale, Shropshire - 
 
 12,000 
 
 17 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shrewsbury - 
 
 16,000 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brown, Clee Hill - 
 
 1,300 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Titterstone, Clee Hill - 
 
 5,004 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lukey Hill, Worcestershire - 
 
 650 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bewdley - . • . 
 
 45,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. South Staffordshire : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dudley and Wolverhampton 
 
 65,000 
 
 11 
 
 67 
 
 40 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Warwickshire and Leicester- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 shire: — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nuneaton - 
 
 40,000 
 
 9 
 
 80 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ashby-de-la-Zouch 
 
 40,000 
 
 5 
 
 33 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Somersetshire and Gloucester- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 shire : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 130,000 
 
 50 
 
 90 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Forest of Dean - 
 
 36,000 
 
 17 
 
 87 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newcut, Gloucestershire 
 
 1,500 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. South Welsh Coal Field 
 
 600,000 
 
 SO 
 
 100 
 
 9 
 
 12,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Scottish coal-fields : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clyde Valley 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lanarkshire 1 
 South of Scotland several j 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 84 
 
 200 
 
 is, 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 small areas J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mid Lothian ... 
 
 — 
 
 24 
 
 94 
 
 — 
 
 4,400 
 
 
 
 
 
 East Lothian - - - 
 
 — 
 
 60 
 
 180 
 
 13 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kilmarnock > 
 Ayrshire J 
 
 
 3 
 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fifeshire • ■ - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dumfries cool region - 
 
 46,000 
 
 10 
 
 55 
 
 .6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IL Irish coal fields : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 500,000 
 
 9 
 
 40 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 Connav-ght - - - - 
 
 Leinster, Kilkenny 
 
 M mister (several) - - - 
 
 200,000 
 
 150,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 8 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
436 PITCOAL. 
 
 The beds with which the coal is generally associated in the British islands are various 
 sands and shales (imperfect slaty beds) of different degrees of hardness ; but the actua 
 coal seams themselves often repose directly on clay of peculiar fineness, well adapted foi 
 fire bricks, and generally called under clay. The under clay is used in many coal 
 districts for various purposes of pottery. Bands, of ironstone (impure argillaceous 
 carbonate of iron) are very abundant in certain coal districts, but are almost absent iu 
 others. The Scotch coal fields near Glasgow, the South Welsh and some Others, ar» 
 rich in ironstone, which is the chief source of the vast quantities of iron manufactured 
 in this kingdom. 
 
 The principal coal-fields of Europe apart from the British Islands are those of France, 
 Belgium, Spain (in the Asturias), Germany (on the Ruhr and Saare), Bohemia, Silesia, 
 and Russia (on the Donetz). Of these the Belgian are the most important, and occupy 
 two districts, that of Liege and that of Hainault, the former containing 100,000 and the 
 latter 200,000 acres. In each the number of coal seams is very considerable, but the 
 beds are thin and so much disturbed as to require special modes of working. The 
 quality of coal is very various, including one peculiar kind, the Flenu coal, unlike any 
 found in Great Britain except at Swansea. It burns rapidly with much flame ana 
 smoke, not giving out an intense heat, and having a somewhat disagreeable smell. 
 There are nearly fifty seams of this coal in the Mons district. Ho iron has been found 
 with the coal of Belgium. 
 
 The most important coal-fields of France are those of the basin of Loire, and those of 
 St. Etienne are the best known and largest, comprising about 60,000 aereB. In this basin 
 are eighteen beds of bituminous coal, and in the immediate neighbourhood several smaller 
 basins containing anthracite. Other valuable localities are in Alsace, several in Bur- 
 gundy much worked by very deep pits, and of considerable extent ; some in Auvergne 
 with coal of various qualities ; some in Languedoc and Provence with good coal ; others 
 at Arveyron ; others at Limosin ; and some in Normandy. Besides these are several 
 others of smaller dimensions and less extent, whose resources have not yet been developed. 
 The total area of coal in France has not been ascertained, but is probably not less than 
 2,000 square miles. The annual production is now at least 4,000,000 tons. 
 
 There are four coal districts in Germany of the carboniferous period, besides several 
 districts where more modern lignites occur. The principal localities for true coal are 
 near the banks of the Khine in Westphalia ; on the Saare, a tributary of the Moselle j 
 **" Bohemia and in Silesia, the total annual production exceeds 2,750,000 tons. 
 
 Of these various localities, Silesia contains very valuable and extensive deposits of coal, 
 which are as yet but little worked. The quality is chiefly bituminous, the beds few in 
 number but very thick, amounting in some cases to 20 feet. Some anthracite is found. 
 Bohemia is even more richly provided than Silesia, the coal measures covering a con- 
 siderable area and occupying several basins. More than 40 seams of coal are worked, 
 and several of these are from 4 to 6 feet thick. 
 
 The basin of the Saare, a tributary of the Moselle, near the frontier of France, affords 
 a very important and extensive coal field, which has been a good deal worked and is 
 capable of great improvement. No less_ than 103 beds are described, the thickness 
 varying from 1 8 inches to 1 5 feet. It is estimated that at the present rate of extraction 
 the basin contains a supply for 60,000 years. On the banks of the Ruhr, a small 
 tributary to the Rhine, .entering that river near Dusseldorf, there is another small coal 
 field estimated to yield annually 1,000,000 tons. The whole annual supply from Prussia 
 and the German States of the Zollverein or Customs' Union, is considered to exceed 
 2,750,000 tons. 
 
 Hungary and other countries in the east of Europe contain true coal measures of the 
 carboniferous period ; but theTesources of those districts are not at present. developed. 
 On the banks of the Donetz in Russia, coal is worked to some extent and is of excellent 
 quality, but it belongs to the other part of the carboniferous period. 
 
 Spain contains a large quantity of coal, both bituminous and anthracite. The richest 
 beds are in Asturias; and the measures are so broken and altered as to be worked by 
 almost vertical shafts through the beds themselves. In one place upwards of 11 distinct 
 seams have been worked, the thickest of which is nearly 14 feet. The exact area is not 
 known, but it has been estimated by a French engineer that about 12,000,000 of 
 tons might be readily extracted from one property without touching the portion existing 
 at great depths. In several parts of the province the coal is now worked, and the 
 measures seem to resemble those of the coal districts generally. The whole coal area 
 is said to be the largest in Europe, presenting upwards of 100 workable seams varying 
 from 3 to 12 feet in thickness. 
 
 There are in North America four principal coal areas ; compared with which the richest 
 deposits ofother countries are comparatively insignificant. These are the great central 
 coal-fields of the Alleghanies ; the coal-fields of Illinois, and the basin of the Ohio ; that 
 af the basin of the Missouri • and those of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Cap« 
 
PITCOAL. iSl 
 
 Breton. Besides, there are many smaller coal areas which, in other countries, might 
 ■well take rank as of vast national importance, and which even in North America will 
 one day contribute greatly to the l-iches of the various States. 
 
 The Alleghany or Appalachian coal field measures 750 miles in length, with a mean 
 breadth of 85 miles, and traverses eight of the principal States of the American Union. 
 Its whole, area is estimated at not less than 65,000 square miles, or upwards of 40,00C 
 square acres. 
 
 The coal is bituminous and used for gas. In Kentucky both bituminous and cannel 
 coal are worked in seams about 3 or 4 feet deep, the cannel being sometimes associated 
 with the bituminous coal as a portion of the same seam ; and there are in addition 
 valuable bands of iron ore. In Western Virginia there are several eoal fields of variable 
 thickness, one, 9£ feet ; two others of 6, and others of 3 or 4 feet. On the whole there 
 seems to be at least 40 feet of coal distributed in 13 seams. In the Ohio district the 
 whole coal field affords on an average at least 6 feet of coal. The Maryland district is 
 less extensive, but is remarkable as containing the best and most useful coal, which is 
 worked now to some extent at Frostbury. There appears to be about 30 feet of good 
 coal in four seams, besides many others of less importance. The quality is intermediate 
 between bituminous and anthracite, and is considered well adapted for iron making. 
 Lastly, in Pennsylvania, there arc generally from two to five workable beds, yielding on 
 an average 10 feet of workable coal, and amongst them is one bed traceable for no less 
 than 450 miles, consisting of bituminous coal, its thickness being from 12 to 14 feet on 
 the south-eastern border, but gradually diminishing to 5 or 6 feet. Besides the bitu- 
 minous coal there are in Pennsylvania the largest anthracite deposits in the States, 
 occupying as much as 250,000 acres and divided in three principal districts. 
 
 The Illinois coal field, in the plane of the Mississippi, is only second in importance to 
 the vast area already described. There are four principal divisions traceable, of which 
 the first, or Indian district, contains several seams of bituminous coal distributed over 
 an area of nearly 8,000 square miles. It is of excellent quality for many purposes ; one 
 kind burning with much light and very freely, approaching cannel coal in some of its 
 properties ; other kinds consist of caking or splint coaL In addition to the Indian coal- 
 field there. appears to be as much as 48,000 square miles of coal area in other divisions 
 of the Illinois district, although these are less known and not at present much worked. 
 30,000 are in the state of Illinois, which supplies coal of excellent quality, and with 
 great facility. The coal is generally bituminous. 
 
 "The third great coal area of the United States is that of the Missouri, which is little 
 known at present, although certainly of great importance. 
 
 British America contains coal in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 
 The former presents three coal-fields, occupying in all no less than 5,000 square miles; 
 but the latter is far larger and exhibits several very distinct localities where the coal 
 abounds. The New Brunswick coal measures include not only shales and sandstones, 
 as is usual with such deposits, but bands of lignite impregnated with various copper 
 ore, and coated by green carbonate of copper. The coal is generally in thin seams 
 lying horizontally. It is chiefly or entirely bituminous. 
 
 In Nova Scotia there are three coal regions, of which the Northern presents a total 
 thickness of no less than 14,570 feet of measures, having 70 seams, whose aggregate 
 magnitude is only 44 feet, the thickest beds being less than 4 feet. TBe Pictou or 
 central district^ has a thickness of 7,590 feet of strata, but the coal is far more abundant, 
 one seam measuring nearly 30 feet ; and part of the coal being of excellent quality and 
 adapted for steam purposes. The southern area is of less importance. Besides the 
 Nova Scotia, coal-fields there are three others at Gape Breton; yielding different kinds 
 of coaL of which one, the Sydney coal, is admirably adapt.ed for domestic purposes. 
 There are here 14 seams above 3 feet thick, one being 11, and one 9 feet. 
 
 Coal, existing generally in beds of moderate thickness inclined at a small angle to the 
 horizon and often at a very considerable depth beneath the surface, is extracted most 
 commonly by the aid of pits or shafts sunk to the bed and galleries (levels of drifts), cut 
 horizontally or in the plane of the bed to a certain distance. By a number of such gal- 
 leries cut at right angles to each other , the whole bed, within certain limits, is completely 
 laid open, the overlaying beds being supported by masses of coal (pillars or columns) 
 left untouched between the galleries ; in this way about one third of the coal can be ex- 
 tracted,- and afterwards, on the supporting columns being removed, the roof falls in and 
 the work is regarded as finished. This method is called technically the " pillar and 
 stall method," and is adopted in the Newcastle coal-field. In Yorkshire and elsewhere, 
 instead of such columns being left, the eoal is removed entirely and at once without 
 columns ; the roof falling behind the work as it advances. This is the long wall method. 
 Other modes are occasionally followed when the condition of the eoal requires it. 
 
 Owing to the gaseous substances contained in coal and given off, not only on exposure 
 tc heat but also, to a certain extent^ by pressure, many kinds of coal cannot safely be left 
 
438 PITCOAL 
 
 during tie process of extraction without some defence from the open lights required by 
 the miner in the mechanical operations of removing the coal from its bed and conveying 
 it to the pit bottom. An explosive gaseous compound is readily produced by the mix- 
 ture of the gases given off by the coal, with common air, made to circulate through 
 the workings, and if neglected, this compound accumulates, and travels on till it meets 
 with flame, and then explodes, causing frightful destruction not only to the property 
 of the mine owner, but also to the life of the miner. Many contrivances have been 
 suggested from time to time, on one hand to improve the ventilation of the mines, 
 and, on the other, providing means of illumination which would render accidents from 
 explosion less probable, by removing the immediate cause. Examples of both will he 
 found amongst the models and instruments exhibited in this class of the Exhibition, 
 It is not likely that any contrivances can render absolutely safe an employment whicl 
 of necessity involves so many and such serious risks as are connected with coal mining ; 
 but much may no doubt be done to diminish the danger both from imperfect ventila- 
 tion and open light. 
 
 In concluding this notice of mineral fuel, it may be worth while to draw attention to 
 the vast and overwhelming importance of thesubjectby areference both to the absolute 
 and relative value of the material, especially in the British Islands. It may be slated 
 as probably within the true limit, if we take the annual produce of the British coal 
 mines at 36,000,000 tons, the value of which is not less than 18,000,000/. sterling, 
 estimated at the place of consumption, and therefore including a certain amount of 
 transport cost necessary to render available the raw material. At the pit mouth the 
 value of the coal is probably about half this, or 9,000,000/. sterling, and the capital 
 employed in the coal trade is estimated at 10,000,000/. The average annual value of 
 all the gold and silver produced throughout the world has been estimated to have 
 amounted in lS^, to nearly thirteen millions and three quarters sterling. We have, 
 therefore, the following summary, which will not be without interest. 
 
 Yalue of the coal annually raised in Great Britain, estimated 
 
 at the pit mouth - - 9,000,000 
 
 Mean annual value at the place of consumption 18,000,000 
 
 Capital engaged in, the coal trade ... 10,000,000 
 
 ' Mean annual value of the precious metals obtained from 
 
 North and South America and Russia 5,000,000 
 
 Total value of precious metals raised throughout the whole 
 
 world - - - - 13,000,000 
 
 Mean annual value at the furnace of iron pioduced from 
 
 British coal - - 8,000,000 
 
 Boghead Coal. — At Boghead, near Bathgate, in Scotland, is a very valuable gas coal. 
 The mineral substance so called is a true coal, and belongs to the great coal formation 
 of this island. It differs in no essential respect from the Cannel coal found in the south- 
 west of Scotland, in North Wales, and in many parts of England. . It contains the same 
 remains of plants which characterise the coal formation all over the world, that is to 
 Bay, impressions of sigillarise, stigmatise, &c. In a chemical point of view, the resem- 
 blance becomes much more striking, and is altogether so decisive that I do not hesitate 
 to declare, in the most positive manner, my opinion that the Boghead coal is as much 
 a coal as any other coal in the kingdom. 
 
 The conchoidal fracture, the specific gravity, and the general habitude when burnt, 
 are precisely like those of the whole of the coal found in and around the Boghead dis- 
 trict, and many striking points of resemblance may be noticed in these and other 
 respects between the Bogheai and other coals from the south of Scotland, such as the 
 Kirkness, the Arniston, the TV emyss, the Capeldrae, Ac, as well as with many from 
 England, Wales, and even India, as will be shown hereafter. Thus the nature of the 
 gase9 they evolve by heat is the same, — they are all proof against heated naphtha, oil of 
 turpentine, sether, &c. — they are equally so against dilute alkaline and acid solutions — in 
 chemical composition they are alike — the ash is the same, and indicates a common 
 origin, whereas, in these respects, all these coals differ totally from every form of 
 bitumen, lignite, retinite, and bituminous shale which has yet come under my notice. 
 It would be a work of supererogation to enter more fully into a detail of these parti- 
 culars, nor is this at all necessary towards the completion of my proof. I have asserted 
 that the Boghead coal is a true coaL and belongs to the Cannel variety of that mineral. 
 In support of the assertion I append the following table of coals analysed for this pur- 
 pose, and proving beyond all contradiction that it is not even at the extreme limit 01 
 the class to which it belongs, but occupies a central and very unequivocal position in 
 the Cannel coal series. 
 
PITCOAL. 
 
 439 
 
 
 
 Por Cent 
 
 
 
 
 , * 
 
 Name of Subs'ance. 
 
 Specific 
 
 age of 
 Combustible 
 
 Per Cent, 
 of Acth. 
 
 Nature of Ash. 
 
 
 , Remarks. 
 
 
 
 Matters. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Brunswick As- 
 
 1*098 
 
 99-4 
 
 *6 
 
 Silica - 
 
 
 . 
 
 Largely soluble in 
 
 phalt. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 naphtha, oil of turps, 
 aether, and sulphuret 
 
 
 
 
 
 Trisilicate 
 
 of 
 
 alu- 
 
 of carbon. 
 
 Indian coal, No 1. 
 
 1-363 
 
 87-5 
 
 125 
 
 mina. 
 Ditto - 
 
 
 
 Insoluble in the above 
 and in dilute acids. 
 
 No. 2. - 
 
 1-290 
 
 88- 
 
 12- 
 
 Ditto - 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Lesmahago 
 
 1-220 
 
 90-9 
 
 9-1 
 
 Ditto - 
 
 
 . 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Capeldrae 
 
 1-227 
 
 895 
 
 10-5 
 
 Ditto 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Lock gel ly 
 
 1-320 
 
 86-9 
 
 131 
 
 Ditto - 
 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Kirkness 
 
 1*215 
 
 86-5 
 
 135 
 
 Ditto - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Old Wemyss 
 
 1-325 
 
 84-9 
 
 15 1 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Boghead 
 
 1*223 
 
 77*2 
 
 22 8 
 
 Ditto - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Brymbo Catinel, No. 1 
 
 1-574 
 
 66-8 
 
 33-2 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 No. 2 
 
 1-520 
 
 fi8-8 
 
 31-2 
 
 Ditto 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Sheffield Gunnel 
 
 1-526 
 
 66- 
 
 34- 
 
 Ditto -* 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 Portland Shale - 
 
 1-766* 
 
 48 9 
 
 511 
 
 Uarb,, phosphate, 
 silicate of lime 
 
 and 
 with 
 
 Slightly soluble, Acted 
 on with slight effer- 
 
 
 
 
 
 sand. 
 
 
 
 vescence. 
 
 Seyssell Asphalt 
 
 1-780* 
 
 57-8 
 
 42-2 
 
 Carbonate 
 only. 
 
 of 
 
 lime 
 
 Largely soluble. Ra- 
 pidly acted on with 
 effervescence. 
 
 PITCOAL. {Exhibition.) — Aliiio Musbach, Vienna, Proprietor. — The coal mines 
 of this exhibitor are the most extensive in the empire ; his thirty mines contain a store 
 of at least 900,000,000 cwt. of coal, whereof 864,000,000 have been discovered by him- 
 self. They give direct employment to 1,961 men, produee annually 2,750,000 cwt. of 
 coal, and are already in a condition to furnish four times that quantity, although the 
 greater part of them are only now being opened and prepared for working. 
 
 Coal is found in Austria in constantly increasing quantities, particularly in Bohemia, 
 Moravia, Silesia, Lower Austria, and Hungary. Bohemia takes the first place as to the 
 quantity, and partly also as to the quality of its coal, nearly half the total quantity of 
 the coal and brown coal produced in Austria being Bohemian. Considered generally, 
 however, the production of coal is only trifling at present. 
 
 The production of coal in 30 years has increased tenfold ; and at a rapid ratio. The 
 prices of wood and charcoal are constantly increasing with an annually increasing de- 
 mand for fuel to be consumed in factories, <fcc. It is therefore very probable that the 
 collieries of Austria will at no distant period be worked to a far greater extent than at 
 present. Scarcely 100,000 cwt. of coals are extracted in a year from coal-fields that 
 are known to contain as much as 1500 millions of cwt. The exports of Austria exceed 
 the imports of foreign coal by about 300,000 cwt. A large proportion of the fuel 
 obtained in Austria is lignite. 
 
 This sub*£ance, which is intermediate in its character between wood and coal, and is 
 of a brown solour, possesses considerable value as a calorific agent, although it is in this 
 respect inferior to the coal of Great Britain. Its importance to the countries and districts 
 where it is found can scarcely be exaggerated, and its abundance justifies the belief that 
 the enormous thick detached beds in which it occurs, will ere long be fully worked. 
 The lignite not unfrequently presents those evidences of its origin from the decomposi- 
 tion of coniferous trees, from which the geologist draws his most accurate inferences. 
 
 Immediately abutting, a; it were, on the confines of raw material, the manufacture of 
 coal-gas claims attention from its amphibious position and multifarious uses. As bitu- 
 minous coal when subjected to the action of red-heat, invariably gives a gaseous matter 
 wherever placed, it becomes necessary to distinguish between the production of coal-gas 
 and its manufacture. Our ancestors were producers of coal-gas ; but the manufacture 
 of this important agent belongs to the present century ; and therefore we are able, without 
 any difficulty, to speak of the production and manufacture separately. The production 
 of gas from coal depends altogether upon the application of a high temperature ; for, at 
 a heat verging on 400° Fahr., the volatile constituents of coal pass off in the shape of 
 fluid hydrocarbons, or naphtha, with little or no admixture of any permanent gas. If, 
 however, the temperature employed be that known as a full cherry-red heat, or some 
 thing higher, then the volatile constituents are for the most part resolved into permanently 
 elastic fluids or gases, with a trifling production of tar and naphtha. Too high a heat is, 
 however, apt to induce some grave inconveniences, as will appear further on ; and hence 
 the gas maker, it its first process, sails between a kind of Scylla and Charybdis, having 
 to dread an excessive production of tar oh the one hand, and the evils just alluded to on 
 the other. Presuming, however, that the proper temperature has been secured, the 
 successful production of good coal gas is not yet ensured, unless the coals, before their 
 introduction into the retort, are free, or nearly so, from water. Coal is a bad conducto* 
 
 * Very variable. 
 
440 PITGOAL. 
 
 of heat ; and therefore when a quantity of this substance in a wet condition is throw* 
 into a red-hot retort, as precisely by gas manufacturers, the outer portion of this mast 
 becomes carbonized and converted into red-hot coke long before the water in the centre 
 of the coal has been expelled ; consequently, as the heat penetrates through the coal, 
 this water is vaporized, and driven in the form of steam over the red-hot coke on the 
 surface, with the production of three gases, viz., hydrogen, carbonic oxide and carbonic 
 acid, all of which are injurious to the gas maker ; the two first by diluting his gas and 
 lowering its illuminating power; the last, by neutralizing the lime contained in the 
 purifier, and thus needlessly causing an increased consumption of that article. But 
 the presence of water in coal is also determined in another way ; for its conversion into 
 steam implies the absorption of an immense amount of heatj since the latent heat of 
 steam is upwards of 960° ; consequently, as this absorption takes place immediately 
 previous to the decomposition of the bituminous constituents of the coal, a disposition 
 results to generate at that time a temperature capable only of producing tar or naphtha, 
 but scarcely equal to the formation of coal-gas ; and thus water not only tends to reduce 
 the quality, but also to lessen' the quantity, of gas procurable from any given coal ; 
 therefore its absence in coals intended for gas purposes should always be ascertained 
 prior to their employment. 
 
 We have previously remarked, that too high a temperature ought to be avoided in the 
 production of coal-gas, and this for two very important reasons. In the first place heavy 
 carburetted hydrogen or defiant gas is decomposed at a white heat, or even under this, 
 with the formation of light carburetted hydrogen, and the production of charcoal or 
 carbon, thus greatly diminishing the value of the gas as an illuminating agent. The 
 second reason is still more conclusive. All coals contain iron pyrites, which, at a low 
 red-heat, is decomposed into protosulphuret of iron and free sulpnur ; the latter uniting 
 to a portion of the hydrogen of the coal passes off, and is found in the gas in the 
 shape of sulphuretted hydrogen, leaving the protosulphuret of iron in the retort. 
 But it will be remembered that in speaking of coke we mentioned that this protosul- 
 phuret of iron was resolved by a high and long sustained heat into metallic iron, which 
 remained in the coke, and into the bisulphuret of carbon, which escaped. Now, the 
 application of a high heat in gas making has exactly the same effect as in coke-making, 
 and produces in both cases bisulphuret of carbon, which, mixing with the coal-gas, can 
 never afterwards be removed. It consequently remains in the gas, and when this is 
 Durnt in the ordinary way, gives rise to the production of sulphuric acid or oE of 
 vitriol; and this, although generated by most of the common gas of our streets in an 
 infinitesimal quantity, is nevertheless found sufficient, in a few years, to attack and 
 destroy the binding and paper of the books in our public libraries, and corrode articles 
 of iron, steel, brass, or copper. This important fact has not received a proper share of 
 consideration from our best gas engineers until within the last few months ; and hence 
 many of the old libraries of London can now furnish books completely discoloured and 
 rotted through a great portion of each page, though in a few years all further traces of 
 this mischievous effect of gas will have vanished. , 
 
 Having thus far commented on the production of coal-gas, we next pass to the 
 examination of the processes employed in rendering it pure and fit for the uses to which 
 it is applied in common life. The first process is that of condensation, by which nearly 
 the whole of the vapours, properly so termed, are condensed and separated from the per- 
 manently elastic gases. By this means, tar, water, naphtha, carbonate, muriate, and 
 hydrosulphurate of ammonia, are removed from the gas, the only impurities of which 
 now are carbonate of ammonia, carbonic acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen. Water alone 
 will remove all thrae of these impurities ; but its action is weals, and chiefly exercised 
 upon the first. Hence, although usefully employed for attracting carbonate of ammonia 
 (as exemplified in Lowe's scrubber,) it is not used by gas engineers of the present day, 
 with a view to total purification, this being sought for ic the superior affinity of lime, 
 after the ammonia has been arrested by other means. Coal-gas, after condensation, 
 usually contains about 2 per cent, of carbonic acid, and 1 per cent, of sulphuretted 
 hydrogen ; but these vary, of course, with the nature of the coal, and also, as we have 
 stated above, with the dryness of the coal, which has much to do with the production of 
 carbonic acid. These proportions may, however, be regarded as a fair average of New 
 castle coal-gas, and would justify the consumption of about 40 lbs. of lime for every 
 10,000 cubic feet of gas; a quantity which, although far below the proportion expended 
 in common practice, is really very near the consumption of lime carried out at the West- 
 minster station of the Chartered Gas Company, by Mr. F. J. Evans, during a long 
 course of carefully conducted experiments, and ought, therefore, to be kept in view as 
 an ultimatum by gas engineers. Where much more lime than is found indispensable to 
 good purification, there is reason to suspect either that the coal is damp, or that it con- 
 tains more than an average quantity of sulphur. The amount of sulphur in good New- 
 castle coal is as nearly as passible 1 per cent, by weight, and in some of the cannel coal» 
 
PITCOAL, COKING OF. 
 
 441 
 
 it is even less; thus Boghead Cannel, for example, has barely one-half per cent., or '54 
 of sulphur, on an average. How necessary, then, is it that every gas engineer should 
 be able to determine the quantity of sulphur existing in coal ! but even this, without 
 other knowledge, is worthless and deceptive. Sulphur seems to be present in coal in 
 two states; the one and most frequent is that in which it is united to iron, as bisul- 
 phuret of iron or pyrites ; the other is in a doubtful state of combination, but probably 
 it exists conjoined to the bituminous elements of the coal in the state of sulphur. T« 
 the gas maker this difference is very important, as in the former case, one-half only 
 of the total sulphur would pass away with the gas and contaminate it, whereas in the 
 second, the whole would be carried to the purifying vessels ; consequently, in deter- 
 mining the amount of sulphur in coal, a gas engineer must ascertain first how much 
 sulphur the pure coal contains, and next how much sulphur remains in an equivalent 
 of the coke of such coal ; after which the latter must be deducted from the former to 
 get at the sulphur contamination of the coal, when its value for gas purposes is sought 
 to be determined. 
 
 The following detailed explanation will furnish the gas engineer with a means by 
 which coal may be analyzed, with a view to the object in question. Having carefully 
 reduced a fair sample of the coal to a very fine powder, mix 100 grains of this powder 
 with 50 grains of pure and dry carbonate of soda ; after which place the mixture in a 
 clear iron ladle, and roast the whole Over a brisk fire, at a good red heat for several 
 minutes, so as to burn off the whole of the coal, or nearly so ; then remove the ladle 
 from the fire, and when it is cold, add 50 grains of pure and powdered nitre, mixing 
 this well with the residue of the coal and carbonate of soda ; after which, place the 
 ladle again on the fire and keep it red hot for a few minutes, when it must bo again 
 removed, suffered to cool, and its soluble contents washed out with water and thrown 
 on a filter. To the filtered liquor an excess of pure nitric acid must be added, and 
 then a solution of nitrate of baryta dropped in until all precipitation ceases ; when 
 the sulphate of baryta, thus formed, may be allowed to settle, or be thrown on a 
 counterpoise filter, washed, dried, and weighed. Its equivalent, or 111 grains, indi 
 cates 16 grains of sulphur. 
 
 Having thus determined the quantity of sulphur in the coal, 100 grains more of the 
 powdered coal are to be taken and placed in an earthen crucible, provided with a 
 closely fitting cover : when the cover is put on, the crucible is subjected to a red heat 
 until inflammable gas is no longer evolved ; the crucible must then be removed and 
 covered up in dry sand to cool. As soon as the crucible is cold, remove the coke it 
 contains, and after reducing it to a fine powder, mix with it 50 grains of pure and 
 dry carbonate of soda ; place the whole in an iron ladle, and proceed exactly as indi- 
 cated above with respect to coal. The amount of sulphur found in the coke must 
 then be deducted from that previously ascertained to exist in the coal, the difference 
 being the true sulphur contamination of the coal under examination. 
 PITCOAL, COKING OF. See also Charcoal. 
 
 Fig. 1127 represents a shachtofen, or pit-kiln, for coking coals in Germany, a is the 
 U27 lining (chemise), made of fire-bricks ; the enclosing 
 
 walls are built of the same material; b, b, is a cast- 
 iron ring covered with a cast-iron plate c. The 
 floor of the kiln is massive. The coals are in- 
 troduced, and the coke taken out, through a hole 
 in the side d ; during the process it is bricked up, 
 and closed with an iron door. In the'surrounding 
 walls are 4 horizontal rows of flues e, e, e, e, which 
 are usually iron pipes ; the lowest row is upon a 
 level with the floor of the kiln ; and the others are 
 each respectively one foot and a half higher than 
 the preceding. Near the top of the shaft there is 
 an iron pipe /, of from 8 to 10 inches in diameter, 
 which allows the incoercible vapors generated in 
 the coking to escape into the condenser, which 
 consists either of wood or brick chambers. For 
 kindling the coal, a layer of wood is first placed 
 on the bottom of the kiln. 
 The coking of small coal is performed upon vaulted hearths, somewhat like bakers' 
 ovens, but with still flatter roofs. Of such kiins, several are placed alongside one another, 
 each being an ellipse deviating little from a circle, so that the mouth may project but 
 a small space. The dimensions are such, that from 10 to 12 cubic feet of coal-culm 
 may be spread in a layer 6 inches deep upon the sole of the furnace. The top of the 
 flat arch of fire brick should be covered with a stratum of loam and sand. 
 
 Figs. 1128, & 1129. represent such a kiln as is mounted at Zabrze, in Tipper Silesia, 
 for coking small' coal. Fia. 1128. is the ground plan ; fig. 1129. the vertical section ia 
 
442 
 
 PITCOAL, COKING OF. 
 
 the line 
 sole; 6, 
 
 of the long axis of fig. 1128, a, is the sand-bed of the hearth, under the brink 
 is the roof of large fire-bricks ; c, the covering of loam ; d, the top Btirface ol 
 sand ; e, the orifice in the front wall, for admission of the 
 culm, and removal of the coke, over the sloping stone/ The 
 flame and vapours pass orf above this orifice, through the 
 chimney marked g, or through the aperture A, into a lateral 
 chimney, i, is a bar of iron laid across the front of the 
 door, as a fulcrum to work the iron rake upon. A layer 
 of coals is first kindled upon the hearth, and when this is 
 in brisk ignition, it is covered with the culm in successive 
 sprinklings. When the coal is sufficiently coked, it is 
 raked out, and quenched with water. 
 
 Fig. 1130. represents a Bimple coking rneiler or mound, 
 constructed in a circular form round a central chimney of 
 loose bricks, towards which small horizontal flues are laid 
 among the lumps of coals. The sides and top are covered 
 i with culm or slack, and the heap is kindled from certain 
 openings towards the circumference. Fig. 1181. represents 
 an oblong meiler, sometimes made 100 or 150 feet in 
 
 length and from 10 to 12 in breadth. The section in the middle of the figure shows 
 how the lumps are piled up ; the wooden stakes are lifted out when the heap is 
 finished^ in order to introduce kindlings at various points; and the rest of the 
 meiler is then covered with slack and clay, to protect it from the rains. A jet of 
 smoke and flame is seen issuing from its left end. 
 
 An excellent range of furnaces for making a superior article of coke, for the service 
 of the locomotive engines of the London and Birmingham Railway Company, has been 
 recently erected at the Camden Town station ; consisting of 18 ovens in two lines, the 
 whole discharging their products of combustion into a horizontal flue, which terminates 
 
 in a chimney-stalk, 115 feet high. Fig.llSiis a ground plan of the elliptical ovens, eacl 
 being 12 feet by 1 1 internally, and havin? 3 feet thickness of walls, a, a, is the mouth, 3 \ 
 feet wide outside and about 2% feet within, b, b, are tho entrances into the flue; they 
 may be shut more or less completely by horizontal slabs of fire-brick, resting on iron 
 frames, pushed in from behind, to modify the draught of air. The grooves of these dam- 
 per-slabs admit a small stream of air to complete the combustion of the volatilized par- 
 ticles of soot. By this means the smoke is well consumed. The flue e, c, is 2£ feet high 
 
PITCOAL COKING OF. 
 
 443 
 
 by 21 inches wide. The chimney d, at the level of the flue, is 
 11 feet in diameter inside, and 17 outside; being built from an 
 elegant design of Robert Stephenson, Esq. (See Chimney.) 
 d, d, are the keys of the iron hoops, which bind the brickwork of 
 the oven. Fig. 1133 is a vertical section in the line A, b, of fig. 
 1132 showing, at 6, 6, and e, e, the entrances of the different ovens 
 into the horizontal flue ; the direction of the draught being indi- 
 cated by the arrows. /,/, is a bed of concrete, upon which the 
 whole furnace-range is built, the level of the ground being in the 
 middle of that bed. g is a stanchion on which (he crane is 
 mounted ; (see fig. 1134.) h is a section of the chimney wall, with 
 part of the interior to the left of the strong line. Fig. 113iis a 
 front elevation of two of these elegant coke-ovens ; in which the 
 1133 
 
 bracing hoops i, i, i, are shown ; k, k, are the cast iron doors, strengthened outside with 
 diagonal ridges ; each door being 5§ feet high, by 4 feet wide, and lined internally with 
 fire-bricks. They are raised and lowered by means of chains and counterweights, moved 
 
 by the crane I, , ..,.,.» 
 
 Each alternate oven is charged, between 8 and 10 o'clock every morning, with 3f tons 
 of good coals. A wisp of straw is thrown in on the top of the heap, which takes fire by 
 the radiation from the dome (which is in a state of dull ignition from the preceding opera- 
 tion), and inflames the smoke then rising from the surface, by the re-action of the hot 
 
 1184 sides and bottom 
 
 upon the body of 
 the fuel. In this 
 way the smoke is 
 consumed at the 
 very commence- 
 ment of the 
 process, when it 
 would otherwise 
 be most abun- 
 dant. A neigh- 
 bor of th» 
 above coking 
 ovens, having 
 lately indicted 
 them as a nuisance, procured, secundum artem, a parcel of affidavits from sundry 
 chemical and medical men. Two of the former, who had not entered the premises, but 
 had espied the outside of the furnaces' -ange at some distance, declared that " the coking 
 process, as performed at the ovens, is a species of distillation of coal 1" How rashly do 
 unpractical theorists affirm what is utterly unfounded, and mislead an unscientific 
 iud"e ! That the said coking process is in no respect a species of distillation, but a 
 complete combustion of the volatile principles of the coal, will be manifest from the 
 following description of its actual progress. The mass of coals is first kindled at the 
 surface °as above stated, where it is supplied with abundance of atmospheric oxygen j 
 because the doors of the ovens in front, and the throat-vents behind, are then left open 
 The consequence is, that no more smoke is discharged from the top of the chimney, at 
 this the most sooty period of the process, than is produced by an ordinary kitchen fire. 
 In these circumstances, the coal gas, or other gas, > supposed to be generated in the 
 slightly heated mass beneath cannot escape destruction in passing up through the 
 
— 1 
 
 444 PLATED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 bright open flame of the oven. As the coking of the coal advances most slowly and 
 regularly from the top of the heap to the bottom, only one layer is affected at a time, 
 and in succession downwards, while the surface is always covered with a stratum of 
 red hot cinders, ready to consume every particle of carburetted or sulphuretted hy- 
 drogen gases which may escape from below. The greatest mass when calcined in this 
 downward order, cannot emit into the atmosphere any more of the above-mentioned 
 gases than the smallest heap ; and therefore the argument raised on account of the 
 magnitude of the operations is altogether fallacious. 
 
 The coke being perfectly freed from all fuliginous and volatile matters by a calcination 
 of upwards of 40 hours, is cooled down to moderate ignition by sliding in the dampers, 
 and sliding up the doors, which had been partially closed during the latter part of the 
 process. It is now observed to form prismatic concretions, somewhat like a columnar 
 mass of basalt. These are loosened by iron bars, lifted out upon shovels furnished 
 with long iron shanks, which are poised upon swing chains with hooked ends, and the 
 lumps are thrown upon the pavement, to be extinguished by sprink'iing water upon 
 them from the rose of a watering-can; or, they, might be transferred into a large 
 chest of sheet-iron set on wheels, and then covered up. Good coals thus treated, yield 
 80 per cent, of an excellent compact glistening coke ; weighing about 14 cwt. per chal- 
 dron. 
 
 The loss of weight in coking in the ordinary ovens is usually reckoned at 25 per cent. ; 
 and coal, which thus loses one fourth in weight, gains one fourth in bulk. 
 
 Laborers who have been long employed at rightly-constructed coke ovens, seem to en 
 joy remarkably good health. 
 
 PITTACALL is one of the 6 curious principles detected in wood-tar by Reichenbach. 
 it is a dark-blue solid substance, somewhat like indigo, assumes a metallic fiery lustre on 
 friction, and varies in tint from copper to golden. It is void of taste and smell, not vola- 
 tile ; carbonizes at a high heat without emitting an ammoniacal smell ; is soluble or rather 
 very diffusible in water; gives a green solution with a cast of crimson, in' sulphuric acid, 
 with a cast of red blue, in muriatic acid, and with a cast of aurora red, in acetic acid. It 
 is insoluble in alkalis. It dyes a fast blue upon linen and cotton goods, with tin and alii 
 minous mordants. 
 
 PLASTER; See Mobtak. 
 
 PLASTER OF PARIS; see Gvfsum. 
 
 PLATE-CLEANING. Boil 30 grms. of finely pulverized and calcined hartshorn ir. 
 a quart of water, and while on the fire put as many silver articles in the vessel used 
 for boiling as it will hold, and leave them there for a short time ; then withdraw them, 
 and dry them over the fire ; continue this until all the articles have been treated in 
 the same manner ; then introduce into the hartshorn water clean woollen rags, and 
 allow them to remain until saturated, after which dry them, and use them for polishing 
 the silver. This is also the best substance for cleaning locks and brass handles of room 
 doors. _ When the silver articles are perfectly dry, they must be carefully rubbed with 
 a soft leather. This mode of cleaning is excellent, and much preferable to the employ- 
 ment of any powder containing mercury, as mercury has the effect of rendering 
 the silver so brittle as to break on falling. — C. Oaz. 1849, p. 362. 
 
 PLATED MANUFACTURE (Fabrique de plaque, Fr. ; Silber plattirung, Germ.) 
 The silver in this case is not applied to ingots of pure copper, but to an alloy consist- 
 ing of copper and brass, which possesses the requisite stiffness for the various articles. 
 
 The furnace used for melting that alloy, in blacklead crucibles, is a common air- 
 furnace, like that for making brass. 
 
 The ingot-moulds are made of cast-iron, in two pieces, fastened together ; the cavity 
 being of a rectangular Bhape, 3 inches broad, 1-J- thick, and 18 or 20 long. There is an 
 elevated mouth-piece or gate, to give pressure to the liquid metal, and secure solidity 
 to the ingot. The mould is heated, till the grease with which its cavity is besmeared 
 merely begins to smoke, but does not burn. The proper heat of the melted metal for 
 easting, is when it assumes a blui6\i colour, and is quite liquid. Whenever the metal 
 has solidified in the mould, the wedges that tighten its rings are driven out, lest the 
 shrinkage of the ingot should cause the mould to crack. See Brass. 
 
 The ingot is now dressed carefully with the file on one or two faces, according as it 
 is to be single or double plated. The thickness of the silver plate is Buch as to consti- 
 tute one-fortieth of the thickness of th" ingot ; or when this is an inch and a quarter 
 thick, the silver plate applied is one "thirty-second of an inch ; being by weight a pound 
 troy of the former, to from 8 to 10 pennyweights of the latter. The silver, which is 
 ' slightly less in size than the copper, is tied to it truly with iron wire, and a little of a 
 saturated solution of borax is then insinuated at the edges. This salt melts at a low 
 heat,, and excludes the atmosphere, which might oxidize the eopper, and obstruct the 
 Union of the metals. The ingot thus prepared is brought to the plating furnace. 
 
 The furnace has an iron door with a small hole to look through ; it is fed with cokt 
 
PLATED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 445 
 
 laid upon a grate at a level with the bottom of the door. The ingot is placed imme- 
 diately upon the cokes, the door is shut, and the plater watches at the peep-hole the in- 
 stant when the proper soldering temperature is attained. During the union of the silver 
 and copper, the surface of the former is seen to be drawn into intimate contact with the 
 latter, and this species of rivetting is the signal for removing the compound bar instantly 
 from the furnace. Were it to remain a very little longer, the silver would become 
 alloyed with the copper, and the plating be thus completely spoiled. The adhesion is, in 
 fact, accomplished here by the formation of a film of true silver-solder at the surfaces of 
 contact. 
 
 The ingot is next cleaned, and rolled to the proper thinness between cylinders as de- 
 scribed under Mint; being in its progress of lamination frequently annealed on a small 
 reverberatory hearth. After the last annealing, the sheets are immersed in hot dilute 
 sulphuric acid, and scoured with fine Calais sand ; they are then ready to be fashioned 
 into various articles. 
 
 In plating copper wire, the silver is first formed into a tubular shape, with one edgepro- 
 iecting slightly over the other ; through which a redhot copper cylinder being somewhat 
 loosely run, the silver edges are closely pressed together with a steel burnisher, whereby 
 they get firmly united. The tubej thus completed, is cleaned inside, and put on the prop- 
 er copper rod, which it exactly hts. The copper is left a little longer than its coating 
 tube, and is grooved at the extremities of the latter, so that the silver edges, being worked 
 into the copper groove, may exclude the air from the surface of the rod. The compound 
 cylinder is now heated redhot, and rubbed briskly over with the steel burnisher in a lon- 
 gitudinal direction, whereby the two metals get firmly united, and form a solid rod, ready 
 Jo be drawn into wire of any requisite fineness and form ; as flat, half-round, fluted, or 
 with mouldings, according to the figure of the hole in the draw-plate. Such wire is mucn 
 used for making bread-baskets, toast-racks, snuffers, and articles combining elegance with 
 lightness and economy. The wire must be annealed from time to time during the draw 
 ing, and finally cleaned, like the plates, with dilute acid. 
 
 Formerly the different shaped vessels of plated metal were all fashioned by the ham 
 mer ; but every one of simple form is now made in dies struck with a drop-hammer or 
 stamp. Some manufacturers employ 8 or 10 drop machines. 
 
 Mg. 1135. & 1136. are two views of the stamp ; a is a large stone, the more massy the 
 better J 6, the anvil on which the die e is secured by four screws, as shown in the ground 
 plan, Jig. 1137. In fig. 1 135., a a are two upright square prisms, set diagonally with the 
 
 1131 
 
 <3 
 
 angles opposed to each other ; between which the hammer or drop d slides truly, t>y 
 means of nicely fitted angular grooves or recesses in its sides. The hammer is raised by 
 pulling the rope/, which passes over the pulley c, and is let fall from different heights. 
 according to the impulse required. Vessels which are less in diameter at the top and 
 bottom than in the middle, must either be raised by the stamp in two pieces, or raised 
 by a hand hammer. The die is usually made of east steeL When it is placed upon the 
 
 t 
 
446 
 
 PLATED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 anvil, and the plated metal is cut into pieces of proper size, the top of the die is then 
 surrounded with a lute made of oil and clay, for an inch or two above its surface ■ and 
 the cavity is filled with melted lead. The under face of the stamp-hammer has a plate 
 of iron called the licker^ip fitted into it, about the area of the die. Whenever the lead 
 has become solid, the hammer is raised to a certain height, and dropped down upon it • 
 and as the under face of the licker-up is made rough like- a rasp, it firmly adheres to' 
 the lead, so as to lift it afterwards with the hammer. The plated metal is now placed 
 over the die, and the hammer mounted with its lead is let fall repeatedly upon it, till 
 the impression on the metal is complete. If the vessel to be struck be of any con- 
 siderable depth, two or three dies may be used, of progressive sizes in succession. But 
 it occasionally happens that when the vessel has a long conical neck, recourse must be 
 had to an auxiliary operation, called punching. See the embossing punches, fig. 1138. 
 These are made of cast steel, with their hollows turned out in the lathe. The; pieces 
 a, b are of lead. The punching is performed by a series of these tools, of different 
 sizes, beginning with the largest, and ending with the least. By this means a hollow 
 cone, 3 or 4 inches deep, and an inch diameter, may be raised out of a flat plate. 
 These punches are struck with a hand hammer also, for small articles of too great 
 delicacy for the drop. Indeed it frequently happens that one part of an article is 
 executed by the stamp and another by the hand. 
 
 Cylindrical and conical vessels are mostly formed by bending and soldering. The 
 bending Is performed on blocks of wood, with wooden mallets ; but the machine so 
 much used by the tin-smiths, to form their tubes and cylindric vessels (see the end section, 
 ii.* yigs. 1139 and 1140), might be employed with advantage. 
 
 ^\ This consists of 3 iron rollers fixed in an iron frame. A, B, c„ 
 are the three cylinders, and a, b, c, d, the riband or sheet 
 of metal passed through them to receive the cylindrical oi 
 conical curvature. The upper roller A can be raised or 
 lowered at pleasure, in order to modify the diameter of 
 the tube ; and when one end of the roller is higher than 
 the other, the conical curvature is given. The edges of the plated cylinders or cones 
 are soldered with an alloy composed of silver and brass. An alloy of silver and copper 
 is somewhat more fusible ; but that of brass and silver answers best for plated meial, 
 the brass being in very small proportion, lest the color of the plate be affected. Calcined 
 borax mixed with sandiver (the salt skimmed from the pots of crown glass) is used along 
 with the alloy, in the act of soldering. The seam of the plated 1 metal being smeared with 
 that saline mixture made into a pap with water, and the bi'.s of laminated solder, cut small 
 with scissors, laid on, the seam is exposed to the flame of an oil blowpipe, or to that of 
 charcoal urged by bellows in a little forge-hearth, till the solder melts and flows evenly 
 along the junction. The use of the sandiver seems to be, to prevent the iron wire that 
 binds the plated metal tube from being soldered to it. 
 
 Mouldings are sometimes formed upon the edges of vessels, which are not merely 
 ornamental, but give strength and stiffness. These are fashioned by an instrument 
 called a swage, represented in figs. 1141 and 1142. The part A lifts up by a joint, and the 
 metal to be swaged is placed between the dies, as shown in the figures ; the tail e 
 being held in the jaws of a vice, while the shear-shaped hammer rests upon it. By 
 striking on the head a, while the metal nlate is shifted successively forwards, the beading 
 is formed. In fig. 1141 the tooth a is a guide to regulate the distance between the 
 bead and the edge. A similar effect is produced of late years in a neater and more expe- 
 A 
 
 1143 
 
 1144 
 
 ditious manner by the rollers, figs. 1142, 1143. Fig. 1145 is a section to show the 
 form of the bead. The two wheels a, a, fig. 1143 are placed upon axes, two of which 
 are furnished with toothed pinions in their middle; the lower one, being turned bv the 
 
PLATINUM MOHR. 447 
 
 handle, gives motion to the upper. The groove in the upper wheel corresponds with 
 the bead in the lower, so that the slip of metal passed through between I hem assumes the 
 same figure. 
 
 The greatest improvement made in this branch of manufacture, is the introduction of 
 silver edges, beads, and mouldings, instead of the plated ones, which from their promi- 
 nence had their silver surface speedily worn off, and thus assumed a brassy look. The 
 silver destined to form the ornamental edgings is laminated exceedingly thin ; a square 
 inch sometimes weighing no more than 10 or 12 grains. This is too fragile to bear the 
 action of the opposite steel dies of the swage above described. It is necessary, therefore, 
 that the sunk part of the die should be steel, and the opposite side lead, as was observed 
 in the stamping; and this is the method now generally employed to form these silver or- 
 naments. The inside shell of this silver moulding is filled with soft solder, and then bent 
 into the requisite form. 
 
 The base of candlesticks is generally made in a die by the stamp, as well as the 
 neck, the dish part of the nozzle or socket, and the tubular stem or pillar. The dif- 
 ferent parts are united, some wilh soft and others with hard solder. The branches of 
 candlesticks are formed in two semi-cylindrical halves, like the feet of tea-urns. When 
 an article is to be engraved on, an extra plate of silver is applied at the proper part, 
 while the plate is still flat, and fixed by burnishing with great pressure over a hot 
 anvil. This is a species of welding. 
 
 The last finish of plated goods is given by burnishing-tools of bloodstone, fixed in sheet- 
 iron cases, or hardened steel, finely polished. 
 
 The ingots for lamination might probably be plated with advantage by the delicate 
 pressure process employed for silvering copper wire. 
 
 The total value of the plate, plated ware, jewellery, and watches, exported in the year 
 1836, was 338,889/. ; but the value of the plated goods is not given in the tables of rev- 
 enue. M. Parquin, the greatest manufacturer of plated goods in Paris (or France, for 
 this business is monopolized by the capital), who makes to the value of 700,000 francs 
 per annum, out of '.he 1,500,000 which, he says, is the whole internal consumption of the 
 kingdom, states that the internal consumption of the United Kingdom amounts to 30,000,000, 
 or 20 times that of France ! He adds, that our common laminated copper costs 26 sous 
 the pound, while theirs costs 34. Their plated goods are fashioned, not in general 
 with stamps, but by the pressure of tools upon wood moulds in the turning lathe, which 
 is a great economy of capital to the manufacturer. There are factories at 'Birming- 
 ham which possess a heavy stock of 300,000 different die-moulds. See Stamping op 
 Metals. 
 
 PLATINUM MOHR. This interesting preparation, which so rapidly oxidizes alco- 
 hol into acetic acid, &c, by what has been called in chemistry the catalytic or contact 
 action, is most easily prepared by the following process of M. Boettger : — the insoluble 
 powder of potash-chlorure or ammonia-chlorure of platinum is to be moistened with 
 suphuric acid (oil of vitriol), and a bit of zinc is to be laid in, the mixture. The plati- 
 num becomes reduced into a black powder, which is to be washed first with muriatic 
 acid and then with water. The fineness of this powder depends upon that of the 
 saline powders employed to make it ; so that if these be previously finely ground, 
 the platinum-mohr will be also very fine, and proportionally powerful as a chemical 
 agent. ' 
 
 The following easy method of preparing igniferous black platinum, proposed thirty 
 years ago by M. Descotil, has been recently recommended by M. Dobereiner : — 
 
 Melt platina ore with double its weight of zine, reduce the alloy to powder, and 
 treat it first with dilute sulphuric acid, and next with dilute nitric acid, to oxidize and 
 dissolve out all the zinc, which, contrary to one's expectations, is somewhat difficult to 
 do, even at a boiling heat. The insoluble black-gray powder contains some osmiuret 
 of iridium, united with the crude platinum. This compound acts like simple platina- 
 black, after it has been purified by digestion in potash lye, and washing with water. 
 Its oxidizing power is so great, as to transform not only the formic acid into the 
 carbonic, and alcohol into vinegar, but even some osmic acid, from the metallic 
 osmium. The above powder explodes by heat like gunpowder. 
 
 When the platina-mofo - prepared by means of zinc is moistened with alcohol, it be- 
 comes incandescent, and emits osmic acid; but if it be mixed with alcohol into a paste, 
 and spread upon a watch-glass, nothing but acetic acid will be disengaged ; affording an 
 elegant means of diffusing the odour of vinegar in an apartment. See Serz. i. 423. 
 
 Platinizing by the moist way. Manufacturing and operative chemists will find it 
 exceedingly valuable in order to produce a covering of platina for their copper, &c, 
 vessels. The experiment succeeds best when we make use of a dilute solution of the 
 double chloride of soda and platina. Three immersions suffice ; between each immersion 
 it is necessary to dry the surface with fine linen, rubbing rather briskly, after which it 
 
448 PLATINUM. 
 
 must be cleansed with levigated chalk before re-immersion. When copper has been gilded 
 in the moist way, the surface has not a beautiful tint ; but, if the copper be previously 
 covered with a pellicle of platina, a very beautiful golden surface may be produced. 
 
 PLATINUM is a metal of a grayish-white color, resembling in a good measure polished 
 steel. It is harder than silver, and of about double its density, being of specific gravity 
 21. It is so infusible, that no considerable portion of it can be melted by the strongest 
 heats of our furnaces. It is unchangeable in the air and water ; nor does a while heat 
 impair its polish. The only acid which dissolves it, is the nitro-muriatic ; the muriate or 
 chloride thus formed, affords, with pure ammonia or sal ammoniac, a triple salt in a 
 yellow powder, convertible into the pure metal by a red heat. This character distinguishes 
 platinum from every other metal. 
 
 Native Platinum. — In the natural state it is never pure, being alloyed with several 
 other metals. It occurs only under the form of grains, which areusually flattened, and 
 resemble in shape the gold pepitas. Their size is in general less than linseed, although 
 in some cases they equal hempseed, and, occasionally, peas. One piece brought from 
 Choco, in Peru, and presented to the Cabinet of Berlin, by M. Humboldt, weighs 55 
 grammes = 850 grains, or nearly 2 oz. avoirdupois. The greatest lump of native plati- 
 num known, till of late years, was one in the Royal Museum of Madrid, which was found 
 in 1814 in the gold mineof Condoto, province of Novita, at Choco. Its size is greater 
 than a turkey's egg, (about 2 inches one diameter, and 4 inches the other,) and its weight 
 760 grammes, = 24 oz., or fully 2 lbs. troy. See infri. 
 
 The color of the grains of native platinum is generally a grayish-white, like tarnished 
 Bteel. The cavities of the rough grains are often filled with earthy and ferruginous mat- 
 ters, or sometimes with small grains of black oxyde of iron, adhering to the surface of 
 the platinum grains. Their specific gravity is also much lower than that of forged pu.'e 
 platinum ; varying from 15 in the small particles, to 18-94 in M. Humboldt's large speci- 
 men. This relative lightness is owing to the presence of iron, copper, lead, and chrome ; 
 besides its other more lately discovered metallic constituents, palladium, osmium, rhodium, 
 and iridium. 
 
 Its main localities in the New Continent, are in the three following districts : — 
 
 1. At Choco, in the neighborhood of Barbacoas, and generally on the coasts of the 
 South Sea, or on the western slopes of the Cordillera of the Andes, between the 2d 
 and the 6th degrees of north latitude. The gold-washings that furnish most platinum, 
 are those of Condoto, in the province of Novita ; those of Santa Rita, or Viroviro, of 
 Santa Lucia, of the ravine- of Iro, and Apoto, between Novita and Taddo. The de- 
 posite of gold and platinum grains is found in alluvial ground, at a depth of about 20 
 feet. The gold is separated from the platinum by picking with the hand, and also by 
 amalgamation ; formerly, when it was imagined that platinum might be used to debase 
 gold, the grains of the former metal were thrown into the rivers, through which mistaken 
 opinion an immense quantity of it was lost. 
 
 2. Platinum grains are found in Brazil, but always in the alluvial lands that contain 
 gold, particularly in those of Matto-grosso. The ore of this country is somewhat different 
 from that of Choco. It is in grains, which seem to be fragments of a spongy substance. 
 The whole of the particles are nearly globular, exhibiting a surface formed of small 
 spheroidal protuberances strongly cohering together, whose interstices are clean, and even 
 brilliant. 
 
 This platinum includes many small particles of gold, but none of the magnetic iron- 
 sand or of the small zircons which accompany the Peruvian ore. It is mixed with small 
 grains of nativepalladium, which may be recognised by their fibrous or radiated structure, 
 and particularly by their chemical characters. 
 
 3. Platinum grains are found in Hayti, or Saint Domingo, in the sand of the river 
 Jacky, near the mountains of Sibao. Like-those of Choco, they are in small brilliant 
 grains, as if polished by friction. The sand containing them is quartzose and ferruginous. 
 This native platinum contains, like that of Choco, chromium, copper, osmium, iridium, 
 rhodium, palladium, and probably titanium. Vauquelin could find no gold among the 
 grains. 
 
 Platinum has been discovered lately in the Russian territories, in the auriferous sands 
 of Kuschwa, 250 wersts from Ekaterinebourg, and consequently in a geological position 
 which seems to be analogous with that of South America. 
 
 These auriferous sands are, indeed, almost all superficial; they cover an argillaceous 
 soil ; and include, along with gold and platinum, debris of doleritc (a kind of green-stone), 
 protoxyde of iron, grains of corundum, &c. The platinum grains are not so flat as those 
 from Choco, but they are thicker ; they have less brilliancy, and more of a leaden hue. 
 This platinum, by M. Laugier's analysis, is similar in purity to that of Choco ; but the 
 leaden-gray grains, which were taken for a mixture of osmium and iridium, are merely an 
 alloy of platinum, containing 25 per cent, of these metals. 
 
 The mines of Brazil, Columbia, and Saint Domingo furnish altogether only about 400 
 iilos. of platinum ore per annum; but those of Russia produce above 1800 kilos. The 
 
PLATINUM. 44 9 
 
 latter were discovered in 1822, and were first worked in 1824. They are all situated in 
 .he Ural mountains. The ore is disseminated in an argillaceous sand, of a greenish-gray 
 color, resulting from the disintegration of the surrounding rocks, and constitutes from 1 
 to 3 parts in 4000 of the sand. Occasionally it has been found in lumps weighing 8 kilo- 
 grammes (16 lbs. !), but it generally occurs in blackish angular grains, which contain 
 70 per cent, of platinum, and 3 to 5 of iridium. The ore of Goro-Blagodatz is in small 
 flattened grains, which contain 88 per cent, of this precious metal. The osmiure of iri- 
 dium is found upon a great many points of .the Urals, throughout a space of 140 leagues, 
 being a product accessory to the gold washings. 32 kilogrammes of osmiure are collected 
 there annually, which contain upon an average 2 per cent, of platinum. 
 
 M. Vauquelin found nearly ten per cent, of platinum in an ore of argentiferous cop- 
 per, which was transmitted to him as coming from Guadalcanal in Spain. This would be 
 ' the only example of platinum existing in a rock, and in a vein. As the same Unrig has 
 not again been met with, even in other specimens from Guadalcanal, we must delay 
 drawing geological inferences, till a new example has confirmed the authenticity of 
 the first. 
 
 Platinum has been known in Europe only since 1748, though it was noticed by Ulloa 
 in 1741. It was compared at first to gold; and was, in fact, brought into the market 
 under the name of white gold. The term platinum, however, is derived from the Spanish 
 word plata, silver, on account of its resemblance in color to that metal. 
 
 The whole of the platinum ore from the Urals is sent to St. Petersburg, where it is 
 treated by the following simple process : — 
 
 One part of the ore is put in open platina vessels, capable of containing from 6 to 
 8 lbs., along with 3 parts of muriatic acid at 25° B. and 1 part of nitric acid at 40°. 
 Thirty of these vessels are placed upon a sand-bath covered with a glazed dome with 
 moveable panes, which is surmounted by a ventilating chimney to carry the vapors 
 out of the laboratory. Heat is applied for 8 or 10 hours, till no more red vapors 
 appear ; a proof that the' whole nitric acid is decomposed, though some of the muriatic 
 remains. After settling, the supernatant liquid is decanted off into large cylindrical glass 
 vessels, the residuum is washed, and the washing is also decanted off. A fresh quantity 
 of nitro-muriatic acid is now poured upon the residuum. This treatment is repeat- 
 ed till the whole solid matter has eventually disappeared. The ore requires for 
 solution from 10 to 15 times its weight of nitro-muriatic acid, according to the size of its 
 grains. 
 
 The solutions thus made are all acid; a circumstance essential to prevent the iridium 
 from precipitating with the platinum, by the water of ammonia, which is next added. 
 The deposite being allowed to form, the mother waters are poured off, the precipitate is 
 washed with cold water, dried, and calcined in crucibles of platinum. 
 
 The mother-waters and the washings are afterwards treated separately. The first 
 being concentrated to one twelfth of their bulk in glass retorts, on cooling they let fall 
 the iridium in the state of an ammoniacal chloride, constituting a dark-purple powder, 
 occasionally crystallized in regular octahedrons. The washings are evaporated to dryness 
 in porcelain vessels ; the residuum is calcined and treated like fresh ore ; but the platinum 
 it affords needs a second purification. 
 
 For agglomerating the platinum, the spongy mass is pounded in bronze mortars ; the 
 powder is passed through a fine sieve, and put into a cylinder of the intended size of the 
 ingot. The cylinder is fitted with a rammer, which is forced in by a coining press, till 
 the powder be much condensed. It is then turned out of the mould, and baked 36 hours 
 in a porcelain kiln, after which it may be readily forged, if it be pure, and may receive 
 any desired form from the hammer. It contracts in volume from l-6lh to l-5lh during 
 the calcination. The cost of the manufacture of platinum is fixed by the administration 
 at 32 francs the Russian pound ; but so great a sum is never expended upon it. 
 
 For Dr. Wollaston's process, see Phil. Trans. 1829, Part I. 
 
 Platinum furnishes most valuable vessels to both analytical and manufacturing 
 chemists. It may be beat out into leaves of such thinness as to be blown about with the 
 breath. 
 
 This metal is applied to porcelain by two different processes ; sometimes in a 
 rather coarse powder, applied by the brush, like gold, to form ornamental figures; 
 sometimes in a state of extreme division, obtained by decomposing its muriatic solution, 
 by means of an essential oil such as rosemary or lavender. In this case, it must be 
 evenly spread over the whole ground. Both modes of application give rise to a steely 
 lustre. 
 
 The properties possessed in common by gold and platinum, have several times given 
 occasion to fraudulent admixtures, which have deceived the assayers. M. Vauquelin 
 having executed a series o/ experiments to elucidate this subject, drew the following con 
 illusions : — 
 
 Vol. II. 30 
 
450 
 
 PLUMBAGO. 
 
 If the platinum do not exced 30 or 40 parts in the thousand of the alloy, the gold 
 does not retain any of it when the parting is made with nitric acid in the usual way; 
 and when the proportion of platinum is greater, the fraud becomes manifest ; 1st by the 
 higher temperature required to pass it through the cupel, and to form a round button ; 
 2. by the absence of the lightning, fulguration, or coruscation j 3. by the dull white 
 color of the button and its crystallized surface ; 4. by the straw-yellow color which 
 platinum communicates to the. aquafortis in the parting; 5. by -the straw-yellow color, 
 bordering on white, of the cornet, after it is annealed. If the platinum amounts to one 
 fourth of the gold, we must add to the alloy at least 3 times its weight of fine silver, 
 laminate it very thin, anneal somewhat strongly, boil it half an hour in the first aquafoitis, 
 and at least a quarter of an hour in the second, in order that the acid may dissolve the 
 whole of the platinum. 
 
 AVVi-e it required to determine exactly the proportions of platinum contained in an 
 alloy of copper, silver, gold, and platinum, the amount of the copper may be found in 
 the first place by cupellation, then the respective quantities of the three other metals 
 may be learned by a process founded, 1. upon the property possessed by sulphuric acid 
 of dissolving silver without affecting gold or platinum ; and, 2. upon the property of pla- 
 tinum being soluble in the nitric acid, when it is alloyed with a certain quantity of gold 
 and silver. 
 
 According to Boussingault, the annual product of platinum in America does not exceed 
 8| cwts. At Nisr-hne-Tagitsk, in 1824, a lump of native platinum weighing fully It) lbs. 
 was found ; and in 1830, "another lump, of nearly double size, which weighed 35| Prus. 
 Bian marcs; fully 18 lbs. avoirdupois. 
 
 PRODUCTION OF PLATINUM IN TtlE URAL. 
 
 From 1822 to 1827 inclusively, 52 puds* and 22| pounds. 
 
 1828 94 
 
 1829 78 31* 
 
 1830 105 1 
 • 1831 to 1833 348 15 
 
 Analises of the Plstinum Ores of the Urals, and of that from Barbacoas on the 
 Pacific, between the 2d and 6'lh degrees of northern latitude. 
 
 
 From Nischne- I'agilsk. 
 Berzelius. 
 
 Goroblagodat. 
 Osann. 
 
 Barbacoas. 
 Berzelius. 
 
 
 Magnetic. 
 
 Not Magnetic. 
 
 
 
 Platinum 
 
 73-58 
 
 78-94 
 
 83-07 86-50 
 
 84-30 
 
 Iridium - . 
 
 2-35 
 
 i> 4-97 
 
 1-91 
 
 — 
 
 1-46 
 
 Rhodium 
 
 MS 
 
 0-86 
 
 0-59 
 
 M5 
 
 3-46 
 
 Palladium 
 
 0-30 
 
 0-28 
 
 0-26 
 
 M0 
 
 1-06 
 
 Iron 
 
 12-98 
 
 11-04 
 
 10-79 
 
 8-32 
 
 5-31 
 
 Copper - 
 
 5-20 
 
 0-70 
 
 1-30 
 
 045 
 
 0-74 
 
 Undissolved "1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Osmium and > 
 
 2-30 
 
 1-96 
 
 1-80 
 
 1-40 
 
 _J_ 
 
 Iridium J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Osmium 
 
 
 
 
 
 __ 
 
 
 
 1-03 
 
 Quartz - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 0-60 
 
 Lime - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 0-12 
 
 97-86 
 
 98-75 
 
 99-72 
 
 98-92 
 
 98-08 
 
 PLUMBAGO. See Graphite, for its mineralogical and chemical characters. The 
 mountain at Borrowdale, in which the black-lead is mined, is 2000 feet high, and the en- 
 trance to the mine is lOOO feet below its summit. This valuable mineral became so com- 
 mon a subject of robbery about a century ago, as to have enriched, it was said, a great 
 many persons living in the neighborhood. Even the guard stationed over it by the pro. 
 prietors was of little avail against men infuriated with the love of plunder; since in those 
 days a body of miners broke into the mine by main force, and held possession of it for a 
 considerable lime. 
 
 The treasure is now protected by a strong building, consisting of four rooms upon 
 the ground floor,- and immediately under one of them is the opening, secured by a trap- 
 door, through which alone workmen can enter the interior of the mountain. In this 
 apartment, called the dressing-room, the miners change their ordinary clothes for their 
 
 • (hie pud «40 Russian pounds, = 69,956 Prussian marcs (See Silver) ; 1 pound = 96 zolotni&B 
 
PORCELAIN. 451 
 
 wortung dress, as they come in, and after their six hours' post or journey, they again 
 change their dress, under the superintendence of the steward, before they are suffered to 
 go out. In the innermost of the four rooms, two men are seated at a large table, sorting 
 and dressing the plumbago, who are locked in while at work, and watched by the steward 
 from an adjoining room, who is armed with two loaded blunderbusses. Such formidable 
 apparatus of security is deemed requisite to check the pilfering spirit of the Cumberland 
 mountaineers. 
 
 The cleansed black-lead is packed up into strong casks, which hold 1 cwt. each. These 
 are all despatched to the warehouse of the proprietors in London, where the black-lead 
 is sold monthly by auction, at a price ef from 35s. to 4os. a pound. 
 
 In some years, the net produce of the six weeks' annual working of the mine has, it is 
 said, amounted to 30,0002. or 40,0002. 
 
 PLUSH (Panne, Peluche, Fr. ; Wollsammet, Plusch, Germ.) is a textile fabric, haVing 
 a sort of velvet nap or sbag upon one side. It is composed regularly of a woof of a 
 single woollen thread, and a two-fold warp, the one, wool of two threads twisted, the other, 
 goat's or camel's hair. There are also several sorts of plush made entirely of worsted. 
 It is manufactured, like velvet, in a loom with three treadles ; two of which separate 
 and depress the woollen warp, and the third raises the hair-warp, whereupon the weaver, 
 throwing the shuttle, passes the woof between the woollen and hair warp ; afterwards, 
 laying a brass broach or needle under that of the hair, he cuts it with a inife (see 
 Fustian) destined for that use, running its fine slender point along in the hollow of the 
 guide-broach, to the end of a piece extended upon a table. Thus the surface of the 
 plush receives its velvety appearance. This stuff is also made of cotton and silk. 
 
 POINT NET is a style of lace formerly much in vogue, but now superseded by the 
 bobbin-net manufacture. 
 
 POLYCHROMATE (Polychromate, or chrysavfimic acid), a. new compound from 
 which a variety of colours may be prepared. 
 
 Chrysammic acid, if such be the acid here alluded to, has been known hitherto only 
 to the chemist as the result of the action of nitric acid upon powdered aloes. Obtained 
 by this process, chrysammic acid appears in golden crystals. The salts of compounds 
 of this acid are remarkable for their brilliancy of colour ; but their application in the 
 arts is perfectly new. 
 
 PORCELAIN, is the finest kind of pottery-ware. It is considered under that 
 title. 
 
 The articles in the Exhibition under the head Statuary Porcelain, including Parian, 
 Carrara, <Stc, are produced by " casting." As the most direct method of illustrating this 
 process, let us suppose the object under view to be a figure or group, and this we will 
 assume to be 2 feet high in the model. The clay, which is used in a semi-liquid state, about 
 the consistency of cream, and called "slip," is poured into the moulds forming the va- 
 rious parts of the subject (sometimes as many as fifty) : the shrinking that occurs before 
 these casHs can be taken out of the mould, which is caused by the absorbent nature of 
 the plaster of which the mould is composed, is equal to a reduction of one inch and a 
 half in the height. These casts are then put together by the "figure-maker," the seams 
 (consequent upon the marks caused by the subdivisions of the moulds) are then carefully 
 removed, and the whole worked upon to restore the cast to the same degree of finish as 
 the original model. The work is then thoroughly dried, to be in a fit state for firing, 
 as, if put in the oven while damp, the sudden contraction consequent upon the great 
 degree of heat instantaneously applied would be very liable to cause it to crack : in 
 the process it again suffers a further loss of one inch and a half by evaporation, and it 
 is now but 1 foot 9 inches. Again in the "firing " of the bisque oven, its most severe 
 ordeal, it is diminished 3 inches, and is then but 18 inches high, being 6 inches or one 
 fourth less than the original. JS\; w , as the contraction should equally affect every por- 
 tion of the details of the work, in order to realize a faithful copy, and as added to this 
 contingency are the risks in the oven of being " over-fired," by which it would be 
 melted into a mass, and of being " short-fired," by which its surface would be im- 
 perfect, it is readily evident that a series of difficulties present themselves which 
 require considerable practical experience successfully to meet. The moulds are made 
 of plaster of Paris, which, when properly prepared, has the property of absorbing water 
 so effectually that the moisture is extracted from the clay, and the ware is enabled to 
 leave the mould, or "deliver" with care and rapidity. Prior to use the plaster (gypsum) 
 is put into long troughs, having a fire running underneath them, by which means the 
 water is drawn off, and it remains in a state of soft powder; and if its own proportion 
 of water be again added to it, it will immediately set into a firm compact body, which 
 is the case when it is mixed to form the mould. 
 
 The following are the degrees of temperature in which the different branches 
 »ork: — 
 
452 PORCELAIN. 
 
 Plate-makers' hothouse ..... 108° Fahr. 
 
 Dish-makers' hothouse ... 106 „ 
 
 Printers' shop - - - - - 90 „ 
 
 Throwers' hothouse - - - - 98 „ 
 
 The branches against which the temperature of the hothouse is placed, require that 
 heat for drying their work and getting it off their moulds. The outer shops g in which 
 they work may be from five to ten degrees less. 
 
 Variety of vases, garden pots, and articles of ordinary use. 
 
 .Ancient font, from the original in Winchester Cathedral. 
 
 The Portland jug. Lily of the valley jug. The acanthus garden vase. 
 
 Fine porcelain. 
 
 A vase of Etruscan form, with chased and burnished gold ornaments on a blue ground, 
 decorated with floral wreaths enamelled, in colours, &c, with pedestal 40 inches high. 
 
 A variety of ornamental vases, chased and gilded with various designs and otherwise. 
 
 "Verulam bottles, ribbon wreath, and group of flowers, turquoise ribbon, and group 
 of flowers ; and gold lattice. 
 
 Large tripod for flower stand, blue ground decorated in chased and burnished gold. 
 
 The Dove tazze and pedestal. The birds and embossments in solid gold, chased 
 turquoise ground and floral wreath, <fee. 'Another with royal blue grounds, the details 
 of ornament in gold and silver. 
 
 Enamel colours arc metallic oxides incorporated with a fusible flux ; gold precipitated 
 by tin furnishes the crimson, rose, and purple ; oxides of iron and chrome produce reds ; 
 the same oxides yield black and brown, also obtained from manganese and cobalt ; 
 orange is from oxides of uranium, chrome, antimony, and iron ; greens from oxides of 
 chrome and copper ; blue from oxides of cobalt and zinc. The fluxes are borax, flint, 
 oxides of lead, &a. They are worked in essential oils and turpentine, and a very great 
 disadvantage under which the artist labours, is that the tints upon the palette are in 
 most cases different from those they assume when they have undergone the necessary 
 heaTi, which not only brings out the true colour, but also, by partially softening the glaze 
 and the flux, causes the colour to become fixed to the ware. This disadvantage wUl be 
 immediately apparent in the case where a peculiar delicacy of tint is required, as in 
 flesh stones for instance. But the difficulty does not end here, for as a definite heat 
 can alone give to a colour a perfect hue, and as the colour is continually varying with 
 the different stages of graduated heat, another risk is incurred, that resulting from 
 the liability of its receiving the heat in a greater or less degree, termed " over-fired" 
 and " short-fired." As an instance of its consequence, we cite rose colour or crimson, 
 which when used by the painter is a dirty violet or drab ; during the process of firing 
 it gradually varies with the increase of heat from a brown to a dull reddish hue, and 
 from that progressively to its proper tint. But if by want of judgment or inattention 
 of the fireman the heat is allowed to exceed that point, the beauty and brilliancy of the 
 colour are destroyed beyond remedy, and it becomes a dull purple. On the other hand, 
 should the fire be too slack, the colour is presented in one of its intermediate stages, 
 as already described, but in this case extra heat will restore it. Nor must we forget to 
 allude to casualties of cracking and breaking in the kilns by the heat being-increased 
 or withdrawn too suddenly, a risk to which the larger articles are peculiarly liable. 
 These vicissitudes render enamel painting in its higher branches a most unsatisfactory 
 and disheartening study, and enhance the value of those productions which are really 
 successful and meritorious. 
 
 There are two distinct methods of printing in use for china and earthenware ; one is 
 transferred on the bisque, and is the method by which the ordinary printed ware is 
 produced, and the other is transferred on the glaze. The first is called " press printing," 
 and the latter " bat printing." The engraving is executed upon copper plates, and for 
 press printing is cut very deep, to enable it to hold a sufficiency of colour to give a firm 
 and full transfer to the ware. The printer's shop is furnished with a brisk stove, having an 
 iron plate on the top immediately over the fire, for the convenience of warming the colour 
 while being worked ; also a roller press and tubs. The printer has two female assistants 
 called " transferers," and also a girl called a " cutter." The copper plate is charged with 
 colour mixed with thick boiled oil by means of a knife and " dabber," while held on the 
 hot stove plate for the purpose of keeping the colour fluid ; and the engraved portion 
 being filled, the superfluous colour is scraped off the surface of the copper by the knife, 
 which is further cleaned by being rubbed with a boss made of leather. A thick firm 
 oil is required to keep the different parts of the design from flowing into a mass, or be- 
 coming confused while under the pressure of Jhe rubber, in the process of transferring. 
 A sheet of paper of the necessary size and of a peculiarly thin texture, called " pottery 
 tissue," after being saturated with a thin solution of soap and water, is placed upon the 
 copper plate, and being put under the action of the press, the paper is carefully drawn off 
 again, (the engraving being placed on the stove,) bringing with it the colour by which 
 
PORCELAIN. 453 
 
 the plate was charged constituting the pattern. This impression is given to the " cutter," 
 who cuts away the superfluous paper about it ; and if the pattern consists of a border and 
 a centre the border is separated from the centre, as being more convenient to fit to the 
 ware when divided. It is then laid bv a transferer upon the ware and rubbed first with 
 a small piece of soaped flannel to fix it, and afterwards with a rubber formed of rolled 
 flanneL The rubber is applied to the impression very forcibly, the friction causing the 
 colour to adhere firmly to the bisque surface, by which it is partially imbibed; it is then 
 immersed in a tub of water, and the paper washed entirely away with a sponge, the 
 colour, from its adhesion to the ware and being mixed with oil, remaining unaffected. 
 U is now necessary, prior to " glazing," to get rid of this oil, which is done by submitting 
 the ware to heat in what are called " hardening kilns," sufficient to destroy it and leave 
 the colour pure. This is a necessary process as the glaze, being mixed with water, 
 would be rejected by the print, while the oil remained in the colour. 
 
 The "bat printing" is done upon the glaze, and the engravings are for this style ex- 
 ceedingly fine, and no greater depth is required than for ordinary book engravings. 
 The impression is not submitted to the heat necessary for that in the bisque, and the 
 medium of conveying it to the ware is also much purer. The copper plate is first 
 charged with linseed oil, and cleaned off by hand, so that the engraved portion only re- 
 tains it A preparation of glue being run upon flat dishes about a quarter of an inch 
 thick, is cut to the size required for the subject, and then pressed upon it, and being 
 immediately removed, draws on its surface the oil with which the engraving was filled. 
 The glue is then pressed upon the ware, with the oiled part next the glaze, and being 
 again removed, the design remains; though, being in a pure oil, scarcely perceptible. 
 Colour finely ground is then dusted upon it with cotton wool, and a sufficiency adhering 
 to the oil leaves the impression perfect, and ready to be fired in the enamel kilns. 
 
 We shall refer in the first place to the preparation of the two principal ingredients, 
 flint and natural clay for the use of the potter, and afterwards to the blending of them. 
 The flint stones are first calcined, and this is effected in a kiln similar to that used for 
 lime burning. These stones are separated by alternate layers of coal, and the burning 
 usually occupies about 24 hours. The flints are then very white and very brittle, and 
 ready to be crushed by the "stamper," a machine composed of upright shafts of wood, 
 6 feet long and about 8 inches square, heavily loaded with iron at the lower end, which, 
 by means of applied power, are made to rise and fall in succession on the flints, contained 
 in a strong grated box It is then removed to the grinding vats, which are from 12 to 
 14 feet in diameter, and 4 feet deep, paved with chert stone, large blocks of which being 
 also worked round by arms connected with a central vertical shaft, propelled by an 
 engine, become a powerful grinding medium. This peculiar stone is used because of 
 its chemical affinity to the fluid, which therefore suffers no deterioration from the mix- 
 ture of the abraded particles, which necessarily result from the friction, a matter of seri- 
 ous moment In these vats the fluid is ground in water, until it attains the consistency 
 of thick cream, when it is drawn off and conveyed by troughs into the washing chamber. 
 Here it undergoes a further purification, more water is added, and it is kept in a state 
 of gentle agitation by means of revolving arms of wood, thus keeping the finer particles 
 in suspension while the liquid is again drawn away in pipes to a tank below. The 
 sediment is afterwards reground. 
 
 The cleansing process is not yet complete, for when the fluid has passed into these 
 tanks to about half their depth, they are filled up with water, which is repeatedly 
 changed, until it is considered sufficiently fine and free from all foreign matters ; it is then 
 fit for use. The clay requires no grinding. It is received from the merchants pre- 
 pared, and has merely to be ir<xed with water till it attains the same degree of fluidity 
 as the flints. The next stage is the "mixing," for which purpose the different "slips" 
 (the technical term of the fluid clays, <fec) are successively run off into the blending 
 reservoir, against the inner side of which are " gauging rods," by which the necessary 
 proportion of each material is regulated. The mixture is now passed into other reser- 
 voirs, through fine sieves, on " lawns" woven of silk, and containing 300 threads to the 
 square inch. A pint'of slip of Dorsetshire or Devonshire clay weighs 24 ounces, of 
 proper consistence; of Cornish clay 26 ounces; and of flint 32 ounces. Finally the 
 slip is conveyed to a series of large open kilns heated underneath by means of flues, and 
 about 9 inches deep. The excessive moisture is thus evaporated, and in about 24 hours 
 the mixture becomes tolerably firm in substance. It is then cut into large blocks and 
 conveyed to an adjoining building to undergo the process of " milling." The mill is in the 
 form of a hollow cone inverted, with a square aperture or tube at the lower part In the 
 centre is a vertical shaft set with broad knives. When this shaft is in action (worked 
 by steam power), the soft clay is thrown downwards, being alternately cut and pressed 
 until it exudes from, the aperture at the bottom in a perfectly plastic state, and ready 
 for lie hand of the potter. 
 
 In enamelling gi ound-layiug is the first process in operating on all designs to whicr 1 
 it is applied; it is extremely simple, requiring principally lightness and delicacy ci 
 
454 POKCELAIN. 
 
 hand. A coat of boiled oil adapted to the purpose being laid upon the ware with a 
 pencil, and afterwards levelled, or as it is technically termed " bossed," until the surface 
 is perfectly uniform ; as the deposit of more oil on one part than another would cause a 
 proportionate increase of colour to adhere, and consequently produce a variation of tint. 
 This being done, the colour which is in a state of fine powder, is dusted on the oiled 
 surface with cotton wool ; a sufficient quantity readily attaches itself, and the superfluity 
 is cleared off by the same medium. If it be requisite to preserve a panel ornament or 
 any object white upon the ground, an additional process is necessary, called "stencilling." 
 The stencil (generally a mixture of rose-pink, sugar, and water) is laid on in the form 
 desired with a pencil, so as entirely to protect the surface of the ware, from the oil, and 
 the process of " grounding," as previously described, ensues. It is then dried in an oven 
 to harden the oil and colour, and immersed in water, which penetrates to the stencil, 
 and softening the sugar, is then easily washed off, carrying with it any portion of colour 
 or oil that may be upon ify and leaving the ware perfectly clean. It is sometimes 
 necessary where great depth of colour is required, to repeat these colours several times 
 The " ground-layers" do generally, and should always, work with a bandage over the 
 mouth to avoid inhaling the colour-dust, much of which is highly deleterious. Bossing 
 is the term given to the process by which tie level surfaces of various colours so exten- 
 sively introduced upon decorated porcelain are effected. The " boss " is made of soft 
 leather. 
 
 The process of gilding is as follows : — The gold (which is prepared with quicksilver 
 and flux) when ready for use, appears a black dust ; it is used with turpentine and oils 
 similar to the enamel colours, and like them worked with the ordinary camels' hair 
 
 Eencil. It flows very freely, and is equally adapted for producing broad massive 
 ands and grounds, or the finest details of the most elaborate design. 
 
 To obviate the difficulty and expense of drawing the pattern on every piece of a ser- 
 vice, when it is at all intricate, a " pounce" is used, and the outline dusted through with 
 charcoal, — a method which also secures uniformity of size and shape. Women are 
 precluded from working at this branch of the business, though from its simplicity and 
 lightness it would appear so well adapted for them. Firing restores the gold to its 
 proper tint, 1 which first assumes, the character of " dead gold," its after 'williancy being 
 the result of another process termed •' burnishing." 
 
 The process of bisque firing is as follows : the ware being finished from the hands of 
 the potter is brought by him upon boards to the " green-house," so called from its being 
 the receptacle for ware in the " green " or unfired state. It is here gradually dried 
 for the ovens ; when ready it is carried to the " sagger-house" in immediate connection 
 with the oven in which it is to be fired, and here it is placed in the "saggers:" these 
 are boxes made of a peculiar kind of clay (a native marl) previously fired, and infusible 
 at the heat required for the ware, and of form suited to the articles they are to contain. 
 A little dry pounded flint is scattered between them of china, and sand of earthenware 
 to prevent adhesion. The purpose of the sagger is to protect the ware from the flames 
 and smoke, and also for its security from breakage, as in the clay state it is exceedingly 
 brittle, and when dry, or what is called white, requires great care in the handling. A 
 plate sagger will hold twenty plates placed one on the other of earthenware, but china 
 plates are fired separately in " setters" made of their respective forms. The " setters" 
 for china plates and dishes answer the same purpose as the saggers, and are made of 
 the same clay. They take in one dish or plate each, and are " reared" in the oven in 
 " bungs," one on the other. 
 
 The hovels in which the ovens are built form a very peculiar and striking feature of 
 the pottery towns, and forcibly arrest the attention and excite the surprise of the stranger, 
 resembling as they closely do a succession of gigantic bee-hives. Tkey are constructed 
 of bricks about 40 feet in diameter, and about 35 feet high, with an aperture at the top 
 for the escape of the smoke. The " ovens" are of a similar form, about 22 feet in diameter, 
 and from 18 to 21 feet high, heated by .fire-places or "mouths," about nine in number, 
 built externally around them. Flues in connection with these converge under the 
 bottom of the oven to a central opening, drawing the flames to this point, where they 
 enter the oven ; other flues termed " bags" pass up the internal sides to the height of 
 about 4 feet, thus conveying the flames to the upper part. 
 
 When " setting in" the oven, the firemen enter.by an opening in the side, carrying the 
 saggers with the ware placed as described ; these are piled one upon another, from 
 bottom to top of the oven, care being taken to arrange them so that they may receive 
 the heat (which varies in different parts) most suited to the articles they contain. This 
 being continued till the oven is filled, the aperture is then bricked up. The firing of 
 earthenware bisque continues sixty hours, and! of china forty-eight. 
 
 The quantity of coals necessary for a "bisque" oven is from 16 to 20 tons; for a 
 "glost oven from 4^to 6 tons. 
 
 The ware is allowed to cool for two days, when it is drawn in the state technically 
 called " biscuit " or bisque, and is then- ready for " glazing," except when required foi 
 
PORCELAIN. 455 
 
 printing or a common style of painting, both of which processes are done on the bisque 
 prior to being " glazed. 
 
 A large pi oportiun of circular articles not requiring ornament or relief beyond plain 
 curved surfaces are " thrown and turned." Few are unacquainted with the wonder- 
 working powers of the potter's wheel. A ball of clay is placed on the centre of the 
 revolving block, and by the simplest manipulation is made to spring at once into form 
 and character, assuming at the operator's will any contour of which a circular vessel is 
 capable, the plastic clay being formed or transformed with an ease and rapidity almost 
 incredible. livery piece, when made, is cut off the block by a wire being passed under 
 it. 
 
 When the " thrown ware " is sufficiently dry, it is transferred to the hands of the 
 " turner," whose province it is to form the curves more truly and sharply, and to impart 
 a uniform smoothness and polish to the surface. This process resembles that of ordi- 
 nary wood turning, but from the nature of the material is executed with much greater 
 facility. The vessel is fitted upon a block or " churn " attached to the lathe, and the 
 turning is performed by thin iron tools few in number and simple in form. 
 
 Articles of this class which require handles are passed from the lathe to the " handler." 
 These useful adjuncts are made by pressure in moulds of plaster of Paris, and after being 
 sufficiently dried, are fixed on the vessel with "slip." The adhesion is so immediate 
 thatiu most cases the article may be lifted up by the handle before it has left the hand 
 of the operator. "When the handle is fitted, the superfluous slip which exudes from the 
 junction after the parts have been pressed together, is removed with a sponge, and the 
 surfaces worked together, and smoothed round with a small tool : the article is then 
 finished unless a "spout" or lip is required, as in the case of teapots, jugs, &e. These 
 are made and attached in the same manner as handles. 
 
 New compositions for glazing earthenware. — The materials comprised in the various 
 glazes commonly used for china and earthenware, are Cornish stone, flint, white lead, 
 glass, whiting, &c. These having been ground together in proper proportions to the 
 consistence of milk form the glaze. The process is effected m large buildings termed 
 " dipping-houses," (china and earthenware being kept separate) fitted up with tubes 
 for the glaze, and stages for the reception of the ware when dipped, upon which it is 
 dried and heated, generally by means of a large iron stove or " cockle," from which 
 iron pipes extending in various directions convey the heat throughout the whole extent 
 of the " houses." Each dipper is provided with a tub of glaze, in which he immerse" 
 the bisque ware. "We may note the results of practice and experience in imparting i 
 facility and dexterity of handling so necessary to perfection in this process. The warj 
 is held so that as small a portion as possible shall be covered by the fingers ; it is the a 
 plunged in the glaze, which by a dexterous jerk is made not only to cover the entire 
 piece, but at the same time so disperses it, that an equal and level portion is dispose! 
 over the whole surface, which, being porous, imbibes and retains it. The ware is handci 
 to the dijiper by a boy, and another removes it when dipped to the drying or " hoi- 
 house." The glaze is opaque till fired, so that the design of pattern executed on tLe 
 bisque is completely hid after dipping till they have been submitted to the glost fire. 
 An able workman will dip about 700 plates in a day. 
 
 In 1751 Dr. Wale established a manufactory in Worcester, under the name of the 
 " Worcester Porcelain Company," and to him appears to be due the idea of printing upon 
 porcelain, the transferring of printed patterns to biscuit ware as usually adopted. From 
 a magaziis in the Museum of Practical Geology decorated with a portrait of Frederick 
 the Great, the date of this process appears to be 1757. 
 
 The original Worcester Company principally confined themselves to making blue and 
 white ware in imitation of that of Nankin, and in producing copies of the Japanese 
 pottery. 
 
 Cockwortly of Plymouth appears to have carried on the business of a potter in 
 Worcester until 1783, when the manufactory passed into the possession of Mr. Thomas 
 Flight. 
 
 Stone china differs from the " tender porcelain," as the English ware is terme'd, in 
 being a fused body ; the alkali of the clays employed being by the heat of the furnace 
 made to combine with the silica and alumina. Enamel colours are such as consist of 
 metallic oxides combined with an alkaline flux, which, when exposed to a high tempera- 
 ture, forms a perfect glass. 
 
 When the ware leaves the hands of the painters, gilders, <fec, it is carried to a receiv 
 ing-room in connexion with the "enamel-kilns." The firemen select the ware from 
 this room, according to the degree of heat they may require, and place it in that part of 
 the kiln most likely to secure it. The different articles are ranged upon stages con- 
 structed of " slabs " or " bats " supported on props all made of fired clay. The time of 
 firing is from 6 to 7 hours according to the size of the kiln, and whether it contains 
 any articles of unusual size and hazard, in which case the heat is brought forward very 
 gradually. The "ground-laying" being executed with colours less fusible than those 
 
456 PORTER. 
 
 employed by the painters, the ware so decorated is fired in separate kilns at a highei 
 temperature, a level glossy surface being a great desideratum^ and as gold is often used 
 in relief upon the "grounds," it would be Jiable to sink and lose its lustre unless th., 
 jnder colour had received a greater degree of heat than is required by the gilding. The 
 kilns arc built of large fired clay slabs made expressly for the purpose. They are about 
 3 feet six inches wide, 1 feet 6 inches high, and 6 feet 6 inches long, with circular tops, 
 having flues beneath and around them. The fire-places or "mouths" are at the sides, 
 and the flames passing through the flues, encircle the kiln externally. Great care is 
 taken to prevent the admission of smoke or flame into the body of the kilns, the fronts 
 of which are closed with iron doors having in them small apertures, through which 
 the firemen occasionally draw " trails" of colour made upon small pieces of ware, and 
 thus ascertain to a certain extent the progress of the heat. This is a material assistance, 
 but being drawn from one part only, still leaves a task requiring great care and nicety 
 pf judgment to manage successfully. Gold, if not sufficiently fired, will wipe off, and 
 if over fired will not " burnish," and the gilding has to be repeated. 
 
 Pemhesilea, Queen of the Amazons, slain, supported by Achilles. Thymbrean Apollo and 
 Cassandra. Iris and Alcuraon. The class of work to which these examples belong may 
 be ranked under the head of Reproductive Art. The historical, mythical, and domestic 
 events which they illustrate, form vivid and instructive records of the manners and cus- 
 toms of the ancients. The original bases which have formed the material in this series 
 are amongst the earliest memorials of Hellenic civilization. The date of their production 
 extends from the second to the fifth century of the Christian era. The diversity and 
 elegance of their forms bear conclusive evidence of the grace and beauty with which a 
 refined and cultivated intelligence can mould the objects which minister to the humble 
 and familiar purposes of household wants. • 
 
 Their application was chiefly to domestic requirements ; and it being a custom con- 
 nected with the right of burial to deposit within the sepulchre such objects as the deceased 
 had most highly valued during life, the interment of a large number of these mortuary 
 treasures, which so graphically illustrate Greek art and life, resulted. To this we owe 
 the preservation of so interesting and numerous a series of these valuable mementos of 
 archaic taste and skill. They are composed of red clay, the figure and ornamental com- 
 position being executed on a dark liquid pigment, worked in quick-drying oils, and 
 submitted to a considerable degree of heat, to secure effectual adhesion. Amongst the 
 earliest designs are placed these in which the black selhouette-like figures are painted 
 upon the red or buff ground. These vases with the figures and ornaments in a red on a 
 black ground mark the period when Greek art was at its zenith. 
 
 In reference to the forms of these vases it may be instructive to remark that a careful 
 analysis of the best examples in the British Museum proves that every curve is the seg- 
 ment of a circle ; and it has been mathematically demonstrated that even in instances 
 where the most irregular diversity of outline has been presented, that every curve has 
 been circular and none elliptical. • 
 
 PORPHYRY, is a compound mineral or rock, composed essentially of a base of 
 hornstone, interspersed with crystals of felspar. It frequently contains also quartz, 
 mica, and hornblende. That most esteemed is the ancient porphyry of Egypt, with 
 a ground of a fine red colour passing into purple, having snow-white crystals of felspar 
 imbedded in it. Most beautiful specimens of it are to be seen in the antique colossal 
 statues in the British Muse "jn. 
 
 Porphyry occurs in Arran, and in Perthshire between Dalnacardoch and Tummel 
 Dridge. It is much used for making slabs, mullers, and mortars. 
 
 PORTER is a malt liquor, so called from being the favorite beverage of the porters 
 and workpeople of the metropolis and other large towns of the British empire ; it is char- 
 acterized by its dark-brown color, its transparency, its moderately bitter taste, and pecu- 
 liar aromatic flavor, which, along with its tonic and intoxicating qualities, make it be 
 keenly relished by thirsty palates accustomed to its use. At first the essential distinction 
 of porter arose from its wort being made with highly-kilned brown malt, while other kinds 
 of beer and ale were brewed from a paler article ; but of late years, the taste of the 
 public having run in favor of sweeter and lighter beverages, the actual porter is brewed 
 with a less proportion of brown malt, is less strongly hopped, and not allowed to get hard 
 by long keeping in huge ripening tuns. Some brewers color the porter with burnt sugar ; 
 but in general the most respectable concentrate a quantity of their first and best wort to an 
 extract, in an iron pan, and burn this into a coloring stuff, whereby they can lay claim to 
 the merit of using nothing in their manufacture but malt and hops. The singular flavor 
 of good London porter seems to proceed, in a great degree, from that of the old casks 
 and fermenting tuns in which it is prepared. Though not much addicted to vinous 
 potations of any kind, I feel warranted by long experience to opine, that the porter 
 brewed by the eminent London houses, when drunk in moderation, is a far wholesomer 
 beverage for the people than the thin acidulous wines of France and Germany, 
 See Beer. 
 
POTASH. 451 
 
 PORTLAND CEMENT, i3 formed by calcining together limestone and some argil- 
 laceous earth, the result being a mass which most rapidly absorbs a certain quantity 
 of water, and then becomes solid as a hydrous silicate of lime. The advantages over 
 natural hydraulic limes consist generally in greater hardness and durability, arising 
 from the mixture of material being more perfectly under command. Bricks cemented 
 together by it bear a pressure on the outermost brick of 3 tons ; being a beam of 
 cement. A block of this cement tested by the hydraulic press bore a pressure ol 
 250 tons. 
 
 PORTLAND STONE, is a fine compact oolite, so named from the island where 
 jt is quarried. It is a convenient but not a durable building stone. 
 
 POTASH, or POTASSA. (Potasse, Fr. ; Kali, Germ.) This substance was so named 
 from being prepared for commercial purposes by evaporating in iron pots the lixivium of 
 the ashes of wood fuel. In the crude state called potashes, it consists, therefore, of such 
 constituents of burned vegetables as are very soluble in water, and fixed in the fire. The 
 potash sails of plants which originally contained vegetable acids, will be converted into 
 carbonates, the sulphates will become sulphites, sulphurets, or even carbonates, accord- 
 ing to the manner of incineration ; the nitrates will be changed ir/.c pure carbonates, 
 while the muriates or chlorides will remain unaltered. Should quicklime be added to the 
 solution of the ashes, a corresponding portion of caustic potassa will be introduced into 
 the product, with more or less lime, according to the care taken in decanting off the clear 
 ley for evaporation. 
 
 In America, where limber is in many places an incumbrance upon the soil, it is 
 felled, piled up in pyramids, ahd burned, solely with a view to the manufacture of 
 potashes. The ashes are put into wooden cisterns, having a- plug at the bottom of 
 one of the sides under a false bottom ; a moderate quantity of water is then poured on 
 the mass, and some quicklime is stirred in. After standing for a few hours, so as to 
 take up the soluble matter, the clear liquor is drawn off, evaporated to dryness in iron 
 pots, and finally fused at a red heat into compact masses, which are gray on the outside, 
 and pink-colored within. 
 
 « Pearlash is prepared by calcining potashes upon a reverberatory hearth, till the whole 
 caibonaceous matter, and the greater part of the sulphur, be dissipated ; then lixiviating 
 the mass, in a cistern having a false bottom covered with straw, evaporating the clear lye 
 to dryness in flat iron pans, and stirring it towards the end into white lumpy granu- 
 lations. 
 
 I find the best pink Canadian potashes, as imported in casks containing about 5 cwts., 
 to contain pretty uniformly 60 per cent, of absolute potassa ; and the best pearlashes 
 to contain 50 percent; the alkali in the former being nearly in a caustio state ; in the 
 latter, carbonated. 
 
 All kinds of vegetables do not yield the same proportion of potassa. The more 
 succulent the plant, the more does it afford ; for it is only in the juices that the vegetable 
 salts reside, which are converted by incineration into alkaline matter. Herbaceous 
 weeds are more productive of potash than the graminiferous species, or shrubs, and these 
 than trees ; and for a like reason twigs and leaves are more productive than timber. 
 But plants in all cases are richest in alkaline salts when they have arrived at maturity. 
 The soil in which they grow also influences th* quantity of saline matter. 
 
 The following Table exhibits the average product in potassa of several plants, accord- 
 ing to the researches of Vauquelin, Pertuis, Kirwan, and De Saussure : — 
 
 In 1000 parts. Potassa. 
 
 Pine or fir 0'45 
 
 Poplar 075 
 
 Trefoil .... 0'75 
 
 Beechwood- - • 1'45 
 
 Oak 1'53 
 
 Boxwood ----- 2'26 
 
 Willow - - - - 2'85 
 
 Elra and Maple- - - ■ 3'90 
 
 Wheat straw .... 390 
 
 In 1000 parts. Potassa. 
 
 Thistles - 5 mi 
 
 Flax stems - 5*00 
 
 5'08 
 5 50 
 580 
 600 
 
 Small rushes 
 Viae shoots 
 Barley straw 
 Dry beech bark 
 Fern - 
 Large rush 
 Stalk of maize - 
 Bean stalks 
 
 "22 
 175 
 200 
 
 In 1300 parts. Potassa. 
 
 Bastard chamomile (Anthe- 
 
 mia cotuia, L.) - - 19*6 
 
 Sunflower stalks - - - 20'00 
 
 Common nettle - - 25"03 
 
 Vetch plant ... - 27"50 
 
 Thistles in full growth - - 35'37 
 Dry straw of wheat before 
 
 earing 47'0 
 
 Wormwood ... - 730 
 
 Fumitory , - - - - 79*0 
 
 Barb of oak twigs 
 
 Stalks of tobacco, potatos, chesnuts, chesnut husks, broom, heath, furze, tansy, sorrel, 
 vine leaves, beet leaves, orach, and many other plants, abound in potash salts. In Bur- 
 gundy, the well known cendres gravelees are made by incinerating the lees of wine 
 pressed into cakes, and dried in the sun; the ashes contain fully 16 per cent, of potassa. 
 
 The purification of pearlash is founded upon the fact of its being more soluble in 
 water than the neutral salts which debase it. Upon any given quantity of that substance, 
 in an iron pot, let one and a half times its weight of water be poured, and let a gentle 
 heat be applied for a short time. When the whole has again cooled, the bottom will be 
 encrusted with the salts, while a solution of nearly pure carbonate of potash will be 
 found floating above, which may be drawn off clear by a syphon. The salts may be after- 
 wards thrown upon a filter of gravel. If this lye be diluted with 6 times its bulk of water, 
 
458 
 
 POTASH 
 
 mixed with as much slaked lime as there was pearlash employed, and the mixture be 
 boiled for an hour, the potash wjll become caustic, by giving up its carbonic acid lo the 
 lime. If the clear settled lixivium be now syphoned off, and concentrated by boiling 
 in a covered iron pan, till it assumes the appearance of oil, it will constitute the common 
 caustic of the surgeon, the potassa fusa of the shops. But to obtain potassa chemically 
 pure, recourse must be, had to the bicarbonate, nitrate, or tartrate of potassa, salts 
 which, when carefully crystallized, are exempt from any thing to render the potassa 
 derived from them impure. The bicarbonate having been gently ignited in a silver 
 basin, is to be dissolved in 6 times its weight of water, and the solution is to be boiled 
 for an hour, along with one pound of slaked lime for every pound of the bicarbonate 
 used. The whole must be left to settle without contact of air. The supernatant ley is to 
 be drawn off by a syphon, and evaporated in an iron or silver vessel provided with a small 
 orifice in its close cover for the escape of the steam, till it assumes, as above, the appear, 
 ance of oil, or till it be nearly redhot. Let the fused potassa be now poured out upon a 
 bright plate of iron, cut into pieces as soon as it concretes, and put up immediately in a 
 bottle furnished with a well-ground stopper. It is hydrate of potassa, being composed of 
 1 atom of potassa 48, + 1 atom of water 9, = 57. 
 
 A pure carbonate of potassa may be also prepared by fusing pu;B nitre in an earthen 
 crucible, and projecting charcoal into it by smull bits at a time, till it ceases to cause 
 deflagration. Or a mixture of. 10 parts of nitre and 1 of charcoal may be deflagrated in 
 small • successive portions in a redhot deep crucible. When a mixture of 2 parts of 
 tartrate of potassa, or crystals of tartar, and 1 of nitre, is deflagrated, pure carbonate of 
 potassa remains mixed with charcoal, which by lixiviation, and the agency of quick- 
 lime, will afford a pure hydrate. Crystals of tartar calcined alone yield also a pure 
 carbonate. 
 
 Caustic potassa, as I have said, after being fused in a silver crucible at a red heat, 
 retains 1 prime equivalent of water. Hence its composition in 100 parts is, pptassium 
 70, oxygen 14, water 16. Anhydrous potassa, or the oxyde free from water, can be ob- 
 tained only by the combustion of potassium in the open air. It is composed of 83§ of 
 netal, and 16f of oxygen. Berzelius's numbers are, 8305 and 16-95. 
 
 Caustic potassa may be crystallized ; but in general it occurs as a white brittle sub- 
 stance of spec. grav. 1-708, which melts at a red heat, evaporates at a white heat, de- 
 liquesces into a liquid in the air, and attracts carbonic acid; is soluble in water and 
 alcohol, forms soft; soaps with fat oils, and soapy-looking compounds with resins and 
 wax; dissolves sulphur, some metallic sulphurets, as those of antimony, arsenic, &c, 
 as also silica, alumina, and certain other bases; and decomposes animal textures, as 
 hair, wool, silk, horn, skin, &.C. It should never be touched with the tongue or the 
 fingers. 
 
 The following Table exhibits the quantity of Fused Potassa in 100 parts of caustic ley, 
 at the respective densities : — 
 
 Sp.gr. 
 
 Pot. in 100. 
 
 Sp.gr. 
 
 Pot. in 100, 
 
 Sp.gr. 
 
 Pot. in 100. 
 
 Sp.gr. 
 
 Pot. in 100. 
 
 Sp. gi. 
 
 Pot.inlOO. 
 
 1-58 
 
 53-06 
 
 1-46 
 
 42-31 
 
 1-34 
 
 32-14 
 
 1-22 
 
 23-14 
 
 1-10 
 
 11-28 
 
 1.56 
 
 51-58 
 
 1-44 
 
 40-17 
 
 1-32 
 
 30-74 
 
 1-2: 
 
 21-25 
 
 1-08 
 
 9-20 
 
 1-54 
 
 50-09 
 
 1-42 
 
 37-97 
 
 1-30 
 
 29-34 
 
 1-18 
 
 19-34 
 
 1-06 
 
 7-02 
 
 1-52 
 
 48-40 
 
 1-40 
 
 35-99 
 
 1-28 
 
 27-86 
 
 1-16 
 
 17-40 
 
 104 
 
 4-77 
 
 1-50 
 
 46-45 
 
 1-38 
 
 34-74 
 
 1-26 
 
 26-34 
 
 1-14 
 
 15-38 
 
 1-02 
 
 2-44 
 
 1-48 
 
 44-40 
 
 1-36 
 
 33-46 
 
 1-24 
 
 24-77 
 
 1-12 
 
 1330 
 
 1-00 
 
 0-00 
 
 The only certain way of determining the quantity of free potassa in any soiid or liquid, 
 is from the quantity of a dilute acid of known strength which it can saturate. 
 
 The hydrate of potassa, or its ley, often contains a notable quantity of carbonate, the 
 presence of which may be detected by lime water, and its amount be ascertained by the 
 loss of weight which it suffers, when a weighed portion of the ley is poured into a 
 weighed portion of dilute sulphuric acid poised in the scale of a balance. 
 
 There are two other oxydes of potassium ; the suboxyde, which consists, according to 
 Berzelius, of 90-74 of metal, and 9-26 oxygen ; and the hyperoxyde, an orange-yellow 
 substance, which gives off oxygen in the act of dissolving in water, and becomes potassa. 
 It consists of 62 of metal, and 38 of oxygen. 
 
 Carbonate of po assa is composed of 48 parts of base, and 22 of acid, according to most 
 British authorities; or, in 100 parts, of 68-57 and 31-43; but according to Berzelius, of 
 68-09 and 31-91. 
 
 Carbonate of potassa, as it exhls associated with carbon in calcined tartar, passes very 
 readily into the Bicarbonate, on being moistened with water, and having a current of car 
 bonic acid gas passed through it. The absorption takes place so rapidly, that the mass 
 
POTASSIUM. 459 
 
 becomes hot, and therefore ought to be surrounded with cold water. The salt should 
 then he dissolved in the smallest quantify of water at 120° Fahr., filtered and 
 crystallized. 
 
 Pearl and Pot Ashes imported, in 1850, 184,043 ewts., in 1851, 199,911 cwts. 
 
 POTASH, BICHROMATE OF. Mr. Charles Kober obtained in 1840 » patent foi 
 the use of bichromate of potash as a substitute for copperas, alum, and other mordants 
 for uniting the colouring ingredients in dyeing with the wool, in consequence of mutual 
 affinity; the ordinary dyeing ingredients being employed in conjunction with the bi- 
 chromate; he sometimes adds 2 lbs. of argol for 100 lbs. of wool. The chief use of the 
 bichromate seems to be for brightening and fixing the common dyes and mordants. 
 
 POTASH AND SODA, CAUSTIC. Mix a solution of 1 part of the dry carbonate 
 salt with 1 part freshly prepared dry hydrate of lime, and allowing it to stand in a 
 closed vessel for 24 hours at a temperature of 68° to 78" Fahr., frequently shaking it. 
 The potash salt should be dissolved in 12 to 15, the soda salt in 7 to 15 parti of water; 
 the carbonate of lime separates in a granulated state, and the clear caustic )jc may be 
 decanted. A weaker lye may be obtained from the residue by fresh treatment with watsr. 
 
 POTASH, CHLORATE OF. Chlorate of potash may be economically made by 
 mixing 5| atoms of quick lime with 1 of caustic potash, and passing a current of chlorine 
 gas through the mixture, in a thin pasty state, with water at a boiling heat. Under 
 these conditions, chloride of calcium and chlorate of potash are produced, thus, by the 
 use of lime, the enormous loss of potash, which in the ordinary process is converted into 
 chloride, is avoided ; since, instead of producing 43 grs. for 100 grs. of potash, 220 grs. 
 may be obtained, which approaches to the theoretical number 260. 
 
 A fact which demonstrates in a remarkable manner how greatly the chemical af- 
 finity of chlorine for oxygen is increased by heat, is, that a mere trace of chlorate is 
 produced when chlorine is passed into a mixture of lime and caustic potash at the ordi- 
 nary temperature. 
 
 Another point which results from these experiments is, the influence of the degree of 
 concentration of the liquids. If, for instance, a solution of caustic potash, of 1-040 spec, 
 gr. at 82°, and containing 34 grs. of potash in 1000 grs. of liquid, is mixed with 431 grs. 
 of lime, or 6 equivs., only 131 grs. of chlorate are obtained. Another mixture, made 
 ■with 1000 grs. of liquid containing 68-75 of potash and 6 equivs. of lime, gave 158 grs. 
 of chlorate of potash. Lastly, by taking a solution of caustic potash of 1-110 sp. gr., 
 and containing 102-33 of potash for 100 grs. of fluid, and adding to it 6 equivs. of 
 caustic lime, heating the whole gradually to 122°, then passing a rapid current of 
 chlorine to saturation (which raises the temperature to about 194°), filtering, evaporat- 
 ing to dryness, redissolving in boiling water, and allowing the whole to cool, 220 grs. 
 of pure chlorate of potash may be obtained. This process has been applied on a large 
 scale, and has perfectly succeeded. 
 
 POTASH, PRUSSIATE OF. See Prussian Blue. 
 
 POTASSIUM (Eng. and Fr. ; Kalium, Germ.) is a metal deeply interesting, not only 
 from its own marvellous properties, but from its having been the first link in the chain 
 of discovery which conducted Sir H. Davy through many of the formerly mysterious and 
 untrodden labyrinths of chemistry. 
 
 The easiest and best mode of obtaining this elementary substance, is that contrived by 
 Brunner, which I have often practised upon a considerable scale. Into the orifice of one 
 of the iron bottles, as A, fig. 889, in which mercury is imported, adapt, by screwing, a piece 
 of gun-barrel lube, 9 inches long; having brazed into its side, about 3 inches from its outer 
 end, a similar piece of iron tube. Fill this retort two thirds with a mixture of 10 parts 
 of cream of tartar, previously calcined in a covered crucible, and 1 of charcoal, both in 
 powder; and lay it horizontally in an air-furnace, so that while the screw orifice is at 
 the inside waN, "the extremity of the straight or nozzle tube may project a few inches 
 beyond the brickwork, and the tube brazed into it at right angles may descend pretty 
 •close to the outside wall, so as to dip its lower end a quarter of an inch beneath the surface 
 of some rectified naptha contained in a copper bottle surrounded by ice-cold water. 
 By bringing the condenser-vessel so near the furnace, the tubes along which the potas- 
 sium vapor requires to pass, run less risk of getting obstructed. The horizontal straight 
 end of the nozzle tube should be shut by screwing a stopcock air-tight into it. By 
 opening the cock momentarily, and thrusting in a hot wire, this tube may be readily 
 kept free, without permitting any considerable waste of potassium. The heat should 
 be slowly applied at first, but eventually urged to whiteness, and continued as long 
 as potass ireted hydrogen continues to be disengaged. The retort, and the part of 
 the nozzlf tube exposed to the fire, should be covered with a good refractory lute, as 
 described under the article Phosphorus. The joints mu v st be perfectly air-tight; and 
 the vessel freed from every trace of mercury, by ignition, before it is charged with the 
 
 Tartar skilfully treated in this way will afford 3 per cent, of potassium; and when i 
 
460 
 
 POTASSIUM. 
 
 it is observed to send forth green fumes, it has commenced the production of th« 
 metal. Instead of the construction above described, the following form of apparatus 
 may be employed. 
 
 •*. fa 1146., represents the iron bottle, charged with the incinerated tartar; and b 
 is a fire-brick support. A piece of fire-tile should also be placed between the bottom 
 of the bottle and the back wall of the furnace, to keep the apparatus steady during 
 the operation. Whenever the moisture is expelled, and the mass faintly ignited, the 
 tube o should be screwed into the mouth of the bottle, through a small hole left for 
 
 1141 
 
 this purpose in the side of the furnace. That tube should be no longer, and the front 
 wall of the furnace no thicker, than what is absolutely necessary. As soon as the 
 reduction is indicated by the emission of green vapours, the receiver must be adapted, 
 d, a, d, e, shown in a large scale in fig. 1147. 
 
 This is a condenser, in two pieces, made of thin sheet copper ; d, the upper part, is a 
 rectangular box, open at bottom, about 10 inches high, by 5 or 6 long and 2 wide ; near 
 to the side a, it is divided inside into two equal compartments, .up to two-thirds of its 
 height, by a partition, J>, b, in order to make the vapours that issue from o pursue a 
 downward and circuitous path. In each of its narrow sides, near the^top, a short tube 
 is soldered, at d and a ; the former being fitted air-tight into the end of the nozzle of 
 the retort^ while the latter is closed with a cork traversed by a stiff iron probe e, which 
 passes through a small hole in the partition 6, 6, under c, and is employed to keep the 
 tube c, clear, by its drill-shaped steel point In one of the broad sides of the box, n, 
 near the top, a bit of pipe is soldered on at c, for receiving the end of a bent glass tube 
 of safety, which dips its other and lower end into a glass containing naphtha. E, the 
 bottom copper box, with naphtha, which receives pretty closely the upper case, D, is to 
 be immersed in a cistern of cold water, containing some lumps of ice. 
 
 The chemical action by which potassa is reduced in this process seems to be some- 
 what complicated, and has not been thoroughly explained. A very small proportion 
 of pure potassium is obtained ; a great deal of it is converted into a black infusibla 
 mass, which passes over with the metal, and is very apt to block up the tube. Should 
 this resist clearing out with the probe, the fire must be immediately withdrawn from 
 the furnace, otherwise the apparatus will probably burst or blow up. Care must be 
 taken to prevent any moisture getting into the nozzle, for it would probably produce 
 a violent detonation. 
 
 When the operation"has proceeded regu-arly, accompanied to the end with a con- 
 stant evolution of gas, the retort becomes nearly empty, or contains merely a little 
 charcoal, or carbonate of potassa, and the potassium collects in the naphtha at the 
 bottom of the receiver e, m the form of globules or rounded lumps, of greater or 
 less size, and of a leaden hue. But the greater part of the metal escapes with the 
 gas, in a state of combination not well understood. This gaseous compound burns 
 with a white or reddish-white flame, and deposits potassa. Several ounces of potas- 
 sium may be produced in this way at one operation ; but, as thus obtained, it alwayi 
 contains some combined charcoal, which must he separated by distilling it in an iron 
 retort, having its beak plunged in naptha. 
 
POTATO SUGAR. 4G1 
 
 Pure potassium, as pi ocured in Sjr H. Davy's original method, by acting upon fused 
 potassa under a film of naphtha, with the negative wire of a powerful voltaic battery, 
 is very like quicksilver. It is semi-fluid at 60° Fahr., nearly liquid at 92°, and 
 entirely so at 120°. At 50° it is malleable, and has the lustre of polished silver; at 
 82° it is brittle, with a crystalline fracture ; and at a heat approaching to redness, it 
 begins to boil, is volatilized, and converted into a green-coloured gas, which condenses 
 into globules upon the surface of a cold body. Its specific gravity in the purest state 
 is 0'865 at 60°. When heated in the air, it takes fire, and burns very vividly. It has 
 a stronger affinity for oxygen than any other known substance ; and is hence very diffi- 
 cult to preserve in the metallic state. At a high temperature it reduces almost every 
 oxygenated body. When thrown upon water, it kindles, and moves about violently 
 upon the surface, burning with a red flame, till it be consumed; that is to say, 
 converted into potassa. When thrown upon a cak'e of ice, it likewise kindles, and burns 
 a hole in it. If a globule of it be laid upon wet turmeric paper, it takes fire, and runs 
 about, marking its desultory parts with red lines. The flame observed in these cases 
 is owing chiefly to hydrogen, for it is at the expense of the water that the potassium 
 burns. 
 
 Potassa, even in a pretty dilute solution, produces a precipitate with muriate of 
 platinum, a phenomenon which distinguishes it from soda. It forms, moreover, with 
 sulphuric and acetic acids, salts which .crystallize very differently from the sulphates 
 and acetates of soda. 
 
 Potassium, Cyanuket of (Preparation of). Introduce into a retort a mixture of two 
 parts of ferro-cyanuret of potash, and 1-J- parts of sulphuric acid, previously diluted 
 with 1£ parts of water, and allowed to cool. Place in the receiver a colourless solution 
 of one part of pure hydrate of potash in 3 or 4 parts of alcohol containing 90 per 
 cent, of real alcohol. The receiver or the retort should be tubulated and furnished 
 with a safety tube. The receiver must be cooled as much as possible, and the distilla- 
 tion conducted very slowly, in consequence cf the great heat developed in the receiver 
 during the condensation. As soon as the force of ebullition in the retort has subsided, 
 the operation should be Btopped, for it is a sign that the greater part of the prussic acid 
 is disengaged ; and if the distillation be continued, water will be carried over and mixed 
 with the Equor in the receiver. This liquor is transformed into a thick mixture of pre- 
 cipitated cyanuret of potassium, and the alcoholic solution of the undecomposed potash. 
 The precipitate is to be collected on a filter, freed from the mother water, and washed 
 with alcohol, then pressed and dried on the same filter. Two ounces of ferro-cyanuret 
 of potash, treated in this manner, will produce 6 grammes of cyanuret of potassium. 
 This. proportion is a little under the calculation, the reason being that the prussic 
 acid is not entirely disengaged by the distillation, and that the alcohol dissolves about 
 1 per cent, of its weight of cyanuret of potassium. On the other hand, it is difficult 
 to obtain this combination equally pure by any other method. The alcohol may be 
 regained by distilling it from some metallic salt, such as calcined green vitriol. 
 
 POTATO (Pomme de terre, Fr. ; Kartoel, Germ.) ; is the well-known root of the 
 Solarium tuberosum. 
 
 Many methods have at different times been tried for preserving potatoes in an un- 
 changeable state, and always ready to be dressed into a wholesome and nutritious dish, 
 but none with such success as the plan of Mr. Downes Edwards, for which he obtained 
 a patent in August, 1840. The potatoes, being first clean washed, are boiled in water 
 or steamed, till their skins begin to crack, then peeled, freed from their specks and eyes, 
 and placed in an iron cylinder, tinned inside, and perforated with many holes one-eighth 
 of an inch in diameter. The potatoes are forced through these by the pressure of a piston. 
 The pulp is finally dried on well-tinned plates of copper, moderately heated by steam, 
 into a granular meal. When this is mixed into a pulp with hot water, and seasoned 
 with milk, <fec, it forms a very agreeable food — like fresh mashed potatoes. [See p. 462.] 
 
 POTATO SUGAR. Several years ago a sample of sweet mucilaginous liquid was 
 sent to me for analysis by the Hon. the Commissioners of Customs. It was part of a 
 quantity imported in casks at Hull from Rotterdam ; it was called by the importers 
 vegetable juice. I found it to be imperfectly saccharified starch or fecula ; and on my 
 reporting it as such, it was admitted at a moderate rate of duty. Some months after, 
 I received a sample of a similar liquid from the importer at Hull, with a request that ] 
 would examine it chemically. He informed me, that an importation just made by him 
 of thirty casks of it had been detained by orders of the Excise till the sugar duty of 
 twenty-five shillings per cwt., of solid matter it contained, w,as paid upon it. It was 
 of specific gravity 1'362, and contained 80 per cent, of ill-saccharified fecula. 
 
 In the interval between the first importation and the second, an Act of Parliament had 
 been obtained for placing every kind of sugar, from whatever material it was formed, 
 under the provisions of the beet-root sugar bill. As the saccharometer tables, sub- 
 ?ervient to the levying of the Excise duties under this Act, were constructed by me at 
 
462 
 
 POTATO SUGAR. 
 
 The following Table exhibits several good analyses of the potato : — 
 
 Sort. 
 
 Fibrine. 
 
 Starch. 
 
 Veg. 
 album. 
 
 Gum. 
 
 Acids and 
 Salts. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Analyst. 
 
 Ked potatoes - 
 
 7-0 
 
 15-0 
 
 1-4 
 
 4-1 
 
 5-1 
 
 75-0 
 
 Kinliof. 
 
 Id. germinated . 
 
 6-8 
 
 15-2 
 
 1-3 
 
 3-7 
 
 — 
 
 73-0 
 
 — 
 
 Potato sprouts 
 
 2-8 
 
 0-4 
 
 0-4 
 
 33 
 
 
 
 93-0 
 
 — 
 
 Kidney potatoes 
 
 8-8 
 
 9-1 
 
 0-8 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 81-3 
 
 — 
 
 Large red do. - 
 
 6-0 
 
 12-9 
 
 0-7 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 78-0 
 
 — 
 
 Sweet do. - • 
 Potato of Peru 
 
 8-2 
 5-2 
 
 15-1 
 15-0 
 
 0-8 
 1-9 
 
 
 ■ — 
 
 74-3 
 •76'0 
 
 Lampad. 
 
 1-9 
 
 . . England - 
 
 6-8 
 
 12-9 
 
 . 1-1 
 
 1-7 
 
 77-5 
 
 — 
 
 Onion potato - 
 
 8-4 
 
 18-7 
 
 0-9 
 
 VI 
 
 70-3 
 
 — 
 
 . . Voigtland - 
 
 7-1 
 
 15-4 
 
 1-2 
 
 2-0 
 
 74-3 
 
 — 
 
 . . cultivated in the 
 
 6-79 
 
 13-3 
 
 0-92 
 
 3-3 | 1-4 
 
 73-12 
 
 Henry. 
 
 environs of Paris 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 the request of the president of the board, I was aware that fifty per cent, of the syrup 
 of the beet root was deducted as a waste product, because beet root molasses is too 
 crude an article for the use of man. Well saccharified starch paste, however, consti- 
 tutes a syrup, poor indeed in sweetness when compared with cane syrup or that of the 
 beet root ; but then it does not spontaneously blacken into molasses by evaporation, 
 as solutions of ordinary sugar never fail to do when they are concentrated even with 
 great care. Hence the residuary syrups of saccharified fecula may be all worked up 
 into a tolerably white concrete mass, which, being pulverized, is used by greedy 
 grocers to mix with their dark brown bastard sugars to improve their colour. 
 
 It is not many years that sugar has been in this country manufactured from potato 
 starch to any extent, though it has been long an object of commercial enterprise in 
 France, Belgium, and Holland, where the large coarse potatoes are used for this pur- 
 pose. The raw material must be very cheap, as well as the labour, for potato flour 
 or starch, for conve rsion into sugar, has been imported from the continent into this 
 country in large quantities, and sold in London at the low price of sixteen shillings 
 per ewt» 
 
 The process usually followed by the potato sugar makers is to mix 100 gallons, of 
 boiling water with every 1 12 lbs. of the fecula, and 2 lbs. of the strongest sulphuric acid. 
 This mixture is boiled about 12 hours in a large vat, made of white deal, having'lead 
 pipes laid along its bottom, which are connected with a high-pressure steam boiler. 
 After being thus saccharified, the aeid liquid is neutralized with chalk, filtered, and then 
 evaporated to the density of about l - 300, at the boiling temperature, or exactly 1'342, 
 when cooled to 60°. When syrup of this density is left in repose for some days, it con- 
 cretes altogether into crystalline tufts, and forms an apparently dry solid, of specific 
 gravity 1/89. When this is exposed to the heat of 220° jt fuses into a liquid nearly as 
 thin as water ; on cooling to 150° it takes the consistence of honey, and at 100° Fahr. 
 it has that of viscid varnish. It must be left a considerable time at rest before it recovers 
 its pristine state. When heated to 270° it boils briskly, gives off one-tenth of its weight 
 of water, and concretes on cooling into a bright yellow, brittle, but deliquescent mass, 
 like barley sugar. If the syrup be concentrated to a much greater density than 1 '340, 
 as to 1 '362, or if it be left faintly acidulous, in either case it will not granulate, but will 
 remain either a viscid magma, or become a concrete moss, which may indeed be pul- 
 verized, though it is so deliquescent as to be unfit for the adulteration of raw sugar. 
 
 The Hull juice is in this predicament, and is therefore, in my opinion, hardly ame- 
 nable to the new sugar law, as it cannot by any means be worked up into even the 
 resemblance of sugar. Good Muscovado sugar from Jamaica fuses only when heated 
 to 280°, but it turns immediately dark-brown from the disengagement of some of its 
 carbon at that temperature, and becomes, in fact, the substance called caramel by the 
 French, which is used for colouring brandies, white wines, and liqueurs. Thus starch 
 or grape sugar is well distinguished from cane sugar, by its fusibility at a moderate 
 heat, and its unalterability at a pretty high heat. Its sweetening power is only two- 
 fifths of that of ordinary sugar. A good criterion of incompletely formed grape sugar 
 is its resisting the action of sulphuric acid, while perfectly saccharified starch or cane 
 sugar is readily decomposed by it If to a strong solution of imperfectly saccharified 
 grape sugar nearly boiling hot, one drop of sulphuric acid be let fall, no perceptible 
 change will ensue ; but if the acid be dropped into solutions of either of the other two 
 sugars, black carbonaceous particles will make their appearance. The article which was 
 Litely detained by the Excise for the high duties at Hull is not affected by sulphuric 
 
POTATO SUGAR. 4C3 
 
 acid, as are solutions of cane sugar, and of the well made potato sugar of London and 
 for this reason I gave my opinion in favour of admitting the so-called vegetable juiee 
 at a moderate rate of duty. 
 
 I subjected the solid matter, obtained by evaporating th-3 Hull juice to ultimate 
 analysis, by peroxide of copper, in a combustion tube, with all tiu requisite precautions ; 
 and obtained in one experiment 37 per cent, of carbon, and in another 88 per cent, 
 when the substance had been dried in an air-bath heated to 275". The difference to 
 100 is hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion to form water. Now, this is the consti- 
 tution of grape sugar. Cane sugar contains about 5 per cent, more carbon, whereby 
 it readily evolves this black element by the action of heat or sulphuric acid. 
 
 An ingenious memoir, by Mr. Trommer, upon the distinguishing criteria of gum, 
 dextrine, grape sugar, and cane sugar, has been published in the 3rd volume of the 
 Annalen der Ohemie und Pharmacie. I have repeated his experiments, and find them to 
 give correct results, when modified in a certain way. His general plan is to expose the 
 Hydrate of copper to the actions of solutions of the above mentioned vegetable products. 
 He first renders the solution alkaline, then adds solution of sulphate of copper to it, and 
 either heats the mixture, or leaves it for some time in the cold. By pursuing hij direc- 
 tions, I encountered contradictory results ; but by the following method, I have secured 
 uniform success in applying the criteria, and have even arrived at a method of deter- 
 mining, by a direct test, the quantity of sugar in diabetic urine. 
 
 I dissolve a weighed portion of sulphate of copper in a measured quantity of water, 
 and make the solution faintly alkaline, as tested with turmeric paper, not litmus, by the 
 addition of potash lye in the eold, for if the mixture be hot, a portion of the disengaged 
 green hydrate of copper is converted into black oxide. This mixture being always 
 agitated before applying it, forms the test liquor. If a few drops of it be introduced 
 into a solution of gum, no change ensues on the hydrate of copper, even at a boiling 
 heat, which shows that a gummate of copper is formed which resists decomposition ; but 
 the cupreous mixture without the gum, is rapidly blackened at a boiling temperature. 
 I do not find that the gummate is redissolved by an excess of- water, as Trommer affirms. 
 Starch and tragacanth comport like gum, in which respect I agree with Trommer ; 
 starch, however, possesses already a perfect criterion in iodine water. Mr. Trommer 
 says, that solution of dextrine affords a deep blue coloured liquid, without a trace of 
 precipitate ; and that when his mixture is heated to 85° C. it deposits red grains of pro- 
 toxide of copper, soluble in muriatic acid. I think these phenomena are dependent, in 
 some measure, upon the degree of alkaline excess in the mixture. I find that solution 
 .of dextrine treated in my way hardly changes in the cold, but when heated slightly 
 becomes green, and by brisk boiling an olive tint is produced; it thus betrays its ten- 
 dency of transition into sugar. Solution of cane sugar, similarly treated, undergoes no 
 change in the cold at the end of two days; and even very little change of colour, even 
 at a boiling heat, if not too concentrated. Cane sugar, treated by Trommer in his way, 
 becomes of a deep blue; it can be boiled with potash in excess without any separation 
 of orange red oxide of copper. 
 
 Starch, or grape sugar, has a marvellous power of reducing the green hydrate of copper 
 to the. orange oxide, but I find it will not act upon the pure blue hydrate even when 
 recently precipitated ; it needs the addition in this case also of a small portion of 
 alkali ; but ammonia does not seem to serve the purpose, for on using the ammonio- 
 sulphate of copper in solution, I obtained unsatisfactory results with the above vegetablo 
 products. The black oxide of copper is not affected by being boiled in a solution of 
 starch sugar. " If solution of grape sugar," says Trommer, " and potash be treated with 
 a solution of sulphate of copper, till the separated hydrate is re-dissolved, a precipitate 
 of red oxide will soon take place at common temperature ; but it immediately forms, 
 ' if the mixture is heated. A liquul containing 10( 4 of grape sugar, even JK ^ XC 
 part," says he, "gives a perceptible tinge (orange) if the light is let fall upon it." To 
 obtain such a minute result, very great nicety must be used in the dose of alkali, which 
 I have found it extremely difficult to hit. With my regulated alkaline mixture, how- 
 ever, I never fail in detecting an exceedingly small portion of starch sugar, even when 
 mixed with Muscovado sugar; and thus an excellent method is afforded of detecting 
 the frauds of the grocers, _ _ 
 
 I find that manna deoxidizes the green hydrate of copper slowly when heated, but 
 cot nearly to the same extent as grape sugar, which reduces it rapidly to the orangt 
 oxide. f 
 
 If an excess of the hydrate of copper test be used, there will be a deposit of green 
 hydrate at the bottom of the vessel. 
 
 To applv these researches ,to the sugar of diabetic urine. This should first be boiled 
 briskly to "decompose the urea and to dissipate its elements in the form of ammonia, as 
 well as to concentrate the saccharine matter, whereby the test becomes more efficacious. 
 Then add to the boiling urine, in a few drops at a time, a cupreous mixture containing 
 
464 POTTERY. 
 
 a. known quantity of the sulphate of copper, till the mixture assumes a greenish turfj and 
 continue the heat till the colour becomes bright orange. Should it remain green it is a 
 proof that more hydrate of copper has been introduced than is equivalent to the deoxi- 
 dizing power of the starch sugar. I hare found that one grain of sulphate of copper in 
 solution, supersaturated very slightly with potash, is decomposed with the production of 
 orange protoxide by about three grains of potato sugar ; or more exactly thirty parts 
 of the said sulphate, in the state of an alkaline hydrate of copper, pass altogether into 
 the state of orange oxide, by means of 100 parts of granular starch sugar. Thus, for 
 every three grains of sulphate so changed, ten grains of sugar may be estimated to 
 exist in diabetic urine. 
 
 Acetate of copper may be used in the above experiments, but it is not so good as 
 the sulphate. The chloride of copper does not answer. 
 
 Specific gravity is also an important criterion applied to sugar ; that of the cane and 
 beet root is VBfll, not 1'6065 as given by Berzelius and others; that of starch sugar, in 
 crystalline tufts, is 1"39, or perhaps 1"40, as it varies a little with its state of dryness. 
 At 1 342, syrup of the cane contains seventy per cent of sugar ; at the same density 
 syrup of starch sugar contains seventy-five and a half per cent, of concrete matter, dried 
 at 260° (Fahr.), and, therefore, freed from the ten per cent, of water which it contains 
 in the granular state. Thus another distinction is obtained between the two sugars in 
 the relative densities of their solutions, at like saccharine contents, per cent. 
 
 POTTERY, PORCELAIN. (Eng. and Fr. ; Steingut, Porzellan, Germ.) The 
 French, who are fond of giving far-fetched names to the most ordinary things, have 
 dignified the art of pottery with the title of ceramique, from the Greek noun Kcpajios, an 
 earthen pot, compounded of two words which signify, in that language, burned clay. In 
 reference to chemical constitution, there are only two genera of baked stoneware. The 
 first consists of a fusible earthy mixture, along with an infusible, which when combined ' 
 are susceptible of becoming semi-vitrified and translucent in the kiln. This constitutes 
 porcelain or china-ware ; which is either hard and genuine, or tender and spurious, 
 according to the quality and quantity of the fusible ingredient. The second kind con- 
 sists of an infusible mixture of earths, which is refractory in the kiln, and continues 
 opaque. This is pottery, properly so called; but it comprehends several sub- 
 species, which graduate into each other by imperceptible shades of difference. To 
 this head belong earthenware, stoneware, flintware, fayence, delftware, iron-stone 
 china, &c. 
 
 The earliest attempts to make a compact stoneware, with a painted glaze, seem to 
 have originated with the Arabians in Spain, about the 9th century, and to have passed 
 thence into Majorca, in which island they were carried on with no little success. In the 
 14th century, these articles, and the art of imitating them, were highly prized by the 
 Italians, under the name of Majolica, and porcelana, from the Portuguese word for a cup. 
 The first fabric of stoneware possessed by them was erected at Fayenza, in the ecclesias- 
 tical state, whence the French term fayence is derived. The body of the ware was usu- 
 ally a red clay, and the glaze was opaque, being formed of the oxydes of lead and tin, along 
 with potash and sand. Bernhard de Pallissy, about the middle of the 16th century, man- 
 ufactured the first white fayence, at Saintes, in France ; and not long afterwards tht 
 Dutch produced a similar article, of substantial make, under the name of delftware, and 
 delft porcelain, but destitute of those graceful forms and paintings for which the ware of 
 Fayenza was distinguished. Common fayence may be, therefore, regarded as a strong, 
 well-burned, but rather coarse-grained kind of stoneware. 
 
 It was in the 17th century that a small work for making earthenware of a coarse 
 description, coated with a common lead glaze, was formed at Burslem, in Staffordshire, 
 which may be considered as the germ of the vast potteries now established in that . 
 county. The manufacture was improved about -the year 1690, by two Dutchmen, the 
 brothers Elers, who introduced the mode of glazing ware by the vapor of salt, which they 
 threw by handfuls at a certain period among the ignited goods in the kiln. But those 
 were rude, unscientific, and desultory efforts. It is to the late Josiah Wedgewood, Esq. 
 that this country and the world at large are mainly indebted for the great modern 
 advancement of the ceramic art. It was he who first erected magnificent factories, 
 where every resource of mechanical and clvimical science was made to co-operate with 
 the arts of painting, sculpture, and staluar/, in perfecting this valuable department of 
 the industry of nations. So sound were his principles, so judicious his plans of procedure, 
 and so ably have they been prosecuted by his successors in Staffordshire, that a popula- 
 tion of 60,000 operatives now derives a comfortable subsistence within a district formerly 
 bleak and barren, of 8 miles long by 6 broad, which contains 150 kilns, and is signifi- 
 cantly called the Potteries. 
 
 OP THE MATERIALS OF POTTERY OR PORCELAIN, AND THEIR PREPARATION. 
 
 1. Clay. — The best clay from which the Staffordshire ware is made, comes from 
 Dorsetshire; and a second quality from Devonshire; but both are well adapted lo> 
 working, being refractory in the fire, and becoming very white when burnt. The clay 
 is cleaned as much as possible by hand, and freed from loosely adhering stones at the 
 
POTTERY. 465 
 
 pits where it is Jug. In the factory mounted by Mr. Wedgewood, which may be re. 
 garded as a type >f excellence, the clay is cut to pieces, and then lineaded into a pulp 
 with water, by engines ; instead of being broken down with pickaxes, and worked with 
 water by hand-paddles, in a square pit or water-tank, an old process, called blunging. 
 The clay is now thrown into a cast-iron cylinder, 20 inches wide, and 4 feet high, or 
 into a cone 2 feet wide at top, and 6 feet deep, in whose axis an upright shaft revolves, 
 bearing knives as radii to the shaft. The knives are so arranged, that their flat sides 
 lie in the plane of a spiral line ; so that by the revolution of the shaft, they not only cut 
 through everything in their way, but constantly press the soft contents of the cylinder 
 or cone obliquely downwards, on the principle of a screw. Another set of knives 
 stands out motionless at right angles from the inner surface of the cylinder, and projects 
 nearly to the central shaft, having their edges looking opposite to the line of motion of 
 the revolving blades. Thus the two sets of slicing implements, the one active, and the 
 other passive, operate like shears in cutting the r\iy into small pieces, while the active 
 blades, by their spiral form, force the clay in its comminuted state out at an aperture at 
 the bottom of the cylinder or cone, whence it is conveyed into a cylindrical, vat, to be 
 worked into a pap with water. This cylinder is tub-shaped, being about 4 times wider 
 than it is deep. A perpendicular shaft turns also in the axis of this vat, bearing cross 
 spokes one below another, of which the vertical set on each side is connected by upright 
 staves, giving the moveable arms the appearance of two or four opposite square paddle- 
 boards revolving with the shaft. This wooden framework, or large blunger, as it is called, 
 turns round amidst the water and clay lumps, so as to beat them into a fine pap, from 
 which the stony and coarse sandy particles separate, and subside to the >oltom. When- 
 ever the pap has acquired a cream-consistenced uniformity, it is run off through a series 
 of wire, lawn, and silk sieves, of different degrees of fineness, which are kept in continual 
 agitation backwards, and forward by a crank mechanism ; and thus all the grosser par'.s 
 are completely separated, and hindered from entering into the composition of the ware. 
 This clay jiquor is set aside in proper cisterns, and diluted with water to a standard 
 density. 
 
 2. But clay alone cannot form a proper material for stoneware, on account of its great 
 contractility by heat, and the consequent cracking and splitting in the kiln of the 
 vessels made of it; for which reason, a silicious substance incapable of contraction 
 must enter into the body of pottery. For this purpose, ground flints, called flint- 
 powder by the potters, is universally preferred. The' nodules of flint extracted from 
 the chalk formation are washed, heated redhot in a kiln, like that for burning lime, 
 and thrown in this state into water, by which treatment they lose their translucency, 
 and become exceeding brittle. They are then reduced to a coarse powder in a stamping- 
 mill, similar to that for stamping ores; see Metallurgy. The pieces of flint are laid 
 on a strong grating, and pass through its meshes whenever they are reduced by the 
 stamps to a certain state of comminution. This granular matter is now transferred to the 
 proper flint-mill, which consists of a strong cylindrical wooden tub, bottomed with flat 
 piecfe of massive chert, or hornstone, over which are laid large flat blocks of similar chert, 
 that are moved round over the others by strong iron or wooden arms projecting from an 
 upright shaft made to revolve in the axis of the mill-tub. Sometimes the active blocks 
 are fixed to these cross arms, and thus carried round over the passive blocks at the bot- 
 tom. See infrii, under Porcelain, figures of the flint and feldspar mill. Into this cyl- 
 indrical vessel a small stream .of water constantly trickles, which facilitates the grinding 
 motion and action of the stones, and works the flint powder and water into a species of 
 pap. Near the surface of the water there is a plug-hole in the side of the tub, by which 
 the creamy-looking flint liquor is run off from time to time, to be passed through lawn or 
 silk sieves, similar to tr»:se used for the clay liquor; while the particles that remain on 
 the sieves are returned into the mill. This pap is also reduced to a standard density by 
 dilution with water ; whence the weight of dry silicious earth present, may be deduced 
 from the measure of the liquor. 
 
 The standard clay and flint liquors are now mixed together, in such proportion by 
 measure, that the flint powder may bear to the dry clay the ratio of one to five, or occa- 
 sionally one to six, according to the richness or plasticity of the clay ; and the liquors are 
 intimately incorporated in a revolving churn, similar to that employed for making the clay- 
 pap. This mixture is next freed from its excess of water, by evaporation^in oblong stone 
 troughs, called slip-kilns, bottomed with fire-tiles, under which a furnace flue runs. The 
 breadth of this evaporating trough varies from 2 to 6 feet ; its length from 20 to 50 ; and 
 its depth from 8 to 12 inches, or more. 
 
 By the dissipation of the water, and careful agitation of the pap a uniform doughy 
 mass is obtained; which, being taken out of the trough, is cut into cubical lumps. 
 These are piled in heaps, and left in a damp cellar for a considerable time ; that is, 
 several months, in large manufactories. Here the dough suffers disintegration, prorioted 
 by a kind of fermentative ,action, due probably to some vegetable matter in the watei 
 
 Vol. II 31 
 
466 POTTERY. 
 
 and the clay ; for it becomes black, and exhales a fetid odor. The argillaceous and sili 
 cious particles get disintegrated also by the action of the water, in such a way that the 
 ware made with old paste isibund to be more homogeneous,Jiner grained, and not so apt 
 to crack or to get disfigured in the baking, as the ware made with newer paste. 
 
 But this chemical comminution must be aided by mechanical operations ; the first of 
 which is called. the potter's sloping or wedging. It consists in seizing a mass of clay in 
 the hands, and, willi a twist of both at once, tearing it into two pieces, or cutting it with 
 awire. These are again, slapped together with force, but in a different direction from that 
 in which they adhered before, and then dashed down on a board. The mass is once more 
 torn or cut asunder at right angles, again slapped together, and so worked repeatedly for 
 £0 or 30 times, which ensures so complete an incorporation of the different parts, that if 
 the mass had been at first half black and half white clay, it would now be of a^nifbrrn 
 gray color. A similar effect is produced in some large establishments by a sliciug machine, 
 like that used for cutting down the clay lumps as they come from the pit. 
 
 In the axis of a cast iron cylinder or cone, an upright shaft is made to revolve, from 
 which the spiral-shaped blades extend, with their edges placed in the direction of ro- 
 tation. The pieces of clay subjected to the action of these knives (with the reaction of 
 fixed ones) are minced to small morcels, which are forced pell-mell by tne screw-like 
 pressure into an opening of the bottom of the cylinder or cqne, from which a horizontal 
 pipe about 6 inches square proceeds. The dough is made to issue through this outlet, 
 and is then cut into lengths of about 12 inches. These clay pillars or prisms are thrown 
 back into the cylinder, and subjected to the same operation again and again, till the 
 lumps have their particles perfectly blended together. This process may advantageously 
 precede their being set aside to ripen in a damp cellar. In France the stoneware dough 
 is not wprked in such a machine ; but after being beat with wooden mallets, a practice 
 common also in England, it is laid down on a clean floor, and a workman is set to tread 
 upon it with naked feet for a considerable time, walking in a spiral direction from the 
 centre to the circumference, and from the circumference to the centre. In Sweden, 
 and also in China (to judge from the Chinese paintings which represent their manner 
 of making porcelain), the clay is trodden to a uniform mass by oxen. It is afterwards, in 
 all cases, kneaded like baker's dough, by folding back the cake upon itself, and kneading 
 it out, alternately. ' 
 
 The process of dapping consists in cutting through a large mass with a wire, lifting up 
 either half in both hands, and casting it down with great violence on the other ; and this 
 violent treatment of the clay is repeated till every appearance of air-bubbles is removed, 
 for the smallest remaining vesicle expanding in the kiln, would be apt to cause blisters or 
 warts upon the ware. 
 
 Having thus detailed the preparation of the stoneware paste, we have next to describe 
 the methods of forming it into articles of various forms. 
 
 Throwing is performed upon a tool called the potter's lathe. (See fig., infra.) This 
 consists of an upright iron shaft, about the height of a common table, on the top of which 
 is fixed, by its centre, a horizontal disc or circular piece of wood, of an area sufficiently 
 great for the largest stoneware vessel to stand upon. The lower end of the shaft is point- 
 ed, and runs in a conical step, and its collar, a little below the top-board, being truly 
 turned, is embraced in a socket attached to the wooden frame of the lathe. The shaft has 
 a pulley fixed upon it, with grooves for 3 speeds, over which an endless band passes from 
 a fly-wheel, by whose revolution any desired rapidity of rotation may be given to the shaft 
 and its top-board. This wheel, when small, may be placed alongside, as in the turner's 
 lathe, and then il is driven by a treadle and crank ; or when of larger dimensions, it .is 
 turned by the arms of a laborer. Sometimes, indeed, the wooden plate is replaced by 
 a large thick disc of Paris plaster, which is whirled round by the hand of the potter, 
 without the intervention of a, pulley and fly-wheel, and affords sufficient centrifugal 
 power for fashioning small vessels. The mass of dough to be thrown, is weighed out 
 or gauged by an experienced hand. The thrower dashes down the lump on the 
 centre of the revolving board, and dipping his hands frequently in an adjoining tub of 
 water, he works up the clay into a tall irregular cylinder, and then down into a cake, 
 alternately, till he has secured the final extrication of air-bubbles, and then gives the 
 proper form to the vessel under a less speed of rotation, regulating its dimensions by 
 wooden pegs and gauges. He now cuts it off at the base with a piece of fine brass wire, 
 fastened to a handle at either end. The vessel thus rudely fashioned is placed in a si- 
 tuation where it may dry gradually to a proper point. At a certain stage of the drying, 
 called the green itate, it possesses a greater tenacity, than at any othei, till it is baked. 
 It is then taken to another lathe, called the turning lathe, where it is attached by a little 
 moisture to the vertical face of a wooden chuck, and turned nicely into its proper shape 
 with a very sharp tool, which also smooths it. After this it is slightly burnished with a 
 smooth steel surface. 
 
POTTERY. 
 
 467 
 
 DESCRIPTION OP THE POTTER'S EATHE. 
 
 *> J5g'- - ll*8, is the profile of the English potter's lathe, for blocking out round 
 ware ; c is the table or tray ; a is the head of the lathe, with its horizontal disc ; a, b, 
 is the upright shaft of the head; d, pulleys with several grooves of different 
 diameters, fixed upon the shaft, for receiving the driving-cord, or band ; k is a bench 
 upon which the workman sits astride; e, the treadle foot-board; I is a ledge-board, 
 
 for catching the' shavings of clay which fly off from the lathe; h is an instrument, 
 with a slide-nut i, for measuring the objects in the blocking out; c is the fly-wheel 
 with its winch-handle r, turned by an assistant; the sole-frame is secured in its place 
 by the heavy stone p ; f is the oblong guide-pulley, having also several grooves for con- 
 verting the vertical movement of the fly-wheel into the horizontal movement of the head 
 of the lathe. 
 
 d is one of the intermediate forms given by the potter to the ball of clay, as it revolves 
 upon the head of the lathe. 
 
 In large potteries, the whole of the lathes, both for throwing and turning, are put in 
 motion by a steam-engine. The vertical spindle of the lathe has a bevel wheel on it, 
 which works in another bevel toothed wheel fixed to a horizontal shaft. This shaft is 
 provided with a long conical wooden drum, from which a strap ascends to a similar co- 
 nical drum on the main lying shaft. The apex of the one cone corresponds to the base 
 of the other, which allows the strap to retain the same degree of tension (see the conical 
 drum apparatus of the Stearine-press), while it is made to traverse horizontally, in order 
 to vary the speed of the lathe at pleasure. When the belt is at the base of the driving- 
 cone, it works near the vertex of the driven one, so as to give a maximum velocity to the 
 lathe, and vice versa. 
 
 During the throwing of any article, a separate mechanism is conducted by a boy, 
 which makes the strap move parallel to itself along these conical drums, and nicely re- 
 gulates the speed of the lathe. When the strap runs at the middle of the cones, the 
 velocity of each shaft is equal. By this elegant contrivance of parallel cones reversed, 
 the velocity rises gradually to its maximum, and returns to its minimum or slower motion 
 when the workman is about finishing the article thrown. The strap is then transferred to 
 a pair of loose p.ulleys, and the lathe stops. The vessel is now cut off at the base with 
 small wire ; is dried, turned on a power lathe, and polished as above described. 
 
 The same degree of dryness which admits of the clay being turned on the laihe, also 
 suits for fixing on the handles and other appendages to the vessels. The parts to be 
 attached, being previously prepared, are joined to the circular work by means of a thin paste 
 which the workmen call slip, and the seams are then smoothed off with a wet sponge. 
 They are now taken to a stove-room heated to 80° or 90° F., and fitted up with a great many 
 shelves. When they are fully dried, they are smoothed over with a small bundle of hemp, 
 if the articles be fine, and are then ready for the kiln, which is to convert the tender clay 
 into the hard biscuit. 
 
 A great variety of pottery wares, however, cannot be fashioned on the lathe, as they 
 are not of a circular form. These are made by two different methods, the one called 
 vress-work, and the other casting. The press-work is done in moulds made of Paris 
 plaster, the one half of the pattern being formed, in the one side of the mould, and the 
 other half in the other side : these moulding-pieces fit accurately together. All vessels 
 of an oval form, and such as have flat sides, are made in this way. Handles of tea- 
 pots, and fluted solid rods of various shapes, are formed by pressure also ; viz., by 
 squeezing the dough contained in a pump-barrel through different shaped orifices at its bot- 
 tom, by working a screw applied to the piston-rod. The worm-shaped dough, as it issues, 
 is cut to proper lengths, and bent into the desired form. Tubes may be also made on the 
 same pressure principle, only a tubular opening must. be provided in the bottom plate of 
 the clay-forcing pump. 
 
468 
 
 POTTERY. 
 
 The other method of fashioning earthenware articles is called casting, and is, perhaps 
 the most elegant for such as have an irregular shape. This operation consists in pour 
 ing the clay, in the state of pap or slip, into plaster moulds, which are kept in a 
 desiccated state. These moulds, "as well as the pressure ones, are made in halves which 
 nicely correspond together. The slip is poured in till the cavity is quite full, and is 
 left in the mould for a certain time, more or less, according to the intended thickness oi 
 the vessel. The absorbent power of the plaster soon abstracts the water, and makes the 
 coat of clay in contact with it quite doughy and stiff, so that the part still liquid being 
 poured out, a hollow shape remains, which when removed from the mould constitutes 
 the half of the vessel, bearing externally the exact impress of the mould. The thickness 
 of the clay varies with the lime that the paste has stood upon the plaster. These cast 
 articles are dried to the green stale, like the preceding, and then joined accurately wilji 
 slip. Imitations of flowers and foliage are elegantly executed in this way. This 
 operation, which is called furnishing, requires very delicate and dexterous manipu- 
 lation. 
 
 The saggers for the unglazed colored stoneware should be covered inside with a 
 glaze composed of 12 parts of common salt and 30 of potash, or 6 parts of polash and 
 14 of salt ; which may be mixed with a little of the common enamel for the glazed 
 pottery saggers. The bottom of each sagger has some bits of flints sprinkled upon it, 
 which become so adherent after the first firing as to form a multitude of little promi- 
 nences for setting the ware upon, when this does not consist of plates. It is the duty 
 of the workmen belonging to ihe glaze kiln to make the saggers during the intervals 
 of their work ; or, if there be a relay of hands, the man who is not firing makes the 
 saggers. 
 
 The English kilns differ from those of France and Germany, in their construction, in the 
 nature of their fuel, and in the high temperature required to produce a surface sufficiently 
 hard for a perfectly fine glaze. 
 
 When the ware is sufficiently dry, and in sufficient quantity to fill a kiln, the next 
 process is placing the various articles in the baked fire-clay vessels, which may be either 
 of a cylindrical or oval shape ; called gazettes, Fr. ; kapseln, Germ. These are from 6 
 to 8 inches deep, and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter. "When packed full of the dry 
 ware, they are piled over each other in the kiln. The bottom of the upper sagger forms 
 the lid of its fellow below ; and the junction of the two is luted with a ring of soft clay 
 applied between them. These dishes protect the ware from being suddenly and unequally 
 heated, and from being soiled by the smoke and vapors of the fuel. Each pile of saggers 
 ! is called a bung. 
 
 POTTERY KILN OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 
 
 Figs. 1149, 50, 51, 52, 63., represent the kiln for baking' the biscuit, and also for run- 
 ning the glaze, in the English potteries. 
 
 1150 
 
POTTERY. 
 
 469 
 
 1152 
 
 a, a, Jig-s. 1149, 1160,"1151. are the furnaces which heat the kiln of which o, in fig. 
 1149 are the upper mouths, and 6' the lower j the former being closed more or less by the 
 flre-tile x, shown in Jig. 1153. 
 /is one fireplace j for the manner of distributing the fuel in it, see Jig. 1153. 
 ?>.?> fis s - 1149 and 1153 are the horizontal and vertical flues and chimneys for con- 
 ducting the (lame and *inoke. I is the laboratory, or body of the kiln ; having its floor 
 fe sloping slightly downwards from the centre to the circumference, x, y, is the slit of 
 the horizontal register, leading to the chimney flue y of the furnace, being the first regu 
 lator; x, u, is the vertical register conduit, leading to the furnace or mouth /, being the 
 second regulator ; v is the register slit above the furnace, and its vertical flue leading 
 into the body of the kiln ; «', c, slit for regulating flue at the shoulder of the kiln ; i is 
 an arch which supports the Walls of the kiln, when the furnace is under repair ; c, c, 
 are small flues in the vault s of the laboratory, h, fig. 1150,is the central flue, called 
 lunette, of the laboratory. 
 
 t, t, is the conical tower or howell, strengthened with a series of iron hoops, o' is the 
 great chimney or lunette of the tower ; p is the door of the laboratory, bound inside with 
 an iron frame. 
 
 A, is the complete kiln and howell, with all its appurte- 
 nances. 
 
 *,fig. 1150, is the plan at the level d, J, of the floor, to 
 show the arrangement and distribution of all the horizontal 
 flues, both circular and radiating. 
 
 c, fig. 1151 is a plan at the level e, e, of the upper mouths b, 
 of the furnaces, to show the disposition of the fireplaces of the 
 vertical flues, and of the horizontal registers, or peep-holes. 
 
 d, fig. 1151 is a bird's-eye view of the top of the vault or 
 dome s, to show the disposition of the vent-holes c, c 
 
 E, fig. 1152 is a detailed plan at the level c, c, of one fur- 
 nace and its dependencies. 
 
 f, fig. 1 1 53 is a transverse section, in detail, of one furnace 
 and its dependencies. 
 
 The same letters in all the figures indicate the same ob- 
 jects. 
 
 Charging of the kiln. — Thesaggers are piled up first in the 
 space between each of the upright furnaces, till they rise to 
 the top of the flues. These contain the smaller articles. 
 Above this level, large fire tiles are laid, for supporting other saggers, filled with" teacups, 
 sugar-basins, &c. In the bottom part of the pile, within the preceding, the same sorts of 
 articles are put ; but in the upper part all such articles are placed as require a high heat. 
 Four piles of small saggers, with a middle one 10 incnes in height, complete the charge. 
 As there are 6 piles between each furnace, and as the biscuit kiln has 8 furnaces, a charge 
 consequently amounts to 48 or 50 bungs, each composed of from 18 to 19 saggers. The 
 inclination of the bungs ought always to follow the form ofthe kiln, and should therefore 
 tend towards the centre, lest the strong draught of the furnaces should make the saggers 
 fall against (he walls of the kiln, an accident apt to happen were these piles perpendicular. 
 The last sagser of each bung is covered with an unbaked one, three inches deep, in place 
 of a round lid. The watches are small cups, ofthe same biscuit as the charge, placed in 
 saggers, four in number, above the level of the flue-tops. They are taken hastily out of 
 the saggers, lest they should get smoked, and are thrown into cold water. 
 
 When the charging is completed, the firing is commenced, with coal of the best quality. 
 The management of the furnace is a matter of great consequence to the success of the 
 process. No greater heat should be employed for some time than may be necessary to 
 agglutinate the particles which enter into the composition of the paste, by evaporating all 
 the humidity ; and the heat should never be raised so high as to endanger the fusion of 
 the ware, which would make it very brittle. ' 
 
 Whenever the mouth or door of the kiln is built up, a child prepares several fires in the 
 neighborhood of the howell, while a laborer transports in a wheelbarrow a supply of 
 coals, and introduces into each furnace a number of lumps. These lumps divide the fur- 
 nace into two parts ; those for the upper flues being placed aboye, and those for the ground 
 flues below, which must be kept unobstructed. 
 
 The fire-mouths being charged, they are kindled to begin the baking, the regulator 
 tile x, fig. 1153, being now opened; an hour afterwards the bricks at the bottom of the 
 furnace are stopped up. The fire is usually kindled at 6 o'clock in the evening, and 
 progressively increased till 10, when it begins to gain force, and the flame rises half-way up 
 the chimney. The second charge is put in at 8 o'clock, and the mouths of the furnaces are 
 then covered with tiles ; by which time the flame issues th rough the vent of the tower. An 
 hour afterwards a fresh charge is made ; the tiles r, which cover the furnaces, are slipped 
 
470 POTTERY. 
 
 back ; the cinders are drawn to the front, and repli ced with small coal. About hall 
 past J 1 o'clock the kiln-man examines his furnaces, to see that their draught is pro- 
 perly regulated. An hour afterwards a new charge of coal is applied ; a practice repealed 
 hourly till 6 o'clock in the morning. At this moment he takes out his first watch, to 
 see how the baking goes on. It should be at a very pale-red heat ; but the watch of 7 
 o'clock should be a deeper red. He removes the tiles from those furnaces which appear to 
 nave been burning too strongly, or whose flame issues by the orifices made in the shoulder 
 of the kiln ; and puts tiles upon those which are not hot enough. The flames glide 
 along briskly in a regular manner. At this period be draws out the watches every 
 quarter of an hour, and compares them with those reserved from a previous standard 
 kiln : and if he observes a similarity of appearance, he allows the furnaces to burn a 
 little longer ; then opens the mouths carefully and by slow degrees ; so as to lower the 
 heat, and finish the round. 
 
 The baking usually lasts from 40 to 42 hours ; in which time the biscuit kiln may con- 
 sume 14 tons of coals ; of which four are put in the first day, seven the next day and fol- 
 lowing night, and the four last give the strong finishing heat. 
 
 Emptying the kiln. — The kiln is allowed to cool very slowly. On taking the ware 
 out of the saggers, the biscuit is not subjected to friction, as in the foreign ps/.teries, 
 because it is smooth enough ; but is immediately transported to the place where it is to 
 be dipped in the glaze or enamel tub. A child makes the pieces ring, by striking with the 
 handle of the brush, as he dusts them, and then immerses them into the glaze cream ; 
 from which tub they are taken out by the enamellcr, and shaken in the air. The tub 
 usually contains no more than 4 or 5 inches depth of the glaze, to enable the workman 
 to pick out the articles more readily, and to lay them upon a board, whence they are 
 taken by a child to the glaze kiln. 
 
 Glazing. — A good enamel is an essential element of fine stoneware ; it should experi- 
 ence the same dilatation and contraction by heat and cold as the biscuit which it covers. 
 The English enamels contain nothing prejudicial to health, as many of the foreign glazes 
 do ; no more lead being added to the former than is absolutely necessary to convert the 
 silicious and aluminous matters with which it is mixed into a perfectly neutral glass. 
 
 Three kinds of glazes are used in Staffordshire ; one for the common pipe-clay or 
 cream-colored ware; another for the finer pipe-clay ware to receive impressions, 
 called printing body ; a third for the ware which is to be ornamented by painting with the 
 pencil. 
 
 The glaze of the first or common ware is composed of 53 parts of white lead, 16 of 
 Cornish stone, 36 of ground flints, and 4 of flint glass; or of 40 of white lead, 36 of Cor- 
 nish stoHe, 12 of flints, and 4 of flint or crystal glass. These compositions are not fritted; 
 but are employed alter being simply triturated with water into a thin paste. 
 
 The following is the composition of the glaze intended to cover all kinds of figures 
 printed in metallic colors ; 26 parts of white feldspar are fritted with 6 parts of soda, 2 of 
 nitre, and 1 of borax j to 20 pounds of this frit, 26 parts of feldspar, 20 of white lead, 6 
 of ground flints, 4 of chalk, 1 of oxyde of tin, and a small quantity of oxyde of cobalt, to 
 take off the brown cast, and give a faint azure tint, are added. 
 
 The following recipe may also be used. Frit together 20 parts of flint glass, 6 of flints, 
 2 of nitre, and 1 of borax j add to 12 parts of that frit, 40 parts of white lead, 36 of feld 
 spar, 8 of flints, and 6 of flint glass ; then grind the whole together into a uniform cream- 
 consistenced paste. 
 
 As to the stoneware which is to be painted, it is covered with a glaze composed of 13 
 parts of the printing-color frit, to which are added 50 parts of red lead, 40 of white lead, 
 and 12 of flint ; the whole having been ground together. 
 
 The above compositions produce a very hard glaze, which cannot be scratched by the 
 knife, iswot acted upon by vegetable acids, and does no injury to potable or edible arti- 
 cles kept in the vessels covered with it. It preserves for an indefinite lime the glassy 
 lustre, and is not subject to crack and exfoliate, like most of the Continental stoneware 
 made from common pipe-clay. 
 
 In order that the saggers in which the articles are baked, after receiving the glaze, may 
 not absorb some of the vitrifying matter, they are themselves coated, as above mentioned, 
 with a glaze composed of 13 parts of common salt, and 30 parts of potash, simply dissolved 
 in water, aud brushed over them. 
 
 Glaze kiln. — This is usually smaller than the biscuit kiln, and contains no more than 
 40 or 45 bungs or columns, each composed of 16 or 17 saggers. Those of the first bung 
 rest upon round tiles, and are well luted together with a finely ground fire-clay of only 
 moderate cohesion ; those of the second bung are supported by an additional tile. The 
 lower saggers contain the cream-colored articles, in which the glaze is softer than that 
 which covers the blue printed ware ; this being always placed in the intervals between 
 the furnaces, and in the uppermost saggers of the columns. The bottom of the kiln 
 where the glazed ware is not baked, is occupied i/f printed biscuit ware. 
 
POTTERY. 
 
 471 
 
 Pyrometne balls of red clay, coated with.a very fusible lead enamel, are emp >yed in 
 the English potteries to ascertain the temperature of the glaze Wins. This enamel is so 
 rich, and the clay upon which it is spread is so fine-grained and compact, that even when 
 exposed for three hours to the briskest flame, it does not lose its lustre. The color of 
 the clay alone changes, whereby the workman is enabled to judge of the degree of heat 
 within the kiln. At first the balls have a pale red appearance ; but they become browner 
 with the increase of the temperature. The balls, when of a slightly dark-red color, indi- 
 cate the degree of baking for the hard glaze of pipe-clay ware ; but if they become dark 
 brown, the glaze will be much too hard, being that suited for ironstone ware ; lastly, when 
 they acquire an almost black hue, they show a degree of heat suited to the formation of 
 a glaze upon porcelain. 
 
 The glazier provides himself at each round with a stock of these ball waicKes, reserved 
 from the preceding baking, to serve as objects of comparison; and he never slackens the 
 firing till he has obtained the same depth of shade, or even somewhat more ; for it 
 maybe remarked, that the more rounds a glaze kiln has made, the browner the balls 
 are apt to become. A new kiln bakes a round of enamel-ware sooner than an old one ; 
 as also with less fuel, and at a lower temperature. The watch-balls of these first rounds 
 have generally not so deep a color as if they were tried in a furnace three or four 
 months old. After this period, cracks begin to appear in the furnaces ; thi horizontal 
 flues get partially obstructed, the joinings of the brickwork become loose ; in conse- 
 quence of which there is a loss of heat and waste of fuel; the baking of the glaze takes 
 a longer time, and the pyrometric balls assume a different shade fiom what they had on 
 being taken out of the new kiln, so that the first watches are of no comparable use after 
 two months. The baking of enamel is commenced at a low temperature, and the heat 
 is progressively increased ; whep it reaches the melting point of the glaze, it must be 
 maintained steadily, and the furnace mouths be carefully looked after, lest the heat 
 should be suffered to fall. The firing is continued 14 hours, and then gradually 
 lowered by slight additions of fuel ; after which the kiln is allowedfrom 5 to 6 hours to 
 cool. 
 
 Muffles. — The paintings and the printed figures applied to the glaze of stone- 
 ware and porcelain are baked in muffles 
 
 1154 
 
 //W 
 
 
 E 
 
 \\ 
 
 \ 
 
 1 —.»""-; 
 
 H $ 
 
 \ 
 
 ! 3 
 ! S 
 
 i 
 
 C 
 
 1155 
 
 2 
 
 
 s 
 
 A A 
 
 \ 
 
 jx 
 
 
 . 
 
 -0-— 
 
 9 
 
 g" 
 
 •^ 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 3S 
 
 
 
 of a peculiar form. Fig. 1154. is a lateral 
 elevation of one of these muffles ; fig. 1155 
 is a front view. The same letters denote 
 the same parts in the two figures. 
 
 a is the furnace ; b, the oblong muffle, 
 made of fire-clay, surmounted with a dome 
 pierced with three apertures 7c, fc, fc, for the 
 escape of the vaporous matters of the col- 
 ors and volatile oils with which they are 
 ground up ; c is the chimney ; d, d, feed- 
 holes, by which the fuel is introduced ; c, 
 the fire-grate ; /, the ash-pit ; channels are 
 left in the bottom of the furnace to facili- 
 tate the passage of the flame beneath the muiHe ; g is a lateral hole, which makes a 
 communication across the furnace in the muffle, enabling the kiln man to ascertain what 
 is passing within ; fc, fc, are the lateral chinks for observing the progress of the firing oi 
 flame ; /, is an opening s;x>ped out in the front of the chimney to modify its draught. 
 
 The articles which are printed or painted upon the glaze are placed in the muffle 
 without saggers, upon tripods, or moveable supports furnished with feet. The muffle 
 being charged, its mouth is closed with a fire-tile well luted round its edges. The fuel 
 is then kindled in the fire-places d I, and the door of the furnace is closed with bricks, 
 in which a small opening is left for taking out samples, and for examining the interior of 
 the muffle. These sample or trial pieces, attached to a strong iron wire, show the progress 
 of the baking operation. The front of the fireplaces is covered with a sheet-iron plate, 
 which slides to one side, and maybe shut whenever the kiln is :hajged. Soon after the 
 fire is lighted, the flame, which communicates laterally from one furnace to another, en 
 velopes the muffle on all sides, and thence rises up the chimney. 
 
 Printing of stoneware. — The printing under the stoneware glaze is generally per- 
 formed by means of cobalt, and has different shades of blue according to the quantity 
 of coloring matter employed. After having subjected this oxyde to the processes requi- 
 site for its purification, it is mixed with a certain quantity of ground flints and sulphate 
 of baryta, proportioned to the dilution of the shade. These materials art fritted ana 
 ground; but Vlbre t l, ey r>.re '■««], Thee nm*: *>e leixed with a flux Ci.ss>st>.p of eqa?.! 
 mm by weight of flint glass and ground flints, whicn serves to fix the color upon the uis- 
 cuit, so that the immersion in the glaze liquor may not displace the lines printed on, as 
 also to aid in fluxing the cobalt. 
 
472 POTTERY. 
 
 The following are the processes usually practised in Staffordshire for printing undel 
 the glaze. 
 
 The cobalt, or whatever color is employed, should be ground upon a porphyry slab, 
 with a varnish prepared as follows : — A pint of linseed oil is to be boiled to the consist* 
 ence of thick honey, along with 4 ounces of rosin, half a pound of tar, and half a pint of 
 oil of amber. This is very tenacious, and can be used only when liquefied by heat ; which 
 the printer effects by spreading it upon a hot cast-iron plate. 
 
 The printing plates are made of copper, engraved with pretty deep lines in the common 
 way. The printer, with a leather muller, spreads upon the engraved plate, previously 
 heated, his color, mixed up with the above oil varnish, and removes what is superfluous 
 with a pallet knife ; then cleans the plate with a dossil filled with bran, tapping and wiping 
 as if he were removing dust from it. This operation being finished, he takes the paper 
 intended to receive the impression, soaks it -with soap-water, and lays it moist upon 
 the copper-plate. The soap makes the paper part more readily from the copper, and the 
 thick ink pah more readily from the biscuit. The « pper-plate is now passed through the 
 engraver's cylinder press, the proof leaf is lifted off and handed to the women, who cut it 
 into detached pieces, which they apply to the surface of the biscuit. The paper best fitted 
 for this purpose is made entirely of linen rags ; it is very thin, of a yellow color, and 
 unsized, like tissue blotting-paper. .... 
 
 The stoneware biscuit never receives any preparation before being impnntea, the oil 
 of the color being of such a nature as to fix the figures firmly. The printed paper is 
 pressed and rubbed on with a roll of flannel, about an inch and a half in diameter, and 12 
 or 15 inches long, bound round with twine, like a roll of tobacco. This is used as a 
 burnisher, one end of it being rested against the shoulder, and the :*her end being rubbed 
 upon the paper ; by which means it transfers all the engraved tracer to the biscuit. The 
 piece of biscuit is laid aside for a little, in order that the color may take fast hold'; it is 
 then plunged into water, and the paper is washed away with a sponge. 
 
 When the paper is detached, the piece of ware is dipped into a caustic alkaline ley to 
 saponify the oil, after" which it is immersed in the glaze liquor, with which the printed 
 figures readily adhere. This process, which is easy to execute, and very economical, is 
 much preferable to the old plan of passing the biscuit into the muffle after it had been 
 printed, for the purpose of fixing and volatilizing the oils. When the paper impression 
 is applied to pieces of porcelain, they are heated before being dipped in the water, be- 
 cause, being already semi-vitrifierl, the paper slicks more closely to them than to the bis- 
 cuit, and can be removed only by a hard brush. 
 
 The impression above the glaze is done by quite a different process, which dispenses 
 with the use of the press. A quantity of fine clean glue is melted and poured hot upon 
 a large flat dish, so as to form a layer about a quarter of an inch thick, and of the consist- 
 ence of jelly. When cold it is divided into cakes of the size of the copper-plates it is in- 
 tended to cover. 
 
 The operative (a woman) rubs the engraved copper-plate gently over with linseed oil 
 boiled thick; immediately after which she applies the cake of glue, which she presses down 
 with a silk dossil filled with bran. The cake licks up all the oil otft of the engraved lines ; 
 it is then cautiously lifted off, and transferred to the surface of the glazed ware which 
 it is intended to print. The glue cake being removed, the enamel surface must be rubbed 
 with a little cotton, whereby the metallic colors are attached only on the lines charged 
 with oil : the piece is then heated under the muffle. The same cake of glue may serve 
 for several impressions. 
 
 Ornaments and coloring. — Common stoneware is colored by means of two kinds of 
 apparatus ; the one called the blowing-pot, the other the worming-pot. The ornaments 
 made in relief in France, are made hollow (intaglio) in England, by means of a mould 
 engraved in relief, which is passed over the article. The impression which it produces 
 is filled with a thick clay paste, which the workman throws on with the blowing-pot. 
 This is a vessel like a tea-pot, having a spout, but it is hermetically sealed at top with a 
 clay plug, after being filled with the pasty liquor. The workman, by blowing in at the 
 spout, causes the liquor to fly out through a quill pipe which goes down through the 
 clay plug into the liquor. The jet is made to play upon the piece while it is being turn- 
 ed upon the lathe ; so that the hollows previously made in it by the mould or stamp are 
 filled with a paste of a color different from that of the body. When the piece has acquired 
 - sufficient firmness to bear working, the excess of the paste is removed by an instrument 
 called a tournasin, till the ornamental figure produced by the stamp be laid bare; 
 in which case merely the color appears at the bottom of the impression.' By passing 
 in this manner several layers of clay liquor of different colors over each other with the 
 blowing-pot, net-work, aau Uecorations of different colors and shades, are very rapiuly 
 produced. 
 
 The serpentine or snake pots, established on the same principle, are made cf tin plate 
 b three compartments, each containing a different color. These open at the top cf 
 
POTTERY. 473 
 
 the vessel in a common orifice, terminated by small quill tubes. On inclining the vessel, 
 the three colors flow out at once in the same proportion at the one orifice, and are let 
 fall upon the piece while it is being slowly turned upon the lathe ; -whereby curious ser- 
 pent-like ornaments may be readily obtained. The clay liquor ought to be in keeping 
 with the stoneware paste. The blues succeed best when the ornaments are made will 
 the finer pottery mixtures given above. 
 
 Metallic lustres applied to stoneware. — The metallic lustre being applied only to 
 the outer surface of vessels, can have no bad effect on health, whatever substances be 
 employed for the purpose ; and as the glaze intended to receive it is sufficiently fusible, 
 from the quantity of lead it contains, there is no need of adding a flux to the metallic 
 coating. The glaze is in this case composed of 60 parts of litharge, 36 of feldspar, and 
 15 of flints. 
 
 The silver and plalina lustres are usually laid upon a white ground, while those of gold 
 and copper, on account of their transparency, succeed only upon a colored ground. The 
 dark-colored stoneware is, however, preferable, as it shows off the colors to most advan- 
 tage ; and thus the shades may be varied by varying the colors of the ornamental figures 
 applied by the blowing-pot. 
 
 The gold and platina lustre is almost always applied to a paste body made on purpose, 
 and coated with the above-described lead glaze. This paste is brown, and consists of 
 4 parts of clay, 4 parts of flints, an equal quantity of kaolin (china clay), and 6 parts of 
 feldspar. To make brown figures in relief u^on a body of white paste, a liquor is mixed 
 up with this paste, which ought to weigh 26 ounces per pint, in order to unite well with 
 the other paste, and not to exfoliate after it is baked. 
 
 Preparation of gold lustre. — Dissolve first in the cold, and then with heat, 48 grains of 
 fine gold in 288 grains .of an aqua regia, composed of 1 ounce of nitric acid and 3 ounces 
 of muriatic acid ; add to that solution 4J grains of grain tin, bit by bit; and then pour 
 some of that compound solution into 20 grains of balsam of sulphur diluted with 10 grains 
 of oil of turpentine. The balsam of sulphur is prepared by heating a pint of linseed oil, 
 and 2 ounces of flowers of sulphur, stirring them continually till the mixture begins to 
 boil ; it is then cooled, by setting the vessel in cold water ; after which it is stirred afresh, 
 and strained through linen. Tlie above ingredients, after being well mixed, are to be al- 
 lowed to settle for a few minutes ; then the remainder of the solution of gold is to be 
 poured in, and the whole is to be tritmated till the mass has assumed such a consistence 
 that the pestle will stand upright in it ; lastly, there must be added to the mixture 30 
 grains of oil of turpentine, which being ground in, the gold lustre is ready to be applied. 
 If the lustre is too light or pale, more gold must be added, and if it have not a sufficient- 
 ly violet or purple tint, more tin must be used. ' 
 
 Platina lustre. — Of this there are two kinds ; one similar to polished steel, another 
 lighter and of a silver-white hue. To give stoneware the steel color with platina, 
 this metal must be dissolved in an aqua regia composed of 2 parts of muriatic acid, and 
 1 part of nitric. The solution being cooled, and poured into a capsule, there must be 
 added to it, drop by drop, with continual stirring with a glass rod, a spirit of tar, com- 
 posed of equal parts of tar and sulphur boiled in linseed oil and filtered. If the plalina 
 solution be too strong, more spirit of tar must be added to it; but if too weak, it must 
 be concentrated by boiling. Thus being brought to the proper pitch, the mixture 
 may be spread over the piece, which being put into the muffle, will take the aspect 
 of steel. . ' 
 
 The oxyde of platina, by means of which the silver lustre is given to stoneware, is pre- 
 pared as follows : — After having dissolved to saturation the metal in an aqua regia 
 composed of equal parts of nitric and muriatic acid, the solution is to be poured into .a 
 quantity of boiling water. At the same time a capsule, containing solution of sal-ammo- 
 niac, is placed upon a sand-bath, and the platina solution being poured into it, the metal 
 will fall down in the form of the well-known yellow precipitate, which is to be washed 
 with cojd water till it is perfectly edulcorated, then dried, and put up for use. 
 
 This metallic lustre is applied very smoothly by means of a flat camel's hair brush. It 
 is then- to be passed through the muffle kiln ; but it requires a second application of the 
 platinum to have a sufficient body of lustre. The articles sometimes come black out of 
 the kiln, but they get their proper appearance by being rubbed with cotton. 
 
 Platina and gold lustre ; by other recipes. 
 
 Platina lustre. — Dissolve 1 ounce of platinum in aqua regia formed of 2 parts oi 
 muriatic acid and 1 part of nitric acid, with heat upon a sand-bath, till the liquid is reduced 
 to two thirds of its volume; let it cool; decant into a clean vessel, and pour into it, 
 drop by drop, with constant stirring, some distilled tar, until such a mixture is produced 
 as will give a good result in -a trial upon the ware in the kiln. If the lustre be loo in- 
 tense, more tar must be added ; if it be too weak, the mixture must be concentrated by 
 •urther evaporation. 
 
 Gold, lustre. — Dissolve four shillings' worth of gold in aqua regia with a gentle heat. 
 
474 POTTERY. 
 
 To the solution, when cool, add 2 grains of grain tin, which will immediately dissolve 
 Prepare a mixture of half an ounce of Dalsam of sulphur with a little essence of turpen- 
 tine, beating them together till they assume the appearance of milk. Pour this mixture 
 into the solution of gold and tin, drop by drop, with continual stirring j and place the 
 whole in a warm situation for some time. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary to apply this lustre only u;ion an enamel or glaze which has 
 already passed through the fire, otherwise the tjlphur would tarnish the composition. 
 
 These lustres are applied with most advantage upon chocolate and other dark grounds. 
 Much skill is required in their firing, and a perfect acquaintance with the quality of the 
 glaze on which they are applied. 
 
 An iron lustre is obtained by dissolving a bit of steel or iron in muriatic acid, mixing 
 this solution with the spirit of tar, and applying it to the surface of ,the ware. 
 
 Aventurine glaze. — Mix a certain quantity of silver leaf with the above"-deseribed soft 
 glare, grind the mixture along with some honey and boiling water, till the metal assume 
 the appearance of fine particles of sand. The glaze, being naturally of a yellowish hue, 
 gives a golden tint to the small fragments of silver disseminated through it. Molyodena 
 may also be applied to produce the aventurine aspect. 
 
 The granite-lilee gold lustre is produced by throwing lightly with a brush a few drops 
 of oil of turpentine upon the goods already covered with the preparation for gold lustre. 
 These cause it to separate and appear in particles resembling the surface of granite. 
 When marbling is to be given to stoneware, the lustres of gold, platin, and iron are 
 used at once, which blending in the fusion, form veins like those of marble. 
 
 Fottery and stoneware of the Wedgewood color. — This is a kind of semi-vitrified ware, 
 called dry bodies, which is not susceptible of receiving a superficial glaze. This pottery 
 is composed in two ways : the first is with harytic earths, which.act as fluxes upon the 
 clays, and form enamels : thus the Wedgewood jasper ware is made. 
 
 The white vitrifying pastes, fit for reeeiving.all sorts of metallic colors, are composed 
 of 47 parts of sulphate of baryles, 15 of feldspar, 26 of Devonshire clay, 6 of sulphate 
 of lime, 15 of flints, and 10 of sulphate of strontites. This composition is capable of 
 receiving the tints of the metallic oxydes and of the ochrous metallic earths. Manganese 
 produces the dark purple color; gold precipitated by tin, a rose color; antimony, orange ; 
 cobalt, different shades of blue ; copper is employed for the browns and the dead-leaf 
 greens ; nickel gives, with potash, greenish colors. 
 
 One per cent, of oxyde of cobalt is added ; but one half, or even one quarter, of a per 
 cent, would be sufficient to produce' the fine Wedgewood blue, when the nickel and man- 
 ganese constitute 3 per cent., as well as the carbonate of iron. For the blacks of this 
 kind, some English manufacturers mix black oxyde of manganese with the black oxyde 
 of iron, or with ochre. Nickel and umber afford a fine brown. Carbonate of iron, mix- 
 ed with bole or terra, di Sienna, gives a beautiful tint to the paste ; as also mangan<*>e 
 with cobalt, or cobalt with nickel. Antimony produces a very fine color when combined 
 with the carbonate of iron in the proportion of 2 per cent., along with the ingredients 
 necessary to form the above-described vitrifying paste. 
 
 The following is another vitrifying paste, of a much softer nature than the preceding. 
 Feldspar, 30 parts ; sulphate of lime, 23 ; silex, 17 ; potter's clay, 15 ; kaolin of Corn- 
 wall (china clay), 15; sulphate of baryta, 10. 
 
 These vitrifying pastes are very plastie, and may be worked with as much facility as 
 English pipe-day. The round ware is usually turned upon the lathe. It may, 
 however, be moulded, as the oval pieces always are. The more delicate ornaments are 
 cast in hollow moulds of baked clay, by women and children, and applied with remark- 
 able dexterity upon the turned and moulded articles. The colored pastes have such an 
 affinity for each other, that the detached ornaments may be applied not only with a 
 little gum water upon the convex and concave forms, but they may be made to adhere 
 without experiencing the least cracking or chinks. The colored pastes receive only 
 one fire, unless the inner surface is to be glazed ; but a gloss is given to the outer sur- 
 face. The enamel for the interior of the black ** r °dgewood ware is composed of 6 parts 
 of red lead, 1 of silex, and 2 ounces of manganese, when the mixture is made in pounds' 
 weight. 
 
 . The operation called smearing, consists in giving an external lustre to the unglazed 
 semi-vitrified ware. The articles do not in this way receive any immersion, 
 nor even the aid of the brush or pencil of the artist ; but they require a second fire. 
 The saggers are coated with the salt glaze already described. These cases, or saggers, 
 communicate by reverberation the lustre so remarkable on the surface of the English 
 stoneware ; which one might suppose to be the result of the glaze tub, or of the brush. 
 Occasionally also a very fusible composition is thrown upon the inner surface of the 
 jiuffle, and 5 or 6 pieces called refractories are set in the middle of it, coated with the 
 lame composition. The intensity of the heat converts the flux into vapor; a part of 
 
POTTERY. 
 
 47£ 
 
 .his'is condensed upon the surfaces of the contiguous articles ; so as to give them the dt- 
 sired brilliancy. 
 
 Mortar body is a paste composed of 6 parts of clay, 3 of feldspar, 2 of silex, and 1 of 
 china clay. ' 
 
 White and yellow figures upon dark-colored grounds are a good deal employed. To 
 produce yellow impressions upon brown stoneware, ochre is ground up with a small 
 quantity of antimony. The flux consists of flint glass and flints in equal weights. 
 The composition for white designs is made by grinding silex up with that flux, and print- 
 ing it. on, as for blue colors, upon brown or other colored stoneware, which shows off the 
 light hues. 
 
 English porcelain or china. — Most of this belongs to the class called tender or soft por 
 celain by the French and German manufacturers. It is not, therefore, composed simply 
 of kaolin and petuntse. The English china is generally bakefl at a much lower heat than 
 that of Sevres, Dresden, and Berlin ; and it is covered with a mere glass. Being manu- 
 factured upon a prodigious scale, with great economy and certainty, and little expenditure 
 of fuel, it is solu at a very moderate price compared with the foreign porcelain, and in 
 external appearance is now not much inferior. 
 
 Some of the English porcelain has been called ironstone china. This is composed usu- 
 ally of 60 parts of Cornish stone, 40 of china clay, and 2 of flint glass j or of 42 of the 
 feldspar, the same quantity of clay, 10 parts of flints ground, and 8 of flint glass. 
 
 The glaze for the first composition is made with 20 t>arts of feldspar, 15 of flints, 6 of 
 red lead, and 5 of soda, which are fritted together ; with 44 parts of the frit, 22 parts of 
 flint glass, and 15 parts of white lead, are ground. 
 
 The glaze for the second composition is formed of 8 parts of flint glass, 36 of feldspar, 
 40 of white lead, and 20 of silex (ground flints.) 
 
 The English manufacturers employ three sorts of compositions for the porcelain bis- 
 cuit; namely, two compositions not fritted; one of them for the ordinary table service; 
 another for the dessert service and tea dishes ; the third, which is fritted, corresponds to 
 the paste used in France for sculpture ; and with it all delicate kinds of ornaments are 
 made. 
 
 
 First composition. 
 
 Second composition. 
 
 Third composition. 
 
 Ground flints - 
 
 Calcined bones 
 
 China clay - 
 
 Clay .... 
 
 75 
 
 180 
 
 40 
 
 70 
 
 66 
 
 - 100 
 
 96 
 
 Granite 80 
 
 Lynn sand 150 
 
 - 300 
 
 100 
 
 Potash - 10 
 
 The glaze for the first two of the preceding compositions consists of, feldspar 45, flints 
 9, borax 21, flint glass 20, nickel 4. After fritting that mixture, add 12 parts of red 
 lead. For the third composition, which is the most fusible, the glaze must receive 12 
 parts of ground flints, instead of 9 ; and there should be only 15 parts of borax, instead 
 of 21. 
 
 PLAN OF AN ENGLISH TOTTERY. 
 
 A stoneware manufactory should be placed by the side of a canal or navigable river, 
 because the articles manufactured do not well bear land carriage. 
 
 A Staffordshire pottery is usually built as a quadrangle, each side being about 100 feit 
 long, the-walls 10 feet high, and the ridge of the roof 5 feet more. The base of the edi- 
 fice :onsists of a bed of bricks, 18 inches high, and 16 inches thick ; upon which a mud 
 wall in a wooden frame, called pisS, is raised. Cellars are formed in front of the build- 
 ings, as depots for the pastes prepared in the establishment. The wall of the yard or 
 court is 9 feet high, an 18 inches thick. 
 
 Fig. 1156 A, is the entrance door ; b, the porter's lodge; c, a particular warehouse 
 d, workshop of the plaster-moulder: t:, tne clay depot; f, f, large gates, 6 feet 8 inches 
 high ; G, the winter evaporation stove ; H, the shop for sifting the paste liqudrs ; i, sheds 
 for the paste liquor tubs ; J, paste liquor pits ; K, workshop for the moulder of hdlow 
 ware ; L, ditto of the dish or plate moulder ; m, the plate drying-stove; N, workshop of the 
 biscuit-printers; o, ditto of the biscuit, with o', a long window; e, passage leading to the 
 paste liquor pits ; Q, biscuit warehouse ; R, place where the biscuit is cleaned as it comes 
 out of the biscuit-kilns, s, s ; t, t, ename. or glaze-kilns ; u, long passage ; v, space left for 
 supplementary workshops; x. space appointed as a depot for the sagger fire-clay, as also 
 for making the saggers; z, the workshop for applying the glaze liquor to the biscuits; 
 a, apartment for cleaning the glazed ware ; 6, b, pumps ; c, basin ; d, muffles ; e, ware- 
 house for the finished stoneware; /, that of the glazed goods ; g, g, another warehouse , 
 h, a large space for the smith's forge, carpenter's shop, packing room, depot of clays, 
 saggers, &c. The packing and loading of the goods are performed in front of the 
 
476 
 
 POTTERY. 
 
 warehouse, which has two outlets, in order to facilitate the work ; i, a passage to the 
 :ourt or yard ; I, a space for the wooden sheds for keeping hay, clay, and other iniscel. 
 1156 
 
 laneous articles ; m, room for putting the biscuit into the saggers ; m', a long window ; 
 u, workshop with'lathes and fly-wheels; o, drying-room ; p, room for mounting or fur- 
 nishing the pieces ; q, repairing-room ; r, drying-room of the goods roughly turned ; s, 
 rough turning or blocking-out room; t, room for beating the paste or dough; u, 
 counting-house. 
 
 The declared value of the earthenware exported in 1836, was 837,7742. ; in 1837, 
 558,682/. 
 
 There are from 33,000 to 35,000 tons of clay exported annually from Poole, in Dor- 
 setshire, to the English and Scotch potteries. A good deal of clay is also sent from Dev 
 onshire and Cornwall. 
 
 The Spanish alcarazzas, or cooling vessels, are made porous, to favor the exudation 
 of water through them, and maintain a constantly moist evaporating surface, Lasteyrie 
 says, that granular sea salt is an ingredient of the paste of the Spanish alcarazzas; which 
 being- expelled partly by the heat of the baking, and partly by the subsequent watery per- 
 colation, leaves the body very open. The biscuit' should be charged with a considerable 
 pioportion of sand, and very moderately fired. 
 
 OF PORCELAIN. 
 
 N Porcelain is a kind of pottery ware whose paste is fine grained, compact, very hard, 
 and faintly translucid ; and whose biscuit softens slightly in the kiln. Its ordinary white- 
 r ass cannot form a definite character, since there are porcelain pastes variously colored. 
 There are two species of porcelain, very different in their nature, the essential properties 
 of which it is of consequence to establish ; the one is called hard, and the other tender ; 
 important distinctions, the neglect of which has introduced great confusion into many 
 treatises on this elegant manufacture. 
 
 Hard porcelain is essentially composed, first, of a natural clay containing some silica, 
 infusible, and preserving its whiteness in a strong heat ; this is almost always a true 
 kaolin ; secondly, of a flux, consisting of silica and lime, composing a-quartzrse feldspai 
 rock, called pe-lun-tse. The glaze of this porcelain, likewise earthy; admits of no metallii 
 Substance or alkali. ' 
 
POTTERY. 477 
 
 Tender porcelain, styled also vitreous porcelain, has no relation with the preceding in 
 its composition ; it always consists of a vitreous frit, rendered opaque and less lusible by 
 the addition of a calcareous or marly, clay. Its glaze is an artificial glass or crystal, into 
 which silica, alkalis, and lead enter. 
 
 This porcelain has a more vitreous biscuit, more transparent, a little less hard, and !ess 
 fragile, but much more fusible than that of the hard porcelain. Its glaze is more glossy, 
 more transparent, a little less white, much tenderer, and more fusible. 
 
 The biscuit of the hard porcelain made at the French national manufactory of Sevres 
 is generally composed of a kaolin clay, and of a decomposed feldspar rock ; analogous to the 
 china clay of .Cornwall, and Cornish stone. Both of the above French materials come from 
 Saint Yriex-la-perche, near Limoges. 
 
 After many experiments, the following composition has been adopted for the servia 
 paste of the royal manufactory of Sevres ; that is, for all the ware which is to be glared; 
 silica, 59 ; alumina, 35-2 ; potash, 2'2; lime, 3-3. The conditions of such a compound 
 are pretty nearly fulfilled by taking from 63 to 70 of the washed kaolin or china clay, 
 22 to 15 o( the feldspar, nearly 10 of flint powder, and about 5 of chalk. The glaze is 
 composed solely of solid feldspar, calcined, crushed, and then ground fine at the mill. 
 This rock pretty uniformly consists of silica 73, alumina 16'2, potash 8-4, and 
 ■water 0-6. 
 
 The kaolin is washed at the pit, and sent in this state to Sevres, under the name of 
 decanted earth. At the manufactory it is washed and elutriated with care ; and its slip 
 is passed through fine sieves. This forms the plastic, infusible, and opaque ingredient 
 to which the substance must be added which gives it a certain degree of fusibility and 
 semi-transparency. The feldspar rock used for this purpose, should contain neither dark 
 mica nor iron, either as an oxyde or sulphuret. It is calcined to make it crushable, under 
 stamp-pestles driven by machinery, then ground fine in hornstone mills, as repre- 
 sented in figs. 1154, 1155, 1156, 1157. This pulverulent matter, being diffused through 
 water, is mixed in certain proportions, regulated by its quality, with the argillaceous 
 dip. The mixture is deprived of the chief part of its water, in shallow plaster pans 
 without heat ; and the resulting paste is set aside to ripen, in damp cellars, for many 
 months. 
 
 When wanted for use, it is placed in hemispherical pans of plaster, which absorb the 
 redundant moisture ; after which it is divided into small lumps, and completely dried. 
 It is next pulverized, moistened a little, and laid on a floor, and trodden upon by a work- 
 man marching over it with bare feet in every direction ; the parings and fragments of soft 
 moulded articles being intermixed, which improve the plasticity of the whole. When suffi- 
 ciently tramped, it is made up into masses of the size of a man's head, and kept damp till 
 required. 
 
 The dough is now in a state fit for the potter's lathe ; but it is much less plastic than 
 stoneware paste, and is more difficult to fashion into the various articles ; and hence one 
 cause of the higher price of porcelain. 
 
 The round plates and dishes are shaped on plaster moulds ; but sometimes the paste 
 is laid on as a crust, and at others it is turned into shape on the lathe. When a crust 
 is to be made, a moistened sheep-skin is spread on a marble table ; and over this the 
 dough is extended with a rolling-pin supported on two guide-rules. The crust is then 
 transferred over the plaster mould, by lifting it upon the skin; for it wants tenacity to 
 bear raising by itself. When the piece is to be fashioned on the lathe, a lump of tha 
 dough is thrown on the centre of the horizontal wooden disc, and turned into form as 
 directed in treating of stoneware, only it must be left much thicker than in its finished 
 slate. After it dries to a certain degree on the plaster mould, the workman replaces it on 
 the lathe, by moistening it on its base with a wet sponge, and finishes its form with an 
 iron tool. A good workman at Sevres makes no more than from 15 to 20 porcelain plates 
 in a day ; whereas an English potter, with two boys, makes from 1000 to 1200 plates of 
 stoneware in the same time. The pieces which are not round, are shaped in plaster moulds, 
 and finished by hand. When the articles are very large, as wash-hand basins, ss'ads, &e., 
 a flat cake is spread abovj a skin on the marble slab, which is tlren applied to tne mould 
 with the sponge, as for plates ; and they are finished by hand. 
 
 The projecting pieces, such as handles, beaks, spouts, and ornaments, are moulded 
 and adjusted separately; and are cemented to the bodies of china-ware with slip, or 
 porcelain dough thinned with water. In fact, the mechanical processes with porcelain 
 and the finer ' stoneware are substantially the same ; only they require more time and 
 "reater nicety. The least defect in the fabrication, the smallest bit added, an unequal 
 pressure, the cracks of the moulds, although well repaired, and seemingly effaced in the 
 clay shape, re-appear after it is baked. The articles should be allowed to dry very slow- 
 ly"; if hurried but a little, they are liable to be spoiled. When quite dry, they are taken 
 to the kiln. 
 
 The kiln for hard porcelain at Sevres, is a kind of tower in two flats, constructed of 
 
478 
 
 POTTERY. 
 
 fire-brinks ; and resembles; in other respects, the stoneware kiln already figured and 
 lescribed. The fuel is young aspin wood, very dry, and cleft very small ; it is put into 
 the apertures of the four outside furnaces or fire-mouths, which discharge their flame 
 into the inside of the kiln ; each floor being closed in above, by a dome pierced with 
 holes. The whole is covered in by a roof with an open passage, placed at a proper dis- 
 tance from the uppermost dome. There is, therefore, no chimney proper so called. See 
 Stone, artificial. 
 
 The raw pieces are put into the upper floor of the kiln ; where they receive a heat of 
 about the 60th degree of Wedgewood's pyrometer, and a commencement of baking 
 which, without altering their shape, or causing a perceptible shrinking of their bulk, 
 makes them completely dry, and gives them sufficient solidity to bear handling. By this 
 preliminary baking, the clay loses its property of forming a paste with water ; and the 
 pieces become fit for receiving the glazing coat, as they may be dipped in water without 
 risk of breakage. 
 
 The glaze of hard porcelain is a feldspar rock ; this being ground to a very fine pow- 
 der, is worked into a paste with water mingled with a little vinegar. All the articles are 
 dipped into this milky liquid for an instant ; and as they are very porous, they absorb 
 the water greedily, whereby a layer of the feldspar glaze is deposited on their surface, in 
 a nearly dry state, as soon as they are lifted out. Glaze-pup is afterwards applied with 
 a hair brush to the projecting edges, or any points wheK ; t had not taken ; and the pow- 
 der is then removed from the part on which the article is to stand, lest it should get 
 fixed'tp its support in the fire. After these operations it is replaced in the kiln, to be 
 completely baked. 
 
 The articles are put into saggers, like those of fine stoneware ; and this operation is 
 one of the most delicate and expensive in the manufacture of porcelain. The saggers 
 are made of the plastic or potter's clay of Abondant, to which about a third part of cement 
 of broken saggers has been added. 
 
 As the porcelain pieces soften somewhat in the fire, they cannot be set above each 
 other, even were they free from glaze ; for the same reason, they cannot be baked on 
 tripods, several of them being in one case, as is done with stoneware. Every piece of 
 porcelain requires a sagger for itself. They must, moreover, be placed on a perfectly 
 fiat surface, because in softening they would be apt to conform to the irregularities of a 
 rough one. When therefore any piece, a soup plate for example, is to be saggered, there 
 is laid on the bottom of the case a perfectly true disc or round cake of stoneware, made 
 of the sagger material, and it is secured in its place on three small props of a clay-lute, 
 consisting of potter's clay mixed with a greafrdeal of sand. When the cake is carefully 
 levelled, it is moistened, and dusted over with sand, or coated with a film of fire-clay slip, 
 and the porcelain is carefully set on it. The sand or fire-clay hinders it from sticking to 
 the cake. Several small articles may be set on the same cake, provided they do not touch 
 one another. 
 
 The saggers containing the pieces, thus arranged, are piled up in the kiln over each 
 other, in the columnar form, till the whole space be occupied ; leaving very moderate in- 
 tervals between the columns to favor the draught of the fires. The whole being arranged 
 with these precautions, and several others, too minute to be specified here, the door of 
 the kiln is built up with 3 rows of bricks, leaving merely an opening 8 inches square, 
 through which there is access to a sagger with the nearest side cut off. In this sagger 
 are put fragment- of porcelain intended to be withdrawn from time to time, in order to 
 judge of Ihe progress of the baking. These are called time-pieces or watches {montres), 
 This opening into the watches is closed by a stopper of stoneware. 
 
 The firing begins by throwing into the furnace-mouths some pretty large pieces of 
 white wood, an 1 the heat is maintained for about 15 hours, gradually raising it by the 
 addition of a larger quantity of the wood, till at the end of "that period the kiln has a 
 cherry-red color within. The heat is now greatly increased by the operation termed 
 covering the fire. Instead of throwing billets vertically into the four furnaces, there is 
 placed horizontally on the openings of these furnaces, aspin wood of a sound texture, 
 cleft small, laid in a sloping position. The brisk and long flame which it yields dips 
 into the tunnels, penetrates the kiln, and circulates round the sagger-piles. The heat 
 augments rapidly, and, at the end of 13 or 15 hours of this firing, the interior of the 
 kiln is so white, that the watches can hardly be distinguished. The draught, indeed, is 
 so rapid at this time, that one may place his hand on the slope of the wood without feel- 
 ing incommoded by the heat. Everything is consumed, no small charcoal re- 
 mains, smoke is no loiger produced, and even the wood-ash is dissipated. It is obvious 
 that the kiln and the saggers must be composed of a very refractory clay, in order to re- 
 sist such a fire. The heat in the Sevres kilns mounts so high as the 134th degree of 
 Wedgewood. 
 
 At the end of 15 or 20 hours of the great fire, that is, after from 30 to 36 hours 
 firing, the porcelain is baked; as is ascertained by taking out and examining tb( 
 
POTTERY. «9 
 
 watches. The kiln is suffered to cool during 3 or 4 dayj, and is then opened and dis- 
 charged. The sand strewed on the cakes, to prevent the adhesion of the articles to them, 
 gets attached to their sole, and is removed by friction with a hard sandstone ,» an opera- 
 tion which one woman can perform for a whole kiln in less than 10 days ; and is the 
 last applied to hard porcelain, unless it n*eds to be returned into the hot kiln to have 
 some defects repaired. 
 
 The materials of fine porcelain are very rare ; and there would be no advantage in 
 making a gray-white porcelain with coarser and somewhat cheaper materials, for 
 the other sources of expense above detailed, and which are of most consequence, would 
 still exist ; while the porcelain, losing much of its brightness, would lose the main part 
 of its value. 
 
 Its pap or dough, which requires tedious grinding and manipulation, is also more 
 difficult to work into shapes, in the ratio of 80 to 1, compared to fine stoneware. Each 
 porcelain plate requires a separate sagger ; so that 12 occupy in the kiln a space suffi- 
 cient for at least 38 stoneware plates. The temperature of a hard porcelain kiln being 
 very high, involves a proportionate consumption of fuel and waste of saggers. With 
 40 steres (cubic metres) of wood, 12,000 stoneware plates may be completely fired, both 
 in the biscuit and glaze kilns; while the same quantity of wood would bake at most only 
 1000 plates of porcelain. 
 
 To these causes of high price, which are constant and essential, we ought to add the 
 
 numerous accidents to which porcelain is exposed at every step of its preparation, and 
 
 particularly in the kiln ; these accidents damage upwards of one third of the pieces, 
 
 # and frequently more, when articles of singular form and large dimensions are ad 
 
 ventured. 
 
 The best English porcelain is made from a mixture of the Cornish kaolin (called china 
 clay), ground flints, ground Cornish stone, and calcined bones in powder, or bone-ash, be- 
 sides some other materials, according to the fancy of the manufacturers. A liquid pap 
 is made with these materials, compounded in certain proportions, and diluted with water. 
 The fluid part is then withdrawn by the absorbent action of dry stucco basins or pans. 
 The dough, broughj to a proper stiffness, and perfectly worked and kneaded on the prin- 
 ciples detailed above, is fashioned on the lathe, by the hands of modellers, or by pressure 
 in moulds. The pieces are then baked to the state of biscuit in a kiln, being enclosed, 
 of course, in saggers. 
 
 This biscuit has the aspect of white sugar, and being very porous, must receive a 
 vitreous coating. The glaze consists of ground feldspar or Cornish stone. Into this, 
 diffused in water, along with a little flint-powder and potash, the biscuit ware is dipped, 
 as already described, under stoneware. The pieces are then fired in the glaze-kiln, caro 
 being taken, before putting them into their saggers, to remove the glaze powder from their 
 bottom parts, to prevent their adhesion to the fire-clay vessel. 
 
 TENDER PORCELAIN. 
 
 Tender porcelain, or soft china-ware, is made with a vitreous frit, rendered less fusible 
 and opaque by an addition of white marl or bone-ash. The frit is, therefore, first pre- 
 pared. This, at Sevres, is a composition, made with some nitre, a little sea salt, Alicant 
 barilla, alum, gypsum, and much silicious sand or ground flints. That mixture is sub- 
 jected to an incipient pasty fusion in a furnace, where it is stirred about to blend the 
 materials well ; and thus a very white spongy frit is obtained. It is pulverized, and to 
 every three parts of it, one of the white marl of Ar'genteuil is added ; and when the whole 
 'are well ground, and intimately mixed, the paste of tender porcelain is formed. 
 
 As this paste has no tenacity, it cannot bear working till a mucilage of gum or black 
 soap be added, which gives it a kind of plasticity, though even then it will not bear the 
 lathe. Hence ft must be fashioned in the press, between two moulds of plaster. The 
 pieces are left thicker thar. they should be ; and when dried, are finished on the lathe 
 with iron tools. 
 
 In this state they are barfed, without anyglaze being applied; but as this porcelain 
 softens far more during the baking than the hard porcelain, it needs to be supported on 
 every side. This is done by baking on earthen moulds all such pieces as can be treated 
 In this way, namely, plates, saucers, &c. The pieces are reversed on these moulds, and 
 undergo their shrinkage without losing their form. Beneath other articles, supports of 
 a like paste are laid, which suffer in baking the same contraction as the articles, and of 
 course can serve only once. In this operation saggers are used, in which the pieces and 
 their supports are fired. 
 
 The kiln for the tender porcelain at Sevres is absolutely similar to that for the 
 common stoneware ; but it has two floors ; and while the biscuit is baked in the lower 
 story, the glaze is fused in the upper one; which causes considerable economy of 
 fuel. The glaze of soft porcelain is a species of glass or crystal preparedion purpose. 
 It is composed of flint, silicious sand, a little potash or soda, and about two fifth parts 
 
480 
 
 POTTERY 
 
 of lead oxyde. This mixture is melted in crucibles or pots beneath the kiln. The 
 resulting glass is ground fine, and diffused through water mixed with a little vinegar to 
 the consistence of cream. All the pieces of biscuit are covered with this glazy matter, 
 by pouring this slip over them, since their substance is not absorbent enough to take 'it 
 on by immersion. 
 
 The pieces are encased once more each in a separate sagger, but without any supports j 
 for the heat of the upper floor of the kiln, though adequate to melt the glaze, is not strong 
 enough to soften the biscuit. But as this first vitreous coat is not very equal, a second 
 one is applied, and the pieces are returned to the kiln for the third time. See Stone, ar- 
 tificial, for a view of this kiln. 
 
 The manufacture of soft porcelain is longer and more difficult than that of hard ; its 
 biscuit is dearer, although the raw materials may be found everywhere ; and it furnishes 
 also more refuse. Many of the pieces split asunder, receive fissures, or become deformed 
 in the biscuit-kiln, in spite of the supports ; and this vitreous porcelain, moreover, is al- 
 ways yellower, more transparent, and incapable of bearing rapid transitions of tempera- 
 ture, so that even the heat of boiling water frequently cracks it. It possesses some ad- 
 vantages as to painting, and may be made so gaudy and brilliant in its decorations, as to 
 captivate the vulgar eye. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PORCELAIN MILL. 
 
 1. The following figures of a feldspar and flint mill are taken from plans of apparatus 
 lately constructed by Mr. Hall of Dartford, and erected by him in the royal manufactory 
 of Sevres. There are two similar sets of apparatus, fig. 11 57,- which may be employed to- 
 gether or in succession ; composed each of an elevated tub A, and of three successive vats 
 
 1157 
 
 of reception a', and two behind it, whose top edges are upon a lower level than the bottom 
 of the casks A, A, to allow of the liquid running out of them with n sufficient slope. A 
 proper charge of kaolin is first put into the cask A, then water is gradually run into it 
 by the gutter adapted to the stopcock a, after which the mixture is agitated powerfully 
 in every direction by hand with the stirring-bar, which is hung within a hole in the 
 ceiling, and has at its upper end a small tin-plate funnel to prevent dirt or rust from 
 dropping down into the clay. The stirrer may be raised or lowered so as to touch any 
 part of the cask. The semi-fluid mass is left to settle for a few minutes, and then the 
 finer argillaceous pap is run off by the stopcock a', placed a little above the gritty 
 deposite, into the zinc pipe which conveys it into one of the tubs A'; but as this semi- 
 liquid matter may still contain some granular substances, it must be passed through a 
 sieve before it is admitted into the tub. There is, therefore, at the spot upon the tub where 
 the zinc pipe terminates, a wire-cloth sieve, of an extremely close texture, to receive the 
 liquid paste. This sieve is shaken upon its support, in order to make it discharge the 
 washed argillaceous kaolin. After the clay has subsided, the water is drawn off from its 
 surface by a zinc syphon. The vats A' have covers, to protect their contents from dust. 
 In the pottery factories of England, the agitation is produced by machinery, instead of the 
 hand. A vertical shaft, with horizontal or oblique paddles, is made to revolve in the vats 
 for this purpose. 
 
 The small triturating mill is represented in fig. 1158. There are three similar grinding- 
 tubs on the same line. The details of the construction are shown in figs. 1159, 60. 
 where it is seen to consist principally of a revolving millstone b (fig. 1159) of a fast 
 or sleeper millstone b', and of a vat c, hooped with iron, with its top raised above the 
 upper millstone. The lower block of hornstone rests upon a very firm basis, 6' ; it 
 is surrounded immediately by the strong wooden circle c, which slopes out funnel-wise 
 nbove, in order to throw back the earthy matte»s as they are pushed up by the attrition 
 
POTTERY. 
 
 481 
 
 1168 
 
 1159 -. — 
 
 of the stones. That pieee is hollowed out, partially to admit the key c, opposite to 
 which is the faucet and spigot c', for emptying the tub. When one operation is com- 
 , , , .r'''"'1 pleted, the key c is lifted out by means of a 
 
 /UMi 'J/WM peg put into the holes at its top ; the spigot is 
 
 then drawn, and the thin Baste is run out into vats. 
 The upper grindstone, B d, like the' lower one, is 
 about two feet in diameter, and must be cut in a 
 peculiar manner. At first there is scooped oul 
 a hollowing in the form of a sector, denoted bj 
 d if, jig. 1160; the arc df is about one sixth o( 
 the circumference, so that the vacuity of the 
 turning grindstone is one sixth of its surface ; 
 moreover, the stone must be channelled, in order 
 to grind or crush the hard gritty substances. For 
 this purpose, a wedge-shaped groove d e g, about 
 an inch and a quarter deep, is made on its under 
 face, whereby the stone, as it turns in the direc- 
 tion indicated by the arrow, acts with this inclined plane upon all the particles in its 
 course, crushing them and forcing them in between the stones, till they be tritur\ted to 
 an impalpable powder. When the grindstone wears unequally on its lower surface, it is 
 useful to trace upon it little furrows, proceeding from the centre to the circumference, 
 like those shown by the dotted lines e' c". It must, moreover, be indented with rough 
 points by the hammer. 
 
 The turning horn-stone block is set in motion by the vertical shaft h, which is fixed 
 by the clamp-iron cross i to the top of the stone. When the stone is new, its thickness 
 is about 14 inches, and it is made to answer for grinding till it be reduced to about 
 8 inches, by lowering the clamp i upon the shaft, so that it may continue to keep its 
 hold of the, stone. The manner in which the grindstones are turned, is obvious from 
 inspection of Jig. 1158 where the horizontal axis l, which receives its impulsion from 
 the great water-wheel, turns the prolonged shaft i/, or leaves it at rest, according as the 
 clutch /, /', is locked or opened. This second shaft bears the three bevel wheels M, M, M. 
 These work in three corresponding bevel wheels m' m' m', made fast respectively to the 
 
 three vertical shafts of the millstones, which pass 
 through the cast iron guide tubes m" ih". These 
 are fixed in a truly vertical position by the collar- 
 bar m", m',fig. 1159. In this figure we see at m how 
 the strong cross-bar of cast iron is made fast to the 
 wooden beams which support all the upper mechan- 
 ism of the mill-work. The bearing m' is disposed in 
 an analogous manner; but it is supported against 
 two cast iron columns, shown at-i." l", in fig. 1158 
 The guide tubes m" are bored smooth for a small 
 distance from each of their extremities, and their 
 interjacent calibre is wider, so that the vertical shafts 
 touch only at two places. It is obvious, that when- 
 ever the shaft l' is set a-going, it necessarily turns 
 the wheels m and m', and their guide tubes m"; but (he 
 vertical shaft may remain either at rest, or revolve, 
 according to the position of the lever click or catch 
 K, at the top, which is made to slide upon the shaft, 
 and can let fall a finger into a vertical groove cut 
 in the surface of that shaft. The clamp-fork of the 
 click is thus made to catch upon the horizontal bevcl- 
 wh eel m', or to release it, according as the lever K is 
 lowered or lifted up. Thus each millstone may be 
 thrown out of or into gear at pleasure. 
 These stones make upon an average 11 or 12 turns in 
 a minute, corresponding to three revolutions of the water- 
 wheel, which moves through a space of 3 feet 4 inches in 
 the second, its outer circumference being 66 feel. The 
 weight of the upper stone, with its iron mountings, 15 
 about 6 cwts., when new. The charge of each mill in dry 
 material is 2 cwts. ; and the water may be estimated at 
 from one half to the whole of this weight; whence the total 
 load may be reckoned to be at least 3 cwts. ; the stone, bv 
 displacement of the magma, loses fully 400 pounds of its weight, and weighs therefore in 
 reality only 2 cwts. It is charged in successive portions, but it is discharged all at once. 
 When the grinding of the silicious or feldspar matters is nearly complete, a remarkable 
 Vol. II. • 32 
 
 /^\, 
 
482 
 
 POTTERY. 
 
 phenomenon occurs ; the substance precipitates to the bottom, and assumes in a few 
 seconds so strong a degren of cohesion, that it is hardly possible to restore it again to the 
 pasty or mamga state; hence if a millstone turns too slowly, or if it be accidentally 
 stopped for a few minutes, the upper stone gets so firmly cemented to the under one, 
 that it is difficult to separate them. It has been discovered, but without knowing why, 
 that ix little vinegar added to the water of the magma almost infallibly prevents that 
 sudden stiffening of the deposite and stoppage of the stones. If the mills come to be 
 set fast in this way, the shafts or gearing would be . certainly broken, were not some 
 safety provision to be made in the machinery against such accidents. Mr. Hall's con- 
 trivance to obviate the above danger is highly ingenious. The clutch I, I', fig. 1158 is 
 not a locking ci ab, fixed in the common way, upon the shaft t ; but it is composed, as 
 
 shown in figs. 1161, 62, 63, 64., of a hoop », fixed 
 upon the shaft by means of a key, of a collar v, and 
 of a flat ring or washer x, with four projections, which 
 are fitted to the, collar v, by four bolts y. Fig. 1162 
 represents the collar v seen in front ; -that is, by the 
 face which carries the clutch teeth ; and fig.WbS rep- 
 resents its other face, which receives the flat ring x, 
 fig. 1164 in four notches corresponding to the four pro- 
 jections of the washer-ring. Since the ring u is fixed 
 upon the shaft l, and necessarily turns with it, it has 
 the two other pieces at its disposal, namely, the collar 
 v, and the washer x, because they are always connected 
 with it by the four bolts y, so as to turn with the ring u, when the resistance they encounter 
 upon the shaft l' is not too great, and to remain at rest, letting the ring u turn by itself, 
 when that resistance increases to a certain pitch. To give this degree of friction, we 
 need only interpose the leather washers z, 2', fig. 1161. and now as \£° collar coupling- 
 box, ft, slides pretty freely upon the ring », it is obvious that by tightening more or less 
 the screw bolts y, these washers will become as it were a lateral brake, to tighten more 
 or less the bearing of the ring u, to which they are applied ; by regulating this pressure, 
 everything may be easily adjusted. When the resistance becomes too great, the leather 
 washers, pressed upon one side by the collar v, of the washer x, and rubbed upon the 
 other side by the prominence of the ring u, get healed to such a degree, that they are apt 
 to become carbonized, and require replacement. 
 
 This safety clutch may be recommended to the notice of mechanicians, as susceptible 
 of beneficial application in a variety of circumstances. 
 
 GEEAT PORCELAIN MILL. 
 
 The large feldspar and kaolin mill, made by Mr. Hall, for Sevres, has a fiat bed of 
 homstone, in one block, laid at the bottom of a great tub, hooped strongly with iron. 
 In most of the English potteries, however, that bed consists of several flat pieces of cher*. 
 or hornstone, laid level with each other. There are, as usual, a spigot and faucet at the 
 side, for drawing off the liquid paste. The whole system of the mechanism is very sub- 
 stantial, and is supported by wooden beams. 
 
 The following is the manner of turning the upper blocks. In fig. 1157 the main 
 horizontal shaft p bears at one of its extremities „a toothed wheel, .usually mounted upon 
 1165 the periphery of the great 
 
 water-wheel {fig. 1165. shows 
 this toothed wheel by a dotted 
 line) at its other end ; p car- 
 ries the fixed portion .p of a 
 coupling-box, similar to the 
 one just described as belonging 
 to the little mill. On the pro- 
 longation of p, there is a second 
 shaft p', which bears the move- 
 able portion of that box, and 
 an upright bevel wheel p" 
 Lastly, in figs-. 1151 and 1165 
 there is shown the vertica. 
 shaft Q, which carries at its 
 upper end a large horizontal 
 cast-iron wheel q', not seen in 
 ,his view, because it is sunk within the upper surface of the turning hornstone, like the 
 damp d,f, in fig. 1159. At the lower end of the shaft Q, there is the bevel wheel q", 
 Which receives motion from the wheel p",fig. 1167. 
 The shaft p always revolves with the water-wheel ; but transmits its motion to the 
 
POTTERY. 483 
 
 shaft p' only when the latter is thrown into gear wilh the coupling-box p", by means of 
 ts forked lever. Then the bevel wheel p' turns round wilh the shaft p',and communicates 
 its rotation to the bevel wheel q", which transmits it to the shaft Q, and to the large cast 
 iron wheel, which is sunk into the upper surface of the revolving hornstone. 
 
 The shaft q is supported and centred by a simple and solid adjustment ; at its lower 
 part, it rests in a step r', which is supported upon a cast-iron arch q', seen in profile in 
 fig. 1151. its base is solidly fixed by four strong bolts. Four set screws above B.,fig.llo1 
 serve to set the shaft q truly perpendicular ; thus supported, and held securely at its lower 
 end, in the step at v., figs. 1151 & 1165 it is embraced near the upper end by a brass bush 
 or collar, composed of two pieces, which may be drawn closer together by means of a 
 screw. This collar is set into the summit of a great truncated cone of cast-iron, which 
 rises within the tub through two thirds of the thickness of the hornstone bed ; having its 
 base firmly fixed by bolls to the bottom of the tub, and having a brass collet to secure its 
 top. The iron cone is cased in wood. When all these pieces are well adjusted and 
 properly screwed up, the shaft Q revolves without the least vacillation, and carries round 
 with it the large iron wheel q', cast in one piece, and which consists of an outer rim, three 
 arms or radii, and a strong central nave, made fast by a key to the top of the shaft q, and 
 resting upon a shoulder nicely tunned to receive it. Upon each of the three* arms, there 
 are adjusted, with bolts, three upright substantial bars of oak, which descend vertically 
 through the body of the revolving mill to within a small distance of the bed-stone ; and 
 upon each of the three arcs of that wheel-ring, comprised between its three strong arms, 
 there are adjusted, in like manner, five similar uprights, which fit into hollows cut in the 
 periphery of the moving stone. They ought to be cut to a level at their lower part, to 
 suit the slope of the bottom of the tub o,figs. 1157 & 1165 so as to glide past it pretty 
 closely, without touching. 
 
 The speed of this large mill is eight revolutions in the minute. The turning horn- 
 stone describes a mean circumference of 141 1 inches (its diameter being 45 inches), and 
 of course moves through about 100 feet per second. The tub o, is 52 inches wide at 
 bottom, 56 at the surface of the sleeper block (which is 16 inches thick), and 64 at top, 
 inside measure. It sometimes happens that the millstone throws the pasty mixture out 
 of the vessel, though its topis 6 inches under the lip of the tubo; an inconvenience 
 which can be obviated only by making the pap a little thicker ; that is, by allowing only 
 from 25 to 30 per cent, of water ; then its density becomes nearly equal to 2-00, while 
 that of the millstones themselves is only 2-7 ; whence, supposing them to weigh only 2 
 cwts., there would remain an effective weight of less than | cwt. for pressing upon the 
 bottom and grinding the granular particles. This weight appears to be somewhat too 
 small to do much work in a short time ; and therefore it would be belter to increase the 
 quantity of water, and put covers of some convenient form over the tubs. It is estimated 
 that this mill will grind nearly 5 cwts. of hard kaolin or feldspar gravel, in 24 hours, into 
 a proper pap. 
 
 To the preceding methodical account of the porcelain manufacture, I shall now sub- 
 join some practicaf details relative to certain styles of work, with comparisons between 
 the methods pursued in. this country and upon the Continent, but chiefly by our jealous 
 rivals the French. 
 
 The blue printed ware of England has been hitherto a hopeless object of emulation in 
 France. M. Alexandre Brongniart, membre de lTnstitut, and director of the Manvfaciure 
 Royal de Sevres, characterizes the French imitations of the Fayence fine, on Anglaise, in 
 the following terms : " Les defauts de cette poterie, qui tiennent a sa nature, sont de ne 
 pouvoir aller sur le feu pour les usages domestiques, et d'avoir un vernis tendre, qui se 
 laisse aisement entamer par les instruments d'acier et de fer. Mais lorsque cette poterie 
 est mal fabriquee, ou fabriquee avec une economie ma] entendue, ses defauts deviennent 
 bien plus graves ; son vernis jaunatre et tendre tressaille souvent ; U se'laisse entamer 
 ou user avec la plus grande facilite par les instruments de fer, ou par l'usage ordinaire. 
 Les fissures que ce tressaillement ou ces rayures ouvrent dans le vernis permettent aux 
 matieres grasses de penetrer dans le biscuit, que dans les poleries affectees de ce defaut, a 
 presque toujours une texture Wche ; les pieces se salissent, s'empuantissent, et se brisent 
 meme avec la plus grande facilite."* 
 
 What a glaze, to be scratched or grooved with soft iron ; to fly off in scales, so as to 
 let grease soak into the biscuit or body of the ware ; to become foul, stink, and break with 
 iie utmost ease ! The refuse crockery of the coarsest pottery works in the United King. 
 ■torn would hardly deserve such censure. 
 
 In the minutes of evidence of the EnquSie Ministeridle, published in 1835, MM. de Saint 
 Cricq and Lebeuf, large manufacturers of pottery-ware at Creil and Montereau, give a 
 ?ery gratifying account of the English stoneware manufacture. They declare that the Eng- 
 ish possess magnificent mines of potter's clay, many leagues in extent ; while those of the 
 
 * Diet. Technologique torn, xvii., article Poterice, p 253. 
 
484 POTTERY. 
 
 French are mere patches or pats. Besides, England, they say, having upwards of 201 
 potteries, can constantly employ a great many public flint-mills, and thereby obtain thai 
 indispensable material of the best quality, and at the lowest rate. " The mill erected by 
 M. Brongniart, at Sevres, does its work at twice the price of the English mills. The 
 fuel costs in England one fourth of what it does in France. The expense of a kiln-round, 
 in the-latter country, i.i 200 francs ; while in the former it is not more than 60." .After 
 a two-months tour among the English potteries, these gentlemen made the following ad- 
 ditional observations to their first official statement : — 
 
 " The clay, which goes by water carriage from the counties of Devon and- Dorset, into 
 Staffordshire, to supply mora than 200 potteries, clustered together, is delivered to them 
 at a cost of 4 francs (3s. 2d.) the 100 kilogrammes (2 cwt.) ; at Creil, it costs 4/. 50c, 
 and at Mintereau, only 2/. 40c. There appears, therefore, to be no essential difference 
 in the price of the clay ; but the quality of the English is much superior, being ineon- 
 testably whiter, purer, more homogeneous, and not turning red at a high heat, like the 
 French." The grinding of the flints costs the English potter 4|rf. per 100 kilos., and the 
 French 6d. ; but as that of the latter is in general ground dry, it is a coarser article. The 
 kaolin, or china clay, is imported from Cornwall for the use of many French potteries ; 
 but the transport of merchandise is so ill managed in France, that while 2 cwts. cost in 
 Staffordshire only 8/. 75c. (about 7s. Id.), they cost 12/. at Creil, and 13/. 50c. at 
 Montereau. The white lead and massicot, so mnch employed for glazes, are 62 per cent, 
 dearer to the French potters than the English. As no French mill has succeeded in 
 making unsized paper fit for printing upon stoneware, our potters are under the 
 necessity of fetching it from England ; and, under favor of our own custom-house, are 
 allowed to import it at a duty of 165/ per 100 kilogrammes, or about Sd. per pound 
 English. No large stock of materials need be kept by the English, because every 
 article may be had when wanted from its appropriate wholesale dealers ; but the ease is 
 quite different with the French, whose stocks, even in small works, can never safely be 
 less in value than 150,000/ or 200,000/ ; constituting a loss to them, in interest upon 
 their capital, of from 7,500/ to 10,000/ per annum. The capital sunk in buildings is 
 far less in England than in France, in consequence of the different styles of erecting stone- 
 ware factories in the two countries. M. de Saint Cricq informs us, that Mr. Clewes, of 
 Shelton, rents his works for 10,000/ (380?.) per annum ; while the similar ones of Creil 
 and Montereau, in France, have cost each a capital outlay of from 500,000/ to 600,000/, 
 and in which the products are not more than one half of Mr. Clewes 5 . " This forms a 
 balance against us," says M. St. C, "of about 20,000/ per annum; or nearly 800/. 
 sterling. Finally, we have the most formidable rival to our potteries in the extreme 
 dexterity of the English artisans. An enormous fabrication permits the manufacturers 
 to employ the same workmen during the whole year upon the same piece : thus I have 
 seen at Shelton a furnisher, for sixpence, turn oft' 100 pieces, which cost at Creil and 
 Montereau 30 sous (Is. 2§<2.) ; yet the English workman earns 18/ 75c. a week, while 
 the French never earns more than 15/ I have likewise seen an English moulder 
 expert enough to make 25 waterpots a day, which, at the rate of 2d. a piece, bring him 
 4s. 2d. of daily wages; while the French moulder, at daily wages also of 4s. 2d., turns 
 out of his hands only 7, or at most 8 pots. In regard to hollow wares, the English may 
 be fairly allowed to have an advantage over ns, in the cost of labor, of 100 per cent. ; 
 which they derive from the circumstance, that there are in Staffordshire 60,000 operatives, 
 men, women, and children, entirely dedicated to the stoneware manufacture ; concentra- 
 ting all their energies within a space of 10 square leagues. Hence a most auspicious choice 
 of good practical potters, which cannot be found in France." 
 
 M. Saint Amans, a French gentleman, who spent some years in Staffordshire, and has 
 lately erected a large pottery in France, says the English surpass all other nations in 
 manufacturing a peculiar stoneware, remarkable for its lightness, strength, and elegance; 
 ns also in printing blue figures upon it of every tint, equal to that of the Chinese, by 
 processes of singular facility and promptitude. After the biscuit is taken out of the 
 kiln, the fresh impression of the engraving is transferred to it from thin unsized paper, 
 previously immersed in strong soap water ; the ink for this purpose being a compound 
 of arseniate of cobalt with a flux, ground up with properly boiled linseed oil. The 
 copper-plates are formed by the graving tool with deeper or shallower lines, according to 
 the variable depth of shades in the design. The cobalt pigment, on melting, spreads so 
 as to give the soft effect of water-color drawing. The paper, being still moist, is 
 readily applied to the slightly rough and adhesive surface of the biscuit, and may be 
 rubbed on more closely by a dossil of flannel. The piece is then dip_ped in a tub of water, 
 whereby the paper gets soft, and may be easily removed, leaving upon the pottery the pig- 
 ment of the engraved impression. After being gently dried, the piece is dipped into the 
 glaze mixture, and put into the enamel oven. 
 
POTTER'S OVEN. 485 
 
 Composition of the Earthy Mixtures. 
 
 The basis of the English stoneware is, as formerly stated, a bluish clay, brought, from 
 Dorsetshire and Devonshire, which lies at the depth of from 25 to 30 feet beneath t.te 
 surface. It is composed of about 24 parts of alumina, and 76 of silica, with some other 
 ingredients in very small proportions. This clay is very refractory in high heats, a pro- 
 perty which, joined to its whiteness when burned, renders it peculiarly valuable for pot- 
 tery. It is also the basis of all the yellow biscuit-ware called cream color, and in general 
 of what is called the printing body ; as also for the semi-vitrified porcelain of Wedgewood's 
 invention, and of the tender porcelain. 
 
 The constituents of the stoneware are, that clay, the powder of calcined flints, and of the 
 decomposed feldspar callea Cornish stone. The proportions are varied by the different 
 manufacturers. The following are those generally adopted in one of the principal estab- 
 lishments of Staffordshire : — 
 
 For cream color, Silex or ground flints ... - - 20 parts 
 
 Clay .... 100 
 
 Cornish stone --..---2 
 
 Composition of the Paste for receiving the Printing Body under the Glaze. 
 For this purpose the proportions of the flint and the feldspar must be increased. The 
 substances are mixed separately with water into the consistence of a thick .cream, which 
 weighs per pint, for the flints 32 ounces, and for the Cornish stone 28. The china clay 
 of Cornwall is added to the same mixture of flint and feldspar, when a finer pottery or 
 porcelain is required. That clay cream weighs 24 ounces per pint. These 24 ounces in 
 weight are reduced to one third of their bulk by evaporation. The pint of dry Cornish clay 
 weighs 17 ounces, and in its first pasty state 24, as just stated. The dry flint powder weighs 
 14J ounces per pint ; which when made into a cream weighs 32 ounces. To 40 measures of 
 Devonshire clay-cream there are added, 
 
 13 measures of flint liquor. 
 
 12 — Cornish clay ditto. 
 1 — Cornish stone ditto. 
 The whole are well mixed by proper agitation, half dried in the troughs of the slip-kiln, 
 and then subjected to the machine for cutting up the clay into junks. The above paste, 
 when baked, is very white, hard, sonorous, and susceptible of receiving all sorts of im- 
 pressions from the paper engravings. When the silica is mixed with the alumina in the 
 above proportions, it forms a compact ware, and the impression remains fixed between the 
 biscuit and the glaze, without communicating to either any portion of the tint of the me- 
 tallic color employed in the engraver's press. The feldspar gives strength to the biscuit, 
 and renders it sonorous after being baked ; while the china clay has the double advantagt 
 of imparting an agreeable whiteness and great closeness of grain. 
 
 Dead silver on porcelain is much more easily affected by fuliginous vapours than 
 burnished. It niay, however, by the following process be completely protected. The 
 silver must be dissolved in very dilute acid, and slowly precipitated ; and the metallic 
 preaipitate well washed. The silver is then laid (in wavy lines?) upon the porcelain 
 before being coloured (or if coloured, the colour must not be any preparation of gold) 
 in a pasty state and left for 24 hours, at the expiration of which time the gold is to be 
 laid on and the article placed in a moderate heat. The layer of gold must be very thin, 
 and laid on with a brush over the silver before firing it ; when by the aid of a flux and 
 a cherry red heat the two metals are fixed on the porcelain. — Newton's Journal, xxxi. 128. 
 POTTER'S OVEN. A patent was obtained in August, 1842, by Mr. W. Ridgway 
 . for the following construction of oven, in which the flames from the fireplaces are 
 conveyed by parallel flues, both horizontal and vertical, so as to reverberate the whole 
 of the flame and heat upon the goods after its ascension from the flues. His oven is 
 built square instead of round, a fire-proof partition wall being built across the middle 
 of it, dividing it into two chambers, which are covered in by two parallel arches. The 
 fireplaces are built in the two sides of the oven opposite to the partition wall ; from 
 which fireplaces narrow flues rise in the inner face of the wall, and distribute the 
 flame in a sheet equally over the whole of its surface. The other portion of the heat 
 is conveyed by many parallel or diverging horizontal flues, under and across the floor 
 or hearth of the oven, to the middle or partition wall ; over the surface of which the 
 flame which ascends from the ni-merous flues in immediate contact with the wall is 
 equally distributed. This sheet ot ascending flame strikes the shoulder of the arch, 
 and is reverberated from the seggars beneath, till it meets the flame reverberated from 
 the opposite side of the arch, and both escape at the top of the oven. The same con- 
 struction is also applied to the opposite chamber. In figs. 1166, 67, a, represents th« 
 
486 
 
 PRESS. HYDRAULIC. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 c r 
 
 
 square walls or body of the oven; b, the partition wall ; c, the fireplaces or furnaces 
 with their iron boilers ; d, the mouths of the furnaces for introducing the fuel ; /, the 
 ash-pits; g, the horizontal flues under the hearth of the oven; K, the vertical flues; 
 i, the vents in the top of the arches ; and fe, the entrances to the chambers of tin 
 ovens. 
 
 PRECIPITATE, is any matter separated in minule particles from the bosom of a fluid, 
 which subsides to the bottom of the vessel in a pulverulent form. 
 
 PRECIPITATION, is the actual subsidence of a precipitate. 
 
 PRESS, HYDRAULIC. Though the explanation of the principles of this power, 
 {ill machine belongs to a work upon mechanical engineering, rather than to one upon 
 1168 1169 
 
 manufactures, yet as it is often referred to in this volume, a brief description of it can- 
 not be unacceptable to Liany of my readers. 
 
 The framing consists of two stout cast-iron plates a, t b, which are strengthened by pro- 
 jecting ribs, not seen in th'e section, Jiff. 1168. The top or crown plate 6, and the base 
 plate a, a, are bound most firmly together by 4 cylinders of the best wrought iron, e, c, 
 which pass up through holes near the ends of the Baid plates, and are fast wedged in 
 them. The flat pieces e, «, are screwed to the ends of the crown and base plates, so as 
 to bind the columns laterally. /, is the hollow cylinder of the press, which, as well as 
 the ram g, is made of cast-iron. The upper part of the cavity of the cylinder is cast 
 narrow, but is truly and smoothly rounded at the boring-mill, so as to fit pretty closely 
 round a well-turned ram or piston ; the under part of it is left somewhat wider 
 in the casting. A stout cup of leather, perforated in the middle, is put upon the ram, 
 and serves as a valve to render the neck of the cylinder perfectly water-tight by filling 
 np the space between it and the ram ; and since the mouth of the cup is turned down- 
 Wards, the greater the pressure of the water upwards, the more forcibly are the edges 
 of the leather yalve pressed against the insides of the cylinder, and the tighter does the 
 joint become. This was Bramah's beautiful invention. 
 
 Upon the top of the ram, the press-plate, or table, strengthened with projecting ridges, 
 -ests, which is commonly called the follower, because it follows the ram closely in its 
 
PRINTED FABRICS. 
 
 487 
 
 mo 
 
 1171 
 
 descent. This plate has a half-round ho'c at each 
 of its four corners, corresponding to the shape of 
 the four iron columns along which it glides in its 
 up-and-down motions of compression and relaxa- 
 tion. 
 
 fe, fc, figs. 1168 and 1169. is the framing of a 
 force pump with a narrow barrel ; i is the well for 
 containing water to supply the pump. To spare 
 room in the engraving, the pump is set close to the 
 press, but it may be removed to any convenient 
 distance by lengthening the water-pipe u, which 
 connects the discharge of the force pump with the 
 inside of the cylinder of the press? Fig. 1170 is 
 a section of the pump and its valves. The pump 
 m, is of bronze; the suction-pipe n, has a conical 
 valve with a long tail ; the solid piston or plunger 
 p, is smaller than the barrel in which it plays, and 
 passes at its top through a stuffing-box q; r is the pressure-valve, s is the safety- 
 valve, which, in fig. 1169 is seen to be loaded with a weighted lever; t is the- dis- 
 charge-valve, for letting the water escape, from the cylinder beneath the ram, back 
 into the well. See the winding passages in fig. 1171. u is the tube which conveys 
 the water from the pump into the press-cylinder. In fig. 1169 two centres of motion for 
 the pump-lever are shown. .By shifting the bolt into the centre nearest the pump-rod, 
 the mechanical advantage of the workman may be doubled. Two pumps are generally 
 mounted in one frame for one hydraulic press ; the larger to give a rapid motion to the 
 ram at the beginning, when the resistance is small ; the smaller to give a slower but 
 more powerful impulsion, when the resistance is much increased. A pressure of 500 tons 
 may be obtained from a well-made hydraulic press with a ten-inch ram, ant ;a two and a 
 .one inch set of pumps. See Steaeine Press. 
 
 PRINCE'S METAL, or Prince Rupert's metal, is a modification of briss. 
 PRINTED FABRICS, whether dyed, felted or woven. — Exhibition, Section 3, Class 
 18. The colour printer and dyer form the subjects represented by this class. The arts 
 practised by them have made most important progress during late years. At first, taught 
 only by a long and varied experience, the importer of colour was restricted to the use 
 of a few comparatively simple substances for the extraction of colour and its application 
 to various fabrics. But since chemistry has been allowed to occupy a part of the atten- 
 tion of the manufacturer, a very different result has arisen. The indications of expe- 
 rience are confirmed by the teachings of philosophy, and in a large number of instances 
 a vast economy of material, time and labour has been effected. In addition, chemistry 
 has brought to light new compounds and new means of obtaining dyes and colours of 
 great brilliance from a few simple combinations. It is consequently now almost uni- 
 versal «; find that attached to the extensive works of the dyer and colour-printer is a 
 large laudatory fitted up for chemical investigations, and the processes developed in 
 which are often the source of a very great commercial prosperity. 
 
 Tha .Tint works of Lancashire, and particularly of Manchester and its vicinity, form 
 the most extensive sources of printed and dyed articles. Glasgow, Carlisle, Crayford, 
 Paisle}', and other places, also contain important works of a somewhat similar descrip • 
 tion. The origin of cotton printing appears to have taken place in the vicinity of the 
 metropolis in 1675. 
 
 During the last half century, a surprising development of printing in colour and 
 dyeing has taken place. It is estimated that, at its commencement, the annual quantity 
 of cotton printed was 32,869,729 yards. But in 1830, this quantity had attained the 
 enormous increase of 347,450,299 yards; and it has since still further increased. The 
 print works of Lancashire, and other places, fonn a surprising spectacle of the operation 
 of chemical and mechanical forces on the great scale. That which was formerly the 
 labour of weeks is now performed in a day. A piece of cloth is printed at the rate of 
 hundreds of yards in a day. On one side of a machine-room it ascends moist, with 
 colour from the engraved copper cylinder ; on the other hand it descends dried, ready 
 for the final processes. The printing machines are marvels of ingenuity ; the pattern is 
 applied by the engraved surface of one or more copper cylinders, which have received the 
 pattern from a small steel cylinder, or " mill " capable of impressing several with the 
 same design, and thus saving the cost of repeated engraving. At first only one colour 
 could be applied ; now from six, or even eight and ten colours are applied in constant 
 succession. These machines perform their work with great accuracy and speed, and 
 produce all the commoner patterns seen in daily use ; but hand labour is still employed, 
 even in these works, for fine or complicated work, and more particularly for printing 
 mousseline-de-laine dresses, &o. The goods thus printed are exported in immense quan- 
 tities to all parts of the world, a large portion being also retained for home use. Foi 
 
488 PRINTED FABRICS. 
 
 foreign countries a certain peculiarity of chromatic arrangement is necessary, in ordei 
 to render the articles adapted to the taste of purchasers. 
 
 The art of the dyer in towns is a manufacture on a smaller scale, and carried on gene- 
 
 ' rally in Bmall establishments devoted to that purpose. But extensive dye-works exists 
 
 which are employed in imparting various colours to cloth, ifec, on the great scale. Tc 
 
 the prosperous pursuit of either of these arts it is beginning to be more and more 
 
 widely felt that an enlightened and philosophical mind is of the first consequence. 
 
 Formerly the application of coloured designs to fabrics of various kinds was entirely 
 effected by what is called block-printing, and which in fact closely resembles type 
 printing. A block of wood or metal, or a combination of both, being engraved with the 
 pattern, received the colour by the ordinary means, and this was then transferred by 
 hand to the fabric. For every different colour a different block was required, and in 
 complicated "patterns, with many colours, the process was excessively tedious. It is, 
 however, still largely employed, where great care in the application of tie colour and 
 sharpness of definition in the pattern is required, but block printing can only be remu- 
 nerative in the better descriptions of goods, as the infinitely more rapid and economical 
 process of the cylinder printing has almost superseded it for the production of those of 
 commoner kinds. 
 
 71. Hammersley, J. A. Principal of*the School of Design, Manchester, Designer. 
 Picture in oil colours, showing the principles upon which floral forms are adapted to 
 designs for textile fabrics ; exhibiting a central picture of a composition of flowers, 
 imitated from nature, surrounded by 200 geometrical spaces, each containing a separate 
 design, and showing the mode of applying these flowers to manufactures. 
 
 For textile fabrics, natural flowers have been represented under conventional forms ; 
 so that, without departing from the original type, the character of design may not be 
 pictorial. The patterns of eastern chintzes are but fantastic imitations of flowers ; and 
 the pure taste of ancient Greece discarded from female dress all ornament but that of 
 a flat character ; where borders of the vine or ivy-leaf, or of the honeysuckle, have been 
 adopted, they ai e flat. The oriental cashmere style, the stuffs and carpets of Persia and 
 Turkey, the tartan of the Scot, the arabesques of ancient Rome and Moorish decora- 
 tion, while admitting of every variety of beauty in design or colour, are examples of a 
 flat as opposed to a relieved pictorial style of ornament 
 
 PRINTING. Galvanography, in the short interval which has elapsed since its first 
 appearance, has been divided into two methods. The first consists in the composition 
 being executed by the artist himself with colour (roasted terra di Sienna, or black-lead 
 and linseed oil) and the ordinary brush, in the same manner as an Indian-ink drawing 
 upon a silvered-eopper plate, which is then placed in the galvanoplastic apparatus, in 
 order to obtain a copy of the raised drawing. The copy, or sunk plate, thus obtained, 
 is touched up with the usual copper-plate engraving tools, and the light and shade im- 
 proved, and then serves for printing from '. it can of course, by means of the galvanic 
 apparatus, be multiplied to any desired extent. This method certainly possesses y the 
 advantage of allowing rapidity in execution and great freedom of treatment. In the 
 second method of galvanography, the outlines of the given drawing are etched in the 
 usual manner, the various tones of the picture laid on with the roulette, and a galvano- 
 plastic copy of this sunk plate is then produced. On this second (raised) plate, the 
 artist completes his picture by means of chalk and Indian ink, and puts in the lights 
 and shades, <fec. From this a second galvanoplastic copy is produced. This second 
 copy, or sunk plate, the t'lird plate in the order of procedure, serves, after being touched 
 up, for printing from in tne copper-plate press. 
 
 PRINTING INK. (Encre~ d'imwimerie, Fr. ; Buchdrucker/arbe, Germ.) After 
 reviewing the different prescriptions given by Moxon, Breton, Papillon, Lewis, those in 
 Nicholson's and the Messrs. Aikins' Dictionaries, in Rees' Cyclopaedia, and in the French 
 Printer's Manual, Mr. Savage* says, that the Encyclopaedia Britannica is the only work, 
 to his knowledge, which has given a recipe by which a printing ink might be made, that 
 could be used, though it would be of inferior quality, as acknowledged by the editor ; for 
 it specifies neither the qualities of the materials, nor their due proportions. The fine 
 black ink made by Mr. Savage, has, he informs us, been pronounced by some of our first 
 printers to be unrivalled ; and has procured for him the large medal from the Society for 
 the Encouragement of Arts. 
 
 1. Linseed oil. — Mr. Savage says, that the linseed oil, however long boiled, unless set 
 fire to, cannot be brought into a proper state for forming printing ink ; and that the 
 flame may be most readily extinguished by the application of a pretty tight tin cover to 
 the top of the boiler, which should never be more than half full. The French prefer 
 nut oil to linseed ; but if the latter be old, it is fully as good, and much cheaper, in this 
 iPuntry at least. 
 
 2. Black rosin is an important article in the composition of good ink ; as by melting 
 
 * lu his work on the Preparation of Printing Ink , 8vo., London. 1833. 
 
PRINTING MACHINE. 489 
 
 .t in the oil, 'when diat ingredient is sufficiently toiled and burnt, the two combine, and 
 form a compound approximating to a natural balsam, like that of Canada, which is itself 
 one of the best varnishes that can be used for printing ink. 
 
 3. Soap. — This is a most important ingredient in printers' ink, which is not even 
 mentioned in any of the recipes prior to that in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. For 
 want of soap, ink accumulates upon the face of the types, so as completely to clog them 
 ap after comparatively few impressions have been taken ; it will not wash off' without 
 alkaline leys, and it skins over very soon- in the pot. Yellow rosin soap is the best for 
 black inks ; for those of light and delicate shades, white curd soap is preferable. Too 
 much soap is apt to render the impression irregular, and to prevent the ink from drying 
 quickly. The proper proportion has been hit, when the ink works clean, without clog- 
 ging the surface-of the types. 
 
 4. Lamp black. — The vegetable lamp black, sold in firkins, takes by far the most var- 
 nish, and answers for making the best ink. See Black. 
 
 5. Ivory black is too heavy to be used alone as a pigment for printing ink ; but it may 
 be added with advantage by grinding a little of it upon a muller with the lamp black, for 
 certain purposes ; for instance, if an engraving on wood is required tt> be printed so as to 
 produce the best possible effect. 
 
 6. Indigo alone, or with an equal weight of Prussian blue, added in small proportion, 
 takes otf the brown tone of certain lamp black inks. Mr. Savage recommends a little 
 Indian red to be ground in with the indigo and Prussian blue, to give a rich tone to the 
 black ink. 
 
 7. Balsam of capivi, as' sold by Mr. Allen, Plough-court, Lombard-street, mixed, 
 by a stone and a muller, with a due proportion of soap and pigment, forms an extem- 
 poraneous ink, which the printer may employ very advantageously when he wishes to 
 execute a job in a peculiarly neat manner. Canada balsam does not answer quite so 
 well. 
 
 After the smoke begins to rise from the boiling oil, a bit of burning paper stuck in 
 the cleft end of a long stick should be applied to the surface, to set it on fire, as soon as 
 the vapor will burn; and the flame should be allowed to continue (the pot being 
 meanwhile, removed from over the fire, or the fife taken from under the pot), till a 
 sample of the varnish, cooled upon a pallet-knife, draws out into strings of about half an 
 inch long between the fingers. To six quarts of linseed oil thus treated, six pounds of, 
 rosin should be gradually added, as soon as the froth of the ebullition has subsided. 
 Whenever the rosin is dissolved, one pound and three quarters of dry brown soap, of the 
 best quality, cut into slices, is to be introduced cautiously, for its water of combination 
 causes a violent intumescence. ■ Both the rosin and soap should be well stirred with the 
 spatula. The pot is to be now set upon the fire, in order to complete the combination of 
 all the constituents. 
 
 Put next of well ground indigo and Prussian blue, each 2| ounces, into an earthen pan, 
 sufficiently large to hold all the ink, along with 4 pounds of the best mineral lamp black, 
 and 3| pounds of good vegetable lamp black; then add the \varm varnish by slow degrees, 
 carefully stirring, to produce a perfect incorporation of all the ingredients. This mixture 
 is next to be subjected to a mill, or slab and muller, till it be levigated into a smooth uni- 
 form pssU\ * 
 
 One pound of a superfine printing ink may be made by the following recipe of Mr. 
 Savage :— Balsam of capivi, 9 oz-. ; lam black, 3 oz. ; indigo and Prussian blue, 
 together, p. seq. \\ oz. ; Indian red, | oz. ; .urpentine (yellow) soap, dry, 3 oz. This 
 mixture is to Yft ground upon a slab, with a muller, to an impalpable smodthness. The 
 pigments use., for colored printing inks are, carmine, lakes, vermilion, red lead, 
 Indian red, Venetian red, chrome yellow, chrome red or orange, burnt terra di Sienna, 
 gall-stone, Roman ochre, yellow ochre, verdigris, blues and yellows mixed for greens, 
 indigo, Prussian blue, Antwerp blue, lustre, umber, sepia, browns mixed with Venetian 
 red, &c. 
 
 PRINTING MACHINE. (Typographic mtcanique, "Ft,; Druchmaschine, Germ.) 
 In reviewing those great eras of national industry, when the productive arts, after a long 
 period of irksome vassalage, have suddenly achieved some new conquest over the inertia 
 of matter, the contemplative mind cannot fail to be struck with the insignificant part 
 which the academical philosopher has generally played in such memorable events. 
 
 Engrossed with barren syllogisms, or equational theorems, often little better than 
 truisms in dissuise, he nevertheless believes in the perfection of his attainments, and 
 disdains to soil his hands with those handicraft operations at which all improvements in 
 the arts must necessarily begin. He does not deem a manufacture worthy of his regard, 
 till it has worked out its own grandeur and independence with patient labor and con 
 tnmmate skill. In this spirit the men of speculative science neglected for 60 years the 
 steam engine of Newcomen, ti'.l the artisan Watt transformed it into an automatic prodigy ; 
 they have never deigned to illustrate by dynamical investigations the factory mechanisms 
 
190 PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 >f Arkwright, yet nothing in the whole compass of art deserves it so well ; and thoiigl 
 perfectly aware that revolvency is the leading law in the system of the universe, they havt 
 never thought of showing the workman that this was also the true principle of every 
 automatic machine. 
 
 These remarks seem to be peculiarly applicable to book-printing, an art invented for 
 the honor of learning and the glory of the learned, though they have done nothing for 
 its advancement; yet by the overruling bounty of Providence it has eventually served as 
 the great teacher and guardian of the whole family of man. 
 
 It has been justly observed by Mr. Cowper, in his ingenious lecture,* that no improve- 
 ment had been introduced in this important art, from its invention till the year 1798, a 
 period of nearly 350 years. In Dr. Dibdin's interesting account of printing, in the 
 Bibliographical Decameron, may be seen representations of the early •printing-presses, 
 which exactly resemble the wooden presses in use at the present day. A new era has, 
 however, now arrived, when the demands for prompt circulation of political intelligence 
 require powers of printing newspapers beyond the reach of the most expeditious hand 
 presswork. 
 
 For the first essential modification of the old press, the world is indebted to the late 
 Earl Stanhope, f His press is formed of iron, without any wood ; the table upon which 
 the form of types is laid, as well as the platen or surface which immediately gives the 
 impression, is of cast iron, made perfectly level ; the platen being large enough to 
 print a whole sheet at one pull. The compression is applied by a beautiful combination 
 of levers, which, give motion to the screw, cause the platen to descend with progressively 
 increasing force till it reaches the type, when the power' approaches the maximum; 
 upon the infinite lever principle, the power being applied to straighten an obtuse-angled 
 ■ointed lever. This press, however, like all its flat-faced predecessors, does not act by a 
 continuous, but a reciprocating motion, and can hardly be made automatic ; nor does it 
 much exceed the old presses in productiveness, since it can turn off only 250 impressions 
 per hour. 
 
 The first person who publicly projected a self-acting printing-press, was Mr. 
 William Nicholson, the able editor of the Philosophical Journal, who obtained a patent 
 in 1790-1, for imposing types upon a cylindrical surface; this disposition of types, 
 plates, and blocks, being anew invention (see Jig. 1172.); 2, for applying the ink upon 
 the surface of the types, &c, by causing the surface of a cylinder smeared with the 
 coloring-matter to roll over them ; or else causing the types to apply themselves to 
 the said cylinder. For the purpose of spreading the ink evenly over this cylinder, he 
 
 proposed to apply three or more distributing 
 rollers longitudinally against the inking cy- 
 linder, so that they might be turned by Ihe 
 motion of the latter. 3. " I perform," he 
 says, "all my impressions by ihe action of a 
 cylinder, or cylindrical surface; that is, I 
 cause the paper to pass between two cylinders, 
 one of which has the form of types attached 
 to it, and forming part of its surface; and 
 the other is faced with cloth, and serves to 
 Nicholson's for Nicholson's for press the paper so as to take off an impres- 
 
 arched type. common type. s ion of the color previously applied ; or 
 
 otherwise I cause the form of types, previously colored, to pass in close and successive 
 contact with the paper wrapped round a cylinder with woollen." (See far*. 1172 and 
 1173.) J: \ j t> 
 
 In this description Mr. Nicholson indicates pretty plainly the principal parts of 
 modern printing machines ; and had he paid the same attention to any one part of his 
 invention which he fruitlessly bestowed upon attempts to attach types to a cylinder, or 
 had ne bethought himself of curving stereotype plates, which were then beginning to be 
 talked of, he would in all probability have realized a working apparatus, instead of 
 scheming merely ideal plans. 
 
 The first operative printing machine was undoubtedly contrived by, and constructed 
 under the direction of, M. Konig, a clockmaker from Saxony, who, so early as the year 
 1804 was occupied in improving printing-pr«sses. Having failed to interest the con- 
 tinental Pnnters in his views, he came to London soon after that period, and submitted 
 his plans to Mr. T. Bensley our celebrated printer, and to Mr. R. Taylor, now one of 
 the editors of the Philosophical Magazine. 
 
 &^^ 
 
PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 491 
 
 Those gentlemen afforded Mr. Konig and his assistant Bauer, a German mechanic, 
 liberal pecuniary support. In 1811, he obtained apatent for a method of working a com- 
 mon hand-press by power; but after much expense and labor he" was glad to renounce 
 the scheme. He then turned his mind to the use of a cylinder for communicating the 
 pressure, instead of a flat plate ; and he finally succeeded, some time before the 28th No- 
 vember, 1814, in completing his printing automaton ; for on that day the editors of the 
 Times informed their readers that they were perusing for the first time a newspaper print- 
 ed by steam-impelled machinery ; it is a day, therefore, which will be ever memorable in 
 the annals of typography. 
 
 In that machine the form of type was made to traverse horizontally under the pressure 
 cylinder, with which the sheet of paper was held in close embrace by means of a series 
 
 «of endless tapes. The ink was placed in a cylindrical box, 
 1174 i from which it was extruded by means of a powerful screw, de- 
 
 >r , pressing a well-fitted piston ; it then fell between two iron 
 
 $^&. dfflflbh. rollers, and was by their rotaiion transferred to several other 
 
 © ® W//Wnfa ^ subjacent rollers, which had not only a motion round their 
 fljL-ga \MtHjtfa' axes, but an alternating traverse motion (endwise). This 
 ~ •-* , 7fWtf\„ system of equalizing rollers terminated in two which applied 
 
 the ink to the types. (See fig. 1174.) This plan of inking evi 
 dently involved a rather complex mechanism, was hence difficult 
 to manage, and sometimes required two hours to get into good working trim. It has been 
 superseded by a happy invention of Mr. Cowper, to be presently described. 
 
 In order to obtain a great many impressions rapidly from the same form, a paper-con 
 ducting cylinder (one embraced by the paper) was mounted upon each side of the inking 
 apparatus, the form being made to traverse under both of them. This double-action ma- 
 chine threw oft" 1100 impressions per hour when first finished; and by a subsequent im 
 provement, no less than 1800. 
 Mr. Konig's next feat was the construction of a machine for printing both sides oi 
 
 ' i arm 1 1 
 
 Konig's single, for one 
 side of the sheet. 
 
 1175 
 
 the newspaper at each complete tra- 
 verse of the forms. This resembled 
 two single machines, placed with their 
 cylinders towards each other, at a dis- 
 tance of two or three feet ; the sheet 
 was conveyed from one paper cylinder 
 to another, as before, by means of tapes ; 
 the track of the sheet exactly resembled 
 Konig's double, for both sides of the sheet. ih.e letter S laid horizontally, thus, a> ; 
 
 and the sheet was turned over or reversed in the course of its passage. At the first 
 pa'per cylinder it received the impression from the first form, and at the second it re- 
 ceived it from the second form ; whereby the machine could print 750 sheets of book 
 letter-press on both sides in an hour. This new register apparatus was erected for Mr. 
 T. Bensley, in the year 1815, being the only machine made by Mr. Konig for printing 
 upon both sides. See Jig. 1175. 
 
 Messrs. Donkin and Bacon had for some years previous to this date been busily 
 engaged with printing machines, and had indeed, in 1813, obtained a patent for an 
 
 1176 
 
 apparatus, in which the types were placed upon the sides of a re. 
 volving prism ; the ink was applied by a roller, which rose and 
 fell with the eccentricities of the prismatic surface, and the sheet 
 was wrapped upon another prism fashioned so as to coincide with 
 the eccentricities of the type prism. One such machine was 
 erected for the University of Cambridge. (See fig. 1176.) It was a 
 beautiful specimen of ingenious contrivance and good workman- 
 ship. Though it was found to be too complicated for common 
 Donkin and Bacon's operatives, and defective in the mechanism of the inking process ; 
 for type. yet it exhibited for the first time the elastic inking rollers, composed 
 
 it glue combined with treacle, which alone constitute one of the finest inventions of 
 modern typography. In Konig's machine the rollers were of metal covered with leather, 
 and never answered their purpose very well. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I may slate that the above elastic composition, which re- 
 sembles caoutchouc not a little, but is not so firm, is made by dissolving with heal in two 
 pounds of ordinary treacle, one pound of good glue, previously soaked during a night in 
 cold water. 
 
 In the year 18 15, Mr. Cowper turned his scientific and inventive mind to the subject 
 
 of printing machines, and has since,, in co-operation with his partner, Mr. Applcgath, 
 
 ;arried them to an unlooked-for degree of perfection. In 1815 Mr. Cowper obtained 
 
 patent for curving stereotype plates, for the purpose of fixing them on a cvlindei 
 
492 
 
 PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 Several machines so mounted, capable of printing 1000 sheets per hour upon both 
 sides, are at work at the present day; twelve machines on this principle having been 
 1177 1178 made for the Di- 
 
 rectors of the 
 Bank of Eng- 
 land a short time 
 previous to their 
 re-issuing gold. 
 
 Cowper's single, for curred Cowper's double, for both sides of the ^ ee fig'- 1177. 
 
 stereotype. sheet. and 1178. 
 
 It deserves to be remarked here, that the same object seems to have occupied the 
 attention of Nicholson, Donkin, Bacon, and Cowper; viz., the revolution of the form 
 of types. Nicholson sought to effect this by giving to the shank of a type a shape like the 
 stone of an arch; Donkin and Bacon by attaching types to the sides of a revolving 
 prism; and Cowper, more successfully, by curving a stereotype plate. (See fig. 1177.) 
 In these machines Mr. Cowper places two paper cylinders side by side, and against 
 each of them a cylinder for holding the plates ; each of these four cylinders is about two 
 feet in diameter. Upon the surface of the stereotype-plate cylinder, four or five inking 
 rollers of about three inches in diameter are placed ; they are kept in their position by 
 a frame at each end of the said cylinder, and the axles of the rolk.-s rest in vertical slots 
 of the frame, whereby, having perfect freedom of motion, they act by their gravity alone, and 
 require no adjustment. 
 
 The frame which supports the inking rollers, called the wavmg-frame, is attached by 
 hinges to the general framework of the machine; the edge of the stereotype-plate cylin- 
 der is indented, and rubs against the waving-frame, causing it to vibrate to and fro, and 
 consequently to carry the inking rollers with it, so as to give them an unceasing traverse 
 movement. These rollers distribute the ink over three fourths of the surface of the 
 cylinder, the other quarter being occupied by the curved stereotype plates. The ink is 
 contained in a trough, which stands parallel to the said cylinder, and is formed by a 
 metal roller revolving against the edge of a plate of iron ; in its revolution it gets 
 covered with a thin film of ink, which is conveyed to the plate cylinder by a distributin" 
 roller vibrating between both. The ink is diffused upon the plate cylinder as before 
 described ; the plates in passing under the inking rollers become charged with the colored 
 varnish ; and as the cylinder continues to revolve, the plates come into contact with a 
 sheet of paper on the first paper cylinder, which is then carried by means of tapes to the 
 second paper cylinder, where it receives an impression upon its opposite side from the plates 
 upon the second cylinder. 
 
 Thus the printing of the sheet is completed. Though the above machine be applicable 
 only to stereotype plates, it has been of general importance, because it formed the foun- 
 dation of the future success of Messrs. Cowper and Applegath's printing machinery, by 
 showing them the best method of serving out, distributing, and applying the colored varnish 
 to the types. 
 
 In order to adapt this method of inking to a flat type-form machine, it was merely 
 requisite to do the same thing upon an extended flat surface or table, which had 
 been performed upon an extended cylindrical surface. Accordingly, Messrs. Cowper 
 and Applegath constructed a machine for printing both sides of the sheets from type 
 including the inking apparatus, and the mode of conveying the sheet from the one pape* 
 cylinder to the other, by means of drams and tapes. It is highly creditable to the scien- 
 tific judgment of these patentees, that in new modelling the printing machine they dis- 
 pensed with forty wheels, which existed in Mr. Kdnig's apparatus, when Mr. Bensley re- 
 quested them to apply their improvements to it 
 
 The distinctive advantages of these machines, and which have not hitherto been 
 equalled, are the uniform distribution of the ink, the equality as well as delicacy 
 with which it is laid upon the types, the diminution in' its expenditure, amounting to 
 1^ » 1179 »ne half upon a given quantity of letter-press, and the facility with 
 ~J tt which the whole mechanism is managed. The band inking-roller 
 
 and distributing-table, now so common in every printing-office 'in Eu- 
 rope and America, is the invention of Mr. Cowper, and was specified 
 in his patent. The vast superiority of the inking apparatus in his ma- 
 chines, over the balls used of old, induced him to apply it forthwith 
 to the common press, and most successfully for the public ; but with 
 little or no profit to the inventor, as the plan was unceremoniously in- 
 fringed throughout the kingdom, by such a multitude of printers, whether 
 rich or poor, as to render all attempts at reclaiming his rights by prose- 
 Cowpert inking cution hopeless. See fig. 1179. 
 tabie and roller. To construct a printing machine which shall throw off two sides at a 
 
 time with exact register, that is, with the second side placed precisely upon the back of the 
 
PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 493 
 
 first, is a very difficult problem, which was first practically solved by Messls. Applegath 
 and Cowpcr. It is comparatively easy to make a machine which shall print the one side 
 of a sheet of paper first, and then the other side, by the removal of one form, and the 
 introduction of another; and thus far did Mr. Kiinig advance. A correct register 
 requires the sheet, after it has received its first impression from one cylinder, to travel 
 1180 1181 
 
 Applegath and Cowper's single. Applegath unci Cowper's double. 
 
 round the peripheries of the cylinders and drums, at such a rate as to meet the types 
 of the second side at the exact point which will ensure this side falling with geome- 
 trical nicety upon the back of the first. For this purpose, the cylinders and drums 
 must revolve at the very same speed as the carriage underneath ; hence the least incor- 
 rectness in the workmanship will produce such defective typography as will not be 
 endured in book-printing at the present day, though it may be tolerated in newspapers. 
 An equable distribution of the ink is of no less importance to beautiful letter-press. See 
 figs. 1180, 1181. 
 
 The machines represented in figs. 1183, 84, 86. are different forms of those which have 
 been patented by Messrs. Applegath and Cowper. That shown in figs. 1182 and 84 prints 
 both sides of the sheet during its passage, and is capable of throwing off nearly 1000 
 finished sheets per hour. The moistened quires of blank paper being piled upon a 
 table A, the boy, who stands on the adjoining platform, takes up one sheet after another, 
 and lays them upon the feeder b, which has several linen girths passing across its sur, 
 face, and round a pulley at each end of the feeder; so that whenever the pulleys begin 
 to revolve, the motion of the girths carries forward the sheet, and delivers it over the 
 entering roller e, where it is embraced between two series of endless tapes, that pass 
 round a series of tension rollers. These tapes are so placed as to fall partly between, 
 and partly exterior to, the pages of the printing ; whereby they remain in close contact 
 with the sheet of paper on both of its sides during its progress through the machine. The 
 paper is thus conducted from the first printing cylinder p, to the second cylinder G, 
 without having the truth of its register impaired, so that the coincidence of the two 
 pages is perfect. These two great cylinders, or drums, are made of cast iron, turned per- 
 fectly true upon a self-acting lathe ;* they are clothed in these parts, corresponding to the 
 typographic impression, with fine woollen cloth, called blankets by the pressmen, and 
 revolve upon powerful shafts which rest in brass bearings of the strong framing of the 
 
 1182 
 
 machine. These bearings, or plummer blocks, are susceptible of any degree of adjust- 
 ment, by set screws. The drums h and i are made of wood ; they serve to conduct the 
 iheet evenly from the one printing cylinder to the other. 
 
 One series of tapes commences at the upper part of the entering drum e, proceeds in 
 ••nlact with the right-hand side and under surface of the printing cylinder r, passes 
 
 * I have witnessed with much pleasure the turning of these great cylinders in Messrs. Cowper's factory at 
 rial Chester. 
 
494 
 
 PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 next over the carrier-dram h, and under the carrier-drum i ; then encompassing the 
 eft-hand side and under portion of the printing drum G, it passes in contact with the 
 
 small tension rollers a, b, c, d, fig. 1184, and finally arrives at the roller e, which may 
 be called the commencement of the one series of endless tapes. The other series may 
 be supposed to commence at the roller A; it has an equal number of tapes, and cor- 
 responds with the former in being placed uponHhe cylinders so that the sheets of paper 
 may be held securely between them. This second series descends from the roller ft, 
 fig. 1184, to the entering drum e, where it meets and coincides with the first series in 
 such a way that both sets of tapes proceed together under the printing cylinder f, over H, 
 under i, and round g, until they arrive at the roller i, fig. 1182 where they separate, after 
 having continued in contact, except at the places where the sheets of paper are held 
 between them. The tapes descend from the roller i, to a roller at k, and, after passing in 
 contact with rollers at /, m, n, they finally arrive at the roller A, where they were supposed 
 to commence. Hence two series of tapes act invariably in contact, without the least 
 mutual interference, as may be seen by inspection of the figs. 1182, 1183, 1184. 
 
 The various cylinders and drums revolve very truly by means of a system of toothed " 
 wheels and pinions mounted at their ends. Two horizontal forms of types are laid at a 
 certain distance apart upon the long carriage m, adjoining to each of which there is a fiat 
 metallic plate, or inking table, in the same plane. The common carriage, bearing its two 
 forms of type and two inking tables, is moved backwards and forwards, from one end of 
 the printing machine to the other, upon rollers attached to the frame-work, and in its 
 traverse brings the types into contact with the sheet of paper clasped by the tapes round 
 the surfaces of the printing cylinders. This alternate movement of the carriage is pro- 
 duced by a pinion working alternately into the opposite sides of a rack under the table. 
 The pinion is dnven by the bevel wheels k. 
 
 The me-.r.anism for supplying the ink, and distributing it over the forms, is one of the 
 most ingenious and valuable inventions belonging to this incomparable machine, and is 
 so nicely adjusted, that a single grain of the pigment may suffice for printing one side 
 of a sheet. Two similar sets of inking apparatus are provided ; one at each end of the 
 machine, adapted to ink its own form of type. The metal roller L, called the ductor 
 roller, as it draws out the supply of ink, has a slow rotatory motion communicated to it 
 by a catgut cord, which passes round a small pulley upon the end of the shaft of the 
 printing cylinder u. A horizontal plate of metal, with a straight-ground edge, is 
 adjusted by set screws, so as to stand nearly in contact with the ductor roller. This plate 
 has an upright ledge behind, converting it into a sort of trough or magazine, ready to 
 impart a coating of inlc to the roller, as it revolves over the table. Another roller, 
 covered with elastic composition (see supril), called the vibrating roller, is made to travel 
 between the ductor roller and the inking table ; the vibrating roller, as it rises, touches 
 the ductor roller for an instant, abstracts a film of ink from it, and then descends to 
 transfer it to the table. There are 3 or 4 small rollers of distribution, placed somewhat 
 diagonally across the table at M, (inclined only 2 inches from a parallel to the end of the 
 frame,) furnished with long slender axles, resting in vertical slots, whereby they are 
 eft at liberty to revolve and to traverse at the same time ; by which compound movement 
 uiev are enabled to efface all inequality in the surface of the varnish, or to effect a per- 
 
PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 495 
 
 feet distribution of the ink along the table. The table thus evenly smeared, being made 
 to pass under the 3 or 4 proper inking rollers N, fig. 1183, imparts to them a uniform 
 
496 
 
 PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 film of ink, to be immediately transferred by them to the types. Hence each time that 
 the forms make a complete traverse to and fro, which is requisite for the printing of every 
 sheet, they are touched no less than eight times by the inking rollers. Both the distribu- 
 ting and inking rollers turn in slots, which permit them to rise and fall so as to bear with 
 their whole weight upon the inking table and the form, whereby they never stand in need 
 of any adjustment by screws, but are always ready for work when dropped into their 
 respective places. 
 
 Motion is given to the whole system of apparatus by a strap from a steam engine going 
 round a pulley placed at the end of the axle at the back of the frame ; one steam-horse 
 power being adequate to drive two double printing machines ; while a single machine 
 may be driven by the power of two men acting upon a fly-wheel. In Messrs. Clowes 
 establishment, in Stamford-street, two five-horse engines actuate nineteen of the above 
 described machines. 
 The operation of printing is performed as follows : — See fig. 1185. 
 The sheets being carefully laid, one by one, upon the linen girths, at the feeder b, the 
 rollers c and d are made to move, by means of a segment wheeh, through a portion of a 
 revolution. This movement carries on the sheet of paper sufficiently to introduce it be- 
 tween the two series of Endless tapes at the point where they meet each other upon the 
 entering drum e. As soon as the sheet is fairly embraced between the tapes, the rollers 
 c and D are drawn back, by the operation of a weight, to their original position, so as 
 to be ready to introduce another sheet into the machine. The sheet, advancing between 
 the endless tapes, applies itself to the blanket upon the printing cylinder f, and as it 
 revolves meets the first form of types, and receives their impression ; after being thus 
 printed on one side, it is carried, over H and under i, to the blanket upon the printing cy- 
 linder g, where it is placed in an inverted position ; the printed side being'now in contact 
 with the blanket, and the white side being outwards, meets the second form of types at the 
 proper instant, so as to receive the second impression, and get completely printed. The 
 perfect sheet, on arriving at the point i, where the two series of tapes separate, is tossed 
 out by centrifugal force into the hands of a boy. 
 
 The diagram, fig. 1185 shows the arrangement of the tapes, agreeably to the preced- 
 ing description; the feeder B, with the 
 rollers c and d, is seento have an independent 
 endless girth. 
 
 The diagram, fig. 1186. explains the 
 
 structure of the great machine contrived 
 
 by Messrs. Applegath and CoWper for 
 
 printing the Times newspaper. Here 
 
 there are four places to lay on the sheets, 
 
 and four to take them off; consequently 
 
 the assistance of eight lads is required 
 
 p, p, p, p, are the four piles of paper , 
 
 F, f, f, F, are the four feeding-boards ; js, e, e, e, are the four entering drums, upon which 
 
 the sheets are introduced between the tapes t, t, t, t, whence they are conducted to the 
 
 P 1186 P 
 
 1185 
 
PRINTING MACHINE. 497 
 
 four printing cylinders, 1, 2, 8, 4 ; t is the form of type ; i, i, are two inking tables, of 
 which one is placed at each end of the form. The inking apparatus is similar to that 
 above described, with the addition of two central inking rollers b, which likewise 
 receive their ink from the, inking tables. The printing cylinders I, 2, 3, 4, are made to 
 rise and fall about half an inch ; the first and third simultaneously, as also the second 
 and fourth. The form of type, in passing from a to e, prints sheets at 1 and 8 ; in 
 returning from b to a, it prints sheets at 4 and 2 ; while the cylinder alternately falls 
 to give the impression, and rises to permit the form to pass untouched. 
 
 Each of the lines marked t, consists of two endless tapes, which run in contact in the 
 parts shown, but separate at the entering drums E, and at the taking off parts o, o, o, o. 
 The return of the tapes to the entering drum is omitted in the diagram, to avoid con- 
 fusion of the lines. 
 
 The sheets of paper being laid upon their respective feeding-boards, with the fore 
 edges ju6t in contact with the entering drum, a small roller, called the drop-down 
 roller, falls, at proper intervals, down upon the edges of the sheets ; the drum and the 
 roller being then removed, instantly carry on the sheet, between the tapes t, down- 
 wards to the printing cylinder, and thence upwards to o, o, o, o, where the tapes are 
 parted, and the sheet falls into the hands of the attendant boy. This noble mechanism 
 is so perfectly equipped, that it is generally in full work within four minutes after 
 the form is brought into the machine-room. The speed of Konig's machine, by which 
 the Times was formerly printed, was such as to turn out 1800 papers per hour ; but 
 the later improvement of Applegath and Cowper threw off at least 42CO per hour, 
 and it is still used for printing the Times " Supplement." 
 
 This almost miraculous invention fully answered the purpose of the Times until the 
 last few years, when the immense and still increasing demand rpon its powers, ren- 
 dered it necessary to provide a machine which could work off at least 10,000 copies of 
 t}>e paper per hour. 
 
 " In considering the means of solving this problem, it is necessary to observe, that 
 whatever expedient may be used, the sheets of paper to be printed must be delivered 
 one by one to the fingers of the machine by an attendant. After they once enter the 
 machine, they are carried through it and printed by self-acting machinery. But in 
 the case of sheets so large as those of newspapers, it is found that they cannot be 
 delivered with the necessary precision by manipulation at a more rapid rate than two 
 in five seconds, or twenty-five per. minute, being at the rate of 1500 sheets per hour. 
 Now, in this manner, to print at the rate of 10,000 per hour, would require seven 
 cylinders, to place which so as to be acted upon by a type form moving alternately 
 in a horizontal frame, in the manner already described, would present mechanical 
 difficulties almost insurmountable. 
 
 " In tiie face of these difficulties, Mr. Applegath, to whom the world is indebted for 
 the invention of The Times printing machine, decided on abandoning the reciprocating 
 motion of the type form, arranging the apparatus so as to render the motion contin- 
 uous. This necessarily involved circular motion, and accordingly he resolved upon 
 attaching the columns of type to the sides of a large drum or cylinder, placed with 
 its axis vertical, instead of the horizontal frame which had been hitherto used. A 
 large central drum is erected, capable of being turned round its axis. Upon the 
 sides of this drum are plae.>i vertically the columns of type. These columns, strictly 
 speaking, form the sides of a polygon, the centre of which coincides with the axis of 
 the drum, but the breadth of the columns is so small compared with the diameter of 
 the drum, that their surfaces depart very little from the regular cylindrical form. On 
 another part of this drum is fixed the inking table. The circumference of this drum in 
 The Times printing machine measures 200 in., and it is consequently 64 in. in diameter. 
 
 "The general form and arrangement of the machine are represented fig. 1187, 
 where d is the great central drum which carries the type and inking tables. 
 
 " This drum is surrounded by eight cylinders, e, e, <fec, also placed with their axes 
 vertical, upon which the paper is carried by tapes in the usual manner. Each of 
 these cylinders is connected with the drum by toothed wheels, in such a manner that 
 their surfaces respectively must necessarily move at exactly the same velocity as the 
 surface of the drum. And if we imagine the drum thus in contact with these eight 
 cylinders to be put in motion, and to make a complete revolution, the type form will 
 be pressed successively against each of the eight cylinders, and if the type were pre- 
 viously inked, and each of the eight cylinders supplied with paper, eight sheets of 
 paper would be printed in one revolution of the drum. 
 
 " It remains, therefore, to explain, first, how the type is eight times inked in each 
 revolution; and, secondly, how each of the eight cylinders is supplied with paper to 
 receive their impression. 
 
 " Beside the eight paper cylinders are placed eight sets of inking rollers ; near these 
 we placed two ductor rollers. These ductor rollers receive a coating of ink from reser- 
 
 Vol. II. 33 
 
498 
 
 PRINTING MACHINE. 
 
 voirs placed above them. As the inking table attached to the revolving drum passes 
 each of these ductor rollers, it receives from them a coating of ink. It next encounters 
 the inking rollers to which it delivers over this coating. The types next,by the con- 
 tinued revolution of the drum, encounter these inking rollers, and receive from them a 
 coating of ink, after which they meet the paper cylinders, upon -which they are im- 
 pressed, and the printing is completed. 
 
 " Thus in a single revolution of the great central drum the inking table receives a 
 supply eight times successively from the ductor rollers, and delivers over that supply 
 eight times successively to the inking rollers, -which, in their turn, deliver it eight times 
 successively to the faces of the type, from -which it is conveyed finally to the eight 
 sheets of paper held upon the eight cylinders by the tapes. _ 
 
 " Let us now explain how the eight cylinders are supplied with paper, Over each of 
 them is erected a sloping desk, h, h, &c, upon which a stock of imprinted paper is 
 deposited. Beside this desk stands the " layer on," who pushes forward the paper, sheet 
 by sheet, towards the fingers of the machine. 
 
 " These fingers, seizing upon it, first draw it down in a vertical direction between tapes 
 in the eight vertical frames until its vertical edges correspond with the position of the 
 form of type oh the printing cylinder. Arrived at this position its vertical motion is 
 stopped by a self-acting apparatus provided in the machine, and it begins to move hori- 
 zontally, and it is thus carried towards the printing cylinder by the tapes. As it passes 
 round this cylinder it is impressed upon the type, and printed. It is then carried back 
 horizontally by similar tapes on the other Bide of the frame, until it arrives at another 
 desk, where the " taker off " awaits it. The fingers of the machine are there disengaged 
 from it, and the " taker off" receives it, and disposes it upon the desk. This movement 
 goes on without interruption, the moment that one sheet descends from the hands of the 
 " layer on," and being carried vertically downwards begins to move horizontally, space is 
 left for another, which he immediately supplies, and in this manner he delivers to the 
 Machine at the average rate of two sheets every five seconds,and the same delivery taking 
 
PRUSSIAN BLUE. 499 
 
 place at each of the eight cylinders, there are 16 sheets delivered and printed every 
 live seconds. 
 
 "It is found that by this ma'chine in ordinary work between 10,000 and 11,000 per 
 hour can be printed ; but with very expert men to deliver the sheets, a still greater 
 speed can be attained. Indeed, the velocity is limited, not by any conditions affecting 
 the machine, but by the power of the men to deliver the sheets to it. 
 
 " In case of any misdelivery a sheet is spoilt, and consequently, the effective per- 
 formance of the machine is impaired. If, however, a still greater speed of printing 
 were required, the same description of machine, without changing its principle, 
 would be sufficient for the exigency ;' it would be necessary that the types should be 
 surrounded with a greater number of printing cylinders. 
 
 " The machine which was erected in the Exhibition, the property of Mr. Ingram, 
 was used in printing the Illustrated London News. The great central cylinder was in 
 this case surrounded by only four printing cylinders, each superintended by two men. 
 
 " It may be right to observe, that these surrounding cylinders and rollers, in the ease 
 of The Times machine, are not uniformly distributed round the great central drum ; 
 they are so arranged as to leave on one side of that drum an open space equal to the 
 width of the type form. This is necessary in order to give access to the type form so 
 as to adjust it. 
 
 "In a machine where the number of type cylinders is not so crowded round tha 
 drum, this precaution is not necessary. 
 
 " One of the practical difficulties which Mr. Applegath had to encounter in the 
 solution of the problem, which he has so successfully effected, arose from the shoci 
 produced to the machinery by reversing the motion of the horizontal frame, which in 
 the old machine carried the type form and inking table, a moving mass which weighed 
 a ton i This frame had a motion of 88 inches in each direction, and it was found that 
 such a weight could not be driven through 6uch a space with safety at a greater rate 
 than about 45 strokes per minute, which limited its maximum producing power to 
 5000 sheets per hour. 
 
 ■" Another difficulty in the construction of this vast piece of machinery, was so to 
 regulate the self-acting mechanism that the impression of the type form should always 
 foe made in the centre of the page, and so that the space upon the paper occupied by 
 the printed matter on one side may coincide exactly with that occupied by the printed 
 matte:.' on the other side. 
 
 " The type form fixed on the central drum moves at the rate of 70 inches per second, 
 and the paper is moved in contact with it of course at exactly the same rate. Now, if 
 by any error in the delivery or motion of a sheet of paper, it arrive at the printing 
 cylinder l-7Gth part of a second too soon or too late, the relative position of the 
 eolamns will vary by 1-Y0th part of 70 inches — that is to say, by one inch. In that 
 ease the edge of the printed matter on one side would be an inch nearer to the edge of 
 th« paper than on the other side. This is an incident which rarely happens, but when 
 it does, a sheet, of course, is spoilt. In fact, the waste from that cause is considerably 
 less in the present vertical machine than in the former less powerful horizontal one. 
 
 " The vertical position of the inking rollers is more conducive to the goodness of 
 
 the work for the type and engraving are only touched on their extreme surface — than 
 
 the horizontal machine, where the inking rollers act by gravity ; also any dust shaken 
 out of the paper, which formerly was deposited upon the inking rollers, now falls 
 upon the floor. 
 
 "With this machine 50,000 impressions have been taken without stopping to brush 
 the form or table. 
 
 " The principle of this vertical cylinder machine is capable of almost unlimited 
 extension. Mr. Applegath offered the Koyal Commission to make a machine for the 
 Great Exhibition, which with no rate of motion more rapid than that of The Times, 
 should print 40,000 sheets per hour, or above eleven sheets between two ticks of a 
 common clock J"* 
 
 PRUSSIAN BLUE, and PRUSSIATE OF POTASH, are two important articles 
 of chemical manufacture, which must be considered together. The first is called by 
 English chemists, Ferrocyanodide of iron, the Cyanure ferroso-ferrique of Berzelius ; 
 Msenblausaures eisenoxyd, or eisencyanur + eisencyanid, Germ. ; the second is called 
 Ferrocyanodide of potassium, the Cyanure ferroso-potassique of Berzelius ; Eisencyanur 
 kalium, eyaneisen 4- cyankalium, or Blausaures eisenoxydul-kali, Germ. 
 
 Prussian blue {Berliner-blau, Germ.,) is a chemical compound of iron and cyanogen. 
 When organic matters abounding in nitrogen, as dried blood, horns, hair, skins, or 
 hoofs of animals, are triturated along with potash in a strongly ignited iron pot a dark 
 gray mass is obtained, that affords to water the liquor originally called lixivium san- 
 
 • The Great Exhibition &nd London in 1851, reviewed by Dr. Lardner, &c London, 1352. 
 
500 PRUSSIAN BLUE. 
 
 piims, or blood-ley, which, by evaporation, yields lemon-colored crystals in large rectaa 
 gular tables, bevelled at the edges. This salt is called in commerce, prussiate of potash, 
 and has for its ultimate constituents, potassium, iron, oxygen, and hydrogen (the lattei 
 two in such proportions as to form water), and the peculiar compound Cyanogen, the 
 blaustoffof the Germans. 
 
 These crystals consist, in 100 parts, of potassium 37-02, iron 12-82, cyanogen 37-40, 
 water 12-76; or, cyanide of potassium 61-96, Cyanide of iron 25-28, and water 12-76. 
 They may be represented also by the following composition : 44-58 of potassa, 38>82 of 
 hydrocyanic or prussic acid, and 16'60of oxyde of iron, in 100 parts; but the first appears 
 to be their true chemical constitution. Dry ferrocyanodide of potassium is a compound of 
 one atom of cyanide of iron, 54 = (28 + 26), and 2 atoms of cyanide of potassium, 132,= 
 ^'26 X 2 + 40 X 2) ; the sum being 186 : hydrogen being 1 in the scale of equivalents. 
 The crystals of prussiate of potash are nearly transparent, soft, of a sweetish saline and 
 somewhat bitterish taste, soluble in 4 parts of water at 52° F., and in 1 part of boiling 
 water, but insoluble in alcohol. They are permanent in the air at ordinary temperatures, 
 but in a moderately warm stove-room they part with 12J per cent, of water, without 
 losing their form or coherence, and becomes thereby a white friable anhydrous ferrocy- 
 anodide of potassium, consisting of 42-44 potassium, 42-87 cyanogen, and 14-69 iron, in 
 100 parts. 
 
 This salt is an excellent reagent for distinguishing metals from each other, as the 
 following Table of the precipitates which it throws down from their saline solutions will 
 show : — 
 
 Metallic solutions. Color of precipitate. 
 
 Antimony - - - - white. 
 
 Bismutn - - - white. 
 
 Cadmium - - white, a liule yellowish. 
 
 Cerium (protoxyde) - - - white, soluble in acids. 
 
 Cobalt .... . green, soon turning reddish-gray. 
 
 Copper (protoxyde) - - white, changing to red. 
 
 Do. (perbxyde) - - brown-red. 
 
 Iron (protoxyde) - - white, rapidly turning blue. 
 
 Do. (peroxyde) - - - dark blue. 
 
 Lead - ... . white, with a yellowish cast. 
 
 Manganese (protoxyde) - - white, turning quickly peach or blood-red. 
 
 Manganese (deutoxyde) - greenish-gray. 
 
 Mercury (protoxyde) - white. 
 
 Do. (peroxyde) - white, turning blue. 
 
 Molybdenum - - - dark brown. 
 
 Nickel (oxyde) ... white, turning greenish. 
 
 Palladium (protoxyde) - - green (gelatinous.) 
 
 Silver - - - - - white, turning brown in the light. 
 
 Tantalum ... - yellow, dark burned color. 
 
 Tin (protoxyde) ... white, (gelatinous.) 
 
 Do. (peroxyde) ... yellow, do. 
 
 Uranium ... red-brown. 
 
 Zinc ... . white. 
 
 No precipitations ensue with solutions of the alkaline or earthy salts, except that of 
 yttria, which is white; nor with those of gold, platinum, rhodium, iridium, osmium, 
 (in concentrated solutions) tellurium, chromium, tungstenium. All the precipitates 
 by the ferrocyanodide of iron, are double compounds of cyanide of iron with cyanide of 
 the metal thrown down, which is produced by the reciprocal decomposition of the 
 cyanide of potassium and the peculiar metallic oxyde presen* in the solution. The pre- 
 cipitate from the sulphate of copper has a fine brown color, and has been used as a 
 pigment ; but it is somewhat transparent, and therefore does l.ot cover well. The pre- 
 cipitate from the peroxyde salts of iron is a very intense Prussian blue, called on the 
 continent, Paris blue. It may be regarded as a compound of prussiate of protoxyde and 
 prussiate of peroxyde of iron ; or as a double cyanide of the protoxyde and peroxyde of 
 iron, as the denomination cyanure ferroso-ferrique denotes. In numbers, its composition 
 may be therefore stated thus : prussic or hydrocyanic acid, 48-48 ; protoxyde of iron, 20-73 ; 
 peroxyde of iron, 30-79 j or cyanogen, 46-71 ; iron, 37-36; water, 15-93; which repre- 
 sent its constitution when it is formed by precipitation with the prussiate of potash or a 
 salt of iron that contains no protoxyde. If the iron be but partially peroxydized in the 
 salt, it will afford a precipitate, at first pale blue, which turns dark blue in the air, con- 
 sisting of a mixture of prussiate of protoxyde and prussiate of peroxyde. In fact, the 
 White cyanide of iron (the prussiate of the pure protoxyde), when exposed to the air in a 
 
PRUSSIAN BLUE. 
 
 501 
 
 moist condition, becomes, as above stated, dark bine j yet the new combination formed 
 in this case through absorption of oxygen, is essentially different from that resulting from 
 the precipitation by the peroxyde of iron, since it contains an excess of the peroxyde in 
 addition to the usual two cyanides of iron. It has been therefore called bask Prussian 
 blue, and, from its dissolving in pure water, soluble Prussian blue. 
 
 Both kinds of Prussian blue agree in being void of taste and smell, in attracting 
 humidity from the air when they are artificially dried, and being decomposed at a heat 
 above 348° F. The neutral or insoluble Prussian blue is not affected by alcohol ; the 
 basic, when dissolved in water, is not precipitated by that liquid. Neither is acted upon 
 by dilute acids ; but they form with concentrated sulphuric acid a white pasty mass, 
 from which they are again reproduced by the action of cold water. TheJ are decom- 
 posed by strong sulphuric acid at a boiling heat, and by strong nitric acid at common 
 temperatures ; but they are hardly affected by the muriatic. They become green with 
 ehlorine, but resume their blue color when treated with disoxydizing reagents. When 
 Prussian blue is digested in warm water along with potash^ soda, or lime, peroxyde of 
 iron is separated, and a ferroprussiate of potash, soda, or lime remains in solution. It 
 the Prussian blue has been previously purified by boiling in dilute muriatic acid, and 
 washing with water, it will afford by this treatment a solution of ferrocyanodide of po- 
 tassium, from which by evaporation this salt may be obtained in its purest crystalline 
 state. When the powdered Prussian blue is diffused in boiling water, and digested with 
 red oxyde of mercury, it parts with all its oxyde of iron, and forms a solution of bi-cy- 
 anodide, improperly called prussiale of mercury ; consisting of 79*33 mercury, and 20-67 
 cyanogen; or, upon the hydrogen equivalent scale, of 200 mercury, and 52=(26X2) 
 cyanogen. When this salt is gently ignited, it affords gaseous cyanogen. Hydrocyanic 
 or prussic acid, which consists of 1 atom of cyanogen = 26, -f- 1 of hydrogen = 1, is 
 prepared by distilling the mercurial bi-cyanide in a glass retort with the saturating quan- 
 tity of dilute muriatic acid. Prussic acid may also be obtained by precipitating the mer- 
 cury by sulphureted hydrogen gas from the solution of its cyanide; as also by distilling 
 the ferrocyanide of potassium along with dilute sulphuric acid. Prussic acid is a very 
 volatile light fluid, eminently poisonous, and is spontaneously decomposed by keeping, es- 
 pecially when somewhat concentrated. 
 
 Having expounded the chemical constitution of Prussian blue and prussiate of potash, 
 f shall now treat of their manufacture upon the commercial scale. 
 
 1. Of blood-ley, the phlogisticated alkali of Scheele. Amom; the animal substances used 
 Tot the preparation of this lixivium, blood deserves the preference, where it can be had 
 cheap enough. It must be evaporated to perfect dryness reduced to powder and sifted 
 Hoofs, pariags of horns, hides, old woollen rags, and other animal offals, are, however, 
 generally had recourse to, as condensing most azotized matter in the smallest bulk. Dried 
 funguses have been also prescribed. These animal matters may either be first carbonized 
 in cast iron cylinders, a? for the manufacture of sal ammoniac (which see), and the residual 
 charcoal may be then taken for making the ferroprussiate ; or the dry animal matters may 
 be directly employed. The latter process is apt to be exceedingly offensive to the work- 
 men and neighborhood, from the nauseous vapors that are exhaled in it. Eight pounds 
 of horn (hoofs) , or ten pounds of dry blood, afford upon an average one pound of charcoal. 
 This must be mixed well with good pearlash, (freed previously from most of the sulphate 
 of potassa, with which it is always contaminated), either in the dry way, or by soaking 
 the bruised charcoal with a strong solution of the alkali ; the proportion being one part 
 of carbonate of potassa to from If? to 2 parts of charcoal, or to about eight parts of hard 
 animal matter. Gautier has proposed to calcine three parts of dry blood with one of ni 
 tre ; with what advantage to the manufacturer, I cannot discover. 
 
 The pot for calcining the mixture of animal and alkaline matter is egg-shaped as 
 represented at a, fig.lisk and is considerably narrowed at the neck e, to facilitate the 
 closing of the mouth with a lid i. It is made of cast iron, about two inches thick in the 
 
 belly and bottom ; this strength being requi- 
 site because the chemical action of the ma- 
 terials wears the metal fast away. It should 
 /||||1P*'^2zezh3S!3 S ^ "^P/V De built into the furnace in a direction sloping 
 
 Ml downwards, (more than is shown in the figure), 
 
 and have a strong knob 6, projecting from 
 its bottom to support it upon the back waU, 
 while its shoulder is embraced at the arms c, c, 
 by the brickwork in front. The interior of 
 the furnace is so formed as to leave but a 
 space of a few inches round the pot, in order 
 to make the flame play closely over its whole 
 surface. The fire-door /, and the draught- 
 hole z, of the ash-pit, are placed in the pos- 
 terior part of the furnace, in order that the 
 workmen may not be incommoded by the heat. The smoke vent o, issues through the 
 
602 PRUSSIAN BLUE. 
 
 arched top ft of the furnace, towards the front, and is thence led backwards by a flue to 
 the main chimney of the factory, d is an iron or stone shelf, inserted before the month 
 of the pot, to prevent loss in shovelling out the semi-liquid paste. The pot may be half 
 filled with the materials. 
 
 The calcining process is different, according as the animal substances are fresh or 
 carbonized. In the first case, the pot must remain open, to allow of diligent stirring of 
 its contents, with a slightly bent flat iron bar or scoop, and of introducing more of the 
 mixture as the intumescence subsides, during a period of five or six hours, till the nau- 
 seous vapors cease to rise, till the flame becomes smaller and brighter, and till a smell 
 of ammonia be perceived. At this time, the heat should be increased, the mouth of the 
 pot should be shut, and opened only once every half hour, for the purpose of working the 
 mass with the iron paddle. When on oapning the mouth of the pot, and stirring the 
 pasty mixture, no more flame rises, the process is finished. 
 
 If the animal ingredients are employed in a carbonized state, the pot must be shut 
 as soon as its contents are brought to ignition by a briskly urged fire, and opened for a 
 few seconds only every quarter of an hour, during the action of stirring. At first, a 
 body of flame bursts forth every time that the lid is removed ; but by degrees this 
 ceases, and the mixture soon agglomerates, and then softens into a paste. Though the 
 fire be steadily kept up, the flame becomes less and less each time that the pot is opened ; 
 and when it ceases, the process is at an end. The operation, with a mass of 50 pounds of 
 charcoal and 50 pounds of purified pearlash, lasts about 12 hours, the first time that the 
 furnace is kindled j but when the pot has been previously brought to a slate of ignition, 
 it takes only 7 or 8 hours. In a well-appointed factory, the fire should be invariably 
 maintained at the proper pitch, and the pots should be worked with relays of opera- 
 tives. 
 
 The molten mass is now to be scooped out with an appropriate iron shovel, having a long 
 shank, and caused to cool in small portions, as quickly as possible ; but not by throwing 
 it into water, as has sometimes been pres6ribed ; for in this way a good deal of the cyan- 
 ogen is converted into ammonia. If it be heaped up and kept hot in contact with air, 
 some of the ferrocyanide is also decomposed, with diminution of the product. The 
 crude mass is to be then put into a pan with cold water, dissolved by the application of 
 a moderate heat, and filtered through cloths. The charcoal which remains upon the 
 filter possesses the properties of decoloring sirups, vinegars, &c, and of destroying smells 
 in a pre-eminent degree. It may also serve, when mixed with fresh animal coal, for an- 
 other calcining operation. 
 
 As the iron requisite for the formation of the ferrocyanide is in general derived from 
 the sides of the pot, this is apt to wear out into holes, especially at its under side, where 
 the heat is greatest. In this event, it may be taken out of the furnace, patched up 
 with iron-rust cement, and re-inserted with the sound side undermost. The erosion of 
 the pot may be obviated in some measure by mixing iron borings or cinder (han> 
 merschlag) with the other materials, to the amount of one or two hundredths of the 
 potash. 
 
 The above lixivium is not a solution of pure ferroprussiate ; it contains not a little 
 cyanide of potassium, which in the course of the process had not absorbed the propel 
 dose of iron to form a ferrocyanide ; it contains also more or less carbonate of potash, 
 with phosphate, sulphate, hydrogenated sulphuret, muriate, and sulpho-cyanide of the 
 same base, as well as phosphate of lime ; substances derived partly from the impure pot- 
 ash, and partly from the incinerated animal matters. Formerly that very complex impure 
 solution was employed directly for the precipitation of Prussian blue ; but now, in all well 
 regulated works, it is converted by evaporation and cooling into crystallized ferroprussiate 
 of potash. The mother-water is again evaporated and crystallized, whereby a somewhat 
 inferior ferroprussiate is obtained. Before evaporating the ley, however, it is advisable to 
 add as much solution of green sulphate of iron to it, as will re-dissolve the white precipi- 
 tate of cyanide of iron which first falls, and thereby convert the cyanide of potassium, 
 which is present in the liquor, into ferrocyanide of potassium. The commercial pnis- 
 siate of potash may be rendered chemically pure by making its crystals effloresce in a 
 stove, fusing them with a gentle heat in a glass retort, dissolving the mass in water, 
 neutralizing any carbonate and cyanide of potash that may be present with acetic acid, 
 then precipitating the ferroprussiate of potash by the addition of a sufficient quantity of 
 aleohol, and finally crystallizing the precipitated salt twice over in water. The sulphate 
 of potassa may be decomposed by acetate of baryta, and the resulting acetate of potassa 
 removed by alcohol. 
 
 2. The precipitation of Prussian blue. — Green sulphate of iron is always employed 
 by the manufacturer, on account of its cheapness, for mixing with solution of the ferro- 
 prussiate, in forming Prussian blue, though the red sulphate, nitrate, or muriate of iron 
 would afford a much richer blue pigment. Whatever salt of iron be preferred, should be 
 carefully freed from any cupreous impregnation, as this would give the pure blue a 
 
PRUSSIAN BLUE. 503 
 
 dirty brownish cast. The green sulphate of iron is the most advantageous precipilant, 
 on account of its affording protoxyde, to convert into ferrocyanide any cyanide of po- 
 tassium that may happen to be present in the uncrystallized lixivium. The carbonate 
 of potash in that lixivium might be saturated with sulphuric acid before adding the 
 solution of sulphate of iron ; but it is more commonly done by adding a certain portion 
 of alum j in which case, alumina falls along with the Prussian blue; and though it 
 renders it somewhat paler, yet it proportionally increases its weight ; whilst the acid of 
 the alum saturates the carbonate of potash, and prevents its throwing down iron-oxyde, 
 to degrade by its brown-red tint the tone of the blue. For every pound of pearlash 
 used in the calcination, from two to three pounds of alum are employed in the precipi- 
 tation. When a rich blue is wished for, the free alkali in the Prussian ley may be partly 
 saturated with sulphuric acid, before adding the mingled solutions of copperas and 
 alum. One part of the sulphate of iron is generally allowed for 15 or 20 parts of dried 
 blood, and 2 or 3 of horn-shavings or hoofs. But the proportion will depend very 
 much upon the manipulations, which, if skilfully conducted, will produce more of the 
 cyanides of iron, and require more copperas to neutralize them. The mixed solutions 
 of alum and copperas should be progressively added to the ley as long as they produce 
 any precipitate. This is not at first a fine blue, but a greenish gray, in consequence of 
 the admixture of some white cyanide of iron ; it becomes grac>. tally blue by the absorption 
 of oxygen from the air, which is favored- by agitation of the liquor. Whenever the 
 color seems to be as beautiful as it is likely to become, the liquor is to be run off by a 
 spigot or cock from the bottom of the precipitation vats, into flat cisterns, to settle. 
 The clear supernatant fluid, which is chiefly a solution of sulphate of potash, is then 
 drawn off by a syphon ; more water is run on with agitation to wash it, which after 
 settling is again drawn off; and whenever the washings become tasteless, the sediment is 
 thrown upon filter sieves, and exposed to dry, first in the air of a stove, but finally upon 
 slabs of chalk or Paris plaster. But fur several purposes, Prussian blue may be best 
 employed in the fresh pasty state, as it then spreads more evenly over paper and other 
 surfaces.' 
 
 A good article is known by the following tests : it feels light in the hand, adheres to 
 the tongue, has a dark lively blue color, and gives a smooth deep trace; it should not 
 effervesce with acids, as when adulterated with chalk ; nor become pasty with boiling 
 water, as when adulterated with starch. The Paris blue, prepared without alum, with 
 a peroxyde salt of iron, displays, when rubbed, a copper-red lustre, like indigo. Prus- 
 sian bine,, degraded in its color by an admixture of free oxyde of iron, may be im- 
 proved by digestion in dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid, washing, and drying. Its rtlu 
 tive richness in the real ferroprussiate of iron may be estimated by the quantity of potash o* 
 soda which a given quantity of it requires to destroy its blue color. 
 
 Sulphureted hydrogen passed through Prussian blue diffused in water, whitens it; 
 while prussic acid is eliminated, sulphur is thrown down, and the sesquicyanide of iron 
 is converted into the single cyanide. Iron and tin operate in the same way. When 
 Prussian blue is made with two atoms of ferrocyanide of potassium, instead of one, it be 
 ccaes soluble in water. 
 
 For the mode of applying this pigment in dyeing, see Calico-printing. 
 
 Sesquiferrocyanate of potash is prepared by passing chlorine gas through a solution oi 
 ferrocyanide of potassium, till it becomes red, and ceases to precipitate the peroxyde salu 
 of iron. The liquor yields, by evaporation, prismatic crystals, of a ruby-red transparency. 
 They are soluble in 38 parts of water, and consist of 40-42 parts of sesquicyanide of iron, 
 and 59-58 of cyanide of potassium. The solution of this salt precipitates the following 
 metals, as stated in the table : — 
 
 Mercury (peroxyde) yellow. 
 
 Molybdenum - red-brown. 
 
 Nickel yellow-green. 
 
 Silver - red-brown. 
 
 Tin (protoxyde) - white. 
 
 Uranium ... red-brown. 
 
 Zinc ... orange-yellow. 
 
 Bismuth - pale yellow. 
 
 Cadmium - - yellow. 
 
 Cobalt - - dark brown-red. 
 
 Copper (protoxyde) red-brown. 
 Do. (peroxyde) yellow-green. 
 
 Iron, protoxyde salts of blue. 
 
 Manganese - - brown. 
 
 Mercury (protoxyde) red-brown. 
 
 New process for prussian blue, which deserves peculiar notice, as the first in which this 
 interesting compound has been made to any extent independently of animal matter. 
 Mr. Lewis Thompson received a well-merited medal from the Society of Arts, in l&Vl, 
 for this invention. He justly observed that in the common way of manufacturing 
 prussiate of potash, the quantity of nitrogen furnished by a given weight of animal 
 matter is not large, and seldom exceeds 8 per cent. ; and of this small quantity, at least 
 one half appears to be dissipated during the ignition. It occurred to him that the 
 atmosphere might be economically made to supply the requisite nitrogun, if caused to 
 act in favourable circumstances upon a mixture of carbon and potash. He found the 
 
504 
 
 PRUSSIATE OF POTASH. 
 
 following prescription to answer. Take of pearlash and coke, each 2 parte ; iroi 
 turnings, 1 part ; grind them together into a coarse powder ; place this in an open 
 crucible, and expose the whole for half an hour to a full red heat in an open fire, with 
 occasional stirring of the mixture. During this process, little jets of purple flame will 
 be observed to rise from the surface of the materials. When these cease, the crucible 
 must be removed and allowed to cool. The mass is to be lixiviated ; the lixivium, 
 which is a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium, with excess of potash, is to be treated 
 in the usual way, and the black matter set aside for a fresh operation, with a fresh 
 dose of pearlash. Mr. Thompson states that one pound of pearlash, containing 45 
 per cent of alkali, yielded 1355 grains of pure Prussian blue, or ferrocyanide of iron ; 
 or about 3 ounces avoirdupois. 
 
 PRUSSIATE OF POTASH. Leuch'g Polytechnic Zeitung, June, 1837. Manufac- 
 ture of Kalium Eisen Cyanure, by Hofflmayr and Priikner. — The potash must be free 
 from sulphate s for each atom of sulphur destroys an atom of the Eisencyankalium. A 
 very strong heat is advantageous. The addition of from 1 to 3 g of saltpetre is useful, 
 when the mass is too long of fusing. A reverheratory furnace (flammofen) is recom- 
 mended j but the flame must not beat too much upon the materials, for fear of oxy- 
 genating them. When the smoky red flame ceases, it is useful to throw in from time 
 to time small portions of uncarbonized animal matter, particularly where the flame first 
 beats upon the mass, whereby the resulting' gases prevent oxidation by the air. The 
 animal matters should not be too much carbonized, but left somewhat brown-colored, 
 provided they be readily pulverized. Of uncarbonized animal matters, the proportions 
 may be 100 parts dried blood, to from 28 to 30 of potash (carbonate), and from 2 to 4 of 
 hammerschlag (smithy scales), or iron filings ; 2, 100 parts of horns or hoofs ; from 33 
 to 35 potash ; 2 to 4 iron ; 3, 100 leather ; 45 to 48 potash ; and 2 to 4 iron, from 
 blood, 8 to 9 per cent, of the prussiate are obtained ; from horns, 9 to 10 j and from 
 leather, 5 to 6. The potash should be mixed in' coarse particles, like peas, with the 
 carbonized animal matter, which may be best done in a revolving pot, containing can- 
 non-balls. Of the animal coal and potash, equal parts may be taken, except with that 
 from leather, which requires a few parts more potash per cent. On the average, blood 
 and horn coal should afford, never less than 20 per cent, of prussiate, nor the leather than 
 8 ; but by good treatment, they may be made to yield, the first 25, and the last from 10 
 to 11. 
 
 Reduce charcoal into bits of the size of a walnut, soak them with a solution of car- 
 bonate of potash in urine ; and then pour over them a solution of nitrate or acetate of 
 iron; dry the whole by a moderate heat, and introduce them into the cast-iron tubes, 
 presently to be described. The following proportions of constituents have been found 
 to answer : Ordinary potash, 30 parts; nitre, 10 ; acetate of iron, 15 ; charcoal or coke, 
 45 to 55 ; dried blood, 50. The materials, mixed and dried, are put into retorts simi- 
 lar to those for coal gas. The animal matter, however (the blood), is placed in sepa- 
 rate compartments of pipes connected with the above retorts. The pipes containing the 
 animal matter should be brought to a red heat before any fire is placed under the 
 retorts. 
 
 In fig. 1189 a, b, c, d, is a horizontal section of a furnace constructed to receive four 
 elliptical iron pipes. ■ The furnace is arched in the part A, c, b, in order to reverberate 
 the heat, and drive it back on the pipes w, w', w", w"'. These pipes are placed on the 
 plane e, t, of the ellipsoid ; a a, represents the grating or bars of the furnace to be 
 heated with coal or ?jke ; I, I, is the pot or retort shown in figs. 1190, 1191, 1192. 
 
 This pot or retort is placed in a separate compartment, as seen in fig. 1189 which is a 
 vertical section, taken through ./fy. 1192., at the line G, K. K, is a connecting tube, from 
 the retort and the elliptical pipes w. 
 
 In section, fig. 1190., the shape of the tube K will be better seen ; also its cocks u, 
 and likewise its connection with the pipes w. I, is a safety valve ; s, the cover of 
 the pot or retort ; L, is the ash-pit ; and b, the door of the furnace ; x, is an open 
 space, roofed over, or a kind of shed, close to the furnace, and under it the pipes are 
 emptied. 
 
 The arrows indicate the direction of the current of heat. This current traverses 
 the intervals left between the pipes, and ascends behind them, passing through the 
 ' aperture,/', in the brick work, which is provided with a valve or damper, for closing it, 
 as required. The heat passes through this aperture, and strikes against the sides of 
 the pot when the valve is open. Another valve /, g, must also be open to expose the 
 pot or retort to the direct action of the fire. The smoke escapes by a lateral passage 
 into a chimney n. 
 
 It must be remarked, that there is a direct communication between the chimney and 
 that compartment of the furnace which contains the pipes, so that the heat, reflected 
 from the part v, strikes on the pot or retort only when the pipes w, w', w", w'", are 
 sufficiently heated. 
 
 In fig. 1191. is shown an inclined plane M (also represented in fig. 1190.) and the June- 
 
PRUSSIATE OF POTASH. 
 
 505 
 
 1189 
 
 1191 
 
 tion-tubes which connect the four pipes with their gas-burners z, z, and the cocks m, 
 m'. r, r, are covers, closing the pipes, and having holes formed in them ; these holes 
 are shut by the stoppers e. 
 
 Whether the pipes are placed in the vertical or horizontal position, it is always 
 proper to be able to change the direction of the current of gas ; this is easily done by 
 
 •i, m, and 
 
 . entering 
 
 — -d finally 
 
 escapes by the burner z. During the following or other hour, the cocks «', m, must 
 be closed : the cocks «, m!, being opened, the current then goes from u, into k, w, w' 
 w", w'", and escapes by the burner z', where it may be ignited. 
 
 The changing of the direction of the current dispenses, to a certain degree, with the 
 labour required for stirring with A spatula the matters contained in the pipes ; never- 
 theless, it is necessary, from time to time, to pass an iron rod or poker amongst the 
 substances contained in the pipes. It is for this purpose that apertures are formed 
 so as to be easily opened and closed. 
 
 The patentee remarks, that although this operation is only described with reference 
 to potash, for obtaining prussiate of potash, it is evident that the same process is 
 applicable to soda : and when the above-mentioned ingredients are employed, soda 
 being substituted for potash, the result will be prussiate of soda.— Newton's Journal 
 C. S. xxi. 96. 
 
 Manufacture of Prussiate of Potash. All things considered, the manufacture oi 
 prussiate of potash is, perhaps, less understood, and therefore less perfect, than that of 
 any other chemical substance of equal importance. The conditions requisite to ensure 
 success are totally unknown amongst scientific men, and the manufacturers themselves 
 seem so divided m their opinions respecting the best modes of production, that nothing 
 valuable can be deduced from the discordant results of their experience. Thus, whilst 
 some are so careful to avoid the presence of water in the materials they employ, that 
 these are highly dried before being cast into the furnace pot, others pay no regard at all 
 
506 PRUSSIATE OF POTASH. 
 
 to this circumstance, or even actually wet the nitrogenised substanbes, with a view U 
 increase their power. The difference in theory between these methods is so enormous, 
 that it ought, long ago, to have shown itself in the practical results, if there be not some 
 error in the assertion that prussiate of potash is entirely destroyed by steam at a red 
 heat That such is the case when pure prussiate is thus acted on, no one can doubt for 
 a moment ; but how far this is true with respect to the mixture of carbonaceous and 
 alkaline matters contained in the furnace pot of a prussiate manufacturer, remains still 
 to be investigated. "Whatever be the plan adopted, a prodigious waste invariably 
 occurs in making prussiate of potash ; and fully two-thirds of all the nitrogen, exist- 
 ing in the azotised ingredients of the process, are driven off and lost. More frequently, 
 indeed, the loss amounts to three-fourths, and even this is sometimes exceeded. The state 
 ?f the weather, and the temperature of the furnace, also largely affect tile production 
 of prussiate of potash, — for damp, foggy weather, and a low, dull heat, are extremely 
 prejudicial. The most favourable indications are, a heat verging on whiteness, and the 
 production of a clear, bright flame, the moment the materials are thrown into the pot. 
 
 Woollen rags or clippings, and good American potash or pearlash, with an admixture 
 of scrap iron, have given a larger produce than any other substances within the range of 
 our experience, though, even in this instance, two-thirds of the whole nitrogen passed 
 away as ammonia. In general, 1 ton of dried blood, or woollen rags, with about 3 cwts. 
 of good potash, will produce from 2 cwts. to 2-J cwts. of prussiate of potash, and a pro- 
 portionate amount of sulphate of potash. The presence of scrap ircn in a proper state 
 of subdivision is, however, necessary to insure the above result ; for when no more is 
 supplied than that which arises accidentally from the iron pot in which the operation is 
 carried on, scarcely half these proportions will be obtained. A very useful mixture may 
 be made of 1 ton of proper nitrogenised matter in a dry condition, with from S to 4 cwts. 
 of pearlash in powder, and 50 or 60 lbs. of scrap iron in the form of wire, or thin sheets 
 or clippings. This is to be projected by degrees into a thick iron pot previously brought 
 to a bright cherry-red heat ; and, after each addition, the whole contents of the pot must 
 be well stirred with a heavy iron poker or bar, until the residue becomes pasty; when 
 more of the mixture must be thrown in and similarly treated, until the pot is about half 
 full ; after this, the heat may be maintained for 1 5 or 20 minutes ; and then the charge 
 must be ladled out to make room for another operation. The form and nature of the 
 iron pot are by no means matters of indifference. The form should be such as to prevent 
 the access of air as much as possible, without causing unnecessary labour to the workmen 
 in the charging and emptying of the pot ; and, in consequence of the high temperature 
 employed, the cast-iron should be of the kind called " cold-blast iron ; " for this will 
 resist a much greater application of fire than " hot-blast iron." The old shape of a 
 prussiate of potash pot is almost exactly that of an egg, with its upper part cut off ; an d 
 this, in an economical point of view, is scarcely susceptible of improvement ; but the 
 pasty mass, after each operation, can be removed from this pot with great diilieulty only ; 
 and the mixing or stirring is still more open to objection. Nevertheless, many manu- 
 facturers continue to employ this form. More recently, a kind of oblong shallow trough 
 has come into use, which presents every facility for charging and discharging ; but the 
 waste of nitrogen is said to be considerable, and the wear and tear excessive ; so that a 
 middle shape, or combination of the two, appears indicated. We have, however, 
 witnessed the employment of common gas-retorts for this purpose, and with the most 
 . unqualified success. In these, the action of the air is entirely prevented, and the stirring 
 process goes on through an opening in the cover, which, being provided with a plug or 
 stopper, permits the occasional condensation of much of the waste ammonia to take 
 place ; or, by the use of what are called " reciprocating retorts," enables the manufac- 
 turer to pass the volatile matters, arising from a recent charge, over the incandescent ma- 
 terials of an old or spent charge, so as to convert the ammonia they contain into cyanogen. 
 
 The first steps of the operation being finished, the pasty mass is commonly allowed 
 to cool and harden ere it is roughly powdered and boiled in water. Some manufacturers, 
 however, plunge it at once, whilst still red-hot, into cold water, and fancy that some 
 advantage-is thus gained. In a theoretical view, the proper course would be to cover 
 up the red-hot mass, so as to obstruct both the access of air and moisture, and thus 
 prevent the decomposition of the cyanide of potassium during the process of cooling. 
 As the prussiate of potash is extremely soluble in boiling water, the fused mass rapidly 
 disintegrates beneath the action of this fluid ; and, in a short time, the whole is 
 resolved into a solution of the prussiate, carbonate, and sulphate of potash, and into 
 an insoluble magma of carbon and scrap-iron. By filtration, the saline fluid is sepa- 
 rated from the insoluble portion ; and, after evaporation, furnishes crystals of prussiate 
 of potash, mixed with sulphate of potash, which, by re-solution and crystallization, 
 are rendered sufficiently pure for the market. 
 
 Some years ago, the Society of Art presented their gold medal to Mr. L. Thompson, for 
 his discovery of the manufacture of prussiate of potash by means of the nitrogen of the 
 air ; and several patents have since been taken out for improvements in the apparatus 
 
FHUSSIATE OF POTASH. 501 
 
 needed to render this discovery available. The process is at present conducted on a large 
 scale at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and seems to answer the object contemplated. We have 
 not,however,had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with its commercial advantages, 
 though, on sanitary grounds, these are of the highest importance. The fact that 
 atmospheric nitrogen can be brought into chemical union is, nevertheless, thoroughly 
 established by this discovery, — which should therefore stimulate inventors to further 
 efforts for utilising this great storehouse of azote. If nitrogen can be made to unite 
 with carbon, why should it not also be made to combine with hydrogen, and thus pro- 
 duce ammonia ! Twenty years ago the one of these combinations was seemingly as 
 improbable as the other. 
 
 Much attention has of late been drawn to the cyanogen compounds evolved during 
 the distillation of coal in the manufacture of gas ; and it must be confessed that a wide 
 field for improvement is opened in this direction. The quantity of cyanogen given off 
 during the decomposition of one ton of common Newcastle coal is sufficient to produce 
 about 1 pounds of Prussian blue, which, at the existing market-price, would greatly 
 exceed the total value of the coal. The cyanogen is most probably evolved in the form 
 of cyanide of ammonium, and therefore requires protoxide of iron for the purpose of 
 rendering it a fixed and permanent salt. Hence, if either the protoxide or peroxide of 
 iron be placed, so that the gaseous constituents of the coal are made to pass through or 
 over these oxides, a quantity of Prussian blue, and prussiate of ammonia, are generated . 
 and this process may be repeated until almost the whole of the oxide of iron has been 
 converted into ferrocyanic acid and Prussian blue. "We have said, that the peroxide of 
 iron will answer this end as well as the protoxide ; but, in reality, it is still the protoxide 
 which acts, for the impure coal-gas always contains sulphuretted hydrogen ; and this, 
 as is well known, has the property of reducing the peroxide of iron to the protoxide ; 
 consequently, both are equally efficacious in the production of ferrocyanic acid. When 
 impure coal-gas, therefore, has been passed, for some time, over cither of the oxides of 
 iron, a substance results, from which prussiate of potash may be obtained, at a rate 
 which must, one day, lead to the total suppression of the present mode of making that 
 article. Let us suppose, for example, that a few pounds of oxide of iron have been 
 mingled with sawdust, and subjected to the action of the impure gas arising from the 
 distillation of 50 tons of coal : then sufficient cyanogen must have combined with the 
 iron to generate 35 pounds of Prussian blue, and this too without the least expense. 
 Now these 35 pounds of Prussian blue, when treated with caustic lime and sulphate of 
 potash, would afford oxide of iron, sulphate of lime, and prussiate of potash, by double 
 decomposition, — the latter of which would require only to be crystallized from the fluid 
 in which it was dissolved ; whilst the sulphate of lime and oxide of iron might be 
 returned again to the position formerly occupied by the oxide of iron alone, and there 
 made to combine with a fresh portion of cyanogen ; and so on, time after time. We 
 have seen some cwts. of prussiate of potash prepared in this way by Mr. Laming, of the 
 Chemical Works, Millwall, and can answer for the purity and value of the article. 
 Mr. Laming has also manufactured, in a similar manner, several beautiful samples of 
 Prussian blue. There is, however, an art connected with the production of Prussian 
 blue, which requires more than mere purity of materials ; for if an inexperienced 
 individual were to attempt to make a good marketable Prussian blue, even though 
 possessed of the purest re-agents, he would certainly fail to bestow upon it the essential 
 conditions of colour and cohesion, by which alone it attains a commercial value. Th* 
 old mode of obtaining this article, in a proper state, was by precipitating a solution of 
 common copperas, or protosulphate of iron, by a mixed solution of the carbonate and 
 ferrocyanate of potash, and allowing the mixed precipitate of oxide and prussiate of iron 
 to remain, for three weeks, in contact with the air ; when it was, in technical language, 
 " brightened" by the addition of a dilute acid, generally muriatic. The theory of this 
 process appears to have been this — in the first place, protocyanide and protocarbonate 
 of iron were precipitated together, and these, by exposure-to the air, passed into the 
 state of peroxide of iron and Prussian blue ; the peroxide of iron meanwhile acting 
 mechanically, and preventing the particles of Prussian blue from cohering, together and 
 becoming one hard mass, as invariably happens when no such impediment to cohesion is 
 present. Having attained this end, the dilute muriatic acid was employed to dissolve 
 away the superfluous oxide of iron, and thus bring out the brilliancy of the blue colour 
 whilst it increased the peculiar spongy and friable nature of the product, and this, after 
 copious ablutions of hot water, was next dried on a stone and sent to market. The 
 practice of the present day is, however, much simpler and speedier than this ; for, instead 
 of 3 weeks, scarcely 3 days are now necessary for the production of Prussian blue. 
 The plan generally followed is, to dissolve, in two separate portions of boiling water, 
 exactly as much protosulphate of iron and prussiate of potash as will mutually decom 
 pose each other ; and, for this purpose, nothing but actual experiment must be depended 
 on, as the atomic numbers of these substances do not give a good result Assuming, 
 
508 PRUSSIC ACID. 
 
 however, that some given quantity of the one fluid has been found equal to a given pro- 
 portion of the other, and that, when mixed and thrown on a filter, neither iron noi 
 ferrocyanic aeid can be detected in the filtered fluid, then the mixture is made in these 
 proportions, and a quantity of recently precipitated peroxide of iron having been added 
 the whole is rapidly boiled for several minutes ; after which it is allowed to cool, and ie 
 then " brightened" by a dilute acid, copiously washed with warm water, dried on a 
 stove, and rendered fit for the market. Prior to drying, the colour is very often brought 
 down by the addition of inert colourless substances, such as starch, finely-ground rice, 
 china clay, or alumina, according to the object of the manufacturer. 
 
 The fabrication of what is termed the red prussiate of potash has now assumed an 
 important position in the arts, and is supposed by some to constitute a kind of secret in 
 the trade. There is, however, in truth, nothing secret about it. The first method oi 
 forming this salt was by transmitting chlorine through a solution of the common 
 prussiate of potash, until it ceased to precipitate the persalts of iron ; and, as this implied 
 some chemical skill on the part of the operator, the process came to be regarded as both 
 difficult and secret : for an excess of chlorine not only constituted a waste, but, more- 
 over, actually destroyed the red prussiate when formed, and thus led to a total failure. 
 Now, however, this article is manufactured in the dry way, and the ill effects of an excess 
 of chlorine are easily ob viated. To prepare it a quantity of ordinary yellow prussiate of 
 potash must be reduced to a very fine powder, and subjected to the action of chlorine gas, 
 with repeated agitation, — such, for example, as that which can be produced in a rotary 
 churn. In this way the chlorine is rapidly absorbed, and chloride of potassium and red 
 prussiate of potash generated. "When it is found that the chlorine passes freely through 
 the mixture, without being absorbed, the process must be stopped and the powder 
 withdrawn. This powder, on being dissolved in the smallest possible quantity of water, 
 heated to about 180° Fahr., will produce, on cooling, long needle-shaped crystals of the 
 red prussiate of potash, which may be rendered purer and larger by recrystallization in 
 the usual way; the chloride of potassium, meanwhile, remaining dissolved in the 
 mother-liquor. It is far from improbable that this salt might be made by means of the 
 permanganate of potash, or chameleon mineral, as the manganesic acid parts with its 
 oxygen with extreme facility when in solution. If this supposition should turn out to 
 be correct^ then a saving would occur in the process, even independently of the cost of 
 chlorine, — for no chloride of potassium wonld be formed from the potash of the yellow 
 prussiate. This subject merits a careful investigation by those interested in this branch 
 of manufacture, for the red prussiate is rapidly extending in use amongst dyers and 
 calico printers. 
 
 PRUSSIC ACID; Xiebig's new test for. When some sulphuret of ammonium and 
 caustic ammonia are added to a concentrated aqueous solution of prussic aeid, and the 
 mixture heated with the addition of pure flower of sulphur, the prussic acid is converted 
 in a few minutes into sulphocyanide of ammonium. This metamorphosis depends on 
 the circumstance, that the higher sulphurets of ammonium are instantly deprived by the 
 cyanide of ammonium of the excess of sulphur they contain above the monosulphuret : 
 for instance, if a mixture of prussic acid and ammonia be added to the pentasulphurei 
 of ammonium, the solution of which is of a deep yellow colour, and the whole gently 
 heated, the sulphuret of ammonium is soon discolorized, and when the clear colourless 
 liquid is evaporated and the admixture of sulphuret of ammonium expelled, a white saline 
 mass is obtained, which dissolves entirely in alcohol. The solution yields on cooling o\ 
 evaporation colourless crystals of pure sulphocyanide of ammonium. Only a small 
 quantity of sulphuret of ammonium is requisite to convert; in presence of an excess of 
 sulphur, unlimited quantities of cyanide of ammonium into sulphocyanide ; because tho 
 sulphuret of ammonium, when reduced to the state of monosulphuret, constantly re-ac- 
 quires its power of dissolving sulphur, and transferring it to the cyanide of ammonium. 
 The following proportions will be found to be advantageous . 2 ounces of solution of 
 caustic ammonia, of 0'95 specific gravity, are saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas ■ 
 the hydrosulphuret of ammonia thus obtained is mixed with 6 ounces of the same 
 solution of ammonia, and to this mixture 2 ounces of the flowers of sulphur are added ; 
 and then the product resulting from the distillation of 6 ounces of prussiate of potash, 
 3 ounces of the hydrate of sulphuric acid, and 18 ounces of water. This mixture is 
 digested in the water bath, until the sulphur is seen to be no longer altered, and the 
 liquid has assumed a yellow colour ; it is then heated to boiling, and kept at this tempe- 
 rature until the sulphuret of ammonium has been expelled and the liquor has again 
 become colourless. The deposit, or excess of sulphur, is now removed by filtration, 
 and the liquid evaporated to crystallization. In this way from 3 J to 3^ ounces are got of 
 a dazzling white dry sulphocyanide of ammonium, which may be employed as a reagent 
 and for the same purposes as the sulphocyanide of potassium : of the 2 ounces of sul- 
 phur added, half an ounce is left undissolved. 
 
 The habitude of the higher sulphurets of ammonium towards prussic acid, furnishea 
 an admirable test for this acid. A couple of drops of a prussic acid which has been 
 
PUDDLING OF IRON. 
 
 609 
 
 diluted with so much water that it no longer gives any certain reaction with salts o» 
 iron by the formation of prussian blue, when mixed with a drop of sulphurct o. 
 ammonium, and heated on a watch glass until the mixture has become colourless, yiel_ 
 a liquid containing sulphocyanide of ammonium, which produces with persalts of iron 
 a very deep blood red colour ; and with persalts of copper, in presence of sulphurous 
 acid, white sulphocyanide of copper. 
 
 _ PUDDLING OF IRON. This is the usual process employed in Great Brita. 
 ."or converting cast iron into bar or malleable iron — a crude into a more or less pi: 
 metal. The following plan of a puddling furnace has been deemed economical, espt 
 cially with resiect to fuel, as two furnaces are joined side by side together, and t- 
 workmen operate at doors on the opposite sides. -Fig. 1193 represents this twin furnace 
 
 ii a side elevation; fig. 1194 in section, according to the line E F, in fig. 1195 which 
 exhibits a plan of the furnace. The various parts are so clearly shown in form and 
 construction as to require no explanation. The total length outside is 14f feet ; width, 
 12J feet : from which the dimensions of the other parts may be measured. 
 
 Iron is puddled either from cast pigs, or from the plates of the refinery (finery) fur- 
 nace. In several iron-works a mixture of these two crude metals is employed. In thr 
 refining process, the waste at the excellent establishment of Mr. Jessop, at Codner Park, 
 is from 2£ to 2| cwt. per ton; on which process' the wages are Is. per ton; and the 
 coke \ ton, worth 6*. ; so that the total cost of refining per ton is 15s., when pig-iron 
 is worth 31. 10s. 
 
 The puddling is accompanied with a loss of weight of 1 1 cwt. per ton ; it costs in 
 wages, for puddling refinery plates, 6s. 6d., and for P'gs, 8s. ; in which 18 cwt. of coal 
 are consumed ; value, 5s. per ton. 
 
 Shingling (condensing the bloom by the heavy hammer) costs, in wage3, Is. 9d. 
 per ton; and rough-rolling Is. 2d. Cutting and weighing these bars cost 9d. for 
 wages, including their delivery to the mill furnace, where they are reheated and welded 
 together. The mill furnace heating costs Is. 6d. in wages, and consumes in fuel 12 cwt 
 of coals, at 5s. per ton. The rolling and straightening cost 5s. 6d. ; cropping the ends, 
 weighing, and stocking in the warehouse, Is. for wages. Wear and tear of power, 5s. 
 Labourers for clearing out the ashes, cfcc, Is. &d. per ton. 
 
 In Wales 4 tons of pig-iron afford upon an average only 3 tons of bars. From the 
 above data a calculation may easily be made of the total expense of converting crude 
 into cast-iron at the respective iron works. 
 
 A great economy in the conversion of the cast into wrought metal seems about to be 
 effected in our iron works, by the application of a current of voltaic electricity to the 
 crude iron in a state of fusion, whether on the hearth of the blast furnace or on the fused 
 
-^if^A- 
 
 510 
 
 PUDDLIJNG OF IRON 
 
 pigs in the sand, or on the metal immediately on its being run from the finery fur- 
 nace ; the voltaic force of from 60 to 100 pairs of a powerful Smee's battery being 
 previously arranged to act upon the whole train of the metal. This process, for which 
 Mr. Arthur "Wall has recently obtained a patent, is founded upon the well-established 
 
 /act, that when a compoun&is subjected to an electrical current, its negative and posi- 
 tive elements are detached from one another. Crude iron contains more or less carbon, 
 sulphur, phosphorus, arsenic, oxygen, and silicon — bodies all electro-negative in rela- 
 tion to iron, which is electro-positive. When the impure iron, as it flows from the 
 blast-furnaces, is subjected during its cooling and consolidation to a powerful stream of 
 voltaic electricity, the chemical affinities by which its various heterogeneous components 
 are firmly associated are immediately subverted, whereby, in the caBe of crude iron, the 
 sulphur, phosphorus, &c, which destroy or impair its tenacity and malleability, become 
 readily separable in the act of puddling. On this principle, I would explain the extra- 
 ordinary effect of Mr. Wall's patent electric process, as performed in my presence in 
 
PURPLE OF CASSIUS. 511 
 
 the excellent iron-works of Mr. Jessop, at Codner Park, Derbyshire, where the elec- 
 trised forge pigs discharge those noxious elements so copiously in the puddling fur- 
 nace, as to become after a single re-heating, without piling or fagoting, brilliant bars 
 of the finest fibrous metal. The bars so made have been subjected, under my inspec- 
 tion, to the severest proofs by skilful London blacksmiths, and they have been" found to 
 bear piercing, hammering, bending, and twisting, as well as the best iron in the mar- 
 ket I have also analysed the said iron with the utmost minuteness of chemical 
 research, and have ascertained it to be nearly pure metal, containing neither sulphur 
 nor phosphorus, and merely an inappreciable trace of arsenic. I can therefore con- 
 scientiously recommend Mr. Wall's patent process to ironmasters as one of the greatest, 
 easiest, and most economical improvements, which that important art has lately received. 
 
 The pecuniary advantage of this process, in respect of saving labour and waste of 
 material, by been estimated at one pound sterling per ton ; but it is not yet practically 
 worked out. 
 
 The effect of electrising iron is displayed in a singular manner by the conversion into 
 steel of a soft rod, exposed in contact with coke, for a few hours, to a moderate red 
 heat ; a result which I have witnessed and can fully attest. 
 
 PUMICE-STONE {Pierre-ponce, Fr. ; Bimstein, Germ.), is a spongy, vitreous-looking 
 mineral, consisting of fibres of a silky lustre, interlaced with each other in all directions. 
 It floats upon water, is harsh to the touch, having in mass a mean sp. grav. of 0-914 ; 
 though brittle, it is hard enough to scratch glass and most metals. Its color is usually 
 grayish white ; but it is sometimes bluish, greenish, reddish, or brownish. It fuses 
 without addition at the blowpipe into a white enamel. According to Klaproth, it is 
 composed of, silica, 77-5 ; alumina, 17-5 ; oxyde of iron, 2 ; potassa and soda, 3 ; in 100 
 parts. The acids have hardly any action upon pumice-stone. It is used for polishing 
 ivory, wood, marble, metals, glass, &c. ; as also skins and parchment. Pumice-stone 
 is usually reckoned to be a volcanic product, resulting, probably, from the action of 
 fire upon obsidians. The chief localities of this mineral are the islands of Lipari, Ponza, 
 Ischia, and Vulcano. It is also found in the neighborhood of Andernach, upon the banks | \ 
 
 of the Rhine, in Teneriffe, Iceland, Auvergne, &c. It is sometimes so spongy as to be J | 
 
 of specific gravity 0-37. • j ) 
 
 PUOZZOLANA is a volcanic gravelly product, used in making hydraulic mortar. 
 See Cements and Mortars. 
 
 PURPLE OF' CASSIUS, Gold purple (Pourpre de Cassius, Fr. ; Gold-jmrpur, Germ.), 
 is a vilrifiable pigment, which stains glass and porcelain of a beautiful red or purple hue. 
 Its preparation has been deemed a process of such nicety, as to be liable to fail in the 
 most experienced hands. The following observations will, I hope, place the subject upon 
 a surer footing. 
 
 The proper pigment can be obtained only by adding to a neutral muriate of gold a 
 mixture of the protochloride and perchloride of tin. Everything depends upon this 
 intermediate state of the tin ; for the protochloride does not afford, even with a con- 
 centrated solution of gold, either a chestnut-brown, a blue, a green, a metallic preci- 
 pitate, or one of a purple tone; the perchloride occasions no precipitate whatever, 
 whether the solution of gold be strong or dilute; but a properly neutral mixture, of 
 1 part of crystallized protochloride of tin, with 2 parts of crystallized perchloride, pro- 
 duces, with I part of crystallized chloride of gold (all being in solution), a beautiful 
 purple-colored precipitate. An excess of the protosalt of tin gives a yellow, blue, or 
 green cast ; an excess of the persalt gives a red and violet cast ; an excess in the gold j j 
 
 Bait occasions, with heat (but not otherwise), a change from the violet and chestnut- 
 brown precipitate into red. According to Fuchs, a solution of the sesquioxyde of tin in 
 muriatic acid, or of the sesquichloride in water, serves the same purpose, when dropped 
 into a very dilute solution of gold. 
 
 Buisson prepares gold-purple in the following way. He dissolves, first, 1 gramme 
 of the best tin in a sufficient quantity of muriatic acid, taking care that the solu 
 lion is neutral ; next, 2 grammes of tin in aqua regia, composed of 3 parts of nitric 
 acid, and 1 part of muriatic, so that the solution can contain no protoxyde ; lastly, 7 
 grammes of fine gold in a mixture of 1 part of nitric acid, and 6 of muriatic, observing 
 to make the solution neutral. This solution of gold being diluted with 3| litres of water 
 (about three quarts), the solution of the perchloride of tin is to be added at once, and 
 afterwards that of the protochloride; drop by drop, till the precipitate thereby formed 
 acquires the wished-for tone ; after which it should be edulcorated by washing, as quickly 
 as possible. 
 
 Frick gives the following prescription : — Let tin be set to dissolve in very dilute 
 aqua regia without heat, till the fluid becomes faintly opalescent, when the metal must be 
 taken out, and weighed. The liquor is to be diluted largely with water, and a definite 
 weight of a dilute solution of gold, and dilute sulphuric acid, is to be simultaneously 
 stirred into the nitro-muriate of tin. The quantity of solution of gold to be poured into 
 
512 
 
 PUTREFACTION. 
 
 the tin liquor must be such, that the gold in the one is to the tin in the other in the rata 
 of 36 to 10. 
 
 Gold-purple becomes brighter when it is dry, but appears still as a dirty-brown powder. 
 Muriatic acid takes the tin out of the fresh-made precipitate, and leaves the gold either 
 m the state of metal or of a blue powder. At a temperature between 212° and 300° Fahr., 
 mercury dissolves out all the gold from the ordinary purple of Cassius. 
 
 Relative to the constitution of gold-purple, two views are entertained : according to the 
 first, the gold is associated in the metallic state along with the oxyde of tin ; according 
 to the second, the gold exists as a purple oxyde along with the sesquioxyde cr peroxyde 
 of tin. Its composition is differently reported by different chemists. The constituents, 
 according to — 
 
 Gold. Tin oxydp 
 
 Oberkampf, in the purple precipitate, are - - - 39-82 #0-18 
 
 violet ditto ... - 20-58 79-42 
 
 Berzelius 30-725 69-275 
 
 Buisson 30-19 69-81 
 
 GayLussac 30-89 69-11 
 
 Fuchs 17-87 82-13 
 
 If to a mixture of protochloride of tin, and perchloride of iron, a properly diluted solu- 
 tion of gold be added, a very beautiful purple precipitate of Cassius will immediately fall, 
 while the iron will be left in the liquid in the state of a protochloride. The purple thus 
 prepared keeps in the air for a long time without alteration. Mercury does not take 
 from it the smallest trace of gold.— Fuchs' Journal far Chemie, t. xv. 
 
 PURPLE OF MOLLUSCA is a viscid liquor, secreted by certain shell-fish, the 
 Bucciwum lapiltus, and others, which dyes wool, &c. of a purple color, and is supposed 
 to be the substance of the Tyrian dye, so highly prized in ancient Rome for producing 
 the imperial purple. See Dyeing. 
 
 PURPURIC ACID is an acid obtained by treating uric or lithic acid with dilute 
 nitric acid. It has a fine purple color; but has hitherto been applied to no use in the 
 arts. 
 
 PURPURINE is the name of a coloring principle, supposed by Robiquet and Colin to 
 exist in madder. Its identity is questionable. 
 
 PUTREFACTION, and its Prevention. The decomposition of animal bodies, or of 
 such plants as contain azote in their composition, which takes place spontaneously when 
 they are exposed to the air, under the influence of moisture and warmth, is called putre- 
 faction. During this process, there is a complete transposition of the proximate prin- 
 ciples, the elementary substances combining in new and principally gaseous compounds. 
 Oxygen is absorbed from the atmosphere; and converted into carbonic acid ; one portion 
 of the hydrogen forms water with the oxygen ; another portion forms, with the azote, 
 the c?.rbon, the phosphorus, and the sulphur respectively, ammonia, carbureted, 
 phosphureted, and sulphureted hylrogen gases, which occasion the nauseous smell 
 evolved by putrefying bodies. There remains a friable earthy-looking residuum, con- 
 sisting of rotten mould and charcoal. Vegetables which contain no azote, like the 
 ligneous part of plants, suffer their corresponding decomposition much more slowly, and 
 with different modificatims, but they are finally converted into vegetable mould. In 
 this process, the juices witn which the plants are filled first enter into the acetous fer- 
 mentation under the action of heat and moisture ; the acid thereby generated destroys the 
 cohesion of the fibrous matter, and thus reduces the solids to a pulpy state. In the pro- 
 gress of the decomposition, a substance is lastly produced which resembles oxydized ex- 
 tractive, is soluble in alkalis, and is sometimes called mould. This decomposition of the 
 plants which contain no azote, goes on without any offensive smell, as none of the above- 
 named nauseous gases are disengaged. When vegetable matters are mixed with animal, 
 as in the dung cf cattle, this decomposition proceeds more rapidly, because the annualized 
 portion serves as a ferment to the vegetable. Vegetable acids, resins, fats, and volatilized 
 oils, are not of themselves subject to putrefaction. 
 
 The object of the present article is to detail we principles and processes, according to 
 which, for various purposes in the arts, the destruction of bodies by putrefaction may be 
 prevented, and their preservation in a sound state secured for a longer, or a shorter 
 time. 
 
PUTREFACTION. 513 
 
 X. CONDITIONS OP THE PREVENTION OF PUTREFACTION. 
 
 The circumstances by which putrefaction is counteracted, are, 1. the chemical change 
 of the azotized juices ; 2. the abstraction of the water j 3. the lowering of the tempera- 
 ture j and 4. the exclusion of oxygen. 
 
 1. The chemical change of the azotized juices. — The substance which in dead animal 
 matter is first attacked with putridity, and which serves to communicate it to the solid 
 fibrous parts, is albumen, as it exists combined with more or less water in all the animal 
 fluids and soft parts. In those vegetables also which putrefy, it is the albumen which 
 first suffers decomposition ; and hence those plants which contain most of that proximate 
 principle, are most apt to become putrid, and most resemble, in this respect, animal sub- 
 stances; of which fact, mushrooms, cabbages, coleworts, &c, afford illustrations. The 
 albumen, when dissolved in water, very readily putrefies in a moderately warm air ; but 
 when coagulated, it seems as little liable to putridity as fibrin itself. By this Change, it 
 throws off the superfluous water, becomes solid, and may then be easily dried. Hence, 
 those means which by coagulation make the albumen insoluble, or form with it a new 
 compound, which does not dissolve in water, but which resists putrefaction, are powerful 
 antiseptics. Whenever the albumen is coagulated, the uncombined water may be easily 
 evaporated away, and the residuary solid matter may be readily dried in the air, so as to 
 be rendered unsusceptible of decomposition. 
 
 In this way acids operate, which combine with the albumen, and fix it in a coagulated 
 state, without separating it from its solution : such is the effect of vinegar, citric acid, 
 .artaric acid, &c. 
 
 Tannin combines with the albuminous and gelatinous parts of animals, and forms insol- 
 uble compounds, which resist putrefaction ; on which fact the art of tanning is founded. 
 
 Alcohol, oil of turpentine, and some other volatile oils, likewise coagulate albumen, 
 and thereby protect it from putrescence. The most remarkable operation of this kind is 
 exhibited* by wood vinegar, in consequence of the creosote contained in it, according to 
 the discovery of Reichenbach. This peculiar volatile oil has so decided a power of coag- 
 ulating albumen, that even the minute portion of it present in pyroligneons vinegar is suf- 
 ficient to preserve animal parts from putrefaction, when they are simply soaked in it. 
 Thus, also, flesh is cured by wood smoke. Wood tar likewise protects animal matter 
 from change, by the creosote it contains. The ordinary pyroligneous acid sometimes con- 
 tains 5 per cent, of creosote. 
 
 In circumstances where a stronger impregnation with this antiseptic oil may be neces- 
 sary, common wood vinegar may be heated to 167° F., and saturated with effloresced 
 Glauber's salts, by which expedient the oil is separated and made to float upon the surface 
 of the warm liquid ; whence it should be immediately skimmed off; because, by cooling 
 and crystallizing, the solution would so diminish in density as to allow the oil to sink to 
 the bottom ; for its specific gravity is considerably greater than that of water. This oil, 
 which contains, besides creosote, some other volatile constituents, may be kept dissolved 
 ready for use in strong vinegar ot alcohol. Water takes up of pure creosote only 1J per 
 cent. ; but alcohol dissolves it in every proportion. 
 
 The earthy and metallic salts afford likewise powerful means for separating albumen 
 from its watery solution, their bases having the property of forming insoluble compounds 
 with it. The more completely they produce this separation, the more effectually do they 
 counteract putrefaction. The alkaline salts also, as common salt, sal ammoniac, saltpetre, 
 and tartar, operate against putrescence, though in a smaller degree, because they do not 
 precipitate the albumen ; but, by abstracting a part of its water, they render it less liable 
 to become putrid. Among the earthy salts, alum is the most energetic, as it forms a sub- 
 salt which combines with albumen ; it is three times more antiseptic than common salt 
 and from seven to eight times more so than saltpetre. Muriate of soda, however, may be 
 employed along with alum, as is done in the tawing of sheepskins. 
 
 The metallic salts operate still more effectually as antiseptics, because they form with 
 albumen still more intimate combinations. Under this head we class the sreen and red 
 sulphates of iron, the chloride of zincj the acetate of lead, and corrosive sublimate ; the 
 latter, however, from its poisonous qualities, can be employed only on special occasions. 
 Nitrate of silver, though equally noxious to life, is so antiseptic, that a solution containing 
 only i^ of the salt is capable of preserving animal matters from corruption. 
 
 2. Abstraction of water. — Even in those cases where no separation of the albumen 
 takes place in a coagulated form, or as a solid precipitate, by the operation of a substance 
 foreign to the animal juices, putrefaction cannot go on, any more than other kinds of 
 fermentation, in bodies wholly or in a great measure deprived of their water. For the 
 albumen itself runs so much more slowly into putrefaction, the less water it is dissolved 
 in ; and in the desiccated state, it is as little susceptible of alteration as any other dry 
 vegetable or animal matter. Hence, the proper drying of an animal substance becomes 
 a universal preventive of putrescence. In this way fruits, herbs, cabbages, fish, flesh, 
 
 Vol. II. 34 
 
514 PUTREFACTION. 
 
 may be preserved from corruptiqn. If the air be not cold and dry enough to cause the 
 evaporation of the fluids before putrescence may come on, the organic substance mast be 
 dried by artificial means, as by being exposed in thin slices in properly constructed air- 
 stoves. At temperatures under 140° F., the albumen dries up without coagulation, ud 
 may then be re-dissolved in cold water, with its valuable properties unaltered. By 
 such artificial desiccation, if flesh is to be preserved for cooking or boiling, it must not 
 he exposed, however, to so high a degree of heat, which would harden it permanently, 
 like the baked mummies of Egypt. Mere desiccation, indeed^ can hardly ever be employ 
 ed upon flesh. Culinary salt is generally had recourse to, either alone or with the addi. 
 tion of saltpetre or sugar. 
 
 These alkaline salts abstract water in their solution, and, consequently, concentrate 
 the aqueous solution of the albumen ; whence, by converting the simple watery fluid 
 into salt water, which is in general less favorable to the fermentation of animal matter 
 than pure water, and by expelling the air, they counteract putridity. On this account, 
 salted meat may be dried in the air much more speedily and safely than fresh meat. The 
 drying is promoted by heating the meat merely to such a degree as to consolidate the al- 
 bumen, and eliminate the superfluous water. 
 
 Alcohol operates similarly, in abstracting the water essential to the putrefaction of 
 animal substances, taking it not only from the liquid albumen, but counteracting its de- 
 composition, when mixed among the animal solids* Sugar acts in the same way, fixing 
 in an unchangeable sirup the water which would otherwise be accessory to the fermenta- 
 tion of the organic bodies. The preserves of fruits and vegetable juices are made upon 
 this principle. When animal substances are rubbed with charcoal powder or sand, per- 
 fectly dry, and are afterwards freely exposed to the air, they become deprived of their 
 moisture, and will keep for any length of time. 
 
 3. Defect of warmth. — As a certain degree of heat is requisite for the vinous fermenta- 
 tion, so is it for the putrefactive. In a damp atmosphere, or in one saturated with mois- 
 ture, if the temperature stand at from 70° to 80° F. , the putrefaction goes on most rapidly ; 
 but it proceeds languidly at a few degrees above freezing, and is supended altogether at 
 that point. The elephants preserved in the polar ices are proofs of the antiseptic influ- 
 ence of low temperature. In temperate climates, ice-houses serve the purpose of keeping 
 meat fresh and sweet for any length of time. 
 
 4. Abstraction of oxygen gas. — As the putrefactive decomposition of a body first 
 commences with the absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere, so it may be 
 retarded by the exclusion of this gas. It is not, however, enough to remove the aerial 
 oxygen from the surface of the body, but we must expel all the oxygen that may be 
 diffused among the vessels and other solids, as this portion suffices in general 'o 
 excite putrefaction, if other circumstances be favorable. The expulsion is most 
 readily accomplished by a moderate degree of heat, which, by expanding the air, evolves 
 it in a great measure, and at the same time favors the fixation of the oxygen in the 
 extractive matter, so as to make it no longer available towards the putrefaction of the 
 other substances. Milk, soup, solution of gelatine, &c, may be kept long in a fresh 
 state, if they be subjected in an air-tight vessel every other day to a boiling heat. Oxy- 
 genation may be prevented in several ways : by burning sulphur o* phosphorus in the 
 air of the meat receiver; by filling this with compressed carbonic acid ; or with oils, 
 fats, sirups, &c, and then sealing it hermetically. Charcoal powder recently calcined 
 is efficacious in preserving meat, as it not only excludes air from the bodies surrounded 
 by it, but ntercepts the oxygen by condensing it. When butcher-meat is enclosed in a 
 vessel fillea with sulphurous acid, it absorbs the gas, and remains for a considerable time 
 proof against corruption. The same result is obtained if the vessel be filled with ammo- 
 niacal gas. At the end of 76 days such meat has still a fresh look, and may be safely 
 dried in the atmosphere. 
 
 II. PECULIAR ANTISEPTIC PROCESSES. 
 
 Upon the preceding principles and experiments depend the several processes employed 
 for protecting substances from putrescence and corruption. Here we must distinguish 
 between those bodies which may be preserved by any media suitable to the purpose, as 
 enatomical preparations or objects of natural history, and those bodies which, being in- 
 tended for food, can be cured only by wholesome and agreeable means. 
 
 A common method for preserving animal substances unchanged in property and 
 texture, is to immerse them in a spirituous liquor containing about 65 or 70 per cent, 
 of real alcohol. Camphor may also be dissolved in it, and as much common salt as its 
 water will take up. A double fold of ox-bladder should be bound over the mouth of 
 the vessel, in order to impede the evaporation of the watery portion of the liquid, and its 
 upper surface should be coated with a turpentine varnish. Undoubtedly a little creo- 
 sote would be of use to counteract the decomposing influence of the alcohol upon *He 
 
PUTREFACTION. 515 
 
 animal substances. With such an addition, a weaker spirit, containing no more than 30 
 per cent, of alcohol, would answer the purpose. 
 
 Instead of alcohol, a much cheaper vehicle is water saturated with sulphurous acid j 
 and if a few drops of creosote be added, the mixture will become very efficacious. A 
 solution of red sulphate of iron is powerfully antiseptic ; but after some time it gives a 
 deposite of the oxyde, which disguises the preparation in a great degree. 
 
 According to Tauffier, animal substances may be preserved more permanently by a 
 solution of one part of chloride of tin in 20 parts of water, sharpened with a little muriatic 
 acid, than even by alcohol. 
 
 For preserving animal bodies in an embalmed form, mummy-like, a solution of 
 chloride of mercury and wood vinegar is most efficacious. As there is danger in 
 manipulating with that mercurial salt, and as in the present state of our knowledge of 
 creosote we have it in our power to make a suitably strong solution of this substance in 
 vinegar or spirit of wine, I am led to suppose that it will become the basis of most an- 
 tiseptic preparations for the future. From the statements of Pliny, :'it is plain that wood 
 vinegar was the essential means employed by the ancient Egyptians in preparing their 
 mummies, and that the odoriferous resins were of inferior consequence. ' 
 
 CURING OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 Flesh. — The ordinary means employed for preserving butcher meat are, drying, smoking, 
 salting, and pickling or souring. 
 
 Drying of animal fibre. — The best mode of operating is as follows : — The flesh must 
 be cut into slices from 2 to 6 ounces in weight, immersed in boiling water for 5 or 6 
 minutes, and then laid on open trellis-work in a drying-stove, at a temperature kept 
 steadily about 122° F., with a constant stream of warm dry air. That the boiling water 
 may not dissipate the soluble animal matters, very little of it should be used, just enough 
 for the meat to be immersed by portions in succession, whereby it will speedily become 
 a rich soup, fresh water being added only as evaporation takes place. It is advantage- 
 ous to add a little salt, and some spices, especially coriander seeds, to the water. After 
 the parboiling of the flesh has been completed, the soup should be evaporated to a gela- 
 tinous consistence, in order to fit it for forming a varnish to the meat after it is dried, 
 which may be completely effected within two days in the oven. By this process two 
 thirds of the weight is lost. The perfectly dry flesh must be plunged piece by piece in 
 the fatty gelatinous matter liquefied by a gentle heat ; then placed once more in the 
 stove, to dry the layer" of varnish. This operation may be repeated two or three times, 
 in order to render the coat sufficiently uniform and thick. Butcher's meat dried in this 
 way keeps for a year, affords, when cooked, a dish similar to that of fresh meat, and is 
 therefore much preferable to salted provisions. The drying may^ie facilitated, so that 
 larger lumps of flesh may be used, if they be imbued with some common salt immediately 
 after the parboiling process, by stratifying them with salt, and leaving them in a proper 
 pickling-tub for 12 hours before they are transferred to the stove. The first method, 
 however, affords the more agreeable article. 
 
 Smoking. — This process consists in exposing meat previously salted, or merely 
 rubbed over with salt, to wood smoke, in an apartment so distant from the fire as not to 
 be unduly heated by it, and into which the smoke is admitted by flues at the bottom of 
 the side walls. Here the seat combines with the empyreumatic acid of the smoke, and 
 gets dried at the same ime. The quality of the wood has an influence upon the smell 
 and taste of the smoke-dried meaUs smoke from beech wood and oak being preferable to 
 that from fir and larch. Smoke from the twigs and berries of juniper, from rosemary, 
 peppermint, &c, imparts somewhat of the aromatic flavor of these plants. A slow 
 smoking with a slender fire is preferable to a rapid and powerful one, as it allows the 
 empyreumatic principles time to penetrate into the interior substance, without drying 
 the outside too much. To prevent soot from attaching itself to the provisions, they may 
 be wrapped in cloth, or rubbed over with bran, which may be easily removed at the end 
 of the operation. 
 
 The process of smoking depends upon the action of the wood acid, or the creosote 
 volatilized with it, which operates upon the flesh. The same change may be produced 
 in a much shorter time by immersing the meat for a few hours in pyroligneous acid, then 
 hanging it up in a dry air, which, though moderately warm, makes it fit for keeping, 
 without any taint of putrescence. After a few days exposure, it loses the empyreumatic 
 smell, and then resembles thoroughly smoked provisions. The meat dried in this way 
 is in general somewhat harder than by the application of smoke, and therefore softens 
 less when cooked, a difference to be ascribed to the more sudden and concentrated opera- 
 tion of the wood vinegar, which effects in a few hours what would require smoking for 
 several weeks. By the judicious employment of pyroligneous acid diluted to successive 
 degrees, we niigtt probably succeed in imitating perfectly the effect of smoke in curing 
 provisions. 
 
516 PUTREFACTION. 
 
 Salting. — The meat should be rubbed well with common salt, containing about one 
 sixteenth of saltpetre, and one thirty-secondth of sugar, till every crevice has been im- 
 pregnated with it ; then sprinkled over with salt, laid down for 24 or 48 hours, and, 
 lastly, subjected to pressure. It must next be sprinkled anew with salt, packed into 
 proper vessels, and covered with the brine obtained in the act of pressing, rendered 
 stronger by boiling down. For household purposes it is sufficient to rub the meat well 
 with good salt, to put it into vessels, and load it with heavy weights, in order to squeeze 
 out as much pickle as will cover its surface. If this cannot be had, a pickle must be 
 poured on it, composed of 4 pounds of salt, 1 pound of sugar, and 2 oz. of saltpetre, dis- 
 solved in 2 gallons of water. 
 
 Pickling with vinegar. — Vinegar dissolves or coagulates the albumen of flesh, and there- 
 by counteracts its putrescence: The meat should be washed, dried, and then laid in strong 
 vinegar. Or it may be boiled in the vinegar, allowed to cool in it, and then set aside with 
 it in a cold cellar, where it will keep sound for several months. 
 
 Fresh meat may be kept for some months in water deprived of its air. If we strew on 
 the bottom of a vessel a mixture of iron filings and flowers of sulphur, and pour over them 
 some water whiph has been boiled, so as to expel its air, meat immersed in it will keep 
 a long time, if the water be covered with a layer of oil, from half an inch to an inch 
 thick. Meat will also keep fresh for a considerable period when surrounded with oil, 
 or fat of any kind, so purified as not to turn rancid of itself, especially if the meat be 
 previously boiled. This process is called potting, and is applied successfully to fish, 
 fowls, &c. 
 
 Prechtl says that living fish may be preserved 14 days without water, by stopping their 
 mouths with crumbs of bread steeped in brandy, pouring a little brandy into them, and 
 packing them in this torpid state in straw. When put into fresh water, they come alive 
 again after a few hours ! Prechtl, Encyclop. Technologisches, art. Faiilniss Abhallung. 
 
 Eggs. — These ought to be taken new laid. The essential point towards their pre- 
 servation is the exclusion of the atmospheric oxygen, as their shells are porous, and per- 
 mit the external air to pass inwards, and to excite putrefaction in the albumen. There 
 is also some oxygen always in the air-cell of the eggs, which ought to be expelled or ren- 
 dered inoperative, which may be done by plunging them for 5 minutes in water heated to 
 140° F. The eggs must be then taken out, wiped dry, besmeared with some oil (npt apt 
 to turn rancid), or other unctuous matter, packed into a vessel with their narrow ends up- 
 permost, and covered with sawdust, fine sand, or powdered charcoal. Eggs coated with 
 gum arabic, and packed in charcoal, will keep fresh for a year. • Lime water, or rather 
 milk of lime, is an excellent vehicle for keeping eggs in, as I have verified by long expe- 
 rience. Some persons coagulate the albumen partially, and also expel the air by boiling 
 the eggs for 2 minutes, and find the method Successful. When eggs are intended for 
 hatching, they shoul * be kept in a cool cellar ; for example, in a chamber adjoining an 
 ice-house. Eggs exposed, in the holes of perforated shelves, to a constant current of air, 
 lose about | of a grain of their weight daily, and become concentrated in their albuminous 
 part, so as to be little liable to putrefy. For long sea voyages, the surest means of pre- 
 serving eggs, is to dry up the albumen and yolk, by first triturating them into a homoge- 
 neous paste, then evaporating this in an air-stove or a water-bath heated to 125°, and 
 putting up the dried mass in vessels which may be made air-tight. When used, it should 
 be dissolved in three parts of cold or tepid water. 
 
 Grain of all kinds, as wheat, barley, rye, &c, and their flour, may be preserved for an 
 indefinite length of time, if they be kiln-dried, put up, in vessels or chambers free from 
 damp, and excluded from the air. Well dried grain is not liable to the depredations of 
 insects. 
 
 To preserve fruits in a fresh state, various plans are adopted. Pears, apples, plums, 
 &c. should be gathered in a sound state, altogether exempt from bruises, and plucked, in 
 dry weather, before they are fully ripe. One mode of preservation is, to expose them in 
 an airy place to dry a little for eight or ten days, and then to lay them in dry sawdust 
 or chopped straw, spread upon shelves in a cool apartment, so as not to touch each other. 
 Another method consists in surrounding them with fine dry sand in a vessel which should 
 be made air-tight, and kept in a cool place. Some persons coat the fruit, including their 
 stalks, with melted wax; others lay the apples, &c.,upon wicker-work shelves in a vault- 
 ed chamber, and smoke them daily during 4 or 5 days with vine branches or juniper wood. 
 Apples thus treated, and afterwards stratified in dry sawdust, without touching each other, 
 will keep fresh for a whole year. 
 
 The drying of garden fruits in the air, or by a kiln, is a well-known method of preser- 
 vation. Apples and pears of large size should be cut into thin slices. From 5 to 6 meas. 
 ures of fresh apples, and from 6 to 7 of pears, afford in general one measure of dry fruit, 
 Jbiffins). Dried plums, grapes, and currants are a common article of commerce. 
 
 Herbs, cabbages, &c, may be kept a long time in a cool cellar, provided they are 
 severed with dry sand. Such vegetables are in general preserved for the purposes oi 
 
PUTREFACTION. ' 517 
 
 food, by means of drying, salting, pickling with vinegar, or beating up with sugar. Cab- 
 bages should be scalded in hot water previously to drying; and all such plants, when 
 dried, should be compactly pressed together, and kept in air-tight vessels. Tuberous and 
 other roots are better kept in an airy place, where they may dry a little without being ex. 
 posed to the winter's frost. 
 
 A partial drying is given to various vegetable juices by evaporating them to the con- 
 sistence of a sirup, called a rob, in which so much of the water is dissipated as to prevent 
 them from running into fermentation. The fruits must be crushed, squeezed in bags to 
 expel the juices, which must then be inspissated either over the naked fire, or on a water 
 or steam bath, in the air or in vacuo. Sqmetimes a small proportion of spices is added, 
 which tends to prevent mouldiness. ' Such extracts may be conveniently mixed with sugar 
 into what are called conserves. 
 
 Salting is employed for certain fruits, as small cucumbers or gherkins, capers, olives, 
 fcc. Even for peas such a method is had recourse to, for preserving them a certain 
 time. They must be scalded in hot water, put up in bottles, and covered with saturated 
 brine, having a film of oil on its surface, to exclude the agency of the atmospheric air. 
 Before being used, they must be soaked for a short time in warm water, to extract the 
 salt. The most important article of diet of this class, is the sour kraut of the northern 
 nations of Europe (made from white cabbage), which is prepared simply by salting; a 
 little vinegar being formed spontaneously by fermentation. The cabbage must be" cut 
 into small pieces, stratified in a cask along with salt, to which juniper berries and carui 
 seeds are added, and packed as hard as possible by means of a wooden rammer. The 
 cabbage is then covered with a lid, on which a heavy weight is laid. A fermentation 
 commences, which causes the cabbage to become more compact, while a quantity of juice 
 exudes and floats on the surface, and a sour smell is perceived towards the end of the 
 fermentation. In this condition the cask is transported into a cool cellar, where it is 
 allowed to stand for a year ; and indeed, where, if well made and packed, it may be kept 
 for several years. • 
 
 The excellent process for preserving all kinds of butcher meat, fish, and poultry, first 
 contrived by M, Appert in France, and afterwards successfully practised upon the great 
 commercial scale by Messrs. Donkin and Gamble, for keeping beef, salmon, soups, &c. 
 perfectly fresh and sweet for exportation from this country, as also turtle for importation 
 thither from the West Indies, deserves a brief description. 
 
 Let the substance .to be preserved be first parboiled, or rather somewhat more, the 
 bones of the meat being previously removed. Put the meat into a tin cylinder, fill up 
 the vessel with seasoned rich soup, and then solder on the lid, pierced with a small hole. 
 When this has been done, let the tin vessel thus prepared be placed in brine and heated 
 to the boiling point, to complete the remainder of the cooking of the meat. The hole 
 of the lid is now to be closed perfectly by soldering, while the air is rarefied. The vessel 
 is then allowed to cool, and from the diminution of the volume, in consequence of the 
 reduction of temperature, both ends of the cylinder are pressed inwards, and become con- 
 cave. The tin cases, thus hermetically sealed, are exposed in a test-chamber, for at least 
 a month, to a temperature above what they are ever likely to encounter; from 90° to 110° 
 of Fahrenheit. If the process has failed, putrefaction takes place, and gas is evolved, 
 which, in process of time, will cause both ends of the case to bulge, so as to render them 
 convex, instead of concave. But the contents of those cases which stand the test will 
 infallibly keep perfectly sweet and good in any climate, and for any number of years. If 
 there be any taint about the meat when put up, it inevitably ferments, and is detected in 
 the proving process. Mr. Gamble's turtle is delicious. 
 
 This preservative process is founded upon the fact, that the small quantity of oxygen 
 contained within the vessel gets into a state of combination, in consequence of the high 
 temperature to which the animal substances are exposed, and upon the chemical principle^ 
 that free oxygen is necessary as a,ferment to commence or give birth to the process of 
 putrefaction. 
 
 I shall conclude this article with some observations upon the means of preserving 
 water fresh on sea voyages. When long kept in wooden casks, it undergoes a kind of 
 putrefaction, contracts a disagreeable sulphurous smell, and becomes undrinkable. The 
 influence of the external air is by no means necessary to this change, for it happens in 
 close vessels even more readily than when freely exposed to the atmospherical oxygen. 
 The origin of this impurity lies in the animal and vegetable juices which the water 
 originally contained in the source from which it was drawn, or from the cask, or insects, 
 &c. These matters easily occasion, with a sufficient warmth, fermentation in the stag- 
 nant water, and thereby cause the evolution of offensive gases. It would appear that 
 the gypsum of hard waters is decomposed, and gives up its sulphur, which aggravates the 
 disagreeable odor ; for selenitic waters are more apt to take this putrid taint, than those 
 which contain merely carbonate of lime. 
 As ti>e i">rr ipted iratrr ha? become unfit for use merely in consequence of the admix 
 
518 • PYROGALLIC ACID. 
 
 lure of these foreign matters, for water in itself is not liable to corruption, so it may at 
 purified again by their separation. This purification may be accomplished most easily 
 by passing the water through charcoal powder, or through the powder of rightly 
 calcined bone-black. The carbon takes away not only the finely diffused corrupt 
 particles, but also the gaseous impurities. By adding to the water a very little sulphuric 
 acid, about 30 drops to 4 pounds, Lowitz says that two thirds of the charcoal may 
 be saved. Undoubtedly the sulphuric acid acts. here, as in other similar cases, by 
 the coagulation and separation of the albuminous matters, combining with them, 
 and rendering them more' apt to be seized by the charcoal. A more effectual agent 
 for the purification of foul water is to be foujid in alum. A drachm of pounded alum 
 should be dissolved with agitation in a gallon of the water, and then left to operate quietly 
 for 24 hours. A sediment falls to the bottom, while the water becomes clear above, and 
 may be poured off. The alum combines here with the substances dissolved in the water, 
 as it does with the stuffs in the dyeing copper. In order to decompose any alum which 
 may remain in solution, the equivalent quantity of crystals of carbonate of soda may be 
 added to it. 
 
 The red sulphate of iron acts in the same way as alum. A few drops of its solution 
 are sufficient to purge a pound of foul water. The foreign matters dissolved in the water, 
 which occasion putrefaction, become insoluble, in consequence of oxydizement, like vege- 
 table extractive, and are precipitated. On this account, also, foul water may be purified, 
 by driving atmospheric air through it with bellows, or by agitating it in contact with 
 fresh air, so that all its particles are exposed to oxygen. Thus we can explain the in- 
 fluence of streams and winds, in counteracting the corruption of water exposed to them. 
 Chlorine acts still more energetically than the air in purifying water. A little aqueous 
 chlorine added to foul water, or the transmission of a little gaseous chlorine through it, 
 cleanses it immediately. 
 
 Water-casks ought to be charred inside, whereby no fermentable stuff will be extract- 
 ed from the wood. British ships,'however, are now commonly provided with iron tanks 
 for holdinz their water in long voyages. 
 
 PYRITES, is the native bisulphuret of iron. Copper pyrites, called vulgarly mundick, 
 is a bisulphuret of copper. 
 
 PYRO-ACETIC SPIRIT. (Esprit pyro-acUique, Acitom, Fr. ; Brennzlicher Essig- 
 geist, Merit, Germ.) This liquid was discovered and described by Chenevix long before 
 pyroligneous spirit was known. It may be obtained by subjecting to dry distillation 
 the acetates of copper, lead, alkalis, and earths ; and as it is formed especially during 
 the second half of the process, the liquor which comes over then should be set apart, 
 separated by decantation from the empyreumatic oil, and distilled a second time by 
 the heat of a waler-bath. The fine light fluid which now comes over first, is to be 
 rectified along with carbonate of potassa, or chloride of calcium. As pyro-acetic spiril 
 usually retains, even after repeated distillations, a disagreeable empyreumatic smell, like 
 garlic, a little good bone-black should be employed in its final rectification. According 
 to Reichenbach, pyro-acetic spirit may be extracted in considerable quantity from beech 
 tar. (See the next article.) The spirit thus prepared is a "olorless limpid liquid, of 
 an acrid and burning taste at first, but afterwards cooling ; of a penetrating aromatic 
 smell, different from that of alcohol ; of the spec, gravity 0-7921 at 60° F., boiling at 
 132° F., and remaining fluid at 5°. It consists ultimately of— carbon, 62-148 ; hydro- 
 gen, 10-453 ; oxygen, 27-329; or, of 1 proportion of carbonic acid + 2 prop, of defiant 
 gas + 1 prop, of water; or, 1 prop, of acetic acid — 1 prop, of carbonic acid. Accord-- 
 ing to another view, it is composed of, 51-52 parts of concentrated acetic acid, and 
 48-488 of oil of wine, being double of the quantity in acetic ether. It is very combus- 
 tible, anu brims with a brill ! ant flame, without smoke. When treated by chlorine, it 
 loses an atom of its hydrogev and absorbs 2 atoms of chlorine. It is soluble in water, 
 alcohol, ether, and is not convertible into ether by strong sulphuric acid. It is used 
 for dissolving the resins commonly called gums, with which the bodies of hats are 
 stiffened. 
 
 PYROGALLIC ACID, and some astringent substances which yield it. To procure 
 the pyrogallic acid for examination, powdered nutgalls are treated with water, which 
 is evaporated until an extract resembling catechu is obtained, which being sublimed 
 in Mohr's apparatus gives about 103 per cent, of "pure crystals of the acid. By analysis 
 't wao found that - 312 yielded 065 carbonic acid, and 0-1345 water; this would b« 
 squal to 
 
 8 carbon - 611-480 calculated 5761 found 57-60 
 
 4 hydrogen - - 49918 do 4-70 do 478 
 
 4 oxygen - - 400000 do 37-69 do 8762 
 
 1061-398 10000 100-00 
 
PYROGALLIC ACID. 519 
 
 In examining the substances which yield pyrogallic acid, Stenhouse states, that he 
 could obtain pure tannin only from nutgalls, let his process be ever so carefully conducted, 
 Pure tannin and gallic acid are the only substances which are known, by distillation, to 
 yield pyrogallic acid. Taking advantage of this circumstance, he proceeded to jtest 
 various substances for the presence of gallic acid, and to examine whether the tannin 
 they contain is the same as that of nutgalls. 
 
 Sumach. Sumach obtained from the small branches of Rhus coriaria, was digested 
 in hot water, filtered, evaporated, and subjected to distillation. The fluid distilled over 
 into the receiver gave no crystals of pyrogallic acid (owing to the empyreuma.tic.oil 
 and impurities passing over with it) ; but it evidently contained the acid and tannin, 
 similar to that of nutgalls, an hypothesis which his subsequent analysis verified, for 
 after treating a watery extract with alcohol, and again with ether, he obtained pure 
 colourless crystals, which answered to the qualities of gallic acid, and on distillation 
 yielded pyrogallic acid. 
 
 The tannin freed from gallic acid, subjected t'o distillation, yielded as much pyrogallic 
 acid as the same quantity obtained from nutgalls would have given. He also succeeded 
 in converting the tannin of sumach into gallic acid, by boiling it with dilute sulphuric 
 acid.. In treating tannin precipitated from sumach by sulphuric acid with alcohol 
 and ether, he procured crystals of gallic acid ; sumach, therefore, most closely resembles 
 nutgall, for which it has long been a substitute in the arts. The quantity of tannin it 
 contains is, however, considerably less. 
 
 Valonia. The acorn of Quercus cegilops. Dried extract of valonia gave on distilla- 
 tion no signs of pyrogallic acid : a concentrated solution was precipitated by size — the 
 fluid was evaporated — the extract boiled with alcohol — the alcohol distilled over — and 
 the extract treated with ether, yielding a small quantity of crystals having the properties 
 of gallic acid, which, on distillation, gave pyrogallic acid, but in very limited quantity, 
 about one-thirtieth of that of sumach. The solution of valonia, treated with sulphuric 
 acid, gave but a trifling precipitate of tannin; distilled, it gave much charcoal, but no 
 empyreumatic products. The fluid in the receiver was colourless, and had no traces of 
 pyrogallic acid. The tannin of valonia differs materially from that of nutgalls. 
 
 Oak-Bark. The extract, treated as the former, gave no traces of pyrogallic acid ; even 
 in subjecting large quantities of a decoction to examination, he could not obtain crystals 
 of gallic acid, which he concludes to exist in it in very minute quantities, if it exist in 
 it. The tannin precipitated by sulphuric acid yielded no traces of pyrogallic acid on 
 distillation, and appears, therefore, to differ from that of nutgalls. 
 
 Divi-Divi, imported from Carthagena, is the pod of a leguminous shrub, the Ccesal- 
 pinia coriaria according to Balfour. The extract, subjected to distillation, yields no 
 traces of pyrogallic acid; but the fluid, passing over into the receiver, has its character- 
 istic signs. By treating in the manner above mentioned, pure crystals of gallic acid 
 may be obtained from it, which, on distillation, yield pyrogallic acid. Sulphuric acid 
 gave, with a concentrated solution, but a very small precipitate, which, dried and dis- 
 tilled, yielded no trace of pyrogallic acid, but much charcoal. Thence the tannin of 
 divi-divi differs materially from'that of nutgall. The quantity of mucilage which it 
 contains precludes it from the use of dyers ; but as it contains much tannin, it is largely 
 used for tanning. 
 
 Kino. From the African kino he could obtain neither gallic acid, nor did the abun- 
 dant precipitate produced by sulphuric acid, on distillation, show any traces of pyro- 
 gallic acid ; nitric acid converted it into oxalic acid. 
 
 Catechu. Catechu contained no gallic acid, but catechu and a peculiar tannin, which 
 is precipitated by sulphuric acid, and when boiled with dilute sulphuric acid is of a 
 dark brown colour, like the tannin of oak-bark. It is insoluble in cold or hot water, 
 alcohol, or ether, and but trivially soluble in a solution of strong alkalis. Distilled, it 
 gave no traces of pyrogallic acid or pyrocatcchin. 
 
 Catechin, the part of catechu insoluble in cold water, yields on distillation the pyro- 
 cateehin of Zarenger. 
 
 Salicin. Charles Gerhardt was induced again to undertake the analysis of this 
 substance, on account of the modification of the atomic number if carbon by Dumai 
 and Strass. 
 
 Id 100 parts lis found 
 
 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 Carbon 
 
 . 
 
 55-28 
 
 55-24 
 
 Hydrogen - 
 
 - 
 
 6-50 
 
 6-53 
 
 Oxygen 
 
 ■ 
 
 38-22 
 
 38-23 
 
 10000 100-00 
 
B30 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 The quotients of these numbers, divided by the atomic weights, are, 
 
 At in 100 oaru 
 
 Carbon - - 1474 48 65S 
 
 Hydrogen - - 1040 28 6-2 
 
 Oxygen - - 382 22 38'5 
 
 PTROLIGNITE OP LEAD. The pyrolignous acid employed in the manufacture 
 of sugar of lead, ought to be tolerably free from . empyreumatic substances, in order to 
 yield a good product. The manufacturers of pyrolignous acid furnish (often under the 
 name of muriate of lead) a product which is very brown by these empyreumatic admix- 
 tures, and which is prepared by saturating pyrolignous acid with litharge. In dyeing and 
 printing, sugar of lead is chiefly used for the preparation of acetate of alumina ; but as 
 impure sugaj- of lead is prejudicial to the more delicate colours, pure sugar of lead, pre- 
 pared from alcohol vinegar, can alone be employed for these, as well as for chrome 
 yellow, chrome orange, &c 
 
 Prof. Schnedermann, of Chemnitz, has discovered a method by which the sugar of lead 
 may be obtained from pyrolignous acid in a sufficient state of purity for dyeing'purposes. 
 The rough pyrolignous acid is rectified in the usual manner, then super-saturated -with 
 slaked lime, and exposed to the air for 24 hours, during which time the mass is to be 
 frequently stirred up. By the excess of lime, a great part of the empyreumatic matter, 
 which forms with the lime a more or less brown and insoluble combination, is precipitated. 
 The exposure to the air is necessary, because the empyreumatic matters become more 
 oxidised, assume a deeper colour, and become fitted for combination with lime. The 
 brown solution of the acetate of lime is thus separated in a suitable manner from the 
 precipitate, and heated to boiling, when small quantities of a clear solution of chloride of 
 lime are successively added as long as the liquid continues to become paler. After 
 evaporating to dryness, the yellowish gray residue, which consists of acetate of lime, 
 with a small proportion of chloride" of calcium, is decomposed by sulphuric acid. If the 
 acetate be intended to be obtained by distillation from this mixture, the sulphuric acid 
 must be diluted with an equal volume of water. 
 
 In other cases, the sulphuric acid is not at all to be diluted, or only very slightly so, and 
 added gradually to the decomposed residue, to avoid the generation of heat. The mixture 
 is left standing for a short time ; it is then to be diluted with water, and the clear water 
 drawn off from the gypsum. In this case it is not advisable to previously dilute the sul- 
 phuric acid with water, as the gypsum then assumes a crystalline loose condition, subsidee 
 with difficulty, and contains much fluid. 
 
 In both cases the acetic acid contains a small quantity of muriatic acid, also sulphurous 
 acid ; and, in the latter case, also a small portion of gypsum. Oxide of lead is now to be 
 ndded and heat applied till the acid reaction is feeble. The precipitate retains sulphurous 
 acid from the gypsum, and also sulphate of lead and chloride of lead. The solution of the 
 acetate of lead yields a yellowish sugar of lead, containing a small portion of chloride of 
 lead, but which is generally sufficiently pure for dyeing purposes, and can be still further 
 purified by recrystallization. 
 
 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. In addition to what ha-, been said under Acetic Acid 
 I shall here describe t«i: process as conducted upon a great scale at an establishment near 
 Manchester. The retorts are of cast iron, 6 feet long, and 3 feet 8 inches in diameter 
 Two of these cylinders are heated by one fire, the flame of which plays round their sid^s 
 and upper surface; hut the bottom is shielded by fire-tiles from the direct action of the 
 fire. 2 cwts. of coals are sufficient to complete the distillation of one charge of wood ; 
 36 imperial gallons of crude vinegar, of specific gravity 1'025, being obtained from each 
 retort. The process occupies 24 hours. The rjetort-mouth is then removed, and the 
 ignited charcoal is raked out for extinction into an iron chest, having a groove round its 
 edges, into which a lid is fitted. 
 
 When this pyroligneous acid is saturated with quicklime, and distilled, it yields one pel 
 cent. of. pyroxilic spirit (sometimes called naptha); which is rectified by two or tnree 
 successive distillations with quicklime. 
 
 The tarry deposite of the crude pyroligneous acid, being subjected to distillation by 
 Hself, affords a crude pyro-acelic ether, which may also be purified by re-distillation will 
 ■juicklime, and subsequent agitation with water. 
 
 The pyrolignite of lime is made by boiling the pyroligneous acid in a large copper, 
 which has a sloping spout at its Up, by which the tarry scum freely flows over, as it froths 
 up with the heat. The fluid compound thus purified is syphoned off into another copper, 
 and mixed with a quantity of alum equivalent to its strength, in order to form the red 
 liquor, or acetate of alumina, of the calico-printer. The acetate of lime, and sulphate of 
 alumina and potash, mutually decompose each other ; with the formation of sulphate of 
 time, which falls immediately to the bottom. 
 M. Kcstner, of Thann, in Alsace, obtains, in his manufactory of pyroligneous acid, S 
 
PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 321 
 
 hectolitres (112 gallons imperial, nearly) from a cord containing 93 cubic feet of wooj. 
 The acid is very brown, much loaded with tar, and marks 5° Baume ; 220 kilogrammes 
 of charcoal are left in the cylinders; 500 litres of that brown acid produce, after several 
 distillations, 375 of the pyroligneous acid of commerce, containing 7 per cent, of acid, 
 with a residuum of 40 kilogrammes of pitch. For the purpose of making a crude acetate 
 of lead (pyrolignite) he dries pyrolignite of lime upon iron plates, mixes it with the 
 equivalent decomposing quantity of sulphuric acid, previously diluted with its own weight 
 of water, and cooled ; and transfers the mixture as quickiy as possible into a cast-iron 
 cylindric still, built horizontally in a furnace; the under half of the mouth of the cylinder 
 being always cast with a semicircle of iron. The acetic acid is received into large salt- 
 glazed stone bottles. From 100 parts of acetate of lime, he obtains 133 of acetic acid, ai 
 38° Bauine. It contains always a little sulphurous acid from the reaction of the tar ana 
 the sulphuric acid. 
 
 The apparatus represented in figs. 1196 and 1197 is a convenient modification of that 
 exhibited under acetic acid, for producing pyroligneous acid. Fig. 1196 shows the fur 
 
 nace in a horizontal section drawn through the middle of the flue which leads to the 
 chimney. Fig. 1197. is a vertical section taken in the dotted line x, x, of Jig. 1196. The 
 chest a is constructed with cast-iron plates bolted together, and has a capacity of 100 
 cubic feet. The wood is introduced into it through the opening 6, in the cover, for 
 which purpose it is cleft into billets of moderate length. The chest is heated from 
 the subjacent grate c, upon which the fuel is laid, through the fire-door d. The flame 
 ascends spirally through the flues e, e, round the chest, which terminates in the chimney f. 
 An iron pipe g conveys the vapours and giaseous products from the iron sliest to the con- 
 denser. This consists of a series of pipes laid zigzag over each other, which rest 
 upon a framework of wood. The condensing tubes are enclosed in larger pipers i, i ; a 
 stream of cold water being caused to circulate in the interstitial spaces between them. 
 The water passes down from a trough k, through a conducting tube I, enters the lowest 
 cylindrical case at m, flows thence along the series of jackets i, i, i, being transmitted 
 from the one row to the next above it, by the junction tubes o, o, o, till at p it 
 runs off in a boiling-hot state. The vapours proceeding downwards in an opposite direc- 
 tion to the cooling stream of water, get condensed into the liquid state, and pass off at q, 
 through a discharge pipe, into the first close receiver r, while the combustible gases flow 
 off through the tube s, which is provided with a stop-cock to regulate the magnitude of 
 their flame under the chest As soon as the distillation is fully set agoing, the stop cock 
 upon the gas-pipe is opened , and after it is finished, it must be shut. The fire should be 
 supplied with fuel at first, but after some time the gas generated keeps up the distilling 
 heat. The charcoal is allowed to cool during 5 or 6 hours, and is then taken out 
 through an aperture in the back of the chest, which corresponds to the opening u, Jig. 
 
522 
 
 PYROHGNOUS ACIDS 
 
 1196., in the brickwork of the furnace. About 60 per cent, of charcoal may be obtained 
 from 100 feet of fir-wood, with a consumption of as much brush-wood for fuel. 
 
 Stoltze has ascertained, by numerous experiments, that one pound of wood yields from 
 6 to 74; ounces of liquid products; but in acetic acid it affords a quantity varying from 2 
 to 5, according to the nature of the wood. Hard timber, which has grown slowly upoL 
 a dry soil, gives the strongest vinegar. White birch and red beech afford per pound 74 
 ounces of wood vinegar, 14; ounce of combustible oil, and 4 ounces of charcoal. One 
 ounce of that vinegar saturates 110 grains of carbonate of potassa. Red pine yieids per 
 pound 64. ounces of vinegar, 2£ ounces of oil, S| ounces of charcoal; but one ounce of' 
 the vinegar saturates only 44 grains of carbonate of potassa, and has therefore only two- 
 fifths of the strength of the vinegar from the birch. An ounce of the vinegar from the 
 white beech, holly oak {Ilex), common ash, and horse chesnut, saturates from. 90 to 100 
 grains of the carbonate. In the same circumstances, an ounce of the vinegar of the 
 alder and white pine saturates from 58 to 60 grains. 
 
 At Cornbrook works, near Manchester, cast-iron cylinders of 6 feet by 3 feet are 
 employed, with square doors, on hinges, placed in the centre of the front of each cylinder. 
 6 tons of wood are carbonized by means of 14; ton of coal. 24 hours are allowed for 
 the process of carbonization. The cylinders are heated by one fire. 
 
 The Risca and Abercam works, both in Monmouthshire, and belonging to one pro- 
 prietor, form conjointly the largest works of the kind in this country. At Risca, cast- 
 iron cylinders, 6 feet by 4 feet, holding about f of a cord of wood each, are employed, 
 as, also, wrought iron chests, with an iron pipe, of 6 inches diameter, passing through 
 to convey the heat to the interior of the chest, each of which is capable of holding 11 
 cord of wood. 
 
 At Abercam, 8 square ovens, with boxes, are used, each oven being capable of con- 
 taining 1 cord of wood. Twenty-four hours is usually allowed for carbonization ; but 
 a charge can be worked off in from twelve to sixteen hours, if required. At Chester 
 works, large cylinders are employed, also a large square oven like that at Risca. The 
 heated cast-iron pipe passing through the interior of the dense mass of wood very much 
 assists its carbonization. At Lougher, near Swansea, and also at Deptford, the following 
 form of carbonizing apparatus is adopted :— a large circular sheet iron vessel is set in 
 brickwork, having an aperture of particular shape and size in the top; within this 
 carbonizer, the sheet iron vessels containing. the wood are placed. These are of such a 
 shape, that 6 of them, each 2 feet wide at one part, and 4 feet deep, form, when put 
 together, a shape corresponding with that of the carbonizing vessel in which they are 
 contained. As there is but one aperture in the carbonizer through which to introduce the 
 six inner vessels containing the wood, a moveable framework is placed at the bottom of 
 the carbonizer, by means of which each of the receptacles for the inner vessels are in turn 
 brought under the aperture in the top of the cylinder, and receive the casing of wood 
 destined for them. The aperture is then closed with a sheet iron lid, and luted in the 
 ordinary manner. 
 
 The liquid products of the distillation of wood may be comprised under the heads" of 
 acid, spirituous, tarry, and oleaginous ; the gaseous products are carbonic acid olefiant 
 gas, and light carburetted hydrogen. The relative proportions of charcoal, and of liquid 
 and gaseous products depend on the nature and quality of the wood employed and the 
 regulation of the temperature. Stoltze is quite right in his statement that the strongest 
 acid is obtained from firm woods, of slow growth, in a dry soil ; then those in moist 
 grounds; and lastly, the weakest from pines and resinous trees, the product from these 
 being much inferior to all the others. 
 
 To effect the carbonization of sawdust, spent bark, and other refuse materials two 
 processes have been recommended ; the one that of Mr. A. P. Halliday, of Manchester 
 whose process is as follows. The raw material is introduced into a hopper, whence it is 
 ted through a pipe by means of a screw revolving in the said pipe to the retort, which 
 has also a screw of about the same diameter as the inside of the retort; a revolvine 
 motion to which being given, the material is passed gradually, in an agitated state, throng? 
 the heated retort At the extreme end of the retort two pipes branch off, one passing 
 downwards and dipping into a vessel or cistern of water into which the carbonized 
 substance falls; the other pipe passes upwards, for the conveyance of the gases given ofl 
 during the destructive distillation of the material, through a main conduit pipe to the 
 condenser, which may be constructed according to any of the approved modes now 
 
 The other process is that patented by Messrs. Solomons and Azulay, which consists in 
 passing super-heated steam into the mass, whereby the heating agent comes into actual 
 sontact with every particle ol the vegetable mass, and effectually carbonizes it. A 
 charcoal well adapted for artificial manures is thus obtained, as well as the ordinary 
 products of tho distillation of wood, which pass off with the steam. It may be urged 
 
' PYROLIGNOUS ACID. S23 
 
 that the quantity of steam required for carbonization in passing off with the products of 
 distillation, dilute them to such a degree as greatly to increase the quantity of fuel 
 requisite for the evaporation of the acetate of lime or other acetate to be formed with it; 
 this, however, is obviated by making the steam and heated vapours from the cylinder 
 traverse a coil of pipe immersed in the solution to be evaporated, or pass through stills 
 containing liquid to be distilled ; all danger of the pipes being clogged up with tarry 
 matter, as in the exit pipes of ordinary cylinders, being prevented by the passing of th« 
 steam. 
 
 Part II. — Separation of the liquid products of distillation from each other. The con- 
 densed liquid products before described form, by subsidence in the tank! or receptacle, 
 two layers, the lower composed of tarry and oily matters, and the upper containing the 
 acid and spirituous parts of the products. If two tanks be provided, the one at a lower 
 level than the other, the acid and spirituous liquor passes by means of an overflow pipe 
 into the lower tank, and thus becomes separated from the tar ; and if the acid liquor, in 
 passing from one tank to the other, be made to traverse a suitable filter, a large portion 
 of the tarry and oily matters held mechanically.in suspension by the acid liquor will be/ 
 returned. 
 
 The next process depends upon the method of working adopted at each particular 
 manufactory, but without individual reference we may class them all under two heads. 
 First, those who distil the pyroxylic spirit direct from the crude acid liquors; and, 
 secondly, those who first neutralize the acid liquors with lime and then distil off the 
 spirit. The first class employ copper stills of a capacity of about 500 gallons ; into 
 these the crude acid liquor is pumped, and heat applied either by means of steam'made 
 to traverse a coil of well-connected copper pipes placed within the still, as at Pitchcombe 
 Works, or the stills are heated externally, as at Cwm Avon Works. In the second case 
 sheet-iron stills or boilers are employed, and the previously neutralized acid liquor run 
 into them, and external heat applied, as at the Melancrythan and other works. In each 
 case about 100 gallons, or ). of the contents of the still, are distilled off and put by as 
 containing all the pyroxylic spirit, the further distillation and purification of which we 
 shall hereafter speak of. In the first case the remaining acid is next distilled off and the 
 residuary tarry liquor run off through a cock placed in the lower part of the still or if 
 distilled acid be not required, the remaining 400 gallons are run off into a suitable tank 
 or reservoir, in which the tar settles to the bottom, and the acid liquor may be drawn 
 off or pumped up for further use. In the second case the remaining 400 gallons of 
 neutralized acid liquor, or acetate of lime solution, is run out of the still, and employed 
 as will be hereafter described. 
 
 The tarry product of the distillation of wood is also distilled in copper or cast-iron 
 stills, and the crude spirit obtained therefrom is added to that obtained from the dis- 
 tillation of the acid liquor above mentioned. 
 
 Part III— Manufacture of pyroxylic spirit or wood naphtha. The crude and weak 
 spirit procured in the distillation before mentioned, is next subjected to repeated 
 distillations in order to obtain the spirit in a more concentrated form, which is then 
 rectified by distillation, first with lime alone, and lastly with a mixture of lime and 
 caustic potash. In some works chalk is employed, and in others lime and bicarbonate 
 of soda. For this purpose copper stills are employed, and steam heat applied either 
 through a coil of lead pipe placed within the still, or to the outside of the still the 
 lower half of which has been previously cased in an iron jacket. The pyroxylic spirit 
 "ius obtained is perfectly colourless, and is to be met with in the market of sd Jrav 
 varying from 0870 to 0-8320. v ' 6 
 
 The quantity js well as quality of the pyroxylic spirit obtained at one works often 
 differs much from that obtained at anothei-works ; the kind of wood has something to 
 do with this, but management of the process much more. The quantity varies from 14- 
 gallons to 2-J or even S gallons per ton of wood employed. 
 
 The following table was constructed by Dr. Ure, with the view of showing the percentage 
 of real spirit in pyroxylic spirit of different specific gravities. The wood tpirit emplovld 
 in the construction of this table was purified by distillation over powdered Quicklime 
 and was^drawn over with the heat of a water bath at such a temperature that its sn" 
 grav. was 0-8136 at a temperature of 60° Fahr. 
 
 it boils at 140° F." The commercial wood spirit varies very much, both as to its spe< 
 grav. and its power of dissolving gum sandarach, shellac, &c, from its ^ntainino'/acetone' 
 anesite, <fec, in variable proportions. The presence of these bodies is to be accounted 
 for by variation in the modes employed for obtaining and purifying the wood spirit 
 as also by the more or less careful management of the several processes it is made to 
 undergo. The question then naturally arises, how are we to judge of the quality of 
 
524 
 
 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Real Spirit 
 
 Over Excise 
 
 Specific 
 
 Seal Spirit 
 
 Over or under 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 proof. 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 proof. 
 
 •8136 
 
 100-00 
 
 
 ■9032 
 
 68-50 
 
 13-10 
 
 •8216 
 
 98-00 
 
 64-10 
 
 ■9060 
 
 67-66 
 
 11-40 
 
 •8256 
 
 9611 
 
 61-10 
 
 •9070 
 
 6666 
 
 9-30 
 
 •8320 
 
 94-34 
 
 5800 
 
 •9116 
 
 6500 
 
 7-10 
 
 •8384 
 
 92-22 
 
 56-50 
 
 •9154 . 
 
 63-30 
 
 4-20 
 
 •8418 
 
 90-90 
 
 62-60 
 
 ■9184 
 
 61-73 
 
 210 
 
 •8470 
 
 89-80 
 
 49-70 
 
 
 
 Underproof. 
 
 •8514 
 
 87-72 
 
 47-40 
 
 •9218 
 
 60-24 
 
 0-60 
 
 ■8564 
 
 8620 
 
 44-60 
 
 •9242 
 
 58-82 
 
 2-50 
 
 ■8596 
 
 84-75 
 
 42-20 
 
 ■9266 
 
 57-73 
 
 400 
 
 •8642 
 
 8333 
 
 89-90 
 
 •9296 
 
 66-18 
 
 7-00 
 
 •8674 
 
 82-00' 
 
 37-10 
 
 •9344 
 
 53-70 
 
 11-00 
 
 •8712 
 
 80-64 
 
 35-00 
 
 •9386 
 
 61-54 
 
 15-30 
 
 ■8742 
 
 79-36 
 
 32-70 
 
 ■9414 
 
 50-00 
 
 17-80 
 
 •8784 
 
 78-13 
 
 80-00 
 
 ■9448 
 
 47-62 
 
 20-80 
 
 ■8820 
 
 77-00 
 
 27-90 
 
 •9484 
 
 4600 
 
 2510 
 
 ■S842 
 
 75-76 
 
 2600 
 
 •9518 
 
 43-48 
 
 28-80 
 
 •8876 
 
 74-63 
 
 24-30 
 
 •9540 
 
 41'66 
 
 31-90 
 
 ■8918 , 
 
 73-53 
 
 22-20 
 
 ■9564 
 
 4000 / 
 38-46 
 
 34-20 
 
 ■8930 
 
 72-46 
 
 20-60 
 
 ■9584 
 
 35-60 
 
 •8950 
 
 7143 
 
 18-30 
 
 ■960C 
 
 37-11 
 
 38-10 
 
 •8984 
 
 70-42 
 
 16-30 
 
 •962C 
 
 35-71 
 
 4060 
 
 •9008 
 
 69-44 
 
 15-30 
 
 
 
 " 
 
 wood spirit ? -will a knowledge of its spec. grav. or of its boiling point guide us in this 
 respect! If a wood spirit be required for burning in a spirit lamp, or for singeing 
 horses, there can be no doubt but that the spirit of the lowest spec. grav. is the best ; . 
 but if the wood spirit be required for the manufacture of varnishes and polishes, 
 especially those containing gum sandarach, then the above criterion will not apply.. For 
 instance, a sample of wood spirit containing 85 per cent, has been far preferred to that 
 of another sample containing 95 per cent. We have invariably found that the wood 
 spirit obtained by liming the crude liquor from the cylinders before distillation does 
 not dissolve, sandarach, whilst that obtained by distilling off the spirituous portion of the 
 crude liquor before liming, is a good solvent of sandarach, the spirit in the first case being 
 of a low spec, grav., and miscible with water, whilst the latter contained less real spirit, 
 and was rendered milky on the addition of water. 
 
 At one set of works upwards of 2f gallons per ton have been obtained on the average 
 working of nearly 2,000 tons of wood; whilst at another a weekly consumption of 80 
 tons of wood has only yielded 160 gallons of pyroxylic spirit ; and at a third, only 42 
 gallons have been obtained from 36 tons of wood._i 
 
 Part IV. — Manufacture of acetate of lime. The commercial acetate of lime is of two 
 qualities, respectively designated grey and brown lime salt ; these are obtained by 
 saturating with lime either the distilled acid before mentioned, or the undistilled acid 
 after pyroxylic spirit has been removed by distillation, and evaporating the clear solution 
 almost to dryness, or by evaporating the solution of acetate of lime as runoff from the stills 
 in the case in which the crude acid has been neutralized with lime previous to the distil- 
 lation of the spirituous product. This saturation either of the crude acid previous to 
 distillation, or the distilled acid, or the undistilled acid, is in either case performed in 
 the same manner. The acid liquor is passed into wooden or iron vessels of convenient 
 capacity, say from 500 to 1000 gallons each, and a quantity of either powdered chalk or 
 of slaked and Bifted lime, previously made into the consistence of cream with water, is 
 added until the blue colour of litmus paper is no onger reddened ; a slight excess of 
 lime is then added, with a view to render the separation of the oily matters more 
 complete. A portion of the tarry matters are carried to the bottom with the impurities 
 of the chalk or lime employed, and part of the oily matters, combined with the lime, 
 floats on the surface, and is removed by skimming. • The solution of acetate of lime, 
 when clear, is ready for the evaporating pans, which are either wooden vessels lined 
 with lead, and finished with coils of wrought iron steam-pipes in connexion with a 
 boiler, or shallow pans of sheet iron, set over a naked fire— the boiling solution is 
 repeatedly skimmed to remove the tarry matter floating on the surface ; and the salt, 
 as fast as formed, is fished out by means of large skimmers, and thrown into wicker 
 baskets suspended over the pans, so that the liquor draining from the salt may not be 
 
" FYROLIGNOUS ACID. 524 
 
 allowed to cool The following practical result was obtained by the use of three sheet 
 iron pans about 18 inches in depth, and capable of containing 450 gallons of acetate of 
 lime liquor ehch. First six days of 24 hours each, 7020 gallons of liquor were evapo- 
 rated, producing "78 cwt, of dry acetate of lime. Second week, 80(30 gallons were 
 evaporated, producing 92 cwt. of dry acetate. Third week, 7000 gallons were evaporated, 
 producing 78 cwt. of dry acetate of lime. Two of the pans contained brown acetate of 
 lime liquor, and the other grey acetate liquor. 
 
 The next part of the process is the drying of the drained acetate of lime. This is 
 usually effected by placing it on the top of the mass of brickwork in which the retorts, or 
 cylinders, or ovens, are set; but as there is seldom room to dry the whole of the salt in 
 this way, many works are furnished with a drying house in addition, and, where the 
 lime is made on the spot, the waste heat from the kiln or furnace is made available for 
 drying the acetate, it being made to traverse the flues beneath the floor of the drying 
 house. As a general rule, however, the drying of the acetate of lime is a part of the 
 processes of this manufacture by no means well executed, requiring as it does more 
 attention than the workmen are usually disposed to give to it. 
 
 Turf forms the best material for fuel, as it does not burn rapidly, and produces a 
 steady and equal temperature. 
 
 Drying of the acetate of lime. When the furnace is thoroughly and equally heated, 
 the flame of the fire is allowed to subside. If wood is employed as fuel, the sliding door 
 should be opened at the commencement in order to allow the moisture to escape. The 
 salt is transferred from the evaporating vessels to the drying plate, and spread out to 
 the depth of 2 inches ; and after the first portion has become somewhat dry, the depth 
 is increased to 4 or 5 inches ; the heat is preserved at the degree already mentioned for 
 24 hours, and during this time the salt is turned several times; subsequently when the 
 mass appears to be becoming dry, the temperature may be increased to 100° (257° F.), 
 -&o as to dry it completely. The mass is dry and properly roasted when it possesses the 
 following characters. It must, before cooling, be brittle, easily crumbled between the 
 fingers, mixed with blackish carbonaceous points or streaks, between which appear 
 pieces of dry salt. A solution of the comminuted salt, in 4 or 6 times its volume of hot 
 water, possesses a yellowish brown colour with a dark tinge, while previously it had a 
 reddish brown colour. When the heat is increased towards the end of the process, as 
 described, care must be. taken to do it gradually, so that no smoke shall rise from the 
 acetate, because it might thus be decomposed. Neither must any spark be permitted 
 to come in contact with the acetate of lime ; because, like sugar of lead, it possesses the 
 property, in these circumstances, of catching fire and burning — by which the whole dry 
 preparation would be completely destroyed. The treatment of the acetate of lime in 
 this manner, by means of gradual drying, as experience has shown, possesses many 
 advantages over the method of drying the salt in an open vessel; because there is no 
 loss of acetic acid, as always occurs by the latter process. The operator has the prepa- 
 ration completely in his power, and with little expense of fuel and time, many hundred- 
 weights of the salt can be prepared at once. This process does not merely extend to 
 the removal of the moisture from the acetate of lime, but a chemical influence is exerted 
 by means of it ; because it is certain that the- substances formed by dry distillation, 
 which have been recently distinguished by Reichenbach, are partly dissipated by the 
 heat, and partly decomposed, the acetate of lime possessing very different properties 
 before and after the process. After the process, the salt does not imbibe water so readily 
 as it did previously. After solution, filtration, and evaporation, a much purer product 
 Is obtained than before, and upon the filter a resinous'matter remains, the constituents 
 of which have not yet been examined. , 
 
 Part V. — Manufacture of Pyro-acetic spirit, or acetons, The usual mode of obtaining 
 pyro-acetic spirit is by the decomposition of the acetates by means of heat.' s For this 
 purpose the acetate is submitted to dry distillation in a retort, great attention being paid 
 to the temperature, which should be kept as low as possible, consistent with. the decom- 
 position of the acetate employed. The distillation should be conducted with a slowly 
 increasing heat, as the quicker the temperature is raised, the larger is ihe Quantity of 
 pyro-acetic spirit destroyed ; carbon remains in the retort, and the empyreumatic oil 
 formed renders the spirit impure. In the case of the metallic acetates, water, acetic 
 acid, and pyro-acetic spirit, pass off in a state of vapour, and are condensed ; carbonic 
 acid and carburetted hydrogen gases are' the incondensable products, whilst the metallic 
 base, mixed with some carbonaceous matter, remains in the retort. The metallic base is 
 usually reduced to the metallic state, and the more difficult this reduction is, the greater 
 is the quantity of pyro-acetic spirit formed. 
 
 Acetates, the bases of which contain carbonic acid at a red heat, produce, when heated 
 in close vessels, the carbonate of the base and acetone. This takes place, for example, 
 with the acetates of potassa, soda, and baryta. Where the oxide cannot retain carbonic 
 acid at a red heat, as in the case of acetates of magnesia, zinc, or manganese, tha 
 
526 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 acetate is accompanied by carbonic acid. If the oxide be easily reducible, as in the acetate* 
 of copper, silver, and mercury, there are given off hydrated acetic acid, carbonic oxide, 
 carbonic acid, water, and acetone, and there is left a mixture of the metal with carbon 
 in a minute state of division. 
 
 In Thomson's Inorganic Chemistry, vol. ii. p. 23, edit. 1881, there is a table of 
 the relative quantity of products obtained from the decomposition of several metallic 
 acetates. The following extract shows the quantity of pyro-acetic spirit obtained. 
 
 Acetate of silver - . rj'00 
 
 do. copper - - . 017 
 
 do. nickel - 020 
 
 do. iron - . . o - 24 
 
 do. lead - - . q-55 
 
 do. zinc - - . o-69 
 
 do. manganese ... . g.g^ 
 
 The acetates of potash, soda, lime, and baryta yield a much larger proportion of pyro- 
 acetic spirit than any of the metallic acetates, and are therefore generally employed for 
 this purpose, more especially the acetate of lime. It would appear that the. acetates of 
 6ilver and of baryta stand at the two extreme points of the list of acetates in respect to 
 the production of pyro-acetic spirit ; the former yielding only a concentrated acetic acid 
 with not a trace »of spirit, whilst the latter yields a liquid product almost entirely 
 spirituous, with scarcely a trace of acid. The acetate of copper also yields but a small 
 proportion of pyro-acetic spirit ; hence its employment, as we shall subsequently notice, 
 in the preparation of aromatic vinegar. 
 
 Dumas submitted to dry distillation 100 parts of acetate of baryta, composed of 
 
 Baryta - ... 66 . 
 
 Acetic acid - - . 37.4 
 
 Water - .... 6 . 6 
 
 100-0 
 
 and capable, therefore, of yielding 21-5 per cent, of pyro-acetic spirit. The result of 
 »everal experiments gave the following products: — 
 
 Carbonate of baryta .... 722 
 
 Charcoal - ... j.2 
 
 Pyro-acetic spirit ..... ig.3 
 
 Water . g.g 
 
 Gas and loss .... -yjj 
 
 1000 
 On the supposition that the presence of the charcoal arose from the decomposition of a 
 part of the pyro-acetic spirit, there would be about two per cent, of spirit to be added to 
 the above, which would give near about the theoretical quantity. Taking the product at 
 IS per cent one cwt. of acetate of baryta should furnish 2£ gallons of pyro-acetic spirit 
 Blot more than 2 gallons is obtained from the ordinary acetate of lime of commerce and 
 the results obtained by operating on some tons of this salt did not give even this amount 
 ot produce, no doubt on account of sufficient attention not having been given to the due 
 regulatioEkof the temperature. The acetate of lime was placed in shallow trays of about 
 2 ft. squafeand 2 inches in depth, and 15 or 16 of these trays placed over each other in 
 an iron cylinder employed for the distillation of wood. The crude spirit is rectified bv 
 successive distillations. over quick lime, when a limpid colourless fluid, spec, grav 0-7921 
 flame * *" Wat6r ' *******' a " d ether ' and burns with a whitish 
 
 or lZ\ I^'iZ A ^ tai J "■ f Jri ?r t ^ r ° f [ e - ad - Ma ™f<"*™ «f the brown acetate of leaa 
 or pyrohgmteof lead. The distilled pyrolignous acid is saturated with litharge in i tub 
 a. d the muddy scmtion ladled out into a large tun to settle, which it speedily does; the 
 solution after settling , is ladled into a pan, (malleable iron), or which may be made of 
 
 ntX if"' ?. ag ^ S ft b, ^ - d ; Th , e SOlution is madc t0 boil in this P»". ™<1 allowed 
 <nf„ !An „ ^T^t lnto , a ^ hemispherical pan, capable of holding about 
 300 or 400 gallons, when it is brought down to about crystallizing strength. When the 
 solution has become dense enough to crystallize, about three times its bulk of water is 
 run in upon it, whilst boiling, the solution being constantly stirred. By this treatment! 
 6 considerable quantity of pyrolignous matters may be skimmed off as fast as they rise 
 to the surface; when they are removed, the evaporation goes on as before. If the solu- 
 tion be still too much coloured, another dose of water must be given. A little practice 
 
PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 527 
 
 won enables us to know where the evaporation should be checked. The ordinary method 
 is, to rinse a ladle (which is used to skim off the tar from the solution) through the 
 liquid, and observe how many drops of solution /all from it before the solution takes a 
 stringy appearance ; if only 10 or 12 fall, then it is strong enough. The liquid is now- 
 ladled out into malleable iron pans, 6 ft. long, by 3 ft. broad, and about 6 inches deep, the 
 sides being bevelled, or sloping outwards, from below upwards, to crystallize. After be- 
 coming sufficiently firm, the sugar of lead is-taken out by inverting the pan on a cloth. 
 The pots used in the above process are heated only at the bottom. 
 
 Manufacture of the while acetate of lead. — This is prepared by dissolving litharge in 
 acetic acid ; the acetic acid is first placed in a vessel, and the litharge added by degrees, 
 well Btirring the mixture until the solution does but slightly redden litmus paper; a 
 quantity of water, equal to about one-half of the acid employed, is then run into the lead 
 solution ; heat is next applied, and the mixture slowly evaporated for about 12 hours, or 
 until it has acquired a density of about 1-500. During evaporation any impurities 
 which rise to the surface are skimmed off, and when the solution has acquired its proper 
 density, it is run off into the crystallizing pans. When the mass of crystals has become 
 sufficiently hard to allow of its removal en masse from the crystallizers, it is drained and 
 placed on wooden racks in the drying house, and when dry, cleaned and broken up into 
 fragments for the market. 
 
 The mother liquor, containing neutral and basic acetates of lead and other metallic salts, 
 may either be treated with vinegar, evaporated, recrystallized, and the residue employed 
 as washings in subsequent operations, or it may be decomposed \y carbonate of soda or 
 lime, and used as carbonate of lead, or dissolved in acetic acid, and the supernatent 
 acetate of soda or lime recovered. 
 
 The -vessels employed in the manufacture of acetate of lead are in most cases made of 
 lead. In Wales the mixing pans are of lead f of an inch thick, 7 ft long by 4| ft. wide, 
 and 1 foot deep. Those pans are set on iron plates over arches, and the fireplaces are 
 outside the building, in order that the acetate may not be darkened by the sulphurous 
 vapours from the coal. The crystallizing pans are of wood lined with thin copper, and 
 are about 4 ft. long by 2' ft. wide, and from 6 to 8 inches deep, sloping inwards at the 
 edges. At Pitchcombe the mixing and crystallizing vessels are both of copper, having a 
 strip of lead soldered down the sides and across the bottom of the vessel to render the 
 copper more electro-negative : there is thus no action on the copper from the acetic acid. 
 Great care is requisite in the drying of the sugar of lead ; the temperature of the drying 
 house should hot exceed 90° Fahr. In Wales the heated air of a stove placed outside the 
 drying house is conveyed through pipes passing round the interior ; at other places steam 
 heat is employed for this purpose, which is much to be preferred on account of its bein" 
 more easily regulated. 
 
 Wo now come to speak of the product of sugar of lead from a given quantity of li- 
 tharge. 112 lbs. of good Newcastle litharge should produce 187 lbs. of sugar of lead by 
 the employment of 127. lbs. of acetic acid of spec. grav. 1-057, but not more than 180 lbs. 
 is obtained in practice. In one set of works in Wales, a ton of Welsh litharge produces^ 
 with the acid obtained from 1 ton of acetate of lime, from 28 to 30 cwt. of sugar of lead • 
 and in another manufactory 1 ton of best Newcastle litharge, with the acid from 1 ton and 
 a. half of acetate of lime, produced 33 cwt. of acetate. 
 
 The following process with metallic lead, recommended first by Berard, is easily ex- 
 ecuted, and is said by Runge to yield a good product with great economy. ' Granulated 
 lead, the tailings inthe white lead manufacture, <fec, are put in several vessels, (say ei°-ht) 
 one above the other, on steps, so that the liquid may be run from one to the other. The 
 upper one is filled with aceti; acid, and after half an. hour, let off into the second after 
 another half hour-onto the third, &c, and so on to the last or eighth vessel. The acid 
 causes the lead to absorb oxygen rapidly from the air, evolving heat, so that when the 
 acid runs off from the lowest, it is thrown on the upper vessel for the second time, it forms 
 a certain quantity of acetate of lead in solution, and after passing through the whole 
 series is so strong that it may be evaporated at once to crystallize. There are two points 
 of importance in this manufacture ; whatever method may be pursued, they are to employ a 
 strong acid, that less time and acid may be lost in concentrating the liquid, and to keep 
 the solution always acid, to prevent the formation of a basic salt. ' 
 
 It may not be amiss to call attention here to a process patented about 10 years since 
 for preparing acetate of lead and other acetates. This process consists in employing the 
 acid in the state of vapour, to act upon the bases, instead of using it in the liquid form 
 A vessel is provided of adequate capacity for the quantity of acetate required, and con- 
 structed of such material as will not be readily destroyed by the acid. The top of this 
 vessel is closed hermetically by a cover fastened down by any convenient means, and in 
 the lower part of the'vessel is placed cither a minutely perforated false bottom, or'a .-oiled 
 tube of several convolutions, minutely perforated to admit vapour to pass through freely. 
 To prevent the loss of acid, there is also placed, at different degrees of elevation, several 
 
528 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 perforated diaphragms, similar to the false bottom just mentioned, on each of -which is 
 placed a layer of litharge, after which the cover of the vessel is to be accurately closed. 
 By means of an ordinary distillatory apparatus, liquid acetic acid (strong or weak, pure 
 or impure) is converted into vapour, which vapour is conducted by means of a pipe into 
 the convoluted perforated pipe before mentioned, or between the real bottom of the 
 vessel and the perforated false bottom ; hence the vapour passing through the numerous 
 perforations of the false bottoms and diaphragms, diffuses itself through every part of 
 the vessel, its acid entering into combination with the base employed, and forming the 
 acetate which falls to the bottom of the vessel, and in its descent meets with the ascend- 
 ing streams of vapour, the acid of which renders it perfectly neutral ; meanwhile the 
 more aqueous parts of the vapour become liberated, and maintaining their temperature 
 ascend, and in their passage through the successive layers of the base are thereby deprived 
 of their remaining acid. The vapour thus reduced to simple steam is allowed to escape 
 through one or more pipes at the top of the vessel ; and as this stream still maintains 
 a boiling temperature, it is conducted through a worm to evaporate the acetate, or the 
 mother-liquor, by its heat. The distillation of the acid is continued until the acetate in 
 the vessel is arrived at the proper degree of concentration for crystallization, which is 
 easily ascertained by examining a small quantity drawn off by a cock at the bottom of 
 the vessel, by which cock the whole contents are discharged when the operation is com- 
 pleted. 
 
 As the operation draws to its close, by nearly all the base having combined with the 
 acid, the vapour issues out of the vessel, charged with a certain portion of acid ; and in 
 order that no loss may be sustained by its escape into the atmosphere, it is conducted into 
 another vessel, prepared like the first mentioned, but charged super-abundantly with the 
 base, to take np every particle of the acid issuing out of the first vessel, until the opera-, , 
 tion in that first vessel was ended. As the temperature of the solution of the acetate can 
 never exceed that of the vapour, the crystalline product is of fine quality. 
 
 Part VIII. — Manufacture of acetic acid. In treating of the manufacture of acetic 
 acid, we shall not enter upon any other processes, than those of the decomposition of the 
 acetates, as effected either by heat or by sulphuric acid. 
 
 Acetic acid obtained by decomposition of the acetates by means of heat. — Aromatic vine- 
 gar. We have already mentioned, whilst speaking of the produce of pyroacetic spirit, 
 that when the acetates are submitted to dry distillation, acetic acid is produced. The fol- 
 lowing is another extract from the table then quoted, showing the quantity, of acetic acid 
 obtained by the decomposition of the metallic acetates : — 
 
 Acetate of silver - ... 107-309 
 
 do. copper - - 84868 
 
 do. nickel - 44 - 781 
 
 do. iron ..... 27'286 
 
 do. lead ..... 3-045 
 
 do. zinc - - 2258 
 
 do. manganese - - - 1-285 
 
 The crystallized acetate of copper is the salt most usually employed for this purpose. 
 20 pounds of the powdered acetate are placed in an earthen retort of the capacity of 
 about two gallons, previously luted and exposed to the action of the fire ; the elongated 
 neck of the retort is connected with a tubulated receiver, and this with a second and 
 third, the last of which is furnished with a Wetter's safety tube, dipping into water. 
 The heat must at first be carefully applied, then gradually increased, and the operation 
 regulated by the development of the gaseous products, which must not be too slow or 
 -oo fast. The receivers must be kept cool. When qn increasing the heat it is found 
 that no vapours are givfen off, the fire must be put out, and the apparatus left to cool. 
 The acid thus obtained has a greenish colour, its sp. gr.is 1-061. From 20 lbs. of acetate 
 of copper rather more than 9J lbs. of rough acid are obtained. The residuum in the retort 
 consists of 6£ lbs. of copper in a metallic state, mixed with a small quantity of charcoal. 
 The crude acid thus obtained is next placed in a glass retort of the capacity of 
 about 1-J- gallons, to which is adapted a tubulated receiver, and the retort is heated by 
 means of a sand-bath. The first portions which come over are very weak, arid the product 
 should be kept separate until it comes over of a density of 1-072; the whole of the 
 remaining product is now collected together, and the distillation continued to dryness. 
 The acid obtained shows a sp. gr. of 1080 to 1-088. The weaker products are redistilled, 
 and the stronger portions mixed with the former. The 9f lbs. of crude acid furnish in 
 this way 6 lbs. of pure acid, sp. gr. 1085, 3 pounds at sp. gr. 1-042, and half a lb. of sp. 
 gr. 1023. The small portion of acetone which comes over with the acid, imparts an 
 agreeable aroma to it, and the addition of camphor and essential oils constitutes the 
 aromatic vinegar of commerce. 
 
PYROLIGNOUS aCID. 629 
 
 Manufacture of acetic acid, by the decomposition of acetate of soda by sulphuric add. 
 Any given quantity of crystallized acetate of soda is placed in a copper still, and a hollow- 
 place having been made in the mass of the crystals, a quantity of strong sulphuric acid, 
 equivalent to 35 or 36 per cent, of the weight of the acetate of soda employed, is then 
 poured in at once ; the crystals forming the sides of the heap in the still are then 
 pushed down into the acid, and the whole stirred with a long broad wooden spatula; 
 the head is then put on and luted, and the connection made with the refrigerator. 
 Nearly 4 cwt. of acetic acid, of sp. gr. 1050, may thus be obtained from 8 cwt. of acetate 
 of soda, which only requires to be passed through a calico filter (of the form described in 
 Mohr and Redwood's Practical Pharmacy, page 203, Jig. 211), on which some animal 
 charcoal has been placed, to fit it for the market. A small quantity of acetic ether is 
 often added to flavour it. 
 
 The still employed shou.d be of stout copper, (the solder used in its construction 
 should be silver solder), having its lower half set in an iron vessel, which either receives 
 the high pressure steam to be used as the heating medium, or contains oil, tallow, or 
 fusible metal, according as either of these substances may be preferred for use. In the 
 former case a cock is placed at the lower part of the casing, to let off the condensed 
 steam from time to time ; and in the latter case the iron jacket is placed over the fire ; 
 the contents of the still receiving sufficient heat from the heated tallow, oil, or metal 
 with which the corjper still is in contact. A safety tube should he attached to permit 
 the rise and escape of the heated oil, <fec, should the temperature be raised too high. 
 
 The- head of the still is of earthenware, and an earthenware 1 , silver, or block tin worm 
 may be employed to condense the acid vapour, according to the supply of water which 
 can be obtained for condensation ; or a series of Woulf's stoneware receivers, of about 
 20 galls, each, one third full of water, may be connected with the head of the still. In 
 this latter case, at the close of an operation, the acid in the first receiver will be found 
 to be stronger than the second, the second than the third, Ac. ; and if the union of the 
 contents of the whole series will not furnish an acid of the strength required, the stronger 
 portions may be drawn off from the first and second receivers, and the weaker portions 
 in the third and fourth receivers may be placed. in the first and second for the next 
 operation. A silver arm to connect the head with the earthenware worm is some- 
 times used, a regular supply of cold water being kept dripping on the metallic arm. 
 The residuum left in the still after the distillation of the acid, is sulphate of 'soda, 
 which should be in the state of an almost dry crystalline powder when the process 
 has been well conducted : this may be dissolved in water, and the solution filtered, 
 evaporated, and crystallized ; or it may be used in the manufacture of acetate of soda. 
 
 Manufacture of glacial acetic acid. — Acetic acid may be obtained in a glacial state by 
 using a dry acetate of soda from which the water of crystallization has been expelled by 
 heat : to this is added about its own weight of strong oil of vitriol, sp. gr. 1-85. The 
 first | of the product should be collected separately, the last | will crystallize. 
 
 Manufacture of acetic acid by the decomposition of acetate of lime by means of sulphuric 
 acid. — Large quantities of this acid are employed' in the manufacture of acetate of lead 
 and other commercial acetates, white lead, and emerald green ; also in the preparation 
 of the inferior class c' pickles, &c. &c. Much of the rough acid is sent from Wales to 
 London, and purified by re-distillation. This rough acid is obtained in Wales and other 
 parts of the country in the following manner: — A cast-iron cylinder, about 4 feet long, 
 and 2 feet wide, closed at one end, is fitted with an iron rod passing through its interior, 
 and furnished with numerous projecting pieces of iron ; which reach almost from the 
 centre rod to the inner side? of the cylinder. The other end of the cylinder is screwed 
 on so as to be readily removed at any time when the cylinder is to be cleaned or 
 repaired. This end is to be divided into 2 parts, one of which, occupying a. space 
 of about f of the whole, is fixed on the upper part, the other -J- is occupied by a moveable 
 door, closing an aperture through which the contents of the cylinder may be removed ; 
 through this upper part one end of the iron rod above mentioned passes, and is attached 
 to an handle, by means of which a rotary motion is communicated to the rod and its 
 appendages, and the contents of the cylinder are kept in continual agitation. This vessel 
 is termed an agitator. It is placed in a horizontal position on a mass of brickwork or 
 masonry, at its upper part is an opening, through which the acetate of lime, sulphuric 
 acid and water, are passed : motion is given by steam or manual power. When the mixture 
 is complete, the door is opened, and the contents of the cylinder discharged into a tub oi 
 other vessel placed underneath the front of the cylinder. The pulpy mass is next trans- 
 ferred to shallow iron trays 2 feet wide, and from 2 to 4 feet in height, and 2 inches 
 deep. These are placed in cast-iron cylinders about 5 feet long and 3 feet wide, and 
 each layer of trays is separated, 'the one from the other, by means of iron rods placed 
 between them ;_the cylinders are exposed to the direct action of the fire, and the acetic 
 acid passes off in the form of vapour which is condensed by passing it through leaden 
 worms immersed in cold water. * 
 
 Vol. II. 35 
 
Water. Acetic acid. 
 
 Sp. gr. 
 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 
 15 produced 234 
 
 1056. 
 
 10 do. 17 
 
 1-073. 
 
 15 do. 18 
 
 1-050. 
 
 530 PYROLIGNOUS ACID. 
 
 This impure acid, -which is contaminated -with sulphurous acid and free sulphur 
 produced by the reaction of the tarry matter of the acetate of lime or the excess of ths 
 sulphuric acid, is then run into leaden vessels, placed in an iron cylinder and submitted 
 to distillation. The liquid product is condensed by passing it through an earthenware 
 worm. The acid in this state is employed in the manufacture of sugar of lead. 18 
 cwt. of brown acetate of lime, with 75 per cent, of sulphuric acid of sp. gr. 1-770, and 
 10 galls, of water, produce about 1550 lbs. of rough acid of sp. gr. 1070. Sometimes 
 a larger, quantity of water is employed. On a small scale the following results wore 
 ihtained : — 
 
 Acetate of lime. Sulphuric acid, 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 1 2 Grey 9 
 
 12 do. 9 
 
 12 Brown 9 
 
 On the large scale, 1$ ton of rough acetic acid, of sp. gr. 1050 should be obtained 
 from one ton of good acetate of lime, and J of a ton of sulphuric acid. Acetate of lime 
 may be so prepared, and the decomposition and rectifying processes so carried on, that 
 the acid obtained is not readily distinguishable from that obtained from acetate of soda. 
 
 At some works copper stills, set over the naked fire, are employed, and the acid is re- 
 distilled in copper strlls, set in a sand-heat. Iron stills of various sizes, -with a flat cover, 
 formed of magnesian limestone, or of a rough burnt clay, or of metallic tin, are also used. 
 Large stills are not desirable, because towards the end of the distillation, decomposition 
 of the acetic acid is readily effected in consequence of the destruction which a portion of 
 the mass in contact with the bottom undergoes, whilst all the acid contained in it is being 
 driven off. The distillation should be begun with a gentle fire, and should be carried on 
 ■without much increasing the heat. • 
 
 PYROLIGNOUS or PYROXYLIC SPIRIT, improperly called naphtha. This is 
 employed, as well as pyroacetic ether, to dissolve the sandarach, shellac, and other 
 resinous substances, which, under the name of gums, are used for stiffening the bodies of 
 hats. I have already described, in the article Pyrolignous Acid, how this spirit is 
 obtained. Berzelius lias found that the crude spirit may be best purified by agitating it 
 with.a fat oil, in order to abstract the empyreumalic oil ; then to decant the spirit, distil 
 it, first with fresh calcined charcoal, and next with chloride of calcium. The pyrolignous 
 spirit thus purified, is colourless, and limpid like alcohol; has an ethereous smell, some- 
 what resembling that of ants. Its taste is hot, and analogous to that of oil of peppermint. 
 Its specific gravity, by my experiments, is 0'824. It readily takes fire, and burns with 
 a blue flame without smoke. It combines with water in any proportion ; a property 
 which distinguishes it from pyroacetic ether and spirit. 
 
 It is not iisy to say what is the real chemical nature of pyroxylic spirit. There is no 
 ultimate analysis of it that can be depended upon. The properties of the spirit examined 
 by MM. Marcet and Macaire differ from those of our spirit, in refusing to combine with 
 water, like alcohol. The article on sale in this country readily unites with water, and in 
 all proportions with alcohol. 
 
 Test for distinguishing acetone from pyrolignous acid. As there are several fluids to 
 be met uuder the name of naphtha, considerable doubt existed as to which of them should 
 be used as "medical naphtha" by the compounder. The only tests relied upon, I believe, 
 for a long time, were miscibility of the naphtha with water without becoming milky, and 
 its not being blackened by a drop or two of concentrated sulphuric or of nitric acid. Any 
 " wood naphtha" met with in commerce, when repeatedly rectified over quick lime, will 
 be found to stand these tests ; and hence, when so rectified, was considered to be the 
 proper naphtha to be used in medicine. 
 
 A question subsequently seems to have arisen as to the dependence to be placed upon 
 these tests, and it was asked, Is it pyroacetic or pyroxylic spirit that should be used? 
 and how are we to distinguish readily between the two ? Accordingly we find this subject 
 fully discussed in the Pharmaceutical Journal so far back as the year 1843, (vol. iii. p. 33.) 
 
 In this article upon naphtha, it is stated that pyroacetic spirit, or acetone, " is the kind 
 of naphtha which Dr. Hastings uses;" and a mode of distinguishing this fluid from 
 pyroxylic spirit, or ordinary wood naphtha, is pointed out, as suggested bv Dr. Ure. It 
 is the way in which nitric acid acts upon these two different substances. This test may 
 be depended upon; but is almost dangerous, as nitric acid of spec. grav. 1-45 acts with 
 explosive violence upon acetone. 
 
 Chloride of calcium affords us a much more ready and certain mode of distinguishing 
 acetone from wood-spirit naphtha, the former having no action upon it, while the latter 
 dissolves and combines with it. It will be found that a drop or two of a saturated solu- 
 tion of chloride of calcium, added to pyroacetic spirit in a test tube, is immiscible with 
 it, and separates after agitation, whilst such a solution is instantly dissolved by the 
 pyroxylic spirit. — Maurice Heanlan. 
 
PYROTECHNY. 531 
 
 It should be ascertained beforehand, that the " naphtha" under examination does not 
 separate into two fluids, or become milky on the addition of water. 
 
 On applying Mr. Scaulan's test, it was found that those specimens which had been most 
 approved of as medicinal agents were pyroxylic spirit. 
 
 PYROMETER, is the name of an instrument for measuring high degrees of heat 
 above the range of the mercurial thermometer. Wedgewood's is the one commonly 
 referred to by writers upon porcelain and metallurgy ; but a better one might be easily 
 contrived. 
 
 PYROPHORUS, is the generic name of any chemical preparation, generally a powder, 
 which inflames spontaneously when exposed to-the air. 
 
 PYROTECHNY See FiHe-works. 
 
 PYROTECHNY FIRES ; Blue, Green, and Red. 
 
 Blue Fire. — Nitre - - 6 parts 
 
 Sulphur - - . 2 ", 
 
 Metallic antimony - . l « Mix. 
 
 Green. — Nitrate of barytes - 62$ parts 
 
 Sulphur - - . 103. " 
 
 Chlorate of potash - - 23J- " 
 
 Charcoal and sulphuret of arsenic of each If " Mix. 
 
 Red Fire. — Pried nitrate of strontia - - 72 parts 
 
 Sulphur - - - 20 " 
 
 Gunpowder - 6 " 
 
 Coal dust - 2 " Mix. 
 
 The following recipes for the preparation of mixtures for coloured fires were found 
 among the posthumous papers of the late Professor Marchand. The materials aro 
 rubbed to a fine powder separately, and then mixed with the hand. 
 
 Red. — 61 p. c. chlorate of potash Dark Violet. — 60 p. c. chlorate of potash 
 
 16 sulphur 16 sulphur 
 
 23 carbonate of strontia 12 carbonate of do. 
 
 12 alum 
 
 Purple-red. — 61 p. c. chlorate of potash Pale Violet. — 54 p. c. chlorate of potash 
 
 16 sulphur H sulphur 
 
 23 chalk 16 carbonate of potash 
 
 Roscrsd. — 61 p. c. chlorate of potash 
 
 16 sulphur Green.— 73 p. c. chlorate of potash 
 
 .23 chloride of calcium — 17 sulphur 
 
 10 boracic acid 
 
 Orange-red. — 52 p. c. chlorate of potash Light Green.— SO p. c. chlorate of potash 
 14 sulphur 16 sulphur 
 
 34 chalk 24 carbonate of baryta 
 
 Yellow— 61 p. c. chlorate of potash For Theatrical Illumination, 
 16 sulphur 
 
 23 dry soda White. — 64 p. c. nitre 
 
 or, BO p. c. nitre ?i sulphur 
 
 16 sulphur 15 gunpowder 
 
 20 soda or, 76 p. c. nitre 
 14 gunpowder 22 6ulphur 
 
 or, 61 p. c. nitre 2 charcoal 
 
 17£ sulphur Red.— 56 p.c. nitrate of strontian 
 20 soda 24 sulphur 
 
 1 J charcoal 20 chlorate of potash 
 
 Light Slue. — 61 p. c. chlorate of potash Green. — 60 p. c. nitrate of baryta 
 
 16 sulphur 22 sulphur 
 
 23 strongly calcined alum 18 chlorate of potash 
 
 Dark Slue. — 60 p. c. chlorate of potash Fink. — 20 p. c. sulphur 
 
 16 sulphur 32 nitre 
 
 12 carbonate of copper 27 chlorate of potash 
 
 12 alum 20 chalk 
 
 1 charcoal 
 
532 PYROXILINE. 
 
 Sine 2T p. c. nitre 
 
 28 chlorate of potash 
 
 15 sulphur 
 
 15 sulphate of potash 
 
 15 ammonia-sulphate of copper. 
 
 The dark blue is rendered still darker by the addition of some sulphate of potash, and 
 ammonia-sulphate of copper. 
 
 PYROXILINE, is a name which I have ventured to give to a substance detected 
 in pyroxilic spirit, by Mr. Scanian, while residing in Dublin, and therefore called by him 
 Eblanln. I am indebted to that ingenious chemist for the following facts. 
 
 If potash water be added to raw wood-spirit (pgrolignous), $s long as it throws down 
 anything, a precipitate is produced, which is pyroxiline, mixed with tarry matter. The 
 precipitate is to be collected on a filter cloth, and submitted to strong pressure between 
 folds of blotting paper ; it is next to be washed with cold alcohol, spec. grav. 0840, in 
 order to free it from any adhering tarry matter ; when the pyroxiline is left nearly pure. 
 If it be dissolved in boiling alcohol, or hot oil of turpentine, it crystallizes regularly on 
 cooling, in right square prisms, of a fine yellow colour, that look opaque to the naked 
 eye, but when examined under the microscope, have the transparency and colour of 
 ferroprussiate of potash. Its turpentine solution affords crystals of a splendid orange-red 
 colour, having the appearance of minute plates, whose form is not discernible by the 
 naked eye, but when examined by the microscope, they are seen to be thin right rectan- 
 gular prisms. The orange : red colour is only the effect of aggregation ; for when ground 
 to powder, these crystals become yellow ; and under the microscope, the difference in 
 colour between the two is very slight. Its smelting point is 318° F. It sublimes at 300° 
 in free air ; heated in a close tube in a bath of mercury, it emits vapour at 400° ; it then 
 begins to decompose and is totally decomposed at 500°. Sulphuric acid decomposes it, 
 producing a beautiful blue colour, which passes into crimson, as the acid attracts water 
 from the atmosphere, and it totally disappears on plentiful dilution with water, leaving 
 carbon of a dirty brown colour. Its alcoholic or turpentine solution imparts a permanent 
 yellow dye to vegetable or animal matter. 
 
 Pyroxiline consists, according to the analysis of Drs. Apjohn and Sregory, of, car- 
 bon, 15-tlb; hydrogen, 5'609; oxygen, 19-116, in 100 parts. 
 
 Q. 
 
 QUARTATION, is the alloying of one part of gold that is to be refined, along with 
 three parts of silver, so that the gold shall constitute one quarter of the whole, and 
 thereby have its particles too far separated to be able to protect the other metals originally 
 associated with it, such as silver, copper, lead, tin, palladium, <fec, from the action of the 
 nitric or sulphuric acid employed in the subsequent parting process. See Refining. 
 
 QUARTZ, has been described in the article Lapidary. 
 
 QUASSIA, is the wood of the root of the Quassia excelsa, a tree which grows in 
 Surinam, the East Indies, &c It affords to water an intensely bitter decoction which is . 
 occasionally used in medicine, and was formerly substituted by some brewers for hops, 
 but is now prohibited under severe penalties. It affords a safe and efficacious fly-water, 
 or poison for flies. 
 
 QUEEN's "WARE. See Pottery. 
 
 QUEEN's YELLOW, is an ancient name of Turbith Mineral, or yellow subsulphate of 
 mercury. 
 
 QUERCITRON, is the bark of the Quercus nigra, or yellow oak, a tree which grows 
 in North America. The colouring principle of this yellow dye-stuff has been called 
 Quercilrin, by its discoverer Chevreul. It forms small pale yellow spangles, like those 
 of Aurum mutivum, has a faint acid reaction, is pretty soluble in alcohol, hardly in ether, 
 and little in water. Solution of alum developes from it, by degrees, a beautiful yellow 
 dye. See Calico-printing: and Yellow Dye. 
 
 QUICKLIME ; see Lime. 
 
 QUICKSILVER; see Mercury. 
 
 On the Detection of Mercury in Cases of Poisoning. By MM. Danger and Flandin.— 
 The only progress of recent date in the toxicological study of mercury, is the dis- 
 covery and use of Smithson's battery. The elements of this little apparatus consist 
 »f a plate of tin lined with a plate of gold in a spiral form. The tin constitutes the 
 electro-negative, and the gold the electro-positive element. When immersed in a solution 
 •onfaining mercury, this pile separates the metallic element, which combines with 
 
QUICKSILVER. 633 
 
 the gold, and imparts a white colour to it; at the conclusion the metal ia volatilized in a 
 small tube, to obtain it in the state of the characteristic fluid globule. 
 
 After a comparative examination of the reactions for discovering mercury in its solu- 
 tions, we are satisfied that the galvanic or galvanoplastic action is the most sensitive. 
 We have been able to detect by means of this test the mercury in a solution containing 
 
 om V Tmnnnr th. ■ . . 
 
 It is not the galvanic apparatus -which Smithson invented that -we employed in our 
 researches ; we only preserved its principle. For toxicological researches, this ingenious 
 instrument would have been subject to inconveniences, which we wished to avoid : we sub- 
 stituted for the apparatus of the English chemist one in which the vessel containing the 
 suspected liquid was inverted in a kind of funnel terminating in a tube drawn out to a 
 bore which was almost capillary, so that the liquid might flow out of it at. the rate of 
 about a drop in 5 seconds ; it was caught in a capsule. The flow could be regulated 
 by varying the inclination of the apparatus. The electro-positive pole was placed 
 in the capillary tube, the negative in the wide part of the funnel ; they were placed 
 nearly in contact, and both, or at least those parts which touch the liquid, should be 
 made of pure gold. When the pile (Bunsen's), which consists of a single pair of plates, 
 is in action, evolution of gas takes place at both poles, and the mercury contained in the 
 solution is deposited upon the electro-positive pole, which it whitens. To be certain 
 that this effect is produced by mercury, the metal need only be volatilized in a reduction- 
 tube. t .... ..,» 
 
 Being certain of detecting the- slightest trace of mercury with this apparatus, we still 
 had to find a suitable process for separating the mercury from the organic matters, and . 
 to isolate it from them as far as possible without loss. The Academy approved of the 
 process of carbonization by sulphuric acid proposed by us, and this process is now gene- 
 rally practised in cases of medico-legal inquiry. We tested its application to the detec- 
 tion of mercury, and succeeded in this without having recourse to distillation, as we at first 
 feared we should be obliged to do. After numerous trials we adopted the following 
 process : — At a temperature of about 212° we liquefy the animal matters by one-third 
 or half of their weight of monohydrated sulphuric acid in the ordinary manner. This 
 liquefaction being completed, which requires only an hour and a half, or at the most 
 two hours, the capsule is taken from the fire and left to cool to a certain extent. Then, 
 after having placed the vessel underneath a chimney with a good draught, to protect the 
 operator against the disengagement of vapours, we throw into the blapk carbonized liquid 
 saturated chloride, of lime in separate pieces, stirring the mixture at the same time with 
 a glass rod. By degrees, as the matter thickens, and becomes white, distilled water is 
 added, which favours the action of the chlorine, and this is continued until the liquid to 
 be separated by filtration appears almost colourless. The quantity of chloride of lime must 
 always be very nearly in relation to the amount of sulphuric acid required for the perfect 
 liquefaction of the animal matters. For 3 ounces of silver, on account of the bile and 
 fats which the liver contains, sometimes 1} ounces of sulphuric acid and \\ ounces of 
 chloride of lime are necessary ; but it is scarcely ever requisite to exceed this proportion. 
 The substance, which is whitened and rendered of a chalky aspect, is well-moistened 
 whilst cold with absolute alcohol, then diluted with distilled water and filtered, and the 
 precipitate washed repeatedly. The liquid, if too abundant, is concentrated by evapo- 
 ration after which it is submitted to the action of a galvanic current, in the apparatus 
 described. It was proved by experiment that the voltaic current favoured the precipita- 
 tion of the mercury on the gold wire, and that in all cases it at least possessed tbs 
 advantage of accelerating an operation, which without the concurrence of this action 
 would perhaps require much time to accomplish. .... 
 
 The metal being obtained on the electro-positive conductor of the pile, it is necessary 
 to wash the gold wire in boiling tether or alcohol to remove all fatty matter, and to dry 
 it before introducing it into the reducing tube. This should be perfectly free from 
 moisture, which might stain the globule of mercury, which is sometimes extremely small, 
 and must be made perceptible to the eye. 
 
 The efficacy and sensitiveness of this process has been ascertained by numerous ex- 
 periments We have required 3 ounces only of the liver of an animal poisoned with 
 corrosive sublimate to obtain an appreciable quantity of mercury from it. In future, 
 therefore it will not be more difficult to detect corrosive sublimate than arsemous acid, 
 or any other metallic compound.— G^nptes Rendas, March 31, p. 951, 1845. 
 
 QUILL. Sec Feathers. , . . . „ „ , .,, 
 
 QTJINIDINE. Pot 100 g ra 'ns of sulphate of quinine in a Florence flask witn 
 
 5 ounces of distilled water ; heat this to brisk ebullition ; the sulphate of quinine ought not 
 to be entirely dissolved ; add 2 ounces more water, and again heat it to ebullition ; which 
 oueht to make a perfectly clear solution. If this be allowed to cool for six hours, and 
 the crystals carefully dried in the open air on blotting paper, they will be found to 
 weigh about 90 gr. ; the mother-liquor may be evaporated and tested with ether, wtaeu 
 
 L 
 
634 
 
 QUININA. 
 
 any cinchonine (oi' /3 quinine) will be easily detected. On examining sulphate of 
 quinine of commerce from several leading manufacturers, I have found all of them give, 
 ■within a grain or two, the same result, and, in each, indications of f3 quinine, though 
 to an unimportant extent. 
 
 The above quantity of water ("7 ounces) readily dissolves 800 grs. of sulphate of 
 P quinine ; and if 100 grs., of this salt are dissolved in 1 ounces of water, the crystals dried 
 as above weigh only 54 grs., thus leaving 46 grs. in solution, instead of about 10 gr.— • 
 Mr. JS. Howard. 
 
 QUININA. This medicine is now prepared in such quantities as to constitute a 
 chemical manufacture. Quinina and cinchonina are two vegetable alkalis, which exist 
 in Peruvian bark or cinchona ; the pale or grey bark contains most cinchonina, and 
 the yellow bark most quinina. The methods of extracting these bases are very various. 
 In general, water does not take them out completely, because it transforms the neutral 
 salts in the barks into more soluble acidulous salts, and into less soluble sub-salts. To 
 exhaust the bark completely, one or other of the following solvents is employed : — 
 
 1. Alcohol. An»extract by this menstruum is to be treated with very dilute 
 warm muriatic acid, in order to dissolve every thing thus soluble ; the acid liquor is to 
 be saturated with magnesia, by boiling it with an excess of this earth ; the precipitate 
 is to be dried, filtered, and then exhausted by boiling-hot alcohol. 
 
 2. Dilute acids. Boil the bark, coarsely pounded, with eight times its weight of 
 water containing 5 per cent, of the weight of the bark^of sulphuric acid. This treat- 
 ment is to be repeated with a fresh quantity of dilute acid. The whole liquors must 
 be filtered, the residuum strained, and the solution mixed with quicklime, equal to one 
 fourth of the bark employed. This mixture, after having been well stirred, is to be 
 strained, whenever it acquires an alkaline reaction, that is, tinges reddened litmus paper 
 blue, or turmeric brown. The calcareous mass is to be now washed with a little 
 water, and dried, and then boiled thrice with spirit of wine of sp. grav. 0835. This 
 solution being filtered, is to be mixed with a little water, and distilled. The bases 
 cinchonina and quinina remain under the form of a brown viscid mass, and must be 
 purified by subsequent crystallization, affer being converted into sulphates. 
 
 8. An alkali, and then an acid. — The object of this process is, to retain the 
 vegetable alkalis in the bark, while with the alkaline water we dissolve out the acids, 
 the colouring matters, the extractive, the gum, &c Boil for an hour one pound of 
 the bark with six pounds of water, adding by degrees a little solution of potash, so 
 that the liquor may have still an alkaline taste when the boiling is over. Allow it to cool, 
 filter, wash the residuum with a little water, and squeeze it.' Diffuse it next in tepid 
 water, to which add by degrees a little muriatic acid, till after a prolonged digestion 
 the mixture shall perceptibly redden litmus paper. Filter the liquor, and boil it with 
 magnesia. The precipitate being washed and dried, is to be treated with hot alcohol, 
 which dissolves the quinina and cinchonina. 
 
 Obtained by any of the above methods, the quinina and cinchonina are more or less 
 coloured, and may be blanched by dissolving them in dilute muriatic acid, and treating 
 the solution with animal charcoal. 
 
 There are several methods of separating these two vegetable alkalis. 
 
 1. When their solution in spirit of wine is evaporated by heat to a certain point, the 
 greater part of the cinchonina crystallizes on cooling while the quinina remains dissolved. 
 
 2. Digestion in ether dissolves the quinina, and leaves the cinchonina. 
 
 3. We may supersaturate slightly the two bases with sulphuric acid. Now as the 
 supersulphate of quinina is sparingly soluble, the liquor need only to be evaporated to a 
 proper point to crystallize out that salt, while the supersulphate of cinchonina continues 
 in solution with very little of the other salt. Even this may be separated by pre- 
 cipitating the bases, and treating them, as above prescribed, with alcohol or ether. 
 
 One pound of bark rarely yields more than 2 drams of the bases. One ponnd of 
 red bark afforded, to Pelletier and Caventou, 14 grains of cinchonina, and 107 grains of 
 quinina. 
 
 Quinina is composed of 15-16 carbon, 1-52 hydrogen, 811 azote, and 861 oxygen. 
 
 The salts of quinina are distinguished by their strong taste of Peruvian bark, and ii 
 crystallized, by their pearly lustre. Most of them are soluble in water, and some also 
 in ether and alcohol. The soluble salts are precipitated by the oxalic, gallic, and tartaric 
 acids, and by the salts of these acids. Infusion of nutgalls also precipitates them. 
 
 The sulphate of quinina is the only object of manufacturing operations. Upon the 
 brownish viscid mass obtained in any of the above processes for obtaining quinina, pour 
 very dilute sulphuric acid in sufficient quantity to produce saturation. The solution 
 must be then treated with animal charcoal, filtered, evaporated, allowed to cool, when it 
 deposits crystals, 1000 parts of bark afford, upon an average, 12 parts of sulphate. 
 The sulphate of cinchonina, which is formed at the same time, remains dissolved in the 
 mother waters. . 
 
QUININE. 53fi 
 
 The neutral sulphate of quinina occurs in small transparent right prismatic needles 
 By spontaneous evaporation of their solution, larger crystals may be procured. They 
 contain 24| per cent, of water ; and, therefore, melt -when exposed to heat. They dis- 
 solve in 11 parts of water at ordinary temperatures ; are much more soluble in hot spirit 
 of wine, somewhat dilute, than in cold; and are nearly insoluble in anhydrous alcohol. 
 If they be well dried, they possess the property of becoming luminous when heated a little 
 above the boiling point of water, especially when they are rubbed. The sulphate is, 
 in this case, charged with vitreous electricity. This is the sub-sulphate of some 
 chemists. 
 
 There is a sub-sulphate, but it is applied to no use. The effloresced sulphate, called 
 by some bisulphate, is preferred for medical practice. The extensive sale and high 
 price of sulphate of quinina, have given rise to many modes of adulteration. It has 
 been mixed with boracic acid, margaric acid, sugar, sugar of manna, gypsum, <fcc. By 
 incinerating a little of the salt upon a slip of platina, the boracic acid and gypsum re- 
 main while the quinine is dissipated; sugar and margaric acid exhale their peculiar 
 smoke and smell ; or they may be dissolved out by a few drops of water. Cincho- 
 nina may be detected by adding ammonia to the solution, and treating the precipitate 
 with ether, which leaves that vegeto-alkali. 
 
 Sulphate of Quinine tested. — A solution of sulphate of quinine being mixed with 
 chlorine water, and then with caustic ammonia, produces a beautiful emerald-green 
 colour. _ If an excess of concentrated solution of the ferrocyaside of potassium be 
 added instead of ammonia, a dark-red colour is instantly produced, which after some 
 hours passes into green, especially when exposed to light. This reaction is charac- 
 teristic of quinine. If caustic potash is used instead of the ammonia, the solution ac- 
 quires a sulphur-yellow colour. These reactions do not take place with cinchonine. 
 
 Determination of the quantity of water. — 2'5 grammes of sulphate taken from a bottle 
 the contents of which were thoroughly mixed, were dried in a closet heated by boiling 
 water. The loss was 039 gr., answering to 15-6 per cent, of water., or to 1 equiva- 
 lents and a half. This quantity of water is that which is usually found in the half 
 effloresced sulphate of commerce. 
 
 This sulphate does not redden on the addition of concentrated sulphuric acid, and does 
 not contain salicine. 
 
 When concentrated sulphuric acid is added, it assumes a very pale greenish yellow 
 Colour, which might be supposed to indicate the presence of a small quantity of phlo- ' 
 ridzine. But as it does not undergo the least coloration when exposed under a receiver 
 to the vapour of liquid ammonia, it is evident that that substance is not present. 
 
 This sulphate is very slightly soluble in cold spirit, containing 90 per cent of alcohol; 
 but it dissolves completely and very rapidly on the application of moderate heat. This expe- 
 riment shows that it contains neither gum,fecula, sulphate of lime, sugar of milk, nor even 
 sugar. 
 
 This sulphate is completely soluble with heat in water acidulated with sulphuric acid ; 
 it therefore contaii..! neither fatty acid nor sub-resin. 
 
 Test by Baryta. — In order to ascertain if the sulphate of quinine contains sugar, 
 salicine, phloridzine, mannite, <fec and to affect the separation of one from the other of these 
 substance a, the addition of baryta water to the dissolved sulphate has been recommended ; 
 but whether we operate thus, or triturate the pulverized sulphate with an excess of 
 baryta-water during some length of time, we can only succeed in producing a sub-sul- 
 phate of quinine, sensibly soluble in cold water, and partaking, in common with quinine 
 itself, of the property of becoming insoluble on the application of heat. To detect the 
 presence of sulphate of cinchonine 25 grammes of sul phate of quinine, taken from a per- 
 fect mixture of the sulphate contained in a bottle of 30 grammes, were introduced into a 
 bottle with 15 grammes of liquid ammonia. After having thoroughly agitated the 
 mixture, it was allowed to stand for 24 hours, in order to be certain of the entire de- 
 composition of the sulphate. It was then heated ifl a water bath, so as to almost 
 entirely volatilize the excess of ammonia ; then left to cool, and 30 grammes of pure ether 
 added. By agitation, the quinine rapidly and entirely dissolved, so that two superposed 
 transparent liquids were in the bottle, — namely, the water containing the sulphate of 
 ammonia and the ether containing the quinine. This experiment, which is very accurate, 
 proved to us that the sulphate of quinine submitted to our examination did not contain 
 sulphate of cinchonine. 
 
 Adulteration of Sulphate of Quinine. — The high price of the genuine Bolivian 
 Cinchona Calisaya, through the monopoly of its export, has given occasion to imports 
 from other districts of Cinchonas, the quality of which widely differs from that of the 
 Calisaya, inasmuch as they contain principally quinidine. The lower prices of these 
 barks, regardless of their different constituents, have brought them quickly into use in 
 many manufactories of quinine, whereby r. large quantity of quinine containing quini- 
 dine has got into the market, causing an undue depreciation in the price of quinine. 
 
536 QUININE. 
 
 The existence of this third cinchona-alkaloid is now established beyond a doubt by nl 
 timate analysis, by the peculiarity of its salts, and by important distinctive tests ; and 
 there can be no further question that quinidihe must, equally with cinchonine be 
 distinguished from quinine. The external characters of sulphate of .quinidine differ 
 from those of sulphate of quinine : it. has a greater specific gravity, and less flocculent 
 crystallization. In dry -warm air it parts with its water of crystallization without 
 deliquescing or losing its crystallized aspect ; lastly, it is far more soluble than sulphatt 
 of quinine in cold water and in alcohol. 
 
 One of the distinctive properties of the three alkaloids in question — viz. their 
 behaviour with ether — places in our hands a ready means of detecting the mixture of 
 cinchonine and quinidine with quinine. ' Schweitzer (Lond. Med. Gazette, vol. xxi. 
 p. 175.) has already employed ether for the detection of cinchonine with complete 
 success; and his process has with justice been subsequently quoted in most manuals, as 
 it answers its purpose completely. Cinchonine is known to be entirely insoluble in ether 
 whatever may be the quantity of ether employed. The solubility of quinidine in ether! 
 as compared with that of quinine, is but slight; ten grains of pure sulphate of quinine 
 dissolve in 60 drops of ether, and 20 drops of spirit of ammonia ; while 1 gr/ of sulphate 
 of quinidine is soluble in the same quantity of fluid ; and in proportion, quinine con- 
 taining quinidine will always be less soluble than pure sulphate of quinine. 
 
 Guided by this fact, I can recommend the following simple and very convenient 
 process for the detection of quinidine and cinchonine : — 
 
 10 grains of the salt to be examined is to be put into a strong test-tube, furnished 
 with a tight-fitting cork; to this are to be added 10 di;ops of diluted sulphuric &cid 
 (1 acid with 5 water), with 15 drops of water, and a gentle heat applied to accelerate 
 the solution. This having been effected, and the solution entirely cooled, 60 drops of 
 officinal sulphuric ether with 20 drops of spirits of ammonia must be added, and the 
 whole well shaken, while the top is closed by the thumb. The tube is then to be 
 closely stopped, and shaken gently from time to time, so that the bubbles of air may 
 more readily enter the layer of ether. ' 
 
 If the salt examined be free from cinchonine and quinidine, or contain the latter in 
 bo greater proportion than 10 per cent., it .will be completely dissolved; while on the 
 turface, when contact of the two layers of clear fluid takes place, the mechanical 
 impurities only will be separated, (in which respect the various sorts of commercial 
 • quinine differ). After some time longer the layer of ether becomes hard and gelatinous, 
 after which no further observation is possible. . 
 
 From the above statement respecting the solubility of quinidine in ether, it appears 
 that the 10 grains of the salt to be examined may contain 1 grain of quinidine, and still 
 a complete solution with ether and ammonia may follow; but in this case the quinidine 
 will shortly begin to crystallize in a layer of ether. The last trace of quinidine may be 
 yet more definitively detected by employing, instead of the ordinary ether, some ether 
 previously saturated with quinidine, by which means all of the quinidine contained in 
 the quinine must remain undissolved. It is particularly requisite in performing this 
 last experiment to observe, after the shaking, whether all has dissolved ; for, owing to 
 the great tendency of quinidine to crystallization, it may become again separated in a 
 crystalline form, and be a source of error. 
 
 If more than J^-th of quinidine or cinchonine be present, there will be found an 
 insoluble precipitate at the limits of, the two layer's of fluids. If this be quinidine it 
 will be dissolved aa the addition of proportionately more ether, while cinchonine will be 
 unaffected. 
 
 It is expressly to be remarked, that the necessity for testing sulphate of quinine in 
 search of other fraudulent adulterations is not superseded by the above described 
 process. 
 
 We have particularly to determine upon the absence of inorganic substances which 
 may bo effected by subjecting to*red heat on a platinum dish, or simply by solution in 
 alcohol. ■ l j j 
 
 Gypsum, chalk, magnesia, &c, will be left undissolved. Boracic acid will be dissolved 
 by alcohol, but its green flame will indicate its presence in the alcoholic solution when 
 ignited. 
 
 The absence of organic substances, such as salicine, sugar, stearic acid, Ac may be 
 inferred from the formation of a colourless solution with pure concentrated cold sulphu- 
 ric acid : it is as well to leave the Bulphuric acid tc act for some hours 
 
 The presence of sal-ammoniac may be detected by the addition of caustic potash to 
 the suspected salt, when, if present, it will be known by the diffusion of the ammoniacal 
 odour. 
 
 On the preparation of Sulphate of Quinine for Hospitals, by Mr. Edward Herrina — 
 'This is simply the known article of sulphate of quinine crystallized, but not so white 
 in point of colour as the usual article of commerce. 
 
RAILWAY TRAIN BREAK. 537 
 
 " You arc! aware that the whiter salt is brought to its snow white hue by the agency of 
 animal charcoal, the action of sulphuric acid therefore on the lime and lime salts of the 
 charcoal, forming sulphate of lime, is likely to be present in the white kind, unless very 
 carefully prepared. This hospital sulphate runs no chance of such impurities, as 'the 
 published process, when patented, will show. 
 
 " The price at which it is introduced is perhaps of no moment to you, but it may be 
 interesting to you to know that it will cost consumers about 20 per cent, less than the 
 white kind. Independently, therefore, of its purity, I expect this great saving will not 
 be the least of its recommendations. 
 
 " The bark is boiled in a solution of caustic soda. This extracts the colouring matter 
 and gum of the bark: it is pressed, washed with cold water, arid again boiled with caus- 
 tic potash — again pressed, washed, and again pressed. The bark is' now free of all 
 colouring, and hence obviating the use of animal charcoal, unless the sulphate is required 
 to be quite white — in which case I use pure animal charcoal. 
 
 " The pressed bark is now boiled in acid and water, and this for the first time dissolves 
 the quina. This is precipitated by soda, and thus the pure quina is formed. On 
 treating with acid, sulph., the hospital sulphate of quinine crystallizes at once. You 
 now therefore see by this sketch that no impurity can exist, and" the action of the caustic 
 soda on the bark sufficiently bleaches the quina without the aid of charcoal. The 
 treatment of the soda liquor is rather a troublesome operation, but all of which will ap- 
 pear in the patent." — Extract of a letter. 
 
 I have found Mr. Herring's hospital sulphate of quinine to be a good article, contain- 
 ing within a few per, cents, as much base as the whitest in the market. 
 
 QUINTESSENCE. The alchemists understood by this term, now no longer in 
 scientific use, the solution in alcohol of the principles which this menstruum can extract 
 from aromatic plants or flowers, by digestion, during some days, in the sun, a stove, or 
 upon a sand-bath slightly warmed. A quintessence, therefore, corresponds to the alco- 
 holic tincture or essence (not essential oil) of the present day. See Peefumexy. 
 
 E. 
 
 RAILWAY TRAIN BREAK. Patent break for railway trains, designed to 
 obviate the serious defects of the common railway break. The first advantage which 
 it presents is an improvement as to the permanent way, which is effected by the use of 
 the long shoe, by having 18 inches of clearing surface upon the rails; it will slide 
 over the soft and bad places hitherto made worse by the application of the ordinary break, 
 the wheels having only about one inch of surface. The ends of the rails will not be 
 jumped up, or flattened by the wheels coming in contact with them, which is now 
 the case, asthe wheels, resting upon the shoe, will, in fact, press such irregularities 
 down. 
 
 The second advantage is that in the locomotive department, the wheels' tires are always 
 preserved perfectly circular, and the shoe, by bearing up the wheel when the break is 
 appiit-J, prevents the flat places being formed, and also torsion upon the axles. The 
 wheels, whether of wood or iron, are saved from being strained, and the tires, rivets, bolts, 
 <fec. are not liable to get loose, an evil which is caused by their becoming heated." The 
 carriage frame is also saved from being racked and twisted, as the patent bi'eak is 
 suspended from the axle only. This will cause a great saving in the repair of break 
 carriages. By the adoption of this break a power is gained, when applied to 2 wheels 
 only, fully equal to the usual breaks applied to 6, a feature of no slight importance in 
 cases of danger. This power in retarding a train is also always the same, which is not 
 the case with the common break. The different weights with which the carriages are 
 loaded are continually altering the position of the blocks, which varies the number of 
 turns of the screw necessary to apply the ordinary break ; while in wet, greasy weather, 
 it is almost impossible to skid the wheels.' The patent break can be applied in less 
 time and with 2 or 3 turns only of the screw, whereas 6 or 7 turns are required with 
 that hitherto in use. It is also free from the usual unpleasant noise, smell, and sensation 
 from friction. 
 
 Lastly, considerable saving is effected both in the amount of stock required and in the 
 wear and tear of railway apparatus. — Montgomery's patent. 
 
 The necessity for the introduction of an improved railway break is universally admitted 
 by all engineers and practical men. The breaks in common use are very injurious, 
 both with regard to the durability of the wheels and rails. Timber blocks of poplal 
 
538 RAZORB. 
 
 wood are made to bear hard upon the peripheries of the Wheels, so as to stop theil 
 revolution. The result is the grinding of many flat places on the tire of the wheels and 
 the abrasion of the rails, occasioning frequent renewal. 
 
 RAISINS, are grapes allowed to ripen and dry upon the Tine. The best come 
 from the south of Europe, as from Roquevaire in Provence, Calabria, Spain and Por- 
 tugal. Fine raisins are also imported from Smyrna, Damascus, and Egypt. Sweet 
 fleshy grapes are selected for maturing into raisins, and such as grow upon the sunny' 
 Blopes of hills sheltered from the north winds. The bunches are pruned, and the vine 
 is stripped of its leaves, when the fruit has become ripe ; the sun then beaming full 
 upon the grapes completes their saccharification, and expels the superfluous water. The 
 raisins are plucked, cleansed, and dipped for a few seconds in a boiling lye of wood ashes 
 and quicklime, at 12 or 13 degrees of Beaume^s areometer. The wrinkled fruit is lastly 
 drained, dried and exposed in the sun upon hurdles of basket-work during 14 or 15 days. 
 
 The finest raisins are those of the sun, so called ; being the plumpest bunches, which 
 are left to ripen fully upon the vine, after their stalks have been half cut through. 
 
 The amount of raisins imported fur home consumption was in the year 1850, 
 218,982 cwts.; in r851, 208,801 cwts. ; duty received, 1850, 172,260£; 1851, 164,4012. 
 
 RAM HYDRAULIC. Originally invented by Montgolfier, in France, and 
 patented by him in 1797. 
 
 This machine, which is self-acting, is composed of an air vessel and 3 valves, 2 for the 
 water and 1 for keeping up the supply of air. Upon pressing down the valve in the 
 conducting tube, which opens downwards, the water escapes from it, until this momentum 
 is sufficient to overcome the weight, when ■ the valve immediately rises and closes the 
 aperture. The water, having then no other outlet than- the inner valve, rushes through 
 it by its general force, compressing the air in the air vessel until equilibrium take3 
 place, when the air reacts by its expansive force, closing the inner valve, which retains 
 the water above it, and driving it up the ascending tube. By this reaction the water is 
 forced back along the conducting pipe, producing a partial vacuum beneath the outer 
 valve, which immediately falls by its own weight. The water thus escapes until it has 
 acquired sufficient force to close this, when the 'action proceeds as before. It is best 
 adapted for raising moderate quantities of water, as for household or farming pur- 
 poses. 
 
 RAPE-SEED, imported for home consumption in " 1850, 107,029 qrs. ; in 1851, 
 82,394 qrs. See Oils, unctuous. 
 
 RASP, MECHANICAL, is the namo given by. the French to an important ma- 
 chine much used for mashing beet-roots. See Sugar. 
 
 RASPS AND FILES. File-making is a manufacture which is still in a great 
 measure confined to Sheffield. It is remarkable that hitherto no machine has been con- 
 structed capable of producing files which rival those cut by the human hand. Machine- 
 made files have not the "bite" which hand-cut files have : this is accounted for by the 
 peculiar facilities of the human wrist to accommodate itself to the particular angle 
 suitable to produce the proper " cut" " Small files are made out of the best, cast steel; 
 those of a larger size from ordinary steel ; flat files are forged on an ordinary study. 
 Other forms on bolsters, with the indentature corresponding to the shape required being 
 thereon impressed, a chisel wider than the blank to be cut is used as the only instrument 
 to form the teeth : it is moved by the hand with the greatest nicety. After cutting and 
 previous to hardening, the file is immersed in some adhesive substance, such as ale- 
 grounds, in which salt has been dissolved ; this protects the teeth from the direct action 
 of the fire; it is then immersed perpendicularly in water; cleansed by finishing. 
 
 RATAFIA, is the generic name, in France, of liqueurs compounded witb alcohol, 
 sugar, and the odoriferous or'flavouring principles of vegetables. Bruised cherries with 
 their stones are infused in spirit of wine to make the ratafia of Grenoble de Teyssere. 
 The liquor being boiled and filtered, is flavoured, when cold, with spirit of noyeau, made 
 by distilling water off the bruised bitter kernels of apricots, and mixing it with alcohol. 
 Syrup of bay laurel and galango are also added. See Liqueurs. 
 
 RAZORS. 151. Elliot, J. Townhead Street, Slieffield — Manufacturer. Pattern 
 razors manufactured of the best steel, exhibited for temper, design aud workmanship. 
 
 Frame-back razor, ground exceedingly thin and cannot require to be again ground, 
 thus retaining a fine and durable edge, and increasing greatly the ease of shaving. The 
 gold, silver, steel, german-silver or brass backs, form an elegant contrast to the blade, 
 and enhance the beauty of appearance, as well as afford more opportunity for originality 
 of design and skill in execution. 
 
 Two workmen are always engaged in razor-making. The rod of steel of which they 
 are made is about half an inch in breadth, and of sufficient thickness to form the back. 
 The. stake upon which they are forged is rounded on both sides of the tops, which is 
 instrumental in thinning the edge, and much facilitates the operation of grinding. The 
 Blades are then hardened and tempered in the ordinary way, with the exception that 
 
RED LIQUOR. 539 
 
 they are placed on their hack on an iron plate, and the moment they assume a straw 
 colour of a deep shade they are removed. 
 
 The grinding follows, on a stone revolving in water ; then glazing on a wooden disc. 
 The fine polish is given by a wooden wheel, having its circumference covered with buff 
 leather, which is covered with crocus. The ornamentation of the blade by etching witb 
 acid and gilding, if such is required, is the last process. 
 
 REALGAR, Red Orpiment. {Arsenic rouge sulphurs, Fr. ; Hollies schwefelarsenik 
 Germ.) This ore occurs in primitive mountains, associated sometimes with nativr 
 arsenic under the form ot veins, efflorescences, very rarely crystalline; as also in volcanic 
 districts ; for example, at Solfaterra near'Naples ; or sublimed in the shape of stalactites, 
 in the rents and craters of Etna, Vesuvius, and other volcanoes. Its spec. grav. varies, 
 from 38 to 3'6. It has a fine scarlet colour in mass, but orange red in powder, whereby 
 it is distinguishable from cinnabar. It is soft, sectile, readily scratched by the nail, 
 its fracture is vitreous and conchoidal. It volatilizes easily before the blowpipe, emitting 
 the garlic smell of arsenic, along with that of burning sulphur. It consists of arsenie 70, 
 sulphur 30 in 100 parts. It is employed sometimes as a pigment. Factitious orpiment 
 is made by distilling in an earthen retort a mixture of sulphur and arsenic, of orpiment 
 and sulphur, or of arsenious acid, sulphur and charcoal. It has not the rich colour of 
 the native pigment, and is much more poisonous ; since, like factitious orpiment, it always 
 contains more or less arsenious acid. 
 
 RECTIFICATION, is a second distillation of alcoholic liquors, to free them from 
 whatever impurities may have passed over in the first. 
 
 RED LIQUOR, is a crude acetate of alumina, employed in calico-printing, and pre- 
 pared from pyrolignous acid ; which see, and Calico Printing. 
 
 At first sight it would appear that alumina is the intermediate fixing agent. The 
 pyrolignite of alumina, by its easy decomposition into acetic acid and alumina, would be 
 the one preferred; but practice has shown that a sulpho-acetate of alumina gives the 
 best results, and which is composed 'as follows : — 
 
 A1.0 \ + S ° 3 ' 
 
 AU ° 3 \ + 2 C 4 H 3 0„ 
 
 and prepared by mixing together 
 463 lbs. of ammoniacal alum. 
 
 379 lbs. of acetate of lead, or 315 lbs. of pyrolignite of lead. 
 1132 lbs. of water. - 
 or, 
 
 883 lbs. of sulphate of alumina. 
 
 879 lbs. of acetate of lead, or 315 lbs. of pyrolignite of lead. 
 1132 lbs. of water, 
 or, 
 
 453 lbs. of alum, and a quantity of solution of pyrolignite of lime, amounting ta 
 158 lbs. 
 or, 
 
 3S3 lbs. of sulphate of alumina, with the same amount of pyrolignite of lime. 
 
 These substances are well stirred together for several hours, complete double decom- 
 position ensues, sulphate of lead is deposited, and sulpho-acetate of alumina remains in 
 solution with one equivalent of sulphate of ammonia, proceeding from the ammoniacal 
 alum employed, as only two equivalents of sulphuric acid are removed from the four 
 which alum contains. 
 
 But as sulphate of ammonia is of no use in the process of mordanting cjotb, and as it 
 may be considered as increasing the price of the articles to the manufacturer, a very 
 intelligent firm had the good idea of replacing ammoniacal alum by sulphate of 
 alumina, thus not only rendering the liquor cheaper, but their liquor marks the 
 same strength as that of other manufacturers, — namely, sp. gr. 1085, or 17 Twaddle. 
 The red mordant D of this firm contains a larger amount of useful agents under the 
 same bulk of fluid. 
 
 The following analyses clearly show this point : (see next page) — 
 
 From these results it is easy to perceive that the composition of red liquors varies a 
 great deal in Manchester, and that it is of importance to our extensive calico-printino- 
 firms to inquire more than they at present do into the composition of their red mor- 
 dants. By doing so we have no doubt they will arrive at two ends, — viz., account better 
 than they do for the superiority of some prints over others, and discover why certain 
 persons always believe the peculiar red mordant they employ the best, and if results do 
 not come up, attribute failures to the madder, <fec. 
 
 I may mention here a fraud or two which has been discovered in the pyrolignite of 
 iron, or black liquor, employed by calico printers and dyers for obtaining black, grey, 
 
540 
 
 REED. 
 
 Composition of Fo'wr Mordante per Gallon* 
 
 Substances. 
 
 Formula. 
 
 ALi 03 SOa QO. Ha Oa + NH3 
 60s HO. 
 
 Formn'n, 
 
 AL1O3QSO3 Ci 
 
 H303 + NH3B03 
 
 HO. 
 
 Formula. 
 
 AL2 O3 + SOs QO. 
 HaOa. 
 
 Alumina ... 
 Sulphuric acid 
 Acetic ncid - 
 Ammonia and water 
 
 Mordant A. 
 
 Mordant B. 
 
 Mordant C. 
 
 Mordant D. 
 
 grains. 
 1680-0 
 1642-5 
 836a-8 
 ■614-1 
 
 ox. grs. 
 8 18 
 6 20 
 1 801 
 
 1 536 
 
 ' 'grains. 
 1830-0 
 
 2300-0 
 
 3510-0 
 •910-0 
 
 ox. grs. 
 4 19 
 6 - 118 
 8 10 
 2 35 
 
 grains. 
 1539-0 
 3011-0 
 1481-1 
 •668-1 
 
 ox. grs. 
 2 365 
 6 395 
 2 406 
 1 215 
 
 grains. 
 51 64-1 
 1661-6 
 3619-2 
 
 ox. grs. 
 4 416 
 3 323 
 
 8 n» 
 
 maroon, chocolate, <fec. It is but just to state, that this fraud is mainly owing, to the 
 dyers and calico printers themselves, who require articles at a lower price than they 
 can be produced at. 
 
 The products added into some black liquors are muriate or sulphate of iron, ic 
 proportions varying from 10 to 30 per cent. To detect them the black liquor is 
 treated by carbonate of soda, which, on throwing down the oxide of iron, produces 
 chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda. The whole is then thrown upon a filter. 
 The liquor, when evaporated to dryness, and calcined, to destroy organic matter, 
 leaves a residue, which, on being dissolved, gives, after being rendered acid with 
 nitric acid, a white curdy precipitate with nitrate of silver, and a white pulverulent 
 oue with nitrate of baryta, if chlorides or sulphates are present in the liquor. _ 
 
 REED, is the well-known implement of the weaver, made of parallel slips of 
 metal or reeds, called dents. A thorough knowledge of the adaption of yarn 
 of a proper degree of fineness to any given measure of reed, constitutes one of the 
 principal objects of the manufacturer of cloths; as upon this depends entirely the 
 appearance, and in a great degree the durability, of the cloth when finished. The 
 art of performing this properly, is known by the names of examining, setting, or 
 skying, which are used indiscriminately, and mean exactly the same thing. The 
 reed consists of two parallel pieces of wood, set a few inches apart, and they are of 
 any given length, as a yard, a yard and a quarter, &c. The division of the yard being 
 into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths ; the breadth of a web is generally ex- 
 pressed by a vulgar fraction, as 1, i., 4-> i> aa ^ tne subdivisions by the eighths or six- 
 teenths, or nails, as they are usually called, as 1, J> 11 &c, or 13., 1A, 12., &c. la 
 Scotland, the splits of cane which pass between the longitudinal pieces or ribs of the 
 reed, are expressed by hundreds, porters, and splits. The porter is 20 splits, or ith of 
 a hundred. 
 
 In Lancashire and Cheshire a different mode is adopted, both as to the measure and di- 
 visions of the reed. The Manchester and Bolton reeds are counted by the number of 
 splits, or, as they are there called, dents, contained in 24J inches of the reed. These 
 ients, instead of being arranged in hundreds, porters, and splits, as in Scotland, are cal- 
 culated by what is there termed hares or bears, each containing 20 dents, or the same 
 number as the porter in the Scotch reeds. The Cheshire or Stockport reeds, again, re- 
 ceive their designation from the number of ends or threads contained in one inch, two 
 ends being allowed for every dent, that being the almost universal number in every species 
 and description of plain cloth, according to the modern practice of weaving, and also for 
 a great proportion of fanciful articles. 
 
 ■The number of threads in the warp of a web is generally ascertained with considerable 
 precision by means of a small magnifying glass, fitted into a socket of brass, under which 
 is drilled a small round hole in the bottom plate of the standard. The number of tnreads 
 visible in this perforation, ascertains the number of threads in the standard measure 
 of the reed. Those used in Scotland have sometimes four perforations, over any one of 
 which the glass may he shifted. The first perforation is } of an inch in diameter, and 
 is therefore well adapted to the Stockport mode of counting ; that is to say, for ascer- 
 taining the number of ends or threads per inch ; the second is adapted for the Holland 
 reev, being ^Lth part of 40 inches; the third is -jigth of 37 inches, and is adapted for 
 the now almost universal construction of Scotch reeds; and the fourth, being ,I_th of 
 34 inches, is intended for the French cambrics. Every thread appearing in these respec- 
 tive measures, of course represents 200 threads, or 100 splits, in the standard 
 breadth ; and thus the quality of the fabric may be ascertained with considerable pre- 
 :ision, even after the cloth has undergone repeated wettings, either at the bleaching- 
 ground or dye- work. By counting the other way, the proportion which the woof bears 
 to the warp is also known, and this forms the chief use of the glass to the manufacturer 
 ind operative weaver, both of whom are previously acquainted with the exact measura 
 »f the reed. 
 
REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 541 
 
 Comparative. Table of 37-inch reeds, being the standard nsed throughout Europe, for 
 linens, with the Lancashire and Cheshire reeds, and the foreign reeds used for hollaro 1 
 and cambric. 
 
 Scotch. 
 
 Lancashire. 
 
 Cheshire. 
 
 Dutch holland. 
 
 French cambric. 
 
 600 i 
 
 20 
 
 34 
 
 550 
 
 653 
 
 700 
 
 24 
 
 38 
 
 650 
 
 761 
 
 800 
 
 26 
 
 44 
 
 740 
 
 870 
 
 900 
 
 30 
 
 50 
 
 832 
 
 979 
 
 1000 
 
 34 
 
 54 
 
 925 
 
 1089 
 
 1100 
 
 36 
 
 60 
 
 1014 
 
 1197 
 
 1200 
 
 40 
 
 64 
 
 1110 
 
 1300 
 
 1300 
 
 42 
 
 70 
 
 1202 
 
 1414 
 
 1400 
 
 46 
 
 76 
 
 1295 
 
 1464 
 
 1500 
 
 50 
 
 80 
 
 1387 
 
 1602 
 
 1600 
 
 52 
 
 86 
 
 1480 
 
 1752 
 
 1700 
 
 56 
 
 92 
 
 1571 
 
 1820 
 
 1800 
 
 58 
 
 96 
 
 1665 
 
 1958 
 
 1900 
 
 62 
 
 104 
 
 1757 
 
 2067 
 
 2000 
 
 66 
 
 110 
 
 1850 
 
 2176 
 
 In the above table, the 37-inch is placed first. It is called Scotch, net because it 
 cither originated or is exclusively used in that country. It is the general linen reed of 
 all Europe; but in Scotland it has also been adopted as the regulator of her cotton manu- 
 factures. 
 
 REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER; called also Parting. (JJinage d'argent, 
 Depart, Fr. ; Scheidung in die quart, Germ.) For several uses in the arts, these pre- 
 cious metals are required in an absolutely pure state, in which alone they possess their 
 malleability and peculiar properties in the most eminent degree. Thus, for example, 
 neither gold nor silver leaf can be made of the requisite fineness, if the metals contain 
 the smallest portion of copper alloy. Till within these ten or twelve years, the parting 
 of silver from gold was effected everywhere by nitric acid ; it is still done so in all the ' 
 establishments of this country, except the Royal Mint ; and in the small refining-houses 
 abroad. The following appa?atus may be advantageously employed in this operation. It 
 will serve the double purpose of manufacturing nitric acid of the utmost purity, and of 
 separating silver from gold by its means. 
 
 1. On procuring nitric acid for parting. — a is a platinum retort or alembic ; o is 
 its . capita], terminating, above in a tubulure, to which a kneed tube of platinum, 
 about 2 feet long, is adapted; c is the tubulure of the retort, for supplying acid 
 during the process, and for inspecting its progress. It is furnished with a lid ground 
 air-tight, which may be secured in its place by a weight, e is a stoneware pipe, about 
 two inches diameter, and several feet long, according to . the locality in which the 
 operation is to be carried on. It is made in lengths fitted to one another, and secured 
 at the joints with loam-lute. The one bend of this earthenware hard salt-glazed 
 pipe is adapted, to receive the platinum tube, and the other bend is inserted into a tubu- 
 lure in the top of the stoneware drum/. The opening I, I, in the middle of the top of/, is 
 
542 REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 for inspecting the progress of the condensation Df acd 5 and the third tubulure termi 
 nates in a prolonged pipe i, i, consisting of several pieces, each of which enters from above 
 conically into the one below.' The joinings of the upper pieces need not be tightly luted, 
 as it is desirable that some atmospherical oxygen should enter, to convert the relatively 
 light nitrous gas into nitrous or nitric acid vapor, which when supplied with moisture will 
 condense and fall down in a liquid state. To supply this moisture in the most diffusive 
 form, the upright stoneware pipes i, i, I, I, (at least 3 inches diameter, and 12 feet high), 
 should be obstructed partially with flint nodules, or with silicious pebbles ; anfl water 
 should be allowed to trickle upon the top pebble from a cistern placed above. Care must 
 be taken to let the water drop so slowly as merely to preserve the pebbles in a state of 
 humidity. A is a stopcock, of glass or sloneware, for drawing off the acid frx>m the cis- 
 tern/, k is a section of a small air-furnace, covered in at top with aft iron ring, on which 
 the flat iron ring of the platinum frame rests. 
 
 g, g, is a tub in which the stoneware cistern stands, surrounded with water, kept con- 
 stantly as cold as possible by passing a stream through it ; the spring water entering by a 
 pipe that dips near to the bottom, and the hot water escaping at the upper edge. 
 
 With the above apparatus, the manufacture of pure nilric acid is comparatively easy 
 and economical. Into the alembic a, 100 pounds (or thereby) of pure nitre, coarsely 
 bruised if the crystals be large, are to be put ; the capital is then to be adapted, and the 
 platinum tube (the only moveable one) luted into its place. Twenty pounds of strong 
 sulphuric acid are now to be introduced by the tubulure c, and then its lid must be put 
 on. No heat must yet be applied to the alembic. In about an hour, another ten pounds 
 of acid may be poured in, and so every hour, till 60 pounds of acid have been added. A 
 few hours after the affusion of the last portion of acid, a slight fire may be kindled in the 
 furnace 7c. 
 
 By judicious regulation of the heat, the whole acid may be drawn off in 24 hours ; its 
 final expulsion being aided by the dexterous introduction of a quart or two of boiling 
 water, in small successive portions, by the tubulure c, whose lid must be instantly shut 
 after every inspersion. The most convenient strength of acid for the parting process, is 
 when its specific gravity is about 1-320, or when a vessel that contains 16 ounces of pure 
 water, will contain 21 1 of the aquafortis. To this strength it should be brought very ex- 
 actly by the aid of a hydrometer. 
 
 Its purity is easily ascertained by letting fall into it a few drops of solution of silver ; 
 and if no perceptible milkiness ensues, it may be accounted good. Should a white 
 cloud appear, a few particles of silver may be introduced, to separate whatever muriatic 
 acid may be present, in the form of chloride of silver. Though a minute quantity of 
 sulphuric acid should exist in the nitric, it will be of no consequence in the operation of 
 parting. 
 
 2. On parting by the nitric acid, called by the Mexicans, " II apartado," — The principle 
 on which this process is founded, is the fact of silver being soluble in nitric acid, while 
 gold is insoluble in that menstruum. If the proportion of gold to that of silver be greater 
 than one to two, then the particles of the former metal so protect or envelop those of the 
 latter, that the nitric acid, even at a boiling heat, remains quite inactive on the alloy. It 
 is indispensable, therefore, that the weight of the silver be at least double that of the gold. 
 100 pounds of silver take 38 pounds of "nitric acid, of specific gravity 1-320, for oxydize. 
 ment, and 111 for solution of the oxyde; being together 149 ; but the refiner often con. 
 sumes, in acid of the above strength, more than double the weight of silver, which shows 
 great waste, owing to the imperfect means of condensation employed for recovering the 
 vapors of the boiling and very volatile acid. 
 
 By the apparatus above delineated, the 38 pounds of acid expended in oxydizing the silver, 
 become nitrous gas in the first place, and are afterwards reconverted in a great measure 
 into nitric acid by absorption of atmospherical oxygen ; so that not one fifth need be lost, 
 under good management. As the acid must be boiled on the granulated garble, or alloy, 
 to effect the solution of the silver, by proper arrangements the vapors may be entirely con- 
 densed, and nearly the whole acid be recovered, except the 111 parts indispensable to con- 
 stitute nitrate of silver. Hence, with economical management, 120 pounds of such acid 
 may be assigned as adequate to dissolve 100 of silver associated with 50 of gold. 
 
 It must here be particularly observed, that 100 pounds of copper require 130 pounds of 
 the above acid for oxydizement ; and 390 for solution of the oxyde ; being 520 pounds in 
 whole, of which less than J part could be recovered by the above apparatus. It is there- 
 lore manifest that it is desirable to employ silver pretty well freed from copper by a pre- 
 vious process ; and always, if practicable, a silver containing some gold. 
 
 These data being assumed as the bases of the parting operation, 60 pounds of gold and 
 silver alloy or garble finely granulated, containing not less than 40 pounds of silver, are to 
 be introduced into the ten-gallon alembic of platinum, fig.U98, and 80 pounds of nitric 
 acid, of 1-320, is to be poured over the alloy ; a quantity wnich will measure 6 gallons 
 imperial. As for the bulk of the alloy, it is considerably less than half a gallon. Abun 
 
REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 543 
 
 daihre of space therefore remains in the alembic for effervescence and ebullition, provided 
 ihe fire be rightly tempered. 
 
 By the extent of stoneware conducting pipe e, which should not be less than 40 feet, by 
 the dimensions and coldness of the cistern/, and by the regenerating influence of the ver- 
 tical aerial pipe filled with moist pebbles t, i, it is clear, that out of the 80 pounds of ni- 
 tric acid, specific gravity 1-320, introduced at first, from 20 to 30 will be recovered. 
 
 Whenever the effervescence and disengagement of «itrous red fumes no longer appear 
 on opening the orifice c, the fire must be removed, ai d the vessel may be cooled by the 
 application of moist cloths. The alembic may be then disengaged from the platinum tube, 
 and lifted out of its seat. Its liquid contents must be cautiously decanted off, through the 
 orifice c, into a tub nearly filled with soft water. On the heavy pulverulent gold which 
 remains in the vessel, some more acid should be boiled, to carry off any residuary silver. 
 This metallic powder, after being well washed with water, is to be dried, fused along with 
 a little nitre or borax, and cast into ingots. 
 
 Plates of copper being immersed in the nitric solution contained in wooden or stone- 
 ware cisterns, will throw metallic silver down, while a solution of nitrate of copper, 
 called blue water, will float above. The pasty silver precipitate is to be freed from the 
 nitrate of copper, first, by washing with soft water, and next, by strong hydraulic pressure 
 in cast iron cylinders. The condensed mass, when now melted in a crucible along with 
 a little nitre and borax, is fine silver. 
 
 The above apparatus has the further advantage of enabling the operator to recover a 
 great portion of his nitric acid, by evaporating the blue water to a state approaching to 
 dryness, with the orifices at c, and at the top of the capital, open. In the progress of 
 this evaporation, nothing but aqueous vapor escapes. Whenever the whole liquid is 
 dissipated, the pipe d is to be re-adjusted, and the lid applied closely to c. The heat 
 being now continued, and gradually increased, the whole nitric acid will be expelled 
 from the copper oxyde, which will remain in a black mass at the bottom of the alembic. 
 The contrivance for letting water trickle upon the pebbles, must be carefully kept in 
 play, otherwise much of the evolved acid would be dissipated in nitrous fumes. With 
 due attention to the regenerative plan, a great part of the acid may be recovered, at no 
 expense but that of a little fuel. 
 
 The black oxyde of copper thus obtained, is an economical form of employing that 
 metal for the production of the sulphate ; 100 pounds of it, with 122J of sulphuric acid 
 diluted with water, produce 312f pounds of crystallized sulphate of copper. A leaden 
 boiler is best adapted for that operation. 100 pounds of silver are precipitable from its 
 solution in nitric acid, by 29 of copper. If more be needed, it is a proof that a wasteful 
 excess of acid has existed in the solution. 
 
 In parting by nitric acid, the gold generally retains a little silver ; as is proved by 
 the cloud of chloride of silver which it affords, at the end of some hours, when dissolved 
 in aqua regia. And on the other hand, the silver retains a little gold. These facts 
 inditoad M. Dize, when he was inspector of the French mint, to adopt some other pro- 
 cess, which would give more accurate analytical results ; and after numerous experi- 
 ments, he ascertained that sulphuric acid presented great advantages in this point of 
 view, since with it he succeeded in detecting, in silver, quantities of gold which had 
 eluded the other plan of parting. The suggestion of M. Dize has been since univer. 
 sally adopted in France. M. Costell, about nine or ten years ago, erected in Pomeroy. 
 street, Old Kent-road, a laboratory upon the French plan, for parting by sulphuric 
 acid j but he was not successful in his enterprise ; and since he relinquished the business, 
 Mr. Matheson introduced the same system into our Royal Mint, unde'r the management 
 of M. Costell's French operatives. In the Parisian refineries, gold, to the amount of 
 one thousandth part of the weight, has been extracted from all the silver which had been 
 previously parted by the nitric acid process ; being 3500 francs in value upon every thou- 
 sand kilogrammes of silver. 
 
 I shall give first a general outline of the method of parting by sulphuric acid, and then 
 describe its details as I have lately seen them executed upon a magnificent scale in an 
 establishment near Paris. 
 
 The most suitable alloy for refining gold, by the sulphuric acid process, is the compound 
 of. gold, silver,' and copper, having a standard quality, by the cupel, >f from 900 to 950 
 milliemes, and containing one fifth of its weight of gold. The best proportions of the 
 three metals are the following : — silver, 725 ; gold, 200 ; copper, 75 ; = 1000. It has 
 been found that alloys which contain more copper, afford solutions that hold some 
 anhydrous sulphate of that metal in solution, which prevents the gold from being readily 
 separated ; and that alloys containing more gold, are not acted on easily by the sulphuric 
 acid. The refiner ought, therefore, when at all convenient, to reduce the alloys that 
 he has to treat to the above-stated proportions. He may effect this purpose either by 
 fusing the coarser alloys with nitre in a crucible, or by adding finer alloy, or even fine 
 silver, or finally, by subjecting the coarser alloys to a previous cupellation with lead on 
 
544 
 
 REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 the great scale. As to gold or silver bullion, which contains lead and other easily oxj- 
 Sizable metals besides copper, the refiner ougnt always to avoid treating mem oy sul. 
 pburic acid ; and should separate, first of all, these foreign metals by the agency of nitre 
 if they exist in minute quantity ; but if in larger, he should have recourse to the cupel] 
 Great advantage will therefore be derived from the judicious preparation of the alloy tc 
 be refined. I 
 
 For an alloy of the above description, the principal Parisian refiners are in the halit 
 of employing thrice its weight of sulphuric acid, in order to obtain a clear solution of 
 sulphate of silver, which does not too suddenly concrete on cooling, so as to obstruct its 
 discharge from the alembic by decantation. A small increase in the quantity of copper, 
 calls for a considerable increase in the quantity of acid. 
 
 Generally speaking, one half of the sulphuric acid strictly required for converting the 
 silver and copper into sulphates, is decomposed into sulphurous acid, which is lost to the 
 manufacturer, unless he has recourse to the agency of nitrous acid. 
 
 The process for silver containing but little gold, consists of five different opera- 
 tions. 
 
 1. Upon several furnaces, one foot in diameter, egg-shaped alembics of platinum are 
 mounted, into each of which are put 3 kilogrammes (8 lbs. troy) of the granulated 
 silver, containing a few grains of gold per pound, and 6 kilogrammes of concentrated 
 sulphuric acid. The alembics are covered with conical capitals, ending in bent tubes, 
 which conduct the acid vapors into lead pipes of condensation ; and the furnaces are 
 erected under a proper hood. As the cold acid is inoperative, it must be set a boiling, 
 at which temperature it gives up one atom of its oxygen to the metal, and is transformed 
 into sulphurous acid, which escapes in a gaseous state. Some of the undecomposed sul- 
 phuric acid immediately combines with the oxyde into a sulphate, which subsides, in the 
 state of a crystalline powder, to the bottom of the vessel. The solution goes on vigor- 
 ously, with a copious disengagement of sulphurous acid gas, only during the two or three 
 first hours ; after which it proceeds slowly, and is not completed till after a digestion of 
 nearly twelve hours more. During the ebullition a considerable quantity of sulphuric 
 acid vapor escapes along with the sulphurous acid gas ; the former of which is readily 
 condensed in a large leaden receiver immersed in a cistern of cold water, if need be. It 
 has been proposed to condense the sulphurous acid, by leading it over extensive surfaces 
 of lime-pap, as in the coal-gas purifiers. 
 
 2. When the whole silver has been converted into sulphate, this is to be emptied out 
 of the alembic into water contained in a round-bottomed receiver lined with lead, and 
 diluted till the density of the solution marks from 15° to 20° Baume. The small portion 
 of gold, in the form of a brown powder, which remains undissolved, having been allowed 
 to settle to the bottom, the supernatant solution of silver is to be decanted carefully off 
 into a leaden cistern, and the powder being repeatedly edulcorated with water, the wash- 
 ings are to be added to it. The silver is now to be precipitated by plunging plates of 
 copper in the solution, and the magma which falls is to be well washed, and freed from 
 the residuary particles of sulphate of copper by powerful compression. 
 
 3. The silver, precipitated and dried as above described, is melted in a crucible, and 
 cast into an ingot. 
 
 4. The gold powder is also dried and cast into an ingot, a little nitre being added in 
 ■ the fusion, to oxydize and separate any minute particles of copper that may perchance 
 
 have been protected from the solvent action of the acid. 
 
 5. As the sulphate of copper is of considerable value, its solution is to be neutralized 
 evaporated in leaden pans to a proper strength, and set aside to crystallize in leaden 
 cisterns. The farmers throughout France consume an immense quantity of this salt. 
 They sprinkle a weak solution of it (at 2° or 3° Baume) over their grain before sowing 
 it, in order to protect it agafhst the ravages of birds and insects. 
 
 The pure gold, at the instant of its separation from the alloy by the action of sulphuric 
 acid, being in a very fine powder, and lying in close contact with the platinum, under the 
 influence of a boiling menstruum, which brightens the surfaces of the two metals, and 
 raises their temperature to fully the 600th degree of Fahrenheit's scale, tends to become 
 Partially soldered t0 the P^tinum, and may thus progressively thicken the bottom of the 
 still. The importance of preserving this vessel entire, and of. economizing the fuel re- 
 quisite to heat its contents, induces the refiner to detach the crust of gold from time to 
 time, by passing over the bottom of the still, in small quantities, a dilute nitro- 
 munatic acid, which acts readily on gold, but not on platinum. But as this operation 
 is a very delicate one, it must be conducted with great circumspection. . The danger of 
 such adhering deposites is much increased by using too high a heat, and too small a 
 body of acid, relatively to the metals dissolved. Hence it is advantageous to employ 
 alembics of large size. Should any lead or tin get into the platinum still, while the hot 
 acid is in it, the precious vessel would 1 be speedily destroyed ; an accident which has not 
 nnfrequently happened. Each operation may be conveniently finished in twelve hours • 
 
 ) 
 
REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 545 
 
 so that eaon alembic may refine with ease 160 marcs daily. Some persons work more 
 rapidly, but such haste is hazardous. 
 
 The Parisian refiners restore to the owners the whole of the gold and silver contained 
 in the ingots, reserving to themselves the copper which formed the alloy, and charging 
 only the sum of 5| francs per kilogramme (2-68 lbs. troy) for the expense of the parting 
 of the metals. 
 
 If they are employed to refine an ingot of silver containing less than one tenth of gold 
 they retain for themselves a two thousandth part of the gold, and all the copper, existing 
 in the alloy ; return all the rest of the gold, with the whole of the silver, in the ingot 
 and give, besides, to the owners a premium or bonus, which amounted lately to § of a 
 franc on the kilogramme of metal. Should the owner desire to have the whole of the gold 
 and silver contained in his ingot, the refiner then demands from him 2 francs and 68 cen- 
 times per kilogramme, retaining the copper of the alloy. As to silver ingots of low 
 standard, the perfection of the refining processes is such, that the mere copper contained 
 in them pays all the costs j for in this case, the refiner restores to the proprietor of the 
 ingot as much fine silver as the assay indicated to exist in the ingot, contenting himsglf 
 with the copper of the alloy. See infra. 
 
 The chemical works of M. Poizat, called affinage d'argent, on the bank of the canal 
 de I'Ourcq, in the vicinity of Paris, are undoubtedly the most spacious and best arranged 
 for refining the precious metals, which exist in the world. On being introduced to this 
 gentleman, by my friend and companion M. Clement-Desormes, he immediately expressed 
 his readiness to conduct me through his fabrique, politely alluding to the French 
 translation of my Dictionary of Chemistry, which lay upon the desk of his bureau. 
 The principal room is 240 feet long, 40 feet wide, and about 30 feet high. A lofty 
 chimney rises up through the middle of the apartment, and another at each of its ends. 
 The one space, 120 feet long, to the right of the central chimney, is allotted to the pro- 
 cesses of dissolving the silver, and parting the gold ; the other, to the left, to the eva- 
 poration and crystallization of the sulphate of copper, and the concentration of the re- 
 covered sulphuric acid. 
 
 M. Poizat melts his great masses of silver in pots made of malleable iron, capable of 
 holding several cwts. each ; and granulates it by pouring it into water contained in large 
 iron pans. The granulated silver is dried with heat, and carried into a well lighted of- 
 fice enclosed by glazed casements, to be weighed, registered, and divided into determinate 
 portions. Each of these is put into a cast-iron pot, of a flattened hemispherical shape, 
 about 2 feet in diameter, covered with an iron lid, made in halves, and hinged together 
 in the middle line. From the top of the fixed lid a bent pipe issues, and proceeds down- 
 wards into an oblong leaden chest sunk beneath the. floor. Four of the above cast-iron 
 pots stand in a line across the room, divided into two ranges, with an intervening space 
 for passing between them. The bottoms of the pots are directly heated by the flame, 
 one fire serving for two pots. Two parts of concentrated sulphuric acid by weight are 
 poured upon ever? part of granulated silver, and kept gently boiling till the whole silrsi 
 be converted into a pasty sulphate. 
 
 From the underground leaden chests, a leaden, pipe 4 inches in diameter, rises verti- 
 cally, and enters the side of a leaden chamber, which is supported upon strong cross-beams 
 or rafters, a little way beneath the roof of the apartment. This chamber, which is 30 
 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 6 feet high, is intended to condense the sulphuric acid vapors, 
 along with some of the sulphurous acid ; that of the latter being promoted by the admis- 
 sion of nitrous gas and air, which convert it into sulphuric acid. From the further end 
 of this chamber, a large squars leaden pipe returns with a slight slope towards the middle 
 of the room, and terminates a. the right-hand side of the central chimney, in a small leaden 
 chest, for receiving the drops of acid which are condensed in the pipe. From that chest 
 a pipe issues, to discharge into the high central chimney the incondensable gases, and 
 also to maintain a constant draught through the whole series of leaden chambers back to 
 the cast-iron hemispherical pots. 
 
 Besides the above cast-iron pots, destined to dissolve only the coarse cupreous silver, 
 containing a few grains of gold per pound, there are, in the centre of the apartment, at 
 the right-hand side of the chimney, 6 alembics of platinum, in which the rich alloys ol 
 gold and silver are treated in the process of refining gold. 
 
 The pasty sulphate of silver obtained in the iron pots, is transferred by cast-iron ladles 
 with long handles into large leaden cisterns, adjoining the pots, and there diluted with 
 a little water to the density of 36° Baume. Into this liquor, steam is admitted through 
 a series of upright leaden pipes arranged along the side of the cistern, which speedily 
 causes ebullition, and dilutes the solution eventually to the 22d degree of Baume. In 
 this state, the liquid supersulphate is run off by leaden syphons into large oblong leaden 
 cisterns, rounded at the bottom ; and is there exposed to the action of ribands of copper, 
 like thin wood shavings. The metallic silver precipitates in a pasty form ; and the 
 
 Vol. II. 36 
 
546 REFINING OF GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 supernatant sulphate of copper is then run off into a cistern, upon a somewhat lower level, 
 where it is left to settle and become clear. 
 
 The precipitate of silver, called by the English, water-silver, and by the French, chaux 
 d'argent, is drained, then strongly squeezed in a square box of cast-iron, by the action or 
 a hydraulic press ; in which 60 pounds of silver are operated upon at once. 
 
 The silver lumps are dried, melted in black lead crucibles, in a furnace built near the 
 silver end of the room, where the superintendent sits in his bureau — a closet enclosed by 
 glazed casements, like a green-house. The whole course of the operations is so planned, 
 that they are made to commence near the centre with the mixed metals, and progressive- 
 ly approach towards the office end of the apartment as the parting processes advance. 
 Here the raw material, after being granulated and weighed, was given out, and here the 
 pure gold and silver are finally eliminated in a separate state. 
 
 In the other half of the hall, the solutions of sulphate of copper are evaporated 
 in large shallow leaden pans, placed over a range of furnaces ; from which, at the proper 
 degree of concentration, they are run off by syphons into crystallizing pans of the same 
 metal. From the mother-waters, duly evaporated, a second crop of crystals is obtained ; 
 and also a third, the last being_ anhydrous, from the great affinity for water possessed by 
 the strong sulphuric acid with' which they are now surrounded. The acid in this way 
 parts with almost the whole of the cupreous oxyde, and is then transferred into a large 
 alembic of platinum (value 1000Z.), to be rendered fit, by re-concentration, for acting upon 
 fresh portions of granulated silver. The capital of that alembic is connected 
 with a leaden worm, which traverses an oblong vessel, through which a stream of coM 
 water flows. 
 
 The crystallized sulphate of copper fetched, two years ago, 301. a ton. It is almost all 
 sold to the grocers in the towns of the agricultural districts of France. In the above es- 
 tablishment of M. Poizat, silver to the value of 10,000Z. can be operated upon daily. 
 
 There is a steam engine of 6-horse power placed in a small glazed chamber at one side 
 of the parting hall, which serves to. work all his leaden pumps for lifting the dilute sul- 
 phuric acid and acidulous solutions of copper "into their appropriate cisterns of concen- 
 tration, as also to grind his old crucibles, and drive his amalgamation mill, consisting of 
 a pair of vertical round-edged wheels, working upon one shaft, in a groove formed round 
 a central hemisphere — of cast-iron. After the mercury has dissolved out of the ground 
 crucibles all the particles of silver which it can find, the residuary earthy matter is sold 
 to the sweep-wqsliers. The floor of the hall around the alembics, pots, and cisterns, is 
 covered with an iron grating, made of bars having one of "their angles uppermost, to act 
 as scrapers upon the shoes of the operatives. The dust collects in a vacant space left 
 beneath the gratir.g, whence it is taken to the amalgamation mill. The processes are 
 so well arranged and conducted by M. Poizat, that he can execute as much business in 
 his establishment with 10 workmen as is elsewhere done with from 40 to 50 ; and with 
 less than 3 grains of gold, in one Paris pound or 7561 grains of silver, be can defray the 
 whole expenses of the parting or refining. 
 
 Since 26 parts of copper afford 100 of the crystallized sulphate, the tenth of coppei 
 present in the dollars, and most foreign coins, will yield nearly four times its weight of 
 blue vitriol ; a subsidiary product of considerable value to the refiner. 
 
 The works of M. Poizat are so judiciously fitted up as to be quite salubrious, and have 
 not those " very mischievous effects upon the trachea," which Mr. Matheson states as 
 being common in his refinery works in the Royai Mint.* But, in fact, as refining by 
 sulphuric acid is always a nuisance to a neighborhood, it is not suffered in the Monnaie 
 Royale of Paris ; but is best and most economically performed by private enterprise and 
 fair competition, which is impossible in London, on account of tjie anomalous privilege, 
 worth at least 2000Z. a year, possessed by Mr. Matheson, who works most extensively 
 for private profit on a public plant, fitted up with a lofty chimney, platinum vessels to 
 the value of 3000Z., and other apparatus^ at the cost of the government. His charge to 
 the crown for refining gold per lb. troy, is 6s. 6d. ; that of the refiners in London, who 
 are obliged, for fear of prosecution, to employ the more expensive, but more condensable, 
 nitric acid, is only 4s. That of the Parisian refiners is regulated as follows. For the 
 dealers in the precious metals : — 
 
 For gold bullion containing silver, and more than J* , - of gold, 6 fr. 12 c. per kilo- 
 gramme, = 2 fr. 29 c. per lb. troy. 
 
 For silver bullion, containing from i to M>-°- s of gold (called dorla), 3 fr. 27 c. 
 per kilogramme, = 1 fr. 22 c. per lb. troy. 
 
 For the Monnaie, the charges are — ' 
 
 For gold refined by sulphuric acid, when alloyed with copper only, from -APA to _!__ 
 I fr. per kilogramme, = 1 fr. 86 c. per lb. troy. 
 
 For gold alloyed with copper and silver, whatever be the quantity of silver, 5 fr. 75 c. 
 per kilogramme, = 2 fr. 12 c. per lb. troy. 
 
 * Ropott of Committee of House of Commons on the Mint, in 1837, p. 91. 
 
REFRIGERATION OF WORTS. 547 
 
 There are absut ten bullion refiners by sulphuric acid in the environs of Paris ; two of 
 whom, M. Poizat St. Andre, and M. Chauviere, are by far the most considerable ; the 
 former working about 300 kilogrammes ( = 804 lbs. troy) daily, and the latter about two 
 thirds of that quantity. In former times, when competition was open in London, Messrs. 
 Browne and Brinde were wont to treat 6 cwts. of silver, or 9 cwts. of gold alloy, daily, 
 for several months in succession. 
 
 The result of free trade in refining bullion at Paris is, that the silver bars imported 
 into London from South America, &c, are mostly rent off to Paris to be stripped of the 
 few grains of gold which they may contain, and are then brought back to be sold here. 
 Three grains of gold in one Paris lb. of silver, pay the refiners there for taking them 
 out. What a disgrace is thus brought upon our manufacturing industry and skill, by 
 the monopoly charges in refining and assaying granted to two individuals in our Roval 
 Mint. 
 
 Mr. Bingley's charges for assaying at the Royal Mint in London, are — 
 
 For an assay of gold, 4s. ; for a parting assay of gold and silver, 6s. ,■ for a silver assay, 
 2s. 6d. — charges which absorb the profits of many a transaction. • 
 
 The charges at the Royal Mint of Paris, for assays made under the following distin 
 guished chemical savants — Darcet, Direaeur ; Breant, Verificatmr; Chevillot and Pelouze 
 Essayeurs ; are — 
 
 For an assay of gold, or dore (a parting assay), 3 francs. 
 
 — silver — — 0- 80 c. = 8d. English. 
 
 M. Gay Lussac is the assayer of the Bureau de Garantie at the Monnaie Royale, an 
 office which corresponds to the Goldsmiths' Hall at London. The silver assays in all 
 the official establishments of Europe, except the two in London, are made by the humid 
 method, and are free from those errors and blunders which daily annoy and despoil the 
 British bullion merchant, who is compelled by the Mint and Bank of England to buy and 
 sell by the cupellatixm assay of Mr. Bingley. See Assay and Silver. 
 
 REFRIGERATION OF WORTS, &c. In August, 1826, Mr. Tandall obtained 
 a patent for an apparatus designed for cooling worts and other hot fluids, without 
 exposing them to evaporation. Utensils employed for this purpose, are generally called 
 refrigerators, and are so constructed, that a quantity of cold water shall be brought in 
 contact with the vessel which contains the heated fluid. But in every construction of 
 refrigerator heretofore used, the quantity of cold water necessarily employed in the 
 operation, greatly exceeded the quantity of the fluid cooled, which, in some situations, 
 where water cannot be readily obtained, was a serious impediment and objection to the 
 use of such apparatus. 
 
 The inventor has contrived a mode of constructing a refrigerator, so that any quantity 
 of wort or other hot fluid may be cooled by an equal quantity of cool water ; the process 
 being performed with great expedition, simply by passing the two fluids through very nar- 
 row passages, in opposite directions, the result of which is, that the cold liquor imbibes 
 the heat from the wort, or other fluid, and the temperature of the hot fluid is reduced in 
 the same ratio. 
 
 Figs. 1199, 1200, 1201 represent different forms in which the apparatus is proposed to 
 be made. The two first have zigzag passages ; the third, channels running in convolute 
 curves. These "channels or passages are of very small capacity in thickness, but of great 
 length, and of any breadth that may be required, according to the quantity of fluid in- 
 tended to be cooled or heated. 
 
 Fig. 1202 is the section of a portion of the apparatus shown at figs. 1199 & 1200 upon 
 an enlarged scale ; it is made by connecting three sheets of copper or any other thin me- 
 tallic plates together, leavi 'g parallel spaces between each plate for the passage of the 
 fluids, represented by the biack lines. 
 
 These spaces are formed by occasionally introducing between the plates thin straps, 
 ribs, or portions of metal, by which means very thin channels are produced, and through 
 these channels the fluids are intended to be passed, the cold liquor running in one direc- 
 tion, and the hot in the reverse direction. 
 
 Supposing that the passages for the fluids are each one eighth of an inch thick, then 
 the entire length for the run of the fluid should be about 80 feet, the breadth of the ap- 
 paratus being made according to the quantity of fluid intended to be passed through it in 
 a given time. If the channels are made a quarter of an inch thick, then their length 
 should be extended to 160 feet; and any other dimensions in similar proportions ; but a 
 larger channel than one quarter of an inch, the patentee considers would be objectionable. 
 It is, however, to be observed, that the length here recommended^ is under the considera- 
 tion, that tli e fluids are driven through the apparatus by some degree of hydrostatic pres- 
 sure from a head in the delivery-vats above ; but if the fluids flow without pressure, then 
 Ihe lengths of the passages need not be quite so great. 
 
 In the apparatus constructed as shown in perspective at fig. 1199, and further 
 
548 
 
 REFRIGERATION OF WORTS. 
 
 teveloped by the section, Jig. 1202, cold water is to be introduced at the funnel a, 
 
 whence it passes down the pipe 6, and 
 through a long slit or opening in the side 
 of the pipe, into, the passage c, c (see Jig. 
 1202), between the plates, where it flows 
 in a horizontal direction through the 
 channel towards the discharge-pipe d. 
 When such a quantity of cold water has 
 passed through the funnel a, as shall have 
 filled the channel c, c, up to the level of 
 the top of the apparatus, the cock c being 
 shut, then the hot wort or liquor intended 
 to be cooled, may be introduced at the 
 funnel /, and which, descending in the 
 pipe g, passes in a similar manner to the 
 former, through a long slit or opening in 
 the side of the pipe g, into the extended 
 passage h, h {see Jig. 1202),and from thence 
 proceeds horizontally into the discharge- 
 pipe i. 
 
 The two cocks e and k, being now 
 opened, the wort or other liquor is drawn off, or otherwise conducted away through the 
 cock ft, and the water through e. If the apertures of the two cocks e and k are equal, 
 and the channels equal also, it follows that the same quantity of wort, &c, will flow 
 through the channel h, h, A, in a given time, as of water through the channel c,c; and by 
 the hot fluid passing through the apertures in contact with the side of the channel which 
 contains the cold fluid, the heat becomes abstracted from the former, and communicated to 
 the latter ; and as the hot fluid enters the apparatus at that part which is in immediate 
 contact with the part where the cooling fluid is discharged, and the cold fluid enters the 
 apparatus at that part where the wort is discharged, the consequence is, that the wort or 
 other hot liquor becomes cooled down towards its exit-pipe nearly to the temperature of 
 cold water ; and the temperature of the water, at the reverse end of the apparatus, be- 
 comes raised nearly to that of the boiling wort. 
 
 It only remains to observe, that by partially closing either of the exit-cocks, the quan- 
 tity of heat abstracted from one fluid, and communicated to the other, may be regulated ; 
 for instance, if the cock e o( the water-passage be partially closed, so as to diminish the 
 quantity of cold water passed through the apparatus, the wort or other hot fluid conducted 
 through the other passages will be discharged at a higher temperature, which in some 
 eases will be desirable, when the refrigerated.liquor is to be fermented. 
 
 .Fig. 1200 exhibits an apparatus precisely similar to the foregoing, but different in its 
 position ; for instance, the zigzag channels are made in obliquely descending planes, 
 j 200 °' s tne funnel for the hot liquor, whence it 
 
 descends through the pipe d into the" channel 
 c, c (see Jig. 1202), and ultimately is discharged 
 through the pipe b, at the cock c. The cold 
 water being introduced into the funnel /, and 
 passing down the pipe i, enters the zigzag 
 channel ft, h, and, rising through the apparatus, 
 runs off by the pipe g, and is discharged at the 
 cock below. 
 
 The passages of this apparatus for heating 
 and cooling fluids, may be bent into various 
 contorted figures j one form found particularly 
 convenient under some applications, is that 
 represented at Jig. 1201, which is contained 
 in a cylindrical case. The passages here run 
 in convolute curves, the one winding in a 
 spiral to the centre, the other receding from the 
 centre. 
 
 The wort or other hot liquor intended to 
 be cooled, is to be introduced at the funnel o, 
 and passing down the pipe 6, is delivered into 
 the open passage c, which winds round to the 
 central chamber d, and is thence discharged 
 through the pipe c, at the cock /. The cold 
 water enters the apparatus at the funnel g, 
 and proceeding down the pipe ft, enters the 
 
REFRIGERATION OF WORTS. 
 
 549 
 
 closed channel i, and after traversing round through the apparatus, is in lite manner 
 discharged through the pipe k, at the cock I. Or the hot liquor may be passed through 
 
 the closed channel, and the cold through 
 the open one ; or these chambers may be 
 both of them open at top, and the ap- 
 paratus covered by a lid when at work, 
 the principal design of which is to afford 
 the convenience of cleaning them more 
 readily than could he done if they were 
 closed ; or they may be both closed. 
 
 A similar ingenious apparatus for cool- 
 ing brewer's worts, or wash for distillers, 
 and also for condensing spirits, in place 
 of the ordinary worm tub, is called by 
 the inventor, Mr. Wheeler, an Archi- 
 medes condenser, or refrigerator, the pe- 
 culiar novelty of which consists in form- 
 ing the chambers for the passage of the 
 fluids in spiral channels, winding round 
 a central tube, through which spiral 
 channels the hot and cold fluids are to be 
 passed in opposite directions. 
 .Fig. 1203 represents the external appearance of the refrigerator, enclosed in a cylin- 
 drical case ; Jig. 1204, the same, one, half of the case being removed to show the form 
 
 1202 
 
 of the apparatus within j and fig. 1206, a 
 section cut through the middle of the appa- 
 ratus perpendicularly, for the purpose of 
 displaying the internal figure of the spiral 
 channels. 
 
 The apparatus is proposed to be made of 
 sheet copper, tinned on its surface, and is 
 formed by cutting circular pieces of thin cop- 
 per, or segments of circles, and connecting 
 diem together by rivets, solder, or by any other convenient means, as coppersmiths usu- 
 ally do ; thesffcircular pieces of copper being united to one another, in the way pf a spiral 
 or screw, form the chambers through which the fluids are to pass Within, in an ascending 
 or descending inclined plane. 
 
 1203 
 
 1204 
 
 In fig*' 1204 <# " 12 05, a, a, is the central tube or standard (of any diameter that may 
 be found convenient), round which the spiral chambers are to be formed ; b, b, are the 
 eides of the outer case, to which the edges of the spiral fit closely,'but heed not be 
 attached ; c, c, are two of the circular plates of copper, connected together by rivets at 
 the edges, in the manner shown, or by any other suitable means; d, is the chamber, 
 formed by the two sheets of copper, and which is carried round from top to bottom in i 
 spiral or circular inclined plane, by a succession of circular plates connected to each 
 other. ■ ■ ' • 
 
550 
 
 RENNET. 
 
 The hot fluid is admitted into the spiral chamber d, through a trumpet or wide. 
 
 mouthed tube e, at top, and is 
 discharged at bottom by an 
 aperture and cock/. The cold 
 water which is to be employed 
 as the cooling material, is to be 
 introduced through the pipe g, 
 in the centre, from whence dis- 
 charging itself by a hole at bot- 
 tom, the cold water occupies 
 the interior of the cylindrical 
 case 6, and rises in the spiral 
 passage h, between the coils of 
 the chamber, until it ascends to 
 the top of the vessel, and then it 
 flows away by a spout i, seen in 
 fig. 1203. 
 
 It will be perceived that the 
 hot fluid enters the apparatus 
 at top, and the cold fluid at 
 bottom, passing each other, by 
 means of which an interchange 
 of temperatures takes place 
 through the plates of copper 
 the cooling fluid passing off ai 
 top in a heated state, by means 
 of the caloric which it has ab- 
 stracted from the hot fluid; and 
 the hot fluid passing off through 
 the pipe and cock at bottom, in 
 a very reduced state of tempera- 
 ture, by reason of the caloric 
 which it held having been given 
 out to the cooling fluid. 
 Fig. 1206 is a side view and 
 section ot Wagenmann's apparatus for cooling worts ; fig. 120T, a view from above. The 
 preceding contrivances seem to be far preferable. 
 
 a, a, is the tub for receiving the apparatus, whose central upright shaft b, rests upon a 
 step c, in the bottom, and revolves at top in a bush at d, made fast to a bar e, fixed flat 
 across the mouth of the tub. The shaft may be driven by the two bevel wheels /,/, at 
 right angles to each other, and the horizontal rod turned by hand ; or the whole may bt 
 impelled by any power, g, is an iron basin for receiving the cold water from the spout 
 h, supplied by a well; it flows out of the basin through two tubes »i,down into the lower 
 part of" the cooler k k. The cooler consists of two flat vessels, both of which are formed 
 of a flat interior plate, and an arched exterior one, so that their transverse section is plano- 
 convex. The water which flows along the tubes i i, spreads itself upon the bottom of the 
 cooler, and then rises through the scabbard-shaped tubes 1 1, &c, into the upper annular 
 vessel m m ; whence it is urged by hydrostatic pressure, in a now heated state, through 
 the slanting tubes n n, which terminate in the common pipe o, of the annular basin op 
 and is thence discharged by the pipe q. The basin p p, is supported by the two bearers 
 r, made fast to the cross-beam e. There is in the lowest part of the hollow ring at bot 
 torn, a screw plugs which may be opened when it is desired to discharge the whole con- 
 tents, and to wash it with a stream of water. 
 
 REGULUS is a term introduced by the alchemists, now nearly obsolete. It means 
 literally a little king, and refers to the metallic state as one of royalty, compared with 
 the native earthy condition. Antimony is the only metal now known by the name of 
 regulus. 
 
 RENNET. The gastric juice of the stomach of the sucking calf, which, being 
 extracted by infusion immediately after the death of the animal, serves to curdle milk 
 As the juice passes rapidly into putrefaction, the stomach must be salted after the outer 
 skin has been scraped off, and all the fat and useless membranes carefully removed. It 
 is only the inner coat which is to be preserved after it is freed from any curd or other 
 extraneous matter in the stomach. The serum left in it should be pressed out with a 
 cloth, and is then to be replaced in the stomach with a large quantity of the, best salt 
 The skins, or veils as they are called, are next put into a pan and covered with a saturated 
 solution of salt and soaked for some hours ; but there should be no more brine than covers 
 ie veils. They are afterwards hung up to dry, a piece of wood being put crosswise into 
 
RESINS. 651 
 
 each to stretch them out. They should be perfectly dried and look like parchment. In 
 this state they may be kept in a dry place for any length of time, and are always ready 
 for use. 
 
 Pieces of veil are cut off and soaked for some hours in wey or water, and the whole is 
 added to the warm milk for curdling it, its strength having been first tested on a small 
 quantity. By the rapidity with which it curdles and the form of the flakes, a judgment 
 is formed of its strength and the quantity required for the whole milk. 
 
 EESINSf (Resines, Fr. ; Harze, Germ.) ; are proximate principles found in most vege 
 tables, and in almost every part of them ; but the only resins which merit a particulai 
 description, are those which occur naturally in such quantities as to be easily collected or 
 extracted. They are obtained chiefly in two ways, either by spontaneous exudation from 
 the plants, or by extraction by heat and alcohol. In the first case, the discharge of resin 
 in the liquid state is sometimes promoted by artificial incisions made in summer through 
 the bark into tlje wood of the tree. 
 
 Resins possess the following general properties: — They are soluHe in alcohol, insoluble 
 in water, and melt by the application of heat, but do not volatilize without partial decom- 
 position. They have rarely a crystalline structure, but, like gums, they seldom affect any 
 peculiar form. They are almost all translucid, not often colourless, but generally brown, 
 occasionally red or green. Any remarkable taste or smell, which they sometimes possess, 
 may be ascribed to some foreign matter, commonly an essential oil. Their specific 
 gravity varies from 0'92 to 1-2. Their consistence is also very variable. The greater 
 part are hard, with a vitreous fracture, and so brittle as to be readily pulverized in the 
 cold. Some of them are soft, a circumstance probably dependent upon the presence of a 
 heterogeneous substance. The hard resins do not conduct electricity, and they become 
 negatively electrical by friction. "When heated they melt more or less easily into a 
 thick viscid liquid, and concrete, on cooling, into a smooth shining mass, of a vitreous 
 fracture, which occasionally flies off into pieces, like Prince Rupert's drops ; especially 
 after being quickly cooled, and scratched with a sharp point. They take fire by contact 
 of an ignited body, and burn with a bright flame, and the diffusion of much sooty 
 smoke. When distilled by themselves in close vessels, they afford carbonic acid and 
 earburetted gases, empyreumatic oil of a less disagreeable smell than that emitted 
 by other such oils, a little acidulous water, and a very little shining charcoal. See 
 Rosin - Gas. 
 
 Resins are insoluble in water, but dissolve in considerable quantities in alcohol, both 
 hot and cold. This solution reddens tincture of litmus, but not syrup of violets ; it is 
 decomposed by water, and a milkiness ensues, out of which the particles of the resin 
 gradually agglomerate. In this state it contains water, so as to be soft, and easily- 
 kneaded between the fingers; but it becomes hard and brittle again when freed by 
 fusion from the water. The resins dissolve in ether and the volatile oils, and, with the 
 aid of heat, combine with the unctuous oils. They may be combined by fusion with 
 sulphur, and with a little phosphorus. Chlorine water bleaches several coloured resins, 
 if they be diffused in a milky state through water. The carburet of sulphur dissolves 
 them. 
 
 Resins are little acted upon by acids, except by the nitric, which converts them 
 into artificial tau They combine readily with the alkalis and alkaline earths, and 
 form what were formerly reckoned soaps ; but the resins are not truly saponified ; 
 they rather represent the acid constitution themselvw, and, as such, saturate the salifi- 
 able bases. 
 
 Every resin is a natural mixture of several other resins, as is the case also with oils ; 
 one principle being soluble in cold alcohol, another in hot, a third in ether, a fourth in oil 
 of turpentine, a fifth in naphtha, &c. The soft resins, which retain a certain portion 
 of volatile oil, constitute wha't are called balsams. Certain other balsams contain benzoic 
 acid. The solid resins are, amber, anime, benzoin, colophony (common rosin), copal, 
 dammara, dragon's blood, elemi, guaiac, lac, resin of jalap, ladanvim, mastic, sandarach, 
 storax, takamahac. 
 
 An ingenious memoir upon the resins of dammar, copal, and anime, has lately been 
 published by M. Guibourt, an eminent French pharmacien, from which the following 
 extracts may be found interesting. 
 
 The hard copal of India and Africa, especially Madagascar, is the product of the 
 Hymenaa verrucosa ; it is transparent and vitreous within, whatever may be its appear- 
 ance outside; nearly colourless, or of a tawny yellow; without taste or smell in the 
 cold, and almost as hard as amber, which it much resembles, but from which it may be 
 distinguished, 1st, by its melting and kindling at a candle-flame, and running down in 
 drops, while amber burns and swells up without flowing-. 2dly, this hard copal or 
 anime 1 when blown out and still hot, exhales a smell like balsam copaiva or capivi ; while 
 amber exhales an unpleasant bituminous odour ; 3dly, when moistened by alcohol of 
 35 per cent., copal becomes sticky, and shows after drying a glazed opaque surface, 
 
6B2 RESINS. 
 
 while- amber is not affected by alcohol ; 4thly, the copal affords no succinic acid, as amber 
 does, on distillation. 
 
 When the pulverised copal is digested in cold alcohol of 0-830, it leaves a considerable 
 residuum, at first pulverulent, but which swells afterwards, and forms a slightly coherent 
 mass, "When this powder is treated with boiling alcohol it assumes the consistence of a 
 thick gluten, like crumbs of bread, but which does not stick to the fingers. Thus treated, 
 it affords, 
 
 Resin soluble in cold alcohol ... 31-42 
 
 Resin dissolved in boiling alcohol - - 4-00 
 
 Resin insoluble in both - - 65-71 
 
 100-83 
 
 The small excess is due to the adhesion of some of the menstruum to the resins. 
 
 Ether, boiling hot, dissolves 39-17 per cent, of copal. 
 
 Essence (spirits) of turpentine does not dissolve any of the copal, but it penetrates and 
 combines with it at a heat of 212° Fahr. 
 
 The property of swelling, becoming viscid and elastic, which Berzelius assigns to copal, 
 belongs not to it, but to the American resin of courbaril, or the occidental animfi ; and the 
 property of dissolving entirely in ether belongs to the aromatic dammar, a friable and 
 tender resin. 
 
 2. Resin of courbaril of Rio Janeiro, the English gum-animfi, and the semi-hard 
 copal of the French. It is characterised by forming, in alcohol, a bulky, tenacious, 
 elastic mass. It occurs in rounded tears, has a very pale* glassy aspect, transparent 
 within, covered with a thin white powder, which becomes glutinous with alcohol. 
 Another' variety is soft, and dissolves, for the most part, in alcohol ; and a third 
 resembles the oriental copal so much, as to, indicate that they may both be produced 
 from the same tree. 100 parts of the oriental and the occidental anim£ yield respec- 
 tively the following residua : — 
 
 
 "With alcohol. 
 
 With ether. 
 
 "With essence. 
 
 Oriental 
 
 65-71 
 
 60-83 
 
 111. 
 
 Occidental 
 
 43-53 
 
 27-50 
 
 75-76 
 
 The hard and soft copals possess the remarkable property in common of becoming 
 soluble in alcohol, after being oxygenated in the air. . 
 
 3. Dammar puti, or dammar bain. — This resin, soft at first, becomes eventually like 
 amber, and as hard. It is little soluble in alcohol and ether, but more so in essence 
 of turpentine. 
 
 4.' Aromatic dammar. — This resin occurs in large orbicular masses. It is pretty soluble 
 in alcohol. Only small samples .have hitherto been obtained. Of 100 parts, 8 are inso- 
 luble in alcohol, none in ether, and 93 in essence of turpentine. M. Ouibourt thinks that 
 this resin comes from the Molucca isles. Its ready solubility in alcohol, and great hard 
 ness, render it valuable for varnish-making. 
 
 5. Slightly aromatic dammar leaves, after alcohol, 87 per cent. ; and after ether, 17 per 
 cent. ; and after essence 87 per cent. 
 
 6. Tender and friable dammar selan. — This resin occurs in considerable quantity in 
 commerce (at Paris). It is in rounW or oblong tears, vitreous, nearly colourless and trans- 
 parent within, dull whitish on the surfaces. It exhales an agreeable odour of olibanum, 
 or mastic, when it is heated. It crackles with the heat of the hand, like roll-sulphur. ' It 
 becomes fluid in boiling water, but brittle when cooled again. It sparkles and burns at 
 the flame of a candle; but this being the effect of a volatile oil the combustion soon 
 
 Resin soluble in cold alcohol 
 
 _ 
 
 75-28. 
 
 Resin insoluble in boiling 
 
 alcohol 
 
 
 20-86 
 
 It dissolves readily and completely iu cold essence of turpentine, and forms a eooc 
 
 varnish. M. Guibourt refers the 
 
 origin of this 
 
 resin to the Dammara selanica of 
 
 Rumphius. Of the preceding resins 
 
 , 100 parts have left respectively 
 
 
 
 
 Insoluble in 
 
 
 , 
 
 Alcohol of 0-830. 
 
 Ether. 
 
 
 Hard copal, or anime 
 
 65-71 
 
 60-83 
 
 111 
 
 Tender copal 
 
 43-63 
 
 27-50 
 
 75-76 
 
 Dammar puti 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 Dammar aromatic 
 
 3-0 
 
 
 
 93 
 
 Dammar austral 
 
 - 43-33 
 
 36-66 
 
 80 
 
 Dammar slightly aromatic 
 
 , - 87-00 
 
 1700 
 
 87 
 
 Dammar friable 
 
 - 20-86 
 
 200 
 
 
RHODIUM. 553 
 
 RESIN, KAURI or COWDEE, is a new and very peculiar substance, recently im 
 ported in considerable quantities from New Zealand, which promises to be useful in the 
 arts. It oozes from the trunk of a noble tree called Dammara australis, or Pirms kq/ari^ 
 which rises sometimes to the height of 90 feet without a branch, with a diameter of 12 feet, 
 and furnishes a log of heart timber of 11 feet. The resin, which is called Cowdee gum 
 by the importers, is brought to us in pieces varying in size ~om that of a nutmeg to a 
 olock of 2 or 3 cwts. The color varies from milk-white to amber, or even deep brown ; 
 some pieces are transparent and colorless. In hardness it is intermediate between copal 
 and resin. The white milky pieces are somewhat fragrant, like elemi. Specific gravity, 
 1-04 to 1-06. It is very inflammable, burns all away with a clear bright flame, but does 
 not drop. When cautiously fused, it concretes into a transparent hard tough mass, like 
 shellac. It affords a fine varnish with alcohol, being harder and less colored than mastic, 
 while it is as soluble, and may be had probably at oni enth of the price. A solution in 
 alcohol, mixed with one fourth of its bulk of a solution In oil of turpentine, "rrms an 
 excellent varnish, which dries quickly, is quite colorless, clear and hard. It is insoluble 
 in pyro-aeetic (pyroxilic ?) spirit. Combined with shellac and turpentine, it forms a good 
 sealing-wax. 
 REVERBERATORY FURNACE ; see Copper, Iron, and Soda. 
 RETORT. For producing coal gas, there are many modifications, varying in dimension 
 and shape with the caprice of the constructor, and in many cases without any definite idea 
 of the principle to be aimed at. 
 They may be divided into three general classes : 
 
 1st.' The circular retort, from twelve to twenty inches in diameter, and from six to 
 nine feet in length. This retort is used in Manchester and some other places, in gene- 
 ral for the distillation of cannel, or Scotch parrot coal. It answers for the distillation 
 of a coal which retains its form in lumps, and is advantageous only from the facility 
 with which its position is changed, when partially destroyed by the action of fire on the 
 tinder side. 
 
 2d." The small or London d retort, so called in consequence of its having first been 
 used by the chartered company in London, being still in use at their works, and re- 
 commended by their engineer. This retort is 12 inches broad on the base, 11 inches high, 
 and 7 feet long, carbonizing one and a half to two bushels at a charge. 
 
 3rd. The York D retort, (so called in consequence of its having been introduced 
 by Mr. Outhit, of York,) and the modifications of it, among which I should include the 
 elliptic retort, as having the same general purpose in-'view. The difference between the 
 London and York D retorts, consists only in an extension of surface upon which the coal 
 is spread. See Gas-light. 
 
 Clay retorts for gas works. Mr. Joseph Cowan, of Newcastle, has much improved 
 the quality of clay retorts, by mixing in their composition with Newcastle fire clay, 
 or any other good fire clay of the coal measures, sawdust, pulverised coke, or carbon 
 obtained from the inside of gas iron retorts, i&c, in such proportion as the nature 
 of the clay may require. The more aluminous the clay, the more carbonaceous mat- 
 ters is needed, to take away their tendency to crack by great or unequal shrinkage. 
 He uses a wooden cylindrical box or chamber as a mould, into which the plastic clay 
 mixture is to be introduced through a man hole at the top. There is a core made 
 towards one end, to the figure of the required internal form of the retort, the other 
 part of the core being cylindrical and hollow, for the sake of lightness in the 
 pattern. This core is placed concentrically within the cylindrical box or. chamber, 
 and is made fast thereon by a stud and key to the end plate of the, cylinder. A 
 circular plate acts as a piston within the cylinder, sliding over the core for the pur- 
 pose of compressing the clay compost ; which piston has several rods affixed to it, 
 whereby mechanical force may be applied to drive the pistons forwards, in order to 
 condense the clay into every part of the mould, which is shown by small portions 
 of the clay oozing out of what he calls the nose piece of the mould, or end of the 
 intended retort, which has for its transverse sectional figure that of the letter D ; but 
 to this form the patentee does not confine himself. Figures illustrative of the mould 
 are given in Newton's Journal, xxvi. Plate II. fig. 1. 
 RHINE WINES. See Wine. 
 
 RHODIUM, is a metal discovered by Dr. Wollaston in 1803, in the ore of platinum. 
 It is contained to the amount of three per cent, in the platinum ore of Antioqnia in 
 Colombia, near Barbacoas ; it occurs in the Ural ore, and alloyed with gold in Mexico. 
 The palladium having been precipitated from the muriatic solution of the platinum ore 
 previously saturated with soda by the cyanide of mercury, muriatic acid is to be poured 
 into the residuary liquid, and the mixture is to be evaporated to dryness, to expel the 
 hydrocyanic acid, and convert the metallic salts into chlorides. The dry mass is to be 
 reduced to a very fine powder, and washed with alcohol of specific gravity 0-837. This 
 jolvent takes possession of the double chlorides which the sodium forms with the plati 
 
554 
 
 EICE CLEANING. 
 
 num, iridium, copper, and mercury, and does not dissolve the double chloride of rhodium 
 and sodium, but leaves it in the form of a powder, of a fine dark-red color. This salt 
 being washed with alcohol, and then exposed to a very strong heat, affords the rhodium. 
 But a better mode of reducing the metal upon the small scale, consists in heating the dou- 
 ble chloride gently in a glass tube, while a stream of hydrogen passes over it, and then to 
 wash away the chloride of sodium with water. 
 
 Rhodium resembles platinum in appearance. Any heat which can be produced in a 
 chemical furnace is incapable of fusing it ; and the only way of giving it cohesive solid- 
 ity, is to calcine the sulphuret or arseniuret of rhodium in an open vessel at a white 
 heat, till all the sulphur or arsenic be expelled. A button may thus be obtained, some- 
 what spongy, having the color and lustre of silver. According to Wollaston, the 
 specific gravity of rhodium is 1 1. It is insoluble by itself in any acid ; but when an 
 alloy of it with certain metals, as platinum, copper, bismuth, or lead, is treated with 
 aqua regia, the rhodium dissolves along with the other metals; but. when alloyed with 
 gold or silver it will not dissolve along with them. It may, however, be rendered very 
 soluble by mixing it in the state of a fine powder with chloride of potassium or sodium, 
 and heating the mixture to a dull-red heat, in a stream of chlorine gas. It thns forms a 
 triple salt, very soluble in water. The solutions of rhodium are of a beautiful rose color, 
 whence its name. In the dry way, it dissolves by heat in bisulphate of potassa ; and 
 disengages sulphurous acid gas in the act of solution. There are two oxydes of rhodium. 
 Rhodium combines with almost all the metals ; and, in small quantity, melted with steel, 
 it has been supposed to improve the hardness, closeness, and toughness of this metal. 
 Its chief use at present is for making the inalterable nibs of the so-named rhodium pens. 
 
 RIBBON MANUFACTURE, is a modification of Weaving, which see. 
 
 RICE, of Carolina, analyzed by Braconnot, was found to be composed of starch 
 8507, of gluten S^O, of gum 0'71, of uncrystallizable sugar 0'29, of a colourless rancid 
 (at like suet 0'13, of vegetable fibre 4-8, of salts with potash and lime bases - 4, and 50 
 of water. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 ■ Imported. 
 
 Entered for Home 
 Consumption. 
 
 Duty receivod. 
 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 cwts. 
 785,451 
 745,736 
 
 qrs. 
 37,160 
 31,481 
 
 Rice. 
 
 cwts. 
 435,961 
 399,170 
 
 Bice in the husk. 
 
 qrs. 
 
 36,430 
 
 28,291 
 
 £ 
 
 12,789 
 11,013 
 
 £ 
 
 1821 
 1414 
 
 Rice Paper, as it is called, on which the Chinese and Hindoos paint flowers so prettily, 
 is a membrane of the bread-fruit tree, the Artocarpus inci&ifolia of naturalists. 
 
 RICE CLEANING. Various machines have been contrived for effecting this purpose, 
 of which the following, secured by patent to Mr. Melvil Wilson, in 1826, may be regarded 
 as a good specimen. It consists of an oblong hollow cylinder, laid in an inclined position, 
 having a great many teeth stuck in its internal surface, and a central shaft also furnished 
 with teeth. By the rapid revolution of the shaft, its teeth are carried across the intervals 
 of those of the cylinder with the effect of parting the grains of rice, and detaching what- 
 ever husks or impurities may adhere to them. A hopper is set above to receive the rice, 
 and conduct it down into the cleansing cylinder. 
 
 About 80 teeth are supposed to be set in the cylinder, projecting so as to reach very 
 nearly the central shaft ; in which there is a corresponding number of teeth, that pass 
 freely between the former. 
 
 The cylinder is shown inclined in the figure which accompanies the specification ; but 
 it may be placed also upright or horizontal, and may be mounted in any convenient 
 frame-work. The central shaft should be put in rapid rotation, while the cylinder 
 receives a slow motion in the opposite direction. The rice, as cleaned by that action, is 
 discharged at the lower end of the cylinder, where it falls into a sbute (shoot), and is 
 conducted to the ground. The machine may be driven by hand, or by any other conve- 
 nient power. 
 
 Rice consists chiefly of starch, and therefore cannot by itself make a proper bread. It 
 is used in the cotton factories to form weavers' dressings for warps. The Chinese 
 reduce its flower into a pulp with hot water, and mould it into figures and plates 
 lvhich they afterwards harden and ornament with engravings, resembling those ol 
 
RIVETTING-MACHINE. 
 
 555 
 
 mother-of-pearl. When a decoction of rice is fermented and distilled, it affords the 
 sort of ardent spirit called arrack in the East Indies. 
 RIFLE. See Fire Abms. 
 
 RINSING MACHINE, is one of those ingenious automatic contrivances foi 
 economizing labour, and securing uniformity of action, now so common in the factories 
 of Lancashire. Fig. 1208 is a longitudinal middle section of an approved mechanism foi 
 rinsing pieces of calico dyed with spirit or fancy colours, and which require more delicate 
 treatment than is compatible with hand-washing, a e f b is a wooden cistern, about 
 21 feet long, 4 feet high at one end, 2 feet at the other, and of the ordinary width of 
 
 calico cloth. It is divided transversely into a 
 series of equal compartments by partitions, de- 
 creasing in height from the upper to the lower 
 end, the top of each of them, however, being an 
 inch at least under the top of the enclosing side %d 
 at its line of junction. Above the highest end 
 of the trough, a pair of squeezing rollers is 
 mounted at e ; the lower one having a. pulley 
 upon the end of its shaft, for turning it, by 
 means of a band from one of the driving-shafts 
 of the factory ; and the upper one is pressed 
 down upon it by weighted levers acting on the 
 ends of its axis. The roller above the second 
 highest partition has also a pair of squeezing 
 rollers, with a weighted lever d. The pieces of 
 cloth, stitched endwise, being laid upon a plat- 
 form to the right hand of the cistern, are intro- 
 duced over the roller A, passed down under the 
 roller beneath it, and so up and down in a ser- 
 pent-like path, from the lowest compartment of 
 the cistern to the uppermost, being drawn 
 through the series by the traction of the rotatory 
 roller at a. While the long web is thus pro- 
 ceeding upwards from A to E, a stream of pure 
 water is made to flow along in the opposite di- 
 rection from b to A, running over the top of each 
 partition in a thin sheet. By this contrivance, 
 the goods which enter at a, having much loose 
 colour upon their surface, impregnate the water 
 strongly, but as they advance they continually 
 get cleaner by the immersion and pressure of the 
 successive rollers, being exposed to purer water, 
 till at last they reach the limpid stream, and are 
 discharged at B, perfectly bright. The rinsing 
 operation may be modified by varying the quan- 
 tity of water admitted, the speed with which the 
 pieces are drawn through the cells, or the pres- 
 sure upon the series of top rollers. 
 RIVETTING MACHINE of Fairbaim. The invention of the rivetting machine 
 originated in a turn-out of the boiler-makers in the employ of that great engineer about 
 fifteen years ago. On that occasion an attempt was made to rivet two plates together 
 by compressing the red-hot rivet in the ordinary punching-press. The success of this 
 experiment immediately led to the construction of the original machine, in which the 
 moveable die was forced upon the rivet by a powerful lever acted upon by a cam, 
 A short experience .proved the original machine inadequate to the numerous require- 
 ments of the boiler-maker's trade, and the present form was therefore adopted about 
 twelve years since. 
 
 The large stem, a, is made of malleable iron, and, having an iron strap js b, screwed 
 round the base, it renders the whole perfectly safe in case of the dies coming in contact 
 with a cold rivet, or any other hard substance, during the process. Its construction alsc 
 allows the workman to rivet angle iron along the edges, and to finish the corners of 
 boilers, tanks, and cisterns; and the stem being now made 4 feet 6 inches high, it 
 renders the machine more extensive in its application, and allows of its rivetting the fire- 
 box of a locomotive boiler or any other work within the given depth. 
 
 In addition to these parts, it has a broad moving slide, c, in which are three dies corre- 
 sponding with others in the wrought iron stem. By using the centre die, every descrip- 
 tion of flat and circular work can be riveted, and by selecting those on the sides, it will 
 rivet the corners, and thus complete vessels of almost every shape. This machine is in 
 
566 
 
 RIVETTING-MACHINE. 
 
 ,1 2 3 4 ^r- 5 -» 6 ~ 7 
 ''■'"■ l ' 1 Ui 1 1 1 1— 
 
 ii portable form, and can be moved off rails with care to suit the article suspended from 
 the shears. 
 
 The introduction of the knee-joint gives to the dies a variable motion and causes the 
 greatest force to be exerted at a proper time, viz. at the closing of the joint and 
 finishing of the head of the rivet. 
 
 In other respects the machine operates as before, effecting by an almost instantaneous 
 pressure what is performed in the ordinary mode by a long series of impacts. The 
 machine fixes in the firmest manner, and completes eight rivets of £ inch diameter in a 
 minute, with the attendance of two men and boys to the plates and rivets ; whereas the 
 average work that can be doDe by two riveters, with one " holder on" and a boy is 40J 
 
ROPE-MAKING. 557 
 
 .ach rivets per hour ; the quantity done in two cases being in the proportion of 40 to 480, 
 or as 1 to 12j exclusive of the saving of one man's labour. The cylinder of an ordinary 
 locomotive engine boiler 8 feet 6 inches long and 3 feet diameter can be riveted and the 
 plates fitted completely by the machine in 4 hours ; whilst to execute the same work by 
 hand would require with an extra man twenty hours. The work produced by the machine 
 is likewise of a superior kind to that made in the ordinary manner ; the rivets being found 
 stronger, and the boilers more free from leakage, and more perfect in every respect. The 
 riveting is done without noise, and thus is almost entirely removed the constant deafening 
 clamour of the boiler-maker's hammer. 
 
 ROCKETS. M. de Montgery, captain of a frigate in the French service, has written a 
 Traitl mr Us Fusses de Ghterre, in which he discusses the merits of the Congreve rockets, and 
 describes methods of imitating them. As the subject of military projectiles is foreign to 
 this Dictionary, I refer my readers to the above work, which is commended by the editor 
 of the Dictionnaire Technologique. 
 
 ROLLING-MILL. See Ikon, Mint, and Plated Manufactuee. 
 
 ROOFING, ASPHALTE. Patent asphalte roofing felt, particularly applicable for 
 warm climates. It is a non-conductor. It is portable, being packed in rolls, and not 
 being liable to damage in> carriage, it effects a saving of half the timber usually required. 
 It can be easily applied by any unpractised person. From its lightness, weighing only 
 about 42 lbs. to the square of 100 feet, the cost of cartage is small. The felt can be laid 
 on from gable to gable, or across the roof from eaves to eaves. It is essential that it 
 should be stretched tight and smooth, overlapping full one inch at the joinings, and 
 closely nailed through the overlap, with twopenny fine clout nails, (heated in a shovel 
 and thrown when hot into grease to prevent rust,) about 1J inches apart, but copper 
 nails are preferable. 
 
 The whole roof must have a good coating of coal-tar and lime, (about two gallons of 
 the former to six pounds of the latter), well boiled together, kept constantly stirring 
 while boiling, and put on hot with a common tar mop, and while it is soft some coarse 
 sharp sand may be sifted over it. The coating must be. renewed every fourth or fifth 
 year, or more or less frequently according to the climate. . The gutters should be made 
 of two folds, one over the other, cemented together with the boiling mixture. 
 
 ROPE-MAKING. The fibres of hemp which compose a rope, seldom exceed in length 
 three feet and a half, at an average. They must, therefore, be twined together so as to 
 unite them into one ; and this union is effected by the mutual circumtorsion of the two 
 fibres. If the compression thereby produced be too great, the strength of the fibres at the 
 points where they join will be diminished ; so that it becomes a matter of great consequence 
 to give them only such a degree of twist as is essential to their union. 
 
 The first part of the process of rope-making by hand, is that of spinning the yarns or 
 threads, which is done in a manner analogous to that of ordinary spinning. The spin- 
 ner carries a bundle of dressed hemp round his waist ; the two ends of the bundle being 
 assembled in front. Having drawn out a proper number of fibres with his hand, he 
 twists them with his fingers, and fixing this twisted part to the hook of a whirl, which 
 is driven by a wheel put in motion by an assistant, he walks backwards down the rope, 
 walk, the twisted part always serving to draw out more fibres from the bundle round 
 his waist, as in the flax-spinning wheel. The spinner takes care that these fibres are 
 equably supplied, and that they always enter the twisted parts by their ends, and never 
 by their middle. As soon as he has reached the termination of the walk, a second spin- 
 ner takes the yarn off the whirl, and gives it to another person to put upon a reel, while 
 he himself attaches his own hemp to the whirl hook, and proceeds down the walk. When 
 the person at the reel begins to turn, the first spinner, who has completed his yarn, holds 
 it firmly at the end, and advances slowly up the walk, while the reel is turning, keeping 
 it equally tight all the way, till he reaches the reel, where he waits till the second spinner 
 takes his yarn off the whirl hook, and joins it to the end of that of the first spinner, in 
 order that it may follow it on the reel. 
 
 The next part of the process previous to tarring, is that of warping the yarns, or 
 stretching them all to one length, which is about 200 fathoms in full-length rope-grounds, 
 and also in putting a slight turn or twist into them. 
 
 The third process in rope-making, is the tarring of the yarn. Sometimes the yarns 
 are made to wind off one reel, and, having passed through a vessel of hot tar, are wound 
 upon another, the superfluous tar being removed by causing the yarn to pass through a 
 hole surrounded with spongy oakum ; but the ordinary method is to tar it in skeins or 
 hanks, which are drawn by a capstan with a uniform motion through the tar-kettle. In 
 this process, great care must be taken that the tar is boiling neither too fast nor too slow. 
 Yarn for cables requires more tar than for hawser-laid ropes j and for standing and run- 
 ning rigging, it requires to be merely well covered. Tarred cordage has been found to 
 he weaker than what is untarred, when it is new ; but the tarred rope is not so easilj 
 injured by immersion in waier. 
 
558 ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 The last part of the process of rope-making, is to lay the coidage. For this purpose 
 two or more yarns are attached at one end to a hook. The hook is then turned the con- 
 trary way from the twist of the individual yarn, and thus forms what is called a strand. 
 Three strands, sometimes four, besides a central one, are then stretched at length, ana 
 attached at one end to three contiguous but separate hooks, but at the other end to a 
 single hook; and the process of combining them together, which is effected by turning 
 the single hook in a direction contrary to that of the other three, consists in so regulating 
 the progress of the twists of the strands round their common axis, that the three strand? 
 receive separately at their opposite ends just as much twist as is taken out of them bj 
 their twisting the contrary way, in the process of combination. 
 
 Large ropes are distinguished into two main classes, the cable-laid and hawser-laid. 
 The former are composed of nine strands, namely, three great strands, each of these con- 
 sisting of three smaller secondary strands, which are individually formed with an equal 
 number of primitive yarns. A cableJaid rope eight inches in circumference, is made up 
 of 333 yarns or threads, equally divided among the nine secondary strands. A hawser-laid 
 rope consists of only three strands, each composed of a number of primitive yarns, propor. 
 tioned to the size of the rope ; for example, if it be eight inches in circumference, it may 
 have 414 yarns, equally divided among three strands. Thirty fathoms of yarn are reck- 
 oned equivalent in length to eighteen fathoms of rope cable-laid, and to twenty fathoms 
 hawser-laid. Ropes of from one inch to two inches and a half in circumference are usu- 
 ally hawser-laid ; of from three to ten inches, are either hawser or cable-laid ; but when 
 more than ten inches, they are always cable-laid. 
 
 Every hand-spinner in the dock-yard is required to spin, out of the best hemp, six 
 threads, each 160 fathoms long, -for a quarter of a day's work. A hawl of yarn, in the 
 warping process, contains 336 threads. 
 
 The following are Captain Huddart's improved principles of the rope manufacture : — 
 
 1. To keep the yams separate from each other, and to draw them from bobbins revolv 
 ing upon skewers, so as to maintain the twist while the strand or primary cord is forming. 
 
 2. To pass them through a register, which divides them by circular shells of holes; 
 the number in each concave shell being conformable to the distance from the centre of 
 the strand, and the angle which the yarns make with a line parallel to it, and which gives 
 them a proper position to enter. 
 
 3. To employ a tube for compressing the strand, and preserving the cylindrical figure 
 of its surface. 
 
 4. To use a gauge for 'determining the angle which the yarns in the outside shell 
 make with a line parallel to the centre of the strand, when registering-; because accord- 
 ing to the angle made by the yarns in this shell, the relative lengths of ajl the yarns in 
 the strand will be determined. 
 
 5. To harden up the strand, and thereby increase the angle in the outside shell ; which 
 compensates for the stretching of the yarns, and the compression of the strands. 
 
 A great many patents have been obtained, and worked with various degrees of success, 
 for making ropes. Messrs. Cartwright, Fothergill, Curr, Chapman, Balfour, and Hud- 
 dart, have been tne most conspicuous inventors in this country ; but the limits of this 
 work preclude us doing justice to their respective merits. 
 
 All the improvements in the manufaeture of cordage at present in use, either in hei 
 Majesty's yards or in private rope-grounds, owe their superiority over the old method 
 of making cordage to Captain Huddart's invention of the register plate and tube. 
 
 Mr. Balfour took ou'. a patent for the manufacture of cordage about a month before 
 Captain Huddart ; but the formation of his strand was to be accomplished by what he 
 called a top minor (in the form of a common top, with pins t3 divide the yarns), which 
 upon trial could not make cordage so good as by the common mode. On seeing Cap- 
 tain Huddart's specification, Mr. Balfour, five years after, procured another patent, in 
 which he included a plate and tube, but which was not sufficiently correct, and ex- 
 perience in the navy proved the insufficiency of the cordage. Captain Huddart's 
 plate and tube were then adopted in the king's yards, and he gave his assistance for the 
 purpose. 
 
 Captain Huddart then invented and took a patent for a machine, which by registering 
 the strand at a short length from the tube, and winding it up as made, preserved a uni- 
 formity of twist, or angle of formation, from end to end of the rope, which cannot be ac- 
 complished by the method of forming the strands down the ground, where the twist is 
 communicated from one end to the other of an elastic body upwards of 300 yards in 
 length. This registering-machine was constructed with such correctness, that when 
 some were afterwards required, no alteration could be made with advantage by the most 
 skilful and scientific mechanic of that day, Mr. Rennie. Thus the cold register was car 
 ried to the greatest perfection. 
 
 A number of yarns cannot he put together in a cold state, without considerable 
 vacancies, into which wate/ may gain admission ; Captain Huddart, therefore, formed thi 
 
ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 559 
 
 yarns into a strand immediately as they came from the tar-kettle, which he was enabled 
 to do by his registering-machine, and the result was most satisfactory. This combination 
 of yarns was found by experiment to be 14 per cent, stronger than the cold register ; it con- 
 stituted a body of hemp and tar impervious to water,, and had great advantage over any 
 other cordage, particularly for shrouds, as after they were settled on the mast-head, and 
 properly set up, they had scarcely any tendency to stretch, effectually secured the mast, 
 and enabled the ship to carry the greatest press of sail. 
 
 In order more effectually to obtain correctness in the formation of cables and large 
 cordage, Captain Huddart constructed a laying-machine, which has carried his inventions 
 in rope-making to the greatest perfection, and which, founded on true mathematical prin- 
 ciples, and the most laborious calculations, is one of the noblest monuments of mechanical 
 ability since the improvement of the steam-engine by Mr. Watt. By this machine, the 
 strands receive that degree of twist only which is necessary, and are laid at any angle 
 with the greatest regularity ; the pressure is regulated to give the required elasticity, and 
 all parts of the rope are made to bear equally. In no one instance has a rope or cable 
 thus formed been found defective in the lay, or stiff, or difficult to coil. 
 
 Such a revolution in the manufacture of cordage could not be accomplished without 
 great expense, as the works at Limehouse fully testify ; and considerable opposition 
 necessarily arose. Captain Huddart's first invention was, however, generally adopted, 
 as soon as the patent expired ; and experience has established the great importance of 
 his subsequent improvements. 
 
 His cordage has been supplied in large quantities to her Majesty's navy, and has re- 
 ceived the most satisfactory reports. 
 
 The following description of one of the best modern machines for making ropes on 
 Captain Huddart's plan, will gratify the intelligent reader. 
 
 Fig. 1211 exhibits a side elevation of the tackle-board and bobbin-frame at the head 
 
 of the ropeiy, and also of the carriage or rope-machine in the act of hauling oat *ui' 
 twisting the strands. 
 
 jF'ig.l212is a front elevation of the carriage. 
 
 Fig. 1213is a yarn-guide, or board, or plate, with perforated holes for the yarns to pass 
 through before entering the nipper. 
 
 Figs. 1214andl215 are side and front views of the nipper for pressing the rope- 
 yarns. 
 
 l. '<z the frame for containing the yarn bobbins. The yarns are brought from ttie 
 frame, and pass through a yarn-guide at b. c is a small roller, under which the rope- 
 yarns pass ; they are then brought over the reel d, and through another yarn-guide e, 
 after which they enter the nippers at v, and are drawn out and formed into strands by 
 the carriage. The roller and reel may be made to traverse up and down, so as to regulate 
 the motion of the yarns. 
 
 The carriage runs on a railway. /,/, is the frame of the carriage ; g, g, are the small 
 wheels on which it is supported ; k, k, is an endless rope, reaching from the head to 
 
 1212 
 
 the bottom of the railway, and is driven by a steam-engine; 
 77i, m, is a wheel with gubs at the back of it, over which the 
 endless rope passes, and gives motion to the machinery of the 
 carriage. . n, is the ground rope for taking out the carriage, 
 as will be afterwards described. On the shaft of m, m, are 
 two bevel wheels 3, 3, with a shifting catch between them; 
 these bevel wheels are loose upon the shaft, but when the 
 catch is put into either of them, this last then keeps motion 
 with the shaft, while the other runs loose. One of these 
 wheels serves to communicate the twist to the strand in 
 drawing out ; the other gives the opposite or after turn to 
 the rope in closing. 4, 4, is a lever for shifting the catch 
 accordingly. 5, is a third bevel wheel, which receives its 
 
560 ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 1213 motion from either of the other two, and communicates the 
 
 same to the two spur wheolb 6, 6, by means of the shaft x. 
 These can be shifted at pleasure ; so that by applying wheels 
 
 e"j=} of a greater or less number of teeth above and beneath, the 
 
 ! I 1215 twist given to the strands can be increased or diminished 
 U accordingly. The upper of these two communicates motion, 
 
 by means of the shaft o, to another spur wheel 8, which working in the three pinions 
 above, 9, 9, gives the twist to the strand hooks. 
 
 The carriage is drawn out in the following manner. On the end of the shaft of m, m, 
 is the pinion 3, which, working in the large wheel b, gives motion to the ground-rope 
 shaft upon its axis. In the centre of this shaft is a curved pulley or drum t, round 
 which the ground-rope takes one turn. This rope is fixed at the head and foot of the 
 ropery ; so that when the machinery of the carriage is set a-going by the endless rope k, 
 k, and gives motion to the ground-rope shaft, as above described, the carriage will neces- 
 sarily move along the railway ; and the speed may be regulated either by the diameter of 
 the circle formed by the gubs on the wheel m, m, or by the number of teeth in the pinion 
 3. At t, is a small roller, merely for preventing the ground-rope from coming up among 
 the machinery. At the head of the railway, and under the tackle-board, is a wheel and 
 pinion z, with a crank for tightening the ground-rope. The fixed machinery at the head, 
 for hardening or tempering the strands, is similar to that on the carriage, with the ex- 
 ception of the ground-rope gear, which is unnecessary. The motion is communicated by 
 another endless rope (or short band, as it is called, to distinguish it from the other), 
 which passes over gubs at the back of the wheel 1, 1. 
 
 When the strands are drawn out by the carriage to the requisite length, the spur wheels 
 3, K, are put out of gear. The strands are cut at the tackle-board, and fixed to the 
 hooks 1, 1, 1 ; after which they are hardened or tempered, being twisted at both ends. 
 When this operation is finished, three strands are united on the large hook h, the top put 
 in, and the rope finished in the usual Way. 
 
 In preparing the hemp for spinning and ordinary fhread or rope yarn, it is only heckled 
 over a large keg or clearer, until the fibres are straightened and separated, so as to run 
 freely in the spinning. In this case, the hemp is not stripped of the tow, or cropped, unless 
 it is designed to spin beneath the usual grist, which is about 20 yarns for the strand 
 of a three-inch strap-laid rope. The spinning is still performed by hand, being found 
 not only to be more economical, but also to make a smoother thread, than has yet been 
 effected by machinery. Various ways have been tried for preparing the yarns for 
 tarring. That which seems now to be most generally in use, is, to warp the yarns upon 
 the stretch as they are spun. This is accomplished by having a wheel at the foot, as 
 well as the head of the walk, so that the men are able to spin both up and down> and 
 also to splice their threads at both ends. By this means, they are formed into a haul, 
 resemb ing the warp of a common web, and a little turn is hove into the haul, to pre- 
 serve it from getting foul in the tarring. The advantages of warping from the spin- 
 ners, as above, instead of winding on winches, as formerly, are, 1 st, the saving of this 
 last operation altogether; 2dly, the complete check which the foreman has of the 
 quantity of yarn spun in the day ; 3dly, that the quality of the work can be subjected 
 to the minutest inspection at any time. In tarring the yarn, it is found favorable to 
 the fairness of the strip, to allow it to pass around or under a reel or roller in the 
 bottom of the kettle while boiling, instead of coiling the yarn in by hand. The tar is then 
 pressed from the yarn, by means of a sliding nipper, with a lever over the upper part, and 
 to the end of which the necessary weight is suspended. The usual proportion of tar in 
 ordinary ropes, is something less than a fifth. In large strap-laid ropes, which are ne- 
 cessarily subjected to a greater press in the laying of them, the quantity of tar can scarcely 
 exceed a sixth, without injuring the appearance of the rope when laid. 
 
 For a long period, the manner of laying the yarns into ropes, was by stretching the 
 haul on the rope-ground, parting the number of yarns required for each strand} and 
 "wisting the strands at both ends, by means of hand-hooks, or cranks. It will be 
 jbvious that this method, especially in ropes of any considerable size, is attended with 
 serious disadvantages. The strand must always be very uneven ; but the principal dis- 
 idvantage, and that which gave rise to the many attempts at improvement, was, that 
 ;he yarns being all of the same length before being twisted, it Mowed, when the rope 
 was finished, that while those which, occupied the circumference of the strand were per- 
 fectly tight, the centre yarns, on the other hand, as they were now greatly slackened by 
 the operation of hardening or twisting the strands, wguU actually bear little or no part 
 if the strain when the rope was stretched, until the former gave way. The method 
 lisplayed in the preceding figures and description, is among the latest and most 
 improved. Every yarn is given out from the bobbin frame as it is required in twist- 
 ing the rope ; and the twist communicated in the out-going of the carriage, can be in- 
 creased or diminished at pleasure. In order to obtain a smooth and well-filled strand, 
 
ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 561 
 
 it 13 necessary also, in passing the yarns through the upper board, to proportion the 
 number of centre to that of outside yarns. In ordinary sized ropes, the strand seems to 
 have the fairest appearance, when the outside yarns form from Jd to £ the of the whole 
 quantity, in the portion of twist given by the carriage in drawing out and forming the 
 strands. 
 
 In laying cables, torsion must be given both behind and before the laying top. Fig3, 
 1216, 17, 18. represent the powerful patent apparatus employed for this purpose. A, is 
 
 1216 
 
 a strong upright iron pillar, supported upon the great horizontal beam N, », and bearing 
 at its upper end the three-grooved' laying top m. h, h, are two of the three great 
 bobbins or reels round which the three secondary strands or small hawsers are wound. 
 These are drawn up by the rotation of the three feeding rollers, I, i, i, thence proceed 
 over the three guide pulleys k, k, k, towards the laying top M, and finally pass through 
 the tube o, to be wound upon the cable-reel d. The frames of the three bobbins n, h,°h, 
 do not revolve about the fast pillar a, as a common axis ; but each bobbin revolves round' 
 its own shaft Q, which is steadied by a bracing collet at N, and a conical step at its 
 bottom. The three bobbins are placed at an angle of 120 degrees apart, and each 
 receives ... rotatory motion upon its axis from the toothed spur wheel b, which is driven 
 by the common central spur wheel o. Thus each of the three secondary cords has a 
 proper degree of twist put into it in one direction, while the cable is laid, by getting a 
 suitable degree of twist in an opposite direction, from the revolution of the frame or cace 
 G, o, round two pivots, the one under the pulley e, and the other over o. The reel°D 
 has thus, like the bobbins h, h, two movements; that in common with its frame, and 
 that upon its axis, produced by the action of the endless band round the pulley e, 'upon 
 one of its ends, and the pulley e' above its centre of rotation. The pulley e is driven by 
 the bevel mill-gearing r, p, r, as also the under spur wheel o. l, iii Jig. 1218, is the place of 
 the ring, i,,fig. 1216 which bears the three guide pulleys a, z, k. Fig. 121"? is an end 
 view of the bobbin h, to show the worm or endless screw J, oifig. 1218, workinu- into the 
 two snail-toothed wheels, upon the ends of the two feed-rollers i, l, which serve to turn 
 hem. The upright shafts of j, j, receive their motion from pulleys and cords near their 
 Vol. II. 37 l J 
 
562 
 
 ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 bottom. Instead of these pulleys, and the others e, e', bevel-wheel gcering has bcea 
 substituted with advantage, not being liable to slip, like the pulley-band mechanism. 
 The axis of the great reel is made twice the length of the bobbin d, in order to allow of 
 the latter moving from right to left, and back again alternately, in winding on the cable 
 with uniformity as it is laid. The traverse mechanism of this part is, for the sake of 
 perspicuity, suppressed in the figure. 
 
 Mr. William Norvell, of Newcastle, obtained a patent in May, 1833, for an improve 
 ment adapted to the ordinary machines employed for twisting hempen yarns into 
 strands, affording; it is said, a simpler and more eligible mode of accomplishing that 
 object, and also of laying the strands together, than has been hitherto effected by 
 machinery: The yarns spun from the fibres of hemp are wound upon bobbins, and 
 these bobbins are mounted upon axles, and hung in the frameof the machine, as shown 
 in the elevation, /jr. 1219, from which bobbins the several ends of yarn are passed upwards 
 through slanting tubes; by the rotation of which tubes, and .of the carriages in which 
 the bobbins are suspended, the yarns become twisted into strands, and also the strands 
 are laid so as to form ropes. 
 
 His improvements consist, first, in the application of three or more tubes, two of 
 which are shown in Jig. 1219, placed in inclined positions, so as to receive the strands 
 immediately above the press-block a, a, and nearly 'a a line with a, the point of closing 
 or laying the rope, b 1 , and B a , are opposite side views ; b 2 , an edge view ; and B, a side 
 section of the same. He does not claim any exclusive right of patent for the tubes 
 themselves, but only for their form and angular position. 
 
 Secondly, in attaching two common flat sheaves, or pulleys, o 0, fig. 1219, to each 
 
 of the said tubes, nearly round which each strand is lapped or coiled, to prevent it from 
 slipping, as shown in the section b 1 . The said sheaves or pulleys are connected by a 
 crown or centre wheel d, loose upon 6, A, the main or upright axle ; e, e, is a smaller 
 wheel upon each tube, working into the said crown or centre"wheel, and fixed upon the 
 loose box i, on each of the tubes. 
 
 f, F, is a toothed or spur wheel, fixed also upon each of the loose boxes i, and working 
 into a smaller wheel g, upon the axis 2, of each tube ; h, is a bevel wheel fixed upon the 
 same axis with o, and working into another bevel wheel j, fixed upon the cross axle 3 
 of each tube; k, is a spur wheel attached to the same axis with j, at the opposite end, 
 nnd working into i, another spur wheel of the same size upon each of the tubes. By 
 wheels thus arranged and connected with the'sheaves or pulleys, as above described 
 a perfectly equal strain or tension is put upon each strand as drawn forward over the 
 pulley d 
 
ROPE-MAKING. 
 
 563 
 
 Thirdly, the invention consists in the introduction of change -wheels m, m, m, m, 
 fig. 1219., for putting the forehard or proper twist into each strand before the rope is 
 laid j this is effected by small spindles on axles 4, 4, placed parallel with the line of each 
 tube b. 
 
 Upon the lower end of each spindle the bevel wheels n, n, are attached, and driven 
 by other bevel wheels o, o, fixed immediately above each press-block a, a. On the 
 top end of each spindle or axle 4, 4, is attached one of the change wheels, working 
 into the other change wheel fixed upon the bottom end of each of the tubes, 
 whereby the forehard or proper twist in the strands for all sizes of ropes, is at once 
 attained, by simply changing the sizes of those two last described wheels, which can be 
 very readily effected, from the manner in which they are attached to the tubes b, b, and 
 4,4. 
 
 From the angular position of the tubes towards the centre, the strands are nearly in 
 contact at their upper ends, where the rope is laid, immediately below which the forehard 
 or proper twist is given to the strands. 
 
 Fourthly, in the application of a press-block p, of metal, in two parts, placed 
 directly above and close down to where the rope ;s laid at a, the inside of which is 
 polished, and the under end is bell-mouthed ; to prevent the rope from being chafed in 
 entering it, a sufficient grip or pressure is put upon the rope by one or two levers and 
 weights 5, 5, acting upon the press-block, so as to adjust any tiMing irregularity in the 
 strand or in the laying; the inside of which being polished, gives smoothness, and by 
 the said levers and weights, a proper tension to the rope, as it is drawn forward through 
 the press-block. By the application of this block, ropes may be made at once properly 
 stretched, rendering them decidedly preferable and extremely advantageous, particularly 
 for shipping, inclined planes, mines, &c. 
 
 The preceding description includes the whole of Mr. Norvell's improvements; the 
 remaining parts of the machine, being similar to those now in use, may be briefly 
 described as follows : — A wheel or pulley c, is fixed independently of the machine, over 
 which the rope passes to the drawing motion represented at the side ; d, d, is a grooved 
 wheel, round which the rope is passed, and pressed into the groove by means of the 
 lever and weight e, e, acting upon the binding sheaf/, to prevent the rope from slipping. 
 After the rope leaves the said sheave, it is coiled away at pleasure, g, g, are tw<5 change 
 wheels, for varying the speed of the grooved wheel d, d, to answer the various sizes of 
 ropes ; A, is a spiral wheel, driven by the screw k, fixed upon the axle I ; m, is a band- 
 wheel, which is driven by a belt from the shaft of the engine, or any other communicating 
 power j a, », is a friction strap and striking clutch. The axle g, is driven by two change 
 wheels.?, p; by changing the sizes of those wheels, the different speeds of the drum r, r, 
 for any sizes of ropes, are at once effected. 
 
 The additional axle s, and wheels t, t, shown in fig. 1220, are applied occasionally for 
 
 1220 
 
 -eversing the motion of the said drums, and making what is usually termed left-hand 
 ropes; u, figs. 1219., 1220., show a bevelled pinion, driving the main crown wheel v, .», 
 which wheel carries and gives motion to the drums b, k ; w, w, is a fixed or sun wheel, 
 which gives a reverse motion to the drums, as they revolve round the same, by means of 
 the intervening wheels x, x, x, whereby the reverse or retrograding motion is produced, 
 and whieh gives to the strands the right twist. The various retrograding motion or right 
 twist for all sizes and descriptions of ropes, may be obtained by changing the diameters 
 of the pinions y, y, y, on the under ends of the drum spindles ; the carriages of the inter- 
 vening wheels x, x, x, being made to slide round the ring 2, z: w, w, is the framework of 
 the machine and drawing motion ; t, t, t, are the bobbins containing the yarns ; their 
 number is varied to correspond with the different sizes of the machines. 
 
 The machine here described, in elevation and plan, is calculated to make ropes from 
 three to seven and one-half inches in circumference, and to an indefinite length. 
 
 Messrs. Chapman of Newcastle, to whom the art of rope-making is deeply indebted, hav- 
 'ng observed that rope yarn is considerably weakened by passing through the tar-kettle, 
 
564 
 
 ROSIN. 
 
 that tarred cordagfe loses its strength progressively in cold climates, and so rapidly ia 
 hot climates as to be scarcely fit for use in three years, discovered that the deterioration 
 was due to the reaction of the mucilage and acid of the tar. They accordingly proposec 
 the following means of amelioration. 1. Boiling it with water, in order to remove these 
 two soluble constituents. 2. Concentrating the washed tar by heat, till it becomes pitchy, 
 und then restoring the plasticity which it thereby loses, by the addition of tallow, or ani 
 naal or expressed oils. 
 
 In 1807, the same able engineers obtained a patent for a method of makuig a 
 belt or flat band 1 , of two, three, or more strands of shroud or hawser-laid rope, placed 
 side by side, so as to form a band of any desired breadth, which may be used for hoisting 
 the kibbles and corves in mine-shafts, without any risk of its losing twist by rotation. 
 The ropes should be laid with the twist of the one strand directed to the right hand, that 
 of the other to the left, and that of the yarns the opposite way to the strands, whereby 
 perfect flatness is secured to the band. This parallel assemblage of strands has been 
 found also to be stronger than when they are all twisted into one cylinder. The patentees 
 at the same time contrived a mechanism for piercing the strands transversely, in order to 
 brace them firmly together with twine. Flat ropes are usually formed of hawsers with 
 three strands, softly laid, each containing 33 yarns, which with four ropes, compose a cord- 
 age four and a half inches broad, and an inch and a quarter thick, being the ordinary di- 
 mensions of the grooves in the whim-pulleys round which they pass. 
 
 
 
 Relative Strength of Cobdage, shroud laid. 
 
 
 
 
 Size. 
 
 Warm Register. 
 
 Cold Register. 
 
 Common Staple. 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Cats. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Cms. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Cats. 
 
 Qrs. 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 3 inches bore - 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 — 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 3£ 
 
 __ 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 
 6 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 "1 
 
 __ 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 ft 
 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 n\ 
 
 „ 
 
 12 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 25 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 24 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 <H 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 21 
 
 7* 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 16 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 — 
 
 27 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 26 23 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 The above statement is the result of several hundred experiments. 
 
 ROPE, Exhibition. — Specimens of Smith's patent galvanized and ungalvanizpd iron 
 and copper wire ropes used for railway inclines, various mining operations, including 
 pit guides, suspension bridges, standing rigging, lightmng conductors, window and 
 conservatory sashes, fencing, and submarine telegraphs. 
 
 Iron wire ropes are of equal strength with a hempen rope of four times the weight, 
 and resist the wear and tear, they are subjected to in "running gear" twice as long. 
 If the surface of a wire rope be left in any part unprotected by some coating impene- 
 trable to moisture,' the internal fibres become in process of time oxidized, and unseen 
 decay goes forward. Iron cleaned by acid, and plunged into a bath containing melted 
 zinc, becomes coated with that metal, and the parts left unzinced alone rust. Iron thus 
 • treated is said to be galvanized. 
 
 Specimens of submarine telegraph wire rope. Round wire rope prepared for use. 
 The improvement is stated to consist in preventing the wires and strands from being 
 twisted on themselves in the process of laying them round Centre cores of hemp, in 
 giving an equal tension to each individual wire, and in preserving the interior surface 
 from corrosion by saturating the cores of hemp with tar, &c. 
 
 Sample of wire strand, used for fencing, signal cord, &c. Sample of wire ropes. 
 Wire rope for suspension bridges, and cable laid wire ropes. Wire ropes showing the 
 mode of splicing. Patent wire ropes for submarine telegraph; lightning conductor; 
 copper window-sash cord and picture cord. Patent flat wire rope, and guide rope fol 
 coal pits, Ac. Rope which has been at work constantly for five years. 
 
 ROSIN, or COLOPHANY (Galipot, Fr.; Fichtenharz, Germ.); is the rosin left 
 lifter distilling off the volatile oil from the different species of turpentine. Yellow rosin 
 contains some water, which black rosin does not. See Tubpentine. 
 
ROSIN GAS. 
 
 565 
 
 ROSIN GAS. Fig. 1221 exhibits the retort and its appendages, as erected by Messrs, 
 laylor al.d Martmeau, under the direction of the patentee, Professor Daniel, F. R. S 
 
 1 have introduced this manufacturing project, not as a pattern to imitate, but as ai? 
 example to deter ; as affording a very instructive lesson of the danger of rushing head- 
 long mto most extensive enterprises, without fully verifying, upon a moderate scale, the 
 probability of their ultimate success. The capital, labour, and time annually wasted 
 upon visionary schemes of this sort, got up by chamber chemists-, are incalculably great 
 Wo more essential service could be rendered to the cause of productive industry, than 
 to unmask the thousand and one chimerical inventions which disgrace our lists of 
 patents during the last thirty years. These remarks have been suggested by the circum- 
 stance, that 50,000/. were. squandered upon the rosin-gas concern; a fact communicated 
 to me by an eminent capitalist, who was induced by fallacious statements to embark 
 largely in the speculation. Had 100/. been employed beforehand, by a dispassionate 
 practical man, in making judicious trials, and in calculating the chances of eventual 
 profit and loss, it would have been demonstrated, as clearly as noon-dav, that rosin could 
 never compete with pitcoal in the production of gas-light. Whatever ingenuity was 
 expended in getting up the following apparatus, may be regarded as an additional ignis- 
 fatuus to mislead the public, and divert their thoughts from the abvss that lay before 
 them. The main preliminary to be settled, in all new undertakings, is the soundness of 
 the principle. By neglecting this point, projectors perpetually realize the expiatory 
 fable of the Dana'ids. J 
 
 The retort e, e, fig. 1221., is seen charged with coke, which is in the first instance raised 
 
 to a bright red heat by means of the furnace beneath. The common brown rosin of 
 commerce, which is deposited in the tank a, is to be mixed with the essential oil (con- 
 densed from the rosin vapours in a preceding operation) in the proportion of one hundred 
 pounds of the former to ten gallons of the latter. The influence of the flame and heated 
 air beneath serves to preserve this in a fluid state, and by a clamper passino- across the 
 aperture m the clumney, the temperature of the fluid may be exactly regulated A 
 wire-gauze screen at / reaches to the bottom of the tank, and prevents the° solid rosin 
 or any impurity with which it may be mixed, from choking the stopcock. 
 
 The melted rosin having passed by the stopcock 6, funnel c, and syphon d, into the 
 retort, falls on the coke, and in its passage through the ignited mass, becomes decomposed. 
 On arriving at the other end of the retort, a large portion of the oil of turpentine, in 
 the form of condensable vapour, is separated by the refrigerator g ; this is supplied with 
 water from a cistern above and the non-condensable vapour or gas passes up the tube h, 
 and dips beneath the surface of the fluid in the vessel «. This completes the condensation : 
 and the gas proceeds in a perfectly pure state, by the pipe k, to the gasometer, or rather 
 to the floating reservoir, for use. 
 
 The essential oil, when it leaves the refrigerator, is conveyed, by the syphon / to a 
 cistern beneath. The necessity for employing a syphon will be apparent, when' it is 
 
666 BUM. 
 
 borne in mind tbat the tube prevents the escape of the gas, which would otherwise pasa 
 awav from the box' with the essential oil. Another pipe and syphon m, a, serve to con- 
 vey "the condensed essential oil from the top cistern. 
 
 ROTTEN-STONE. See Tripoli. 
 
 ROUGE. (Furd, Ft.) The only cosmetic which can be applied without injury to 
 brighten a lady's complexion, is that prepared, by the following process, from safflower, 
 (Carlhamus tinctorius.) The flowers, after being washed with pure water till it comes 
 ofT colorless, are dried, pulverized, and digested wifti a weak solution of crystals of soda, 
 which assumes thereby a yellow color. Into this liquor a quantity of finely carded 
 white cotton wool is plunged, and then so much lemon juice or pure vinegar is added as 
 to supersaturate the soda. The coloring matter is disengaged, and falls down in an im- 
 palpable powder upon the cotton filaments. The cotton, after being washed in cold water, 
 to remove some yellow coloring particles, is to be treated with a fresh solution of carbo- 
 nate of soda, which takes up the red coloring matter in a state of purity. Before precipitating 
 this pigment a second lime by Ihe acid of lemons, some soft powdered talc should be laid 
 in the bottom of the vessel, for the purpose of absorbing the fine rouge, in proportion as 
 it is separated from the carbonate of soda, which now holds it dissolved. The colored 
 mixture must be finally triturated with a fe w d rops of olive oil, in order to make it smooth and 
 marrowy. Upon the fineness of the talc, and the proportion of the safflower precipitate 
 which it contains, depend the beauty and value of the cosmetic. The rouge of the above 
 second precipitation is received sometimes upon bits of fine-twisted woollen stuff, called 
 crepons, which ladies rub upon their cheeAj. 
 
 RUBY. See Lapidary. 
 
 RUM, is a variety of ardent spirits, distilled in the West Indies, from the fermented 
 skimmings of the sugar teaches, mixed with molasses, and diluted with water to the 
 proper degree. A sugar plantation in Jamaica or Antigua, which makes 200 hogs- 
 heads of sugar of about 16 cwts. each, requires, for the manufacture of its rum, two cop- 
 per stills ; one of 1000 gallons for the wash, and one of 600 gallons for the low wines, with 
 corresponding worm refrigeratories. It also requires two cisterns, one of 3000 gallons for 
 the lees or spent wash of former distillations, called dunder (Quasi reditndar, Span.), 
 another for the skimmings of the clarifiers and teaches of the sugarhouse; along with 
 twelve, or more, fermenting cisterns or tuns. 
 
 Lees that have been used more than three or four times, are not considered to be 
 equally fit for exciting fermentation, when mixed with the sweets, as fresher lees. The 
 wort is made, in Jamaica, by adding to 1000 gallons of dunder, 120 gallons of molasses, 
 720 gallons of skimmings ( = 120 of molasses in sweetness), and 160 gallons of water; 
 so that there may be in the liquid nearly 12 per cent, of solid saccharum. Anothei 
 proportion, often used, is 100 gallons of molasses, 200 gallons of lees, 300 gallons of 
 skimmings, and 400 of water ; the mixture containing, therefore, 15 per cent, ol' sweets. 
 These two formuloe prescribe so much spent wash, according to my opinion, as would be 
 apt to communicate an unpleasant flavor to the spirits. Both the fermenting and flavor- 
 ing principles reside chiefly in the fresh cane juice, and in the skimmings of the clarifier; 
 because, after the sirup has been boiled, they are in a great measure dissipated. I have 
 made many experiments upon fermentation and distillation from West India molasses, and 
 always found the spirits to be perfectly exempt from any rum flavor. 
 
 The fermentation goes on most uniformly and kindly in very large masses, and requires 
 from 9 to 15 days to complete ; the difference of time depending upon the strength of the 
 wort, the condition of its fermentable stuff, and the state of the weather. The progress 
 of the attenuation of the wash should be examined from day to day with a hydrometer, as 
 I have described in the article Distillation. When it has reached nearly to its maxi- 
 mum, the wash should be as soon as possible transferred by pumps into the still, and 
 worked off by a properly regulated heat ; for if allowed to sland over, it will deteriorate 
 y acetification. Dr. Higgins's plan, of suspending a basket full of limestone in the wash 
 tuns, to counteract the acidity, has not, I believe, been found to be of much use. It 
 would be better to cover up the wash from the contact of atmospheric air, and to add 
 perhaps a very little sulphite of lime to it, both of which means would tend to arrest the 
 acetous fermentation. But one of the best precautions against the wash becoming sour, 
 is to preserve the utmost cleanliness among ali the vessels in the distillery. They should 
 be scalded at the end of ( every round with boiling water and quicklime. 
 
 About 115 gallons of proof rum are usually obtained from 1200 gallons of wash. The 
 proportion which the product of rum bears to that of sugar, in very rich moist plantations, 
 is rated, by Edwards, at 82 gallons of the former to 16 cwt. of the latter ; but the more 
 usual ratio is 200 gallons of rum to 3 hogsheads of sugar. But this proportion will ne- 
 cessarily vary with the value of rum and molasses in the market, since whichever fetches 
 the most remunerating price, will be brought forward in the greatest quantity. In one 
 considerable estate in the island of Grenada, 92 gallons of rum were made for every 
 bogshead (16 cwts.) of sugar. See Still. 
 
SABOTIERR. 667 
 
 Imported. Ketained fov Consumption. Duty reoeivofl. 
 Gallons. Gallons. £. 
 
 1850 4,194,683 2,902,212 1,100,286 
 
 1851 '4,747,031 2,880,775 1,098,200 
 
 RUSSIAN LEATHER, as tanned at Kazan. The hides to be tanned may be either 
 fresh from the animal or dry, no matter which ; they are first laid to soak for 3 days and 
 nights in a solution of potash, to which some quicklime is added. The potash used is 
 made of the tree called in Russ ilim (the common elm), which sort is said to be preferable 
 to any other, if not essential; it is not purified, so that it is of a brown colour and of an 
 earthy appearance : about 12 poods of this, (the pood is 36 lbs. English), and 2 poods of 
 lime serve for 100 skins. As they have no way of ascertaining the degree of causticity 
 of the alkali but by its effect upon the tongue, when they find it weak they let the skins 
 lie longer in the solution. 
 
 When the skins are taken out of this solution they are carried to the river and left 
 under water for a day and a night. 
 
 Next a vedro of dog's dung is boiled in as much water as is « ough to soak 50 skins 
 (the vedro is equal to 2696 English imperial gallons), but in the winter time, when the 
 dung is frozen, twice that quantity is found necessary. The skins are put into this solu- 
 tion, not while it is boiling hot, but when at the heat which the hand can bear ; in this 
 they lie one day and one night. 
 
 The skins are then sewed up so as to leave no hole ; in short, so as to be water-tight ; 
 about one third of what the skin will contain is then filled up with the leaves and small 
 twigs chopped together of the plant called in Russ Toloknanka {Arbutus uva-ursi, some- 
 times called bear berry), which is brought from the envirous of Solikamskaga, and the 
 skin is then filled up with water. 
 
 The skins thus filled are laid one on the other in a large trough, and heavy stones upon 
 them, so as by their weight to press the infusion, through the pores of the skin in about 
 4 hours ; yet, as it was said at the same time, that the skins are filled up with the same 
 water which had been pressed out 10 times successively, and that the whole operation 
 takes but one day and one night, this leaves but 2-| hours for each time. 
 
 The skins are then taken to the river and washed, and are ready for the dyeing. The 
 whitest skins are laid aside for the red and yellow leather. 
 
 (The operations in dyeing follow, but are here omitted.) 
 
 To soften the skins after dyeing, they are harassed by' a. knife, the point of which is 
 curved upwards. 
 
 RUST, is the orange-yellow coat of peroxide which forms upon the surface of iron 
 exposed to moist air. Oil-paint, varnish, plumbago, or a film of caoutchouc, may be 
 employed, according to circumstances, to prevent the rusting of iron utensils. 
 
 RYE, consists, according to the analysis of Einhof, of 24-2 of husk, 65-6 of flour, and 
 10-2 of water, in 100 parts. This chemist found in 100 parts of the flour, 61-07 of starch, 
 948 of gluten, 3-28 of vegetable albumen, 3-28 of uncrystallizable sugar, 11-09 of gum, 
 6'38 of vegetable fibre, and the loss was 562, including a vegetable acid not yet investi- 
 gated. Some phosphate o " lime and magnesia are also present. See Gin. 
 
 s. 
 
 SABOTIE v RE The apparatus for making ices, called " sabotiere," is composed of 
 two principal parts — a pail which is indented towards the top and covered ; and the 
 sabotiere, or inner vessel, slightly conical, which is inserted in a pail, on which it rests by 
 a projecting border or rim ; this vessel is closed at the bottom like a cup, and open at the 
 top to admit the creams to be iced. It is closed at the top by a cover furnished with a 
 handle and a hook, which fastens it to the rim of the vessel. This apparatus works as 
 follows : — The freezing mixture, composed of sulphate of soda pulverized and hydro- 
 chloric acid, is turned into the pail, and the creams to be iced into the inner vessel ; its 
 cover fs then fastened by the hook, and the vessel is set into the pail among the freezing 
 liquid ; then taking the whole by the handle of the sabotiere, an alternate motion of 
 rotation is given to it for about a quarter of an hour, when the cream is sufficiently frozen. 
 The cqver is opened from time to time, and the mixture well stirred with a spoon adapted 
 for the purpose. The freezing mixture must be removed every 15 or 20 minutes. There 
 is a measure for the freezing mixture, which contains 2 parts of salt and 1 of acid. The 
 pail is furnished with a handle, and is surrounded with thick woollen cloth to exclude the 
 effect of outward air. 
 
568 
 
 SADDLER'S IRONMONGERY. 
 
 SACCHAROMETER is the name of a hydrometer, adapted by its scale to poin« 
 out the proportion of sugar, or the saccharine matter of malt, contained in a solution of 
 any specific gravity. Brewers, distillers, and the Excise, sometimes denote by the term 
 gravity, the excess of weight of 1,000 parts of a liquid by volume above the weight of a 
 like volume of distilled water; so that if the specific gravity be 1,045, 1,070, 1,090, &.c, 
 the gravity is said to be 45, 70, or 90 ; at others, they thereby denote the weight of 
 saccharine matter in a barrel (36 gallons) of worts ; and again, they denote the excess 
 in weight of a barrel of worts over a barrel of water, equal to 36 gallons, or 360 pounds. 
 This and the first statement are identical, only 1,000 is the standard in the first case, 
 and 360 in the second. 
 
 The saccharometer now used by the Excise, and by the trade, is that constructed by 
 Mrj. R. B. Bate, well known for the accuracy of his philosophical and mathematical 
 instruments. The tables published by him for ascertaining the values of wort or wash, 
 and low wines, are preceded by explicit directions for their use. " The instrument is 
 composed of brass ; the ball or float being a circular spindle, in the oppos'te ends of 
 which are fixed a stem and a loop. The stem bears a scale of divisions numbered 
 downward from the first to 30 ; these divisions, which are laid down in an original 
 manner, observe a diminishing progression according to true principles ; therefore each 
 division correctly indicates the one thousandth part of the specific gravity of water ; 
 and further, by the alteration made, in the bulk of the saccharometer at every change 
 of poise, each of the same divisions continues to indicate correctly the said one thou- 
 sandth part throughout." 
 
 In my own practice, I prefer to take specific gravities of all liquids whatever with a 
 glass globe containing 500 or 1,000 grains of distilled water at 60° Fahr., when it is 
 closed with a capillary-bored glass stopper ; and with the gravity so taken, I look into 
 a table constructed to show the quantity per cent, of sugar, malt, extracts or of any 
 other solid, proportional to the density of the solution. By bringing the liquid in the 
 gravity-bottle to the standard temperature, no correction on this account is needed. 
 Mr. Bate's elaborate table contains all these equations correctly for solutions of sugar 
 of every successive specific gravity. When employed in such researches by the Mo- 
 .asses Committee of the House of Commons in the year 1830, 1 found that the specific 
 gravities of solutions of the concrete extract of malt differed somewhat from those of 
 solutions of sugar, as given by Mr. Bate. (See Beer, page 135.) 
 
 The following table shows the quantities of sugar contained in syrups of the annexed 
 specific gravities. It was the result of experiments carefully made : — 
 
 Experimental spec, gravity. 
 
 Sugar in 100- by 
 
 Experimental spec, gravity. 
 
 Sugar in 100- by 
 
 of solution at 60° F. 
 
 weight. 
 
 of solution, at 60° F. 
 
 weight. 
 
 1 1-3260 
 
 66-666 
 
 1-1045 
 
 25-000 | 
 
 1-2310 
 
 50-000 
 
 1-0905 
 
 21-740 
 
 1-1777 
 
 40-000 
 
 1-0820 
 
 20-000 
 
 1-4400 
 
 33-333 
 
 1-0635 
 
 16-666 
 
 1-1340 
 
 31-250 
 
 1-0500 
 
 12-500 
 
 1-1250 
 
 29-412 
 
 1-0395 
 
 10-000 
 
 1-1110 
 
 ?6-316 
 
 
 * 
 
 N. B. The column in the opposite table, marked Solid extract by weight, is Mr. 
 Bate's ; it may be compared with this short table, and also with the table of malt in- 
 fusions in article. Beer, p. 135. 
 
 If the decimal part of the number denoting the specific gravity of syrup be mul- 
 tiplied by 26, the product will denote very nearly the quantity of sugar per gallon in 
 pounds at the given specific gravity.* 
 
 SADDLERS IRONMONGERY. Zowe, John and -Henry, Clarence Works, 
 Birmingham, — Manufacturers. The manufacture of saddlers' ironmongery is principally 
 located at Birmingham and in the neighbouring towns of Wolverhampton, Walsall, &c 
 Its object is the production of bits, spurs, stirrups, curb-chains, etc. These are formed 
 out of iron and steel by the ordinary process of hammering ; and are finished by japanning, 
 tinning, burnishing, or plating with brass or silver. Some produced for the South 
 American market are of very fantastic shapes, and richly gilt; they differ from those 
 
 * This rule was annexed to an extensive table, representing the quantities of sugar per gallon, cor- 
 responding to the specific gravitios of the syrups, constructed by tho Author, for the Excise, 'In subser 
 tiency to the Beet-root bill. 
 

 
 
 
 SACCHAROMETER. 
 
 
 
 569 
 
 Table exhibiting the Quantity of Sugar, in 
 
 Pounds 
 
 Avoirdupois, -which is contained in 
 
 
 
 One Gallon of Syrup, at successive Degrees of Density, at 60° F. 
 
 
 
 
 WO 
 
 u 
 
 *> *3 
 
 u >» 
 
 i- • 
 
 
 o _• 
 
 u 
 
 o .- 
 
 ,. 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■p. 3 
 J« 
 
 
 us £ 
 
 si's 
 
 & -~ 
 
 ss'13 
 
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 4-0860 
 
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 6-1474 
 
 
 
 1001 
 
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 00765 
 
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 1060 
 
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 1-157 
 
 4-1588 
 
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 6-2280 I 
 
 
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 1020 
 
 •0102 
 
 1081 
 
 2-1275 
 
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 1 158 
 
 4-1857 
 
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 1005 
 
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 1082 
 
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 1159 
 
 4-2128 
 
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 6-2822 : 
 
 
 1006 
 
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 1-083 
 
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 •1985 
 
 1160 
 
 4-2502 
 
 1-237 
 
 63093 
 
 
 
 1007 
 
 0-1785 
 
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 2-20S0 
 
 8007 
 
 1-161 
 
 4-2771 
 
 1 238 
 
 6-3362 
 
 
 
 1-008 
 
 0-2040 
 
 •0204 
 
 1085 
 
 2-2359 
 
 2029 
 
 1-162 
 
 4-3040 
 
 1-239 
 
 6-3631 
 
 
 
 1 009 
 
 0-2295 
 
 •0230 
 
 .1-086 
 
 2-2627 
 
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 1-163 
 
 4-3309 
 
 1-240 
 
 6-3903 
 
 
 
 1010 
 
 2550 
 
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 ' 1-087 
 
 2-2894 
 
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 4-3578 
 
 1 241 
 
 6-4152 
 
 
 
 1-011 
 
 02805 
 
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 1-165 
 
 4-3847 
 
 1-242 
 
 6-4401 
 
 
 
 1012 
 
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 1-089 
 
 2 3438 
 
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 1-166 
 
 4-4115 
 
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 6-4650 
 
 
 
 1013 
 
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 6-4902 
 
 
 
 1014 
 
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 231187 
 
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 1-168 
 
 4-4652 
 
 1 245 
 
 6-5153 
 
 
 
 1015 
 
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 1169 
 
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 6-5402 
 
 
 
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 04180 
 
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 2-4524 
 
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 1170 
 
 4-5201 
 
 1-247 
 
 6-5651 
 
 
 
 1017 
 
 04335 
 
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 2-4792 
 
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 1171 
 
 4-5460 
 
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 ' 6 5903 
 
 
 
 1018 
 
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 1019 
 
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 1173 
 
 4-5983 
 
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 6 6402 
 
 
 
 1020 
 
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 •0506 
 
 1097 
 
 2 5598 
 
 ■2292 
 
 1174 
 
 4 6242 
 
 1 251 
 
 6-6681 
 
 
 
 1021 
 
 05351 
 
 •0531 
 
 •1-098 
 
 2-5866 
 
 ■2314 
 
 1175 
 
 4-6505 
 
 1-252 
 
 6-6960 
 
 
 
 1022 
 
 0-5602 
 
 •0555 
 
 a -oi)9 
 
 2-6130 
 
 •2335 
 
 1-176 
 
 4-6764 
 
 1-253 
 
 6-7240 
 
 
 
 1-023 
 
 05853 
 
 •0560 
 
 1-100 
 
 2 6404 
 
 •2357 
 
 1-177 
 
 4-7023 
 
 1-254 
 
 6-7521 
 
 
 
 1024 
 
 6104 
 
 •0605 
 
 1-101 
 
 2-6663 
 
 ■2378 
 
 1-178 
 
 4-7281 
 
 1 255 
 
 6-7800 
 
 
 
 1025 
 
 06355 
 
 ■0629 
 
 1102 
 
 2-6921 
 
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 1-179 
 
 4-7539 
 
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 6-8081 
 
 
 
 1026 
 
 0-6606 
 
 •0654 
 
 1103 
 
 2 7188 
 
 •2451 
 
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 4 7802 
 
 1-257 
 
 6 6362 
 
 
 
 1027 
 
 0-6857 
 
 ■0678 
 
 1-104 
 
 2-7446 
 
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 1-181 
 
 48051 
 
 1 258 
 
 6-8643 
 
 
 v 
 
 1028 
 
 071(18 
 
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 1105 
 
 2-7704 
 
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 1-182 
 
 4 8303 
 
 1-259 
 
 6-89S1 
 
 
 
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 07359 
 
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 1-106 
 
 2-7961 
 
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 1183 
 
 4-6554 
 
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 6 9201 
 
 
 
 1030 
 
 0-7610 
 
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 46802 
 
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 6-9510 
 
 
 
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 28485 
 
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 1185 
 
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 6 9822 
 
 
 
 1-032 
 
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 4-9300 
 
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 70133 
 
 
 
 1033 
 
 08363 
 
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 2-9001 
 
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 7-0444 
 
 
 
 1034 
 
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 1188 
 
 4-9803 
 
 1-265 
 
 7-0751 
 
 
 
 1035 
 
 8866 
 
 •0873 
 
 1-112 
 
 2-9522 
 
 •2614 
 
 1169 
 
 5 0054 
 
 1-266 
 
 7-1060 
 
 
 
 1 036 
 
 09149 
 
 •0697 
 
 1-113 
 
 2 9780 
 
 ■2635 
 
 1190 
 
 5 0301 
 
 1-267 
 
 7-1369 
 
 
 
 1-037 
 
 9449 
 
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 1-114 
 
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 1191 
 
 50563 
 
 1-268 
 
 7-1678 
 
 
 
 1-038 
 
 0-9768 
 
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 3-0304 
 
 •2677 
 
 1-192 
 
 5-0822 
 
 I 269 
 
 7-1988 
 
 
 
 1 039 
 
 1-0090 
 
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 30563 
 
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 TI93 
 
 5-1080 
 
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 72300 
 
 
 
 1040 
 
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 30821 
 
 •2719 
 
 T194 
 
 5-1341 
 
 1-271 
 
 7-2601 
 
 
 
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 10653 
 
 •1017 
 
 1118 
 
 3-1060 
 
 ■2740 
 
 1195 
 
 5 1602 
 
 1-272 
 
 7-2902 
 
 
 
 1042 
 
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 1-119 
 
 31343 
 
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 1196 
 
 6-1863 
 
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 7-3204 
 
 
 
 1043 
 
 11159 
 
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 3-1610 
 
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 5-2124 
 
 1274 
 
 7-3506 
 
 
 
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 11412 
 
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 31871 
 
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 T198 
 
 5-2361 
 
 1-275 
 
 73807 
 
 
 
 1045 
 
 11665 
 
 1113 
 
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 1199 
 
 5-2639 
 
 1-276 
 
 7-4109 
 
 
 
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 52901 
 
 1-277 
 
 7-4409 
 
 
 
 1047 
 
 1-2171 
 
 •1160 
 
 1.124 
 
 32658 
 
 ■2865 
 
 1-201 
 
 5-3160 
 
 1-278 
 
 7-4708 
 
 
 
 1-048 
 
 12424 
 
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 1-125 
 
 3-2916 
 
 •2866 
 
 1'202 
 
 5-3422 
 
 1-279 
 
 7-5007 
 
 
 
 1049 
 
 12687 
 
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 3-3174 
 
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 1203 
 
 5-3681 
 
 1-280 
 
 7-5307 
 
 
 
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 1-2940 
 
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 3-3431 
 
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 1204 
 
 53941 
 
 1-281 
 
 7-5600 
 
 
 
 1051 
 
 13206 
 
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 33690 
 
 •2948 
 
 T205 
 
 5-4203 
 
 1262 
 
 7-5891 
 
 
 
 1052 
 
 1-3472 ' 
 
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 3-3949 
 
 •2969 
 
 1206 
 
 54462 
 
 1-283 
 
 76180 
 
 
 
 1053 
 
 1-3738 
 
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 1-130 
 
 3-4211 
 
 •2989 
 
 1207 
 
 5-4720 
 
 1-264 
 
 7'6469 
 
 
 
 1-054 
 
 1-4004 
 
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 3-4490 
 
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 3-4769 
 
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 5 5239 
 
 1-286 
 
 7-7048 
 
 
 
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 1210 
 
 5-5506 
 
 1287 
 
 7 7331 
 
 
 
 1057 
 1-058 
 
 1-4802 
 
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 35326 
 
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 1 211 
 
 5-5786 
 
 1-288 
 
 7-7620 
 
 
 
 1-5068 
 
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 3-5605 
 
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 1212 
 
 5 6071 
 
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 77910 
 
 
 
 1059 
 
 15334 
 
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 1-136 
 
 3-5882 
 
 ■31i2 
 
 1-213 
 
 5-6360 
 
 1-290 
 
 7-8201 
 
 
 
 1-060 
 
 1-5600 
 
 1464 
 
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 3-6160 
 
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 1214 
 
 5-6651 
 
 1291 
 
 '8482 
 
 
 
 1061 
 
 1-5870 
 
 •1487 
 
 1-138 
 
 3-6437 
 
 '3153 
 
 1-215 
 
 5-6942 
 
 1292 
 
 7-8763 
 
 
 
 1062 
 
 1-6142 
 
 ■1510 
 
 1-139 
 
 3-6716 
 
 •3173 
 
 1-216 
 
 57233 
 
 1293 
 
 79042 
 
 
 
 1063 
 
 1-6414 
 
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 1-140 
 
 3-7000 
 
 '3193 
 
 1217 
 
 5-7522 
 
 1-294 
 
 7-9321 
 
 
 
 1-064 
 
 1-6688 
 
 •1556 
 
 1-141 
 
 3-7281 
 
 ■3214 
 
 1-218 
 
 5-7814 
 
 T295 
 
 7-9600 
 
 
 
 1-065 
 
 1 6959 
 
 '1579 
 
 1-142 
 
 3-7562 
 
 ■3234 
 
 1219 
 
 5-8108 
 
 T296 
 
 7-9879 
 
 
 
 1066 
 
 1-7228 
 
 •1602 
 
 1-143 
 
 3-7840 
 
 •3254 
 
 1-220 
 
 5-8401 
 
 1297 
 
 8-0156 
 
 
 
 1-067 
 
 17496 
 
 ■1625 
 
 1144 
 
 3 8119 
 
 •3274 
 
 1221 
 
 5-8680 
 
 ]'29S 
 
 8-0448 
 
 
 
 1-068 
 
 1-7764 
 
 ■1647 
 
 1 145 
 
 3 8398 
 
 ■3294 
 
 1-2-22 
 
 5-8962 
 
 1-299 
 
 80719 
 
 
 
 1-069 
 
 1-8033 
 
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 1146 
 
 3-8677 
 
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 1-223 
 
 5-9242 
 
 1'300 
 
 81001 
 
 
 
 1-070 
 
 1-8300 
 
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 1-147 
 
 3-6955 
 
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 1-224 
 
 5-9523 
 
 
 
 
 1-071 
 
 18571 
 
 ■1716 
 
 1-148 
 
 3-9235 
 
 •3354 
 
 1-225 
 
 5-9801 
 
 
 
 
 1072 
 
 1-8843 
 
 •1738 
 
 1149 
 
 3-9516 
 
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 1-226 
 
 60081 
 
 
 
 
 1073 
 
 1-9116 
 
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 1-150 
 
 3-9801 
 
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 1-227 
 
 60361 
 
 
 
 
 1-074 
 
 1 -9385 
 
 ■1783 
 
 1-151 
 
 40070 
 
 
 1 228 
 
 6-0642 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 1075 
 
 1-9653 
 
 ■1806 
 •1828 1 
 
 1152 
 
 40342 
 
 
 1 229 
 
 60925 
 
 
 
 
 1-076 
 
 1-9928 
 
 1 153 
 
 40611 
 
 
 1230 
 
 6- 1205 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
670 
 
 SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 for home use in their massive appearance, the sides of the bits being carved into variom 
 designs, and the rowels of the spurs are made enormously large. When, bits are to be 
 plated with metal they are tinned, and a piece of metal of sufficient thickness is wrapt 
 or bent round it by pressure ; this is aided by pressing down upon them witli burnishers, 
 <tc. When the covering has been made to adhere very closely, the whole is heated, tin 
 solder is applied, and the two become united : the final polish is given by the friction ci 
 buff leather and powdered burnt rotten-stone. 
 
 SAFFLOWER. This dye-stuff has been fully described under Caethamtjs and Rough 
 Landings, Deliveries, and Stocks of Safrlower. 
 
 
 Landed. 
 
 Delivered. 
 
 Stock 1st January. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 In December 1851 
 
 913 
 
 331 
 
 - 
 
 1850 
 
 1,176 
 
 465 
 
 - 
 
 In 12 months 1851 
 
 4,431 
 
 4,701 
 
 2,990 
 
 1850 
 
 5,065 
 
 3,266 
 
 3,260 
 
 1849 
 
 3,756 
 
 3,529 
 
 1,461 
 
 1848 
 
 2,667 
 
 2,269 
 
 1,254 
 
 Prices, January, 1852, fine, 61. 5s. to 11. 10s. per cwt. ; middling, 41. 5s. to 51. 10s. 
 wrdinary, 21. to SI. 10s. 
 
 SAFFRON (Saffran, Fr. and Germ.) is a filamentous cake, composed of the 
 stigmata of the flowers of the Crocus sativus. It contains a yellow matter called poly- 
 chroite, because a small quantity of it is capable of coloring a great body of water. This 
 is obtained by evaporating the watery infusion of saffron to the consistence of an extract, 
 digesting the extract with alcohol, and concentrating the .'ilcoholic solution. The 
 polychroite remains in the form of a brilliant mass, of a reddish-yellow color, transpa- 
 rent, and of the consistence of honey. It has the agreeable smell, with the bitter pungent 
 taste, of saffron. It is very soluble in water ; and if it be stove-dried, it deliquesces 
 speedily in the air. According to M. Ilenry pire, polychroite consists of eighty parts of 
 coloring matter, combined with 20 parts of a volatile oil, which cannot be separated 
 by distillation till the coloring matter has been combined with an alkali. By mixing 
 one part of shred saffron with eight parts of saturated brine, and one half part of 
 caustic ley, and distilling the mixture, the oil comes over into the receiver, and leaves 
 the coloring matter in the retort, which may be precipitated from the alkaline 
 solution by an acid. The pure coloring matter, when dried, is of a scarlet hue, and 
 then readily dissolves in alcohol, as also in the fat and volatile oils, hut sparingly in 
 water. Light blanches the reddish-ytllow of saffron, even when it is contained in a full 
 vial well corked. Polychroite, when combined with fat oil, and subjected to dry distil- 
 lation, affords ammonia, which shows that azote is one of its constituents; Sulphuric acid 
 colors the solution of polychroite indigo blue, with a lilach cast ; nitric acid turns it green, 
 of various shades, according to the state of dilution. Protochloride (muriate) of tin pro- 
 duces a reddish precipitate. 
 
 Saffron is employed as a seasoning in French cookery. It is also used to tinge confec- 
 tionary articles, liqueurs, and varnishes ; but rarely as a pigment. 
 
 SAGO (Sagou, Fr. and Germ.) is a species of starch, extracted from the pith of the 
 sago palm, a tree which grows to the height of 30 feet in the Moluccas and the Philippines. 
 The tree is cut down, cleft lengthwise, and deprived of its pith, which being washed with 
 ■water upon a sieve, the starchy matter comes out, and soon forms a deposite. This is 
 dried to the consistence of dough, pressed through a metal sieve to corn it (which is called 
 ■pearling), and then dried over a fire with agitation in a shallow copper pan. Sago is 
 sometimes imported in the pulverulent stale, in which it can be distinguished from arrow- 
 root only by microscopic examination of its parlicies. These are uniform and spherical, 
 not unequal and ovoid, like those ol arrow-root. 
 
 SAL AMMONIAC. The manufacture of this salt may be traced to the remotest 
 era. Its name is derived from Ammonia, or the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in Egypt, 
 near to which the salt was originally made. Sal ammoniac exists ready formed in seve- 
 ral animal products. The dung and urine of camels contain a sufficient quantity to 
 have rendered its extraction from them a profitable Egyptian art in former limes, in order 
 to supply Europe with the article. In that part of Africa, fuel being very scarce, recourse 
 is had to the dung of these animals, which is dried for that purpose, by plastering it upon 
 the walls. When this is afterwards burned in a peculiar kind of furnace, it exhales a thick 
 smoke, replete with sal animoniae in vapor : the soot of course contains a portion of ihaJ 
 
SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 571 
 
 salt, condensed along with other products of combustion. In every part of Egypt, but es- 
 pecially in the Delta, peasants are seen driving asses loaded with bags of that soot, on 
 their way to the sal ammoniac worts. 
 
 Here it is extracted in the following manner. Glass globes coated with loam are 
 filled with the soot pressed down by wooden rammers, a space of only two or three inches 
 being left vacant, near their mouths. These globes are set in round orifices formed in 
 the ridge of a long vault, or large horizontal furnace flue. Heat is gradually applied by 
 a fire of dry camels' dung, and it is eventually increased till the globes become obscurely 
 red. As the muriate of ammonia is volatile at a temperature much below ignition, 11 
 rises out of the soot in vapor, and gets condensed into a cake upon the inner surface of 
 the top of the globe. A considerable portion, however, escapes into the air ; and anolhei 
 portion concretes in the mouth, which must be cleared from time to time by an iron rod. 
 Towards the end, the obstruction becomes very troublesome, ar.d must be most carefully 
 attended to and obviated, otherwise the globes would explode by the uncondensed 
 vapors. In all cases, when the subliming process approaches to a conclusion, the 
 globes crack or split ; and when they come to be removed, after the heat has subsided, 
 they usually fall to pieces. The upper portion of the mass is separated, because to it the 
 white salt adheres ; and on detaching the pieces of glass with a hatchet, it is ready for the 
 market. At the bottom of each balloon a nucleus of salt remains, surrounded with fixed 
 pulverulent matter. This is reserved, and after being bruised, is put in along with the 
 charge of soot in a fresh operation. 
 
 The sal ammoniac obtained by this process is dull, spongy, and of a grayish hue ; 
 but nothing better was for a long period, known in commerce. Forty years ago, it 
 fetched 2s. 6d. a pound ; now, perfectly pure sal ammoniac may be had at one fifth part 
 of that price. 
 
 Various animal offals develop during their spontaneous putrefactive fermentation, or 
 their decomposition by heat, a large quantity of free or carbonated ammonia, among their 
 volatile products. Upon this principle many sal ammoniac works have been established. 
 In the destructive distillation of pitcoal, there is a considerable quantity of ainmoniacal 
 products, which are also worked up into sal ammoniac. 
 
 The first attempts made in France to obtain sal ammoniac profitably in this manner, 
 failed. A very extensive factory of the kind, which experienced the same fate, was 
 under the superintendence of the celebrated Baume, and affords one out of a thousand 
 instances where theoretical chemists have shown their total incapacity for conducting 
 operations on the scale of manufacturing economy. It was established at Gravelle near 
 Charenton, and caused a loss to the shareholders in the speculation of upwards of 
 400,000 francs. This result closed the concern in 1787, after a foolish manipulation of 
 27 years. For ten years after that event, all the sal ammoniac consumed in France was 
 imported into it from foreign countries. Since then the two works of MM. Payen 
 and Pluvinet were mounted, and seem to have been tolerably successful. Coal soot was, 
 prior to the introduction of the gas-works, a good deal used in Great Britain for obtaining 
 sal ammoniac. In France, bones and other animal matters are distilled in large iron retorts, 
 for the manufacture of both animal charcoal and sal ammoniac. 
 
 These retorts are : ron cylinders, 2 or 3 feet in diameter, and 6 feet long. Figs. 1222, 
 *nd 1223, show the firm of the furnace, and the manner in which the cylinders are 
 
 1222 
 
 1223 
 
 arranged ; the first being a longitudinal, the second a transverse section of it. A, the ash- 
 pits under the grates ; b. the fireplaces, arched over at top ; c, the vault or bench of fire- 
 bricks, perforated inside with eight flues for distributing the flame ; d, a great arch, with 
 a triple voussojr c d', d", under which the retorts are set. The first arch d, is perforated 
 with twenty vent-holes; the second, with four vent-holes ; through which the flame 
 passes to the third arch, and thence to the common chimney-stalk. The retorts e, are shut 
 
572 
 
 SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 by the door e' (fig, 1223), luted, and made fast with screw-holts. Their other ends e" ter 
 minate in tubes /,/,/, which all enter the main pipe ft. The condensing pipe proceeds 
 slantingly downwards from the further end of ft, and dips into a large sloping iron cylinder 
 immersed in cold water. See Gas-light and Stove, for a belter plan of furnace. 
 
 The filters used in the large sal ammoniac works in France are represented in fig. 
 1224. The apparatus consists — 1. of a wooden chest a, lined with lead, and which is 
 turned over at the edges ; a socket of lead b soldered into the lowest part of the bottom, 
 serves to discharge the liquid ; 2. of a woouen crib or grating formed of rounded rods, 
 as shown in the section c, c, and the plan d ; this grating is supported one inch at least 
 above the bottom, and set truly horizontal, by a series of wedges; 3. of an open 
 fabric of canvass or strong calico, laid on the grating, and secured over the edges, 
 so as to keep it tense. A large wooden reservoir /, lined with lead, furnished with a 
 
 1224 M- 
 
 cover, is placed under each of the filters ; a pump throws back once or twice upon tne 
 filters what has already passed through. A common reservoir g, below the others, may 
 be made to communicate at pleasure with one of them, by means of intermediate stop- 
 cocks. 
 
 The two boilers for evaporating and decomposing are made of lead, about one quarter 
 of an inch thick, set upon a fire-brick vault, to protect them from the direct action 
 of the flame. Through the whole extent of their bottoms above the vault, horizontal 
 cast-iron plates, supported by ledges and brick compartments, compel the flame and 
 burned air, as they, issue from the arch, to percur many sinuosities before they pass up 
 the chimney. This floor of cast iron is intended to support the bottom of" the boiler, 
 and to diffuse the heat more equably. The leaden boilers are surrounded with brick- 
 work, and supported at their edges with a wooden frame. They may be emptied at 
 pleasure into lower receivers, called crystallizers, by means of leaden syphons and long- 
 necked funnels. 
 
 The crystallizers are wooden chests lined with lead, 15 inches deep, 3 or 4 feet 
 broad, and from 6 to 8 feet long; and may be inclined to one side at pleasure. Around 
 cistern receives the drainlngs of the mother-waters. The pump is made of lead, hardened 
 with antimony and tin. 
 
 The subliming furnace is shown in figs. 1225 and 1226, by a transverse and longitudi- 
 nal section, a is the ash-pit ; 6, the grate and fire-place ; c, the arch above them. This 
 arch, destined to protect the bottles from the direct action of the fire, is perforated with 
 7ent-holes, to give a passage to the products of combustion between the subliming vessels. 
 i, d, are bars of iron, upon which the bottoms of the bottles rest ; e, stoneware bottles, 
 protected by a coating of loam from the flame. 
 
 1227 
 
 DDDDOOOOaO 
 
 apoooooosa 
 
 ff jl" 
 
 1229 
 
 UE2 
 
SAL AMMONIAC. 573 
 
 Fig. 1227. shows the cast-iron plates, a, 6, c, which, placed above the vau.ts, receiva 
 each two bottles in a double circular opening. 
 
 At the extremity of the above furnace, a second one, called the drier, fig. 1228., receives 
 the products of the combustion of the first, at a, under horizontal cast-'iron plates, and 
 upon which the bottom of a rather shallow boiler b rests. After passing twice undei 
 these plates, round a longitudinal brick partition b, b', b", the products of combustioi 
 enter the smoke chimney c. See plan, Jig. 1229. 
 
 The boiler set over this furnace should have no soldered joints. It may be 3| feet 
 broid ; 9 or 10 feet long, and 1 foot deep. The concrete sal ammoniac may bt crushed 
 under a pair of edge mill-stones, when it is to he sold in powder. 
 
 Bones, blood, flesh, horns, hoofs, woollen rags, silk, hair, scrapings of hides and 
 leather, &c, may be distilled for procuring ammonia. When hones are used, the 
 residuum in the retort is hone black. The charcoal from the other substances -will serve 
 for the manufacture of Prussian blue. The bones should undergo a degree of calcination 
 beyond what the ammoniacal process requires, in order to convert them into the Dest bone 
 black ; but the other animal matters should not be calcined up to that point, otherwise they 
 are of little use in the Prussian blue works. If the bones be calcined, however, so highly 
 as to become glazed, their decoloring power on sirups is nearly destroyed. The other 
 substances should not be charred beyond a red-brown heat. 
 
 The condensed vapors from the cylinder retorts afford a compound liquor holding car 
 fconate of ammonia in solution, mixed with a large quantity of empyreumatic oil, which 
 floats at top. Lest incrustations of salt should at any lime lend to obstruct the tubes, a 
 pipe should be inserted within them, and connected with a steam boiler, so as to blow 
 steam through them occasionally. 
 
 The whole liquors mixed have usually a density of 8° or 9° Baume (1-060). The 
 simplest process for converting their carbonate of ammonia into muriate, is to saturate 
 them with muriatic acid, to evaporate the solution in a leaden boiler till a pellicle 
 appears, to run it off into crystallizers, and to drain the crystals. Another process is, to 
 decompose the carbonate of ammonia, by passing its crude liquor through a layer of 
 sulphate of lime, 3 or 4 inches thick, spread upon the filters, Jig. 1224. The liquor may 
 be laid on with a pump ; it should never stand higher than 1 or 2 inches above the 
 surface of the bruised gypsum, and it should be closely covered with boards, to prevent 
 the dissipation of the volatile alkali in the air. When the liquor has passed through 
 the first filter, it must be pumped upon the second; or the filters being placed in a terrace 
 form, the liquor from the first may flow down upon the second, and thus in suc- 
 cession. The last filter should be formed of nearly fresh gypsum, so as to ensure the 
 thorough conversion of the carbonate into sulphate. The resulting layers of carbonate 
 of lime should he washed with a little water, to extract the sulphate of ammonia inter- 
 posed among its particles. The ammoniacal liquor thus obtained must be completely 
 saturated, by adding the requisite quantity of sulphuric acid ; even a slight excess of acid 
 can do no harm. It is then to be evaporated, and the oil must be skimmed off in the course 
 of the concentration. When the liquid sulphate has acquired the density of about 1-160, 
 sea salt should be added, with constant stirring, till the whole quantity equivalent to the 
 double decomposition be introduced into the lead boiler. 
 
 The fluid part must now be drawn off by a syphon into a somewhat deep reservoir, 
 where the impurities are allowed to subside ; it is then evaporated by boiling, till the 
 sulphate of soda falls down in granular crystals, as the result of the mutual reaction of the 
 sulphate of ammonia and muriate of soda ; while the more, soluble muriate of ammonia 
 remains in the liquor. During this precipitation, the whole must be occasionai.y agitated 
 with wooden paddles ; the precipitate being in the intervals removed to the cooler portion 
 of the pan, in rrder to be taken out by copper rakes and shovels, and thrown into draining- 
 hoppers, plat?a near the edges of the pan. The drained sulphaje of soda must be after- 
 wards washed with cold water, to extract all the adhering sal ammoniac. 
 
 The liquor thus freed from the greater part of the sulphate, when sufficiently concen- 
 trated, is to be drawn off by a lead syphon, into the crystallizers, where, at the end 
 of 20 or 30 hours, it affords an abundant crop of crystals of sal ammoniac. The mother- 
 water maj then be run off, the crystallizers set aslope to drain the salt, and the salt itself 
 must be washed, first by a weak solution of sal ammoniac, and lastly with water. It 
 must be next desiccated, by the apparatus fig. 1228, into a perfectly dry powder, then 
 put into the subliming stoneware balloons, by means of a funnel; and well rammed down. 
 The mouth of the bottle is to be closed with a plate or inverted pot of any kind. The 
 fire must be nicely regulated, so as to effect the sublimation of the pure salt from the 
 under part of the bottle, with due regularity, into a white cake in the upper part. The 
 neck of the bottle should be cleared from time to time with a long steel skewer, to 
 prevent the risk of choking, and consequent bursting; but in spite of every precaution, 
 several of the bottles crack almost in every operation. In Scotland, sal ammoniac is 
 siblimed in cast-iron pots lined with thin fire-tiles, made in segments accommodated tg 
 
574 v SAL AMMONIAC. 
 
 the internal surface of the pots ; the vapour being received and condensed into caken 
 within balloons of green glass set over their mouths. The salt, when taken out, and freed 
 by scraping from any adhering ochreous or other impurities, is ready for the market, 
 being sold in hollow spherical masses. The residuum in the pots or bottles may be 
 partially worked up in another operation. The greatest evil is produced by the mixture 
 or even contact of iron, because its peroxide readily rises in vapour with tiie sal ammoniac, 
 and tinges it of a red or yellow colour^ 
 
 The most ordinary process for converting the ammoniacal liquor of the gas-works into 
 sal ammoniac, is to saturate it with sulphuric acid, and to decompose the sulphate, thus 
 formed, by the processes above described. But muriatic acid will be preferred, where it 
 is as cheap as sulphuric of equivalent saturating power ; because a tolerably pure sal 
 ammoniac is thereby directly obtained. As the coal-gas liquor contains a good deal of 
 sulphuretted hydrogen, the saturation of it with acid should be so conducted as to burn 
 the disengaged noxious gases in a chimney. Formerly human urine was very extensively 
 employed, both in this country and in France, in the manufacture of sal ammoniac ; but 
 since the general establishment of gas-works it has been, I believe, abandoued. The pro- 
 cess was exceedingly offensive. 
 
 The best white sal ammoniac is in spheroidal cakes of about one foot diameter, three 
 or four inches thick in the middle, somewhat thinner at the edges, and is semi-transparent 
 or translucent. Each lump weighs about one quarter of a cwt. As it is easily volatilized 
 by heat, it may be readily examined as to its sophistication with other salts. Sal ammoniac 
 has a certain tenacity, and is flexible under the hammer or pestle. It is principally used 
 in tinning of cast-iron, wrought-iron, copper, brass, and for making the various ammoniacal 
 preparations of pharmacy. 
 
 In a chemical factory near Glasgow, 7200 gallons of ammoniacal liquor, obtained weekiy 
 from the gas-works, are treated as follows : — The liquor is first rectified by distillation 
 from a waggon-shaped wrought-iron boiler, into a square cistern of iron lined with lead. 
 4500 lbs. of sulphuric acid, of specific gravity 1625, are then slowly added to the some- 
 what concentrated distilled water of ammonia. The produce is 2400 gallons of sulphate 
 of ammonia, slightly acidulous, of specific gravity 1-150, being of such strength as to 
 deposit a few crystals upon the sides of the lead-lined iron tank in which the saline Com 
 binatinn is made. It is decomposed by common salt. 
 
 From the 7200 gallons of the first crude liquor, 900 gallons of tar are got by subsidence, 
 and 200 gallons of petroleum are skimmed off the surface. The tar is converted, by a 
 moderate boiling in iron pans, into good pitch. 
 
 A patent was obtained in 1S40, for improvements in the manufacture of this article, by 
 Mr. H. Waterton. Two modes of operating are described; the first consists in making a 
 saturated solution of common salt in water, and mixing with it a quantity of finely pul- 
 verised carbonate of ammonia, about equal in weight to the salt contained in the solution. 
 The mixture is agitated in a close vessel for six or eight hours, and as much carbonic gas 
 is infused therein as it will absorb (but the introduction of the gas is not absolutely neces- 
 sary, although the patentee prefers it); the liquid is then separated from the solid matter 
 bv filtration and pressure. The solid matter is chiefly bi-carbonate of soda, and the liquid 
 holds in solution muriate and carbonate of ammonia, and common salt, and sometimes a 
 small portion of the bi-carbonate of soda. 
 
 The liquid is now placed in a distilling vessel, and the carbonate of ammonia being dis- 
 tilled over into a suitable receiver, a solution of muriate of ammonia and common salt 
 remains in the still. This solution is evaporated, by heat, to such a consistency as will 
 cause the separation of the common salt, by' crystallisation, and the salt, thus crystallised, 
 is evaporated from the liquid by any convenient method. The liquid is then evaporated 
 until it attains the proper specific gravity for crystallising, and it is transferred into suita- 
 ble utensils for that purpose. The crystals, produced by these means, are nearly pure 
 muriate of ammonia, and then pressed and dried may be brought to market without 
 further preparation, or they may be sublimed into cake sal ammoniac. 
 
 The other mode of manufacturing sal ammoniac consists in taking a quantity of liquid, 
 containing ammonia, either in the caustic state, or combined with carbon, hydrosulphuric, 
 or hydrocyanic acid (such as gas ammoniacal liquor, or bone ammoniacal liquor), and 
 rectifying it, by distillation, until the distilled portion contains from twenty to twenty- 
 five per cont. of carbonate of ammonia If the liquid contains any other acids than those 
 above mentioned, a sufficient quantity of lime is used in the distillation to decompose the 
 ammoniacal salt. 
 
 The distilled liquid being now mixed with as large a quantity of powdered common 
 salt as it will dissolve, is agitated for several hours, and as much carbonic acid gas 
 is infused into it as it will absorb. The remainder of the operation is the same as 
 before described in the first method of manufacturing sal ammoniac. — Newton's Journal. 
 C.'S. xxii. 35 
 SALAMSTONE. See Lapidabt. 
 
SALTS. 575 
 
 SALEP, or SALOUP, is the name of the dried tuberous roots of the Orchis, im- 
 ported from Persia and Asia Minor, which are the product of a great many species of the 
 plant, but especially of the Orchis mascula. Salep occurs in commerce in small oval 
 grains, of a whitish-yellow color, at times semi-transparent, of a horny aspect, very hard, 
 with a faint peculiar smell, and a taste like that of gum tragacanlh; but slightly saline. 
 These are composed almost entirely of starchy matter, well adapted for making a thick 
 pap with water or milk, and are hence in great repute in the Levant, as restorers of the 
 animal forces. Their aphrodisiacal properties are apocryphal. If the largest roots of 
 the Orchis mascula of our own country were cleaned, scraped, steeped for a short time in 
 hot, and then for a few minutes in boiling water, to extract their rank flavor, afterwards 
 suspended upon strings to dry in the air, they would afford as nourishing and palatable an 
 article as the Turkey saloup, and at a vastly lower price. 
 
 SALICINE, is a febrifuge substance, which may be obtained in white pearly crystals 
 from the bark of the white willow (Salix alba), of the aspen tree (Salix hells'), as also of 
 some other willows, and some poplars. It has a very bitter taste. 
 
 SAL PRUNELLA, is fused nitre cast into cakes or balls. 
 
 SAL VOLATILE, is sesquicarbonate of ammonia. 
 
 SALT, EPSOM, is sulphate of magnesia. 
 
 SALT, MICROCOSMIC, is the triple phosphate of soda and ammonia. 
 
 SALT OF AMBER, is succinic acid. 
 
 SALT OF LEMONS, is citric acid. 
 
 SALT OF SATURN, is acetate of lead. 
 
 SALT OF SODA, is carbonate of soda. 
 
 SALT OF SORREL, is bi-oxalate of potassa. 
 
 SALT OF TARTAR, is carbonate of potassa. 
 
 SALT OF VITRIOL, is sulphate of zinc. 
 
 SALT PERL ATE, is phosphate of soda. 
 
 SALTPETRE, is nitre, or nitrate of potassa. 
 
 SALT, SEDATIVE, is boracic acid. 
 
 SALTS, are an important class of chemical compounds, anciently studied under the 
 Greek title of Halurgy. At one period every inorganic substance readily soluble in 
 water, was regarded as a salt ; and afterwards, every substance soluble in five hundred 
 times its weight of water. Thus both acid and alkaline bodies cam? to be enro'Jed among 
 salts ; but latterly, the combinations of tho acids with alkalis, eaiths, and metali!; calces 
 {now styled oxydes), were alone thought to be entitled to the denomination of salts, in 
 consequf;ice of their resemblance in appearance, and supposed analogy in composition, 
 to culinary salt. Since Sir H. Davy demonstrated that this substance contained neither 
 acid nor alkaline matter, but that it consisted of chlorine and the metal sodium, the 
 [fenerality of chemists found it impossible to include salts under one category of consti- 
 tution ; while a fe-w have rashly olfeied to cut the knot, by excluding from the saline 
 family, chloride of sodium, the patriarch of the whole. 
 
 Salts may be justly divided into three orders : 
 
 1. The binary, consisting of two single members; such as the bromides, chlorides, 
 cyanides, fluorides, iodides, carburets, phosphurets, sulphurets, &c. 
 
 2. The bi-binary, consisting of two double members ; such as the borates, bromates, 
 carbonates, chlorates, sulphates, sulphites, hyposulphites, sulphohydrates, &c. 
 
 3. The ternary, consisting of two single members of one genus, and one member of an- 
 other ; such as the boro-fluorides, silico-fluorides, sulpho-cyanides, chloriodides, &c. 
 
 The species of each order may exist in three states, constituting neutral salts, super- 
 salts, and subsaiis; as for example, the chloride of sodium, the bisulphate of potassa, 
 the subnitrate of lead, &c. 
 
 In the above arrangement, cyanogen is allowed to represent a simple substance, from 
 its forming analogous compounds with chlorine and iodine. The neutral state of salts is 
 commonly indicated by their solutions not changing the colors of litmus, violets, or red 
 cabbage ; the sub-state of salts, by their turning the violet and cabbage green ; and the 
 super-state of salts, by their changing the purple of litmus, violets, and cabbage, red; but 
 to the generality of this criterion there are some exceptions. The atomic theory may be 
 advantageously resorted to, in this predicament. 1. When one prime equivalent of the 
 one member (whether single or double) of a salt, combines with one prime of the other 
 member, a neutral salt is the result, as in chloride of sodium or nitrate of potassa. 2. 
 When two primes of the electro-negative member combine with one prime of the 
 electro-positive, a> supersalt is formed, as bichloride of tin, or bisulphate of potassa. 
 g. When one prime of the electro-negative member combines with two or more primes 
 of the electro-positive, a subsalt is produced, as the subacetate and subchromate of 
 lead, &c. 
 
 SALT. The salt manufacture of Droitwicb, Worcestershire, existed at a very early 
 period : it is mentioned as in operation at the time of the Roman invasion ; then it was 
 
576 SALT, SEA. 
 
 carried on in a primitive style, and at a considerable expense. The brine springs here 
 extend over a very limited space of land, and are comprised within a circle of about 
 200 yards in diameter. Formerly the brine was obtained by boring. This process 
 made it rise to the surface and run to waste ; for in ascending through and mixing with 
 the freshwater sprirfgs, it was very much lowered in strength, and the manufacture of 
 the salt, which was conducted by evaporation, was attended with greater expense, owin» 
 to the quantity of fuel required to evaporise the water. 
 
 Within the last 50 years an improvement was effected by casing the pit with wood, 
 and thus partially preventing the fresh water mixing with the brine. More recently 
 the principle was introduced of sinking a shaft quite through the fresh water springs, 
 and then making- the bottom and sides of the pit secure with iron cylinders before 
 boring down to the brine springs. By this means the brine is obtained at its full satu- 
 ration, or about -42 parts of salt out of the 100 ; whereas, formerly, it varied between 
 28 and 37 per cent. 
 
 There has been recently obtained a patent for improvements in manufacturing 
 salt ; by using very large evaporating pans of an improved construction, larger quantities 
 of salt are obtained, at a considerable saving of labour to the workmen, who obtain 
 better wages and longer intervals of rest. 
 
 The source of the brine in Droitwich is inexhaustible, and exhibits no diminution of 
 strength or quality ; it lies at a depth of 173 feet from the surface, but as soon as it is 
 reached by boring it rises to the level. The salt manufactured here is exported largely 
 from the ports of London, Gloucester, and Bristol. There are upwards of 70,000 tons 
 per annum manufactured, of which 40,000 tons are used for domestic and agricultural 
 
 Surposes; the rest is used chiefly for chemical decomposition and exportation. Tfie 
 iroitwich salt has always been celebrated for its strength and purity. 
 
 SALT, SEA, or CULINARY ; chloride of sodium ; muriate of soda. (Hydrochlorate de 
 sonde, Fr. ; Chlornalrium, Germ.) Sea salt, or rock salt, in a state of purity, consists of 
 60 of chlorine -+- 40 of sodium, in 100 parts. 
 
 This important species of the saline class possesses, even in mass, a crystalline struc- 
 ture, derived from the cube, which is its primitive form. It has generally a foliated 
 texture, and a distinct cleavage; but it has also sometimes a fibrous structure. The 
 massive salt has a vitreous lustre. It is not so brittle as nitre ; it is nearly as hard as 
 alum, a little harder than gypsum, and softer than calcareous spar. Its specific gravity 
 varies from 20 to 2-25. When pure, it is colorless, translucent, or transparent. On ex- 
 posure to heat, it commonly decrepitates; but some kinds of rock salt enter quietly into 
 fusion at an elevated temperature, a circumstance which has been ascribed to their having 
 been originally subjected to the action of fire. 
 
 According to M. Gay Lussac, 100 parts of water dissolve — 
 35-81 parts of the salt, at temperature 57-0° Fahr. 
 35-88 — 62-5° 
 
 37-14 — 140-0" 
 
 40-38 — 229-5° 
 
 Native chloride of sodium, whether obtained from the waters of the ocean, from saline 
 lakes, from salt springs, or mineral masses, is never perfectly pure. The foreign matters 
 present in it vary with its different origins and qualities. These are, the sulphates of 
 lime, magnesia, soda, muriates of magnesia ana potash, bitumen, oxyde of iron, clay in a 
 state of diffusion, &c. 
 
 Muriate of potash has been deleted, in the waters of the ocean, in the sal-gem of 
 Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, of Hallein in the territory of Salzbourg, and in the salt springs 
 of Rosenheim. 
 
 The more heterogeneous the salt, the more soluble is it, by the reciprocal affinity of its 
 different saline constituents ; and thus a delicate hydrometer, plunged in saturated brine, 
 may serve to show approximately the quality of the salt. I find that the specific gravity 
 of a saturated solution of large-grained cubical salt, is 1-1962 at 60° F. 100 parts of 
 this brine contain 25| of salt, (100 w. 4-34-2 s.) From mutual penetration, 100 
 volumes of the aqueous and saline constituents form rather less than 96 of the 
 solution. 
 
 Among the varieties in the form of this salt, the octahedral, the cabo-octahedral, and 
 the dodecahedral, have been mentioned ; but there is another, called the funnel or hopper- v 
 shaped, which is very common. It is a hollow rectangular pyramid, which forms at the 
 surface of the saline solution in the course of its evaporation, commencing with a small 
 floating cube, upon which lines of other little cubes attach themselves to the edges of the 
 upper face ; whereby they form and enlarge the sides of a hollow pyramid, whose apex, 
 the single cubic crystal, is downward. This sinks by degrees as the aggregation goes on 
 above, till a pyramidal boat of considerable size is constructed. 
 
SALT, SEA. 577 
 
 A Table of the results of the Analyses of several varieties of Culinary Salt. 
 
 . 
 
 Chloride 
 
 Muriate 
 
 Muriate 
 
 Sulphate 
 
 Sulphate 
 
 Sulphate 
 
 Clay and 
 
 Oxyde 
 
 Origin of the Salt. 
 
 of 
 
 of Mag- 
 
 of 
 
 of 
 
 of Mag- 
 
 of 
 
 other in- 
 
 of 
 
 
 Sodium. 
 
 nesia. 
 
 Lime. 
 
 Soda. 
 
 nesia. 
 
 Lime. 
 
 soluble 
 bodies. 
 
 iron. 
 
 Sal-gem of Vic j ^ ife 
 
 99-30 
 99-80 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 0-005 
 
 0-020 
 0-002 
 
 
 Cheshire, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 crushed 
 
 98-33 
 
 0-02 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 0-65 
 
 — 
 
 0-002 
 
 Salt from Salt Springs : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Schonbeck, Westphalia 
 
 93-90 
 
 0-30 
 
 — 
 
 1-00 
 
 — 
 
 0-80 
 
 
 
 nT„.,«:„,.„ $ descordes 
 Moutiers | boi[ers 
 
 97-17 
 
 0-25 
 
 — 
 
 2-00 
 
 0-58 
 
 
 
 
 93-59 
 
 0-61 
 
 — 
 
 5-55 
 
 0-25 
 
 
 
 
 Chateau Salins 
 
 97-82 
 
 2-12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 White of Sulz - 
 
 96-88 
 
 3-12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludwigshall, middle 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 grained 
 
 99-45 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 0-05 
 
 — 
 
 0-28 
 
 
 
 Koenigsborn, Westphalia 
 
 95-90 
 
 — 
 
 0-27 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 1-10 
 
 
 
 Sea salt, half white 
 
 97-20 
 
 0-064 
 
 
 
 
 
 0-050 
 
 0-120 
 
 0-070 
 
 
 
 96- 
 93-55 
 
 0-30 
 2-80 
 
 
 
 0-45 
 1-75 
 
 2-35 
 1-50 
 
 
 
 Common Scottish salt 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lymington, common - 
 
 93-7 
 
 1-1 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3-50 
 
 1-50 
 
 2-00 
 
 
 mt 
 
 98-8 
 98-25 
 
 0-5 
 0-075 
 
 
 
 0-5 
 
 0-1 
 1-55 
 
 
 
 |Cheshire, stoved 
 
 0-025 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 The geological position of rock salt is between the coal formation and the lias. The 
 great rock-salt formation of England occurs within the red marl, or new red sandstone, 
 the bunter-sandstein of the Germans, so called, because its colors vary from red to 
 salmon and chocolate. This mineral stratum frequently presents streaks of light blue, 
 verdigris, buff, or cream color ; and is chiefly remarkable for containing considerable 
 masses or beds of gypsum. At Northwich, in the vale of the Weaver, the rock salt 
 consists of two beds, together not less than 60 feet thick, which are supposed to con- 
 stitute large insulated masses, about a mile and a half long, and nearly 1300 yards 
 broad. There are other deposites of rock salt in the same valley, but of inferior im- 
 portance. The uppermost bed occurs at 75 feet beneath the surface, and is covered 
 with many layers of indurated red, blue, and brown clay, interstratified more or less 
 with sulphate of lime, and interspersed with argillacc ius marl. The second bed of rock 
 salt lies 3l£ feet below the first, being separated fron it by layers of indurated clay, with 
 veins of rock salt running through them. The lowest fled of salt was excavated to a depth 
 of 1 10 feet, several years ago. 
 
 The beds or masses of rock salt are occasionally so thick, that they have not been yet 
 bored through, though mined for many centuries. This is the case with the immense 
 mass of Wieliczka, and the lower bed at Northwich. But in ordinary cases, this 
 thickness varies from an inch or two to 12 or 15 yards. When the strata are thin, 
 they are usually numerous ; but the beds, layers, or masses never exhibit throughout a 
 great extent any more than an illusory appearance of parallelism ; for when they are 
 explored at several points, enlargements are observed, and such diminutions as cause 
 the salt to disappear sometimes altogether. This mineral is not deposited, therefore, in 
 a geological stratum, but rather in lenticular masses, of very variable extent and thick- 
 ness, placed alongside of each other at unequal distances, and interposed between the 
 courses of '.he other formations. 
 
 Sometimes the rock salt is disseminated in small masses or little veins among the cal- 
 careous and argillaceous marls which accompany or overlie the greater deposites. Bitui- 
 men, in small particles, hardly visible, but distinguishable by the smell, occurs in all the 
 minerals of the saliferous system. 
 
 It has been remarked, that the plants which grow generally on the sea shores, such as 
 the Triglochinum maritimum, the Salicornia, the Salsola kali, the Astir trifelium, or fare- 
 well to summer, the Glaux maritima, &c, occur also in the neighborhood of salt mines 
 and salt springs, even of those which are most deeply buried beneath the surface. 
 
 The interior of rock-salt mines, after digging through the strata of clay marl, &c. is 
 extremely dry ; so that the dust produced in the workings becomes an annoyance to the 
 miners, though in ->ther respects the excavations are not at all insalubrious. 
 
 Salt springs occur nearly in the same circumstances, and in the same geological form- 
 
 Vol. II. " 38 
 
578 SALT, SEA. 
 
 *tion as the salt rock. It has been noticed that salt spings issue, in genera], from the 
 upper portion of the saliferous strata, principally from the saline clay marls. Cases 
 however occur, where the salt springs are not accompanied by sock salt, and where the 
 whole saline matter is derived from the marls themselves, which thus constitule the only 
 saliferous beds. 
 
 It has been imagined that there are two other periods of geological formation of this 
 substance j one much more ancient, belonging to the transition series of rocks j the other 
 relalively modern, among secondary strata. To the former has been referred the salt for- 
 mation of' Bex, that of Cardonne, &c. But M. Brongniart assigns valid reasons for re- 
 jecting this supposition. M. Beudant, indeed, refers to the secondary strata above the 
 chalk, the rock-salt formation of Wieliczka, and of the base of the Carpathians ; placing 
 these among the plastic clay and lignites. 
 
 The mines of rock salt do not appear to possess any determinate elevation upon the 
 surface of the earth. Immense masses of it are met with at very great depths below the 
 level of the sea, (the mine of Wieliczka is excavated 860 feet beneath the soil,) and 
 others exist at a considerable altitude, as that of Hallein near Salzbourg, which is 3300 
 feet above the level of the sea, and the saline rock of Arbonne in Savoy, which is nearly 
 4000 feet higher, situated at the great elevation of 7200 feet above the level of the sea, 
 and consequently in the region of perpetual snow. The rock is amass of saceharoid and 
 anhydrous gypsum, imbued with common salt, which is extracted by lixiviation ; after 
 which the gypsum remains porous and light. 
 
 The inland seas, salt lakes, and salt marshes, have their several localities obviously 
 independent of peculiar geological formations. The ocean is, however, the most magnifi- 
 cent mine of salt, since this chloride constitutes about oae thirtieth part of its weight ; 
 being pietty evenly diffused throughout its waters, when no local cause disturbs the equi- 
 librium. The largest proportion of salt held in solution in the open sea, is 38 parts in 
 1000, and the smallest 32. In a specimen taken by Mr. Wilkinson, out of the Red Sea, 
 at Berenice, I found 43 parts of salt in 1000. The specific gravity of the water was 1 035. 
 
 Were it requisite to extract the chloride of sodium from sea-water by fuel alone, many 
 countries, even maritime, would find the process too costly. The salt is therefore obtain- 
 ed from it in two different manners; 1. by natural evaporation alone ; 2. by natural and 
 artificial evaporation combined. The first method is employed in warm regions, under 
 the form of saline tanks, or brine reservoirs, called also brine-pits. These are large 
 shallow basins, the bottom of which is very smooth, and formed of clay. They arc ex 
 cavated along the sea-shore, and consist of — 
 
 1st. A large reservoir, deeper than the proper brine-pits, which is dug between them 
 and the sea. This reservoir communicates with the sea by means of a channel provided 
 wilh a sluice. On the sea-shore, these reservoirs may be filled at high water, though the 
 tides are rather inconvenient than advantageous to brine-pits. 
 
 2dly. The brine-pits, properly so called, which are divided into a number of compart- 
 ments by means of little banks. All these compartments have a communication with each 
 other, but so that the water frequently has a long circuit to make, from one set to another. 
 Sometimes it must flow 400 or 500 yards, before it reaches the extremity of this sort of 
 labyrinth. The various divisions have a number of singular names, by which they are 
 technically distinguished. They should be exposed to the north, north-east, or north- 
 west winds. 
 
 The water of the sea is let into these reservoirs in the month of March, where it is 
 exposed on a vast surface to t^aporation. The first reservoir is intended to detain the 
 water till its impurities have subsided, ind from it the other reservoirs are supplied, as 
 their water evaporates. The salt is considered to be on the point of crystallizing when 
 the water begins to grow reu Soon after this, a pellicle forms on the surface, which 
 breaks, and falls to the bottom. Sometimes the salt is allowed to subside in the first com- 
 partment j at others, the strong brine is made to pass on to the others, where a larger 
 surface is exposed to the air. In either case the salt is drawn out, an! left upon the 
 borders to drain and dry. 
 
 The salt thus obtained partakes of the color of the bottom on which it is formed ; and 
 is hence white, red, or gray. 
 
 Sea water contains, in 1000 parts, 25 of chloride of sodium, 5-3 sulphate of magnesia, 
 S-S chloride of magnesium, 0-2 carbonate of lime and magnesia, 0-1 sulphate of lime, be- 
 sides g^p-jf of su.phate and muriate of potash. It also contains iodide of sodium, and 
 bromide of magnesium. Its average spec. grav. is from 1-029 to 1-030. 
 
 Sea- water and weak brines may be cancentrated either by the addition of rock salt, 
 by spontaneous evaporation in brine-pits (see suprH), or by graduation. Houses for the 
 last purpose are extensively employed in France and Germany. The weak brine is 
 pumped into an immense cistern on the top of a tower, and is thence allowed to flow 
 down the surface of bundles of thorns built up in regular walls, between parallel wooden 
 frames At Salza, near Schonebeck, the graduation-house is 5817 feet long, the thorn 
 
SALT. SEA. 
 
 579 
 
 walls are from 33 to 52 feel high, in different parts, and present a tolal surface of 
 25,000 square feet. Under the .thorns, a great brine cistern, made of strong' wooden 
 planks, is placed, to receive the perpetual shower of water. Upon the ridge of the 
 graduation-house there is a long spout, perforated on each side with numerous holes, and 
 furnished with spigots or stopcocks for distributing the brine, either over the surface of 
 the thorns, or down through their mass ; the latter method affording larger evaporation. 
 The graduation-house should be built lengthwise in the direction of the prevailing 
 wind, with its ends open. An experience of many years at Salza and Durrenberg has 
 shown, that in the former place graduation can go on 258, and in the latter 207 days, on 
 an average, in the year ; the best season being from May till August. At Durrenberg, 
 3,596,561 cubic feet of water are evaporated annually. According to the weakness of 
 the brine, it must be the more frequently pumped up, and made to flow down over the 
 thorns in different compartments of the building, called the 1st, 2d, and 3d graduation. 
 A deposite of gypsum incrusts the twigs, which requires them to be renewed at the end 
 of a certain time. Figs. 1230 & 1231 represent the graduation-house of the salt-works 
 at Durrenberg. o, «, a, are low stone pillars for supporting the brine cistern 6, called 
 
 1230 
 
 1231 
 
 Chi soole-schiff. c, c are the inner, d, d the outer, walls of thorns ; the first have per- 
 pendicular sides, the last sloping. The spars c, e, which support the thorns, are I-ongei 
 than the interval between two thorn walls from/to g,fig. 1231, whereby they are readily 
 fastened by their tenons and mortises. The spars are laid at a slope of 2 inches in the 
 foot, as shown by the line h, i. The bundles of thorns are each 1| foot thick, from 5 to 
 7 feet long, and are piled up in the following way : — Guide-bars are first placed in the 
 line fc, I, to define the outer surface of the thorn wall ; the undermost spars m, n, are 
 fastened upon them ; and the thorns are evenly spread, after the willow-withs of the 
 bundles have been cut. Over the top of the thorn walls are laid, through the whole length 
 of the graduation-house, the brine spouts o, o, which are secured to the upper beams ; and 
 at both sides of these spouts are the drop-spouts p, p, for discharging the brine by the 
 spigots s, i, as shown upon a larger scale in fig. 123H. The drop-spouts are 6 feet long, 
 have on each side small notches, 5 inches apart, and are each supplied by a spigot. 
 The space above the ridge of the graduation-house is covered with boards, supported at 
 Iheir ends by binding-beams 5. r, r, show the tenons of the thorn-spars. Over the soole- 
 schiff b, inclined planes of boards are laid for conducting downwards the innumerable 
 showers. The byne, which contains at first 7-692 per cent, of salt, indicates, after the 
 first shower, 11-473 ; after the second, 16-108 ; and after the third, 22. The brine, thus 
 concentrated to such a degree as to be fit for boiling, is kept in great reservoirs, of which 
 the eieht at Saiza, near Schonebeck, have a capacity of 2,421,720 cubic feet, and are fur- 
 nished with j)i pes leading to the sheet-iron salt-pans. The capacity of these is very dif- 
 ferent at different works. At Schonebeck there are 22, the smallest having a square 
 surface of 400 feet, the largest of 1250, and are enclosed within walls, to prevent their 
 being affi cted by the cold external air. They are covered with a funnel-formed or pyra- 
 midal trunk of deals, ending in a square chimney, to carry off the steam. 
 
 Figs. 1233, 34, 35, represent the construction of a salt-pan, its furnace, and the 
 •alt store-room of the works at Durrenberg j fig. 1235 being the ground plan, /ig. 1234 
 
580 
 
 SALT, SEA. 
 
 the longitudinal section, and fig. 1233 the transverse section, a is the fire-grate, whica 
 slopes upwards to the back part, and is 31 J inches distant from the bottom of the pun 
 The ratio of the surface of the grate to that of the bottom of the pan, is as 1 to 59-5 ; 
 that of the air-hole into life ash-pit, as 1 to 306. The bed under the pan is laid witi 
 bricks, smoothly plastered over, from 6 to c, in fig. 1234. Upon this bed the pillars d, d, 
 &c, are built in a radiated direction, being 6 inches broad at the bottom, and tapering to 
 1* inch at top. The pan is so laid that its bottom has a fall towards the middle of 
 1233 2| inches; see e, f, fig. 1234. The fire 
 
 diffuses itself in all directions under the 
 pan, proceeds thence through several 
 holes g, g, g, into flues h, A, h, which run 
 round three sides of the pan ; the burnt 
 air then passes through i, fig. 1235, un- 
 der other pans, from which it is collected 
 in the chimneys k, k, to be conducted into 
 the drying-room. At /, I, there is a 
 transverse flue, through which, by means 
 of dampers, the fire-draught may be conducted into an extra chimney m. From the flues 
 k, k, four square iron pipes n, n, issue and conduct the burnt air into the main chimneys 
 in the opposite wall. 
 
 The bottoms of the several flues have a gradual ascent above the level of the fire-grate. 
 A special chimney o, rises above the ash-pit, to carry off the smoke, which may chance to 
 regurgitate in certain states of the wind, p, p, are iron pipes laid upon each side ol 
 the ash-pit (see figs. 1234 & 1235), into which cold air is admitted by the flue q, r 
 
 1234 ma 
 
 1235 
 
 where, becoming heated, it is conducted through iron pipes s, and thence escapes at /, 
 into the stove-room. Upon both sides of the hot flues in the stove-room, hurdle-frames 
 a, u, are laid, each of which contains 11 baskets, and every basket, except the under, 
 most, holds 60 pounds of salt spread in a layer 2 inches thick, v, v, show the pipes to 
 which the pan is supplied with graduated brine. 
 
 Description of the Steam-trunk, in fig. 1236. 
 In front of the pan a, a, there are two upright posts, upon which, and in holes of 
 the back wall, two horizontal beams 6, b, are supported. The pillars c, c, are sustained 
 upon the bearers d, d. At e, e, a deep quadrangular groove is made in the beams, 
 for fixing down the four boards which form the bottom of the steam-way. In this 
 groove any condensed water from the steam collects, and is carried off by a pipe /, to 
 prevent it falling back into the pan. Upon the three sides of the pan not in contact 
 with the wall, there are three rows of boards hinged upon planks b, b. Behind the 
 upper one, a board is hung on at g, upon which the boiled salt is laid to drain. Tin 
 
SALT, SEA. 
 
 581 
 
 iwo other rows of boards are hooked on so as to cover the pan, as shown at ft 
 Whenever the salt is sufficiently drained, the upper shelves are placed in a horizontal 
 
 position 5 the salt is put into small baskets, 
 and carried into the stove-room, i, k, is 
 the steam-trunk ; I, m, is a tunnel for car- 
 rying off the steam from the middle of the 
 pan, when this is uncovered by lifting the 
 boards. 
 
 In proportion as the brine becomes con- 
 centrated by evaporation, more is added 
 from the settling reservoir of the gradu- 
 ation-house, till finally small crystals ap- 
 pear on the surface. No more weak brine 
 is now added, but the charge is worked 
 off, care being taken to remove the scum 
 as it appears. In some places the first 
 pan is called a schlot-plan, in which the 
 concentration is carried only so far as to 
 cause the deposition of the sludge, from 
 which the saline solution is run into an- 
 other pan, and gently evaporated, to pro. 
 duce the precipitation of the fine salt. 
 This salt should be continually raked to- 
 wards the cooler and more elevated sides 
 of the pan, and then lifted out with cullender-shovels into large conical baskets, arranged 
 in wooden frames round the border of the pan, so that the drainage may flow back into 
 the boiling liquor. The drained salt is transferred to the hurdles or baskets in the stove- 
 room, which ought to be kept at a temperature of from 120° to 130° Fahr. The salt is 
 then stowed away in the warehouse. 
 
 The graduation range should be divided lengthwise into several sections ; the first 
 to receive the water of the spring, the lake, or the sea ; the second, the water from the 
 first shower-receiver ; the third, the water from the second receiver ; and so on. The 
 pumps are usually placed in the middle of the building, and lift the brine from the several 
 receivers below into the alternate elevated cisterns. The square wooden spouts of distri- 
 bution may be conveniently furnished with a slide-board, attached to each of their sides, 
 to serve as a general valve for opening or shutting many trickling orifices at once. The 
 rate of evaporation at Moutiers is exhibited by the following table : — 
 
 Number of Showers. 
 
 1 and 2 
 
 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 
 
 10 
 
 Total Surface of the Fagots. 
 
 5158 square feet 
 2720 
 550 t 
 
 Specific Gravity 
 of the Brine. 
 
 1-010 
 1-023 
 1-072 
 1-140 
 
 Water 
 evaporated. 
 
 0-000 
 0-540 
 0-333 
 0-062 
 
 Total evaporatio.. 
 Water remaining in the brine at the density of 1-140 
 
 Water assigned at the density of 1-010 
 
 0-935 
 1-065 
 
 1000 
 
 From the above table it appears that no less than 10 falls of the brine have been 
 required to bring the water from the specific gravity 1-010 to 1-140, or 18° Baume. The 
 t^aporation is found to proceed at nearly the same rate with the weaker water, and with 
 the stronger, within the above limits. When it arrives at a density of from 1-140 to 1-16, 
 t is run off into the settling cisterns. M. Berthier calculates, that upon an average, in 
 ordinary weather, at Moutiers, 60 kilogrammes of water (13 gallons, imp.) arfe evaporated 
 from the fagots, in the course of 24 hours, for every square foot of their surface. Without 
 the aid of currents of air artificially warmed, such an amount of evaporation could not be 
 reckoned upon in this country. In the sMotting, or throwing down of the sediment, a 
 little bullock's blood, previously beaten up with some cold brine, promotes the clarifica- 
 tion. When the brine acquires, by brisk ebullition, the density of 1-200, it should be run 
 off from the preparation, to the finishing or salting pans. 
 
 The mother-water contains a great deal of chloride of magnesium, along with chloride 
 of sodium, and sulphate of magnesia. Since the last two salts mutually decompose 
 each other at a low temperature, and are transformed into sulphate of soda, which 
 • rvstallizes, and muriate of magnesia, which remains dissolved, the mother-water with 
 
582 SALT WATER FRESHENED. 
 
 Ihis view itiay be exposed in tanks to the frost during winter, when it affords three suc- 
 cessive crystalline deposites, the last being sulphate of soda, nearly pure. 
 
 The chloride of magnesium, or bittern, not only deteriorates the salt very much bu 
 ociasions a considerable loss of weight. It may, however, be most advantageously got 
 
 rid of, and converted into chloride of sodium, by the following simple expedient : Lef 
 
 quicklime be introduced in equivalent quantity to the-magnesia present, and it will pre- 
 cipitate this earth, and form chloride of calcium, which will immediately react upon the 
 •sulphate of soda in the mother-water, with the production of sulphate of lime and chloride 
 of sodium. The former being sparingly soluble, is easily separated. Lime, moreover, 
 decomposes directly the chloride of magnesium, but with the effect of merely substituting 
 chloride of calcium in its stead. But in general there is abundance of sulphate of soda 
 in brine springs to decompose the chloride of calcium. A still better way of proceeding 
 with sea-water, would be to add to it, in the settling tank, the quantity of lime equivalent 
 to the magnesia, whereby an available deposite of this earth would be obtained, at the same 
 tune that the brine would be sweetened. Water thus purified may be safely crystallized 
 by rapid evaporation. 
 
 In summer, the saturated boiling brine is crystallized by passing it over vertical ropes ; 
 for which purpose 100,000 metres (110,000 yards) are mounted in an apartment 70 
 metres (77 yards) long. When the salt has formed a crust upon the ropes about 2j 
 inches thick, it is broken off, allowed to fall upon the clean floor of the apartment, and 
 then gathered up. The salting of a charge, which would take 5 or 6 days in the pan, is 
 completed in this way in 17 hours; but the mother-waters are more abundant. The salt 
 is, however, remarkably pure. 
 
 The boilers constructed at Rosenheim, in Bavaria, evaporate 3| pounds of water for 
 every pound of wood burned ; which is reckoned a favorable result ; but some of those 
 described under Evaporation, would throw off much more. 
 
 " The rock salt mines and principal brine springs are in Cheshire ; and the chief part 
 of the Cheshire salt, both fossil and manufactured, is sent by the river Weaver to Liver- 
 pool, a very small proportion of it being conveyed elsewhere, by canal or land earriage. 
 There are brine springs in Staffordshire, from which Hull is furnished with white salt ; 
 and in Worcestershire, from which Gloucester is supplied. If to the quantity shipped 
 by the Weaver, 100,000 tons of white salt are added annually for internal consumption 
 and exports, exclusive of Liverpool, the total manufacture will be approached very near- 
 ly ; but as there is now no check from the excise, it is impossible to ascei tain it exaetly. 
 Fossil salt is used in small quantities at some of the Cheshire manufactories, to strengthen 
 the brine, but is principally exported ; some to Ireland, but chiefly to Belgium and Hoi- 
 land."* The average quantity of rock salt sent annually down the river Weaver 
 from the mines in Cheshire, between the years 1803 and 1834 inclusive, was 86,000 tons 
 of 2,600 lbs. each ; the greatest being 125,658, in the year 1823, and the least 47,230, in 
 the year 1813. The average quantity of white salt sent annually down the Weaver 
 from the manufactories in Cheshire during the same period, was 221,351 ; the "reatest 
 being 383,669, in the year 1832, and the least being 120,486, in the year 1811. 
 
 M. Clement-Desormes, engineer and chief adionnaire of the great salt-works of Dieuze 
 in France, informs me that the internal consumption of that kingdom is rather more than 
 200,000 tons per annum, being at the rate of 6| kilogrammes for each individual of a 
 population estimated at 32,000,000. As the retail price of salt in France is 10 sous per 
 kilogramme (of 2J lbs. avoird.), while in this country it is not more than 2 sous (1 penny), 
 its consumption per head will be much greater with us j and, taking into account the 
 immense quantity of salted provisions that are used, it may be reckoned at 22 lbs. • 
 whence our internal consumption will be 240,000 tons, instead of 100,000, as quoted 
 above, from the tables published by the Board of Trade. 
 
 exported' ( 
 
 to Belgiui 
 
 American colonies ; 2,870,808 to the United States of America;' 53,298 i to New South 
 
 Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and other Australian settlements ; 58,735 to the British 
 
 West Indies ; and 90,655 to Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Man. The -whole of the 
 
 exports in 1850 were 15,819,664 bushels ; in 1851, 18,265,693 bushels. 
 
 SALT WATER FRESHENED. Dr. Normandy and Mr. R. Fell have lately 
 obtained a patent for the said purpose, which seems to work well. The apparatus con- 
 sists of a vertical cylinder, having a series of horizontal partitions communicating each 
 with the one below it, and each with a pipe leading to a condenser. A space is "eft 
 between the sides of the cylinder and the partitions," to allow of steam circulating freely 
 within the interior of the cylinder. The salt water to be freshened is introduced into 
 the apparatus from the top, and circulates over the partitions, and the aqueous vapour 
 
 * Tables of the Bevenue^Population, Commerce, Ac, for 1885y p. 122. 
 
SANDAL WOOD. 583 
 
 arising from it passes off to the condenser, and on its way becomes mixed with at- 
 mospheric air, introduced through a suitable pipe, and issues from the condenser in aE 
 aerated state, while the water arising from the condensation of the steam admitted into 
 the cylinder is discharged therefrom without being aerated. The apparatus may be 
 constructed of any suitable materials, but the patentees recommend the use of zinked or 
 galvanized iron. 
 
 SAND (Eng. and Germ. ; Sable, Fr.) ; is the name given to any mineral substance in 
 a hard granular or pulverulent form, whether strewed upon the surface of the ground, 
 found in" strata at a certain depth, forming the beds of rivers, or the shores of the sea 
 The siliceous sands seem to be cither original crystalline formations, like the sand of 
 Neuilly, in 6-sided prisms, terminated by two 6-sided pyramids, or the debris of granitic, 
 schistose, quartzose, or other primitive crystalline rocks, and are abundantly distributed 
 over the globe; as in the immense plains known under the names of downs, deserts, 
 steppes, laudes, <Sic., which, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and America, are entirely covered with 
 loose sterile sand. Valuable metallic ores, those of gold, platinum, tin, copper, iron, 
 titanium, often occur in the form of sand, or mixed with that earthy substance. Pure 
 siliceous sands are very valuable for the manufacture of glass, for making mortars, 
 filters, ameliorating dense clay soils, and many c her purposes. For moulder's sand, 
 see Founding. Lynn and Ryegate furnish our purest siliceous sand. 
 
 SAND FOR GLASS MAKING. The Great Exhibition was well furnished 
 with specimens of the finer kinds of sand ; some of which, as those from the Isle 
 of Wight, and the neighbourhood of Lynn, were remarkably white and beautiful. By 
 fiir the finest sample of sand ever seen in this country was, however, in the American 
 department of the Crystal Palace, and did not fail to attract the notice of those interested 
 in "such matters. This sand was contained in two or three barrels in the southern side of 
 the building, and seems totally free from iron and every other source of contamination. 
 It was positively as white as snow, and so far as the making of glass is concerned, maj 
 rival or supersede the best flint, even if the high price of this latter article did not form an 
 insuperable obstacle to its employment. It was from T. Gray & Co., Boston, Massachusetts ; 
 but its geological locality was not stated. The principal exhibitors of sand for the ma- 
 nufacture of glass were, Sir T. Mary on Wilson, of Charlton ; J. Rock, jun., of Hastings; 
 Whittaker & Winksworth, Derbyshire; J. Claston, of Alum Bay, and J. Squire, of 
 Yarmouth, Isle of "Wight ; S. Relfe, of Reigate, and G. Morrison of the same town, 
 agent to Earl Somers ; with J. Long, of Limerick ; J. Deering, of Cork ; T. Smedley, 
 of Lardidno ; and J. Lee, of Hartwell, near Aylesbury. These specimens of sand have 
 all more or less of the yellow topaz hue, indicating oxide of iron, and which imparts to 
 all glass the green tinge so very perceptible in the common window variety. To 
 remove this' oxide of iron from sand, has never yet, we believe, been attempted ; though 
 if we may judge by the trouble taken to mollify its influence in the manufacture of glass, 
 an effectual process of the kind would be a lucrative discovery. When sand contain 
 ing oxide of iron is mixed with a little charcoal and subjected at a red-beat to the action 
 of chlorine gas, the whole of the iron is volatilized as chloride of iron, and the silica 
 remains pure as soon as the excess of charcoal is burnt off: this experiment seems to 
 suggest the possibility of purifying the glass maker's sand, by the employment of the 
 waste muriatic acid, now thrown away so largely by our soda makers. Even at ordinary 
 temperatures, the solution of oxide of iron by this means might be hoped for ; but there 
 can be no practical objectiot to the use of a reasonable amount of heat for such a pur- 
 pose, if found necessary. 
 
 SANDAL or RED SAUNDERS WOOD (Santal, Fr. ; Sandelhoh, Germ. ), is the 
 wood of the Pterocarpus santaiinus, a tree which grows in Ceylon, and on the coast of 
 Coromandel. The old wood is preferred b,y dyers. Its coloring matter is of a resinous 
 nature ; and is, therefore, quite soluble in alcohol, essential oils, and alkaline leys ; but 
 sparingly in boiling water, and hardly if at all in cold water. The coloring matter 
 which is obtained by evaporating the alcoholic infusion to dryness, has been called 
 tantalhie; it is a red resin, which is fusible at 212* F. It may also be obtained by 
 digesting the rasped sandal wood in water of ammonia, and afterwards saturating the 
 ammonia with an acid. The santaline falls, and the supernatant liquor, which is yellow 
 by transmitted, appears blue by reflected light. Its spirituous solution affords a fine 
 purple precipitate with the protochloride of tin, and a violet one with the salts of lead. 
 Santaline is very soluble in acetic acid, and the solution forms permanent stains upon 
 the skin. 
 
 Sandal wood is used in India, along with one tenth of sapan wood (the Casalpinia sopan 
 of Japan, Java, Siam, Celebes, and the Philippine isles), principally for dyeing silk and 
 cotton. Trommsdorf dyed wool, cotton, and linen a carmine hue by dipping them alter- 
 nately in alkaline solution of the sandal wood, and in an acidulous bath. Bancroft ob. 
 tained a fast and brilliant reddish-yellow, by preparing wool with an alum and tartar baih, 
 and then passing it through a boiling bath of sandal wood and sumac. Pelletier did not 
 
584 SCAGLIOLA. 
 
 succeed in repeating this experiment. According to Togler, woo], silk, cotton, and linen 
 mordanted with salt of tin, and dipped in a cold alcoholic tincture of the wood, or the 
 same tincture mixed with 8 parts of boiling water, become of a superb ponceau-red color. 
 With alum, they took a scarlet-red ; with sulphate of iron, a deep violet, or brown-red. 
 Unluckily, these dyes do not stand exposure to light well. 
 
 SANDARACH, is a peculiar resinous substance, the product of the Thuya articulata, 
 a small tree of the coniferous family, which grows in the northern parts of Africa, es 
 pecially round Mount Atlas. 
 
 The resin comes to us in pale yellow, transparent, brittle, small tears, of a spherica. 
 or cylindrical shape. It has a faint aromatic smell, does not soften, but breaks between 
 the teeth, fuses readily with heat, and has a specific gravity of from 1-05 to 1-09. It 
 contains three different resins ; one soluble in spirit of wine, somewhat resembling pinic 
 acid (see Turpentine) j one not soluble in that menstruum ; and a third, soluble only 
 in alcohol of 90 per cent. It is used as pounce-powder for strewing over paper erasure?, 
 as incense, and in varnishes. 
 
 SAPAN WOOD, is a species of the Ctssalpinia genus, to which Brazil wood belongs. 
 It is so called by the French, because it comes to them frsm Japan, which they corruptly 
 pronounce Sapan. As all the species of this tree are natives of either the East Indies or 
 the New World, one would imagine that they could not have been used as dye-stuffs in 
 Europe before the beginning of the 16th century. Tet the author of the article " Brazil," 
 in Kees' Cyclopaedia, and Mr. Southey, in his History of Brazil, say that Brazil wood is 
 mentioned nearly one hundred years before the discoveries of Columbus and Vasco de Gama, 
 by Chaucer, who died in 1400 ; that it was known many ages before his time ; and that 
 it gave the name to the country, instead of the country giving the name to the wood, as 
 I have stated, with Berthollet and other writers on dyeing. The Ccesalpinia sappan, 
 being a native of the Coromandel coast, may possibly have been transported along with 
 other Malabar merchandise to the Mediterranean marts in the middle ages ; but the im- 
 portation of so lumbering an article in any considerable quantity by that channel, is so 
 improbable, that I am disposed to belive that Brazil wood was not commonly used by the 
 dyers of Europe before the discovery of the New World. 
 
 SARD ; see Lapidary. 
 
 SATIN (Eng., Fr., and Germ.), is the name of a silk stuff, first imported from China, 
 which is distinguished by its very smooth, polished, and glossy suiface. It is woven upon 
 a loom with at least five-leaved healds or heddles, and as many corresponding treddles. 
 These are so mounted as to rise and fall four at a time, raising and depressing alternate- 
 ly four yarns of the warp, across the whole of which the weft is thrown by the shuttle, 
 so as to produce a uniform smooth texture, instead of the checkered work resulting from 
 intermediate decussations, as in common webs. See Textile Fabrics. Satins are 
 woven with the glossy or right side undermost, because the four-fifths of the warp, which 
 are always left there during the action of the healds, serve to support the shuttle in its 
 race. Were :>.ey woven in the reverse way, the scanty fifth part of the warp threads 
 could either not support, or would be too much worn by the shuttle. 
 
 SATURATION, is the term at which any body has taken its full dose or chemical 
 proportion of any other with which it can combine : as water with a salt, or an acid with 
 an alkali in the neutro-saline state. 
 
 SAWS. Saws are formed from plates of sheet steel, and are toothed, not by hand, 
 but by means of a press and tools. Circular saws have the advantage of being divided 
 in their teeth very accurately by means of a'division plate ; this prevents irregularity of 
 size, and imparts smoothness and uniformity of action. The larger sizes of circular 
 saws are made in segments and connected together by means of dove-tails. All saws 
 are hardened and tempered in oil ; their irregularities are removed by hammering on 
 blocks, and they are equalized by grinding. The several forms of teeth do not, as the 
 casual observer may imagine, depend upon taste, but are those best fitted for cutting 
 through the particular section, quality, or hardness of the material to be cut. The "set" 
 of the saw consists in inclining the teeth at the particular angle known to be the best 
 to facilitate the exit of the sawdust, and thereby allow the saw to operate more 
 freely. Iron bars, shaftings, &c, are cut to length by a steel circular saw, in its soft 
 state, the iron to be cut being presented to the saw red hot ; the saw rotates at a prodi- 
 gious rate, and is kept in cutting condition, or cool, by its lower edge being immersed 
 in water. A bar, two inches in diameter, is cut through in a few seconds. 
 
 SCAGLIOLA, is merely ornamental plaster-work, produced by applying a pap made 
 of finely-ground calcined gypsum, mixed with a weak solution of Flanders* glue, upon any 
 figure formed of laths nailed together, or occasionally upon brickwork, and bestudding its 
 surface, while soft, with splinters (scagliole) of spar, marble, granite, bits of concrete coloured 
 gypsum, or veins of clay, in a semi-fluid state. The substances employed to colour the 
 spots and patches are the several ochres, boles, terra di Sienna, chrome yellow, <fcc. The 
 surface of the column is turned smooth upon a lathe, polished with stones of different 
 
■SCARLET DYE. 
 
 585 
 
 fineness, and finished with some plaster-pap, to give it lustre. Pillars and other flat sur- 
 faces are smoothed by a carpenter's plane, with the chisel finely serrated, and afterwards 
 polished with plaster by friction. The glue is the cause of the gloss, but makes the sur- 
 face apt to be injured by moisture, or even damp air. 
 
 SCARLET DYE. (Teinture en ecarlate, Fr. , Scharlachf&rberci, Germ.) Scarlet is 
 usually given at two successive operations. The boiler (see figs. 364, 365, article Dye- 
 ing) is made of block tin, but its bottom is formed occasionally of copper. 
 
 1 . The bouillon, or the coloring-bath. — For 100 pounds of cloth, put into the water, when 
 it is little more than lukewarm, 6 pounds of argal, and stir it well. When the water be- 
 comes too hot for the hand, throw into it, with agitation, one pound of cochineal in fine 
 powder. An instant afterwards, pour in 5 pounds of the clear mordant g (see Tin Mok- 
 dants), stir the whole thoroughly as soon as the bath begins to boil, introduce the cloth, 
 and wince it briskly for two or three rotations, and then more slowly. At the end of a 
 two-hours' boil, the cloth is to be taken out, allowed to become perfectly cool, and well 
 washed at the river, or winced in a current of pure water. (See an automatic plan of 
 washing described under the article Rinsing Machine.) 
 
 2. The rougie, or finishing dye. — The bouillon bath is emptied, and replaced with water 
 for the rougie. When it is on the point of boiling, 5J pounds of cochineal in fine powder 
 are to be thrown in, and mixed with care ; when the crust, which forms upon the sur- 
 face, opens of itself in several places, 14 pounds of solution of tin (as, above) are to be 
 added. Should the liquor be likely to boil over the edges of the kettle, it must be refresh, 
 ed with a little cold water. When the bath has become uniform, the cloth is to be put in, 
 taking care to wince it briskly for two or three turns ; then to boil it bodily for an hour, 
 thrusting it under the liquor with a rod whenever it rises to the surface. It is lastly ta- 
 ken out, aired, washed at the river, and dried. 
 
 As no person has done more for the improvement of the scarlet dyes than Poerner, I 
 shall here give his processes in detail. 
 
 Bouillon, or coloring. — For every pound of cloth or'wool, take 14 drachms of cream of 
 tartar. When the bath is boiling, and the tartar all dissolved, pour in successively 14 
 drachms of solution of tin (Mordant t, Tin), and let the whole boil together during a few 
 minutes. Now introduce the cloth, and boil it for 2 hours ; then take it out, and let it 
 drain and cool. 
 
 Rougie, or dye. — For every pound of woollen stuff, lake 2 drachms of cream of tartar. 
 When the bath begins to boil, add 1 ounce of cochineal reduced to fine powder, stir, the 
 mixture well with a rod of willow or any white wood, and let it boil for a few minutes. 
 Then pour in, by successive portions, 1 ounce of solution of tin (Mordant f), stirring con- 
 tinually with the rod. Lastly, dye as quickly as possible. -The color will be a beautiful 
 scarlet". 
 
 Second scarlet process of Poerner, the bouillon being the same as above given, and al- 
 ways estimated for 1 pound of cloth or wool. Rougie. — Take 1 ounce of cochineal in fine 
 powder, and 2 ounces of solution of tin without tartar. 
 
 Third scarlet process of Poerner ; the bouillon being as above. Rougie for a pound of 
 cloth. — Take two drachms of cream of tartar, one ounce of cochineal, one ounce of soh> 
 tion of tin, and 2 ounces of sea salt i dye as in process 1. The salt helps the dye to pene. 
 trate into the cloth. 
 
 Tables of the Composition of the Bouillon and Rougie, by different Authors, 
 
 for 100 pounds of Cloth or Wool. 
 
 Composition of the Bouillon. 
 
 Names of the Authors. 
 
 Starch. 
 
 Uream of 
 Tartar. 
 
 Cochineal. 
 
 Solution of 
 Tin. 
 
 Common 
 Salt. 
 
 Berthollet - 
 Hellot 
 Scheffer 
 Poerner 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 
 9 6 
 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 6 
 12 8 
 
 9 6 
 10 15 
 
 lb. dr. 
 
 8 
 18 6 
 12 4 
 
 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 5 
 
 12 8 
 
 9 6 
 
 10 15 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 
 
 
 
 M. Lenormand states that he has made experiments of verification upon all the formu 
 166 of the preceding tables, and declares his conviction that the finest tint may be obtained 
 by taking the bouillon of Scheffer, and the rougie No. 4 of Poerner. The solution which 
 produced the most brilliant red, is that made according to the process of mordant b (Tin,) 
 M. Robiquet has given the following prescription for making a printing scarlet, for well 
 whitened woollen clo.h. 
 
586 
 
 SCHEELE'S GREEN. 
 Composition of the Rongze. 
 
 Names of the Authors. 
 
 
 Cream of 
 
 
 Solution of 
 
 Common 
 
 
 
 Tartar. 
 
 
 Tin. 
 
 Salt. 
 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 lb. OZ. 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 76. OZ. 
 
 lb. oz. 
 
 Berthollet - 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 8 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 Hellot 
 
 3 2 
 
 0- 
 
 7 4 
 
 12 8 
 
 
 
 Scheffer 
 
 3 2 
 
 3 2 
 
 5 71 
 
 4 11 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 6 4 
 
 6 4 
 
 
 
 Poerner - < 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 4 
 
 12 8 
 
 
 
 ( 
 
 
 
 1 8 
 
 6 4 
 
 6 4 
 
 12 8 
 
 Boil a pound of pulverized cochineal in four pints of water down to 2 pints, and pass 
 (he decoction through a sieve. Repeat the boiling three times npon the residuum, mix 
 the eight pints of decoction, thicken them properly with two pounds of starch, and boil 
 into a paste. Let it cool down to 104° F., then add four ouncr s of the subjoined solution 
 of tin, and two ounces of ordinary salt of tin (muriate.) When a ponseau red is wanted, 
 two ounces of pounded curcuma (turmeric) should be added. 
 
 The solution of tin above prescribed, is made by taking — -ne ounce of nitric acid, of 
 specific gravity 3l5° B, = 1-33 j one ounce of sal ammoniac , four ounces of grain tin. 
 The tin is to be divided into eight portions, and one of them is to be put into the acid mix- 
 ture every quarter of an hour. 
 
 A solution of chlorate of potassa (chloride 1) is said to beautify scarlet cloth in a re 
 markable manner. 
 
 Bancroft proposed to supplant the nilro-muriatic acid, by a mixture of sulphuric and 
 muriatic acids, for dissolving tin ; but I do not find that he succeeded in persuading scarlet- 
 dyers to adopt his plans. In fact, the proper base is, in my opinion, a mixture of the prot- 
 oxyde and peroxyde of tin; and this cannot be obtained by acting upon the metal with the 
 murio-sulphuric acid. He also prescribed the extensive use of the quercitron yellow to 
 change the- natural crimson of the cochineal into scarlet, thereby economizing the quanti- 
 ty of this expensive dye-stuff. See Lac Dye. 
 
 SCHEELE'S GREEN is a pulverulent arsenite of copper, which may be prepared as 
 follows : — Form, first, an arsenite of potassa, by adding gradually 11 ounces of arscnious 
 acid to 2 pounds of carbonate of potassa, dissolved in 10 pounds of boiling water ; next 
 dissolve 2 pounds of crystallized sulphate of copper in 30 pounds of water ; filler each 
 solution, then pour the first progressively into the second, as long as it produces a rich 
 grass-green precipitate. This being thrown upon a filler-cloth,' and edulcorated wilh 
 warm water, will aflbrd 1 pound 6 ounces of this beautiful pigment. It Consists of, oxyde 
 oi copper 28-51, and of arsenious acid 71-46. This green is applied by an analogous 
 double decomposition to clolh. See Calico-pkinting. 
 
 SCHWEINFURTH GREEN is a more beautiful and velvety pigment than the 
 preceding, which was discovered in 1814, by MM. Rusz and Sattler, at Schweinfurth 
 and remained for many years a profitable secret in their hands. M. Liebig having made 
 its composition known, in 1822, it has been since prepared in a great many color-'works. 
 Braconnot puKished, about the same time, another process for manufacturing the same 
 pigment. Its preparation is very simple ; but its formation is accompanied with some in- 
 teresting circumstances. On mixing equal parts of acetate of copper and arsenious acid, 
 each in a boiling concentrated solution, a bulky olive-green precipitate is immediately 
 produced ; while much acetic acid is set free. The powder thus obtained, appears to be 
 a compound of arsenious acid and oxyde of copper, in a peculiar state ; since when de- 
 composed by sulphuric acid, no acetic odor is exhaled. Its color is not changed by dry- 
 ing, by exposure to air, or by being heated fn water. But, if it be boiled in the acidulous 
 liquor from which it was precipitated, it soon changes its color, as well as its stale of aggre- 
 gation, and forms a new deposite in the form of a dense granular beautiful green powder 
 As fine a color is produced by ebullition during five or six minutes, as is obtained at the' 
 end of several hours by mixing the two boiling solutions, and allowing the whole to ceo] 
 together. In the latter case, the precipitate, which is slight and flocky at first, becomes 
 denser by degrees; it next betrays green spots, which progressively increase, till the mass 
 grows a together of a crystalline constitution, and of a still mtore beautiful tint than if formed 
 by ebullition. 
 
 When cold water is added to the mixed solutions, immediately after the preciralats 
 takes place, the development of the color is retarded, wilh the effect of making it nuch 
 hner. The best mode of procedure, is to add to the blended solutions, their own 
 bulk of cold water, and to fill a globe up to the neck wilh the mixture, in ^rder to pre- 
 
SCOURING. 587 
 
 rent the formation of any such pellicle on the surface as might, by falling to the bottom, 
 excite premature crystallization. Thus the reaction continues during two or three 
 days with the happiest effect. The difference of tint produced by these variations 
 arises merely from the different sizes of the crystalline particles ; for when the seven)' 
 powders are levigated upon a porphyry slab to the same degree, they have the same 
 shade. Schweinfftrth green, according to M. Ehrmann's, researches, in the 81st Bulletin 
 dr. la Socielee Industrielle Mnlhausen, consist of, oxide of copper 31-666, arsenious acid 
 58-699, acetic acid 10-294. Kastner has given the following prescription for making 
 this pigment;— For 8 parts of arsenious acid, take from 9 to 10 of verdigris; diffuse the 
 latter through water at 120° F., and pass the pap through a sieve; then mix it with 
 the arsenical solution, and set the mixture aside, till the reaction of the ingredients shall 
 psoduce the wished-for shade of colour. If a yellowish tint be desired, more arsenic 
 must be used. By digesting Scheel's green in acetic acid, a variety of Schweinfurth 
 green may be obtained. 
 
 Both of the above colours are rank poisons. The first was detected a few years ago, 
 as the colouring-matter of some Parisian bonbons, by the conseil de salubrite; since wli?ch 
 tue confectioners were prohibited from using it, by the French government. 
 
 Schweinfurth Green ; preparation of. 50 lbs. of sulphate of copper and 10 lbs. of lime 
 are dissolved in 20 gallons of good vinegar, and a boiling-hot solution of 50 lbs. white 
 arsenic conveyed as quickly as possible into the solution; it is stirred several times, and 
 then allowed to subside. The supernatant liquor is employed the next time for dis- 
 solving the arsenic. 
 
 The pigment is cooled on the 1 filter, dried, pounded, sifted, and again rubbed up with 
 a little muriatic acid. 
 
 SCOURING, or renovating articles of dress. This art has been much more studied by 
 Frenchmen, who wear the same coats for two or 1hr<"> ;ears, than by Englishmen, who 
 generally cast them off after so many months. The workmen who remove greasy stains 
 from dress, are called, in France, teinturiers-degruisicnrs, because they are ofien obliged 
 to combine dyeing with scouring operations. The art of cleansing clothes being founded 
 upon the knowledge of solvents, the practitioner of it should, as we shall presently illus- 
 trate by example*, he acquainted with the laws of chemical affinity. 
 
 Among the spots which alter the colors fixed upon stuffs, some are caused by a substance 
 which may be described as simple, in common language ; and others by a substance which 
 results from the combination of two or more bodies, that may act separately or together 
 upon the stuff, and which may therefore b'e called cempewnd. 
 
 Simple stains. — Oils and fats are the substances which form the greater part of simple 
 stains. They give a deep shade to the ground of the cloth ; they continue lo spread for 
 several days ; they attract the dust, and retain it so strongly, that it is not i emoveable by the 
 brush; and they eventually render the stain lighter colored upon a dark ground, and of a dis- 
 agreeable gray tint upon a pale or light ground. 
 
 The genera] principle of cleansing all spots, consists in applying to them a substar.ee 
 which shall have a stronger affinity for the matter composing them, than this has for the 
 cloth, and which shall render them soluble in some liquid menstruum, such as water, 
 spirits, naptha, oil of turpentine, &c. See Bleaching. 
 
 Alkalis would seem to be proper in this point of view, as they are the most powerful 
 solvents of grease; but they act too strongly upon silk and woo), as well as change too 
 powerfully the colors of dyed stuffs, to be safely applicable in removi..g stains. The best 
 substances for this purpose are— 1. Soap. 2. Chalk, fuller's earth, soap-stone or 
 steatite (called in this country French chalk). These should be merely diffused through 
 a little water into a thin paste, spread upon the stain, and allowed lo dry. The spot re- 
 quires now to be merely brushed. 3. Ox-gall and yolk of egg have the properly of dis- 
 solving fatty bodies without affecting perceptibly the texture or colors of cloth, and may 
 therefore be employed with advantage. The ox-gall should be purified, to prevent its 
 greenish tint from degrading the brilliancy of dyed stuffs, or the purity of whites. Thus 
 prepared (see Gall), it is the most precious of all substances known for removing these 
 kinds if stains. 4. The volatile oil of turpentine will take out only recent stains ; for 
 which purpose it ought to be previously purified by distillation over quicklime, Wax, 
 rosin, turpentine, pitch, and all resinous bodies in genera), form stains of greater or less 
 adhesion, which may be dissolved out by pure alcohol. The juices of fruits, and the col- 
 ored juices of all vegetables in general, deposite upon clothes marks in their peculiar 
 hues. Stains of wine, mulberries, black currants, morellos, liquois, and weld, yield only 
 to soaping with the hand, followed by fumigation with sulphurous acid ; but the latter 
 process is inadmissible with certain colored stuffs. Iron mould or rust, stains maybe 
 taken out almost instantaneously with a strong solution of oxalic acid. If the slain ia 
 recent, cream of tartar will remove it. 
 
 Compound spots. — That mixture of rust of iron and grease called camlouis by th« 
 
588 SOREW-MAKING. 
 
 French, id an example of this kind, and requires two distinct operations; first, the 
 emoval of the grease, and then of the rust, by the means above indicated. 
 
 Mud, especially that of cities, is a compound of vegetable remains, and of ferruginous 
 matter in a state of black oxide. Washing with pure water, followed if necessary with 
 aoaping, will take away the vegetable juices; and then the iron may be removed with 
 cream of tartar, which itself must, however, be well washed out. Ink stains, when re- 
 cent, may be taken, out by washing, first witn pure water, next with soapy water, and 
 lastly with lemon juice ; but if old, they must be treated with oxalic acid. Stains occa 
 sioned by smoke, or by sauces browned in a frying-pan, may be supposed to consist of a 
 mixture of pitch, black oxyde of iron, empyreumatic oil, and some saline matters dissolved 
 in pyroligneous acid. In this case several reagents must be employed to remove the 
 stains. Water and soap dissolve perfectly well the vegetable matters, the salts, the 
 pyroligneous acid, and even the empyreumatic oils in a great measure ; the essence of 
 turpentine will remove the rest of the oils and all the pitchy matter ; then oxalic acid 
 may be used to discharge the iron. Coffee stains require a washing with water, with a 
 careful soaping, at the temperature of 120° F., followed by sulphuration. The two latter 
 processes may be repeated twice or thrice. Chocolate stains may be removed by the same 
 means, and more easily. 
 
 As to those stains which change the color of the stuff, they must be corrected by ap- 
 propriate chemical reagents or dyes. When black or brown cloth is reddened by an 
 scid, the stain is best counteracted by the application of water of ammonia. If delicate 
 silk colors' are injured by soapy or alkaline matters, the stains must be treated with 
 colorless vinegar of moderate force. An earthy compound for removing grease spots is 
 made as follows : — Take fuller's earth, free it from all gritty matter by elutriation with 
 water ; mix with half a pound of the earth so prepared, half a pound of soda, as much 
 soap, and eight yolks of eggs well beat up with half a pound of purified ox-gall. The 
 whole must be carefully triturated upon a porphyry slab ; the soda with the soap in the 
 same manner as colors are ground, mixing in gradually the eggs and the ox-gall previous- 
 ly beat together. Incorporate next the soft earth by slow degrees, till a uniform thick 
 paste be formed, which should be made into balls or cakes of a convenient size, and laid 
 out to dry. A little of this detergent being scraped off with a knile, made into a paste 
 With water, and applied to the stain, will remove it. Purified ox-gall is to be diffused 
 through its own bulk of water, applied to the spots, rubbed well into them with the hands 
 till they disappear, after which the stuff is to be washed with soft-water. It is the best 
 substance for removing stains on woollen clothes. 
 
 The redistilled oil of turpentine may also be rubbed upon the dry clothes with a sponge 
 or a tuft of cotton till the spot disappear; but it must be immediately afterwards covered 
 with some plastic clay reduced to powder. Without this precaution, a cloud would be 
 formed round the stain, as large as the part moistened with the turpentine. 
 
 Oxalic ac>'d tp»v be applied in powuei upon the spot previously moistened with watei, 
 well rubbea on, and then w^hed orl will- pure water. 
 
 Sulphurous acid is best generated at tnt moment of using i' If the clothes be muct 
 stained, they should be suspended in an ordinary fumigating chamber. For trifling stains, 
 the sulphur may be burned under the wide end of a small card or paper funnel, whose 
 upper orifice is applied near the cloth. 
 
 Manipulations of the scourer. — These consist, first, in washing the clothes in clear soft 
 water, or in soap-water. The cloth must be next stretched on a sloping board, and 
 rubbed with the appropriate reagent as above described, either by a sponge or a small 
 hard brush. The application of a redhot iron a little way above a moistened spot often 
 volatilizes the greasy matter out of it. Stains of pitch, varnish, or oil paint, which have 
 become dry, must first be softened with a little fresh butter or lard, and then treated 
 with the powder of the scouring ball. When the gloss has been taken from silk, it may 
 be restored by applying the filtered mucilage of giim, tragacanth ; stretching it upon 
 a frame to dry. Ribbons are glossed with isinglass. Lemon juice is used to brighten 
 scarlet spots after they have been cleaned. 
 
 | _ SCREW MAKING. Henn & Bradley, Cheapside, Birmingham— Manufacturers 
 taper wood screws in iron, brass, and copper: iron thread screws for machinery of every 
 description, and for stoves, grates, <&c. 
 
 Taper hand-rail screws adapted for pianoforte-makers and fine cabinet work. 
 
 Operation 1. From a coil of wire placed on a wheel, and introduced into the screw- 
 making machine, a piece sufficient to form a screw is cut off, caught up and heated, that 
 is to say, the portion which forms the head is compressed into shape and the now called 
 ' blank is dropped into a receptacle below. Operation 2. consists in flattening the head 
 and smoothing the counter-sink, which is performed by the " blank" being held in both 
 clams and having a cutter revolving in front, and another behind. 3. Slitting: th« 
 " blank ' is placed in a pair of nippers, which is movable on centres nv means of a lever 
 action ; the head is pressed against a small revolving circular saw, and the slit made 
 
SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 589 
 
 1238 
 
 1239 
 
 1240 
 
 4. Threading is effected l>y the " blank" being introduced into a pair of clams which is 
 attached to a spindle, the back part of which is cut with a worm or thread corresponding 
 to that of the screw to be cut, and which propels forward the clams and the " blank" 
 against small toothed cutters, which groove out the thread ; three runnings down are suf- 
 ficient to complete the manufacture of an ordinary sized screw. The difference ia the 
 fineness of the threads arises from the shape of the cutters. 
 
 SEAL ENGRAVING. The art of engraving gems is one of extreme nicety. The 
 stone having received its desired form from the lapidary, the engraver fixes it by cement 
 to the end of a wooden handle, and then draws the outline of his subject with a brass 
 needle or a diamond, upon its smooth surface. 
 
 Fig. 1237. represents the whole of the seal 
 engraver's lathe. It consists of a table on 
 which is fixed the mill, a small horizontal 
 cylinder of steel, into one of whose extremi- 
 ties the tool is inserted, and which is made 
 to revolve by the usual fly-wheel, driven 
 by a treddle. The tools that may be fitted 
 to the mill-cylinder, are the following : Jig. 
 1238. a hollow cylinder, for describing circles, 
 and for boring; fig. 1239. a knobbed tool, 
 or rod terminated by a. small ball ; Jig 
 1240. a Btem terminated with a cutting disc 
 whose edge may be either rounded, square 
 or sharp; being in the last case called a saw. 
 Having fixed the tool best adapted to his 
 style of work in the mill, the artist applies 
 to its cutting point, or edge, some diamond 
 powder, mixed up with olive oil ; and turn- 
 ing the wheel, he holds the stone against the 
 tool, so as to produce the wished-for delinea- 
 tion and erosion. A similar apparatus is 
 used for engraving on glass. 
 
 In order to give the highest degree of 
 polish to the engraving, tools of boxwood, 
 pewter, or copper, bedaubed with moistened tripoli or rotten-stone, and lastly, a brush, 
 are fastened to the mill. These are worked like the above steel instruments. Modern 
 engravings on precious stones, have not in general the same fine polish as the ancient, 
 Ihe article Gems, in Hues' Oyclopcedia, contains a variety of valuable information on this 
 subject, equally interesting to the artist and the scholar. 
 
 _ SEAL FISHERY. The seal fishery of Newfoundland has now become the most 
 important part of the trade of that colony. Although not so extensive a staple, or so 
 generally followed as the cod fishery, yet when the capital and time employed^ and the 
 almost certain and immediate return for investment, are taken into consideration, it is by 
 far the most profitable part of the business of that colony, or perhaps of any other part 
 of the British empire. 
 
 A quarter of a century ago, there were only about 50 vessels, varying from 30 to 61? 
 tons burthen, engaged in this branch of trade; but within that period it has been gradu- 
 ally increasing. In the year 1S50, the outfit for this fishery from Newfoundland consisted 
 of 229 vessels, of 20,581 tons, employing 7,919 men. The number of seals taken was 
 440,828. According to the custom-house returns for that year, the total value of skins 
 and oil produced from the sale amounted to 298,796£ In "the present year, 1S52, the 
 outfit consisted of 367 vessels, of 35,760 tons, employing about 13,000 men. The returns 
 and value of this year's fishery have not yet been ascertained. Although it was a 
 disastrous season, in respect to loss of vessels, yet the catch of seals upon tho 
 whole was above an average one, there being from half to three-quarters of a million 
 seals captured. 
 
 The vessels engaged in this business are from 75 to 200 tons burthen. Those lately 
 added to the sailing fleet, and which are now considered of the most suitable sizes, range 
 from 130 to 160 tons. Vessels of this size carry from 40 to 50 men The season of 
 embarking for the voyage is from the 1st to the loth of March. The voyage seldom 
 exceeds two months, and is often performed in two or three weeks. Several vessels 
 make two voyages in the season, and some perform the third voyage within the space of 
 two months and a half. 
 
 The seals frequenting the coast of Newfoundland are supposed to whelp their young 
 ill the months of January and February ; this they do upon pans and fields of ice, on the 
 coast, and to the northward of Labrador. This ice. or the whelping ice, as it is 
 termed, from the cunents and prevailing northerly and north-east winds, trends towards 
 
590 SEAL FISHERY. 
 
 the east and north-east coast of Newfoundland, and is always to be found on some part 
 of the coast after the middle of March, before which time the young seals are too young 
 to be profitable. The young seal does not take to the water until it is three month? 
 old. They are often discovered in such numbers within a day's sail of the port, thai 
 three or four days will suffice to load a vessel with the pelts, which consist of the skio 
 and fat attached, this being taken off while the animal is warm ; the carcass, being of 
 no value, is left on the ice. The young seals are accompanied by the old ones, which 
 take to the water on the approach of danger. When the ice is jammed, and there is nc 
 open water, large numbers of the old seals are shot. The young seals are easily cap- 
 tured ; they offer no resistance, and a slight stroke of a bat on the head readily dispatches 
 them. When the pel ts are taken on board, sufficient time is allowed for them to cool 
 on deck. They are then stowed away in t>ulk,in the hold, and in this state they reach 
 the market, at St. Johns and other ports in the island. Five-sevenths of the whole catch 
 reach the St. John's market. A thousand seals are considered as a remunerating number ; 
 but the majority of the vessels return with upwards of 3,000, many with 5,000 and 
 6,000, and some with as many as 7,000, 8,000, and 9,000. Seals were formerly sold 
 by tale ; they are now all sold by weight, — that is, so much per cwt. for fat and skin. 
 
 The principal species captured are the hood and harp seal. The bulk of the catch 
 consists of the young hood and harp in nearly equal proportions. The best and most 
 productive seal taken is the young harp. There are generally four different qualities 
 in a cargo of seals, namely, — the young harp, young hood, old harp and bedlaraer (the 
 latter is the year old hood), and the old hood. There is a difference of 2s. per cwt. in 
 the value of each denomination. 
 
 The first operation after landing and weighing is the skinning, or separating the' fat 
 from the skin ; this is speedily done, for an expert skinner will skin from 300 to 400 
 young pelts in a day. After being dry-salted in bulk for about a month, the skins are 
 sufficiently cured for shipment, the chief market for them being Great Britain. The 
 fat is then cut up and put into the seal-vats. 
 
 The seal-vat consists of what are termed the crib and pan. The crib is a strong 
 wooden erection, from 20 to 30 feet square, and 20 to 25 feet in height. It is firmly 
 secured with iron clamps, and the interstices between the upright posts are filled in 
 with small round poles. It has a strong timber floor, capable of sustaining 300 or 400 
 tons. The crib stands in a strong wooden pan 3 or 4 feet larger than the square of the 
 crib, so as to catch all the drippings. The pan is about 3 feet deep, and tightly caulked. 
 A small quantity of water is kept on the bottom of the pan, for the double purpose of 
 saving the oil in case of a leak, and for purifying it from the blood and any other 
 animal matter of superior gravity. The oil made by this process is all cold-drawn ; no 
 artificial heat is applied in any way, which accounts for the unpleasant smell of seal oiL 
 When the vats begin to run, the oil drops from the crib upon the water in the pan ; 
 and as it accumulates it is casked off, and ready for shipment. The first running, 
 which is caused by compression from its own weight, begins about the 10th of May, 
 and will continue to yield what is termed pale seal oil from two to three months, until 
 from 50 to 70 per cent, of the quantity is drawn off, according to the season, or in 
 proportion to the quantity of <jld seal fat being put into the vats. From being tougher, 
 this is not acted upon by compression, nor does it yield its oil until decomposition takes 
 place ; and hence it does not, by this process, produce pale seal oil. The first drawings 
 from the vats is much freer from smell than the latter. As decomposition takes place, 
 the colour changes to straw, becoming every day, as the season advances, darker and 
 darker, and stinking worse and worse, until it finally runs brown oil. As this running 
 slackens, it then becomes necessary to turn over what remains in the vats. The crib 
 being generally divided into nine apartments or pounds, this operation is performed by 
 first emptying one of the pounds, and dispersing the contents over the others, and then 
 filling and emptying them alternately until the entire residue, by this time a complete 
 mass of putrefaction, is turned over. By this process a further runnitg of brown oil is 
 obtained. The remains are then finally boiled out in large iron pots, which, during 
 the whole season, are kept in pretty constant requisition for boiling out the cuttings 
 and clippings of the skinning and other parts of the pelts, which it is not found 
 advisable to put into the vats. The produce of this, and the remains of the vats, are 
 what is termed the boiled seal oil. These operations occupy about six months, and ter- 
 minate towards the end of September. 
 
 During the months of July, August, and September, the smell and effluvia from the 
 vats and boiling operation are almost insufferable. The healthy situation of St. John's, 
 from its proximity to the sea, and the high and frequent local winds, is doubtless the 
 cause of preventing much sickness at this season of the year. I have never known any 
 disease or epidemic attributable to such a cause. The men more immediately employed 
 about the seal-vats have a healthy and vigorous appearance. 
 
 Some improvement has taken place since the great fire of 1846, when all the seal-vati 
 
SEALING-WAX. 691 
 
 in the town wore destroyed. Many of the manufacturers have erected their new vats on 
 the south or opposite side of the harbour ; but there still remains sufficient vestiges of the 
 seal trade to cause a summer residence in the town of St. John's anything but desirable. 
 Even the country for several miles around St. John's affords no protection from these 
 horrible stenches. The animal remains from the vats, and the offal from the codfish, are 
 found to bo such a valuable manure, that they are readily purchased hy the farmers in the 
 neighbourhood ; and from whatever quarter the wind blows, the pedestrian in his rural 
 walk has little chance of breathing a genial atmosphere. 
 
 After a year's residence in Newfoundland, the attention of the author was turned to 
 some mode of improving the manufacture of the seal oil. The result of several experi- 
 ments upon the different qualities of seal's fat satisfied him that the whole produce of the 
 fishery, if taken while the material is fresh, as it generally arrives in the market, and 
 subjected to a process of artificial heat, was capable of yielding, not only a uniform quality 
 of oil, but the oil so produced was much better in quality than the best prepareJ by the 
 old process, and free from the unpleasant smell common to all seal oil. His subsequent 
 oxperiments resulted in the invention of a steam apparatus for rendering seal and other 
 oils, which has been found to answer an admirable purpose, and for which he has received 
 letters-patent under the Great Seal of the Island of Newfoundland, securing to him the 
 right of his invention for fourteen years. 
 
 The advantage of this process must be manifest, when it is understood that twelve 
 hours suffice to render the oil, which by the old process requires about six months; that 
 a uniform quality of oil is produced superior to the best pate by the old process, and free 
 from smell ; that a considerable per-centage is saved in the yield, and what is termed 
 pale seal, produced from the old as well as from the young seal. (The sample herewith 
 sent Dr. Ure is from the old hood seal.) Besides, if this process were universally adopted, 
 the manufacturing season would cease by the Slst of May, and the community would be 
 saved from the annoyance attending tlie old process. 
 
 The chief market for seal oil and skins has hitherto been Great Britain and Ireland : a 
 few cargoes occasionally go to the continental cities. This year, for the first time, a new- 
 market for seal oil has been opened in the United States, owing to the greatly inos eased 
 consumption of oil in that country, together with the failure of their whale fishery. 
 Upwards of 2000 tons of this year's produce have already been shipped to that countrv. 
 The latter shipments, however, have not realised to the shippers the prices of the firs't] 
 from the fact that, upon the trial of this oil, although it was found to be valuable for its 
 combustible qualities, yet in a hot climate it was altogether unfit for domestic purposes, 
 on account of its singularly offensive smell. 
 _ In thi United States the great consumption of oil is for domestic purposes ; the chief 
 cities only as yet being lighted with gas, and that but partially, from their constant in- 
 crease. Candles, unless of the most expensive kind, will not suit that climate, particu- 
 larly in the summer season ; and hence oil and camphene, where gas is not used, are the 
 chief ingredients for lamps. All animal oils used in that country, whether of sperm, right 
 whales, or lard, are rendered by artificial heat, and in consequence free from the un- 
 pleasant smell of our cold-drawn seal oil. 
 
 From his having exhibited samples of his oil in America, the subscriber has fully 
 ascertained that, on account of its yielding so brilliant a light, and producing no offensive 
 smell, it will command a much higher price than the best pale, prepared by the cold- 
 drawn process. — 8. G. Archibald, St. John's, Newfoundland. 
 
 SEALING-WAX.— (Cire a eacheter, Fr. ; Sieyellack, Germ.) The Hindus from time 
 immemorial have possessed the resin lac, and were long accustomed to use it for sealing 
 manuscripts before it was known in Europe. It was first imported from the East into 
 Venice, and then into Spain ; in which country sealing-wax became the object of a con- 
 siderable ■commerce, under the name of Spanish-wax. 
 
 If shell-lac be compounded into sealing-wax, immediately after it has been separated by 
 fusion from the palest qualities of stick or seed lac, it then forms a better and less brittle 
 article, than when the shellac is fused a second time. Hence sealing-wax, rightly pre- 
 pared in the East Indies, deserves a preference over what can be made in other countries 
 where the lac is not indigenous. Shellac can be restored in some degree, however to a 
 plastic and tenacious state by melting it with a very small portion of turpentine. ' Tho 
 palest shellac is to be selected for bright-coloured sealing-wax, the dark kind being re- 
 served for black. ° 
 
 The following prescription may be followed for making red sealing-wax :— Take 4 
 ounces of shell-lac, 1 ounce of Venice turpentine (some say 1| ounces) and 3 ounces of 
 vermillion. Melt the lac in a copper pan suspended over a clear charcoal fire, then pour 
 the turpentine slowly into it, and soon afterwards add the vermillion, stirring briskly all 
 the time of the mixture with a rod in either hand. In forming the round sticks of 
 sealing-wax. a certain portion of the mass should be weighed while it is ductile, divided 
 into the desired number of pieces, and then rolled out upon a warm marble ' slab, by 
 
692 SEA WATER. 
 
 means of a smooth wooden block, like that used by apothecaries for rolling a mass of pills. 
 The oval sticks of sealing-wax are cast in moulds, with the above compound in a sjate 
 of fusion. The marks of the lines of junction of the mould-box may be afterwards 
 removed by holding the sticks over a clear fire, or passing them over a blue gas-flame. 
 Marbled sealing-wax is made by mixing two, three, or more coloured kinds of it, 
 while they are in a semi-fluid state. From the viscidity of the several masses, their 
 incorporation is left incomplete, so as to produce the appearance of marbling. Gold 
 sealing-wax is made simply by stirring gold-coloured mica spangles into the melted 
 resins. Wax may be scented by introducing a little essential oil, essence of musk, or other 
 perfume. If 1 part of balsam of Peru be melted along with 99 parts of the sealing 
 wax composition, an agreeable fragrance will be exhaled in the act of sealing with it. 
 Either lamp black or ivory black serves for the colouring-matter of black wax. Sealing 
 wax is often adulterated with rosin ; it which case it runs into thin drops at the flame of 
 a candle. 
 
 The following prescriptions are good : — 
 
 Red No. 1. — 4 oz. Venetian turpentine, 6 ozs. shell-lac, f oz. colophony, If oz. 
 cinnabar, <fec. 
 
 Red No. 2. — Turpentine and shell-lac like No. 1., colophony and cinnabar each If oz. 
 magnesia, &c. 
 
 Red No. 3.-4 ozs. turpentine, 5f ozs. shell-lac, 1| oz. colophony, If oz. cinnabar, 
 magnesia, <tc. 
 
 Mne Black— i\ ozs. Venetian turpentine, 9 ozs. shell-lac, f oz. colophony, lamp- 
 black mixed with oil of turpentine as much as is required. 
 
 Black — 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 8 ozs. shell-lac, 3 ozs. colophony, lamp-black, and 
 oil of turpentine. 
 
 Yellow— 2 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 4 ozs. shell-lac, If oz. colophony, £ oz. king's 
 yellow, If dram magnesia and oil of turpentine. 
 
 Dark Brown — 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, If ozs. shell-lac, 1£ oz. brown English 
 earth (ochre), magnesia as above. 
 
 Brown — 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 7 ozs. shell-lac, 3 ozs. colophony, If oz. English 
 earth (ochre), magnesia as above. 
 
 Light Brown— 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, If ozs. shell-lac, 1 oz. brown earth, f oz. 
 cinnabar, f oz. prepared chalk, magnesia as above. 
 
 Light Brown — 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 7 ozs. fine shell-lac, 3 ozs. colophonv, 1£ oz. 
 English earth, f oz. cinnabar, 1 oz. washed chalk, magnesia as above. 
 
 Dark Blue— 3 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 7 ozs. fine shell-lac, 1 oz. colophony, 1 oz, 
 mineral blue, magnesia as above. 
 
 Green — 2 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 4 ozs. shell-lac, If oz. colophony, f oz. king's 
 yellow, f oz. mountain blue, magnesia as above. 
 
 Carmine Red— 2 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 4 ozs. shell-lac, 1 oz. colophony li oz. 
 Chinese red, 1 dram magnesia, with oil of turpentine. • 
 
 Gold— 4 ozs. Venetian turpentine, 8 ozs. shell-lac, 14 sheets of genuine leaf gold f oz. 
 bronze, f oz. magnesia, with oil of turpentine. 
 
 SEA-WATER, is composed as follows, according to the author of the article Satinet in 
 the Dictionnaire Technologique .-—Chloride of sodium, 250; chloride of magnesium 
 0-35 ; sulphate of magnesia, 058 ; carbonates of lime and magnesia, 002 • sulphate of 
 lime, 0-01 ; water, 96'54, in 100 parts. See Salt, Sea. V 
 
 Sea-water, distillation of. Three of Her Majesty's ships, the Arrogant, 46 Captain 
 Fitzroy, the Plumper, 11, Commander Nblloth, and the Reynard, 11 Commander 
 Crawcroft, have been furnished with the Government distilling and cookin°- galley 
 constructed by Mr. Grant: other galleys of the same kind are also in course of manu- 
 facture for the largest class of vessels. The Dauntless, 1,496 tons, the Termagant 
 1,556 tons, and the Encounter, 906 tons, all new ships on the screw principle are 
 ordered to have first class machines of the above description. By the improvements 
 
 made since the introduction of the galleys into the naval service, the quantity of fresh 
 water obtained by the distillation of salt water, during the period it is required to keep 
 the fires alight in the galley for the purposes of cooking, will, on the average, supply 
 each individual on board the vpssela TO ;rt, nno ,™ii c j:r.i:ii-j i__. P ' . *X. J 
 
 . ■ - immediately from the condenser into the 
 water tanks at the same temperature as the surrounding ocean. In these tanks it 
 becomes perfectly aerated losing altogether the vapid flavour common to all distilled 
 water in he course of a few hours without the acid of chemical preparation or 
 mechanical arrangement, by the simple fact of the action imparted. to the fluid by the 
 motion of the ship when at sea A series of very interesting and important experiments 
 have, however, been made and are still ,n progress, on board the Illustrious, 72, 
 Captain Yates; bearing the flag of Rear Admiral Presert, C. B. in the harbour by 
 
SEWING BY MACHINERY. S93 
 
 Mr. Cross, with the view of imparting at the moment of. distillation the oxygen of which 
 the water is deprived in the process, and giving to it that briskness which is found in 
 spring water This is effected by passing a proporjionate current of electricity through 
 the particles of water by means of an extremely simple and self-acting apparatus. The 
 results of the experiments made have been highly satisfactory. The only point to be 
 determined is, whether any artificial means, either chemical or mechanical, are required 
 for aerated distilled water on board ship, as it is found that such water becomes 
 sufficiently aerated in a few hours by the motion imparted to it by the ship; but if 
 the water is required for immediate use, Mr. Cross's application produces the object 
 desired most effectually. 
 
 SEGGAR, or SAGGER, is the cylindric or oval case of fire-clay, in which fine 
 Btoneware is enclosed while being baked in the kiln. 
 
 SELENIUM, from SeX^, the moon, is a metalloid principle, discovered by Berze- 
 lius, in 1817. It occurs sparingly in combination with several metals, as lead, cobalt, 
 copper, and quicksilver, in the Harz, at Tilkerode ; with copper and silver (Eukairite) 
 in Sweden, with tellurium and bismuth in Norway, with tellurium and gold in 
 Siebenbiirgen ; in several copper and iron pyrites, and with sulphur in the volcanic pro- 
 ducts of the Lipari Islands. Selenium has been found likewise in a red sediment which 
 forms upon the bottoms of the lead chambers in which oil o vitriol has been made from 
 a peculiar pyrites, or pyritous sulphur. The extraction of selenium from that deposit is 
 a very complex process. 
 
 Selenium, after being fused and slowly cooled, appears of a bluish-gray colour, with a 
 glistening surface ; but it is reddish brown, and of metallic lustre when quickly cooled. 
 It is brittle, not very hard, and has little tendency to assume the crystalline state. 
 Selenium is dark-red in powder, and transparent, with a ruby cast, in thin scales. Its 
 specific gravity is 4'30. It softens at the temperature of 176° P., is of a pasty con- 
 sistence at 212°, becomes liquid at a somewhat higher heat, forming in close vessels dark- 
 yellow vapours, which condense into black drops ; but in the air, the fumes have a cin- 
 nabar-red colour. 
 
 This singular substance, apparently intermediate in its constitution between sulphur 
 and metals, has not hitherto been applied to any use in the arts. 
 
 SELF-ACTING MACHINES. See Machines. 
 
 SELTZER WATER. See Soda-water, and Waters, Mineral. 
 
 SEMOULE. The name given in France, and used in this country, to denote the 
 large hard grains of wheat flour retained in the bolting machine after the fine flour has 
 been passed through its meshes. The best semoule is obtained from the wheat of the 
 southern parts of Europe. With the semoule, the fine white Parisian bread called 
 gruau is baked. Skilful millers contrive to produce a great proportion of semoule 
 from the large-grained wheat of Naples and Odessa. 
 
 SEPIA, is a pigment prepared from a black juice secreted by certain glands of the 
 cuttle-fish, which the animal ejects to darken the water when it is pursued. One part 
 of it is capable of making 1000 parts of water nearly opaque. All the varieties of thi« 
 mollusca secrete the same juice; but the Sepia officinalis, the Sepia ioligo, and the Sepia 
 tunicata, are chiefly sought after for making the pigment. . The first, which occurs abun- 
 dantly in the Mediterranean, affords most color ; the sac containing it bein» extracted 
 the juice is to be dried as qiickly as possible, because it runs rapidly into putrefaction' 
 Though insoluble in water, it is extremely diffusible through it, and is very slowly de- 
 posited. Caustic alkalis dissolve the sepia, and turn it brown; but in proportion as the 
 alkali becomes carbonated by exposure to air, the sepia falls to the bottom of the vessel 
 Chlorine blanches it slowly. It consists of carbon in an extremely divided state alon° 
 with albumine, gelatine, and phosphate of lime. ' ° 
 
 The dried native sepia is prepared for the painter, by first triturating it with a little 
 caustic ley, then adding more ley, boiling the liquid for half an hour, filtering next 
 saturating the alkali with an acid, separating the precipitate, washing it with water and 
 finally drying it with a gentle heat. The pigment is of a brown color, and a fine grain 
 
 SEPTARIA, called anciently Indus Helmontii, (the quoits of Van Helmonl from their 
 form,) are lenticular concretions of clay ironstone, intersected by veins of calc-spar which 
 when calcined, and ground to powder, form an excellent hvdraulic cement. See Mortar' 
 Hvdr.adxic. ' 
 
 SERPENTINE, is a mineral of the magnesian family, of a green color ; it is scratched 
 by calcareous spar, is sectile, tough, and therefore easily cut into ornamental form's. It 
 occurs in Unst and Fetlar,m Shetland; at Portsoy, in Banffshire; in Cornwall; and the 
 Isle of Holyhead. The floors of bakers' ovens are advantageously laid with slabs of 
 serpentine. 
 
 SEWING BY MACHINERY The Wilson machine is in our opinion a great 
 triumph of American genius ; it is no larger than a neat small work-box, very portable 
 
 Vol. II. 39 
 
594: SHAGBEEN. 
 
 and convenient, and we have seen fine shirt bosoms and collars stitched by it in a mom 
 perfect and accurate manner than any we have ever seen done by hand-work. When 
 we first noticed How's Sewing-machinery, in 1847, there was not a solitary machine of 
 the kind in active operation, in our whole country, if in the world. There are now, we 
 believe, about 500 in operation, and we have been told by Mr. Wilson that the orders 
 for his machines cannot be supplied fast enough. There are at present a hundred 
 machines about finished at the Company's works — Wheeler, Wilson, and. Co., Water- 
 town, Connecticut, and these are all engaged. 
 
 When we look at the progress made in sewing machines, we expect them to create 
 a social revolution, for a good housewife will sew a fine shirt, doing all the seams in fine 
 stitching, by one of Wilson's little machines in a single hour. The time thus saved to 
 wives, tailors, and sempstresses of every description, is of incalculable importance, for it 
 will allow them to devote their attention to other things, during the time which used 
 to be taken up with dull lieam-sewing. Young ladies will have more time to devote to 
 ornamental work, (it would be better for them all if they did more of it), and families 
 in which there are «. number of children, which require a continual stitching in making 
 and mending from morning till night, will yet be blessed by the improved sewino- 
 machine. 
 
 SHAFT, in mining, signifies a perpendicular or slightly inclined pit. 
 
 SHAGREEN. {Chagrin, Fr. and Germ.) The true oriental shagreen is essentially 
 different from all modifications of leather and parchment. It approaches the latter some- 
 what, indeed, in its nature, since it consists of a dried skin, not combined with any tanning 
 or foreign matter whatever. Its distinguishing characteristic is having the grain or hair 
 side covered over with small rough round specks or granulations. 
 
 It is prepared from the skins of horses, wild asses, and camels ; of strips cut along the 
 chine, from the neck towards the tail, apparently because this stronger and thicker por- 
 tion of the skin is best adapted to the operations about to be described. These fillets 
 are to be steeped in water till the epidermis becomes loose, and the hairs easily come 
 away by the roots ; after which they are to be stretched upon a board, and dressed with the 
 currier's fleshing-knife. They must be kept continually moist, and extended by cords 
 attached to their edges, with the flesh side uppermost upon the board. Each strip now 
 resembles a wet bladder, and is to be stretched in an open square wooden frame by means 
 of strings tied to its edges, till it be as smooth and tense as a drum-head. For this pur- 
 pose it must be moistened and extended from time to time in the frame. 
 
 The grain or hair side of the moist strip of skin must next be sprinkled over with a 
 kind of seeds called AUabuta, which are to be forced into its surface either by tramping 
 wilh the feet, or with a simple press, a piece of felt or other thick stuff being laid upon 
 the seeds. These seeds belong probably to the Chenapodium album. They are lenticular, 
 hard, of a shining black color, farinaceous within, about the size of poppy seed, and are 
 sometimes used to represent the eyes in wax figures. 
 
 The skin is exposed to dry in the shade, with the seeds indented into its surface ; after 
 which it is freed from them by shaking it, arid beating upon its other side with a stick. 
 The outside will be ther. horny, and pitted with small hollows corresponding to the shape 
 and number of the seeds. 
 
 In order to make the next process intelligible, we must advert to another analogous 
 and well-known operation. When we make impressions in fine-grained dry wood with 
 steel punches or letters of any kind, then plane away the wood till we come to the level 
 of the bottom of these impressions, afterwards steep the wood in water, the condensed or 
 punched points will swell above the surface, and place the letters in relief. Snuff-boxes 
 have sotaetimes been marked with prominent figures in this way. Now shagreen is treat- 
 el in a similar manner. 
 
 The strip of skin is stretched in an inclined plane, witn its upper edge attached to hooks, 
 and its under one loaded with weights, in which position it is thinned off with a proper 
 semi-lunar knife, but not so much as to touch the bottom of the seed-pits or depressions. 
 By maceration in water, the skin is then made to swell, and the pits become prominent 
 over the surface which had been shaved. The swelling is completed by steeping the 
 strips in a warm solution of soda, aftei which they are cleansed by the action of salt brine, 
 and then dyed. ' 
 
 In the East the following processes are pursued. Entirely white shagreen is obtained 
 by imbuing the skin with a solution of alum, covering it with the dough made with Tur- 
 key wheat, and after a time washing this away with a solution of alum. The strips are 
 now rubbed with grease or suet, to diminish their rigidity, then worked carefully in hot 
 .water curried with a blunt knife, and afterwards dried. They are died red with decoc 
 lion ef Cochineal or kermes, and green with fine copper filings and sal ammoniac, the so- 
 lution of this salt being first applied, then the filings being strewed upon the skin, which 
 must be rolled up and loaded with weights for some time ; blue is given with indigo, quick- 
 lime, soda, and honey ; and black, wilh galls and copperas. 
 
SHEATHING OP SHIPS. 595 
 
 SHALE, or SLATE-CLAY, is an important stratiform member of the coal- 
 measures. See Pitooal. 
 
 SHAMOY LEATHER. See Leather. 
 
 SHAWL MANUFACTURE. Shawls were originally woven in the heart of India, 
 from the fine silky wool of the Thibet goat; and the most precious of them still come 
 from Cashmere. The wool of which these articles are manufactured consists of two dis- 
 tinct sorts, called wool and kemp. The wool is beautifully rich and soft to the touch, 
 and is probably superior in this respect to the finest continental lamb's wool, and equal 
 in richness to the Thibet wool. It is also divisible into qualities^ The kemp presents 
 tho appearance of a coarse rough hair, such as is avoided by the manufacturer in all pur- 
 chases of wools, deteriorating as it does the appearance of even common fabrics by its 
 inferiority and harshness. 
 
 The two wools as shorn from the goat are closely intermingled, and present the ap- 
 pearance of a coarse hairy wool of a very low character, but a minute inspection shows 
 that part of it is of a very fine quality. In order to separate this fine quality from the 
 coarse, it is necessary to do so fibre by fibre, and this has to be effected entirely by hand, 
 no machinery having as yet been applied to this purpose. The process is both difficult 
 and tedious, one person not being able to separate more than half an ounce in twelve hours. 
 
 After the separation of the qualities it is desirable further to divide it, in ~brder to 
 make a warp yam for fabrics like the shawls; but this was impossible in the present 
 instance, owing to the small quantity produced, otherwise the fabric would have been 
 much finer. In the dresses this result has been achieved, because the warp is of silk, 
 and the quantity required for the weft was therefore not so great in proportion. 
 
 The specimen of coarse cloth in the Great Exhibition was entirely manufactured of 
 coarse hairs or kemp after it was assorted from the finer material of the wooL In a ge- 
 neral way this is considered worthless. 
 
 SHEATHING OF SHIPS. For this purpose many different metals and metallic 
 alloys have been lately proposed. From a train of researches which I made for an 
 eminent copper company, a few years ago, upon various specimens of sheathing which 
 had been exposed upon ships during many voyages, it appeared that copper containing 
 a minute, but definite, proportion of tin, was by far the most durable. 
 
 The process of coppering vessels, which has of late years been generally adopted, in 
 order to protect their bottoms from the injurious effects of insects in hot countries, and 
 prevent the adherence of barnacles, efcc, which greatly impede the progress of the vessels, 
 had been open to many objections ; for not only was the prime cost of the material very 
 great, but the expense of rolling it into sheets, and the frequent renewal of parts which 
 had been injured during the voyage, made this copper covering a serious item in the 
 expenses attendant upon fitting out ships. 
 
 In-order to make this application of copper still more general, Sir Humphry Davy 
 turned bis attention to the subject, and endeavoured to devise some method of counter- 
 acting the rapid oxidation which took place on its exposure to the sea water, as it was 
 rare for the copper bottom of a ship to last longer than five or six years. It struck Sir 
 H. Davy that if a portion of zinc were applied to the copper it would counteract the 
 process of oxidation ; and a vessel sheathed with copper and zinc plates was accordingly 
 sent a voyage to a distant part of the world, from whence it returned perfectly uninjured 
 by the salt water, as far as the metal was concerned, but in as foul a state as if there had 
 been no sheathing upon the bottom of the vessel. The presence of the zinc had pre- 
 vented the oxidation of the copper, but had stopped that electric action which was 
 necessary to resist the marine deposit. The problem, therefore, still remained to be 
 solved, whether any metallic composition could be found for the sheathing of ships 
 capable of preventing the bottom from fouling, and at the same time resisting the process 
 of oxidation. To the solution-of this problem Mr. Muntz, who is a metal-roller at 
 Birmingham, directed his attention, and commenced a series of experiments, which 
 resulted in his taking out a patent in 1832. This invention slowly, but steadily, attracted 
 the notice of the shipping interest of the country, and it appeared that in 1834 in the 
 port of London 20 ships were sheathed with metal prepared by Muntz's patent process. 
 The number gradually increased, until, in 1843, there were in the same port 257 vessels 
 sheathed with the new composition, of which 17,947 cwt. were sold in the last mentioned 
 year. The improved metal-sheathing was a mixture of copper and zinc, which was 
 cheaper than copper, more easily worked, and lasted longer than the pure metal before 
 in use. In the specification of Mr. Muntz's patent, the nature of his invention is thus 
 described : — " I take that quality of copper known to the trade by the appellation of 
 'best selected copper,' and that quality of zinc known in England as ' foreign zinc,' 
 and melt them together in the usual manner, in any proportions between 50 per cent. 
 of copper to 50 per cent, of zinc, and 63 per cent, of copper to 37 per cent, of zinc, 
 both of which extremes, and all intermediate proportions, will roll at a red heat ; but. as 
 too large a proportion of copper increases the difficulty of working the metal, and too 
 
696 SHOE-BLACKING. 
 
 large a proportion of zinc renders the metal too hard when cold, and not sufficiently 
 liable to oxidation, I prefer the alloy to consist of about 60 per cent, of copper to. 40 
 per cent, of zinc." It was proved on the part of Mr. Muntz, that any person acquainted 
 with the trade of a metal roller could manufacture this composition from the description 
 of the invention contained in the specification ; and It appeared, that between February 
 and April, 1843, another party had made a quantity of sheathing, amounting in value 
 to about 700/. or SO0Z., some of which was sold by them in Liverpool ; and which, 
 on being analysed, was found to be composed of the same proportions of copper and zinc 
 as those pointed, out in the above specification as the best alloy for the purpose, via 
 60 per cent, of copper and 40 per cent, of zinc. 
 
 For the defence it was pleaded, that there had been no infringement of the patent ; 
 that the invention was not new, and that Mr. Muntz was not the first and true inventor ; 
 and also that the specification was bad for uncertainty, <fcc. Upon the first point — the 
 infringement— the evidence seemed very clear; but the main ground of defence was, that 
 in 1800, a Mr. Collins obtained a patent for a composition for sheathing ships, which, it 
 was argued, was substantially the same invention as that wbieh the plaintiff claimed as 
 his own. The specification of Collins's patent said, " the yellow sheathing (the sheathing 
 in question) consists chiefly of zinc and copper. The compound must be heated, and in 
 that state rolled ; 100 parts of copper and 80 of zinc afford a good composition ; but 
 the proportions may be varied, or other metallic substances added, provided the property 
 of bearing the mechanical process, when added, is not destroyed." Evidence was given 
 on the part of the defendants to show that some of the metallic sheathing manufactured 
 by them after April, 1843, was made from the specification in Collins's patent alone, and 
 several witnesses were also called to prove, on "their behalf, that a composition of copper 
 and zinc, in the proportion of 60 per cent, of the former to 40 per cent, of the latter, 
 had been made in the years 1828 and 1829; but it did not appear that any plates of this 
 composition had ever been applied to the sheathing of ships. The defendants also raised 
 various objections to the plaintiff's specification. 
 
 The Lord Chief Justice, before proceeding to charge the jury; told tbem that if tbey 
 were desirous of bearing the.whole of the evidence read over, he should wish to take 
 another day for that purpose ; but if, having heard the evidence, they did not require 
 that assistance, he would at once proceed to call their attention to the points on which 
 they would have to give their verdict. The jury immediately said, that it would be 
 unnecessary for his Lordship to read the evidence. 
 
 The Lord Chief Justice then left it to them to say, in the first place, whether there 
 had been any infringement of the patent granted to the plaintiff, assuming the patent to 
 be good ; secondly, if so, whether the manufacture was a new invention, or whether it 
 had been already made public by Collins's patent ; and, thirdly, whether the specification of 
 the plaintiff's patent was sufficiently plain and intelligible to enable other persons to make 
 the composition for which the patent had been granted. His Lordship also gave it as his 
 opinion, upon the matter of law arising in the case, that the nature of the plaintiff's inven- 
 tion was well described by the title of the patent, — " An improved manufacture of metal 
 plates for sheathing the bottoms of ships or other such vessels ;" that neither " best selected 
 copper" nor f foreign zinc" formed part of the invention, which consisted in the discovery 
 of a composition for sheathing by which a proper degree of oxidation was obtained, and 
 no more ; that rolling the metal at a red heat was not claimed as part of the invention, 
 and that the invention did not particularize any proportions but those of 60 per cent, of 
 copper and 40 per cent, of zinc, as applicable for the purpose of making bis metallic 
 sheathing, although he had designated other proportions between the extremes of which 
 the metal would melt at a red heat. — Newton's Journal, xxiv. 300. 
 SHELLAC. See Lao, and Sealing-wax. 
 SHOE-BLACKING. * 
 
 Ivory black 
 
 Treacle 
 
 Vinegar 
 
 Oil of vitriol ----- 
 
 Sperm oil - - - - 
 
 To be mixed in the above order in a mortar. 
 Blacking {paste). 
 
 Ivory black ..... 
 
 Oil of vitriol 
 
 Treacle - 
 
 Sweet oil - 
 
 Vinegar - - - - 
 
 Sulphate of iron 
 
 (Dissolved in hot water 5 oz.) 
 
 Gum arabio - - - - - f oz. Mix 
 
 8 oz. 
 
 
 6 oz. 
 
 
 24 oz. 
 
 
 1 oz. 
 
 (by weight) 
 
 10 dr. 
 
 
 2 lbs. 
 
 
 4 oz. 
 
 
 lib. 
 
 
 4 02. 
 
 
 5 oz. 
 
 
 i oz. 
 
 
SILICA. 
 
 597 
 
 SIENITE is a granular aggregated compound rock, consisting of feldspar and horn- 
 blende, sometimes mixed with a little quartz and mica. The hornblende is the charac- 
 teristic ingredient, and serves to distinguish sienite from granite, with which it has ho°n 
 sometimes confounded; though the feidspar, which is generally red, is the more abun- 
 dant constituent. The Egyptian sienite, containing but little hornblende, with a good 
 deal of quartz and mica, approaches most nearly to granite. It is equally metalliferous 
 with porphyry ; in the island of Cyprus, it is rich in copper ; and in Hungary, it contains 
 many valuable gold and silver mines. 
 
 Sienite forms a considerable part of the Criffle, a hill in Galloway. It takes its name 
 from the city of Syene, in the Thebaid, near the cataracts of the Nile, where this 
 rock abounds. It is an excellent building-stone, and was imported in large quantities 
 from Egypt by the Romans, for the architectural and statuary decorations of theii 
 capital. 
 
 SILESIAN LINENS. The manufacture of linens is carried on in Bohemia, Moravia, 
 Silesia, and Galicia on the largest scale. Cf the entire production about five-twelfths are 
 brought into the market, and of this quantity the bulk must be of domestic* manufacture, 
 since few great linen manufactories exist in Austria. A.inong the linen fabrics, table- 
 cloths and napkins, veils, cambrics, dimities, twills, and drills are important articles. In 
 the next rank we must place the manufacture of thread, especially in Bohemia, Moravia, 
 and Lombardy. The tape manufacture is of less consequence ; and as to the business of 
 dying and printing, that has been almost entirely absorbed by the cotton manufacture, 
 and is now in requisition for thread and handkerchiefs only. 
 
 As the loss resulting from the processes of weaving, bleaching, &c. is estimated at 
 about 10 per cent., the net aggregate of these manufactures of linen, thread, Ac, may be . 
 assumed at, say, 1,03*7,000 cwt.; of which quantity about 450,000 cwt. come into the 
 market, the rest being absorbed by domestic consumption. Since, upon an average of the 
 five years from 1843 to 1847, there appear to have been imported from abroad only 242 
 cwt., whereas the average of exports for the same period shows 42,609 cwt., it follows 
 that there remained for home consumption about 1,000,000 cwt. Thus, on a population 
 of 38,000,000 of persons about 2$ lbs. would fall to the share of each ; but this estimate 
 falls much below the truth, when we consider that the national costume in Hungary and 
 Galicia requires more than double the quantity we have allowed for. In fact the crop 
 of flax is estimated to be 10 per cent, higher than is given in the official reports ; but the 
 consumption of even 3 lbs. per head, which would thus result, is yet smaller than in 
 reality it must be. In the imperial army the quantity used up annually by each man 
 averages more than 1 lbs. 
 
 In the above statistics of the manufacture of linen goods no allowance has been made 
 for the extensive production of rope work and the like. 
 
 SILICA and SILICON. (Silice, silicium, Fr. ; Kietehrde, Mesel, Germ.) Silica was 
 till lately ranked among the earths proper; but since the researches of Davy and Ber- 
 zelius, it has been transferred to the chemical class of acids. It constitutes the principal 
 portion of most of the hard stones and minerals which compose the crust of the globe ; 
 occurring nearly pure in rock crystal, quartz, agate, calcedony, flint, &c. Silica or 
 silicic acid may be obtained perfectly pure, and also in the finest state of comminution, 
 by taking the precipitate formed by passing silicated fluoric gas through water, filter 
 iag, washing, and igniting it, to expel the last traces of the fluoride of silicon. The 
 powder thus obtained is so light as to be blown away with the least breath of air. Silica 
 may be more conveniently procured, however, by fusing ground flint with four times its 
 weight of a mixture, in equal parts, of dry carbonate of potassa.and carbonate of soda, in 
 a platinum or silver crucible. The alkaline carbonates should be first fused, and the flint 
 powder sprinkled into the liquid, as long as it dissolves with effervescence. The mass is 
 to be then allowed to cool, dissolved in dilute muriatic acid; the solution is to be filtered, 
 and evaporated to dryness ; the dry crust is to be pulverized, digested for two hours with 
 a little muriatic acid, to remove any iron and alumina that may be present, next washed 
 with hot water, drained, dried, and ignited. 
 
 The above silicate of potassa and soda is the compound called soluble glass, which 
 applied in solution to the surface of wood, calico, paper, &c, renders them unsusceptible 
 of taking fire on the contact of an ignited body. 
 
 Silica, as thus prepared, is a white powder, rough to the touch, gritty between the 
 "ceth, absolutely insoluble in water, acids, and most liquids. Its specific gravity is 
 2-66. It cannot be fused by the most intense, heat of our furnaces, but at the flame of 
 the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe it melts into a limpid colorless glass. By peculiar chemi- 
 cal methods, an aqueous solution of it may be made artificially, similar to what nature 
 presents us with in many thermal springs, as in those of Reikum and of Geyser in Ice- 
 land, and of most mineral waters, in minute quantity. There is no acid except the flu- 
 oric which can directly dissolve dry or calcined silica. Silica is composed of 48-04 silicon, 
 and 51-96 oxygen. 
 
598 SILK MANUFACTURE, 
 
 SILICATES are compounds of silicic acid (silica), with th& buses alumina, lime, mag- 
 nesia, potassa, soda, &c. They constitute the greater number by far of the hard miner- 
 als which incrust the terrestrial globe. Thus cyanite is a subsilicate of alumina ; feldspal 
 and ieucite, are silicates of alumina and potassa; albite and analcime, are silicates of al- 
 umina and soda ; stilbite, prehnite, mesolite, labradorite, tourmaline, mica, &c, are sili- 
 cates of alumina and lime ; chrysolite, steatite, serpentine, and meerschaum, are silicates 
 of magnesia ; augite and hornblende, are silicates of lime and magnesia, &c. 
 
 SILICON, called also silicium, may be obtained by burning potassium in silicated 
 fluoric gas. The product of the combustion is a brown cinder, which, on being thrown 
 into water, disengages hydrogen with violence, and lets fall a dark liver-brown powder, 
 upon which water exercises no action. This matter is silicon mixed with a salt of diffi- 
 cult solution, which is composed of fluorine, potassium, and silicon. This salt may, how- 
 ever, be removed by a great deal of washing. The further details of this curious subiect 
 will be given in my forthcoming system of chemistry. 
 
 SILK MANUFACTURE. {Fabrique de soie,'Tr.; Seidmfabrik, Germ.) This 
 may be divided into two branches; 1. the production of raw silk ; 2. its filature and 
 preparation in the mill, for the purposes of the weaver and other textile artisans. The 
 threads, as spun by the silkworm, and wound up in its cocoon, are all twins, in conse- 
 quence of the twin orifice in the nose of the insect through which they are projected. 
 These two threads are laid parallel to each other, and are glued more or less evenly 
 together by a kind of glossy varnish, which also envelopes them, constituting nearly 
 
 25 per cent, of their weight. Each ultimate filament measures about 1 of an inch 
 
 . ° 2000 
 
 in average fine silk, and the pair measures of course fully J of an inch. In the raw 
 
 silk, as imported from Italy, France, China, &c, several of these twin filaments are 
 slightly twisted and agglutinated to form one thread,' called a single. 
 
 The specific gravity of silk is 1-300, water being 1-000. It is by far the most tena- 
 cious or the strongest of all textile fibres, a thread of it of a certain diameter being 
 nearly three times stronger than a thread of flax, and twice stronger than hemp. Some 
 varieties of silk are perfectly white, but the general color in the native state is a golden 
 yellow. 
 
 The production of silk was unknown in Europe till the sixth eentury, when two 
 monks, who brought some eggs of the silkworm from China or India to Constantinople, 
 were encouraged to breed the insect, and cultivate its cocoons, by the Emperor Justi- 
 nian. Several silk manufactures were in consequence established in Athens, Thebes, 
 and Corinth, not only for rearing the worm upon mulberry-leaves, but for unwinding its 
 cocoons, for twisting their filaments into stronger threads, and weaving these into robes. 
 The Venetians having then and long afterwards intimate commercial relations with the 
 Greek empire, supplied the whole of western Europe with silk goods, and derived great 
 riches from the trade. 
 
 About 1130, Roger II., king of Sicily, set up a silk manufacture at Palermo, and 
 another in Calabria, conducted by artisans whom he had seized and carried off as 
 prisoners of war in his expedition to the Holy Land. From these countries, the silk 
 industry soon spread throughout Italy. It seems to have been introduced into Spain 
 at a very early period, by the Moors, particularly in Murcia, Cordova, and Granada. 
 The last town, indeed, possessed a flourishing silk trade when it was taken by Ferdinand 
 in the 15.th century. The French having been supplied with workmen from Milan, 
 commenced, in 1521, the silk manufacture ; but it was not till 1564 that they began 
 successfully to produce the silk itself, when Traucat, a working gardener at Nismes, 
 formed the first nursery of white mulberry-trees, and with such success, that in a few 
 years he was enabled to propagate them over many of the southern provinces of France. 
 Prior to this tin.j, some French noblemen, on their return from the conquest of Naples, 
 had introduced a few silkworms with the mulberry into Dauphiny; but the business 
 had not prospered in their hands. The mulberry plantations were greatly encouraged 
 by Henry IV. ; and since then they have been the source of most beneficial employ- 
 ment to the French people. James I. was most solicitous to introduce the breeding of 
 silkworms into England, and in a speech from the throne he earnestly recommended his 
 subjects to plant mulberry-trees; but he totally failed in the project. This country does 
 not seem to be well adapted for this species of husbandry, on account of the great pre- 
 valence of blighting east winds during the months of April and May, when the worms 
 require a plentiful sepply of mulberry-leaves. The manufacture of silk goods, however, 
 made great progress during that king's peaceful and pompous reign, "in 1629 it had 
 become so considerable in London, that the silk-throwsters of the city and suburbs 
 were formed into a public corporation. So early as 1661, they employed 40,000 persons 
 The revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, contributed in a remarkable manner to 
 the increase of the English silk trade, by the influx of a large colony of skilful French 
 weavers, who settled in Spitalfields. The great silk-throwing mill mounted at Derby, in 
 1719. also served to promote the extension of this branch of manufacture ; for sooi 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 599 
 
 afterwards, in the year 1730, the English silk goods bore a higher price in Italy than 
 mose made by the Italians, according to the testimony of Keysler. 
 
 Till the year 1826, however, our silk manufactures in general labored under very 
 grievous fiscal burdens. Foreign organzine, or twisted raw silk, paid an import duty of 
 Ms. lid. per pound ; Raw Bengal silk, 4s. ; and that from other places, 5*. Ud. Mr. 
 Huskisson introduced a bill at that time, reducing the duty on organzine to 5s.. and the 
 duty on other raw silk to 3d. per pound. The total prohibition of the import of- French 
 manufactured silks, which gave rise to so much contraband trade, was also converted 
 into a duty of 30 per cent, ad valorem. During the reign of the prohibitory system, 
 when our silk weavers had no variety of patterns to imitate, and no adequate stimulus 
 to excel, on account of the monopoly which they possessed in the home market, the 
 inferiority of their productions was a subject of constant pride and congratulation 
 among the Lyonnais ; and accordingly the English could not stand their competition 
 any where. At lhat time, the disadvantage on English silk goods, compared to French, 
 was estimated in foreign markets at 40 per cent. ; of late years it certainly does not ex- 
 ceed 20, notwithstanding the many peculiar facilitxs -vhich France enjoys for this her 
 favorite staple. 
 
 The silkworm, called by entomologists Phalama bombyx mori, is, like its kindred 
 species, subject to four metamorphoses. The egg, fostered by the genial warmth of 
 spring, sends forth a caterpillar, which, in its progressive enlargement, casts its skin 
 either three or four times, according to the variety of the insect. Having acquired its 
 , . lz< :. r m l . he course of 25 or 30 da y s > and ceasing to eat during the remainder 
 ot its lire, it begins to discharge a viscid secretion, in the form c' pulpy twin 
 filaments, from its nose, which harden in the air. These threads' are instinctively 
 coiled into an ovoid nest round itself, called a cocoon, which serves as a defence against 
 living enemies and changes of temperature. • Here it soon changes into the chrvsalis or 
 nymph state, in which it lies swaddled, as it were, for about 15 or 20 days. Then it 
 bursts its cerements, and comes forth furnished with appropriate wings, antenna?, and 
 feet, for living in its new element, the atmosphere. The male and the female moths 
 couple together at this time, and terminate their union by a speedy death, their whole 
 existence being limited to two months. The cocoons are completely formed in the course 
 of three or four days ; the finest being reserved as seed worms. From these cocoons 
 after an interval of 18 or 20 days, the moth makes its appearance, perforating its tomb 
 by knocking with its head against one end of the cocoon, after softening it with saliva 
 and thus rendering the filaments more easily torn asunder by its claws. Such moths or 
 aurelias are collected and placed upon a piece of soft cloth, where they couple and lav 
 their eggs. ' 
 
 The eggs, or grains, as they are usually termed, are enveloped in a liquid which 
 causes them to adhere to the piece of cloth or paper on which the female lays them 
 *rom this glue they are readily freed, by dipping them in cold water, and wiping them 
 dry. They are best preserved in the ovum state at a temperature of about 55° F. If 
 the heat of spring advances rapidly in April, it must not be suffered to act on the eg^s 
 otherwise it might hatch the caterpillars long before the mulberry has sent forth its leaves 
 to nourish them. Another reason for keeping back their incubation is, that they may be 
 hatched together in lr-rge broods, and not by small numbers in succession. The e~s 
 are made up into sraaf. packets, of an ounce, or somewhat more, which in the south°of 
 France are generally attached to the girdles of the women during the day, and placed 
 under their pillows at night. They are, of course, carefully examined from time to time 
 In large establishments, they are placed in an appropriate sto.ve-room, where they are 
 exposed to a temperature gradually increased till it reaches the 86th degree of Fahren- 
 heit s scale, which term it must not exceed. Aided by this heat, nature completes her 
 mysterious work of incubation in eight or ten days. The teeming eggs are now covered 
 with a sheet of paper pierced with numerous holes, about one twelfth of an inch in 
 diameter. Through these apertures the new-hatched worms creep upwards instinctively 
 to get at the tender mulberry leaves strewed over the paper. 
 
 The nursery where the worms are reared is called by the French a magnanUre ; it 
 ought to be a well-aired chamber, free from damp, excess of cold or heat, rats, and other 
 vermii.. It should be ventilated occasionally, to purify the atmosphere from the 
 noisome emanations produced by the excrements of the caterpillars and the decayed 
 raves. The scaffolding of the wicker-work shelves should be substantial ; and they 
 snould be from 15 to 18 inches apart. A separate small apartment should be allotted 
 to the sickly worms. Immediately before each moulting, the appetite of the worms 
 begins to flag; it ceases altogether at that period of cutaneous metamorphosis, but 
 •revives speedily after the skin is fairly cast, because the internal parts of the 
 animal are thereby allowed freely to develop themselves. At the end of the second 
 age, the worms are half an inch long ; and then should be transferred from the small 
 oom in which they were first hatched, into the proper apartment where they are to 
 
600 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 t 
 be brought to maturity and set to spin the.'lr balls. On occasion of changing their 
 abode, tli ey must be well cleansed from the litter, laid upon beds of fresh leaves, ana 
 supplied with an abundance of food every six hours in succession. In shifting their 
 bed, a piece of network being laid over the wicker plates, and covered with leaves, the 
 worms will creep up over them ; when they may be transferred in a body upon the net 
 The litter, as well as the sickly worms, may thus be readily removed, without handling 
 a single- healthy one. After the third age, they may be fed with entire leaves; because 
 they are now exceedingly voracious, and must not be subsequently stinted in their 
 diet. The exposure of chloride of lime, spread thin upon plates, to the air of the 
 magnaniire, has been found useful in counteracting the tendency which sometimes ap- 
 pears of an epidemic disease among the silkworms, from the fetid exhalations of the dead 
 and dying. 
 
 When they have ceased to eat, either in the fourth or fifth age, agreeably to the variety 
 of the bombyx, and when they display the spinning instinct by crawling up among the 
 twigs of heath, &c, they are not long of beginning to construct their cocoons, by throw- 
 ing the thread in different directions, sc as to form the floss, filoselle, or outer open net- 
 work, which constitutes the bourre or siJc for carding and spinning. 
 
 The cocoons destined for filature, must not be allowed to remain for many days with 
 the worms alive within them ; for should the chrysalis have leisure to grow mature or 
 come out, the filaments at one end would be cut through, and thus lose almost all their 
 value. It is therefore necessary to extinguish the life of the animal by heat, which is 
 done either by exposing the cocoons for a few days to sunshine, by placing them in a hot 
 oven, or in the steam of boiling water. A heat of 202° F. is sufficient for effecting this 
 purpose, and it may be best administered by plunging tin cases filled with the cocoons 
 into water heated to that pitch. 
 
 80 pounds French (88 Eng.) of cocoons, are the average produce from one ounce of 
 eggs, or 100 from one ounoe and a quarter ; but M. Folzer of Alsace obtained no less 
 than 165 pounds. The silk obtained from a cocoon is from 750 to 1150 feet long. The 
 varnish by which the coils are glued slightly together, is soluble in warm water. 
 
 The silk husbandry, as it may be called, is completed in France within six weeks from 
 the end of April, and thus affords the most rapid of agricultural returns, requiring merely 
 the advance of a little capital for the purchase of the leaf. In buying up cocoons, and 
 in the filature, indeed, capital may be often laid out to great advantage. The most 
 hazardous period in the process of breeding the worms, is at the third and fourth moulting ; 
 for upon the sixth day of the third age, and the seventh day of the fourth, ihey in genera] 
 eat nothing at all. On the first day of the fourth age, the worms proceeding from one 
 ounce of eggs will, according to Bonafons, consume upon an average twenty-three pounds 
 and a quarter of mulberry leaves ; on the first of the fifth age, they will consume forty- 
 two pounds ; and on the sixth day of the same age, they acquire their maximum vora- 
 city, devouring no less than 223 pounds. From this date their appetite continually de- 
 creases, till,on the tenth day of this age they consume only fifty-six pounds. The space 
 which they occupy upon the wicker tables, being at their birth only nine feet square, 
 becomes eventually 239 feet. In general, the more food they consume, the more silk will 
 they produce. 
 
 A mulberry-tree is valued, m Provence, at from 6d. to lOd. j it is planted out of the 
 nursery at four years of sge ; it is begun to be stripped in the fifth year, and affords an 
 increasing crop of leaves all the twentieth. It yields from 1 cwt. to 30 cwts. of leaves, 
 according to its maguitude and mode of cultivation. One- ounce of silkworm eggs is 
 worth in France about 2| francs ; it requires for its due development into cocoons about 
 15 cwts. of mulberry leaves, which cost upon an average 3 francs per cwt. in a favorable 
 season. One ounce of eggs is calculated, as I have said, to produce from 80 to 100 
 pounds of cocoons, of the value of 1 fr. 52 centimes per pound, or 125 francs in whole. 
 About 8 pounds of reeled raw silk, worth 18 francs a pound, are obtained from these 
 100 pounds of cocoons. 
 
 There are three denominations of raw silk ; viz., organzine, frame (shute or tram), and 
 floss. Organzine serves for the warp of the best silk stuffs, and is considerably twisted ; 
 tram is made usually from inferior silk, and is very slightly twisted, in order that it may 
 spread more, and cover better in the weft; floss, or bourre, consists of the shorter broken 
 silk, which is carded and spun like cotton. Organzine and trame may contain from 3 
 to 30 twin filaments of the worm ; the former possesses a double twist, the component 
 filaments being fost twisted in one direction, and the compound thread in the opposite ■ 
 the latter receives merely a slender single twist. Each twin filament gradually dimin- 
 ishes m thickness and strength, from the surface of the cocoon, where the animal 
 begins its work in a state of vigor, to the centre, where it finishes it, in a state of de- 
 bility and exhaustion ; because it can receive no food from the moment of its beginning 
 to spin by spouting forth its silky substance. The winder is attentive to this progressive 
 attenuation, and introduces the commencement of some cocoons to compensate for the 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 601 
 
 termination of ethers. The quality of raw silk depends, therefore, very much upon the 
 skill and care bestowed upon its filature. The softest and purest water should be used 
 in the cocoon kettle. 
 
 The quality of the raw silk is determined by first winding off 400 ells of. it, equal tp 
 475 metres, round a drum one ell in circumference, and then weighing that length 
 The weight is expressed in grains, 24 of which constitute one denier ; 24 deniers con- 
 stitute one ounce; and 16 ounces make one pound, poids de marc. This is the Lyons 
 rule for valuing silk. The weight of a thread of raw silk 400 ells long, is two grains and 
 a half, when five twin filaments have been reeled and associated together. 
 
 Raw silk is so absorbent of moisture, that it may be increased ten per cent, in weight 
 by this means. This property has led to falsifications ; which are detected by enclosing 
 weighed portions of the suspected silk in a wire-cloth cage, and exposing it to a stove-heat 
 of about 78° F. for 24 hours, with a current of air. The loss of weight which it thereby 
 undergoes, demonstrates the amount of the fraud. There is an office in Lyons called 
 the Condition, where this assay is made, and by the report of which the silk is bought 
 and sold. The law in France requires, that all the silk tried by the Condition must be 
 worked up into fabrics in that country. 
 
 In the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, for January, 1837, there are two 
 very valuable papers upon silkworms ; the first, upon those of Assam, by Mr. Thomas 
 Hugon, stationed at Nowgong ; the second by Dr. Heifer, upon those which are indi- 
 genous to India. Besides the Bombyx mori, the Doctor enumerates the following 
 seven species, formerly unknown : — 1. The wi5J silkworm of the central provinces, a 
 moth not larger than the Bombyx mori. 2. The Joree silkworm of Assam, Bombyx 
 religiosa, which spins a cocoon of a fine filament, with much lustre. It lives upon the 
 pipul tree (Ficus religiosa), which abounds in India, and ought therefore to be turned 
 to account in breeding this valuable moth. 3. Saturnia silhelica, which inhabit* the 
 cassia mountains in Silhet and Dacca, where its large cocoons are spun into silk. 
 
 4. A still larger Saturnia, one of the greatest moths in existence, measuring ten inches 
 from the one end of the wing to the other ; observed by Mr. Grant, in Chirra punjee. 
 
 5. Saturnia paphia, or the Tusseh silkworm, is the most common of the native species^ 
 and furnishes the cloth usually worn by Europeans in India. It has not hitherto been 
 domesticated, but millions of its cocoons are annually collected in the jungles, and 
 brought to the silk factories near Calcutta and Bhagelpur. It feeds most commonly 
 on the hair-tree (Zizyphus jujuba~) , but it prefers the Terminalia alata, or Assam tree, 
 and the Bombiix hcptaphyllum. It is called Koutkuri mooga, in Assam. 6. Another 
 Satwrnia, from the neighborhood of Comercolly. 7. Saturnia assamensis, with a cocoon 
 of a yellow-brown color, different from all others, called mooga, in Assam ; which, 
 although it can be reared in houses, thrives best in the open air upon trees, of which 
 seven different kinds afford it food. The Mazankoory mooga, which feeds on the Ada- 
 koory tree, produces a fine silk, which is nearly white, and fetches 50 per cent, more 
 than the fawn-colored. The trees of the first year's growth produce by far the most 
 valuable cocoons. The mooga which inhabits the soom-tree, is found principally in the 
 forests of the plains, and in the villages. The tree grows to a large size, and yields 
 three crops of leaves in the year. The silk is of a light fawn color, and ranks next 
 in value to the Mazankoory. There are generally five breeds of mooga worms in the 
 year; 1. in January an'. February ; 2. in May and June; 3. in June and July; 4. in 
 August and September ; o. in October and November ; the first and last being the most 
 valuable. • ' 
 
 The Assamese select for breeding, such cocoons only as have been begun to be 
 formed in the largest number on the same day, usually the second or third after the 
 commencement; those which contain males being distinguishable by a more pointed 
 end. They are put in a closed basket suspended from the roof; the moths, as they 
 come forth, having room to move about, after a day, the females (known only by their 
 large body) are taken out, and tied to small wisps of thatching-straw, selected always 
 from over the hearth, its darkened color being thought more acceptable to the insect. 
 If out of a batch, there should be but few males, the wisps with the females tied to 
 them are exposed outside at night ; and the males thrown away in the neighborhood 
 find their way to them. These wisps are hung upon a string tied across the roof, to 
 keep them from vermin.. The eggs laid after the first three days are said td produce 
 weak worms. The wisps are taken out morning and evening, and exposed to the sun- 
 shine, and in ten days after being laid, a few of them are hatched. The wisps being 
 then hung up to the tree, the young worms find their way to the leaves. The ants, 
 whose bite is fatal to the worm in its early stages, are destroyed by rubbing the trunk 
 of the tree with molasses, and tying dead fish and toads to it, to attract these rapacious 
 insects in large numbers, When they are destroyed with fire ; a process which needs to be 
 repeated several times. The ground under the trees is also well cleared, to render it easy 
 a pick up and replace the worms which fall down. They are prevented from coming to 
 
602 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 the ground by tying- fresh plantain-leaves round the trunk, over whose slippery surface 
 they cannot crawl; and they are transferred from exhausted trees to fresh ones, en bam- 
 boo platters tied to long poles. The worms require to be constantly watched and pro- 
 tected from tjhe depredations of both day and night birds, as well as rats and other vermin. 
 During their moultings, they remain on the branches ; but when about beginning to spin, 
 they come down the trunk, and being stopped by the plantain-leaves, are there collected 
 in baskets, which are afterwards put under bunches of dry leaves, suspended from the 
 roof, into which the worms crawl, and form their cocoons — several being clustered *o 
 gelher : this accident, due to the practice of crowding the worms together, which is most 
 injudicious, rendering it impossible to wind off their silk in continuous threads, as in the 
 filatures of Italy, France, and even Bengal. The silk is, therefore, spun like flax, instead 
 of being unwound in single filaments. After four days the proper cocoons are selected 
 for the next breed, and the rest are uncoiled. The total duration of a breed varies from 
 60 to 70 days ; divided into the following periods ; — 
 
 Four moultings, with one day's illness attending each 20 
 
 From fourth moulting to beginning of cocoon - 10 
 
 [n the cocoon 20, as a moth 6, hatching of eggs 10 36 
 
 66 
 
 On being tapped with the finger, the body renders a hollow sound ; the quality of which 
 shows whether they have come down for want of leaves on the tree, or from their having 
 ceased feeding. 
 
 As the chrysalis is not soon killed by exposure to the sun, the cocoons are put on 
 stages, covered up with leaves, and -exposed to the hot air from grass burned under them ; 
 they are next boiled for about an hour in a solution of the potash, made from incinerated 
 rice-stalks ; then taken out, and laid on cloth folded over them to keep them warm. 
 The floss being removed by hand, they are then thrown into a basin of hot water to be 
 unwound ; which is done in a very rude and wasteful way. 
 
 The plantations for the mooga silkworm in Lower Assam, amount to 5000 acres, besides 
 what the forests contain ; and yield 1500 maunds of 84 lbs. each per annum. Upper 
 Assam is more productive. 
 
 The cocoon of the Koutkun mooga is of the size of a fowl's egg. It is a wild species, 
 and affords filaments much valued for fishing-lines. See Silkworm Gut. 
 
 8. The jSrrindy, or Eria worm, and moth, is reared over a great part of Hin. 
 doslan, but entirely within doors. It is fed principally on the Hera, or Palma 
 christi leaves, and gives sometimes 12 broods of spun silk in the course of a year. It 
 affords a fibre which looks rough at first j but when woven, becomes soft and silky, 
 after repeated washings. The poorest people are clothed with stuff made of it, which is 
 so durable as to descend from mother to daughter. The cocoons are put in a closed 
 basket, and hung up in the house, out of reach of rats and insects. When the moths 
 come forth, they are allowed to move about in the basket for twenty-four -hours; after 
 which the females are tied to long reeds or canes, twenty or twenty-five to each, and 
 these are hung up in the house. The eggs that are laid the first three days, amounting 
 to about 200, alone are kept ; they are tied up in a cloth, and suspended to the roof 
 till a few begin to hatch. These eggs are white, and of the size of turnip-seed. When 
 a few of the worms are hatched, the cloths are put on small bamboo platters hung up in 
 the house, in which they are fed with tender leaves. After the second moulting, 
 they are removed to bunches of leaves suspended above the ground, beneath which a 
 mat is laid to receive them when they fall. When they cease to feed, they are thrown 
 into baskets full of dry leaves, among which they form their cocoons, two or three 
 being often found joined together. Upon this injudicious practice I have already 
 animadverted. 
 
 9. The Saturnia trifenestrata has a yellow cocoon of a remarkably silky lustre. It lives 
 on the soom-tree in Assam, but seems not to be much used. 
 
 The mechanism of the silk filature, as lately improved in France, is very ingenious. 
 Figs. 1241 and 1242 exhibit it in plan and longitudinal view, a is an oblong copper 
 basin containing water heated by a stove or by steam. It is usually divided b7 transverse 
 partitions into several compartments, containing 20 cocoons, of which there ar> 5 in 
 one group, as shown in the figure. 4, o, are wires with hooks or eyelets at their ends, 
 through which the filaments run, apart, and are kept from ravelling, c, c, the points 
 where the filaments cross and rub each other, on purpose to clean their surfaces, d, is 
 a spiral groove, workirg upon a pin point, to give the traverse motion alternately to 
 right and left, whereby the thread is spread evenly over the surface of the reel e. /,/, are 
 the pulleys, which by means of cords transmit the rotatory movement of the cylinder d, 
 10 the reel e. g, is a friction lever or tumbler, for lightening or slackening the endlesi 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 603 
 
 cord, hi the act of starting or 5 stopping the winding operation. Every apartment of a 
 large filature contains usually a series of such reels as the above, all driven by one prime 
 mover j each of which, however, may by means of the tumbling lever be stopped al 
 1241 
 
 pleasure. The reeler is careful to remove any slight adhesions, by the application of u 
 brush in the progress of her work. 
 
 The expense of reeling the excellent Cevennes silk is only 3 francs and 50 centimes 
 per Alais pound ; from 4 to 5 cocoons going to one thread. That pound is 92 hun- 
 dredths of our avoirdupois pound. In Italy, the cost of reeling silk is much higher, 
 being 7 Italian livres per pound, when 3 to 4 cocoons go to the formation of one 
 thread ; and 6 livres ■ when there are from 4 to 5 cocoons. The first of these raw silks 
 will have a Hire of 20 to 24 deniers ; the last, of 24 to 28. If 5 to 6 cocoons go to 
 one thread, the tilre will be from 26 to 32 deniers, according to the quality of the co- 
 coons. The Italian livre is worth 7J<2. English. The woman employed at the kettle 
 receives one livre and five sous per day ; and the girl who turns the reel, gels thirteen 
 sous a day ; both receiving board and lodging in addition. In June, July, and August, 
 they work 16 hours a day, and then they wind a rubo or ten pounds weight of cocoons, 
 which yield from l-5th to l-6th of silk, when the quality is good. The whole expenses 
 amount to from 6 to 7 livres upon every ten pounds of cocoons : which is about 2s. 8d 
 per English pound of raw silk. 
 
 The raw silk, as imported into this country in hanks from the filatures, requires to be 
 regularly wound upon bobbins, doubled, twisted, and reeled in our silk-mills. These pro- 
 cesses are called throwing silk, and their proprietors are called silk throwsters ; terms pro- 
 bably derived from the appearance of swinging or tossing which the silk threads exhibit 
 during their rapid movements among the machinery of the mills. 
 
 A representation of a French mill for throwing silk, is given in the Dictionnaire 
 Technologique, under the article Moulinage de Soie. Eut it is a most awkward, operose, 
 and defective piece of machinery, quite unworthy of being presented to my readers. 
 It was in Manchester that throwing-mills received the grand improvement upon the 
 ancient Italian plan, which had been originally introduced into thir country by Sir Thomas 
 Lombe, and erected at D^rby. That improvement is chiefly due to the eminent factory 
 engineers, Messrs. Fairbairn and Lillie, who transferred to silk the elegant mechanism ot 
 the throstle, so well known in the cotton trade. Still, throughout the silk districts of 
 France, the throwing mills are generally small, not many of them turning off more than 
 1000 pounds of organr>'ne per annum, and not involving 5000/. of capital. The average 
 price of throwing organzine in that country, where the throwster is not answerable for 
 bss, is 7 francs ; of throwing trame, from 4 fr. to 5 fr. (per kilogramme ?) Where the 
 throwster is accountable for loss, the price is from 10 fr. to 11 fr. for organzine, and frorr 
 6 to 7 for trame. In Italy, throwing adds 3*. 9d. to the price of raw silk, upon an average. 
 I should imagine, from the perfection and speed of the silk-throwing machinery in this 
 country, as about to be described, that the cost of converting a pound of raw silk either into 
 organzine or trame must be considerably-under any of the above sums. 
 
 SILK-THROWING MILL. 
 
 The first process to which the silk is subjected, is winding the skeins, as imported, off 
 upon bobbins. The mechanism which effects this winding off and on, is technically 
 called the engine, or swift. The bobbins to which the silk is transferred, are woodei 
 
604 
 
 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 cylinders, of such thickness as may not injure the silk by sudden flexure, and which 
 may also receive a great length of thread without having their diameter materially 
 increased, or their surface velocity changed. Jig. 1243, is an end view of the silk 
 throwin" machine, or erigine. in which the two large hexagonal reels, called swifts, are 
 
 1243 
 
 seen in section, as well as the tahle between them, to which the bobbins and impelling 
 mechanism are attached. The skeins are put upon these reels, from which the silk is 
 gradually unwound by the traction of the revolving bobbins. One principal object of 
 attention, is to distribute the thread over the length of the bobbin-cylinder in a spiral 
 or oblique direction, so that the end of the slender semi-transparent thread may be 
 reudily found when it breaks. As the bobbins revolve with uniform velocity, they would 
 soon wind on too fast, were their diameters so small at first as to become greatly 
 thicker when they are filled. They are therefore made large, are not covered thick, but 
 are frequently changed. The motion is communicated to that end of the engine shown in 
 the figure, i . 
 
 The wooden table A, shown here in cross section, is sometimes of great length, ex- 
 tending 20 feet, or more, according to the size of the apartment. Upon this the skeins 
 are laid out. It is supported by the two strong slanting legs b, b, to which the bearings 
 of the light reel c are made fast. These reels are called swifts, apparently by the same 
 etymological casuistry as lucus a wm lucendo ; for they turn with reluctant and irre. 
 gular slowness ; yet they do their work much quicker than any of the old apparatus, 
 and in this respect may deserve their name. At every eighth or tenth leg there is a 
 projecting horizontal piece d, which carries at its end another horizontal bar a, called the 
 knee rail, at right angles to the former. This protects the slender reels or swifts from the 
 knees of the operatives. 
 
 These swifts have a strong wooden shaft b, with an iron axis passing longitudinally 
 through it, round which they revolve, in brass bearings fixed near to the Iniddle of the 
 legs b. Upon the middle of the shaft 6, a loose ring is hung, shown under c, in fig. 1244, 
 to which a light weight d, is suspended, for imparting friction to the reel, and thus pre- 
 venting it from turning round, unless it be drawn with a gentle force, such as the traction 
 of the thread in the act of winding upon the bobbin. 
 
 Fig 1244 is a front view of the engine, a, B, are the legs, placed at their appropriate 
 distances (scale 1| inch to the foot) ; c, o, are the swifts. By comparing figs. 1243 and 
 1244, the structure of the swifts will be fully understood. From the wooden shaft b, 
 six slender wooden (or iron) spokes e, e, proceed, at equal angles to each other ; which 
 arc bound together by a cord /, near their free ends, upon the transverse line / of 
 which cord, the silk thread is wound, in a hexagonal forin; due tension being g'ven 
 to the circumferential cords, by sliding them out from the centre. Slender wooden rods 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 60o 
 
 are set between each pair of spokes, to stay them, and to keep the cord tight, e is one 
 of the two horizontal shafts, placed upon each side of the engine, to which are affixed 
 
 a number of light iron pulleys g, g (shown on a double scale in fig. 1245. (These serve 
 by friction, to drive the bobbins which rest upon their peripheries. 
 
 ' To the table A, fig. 1243, are screwed the light cast-iron slot-bearings I, I, wherein 
 the horizontal spindles or skewers rest, upon which the bobbins revolve. The spindles 
 (see F,fig. 1249.) carry upon one end a little wooden pulley A, whereby they press and 
 revolve upon the larger driving pulleys g, of the shaft e. These pulleys are called 
 stars by our workmen. The other ends of the spindles, or skewers, are cut into screws, 
 for attaching the swivel nuts i (fig. 1249.) by which the bobbins k, k, are made fast to 
 
 their respective spindles. 
 ,,,_ - : v, * Besides the slots, above de- 
 
 ' ° ' '■' ' scribed, in which the spin- 
 
 dles rest when their friction 
 pulleys ft, are in contact 
 with the moving stars g, 
 there is another set of slots 
 in the bearings, into which 
 the ends of the spindles may 
 be occasionally laid, so aj 
 to be above the line of con- 
 tact of the rubbing periphery of the star g, in case the thread of any bobbin breaks. When- 
 ever the girl has mended the thread, she replaces the bobbin-spindle in its deeper slot-bear- 
 ings, thereby bringing 
 its pulley once more into 
 contact with the star, 
 and causing it to revolve. 
 g is a long ruler or 
 bar of wood, which is 
 supported upon every 
 eighth or twelfth leg n, 
 b. (The figure being, for 
 convenience of the page, 
 contracted in length, 
 shows it at every sixth 
 leg.) To the edge 
 of that bar the smooth 
 threads glide from the swifts, in 
 
 over which 
 
606 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 their way to the bobbins. H is the guide bar, which has a slow traverse or seesiw m« 
 tion, sliding in slots at the top of the legs b, where they support the bars g. Upon lh« 
 guide bar h, the guide pieces I, I, are made fast. These consist of two narrow, thin, up. 
 right plates of iron, placed endwise together, their contiguous edges being smooth, paral- 
 lel, and capable of approximation to any degree by a screw, so as to increase or diminish 
 at pleasure the ordinary width of the vertical slit that separates them. Through this slit 
 the silk thread must pass, and, if rough or knotty, will be either cleaned or broken ; in 
 the latter case, it is neatly mended by the attendant gjrl. 
 
 The motions of the various parts of the engine are given as follows. Upon the end of 
 the machine, represented in fig. 1243 there are attached to the shafts E (fig. 1244), the 
 ' bevel wheels 1 and 2, which are set in motion by the bevel wheels 3 and 4, respectively 
 These latter wheels are fixed upon the shaft m,fig. 1243. m is moved by the main steam 
 6haft which«runs parallel to it, and at the same height, through the length of the engine 
 apartment, so as to drive the whole range of the machines. 5 is a loose wheel or pulley 
 upon the shaft m, working in gear with a vheel upon the steam shaft, and which may 
 be connected by the clutch n, through the hand lever or gearing rod o (figs. 1 243 and 
 1244), when the engine is to be set at work. 6 is a spur wheel upon the shaft m, by 
 which the stud wheel 7 is driven, in order to give the traverse motion to the guide bar 
 h. This wheel is represented, with its appendages, in double size,figs. 1247 and 
 1248 with its boss upon a stud p, secured to the bracket q. In an eccentric hole 
 ^248 t t ~ -toAtj of the same boss, another stud r, revolves, upon 
 
 je&ffixtn JSl B which the little wheel s, is fixed. This wheel s, 
 
 ■J^llPlf^. ^^^Bii r is in sear with a pinion cut upon the end of 
 
 the fixed stud p ; and upon it is screwed the 
 & little crank t, whose collar is connected by two 
 rods u (figs. 1243 and 1244), to a cross-piece n 
 which unites the two arms w, that are fixed upon 
 the guide bar H, on both sides of the machine. 
 T By the revolution of wheel 7, the wheel s will 
 ^ cause the pinion of the fixed stud p to turn 
 J round. If that wheel bear to the pinion the 
 proportion of 4 to 1, then the wheel s will make, at each revolution of the wheel 7, one 
 fourth of a revolution ; whereby the crank t will also rotate through one fourth of a turn, 
 so as to be brought nearer to the centre of the stud, and to draw the guide bar so much 
 less to one side of its mean position. At the next revolution of wheel 7, the crank t will 
 move through another quadrant, and come still nearer to the central position, drawing 
 the guide bars still less aside, and therefore causing the bobbins to wind on more thread 
 in their middle than towards their ends. The contrary effect would ensue, were the 
 guide bars moved by a single or simple crank. After four revolutions of the wheel 7, 
 the crank t will stand once more as shown inyig. 1248 having moved the bar H through 
 the whole extent of its traverse. The bobbins, when filled, have the appearance repre 
 sented in fig. 1250 ; the thread having been laid on them all the lime in diagonal lines, so 
 as neveV to coincide with each other. 
 
 Doubling is the next operation .of the silk throwster. In this process, the threads of 
 two or three of the bobbins, filled as above, are wound together in contact upon a single 
 bobbin. An ingenious device is here employed to stop the winding-on the moment that 
 one of these parallel threads happens to break. Instead of the swifts or reels, a creel is 
 here mounted for receiving the bobbins from the former machine, two or three being 
 placed in one line over each other, according as the threads are to be doubled or trebled. 
 Though this machine is in many respects like the engine, it has some additional parts, 
 whereby the bobbins are set at rest, as above mentioned, when one of the doubling threads 
 gets broken." 
 
 .Fig.l251is an end view, from which it will be perceived that the machine is, like the 
 preceding, a double one, with two working sides. 
 .Fig. 1252 is a front view of a considerable portion of the machine. 
 .Fig.l253shows part of a cross section, to explain minutely the mode of winding upon a 
 single bobbin. 
 
 Fig. 1254is the plan of the parts shown in fig. 1253 ; these two figures being drawn to 
 double the scale of yigs.l251and 1252. 
 
 A, a, figs. 1251 & 1252. are the end frames, connected at their tops by a wooden stretcher, 
 or bar-beam, a, which extends through the whole length of the machine ; this bar is shown 
 also in figs. 1253 and 1254. 
 
 B, ji, are the creels upon each side of the machine, or bobbin bearers, resting upon 
 wooden beams or boards, made fast to the arms or brackets c, about the middle of th« 
 frames A. 
 
 d, d, are two horizontal iron shafts, which pervade the whole machine, and carry a 
 •eries of light moveable pulleys, called stars, c, c, (figs 1253,1254.)which serve to drive th» 
 
MLK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 607 
 
 Dobbins e, e, whose fixed pulleys rest upon their peripheries, and are therefore turned 
 wnply by friction. These bobbins are screwed by swivel nuts e, e, upon spindles, as in 
 
 the silk engine. Be. 
 sides the small friction 
 pulley or boss, d, seen 
 best in fig. 1254, by 
 which they rest upon 
 the star pulleys c, c, a 
 little ratchet wheel /, 
 is attached to the other 
 end of each bobbin. 
 This is also shown by 
 itself at/, in fig. 1255. 
 The spindles with 
 their bobbins revolve 
 in two slot-bearings 
 F, F, fig. 1254, screwed 
 to the bar-beam a, 
 which is supported by 
 'wo or three interme- 
 diate upright frames, 
 such as a'. The slot 
 bearings f, have also 
 a second slot, in which 
 the spindle with the 
 
 bobbin is laid at rest, out of contact of the star wheel, while its broken thread is being 
 mended, g is the guide baT (to which Jhe cleaner slit pieces g, g, are attached), for 
 H 1252 
 
 making the thread traverse to the right and the left, for its proper distribution over 
 the surface of the bobbin. The guide bar of the doubling machine is moved with a 
 slower traverse than in the engine ; otherwise, in consequence of the different obliquities 
 of the paths, the single threads would be readily broken, h, h, is a pair of smooth rods of 
 iron or brass, placed parallel to each of the two sides of the machine, and made fast to the 
 standards H, h, which are screwed to brackets projecting from the frames A, a'. Over these 
 rods the silk threads glide, in their passage to the guide wires g, g, and the bobbins e, e. 
 x, i, is the lever board upon each side of the machine, upon which the slight brass 
 bearings or fulcrums i, i, one for each bobbin in the creel, are made fast. This board 
 bears the balance-lever k, I, with the fullers n, n, n, which act as dexterous fingers, and 
 stop the bobbin from winding-on the instant a thread may chance to break. The levers 
 %, 7, swing upon a fine wire axis, which passes through their props i, i, their arms being 
 shaped rectangularly, as shown at k, k',fig.l25i. The arm 2, being heavier than the armfc, 
 naturally rests upon the ridge bar m, of the lever board i. n, n, n, are three wii es, resting 
 at one of their ends upon the axis of the fulcrum i, i, and having each of their other hooked 
 ends suspended by one of the silk threads, as it passes over the front steel rod h. and undej 
 
608 
 
 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 h'. These faller wires, or stop fingers, are guided truly in their up-and-down motions 
 with the thread, by a cleaner-plate o, having a vertical slit in its middle. Hence, when- 
 ever any thread happens to break, in its way to a winding-on bobbin e, the wire «, 
 
 , which hung by its eyelet end 
 
 1253 g t0 tnat thread, as it passed 
 
 through between the steel roda 
 in the line of h, h', falls upon 
 the lighter arm of the balance 
 lever fc, /, weighs down that 
 arm fc, consequently jerks up 
 the arm I, which pitches its tip 
 or end into one of the three 
 notches of the ratchet or catch 
 wheel/ {figs. 1254 & 1255), 
 fixed to the end of the bobbin. 
 Thus its motion is instantane- 
 ously arrested, till the girl has 
 had leisure to mend the thread, 
 when she again hangs up the 
 faller wire », and restores the 
 lever 7c, I, to its horizontal posi- 
 tion. If, meanwhile, she took occasion to remove the winding bobbin out of the sunk 
 slot-bearing, where pulley d touches the star wheel c, into the right-hand upper slot of 
 repose, she must now shift it into its slot of rotation. 
 
 The motions are given to (he doubling 
 machine in a very simple way. Upon the 
 end of the framing, represented in fig 1251, 
 the shafts d, d, bear two spur wheels 1 and 
 2, which work into each other. To the 
 
 
 15 
 F 
 
 [S 
 
 s Ui 
 
 a 
 
 
 E 
 
 
 
 F 
 
 
 wheel 1, is attached the bevel wheel 3, 
 driven by another bevel wheel 4 (fig. 
 1252), fixed to a shaft that extends the 
 whole length of the apartment, and serves, 
 therefore, to drive a whole range of ma- 
 chines. The wheel 4 may be put in gear 
 with the shaft, by a clutch and gear- 
 handle, as in the silk engine, and thereby it 
 drives two shafts, by the one transmitting 
 its movement to the other. 
 
 The traverse motion of the guide bar G, 
 is effected as follows : — Upon one of the shafts d, there is a bevel wheel 5,'driving the 
 bevel wheel 6, upon the top of the upright shaft p (fig. 1252, to the right of the 
 middle) ; whence the motion is transmitted to the horizontal shaft q, below, by means of 
 the bevel wheels 7 and 8. Upon this shaft q, there is a heart-wheel r, working against 
 a roller which is fixed to the end of the lever s, whose fulcrum is at t, fig. 1251. The 
 other end of the lever s, is connected by two rods (shown by dotted lines inyig.1252) 
 to a brass piece which joins the arms u (fig. 1252), of the guide bars G. To the same 
 cross piece a cord is attached, which goes over a roller v, uid suspends a weight to, by 
 means of which the level s, is pressed into contact with the heart-wheel r. The fulcrum 
 t, of the lever s, is a shaft which is turned somewhat eccentric, and has a very slow 
 rotatory motion. Thus the guide bar, after each traverse, neccessarily winds the silk in 
 variable lines, to the side of the preceding threads. 
 
 The motion is given to this shaft in the following way. Upon the horizontal 
 shaft q, there is a bevel wheel g (figs. 1252 and 1253), which drives the wheel 10 upon 
 the shaft a: ; on whose upper end, the worm y works in the wheel 11, made fast to the 
 said eccentric shaft t ; round which the lever 8 swings or oscillates, causing the guide bars 
 to traverse. 
 
 The spinning silk-mill. — The machine which twists the silk threads, either in their 
 single or doubled state, is called the spinning mill. When the raw sinsles are first 
 twis'ed in one direction, next doubled, and then twisted together in the opposite direction, 
 an exceedingly wiry, compact thread, is produced, called organsine. In the spinning mill, 
 either the singles or the doubled silk, while being unwound from'one set of bobbins, and 
 wound upon another set, is subjected to a regular twisting operation ; in which process 
 the thread is conducted as usual through guides, and coiled diagonally upon the bobbins 
 by a proper mechanism. 
 
 Fig. 1256 exhibits an end view of the spinning mill ; in which four working lines 
 are shown ; two tiers upon each side, one above the other. Some spinning mills have 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 60S 
 
 1256 
 
 three working tiers upon each side ; hut as the highest tier must he reached by a laddei 
 or platform, this construction is considered by many to be injudicious. 
 
 Fig. 1257, is a front view, where, as 
 ,$. in the former figure, the two working 
 lines are shown. 
 
 Fig. 1258, is a cross section of a part 
 of the machine, to illustrate the con- 
 struction and play of the working parts ; 
 figs. 1264, 1265, are other views of fig. 
 1258. 
 
 Fig. 1259, shows a single part of the 
 machine, by which the bobbins are made 
 to revolve. 
 
 Figs. 1260, and 1261, show a dif- 
 ferent mode of giving the traverse to 
 the guide bars, than that represented in 
 fig. 1258. 
 
 Figs. 1262, and 1263, show the shape 
 ->f the full bobbins, produced by the 
 action of these two different traverse 
 motions. 
 
 The upper part of the machine 
 oeing exactly the same as the under 
 part, it will be sufficient to explain the 
 construction and operation of one of 
 them. 
 
 A, A, are the end upright frames or 
 standards, between which are two or 
 three intermediate standards, accord- 
 ing to the length of the machine. 
 They are all connected at their sides 
 by beams b and c, which extend the 
 whole length of the machines, d, d, 
 are the spindles, whose top bearings a, a, are made fast to the beams b, and their 
 bottoms turn in hard brass steps, fixed to the bar c. These two bars together are 
 
 3 _ 3257 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
610 
 
 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 sailed, by the workmen, the spindle box. The standards A, A, are bonnd with cross bait 
 
 N, N. 
 
 c, c, are the wharves or whorls, turned by a band from the horizontal tin cylinder in 
 the lines of B, E, fig. 1256 lying in the middle line between the two parallel rows of 
 spindles d, d. f, f, are the bobbins containing the untwisted doubled silk, which are 
 simply pressed down upon the taper end of the spindles, d, d, are little fliers, or 
 forked wings of wire, attached to washers of wood, which revolve loose upon the tops 
 of the said bobbins f, and round the spindles. One of the wings is sometimes bent 
 upwards, to serve as a guide to the silk, as shown by dotted lines in fig. 1258. <s, e, are 
 pieces of wood pressed upon the tops of the spindles, to prevent the fliers from starting 
 off by the centrifugal force. G, are horizontal shafts bearing a number of little spur 
 wheels /,/. H, are slot-bearings, similar to those of the doubling-machine, which are 
 fixed to the end and middle frames. In these slots, the light square cast-iron shafts or 
 spindles g, fig. 1257, are laid, on whose end the spur wheel h is cast j and when the shaft g 
 lies in the front slot of its bearing, it is in gear with the wheel /, upon the shaft G ; bu* 
 when it is laid in the back slot, it is out of gear, and at rest. See f, r,fig. 1254. 
 Upon these little cast-iron shafts or spindles g,fig. 1259, the bobbins or blocks i, are 
 
 thrust, for receiving, by windipg-on, the twisted 
 or spun silk. These blocks are made of a large 
 diameter, in order that the silk fibres may not be 
 too much bent ; and they are but slightly filled, 
 at each successive charge, lest, by increasing their 
 diameter too much, they should produce too rapid 
 an increase in the rate of winding, with propor- 
 tional diminution in the twist, and risk of stretch- 
 ing or tearing the silk. They are therefore the more 
 frequently changed, k, k, are the pride bars, with 
 the guides i, i, through which the silk passes, being 
 drawn by the revolving bobbins I, and delivered 
 or laid on by the fliers d, d, from the rotatory 
 twisting-bobbins T. The operation of the ma- 
 chine is therefore simple, and the motions are 
 given to the parts in a manner equally so. 
 
 Upon, the shaft of the tin cylinder or drum, 
 exterior to the frame, the usual fast and loose 
 pulleys, or riggers, l, r.', are mounted, for driving 
 the whole machine. These riggers are often called 
 steam-pulleys by the workmen, from their being 
 connected by bands with the steam-driven shaft 
 of the factory. In order to allow the riggers upon 
 the shafts of the upper and the under drums to 
 be driven from the same pulley upon the main 
 shaft, the axis of the under drum is prolonged at 
 r,, l', and supported at its end, directly from the 
 floor, by an upright bearing. Upon the shafts 
 of the tin cylinders there is also a fly-wheel m, 
 to equalize the motion. Upon the other ends of 
 these shafts, namely, at the end of the spinning- 
 mill, represented in fig. 1256, the pinions 1 are 
 fixed, which drive the wheels 3, by means of the 
 intermediate or carrier wheel 2 ; called also the 
 plate wheel, from its being hollowed somewhat 
 like a trencher. 1, is called the change-pinion, be- 
 cause it is changed for another! of a different size 
 and different number of teeth, when a change in 
 the velocity of wheels 2 and 3 is to be made. To allow a greater or smaller pinion to 
 be applied at 1, the wheel 2 is mounted upon a stud k, which is moveable in a slot con- 
 centric with the axis of the wheel 3. This slot is a branch from the cross bar N. The 
 smaller the change-pinion is, the nearer will the stud A; approach to the vertical line 
 joining the centres of wheels 1 and 3 ; and the more slowly will the plate wheel 2 bo 
 driven. To the spur wheel 3, a bevel wheel 4, is fixed, with which the other also 
 revolves loose upon the stud. The bevel wheel 5, upon the shaft I, is driven. b> the oevel 
 wheel 4 ; and it communicates motion, by the bevel wheels 6 and 7, to each of the hori- 
 zontal shafts o, G, extending along the upper and under tiers of the machine. At the 
 left-hand side of the top part of fig. 1256, the two wheels 6 and 7 are omitted, on purpose 
 .o show the bearings of the shaft g, as also the slot-bearings for carrying the shafts or 
 skewers of the bobbins. 
 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 611 
 
 If it be desired to communicate twist in the opposite direction to that -which would 
 be given by the actual arrangement of the wheels, it is necessary merely to transpose 
 the carrier wheel 2, from its present position on the right hand of pinion 1, to the 
 left of it, and to drive the tin cylinder by a crossed or close strap, instead of a straight oi 
 open one. 
 
 The traverse motion of the guide is given here in a similar way to that of the engine, 
 (fig. 1243.) Near one of the middle or cross-frames of the machine (see fig- 1258)lhe 
 wheel /, in gear with a spur wheel h, upon one of the block-shafts, drives also a spur 
 wheel m, that revolves upon a stud, to which wheel is fixed a bevel wheel n, in gear 
 with the bevel wheel o. To wheel o, the same mechanism is attached as was described 
 under ,/igs. 1247 and 1248, and which is here marked with the same letters. 
 To the crank-knob r, Hg.l259,a rod x, is attached, which moves or traverses the guidt 
 
 bar belonging to that part of 
 the machine; to each ma 
 chine one such apparatus is 
 fitted. In figs. 1260 andl261 
 another mode of traversing 
 the guide bar is shown, which 
 is generally used for the 
 coarser qualities of silk. 
 Near to one of the middle 
 frames, one of the wheels /, 
 in gear with the spur wheel 
 m, and the bevel wheel n, 
 both revolving on one stud, 
 gives motion also to the 
 wheel o, fixed upon a shaft 
 a', at whose other end the 
 elliptical wheel 6' is fixed, which drives a second^elliptical wheel c', in such a way that 
 the larger diameter of the one plays in gear with the smaller diameter of the other ; the 
 teeth being so cut as to take into each other in all positions. The crank-piece d' is screwed 
 
 1262 
 
 1263 
 
 X. 
 
 i 
 
 upon the face of the wheel c', at such a distance from its centre 
 as may be necessary to give the desired length Of traverse motion 
 to the guide bar for laying the silk spirally upon the blocks. 
 The purpose of the elliptical wheel is to modify the simple crank 
 motion, which would wind on more silk at the ends of the bob- 
 bins than in their middle, and to effect an equality of winding- 
 on over the whole surface of the blocks. In fig.1261 the elliptical wheels are shown in 
 front, to illustrate their mode of operating upon each other. Fig. 1262 is a block filled 
 
 by the motion of 
 the eccentric, fig. 
 1258 ; and fig. 
 1263 is a block 
 filled by the ellip- 
 tical mechanism. 
 As the length of 
 the motions of the 
 bar in the latter 
 construction re- 
 mains thVsame during the whole operation, the silk, as it is wound on the blocks, will 
 slide over the edges, and thereby produce the fiat ends of the barrel in fig. 1263. The 
 conical ends of the block (fig. 1262) are produced by the con- 
 tinually shortened motions of the guide bar, as the stud ap- 
 proaches, in its sun-and-planet rotation, nearer to the general 
 centre ■ 
 
 .Figs.l264,1265are two different views of the differential me- 
 chanism described under fig. 1258. 
 
 The bent wire x, fig. 1258, is called the guider iron. It is 
 attached at one end to the pivot of the sun-and-planet wheel- 
 
 ~7 work t, s, o, and at 
 
 I 
 
 the other to the 
 guide bar /, /, 
 fig. 1257, The 
 silk threads 
 
 1265 
 
 □ 
 
 By the motion communicated to the guide, bar 
 
 through the guides, as already explained, ,, . 
 
 (gttider), the diamond pattern is produced, as shown mfig. l£M. 
 
612 
 
 SILK MANUFACTURE. 
 
 THE SILK AUTOMATIC HEEL. 
 
 la this machine, the silk is unwound from the blocks of the throwing-miU, and formed 
 into hanks for the market. The blocks being of a large size, would be productive of 
 much friction, if made to revolve upon skewers thrust through them, and would cause 
 frequent breakage of the silk. They are, therefore, set with their axes upright upon a 
 board, and the silk is drawn from their surface, just as the weft is from a cop iu the 
 shuttle. On this account the previous winding-on must be executed in a very regular 
 manner; and preferably as represented in fig. 1262, 
 
 Fig. 1266 is a front view of the reel; little more than one half of it being shown. 
 .Fig.l267is an end view. Here the steam pulleys are omitted, for fear of obstructing tin 
 
 D 1266 
 
 rrfpRf 
 
 \ A A A -a A 
 
 
 view of the more essential parts. A, A, are the two end framings, connected by mahogany 
 stretchers, which forr. the table b, for receiving the bobbins c, c, which are sometimes 
 weighted at top with a lump of lead, to prevent their tumbling, d is the reel, consisting 
 of four long laths of wood, which are fixed upon iron frames, attached to an octagonal 
 wooden shaft. The arm which sustains one of these laths is capable of being bent in- 
 wards, by loosening a tightening hook, so as to permit the hanks, when finished, to be 
 taken off, as in every eommon reel. 
 
 The machine consists of two equal parts, coupled together at a, to facilitate the removal 
 of the silk from either half of the reel ; the attendant first lifting the one part, and then 
 the other, e is the guide bar, which by a traverse motion causes the silk to be wound 
 on in a cross direction. 6 and c are the wire guides, and d are little levers lying upon 
 the cloth covered guide bar e. The silk, in its way from the block to the reel, passes 
 under these levers, by which it is cleaned from loose fibres. 
 
 On the other end of the shaft of the reel, the spur wheel 1 is fixed, which derives mo 
 tipn from wheel 2, attached to the shaft of the steam-pulley r. Upon the same shaft 
 there is a bevel wheel 3, which impels the wheel 4 upon the shaft e ,• to whose end a 
 plate is attached, to which the crank / is screwed, in such a way as to give the proper 
 length of traverse motion to the guide bar e, connected to that crank or eccentric stud by 
 the jointed rod g. Upon the shaft of the steam-pulleys f, there is a worm or endless 
 screw, to the left of f,fig. 1267. which works in a wheel 5, attached to the short upright 
 shaft h (fig. 1266). At the end of ft, there is another worm, which works in a wheei 6 j 
 at whose circumference there is a stud i, which strikes once at every revolution against 
 an arm attached to a bell, seen to the left of g ; thus announcing to the reel tenter that 
 a measured length of silk has been wound upon her reel, e is a rod or handle, by which 
 the fork I, with the strap, may be moved upon the fast or loose pulley, so as to set on or 
 arrest the motion at pleasure. 
 Throwsters submit their silk to scouring and steaming processes. They soak the 
 
SILK. 
 
 613 
 
 hanks, as imported, in lukewarm soap-water in a tub ; but the bobbins of the twisted 
 single silk from the spinning mill are enclosed within a wooden chest, and exposed to 
 
 the opening action of steam for about ten minutes. 
 They are then immersed in a cistern of warm water, 
 from which they are transferred to the doubling frame. 
 The wages of the workpeople in the silk-throw- 
 ing mills of Italy are about one half of their wages 
 in Manchester; but this difference is much more, : 
 than counterbalanced by the protecting duty of 1st ' 
 10d. a pound upon thrown silk, and the superior 
 machinery of our mills. In 1832, there was a 
 power equal to 342 horsts engaged in the silk- 
 throwing mills of Manchester, and of about 100 in 
 the mills of Derby. The power employed in the 
 other silk mills of England and Scotland has not 
 been recorded. 
 
 There is a peculiar kind of silk called marabout, 
 containing generally three threads, made from the 
 white Novi raw silk. From its whiteness, it takes 
 the most lively and delicate colors without the 
 discharge of its gum. Ar>r being made into tram 
 by the single twist upon the spinning mill, it is 
 reeled into hanks, and sent to the dyer without fur- 
 ther preparation. After being dyed, the throwster 
 re-winds and re-twists it upon the spinning mill, in 
 order to give it the whipcord hardness which consti- 
 tutes the peculiar feature of marabout. The cost 
 of the raw Novi silk is 19*. 6d. a pound; of throw- 
 ing it into tram, 2s. 6d. ; of dyeing, 2s. ; jf re-wind- 
 ing and re-twisting, after it has been dyed, about 
 5s. i of waste, 2s., or 10 per cent. : the total of which sum is 31s. ; being the price of 
 one pound of marabout in 1832. 
 
 SILK. Several pieces of silk were put into my hands, for analysis, on the 18th of 
 February, after I had, on tht preceding 12th of the month, visited the St. Katharine's 
 Dock warehouses, in New street, Bishopsgate street, for the purpose of inspecting a 
 large package of the Corahs, per Colonist. I was convinced, by this inspection, that, 
 notwithstanding the apparent pains bestowed upon the tin plate arid teakwood packing- 
 cases, certain fissures existed in them, through which the atmospheric air had found 
 access, and had caused iron-mould spois upon the gunny wrapper, from the rusting or 
 oxidizement of the tinned iron. 
 
 I commenced my course of analysis upon some of the pieces which were most 
 damaged, as I thought they were most likely to lead me to an exact appreciation of 
 the cause of the mischief; and I pursued the following general train of research : — 
 
 1. The piece of silk, measuring from 6 to 7 yards, was freely exposed to the air, then 
 weighed, afterward dried near a fire, and weighed again, in order to determine its 
 hygrometric property, or its quality of becoming damp by absorbing atmospheric vapor. 
 Many of the pieces absorbed, in this way, from one tenth to one eighth of their whole 
 weight; that is, from 1 oz to 1§ oz. upon 13 oz. This fact is very instructive, anil 
 shows lhat the goods had been dressed in the loom, or imbued subsequently, with some 
 very deliquescent pasty matter. 
 
 2. I next subjected the piece to the action of distilled water, at a boiling tempera- 
 ture, till the whole glutinous matter was extracted ; five pints of water were employed 
 for this purpose, the fifth being used in rinsing out the residuum. The liquid wrutag 
 out from the silk was evaporated first over the fire, but toward the end over a steam 
 bath, till it became a dry extract ; which in the damaged pieces was black, like extract 
 of liquorice, but in the sound pieces was brown. In all cases the extract so obtained 
 absorbed moisture with great avidity. The extract was weighed in its driest state, and 
 the weight noted, which showed the addition made, by the dressing to the weight of 
 the silk. The piece of silk was occasionally weighed in its cleansed state, when dry, 
 as a check upon the preceding experiment. 
 
 3. The dry extract was now subjected to a regular chemical analysis, which was 
 modified according to circumstances, as follows : 100 parts of it were carefully igni- 
 ted in a platinum capsule ; during which a considerable flame and fetid smoke were 
 disengaged. The ashes or incombustible residuum were examined by the action of dis- 
 tilled water, filtration, as also by that of acids, and other chemical tests, whereby the 
 constituents of these ashes were ascertained. In the course of the incineration or cal- 
 cination of the extract from the several samples, I never observed any sparkling or 
 scintillation ; whence I inferred that no nitre had been used in the dressing of the 
 foods, as some persons suggested. 
 
6L4 SILK. 
 
 a 
 
 4. Having, in. the. course of boiling some of the extract from two of the damaged 
 pieces in a little distilled water, felt a urinous odor, I was induced to institute the fol 
 lowing minute course of researches, in order to discover whether the urine of man had 
 been introduced into the dressing paste of the silk webs. I, digested a certain portion 
 of the said extract in alcohol, 60 per cent, over proof, which is incapable of dissolving 
 the rice water, or otber starchy matter, which might be properly applied to the silk in 
 the loom. The alcohol, however, especially when aided by a moderate heat, readily 
 dissolves urea, a substance of a peculiar nature, which is the characteristic constituent 
 
 t,of human urine. The alcohol took a yellow tint, and being, after subsidence of the 
 sediment, decanted clear off into a glass retort, and exposed to the gentle heat of a wa- 
 ter bath, it distilled over clear into the receiver, and left a residuum in the retort, which 
 possessed the properties of urea. This substance was solid when cold, but melted at a 
 heat of 220° F. ; and at a heat of about 245° it decomposed with the production of wa- 
 ter and carbonate of ammonia — the well-known products of urea at that temperature. 
 The exhalation of ammonia was very sensible to the smell, and was made peculiarly 
 manifest by its browning yellow turmeric paper, exposed in a moist state to the fumes, 
 as they issued from the orifice of the glass tube, in which the decomposition was usually 
 effected. I thus obtained perfect evidence that urine had been employed in India in 
 preparing the paste with which a great many of the pieces had been dressed. It is 
 known to every • experienced chemist, that one of the most fermentative or putrefac- 
 tive compositions which can be made, results from the mixture of human urine with 
 starchy or gummy matter, such as rice water ; a substance which, by the test of iodine 
 water, these Corahs also contained, as I showed to the gentlemen present, at my visit 
 to the Bonding Warehouse. 
 
 5. On incinerating the extract Of the Corahs, I obtained, in the residuum, a notable 
 quantity of free alkali ; which, by the test of chloride of platinum, proved to be potassa. 
 But, as the extract itself was neutral to the tests of litmus and turmeric paper, I was 
 consequently led to infer that the said extract contained some vegetable acid, probably 
 produced by the fermentation of the weaver's dressing, in the hot climate of Hindostan. 
 I, accordingly, examined the nature of this acid, by distilling a portion of the extract 
 along -wit> some very dilute sulphuric acid, and obtained in the receiver a notable 
 quantity of the volatilized acid condensed. This acid might be the acetic (vinegar), 
 the result of fermentation, or it might be the formic or acid of ants, the result of the 
 action of sulphuric acid upon starchy matter. To decide this point, I saturated the said 
 distilled acid with magnesia, and obtained on evaporation the characteristic gummy 
 mass of acetate of magnesia, soluble in alcohol, but none of the crystals of formiate of 
 magnesia, insoluble in alcohol. From the quantity of alkali (potassa) which I obtained 
 from the incineration of the extract of one piece of the damaged silk, and which 
 amounted to six grains at least, I was convinced that wood ashes had been added, in 
 India, to the mixture of sour rice water and urine, which would therefore constitute a 
 compound remarkably hygrometric, and well qualified to keep the warp of the web 
 damp, even in that arid atmosphere, during the time that the Tanty or weaver was 
 working upon it. The acetate of potassa, present in the said Corahs, is one of the 
 most deliquescent salts known to the chemist : and, when mixed with fermented urine, 
 forms a most active hygrometric dressing — one, likewise, which will readily generate 
 mildew upon woven goods, with the aid of heat and the smallest portion of atmospheric 
 oxygen. By the above-mentioned fermentative action, the carbon,'which is one of the 
 chemical constituents of the rim ?r starchy matter, had been eliminated, so as to occa- 
 sion the dark stains upon the silk, and the blackness of the extract taken out of it bv 
 distilled water. 
 
 6. That the dressing applied to the webs is not simply a decoction of rice, becomes 
 very manifest, by comparing the incinerated residuum of rice with the incinerated re- 
 siduum of the extract of the said Corahs. I find that 100 grains of rice, incinerated in 
 a platinum capsule, leave only about one fifth of a grain, or 1 in 500 of incombustible 
 matter, which is chiefly silicious sand ; whereas, when 100 grains of an average extract . 
 of several of these Corahs were similarly incinerated, they left fully 17 parts of incom- 
 bustible matter. This consisted chiefly of alumina, or earth of clay, with silica, potassa, 
 and a little common or culinary salt. (Has the clay been added, as is done in Man- 
 chester, to give apparent substance to the thin silk web ?) 
 
 From the above elaborate course of experiments, which occupied me almost con- 
 stantly during a period of four weeks, I was fully warranted to conclude that the dam- 
 age of the said goods had been occasioned by the vile dressing which had been put into 
 them in India; which, as I have said, under the influence of heat and air, had caused 
 them to become more or less mildewed, in proportion to their original dampness when 
 packed at Calcutta, and to the accidental ingress of atmospheric air into the cases du- 
 ring the voyage from Calcutta to London. 
 
 The following is the list of Corahs which I chemically examined :— 
 
SILK. 61 £ 
 
 1 and 2, per Colonist, from Calcutta, 2 pieces, sound. — These two pieces Had beec 
 dressed with a sweet viscid matter, like jaggery or goor (molassy sugar), mixed with 
 the rice water. This extract contained no urine, but emitted a smell of caramel or 
 burned sugar, when ignited. It amounted to 270 grains in the one, and 370 in the 
 other. 
 
 3, ditto, 1 piece, mildewed, 1st degree. — This piece had been dressed like No. 5, and 
 contained no trace of urine. It afforded 400 grains of a most deliquescent sweetisl 
 glutinous matter. 
 
 4, ditto. 1 piece, mildewed, 1st degree, as No. 3. 
 
 5, ditto, 1 piece, mildewed, 3d degree. — This piece contained no trace of urine, but it 
 afforded 210 grains of a light brown extract, being rice water, mixed with something 
 like jaggery. 
 
 6, ditto, 1 piece, 3d degree, mildewed. — This piece afforded evidence of urine in it, 
 by test of carbonate of ammonia. The extract amounted to 320 grains. 
 
 8, ditto, 2 pieces, damaged in the 3d degree. — The total weight of one of these pie- 
 ces, after exposure to air, was 4,610 grains, and it lost 440 grains by drying. The total 
 weight of the other was 4,950 grains, and it lost 320 grains by drying. The weight of 
 extract was, in one piece, 210 grains ; and both pieces contained abundant traces of 
 urine, as well as of potash. These constituents, along with the rice water, accounted 
 sufficiently for the great damage of these two pieces by mildew. 
 
 10, ditto, 2 pieces, sound. — These contained no urea. Each afforded from 300 to 
 500 grains of a light brown vegetable extract,. 
 
 12, ditto, 2 pieces. — The extract in the one amounted to 222 grains, and in the other 
 to 330. Both contained urea, and had, therefore, been imbued with urine. 
 
 14, ditto, 2 pieces, mildewed, 3d degree. — There was no urea in the extracts from 
 these two pieces ; but they afforded, the one 300 grains of extract, and the other 750. 
 But this extract was a saccharine molassy matter, impossible to dry over a steam heat. 
 The same quantity as the last, if dried by stronger means, would have weighed proba- 
 bly 600 grains. Its extraordinary deliquescence kept the pieces very moist, and there- 
 by caused the mildewing of them. With the saccharine matter, four per cent, of culi- 
 nary salt was mixed in one of these extracts. 
 
 16, ditto, 2 pieces, 3d degree of mildew. — The extract, about 200 grains, contained 
 abun'.ant evidence of urea, and, consequently of urine. 
 
 18, ditto, 2 pieces, sound. — Both these contained some tracers ot urea ; but the one 
 yielded only 102 grains of extract, and the other 370 grains. .They must have been 
 well screened from the air to have resisted the action of the urine. 
 
 20, ditto, 2 pieces, damaged, 1st degree. — No urea. The extract of the one was 320 
 grains ; of the other piece 380 ; and it had a light brown color, being a saccharine 
 mucilage. 
 
 22, ditto, 2 pieces, 3d degree mildew. — 200 grains of extract in the one, and 210 in 
 the other : they contained urea. 
 
 24, 2 pieces, 3d degree of mildew. — 310 grains of extract in the one, and 180 grains 
 in the other, Both were impregnated with urea, and consequently with urine. 
 
 Having ' i «,he preceding report demonstrated, by the clearest processes of chemical 
 research, that the above mildewed Corahs had been damaged by the fermentative de- 
 composition of the dressing paste with which they had been so abundantly impregnated, 
 I would recommend tnc importers of such goods to cause the whole of the dressing to 
 be washed out of them, and the pieces to be thoroughly dried, before being packed up. 
 I believe that clean silk may be kept and transported, even in the most humid atmo 
 sphere, without undergoing any change, if it be not imbued with fermentative paste. 
 
 I examined eight other pieces of a different mark, imported by another mercantile 
 house, per Colonist, and thev afforded results similar to the above.. 
 
 The beautiful and artistic silk trophy, occupying the entrance to the Western Nave 
 of the Exhibition, did not fail to attract notice. This trophy consisted of an elegant 
 arrangement of rich tissues, brocades, damasks, and other furniture, silks, the 'whole 
 of which had been manufactured by Messrs. Keith & Co., and was surmounted by =■ 
 silken banner. A variety of rich and costly productions of the Spitalfields loom were 
 exhibited in the Galleries. 
 
 The colours and textures of these fabrics were of great brilliancy and finish. An in- 
 teresting collection of specimens of the raw and manufactured material was also exhibited 
 Specimens of silk-plush for various purposes and in imitation of furs were likewise found 
 among these articles. The ribands of Coventry have acquired a universal reputation ; and 
 this characteristic manufacture was well represented in the number and variety of the 
 articles exhibited. The application of steam power as a substitute for hand-weaving 
 in this manufacture is making rapid progress, and some of its results were apparent. 
 
 At present the United Kingdom draws its supply of the raw material for manufac- 
 ture principally from the East Indies; and France, Italy, Turkey, and China, also 
 
616 SILK. 
 
 supply a considerable amouut. Ten years since, the annual imports for home consump- 
 tion amounted to the large sum of 4,734,765 lbs. When it is remembered that all 
 this vast quantity of textile fibre is the result of the industry of larvae, an idea may be 
 gained of the importance of things seemingly insignificant. 
 
 Manchester exhibited Gros de Naples as good and as cheap as that of Lyons; and the 
 establishment of our Schools of Design bids fair to secure our superiority in the taste 
 and beauty of our patterns. 
 
 Silk, (Switzerland). There are some silk-stuff factories in the Canton of Bale : but 
 the staple trade of this town lies in the manufacture of silk ribbons. In this and the 
 neighbouring canton of Bale-Champagne there are about 4,000 looms, which give em- 
 ployment to 16,000 workmen as weavers, dyers, <fce. Manual labour is extremely 
 cheap, enabling the manufacturer to sell at a very low : ate. The principal part of the 
 manufacturers of this canton employ their own capital, and have not to surmount those 
 difficulties and disadvantages inseparable fiom the employment of borrowed capital. 
 The medium annual produce of the manufactures of Bale is about 20,000,000 of 
 francs, part of which is imparted into most European countries, America and the 
 Colonies. The principal articles of manufacture are plain taffeta, ribbons, plain satin 
 and figured ribbons: in all these' articles, Bale maintains an incontestable superiority. 
 
 The most cordial understanding exists between employers and employed, and the 
 strikes and coalitions so injurious to other manufacturing countries are unknown in 
 Switzerland. There is no fixed tariff for the price of manual labour. 
 
 The silk trade in this country has grown and prospered without the aid of protective 
 duties, and it is a remarkable fact that the difficulties occasioned by the high prohibi- 
 tive customs, instead of being prejudicial, have been of advantage, by increasing the active 
 genius and emulation of the manufacturers, and inducing them to seek more distant and 
 more favourable outlets for their goods. The morality, activity and commercial knowl- 
 edge of the Swiss may be considered the basis of their success in this most important 
 branch of trade. 
 
 Silk, (Austrian). Of all the states of Europe, the Austrian monarchy possesses 
 the most abundant supply of silk. The production of silk is conducted on the most 
 important scale in the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom ; next in order of importance comes 
 the Tyrol : the same business is also carried on in the military frontier, Gbrz and Gra- 
 diska, and also in Istria and Trieste, in Dalmatia and south of Hungary. Trials have 
 likewise been made in Lower Austria, Bohemia, and Carniola. The productions of 
 cocoons amount on an average annually 
 
 In Lombardy - - - - to 250,000 cwt. 
 
 The province of Venice - - 200,000 
 
 The Tyrol - - 28,000 
 
 The other provinces - - - 12,000 
 
 Total 490,000 cwt. 
 
 Or, in round numbers, 600,000 cwt. 
 
 The cocoons are prepared at the reeling establishment into raw silk. From the result 
 of inquiries, it would appear that Lombardy comprises 3,060 reeling establishments, 
 which employ 79,500 workpeople, without taking into calculation the smaller establish- 
 ments, which are not included in this enumeration. The entire production amounts to 
 2,512,000 Vienna lbs. ; and since 12 lbs. of cocoons yield 1 lb. of raw silk there are re- 
 quired for this aggregate of raw silk 300,400 cwt. of cocoons. The quantity of cocoons re- 
 quired in exass of the quantity produced, an excess of nearly 50,000 cwt., is covered 
 by the production of the Venetian provinces, chiefly by that of Verona. 
 
 Within the province of Venice, the reeling establishments are pretty numerous, but 
 of less extent. The nearest approximation in reference to this matter is obtained by 
 taking,the extent of the production at one-half of that in Lombardy. The remainder 
 of the cocoons produced in the province undergo further preparation in Lombardy, and 
 partly in the Tyrol also, whilst a portion of those obtained in Gorz and Gradiska, as 
 well as in Istria, are prepare din Venetian reeling establishments. 
 
 The number and the performance of the reeling machines in the Tyrol are accurately 
 known. In the year 1848 South Tyrol contained 559 of such reeling establishments. 
 These employed 13,000 hands, and turned out 265,700 lbs. of raw silk from 31,900 
 Vienna cwt. of cocoons. The supply of cocoons required beyond that furnished by the 
 production of the country was drawn from the Venetian provinces. 
 
 The reeling establishments in the remaining provinces produce conjointly from 10,000 
 cwt. of cocoons 75,000 Vienna lbs. of raw silk. 
 
 The whole production of raw silk obtained in the Austrian monarchy is about 
 4,108,700, and the waste about 716,400 lbs. The number of working hands employed 
 in the reeling establishments is not less than 160,000 (or if their term of occupation be 
 
SILK. 
 
 617 
 
 reduced to 270 days in the year, 30,000 only). Besides .lie products already enumerated 
 about 900 cwt. of cocoons are annually imported into Lombardy, principally from 
 Switzerland, and the neighbouring Italian States, and arc prepared in the Lombardy 
 reeling establishments. The quantity of silk produced is thus increased to an aggregate 
 of 4,116,200 lbs. 
 
 The raw silk undergoes further preparation in the throwing mills, but the whoie 
 mass of the production is not thus worked up within the monarchy, for the exports of 
 raw silk are found considerably to exceed the imports. On an average of the five years 
 1843 to 1847, the annual imports were 110,000 Vienna lbs. of raw silk (through Venice, 
 Switzerland, and the adjaaent Italian States), whilst 70,000 lbs. of this commodity were 
 exported, for the most part to Switzerland, the adjacent states of Italy, and Southern 
 Germany. Hence it results that a balance of raw silk, amounting to 689,000 lbs., have 
 been taken off by foreign consumption, and that the other 3,518,800 Vienna lbs. are re- 
 tained by the state9 of the monarchy, and more than two-thirds thereof are worked up 
 in Lombardy. In 1817, that province reckoned 600 throwing mills, with 1,239,000 
 spindles ; and of these 702,100 were for spinning, and 607,209 for twisting. In the 
 throwing mills themselves, 12,000 hands were employed, (namely, 4,400 men, 5,500 
 women, and 2,100 children,) and, moreover, there were occupied 31,800 female winders. 
 The production yielded was 989,000 Vienna lbs. of tram, and 1,189,700 lbs. of thrown 
 eilk ; for this aggregate of production 2,256,200 lbs. of raw silk were used. The floss 
 silk was to the weight of 76,000 lbs. , 
 
 The working of the throwing mills of Venice produced, in proportion to those of 
 Lombardy, almost similar results to those above indicated in reference to the reeling 
 establishments; only the production of tram greatly preponderates. The number of 
 persons employed in the throwing mills, both within and -without doors, were 20,000 ; 
 their production was above 960,000 Vienna lbs., and the consumption of raw silk by the 
 conversion into this quantity was 1,009,000 lbs., giving waste (floss) to the amount of 
 47,400 lbs. 
 
 There are at present in the Tyrol 55 throwing mills, with 125,047 spindles; 85,583 
 of which latter are for spinning, and 39,464 for twisting. In these mills 500 men and 
 1,200 women and children are employed. The production there, including that of the 
 smaller throwing mills, which give occupation to 500 workmen, amount to 220,400 
 Vienna lbs. of thrown silk, for which 231,400 Vienna lbs. of raw silk have to be 
 worked up. 
 
 Of the remainder of the raw silk (23,200 lbs.) about 14,000 lbs. are distributed 
 through the other southern provinces, and the remaining 9,200 lbs. appropriated to other 
 purposes. 
 
 Thus we find a resulting total of production equal to 3,374,000 Vienna lbs. of thrown 
 silk. 
 
 Silk in the Exhibition*— Simpson, Miles, 5, AUermanbury Postern, 4, Milk Street, Man- 
 Chester, Leek, and Derby. — Manufacturer. Specimens of the leading classes of raw silks, 
 from France, Italy, China, -Bengal, and Turkey, selected by Messrs. Durant & Co. 
 
 Sewing, netting silk, and twist, intended to show the varieties of quality, their rich- 
 aess and beauty of colour. 
 
 Sewing, netting sil 1 ! and twist. 
 
 Raven and jet sewings, in weight and form as sold in the market, of four qualities. 
 
 Crochet and Mohair silks, exhibited for quality and price. 
 
 Shoe mercery, consisting of silk and union galloons, doubels, braids, and round silk 
 aces, yellow and black borders, &c. Specimens of union cord. 
 
 In 1849, the enormous quantity of 6,269,179 lbs. of silk in its several conditions of 
 .aw, waste, and thrown, was imported into this country. The manufacture employs 
 upwards of 33,000 individuals, and is carried onjn nearly 300 silk factories. The sum 
 annually expended on silk goods in England is taken at considerably upwards of fifteen 
 millions annually. 
 
 In the following Table are included 
 
 Imports to Liverpool of 
 
 Stocks nt Liverpool, 81st December 
 
 Also, exports ns " Consumption" 
 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 Chins 121,978 Bengnl 34.CM) 
 
 Do. 6,304 Do. 1,950 
 
 Raw Silk 500,186 Thrown Silk 56,578 
 
 lbs. lbs. 
 
 China 166,110 Bengal 6,450 
 
 Do. 2,550 Do. none. 
 
 Raw Silk 482,548 Thrown Silk 66,580 
 
 The Imports warehoused in December were — 
 China - - 1,377 bales Bengal - 1,262 bales Chinese Thrown 20 balds 
 
 Italian Raw - 204 Brutia - 86 Persian - - 358 
 
 Italian Thrown 107 Greek - 5 Canton - • 1414 
 
 Of the above, 237 bales China were at the port of Liverpool. 
 
616 
 
 SILK. 
 
 An Account of the Imports, Consumption, and Stock of Silk in 1850 and 1851 
 
 Description. 
 
 Imports 
 1850. 
 
 Imports 
 1851. 
 
 Extreme 
 Prices, 
 during; 
 1860. 
 
 Extreme 
 Prices 
 during 
 1851. 
 
 Consump- 
 tion. 
 1850. 
 
 Consump- 
 tion. 
 1851. 
 
 Stock 
 
 31st Dec. 
 1850. 
 
 Stock 
 
 31st Dec. 
 
 1851. 
 
 Prices 
 1st Jan. 
 1851. 
 
 1 
 Prices 
 1st Jan. 
 1852. 
 
 CHINA—" 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lb,. 
 
 s. </. .'. d. 
 
 a. d. 9. d. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Ibi. 
 
 lb.. 
 
 lbs, 
 
 .. d. 
 
 s.rf. 
 
 
 Tsallee 
 
 1,335,082 
 
 1,279,488 
 
 14 6@22 
 
 14 6@ 22 
 
 1,453,500 
 
 1,288,994 
 
 681,156 
 
 721,650 
 
 18 6@22 
 
 16 0® 30 
 
 TayBHaui 
 
 511,836 
 
 627,810 
 
 9 6 17 6 
 
 10 17 6 
 
 423,198 
 
 697,782 
 
 807,784 
 
 237,762 
 
 12 
 
 17 6 
 
 10 6 16 6 
 
 Canton 
 
 110,160 
 
 367,119 
 
 8 6 18 9 
 
 7 14 
 
 31,7*2 
 
 282,401 
 
 79,9(18 
 
 165,286 
 
 7(1 
 
 18 6 
 
 8 6 14 
 
 Chin Chew 
 
 11433 
 
 82,038 
 
 15 8 
 
 4 6 7 
 
 27,248 
 
 40,606 
 
 11,424 
 
 2,856 
 
 68 
 
 HI) 
 
 60 70 
 
 Thrown 
 
 56,184 
 
 56 000 
 
 16 6 19 6 
 
 15 6 18 6 
 
 31,798 
 
 67,760 
 
 37 856 
 
 26,096 
 
 180 
 
 18 6 
 
 18 — 
 
 BENGAL 
 
 1,610,850 
 
 1,238,870 
 
 6 6 19 6 
 
 6 19 
 
 1,393,050 
 
 1,25'>,S40 
 
 1,000,350 
 
 881,880 
 
 5 6 
 
 19 
 
 6 16 
 
 BRUTIA 
 
 448,470 
 
 186,600 
 
 11 18 
 
 11 18 
 
 394,040 
 
 276,000 
 
 113.600 
 
 . 24,200 
 
 13(1 
 
 10 
 
 116 18 
 
 PERSIAN 
 
 810,425 
 
 226,950 
 
 8 6 11 
 
 8 6 11 
 
 253,650 
 
 239,500 
 
 78,000 
 
 15,450 
 
 9(1 
 
 1(1-6 
 
 9 6 110 
 
 GREEK 
 
 27,150 
 
 13,200 
 
 13 21 
 
 12 21 
 
 23,100 
 
 13,650 
 
 4,500 
 
 4,050 
 
 14 
 
 21 (1 
 
 12 6 19 6 
 
 SYRIAN 
 
 7,140 
 
 10,850 
 
 20 9 26 
 
 18 9 22 
 
 7,1 JO 
 
 10,860 
 
 none 
 
 none 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 21 22 
 
 Italian- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Raw 
 
 629,300 
 
 562,810 
 
 15 28 6 
 
 17 28 6 
 
 699,480 
 
 637,130 
 
 806,820 
 
 232,000 
 
 190 
 
 23 6 
 
 20 26 
 
 Thrown 
 
 440,800 
 
 863,080 
 
 18 6 31 
 
 19 80 6 
 
 642,300 
 
 406,580 
 
 159,5:10 
 
 116,000 
 
 19 6 
 
 80 6 
 
 19 29 
 
 Total. 
 
 5,383,339 
 
 4,959,915 
 
 ■ 
 
 • ■ 
 
 5,280,226 
 
 5,213,593 
 
 2,780,908 
 
 2,527,230 
 
 
 
 
 
 *»* Average net weight of a bale of Bengal ISO lbs. ; China Raw 102 lbs. ; Chinese Thrown 112 lbs.; Brulia 200 lbs.; 
 Italian 290 U-s. ; and a ballot of Persian 7E lbs. 
 
 * 1st January 1851— The Stock of China of 1,178,138 lbs. is estimated at 179,172 lbs. sold, and 835,966 lbs. unsold, - 
 do. 1852 do. do. l,loB,650 lbs. Sfi^lSSlbs. 198,922 lba. 
 
 In the Import of Brutia are included 19,260 lb. of a superior sort, from 19«. <>d. i 
 
 do. . Chin Chew are included 6,080 of Kohrot silk 4 3 
 
 do. do. do. 2,600 of China Tusah, 6 
 
 Unsold 8,460 lbs. 
 do. none. 
 
 An Estimate of the Annual Quantities of Silk produced or exported from the several 
 Countries in the World, exhibiting also the Countries to -which exported. 
 
 Note. — These estimates exclude the silk manufactured in Italy. 
 
 Countries whence exported. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Countries to 
 which exported. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Italy exports - - 
 France produces - 
 India and Bengal export 
 Persia " 
 China " 
 Asia Minor 
 
 Levant, Turkey, and Ar- 
 chipelago export 
 Spain " 
 
 Total - 
 
 34,000 bales of 225 small lbs. 
 10,500 " ■ ( >m kils., or 
 
 9,500 " ( 128| Vienna lbs. 
 
 7,500 " 162 lbs. English. 
 
 4,000 " 
 
 3,500 " 
 
 3,500 " 
 1,500 " 
 
 ) England 
 5 Fiance 
 Prussia 
 Russia r - 
 Austria and 
 
 Germany 
 Switzerland 
 
 Total 
 
 Bales. 
 28,000 
 22,000 
 7,600 
 6,400 
 5,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 74,000 
 
 74,000 bales. 
 
 State of the Warehouses in London, ending December 31, I860 and 1851. 
 
 
 
 Sold Stock. 
 
 Unsold Stock. , ■ 
 
 Delivered in Dec 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 4,286 
 
 3,067 
 
 2.3W 
 
 3,715. 
 
 683 
 
 608 
 
 " Liverpool 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 13 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 7,376 
 
 7,698 
 
 3,157 
 
 1,675 
 
 1,542 
 
 1,752 
 
 " Liverpool 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 25 
 
 52 ■ 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 92 
 
 Canton - 
 
 . 
 
 
 1,134 
 
 » 
 
 232 
 
 * 
 
 185 
 
 '* Liverpool 
 
 - 
 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 Chinese Thrown - 
 
 ... 
 
 234 
 
 233 
 
 104 
 
 __ 
 
 32 
 
 13B 
 
 ** Liverpool 
 
 Total - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 11,896 
 
 12,157 
 
 5,696 
 
 5,622 
 
 2,257 
 
 2,775 
 
 * Included in China, but the quan- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tity very small. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 il 
 
SILK. 
 
 619 
 
 Average Monthly Deliveries from the 'Warehouses in London, from 1st Jan. tD 31st Deo 
 in the Years 1849, 1850, and 1851 (including Liverpool). 
 
 China Thrown - - - 
 
 1849. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 715 Bales per Month 
 45 " " 
 
 780 Bales per Month 
 1608 " " 
 81 " « 
 
 718 Bales per Month 
 1784 " 
 50 " " 
 
 The following is an 
 
 Account of the 
 
 Exports of Silk of British Produce and Manufacture. 
 
 Manufactures of silk only : — 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Declared Value. 
 
 1880. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stuffs, handkerchiefs, 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 and ribbons .... lbs. 
 
 419,366 
 
 436,301 
 
 487,450 
 
 634,418 
 
 Stockings ... doz. pair 
 
 12,269 
 
 15,986 
 
 20,261 
 
 26,657- 
 
 All other descriptions - value 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 174,879 
 
 194,987 
 
 Of silk, mixed with other 
 
 
 
 
 
 , materials : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stuffs, handkerchiefs, 
 
 
 
 
 
 and ribbons.- - - lbs. 
 
 •766,358 
 
 748,694 
 
 332,140 
 
 347,886 
 
 Stockings - ... doz. pair 
 
 4,143 
 
 4,971 
 
 3,153 
 
 4,651 
 
 All other descriptions - value 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 23,102 
 
 26,432 
 
 . 
 
 
 1,040,985 
 
 1,134,931 
 
 Silk thrown - - - lbs. 
 
 69,993 
 
 72,460 
 
 53,273 
 
 57,80^ 
 
 Silk twist and yarn - - lbs. 
 Total - - 
 
 • 474,349 
 
 389,901 
 
 161,383 
 
 138,635 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1,255,641 
 
 1,331,369 
 
 SILKWORM GUT, for angling, is made as follows :— Select a number of the 
 best and largest silkworms, just when they are beginning to spin ; which is known by 
 their refusing to eat, and having a fine silk thread hanging from their mouths. 
 Immerse them in strong vinegar, and cover them closely for twelve hours, if the 
 weather be warm, but two or three hours longer, if it be cool. When taken out, and 
 
 1268 
 
 pulled asunder, two transparent.guts will be observed, of a yellow green colour, as thick 
 as a small straw, bent double. The rest of the entrails resembles boiled spinage, and 
 therefore can occasion no mistake as to the silk-gut. If this be soft, or break upon 
 
620 SILVER. 
 
 stretching it, it [a a proof that the worm has not be*a long enough under the influence oj 
 the vinegar. When the gut 13 fit to draw out, the end of it is to be dipped into the 
 vinegar, and the other end is to be stretched gently to the proper length. When thus 
 drawn out, it must be kept extended on a thin piece of board, by putting its extremities 
 into slits in the end of the wood, or fastening them to pins, and then exposed in the sun 
 to dry. Thus genuine silk-gut is made in Spain. From the manner in which it is dried, 
 the ends are always more or less compressed or attenuated.* Fig. 1268. o, is- the silk- 
 worm ; b, the worm torn asunder ; c, c, the guts ; d,d,a. board slit at the ends, with the 
 gut to dry ; ff, boards with wooden pegs, for the same purpose. 
 
 SILVER (Argent, Fr. ; Silber, Germ. ;) was formerly called a perfect metal, because 
 heat alone revived its oxide, and because it could pass unchanged through fiery trials, 
 which apparently destroyed most other metals. The distinctions, perfect, imperfect, 
 and noble, are now justly rejected. The bodies of this class are all equal in metallic 
 nature, each being endowed merely with diflerent relations to otner forms of matter, 
 which serve to characterize it, and to give it a peculiar value. 
 
 When pure and planished, silver is the brightest of the metals. Its specific gravity 
 in the ingot is 10-47 ; but, when condensed under the hammer or in the coining press, it 
 becomes 10*6. It melts at a bright red heat, a temperature estimated by some as equal 
 to 1280° Fahr., and by others to 22° Wedgewood. It is exceedingly malleable and duc- 
 tile j affording leaves not more than J of an inch thick, and wire far finer than a 
 
 human hair. " 100000 
 
 By Sickingen's experiments, its tenacity is, to that of go!d and platinum, as the num- 
 bers 19, 15, and 26J ; so that it has an intermediate strength between these two metals. 
 Pure atmospheric air does not affect silver, but that of houses impregnated with sulphur- 
 el ed hydrogen, soon tarnishes it with a film of brown sulphuret. It is distinguished 
 chemically from gold and platinum by its ready solubility in nitric acid, and from almost 
 all other metals, by its saline solutions affording a curdy precipitate with a most minute 
 quantity of sea salt, or any soluble chloride. 
 
 Silver occurs under many forms in nature : — 
 
 1. Native silver possesses the greater part of the *bove properties; yet, on account of 
 its being more or less alloyed with other metals, it differs a little in malleability, lustre, 
 density, &c. It sometimes occurs crystallized in wedge-form octahedrons, in cubes, 
 and cubo-octahedrons. At other times it is found in dendritic shapes, or arborescences, 
 resulting from minute crystals implanted' upon each other. But more usually it presents 
 itself in small grains without determinable form, or in amorphous masses of various 
 magnitude. 
 
 The gangues (mineral matrices) of native silver are so numerous, that it may be said 
 to occur in all kinds of rocks. At one time it appears as if filtered into their fissures, 
 at another as having vegetated on their surface, and at a third, as if impasted in their 
 substance. Such varieties are met with principally in the mines of Peru. 
 
 The native metal is found in almost all the silver mines now worked ; but especially in 
 that of Kongsberg in Norway, in carbonate and fluate of lime, &c. ; at Schlangenberg 
 in Siberia, in a sulphate of barytes ; at Allemont, in a ferruginous clay, &c. In thu 
 article Mines, I have mentioned several large masses of native silver that have been 
 discovered in various localities. 
 
 The metals most usually associated with silver in the native alloy are gold, copper, 
 arsenic, and iron. At Andreasberg and Guadalcanal it is alloyed with about 5 per cent, 
 of arsenic. The auriferous native silver is the rarest ; it has a brass-yellow color. 
 
 2. Antimonial silver. — This rare ore is yellowish-blue ; destitute of malleability ; even 
 very brittle; spec. grav. 9-5. It melts before the blowpipe, and affords white fumes of 
 oxyde of antimony; being readily distinguished from arsenical iron, and arsenical cobalt, 
 by its lamellar fracture. It consists of from 76 to 84 of silver, and from 24 to 16 of 
 antimony. 
 
 3. Mixed antimonial silver. — At the blowpipe it emits a strong garlic smell. Its con 
 stituents are, silver 16, iron 44, arsenic 35, antimony 4. It occurs at Andreasberg. 
 
 4. Sulphuret of silver. — This is an opaque substance, of a dark-grav or leaden hue 
 slightly malleable, and easily cut with a knife, wfc^a it betrays a meialW. lustre. T!.e 
 silver is easily separated by the blowpipe, it consists of, 13 of sulphur to 89 of silver 
 by experiment ; 13 to 87 are the theoretic proportions. Its spec. grav. is 6-9. It occurs 
 crystallized in most silver mines, but especially in those of Freyberg, Joachimsthal ia 
 Bohemia, Schemnitz in Hungary, and Mexico. 
 
 5. Red sulphuret of silver; silver glance.— Its spec. grav. is 5-7. It contains from 84 ic 
 86 of silver. 
 
 6. Sulphuretted silver with bismuth— Its constituents are, lead 35, bismuth 27 silvoi 
 15, sulphur 16, with a little iron and copper. It is rare. 
 
 * Nobb's Art of Trolling. 
 
SILVER. 
 
 621 
 
 7. Jbitirrwmiated sulphuret of stiver, the red silveir of many mineralogists, is an ore 
 remarkable for its lustre, color, and the variety of its forms. It is friable, easily 
 scraped by the knife, and affords a powder of a lively crimson red. Its color in mass 
 is brilliant red, dark red, or even metallic reddish-black. It crystallizes in a variety of 
 forms. Its constituents are, — silver from 56 to 32 ; antimony from 16 to 20 ; sulphur 
 from 11 to 14 ; and oxygen from 8 to 10. The antimony being in the state of a purple 
 oxyde in this ore, is reckoned to be its coloring principle. It is found in almost all 
 silver mines ; but principally in those of Freyberg, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, and Gua 
 dalcanal. 
 
 8. Blade sulphuret of silver, is blackish, brittle, cellular, affording globules of silver 
 at the blowpipe. It is found only in certain mines, at Allemont, Frdyberg; more abun 
 fiantly in the silver mines of Peru aad Mexico. The Spaniards call it negrillo. 
 
 9. Chloride of silver, or horn silver. — In consequence of its semi-transparent aspect, its 
 yellowish or greenish color, and such softness that it may be cut with the nail, this ore 
 has been compared to horn, and may be easily recognised. It melts at the flame of a 
 candle, and' may be reduced when heated along with iron or black flux, which are 
 distinctive characters. It is seldom crystallized ; but occurs chiefly in irregular forms, 
 sometimes covering the native silver as with a thick crust, as in Peru and Mexico. Its 
 density is only 4-74. 
 
 Chloride of silver sometimes contains 60 or 70 per cent, of clay j and is then called 
 butter-milk ore, by the German miners. The blowpipe causes globules of silver to sweat 
 out of it. This ore is rather rare. It occurs in the mines of Potosi, of Annaberg, Prey- 
 berg, Allemont, Schlangenberg, in Siberia, &c. 
 
 Mix i part ot it, with 1 ot powdered charcoal, and 2 of nitre, and project the mixture 
 rapidly in small successive portions into a redhot crucible, and maintain the fused meta> 
 in ignition for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 10. Carbonate of silver, a species little known, has been found hitherto only in thi 
 mine of S. Wenceslas,. near Wolfache. 
 
 Table of the Quantities of Silver brought into the Market every year, on an average, 
 from 1790 to 1802. 
 
 Old Continent. 
 
 Lbs. Avoird. 
 
 New Continent. 
 
 Lbs. Avoird. 
 
 ASIA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Siberia - 
 
 . 
 
 38,500 
 
 Central America - 
 
 1,320,000 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hungary 
 
 . 
 
 44,000 
 
 South America - 
 
 605,000 
 
 Austrian States - 
 
 - 
 
 11,000 
 
 
 
 Hartz and Hessia 
 
 . 
 
 11,000 
 
 
 
 Saxony - 
 
 - 
 
 22,000 
 
 
 
 Norway - 
 
 - 
 
 22,000 
 
 
 
 Sweden - 
 
 - } 
 
 
 
 
 France - 
 
 - > 
 
 11,000 
 
 
 
 Spain - - -5 
 Total of the Old Continent 
 
 
 Total of the New Continent 
 
 
 159,500 
 
 1,925,000 
 
 Thus the New Continent furnished twelve times more silver than the old. For more 
 detailed statistics of silver, see the end of the article. 
 
 The following is Mr. Ward's description of the treatment of silver ores in Mexico :— 
 " After returning from San Augustin," says he, " I passed the whole of the after 
 noon at the hacienda (metallurgic works) of Salgado, in which the ores of the Valenciana 
 mine are reduced. The hacienda, of which a representation is given below, fig. 1269, 
 contains forty-two crushing-mills, called arrastres, and thirty-six stampers. The ore, 
 on bein» extracted from the mine, is placed in the hands of the pepenadores, men and 
 women "who break all the larger pieces with hammers, and after rejecting those in 
 which 'no metallic particles are contained, divide the rest into three classes" (inferior, 
 middlin" and rich). "These are submitted to the action of the morteros (stamps), 
 one of which, of eight stampers, is capable of reducing to powder ten cargas of ore (each 
 of 350 lbs.) in twenty-four hours. This powder not being thought sufficiently fine for 
 the quicksilver to act upon with proper effect, it is transferred from the morteros to the 
 arrastres (crushing-mills, see wood-cut), in which water is used. Each of these 
 'educes to a fine 'impalpable metalliferous mud, six quintals (600 lbs.) of powder in 
 
622 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 24 hours. At Guanajuato, where water-power cannot be obtaned, the arrastret 
 are worked by mules (see fig. 1269), which are kept constantly in motion at a slow 
 pace, and are changed every 6 hours. The grinding-stones, as well as the sides ind 
 bottom of the mill itself, are composed of granite ; four blocks of which revolve in 
 each crashing-mill, attached to cross-bars of wood. This part of the operation is thought 
 of great importance, for it is upon the perfection of the grinding that the saving of the 
 quicksilver is supposed in a great measure to depend, in the subsequent amalgamation. 
 The grinding is performed usually in a covered shed or gallery, which in a large hacienda, 
 like Salgado, from the number of arrastres at work at the same time, is necessarjlv of 
 considerable extent." 
 
 1269 
 
 The Gallera of the Hacienda of Salgado. 
 
 mm ' 
 
 running water. 
 
 Fig. 1210, represents the rude grinding apparatus used at the lavaderos, or gold washings, 
 In Chile. The streamlet of water conveyed to the hut of the gold washer, is received upon 
 J270 a large rude stone, whose flat sur- 
 
 face has been hollowed out into a 
 shallow basin, and in the same 
 manner into 3 or 4 others in suc- 
 cession ; the auriferous particles 
 aie thus allowed to deposite them- 
 selves in th*e receptacles, while 
 the lighter earthy atoms, still 
 suspended, are carried off by the 
 The gold thus collected is mixed with a quantity of ferruginous black 
 sand and stony matter, which requires the process of trituration, effected by the verv rude 
 and simple trapiche shown in the figure ; consisting of two stones, the under one'being 
 about three feet in diameter, and slightly concave. The upper stone is a large 
 spherical boulder of syemtic granite, about two feet in diameter, having on its upper 
 part two iron plugs fixed oppositely, to which is secured, by lashings of hide, a trans- 
 verse horizontal po e of canela (cinnamon) wood, about 10 feet long ; two men seated on 
 the extremities of this lever work it up and down alternately, so as to give to the stone a 
 rolling motion, which is sufficient to crush and grind the materials placed beneath it. 
 The washings thus ground, are subjected to the 1 action of running water, upon inclined 
 planes formed of skins, by which process the silicious particles are carried off, while a 
 portion of the ferruginous matter, mixed with the heavier grains of gold, is extracted by a 
 loadstone ; • it is again washed, till nothing but pure gold-dust remain. The whole pro- 
 cess is managed with much dexterity ; and if there were mu: < gold to be separated it 
 
 J 
 
SILVER. 
 
 623 
 
 would afford very profitable employment ; but generally the small quantity collected is 
 sufficient only to afford subsistence to a few miserable families. 
 
 The trapiche, ivgenio, or mill, for grinding the ores of silver, is a very simple piece of 
 mechanism. A place is chosen where a small current of water, whose section will 
 present a surface of six inches diameter, can be brought to a spot where it can fall per- 
 pendicularly ten or twelve feet ; at this place a well is built of this depth, about 6 feet 
 in diameter ; in its centre is fixed an upright shaft, upon a central brass pin ; it is con- 
 fined above by a wooden collar. A little above its foot, the shaft has a small -wheel affix- 
 ed to it, round which are fixed a number of radiating spokes, shaped at the end somewhat 
 like cups, and forming altogether a horizontal wheel, four feel in diameter. Upon the 
 slanting edges of the cups, the water is made to strike with the force it has acquired in 
 falling down a nearly perpendicular trough, scooped out of the solid trunk of a tree. 
 This impression makes the wheel turn with a quick rotatory motion. The upright axis 
 rises about 6 feet above the top of the well, at about half which height is inserted a small 
 horizontal arm, four feet long, which serves as an axle to a ponderous mi., -stone of granite, 
 of from four to six feet diameter, which i3 made to roll on its edge in a circular trough, 
 sometimes made of the same material, and sometimes of hard wood. 
 
 The weight of this quickly rolling stone effects the pulverization of the ore. In some 
 cases, it is taken out in the dry state, and sifted ; but more generally the separation of 
 the finely ground particles is accomplished by the action of running water. For this 
 purpose a small stream is made to trickle into the circular trough, by which the 
 pounded ore is worked up into a muddy consistence, and the finer particles flow off' with 
 te excess of water, through a notch cut in the margin of the trough. This fine matter 
 1 received in little pools, where the pounded ore is left to settle ; and the clear water 
 1271 being run off, the powder is re 
 
 moved from the bottom, and car 
 riedto the place of amalgamation. 
 
 The ingenios, or stamping-mills, 
 are driven by a small breast water 
 wheel, of five feet diameter, and 
 one foot broad. Fig. 1271 will 
 give a sufficient idea of their con- 
 struction. The long horizontal 
 shaft, fixed on the axis of the wheel, 
 is furnished with 5 or 6 cams placed 
 at different situations round the 
 shaft, so as to act in succession on 
 the projecting teeth of the upright 
 rods or pestles. Each of these 
 weighs 200 pounds, and works in a 
 corresponding oblong mortar of 
 stone or wood. 
 
 The patio, or amalgamation floor,j?g. 1272, is a large fiat space, open to the sky, 
 312 feet in length, by 236 in breadth, and securely surrounded by strong walls. It is 
 1272 paved with large un- 
 
 hewn blocks of porphy. 
 ry, and is capable of 
 containing 24 tortas, or 
 flat circular collections 
 of lama, of about 50 feet 
 diameter, and 7 inches 
 deep, when the patio is 
 not filled, (but of some- 
 what smaller dimensions 
 when nearly so,) ranged 
 in 4 rows, and numbered 
 from the left-hand cor- 
 ner. At one end a small space is generally set apart for the assays, which are made 
 each on one monton. 
 
 The following description of Mexican amalgamation is given by Caitain Lyon. 
 A torta of Zacatecas contains 60 montons of 20 quintals each, and is thus formed: — 
 In the first instance, a square space, of the requisite size for a torta, is marked out, ana 
 enclosed by a number of rough planks, which are propped in their places on the patio 
 floor by large stones, and dried horse-dung and dust are piled round their edges to pre- 
 vent the escape of the lama. A heap of saltierra (salt mixed with earthy impurities) is 
 then piled in the centre, in the proportion of 2 fanegas (each = 1-6 English bushels) and 
 a half to the monton, = 150 for the torta. After this, the lama, or ore ground into * 
 
624 SILVER. 
 
 fine paste, is poured in. When the last or 60th raonton is delivered, the saltierra i» 
 shovelled 'down and well mixed with the lama, by treading it with horses, and turning it 
 wilh shovels ; after which the preparation is left at rest for the remainder of the day. On 
 the following day comes the el incorporo. After about one hour's treading by horses, the 
 magistral or roasted and pulverized copper ore is mixed with the lama, (the repaso or 
 trearting-mill still continuing,) in summer in the proportion of 15 cargas of 12 arrobas 
 (25 lbs. each) to the torta, if the ore be of 6 marcs to the monton, and in winter in only half 
 the quantity. For it is a singular fact, that in summer the mixture cools, and requires 
 more warmth ; while in winter it acquires of itself additional heat. Wilh poorer ores, 
 as for instance those of 4 marcs to the monton, 12 cargas are applied in summer, and 6 
 in winter. From November to February, lime is also occasionally used to cool the lama, 
 in the proportion of about a peck per monton. 
 
 The repaso, or treading out, is continued by six horses, which are guided by one man, 
 who stands in the lama, and directs them all by holding all their long halters. This 
 operation is much more effectual in a morning than an evening, and occupies about five 
 or six hours. When the magistral is well mixed, the quicksilver is applied by being 
 sprinkled through pieces of coarse cloth doubled up like a bag, so that it spurts out in 
 very minute particles. The second treading of the horses then follows ; after which the 
 whole mixture is turned over by six men with wooden shovels, who perform the opera- 
 tion in an hour. The torta is then smoothed and left at rest for one entire day, to allow 
 the incorporation to take place. It undergoes the turning by shovels and treading by 
 horses every other day, until the amalgamator ascertains that the first admixture of quick- 
 silver is found to be all taken up by the silver ; and this he does by vanning or washing 
 a small quantity of the torta in a little bowl. A new supply is then added, and when 
 this has done its duty, another is applied to catch any stray particles of silver. On the 
 same day, after a good repaso, the torta is removed on hand-barrows by the laborers, to 
 the lavaderos, in order that it may receive its final cleansing. The general method of 
 proportioning the quicksilver to the tortas, is by allowing that every inarco of silver 
 which is promised by trial of the ores as the probable produce of a monton, will require 
 m the whole process 4 lbs. 
 
 In metals of five to six marcs and a half per monton (of the average, richness of Zacate- 
 cas), 16 lbs. of quicksilver were incorporated for every monton, = 900 lbs. for the torta. 
 On the day of the second addition, the proportion is 5 lbs. the monton ; and when the 
 torta is ready to receive the last dose of quicksilver, it is applied at the rate of 7 lbs. 
 the monton, = 420 lbs. ; making a total of 1620 lbs. of quicksilver. With poorer ores, 
 less quicksilver and less magistral are required. 
 
 The usual time fqr the completion of the process of amalgamation^ is from 12 to 15 
 days in the summer, and 20 to 25 in the winter. This is less than a third' of the time 
 taken at some other mines in Mexico. This rapidity is owing to the tortas being spread 
 very fiat, and receiving thereby the stronger influence of the sun. In the Mexican mines, 
 only one monton is commonly mixed at a time ; and the lama is then piled in a small 
 conical heap or monton. 
 
 Lavadero, or washing vat. — Here the prepared tortas are washed, in order to carry off 
 the earthy matters, and favor the deposition of the amalgam at the bottom. Each vat is 
 about 8 feet deep, and 9 in diameter ; and solidly built in masonry. 
 
 A large horizontal wheel, worked by mules, drives a vertical one, which turns a hori- 
 zontal wheel fitted round a perpendicular wooden shaft, revolving upon an iron pivot at 
 the bottom of the vat. To the lower end of this shaft, four cross-beams are fitted, from 
 which long wooden teeth rise to the height of 5 feet. Their motion through the water 
 being rapid, keeps all the lighter particles afloat, while the heavier sink to the bottom. 
 The large wheel is worked by four mules, two at each extremity of the cross-beam. 
 Water is supplied from an elevated tank. It requires 12 hours' work of one tub to wash 
 a torta. Eight porters are employed in carrying the prepared lama of the torta in hand- 
 barrows to the vats. The earthy matter receives a second washing. 
 
 The amalgam is carried in bowls into the azogueria, where it is subjected to straining 
 through the strong canvass bottom of a leather bag. The hard mass left in the bag is 
 1273 moulded into wedge-shaped masses of 30 
 
 lbs., which are arranged in the burning- 
 house, ( fig. 1213), to the number of llj 
 upon a solid copper stand, called baso, hav- 
 ing a round hole in its centre. Over this 
 row of wedges several others are built ; and 
 the whole pile is called pina. Each circu- 
 lar range is firmly hound round with a rope. 
 The base is placed over a. pipe which 
 leads to a small tank of water for con- 
 densing the quicksilver ; a cylindrical space being '"ft in the middle of the pina, to give 
 free egress to the mercurial vapors. 
 
SILVER. 626 
 
 A large bell-shaped cover, called capellina, is now hoisted up, and carefully .owered 
 over the pina, by means of pulleys. A strong lute of ashes, saltierra, and lama is applied 
 to its lower edge, and made to fit very closely to the plate on which the base stands. 
 A wall of fire-bricks is then built loosely round the capellina, and this space is filled 
 with burning charcoal, which is thrice replenished, to keep it burning all night. After 
 the heat has been applied 20 hours, the bricks and ashes are removed, the luting broken, 
 and the capellina hoisted up. The burned silver is then found in a hard mass," which is 
 broken up, weighed, and carried to the casting-house, to be formed into bars of about 1080 
 ounces each. The loss of silver in burning is about 5 ounces to each bar (barra), and 
 the loss of quicksilver, from 2\ upon the good metals, to 9 upon the coarse. 
 
 Molina told Mr. Miers, that the produce of the galena ores of Uspaltata did not average 
 more than 2 marcs per caxon of 5000 lbs., which is an excessively poor ore. The argen- 
 tiferous galena ores of Cumberland afford 1 1 marcs per caxon ; while the average produce 
 of the Potosi silver ores is only 5 or 6 marcs in the same quantity. These comparisons afford 
 the clearest evidence that the English mode of smelting can never be brought into com 
 petition with the process of amalgamation as practised in America. 
 
 Humboldt, Gay Lussae, Boussingault, Karsten, and several other chemists of note, 
 have offered solutions of the amalgamation enigma of Mexico and Peru. The following 
 seems to be the most probable rationale of the successive steps of the process : — 
 
 The addition of the magistral (powder of the roasted copper pyrites), is not for the 
 purpose of disengaging muriatic acid from the sea salt (saltierra), as has s een supposed, 
 since nothing of the kind actually takes place ; but, by reciprocal or compound affinity, 
 is serves to form chloride of copper, and chloride of iron, upon the one hand, and sulphate 
 of soda, upon the other. Were sulphuric acid to be used instead of the magistral, as 
 certain novices have prescribed, it would certainly prove injurious, by causing muriatic 
 acid to exhale. Since the ores contain only at times oxyde of silver, but always a great 
 abundance of oxyde of iron, the acid would carry off both partly, but leave the chloride of 
 silver in a freer state. A magistral, such as sulphate of iron, which is not in a condition 
 to generate the chlorides, will not suit the present purpose ; only such metallic sulphates 
 are useful as are ready to be transformed into chlorides by the saltierra. This is pe- 
 culiarly the case with sulphate of copper. Its deuto-chloride gives up chlorine to the 
 silver, becomes in consequence a protochloride, while the chloride of silyer, thus formed, 
 is revived, and amalgamated with the quicksilver present, by electro-chemical agency 
 which is excited by the saline menstruum; just as the voltaic pile of copper and silver is 
 rendered active by a solution of sea salt. A portion of chloride of mercury will be simul- 
 taneously formed, to be decomposed in its turn by the sulphate of silver resulting from 
 the mutual action of the acidified pyrites, and the silver or its oxyde in the ore. An 
 addition of quicklime counteracts the injurious effect of too much magistral, by decom- 
 posing the resulting sulphate of copper. Quicksilver being an excellent conductor of 
 heat, when introduced in too great quantities, is apt to cool the mass too much, and thereby 
 enfeebles the operation of the deuto-chloride of copper upon the silver. 
 
 There isa-method of extracting silver from its ores by what is called imbibition. This 
 is exceedingly simple, consisting in depriving, as far as possible, the silver of its gangue, 
 then melting it with about its own weight of lead. The alloy thus procured, contains 
 from 30 to 35 per cent, of silver, which is separated by cupellation on the great scale, as 
 described under ores of lead. In this way the silver is obtained at Kongsberg in Norway. 
 
 The amalgamation works at Halsbrucke, near Freyberg, for the treatment of silver ores 
 by mercury, have been justly admired as a model of arrangement, convenience, and regu- 
 .arity; and I shall conclude this subject with a sketch of their general distribution. 
 Fig. 1274 presents a vertical section of this great usine or huttenwerk, subdivided into 
 
 1274 
 
 fonr main departments The first, A, b, is devoted to the preparation and roasting of the 
 matters intended for amalgamation. The second, b, c, is occupied with two successive 
 Vol. II. 41 
 
626 SILVER. 
 
 sittings and the milling. The third, c, d, includes the amalgamation apartment above, 
 and the wash-house of the residuum below. And in the fourth, D, E, the distilling ap. 
 paratus is placed, where the amalgam is finally delivered. 
 
 Tims, from one extremity of this building to the other, the workshops follow in the ordei 
 of the processes ; and the whole, over a length of 180 feet, seems to be a natural labora- 
 tory, through which the materials pass, as it were of themselves, from their crude to their 
 refined condition ; so skilfully economized and methodical are the labors of the workmen ; 
 such are the regularity, precision, concert, and facility, which pervade this long series of 
 combinations, carriages, movements, and metamorphoses of matter. 
 
 Here we distinguish the following objects : — 
 
 1. In division a, b ; a, a, is the magazine of salt ; b, b, is the hall of preparation of the 
 ores ; on the floor of which they are sorted, interstratificd, and mixed up with salt ; c, c, 
 are the roasting furnaces ; in each of which we see, 1, the fireplace ; 2, 3, the reverberatory 
 hearth, divided into two portions, one a little higher than the other, and more distant from 
 the fireplace, called the drier. The materials tc be calcined fall into it, through a chim- 
 ney 6. The other' part 2, of the hearth, is the calcining area. Above the furnace are 
 chambers of sublimation 4, 5, for condensing some volatile matters which escape by the 
 opening 7. e is the main chimney. 
 
 2. In the division b, c, we have d, the floor for the coarse sifting ; beneath, that for 
 the fine sieves ; from which the matters fall into the hopper, whence they pass down to g, 
 the mill-house, in which they are ground to flour, exactly as in a corn-mill, and are after- 
 wards bolted through sieves. p,f, is the wheel machinery of the mill. 
 
 3. The compartment c, d, is the amalgamation work, properly speaking, where the casks 
 ' are seen in their places. The washing of the residuums is effected in the shop I, below. 
 
 k, k, is the compartment of revolving casks. 
 
 4. In the division d, e, the distillation process is carried on. There are four similar 
 furnaces, represented in different states, for the sake of illustration. The wooden drawer 
 is seen below, supporting the cast-iron basin, in which the tripod with its candelabra for 
 bearing the amalgam saucers is placed, q is a store chamber. 
 
 At b, are placed the pulleys and windlass for raising the roasted ore, to be sifted and 
 ground ; as also for raising the milled flour, to be transported to the amalgamation casks. 
 At d, the crane stands for raising the iron bells that cover the amalgamation candelabra. 
 
 Details of the Amalgamation Process, as practised at Halsbrucke. — All ores which 
 contain more than 7 lbs. of lead, or 1 lb. of copper, per cent., are excluded from this 
 reviving operation (anquickverfahreri) ; because the lead would render the amalgam very 
 impure, and the copper would be wasted. They are sorted for the amalgamation, in 
 such a way that the mixture of the poorer and richer otes may contain 7|, or, at most, 
 8 loths (of J oz. each) of silver per 100 lbs. The most usual 'constituents of the ores 
 are, sulphur, silver, antimonial silver (speissglanzsilber), bismuth, sulphurets of arsenic, 
 of copper, iron, lead (nickel, cobalt), zinc, with several earthy minerals. It is essential 
 that the ores to be amalgamated shall contain a certain proportion of sulphur, in order 
 that they may decompose enough of sea salt in the roasting to disengage as much 
 chlorine as to convert all the silver present into a chloride. With this view, ores poor 
 in sulphur are mixed with those that are richer, to make up a determinate average. 
 The ore-post is laid upon the bed-floor, in a rectangular heap, about 17 ells long, and 
 4J ells broad (13 yards and 3f); and upon that layer the requisite quantity of salt is let 
 down from the floor above, through a wooden tunnel ; 40 cwts. of salt being allotted to 
 400 cwts. of ore. The heap being made up with alternate strata to the desired magnitude, 
 must be then well mixed, and formed into small bings, called roast-posts, weighing each 
 from 3i to 4J cwts. The annual consumption of salt at Halsbrucke is 6000 cwts. j it is 
 supplied by the Prussian salt-works. 
 
 Roasting of the Amalgamation Ores. — The furnaces appropriated to the roasting of 
 the ore-posts are of the reverberatory class, provided with soot chambers. They are 
 built up alongside of the bed-floor, and connected with it by a brick tunnel. The 
 prepared ground ore (erzmehl) is spread out upon the hearth, and dried with incessant 
 turning over j then the fire is raised so as to kindle the sulphur, and keep the ore redhot 
 for one or two hours ; during which time, dense white-gray vapors of arsenic, antimony, 
 and water, are exhaled. The desulphuration next begins, with the appearance of a blue 
 flame. This continues for three hours, during which the ignition is kept up ; and the 
 mass is diligently turned over, in order to present new surfaces, and to prevent any 
 caking. Whenever sulphurous acid ceases to be formed, the finishing calcination is to 
 be commenced with increased firing; the object being now to decompose the sea salt by 
 means of the metallic sulphates that have been generated, to convert them into chlorides, 
 with the simultaneous production of sulphate of soda. The stirring is to be continuea 
 till the proofs taken from the hearth no longer betray the smell of sulphurous, but only 
 of muriatic acid gas. This roasting stage lasts commonly three quarters of an hour, 
 13 or 14 furnaces are worked at the same time at Halsbrucke ; and each turns out in a 
 
SILVER. 627 
 
 week 5 tons upon an average. Out of the nicht chambers or soot vaults of the furnaces 
 from 96 to 100 cwts. of ore-dust are obtained, containing 32 marcs (16 lbs.) of silver. 
 This dust is to be treated like unroasted ore. The fuel of the first fire is pitcoal ; of the 
 finishing one, fir- wood. Of theTormer 115| cubic feet, and of the latter, 294J, are, upon 
 an average, consumed for every 100 cwts. of ore. 
 
 During the last roasting, the ore increases in bulk by one fourth, becomes in conse> 
 quence a lighter powder, and of a brown color. When this process is completed, the ore 
 is raked out upon the stone pavement, allowed to cool, thea screened in close sieve-boxes, 
 in order to separate the finer powder from the lumps. These are to be bruised, mixed 
 with sea salt, and subjected to another calcination. The finer powder alone is taken to 
 the millstones, of which there are 14 pairs in the establishment. The stones are of gra- 
 nite, and make from 100 to 120 revolutions per minute. The roasted ore, after it has 
 passed through the bolter of the mill, must be is impalpable as the finest flour. 
 
 The Amalgamation. — This (the verqvicken) is performed in 20 horizontal casks, 
 arranged in 4 rows, each turning upon a shaft which passes through its axis ; and all 
 driven by the water-wheel shown in the middle of fig. 1274. The casks are 2 feet 10 
 inches long, 2 feet 8 inches wide, inside measure, and are provided with iron ends. The 
 staves are 3J inches thick, and are bound together with iron hoops. They have a double 
 bung-hole, one formed within • the other, seeured by an iron plug fastened with screws. 
 They are filled by means of a wooden spout terminated by a canvass hose ; through 
 which 10 cwts. of the bolted ore-flour (erzmehl) are introduced after 3 cwts. of water 
 have been poured in. To this mixture, from f to | of a cwt. of pieces of iron, If inch 
 square, and % thick, are added. When these pieces get dissolved, they are replaced by 
 others from time to time. The casks being two thirds full, are set to revcive for If or 
 2 hours, till the ore-powder and water become a uniform pap ; when 5 cwts. of quick- 
 siYer are poured into each of them. The casks being again made tight, are put in gear 
 With the driving machinery, and kept constantly revolving for 14 or 16 hours, at the rate 
 of 20 or 22 turns in the minute. During this time they are twice stopped and opened, in 
 order to see whether the pap be of the proper consistence ; for if too thick, the globules 
 of quicksilver do not readily combine with the particles of ore ; and if too thin, they 
 fall and rest at the bottom. In the first case, some water must be added ; in the second, 
 some ore. During the rotation, the temperature rises, so that even in winter it some- 
 times stands so high as 104° F. 
 
 The chemical changes which occur in the casks are the following : — The metallic 
 chlorides present in the roasted ore are decomposed by the iron, whence results muriate 
 of iron, whilst the deutochloride of copper is reduced partly to protochloride, and partly 
 to metallic copper, which throw down metallic silver. The mercury dissolves the silver, 
 copper, lead, antimony, into a complex amalgam. If the iron is not present in sufficient 
 quantity, or if it has not been worked with the ore long enough to convert the coppei 
 deutochloride irio a protochloride, previously to the addition of the mercury, more or less 
 of the last metal will be wasted by its conversion into protochloride (calomel.) The 
 water holds in solution sulphate of soda, undecomposed sea salt, with chlorides of iron, 
 manganese, &c. 
 
 As soon as the revivification is complete, the casks must be filled with water, set to 
 revolve slowly (about 6 or 8 times in the minute), whereby in the course of an hour, or 
 an hour and a half at most, a great part of the amalgam will have collected at the bot- 
 tom ; and in consequence of the dilution, the portion of horn silver held in solution 
 by the sea salt will fall down and be decomposed. Into the small plug in the centre of 
 the bung, a small tube with a stopcock is now to be inserted, to discharge the amalgam 
 into its appropriate chamber. The cock must be stopped whenever the brown muddy 
 residuum begins to flow. The main bung being then opened, the remaining contents 
 of the casks are emptied into the wash-tun, while the pieces of iron are kept back. 
 The residuary ore is found to be stripped of its silver within J/* or JL of an ounce per 
 twt. The emptying of all the casks, and charging them again, takes 2 hours ; and the 
 whole process is finished within 18 or 20 hours ; namely, 1 hour for charging, 14 to 16 
 nours for amalgamating, 1| hour for diluting, 1 hour for emptying. In 14 days, 3200 
 cwts. of ore are amalgamated. For working 100 cwts. of ore, li\ lbs. of iron, and 2 
 lbs. I2f ounces of mercury are required ; whence, for every pound of silver obtained, 
 0-95 of an ounce of mercury are consumed. 
 
 Trials have been made to conduct the amalgamation process in iron casks, heated to 
 150° or 160° Fahrenheit, over a fire ; but, though the de-silvering was more complete, 
 the loss by mercury was so much greater as to more than counterbalance that advantage. 
 Treatment of the Amalgam. — It is first received in a moist canvass bag, through 
 which the thin uncombined quicksilver spontaneously passes. The bag is then tied up 
 and subjected to pressure. Out of 20 casks, from 3 to 3i cwts. of solid amalgam are thus 
 procured, which usually consist of 1 part of an alloy, containing silver of 12 or 13 loths 
 (in J6), and 6 parts of quicksilver. The foreign metals in that alloy are, copper, lead, 
 
628 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 gold, antimony, cobalt, nickel, bismuth, zinc, arsenic, and iron. The filtered quicisilvel 
 
 contains moreover 2 to 3 loths of silver in the cwt. . ,, „,..,, 
 
 Fig 1215 represents the apparatus for distilling the amalgam in the HalsbruCke 
 
 works: marked m in fig. 1274. a is the wooden drawer, sliding in grooves upon the 
 
 basis q ; B is an open basin or box of 
 cast iron, laid in the wooden drawer ; j) 
 is a kind of iron candelabra, supported 
 npon four feet, and set in the basin & ; 
 under d are five dishes, or plates of 
 wrought iron, with a hole in the centre 
 of each, whereby they are fitted upon 
 the stem of the candelabra, 3 inches 
 apart, each plate being successively 
 smaller than the one below it. 3 indi- 
 cates a cast-iron bell, furnished with a 
 wrought-iron frame and hook, for rais- 
 ing it by means of a pulley and cord. 
 s is a sheet-iron door for closing the 
 stove, whenever the bell has been set in its place. 
 
 The box a, and the basin b above it, are filled with water, which must be continually 
 renewed, through a pipe in the side of the wooden box, so that the iron basin may be 
 kept always submersed and cool. The drawer a, being properly placed, and the plates 
 under d being charged with balls of amalgam (weighing altogether 3 cwts.), the bell d 
 is to be let down into the water, as at y, and rested upon the lower part of the candelabra. 
 
 The fuel is now placed in the vacant space k, round the upper part of the bell. The fire 
 must be fed in most gradually, first with turf, then with charcoal ; whenever the bell gets 
 red, the mercury volatilizes, and condenses in globules into the bottom of the basin B. 
 At the end of 8 hours, should no more drops of mercury be heard to fall into the water, 
 the fire is stopped. When the bell has become cool, it is lifted off; the plates are removed 
 from the candelabra d; and this being taken out, the drawer a is slid away from the fur- 
 nace. The mercury is drained, dried, and sent again into the amalgamation works. 
 The silver is fused and refined by cupellation. 
 
 The solid amalgam which is distilled in the above apparatus, would be distilled more 
 profitably out of iron {rays set in the mercurial retorts described and figured in pages 
 138, 139. , „ . , 
 
 From 3 cwts. of amalgam, distilled under the bell, from 95 to 100 marcs (f lbs.) ol 
 teller silver (dish silver) are procured, containing from 10 to 13J parts of fine silver out 
 of 16 ; one fifth part of the metal being copper. The Idler silver is refined in quantities 
 of 160 or 170 marcs, in black-lead crucibles filled within two inches of their brims, and 
 submitted to brisk ignition. The molten mass exhales some vapors, and throws up a 
 liquid slag, which being skimmed off, the surface is to be strewed over with charcoal 
 powder, and covered with a lid. The heat having been briskly urged for a short time, 
 the charcoal is then removed along with any fresh slag that may have risen, in order to 
 observe whether the vapors have ceased. If not, fresh charcoal must be again applied, 
 the crucible must be covered, and the heat increased, till fumes are no longer produced, 
 and the surface of the silver becomes tranquil. Finally, the alloy, which contains a little 
 gold and much copper, being now from 11 to 13 lothig (that is, holding from 11 to 13 
 parts of fine silver in 16 parts), is cast into iron moulds, in ingots of 60 marcs. The loss 
 of weight by evaporation and skimming of the slag amounts tc 2 per cent. ; the loss in 
 silver is qilile inconsiderable. 
 
 The dust from the furnace (tiegelofen) is collected in a large condensation chamber of 
 the chimney, and affords from 40 to 50 marcs of silver per cwt. The slags and old cm 
 cibles are ground and sent to the small amalgamation mill. 
 
 The earthy residuum of the amalgamation casks being submitted to a second amalga 
 mation, affords out of 100 cwts. about 2 lbs. of coarse silver. This is first fused along 
 with three or four per cent, of a mixture of potashes and calcined quicksalz (impure 
 sulphate of soda), and then refined. The supernatant liquor that is drawn out of the 
 tank's in which the contents of the casks are allowed to settle, consists chiefly of sulphate 
 of soda, along with some common salt, sulphates of iron and manganese, and a little 
 nhosphate, arseniate, and fluate oi soda. The earthy deposite contains from j to A 
 of a loth of silver per cwt., but no economical method of extracting this small quantity 
 has yet been contrived. 
 
 The argentiferous or rich lead is treated in Germany by the cupellation .furnace repre- 
 sented in figs. 1276, 1277, 1278, and 1279. These figures exhibit the cupellatiol 
 
SILVER. 
 
 629 
 
 furnace of the principal smelting works in the Harlz, where the following parts must be 
 distinguished; {Jig. 1278); 1. masonry of the foundation; 2. flues for the escape of 
 moisture ; 3. stone covers of the flues ; 4. bed of hard rammed scorise ; 5. bricks set on 
 edge, to form the permanent area of the furnace ; 6. the sole, formed of wood ashes, 
 washed, dried, and beaten down; fc, dome of iron plate, moveable by a crane, and sus 
 ceptible of being lined two inches thick with loam; n, n, tuyeres for two bellows »; 
 having valves suspended before their orifices to break and spread the blast ; q, door foi 
 introducing into the furnace the charge of lead, equal to 84 quintals at a time; a, Jig. 
 
 1279 
 
 1279, two bellows, like those of a smith's forge; y, door of the fireplace, through which 
 billets of wood are thrown on the grate ; x, small aperture or door, for giving issue to the 
 
 frothy scum of the cupellation, and 
 the litharge; z, basin of safety, 
 usually covered with a stone slab, ovei 
 which the litharge falls; in case of 
 accident the basin is laid open to ad- 
 mit the rich lead. 
 
 The following is the mode of con. 
 ducting the cupellation. Before put- 
 ting the lead into the furnace, a floor 
 is made in it of ashes beat carefully 
 down (see 6, Jig. 1278); and there is 
 left in the centre of this floor a circular 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 2 
 
 
 space, somewhat lower than the rest of the hearth, where the silver ought to gather at 
 
 the end of the operation. The cupel is fully six feet in diameter. 
 
 In forming the floor of a cupel, 
 35 cubic feet of washed wood 
 ashes, usually got from the soap 
 works, are employed. The pre- 
 paration of the floor requires two and 
 a half hours' work ; and when it is 
 completed, and the moveable dome of 
 iron plate has been lined with 
 loam, 84 quintals (cwts.) of lead 
 are laid on the floor, 42 quintals 
 being placed in the part of the 
 furnace farthest from the bellows, 
 and 42 near to the fire-bridge; to 
 these, scoriae containing lead and 
 -V-' silver are added, in order to lose 
 
 nothing. The moveable lid is now luted on the furnace, and neat is slowly applied in the 
 
 fireplace, by burning fagots of fir- wood, which is gradually raised. Section 1278 is in the 
 
 jne c, n, of 1277. 
 At the end of three hours, the whole lead being melted, the instant is watched for 
 
 when no more ebullition can be perceived on the surface of the bath or melted metal; 
 
 then, but not sooner, the bellows are set a playing on the surface at the rate of 4 or 5 
 
 strokes per minute, to favor the oxydizement. 
 In five hours, reckoned from the commencement of the process, the fire is smartly 
 
 raised ; when a grayish froth (abstrich) is made to issue from the small aperture x of 
 
 the furnace. This is found to he a brittle mixture of oxydized metals and impurities. 
 
 The workman now glides the rake over the surface of the bath, so as to draw the froth 
 
 out of the furnace ; and, as it issues, powdered charcoal is strewed upon it, at the aperture 
 
 x, to cause its coagulation. The froth skimming lasts for about an hour and a half. 
 
630 SILVER. 
 
 After this time, the litharge begins to form, and it is also let off by the small opening 
 z; its issue being aided by a hook. In proportion as the floor of the furnace gels im- 
 pregnated -with litharge, the workman digs in it a gutter for the escape of the liauie 
 litharge ; it falls in front of the small aperture, and concretes in stalactitic forms. 
 
 By means of the two moveable valves suspended before the tuyeres n, n, (Jig. 1278) 
 the workman can direct the blast as he will over the surface of the metal. The wind 
 should be made to cause a slight curl on the liquid, so as to produce circular undu- 
 lations, and gradually propel a portion of the litharge generated towards the edges of 
 the cupel, and allow this to retain its shape till the end of the operation. The stream 
 of air should drive the greater part of the litharge towards the small opening x, where 
 the workman deepens the outlet for it, in proportion as the level of the metal bath de- 
 scends, and the bottom of the floor rises by the apposition of the litharge formed. Li- 
 tharge is thus obtained during about 12 hours ; after which period the cake of silver be- 
 gins to take shape in the centre of the cupel. 
 
 Towards the end of the operation, when no more than four additional quintals of 
 litharge can be looked for, and when it forms solely in the neighborhood of the silver 
 cake in the middle of the floor, great care must be taken to set apart the latter portions, 
 because they contain silver. About this period, the fire is increased, and the workman 
 places before the little opening x a brick, to serve as a mound to the efflux of litharge. 
 The use of this brick is, — 1. to hinder the escape of the silver \r. ease of any accident ; 
 for example, should an explosion take place in the furnace ; 2. to reserve a magazine 01 
 litharge, should that still circulating round the silver cake be suddenly absorbed by the 
 cupel, for in this dilemma the litharge must be raked back on the silver; 3. to prevent 
 the escape of the water that must be thrown on the silver at the end of the process. 
 
 When the argentiferous litharge, collected in the above small magazine, is to be re- 
 moved, it is let out in the form of a jet, by the dexterous use of the iron hook. 
 
 Lastly, after 20 hours, the silver cake is seen to be well formed, and nearly circular. 
 The moment for stopping the fire and the bellows is indicated by the sudden disappear- 
 ance of the colored particles of oxyde of lead, which, in the latter moments of oxydation, 
 undulate with extreme rapidity over the slightly convex surface of the silver bath, mov- 
 ing from the centre to the circumference. The phenomenon of their total disappearance 
 is called the lightning, or fulguration. Whenever this occurs, the plate of silver being 
 perfectly clean, there is introduced into the furnace, by the door q, a wooden spout, along 
 which water, previously heated, is carefully poured on the silver. 
 
 The cupellation of 84 quintals of argentiferous lead takes in general 18 or 20 hours' 
 working. The promptitude of the operation depends on the degree of purity of the 
 leads employed, and on the address of the operator, with whom also lies the economy 
 of fuel. A good workman completes the cupellation of 84 quintals with 300 billets, 
 each equivalent to a cubic foot and eight tenths of wood (Hartz measure) ; others con- 
 sume 400 billets, or more. In general, the cupellation of 100 quintals of lead, executed 
 at the rate of 84 quintal charges, occasions a consumption of 790 cubic feet of resinous 
 wood billets. 
 
 The products of the charge are as follows : — 
 
 1. Silver, holding in 100 marcs, 7 marcs and 3 loths of alloy - 24 to 30 marcs. 
 
 2. Pure litharge, containing from 88 to 90 per cent, of lead - 50-60 quintals. 
 
 3. Impure litharge, holding a little silver - - - 2-6 — 
 
 4. Skimmings of the cupellation - - -- 4-8 — 
 
 5. Floor of the furnace impregnated with litharge - - 22-30 — 
 
 Note. — Thi marc is 7 oz. 2 diets. 4 gr. English troy; and the loth is half an ounce. 
 16 loths make a marc. 100 pounds Cologne are equal to 103 pounds avoirdupois ; and the 
 above quintal contains 116 Cologne pounds. 
 
 The loss of lead inevitable by this operation, is estimated at 4 parts in 100. It hits 
 been diminished as much as possible in the Frankenscharn works of the Hartz, by lead- 
 ing the smoke into long flues, where the lead fumes are condensed into a metallic soot. 
 The silver cake receives a final purification at the Mint, in a cupel on a smaller scale. 
 
 From numerous experiments in the great way, it has been found that not more than 
 100 quintals of lead can be profitably cupelled at one operation, however large the 
 furnace, and however powerful and multiplied the bellows and tuydres may be; for the 
 loss on eilher the lead or the silver, or on both, would be increased. In one attempt, 
 BO less than 500 quintals were acted on, in a furnace with two fireplaces, and four 
 escapes for the litharge ; but the silver remained disseminated through the lead, and the 
 lightning could not be brought on. The chief object in view was economy of fuel. 
 
 Reduction of the Litharge. — This is executed in a slag-hearth, with the aid of wood 
 eharcoal. 
 
 Such is the train of operations by which the cupriferous galena schV-ch, or ground ore 
 
SILVER. 
 
 631 
 
 is reduced, in the district of Clausthal, into lead, copper, and silver. The works of 
 Frankenscharn have a front fully 400 feet long. 
 
 Fig. 1280, exhibits the plan and elevation of these smelting-works, near Clausthal, in 
 the Hartz, for lead ores containing copper and silver, where about 84,000 cwts. of sMich 
 
 Silver-smelting Works of Frankenscharn, near Clausthal. 
 
 1280 
 
 ft 
 
 (each of 123 Cologne pounds) are treated every year. This quantity is the prodwe of 
 thirty distinct mines, as also of nearly as many stamp and preparation works. All these 
 different schlichs, which belong to so many different joint-stock companies, are confound- 
 ed and worked up together in the same series of metallurgic operations; the resulting 
 mixture being considered as one and the same ore belonging to a single undertak ! ng ; but 
 in virtue of the order which prevails in this royal establishment, the rights of eacn of the 
 companies, and consequently of each shareholder, are equitably regulated. A vigorous 
 control is exercised between the mines and the stamps, as also between the stamps and 
 the smelting-houses j while the cost of the metallurgic operations is placed under the offi- 
 cers of the crown, and distributed, upon just principles, among the several 'mines, ac- 
 cording to the quantities of metal furnished by each. 
 From these arrangements, the following important advantages flow : — 
 1. The poor ores may be smelted with profit, without putting the companies to any 
 risk or expense in the erection of new works ; 2, by the mixture of many different ores, 
 the smelting and metall.: product become more easy and abundant ; 3, the train of the 
 operations is conducted with all the lights and resources of science ; and 4, the amount 
 of metal brought into the market is not subject to such fluctuations as might prove inju- 
 rious to their sale. 
 
 The following is the series of operations ; — 
 
 1. The fusion of the schlich (sludge) ; 2, the roasting of the mattes under a shed, and 
 their treatment by four successive re-meltings ; 3, the treatment of the resulting black 
 copper ; 4, the liquation ; 5, the re-liquation (ressuage) ; 6, the- refining of the copper s 
 7, the cupellation of the silver ; 8, the reduction of the litharge into lead. The 5th and 
 6th processes are carried on at the smelting works of Altenau. 
 
 The buildings are shown at A, e, c, and the impelling stream of water at d; the upper 
 figure being the elevation ; the lower, the plan of the works. 
 
 a, is the melting furnace, with a cylinder bellows behind it ; b, c, d, furnaces similar 
 to the preceding, with wooden bellows, such as fig. 1281 ; e, is a furnace for the same 
 
 purpose, with three tuyeres, and 
 a cylinder bellows ; /, the large 
 furnace of fusion, also with three 
 tuyeres ; g, a furnace with seven 
 tuyeres, now seldom used ; h, low 
 furnaces, like the English slag- 
 hearths, (krummqfen,) employed 
 for working the last mattes ; k, 
 slag-hearths for reducing the li- 
 tharge ; m, the area of the liqua- 
 tion ; n, p, cupellation furnaces. 
 
 x, y, a floor which separates 
 the principal smelting-house into 
 
632 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 two stories ; the materials destined for charging the furnaces being deposited jn bed j 
 upon the upper floor, to which they are carried by means of two inclined planes, terra 
 led in front of the range of buildings. 
 Here 89,600 quintals of schlich are annually smelted, which furnish — 
 Marketable lead, ...--- 20,907 quintals 
 Marketable litharge, containing 90 per cent, of lead, - 7,555 
 
 Silver, about ...... 67 
 
 Copper, (finally purified in the works of Altenau,) - 35 
 
 Total product, 
 
 - 28,564 
 
 This weight amounts to one twenty-fifth of the weight of ore raised for the service of the 
 establishment. Eight parts of ore furnish, on an average, about one of schlich. The 
 bellows are constructed Wholly of wood, without any leather; an improvement made by 
 a bishop of Bamberg, about the year 1620. After receiving different modifications, they 
 were adopted, towards 1730, in almost all the smelting-works of the cor Jnent, except in 
 a few places, as Carniola, where local circumstances permitted a water blowing-machine 
 to be erected. These pyramidal shaped bellows, composed of moveable wooden boxes, 
 have, however, many imperfections j their size must often be inconveniently large, in 
 order to furnish an adequate stream of air; they do not drive into the furnace all the air 
 which they contain; they require frequent repairs; and, working with great friction, 
 they waste much mechanical power. 
 
 Fig. 1282, represents such, wooden bellows, consisting of two chests or boxes fitted 
 into each other; the upper or moving one being called the fly, the lower or fixed one, 
 
 the seat, (gite.) In the bottom of 
 the gite, there is an orifice furnish- 
 ed with a clack-valve d, opening 
 inwards when \hefly is raised, and 
 shutting when it falls. In order 
 that the air included in the capaci- 
 ty of the two chests may have no 
 other outlet than the nose-pipe m, 
 the upper portion of the gite is pro- 
 vided at its four sides with small 
 square slips of wood, c, c, c, which 
 are pressed against the sides of the 
 fly by strong springs of iron wire, 
 b, b, b, while they are retained upon the gite by means of small square pieces of wood, a, 
 a, a, a. The latter a, a, are perforated in the centre, and adjusted upon rectangular 
 stems, called buchettes; they are attached, at their lower ends, to the upright sides of the 
 gite G. p, is the driving-shaft of a water-wheel, which, by means of cams or tappets, de- 
 presses the fly, while the counterweight <l,fig. 1281, raises it again. 
 
 Fig: 1283, 1284, 1285, 1286, represent the moderately high (demihauts, or half-blast) 
 furnaces employed in the works of the lower Hartz, near Goslar, for smelting the silvery 
 lead ores extracted from the mine of Rammelsberg. See its section in p. 189, Vol. IL 
 
 Fig. 1283, is the frou'- elevation of the twin furnaces, built in one body of masonry; 
 fig. 1284, is a plan taken at the level of the tuyeres, in the line v, /, 6, of fig. 1285; 
 
 1283 
 
 figs. 1285 and 1286, exhi. 
 bit two vertical sections; 
 the former in the line A, b, 
 the latter in the line c, d, 
 offig. 1284. In these four 
 figures the following ob- 
 jects may be distinguished. 
 a, b, c, d, a balcony or 
 platform which leads to 
 the p.ace of charging, n ; 
 e,f,wooden stairs, by which 
 the charging workmen 
 mount from the ground p,q, 
 of the works, to the plat- 
 form ; gj h, brick-work ol 
 the furnaces; t, He, wall 
 of the smelting-works, 
 against which they are 
 supported ; !, upper basin of reception, hollowed out of the brague, (ci f round charcoal 
 bed,) 6; m, arch of the tuyere v, by which each furnace receives the blast cf twe 
 
SILVER. 
 
 633 
 
 bellows ; n, place of charging, which takes place through the upper orifice n, o, o{ the 
 basin n, o, v, t, of the furnace; t, a slab of clay, placed in such a" way that, during the 
 
 treatment of the lead, a liitle 
 metallic zinc may run logethel 
 in a sloping gutter, seen in 
 fig. 1285, formed of slates ce- 
 mented togelher with clay. 
 
 In figs. 1283 and 1285, 1, z, 
 is the brick-work of the foun- 
 dations; m, conduits (called 
 evaporatory)for the exhalation 
 of the moisture; 4, a layer of 
 slags, rammed above ; 5, a bed 
 of clay, rammed above the 
 slags ; G, a brasque, composed 
 if one part of clay, and two parts of ground charcoal, which forms the sole of the furnace. 
 The excellent refinery furnace, or treibheerd, of Frcdcrickshutte, near Tamowitz, in 
 
 Upper Silesia, is represented in fig! 1287 
 and 1288. a, is the bottom, made o( slag 
 or cinders ; b, the foundation of fire-bricks ; 
 c, the body of the hearth proper, composed 
 of a mixture of 7 parts of dolomite, and 1 
 of fire-clay, in bulk ; d, the grate of the air 
 furnace ; e, the fire-bridge ; /, the dome or 
 cap, made of iron plate strengthened with 
 bars, and lined with clay-lute, to protect 
 the metal from burning ; g, the door of the 
 fireplace; ft, the ash-pit; i, tfle lap-hole; 
 k, k, the flue, which is divided by partitions 
 into several channels; /, the chimney; m, 
 a damper-plate for regulating the draught; 
 n, a back valve, for admitting air to cool 
 the furnace, and brushes to sweep the flues; 
 o, tuyere of copper, which by means of an 
 iron wedge may be sloped more or less to- 
 wards the hearth ; p, the schnepper, a round 
 piece of sheet iron, hung before the eye of the 
 tuyere, to break and spread the blast; 5, the 
 outlet for the glassy litharge. 
 
 time-marl has been found to answer well foi 
 making the body of the hearth-sole, as it ab- 
 sorbs the vitrified litharge freely, without com- 
 bining with it. A basin-shaped hollow is form- 
 ed in the centre, for receiving the silver at the 
 end of the process ; and a gutter is made across 
 the hearth for running off the gldtte or fluid 
 litharge. 
 Figs. 1289, 1290, represent the eliquation hearth of Neustadt. 
 Fig. 1289, is a cross section ; fig. 1290 is a front view; and fig. 1 291, 
 a longitudinal section. It is formed by two walls a, a, 3| feet high, 
 
 placed from J to 1 foot apart, sloped off at top with iron plates, three 
 
 mmm 
 
 §& 
 
 inches thick, and 
 18 inches broad, 
 called saigers-char- 
 ten, or refining 
 plates, b, b, inclin- 
 ed three inches to- 
 wards each other 
 in the middle, so as 
 to leave at the low- 
 est point a slit two 
 and a half inches 
 wide between them, 
 through which the 
 lead, as it sweats 
 out by the heat, is 
 allowed to fall into 
 
634 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 the space between the two walls c, called the saigergasse, (sweating gutter.) The sole o( 
 ihis channel slopes down towards the frtnt, so that the liquefied metal may run off into 
 
 a crucible or pot. Up- 
 on one of the long sides, 
 and each of the shorter 
 ones, of the hearth, the 
 walls d, d, are raised 
 two feet high, and up- 
 on these the liquation 
 lumps rest; upon the 
 other long side, where 
 there is no wall, there 
 is an opening for ad- 
 mitting these lumps in- 
 to the hearth. The 
 openings are then shut 
 with a sheet or cast 
 iron plate c, which, by 
 means of a chain, pul- 
 ley, and counterweight, 
 may be easily raised and lowered, /, is a passage for increasing the draught of air. 
 
 Figs. 1292 and 1298, represent the refining furnaces of Frede- 
 
 rickshtitle by Tarnowitz; a, is the fire door; i, the grate; c, the 
 
 door for introducing the silver; d, the moveable test, resting upon 
 
 a couple of iron rods e, e, which are let at their ends into the 
 
 brick-work. They lie lower than would seem to be necessary ; 
 
 but this is done in order to be able to place the surface of the 
 
 test at any desired level, by placing tiles/,/, under it ; g, the flue, 
 
 leading to a chimney 18 feet high. For the refining of 100 marks 
 
 of blicksilber, of the fineness of 15§ loths (half ounces) per cwt., 3 
 
 cubic feet of pit-coal are required. The test or cupel must be heated before the impure 
 
 silver and soft lead are put into it. 
 
 At these smel ting-houses, from 150 to 160i:wts. of very pure workable lead (lead con- 
 
 1,290 v 1291 
 
 taming merely a little silver) are put into the furnace at once, and from 10 to 14 cwts. 
 run off in vitrified oxyde ; the remainder is then refined with some pure lead, when an 
 alloy containing from 14J to 15| lolhs of blicksilber per cwt. is obtained. 
 1292 n n n 
 
 English refining furnaces. — The refining of lead is well performed in some works in 
 the neighborhood of Alston-moor, in reverberatory furnaces, figs. 1294 and 1295, whose 
 fireplace is 22 inches square, and is separated from the sole by a fire-bridge, 14 inches 
 in breadth. The flame, after having passed over the surface of the lead in the cupel, en- 
 ters two flues e, e, on the opposite side of the furnace, which terminate in a chimney i,i, 
 i, i, 40 feet high. At the bottom of the chimney are openings/, /, for taking out the me- 
 tallic dust deposited within. These openings are shut during the process. 
 
 The cupel or test, which constitutes, in fact, the sole of the hearth in which the 
 Jueration takes place, is moveable. It consists rf i vertical elliptical ring of i»on 
 
SILVER. 
 
 fiSo 
 
 A, B, c, J>,figs. 1296 and 1297, 3f inches high, the greatest diameter of the ellipse nein a 
 4 feet, and the smallest 2 . Four iron bars (A, d, m, m', B, c, n, %') are fixed across its 
 
 1294 
 
 bottom, which are 
 also 3J inches broad, 
 and an inch thick. 
 The first of these bars 
 is placed 9 inches 
 from the end of the 
 elliptic ring nearest 
 the fireplace, and 
 the three others ai3 
 equally distributed be- 
 tween this bar and the 
 back end. 
 
 In forming the 
 cupel, several layers 
 of a mixture of moist- 
 ened bone ashes, and 
 fern ashes, in very 
 fine powder, are put 
 into the test-frame. 
 The bone ash con- 
 stitutes from J to _JL 
 of the bulk of the 
 mixture, according 
 to the purity of the 
 fern ashes employed, estimated by the proportion of potash they contain, which has the 
 property of semi-vitrifying the powder of burnt bones, of thus removing its friability, and 
 1296 c ^_,2K .11 1297 
 
 , rendering it more durable. The layers oi ashes are strongly beat down, till the frame is 
 entirely filled. The mass thus formed is then hollowed out by means of a little spade, 
 made on purpose, till it is only three quarters of an inch thick above the iron bars near 
 the centre of the bottom. A flange, 2 inches broad, is made at the upper part, and 2i 
 inches at the lower part, except on the front or breast, which is 5 inches thick. In this 
 anterior part, there is hollowed out an opening of an inch and a quarter broad, and 6 
 inches long, with which the outlet or gateway of the litharge communicates. 
 
 The cupel thus prepared is placed in the refining furnace. It rests in an iron ring built 
 into the brickwork. The arched roof of the furnace is 12 inches above the cupel near the 
 fire-bridge, and 9 inches near the flue at the other end. 
 
 The tuyfere is placed in the back of the furnace, opposite to the side at which the litharge 
 is allowed to overflow. 
 
 Openings g, g, are left at the sides of each cupel, either for running off or for intro- 
 ducing melted lead. 
 
 Refining of lead to extract its silver. — This operation, which the lead of Derbyshire can- 
 not be submitted to with advantage, is performed in a Certain number of the smelting- 
 houses at Alston-moor, and always upon leads reduced in the Scotch furnace. 
 
 The cupel furnace above described must be slowly heated, in order to dry the cupel 
 w.thout causing it to crack, which would infallibly be produced by sudden evaporation 
 of the moisture in it. When it has been thus slowly brought to the verge of a red 
 heat, it is almost completely filled with lead previously melted in an iron pot. The 
 cupel may be charged with about 5 cwts. At the temperature at wnicn the lead is in- 
 troduced, it is immediately covered with a gray pellicle of oxyde ; but when the heat of 
 the furnace has been progressively raised to the proper pitch, -t becomes whitish-red, 
 and has its surface covered over with litharge. Now' is the time to set in action the 
 blowing-machine, the blast of which, impelled in the direction of trie great axis of the 
 cupel, drives the litharge towards the breast of the cupel, and makes it flow out by the 
 
636 SILVER. 
 
 way prepared fpr. it, through which it falls upon a cast-iron plate, on a level with th« 
 floor of the apartment, and is dispersed into tears. It is carried in this state to the fur 
 nace of reduction, and revived. As by the effect of the continual oxydization which ' 
 undergoes, the surface of the metal necessarily falls below the level of the gateway of 
 the litharge, melted lead must be added anew by ladling it into the furnace from the 
 iron boiler, as occasion may require. The operation is carried on in this manner till 
 84 cwts. or 4 Newcastle fodders of lead have been introduced, which takes from 16 to 18 
 hours, if the tuyere has been properly set. The whole quantity of silver which this" 
 mass of lead contains, is left in combination with about 1 cwt, of lead, which, under tie 
 name of rich lead, is taken out of the cupel. 
 
 When a sufficient number of these pieces of rich lead have been procured, so that by 
 their respective quality, as determined by assaying, they contain in whole from 1000 to 
 2000 ounces of silver, they are re-melted to extract their silver, in the same furnace, but 
 in a cupel which differs from the former in having at its bottom a depression capable of 
 receiving at the end of the process the cake of silver. In this case a portion of the bot- 
 tom remains uncovered, on which the scoria may be pushed aside with a little rake, from 
 the edges of the silver. 
 
 The experiments of MM. Lucas and Gay Lussac have proved that fine silver, exposed 
 to the air in a state of fusion, absorbs oxygen gas, and gives it out again in the act of 
 consolidation. The quantity of oxygen thus absorbed may amount to twenty-two times 
 the volume of the silver. The following phenomena are observed when the mass of metal 
 is considerable ; for example, from 40 to 50 pounds. 
 
 The solidification commences at the edges, and advances towards the centre. The 
 liquid silver, at the moment of its passage to the solid state, experiences a slight agitation, 
 and then becomes motionless. The surface, after remaining thus tranquil for a little, 
 gets all at once irregularly perturbed, fissures appear in one or several lines, from which 
 flow, in different directions, streams of very fluid silver, which increase the original agi- 
 tation. The first stage does not yet clearly manifest the presence of gas, and seems to 
 arise from some intestine motion of the particles in their tendency to group, on entering 
 upon the process of crystallization, and thus causing the rupture of the envelop or external 
 crust, and the ejection of some liquid portions. 
 
 After remaining some time tranquil, the metal presents a fresh appearance, precisely 
 analogous to volcanic phenomena. As the crystallization continues, the oxygen gas is 
 given out with violence at one or more points, carrying with it melted silver from the 
 interior of the surface, producing a series of cones, generally surmounted by a small crater, 
 vomiting out streams of the mdtal, which may be seen boiling violently within them. 
 
 These cones gradually increase in height by the accumulation of metal thrown up, 
 and that which becomes consolidated on their sloping sides. The thin crust of metal 
 on which they rest, consequently experiences violent impulses, being alternately raised 
 and depressed by such violent agitation, that were it not for the tenacity and elasticity 
 of the metal, there would evidently arise dislocation, fissures, and other analogous 
 accidents. At length several of the craters permanently close, while others continue to 
 allow the gas a passage. The more difficult this is, the more the craters become 
 elevated, and the more their funnels contract by the adhesion or coagulation of a 
 portion of the metal. The projection of globules of silver now becomes more violent ; 
 the latter being carried to great distances, even beyond the furnace, and accompanied by 
 a series of explosions, repeated at short intervals. It is generally the last of these little 
 volcanoes that attains the greatest altitude, and exhibits the foregoing phenomena with 
 the greatest energy. It is, moreover, observable, that these cones do not all arise at the 
 same time, some having spent their force, when others commence forming at other 
 points. Some reach the height of an inch, forming bases of two or three inches in 
 diameter. The time occupied by this exhibition is at least from half to three quarters 
 of an hour. 
 
 During the formation of these cones, by the evolution of gas, portions of silver are 
 shot forth, which assume, on induration, a form somewhat cylindrical, and often very 
 fantastic, notwithstanding the incompatibility which appears to exist between the 
 fluidity of the silver and these elongated figures. Their appearance is momentary, and 
 without any symptoms of gas, although it is impossible to decide whether they may not 
 arise from its influence ; they seem, in fact, to resemble the phenomena of the first 
 volcanic period. 
 
 Till very recently, .the only operations employed for separating silver from lead in the 
 English smelting-works, were the following : — 
 
 1. Cupellation, in which the lead was converted into a vitreous oxyde, which was 
 floated off from the surface of the silver. 
 
 2. Reduction of that oxyde, commonly called litharge. 
 
 3 . Smelting the bottoms of the cupels, to extract the lead which had soaked into 
 them, in a glassy state 
 
SILVER. 637 
 
 Cupellation and its two complementary. operations were, in many respects, objectiona. 
 ble processes j from the injurious effects of the lead vapors upon the health of the work, 
 men; from the very considerable loss of metallic lead, amounting to 7 per cent, at least; 
 and, lastly, from the immense consumption of fuel, as well as from the vast amount ot 
 manual labor incurred in such* complicated operations. Hence, unless the lead were 
 tolerably rich in silver, it would not bear the expense of cupellation. 
 
 The patent process lately introduced by Mr. Pattinson, of Newcastle, is not at all pre- 
 judicial to. the health of workmen; it does not occasion more than 2 per cent, of loss of 
 lead, and in other respects it is so economical, that it is now profitably applied in Nor- 
 thumberland to alloys too poor in silver to be treated by cupellation. This process is 
 founded upon the following phenomena. 
 
 After melting completely an alloy of lead and silver, if we allow it to cool very slowly, 
 continually stirring it meanwhile with a rake, we shall observe at a certain period a 
 continually increasing number of imperfect little crystals, which maybe taken out with a 
 drainer, exactly as we may remove the crystals of sea salt deposited during the concen- 
 tration of brine, or those of sulphate of soda, as its agitated solution cools. On submit- 
 ting to analysis the metallic crystals thus separated, and also the liquid metal deprived oJ 
 them, we find the former to be lead almost alone, but the latter to be rich in silver, when 
 compared with the original alloy. The more of the crystalline particles are drained from 
 the metallic bath, the richer does the mother liquid become in silver. In practice, the 
 poor lead is raised by this means to the standard of the ordinary lead of the litharge 
 works ; and the better lead is made ten times richer. This very valuable alloy is then 
 submitted to cupellation ; but as it contains only a tenth part of the quantity of lead sub- 
 jected to crystallization, the loss in the cupel will be obviously reduced to one tenth of 
 what it was by the former process; that is, seven tenths of a per cent., instead of seven. 
 
 These nine tenths of the lead separated by the drainer, are immediately sent into the 
 market, without other loss than the trifling one, of about one half per cent., involved in 
 reviving a little dross skimmed off the surface of the melted metal at the beginning of ihe 
 operation. Hence the total waste of lead in this method does not exceed two per cent. 
 And as only a small quantity of lead requires to be cupelled, this may be done with the 
 utmost slowness and circumspection; whereby loss of the precious metal, and injury to 
 the health of the work-people, are equally avoided. 
 
 The crystallization refinery of Mr. Pattinson is an extremely simple smelting-house. 
 It contains 3 hemispherical cast-iron pans, 41 inches in diameter, and | of an inch thick. 
 The 3 pans are built in one straight line, the broad flange at their edge being supported 
 upon brick-work. Each pan has a discharge pipe, proceeding laterally from one side of 
 its bottom, by which the melted metal may be run out when a plug is withdrawn, and 
 each is heated by a small separate fire. 
 
 Three tons of the argentiferous lead constitute one charge of each pan ; and as soon 
 as it is melted, the fire is withdrawn ; the flue, grate-door, and ash-pit, are immediately 
 closed, and made air-tight with bricks and clay-lute. The agitation is now commenced, 
 with a round bar of iron, terminated with a chisel-point, the workman being instructed 
 merely to keep moving that simple rake constantly in the pan, but more especially 
 towards the edges, where the solidification is apt to begin. 'He must be careful to take 
 out the crystals, progressively as they appear, with an iron drainer, heated a little higher 
 than the temperature of the metal bath. The liquid metal lifted in the drainer, flows 
 readily back through its perforations, and may be at any rate effectually detached by giv- 
 ing the ladle two or three jogs. The solid portion remains in the form of a spongy, semi- 
 crystalline, semi-pasty mass. 
 
 The proportion of crystals separated at each melting, depends upon the original quality 
 of the alloy. If it be poor, it is usually divided in the proportion of two thirds of poor 
 crystals, and one third of rich liquid metal ; but this proportion is reversed if the alloy 
 contain a good deal of silver. . 
 
 Let us exemplify, by the common case of a lead containing 10 ounces of silver per ton. 
 Operating upon 3 tons of this alloy, or 60 cwts., containing 30 oz. of silver, there will be 
 obtained in the first operation — 
 
 (a) 40 cwts. at 4 J ounces of silver per ton; in whole 9 oz. ) „ n 
 (6) 20 cwts. at 21 — — 21 $ du oz< 
 
 Each of these alloys, (a) and (5), will be joined to alloys of like quality obtained in 
 the treatment of one or several other portions of three tons of the primitive alloy. Agaifi, 
 three tons of each of these rich alloys are subjected to the crystallization process, and 
 thus in succession. Thus poorer and poorer lead is got on the one hand, and richer and 
 richer alloys on the other. Sometimes the mother metal is parted from a great body of 
 poor crystals, by opening the discharge-pipe, and running off the liquid, while the work- 
 man keeps stirring, to facilitate the separation of the two. 
 
 25 fodders, 15 cwts., 49 lbs. = 540 cwts., 49 lbs. of alloy, holding 5 oz. of silver pet 
 fodder, in the whole 130 oz., afforded, after three successive crystallizations, — 
 
 I 
 
638 SILVER. 
 
 440 cwts. of poor lead, holding | oz. of silver per fodder ; in all !0| 
 15 cwts. 49 — holding the original quantity, nearly - 3§ 
 84 cwts. of lead for the cupel, holding 29 oz. - - - 116 
 
 Total « ... 130 
 
 1 cwt. of loss, principally in the reduction of dross. 
 
 The expenses of the new method altogether, including 3j. per fodder of patent dues, 
 are about one third of the old ; being 171. 13s. and 5il. 16a. respectively, upon 84 cwts. 
 of lead, at 29 oz. per fodder. 
 
 In the conditions above stated, the treatment of argentiferous lead occasions the follow 
 ing expenses : — 
 
 FOR ONE FODDER. £ S. d. 
 
 By the new process ... ■ . . 3 13 7 
 
 By the old process .._... 222 
 
 Admitting that the treatment of silver holding lead is economically possible only when 
 
 the profit is equal to one tenth of the gross expenses of the process, we may easily calcu- 
 
 late, with the preceding data, that it is sufficient for the lead to have the following con 
 
 tents in silver : — 
 
 With the new process, 3 ounces per fodder ; or, - 0-000078 
 
 With the old process, 8_ 4 __ ounces per fodder ; or, - 0000218 
 
 To conclude, the refining by crystallization reduces the cost of the parting of lead and 
 
 silver, in the proportion of three to one ; and allows of extracting silver from a lead which 
 
 contains only about three oz. per ton. In England, the new method produces at present 
 
 very advantageous results, especially in reference to the great masses to which it may be 
 
 applied. In 1828, the quantity of lead annually extracted from the mines in the United 
 
 Kingdom had been progressively raised to 47,000 tons. Reduced almost to one half of 
 
 this amount in 1832, by the competition of the mines of la Sierra de Gador, the English 
 
 production began again to increase in 1833. In 1835, 35.000 tons of lead were obtained, 
 
 one half of which only having a mean content of eight and a half ounces of silver per ton, 
 
 was subjected to cupellation, and produced 14,000 oz. of that precious metal. The details 
 
 of this production are — 
 
 Silver extracted from 17,500 tons of lead, holding upon the average eight ) j ._ - 00 
 
 and a half ounces per ton, ------- J J 
 
 Silver extracted from silver ores, properly so called, in Cornwall, - 36,000 
 
 176,000 
 
 See Smelting of Lead. 
 
 In 1837, the production of lead amounted probably to 40,000 tons; upon which the 
 Introduction of the new method would have the effect not only of reducing considerably 
 the cost of parting the 20,000 tons of lead containing 8 oz. of silver, per ton, but of per- 
 mitting, the extraction of 4 or 6 oz. of silver, which may be supposed to exist upon an 
 average in the greater portion of the remaining 20,000 tons. Otherwise, this mass of the 
 precious metal would have had no value, or have been unproductive. 
 
 The desilvarizing apparatus of Locke, Blaclcet and Co., consists of seven crystallizing 
 pots, and one smaller pot for receiving the desilverized lead. They are all made of cast- 
 iron, and arranged in a straight line. 
 
 The lead in each pot varies in its contents of silver. 
 
 The first containing 85 cwt. lead at about 60 oz. of silver, or jj r , per ton 
 Is divided into 55 cwt. crystals carried to second pot, at 35 oz. per ton 
 18 cwt. do. to be put in first pot again, at 64 oz. per ton 
 and 12 cwt. rich lead to be cupelled, at 170 oz. per ton 
 
 The second pot containing 90 cwt. lead, at about 35 oz. silver per ton 
 Is divided into 60 cwt. crystals carried to third pot, at 20 oz. per ton 
 and 30 cwt. lead put into first pot, at 65 oz. per ton 
 
 oz. 
 
 oz. 
 
 - 
 
 255 
 
 - 96 
 
 
 - 67 
 
 
 - 102 
 
 
 
 
 258 
 
 . 
 
 157 
 
 - 60 
 
 
 - 97 
 
 
 
 
 151 
 
 !• - 
 
SILVER. 
 
 639 
 
 The third pot containing 90 cwts. of lead, at about 20 oz. per ton 
 Is divided into 55 cwts. crystals carried to fourth pot, at 10 oz. per ton - 27 
 and 25 cwts. lead put into second pot, at 36 oz. per ton 63 
 
 The fourth pot containing 80 cwts. lead, at about 10 oz. per ton 
 Is divided into 55 cwts. crystals, carried to fifth pot, at 5| oz. per ton - 15, 
 and 25 cwts. lead put into third pot, at 20 oz. per ton - 25 
 
 The fifth pot containing 80 ewts. lead, at about 5J oz. silver per ton - 
 Is divided into 55 cwts. crystals, put into sixth pot, at 3 oz. per ton - 8| 
 
 and 25 cwts. lead, put into fourth pot, at 11 oz. per ton - - 13f 
 
 The sixth pot containing 80 cwts. lead, at about 3 oz. per ton 
 Is divided into 55 cwts. crystals, carried to seventh pot, at 11 oz. per ton - 4 5 
 and 25 cwts. lead, put into fifth pot, at 6 oz. per ton 7§ 
 
 The seventh pot containing 55 cwts. lead, at about 1| oz. per ton 
 Is divided into 25 cwts. crystals, carried to small pot, at lg oz. per ton - J 
 
 and 30 cwts. lead, put into sixth pot, at 2j oz. per ton 3| 
 
 90 
 
 90 
 
 40 
 
 40 
 22 
 
 22 
 12 
 
 12 
 4 
 
 The above 25 cwts. of crystals are melted and cast into pigs and sent to the market. 
 
 In operating upon lead containing about 10 oz. per ton, the fourth pot is filled with 
 it; if it should contain 20 oz., or thereabouts, it is put into the third pot; and so of 
 any other. 
 
 Jig. 1298 represents the arrangement of the iron pots or caldrons, in their order. 
 
 The desilvering apparatus represented in fig. 1298 is composed of five caldrons of 
 cast iron, each heated by its own fire, besides two smaller pots, similarly heated. The 
 caldrons rest by their upper flange and surface upon bricks properly formed and 
 arranged. Their shape is not hemispherical ; their mouth is 40 inches in length, but 
 only 26 inches in width. Over the door of the fireplace, the mouth stands 8 feet 
 4 inches above the ground or bottom of the ash-pit, of which space, 18 inches, intervene 
 Detween.thc grate and the brim. The grate is 2 feet long and 8| inches wide. Ail 
 the caldrons have the same elliptic form, with a bottom like the small end of an egg. 
 The fifth alone is smaller, but this one serves merely to melt the lead which has been 
 stripped of its silver, in order to be cast into salmons or blocks. 
 
 The charge consists of 64 or 65 salmons, each weighing from 120 to 140 lbs. When 
 they are well melted, the fire is removed from the grate, as well as the small film of 
 litharge from the surface of the metal ; and one or two salmons are added to accelerate 
 the cooling, or sometimes, instead, a little soapy water is sprinkled into the caldron, 
 whereby a crust of lead is formed, which being pushed down into the mass, melts with 
 ebullition. This is repeated till the whole becomes sufficiently cool, that is, when 
 crystals begin to form. The lead concreted round the sides being now detached, the 
 whole is slirred with an Iron bar, by a motion in a vertical plane, and varying its 
 posture in this plane. During this operation, intended to establish a uniform tempera- 
 ture throughout the mass, a second workman heats in the smaller pot »d ; oinin°- to 
 No. 1 a large skimmer at the end of a long wooden handle, and next proceeds to fish 
 out the crystals, taking care to let them drain off for a few seconds all the liquid lead 
 among them, and then turns out the crystals slowly into the next caldron, No. 2 ; 
 the second workman meanwhile adds the metal solidified round the sides, and stirs all 
 together to equalise the temperature. These two-fold operations occupy about fifty 
 
640 SILVER. 
 
 minutes ; bv which time, there remains in the caldron about 16 salmons. The workman 
 now lifts out the crystals, as before, with the drainer, and throws them upon the ground 
 in two heaps. His assistant takes them up a little while afterward, and puts them 
 away to make room for fresh crystals, which the first workman continues to throw 
 down. This process goes on till only 8 salmons remain in the caldron, a point ascer- 
 tained by gauging the height to the bath. The fire being at this time removed from 
 cauldron No. 2 into the grate of No. 1, the 8 salmons of lead enriched with silver, 
 which' remain at the bottom of the caldron, are run out into movable moulds ; and the 
 8 salmons which were thrown upon the ground are put into it ; the full charge being 
 then made up with salmons of the same richness as those previously used. 
 
 While this mass is melting in No. 1 the process just finished in it is repeated in 
 No. 2. About three fourths of the metallic mass is next separated in the state of 
 crystals, which are transferred to No. 3, and also one eighth of crystals thrown on the 
 ground, after pouring the remaining one eighth at the bottom of caldron No. 2 not 
 into moulds, but into No. 1. 
 
 A like process is performed in caldrons 3 and 4 ; and the poor lead taken out of 4 
 is transferred to 5 to be melted, and run into salmons, which are submitted afresh to the 
 preceding series of crystallizations, provided the lead still contains a sufficient proportion 
 of silver. 
 
 The following Table will place the results of the above successive operations in a 
 
 clear light : — 
 
 Silver in 1 Ton of Lead. 
 
 Original lead ------ 0-001153 
 
 1. Rich crystals ------ 0-003324 
 
 2. Poor ditto ------ 0-000933 
 
 — Rich ditto ) proceeding from the treatment of the prece- J 0-0020802 
 
 3. Poor ditto \ inc No. 2 poor crystals - - \ 0-0007021 
 
 4. Rich ) proceeding lrom the treatment of No. 3 poor crys-< 0-001399 
 —Poor J tals ------ I 0-0004569 
 
 —Rich ) , r w a <t 0-0008135 
 
 (Lead) poor \ "* above from No. 4 - - - | 0-0001128 
 
 We thus see, that four crystallizations, repeated upon the original lead from the 
 smelting furnace, of the above richness, will afford a lead ten times poorer. With a 
 lead originally containing only 0-0002248 in silver, three crystallizations would suffice 
 to make it ten times poorer. In general, the poorer the lead, within certain limits, the 
 better adapted is it to this process. 
 
 There are two oxides of silver ; called argentic oxide, and suroxide, by Berzelius 
 
 1. The first is obtained by adding solution of caustic potassa, or lime-water, to a solution 
 of nitrate of silver. The precipitate has a brownish-gray colour, which darkens when 
 dried, and contains no oombined water. Its specific gravity is 7143. On exposure 
 to the sun, it gives out a certain quantity of oxygen, and becomes a black powder. 
 This oxide is an energetic base ; being slightly soluble in pure water, reacting like the 
 alkalis, upon reddened litmus paper, and displacing, from their combinations with the 
 alkalis, a portion of the acids, with which it forms insoluble compounds. It is insoluble 
 in the caustic lyes of potassa or soda. By combination with caustic ammonia, it forms 
 fulminating diver. This formidable substance may be prepared by precipitating the 
 nitrate of silver with lime-water, washing the oxide upon a filter, and spreading it upon 
 gray paper, to make it nearly dry. Upon the oxide, still moist, water of ammonia is to 
 be poured, and allowed to remain for several hours. The powder, which becomes black, 
 is to be freed from the supernatant liquor by decantation, divided into small portions 
 while moist, and set aside to dry upon bits of porous paper. Fulminating silver may 
 be made more expeditiously by dissolving the nitrate in water of pure ammonia, and 
 precipitating by the addition of caustic potassa lye in slight excess. If fulminating 
 silver be pressed with a. hard body in its moist state, it detonates with unparalleled 
 violence ; nay, When touched even with a feather, in its dry state, it frequently explodes. 
 As many persons have been seriously wounded, and some have been killed, by these 
 explosions, the utmost precaution should be taken, especially by young chemists, in its 
 preparation. This violent phenomenon is caused by the sudden production of water 
 and nitrogen, at the instant when the metallic oxide is reduced. The quiescent and 
 divellent affinities seem to be so nicely balanced in this curious compound, that the 
 slightest disturbance is sufficient to incite the hydrogen of the ammonia to snatch the 
 oxygen from the silver. The oxide of silver dissolves in glassy fluxes, and renders them 
 yellow. It consists, according to Berzelius, of 6311 parts of silver, and 989 of oxygen. 
 
 2. The suroxide of silver is obtained by passing a voltaic current through a weak solu- 
 tion of the nitrate ; it being deposited, of course, at the positive or oxygenating pole. 
 It is said to crystallize in needles of a metallic lustre, interlacing one another, which are 
 
SILVER. 641 
 
 one-third of an inch long. When thrown into muriatic acid, it causes the disengage- 
 ment of chlorine, and the formation of chloride of silver; into water of ammonia, it 
 occasions such a rapid production of nitrogen gas, with a hissing sound, as to convert 
 the whole liquid into froth. If a little of it, mixed with phosphorus, be struck with a 
 hammer, a loud detonation ensues. With heat it depreciates, and becomes metallic 
 silver. 
 
 Sulphuret of silver, which exists native, may be readily prepared by fusing the 
 constituents together; and it forms spontaneously upon the surface of silver exposed to 
 the air of inhabited places, or plunged into eggs, especially rotten ones. The tarnish 
 may be easily removed, by rubbing the metal with a solution of cameleon mineral, prepared 
 by calcining peroxide of manganese with nitre. Sulphuret of silver is a powerful 
 Bulpho-base ; since though it be heated to redness in close vessels, it retains the volatile 
 sulphides, whose combinations with the alkalis are decomposed at that temperature. It 
 consists of 8704 of silver, and 12'96,of oxygen. 
 
 A small quantity of tin, alloyed with silver, destroys its ductility. The best method 
 of separating these two metals, is to laminate the alloy into thin plates, and distil them 
 along with corrosive sublimate. The bichloride of tin comes over in vapours, and 
 condenses in the receiver. Silver and lead, when combined, are separated by heat alone 
 in the process of cupcllation, as described in the article Assay, and in the reduction of 
 silver ores. See supra. 
 
 Ar< alloy, containing from one-twelfth to one-tenth of copper, constitutes the silver 
 coin of most nations ; being a harder and more durable metal under friction than pure 
 silver. When this alloy is boiled with a solution of cream of tartar and sea-salt, or 
 scrubbed with water of ammonia, the superficial particles of copper are removed, and a 
 surface of fine silver is left. 
 
 Chloride of silver is obtained by adding muriatic acid, or any soluble muriate, to a 
 solution of nitrale of silver. A curdy precipitate falls, quite insoluble in water, which 
 being dried and heated to dull redness, fuses into a semi-transparent gray mass, called, 
 from its appearance, horn-silver. Chloride of silver dissolves readily in water of 
 ammonia, and crystallizes in proportion as the ammonia evaporates. It is not decom- 
 posed by a red heat, even when mixed with calcined charcoal ; but when hydrogen or 
 steam is passed over the fused chloride, muriatic acid exhales, and silver remains. 
 "When fused along with potassa (or its carbonate), the silver is also revived ; while 
 oxygen (or also carbonic acid) gas is liberated, and chloride of potassium is formed. 
 Alkaline solutions do not decompose chloride of silver. When this compound is 
 exposed to light, it suffers a partial decomposition, muriatic acid being disengaged. 
 See Assay by the humid method. 
 
 The best way of reducing the chloride of silver, says Mohr, is to mix it with one-third 
 of its weight of colophony (black rosin), and to heat the mixture moderately in a crucible 
 till the flame ceases to have a greenish-blue colour ; then suddenly to increase the fire, 
 so as to melt the metal into an ingot. 
 
 The subchloride may be directly formed, by pouring a solution of deuto-chloride of 
 coppee or iron upon silver leaf. The metal is speedily changed into black spangles, 
 which, being immediately washed and dried, constitute subchloride of silver. If the 
 contact of the solutions be prolonged, chloride would be formed. 
 
 The bromide, cyanide, fluoride, and iodide of silver, have not been applied to any use 
 in the arts. Sulphate of silver may be prepared by boiling sulphuric acid upon the 
 metal. See Refining or Golo and Silver. It dissolves in 88 parts of boiling water, 
 but the greater part of the salt crystallizes in small needles as the solution cools. It 
 consists of 118 parts of oxide, combined with 40 parts of dry acid. Solutions of the 
 hyposulphite of potassa, soda, and lime, which are bitter salts, dissolve chloride of 
 silver, a tasteless substance, into liquids possessej of the most palling sweetness, but not 
 at all of any metallic taste. 
 
 The iodide of silver is remarkable, like some other metallic compounds, for changing 
 its colour alternately with heat and cold. If a sheet of white paper be washed over with 
 a solution of nitrate of silver, and afterwards with a somewhat dilute solution of hydrio- 
 date of potash, it will immediately assume the pale yellow tint of the cold silver iodide. 
 On placing the paper before the fire, it will change colour from a pale primrose to a 
 gaudy brilliant yellow, like the sun-flower ; and on being cooled, it will again resume 
 the primrose hue. These alternations may be repeated indefinitely, like those with the 
 salts of cobalt, provided too great a heat be hot applied. The pressure of a finger upon 
 the hot yellow paper makes a white spot, by cooling it quickly. 
 
 Fulminate o' silver is prepared in the same way as Fulminate of Mercury, which see. 
 
 On the 10th of February, "17 9 8, the Lords 'of the Privy Council appointed the Hon 
 
 Charles Cavendish, F. E. S., and Charles Hatchett, Esq., F. R. S., to make investigations 
 
 upon the wear of gold coin by friction. Their admirable experiments were begun in 
 
 the latter end of 1798, and completed in April, 1801, having been instituted and con- 
 
 Vol. II. 42 
 
642 SILVER. 
 
 ducted with every mechanical aid, as devised by these most eminent chemical philoso- 
 phers, and provided, at no small expense, by the government. The following are the 
 important conclusions of their official report : — * 
 
 " Gold made standard by a mixture of equal parts of silver and copper, is not so soft 
 as gold alloyed only with silver ; neither is it so pale ; for it appears to be less removed 
 from the colour of fine gold, than either the former or the following metal. 
 
 " Gold, when alloyed with silver and copper, when annealed,' does not becom? black, 
 but brow/I; and this colour is more easily removed by the blanching liquor, or solution 
 of alum, than when the whole of the alloy consists of copper. It may also be rolled 
 and stamped with great facility ; and, under many circumstances, it appears to suffer 
 less by friction than gold alloyed by silver or copper alone. 
 
 " If copper alone forms the alloy, it must be dissolved and separated from the surface 
 of each piece of coin, in the process of annealing and blanching. 
 
 " Upon a comparison of the different qualities of the three kinds of standard gold, it 
 appears (strictly speaking) that gold made standard by silver and copper is rather to 
 be preferred for coin." 
 
 It will, undoubtedly, seem not a little strange to the uninitiated, that this report, and 
 its important deductions, should have been of late years entirely set at nought, without 
 any scientific reason or research, apparently for the purpose of giving a certain official 
 in our mint a good job, in sweating out all the silver from our sovereigns, and replacing 
 it, in the new coinage, with copper, taking on an average 3d. worth of silver out of each 
 ounce of our excellent gold coin, and charging the country 6£<£ for its extraction, 
 besides the very considerable expense in providing fine copper to replace the silver. 
 The pretence set up for this extraordinary degradation, of the gold, was, that our 
 coin might peradventure be exported, in order to be de-silvered abroad, a danger 
 which could have been most readily averted, by leaving out as much gold in every 
 sovereign as was equivalent to the silver introduced, and thus preserving its intrinsic 
 value in precious metal. When the film of fine gold which covers each of our present 
 pieces has been rubbed off from the prominent parts, these must appear of a very dif- 
 ferent and deeper colour than the flat part or ground of the coin. "The reason, 
 therefore, is sufficiently apparent," says Mr. Hatchett, " why gold which is alloyed with 
 silver only, cannot be liable to this blemish ;" and with one-half of silver alloy, it must 
 be much less liable to it, than with copper alone. Why did the political economists 
 in a late Committee of the House of Commons on the Mint blink this question of pub- 
 lic economy and\ expediency ? 
 
 Gold, as imported from America, Asia, and Africa, contains on an average nearly the 
 right proportion of silver for making the best coin ; and were it alloyed to our national 
 standard, of 22 parts of gold, 1 of silver, and 1 of copper, as defined by Messrs. Caven- 
 dish and' Hatchett, then by simply adding the deficient quantities of one or two of these 
 metals, by the rule of alligation, the very considerable expense would be saved to the 
 nation, and sulphureous nuisance to the Tower Hamlets, now foolishly incurred in de- 
 silvering and cuprifying sovereigns at the Royal Mint. 
 
 It was long imagined in Europe, that the average metallic contents of the silver ores 
 of Mexico and Peru were considerably greater than those of Saxony and Hungary. 
 Much poorer ores, however, are worked among the Cordilleras than in any part of 
 Europe. The mean products of the whole silver ores that are annually reduced in 
 Mexico amounts only to from 018 to 0-25 of a per cent.: that is, from 3 to 4 ounces 
 in 100 lbs. ; the true average being, perhaps, not more than 2J. It is by their greater 
 profusion of ores, not their superior richness, that the mines of South America- surpass 
 those of Europe. 
 
 Simple process for the reduction of silver to a metallic state by means of sugar. The 
 silver of coin is first reduced to the state of chloride, and the weight of the alloy 
 thus ascertained ; the chloride, after having been well washed and freed from copper, 
 is to be put into a stoppered wide-necked bottle ; a quantity of refined sugar, or sugar- 
 candy, is then added, equal in weight to the alloy. This is mixed with an equal volume 
 of a solution, composed of 60 grammes of good hydrate of potash, and 150 grammes of 
 distilled water, which will yield solution of potash of 25° IJaumS, or thereabouts : 
 after closing the bottle the mixture is to be agitated, arid then left for 24 hours, shaking 
 it occasionally, to favour the reaction. After this period has elapsed, it is to be washed 
 several times, until the last washings, filtered, are not affected by nitrate of silver, a test 
 which should be preceded by that of red litmus paper, which ought not to become blue, 
 or show any change whatever. This done, the contents of the bottle are to be transferred 
 to a porcelain capsule, by the help of a little distilled water, then, after being allowed to 
 deposit, the excess of liquid is poured off, and the silver dried in a stove. 
 By these means we obtain that to which I have given the name of grey silver. This 
 
 • It Is inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for 1808L 
 
SILVER. 643 
 
 silver consists ot some bright spangles, which become more brilliant on friction. It 
 does not, contain any impurities, -with the exception of a small quantity of oxide, and a 
 few atoms of chloride of silver. This latter produces a slight turbidity in the liquor, 
 when dissolved in perfectly pure nitric acid, and diluted with distilled water. This 
 turbidity does not, however, prevent the formation of pure nitrate of silver; as the 
 chloride being only in Suspension in the liquid, 'it is sufficient to filter it on a small 
 portion of well washed asbestos, in order to obtain an unobjectionable liquor. The 
 nitrate of silver will not contain any trace of other metals, as none are used' in the 
 reduction of the chloride of silver, and by the reduction of this salt, the silver is com- 
 pletely separated from the iron and copper which the solution might contain. Thus the 
 nitric acid of commerce may be employed, without inconvenience, for dissolving the 
 alloy. 
 
 The grey silver almost always contains a small quantity of oxide ; this is easily verified 
 by the addition of ammonia, which, after digestion on the metal and filtration, produces a 
 slight turbidity on adding nitric acid, which is caused by the separation of the dissolved 
 chloride of silver; the turbidity is then increased by the addition of a small quantity of 
 chloride of sodium to the nitrate of ammonia previously formed ; thus, then, is the oxide 
 of silver dissolved in the liquor in the state of ammoniacal nitrate, which is precipils, ted 
 in the form of insoluble chloride. 
 
 Oxide of silver not being an impurity in the uses to which pure silver is applied in 
 laboratories, we may consider the grey silver obtained in the manner above described, as 
 more pure, and with less loss, than any of those prepared up to the present time, by the 
 reduction of chloride of silver ; and without the necessity of melting, a troublesome operation 
 and one of much inconvenience in a laboratory. 
 
 From una peseta (one Spanish franc), the weight of which was 5-T69 grammes, I 
 obtained 4't50 grammes of grey silver, and supposing that the standard was at 90 per 
 cent., which is doubtful, as the money of Seville has often an inferior standard, I obtained 
 91-6 per cent, of the silver contained in the alloy; but the remainder is not lost, as the 
 waters of the washing acidulated by nitric acid are poured into the vessel on the precipi- 
 tates of silver, and form a fresh chloride. 
 
 In making the mixture for the purpose of obtaining the grey silver, it will be observed 
 that the substance, which, in the first instance is white, changes to a dirty reddish- 
 brown colour, afterwards to » violet-tinted grey ; and, finally, to a blackish-brown. It 
 then is to be left quiet for about half an hour, at the end of which time, the whole of 
 the bottle will be foundi entirely covered with a thin layer of brilliant silver, forming a 
 complete cylindrical mirror. This layer will remain as long as the liquid is not much 
 shaken. , 
 
 The white silver, of which I treat in the memoir from whence this note is extracted, is 
 obtained by precipitating oxide of silver, and oxide of copper, by potash, then reducing 
 oxide of silver by sugar, taking certain precautions ; but, from the alloy only 46 per cent. 
 of silver is obtained. In the state of dead silver, it is as white as pumice stone ; and, by 
 simple friction with a glass rod, it assumes considerable brilliancy. The white silver is 
 free from oxide or chloride— it is chemically pure. 
 
 Production of silver in Spain, by Frederick Burr, Esq., Mining Engineer. In the earliest 
 ages of authentic history, Spain was one of the countries most celebrated for the pro- 
 duction of gold and silver, especially the latter. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians are 
 said indeed to have freighted their ships with these metals, and even to have formed 
 their anchors of them. On the subject of ancient mining in Spain a Spanish writer, 
 Don Nicasio Anton Valle, states as follows, on the testimony of the classical authors. 
 " The Emperor Vespasian obtained annually from Gallicia, the Asturias and Lusitania, 
 60,000_ lbs. of gold, as we are informed by Pliny, who extols the quantity of gold in 
 these sites, particularly in the Asturias. The silver of Spain was found in such quantity 
 that, according to the same author, Hannibal in a mine worked by him near Cartagena, 
 extracted daily a quantity which exceeded 30,000 reals (800/.) of our money. Cato 
 delivered into the treasury 25,000 lbs. of silver in bars and 120,000 in money, besides 
 400 lbs. of gold, all of which he had accumulated in Spain. Helvetius,- who was only 
 governor of Andalusia, delivered S'Z.OOO lbs. of silver in coin, and 40,000 lb». of silver in 
 bars." 
 
 On these ancient records of the production of the precious metals in Spain, I would 
 remark that there is no reason to doubt their correctness, both from the result of modern 
 discoveries of silver in that country, and the imperishable marks which Roman and 
 Carthaginian mining has left there. I have seen with astonishment the vast excavations 
 left by the ancients in the Sierra Almagrera and in the neighbourhood of Cartagena ; 
 while the enormous mounds of ancient scoria on the coast of the Mediterranean near the 
 above localities, show the extent and activity with which metallurgical operations were 
 carried on in the south of Spain. Within the last few years most of these mounds of 
 ancient scoria have been re 7 smelted, and with considerable profit. 
 
644 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 Passing from the time of the Romans, few records exist on the subject till the middls 
 of the 16th century, -when an attempt was made by Philip the Second to revise mining 
 industry in Spain. The precious metals were, at this time, chiefly sought after, and the 
 rich silver mines of Guadalcanal were discovered and worked in the Sierra Morena. 
 Silver mines were also discovered at Cazalla, at Galerosa, and other places in the same 
 range ; these are described as being very rich at the time, but they all appear to have 
 declined after a few years' working, and to have been abandoned about the end of the 
 16th or beginning of the ITth century. Of the mine of Guadalcanal very minute and 
 authentic records were preserved during the period it was worked on account of the 
 government. In these it is stated to have produced 400,223 marcs of silver in the first 
 twenty years after its discovery, and while worked by the state. After this period it 
 passed into the hands of the wealthy and celebrated family of the Fucares, who are said 
 to have obtained immense treasure from the mine previous to its being abandoned and 
 filling with water. 
 
 It is only within the last 15 or 16 years that Spain has again become a silver producing 
 country, several very rich mines of that metal having been discovered since the recent 
 revival of mining, which dates back only from 1825. In 1839 the celebrated mines of the 
 Sierra Almagrera, in the province of Almeria, were discovered, and they have ever since 
 poured a large amount of silver annually into circulation. 
 
 In 1843, another great discovery of silver was made— rthe mines of Hiendelencina in the 
 province of Guadalajara, which have since been very productive. Passing over more 
 recent and minor discoveries, I may state that within the last few years the introduction 
 of Mr. Pattinson's desilverizing process has been very general in the provinces of Murcia 
 and Almeria. A large quantity of silver is thus annually obtained from the slightly 
 argentiferous lead ores of the Sierra de Gador and of Cartagena, not formerly extracted, 
 but which now contributes to swell the production of this metal in Spain. 
 
 The following is a statement of the quantity of silver produced in the mineral districts 
 of the Sierra Almagrera and Murcia, during the years 1841 — 1847. As the quantity 
 furnished by the province of Murcia, chiefly the mines of Mazarron, was inconsiderable, 
 this statement may be looked upon as exhibiting very little more than the produce of 
 the Sierra Almagrera' — almost entirely obtained from the rich mines of the Barranco 
 Jaroso. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Silver, in mara* 
 
 
 1841 
 
 10,178 
 
 
 1842 
 
 56,675 
 
 
 1843 
 
 143,331 
 
 
 1844 
 
 159,285 
 
 
 1845 
 
 144,329 
 
 
 1846 
 
 135,141 
 
 
 1847 
 
 103,985 
 
 Total 
 
 in the seven years. 
 
 752,926 marcs. 
 
 Beyond the year 1847, I have not at hand any continuous statement of the produce of 
 the mines of the Sierra Almagrera, but it is certain that their richness and production 
 have declined considerably, partly on account of the lode becoming poorer below a certain 
 level, and partly from having met with water in depth, since which the bottom galleries 
 have necessarily been suspended. A steam-engine has however, at length, been erected 
 in the Barranco Jaroso, and it is possible that discoveries may now be made in the bottom 
 of the mine, which will again increase the extraction. The produce of the Almagrera 
 mines in the year 1850 was 40,596 marcs of silver, and has probably since then remained 
 about the same ; for although the rich mines of the Jaroso have continued to decline, 
 other discoveries have been made in the Sierra Almagrera, about two miles to the west- 
 ward, which will have contributed to keep up the former production of silver. 
 
 Of the produce of the mines of Hiendelencina, I have not seen any statement, but 
 although more uniform than that of the Sierra Almagrera, it has been considerably 
 inferior to it. 
 
 The lodes of the Sierra Almagrera run nearly north and south, and traverse finely 
 grained clay-slates and micaceous slates. The great lode of the.Jaroso mines is of ex- 
 traordinary size, being, in places, 6 or 8 yards, or even more in the width. The ores are 
 chiefly argentiferous galena, the chloride of silver occurring but rarely, at least in a sepa- 
 
 * The ounces havd been here omitted. 
 
SILVER. 
 
 646 
 
 rate Btate. The lodes of Hiendelencina run nearly east and west ; they seldom exceed 
 3 feet in width, and are properly silver lodes, as they produce the ores of silver, as 
 chlorides and sulphurets, but unmixed with any ores of lead. The Silver of the Sierra 
 Almagrera has been almost entirely exported to Marseilles — that of Hiendelencina is 
 sent to Madrid. The silver coinage of Spain has not been therefore by any means so 
 eonsiderable as might be inferred from her large production of that metal. It is stated, 
 however, that in the year 1860, the total quantity of silver coined in Spain, in the three 
 mints of Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville, amounted to the value of 27,780,819 reals, or, 
 in round numbers, about 280,000£ sterling ; the silver proceeded chiefly from the mines 
 of Hiendelencina and Sierra Almagrera, exclusive of course of the bar silver which was 
 exported. 
 
 Mr. B. H. Wilson, Consul for Peru, estimates the produce of the Peruvian mines at 
 about 6,210,000 dollars a-year; about 3,600,000 dollars of this amount are exported on 
 English, French, German, and Spanish account. 
 
 The whole annual production of Europe and Asiatic Russia, has been rated by 
 Humboldt at 292,000 marcs ; by other authorities, at 310,000; while at the beginning 
 of the present century, that of the Spanish colonies in America was 3,349,160 marcs, or 
 nearly twelve times as much. The sum total is 3,704,160 marcs, of 3609 grains troy 
 each ; which is nearly 1,900,000 lbs. avoirdupois ; that is, little less than 9000 tons. 
 
 The whole of the mines of the Zmeinsgorsk Circle have yielded an aggregate of 
 183,884,116 poods of ores, from which have been extracted 69,708 poods of silver, con- 
 taining a quantity of gold estimated at 1,900 poods. 
 
 We are indebted foe the following valuable tables to M. Michel Chevalier's JSemarki 
 on the Production, of the Precious Metals, translated by D. Forbes Campbell, Esq. 
 
 Comparative Table, showing the annual Produce (approximate Calculation) in value 
 of fine Gold and Silver, for 1846 and 1850, the former being Two Years before, the 
 latter Two Years after the Discovery of the Gold Mines in California. 
 
 
 1846. 
 
 1850. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Total. 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 £ 
 
 12,000,000 
 
 115,430, 
 
 382,901 
 
 252,407- 
 
 96,241 
 
 60,3517 
 
 145,5*5 
 
 289,068 
 
 £ 
 
 62,088 
 
 11,444 
 
 5,383,333 
 
 42,929 
 
 1,000,583 
 
 460.191 
 
 297,029 
 
 2,227 
 
 £ 
 
 12,062,088 
 
 126,874 
 
 5,766,234 
 
 295,336 
 
 1,096,824 
 
 520,548 
 
 442,614 
 
 '291,295 
 
 United States - - - 
 
 New Grenada - - - - 
 Peru - - - - 
 Bolivia - - - 
 Chili- 
 
 237,336 
 249,753 
 852,407 
 96,241 
 60,337 
 145,585 
 259,871 
 
 1,864 
 
 3,457,020 
 
 42,929 
 
 1,000,583 
 
 460,191 
 
 297,029 
 
 2,003 
 
 239,230 
 3,706,773 
 295,336 
 1,096,824 
 520,548 
 442,614 
 261,874 
 
 Total of North and 
 South America - 
 
 1,301,560 
 
 5,261,619 
 
 6,563,179 
 
 13,341,989 
 
 7,259,824 
 
 20,601,813 
 
 Russia - - - - 
 
 North Germany - - - - 
 
 Saxony ------ 
 
 Austria ----- . - 
 
 Piedmont - - - 
 
 United Kingdom - 
 
 Borneo - - ■ - - 
 
 Ava - - 
 
 Malacca ---,-- 
 
 Annan or Tonquin 
 Various countries* - 
 
 3,414,427 
 
 357 
 
 282,750. 
 17,841 
 2,498 
 
 203.900 
 305,900 
 100,000 
 72,240 
 63,719 
 30,585 
 50,975 
 
 167,831 
 
 32,346 
 
 138,022 
 
 198,200 
 
 280,654 
 
 7,444 
 
 ' 227,499 
 
 109,989 
 
 1,056 
 
 1,584 
 
 517 
 
 374 
 
 330 
 
 53,460 
 
 33,000- 
 
 3,582,258 
 
 32,346 
 
 138,379 
 
 198,200 
 
 . ,665,404 
 
 25,285 
 
 229,997 
 
 109,989 
 
 204,956 
 
 . 307,484 
 
 100,517 
 
 72,614 
 
 64,049 
 
 84,045 
 
 - 83,975 
 
 4,175,860 
 
 357 
 
 288,708 
 17,841 
 2,498 
 
 203,900 
 305,850 
 100,000 
 72,240 
 63,719 
 30,585 
 50,975 
 
 171,817 
 
 35,607 
 
 138.022 
 
 198,200 
 
 286,971 
 
 7,444 
 
 440,210 
 
 160,000 
 
 1,056 
 
 1,584 
 
 517 
 
 374 
 
 330 
 
 , 53,460 
 
 33,000 
 
 4,347,477 
 
 35,607 
 
 138,379 
 
 198,200 
 
 575,679 
 
 25,285 
 
 442,708 
 
 160,000 
 
 204,956 
 
 307.484 
 
 100,517 
 
 72,614 
 
 64,049 
 
 84,045 
 
 83,975 
 
 Total of Europe* 
 Afriea, and Asia - 
 
 Total of North and 
 South America - 
 
 4,545,192 
 1,301,560 
 
 1,254,306 
 5,261,619 
 
 5,799,498 
 6,563,179 
 
 5,312,533 
 13,341,989 
 
 1,528,592 
 7,259,824 
 
 6,840,975 
 20,601,813 
 
 Total 
 
 5,846,752 
 
 6,515,925 
 
 12,362,677 
 
 18,654,522 
 
 8,788,416 
 
 27,442,788 
 
 * Exclusive of China and Japan, which produce large quantities of gold and silver, the amjunt of 
 which is quite unknown to Europeans. 
 
 Note.— At the beginning of the 19th century, Baron Humboldt's estimate (Essav Politique, tome ii , 
 p. 033) of the annual produce of North and South America was 17,591 kilogrammes u 46,331 lbs. troy of 
 gold, and 795.581 kilogrammes— 2,131,770 lbs. of silver; value of both metals in dollars, 43,500.000 -= to 
 3,243,750?. ; the produce or Europe and Northern Asia at the same time was 4,916 lbs. of gold, 250,593*. ; 
 and 199,298 lbs. silver, 657,6832. Total value of the precious metals raised in America, Europe, and 
 Northern Asia. 10.l52.026i. 
 
646 
 
 SILVER. 
 
 The following table is similar to the above, with the exception that quantiies are 
 substituted for values. 
 
 ♦California- -.--..-.---- 
 United Slates 
 
 Mexico :— In 1846, by the gold washings, 980 lbs. 
 
 fine gold. 
 In 1846, by operation of parting, 3,920 lbs. fine 
 
 gold. 
 New Grenada : — Tn 1846, by the English Colom- 
 bian Gold Company. 343 lbs. line gold. 
 In 1850, by the English Marmato Gold Com- 
 pany, 576 lbs. flue gold, and 350 lbs. line silver. 
 
 Peru --- - 
 
 Bolivia ---.---.------. 
 
 Chili, in 1850, by the English Copiapo Company. 
 
 about 13 lbs. fine gold, and 7,000 lbs. fine silver • 
 ♦ Brazil:— In 1846, by the English St. John d'el' 
 
 Rey Gold Company, 1435 lbs. gold, containing 
 
 SO per cent, silver. 
 1850, by ditto, 2,517 lbs. gold, containing 20 per 
 
 cent, silver. 
 1846, by the English Imperial Brazilian Gold 
 
 Company, 314 lbs. gold, containing about 14 
 
 per cent, silver. 
 1850, by ditto, 379 lbs. gold, containing about 14 
 
 per cent, silver. 
 1846, by tbe English National Brazilian Gold 
 
 Company, 89 lbs. gold, containing about 14 per 
 
 cent, silver. 
 1850, by ditto, 120 lbs. gold, containing about 14 
 
 per cent, silver. 
 
 Total of North and South America - 
 Russia: — 1846, by private mines in the 
 
 Ural - - 
 Public ditto- - 
 Private, Siberia 
 Public ditto - - 
 
 - 8,125 lbs. 
 
 - 5,672 lbs. 
 
 - 57,235 lbs. 
 
 2,555 lbs. 
 
 9 per cent. ) 
 alloy. J 
 
 73,587 lbs. 
 
 Norway (Kongsberg silver mines) - 
 
 North Germany (Hartz Mountains) 
 
 Saxony --------------- 
 
 Austria, in 1846, by private mines, about 4,100 
 lbs. pure gold, and 34,400 lbs. pure silver. By 
 government mines, about 1,400 lbs. pure gold, 
 and 51,200 lbs. pure silver - -.------ 
 
 Piedmont' -,------.-- 
 
 Spain ---- -- --. . . 
 
 United Kingdom ---- - - 
 
 •Africa ----------- - - 
 
 ♦Borneo ----- -- - -. 
 
 •Ava ---------- 
 
 •Malacca- -•----..--.--. 
 
 'Sumatra -- ------.-. 
 
 Annan or Tonquin - - - - - - - 
 
 Various countries- - - - . - - - . . 
 
 Total of Europe, Africa, and Asia - - - - 
 Total of North and South America - - - 
 
 Grand Total - - - ... 
 
 1846. 
 
 Lbs. Troy. 
 4,625 
 
 4,954 
 
 1,888 
 1,184 
 
 5,096 
 
 25,503 
 
 5,549 
 350 
 49 
 
 4,000 
 6,000 
 1,961 
 1,420 
 1,250 
 600 
 1,000 
 
 89,171 
 25,503 
 
 114,674 
 
 Lbs, Troy. 
 565 
 
 1,047,582 
 
 13,009 
 
 303,207 
 139,452 
 
 90,009 
 
 607 
 
 1,594,431 
 
 50,858 
 
 41,825 
 60,606 
 
 85,653 
 
 2,256 
 
 68,953 
 
 33,330 
 
 320 
 
 480 
 
 157 
 
 113 
 
 100 
 
 16.200 
 
 10,000 
 
 384,653 
 1,594,431 
 
 1,979,084 
 
 1850.' 
 
 Lbs. Troy. 
 
 235,409 
 
 2,263 
 
 7,509 
 
 4,954 
 
 1,888 
 1,184 
 
 5,668 
 
 261,731 
 
 81,919 
 
 5,663 
 350 
 49 
 
 4,000 
 6,000 
 1,96! 
 1,420 
 1,250 
 60O 
 1,000 
 
 104,219 
 261,731 
 
 365,950 
 
 Lbs. Troy. 
 18,814 
 3,165 
 
 1,631,313 
 
 13,009 
 
 303,207 
 139,453 
 
 90,009 
 
 675 
 
 2,199,644 
 
 52,053 
 
 10,790 
 41,825 
 60,606 
 
 86,961 
 
 2,256 
 
 133,397 
 
 48,484 
 
 157 
 
 113 
 
 100 
 
 16,200 
 
 10,000 
 
 463,742 
 3,199,644 
 
 2,663,386 
 
 In 1801, the quantity of pure gold produced in America was 46,331 lbs. ; in Europe and Northern Asii. 
 (e S VL? Japan), 4,916 lbs. ; total produce, 51,247 lbs. — 55,910 lbs. British standard gold 
 
 In 1846, the quantity of pure gold produced in America was 25,503 lbs. ; in Europe, Africa, and Asia 
 (exclusive of China and Japan,) 89,171 lbs.; total produce, 114,674 lbs— 125,108 lbs. British standard 
 gold — 5,846, 77"-K. 
 
 In 1850, the quantity of pure gold produced in America was 261,731 lbs. ; in Europe, Africa, nnd Asia 
 (exclusive of China and Japan), 104,219 lbs.; total produce, 365,950 lbs. - 399,247 lbs. British standard 
 
 gold — 18,654,dSa». 
 
 • Those countries marked thus (•> have no silver mines at work ; the silver stated is estimated aa 
 having existed iu the native gold, to the average amount of 8 per cent. 
 
SILVER. 
 
 641 
 
 Total Production of the Silver and Gold Mines of America prior to the Discovery of the 
 Gold Mines of California. 
 
 Countries. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Total for each 
 Country - 
 
 in Millions of 
 Francs. 
 
 Weight in 
 Kilogramme?. 
 
 Value in 
 
 Millions of 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Weight in 
 Kilogrammes. 
 
 Value in 
 
 Millions of 
 
 Francs, 
 
 United States 
 
 Peru ( 
 Bolivia i 
 
 Chili- 
 
 61,985,522 
 259,774 
 
 56,765,244 
 1,040,184 
 
 13,774 
 58 
 
 13,059 
 251 
 
 22,125 
 389,269 
 566,748 
 
 340,393 
 
 1,342,300 
 250,142 
 
 76 
 1,341 
 1,952 
 
 1,172 
 
 4,623 
 862 
 
 76 
 15,115 
 2,010 
 
 14,231 
 
 4,623 
 1,093 
 
 Totals - - 
 
 122,050,724 
 
 27,122 
 
 2,940,977 
 
 10,026 
 
 37,148 
 
 Quantities of Gold and Silver supplied to the European Markets by the undermentioned 
 Countries during three Centuries ending in 1848. 
 
 Countries. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Weight in 
 Kilogrammes. 
 
 Value in 
 
 Millions of 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Weight in 
 Kilogrammes. 
 
 Value in 
 
 Millions of 
 
 Francs. 
 
 Europe, exclusive of Russia - - 
 
 Africa, and the Islands of the Malay Archi- 
 pelago, &c. ---------- 
 
 9.000,000 
 1,465,000 
 
 2,000 
 300 
 
 445,150 
 319,330 
 
 725,750 
 
 1,500 
 1,100 
 
 2,500 
 
 , 1 
 
 10,485,000 
 
 2,330 
 
 1,490,230 
 
 . 5,100 
 
 Gold and Silver produced in Forty Years, from 1790 to 1830. 
 
 Mexico, ..... 
 Buenos Ayres, ..... 
 
 — 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 £6,436,453 
 2,768,488 
 4,024,895 
 3,703,743 
 
 £139,818,032 
 
 1,822,924 
 
 27,182,673 
 
 ■ 1,502,981 
 
 Returns of the Dollars coined at the different Mints in Mexico. 
 
 Mexico 
 
 1829. 
 
 1830. 
 
 1831. 
 
 1834. 
 
 1,280,000 
 
 1,090,000 
 
 1,386,000 
 
 952,000 
 
 Guanajuato 
 
 2,406,000 
 
 2,560,000 
 
 2,603,000 
 
 2,703,000 
 
 Zacatecas 
 
 4,505,000 
 
 5,190,000 
 
 4,965,000 
 
 5,527,000 
 
 Guadalaxara - 
 
 596,000 
 
 592,000 
 
 590,000 
 
 715,000 
 
 Durango 
 
 659,000 
 
 453,000 
 
 358,000 
 
 1,215,000 
 
 San Luis 
 
 l,fc"'3,000 
 
 1,320,000 
 
 1,497,000 
 
 928,000 
 
 Ilalpan 
 Tatal 
 
 728,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 323,000 
 
 — 
 
 11,787,000 
 
 11,295,000 
 
 11,722,000 
 
 12,040,000 
 
 The English Mint silver contains 222 pennyweights of fine silver, and 18 of copper, in 
 the troy pound of 240 pennyweights : or 92-5 in 100 parts. 1 pound troy =t 5760 grains, 
 contains 65-8 shillings, each weighing 87-55 grains. The French silver coin contains 
 
648 SILVERING OP GLASS. 
 
 1 -tenth of copper, and a franc weighs 6 grammes=77'222 grains troy. The Prussian 
 dollar (thaler), is the standard coin ; 10J thaler weigh 1 marc ; hence 1 thaler weighs 
 S43 - 7 grains troy, and contains 2579 grains of fine silver; being 75 per cent, of silver 
 and 25 of alloy. The Austrian coin contains Jjb °f a ll°y> according to Wasserburg ; 
 Which is only 4J per cent. 
 
 SILVER LEAF is made in precisely the same way as gold leaf, to which article \ 
 must therefore refer the reader. 
 
 SILVEEING is the art of covering the surfaces of bodies with a thin film of silver. 
 When silver leaf is to be applied, the methods prescribed for gold leaf are suitable. 
 Among the metals, copper or brass are those on which the silverer most commonly 
 operates. Iron is seldom silvered ; but the processes for both metals are essentially the 
 same. 
 
 The principal steps of this operation are the following : — 
 
 1. The smoothing down the sharp edges, and polishing the surface of the copper; 
 called Imorfiler by the French artists. 
 
 2. The annealing ; or making the piece to be silvered red-hot, and then plunging it in 
 very dilute nitric acid, till it be bright and clean. 
 
 3. Pumicing ; or clearing up the surface with pumice-stone and waters 
 
 4. The warming, to such a degree merely as, when it touches water, it may make a 
 slight hissing sound ; in which state it is dipped in the very weak aquafortis, whereby it 
 acquires minute insensible asperities, sufficient to retain the silver leaves that are to be 
 applied. 
 
 5. The hatching. When these small asperities are inadequate for giving due solidity 
 to the silvering, the plane surfaces must be hatched all over with a graving tool ; but the 
 chased surfaces need not be touched. 
 
 6. The blueing consists in heating the piece till its copper or brass color changes to 
 blue. In heating, they are placed in hot tools made of iron, called mandrins in France. 
 
 7. The charging, the workman's term for silvering. This operation consists in placing 
 the silver leaves on the heated piece, and fixing. them to its surface by burnishers of 
 steel, of various forms. The workman begins by applying the leaves double. Should 
 any part darken in the heating, it must be cleared up by the scratch-brush. 
 
 The silverer always works two pieces at once ; so that he may heat the one while 
 burnishing the other. After applying two silver -leaves, he jnust heat up the piece to 
 the same degree as at first, and he then fixes on with the burnisher four additional leaves 
 of silver; and he goes on charging in the same way, 4 or 6 leaves at a time, till he 
 has applied, one over another, 30, 40, 50, or 60 leaves, according to the desired solidity 
 of (he silvering. He then burnishes down with great pressure and address, till he has 
 given the surface a uniform silvery aspect. 
 
 Silvering by the precipitated chloride of silver. — The white curd obtained by adding 
 a solution of common salt to one of nitrate of silver, is to be well washed and dried. 
 One part of this powder is to be mixed with 3 parts of good pearlash, one of washed 
 whiting, and one and a half of sea salt. After clearing the surface of the brass, it is to be 
 rubbed with a bit of soft leather, or cork moistened with water, and dipped in the above 
 powder. After the silvering, it should be thoroughly washed with water, dried, and 
 immediately varnished. Some use a mixture of 1 part of the silver precipitate with 10 
 of cream of tartar, and this mixture also answers very well. 
 
 Others give a coating of silver by applying with friction, in the moistened state, a mix- 
 ture of 1 part of silver-powder precipitated by copper, 2 parts of cream of tartar, and as 
 much common salt. The piece must be immediately washed in tepid water very faintly 
 alkalized, then in slightly warm pure water, and finally wiped dry before the fire. See 
 Plated Manufacture. ' 
 
 The inferior kinds of plated buttons get their silver coating in the following way s 
 
 2 ounces of chloride of silver are mixed up with 1 ounce of corrosive sublimate, 3 
 pounds of common salt, and 3 pounds of sulphate of zinc, with water, into a paste. 
 The buttons being cleaned, are smeared over with that mixture, and exposed to a mode- 
 rate degree of heat, which is eventually raised nearly to redness, so as to expel the mercury 
 from the amalgam, formed by the reaction of the horn silver and the corrosive sublimate. 
 The copper button thus acquires a silvery surface, which is brightened by clearing and 
 burnishing. 
 
 Leather is silvered by applying a coat of parchment size,- or spirit varnish, to the sur. 
 ace, and then the silver leaf, with pressure. 
 
 SILVERING OF GLASS. A coating of silver, not of tin amalgam as on common 
 mirrors, is deposited on glass by the following process of Mr. Drayton. The plate being 
 surrounded with a raised border of glazier's putty, is then covered with a solution of 
 nitrate of silver, with which a little alcohol, water of ammonia, as also oils of cassia and 
 cloves, have been mixed. The silver is precipitated by the re-action of the alcohol and 
 •Us in a metallic state. This method will serve to silver small irregular and polygonal 
 
SINGEING OP WEBS. 
 
 649 
 
 surfaces of glass very conveniently; tut the cost of the precious metal, 4c. will preclude 
 its application to large mirrors. 
 
 Mr. Drayton has patented a plan of making looking glasses and ornamental mirrors by 
 coating glass with silver instead of mercury. He makes a mixture of nitrate of silver 
 (1 oz.), with half an ounce of water of ammonia and 2 oz. of water, which nfter standing 
 for 24 hours is filtered ; (the deposit upon the filter, which is silver, being "preserved), 
 and an addition is made thereto of 3 oz. of spirit, (by preference of spirit of wine), at 
 60° above proof, or wood-spirit ; from 20 to 30 drops of oil of cassia are then added, and 
 after remaining for about 6 hours longer, the solution is ready for use. The glass to be 
 silvered with this mixture must have a clean and polished surface; it is to be placed in a 
 horizontal position, and a wall of putty or other suitable material formed round it; so 
 that the solution may cover the surface of the glass, to the depth of from an eighth to a 
 quarter of an inch. After the solution has been poured on the glass, from 6 to 12 drops 
 of a mixture of oil of cloves and spirit of wine, (in the proportion of one part by measure 
 of oil of cloves to three of spirit of wine), are dropped into it at different places, or the 
 diluted oil of cloves may be mixed with the solution before it is poured on the glass ; the 
 more oil of cloves is used, the more rapid will be the decomposition of the silver, but it 
 is preferable to effect it in 2 hours at soonest. When that has taken place, the solution 
 is poured off, and as soon as the silver on the glass is quite dry, it is varnished with a 
 composition formed by melting together equal parts of bee's wax and tallow. The solu- 
 tion after being poured off is allowed to stand for 3 or 4 days in a close vessel ; as it still 
 contains silver, it may again be employed after filtration, and the addition of a sufficient 
 supply of fresh ingredients to replace those which have been used. The patentee 6tates 
 that he has found that about 18 grains of nitrate of silver are needed for each square 
 foot of glass ; but the quantity of spirit varies, from evaporation, with the temperature 
 of the air and the duration of the process. 
 
 If the glass be placed in an inclined or even .in a vertical position, and the surface 
 covered over, leaving a narrow space for the solution between the surface of the glass 
 and the cover which fits close, then by using spirit without water iu the mixture, the 
 object will be accomplished. The colour of the silver may be varied by adding a little 
 oil of thyme or carui. 
 
 Oil of cassia varies much in quality as found in different shops ; and if when mixed 
 with the solution, it becomes flaky, the solution must be filtered before being applied 
 to use. 
 
 SILVERSMITH'S STRIPPING LIQUID, consists of 8 parts of sulphuric acid and 
 . 1 part of nitre. 
 
 SIMILOR, is a golden-coloured variety of brass. 
 
 SINGEING OF WEBS. The old furnace for singeing cotton goods is represented 
 in longitudinal section, Jig. 1299., and in a transverse one in jig. 1300. a is the fire- 
 
 door , 6, the grate ; c, the ashpit ; d, a ^ue, 6 inches broad, and 2£ high, over which a hol- 
 low semi-cylindrical mass of cast-iron j, is laid, one inch thick at the sides, arid %\ thick 
 at the top curvature. The flame passes along the fire flue d, into a side opening /, 
 in the chimney. The goods are swept swiftly over this ignited piece of iron, with con- 
 siderable friction, by means, of a wooden roller, and a swing frame for raising them at any 
 moment out of contact. 
 
 In some shops, semi-cylinders of copper, three quarters of an inch thick, have been sub- 
 stituted for those of iron, in singeing goods prior to bleaching them. The former last 
 three months, and do 1500 pieces with one ton of coal ; while the latter, which are an 
 inch and a half thick, wear out in a week, and do no more than from 500 to 600 pieces 
 with the same weight of fuel. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1818, Mr. Samuel Hall enrolled the specification of a 
 patent for removing the downy fibres of the cotton thread from the interstices of bobbi- 
 aei lace, or muslins, which he effected by singeing the lace with the flame of « gas- 
 
650 
 
 SINGEING OF WEBS. 
 
 burner. The second patent granted to Mr. Hall, in April, 1823, is for an improvement 
 in the above process ; viz., causing a strong current of air to draw the flame of the gae 
 through the interstices of the lace, as it passes over the burner, by means of an aperture 
 in a tube placed immediately above the row of gas-jets, 'which tube communicates witk 
 an air-pump or exhauster. 
 
 Fig, 1301. shows the construction of the apparatus complete, and manner in which it 
 operates ; a, a, is a gas-pipe, supplied by an ordinary gasometer ; from this rjine, several 
 
 1301 
 
 small ones extend upwards to the long burner 5, 6. This burner is a horizontal tuoe, 
 perforated with many small holes oh the upper side, through which, as jets, the gas 
 passes; and when it is ignited, the bobbinet lace, or other material intended to be singed, 
 is extended and drawn rapidly over the flame, by means of rollers, which are not shown 
 in the figure. 
 
 The simple burning of the gas, even with a draught chimney, as in the former specifi- 
 cation, is found not to be at all times efficacious ; the patentee, therefore, now introduces 
 a hollow tube c, c, wjth a slit or opening, immediately over the row of burners ; and this ' 
 tube, by means of the pipes d, d, d, communicates with the pipe e, e, e, which leads to the 
 exhausting apparatus. 
 
 This exhausting apparatus consists of two tanks,/ and g, nearly rilled with water, 
 and two inverted boxes or vessels, h and i, which are suspended by rods to the vibrating 
 beam 7c ; each of the boxes is furnished with a valve opening upwards ; 7, 7, are pipes 
 extending from the horizontal part of the pipe e, up into the ,boxes or vessels h and i, 
 which pipes have valves at their tops, also opening upward. When the vessel h de- 
 scends, the water in the tank forces out the air contained within the vessel at the valve 
 m ; but when that vessel rises again, the valve m being closed, the air is drawn from 
 the pipe c, through the pipe /. The same takes place in the vessel i, from which the 
 nr in its descent is expelled through the valve n, and, in its ascent, draws the air 
 through the pipe I, from the pipe e. By these means, a partial exhaustion is effected 
 in the pipe e, c, and the tube c, c ; to supply which, the air rushes with considerable 
 force through the long opening of the tube c, c, and carries with it the flame of the 
 gas-burners. The bobbinet lace, or other goods, being now drawn over the flame 
 between the humeri, 6, and the exhausted tube c, c, by means of rollers, as above said, 
 the flame of the gas is forced through the interstices of the fabric, and all the fine 
 filaments and loose fibres of the thread are burnt off, without damaging the substance of 
 the goods. 
 
 To adjust the draught from the gas-burners, there are stopcocks introduced into several 
 of the pipes d; and to regulate the action of the exhausting apparatus, an air vessel o, is 
 suspended by a cord or chain passing over pulleys, and balanced by a weight p. There 
 is also a scraper introduced into the tube c, which is made, by any convenient contrivance, 
 to revolve and slide backwards and forwards, for the purpose of removing any light mat- 
 ter that may arise from the goods singed, and which would otherwise obstruct the air 
 passage. Two of these draught tubes c, may be adapted and united to the exhausting 
 apparatus, when a double row of burners is employed, and the inclination of the flame 
 may be directed upwards, downwards, or sideways, according to the position of the slit 
 in the draft lube, by which means any description of goods may, if required, he singed on 
 both sides at one operation. 
 The greater part of the bobbinet lace made in England, is sent to Mr. Hall's works, 
 
SLATES. 681 
 
 ftt Basford, near Nottingham, to be singed; and at a reduction of prices truly wonderful 
 He receives now only one farthing for what he originally was paid one shilling. 
 
 SIZING OF PAFER. See Paper. . 
 
 SKIN (Peau, Fr. ; Haut, Germ.), the external membrane of animal bodies, consists of 
 three layers : I. the epidermis, scarf-skin, (Oberhaut, Germ.) ; 2. the vascular organ, or 
 papillary body, which performs the secretions; ard 3. the true skin, (Lederhaut, Germ.), 
 of which leather is made. The skin proper, or dermoid substance, is a tissue of innumer- 
 able very delicate fibres, crossing each other in every possible direction, with small 
 orifices between them, which are larger on its internal than on its external surface. The 
 conical channels thus produced are not straight, but oblique, and filled with cellular mem- 
 brane ; they receive vessels and nerves which pass out through the skin (cutis vera), and 
 are distributed upon the secretory organ. The fibrous texture of the skin is composed 
 of the same animal matter as the serous membranes, the cartilages, and the cellular 
 tissue ; the whole possessing the property of dissolving in boiling water, and being, there- 
 by, converted into glue. See Glue, Leather, and Tan. 
 
 SLAG (Laitier, Fr. ; Schlacke, Germ.), is the vitreous mass which covers the fused 
 metals in the smelling-hearlhs. In the iron-works it is commonly called cinder. Slags 
 consist, in general, of bi-silicates of lime and magnesia, along with the oxydes of iron 
 and other metals ; being analogous in composition, and having the same crystalline form 
 as the mineral, pyroxene. See Copper and Ikon. 
 
 SLATES ^Srdoises, Fr. ; Schiefern, Germ.) The substances belonging to this class 
 may be distributed into the following species : — 
 
 1. Mica-slate, occasionally used for co- 5. Drawing-slate, or black chalk. 
 
 vering houses. 6. Adhesive slate. 
 
 2. Clay-slate, the proper roofing-slate. 7. Bituminous shale. 
 
 3. Whet-slate. 8. Slate-clay. 
 
 4. Polishing-slate. 
 
 1. Mica-slate. — This is a mountain rock of vast continuity and extent, of a schistose 
 texture, composed of the minerals mica and quartz, the mica being generally pre- 
 dominant. 
 
 2. Clay-slate. — This substance is closely connected with mica j so that uninterrupted 
 transitions may be found between these two rocks in many mountain chains. It is a 
 simple schistose mass, of a bluish-gray or grayish-black color, of various shades, and a 
 shining, somewhat pearly internal lustre on the faces, but of a dead color in the cross 
 fracture. 
 
 Clay-slate is extensively distributed in Great Britain. It skirts the Highlands of 
 Scotland, from Lochlomond by Callender, Comrie, and Dunkeld ; resting on, and 
 gradually passing into mica-slate throughout the whole of that territory. Roofing- 
 slate occurs, on the western side of England, in the counties of Cornwall and Devon ; 
 in various parts of North Wales and Anglesea j in the north-east parts of Yorkshire, 
 near Ingleton, and in Swaledale ; as also in the counties of Cumberland and Westmore- 
 land. It is likewise met with in the county of Wicklow and other mountainous districts 
 of Ireland. 
 
 All the best beds of roofing-slate improve in quality as they lie deeper under the su? 
 face ; near to which, indeed, they have little value. 
 
 A good roofing-slate should split readily into thin even lamina; ; it should not be 
 absorbent of water either on its face or endwise, a property evinced by its not increasing 
 perceptibly in weight after immersion in water ; and it should be sound, compact, and 
 not apt to disintegrate in the air. The slate raised at Eisdale, on the west coast of 
 Argyllshire, is very durable. 
 
 Cleaving and dressing of the slates. — The splitter begins by dividing the block, cut 
 lengthwise, to a proper size, which he rests on end, and steadies between his knees. He 
 uses a mallet and a chisel, which he introduces into the stone in a direction parallel tc 
 'lie folia. By this means he reduces it into several manageable pieces, and he gives to 
 each the requisite length, by cutting cross grooves on the flat face, and then striking the 
 slab with the chisel. It is afterwards split into thinner sections, by finer chisels dex- 
 terously applied to the edges. The slate is then dressed to the proper shape, by being 
 laid on a block of wood, and having its projecting parts at the ends and sides cut otf 
 with a species of hatchet or chopping-knife. It deserves to be noticed, that blocks of 
 slate may lose their property of divisibility into thin laminse. This happens from long 
 exposure to the air, after they have been quarried. The workmen say, then, that they 
 have lost their waters. For this reason, the number of splitters ought to be always 
 proportioned to the number of block-hewers. Frost renders the blocks more fissile ; 
 but a supervening thaw renders them quite refractory. A new frost restores the faculty 
 of splitting, though not to the same degree ; and the workmen therefore avail themselves 
 
652 SMELTING 
 
 of it without delay. A succession of frosts and thaws renders the quarried Blocks quits 
 intractable. 
 
 3. Whet-slate, or Turlcey hone, is a slaty rock, containing a great proportion of quartz, 
 in which the component particles, the same as in clay-slate and mica-slate, but in dif- 
 ferent proportions, are so very small as to be indiscernible. 
 
 4. Polishing slate. Color, cream-yellow, in alternate stripes ; massive ; composition 
 impalpable ; principal fracture, slaty, thin, and straight : cross fracture, fine earthy ; feels 
 fine, but meager; adheres little, if at all, to the tongue; is very soft, passing into 
 friable ; specific gravity in the dry state, 0-6 ; when imbued with moisture, 1-9. It is 
 supposed to have been formed from the ashes of burnt coal. It is found at Planitz, 
 near Zwickau, and at Kutschlin near Bilin in Bohemia. 
 
 5. Dravring-slate. or black chalk ; has a grayish-black color ; is very soft, sectile, 
 easily broken, and adheres slightly to the tongue; spec. grav. 2-11. The streak is 
 glistening. It occurs in beds in primitive and transition clay-slate ; also in secondary 
 formations, as in the coal-measures of most countries. It is used in crayon drawing. 
 Its trace upon paper is regular and black. The best kinds are found in Spain, Italy, and 
 France. Some good black chalk occurs also in Caernarvonshire and in the island of Islay. 
 
 6. jldhesive slate, has a light greenish-gray color, is easily broken or exfoliated, has 
 a shining streak, adheres strongly to the tongue, and absorbs water rapidly, with the 
 emission of air-bubbles and a crackling sound. 
 
 7.' Bituminous shale, is a species of soft, sectile slate-clay, much impregnated with 
 bitumen, which occurs in the coal-measures. 
 
 8. Slate-clay, has a gray or grayish-yellow color ; is massive, with a dull glimmer- 
 ing lustre from spangles of mica interspersed. Its slaty fracture approaches at times to 
 earthy ; fragments, tabular ; soft, sectile, and very frangible ; specific gravity, 2-6. It 
 adheres to the tongue, and crumbles down when immersed for some time in water. It 
 is found as an alternating bed in the coal-measures. (See the sections of the strata 
 under Pitcoal.) When breathed - upon, it emits a strong argillaceous odor. When 
 free from lime and iron, it forms an excellent material for making refractory fire-bricks, 
 being an infusible compound of alumina and silica ; one of the best examples of which 
 is the schist known by the name of Stourbridge clay. 
 
 SLIDES. The name given by' the Cornish miners to clay veins of more modern 
 formation. 
 
 SMALL WARES, is the name given in this country to textile articles of the tape 
 kind, narrow bindings of cotton, linen, silk, or woollen fabric; plaited sash cord, braid, 
 &c Tapes are woven upon a loom like that for weaving ribbons, which is now gene- 
 rally driven by mechanical power. Messrs. Worthington and Mulliner obtained a patent, 
 in June, 1825, for improvements in such a loom, which have answered the purposes of 
 their large factory in Manchester very well; and in May, 1831, Mr. Whitehead, of the 
 same town, patented certain improvements in the manufacture of small wares. The 
 objects of the latter patent are, the regular taking up of the tape or cloth, as it is 
 woven, a greater facility of varying thai vibration of the lay, together with the saving of 
 room required for a range of looms to stand in* See Braiding Machine. 
 
 SMALT, see Azure and Cobalt. 
 
 SMELTING, is the operation by which the ores of iron, copper, lead, &c, are reduced 
 to the metallic state. See Metallurgy, Ores, and the respective metals. 
 
 Smelting of lead, by H. X. Pattinson, Esq. F.R.8. — The process of smelting may 
 be most conveniently described under four heads, viz : — 
 
 Roasting of the Ore. 
 
 Smelting in the Ore Hearth. 
 
 Smelting in the Slag Hearth. 
 
 Smelting of Hearth Ends and Smelters' Fume. 
 
 Roasting of the Ore. — The process of roasting is nothing more than heating the ore to 
 a proper temperature in a reverberatory furnace, during which it undergoes a change, by 
 the partial expulsion or acidification of the sulphur it contains, which renders it after- 
 wards more easily reducible. 
 
 The manner of conducting the process of roasting is the same in all cases. The proper 
 charge of ore is spread evenly over the bed of the furnace to the depth of two or three 
 inches, and the fire is at first pushed moderately, during which the ore is frequently 
 turned and stirred, in order that the whole may be uniformly heated, but care is to be 
 taken that no part is prematurely fused. If the fire is judiciously managed, the charge 
 gradually attains a dull red heat— a greater heat is then given, and the ore vigorously 
 stirred, when, in a little time, it begins to feel soft and adhere slightly to the tool 
 in which state it is withdrawn from the furnace. The roasting process is conducted in the 
 best manner, when great care is taken to apply the heat very gently at first, to keep, by 
 
 * Nowton's London Journal, vol. xliL o. 192 : and vol. 1. Combined Series, p. 2:8. 
 
SMELTING. 653 
 
 constant stirring and change of place, the temperature of the -whole charge as uniform a» 
 possible, and to withdraw it at the proper time from the furnace. 
 
 After the furnace is properly heated and working, two Winchester bushels, or about 
 1^- cwt. avoirdupois, of free coal, are required to roa9t one bing of ore ; but some varieties 
 of ore can bo more easily reduced into the pasty state, mentioned above, than others; 
 that is, they fuse at a lower degree of heat, and this in proportion to their purity. The 
 least fusible ores are generally the most difficult to smelt, and undergo the greatest loss 
 in that operation. It is well known that a considerably greater produce of lead can ho 
 obtained from the same ore after being properly roasted, than before. This difference is 
 of course variable, but in some instances, 20 bings of roasted ore have yielded 8 or 9 cwt. 
 more lead than 20 bings of the same ore smelted in its raw state. 
 
 At nearly all smelting mills long horizontal chimneys or flues are constructed (generally 
 on the slope of an adjacent hill if practicable), which the smoke from the various pro- 
 cesses of smelting is made to traverse before it escapes into the atmosphere. As the heat 
 of the furnace in roasting, if incautiously applied, may volatilize a portion of the ore, and 
 the draught has a tendency to draw along with it some of the smaller particles, the fume 
 from the roasting furnace is conveyed into this flue, where the heavy metallic portion is 
 deposited. • 
 
 Smelting in the Ore Hearth. — The furnace in which the roasted ore is reduced into lead 
 is called an ore hearth. Its construction is almost exactly the same in all smelting houses 
 in the north of England, and seems to have undergone but little alteration from a very 
 remote period. It may be briefly described as a square furnace, close on three of its 
 sides, and open towards the bottom of the fourth. Immediately in front of this opening 
 is placed a sloping cast-iron plate, the upper edge of which is 4^ inches above the bottom 
 of the furnace, forming a reservoir of that depth, in which the reduced lead accumulates, 
 and out of which it flows, through a channel in the plate, into a pot below, after the 
 reservoir becomes full. 
 
 In. proceeding to smelt by means of an ore hearth, two workmen are required to be in 
 attendance from the beginning to the end of each smelting shift, the duration of which is 
 from 12 to 15 hours. The first step in commencing a smelting shift is to fill up the 
 hearth-bottom, and space below the workstone with peats, placing one already kindled 
 before the nozzle of the bellows. The powerful blast very soon sets the whole in a blaze, 
 and by the addition of small quantities of coal at intervals, a body of fire is obtained fill- 
 ing the hearth. Roasted ore is now put upon the surface of the fire, between the fore- 
 stone and pipestone, which immediately becomes heated red hot and reduced ; the lead 
 from it sinking down and collecting in the hearth bottom. Other portions of ore of 10 
 or 12 lbs. each are introduced from time to time, and the contents of the hearth are stirred 
 and kept open, being occasionally drawn out and examined upon the workstone, until 
 the hearth-bottom becomes full of lead. The hearth may now be considered in its regular 
 working state, having a mass of heated fuel, mixed with partly fused and semi-reduced 
 ore, called Brouze, floating upon a stratum of melted lead. The smelting shift is then 
 regularly proceeded with by the two workmen, as follows : — The fire being made up, a 
 stratum of ore is spread upon the horizontal surface of the bronze, and the whole suffered 
 to remain exposed to the blast for the space of about five, minutes. At the end of that 
 time, one man plunges a poker into the fluid lead, in the hearth bottom below the brouzs, 
 and raises the whole up, at different places, so as to loosen and open the brouze, and in 
 doing so, to pull a part of it forwards upon the workstone, allowing the recently added 
 ore to sink down into the body of the hearth. The poker is now exchanged for a shovel, 
 with a head 6 inches square, with which the brouze is examined upon the workstone, and 
 any lumps that may have been too much fused, broken to pieces ; those which are so far, 
 agglutinated by the heat, as to be quite hard, and further known by their brightness, 
 being picked out, and thrown aside, to be afterwards smelted in the slag hearth. They 
 are called "grey slags." A little slaked lime, in powder, is then spread upon the brouze, 
 which has been drawn forward upon the workstone, if it exhibit a pasty appearance ; and 
 a portion of coal is added to the hearth, if necessary, which the workman knows by ex- 
 perience. In the mean time, his fellow workman, or shoulder fellow, clears the opening, 
 through which the blast passes into the hearth, with a shovel, and places a peat immedi- 
 ately above it, which he holds in its proper situation, until it is fixed, by the return of 
 all the brouze, from the workstone into the hearth. The fire is made up again into the 
 shape before described, a stratum of fresh ore spread upon the part, and the operation ot 
 stirring, breaking the lumps upon the workstone, and picking out the hard slags repeated, 
 after the expiration of a few minutes, exactly in the same manner. At every stirring a 
 fresh peat is put above the nozzle of the bellows, which divides the blast, and causes it 
 to be distributed all over the hearth ; and as it burns away into light ashes, an opening i3 
 left for the blast to issue freely into the body of the brouze. The soft and porous nature 
 of dried peat moss renders it very suitable for this purpose ; but, in some instances, where 
 a deficiency of peats has occurred, blocks of wood of the same size have been used with 
 
654 SMELTING. 
 
 little disadvantage. As the smelting proceeds, the reduced lead, filtering down through' 
 all parte of the brouze into the hearth bottom, flows through the channel out of which it 
 is laded into a proper mould, and formed into pigs. 
 
 The principal particulars to be attended to in managing an ore hearth properly, during 
 the smelting shift, are these: First. — It is very important to employ a proper blast, 
 which should be carefully regulated, so as to be neither too weak, nor too powerful Too 
 weak a blast would not excite the requisite heat to reduce the ore, and one too powerful 
 has the effect of fusing the contents of the hearth into slags. In this particular no cer- 
 tain rules can be given ; for the same blast is not suitable for every variety of ore. Soft 
 free-grained galena, of great specific gravity, being very fusible, and easily reduced, re- 
 quires a moderate blast; while the harder and lighter varieties, many of which contain 
 more or less iron, and are often found rich in silver, require a blast considerably stronger. 
 In all cases, it is most essential, that the blast should be no more than sufficient to reduce 
 the ore, after every other necessary precaution is taken in working the hearth. Second. 
 — The blast should be as much divided as possible, and made to pass through every part 
 of the brouze. Third. — The hearth should be vigorously stirred, at due intervals, and 
 part of its contents exposed upon the workstone ; when the partially fused lumps should 
 be well broken to pieces, and those which are further vitrified, so as to form slags, carefullj 
 picked out. This breaking to pieces, and exposure of the hottest part of the brouze upon 
 the workstone, has a most beneficial effect in promoting its reduction into lead ; for the 
 atmospherical air immediately acts upon it, and, in that heated state, the sulphur is readily 
 consumed, or converted into sulphureous acid, leaving the lead in its metallic state ; hence 
 it is that the reduced lead always flows most abundantly out of the hearth, immediately 
 after the return of the brouze, which has been spread out and exposed to the atmosphere. 
 Fourth.— The quantity of lime used should be no more than is just necessary to thicken 
 the brouze sufficiently ; as it does not, in the least, contribute to reduce the ore by any 
 chemical effect : its use is merely to render the brouze less .pasty, if from the heat being 
 too great, or from the nature of the ore, it has a disposition to become very soft. Fifth. — 
 Coal should be also supplied judiciously ; too much unnecessarily increasing the bulk of the 
 brouze, and causing the hearth to get too full. 
 
 When the ore is of a description to smelt readily, and the hearth is well managed in 
 every particular, it works with but a small quantity of brouze, which feels dry when 
 stirred, and is easily kept open and permeable to the blast. The reduction proceeds 
 rapidly with a moderate degree of heat, and the slags produced are inconsiderable ; but, 
 if in this state, the stirring of the brouze and exposure upon the workstone are discon- 
 tinued, or practised at longer intervals, the hearth quickly gets too hot, and immediately 
 begins to agglutinate together; rendering evident the necessity of these operations to the 
 successful management of the process. It is not difficult to understand why these effects 
 take place, when it is considered, that in smelting by means of the ore hearth, it is the 
 oxygen of the blast and the atmosphere which principally accomplishes the reduction ; 
 and the point to be chiefly attended to consists in exposing the ore to its action, at the 
 proper temperature, and under the most favourable circumstances. The importance of 
 having the ore free from impurities is also evident ; for all the stony or earthy matter it 
 contains impedes the smelting process, and increases the quantity of slags. A very slight 
 difference of composition of perfectly dressed ore may readily be understood to affect its 
 reducihility ; and hence it is, that ore from different veins, or the same vein in different 
 strata, as before observed, is frequently found to work very differently when smelted 
 6ingly in the hearth. It happens, therefore, that with the best workmen, some varieties 
 of ore require more coal and lime, and a greater degree of heat, than others ; and it is 
 . for this reason that the forestone is made moveable, so as either to answer for ore which 
 works with a large or small quantity of brouze. 
 
 It has been stated that the duration of a smelting shift is from 12 to 15 houra, at the 
 end of which time, with every precaution, the hearth is apt to become too hot, and it is 
 necessary to stop for some time, in orajr that it may cool. At mills where the smelting 
 shift-is 12 hours, the hearths usually go on 12 hours, and are suspended 5 ; four and a 
 half or five bings of ore (36 to 40 cwt.) are smelted during a shift, and the two men 
 who manage the hearth, each work four shifts per week ; terminating their week's work 
 at 3 o'clock on "Wednesday afternoon. They are succeeded by two other workmen, who 
 also work four 12 hour shifts ; the last of which they finish at 4 o'clock on Saturday. 
 In these eight shifts, from 36 to 40 bings of ore are smelted, which, when of good qual- 
 ity, produce from 9 to 10 fodders of lead. At other mills where the shift is 14 or 15 
 hours, the furnace is kindled at 4 o'clock in the morning, and worked until 6 or 7 in the 
 evening, each day, six days in the week ; during this shift, 5 or 5| bings of ore are 
 smelted, and two men at one hearth, in the early part of each week, work three such 
 shifts, producing about 4 fodders of lead— two other men work each 8 shifts in the lattei 
 part of the week, making the total quantity smelted per week, in one hearth, from 30 to 
 83 bings. Almost at every smelting mill a different mode of working, in point of time 
 
SMELTING. 
 
 654 
 
 »nd quantity, is pursued ; in some cases the quantity of ores melted in one hearth, in a 
 week, by tour men, is 40 bings ; but a fair rate of working is from 30 to 35 bings per 
 
 The quantity of coal required to smelt a fodder of lead, as has been already stated, 
 varies -with the quality of the ore. When this latter is of moderate goodness, 8 Winches- 
 ter bushels, or 6 cwt. avoirdupois, are sufficient to smelt 18 or 20 bings; but -when the 
 a r f 1 i S > r w- aC i° ry ' the 1 uantit . v required is very considerably greater. In general, from 
 S to 12 Winchester bushels of coal, or from 6 to 9 cwt., are consumed during four smelt- 
 ! ng K S ? j5 12 rS each ' and ' as the 1 uantit y of ^ad made during this time is from 4| 
 to 5 fodders, the coal consumed is after the rate of from 1£ to 2 cwt. per fodder. The 
 quantity of peats used in the same time is about four small cart li^ds, beiho- something 
 less than a cart load per fodder of lead. The lime expended is about 12 Winchester 
 bushels, or something below 3 bushels per fodder of lead. 
 
 Smelting in the Slag Hearth.— The slags picked out of the brouze during the process 
 of ore hearth smelting are subjected to another operation, in what is called a slag hearth. 
 It is simply a square furnace, open towards the bottom of the front side. Its dimensions 
 • are various, but a common size is 26 inches from back to front, 22 inches broad, and 36 
 inches deep, inside measure. The blast enters through the back wall, about 12 or 14 
 inches from the top, and below this, as the heat is inconsiderable, the sides of the furnace 
 are usually made of cast iron (at working smelting-houses old bearers, or other worn 
 parts of ore hearths, are economically used), but above the blast, where the heat is 
 intense, the sides^ are formed of the most refractory firestone or firebrick. A cast-iron 
 plate, 2 inches thick, placed at a slight slope outwards, forms the bottom of the hearth. 
 A cast-iron pan, a peculiar form, is placed opposite to the opening in front, one lip of 
 which is made to project inwards towards the furnace, and to extend a little below the 
 sloping bottom of the hearth. This pan is divided with two compartments, by an iron 
 partition, reaching nearly to its bottom, and is kept hot by a small fire underneath. Below 
 the front of this pan, a square pit, 6 or 8 feet long, and 4 or 6 feet broad and deep, is dug. 
 Pipes to convey water are laid to this pit, by which it can be kept constantly filled to 
 within a few inches of the top, when the hearth is at work. 
 
 The only fuel used at the slag hearth is coke, and the method of working it is as 
 follows : — 
 
 The larger division of the iron pan, and the whole space of the hearth below the orifice 
 through which the blast enters, is filled with cinders of a moderate size, generally 
 obtained from below the grate of an adjacent reverberatory furnace. Upon the top of 
 these cinders, and opposite to the nozzle of the bellows, a kindled peat is placed, and the 
 whole of the upper part of the hearth is filled with peat and coal, which is continually 
 supplied, with the addition of coke as the fire gets hotter, until an intense heat is pro- 
 duced, and a body of fuel obtained, filling the upper part of the hearth. Some of the 
 grey slags from the smelting hearth, unbroken, as picked out of the brouze, are now 
 thrown upon the top, or rather round the edges of the fire, which fuses them rapidly into 
 a liquid glass, and any lead they contain is set at liberty ; the blast at the same time 
 tending to reduce any particles of ore which may have escaped the action of the ore 
 hearth. The lead and the melted glass both sink down through the porous mass of cin- 
 ders placed m the lower part of the hearth; the lead descending more rapidly, both on 
 account of its greater tenuity and superior specific gravity, very soon collects below the 
 cinders, in the metal pan placed to receive it, and filtering through, is obtained without 
 much impurity, out of which it is cast into pigs. The thick fluid glass, called black 
 slag, after reaching the cast-iron bottom of the furnace, having cooled and thickened 
 a little, does not sink further, but is made to issue through a small taphole, and flow 
 over the cinders placed in the pan, running into the pit filled with water in a continued 
 stream. By falling while hot into cold water, the black slag is granulated, and, as 
 small particles of lead may be carried over with it, through inattention on the part of 
 the workman, or otherwise, the granulated slags are carefully washed at most smelting 
 mills before being thrown away. According to Dr. Thompson {Ann. Phil. vol. iv.) these 
 slags consist of silex, lime, and oxide of iron, with some alumina, oxide of antimony, and 
 oxide of lead. Their composition must, however, be various, depending upon the 
 nature of the ore from which they are produced; in all cases they are formed from the 
 earthy matter contained in the ore and coal, which the metallic oxides convert into a 
 glass. 
 
 In working a slag hearth, the workman's attention is principally required to supply - 
 gray slag and fuel as it is melted down and consumed, to keep the nozzle of the bellows'' 
 clear, and to guard against the metallic lead running along with the slag into the pit of 
 water. 
 
 Two men are generally employed to work a slag hearth, but, at some mills, a man and 
 a boy are deemed sufficient; the attention of one is whollv given to the fire, while the 
 :ther supplies coke and gray slag. The length of a shift is 14 or 16 hours, during which 
 
656 SMELTING. 
 
 the quantity of lead made varies from 10 to 21 cwt., according to the nature of the slag 
 20 to 24 bushels of coke are required to produce one fodder of lead. The quantity of 
 slag lead made in smelting, as may be conceived, is considerably greater in poor and 
 refractory than in rich and free-running ores, but, it may be stated generally at one- 
 thirteenth of the lead yielded at the smelting hearth, so that it is usual to reckon, in largo 
 transactions, 13 twelve-stone pigs of common lead, and 1 of slag lead, to the fodder. 
 
 Hearth Ends and Smelter's Fume. — In the operation of smelting, as already described, 
 it happens that particles of unreduced and semi-reduced ore are continually expelled from , 
 the hearth, partly by the force of the blast, but principally by the decrepitation of the 
 ore on the application of heat. This ore is mixed with a portion of the fuel and lime 
 made use of in smelting, all of which are deposited upon the top of the smelting hearth, 
 and are called hearth-ends. It is customary to remove the hearth-ends from time to time, 
 and deposit them in a convenient place until the end of the year, or some shorter period, 
 when they are washed to get rid of the earthy matter they may contain, and the metallic 
 portion is roasted at a strong heat, until it begins to soften and cohere into lumps, and 
 afterwards smelted in the ore hearth, exactly in the same way as ore undergoing that 
 operation, for the first time, already described. 
 
 It is difficult to state what quantity of hearth-ends are produced by the smelting of a 
 given quantity of ore, but, in one instance, the hearth-ends produced in smelting 9751 
 bings, on being roasted and reduced in the ore hearth, yielded of common lead 315 cwt, 
 and the gray slags separated in this process gave, by treatment in the slag hearth, 47 cwt. 
 of slag lead ; making the total quantity of lead 362 cwt., which is at the rate of 3 cwt. 2 
 qrs. 28 lbs. from the smelting of 100 bings of ore. 
 
 The long horizontal chimneys, or flues, into which the smoke and metallic vapours, 
 from the roasting furnace, ore hearth, and slag hearth, are conveyed, contain, at the end 
 of some time, a copious deposit called smelter's fume. This fume consist? of sulphuret, 
 and, probably, also of sulphate of lead, which have been volatilized in the different pro- 
 cesses, mixed, like hearth-ends, with a quantity of earthy matter, from the lime and coal 
 used in smelting. It is generally suffered to accumulate, either in or out of the chimneys, 
 until the end of the year, when it is washed, to remove the earthy matter, and the heavy 
 residue is roasted until it coheres into lumps, and smelted in the slag hearth exactlv in 
 the same way as gray slags. The quantity of slag lead produced from the smelter's fume, 
 deposited in smelting 9751 bings of ore, was 500 cwt.; being at the rate of 5 cwt. qrs. 
 14 lbs. of lead per 100 bings of ore. 
 
 The proportions stated above are by no means to be considered invariable for the 
 quantity of lead produced at a smelting establishment, from time to time, by the hearth- 
 ends and smelter's fume, from a given quantity of ore, cannot probably be very uniform, 
 and must depend a good deal upon the care and skill exercised in conducting the various 
 operations. If no more than the due degree of heat is used in each process, the 
 deposits under consideration are likely to be less than if a strong heat is injudiciously 
 applied. 
 
 Correspondence of Produce with Assay. — As the smelting process is liable to great 
 mismanagement, through inexperience or inattention on the part of the agents or work- 
 men, it is a matter of some consequence to know how far the quantity of lead obtained 
 by smelting in the. large way corresponds with the absolute quantity contained in the ore 
 operated upon, and, for this purpose, it is a common practice to have the ore accurately 
 sampled and assayed prior to smelting. The purest galena is a compound of 
 
 1 atom lead, - - 13 - - - 8666 
 
 1 atom sulphur, - 2 - 13'33 
 
 16 9999 
 
 But this quantity of lead can never be obtained from it by assaying in the dry way 
 With great care, as far as 82 or 83 per cent, of lead may be obtained from a very pure 
 piece of cubical galena, by treatment with borax and tartar, in the hands of an experienced 
 assayer. In the large way lead ore is seldom dressed quite pure, and does not often 
 yield more lead to the assay than 77 or 78 per cent. Ore, assayed to yield 77 per cent 
 of lead, contains, besides, probably, 4 or 5 per cent., which is oxidized, or volatilized 
 before reduction in the process of assaying. In estimating the value of a sample reference 
 is only made to its absolute produce by assay, no regard being paid to the probable quan- 
 tity of lead it may contain beyond the assay produce. 
 
 It is never expected, in the large way, to obtain the quantity of metal indicated by the 
 assay, but some ores m smelting approach much nearer to it than others. A customary 
 allowance is to deduct 5 parts from the assay produce of 100 parts of ore, which is equiv- 
 alent to making an allowance of 1 cwt. of lead for every ton of ore. Besides this an 
 allowance of 2 or 3 per cent., or more in wet weather, must be made for moisture in the 
 
SMELTING. 657 
 
 ore, when weighed over at the mine, as the sample assayed is, in all cases, perfectly dry 
 • 'f-iS™ ' m ,P mct ' c f. m Blmoat every case where a large quantity of well-dressed ors 
 is skilfully and carefully smelted, that the allowance of 5 parts of lead from the assay, or 
 I c\vt. ot lead for every ton of ore, is rather more than sufficient to cover the loss in the 
 smeltmg process, without taking into account the lead obtained from the hearths-ends 
 and smelters fume. ' 
 
 Refining of Lead.— The quantity of silver contained in the greater part of the lead 
 raised m the northern mining district is sufficient to render its extraction profitable, and 
 it is oi the greatest importance that the process of refining should be performed in the 
 most perfect and economical manner, in consequence of the enormous quantity of lead 
 continually submitted to this operation. It ia well known that the separation of lead 
 and silver is effected through the difference of oxidability between these two metals, silver 
 remaining unaltered when exposed to the air of the atmosphere at a high temperature, 
 and lead, under the same circumstances, becoming rapidly converted into the state of a 
 protoxide ; which, when formed in the large way, is called litharge. The refining pro- 
 cess is therefore performed by exposing the lead containing silver to a strong blast of 
 air, at a high temperature, in a furnace properly constructed to allow the litharge to 
 separate as it is formed, and to admit of the continual introduction of lead as the 
 operation proceeds, and the ready removal of the cake of silver obtained at the end of 
 the process. 
 
 The furnace for this purpose is called a refining-furnace. It is a small reverberatory 
 furnace, the fire-place of which is very large compared to the size of its body, rendering 
 it capable of exciting an intense heat. Some of the objects to be attained in the con- 
 struction of this furnace already stated, render it necessary that its bottom should be 
 moveable, in consequence of which an open space is left quite through under the body 
 of the furnace, from back to front, which is formed by two walls of brickwork. The 
 distance of these walls in front is 36 inches ; but they approach together at the back of 
 the furnace, and the space between them is but 28 inches, which, to prevent a draught 
 of cold air underneath the furnace bottom, is closed with iron doors. At the height of 16 
 or 17 inches from the floor two strong iron bars are laid across between these walls and 
 firmly secured in the brickwork at each end. Above these bars, and at the height of 27 
 inches from the floor, a plate of cast-iron, having an elliptical opening in the middle, the 
 transverse and conjugate diameters of which are 46 and 28 inches respectively, is laid 
 across, from wail to wall. Instead of a square plate, a broad elliptical ring, supported 
 by bearers, is sometimes used ; but, in either case, the brickwork forming the body of the 
 furnace, is built upon this plate, and is made to extend to, and surround, the edge of the 
 elliptical opening ; except a small aperture in front, 6 inches wide by 9 inches high. The 
 two flues communicate with the chimney, and in other respects, except those to be after- 
 wards noticed, the furnace is finished in the usual manner. 
 
 The bed or bottom of the furnace, when in operation, is formed by a shallow elliptical 
 vessel, called a test or test-bottom, the construction of which merits particular attention, 
 as it is an important part of the refining apparatus. An elliptical iron ring, 4 feet long' 
 2 feet 6 inches broad, and 4 inches deep, outside measure. The thickness of the iron is 
 •f of an inch, and across the bottom of the ring are five bars, each 3£ or 4 inches broad, 
 and $ an inch thick, firmly rivetted into the ring, with the under surface of each level 
 with its lower edge. The ring is filled with a mixture of one part by measure of fern 
 ashes, and ten parts of ground bone ashes, well incorporated and moistened with a little 
 water, until a small quantity, when compressed in the hand, is found to cohere slightly 
 together. In filling the test ring, ' is placed upon a level floor, and this composition 
 strongly beat into it, with an iron rammer 5 or 6 lbs. weight (similar to those used by 
 founders for compressing sand into moulds), until it is quite full, and the surface of the 
 mixture perfectly level with the upper edge of the ring. A sharp spade is then taken, 
 with which a part of the composition is removed, so as to form the test into a flat dish. 
 The bottom of this dish is about 1J inch thick between the bars, and the breast of the 
 test is 6 inches thick, the remainder of the circumference being 2 inches thick, and 
 sloping inwards to increase its strength. Across the breast of the test, a furrow or small 
 channel, called a gateway, is cut diagonally, 1 inch wide, and £• of an inch deep, as a 
 passage for the litharge ; and it is made near one side of the breast, in order that a similar 
 passage may be cut on the other side, after the test has been some time in operation, and 
 the first gateway has become worn down by the stream of litharge. A space 1-J- inch 
 wide, and 7 or 8 inches long, is cut out between the front of the breast and the test ring, 
 in order that the litharge may flow down from the test, without coming in contact with 
 the iron. 
 
 Instead of bone and fern ashes, mixed together in the proportion stated, it is a bettor 
 
 practice, and one gradually coming into general use, to make the tests of a mixture of 
 
 one part of the best American pearl ashes, to forty parts of bone ashes, by weight. The 
 
 pearl ashes, reduced to fine powder, and perfectly dry, are thoroughly incorporated with 
 
 Vol. II. 43 
 
658 SMELTING. 
 
 the Done ashea, and the compound is then moistened to the proper degree with water 
 after which the test ring is filled in the usual manner. From 4 to 5 pounds of pear] 
 ashes are required for each test, the bone ashes for which weighs from 12 to 13 stones 
 •avoirdupois. 
 
 The test, thus constructed, is applied to the opening in the iron plate already 
 described ; the flat part of its circumference being previously smeared over with a luting 
 of bone, ashes and water of the consistence of paste, and it is then firmly secured in its 
 place by four iron wedges which rest upon the iron bars. 
 
 When the test is properly fixed in this situation, and thoroughly dried by the 
 application of a gentle heat, it is ready for the reception of lead, which is poured into it, 
 with an iron ladle, through the channel, being previously melted and kept nearly at a 
 red heat in the pot About 5 cwt. of lead is required to fill a new test to the working 
 level. A mode of feeding the test is sometimes practised, which consists in suspending 
 a pig of lead, or an iron weight, from a beam above the melting pot, by means of a chain, 
 and allowing it to dip into the melted lead when made to descend, so as to force the 
 lead displaced by its introduction directly into the test through the channel ; which in 
 that case must be a little lower than the lid of the melting pot. Some refining furnaces 
 are not constructed with the channel; but, instead of it, baring an opening in the 
 buck-work of the furnace, on each side of the test, through one of which a whole pig of 
 lead is introduced, and gradually melted down into the test by the heat of the fire ; 
 being pushed further in, from time to time, as the lead is consumed. An opening on 
 each side of the test is considered necessary, in order that the lead may be always 
 introduced, on the side opposite to the gateway working at the time, to prevent the 
 possibility of its being carried by the stream of litharge over the breast of the teBt in its 
 metallic state ; and, in some instances, to be afterwards mentioned, where so large a 
 quantity of lead is refined in a test, as to render it necessary to have three gateways, the 
 lead is introduced through an opening behind, during the time that the middle gateway 
 is at work. 
 
 The last part of the refining furnace to be noticed is the aperture behind, for the 
 admission of a current of air supplied by a powerful double bellows, worked by 
 machinery. This aperture is formed by a conical iron tube called a muzzle, walled into 
 the brickwork forming the back of the furnace ; its larger end outwards, receives the 
 nozzle of the bellows, and its smaller end projecting into the furnace, over the inner edge 
 of the test, is bent down slightly, and its orifice compressed into an oval form, so as to 
 deliver the blast with sufficient force upon the surface of the lead, and at the same time 
 to spread it out towards the sides of the test. Much care is usually bestowed upon the 
 construction of the muzzle, as the proper direction and distribution of the blast, is a point 
 of great consequence to the working of the furnace. 
 
 Refining furnaces are generally built double, that is one on each side of the upright 
 chimney ; but, excepting in the direction of the draught, and consequent situation of the 
 fire-places, there is no difference whatever between them. The fume and smoke from both 
 are conveyed into a division of the horizontal flue, separate from that containing the smoke 
 from the roasting furnaee, ore hearth, and slag hearth, with which they are not suffered 
 to mix. Here the - ieposit a heavy gray powder, called refiner's fume, which is principally 
 oxide of lead. 
 
 The test being properly placed r.'. its situation, cautiously dried, and filled with lead 
 as already detailed, is exposed with its contents to the flame passing over it, until the 
 lead attains a bright red heat, at which period the blast of air is made to play upon its 
 surface. The oxygen thus supplied rapidly produces a stratum of fluid litharge, which 
 is propelled forwards by the blast, and forced through the gateway, over the breast of 
 the test; its place being supplie'd by a fresh quantity, so as to keep up a continual 
 stream. The litharge concretes into lumps as it falls, which are removed from time to 
 time by the workmen in attendance, who take care, by the addition of fresh quantities 
 of lead, to keep its surface in the test always at the proper working level. In this way 
 the operation proceeds ; but as the hot litharge gradually wears down the gateway, so as 
 to render the test incapable of holding a sufficient quantity of lead, it becomes necessary 
 to make a fresh gateway, generally after two fodders of lead have been refined. When 
 this is done, the blast is suspended, the old gateway is stopped up with a paste of bone 
 ashes, a fresh channel made on the other side of the breast, and the test filled up with 
 lead to the proper level, as at first. The process then proceeds again, until two fodders, 
 more of lead have been oxidised, when the secoud gateway being also worn down, until 
 the test does not contain more than one cwt. of lead, the wedges supporting it behind 
 are slackened, and those in front taken away, and the fluid lead, called technically rich 
 lead, is poured into an iron pot 18 inches in diameter, running upon a carriage with 
 four wheels. This rich lead, containing the silver of four fodders of original lead 
 (usually from SO to 40 ozs.) is cast into a pig and taken away: a fresh test is applied to 
 the furnace, and 4 fodders of lead worked in it, in the manner described, until 50 or 60 
 
SMELTING. 659 
 
 pieces of rich lead are obtained. A test is then snade, the bottom of which . js somewhat 
 concave, instead of being flat like those already mentioned, and in this the rich lead is 
 carefully refined, yielding, at the end of the process, a cake of silver weighing from 1200 
 to 1800 ounces. The rich lead is treated in the same -way as ordinary lead, except 
 perhaps more carefully, and after the last piece is introduced, the gateway is made 
 deeper with an iron tool, from time to time, as the surface of the lead subsides by its 
 gradual conversion into litharge; and, from this period until the cake of silver is 
 rendered pure, all the litharge then flowing is kept separate, as it is apt to carry along 
 with it a portion of silver. The part received is called rich litharge, and may contain 
 on an average 20 oz. of silver per ton ; it is generally worked up at the end of the year, 
 by being reduced into lead and again refined. As the cake of silver becomes nearly 
 pure, it is most essential to keep it constantly in fusion, for if once suffered to solidify, 
 it is very difficult to excite a sufficient heat to melt it again. The fire is therefore 
 urged with great violence, until at length the whole of the lead being oxidized, the 
 formation of litharge ceases, and the mass of melted silver appears pure and beautifully 
 resplendent. At this stage, it sometimes happens that drops of melted slag from the 
 furnace roof fall down upon the fluid silver, in which case they are carefully brought to 
 the edge of the melted metal, and raked off upon the naked part of the test. The blast 
 from the bellows is now stopped, the fire is slacked, and the silver suffered to cool ; 
 which it does, very gradually, first at the surface, forming a solid crust over, a portion 
 remaining fluid below. When the temperature has fallen sufficiently, this also becomes 
 solid, and in the act of doing so, a large quantity of nearly pure oxygen gas is expelled 
 from it, and at the same instant its particles expand considerably, so as to break the 
 crust already formed, and force out a portion of silver, to the height of 3 or 4 inches 
 above the rest of the cake. Occasionally particles of melted silver are projected out of 
 this mass, to a distance over the naked part of the test, and the sides of the furnace, by 
 which a loss of the precious metal is sometimes sustained. After having cooled 
 sufficiently, the cake of silver is removed from the furnace along with the test, from 
 which it is then separated without difficulty ; and if any slag or portions of the.test.are 
 found to adhere to it, they are cleaned off, and it is ready for sale. 
 
 During the working of each test it gradually absorbs litharge until saturated, and the 
 portion thus combined is sufficient to pay the cost of extraction. For this purpose, the 
 old tests are broken to pieces, and smelted in the slag hearth, mixed with a portion of 
 black slag, in order to render the bone ashes more fusible ; the black slag used being 
 run into lumps for the purpose, and not granulated in the ordinary way. The produce 
 of this fusion is a description of lead called test-bottom lead, which is very hard, and of 
 inferior quality. 
 
 The deposit called refiner's fume is removed from the horizontal flues from time to 
 time, and is frequently ground up with oil, forming a very cheap and durable paint ; 
 but the quantity produced is generally too considerable to admit of the whole being 
 disposed of in this way, and the surplus is reduced by being roasted almost to fusion, 
 and then worked in the slag hearth, in the same manner as gray slags. As might be 
 expected, the lead obtained from the test bottoms and refiner's fume contains but a very 
 small portion of silver. 
 
 Instead of converting into litharge but 4 fodders of lead in each' test, as already 
 mentioned, some refiners are in the habit of working 12 or 13; but, in this case, the 
 tests are constructed with peculiar care, and the bottom, sides, and breasts are made 
 thicker than usual. The litharge from 4 fodders of lead flows through the first gate- 
 way made on one side of the breast, and when the quantity of lead in the test is 
 reduced to about a cwt., it is cast into a rich pig : 4 fodders of lead are then worked 
 through another gateway, oh the opposite side of the breast, yielding a pig of rich lead 
 in the same manner ; and, for the remaining 4 fodders, a gateway is made across the 
 middle of the breast By adopting this method of working, the 'loss from the lead 
 absorbed by the test bottoms is considerably lessened, and a great saving is made in the 
 expense of tests ; but the process is rendered slower, as it is necessary to work at a low 
 degree of heat. The saving in tests is not what it appears to be at first sight ; for those 
 made to refine the larger quantity of lead, being thicker and stronger than the. others, 
 require a larger quantity of bone ashes. 
 
 The rate of refining varies a little, from the cause just stated. When 4 fodders of 
 lead are oxidized in a test, it is usual to accomplish this in from 1 6 to 1 8 hours ; and 6 tests, 
 or 24 fodders of lead, can be very easily converted into litharge, in one furnace, by 3 
 men in a week. The quantity of coal consumed is about 4 Winchester bushels, or 3 
 cwt. avoirdupois, per fodder of lead. In cases where 12 or 13 fodders of lead are refined 
 in a test, it is customary to work but one test in a week, in one furnace, which is only 
 half the quantity stated above ; but here also, three men by managing 2 furnaces refine 
 24 to 26 fodders of lead per week. 
 
 Reducing of Litharge. — The reductiot of litharge into lead is an easy process, and, in 
 
660 SMELTING. 
 
 the great way, is very expeditiously performed, in a reverberatory furnace almost exactly 
 similar to the roasting furnace already described, except that its bed or bottom, instead 01 
 being flat, is made to slope towards an opening in the side, through which the reduced lead 
 is conveyed, by means of a cast-iron channel, into a pot, to be finally made into pigs for 
 sale. ' The inside of a roasting furnace is generally made somewhat elliptical, about 6 
 feet long, and 6£ broad, and a furnace of this size, worked by three men, at 8 hours 
 shifts each, is capable of reducing, without difficulty, all the lead oxidized in two refin- 
 ing furnaces, each working six tests, or 24 fodders per week. After the reducing furnace 
 has been properly heated, the process is commenced by covering its bottom with a 
 stratum of coal, which taking fire, very soon forms a mass of ignited fuel some inches in 
 thickness. Upon this the charge of litharge mixed up with a small quantity of fresh coal 
 is thrown, and a. furnace of the size mentioned will hold from two to three tons. The 
 reduction goes on rapidly, and the furnace is supplied, from time to time, with fresh 
 litharge, until the quantity added is such as will produce from 4 to 5 fodders of lead ; 
 the charge is then suffered to run down, with the addition of fresh coal, to promote the 
 reduction, as it seems to be required. At the end of nine or ten hours, the whole of the 
 litharge is reduced, and at the bottom of the furnace, there remains only a portion of 
 slag, called litharge slag, which is raked out while still hot to prepare for the next 
 charge. 
 
 This litharge slag is formed by the vitrification of the earthy matter contained m the 
 coal used in reduction, and, as a small quantity of lead is unavoidably united with it, it 
 is afterwards worked over in the slag-hearth with black slag, in the same way as the test- 
 bottoms, yielding what is called litharge slag lead, which, like test-bottom lead, is of in- 
 ferior quality and contains little silver. It is of importance that the best coal should be 
 used to mix with the litharge, in order that the slag formed may be as little as possible. 
 The coal required for reduoing is about 4^ Winchester bushels, or near 3£ cwt. per 
 fodder of lead reduced, including the quantity mixed with the litharge. 
 
 The quantity of test-bottom and litharge Blag lead made in refining may be variable, 
 but, in several cases which have come under the writer's notice, they have, together, 
 amounted to one thirty-second part of the original lead refined. 
 
 The produce of lead from the refiner's fume has appeared to be, in the only case 
 submitted to the writer's consideration, about one per cent, on the total quantity of lead 
 undergoing the refining process; but this deposit must be very much modified, like 
 the hearth ends and smelter's fume, by the degree of heat at which the refining furnaces 
 are worked ; it is therefore impossible, perhaps, to make a statement which will exactly 
 correspond with experience at every smelting establishment. 
 
 Correspondence of the Produce of Silver with the Assay, and loss of Lead in the Procest 
 of Refining. — The practice is very general of assaying the lead to be refined previous 
 to the process, by taking a chip from each pig, melting the whole together, and submit- 
 ting a known weight to cupellation. It frequently happens that the quantity of silver 
 obtained in the large way is greater than that indicated by the assay, the reason of which 
 is, that the litharge, as it sinks into the small cupel, carries with it a minute portion of 
 silver, rendering the button obtained rather less than it ought to be ; but by reducing 
 the litharge absorbed by the small cupel back into lead, with black flux and borax, and 
 refining this lead a second time, another minute button of silver is obtained, which added 
 to the first button, generally indicates a quantity of silver in the lead under examination, 
 with which its produce in the great way, when carefully refined, very closely coincides, 
 taking into account the small portion of silver unavoidably carried over with the litharge, 
 and found in all samples of refined lead, to the extent of from half an ounce to an ounce 
 per fodder. It will easily be conceived that if the small process of cupellation has been 
 carefully performed at first, with a due degree of heat and in a good cupel, the second 
 button of silver will be exceedingly small, and that it will be larger as these particulars 
 have not been attended to. 
 
 Where assays of lead ore, for lead and silver, have been extensively made, to determine 
 the quantity of both metals which should be obtained from the ore by melting and refin- 
 ing the produce in the large way has been found in most instances very nearly to corre- 
 spond with the assay, after making an allowance on the lead of 5 parts from the assay, 
 or 1 cwt. of lead for every ton of ore, and multiplying the quantity of lead indicated 
 after this allowance, by the proportion of silver carefully determined by the assay. For 
 figures, see Lead. 
 
 The loss of lead in the refining and reducing processes is usually estimated, in the 
 first instance, at one-twelfth of the quantity refined ; but, when the deposit of refiner's 
 fume is melted up, and the lead extracted from the test-bottoms and litharge slag, the 
 ultimate loss becomes not more than one-fifteenth, and with some smelters one-sixteenth 
 of the original quantity. The loss sustained is least when the refining furnace is worked 
 at a low temperature, but it is not expedient to reduce the test to the lowest degree of 
 heat at which the oxidation will go on, for, in this case, the litharge, at the moment oi 
 
SMELTING. 
 
 561 
 
 ts formation, is not sufficiently fluid to allow the particles of silver to separate from it, 
 and combine with the remaining lead in the cupel ; they are thus, as it were, entangled 
 in the litharge, and carried with it over the breast, by which the produce of silver is 
 materially diminished. 
 
 SMELTING IRON FURNACES, commonly called BLAST FURNACES. Several 
 of these furnaces, as mounted near Glasgow, deserve to be made known, on account 
 of the economy of their construction, the advantages of their form, and the amount 
 of their performance. 
 
 Fig. 1302. represents one of the smallest of these, which measures from the line at the 
 bottom to the top 48 feet, from which all the other dimensions may be estimated. It 
 produces a soft cast-iron for casting into moulds and for melting in the cupola. Figs. 
 1303. and 1304, represent a much larger furnace, being from the top to the line a, b, o, d, 
 
 1304 
 
 60 feet high. A few have been built still larger. This furnace has a double case, each 
 of which consists of fire-bricks. This case is enclosed by common bricks, and these by 
 a wall of stone masonry. The successive rows of bricks are laid stair-wise, having the 
 angular retreat filled up with fire-clay. Fig. lSOV. is a modern furnace of very large 
 ■dimensions, as the numbers upon it show. 
 
 1307 
 
 William Jessop, Esquire, of the great iron works of Butterly and Codner Park 
 in Derbyshire, has invented a very elegant and effective apparatus for feeding his 
 blast furnaces with fuel, mine (calcined ironstone), and limestone in due proportions, 
 and equally distributed round the inside of the furnace. Figs. 130S. 09. represent this 
 feed-apparatus. Fig. 1308. shows at a an outline of the furnace, and at b, the line of 
 entrance into its throat, o, is the feed mechanism. It consists of a long balance lever 
 barrow, d, e ; D, being an iron cylinder, open at top and bottom, 4 feet in diameter 
 tnd 2-J feet in height, in the inside of which a hollow cone of iron is suspended, with 
 
662 
 
 SMELTING. 
 
 its apex uppermost, jo that while the base of the cone is kept above the level of the 
 bottom of the cylinder it, shuts it; but on the cone being lowered below that revel, it 
 allows the charge of materials resting all round on the slant surface of the cone to fall 
 down equally round the side of the cylinder into the furnace. In jig. 1309. the barrow 
 
SMOKE PREVENTION. 
 
 663 
 
 lever, d, e, ia seen in profile or vertical section ; a, is the fulcrum wheel, upon which 
 the lever is iu equilibrio when 9 cwt. of coals are put into the cylinder; then a weight 
 is hung on, near the end, e, of the lever, as an equipoise either to 9 or 12 cwt. of mine, 
 according to circumstances ; and next a weight to balance one-third of that weight of 
 limestone. These weights of materials being introduijed into the cylinder, while the 
 barrow rests upon a level with the line e d, it is then rolled forward into its place 
 as shown in the figure, upon the wheels, 6 6, upon a platform sustained on the top of an 
 inverted cylinder within the cast-iron column, into which cylinder air is admitted 
 (through a valve opened by the workman) from the furnace blast, the air passing up the 
 tube seen in the axis of f. The inverted air-Cylinder is 3 J feel in diameter, 36 feet 
 long, and rises 25 feet; being made air-tight with water, it ascends in its columnar case 
 which is 4 feet in diameter, without friction. The space, g h, fig. 1309, is 86 feet 
 square. 
 
 The iron cone, which serves as a valve , to the charging-drnm or cylinder, is raised 
 and lowered by means of a chain passing round a worm-wheel, which is turned round 
 by an endless screw, .acted upon by the long rod at c, which the workman can move by 
 hand at pleasure, thereby lowering or raising the end of the short 'ever, d, to which the 
 valve cone is suspended. The cord by which the workman opcus or shuts the air 
 piston-valve is seen at e, f. I have viewed with much pleasure the precise and easy 
 movements of this feed-apparatus, at an excellent blast furnace in Codner Park iron 
 works. 
 
 SMOKE PREVENTION. Among the fifty several inventions which have been 
 patented for effecting this purpose, with regard to steam-boiler and other large furnaces, 
 very few are sufficiently economical or effective. The first person who investigated this 
 subject in a truly philosophical manner was Mr. Charles Wye Williams, managing director 
 of the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation company, and he also has had the merit 
 of constructing many furnaces both for marine and land steam-engines, which thoroughly 
 prevent the production of smoke, with increased energy of combustion, and a more or 
 less considerable saving of fuel, according to the care of the stoker. The specific inven- 
 tion, for which he obtained a patent in 1840, consists in the introduction of a proper 
 quantity of atmospheric air to the bridges and flame-beds of the furnaces, through a 
 great number of small orifices, connected with a common pipe or canal, whose area can 
 be increased or diminished, according as the circumstances of complete combustion may 
 require, by means of an external valve. The operation of air thus entering in small 
 jets into the half-buriied hydro-carburetted gases over the fires, and in the first flue, is 
 their perfect oxygenation, the development of all the heat which that can produce, and 
 the entire prevention of smoke. One of the many ingenious methods in which 
 Mr. Williams has carried out the principle of what he justly calls- his Argand furnace, 
 is represented in fig. 1310, where a is the ash-pit of a steam boiler furnace; 6, is the 
 
 mouth of a tube -which admits the external air into the chamber or iron box of distri- 
 bution, c, placed immediately beyond the fire-bridge, g, and before the diffusion oi 
 

 664 SOAP. 
 
 mixing chamber,/. The front of the box is preforated either with round or oblong 
 orifices, as shown in the two small figures e, e beneath fig. 1310; d, is the fire-door, 
 which may have its fire-brick lining also perforated. In some cases, the fire-door pro- 
 jects in front, and it, as well as the sides and arched top of the fireplace, are constructed 
 of perforated fire-tiles, enclosed in common brickwork, with an intermediate space, into 
 which the air may be admitted in regulated quantity through a moveable valve in the 
 door. I have seen a fireplace of this latter construction performing admirably, without 
 smoke, with an economy of one seventh of the coals formerly consumed in producing a 
 like amount of steam from an ordinary furnace ; h is the steam boiler. 
 
 Very ample evidence was presented last session to the Smoke Prevention committee 
 of the house of commons of the successful application of Mr. Williams's patent inven- 
 tion to many furnaces of the largest dimensions, more especially by Mr. Henry Houlds- 
 worth, of Manchester, who, mounting in the first flue a pyrometrical rod, which acted 
 on an external dial index, succeeded in observing every variation of temperature, pro- 
 duced by varying the introduction of the air-jets into the mass of ignited gases passing 
 out of the furnace. He thereby demonstrated, that 20 per cent, more heat could be 
 easily obtained from the fuel, when Mr. Williams's plan was in operation, that when 
 the fire was left to burn in the usual way, and with the production of the usual 
 volumes of smoke. It is to be hoped, that a law will be enacted in the next session of 
 parliament for the suppression, or at least abatement, of this nuisance, which so greatlj 
 disfigures and pollutes many parts of London, as well as all our manufacturing towns, 
 while it acts injuriously on animal and vegetable life. Much praise is due to Mr 
 Williams for his indefatigable and disinterested labors in this difficult enterprise, and 
 for his forbearance under much unmerited obloquy from narrow-minded prejudice and 
 indocile ignorance. 
 
 SOAP (Savon, Fr. ; Seife, Germ.); is a chemical compound, of saponified fats ot 
 oils with potash or soda, prepared for the purposes of washing linen, <fec. Fatty 
 matters, when subjected to the action of alkaline leys, undergo a remarkable change, 
 being converted into three different acids, called stearic, margaric, and oleic ; and it is 
 these acids, in fact, which combine with the bases, in definite proportions, to form.compounds 
 analogous to the neutro-saline. Some chemical writers describe under the title soap, 
 every compound which may result from the union of fats with the various earths and 
 metallic oxydes — a latitude of nomenclature which common language cannot recognise, 
 and which would perplex the manufacturer. 
 
 Soaps are distinguished into two great classes, according to their consistence ; the 
 bard and the soft ; the former being produced by the action of soda upon fats, the latter 
 by that of potash. The nature, of the fats contributes also somewhat to the consistence 
 of soaps ; thus tallow, which contains much stearine and margarine, forms with potash 
 a more consistent soap than liquid oils will do, which consist chiefly of oleine. The 
 drying oils, such as those of linseed and poppy, produce the softest soaps. 
 
 1. Of the manufacture of hard soap. — The fat of this soap, in the northern countries 
 of Europe, is usually tallow, and in the southern, coarse olive oil. Different species of 
 grease are saponified by soda, with different degrees of facility ; among oils, the olive, 
 sweet almond, rapeseed, and castor oil ; and among solid fats, tallow, bone grease, and 
 butter, are most easily saponified. According to the practice of the United Kingdom, 
 six or seven days are required to complete the formation of a pan of hard soap, and a 
 day or two more for settling the impurities, if it contains rosin. From 12 to 13 cwts. 
 of tallow are estimated to produce one ton of good soap. Some years ago, in many 
 manufactories the tallow used to be s iponified with potash leys, and the resulting soil 
 soap was converted, in the course of the process, into hard soap, by the introduction 
 of muriate of soda, or weak kelp leys, in sufficient quantity to furnish the proper quantity 
 of soda by the reaction of the potash upon the neutral salts. But the high price of 
 potash, and the diminished price as well as improved quality of the crude sodas, have 
 led to their general adoption in soap-works. The soda-ash used by the soap-boiler, con- 
 tains in general about 36 per cent, of real soda, in the state of dry carbonate, mixed with 
 muriate of soda, and more or less undecomposed sulphate. I have met lately with soda- 
 ash, made from sulphate of soda, in which the materials had been so ill worked, and so 
 imperfectly decomposed, as to contain 16 per cent, of sulphate, a circumstance equally 
 disgraceful, as it was ruinous to the soda manufacturer. The barillas from Spain and 
 Teneriffe contain from 18 to 24 per cent, of real soda. The alkali in both states is 
 employed in England ; barilla being supposed by many to yield a finer white or curd 
 soap, on account of its freedom from sulphur. 
 
 The crude soda of either kind being ground, is to be stratified with lime in 
 cylindrical cast-iron vats, from 6 to 7 feet wide, and from 4 to 5 feet deep j the lowest 
 layer consisting, of course, of unslaked or shell quicklime. The vats have a false bottom, 
 perforated with holes, and a lateral tubulure under it, closed commonly with a wooden 
 ■Jug, similar to the ipint of the French soap pans, by which the leys trickle off clear 
 
SOAP. 665 
 
 and caustic, after infiltration through the beds of lime. The quantity of lime must be 
 proportional to the carbonic acid in the soda. 
 
 Upon 1 ton of tallow put into the soap pan, about 200 gallons of soda ley, of 
 specific gravity 1-040, being poured, heat is applied, and after a very gentle ebullition 
 of about 4 hours, the fat will be found to be completely saponified, by the test of the 
 spatula, trowel, or pallet knife; for the fluid ley will be seen to separate at once upon 
 the steel blade, from the soapy paste. Such leys, if composed of pure caustic soda, 
 would contain 4 per cent, of alkali ; but from the presence of neutro-saline matter, they 
 seldom contain so much as 2 per cent. ; in fact, a gallon may be estimated to contain 
 not more than 2 ounces ; so that 200 gallons contain 25 pounds of real soda. The fire 
 being withdrawn from the soap pan, the mass is allowed to cool during one hour, or a 
 little more, after which the spent leys, which are not at all alkaline, are run off by a spigot 
 below, or pumped off above, by a pump set into the pan. A second similar charge of ley is 
 now introduced into the pan, and a similar boiling process is renewed. Three such boils 
 may be given in the course of one day's work, by an active soap-maker. Next day the same 
 routine is resumed with somewhat stronger leys, and so progressively, till, towards the sixth 
 day, the ley may have the density of 1-160, and will be found to contain 6 per cent, of real 
 soda.* Were the ley a solution of pure caustic soda, it would contain at this density no 
 less than 14| per cent, of alkali. The neutro-saline matter present in the spent lay is 
 essential to the proper granulation and separation of the saponaceous compound ; for 
 otherwise the watery menstruum would dilute and even liquefy the soap. Supposing 
 12f cwts. of tallow to yield upon an average 20 cwts. of hard soap, then 20 cwts. of tallow 
 will produce 32 cwts. ; and as its average contents in soda are 6 per cent., these 32 cwts. 
 should require 1-52 cwts. of real soda for their production. If barilla at 20 per cent, 
 be the alkali employed, then 7-6 cwts. of barilla must be consumed in the said process. 
 h the alkali be soda-ash of 40 per cent., half the weight will of course suffice. I havt 
 reason to believe that there is great waste of alkali incurred in many soap-works, as 6 cwts. 
 of soda-ash*, of at least 30 per cent., are often expended in making 1 ton of soap, being 5C 
 per cent, more than really enters into the composition of the soap. j j 
 
 The barillas always contain a small proportion of potash, to which their peculiar value, 
 in making a less brittle or more plastic hard soap than the factitious sodas, may with 
 great probability be ascribed. Chemistry affords many analogies, especially in mineral 
 waters, where salts, apparently incompatible, co-exist in dilute solutions. We may thus 
 conceive how a small quantity of stearate or oleate of potash may resist the decomposing 
 action of the soda salts. The same modification of the consistence of hard soap may, 
 however, be always more conveniently produced by a proper admixture of oleine with 
 stearine. 
 
 Soda which contains sulphurets is preferred for making the mottled or marbled soap, 
 whereas the desulphureted soda makes the best white curd soap. Mottling is usually 
 given in the London soap-works, by introducing into the nearly finished soap in the 
 pan a certain quantity of the strong ley of crude soda, through the rose spout of a 
 watering-can. The dense sulphureted liquor, in descending through the pasty mass, 
 causes the marbled appearance. In France a small quantity of solution of sulphate 
 of iron is added during the boiling of the soap, or rather with the first service of 
 the leys. The alkali seizes the acid of the sulphate, and sets the protoxyde of iron 
 free, to mingle with the paste, to absorb more or less oxygen, and to produce therebj 
 a variety of tints. A portion of oxyde combines also with the stearine to form a 
 metallic soap. When the oxyae passes into the red state, it gives the tint called manteau 
 Isabelle. As soon as the motthr has broken the paste, and made it pervious in all directions, 
 he ceases to push his rake from right to left, but only plunges it perpendicularly, till he 
 reaches the ley ; then he raises it suddenly in a vertical line, making it act like the 
 stroke of a piston in a pump, whereby he lifts some of the ley, and spreads it over the 
 surface of the paste. In its subsequent descent through the numerous fissures and chan- 
 nels, on its way to the bottom of the pan, the colored ley impregnates the soapy particles 
 in various forms and degrees, whence a varied marbling results. 
 
 Three pounds of olive oil afford five pounds of marbled Marseilles soap of good qua- 
 lity, and only four pounds four ounces of white soap ; showing that more water is 
 retained by the former than the latter. Oils of grains, as linseed and rapeseed, do not 
 afford so solid a soda soap as oil of olives ; but tallow affords a still harder soap with 
 soda. Some of the best Windsor soap made in London contains one part of olive oil 
 (gallipoli) for every nine parts of tallow. Much of the English hard soap is made 
 with kitchen and bone fat, of a very coarse quality ; the washing of the numerous 
 successive leys, however, purifies the foul fats, and deprives them of their offensive smell 
 in a great degree. It is common now at Marseilles to mix ten per cent, of the oil of 
 grains with olive oil ; for which purpose a large proportion of the oils extracted from seeds 
 * ^ wording to my own experiments upon the soda ley used in the London soap-works. 
 
666 SOAP. 
 
 in the mills of the Department du Nord is sent to Marseilles ; but five per cent, of poppy 
 seed oil, mixed with tallow, renders the soap made with the mixture stringy and unflt fo< 
 washing; because the two species of fat refuse to amalgamate. 
 
 The affinity between the stearine of tallow and the alkali, is so great that a soap may 
 be speedily made from them in the cold. If we melt tallow at the lowest possible 
 temperature, and let it cool to the fixing point, then add to it half its weight of caustic 
 ley, at 36° B., agitating meanwhile incessantly with a pallet knife, we shall perceive, at 
 the end of some hours of contact, the mixture suddenly acquire a very solid consistence, 
 and at the same moment assume a marked elevation of temperature, proving the pheno- 
 menon to be due to chemical attraction. In some trials of this kind, the thermometer has 
 risen from 54° to 140° F. 
 
 According to recent experiments made in Marseilles, 100 pounds of olive oil take, foi 
 their conversion into soap, 54 pounds of crude soda, of 36 per cent, alkaline strength. 
 One part of lime is employed for rendering three parts of the soda caustic. The riches- 
 the oil is in stearine; the more dilute should be the ley used in the saponification ; and 
 vice vers& when it abounds in oleine. For oil of the former kind, the first leys added 
 have a density of from 8° to>9° B. ; but for the latter kind, the density is from 10° to 11°. 
 When four paits of olive oil are mixed with one part of poppy, rape, or linseed oil, as 
 is now the general practice at Marseilles, then for such a mixture the first leys have 
 usually a specific gravity of from 20° to 25°, the second from 10° to 15°, and the third 
 from 4° to 5°, constituting a great difference from the practice in Great Britain, where 
 the weaker leys are generally employed at the commencement. The chief reason for this 
 practice is, however, to be found in the more complete causticity of the weak than of 
 the strong leys, according to the slovenlj way in which most of our soap-boilers prepare 
 them. Indeed, one very extensive manufacturer of soap in London assured me that the 
 leys should not be caustic ; an extraordinary assertion, upon which no comment need be 
 aade. In common cases, I would recommend the first combination of the ingredients 
 (o be made with somewhat weak, but perfectly caustic ley, and when the saponification is 
 fairly established, to introduce the stronger ley. 
 
 In a Marseilles soap-house, there are four ley-vats in each set : No. 1 is the fresh vat, 
 into which the fresh alkali and lime are introduced; No. 2 is called the avangaire, 
 being one step in advance ; No. 3 is the small avangaire, being two steps in advance, and 
 therefore containing weaker liquor ; No. 4 is called the water vat, because it receives the 
 water directly. 
 
 Into No. 3 the moderately exhausted or somewhat spent leys are throwii. From No. 
 3 the ley is run or pumped into No. 2, to be strengthened; and in like manner from No. 
 3 into No. 1. Upon the lime paste in No. 4, which has been taken from No. 3, water 
 is poured ; the ley thus obtained is poured upon the paste of No. 3, which has been taken 
 from No. 2. No. 3 is twice lixiviated ; and No. 2, once. Thereceiver under No. 1 
 has four compartments ; into No. 1 of which the first and strongest ley is run ; into No. 
 2 the second ley ; into No. 3 the third ley ; and into No. 4 the fourth ley, which is so 
 weak as to be used for lixiviation, instead of water; (pour d'avances). 
 
 The lime of vat No. 4, when exhausted, is emptied out of the window near to which 
 it stands ; in which case the water is poured upon the contents of No. 3 ; and upon No. 
 2 the somewhat spent leys. 
 
 No. 1 is now the avangaire of No. 4 ; because this has become, in its turn, the fitsh 
 vat, into which the fresh soda and quicklime are put. The ley discharged from No. 3 
 eomes, in this case, upon No. 2 ; and after being run through it, is thrown upon No. 1. 
 
 144 pounds of oil yield at Marseilles, upon an average, not more than from 240 to 244 
 pounds of soap ; or 100 pounds yield about 168 ; so that in making 100 pounds of soap, at 
 this rate nearly 60 pounds of oil are consumed. 
 
 OP YELLOW OR KOSIN SOAP. 
 
 Rosin, although very soluble in alkaline menstrua, is not however susceptible, like fats, 
 of being transformed into an acid, and will not of course saponify, or fcrm a proper soap by 
 itself. The more caustic the alkali, the less consistence has the resinous compound which 
 is made with it. Hence fat of some kind, in considerable proportion, must be used along 
 with the rosin, the minimum being equal parts ; and then the soap is far from being good. 
 As alkaline matter cannot be neutralized by rosin, it preserves its peculiar acrimony in a 
 joap poor in fat, and is ready to act too powerfully upon woollen and all other animal 
 nbres to which it is applied. It is said that rancid tallow serves to mask the strong odor 
 of rosin in soap, more than any oil or other species of fat. From what we have just 
 said, it is obviously needless to make the rosin used for yellow soaps pass through all the 
 Dtages of the saponifying process; nor would this indeed be proper, as a portion of the 
 •rain would be carried away, and wasted with the spent leys. The best mode of proceed- 
 ng, therefore, is first of all to make the hard soap in the usual manner and at the last 
 
SOAP. 667 
 
 service or charge of ley, namely, when this ceases to be absorbed, and preserves in the 
 boiling-pan its entire causticity, to add the proportion of rosin intended for tne soap. 
 In order to facilitate the solution of the rosin in the soap, it should be reduced to coarse 
 powder, and well incorporated by stirring with the rake. The proportion of rosin is 
 usually from one third to one fourth the weight of the tallow. The boil must be kept 
 up for some time with an excess of caustic ley; and when the paste is found, on cooling 
 a sample of it, to acquire a solid consistence, and when diffused in a little water, not 
 to leave a resinous varnish on the skin, we may consider the soap to be finished. We 
 next proceed to draw off the superfluous leys, and to purify the paste. For Ihis 
 purpose, a quantity of leys at 80° B. being poured in, the mass is heated, worked 
 well with a rake, then allowed to settle, and drained of its leys. A second service of 
 leys, at 4° B., is now introduced, and finally one at 2°; after each of which, there is the 
 usual agitation and period of repose. The pan being now skimmed, and the scum re- 
 moved for another operation, the soap is laded off by hand-pails into its frame-moulds. A 
 little palm oil is usually employed in the manufacture of yellow soap, in order to correct 
 the flavor of the rosin, and brighten the color. This soap, when well made, ought, to be 
 of a fine wax-yellow hue, be transparent upon the edges of the bars, dissolve readily in 
 water, and afford, even with hard pump-w ater, an excellent lather. 
 
 The frame-moulds for hard soap are composed of strong wooden bars, made into the 
 form of a parallelogram, which are piled over each other, and bound together by screwed 
 iron rods, that pass down through them. A square well is thus formed, which in large soap 
 factories is sometimes 10 feet deep, and capable of containing a couple of tons of soap. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan some time since obtained a patent for combining silicate of soda with 
 hard soap, by triturating them together in the hot and pasty state with a crutch in 
 an iron pan. ' In this way from 10 to 30 per cent, of the silicate may be introduced. 
 Such soap possesses very powerful detergent qualities, but it is' apt to feel hard and be 
 somewhat gritty in use. The silicated soda is prepared by boiling ground flints in a 
 strong caustic ley, till the specific gravity of the compound rises to nearly double the 
 density of water. It then contains about 35 grains of silica, and 46 of soda-hydrate, in 
 100 grains.* 
 
 Hand soap, after remaining two days in the frames, is at first divided horizontally 
 into parallel tablets, 3 or 4 inches thick, by a brass wire ; and these tablets are again cut 
 vertically into oblong nearly square bars, called wedges in Scotland. 
 
 The soap-pans used in the United Kingdom are made of cast iron, and in three sepa- 
 rate pieces joined together by iron-rust cement. The following is their general form : — 
 The two upper frusta of cones are called curbs ; the third, or undermost, is the pan, to 
 which alone the heat is applied, and which, if it gets cracked in the course of boiling, 
 may easily be lifted up within the conical pieces, by attaching chains or cords for raising 
 it, without disturbing the masonry, in which the curbs are firmly set. The surface of 
 the hemispherical pan at the bottom, is in general about one tenth part of the surface 
 of the conical sides. 
 
 The white ordinary tallow soap of the London manufacturers, called curd soap, con- 
 sists, by my experiments, of — fat, 52; soda, 6; water, 42; = 100. Nine tenths of the 
 fat, at least, is tallow. 
 
 I have examined several other soaps, and have found their composition somewhat 
 different. 
 
 The foreign Castile soap of the apothe- 
 cary has a specific gravity of 1-0705, and 
 consists of — 
 
 Soda - - 9 
 
 Oily fat - - - 76-5 
 
 Water and coloring-matter - 14-5 
 
 100-0 
 English imitation of Castile soap, spec, 
 grav. 0-9669, consists of— 
 Soda --- - 10-5 
 
 Pasty consistenced fat - - 75-2 
 
 Water, with a little coloring- - 
 matter ... 14-3 
 
 A perfumer's white 
 
 soap was 
 
 found to 
 
 consist of — 
 
 
 
 Soda ' r 
 
 ■ 
 
 - 9 
 
 Fatty matter 
 
 - 
 
 - 75 
 
 Water 
 
 ' 
 
 - 16 
 100 
 
 Glasgow white soap- 
 
 
 
 Soda 
 
 - 
 
 - 6-4 
 
 Tallow - 
 
 . 
 
 - 600 
 
 Water - 
 
 - 
 
 - 33-6 
 
 too-o 
 
 100-0 
 • By my own experiments upon the liquid silicate made at Mr. Gibbs's excellent' soap faoieiy. 
 
668 
 
 SOAP. 
 
 .rlasgow brown rosin soap- 
 Soda 
 
 Fat ani rosin 
 Water 
 
 . 6-5 
 
 - 70-0 
 
 - 23-5 
 
 100-0 
 
 A London cocoa-nut oil soap was found 
 lo consist of — 
 Soda - - - - 4-5 
 
 Cocoa-nut lard ... 220 
 Water .... 73-5 
 
 100-0 
 This remarkable soap was sufficiently 
 solid; but it dissolved in hot water with 
 extreme facility. It is called marine soap, 
 Vecause it washes linen with sea water. 
 
 A poppy-nut-oil hard soap consisted 
 of— 
 
 Soda - - - 7 
 
 Oil - - - 76 
 
 Water - - - 17 
 
 100 
 The soap known in France by the name 
 
 of soap in tables, consists, according to 
 
 M. Thenard's analysis, of— 
 Soda ... 4-6 
 
 Fatty matter - - 50-2 
 
 Water - - - 45-2 
 
 100-0 
 M. D'Arcet states the analysis of Mar- 
 seilles soap at — 
 
 6 
 60 
 34 
 
 Soda 
 
 Oil 
 
 Water 
 
 100 
 
 SOFT SOAP. 
 
 The principal difference between soaps with base of soda, and soaps with base of pot- 
 ash, depends upon their mode of combination with water. The former absorb a large 
 quantity of it, and become solid ; they are chemical hydrates. The others experience a 
 much feebler cohesive attraction ; but they retain much more water in a state of mere 
 mixture. 
 
 Three parts of fat afford, in general, fully five parts of soda soap, well dried in the open 
 air ; but three parts of fat or oil will afford from six to seven parts of potash soap of 
 moderate consistence. This feebler cohesive force renders it apt to deliquesce, especially 
 if there be a small excess of the alkali. It is, therefore, impossible to separate it frsm 
 the leys ; and the washing or relargage, practised on the hard-soap process, is inadmissi 
 ble in the soft. Perhaps, however, this concentration or abstraction of water might be 
 effected by using dense leys of muriate of potash. Those of muriate or sulphate of 
 soda change the potash into a soda soap, by double decomposition. From its superior 
 solubility, more alkaline reaction, and lower price, potash soap is preferred for many 
 purposes, and especially for scouring woollen yarns and stuffs. 
 
 Soft soaps are usually made in this country with whale, seal, olive, and linseed oils, 
 and a certain quantity of tallow ; on the continent, with the oils of hempseed, sesame, 
 rapeseed, linseed, poppy-seed, and colza ; or with mixtures of several of these oils. When 
 tallow is added, as in Great Britain, the object is to produce white and somewhat solid 
 grains of stearic soap in the transparent mass, called tigging, because the soap then re- 
 sembles the granular texture of a rig. 
 
 The potash leys should be made perfectly caustic, and of at least two different 
 strengths ; the weakest being of specific gravity 1-05 ; and the strongest, 1-20, or even 
 1-25. Being made from the potashes of commerce, which contain seldom more than 
 60 per cent., and often less, of real alkali, the leys correspond in specific gravity to 
 double their alkaline strength ; that is to say, a solution of pure potash, of the same 
 density, would be fully twice as strong. The following is the process followed by re- 
 spectable manufacturers of soft soap (sawn, vert, being naturally or artificially green) 
 upon the continent. 
 
 A portion of the oil being poured into the pan, and heated to nearly the boiling point 
 of water, a certain quantity of the weaker ley is introduced; the fire being kept up so 
 as to bring the mixture to a boiling state. Then some more oil and ley are added al- 
 ternately, till the whole quantity of oil destined for the pan is introduced. The ebul- 
 lition is kept up in the gentlest manner possible, and some stronger ley is occasionally 
 added, till the workman judges the saponification to be perfect. The boiling becomes 
 progressively less tumultuous, the frothy mass subsides, the paste grows transparent, and 
 it gradually thickens. The operation is considered to be finished when the paste ceases 
 to affect the tongue with an acrid pungency, when all milkiness and opacity disappear, 
 and when a little of the soap placed to cool upon a glass plate, assumes the proper 
 consistency. 
 
 A peculiar phenomenon may be remarked in the cooling, which affords a good criterion 
 of the quality of the soap. When there is formed around the little patch, an opaque zone, 
 a fraction of an inch broad, this is supposed to indicate complete saponification, and is 
 called the ttrength ; when it is absent, the soap is said to want its strength. When this 
 zone soon vanishes after being distinctly seen, the soap is said to have false strength. 
 When it occurs in the best form, the soap is perfect, and may be secured in that state 
 My own experiments. See Fats, Oils, and Stearlne. 
 
SOAT. 669 
 
 bj removing the fire, and then adding some good soap of a previous round, to cool it down, 
 and prevent further change by evaporation. • 
 
 200 pounds of oil require for their saponification — 72 pounds of American potash of 
 moderate quality, in leys at 15° B. j and the product is 460 pounds of well-boiled soap. 
 
 If hempseed oil have not been employed, the soap will have a yellow color, instead 
 of the green, so much in request on the continent. This tint is then given by the ad- 
 dition of a little indigo. This dye-stuff is reduced to fine powder, and boiled for some 
 hours in a considerable quantity of water, till the stick with which the water is stirred 
 presents, on withdrawing it, a gilded pellicle over its whole surface. The indigo paste 
 diffused through the liquid, is now ready to be incorporated with the soap in the pan, 
 before it stiffens by cooling. 
 
 M. Thenard states the composition of soft soap at — potash 9-5, -\- oil 44-0, -f- w'ateJ 
 46-5, = 100. 
 
 Good soft soap of London manufacture, yielded to me — potash 8-5, -f- oil and tallow 
 45, -f- water 46-5. 
 
 Belgian soft or green soap afforded me — potash 7, -f- oil 36, + water 57, = 100. 
 
 Scotch soft soap, being analyzed, gave me — potash 8, + oil and tallow 47, -(- water 45. 
 
 Another well-made soap — potash 9, -f- oil and fat 34, -f- water 57. 
 
 A rapeseed-oil soft soap, from Scotland, consisted of — potash 10, -f- oil 51-66, -f- 
 water 38-33. 
 
 An olive-oil (gallipoli) soft soap, from ditto, contained — potash with a good deal of 
 carbonic acid 10, oil 48, water 42, = 100. 
 
 A semi-hard soap, from Verviers, for fulling woollen cloth, called savon iamojmqat, 
 consisted of, potash 11-5, + fat (solid) 62, -y water 26-5, = 100. 
 
 The following is a common process, in Scotland, by whirfi good soft soap is made t— 
 
 273 gallons of whale or cod oil, and 4 cwts. of tallow, are put into the soap-pan, witrj 
 250 gallons of ley from American potash, of such alkaline strength that 1 gallon con- 
 tains 6600 grains of real potash. Heat being applied to the bottom pan, the mixture 
 froths up very much as it approaches the boiling temperature, but is prevented from 
 boiling over by being beat down on the surface, within the iron curb or crib which sur- 
 mounts the caldron. Should it soon subside into a doughy-looking paste, we may infer 
 that the ley has been too strong. Its proper appearance is that of a thin glue. We 
 should now introduce about 42 gallons of a stronger ley, equivalent to 8700 gr. of pot- 
 ash per gallon ; and after a short interval, an additional 42 gallons ; and thus suc- 
 cessively till nearly 600 such gallons have been added in the whole. After suitable boil- 
 ing to saponify the fats, the proper quality of soap will be obtained, amounting in quan- 
 tity to 100 firkins of 64 pounds each, from the above quantity of materials. 
 
 It is generally supposed, and I believe it to be trne, from my own numerous experi- 
 ments upon the subject, that it is a more difficult and delicate operation to make a fine 
 soft soap of glassy transparency, interspersed with the figged granulations of stearate oi 
 pntash, than to make hard soap of any kind. 
 
 Soft soap is made in Belgium as follows : — For a boil of 18 or 20 tons, of !00 kilo- 
 grammes each, there is employed for the leys — 1500 pounds of American potashes, and 
 500 to 600 pounds of quicklime. 
 
 The ley is prepared cold in cisterns of hewn stone, of which there are usually five m a 
 range. The first contains the materials nearly exhausted of their alkali ; and the las* 
 the potash in its entire state. The ley run off from the first, is transferred into the se- { 
 
 cond ; that of the second into the third ; and so on to the fifth. 
 
 In conducting the empatage of the soap, they put into the pan, on the eve cf the boit- 
 ing-day, 6 aimes (1 ohm, = 30 gallons imperial) of oil of colza, in summer, but a mixture t 
 
 of that oil with linseed oil in winter, along with 2 aimes of potash ley at 13° B., and 
 leave the mixture without heat during eight hours. After applying the fire, they con- ( 
 
 tinue to boil gently till the materials cease to swell up with the heat ; after which, ley 
 of 16° or 17° must be introduced successively, in quantities of J of an aime after another, j 
 
 till from 2 to 4 aimes be used. The boil is finished by pouring some ley of 20° B., so \ 
 
 that the whole quantity may amount to 9| aimes. ( 
 
 It is considered that the operation will be successful, if from the time of kindling the 
 fire till the finish of the boil, only five hours elapse. In order to prevent the soap from 
 boiling over, a wheel is kept revolving in the pan. The operative considers the soap to 
 be finished, when it can no longer be drawn out into threads between the finger and 
 thumb. He determines if it contains an excess of alkali, by taking a sample out during 
 the boil, which he puts into a tin dish ; where if it gets covered with a skin, he pours 
 fresh oil into the pan, and continues the boil till the soap be perfect. No wonder the 
 Belgian soap is bad, amid such groping in the dark, without one ray of science ! 
 
 SOFT TOILET SOAPS. 
 
 The soft fancy toilet soaps are divisible into two classes : 1. good potash soap, colored 
 and scented in various wavs. forms the basis of the Naples and other ordinary soft soap* 
 
670 SOAP. 
 
 of the perfumer ; 2. pearl soap, {savon nacre,') which differs from the other both in phys- 
 ical aspect and in mode of preparation. 
 
 Ordinary soft Toilet Soap. — Its manufacture being conducted on the principles already 
 laid down, presents no difficulty to a man of ordinary skill and experience; the only 
 point to be strictly attended to, is the degree of evaporation, so as to obtain soap always 
 of uniform consistence. The fat generally preferred is good hog's lard ; of which thirty 
 pounds are to be mixed with forty-five pounds of a caustic ley marking 17° on Baume's 
 scale ; the temperature is to be gradually raised to ebullition, but the boil must not be 
 kept up too long or too briskly, till after the empatage or saponification is completed, and 
 the whole of the ley intimately combined with the fatty particles ; after this, the evapora- 
 tion of the water may be pushed pretty quickly, by a steady boil, till copious vapors cease 
 to rise. This criterion is observed when the paste has become too stiff to be stirred free- 
 ly. The soap should have a dazzling snowy whiteness, provided the lard has been well 
 refined, by being previously triturated in a mortar, melted by a steam heat, and then 
 strained. The lard soap so prepared, is semi-solid, and preserves always the same ap- 
 pearance. If the paste is not sufficiently boiled, however, it will show the circumstance 
 rery soon ; for in a few days the soap will become gluey and s tringy, like a tenacious 
 mass of birdlime. This defect may not only be easily avoided, I nt easily remedied, by 
 subjecting the paste to an adequate evaporation. Such soaps are in great request for 
 shaving, and are most convenient in use, especially for travellers. Hence their Sale has 
 become very considerable. 
 
 Pearl soft Soap. — It is only a few years since the process for making this elegant soap 
 became known in France. It differs little from the preceding, and owes its beautiful 
 aspect merely to minute manipulations, about to be described. Weigh out 20 pounds 
 of purified hog's lard on the one hand, and 10 pounds of potash ley at 36° B. on the 
 other. Put the lard into a porcelain capsule, gently heated upon a sand-bath, stirring 
 
 constantly with. a wooden spatula; and when it is half melted, and has a milky 
 appearance, pour into it only one half of the ley, still stirring, and keeping up the same 
 temperature, with as little variation as possible. While the saponification advances 
 gradually, we shall perceive, after an hour, some fat floating on the surface, like a film of 
 oil, and at the same time the soapy granulations falling to the bottom. AVe must then 
 add the second portion of the lev; whereon the granulations immediately disappear 
 ind the paste is formed. After conducting this operation during four hours, the pastf 
 becomes so stiff and compact, that it cannot be stirred ; and must then be lightly beaten. 
 At this time the capsule must be transferred from the sand-bath into a basin of warm 
 water, and allowed to cool very slowly. 
 
 The soap, though completely made, has yet no pearly appearance. This physical 
 property is developed only by pounding it strongly in a marble mortar j whereby all its 
 particles, which seemed previously separated, combine to form a homogeneous paste. 
 The perfume given to it, is always essence of bitter almonds ; on which account the soap 
 is called almond cream, creme d'amandes. 
 
 HARD SOArS FOR THE TOILET. • 
 
 The soaps prepared for the perfumer, are distinguished into different species, according 
 to the fat which forms their basis. Thus there is soap of tallow, of hog's lard, of oil of 
 olives, of almonds, and palm oil. 
 
 It is from the combination of these different sorts, mingled in various proportions, and 
 perfumed agreeably to the taste of the consumer, that we owe the vast number of toilet 
 soaps so i under so many fantastic names. One sort is rarely scented by itself, as a mix- 
 ture of several is generally preferred ; in which respect every perfumer has his peculiar 
 secret. Some toilet soaps, however, require the employment of one kind more than of 
 another. 
 
 Formerly the Windsor soap was made in France, wholly with mutton suet ; ana it was 
 accordingly of inferior value. Wow, by mixing some olive oil or lard with the suet, a 
 very good Windsor soap is produced. I have already stated, that the fat of the London 
 Windsor is, nine parts of good ox tallow, and one of olive oil. A soap made entirely 
 with oil and soda, does not afford so good a lather as when it contains a considerable 
 proportion of tallow. 
 
 The soaps made with palm oil are much used ; when well made, they are of excellent 
 quality, and ought to enter largely into all the colored sorts. They naturally possess the 
 odor of violets. 
 
 The soaps made with oil of almonds are very beautiful, and preserve the agreeable 
 smell of their perfume ; but being expensive, are introduced sparingly into the mixtures 
 by most manufacturers. 
 
 Some perfumers are in the habit of making what may be called extempore soaps, em- 
 ploying leys at 36° Baume in their formation. This method, however, ought never to 
 be adopted by any person who prefers quality to beauty of appearance. Such soap is, 
 indeed, admirably white, glistening, contains no more water than is necessary to its con- 
 
SOAP. 6?1 
 
 stitutiun, arid may therefore be sold the day after it is made. But it has counter-balan- 
 cing disadvantages. It becomes soon very hard, is difficultly soluble in water, and, if 
 not made with tallow, does not lather well. Hog's lard is very commonly used for ma- 
 king that soap. Twenty kilogrammes of the fat are taken, to ten kilogrammes of soda 
 ley, at 36° B. (specific gravity 1-324) ; as soon as the former is nearly fluid, five kilo- 
 grammes of the ley are introduced, and the mixture is continually agitated during an 
 hour with a wooden spatula. The temperature should never be raised ahove 150° Fahr. 
 at the commencement of the operation ; at the end of one hour, five other kilogrammes 
 of ley are to be added, with careful regulation of the heat. The paste thus formed by the 
 union of the fat and alkali, ought to be perfectly homogeneous, and should increase in 
 consistence every hour, till it becomes firm enough to be poured into the frame ; during 
 which transfer, the essential oils destined to scent it, should be introduced. Next day 
 the soap is hard enough; nor does il differ in appearance from ordinary soap, only it 
 requires prompt manipulation to be cut into bars and cakes ; for when neglected a day 
 or two, it may become too brittle for that purpose, and too hard to take the impression 
 of the stamps in relief. Such an article gets the name of little-part soap, on account of 
 the small quantity in which it is usually manufactured. Hard soap, made in the com- 
 mon way, is, on the contrary, called large-pan soap. This extemporaneous compound is 
 now seldom or never made by respectable manufacturers. In making AVindsor soap, the 
 admixture of olive oil is advantageous ; because, being richer in oleine than suet, it sa- 
 ponifies less readily than it, and thus favors the formation of a more perfect neutral com- 
 bination. When the soap cuts, or parts from the ley, when the paste becomes clotty, or, 
 in the language of the operative, when the grain makes its appearance, the fire should 
 be immediately withdrawn, that the impurities may be allowed to subside. This part of 
 the operation lasts twelve hours at least ; after which, the soap, still hot, becomes alto- 
 gether fluid and perfectly neutral. 
 
 For every 1000 pounds of the paste, there must be introduced nine pounds of essences, 
 mingled in the following proportions : — six pounds of essence of carui ; one and a half 
 ditto lavender, (finest) ; one and a half ditto rosemary. 
 
 The mixture must be well stirred, in order to get completely saturated with the 
 perfumes ; and this may be readily done without at all touching or stirring up the 
 subjacent leys ; in the course of two hours, the soap may be transferred into the ordinary 
 frames. In twenty-four hours, the mass is usually solidified enough for cutting into bars 
 and cakes, ready to be stamped for sale. 
 
 The above method of scenting Windsor soap is practised only in the largest establish- 
 ments ; in the smaller, the soap is pailed out of the soap-pans, into a pan provided with 
 a steam case or jacket, and there mixed with the essential oils, by means of appropriate 
 heat and agitation. 
 
 The most fashionable toilet soaps are, the rose, the bouquet, the cinnamon, the orange- 
 flower, the musk, and the bitter almond or peach blossom. 
 
 Soap a. la rose. — This is made of the following ingredients : 30 pounds of olive-oil 
 soap ; 20 of good tallow soap. 
 
 Toilet soaps must be reduced to thin shavings, by means of a plane, with its under 
 face turned up, so that the bars may be slid along it. These shavings must be put into 
 an unlinned copper pan, which is surrounded by a water-bath, or steam. If the soap be 
 old and hard, 5 pounds of water must be added to them ; but it is preferable to take 
 fresh-made soaps, which may melt without addition, as soap some time kept does not 
 readily form a homogeneous paste. . The fusion is commonly completed in an hour, or 
 thereby, the heat being applied at 212° F., to accelerate the progress, and prevent the 
 dissolution of the constituent water of the soap. For this purpose the interior pan may 
 be covered. Whenever the mass is sufficiently liquefied, 1| ounces of finely ground ver- 
 milion are to be introd-iccd, and thoroughly mixed, after which the heat may be taken 
 off the pan j when the following perfumes may be added with due trituration :—3 ounces 
 of essence of rose ; 1 ditto cloves ; 1 ditto cinnamon ; 2| ditto bergamot ; = 7J. 
 
 The scented soap being put into the frames, speedily consolidates. Some recommend 
 to pass the finished fused soap through a tammy cloth, in order to free it from all clots 
 and impurities ; a very proper precaution in the act of transferring it to the frame. If 
 the preceding instructions be observed, we obtain a soap perfect in every point of view; 
 possessing a delicious fragrance, equally rich and agreeable, a beautiful roseate hue, and 
 the softest detergent qualities, which keeping cannot impair. Such a soap has, in fact, 
 been known to retain every property in perfection during four or five years. When the 
 essential oils are particularly volatile, they should not be added to the soap till its tem- 
 perature has fallen to about 140° Fahr. ; but in this case a more careful trituration is 
 required. The economy is, however, ill bestowed ; for the cakes made of such cooler 
 Boap are never so homogeneous and glossy. 
 
 Soap au bouquet. — 30 pounds of good tallow' soap ; 4 ounces of essence of bergamot ; 
 oil of cloves, sassafras, and thyme, 1 ounce each ; neroli, | ounce. The color is given 
 with 7 ounces of brown ochre. 
 
672 SOAP. 
 
 Cinnamon Soap. — 30 pounds of good tallow soap ; 20 ditto of palm-oil soap. Per 
 fumes: — 7 ounces of . essence of cinnamon; lj ditto sassafras; Jj ditto bergamot. 
 Color : — 1 pound of yellow ochre. 
 
 Orange-flower Soap. — 30 pounds of good tallow soap ; 20 ditto palm-oi. soap. Per 
 fumes : — 7| ounces essence of Portugal ; 7| ditto amber. Color : — 9£ ounces, consisting 
 of 8 J of a yellow-green pigment, and 1 J of red lead. 
 
 Musk Soap.- — 30 pounds of good tallow soap ; 20 ditto palm-oil soap. Perfumes : — 
 Powder of cloves, of pale roses, gillifiower, each 4J ounces ; essenee of bergamot, and 
 essence of musk, each 31 ounces. Color : — 4 ounces of brown oehre, or Spanish brown. 
 
 Bitter Almond Soap— Is uade by compounding, with 50 pounds of the best white soap, 
 10 ounces of the essence ol bitter almonds. 
 
 LIGHT SOAPS. 
 
 The apparatus employed for making these soaps is a copper pan, heated by a water- 
 bath ; in the bottom of the pan there is a step, to receive the lower end of a vertical shaft, 
 to which arms or paddles are attached, for producing constant agitation, by causing them 
 to revolve among the liquefied mass. Into a pan so mounted, 50 pounds of good oil soap 
 of any kind are put (for a tallow soap does not become frothy enough), and melted by 
 proper heat, with the addition of 3 or 4 pounds of water. By the rapid rotation of the 
 machine, an abundant thick lather is produced, beginning first at the bottom, and creep- 
 ing gradually upwards to the top of the pan, when the operation should be stopped ; the 
 soap having by this time doubled its volume. It must now be pailed off into the frame, 
 allowed to cool, and then cut into cakes. Such soap is exceedingly pleasant at the wash- 
 stand, feeling very soft upon the skin, affording a copious thick lather, and dissolving 
 with the greatest ease. 
 
 TRANSPARENT SOAPS. 
 
 These soaps were for a long time manufactured only in England, where the process 
 was kept a profound secret. They are now made every where. 
 
 Equal parts of tallow soap, made perfectly dry, and spirit of wine, are to be put into 
 a copper still, which is plunged in a water-bath, and furnished with its capital and 
 refrigeratory. The heat applied to effect the solution should be as slight as possible, to 
 avoid evaporating too much of the alcohol. The solution being effected, must be suf- 
 fered to settle ; and after a few hours 5 repose, the clear supernatant liquid is drawn off 
 into tin frames, of the form desired for the cakes of soap. These bars do not acquire 
 their proper degree of transparency till after a few weeks' exposure to dry air. They 
 are now planed, and subjected to the proper mechanical treatment for making cakes of 
 any form. The soap is colored with strong alcoholic solution of archil for the rose tint, 
 and of turmeric for the deep yellow. Transparent soaps, however pleasing to the eye, 
 are always of indifferent quality ; they are never so detergent as ordinary soaps, and 
 they eventually acquire a disagreeable smell. 
 
 The exports of soap from this country during the last 9 months, (November 1852), were 
 117,623 cwt. against 99,983 cwt. in 1851, and 96,123 in 1850. 
 
 The following is an invention for which Dr. Normandy obtained a patent. When 
 yellow soap is made with the cheaper kinds of fat, it will hardly acquire a sufficient 
 degree of firmness or hardness to satisfy the thrifty washerwoman. It melts away too 
 rapidly in hot water ; a defect which may be well remedied by the introduction into the 
 soap of a little fused sulphate of soda ; and the salt concreting gives the soap a desirable 
 hardness, while it improves its colour, and renders it a more economical article for the 
 washing-tub. In a trial recently before the Court of Common Pleas, it was proved that 
 the soap made according to Dr. Normandy's patent was worth fully 21. a ton more than 
 the original soap, without the sulphate of soda. 
 
 Soda-ash is the substance employed in the manufacture of soap, and varies in the 
 amount of soda it contains to the extent of from 30 to 50 per cent., according to the 
 mode of its formatioa A small quantity of this soda is occasionally in the caustic 
 state ; but the great bulk is combined with carbonic acid, as carbonate of soda, and 
 variable proportions of chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda exist with it in the 
 soda-ash. The fabrication of soap is under the surveillance of the excise, and conse- 
 quently there is little or no scope for improvement, — an assertion well supported by the 
 notorious fact, that no alteration has taken place in it since the reign of Queen Anne. 
 Yet, looking upon the innumerable changes and metamorphoses which the fats and oils 
 are capable of undergoing through the agency of chemistry, there is no subject which 
 offers a fairer field for the labours of inventive genius than this very manufacture. 
 The elements united together in the class of animal and vegetable oils of fats are not 
 numerous, but seemingly fitted for displaying an endless mutability ; and no doubt the day 
 will come, when, from perhaps the cheapest and most worthless of these substances, we 
 shall be able to form every other variety, or, even from wood and coal extract substances 
 of this kind to rival and supersede tallow, wax, or spermaceti. At present, however, the 
 
SOAP. 673 
 
 principal manufacturer interested in the working out of such questions lies under the 
 inquisitorial power of our great fiscal harpy. Improvement under such an influence 
 loses its reward ; for concealment is impossible, not only for the period required to seal 
 a patent, but even for a day or an hour. The excise officer is omnipotent in u soap 
 work, for he carries the master key of every lock on the premises : all must open when 
 he knocks : all must explain when he questions. In spite, therefore, of the thousands 
 of interesting discoveries which have been made within the last twenty years in depart- 
 ments of the arts closely allied to soap-making, this manufacture has stood still for more 
 than 200 years, and presents the most remarkable proofs of the unwholesome and im- 
 politic nature of excise interference. Under such circumstances, we feel almost com- 
 pelled to depart from our ordinary course of offering a few remarks in the direction of 
 improvements. Hints of this kind are to the soap-maker like the water bubbling in 
 the cup of Tantalus. He may see, but cannot enjoy, the proffered boon, for he is tied 
 down by regulations, presumed to have been necessary for the social Btatus of this king- 
 dom at the time of Queen Anne.. Our remarks upon the soap manufacture will conse- 
 quently bear no proportion whatever to the importance of the subject or to the position 
 which it would assume to-morrow, if relieved from excise restrictions : the incubus 
 which has so long restrained the wing of invention would laugh at our efforts to raise 
 the victim of his oppression. 
 
 In this department of industry, improvement has therefore, of necessity, a foreign 
 origin, aud hence we regard it as a mere matter of course that the Exhibition prize 
 medal for soap should have passed into the hands of an American. Mr. John Ransom St. 
 John, of New York, for the soap made under whose process a prize medal -has been most 
 justly awarded, has, we see, secured his process in this country by letters patent : yet 
 it will not surprise us in the least to find that Mr. St. John is prevented by the excise 
 from following out his invention here. A circumstance exactly parallel to this assumption 
 occurred a, few years ago to another foreigner, Dr. Normandy, who had taken out a 
 patent for improvements in soap-making, but was ruinously interfered with, and ulti- 
 mately stopped by the excise. In wishing Mr. St. John, therefore, all the success his 
 extremely ingenious invention merits, we warn him that he may yet fall beneath the 
 crushing influence of the Broad Street authorities. 
 
 The first step in the production of soap consists in obtaining a solution of soda, or 
 what is termed caustic lye. For this purpose, a given quantity of the soda-ash pre- 
 viously spoken of is mixed with an amount of recently slaked lime proportioned to the 
 previously ascertained strength of the soda-ash ; with these a certain bulk of sand is 
 generally mixed, for the purpose of facilitating the subsequent process of filtration. 
 The entire mixture is now placed, layer by layer, in a tank, similar to that described 
 for lixiviating the ball-soda in soda works. The layers of mixture are separated by 
 layers of rush-matting from each other, and a plug being driven into the lower orifice 
 of the tank this latter is filled full of water and allowed to stand for twelve or eighteen 
 hours. The plug being then withdrawn, the saturated solution of caustic soda flows 
 down into a reservoir placed beneath; after which, the plug is again replaced, more 
 water applied, and this operation is repeated five or six times ; the various liquors thus 
 obtained being conveyed into separate reservoirs, and distinguished from each other by 
 the names first running, second running, and so on, the last being of course the weakest. 
 When weak soda-ash is employed little or no common salt need be added to the mix- 
 ture in the lime vat ; but when soda-ash of great strength is used, it is necessary to add 
 a considerable quantity of common salt to it, for a purpose which will shortly be ex- 
 plained. Having in this way produced a series of caustic lyes, of different degrees of 
 strength, the weakest is pumped up into a boiler copper, as it is called, though gener- 
 ally made of cast-iron. To this lye a quantity of tallow is added, and the whole boiled for 
 some time, or until, upon testing it, the lye is found to have lost its caustic property. 
 The whole is now allowed to cool and remain at rest, until the lye, now deprived of its 
 alkali, settles to the bottom of the copper ; whence it is pumped out by a kind of force- 
 pump, as the excise regulations do not permit it to be withdrawn or run off, as it is in 
 other countries, from the bottom of the boiler. This fluid is denominated spent lye, 
 and contains a portion of glycerine derived from the fat or tallow, together with the 
 sulphate and muriate of soda of the soda-ash, and an additional quantity of muriate of 
 soda added by the soap-maker. The presence of this muriate of soda is indispensable, 
 for otherwise the tallow and lye would unite into a uniform emulsion, from which it 
 would be impossible afterwards to separate the spent lye; but as soap is altogether in- 
 soluble in a solution of common salt, the partially saponified compound is thus brought 
 to float on the surface, and permits of the spent lye precipitating to the bottom, frorp 
 whence, as we have seen, it is pumped away and lost, being of no value. 
 
 This constitutes what is called an operation, and, after continuing to repeat thes« 
 operations three or four times, with lyes of gradually increasing strength, a perios 
 arrives at which the grease is said to be "killed," or, in other words, the tallow i» 
 
 Vol. II. ii 
 
«74 SOAP. 
 
 saponified, or combined with its full equivalent ol soda. This point is well known to 
 the workmen by the consistence of the compound, when a little of it is squeezed between 
 the finger and thumb and allowed to cool ; if finished, it readily separates from the skin 
 as a hard cake, and, moreover, has no longer the taste peculiar to grease ; if, on the con- 
 trary, any tallow remain unsaponified, this oozes out by the pressure, and becomes 
 perceptible both to the sight and taste. A more certain mode, however, is to decom- 
 pose a portion of the suspected soap by means of an acid, and ascertain whether the 
 resulting grease is wholly soluble in boiling spirits of wine, for, if not, the saponification 
 has been imperfect. Presuming, however, that a perfect result has been secured, the 
 soap has now to be brought into a marketable condition, and, for this purpose, it is 
 fused with a quantity of weak lye or water. So soon as combination has taken place, a 
 quantity of very strong lye is added, until an incipient separation begins to show itself. 
 The heat is now increased, and the boiling continued for a considerable time, the mas9 
 being prevented from boiling out of the vessel by workmen, armed with shovels, who 
 dash the soap to and fro, so as to break the froth upon the surface, and favour 
 evaporation. At first the soap is divided into an innumerable number of small globules; 
 each separate and distinct from its fellow; but, as the boiling goes on, those gradually 
 run together into larger and larger globules, till at last the soap is seen to assume a 
 pasty consistence, and to unite in one uniform mass, through which the steam from 
 below slowly forces its way in a series of bursts or little explosions. The process is now 
 finished, and all that remains to be done is to shut down the lid of the copper, having 
 previously extinguished the fire. In from one to two or three days, according to the 
 nature and quantity of the soap in question, the lid is again raised, and the semifluid 
 soap ladled from the precipitated lye by means of ladles; the product being thrown 
 into a wooden or iron frame, of specific dimensions, where its weight is estimated "by 
 measurement, and the duty charged upon it. In making common yellow or resin soap, 
 the resin is usually added after the saponification of the tallow, in the proportion of one- 
 third or one-fourth of the tallow employed. The subsequent operations are much 
 about the same as those above described ; but, in addition, just before closing the lid of 
 the copper, a quantity of water or weak lye is sprinkled over the melted soap, which 
 carries down with it the mechanical impurities of the resin ; and these constitute a dark 
 layer of soap resting upon the lye, which is not poured into the frame with the rest, but 
 is placed apart under the name " niger" and brings a less price. Good curd or white 
 soap should contain of 
 
 Grease - - - - - - 61-0 parts 
 
 Soda • - - - - - 6 - 2 " 
 
 Water ...... 328 " 
 
 or consist of 
 
 100 
 
 Grease acid l atom=315 
 
 Soda ... 1 a tom= 32 
 
 "Water ...... if a toms=163 
 
 Resin soap has a more variable" composition, but, when not adulterated with water 
 should contain about as follows : — 
 
 Grease and resin - - 60 
 
 Soda . g 
 
 "Water - - . - 34 
 
 100 
 The manufacture of soft soap_ differs greatly from that of hard soap; as, in this case 
 nothing is separated from the mixture in the boiler ; and the alkali ' employed is potash 
 and not soda. The mode of obtaining a caustic lye of potash is' exactly the same as 
 with soda, except that the weak lyes are used in place of water for a subsequent 
 operation, and not pumped up into the boiler. The materials employed as fats are 
 mixtures of the vegetable and animal oils, as rape, and the fish-oil called " Southern " 
 For the best kinds of soft soap, a little tallow is added to these, which produces a 
 peculiar kind of mottling or crystallization in the soap, that confers additional value 
 upon it: Ihese oils or fats are merely boiled with the strong caustic potash-lye, until 
 thorough combination has taken place, and so much of the water of the lye is evaporated, 
 that, when a portion of the soap is poured upon a cold slab, and allowed to rest for a 
 few minutes, it assumes the consistence of soft butter. As soon as this happens, the 
 whole is run out into little casks, where it cools ; and is thus sent into the market. Of 
 tourse no atomic arrangement can be traced in so variable a compound; and hence its 
 
SOAP. 676 
 
 analysis presents no point of interest. The employment of soft soap is daily becoming 
 
 more and more limited. Soft soap usually contains as under 
 
 Fatty oils - - - - 48 
 
 Potash - ... 10 
 
 Water - - - -47 
 
 . . 100 
 
 but its composition differs greatly. 
 
 Messrs. Wilson and Gwynne propose in a patent granted in 1845 to make soap from 
 fatty matters hardened beforehand by means of sulphuric acid. 10 tons of palm oil or 
 whale oil are put into a wrought-iron vessel provided with a perforated steam worm, 
 through which steam is admitted till the temperature rises to 350° F. : the fatty matter 
 is then run into a tank formed of brick lined with lead and sunk in the ground. 
 The tank has a steam pipe inserted into t, and has a wooden cover lined with lead, 
 having two manholes in it. It is closed by an oil joint about 8 inches deep. Through 
 the cover a pipe passes, connected with a high shaft for the escape of offensive vapours, 
 and their condensation by a jet of cold water. 2000 lbs. of sulphuric acid of 1-8 'specific 
 gravity are poured into the tank ; the temperature of the mass being meanwhile care- 
 fully, watched by a thermometer and not allowed to exceed 350° Fahr. The admission 
 of steam is continued while the acid is being slowly 'poured in. When this is done the 
 fire is extinguished. But steam is admitted for 4 hours afterwards, being heated highly 
 by passing through pipes placed over a fire. The steam being stopped, and the mass 
 somewhat cooled, a large pump is introduced, and the product is turned out into a 
 wooden vessel lined with lead and provided with a steam worm. " In this "vessel the fatty 
 matter is washed by means of free steam with half its bulk of water for 2 hours, and is 
 then allowed to rest for 12 hours. The product thus obtained can be made into soap in 
 the ordinary way ; but it is better to distil it first. See Fat. 
 
 Soap Manufacture obstructed by our Excise Laws.— In 1831, the candle making 
 trade was, after a long reign of oppression, emancipated from the odious excise harpies ; 
 and, says the patriotic Mr. G. F. Wilson, "those only know their cramping influence 
 who have worked under them. Our neighbour trade, soap making, shows its injury by 
 the fact that the German soap makers are so far in advance of ours, that they buy from 
 us hundreds of tons of oleic acid, on which they pay freight, commissions, and other 
 charges, while English soap makers cannot use it, though at their own doors. In 
 France a soap work for oleic acid forms a part of almost every stearic candle factory. 
 Here the nuisance of being subject to fixed times and rules of work, and to prying ex- 
 cisemen, in most cases prevents the business."-— On the Stearic Candle Manufacture, by G. 
 F. Wilson, Esq., Managing Director of Price's Candle Company. 1852. 
 
 SOAPS, QUALITY OF. To determine the quantity of water, thin slices are cut 
 from the edges and from the centre of the bars. A portion is then weighed, about 4 or 
 5 grammes, (60 to 70 grains), and exposed to a current of air heated to 212° Fahr.; or in 
 an oil bath, until it ceases to lose weight. ' The dry substance is then weighed ; the 
 difference between the first and last weighing will indicate the quantity of water evapo- 
 rated. If it be a soft soap, it is weighed in a counterpoised shallow capsule. In good 
 soap the amount of water varies from 30 to 45 per cent., in mottled and soft soaps from 
 36 to 52 per cent. 
 
 The purity of soap may be ascertained by treating it with hot alcohol; if the soap be 
 white and without admixture, the portion remaining undissolved is very minute, and a 
 mottle soap of good quality- does not leave, when' operating on 5 grammes, more than 5 
 centigrammes, or about 1 percent. 
 
 If there should be a sensible amount of residue from white soap, or more than 1 per 
 cent, from mottled soap, some accidental or fraudulent admixture may be suspected, 
 — silica, alumina, gelatine, <fcc, the quantity and nature of which may be determined 
 by analysis. 
 
 The quantity of alkali contained in the soap is easily determined by means of the 
 alkalimeter. 
 
 10 grammes in thin slices are taken, for instance, and dissolved in 150 grammes of 
 boiling water ; and this solution is saturated with a normal liquor, containing in a quart 
 of water 100 grammes of sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1-848, or with 1 atom' of water. 
 
 The volume of this liquor required for complete ' saturation will indicate the corre- 
 sponding weight of sulphuric acid, which is itself nearly equivalent to an equal weight 
 of dry carbonate of soda. 
 
 The quantity of pure potash or soda may be thus deduced. 
 
 There is no difficulty in ascertaining in the same assay the quantity of the fatty sub- 
 stance. For this purpose 10 grammes of pure white wax free from water are added to 
 the liquid, after saturation with sulphuric acid, and the whole heated to complete lique- 
 faction : it is then allowed to cool, and when it has become solid, the cake of wax and 
 
676 
 
 SODA. 
 
 fatty matter which Lave united is removed, and -washed, dried and weighed ; the 
 augmentation in weight beyond the 10 grammes employed will give the weight of 
 the fatty matter. 
 
 The liquid decanted from the solidified wax may afterwards be tested, to ascertain the 
 purity of the base. 
 
 The solution of the sulphate may also be evaporated, and, by an examination of its 
 crystalline form, or by means of chloride of platinum, it may be ascertained whether the 
 base be soda or potash, or a mixture of the two. 
 
 As to the nature of the fatty substance, it is ascertained with more or less certainty, 
 by saturating the solution of the soap with tartaric acid, collecting the fat acids, and 
 taking their point of fusion. It is possible, at least, by this to prove the identity or the 
 absence of identity with the sample in the soap supplied ; for instance, whether it is made 
 from oil or tallow, <&c. The odour developed by the fatty matter 'at the moment of the 
 decomposition of the soap by acids assisted by heat will often indicate the nature of the 
 fatty substance employed in its fabrication, or that at least of which the odour may 
 prevail. 
 
 The soap is proved to contain an excess of fatty matter not saponified, by separating 
 the fatty acids by means of hydrochloric acid, washing with hot distilled water,gthen 
 combining them with baryta and thoroughly washing the new compound with boiling 
 water. The nonsaponifiea fatty matter is easily separated from the barytic soap by 
 treating the mass with boiling alcohol, which dissolves the fatty substance. We can 
 moreover assure ourselves that it has no acid reaction on moistened litmus paper, that it 
 is fusible, and that it possesses the general character of a neutral fatty substance. 
 
 SOAPSTONE ; see Steatite. 
 
 SODA, Caustic soda (Hydrate de sonde, Fr. ; JLetznatron, Germ.), is an alkaline sub 
 stance, used in chemical researches, in bleaching, and in the manufacture of soap. It is 
 prepared by boiling a solution of crystallized carbonate of soda in 4 or 5 parts of water, 
 with half its weight of recently slaked and sifted lime. At the end of half an hour, the 
 vessel of iron, porcelain, or preferably silver, may be removed from the fire, and covered 
 carefully, till the calcareous matter has settled into a solid magma at the bottom. The 
 clear supernatant ley may be then decanted into bottles for use in the liquid state, or 
 evaporated, out of contact of air, till it assumes an oily appearance, then poured upon 
 an iron or marble slab, broken into pieces, and put up in vials secured with greased stop- 
 pers or corks. 
 
 Caustic soda is a white brittle mass, of a fibrous texture, a specific gravity of 1-536, 
 melting at a heat under redness, having a most corrosive taste and action upon animal 
 matters, dissolving readily in both water and alcohol, attracting carbonic acid when 
 exposed to the atmosphere, but hardly any water, and falling thereby into an efllorescent 
 carbonate ; it forms soaps with tallow, oils, wax, rosin ; dissolves wool, hair, silk, horn, 
 alumina, silica, sulphur, and some metallic sulphurets. It consists of 77-66 soda, and 
 22-34 water. A solution of caustic soda affords no precipitate with solution of chloride 
 of platinum, or tartaric acid, as a solution of caustic potash never fails to do. 
 
 The following Table of the quantity of Caustic Soda contained in Leys of different 
 densities, has been given by Richter : — 
 
 Spec. 
 
 Soda 
 
 Spec. 
 
 Soda 
 
 Spec. 
 
 Soda 
 
 Spec. 
 
 Soda 
 
 gray. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 gray. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 gray. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 gray. 
 
 per cent. 
 
 1-00 
 
 0-00 
 
 1-12 
 
 11-10 
 
 1-22 
 
 20-66 
 
 1-32 
 
 29-96 
 
 1-02 • 
 
 2-07 
 
 1-14 
 
 12-81 
 
 1-24 
 
 22-58 
 
 1-34 
 
 31-67 
 
 1-04 
 
 4-02 
 
 1-16 
 
 14-73 
 
 1-26 
 
 24-47 
 
 1-35 
 
 32-40 
 
 1-06 
 
 5-89 
 
 1-18 
 
 16-73 
 
 1-28 
 
 26-33 
 
 1-36 
 
 33-08 
 
 1-08 
 
 7-69 
 
 1-20 
 
 18-71 
 
 1-30 
 
 28-16 
 
 1-38 
 
 1 
 
 34-41 
 
 1-10 
 
 9-43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Soda freejrom water can be obtained only by the combustion of sodium, which see. 
 
 On the 80th of June, 1838, Messrs. Dyars and Hemmings obtained a patent foi 
 manufacturing soda by the decomposition of sea-salt with sesquicarbonate or bicarbonate 
 of ammonia. Equal parts of the chloride of 6odium and Besquicarbonate are pres- 
 cribed, being very nearly the equivalent decomposing proportions, and the ammonia 
 salt is recommended to be added in powder to a saturated solution of the sea salt, and 
 the mixture to be stirred, and then set aside till the mutual aotion and decomposition 
 be effected. Having been employed to examine this process for a .gentleman who 
 wished to adopt it on a manufacturing scale, I obtained the following results. On 
 
SODA. 
 
 677 
 
 making the prescribed mixture in the cold, brisk effervescence takes place, because 
 Ihe quantity: of carbonic acid combined with the ammonia is greater than the resulting 
 soda can readily absorb, even to form its bicarbonate, and this extrication of gas carries 
 off with it more or less ammonia, amounting, in carefully conducted experiments, to no 
 less than 27 per cent, of the sesqui-carbonate employed; though the magma deposited 
 from the mixture was drained in vessels nearly close, and though the ammonia which 
 adhered to it, as well as that in the drained mother liquors, was recovered by> distilla- 
 tion in vessels connected with aWoulfe's apparatus. Moreover, the utmost amount of 
 soda-ash (not pure carbonate) which was obtained, was only 37-5 for 100 of sea salt 
 used, whereas 90 of carbonate should result from 100 of the sea salt, with the above 
 equivalent dose of sesqui-carbonate of ammonia. This latter salt contains about one 
 half more carbonic acid than is required by the soda to become a carbonate. A good 
 illustration of the loss of ammonia in a similar case is afforded by the decomposition of 
 chloride of calcium in solution, by adding to it the equivalent dose of pulverized 
 ammonia carbonate ; viz., 56 of the former and 59 of the latter. The rapid extrication 
 of the carbonic acid on making this mixture, causes such a waste of ammonia, that 
 more of the sesqui-carbonate must >e afterward introduced, to complete the decompo- 
 sition of the chloride; the stronger the solution of the chloride the greater is the lom 
 of ammonia. 
 
 In one of my experiments where were employed 3500 grains=half a. pound avoir 
 dupois, of each ingredient, the following were the products : — 
 
 1. Ammonia recovered by distillation from the drained magma, 
 
 equivalent in sesqui-carbonate to - - - - 
 
 2. Ammonia as carbonate, from the remaining liquid, sucked into a 
 
 vacuous apparatus and distilled - - - 
 
 3. Additional ammonia as carbonate, obtained from the cold mother 
 
 liquors, by distillation with quicklime, and out of the sal 
 ammoniac formed -------- 
 
 Grains. 
 
 257 
 1509 
 
 Sesqui carbonate employed 
 
 775 
 
 2541 
 3500 
 
 Loss 959 
 
 or 27* 4 per cent. 
 
 The product from this experiment in dry soda ash was only 1500 grains, which were 
 found to contain only 1312 of pure carbonate, or 87'5 per cent, of the whole. Here is 
 a deficiency of soda carbonate, upon the quantity of the chloride used, of no less than 
 58£ per cent., for only 1312 grains are obtained instead of 3150. 
 
 Subsequently a method occurred to me, whereby this process, elegant in a scientific 
 point of view, might possibly be executed with advantage upon the commercial scale ; 
 but it would require a very "peculiar apparatus, though not nearly so costly as what was 
 erected by Mr. Cooper, under the direction of the patentees, at Battersea and in Brussels. 
 
 SODA, CARBONATE OF (Kohlensaures natron, Germ.) ; is the soda of commerce 
 in various states, either crystallized, in lumps, or in a crude powder called soda-ash. It 
 exists in small quantities in certain mineral waters ; as, for example, in those of Seltzer, 
 Seydschutz, Carlsbad, and the volcanic springs of Iceland, especially the Geyser ; it fre- 
 quently occurs as an efflorescence in slender needles upon damp walls, being produced 
 by the action .of the lime upon the sea salt present in the mortar. The mineral soda is 
 the sesquicarbonate, to be afterwards described. 
 
 Of manufactured soda, the variety most antiently known is barilla, the incinerated 
 ash of the . Salsola soda. This plant is cultivated with great care by the Spaniards, 
 especially in the vicinity of Alicant. The seed is sown in light low soils, which are 
 embanked towards the sea shore, and furnished with sluices, for admitting an occasional 
 overflow of salt water. When the plants are ripe, the crop is cut down and dried ; the 
 seeds are rubbed out and preserved ; the rest of the plant is . burned in rude furnaces, at 
 a temperature just sufficient to cause the ashes to enter into a state of semi-fusion, so 
 as to concrete on cooling into cellular masses moderately compact. The most valuable 
 variety of this article is called sweet barilla. It has a grayish-blue; colour, and gets 
 covered with a saline efflorescence when exposed for some time to the air. It is hard 
 and difficult to break ; when applied to the tongue, it excites a pungent alkaline taste. 
 
 I have analysed many varieties of barilla. Their average quantity of free or alkali- 
 metrical soda is about 17 per cent. ; though several contain only 14 parts in ; the 
 hundred, and a few upwards of 20. This soda is chiefly a- carbonate," with a little 
 sulphuret and sulphate ; and is mixed with sulphate and muriate of soda, carbonate of 
 lime, vegetable carbon, Ac. 
 
678 
 
 SODA. 
 
 Another mode of manufacturing crude soda is by burning sea-weed into kelp. For 
 merly very large revenues -were derived by the proprietors of the shores of the Scottish 
 islands and Highlands, from the incineration of sea-weed by their tenants, who usually 
 paid their rents in kelp ; but since the tax has been taken off salt, and the manufacture 
 of a crude soda from it has been generally established, the price of kelp has fallen 
 extremely low. 
 
 The crystals of soda-carbonate, as well as the soda-ash of British commerce, are now 
 made altogether by the decomposition of sea-salt. 
 
 SODA MANUFACTURE. 
 
 The manufacture divides itself into three branches : — 1. The conversion of sea salt, 
 or chloride of sodium, into sulphate of soda. 2. The decomposition of this sulphate into 
 crude soda, called black balls by the workmen. 3. The purification of these balls, either 
 into a dry white soda-ash or into crystals. 
 
 1. The preparation of the sulphate of soda. — Figs. 1311, 1312, 1313, represent the 
 furnace for, converting the muriate of soda into the sulphate. The furnace must be 
 built interiorly of the most refractory fire-bricks, such as are used for glasshouses, but 
 of the ordinary brick size ; except the bridges c, G, n, which should be formed of one 
 mass, such as what is called a Welsh lump. A is the ash-pit ; b, the grate ; c, the 
 first bridge, between the fire and the first calcining hearth D, D ; r, r, is its roof; G, the 
 second bridge, between the calcining hearth and the decomposing hearth I, i, I ; the 
 roof of which is k, k. This hearth I, i, is lined with a lead square pan, 5 or 6 inches 
 deep, sloped at the back opening, in fig, 1313, marked m'; which deficient part of the 
 upright side is filled up with two bricks placed one over the other, as shown at m, m, 
 fig. 1312, and luted with clay, to confine the semi-liquid mass in the pan, I, i. Some 
 manufacturers make this pan 8 inches deep, and line its bottom and sides with bricks 
 
 or silicious sandstone, to protect the 
 lead from the corrosive action of the 
 acid. There are others who consider 
 this precaution troublesome, as the 
 points of the pan which become leaky 
 are thereby concealed. In the roof of 
 the decomposing hearth, one or two 
 syphon funnels E, of lead, are in- 
 serted when the charge of acid (sul- 
 phuric) is to be poured down upon 
 
 the salt in I, I, to save the risk of any 
 
 annoyance from the fumes of the muriatic acid, o, o, is a chimney filled with round 
 flint nodules, which are kept continually moist by the trickling of a streamlet of water 
 
 upon the topmost layer. The muriatic gas, 
 meeting this descending film of water upon 
 so extensive a surface, becomes absorbed, and 
 runs out below in a liquid form. When the 
 acid is required in a somewhat concentrated 
 state, this chimney should be made both high 
 and capacious. Such a plan, moreover, is 
 very valuable for abating the nuisance caused 
 by the disengagement of the muriatic acid 
 gas i which is otherwise apt to sterilize the surrounding vegetation. 
 
 A fire being kindled in the grate B,figs. 1311. and 1312,3 cwts. of salt in powdei 
 are to be thrown by a shovel into the pan i, through the door M,fig. 1313, or m, m,fig. 
 1312. Two hundred weights and a half of oil of vitriol, of specific gravity 1-844, having 
 been diluted with from 25 to 30 per cent, of water, and well mixed, or 3 cwts. at 56" 
 Baume, are to be slowly poured in by the funnel, and diffused among the muriate of 
 soda," by an occasional stir with an iron rake cased with sheet lead. Fumes of muriatic 
 acid will now plentifully escape, and, passing up the condensing-shaft o, will flow down 
 ,n the form of liquid spirit of salt, and escape by the stoneware stopcock p, into the 
 pipe of a sunk cistern. The fire having been steadily kept up at a moderate degree, the 
 chemical reaction -will be tolerably complete in the course of two hours ; but as this is 
 relative to the nature of the fuel, and the draught of the furnace, no very precise rule 
 in point of time can be laid down ; but it is sufficient for this stage of the process, when 
 .he fumes cease to be very dense and copious, as may be ascertained by opening the door 
 M/andlooking in, or by the appearance at the top of the shaft o. Over the door m', in 
 the opposite side, of the decomposing hearth.^g. 1313, there must be an arch or hood 
 terminating in a small chimney, 15 or 20 fee^high, for the ascent of the muriatic vapors 
 
 rrn ' i312 
 
 
 
 Isal* QE 
 
 ^ m 
 
 
 
 A 
 
SODA. 
 
 679 
 
 1313 
 
 wnen the charge Is drawn or run out of the hearth, and allowed to fall into a squara 
 shallow iron tray, placed on the ground at the back of the furnace. For this discharge, 
 the two bricks which serve as stoppers to that orifice, must be unluted and removed. 
 
 As soon as that charge is taken out, (the fire being meanwhile checked by opening 
 the door T,flg. 1312, and shutting partially the ash-pit opening at A,) a fresh charge 
 mu6t be introduced as above described. The nearly decomposed saline matter, during 
 the second charging of the hearth i, will have grown coo] and concrete. It must be 
 shovelled into the calcining hearth d, J), fig- 1311, by the back door q.,fig. 1313, where 
 it will receive a higher degree of heat ; and, by the expulsion of the remaining part of 
 
 the muriatic acid, it will become a 
 perfect sulphate of soda. It should 
 be finally brought into a state of semi- 
 fusion. When a sample of it, taken 
 out on the end of the rake or trowel- 
 shaped scraper, emits no fumes, the con- 
 version is accomplished. 
 
 From 3 cwts. of common salt, or mu- 
 riate of soda, rather more than ?i cwts. 
 of perfect sulphate should be obtained, quite free from metallic impurity. 
 The next step is the conversion of the sulphate into a crude soda. 
 One of the most improved soda furnaces is that employed in a few factories, repre- 
 sented in figf. 1314, 1315, and 1316. In the section Jig. 1313, there are two hearths 
 in one furnace, the one elevated above the level of the other by the thickness of a brick, 
 or about 3 inches. A is the~preparatory shelf, where the mixture to be decomposed is 
 first laid in order to be thoroughly heated, so that when transferred to the lower or 
 decomposing hearth b, it may not essentially chill it, and throw back the operation. 
 
 1314 c is the fire-bridge, and d is the grate. 
 
 In the horizontal section, or ground 
 plan, fig. 1316, we see an opening in 
 the front corresponding to each hearth. 
 This is a door, as shown in the side 
 view or elevation of the furnace, 
 fig. 1314; and each door is shut by 
 an iron square frame filled with a 
 fire-tile or bricks, and suspended 
 by a chain over a pulley fixed in 
 any convenient place. See Pitcoal, 
 coking of, p. 443. The workman, 
 on pushing up the door lightly, 
 makes it rise, because there is a coun- 
 terweight at the other end of each 
 chain, which balances the weight of the 
 frame and bricks. In the ground plan, 
 only one smoke-flue is shown; and 
 this construction is preferred by many 
 manufacturers ; but others choose to 
 have two flues, one from' each shoulder, 
 as at a, 6 ; which two flues afterwards 
 unite in one vertical chimney,: from 
 25 to 40 feet high ; because the draught 
 of a soda-furnace must be very sharp. 
 Having sufficiently explained the 
 construction of this improved fur- 
 nace, I shall now proceed to describe 
 the mode of making soda with it. 
 The materials with which the sulphate is decomposed into a rough carbonate of soda, 
 are chalk or ground limestone, and ground coal or charcoal. The proportions in which 
 these three substances are mixed, influence in a remarkable degree the success of the 
 decomposing process. I have known a false proportion introduced, and persevered in 
 at a factory, with the most prejudicial effect to thepiroduct; the soda-ash produced being 
 in a small quantity relatively to the sulphate employed, and being much charged with 
 sulphur. After very numerous trials which I have made on the great scale, an& many 
 inquiries at the most successful soda-works, both in this country and abroad, I am war- 
 ranted to offer the following proportions as the most profitable : — 
 • Sulphate of soda, 100 parts ; carbonate of lime (chalk or limestone), from 1 10 to 120 
 parts; if pure, 110; if a little impure ir damp, 120; pitcoal, 50 narts. 
 
680 SODA. 
 
 These materials must be separately ground by an edge-stone mill, and siTted into a 
 tolerably fine powder. They must be then very carefully mixed. Attention to these par- 
 ticulars is of no little importance to the success of the soda process. 
 
 One hundred parts or pounds of sulphate of soda are equivalent to 75 parts of car- 
 bonate, and when skilfully decomposed, will generally yield fully 70 pounds. A charge 
 for the decomposing furnace with the preparatory shelf should not exceed 200 lbs., or 
 perhaps 180 ; therefore if 75 pounds of ground sulphate of soda, with 80 pounds of chalk 
 or limestone (ground >, and 37 pounds of ground coal, be well mixed, they will constitute 
 one charge. This charge must be shovelled in upon the hearth A, or shelf of preparation, 
 (fig; 1315) j and whenever it has become hot (the furnace having been previously brought 
 to bright ignition), it is to be transferred to the decomposing hearth or laboratory b, by 
 an iron tool, shaped exactly like an oar, called the spreader. Tios tool has the flattened 
 part from 2 to 3 feet long, and the round part, for laying hold of and working by, from 
 6 to 7 feet long. Two other tools are used ; one, a rake, bent down like a garden hoe at 
 the end ; and another, a small shovel, consisting of a long iron rod terminated with a piece 
 of iron plate, about 6 inches long, 4 broad, sharpened and tipped with steel, for cleaning 
 the bottom of the hearth from adhering cakes or crusts. Whenever the charge is shoved 
 by the sliding motion of the oar down upon the working hearth, a fresh charge should 
 be thrown into the preparation shelf, and evenly spread over its surface. 
 
 The hot and partially carbonized charge being also evenly spread upon the hearth b, 
 is to be left untouched for about ten minutes, during which time it becomes ignited, and 
 begins to fuse upon the surface. A view may be taken of it through a peep-hole in 
 the door, which should be shut immediately, in order to prevent the reduction of the 
 temperature. When the mass is seen to be in a state of incipient fusion, the workman 
 takes the oar and turns it over breadth by breadth in regular layers, till h" has reversed 
 the position of the whole mass, placing on the surface the particles which were formerly 
 in contact with the hearth. Having done this, he immediately shuts the door, and lets 
 the whole get another decomposing heat. After five or six minutes, jets of flame begin 
 to issue, from various parts of the pasty-consistenced mass. Now is the time to incorpo- 
 rate the materials together, turning and spreading by the oar, gathering them together 
 by the rake, and then distributing them on the reverse part of the hearth ; that is, the oar 
 should transfer to the part next the fire-bridge the portion of the mass lying next the 
 shelf, and vice versa. The dexterous management of this transposition characterizes a 
 good soda-furnacer. A little practice and instruction will render this operation easy to a 
 robust clever workman. After this transposition, incorporation, and spreading, the door 
 may be shut again for a few minutes, to raise the heat for the finishing ofl\ Lastly, the 
 rake must be dexterously employed to mix, shift, spread, and incorporate. The jets, 
 called candles, are very numerous, and bright at first ; and whenever they begin to fade, 
 the mass must be raked out into cast-iron moulds, placed under the door of the labora- 
 tory to receive the ignited paste. 
 
 One batch being thus worked off, the other, which has lain undisturbed on the shelf, 
 is to be shoved down from A to b, and spread equally upon it, in order to be treated as 
 above described. A third batch is then to be placed on the shelf. 
 
 The article thus oocaihed should contain at least 22 per cent, of real soda, equivalent 
 to 37 per cent, of dry carbonate, or to 100 of crystals. A skilful workman can turn out 
 a batch in from three quarters of an hour to an hour, producing a perfect carbonate, 
 which yields on solution an almost colorless liquid, nearly destitute of sulphur, and con- 
 taining hardly any decomposed sulphate. 
 
 In some soda-works, wl>sre the decomposing furnace is very large, and is charged with 
 a ton of materials at a time, it takes two men to work it, and from five to six hours to 
 complete a batch. Having superintended the operation of the above-described small fur- 
 nace, and examined its products, I feel warranted to recommend its adoption. 
 
 The following materials and products show the average state of this soda process : — 
 Materials. — 100 parts of sulphate of soda, ground, equivalent to 75 of carbonate j 
 110 of chalk or ground limestone ; 55 of ground coal ; in the whole, 265. 
 
 Products. — 168 parts of crude soda, at 33 per cent. = 55-3 eC Jry carbonate. 
 
 q < 130 — crystals of carbonate of soda = 48 of dry carbonate; and 
 ' (100 — insoluble matter. 
 
 But these products necessarily vary with the skill of the workman. 
 
 In anotner manufactory the following proportions are used : — Six stones, of 14 lbs. 
 each, of dry ground sulphate of soda, are mixed with 3 of chalk and 3 of coal. This 
 mixture, weighing li cwt., forms a batch, which is spread upon the preparation shelf 
 of the furnace (figs. 1315 and 1316), as above described, and gradually heated to inci- 
 pient ignition. It is then swept forwards to the lower area b, ty the iron oar, anil 
 tpread evenly by the rake. Whenever it begins to soften under the rising heat of th* 
 
SODA 
 
 681 
 
 laboratory (the side doors being meanwhile shut), the mass must be laboriously turned 
 everaud incorporated; the small shovel, or paddle, being employed to transfer, by the 
 interchange of small portions at a time, in rapid but orderly succession, the whole mate- 
 rials from the colder to the hotter, and from the hotter to the colder parts of the hearth. 
 The process of working one batch takes about an hour, during the first half of which 
 period it remains upon the preparation shelf. The average weight of the finished .ball 
 is 1 cwt., and its contents in alkalimetrical soda are 33 pounds. 
 
 Where the acidulous sulphate of iron from pyrites may be had at a cheap rate, it has 
 been long ago employed, as at Hurlett in Scotland, instead of sulphuric acid, for decom- 
 posing the chloride of sodium. Mr. Turner's process of preparing soda, by decomposing 
 sea salt with litharge and quicklime, has been long abandoned, the resulting patent yel- 
 low, or sub-chloride of lead, having a very limited sale. 
 
 2. The extraction of pure soda from the crude article. — The black balls musl 
 be broken into fragments, and thrown into large square iron cisterns, furnishea 
 with false bottoms of wooden spars ; when the cisterns are nearly full of these lumps, 
 water is pumped in upon them, till they are all covered. After a few days, the 
 lixiviation is effected, and the ley is drawn off either by a syphon or by a plug-hole 
 near the bottom of the cistern, and run into evaporating vessels. These may be 
 of two kinds. The surface-evaporating furnace, shown in fig. 1317, is a very 
 
 admirable invention for economizing 
 vessels, lime, and fuel, The grate A, 
 and fireplace, are separated from the 
 evaporating laboratory n, by a double 
 fire-bridge b, c, having an interstitial 
 space in the middle, to arrest the 
 communication of a melting or ig- 
 niting heat .towards the iead-lineil 
 cistern r>. This cistern may be 8, 
 10, or 20 feet long, according to the 
 magnitude of the soda-work, and 4 
 feet or more wide. lis depth should be about 4 feet. It consists of sheet lead, of about 
 6 pounds weight to the square foot, and it is lined with one layer of bricks, set in Roman 
 or hydraulic cement, both along the bottom and up the sides and ends. The lead comes 
 up to the top of c, and the liquor, or ley, may be filled ia to nearly that height. Things 
 being thus arranged, a fire is kindled upon the grate a ; the flame and hot air sweep 
 along the surface of the liquor, raise its temperature there rapidly to the boiling point, 
 and carry off the watery parts in vapor up the chimney e, which should be 15 or 20 feet 
 high, to command a good draught. But, indeed, it will be most economical to build one 
 high capacious chimney stalk, as is now done at Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle, 
 and to lead the flues of the several furnaces above described into it. In this evaporating 
 furnace the heavier and stronger ley goes to the bottom, as well as the impurities, where 
 they remain undisturbed. Whenever the liquor has attained to the density of 1-3, or 
 thereby, it is pumped up into evaporating cast-iron pans, of a flattened somewhat hemi- 
 spherical shape, and evaporated to dryness while being diligently stirred with an iron 
 rake and iron scraper. 
 
 This alkali gets partially carbonated by the above surface-evaporating furnace, and is 
 an excellent article. 
 
 When pure carbonate is wanted, that dry mass must be mixed with its own bulk of 
 ground coal, sawdust, or charcoal, and thrown into a reverberatory furnace, like^g. 1316, 
 but with the sole all upon one level. Here it must be exposed to a heat not exceeding 
 650° or 700° F. ; that is, a little above the melting heat of lead ; the only object being to 
 volatilize the sulphur present in the mass, and carbonate the alkali. Now, it has been 
 found, that if the. heat be raised to distinct redness, the sulphur will not go off, but will 
 continue in intimate union with the soda. This process is called calking, and the fur- 
 nace is called a calker furnace. It may be six or eight feet long, and four or five feet 
 broad in the hearth, and requires only one door in its side, with a hanging iron frame 
 filled with a fire-tile or bricks, as above described. 
 
 This carbonating process maybe performed upon several cwts. of the impure soda, 
 mix;d with sawdust, at a time. It takes three or four hours to finish the desulphuration ; 
 and it must be carefully turned over by the oar and the rake, in order to burn the coal 
 into carbonic acid, and to present the carbonic acid to the particles of caustic soda diffu- 
 ssd through the mass, so that it may combine with them. 
 
 When the blue flames cense, and the saline matters become white, in the midst of the 
 soaiy matter, .the batch, may be considered as completed. It is raked out, and when 
 cooled, lixiviated in great iron cisterns with false bottoms, covered with mats. The 
 watery solution being drawn off clear by a plug-hole, is evaporated either to dryness, in 
 hemisoherical cast-iron pans, as above described, or only to such a strength that it shows 
 
682 SODA 
 
 a pellicle upon its surface, when it may be run off into crystallizing cisterns of cast iron, 
 or lead-lined wooden cisterns. The above dry carbonate is the best article for the glass 
 manufacture.' 
 
 Crystallized carbonate of soda contains 62£ per cent, of water. The crystals are colorless 
 transparent rhomboids, which readily effloresce in the air, and melt in their own water of 
 crystallization. On decanting the liquid from the fused mass, it is found that one part of 
 the salt has given up its water of crystallization to another. By evaporation of that fluid, 
 crystals containing one fifth less water than the common carbonate are obtained. These 
 do not effloresce in the air. ' 
 
 Mineral soda, the sesquicarbonate (Jlnderthalb kohlensaures natron, Germ.), is found 
 in the province of Sulcena, in Africa, between Tripoli and Fezzan. It forms a stratum 
 no more than an inch thick, just below the surface of the soil. Its texture is striated 
 crystalline, like fibrous gypsum. Several hundred tons of it are collected annually, 
 which are chiefly consumed in Africa. This species of soda does not effloresce like the 
 Egyptian, or the manufactured soda crystals, owing to its peculiar state of composition 
 and density. It was analyzed by Klaproth, under its native name of trona, and was found 
 to consist, in 100 parts, of — soda, 37 ; carbonic acid, 38 ; sulphate of soda, 25 ; water, 
 22-5, in 100. 
 
 This soda is, therefore, composed of— 3 atoms of carbonic acid, associated with 2 atoms 
 of soda, and 4 of water; while our commercial soda crystals are composed of— 1 atom of 
 carbonic acid, 1 atom of soda, and 10 atoms of water. 
 
 There are six natron lakes in Egypt. They are situated in a barren valley, called Bahr- 
 bela-ma, about thirty miles to the west of the Delta. 
 
 There are natron lakes also in Hungary, which' afford in summer a white saline efflo- 
 rescent crust of carbonate of soda, mixed with a little sulphate. 
 
 There are several soda lakes in Mexico, especially to the north of Zacatecas, as also in 
 many other provinces. In Columbia, 48 English miles from Merida, mineral soda is ex- 
 tracted from the earth in great abundance, under the name of urao. 
 
 Bicarbonate of soda (Doppelt kohlemaures natron, Germ.), is prepared, like 
 bicarbonate of potassa, by transmitting carbonic acid gas through a cold saturated solution 
 of pure carbonate of soda, till crystalline crusts be formed. The bicarbonate may also 
 be obtained in four-sided tables grouped together. It has an alkaline taste and, reaction 
 upon litmus paper, dissolves in 13 parts of cold water, and is converted by boiling water 
 into the sesquicarbonate, with the disengagement of one fourth of its carbonic acid. Il 
 consists of— 37 of soda, 52-35 carbonic acid, and 10-65 water. 
 
 Soda Manufacture Impeoved. In carying on this process on the great scale, it 
 was long customary to permit the escape of the hydrochloric acid in the decomposition 
 of the muriate of soda by sulphuric acid as a waste product; and this is done 'in some 
 localities at'the present day. But independently of the actual loss thus caused, the in- 
 jurious action of the acid fumes upon every form of vegetation, for many miles around 
 the manufactory, has compelled the maker of soda to condense this hydrochloric acid, by 
 passing it through flues filled with coke ; over the cavernous surface of which a small 
 stream of water constantly flotvs. In this way, a large quantity of liquid muriatic acid 
 is procured, which, though too impure for many of the ordinary requirements of the arts, 
 is yet admirably adapted for the generation of chlorine, and the subsequent manufacture 
 of chloride of lime. The total worth of this waste product may be gathered from the 
 fact, that in one set of large soda works near Glasgow, sufficient muriatic acid is collected 
 to yield 8,000 tons of chloride of lime per annum, and yet this scarcely represents one- 
 twentieth of the soda manufacture of Great Britain. Having in this way obtained a 
 quantity of sulphate of soda, the soda maker now proceeds to his next operation. Here, 
 however, it may be as well to remark, that the sulphate of soda in question is not nearlv 
 pure, but usually contains from five to ten per cent, of common salt, which has escape'd 
 decomposition in the sulphate furnace ; as it is more economical to leave a small excess 
 of chloride of sodium than to add a superfluity of sulphuric acid, — since this latter is 
 vastly more expensive than the former; and the presence. of common salt is rather be- 
 neficial than otherwise during the subsequent process. To convert this impure sulphate 
 of soda into carbonate of soda, it is mixed in about equal proportions with chalk or car- 
 bonate of lime, and small coals, all in a state of rough powder. The mixture, merely 
 thrown together with shovels,' is projected into a reverberating furnace called the ball, 
 furnace, where it is stirred about with a long iron paddle, until it undergoes an imper- 
 fect fusion; and long jets of yellow flame, technically called "candles," burst out from 
 various parts of the mass, which, for an ordinary charge of 3 cwt. or 4 cwt., will re- 
 quire about three hours. The whole is then raked out, and allowed to cool, the furnace 
 Being supplied, as before, with a fresh charge of materials. The product of this opera- 
 tion is known as ball-soda, and it consists of carbonate of soda, sulphuret of sodium, 
 chloride of sodium, undecomposed sulphate of soda, carbonate of lime, sulphuret of 
 >alcium, and carbon of coke. Wc lmv3 had an opportunity of examining several 
 
SODA MANUFACTURE. 683 
 
 •pecimens from the largest manufactories in the kingdom, and iind no great difference in 
 
 the results. The average composition appears to be as under : — 
 
 Soda ...... . j98u 
 
 Carbonic acid ... g.24 
 
 Sulphuret of sodium • . 2-64 
 
 Chloride of sodium - . 5-22 
 
 Sulphate of soda - 6-10 
 
 Sulphate of calcium - ■ . 29'40 
 
 Carbonate of lime - ... 21-70 
 
 Coke - - - ... 5.90 
 
 100 
 
 We shall describe the mode of analyzing this compound a little further on, but at 
 this moment it will be more advantageous to pursue the remainder of the operation for 
 procuring carbonate of soda from the cooled product of the. ball-furnace. This substance, 
 under the name ball-soda, is roughly, broken to pieces, andpiled up in a large iron tank, 
 provided -with a false bottom or grating, and having an aperture near the bottom. When 
 the tank is full, the aperture near the bottom is plugged up, and hot water run upon the 
 ball-soda to within an inch or two of the top of the tank. The whole is allowed to remain 
 for several hours ; by which the salts of soda, consisting, as we have seen, of carbonate 
 and sulphate of soda, with the chloride and.sulphuret of sodium, are dissolved ; the plug 
 is then withdrawn, and the soluble matters are allowed to flow away from the carbonate 
 of lime, sulphuret of calcium, and coke, which are insoluble. Upon these latter a fresh 
 portion of hot water 13 poured, so as thoroughly to remove the soda salts ; and this last 
 solution is commonly applied to a quantity of new ball-soda, in order to economize the 
 cost of evaporation. The first fluid from the tank is conducted at once into a reverbera- 
 tory furnace, where the water is rapidly expelled, and a dry saline product obtained. 
 This is immediately transferred to what is sailed the carbonating furnace, where the sul- 
 phuret of sodium is partly decomposed by the carbonic acid of the furnace, and partly 
 reconverted into sulphate of soda by the oxygen of the air. 
 
 Meantime, the portion of soda existing in the mass as caustic soda becomes carbonated 
 by the carbonic acid of the fire ; and hence the name of this particular furnace. Having 
 been kept at a dull red heat, but short of that required for actual fusion, the whole 
 is withdrawn and cooled; after. which, it is boiled in water, and the concentrated solu- 
 tion run off into shallow coolers to crystallize. As the saline constituents now consist 
 almost entirely of carbonate of soda, with a little sulphate of soda and chloride of 
 sodium, the former salt crystallizes and. becomes solid; leaving the two latter with a 
 portion of carbonate of soda, in solution. The crystals are taken out, dried, and packed 
 for the market ; whilst the residuary solution is evaporated to dryness, and the result 
 sold under the name of soda r ash: though this name is sometimes also applied to the 
 direct product of the carbonating furnace. The nature of the decomposition which takes 
 place in the ball-furnace may be very correctly inferred from the composition of the pro- 
 ducts thence ensuing. We have seen that the primary mixture is composed of sulphate 
 of soda,] carbonate of lime, and carbon. On exposing these to a red heat, sulphuret of 
 sodium is generated, which immediately acts upon the carbonate of lime, producing sul- 
 phuret of calcium and carbonate of soda. As, however, during the reduction of the 
 Eulphate of soda, part of the carbonate of lime is rendered caustic by the expulsion of its 
 sarbonic acid, this caustic lime makes its appearance in the ball-soda tank, and converts a 
 portion of the carborate of soda into caustic soda; hence the necessity for the carbonating 
 furnace, which is, moreover, useful in destroying the sulphuret of sodium. 
 
 We shall now proceed to describe the mode of analyzing ball-soda ; after which it will 
 be necessary to review the whole process of soda-making, with a view to the possibility 
 of improvement. 
 
 Having selected a fair sample of the ball soda to be examined, this must be reduced 
 to an extremely fine powder, and a given weight of it — say 100 grains, digested in two 
 ounces of hot water for ten or fifteen minutes; then throw the whole on a filter, and wash 
 this gradually with 3 ounces of boiling water, taking care to add these washings to the 
 first liquid which passes through the filter. The filter, with its insoluble contents, may 
 now be set in a warm place to dry. Meanwhile, the clear solutions being mixed, are to 
 be tested with finely powdered carbonate of lead, until this ceases to be blackened : when 
 this occurs, the heavy black precipitate of sulphuret of lead is allowed to settle, and the 
 clear colourless solution is poured off into a porcelain basin. This being gently heated, 
 is now to be thrown upon the sulphuret of lead ; and, when this has again settled, the 
 clear fluid must be withdrawn and added to that in the porcelain basin. This, being 
 gently heated, must next be treated by a dilute acid of a determinate strength, (sea 
 Aikalimetey), until litmus paper, on being dipped into it, becomes slightly reddened: 
 
684 SODA MANUFACTURE. 
 
 when the amount of soda present, or of carbonate of soda, may be inferred, in the usual 
 way, from the composition of dilute acid. The sulphuret of lead remaining from this 
 operation is now to be supersaturated with acetic acid, and slightly heated, for the pur- 
 pose of removing from it any excess of carbonate of lead that may have been added in 
 the first instance ; the sulphuret of lead must then be well washed with hot water, dried 
 and weighed. Every 120 grains represent 40 grains of sulphuret of sodium, and for 
 this 32 grains of soda must be deducted from the result of the acidulous assay. The in- 
 soluble matter remaining on the filter is now to be transferred to a double-necked bottle 
 provided with a bent tube, for passing the evolved gases through a solution of the 
 acetate of lead in weak acetic acid. This insoluble matter consists of carbonate of lime, 
 sulphuret of calcium, and coke ; if, therefore, diluted muriatic acid is poured upon it, the 
 two former substances will be decomposed with the ^volution of carbonic acid and 
 sulphuretted hydrogen, the latter of which is absorbed by the acidulous solution of the 
 acetate of lead ; whilst the carbonic acid passes on and escapes. In combining with the 
 solution of acetate of lead, the sulphuretted hydrogen gives rise to the formation of ■sul- 
 phuret of lead, which, being well washed with hot water, then dried and weighed, gives 
 the amount of sulphuret of calcium existing in the residue : for every 1 20 grains of sul- 
 phuret of lead indicates 34 of sulphuret of calcium. The fluid in the two-necked flask 
 consists of chloride of calcium, with the coke of the ball-ash. This must, therefore, be 
 thrown on a filter, and well washed with hot water, and dried : the coke may then be 
 separated and weighed. As from the existence of carbonate of soda in the first solution 
 neither lime nor its sulphate could exist in the insoluble matter, if this had been weighed 
 previously to these latter experiments, the difference in weight, after deducting the 
 sulphuret of calcium and the coke, will be that of the carbonate of lime ; and this, under 
 the circumstances, is sufficiently correct in moderately skilful bands. It now remains, 
 therefore, only to determine the quantity of chloride of sodium and sulphate of soda 
 present in the ball-soda. For this purpose, 100 grains of the finely powdered compound 
 are to be treated exactly as before, with hot water and carbonate of lead. In this case, 
 however, the resulting alkaline solution must be supersaturated with pure nitric acid, 
 and to this an excess of nitrate of silver must be added, and the mixture warmed. A 
 dense coagulated precipitate will fall, from which the clear solution being poured off 
 into a proper vessel, the precipitate is to be washed with a little boiling distilled water, 
 and the washings added to the clear solution before mentioned. The precipitate being 
 now well dried in a dark place must be weighed ; and for every 144 grains of this pre 
 cipitate, 60 grains of chloride of sodium must be assumed. To the clear solution result- 
 ing from this operation, an excess of nitrate of baryta must be thrown in, and the mixture 
 slightly heated as before, and then thrown on a previously weighed filter. This filter, 
 when the solution has passed, is to be repeatedly washed with boiling distilled water, 
 until this fluid passes through pure ; the filter is then to be well dried and weighed, to 
 ascertain its increase of weight. This increase is due to the presence of sulphate of 
 baryta, for every 117 grains of which 11 grains of sulphate of soda must have existed 
 in the portion of ball-soda examined. To determine the amount of carbonic acid com- 
 bined with the soda, a given quantity (and for this purpose 60 grains is enough) of the 
 finely-powdered ball-soda must be lixiviated as before, and the clear solution boiled down 
 to dryness with an excess of pure peroxide of manganese, — the whole being at last 
 slightly heated over the fire. By the action of the manganese at this heat, the sulphuret 
 of sodium is converted into sulphate of soda ; and if the soda salts be now dissolved in n 
 small quantity of water, and the solution placed in a proper flask, provided with a bent 
 tube containing chloride of calcium, to arrest moisture, the carbonic acid may be expelled 
 by a known weight of diluted sulphuric acid ; and presuming the flask and the vessel 
 containing the dilute acid to have been carefully weighed before and after the experi- 
 ment, the loss gives at once the weight of the carbonic acid united to the soda. This 
 appears never to be equivalent to the amount of soda. There is a circumstance connected 
 with the lixiviation of ball-ash, on the large scale, which has probably escaped the atten- 
 tion of manufacturers, but is of considerable importance towards securing a successful 
 result. The general practice is to employ hot water for dissolving out the soda salts, 
 and to retain this solution in contact with the insoluble residue for several hours. Theo- 
 retically, this is incorrect, and, practically, we have found it injurious. Sulphuret of 
 calcium, though an insoluble salt, is not absolutely so ; and the moment this substance 
 in solution comes in contact with carbonate of soda, double decomposition ensues, 
 
 attended with the production of carbonate of lime and sulphuret of sodium a process 
 
 exactly the reverse of that which happens under the influence of a red heat, and of which, 
 in chemistry, there are many other examples. Thus it constantly happens that sulphuret 
 of sodium is found in the lixiviated products of ball-soda. If, however, cold water be 
 employed, and the contact of the carbonate of soda with the sulphuret of calcium be 
 considerably diminished, as with great ease may be done, by coarsely powdering the 
 sail-soda, instead of employing it in lumos, then the clear solution is almost entirely 
 
SODA MANUFACTURE. 685 
 
 free -from sulphuret or sodium, and is devoid of colour;, whereas, by the hot water pro- 
 cess, this fluid is invariably of a dirty -green hue, and has an offensive odour of sulphu- 
 retted hydrogen. Now, remembering- that the sulphuret of sodium is a dead loss to the 
 manufacturers, and moreover diminishes the market value of the rest of his produce, the 
 question of hot or cold water, with or without proper pulverization of the ball-soda, is 
 in reality a very important affair. 
 
 By the afore-recited analysis, it appears that, out of 22-91 parts of soda, 2 - ll were 
 combined with sulphuretted hydrogen; this is at the rate of more than 9 per cent., and 
 would form a handsome addition to the usual profits of the manufacturer. One of the 
 great drawbacks upon the manufacture of soda is the difficulty of disposing of the inso- 
 luble residue. _ This contains more than lialf its weight of sulphuret of calcium, a sub- 
 stance which, in the wet state, is rapidly decomposed by the carbonic acid of the air 
 with the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and, if moderately dry, is almost certain 
 to take fire by contact with the atmosphere, and thus taint the surrounding neighbour- 
 hood with its sulphurous emanations. It is extremely likely that this refuse product 
 would answer the purpose of lime for all agricultural uses, and also furnish sulphur to 
 such crops as require this element, — plants of the natural order cruciferae for example. 
 Gas lime is in great measure a perfectly analogous compound, and this is largely used 
 in some of our inland counties, and found to be an extremely beneficial application. 
 The refuse of soda-works has not, however, assumed a similarly favourable character 
 amongst farmers; and it is now a real and growing nuisance to the manufacturer of 
 soda. 
 
 Perhaps, after all, it would be better to think of devising a remedy for preventing the 
 formation of this residuum than seek an outlet for its consumption. With this view, 
 •we venture to lay the following process before our readers, embracing within itself what 
 maybe termed the perfection of soda-making. How far on a large scale the difficul- 
 ties might increase beyond the advantage, our experience will not enable us to judge ; 
 but in a moderate way, the whole of the operations have been consecutively tried and 
 found satisfactory. The key to the ultimate decomposition turns upon a circumstance 
 in chemistry which is, for the most part, but little known : and that is, the ease with 
 which the bydrosulphates of the alkalis, when slightly moistened, are converted into 
 carbonates by the action of carbonic acid. If much water be present, the decomposition 
 goes on languidly, and is never perfect; if too little water, the decomposition is speedily 
 arrested by the formation of a crust of alkaline carbonate. It is the middle state, 
 between these two conditions, which must be aimed at, and which we will now proceed 
 to describe in a condensed account of the proposed method : — With a precisely similar 
 form of apparatus to that now in use for preparing sulphate of soda, and condensing 
 muriatic acid, but with some little additional * care, a given weight of common salt 
 might be converted into sulphate of soda, and the whole of its muriatic condensed, 
 which, of course, would be an exact equivalent of the soda present in the sulphate of 
 soda ; that is to say, 60 parts of chloride of sodium and 49 parts of pure hydrated 
 sulphuric acid would produce 72 parts of dry sulphate of soda, and 37 parts of anhy- 
 drous muriatic acid. These relative proportions must be borne in mind to facilitate the 
 comprehension of the ultimate process. Having placed the muriatic acid on one side 
 for the present, we proceed to convert the sulphate of soda into sulpliuret of sodium, by 
 mixing it with its own weight of coarsely powdered coal or coke, and exposing the 
 mixture to a red heat in a proper furnace for an hour or two. At this temperature the 
 carbon of the coal unites with the oxygen of the sulphate of soda, and flies off as car- 
 bonic oxide gas, leaving the sulphur and sodium combined together as sulphuret of I 
 sodium, with the excess of small coal or coke employed. As soon as this mixture is 
 sufficiently cool, it should be broken or pounded into a rough powder, which must now 
 be moistened with water to the consistence of damp sand, or until a handful tightly 
 squeezed in the hand adheres together as a ball or lump. When this is the case, the 
 whole should be placed in a vessel, or set of vessels, similar to those used for the purifi- 
 cation of coal-gas by means of slaked lime. It is best to have four of these vessels 
 three of which are to be continually in action. The moistened sulphuret of sodium or 
 hydrosulphate of soda being duly arranged, a stream of carbonic acid is made to 
 traverse the three vessels in action, by which the hydrosulphate of soda is converted 
 into carbonate of soda, and the hydrosulphuric acid, or sulphuretted hydrogen, bein« 
 expelled in a pure state, may readily be burnt at a jet in a common sulphuric acid cham- 
 ber, with the usual dose of nitrate of soda for its acidification. Thus the quantity 
 of sulphuric acid originally employed to decompose the salt would be constantly 
 regenerated and used over again. The requisite carbonic acid would also be easily 
 procured by acting upon chalk with the muriatic acid condensed in the first instance. 
 Some fear might seem to be justified by the possibility of the carbonic acid passing 
 off with the sulphuretted hydrogen ; but, under common care, guided by experience, 
 this could never occur. So long as any considerable quantity of hydrosulphate of 
 
686 SODA WATER 
 
 soda remained in the second and third vessels, no carbonic acid could pass through them 
 and, as soon as No. 1. was discovered to be saturated, this might.be thrown out of action 
 and the fourth vessel employed; mean-while No. 1. might be emptied,' and refilled with 
 fresh material to follow on after No. 4, when the second vessel was saturated ; and thus 
 continually. 
 
 In commencing this description we assumed at first 60 parts of common salt, and 49 
 of hydrated sulphuric acid, which would give 72 of sulphate of soda and 3V of muriatic 
 acid. Now these 72 of sulphate of soda would form 49 of hydrosulphate of soda ; whilst 
 •37 of muriatic acid, by acting upon chalk, would furnish exactly sufficient carbonic acid 
 to convert the 49 of hydrosulphate of soda into 64 of carbonate of soda, and 11 of sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen. But this sulphuretted .hydrogen, when carefully consumed, would 
 regenerate 49 parts of sulphuric acid, to be again used in decomposing 60 parts of com- 
 mon salt, and so on in continual rotation. The only resulting products would, therefore, 
 be carbonate of soda and muriate of lime ; the sulphuric acid merely performing the 
 part of a vehicle for effecting the decomposition. As regards the economy of this 
 process, it seems in no way doubtful ; and, viewed in a practical light, there is no insur- 
 mountable or even probable difficulty in the way of its immediate and successful 
 adoption : necessarily there would arise some loss from waste and commercial impurities ; 
 but the scope for speculative industry is very large, and all risk of much loss by failure 
 may be reduced within reasonable limits by beginning upon a very small scale at first 
 and extending the manufacture in proportion to the success of the enterprise. The 
 huge mountains of sulphuret of calcium which arise under the present system, and con- 
 taminate the air with their pestiferous exhalations,' proclaim too obviously that a change 
 ;s needed ; and some idea of the enormous mass of matter thus daily accumulating may- 
 be gathered from the fact, that one soda-maker alone admitted to us that his average 
 production of this residue was at the rate of 400 tons per week, or 20,800 tons per 
 annum. — Mr. Lewis Thompson. 
 
 SODA-WATER, is the name given to water containing a minute" quantity of soda, 
 ind highly, charged with carbonic acid gas, whereby it acquires a sparkling appearance, 
 an agreeable pungent taste, an exhilarating quality, and certain medicinal powers. It 
 constitutes a considerable object of manufacture in this kingdom. The following figure 
 represents, I understand, the best system of apparatus for preparing it. A very dilute 
 solution of soda is put into the globular vessel h, and the carbonic acid gas is forced into 
 it from the gasometer E, by means of the powerful pump-work, as will be understood from 
 the subjoined explanation. 
 
 The same apparatus may serve for making any species of aerated water, in imitation 
 of any natural spring. All that is necessary for this purpose, is to put into the cistern 
 q, the neutro-saline matter, earths, metallic oxydes, pure water, &c, each in due pro- 
 portion, according to the most accredited analysis of the mineral water to be imitated, to 
 agitate that mixture, to suck it into the condenser h, through the pipe r, and'"then"to im- 
 pregnate it to the due degree, by pumping in the appropriate gas, previously contained in 
 the gasometer f. 
 
 Thus, to make Seltzer water, for each 12 pounds troy, = 69,120 grains, or 1 gallon 
 imperial very nearly, take 55 grains of dry carbonate of soda, 17 of carbonate of lime, 
 18 of carbonate of magnesia, 3 J of subphosphate of alumina, 3 of chloride of potassium, 
 155 of chloride of sodium, and 3 of finely precipitated silica. Put'these materials into 
 the cistern Q, and charge the gasometer p with 353 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. 
 Then work the machine by the handle of the wheel x, as explained below, and regulate 
 the introduction of the liquid and the gas in aliquot portions ; for example, if the 
 condenser H admits half a gallon of water at a time, that quantity of liquid should be 
 charged with 176 cubic inches of the gas, being one half of the whole quantity. The sul- 
 phurated mineral waters may be imitated in like manner, by taking the proportions ot 
 ;heir "constituents, as given in Table II. of Waters, Mineral. 
 
 At page 21. of vol. x. of the conjoined series of Newton's Journal, the patent apparatus 
 of Mr. F. C. Bakewell,"of Hampstead, for making soda water, is well described with 
 illustrative figures. c The patent was obtained in March, 1832, but how far it has been 
 introduced into practice I have not heard. Its arrangement discovers ingenuity,' but it 
 seems loss likely to prove durable than the patent apparatus of Mr. Tyler, which fig. 
 1320. in the following page represents, according to his latest specification, a, is the gas 
 generator, where the chalk and sulphuric acid are mixed; u, the gasometer; o, the soda- 
 water pump, for forcing the gas ; d, the condenser ; e, the solution (ot soda) pan ; f, the 
 bottling cork ; g, the acid bottle, at the right hand shoulder of a ; h, the wheels, for 
 working the agitator in the condenser; i, the pipe, for conveying the gas to the pump; 
 K, pipe for conveying the solution to the pump ; l, cocks for regulating the admission of 
 the gas into solution ; M, drawing-off pipe leading to the bottling cork ; n, the forcing 
 pipe from the pump to the condenser. 
 
 "The vessel in which the soda water is condensed is lined with silver in order to resist 
 corrosion. 
 
SODA-WATER. 
 
 687 
 
 IMPROVED SODA-WATER APPARATUS, AS MADE BY MR. HAYWARD TYLER, 
 OP MILTON STREET. 
 
 Fig. 1318, front view of the soda water machine. Fi%. 1319, end view of the sam« 
 
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688 
 
 SODIUM. 
 
 SODIUM, the metallic basis of soda, is obtained by processes similar to those by 'which 
 potassium is procured. By fusing hydrate of soda with a little hydrate of potassa, a mix- 
 ture is obtained, which yields more readily than soda by itself to the decomposing action 
 of iron-turnings at a high heat, in a bent gun-barrel. The portion of potassium pro- 
 duced may be got rid of, by digesting the alloy for a few days in some naplha or oil of 
 turpentine contained in an open vessel. The sodium remains at the bottom of the 
 liquid. Pure sodium may, however, be prepared at once, by subjecting incinerated tar- 
 trate of soda to heat in the apparatus of Brunner, described under Potassium. It is 
 white, like silver ; softer and more malleable than any other metal, and may be readily 
 reduced into very thin leaves. It preserves its malleability till it approaches the melting 
 point. Its specific gravity is 0-970. It softens at the temperature of 122° F., and at 
 200° it is perfectly fluid ; but it will not rise in vapor until heated to nearly the melting 
 point of glass. In the air it oxydizcs slowly, and gets covered with a crust of soda; but 
 - t does not take fire till it is made nearly red-hot ; and then it emits brilliant scintilla- 
 tions. When thrown upon water, it is rapidly oxydized, but without kindling, like 
 potassium. If a drop of water be thrown upon it, it becomes so hot by the chemical ac- 
 
SOILS, ANALYSIS OP. 
 
 689 
 
 tion as to take fire. There are three oxides of sodium ; 1. the suboxide; 2. the oxide, or 
 the basis of common soda ; and, 3. the suroxide ; the last being formed when sodium is 
 heated to redness upon a plate of silver. 
 
 SOILS, ANALYSIS OF. Having been some time ago engaged in a minute chemical 
 examination of the soil of a large farm, remarkable for perennial fertility -without manure*, 
 I have been led to adopt some simplified methods of analysis, which may to a certain 
 extent be practised by ordinary farmers, and may throw some light on the means of 
 improving permanently the composition of their lands. The field from which the sample 
 subject of analysis was taken, is situated on Marsh Farm, in Haveling level, in the parish 
 of Hornchurch, Essex, not far from the banks of the Thames, and nearly opposite to Erith. 
 R. M. Kerrison, Esq., M.D., F.E.S., the proprietor, informs me that no manure has evor 
 been applied to this farm of 200 acres, during a period of at least fifty years, except 
 once ; and in that season the wheat became so heavy as to be in a great measure spoiled. 
 It produces every variety of crop most abundantly. 
 
 The substratum, which lies beneath a three-feet bed of the soil, is an alluvial deposit, 
 replete with decaying vegetable matter; the remains probably of some ancient forest, 
 which existed prior to the formation of the Daggenham Breach, through which the river 
 had inundated a large district of country, and kept it submerged till about two centuries 
 ago ; when it was stopped out by the aid of a parliamentary grant, administered 
 under the direction of a skilful engineer. The soil over the whole farm is of very 
 uniform texture and appearance ; being a finely comminuted friable loam, quite free 
 
 from stones, consisting of a fortunate mixture 
 of fine siliceous sand, clay, oxide of iron, and 
 carbonate of lime, with minute proportions 
 of phosphate of lime and magnesia, but very 
 little organic matter. It would seem* there- 
 fore, to derive its principles of fertility chiefly 
 from the atmosphere, and the emanations from 
 the subsoil. 
 
 The specific gravity of the soil, in its average 
 state of dryness, is 2'2 to water called TO; 
 indicating the presence of but little vegetable 
 mater. 
 
 100 parts of it collected after a period of 
 ordinary dry weather lose 112 by a steam 
 heat of 212°, and readily re-absorb that por- 
 tion of moisture when again exposed to damp 
 air. When the dried residuum is calcined at a 
 dull red heat, six parts of vegetable substance 
 are burned away ; at a higher temperature 
 the carbonate of lime would become calcined, 
 and cause an additional loss of weight, which 
 might inconsiderately be mistaken for organic 
 matter. * 
 
 The first problem in an agricultural analysis, 
 is to find the proportion of calcareous matter, 
 as carbonate and phosphate of lime. This 
 may be easily solved with the aid of the fol- 
 lowing instrument (fig. 1321.), which may be 
 called the Limestone Meter, one of which was 
 presented and explained by me to the Council 
 of the Royal Society of Agriculture on the 
 29th of May, 1848. 
 
 a, is a cylinder of glass, two inches in 
 diameter, and fourteen inches long, graduated 
 on one side with a scale, into spaces of 100 
 water -grain measures from to 12,000, marked 
 10, 20, 30, <fec; and graduated on the other 
 side into spaces of 240 water grain-measures, 
 each. The former scale is used for the analysis 
 of all sorts of alkaline carbonates, and also of 
 acids ; the latter is adapted to the direct 
 analysis of carbonate of lime and marls ; and 
 indirectly to that of phosphate of lime and 
 carbonate of magnesia. 
 
 Biirfim? 
 
 atL 
 
 & 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 * All the stable-yard dung is sold by tho farmer. 
 45 
 
690 SOILS, ANALYSIS OF. 
 
 The cylinder A, has a tubulure in its side near the bottom ; this is closed with a co« 
 .n the axis of which a short glass tube is cemented, hooped externally to a collar of 
 caoutchouc e, which serves as a joint to the upright long glass tube b, held near its upper 
 recurved end in a hooked wire. 
 
 The top of the cylinder a is closed with an elastic cork, through a perforation in which 
 the taper tail of the little phial o passes air-tight. The small tube v, open at both its 
 ends, is cemented on its outer surface, into the bottom of the phial c, so as to close it, 
 while the tube itself opens a free passage to gas, from the shoulder of the phial down 
 into the cylinder a. 
 
 The mouth of the phial o is shut with a cork, through which the small end of the tube 
 d passes air-tight. The tube d is graduated into spaces of 10, 20, Ac. water-grain 
 measures up to 250, and is closed at top with a stopcock. Its lower and capillary 
 extremity is recurved. 
 
 In ascertaining with this instrument the proportion of real carbonate of lime', in any 
 lime-stone, marl, or soil, proceed as follows: — 
 
 Lift out the phial o, and pour water into the cylinder A till it stands about half an inch 
 below the line marked o, and fill up this space with common linseed-oil. Restore the 
 phial o to its place, pressing it in air-tight Then take out its cork with its graduated 
 tube, and introduce into the phial as many grains weight of the soil or marl as it is proper 
 to operate upon. Of an average limestone 50 grains are sufficient, because the magnified 
 scale of the lime-proof is adapted to the analysis of 50 grains of pure carbonate of lime. 
 Of soils and marls, 100, 200, or even 500 grains, may be taken, because these sub- 
 stances will rarely contain one-tenth their weight of carbonate of lime. But as the 
 result may always be obtained within five minutes, at the cost of half a farthing, 
 several successive experiments may be made on different weights of the sample. 
 Having introduced the proper weight of the object into the phial, cover it with 
 water, till this stands a little above the point to which the recurved tube descends. 
 Holding d in the hand, dip its bent point into a phial containing ordinary muriatic 
 (hydrochloric) acid, diluted with its own bulk of water, and applying the mouth to the 
 opened stop-cock, suck up the acid into the tube till this be about two-thirds full, then 
 turn the key of the cock before it is taken from the lips, and the acid will not drop out 
 when the tube is held upright. Replace the cork with its tube D in the phial c. Detach 
 the long tube, b, from its wire-rest with the left hand, and hold its curved extremity 
 above an empty basin ; then with the right hand open the stop-cock of d, to let a 
 little acid run down upon the marl, but shut it almost instantly again, lest too much acid 
 should escape, and cause so brisk an effervescence as to occasion an overflow of the mix- 
 ture into the small tube f. The disengaged carbonic acid escapes through the tube r, 
 presses on the surface of the oil in a, and causes a stream of water to flow from the tube 
 B, into the subjacent basin. When the water ceases to run, open the stop-cock again, 
 when more acid will descend, cause a fresh extrication of gas, and a further flow of 
 water. The ourved end of the tube b should be progressively lowered, as the cil falls in 
 A, so as to maintain its level and that in the tube, in the same horizontal piano. When- 
 ever gas ceases to be extricated by the muriatic acid, the experiment is completed, and 
 the number on the lime-meter scale opposite to the upper surface of the oil, denotes the 
 number of grains of carbonate of lime in the quantity of limestone, marl, or soil, put 
 into the phial o for experiment. A little carbonic acid ga3 remains condensed in the 
 muriatic solution, but this is not more than equivalent to the bulk of liquid acid intro- 
 duced into the capacity of the apparatus ; so that no compensation need be made on this 
 account. For the purpose of minute chemical research, that portion of gas may be 
 expelled by surrounding the phial o with a cloth wrung out of hot water, and the volume 
 of dilute acid added may also be taken into the account. Thus the composition of carbo- 
 nates by an acid, and of acids by a bi-carbonate, may be determined by means of this 
 instrument with equal rapidity and precision. 
 
 The contents of the phial may be poured out into a porcelain capsule, gently heated, and 
 thrown on a filter. The lime of the carbonate, as well as the phosphate of lime and the 
 magnesia, will pass through in solution along with a very little iron. On super-saturating the 
 acidulous liquor with water of pure ammonia, phosphate of lime (if present, will fall, and 
 may be drained on a filter and dried. Taken off the dried filter, and digested with a little 
 di ute sulphuric acid, sulphate of lime will result, characterized by its entire insolubility in 
 dilute alcohol. Hence the sulphate washed with vinous spirits, dried and calcined, will repre- 
 sent by its weight one-fifth more than the original weight of the phosphate. By the action 
 of the sulphuric acid, the iron precipitated by the ammonia with the phosphate is got rid of 
 
 The magnesia, unless its proportion has been very great, will aU remain dissolved as 
 ammoma-munate, and its quantity may be ascertained by precipitating it either with 
 ioda, or phosphate of soda. In the former case, the substance obtained, when washed 
 
SOILS, ANALYSIS OF. 691 
 
 phosphate of magnesia : and when dried at the moderate heat of 120° Fahr., it represents 
 by its weight about six times that of the magnesia present; or for 100 parts 16£ of 
 magnesia. 
 
 When a complete analysis of soil is to be made, the following apparatus is con- 
 venient: — 
 
 A large glass flask, or matrass, with a sucked in or concave thin bottom. This should 
 hold at least a quart of water ; and when the soil and dilute acid are introduced, it is to 
 be placed on a stand over the gentle flame of a spirit lamp, while the beak of a large 
 glass funnel, having its mouth covered with a porcelain basin, filled with cold water, is 
 inserted into the neck of the flask. By this arrangement a continual ebullition may be 
 maintained in the mixture of soil and acid, without loss of acid, or nuisance from its 
 fumes, because its vapours are condensed whenever they reach the cold basin above 
 the funnel, and a perpetual cohobation takes place. A boiling heat may be kept up in 
 this way till every constituent of the soil, except the silica, becomes dissolved. Mu- 
 riatic acid is generally preferred for the analysis of soils, and in somewhat greater 
 quantity than the bases in the given weight of soil can neutralise. The funnel and 
 porcelain basin should be properly supported upon the rings of a chemical stand. 
 I generally subject 100 grains of soil to the action of boiling dilute acid in this way 
 for 6 or 8 hours ; at the end of that period I throw the contents of the matrass upon 
 a filter, and supersaturate the filtered liquid with ammonia. The silica which 
 remains on the filter having been washed in the process, is dried, ignited, and 
 weighed. 
 
 The alumina, iron-oxide, and phosphate of lime, thrown down by the ammonia, 
 being washed in the filter, and dried to a cheesy consistence, are removed with a bone 
 or tortoise shell blade into a silver basin, and digested with heat in a solution of pure 
 potash, whereby the alumina is dissolved, when its alkaline solution is to be passed 
 through a filter, then saturated with muriatic acid, and next supersaturated with 
 ammonia. Pure white alumina falls, which is to be separated on a filter, washed, dried, 
 ignited, and weighed. 
 
 The iron and phosphate of lime on the alkaline filter may be dried, gently ignited, 
 and weighed, or otherwise directly separated from each other without that step, by the 
 action of dilute alcohol, acidulated with sulphuric acid, at a gentle heat. Thus the 
 iron oxide will be dissolved, and its solution m.iy be passed through a filter, while the 
 sulphate of lime will remain upon it, to be dried, ignited, and weighed. Five parts of 
 it correspond to four of phosphate. The iron is obtained by precipitation with water 
 of ammonia, filtration, and ignition. — For phosphoric acid, see the sequel. 
 
 The first filtered liquor, with excess of ammonia, contains the lime of the car- 
 bonate, and the magnesia. The former is separated by a solution of oxalate of am- 
 monia, with digestion Iff a moderate warmth for a few hours, filtration, and very gentle 
 ignitiou of the washed dry powder, when the pure carbonate of lime is obtained. The 
 magnesia, existing in the filtered liquor as an ammonia-muriate, may be obtained by 
 precipitation with soda, or phosphate of soda, as already described. 
 
 For some refractory soils, in which the alumina exists as a double or triple silicate, 
 it becomes necessary to fuse 50 grains of the sample, in fine powder, mixed with four 
 times its weight of dry carbonate of soda, the mixture being put into a platinum cru- 
 cible, and into a cavity in its centre, 50 grains of hydrate of potash being laid. 
 
 The crucible being slowly raised to a red-white heat, affords a fused liquid quite 
 homogeneous, of a grey or brown colour according to the metals present in it. Man- 
 ganese gives a purple tint; and iron a reddish brown. The fused matter should be 
 poured out into a shallow platinum basin; and, whenever it cools, it should be pul- 
 verised, dissolved in dilute muriatic acid, the solution evaporated to dryness, the dry 
 mass again digested in hot water, acidulated with muriatic acid, and the whole thrown 
 upon a filter. Pure silica will remain on the filter, to be washed, dried, ignited, and 
 weighed. 
 
 The filtered liquor contains the remaining constituents of the soil, and is to be 
 treated as already described. 
 
 Besides these systematic investigations, researches may be made for certain peculiar 
 substances, and especially the neutro-saline constituents. In this view 100 grains of 
 the soil may be triturated with 20 times their weight of distilled water, placed in a 
 beaker, till the clayey matter subsides, and the clear portion may then be decanted into 
 a filter. A little of the filtered liquor should be tested with nitrate of barytes, and also 
 with oxalate of ammonia ; and if each portion yields a precipitate, they show the pre- 
 sence of sulphate of lime ; and the following steps ought to be taken to eliminate it 
 entirely ; 200 grains of the soil should be triturated with a quart of distilled water, 
 holding 50 grains of sal-ammoriiac in solution. The mixture should be allowed to 
 clarify itself by subsidence, when the supernatant clear liquor is to be filtered, 
 and evaporated down to 2 ounce measures, and then mixed with that bulk of strong 
 
692 SOILS, ANALYSIS OF. 
 
 whiskey (11 per cent, overproof). The whole sulphate of lime will be now separated 
 from the fluid, and after being drained on a filter, may be dried, ignited, and 
 weighed. 
 
 For determining the alkaline salts, the water filtered from the 100 grains of the 
 soil should be evaporated down to one-fifth of its bulk, and then treated — 1st, with 
 nitrate of barytes, for the sulphates ; 2d, with nitrate of silver for the muriates ; 3d, 
 with oxalate of ammonia, for the nitrate or muriate of lime (provided no sulphate of 
 lime is indicated by the first test) ; 4th, with litmus paper, for alkaline or acid reaction ; 
 5th, with soda-chloride of platinum for pqtash salts, which are very valuable for the 
 growth of many plants. 
 
 The portion of soil tested for potash salts should, before being digested in water, be 
 gently calcined, to insure the expulsion of every particle of ammoniacal salt, otherwise 
 the precipitate afforded by soda-chloride of platinum would be fallacious. 
 
 Another peculiar research of great importance is that which determines the amount 
 of ammonia in a soil; and which may exist either ready formed, or in its elements, 
 capable of affording a portion of the azotic food so indispensable to vigorous vegetation. 
 The actual ammonia is easily obtained by distilling the soil along with some milk of 
 lime. The distilled water will contain all the volatile alkali, which may be measured 
 by the number of drops of a standard dilute acid which it will saturate. 
 
 The potential ammonia, slumbering, so to speak, in its embryo elements, may be 
 estimated by igniting 200 grains of the soil with its own weight of a mixture of hydrate 
 of soda and quicklime, as described in my memoir on " Guano," in this work. 
 
 I have subjected the soil of Dr. Kerrison's farm to the various modes of research 
 above enumerated, and have obtained the following results : — 
 
 1. By the application of my limestone meter I obtained carbonic acid gas, equivalent 
 to 9 grains of carbonate of lime. 
 
 2. By igniting 200 grains of the soil along with 2Q0 grains of mixed quicklime and 
 hydrate of soda, in the appropriate apparatus, I obtained 034 grains of ammonia, or 
 01T per cent, of the weight of the soil. Hence, 600 grains of the soil contain the 
 azotic equivalent of one grain of ammonia. This remarkable fact reveals most plainly 
 one secret source of the uninterrupted production of rich crops of cereals and other 
 plants from it, without receiving any manure. How appropriate to such land is Vir- 
 gil's beautiful title of the subject of his " Georgics," justissima tellus I 
 
 8. By the process of cohobation for 8 hours, with dilute muriatic acid, as also by the 
 process of fusion with the alkalis in a platinum crucible, and the subsequent treatment 
 above detailed, I obtained — 
 
 1. Silica 
 
 56-0 
 
 2. Alumina - 
 
 _ 80 
 w 5-5 
 
 3. Oxide of iron 
 
 4. Carbonate of lime 
 
 9-0 
 
 5. Sub-phosphate of lime - 
 
 04 
 
 6. Magnesia (carbonate) 
 
 0-5 
 
 7. Moisture separable by steam-heat 
 
 11-3 
 
 8. Organic matter, chiefly vegetable mould 
 
 66 
 
 9. Moisture separable at a red-heat 
 
 2-1 
 
 
 100-0 
 
 besides traces of muriate of soda, and muriate of lime (chloi-ides of sodium anu 
 calcium). The iron exists mostly in the state of protoxide, a circumstance owing, 
 probably, to exhalations from the subsoil of sulphuretted, phosphuretted, and car- 
 buretted hydrogen. The fresh soil is of a grey colour, but becomes ochrey-red by 
 calcination. 
 
 100 grains of the said soil, dried at 212°, absorb 8 grains of moisture in 24 hours ; 
 while 100 grains of the comparatively sterile soil of Regent's Park, dried equally, 
 absorb only 5 grains ; a difference due chiefly to the finer comminution of the former. 
 
 Since the phosphates are such precious ingredients towards fertilizing soils, it is 
 desirable to possess a clear and simple test of their presence. For this purpose digest 
 the soil, for an hour or so, with a moderate heat, in dilute nitric acid, free from 
 muriatic (viz. which affords, when largely diluted, no precipitate, by the addition of 
 a solution of nitrate of silver). Throw the mixture on a filter, and to the filtered 
 liquid add potash-water, cautiously, till the instant that a precipitate begins to appear ; 
 then drop into it a weak solution of nitrate of silver. If any phosphoric salts be 
 present, a yellowish precipitate will immediately fall, which is re-soluble in an excess 
 of nitric acid. Whatever is not thus dissolved" is chloride of silver, and ought to be 
 leparated by filtration. On adding then weak water of potash (not ammonia) cautiously 
 
SOLDERING. 693 
 
 to the filtered liquid, the pure phosphate of silver will be obtained, without any alumina 
 or iron, provided the liquid be still acidulous in a slight degree. It ought to be re- 
 membered that chloride of silver falls in a white curdy form, quite different from that . 
 of the phosphate of silver. The portion of soil used for this experiment should be fresh 
 and not calcined, because the phosphates, when ignited, afford white precipitates with 
 salts of silver. The stronger the solution of the phosphoric saline compound is, the 
 more characteristic is the yellow precipitate with silver ; and then ammonia may be used 
 for effecting the partial saturation of the acid excess. Sulphate of magnesia is an excel- 
 lent re-agent for detecting phosphoric acid, and for separating it from the above acid 
 solution, when it is partially neutralised with ammonia 1 ; for the magnesia forms, with 
 the phosphoric acid and ammonia, the insoluble granular precipitate of ammonia-mag- 
 nesian phosphate. A solution of sulphate of magnesia, containing a little sal-ammoniac, 
 is probably the best test-liquor for detecting phosphates in faintly acidulous, but still 
 better in neutral solutions. 
 
 In almost all soils of an arable nature under cultivation in this country, there is a 
 sufficiency of calcareous matter present to counteract the combination of phosphoric acid 
 with alumina or oxide of iron, for which reason it would be an idle refinement of agri- 
 cultural analysis to search for phosphates of alumina and iron. As for manganese, 
 often associated with iron, it exists in too small a proportion, and is possessed of too 
 little value, to make it worth while to effect its separation. It gives to calcined iron- 
 oxide a black hue, and is characterised in its saline solutions by the flesh-coloured pre- 
 cipitate which it affords with bydrosulphuret of ammonia, after the whole of the iron 
 nas been thrown down by boiling the solution of the two metals with pure carbonate of 
 iime. 
 
 The organic matter in any soil may be correctly estimated by calcining its powder 
 pretty strongly till the carbonic acid be expelled from the lime in it. The loss of weight, 
 deducting that due to the carbonic acid gas (which is known from an independent 
 experiment), gives the quantity of organic matter. Its quality is determined by 
 the ultimate analysis by means of hydrate of soda and quicklime, as previously 
 stated. 
 
 The phosphoric acid may be also estimated by digesting the ignited soil in nitric 
 acid, precipitating the filtered solution with acetate of lead in excess. If phosphoric 
 acid be present it will produce phosphate of lead, mixed with a, sulphate, if any sul- 
 phuric acid existed in the soil. Wash, ignite, and weigh the precipitate. Digest in 
 nitric acid, decompose the solution with sulphuric acid, add alcohol, throw the 
 mixture upon a filter, and weigh the sulphate of lead remaining left upon it. From 
 this weight, that of the oxide of lead becomes known; sincd 152 of sulphate of lead 
 contain 112 of oxide. The quantity of sulphuric acid found by nitrate of barytes 
 in another equal portion of the soil, being added to the oxide of lead just determined, 
 will constitute a sum, which, being subtracted from the weight of the acetate of lead 
 precipitate, will represent the amount of phosphoric acid in the soil. 
 
 In the very elaborate analyses of the ashes of different kinds of wheat, by Fresenius 
 and Will in Germany, Bichon in Holland, Boussingault in France, and others, one 
 half of the whole was found to be phosphoric acid. 
 
 In the preceding method of analysis the detection of potash is made directly by 
 means of the soda-chloride of platinum. The following process is adapted to deter- 
 mine the quantity of that important alkali, as well as of soda. The solution of the 
 soil in hydrochloric acid is to be treated with larytes water till the liquid blues 
 reddened litmus paper; it is then heated and thrown upon a filter. By this means 
 the whole of the sulphuric and phosphoric acids, as also of the oxide of iron, the 
 magnesia, and the lime that was combined with the phosphoric acid, is separated. 
 The' precipitate is to be washed till the water which passes ceases to be affected 
 by nitrate of silver. To the clear liquor, gently heated, carbonate of ammonia mixed 
 with caustic ammonia is to be added, to throw down all the barytes. The whole 
 is to be left in repose for a little till a granular precipitate falls, and it is then to 
 be thrown upon a filter and washed. The filtered liquor being evaporated to dryness, 
 the residuum is to be ignited in a platinum or silver capsule, to expel all the ammonia, 
 when it can contain only the alkaline metals, potassium and sodium, in the state of 
 chlorides. After being weighed, it is to be dissolved in a very little water, when a 
 trace of magnesia may appear (which can be eliminated and weighed) ; and the 
 amount of potash is to be estimated from the weight of the precipitate produced by 
 soda-chloride of platinum. The difference of the weight of the whole chloride and 
 of that corresponding to the potash just found gives the quantity of sodium chloride, 
 and of course of soda, in the soil. 
 
 SOLDERING (Souder, Fr. ; Zothen, Germ.) ; is the process of uniting the surfaces 
 of metals, by the intervention of a more fusible metal, which being melted upon each 
 surface, serves, partly by chemical attraction, and partly by cohesive force, to bind them 
 
694 SOY. 
 
 together. The metals thus united may be either the same or dissimilar ; but the uniting 
 metal must always have an affinity for both. Solders must be, therefore, selected in 
 reference to their appropriate metals. Thus tin-plates are soldered with an alloy con- 
 sisting of from 1 to 2 parts of tin, with 1 of lead; pewter is soldered with a more fusible 
 alloy, containing a certain proportion of bismuth added to the lead and tin ; iron, copper, 
 and brass are soldered with spelter, an alloy of zinc and copper, in nearly equal parts ; 
 silver, sometimes with pure tin, but generally with silver-solder, an alloy consisting of 
 5 parts of silver, 6 of brass, and 2 of zinc ; zinc and lead, with an alloy of from 1 to 2 
 parts of lead with 1 of tin ; platinum, with fine gold j gold, with an alloy of silver and 
 gold, or of copper and gold ; &c. 
 
 In all soldering processes; the following conditions must be observed ; 1. the surfaces 
 to be united must be entirely free from oxyde, bright, smooth, and level ; 2. the contact 
 of air must be excluded during the soldering, because it is apt to oxydize one or other 
 of the surfaces, and thus to prevent the formation of an alloy at the points of union. 
 This exclusion of air is effected in various ways. The locksmith encases in loam the 
 objects of iron, or brass, that he wishes to subject to a soldering heat ; the silversmith 
 and brasier mix their respective solders with moistened borax powder; the coppersmith 
 and tinman apply sal ammoniac, rosin, or both, to the cleaned metallic surfaces, before 
 using the soldering-iron to fuse them together with the tin alloy. The strong solder of 
 the coppersmith consists of 8 parts of brass and 1 of zinc ; the latter being added to the 
 former, previously brought into a state of fusion. The crucible must be immediately 
 covered up for two minutes till the combination be completed. The melted alloy is to 
 be then poured out upon a bundle of twigs held over a tub of water, into which it falls 
 in granulations. An alloy of 3 parts of copper and 1 of zinc forms a still stronger 
 solder for the coppersmiths. When several parts are to be soldered successively upon 
 the same piece, the more fusible alloys, containing more zinc, should be used first. A 
 softer solder for coppersmiths is made with 6 parts of brass, 1 of tin, and 1 of zinc ; the 
 tin being first added to the melted brass, then the zinc ; and the whole well incorporated 
 by stirring. 
 
 The edges of sheet lead for sulphuric acid chambers, and its concentration pans, are 
 joined together by melted lead itself, because any solder containing tin. would soon be 
 corroded. With this view, the two edges being placed in contact, are flattened down 
 into a long wooden groove, and secured in their situation by a few brass pins driven 
 into the wood. The surfaces are next brightened with a triangular scraper, rubbed over 
 with candle grease, and then covered with a stream of hot melted lead. The riband of 
 lead thus applied is finally equalized by being brought into partial fusion with the plum- 
 ber's conical iron heated to redness ; the contact of air being prevented by sprinkling 
 rosin over the surface. The sheets of lead are thus burned together, in the language of 
 the workmen. 
 
 SOLDERING OF LEAD, and other metalt, is called by its inventor, M. de Richemont, 
 autogenious, because it takes place by the fusion of the two edges of the metals them- 
 selves, without interposing another metallic alloy, as a bond of union. He effects this 
 purpose, by directing a jet of burning hydrogen gas, from a small moveable beak, upon 
 the two surfaces or edges to be soldered together. Metals thus joined are much less apt 
 to crack asunder at the line of union, by differences of temperature, flexure, etc., than 
 when the common soldering processes are employed. The fusing together the edges of 
 lead sheets, for making sulphuric acid chambers, has been long practised in this country, 
 but it was performed by pouring some of the melted metal along the line of junction, and 
 afterwards removing its excess by means of a plumber's soldering iron. The method of 
 M. Richemont is a great improvement upon that old practice. It is much quicker and 
 more convenient. 
 
 SOOT (Jfoir defumie, Suie, Fr. ; JRus, Flatterrus, Germ.) ; is the pulverulent charcoal 
 condensed from the smoke of wood or coal fuel. A watery infusion of the former is said 
 to be antiseptic, probably from its containing some creosote. 
 
 The soot of pitcoal has not been analyzed with any minuteness. It contains some sul 
 phate and carbonate of ammonia, along with bituminous matter. 
 SORBIC ACID, is the same with malic acid; which see. 
 
 SOY, is a liquid condiment, or sauce, imported chiefly from China. It is prepares 
 with a species of white haricots, wheat flour, common salt, and water ; in the propor- 
 tions respectively of 50, 60, 50, and 250 pounds. The haricots are washed, and boiled 
 in water till they become so soft as to yield to the fingers. They are then laid in a flat 
 dish to cool, and kneaded along with the flour, a little of the hot water of the decoction 
 being added from time to time. This dough is next spread an inch or an inch and a 
 half thick upon the flat vessel (made of thin staves of bamboo), and when it becomes hot 
 and mouldy, in two or three days, the cover is raised upon bits of stick, to give free access 
 of air. If a rancid odor is exhaled, and the mass grows green, the process goes on well ; 
 eut if it grows black, it must be more freely exposed to the air. As soon as all the sur. 
 
SPINNING. 
 
 695 
 
 face is covired with green mouldiness, which usually happens in eignt or ten days, tha 
 cover is removed, and the matter is placed in the sunshine for several days. When it 
 has become as hard as a stone, it is cut into small fragments, thrown into an earthen 
 vessel, and covered with the 250 pounds of water having the salt dissolved in it. The 
 whole is stirred together, and the height at which the water stands is noted. The vessel 
 being placed in the sun, its contents are stirred up every morning and evening ; and a 
 cover is applied at night, to keep it warm and exclude rain. The more powerful the 
 sun, the sooner the soy will be completed ; but it generally requires two or three of the 
 hottest summer months. As the mass diminishes by evaporation, well water is added ; 
 and the digestion id continued till the salt water has dissolved the whole of the flour and 
 the haricots ; after which the vessel is left in the sun for a few days, as the good quality 
 of the soy depends on the completeness of the solution, which is promoted by regular 
 stirring. When it has at length assumed an oily appearance, it is poured into bags, and 
 . strained. The clear black liquid is the soy, ready for use. It is not boiled, but is put up 
 into bottles, which must be carefully corked. Genuine soy was made in this way at Can- 
 ton, by Michael de Grubbens. See Memoirs of Acaderify of Sciences of Stockholm for 1803. 
 
 SPARRY IRON ORE. The sparry iron ore is used for the manufacture of pig iron, 
 and changes in roasting into magnetic ironstones, discernible by the crystals. The manu- 
 facture of iron into bars, by means of gas, is but in its infancy ; but the iron produced in 
 this manner is considered to be preferable to that produced by means of charcoal, and to 
 the puddled iron in bars made by pitcoal. 
 
 The lignites of Germany have not been found favourable to the production of good 
 iron ; the principle has therefore been introduced, of distilling the fuel in close vessels, 
 and using the resulting gases, in a state of combustion in the furnace, as the source of 
 heat to weld iron. The results, as far as the experiment has yet been tried, are satisfac- 
 tory, and the use of gases is rapidly extending in the iron districts of the Continent. The 
 relative value of the iron-producing states of Europe may be inferred from the following 
 return, obtained in 1845 : — 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 United States 
 
 France 
 
 Russia 
 
 Prussian Zolverein 
 
 Austria 
 
 Belgium 
 
 Sweden 
 
 All the other European States 
 
 £ 
 2,000,000 
 502,000 
 448,000 
 400,000 
 300,000 
 190,000 
 150,000 
 145,000 
 76,000 
 
 SPECIFIC GRAVITY, designates the relative weights of different bodies under the 
 same bulk ; thus a cubic foot of water weighs 1000 ounces avoirdupois ; a cubic foot of 
 coal, 1350 j a cubic foot of cast iron, 7280 ; a cubic foot of silver, 10,400 ; and a cubic 
 foot of pure gold, 19,200 ; numbers which represent the specific gravities of the respective 
 substances, compared to water = 1-000. See Alloy. 
 
 SPECULUM METAL, is an alloy of copper and tin; described under Copper. 
 
 SPERMACETI; the Cetine of Chevreul. In certain species of the cachalot whale, as 
 the Physeter macrocephalus, tv/rsio, microps, and orthodon, as also the Delphirms edentulus, 
 the fa \ of some parts of their bodies contains a peculiar kind of stearine, called sperma- 
 ceti, The oil obtained from cavities in the bones of the cranium of the above cetacese is 
 the richest in this kind of stearine. This being thrown into great filter-bags, the sper- 
 maceti oil passes through, and is subsequently purified by the addition of a small quantity 
 of potash ley, which precipitates certain matters by neutralizing the acid that held them 
 ill solution. The solid which remains on the filter is next squeezed in bags, by means 
 of a horizontal hydraulic press incased in steam, then digested with a weak potash ley, 
 in ordei to dissolve out any oil which may continue to adhere to it, washed with water, 
 finally dissolved in a tub by the agency of steam, laded into tin pans, and allowed slowly to 
 concrete into a white, semi-transparent, brittle, lamellar crystalline mass, which forms 
 elegant candles. 
 
 At 60° its specific gravity is 0-943. It melts at 112-5°; 100 parts of alcohol at 0-821 
 dissolve 3 \ of it, of which 0-9 are deposited on cooling. Warm ether dissolves it in very 
 large quantities. It is soluble also in the fat of volatile oils ; and if the solutions have been 
 saturated while hot, the greater part of the spermaceti crystallizes on cooling. When 
 this substance has been purified by digesting alcohol upon it repeatedly, what remains is 
 the cetine of Chevreul, or pure spermaceti. Its melting point has now become 1 16° F., 
 and its boiling point 616° F., at which it distils without alteration. Caustic alkaline 
 leys saponify it with difficulty. 
 
 SPINNING. The greatest improvement hitherto made in forming textile fabrics, 
 since the era of Arkwright, is due to Mr. G. Bodmer. of Manchester. By his patent 
 
696 
 
 SPINNING. 
 
 inventions the several organs of a spinning factory are united in one self-acting nil 
 Belf-supplying body — a system most truly automatic. His most comprehensive paten 
 was obtained in 1824, and was prolonged by the Judicial Committee of the Privj 
 Council, for 7 years after the period of 14 years was expired. It contained the 
 first development of a plan by which fibres of cotton, flax, &c, were lapped and 
 unlapped through all the operations of cleaning and blowing, carding, drawing, roving, 
 and spinning; in the latter, however, only as far as the operation of feeding is con- 
 cerned. The lapping from the blower was then not new, but the lapping directly and 
 in connexion with the carding engines was his invention, and was brought by him into 
 operation at St. Blaize in the Black Forest, several years before he took out his patent 
 
 Patent of 1835. 
 
 in England. The method applied through all the following operations was then 
 new. Mr. Dyer's and several other patents granted subsequently were decided and 
 acknowledged infringements. The patent of 1824 was the beginning ; the result ot 
 which was the several patents for improvements in 1835, 1837, 1838, and 1842, of Mr. 
 Bodmer. 
 
 By a machine generally called a Devil or Opener (" Wolf," in German), which 
 consists of a feeding-plate set with teeth and a roller covered with spikes (see fig. 1322) 
 the cotton is cleared from its heaviest dirt and opened. This machine delivers the 
 cotton into a room or on to a travelling cloth, from which it is taken, weighed in cer- 
 tain portions, and spread upon cloth in equal portions : this is then rolled up, and placed 
 behind the first blower. 
 
 The first blower has a feeding-plate like fig.XSZS, without teeth, and over this plate the 
 cotton is delivered to the operation of the common beaters, from which it is received 
 
 Patent of 1835. 
 
 Patents of 1824 and 1835. 
 
 into a narrow compartment of 4| or 5 inches broad, and wound, by means of his lap- 
 machines, upon rollers in beautifully level and well-cleaned laps. Eight of these 
 narrow laps are then placed behind a second blower, of a similar construction to the 
 first. Instead of the common beater, however, a drum with toothed straight edges is 
 used {see fig. 1324), which opens the cotton still more, and separates the fibres from one 
 
SPINNING-. 
 
 697 
 
 another. The cotton is again formed into similar narrow laps, which are still more 
 equal than the preceding ones, and eight of these laps are then placed behind the.carding 
 engines. ' It was only by applying his lap-machine, patented in 1842, that he succeeded 
 in forming small laps on the blower; without this he could not perform the doffing of 
 the laps without stopping the wire-cloth, and in doing this, an irregular lap would be 
 formed because of the accumulating of the falling cotton in one place while the wire- 
 cloth was standing. 
 
 Carding Engine. — His patent of 1824 showed a mode of coupling a number of carding 
 engines, the product of which was delivered upon an endless belt or a trough, and at 
 the end of this trough was wound upon a roller. This arrangement wants no description, 
 as it is generally known. I have seen it in use on the Continent. 
 
 When a set of cards work together, any interruption or stoppage of a single carding 
 engine causes a defect in the produce of the whole lap. Interruption occurred several 
 times a day by the stripping of the main cylinder, and during this operation the 
 missing band or sliver was supplied out of a can, being the produce of a single carding 
 engine working into cans (a spare card). The more objectionable defect was, however, 
 the difference of the product of the carding engine after the main cylinder had been 
 stripped ; the band or sliver from it will be thin and light until the cards of the main 
 cylinder are again sufficiently filled with cotton, when the band will again assume its 
 proper thickness. Another irregularity was caused by the stripping of the flats or top 
 cards, but was not so fatal as the first one. These defects were of course a senous 
 arawoack in his system of working, the latter of which he provided against in his first 
 patent by stripping the top cards by mechanism ; the former, however, was only 
 conquered by his invention of the self-strippers for the main cylinders ; thus the 
 carding engine may now work from Monday morning till Saturday night without 
 interruption, the cylinders requiring only to be brushed out every evening ; the con- 
 sequence is, that much time is gained, and a very equal, clean, and clear product is 
 obtained. Old carding engines to which he applied his feeders (see yig,1325),and main 
 cylinder-clearers produce much superior work, and increase the production from 18 to 
 24 per cent. 
 
 The main cylinder-clearer consists of a very ligbt cast iron cylinder upon which 
 five, six, or more sets of wire brushes are fixed, which are caused to travel to and frc 
 across the main cylinder ; the surface or periphery of the brushes overrunning the 
 surface or periphery of the main cylinder by 8 or 10 per cent., the brushes thus lifting 
 the cotton out of the teeth of the cards of the main cylinder, and causing the dirt and 
 lumps to fall. 
 
 As the brushes are not above a quarter-inch in breadth, and travel to and frp, it is 
 clear that no irregularity can take place in the fleece which comes from the doffer ; 
 not more than 1 40th part of the breadth of the cylinder being acted upon at the same 
 tims. Figs. 1326, 1327. give an idea of the clearer : the mechanism within the clearer, 
 
 1325 
 
 1326 
 
 V lJ 
 
 Patents of 1838 and 1842. 
 
 and by which the brushes, a, are caused to travel, is simple and solid. The main 
 cylinders for the carding engines are made of cast iron, the two sets of arms and rim 
 are cast in the. same piece; when complete, they weigh 50 lbs. less than those made of 
 wood* 
 
698 
 
 SPINNING, 
 
 The new lap machine connected with these engines is almost self-acting ; a girl has 
 only to turn a crank when the lap is full; by this turn, the full lap is removed and an 
 empty roller put in its place, the band of cotton is cut, and no waste is made. 
 
 Drawing Frame. — The drawing frame of 1824 was improved, and the improvements 
 patented, in 1835, and others again in 1842. That of 1824 is known in Germany and 
 France, and generally in use. The laps from the carding engine lap-machine are put 
 upon delivering rollers, behind a set of drawing rollers, and from them delivered upon a 
 belt or trough, and again formed into laps similar to those from the carding engines. 
 The next operation formed the laps into untwisted rovings, and the next again into 
 smaller untwisted rovings, or rovings with false twist in them, as infringed upon by 
 Dyer. The false twist was rather objectionable, and in his patent of 1835 he put a 
 number of rovings on the same bobbin, with left and right permanent twist in them. 
 This does very well; there is, however, a little objection to that place in which the 
 twist changes from right to left when it comes to the last operation before spinning. 
 In his patent of 1838, and particularly in that of 1842, he confined the left and right- 
 hand twist to the drawing frame, when he converts two laps into one roving, and forms a 
 roller or bobbin of 14 inches diameter and 15 inches broad, with six separate and twisted 
 rovings wound upon it. {See figs. 1328. and 1329.) The twist is given by tubes in two 
 directions, so that it remains in it (see j?g-1329), the tube turns in the same direction, 
 while the roving advances 4 or 5 inches, and then turns in the other direction. These 
 laps or bobbins are then placed behind a machine, which he calls a coil-frame, the most 
 important arrangement of which he claimed already in his patent of 1835. It consists 
 of a slot with a travelling spout, without which the coils can not be formed underpres- 
 sure. Coiling in cotton can not be claimed, as it was done in the first system of cotton 
 spinning. 
 
 Coil Frame. — The bobbins (fig. 1328), are placed behind this machine, and two ends 
 from the bobbin are passed through the drawing rollers and formed into one untwisted 
 sliver or roving in the following manner : When the cotton has passed through the 
 drawing rollers (see fig. 1330), and calender rollers, A, it is passed through the tube,B, 
 and the finger, C ; the spindle with its disc, D, revolves in such a proportion as to take 
 up the cotton which proceeds from- the calender rollers, A, and cause the roving! .obe 
 laid down in a spiral line closely one by one, and as the rollers, A, work at a 'regular 
 
 1328 
 
 132S 
 
 Qt 
 
 
 =1 
 
 Patents of 1835, 1838, and 1842, 
 speed, it is evident that the motion of the finger, C, and the speed of the tube, B, must 
 vary accordingly. The coil, E, is stationary, and is pressed by the lid or top, F. which 
 elides up the spindle, G, made of tin plate. The cotton enters, through the slot, X, in 
 fig. D. It is quite evident that the finger, C, and spindle, G, only perform one and the 
 fZfi!' a 1 rying - m ° °"^ ^o h - 18 l rep( : ated « ^ery fresh layer, and the coil is thus built 
 from below; it is about 8 inches in diameter and 18 inches high when compressed 
 and contains 4|lbs. of cotton. Mr.Bodmer has several modes of forming Se coUs 
 but one only is shown here. These coils are placed behind the twist coil framesTn half 
 
 Zn rl y T\ ""m or *, rOUg u S ' ? rtehind a windm § machille > ^ere they are wound 
 ? /£ l6 - S ., S1 u e b y. slde '. hke the la P or bobbin shown in the drawing frame and 
 placed behind the twist coil frame in this state. g ' 
 
 .vS!f f °^ r ?rTj his fl T forms rovin S s int0 coil s similar to those above 
 explained, with this difference, that the rovings are fine, say, from 1 to 10 hanks plr 
 pound, and regularly twisted: their diameter varies from 2| to 5 inches The same 
 machine produces rovings more or less fine, but the diameter of the Sdoes noid fl>r 
 
SPINNING. 
 
 699 
 
 t? 
 
 .tx. 
 
 i^m- 
 
 Patents of 1838 and 1842. 
 
 Patents of 1838 and 1842. 
 
 The difference of this machine from that above described consists in the dimensions of 
 their parts, and in its having the spindle, G, and the lid or top, F, revolving, as well as 
 the tube, u. (See Jig. 1331.) Tn this machine the motion of the spindle, b, is uniform : the 
 spindle, g, however, is connected by the bevel wheels h and i, with a differential motion 
 at the end of the frame, with which the motion of the ringer, o, corresponds. The skew 
 wheels, k and l, are connected , with the drawing rollers, a. The speed of the tube, b, 
 and the spindle, g, are so proportioned, that while the spindle, a, performs one revolution, 
 and therefore puts one twist into the roving, the tube, b, also performs one revolution, 
 missing so much as will be required to pass through the slot in the cap or disc, r>, and 
 lay on it as much of the roving as proceeds from the rollers, a, and in which one twist 
 is contained. Of course the twist of these rovings can be adapted to their fineness and 
 varied ; but it is evident that, on account of the regularity of the. machine and its sim- 
 plicity of movement, the rovings can never be stretched, and much less twist can be put 
 into them than can be put in the common fly frames. These coils are put behind the 
 spinning machines on shelves or in small cans, open in front ; or they are wound from 
 24 tip 72 ends upon bobbins, and placed upon unlap rollers behind the spinning 
 frames. 
 
 Coiling Machine for Carding Engines and Drawing Frames. — These are simple 
 machines, which may be applied to carding engines or drawing frames of any descrip- 
 tion. They form large coils, 9 inches in diameter and 22 inches long, when on the 
 
700 
 
 SPINNKvC 
 
 machine. There are two spindles, a, (see fig. 1SS2.) on each machine, for the purpose of 
 doffing without stopping the drawing frame and carding engines. When one coil is 
 
 Patents of 1849 
 
 filled, the finger, 5, is just brought over to the other spindle, so that the full coil is 
 stopped and the new one begins to be formed without the slightest interruption of the 
 machine. 
 
 Mr. B forms coils in various ways, also in cans ; but this description is sufficient to 
 show the application of this mode of winding up bands or rovings. Several of the above- 
 described machines are adopted with equal success to wool and flax. In his patents of 
 1835, 183?, and 1838, he shows several modes of applying his system to cotton and other 
 machinery. He winds directly from the carding engines the slivers separately upon long 
 bobbins, and he gives them twist in two directions, for the purpose of uniting the fibres 
 to some extent, so that they not only come off the bobbins without sticking to one 
 another, but also that they may draw smoother. He also showed a machine, by which 
 several rovings, say 4 or more, are put upon the same bobbin with conical ends; 
 these bobbins are placed behind the mules or throstles, and are unwound by a belt or 
 strap running parallel with the fluted rollers of the spinning machine as seen in^. 1333. 
 The belt or band a, is worked in a similar way to that described in his former patent, 
 and the bobbins, b, rest upon and revolve upon their surface, exactly according to the 
 speed of the belt. It is quite evident that the whole set of rovings must be unwound 
 exactly at the same speed, and that no stretching can take place. He can put real and 
 reversed twist in these rovings as well as false twist only. The most important feature 
 in the roving machine is a metal plate, in which a slot is formed through which the 
 rovings pass; this slot is seen in figs. 1334, 1S35, and 1336. The cotton when coming 
 from the drawing rollers is passed through the twisters, o, and through the slot in the 
 plate, d. Thus he is enabled to put any convenient number of neatly formed and per- 
 fectly separate coils upon the wooden barrel or bobbin. The bobbin formed upon these 
 machines is represented in_^r. 1337., and the conical ends are formed by a mechanism, by 
 which the twisters, o, are caused to approach a little more to one another, after each 
 layer of rovings has been coiled round the barrel : the section of the bobbin is therefore 
 like that shown in fig. 133?. He makes use of exactly the same arrangements, viz., a 
 finger travelling along a slot in a plate, for the purpose of forming the coils, which has 
 been already described. 
 Kovings wound upon bobbins by means of tubes revolving in one direction are cer- 
 
SPINNING. 
 
 701 
 
 1S34 
 
 'jll 'II 11,1 
 
 H 
 
 reMA 
 
 B 
 
 B 
 
 7 td^^fe^a] 
 
 11335 
 
 vvvv I 
 
 Patotf o/ 1835. 
 
 I \ 
 
 T^ 
 
 ,1337 
 
 \ 
 
 ZZJ7" 
 
 tainly not so fit for spinning as rovings into which a small degree of twist is put. The 
 tube by which a twist is put in on one side and taken out at the other, curls or ruffles 
 the cotton, and causes it to spread out as it passes between the rollers, while rovings 
 with a little permanent twist in them are held together in the process of drawing, and 
 thus produce smooth yarn. To remedy the evil above described, when untwisted rovings 
 are used, he causes the spouts or guides, through which the rovings pass into or between 
 the drawing rollers, to revolve slowly first in one, and then in the other direction, and 
 thus puts a certain quantity of twist into the rovings while they are being prepared for 
 spinning. Two modes of performing this operation are clearly described in his patent 
 of 1835. 
 
 There is a little defect in the working of the rovings with reversed twist when too 
 much or too little twist is put in them, or when the winding machine is not kept in good 
 order. This defect proceeds from the change in the. twist of the roving seen at A, 
 fig. 1338 ; in this place the twist is not like that at B, and it would, in some parts of the 
 
 1338 
 
 -■.-■ -^-J^J: 
 
 yarn, be detected under circumstances just described. In cases where double rovings 
 are used, the twisters are so arranged as to put the twist in the rovings, as shown in 
 fig. 1339; in this case the reversing place of one roving meets the twisted place of the 
 other, and the fault is completely rectified. 
 
 1339 
 
 The preceding description given an idea of Mr. Bodmer's admirable system of pie 
 paring and spinning cotton, wool, flax, &c, and of the several processes ; it would be 
 superfluous to describe the several machines, or the details of the same, as exhibited in 
 his patents. 
 
 In his patent of 1838, he specifies a self-actor, namely, a machine in itself, which 
 can be attached to 2, 3, or even 4 mules of almost any convenient number of 
 spindles. The mules are previously stripped' of all their mechanism except the rollers 
 and their wheels, the carriage and swindles; all the other movements ordinarily com- 
 
702 SPIRITS. • 
 
 bined witu the mule are contained in the machine, which is placed between a set of 
 mules, as seen in fig. 1340 a and b, the self-actors, to each of which 3 mules are 
 
 yoked, and which' are connected by 
 bands and shafts with the self-actor, 
 or rather partly self-actor. A girl 
 of fifteen or sixteen years old stands 
 at X between a and 6, and never 
 leaves her place except, perhaps, for 
 aiding in doffing or in banding the 
 spindles. The gearing of the room 
 acts by means of straps upon the 
 machines a and b, and from these 
 machines all the movements are 
 given to the six mules, namely, the 
 motion of the rollers, the spindles, 
 | — g — | x | & | the drawing out of the carriage, the 
 
 after draft, &c. When the carriages 
 
 are to be put up, the girl takes 
 
 ~l hold of two levers of the machine a, 
 
 _ | and by moving them in certain pro- 
 
 ^~~~~ ™ ~ ~~~~ ~^~^~ ~~~ portions, acts upon two cones and 
 
 pulleys, and thus causes, in the most 
 
 . easy and certain manner, the car- 
 
 — ' riages to run in and the yarn to be 
 I wound on the spindles. The first 
 machine Mr. B. made for this pur 
 pose was completely self-acting, but 
 i he found very soon that the me- 
 chanism was more complicated and 
 
 
 1340 
 
 L 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 1 I 
 
 i i 
 
 
 1 i 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 I I apt to go out of order than that of 
 
 the above-described machine ; and 
 as it is necessary to have a girl of a certain age to watch over the piecers for a certain 
 number of mules, he preferred the simplified machine ; placing the girl near these 
 machines, from whence the whole set of males attached to the same ean be overlooked 
 as the creels behind tne mules are not wanted in his system, this impediment to the 
 sight of the girl would be removed. He schemed these machines for the purpose of 
 altering, at a trifling expense, the common mules into self-actors; they are equally 
 good for any numbers of yarn. 
 
 Bastard Frame. — In his patent of 1838 and 1842, we find the description of a 
 
 very simple bastard frame, namely, a throstle with mule spindles, forming cops, as seen 
 
 in fig. 1341, and wound so hard that they can be handled about without any danger of 
 
 1341 spoiling them; in the same dimensions they contain one third 
 
 r ^_^ more yarn than the best cops of self-actors. The machine is 
 
 £ -T^s.-j extremely simple ; but owing to some circumstances in the 
 
 y^j j.^--,^ construction of the winders and plates, he has not been able 
 
 to spin advantageously upon large machines above No. 20's. 
 He has spun on it Wo. 56, and most beautiful yarn. The quantity this machinery 
 product! is nearly one third more than the best self-actor, on an equal number of 
 spindles, and the yarn and cops are much superior. Of course there is a copping 
 motion connected with the machine : the winding, however, is continuous, as well 
 »s the twisting, and figs. 1342. and 1343. will give the reader an idea of the frame. The 
 yarn coming from the rollers, A, goes through an eye, b, to the wire, o, fixed in 
 the flyer, r>, and from thence on to the mule spindle, e : as the spindle revolves, the 
 flyer is dragged along, and by its centrifugal power winds the yarn tight upon the 
 spindles. 
 
 SPIRIT OP AMMONIA, is, properly speaking, alcohol combined with ammonia gas • 
 but the term is often applied to water of ammonia. 
 
 SPIRITS, VINOUS. This subject has been fully discussed in the articles Alcohol, 
 Distillation, and Fermentation. I have shown that the progressive increase of alcohol 
 in the wash tends progressively to prevent the conversion of the wort into spirit, 
 or checks the fermenting process, though a great deal of fermentable matter remains 
 unchanged. Mr. Sheridan has sought to remove this obstacle to the thorough transmuta- 
 tion of saccharine matter into alcohol, by drawing off the spirit as it is formed. For 
 this purpose he ferments his wash in close tuns connected with a powerful air-pump 
 worked by machinery, thus continually removing the carbonic acid as it is formed, 
 and maintaining a diminished pressure under which the alcohol readily distils at a 
 temperature of 120° or 13C° F. He finds that this despee of heat is not injurious to the 
 
SPIRITS. 
 
 703 
 
 Patents of 1888 and 1842. 
 
 fermentation, provided that it be communicated by the air of a stove-room, and not by 
 water or steam pipes traversing the liquid, which would inevitably scald or secth th« 
 particles in succession, and thereby extinguish the fermenting principle. 
 
 By the above ingenious plan, Mr. Sheridan tells me he has obtained 28 gallons of 
 proof spirit from a quarter of grain, instead of the average product, 21, being an increase 
 of 25 per cent. The experiment was tried upon a considerable scale at Messrs. Currie's 
 great distillery near London ; but could not be established as a mode of manufacture, on 
 account of the excise laws, which prohibit the distillers from carrying on the two pro- 
 cesses of fermentation and distillation at the same time. 
 
 Consumption of Spirits. — According to a return recently made, the total number of 
 gallons of proof spirits distilled in the United Kingdom during the year ending January 
 5, 1850, was 24,775,128, distributed among the three kingdoms thus : — England, 
 6,573,411 gallons, of which 5,365,600 were from malt with unmalted grain, 17,337 from 
 sugar or molasses with unmalted grain, 13,941 from sugar, and 176,563 from molasses ; 
 Scotland, 10,846,634 gallons, of which 6,058,086 were from malt only, and 4,788,554 
 from malt with unmalted grain ; Ireland, 8,355,883 gallons, of which 85,756 were from 
 malt only, 8,047,077 from malt with unmalted grain, and 222,250 from sugar or molasses 
 with unmalted grain. The number of gallons of proof spirits on which duty was paid 
 for home consumption in the United Kingdom was 22,962,012, the total amount of duty 
 being 6,747,2187. Is., distributed as follows: — England, 675,036 gallons from malt 
 ■9nly, 8,166,226 from malt mixed with unmalted grain, 14,740 from sugar, and 177,052 
 from molasses ; total, 9,053,676 gallons, on which 3,546,023?. 2s. duty was paid, at the 
 rate of 7s. lOd. per gallon; Scotland, 4,950,736 gallons from malt only, 1,984,115 
 from malt mixed with unmalted grain, and 162 from sugar; total, 6,935,003 gallons, 
 on which the duty, at 3s. 8d. per gallon, amounted to 1,271,4177. 4s. id. ; Ireland, 
 452,468 gallons from malt only, 6,404,770 from malt mixed with unmalted grain, 
 112,308 from sugar or molasses with unmalted grain, and 3,787 from sugar; total, 
 6,973,333 gallons, yielding, at the rate of 2s. 8d. per gallon, an amount of duty equal to 
 929,7777. 14s. 8d. 
 
704 
 
 SPIRITS. 
 
 SPIRITS. Correspondence between Specific Gravity and per Cents, over Proof at 60 9 F 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Over Proof 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Over Proof. 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Over Proof 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Over Proof, j 
 
 0-8856 
 
 67-0 
 
 '8455 
 
 51-7, 
 
 •8748 
 
 33-4 
 
 ■9056 
 
 11'4 j 
 
 '8160 
 
 60-8 
 
 ■8459 
 
 51-5 
 
 ■8751 
 
 332 
 
 •9060 
 
 'i'i ' 
 
 '8163 
 
 66'6 
 
 ■8462 
 
 51-3 - 
 
 ■8755 
 
 32'9 
 
 ■9064. 
 
 JO 8 
 
 ■8167 
 
 66-5 
 
 ■8465 
 
 51-1 
 
 ■8758 
 
 32'7 
 
 •9067 
 
 10'S 
 
 ■8170 
 
 663 
 
 ■8469 
 
 509 
 
 •8762 
 
 32-4 
 
 ■9071 
 
 10-3 
 
 •8174 
 
 66-1 
 
 •8472 
 
 507 
 
 •8765 
 
 32-2 
 
 ■9075 
 
 100 
 
 ■8178 
 
 65-6 
 
 •8476 
 
 50-5 
 
 ■8769 
 
 320 
 
 ■9079 
 
 9-7 
 
 ■8181 
 
 65-8 
 
 ■8460 
 
 50-3 
 
 ■8772 
 
 31-7 
 
 ■9082 
 
 9-4 
 
 •8185 
 
 65-6 
 
 ■8482 
 
 50-1 
 
 ■8776 
 
 31-5 
 
 •9085 
 
 9-2 
 
 ■8188 
 
 65'5 
 
 •8486 
 
 49'9 
 
 •8779 
 
 31-3 
 
 ■9089 
 
 89 
 
 ■8192 
 
 65'3 
 
 •8490 
 
 49-7 
 
 •8783 
 
 310 
 
 ■9093 
 
 86 
 
 ■8196 
 
 65'1 
 
 •8493 
 
 495 
 
 ■8786 
 
 30-8 
 
 •9097 
 
 83 
 
 ■8199 
 
 65'0 
 
 •8496 
 
 49'3 
 
 •8790 
 
 305 
 
 •9000 
 
 80 
 
 ■8203 
 
 64 8 
 
 ■8499 
 
 491 
 
 ■8793 
 
 30-3 
 
 ■9104 
 
 7-7 
 
 ■8206 
 
 64'7 
 
 ■8503 
 
 48-9 
 
 ■8797 . 
 
 300 
 
 •9107 
 
 7-4 
 
 •8210 
 
 64'5 
 
 ■8506 
 
 4S-7 
 
 ■8800 
 
 -29'8 
 
 •9111 
 
 7-1 
 
 '6214 
 
 643 
 
 '8510 
 
 48' 5 
 
 -8804 
 
 295 
 
 ■9115 
 
 6-8 
 
 '8218 
 
 64-1 
 
 •8513 
 
 48-3 
 
 •8607 
 
 29 3 
 
 ■9118 
 
 6-5 
 
 •8221 
 
 64-0 
 
 '6516 
 
 460 
 
 '8811 
 
 290 
 
 ■9122 
 
 6-2 
 
 1 -8224 
 
 63-8 
 
 ■8520 
 
 47-8 
 
 •8814 
 
 28-8 
 
 ■9126 
 
 5-9 
 
 •8227 
 
 636 
 
 •8523 
 
 47-6 
 
 •6818 
 
 28'5 
 
 ■9130 
 
 5-6 
 
 ! -8231 
 
 63 4 
 
 ■8527 
 
 47-4 
 
 •8822 
 
 283 
 
 ■9134 
 
 5-3 
 
 1 '8234 
 
 632 
 
 ■8530 
 
 47-2 
 
 ■ '8825 
 
 28-0 
 
 ■9137 ' 
 
 50 
 
 '8238 
 
 63.1 
 
 ■6533 
 
 470 
 
 '8829 
 
 27-8 
 
 ■9141 
 
 4-8 
 
 '8242 
 
 62'9 
 
 •8537 
 
 468 
 
 ■8832 
 
 27'5 
 
 •9145 ' 
 
 4-5 
 
 '8243 
 
 627 
 
 ■6540 
 
 466 
 
 ■8836 
 
 27'3 
 
 •9148 
 
 4-2 
 
 -6249 
 
 62'5 
 
 •8543 
 
 46-4 
 
 ■8840 
 
 27'0 
 
 ■9152- 
 
 3-9 
 
 ■8252 
 
 623 
 
 •8547 
 
 46-2 
 
 •8843 
 
 268 
 
 •9156 
 
 36 
 
 ■8256 
 
 62'2 
 
 ■8550 
 
 460 
 
 ■8847 
 
 26'5 
 
 '9159 
 
 33 
 
 •8259 
 
 620 
 
 •8553 
 
 458 
 
 '8850 
 
 26-3 
 
 ■9163 
 
 30 
 
 •6263 
 
 61 8 
 
 •8556 
 
 45-6 
 
 '8854 
 
 260 
 
 '9167 
 
 2-7 
 
 ■8266 
 
 616 
 
 ■8560 
 
 45-4 
 
 '8858 
 
 258 
 
 •9170 
 
 2'4 
 
 ■8270 
 
 61'4 
 
 •6563 
 
 45'2 
 
 •8861 
 
 255 
 
 •9174 
 
 21 
 
 •8273 
 
 61-3 
 
 •8566 
 
 45 
 
 ■8865 
 
 25'3 
 
 •9178 
 
 1-9 
 
 •8277 
 
 611 
 
 ■8570 
 
 44 -8 
 
 •8869 
 
 25'0 
 
 ■9182 
 
 1'6 
 
 •62S0 
 
 609 
 
 •8573 
 
 446 
 
 •8872 
 
 24'8 
 
 '9185 
 
 1'3 
 
 ■8284 
 
 607 
 
 •8577 
 
 44 4 
 
 •8876 
 
 245 
 
 •9189 
 
 10 
 
 •6287 
 
 605 
 
 ■8581 
 
 44'2 
 
 •8879 
 
 24'3 
 
 ■9192 
 
 0'7 
 
 •8291 
 
 604 
 
 •8583 
 
 439 
 
 •8883 
 
 24'0 
 
 '9196 
 
 0'3 
 
 •8294 
 
 602 
 
 •8587 
 
 43'7 
 
 •8886 
 
 23'8 
 
 '9200 
 
 Proof. 
 
 '8298 
 
 o-o 
 
 •8590 
 
 435 
 
 ■8890 
 
 23'5 
 
 Under 
 
 Proof. 
 
 ■8301 
 
 598 
 
 '8594 
 
 433 
 
 •8894 
 
 23'2 
 
 •9204 
 
 0-3 
 
 '8305 
 
 596 
 
 ■8597 
 
 431 
 
 •6897 
 
 23'0 
 
 ■9207 
 
 0-6 
 
 '8303 
 
 59-5 
 
 •8601 
 
 42-8 
 
 •8901 
 
 22-7 
 
 ■9210 
 
 0-9 
 
 '8312 
 
 593 
 
 ■8604 
 
 42-6 
 
 '8904 
 
 225 
 
 •9214 
 
 1'3 
 
 '6315 
 
 591 
 
 '6608 
 
 42-4 
 
 •8908 
 
 22'2 
 
 ■9218 
 
 1'6 
 
 '8319 
 
 58-9 
 
 •8611 
 
 42-2 
 
 '8912 
 
 21'9 
 
 ■9222 ' 
 
 1-9 
 
 '6322 
 
 58'7 
 
 •6615 
 
 420 
 
 •8915 
 
 21'7 
 
 ■9226 
 
 2'2 
 
 '8326 
 
 586 
 
 •8618 
 
 41-7 
 
 ■8919 
 
 21'4 
 
 9229 
 
 25 
 
 '8329 
 
 58'4 
 
 '8622 
 
 41-5 
 
 '8922 
 
 212 . . 
 
 •9233 
 
 2'8 
 
 '6333 
 
 58-2 
 
 •8625 
 
 413 
 
 •8926 
 
 20'9 
 
 •9237 
 
 31 
 
 '8336 
 
 580 
 
 •8629 
 
 411 
 
 ■8930 
 
 206 
 
 ■9241 
 
 3'4 
 
 •8340 
 
 57'8 
 
 ■6632 
 
 40'9 
 
 ■8933 
 
 20'4 
 
 ■9244 
 
 3'7 
 
 ■8344 
 
 57'7 
 
 ■6636 
 
 40-6 
 
 •8937 
 
 201 
 
 •9248 
 
 40 
 
 •8347 
 
 575 
 
 •6639 
 
 40-4 
 
 ■8940 
 
 199 
 
 •9252 
 
 4'4 
 
 ■6351 
 
 57'3 
 
 ■8643 
 
 402 ' 
 
 ■8944 
 
 19'6 
 
 ■9255 
 
 4-7 
 
 ■S354 
 
 57'1 
 
 ■8646 
 
 400 
 
 •8948 
 
 19'3 
 
 •9259 
 
 50 
 
 ■6358 
 
 56'9 
 
 ■8650 
 
 398 
 
 ■8951 
 
 191 
 
 '9263 
 
 5'3 
 
 '8362 
 
 568 
 
 ■8653 
 
 395 
 
 •8955 
 
 18'8 
 
 •9267 
 
 5-7 
 
 '8365 
 
 566 
 
 •8657 
 
 39-3 
 
 '8959 
 
 18'6 
 
 ■9270 
 
 6-0 
 
 ■8369 
 
 56-4 
 
 ■8660 
 
 391 
 
 •8962 
 
 183 
 
 •9274 
 
 6-4 
 
 •8372 
 
 96'2 
 
 ■8664 
 
 33 9 
 
 ■8966 
 
 18'0 
 
 •9278 
 
 6-7 
 
 •8376 
 
 S60 
 
 ■8667 
 
 38-7 
 
 •6970 
 
 17'7 
 
 ■9282 
 
 70 
 
 •8379 
 
 559 
 
 •8671 
 
 38-4 
 
 •8974 
 
 17'5 
 
 ■9286 
 
 73 
 
 ■8363 
 
 55-7 
 
 •8674 
 
 38-2 
 
 •8977 
 
 17 2 
 
 ■9291 
 
 7'7 
 
 ■63S6 
 
 55-5 
 
 •8678 
 
 360 
 
 ■8981 
 
 16-9 
 
 ■9295 
 
 80 
 
 ■8390 
 
 55'3 
 
 ■8681 
 
 37-8 
 
 «985 
 
 16-6 
 
 •9299 
 
 8-3 
 
 ■8393 
 
 55'1 
 
 •8685 
 
 37-6 
 
 ■8969 
 
 16'4 
 
 ■9302 
 
 8-6 
 
 ■8396 
 
 55-0 
 
 •8688 
 
 373 
 
 ■8992 
 
 161 
 
 ■9306 
 
 9-0 
 
 •8400 
 
 548 
 
 -8692 
 
 37-1 
 
 ■8996 
 
 15-9 
 
 ■9310 
 
 93 
 
 •8403 
 
 54'6 
 
 -8695 
 
 36-9 
 
 •9000 
 
 15 6 
 
 •9314 
 
 9-7 
 
 •8407 
 
 54'4 
 
 ■8699 
 
 36-7 
 
 •9004 
 
 15-3 
 
 ■9318 
 
 100 
 
 '8410 
 
 542 
 
 ■8702 
 
 30-4 
 
 9008 
 
 150 
 
 •9322 
 
 10-3 
 
 ■8413 
 
 541 
 
 •8706 
 
 36-2 
 
 ■9011 
 
 148 
 
 •9326 
 
 10-7 
 
 '8417 
 
 53'9 
 
 ■8709 
 
 35'9 
 
 •9015 
 
 14'5 
 
 '9329 
 
 110 
 
 •6420 
 
 53'7 
 
 •8713 
 
 35'7 
 
 ■9019 
 
 142 
 
 ■9332 
 
 11-4 
 
 ■8424 
 
 535 
 
 •8716 
 
 35'5 
 
 ■9023 
 
 13 9 
 
 ■9337 
 
 11T 
 
 •8427 
 
 533 
 
 •8720 
 
 35'2 
 
 ■9026 
 
 136 
 
 ■9341 
 
 121 
 
 ■6431 
 
 531 
 
 •8723 
 
 350 
 
 •9030 
 
 13'4 
 
 •9345 
 
 124 
 
 ■8434 
 
 529 
 
 ■8727 
 
 34-7 
 
 •9034 
 
 131 
 
 ■9349 
 
 12-8 
 
 8438 
 
 527 
 
 •8730 
 
 34'5 
 
 ■9038 
 
 128 
 
 •9353 
 
 131 
 
 ■8441 
 
 525 
 
 ■8734 
 
 343 
 
 •9041 
 
 12-5 
 
 ■9357 
 
 . 133 
 
 •6443 
 
 523 
 
 •8737 
 
 341 
 
 '9045 
 
 122 
 
 ■9360 
 
 139 
 
 ■8448 
 
 521 
 
 •8741 
 
 33-8 
 
 '9049 
 
 12'0 
 
 '9364 
 
 149 
 
 ■8453 
 
 519 
 
 •8741 
 
 33-6 
 
 '9052 
 
 117 
 
 •9368 
 
 146 
 
SPIRITS. 
 
 705 
 
 Table — continued. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. 
 
 Specific 
 
 Per Cent. Si 
 
 ecific 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Under Prf. 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Under Prf. 
 
 Gravity. 
 
 Under Prf. Gi 
 
 avity. 
 
 Under Pi f. 
 
 •9372 
 
 14-9 
 
 •9530 
 
 31-0 
 
 •9685 
 
 522 
 
 9846 
 
 79-2 
 
 •9376 
 
 15-3 
 
 •9534 
 
 31-4 
 
 '9689 
 
 52-9 
 
 9850 
 
 79-8 
 
 ■9380 
 
 15-7 
 
 '9539 
 
 31-1 
 
 •9693 
 
 53-3 
 
 9854 
 
 80'4 
 
 •9384 
 
 160 
 
 ■9542 
 
 32-3 
 
 ■9697 
 
 54-2 
 
 9858 
 
 81'1 
 
 ■9388 
 
 16-4 
 
 '9546 
 
 32-8 
 
 •9701 
 
 54-8 
 
 9862 
 
 81-7 
 
 •9392 
 
 16-7 
 
 •9550 
 
 332 
 
 •9705 
 
 55-5 
 
 9866 
 
 82' 3 
 
 ■9396 
 
 171 
 
 •9553 
 
 33-7 
 
 •9709 
 
 56-2 
 
 9670 
 
 82-9 
 
 •9399 
 
 17-5 
 
 '9557 
 
 34-2 
 
 ■9713 
 
 56'9 
 
 9874 
 
 83-5 
 
 •9403 
 
 17-8 
 
 •9561 
 
 346 
 
 •9718 
 
 57-6 
 
 9878 
 
 840 
 
 •9407 
 
 18'2 
 
 ■9565 
 
 35-1 
 
 ■9722 
 
 58'3 
 
 9882 
 
 84'6 
 
 '9411 
 
 185 
 
 •9569 
 
 35-6 
 
 •9726 
 
 590 
 
 9886 
 
 852 
 
 ■9415 
 
 18-9 
 
 •9573 
 
 36-1 
 
 ■9730 
 
 59'7 
 
 9890 
 
 85-8 
 
 •9419 
 
 193 
 
 ■9577 
 
 36-6 
 
 •9734 
 
 604 
 
 9894 
 
 86 3 
 
 •9422 
 
 197 
 
 '9580 
 
 37'1 
 
 •9738 
 
 611 
 
 9693 
 
 86'9 
 
 •9425 
 
 20 
 
 •9584 
 
 37-6 
 
 •9742 
 
 61-8 . 
 
 9902 
 
 87-4 
 
 ■9430 
 
 20'4 
 
 '9588 
 
 38-1 
 
 •9746 
 
 62'5 
 
 9906 
 
 68'0 
 
 ■9434 
 
 •208 
 
 ■9592 
 
 386 
 
 •9750 
 
 632 
 
 9910 
 
 88-5 
 
 ■9437 
 
 21'2 
 
 ■9596 
 
 391 
 
 •9754 
 
 639 
 
 9914 
 
 89-1 
 
 '9441 
 
 21-6 
 
 ■9599 
 
 39-6 
 
 •9758 
 
 64'6 
 
 9918 
 
 89-6 
 
 •9445 
 
 21 9 
 
 '9603 
 
 401 
 
 ■9762 
 
 65'3 
 
 9922 
 
 90.2 
 
 ■9448 
 
 22 2 
 
 •9607 
 
 406 
 
 •9766 
 
 660 
 
 9926 
 
 90-7 | 
 
 '9452 
 
 22 7 
 
 ■9611 
 
 411 
 
 •9770 
 
 66'7 
 
 9930 
 
 91-2 i 
 
 '9456 
 
 23'I 
 
 •9615 
 
 41-7 
 
 ■9774 
 
 67-4 
 
 9934 
 
 91-7 
 
 •9460, 
 
 23-5 
 
 •9619 
 
 42-2 
 
 •9778 
 
 680 
 
 9938 
 
 92-3 
 
 '9404 
 
 239 
 
 '9623 
 
 42-8 
 
 •9782 
 
 68-7 
 
 9942 
 
 92-8 
 
 •9468 
 
 24'3 
 
 •9627 
 
 43'3 
 
 •9766 
 
 69-4 
 
 9946 
 
 S3 3 
 
 •9472 
 
 24-7 
 
 '9631 
 
 43'9 
 
 •9790 
 
 70-1 
 
 9950 
 
 938 
 
 •9476 
 
 251 
 
 •9635 
 
 44-4 
 
 •9794 
 
 70-8 
 
 9954 
 
 94-3 
 
 •9480 
 
 25-5 
 
 '9638 
 
 450 
 
 ■9798 
 
 71'4 
 
 9958 
 
 949 
 
 •9484 
 
 25-9 
 
 '9642 
 
 45-5 
 
 •9802 
 
 721 
 
 9962 
 
 954 
 
 •9488 
 
 26-3 
 
 '9646 
 
 461 
 
 '9806 
 
 72'8 
 
 9966 
 
 95-9 
 
 '9492 
 
 26-7 
 
 ■9650 
 
 46'7 
 
 '9810 
 
 73-5 
 
 9970 
 
 96.4 
 
 •9496 
 
 271 
 
 ■9654 
 
 47'3 
 
 ■9814 
 
 74-1 
 
 9974 
 
 96-8 
 
 '9499 
 
 27-5 
 
 •9657 
 
 479 
 
 •9816 
 
 748 
 
 9978 
 
 97-3 
 
 •9503 
 
 280 
 
 •9661 
 
 48'5 
 
 •9822 
 
 75-4 
 
 9982 
 
 97-7 
 
 ■9507 
 
 2S'4 
 
 '9665 
 
 491 
 
 '9826 
 
 761 
 
 9986 
 
 98-2 
 
 ■9511 
 
 28-8 
 
 ■9669 
 
 49-7 
 
 '9830 
 
 76-7 
 
 9990 
 
 98-7 
 
 ■9515 
 
 29-2 
 
 •9674 
 
 50'3 
 
 •9834 
 
 77-3 
 
 9993 
 
 99-1 
 
 •9519 
 
 29-7 
 
 •9677 
 
 510 
 
 ■9838 
 
 78-0 
 
 9997 
 
 91.6 
 
 •9522 
 
 30'1 
 
 ■9681 
 
 51 6 
 
 ■9842 
 
 78-6 1 
 
 0000 
 
 100 
 
 '9526 
 
 30'6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The total number of gallons of proof spirits imported into England in the year ending 
 January 6, 1850, from Scotland, amounted to 2,651,529 gallons, of which 6*73,342 were 
 distilled from malt only, and 1,978,187 from a mixture of malt with unmalted grain ; and 
 the total amount of duty paid thereon, at the rate of 7s. 10<£ per gallon, was 1,038,515/. 
 10s. 6d., being 513,330/. 8s. on removal from bond, and 525,185/. 2s. 6d. after arrival at 
 the place of destination. The number of gallons imported from Ireland was 890,021, of 
 which 1,694 were fro j malt only, 884,772 from malt with unmalted grain, 3,285 from 
 sugar or molasses with grain, and 270 from sugar ; and the total amount of duty paid 
 was 348,591/. lis. 2d., being 118,912/. 7s. 6d. on removal from bond, and 229,679/. 3s. Sd. 
 after arrival at the place of destination. The number of gallons imported from Scotland 
 into Ireland was 766,405, of which 396,064 were from malt only, 370,205 from malt 
 mixed with grain, and 136 from sugar, the amount of duty paid, at the rate of 2s. 8d., 
 being 102,187/. 6s. Sd., levied after arrival at the place of destination. The quantity 
 imported from Ireland into Scotland was 12.580 gallons, of which 12,428 were from malt 
 with grain and 152 from sugar, and the duty paid thereon, at the rate of 3s. Sd., amounted 
 to 2,306/. 6». 8a\ 
 
 SPIRIT OF WINE; Alcohol. 
 
 SPONGE (Eponge, Fr. ; Schwamm, Germ.), is a cellular fibrous tissue produced by 
 small animals, almost imperceptible, called polypi by naturalists, which live in the sea. 
 This tissue is said to be covered in its recent state with a kind of semi-fluid thin coat of 
 animal jelly, susceptible of a slight contraction or trembling; on being touched ; which 
 is the only symptom of vitality displayed by the sponge. After death, this jelly disap- 
 pears, and leaves merely the sponge; formed by the combination of a multitude of small 
 capillary lubes, capable of receiving water in their interior, and of becoming thereby dis- 
 tended. Sponges occur attached to stones at the bottom of the sea ; and abound par- 
 ticularly upon the shores of the islands in the Grecian Archipelago. Although analo- 
 gous in their origin to coral, sponges are quite different in their nature ; the former 
 being composed almost entirely of carbonate of lime; while the latter are formed of the 
 same elements as animal matters, and afford, on distillation, a considerable quantity o{ 
 
 ammonia. 
 Vol. II. 
 
 46 
 
706 STAINED GLASS. 
 
 Dilute sulphuric acid has been recommended for bleaching sponges, after the cal tare, 
 ous impurities have been removed by muriatic acid. Chlorine water answers better. 
 SPOON MANUFACTURE. See Stamping of Metals. 
 
 STAINED GLASS. When certain metallic oxydes or chlorides, ground up with 
 proper fluxes, are painted upon glass, their colors fuse into its surface at a moderate 
 heat, and make durable pictures, which are frequently employed in ci.iamenling the 
 windows of churches as well as of other public and private buildings. The colors 01 
 stained glass are all transparent, and are therefore to be viewed only by transmitted 
 light. Many metallic pigments, which afford a fine effect when applied cold on canvass 
 or paper, are so changed by vitreous fusion as to be quite inapplicable to painting in 
 stained glass. 
 
 The glass proper for receiving these vitrifying pigments, should be colorless, uniform, 
 and difficult of fusion ; for which reason crown glass, made with little alkali, or with 
 kelp, is preferred. When the design is too large to be contained on a single pane, seve- 
 ral are fitted together, and fixed in a bed of soft cement while painting, and then taken 
 asunder to be separately subjected to the fire. In arranging the glass pieces, care must 
 be taken to distribute the joinings so that the lead frame-work may interfere as little as 
 possible with the effect. 
 
 A design must be drawn upon paper, and placed beneath Ihe plate of glass ; though 
 the artist cannot regulate his tints directly by his palette, but by specimens of the colors 
 producible from his palette pigments after they are fired. The upper side of the glass be- 
 ing sponged over with gum-water, affords, when dry, a surface proper for receiving the 
 colors, without the risk of their running irregularly, as they would be apt to do, on the 
 slippery glass. The artist first draws on the plate, with a fine pencil, all the traces which 
 mark the great outlines and shades of the figures. This is usually done in black, or, at 
 least, some strong color, such as brown, blue, green, or red. In laying on these, the 
 painter is guided by the same principles as the engraver, when he produces the effect of 
 li^ht and shade by dots, lines, or hatches; and he employs that color to produce the 
 shades, which will harmonize best with the color which is to be afterwards applied ; but 
 for the deeper shades, black is in general used. When this is finished, the whole pic- 
 ture will he represented in lines or halches similar to an engraving finished up to the 
 highest effect possible ; and afterwards, when it is dry, the vitrifying colors are laid on 
 by means of larger hair pencils ; their selection being regulated by the burnt specimen 
 tints. When he finds it necessary to lay two colors adjoining, which are apt to run 
 tosethcr in the kiln, he must apply one of them to the hack of the glass. But the few 
 principal colors to be presently mentioned, are all fast colors, which do not run, except 
 the yellow, which must therefore be laid on the opposite side. After coloring, the artist 
 proceeds to bring out the lighter effects by taking off the color in the proper place, with 
 a goose quill cut like a pen without a slit. By working this upon the glass, he removes 
 the color from the parts where the lights should be the strongest ; such as the hair, eyes, 
 the reflection of bright surfaces and lizht parts of draperies. The blank pen maybe 
 employed either to make the lights by lines, or hatches and dots, as is most suitable to the 
 subject. 
 
 By the metallic preparations aow laid upon it, the glass is made ready for being fired, 
 in order to fix and bring out thi proper color's. The furnace or kiln best adapted for this 
 purpose, is similar to that used by enamellers. See Enamel, and the Glaze-kiln, under 
 Pottery. It consists of a muffle or arch of fire-clay, or pottery, so set over a fireplace, 
 and so surrounded by flues, as to receive ~ very considerable heat within, in the most 
 equable and regular manner ; otherwise some parts of the glass will be melted ; while, 
 on others, the superficial film of colors will remain unverified. The mouth of the muffle, 
 and the entry for introducing fuel to the fire, should be on opposite sides, to prevent as 
 much as possible the admission of dust into the muffle, whose mouth should be closed 
 with double folding-doors of iron, furnished with small peep-holes, to allow the artist to 
 watch the progress of the staining, and to withdraw small trial slips of glass, painted with 
 the principal tints used in the picture. 
 
 The muffle must be made of very refractory fire-clay, flat at its bottom, and only 5 or 
 6 inches high, with such an arched top as may make the roof strong, and so close on all 
 ■ sides as to exclude entirely the smoke and flame. On the bottom of the muffle a smooth 
 bed of sifted lime, freed from water, about half an inch thick, must be prepared for 
 receiving the pane of glass. Sometimes several plates of glass are laid over each other 
 with a layer of dry pulverulent lime between each. The fire is now lighted, and most 
 gradually raised, lest the glass should be broken j and after it has attained to its full heat, 
 it must be kept up for 3 or 4 hours, more or less, according to the indications of the 
 trial slips ; the yellow color being principally watched, as it is found to be the best crite- 
 rion of the state of the others. When the colors are properly burnt in, the fire is suffered 
 to die away, so as to anneal the glass. 
 
STAINED GLASS. 
 
 707 
 
 STAINED-GLASS PIGMENTS. 
 
 Flesh color. — Take an ounce of red lead, 2 ounces of red enamel, (Venetian glass ena- 
 mel, from alum and copperas calcined together,) grind them to fine powder, and work this 
 up with spirits (alcohol) upon a hard stone. When slightly baked, this produces a fine 
 flesh color. 
 
 Black color. — Take 14J ounces of smithy scales of iron, mix them with two ounces of 
 white glass, (crystal,) an ounce of antimony, and half an ounce of manganese ; pound and 
 grind these ingredients together with strong vinegar. A brilliant black may also be ob- 
 tained by a mixture of cobalt blue with the oxydes of manganese and iron. Another black 
 is made from three parts of crystal glass, two parts of oxyde of copper, and one of (glass 
 of) antimony worked up together, as above. 
 
 Brown color. — An ounce of white glass or enamel, half an ounce of good manganese; 
 ground together. 
 
 Red, rose, and brown colors, are made from peroxyde of iron, prepared by nitric acid. 
 The'flux consists of borax, sand, and minium in small quantity. 
 
 Red color, may be likewise obtained from one ounce of red chalk pounded, mixed with 
 two ounces of white hard enamel, and a little peroxyde of copper. 
 
 A red, may also be composed of rust of iron, glass of antimony, yellow glass of lead, 
 such as is used by potters, (or litharge,) each in equal quantity ; to which a little sulphu- 
 ret of silver is added. This composition, well ground, produces a very fine red color on 
 glass. When protoxyde of copper is used to slain glass, it assumes a bright red or green 
 color, according as the glass is more or less heated in the furnace, the former correspond- 
 ing to the orange protoxyde, the latter having the copper in the state of peroxyde. 
 
 Bist-es and brown reds, may be obtained by mixtures of manganese, orange oxyde of 
 copper, and the oxyde of iron called umber, in different proportions. They must be pre- 
 viously fused with vitreous solvents. 
 
 Green color. — Two ounces of brass calcined into an oxyde, two ounces of minium, and 
 eight ounces of white sand ; reduce them to a fine powder, which is to be enclosed in a 
 well luted crucible, and heated strongly in an air-furnace for an hour. When the mix- 
 ture, is cold, grind it in a brass mortar. Green may, however, be advantageously produ- 
 ced by a yellow on one side, and a blue on the other. Oxyde of chrome has been also 
 employed to stain glass green. 
 
 A fine yellow color. — Take fine silver laminated thin, dissolve in nitric acid, dilute with 
 abundance of water, and precipitate with solution of sea salt. Mix this chloride of sil- 
 ver, in a dry powder, with three times its weight of pipe-clay well burnt and pounded. 
 The back of the glass pane is to be painted with this powder; for when painted on the 
 face, it is apt to run into the other colors. 
 
 Another yellow can be made by mixing sulphuret of silver with glass of antimony, 
 and yellow ochre previously calcined to a red-brown tint. Work all these powders 
 together, and paint on the back of the glass. Or silver lamina melted with sulphur, and 
 glass of antimony, thrown into cold water, and afterwards ground to powder, afford a 
 yellow. 
 
 A pale yellow may be made with the powder resulting from brass, sulphur, and glass 
 of antimony, calcinea !igether in a crucible, till they cease to smoke; and then mixed 
 with a little burnt yellow ochre. 
 
 The fine yellow of M. Merand is prepared from chloride of silver, oxyde of zinc, white- 
 clay, and rust of iron. This mixture, simply ground, is applied on the glass. 
 
 Orange color. — Take 1 part of silver powder, as precipitated from the nitrate of that 
 metal by plates of copper, and washed ; mix it with 1 part of red ochre and 1 of yellow, 
 by careful trituration ; grind into a thin pap with oil of turpentine or lavender, and apply 
 this with a brush, dry, and burn in. 
 
 In the Philosophical Magazine, of December, 1836, the anonymous author of an in- 
 genious essay, " On the Art of Glass-painting," says, that if a large proportion of ochre 
 has been employed with the silver, the stain is yellow ; if a small proportion, it is orange- 
 i colored ; and by repeated exposure to the fire, without any additional coloring-matter, 
 the orange may be converted into red ; but this conversion requires a nice management 
 of the heat. Artists often make use of panes colored throughout their substance in the 
 glass-house pots, because the perfect transparency of such glass gives a brilliancy of 
 effect, which enamel painting, always more or less opaque, cannot rival. It was to a 
 glass of this kind that the old glass-painters owed their splendid red. This is, in fact, 
 the only point in which the modern and ancient processes differ ; and this is the only 
 part of the art which was ever really lost. Instead of blowing plates of solid red, the 
 old glass-makers (like those of Bohemia, for some time back) used to flash a thin 
 layer of brilliant red over a substratum of colorless glass ; by gathering a lump of the 
 latter upon the end of their iron rod in one pot, covering it with a layer of the former 
 in another pot, then blowing out the two together into a globe or cylinder, to be opened 
 
708 STAINED GLASS. 
 
 into circular tables, or into rectangular plates. The elegant art of tinging glass red by 
 piotoxyde of copper, and flashing it on common crown glass, has become general within 
 these few years. 
 
 That gold melted with flint glass stains it purple, war originally discovered and prac- 
 tised, as a profitable secret, by Kunckel. Gold has been recently used at Birmingham 
 for giving a beautiful rose-color to scent bottles. The proportion of gold should be 
 very Small, and the heat very great, to produce a good effect. The glass must contain 
 either the oxyde of lead, bismuth, zinc, or antimony ; for crown glass will take no color 
 from gold. Glass combined with this metal, when removed from the crueible, is general- 
 ly of a paJe rose-color ; nay, sometimes is as colorless as water, and does not assume its 
 ruby color till it has been exposed to a low red heat, either under a muffle or at the 
 lamp. This operation must be nicely regulated; because a slight excess of fire destroys 
 the color, leaving the glass of a dingy brown, but with a blue (green ?) transparency, 
 like that of gold leaf. It is metallic gold which gives the color; and, indeed, the oxyde 
 is too easily reduced, not to be converted into the metal by the intense heat which is ne- 
 cessarily required. 
 
 Upon the kindred art of painting in enamel, Mr. A. Essex has published an in- 
 teresting paper in the same journal, for June, 1837, in which he says that the ancient 
 ruby glass, on being exposed to the heat of a glass-kiln, preserves its color unimpaired, 
 while the modern suffers considerable injury, and in some cases becomes almost black. 
 Hence the latter cannot be painted upon, as the heat required to fix the fresh color would 
 destroy the beauty of the original basis. To obviate this difficulty, the artist paints upon 
 a piece of plain glass the tints and shadows necessary for blending the rieh ruby g'ow 
 with the other parts of his picture, leaving those parts untouched where he wishes the 
 ruby to appear in undiminished brilliancy, and fixes the ruby glass in the picture behind 
 the painted piece, so that in such parts the window is double glazed. Mr. Essex em- 
 ploys, as did the late Mr. Muss, chrome oxyde alone for greens ; and he rejects the use 
 of iron and manganese in his enamel colors. 
 
 Colored transparent glass is applied as enamel in silver and gold bijouterie, pre- 
 viously bright-cul in the metal with the graver or the rose-engine. The cuts, reflecting 
 the rays of light from their numerous surfaces, exhibit through the glass, richly stained 
 with gold, silver, copper, cobalt, &c, a gorgeous play of prismatic colors, varied •with 
 every change of aspect. When the enamel is to be painted on, it should be made opal- 
 escent by oxyde of arsenic, in order to produce the most agreeable effect. 
 
 The artist in enamel has obtained from modern chemistry, preparations of the metals 
 platinum, uranium, and chromium, which famish four of the richest and most useful 
 colors of his palette. Oxyde of platinum produces a substantive rich brown, formerly 
 unknown in enariiel painting ; a beautiful transparent tint, which no intensity or repeti- 
 tion of fire can injure. Colors proper for enamel painting, he says, are not to be pur- 
 chased ; those sold for the purpose, are adapted only for painting upon china. The con- 
 stituents of the green enamel used by his brother, Mr. W. Essex, are, silica, borax, oxydd 
 of lead, and oxyde of chrome. 
 
 Mr. Essex's enamelling furnace is a cubic space of about 12 inches, and contains 
 fire-clay muffle, without either bottom or back, which is surrounded with coke, except in 
 front. The entire draught of air which supplies the furnace, passes through the 
 muffle ; the plates and paintings being placed on a thin slab, made of tempered fire- 
 clay, technically termed pltmche, which rests on the bed of coke-fuel. As the greatest 
 heat is at the back of the muffle, the picture must be turned round while in the fire, 
 by means of a pair of spring tongs. The above furnace serves for objects up to five 
 inches in diameter ; but for larger works a different furnace is required, for the descrip- 
 tion of which I must refer to the original paper. 
 
 Relatively to the receipts for enamel colors, and for staining and gilding on glass, 
 for which twenty guineas were voted by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, in 
 the session of' 1817, to Mr. R. Wynn, Mr. A. Essex says, in p. 446 of his essay — 
 " the unfortunate artist who shall attempt to make colors for the purpose of painting in 
 enamel from these receipts, will assuredly find, to his disappointment, that they are ut- 
 terly useless." In page 449 he institutes a comparison between Mr. Wynn's complex 
 farrago for green, as published in the Transactions of the Society, with the simple 
 receipt of his brother, as given above. It is a remarkable circumstance, that not one of 
 our enamel artists, during a period of twenty years, should have denounced the fallacy 
 of these receipts, and the folly of sanctioning imposture by a public reward. Should 
 Mr. Essex's animadversions be just, the well-intentioned Society in the Adelphi may, from 
 the negligence of its committee, come to merit the sobriquet, " For the Discouragement 
 of Arts." 
 
 The blues of vitrified colours are all obtained from the oxide of cobalt. Cobalt 
 Dre (sulpburet) being well roasted at a dull red heat, to dissipate all the sul- 
 phur and arsenic, is dissolved in somewhat dilute nitric acid, and after the addi 
 
STAMPING OF METALS. 7O9 
 
 tipn of much water to the saturated solution, the oxide is precipitated by carbonate of 
 soda, then washed upon a filter, and dried. The powder is to be mixed with thrice its 
 weight of saltpetre ; the mixture is to be deflagrated in a crucible, by applying a red 
 hot cinder to it, then exposed to the heat of ignition, washed, and dried. Three parts 
 of this oxide are to be mixed with a flux, consisting of white sand, borax, nitre, and a 
 little ehalk, subjected to fusion for an hour, and then ground down into an enamel 
 powder for use. Blues of any shade or intensity may be obtained from the above, by 
 mixing it with more or less flux. 
 
 The beautiful greenish yellow, of which color so many ornamental glass vessels have 
 been lately imported from Germany, is made in Bohemia by the following process. Ore 
 of uranium, Uran-ochre, or Uran-glimmer, in fine powder, being roasted, and dissolved 
 in nitric acid ; the filtered solution is to be freed from any lead present in it, by the 
 cautious addition of dilute sulphuric acid. The clear green solution is to be evapora- 
 ted to dryness, and the mass ignited till it becomes yellow. One part of this oxide is 
 to be mixed with 3 or more parts of a flux, consisting of 4 parts of red lead and 1 of 
 ground flints ; the whole fused together and then reduced to powder. 
 
 Chrome Green. Triturate together in a mortar equal parts of chromate of potash and 
 flowers of sulphur : put the mixture into a crucible and fuse. Pour out the fluid mass ; 
 when cool, grind and wash well with water to remove the sulphuret of potash and to 
 leave the beautiful green oxide of chrome. This is to be collected upon a filter, dried, 
 rubbed down along with thrice its weight of a flux, consisting of 4 parts of red lead and 
 1 part of ground flints fused into a transparent glass ; the whole is now to be melted 
 and afterward reduced to a fine powder. 
 
 Violet. One part of calcined black oxide of manganese, one of zaflre, ten parts of 
 white glass pounded, and one of red lead, mixed, fused, and ground. Or gold purple 
 (Cassius's purple precipitate) with chlorsilver previously fused, with ten times its 
 weight of a flux, consisting of ground quartz, borax, and red lead,' all melted together; 
 solution of tin being dropped into a large qua titv of water, solution of nitrate of 
 silver may be first added, and then solution of gold in aqua regia, in proper proportions. 
 The precipitate to be mixed with flux and fused. 
 
 Exhibition Stained Glass Windows. — Leaded work with medallions and ornamental 
 work of the early Gothic style ; and in the style of the fourteenth century, the figures 
 being St. Peter and St. Paul, St. George and Britannia ; armorial decoration ; a land- 
 scape and ornamental work suitable for a dwelling house. Flowers painted and 
 enamelled on a large plate of glass, with borders ; the glass having been burnt in a kiln 
 four times. 
 
 The interest attached to this beautiful art, and its comparatively recent revival, calls 
 for a few remarks. Its antiquity is undoubted. Pliny speaks of "coloured glasses 
 made to imitate precious stones and gems," and painted glass in the church of Notre 
 Dame at Paris is described as early as the sixth century. To Suggerius Abbot of St 
 Denis, in 1150, is probably owing the reintroduction of painted glasses in churches. How 
 rapidly his example was followed, is proved by the magnificent glass of the thirteenth 
 eentury abounding on the continent, and partially existing in this country, the oldest 
 examples we have being in Canterbury Cathedral. At first the ornaments consisted of a 
 mere drapering ; then rude representations of saints and kings ; then panels of various 
 forms, with subjects from the Testaments, on grounds of blue or ruby, the intermediate 
 parts filled with Mosaic patterns in rich colours, and the whole enclosed within a coloured 
 border. In later styles single figures predominated, with flowing patterns of foliage, and 
 later still, with canopies over them. Some of the finest worfis are by French and Flemish 
 artists ; and this art was traditionally known to the early Florentine painter Cimabue, 
 who is said to have introduced it into Italy. Probably our actual obligations are due to 
 our Norman neighbours, as a necessary appendage to their architecture. It has been a. 
 popular notion that this art was lost to us ; such is not the ease ; it has indeed been 
 dormant, but nevct extinct. 
 
 STAMPING OF METALS. The following ingenious machine for manufacturing 
 metal spoons, forks, and other articles, was made the subject of a patent by Jonathan 
 Hayne, of Clerkenwell, in May, 1833. He employs a stamping-machine with dies, in 
 which the hammer is raised to a height between guides, and is let fall by a trigger. 
 He prefers fixing the protuberant or relief portion of the die to the stationary block or 
 bed of the stamping-machine, and the counterpart or intaglio to the falling hammer 
 or ram. 
 
 The peculiar feature of improvement in this manufacture consists in producing the 
 spoon, ladle, or fork perfect at one blow in the stamping-machine, and requiring no 
 "urther manipulation of shaping, but simply trimming off the barb or fin, and polishing 
 the surface, to render the article perfect and finished. 
 
 Heretofore, in employing a stamping-machine, or fly-press, for manufacturing spoons, 
 ladles, and forks, it has been the practice to give the impressions to the handles, and to 
 
no 
 
 STAMPING OF METALS. 
 
 the howls or prongs, by distinct operations of different dies, and after having so pan 
 tially produced the pattern upon the article, the handles had to be bent and formed by 
 the operations of filing and hammering. 
 
 By his improved form of dies, which, having curved surfaces and bevelled edges, allow 
 of no parts of the faces of the die and counter-die to come into contact, he is enabled to 
 produce considerable elevations of pattern and form, and to bring up the article perfect 
 at one blow, with only a slight barb or fin upon its edge. 
 
 In the accompanying drawings, Jig. 1344 is the lower or bed die for producing a 
 spoon, seen edgewise; Jig.'lSi5 is the face of the upper or counter-die, corresponding j 
 
 1345 
 
 1347 
 
 Jig. 1346. is a section, taken through the middle of the pair of dies, showing the space in 
 which the metal is pressed to form the spoon. 
 
 To manufacture spoons, ladles, or forks according to his improved process, h» first 
 forges out the ingot into flat pieces, of the shape and dimension of the die of the 
 intended article ; and if a spoon or ladle is to be made, gives a slight degree of concavity 
 to the bowl part ; but, if necessary, bends the back, in order that it may lie more steadily 
 and bend more accurately, upon the lower die ; if a fork, he cuts or otherwise removes 
 portions of the metal at those parts which will intervene between the prongs ; and, 
 havin" thus produced the rude embryo of the intended article, scrapes its entire surface 
 clean "and free from oxidation-scale or fire-strain, when it is ready to be introduced into 
 the stamping-machine. 
 
 He now fixes the lower die in the bed of the stamping-machine, shown at a, a, in the 
 elevations Jigs. 1347. and 1348., and fixes, in the hammer 6, the upper or counter-die 
 c, accurately adjusting tln,m both, so that they may correspond exactly when brought ' 
 together. He then places the rudely-formed article above described upon the lower 
 
 die, and having drawn up the 
 hammer to a sufficient elevation 
 by a windlass and rope, or other 
 ordinary means, lets go the trigger, 
 and allows the hammer with the 
 counter-die to fall upon the under 
 die, on which the article is placed ; 
 when, by the blow thus given to 
 the metal, the true and perfect 
 figure and pattern of the spoon, 
 ladle, ox fork is produced, and 
 which, as before said, will only 
 require the removal of the slight 
 edging of barb or fin, with polish- 
 ing, to finish it. 
 
 On striking the blow, in the 
 operation of stamping the article, 
 the hammer will recoil and fly up 
 some distance, and if allowed to 
 fall again with reiterated blows, 
 would injure both the article and 
 the dies ; therefore, to avoid this 
 inconvenience, he causes the ham- 
 mer on recoiling to be caught by 
 a pair of palls locking into racks 
 on the face of the standards, seen 
 id Jigs 1347 and 1348. In Jig. 1347 the hammer i. of the stamping-machine, is seen 
 
 
 IIt ' 
 
 fVl 
 
 
 n l 
 
 IK " W 
 
 
 a 7 
 
 [» , ©I © i° )! 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 
 ¥F 
 
 
 M/l l 
 
 
 UK 
 
 4 
 
 J a rr\K 
 
 — r 
 
STARCH. 711 
 
 raised and suspended by a rope attached to a pair of jointed hooks or holders d, d, the 
 lower ends of which pass into eyes e, e, extending from the top of the hammer. When 
 the lever or trigger / is drawn forward, as in Jig. 1348, the two inclined planes g, g, 
 on the axle h, press the two legs of the holders d, d, inward, and cause their hooks or 
 lower ends to be withdrawn from the eyes e, e, when the hammer instantly falls, and 
 brings the dies together : such is the ordinary construction of the stamping-machine. 
 
 On the hammer falling from a considerable elevation, the violence of the blow causes 
 it to recoil and bound upwards, as before mentioned ; it therefore becomes necessary to 
 catch the hammer when it has rebounded, in order to prevent the dies coming again to- 
 gether ; this is done by the following mechanism : — 
 
 Two latch levers i, f, are connected by joints to the upper part of the hammer, and 
 two pall levers fe, k, turning upon pins, are mounted in the bridge I, affixed to the ham- 
 mer. Two springs m, m, act against the lower arms of these levers, and press them 
 outwards, for the purpose of throwing the palls at the lower ends of the levers into the 
 teeth of the ratchet racks n, », fixed on the sides of the upright standards. 
 
 Previously to raising the hammer, the upper ends of the pall levers fc, ,'je drawn back, 
 and the latches i, being brought down upon them, as in Jig. 134/1, the levers fc are con- 
 fined, and their palls prevented from striking into the side racks ; but as the hammer 
 falls, the ends of the latches i strike upon the fingers o, o, fixed to the side standards, and 
 liberate the palls, the lower ends of which, when the hammer rebounds, after stamping, 
 catch into the teeth of the racks, as in Jig. 1348, and thereby prevent the hammer from 
 again descending. 
 
 STANNATE OR STANNITE OF POTASH AND SODA. Stannates and stannitea 
 »f alkalis are valuable mordants in calico printing, and are prepared by the patented plan 
 of Messrs. Greenwood, Church and Barnes, as follows. For the stannate of soda: 22 
 pounds of caustic soda are first put into an iron crucible, heated to a low red heat, till the 
 hydrate be produced; to which 8 pounds of nitrate of soda and 4 pounds of common salt 
 are introduced. When the mixture is at a fluxing heat, 10 pounds of feathered block tin 
 are added, and it is stirred with an iron rod. The mass now becomes dark coloured, and 
 pasty, and ammonia is given off (the tin decomposing the water of the hydrated soda and 
 part of the nitrate of soda.) The stirring is continued, as well as the heat, till deflagra- 
 tion takes place, and the mass becomes redhot, and pasty. This product is stannate of 
 soda. It may be purified by solution and crystallization. / 
 
 Stannite of soda is made by putting 4 pounds of common salt, 13 J- pounds of caustic 
 soda, and 4 pounds of feathered block tin into a hot iron crucible over a fire, and stirring 
 and boiling to dryness, and as long as ammonia is given off. What remains is stannite 
 of soda. 
 
 To produce the tin preparing liquor, 3 pounds of stannate of soda are dissolved in one 
 gallon of boiling water, and 3 gallons or more of cold water, to bring it to the required 
 strength. The stannite of soda is treated in the same way. The potash-stannate and 
 stannite are prepared in like manner. These dilute liquors are thus prepared for the 
 dyers and p#Jiters. 
 
 STARCH (JLmidan, Fecule, Fr; Starke, Germ.), is a white pulverulent substance, 
 composed of microscopic, spheroids, which are bags containing the amylaceous matter. 
 It exists in a great many different plants, and varies merely in the form and size of its 
 (microscopic particles ; as found in some plants, it consists of spherical particles J*,, of 
 an inch in diameter ; and in others, of ovjid particles, of y.L_. or -jJ_ of an inch. It oc- 
 curs, 1. in the seeds of all the acotyledinous plants, among which are the several species of 
 corns, and those of other graminecs ; 2. in the round perennial tap roots, which shoot 
 up an annual stem ; in the tuberose roots, such as potatoes, the Convolvulus batatas and 
 edulis, the Helianthus tuberosum, the Jatropha rhanihot, &c, which contain a great quantity 
 of it ; 3. in the stems of several monocotyledinous plants, especially of the palm 
 tribe, whence sago comes ; but it is very rarely found in the stems and branches of 
 the dicotyledinous plants ; 4. it occurs in many species of lichen. Three kinds of 
 starch have been distinguished by chemists; that of wheat, that called inuline, and lichen 
 starch. These three agree in being insoluble in cold water, alcohol, ether, and oils, and 
 in being converted into sugar by either dilute sulphuric acid or diastase. The main 
 difference between them consists in their habitudes with water and iodine. The first 
 forms with hot water a mucilaginous solution, which constitutes, when cold, the pas'.e 
 of the laundress, and is tinged blue by iodine; the second forms a granular precipitate, 
 when its solution in boiling-hot water is suffered to cool, which is tinged yellow by iodine; 
 the third affords, by cooling the concentrated solution, a gelatinous mass, with a clear liquor 
 Boating over it, that contains little starch. Its jelly becomes brown-gray with iodine 
 
 1. Ordinaru starch. — This may be extracted from the following grains: — wheat, rve, 
 
712 STAKCH. 
 
 barley, oats, buckwheat, rice, maize, millet, spelt ; from the siliquose seeds, as peas beans, 
 lentiles, &c. ; from tuberous and tap roots, as those of the potato, the orchis, ma'nioc, arrow 
 root, batata, &c. Different kinds of corn yield very variable quantities of starch. 
 Wheat differs in this respect, according to the varieties of the plant, as well ns the soil 
 manure, season, and climate. See Bread. 
 
 Wheat partly damaged by long keeping in granaries, may be employed for the manu 
 facture of starch, as this constituent suffers less injury than the gluten ; and it may be 
 used either in the ground or unground state. 
 
 1. With unground wheat. — The wheat being sifted clean, is to be put into cisterns, 
 covered with soft water, and left to steep till it becomes swollen and so soft as to be 
 easily crushed between the fingers. It is now to be taken out? and immersed in clear 
 water of a temperature equal to that of malting-barley, whence it is to be transferred 
 into bags, which are placed in a wooden chest containing some water, and exposed to 
 strong pressure. The water rendered milky by the starch being drawn off by a tap, 
 
 ' fresh water is poured in, and the pressure is repeated. Instead of putting the swollen 
 grain into bags, some prefer to grind it under vertical edge-stones, or between a pair of 
 horizontal rollers, and then to lay it in a cistern, and separate the starchy liquor by elu- 
 triation with successive quantities of water well stirred up with it. The residuary nut- 
 ter in the sacks or cisterns contains much vegetable albumen and gluten, along with the 
 husks ; when exposed to fermentation, it affords a small quantity of starch of rather in- 
 ferior quality. ' 
 
 The above milky liquor, obtained by expression or elutriation, is run into large cisterns, 
 where it deposites its starch in layers successively less and less dense; the uppermost 
 containing a considerable proportion of gluten. The supernatant liquor being drawn 
 off, and fresh water poured on it, the whole must be well stirred up, allowed again to 
 settle, and the surface-liquor again withdrawn. This washing should be repeated as 
 long as the water takes any perceptible color. As the first turbid liquor contains a 
 mixture of gluten, sugar, gum, albumen, &c, it ferments readily, and produces a certain 
 portion of vinegar, which helps to dissolve out the rest of the mingled gluten, and thus 
 to bleach the starch. It is, in fact, by the action of this fermented or soured water, and 
 repeated washing, that it is purified. After the last deposition and decantation, there 
 appears oh the surface of the s.tarch a thin layer of a slimy mixture of gluten and albu- 
 men, which, being scraped off, serves for feeding pigs or oxen ; underneath will be found 
 a starch of good quality. The layers of different sorts are then taken up with a wooden 
 shovel, transferred into separate cisterns, where they are agitated with water, and passed 
 through fine sieves. After this pap is piice more well settled, the clear water is drawn 
 off, the starchy mass is taken out, and laid on linen cloths in wicker baskets, to drain and 
 become partially dry. When sufficiently firm, it is cut into pieces, which are spread upon 
 other cloths, and thoroughly desiccated in a proper drying-room, which in winter is heat- 
 ed by stoves. The upper surface of the starch is generally scraped, to remove any 
 dusty matter, and the resulting powder is sold in that state. Wheat yields, upon an 
 average, only from 35 to 40 per cent, of good starch. It should afford .more by skilful 
 management. 
 
 2. In t'is country, wheat crushed between iron rollers is laid to steep in as much 
 water as will wet it thoroughly ; in four or five days the mixture ferments, soon afterwards 
 settles, and is ready to be washed out with a quantity of water into the proper ferment- 
 ing vats. The common time allowed for the steep, is from 14 to 20 days. The next 
 process consists in removing the stuff from the vats into a stout round basket set 
 across a back below a pump. One or two men keep going round the basket, stirring 
 up the stuff with strong wooden shovels, while another keeps pumping water, till all the 
 farina is completely washed from the bran. Whenever the subjacent back is filled, 
 the liquor is taken out and strained through hair sieves into square frames or cisterns, 
 where itiis allowed to settle for 24 hours; after which the water is run off from the 
 deposited starch by plug taps at different levels in the side. The thin stuff called dimes, 
 upon the surface of the starch, is removed by a tray of a peculiar form. Fresh water 
 is now introduced, and the whole being well mixed by proper agitation, is then poured 
 upon fine silk sieves. What passes through is allowed to settle for 24 hours ; the 
 liquor being withdrawn, and then the slimes, as before, more water is again poured in, 
 with agitation, when the mixture is again thrown upon the silk sieve. The milky liquor 
 is now suffered to rest for several days, 4 or 5, till the starch becomes settled pretty 
 firmly at the bottom of the square cistern. If the starch is to have the blue tint, 
 called Poland, fine smalt must be mixed in the liquor of the last sieve, in the proportion 
 of two or three pounds to the cwt. A considerable portion of these slines may, by good 
 li anagement, be worked up into starch by elutriation and straining. 
 
 The starch is now fit {or boxing, by shovelling the cleaned deposite into wooden chests, 
 
STARCH. 
 
 713 
 
 about 4 feet long, 12 inches broad, and 6 inches deep, perforated throughout, and lined 
 with thin canvass. When it is drained and dried into a compact mass, it is turned out by 
 inverting the chests upon a clean table, where it is broken into pieces four or five inches 
 square, by laying a ruler underneath the cake, and giving its surface a cut with a knife, 
 after which the slightest pressure with the hand will make the fracture. These pieces 
 are set upon half-burned bricks, which by their porous capillarity imbibe the moisture of 
 the starch, so that its under surface may not become hard and horny. When sufficiently 
 dried upon the bricks, it is put into a stovt, (which resembles that of a sugar refinery,) 
 and left there till tolerably dry. It is now removed to a table, when all the sides are 
 carefully scraped with a knife j it is next packed up in the papers in which it is sold ; 
 these packages are returned into the stove, and subjected to a gentle heat during some 
 days ; a point which requires to be skilfully regulated. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Hall obtained a patent for bleaching starch by chloride 6f lime in 1821. 
 Chlorine water would probably be preferable, and might prove useful in operating upon 
 damaged wheat. 
 
 The sour water of the starch manufacture contains, according to Vauquelin, acetic acid, 
 acelate of ammonia, alcohol, phosphate of lirae, and gluten. 
 
 During the drying, starch splits into small prismatic columns, of considerable regulari- 
 ty. When kept dry, it remains unaltered for a very long period. When it is heated to 
 a certain degree in water, the envelopes of its spheroidal particles burst, and the farina 
 forms a mucilaginous emulsion, magma, or paste. When this apparent solution is eva- 
 porated to dryness, a brittle horny-looking substance is obtained, quite different in aspect 
 from starch, but similar in chemical habitudes. When the moist paste is exposed for two 
 or three months to the air in summer, the starch is converted into sugar to the amount 
 of one third or one half of its weight, into gum, and gelatinous slarch called amidine by 
 De Saussure, with occasionally a resinous matter. This curious change goes on even in 
 close vessels. 
 
 Starch from potatoes. — From the following table of analyses, it appears that potatoes 
 contain from 24 to 30 per cent, of dry substance : — 
 
 
 Starch. 
 
 Fibrous Pa- 
 renchyma. 
 
 Vegetable 
 Albumen 
 
 Gum, Sugar, 
 and Salts. 
 
 Water 
 
 Red potatoes, - - - - 
 
 15-0 
 
 7-0 
 
 1-4 
 
 9-2 
 
 75-0 ' 
 
 Germinating potatoes, - 
 
 15-2 
 
 6-8 
 
 1-3 
 
 3-7 
 
 73-0 
 
 Kidney potatoes, 
 
 9-1 
 
 8-8 
 
 0-8 
 
 — 
 
 81-3 
 
 Large red potatoes, 
 
 12-9 
 
 6-0 
 
 0-7 
 
 — 
 
 78-0 
 
 Sweet potatoes, - 
 
 15-1 
 
 8-2 
 
 0-8 
 
 — 
 
 74-3 
 
 Peruvian potatoes, 
 
 15-0 
 
 5-2 
 
 1-9 
 
 1-9 
 
 76-0 
 
 Enelish potatoes, - 
 
 12-9 
 
 6-8 
 
 1-1 
 
 1-7 
 
 77-5 
 
 Parisian potatoes, 
 
 13-3 
 
 6-8 
 
 0'9 
 
 4-8 
 
 73-1 
 
 Manufacture of potato starch. — The potatoes are first washed in a cylindrical cagf 
 formed of wooden spars, made to revolve upon a horizontal axis, in a trough filled with 
 water to the level of the axis. They are then reduced to a pulp by a rasping machine, 
 similar to that represented in figs. 1349, 1350, where a is a wooden drum covered with 
 sheet-iron, roughened outside with numerous prominences, made by punching out holes 
 from the opposite side. It is turned by a winch fixed upon each end of the shaft. The 
 drum is enclosed in a square wooden box, to prevent the potato-mash from being scatter- 
 ed about. The hopper 6 is attached to the upper frame, has its bottom concentric with 
 the rasp-drum, and nearly in contact with it. The pulp chest c is made to slide out, so 
 as when full to be readily replaced by another. The two slanting boards d, d, conduct the 
 pulp into it. A moderate stream of water should be made to play into the hopper upon 
 the potatoes, to prevent the surface of the rasp from getting foul with fibrous matter. 
 Two men, with one for a relay, will rasp, with such a machine, from 2£ to 3 tons of po- 
 tatoes in 12 hours. , 
 
 Tbe potato pulp must be now elutriated upon a fine wire or hair seive, which is set 
 upon a frame in the mouth of a large vat, while water is made to flow upon it from a 
 spout with many jets. The pulp meanwhile must be slirred and kneaded by the hand, 
 or by a mechanical brush-agitator, till almost nothing but fibrous particles are left upon 
 the sieve. These, however, generally retain about five per cent, of starch, which cannot 
 be separated in this way. This parenchyma should therefore be subjected to a separate 
 rasping upon another cylinder. The water turbid with starch is allowed to settle for some 
 lime in a back ; the supernatant liquor is then run by a cock into a second back, and after 
 
714 
 
 STARCH. 
 
 1349 
 
 1350 
 
 some time into a tnird, whereby the whole 
 starch will be precipitated. The finest 
 powder collects in the last vessel. The 
 starch thus obtained, containing 33 per 
 cent, of water, may be used either in ths 
 moist state, under the name of green f ecu- 
 la, for various purposes, as for the prepa- 
 ration of dextrine, and starch sirup ; or 
 it may he preserved under a thin layer of 
 water, which must be renewed from time 
 to time, to prevent fermentation ; or last- 
 ly, it may be taken out and dried. 
 
 In trials made with St. Etienne's rasp 
 and starch machinery, in Paris, which 
 was driven by two horses, nearly 18 cwts. 
 of potatoes were put through all the re- 
 quisite operations in one hour, including 
 the pumping of the water. The product 
 in starch amounted to from 17 to 18 per 
 cent, of the potatoes. The quicker the 
 process of potato-starch making, the bet- 
 ter is its quality. 
 Starch from certain foreign plants. — 1. From the pith of the sago palm. See Sago. 
 
 2. From the roots of the Maranta arundinacea, of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and other 
 West India islands, the powder called arrow-root is obtained, by a process analogous to 
 that for making potato starch. 
 
 3. From the root of the Manioc, which also grows in the West Indies, as well as in 
 Africa, the cassava is procured by a similar process. The juice of this plant is poison- 
 ous, from which the wholesome starch is deposited. When dried with stirring upon hot 
 iron plates, it agglomerates into small lumps, called tapioca ; being a gummy fecula. 
 
 The characters of the different varieties of starch can be learned only from microscopic 
 observation ; by which means also their sophistication or admixture may be readily as- 
 certained. 
 
 ' Starch, from whatever source obtained, is a white soft powder, which feels crispy, like 
 nowers of sulphur, when pressed between the fingers ; it is destitute of taste and smell, 
 unchangeable in the atmosphere, and has a specific gravity of 1-53. I have already de- 
 scribed the particles as spheroids enclosed in a membrane. The potato contains some 
 of the largest, and the millet the smallest. Potato starch consists of truncated ovoids, 
 varying in size from i to l of an inch ; arrow-root, of ovoids varying in size from 
 
 L. to jJjTj of an inch ; flower starch, of insulated globules about n of an inch ; 
 cassava, of simular globules assembled in groups. These measurements I have made 
 with a good achromatic microscope, and a divided glass-slip micrometer of Tully. 
 
 For the saccharine changes which starch undergoes by the action of diastase, see Fer- 
 mentation. 
 
 Lichenine, a species of starch obtained from Iceland moss, (Cetraria islandica,) as well 
 as inuline, from elecampane, (Inula Helmium,) are rather objects of chemical curiosity, 
 than of manufactures. 
 
 There is a kind of starch made in order to he converted into gum for the calico-printer. 
 This conversion having been first made upon the great scale in this country, has occa- 
 sioned the product to be called British gum. The following is the process pursued in a 
 large and well conducted establishment near Manchester. A' range of four wooden cis- 
 terns, each about 7 or 8 feet square, and 4 feet deep, is provided. Into each of them 2000 
 gallons of water being introduced, 12S loads of flour are stirred in. This mixture is set 
 to ferment upon old leaven left at the bottom of the backs, during 2 or 3 days. The 
 contents are then stirred up, and pumped off into 3 stone cisterns, 7 feet square and 4 
 feet deep ; as much water being added, with agitation, as will fill the cisterns to the brim. 
 In the course of 24 hours the starch forms a firm deposite at the bottom; and the water 
 is then syphoned off. The gluten is next scraped from the surface, and the starch is 
 transferred into wooden boxes pierced with holes, which may be lined with coarse cloth, 
 or not, at the pleasure of the operator. 
 
 The starch, cut into cubical masses, is put into iron trays, and set to dry in a large 
 apartment, two stories high, heated by a horizontal cylinder of cast iron traversed by the 
 flame of a furnace. The drying occupies .wo days. It is now ready for conversion 
 into gum, for which purpose it is put into oblong trays of sheet iron, and heated to the 
 temperature of 300° F. in a cast-iron oven, which holds four of these trays. Here it 
 concretes into irregular semi-transparent yellow-brown lumps, which are ground into 
 fine flour between mill stones, and in this state brought to the market. In this roasted 
 >tarch, the vesicles being burst, their (intents become soluble in cold water. British 
 
STARCH. 71fi 
 
 gum is nol convertible into sugar, as starch is, by the action of dilute sulphuric acid ; nor 
 into inucic acid, by nitric acid ; but into the oxalic ; and it is tinged purple-red by iodine. 
 It is composed, in 100 parts, of S5'1 carbon, 6'2 hydrogen, and 58'1 oxygen while 
 starch is composed of, 43'5 carbon, 6'8 hydrogen, and 49'7 oxygen. 
 
 To prove whether starch be quite free from gluten, or whether it be mixed with any 
 wheat flour, diffuse 12 grains of it through six ounces of water, heat the mixture to 
 boiling, stirring it meanwhile with a glass slip. If the starch be pure, no froth will be 
 seen upon the surface of the pasty fluid ; or if any be produced during the stirring, it 
 will immediately subside after it; but if the smallest portion of gluten be present, much 
 froth will be permanently formed, which may be raised by stirring into the appearance 
 of soap-suds. 
 
 Starch has been made the subject of a patent by Mr. Thomas Berger, of Hack- 
 ney, under which he soaks rice in caustic alkali, as Mr. Wickham did in 1824, at 
 successive times, levigates it into a cream, adds one part of oil of turpentine- to 2000 
 gallons of the cold mash, stirs the mixture, filters or strains through fine lawn sieves, 
 settles, neutralizes with dilute sulphuric acid, and adding 8 oz. of sulphate of zinc to each 
 cwt. of starch, stirs, boxes, and finishes as usual. One is apt to ask what purpose the 
 spirits of turpentine can serve in such a small quantity, except it be to prevent ferment- 
 ation. He also suggests electricity ; but how to use it he says not. 
 
 In June, 1841, Mr. W. T. Berger obtained a patent for manufacturing starch by the 
 agency of an alkaline salt upon rice. He prefers the carbonates of potash'and soda. 
 
 In January, 1839, M. Pierre Isidore Verdure obtained a patent for making starch, 
 the chief object of which was to obtain the gluten of the wheal in a pure state, as a 
 suitable ingredient in making bread, biscuits, &c. He works wheat flour into dough 
 by a machine, kneads it, washes out the starch by streams of cold water, a process 
 long known to the chemist, and purifies the starch by fermentation of the superjacent 
 water. I can see nothing new in his specification. 
 
 Mr. Jones's patent, of date April, 1840, is based upon the purification of the starch 
 of rice and other farinaceous matters by means of caustic alkali. He macerates 100 
 lbs. of. ground rice in 100 gallons of a solution composed of 200 grains of caustic soda 
 or potash to a gallon of water, stirs it gradually till the whole be well mixed ; after 24 
 hours draws off the superjacent liquid solution of gluten in alkali, treats the starchy 
 deposit with a fresh quantity of weak caustie lye, and thus repeatedly, till the starch 
 becomes white and pure. The rice before being ground is steeped for some time in a 
 like caustic lye, drained, dried, and sent to the mill. 
 
 Starch is made from wheal flour in a like way. The gluten may be recovered for 
 use by saturating the alkaline solution with sulphuric acid, washing and drying the pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 Mr. James Colman, by his patent invention of December, 1841, makes starch from 
 ground maize or Indian corn, by the agency either of the ordinary process of steeping 
 and fermenting, or of caustic or carbonated alkaline lyes. He also proposes to em- 
 ploy dilute muriatic acid to purify the starchy matter from gluten, &c. — See Newton's 
 Journal, G. S. xix. 246.; xx. 184. 188. ; and xxi. 173. 
 
 The manufacture of potato flour (fecule) or starch in France and Holland has been 
 economised to such a degree that they supply this country with it, at the rate of 8s. or 
 10s. a hundredweight. Fig^ 1351. represents in section the powerful and ingenious 
 mechanical grater, or rasp (rape) now used in France, a a, is the canal, or spout, 
 along which the previously well-washed potatoes descend ; 6 6, is the grater, composed 
 of a wooden cylinder, on whose round surface circular saw rings of steel, with short 
 sharp teeth, are planted pretty close, together. The greater the velocity of the 
 cylinder, the finer is the pulp. A cylinder 20 inches in diameter revolves at the rate of 
 from 600 to 900 times in a minute, and it will convert into pulp from 14 to 15 hecto- 
 litres (\bout 300 imperial gallons) of potatoes in an hour. Potatoes contain from 15 
 to 22 per cent, of dry fecula. The pulp, after leaving the rasp, passes directly into the 
 apparatus for the preparation of the starch, c c, is a wooden hopper for receiving the 
 falling pulp, with a trap door, d, at bottom. E, is the cylinder-sieve of M. Etienne; 
 /, a pipe ending in a rose spout, which delivers the water requisite for washing the pulp, 
 and extracting the starch from it ; g g, a diaphragm of wire cloth, with small meshes, 
 on which the pulp is exposed to the action of the brushes i i, moving with great speed, 
 whereby it gives out its starchy matter, which is thrown out by a side aperture into the 
 spout n. The fecula now falls upon a second web of fine wire-cloth, and leaves upon it 
 merely some fragments of the parenchyma or cellular matter of the potato, to be turned 
 out by a side opening in the spout ,». The sifting or straining of the starch likewise 
 takes pla,ce through the sides of the cylinder, which consist also of wire-cloth; it is 
 collected into a wooden spout, m, and is thence conducted into the tubes o o, to be de- 
 posited and washed, p, is a mitre-toothed wheel-work placed on the driving- shaft, and 
 gives motion to the upright axis or spindle, q q, which turns the brushes, i i. 
 
716 
 
 STARCHING APPARATUS 
 
 Starch prepared from rice or maize by alkali is said not to require boiling — a point of 
 great importance in its use ; and, being less hygrometric than wheat starch, retains a more 
 permanent stiffness and glaze. The rough starch obtained iu the process is valuable foi 
 feeding purposes, and for stiffening coarse fabrics. 
 
 STARCHING and Steam-dkyinq Apparatus. The system of hollow cylinders, for 
 drying goods in the processes of bleaching or calico-printing, is represented in fig. 135S. 
 in a longitudinal section, and in fig. 135S. in a top view, but the cylinders are supposed 
 to be broken off in the middle, as it was needless to repeat the parts at the other end, 
 which are sufficiently shown in the section. 
 
 A is the box containing the paste, when the goods are to be starched or stiffened ; a, a 
 winch, when it is desired to turn the machine by hand, though it is always moved by 
 power in considerable factories ; 6, is the driving pinion ; d, d', two brass rollers with 
 iron shafts, the undermost of which is moved by the wheel c, in geer with the pinion b. 
 The uppermost roller d', is turned by the friction with the former, d, being pressed upon 
 it by the weighted lever h; e is the trough filled wi'th the paste, which rests upon the 
 bars / and may be placed higher or lower by means of the adjusting screws g, according 
 as the roller d is to be plunged more or less deeply. A brass roller i serves to force down 
 the cloth into the paste. 
 
 b, is the drying part of the machine: h, k, its iron framing; I, I, &c, five drums, or 
 hollow copper cylinders, heated with steam: m, m, m, &c, small copper, drums, in 
 pairs, turning freely on shafts under the former, for stretching the goods and airing 
 them, during their passage through the machine : n, n, is the main steam-pipe, from 
 which branch off small copper tubes, o, o, <fec, which conduct the steam through 
 stuffing-boxes into the cavity of the drying-drums. There are similar tubes upon the 
 other ends' of the drums, for discharging the condensed water through similar stuffing- 
 boxes : q, q, are valves, opening internally, for admitting the air whenever the steam is 
 taken off, or becomes feeble, to prevent the drums from being crushed by the unba- 
 lan;ed pressure of the atmosphere upon their external surfaces. 
 
 o, is the cloth-beam, from which the starching roller draws forwards the goods ; D, are 
 two rollers, of which the lower is provided with a band-pulley, or rigger driven by a 
 similar pulley fixed upon the shaft of the starching roller d. These two rollers pull 
 the goods through the drying machine, and then let them fall either upon a table or th* 
 floor 
 
STATUARY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 STATUARY, cast in zinc, bronzed; and in other metch. — This is a new branch of 
 art lately sprung up in Birmingham, which displays equal constructive economy and 
 taste. Bronze varies in its composition, according to the taste of the artist, as to its 
 hardness or the depth of its colour. A very excellent bronze is formed by the addition 
 of 2 oz. of tin to 16 of copper. 
 
 The casting of a bronze statue may be thus described. The core is made up of brick- 
 Work and clay until a rude representation of the intended work is made ; upon this the 
 
718 
 
 STEAM. 
 
 sculptor models in wax, of the thickness intended for the metal, all the details, such as 
 the features, drapery, Ac. ; when this i3 completed, it is coated with loam of very thin con- 
 sistency ; then follow repeated solid coatings of clay, <fec, until a shell of sufficient strength 
 to bear the pressure of the melted metal i9 formed ; the whole is then bound together, heat 
 is applied, the wax is melted out, and a space thereby left for the introduction of the 
 metal ; suitable runners are mads and vents to allow of the free escape of air. The metal is 
 melted in reverberating furnaces, and when in a proper condition, the plug is withdrawn, 
 and the mould filled. After being allowed to remain till cool it is opened, the rough- 
 ness cleansed off, and the statue is completed. The peculiar tinge of the bronze is 
 acquired by exposure to the air. 
 
 A bronze of nearly the same tinge is given to brass by immersion in a mixture of 
 spirits of salt and arsenic ; the metal is to be heated previous to this ; the article is after- 
 wards brushed with black-lead, and after being again heated, is coated with a lacquer, 
 composed of spirits of wine, with a little yellow colouring matter ; the shade of antiquity 
 is thus imparted in a few minutes. 
 
 The establishment of Messrs. Messenger and Son is one of the oldest in the trade in 
 Birmingham ; it has been in existence upwards of 50 years : it was one of the earliest to 
 recognise tho importance of the union of art with mauufactures. For this the genius 
 of Flaxman and Chantrey was called into requisition ; artists celebrated for their skill 
 in architectural enrichment were also employed in the modelling of balustrades, can- 
 delabra, s tripods, &c. 
 
 STEAM, is the vapour of hot water ; the discussion of which belongs to chemistry, 
 physics, and engineering. Certain practical application's of the subject will be found 
 in the article Evaporation. 
 
 Steam ; its laws. An able memoir on the pressure and density of steam was laid before 
 the Institute of Civil Engineers in June, 1843, by Mr. Pole, C. E., which deserves con- 
 fidence for its accuracy and usefulness. He proposed a new formula for the relation 
 between these two mechanical qualities, applicable particularly to engines working 
 with high pressure steam expansively. 
 
 The relations between the elasticity, temperature, and density of steam have long been 
 interesting and important subjects of philosophical research. They are fully discussed, 
 and represented in extensive tables iu PrechtVs Technological Encyclopaedia, article 
 Dampfe. 
 
 The connection of the two former, namely, pressure and temperature, with each other, 
 has excited the greatest attention, numerous experiments having been undertaken to 
 ascertain the values of them at all points of the scale, and many formula? proposed 
 by English and foreign mathematicians, to express approximately the relation between 
 them. 
 
 The pressure and temperature being known, the density,. or what answers the same 
 purpose, the relative volume, compared with the water which has produced it, may be 
 deduced by a combination of the laws of Boyle and Gay Lussac, and may be expressed 
 algebraically in terms of the pressure and temperature combined; whence, by elimi- 
 nating the latter, by means of the before mentioned formula?, expressions can be arrived 
 at which will connect at once the volume with the pressure. 
 
 But there are several difficulties in the way of this process, the equations which may 
 be thus ootained being too complicated for practical use.;, and therefore, since it is 
 important in calculations connected with steam and the steam engine, to find a tolerably 
 accurate, and at the same time simple rule, which shall give the pressure and volume 
 directly in terms of each other, the empirical method has been resorted to. 
 
 The paper enumerates three formulae given for this purpose by M. Navier and M. da 
 Pambour, explaining the peculiar cases to which they are applicable, and those .in 
 which they fail; and the author then proposes a fourth expression, which is intended to 
 meet a case not provided for by either of the others, namely, for " condensing engines 
 working with high pressure steam expansively ;" such as the Cornish and Woulf 's 
 double cylinder engine. The equation is, 
 
 P= 
 
 24250 
 V^65 
 
 „ TT 24250 
 or reciprocally, V=-^p — X65 
 
 P being the total pressure of the steam in lbs. per square inch, and V its relativa 
 volume, compared with that of its constituent water. 
 
 These formula? may be adopted without considerable error throughout the range 
 generally required in such engines, viz., from about 5 lbs. to 65 lbs. per square inch. 
 
 Two tables are then given, showing the pressure and volumes, as calculated for every 
 
STEAM. 719 
 
 5 lbs. pressure in this scale ; they Bhow a comparison of the results of the four formula) 
 with each other, and the respective amount of deviation from truth in each. 
 The greatest error is, — 
 
 its. 
 By M. Navier's formula - - - - 131 per square inch. 
 
 M. de Pambour's first ditto - - - 4-12 " 
 
 " " second ditto ... 275 " 
 
 The new formula ..... 0'7l " 
 
 The mean error is, — 
 
 By M. Xavier's formula . - - - - 0245 per square inch. 
 
 M. de Pambour's first ditto ... 1-42 « 
 
 " " second ditto - - - 035 " 
 
 The new formula ... . 00062 " 
 
 The tables also show : — 
 
 1. That the new formula is nearer the truth than either of the others, taken separately 
 in three-fourths of the scale. 
 
 2. That it is nearer than all three combined in half the scale. 
 
 3. That the greatest error of the new formula, with regard to the pressures, is only 
 about half as great as that of the most correct of the other three. 
 
 4. That the mean error is only one-fortieth of either of the others, and equal to only 
 about one-tenth of an ounce per square inch. 
 
 6. That the errors in the volumes are much less numerous and important with the- 
 new formula than with either of the others. 
 
 6. It is also added, that the new expression is simpler in algebraical form than the 
 others ; it is more easily calculated, the constants are easier to remember, and that no 
 alteration of the constants in the other formulae will make them coincide so nearly with 
 the truth as the new one does. 
 
 Steam, {spherical state of ). It is a well known fact, that if a small quantity of water 
 be thrown on to a metallic plate, heated to a temperature approaching dull redness, the 
 ■water is not, as might have been expected, rapidly dissipated in vapour, but assuming 
 u somewhat globular form, it remains quiescent, or slightly agitated only by the action 
 of the heat, sometimes rolling over the surface of the heated plate. It is evident, in this 
 case, that the water is not contact with the metal ; consequently there is no adhesion. 
 Very little evaporation takes place from the water when in this, which has been called 
 the spherical, condition. Although in close proximity to a plate of, it might be, red 
 hot metal, the water appears to be heated only to about 205°, and in this condition it 
 remains, undergoing slow evaporation, until the metal becomes so far cooled as to admit 
 of the water coining into contact with it ; when this occurs, the water loses its spherical 
 condition, flows over the surface of the still highly heated metal,'with, which it now is 
 in contact, and it is instantly dissipated in vapour. 
 
 A great .'lumber of interesting experiments have been made in connection with this 
 subject by M. Boutigny, and on the results have been founded an explanation of that 
 class of boiler explosions which occur after, but not at the moment of, the excessive 
 heating of the boiler. It is assumed that in these cases the boiler becomes heated to a 
 temperature at which the water is thrown into the spherical condition ; while in this 
 state very little steam is generated, but as soon as the boiler has cooled to a point at 
 which contact takes place, the sudden formation of a large volume of steam causes the 
 explosion. 
 
 It has been found that other volatile bodies besides water are similarly affected 
 under like circumstances. Thus, ether, alcohol, iodine, &c. assume the spherical con- 
 dition when thrown into a metallic vessel (a platinum crucible for instance) heated to 
 redness. The vaporization of these bodies under such circumstances is comparatively 
 Blow, but when the vessel has cooled to the point of contact, there is an immediate 
 augmentation of vapour. This forms a pretty experiment with iodine, the period of 
 contact being indicated by the increased volume of its violet coloured vapour. M. 
 Boutigny, availing himself of the fact that even the most volatile bodies are capable of 
 assuming this spherical condition, has devised a method of freezing water in a red hot 
 crucible. This experiment is performed in the following manner : — Some liquid 
 anhydrous sulphurous acid is first prepared, by passing the dry gas through a, tube 
 surrounded with a freezing mixture of ice and salt, and collecting the product in a small 
 tube sealed, at one end, also surrounded with a. freezing mixture. This liquefied 
 sulphurous aciu boils at 1 4° Fahr., and therefore, if it is to be kept for any length of 
 time, the mouth of the tube must be sealed at the blowpipe flame. A thick platinum 
 crucible having a capacity of about f J j is to be heated to redness, and while in this 
 state, about f J j of the sulphurous acid is to be rapidly projected out of the tube into 
 
720 STEARIC ACID. 
 
 the crucible. The acid assumes the spherical condition, and while in this state undergoes 
 comparatively slow evaporation ; the lamp is now quickly withdrawn, and a small quan- 
 tity of water thrown into the crucible with a syriDge. The temperature of the crucible 
 is reduced by the introduction of the water, so as to cause the contact, and consequently 
 ■he instantaneous vaporization, of the sulphurous acid, which during its ovaporization, 
 robs the water of its heat and reduces it to the state of ice. 
 
 STEARIC ACID, improperly called Stearine (TalgaaHre, Germ.), is the solid con- 
 stituent of falty substances, as of tallow and olive oil, converted into a crystalline mass 
 by saponification with alkaline matter, and abstraction of the alkali by an acid. By this 
 process, fats are convertible into three acids, called Stearic, Margaric, and Oleic ; the 
 first two being solid, and the last liquid. The stearine, of which factitious wax candles 
 are made, consists of the stearic and margaric acids combined. These can be separated 
 from each other only by the agency of alcohol, which holds the margaric acid in 
 solution after it has deposited the stearicin crystals. Pure stearic acid is prepared, 
 according to its discoverer, Chevreul, in the following way : — Make, a soap, by boiling 
 a solution of potash and mutton-suet in the proper equivalent proportions (see Soap) ; 
 dissolve one part of that soap in 6 parts of hot water, then add to the solution 40 
 or 50 parts of cold water, and set the whole into a place whose temperature is about 
 52° Fahrenheit. A substance falls to the bottom, possessed of pearly lustre, consisting 
 of the bi-stearate and bi-margarate of potash; which is to be drained and washed upon 
 a filter. The filtered liquor is to be evaporated, and mixed with the small quantity of 
 acid necessary to saturate the alkali left free by the precipitation of the above bi-salts. 
 On adding water to it afterwards, the liquor affords a fresh quantity of bi-stearale and 
 bi-margarate. By repeating this operation with precaution, we finally arrive at a point 
 when the solution contains no more of these solid acids, but only the oleic. The pre- 
 cipitated bi-salts are to be washed and dissolved in hot alcohol, of specific gravity 0-820, 
 of which they require about 24 times their weight. During the cooling of the solution, 
 the bi-stearate falls down, while the greater part of the bi-margarate, and the* remainder 
 of the oleate, remain dissolved. By once more dissolving in alcohol, and crystallizing, 
 the bi-stearate will be obtained alone ; as may be proved by decomposing a little of it 
 in water at a boiling heat, with muriatic acid, letting it cool, washing the stearic acid 
 obtained, and exposing it to heat, when, if pure, it will not fuse in water under the ]58th 
 degree of Fahrenheit's scale. If it melts at a lower heat, it contains more or less mar- 
 garic acid. The purified bi-stearate being decomposed by boiling in water along with any 
 acid, as the muriatic, the disengaged stearic acid is to be washed by melting in water, then 
 cooled and dried. 
 
 Stearic acid, prepared by the above process, contains combined water, from which it 
 cannot be freed. It is insipid and inodorous. After being melted by heat, it solidifies 
 at the temperature of 158° Fahrenheit, and affects the form of white brilliant needles 
 grouped together. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in all proportions in boiling 
 anhydrous alcohol, and on cooling to 122°, crystallizes therefrom, in pearly plates; 
 but if the concentrated solution be quickly cooled to 112°, it forms a crystalline mass. 
 A dilute solution affords the acid crystallized in large white brilliant scales. It dis- 
 solves in its own weight of boiling ether of 0-727, and crystallizes on cooling in beau- 
 tiful scales, of changing colors. It distils over in vacuo without alteration ; but if the 
 retort contains a little atmospheric air, a small portion of the acid is decomposed during 
 the distillation ; while the greater part passes over unchanged, but slightly tinged 
 brown, and mixed with traces of empyreumatic oil. When heated in the open air, and 
 kindled, stearic acid burns like wax. It contains 3-4 per cent, of water, from which 
 it may be freed by combining it with oxyde of lead. When this anhydrous acid is sub- 
 jected to ultimate analysis, it is found to consist of— 80 of carbon, 12-5 hydrogen, 
 and 7-5 oxygen, in 100 parts. Stearic acid displaces, at a boiling heat in water, 
 carbonic acid from its combinations with the bases; but. in operating upon an alka- 
 line carbonate, a portion of the stearic acid is dissolved in the liquor before the 
 carbonic acid is expelled. This decomposition is founded upon the principle, that 
 the stearic acid transforms the salt into a bicarbonate, which is decomposed by the 
 ebullition. 
 
 Stearic acid put into a strong watery infusion of litmus, has no action upon it in the 
 cold ; but when hot, the acid combines with the alkali of the litmus, and changes its 
 blue color to red ; so that it has sufficient energy to abstract from the concentrated 
 tincture all the alkali required for its neutralization. If we dissolve bi-stearate of potash 
 in weak alcohol, and pour litmus water, drop by drop, into the solution, this will become 
 red, because the litmus will give up its alkali to a portion of the bi-stearate, and will con- 
 vert it into neutral stearate. If we now add cold water, the reddened mixture will re- 
 sume its blue tint, and will deposite bi-stearale of potash in small spangles. In order 
 that the alcoholic solution of the bi-stearate may redden the litmus, the alcohol should 
 not be very strong. 
 
STEARINE COLD PRESS. 
 
 721 
 
 From the composition of stearate of potash, the atomic weight of the acid appears to he 
 106-6 ; hydrogen being 1 ; for 18 : 48 X 2 :: 100 : 533-3 = 5 atoms of acid. 
 
 From the stearate of soda, it appears to be 104 ; and from that of lime, 102. The 
 stearate of lead, by Chevrenl, gives 109 for the atomic weight of the acid. 
 
 The margaric and oleic acids seem to have the same neutralizing power, and the same 
 atomic weight. 
 
 The preceding numbers will serve to regulate the manufactnre of stearic acid for the 
 .mrpose of making candles. Potash and soda were first prescribed for saponifying fat, as 
 may be seen in M. Gay Lussac's patent, under the article Candle; and were it not for 
 the cost of these articles, they are undoubtedly preferable to all others in a chemical point 
 of view. Of late years lime has been had recourse to, with perfect success, and has be- 
 come subservient to a great improvement in candle-making. The stearine block now 
 made by many London houses, though containing not more than 2 or 3 per cent, of wax, 
 is hardly to be distinguished /torn the purified produce of the bee. The first process is 
 to boil the fat with quicklime and water in a large tub, by means of perforated steam 
 pipes distributed over its bottom. From the above statements we see that about 11 parts 
 of dry lime are fully equivalent to 100 of stearine and oleine mixed : but as the lime is in 
 the state of hydrate, 14 parts of it will be required when it is perfectly pure ; in the ordi- 
 nary state, however, as made from average good limestone, 16 parts may be allowed. 
 After a vigorous ebullition of 3 or 4 hours, the combination is pretty complete. The 
 stearate being allowed to cool to such a degree as to allow of its being handled, becomes 
 a concrete mass, which must be dug out with a spade, and transferred into a contiguous 
 tub, in order to be decomposed with the equivalent quantity of sulphuric acid diluted 
 with water, and also heated with steam. Four parts of concentrated acid will be sufii- 
 cient to neutralize three parts of slaked lime. The saponified fat now liberated from the 
 lime, which is thrown down to the bottom of the tub in the state of sulphate, is skimmed 
 off the surface of the watery menstruum into a third contiguous tub, where it is washed 
 with water and steam. 
 
 The washed mixture of stearic, margaric, and oleic acids, is next cooled in tin pans; 
 then shaved by large knives, fixed on the face of a fly-wheel, called a tallow cutter, pre- 
 paratory to its being subjected in canvass or caya bags to the action of a powerful hydrau- 
 lic press. Here a large portion of the oleic acid is expelled, carrying with it a little of 
 the margaric. The pressed cakes are now subjected to the action of water and steam 
 once more, after which the' supernatant stearic acid is run off, and cooled in moulds. The 
 Jakes are then ground by a rotatory rasping-machine to a sort of mealy powder, which is 
 put into canvass bags, and subjected to the joint action of steam and pressure in a hori- 
 zontal hydraulic press of a peculiar construction, somewhat similar to that which has 
 been long used in London for pressing spermaceti. The cakes of stearic acid thus freed 
 completely from the margaric and oleic acids, are subjected to a final cleansing in a tub 
 with steam, and then melted into hemispherical masses called blocks. When these blocks 
 »re broken, they display a highly crystalline texture, which would render them unfit for 
 making candles. This texture is therefore broken down or comminuted by fusing the 
 stearine in a plated copper pan, along with one thousandth part of pulverized arsenious 
 acid, after which it is ready to be cast into candles in appropriate moulds. See Candle. 
 
 STEARINE COLD PRESS. The cold hydraulic press, as mounted by Messrs. 
 jfaudslay and Field, for squeezing out the oleic acid from saponified fat, or the oleine 
 
 Scale 3-20ths of an inch to the foot. 
 
 1354 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 r 
 
722 
 
 STEARINE COLD PRESS. 
 
 1355 
 
 lU-lUUl-U-M UUU U I 
 
 from cocoa-nut lard, is represented in plan in jig. 1354. ; in side view of pump in fig 
 1355. ; and in elevation, ng. 1356. ; -where the same letters refer to like objects. 
 
 A, A, are two hydraulic presses ; b, the frame ; 0, the cylinder ; d, the piston or ram ; 
 E, the follower ; v, the recess in the bottom to receive the oil ; o, twilled woollen bags ; 
 with the material to be pressed, having a thin plate of wrought iron between each ; h, 
 apertures for the discharge of the oil ; i, cistern in which the pumps are fixed ; k, fram- 
 ing for machinery to work in; l, two pumps, large and small, to inject the water 
 
 into the cylinders ; m, a frame con- 
 taining three double branches; h, 
 three branches, each having two 
 stops or plugs, by which the ac- 
 tion of one of the pumps may be 
 intercepted from, or communicated 
 to, one or both of the presses ; the 
 large pump is worked at the be- 
 ginning of the operation, and the 
 small one towards the end; by 
 these branches, one or both presses 
 may be discharged when the opera- 
 tion is finished ; o, two pipes from 
 the pumps to the branches ; p, pipe 
 to return the water from the cylin- 
 ders to the cisterns ; <j, pipes lead- 
 ing from the pumps through the 
 branches to the cylinders; e, coni- 
 cal drum, fixed upon the main shaft 
 T, driven by the steam-engine of the 
 factory ; s, a like conical drum to 
 work the pumps ; t, a narrow leather strap to communicate the motion from u to s ; 
 tr, a long screw bearing a nut, which works along the whole length of the drum ; v, the 
 fork or guide for moving the strap t ; w, w, two hanging bearings to carry the drum s ; 
 x, a puDey Dn the spindle of the drum s ; Y, the main shaft; z, fly-wheel with groove 
 on the edge, driven by the pulley x ; on the axis of s, is a double crank, which works the 
 two pumps l. a, is a pulley on the end of the long screw u ; an endless cord passes 
 twice round this pulley, and under a pulley fixed in the weight 6 ; by laying hold of 
 both sides of this cord, and raising or lowering it, the forked guide v, and the lea- 
 ther strap t, are moved backwards or forwards; by means of the nut fixed in the 
 guide, so as to accelerate or retard at pleasure the speed of the working of the 
 pumps ; c, is a piece of iron, with a long slit, m which a pin, attached to the fork v 
 travels, to keep it in the vertical position. 
 
STEATITE. 723 
 
 STEARINE, Fig 135Y. is a view of both the exterior and interior of the saponi- 
 
 fying tan of a stearine factory; where the constituents of the tallow are combined with 
 quicklime, by the intervention of water and steam : a, is the upright shaft of iron 
 turned by the bevel wheel above, in gear with another bevel wheel on the moving 
 shait, not shown in this figure. This upright shaft bears several arms d, furnished with 
 large teeth. The tun is bound with strong hoops of iron, and its contents are heated by 
 means of a spiral tube laid on the bottom, perforated with numerous holes, and con- 
 nected by a pipe with a high-pressure steam-boiler. 
 
 Fig. 1358, represents a longitudinal section of the horizontal hydraulic press for 
 depriving stearic acid, as also spermaceti, of all their fluid oily impurities, a, is the 
 
 cylinder of the press ; o, the ram or p ston : i, i, i, i, hair and flann-;! bags enclosin" 
 the impure cakes to be exposed to pressure ; d, d, d, d, iron plates previously heated! 
 and placed between every two cakes to facilitate the discharge of their oily matter- e e 
 solid iron end of the press, made to resist great pressure; it is strongly bolted to' the' 
 cylinder a, so as to resist the force of the ram ; g, g, iron rods, for bringing back the 
 ram b, into its place after the pressure is over, by means of counter weights suspended 
 to a chain, which passes over the pulleys h, h ; i, i, a spout and a sheet-iron pan for re- 
 ceiving the oily fluid. 
 
 STEATITE (Soapstone; Craie de Bnangon, Fr.; Speckstein, Germ.), is a mineral of 
 the magnesian family. It has a grayish-white or greenish-white color, often marked 
 with dendritic delineations, and occurs massive, as also in various supposititious crystal 
 line forms; it has a dull or fatty lustre; a coarse splintery fracture, with translucent 
 edges; a shining streak ; it writes feebly ; is soft, and easily cut with a knife ; but some- 
 what tough; does not adhere to the tongue; feels very greasy; infusible before the blow- 
 pipe ; specific gravity from 2-6 to 2-8. It consists of— silica, 44; magnesia, 44 ; alumina 
 2 ; iron, 7-3 ; manganese, 1-5 ; chrome, 2 ; with a trace of lime. It is found frequently' 
 in small contemporaneous veins that traverse serpentine in all directions as at Portsoy 
 
724 
 
 STEEL. 
 
 in Shetland, in the limestone of Icolmkiln, in the serpentine of Cornwall,, in Anglesey, in 
 Saxony, Bavaria, (at Bayruth,) Hungary, &c. It is used in the manufacture of porce. 
 lain. It makes the buiscuit semi-transparent, but rather briitle, and apt to crack with 
 slight changes of heat. It is employed for polishing serpentine, marble, gypseous alabas- 
 ter, and mirror glass ; as the basis of cosmetic powders j as an ingredient in anti-attrition 
 pastes' ; it is dusted in powder upon the inside of boots, to make the feet glide easily into 
 them; when rubbed upon grease-spots in silk and woollen clothes, it removes the stains 
 by absorption ; it enters into the composition of certain crayons, and is used itself for 
 making traces upon glass, silk, &c. The spotted steatite, cut into cameos and calcined, 
 assumes an onyx aspect. Soft steatite forms excellent stoppers for the chemical appara- 
 tus used in distilling or subliming corrosive vapors. Lamellar steatite is Talc. 
 
 STEEL (Jlcwr, Fr. ; Stdhl, Germ.), as a carburet of iron, has already been considered 
 under that metal. I shall treat in this article more particularly of its manufacture and 
 technical relations. 
 
 1. Steel of cementation, bar or blistered steel. — With the exception of the Ulverstone 
 charcoal iron, no bars are manufactured in Great Britain capable of conversion into steel 
 at all approaching in quality to that made from the Madras, Swedish, and Russian irons, 
 so largely imported for that purpose. The first rank is assigned to the Swedish iron 
 stamped with a circle enclosing the letter L (hence called hoop l) ; which fetches the high 
 price of 361. 10s. per ton, while excellent English coke-iron may be had f£r one fifth of 
 the price. The other Swedish irons are sold at a much lower rate, though said to be 
 manufactured in the same way ; and therefore the superiority of the Dannemora iron must 
 be owing to some peculiarity in the ore from which it is smelted. The steel recently 
 made in the Indian steel-works at Chelsea, from Mr. Heath's Madras iron, rivals that 
 from the hoop L. 
 
 The Sheffield furnace for making bar or blistered steel, called the furnace of cementa- 
 tion, is represented in fig. 1359, in a cross section, and in fig. 1360, in a ground plan. 
 
 1359 
 
 1360 
 
 The Dearth of this oblong quaaranguiar furnace, is divided by a grate into two parts* 
 upon each side of which there is a chest a, called a trough, made of fire-clay, or fire-tiles 
 The breadth of the grate varies according to the quality of the fuel. 6, b, are airholes • 
 c, c, flues leading to the chimney d, d. To aid the draught of the smoke and the flame, 
 an opening e, is made in tho middle of the flat arch of the furnace. In one of the shorter 
 sides (ends), there are orifices/,/, through which the long bars of iron may be put 
 in and taken out ; g, is the door by which the steel-maker enters, in filling or emptying, 
 the trough; h, is a proof hole, at which small samples of the steel in tho act 
 of its conversion may be drawn out. The furnace is built under a conical hood 
 or chimney, from 30 to 50 feet high, for aiding the draught, and carrying off the 
 
 The two chests are built of fire-stone grit. They are 8, 10, or even 15 feet long, and 
 from 26 to 86 inches in width and depth ; the lower and smaller they are, the more 
 uniform will the quality of the steel be. A. great breadth and height of trough are 
 incompatible with equability of the cementing temperature. The sides are a few inches 
 thick. 1 he space between them is at least a foot wide. They should never rest 
 directly upon the sole of the furnace, but must have their bottom freely played 
 upon by the flame, as well as the sides and top. The degree of heat is regulated 
 by openings m the arch, or upon the long sides of the furnace, which lead to the 
 chimney ; as also by the greater or less quantity of air admitted below the grate, as 
 in glass-house furnaces. 
 
 The cement consists of ground charcoal (sometimes of soot), mixed with one-tenth of 
 ashes, and some common salt ; the charcoal of hard wood being preferred. Ground coke 
 
STKEL. 725 
 
 is inadmissible, on account of the sulphur, silica, and clay, which it generally contains, 
 Possibly the salt serves to vitrify the particles of silica in the charcoal, and thus to pre- 
 vent their entering into combination with the steel. As for the ashes, it is difficult to 
 discover their use. The«best steel may be made without their presence. The bottom of 
 the trough being covered with two inches of the powder of cementation, the bars are laid 
 along in it, upon their narrow edge, the side bar being one inch from the trough, and the 
 rest being from one half to three fourths of an inch apart. Above this first layer of iron 
 oars, fully half an inch depth of the powder is spread, then a new series of bars is strati^ 
 fled, and so on till the trough is filled within six inches of the top. This space is partially 
 filled with old cement powder, and is covered with refractory damp san'd. Sometimes 
 the trough is filled to the surface with the old cement, and then closely covered with fire- 
 tiles. The bars should never be allowed to touch each other, or the trough. The Are 
 must be carefully urged from two to four days, till it acquires the temperature if 
 100° Wedgewood; which must be steadily maintained during the four, six, eight, oi 
 ten days requisite for the cementation ; a period dependant on the size of the furnace, 
 and which is determined by the examination of the proof pieces, taken out from time to 
 time. 
 
 In the front or remote end of the furnace, ,/Sg. 1359, a door is left in the outer building, 
 corresponding to a similar one in the end of the Interior vault, through which the work- 
 man enters for charging the furnace with charcoal and iron bars, as also for taking out 
 the steel after the conversion. Small openings are likewise made in the ends of the 
 chests, through which the extremities of a few bars are left projecting, so that they may 
 be pulled out and examined, through small doors opposite to them in the exterior walls. 
 These tap holes, as they are called, ohould ts placed near the centre of the end stones of 
 the chests, that the bars may indicate the average state of the process. The joinings of 
 the fire-stones are secured with a finely ground Stourbridge clay. 
 
 The interval between the two chests (in furnaces containing two, for many have only 
 one) being covered with an iron platform, the workman stands on it, and sifts a layer of 
 charcoal on the bottom of the chests evenly, about half an inch thick ; he then lays a row 
 of bars, cut to the proper length, over the charcoal, about an inch from each other ; he 
 next sifts on a second stratum of charcoal-dust, which, as it must serve for the bars above, 
 as well as below, is made an inch thick; thus, he continues to stratify, till the chest be 
 filled within two inches of the top ; and he covers the whole with the earthy detritus found 
 at the bottom of grindstone troughs, or any convenient fire-loam. It is obvious that the 
 second series of bars should correspond vertically with the interstices between the first 
 series, and so in succession. The trial-rods are left longer than the others, and their 
 projecting ends are incrusted with fire-clay, or imbedded in sand. The iron platform 
 being removed, and all the openings into the vault closed, the fire is lighted, and very 
 gradually increased, to avoid every risk of cracking the grit-stone by too sudden a change 
 of temperature ; and the ignition being finally raised to about 100° Wedgewood, but not 
 higher, for fear of melting the metal, must be maintained at a uniform pitch, till the iron 
 have absorbed the desired quantity of carbon, and have been converted as highly as the 
 manufacturer intends for his peculiar object. From six to eight days may be reckoned a 
 sufficient period for the production of steel of moderate hardness, and fit for tilting into 
 shear steel. A softer steel, for saws and springs, takes a shorter period j and a harder 
 steel, for fabricating chisels used in cutting iron, will need longer exposure to the ignited 
 charcoal. But, for a few purposes, such as the bits for boring cast iron, the bars arc 
 exposed to two or three successive processes of cementation, and are hence said to be 
 twice or thrice converted into steels. The higher the heat of the furnace, the quicker is 
 the process of conversion. 
 
 The furnace being suffered to cool, the workman enters it again, and hands out the steel 
 bars, which being covered with blisters, from the formation and bursting of vesicles on 
 the surface filled with gaseous carbon, is called blistered steel. This steel is very, irregu- 
 lar in ils interior texture, has a white color, like frosted silver, and displays, crystalline 
 angles and facettes, which are larger the further the cementation has been urged, or the 
 greater the dose of carbon. The central particles are always smaller than those near 
 the surface of the bar. 
 
 In such a furnace as the above, twelve tons of bar iron may be converted at a charge 
 But other furnaces are constructed with one chest, which receives six or eight tons at a 
 time ; the small furnaces, however, consume more fuel in proportion than the larger. 
 
 The absorption and action of the carbonaceous matter, to the amount of about a half 
 per cent., occasions fissures and cavities in the substance of the blistered bars, which 
 render the steel unfit for any useful purpose in tool-making, till it be condensed and rcn. 
 dered uniform by the operation of tilting, under a powerful hammer driven by machinery, 
 fee Ikon.* 
 
 * F t minute details of the parts, see the excellent article Tiltino-hammeh, in Rees's Cyclopedia. 
 
726 STEEL. 
 
 -The heads of the tile-hammers for steel weigh from one and a half to two hundre» 
 pounds. Those in the neighborhood of Sheffield are much simpler than the one referred 
 to in the note. They are worked by a small water-wheel, on whose axis is another 
 wheel, bearing a great number of cams or wipers on its circumference, which strike the 
 tail of the hammer in rapid succession, raise its head, and then let it fall smartly on the 
 hot metal rod, dexterously presented on its several parts to the anvil beneath it, by the 
 workman. The machinery is adapted to produce from 300 to 400 blows per minute j 
 which on this plan requires an undue and wasteful velocity of the float-boards. Were 
 an intermediate toothed wheel substituted between the water-wheel and the wiper- 
 wheel, so that while the former made one turn, the latter might make three, a much 
 smaller force of water would do the work. The anvils of the tilt-hammer are placed 
 nearly on a level with the floor of the mill-house ; and the workman sits in a fosse, dug 
 on purpose, in a direction perpendicular to the line of the helve, on a board suspended 
 from the roof of the building by a couple of iron rods. On this swinging seat, he can 
 advance or retire with the least impulse of his feet, pushing forward the steel bar, or 
 drawing it back with equal rapidity and convenience. 
 
 At a small distance from each tilt, stands the forge-hearth, for heating the steel. The 
 bellows for blowing the fire' are placed above-head, and are worked by a small crank 
 fixed on the end of the axis of the wheel, the air being conveyed by a copper pipe down 
 to the nozzle. Each workman at the tilt has two boys in attendance, to serve him with 
 hot rods, and to take them away after they are hammered. In small rods, the bright 
 ignition originally given at the forge soon declines to darkness ; but the rapid impulsions 
 of the tilt revive the redness again in all the points near the hammer ; so that the rod, 
 skilfully handled by the workman, progressively ignites where it advances to the strokes. 
 Personal inspection alone can communicate an adequate idea of the precision and cele- 
 rity with which a rude steel rod is stretched and fashioned into an even, smooth, and 
 sharp-edged prism, under the operation of the tilt-hammer. The heat may be clearly 
 referred to the prodigious friction among the particles of so cohesive a metal, when they 
 are made to slide so rapidly over each other in every direction during the elongation and 
 squaring of the rod. 
 
 2. Shear steel derives its name from the accidental circumstance of the shears for 
 dressing woollen cloth being usually forged from it. It is made by binding into a bundle, 
 with a slender steel rod, four parallel bars of blistered steel, previously broken into 
 lengths of about 18 inches, including a fifth of double length, whose projecting end may 
 serve as a handle. This fagot, as it is called, is then heated in the forge-hearth to a 
 good welding-heat, being sprinkled over with sand to form a protecting film of iron slag, 
 carried forthwith to the tilt, and notched down on both sides to unite all the bars to- 
 gether, and close up every internal flaw or fissure. The mass being again heated, and 
 the binding rings knocked off it, is drawn out into a uniform rod of the size required. 
 Manufacturers of cutlery are in the habit of purchasing the blistered bars at the con- 
 version furnaces, and sending them to tilt-mills to have them drawn out to the proper 
 size, vhich is done at regular prices to the trade ; from 5 to 8 per cent, discount being 
 allowed on the rude bars for waste in the tilting. The metal is rendered so compact by 
 the welding and hammering, as to become susceptible of a much finer polish than blis- 
 tered steel can take ; while the uniformity of its body, tenacity, and malleability are at 
 the same time much increased ; by which properties it becomes well adapted for making 
 table knives and powerful springs, such as those of gun-locks. The steel is also softened 
 down by this process, probably from the expulsion of a portion of its carbon during the 
 welding and subsequent heats ; and if these be frequently or awkwardly applied, it may 
 pass back into common iron. 
 
 3. Cast steel is made by melting, in the best fire-clay crucibles, blistered steel, broken 
 down into small pieces of convenient size for packing ; and as some carbon is always 
 dissipated in the fusion, a somewhat highly converted steel is used for this purpose. 
 The furnace is a square prismatic cavity, lined with fire-bricks, 12 inches in each side, 
 and 24 deep, with a flue immediately under the cover, 3J inches by 6, for conducting 
 the smoke into an adjoining chimney of considerable height. In some establishments 
 a dozen such furnaces are constructed in one or two ranges, their tops being on a level 
 with the floor of the laboratory, as in brass-foundries, for enabling the workmen more 
 conveniently to inspect, and lift out, the crucibles with tongs. The ash-pits terminate 
 in a subterraneous passage, which supplies the grate with a current of cool air, and 
 serves for emptying out the ashes. The crucible stands, of course, on a sole piece of 
 baked, fire-clay; and its mouth is closed with a well-fitted lid. Sometimes a little 
 bottle-glass, or blast-furnace slag, is put into the crucible, above the steel pieces, to form 
 a vitreous coating, that may thoroughly exclude the air from oxidising tho metal. The 
 fuel employed in the cast-steel furnace is a dense coke, brilliant and sonorous, broken 
 into pieces about the size of an egg, one good charge of which is sufficient. The 
 kongs are furnished at the fire ena with a pair of concave jaws, for embracing the 
 
STEEL. 
 
 727 
 
 curvature of the crucible, and lifting it out whenever the fusion is complete. The lid 
 is then removed, the slag or scoriae cleared away, and the liquid metal poured into 
 cast-iron octagonal or rectangular moulds, during which it throws out brilliant scintil- 
 lations. 
 
 Cast-steel works much harder under the hammer than shear steel, and will not, in its 
 usual state, tear much more than a cherry-red heat without becoming brittle ; nor can , 
 it bear the fatigue incident to the welding operation. It may, however, be firmly welded 
 to iron, through the intervention of a thin film of vitreous boracic acid, at a moderate de- 
 gree of ignition. Cast steel, indeed, made from a less carbureted bar steel, would be sus- 
 ceptible of welding and hammering at a higher temperature ; but it would require a 
 very high heat for its preparation in the crucible. 
 
 Iron may be very elegantly plated with cast steel, by pouring the liquid metal fcm 
 the crucible into a mould containing a bar of iron polished on one face. In this cir- 
 cumstance the adhesion is so perfect as to admit of the two metals being rolled out to- 
 gether; and in this way the chisels of planes and other tools may be made, at a moderate 
 rate and of excellent quality, the cutting-edge being formed in the steel side. Such 
 instruments combine the toughness of iron with the hardness of steel. 
 
 For correcting the too high carbonization of steel, or equalizing the too highly con- 
 verted exterior of a bar with the softer steel of the interior, the metal requires merely 
 to be imbedded, at a cementing heat, in oxyde of iron or manganese ; the oxygen of which 
 soon abstracts the injurious excess of carbon, so that the outer layers may be even con- 
 verted into soft iron, while the axis continues steely ; because the decarbonizing advances 
 far more rapidly than the carbonizing. 
 
 Fig. 1361 represents the mould for making crucibles for the cast-steel works, m m, 
 is a solid block of wood, to support the two-handled outside mould n, n. This being 
 1361 rammed full of the proper clay dough or compost (see Cruci- 
 
 ble), the inner mould is to be then pressed vertically into it, 
 till it reaches the bottom p, being directed and facilitated in its 
 descent by the point fc. A cord passes through o, by which 
 the inner mould is suspended over a pulley, and guided in its 
 motions. 
 
 When a plate of polished steel is exposed to a progressive 
 heat, it takes the following colors in succession: 1, a faint 
 yellow j 2, a pale straw-color ; 3, a full yellow ; 4, a brown 
 yellow ; 5, a brown with purple spots ; 6, a purple ; 7, a bright 
 blue ; 8, a full blue ; 9, a dark blue, verging on black ; after 
 which the approach to ignition supersedes all these colors. If 
 the steel plate has been previously hardened by being dipped 
 in cold water or mercury when red-hot, then those successive 
 
 shades indicate or correspond to successive degrees of softening 
 
 or tempering. Thus, No. 1 suits the hard temper of a lancet, which requires the finest 
 edge, but little strength of metal ; No. 2 a little softer, for razors and surgeons' ampu- 
 tating instruments ; No. 3, somewhat more toughness, for penknives ; No. 4, for cold 
 chisels and shears for cutting iron ; No. 5, for axes and plane-irons ; No. 6, for table knives 
 and cloth shears,- No. 7, for swords and watch-springs ; No. 8, for small fine saws and 
 daggers ; No. 9, for large saws, whose teeth need to be set with pliers, and sharpened 
 with a file. After ignition, if the steel be very slowly cooled, it becomes exceedingly 
 soft, and fit for the engraver's purposes. Hardened steel may be tempered to the desired 
 pitch, by plunging it in metallic baths heated to the proper thermometric degree, as fol- 
 lows : for No. 1, 430° Fahr. ; No. 2, 450° j No. 3, 470° j No. 4, 490° ; No. 5, 510°; No. 
 6, 530° ; No. 7, 550° ; No. 8, 560° ; No. 9, 600°. 
 
 Small ste_ v . tools are most frequently tempered, after hardening, by covering their 
 surface with a thin coat of tallow, and heating them in the flame of a candle till the 
 tallow diffuses a faint smoke, and then thrusting them into the cold tallow. Rinman long 
 ago defined steel to be any kind of iron which, when heated to redness, and then plunged 
 m cold water, becomes harder. But several kinds of cast iron are susceptible of such 
 hardening. Every malleable and flexible iron, however, which may be hardened in that 
 way is a steel. Moreover, steel may be distinguished from pure iron by its giving a 
 dark-gray spot when a drop of dilute nitric acid is let fall on its surface, while iron 
 affords a green one. Exposed to the air, steel rusts less rapidly than iron j and the 
 more highly carbureted, the more slowly does it rust, and the blacker is the spot left bv 
 an acid. 
 
 After hardening, steel seems to be quite a different body ; even its granular texture 
 becomes coarser or finer, according to the degree of heat to which it was raised ; it grows 
 so hard as to scratch glass, and resist the keenest file, while it turns exceedingly brittle. 
 
 A 
 
728 STEEL. 
 
 When a slowly cooled steel rod is forged and filed, it becomes capable of affording 
 agreeable and liarmonious sounds by its vibrations ; but hard-tempered steel affordi 
 only dull deafened tones, like those emitted by a cracked instrument 
 
 The good quality of steel is shown by its being homogeneous ; being easily worked at 
 the forge; by its hardening and tempering well; by its resisting or overcoming forces ; 
 and by its elasticity. To ascertain the first point, the surface should be ground and po. 
 lished on the wheel; when its lustre and texture will appear. The second test requires 
 a skilful workman to give it a heat suitable to its nature and state of conversion. The 
 size and color of the grain are best shown by taking a bar forged into a razor form ; har. 
 dening and tempering it ; and then breaking off the thin edge in successive bits with 
 hammer and anvil. If it had been fully ignited only at the end, then, after the harden 
 ing, it will display, on fracture, a succession in the aspect of its grains from that extra 
 mity to the other; as they are whiter and larger at the former than the latter. The othei 
 qualities become manifest on filing the steel ; using it as a. chisel for cutting iron ; 01 
 bending it under a heavy weight. 
 
 Much interest was excited a few years back by the experiments of Messrs. Stodart and 
 Faraday on the alloys of steel with silver, platinum, rhodium, and iridium. Steel refuse! 
 to take up in fusion more than one five-hundredth part of silver ; but with this minute 
 quantity of alloy, it is said to bear a harder temper, without losing its tenacity. When 
 pore iron is substituted for steel, the alloys so formed are much less subject to oxydation 
 in damp air than before. With three per cent, of iridium and osmium, an alloy was ob- 
 tained which had the property of tempering like steel, and of remaining clean and bright, 
 in circumstances when simple iron became covered with rusi. "Upon the whole," says 
 the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Science, giving a report of these experiments in his 
 14th volume, p. 378, "though we consider these researches upon the alloys of steel as 
 very interesting, we are not sanguine as to their important influence upon the improve^ 
 ment of the manufacture of cutlery, and suspect that a bar of the best ordinary steel, se- 
 lected with precaution, and most carefully forged, wrought, and tempered, under the im- 
 mediate inspection of the master, would afford cutting instruments as perfect and excellent 
 ss those composed of wootz, or of the alloys." 
 
 The patent plan of Mr. William Onions of making cast steel seems worthy of adop- 
 tion. He takes two parts by weight of haematite ore (such as that of Cumberland) 
 reduced to a state of coarse powder, and puts them into a crucible ; he then adds 
 thereto four parts, by weight, of steel, made in the ordinary way, and ninety-four 
 parts of iron, broken into small pieces, the iron used being that made from Cumber- 
 land ore, or other iron which can be rendered malleable by annealing ; and he melts 
 these materials together. Instead of first running the metal into ingots or bars, and 
 then remelting it, he casts it at once in sand moulds, into the articles required to be 
 formed of cast steel. These castings are rendered malleable by the process of anneal- 
 ing, and may be tempered in the same way as articles made of ordinary steel. The 
 annealing process employed is that by which castings of iron, made from Cumberland 
 and like ores, are rendered malleable. The articles are put into pots or boxes with 
 pulverized Cumberland ore, or other matter usually employed and subjected to heat, in 
 an annealing oven, for a time dependent upon the thickness or substance of the articles, 
 under treatment. The articles which are annealing at the same time should therefore 
 be as nearly as possible of the same thickness; and the heat should not be permitted to 
 increase rapidly, nor to attain too high a temperature. The time required for the an- 
 nealing processes will be ascertained by practice. . To anneal articles about an inch 
 square (supposing the metal to be in bars of. that thickness) they should be kept at a 
 red heat for 120 hours: the time occupied in raising them to that heat should be 14 
 hours, and after they have been kept at a red heat for 10 hours, they should be allowed 
 to cool down very gradually, say in not less than 24 hours. The articles thus annealed 
 may be turned or otherwise reduced to the desired shape by the ordinary tools, and 
 may be tempered in the same manner as articles made of common cast steel. 
 
 The patentee does not confine himself to the above details ; but he claims the mode 
 of manufacturing cast-steel by melting matters together and annealing the products, 
 es above described. 
 
 Case-hardening of iron, is a process for converting a thin film of the outer surface 
 into steel, while the interior remains as before. Fine keys are generally finished in 
 this way. See Case-hardening. 
 
 So great is the affinity of iron for carbon, that, in certain circumstances, it will absorb 
 it from carburetted hydrogen, or coal-gas, and thus become converted into steel. On this 
 principle, Mr. Mackintosh of Glasgow obtained a patent for making steel. His furnace 
 consists of one cylinder of bricks built concentrically within another. The bars of iron 
 are suspended in the innermost, from the top; a stream of purified coal-gas circulates 
 freely round them, entering below and escaping slowly above, while the bars are main- 
 tain 3d in a state of bright ignition by a fire burning in the annular space between the 
 
STEEL. 
 
 729 
 
 cylinders. The steel so produced is of excellent quality; but the process does not seem 
 to be so economical as the ordinary cementation with charcoal powder. 
 
 Damasking of steel, is the art of" giving to sabre blades a variety of figures in the styla 
 of watering. See Damascus Blades. 
 
 Several explanations have been offered of the change in the constitution of steel, 
 which accompanies the tempering operation; but none of them seems quite satisfactory. 
 It seems to be probable that the ultimate molecules are thrown by the sudden cooling 
 into a constrained state, so that their poles are not allowed to take the position of strong, 
 est attraction and greatest proximity ; and hence the mass becomes hard, brittle, and 
 somewhat less dense. An analogous condition may be justly imputed to hastily cooled 
 glass, which, like hardened steel, requires lo be annealed by a subsequent nicely gradua- 
 ted heat, under the influence of which the particles assume the position of repose, and 
 constitute a denser, softer, and more tenacious body. The more sudden the cooling oi 
 ignited steel, the more unnatural and constrained will be the distribution of its particles, 
 and also the more refractory, an effect produced by plunging it into cold mercury. This 
 excess of hardness is removed in any required degree by judicious annealing or temper- 
 ing. The state of the carbon present in the steel may also be modified by the.rate o! 
 refrigeration, as Mr. Karsten and M. Breant conceive happens with cast iron and ths 
 damask metal. If the uniform distribution and combination of the carbon through the 
 cass, determine the peculiarity of white cast iron, which is a hard and brittle substance 
 and if its transition to the dark-gray and softer cast metal be effected by a partial forma, 
 tion of plumbago during slow cooling, why may not something similar be supposed to oc- 
 cur with steel, an analogous compound ? 
 
 Mr. Oldham, printing engineer of the Bank of England, who has had great experience 
 in the treatment of steel for dies and mills, says that, for hardening it, the fire should 
 never be heated above the redness of sealing-wax, and kept at that pitch for a sufficient 
 time. On taking it oat, he hardens it by plunging it, not in water, but in olive oil, o. 
 rather naptha, previously heated to 200° F. It is kept immersed only till the ebullition 
 ceases, then instantly transferred into cold spring water, and kept there till quite cold. 
 By this treatment the tools come out perfectly clean, and as hard as it is possible to make 
 cast-steel, while they are perfectly free from cracks, flaws, or twist. Large tools are 
 readily brought down in temper by being suspended in the red-hot muffle till they show a 
 straw color; but for small tools, he prefers plunging them in the oil heated to 400 de- 
 grees ; and leaves them in till they become cold. 
 
 Mr. Oldham softens his steel dies by exposing them to ignition for she requisite time, 
 imbedded in a Bxcture of chalk and charcoal. 
 
 "The common mode of softening steel," says Mr. Baynes, "is to put it into an iron 
 case, surrounded with a paste made of lime, cow's gall, and a little nitre and water; then 
 to expose the case to a slow fire, which is gradually increased to a considerable heat, 
 and afterwards allowed to go out, when the steel is found to be soft and ready for tha 
 engraver."* 
 
 Steel., manufacture of. — Iron in the composition of which a portion of the silica is re- 
 placed by manganese, will while being smelted rather part with the latter than the 
 former. From this it follows, that at the moment when the iron is on the point of pass- 
 ing from a liquid to a solid state it will retain sufficient silica to form steel. For this 
 reason, during the whole process of refining, the current of air is caused to act rather upon 
 the surface of the metal than through the interior of the fluid mass, in order to avoid 
 the combustion of too much carbon and silica; from which it follows that the casting 
 becomes malleable without losing a sufficient quantity of silica to constitute iron, prop- 
 erly so called, and the produet is raw or blistered steel. The easting which does noi 
 contain any manganese loses by the effect of combustion a portion of silica proportion- 
 able to the quantity of carbon burnt, and furnishes iron only as definite product. 
 
 It is simply to the mechanical action of the hammer, that the distinctive features of 
 bar steel, as compared with that of cast steel, are due. In order to effect this change, 
 the blistered steel is broken into pieces and melted down ; they are afterward tem- 
 pered, again broken into pieces, and welded together at a good welding heat. The 
 steel will be the more malleable, and possesses more tenacity and uniformity of texture, 
 in proportion to the number of times these operations are repeated. The product is 
 called " wrought or shear steel." 
 
 Steel of cementation, and cast steel. — When bar iron is heated to a white heat, or even 
 melted in close vessels containing eoal or carbonaceous substances, it takes up a certain 
 quantity of carbon, and is transformed into east-steel of various kinds. 
 If ths iron contains together with silica, phosphorus and arsenic in proportions suit- 
 
 * History of the Cotton Manufacture, p. 269. If that strange farrago be employed by Mr. Locket of 
 Manchester, for softening his dies and mills, it deserves consideration. Should the nitre be used in too 
 great quantity to be all carbonated by the gall, its oxygen may serve to consume some of the carbon of 
 the steel, and thus bring it nearer to iron. The recipe may be old, but it is a novelty to me. 
 
730 STEEL. 
 
 able lor softening the granular particles of iron during their combination with tht 
 carbon, by beeping it for a certain time at a red heat with powdered charcoal, a casting 
 is obtained, which, when submitted to the action of the hammer or rollers, furnishes a 
 product known as "steel of cementation." During this operation the stratum of oxide 
 which covers the particles of iron inside loses its oxygen, and passes again into a me- 
 tallic state ; but the vacant Bpaces occasioned by this %re filled up, as the ferruginous 
 particles, which are in a semi-fluid state, reassumes the crystalline form. The carbonic 
 acid (oxide ?) gas in escaping forms large blisters on the surface of the metal, under which 
 the softened mass crystallizes. On being broken, the interior of these blisters, instead 
 of appearing of a dark color, indicating the presence of a stratum of protoxide, presents 
 a brilliant and rainbow-tinted appearance, the yellowish and bluish tints distinguishing 
 bronzed steel being observable. If this steel be wrought at a white heat, these blisters 
 will weld in with the mass with the greatest facility. During cementation the carbon 
 combines with the component pcrtieles of the iron in various proportions, depending in 
 a great degree upon the chemical composition of those particles. It is therefore a vul- 
 gar error to suppose that steel of cementation contains more carbon at the surface than 
 in the interior, as stated in all technological treatises. Thus, in the best Dannemora 
 steel, it very frequently happens, when the cementation is finished, that the centre of 
 the metal contains a much greater quantity of carbon than in the superficial portions. 
 It may also happen that steel produced from the best Dannemora bar iron will differ 
 in an extraordinary manner as regards hardness in various portions of the bar; and 
 for this reason, in steel works in England, the bars of steel are always broken into several 
 pieces, in order to class those pieces together which are the most similar in quality. 
 
 If ordinary iron be submitted to cementation, that is to say, iron in which the propor- 
 tion of silica is ordinarily insignificant when compared with that of carbon, and if inde- 
 pendently of this the iron is deficient in the quantity of phosphorus and arsenic necessary 
 for easily softening the metallic molecules, only carburet of iron and a little siliciuret 
 of iron are produced, but the carbon does not combine with the silica. In this case 
 the steel is deficient in malleability and tenacity, for this reason, that the molecules 
 will not unite or crystallize until they have taken up a quantity of carbon more than 
 sufficient to produce steel. With regard to simple carburetted iron (when it contains 
 more carbon), it either will not harden at all when tempered, or becomes friable and 
 brittle when heated to redness, even when it does not contain more carbon than steel 
 of good quality. 
 
 The fracture of the steel of cementation, now under notice, is gray and dull, while 
 steel of good quality is of a silvery aspect, and presents cubical crystals. 
 
 The best steel can only be obtained by the cementation of forged iron ; whilst the 
 metal is combining with the carbon, the iron must not enter into a complete state of 
 fusion, as in that case groups of crystals, each possessing a different degree of carbon- 
 ization, would be formed ; even the best Dannemora iron will not furnish a uniform 
 product, fit for purposes of commerce, when melted with substances containing carbon^ 
 I am well aware that the experiments of Clouet, Hachettc, and Breanti may be opposed 
 to me, as set forth in various treatises on chemistry; but these are unfortunately mere 
 laboratory experiments, the authors of which have prudently concealed, or passed over 
 in silence, all those which were unsuccessful. "When the operator has obtained a reguluS 
 at the bottom of his crucible, and when, after immense trouble, he has succeeded in 
 extracting a small portion of steel capable of being worked, he immediately hastens to 
 publish his pretended discovery in some journal, of which others become faithful and 
 credulous echoes : thus, since the manufacture of steel has become the subject of chemical 
 inquiry, complaints are daily becoming more frequent upon the difficulty of obtaining 
 steel capable of resisting the treatment to which it is subjected in the arts. If the 
 persons who preside over the coining department either at London or Munich were 
 consulted, they would all agree in saying that it is now very difficult to meet with the 
 quality of steel necessary for making the dies. Even in England good steel becomes 
 more and more scarce. With regard to the manufactories of cemented or cast steel 
 established upon the Continent, they furnish products the quality of which is so uncer- 
 tain that the workman is often reduced, after having lost his time and trouble, to throw 
 certain portions away, as they want the necessary uniformity and tenacity. 
 
 All the artificial alloys of silver with steel, of which so much has been said, are not 
 fit for anything, and are never met with in commerce. 
 
 When the steel has been withdrawn from the cementing furnace, and after it has been 
 broken and the pieces drawn out^ they are submitted to one of the two following 
 operations:— The pieces, after being sorted, are piled one upon the other and welded 
 together (this is called faggoting the steel); or the sorted pieces are placed in clay 
 crucibles of a nearly cylindrical form, and cast in a reverberatory furnace, in which two 
 erucibles are placed, one behind the other upon cakes of fire clay; the orifice of these 
 Jrucibles is closed by a flat cake if fire clay. The bars of cemented steel, as above 
 
STEEL. 731 
 
 mentioned, aro divided jitc pieces of one or two inches in length ; these pieces are 
 distributed, according to their degree of carbonization, in vessels fixed to the walls of 
 the place in which the melting is carried on. 
 
 These different qualities of steel are generally combined in such a manner as to obtain 
 a product the best suited for the purposes to which cast steel is ordinarily applied. 
 
 In all treatises on practical chemistry it is asserted that, in order to melt steel, it is 
 to be covered with a layer of glass or blast furnace slag; that the opening of the crucible 
 is luted, or at least becomes firmly fixed during the operation ; these assertions are 
 however erroneous. In the first steel manufactories in Sheffield, steel only is put into 
 the crucibles. "With regard to the cover it is evident that it must adhere to the crucible, 
 as it is necessary the operator should remove it from time to time with a bar of iron 
 in order to ascertain the state of the metal. 
 
 In order to obtain steel of the first quality, it is not sufficient that the melted mass 
 be run into moulds; the most essential point is to make the casting at the proper time, 
 and for this purpose the operator must be guided by the quality of the steel. This ia 
 the duty of the workman, who from long practice can tell the suitable point of fusion, 
 • either by simple inspection, or by means of his bar of iron, with which he merely touches 
 the surface of the metal, being most careful not to plunge it into the melted mass. As 
 the quality and uniformity of the steel depend in a great measure upon the experience 
 and judgment of the workman who directs the casting, it follows that, even in England, 
 a good caster is much sought after and well paid. 
 
 It is not difficult, therefore, to explain why so many of the attempts made to establish 
 manufactories of cast steel in Germany have failed, and will again fail. Thanks to the 
 errors propagated by technical works, and by the assertions of superficially informed 
 travellers, who had frequently been purposely deceived, it was imagined that in order 
 to obtain English steel of good quality, it was only necessary to melt cemented steel in 
 a crucible, and afterward pour it into moulds when in a state of fusion. 
 
 As soon as a crucible is emptied, it is replaced in the oven; each crucible serves for 
 one day's work, i.e. four or five castings, after which it is thrown aside. For ordinary 
 purposes, the steel is run into cast-iron moulds of a prismatic form, previously heated 
 and closed. "When the steel is required for making saw-blades, plates, <&c, it is run 
 into large moulds of a parallelopiped form. ' Steel which is very nard and highly car- 
 bonized, contracts considerably in the moulds; great skill is therefore required to run 
 it into the moulds in such a manner that no vacuum may be produced. In that part of 
 the prism corresponding to the jet, a funnel-shaped aperture from 1 to 2 inches deep is 
 formed; this is detached and melted down with other pieces of steel. 
 
 The_ transverse fracture of a prism of hard steel is silvery, and has a number of rays 
 radiating from the centre ; steel less hard is, on the contrary, of a uniform granular 
 and crystalline texture. This steel possesses all the brittleness of cast metal. 
 
 By fusion, steel of cementation acquires peculiar properties, and does not sweat so 
 much as before casting. 
 
 When steel is produced from iron of bad quality, and carburets of a different nature 
 are produced during cementation, the melting, instead of improving it, renders it much 
 worse ; as, in that case, the different carburets of iron, which are of inferior quality, 
 separate still more during cooling. This has given rise to an old saying, well known 
 among English founders, that "when the devil is put into the crucible, nothing but the 
 devil will come out." 
 
 It is to the existence of these heterogeneous metallic carburets, which are produced 
 during cementation in iron of inferior quality, and which forms new combinations during 
 the fusion of the metal, that the complaints of workmen working in steel are to be 
 attributed. In fact, these carburets being only, so to speak, agglutinated, even in bars 
 of forged steel, each of them at the moment of tempering is contracted or dilated more 
 or less than the one immediately adjoining it, so that from that time a separation com- 
 mences between the unequally carbonized layers ; in other words a flaw or crack is 
 produced, which may be distinguished by a peculiar noise at the moment when the 
 steel is plunged in the water, or at least there is a tendency to separation, which only 
 requires the cooperation of an exterior cause, such as a shock, to effect. This is often 
 observed in razors, &a. 
 
 The transverse fracture of cast steel ought to present a perfectly homogeneous surface 
 when the bar is broken by a sharp blow, after being cut or marked with a chisel. The 
 slight inequalities which are perceptible ought to be undulating, and to blend insensibly 
 at their bases with the rest of the metallic surface. When, on the contrary, they stand 
 out perpendicularly, the conclusion may be arrived at, that this portion of the bar was 
 the point of contact of two unequally-carbonized layers, which, by separating either at 
 the moment of tempering or at a later period, had inevitably given rise to this rupture. 
 Indian steel, or wootz. — The wootz ore consists of the magnetic oxide of iron, united 
 with quartz, in proportions which do not seem to differ much, being generally about 42 
 
732 STEEL. 
 
 of quartz, and 58 of magnetic oxyde. Its grains are of various size, down to a sandy tex 
 ture. The natives prepare it for smelting by pounding the ore, and winnowing away 
 the stony matrix, a task at which the Hindoo females are very dexterous. The manner 
 in which iron ore is smelted and converted into wootz or Indian steel, by the natives at 
 the present day, is probably the very same that was practised by them at the time of th? 
 invasion of Alexander; and it is a uniform process, from the Himalaya mountains to Cap< 
 Comorin. The furnace or bloomery in which the ore is smelted, is from four to five feel 
 high ; it is somewhat pear-shaped, being about two feet wide at bottom, and one foot al 
 top; it is built entirely of clay, so that a couple of men can finish its erection in a few 
 hours, and have it ready for use the next day. There is an opening in front about a foot 
 or more in height, which is built up with clay at the commencement, and broken down 
 at the end, of each smelting operation. The bellows are usually made of a goat's skin, 
 which has been stripped from the animal without ripping open the part covering the belly. 
 The apertures at the legs are tied up, and a nozzle of bamboo is fastened in the opening 
 formed by the neck. The orifice of the tail is enlarged and distended by two slips ol 
 bamboo. These are grasped in the hand, and kept close together in making the stroke 
 for the blast; in the returning stroke they are separated to admit the air. By working ' 
 a bellows of this kind with each hand, making alternate strokes, a pretty uniform blast 
 is produced. The bamboo nozzles of the bellows are inserted into tubes of clay, which 
 pass into the furnace at the bottom corners of the temporary wall in front. The furnace 
 is filled with charcoal, and a lighted coal being introduced before the nozzles, the mass 
 in the interior is soon kindled. As soon as this is accomplished, a small portion of the 
 ore, previously moistened with water, to prevent it from running through the charcoal, 
 but without any flux whatever, is laid on the top of the coals, and covered with charcoal 
 to fill up the furnace. 
 
 In this manner ore and fuel are supplied ; and the bellows are urged for 3 or 4 hours, 
 when the process is stopped ; and the temporary wall in front being broken down, the 
 bloom is removed by a pair of tongs from the bottom of the furnace. It is then beaten 
 with a wooden mallet, to separate as much of the scoriae as possible from it, and, while 
 itill red-hot, it is cut through the middle, but not separated, in order merely to show 
 Ihe quality of the interior of the mass. In this state it is sold to the blacksmiths, 
 who make it into bar iron. The proportion of such iron made by the natives from 100 
 parts of ore, is about 15 parts. In converting the. iron into steel, the natives cut it into 
 pieces, to enable it to pack better in the crucible, which is formed of refractory clay, 
 mixed with a large quantity of charred husk of rice. It is seldom charged with more 
 than a pound of iron, which is put in with a proper weight of dried wood chopped 
 small, and both are covered with one or two green leaves; the proportions being in 
 general 10 parts of iron to 1 of wood and leaves. The mouth of the crucible is then 
 stopped with a handful of tempered clay, rammed in very closely, to exclude the air. The 
 wood preferred is the Cassia auriculata, and the leaf that of the Asclepias gigantea, or 
 the Convolvulus la%rifolius. As soon as the clay plugs of the crucibles are dry, from 
 20 to 24 of them are built up in the form of an arch, in a small blast furnace ; they are 
 iept covered with charcoal, and subjected to heat urged by a blast for about two hours 
 and a half, when the process is considered to be complete. The crucibles being now 
 taken out of the furnace and allowed to cool, are broken, and the steel is found in 
 the form of a cake, rounded by the bottom of the crucible. When the fusion has been 
 perfect, the top of the cake is covered wirh striae, nadiating from the centre, and is free 
 from holes and rough projections ; but if the fusion has been imperfect, the surface of 
 the cake has a honeycomb appearance, with projecting lumps of malleable iron. On un 
 average, four out of five cakes are more or less defective. These imperfections have 
 been tried to be corrected in London by re-melting the cakes, and running them into 
 ingots ; but it is obvious, that when the cakes consist partially of malleable iron and of 
 unreduced oxyde, simple fusion cannot convert them into good steel. When care is taken, 
 however, to select only such cakes as are perfect, to re-melt them thoroughly, and 
 tilt them carefully into rods, an article has been produced which possesses all the re- 
 quisites of fine steel in an eminent degree. In the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica, article Cattery, the late Mr. Stodart, of the Strand, a very competent judge, 
 has declared " that for the purp6ses of fine cutlery, it is infinitely superior to the best 
 English cast steel." 
 
 The natives prepare the cakes for being drawn into bars by annealing them for several 
 hours in a small charcoal furnace, actuated by bellows ; the current of air being made 
 lo play upon the cakes while turned over before it ; whereby a portion of the combined 
 carbon is . probably dissipated,_and the steel is softened; without which operation the 
 cakes would break in the attempt to draw them. They are drawn by a hammer of a few 
 pounds weight. 
 
 The natives weld two pieces of cast steel, by giving to each a sloping face jagged all 
 era- with a small chisel; then applying them with some calcined borax between, and 
 
STEEL. 
 
 733 
 
 tying them together with a wire, they are brought to a full red heat, and united by e 
 few smart blows of a hammer. 
 
 The ordinary bar iron of Sweden and England, when converted by cementation into 
 steel, exhibits upon its surface numerous small warty points, but few or no distinct 
 vesicular eruptions; whereas the Dannemora and the Ulverston steels present, all over 
 the surface of the bars, well raised blisters, upwards of three-eighths of an inch in di- 
 ameter horizontally, but somewhat flattened at t^p. Iron of an inferior description, 
 when highly converted in the cementing-chest, becomes gray on the outer edges of the 
 fracture; while that of Dannemora acquires a silvery color and lustre on the edges, 
 with crystalline facets within. The highly converted steel is used for tools that re- 
 quire to be made very hard ; the slightly converted, for softer and more elastic articles, 
 such as springs and sword blades. 
 
 One of the greatest improvements which this valuable modification of iron has ever 
 received is due to the late Mr. Josiah M. Heath, who, after many elaborate and costly 
 researches, upon both the small and the great scale, discovered that by the introduction of 
 
 1362 
 
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 K>- 
 
 
 =oi: 
 
 fll fi'l 
 
 1364 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 11/^^1 
 
 
 
 T W 
 
 till 
 
 ISM!! 
 
 ^ 
 
 IO~> 
 
 m 
 
 SSMiJ^IlifeSi 
 
 
 a email portion, 1 per cent., and even less, of carburet of manganese into the melting-pot 
 along with the usual broken bars of blistered steel, a cast steel was obtained, after fusion.of 
 
734 STEEL. 
 
 a quality very superior to what the bar steel would have yielded without the manganese, 
 and moreover possessed of the new and peculiar property of being weldable either t« 
 itself or to wrought iron. He also found that a common bar-steel, made from an in- 
 ferior mark or quality of Swedish or Russian iron, would, when so treated, produce an 
 excellent cast steel. One immediate consequence of this discovery has been the re- 
 duction of the price of good steel in the Sheffield market by from 30 to 40 per cent., 
 and likewise the manufacture of table-knives of east steel with iron tangs welded to 
 them ; whereas, till Mr. Heath's invention, table-knives were necessarily made of sheer- 
 steel, with unseemly wavy lines in them, because cast steel could not be welded to 
 the tangs. Mr. Heath obtained a patent for this and other kindred meritorious in- 
 ventions on the 5th of April, 1839; but, strange and melancholy to say, he never de- 
 rived any thing from his acknowledged improvement but vexation and loss, in con- 
 sequence of a numerous body of Sheffield steel manufacturers having banded together 
 to pirate his patent, and to baffle him in our complex law courts. I hope, however, 
 that eventually justice will have its own, and the ridiculously unfounded pretences of 
 the pirates to the prior use of carburet of manganese will be set finUly at rest. It is 
 supposed that fifty persons at least embarked in this pilfering conspiracy. By a re- 
 cent decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the heirs of Mr. Heath 
 have obtained a prolongation of the term of the patent for seven years from this date, 
 February, 1853. 
 
 The furnace of cementation in which bar-iron is converted into bar or blistered steel 
 is represented in figs. 1362,63,64. It is rectangular and covered in by a groined or 
 cloister arch : it contains two cementing chests, or sarcophaguses, o, o, made either of 
 fire-stone of fire-bricks: each is 2J feet wide, 3 feet deep, and 12 long; the one being 
 placed on the one side, and the other on the other of the grate, A, E, which occupies the 
 whole length of the furnace, and is from 13 to 14 feet long. The grate is 14 inches 
 broad, and rests from 10 to 12 inches below the inferior plane or bottom level of the 
 chests; the height of the top of the arch above the chests is 5| feet ; the bottom of the 
 chests is nearly on a level with the ground, so that the bars do not need to be lifted 
 high in charging the furnace. The flame rises between the two chests, passes also 
 below and round them through the horizontal and vertical flues, d, and issues from the 
 furnace by an opening, h, in the top of the vault, and by orifices, t, which communicate 
 with the chimneys placed in the angles. The whole is placed within a large cone of 
 bricks, 25 or 80 feet high, and open at top : this cone increases the draught, makes it 
 more regular, and carries off the smoke away from the establishment. The furnace 
 has three doors; two, T (fig. 1363), above the chests, serve to admit and to remove the 
 bare; they are about 1 or 8 inches square : in each of them a piece of sheet-iron i3 put, 
 folded back on its edges; upon which the bars are made to slide, so as to save the wall. 
 A workman enters by the middle door, p, to arrange the bars ; the trial bars are taken 
 out from time to time ly the apertures, s, (fig. 1362.) left in the sides of the chests. 
 The bars are laid in strata, along with wood charcoal in powder, in the said chests; 
 they are about three inches broad, and one-third of an inch thick; they must not be 
 placed too near each other, lest they should get welded together; the air or uppermost 
 layer is covered with a stratum of loamy matter from 4 to 5 inches thick. The furnace 
 must be gradually heated, not reaching its maximum temperature before 8 or 9 days, 
 and the cooling lasts 5 or 6 days; the whole operation 18 or 20 days, and sometimes 
 more, according to the quality of the steel to be cemented. About 13 tons of coals are 
 consumed in this period. It is of consequence that the refrigeration be slow, to favor 
 the crystallization of the metal. The grain of the steel varieB with the rate of cooling, 
 the largest and whitest grain denoting the most fusible steel. 
 
 Heavy Steel. R. Thomas, leknield works, Birmingham, manufacturer. The articles 
 exhibited illustrated the heavy steel "toy" trade of Birmingham. Brazil axes; Ame- 
 rican wedge axes, and hand hatchet; shingling hatchets, assorted patterns; coopers' 
 adze and axe; round and square eye adze; mahogany squaring axe; English car- 
 penter's axe; eyed shell and screw auger; double plane iron; socket chisel ; trowel; 
 gun and hand harpoons; improved grass shears; and a variety of garden tools, to screw 
 into one handle. The manufacture of the axe used by the backwoods-men, of the hoe used 
 in the agriculture of the tropics, the pick used by the Caffirs of the Cape, and the harpoon 
 of the whale-fisher, give employmentto many artizans of its vicinity. In order to convey 
 a general idea of the process by which these articles are "got up," the manufacture of an 
 ordinary axe may be selected. Apiece of iron is taken, and after being heated is doubled 
 over a piece of steel, corresponding in form to the future eye which is to hold the shank ; 
 is not then welded together. A small piece of Bteel which is intended to form the 
 future cutting edge, is heated along with the iron back to a welding heat, and is passed 
 under a tilt hammer (that is, a large hammer driven by steam or water), which speedily 
 flattens it out ; it is then exposed to another heat, and the eye is completed with the small 
 hammer. The superfluous iron cr steel is removed by a pair of large scissors. The 
 
r~ 
 
 STEREOTYPE PRINTING. 73f 
 
 the process of hardening and tempering follow; the grinding is performed <m stones 
 which cut away the iron and disclose the steel edge. The "glazing" on emery "bobs" 
 or wheels succeeds, and the polishing is effected by means of emery and oil on a similar 
 tool. Considerable improvement in appearance is imparted by the use of a blue Tar 
 nish which is applied to the axe, and drying in a small stove. "Toy" is a technical term 
 applied to an anvil, a hammer, and various other objects which are comprised under 
 the term " heavy steel." 
 
 In the year 1843, 25,000 tons of steel were annually converted in this country, and 
 of that quantity not more than 2,500 were made from the best Swedish iron. 
 
 For the remainder, inferior qualities of iron, such as the Russian iron marked CCND, 
 from the forges of Count Demidoff, were used ; that iron was made with charcoal, and 
 could be called inferior only when compared with that made from the Dannemora 
 ore. 
 
 STEEL PLATE ENGRAVING. An entire change in engraving has taken place by 
 the substitution of steel for copper plates. An engraving made upon copper is speedily 
 rendered useless by the process of inking, and the friction necessary to remove the su- 
 perfluous ink. The rubbing with whitening to clean the face of the plate wears away 
 the surface and renders it valueless after a few thousand impressions. 
 
 The Queen's head on the postage stamp has been only once engraved. It had, in- 
 1842, been multiplied 6,000 times — that is to say, the original produced 6,000 plates, 
 which printed all the postage stamps of the above kind which had been used since the 
 introduction of Rowland Hill's measure up to the period stated. 
 
 The multiplication of a steel plate is a feature of some importance : a plate is en- 
 graved and hardened ; from this an impression is taken upon a softened steel roller ; 
 this steel roller is then hardened, and softened steel plates being passed under it, an 
 impression is imparted to them ; they are then hardened, and are equal to the original 
 as to their impressions. This method is adopted in bank-note engraving; and the 
 postage stamp plates are produced by the same means. 
 
 STEREOTYPE PRINTING signifies printing by fixed types, or by a cast typo- 
 graphic plate. This plate is made as follows: — The form, composed in ordinary types, 
 and containing one, two, three, or more pages, inversely as the size of the hook, being 
 laid flat upon a slab, with the letters looking upwards, the faces of the types are brushed 
 over with oil, or preferably, with plumbago (black lead.) A heavy brass rectangulai 
 frame of three sides, with bevelled borders, adapted exactly to the size of the pages, i> 
 then laid down upon the chase,* to circumscribe three sides of its typography ; but the 
 fourth side, which is one end of the rectangle, is formed by placing near the types, ami 
 over the hollows of the chase, a single brass bar, having the same inwards sloping bevel 
 as the other three sides. The complete frame resembles that of a picture, and serves to 
 define the area and thickness of the cast, which is made by pouring the pap of Paris 
 plaster into its interior space, up to a given line on its edges. The plaster mould, which 
 soon sets, or becomes concrete, is lifted gently off the types, and immediately placed 
 upright on its edge in one of the cells of a sheet-iron rack, mounted within the cast-iron 
 oven. An able workman will mould ten sheets octavo in a day, or 1 60 pages. The 
 moulds are here exposed to air heated to fully 400° F., and become perfectly dry in the 
 course of two hours. As they are now friable and porous, they require to be delicately 
 handled. Each mould, containing generally two pages octavo, is laid, with the im- 
 pression downwards, upon a flat cast-iron plate, called the floating-plate ; this plate 
 being itself laid on the bottom of the dipping-pan, which is a cast-iron square tray, 
 with its upright edges sloping outwards. A cast-iron lid is applied to the dipping-pah, 
 and secured in its place by a screw. The pan having been heated to 400° in a cell of 
 Ihe oven, under the mould-rack, previous to receiving the hot mould, is ready to be 
 plunged into the bath of melted alloy contained in an iron pot placed over a furnace, 
 and it is dipped with a slight deviation from the horizontal plane, in order to facilitate 
 the escape of the air. As there is a minute space between the back or top surface of 
 the mould and the lid of the dipping-pan, the liquid metal, on entering into the pan 
 through the orifices in its corners, floats up the plaster along with the iron plate on 
 which it had been laid, thence called the floating-plate, whereby it flows freely into every 
 line of the mould, through notches cut in its edge, and forms a layer or lamina upon its 
 face, of a thickness corresponding to the depth of the border. Only a thin metal film 
 is left upon the back of the mould. The dipping-pan is suspended, plunged, and removed 
 by means of a powerful crane, susceptible of vertical and horizontal motions in all direc- 
 tions. When lifted out of the bath, it is set in a water-cistern, upon bearers so placed 
 as to allow its bottom only to touch the surface. Thus the metal first concretes below, 
 
 * Chase (chassis, frame, Fr.), quoin (coin, wedge, Fr.) are terms which si ow that the art of printing 
 same directly from France to England. 
 
736 STEVENSON'S DEVOLVING LIGHTHOUSE. 
 
 while by remaining fluid above, it continues to impart hydrostatic pressure during 
 the shrinkage attendant'upon refrigeration. As it thus progressively contracts in volume, 
 more melted metal is fed into the corners of the pan by a ladle, in order to keep up the 
 hydrostatic pressure upon the mould, and to secure a perfect impression, as well as a solid 
 cast Were the pan more slowly and equably cooled, by being left in the air, the thin 
 film of metal upon the back of the inverted plaster cake would be apt to solidify first, 
 and intercept the hydrostatic action indispensable to the purpose of filling all the lines 
 in its face. A skilful workman makes five dips, containing two pages octavo each, in 
 the course of an hour, or about nine and a half octavo sheets per day. The pan being 
 taken asunder, the compound cake of mould and metal is removed, and beat upon its 
 edges with a wooden mallet, to detach the superfluous metal The stereotype plate is 
 then handed over to the picker, who planes its edges truly square, turns its back flat 
 upon a lathe to a determinate thickness, and carefully removes the little imperfections 
 occasioned by dirt or air left among the letters when the mould was cast. Should any 
 of them be damaged in the course of the operation, they must be cut out, and replaced 
 by soldering in separate types of the same size and form. 
 
 STEVENSON'S REVOLVING LIGHTHOUSE. This apparatus consists of two 
 parts. The principal part is a right octagonal hollow prism composed of eight large 
 •lenses, which throw out a powerful beam of light whenever the axis of a single lens 
 comes in the line between the observer and the focus. This occurs once in a minute, 
 as the frame which bears the lense revolves in eight minutes on the rollers place be- 
 neath. The subsidiary parts consist of eight pyramidal lenses inclined at an angle of 
 30° to the horizon, and forming together a hollow truncated cone, which rests above 
 the flame like a cap. Above these smaller lenses (which can only be seen by looking 
 from below) are placed eight plain mirrors, whose surfaces being inclined to the horizon 
 at 50° in the direction opposite to that of the pyramidal lenses, finally causes all the 
 light made parallel by the refraction of these lenses to leave the mirror in a horizontal 
 direction. The only object of this part is to turn to useful account, by prolonging the 
 duration of the flash, that part of the light which would otherwise escape into the at- 
 mosphere above the main lenses. This is effected by giving to the upper lenses a slight 
 horizontal divergence from the vertical plane of the principal lenses. Below are five 
 tiers of totally reflecting prisms, which intercept the light that passes below the great 
 lenses, and by means of two reflections and an intermediate refraction project them in 
 the shape of a flat ring to the horizon. 
 
 Fixed dioptric apparatus of the first order (same as that at the Isle of May, with va- 
 rious improvements).. The principal part consists of a cylindric belt of glass which 
 surrounds the flame in the centre, and by its action refracts the light in a vertical di- 
 rection upward and downward, so as to be parallel with the focal plane of the system. 
 In this way it throws out a flat ring of light equally intense in every direction. To near 
 observers, this action presents a narrow vertical band of light, depending for its breadth 
 on the extent of the horizontal angle embraced by the eye. This arrangement therefore 
 fulfils all the conditions of a fixed light, and surpasses in effect any arrangement of par- 
 abolic reflectors. . In order to save the light which would be lost in passing above and 
 below the cylindrical belt, curved mirrors with their common focus in the lamp were 
 formerly used ; but by the present engineer, the adaptation of catadioptric zones to this 
 part of the apparatus was, after much labor, successfully carried out. These zones are 
 triangular, and act by a total reflexion, the inner face refracting, the second totally re- 
 flecting, and the third or outer face, a second time refracting, so as to cause the light to 
 emerge horizontally. The apparatus has received many smaller changes by the intro- 
 duction of a new mode of grouping the various parts of the frame work, by which the 
 passage of the light is less obscured in every azimuth. During the last four years these 
 improvements have been introduced into the lighthouses of Scotland. 
 
 Mechanical lamps of four wicks, in which the oil is kept continually overflowing by 
 means of pumps which raise it from the cistern below ; the rapid caroonization of the 
 wicks, which would be caused by the great heat, is thus avoided. The flames of the lamp 
 reach their best effect in three hours after lighting, i. e. after the whole of the oil in the 
 cistern, by passing and repassing over the wicks repeatedly, has reached its maximum 
 temperature. After this the lamp often burns 14 hours without sensible diminution of 
 the light, and then rapidly falls. The height varies from 16 to 20 times that of the Argand 
 flame of an inch in diameter ; and the quantity of oil consumed by it is greater nearly 
 in the same proportion. 
 
 «rolving light with axial rotation, by which one half the number of reflectors and 
 alf the quantity of oil are designed to be saved. Intended for illuminating any 
 arch of not more than 180°. The intervals of time of illumination are equal within 
 the whole of the illuminated arch, instead of unequal as in the reciprocating light. The 
 reflectors are also of a new form consisting of paracolic strips of different focal distances 
 
STEVENSON'S REVOLVING LIGHTHOUSE. 737 
 
 Ordinary parabolic reflector rendered holophotal (where the entire light is parallel- 
 ized) by a portion of a catadioptric annular lens. The back part of the parabolic 
 conoid is cut off, and a portion of a spherical mirror substituted, so as to send the raya 
 again through the flame. All the light intercepted by the annular lens is lost in the 
 ordinary reflector. 
 
 Holophotal catadioptric annular lens apparatus (unfinished). This is a combination of 
 a hemispherical mirror, and a lens with totally reflecting zones ; the peculiarity of this 
 arrangement is, that the catadioptric zones, instead of transmitting the light in parallel 
 horizontal plates, as in Fresnel's apparatus, produces, as it were, an extension of the 
 lenticular or quaquaversal action of the central lens by assembling the light around its 
 axis in the form of concentric hollow cylinders. (The above instruments belong to the 
 Board of Northern Lights.) 
 
 The early method of illuminating lighthouses was by coal or wood fires contained in 
 " chauffers." The Isle of Man light was of this kind until 1816. The first decided im- 
 provement was made by Argand, in 1784, who invented a lamp with a circular wick, 
 the flame being supplied by an external and internal current of air. To make these 
 lamps more effective for lighthouse illumination, and prevent the«ray of light escaping 
 on all sides, a reflector was afterward added ; th.s threw the light forward in parallel 
 rays toward such points of the horizon as would be useful to the mariner. Good reflectors 
 increase the luminous effect of a lamp about 400 times; this is the "catoptric" system 
 of lighting. When reflectors are used, there is a certain quantity of light lost, and the 
 "dioptric" or refracting system, invented by the late M. Augustin Fresnel, is designed 
 to obviate this effect to some extent: the "catadioptric" system is a still further im- 
 provement, and acts both by refraction and reflexion. Lights of the first order have an 
 interior radius or focal distance of 36'22 inches, and are lighted by a lamp of four con- 
 centric wicks, consuming 570 gallons of oil per annum. 
 
 The appearance of light called short eclipses has hitherto been obtained by the fol- 
 lowing arrangement: — 
 
 An apparatus for a fixed light being provided, composed of a central cylinder and 
 two zones of catadioptric rings forming a cupola and lower part, a certain number of 
 lenses are arranged at equal distances from each other, placed upon an exterior move- 
 able frame making its revolution around the apparatus in a given period. These lenses, 
 composed of vertical prisms, are of the same altitude as the cylinder, and the radius 
 of their curves is in opposite directions to those of the cylinder, in such a manner that 
 at their passage they converge into a parallel pencil of light, all the divergent rays emit- 
 ted horizontally from the cylinder producing a brilliant effect, like that obtained by 
 the use of annular lenses at the revolving lighthouses. 
 
 The first improvement exhibited has special reference to the light, and produces a 
 considerable increase in its power, while the simplicity of the optical arrangements is 
 also regarded. It consists, firstly, in completely dispensing with the moveable central 
 cylindrical lenses ; secondly, it replaces these by a single revolving cylinder composed 
 of four annular lenses and four lenses of a fixed light introduced between them; but 
 the number of each varying according to the succession of flashes to be produced in the 
 period of revolution. 
 
 The second improvement, of which already some applications that have been made 
 serve to show the importance, consists in a new method of arranging the revolving parts, 
 experience having shown that the arrangements at present in use are not very faulty 
 A short time is sufficient for the action of the friction rollers, revolving on two parallel 
 planes, to produce by a succession of cuttings a sufficiently deep groove to destroy the 
 regularity of the rotatory movement. To obviate this great inconvenience the friction 
 rollers are so placed and fitted, on an iron axis with regulating screws and traversing 
 between two bevelled surfaces, that when an indentation is made in one place they can 
 be adjusted to another part of the plates which is not so worn. 
 
 The third improvement produces the result of an increase of the power of the flashes 
 in revolving lighthouse apparatus to double what has been obtained hitherto. By 
 means of lenses of vertical prisms placed in the prolongation of the central annular 
 lenses, the divergent rays emerging from the catadioptric zone are brought into a 
 straight line, and a coincidence of the three lenses is obtained. 
 
 The whole of the prisms, lenses, and zones, are mounted with strength and simplicity, 
 accurately ground and polished to the correct curves according to their respective 
 positions, so as to properly develope this beautiful system of Fresnel. The glass of 
 which they are composed is of the clearest crystal color, and free from that green hue 
 which so materially reduces the power of (he light, and is considered objectionable for 
 apparatus of this kind. The lamp by which the apparatus is to be lighted consists 
 of a concentric burner with four circular wicks attached to a lamp of simple construe 
 tion, the oil being forced up to the burner by atmospheric pressure only, so that ther« 
 are no delicate pumps or machinery to become deranged. 
 Vol. II. 48 
 
738 STILL. 
 
 Improved lantern and revolving apparatus for a light vetsel. The principal improve* 
 ment consists in constructing the machinery to work beneath the deck, instead of in thfl 
 lantern as formerly. A vertical rod working in metal bearings is attached to the mast, 
 with a large gun-metal pinion fixed to the top of the rod, at the height to which it is 
 necessary to hoist the lantern, -wherein a train of cog-wheels is placed, to connect with 
 the pinion and communicate the motion obtained therefrom to the traversing apparatus 
 that supports the lamps and reflectors. The advantages of this arrangement are, that 
 the lanterns can be made much lighter, the rolling of the vessel caused by so great a weight 
 at the mast head is greatly diminished, and the machinery being more under control 
 and better protected, works with greater regularity and precision. 
 
 An idea of the utility of these improvements may be gained by. reflecting that the 
 situations in which the light-vessels are placed are at all times difficult of access, and in 
 stormy weather, when accidents are most likely to occur, quite unapproachable ; so that 
 it will be obvious any alteration which reduces the liability to derangement is greatly 
 to be appreciated. 
 
 There is also an advantage derived from the navel construction of the lamps and 
 gimbal work, which,, by a movement exactly coinciding with the motion of the vessel, 
 causes a perfect level to be always maintained, and ensures the proper flow of oil to 
 the burners, however irregular that motion may be. This improvement is not of so re- 
 cent an introduction as the former, but when it was first invented by one of the ex- 
 hibitors, it produced a complete revolution in the apparatus for floating lights, and en- 
 abled the beautiful Argand lamps, with parabolic reflectors, to be used instead of the 
 old lamps with smoky flat wicks. 
 
 STILL (Mumbic, Fr. ; Blase, Germ.), is a chemical apparatus, for vaporizing liquids 
 by heat in one part, called the cucurbit, and condensing the vapors into liquids in "another 
 part, called the refrigeratory ; the general purpose of both combined being to separate 
 the more volatile fluid particles from the less volatile. In its simplest form, it consists 
 of a retort and a receiver, or of a pear-shaped matrass and a capital, furnished with a 
 slanting tube for conducting away the condensed vapors in drops j whence the term still, 
 from the Latin verb stillare, to drop. Its chief employment in this country being to elim- 
 inate alcohol, of greater or less strength, from fermented wash, I shall devote this article 
 to a description of the stills best adapted to the manufacture of British spirits, referring 
 to chemical authors* for those fitted for peculiar objects. 
 
 In respect of rapidity and extent of work, stills had attained to an extraordinary pitch 
 of perfection in Scotland about thirty years ago, when legislative wisdom thought fit to 
 levy the spirits duty, per annum, from each distiller, according to the capacity of his 
 still. It having been shown, in a report presented to the House of Commons in 1799, 
 that an 80-gallon still could he worked off in eight minutes, this fact was made the basis 
 of a new fiscal law, on the supposition that the maximum of velocity had been reached. 
 But, instigated by the hopes of enormous gains at the expense of the revenue, the distill- 
 ers soon contrived to do the same thing in three minutes, by means of broad-bottomed 
 shallow'stills, with stirring-chains, and lofty capitals. In the year 1815, that preposter- 
 ous law, which encouraged fraud and deteriorated the manufacture, was repealed. The 
 whiskey duties having been since levied, independently of the capacity of the still, upon 
 the quantity produced, such rapid operations have been abandoned, and processes of econ- 
 omy in fuel, and purity in product, have been sought after. 
 
 One of the greatest. improvements in modern distilleries, is completing the analysis 
 of crude spirit at one operation. Chemists had been long familiar with the contrivance 
 of Woulfe, for impregnating with gaseous matter, water contained in a range of bottles ; 
 but they had not thought of applying that plan to distillation, when Edouard Adam, 
 an illiterate workman of Montpellier, after hearing accidentally a chemical lecture 
 upon that apparatus, bethought himself of converting it into a still. He caused 
 the boiling-hot vapors to chase the spirits successively out of one bottle into another, 
 so as to obtain in the successive vessels alcohol of any desired strength and purity, " at 
 one and the same heat." He obtained a patent for this invention in 1801, and was soon 
 afterwards enabled, by his success on the small scale, to set up in his native city a mag- 
 nificent distillery, which excited the admiration of all the practical chemists of that 
 day. In November, 1805, he obtained a certificate of certain improvements for ex- 
 tracting from wine, at one process, the whole of its alcohol. Adam was so overjoyed, 
 after making his first experiments, that he ran about the streets of Montpellier, telling 
 everybody of the surprising results of his invention. Several competitors soon entered 
 the lists with him, especially Solimani, professor of chemistry in that city, and Isaac 
 
 * The treatises of Le Normand and Dubruiifaut may also be consulted. The Flench stills are in general 
 K> much complicated with a great many small pipes and passages, as lo be unfit for distilling the glutinous 
 wash of grains. 
 
STILL. 
 
 739 
 
 Berard, distiller in the department of Gard ; who, having contrived other form's of con 
 tinuous stills, divided the profits with the first inventor. 
 
 The principles of spirituous distillation may be stated as follows : — The boiling point 
 of alcohol varies with its density or strength, in conformity with the numbers in the fol 
 lowing table: — 
 
 Specific gravity. 
 
 Boiling point, by Fahrenheit's 
 scale. 
 
 Specific gravity. 
 
 Boiling point, by Fahrenheit'^ 
 scale. 
 
 0-7939 
 
 168-5° 
 
 0-8875 
 
 181-0° 
 
 0-8034 
 
 168-0 
 
 0-8631 
 
 1830 
 
 0-8118 
 
 168-5 
 
 0-8765 
 
 187-0 
 
 0-8194 
 
 169-0 
 
 0-8892 
 
 190-0 
 
 0-8265 
 
 172-5 
 
 0-9013 
 
 194-0 
 
 0-8332 
 
 173-5 
 
 0-9*26 
 
 197-0 
 
 0-8397 
 
 175-0 
 
 0-9234 
 
 1990 
 
 0-8458 
 
 177-0 
 
 0-9335 
 
 201-0 
 
 0-8518 
 
 1790 
 
 
 
 See also the table under Alcohol, page 17. 
 
 Hence, the lower the temperature of the spirituous vapor which enters the refri- 
 geratory apparatus, the stronger and purer will the condensed spirit be; because the 
 offensive oils, which are present in the wash or wine, are less volatile than alcohol, and 
 are brought over chiefly with the aqueous vapor. A perfect still should, therefore, consist 
 of three distinct members ; first, the cucurbit, or kettle ; second, the rectifier, for inter- 
 cepting more or less of the watery and oily particles ; and third, the refrigerator, or conden- 
 ser of the alcoholic vapors. 
 
 These principles are illustrated in the construction of the still represented in Jigs. 1365, 
 1366, 1367, 1368, 1369 ; in which the resources of the most refined .French stills are 
 combined with a simplicity and solidity suited to the grain distilleries of the United 
 Kingdom. Three principal objects are obtained by the arrangement here shown; first, 
 the extraction from fermented wort or wine, at one operation, of a spirit of any desired 
 cleanness and strength ; second, great economy of time, labor, and fuel ; third, freedom 
 from all danger of blowing up or boiling over, by mismanaged firing. When a com- 
 bination of water, alcohol, and essential oil, in the state of vapor, is passed upwards 
 through a series of winding passages, maintained at a determinate degree of heat, 
 between 170° and 180°, the alcohol alone, in any notable proportion, will retain the 
 elastic form, and will proceed onwards into the refrigeratory tube, in which the said 
 passages terminate ; while the water and the oil will be in a great measure condensed, 
 arrested, and thrown back into the body of the still, to be discharged with the effete 
 residuum. 
 
 The system of passages or channels, represented in Jig. 1366, is so contrived as to bring 
 the mingled vapors which rise from the alembic a, into ample and intimate .contact with 
 metallic surfaces, maintained, in a water-balh, at a temperature self-regulated by a heat- 
 governor. See Thermostat. 
 
 The neck of the alembic tapers upwards, as shown at b, fig. 1365 ; and at c,fig. 1366, 
 it enters the bottom, or ingress vestibule, of the rectifier c,f. f is its top or egress 
 vestibule, which communicates with the bottom one by parallel cases or rectangular 
 channels d, d, d, of which the width is small, compared with the length and height. 
 These cases are open at top and bottom, where they are soldered or riveted into a genera, 
 frame within the cavity, enclosed by the two covers /, c, which are secured round their 
 edges e, e, e, e, with bolts and packing. Each case is occupied with a numerous series 
 of shelves or trays, placed at small distances over each other, in a horizontal or slightly 
 inclined position, of which a side view is given in Jig. 1367, and cross sections at d, d, d, 
 Jig. 1366. Each shelf is turned up a little at the two edges, and at one end, but sloped 
 down at the other end, that the liquor admitted at the top'may be made to flow slowly 
 backwards and forwards in its descent through the system of shelves or trays, as in- 
 dicated by the darts and spouts in Jig. 1367. The shelves of each case are framed 
 together by two or more vertical metallic rods, which pass down through them, and are 
 fiied to each shelf by solder, or by. screw-nuts. By this means, if the cover/, be removedj 
 the sets of shelves may be readily lifted out of the cases and cleaned ; for which reason 
 they are called moveable. 
 
 The intervals i, i, i,Jig. 1366, between the cases, are left for the free circulation of the 
 water contained in the bath-vessel g, g ; these intervals being considerably narrower than 
 the cases. 
 
 Fig. 1368 repiesents in plan the surface of the rectifying cistern, shown in two 
 different sections in figs. 1366 and 1367. h,k,Jigs. 1366 and 1368, is the heat-governor, 
 
74f> 
 
 STILI* 
 
 shaped: somewhat lite a pair of tongs. Each leg is a compound bar, consisting of a 
 fiat bar or ruler of steel, and one of brass alloy, riveted facewise together, having their 
 edges up and down. The links, at k, are joined to the free ends of these compound bars, 
 which, receding by increase and approaching by decrease of temperature, act by a lever on 
 
 the stopcock I, fixed to the pipe of a cold-water back, and are so adjusted by a screw-nut, 
 that whenever the water in the bath vessel g, g, rises above the desired temperature, 
 cold water will be admitted, through the stopcock I, and pipe «, into the bottom of the 
 cistern, and will displace the over-heated water by the pverftow-pipe m. Thus a perfect 
 equilibrium of caloric may be maintained, and alcoholic vapor of correspondent uniformity 
 transmitted to the refrigeratory. 
 
 fig. 1369 is the cold condenser, of similar construction to the reettfier,_/jg. 1366; only 
 the water cells should be here larger in proportion to the vapor channels d, d. This 
 refrigeratory system will be found very powerful, and it presents the great advantage of 
 permitting its interior to be readily inspected and cleansed. It is best made of laminated 
 tin, hardened" with a little copper alloy. ' 
 
 The mode of working the preceding apparatus will be understood by the following 
 instructions. Into the alembic, o, let as much fermented liquor be admitted as will pro- 
 tect its bottom from being injured by the fire, reserving the main body in the chargfaig- 
 back. Whenever the ebullition in the alembic has raised the temperature of the water- 
 bath g, g, to the desired pitch, whether that be 170°, 175°, or 180°, the thermostatic 
 instrument is to be adjusted by its screw-nut, and then the communication with the 
 charging-back is to be opened by moving the index of the stopcoek o, over a proper 
 portion of its quadrantal arch. The wash will now descend in a slender equable 
 stream, through the pipe o, /, thence spread into the horizontal tube p, p, and issue 
 from the orifices of distribution, as seen in the figure, into the respective flat trays or 
 spouts. The manner of its progress is seen for one set of trays, mfig- 1367. The direc- 
 tion of the stream in each shelf is evidently the reverse of that in the shelf above and 
 below it ; the turned-np end of one shelf corresponding to the discharge slope of its 
 neighbor. 
 
 By diffusing the cool wash or wine in a thin film over such an ample range of sur- 
 faces, the constant tendency of the bath to exceed the proper limit of temperature is 
 counteracted to the utmost, without waste of time or fuel; for the wash itself, in 
 transitu, becomes boiling-hot, and' experiences a powerful steam distillation. By this 
 ' arrangement a very moderate influx of cold water, through the thermostatic stopcock, 
 suffices to temper the bath; such an extensive vaporization of the wash producing a far 
 more powerful refrigerant influence than its simple heating to ebullition. It deserves 
 .0 be remarked, that the maximum distillatory effect, or the bringing over the greatest 
 quantity of pure spirits in the least time, and with the least labor and fuel, is here 
 accomplished without the lea6t steam pressure in the alembic ; for the passages are 
 
STILL. 
 
 741 
 
 »U pervious to the vapor ; whereas, in almost every wash-still heretofore contrived for 
 similar purposes, the spirituous vapors must force their way through successive layers 
 of liquid, the total pressure produced by which causes undue elevation of temperature, 
 and obstruction to the process. Whatever supplementary refrigeration of the vapors in 
 their passage through the bath may be deemed proper, will be administered by the ther- 
 mostatic regulator. 
 
 Towards the end of the process, after all the wasli has entered the alembic, it may be 
 sometimes desirable, for the sake of despatch, to modify the thermostat, by its adjusting- 
 screw, so that the bath may take a higher temperature, and allow the residuary feints to 
 run rapidly over, into a separate cistern. This weak fluid may be pumped back into the 
 alembic, as the preliminary charge of a fresh operation. 
 
 The above plan of a water-bath regulated by the thermostat, may be used simply as 
 a rectifying cistern, without transmitting the spirit or wash down through it. The 
 series of shelves will cause the vapors from the still to impinge against a most ex- • 
 tensive system of metallic surfaces, maintained at a steady temperature, whereby their 
 watery and crude constituents will be condensed and thrown back, while their fine 
 alcoholic particles will proceed forwards to the refrigeratory. Any ordinary still may 
 be readily converted into this self-rectifying form, by merely interposing the cistern, 
 fig. 1366, between the alembic and the worm-tub. The leading novelty of the present 
 invention is the moveable system of shelves or trays, enclosed in metallic cases, separated 
 by water, combined with the thermostatic regulator. By this combination, any quality 
 of spirits may be procured at one step from wash or wine, by an apparatus, simple, strong, 
 and easily kept in order. 
 
 The empyreumatic taint which spirits are apt to contract from the action of the naked 
 fire on the bottom of the still, may be entirely prevented by the use of a bath of potash 
 tey, p, /), fig. 1365 ; for thus a safe and effectual range of temperature, of 300° F., may 
 be conveniently obtained. The still may also be used without the bath vessel. 
 
 Mr. D. T. Shears, of Southwark, obtained a patent in March, 1830, for certain im- 
 provements and additions to stills, which are ingenious. They are founded upon a 
 previous patent, granted to Joseph Corty, in 1818 ; a section of whose contrivance is 
 shown in fig. 1370, consisting of a first still a, a second still b, a connecting tube c, from 
 the one end to the other, and the tube d, which leads 
 1370 from the second still-head down through the bent tube 
 
 e, e, to the lower part of the condensing apparatus. 
 The original improvements described under Corty's 
 j patent, consisted further, in placing boxes /,/,/,' of the 
 
 condensing apparatus in 
 horizontal positions, and 
 at a distance from each 
 other, in order that the 
 vapor might ascend 
 through them, for the 
 purpose of discharging 
 the spirit by the top tube 
 g, and- pipe h, into the 
 worm, in a highly recti- 
 fied or concentrated 
 state. In each of the 
 boxes/, there is a convex 
 plate or inverted dish i, 
 i, i, and the vapor in 
 rising from the tube e, 
 strikes against the con- 
 cave or under part of 
 the first dish, and then 
 escapes round its edges, 
 and over its convex sur- 
 face, to the under part 
 of the second dish, and 
 so on to the top, the 
 tondensed part of the vapor flowing down again into the still, and the spirit passing off 
 by the pipe h, at top j and as the process of condensation will be assisted by cooling the 
 vapor as it rises, cold water is made to flow over the tops of the boxes /, from a cock fc, 
 and through small channels or tubes on the sides of the boxes, and is ultimately discharged 
 by the pipe I, at bottom. 
 
 Fig. 1371 represents a peculiarly shaped tube a, through wnich the spirit is described 
 as pa*ing after leaving the end of the worm at 6, which tube is open to the atmospheric 
 
742 
 
 STILL. 
 
 air at z ; c, is. the passage through whieh the carbonic acid gas is described as escaping 
 into the vessel of water d. 
 
 Now the improvements claimed under the present patent, are exhibited in fig). 1372 
 1373, and 1374. Fig. 1372 represents the external appearance of a still, the heaa 
 of which is made very capacious, to guard against over-boiling by any mismanagement 
 of the fire ; fig. 1373 is the same, partly in section. On the top of the still-head is 
 formed the first-described rectifying apparatus, or series of condensing boxes. The 
 vapor from the body of the still filling the head, meets with the first check from the dish 
 or lower vessel i, and after passing under its edges, ascends and strikes against the lower 
 part of the second dish or vessel i, and so on, till it ultimately leaves the still-head by th; 
 pipe at top. 
 
 This part of the apparatus is slightly altered from the former, by the substitution ol 
 hollow convex vessels, instead of the inverted dishes before described, which vessels hav 
 . rims descending from their under surfaces, for the purpose of retaining the vapor 
 The ccld water, which, as above described, flowed over the tops of xhe boxes /, for the 
 purpese of cooling them, now flows also through the hollow convex vessels i, within the 
 boxes, and by that means greatly assists the refrigerating process, by which the aqueous 
 part i of the vapor are more readily condensed, and made to fall down and flow back again 
 into the body of the still, while the spirituous parts pass off at top to the worm, in a very 
 high state of rectification. 
 
 After the water employed for the refrigeration has passed over all the boxes, and 
 through all the vessels, it is carried off by the pipe m, through the vessel «, called the 
 wash-heater ; that is, the vessel in which the wash is placed previous to introducing it 
 into the still. The pipe m, is coiled round in the lower part of the vessel n, in order 
 that the heated water may communicate its caloric to the wash, instead of losing the 
 heat by allowing the water to flow away. After the heated water has made several 
 turns round the wash heater, it passes out at the curved pipe o, which is bent up, in 
 order to keep the coils of the pipe within always full of water. 
 
 Instead of the coiled pipe n, last described, the patentee proposes sometimes to pass 
 the hot water into a chamber in a tub or wooden vessel, as at n, in fig. 1369, in which the 
 wash to be heated occupies the upper part of the vessel, and is separated from the lower 
 part by a thin metallic partition. 
 
 The swan-neck k,figs. 1372 and 1373, which leads from the head of the still, conducts 
 the spirit from the still through the wash-heater, where it becomes partially cooled, and 
 gives out its heat to the wash ; and from thence the 
 spirit passes to the worm tub, and being finally con- 
 densed, is passed through a safety tube, as (fig. 1366) 
 before described, and by the funnel is conducted into 
 the cask below. 
 
 Should any spirit rise in the wash-heater during the above operation, it will be carried 
 down to the worm by the neck p, and coiled pipe, and discharged at its lower end : or it 
 may be passed into the still-head, as shown in fig. 1370. 
 
 Coffetfa Still. This ingenious, original'and powerful apparatus for distilling spirits 
 from fermented worts or wash of all kinds, is, after many struggles with the illiberal 
 prejudices of the Excise, now universally recognized as the best, most economical, and 
 surest in a revenue point of view, of all the contrivances of eliminating the alcohol, in 
 the purest state, and of any desired strength, at one operation. Its outer form and 
 internal structure differ essentially from those of all the old stills, though it possesses 
 lome of the good principles of Derosnes, in continuity of action, and in causing a current 
 
STILL. 
 
 743 
 
 of spirituous vapor to ascend, and a current of wash deprived of its alcohol to descend 
 in one system of continuous cells. Its main structure consists of a series of wooden 
 planks, 5 or 6 inches thick, fixed over one another, the joints being covered, or the 
 whole being lined with sheet copper; so that the apparatus resembles a great chest, 
 to which is attached the induction pipe of a 6team boiler, as the active principle of 
 the whole. 
 
 The essential apparatus consists of three main parts; the wash collector A, A, A, and 
 the two rectangular columns or uprights. 
 
 The front column D, D, D, or the analyser, is for rectifying the wash, the other column 
 is intended for warming the wash ; the under part f, f, f, of the forewarmer serves as 
 a dephlegmator and for the rectification of the feints: the upper part e, e, e, serves to 
 condense the strong spirituous vapor. 
 
 13T5 
 
 OP • ' ,p y U . 
 
 BdessfeaBH 
 
 if in 
 
 The wash collector a, is divided into two compartments B and o, by means of the 
 copper plate e c; this plate c c, is pierced with a drainer, with a number of small holes, 
 and 13 provided also with a t shaped valve o o o. The wash rectifier d is divided by 
 the plates r, r, of a like drainer construction into 12 chambers, and the feint rectifier 
 F f, into 10 chambers by similar plates s, s, s. These orifices are so narrow as to allow 
 the passage of the rising vapor, but to prevent the downward passage of the liquid 
 resting on the plates, which passes downwards through the adjunct tubes, viz., d, into 
 the wash collector B, v, into the rectifier D, and likewise into the dephlegmator'*, pass- 
 ing from each upper into the next under chamber. "When the steam pressure is too 
 strong, the valves o, o, give it vent. 
 
 When the apparatus is in action, a continuous stream of wash is raised out of g, by 
 Means of the pump k, into the tube i, which feeds the still. This current must be re- 
 gulated very nicely, so as just to feed the tube i, allowing the excess to return through 
 the stop-cock a, and the tube I, into the wash-cistern H. The tube t enters into the 
 uppermost partition of e, forming 1 zig-zag bendings in this space, and through f, and 
 then mounts upwards from that chamber into the top chamber of D. Tienee the wash 
 flows down from chamber to chamber, and arrives through d into o, and finally in a 
 similar way into B, where it is fully deprived of spirit, and is from time to time run off 
 through t. It is neecssary throughout that the wash in this passage into D and b should 
 stand about an inch high upon each plate r r, for which purpose the adjunct tubes » 
 
744 
 
 STILL. 
 
 Bhould stand an inch above the plate, and thus give the vapor no indirect passage, ai 
 the under end of each tube v dips into a shallow cup, and is thus shut in by the wash 
 remaining in it The tube d, which leads the wash from the plate c e into o, serves a 
 like purpose. As soon as it has risen up in it to the, upper orifice of the glass tube y, 
 the valve 6 is to be opened, to allow it to flow off into B through the tube 6. 
 
 Here into b the very hot and nearly spent wash comes into contact with the steam 
 issuing from the steam boiler through the steam tube a, a. It rushes through it, and 
 carries off from it the spirit through the small orifices of the plate c, expands thus into 
 the whole breadth of this chamber through the wash standing in it, and deprives this at 
 once of every trace of spirit, then collects over the fluid, and enters through the connec- 
 tion tube e, into the undermost chamber of d, and thence into the following in succession, 
 always through the orifices of the plate r r. Whilst the steam meets the wash jn every 
 chamber and becomes more spirituous the higher it mounts, it at the same time becomes 
 cooler, and depositee the watery part, absorbing more alcohol, so that after this compli- 
 cated rectification it passes on through the tube m, m, into the lowest chamber of the 
 forewarmer f. It hero pursues a like path upwards through the plates s, s, where the 
 feints are at the same time rectified by the dephlegmation of the vapor. The steam 
 flows through the different junction tubes into f, and its subdivisions, whereby (as the 
 wash in d) forms upon each plate a layer an inch thick to be penetrated by the steam. 
 The remainder passes out of the undermost plate through the tube g g, into Q, where it 
 is carried on by the pump with fresh wash into circulation in the apparatus. 
 
 The alcoholic vapors reaches now E. The plate which separates E and F is not per- 
 forated ; it lets the vapor merely pass through the short and wide junction tube w, into 
 the condenser E, where in like manner the non-perforated plates w, w, compel it to fol- 
 low the zig-zag bendings of i, i, so as to complete its condensation and the heating of 
 the wash in r. The completely condensed vapor is collected on the bottom of e, and 
 is conducted out of the cup of the junction tube there, which is larger) through the 
 annexed tube sideways &tp, into the refrigerator, (not shown in the figure). 
 
 I shall conclude this article with a description of two stills, the first of which is com- 
 monly employed by the chemists in Berlin for rectifying alcohol, a, is the ash-pit ; b, 
 
 the fireplace ; c, c, the flues, which go spirally round the sides of the cucurbit d ; e, the 
 capital, made of block tin, and furnished with a brass edge, which fits tight to a corre- 
 sponding edge on the mouth of d; f, f, the slanting pipes of the capital ; g, the oval re- 
 frigeratory, made of copper; ft, the water-gauge glass tube; i, a stopcock for emptying 
 the vessel; k, do, for drawing off the hot water from the surface; I, tube for the 
 supply of cold water. A double cylinder of tin is placed in the refrigeratory, of 
 which the outer one m, in, stands upon three feet, and is furnished with a discharge 
 pipe n. The inner one o, o, which is open above, receives cold water through Ihs 
 pipe p, and lets the warm water flow off through the short tube q, into the refrigera- 
 tory. In the narrow space between the two cylinders, the vapors preceding from 
 the capital are condensed, and pass off in the liquid state through re. The refrige- 
 ratory is made oval, in order to receive two condensers alongside of each other in the 
 line of the longer axis; though only one, and that in the middle, is represented in the 
 figure. 
 
 The continuous system of distillation has been Carried in France to a great' pitch 
 of perfection, by the ingenuity chiefly of M. Cellier Blumenthal, and M. Ch. Derosne. 
 Fig. 1377 is a general view of their apparatus ; a and b are boilers or alembics encased 
 
r 
 
 STILL. 745 
 
 in brickwork, and receiving 
 directly the action of the flame 
 playing beneath them; in the 
 copper, a, the vinasse, or spent 
 wine, is finally exhausted of 
 all its alcohol, o is the column 
 of distillation ; D, the column 
 of rectification ; K, the wine- 
 heating condenser; P, the re- 
 frigerator; G, a vessel sup- 
 plying vinasse to the cooler r, 
 and feeding itself at the same 
 time by means of a ball stop- 
 cock placed in the vessel h; 
 h, reservoir of vinasse ; I, tube 
 of communication conducting 
 the alcoholic vapors of the 
 rectifying column, d, up into 
 the fiat worm of the wine- 
 heater, e; a, stopcock of dis- 
 charge of the alembic, A ; when 
 the operation goes on, the 
 spent vinasse runs off con- 
 tinually by the stop-cock; 
 6, a glass tube to show the 
 height of the liquor in a; c, a 
 safety-valve; a, a stop-eock 
 for passing the vinasse from 
 the alembic, b, into the bottom 
 of the alembic, a; e, a tube 
 to lead the alcoholic vapors, 
 generated in A, into the bottom 
 of B, which vapors, in passing 
 through the liquor in B, heat 
 it, and are partially condensed ; 
 /, glass tube to mark the level 
 of the liquor in b; g, and g, level 
 indicators; h, pipe conducting 
 the vinasse from the lower part of the wine-heater, e, upon the uppermost of the Beries 
 of horizontal discs, mounted within the column of distillation; i, a stop-cock for empty- 
 ing the wine-heater at the end of an operation ; I, I, two tubes fitted to the wine-heater, 
 E, of which the first descends into the last compartment of the rectifier, whence it rises 
 to the fifth ; and the second tube descends to the third compartment, whence it rises above 
 the second. At the cul.-vature of each of these two tubes a stopcock, I, and h, is placed 
 on them, for drawing at pleasure a sample of the liquor returned to the rectifier ; m, n, 
 and o, are tubes communicating on one side with the slanting tube, p, and on the other 
 with the tube, I. These three communications serve to furnish a spirit of greater or 
 less strength. Thus if it be wished to obtain a very strong spirit, the alcoholic vapors 
 which condense in the worm enclosed in e, are all to be led back into the rectifier, D, 
 to effect which purpose it is requisite merely to open the stop-cocks, n and o; again, 
 weaker Bpirits may be had by closing the stop-cock, o, and still weaker by closing the 
 stop-cock, n; for in this case, the alcoholic vapors condensed in the worm within e, 
 will flow off into the worm within the upright cooler, r, and will get mixed with the 
 richer vapors condensed in this refrigeratory. The interior of the column, o, contains 
 a series of moveable concave scale pans (like those of balances), with spaces between, 
 each alternate pan having the convex side turned reversely of the preceding one, for the 
 purpose of prolonging the cascade descent of the vinasse through o, and exposing it more 
 to the heating action of the ascending vapors ; the edges of these pans are, moreover, 
 furnished with projecting spiculse of copper wires, to lead off the liquor from their 
 surfaces in a fine shower. The interior of the rectifier column, d, is mounted with a 
 .series of shelves, or floors, the passage from one compartment to that above it being 
 through a short tube, bent at right angles, and open at either end ; p, p, p, is a general 
 tube, for receiving the vapors condensed in case of the turns of the large serpentine 
 within E. The axis of this worm is horizontal ; q, q, q, peep-holes in the top of the 
 wine-heater; r, a tube to conduct the alcoholic vapors not condensed in the worm of 
 E, and also, if desired, those which have been condensed there, into the worm of the 
 refrigeratory, !•; «, a tube to bring the vinasse from the reservoir, a, into the lower part 
 
746 
 
 STILL. 
 
 of the cooler, F t, a tube to lead the vinasse from the upper part of the cooler, p, intf 
 the upper part of the wine heater, e; «, a funnel; i>, a stop-cock to feed the tube, t 
 with vinasse ; a:, a tube of outlet for the spirits produced ; it ends, as shown in the figure, 
 in a test tube containing an hydrometer. 
 The still of Laugier is represented by a general view in Jig. 1878. a and b are alembic! 
 
 exposed to the direct action of the fire, and serve a like purpose to those of Jig. 1377 ; c, 
 is a cylinder containing the rectifier, and serving as a wine-heater; D, is the condensing 
 cylinder; a, a stop-cock communicating with the wine tun; 6, a plunger tube, fi- 
 nished with a funnel, through which wine rune constantly into the condenser, d; c, an 
 overflow of pipe D, between c and d, communicating by a tube, dipping in the cylinder, 
 c; rf, a plunger equilibrium tube, supplying the alembics with hot wine; e, a tube 
 leading the vapors of the first alembic, a, into the second one, B, into which it dips; /, 
 a tube conducting the vapors of alcohol from the alembic, b, into the circles of the 
 rectifier ; g, a tube bringing back into the alembic, b, the vapors condensed in the 
 circles of the rectifier; h, a tube conducting the vapors not condensed into the worm 
 of the condenser: i, a tube serving for the expulsion of the air when the wine comes 
 into the vessel e ; it communicates with the tube, h, so as not to lose alcohol. _;, is a 
 prolongation of the tube D, communicating with the tube h, so that it may be in con- 
 tact with the external air ; I, a stop-cock through which the alcohol condensed runs off 
 into the serpentine; m, levels, indicating the height of the liquor in the alembics, a and 
 b ; n, tube with a stop-cock, for feeding the alembics, a ; o, a discharge stop-cock of the 
 6pent vinasse (wash). 
 
 A description of the operation of the first still will render that of the second intelligible. 
 
 The alembic, A, being filled threes-fourths with vinasse, and b having only 4 or 5 inches 
 of vinasse over its bottom, the liquor in A is made to boil, and the stop-cock, r, being at 
 the same time opened, some of the wine to be distilled is allowed to fall into the fun- 
 nel, u ; this cold liquor runs to the bottom of the cooler, f, fills it, passes into the wine- 
 heater by the tube, I, spreads into a perforated conduit along the top of e, thence 
 trickles down into this vessel till it fills it to the level of the tube, h, by which it is con- 
 ducted into the column, o, and, flowing down through all its compartments, it falls at 
 last into the second alembic, B. 
 
 During this progress, the liquor of A having begun to boil, the alcoholio vapor passes, 
 by means of the tube e, e, into the second alembic B, which, being heated by these 
 vapors, and by the products of combustion issuing from the fire-place under the first 
 alembic, is also soon made to boil. The vapor which it produces is disengaged into 
 the column of distillation o, meets there the wine which trickles through all its com-" 
 partments, transfers to it a portion of its heat, and deprives it of alcohol, goes into tli8 
 
STONE, ARTIFICIAL. 747 
 
 column d, where it is alcoholized afresh, then enter into the -worm within the wine- 
 heater E, glides through all its windings, gets stripped in part of the aqueous vapors 
 which accompanied the alcohol, and which returns first by the tube p, p, then by I, I 
 into the column of rectification : afterward the spirituous vapors passes into the worm 
 enclosed in the cooler p, to issue finally condensed and deprived of all the waten 
 wished to be taken from it, by the tube x, into the gauge receiver. 
 
 When the indicator/ of the alembic B, shows it to be nearly full, the stop-cock a of 
 the alembic A is opened, and the vinasse is allowed to run out entirely exhausted of 
 spirit; but as soon as there are only seven inches of liquor above the discharge pipe, 
 the cock a is shut, and d is opened to run off seven inches of liquor from B. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that in reference to the discharge, the operation is not quite 
 continuous; but this slight interruption is a real improvement introduced by M. 
 Derosne into the working of M. Blumenthal's apparatus. It is impossible for any 
 distiller, however expert, to exhaust entirely the liquor of the last alembic, if the 
 discharge be not stopped for a short time. The above distilling apparatus requires 
 from two to three hours to put it in full action. From 10 to 15 per cent, of spirit of 2. 
 are obtained from the average of French wine I and 600 litres of such spirit are run off 
 with 150 kilogrammes of coals; or about two old English quarts of spirits for each 
 pound of coals. 
 
 STOCKING MANUFACTURE. See Hosiery. 
 
 STONE, is earthy matter, condensed into so hard a state as to yield only to the blows 
 of a hammer, and therefore well adapted to the purposes of building. Such was the 
 care of the ancients to provide strong and durable materials for their public edifices, that 
 but for the desolating hands of modern barbarians, in peace and in war, most of the 
 temples and other public monuments of Greece and of Rome would have remained 
 perfect at the present day, uninjured by the elements during 2000 years. The contrast, 
 in this respect, of the works of modern architects, especially in Great Britain, is very 
 humiliating to those who boast so loudly of social advancement; for there is scarcely 
 a public building of recent date which will be in existence one thousand years hence. 
 Many of the most splendid works of modern architecture are hastening to decay, in 
 what may be justly called the very infancy of their existence, if compared with the 
 date of those erected in ancient Italy, Greece, and Egypt. This is remarkably the ease 
 with the three bridges of London, Westminster, and Blaekfriars; the foundations of 
 which began to perish most visibly in the very lifetime of their constructors. Every 
 stone intended for a durable edifice ought to be tested as to its durability, by immer- 
 sion in a saturated solution of sulphate of soda, and exposure during some days to the 
 air. The crystallization which ensues in its interior will cause the same disintegration 
 of its substance which frost would occasion in a series of years. 
 
 STONES, for building, and bricks, may be proved as their power of resisting the 
 action of frost, by the above method, first practised by M. Brard, and afterward by 
 MM. Vicat,_ Billaudel, and Coarad, engineers of the bridges and highways in France. 
 The operation of water in congealing within the pores of a stone may be imitated by 
 the action of a salt, which can increase in bulk by a cause easily produced ; such as 
 efflorescence or crystallization, for example. Sulphate of soda or Glauber's salt answers 
 the purpose perfectly, and it should be applied as follows : — 
 
 Average samples of the stones in their sound state, free from shakes, should be sawed 
 into pieces 2 or 3 inches cube, and numbered with China ink on a graving tool. A 
 large quantity of Glauber's salt should be dissolved in hot water, and the solution should 
 be left to cool. The clear saturated solution being heated to the boiling point in a 
 saucepan, the several pieces of stone are to. be suspended by a thread in the liquid for 
 exactly one half-hour. They are then removed and hung up each by itself over a ves- 
 Bel containing some of the above cold saturated solution. In the course of 24 hours, if 
 the air be not very damp or cold, a white efflorescence will appear upon the stones. 
 Each piece must be then immersed in the liquor in the subjacent vessel, so as to cause 
 the crystals to disappear, and be once more hung up — and dipped again whenever the 
 dry efflorescence forms. The temperature of the apartment should be kept as uniform 
 as possible during the progress of the trials. According to their tendency to exfoliate 
 by frost, the several stones will show, even in the course of the first day, alterations 
 on the edges and angles of the cubes; and in five days after the efflorescence begins, 
 the results will be manifest, and maybe estimated by the weight of disintegrated fragments, 
 compared to the known weight of the piece in its original state, both taken equally dry. 
 
 STONE, ARTIFICIAL, for statuary and other decorations of architecture, has 
 been made for several years with singular success at Berlin, by Mr. Feilner. His 
 materials are nearly the same with those of English pottery; and the plastic mass is 
 fashioned either in moulds, or by hand. His kilns, which are peculiar in form, and 
 economical in fuel, deserve to be generally known. Figs. 1379 and 1380 represent his 
 round kiln; fig. 1379 being an oblique section in the line a, b, o, of fig. 1380, which is 
 
748 
 
 STONE, ARlii-jLCiAL. 
 
 a ground plan in the line D, a, b, is, of fig. 1379. The inner circular space e, covered 
 with the elliptical arch, is filled with the figures to be baked, set upon brick supports. 
 The hearth is a few feet above the ground; and there are steps before the door d. fol 
 the workmen to mount by, in charging the kiln. The fire is applied on the four side! 
 under the hearth. The flame of each passes along the straight flues/«, and /»,/&. J D 
 the second annular flue o-, g, as also in the third I, I, the flame of each fire is kept apart, 
 being separated from the adjoining, by the stones h and m. In the fourth flue n, tha 
 flames again come together, as also in o, and ascend by the middle opening. Beside* 
 this large orifice, there are several small holes, p,p, in the hearth over the above flues, 
 to lead the flames from the other points into contact with the various articles. There 
 are also channels q, q, in the sides, enclosed by thin walls r, to promote the equable 
 distribution of the heat; and these are placed right over the first fire-flues e. The 
 partitions r, are perforated with many holes, through which, as well as from their tops, 
 the flame may be directed inwards and downwards ; s are the vents for carrying off the 
 1379 1380 
 
 flames into the upper space u, which is usually left empty. These vents can be closed 
 by iron damper-plates, pushed in through the slide-slits of the dome, t, t, are peep- 
 holes, for observing the state of ignition in the furnace; but they are most commonly 
 bricked up. Fig. 1 381 is a vertical section, anHfig. 1382 a plan, of an excellent kiln foi 
 baking clay to a stony consistence, for the above purpose, or for burning fire-bricka, 
 
 1381 
 
 1383 
 
 rf.imn.1 1 ' '■ I , -l \ l \ e V Pper kiln; and *> the hoo( '' terminating m th« 
 chimney e. «, a, is the ash-p.t; b, b, the vault for raking out the ashes; it is covered 
 with an iron door a. * ,s he peep-hole, filled with a clay stopper; e, is the fir^Tce; 
 /,/ a vent 10 the middle of each arch; g, g, flues at the sides of the arches, situated be! 
 tween the two fireplaces ; h, a, k, are apertures for introducing the articles to be baked; 
 ; a grate for the fire in the uppermost kiln; m, the ash-pit ;», the fire-door; o, open^ 
 mgs through which the flame, of a second fire are thrown in. At first, only the ground 
 kiln A is fired, with cleft billets of pine-wood, introduced at the opening e- when thib 
 
STOVE. 74C 
 
 is finished, the second is fired ; and then the third in like manner. This kiln is very 
 like the porcelain kiln of Sevres, and is employed in many cases for baking stoneware. 
 
 Mr. Keene obtained a patent a few years ago, for making a factitious stone-paste 
 in the following way: — He dissolves one pound of al'im in a gallon of water, and 
 in this solution he soaks 84 pounds of gypsum calcined in small lumps. He exposes 
 these lumps in the open air for about eight days, till they became apparently dry and 
 then calcines them in an oven at a dull-red heat. The waste-heat of a coke oven is I 
 well adapted for this purpose. (See Pitooal, coking of.) These lumps, being ground 
 and sifted, affqrd a fine powder, which, when made up into a paste with the proper 
 quantity of water, forms the petrifying ground. The mass soon concretes, and after 
 being brushed over with a thin layer of the petrifying paste, may be polished with 
 pumice, <&c, in the usual way. It then affords a body of great compactness and dura 
 bility. If half a pound of copperas be added to the solution of the alum, the gypsum 
 paste, treated as above, has a fine cream or yellow color. This stone stands the weather 
 tolerably well. 
 
 STONEWARE {Fayence Fr. ; Steingut Germ.) See Pottery. 
 
 STORAX, STYRAX, flows from the twigs and the trunk of the IAquidamber 
 styracifiua, a tree which grows in Louisiana, Virginia, and Mexico. Liquidamber, as 
 this resin is also called, is a brown or ash-gray substance, of the consistence of turpen- 
 tine, which dries up rapidly, has an agreeable smell, like benzoin, and a bitterish, sharp, 
 burning taste. It dissolves in four parts of alcohol, and affords 14 per cent, of benzoic 
 acid. 
 
 STOVE (poele, Calorifere, Fr. ; Ofen, Germ.), is a fire-place, more or less close, foi 
 warming apartments. When it allows the burning coals to he seen, it is called a stove- 
 grate. Hitherto stoves have rarely been had recourse to in this country for heating our 
 sitting-rooms ; the cheerful blaze and ventilation of an open fire being generally prefer- 
 red. But last winter, by its inclemency, gave birth to a vast multitude of projects for 
 increasing warmth and economizing fuel, many of them eminently insalubrious, by pre- 
 venting due renewal of the air, and by the introduction of noxious fumes into it. When 
 eoke is burned very slowly in an iron box, the carbonic acid gas which is generated, 
 being half as heavy again as the atmospherical air, cannot ascend in the chimney at the 
 temperature' of 300° F. ; but regurgitates into the apartment through every pore of the 
 stove, and poisons the atmosphere. The large stoneware, stoves of France and Germany 
 are free from this vice j because, being fed with fuel from the outside, they cannot pro- 
 duce a reflux of carbonic acid into the apartment, when their draught becomes feeble, as 
 inevitably results from the obscurely burning stoves which have the doors of the fire-place 
 and ash-pit immediately above the hearth-stone. 
 
 I have recently performed some careful experiments upon this subject, and find that 
 when the fuel is burning so slowly in the stove as not to heat the iron surface above the 
 250th or 300th degree of Fahr., there is a constant deflux of carbonic acid gas from the 
 ash-pit into the room. This noxious emanation is most easily evinced by applying the 
 beak of a matrass, containing a little Goulard's extract (solution of subacetate of lead), 
 to a round hole in the door of the ash-pit of a stove in this languid state of combustion. 
 In a few seconds the liquid will become milky, by the reception of carbonic acid gas. 1 
 shall be happy to afford ocular demonstration of this fact to any incredulous votary 
 of the pseudo-economical, anti-ventilation stoves, now so much in vogue. There is no 
 mode 'in which the health and life of a person can be placed in more insidious jeopardy, 
 than by sitting in a%room with it's chimney closed up with such a choke-damp-vomivjig 
 stove. 
 
 That fuel may be consumed by an obscure species of combustion, with the emission of 
 very little heat, was clearly shown in Sir H. Davy's Researches on Flame. "The facts 
 detailed on insensible combustion," says he, " explain why so much more heat is obtained 
 from fuel when it is burned quickly, than slowly ; and they show that, in all cases, the 
 temperature of the acting bodies should be kept as high as possible ; not only because 
 the general increment of heat is greater, but likewise because those combinations are 
 prevented, which, at lower temperatures, take place without any considerable production 
 of heat. These facts likewise indicate the source of the great error into which experi- 
 menters have fallen, in estimating the heat given out in the combustion of charcoal ; and 
 they indicate methods by which the temperature may be increased, and the limits to 
 certain methods." These conclusions are placed in a strong practical light by the follow- 
 ing simple experiments : — I set upon the top orifice of a small cylindrical stove, a hemis- 
 pherical copper pan, containing six pounds of water, at 60° F., and burned briskly under 
 it three and a half pounds of coke in an hour ; at the end of which time, four and a hall 
 pounds of water were boiled off. On burning the same weight of coke slowly in the 
 same furnace, mounted by the same pan, in the course of twelve hours, little more than 
 one half the' quantity of water was exhaled. Yet, in the first case, the aerial prod . :tl 
 
750 
 
 STOVE. 
 
 1S83 of combustion swept so rapidly over the bottom of the 
 
 pan, as to communicate to it not more than one-fourth of 
 the effective heat which might have been obtained by one 
 of the plans described in the article Evaporation; while 
 in the second case, these products moved at least twelve 
 times more slowly across the bottom of .the pan, and ought 
 therefore to have been so much the more effective in eva- 
 poration, had they possessed the same power or quantity 
 of heat. 
 
 Stoves, when properly constructed, may be employed 
 both safely and advantageously to heat entrance-halls upon 
 the ground story of a house ; but care should be taken not 
 to vitiate the air by passing it over ignited surfaces, as is 
 the case with most of the patent stoves now foisted upon 
 the public. Fig. 1383 exhibits a vertical section of a 
 stove which has been recommended for power and econo- 
 my; but it is highly objectionable, as being apt to scorch 
 the air. The flame of the fire A, circulates round 
 the horizontal pipes of cast-iron, b, b, c, c, d, d, e, e, 
 which receive the external air at the orifice 4, and 
 conduct it up through the series, till it issues highly heated at k, l, and may be thence 
 tonducted wherever it is wanted. The smoke escapes through the chimney b. This 
 rtove has evidently two prominent faults; first, it heats the air-pipes very unequally, 
 and the undermost far too much ; secondly, the air, by the time it has ascended through 
 the zigzag range to the pipe e e, will be nearly of the same temperature with it, and will 
 therefore abstract none of its heat. Thus the upper pipes, if there be several in the range, 
 will be quite inoperative, wasting their warmth upon the sooty air. 
 
 Fig. .1381 exhibits a transverse vertical section of a far more economical and powerful 
 stove, in which the above evils are avoided. The products of combustion of the fire A, 
 
 1384 
 
 rise up between two brick walls, so 
 as to play upon the bed of tiles B, 
 where, after communicating a 
 moderate heat to the series of slant- 
 ing pipes whose areas are represent- 
 ed by the small circles, a, a, they 
 turn to the right and left, and circu- 
 late round the successive rows of 
 pipes b b, c c, d d, e e, a nd iiiiA.y es- 
 cape at the bottom by the flues g, g, , 
 pursuing a somewhat similar path to 
 that of the burned air among a 
 bench of gas-light retorts. It is 
 known, that two thirds of the fuel 
 have been saved in the gas-works by 
 this distribution of the furnace. For 
 the purpose of heating apartments, 
 the great objecUjs to supply a vast 
 body of genial air ; and, therefore, 
 merely such a moderate fire should 
 be kept up in a, as will suffice to 
 warm all the pipes pretty equably to 
 the temperature of 220° Fahr. ; and, indeed, as they are laid with a slight slope, are open 
 to the air at their under ends, and terminate at the upper in a common main pipe or tun 
 nel, they can hardly be rendered very hot by any intemperance of firing. I can safely 
 recommend this stove to my readers. If the tubes be made of stoneware, its construction 
 will cost very little ; and they may be made of any size, and multiplied so as to carry ofl 
 the whole effective heat of the fuel, leaving merely so much of it in the burned air, as to 
 waft it fairly up the chimney. 
 
 I shall conclude this article by a short extract of a paper which was read before the 
 Royal Society, on the 16th of June, 1836, upon warming and ventilating apartments ; a 
 subject to which my mind had been particularly turned at that time, by the Directors 
 of the Customs Fund of Life Assurance, on account of the very general state of indis- 
 position and disease prevailing among those of their officers (nearly 100 in number) en- 
 gaged on duty in the Long Room of the Custom House, London. 
 
 "The symptoms of disorder experienced by the several gentlemen (about twenty in 
 number) whom I examined, out of a great many who were indisposed, were of a very 
 
 aniform character. The following is the result of my researches : 
 
 « £ A sense of tension or fulness of the head, with occasional flushings of the coun. 
 tenance, throbbing of the temples, and vertigo, followed, not unfrequently, with a con 
 
STOVE. 751 
 
 fusion of ideas, very disagreeable to officers occupied with important and sometimes 
 intricate calculations. A few are affected with unpleasantperspiration on their sides. 
 The whole of them complain of a remarkable coldness and languor in their extremities, 
 more especially the egs and feet, which has become habitual, denoting languid cir- 
 culation in these parts, which requires to be counteracted by the application of worm 
 flannels on going to bed. The pulse is, in many instances, more feeble, frequent, sharp, 
 and irritable, than it ought to be, according to the natural constitution of the individuals. 
 The sensations in the head Occasionally rise to such a height, notwithstanding the most 
 temperate regimen of life, as to require cupping, and at other times depletory remedies. 
 Costiveness, though not a uniform, is yet a prevailing symptom. 
 
 "The sameness of fhe above ailments, in upwards of one hundred gentlemen, at very 
 various periods of life, and of various temperaments, indicates clearly sameness in the 
 cause. 
 
 " The temperature of the air in the Long Room ranged, in the three days of my expe- 
 rimental inquiry, from 62° to Si" of Fahrenheit's scale ; and in the Examiner's Room it 
 was about 60°, being kept somewhat lower by the occasional /shutting of the hot-air 
 valve, which is here placed under the control of the gentlemen; whereas thut of the 
 Long Room is designed to be regulated in the sunk story, by the fireman of the stove, 
 who seems sufficiently careful to maintain an equable temperature amidst all the vicis- 
 titudes of our winter weather. Upon the 7th of January, ths temperature of the open 
 air was 50°; and on the 11th it was only 35°; yet upon both days the thermometer in 
 the Long Room indicated the same heat, of from 62° to 64°. 
 
 "The hot air discharged from the two cylindrical stove-tunnels into the Long Room 
 was at 90° upon the 7lh, and at 110° upon the 11th. This air is diluted, however, and 
 disguised, by admixture with a column of cold air, before it is allowed to escape. The 
 air, on the contrary, which heats the Examiner's Room, undergoes no such mollification, 
 and comes forth at once in an ardent blast of fully 170° ; not unlike the simoom of the 
 desert, as described by travellers. Had a similar nuisance, on the greater scale, existed 
 in the Long Room, it could not have been endured by the merchants and other visiters 
 on business : but the disguise of an evil is a very different thing from its removal. 
 The direct air of the stove, as it enters the Examiner's Room, possesses, in an eminent 
 degree, the disagreeable smell and flavor imparted to air by the action of red-hot iron ; 
 and, in spite of every attention on the part of the fireman to sweep the stove 
 apparatus from time to time, it carries along with it abundance of burned dusty 
 particles. 
 
 " The leading characteristic of the air in these two rooms', is its dryness and disagree- 
 able smell. In the Long Room, upon the 11th, the air indicated, by Daniell's hygro- 
 meter, 70 per cent, of dryness, While the external atmosphere was ntirly saturated with 
 moisture. The thermometer connected with the dark bulb of that instrument stood at 
 30° when dew began to be deposited upon it; while the thermometer in*lhe air stood at 
 64°. In the court behind the Custom-house, the external air being at 35°, dew was 
 deposited on the dark bulb of the hygrometer by a depression of only 3°; whereas in 
 the Long Room, on the same day, a depression of 34° was required to produce that 
 deposition. Air, in such a dry state, would evaporate 0-44 in depth of water from a 
 cistern in the course of twenty-four hours ; and its influence on the cutaneous exhalants 
 must be propoBtionably great. 
 
 " As cast iron always contains, besides the metal itself, more or less carbon, sulphur, 
 phosphorus, or even arsenic, it is possible that the smell of air passed over it in an 
 incandescent state, may be owing to some of these impregnations ; for a quantity of 
 noxious effluvia, inappreciably small, is capable of affecting not only the olfactory 
 nerves, but the pulmonary organs. I endeavored to test the air as it issued from the 
 valve in the Examiner's Room, by presenting to it pieces of white paper moistened with 
 a solution of nitrate of silver, and perceived a slight darkening to take place, as if by 
 sulphurous fumes. White paper, moistened with sulphureted hydrogen water, was 
 not in the least discolored. The faint impression on the first test paper, may be, 
 probably, ascribed to sulphurous fumes, proceeding from the ignition of the myriads of 
 animal and vegetable matters which constantly float in the atmosphere, as may be seen 
 in the sunbeam admitted into a dark chamber: to this cause, likewise, the offensive 
 smell of air, transmitted over red-hot iron, may in some measure be attributed, as well 
 as to the hydrogen resulting from the decomposition of aqueous vapor, always present 
 in our atmosphere in abundance ; especially close to the banks of the Thames, below 
 London Bridge. 
 
 " When a column of air sweeps furiously across the burning deserts of Africa and 
 Arabia, constituting the phenomenon called simoom by the natives, the air becomes 
 not only very hot and dry, but highly electrical, as is evinced by lightning and thunder 
 Dry sands, devoid of vegetation, cannot be conceived to communicate any noxious gas 
 or vapor to the atmosphere, like the malaria of marshes, called miasmata ; it is, hence, 
 highly probable that the blast of the simoom owes its deadly ma-ignity, in reference to 
 
7i>2 STOVE. 
 
 animal as veil as vegetable life, simply to extreme heat, dryness, and electrical disturb 
 ance. Similar conditions, though on a smaller scale, exist in what is called the bell, or 
 cockle, apparatus for heating the Long Room and the Examiner's apartment in the 
 Custom-house. It consists' of a series of invwted, hollow, flattened pyramids of cast 
 iron, with an oblong base, rather small in their dimensions,. to do their work sufliciently 
 in cold weather, when moderately heated. The inside of the pyramids is exposed to 
 !he flames of coke furnaces, which heat them frequently to incandescence, while currents 
 of cold air are directed to their exterior surfaces by numerous sheet-iron channels. 
 The incandescence of these pyramids, or bells, as they are vulgarly called, was provec' 
 by pieces of paper taking fire when I laid them on the summits. Again, since air be 
 comes electrical when it is rapidly blown upon the surfaces of certain bodies, it oc 
 curred to me that the air which escapes into the Examiner's Room might be in this 
 predicament. It certainly excites the sensation of a cobweb playing round the head, 
 which is well known to all who are familiar with electrical machines. To determine 
 this point, I presented a. condensing gold-leaf electrometer to the said current of hot 
 air, and obtained faint divergence with negative electricity. The electricity must be 
 impaired in its tension, however, in consequence of the air escaping through an iron 
 grating, and striking against the flat iron valves, both of which tend to restore the 
 electric equilibrium. The air blast, moreover, by being diffused round the glass of the 
 eondensei apparatus, would somewhat mask the appearances. Were it worth while, an 
 apparatus might be readily constructed for determining this point, without any such 
 sources of fallacy. The influence of an atmosphere charged with electricity in exciting 
 headache and confusion of thought in many persons, is universally known. 
 
 " The fetid burned odor of the stove air, and its excessive avidity for moisture, are of 
 themselves, however, sufficient causes of the general indisposition produced among the 
 gentlemen who are permanently exposed to it in the discharge of their public duties. 
 
 " From there being nearly a vacuum, as to aqueous vapor, in the said air, while there 
 is nearly a plenum in the external atmosphere round about the Custom-house, the vicissi- 
 tudes of feeling ia those who have occasion to go out and in frequently, must be highly 
 detrimental to health. The permanent action of an artificial desiccated air on the ani 
 mal economy may be stated as follows : — 
 
 " The living body is continually emitting a transpirable matter, the quantity of which, 
 in a grown up man, will depend partly on the activity of the cutaneous exhalants, and 
 partly on the relative dryness or moisture of the circumambient medium. Its average 
 amount, in common circumstances, has been estimated at 20 ounces in twepty-four 
 hours. 
 
 " When plunged in a very dry air, the insensible perspiration will be increased ; and, as 
 it is a true evaporation or gasefaclion, it will generate cold proportionably to its amount. 
 Those parts of the body which are most insulated in the air, and furthest from the 
 heart, such as She extremities, will feel this refrigerating influence most powerfully. 
 Hence the coldness of the hands and feet, so generally felt by the inmates of the apart- 
 ment, though its temperature be at or above 60°. The brain, being screened by the 
 scull from this evaporating influence, will remain relatively hot, and will get surcharged, 
 besides, with the fluids which are repelled from the extremities by the condensation, 
 or contraction, of the blood-vessels, caused by cold. Hence the affections of the head, 
 such as tension, and its dangerous consequences. If sensible perspiration happen, from 
 debility, to break forth from a system previously relaxed, and plunged into dry air, so 
 attractive of vapor, it will be of the kind called a cold clammy sweat on the sides and 
 back, as experienced by many inmates of the Long Room. 
 
 " Such, in my humble apprehension, is a rationale of the phenomena observed at the 
 Custom-house. Similar effects have resulted from hot-air stoves of a similar kind in 
 many other situations. 
 
 "After the most mature physical and medical investigation, I am of opinion that the 
 circumstances above specified cannot act permanently upon human beings, without im- 
 pairing their constitutions, and reducing the value of their lives. The Directors of 
 the Customs Fund are therefore justified in their apprehensions, ' that the mode of heat- 
 ing the Long Room is injurious to the health of persons employed therein, and that it 
 must unduly shorten the duration of life.' 
 
 "It may be admitted, as a general principle, that the comfort of sedentary individuals, 
 occupying large apartments during the winter months, cannot be adequately secured by 
 the mere influx of hot air from separate stove rooms : it requires the genial influence 
 of radiating surfaces in the apartments themselves, such as of open fires, of pipes, or 
 Mher vessels filled with hot water or steam. The clothing of our bodies, exposed to 
 such radiation in a pure, fresh, somewhat cool and bracing air, absorbs a much more 
 agreeable warmth than it could acquire by beins merely immersed in an atmosphere 
 heated even to 62° Fahr., like that of the Long Room. In the former predicament, 
 the lungs are supplied with a relatively dense air, say at 52° Fahr. ; while the external 
 surface of the body or the clothing is maintained at, perhaps, 70° or 75°. This dis- 
 
STRINGS. 75S 
 
 tinotive circumstance has not, I believe, been hitherto duly considered by tht stove 
 doctors, each intent on puffing his own pecuniary interest; but it is obviously ono of 
 great importance, and which the English people would do well to keep in view ; because 
 it is owing to our domestic apartments being heated by open fires, and our factories by 
 steam pipes, that the health of our population, and the expectation of life among all 
 orders in this country, are so much better than in France and Germany, where hot-air 
 stoves, neither agreeable nor inoffensive, and in endless variety of form, are generally 
 employed. 
 
 " Tn conclusion, I take leave to state to you my firm conviction that the only method 
 of warming your Long Room and subsidiary apartments, combining salubrity, safely, 
 and economy, with convenience in erection and durable comfort in use, is by a series 
 of steam pipes laid along the floor, at the line of the desk partitions, in suitable lengths, 
 with small arched junction-pipes rising over the several doorways, to keep the passages 
 clear, and at the same time to allow a free expansion and contraction in the pipes, there- 
 by providing for the permanent soundness of the joints." 
 
 It would not be difficult to construct a stove or stove-grate which should combine 
 economy and comfort of warming an apartment, with briskness of combustion and dura- 
 oility of the fire, without any noxious deflux of carbonic acid. See Chimney. 
 
 STRASS; see Pastes. 
 
 STRAW-HAT MANUFACTURE. The mode of preparing the Tuscany or. 
 Italian straw, is by pulling the bearded wheat while the ear is in a soft milky state, the 
 corn having been sown very close, and of consequence produced in a thin, short, and 
 dwindled condition. The straw, with its ears and roots, is spread ott thinly upon the 
 ground in fine hot weather, for three or four days or more, in order tj dry the sap; it 
 is then tied up in bundles and slacked, for the purpose of enabling the heat of the mow 
 to drive off any remaining moisture. It is important to keep the ends of the straw air- 
 tight, in order to retain the pith, and prevent its gummy particles from passing off by 
 evaporation. 
 
 After the straw has been about a month in the mow, it is removed to a meadow and 
 spread out, that the dew may act upon it, together with the sun and air, and promote 
 the bleaching, it being necessary frequently to turn the straw while this process is going 
 on. The first process of bleaching being complete, the lower joint and root is pulled 
 from the straw, leaving the upper part fit for use, which is then sorted according to 
 qualities j and after being submitted to the action of steam, for the purpose of extracting 
 its color, and then to a fumigation of sulphur, to complete the bleaching, the straws are 
 in a condition to be platted or woven into hats and bonnets, and are in that state imported 
 into England in bundles, the dried ears of the wheat being still on the straw. 
 
 Straw may be easily bleached by a solution of chloride of lime, and also by sulphuring. 
 For the latter purpose, a cask open at both ends, with its seams papered, is to be set 
 upright a few inches from the ground, having a hoop nailed to its Inside, about six 
 inches beneath the top, to support another hoop with a net stretched across it, upon 
 which the straw is to be laid in successive handfuls loosely crossing each other. The 
 cask having been covered with a tight overlapping lid, stuffed with lists ;f cloth, a. 
 brasier of burning charcoal is to be inserted within the bottom, and an iron dish con- 
 fining pieces of brimstone is to be put upon the brasier. The brimstone soon takes 
 fire, and fills the cask with sulphurous acid gas, whereby the straw gets bleached in the 
 course of three or four hours. Care should be taken to prevent such a violent combujtion 
 of the sulphur as might cause black burned spots, for these cannot be afterwards removed. 
 The straw, after being aired and softened by spreading it upon the grass for a night, 
 is ready to be split, preparatory to dyeing. Blue is given by a boiling-hot solution of 
 indigo in sulphuric acid, called Saxon blue, diluted to the desired shade ; yellow, by de- 
 coction of turmeric ; red, by boiling hanks of coarse scarlet wool in a bath of weak alum 
 water, containing the straw ; or directly, by cochineal, salt of tin, and tartar. Brazil 
 wood and archil are also employed for dyeing straw. For the other colors, see their re- 
 spective titles in this Dictionary. 
 
 STREAM-WORKS. The name given by the Cornish miners to alluvial deposits i f 
 tin ore, usually worked in the open air. 
 
 STRETCHING MACHINE. Cotton goods and other textile fabrics, either white <-,r 
 printed, are prepared for the market by being stretched in a proper machine, whkh 
 lays all their warp and woof yarns in truly parallel positions. A very ingenious and 
 effective mechanism of this kind was made the subject of a patent by Mr. Samuel Mo- 
 rand, of Manchester, in April, 1834, which serves to extend the width of calico pieeea, 
 or of other cloths woven of cotton, wool, silk, or flax, after they have become shrunk 
 in the processes of bleaching, dyeing, &e. I regret that the limits of this volume will 
 not admit of its description. The specification of the patent is published in Newton'*- 
 Journal, for December, 1S3S. 
 
 STRINGS. The name given by the Cornish miners to the small filamentous ramifi> 
 cations of a metallic vein. * 
 
 Vol. II. 49 
 
704 SUGAR. 
 
 STRONTIA, one of the alkaline earths, of which strontium is the metallic bas», 
 occurs in a crystalline state, as a carhonate, in the lead mines of Stronlian in Argylc 
 shire, whence its name. The sulphate is found crystallized near Bristol, and in several 
 other parts of the world ; hut strontitic minerals are rather rare. The pure earth is 
 prepared exactly like baryta, from either the carbonate or the sulphate. It is a grayish, 
 white powder, infusible in the furnace, of a specific gravity approaching that of baryta, 
 having an acrid, burning taste, but not so corrosive as baryta, though sharper than lime. 
 It becomes hot when moistened, and slakes into a pulverulent hydrate, dissolves in 150 
 parts of water at 60°, and in much less at the boiling-point, forming an alkaline solution 
 palled stronlia water, which deposites crystals in four-sided tables as it cools. These 
 contain 68 per cent, of water, are soluble in 52 parts of water at 60°, and in abcut 2 
 parts of boiling water ; when heated they part with 53 parts of water, but retain the 
 other 15 parts, even at a red heat. The dry earth consists of 84-55 of base, and 15-45 
 of oxygen. It is readily distinguished from baryta, by its inferior solubility, and by its 
 soluble salts giving a red tinge to flame, while those of baryta give a yellow tinge. Fluo- 
 silicic acid and iodate of soda precipitate the salts of the latter earth, but npt those of the 
 former. The compounds of stronlia are not poisonous, like those of baryta. The only 
 preparation of strontia used in the arts is the Nitrate, which see. 
 
 STRYCHNIA is an alkaline base, extracted from the Strychnos mix vomica, Strychnos 
 ignalia, and the Upas liente ,- which has been employed in medicine by some of th< 
 poison doctors, but is of ho use in any of the arts. When introduced into the stomach, 
 strychnia acts with fearful energy, causing lock-jaw immediately, and the death of the 
 animal in a very short time. Half a grain, blown into the throat of a rabbit, proves 
 fatal in five minutes. 
 
 Having placed a drop of strong sulphuric aeid on a piece of glass, add to it a small 
 quantity, of the suspected substance, and stir the whole together, so as to favor solu- 
 tion ; then sprinkle over the mixture a little powdered bichromate of potash, and gently 
 move a glass rod through the fluid. If strychnia be present, a violet color of consider- 
 able beauty will be almost immediately produced, which, after a few minutes, will fade 
 into a reddish yellow, but may be renewed by the addition of more bichromate, so long 
 as any strychnia remains undestroyed in the mixture. In this way -j-^-g^ of a grain of 
 that alkaloid may be made to yield a very decisive indication. The points to be no- 
 ticed are, that sulphuric acid alone produces no apparent effect, and that the action be- 
 gins at once round each particle of the bichromate, so that if the glass be held in ft 
 vertical position, streams of a violet colored fluid may be seen to flow from each 
 particle ; and if at this time, the whole be slowly stirred, the entire bulk of the fluid 
 will speedily assume the same characteristic tint. 
 
 In conjunction with my friend, Mr. Morson, of Southampton Row, I have thus ex- 
 amined the following alkaloids: morphia, brucia, aconita, atropia, codia, narcotine, 
 pierotoxia, cinchonia, quina, solania,' veratria, and phloridza, but without noticing any- 
 thing at all calculated to throw a doubt upon the value of the indication thus obtain- 
 ed, as a means of demonstrating the presence of strychnia. In these experiments the 
 usual sources of error were sought to be avoided by the employment of pure matei-iais: 
 the alkaloids having been manufactured with great care. Compounds containing nitric 
 or muriatic acid are, for obvious reasons, unfit for such investigations — the pure alka- 
 loids and their sulphates being alone unobjectionable. — Mr. Lewis Tliompson. 
 STUCCO. See Gypsum. 
 
 SUBERIC ACID, is prepared by digesting grated cork with nitric acid. It forms 
 tryslals, which sublime in white vapors when heated. 
 SUBLIMATE, is any solid matter resulting from condensed vapors, and, 
 SUBLIMATION, is the process by T.'hich the volatile particles are raised by heat, 
 and condensed into a crystalline mass. See Calomel and Sal-ammoniac, for exam 
 pies. 
 
 SUBSALT, is a salt in which the base is not saturated with acid ; as subacetate ol 
 lead. 
 
 SUCCINIC ACID, Acid of amber (Jlcide succinique, Fr. ; Bernsteinsaure, Germ.), is 
 obtained by distilling coarsely pounded amber in a retort by itself, with a heat gradually 
 raised ; or mixed with one twelfth of its weight of sulphuric acid, diluted with half its 
 weight of water. The acid which sublimes is to be dissolved in hot water, to be satura. 
 ted with potassa or soda, boiled with bone black, to remove the foul empyreumatic Oily 
 matter, filtered, and precipitated by nitrate of lead, to convert it into an insoluble succi. 
 nate; which being washed, is to be decomposed by the equivalent quantity of sulphuric 
 acid. Pure succinic acid forms transparent prisms. The succinate of ammonia is an 
 excellent reagent for detecting and separating iron. 
 
 SUGAR (Sucre, Fr.; Zucher, Germ.), is the sweet constituent of vegetable and animal 
 products. It may be distinguished into two principal species. The first, which occurs in 
 the sugar-cane, the beet-root, and the maple, crystallizes^ in oblique four-sided prisms, 
 terminated by two-sided summits s it has a sweetening power which may be represented 
 
SUGAR. 758 
 
 by 100; and in circumpolarization it bends the luminous rays to the right The second 
 occurs ready formed in ripe grapes and other fruits; it is also produced by treating 
 starch with diastase or sulphuric acid. This species forms cauliflower concretions, but 
 not true crystals; it has a sweetening power which may be represented by 60, and in 
 circumpolarization it bends the rays to the left. Besides these two principal kinds of 
 sugar, some others are distinguished by chemists; as the sugar of milk, of manna, of 
 certain mushrooms, of liquorice-root, and that obtained from sawdust and glue by 
 the action of sulphuric acid ; but they have no importance in a manufacturing point 
 of view. 
 
 Sugar, extracted either from the cane, the beet, or the maple, is identical in its pro- 
 perties and composition, when refint'l to the same pitch of purity; only that of the beel 
 seems to surpass the other two in col esive force, since larger and firmer crystals of it are 
 obtained from a clarified solution of equal density. It conlains 5-3 per cent, of combined 
 water, which can be separated only by uniting it with oxyde of lead, into what has been 
 called a saccharate j made by mixing sirup with finely ground litharge, and evaporating 
 the mixture to dryness upon a steam-bath. When sugar is exposed to a heat of 400" 
 F., it melts into a brown pasty mass, but still retains its water of composition. Sugal 
 thus fused is no longer capable of crystallization, and is called caramel by the French. 
 It is used for coloring liqueurs. Indeed, sugar is so susceptible of change by heat, that 
 if a colorless solution of it be exposed for some time to the temperature of boiling wa. 
 ter, it becomes brown and partially uncrystallizable. Acids exercise such an injurious 
 influence upon sugar, that after remaining in contact with it for a 'ittle while, though 
 they be rendered thoroughly neutral, a great part of the sugar will refuse to crystallize. 
 Thus, if three parts of oxalic or tartaric acid be added to sugar in solution, no crys- 
 tals of sugar can be obtained by evaporation, "even though the acids be neutralized 
 by chalk or carbonate of lime. By boiling cane sugar with dilute sulphuric acid, it is 
 changed into starch sugar. Manufacturers of sugar should be, therefore, particularly 
 watchful against every acidulous taint or impregnation. Nitric acid converts sugar into 
 oxalic and malic acids. Alkaline matter is likewise most detrimental to the grain ol 
 sugar; as is always evinced by the large quantity of molasses formed, when an excess ol 
 temper lime has been used in clarifying the juice nf the cane or the beet. "When one 
 piece of lump sugar is rubbed against another in the dark, a phosphorescent light is 
 emitted. 
 
 Sugar is soluble in all proportions in water; but it takes four parts of spirits of wine, 
 of spec. grav. 0-830, and eighty of absolute alcohol, to dissolve it, both being at a boiling 
 temperature. As the alcohol cools, it deposites the sugar in small crystals. Caramelized 
 and uncrystallizable sugar dissolves readily in alcohol. Pure sugar is unchangeable in 
 the air, even when dissolved in a gjod deal of water, if the solution be kept covered and 
 in the dark; but with a very small addition of gluten, the solution soon begins to fer- 
 ment, whereby the sugar is decomposed into alcohol and carbonic acid, and ultimately 
 into acetic acid. 
 
 Sugar forms chemical compounds with the salifiable bases. It dissolves readily in 
 caustic potash ley, whereby it loses its sweet taste, and ali'ords on evaporation a mass 
 which is insoluble in alcohol. When the ley is neutralized by sulphuric acid, the sugar 
 recovers its sweet taste, and may be separated from the sulphate of potash by alcohol, but 
 it will no longer crystallize. 
 
 That sirup possesses the property of dissolving the .alkaline earths, lime, magnesia, 
 strontites, barytes, was demonstrated long ago by Mr. Ramsay of Glasgow, by experi- 
 ments published in Nicholson's Journal, volume xviii. page 9, for September, 1807. He 
 found that sirup is capable of dissolving half as much lime as it contains of sugar ; and 
 as much strontites as sugar. Magnesia dissolved in much smaller quantity, and barytes, 
 seemed to decompose the sugar entirely. These results have been since confirmed by 
 Professor Daniel]. Mr. Ramsay characterized sugar treated with lime as weak, from its 
 sweetening power being impaired; from its solution he obtained, after some lime, a 
 deposits of calcareous carbonate. M. Pelouze has lately shown, that the carbonic acid 
 in this, case is deiived from the atmosphere, and is not formed at the expense of the ele. 
 ments of the sugar, as Mr. Daniell had asserted. 
 
 Sugar forn.s with oxyde of lead two combinations ; the one soluble, the other insolu- 
 ble. Oxyde of lead digested in sirup dissolves to a certain amount, forms a yellowish 
 liquor, which possesses an alkaline reaction, and leaves after evaporation an uncrystalli- 
 zable, viscid, deliquescent mass. If sirup be boiled with oxyde of lead in excess, if the 
 solution be filtered boiling hot, and if the vial be corked in which it is received, 
 white bulky flocks will fall to its bottom in the course of 24 hours. This compound is 
 best dried in vacuo. It is in both cases light, tasteless, and insoluble in cold and boiling 
 Water ; it takes fire like German tinder, (Amadou,) when touched at one point with an 
 ignited body, and burns away, leaving small globules of lead. It dissolves in acids, and 
 also in neutral acetate of lead, which forms with the oxyde a subsalt, and sets the sugar 
 
756 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 free. Carbonic acid gas passed through water in which the above saccharate is diffused, 
 decomposes it, with precipitation of carbonate of lead. It consists of 58*26 parts of oxide] 
 of lead, and 41-74 sugar, in 100 parts. From the powerful action exercised upon sugai 
 by acids and oxyde of lead, we may see the fallacy and danger of using these chemica. 
 reagents in sugar-refining. Sugar possesses the remarkable property of dissolving the 
 oxyde, as well as the subacetate of copper, (verdigris,) and of counteracting their poison- 
 ous operation. Orfila found that a dose of verdigris, which would kill a dog in an hour 
 ->r two, might be swallowed with impunity, provided it was mixed with a considerable 
 quantity of sugar. When a solution of sugar is boiled with the acetate of copper, it causes 
 an abundant precipitate of protoxyde of copper ; when boiled with the nitrates of mercury 
 and silver, or the chloride of gold, it reduces the respective bases to the metallic state. 
 
 The following Table shows the quantities of Sugar contained in Sirups of the annexed 
 specific gravities.* It was the result of experiments carefully made. 
 
 Experimental specific gra- 
 
 Sugar in 100, by 
 
 Experimental specific gra- 
 
 Sugar in 100, by 
 
 vity of solution at 60° F. 
 
 weight. 
 
 vity of solution at 60" F. 
 
 weight. 
 
 1-3260 
 
 66-666 
 
 1-1045 
 
 25000 
 
 1-2310 
 
 50000 
 
 1-0905 
 
 21-740 
 
 1-1777 
 
 40-000 
 
 1-0820 
 
 20-000 
 
 1-4400 
 
 33-333 
 
 1-0685 
 
 16-666 
 
 1-1340 
 
 31-250 
 
 1-0500 
 
 12-500 
 
 1-1250 
 
 29-412 
 
 1-0395 
 
 10-000 
 
 1-1110 
 
 26-316 
 
 
 
 If the decimal part of the number denoting the specific gravity of sirup be multiplied 
 by 26, the product will denote very nearly the quantity of sugar per gallon in pounds 
 weight, at the given specific gravity .f 
 
 Sugar has been analyzed by several chemists ; the following Table exhibits some ol 
 their results : — 
 
 
 Gay Lussac 
 and Thenard. 
 
 fierzelius. 
 
 Front. 
 
 Ure. 
 
 
 Oxygen, - - 
 Carbon, - - - 
 Hydrogen, - - 
 
 56-63 
 
 42-47 
 
 6-90 
 
 49-856 
 
 43-265 
 
 6-875 
 
 53-35 
 
 39-99 
 
 6-66 
 
 50-33 
 
 43-38 
 
 6-29 
 
 in 100. 
 
 Of the sugar cane, and the extraction of sugar from it. — Humboldt, after the most 
 elaborate historical and botanical researches in the New. World, has arrived at the con- 
 clusion, that before America was discovered by the Spaniards, the inhabitants of that 
 continent and the adjacent islands were entirely unacquainted with the sugar canes, with 
 any of our corn plants, and with rice. The progressive diffusion of the cane has been 
 thus traced out by the partisans of its oriental origin. From the ihterior of Asia it wa» 
 transplanted first into Cyprus, and thence into Sicily, or possibly by the Saracens di- 
 rectly into the latter island, in which a large quantity of sugar was manufactured in 
 the year 1 148. Lafitau relates the donation made by William the Second, king of Sicily, 
 to the convent of St, Benoit, of a mill for crushing sugar canes, along with all its priv- 
 ileges, workmen, and dependencies: which remarkable gift bears the date of 1166. 
 According to this author, the sugar cane must have been imported into Europe at the 
 period of the Crusades. The monk Albertus Aquensis, in the description which he has 
 given of the processes employed at Acre and at Tripoli to extract sugar, says, that in 
 the Holy Land, the Christian soldiers being short of provisions, had recourse to sugar 
 canes, which they ohewed for subsistence. Toward the year 1420, Dom Henry, regent 
 of Portugal, caused the sugar cane to be imported into Madeira from Sicily. This plant 
 succeeded perfectly in Madeira and the Canaries ; and until the discovery of America 
 these islands supplied Europe with the greater portion of the sugar which it consumed. 
 
 The cane is said by some to have passed from the Canaries into the Brazils; but 
 by others, from the coast of Angola in Africa, where the Portuguese had a sugar colony. 
 It was transported in 1506, from the Brazils and the Canaries, into Hispaniola or Hayti, 
 where several crushing-mills were constructed in a short time. It would appear, 
 
 " The author, in minutes of evidence of Molasses Committee of the House of Commons, 1831, p. 142. 
 
 t This rule was annexed to an extensive table, representing the quantity of sugar per gallon corre. 
 sponding to the specific gravities of the syrup, constructed by the author of the Excise, in subservience 
 to the Beetroot Bill. 
 
SUGAR. 757 
 
 moreover, from the statement of Peter Martyr, in the third book of his first Decade, 
 written during the second expedition of Christopher Columbus, which happened between 
 1493 and 1495, that even at this date the cultivation of the sugar cane was widely spread 
 in St. Domingo. It may therefore be supposed to have been introduced here by Co- 
 lumbus himself, at his first voyage, along with other productions of Spain and the Canaries, 
 and that its cultivation had come into considerable activity at the period of his second 
 expedition. Towards the middle of the 17th century, the sugar cane was imported into 
 Barbadoes from Brazil, then into the other English West Indian possessions, into the 
 Spanish Islands on the coast of America, into Mexico, Peru, Chile, and, last of all, intc 
 the French, Dutch, and Danish colonies. 
 
 The sugar cane, Amnio saccharifera, is a plant of the graminiferous family, which 
 varies in height from 8 to 10, or even to 20 feet. Its diameter is about an inch and a 
 half; its stem is dense, brittle, and of a green hue, which verges to yellow at the approach 
 of maturity. It is divided by prominent annular joints of a whitish-yellow color, the plane 
 of which is perpendicular to the axis of the stem. These joints are placed about 3 
 inches apart; and send forth leaves, which fall off with the ripening of the plant. The 
 leaves are 3 or 4 feet long, flat, straight, pointed, from 1 to 2 inches in breadth, of a sea- 
 green tint, striated in their length, alternate, embracing the stem by their base. They 
 are marked along their edges with almost imperceptible teeth. In the 1 1th or 12th 
 month of their growth, the canes push forth at Iheir top a sprout 7 or 8 feet in height, 
 nearly half an inch in diameter, smooth, and without joints, to which the name arrow is 
 given. This is terminated by an ample panicle, about 2 feet long, divided into several 
 knotty ramifications, composed of very numerous flowers, of a white color, apetalous, 
 and furnished with 3 stamens, the anthers of which are a little oblong. The roots of 
 the sugar cane are jointed and nearly cylindrical; in diameter they are about one 
 twelfth of an inch; in their utmost length 1 foot, presenting over their surface a few 
 short radicles. 
 
 The stem of the cane in its ripe state is heavy, very smooth, brittle, of » yellowish- 
 violet, or whitish color, according to the variety. It is filled with it fibrous, spongy, 
 dirty-white pith, which contains very abundant sweet juice. This juice is elaborated 
 separately in each internodary portion, the functions of which are in this respect inde- 
 pendent of the portions above and below. The cane may be propagated by seeds or 
 buds with equal facility; but it is usually done by cuttings or joints of proper lengths, 
 from 15 to 20 iaches, in proportion to the nearness of the joints, which are generally 
 taken from the tops of the canes, just below the leaves. 
 
 There are several varieties of the sugar-cane plant. The first, and longest known, is 
 the Creole, or common sugar cane, which was originally introduced at Madeira. It 
 grows freely in every region within the tropics, on a moist soil, even at an elevation of 
 3000 feet above the level of the sea. In Mexico, among the mountains of Caudina- 
 Masea, it is cultivated to a height of more than 5000 feet. The quantity and quality of 
 sugar which it yields, is proportional to the heat of the place where it grows, provided it 
 be not too moist and marshy. 
 
 The second variety ot this plant i:s the Otaheitan cane. It was introduced into the 
 West Indies about the end of the 18th century. This variety, stronger, taller, with 
 longer spaces between the joints, quicker in its growth, and much more productive in 
 sugar, succeeds perfectly well in lands which seem too much impoverished to grow the 
 ordinary cane. It sends forth shoots at temperatures which chill the growth and develop- 
 ment of the Creole plant. Its maturation does not take more than a year, and is accom- 
 plished sometimes in nine months. From the strength of its stem, and the,woodiness of 
 its fibres, it better resists the storms.. It displays a better inflorescence, weighs a third 
 more, affords a sixth more juice, and a fourth more sugar, than the common variety. Its 
 main advantage, however, is to yield four crops in the same time that the Creole cane 
 yields only three. Its juice contains less feculency and mucilage, whence its sugar is 
 more easily crystallized, and of a fairer color. 
 
 Besides these two varieties, another kind is described by Humboldt and Bonpland, 
 under the name of the violet sugar-cane, for its haum and leaves are of this color. It 
 was transported from Batavia in 1782. It flowers a month sooner than the rest, that 
 is, in August, but it yields less solid sugar, and more liquid, both of which have a violet 
 tint. 
 
 In saying that the cane may be propagated by seeds as well as buds, we must remark 
 that in all the colonies of the New World, the plant flowers, indeed, but it then sends 
 forth a shoot (arrow), that is, its stem elongates, and the seed-vessel proves abortive. 
 For this reason, the bud-joints must there be used for its propagation. It grows to seed, 
 however, in India. This circumstance occurs with some other plants, which, when pro- 
 pagated by their roots, cease to yield fertile seeds ; such as the banana, the bread-fruit, 
 the lily, and the tulip. 
 
 In the proper season for planting, the ground is marked out by a line into rows tlree 
 oi four feet asunder, in which rows the canes are planted about two feet apart. The 
 
758 • SUGAR. 
 
 series of rows is divided into pieces, of land 60 or 10 feet broad, leaving spaces of 
 about 20 feet, for the convenience of passage, and for the admission of sun and air 
 between the stems. Canes are usually planted in trenches, about 6 or 8 inches deep, 
 made with the hand-hoe, the raised soil being heaped to one side, for covering-in tlu 
 young cane; into the holes a negro drops the number of cuttings intended to be 
 inserted, the digging being performed by other negroes. The earth is then drawn 
 about the hillocks with the hoe. This labor has been, however, in many places 
 better and more cheaply performed by the plough ; a deep furrow being made, intc 
 which the cuttings are regularly planted, and the mould then properly turned- in. 
 If the ground is to he afterwards kept clear by the horse-hoe, the rows of canes 
 should be 5 feet asunder, and the hillocks 2} feet distant, with only one cane left in 
 one hillock. After some shoots appear, the sooner the horse-hoe is used, the more will 
 the plants thrive, by keeping the weeds under, and stirring up the soil. Plant-canes 
 of the first growth have been known to yield, on the brick-mould of Jamaica, in very 
 fine seasons, 2J tons of sugar per acre. The proper season for planting the cane slips, 
 containing the buds, namely, the top part of the cane, stripped of its leaves, and 
 the two or three upper joints, is in the interval between August and the beginning of 
 November. Favored by the autumnal weather, the young plants become luxuriant 
 enough to shade the ground before the dry season sets in ; thereby keeping the roots 
 cool and moderately moist. By this arrangement the Creole canes are ripe for the mill 
 in the beginning of the second year, so as to enable the manager to finish his crop early 
 in June. There is no greater error in the colonist than planting canes at an improper 
 season of the year, whereby his whole system of operations becomes disturbed, and, in a 
 certain degree, abortive 
 
 The withering and fall of a leaf afford a good criterion of the maturity of the cane- 
 joint to which it belonged ; so that the eight last leafless joints of two canes, which are 
 cut the same day, have exactly the same age and the same ripeness, though one of the 
 canes be 15 and the other only 10 months old. Those, however, cut towards the end of 
 the dry season, before the rains begin to fall, produce better sugar than those cut in the 
 rainy season, as they are then somewhat diluted with watery juice, and require more eva- 
 poration to form sugar. It may be reckoned a fair average product, when one pound of 
 sugar is obtained from one gallon (English) of juice. 
 
 Rattoons (a word corrupted from rejetlons) are the sprouts or suckers that spring from 
 the roots or stoles of the canes that have been previously cut for sugar. They are 
 commonly ripe in 12 months ; but canes of the first growth are called plant-canes, being 
 the direct produce of the original cuttings or germs placed in the ground, and require a 
 longer period to bring them to maturity. The first yearly return from the roots that 
 are cut over, are called first rattoons ; the second year's growth, second rattoons ; and so 
 on, according to their age. Instead of stocking up his rattoons, holing, and planting 
 the land anew, the planter suffers the stoles to continue in the ground, and contents 
 himself, as the cane fields become thin and impoverished, with supplying the vacant places 
 with fresh plants. By these means, and with the aid of manure, the produce of sugar 
 per acre, if not apparently equal to that from plant-canes, gives perhaps in the long run 
 as great returns to the owner, considering the relative proportion of the labor and expense 
 attending the different systems. The common yielding on proper land, such as the red 
 soil of Trelawney, in Jamaica, is 7 hogsheads, of 16 cwts. each, to 10 acres of rattoons cut 
 annually ; and such a plantation lasts from 6 to 10 years. 
 
 When the planted canes are ripe, they are cut close above the ground, by an oblique 
 section, into lengths of 3 or 4 feet, and transported in bundles to the mill-house. If the 
 roots be then cut off, a few inches below the surface of the soil, and covered up with fine 
 mould, they will push forth more prolific offsets or rattoons, than when left projecting in 
 he common way. * 
 
 The recent researches of the eminent French chemist, M. Casaseca, upon cane juice, 
 at Havanna in Cuba, have demonstrated clearly the enormous loss which sugar-plantera 
 suffer by the imperfection of their manufacturing processes. His results confirm those 
 previously obtained by M. Peligot in Paris, and show that cane juice evaporated in. 
 vacuo at the atmospheric temperature yields, in 100 parts, — 
 
 Crystalline white sugar - 20 - 94 
 
 "Water . . 7g-80 
 
 Mineral substances - . 0'14 
 
 Organic matter, different from sugar - 12 
 
 The cane from which the above juice was drawn is called canade la tierra in Cuba. 
 
 The juice of the Otaheite enne is identical with the preceding. But the proportions of 
 
 ligneous fibres in the two canes are very different ; that of la tierra containing, according 
 
 to M. Casaseca, 16'4 per cent., while that of Otaheite contains only 10. Other canes, 
 
 however, differ in this respect considerably from these two varieties. The average 
 
 quantity of grained sugar obtained from cane juice in our colonial plantations is probably 
 
 not more than one-third of the quantity of crystalline sugar in the juice which they boil 
 
SUGAR. • 759 
 
 The following analysis of cane juice, performed by a French chemist, was given me 
 by Mr. Forstall of New Orleans. In 10 English gallons, of 231 cubic inches each oi 
 juice making 8|° Baume, there are 5| ounces English of salts, which consist of — 
 
 Sulphate of potash - 17 -840 grammes -= 15-44 grains each. 
 
 Phosphate of potash - - 16-028 
 
 Clilorure of potassium - - 8 - 355 
 
 Acetate of potash ... 63-750 
 
 Acetate of lime - >- 36-010 
 
 Gelatinous silica ... 15-270 
 
 157-153-= 5 P 57 ounces avoirdupois 
 To the large proportion of deliquescent saline matter, of which one half he saya 
 remains in the sugar, the analyst ascribes very properly the deliquescence and dete- 
 rioration of the sugar when kept for some time or transported. It was probably the 
 juiee of the cane grown in the rich alluvial soil of Louisiana, and therefore more abun- 
 dant in saline matter than the average soil of our West India Islands. The Demerara 
 cane-juice has perhaps the above saline constitution, as it suffers much loss of weight 
 by drainage in the home voyage. 
 
 OF SUGAR MILLS. 
 
 The first machines employed to squeeze the canes, were mills similar to those which 
 serve to crush apples in some cider districts, or somewhat like tan-mills. In the centre 
 of a circular area of about 7 or 8 feet in diameter, a vertical heavy wheel was made to 
 revolve on its edge, by attaching a horse to a cross beam projecting horizontally from 
 it and making it move in a circular path. The cane pieces were strewed on the some- 
 what concave bed in the path of the wheel, and the juice expressed flowed away 
 through a channel or gutter in the lowest part. This machine was tedious and unpro- 
 ductive. It was replaced by the vertical cylinder-mill of Gonzales de Velosa ; which 
 has continued till modern times, with little variation of external form, but is now gen- 
 erally superseded by the sugar-mill with horizontal cylinders. 
 
 Specification of, and Observations on the Construction and Use of the best 
 Horizontal Sugar-mill. 
 
 Fig. 1385. Front elevation of the entire mill. Fig. 1386. Horizontal plan. Fig. 
 1387. End elevation. Fig. 1388. Diagram, showing the dispositions of the feeding 
 and delivering rollers, feeding board, returner, and delivering board. 
 
 Fig. 1385. A, A, solid foundation of masonry; B, B, bed plate: c, e, headstocks or 
 standards; D, main shaft (seen only in fig. 1386); e, intermediate shaft ; F, F, plummer- 
 blocks of main shaft D (seen only in fig. 1386); h driving pinion on the fly-wheel Bhaft 
 of engine ; i, first motion mortise wheel, driven by the pinion ; k, second motion pinion, 
 on the same shaft; l, second motion mortise-wheel, on the main shaft; M, brays of 
 wood, holding the plummer-blocks for shaft d; n, wrought-iron straps connecting the 
 brays of the standards o, c ; o, o, regulating screws for the brays ; p, top roller and 
 gudgeons ; q and u, the lower or feeding and delivering rollers ; s, clutch for the con- 
 nection of the side of lower rollers Q and k, to the main shaft (seen only in fig. 1386); 
 T, T, the drain gutters of the mill-bed (seen only in fig. 1386). 
 
 The same letters of reference are placed respectively on the same parts of the mill 
 in each of^s. 1385, 1386, and 1387. 
 
 The relative disposition of the rollers is shown in the diagram,^. 1388, in which A 
 is the top roller; B, the feeding roller; o, the delivering roller; D, the returner; e, the 
 feed board ; r, the delivering board. / 
 
 The rollers are made 2£ inches to 2\ inches thick, and ribbed in the centre. The 
 feeding and delivering rollers have small flanges at their ends (as shown in fig 1385) 
 between which the top roller is placed ; these flanges prevent the pressed canes or begass 
 from working into the mill-bed. The feeding and top rollers are generally fluted,*and 
 sometimes diagonally, enabling them the better to seize the canes from the feed-board. 
 It is, however, on the whole, considered better to flute the feeding roller only, leaving 
 the top and delivery rollers plane; when the top roller is fluted, it should be very 
 slightly, for, after the work of a few weeks, its surface becomes sufficiently rough to 
 bito the canes effectively. The practical disadvantage of fluting the delivering rollers, 
 is in the groves carrying round a portion of liquor, which is speedily absorbed by the 
 spongy begass, as well as in breaking the begass itself, and thus causing great waste. 
 
 The feed board is now generally made of cast iron, and is placed at a considerable 
 inclination, to allow the canes to slip the more easily down to the rollers. The returner 
 is also of cast iron, serrated on the edge, to admit the free flowing of the liquor to the 
 mill-bed. The concave returner, formerly nsed, was pierced with holes to drain off the 
 liquor, but it had the serious disadvantage of the holes choking up with .the splinters 
 of the cane, and has therefore been discarded. The delivering board is of cast iron, 
 fitted close to the roller, to detach any begass that may adhere to it, and otherwise 
 mix with the liquor. 
 
7C0 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 In Demerara, Surinam, Cayenne, and the alluvial district of Trinidad, it is usual W 
 ktlacli to the mill a liquor-pump, with two barrels and three adjustments of stroke. This 
 
 Is worked from the gudgeon of the top roller. In action, the "iquor from the gutter oi 
 the mill-bed runs into the cistern of the pump, and is raised by the pump to the gutter 
 which leads to the clariiier or coppers. Such pumps have brass barrels and copper dis- 
 charging pipes, are worked with a very slow motion, and require to be carefully adjusted 
 l V he JP- ant " y ° f liquor t0 be raised > which, without such precaution, is either not drawn 
 off sufficiently quick, or is agitated with air in the barrels, and delivered to the gutter in 
 a state of fermentation. 
 
 In working this mill, the feeding roller is kept about half an inch distant from the upper 
 roller but the delivering roller is placed so close to it, as to allow the begass to pass through 
 unbroken. ° 
 
 The practite with this mill is to cut the sugar canes into short lengths of about 
 three feet, and bring them to the mill tied up in small bundles ; there the feeder unites 
 hem, throws them on the feed board, and spreads them so that they may cross each 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 761 
 
 other as little as possible. They are taken in by the feed rollers, which split and slightly 
 press them j the liquor flows down, and, the returner guiding the canes between the top 
 
 and delivering rollers, they receive the final pressure, and are turned out on the mill-floor 
 while the liquor runs back and falls into the mill-bed. The begass, then in the state of 
 pith, adhering to the skin of the cane, is tied up in bundles, and after being exposed a 
 short time to the sun, is finally stored in the begass-house for fuel. By an important 
 improvement in this stage of the process, recently introduced, the begass is carried to the 
 begass-house by a carrier chain, worked by the engine. 
 
 The relative merits of horizontal and vertical sugar-mills on this construction may be 
 thus stated: — The horizontal mill is cheaper in construction, and is more easily fixed; 
 the process of feeding is performed at about one half of the labor, and in a much supe- 
 rior manner; the returner guides the canes to receive the last pressure more perfectly; 
 and the begass isftot so much broken as in the vertical mill, but left tolerably entire, so 
 as to he tied, dried, and stored, with less trouble and waste. 
 
 The vertical mill has a considerable advantage, in being more easily washed ; and it 
 can be readily and cheaply mounted in wooden framing; but the great labor of feeding 
 the vertical mill renders it nearly inapplicable to any higher power than that of about 
 ten horses. In situations where the moving power is a windmill, or a cattle-gin, the 
 vertical mill may be preferred. 
 
 The scale of produce of such mills varies according to the climate and soil. In Deme- 
 rara, a well-constructed engine and mill will produce about 100 gallons of liquor per 
 hour for each horse power. 
 
 The dimensions of the most approved horizontal mills are these : — 
 
 Horse-power of Engine. 
 
 Length of Rollers. 
 
 Diameter of Rollers. 
 
 8 
 10 
 12 
 
 ft. in. 
 4 
 4 6 
 4 8 
 
 niches. 
 25 
 27 
 28 
 
 The surface speed of the rollers is 3-4 or 3-6 feet per minute ; and to provide tor the 
 varying resistance arising from irregular feeding, or the accidental crossing of the canes, 
 by which the engine is often brought up so suddenly as to break the fly-wheel shaft, it is 
 necessary to make both the shaft and the fly-wheel of unusual strength and weight. 
 
 Sugar is manufactured in the East Indies by two distinct classes of persons; the ryots, 
 who raise the sugar cane, extract its juice, and inspissate it to a sirupy consistence; and 
 <he goldars, who complete the. conversion into sugar. 
 
 The ryots are the farmers, or actual cultivators of the soil ; but, properly speaking, 
 they are merely peasantSj toiling under oppressive landlords, and miserably poor. 
 After they cut the canes, they extract the juice by one ci other of the rude mills or 
 mortars presently to be described, and boil it down to an entire mass, which is gene- 
 rally called goor, without making any attempt to clarify it, or separate the granular 
 sugar from the uncrystallizable molasses. This goor is of various qualities ; one ol 
 
762 
 
 SUGAR 
 
 Which, in most common use for mailing sugar, is known amongst the English settler* 
 tinder the name of jaggery. There is a caste in Ce3'lon, called- jaggeraros, whe 
 make sugar from the produce of the Caryota urens, or Kilui tree ; and the sugar ic 
 styled jaggery. Sugar is not usually made in Ceylon fnlm the sugar cane ; but eilhei 
 from the juice of the Kitul, from the Cocos nucifcra, or the Borassus fiabelliformis (tht 
 Palmyra tree.) 
 Several sorts of cane are cultivated in India. 
 
 The Cadjoolee (fig. 1389) is a purple-colored cane j yields a sweeter and richer juice 
 than the yellow or light-colored, but in less quantities, and is harder to press. It grows 
 in dry lands. When eaten raw, it is somewhat dry and pithy in the 
 1389 mouth, but is esteemed very good for making sugar. It is not known 
 to the West India planter. The leaves rise from a point 6 feet above 
 the ground. An oblique and transverse section of the cane is repre- 
 sented by the parts near the bottom of the figure. 
 
 The Pooree is a light-colored cane, yellow, inclining to white, deepei 
 yellow when ripe and on rich ground. West India planters consider 
 it the same sort as one of theirs. It is softer and more juicy than the 
 preceding, bat the juice is less rich, and produces a weaker sugar. It 
 requires seven parts of poorer juice to make as much goor as is pro- 
 duced from six of the cadjoolee. Much of this cane is brought to the 
 Calcutta market, and eaten raw. 
 
 The Cullorab thrives in swampy lands, is light-colored, and grows 
 to a great height. Its juice is more watery, and yields a weaker sugar 
 also than the cadjoolee. However, since much of Bengal consistsof 
 low grounds, and since the upland canes are apt to suffer from drought, 
 it deserves encouragement in certain localities. 
 
 It is only large farms that cut an acre of cane in a year ; one mill, 
 therefore, and one set of the implements used in inspissating the 
 juice, although very rude and simple, serve for several farms, and 
 generally belong to some wealthy man, who lets them out for hire to 
 his poorer neighbors, the whole of whom unite to clear each othei-'f 
 fields by turns; so that though many people anil cattle'are employe* 
 at one of these miserable sets of works, very few indeed are hired 
 ' and the greater part of the labor is performed by the common stock of 
 the farms. ' 
 
 The inspissated juice, or extract of cane, called by the natives goor 
 is of two kinds ; one of which may be termed cake extract, and tht 
 other pot extract ; both being often denominated jaggery, as above 
 stated, by the English residents. 
 One third of an acre of good land in the southern districts, is reckoned by the 
 
 farmers to produce 38,891 
 pounds of cane, and 1,159 
 pounds of pot extract. Its 
 produce in cake extract is 
 about 952 pounds. 
 
 I shall now describe the 
 primitive rude mill and boi- 
 ler used in preparing the 
 extract of sugar cane, and 
 which are usually let to the 
 ryots by fhe day. The mill 
 in Dinajpur,^ ff .l390, is on 
 the principle of a pestle and 
 mortar. The pestle, how- 
 ever, does not beat the 
 canes, but is rubbed against 
 them, as is done in many 
 chemical triturations ; and 
 the moving force is two 
 oxen. The mortar is gene- 
 rally a tamarind tree, one 
 end of which is sunk deep 
 in the ground, to give it 
 firmness. The part pro- 
 
 »e about two feet high, and a foot and a half in diameterf "Sd % tVunper'e'nd 
 a hollow is cut, like the small segment of a sphere. In the centre of this! a 
 
SUGAR. 7f3 
 
 ehannel descends a little way perpendicularly, and then obliquely to one side of the morlar, 
 so that the juice, as squeezed from the cane, runs off, by means of a spout b, into 
 a strainer c, through which it falls into an earthen pot, that stands in a hole 
 d, under the spout. The pestle c, is a tree about 18 feet in length, and 1 foot in 
 diameter, rounded at its bottom, which rubs against the mortar, and which is se- 
 emed in its place by a bulton or knob, that goes into the channel of the mortar. 
 The moving force is applied to a horizontal beam /, about 16 feet in length, which 
 turns round about the mortar, and is fastened to it by a bent bamboo b. It is 
 suspended from the upper end of the pestle by a bamboo g, which has been cu* 
 with part of the root, in which is formed a pivot that hangs on the upper point of the 
 pestle. The cattle are yoked to the horizontal beam, at about ten feet from the mortar, 
 move round it in a circle, and are driven by a man, who sits on the beam, to increase 
 the weight of the triturating power. Scarcely any machine more miserable can be con- 
 ceived ; and it would be totally ineffectual, were not the cane cut into thin slices. This 
 is a troublesome part of the operation. The grinder sits on the ground, having before 
 him a bamboo stake, which is driven into the earth, with a deep notch formed in its up- 
 per end. He passes the canes gradually through this notch, and at the same time cuts 
 off the slices with a kind of rude chopper. 
 
 The boiling apparatus is somewhat better contrived, and is placed under a shed, 
 though the mill is without shelter. The fireplace is a considerable cavity dug in the 
 ground, and covered with an iron boiler p,fig. 1391. At one side of this, is an opening 
 q, for throwing in fuel; and opposite to this, is another opening, which communicates 
 
 1391 
 
 with the horizontal flue. This is formed by two parallel mud walls r, r, s, j, about 20 
 feet long, 2 feet high, and 18 inches distant from each other. A row of eleven earthen 
 boilers t, is placed on these walls, and the interstices u, are filled with clay, which 
 completes the furnace-flue, an opening o, being left at the end, for giving vent to the 
 smoke. 
 
 The juice, as it comes from (he mill, is first put into the earthen boiler that is most 
 distant from the fire, and is gradually removed from one boiler to another, until it reaches 
 the iron one, where the process is completed. The fireplace is manifestly on the same 
 model as the boiler range in the West Indies, and may possibly have suggested it, since 
 the Hindostan furnace is, no doubt, of immemorial usage. The execution of its parts is 
 very rude and imperfect. The inspissated juice that can be prepared in 2 1 hours by such 
 a mill, with 16 men and 20 oxen, amounts to no more than 476 lbs. ; and it is only in the 
 southern parts of the district, where the people work night and day, that the sugar-works 
 are so productive. In the northern districts, the people work only during the day, and 
 inspissate about one half the quantity of juice. The average daily make of a West India 
 sugar-house, is from 2 to 3 hogsheads, of 16 cwts. each. 
 
 The Indian manufacturers of sugar purchase the above inspissated juice or goor from 
 the farmers, and generally prefer that of a granular honey consistence, which is offered 
 for sale in pots. As this, however, cannot conveniently be brought from a distance, some 
 of the cake kind is also employed. The boilers are of two sizes ; one adapted for 
 making at each operation about ten cwts. ; the other, about eight and a half. The latter 
 is the segment of a sphere, nine feet diameter at the mouth ; the former is larger. The 
 boiler is sunk into a cylindrical cavity in the ground, which serves as a fireplace, so 
 that its edge is just above the floor of the boiling-house. The fuel is thrown in by an 
 aperture close to one side of the boiler, and the smoke escapes by a horizontal chimney 
 .that passes eut on the opposite side of the hut, and has a small round aperture, about 
 ten feet distant from ti i wall, in order to lessen the danger from fire. Some manufac- 
 turers have only one boiler ; others as many as four ; but each boiler has a separate hut, 
 in one end of which is some spare fuel; and in the other, some bamboo stages, which 
 support cloth strainers, that are used in the operation. This hut is about twenty-four 
 cubits long, and ten broad ; has mm' walls, six cubits high ; and is raised about one cubit 
 above the ground. 
 
 For each boiler, two other houses are required.: one in which the cane extract is 
 separated by straining from the molasses, is about twenty cubits long by ten wide ; an- 
 other, about thirty cubits long, by eight wide, is that in which, after the extract has beeii 
 (trained, boiled, and clarified, the treac e is separated from the sugar by an operation an- 
 alogous to claying. 
 
764 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 Each sugar manufacturer has a warehouse besides, of a size proportional to the nun* 
 ber of his boilers. 
 . About 960 pounds of pot extract being divided into four parts, each is put into a ba» 
 of coarse sackcloth, hung over an equal number of wide-mouthed earthen vessels and 
 is besprinkled with a little water. These drain from the bags about 240 pounds'of a 
 substance analogous to West Indian molasses. The remainder in the bags is a kind of 
 coarse muscovado sugar ; but is far from being so well drained and freed from molasses 
 as that of the Antilles. The 720 pounds of this substance are then put into a boiler with 
 270 pounds of water, and the mixture is boiled briskly for 144 minutes, when 18C 
 additional pounds of water are added, and the boiling is continued for 48 minutes more. 
 An alkaline solution is prepared from the ashes of the plantain tree, strewed over straw 
 placed in the bottom of an earthen pot perforated with holes. Ninety pounds of water 
 are passed through ; and 6 pounds of the clear lixivium are added to the boiling sirup, 
 whereby a thick scum is raised, which is removed. After 24 minutes, four and a half 
 pounds of alkaline solution, and about two fifths of a pound of raw milk, are added • 
 after which the boiling and skimming are continued 24 minutes. This must be repeated 
 from five to seven times, until no more scum appears. 240 pounds of water being now 
 added, the liquor is to be poured into a number of strainers. These are bags of coarse 
 cotton cloth, in the form of inverted quadrangular pyramids, each of which is suspended 
 from a frame of wood, about two feet square. The operation of straining occupies about 
 96 minutes. The strained liquor is divided into three parts : one of these is put in,to a 
 boiler, with from half a pound to a pound and a half of alkaline solution, one twelfth of 
 a pound of milk, and 12 pounds of water. After having boiled for between 48 and 72 
 minutes, three quarters of a pound of milk are added, and the liquor is poured, in equal 
 portions, into four refining pots: These are wide at the mouth, and pointed at the bot- 
 tom ; but are not conical, for the sides are curved. The bottom is perforated, and the 
 stem of a plantain leafforms a plug for closing the aperture. The two remaining portions 
 of the strained liquor are managed in exactly the same manner; so that each refinin" 
 pot has its share of each portion. When they have cooled a little, the refining po*t 
 is removed to the curing-house, and placed on the ground for 24 hours; next day 
 they are placed on a frame, which supports them at some distance from the ground. A 
 wide-mouthed' vessel is placed under each, to receive the viscid liquor that drains from 
 them. In order to draw off this more completely, moist leaves of the Valismria spiralis 
 are placed over the mouth of the pot, to the thickness of two inches ; after 10 or 12 
 days, these are removed ; when a crust of sugar, about half an inch in thickness, is found 
 on the surface of the boiled liquor. The crust being broken and removed, fresh leaves 
 are repeatedly added, until the whole sugar has formed ; which requires from 75 to 90 
 days. When cake extract is used, it does not require to be strained before it be put into 
 the boiler. 
 
 On the above-describedoperose and preposterous process, it is needless to make any 
 remarks. While it is adhered to with the. tenacity of Hindoo habit, the West Indies 
 has no reason to fear the competition of the East, in the manufacture of sugar, provided 
 the former avail themselves of the aids which chemical and mechanical science 'are readv 
 to supply. ' 
 
 In every part of the Behar and Putna districts, several of the confectioners prepare 
 the coarse article called shukkur, which is entirely similar in appearance to the inferior 
 Jamaica sugars. They prepare it b7 putting some of the thin extract of su"ar cane 
 into coarse sackcloth bags, and by laying weights on them, they squeeze out the molasses ; 
 
 a process perfectly analogous to that 
 contemplated in several English pat- 
 ents. 
 
 The sugar-mill at Chica Ballapura 
 is worked by a single pair of buffaloes 
 or oxen, fig. .1392, going round with 
 the lever a, which is fixed on the top 
 of the right-hand roller. The two 
 rollers have endless screw heads b, 
 which are formed of 4 spiral grooves 
 and 4 spiral ridges, cut in opposite 
 directions, which turnf into one an- 
 other, when the mill is working. 
 These rollers and their heads are of 
 one piece, made of the toughest and 
 •i, . • ^ t j . , . hardest wood that can be got, and such 
 
 as will not impart any bad taste to the juice. They are supported in a thick stron" 
 wooden frame, and their d,s ance from each other is regulated by means of weX 
 Vhich pass through mort.ses m the frame planks, and a |roove made in a bit of som» 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 765 
 
 sort of hard wood, and press upon the axis of one of the rollers. The axis of the other 
 presses against the left-hand side of the hole in the frame-boards. The cane juice runs 
 down the rollers, and through a hole in the lower frame-board, into a wooden conductor, 
 which carries it into an earthen pot. Two long-pointed stakes or piles are driven into 
 the earth, to keep the mill steady, which is all the fixing it requires. The under part ot 
 the lowermost plank of the frame rests upon the surface of the ground, which is chosen 
 level and very firm, that the piles may hold the faster. A hole is dug in the earth, im 
 mediately below the spout of the conductor, to receive the pot. 
 
 The mill used in Burdwan and near Calcutta, is simply two small wooden cylinders, 
 grooved, placed horizontally, close to each other, and turned by two men, one at each 
 end. This simple engine is said completely, but slowly, to express the juice. It is very 
 cheap, the prime cost not being two rupees ; and being easily moved from field to field, 
 it saves much labor in the carriage of the cane. Notwithstanding this advantage, so rude 
 a machine must leave a large proportion of the richest juice in the cane-trash. 
 
 It is curious to find in the ancient arts ofHindostan exact prototypes of the sugar-roll- 
 ers, horizontal and upright, of relatively modern invention in the New World. 
 
 The sugar-mill of Chinapatam, fig. 1393, consists of a mortar, lever, pestle, and regu- 
 lator. The mortar is a tree about 10 feet in length, and 14 inches in diameter : a is a 
 1393 plan of its upper end ; ft 
 
 is an outside view ; and 
 c is a vertical section. 
 It is sunk perpendicu- 
 larly into the earth, leav- 
 ing one end 2 feet above 
 the surface. The hol- 
 low is conical, trjncated 
 downwards, and then 
 becomes cylindrical, 
 with a hemispherical 
 projection in its bottom, 
 to allow the juice to run 
 freely to the small open- 
 ing that conveys it to a 
 spout, from which it 
 falls into an earthen pot. 
 Round the upper mouth 
 of the cone is a circular 
 cavity, which collects any of the juice that may run over from the upper ends of the pie- 
 ces of cane; and thence a canal conveys this juice, down the outside of the mortar, to 
 the spout. The beam d, is about 16 feet in length, and 6 inches in thickness, being cut 
 out from a large tree that is divided by a fork into two arms. In the fork an excavation 
 is made for the mortar ft, round which the beam turns horizontally. . The surface of this 
 excavation is secured by a semi-circle, of strong wood. The end towards the fork is quite 
 open, for changing the beam without trouble. On the undivided end of the beam sits 
 the bullock-driver e, whose cattle are yoked by a rope which comes from the end- of the 
 beam ; and they are prevented from dragging out of the circle by another rope, which 
 passes from the yoke to the forked end of the beam. On the arms /, a basket is placed, 
 to hold the cuttings of cane ; and between this and the mortar sits the man who feeds the 
 mill. Just as the pestle comes round, he places the pieces of cane sloping down into the 
 cavity of the mortar ; and after the pestle has passed, he removes those that have been 
 squeezed. 
 
 F\ 
 
 li 
 
 OF THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR IN THE WEST INDIES. 
 
 Cane-juice varies exceedingly in richness, with the nature of the soil, the culture, the 
 season, and variety of the plant. It is an opaque fluid, of a dull gray, olive, or olive- 
 green color; in taste, balmy and saccharine; exhaling the balsamic odor of the cane; 
 slightly viscid; and of a specific gravity varying from 1-033 to 1-106, according to cir- 
 cumstances. When fresh, it consists of two parts; the one liquid, the other solid; the 
 latter of which being merely suspended in the former, and, therefore, separable in a great 
 measure by filtration or repose. The solid matter consists of fragments of the cellular 
 parenchyma of the cane, its fibres, and bark, mechanically protruded through the mill ; 
 mixed with a very abundant greenish substance, like that called chlorophyle by che. 
 mists. 
 
 When left to itself in the colonial climates, the juice runs rapidly into the acetous 
 fermentation ; twenty minutes being, in many cases, sufficient to bring on this destruc- 
 tive change. Hence arises the necessity of subjecting it immediately to clarifyirg pro- 
 
 L 
 
76b SUGAR. 
 
 cesses, speedy in their action. When deprived of its green fecula and glutinous extrac- 
 tive, it is still subject to fermentation; but this is now of the vinous kind. The juice 
 flows from the mill through a wooden gutter lined with lead, and being conducted into 
 the sugar-house, is received in a set of large pans or caldrons, called clarifiers. On es- 
 tates which make on an average, during crop time, from 15 to 20 hogsheads of sugar a 
 week, three clarifiers, of from 300 to 400 gallons' capacity each, are sufficient. With pans 
 of this dimension, the liquor may be drawn off at once by a stop-cock or syphon, without 
 disturbing the feculencies after they subside. Each clarifier is hung over a separate fire, 
 the flue being" furnished with a damper for checking the combustion, or extinguishing it 
 altogether. The clarifiers are sometimes placed at one end, and sometimes in the middle 
 of the house, particularly if it possesses a double set of evaporating pans. 
 
 Whenever the stream from the mill cistern has filled the clarifier with fresh juice, the 
 fire is lighted, and the temper, or dose of slaked lime, diffused uniformlv through a little 
 juice, is added. If an albuminous emulsion be used to promote the clarifying, very little 
 lime will be required ; for recent cane-liquor contains no appreciable portion of acid to be 
 saturated. In fact, the lime and alkalis in general, when used in small quantity, seem 
 to coagulate the glutinous extractive matter j>f [he juice, and thus tend to brighten it up. 
 But if an excess of temper be used, the gluten is taken up again by the strong affinity 
 which is known to exist between sugar and lime. Excess of lime may always be cor- 
 rected by a little alum-water. Where canes grow on a calcareous marly soil, in a favor- 
 able season, the saccharine matter gets so thoroughly elaborated, and the glutinous mu- 
 cilage so completely condensed, that a clear juice and a fine sugar may be obtained 
 without the use of lime. 
 
 As the liquor grows hot in the clarifier, a scum is thrown up, consisting of the coagu- 
 lated feculencies of the cane-juice. The fire is now gradually urged till the temperature 
 approaches, the boiling point; to which, however, it must not be suffered to rise. It is 
 tnown to be sufficiently heated, when the scum rise's in blisters, which break into white 
 (Voth; an appearance observable in about forty minutes after kindling the fire. The 
 damper being shut down, the fire dies out; and after an hour's repose, the clarified liquor 
 is ready to be drawn off into the last and largest in the series of evaporating pans. In 
 the British colonies, these are merely numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, beginning at the smallest, 
 which hangs right over the fire, and is called the teache ; because in it the trial of the 
 sirup, by touch, is made. The flame and smoke proceed in a straight line along a flue to 
 the chimney-slalk at the other end of the furnace. The area of this flue proceeds, with 
 a slight ascent from the fire to the aperture at the bottom of the chimney ; so that be- 
 Iween the surface of the grate and the bottom of the teache, there is a distance of 28 
 inches ; while between the bottom of the flue and that of the grand, No. 5, at the other end 
 of the range, there are barely 18 inches. 
 
 In some sugar-houses there is planted, in the angular space betwesn each boiler, a 
 basin, one foot wide and a few inches deep, for the purpose of receiving the scum which 
 thence flows off into the grand copper, along a gutter scooped out on the margin of the 
 brick-work. The skimmings of the grand are thrown into a separate pan, placed at its 
 side. A large cylindrical cooler, about six feet wide and two feet deep, has been placed in 
 certain sugar-works near the teache, for receiving successive charges of its inspissated 
 sirup. Each finished charge is called a skipping, because it is skipped or laded out. 
 The term striking is also applied to the act of emptying the teache. When upon one skip- 
 ping of sirup in a state of incipient granulation in the cooler, a second skipping is pour- 
 ed, this second congeries of saccharine particles agglomerates round the first as nuclei of 
 crystallization, a vl produces a larger grain ; a result improved by each successive skip- 
 ping. This principle has been long known to the chemist, but does not seem to have 
 been always properly considered or appreciated by the sugar-planter. 
 
 From the above described cooler, the sirup is transferred into wooden chests or boxes 
 open at top, and of a rectangular shape; also called coolers, but which are more properly 
 crystallizers or granulators. These are commonly six in number; each being about one 
 foot deep, seven feet long, and five or six feet wide. When filled, such a mass is collect- 
 ed, as to favor slow cooling,- and consequent large-grained crystallization. If these boxes 
 be too shallow, the grain is exceedingly injured, as may be easily shown by pouring some 
 of tne. same sirup on a small tray ; when, on cooling, the sugar will appear like a muddy 
 soft sand. , ' 
 
 The criterion by which the negro boilers judge of the due concentration of the sirut 
 in the teache is difficult to describe, and depends almost entirely on the sagacity and 
 experience of the individual Some of them judge by the appearance of the incipient 
 grain on the back of the cooling ladle; but most decide by "the touch," that is, the fee 
 and appearance of a drop of the sn-up pressed and then drawn into a thread between 
 the thumb and fore-finger The thread eventually breaks at a certain limit of exten 
 >ion, shnnking from the thumb to the suspended finger, in lengths somewhat proper 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 767 
 
 tional to tb* inspissation of the sirup. But the appearance of granulation in the thread 
 must also be considered ; for a viscid and damaged sirup may give a long enough thread, 
 and yet yield almost no crystalline grains when cooled. Tenacity and granular aspect 
 must, therefore, be both taken into the account, and will continue to constitute the prac- 
 tical guides to the negro boiler, till a less barbarous mode of concentrating cane-juice 
 be substituted for the present naked teaclie, or sugar frying-pan. 
 
 That Wfiak sugars are such as contain an inferior proportion of carbon in fneir com- 
 position, was first deduced by me from my experiments on the ultimate analysis o vege- 
 table and animal bodies ; an account of which was published in the Philosophical Trans- 
 actions of the Royal Society for 18.22. Since then, Dr. Prout has arrived at results 
 confirmatory of my views. See Philosophical Transactions for 1827. Thus, he found 
 pure sugar-candy, and the best refined sugar, to contain 42-85 parts of carbon per cent.; 
 East India susar-candy, 41-9 parts ; East India raw sugar in a thoroughly dry state, but 
 of a low quality, 40?88 ; manna sugar, well refined, 28-7 ; sugar from Narbonne honey, 
 36-36 ; sugar from starch, 36-2. Hence, by caramelising the sirup in the teache, not 
 only is the crystallizable sugar blackened, but its faculty of crystallizing impaired, and 
 the granular portion rendered weaker. 
 
 A viscous sirup containing much gluten and sugar, altered by lime, requires a higher 
 temperature to enable it to granulate than a pure saccharine sirup ; and therefore the 
 thermometer, though a useful adjuvant, can by no means be regarded as a sure guide, in 
 determining the proper instant for sinking the teache. 
 
 The colonial curing-house is a capacious building, of which the earthen floor is exca- 
 vated to form the molasses reservoir. This is lined with sheet lead, boards, tarras, or 
 other retentive cement ; its bottom slopes a little, and it is partially covered by an open 
 massive frame of joist-work, on which the potting casks are set upright. These are 
 merely empty sugar hogsheads, without headings, having 8 or 10. holes bored in their 
 bottoms, through each of which the stalk of a plantain leaf is stuck, so as to protrude 
 downwards 6 or 8 inches below the level of the joists, and to rise above the top of the 
 cask. The act of transferring the crude concrete sugar from the crystallizers into these 
 hogsheads is cal-led potting. The bottom holes, and the spongy stalks stuck in them, 
 allow the molasses to drain slowly downwards into the sunk cistern. In the common 
 mode of procedure, sugar of average quality is kept from 3 to 4 weeks in the curing- 
 nouse ; that which is soft-grained and glutinous must remain 5 or 6 weeks. The curing- 
 house should be close and warm, to favor the liquefaction and drainage of the viscid 
 caramel. 
 
 Out of 120 millions of pounds of raw sugar, which used to be annually shipped by the 
 St. Domingo planters, only 96 millions were landed in France, according to the authority 
 of Dutrone, constituting a loss by drainage in the ships of 20 per cent. The average 
 transport waste at present in the sugars of the British colonies cannot be estimated at 
 less than 12 per cent., or altogether upwards of 27,000 tons ! What a tremendous sacri- 
 See of property ! 
 
 Within these few years a very considerable quantity of sugar has been imported into 
 Great Britain in the state of concentrated cane-juice, containing nearly half its weight 
 of granular sugar, along with more or less molasses, according to the care taken in the 
 boiling operations. I was at first apprehensive that the sirup might undergo some 
 change on the voyage ; but among more than a hundred samples which I have analyzed 
 for the custom-house, I have not perceived any traces of fermentation. Since sugar softens 
 in its grain at each successive solution, whatever portion of the crop may be destined 
 for the refiner, should upon no account be granulated in the colonies ; but should be 
 transported in the state of a rich cane-sirup to Europe, transferred at once into the 
 blowing-up cistern, subjected there to the reaction of bone black, and passed through 
 bag-filters, or through layers of the coarsely ground black, previously to its final concen- 
 tration in the vacuum pan. Were this means generally adopted, I am convinced that 30 
 per cent, would be added to the amount of home-made sugar loaves corresponding to a 
 given quantity of average cane-juice; while 30 per cent, would be taken from the 
 amount of molasses. The saccharine matter now lost by drainage from the hogsheads in 
 the ships, amounting to from 10 to 15 per cent., would also be saved. The produce of 
 the cane would, on this plan, require less labor in the colonies, and might be exported 5 
 or 6 weeks earlier than at present, because the period o." drainage in the curing-house 
 would be spared. 
 
 It does not appear that our sugar colonists have availed themselves of the proper 
 chemical method of counteracting that incipient fermentation of the cane-juice, which 
 sometimes supervenes, and proves so injurious to their products. It is known that grape, 
 must, feebly impregnated with sulphurous acid, by running it slowly into a cask in 
 which a few sulphur matches have been burned, will keep without alteration for a year; 
 and if must, so muted, is boiled into a sirup within a week or ten days, it retains no 
 sulphureous odor. A very slight muting would suifice for the most ferraentaMe cane- 
 
768 SUGAR. 
 
 juice ; and it could be easily given, by burning a sulphur match within the cistern 
 immediately before charging it from the mill. The cane juice should, in this ease, be 
 heated in the clarifier, so as to expel the sulphurous acid, before adding the temper lime ; 
 for otherwise a little calcareous sulphite might be introduced into the sugar. Thus the 
 acescence so prejudicial to the saccharine granulation would be certainly prevented. 
 
 Sirup intended for forming Ciayea sugar must be somewhat more concentrated in the 
 .eache, and run off into a copper cooler, capable of receiving three or four successive 
 skippings. Here it is stirred to ensure uniformity of product, and is then transferred by 
 ladles into conical moulds, or formes, made of coarse pottery, having a small orifice al 
 the apex, which is stopped with a plug of wood wrapped in a leaf of maize. These 
 pots are arranged with the base upwards. As their capacity, when largest, is greatly 
 less than that of the smallest potting-casks, and as the process lasts several weeks, the 
 claying-house requires to have very considerable dimensions. Whenever the sirup is 
 properly granulated, which happens usually in about 18 or 20 hours, the plugs are 
 removed from the apices of the cones, and each is set on an earthen pot to receive the 
 drainings. At the end of 24 hours, the cones are transferred over empty pots, and the 
 molasses contained in the former ones is either sent to the fermenling-house or sold. 
 The claying now begins, which consists in applying to the smoothed surface of the 
 sugar at the base of the cone, a plaster of argillaceous earth, or tolerably tenacious loam 
 in a pasty state. The water diffused among the clay escapes from it by slow infiltra- 
 tion, and descending with like slowness through the body of the sugar, carries along 
 with it the residuary viscid sirup which is more readily soluble than the granulated 
 particles. Whenever the first magma of clay has become dry, it is replaced by a second ; 
 and this occasionally in its turn by a third, whereby the sugar cone gets tolerably white 
 and clean. It is then dried in a stove, cut transversely into frusta, crushed into a coarse 
 powder, on wooden trays, and shipped off for Europe. Clayed sugars are sorted into 
 different shades of color, according to the part of the cone from which they were cut ; 
 under the denomination in French commerce oi premier, second, troisieme, petit, commun, 
 and tete ; the last or the tip being an indifferent article. The clayed sugar of Cuba is 
 called Havana sugar, from the name of the shipping port. 
 
 Clayed sugar can be made only from the ripest cane-juice, for that which contains 
 much gluten would be apt to get too much burned by the ordinary process of boiling, to 
 bear the claying operation. The sirups that run off from the second, third, and fourth 
 applications of the clay-paste, are concentrated afresh in a small building apart, called 
 the refinery, and yield tolerable sugars. Their drainings go % to the molasses cistern. The 
 cones remain for 20 days in the claying-house, before the sugar is taken out of them. 
 
 Claying is seldom had recourse to in the British plantations, on account of the 
 increase of labor, and diminution of weight in the produce, for which the improvemen) 
 in quality yields no adequate compensation. Such, however, was the esteem in which 
 the French consumers held clayed sugar, that it was prepared in 400 plantations of St. 
 Domingo alone. 
 
 SUGAR REFINING. 
 
 Raw, or muscovado sugar, as imported from the colonies, is contaminated more or 
 less with gluten, lime, but particularly caramel, which give its grains a yellow brown 
 tint, an empyreumatic odor, and a soft clammy feel in the hand. If such sugar be dis- 
 solved in water, and the sirup be evaporated by a gentle heat, it will afford a sugar of 
 still inferior quality and appearance. This rapid deterioratipn is in some measure 
 owing to the injurious operation of a prolonged heat upon the crystalline structure, but 
 chiefly to the chemical reaction of the glutinous ferment and lime upon the sugar. 
 The first care of the refiner should therefore be the immediate abstraction of these 
 noxious alteratives, which he effecls by the process called meltings ; that is, mixing up 
 the sugar in a pan with hot water or steam into a pap, and transferring this pap into 
 large sugar-moulds. Whenever these become cool, their points are unplugged, and they 
 are set u irain for a few days in a warm apartment. Sugar thus cleansed is well pre- 
 pared for the next refining process ; which consists in putting it into a large square 
 copper cistern along with some lime-water, (a little bullock's blood,) and from 5 to 29 
 per cent, of bone black, and blowing it up with steam j or, in other words, injecting 
 steam through the mixture from numerous orifices in copper pipes laid along the 
 bottom and sides of the vessel. Under the influence of the heat and agitation thus 
 occasioned, the saccharine matter is perfectly dissolved and incorporated with the albumen 
 of the blood and the bone black. Instead of the blood, many refiners employ a mixture of 
 gelatinous alumina and gypsum, called finings, prepared by adding a solution cf alum to 
 a body of lime-water, collecting, washing, and draining the precipitate upon a filter. 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 769 
 
 1394 Other refiners use both the blood and finings with advantage, 
 
 J3one Dlacit is now very frequently employed by the sugar-retmer, 
 not in a fine meal, but in a granular state, like corned gunpowder, 
 for the purpose of decoloring his sirups ; in which case, he places 
 it in a box, in a stratum 8 or 10 inches thick, and makes the 
 sirup percolate downwards through it, into a cistern placed be- 
 neath. By this means it is deprived of color, and forms the 
 claim of the French refiner. When the blowing up cistern is 
 charged with sugar, finely ground bone black, and blood, the mix. 
 lure must be passed through a proper system of filters. Thai 
 now most in use is the creased bag filter, represented in figs. 1394 
 1395, 1396. 
 
 The apparatus consists of an upright square wooden case a, a, 
 about 6 or 8 feet high, furnished with a door of admission to arrange 
 the interior objects ; beneath is a cistern with an educting-pipe for 
 receiving and carrying off the filtered liquor ; and above the case 
 is another cistern e, which, like the rest, is lined wilh tinned sheet 
 copper. Into the upper cistern, the sirup mixed with animal 
 charcoal is introduced, and passes thence into the mouths e, e, of 
 the several filters d, d. These consist each of a bag of thick 
 tweeled cotton cloth, about 12 or 15 inches in diameter, and 6 or 
 8 feet long, which is inserted into a narrow bottomless bag of 
 canvass, about 5 inches in diameter, for the purpose of folding the 
 filter-bag up into a small space, and thus enabling a great extent 
 of filtering surfaces to be compressed into one box. The orifice of 
 each compound bag is tied round a conical brass mouth-piece or 
 nozzle c, which screws tight into a corresponding opening in the 
 copper bottom of the upper cistern. From 40 to 60 bags are mounted 
 in each filter case. The liquor which first passes is generally tinged 
 a little with the bone black, and must be pumped back into the upper cistern, for refil- 
 tration. In cold weather the interior of the case may be kept warm by a proper dis- 
 tribultix;. of steam-pipes. Fig. 1395 shows one mode of forming the funnel-shaped 
 nozzles cf the bags, in which they are fixed by a bayonet catch. Fig. 1396 shows the 
 same made fast by means of a screwed cap, which is more secure. 
 
 The next process in sugar-refining is the evaporation of the clarified sirup to the 
 
 granulating or crystallizing pitch. The more rapidly this is effected, and with the leao 
 
 scorching injury from fire, the better and greater is the product in sugar-loaves. No 
 
 apparatus answers the refiner's double purpose of safety and expedition so well as the 
 
 acuum-pan of Howard. 
 
 .F%r. 1S9T shows the structure of a single vacuum-pan. The horizontal diameter of 
 the copper spheroid a, is not less than 5 feet ; the depth of the under hemisphere is at 
 least 18 inches from the level of the plane ; and the height of the dome-cover is 2 feet. 
 The two hemispheres (of which the inferior one is double, or has a steam-jacket) are 
 put together by bolts and screws, with packing between the flanges to preserve the 
 joints tight against atmospheric pressure. The jacket of the lower hemisphere forms 
 the case of the steam, which communicates heat to the syrup enclosed in the innel 
 hemisphere. In general, the pans contain, when filled to the flange, 100 gallons of 
 syrup, and yield about 1 1 cwt. of granulated sugar at every charge. 
 
 a, represents the vacuum spheriod ; b, the neck with the lid. From the side of b, a 
 pipe passes into the lower extremity of the bent pipe o, d, which terminates in the 
 vertical pipe e, connected with the vacuum main-pipe k, proceeding horizontally from 
 the air-pump (not shown in the figure). At the top of e, a valve, movable by a screw 
 H, is placed for establishing or cutting off the connection with the air-pump at pleasure. 
 Behind f, is the measure cistern, from which the successive charges are admitted into 
 the pan. This measure is filled with the clear syrup, by opening the stopcock i, on the 
 pipe under the ceiling, which communicates with the filter-cistern placed above, o is 
 the valve or plug-hole, at the bottom of the pan, for discharging the granulating syrup. 
 This plug is opened by means of a powerful lever attached to it; the connection with the 
 air-pump being previously intercepted, l, is the barometer, or manometer, for showing 
 the state of the vacuum corresponding to the temperature, n, n, is a cistern-pipe for 
 receiving any little syrup which may accidentally boil over the neck b. Its contents 
 are let off by a stopcock at its bottom from time to time, m shows the place of the 
 proof-stick, an ingenious brass rod for taking out a sample of syrup without admitting 
 air. See infrA 
 
 The charging-cistern contains about 20 gallons. This quantity of syrup being_ first 
 admitted, and brought to a certain pitch of concentration, a second measure is intro- 
 duced, the inspissation of which is supposed by some refiners to cause an agglomeration 
 Vol. II. 50 
 
770 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 1397 
 
 ef saccharine matter round the first crystalline particles. The repetition of tnis proecss 
 for two or three times is imagined to produce the large brilliant grain of ; vacuum-pan 
 sugar. This hypothesis is more specious than sound, because the granulating syrup 
 discharged from the pan is subjected to a heat of 180° or 190° in the subjacent steam- 
 cased receiver, whereby the granulations are again reduced to a very small size. Into 
 this receiver, two or three shippings or discharges of the pan are admitted in succession, 
 and the whole are diligently mixed and agitated by a stirring oar. It is by this process 
 that the granulating tendency is promoted and determined. From this receiver 
 (absurdly enough called a cooler) the moulds are filled in the usual way, by means of 
 copper basins or large ladles. 
 
 The case of the under hemisphere of the vacuum-pan is filled with steam, generated 
 under a pressure of 4 or 5 pounds on the square inch ; the heat of which causes the interior 
 syrup to boil rapidly while the air-pump is kept in action. A small escape-pipe for 
 waste steam must be placed at the opposite side of the case or jacket, to ensure its equal 
 distribution ; as also a stopcock below, to let off the water of condensation. The pans 
 are mounted on iron feet, or short pillars, which insulate them from the floor, and allow 
 their whole surface to be inspected, and any flaw to be repaired. The air-pump usually 
 Btands in a eold-water cistern, to favor the condensation of the aqueous vapor, which 
 it draws out of the pans ; and it is kept in constant action by the steam-engine, being 
 attached to the working-beam of its piston. 
 
 Mff. 1398 exhibits the general arrangement of the vacuum-pans, and their subsidiary 
 apparatus. Here are shown, on the ground floor, the heaters e, e (miscalled coolers), into 
 which the concentrated syrup is let down. These heaters are made of copper, in one piece, 
 surrounded with a east-iron jacket, bolted at the flange or brim to it. Each pan contains, 
 when full, about 350 gallons, equivalent to nearly 35 cwt of crystallized sugar. They 
 are furnished with steam-cocks and waste steam-pipes. Under the level of the spheroids 
 d, d, the horizontal main pipe is seen, for supplying the cases with steam. In the face 
 of each pan, above the line 6, 6, the handle of the proof-stick appears, like that of a sto]> 
 eock. The distribution of the measure cisterns, and some other parts of the pans, is 
 
slightly varied in this representation from the former. From the bottom of the liquoi 
 cisterns c, c, pipes descend to the charging measures a, a, below. The cisterns c, c, are 
 made of copper, and contain each about 400 gallons. Six tons of refined sugar can be 
 turned out daily in a three-pan house. 
 
 Fig. 1399 represents in section another form of the vacuum-pan. a is the spheroidal 
 copper vessel, supported by four iron columns b, b. It may be discharged by means of ' 
 
 (he pipe c, which is secured with a conical valve d. This may be opened or shut, by 
 acting on the lever c. The lower of the two hemispheres of which the pan is composed 
 is double, and the interstitial space/,/, is filled with steam by the pipe g, as the hecting 
 and evaporating agent. ft, is the steam valve ; i, the pipe for (he efflux of the condensed 
 water, fe, a tube for the escape of the air at the commencement of the operation. I, is 
 an apparatus inserted air-tight into the cover of the vacuum-pan, and which dips down 
 into the sirup ; serving to take out a sample of it, without allowing air to enter, and 
 hence called the proof-stick. The construction' of this instrument is exhibited in figs. 
 1401, 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, which will be presently explained, m, is the thermometer, 
 which is also plunged into the sugar ; behind it, is the barometer, n, is the charger or 
 gauge-vessel, filled with the filtered sirup, which it discharges by the pipe n'. o, is the 
 cover or capital of the vacuum-pan. o', is a safety-valve, through which the air may be 
 admitted, after the completion of the process, p, is a bent pipe, slanting downwards 
 with a stopcock J, at its end, to receive the superfluous sirup. The vapor, which is 
 disengaged from the sirup during its concentration, is extracted from the top of the 
 pan into the pipe r, passes from this into the vessel s, which is divided by a plate of 
 
772 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 copper into two compartments. The syrup forced over accidentally in the ebullition, 
 goes into the vessel s, and passes by the glass tube t, into the pipe p. . The glass tube 
 serves to show the quantity of the sirup that has boiled over, so that it may be draw* 
 off when necessary. For this purpose, the stopcock u, of the vessel v, must be closed, 
 and 'q must be opened, in order to fill v, while the air contained in it escapes into the 
 pan. The stopcock q, being then shut, and «, with the little air-cock x, opened, the sirup 
 will flow into the large receiver placed beneath it, commonly but erroneously called a 
 cooler ; because it is a double copper basin, with steam in the interstitial space. The 
 hot steam rushes from s, into the cast-iron vessel j-, where it is condensed, z, is a pipe 
 for introducing the water of condensation through the copper rose a'. The condensed water 
 flows through the pipe b', and the valve e', to the air-pump, which receives motion from 
 the shaft of the steam-engine. 
 The vacuum-pan was originally heated solely by the admission of steam between the 
 1400 double bottom ; but of late years the heat 
 
 has been also applied to the sirup through 
 several coils of pipe placed within the pan, 
 filled with steam at a temperature many 
 degrees above 212° F., sometimes so high 
 as 250°. By this double application of 
 heat, the evaporating power of a pari has 
 been vastly increased. The latest made 
 pans have a considerably flat bottom, fig. 
 1400; a spiral pipe, laid close upon it; and 
 between the under hemisphere and the 
 upper one, there is a space u, a, 2J.feet 
 high, to give the sirup room for frothing 
 up without boiling over. The space I, of 
 the bottom receives steam of common 
 pressure, and the spiral tubes, of high 
 pressure. A pan like this is now making for 
 a house in London, which is to work off 16 
 tons of sugar-loaves daily. 
 The proof-stick, fig. 1405, consists of a cylindrical rod, capable of being screwed air- 
 tight into the pan in an oblique direction downwards. The upper or exterior end is open ; 
 the under, which dips into the sirup, is closed, and has on one side a slit a (figs. 1401, 1402) 
 cr notch, about | inch wide. In this external tube, there is another shorter tube 6, capable 
 1402 1401 „ a of moving round in it, through 
 
 an arc of 180°. An opening 
 upon the under end e, corre- 
 sponds with the slit in the outer 
 tube, so that both may be made 
 to coincide, fig. 1401, A. A 
 wooden plug d, is put in the 
 interior tube,' but so as not to 
 shut it entirely. Upon the 
 upper end there is a projection 
 or pin, which catches in a slit 
 of the inner tube, by which 
 this may be turned round at 
 pleasure. In the lower end of 
 the plug there is a hole c, which 
 can be placed in communication with the lateral openings in both tubes. Hence it is 
 possible, when the plug and the inner tube are brought into the proper position, A, 
 fig. 1401, to fill the cavity of the wooden rod with the sirup, and to take it out without 
 allowing any air to enter. In order to facilitate the turning of the inner tube within 
 the outer, there is a groove in the under part, into which a little grease may be 
 introduced. 
 
 Whenever a proof has been taken, the wooden plug must be placed in reference to the 
 inner tube, as shown in fig. 1401, c, and then be turned into the position A ; when the 
 cavity of the plug will again be filled with sirup, c must be now turned back to the for- 
 mer position, whereby all intercourse with the vacuum-pan is cut off ; the plug being drawn 
 out a little, and placed out of communication with the inner tube. The plug is then turned 
 into the position b, drawn out, and the proof examined by the fingers. 
 
 Table showing the boiling point of sirup, at the corresponding atmospheric pressure 
 within the vacuum-pan : — 
 Height of the mercury (inches) in one leg of the syphon, above that in the other— 
 0-74 0-86 1-01 1-17 1-36 1-57 1-80 2-05 2-36 2-72 3-10 3-52 4-0u. 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 773 
 
 Boiling point, Fahr. — 
 116° 120° 125° ISO 135° 140° 145° 150° 155° 160° 165° 110° 175°. 
 The large double steam-basin, which receives several successive skippings oi' the 
 concentrated granulating sirup, serves to heat it from the temperature of 160° or 170°, at 
 which it leaves the vacuum-pan, up to 200° or thereby, before it is filled out into the moulds ; 
 for were it introduced in the cooler state, it would not concrete into sufficiently compact 
 oaves. 
 
 The following apparatus is used in many French sugar-houses, for concentrating 
 simps, called the awing pan, or chaudiire a bascule. It is represented in fig. 1406, in 
 1406 elevation, and inyig. 1407, in ground plan, a, is the pan; 
 
 b, its spout ; c, the axis or pivot round which it swings, 
 so as to empty itself, when raised behind by the chain d ; 
 e, is the furnace door; /, the passage to the fireplace and 
 grate g ; h,h, h, side flues for conducting the smoke into the 
 ehimney. 
 
 The duly clarified, concentrated, granulated, and re- 
 heated sirup, is transferred, by means of copper basins, from 
 the coolers into conical moulds, made either of brown and 
 somewhat porous earthenware, or of sheet iron, strongly 
 painted. The sizes of the moulds vary, from a capacity 
 of 10 pound loaves, to that of 56 pound bastards- — a kind 
 of soft brown sugar obtained by the concentration of the 
 inferior sirups. These moulds have the orifices at their 
 tips closed with bits of twisted paper, and are set up in 
 rows close to each other, in an airy apartment adjoining 
 the coolers. Here they are left several hours, commonly 
 the whole night, after being filled, till their contents 
 become solid, and they are lifted next morning into an 
 upper floor, kept at a temperature of about 80° by means of 
 «Tam pipes, and placed each over a pot to receive the sirup 
 drainings — the paper plug being first removed, and a steel 
 wire, called a piercer, being thrust up to clear away any 
 concretion from the tip. Instead of setting the lower 
 portion of the inverted cones in pots, some refiners arrange them in wooden racks, with 
 their apices suspended over longitudinal gutters of lead or zinc, laid with a slight slope 
 upon the floor, and terminating in a sunk cistern. The sirup which flows off spon- 
 taneously is called green sirup. It is kept separate. In the course of two or three 
 days, when the drainage is nearly complete, some finely clarified sirup, made from loaf 
 sugar, called liquor by the refiners, is poured to the depth of about an inch upon the 
 base of each cone, the surface having been previously rendered level and solid by an 
 iron tool, called a bottoming trowel. The liquor, in percolating downwards, being 
 already a saturated sirup, can dissolve none of the crystalline sugar, but only the 
 colored molassy matter ; whereby, at each successive liquoring, the loaf becomes whiter, 
 from the base to the apex. A few moulds, taken promiscuously, are emptied from' time 
 to time, to inspect the progress of the blanching operation ; and when the loaves appear 
 ii have acquired as much color, according to the language of refiners, as is wanted for 
 the particular market, Ihey are removed from the moulds, turned on a lathe at the tips, if 
 necessary, set for a short time upon their bases, to diffuse their moisture equally through 
 them, and then transferred into a stove heated to 130° or 140° by steam pipes, where they 
 are allowed to remain for two or three days, till they be baked thoroughly dry. They are 
 then taken out of the stove, and put up in blue paper for sale. 
 
 In the above description of sugar-refining, I have said nothing of the process of clay- 
 ing the loaves, because it is now nearly obsolete, and abandoned in all well-appointed 
 sugar-houses. Those of my readers who desire to become acquainted with sugar- 
 refining upon the old plan, may consult my Report made upon the subject to the 
 Honorable House of Commons in July, 1833; where they will find every step detailed, 
 and the numercial results stated with minute accuracy. The experiments subservient 
 to that official report were instituted purposely to determine the average yield or pro- 
 duct, in double and single refined loaves, lumps, bastards, and treacle, which different 
 kinds of sugar would afford per cwt., when refined by decoloring with not more than 5 
 per cent, of bone black, boiling in an open pan, and clearing the loaves with clay-pap. 
 Centrifugal action has been of late years had recourse to for separating the uncrystal- 
 lizable from the granular portion of sugar; and the following mode of applying it seems to 
 be one of the most efficacious. It was patented in October 1849, by Mr. 0. W. Finzel, 
 of Bristol. Fig. 1408 is an elevation, partly in section ; fig. 1409 is a vertical section, 
 and fig. 1410 a front view (both on a larger scale than Jig. 1408) of the perforated box, by 
 
774 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 which steam is caused to act against the periphery of the cylinder or drum of the machine. 
 In the outer case a, a narrow recess b, of nearly the same height as the revolving 
 cylinder c is formed; and in this recess is placed the steam box 4 connected by a pipe 
 «, with a steam boiler. The side of the box d, which is nearest to the cylinder e, is per- 
 forated with small holes, through which the steam rushes in numerous jets against the 
 periphery of the cylinder c ; and such steam is prevented from escaping from the machine 
 by the application of lids/| to the top of the case a. 
 
 The mode of operating with the machine is as follows: — 
 
 The sugar having been mixed with molasses or syrup, to bring it to the proper con- 
 sistencyj is put in the cylinder c, which is then caused to rotate ; and after the cylinder 
 has made a few turns, the steam is let on (by turning a cock on the pipe e), and per- 
 mitted to issue freely through the holes in the box d, against the periphery of the cylinder 
 for about a minute, which has the effect of clearing the meshes. The state of the sugar 
 may be ascertained, from time to time, without stopping the machine, by raising the lids 
 f; and if the extraction of the moisture therefrom appears to be impeded, steam is to be 
 again let on for a short time, in order to clear the meshes. The cylinder c is to be kept 
 rotating, and the steaming repeated occasionally (if required) until the whole or nearly 
 the whole of the syrup or fluid is extracted from the sugar ; and this, when operating 
 upon ordinary sugar, will generally be effected in a few minutes. Sugars taken from 
 the evaporating pan, after partial cooling, may be put into the machine, and operated 
 upon directly, as above. 
 
 The apparatus, fig. 1411, is for working such sugars as require to be previously mixed 
 with liquid. It consists of a vessel with a series of steam-pipes fixed in it; and of a cen- 
 trifugal sieve and centrifugal drum, both fixed upon the same shaft, which revolves in th« 
 vessel, a is the vessel, in the centre of which a vertical shaft b, is mounted. This shaft 
 for about two thirds of its length from the top is made hollow; and upon it is fixed a 
 small centrifugal drum e, having a perforated periphery, and furnished with divisions or 
 leaves, projecting inward, to impart to the fluid (which enters it through openings in the 
 shaft 6), the centrifugal speed of the shaft. The shaft b also carries a sieve d, the meshes 
 of which are made coarser or finer at pleasure ; and for breaking any accretions of crystals 
 the sieve is furnished with a number of metal points. A receptacle e, is formed at the 
 upper part of the vessel, to receive any lumps that may happen to be thrown over the 
 top of the sieve. Beneath the sieve several perforated Bteam pipes f, are fixed for the 
 purpose of causing steam to be brought in contact with the particles of sugar which 
 pass through the sieve. Thus : — Communicate motion to the shaft b, and admit steam 
 to the pipes/ through the pipe/ 1 , then introduce the syrup with which the sugar is to 
 be mixed into the drum e, through the shaft b. The sugar which has been prepared by 
 crushing is deposited in the centre of the sieve, whence it is thrown by the centrifugal 
 action through the meshes of the sieve ; it then descends through the steam that issues 
 from tho pipes f, whereby it is moistened and prepared to receive the syrup, which is 
 thrown from the drum c, and thus become mixed with the sugar. 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 773 
 
 Fig. 1412, is an elevation, partly in section, of a vacuum-pan, with the improved ap- 
 paratus applied thereto, a, is the vaeuum-pan, the head 6, of which is connected by a 
 copper pipe e^ with a condenser d — shown in vertical section at fig. 1413. The con> 
 denser consists of a metal cylinder with conical ends, which are separated from the 
 body of the cylinder by plates e ; but a communication is established between the two 
 ends by a series of copper pipes/, which are inserted at top and bottom into the plates e. 
 At the bottom of the cylinder there is a pipe g, by which cold water is admitted into 
 it ; and at the top there is a pipe h, through which the water flows away. The bottom 
 of the condenser is connected with a receiver i, by a pipe j, provided with a stop-valve, 
 which can be worked by means of the crank-handle k. The receiver is furnished with 
 steam-pipes t l , for evaporating the water of condensation, as represented in fig. 1414 — 
 which is a plan-view of the receiver i, with the top removed. The receiver is con- 
 nected by a pipe I, with a second condensing vessel m, which is divided longitudinally, 
 near the top, by a perforated plate n supported by vertial bearers o, There is a per- 
 forated pipe p, at the top of the condenser m, by which cold water is supplied to the 
 upper compartment thereof, whence it descends in a shower through the perforations 
 in the plate n, and condenses the aqueous vapor in the lower compartment. The con- 
 denser m, is connected with the exhausting pumps by the pipe q. 
 
 The progress of the operation is as follows : — As the vapor from the vacuum-pan 
 
 Products of refining in Bond. Refinery A. 
 
 Foreign sugar received into re- 
 finery - 
 
 British refined, ditto 
 
 28993 1 10 " 
 
 7306 1 27 
 
 9644 2 3 
 
 45944 1 17 
 
 46944 1 17 
 946 
 
 Cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 47,479 3 14 
 240 
 
 Delivered for exportation stores, 
 &c. : — 
 
 Refined sugar - 
 Bastards ... 
 Treacle 
 Raw sugar removed to other re- 
 finery - 
 Syrup, ditto - 
 
 Scrapings, ditto ... 
 Samples .... 
 Total - 
 Deficiency 
 Balance 
 
 Cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 28,993 1 10 
 7,306 1 27 
 9,644 2 8 
 
 885 2 14 
 284 1 7 
 143 10 
 14 23 
 
 47,719 3 14 
 
 
 46,773 2 15 
 946 27 
 
 47,719 3 14 
 
 468S0 1 17 
 
 240 
 47130 1 17 
 
 
 Refinery B. 
 
 Foreign sugar received into re- 
 finery .... 
 British refined (bastard) - 
 
 56800)41770 ( 73-5 
 39760 25 
 
 2-5 
 
 20100 21-5 
 
 17040 
 
 100-O 
 
 3060 
 
 Cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 56,485 1 22 
 314 21 
 
 Delivered for exportation stores, 
 &c. : — 
 
 Refined sugar - 
 Bastards - — 
 Treacle ... 
 
 Total 
 Deficiency 
 Balance - 
 
 Cwt qr. lb. 
 
 41,770 26 
 1,425 3 4 
 12,194 2 4 
 
 66,799 2 15 
 
 
 55,390 2 6 
 1,409 9 
 
 56,799 2 15 
 
 
 56800)1426 (2-5 
 1136 
 
 
 
 
 2900 
 
 
 
 
 56800)121950 (2l'4or5 
 113600 
 
 
 
 
 83500 
 56800 
 
 26700 
 
 56800)140900 (2'5 
 11360 
 
 
 
 
 27300 
 
776 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 passes through the condenser d, a portion of it is condensed in the pipes/ togethei 
 with the saccharine matters, and flows from the bottom of the condenser into the re- 
 ceiver % in the state of a weak solution of sugar. Steam being admitted into the pipes 
 i 1 , the heat thereof (in combination with the action of the exhausting pumps) evaporate! 
 the solution to a more concentrated state; and then it may be drawn off through the 
 pipe r; — air being at the same time admitted into the receiver through a cock at s, to 
 supply the place with liquor as it flows away. If the pumps are kept in action during 
 this part of the process, a throttle valve must be used to close the pipe /. 
 
 Refinery C. 
 
 Foreign Bugur received - 
 
 44)54-7 
 22- 
 
 107 
 
 12-6 
 
 ' Cwt, qr. lb. 
 ■ 8,074 8 
 
 Delivered for exportation stores, 
 &c.:— ' 
 Refined sugar - 
 Bastards ... 
 Treacle .... 
 Samples 
 
 Total 
 
 Deficiency* 
 Balance - 
 
 Cwt. qr. lb. 
 
 4,396 1 11 
 
 1,775 1 15 
 
 855 8 7 
 
 2 21 
 
 
 7,030 26 
 1,043 3 5 
 
 8,074 3 
 
 : Mem.. — An accident happened by the burstirg of a boiler 
 
 BEET-ROOT SUGAR. 
 
 The physical characters which serve to show that a beet-root is of good quality, are 
 its being firm, brittle, emitting a creaking noise when cut, and being perfectly sound 
 within; the degree of sweetness is also a good indication. The 45th degree of latitude 
 appears to be the southern limit of the successful growth of beet in reference to the extraction 
 of sugar. 
 
 Exlruclimof Sugar from the Beet. — The first manipulations to which the beets are 
 exposed, are intended to clear them from the adhering earth and stones, as well as the 
 fibrous roots and portions of the neck. It is desirable to expose the roots, after this operation, 
 to the action of a cylinder washing-machine. 
 
 The parenchyma of the beet is a spongy mass, whose cells are filled with juice. The 
 cellular tissue itself, which forms usually only a twentieth or twenty-fifth of the whole 
 weight, consists of ligneous fibre. Compression alone, however powerful, is inadequate 
 to force out all the liquor which this tissue contains. To effect this object, the roots 
 must be subjected to the action of an instrument which will tear and open up the 
 greatest possible number of these cells. Experiments have, indeed, proved, that by the 
 most considerable pressure, not more than 40 or 50 per cent, in juice from the beet can 
 be obtained ; whilst the pulp procured by the action of a grater produces from 75 to 80 
 per cent. 
 
 if 
 
 Tfee beet-root rasp of Moulfarine is represented in figs. 1415, 1416. a, if, is the frame- 
 Work of the machine ; 6, the feed-plate, made of cast iron, divided by a ridge into twa 
 
SUGAR. 777 
 
 parts ; c, the hollow drum ; d, its shafts upon either side of whose periphery nuts are 
 Borewed for securing the saw blades e, e, which are packed tight against each other by 
 means of laths of wood ; /, is a pinion upon the shaft of the drum, into which the wheel 
 g works, and which is keyed upon the shaft h ; i, is the driving rigger ; h, piller of sup- 
 port; I, blocks of wood, with which the workman pushes the beet-roots against the re- 
 volving-rasp : m, the chest for receiving the beet-pap ; «, the wooden cover of the drum, 
 lined with sheet iron. The drum should make 500 or 600 turns in a minute. 
 
 A fow years ago, M. Dombasle introduced a process of extracting the juice from the 
 beet without either rasping or hydraulic pressure. The beets were cut into thin slices 
 by a proper rotatory blade machine; these slices were put into a macerating cistern, 
 with about their own bulk of water, at a temperature of 212° P. After half an hour's 
 maceration, the liquor was said to have a density of 2° B., when it was run off into a 
 second similar cistern, upon other beet-roots; from the second it was let into a third, 
 and so on to a fifth ; by which time, its density having risen to 5|°, it was ready for the 
 process of defecation. Juice produced in this way is transparent, and requires little 
 lime for its purification; but it is apt to ferment, or to have its granulating power im- 
 paired by the watery dilution. The process has been fccordingly abandoned in most 
 establishments. 
 
 I have seen the following operations successfully executed in a beet-root factory near 
 Lille, and have since verified their propriety in my own laboratory upon white beets, 
 grown near Mitcham in Surrey. My product was nearly 5 per cent. ; it was very fair, 
 and large grained, like the vacuum-pan sugar of Demerara, but without its clamminess. 
 
 The roots were washed by a rotatory movement upon a grating made like an Archime- 
 des' screw, formed round the axis of a squirrel-cage cylinder, which was laid horizontally 
 beneath the surface of water in an oblong trough. It was turned by hand rapidly, with 
 the intervention of a toothed wheel and pinion. The roots, after being sufficiently 
 agitated in the water, were tossed out by the rotation at the end of the cylinder furthest 
 from the winch. They were next hoisted in a basket up through a irap-hole into the 
 floor above, by means of a cord and pulley moved by mechanical power ; a six-horse steam 
 engine, upon Woolfe's expansive principle, being employed to do all the heavy work. 
 They were here subjected to the mechanical grater (rape mecanique), bee figs. 1415, 1416, 
 which had, upon its sloping feed-table, two square holes for receiving at least two beets 
 at a time, which were pushed forwards by a square block of wood held in the workman's 
 hand by means of a strap. The rasp was a drum, having rows of straight saws placed 
 half an inch apart round its periphery, parallel to the axis, with teeth projecting about 
 | of an inch. The space between each pair of saws was filled with a wedge of wood. The 
 steel slips, or saw plates, were half an inch broad, twelve inches long, and serrated on 
 both their longitudinal edges, so that when the one line of teeth was blunted, the other 
 could be turned out. The drum made 750 turns per minute. 
 
 The pulp from the rasp fell into a flat trough placed beneath, whence it was shovelled 
 into small bags. Each bag had its mouth folded over, was laid upon a wicker plate, and 
 spread flat with a rolling-pin. The bags and hurdles were then piled in the hydraulic 
 press. There were three presses, of which the two allotted to the first pressure were 
 charged alternately, and the third was reserved for a final and more durable pressure of 
 the marc. See Press, hydraulic, and Stearine Press. 
 
 The juice flowed over the edges of the wicker plates, and fell into the sill-plate of 
 the press, which was furnished with upright borders, like a tray, through whose front 
 side a pipe issued, that terminated in a leathern hose, for conducting the juice into an 
 elevated cistern in the boiling-house. Here one pound of slaked lime was mixed with 
 every four hectolitres (about 88 gallons imp.) of juice. The mixture was made to boil 
 for a little while in a round pan alongside, whence it was decanted into oblong flat filters, 
 of blanket stuff. The filtered liquor, which had in general a spec, gravity of 15° Baume 
 (about double" that of the fresh juice), was now briskly concentrated by boiling, in an 
 oblong pan, till it acquired the density of 28° B. The fire being damped with raw 
 coal, the sirup was run off rapidly by a stopcock into a large basin with a swing handle, 
 and immediately replaced by fresh defecated liquor. The basin was carried by two men 
 to the opposite side of the boiling-house, and emptied into a cistern set on a high 
 platform, whose horizontal discharge-pipe was provided with a series (five) of stopcocks, 
 placed respectively over five copper chests (inverted truncated pyramids), containing a 
 thick bed of granular bone black, covered with a perforated copper plate. The hot sirup 
 thus filtered had a pale straw-color, and was subsequently evaporated in swing pans, figs. 
 1 406, 1407, over a brisk fire, in quantities equivalent to half a cwt. of sugar, or four 
 nectolitres of average juice. 
 
 MAPLE STJGAR. 
 
 The manufacture of sugar from the juice of a species of maple tree, which grows 
 
f78 SUGAR. 
 
 spontaneously in many of the uncultivated parts of North America, appears to hart 
 been first attempted about 1752, by some of the farmers of New England, as a branch 
 of rural economy. 
 
 The sugar maple, the Acer saccharinum of Linnaeus, thrives especially in the States of 
 New York and Pennsylvania, and yields a larger proportion of sugar than that which 
 grows upon the Ohio. It is found sometimes in thickets which cover five or six acres 
 of land ; but it is more usually interspersed among other trees. They are supposed ta 
 arrive at perfection in forty years. 
 
 The extraction of maple sugar is a great resource to the inhabitants of districts far 
 removed from the sea; and the process is very simple. After selecting a spot among 
 surrounding maple trees, a shed is erected, called the sugar-camp, to protect the boilers 
 and the operators from the vicissitudes of the weather. One or more augers, three 
 fourths of an inch in diameter ; small troughs for receiving the sap ; tubes of elder or 
 sumach, 8 or 10 inches long, laid open through two thirds of their length, and corres- 
 ponding in size to, the auger-bits; pails for emptying the troughs, and carrying the sap 
 to the camp; boilers capable of holding 15 or 16 gallons; moulds for receiving the 
 sirup inspissated to the proper consistence for concreting into a loaf of sugar ; and, 
 lastly, hatchets to cut and cleave the fuel, are the principal utensils requisite for this 
 manufacture. The whole of February and beginning of March are the sugar season. 
 
 The trees are bored obliquely from below upwards, at 18 or 20 inches above the ground, 
 with two holes 4 or 5 inches asunder. Care must be taken that the auger penetrates no 
 more than half an inch into the alburnum, or white bark ; as experience has proved that 
 a greater discharge of sap takes place at this depth than at any other. It is also advisa- 
 ble to perforate in the south face of the trunk. 
 
 The trough, which contains from, two to three gallons, and is made commonly of 
 white pine, is set on the ground at the foot of each tree, to receive the sap which flows 
 through the two tubes inserted into the holes made with the auger ; it is collected together 
 daily, and carried to the camp, where it is poured into casks, out of which the boilers 
 are supplied. In every case, it ought to be boiled within the course of two or three days 
 from flowing out of the treej as iHs liable to run quickly into fermentation, if the weather 
 become mild. The evaporation is urged by an active fire, with careful skimming during 
 the boiling ; and the pot is continually replenished with more sap, till a large body has 
 at length assumed a sirupy consistence. It is then allowed to cool, and passed through a 
 woollen cloth, to free it from impurities. 
 
 The sirup is transferred into a boiler t» three fourths of its capacity, and it is urged 
 with a brisk fire, till it acquires the requisite consistence for being poured into the moulds 
 or troughs prepared to receive it. This point is ascertained, as usual, by its exhibiting 
 a granular aspect, when a few drops are drawn out into a thread between the finger and 
 the thumb. If in the course of the last boiling, the liquor froth up considerably, a small 
 bit of butler or fat is thrown into it. After the molasses have been drained from the con- 
 creted loaves, the sugar is not at all deliquescent, like equally brown sugar from the cane. 
 Maple sugar is in taite equally agreeable with cane sugar, and it sweetens as well. When 
 refined, it is equally fair with the loaf sugar of Europe. 
 
 The period during which the trees discharge their juices is limited to about six weeks. 
 Towards the end of the flow, it is less abundant, less saccharine, and "Eors difficult to be 
 srystallized. 
 
 Scgae OF potatoes, grapes, on starch. About eight years ago a sample of sweet 
 mucilaginous liquid was sent to me for analysis, by the Honorable the Commissioners 
 of Customs. It was part of a quantity imported in casks at Hull, from Rotterdam. It 
 was called by the importers, "vegetable Juice." I found it to be imperfectly sacchari- 
 fied starch or fecula ; and, on my. reporting it as such, it was admitted at a moderate 
 rate of duty. 
 
 Some months after I received a sample of a similar liquid from the importer at Hull, 
 with a .request that I would examine it chemically. He informed me, that an im- 
 portation, just made by him of 30 casks of it, had been detained by orders of the 
 Excise, till the sugar duty of 25s. per cwt of solid matter it contained was paid upon 
 it It was of specific gravity 1-362, and contained 80 per cent of ill-saccharified 
 fecula. 
 
 In the interval between the first importation and the second, an Act of Parliament 
 had been obtained for placing every kind of sugar, from whatever material it was 
 formed, under the provisions of the "Beet-root Sugar Bill." As the saccharometer 
 tables, subservient to the levying of the excise duties, under this Act, were constructed 
 by me, at the request of the President of the Board of Trade, I well know that 50 per 
 cent of the syrup of the beet-root was deducted as a waste product, because beet-root 
 molasses is too crude an article for the use of man. Well saccharified starch paste, 
 nowever, constitutes a syrup, poor indeed in sweetness when compared with cane syrup, 
 »r that of the beet-root; but then it does not spontaneouslv blacken into molasses, by 
 
SUGAR. 779 
 
 evaporation, as solutions of ordinary sugar never fail to do when they are concentrated, 
 even with great care. Henee the residuary syrups of saccharified fecula may be all 
 worked up into a tolerably white granular mass, wlrich, being crushed, is used by 
 greedy grocers to mix with dark-brown bastard sugars, to improve their color. 
 
 It is only within a few years that sugar has been in this country manufactured ft-on 
 potato starch to any extent, though it has been long an object of commercial enterprise 
 in France, Belgium, and Holland, where the large coarse potatoes are used for this 
 purpose. The raw material must be very cheap there, as well as the labor ; for potato 
 flour or starch, for conversion into sugar, has been imported from the continent into 
 this country in large quantities, and sold in London at the low price of 10s. per cwt. 
 
 The process usually followed by the potato-sugar makers, is to mix 100 gallons of 
 boiling water with every 112 lbs. of the fecula, and 2 lbs. of the strongest sulphuric 
 acid. This mixture is boiled about 12 hours in a large vat, made of white deal, having 
 pipes laid along its bottom, which are connected with a high pressure steam-boiler. 
 After being thus saccharified, the acid liquid is neutralized with chalk, filtered, and 
 then evaporated to the density of about 1'300, at the boiling temperature, or exactly 
 1-342, when cooled to 60°. When syrup of this density is left in repose for some days- 
 it concretes altogether into crystalline tufts, and forms an apparently dry solid, of spe- 
 cific gravity 1-39. When this is exposed to the heat of 220°, it fuses into a liquid 
 nearly as thin as water; on cooling to 150°, it takes the consistence of honey, and at 
 100° F. it has that of a viscid varnish. It must be left a considerable time at rest be- 
 fore it recovers its granular state. When heated to 270°, it boils briskly, gives off one 
 tenth of its weight of water, and concretes, on cooling, into a bright yellow, brittle, but 
 very deliquescent mass, like barley sugar. If the syrup be concentrated to a much 
 greater density than 1-340, as to 1-362, or if it be left faintly acidulous, in eithei tase 
 it will not granulate, but will remain either a viscid magma or become a eonc:ete mass, 
 which may indeed be pulverized, though it is so deliquescent as to be unfit for the 
 adulteration of raw sugar. The Hull juice is in this predicament, and is therefore, in 
 my opinion, hardly amenable to the new sugar law, as it can not by any means be 
 worked up into even the semblance of sugar. 
 
 Good Muscovado sugar, from Jamaica, fuses only when heated to 280°, but it turns 
 immediately dark brown, from the disengagement of some of its carbon, at that tem- 
 perature, and becomes, in fact, the substances called " caramel" by the French, which 
 is used for coloring brandies, white wines, and liqueurs. 
 
 Thus we see that starch or grape-sugar is well distinguished from cane-sugar, by its 
 fusibility, at a moderate heat, and its inalterability at a pretty high heat. Its sweet- 
 ening power is only two fifths of that of ordinary sugar. A good criterion of incom- 
 pletely formed starch-sugar is, its resisting the action of sulphuric acid, while perfectly 
 saccharified starch or cane-sugar is readily decomposed by it. If, to a strong solution 
 of imperfectly saccharified grape-sugar, nearly boiling hot, one drop of strong sulphuric 
 acid be let fall, no perceptible change will ensue, but if the acid be dropped into solu- 
 tions of either of the other two sugars, black carbonaceous particles will make then 
 appearance. 
 
 The article which was lately detained by the Excise, for the high duties, at Hull, is 
 not affected by sulphuric acid, like the solutions of canersugar, and of the well-made 
 potato-sugar of London; and for this reason I gave my opinion in favor of admitting 
 the so-called vegetable juice at a moderate rate of duty. 
 
 I submitted the solid matter, obtained by evaporating the Hull juice, to ultimate 
 analysis, by peroxide of copper, in a combustion tube, with all the requisite precau- 
 tions, and obtained, in one experiment, 37 per cent, of carbon ; and in another 38 per 
 cent., when the substance had been dried in an air bath, heated to 275°. The differ- 
 ence to 100, is hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportion to form water. Now this is 
 nearly the constitution of starch. Cane-sugar contains about 5 per cent, more carbon, 
 whereby it readily evolves this black element, by the action of heat or sulphuric acid. 
 
 An ingenious memoir, by Mr. Trommer, upon the distinguishing criteria of gum, 
 dextrine, grape-sugar, and cane-sugar, has been published in the 39th volume of the 
 " Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie." I have repeated his experiments, and find 
 them to give correct results, when modified in a certain way. His general plan is to 
 expose the hydrate of copper to the action of solutions of the above-mentioned vege- 
 table products. He first renders the solution alkaline, then adds solution of sulphate 
 of copper to it, and either heats the mixture or leaves it for some time in the 
 cold. By pursuing his directions, I encountered contradictory, results ; but, by the 
 following method, I have secured uniform success, in applying the criteria, and have 
 even arrived at a method of determining, by a direct test, the quantity of sugar in 
 diabetic urine. 
 
 I dissolve a weighed portion of sulphate of copper in a measured quantity of water, 
 and make the salatfov. faintly alkaline, as tested with turmeric paper, by the addition 
 
7S0 SUGAR. 
 
 of potash lye, in the cold; for if the mixture be hot, a portion of the disengaged greet 
 hydrate of copper is converted into black oxide. This mixture being always agitated 
 before applying it, forms the test liquor. If a few drops of it be introduced into a 
 solution of gum, no change ensues on the hydrate of copper, even at a boiling heal^ 
 which shows that a gummate of copper is formed, which resists decomposition- but 
 the cupreous mixture, without the gum, is rapidly blackened at the boiling tempera- 
 ture. I do not find that the gummate is re-dissolved by an-excess of water, as Tram- 
 mer affirms. 
 
 Starch and tragacants comport like gum, in which respect I agree with Trommer. 
 Starch, however, possesses already a perfect criterion, in iodine water. Mr. Trommer 
 says, that solution of dextrine affords a deep glue-colored liquid, without a trace of 
 precipitate ; and that when his mixture is heated to 85° C, it deposited red grains of 
 protoxide of copper, soluble in muriatic acid. I think these phenomena are dependant, 
 in some measure, upon the degree of alkaline excess in the mixture. I find, the solu 
 tion of dextrine, treated in my way, hardly changes in the cold; hut when heated 
 slightly, it becomes green, and by brisk boiling an olive tint is produced. It thus be- 
 trays its tendency of transition into sugar. 
 
 (solution of cane-sugar, similarly treated, undergoes no change in the cold at the end 
 of two days ; and very little change of color even at a hoiling heat, if not too concen- 
 trated. Cane-sugar, treated by Trommer in his way, becomes of a deep blue; it can 
 be boiled by potash in excess, without any separation of orange-red oxide of copper. 
 
 Starch or grape-sugar has a marvellous power of reducing the green hydrate of 
 copper to the orange oxide. I find, however, that it will not act upon the pure blue 
 hydrate, even when recently precipitated ; it needs the addition, in every case, of a 
 small portion of alkali. Yet ammonia does not seem to serve the purpose ; for, in 
 using the ammonia-sulphate of copper, in solution, I obtained unsatisfactory results 
 with the above vegetable products. 
 The black oxide of copper is not affected by being boiled in solution of starch-sugai. 
 " If solution of grape-sugar," says Trommer, " and potash, be treated with a solution 
 of sulphate of copper, till the separated hydrate is redissolved, a precipitate of red 
 oxide will soon take place, at common temperatures, but it immediately forms, if the 
 mixture is heated. A liquid containing __J^^ of grape-sugar, even one millionth 
 part," says he, " gives a perceptible tinge (orange), if the light is let fall upon it." To 
 obtain such a minute result, very great nicety must be used in the dose of alkali, which 
 I have found it extremely difficult to hit. With my regulated alkaline mixture, how- 
 ever, I never fail of discovering an exceedingly small proportion of starch-sugar,' even 
 when mixed with Muscovado sugar; and thus an excellent method is afforded of de- 
 tecting the frauds of the grocers. 
 
 I find that manna deoxidizes the green hydrate of copper slowly when heated, but 
 not nearly to the same extent as grape-sugar, which reduces it rapidly to the orar^e 
 oxide. 
 
 If an excess of the hydrate of copper test be used, there will he a deposite of green 
 hydrate at the bottom of the vessel, under the orange oxide. 
 
 To apply these researches to the sugar of diabetic urine : This should first be 
 boiled briskly to decompose the urea, and to dissipate its elements in the form of am- 
 monia, as well as to concentrate the saccharine matter, whereby the test becomes more 
 efficacious. Then add to the boiling urine, in a few drops at a time, the cupreous 
 mixture, containing a known quantity of sulphate of copper, till the whole assumes a 
 greenish tint, and continue the heat until the color becomes bright orange. Should 
 it remain green, it is a proof that more hydrate of copper has been introduced than has 
 been equivalent to the deoxidizing power of the starch-sugar. I have found that one 
 gram of sulphate of copper in solution, supersaturated very slightly with potash, is de- 
 composed with the production of orange protoxide, by about 3 grains of potato-sugar- 
 or, more exactly, 30 parts of the said sulphate, in the state of an alkaline hydrate of 
 copper, pass altogether into the state of orange oxide, by means of 100 parts of granular 
 rtarch-sugar. Thus, for every 3 grains of sulphate so changed, 10 grains of sugar 
 may be estimated to exist in diabetic urine. 
 
 Acetate of copper may be used in the above experiments, but it is not so good as th« 
 sulphate. The chloride of copper does not answer. 
 
 Specific gravity is also an important criterion, applied to sugars ; that of the cant 
 and beet-root is 1-577 ; that of starch-sugar, in crystalline tufts, is 1-39, or perhaps 
 1-40, as it varies a little with its state of dryness. At 1-342, syrup of the cane contains 
 70 per cent, of sugar; at the same density, syrup of starch-sugar.contains 75J per cent, 
 of concrete matter, dried at 260° F., and therefore freed from the 10 per cent, of 
 water which it contains in the granular state. Thus, another distinction is obtained 
 between the two sugars, in the relative densities of their solutions, at like saccharine 
 contents per cent. 
 
SUGAR. 781 
 
 A very simple method of improving the quality of sugar has been proposed by 
 Messrs. Oxland, of Plymouth, chemists, for defecating the juice of beet-root and 
 of the cane. It consists in the use of acetate of alumina, of which they say that four 
 pounds of the earth dissolved in acetic acid are sufficient for one ton of Jamaica sugar, 
 without any peculiarity of treatment in the boiling or filtration. I should fear that 
 the acid might be apt' to weaken the grain or crystalline force of the sugar. When 
 nearly all the acetic acid is driven off by the boiling of the syrup, a solution of tan, 
 made by digesting 1 pound of crushed valonia in 2 gallons of hot water, is filtered hot 
 into the syrup. 
 
 Fermentable property of different kinds of Sugar. There is a remarkable difference 
 between the fermentable property of cane sugar and grape sugar, which has not hitherto 
 been sufficiently noticed, no mention being made of it in chemical works. It is, that a 
 solution of grape sugar requires but a very small quantity of ferment to induce alcoholic 
 fermentation, whils solution of cane sugar requires a large quantity. When a solution 
 is made of the same quantities of cane sugar and grape sugar in equal proportions of 
 distilled water, it will be necessary to add at least eight times as much of the same 
 ferment to induce alcoholic fermentation in the solution of cane sugar as in that of 
 grape sugar. 
 
 Under, the action of a larger quantity of ferment, cane sugar is transformed into 
 grape sugar, and this latter appears to be the only substance susceptible of being de- 
 composed by ferment into carbonic acid and alcohol. 
 
 If a solution of cane sugar be brought into the state of alcoholic fermentation, and 
 the action be stopped some time before the decomposition of the sugar is completed, by 
 the addition of a large quantity of strong alcohol, it will be found that the remaining 
 undecomposed sugar has been transformed into grape sugar. 
 
 . The fermentable property of sugar depends then upon the same causes as that of 
 starch, several kinds of gum, and sugar of milk. These substances are transformed 
 into grape sugar under the influence of different agents; but of all vegetable matters 
 susceptible of undergoing this transformation, grape sugar is undoubtedly'that in wlik-li 
 the change is effected with the greatest ease and promptitude. Indeed, it so readily 
 undergoes the alcoholic fermentation that it has been classed among fermentable 
 sugars, but it has no more right to this title than starch, several kinds of gum, and 
 sugar of milk. 
 
 Another invention of Messrs. Oxland for improvements in the manufacture and re- 
 fining of sugar (patented in May, 1851), consists in the use of phosphoric aeid in a com- 
 bined state for defecating saccharine liquids, or solutions of sugar, and removing the 
 color of the same. On the 26th of April, 1849, the present patentees obtained a patent 
 for defecating and removing the color from solutions of sugar by the employment of 
 acetate of alumina. In the specification of such patent, lime was directed to be used 
 for effecting the separation of the alumina ; but it has been found that, even when care 
 is observed, some alumina is liable to be left in solution. When acetate of alumina and 
 lime have been used, the patentees effect the removal of the remaining alumina by the 
 use of superphosphate of alumina or superphosphate of lime, by simply adding a small 
 quantity of either of these substances to the syrup after the completion of the process 
 with acetate of alumina, as described in the former specification, then boiling for two 
 or three minutes, carefully neutralizing the excess of acid, by the addition of aluminate 
 of lime, saccharate of lime, lime of water, or milk of lime; and, when it has been 
 ascertained that alumina is completely separated, completing the process in the manner 
 described in the former specification. 
 
 In place of using acetate of alumina, either alone or combined with phosphoric acid, 
 as above explained, phosphates may be employed directly ; and they are capable of pro- 
 ducing similar effects to those resulting from the use of acetate. of alumina, with the 
 advantage that the whole of the agent employed is separated from the saccharine 
 matters. In treating a saccharine liquid, or solution of sugar, (say, for example, an 
 ordinary sample of Mauritius sugar), the patentees dissolve it by blowing-up with 
 steam in the usual way, but avoiding the use of blood, and adding a soluble phosphate 
 to the water employed ; if crystallized phosphate of soda be used, it should be' in the 
 proportion of one pound and a half thereof for each ton of sugar. The saccharine 
 liquid is brought to the boiling point, — any acidity being neutralized with aluminate 
 of lime, saccharate of lime, lime water, or milk of lime; and then the syrup thus 
 obtained (which will be of the specific gravity of from 25° to 30° Baume) is passed 
 through the ordinary bag-filters. The sugar is, by this means, thoroughly defe- 
 cated, — the feculent matters being left in the bags, from which the last trace of sugar 
 may be removed by passing clean water through them. The weak solutions obtained in 
 this way may be used for blowing up fresh quantities of raw sugar. As part of the 
 color is removed from the syrup by the above described operation, it may be considered 
 sufficient treatment previous to boiling in the vacuum-pan, or otherwise, for crystalliza- 
 
 L 
 
782 ; SUGAR. 
 
 tion ; but a further amount of color may be removed by the use of from 5 to 8 pel 
 cent, or more, of hydrate.of alumina (which has been dried at a temperature of 212° 
 Fahr.,) diffused through the water used in blowing up the sugar ; and, by this means, 
 the use of animal charcoal will be rendered unnecessary. The residuary alumina left 
 in the filter bags, after the whole of the saccharine matter has been washed out, may 
 be dried, and the organic, matter removed by ignition ; and, after further washing, to 
 remove any residuary soluble saline substance, it may be employed for manufacturing 
 hydrate or superphosphate of alumina ; or, after the first-mentioned washing, previous 
 to ignition, it may be used over again, with the addition of a further quantity of hy- 
 drate of alumina. 
 
 When superphosphate of alumina is used, it is mixed, in solution, with the water 
 used in blowing-up the raw sugar, in the proportion of six pounds of alumina dissolved 
 in phosphoric acid for each ton of sugar; and while the syrup (at from 25° to 30° 
 Baume), is being brought to the boiling point, any acidity is neutralized by the addition 
 of aluminate of lime, saccharate of lime, lime water, or milk c f lime. The syrup is 
 then passed through the bag-filters, and the clear syrup conducted into the receiver 
 that supplies the vacuum or other boiling pan. The subsequent operations are the 
 same as in the old plan of working. The matters left in the hlter-bags are treated as 
 above described, to remove any remaining Baccharine matter. 
 
 The patentees prepare the superphosphate of alumina by dissolving alumina in 
 phosphoric acid, in the following manner: — They burn bones white, grind them to fine 
 powder, and digest the product in sufficient muriatic acid for the solution of the car- 
 bonate of lime only ; and then they dry the residue, after carefully washing it, to remove 
 every trace of soluble matter. To a given weight of this residue, mixed with enough 
 water to make a thin paste (in a shallow earthenware tank or vessel); they add a 
 quantity of pure sulphuric acid, sufficient to combine with nearly all the lime present, 
 i. «., all except 2 or 3 per cent ; stirring the mixture well and keeping it warm (say 
 above 90° Fahr.), for about 24 hours, and after this they lixiviate the mass with water 
 until all the soluble matters are separated from the sulphate of lime. The strong 
 liquors, obtained in this way, may be used for combining with alumina, and the weak 
 solutions for lixiviating fresh quantities of phosphoric acid in course of manufacture. 
 When alumina is digested in the phosphoric acid, produced in the manner above de- 
 scribed, phosphate of alumina, insoluble in water, is first formed; and by dissolving 
 this in a quantity of phosphoric acid sufficient only for that purpose, superphosphate of 
 alumina is obtained, which should be filtered previous to use. 
 
 Aluminate of lime is prepared by dissolving alumina in caustic potash or soda, and 
 then by the addition of lime water or milk of lime, precipitating aluminate of lime, 
 which is to be carefully washed. When required for use, the patentees diffuse ths 
 aluminate of lime through water, and they prefer to employ it instead of saccharate of 
 lime, or milk of lime or lime water. 
 
 When making sugar from the cane, they defecate the juice with aluminate of lime 
 in the usual way, neutralizing any excess of lime with superphosphate of alumina or 
 superphosphate of lime ; then, after filtering and concentrating the filtered liquid to 
 from 25° to 80° Baum<§, they treat the syrup with phosphate of soda in the same man- 
 ner as described with respect to raw sugars; and after a second filtration, they boil in 
 the usual way. 
 
 In the manufacture and refining of beet-root sugar, they proceed as above described 
 for cane sugar, only using a larger quantity of aluminate of lime or milk of lime in the 
 first defecation. 
 
 The patentees state that they do not confine themselves to the details above given, 
 3T to the phosphates mentioned, as others may be substituted; but what they claim is, 
 the employment of phosphoric acid in a combined state, as above described.— New- 
 ton s Journal, voL xl, p. 27. 
 
 Sugar tested by bichromate of potash. If a thick pure cane sugar syrup be mixed 
 with » boiling solution of bichromate of potash in a test tube, and then withdrawn 
 from the heatv a deep green color will appear, especially on dilution with water. 
 Utner kinds of sugar remain indifferent to the bichromate. No change takes place in 
 it with starch sugar, and if this be mixed with cane sugar, it protects the latter from 
 being colored a dark green. Nitrate of cobalt added to cane sugar alkalized producee 
 a bluish violate precipitate ; but not with an alkahzed (potash) grape sugar.— -Mei-h. 
 
SUGAR. 
 
 783' 
 
 Boqae in Fout Ports of Gbeat Beitaot for the Ten Months ending 31st October, 1851 
 
 and 1852.* 
 
 British 
 Plantation. 
 West India - 
 
 Mauritius 
 East Indta 
 
 Total British Plantation - 
 
 Foreign. 
 Manilla, &c. - 
 Brazil - 
 Cuba - 
 Porto Rico, &c. 
 
 Total Foreign 
 
 Total British Plantation 
 
 Total Sugar ■ 
 
 Molasses 
 (reduced to Sugar) 
 
 Total -1 
 
 Import. 
 
 Duty Paid. 
 
 Export. 
 
 Stock. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1851. 
 
 , 1852. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 120,800 
 45,400 
 64,600 
 
 Tons. 
 
 143,300 
 49,000 
 49,500 
 
 Tons. 
 98,800 
 38,400 
 60,300 
 
 Tons. 
 136,400 
 47,100 
 61,800 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 41,000 
 14,700 
 28,800 
 
 Tons. 
 
 40,100 
 ' 14,700 
 
 24,300 
 
 220,800 
 
 241,800 
 
 187,500 
 
 245,300 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 84,500 
 
 79,100 
 
 12,700 
 34,500 
 38,800 
 17,300 
 
 5,800 
 11,400 
 20,400 
 
 6,600 
 
 3,300 
 11,600 
 25,100 
 15,700 
 
 1,000 
 1,900 
 15,200 
 7,000 
 
 5,600 
 
 7,000 
 
 4,800 . 
 
 . 1,400 
 
 4,100 
 8,600 
 9,400 
 3,100 
 
 11,200 
 25.100 
 27,500 
 6,800 
 
 8,500 
 16,600 
 20,700 
 
 3,500 
 
 103,300 
 220,800 
 
 44,200 
 241,800 
 
 65,700 
 187,500 
 
 25,100 
 245,300 
 
 18,800 
 
 25,200 
 
 70,600 
 84,500 
 
 49,300 
 70,100 
 
 324,100 
 16,300 
 
 286,000 
 11,300 
 
 243,200 
 15,500 
 
 270,400 
 14,600 
 
 18,800 
 
 25,200 
 
 155,100 
 11,800 
 
 128,100 
 6,000 
 
 840,400 
 
 297,300 
 
 253,700 
 
 285,000 
 
 18,800 
 
 25,200 
 
 166,900 
 
 134,400 
 
 Sugar in Europe, including Great Britain, for the Ten Months ending 31st October, 
 
 1850, 1851, and 1852. 
 
 Holland 
 Antwerp - 
 Hamburgh - 
 Bremen 
 Havre - 
 Trieste - 
 Genoa - 
 Leghorn - 
 
 Total Continent - 
 Great Britain 
 
 Total Europe - 
 
 
 Import. 
 
 
 
 Stock. 
 
 
 1850. 
 Tons. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1.1352. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 95,600 
 
 97,660 
 
 86,10>) 
 
 8,400 
 
 13,710 
 
 6,400 
 
 30,720 
 
 13,660 
 
 19,540 
 
 2,060 
 
 3,870 
 
 2,080 
 
 25,250 
 
 23,500 
 
 20,250 
 
 6,750 
 
 8,750 
 
 ;4,250 
 
 6,500 
 
 7,750 
 
 4,460 
 
 300 
 
 1,300 
 
 300 
 
 23,650 
 
 20,360 
 
 37,120 
 
 4,770 
 
 2,830 
 
 10,670 
 
 43,870 
 
 26,490 
 
 39,270 
 
 18,810 
 
 10,310 
 
 10,410 
 
 17,230 
 
 8,290 
 
 14,630 
 
 4,690 
 
 3,300 
 
 2,780 
 
 7,050 
 
 3,540 
 
 7,330 
 
 1,360 
 
 810 
 
 850 
 
 249,870 
 
 201,250 
 
 228,700 
 
 46,140 
 
 44,880 
 
 ♦ 37,740 
 
 290,780 
 
 340,400 
 
 297,300 
 
 118,540 
 
 166,900 
 
 134,400 
 
 640,650 
 
 541,650 
 
 526,000 
 
 164,680 
 
 211,780 
 
 172,140 
 
 Sugar in United Kingdom (refined, or equal to refined). 
 
 Years. 
 
 Import 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 Export 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1847 
 
 4,820 
 
 1,260 
 
 2,930 
 
 1848 
 
 11,040 
 
 2,220 
 
 5,130 
 
 1849 
 
 15,220 
 
 3,070 
 
 9,900 
 
 1850 
 
 17,890 
 
 6,840 
 
 4,620 
 
 1851 
 
 21,930 
 
 16,930 
 
 2,650 
 
 Molasses. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Import 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 Export , 
 
 1847 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 1861 
 
 Tons, 
 
 47,490 
 
 25,890 
 
 63,130 
 
 45,250 
 
 39,550 
 
 Tons. 
 
 31,930 
 
 31,850 
 
 40,620 
 
 45,880 
 
 33,650 
 
 The exports of mo- 
 lasses are very in- 
 significant. 
 
 * For these important tables, I am indebted to James Cook, Esq., of Mincing Lane. 
 

 
 
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786 SUGAR OF LEAD. 
 
 Sugar in United Kingdom (unrefined, or not equal to refined). 
 
 Years. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 Exports 
 Raw. 
 
 Refined in 
 Bond. 
 
 / 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 / Tons. - 
 
 1840 
 
 201,790 
 
 179,740 
 
 11,480 
 
 11,760 
 
 1841 
 
 245,250' 
 
 202,880 
 
 21,270 
 
 15,610 
 
 1842 
 
 237,800 
 
 193,420 
 
 20,090 
 
 13,740 
 
 1843 
 
 251,030 
 
 201,410 
 
 28,680 
 
 13,000 
 
 1844 
 
 244,000 
 
 206,470 
 
 16,690 
 
 10,960 
 
 1845 
 
 291,040 
 
 242,830 
 
 30,800 
 
 13,690}. 
 
 1846 
 
 281,130 
 
 261,010 
 
 12,040 
 
 11,380 
 
 1847 
 
 410,480 
 
 288,980 
 
 40,200 
 
 11,460 
 
 1848 
 
 343,500 
 
 307,120 
 
 16,630 
 
 12.440 
 
 1849 
 
 846,290 
 
 296,110 
 
 27,930 
 
 1 1,150 
 
 1850 
 
 314,570 
 
 304,570 
 
 18,490 
 
 10,460 
 
 1851 
 
 397,010 
 
 312,770 
 
 15,340 
 
 12,930 
 
 Months 
 1852. 
 
 England. 
 
 Hamburg. 
 
 France. 
 
 United 
 States. 
 
 Holland. 
 
 West 
 Indies. 
 
 Chili. 
 
 Callao. 
 
 Total. 
 
 January 
 
 February 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 August 
 
 September 
 
 Qls. 
 37,141 
 
 19,527 
 22,055 
 46,493 
 6,500 
 42,169 
 64,096 
 14,777 
 
 Qls. 
 
 4,002 
 7,040 
 
 25,130 
 2,000 
 
 14,628 
 
 Qls. 
 
 4,211 
 11,000 
 
 12,570 
 
 6,029 
 7,000 
 5,600 
 
 Qls. 
 
 6,126 
 17,633 
 11,180 
 
 Qls. 
 7,499 
 5,473 
 
 6,500 
 
 Qls. 
 
 2,287 
 
 Qls. 
 1,100 
 
 Qls. 
 
 837 
 900 
 
 Qls. 
 51,866 
 29,594 
 45,709 
 29,095 
 84,193 
 14,000 
 62.S26 
 71,933 
 21,277 
 
 251,758 
 
 52,800 
 
 46,410 
 
 34,939 
 
 19,472 
 
 2,287 
 
 1,100 
 
 1,737 
 
 410,493 
 
 SUGAR OF LEAD, properly Jlcetate of had (Jlcetale de plomb ; Sel de Satume, 
 r'r. ; Essigsaures Bleioxyd, Bleizucker, Germ.), is prepared by dissolving pure lilharge, 
 with heat, in strong vinegar, made of malt, wood, or wine, till the acid be saturated. 
 A copper boiler, rendered negatively electrical by soldering a strap of lead within it, is 
 the best adapted to this process on the great scale. 325 parts of finely ground and 
 sifted oxyde of lead, require 575 parts of strong acetic acid, of spec. giav. 7° Baume, 
 for neutralization, and afford 960 parts of crystallized sugar of lead. The oxyde should 
 be gradually sprinkled into the moderately hot vinegar, with constant stirring, to pre- 
 vent adhesion, to the bottom; and when the proper quantity is dissolved, the solution 
 may be weakened with some of the washings of a preceding process, to dilute the acetate, 
 after which the whole should be heated tothe boiling point, and allowed to cool slowly, 
 in order to settle. The limpid solution is to be drawn off by a syphon, concentrated 
 by boiling to the density of 32° B., taking care that there be always a faint excess of 
 acid, to prevent the possibility of any basic salt being formed, which would interfere with 
 the formation of regular crystals. Should the concentrated liquor be colored, it may be 
 whitened by filtration through granular bone black. 
 
 Stoneware vessels, with salt glaze, answer best for crystallizers. Their edges should 
 be smeared with candle-grease, to prevent the salt creeping over them by efflorescent 
 vegelation. The crystals are to be drained, and dried in a stove-room very slightly 
 heated. It deserves remark, that linen, mats, wood, and paper; imbued with sugar of 
 lead, and strongly dried, readily take fire, and burn away like tinder. When the 
 mother waters cease to afford good crystals, they should be decomposed hy carbonate of 
 soda, or by lime skilfully applied, when a carbonate or an oxyde will be obtained, fit for 
 treating with fresh vinegar. The supernatant acetate of soda may be employed for the 
 extraction of pure acetic acid. 
 
 A main point in the preparation of sugar of lead, is to use a strong acid ; otherwise 
 much time and acid are wasted in concentrating the solution. This Bait crystallizes in 
 colorless, transparent, four and six-sided prisms, from a moderately concentrated solution ; 
 but from a stronger solution, in small needles, which have a yellow east if the acid has 
 Deen slightly impure. It has no smell, a Bweetish astringent metallic taste, a specific 
 
SULPHATE OF IRON. 787 
 
 gravity of 2-345 ; it is permanent in the air at ordinary temperatures, but effloresces when 
 heated to 95°, with the loss of its water of crystallization and some acid, falling into a 
 powder, which passes, in the air, slowly into carbonate of lead. The crystals dissolve in 
 li limes their weight of water at 60°, but in much less of boiling water, and in 8 parts of 
 alcohol. The solution feebly reddens litmus paper, but has an alkaline reaction upon the 
 colors of violets and turmeric. The constituents of the salt are, 58-71 oxyde of lead, 
 27-08 acetic acid, and 14-21 water, in 100. 
 
 Acetate of lead is much used in calico-printing. It is poisonous, and ought to be pre- 
 pared and handled with attention to this circumstance. 
 
 There are two subacetates of lead ; the first of which, the ter-subacetate, has three 
 atoms of base to one of acid, and is the substance long known by the name of Goulard's 
 extract. It may be obtained by digesting with heat a solution of the neutral acetate, 
 upon pure litharge or massicot. The solution affords white crystalline scales, which do 
 not taste so sweet as sugar oflead, dissolve in not less than 30 parts of water, are insolu- 
 ble in alcohol, and have a decided alkaline reaction upon test paper. Carbonic 
 acid, transmitted through the solution, precipitates the excess of the oxyde of lead, 
 in the state of a carbonate, a process long ago prescribed by Thenard for making 
 white-lead. This subacetate consists of 88-66 of oxyde, and 13-34 acid, in 100 parts. 
 It is employed for making the orange sub-chromate of lead, as also sometimes in 
 surgery. 
 
 A sex-Subacetate; containing 6 atoms of base, may be obtained by adding ammonia 
 in excess to a solution of the preceding salt, and washing the precipitate with dilute 
 water of ammonia. A white powder is thus formed, that dissolves sparingly in cold 
 water, but gives a solution in boiling water, from which white silky needles are de- 
 posited. It consists of 92-86 oxyde, and 7-14 acid. 
 
 SULPHATES, are saline compounds of sulphuric acid with oxydized bases. The 
 minutest quantity of them present in any solution, may be detected by the precipitate, 
 insoluble in nitric or muriatic acid, which they afford with nitrate or muriate of baryta. 
 They are mostly insoluble in alcohol. 
 
 SULPHATE OF ALUMINA AND POTASSA, is alum. 
 
 SULPHATE OF AMMONIA, is a salt sometimes formed by saturating the ammonia 
 liquor of the gas-works with sulphuric acid ; and it is employed for making carbonate of 
 ammonia. See Ammonia and Sal Ammoniac. 
 
 This salt, now so extensively used in preparing artificial manures and imitations, of 
 guano, for farmers, is mnde of great purity, and at aa economical rate, by the patent 
 process of Mr. Evans, described under the article Gas. A mixture of 10 per cent, 
 of this sulphate with 20 of bone-dust, some gypsum and farmyard manure, will form 
 a very fertilizing composts applicable to a great variety of soils. 
 
 SULPHATE OF BARYTA, is the mineral called heavy-spar, which frequently 
 forms the gangue or vein-stone of lead aud other metallic ores. 
 
 SULPHATE OF COPPER, Reman or Blue Vitriol (Vitriol de Chppre,Fr.; Kup. 
 fervitriol, Germ.), is a salt composed of sulphuric acid and oxyde of copper, and may be 
 formed by boiling the concentrated acid upon the metal, in an iron poL It is, how- 
 ever, a natural product of many copper mines, from which it flows out in the form of a 
 blue water, being the result of the infiltration of water over copper pyrites, which has 
 become oxygenated by long exposure to the air in subterranean excavations. The liquid 
 is concentrated by heat in copper vessels, then set aside to crystallize. The salt foims 
 in oblique fbur-siJ3d tables, of a fine blue color; has a spec, gravity of 2-104; an acerb, 
 disagreeable, metallic taste ; and, when swallowed, it causes violent vomiting. It be- 
 comes of a pale dirty blue, and effloresces slightly, on long exposure to the air; when 
 moderately heated, it loses 36 per cent, of water, and falls into a white powder. It dis- 
 solves in 4 parts of water, at 60°, and in 2 of boiling water, but not in alcohol; the solu- 
 tion has an acid reaction upon litmus paper. When strongly ignited, the acid flies off, 
 and the black oxyde of copper remains. The constituents of crystallized sulphate of 
 copper are — oxyde, 31-80 ; acid, 32-14; and water, 36-06. Its chief employment in 
 this country is in .dyeing, and for preparing certain green pigments. See Scheele's and 
 Schweinfubth Gbeen. In France, the farmers sprinkle a weak solution of it upon 
 their grains and seeds before sowing them, to prevent their being attacked by birds and 
 insects. 
 
 SULPHATE OF IRON, Green vitriol, Copperas {Couperose verte, Fr. ; Eiscn-vitriol, 
 Schwefelsures Eisenoxydul, Germ.), is a crystalline compound of sulphuric acid and 
 protoxyde of iron; hence called, by chemists, the protosulphate ; consisting»of, 26-10 of 
 base, 29-90 of acid, and 44-00 of water, in 100 parts; or of 1 prime equivalent of 
 protoxyde, 36, -f- 1 of acid, 40, -f- 7 of water, 63,=139. It may be prepared by dis- 
 solving iron to saturation in dilute sulphuric acid, evaporating the solution till a pel- 
 licle forms upon its surface, and setting it aside to crystallize. The copperas of 
 commerce is made in a mucn cheaper way, by stratifying the pyrites found in the coal 
 
783 SULPHATE OF IRON. 
 
 measures ( Viti talkies and Slrahlkies of the Germans), upon a sloping puddled platform 
 of stone, leaving the sulphuret exposed to the weather, till, by the absorption of oxygen, 
 it effloresces, lixiviating with water the supersulphale of iron thus formed, saturating the 
 excess of acid with plates of old iron, then evaporating and crystallizing. The othei 
 pyrites, which occurs often crystallized, called by the Germans Schwefelkies or Eisenkies, 
 must be deprived of a part of its sulphur by calcination, before it acquires the properly 
 of absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere, and thereby passing from a bisulpliuret into 
 a bisulphate. Alum schist very commonly contains vitriolkies, and affords, after being 
 roasted and weather-worn, a considerable quantity of copperas, which must be carefully 
 separated by crystallization from the alum. 
 
 This liquor used formerly to be concentrated directly in leaden vessels ; but the first 
 stage of the operation is now carried on in stone canals of considerable length, vaulted 
 over with bricks, into which the liquor is admitted, and subjected at the surface to the 
 action of flame and heated air, from a furnace of the reverberatory kind, constructed at 
 one end, and discharging its smoke by a high chimney raised at the other. See Soda 
 Manufactitbe. Into this oblong trough, resting on dense clay, and rendered tight in 
 the joints by water-cement, old iron is mixed with the liquor, to neutralize the excess of 
 acid generated from the pyrites, as also to correct the tendency to superoxydizement in 
 copperas, which would injure the fine green color of the crystals. After due concen- 
 tration and saturation in this surface evaporator, the solution is run off into leaden 
 boilers, where it is brought to the proper density for affording regular crystals, which it 
 does by slow cooling, in stone cisterns. 
 
 Copperas forms sea-green, transparent, rhomboidal prisms, which are without smell,, 
 but have an astringent, acerb, inky taste ; they speedily beeome yellowish-brown in 
 the air, by peroxydizement of the iron, and effloresce in a warm atmosphere : they 
 dissolve in 1-43 parts of water at 60°, in 0-27 at 190°, and in their own water t. p crystal 
 lization at a higher heat. This salt is extensively used in dyeing black, espial]?' 
 hats, in making ink and Prussian blue, for reducing indigo in the blue vat, in the China 
 blue dye, for making the German oil of vitriol, and in many chemical and medicinal 
 preparations. 
 
 - There is a persulphate and subpersulphate of iron, but they belong to the domain of 
 chemistry. The first may be formed, either by dissolving with heat one part of red 
 oxyde of iron (colcolhar) in one and a half of concentrated sulphuric acid, or by adding 
 some nitric acid to a boiling-hot solution of copperas. It forms with galls and logwood 
 a very black ink, which is apt to become brown-blaek. When evaporated to dryness, 
 it appears as a dirty white pulverulent substance, which is soluble in alcohol. It cun 
 sists, in 100 parts, of 39-42 of red oxyde of iron, and 60-58 sulphurie acid. 
 
 Hydrated peroxyde of iron, prepared by precipitation with alkali from solution of the 
 persulphate, is an excellent antidote against poisoning by arsenic. A French perruquiet, 
 who had swallowed two drachms-of arsenious acid, was, after an interval of twenty minutes, 
 treated with the oxyde precipitated from 6 ounces of that salt by caustic potash. It was 
 diffused in 20 quarts of weak sirup, and administered in successive doses. After repeat- 
 ed vomiting a'nd purging, the patient felt no more pain, and was pronouneed by the phy- 
 sician to be quite convalescent. 
 
 In the copperas and alum works, a very large quantity of ochrey sediment is obtained; 
 which is a peroxyde of iron, containing a little sulphuric acid and alumina. This de- 
 posite, calcined in reverberatory hearths, becomes of a bright-red color ; and when ground 
 and elutriated, in the same way as is described under white lead, forms si cheap pigment, 
 in very considerable demand, called English red, in the French market. 
 
 Colcothar of Vitriol, and Crocus of Mars, are old names for red oxyde of iron. This 
 brown-red powder is obtained in its purest state, by calcining dried sulphate of iron in a 
 furnace till all its acid be expelled, and its base become peroxydized. 'It must be levi- 
 gated, elutriated, and dried. This powder is employed extensively in the steel manufac- 
 ture, for giving the finishing lustre to fine articles; it is used by silversmiths under 
 the name of plate powder and rouge; and by the opticians for polishing the specula of 
 reflecting telescopes. Much of the crocus in the market, is made, however, from the cop. 
 peras and alum sediments, and is greatly inferior to the article prepared by the last pro- 
 cess. The finest rouge is made by precipitating the oxyde with soda, then washing and 
 calcining the powder. 
 
 An excellent powder for applying to razor-strops, is made by igniting together in a 
 , crucible equal parts of well-dried copperas and sea salt. The heat must be slowly 
 raised and well regulated, otherwise the materials will boil over in a pasty state, and 
 the product will be in a great measure lost. When well made, out of contact of air, 
 it has the brilliant aspect of plumbago. It has a satiny feel, and is a true fer otegiste, 
 similar in composition to the Elba iron ore. It requires to be ground and elutriated ; 
 aflor which it affords, on drying, an impalpable powder, that may be either rubbed 
 on a strop of smooth buff leather, or mixed up with hog's-lard or tallow into a stifl 
 :erate. 
 
SULPHOSELS. 789 
 
 SULPHATE OF LIME. See Gypsum. 
 
 SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA, Epsom Salt (Sel amer, Fr. ; Bitte.rsa.lz, Germ.), 
 exists in sea-water, as also in the waters of Saidschiitz, Sedlitz, and Piillna; and in many 
 saline springs, besides Epsom in Surrey, whence it has derived its trivial name, andfrom 
 wliich it was first extracted, in the year 1695, and continued to be so, till modern chem- 
 istry pointed out cheaper and more abundant sources of this useful purgative salt. 
 The sulphate of magnesia, occasionally found effloresced on the surface of minerals 
 in crystalline filaments, was called haarsalz (hair salt) by the older writers. The bittern 
 of the Scotch sea-salt works is muriate of magnesia, mixed with a little sulphate of 
 magnesia and chloride of sodium. If the proper decomposing quantity (found by trial) 
 of sulphate of soda be added to it, and the mixed solution be evaporated at the tem- 
 perature of 122° F., chloride of sodium will form by double affinity, and fall down in 
 cubical crystals; while the solution of sulphate of magnesia which remains, being 
 evaporated to the proper point, will afford regular crystals in four-sided prisms with 
 four-sided acuminations. Or, if bittern be treated in a retort with the equivalent 
 quantity of sulphuric acid, the muriatic acid may be distilled off into a series of Woulfe's 
 bottles, and the sulphate of magnesia, soda, and Kme, will remain in the retort, from 
 which mixture the sulphate of magnesia may be separated by filtration and crystalliza- 
 tion. 
 
 Magnesian limestone being digested with as much muriatic acid as will dissolve out its 
 lime only, will, after washing, afford, with the equivalent quantity of sulphuric acid, a 
 pure sulphate of magnesia; and this is certainly the simplest and most profitable process 
 for manufacturing this salt upon the great scale. Many prepare it directly, by digesting 
 upon magnesian limestone the equivalent saturating quantity of dilute sulphuric acid. 
 The sulphate of lime being separated by subsidence, the supernatant solution of sulphate 
 of magnesia is evaporated and crystallized. 
 
 This salt is composed of, magnesia 16-72, sulphuric acid 32-39, and water 50-89. 
 When free from muriate, it tends to effloresce in the air. It dissolves in four parts of 
 water at 32°, in 3 parts at 60°, in 1-4 at 200°, and in its own water of crystallization at 
 a higher heat. 
 
 SULPHATE OF MANGANESE is prepared on the great scale for the calico- 
 printers, by exposing the peroxyde of the metal and pitcoal ground together, and made 
 into a paste with sulphuric acid, to a heat of 400° F. On lixiviating the calcined mass, 
 a solution of the salt is obtained, which is to be evaporated and crystallized. It forms 
 pale amethyst-colored prisms, which have an astringent bitter taste, dissolve in 2J parts 
 of water, and consist of, protoxyde of manganese 31-93, sulphuric acid 35-87, and water 
 32-20, in 100 parts. 
 
 SULPHATE OF MERCURY is a white salt which is used in making corrosive 
 sublimate. See Mercury. The subsulphate, called Turbilh Mineral, is a pale yellow 
 pigment, and may be prepared by washing the white sulphated peroxyde with hot water, 
 which resolves it into the soluble supersulphate, and the insoluble subsulphate, or Turbilh, 
 It is poisonous. 
 
 SULPHATE OF POTASSA is obtained by first igniting and then crystallizing the 
 residuum of the distillation of nitric acid from nitre. 
 
 SULPHATE OF SODA is commonly called Glauber's salt, from the name of the 
 chemist who first prepared it. It is obtained by igniting and then crystallizing the resi- 
 duum of the distillation of muriatic acid from common salt. It crystallizes in channelled 
 6-sided prisms. See Soda Manufacture. 
 
 SULPHATE OF ZINC, called also White Vitriol, is commonly prepared in the 
 Harz, by washing the calcined and effloresced sulphuret of zi^c or blende, on the same 
 principle as green and blue vitriol are obtained from the sulphurets of iron and copper. 
 Pure sulphate of zinc may be made most readily by dissolving the metal in dilute sulphu- 
 ric acid, evaporating and crystallizing the solution. It forms prismatic crystals, which 
 have an astringent, disagreeable, metallic taste ; they effloresce in a dry air, dissolve in 
 2-3 parts of water at 60°; and consist of— oxyde of zinc, 28 29; acid, 28-1-8; water,43-53. 
 Sulphate of zinc is usedfor preparing drying oils for varnishes, and in the reserve or re- 
 list pastes of the calico-printer. 
 
 SULPHITES are a class of salts, consisting of sulphurous acid, combined in equivalent 
 proportions with the oxydized bases. 
 
 SULPHOSELS is the name given by Berzelius to a class of salts which may be 
 prepared as follows : — 1. Dissolve a salt consisting of an oxyde and an acid (an oxysa.lt) 
 in a very small quantity of water, and pass through the solution a stream of sul- 
 phureted hydrogen, till the salt be entirely decomposed. In this operation, the oxysall 
 is transformed into a swlphosalt, by the sulphur of the compound gas ; while its hydrogen 
 forms water with (he oxygen of the saline base. This process Is applicable only to the 
 metallic salts ; and among these, not to the nitrates, carbonates, or phosphates. 2. An- 
 other method of preparing salphosalts is, to add to a watery solution of sulphuret of 
 
790 
 
 SULPHUR. 
 
 potassium, an electro-negative metallic sulphuret, which will dissolve in the liquid til. 
 the sulphuret of potassium be saturated. This saline compound is to be employed 
 to effect double decompositions with the oxysalts; that is, to convert the radical' of 
 another base, combined with an oxacid, into a sulphosalt. 3. If the electro-negative 
 sulphuret be put in powder into a solution of the hjdrosulrhuret of potassa, it will dis- 
 solve and expel the sulphureted hydrogen with effervescence : just as carbonic acid is 
 displaced by a stronger acid. For his other three methods of preparing sulphosalts, see 
 his Elements, vol. iii. p. 336, Fr. translation. 
 
 SULPHUR, Brimstone (Sou/re, Fr. ; Schwefel, Germ.), is a simple combustible, solid, 
 non-metallic, of a peculiar yellow color, very brittle, melting at the temperature of 226" 
 Fahr., and possessing, after it has been fused, a specific gravity of 1-99. M hen held in 
 a warm hand, a roll of sulphur emits a crackling sound, by the fracture of its interior 
 parts; and when it is rubbed, it emits a peculiar well-known smell, and acquires rt the 
 same time negative electricity. When heated to the temperature of 560° F. it takes fire, 
 burns away with a dull blue flame of a suffocating odor, and leaves no residuum. When 
 more strongly healed, sulphur burns with a vivid white flame. It is not affected by air 
 v water. 
 
 Sulphur is an abundant product of nature; existing sometimes pure or merely mixed, 
 and at others in intimate chemical combination with oxygen, and various metals, form- 
 ing sulphates and sulphurets. See ores of Coppek, Jhon, Lead, &c, under these 
 metals. 
 
 Fig. 1417 represents one of the cast-iron retorts used at Marseilles for refining sul- 
 phur, wherein it is melted and converted into vapors, which are led into a large 
 chamber for condensation. The body a, of the retort is an iron pot, 3 feet in diameter 
 outside, 22 inches deep, half an inch thick, whicli weighs 14 cwts., and receives a charge 
 of 8 cwts. of crude sulphur. The grate is 8 inches under its bottom, whence the flame 
 rises and plays round its sides. A cast-iron capital b, being luted to the pot, and 
 covered wilh sand, the opening in front is shut with an iron plate. The chamber d, i; 
 23 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 13 feet high, with walls 32 inches thick. In the roof, 
 
 at- each gable, valves or flap- 
 doors, c, 10 inches square, are 
 placed at the bottcm of the 
 chimney c. The cords for open- 
 ing the valves are led down to 
 the side of the furnace. The 
 entrance to the chamber is shut 
 wilh an iron door. In the wall 
 opposite to the retorts, there are 
 two apertures near the floor, for 
 taking out the sulphur. Each 
 of the two retorts belonging to 
 a chamber is charged with 7| or 
 8 cwts. of sulphur ; but one is 
 fired first, and with a gentle 
 heat, lest the brimstone froth 
 should overflow; but when the 
 fumes begin to rise copiously, 
 with a stronger flame. The dis- 
 tillation commences within an 
 hour of kindling the fire, and is 
 completed in six hours. TThree hours after putting fire to the first relort, the second is 
 in like manner set in operation. 
 
 When the process of distillation is resumed, after having been some time suspended, 
 explosions may be apprehended, from the presence of atmospherical air ; to obviate the 
 danger of which, the flap-doors must be opened every ten minutes; but they should 
 remain closed during the setting of the retorts, and the reflux of sulphurous fumes or 
 acid should be carried off by a draught-hood over the retorts. The distillation is carried 
 on without interruption during the week, the charges being repeated four times in the 
 day. By the third day, the chamber acquires such a degree of heat as to preserve the 
 sulphur in a liquid state; on the sixth, its temperature becoming nearly 300° F., gives 
 the sulphur a dark hue, on which account the furnace is allowed to cool on the Sunday. 
 The fittest distilling temperature is about 248°. The sulphur is drawn off through two 
 iron pipes cast in the iron doors of the orifices on the side of the chamher oppositeto the 
 furnace. The iron stoppers being taken out of the mouths of the pipes, the sulphur is 
 allowed to run along an iron spout placed over red-hot charcoal, into the appropriate 
 wooden moulds. 
 Native sulphur in its pure state is solid, brittle, transparent, yellow, or yellow border- 
 
SULPHUR. 79\ 
 
 ing on green, and of a glassy lustre when newly broken. It occurs frequently in crys- 
 talline masses, and sometimes in complete and regular crystals, which are all derivable 
 from the rhomboidal octahedron. The fracture is usually conchoidal and shining. Its 
 specific gravity is 2-072, exceeding somewhat the density of melted sulphur. It possesses 
 a very considerable refractive power; and doubles the images of objects even across two 
 parallel faces. Sulphur, crystallized by artificial means, presents a very remarkable phe- 
 nomenon i for by varying the processes, crystals are obtained whose forms belong to two 
 different systems of crystallization. The red tint, so common in the crystals of Sicily, 
 and of volcanic districts, has been ascribed by some mineralogists to the presence of real- 
 gar, and by others to iron ; but Stromeyer has found the sublimed orange-red sulphur of 
 Vulcano, one of the Lipari islands, to result from a natural combination of sulphur and 
 selenium. 
 
 It is extracted from the minerals containing it, at Solfatara, by the following pro 
 cess : — 
 
 Ten earthen pots, of about a yard in height, and four and a half gallons imperial in oa 
 pacity, bulging in the middle, are ranged in a furnace called a gallery; five being set on th 
 one side, and live on the other. These are so distributed in the body of the walls of thj 
 gallery, that their belly projects partly without, and partly within, while their top rises 
 out of the vault of the roof. The pots are filled with lumps of the sulphur ore of the size 
 of the fist ; their tops are closed with earthenware lids, and from their shoulder proceeds 
 a pipe of about two inches diameter, which bends down, and enters into another covered 
 pot, with a hole in its bottom, standing over a tub filled with water. On applying heat 
 to the gallery, the sulphur melts, volatilizes, and runs down in a liquid siate into the tubs, 
 where it congeals. When one operation is finished, the pots are re-chartjed, and the pro- 
 cess is repeated. 
 
 In Saxony and Bohemia, the sulphurets of iron and copper are introduced into large 
 earthenware pipes, which traverse a furnace-gallery ; and the sulphur exhaled flows into 
 pipes filled with cold water, on the outside of the furnace. 900 parts of sulphuret afford 
 from 100 to 150 of sulphur, and a residuum of metallic protosulphuret. See Metallur 
 (jv and CoprER. 
 
 Volcanic sulphur is purer than that extracted from pyrites ; and as the latter is com- 
 monly mixed with arsenic, and some other metallic impregnations, sulphuric acid made 
 of it would not answer for many purposes of the arts ; though a tolerablv good sulphuric 
 acid maybe made directly from the combustion of pyrites, instead of sulfur, in the lead 
 chambers. The present high price of the Sicilian sulphur is a great encouragement to 
 its extraction from pyrites. It is said that the common English brimstone, such as was 
 extracted from the copper pyrites of the Parys mine of Anglesey, contained fully a fif- 
 teenth of residuum, insoluble in boiling oil of turpentine, which was chiefly orpiment ; 
 while the fine Sicilian sulphur, now imported in vast quantities by the manufacturers of 
 oil of vitriol, contains not more than three per cent, of foreign matter, chiefly earthy, but 
 not at all arsenical. 
 
 Sulphur has been known from the most remote antiquity. From its kindling at a mo- 
 derate temperature, it is employed for readily procuring fire, and lighting by its flame 
 other bodies not so combustible. At Paris, the preparation of sulphur matches constitutes 
 a considerable branch of industry. The sulphurous acid formed by the combustion of 
 sulphur in the atmosph >£c air, is employed to bleach woollen and silken goods, as also 
 cotton stockings; to disinfect vitiated air, though it is inferior in power to nitric acid 
 vapor and chlorine ; to kill mites, moths, and other destructive insects in collections of 
 zoology ; and to' counteract too rapid fe/mentation in wine-vats, &c. As the same acid 
 gas has the property of suddenly extinguishing flame, sulphur has been thrown into a 
 chimney on fire, with the best effect ; a handful i "•'< being sometimes sufficient. Sulphur 
 is also employed for cementing iron bars in stone ; for taking impressions from seals and 
 cameos, for which purpose it is kept previously melted for some time, to give the casts an 
 appearance of bronze. Its principal uses, however, are for the manufactures of vermil- 
 ion, or cinnabar, gunpowder, and sulphuric acid. 
 
 See Metallurgy, page 157, for the description of Gahn's furnace for extracting sul- 
 phur from pyrites. 
 
 Pyrites as a bi-sulphuret, consisting of 45*5 parts of iron, and 54-5 of sulphur, may, by 
 proper chemical means, be made to give off one half of its sulphur, or about 27 per cent. ; 
 but great care must be taken not to generate sulphurous acid, as is done very wastefully 
 by the Fahlun and the Goslar processes. By the latter, indeed, not more than one or two 
 parts of sulphur are obtained, by roasting 100 part: of the pyritous ores of the Rammels- 
 berg mines. In these cases, the sulphur is burned, instead of being sublimed. The re- 
 siduum of the operation, when it is well conducted, is black sulphuret of iron, which may 
 be profitably employed for making copperas. The apparatus for extracting sulphur from 
 pyrites should admit no more air than is barely necessary to promote the sublimation. 
 Sicily produced last year 70,000 tons of sulphur, and Tuscany 1200 ; of which Great Brit 
 
792 SULPHURIC ACID 
 
 ain consumed 46,000; France, 18,000; other places, 6,000. In 1820, Great si'tain con 
 sumed only 5,000 tons. 
 
 SULPHURATION, is the process by which woollen, silk, and cotton goods are ex. 
 posed to the vapors of burning sulphur, or to sulphurous acid gas. In the article Sthaiv 
 hat Manufacture, I have described a simple and cheap apparatus, well adapted to thij 
 operation. ., 
 
 Sulphuring-rooms are sometimes constructed upon a great scale, in which blankets, 
 shawls, and woollen clothes may be suspended freely upon poles or cords. The floor 
 should be flagged with a sloping pavement, to favor the drainage of the water that drops 
 down from the moistened cloth. The iron or stoneware vessels, in which the sulphur is 
 burned, are set in the corners of the apartment. They should be increased in number ac- 
 cording to the dimensions of the place, and distributed uniformly over it. The windows 
 and the entrance door must be made to shut hermetically close. In the lower part of the 
 door there should be a small opening, with a sliding shutter, which may be raised or low- 
 ered by the mechanism of a cord passing over a pulley. 
 
 The aperture by which the sulphurous acid and azotic gases are let off, in order to 
 carry on the combustion, should be somewhat larger than the opening at the bottom. A 
 lofty chimney carries the noxious gases above the building, and diffuses them over a wide 
 space, their ascension being promoted by means of a draught-pipe of iron, connected with 
 an ordinary stove, provided with a valve to close its orifice when not kindled. 
 
 When the chamber is to be used, the goods are hung up, and a small fire is made in 
 the draught-stove. The proper quantity of sulphur being next put into the shallow 
 pans, it is kindled, the entrance door is closed, as well as its shutter, while a vent-hole 
 near the ground is opened by drawing its cord, which passes over a pulley. After a 
 few minutes, when the sulphur is fully kindled, that vent-hole must be almost entirely 
 shut, by relaxing the cord ; when the whole apparatus is to be let alone for a sufficient 
 time. 
 
 The object of the preceding precautions is to prevent the sulphurous acid gas escaping 
 from the chamber by the seams of the principal doorway. This is secured by closing it 
 imperfectly, so that it may admit of the passage of somewhat more air than can enter by 
 the upper seams, and the smallest quantity of fresh air that can support the combustion. 
 The velocity of the current of air may be increased at pleasure, by enlarging the under 
 vent-hole a little, and quickening the fire of the draught-stove. 
 
 Before opening the entrance door of the apartment, for the discharge of the goods, a 
 small fire must be lighted in the draught furnace, the vent-hole must be thrown entirely 
 open, and the sliding shutter of the door must be slid up, gradually more and more every 
 quarter of an hour, and finally left wide open for a proper time. By this means the air 
 of the chamber will become soon respirable. 
 
 SULPHURETED HYDROGEN, is a gas, composed of one part of hydrogen and six- 
 teen parts of sulphur, by weight. Its specific gravity is 1-1912, compared to air=l-0000. 
 It is the active constituent of the sulphurous mineral waters. When breathed, it is very 
 deleterious to animal life ; and being nearly twice as dense as air, it may be poured from 
 its generating bottle into cavities ; a scheme successfully employed by M. Thenard to de- 
 stroy rats in their holes. 
 
 SULPHURIC ACID, Vitriolic Acid, or Oil of Vitriol, (dcide mlfurique, Fr. ; 
 Schwefelsaure, Germ.) This important product, the agent of many chemical opera- 
 tions, was formerly procured by the distillation of dried sulphate of iron, called green 
 vitriol, whence the corrosive liquid which came over, having an oily consistence, was 
 denominated oil of vitriol. This methid has been superseded in Great Britain, France, 
 and most other countries, by the coj.=,t;:tion o r sulphur along with nitre, in large 
 leaden chambers; but as the former process, whicnis still practised at Bleyl in Bohemia, 
 and Nordhausen in Saxony, gives birth to some interesting results, I shall describe it 
 briefly. 
 
 Into a long horizontal furnace, or gallery of brickwork, a series of earthenware retorts, 
 of a pear shape, is arranged, with curved necks fitted into stoneware bottles or conden- 
 seTs. Each retort is charged with sulphate of iron, which has been previously heated 
 to moderate redness. The first product of the distillation, a slightly acidulous phlegm, is 
 allowed to escape ; then the retort and receiver, are securely luted together. The fire is 
 now raised, and urged briskly for thirly-six hours, whereby the strong sulphuric acid is 
 expelled, in the form of heavy white vapors, which condense in the cold receiver into an 
 oily-looking liquid. The latter portions, when received in a separate refrigerator, fre- 
 quently concrete into a crystalline mass, formerly called glacial oil of vitriol. About six- 
 ty fi;ur pounds of strong acid may be obtained from six hundred pounds of copperas. It 
 is brown-colored ; and varies in specific gravity from 1-842 to 1-896. lis boiling point 
 is so low as 120° Fahr. When re-distilled in a glass retort, into a receiver surrounded 
 with ice, a very moderate heat sends over white fumes, which condense into a soft solid, 
 <p. silky filaments, like asbestos, tough, and difficult fo cut. When this is exposed t» 
 
SULPHURIC ACID. 793 
 
 the air, it emits copious fumes of sulphuric (not sulphurous) acid. It burns holes in 
 paper as rapidly as a red-hot iron. Dropped in small quantities into water, it excites a 
 hissing noise, like ignited metal ; and in larger quantities, it occasions an explosion. 
 By dropping a fragment of it into a poised vial containing water, and stoppering in- 
 stantly, to prevent the ejection of liquid, by the ebullition .which always ensues, I got a 
 dilute acid, containing a known portion of the solid acid, from the specific gravity of 
 which, as well as from its saturating power, I ascertained that the above solid sulphuric 
 acid was truly anhydrous (void of water), consisting of 1 equivalent proportion of sul- 
 phur, and 3 of oxygen ; or, by weight, of 16 of the former, and 24 of the latter. This 
 acid makes a red solution of indigo. 
 
 The production of sulphuric acid from sulphur and nitre may be elegantly illustrated 
 by means of a glass globe with a stoppered hole at its side, and four bent glass tubes in- 
 serted into a leaden cap in its upper orifice. The first tube is to be connected with a 
 heated matrass, disengaging sulphurous acid from copper filings and sulphuric acid ; the 
 second with a retort, disengaging more slowly deutoxyde of azote (nitric oxyde) from 
 copper filings and nitric acid ; the third with a vessel for furnishing steam in a moderate 
 current towards the end of the process, when no water has been previously admitted into 
 the balloon ; the fourth tube may be upright, and terminate in a small funnel. Through 
 the opening in the side of the globe, atmospherical air is to be admitted from lime to ♦►me, 
 by removing the stopper ; after which, the residuary lighter azote may be allowed to 
 escape by the funnel orifice. 
 
 The nitric oxyde first absorbs oxygen from the air, becomes, in consequence, nitrous 
 acid vapor, which giving up one third of its oxygen to the sulphurous acid, inverts this, 
 with the aid of water, into sulphuric acid, while itself returning to the state of nitric 
 oxyde, is again qualified to take oxygen from the air, and to transfer it to the sulphurous 
 acid gas; and thus in perpetual rotation. These oxygenating and disoxygenating pro- 
 cesses continue until nearly the whole oxygen of the atmospheric air contained in the 
 globe is consumed. Were there little aqueous vapor present, those gases would soon 
 cease to operate upon each other ; for though the nitric oxyde became nitrous acid, this 
 Would oxygenate little of the sulphurous acid, because the three substances would con- 
 dense into white crystals upon the sides of the balloon, like hoar frost upon a window- 
 pane in winter. These indicate a deficiency of aqueous vapor, and an excess of nitrous 
 acid. On the admission of steam, the crystals disappear, the sulphuric acid is liquefied, 
 the nitrous acid is converted into nitric acid and nitric oxyde ; the former of which com- 
 bines with the water, while the latter is converted by the atmospheric oxygen into nitrous 
 acid vapor. A certain quantity of water is therefore requisite to prevent the formation 
 of that crystalline compound, which condenses the nitrous acid, and renders it inoperative 
 in transforming fresh portions of sulphurous acid into sulphuric. On these principles 
 alone is it possible to oxygenate the sulphurous acid, by the nitrous acid resuming and 
 surrendering a dose of oxygen, in perpetual alternation. 
 
 It was MM. Clement and Desormes who first had the sagacity to trace these compli- 
 cated changes. They showed that nitrous acid gas and sulphurous acid gas mixed, react 
 on each other through the intervention of moisture ; that there resulted thence a combina- 
 tion of sulphuric acid, deutoxyde of azote (nitrous gas), and water; that this crystalline 
 compound was instantly destroyed by more water, with the separation of the sulphuric acid 
 in a liquid state, and the disengagement of nitrous gas; that this gas re-constituted nitrous 
 acid at the expense of the atmospheric oxygen of the leaden chamber, and thus brought 
 matters to their primary condition. From this point, starting again, the particles of 
 sulphur in the sulphurous acid, through the agency of water, became fully oxygenated by 
 the nitrous acid, and fell down in heavy drops of sulphuric acid, while the nitrous gas 
 derived from the nitrous acid, had again recourse to the air for its lost dose of oxygen. 
 This beautiful interchange of the oxygenous principle was found to go on, in their ex- 
 periments, till either the sulphurous acid, or oxygen in the air, was exhausted. 
 
 They verified this proposition, with regard to what occurs in sulphuric acid chambers, 
 by mixing in a crystal globe the three substances, deutoxyde of azote, sulphurous acid, 
 and atmospheric air. The immediate production of red vapors indicated the transforma- 
 tion of the deutoxyde into nitrous acid gas ; and now the introduction of a very little 
 water caused the proper reaction, for opaque vapors rose, which deposited white star- 
 form crystals on the surface of the glass. The gases were once more transparent and color- 
 less ; but another addition of water melted these crystals with effervescence, when ruddy 
 vapors appeared. In this manner the phenomena were made to alternate, till the oxygen 
 of the included air was expended, or all the sulphurous acid was converted into sul- 
 phuric. The residuary gases were found to be nitrous acid gas and azote, without sul- 
 phurous acid gas ; while unctuous sulphuric acid bedewed the inner surface of the itlobe. 
 Hence, I hey justly concluded their new theory of the manufacture of oil of vitriol to be 
 demonstrated. 
 In consequence of their discovery, the manufacture of Hue acid has received such 
 
794 
 
 SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 improvements, that a nearly double product of it may now be obtained from the same 
 weight of materials. Indeed, the economy may be reckoned to be much greater ; for one. 
 half of the more costly ingredient, the nitre, formerly employed with a given weight of 
 sulphur, suffices at present. 
 
 In the manufacture of sulphuric acid upon the great scale, two different systems of 
 working were long prevalent! the intermittent or periodical, and the continuous or 
 uniform. Both were carried on in large leaden chambers. In the former, the cham- 
 bers were closed during the period of combustion and gaseous combination, but were 
 opened from time to time to introduce fresh atmospheric air. This method is, I believe, 
 generally abandoned now, on account of the difficulties and delays attending it, though 
 it afforded large products in skilful hands. In the latter, a continuous current of air is 
 allowed to enter at the oven in front of the chamber for the combustion of the sulphur, 
 and there is a constant escape of nitrogen gas, with u little sulphurous acid gas, at the 
 remote end of the roof. 
 
 Fig. ]418 represents a sulphuric acid chamber, a, a, are the brick or « one pillars upon 
 which it rests ; b, b, are the sustaining wooden beams or joists ; c, is the chimney for the 
 discharge of the nitrogen; d, is the roof, and c, the sole of the hearth for the combustion 
 of the sulphur; f, is the cylindrical tunnel, or pipe of lead or cast iron, for conducting 
 the gasiform materials into the chamber; g, is the steam boiler ; and ft, the steam-pipe. 
 That plan is variously modified, by different oil of vitriol makers in this country and 
 in France. Very frequently, the oven e, d, is not situated under the chamber, but 
 is built at the end of it, as at i, and arched over with brick, the crown being 9 
 inches thick. The pipe/, 18 inches in diameter, is then placed outside of the chamber, 
 being inserted into a brick chimney, and, turning rectangularly, enters it opposite fe. 
 The sole of the hearth c, is a thick plate of cast iron (not hollowed as shown in the 
 figure), 5 or, 6 feet long, and 3 or 4 broad, with a small fireplace constructed beneath 
 it, whose smoke-flue runs oulwards, under the floor, to 1he side wall of the building. 
 The oven is in this case about 2 feet in height, from the sole to the roof; and it has 
 an iron door, about 12 inches by 15, which slides up and down in a tightly-filled iron 
 
 frame. Thjs 
 door is frequent- 
 ly placed in the 
 side of the oven, 
 parallel to the 
 long side of the 
 leaden chamber. 
 A stout collar 
 of lead is bolted 
 to the chamber, 
 where the pipe 
 enters it. A 
 the middle of 
 the side of the 
 chamber, about 
 2 feet above the 
 ground, a leaden 
 trough is fixed, 
 which serves as 
 a syphon-funnel and water-trap for introducing water to the acid gases. 
 
 Several manufacturers divide the chamber into a series of rectangular compartments, 
 by parallel leaden screens, 10 or 12 feejfasunder, and allow these compartments to com- 
 municate by a narrow opening, or a hole 1 foot square, in the top and bottom of each 
 screen alternately. Thus the fumes, which enter from the chimney-pipe over k, will be 
 forced, by the screen at 6, to descend to 1, and pass through the opening there, to get into 
 the second compartment, whence they will escape near the top at 2, thus circulating up 
 and down, so as to occasion a complete agitation and intermixture of their hetero- 
 geneous particles. Into the side of the chamber, opposite to the centre of each com- 
 partment, a lead pipe enters, and proceeds towards the middle of the area, terminating in 
 a narrow orifice, for discharging a jet of high-pressure steam from a boiler loaded with 
 40 pounds upon the square inch. This boiler should be placed under a shed exterior 
 to the building. It deserves to be noted, that the incessant tremors produced in this 
 pipe by the escape of the steam, cause the orifice to contract, and eventually to close 
 almost entirely, just as the point of a glass tube does when exposed directly to the flame of 
 a blowpipe. Provision should therefore be made against this event, by the chemical 
 engineer. 
 
 Equidistant between the middle point and each.end of the chamber, two round holes 
 lie cut out in its side, about 16 inches in diameter, and 2 feet from the floor; the sheet 
 
SULPH-UKIC ACID. 795 
 
 lead being folded back over the face of the strong deals which strengthen the cnamb'er 
 in that place. The edges of the holes are bevelled outwards, so as to fit a large conical 
 plug of wood faced with lead, called a man-hole door. One or other of these doors is 
 opened from time to time, to allow the superintendent to inspect the process, or work- 
 man Jo enter, after the chamber is well ventilated, for the purpose of making repairs. 
 Tne joists or tie-beams, that bind the rafters of the roof of both the leaden chamber and 
 the house, must be at least 7 inches deep, by 3 broad, and of such length as !o have 
 their ends supported upon the outer wall, or the columnar supports of the roof, in case 
 a number of chambers are enclosed together in p&i'aliei ranges under a vast shed. These 
 beams, which lie two feet apart, suspend the leaden roof, by means of leaden straps 
 soldered to its upper surface and edges. The sides of the chamber are sustained by 
 means of similar leaden straps affixed to the wooden posts (uprights), 4 inches broad by 3 
 thick, placed two or three feet apart along the sides of the chamber j resting on the ground 
 ielow, and mortised into the lie-beams above. Some chambers rest upon a sand-floor; 
 but they are preferably placed upon wooden joists, supported by pillars stretching over an 
 open area, as shown in the figure, into which the workmen may descend readily, to examine 
 the bottom. 
 
 The outlet c, on the top of the chamber, is sometimes joined to along pipe of lead laid 
 nearly horizontally, with a slight inclination upwards, along the roof, for favoring the 
 condensation and return of acid matter. 
 
 At the extremity /, of the chamber, which, having a downward slope of 1 inch in every 
 20 feet, should stand from 3 to 6 inches (according to its length) lower than i, one leg of 
 an inverted syphon pipe is fixed by fusion, into which the liquid of the chamber passing, 
 will show by its alliiude the depth on the bottom within. From the cup-shaped orifice of 
 that bent-up pipe, the acid of the chamber is drawn off by an ordinary leaden syphon into 
 the concentration pans. 
 
 The sheet lead of which the sides and top are made should weigh from 5 to 6 pounds 
 per square foot; that of the bottom should be nearly of double thickness. 
 
 Having now detailed, with sufficient minuteness, the construction of the chamber, I 
 shall next describe the mode of operating with it. There are at least two plans at present 
 in use for burning the sulphur coutinuously in the oven. In the one, the sulphur is laid 
 on the hearth e, (or rather on the flat hearth in the separate oven, above described,) and is 
 kindled by a slight fire placed under it ; which fire, however, is allowed to go out after 
 the first day, because the oven becomes by that lime sufficiently heated by the sulphur 
 flames to carry on the subsequent combustion. Upon the hearth, an iron tripod is set, 
 supporting, a few inches above it, a hemispherical cast-iron bowl (basin) charged with 
 nitre and its decomposing proportion of strong sulphuric acid. In the other plan, 12 pans 
 of bruised sulphur, and 1 of nitre, are mixed in a leaden trough on the floor with 1 of 
 strong sulphuric acid, and the mixture is shovelled through the sliding iron door upon 
 the hot hearth. The successive charges of sulphur are proportioned, of course, to the 
 size of the chamber. In one of the largest, which is 120 feet long, 20 broad, and 16 
 high, 12 cwts. are burned in the course of 24 hours, divided into 6 charges, every fourth 
 hour, of 2 cwts. each. In chambers of one sixth greater capacity, containing 1400 
 metres cube, 1 ton of sulphur is burned in 24 hours. This immense production was 
 first introduced at Chaunay and Dieuze, under the management of M. Clement-Desormes. 
 The bottom of the chamber should be covered at first with a thin stratum of sulphuric 
 acid, of spec. grav. 1-07, which decomposes nitrous acid into oxygen and nitrous gas; 
 but not with more water, which would absorb the nitrous acid vapors, and withdraw 
 them from their aerial sphere of action. The vapor of nitric acid, disengaged from 
 the nitre on the hearth of the oven, when brought into intimate contact with the 
 sulphurous acid, either gives up oxygen to it, becomes itself nitrous gas, and converts 
 it into sulphuiic acid; or combines with the sulphurous acid into the crystallipe 
 compound above described, which, the moment it meets with moisture, is decomposed 
 into sulphuric acid and nitrous gas. The atmospherical oxygen of the chamber imme- 
 diately reconverts this gas into nitrous or nitric acid fumes, which are again ready, with 
 the co-operation of sulphurous acid gas and aqueous vapor, to produce fresh quantities 
 of hydrous sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) and nitrous gas. At low temperatures, this 
 curious play of chemical affinities has a great tendency to form the cryslalline compound, 
 and to deposite it in a crust of considerable thickness (from one half to one inch) on the 
 sides of the chamber, so as to render the process inoperative. A circumstance of this 
 kind occurred, in a very striking manner, during winter, in a manufacture of oil of 
 vitriol in Russia ; and it has sometimes occurred, to a moderate extent, in Scotland. Il 
 is called, at Marseilles, the maladie des chambres.. It may be certainly prevented, by 
 maintaining the interior of the chamber, by a jet of steam, at a temperature of 100° F. 
 When these crystals fall into the dilute acid at the bottom, they are decomposed with a 
 violent effervescence, and a hissing gurgling noise, somewhat like thatofatun of beer it 
 brisk fermentation. 
 
796 SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 M. Clement- Desormes demonstrated the proposition relative to the influence of temper- 
 ature liy a decisive experiment. He took a glass globe, furnished wilh three tubulures, 
 and put a bil of ice into it. Through the first opening he then introduced sulphurous 
 acid gas; through the second, oxygen ; and through the third, nitrous gas (deutoxyde of 
 azote). While the globe was kept cool, by being plunged in iced water, no sulphuric acid 
 was formed,' though all the ingredients essential to its production were present. But on 
 exposing the globe to a temperature of 100° Fahr., the four bodies began immediately to 
 react on each other, and oil of vitriol was condensed in visible stria. 
 
 The introduction of steam is a modern invention, which has vastly facilitated and 
 increased the production of oil of vitriol. It serves, by powerful agitation, not only 
 to mix the different gaseous molecules intimately together, but to impel them against 
 each other, and thus bring them within the sphere of their mutual chemical attraction. 
 This is its mechanical effect. Its chemical agency is still more important. By supplying 
 moisture at every point of the immense included space, it determines the formation of 
 hydrous sulphuric acid, from the compound of nitric, nitrous, sulphurous, and dry sul- 
 phuric acids. No sooner is this reaction accomplished, than the nitrous gas resumes its 
 oxygen, from the continuous atmospherical current, and becomes again fit to operate a 
 .ike round of transmutations with sulphurous acid, steam, and oxygen. The nitrogen (azote) 4 
 which ought to be the only residuum in a perfectly regulated vitriol chamber, "escapes, by 
 its relative lightness, at the opening c, in the roof, or, more properly speaking, is displaced 
 by the influx of the heavier gases at the entrance-pipe. 
 
 On the intermittent plan, after the consumption of each charge, and condensation of 
 ihe product, the chamber was opened, and freely ventilated, so as to expel the residuary 
 azote, and replenish it with fresh atmospheric air. In this system there were four distinct 
 stages or periods : — i. Combustion for two hours; 2. Admission of steam, and settling, 
 for an hour and a half; 3. Conversion, for three hours, during which interval the drops 
 of strong acid were heard falling like heavy hailstones on the bottom j 4. Purging of the 
 chamber, for three quarters of an hour. 
 
 By the continuous method, sulphuric acid may be currently obtained in the chambers, 
 of the specific gravity 1-350, or 1-450 at most ; for, when stronger, it absorbs and retains 
 permanently much nitrous acid gas ; but by the intermittent, so dense as 1-550, or even 
 1-620 ; whence in a district where fuel is high priced, as near Paris, this method recom- 
 mended itself by economy in the concentration of the acid. In Great Britain, and even ia 
 most parts of France, however, where time," workmen's wages, and interest of capital, are 
 the paramount considerations, manufacturers do not find it for their interest in general to 
 raise the density of the acid in the chambers above 1-400, or at most 1-500 ; as the further 
 increase goes on at a retarded rate, and its concentration from 1-400 to 1-600, in leaden 
 pans, costs very little. 
 
 At about the specific gravity of 1-35, in Great Britain, the liquid of the chambers is run 
 ofi", by the syphon above described, into a leaden gutter or spout, which discharges it into 
 a series of rectangular vessels made of large sheets of lead, of 12 or 14 lbs. to the square 
 foot, simply folded up at the angles into pans 8 or 10 inches deep, resting upon a grate 
 made of a pretty close row of wrought-iron bars of considerable strength, under which 
 the flame of a furnace plays. Where coals are very cheap, each pan may have a sepa- 
 rate fire ; but where they are somewhat dear, the flame, after passing under the lowest 
 pan of the range, which contains the strongest acid (at about 1-600), proceeds upwards 
 with a slight slope to heat the pans of weaker acid, which, as it concentrates, is gradually 
 run down by syphons to replenish the lower pans, in proportion' as their aqueous matter is 
 dissipated. The 3 or 4 pans constituting the range are thus placed in a straight line, but 
 each at a different level, terrace like ; en gradins, as the French say. 
 
 AVhen the acid has thereby acquired the density of 1-650, or 1-700 at most, it must be 
 removed from the leaden evaporators, because, when of greater strength, it would begin to 
 corrode them ; and it is transferred into leaden coolers, or run through a long refrigeratory 
 worm-pipe surrounded by cold water. In this state it is introduced into glass or 
 platinum retorts, to undergo a final concentration, up to the specific gravity of 1-842, or 
 even occasionally 1-845, in consequence of slight saline impurities. When glass retorts 
 are used, they are set in a long sand-bath over a eallery furnace, resting on fire tiles, 
 under which a powerful flame plays ; and as the flue gradually ascends from the fire- 
 place, near to which it is most distant from the tiles, to the remoter end, the heat acts 
 with tolerable equality on the first and last retort in the range. When platinum stills 
 are employed, they are fitted into the inside of cast-iron pots, which protect the thin 
 bottom and sides of the precious metal. The fire being applied directly to the iron, 
 causes a safe, rapil, and economical concentration of the acid. The iron pots 
 with their platinum interior, filled with concentrated boiling-hot oil of vitriol, are 
 lifted out of the fire-seat by tackle, and let down into a cistern of cold water, to effect 
 the speedy refrigeration of the acid, and facilitate its transvasion into carboys packed in 
 osier baskets lined with straw. Sometimes, however, the acid is cooled by running it 
 
SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 737 
 
 lowlj off through a long platinum syphon, surrounded by another pipe filled with cold 
 water. Fi>. 1419 shows my contrivance for this purpose. 
 
 The under stopcock a, being shut, and the leg 
 6, being plunged to nearly the bottom of the still, 
 the worm is to be filled with concentrated cold 
 acid through the funnel c. If that stopcock is now 
 shut, and a opened, the acid will flow out in such 
 quantity as to rarefy the small portion of air in the 
 upper part of the pipe b, sufficiently to make the 
 hot acid rise up over the bend, and set the syphon 
 in action. The flow of the fluid is to be so regu- 
 lated by the stopcock a, that it may be greatly 
 cooled in its passage by the surrounding cold water 
 in the vessel /, which may be replenished by means 
 of.the tube and funnel d, and overflow at e. 
 
 A manufacturer of acid in Scotland, who buna 
 in each chamber 210 pounds of sulphur in 24 hours, 
 being at the rate of 420 pounds for 20,000 cubit 
 feet (= nearly 2000 metres cube), has a product of 
 nearly 3 pounds of concentrated oil of vitriol foi 
 every pound of sulphur and twelfth of a pound of 
 nitre. The advantage of his process results, I con 
 ceive, from the lower concentration of the acid in 
 the chambers, which favors its more rapid produc- 
 tion. 
 
 The platinum retort admits of from 4 to 6 opera- 
 tions in a day, when it is well mounted and man- 
 aged. It has a capital of platinum, furnished with 
 a short neck, which conducts the disengaged vapors into a lead worm of condensation ; 
 and the liquid thus obtained is returned into the lead pans. Great care must be taken 
 to prevent any particles of lead from getting into the platinum vessel, since at the tem- 
 perature of boiling sulphuric acid, the lead unites with the precious metal, and thus 
 causes holes in the retort. These must be repaired by soldering-on a plate of platinum 
 with gold. ■ 
 
 Before the separate oven or hearth for burning the sulphur in contact with the nitre 
 was adopted, this combustible mixture was introduced into the chamber itself, spread on 
 iron trays or earthen pans, supported above the water on iron stands. But this plan was 
 very laborious and unproductive. It is no longer followed. 
 
 One of the characters of the good quality of sulphuric acid, is its dissolving indigo 
 without altering its fine blue color. 
 
 Sulphuric acid, when well prepared, is a colorless and inodorous liquid, of an oily 
 aspect, possessing a specific gravity, in its most concentrated state, of 1-842, when rt- 
 iistilled, but as found in commerce, of 1-845. It is eminently acid and corrosive, so 
 that a single drop will communicate the power of reddening litmus to a gallon of water, 
 and will produce an ulcer of the skin when allowed to remain upon it. If swallowed in 
 its strongest state, in even a small quantity, it acts so furiously on the throat and stomach 
 as to cause intolerable agony and speedy death. Watery diluents, mixed with chalk or 
 magnesia, are the readiest antidotes. At a temperature of about 600° F., or a few de- 
 grees below the melting point of lead, it boils anil distils over like water. This is the 
 best method of procuring sulphuric acid free from the saline and metallic matters with 
 which it is sometimes contaminated. 
 
 The affinity of sulphuric acid for water is so strong, that when exposed in an open 
 saucer, it imbibes one-third of its weight from the atmosphere in 24 hours, and fully six 
 times its weight in a few months. Hence it should be kept excluded from the air. If 
 four parts, by weight, of the strongest acid be suddenly mixed with one part of water, 
 both being at 50° F., the temperature of the mixture will rise to 300°; while, on the 
 other hand, if four parts of ice be mixed with one of sulphuric acid, they immediately 
 liquefy and sink the thermometer to 4° below zero. From the great attraction existing 
 between this acid and water, a saucer of it is employed to effect the rapid condensation 
 jf aqueous vapor as it exhales from a cup of water placed over it ; both standing under 
 the exhausted receiver of an air-pump. By the cold produced by this unchecked evapo- 
 ration in vacuo, the water is speedily frozen. 
 
 To determine the purity of sulphuric acid, let it be slowly heated to the boiling point 
 of water, and if any volatile acid matter be present, it will evaporate, with its character- 
 istic smell. The presence of saline impurity, which is the common one, is discovered 
 by evaporating a given weight of it in a small capsule of platinum placed on red-hot 
 cinders. If more than two grains remain out of 500, the acid may be reckoned to be 
 
798 SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 impure. The test test for sulphuric acid, and the soluble salts into -which it enters, is 
 the nitrate of baryta, of which 182 parts are equivalent to 49 of the strongest liquid acid, 
 or to 40 of the dry, as it exists in crystallized sulphate of polassa. One twenty thou- 
 sandth pait of a grain of the acid may be detected by the grayish-while cloud which 
 baryta forms with it. 100 parts of the concentrated acid are neutralized by 143 parts of 
 dry carbonate of potassa, and by 110 of dry carbonate of soda, both perfectly pure. 
 
 Of all the acids, the sulphuric is most extensively used in the arts, and is, in fact, the 
 primary agent for obtaining almost all the others, by disengaging them from their saline 
 combinations. In this way, nitric, muriatic, tartaric, acetic, and many /ither acids, are 
 procured. It is employed in the direct foima:. : in of alum, of the sulphates of copper, 
 zinc, potassa, soda; in that of sulphuric ether, of sugar by the saccharification of starch, 
 and in the preparation of phosphorus, &c. It serves also for opening the pores of skins 
 in tanning, for clearing the surfaces of metals, for determining the nature of several salts 
 by the acid characters that are disengaged, &c. 
 
 According lo the analysis of Dr. Thomson, the crystalline compound deposited occa 
 sionally in the leaden chambers above described consists of — 
 
 Sulphurous acid, 0-6387, or 3 atoms. AVater - - 0-073?. or 1 atom. 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 0-5290 2 Sulphate of lead, 0-0140. 
 
 Nitric acid - 0-3450 1 atom. 
 
 Ae admits that the proportion of water is a little uncertain ; and that the preseaee of 
 sulphurous acid was not proved by direct analysis. When heated with water, the crys- 
 talline matter disengages nitrous gas in abundance ; lets fall some sulphate of lead ; and 
 the liquid is found to be sulphuric acid; When heated without water, it is decomposed 
 with emission of nitrous gas and fuming nitric acid ; leaving a liquid which, mixed wilt 
 water, produces a brisk effervescence, consisting chiefly of nitrous gas. 
 
 A valuable improvement of the process for manufacturing this fundamental chemical 
 agent has been contrived by M. Gay Lussac, and made the subject of a patent in this 
 country by his agent M. Sautter. It consists in causing the waste gas of the vitriol 
 chamber to ascend through the chemical cascade of M. Clement Desormes, and to en- 
 counter there a stream of sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1-750. The nitrous acid 
 gas, which is in a well regulated chamber always slightly redundant, is perfectly ab- 
 sorbed by the said sulphuric acid ; which, thus impregnated, is made to trickle down 
 through, another cascade, up through which passes a current of sulphurous, acid, from 
 the combustion of sulphur in a little adjoining chamber. The condensed nitrous acid 
 gas is thereby immediately transformed into nitrous gas (deutoxide of azote), which is 
 transmitted from this second cascade inte the large vitriol chamber, and there exercises 
 its well-known reaction upon its aeriform contents. The economy thus effected in the 
 sulphuric acid manufacture is such that for 100 parts of sulphur 3 of nitrate of soda 
 will suffice, instead of 9 or 10 as usually consumed. 
 
 Upon the formation of sulphated nitrous gas (N O 1 , 3 S O 3 , 2 H O), and its combina- 
 tion with the oil of vitriol, the manufacture of hydrated sulphuric acid is founded. 
 Either sulphur is burned in mixture with about one-ninth of saltpetre : whence along 
 with sulphuric acid gas, nitrous oxide gas is disengaged, while sulphate of potash re- 
 mains; thus KO, N0 6 + S = S0 3 + N02, KO. 2. Or, nitric acid in the fluid or 
 vaporous form may be present in' the lead-chamber, into which the sulphurous acid. 
 gas passes, in consequence of placing in the flames of the sulphur a pan charged with 
 a mixture of sulphuric acid and nitre, or nitrate of soda. This nitric acid being 
 decomposed by a portion of the sulphurous acid, there will result sulphuric acid and 
 Ditrous gas. By the mutual re-action of the sulphurous and nitric acids, sulphuric 
 acid and nitrous gas will be produced; N 5 + 3 S 0=-N O a + 3 S O 3 . 3. Or, by 
 heating sugar or starch with nitric acid, the mixture of nitrous gas and nitrous 
 acid vapor which results may be thrown into the chamber among the sulphurous 
 acid. In any one of these three cases, sulphurous acid gas, nitrous acid vapors (pro- 
 ceeding from the mixture of nitrous oxide and atmospherical oxygen) and steam are 
 mingled together; whence arises the crystalline compound of sulphated nitrous oxide 
 with sulphuric acid, which compound subsides in white clouds to the bottom of the 
 chamber, and dissolves in the dilute oil of vitriol placed there, into sulphuric acid, 
 with disengagement of nitrous gas. This gas now forms, with the remaining atmo^ 
 spherical -oxygen, nitrous acid vapors once more, which condense a fresh portion of 
 sulphurous acid gas into the above crystalline compound; and thus in perpetual al- 
 ternation. 
 
 Sulphurous acid gas does not act upon nitrous gas, not even upon the nitrous acid 
 vapor produced by the admission of oxygen, if water be absent; but the moment that 
 % little steam is admitted the crystalline compound is condensed. The presence of 
 
SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 790 
 
 much sulphuric acid favors the formation of the sulphattd nitrous gas. These crystals 
 are decomposed by tepid water with disengagement of nitrous gas, which s< izes the 
 oxygen present and becomes nitrous acid (hyponitric of many chemists). 
 
 Sanitary motives alone induced the makers of soda to condense their waste muriatic 
 acid in the first instance; though they now discover its worth as a means of manufactur 
 ing chloride of lime, and would not again return to the nuisance-creating system if they 
 might. In time, no doubt, the copper smelter will also be compelled to arrest the 
 poisonous fumes now so wantonly evolved ; and then he too will find a profit in thai 
 which, at present, only injures his neighbor. It is with individual interests as with 
 physical bodies, the largest are the most difficult to move from any established position. 
 Not many years ago, all the sulphuric acid used in this country was made from sulphur 
 alone; and, although scientific men had pointed out iron pyrites as an abundant in- 
 digenous source for the generation of this acid, yet no attention whatever was given to 
 this seemingly valueless information. ' Folly, however, achieved that which wisdom could 
 not reach ; and the infatuated cupidity of a Sicilian king compelled our manufacturers 
 to lend a willing ear to the voice of science, and seek at home that which a prohibitive 
 export duty prevented them from obtaining abroad. Their eyes were at length opened, 
 and, too late, the King of Sicily saw his error; for, though the excessive duty on 
 sulphur has since been removed, it has not only failed to put down the use of iron 
 pyrites, but the best informed authorities are decidedly of opinion, that this latter will 
 eventually abolish the employment of sulphur, and that Ireland, and not Sicily, will 
 furnish the essential element for the fabrication of nearly all our sulphuric acid. There 
 is, however, one very serious drawback to the general use of iron pyrites for such a 
 purpose, and that is, the presence of arsenic in all the acid thus made. This objection 
 is fatal at present, and the cotobined agency of mechanical and chemical genius alone 
 can relieve this important manufacture from so great an obstacle. Means have indeed 
 been devised for removing the arsenic from the acid after the formation of the latter ; 
 fcut those acquainted with the practical working of sulphuric acid well know that such 
 a project is futile and impossihle on. the large scale. There are, in fact, but two modes 
 of dealing with the difficulty, the one being to prevent the volatilization of the arsenic 
 at all, by mixing the pyrites with some suitable ingredient ere it is thrown into the 
 furnace ; and the other, to remove the arsenic from the sulphurous acid before it reaches 
 the chamber of condensation. The first would be the simplest plan ; but in the exist- 
 ing state of science, can scarcely be hoped for. The last, however is not by any means 
 beyond the scope of perseverance and ingenuity. It must be borne in mind, that, though 
 the arsenic, being in the form of arsenious acid when it leaves the furnace with the 
 sulphurous acid, is in the gaseous state, yet a very trifling reduction of temperature 
 suffices to convert it into solid powder ; in which condition it is merely carried onwards, 
 mechanically, by the current of sulphurous acid ; and thus reaches the leaden chamber. 
 The mixture, therefore, resembles that of turbid water; and, bearing this analogy in 
 mind, we shall now proceed to describe the pyritic process of making sulphuric acid, — 
 adding, as we go on, a hint at the proper place for arresting the arsenious fumes, and 
 thus producing a pure and satisfactory acid, equal to that obtained from Sicilian sulphur. 
 The furnace employed for roasting iron pyrites is very peculiar, but essentially consists 
 of an inverted cone, with, of course, a small area of fire-grate, in proportion to the 
 cubical contents of the furnace, — the object of this being, to prevent the surplus passage 
 of air through the furnace, and cause the sublimed sulphur to burn only at the upper 
 part of the mass, where there are two or more holes for the supply of air, duly provided 
 witli stoppers, to regulate the combustion above with regard to that below. Thus, at 
 starting, the principal effect of the lower heat is simply to decompose the bisulphate of 
 iron, and expel one half of its sulphur; and at this stage, the upper openings of the 
 furnace are all requisite, to ensure the combustion of this volatilized sulphur; but so 
 soon as the bisulphuret of iron has been converted into the proto-sulphuret, then the 
 upper openings are no longer useful, but must be closed, so as to compel the whole of 
 the air to pass through the red-hot_ protosulphuret^ and thus form sulphurous acid 
 and oxide of iron, — the latter of which is ultimately withdrawn as a waste product. 
 An iron pan, containing nitrate of soda, is usually placed in the common flue of a 
 number of these furnaces, to supply nitric oxide gas; and the whole of the volatile 
 products are made to pass through a considerable length of tubing, subjected to the 
 refrigerating effect of the air, so as to cool the gases prior to their introduction into 
 the chamber of condensation. 
 
 As the subsequent processes are the same as those adopted with regard to Sicilian 
 sulphur, they will be most conveniently noticed when treating of the employment of that 
 substance; and therefore we now proceed to consider the question of removing from the 
 volatile mixture the arsenical matters which it holds in suspension ■ for, during the 
 passage of this mixture through the refrigerating tube, above described, the arsenious 
 acid is really stolified ; whilst the sulphurous acid, being a permanently elastic gas, 
 
800 SULPHURIC ACID. 
 
 suffers but a trifling contraction in its bulk. We requested attention to the case of 
 turbid water as a simile whence to acquire a correct notion of the kind of mixture 
 passing into a condensing chamber ; and this suggests also the means of purification. 
 With turbid water filtration might indeed be resorted to, which is inapplicable to our 
 difficulty; but there is another mode in which water is purified by nature on the large 
 scale, and that is, by deposition, or attraction of gravitation. For this purpose absolute 
 rest is not necessary; as may be seen on examining the water running into and out of 
 a lake in spring or autumn. It enters foul and muddy; but, at its exit, is clear and 
 pellucid as crystal. This is precisely the object desired with respect to the gaseous 
 products given off from a pyrites furnace, and may be accomplished in precisely the 
 same way. Let a gaseous lake, or large chamber in brickwork, be interposed between 
 the refrigerating tube and the condensation-chamber, through which, of course, the 
 contaminated sulphurous acid would flow, but so slowly as to deposit, like the water 
 in the lake, the mechanical impurities suspended in it, and thus pass pure and unde- 
 fined into the leaden chamber, possessing now all the properties and uses of that ob- 
 tained by the combustion of pure sulphur. The size of this gaseous lake or arsenical 
 precipitator, as it might be termed, would require adjustment according to the area of 
 the entrance tube and the velocity of the current, but need not^ perhaps, be more than 
 one half of the cubical contents of the leaden chamber, especially if the gas entered 
 below and issued from the tap. 
 
 We are now arrived at the point where the modes of using pyrites and sulphur unite: 
 consequently, it will be necessary to examine the early steps in the employment of 
 this latter. These are quite as simple as the management of a common fire, — for the 
 sulphur is merely thrown into a kind of oven, provided with a door capable of regulat- 
 ing the admission of air; and near to this door,' but within the oven, an iron pot con- 
 taining nitrate of soda is placed, the contents of which are in the proportion of about 6 
 per cent, of the nitrate to a given amount of sulphur. The sulphur having been once 
 lighted, combustion goe3 on continuously, and the volatile products,after passing through 
 the refrigerating tube, ultimately enter the condensing chamber; here they are met by 
 a current of steam, which causes the compound of sulphur, nitrogen, and oxygen, to 
 fall to the bottom of the chamber, and, in combining with the water there placed, de- 
 composition ensues, attended with the formation of sulphuric acid and nitric oxidegas; 
 the former of which remains in solution, whilst the latter rises, and uniting to a fresh por- 
 tion of sulphurous acid, and to part of the oxygen in the chamber, again falls, and ia 
 decomposed as before, until either no more sulphurous acid or oxygen gas remains in 
 the chamber, the latter of which circumstances would imply bad management, and is 
 probably the cause of what is termed "chamber sickness." This condensation process 
 lasts many hours, and sometimes even days are spent in its completion, the workmen 
 judging of its progress by the color of the fumes displayed on opening a small door or 
 aperture near the bottom of the chamber ; by which they also form an opinion as to the 
 excess or deficiency of nitrous vapor, and apply the appropriate remedy in the combus- 
 tion furnace. When the water on the floor of the chamber has received a certain 
 amount of sulphuric acid, it ceases to act favorably upon the gaseous mixture, and is 
 therefore withdrawn. For many purposes in the arts, such acid is quite strong 
 enough ; and henee, under the name "chamber acid," it is extensively employed. But> 
 to complete its character as oil of vitriol, this chamber acid is evaporated, first in 
 leaden vessels, but ultimately in a platinum boiler, set over the naked fire, and pro- 
 vided with a head or cover, and a syphon tube, all in platinum : by the syphon tube 
 the operator is enabled to draw off the concentrated acid when sufficiently evaporated. 
 A boiler of this kind is kept constantly in action after the fire has been once lighted 
 the only cause of stoppage being the necessity for repairs, which are vastly more fre- 
 quent than might be imagined, considering the imperishable nature of the metal em- 
 ployed in the construction of these boilers. Selenious acid is thought to be the corro- 
 ding agent, and perhaps correctly, as chlorine is quite out of the question. 
 
 Concentrated dry sulphuric acid of Nordhawen. M. Paul Gilbert Prelier, of Paris, 
 has patented the following plan of manufacturing dry sulphuric acid. He employs 100 
 parts of sulphate of soda, 2 parts of sulphate of potash, and 2 parts of" sulphate of lime. 
 The mixture is put into freestone retorts (cornucs degres?) set in a suitable furnace ; then 
 by means of a bent glass tube, the acid isintroduced into the retorts, and heat is gradually 
 applied. Shortly after the application of heat, drops of water will fall from the retorts, 
 then acidulated water, followed by acid at 40°, 50°, and 66° Baume, and finally by acid 
 which fumes or smokes. To enable the operator to judge correctly of the progress of 
 the operation, vessels containing water are placed to receive the drops of acid ; and when 
 each drop produces a sound resembling that which a red-hot iron would cause in the 
 water, the dry acid is produced, and is to be collected. Nordhausen acid is obtained, 
 he says, by introducing oil of vitriol, at 66° Baume, into the vess«l3 which receive the dry 
 
SUMACH. 
 
 801 
 
 ■eid. _ But this Nordhausen acid is colorless, and pure. He does not specify the 
 quantity of oil of vitriol that he introduces at first along with the sulphates. 
 
 Anhydrous Sulphuric Acid. Highly concentrated oil of vitriol must be mixed with 
 dry phosphoric acid, obtained by the combustion of phosphorus beneath a receiver 
 placed over a plate of glass, allowing free access for dry atmospheric air. On mix- 
 ing the two acids, a strong chemical action ensues, with considerable elevation of 
 temperature ; and therefore the mixture should be made in a retort surrounded by a 
 freezing mixture, the phosphoric acid being previously cooled, and the cold oil of vitriol 
 being gradually added ; allowing the heat to subside after each addition. When a 
 quantity of oil of vitriol equal to about two-thirds the weight of the phosphoric acid 
 has been thus added, the mixture which has acquired a dark brown color, is removed 
 from the cooling bath, and a receiver is placed there, to which the retort has been 
 adapted. A gentle heat is now applied to the retort, and dense white vapors soon be- 
 gin to pass into the receiver where they are condensed by the cold. In this way a 
 considerable quantity of beautiful white silky crystals are obtained. With careful 
 manipulation, an ounce of phosphorus, converted into anhydrous acid by combustion 
 in dry air, will yield one ounce of anhydrous sulphuric acid. If a few drops of water 
 be added, a dangerous explosion ensues. — Barreswill. 
 
 The following Table shows the quantity of concentrated and dry sulphuric acid in IOC 
 parts of dilute, at different densities, by my experiments, published in the Quarterly 
 Journal of Science, for October, 1817 : — 
 
 Liquid. 
 
 Spec, gravity. 
 
 Dry. 
 
 Liquid. 
 
 Spec, gravity. 
 
 Dry. 
 
 Liquid. 
 
 Spec, gravity. 
 
 Dry. 
 
 100 
 
 1-8460 
 
 81-54 
 
 66 
 
 1-5503 
 
 53-82 
 
 32 
 
 1-2334 
 
 26-09 
 
 99 
 
 1-8438 
 
 80-72 
 
 65 
 
 1-5390 
 
 53-00 
 
 31 
 
 1-2260 
 
 25-28 
 
 98 
 
 1-8415 
 
 79 90 
 
 64 
 
 1-5280 
 
 52-18 
 
 30 
 
 1-2184 
 
 24-46 
 
 97 
 
 1-8391 
 
 79-09 
 
 63 
 
 1-5170 
 
 51-37 
 
 29 
 
 1-2108 
 
 23-65 
 
 96 
 
 1-8366 
 
 78-28 
 
 62 
 
 1-5066 
 
 50-55 
 
 28 
 
 1-2032 
 
 22-83 
 
 95 
 
 1-8340 
 
 77-46 
 
 61 
 
 1-4960 
 
 49-74 
 
 27 
 
 1-1956 
 
 22-01 
 
 94 
 
 1-8288 
 
 76-65 
 
 60 
 
 1-4860 
 
 48-92 
 
 26 
 
 1-1876 
 
 21-20 
 
 93 
 
 1-8235 
 
 75-83 
 
 59 
 
 1-4760 
 
 48-11 
 
 25 
 
 1-1792 
 
 20-38 
 
 92 
 
 1-8181 
 
 75-02 
 
 58 
 
 1-4660 
 
 47-29 
 
 24 
 
 1-1706 
 
 19-57 
 
 91 
 
 1-8026 
 
 74-20 
 
 57 
 
 1-4560 
 
 46-48 
 
 23 
 
 1-1626 
 
 38-75 
 
 90 
 
 1-8070 
 
 73-39 
 
 56 
 
 1-4460 
 
 45-66 
 
 22 
 
 1-1549 
 
 17-94 
 
 89 
 
 1-7986 
 
 72-57 
 
 55 
 
 1-4360 
 
 44-85 
 
 21 
 
 1-1480 
 
 17-12 
 
 88 
 
 1-7901 
 
 71-75 
 
 54 
 
 1-4265 
 
 44-03 
 
 20 
 
 1-1410 
 
 16-31 
 
 87 
 
 1-7815 
 
 70-94 
 
 53 
 
 1-4170 
 
 43-22 
 
 19 
 
 1-1330 
 
 15-49 
 
 86 
 
 1-7728 
 
 70-12 
 
 52 
 
 1-4073 
 
 42-40 
 
 18 
 
 1-1246 
 
 14-68 
 
 8a 
 
 1-7640 
 
 69-31 
 
 51 
 
 1-3977 
 
 41-58 
 
 17 
 
 1-1165 
 
 13-86 
 
 84 
 
 1-7540 
 
 68-49 
 
 50 
 
 1-3884 
 
 40-77 
 
 16 
 
 1-1090 
 
 13-05 
 
 83 
 
 1-7425 
 
 67-68 
 
 49 
 
 1-3788 
 
 39-95 
 
 15 
 
 1-1019 
 
 12-23 
 
 82 
 
 1-7315 
 
 66-86 
 
 48 
 
 1-3697 
 
 39-14 
 
 14 
 
 1-0953 
 
 11-41 
 
 81 
 
 1-7200 
 
 66-05 
 
 47 
 
 1-3612 
 
 38-32 
 
 13 
 
 1-0887 
 
 10-60 
 
 80 
 
 1-7080 
 
 65-23 
 
 46 
 
 1-3530 
 
 37-51 
 
 12 
 
 1-0809 
 
 9-78 
 
 79 
 
 1-6972 
 
 64-42 
 
 45 
 
 1-3440 
 
 36-69 
 
 11 
 
 1-0743 
 
 8-97 
 
 78 
 
 1-6860 
 
 63-60 
 
 44 
 
 1-3345 
 
 35-88 
 
 10 
 
 1-0682 
 
 8-15 
 
 77 
 
 1-6744 
 
 62-78 
 
 43 
 
 1-3255 
 
 35-06 
 
 9 
 
 1-0614 
 
 7-34 
 
 76 
 
 1-6624 
 
 61-97 
 
 42 
 
 1-3165 
 
 34-25 
 
 8 
 
 1-0544 
 
 6-52 
 
 75 
 
 1-6500 
 
 61-15 
 
 41 
 
 1-3080 
 
 33-43 
 
 7 
 
 1-0477 
 
 5-71 
 
 74 
 
 1-6415 
 
 60-34 
 
 40 
 
 1-2999 
 
 32-61 
 
 6 
 
 1-0405 
 
 4-89 
 
 73 
 
 1-6321 
 
 59-52 
 
 39 
 
 1-2913 
 
 31-80 
 
 5 
 
 1-0336 
 
 4-08 
 
 72 
 
 1-6204 
 
 58-71 
 
 38 
 
 1-2826 
 
 30-98 
 
 4 
 
 1-0268 
 
 3-26 
 
 71 
 
 1-6090 
 
 57-89 
 
 37 
 
 1-2740 
 
 30-17 
 
 3 
 
 1-0208 
 
 2-446 
 
 70 
 
 1-5975 
 
 57-08 
 
 36 
 
 1-2654 
 
 29-35 
 
 2 
 
 1-0140 
 
 1-63 
 
 69 
 
 1-5S68 
 
 56-26 
 
 35 
 
 1-2572 
 
 28-54 
 
 1 
 
 1-0074 
 
 0-8154 
 
 68 
 
 1-5760 
 
 55-45 
 
 34 
 
 1*2490 
 
 27-72 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 1-5648 
 
 54-63 
 
 33 
 
 1-2409 
 
 26-ftl 
 
 
 
 
 SUMACH (Eng. and Fr. ; SchmacTc, Germ.) ; is the powder of the leaves, peduncles 
 and young branches of the Rhus coriaria and Rhus colinus, shrubs which grow in Hun- 
 gary, the'Bannat, and the Illyrian provinces. Both kinds contain tannin, with a little 
 yellow coloring matter, and are a, good deal employed for tanning light-colored 
 leathers: but the first is the best. With mordants it dies nearly the same colors as 
 Vol. II. 52 
 
802 
 
 SUN PAINTING. 
 
 galls. In calico-printing, sumach affords, with a mordant of tin, a yellow color; vritl 
 acetate of iron, weak or strong, a grey or black ; and with sulphate of zinc, a brownish- 
 yellow. A decoction of sumach reddens litmus paper strongly ;. gives white flocks 
 with the proto-muriate of tin ; pale-yellow flocks with alum ; blue flocks with red 
 sulphate of iron, with an abundant precipitate. In the south of France the twigs and 
 leaves of the Ooriaria myrthifolia are used for dyeing, under the name of ridoul or rodou, 
 
 SUN PAINTING or HELIOGRAPHY. This elegant art having been cultivated 
 with remarkable success by Sir William John Newton, Knt., I have great pleasure in 
 transferring into this Dictionary the very specific instructions which he has published 
 on the subject! in the first number of the " Photographic Journal." 
 
 To iodize the Paper. — 1st. Brush your paper over with muriate of barytes (half an 
 ounce, dissolved in nearly a wine-bottle of distilled water) : lay it flat to dry. 2d. 
 Dissolve sixty grains of nitrate of silver in about an ounce of distilled water. Ditto 
 sixty grains of iodide of potassium in another bottle with the like quantity of water. 
 Mix them together and shake well : let it subside : pour off the water, and then add hot 
 water : shake it well: let it subside : pour off the water, and then add three ounces of 
 distilled water, and afterward as much iodide of potassium as will redissolve the iodide 
 of silver. 
 
 Brush your previously-prepared paper well with this, and let dry ; then place them 
 in water, one by one, for about one hour and a half or two hours, constantly agitating 
 the water. As many as a dozen pieces may be put into the water, one after the other, 
 taking care that there are no air bubbles ; take them out, and pin to the edge of a board 
 at one corner. 
 
 When dry they will be ready for exciting for the camera by the following process : 
 
 1 drachm of No. 4. 6 
 drachms of distilled water. 
 
 25 grains of nitrate of sil- 
 ver to half an ounce of 
 water. Add 45 minims of 
 glacial acetic acid. 
 
 20 min. of No. 3, 6 
 drachms of distilled water. 
 
 2 drachms of No. 4, 6 drs. 
 of water. 
 
 A saturated solution of gal- 
 lie acid. 
 
 Equal parts of Nos. 1 and 2. 
 
 N. B. — This must he 
 mixed just hefore using, 
 and the bottle cleaned af- 
 terward. 
 
 (These are supposed to be in six 1-ounce hottles with glass stoj>pers.) 
 
 To excite for the Camera. — Mix equal parts of Nos. 1 and 2, and with a glass rod 
 excite the iodized paper and blot off; and it may he put in the slide at once, or the 
 number you require may be excited, and put into a blotting-paper hook, one between 
 each leaf, and allowed to remain until required to be placed in the slide. 
 
 Time of Exposure. — -The time varies from three minutes to a quarter, of an hour, 
 according to the nature of the subject and the power of the sun ; but five minutes is 
 generally the proper time. 
 
 To bring out. — Bring out with No. 3, and when the subject begins to appear, add 
 No. 5 ; and when sufficiently developed hold it up, and pour water upon it ; and then 
 put it into hyposulphite of soda to fix it, for about half an hour or more, and then into 
 water : this is merely to fix it for the after process at your leisure. 
 
 To clean the Negative. — Get a zinc tray about three or four inches deep, with another 
 tray to fit in at the top, about one inch deep ; fill the lower tray with boiling water, so 
 that the upper tray may touch the water; pu,t your solution of hyposulphite of soda, 
 not strong in the upper tray, and then your negatives one by one, watching them with 
 care until the iodine is removed; then put them in hot water, containing a small piece 
 of common soda (the size of a nutmeg to about two quarts of water), for about ten 
 minutes ; pour off the dirty water, and then add more hot water, shaking them gently 
 for a short time ; pour off the water again, and then add fresh hot water, and let it re- 
 main until it is cold, after which take them out carefully one by one, and put them jn 
 clean cold water for an hour or two; then take them all out together, and hold up to 
 . drain for a Bhort time, and then put them between three or four thicknesses of linen, 
 and press as much of the water out as you can ; then carefully (for now all the si?.« 
 is removed) lay them out flat separately upon linen to dry. , 
 
SUN PAINTING. 803' 
 
 Mode of Waxing the Negatives. — Melt the pure white wax over a lamp of moderate 
 heat, just merely to keep it in a liquid state ; then fill the same deep tray as above de-' 
 scribed with boiling water, and with another similar to the upper one before described 
 (which must be kept for this purpose only) ; put a clean piece of blotting-paper in this 
 tray, and lay your negative face downwards, and with a soft flat hog's hair-brush, about 
 an inch wide, dip it into the liquid wax, and brush the negative over, when it will be 
 immediately transparent, and it can be done so that there is very little redundant Wax, 
 after which it may be put between two or three thicknesses of blotting-paper and ironed, 
 if necessary, which should not be very hot, when it is ready to take positives from. 
 
 Positives on Negative Paper. — Take one part of the iodide of silver before described 
 and add two parts of water ; then add as much iodide of potassium as will redissolve it. 
 Brush your paper with the foregoing, let dry, put into water, and proceed in all re- 
 spects, as above described for the negatives. 
 
 Excite for positives. — Excite with No. 1; blot off; lay it in 'your press, place the 
 negative face downwards ; expose to the light from ten seconds to half a minute, or more 
 according to the light (not in the sun), and bring out with No. 3-; and when it is nearly 
 developed add No. 1 ; then take it up and pour water upon it, and then place it in 
 hyposulphite of soda (cold) until the iodide is removed ; after which put it into alum 
 water, about half a teaspoonful of powdered alum in two quarts of wafer ; this will 
 readily remove the hyposulphite, and also fix the positive more particularly ; it will 
 also take away any impurities which there may be in the paper, after which put it into 
 clean cold water, and change two or three times. 
 
 I have been thus particular in describing the process which I have adopted, more 
 especially for beginners ; and with great cleanliness and care in each process, and 
 especially in keeping all the bottles with the chemicals free frem dirt of every kind, 
 the foregoing will lead to favorable results. 
 
 Motive for washing the paper over with chloride of barium previous ,; iodizing. — In 
 the first place, I find that it appears to give strength to the paper. 
 
 Secondly, that the action in the camera is better and more certain. 
 
 Thirdly, it keeps cleaner in the bringing-out process, thereby allowing a longer time 
 for a more complete development. 
 
 Fourthly, I have never found any solarizing take place since I have used it (about 
 three years); and, fifthly, I find that it keeps 'longer and better after it is excited for 
 tiie camera. 
 
 From the observations which I have made since I have made use of chloride' of bari- 
 um, I conclude that it has the effect of destroying any injurious properties which may 
 be in the paper, and more especially with respect to the size; and besides which, when 
 combined with iodide of silver, greater intensity is obtained in the negative. 
 
 I have occasionally prepared paper without chloride of barium, but I have always 
 found (except for positives) that I could not rely upon it with the same degree of cer- 
 tainty. I need scarcely add that throughout the whole of this process the greatest care 
 and attention are required, and that the water should be constantly agitated while the 
 paper is in it, and that the water should be once changed. 
 
 Rationale of the action of the common soda and powdered alum, &c. — My motive for 
 using common soda to cleanse the negatives is, that it not only removes the hypo- 
 sulphite of soda more readily, but any impurities- which may be in the paper, as well 
 as the whole of the size, such being absolutely necessary for the after waxing process ; 
 which, when done, the negative should appear nearly as transparent as glass. 
 
 Tho reason why I prefer alum for the positives is, that while it has the effect of re- 
 moving the hyposulphite of soda and other impurities in the paper, it does not act 
 upon the size, which in this instance it is desirous to retain. 
 
 I have been induced to make a series of experiments, with a view to prevent the 
 fading of the_ positives, or, indeed, that any portion should be, as it were eaten away in 
 parts; and since I have adopted the foregoing, in no one instance has any change taken 
 place whatever. — Sir W. J. Newton. 
 
 Mr. Fenton, one of the most expert and successful heliographers, recommends for 
 paper to be used; the same day that it is excited, two grammes of common salt to be 
 added to the iodizing solution. This addition increased the rapidity of the formation 
 of the_ picture, but much lessened the time during which the paper could be kept in a 
 sensitive state uninjured. The solution for exciting the paper was the usual one of 30 
 grammes of nitrate of silver, and half a drachm of acetic acid to the ounce of water. 
 The paper on which the greater part of Mr. Fenton's negatives were taken was iodized 
 by the following preparation : — 
 
 Rice water - 1000 grammes. 
 
 Iodide of potassium - 30 
 
 Bromide of potassium - 3 
 
 Cyanide of potassium 2 
 
 Fluoride of potassium - - Ij 
 
804 SYRUP. 
 
 An even film of collodion may be obtained by the following means. Represent tht 
 plate of glass by the following figure : — 
 
 Hold the plate with the left hand at 1, pour a body of collodion in the centre, tilt 
 towards 1 (being careful not to let it touch the thumb), incline towards 2, run into S, 
 and pour off at 4. Then hold the plate vertically (resting the corner 4 on the neck ol 
 the collodion bottle) to drain ; incline it first to the right and then to the left, repeating 
 this several times until the ridges are removed. By these means an even film may be 
 produced without a thick ridge from 2 to 4. The time it may be left without plunging 
 into the silver bath will depend upon the temperature (about half a minute). Dip 
 evenly into the bath, lifting up and down to allow the evaporation of the ether; the 
 film will also saturate more rapidly. When the greasy appearance is gone, it is ready 
 for the camera. Sometimes the film is nearly transparent and bluish, not having suf- 
 ficient iodide of silver ; or it may contain too much iodide, the greater part flaking off 
 in the bath, leaving the collodion with very little, and that patchy ; or from being 
 placed in the bath too quick, the lower corner will present a reticulated appearance, 
 which of course renders it useless. 
 
 Having exposed the plate the necessary time, the next step is the development The 
 solution employed by some is prepared with protosulphatc of iron. The proportions 
 are, — 
 
 Water - - 2 oz. 
 
 Acetic acid (Beaufoy's) - - 1 drachm 
 
 Protosulphatc of iron - 8 grains 
 
 Nitric acid - - 2 drops. 
 
 Mix the water and acetic acid first; then dissolve the sulphate of iron, and, lastly, adu 
 the nitric acid, which, by varying the quantity, produces different effects. On pouring 
 the solution over the plate, there is sometimes a difficulty experienced in causing it to 
 flow evenly. Sometimes a little more acetic acid in the developing solution, or, if the 
 plate has been out of the bath for some time, redipping it, will prevent this ; but if this 
 does not remove it, and the resulting picture is hard and unpleasant in tone, anew bath 
 is necessary. For positives the resulting picture is more pleasing and delicate, by using 
 the developing agent rather weak. After it has remained on sufficiently long to bring 
 out the image, the undeeompounded iodide is to be removed by hyposulphate of soda. 
 
 SUSPENSION BRIDGES. Suspension bridges of iron were introduced about the 
 year 1741, at which date one of TO feet span was thrown over the river Tees. Sca- 
 mozzi, Del Idea Arehi, published 1615, conveys some notion of these structures; but 
 Bernouilli first explained their true principles. The Union bridge over the Tweed 449 
 feet span, constructed by Captain Sir S. Brown, in 1820, was the first large bar chain 
 bridge erected in Britain. The Newhaven and Brighton suspension piers were also 
 erected by the same engineer. The great bridge by Telford, across the Menai Straits, 
 is 5"70 feet span; it was commenced in May, 1819, and completed in December, 1825. 
 The Hammersmith bridge, 422 feet span, by Tierney Clark, was completed in 1824. 
 The Montrose bridge, by Rendel, 412 feet span, was erected in 1829 ; and the Hunger- 
 ford bridge over the Thames, 676J feet span, by Brunei, waB built in 1844. The wire- 
 rope bridge of Freiburg is 820 feet span. The road-ways of suspension bridges must 
 not merely be hung from the chains, but be rendered stiff, to resist the undulatory mo- 
 tion caused by the wind. See Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engi- 
 neers, Feb. 16, 1841, on this subject 
 
 SWEEP-WASHER, is the person who extracts from the sweeping, potsherds, &c, of 
 refineries of silver and gold, the small residuum of precious metal. 
 
 SYNTHESIS, is a Greek word, which signifies combination, and is applied to the 
 chemical action which unites dissimilar bodies into a uniform compound ; as sulphuric 
 acid and lime into gypsum ; or chlorine and sodium into culinary salt 
 
 SYRUP, is a solution of sugar in water. Cane-juice, concentrated to a density of 
 1-300, forms a syrup which does not ferment in the transport home from the West 
 Indies, and may be boiled and refined at one step into superior sugar-loaves, with emi- 
 nent advantage to the planter, the refiner, and the revenue. 
 
 Syrup, filtration of, through beds of bone black, has been prescribed as follows by 
 Messrs Greenwood and Parker. Suppose 5 filter beds, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, to be in action, 
 
TANNIN, PREPARATION OF. 805 
 
 of which No. 1 has been longest in use; No. 2 the next longest, and so on. As soon 
 as No. 1 has become too impure to be used any longer, it is thrown out of action, No. 2 
 becomes the first of the series, and No. 5 is brought into use as the last of the series, 
 The process of filtration goes on until No. 2 becomes too impure to be longer employed 
 it is then thrown out of action, and No. 3 becomes the first in the series; and No. 1 
 (which has been supplied with fresh filtering materials in the meanwhile) is brought 
 into use as the last of the series. The several filter beds are connected together by pipes 
 (provided with stopcocks), in such a manner that the filtered syrup will pass from the 
 lower part of No. 1 into the upper part of No. 2, and from the lower part of No. 2 
 into the upper part of No. 3, and so on. 
 
 TABBYING, or WATERING, is the process of giving stuffs a wavy appearance 
 with the calender. 
 
 TACAMAHAC is a resin obtained from the Fagura octandra, a tree which grows in 
 Mexico and the West Indies. It occurs in yellowish pieces, of a strong smell, and a 
 bitterish aromatic taste. That from the island of Madagascar has a greenish tint. 
 
 TAFFETA is a light silk fabric, with a considerable lustre or gloss. 
 
 TAFIA is a variety of rum. 
 
 TALC is a mineral genus, which is divided into two species, the common and the 
 indurated. The first occurs massive, disseminated in plates, imitative, or crystallized in 
 small six-sided tables. Il is splendent, pearly, or semi-metallic, translucent, flexible, but 
 not elastic. It yields to the nail ; spec. grav. 2-77. Before the blowpipe, it first whitens 
 and (hen fuses into an enamel globule. It consists of — silica, 62 ; magnesia, 27 ; alu- 
 mina, 1-5; oxyde of iron, 3-5; water, 6. Klaproth found %\, per cent, of potash in it. 
 It is found in beds of clay-slate and mica slate, in Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Perthshire, 
 Salzburg, the Tyrol, and St. Gothard. It is an ingredient in rouge for the toilette, com- 
 municating softness to the skin. It gives the flesh polish to soft alabaster figures, and is 
 also used in porcelain paste. 
 
 The second species, or talc-slate, has a greenish-gray color ; is massive, with tabular 
 fragments, translucent on the edges, soft, with a white streak ; easily cut or broken, but 
 is not flexible ; and has a greasy feel. It occurs in the same localities as the preceding. 
 It is employed in the porcelain and crayon manufactures ; as also as a crayon itself, by 
 carpenters, tailors, and glaziers. 
 
 TALLOW (Suif, Fr. ; Talg, Germ.) is the concrete fat of quadrupeds and man. 
 That of the ox consists of 76 parts of stearine, and 24 of oleine ; that of the sheep 
 contains somewhat more stearine. See Fat and Stearine. 
 
 Tallow imported into the United Kingdom, in 1836, 1,186,364 cwts. 1 qr. 4 lbs. ; in 
 1837, 1,308,734 cwts. 1 qr. 4 lbs. Retained for home consumption, in 1836, 1,318,678 
 cwts. 1 qr. 25 lbs. ; in 1837, 1,294,009 cwts. 2 qrs. 21 lbs. Duty received, in 1836, 
 £208,284; in 1837, £204,377. 
 
 TALLOW, PINEY. See Piney Tallow. 
 
 TAMPING is a term used by miners to express the filling up of the hole which they 
 have bored in a roek, for the purpose of blasting it with gunpowder. See Mines. 
 
 TAN, or TANNIC ACID. (Tannin, Fr. ; Gerbstoff, Germ,), See its preparation and 
 properties described under Galls. 
 
 The barks replete with this principle should be stripped with hatchets and bills, from 
 the trunk and branches of trees, not less than 30 years of age, in spring, when their sap 
 flows most freely. Trees are also sometimes barked in autumn, and left standing, whereby 
 they cease to vegetate, and perish ere long; but afford, it is thought, a more compact 
 timber. This operation is, however, too troublesome to be generally practised, and 
 .herefore the bark is commonly obtained from felled trees ; and it is richer in tannin 
 .he older they are. The bark mill is described in Gregory's Mechanics, and other similai 
 works. 
 
 TANNIN, PREPARATION OF. The substance from which tannin is most fre- 
 quently obtained is nutgalls, of which it constitutes about 40 per cent, of their weight. 
 It may be procured also from several other sources, such as oak, horse chestnut, sumach, 
 and cinchona barks, cateehu, kino, <Ste. Tannin obtained from these different sources, 
 however, differs materially in some of its characters. The tannin of nutgalls, which is 
 that generally employed for chemical purposes, is sometimes called gallo-tannic acid, to 
 distinguish it from the other species. According to Berzelius, nutgalls yield, besides 
 pure tannin, a small quantity of gallic acid, tannates of potash and of lime, modified 
 taanin in the state which is generally designated by the name extractive, and las W>. a 
 combination of tannin with, probably, pectic acid, which combination is insoluble in 
 oold water, and is met with particularly in the extract of oak bark. 
 
806 
 
 TANNIN, PREPARATION OF. 
 
 The following Table shows the quantity of extractive matter and tan in 100 parts of 
 the several substances : — 
 
 
 ■A 
 
 
 
 
 >i 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 
 " 3 
 
 Substances. 
 
 
 CD OD 
 
 s°* 
 
 Substances. 
 
 & 
 
 CO b 
 
 S«* 
 
 
 
 p°> 
 
 ^n 
 
 
 
 r« 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 %* 
 
 2 » 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 %z 
 
 ".S 
 
 
 ja 
 
 j3 
 
 -o 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 ~u 
 
 White inner bark of old oak 
 
 72 
 
 „ 
 
 21 
 
 Bark of Cherry-tree 
 
 _ 
 
 59 
 
 24 
 
 Do, young oak - - - 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 Do. Sallow - 
 
 — 
 
 59 
 
 
 Do. Spanish chestnut 
 
 m 
 
 30 
 
 
 Do. Poplar - 
 
 — 
 
 76 
 
 
 Do. Leicester willow 
 
 79 
 
 
 
 Do, Hazel - 
 
 — 
 
 79 
 
 ( - 
 
 Colored or middle bark of ) 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 Do. Ash - 
 
 
 '82 
 
 
 oak ) 
 
 
 
 Do. trunk of Span, chestnut 
 
 — 
 
 98 
 
 
 Do. Spanish chestnut 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 Do. Smooth oak - 
 
 — 
 
 104 
 
 
 Do. Leicester willow 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 Do. Oak, cut in spring 
 
 — 
 
 108 
 
 
 Entire bark of oak 
 
 29 
 
 
 
 Root of Tormentil - 
 
 — 
 
 
 46 
 
 Do. Spanish chestnut 
 
 21 
 
 
 
 Comus sanguinea of Canada 
 
 — 
 
 
 44 
 
 Do. Leicester willow 
 
 aa 
 
 109 
 
 
 Bark of Alder - 
 
 — 
 
 
 36 
 
 Do. Elm - 
 
 13 
 
 28 
 
 
 Do. Apricot - • 
 
 — 
 
 
 32 
 
 Do. Common willow • 
 
 ii 
 
 boughs, 31 
 
 
 Do. Pomegranate 
 
 — 
 
 • 
 
 32 
 
 Sicilian sumach - 
 
 78 
 
 158 
 
 
 Do. Cornish cherry-tree 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 19 
 
 Malaga sumach 
 
 79 
 
 
 
 Do. Weeping willow - 
 
 — 
 
 
 16 
 
 Souchong tea 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 Do. Bohemian olive - 
 
 — 
 
 
 14 
 
 Green tea - 
 
 41 
 
 
 
 Do. Tan shrub with myrtle ) 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 Bombay catechu - 
 
 261 
 
 
 
 leaves - - \ 
 
 
 
 Bengal catechu - 
 
 331 
 
 
 
 Do. Virginian sumach 
 
 „ 
 
 - 
 
 10 
 
 Nut-galls - 
 
 127 
 
 - 
 
 46 
 
 Do. Green oak - 
 
 — 
 
 
 10 
 
 Bark of oak, cut in winter - 
 
 — 
 
 30 
 
 
 Do. Service-tree - 
 
 — 
 
 
 8 
 
 Do. beech - - - - 
 
 — 
 
 31 
 
 
 Do. Rose chestnut of Amer. 
 
 — 
 
 
 8 
 
 Do. Elder - 
 
 — 
 
 41 
 
 
 Do. Rose chestnut 
 
 — 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 Do. Plum-tree - 
 
 — 
 
 58 
 
 
 Do. Rose chestnut of Caro- ) 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Bark of the trunk of willow - 
 
 — 
 
 52 
 
 
 lina \ 
 
 
 
 Do. Sycamore - 
 
 — 
 
 53 
 
 16 
 
 Do. Sumach of Carolina 
 
 — 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 Bark of Birch - 
 
 — 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > Tannin when in solution attracts oxygen from the atmosphere, and speedily under- 
 goes a change. Gallo-tannic acid is by this means conTerted into'gallic acid, water, and 
 carbonic acid; but it is probable that a change of a different nature takes place with 
 some of the other species of tannin, such as kino. 
 
 The following is the method proposed by Berzelius/or the purification of tannin with 
 sulphuric acid. 
 
 To a hot infusion of nutgalls in water, add a very small quantity of diluted sulphuric 
 acid, and well shake the mixture ; a floceulent coagnlum will be formed, containing 
 tannin and extractive, and which in separating carries with it any impurities present, in 
 the same mannner as in clarifying with white of eggs. Pass the fluid through a filter, 
 and now add sulphuric acid mixed with its own weight of water, in small quantities at 
 a time, until the precipitate, after standing for an hour, is found to form a semi-fluid 
 glutinous mass. As soon as this change is found to have been effected, decant the liquid, 
 and mix with care concentrated sulphuric acid until no further precipitate is formed ; 
 a yellowish white mass is thus obtained, which is a combination of sulphuric acid and 
 tannin, and is insoluble in acidulated water. This must be put on a filter ; washed with 
 water mixed with a good deal of sulphuric acid ; pressed between the filtering paper, 
 and afterward dissolved in pure water, with which it immediately forms a pale yellow 
 solution. To the solution thus obtained, carbonate of lead in very fine powder is to be 
 added in very small proportions, so as to saturate first the excess of acid, and after- 
 wards, by allowing it to macerate for a short time, that portion of acid combined with 
 the tannin. When the saturation is complete, the color will become of a more de- 
 cided yellow. The solution must now be filtered, and evaporated to dryness. The 
 evaporation ought to be conducted in vacuo. The hard mass thus obtained will con 
 sist of tannin with a portion of extractive formed by the access of the air. This mass 
 being powdered is to be digested with ether, at a temperature of 86° Fahr., until noth- 
 ing more is taken up by the menstruum ; the ether is then allowed to evaporate spon- 
 taneously, and the tannin remains in the form of a transparent mass, slightly yellow, 
 which does not change by contact with the air. That which remains undissolved* by 
 ,he ether is a brown extractive, not entirely soluble in water.. 
 
 Berzelius also gives the following process for the purification of tannin by means of 
 potash. 
 
 To a filtered infusion of nutgalls, add a concentrated solution of carbonate of potaBh, 
 so as to form a white precipitate; but too much potash must not be added, as the pre- 
 eipitate is soluble in excess of the alkali. The precipitate, placed on a filter, is to be 
 trashed with ice-cold water, and afterwards dissolved in diluted acetic acid, when sepa 
 
TANNIN, PREPARATION OF. 807 
 
 rates a brown extractive matter, formed by the action of the air during the previous 
 washing. Having filtered the solution, precipitate the tannin by means of acetate of 
 lead, wash the precipitate, and decompose it with hydro-sulphuric acid. The tannin 
 will now form a colorless solution with water, and may be obtained in hard scales on the 
 evaporation of the water in vacuo over potassa. Any extractive retained in this tannin 
 may be separated by dissolving it in ether, and allowing tho ether to evaporate sponta- 
 neously. 
 
 A French pharmacien has observed, that sulphuret of mercury has the property of 
 decolorizing tannin, acting in the same way as powdered charcoal does on some 
 substances. 
 
 Pelouze's process for the preparation of tannin is much more simple than either of the 
 foregoing; it is also more productive. It consists in treating nutgalls with ether, by the 
 process of percolation. A displacement apparatus of proper size being provided, the 
 galls in fine powder are introduced, so that, when slightly compressed, the apparatus 
 shall be one half filled ; sulphuric ether of commerce is now to be added, until the appa- 
 ratus is full ; the top of the apparatus should be partially closed, so as to prevent the 
 evaporation of the ether, while the access of air is admitted. Thus arranged, the 
 apparatus is allowed to remain for 24 hours, by which period there will be found in 
 the receiver two liquids, one floating on the surface of the other. The lighter of those 
 will be perfectly fluid, and but slightly colored, while that forming the denser stratum 
 will be thick and syrupy, and of a light amber color. More elber is to-i« passed 
 through the galls as long as the separation of the percolated liquor takes place. The 
 two fluids are now to be separated by means of a funnel. The heavier fluid, which 
 contains the tannin, is to be repeatedly washed with sulphuric ether, and, being put 
 into a porcelain capsule, is to be submitted to heat in a stove or other suitable apparatus. 
 The vapors of ether and of water will be disengaged; the substance contained in 
 the capsule will be considerably augmented in volume, and a spongy residue will be 
 left, having a brilliant crystalline appearance. This is sometimes colorless, but more 
 frequently of a light yellow color. 
 
 The light fluid which has been separated from the other may be distilled for the re- 
 covery of the ether, of which it principally consists. 
 
 When, in the above process, the nutgalls are perfectly dry, and pure anhydrous ether 
 is substituted for the ether of commerce, which contains about JL its weight of water, no 
 tannin is obtained ; and when, on the other hand, dry tannin is put into ether which has 
 been distilled from chloride of calcium, only a very small quantity is dissolved, the re- 
 mainder falling down in the form of powder ; although, if the ether of commerce be used, 
 a dense solution will be formed in a few minutes, which will separate to the bottom of 
 the vessel in the same manner as the solution obtained from the galls by displacement. 
 
 Pelouze infers from these facts, that of all the constituents of the nutgalls, the tannin 
 is that which has the strongest affinity for water, while it is best soluble in ether ; and on 
 this account it separates the water contained in the ether of commerce, together with a 
 small quantity of ether, forming with these the syrupy fluid alluded to. The gallic acid, 
 and some other constituents of the galls, are held in solution by the ether, so that the 
 tannin obtained by this process is very pure. 
 
 Pelouze made a great number of attempts to obtain tannin in the crystalline form; 
 but after using various solvents for this purpose, and experimenting with the greatest 
 care, his efforts proved unsuccessful. Examined by the microscope, tannin presents the 
 appearance of a perfectly homogeneous body. 
 
 To prepare tannin, take, as in the usual way, equal weights of nut galls and of ether. 
 Expose these two substances in a glass or stoneware vessel to a temperature of 15° or 
 20° C. ; after macerating for one month, the mixture having become a somewhat solid 
 paste, place it in a strong cloth, and submit it to pressure. The product obtained will 
 be of the consistence of molasses, very adhesive to the touch, and does not disengage any 
 portion of the ether which it contains at ordinary temperatures. If, having placed this 
 mixture in an open vessel, we expose it to the sun, or in a stove, at the end of some tima 
 we shall perceive the surface to become covered with efflorescence, whilst the rest of 
 the mass maintains the appearance of a thick honey-like fluid for more than six months. 
 
 To obviate this inconvenience, which retards the preparation of tannin, and affects its 
 purity, by the deposition of foreign bodies contained in the, atmosphere, it is necessary 
 to submit the mixture to the action of an elevated temperature of at least 120° C. This 
 temperature may be obtained in a very fixed manner, by means of a concentrated solution 
 of chloride of calcium. The choride of calcium thus forms an excellent salt water bath, 
 of very great service in many chemical preparations. 
 
 The apparatus most in use is composed, 1st, of an iron boiler, containing the 
 muriate of lime; 2d, of a flat-bottomed silver basin (one of copper will answer, if well 
 tinned), into which the tannin is to be placed. This latter is to be placed in the muriate 
 3f lime, which is to be raised to the boiling temperature. But to obtain a temperature 
 
808 TAPESTRY. 
 
 of 120° C. without burning the product, it is necessary to take some precautions which 
 will readily be foreseen. 
 
 Having arranged the apparatus with suitable precautions, and having cautiously se) 
 it in operation, the portion of the ether which preserves the tannin in the state of & 
 thick liquid will readily volatilize, and the inferior part of the mass touching the basin 
 will be converted into brilliant, nearly white, very light scales, forming a mass of greater 
 bulk than before. Meanwhile the upper portion remains colored and transparent^ 
 because it contains a larger quantity of the ether, which cannot be driven off, the heat 
 not penetrating with sufficient power to this part. It is in this state that we find the 
 tannin in commerce. But to render it white and light throughout the whole mass, it is 
 proper to cover the basin with a plate of copper, on which some red-hot coals are to be 
 placed; then the phenomenon indicated above will be perceived to take place, namely, 
 the part remaining colored and transparent will increase in bulk, and become changed 
 into very light white scales, as had happened in the portion touching the basin itself. 
 
 TANNING (Tanner, Fr. ; Garberei, Germ.) is the art of convertijg skin into Leather 
 which see. It has been ascertained, beyond a doubt, that " the saturated infusions of 
 astringent barks contain much less extractive matter, in proportion to their tannin, than 
 the weak infusions ; and when skin is quickly tanned (in the former), common expe- 
 rience shows that it produces leather less durable than leather slowly formed."* The 
 older tanners, who prided themselves on producing a substantial article, were so much 
 impressed with the advantages of slowly impregnating skin with astringent matter, that 
 they employed no concentrated infusion (ooze) in their pits, but stratified the skins with 
 abundance of ground bark, and covered them with soft water, knowing that its active 
 principles are very soluble, and that, by being gradually extracted, they would penetrate 
 uniformly the whole of the animal fibres, instead of acting chiefly up;,n the surface, and 
 making brittle leatheij, as the strong infusions never fail to do. In fact, 100 pounds of 
 skin, quickly tanned in a strong infusion of bark, produce 137 of leather ; while 100 
 pounds, slowly tanned in a weak infusion, produce only 117J. The additional 19J pounds 
 weight in the former case serve merely to swell the tanner's hill, while they deteriorate 
 his leather, and cause it to contain much less of the textile animal solid. Leather thus 
 highly charged with tannin is, moreover, so spongy as to allow moisture to pass readily 
 through its pores, to the great discomfort and danger of persons who wear shoes made 
 of it. That the saving of time, and the increase of product, are temptations strong 
 enough to induce many modern tanners to steep their skins in a succession of strong in- 
 fusions of bark, is sufficiently intelligible ; but that any shoemaker should he so ignorant 
 or so foolish as to proclaim that his leather is made by a process so injurious to its 
 quality, is unaccountably stupid. 
 TANTALUM is the rare metal, also called Columbiitm. 
 
 TAPESTRY is an ornamental figured textile fabric of worsted or silk, for lining the 
 walls of apartments ; of which the most famous is that of the Gobelins Royal Manufac- 
 .ory, near Paris. 
 
 TAPESTRY AND LACE. Some of the objects included in this class in the Exhi- 
 bition presented, from their remarkable disposition in the building, a highly attractive 
 and interesting appearance, suspended from the girders over the galleries, and thus dis- 
 played to the best advantage, and under circumstances the most highly calculated to 
 develop their peculiar beauties; the specimens of carpets, oil-cloths, and tapestry, 
 must be considered as having occupied a very prominent space in the Exhibition. 
 
 The following sub-classes had a place under the general classes, inclusive of these and 
 other articles : A, tapestry, as carpets of all kinds, Axminster, Brussels, Kidderminster, 
 <fec, matting, oil-cloth, counterpanes, and ornamental tapestry of different materials; B, 
 lace, as pillow-lace, made wholly by hand, and machine-wrought lace ; C, sewed and 
 tamboured muslins; D, embroidery by hand and machinery, and in different materials; 
 E, fringes, tassels, <fec; F, fancy and industrial works. 
 
 The manufacture of tapestry, such as carpets, oil-cloths, and lace, is localized in 
 peculiar districts, in a remarkable manner; Kidderminster, Wilton, Glasgow and 
 Halifax, contain extensive factories Bolely engaged in the production of the various 
 -descriptions of carpets in ordinary domestic use. The application of the power-loom to 
 the carpet manufacture is recent, and its use is extending. A great variety of combina- 
 tion of materials was exhibited, many of which indicated a remarkable departure from 
 the ordinary method of manufacturing carpets and similar objects. One of these was a 
 species of mosaic tapestry, where the cut wool was fixed to a ground or foundation of 
 caoutchouc. 
 
 The lace productions of Honiton and Buckinghamshire have long attained universal 
 renown. These laces are chiefly wrought by hand at the houses of the persons concerned 
 ',n their manufacture ; but recently a combination of machine-made lace and pillow-mad« 
 
 * Sir H. Dnvy, on the Operation of Astringent Vegetables in Tanning.— Phil. Tram. 1803. 
 
\AR (COAL). 806 
 
 ornament has been introduced, under the title of " appliquee lace." The machine lace 
 of Nottingham has scarcely an inferior degree of celebrity: in that town factories are 
 in almost constant work, producing by the aid of a large number of the most delicate 
 and costly automatic engines this splendid fabric. In a preceding class these machines 
 were described, and were exhibited in motion in another part of the building. In the 
 6outh central gallery were some beautiful specimens of the intricate and elegant orna- 
 mentation capable of being imparted by these machines. Of the lace made by hand 
 various interesting specimens were shown, which represented much patient effort in 
 the instruction of the poor in this art and considerable taste in design. 
 
 Few departments of ornamental industry have experienced so many vicissitudes, in 
 consequence of the introduction of mechanical power, as that of the lace manufacture. 
 Tho lace of Honiton in Devon has long rivalled the most beautiful and costly produc- 
 tions of the continent. At one period during the last war, veils of Honiton lace 
 sold for very large sums, as much as 100 guineas having been paid for fine specimens: 
 Honiton lace is entirely made on the pillow by hand labor. 
 
 The application of machinery to the production of lace is very remarkable and 
 interesting, as probably few introductions of machinery to textile manufactures pro- 
 duced so sudden an alteration on the expiration of the patent protecting it, in the or- 
 dinary course of fabrication. The bobbin-net machine was invented in 1809; it 
 came into general use in)' 1823, and an immense stimulus was communicated to the 
 manufacture. The power of production of this machine are to hand labor nearly as 
 80,000 to 5, and the lacs' production by it has, in plain articles, wholly superseded that 
 made by hand. See Bobbinet. , 
 
 TAPIOCA, is a modification of starch, partially converted into gum, by heating and 
 stirring cassava upon iron plates. See Cassava and Stakch. 
 
 TAB, of wood (Goudfon. • Fr. ; Titer, Germ.); is the viscid, brown-black, resin o-oleagi- 
 nous compound, obtained by distilling wood in close vessels, or in ovens of a peculiar con- 
 struction. See Chabcoal, Pitcoal, coking of, and Pyeolignous Acid. According to 
 Reichenbach, tar contains the peculiar proximate principles, parajjine, eupion, creosote, 
 picamar, pittacall, besides pyrogenous resin, or pyretine, pryogenous oil, or pyroleine, and 
 vinegar. The resin/ oil, and vinegar are called empyreumatic, in common language. 
 
 TAR (COAL). There is not perhaps any waste article of our manufacturing indus- 
 try which has beeij so singularly neglected as coal-tar, and yet there can be but very 
 few which offer anytfting like so fair a field of remuneration for the exercise of skill 
 and ingenuity. Tojbegin: the article has hitherto been, and still in great measure con- 
 tinues, entirely valueless; it has in fact only a nominal price in the market, as is evi- 
 denced by the circumstance that it is consumed as fuel at many of our large metropoli- 
 tan gas works, and at others is sold as low as at the rate of one penny for 5 gallons. 
 This latter is however far from its real value even as fuel, for it has been found in prac- 
 tice that the average heating power of tar, as compared with coke, upon a long series 
 of workings, is as more than two to one, or in other words that a gallon of tar weigh- 
 ing about 10J lbs. affords as much heat as half a bushel or 22 lbs. of coke, and this too 
 although the tar contains about one pound of water entangled in its substance or chemi- 
 cally combined, so as not to be separable by long standing. As we have before said, 
 the tar thus adulterated with water is still equal to more than double its weight of good 
 coke as a heating agent, when tested upon a large working scale for many months in 
 succession. This fact ought to convince us, if any doubt yet remains, of the folly and ig- 
 norance of those persons who assert that the value of coal as a calorific substance de- 
 pends solely upon the amount of carbon or coke which it contains, and is in no way 
 proportioned to or affected by the quantity of its tarry or volatile products. The truth 
 would appear to be, that where a coal affords by distillation 30 per cent, of these tarry 
 products, its heating power is exactly double of that which the residuary carbon or coke 
 is able to produce; and this proportion of volatile to fixed matter is just about the ratio 
 existing in most bituminous coals, so that, as a general rule, the advocates of the above 
 hypothesis are wrong to the extent of one half. The high heating power of coal-tar 
 ought to induce the managers of gas works either to use it themselves, or, where this 
 cannot be done, to vend it at a price proportioned to its value in coke ; thus, presuming 
 a bushel of coke to be worth id., then a gallon of tar as fuel would be worth 2d. ; 
 whereas, as we have seen, this tar has been sold as low as 6 gallons for one penny, a 
 most convincing proof of the expensive nature of ignorance in some situations. The 
 arrangements now in use at the Equitable Gas Works, Pimlico, are the best we have 
 seen, so far as regards the heating of gas retorts. 
 
 The consumption of tar as fuel is, however, after all, but a barbarous misapplication of 
 ingenuity, and far beneath the intelligence of the age. This substance, when properly 
 distilled, is capable of yielding naphtha, a fixed oil, and pitch, the two former of which 
 are vastly more valuable than tar. The relative proportion of these products is, however, 
 very '-amble according to the kind and quality of the tar employed. Thus tar from 
 
810 TARTAR. 
 
 the condenser is more valuable for its products than the tar of the same coal takes 
 from the hydraulic main, and again cannel coal tar is always superior to common coal 
 tar. In general we may estimate the available amount of the volatile and fixed mat 
 ters of coal somewhat in the following order. 
 
 
 Naplulia. 
 
 Dead oil. 
 
 Pitch 
 
 Common coal tar 
 
 3 
 
 62 
 
 35 
 
 Ordinary cannel tar 
 
 9 
 
 60 ' 
 
 31 
 
 Boghead cannel tar 
 
 15 
 
 67 
 
 18 
 
 Of these the naphtha is in large demand for the solution of caoutchouc, the lighting 
 of lamps, and other purposes. The dead oil contains paraffine, and is an excellent 
 lubricator for machinery : the uses of pitch need not be enumerated. At the presenl 
 time this kind of naphtha reaches about Is. Gd. per gallon, and the dead oil from 3d. tc 
 9(£ pel gallon, so that a more profitable form of manufacture can scarcely be desired. 
 The mode of working up these substances from the crude tar is by no means either 
 difficult or expensive. In the first instance the oil is run into a vessel like a common 
 steam boiler, and to which a common condenser or worm is connected; fire is then 
 applied, and the process of distillation carried on till all the naphtha has passed over 
 which is known by the cessation of the fluid flowing from the worm ; after this the 
 heat is raised considerably, and another receiver applied, when a less volatile fluid 
 makes its appearance, which is the dead oil, and which continues to flow until smoke 
 issues from the worm, when the operation is finished by running the pitch out of the 
 boiler, so as to be ready for another operation. The naphtha is now to be mixed with 
 about 10 per cent by bulk of concentrated sulphuric acid, and when the mixture ie 
 cool, peroxide of manganese should bestirred in to the extent of half the weight of the 
 sulphuric acid previously employed, after which the naphtha must be decanted off and 
 re-distilled with care, so as to become colorless, and of a specific gravity of about -850. 
 The dead oil is commonly sent into the market in its crude state, but this is a practice 
 to be condemned. The best way is to treat it in the same manner as the naphtha with 
 sulphuric aeid, and peroxide of manganese, after which it should be boiled with a por- 
 tion of caustic soda lye, and when the oil has risen to the surface by standing, it should 
 be decanted carefully and distilled gradually, first rejecting the watery portions which 
 rise in the beginning of the operation. 
 
 When Boghead cannel coal has been used for the production of the tar, the dead oil 
 then obtained contains a portion of paraffine, which crystallizes in the dead oil tem- 
 perature below 50° Fahr. In this state it may be collected by filtration, and pu- 
 rified from adhering oil by pressure, when it may be boiled with about 8 per cent, of 
 its weight of highly concentrated oil of vitriol, which clears and destroys its impuri- 
 ties. The paraffine is next to be boiled in water, and suffered to cool slowly, so as to 
 deposit the charred matters, and this may be repeated once or twice, when it is pure 
 and marketable. 
 
 Tar imported into the United Kingdom, in 1850, 12,097 lasts; in 1851, 15,780 lastB. 
 
 TARPAULIN (from Tar) ; canvas imbued with tar, used to cover over the hatch- 
 ways of a 6hip to prevent rain or sea water from entering the hold 
 
 TARRAS ; see Cement, ana Moetak, hydraulic. 
 
 TARTAR (Tarlre, Fr. ; Weinstein, Germ.), called also argal or argol, is the crude 
 faitartrate of potassa, which exists in the juice of the grape, and is deposited from wines 
 in their fermenting casks, being precipitated in proportion as the alcohol is formed, in 
 consequence of its insolubility in that liquid. There are two sorts of argal known in 
 commerce, the white, and the red ; the former, which is of a pale-pinkish color, is the 
 crust let fall by white wines ; the latter is a dark-red, from red wines. 
 
 The crude tartar is purified, or converted into cream of tartar, at Montpellier, by the 
 following process : — 
 
 The argal having been ground under vertical mill-stones, and sifted, one part of it is 
 Doiled with 15 of water, in conical copper kettles, tinned on the inside. As soon as it is 
 dissolved, 3j parts of ground pipe-clay are introduced. The solution being well stirred, 
 and then settled, is drawn off into crystallizing vessels, to cool ; the crystals found con- 
 creted on the sides and bottom are picked out, washed with water, and dried. The 
 mother water is employed upon a fresh portion of argal. The crystals of the first crop 
 are re-dissolved, re-crystallized, and exposed upon stretched canvass to the sun and air, 
 to be bleached. The clay serves to abstract the colouag matter. The crystals formed 
 upon the surface are the whitest, whence the name cream of tartar is derived. 
 
 Purified tartar, the bitartrate of potassa, is thus obtained in hard clusters of small col- 
 orless crystals, which, examined by a lens, are seen to be transparent 4-sided prisms. It 
 has no smell, but a feebly acid taste ; is unchangeable in the air, has a specific gravity 
 of 1-953, dissolves in 16 parts of boiling water, and in 200 parts at 60° P. It is insolu 
 ble in alcohol. It consists of 24-956 potassa, 70-276 tartaric acid, and 4-768 water. 1* 
 
TARTARIC ACID. 811 
 
 affords, by dry distillation, pyrotartnric acid, and an empyreumatic oil; while caibonata 
 of potassa remains associated with much charcoal in the retort constituting black flux. 
 Tartar is used in dyeing, medicine, and for extracting. 
 
 TARTARIC ACID. (Jidda tartarique, Fr. ; Weinsteinsiiure, Germ.) This is pre- 
 pared by adding gradually to a boiling-hot solution of 100 parts of tartar, in a large 
 copper boiler, 26 of chalk, made into a smooth pap with water. A brisk effervescence 
 ensues, by the disengagement of the carbonic acid of the chalk, while its base combines 
 with the acid excess in the tartar, and forms an insoluble precipitate of tartrate of lime. 
 The supernatant liquor, which is a solution of neutral tartrate of potassa, must be 
 drawn off by a syphon, and decomposed by a solution of chloride of calcium (muriate 
 of lime.) 28| parts of the dry chloride are sufficient for 100 of tartar. The tartrate 
 of lime, from both processes, is to be washed with water, drained, and then subjected, in 
 a leaden cistern, to the action of 49 parts of sulphuric acid, previously diluted with 8 
 times its weight of water ; 100 of dry tartrate take 75 of oil of vitriol. This mixture, 
 after digestion for a few days, is converted into sulphate of lime and tartaric acid. The 
 latter is to be separated from the former by decantation, filtration through canvass, am) 
 ed ulceration of the sulphate of lime upon the filter. 
 
 The clear acid is to be concentrated in leaden pans, by a moderate heat, till it acquires 
 the density of 40° B. (spec grav. l - 38), and then it is run off, clear from any sediment, 
 into leaden or stoneware vessels, which are set in a dry stove-room for it to crystallize, 
 The crystals, being re-dissolved and re-crystallized, become colorless 6-sided prisms 
 In decomposing the tartrate of lime, a very slight excess of sulphuric acid must be em 
 ployed ; because pure tartaric acid would dissolve any tartrate of lime that may escape de 
 composition. Bone black, previously freed from its carbonate and phosphate of lime, by 
 muriatic acid, is sometimes employed to blanch the colored solutions of the first crystals 
 Tartaric acid contains nearly 9 per cent, of combined water. It is soluble in two parts 
 of water at 60°, and in its own weight of boiling water. In its dry state, as it exists u 
 the tartrate of lime or lead, it consists of 36-8 of carbon, 3 of hydrogen, and 60 - 2 of oxy 
 gen. It is much emploved in calico-printing, and for making sodaic powders. 
 
 In consequence of the great variation in the constituents of argol or rough tartar, the 
 manufacture of tartaric acid is not nearly so simple as a first glance at its several processes 
 might lead an inexperienced individual to suppose. The theory of preparing tartaric 
 acid seems, indued, a remarkably easy affair ; and, provided the materials operated upon 
 were pure or of uniform quality, no kind of manufacture could put on less the appear- 
 ance of risk or speculation. But too many know, to their cost, with what ready facility 
 the whole profit, and something more, of a large operation, will occasionally ooze off 
 through a 'variety of unknown channels, and present a sadly defective and truncated 
 return of saleable produce. In fact, money is not unfrequently lost in this manufacture 
 by very old and experienced makers. The differences in argol arise from the greater 
 or smaller amount of tartrate of lime combined with the bitartrate of potash ; these 
 differences will, in a commercial way, amount to from 5 to 25 or even 30 per cent. ; and 
 herein resides a difficulty, requiring more analytical skill and chemical knowledge than 
 is commonly found amongst practical manufacturers. We will suppose that an argol 
 has been purchased, containing by analysis 70 per cent, of bitartrate of potash, but also, 
 though unknown to the purchaser, containing 20 per cent, of tartrate of lime. Accord- 
 ing to the process followed, this argol would be dosed with a definite proportion of chalk 
 or carbonate of lime, so as to produce tartrate of lime with the extra tartaric acid of the 
 supertartrate of potash. This tartrate of lime, being insoluble, would fall and mingle 
 with the 20 per cent, already existing; but as in practice the quantity of sulphuric acid 
 employed for subsequent decomposition of this tartrate of lime is proportioned to the 
 amount of chalk originally employed, it follows that the tartrate of lime naturally present 
 in the argol is left undecomposed, and comes to be regarded as sulphate of lime, to the 
 great loss of the manufacturer, who probably finds his more intelligent neighbor able 
 to buy as he buys, and yet capable of underselling him in the open market. To 
 illustrate the full bearing of this and other interesting points in the fabrication of tartaric 
 acid, it will be better to enter into a condensed description of the whole process, taken on 
 the assumption that pure bitartrate of potash is the raw material to be used in the 
 manufacture. Having weighed out a given proportion of this substance, it is to be 
 thrown into a leaden boiler, provided with a stirring apparatus, and the whole has some- 
 times a closely fitting cover provided with a pipe for carrying off and utilizing the car- 
 bonic acid gas generated, as we shall see, during the first operation. The bitartrate of 
 potash having been introduced into this vessel, water is then added, and a quantity of 
 dried chalk, in the ratio of about one part of dry chalk to four of bitartrate of potash, 
 put in by degrees. After boiling and stirring for some time, the effervescence due to 
 the carbonic acid, arising from the decomposition of the chalk, ceases; and then the 
 tartrate of lime is to be allowed to subside, that the clear solution of tartrate of potash 
 may be tested with litmus, to demonstrate the non-existence of bitartrate of potash in 
 
812 TEA. 
 
 the fluid. This being satisfactory, a quantity of finely powdered sulphate of lime is now 
 thrown in, equal to one and three quarter times the weight of the dried chalk first 
 employed, or rather better than Sths of the bitartrate of potash. This mixture must be 
 boiled for a considerable time, and assiduously stirred until a little of the clear liquor, 
 when hot, affords no precipitate on the addition of a strong solution of nitrate of lime. 
 Thedecomposition is now complete, and the whole of the tartaric acid will be found 
 united to the lime as an insoluble powder (tartrate of lime) ; whilst the potash, in the 
 state of sulphate, exists in solution, and may be procured by evaporating the clear liquor. 
 After the insoluble tartrate of lime has been two or three times washed with warm water, 
 it is to be decomposed by a slight excess of diluted sulphuric acid, made by mixing 
 together oil of vitriol, equal to 2§ times the weight of the chalk used, with 10 times its 
 bulk of water. In this way sulphate of lime is formed, which is set aside for a subse- 
 quent operation, leaving the tartaric acid with a trifling excess of sulphuric acid in the 
 clear solution. This solution, when crude tartar has been employed, has generally a 
 brown or reddish-yellow color, and requires to be digested for some hours upon 
 animal charcoal, to purify and bleach it. When this is effected, it is carefully evaporated 
 on a water bath, or by steam heat, and, after proper concentration, run out into large 
 cylindrical leaden coolers to crystallize. A second solution, digestion on animal char- 
 coal, and reerystallization, are generally needed to render the acid white enough for the 
 market From the above, it will be seen that unless the manufacturer is not only aware 
 of the surplus tartrate of lime present in the rough tartar he buys, but has also a toler- 
 ably correct idea of its quantity, he runs a risk, almost amounting to a certainty, of 
 leaving undecomposed tartrate of lime in his sulphate of lime; and as this latter is in 
 great part a waste product, the two pass away from the works under one name, as mere 
 refuse. But there is also an important consideration connected with the evaporation of 
 solutions of tartaric acid. This is generally, and indeed we might say invariably, done 
 in contact with atmospheric air, the solution meanwhile containing a perceptible excess 
 of sulphuric acid; but, under such treatment, tartaric acid nndergoes decomposition 
 almost as readily as sugar ; and therefore, like sugar, it ought to be operated upon in 
 vacua, or, at least, in a vessel similar to a vacuum pan, but lined with lead, to prevent 
 cupreous contamination. In this way, and by knowing the exact composition of the 
 rough tartar used in every instance, the greatest certainty might ultimately be secured 
 in this delicate manufacture, instead of the conflicting and paradoxical results which 
 now annoy, and too frequently dishearten, the practical operator. 
 
 TARTRATES, are salts composed of tartaric aeid, and oxidized bases, in equivalent 
 proportions. 
 
 TAWING, is the process of preparing the white skins of the sheep doe, &e. See 
 Leather. 
 
 TEA. This well-known plant has recently acquired peculiar interest among men 
 of science, both in a chemical and physiological point of view. In its composition it ap- 
 proaches by the quantity of azote it contains to animalized matter, and it seems thereby 
 qualified, according to Liebig, to exercise an extraordinary action on some of the fun* 
 tions of animals, especially the secretion of bile. The chemical principle characteristic 
 of tea, coffee, and cocoa-beans, is one and the same when equally purified, from which- 
 ever of these substances it is extracted; and is called indifferently either theine or 
 caffeine. Mulder takes it from tea, by treating the evaporated extract by hot water, 
 with calcined magnesia, filtering the mixture, evaporating to dryness the liquor whici 
 passes through, and digesting the residuum in ether. This solution being distilled, 
 tHe ether passes over, and the theine remains in the retort. This principle is extracted 
 in t--e same way from ground raw coffee and from guarana, a preparation of the 
 seeds cf pat^„ima, highly valued by the Brazilians. Theine,when pure, crystallizes 
 in fine glossy needles, like white silk, which lose, at the heat of boiling water, 8 per 
 :ent. of their weight, constituting its two atoms of water of crystallization. These 
 needles are bitter tasted. They melt at 350° F., and sublime at 543° without decom- 
 posing. The crystals dried at 250° dissolve in 98 parts of cold water, 97 of alcohol, 
 and 194 parts of ether. In their ordinary state, they are but little more soluble 
 in these menstrua. Theine is a feeble base, and is precipitable by tannin alone from 
 its solution. 
 
 Mr. Stenhouse prepares theine by precipitating a decoction of tea with solution of 
 acetate of ead, evaporating the filtered liquor to a dry extract, and exposing this 
 extract to a subliming heat in a shallow iron pan, whose mouth is covered flatly with 
 porous paper luted round the edges, as a filter to the vapor, and surmounted with a 
 cap of compact paper, as a receiver to the crystals. In this way he obtained, at a 
 maximum, only 1-37 from 100-00 of tea. But M. Peligot, from the quantity of 
 azote amounting to about 6 per cent., which he found in the tea leaves, being led to 
 believe that much more theine existed in them than had hitherto been obtained, adopted 
 the following improved process of extraction. To the hot infusion of tea, subacetatt 
 
- 0-79 
 
 0-60 
 
 2-22 
 
 1-84 
 
 0-28 
 
 
 - 2-22 
 
 3-64 
 
 - 8-56 
 
 7-28 
 
 17-80 
 
 12-88 
 
 0-43* 
 
 0-46 
 
 - 22-80 
 
 19-88 
 
 - — 
 
 1-48 
 
 - 23-60 
 
 19-12 
 
 - 3-00 
 
 2.80 
 
 - 17-08 
 
 28-32 
 
 5-56 
 
 5-24 
 
 TEA. 813 
 
 of load and then ammonia were added ; through the filtered liquor a current of sul- 
 phuretted hydrogen was passed to throw down all the lead, and the clear liquid being 
 evaporated at a gentle heat afforded, on cooling, an abundant crop of crystals. By re 
 evaporation of the mother liquor, more crystals were procured, amounting altogether 
 to from 5 to 6 out of 100 of tea. 
 
 The composition of theine may be represented by the chemical formula, C a , H 3 , N2, 
 02 ; whence it appears to contain no less than 29 per cent, of nitrogen or azote. 
 
 Pefegot found, on an average, in 100 parts of — 
 
 Farts soluble in boiling Wate 
 
 Dried black teas - - - 43-2 
 
 green teas - • 47-1 
 
 Black teas, as sold .... 38-4 
 
 Green teas, ditto - - - - - - 43-4 
 
 Tea, by Mulder's general analysis, has a very complex constitution; 100 parts 
 Contain — 
 
 Green. Black. 
 
 Essential oil (to which the flavor is due) - 
 Chlorophyle (leaf-green matter) - 
 
 Wax 
 
 Eesin - 
 
 Gum ..... 
 
 Tannin - - 
 
 Theine .... 
 
 Extractive matter - 
 
 Do. dark-colored - 
 Colorable matter separable by muriatic acid 
 Albumine ------ 
 
 Vegetable fibre - - - 
 
 Ashes - 
 
 Since the proportion of azote in theine and caffeine is so much greater than even in 
 any animal compound, urea and uric acid excepted, and since so many different nations 
 have been, as it were, instinctively led to the extensive use of tea, coffee, and chocolate 
 or cocoa, as articles of food and enlivening beverage, which agree in no feature oi 
 property, but in the possession of one peculiar chemical principle, we must conclude 
 that the constitution of these vegetable products is no random freak of nature, but that 
 it has been ordained by Divine Wisdom for performing beneficial effects on the human 
 race. Hitherto, indeed, medicine, a conjectural art, exercised too much by men super- 
 ficially skilled in the science of nature, and the slaves or abettors of baseless hypotheses, 
 has laid tea and coifee generally under its ban, equally infallible with the multitude, 
 as that of the pope in the olden time, and has denounced their use, as causing a variety 
 of nervous and other nosological maladies. But chemistry, advancing with her un- 
 quenchable torch into the darkest domains of nature, has now unveiled the mystery 
 and displayed those elemental transformations of the organic functions in the human 
 body, to which tea and coffee contribute a salutary and powerful aid. 
 
 Liebig, in his admirable researches into the kingdoms of life, has been led to infei 
 that the bile is one of the products resulting from the decomposition of the animal 
 tissues, and that our animal food may be resolved by the action of oxygen, so amply 
 applied to the lungs in respiration, into bile and urea, the characteristic constituent of 
 urine. 
 
 When the consumption of tissue in man is small, as among mankind in the artificial 
 state of life, with little exercise and consequantly languid digestion, assimilation, and 
 decomposition, the constant use of substances rich in azotized compounds, closely anal- 
 ogous to the chief principle of the bile, must assist powerfully in the production of this 
 secretion, so essential to the healthy action of the bowels and other organs. Liebig 
 has fully proved that the bile is not an excrementitious fluid, merely to be rejected, aj 
 a prejudicial inmate of the system, but that it deserves, after secretion, some important 
 purposs in the animal economy, being, in particular, subservient to respiration. 
 
 I shall conclude these remarks, perhaps more appropriate- to " work on chemistrj 
 than to the present, by stating the relation between theine and the animal product tav, 
 rine, the characteristic constituent of bile. 
 
 One atom of theine - = C 8 , Na, H 5 , 2 ) Two atoms of taurine. 
 Nine atoms of water = H 9 , O9 > = Cg, N 2 , Hu, Oa>. 
 
 Nine atoms of oxygen - = 9 ) 
 
 * lliis constituent is obviously much underrated. 
 
814 TEA. 
 
 The letters C, H", H, 0, denote carbon, nitrogen or azote, hydrogen, and oxygen ; and 
 the figures attached to each, the number of atoms ; one atom of carbon being 6, one of 
 azote 14, one of hydrogen 1, and one of oxygen 8; from ■which the composition of 
 the bodies, theine and taurine, may be easily computed for 100 parts. Now, supposing 
 one tenth of the bile to consist of solid matter, and this solid matter to be choleic acid 
 (resolvable into taurine but different from it), which contains 3'87 of nitrogen, then 
 2.8 grains of theine would afford to 480 grains of bile (supposed solid, or 4,800 grains 
 in its ordinary state) all the nitrogen required for the constitution of taurine, its peculiar 
 crystalline principle. 
 
 " The quantity of tea grown and consumed in China can not be ascertained, but ths 
 consumption of Europe and America may be taken as follows : — 
 
 Russia - - - 6,500,000 lbs. 
 
 United States of America - 8,000,000 
 
 France - - 2,000,000 
 
 Holland 2,800,000 
 
 Other countries - - 2,000,000 
 
 Great Britain - - 50,000,000 
 
 71,300,000 lbs. or 31,830 tons. 
 
 "The number of tea-dealers in the year 1839 was, in England, 82,794; in Scotland, 
 13,61 1 ; and in Ireland, 12,744 ; making a total of 109,179. It is presumed that in con- 
 sequence of the increased population their number at present must exceed 120,000. 
 
 " The observations of Liebig afford a satisfactory explanation of the cause of the 
 great partiality of the poor not only for tea, but for tea of an expensive and superior 
 kind. He says, ' We shall never certainly be able to discover how men were first led 
 to the use of the hot infusion of the leaves of a certain shrub (tea), or of a decoction 
 of certain roasted seeds (coffee). Some cause there must be, which will explain how 
 the practice has become a necessary of life to all nations. But it is still more remark- 
 able, that the beneficial effects of both plants on the health must be ascribed to one and 
 th€ same substance (theine or caffeine, the presence of which in two vegetables, belong- 
 ing to natural families, the products of different quarters of the globe, could hardly have 
 presented itself to the boldest imagination. Yet recent researches 'have shown, in such 
 a manner as to exclude all doubt, that theine and caffeine are in all respects identical.' 
 And he adds, that ' we may consider these vegetable compounds, so remarkable for 
 their action on the brain, and the substance of the organs of motion, as elements of 
 food for organs as yet unknown, which are destined to convert the blood into nervous 
 substance, and thus recruit the energy of the moving and thinking faculties.' Such 
 a discovery gives great importance to tea and coffee, in a physiological and medical 
 point of view. 
 
 " At a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, in Paris, lately held, M. Peligot read a 
 paper on the chemical combinations of tea. He stated that tea contained essential 
 principles of nutrition, far exceeding in importance its stimulating properties ; and 
 showed that tea is, in every respect, one of the most desirable articles of general use, 
 One of his experiments on the nutritious qualities of tea, as compared with tnose ol 
 soup, was decidedly in favor of the former. 
 
 " Coffee is grown in Brazil, Cuba, Hayti, Java, British West Indies, Dutch Guiana, 
 states of South America, French West India colonies, Porto Rico, Sumatra, Ceylon, 
 Bourbon, Manilla, and Mocha. Brazil produces the largest quantity, 72,000,000 
 pounds weight ; and the other states and colonies according to the order in which they 
 are enumerated, down to Mocha, which produces the least, or 1,000,000 pounds ; ma- 
 king a total of 346,000,000 pounds, equal to the consumption of the enormous quantity 
 of 2,900 tons weekly, or 150,800 tons per annum. 
 
 " From the official returns, the quantities of coffee exported in one year from the 
 different places of production were 154,550 tons : — 
 
 
 TONS. 
 
 
 
 TONS. 
 
 To France 
 
 - 29,650 
 
 Denmark 
 
 . 
 
 - 1,400 
 
 U. S. of America 
 
 46,070 
 
 Spain 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 Trieste 
 
 9,000 
 
 Prussia 
 
 . 
 
 930 
 
 Hamburg 
 
 20,620 
 
 Naples and Sicily 
 
 - 
 
 - 640 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 10,000 
 
 Venice 
 
 
 - 320 
 
 Amsterdam 
 
 - 8,530 
 
 Fiume - 
 
 - 
 
 170 
 
 Bremen 
 
 4,500 
 
 Great Britain (average 
 
 of 10 j 
 
 'rs) 18,250 
 
 St. Petersburg - 
 
 - 2,000 
 
 
 
 
 Norway and Sweden - 
 
 - 1,470 
 
 
 
 154,550 
 
 '•' Every reflecting man will admit, that articles of such vast consumption as tea anc" 
 
TEA. §15 
 
 coffee (amounting together to more than 185,000 tons annually), forming the chief 
 liquid lood for a whole nation, must exercise a great influence upon the health of the 
 people, and that any discovery that tends to the purification of these alimentary drinks, 
 rendering them more wholesome, without rendering them less agreeable, is a great boon 
 conferred upon society. ° 
 
 TEA, COMPOSITION OF. The most remarkable products that have been indi- 
 cated in tea are,— 1st, tannin; 2nd, an essential oil, to which itowesits aroma, and 
 which has great influence on its commercial value ; 8rd, a crystalline substance, very 
 rich in mtrogen, theine, which is also met with in coffee (whence it is frequently termed 
 catteine),and which lshkewisefound in Guarana a remedy highly valued by the Brazilians. 
 
 .Besides these three, M. Mulder extracted from tea eleven other substances, which are 
 usually met with in all leaves. The same chemist found, in the various kinds of tea 
 trom China and Java, a little less than a half per cent, of the weight of theine. Dr. 
 btenhouse, in a recent investigation, obtained from 1-37 to 0-98 theine from 100 parts 
 of tea. * 
 
 An accurate knowledge of the amount of the nitrogenous principles contained in tea 
 being of the utmost importance, he first determined the total amount of nitrogen con- 
 tained in the leaf, m order thus to have a safe guide when subsequently isolating the 
 substances between which this nitrogen is distributed. 
 
 On determining the nitrogen by M. Dumas's process, he obtained the following 
 numbers: — B 
 
 Nitrogen in 100 parts, 
 ■n ■, . tea dried at 230°. 
 
 Jrekoe tea . . g.gg 
 
 Gunpowder tea - 6-16 
 
 Souchong tea ... g.15 
 
 Assam tea ... . j.jq 
 
 This amount of nitrogen is far more considerable than has been detected in any veg- 
 etable hitherto analysed. These first experiments prove, therefore, the existence of from 
 20 to 80 per cent, of nitrogenous substances in tea, while former analyses scarcely carry 
 the proportion to more than three or four hundredths. He sought for these substances 
 successively in the products of the leaf soluble in boiling water, in those which do not 
 dissolve in water, and in each of the substances which might be separated either from 
 the infusion or from the exhausted leaf. 
 
 He first determined the proportion of soluble products which boiling water extracts 
 from tea, and operated upon 27 kinds of tea, taking into 'consideration the water al- 
 ready contained in the leaf, either from its desiccation in China not having been com- 
 plete, or from having absorbed during or after its transport a certain quantity of at- 
 mospheric water. He found that the green teas contain, on an average, 10, the black 
 teas 8 per cent, of water. 
 
 The proportion of products soluble in hot water varies considerably, and depends 
 chiefly upon the age of the leaf, which is younger, and consequently less liqueous in 
 the green than in the black tea. On an average he found in 100 parts of 
 
 Parts soluble in 
 t, , , , . boiling water. 
 
 Dry black teas 43-2 
 
 Dry green teas - - - 47 -j 
 
 Black teas in their commercial state - 38'4 
 
 Green teas do do 43-4 
 
 When an infusion of tea is evaporated to dryness, a chocolate brown residue remains 
 which, when derived from green gunpowder, contains 4'85 per cent, nitrogen ■ if from 
 black souchong, 4'70 per cent, nitrogen. 
 
 These considerable quantities of nitrogen, do they belong to several principles con- 
 tained in the infusion, or solely to the theine, which is the only nitrogenous substance 
 hitherto noticed in it? He first endeavored to solve this question : as the quantitative 
 determination of theine is a difficult operation from its being soluble in water alcohol 
 and ether, and not being precipitated by any reagent with the. exception of tannin he 
 first ascertained whether the other substances which might be separated from the in- 
 fusion contained any nitrogen. 
 
 The subacetate of leadthows down about half the soluble constituents contained in 
 tins infusion. The precipitate, which is of a more or less dark yellow, according to 
 whether it is derived from green or black tea, containe the whole of the coloring mat- 
 ter, the whole of the tannin, and a peculiar acid, which affords an insoluble salt of a 
 light yellow color with the subacetate of lead. He has not yet terminated the examina- 
 tion of this acid. 
 
 I found this mixed precipitate to contain very little nitrogen; it is therefore in the 
 
816 TEA. 
 
 portion of the infusion which is not precipitated that the substances containing this ele- 
 ment must be sought for. 
 
 To determine the amount of theine, M. Mulder evaporates the infusion with caustic 
 magnesia, and treats the residue with ether, which only dissolves out the theine. On 
 modifying this process, Dr. Stenhouse has obtained the following quantities of theino 
 from 100 parts of 
 
 Hyson ... .... 240 
 
 Another kind - - - 2 - 56 
 
 Mixture in equal parts of gunpowder, hyson, imperial, 
 
 caper, and pekoe - - - 2 J 70 
 
 Gunpowder - - - 4 - l 
 
 Another kind - - 3 - 5 
 
 These quantities are far more considerable than have been obtained either by M. 
 Mulder, or Dr. Stenhouse ; but, at the same time, they do not account for the total 
 amount of nitrogen of the infusion in the state of theine, for the composition of theine 
 being represented by the formula C 8 H B N 2 0% and this substance containing 29'0 per 
 cent of nitrogen, gunpowder tea should contain 7'4 and souchong 6'5 theine in 100 
 parts of these teas taken in their ordinary state, if no other nitrogenous substance ac- 
 companied the theine in the solution. 
 
 By the following very simple process, I succeeded in obtaining a proportion of theine 
 far more considerable than I first found. To the hot infusion of tea subacetate of lead 
 and then ammonia are added; the liquid is separated by filtration from the precipi- 
 tate, and a current of sulphuretted hydrogen passed through it, the sulphuret of lead is 
 removed from the solution, which is evaporated at a gentle heat ; on cooling, an abun- 
 dant crop of crystals of theine is obtained, and the mother lye affords more crystals on 
 cautious evaporation. The first crystals are purified by recrystallization from water, 
 and then the mother lye is used to dissolve the second crop, so as to have the least 
 possible quantity of mother lye and the largest amount of crystals. In this manner I 
 obtained from 50 grammes of gunpowder tea 1'92 grammes of crystallized theine, which 
 is equal to 3 '84 per cent. 
 
 But there remains a syrupy liquid which still contains some theine. This I deter- 
 mined by means of a solution of tannin of known strength, which precipitates it alone, 
 and I believe entirely, if the liquid be cold and accurately neutralized with ammonia 
 as the tannin is added. 
 
 On adding the fresh qaantity of theine, isolated by this re-agent to that obtained as 
 crystals, one hundred parts of gunpowder tea, taken in its ordinary state, furnished 5 '84 
 theine; 100 parts of the same tea in its dry state gave 6'22 of this substance. 
 
 These numbers approach very nearly to those which should be obtained if theine were 
 the only nitrogenous substance contained in the infusion. There is, however, P'jill a 
 deficit of 0'75 nitrogen, but it must be remembered that I obtained only a minimum. 
 It is, moreover, possible that the infusion contained some ammoniaeal salts, or that a 
 small portion of the theine was decomposed during the evaporation of the liquid : this 
 substance being very liable to alteration, like the compounds rich in nitrogen, which it 
 resembles by its composition and properties. 
 
 However this be, it may be concluded from the above experiments, 1, that theine is 
 the principal nitrogenous substance contained in the infusion of tea, 2, that it exists in 
 larger quantity than has hitherto been admitted. 
 
 The portion of tea from which boiling water extracted no more soluble principle 
 contained in 100 parts, dried 230°, 4'46 nitrogen for the souchong, and 4 - 30 for the 
 gunpowder. These quantities, added to those of the infusion, represent very nearly 
 the nitrogen ascertained by analysis to exist in the entire leaf. 
 
 On boiling for some time the exhausted leaves in water containing j-g of their weight 
 of potash, a brown liquid is obtained, which affords, on the addition of dilute sulphuric 
 or acetic acid, a considerable flocculent and brown precipitate, which contains 8 '45 per 
 cent, nitrogen; the product of another preparation gave 9-93. Alcohol and ether re- 
 movefrom this precipitate about 30 per cent, of a green substance, which appears to 
 contain a fat acid. This product is not pure after this treatment, for it is strongly col- 
 ored and contains pectic acid; nevertheless that which contained 8'45 nitrogen af- 
 forded 11-35 of this element after being treated with alcohol and ether. Although I 
 have not obtained this substance in a state of purity, I do not hesitate to consider it, 
 from the general resemblance of its characters, as identical with the caseine from milk. 
 
 It is probable that this body exists in the insoluble portion of the leaf in combination 
 with tannin, and that the potash acts by destroying this combination. The presence 
 of this substance in tea is a fact the more worthy of attention as it occurs to a very large 
 amount, if, as is probable, the greater portion of the nitrogen in the exhausted leaf is 
 
TEA. 817 
 
 tlerWed from it On admitting, with MM. Dumas and Cahonrs, 16 per cent, of nitrogen 
 in caseine, the exhausted leaves would contain no less than 28 hundredths of this prin- 
 ciple ; tea in its ordinary state would contain from 14 to 15 per cent. 
 
 I found it impossible to separate the whole of this caseine from the tea. I obtained, 
 in one experiment, from 100 parts of exhausted leaves, 35 of the mixture above men- 
 tioned, containing from 8 to 10 per cent, nitrogen, which represent from 18 to 20 per 
 cent, of caseine supposed pure ; but the leaves, after being treated twice with potash, 
 still contained 2'73 per cent This nitrogen, in the state of caseine, would represent 5^ 
 per cent., so that we thus approach very close to the amount of the nitrogen indicated 
 by analysis. 
 
 It will be seen from these experiments, that tea contains a proportion of nitrogen 
 altogether exceptional; it must, however, be remembered that the leaf is not taken in 
 its natural state, but that it comes to us after having been manufactured. It is well- 
 known that, before being delivered into commerce, tea is submitted to a torrefaction, 
 which softens the leaf and allows of a rather considerable quantity of an acrid and 
 slightly corrosive juice being expressed by means of the pressure of the hands ; the leaf 
 is then rolled up, and dried more or less rapidly according to whether green or black 
 tea is to be made from it Now it is possible that this juice contains little or no nitro- 
 gen, and that consequently its separation would increase the amount of nitrogen which 
 remains in the leaf. On determining the quantity contained in fresh leaves from some 
 tea plant cultivated in gardens near Paris, I found 4 , 3'7 nitrogen, in 100 parts of the 
 dried tea. Perhaps the difference of climate and mode of culture may suffice to pro- 
 duce these variations. 
 
 I will conclude this paper by some observations on the use of tea considered as bev- 
 erage and as aliment. It cannot be denied, considering the amount of nitrogen con- 
 tained in this leaf and the presence of caseine, that tea is a true aliment when con- 
 sumed as a whole, with or without previous infusion, as, according to information, some 
 of the Indian tribes do. 
 
 We find the following statement in one of Victor Jaequemont's letters: "Tea comes 
 to Cashmere by caravans, through Chinese Tartary and Thibet. . . . It is pre- 
 pared with milk, butter, and salt, and an alkaline of salt of a bitter taste. At Kurnopr 
 it is prepared in a different manner; the leaves are boiled for an hour or two, the 
 water is thrown away, and the leaves mixed with rank butter," &c. Is it not evident 
 that in the first case the instinctive use of the alkaline salt has for its object the solu- 
 tion of the caseine, and thus causing it to form part of the infusion, while in the second 
 the caseine remains, and is consumed with the leaf itself. 
 
 But it is not in this manner that tea is prepared among the more civilized nations. 
 Ought we to admit that its infusion, made with little and much water, has any other 
 actions but on the nervous system, by producing an excitement which may for a certain 
 time form a substitute for veritable food? Can it be compared to other substances of 
 undoubted efficacy as nutriment, to milk or to meat broth? "Without seeking to solve 
 these difficult questions, I have determined some of the elements which must occupy 
 an important rank in their discussions. I have determined the weight and the nature 
 of the principles which enter into the infusion of tea, as it is usually prepared for drink- 
 ing. The tea is not then deprived of all its soluble principles ; the leaf still retains at 
 least a third of what it abandons to water when submitted to frequent washings, an 
 infusion, for instance, made with 20 grains of gunpowder tea and one quart of water 
 afforded 6'33 grains of soluble products, containing very nearly one grain of theine. 
 — Peligot, in Gomptes Sendus, July IT, 1843. 
 
 TEA, green, contains 34'6 parts of tannin, 5'9 of gum, 5^ of vegetable albumine, 
 fil"8 of ligneous fibre, with 2'5 of loss; and black tea contains 40'6 of tannin, 6'3 of 
 gum, 5'4 of vegetable albumine, 44'8 of ligneous fibre, with 2 of loss. The ashes con- 
 tain silica, carbonate of lime, magnesia, and chloride of potassium. — Frank. Davy ob- 
 tained 32'5 of extract from Souchong tea; of which 10 were precipitated by gelatine. 
 He found 8'5 only of tannin in green tea. The latter chemist is most to be depended 
 upon. Chemical analysis has not yet discovered that principle in tea to which its ex 
 citing property is due. 
 
 Preparation of green tea. It is brought to Canton unprepared ; as Bohea, SauchunQ, 
 and is thrown into a hemispherical iron pan, kept red-hot over a fire. The leaves are 
 constantly stirred till they are thoroughly heated, when they are dyed, by adding for 
 each pound of tea, 1 spoonful of gypsum, 1 of turmeric, and 2 or 3 of Prussian blue. 
 The leaves instantly change into a bluish green, and after being well stirred for a few 
 minutes, and are taken out, being shrivelled by the heat. They are now sifted ; the 
 small longish leaves fall through the first sieve, and form young Hyson ; the roundest 
 granular ones fall through the last, and constitute Gunpowder, or Choo-cha. 
 
 The Chinese method of making Black Tea in Upper Assam.* — In the first place, the 
 
 * By C. A Bruce, superintendent of tea culture. 
 Vol. II. 53 
 
818 TEA. 
 
 ,'oungcst and most tender leaves are gathered; but when ;here are many hands and 9 
 great quantity of leaves to be collected, the people employed nip off with the forefingei 
 and thumb the fine end of the branch with about four leaves on, and sometimes even 
 more, if they look tender. These are all brought to the place where they are to be 
 converted into tea; they are then put into a large, circular, open-worked bamboo basket, 
 having a rim all round, two fingers broad. The leaves are thinly scattered in these 
 baskets, and then placed in a frame-work of bamboo, in all appearance like the side of an 
 Indian hut without grass, resting on posts, 2 feet from the ground, with an angle of 
 about 25°. The baskets with leaves are put in this frame to dry in the sun, and are 
 pushed up and brought down by a long bamboo with a circular piece of wood at the 
 end. The leaves are permitted to dry about two hours, being occasionally turned; but 
 the time required for this process depends on the heat of the sun. When they begin to 
 have a slightly withered appearance, they are taken down and brought into the house, 
 where they are placed on a frame to cool for half an hour. They are then put into 
 smaller baskets of the same kind as the former, and placed on a stand. People are now 
 employed to soften the leaves still more, by gently clapping them between their hands, 
 with their fingers and thumb extended, and tossing them up and letting ,t?iem fall, for 
 about five or ten minutes. They are then again put on the frame during half an hour, 
 and brought down and clapped with the hands as before. This is done three successive 
 times, until the leaves become to the touch like soft leather ; the beating and putting 
 away being said to give the tea the black color and bitter flavor. After this the tea 
 is put into hot cast-iron pans, which are fixed in a circular mud fireplace, so that the 
 flame cannot ascend round the pan to incommode the operator. This pan is well heated 
 by a straw or bamboo fire to a certain degree. About two pounds of the leaves are then 
 put into each hot pan, and spread in such a manner that all the leaves may get the same 
 degree of heat. They are every now and then briskly turned with the naked hand, to 
 prevent a leaf from being burnt. When the leaves become inconveniently hot to the 
 hand, they are quickly taken out and delivered to another man with a close-worked 
 bamboo basket ready to receive them. A few leaves that may have been left behind are 
 smartly brushed out with a bamboo broom ; all this time a brisk fire is kept up under 
 the pan. After the pan has been used in this manner three or four times, a bucket of 
 cold water is thrown in, and a soft brickbat and bamboo broom used, to give it a good 
 scouring out ; the water is thrown out of the pan by the brush on one side, the pan 
 itself being never taken off. The leaves, all hot on the bamboo basket, are laid on a 
 table that has a narrow rim on its back, to prevent these baskets from slipping off when 
 pushed against it. The two pounds of hot leaves are now divided into two or three 
 parcels, and distributed to as many men, who stand up to the table with the leaves light 
 before them, and each placing his legs close together ; the leaves are next collected into 
 a ball, which he gently grasps in his left hand, with the thumb extended, the fingers 
 close together, and the hand resting on the little finger. The right hand must be ex- 
 tended in the same manner as the left, but with the palm turned downwards, resting on 
 the top of the ball of tea leaves. Both hands are now employed to roll and propel the 
 ball along ; the left hand pushing it on, and allowing it to revolve as it moves ; the right 
 hand also pushes it forward, resting on it with some force, and keeping it down to 
 express the juice which the leaves contain. The art lies here in giving the ball a cir- 
 cular motion, and permitting it to turn under and in the hand two or three whole 
 revolutions, before the arms are extended to their full length, and drawing the ball of 
 leaves quickly back without leaving a leaf behind, being rolled for about five minutes in 
 this way. The ball of tea leaves is from time to time gently and delicately opened with 
 the fingers, lifted as high as the face, and then allowed to fall again. This is done two 
 or three times, to separate the leaves; and afterwards the basket with the leaves is lifted 
 up as often, and receives a circular shake to bring these towards the centre. The leaves 
 are now taken back to the hot pans, and spread out in them as before, being again turn 
 ed with the naked hand, and when hot taken out and rolled; after which they are po 
 into the drying basket, and spread on a sieve which is in the centre of the basket, anu 
 the whole placed over a charcoal fire. The fire is very nicely regulated ; there must not 
 be the least smoke, and the charcoal should be well picked. 
 
 When the fire is lighted, it is fanned until it gets a fine red glare, and the smoke is all 
 gone off; being every now and then stirred and the coals brought into the centre, so as 
 to leave the outer edge low. When the leaves are put into the drying basket, they are 
 gently separated by lifting them up with the fingers of both hands extended far apart, 
 and allowing them to fall down again ; they are placed 3 or 4 inches deep on the sieved 
 leaving a passage in the centre for the hot air to pass. Before it is put over the fire, ll e 
 drying basket receives a smart slap with both hands in the act of lifting it up, which is 
 done to shake down any leaves that might otherwise drop through the sieve, or to pre- 
 vent them from falling into the fire and occasioning a smoke, which would affect and 
 spoil the tea. This slap on the basket is invariably applied throughout the stages of the 
 
TELEGRAPHS. 819 
 
 tea manufacture. There is always a large basket underneath to receive the small leaves 
 that fall, which are afterwards collected, dried, and added to the other tea; in no case 
 are the baskets or sieves permitted to touch or remain on the ground, but always laid on 
 a receiver with three legs'. After the leaves have been half dried in the drying basket, 
 and while they are still soft, they are taken off the fire and put into large open-worked 
 baskets, and then put on the shelf, in order that the lea may improve in color. 
 
 Next day the leaves are ajl sorted into large, middling, and small ; sometimes therr 
 are four sorts. All these, the Chinese informed me, become so many different kinds of 
 teas 5 the smallest leaves they called Pha-ho, the second, Pow-chong, the third Su-chong 
 and the fourth, or the largest leaves, Toy-chong. After this assortment they are again 
 put on the sieve in the drying basket (taking great care not to mix the sorts), and on 
 the fire, as on the preceding day ; but now very little more than will cover the bottom of 
 the sieve is put in at one time, the same care of the fire is taken as before, and the same 
 precaution of tapping the drying basket every now and then.. The tea is taken off the 
 fire with the nicest care, for fear of any particle of the tea falling into it. Whenever 
 the drying basket is taken off, it is put on the receiver, the sieve -'n the drying basket 
 taken out, the tea turned over, the sieve replaced, the tap given, and the basket placed 
 again over the fire. As the tea becomes crisp, it is taken out and thrown into a large 
 receiving basket, until all the quantity on hand has become alike dried and crisp; from 
 which basket it is again removed into the drying basket, but now in much larger 
 quantities. It is then piled up eight and ten inches high on the sieve in the drying 
 basket ; in the centre a small passage is left for the hot air to ascend ; the fire that was 
 before blight and clear, has now ashes thrown on it to deaden its effect, and the shakings 
 that have been collected are put on the top of all ; the tap is given, and the basket with 
 the greatest care is put over the fire. Another basket is placed over the whole, to throw 
 back any heat that may ascend. Now and then it is taken off, and put on the receiver; 
 the hands, with the fingers wide apart, are run down the sides of the basket to the sieve, 
 and the tea gently turned over, the passage in the centre again made, &c, and the basket 
 again placed on the fire. It is from time to time examined, and when the leaves have 
 become so crisp that they break by the slightest pressure of the fingers, it is taken off, 
 when the tea is ready. All the different kinds of leaves underwent the same operation. 
 The tea is now little by little put into boxes, and first pressed down with the hands and 
 then with the feet (clean stockings having been previously put on). 
 
 There is a small room inside of the tea-house, 7 cubits square and 5 high, haying 
 bamboos laid across on the top to support a net-work of bamboo, and the sides of 
 the room smeared with mud to exclude the air. When there is wet weather, and the 
 leaves cannot be dried in the sun, they are laid out on the top of this room, on the net- 
 work, on an iron pan, the same as is used to heat the leaves ; some fire is put into it, 
 either of grass or bamboo, so that the flame may ascend high ; the pan is put on a square 
 wooden frame, that has wooden rollers on its legs, and pushed round and round this 
 little room by one man, while another feeds the fire, the leaves on the top being 
 occasionally turned; when they are a little withered, the fire is taken away, and the 
 leaves brought down and manufactured into tea, in the same manner as if it had been dried 
 in the sun. But this is not a good plan, and never had recourse to, if it can possibly be 
 avoided. 
 
 Tea imported into the United Kingdom, in 1836, 49,307,701 lbs. ; in 1837, 36,765,735 
 lbs. Retained for home consumption, in 1836,49,841,507 lbs. ; in 1837, 31,8721bs. Duty 
 received, in 1836, £4,728,600; in 1837, £3,319,665. 
 
 TEASEL, the head of the thistle (Dipsacus), is employed to raise the nap of cloth. See 
 Woollen Manufacture. 
 
 TEETH. See Bones. 
 
 TELEGRAPHS, ELECTRICAL, PRUSSIAN. These ■ telegraphs are used on all 
 Prussian government lines, and on most of the railway lines of Northern Germany, 
 making a total of about 3,000 miles; besides extensive lines which at present are in 
 course of construction in Russia and other countries. 
 
 Indicating Telegraphs. — Keys are arranged round a dial, each key bearing a letter of 
 the alphabet; one line wire is used, which connects two or more instruments at different 
 stations. A hand on each dial revolves in concert with the hands on the remaining 
 instruments; but by pressing down a key on any of them, all the hands stop, pointing to 
 the same letter, until the key is again released. These instruments differ essentially 
 from other telegraphs, inasmuch as they are entirely electrical machines, which break 
 and reclose their own contacts in a similar manner as a steam-engine works its slide. 
 
 The electric current in passing through the line wire, and the coils in each instrument 
 cause the armatures to be attracted by its motion to break the circuit ; the armatures are 
 then quite at liberty to fall back, and in so doing each instrument re-establishes the 
 circuit, and the succeeding stroke takes place. In pressing down a key, the armature ia 
 ■topped from falling back, and consequently no current can pass through the line wire 
 
[820] 
 
 A TABLE 05 
 
 ARRANGED FOR THE USE OF THE PRACTICAL CLASSES IN THE 
 
 K.B.— The action of the most important Compounds of the Substances in the vertical column, with the 
 student of the science ; and by a comparison of these actions, this table will he found a most valuable 
 
 CARBONATE OP BICARBONATE OP 
 POTASH. POTASH. 
 
 SALTS OF POTASH 
 GODA . 
 
 LITHIA . 
 
 BARYTA. 
 
 8TR0NTIA 
 
 UME 
 
 MAGNESIA 
 
 (PROTOXIDE 
 CERIUM 4 
 
 (peroxide 
 
 manganese. protoxide 
 
 (SESQUIOXIDE 
 MANGANESE-) and 
 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 (PROTOXIDE 
 COBALT ■{ and 
 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 (PROTOXIDE 
 < and 
 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 mON, PROTOXIDE 
 
 ( SESQUIOXIDE 
 . -J and 
 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 
 Nq precipitate. 
 
 A volnminooi precipi- 
 tate, soluble in a large 
 quantity of water. 
 
 No precipitate unless 
 left for some days. 
 
 Same as Strontin. 
 
 k bulky precipitate 
 completely soluble in 
 Muriate of Ammonia. 
 
 A white precipitate in- 
 soluble m Muriate of 
 Ammonia and in ex- 
 cess, but soluble in 
 
 Potash. 
 
 A white precipitate in- 
 soluble in excess and in 
 Muriate of Ammonia. 
 
 A gelatinous precipitate 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white voluminous 
 precipitate insoluble 
 
 in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate ; 
 turning brown, insol- 
 uble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia, turning 
 brown at the surface. 
 
 A dark brown precipi- 
 tate, insoluble in Mu- 
 riate of Ammonia. 
 
 A white gelatinous pre- 
 cipitate, soluble in 
 excess. 
 
 Ablue precipitate, solu- 
 ble in excess, forming 
 a greenish solution, 
 turning brown. 
 
 A slight green trou- 
 bling, then a clear 
 blue solution, precipi- 
 tated greonby Potash 
 
 of Ammonia, .turning 
 brown in contact with 
 the air. 
 
 A reddish brown pre- 
 cipitate, insoluble in 
 Muriate of Ammonia. 
 
 A -voluminous precipi- 
 tate, soluble in a large 
 quantity of water. 
 
 No immediate precipi- 
 tate, but after a time 
 a granular one. 
 
 A white precipitate^ 
 soluble with efferves- 
 cence in free acids. 
 
 Same as Baryta ; not Same as Baryta, 
 quite eo soluble. 
 
 The same ; not quite so 
 soluble. 
 
 A white precipitate 
 insoluble in excess; 
 soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia, 
 
 A precipitate soluble v 
 excess, insoluble in 
 Muriate of Ammonia, 
 
 A precipitate complete- 
 ly soluble in excess. 
 
 The same; perfectly 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 turning brown, insol- 
 uble m Muriate of 
 
 The some as Ammonia. 
 
 A blue precipitate, in- 
 soluble, turning ere en 
 and pale red when 
 boiled. 
 
 An apple green preci- 
 pitate, insoluble in 
 
 The same asBaryta and 
 
 S trout ia. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 
 soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in Caustic 
 Potash. 
 
 A precipitate soluble in 
 a great excess of pre- 
 cipitant. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 slightly soluble in a 
 great excess. 
 
 A white precipitate 
 slightly soluble ia t 
 great excess. 
 
 A white precipitate 
 slightly soluble in ex- 
 
 A permanent white 
 precipitate, slightly 
 soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia, 
 
 A brown voluminous 
 precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess, 
 but soluble in Muriate 
 of Ammonia or Caus- 
 tic Alkalies. 
 
 Ared precipitate which 
 boiling renders blue, 
 
 A lighter green preoipl 
 
 The same as Baryta. 
 
 No precipitate unless 
 the solution be boiled, 
 then a strong one. 
 
 The same ; Carbonic 
 Acid gas is disengaged. 
 
 The same ; completely 
 soluble in a great ex- 
 
 A_ green precipitate, A white precipitate 
 insoluble in excess. — »~i.t- i- Vr„-r-*» -i 
 turning brown at thi 
 
 i. white precipitate, 
 soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia. 
 
 A lighter brown preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 The same unless very 
 
 dilute. 
 
 A white precipitate 
 which behaves in the 
 
 A red precipitate. 
 
 The same ; Carbonic 
 Acid gas is given oft 
 
 The same ; Carbonic 
 Acid ia disengaged. 
 

 
 
 
 [821] 
 
 
 ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY 
 
 
 
 PESTALOZZIAN INSTITUTION, WORKSOP, BY JAMES HAYWOOD. 
 
 
 
 Eeagents In the horizontal, are generally of so characteristic a nature as not to be mistaken by the youngest 
 issistant to the proficient in Chemistry in conducting an analysis, or in general experimental research. 
 
 
 
 
 CARBONATE OF 
 
 AMMQNIA. 
 
 SULPHURETTED 
 HYDROGEN. 
 
 HYDROSULPHATE 
 
 OF AMMONIA. 
 
 YELLOW PRUSSIATE 
 OF POTASH. 
 
 REDFRUSSIATEOF 
 POTASH. 
 
 
 
 Ho precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The some. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 The Mme. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The same. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sanw as the Bicarbonate 
 of Potaan, soluble in 
 Muriate of Ammonia. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate if the 
 teat is pure. 
 
 — — — 
 
 — — — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tho same. 
 
 No precipitate in any 
 
 solution. 
 
 A white precipitate of 
 Alumina, soluble in 
 Potash. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 A white pneipitate, sol- 
 uble ia excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, sol- 
 uble in Potaan. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 - - - 
 
 
 
 
 
 The same. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate of 
 Thorina, 
 
 A white heavy precipi- 
 tate, soluble in acids. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The came. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A precipitate of Yttria. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tho some; mora easily 
 soluble ia excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A voluminous precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 The soma 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate of 
 Protoxide. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ! 
 
 
 The same. 
 
 No precipitate unless 
 Ammonia be added. 
 
 A flesh-red precipitate, 
 turning brownish in 
 contact with the air. 
 
 A pale red precipitate, 
 soluble in free acids. 
 
 A brown precipitate, in- 
 soluble in free acids. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The earn a. 
 
 A milk-white precipitate 
 of Sulphur ; solution 
 then contains a Prolo- 
 talt. 
 
 The flesh-red precipi- 
 tate — the precipitate 
 by Ammonia Is turned 
 flesh-red by it. 
 
 A grayish green preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 The same as the Protox- 
 ide. 
 
 
 
 
 
 A white precipitate, sol- 
 uble in exce Bfl. 
 
 A white precipitate if 
 neutral, but none if 
 acid. 
 
 A white precipitate, in- 
 soluble ia excess. 
 
 A gelatinous white pre- 
 cipitate, insoluble in 
 Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A yellowish red precipi- 
 tate, soluble in Muria- 
 tic Acid, 
 
 
 
 
 
 A red precipitate, solu- 
 ble in Muriate of Am- 
 monia. 
 
 No precipitate; solution 
 turns darker. 
 
 A black precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A green precipitate, 
 turning gray, insoluble 
 in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A reddish brown preci- 
 pitate, insoluble in 
 muriatic Acid. 
 
 
 
 
 
 A green precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess, forming 
 a bluish solution. 
 
 No precipitate ; solution 
 turns darker. 
 
 A black precipitate and 
 color, slightly soluble 
 in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate — 
 slightly tending to 
 green, insoluble in Mu- 
 riatic Acid. 
 
 A yellowish green pre- 
 cipitate, insoluble in 
 Muriatic Acid, 
 
 
 
 
 
 The suae. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A block precipitate, turn- 
 ing brown at the surface. 
 
 A light blue precipitate, 
 turning darker, insolu- 
 ble in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 An immediate dark bine 
 precipitate, insoluble 
 in acids. 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 A light brown precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A milk-white precipitate 
 of Sulphur; solution 
 then contains Protoxide. 
 
 A black precipitate — 
 same as die Protoxide. 
 
 An immediate dark blue 
 precipitate, insoluble in 
 Muriatic Acid. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
622, 
 
 A TABLE OF ANALYTICAL 
 
 OXALIC ACID. 
 
 IODIDE OP 
 POTASSIUM. 
 
 SULPHATE OF 
 POTASH. 
 
 PHOSPHATE OF 
 SODA. 
 
 SALTS OF POTASH 
 
 STRONTTA . 
 
 MAGNESIA . . 
 
 ALUMINA . . 
 
 {PROTOXIDE 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 MANGANESE, PROTOXIDE . 
 
 (SESQUIOXTDE 
 
 MANGANESE 1 and 
 
 (peroxide 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate unless 
 left for Borne days. 
 
 A troubling in strong 
 solutions; if Ammo- 
 nia be added a pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 An immediate preci- 
 pitate, soluble in Ni- 
 tric or Muriatic Acid. 
 
 No precipitate unless 
 Ammonia be added. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A wbtte precipitate, 
 soluble in Muriatic 
 Acid. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in a great 
 excess or in Muriatic 
 Acid. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 even in acid solu- 
 tions, sparingly solu- 
 ble in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A whits crystalline 
 deposit, unless very 
 
 (PROTOXIDE 
 COBALT . . J and 
 
 (PEROXIDE 
 
 . -t and 
 
 (peroxide 
 
 IRON, PROTOXIDE 
 
 ■I a nd 
 (PEROXIDE 
 
 No precipitate, but 
 the solution is soon 
 rendered colorless. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in free Acids 
 and Alkalies. 
 
 A alight troubling and 
 shortly a pole red 
 precipitate. 
 
 No immediate precipi- 
 tate, but a slow de- 
 posit. 
 
 A yellow color, and 
 shortly a precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate ; solu- 
 tion turns yellowish. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 if Ammonia be add- 
 ed. 
 
 A voluminous white 
 precipitate, insoluble 
 m strong acids. 
 
 The same as Baryta ; 
 rather more soluble 
 in water. 
 
 No precipitate in st- 
 int e solutions, but a 
 white one if strong. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 After a time Crystals 
 of Alum are formed. 
 
 No crystals ore formed. 
 
 Thrown down as a 
 double salt, insoluble 
 in excess. 
 
 After a time a precipi- 
 tate is formed, but is 
 easily soluble in an 
 excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 almost insoluble in 
 water and acids. 
 
 After a time a precipi- 
 tate insoluble in ex- 
 cess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate; but if 
 Ammonia be added, 
 a strong one. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 aoluble in free acids. 
 
 Same ao Baryta. 
 
 Same as Baryta. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 particularly if Am- 
 monia be added. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in Acids or 
 Potash. 
 
 A voluminous precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A white flaky precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in acids, but 
 is again precipitated 
 by boiling. 
 
 A voluminous precipl- 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A permanent white 
 precipitate. 
 
 A brown precipitate in 
 neutral solutions. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in free Acids 
 and Alkalies. 
 
 A blue precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 slightly tending to 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 turning green. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 which Ammonia 
 turna brown, and at 
 length dissolves. 
 
CHEMISTRY— Continued. 
 
 [823 
 
 METALLIC ZINC. 
 
 BEFORE THE BLOWPIPE. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 If c precipitate . 
 
 On Platinum wire tinges outer flame 
 violet: with Borax and Oxide of 
 Nickel, a blue bead. 
 
 The bead of Nickel and Borax Ib not 
 changed by Soda; heated on Pla- 
 tinum wire tinges outer flame yel- 
 low. 
 
 Tinges outer flame of a carmine color ; 
 the double phosphate is fusible. 
 
 Cannot easily be disflnguiahed ; the 
 Chloride tinges outer flume green- 
 ish ; infusible alone ; fusible with 
 fluxes. 
 
 Tinges outer flame carmine red when 
 heated on Platinum wire. 
 
 Same oaStrontia, only not so bright; 
 gives a powerful white light when 
 strongly heated. 
 
 When a Salt of Magnesia that has 
 been boated, is moifltenod with 
 Nitrate of Cobalt, it acquires a pale 
 red color. 
 
 Treated as (he above on Charcoal, a 
 fine blue color is communicated to 
 
 When moistened with Nitrate of Co- 
 balt, becomes dark gray, or nearly 
 
 Not easily distinguished ; produces a 
 colorless bead with Borax. 
 
 Yttria behaves in the same manner 
 •sGhiclna. 
 
 Cannot easily be distinguished from 
 similar substances. 
 
 Converted to peroxide, soluble in 
 Borax, producing a red bead, color 
 flies on cooling. 
 
 Produces a bead of an amethyst col- 
 or in the outer flame with Borax, 
 which disappears in the inner flame. 
 
 Same as Protoxide. 
 
 On Charcoal with Soda a coat of 
 white Oxide is formed ; with Ni- 
 trate of Cobalt they assume a green 
 color. 
 
 The smallest portion colors Borax 
 strongly blue ; reduced to a metallic 
 state with Soda; magnetic. 
 
 With Borax in the outer flame, a 
 reddish color, which disappears 
 when cold ; with Soda, a white 
 magnetic powder. 
 
 With Borax Jn the outer flame, a red 
 bead, turning lighter as it cools; 
 interior flame a green bead, turning 
 lighter on cooling. 
 
 Peroxide behaves in the same man- 
 ner ; with Soda, a magnetic powder 
 is obtained. 
 
 Gives a white precipitate with Tartaric Acid, a yellow one 
 with Chloride of Platinum, and a gelatinous one with Hydro- 
 fluoailioic Acid, which distinguishes it from other substances. 
 
 Gives no precipitate with Tartaric Acid, or Chloride of Plati- 
 num, by which it may be distinguished. 
 
 No precipitate with Chloride of Platinum ; con easily be dis- 
 tinguished from the former. 
 
 Easily distinguished by fonnins> a white precipitate with 
 Sulphates and Carbonates. The Chloride is insoluble in 
 Alcohol. 
 
 Distinguished from Baryta byjgiving a precipitate with Hydro- 
 fluosilicio Acid, and by the filtered liquid of the still Alkaline 
 Sulphate giving a precipitate with Baryta water. 
 
 Distinguished from Baryta and Strontia by giving no precipi- 
 tate with Sulphates when diluted, separated in the state of 
 Nitrates and Chlorides by Alcohol. 
 
 Easily distinguished and separated £** Sulphates from the 
 above, or by the precipitates being all soluble in Muriate of 
 Ammonia. , 
 
 Distinguished from the Alkalis by giving a white precipitate 
 with Ammonia, and may be separated from moBt other sub- 
 stances by Caustic Potash. < 
 
 May be distinguished from Alumina by the Carbonates, from 
 Magnesia by being insoluble in Muriate of Ammonia, and 
 from Lime and the Alkalis by Ammonia. 
 
 Thorina may be distinguished and separated from the above 
 substances, as it is perfectly insoluble after ignition in all 
 acids except the Sulphuric. 
 
 Distinguished from Thorina by Sulphate .of Potash, and from 
 the other substances described by the some means as Thorina. 
 
 Distinguished from Thorina by Sulphate of Potash and Oxalic 
 Acid, and from Yttria by ita Oxide, after igm^ion, being insol- 
 uble in all Acids, except the Sulphuric 
 
 Distinguished from other substances previously described by 
 turning into a red Peroxide when heated in contact with the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 The reaction of these salts with Hydrosulphate of Ammonia 
 is so well characterized that they cannot be mistaken. 
 
 The Peroxide is always converted into the Deutoxide by solu- 
 tion in an Acid. Muriatic Acid converts it into Protoxide by 
 boiling. 
 
 The solution in Potash is precipitated by Hyd. Sal. Am. which 
 distinguishes it from earthy salts, and may easily be sepa- 
 rated from other metals by Ammonia. 
 
 Easily distinguished from all other salts by their behavior 
 with Hydrosulphate of Ammonia. 
 
 Distinguished from Cobalt by Ammonia and Potash, and from 
 other substances in the same way as Cobalt. 
 
 The Salts of Iron are easily distinguished by their behavior 
 with the PrusBiates ; may be separated from Manganese by 
 Succinate of Soda. 
 
 Peroxide is distinguished and separated from Protoxide by 
 Red Prussiate of Potash and Ammonia. 
 
824] 
 
 A TABLE OF ANALYTICAL 
 
 (PROTOXIDE 
 1 PEROXIDE 
 
 COPPER, DEUTOXIDE , 
 
 SILVER 
 
 MERCURY, PROTOXIDE 
 MERCURY, PEROXIDE 
 PLATTNA 
 
 GOLD . . 
 TLN", PROTOXIDE 
 
 TIN, PEROXIDE 
 ANTIMONY . 
 CHROMIUM - 
 YANADIUM . 
 COLUMBIUM . 
 IRIDIUM . . 
 RHODIUM . 
 PALLADIUM . 
 OSMTCM . . 
 TELLURIUM . 
 TITANIUM . 
 
 TUNGSTEN . 
 URANIUM . 
 MOLYBDENUM 
 
 A' white precipitate, 
 soluble in n alight 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in an ex- 
 cess, except with the 
 Acetate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A green precipitate, 
 and deep purple solu- 
 tion ; again pre cipi lut- 
 ed by Potash if boiled. 
 
 A brown precipitate, 
 very soluble in ex- 
 cess, but is repreci- 
 pitated by Potash. 
 
 A black precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in an excess. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in excess, in- 
 soluble in free acids. 
 
 A yellow precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in acids and 
 in an excess. 
 
 A 'white precipitate 
 insoluble in excess 
 and in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A greenish blue preci- 
 pitate, insoluble in 
 
 A grayish white pre- 
 cipitate, taming, red 
 and dissolving. 
 
 la readily dissolved, 
 and may be again 
 precipitated by acids. 
 
 A brown precipitate, 
 ^partly soluble, form- 
 ings purple solution. 
 
 Shortly a lemon yel- 
 low color. 
 
 A yellowish precipi- 
 tate, slightly soluble 
 in excess. 
 
 No precipitate; solu- 
 tion turns yellow. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 The Aoid dissolves, but 
 is again precipitated 
 by stronger acids. 
 
 A brown flaky preci- 
 pitate, insoluble in 
 excess. 
 
 The Acid is dissolved, 
 and the Protoxide 
 forms a brown preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in a great ex- 
 
 A green precipitate, 
 which boiling render^ 
 black. 
 
 A brown precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess, 
 but soluble in Am- 
 monia. 
 
 A black precipitate, 
 soluble in an excess. 
 
 A yellow or white pre- 
 cipitate, insoluble in 
 excess. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in excess when 
 boiled ; and again pre- 
 cipitated by acids. 
 
 At first no precipitate, 
 but shortly a black 
 one. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in excess ; de- 
 composed by boiling. 
 
 The same, soluble in 
 
 The same, soluble i 
 Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A green precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess ; again 
 thrown down by boil- 
 ing. 
 The same. 
 
 The same, insoluble in 
 strong acids. 
 
 A dark brown preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in acids. 
 
 An orange colored pre- 
 cipitate from the Ni- 
 trate. 
 
 Fused with it, the 
 whole is soluble in 
 water. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in excess ; re- 
 precipitated by acids. 
 
 A yellowish precipi- 
 tate, insoluble in ex- 
 
 Theeame j precipitate 
 insolublo in excess. 
 
 CARBONATE OF 
 POTASH. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess ; 
 but soluble in Potash. 
 
 A green precipitate, 
 which boiling renders 
 black. 
 
 A white 
 soluble ii 
 
 A dirty yellow preci- 
 pitate, which boiling 
 renders black. 
 
 A reddish brown pre- 
 cipitate; if it contains 
 Muriate of Ammonia 
 a white one. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 The same ; deposits 
 slowly again after 
 solution. 
 
 \ green precipitate, 
 slightly soluble it 
 
 A grayish white pre- 
 cipitate, soluble in 
 
 The same, and may 
 be dissolved by Ace- 
 tic Acid. 
 
 No precipitate; color 
 destroyed. 
 
 A gelatinona precipi- 
 tate when boiled with 
 the double Chloride. 
 
 A deep brown precipi- 
 tate, insoluble in ex- 
 cess. 
 
 No precipitate ; solu- 
 tion turns yellowish. 
 
 BICARBONATE OF 
 POTASH. 
 
 Is insoluble in water 
 wfaen fused with it. 
 
 The same, slightly sol- 
 uble. 
 
 A brown precipitate, 
 soluble in — 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 Carbonic Acid is dis- 
 engaged. 
 
 A similar precipitate, 
 with an evolution of 
 
 A light green preci- 
 pitate, soluble in an 
 excess. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 rendered black by 
 boiling. 
 
 A reddish brown pre- 
 cipitate, either imme- 
 diate or after atime. 
 
 The same ; Muriatic 
 Acid mutt be added 
 in all coses. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 The same ; rathai 
 lighter. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
CHEMISTRY— Continued. 
 
 [82§ 
 
 CARBONATE OF 
 AMMONIA. 
 
 A white precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A green precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess, same as 
 
 A white precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess. 
 
 A gray or black preeipt- 
 tate. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A yellow precipitate. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, if 
 neutral. 
 
 SULPHURETTED 
 HYDROGEN. 
 
 A yellow precipitate. 
 
 A black precipitate, in 
 both neutral and acid 
 
 solutions. 
 
 A black precipitate, in 
 both neutral and acid 
 
 solutions. 
 
 A block or dark brown 
 precipitate, in both 
 neutral ana acid solu- 
 tions. 
 
 A black precipitate, in 
 both neutral and acid 
 solutions. 
 
 A black precipitate, in 
 acid ana neutral solu- 
 tions. 
 
 A black precipitate, turn- 
 ing 1 white, and again 
 black by an excess, 
 soluble in Potash. 
 
 A brown color and short- 
 ly a precipitate. 
 
 A block precipitate, in 
 both acid ana neutral 
 
 solutions. 
 
 A dark brown precipi- 
 tate, in both acid and 
 neutral solutions. 
 
 No immediate precipi- 
 tate, but shortly a yel- 
 low one. 
 
 A red precipitate in acid 
 solutions. 
 
 The same ; approaching No precipitate in any so- 
 to violet. i lotions. 
 
 The same, insoluble in 
 excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A yellowish precipitate 
 toluble in excess. 
 
 Generally a brown pre- 
 cipitate, in ether, acid, 
 or neutral solutions. 
 
 A dork brown precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A dark brown precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A brown precipitate. 
 
 A black precipitate, sol- 
 " -iTo'- v 
 
 uble in Potash, 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A brown precipitate, in 
 Alkaline solutions. 
 
 HYDROSULPHATE 
 OF AMMONIA. 
 
 A yellowish precipitate, 
 insoluble in excess. 
 
 A block precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A black precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 The same ; insoluble in 
 excess. 
 
 A black precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A black precipitate, in- 
 soluble in excess, part- 
 ly soluble in Potash. 
 
 The same ; solution must 
 be neutral. 
 
 A brown precipitate, sol- 
 uble in a large excess. 
 
 Abrown precipitate, sol 
 uble in excess. 
 
 A brown precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess, repre- 
 cipitated by Muriatic 
 Acid. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, sol- 
 uble in excess. 
 
 A red precipitate, solu- 
 ble in an excess. 
 
 A greenish precipitate. 
 
 A grayish white preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 No action with the Acid, 
 buta brown precipitate 
 with the Oxide. 
 
 The same ; soluble in 
 excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 The same; soluble in 
 excess. 
 
 The same, or in excess. 
 
 A dirty green precipitate, 
 unless Tartaric Acid be 
 present, then no preci- 
 pitate, 
 
 A precipitate, soluble in 
 excess. 
 
 A black precipitate, 
 slightly soluble in ex- 
 
 The same, if Muriatic 
 Acid be added. 
 
 YELLOW PRUSSIATE 
 OF POTASH. 
 
 A slightly yellow preci* 
 pitate,BofuUe in Muri- 
 atic Acid. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, sol- 
 uble in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A reddish brown preci- 
 pitate, insoluble in Mu- 
 riatic Acid. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A white gelatinous pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 turning blue. 
 
 RED PRUSSIATE OF J 
 POTASH. [ 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in Muriatic 
 Acid. 
 
 No precipitate 
 
 A pale yellow precipi- 
 tate, soluble in Muria- 
 tic Acid. 
 
 A yellowish green pre- 
 cipitate, insoluble in 
 Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A reddish brown preci- 
 pitate. 
 
 A reddish brown preci- 
 pitate, turning white. 
 
 A yellow in most solu- 
 tions, but none with 
 the Perchloride. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, s> ' The same. 
 lution turns darker. 
 
 An emerald green color. 
 
 A white gelatinous pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 No precipitate at first, 
 but shortly the whole 
 forms a thick jelly. 
 
 A white precipitate, in- 
 soluble in Muriatic Acid, 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A yellowish green pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 
 An orange or olive yel- 
 low precipitate, " 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A deep 
 
 tule. 
 
 orange precipi- 
 
 A brownish red precipi- 
 tate. 
 
 A brown precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, sol- 
 uble in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 No preoipitate. 
 
 No precipitate, but ent rt> 
 ly a slight opacity. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 The Bame. 
 
826] 
 
 A TABLE OF ANALYTICAL 
 
 OXALIC ACID. 
 
 IODIDE OF 
 POTASSIUM. 
 
 SULPHATE OP 
 POTASH. 
 
 PHOSPHATE OF 
 SODA. 
 
 ( PROTOXIDE 
 
 ( PEROXIDE 
 
 COPPER, DEUTOXIDE . 
 
 MERCURY, PROTOXIDE 
 
 MERCURY, PEROXIDE 
 
 TOT, PROTOXIDE . 
 
 TIN, PEROXIDE 
 
 COLUMBIUM . 
 
 PALLADIUM . . 
 
 TELLURIUM . 
 
 MOLYBDENUM 
 
 An immediate preci- 
 pitate, soluble in 
 Ammonia. 
 
 An immediate white 
 precipitate. 
 
 No immediate precipi- 
 tate, but after a time 
 a granular one. 
 
 A greenish precipi- 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in Ammonia. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 but none in the Par- 
 chloride. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A dark color, and 
 shortly the Gold is 
 - precipitated. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A* white precipitato, 
 caused by water. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in a great ex- 
 cess. 
 
 A brown precipitate, 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 A while precipitate, 
 soluble in a great ex- 
 
 A yellowish precipi- 
 tate, soluble in excess. 
 
 A greenish yellow pi 
 cipitate, rendered 
 black by an excess and 
 at length dissolves. 
 
 A fine scarlet precipi- 
 tate, soluble in excess 
 and in Muriatic Acid. 
 
 A deep brown color, 
 an d p r e cipitate ,whioh 
 boiling reduces. 
 
 A dark color, and a 
 yellowish precipitate. 
 
 A yellowish precipi- 
 tate, turning Ted, 
 soluble in excess. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A greenish precipi- 
 tate, soluble in Muri- 
 atic Acid. 
 
 Dissolves the Oxide. 
 
 Turns darker, hut is 
 not precipitated. 
 
 i precipitate, 
 
 .soluble. 
 
 No precipitate, except 
 from the water of so- 
 lution. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 unless the solution 
 be diluted ; soluble 
 in water. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 partial. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 Fused with it, the Ox- 
 ide remains after 
 boiling. 
 
 No precipitate or ac- 
 tion. 
 
 Fused with the Bisul- 
 phate, the whole dis- 
 solves in water. 
 
 An orange yellow pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 No precipitate or ac- 
 tion. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate, 
 soluble in Potash. 
 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A greenish white pre- 
 cipitate, soluble- in 
 Ammonia. 
 
 A yellow precipitate, 
 soluble in Ammonia. 
 
 X white precipitate. 
 
 A white precipitate in 
 most . but n on e in the 
 Perchloride. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 No precipitate. 
 A white precipitate. 
 A white precipitate. 
 
 A light green prectpi- 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 A white Boeculent pre- 
 cipitate. 
 
 Does not forma double 
 salt. 
 
CHEMISTRY— Continued. 
 
 [827 
 
 METALLIC ZINC. 
 
 It precipitated at small 
 metallic spangles. 
 
 Precipitates in A oryfltal- 
 line metallic state. 
 
 Precipitates it from the 
 
 milky solution evuu us a 
 spongy mass. 
 
 Zinc nnd Iron both preci- 
 pitate metallic copper 
 from all its solutions. 
 
 Is precipitated in a metal- 
 lic state. 
 
 Forms a gray coating, 
 which is on amalgam. 
 
 Same as Protoxide. 
 
 A black metallic powder. 
 
 A brown bulky coating. 
 
 Small grayish white spun- 
 gleB of Tin. 
 
 A white jelly, Hydrogen 
 Gas is disengaged. 
 
 Precipitated in the form 
 of ti black powder. 
 
 No precipitate. 
 
 Precipitated as a dark 
 powder. 
 
 Precipitated from the dou- 
 ble Chloride of Rhodium 
 and Soda. 
 
 Precipitate! in a metallic 
 state. 
 
 Precipitated as a dark 
 powder. 
 
 Is precipitated as a black 
 powder. 
 
 A deep blue color is pro- 
 duced. 
 
 In Muriatic Acid a blue 
 Oxide is formed. 
 
 In a Muriatic solution of 
 the acid a blue and red 
 powder. 
 
 BEFORE THE BLOWPIPE. 
 
 Heated with Soda on charcoal, in the 
 inner flame a brownish red powder 
 BublimeB. 
 
 Heated on charcoal with Soda, Is re- 
 duced to metallic globules, which are 
 mallenble, a yellow powder sublimes 
 —produces clear glass with Borax. ' 
 
 On charcoal are easily reduced to 
 brittle metallic globules— a yellow 
 Oxide sublimes ; with Borax, a clear 
 glass. 
 
 Onfer flame with Borax, a fine green 
 bead ; inner flume- dirty red ; with 
 Soda is reduced. 
 
 With Borax in the outer flume, a 
 milky glass ; with Soda is easily 
 reduced. 
 
 Heated in a glass tube with a little 
 Soda, Mercury sublimes and con- 
 denses m small globules. 
 
 Same as Protoxide. 
 
 Completely reduced, but gives no 
 color to fluxeB or flame. 
 
 Same as Pint inn, insoluble ii 
 except Nitro-Muriatie. 
 
 Easily reduced with Soda; deprives 
 a bead of Copper and MicTocosmic 
 Salt of its green color. 
 
 Reduced on charcoal; forma a white 
 enamel with glass; does not dissolve 
 easily in Borax. 
 
 Reduced with Soda, rapidly oxidizes 
 and sublimes in the outer name as a 
 thick white smoke. 
 
 A fine emerald green bend, both in 
 the inner and outer flame, with 
 fluxeB. 
 
 In the inner flame, with Borax, a 
 green glass • outer becomes yellow. 
 
 Effervercet with Soda ; a clear class 
 with Borax, 01 the Phosphoric Salt. 
 
 No action with fluxes; no odor; 
 be cupelled with lead. 
 
 No action with fluxes. 
 
 Samo as Rhodium. 
 
 Gives a strong odor of Chlorine ; haw 
 no action with fluxeB ; may bo cu- 
 pelled with lead. 
 
 A white glass when cold, with flux- 
 eB ; fumes when heated alone. 
 
 With Soda, a yellow glass, opaque 
 when cold, with Borax, and inner 
 flame a blue glass. 
 
 With Borax, a clear glass in the outer 
 flame, yellow in the Inner; blood- 
 red with Iron and Phosphorous Salt. 
 
 On Platinum with Borax, a clear yel- 
 low glass, outer flame dirty green ; 
 not volatile. 
 
 Sublimes as a white powder ; a clear 
 glass with Borax. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Distinguished by Sulphuretted Hydrogen, and may be sepa- 
 rated from all the above by a bar of Zinc. 
 
 Solutions of Lead give a precipitate with Sulphuric Acid and 
 Sulphates, and therefore may be distinguished from most 
 other metals. Muriatic Acid also precipitates Lead, but wa- 
 ter dissolves the precipitate. 
 
 May be detected by giving a precipitate with water alone, and 
 by its reaction with Potash and Sulphuretted Hydrogen, 
 
 Salts of Copper can be eosilydistinguishedfrom other 3altaby 
 their behavior with Ammonia ana Potash. 
 
 Muriatic Acid throws down a white precipitate insoluble in 
 acids, but soluble in Ammonia, which distinguishes it from all 
 other substances. 
 
 Muriatic Acid give* a white precipitnte insoluble ha aeids, 
 which Ammonia renders black but does not dissolve ; by this 
 it may be distinguished. 
 
 Persalts of Mercury are easily recognised by Sulphuretted 
 Hydrogen and Iodide of Potassium. 
 
 Easily recognized by its behavior with Potash and Ammonia; 
 may be separated by Muriate of Potash. 
 
 Pro to chloride of Tin gives a deep purple color and precipitate. 
 Sulphate of Iron throws down the Gold, which distinguishes 
 it from most other metals. 
 
 The behavior of these Salts with Gold, as above, is sufficient 
 to distinguish them. 
 
 The Peroxide is insoluble in all acids after ignition ; Nitric 
 Acid oxidizes Tin, but does not dissolve the oxide. 
 
 The Oxide is volatile and insoluble in Nitric Acid ; may be dis- 
 tinguished from Tin by Sulphnretted Hydrogen ; water only 
 precipitates part of the Oxide. 
 
 Its solutions are usually green, and may be distinguished from 
 most other solutions by Sulphuretted Hydrogen, 
 
 All its salts have a blue color; distinguished from Iron byHy- 
 droBulphate of Ammonia. 
 
 When fused with Caustic or Carbonated Alkali* the whole is 
 soluble in water. 
 
 Fused with Carbonate of Potash, the result is not soluble in 
 water, but dissolves in Muriatic Acid, producing various 
 colors. 
 
 Insoluble in acids after ignition; distinguished and separated 
 
 SBisulphate of Potash ; the double Chloride is soluble in 
 cohol. 
 
 The Cyanide of Mercury will easily separate Palladium as a 
 yellow precipitate ■ the Chloride is soiuble in Alcohol. 
 
 Tincture of Galls gives a purple precipitate ; separated by 
 distillation. 
 
 May be separated from most other metals, combined with 
 Chlorine or Hydrogen — both compounds being volatile. 
 
 Is precipitated by boiling ; distinguished from other metals by 
 its behavior with Tartaric Acid and Hydrosulphate of Am- 
 monia. 
 
 Sulphuric, Nitric, and Muriatic Acids precipitate id Alkaline 
 solutions white, 'turning yellow when boiled with Nitro- 
 Muriatic Acid, 
 
 Separated from most metals by dissolving in Carbonate of 
 Ammonia or Soda ; its solutions ore green. 
 
 Distinguished by Carbonates, but separated by Hydrosulphate 
 of Ammonia. 
 
820 TESTS. 
 
 until it is released. The motion of the armature is transferred to a-notched wheel, tht 
 spindle of which carries the hand on the dial. In the same case with each telegraph is 
 an alarum, which is also worked by the electric circuity only at the time when the com- 
 mutator arm is placed in the position of " rest," and that of another station is moved on 
 " telegraphs." The alarum continues to sound until the arm of the telegraph, which is 
 to receive a message, is also placed on the telegraph, when the instruments begin to 
 work, making about 85 revolutions, or 1,050 double strokes of the armature per 
 minute. 
 
 Printing telegraphs are also worked by the eleetrie current only, without the aid of 
 clockwork. Their arrangement is similar to that of the indicating telegraph. In place 
 of the hand on the dial, there is a type wheel with SO springs, each carrying a type ; it 
 stops with the hand of the indicating telegraph, at which moment a hammer placed 
 below the wheel strikes against it, and prints the letter on a strip of paper, which passes 
 over a blackened roller turning round with it so as always to offer new surfaces to the 
 hammer. The hammer is worked by a magnet, which is excited by the same battery 
 which porks the type wheel: its current is continually broken and restored by the 
 movements of the armature of the type wheel ; but as the type wheel stops, the current 
 becomes permanent, and accumulates sufficient power to raise the hammer, which in so 
 doing breaks its own current and falls back again. 
 
 The printing telegraph is placed always by the side of the indicating telegraph, and 
 records each message on both or all stations. 
 
 By this means mistakes in the transmission of the messages are made morally im 
 possible. The current being always broken on both or all the stations, currents arising 
 from bad insulation of the line wire will not influence the harmonious working of the 
 instruments, as long as these currents are not strong enough to work one or the other 
 instruments by their own action, and the receiver of the message will always be able to 
 interrupt and speak to the communicator. Besides, an unlimited number of telegraphs 
 and other instruments for communicating particular signals may be included in the 
 circuit of the same line-wire. 
 
 2. Another telegraph is peculiarly adapted to record on both stations the message 
 delivered by the common English needle telegraph. Two magnets by means of two pins 
 make dots in two different lines on a strip of paper which is moved by clockwork. Dots 
 on the upper line correspond with a movement of the needle to the right, and dots on 
 the lower line correspond with that to the left. 
 
 Instead of needle telegraphs peculiar communicating instruments may be used, con 
 sisting either of a pair of keys only, or of a complete key-board, which by pressing down 
 one of them causes the conventional sign representing the letter marked on it to be . 
 printed in a double line of dots. 
 
 3. A double needle telegraph, with electro-magnets and worked by one line-wire. 
 
 4. An alarum, by which intermediate stations, when excluded from the line-wire, may 
 be called into the circuit. 
 
 6. An alarum with two large cast-iron bells, which are placed on level crossings, Ac, 
 along railways and serve to announce the departure of each train along the line. The 
 bells are surrounded by clockwork, which is released by a current of longer duration 
 than is required to work the telegraphs. 
 
 6. An instrument which is used to detect bad insulation in the gutta percha coated 
 line- wire. 
 
 1. A galvanometer to test the insnlation of the line-wire, and another by which 
 defects in the line-wire may be pointed out, without leaving the end stations. 
 
 8. Gutta percha coated electric line-wire, which was first invented by Mr. Sumens, 
 and applied by him on a large scale, since 184V. 
 
 9. An improved Morse's-telegraph worked by secondary power. 
 TELLURIUM, is a metal too rare and high-priced to be used in the arts. 
 TERRA-COTTA, literally baked clay, is the name give to statues, architectural 
 
 decorations, figures, vases, &c, modelled or east in a paste made of pipe or potter's clay and 
 a fine-grained colorless sand, from Ryegate with pulverized potsherds, slowly dried in the 
 air, and afterward fired to a stony hardness in a proper kiln. See Stonjv Akhficiai. 
 
 TERRA DI SIENA is a brown ferruginous ochre, employed in painting. 
 
 TEST LIQUORS. To reduce an alkaline, acid, or a neutral saline solution of a 
 certain strength to one of any other strength. Let a =- the given strength per cent, of 
 one liquid ; 6 — 100 ; c — the desired strength ; x — the volume of the diluted solution. 
 
 Example. Let an alkaline solution contain 40 per cent, of alkali : if it is to be reduced 
 
 to one containing 24 per cent, then the above formula gives a — x — — — =» 166-6 
 
 c 24 
 
 hence if 100 measures of the liquid <t be diluted into 166 measures, it will then contain 
 84 per cent. 
 TESTS, are, chemical reagents of any kind, which indicate, by special characters. 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 821 
 
 the nature of any substance, simple or compound. See Assay, the several metals, 
 acids, &e. 
 
 TEXTILE FABRICS The first business of the weaver is to adapt those parts of 
 his loom which move the warp, to the formation of the various kinds of ornamental figures 
 whiob. the cloth is intended to exhibit. This subject is called the draught, drawing or read- 
 ing in, and the cording of looms. In every species of weaving, whether direct or cross, 
 the whole difference of pattern or effect is produced, either by the succession in which the 
 threads of warp are introduced into the heddles, or by the succession in which thoie heddloa 
 are moved in the working. The heddles being stretched between two shafts of wood, all 
 the heddles connected by the same shafts are called a leaf; and as the operation of in- 
 troducing the warp into any number of leaves is called drawing a warp, the plan of suc- 
 cession is called the draught. When this operation has been performed correctly, the next 
 part of the. weaver's business is to connect the different leaves with the levers or treddles 
 by which they are to be moved, so that one or more may be raised or sunk by every 
 treddle successively, as may be required to produce the peculiar pattern. These connex- 
 ions being made by coupling the different parts of the apparatus by cords, this operation 
 is called the cording. In order to direct the operator in this part of his business, 
 especially if previously unacquainted withihe particular pattern upon which he is employed, 
 plans are drawn upon paper, specimens of which will be found in figs. 1420, 1421, &c. 
 
 £ 
 
 1421 
 
 
 
 1 1 c 
 
 1 1 1 c 
 
 I i c ! 
 
 1 1 a .: 
 
 
 1 1 I 
 
 1 O' 
 
 .-...--. 
 
 These plans are horizontal sections of a loom, the 
 heddles being represented across the paper at a, and 
 the treddles under them, and crossing them at right 
 angles, at b. In figs. 1420 and 1421, they are re- 
 presented as if they were distinct pieces of wood, 
 those across being the under shaft of each leaf of 
 heddles, and those at the left hand the treddles. 
 See Weaving. In actual weaving, the treddles are 
 placed at right angles to the heddles, the sinking 
 cords descending perpendicularly as nearly as pos- 
 sible to the centre of the latter. Placing them at the 
 left hand, therefore, is only for ready inspection, and 
 for practical convenience. At c a few threads of .warp 
 i**fjf78 are shown as they pass through the heddles, and the 
 thick lines denote the leaf with which each thread is connected. Thus, in fig. 1420, the 
 right-hand thread, next to a, passes through the eye of a heddle upon the back leaf, and is 
 disconnected with all the other leaves; the next thread passes through a heddle on the second 
 leaf; the third, through the third leaf; the fourth, through the fourth leaf; and the fifth, 
 through the fifth or front leaf. One set of the draught being now completed, the weaver 
 recommences with the back leaf, and proceeds in the same succession again to the front. 
 Two sets of the draught are represented in this figure, and the same succession, it is 
 understood by weavers (who seldom draw more than one set), must be repeated until all 
 the warp is included. When they proceed to apply the cords, the right-hand part of the 
 plan at 6 serves as a guide. In all the plans shown by these figures, excepting one which 
 shall be noticed, a connexion must be formed, by cording, between every leaf of heddles and 
 every treddle ; for all the leaves must either rise or sink. The raising motion is effected 
 by coupling the leaf to one end of its correspondent top lever ; the other end of this 
 lever is tied to the long march below, and this to the treddle. The sinking connexion 
 is carried directly from under the leaf to the treddle. To direct a weaver which of 
 these connexions is to be formed with each treddle, a black spot is placed when a leaf b 
 to be raised, where the leaf and treddle intersect each other upon the plan, and the 
 sinking connexions are left blank. For example, to cord the treddle 1, to the back 
 leaf, put a raising cord, and to each of the other four, sinking cords ; for the treddle 2, 
 raise the second leaf, and sink the remaining four, and so of the rest ; the spot always 
 denoting the leaf or leaves to be raised. The figs. 1420, and 1421, are drawn for the 
 purpose of rendering the general principle of this kind of plans familiar to those who 
 have not been previously acquainted with them ; but those who have been accustomed 
 to manufacture and weave ornamented cloths, never consume time by representing 
 either heddles or treddles as solid or distinct bodies. They content themselves with 
 ruling a number of lines across a piece of paper, sufficient to make the intervals between 
 these lines represent the number of leaves required. Upon these intervals, they merely 
 mark the succession of the draught, without producing every line to resemble a thread 
 of warp. At the left hand, they draw as many lines across the former as will afford an 
 interval for each treddle ; and in the squares produced by the intersections of these Hues, 
 they place the dots, spots, or ciphers which denote the raising cords. It is also common 
 to continue the cross lines which denote the treddle a considerable length beyond the 
 intersections, and to mark by dots, placed diagonally in the intervals, the order or sue- 
 
822 
 
 TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 cession in which the treddles are to be pressed down in weaving. The fonuer of thes« 
 modes has been adopted in the remaining figs, to 1429; but to save room, the latter 
 has been avoided, and the succession marked by the order of the figures under the 
 intervals which denote the treddles. 
 
 Some explanation of the various kinds of fanciful cloths represented by these plans, 
 may seisve further to illustrate this subject, which is, perhaps, the most important of any 
 connected with the manufacture of cloth, and will also enable a person who thoroughly 
 studies them, readily to acquire a competent knowledge of the other varieties in weaving, 
 which are boundless. Figs. 1420 and 1421 represent the draught and cording of the 
 two varieties of tweeled cloth wrought with five leaves of heddles. The first is tne re 
 gular or run tweel, which, as every leaf rises in regular succession, while the rest are 
 sunk, interweaves the warp and woof only at every fifth interval, and as the succession 
 is uniform, the cloth, when woven, presents the appearance of parallel diagonal lines, at 
 an angle of about 45° over the whole surface. A tweel may have the regularity of its 
 diagonal lines broken by applying the cording as in fig. 1421. It will be observed, that 
 in both figures the draught of the warp is precisely the same, and that the whole differ- 
 ence of the two plans consists in the order of placing the spots denoting the raising cords, 
 the first being regular and successive, and the second alternate. 
 
 Figs. 1422 and 1423 are the iiegular and broken tweels which may be produced with 
 eight leaves. This properly is the tweel denominated satin in the silk manufacture. 
 
 1422 
 
 1423 
 
 ZZZiZZZ. 
 
 I I lo " 
 
 " o ~i r " 
 
 ZZiZIZZ- 
 
 1ZZ4S67S 
 
 ~515o 5 
 
 although many webs 
 of silk wrought with 
 only five- leaves re- 
 ceive that appella- 
 tion. Some of the 
 finest Florentine 
 silks are tweelei 
 with sixteen leaves- 
 
 ( ■ ' 
 
 ■t 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 j 1 1 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o|<3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 1° 
 
 
 °l 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 O 
 
 °l°l 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * J 
 
 3 
 
 A 
 
 S 
 
 t 
 
 2 
 
 3 a a 
 
 When the broken tweel of eight leaves is nsed, the effect is much superior to what 
 could be produced by a smaller number ; for in this, two leaves are passed in every in- 
 terval, which gives a much nearer resemblance to plain cloth than the others. For this 
 reason it is preferred in weaving the finest damasks. The draught of the eight-leaf 
 tweel differs in nothing from the others, excepting in the number of leaves. The differ- 
 ence of the cording in the broken tweel, will appear by inspecting the ciphers which 
 mark the raisins cords, and comparing them with those of the broken tweel of five 
 leaves. Fig. 1424 represents the draught and cording of striped dimity of a tweel of 
 five leaves. This is the most simple species of fanciful tweeling. It consists of ten 
 1424 leaves, or double the number of the common tweel. 
 
 These ten leaves are moved by only five treddles, in 
 the same manner as a common tweel. The stripe is 
 formed by one set of the leaves flushing the warp, 
 and the other set, the woof. The figure represents 
 a stripe formed by ten threads, alternately drawn 
 through each of the two sets of leaves. In this case, 
 the stripe and the intervals will be equally broad, 
 and what is the stripe upon one side of the cloth, will be the interval upon the other, 
 and vice versa. But great variety of patterns may be introduced by drawing the warp 
 in greater or smaller portions through either set. The tweel is of the regular kind, 
 but may be broken by placing the cording as in fig. 1421. It will be observed that 
 the cording-marks of the lower or front leaves are exactly the converse of the other 
 set; for where a raising mark is placed upon one, it is marked for sinking in the other ; 
 that is to say, the mark is omitted ; and all leaves which sink in the one, are marked 
 for raising in the other : thus, one thread rises in succession in the back set, and 
 1425 four sink ; but in the front set, four rise, and only 
 
 [7gM=y =y J js] =!— ™ nBII81l "g l P =»| one sinks. Tie woof, of course, passing over the 
 ealH"^ 'JS~ I'^SgES four sunk threads, and under the raised one, in the 
 £ff^|-5[5j3 i i T :K 'P~' ~ --3IH nrst instance, is flushed above; but where the re- 
 gM^ ' _i " - ■ ID • verse takes place, as in the second, it is flushed 
 
 ea sSpBlMHp tlr jg- below ; and thus the appearance of a stripe is formed. 
 
 LJ— ' ^^ ^^ uiiMLJMD >p ne ana i gy subsisting between striped dimity and 
 dornock is so great, that before noticing the plan for 
 fancy dimity, it may be proper to allude to the dornock, the plan of which is represented 
 by fig. 1425. 
 
 The draught of dornock is precisely the same in every respect with that of stripefl 
 dimity. It also consists of two sets of tweeling-heddles, whether three, four, or five 
 leaves are used for each set. The right hand set of treddles is also corded exactly in the 
 same way, as will appear by comparing them. But as the dimity is a continued stripi 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 S23 
 
 from the beginning lo the end of the web, only five treddles are required to move ten 
 leaves. The dornock being checker-work, the weaver must possess the power of re- 
 versing this at pleasure. He therefore adds five more treddles, the cording of which is 
 exactly the reverse of the former; that is to say, the back leaves, in the former case, 
 having one leaf raised, and four sunk, have, by working with these additional treddles, 
 one leaf sunk and four leaves raised. The front leaves are in the same manner reversed, 
 and the mounting is complete. So long as the weaver continues to work with either 
 set, a stripe will be formed, as in the dimity ; but when he changes his feet, from one set 
 to the other, the whole effect is reversed, and the checkers formed. The dornock pat. 
 tern upon the design-paper, fig. 1425, may he thus explained: let every square of the 
 design represent five threads upon either set of the heddles, which are said by weavers 
 to be once over the draught, supposing the tweel to be one of five leaves; draw three 
 parallel lines, as under, to form two intervals, each representing one of the sets ; the 
 draught will then be as follows: — 
 
 The above is exactly so much of the pattern as is there laid down, to show its ap- 
 pearance ; hut one whole range of the pattern is completed by the figure 1, nearest to 
 the right hand upon the lower interval between the lines, and the remaining figures, 
 nearer to the right, form the beginning of a second range or set. These are to be re- 
 peated in the same way across the whole warp. The lower interval represents the five 
 front leaves ; the upper interval, the five back ones. The first figure 4, denotes that five 
 threads are to be successively drawn upon the back leaves, and this operation repeated 
 four times. The first figure 4, in the lower interval, expresses that the same is to be 
 done upon the front leaves; and each figure, by its diagonal position, shows how often, 
 and in what succession, five threads are to be drawn upon the leaves which the interval 
 in which it is placed represents. 
 
 Dornocks of more extensive patterns are sometimes woven with 3, 4, 5, and even 6 
 sets of leaves; but after the leaves exceed 15 in number, they both occupy an incon- 
 venient space, and are very unwieldy to work. For these reasons the diaper harness is 
 in almost every instance preferred. 
 
 Fig. 1426 represents the draught and cording of a fanciful species of dimity, in 
 which it will be observed that the warp is not drawn directly from the back 
 1426 to the front leaf, as in the former examples ; but 
 
 when it has arrived at either external leaf, the draught 
 is reversed, and returns gradually to the other. The 
 same draught is frequently used in tweeling, when it 
 is wished that the diagonal lines should appear upon 
 the cloth in a zigzag direction. This plan exhibits 
 the draught and cording which will produce the pat- 
 tern upon the design-paper in fig. 1420, a. Were all 
 the squares produced by the intersection of the lines denoting the leaves and treddles 
 where the raised dots are placed, filled the same as on the design, they would produce 
 the effect of exactly one fourth of that pattern. This is caused by the reversing of the 
 draught, which gives the other side reversed as on the design ; and when all the treddles, 
 from 1 to 16, have been successively used in the working, one half of the pattern will 
 become complete. The weaver then goes again over his treddles, in the reversed order 
 of the numbers, from 17 to 30, when the other half of the pattern will be completed. 
 From this similarity of the cording to the design, it is easy, when a design is given, to 
 m3,ke out the draught and cording proper to work it; and when the cording is given, to 
 see its effect upon the design. 
 
 Fig. 1427 represents the draught of the diaper mounting, and the cording of the front 
 
 ! -i < leaves, which are moved by treddles. From the plan, 
 
 it will appear that 5 threads are included in every 
 
 mail of the harness, and that these are drawn in 
 
 single threads through the front leaves. The cording 
 
 forms an exception to the general rules, that when one 
 
 or more leaves are raised, all the rest must be sunk ; 
 
 for in this instance, one leaf rises, one sinks, and three 
 
 remain stationary. An additional mark, therefore, is used in this plan. The dots, as 
 
 formerly, denote raising cords ; the blanks, sinking cords ; and where the cord is to be 
 
 totally omitted, the cross marks X are placed. 
 
 Fig. 1428 is the draught and cording of a spot whose two sides are similar, hut re- 
 
 
 
 •I'M l-l-'-l j II 
 
 p 
 
 iS 
 
824 
 
 TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 1428 
 
 
 
 
 -rr 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 or 
 
 Tp 
 
 
 XX 
 
 
 Tfir 
 
 
 1 1 II 1 1 1 
 
 1429 
 
 versed. That upon the plan forms a diamond, similar to the one drawn upon the de- 
 sign, paper in the diagram, but smaller in Bize. The draught here is reversed, as in the 
 dimity plan, and the treading is also to be reversed, after arriving at 6, to complete the 
 diamond. Like it, too, the raising marks form one fourth of the pattern. In weaving 
 spots, they are commonly placed at intervals, with a portion of plain cloth between 
 them, and in alternate rows, the spots of one row being between those of the 
 other. But as intervals of plain cloth must take place, both by the warp and woof, 2 
 leaves are added for that purpose. The front, or ground leaf, includes every second 
 thread of the whole warp; the second, or plain leaf, that part which forms the inter- 
 vals by the warp. The remaining leaves form the spots ; the first six being allotted to 
 one row of spots, and the second six to the next row; where each spot is in the centre be. 
 
 Uveen the former. The reversed draught of the first 
 
 is shown entire, and is succeeded by 12 threads of 
 
 plain. One half of the draught of the next row is 
 
 then given, which is to be completed exactly like the 
 
 first, and succeeded by 12 threads more of plain; 
 
 when, one set of the pattern being finished, the same 
 
 succession is to be repeated over the whole warp. 
 
 As spots are formed by inserting woof of coarser 
 
 dimensions than that which forms the fabric, every second thread only is allotted for the 
 
 spotting. Those included in the front, or ground leaf, are represented by lines, and the 
 
 spot threads between them, by marks in the intervals, as in the other plans. 
 
 The treddles necessary to work this spot are, in number, 14. Of these, the two in the 
 centre a, b, when pressed alternately, will produce plain cloth ; for 6 raises the front leaf, 
 which includes half of the warp, and sinks all the rest ; while a exactly reverses the opera- 
 tion. The spot-treddles on the right hand work the 
 row contained in the first six-spot leaves ; and those 
 upon the left hand, the row contained in the second 
 six. In working spots, one thread, or shot of spotting- 
 woof, and two of plain, are successively inserted, by 
 means of two separate shuttles. 
 Dissimilar spots, are those whose sides are qwitc 
 different fiom each other. The draught only of these is represented by fig. 1429. 
 The cording depends entirely upon the figure. 
 
 Fig. 1430 represents any solid body composed of parts lashed together. If the 
 
 darkened squares be supposed to be beams of wood, connected by cordage, they will 
 
 give a precise idea of textile fabric. The beams cannot come into actual contact, 
 
 because, if the lashing cords were as fine even as human hairs, they must still require 
 
 1430 space. The thickness is that of one 
 
 ^^S^^mm MM WW -¥=^1 b eam an( j ( W0 cords; but it is not 
 possible in practical weaving to bring every thread of weft into actual contact. It 
 may therefore be assumed, that the thickness is equal to the diameter of one thread of 
 the warp, added to that of one yarn of the weft ; and when these are equal, the thick- 
 1431 ness of the cloth is double of that diame- 
 
 ter. Denser cloth would not be. suffi- 
 ciently pliant or flexible. 
 Fig. 1431 is a representation of a sec- 
 tion of cloth of an open fabric, where the round dots whicn represent the warp are placed 
 at a considerable distance from each other. 
 
 Fig. 1432 may be supposed a plain fabric of that description which approaches the 
 most nearly to any idea we can form of the most dense or close contact of which yarn 
 can be made susceptible. Here the warp is supposed to be so tightly stretched in 
 1432 the loom as to retain entirely the 
 
 parallel state, without any curvature, 
 and the whole flexure is therefore 
 given to the woof. This mode of 
 weaving can never really exist ; but if the warp be sufficiently strong to bear any tight 
 stretching, and the woof be spun very soft and flexible, something very near it may be 
 produced. This way of making cloth is well fitted for those goods which require to 
 give considerable warmth ; but they are sometimes the means of very gross fraud and 
 imposition ; for if the warp is made of very slender threads, and the woof of slackly 
 twisted cotton or woollen yarn, where the fibrils of the stuff, being but slightly brought 
 into contact, are rough and oozy, a great appearance of thickness and strength may'be 
 given to the eye, when the cloth is absolutely so flimsy, that it may be torn asunder as 
 easily as a sheet of writing-paper. Many frauds of this kind are practised. 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 825 
 
 } a fy- 1433 ia given a representation of the position of a fabric of cloth in section, ai 
 it is in the loom before the warp has been closed upon the woof, which still appears as a 
 1433 straight line. This figure may use- 
 
 fully illustrate the direction and ratio 
 of contraction which must unsyroidably 
 take place in every kind of cloth, ac- 
 9 " io H a iz S * cording io the density of the texture, 
 
 the dimensions of the threads, and the description of the cloth. Let a, b, represent one 
 thread of woof complclelv stretched by the velocity of the shuttle in passing between 
 the threads of warp which are represented by the round dots 1, 2, &c, and three 
 distinguished by 8, 9, &c. When these threads are closed by the operation of vhr 
 heddles to form the inner texture, the first tendency will be to move in the direction 
 1, 6, 2, 6, &c, for those above, and in that of 8 a, 9 a, &c, for those below ; but the 
 contraction for a, b, by its deviation from a straight to a curved line, in consequence 
 of the compression of the warp threads 1 6, 2 6, &c, and la,2a, &c, in closing, will 
 produce, by the action of the two powers at right angles to each other, the oblique oi 
 diagonal direction denoted by the lines 1, 8 — 2, 9, to the left, for the threads above, 
 and that expressed by the lines 2, 8 — 3, 9, &c, to the right, for the threads below 
 Now, as the whole deviation is produced by the flexure of the thread A, b, if a is sup- 
 posed to be placed at the middle of the cloth, equidistant from the two extremities, or 
 selvages, as they are called by weavers, the thread at 1 may be supposed to move really 
 in the direction 1 b, and all the others to approach lo it in the directions represented, 
 whilst those to the right would approach in the same ratio, but the line of approxima- 
 1434 tion would be inverted. Fig. 1434 
 
 represents that common fabric used 
 for lawns, muslins, and the middle 
 kinO of goods, the excellence of which neither consists in the greatest strength, nor in 
 the grea^st transparency. It is entirely a medium between fig. 1431 am f.g. 1432. 
 
 In the efi'oii? to give great strength and thickness to cloth, it will be ohvious that the 
 common mode of vv^aving, by constant intersection of warp and woof, although it may 
 be perhaps the best which can be devised for the former, presents invincible obstruc- 
 tions to the latter, beyond a certain limit. To remedy this, two modes of weaving are 
 in common use, which, while they add to the power of compressing a great quantity of 
 materials in a small compass, possess the additional advantage of affording much facility 
 for adding ornament to the superficies of the fabric. The first of these is double cloth, 
 or two webs woven together, and joined by the operation. This is chiefly used for 
 1435 carpets; and its geometrical prin- 
 
 » ™ | -~|g^ g^^^ ag ^ -^^ ^g^^^^^g^^ ciples are entirely the same as those 
 
 '" ' ' ~" " of plain cloth, supposing the webs 
 
 to be sewed together. A section of the cloth will be found in fig. 1435. See Carpet. 
 Of the simplest kind of tweeled fabrics, a section is given in fig. 1436., 
 The great and prominent advantage of the tweeled fabric, in point of texture, arises 
 from the facility with which a very great quantity of materials may be put closely to- 
 gether. In the figure, the warp is 
 represented by the dots in the same 
 straight line as in the plain fabrics ; 
 but if we consider the direction and 
 ratio of contraction, upon principles 
 similar to tluse laid dqwn in the explanation given oCfig. 1433, we shall readily discover 
 the very different way in which the tweeled fabric is affected. 
 
 When the dotted lines are drawn at a, b, c, d, their direction of contraction, instead 
 of being upon every second or alternate thread, is only upon every fifth thread, and 
 the natural tendency would consequently be, to bring the whole into the form repre- 
 sented by the lines and dotted circles at a, b, c, d. In point, then, of thickness, from 
 the upper to the under superficies, it is evident that the whole fabric has increased in 
 the ratio of nearly three to one. On the other hand, it will appear, that four threads 
 or cylinders heing thus pUt together in one solid mass, might be supposed only one 
 thread, or like the strands of a rope before it is twisted ; but, to remedy this, the thread 
 being shifted every time, the whole forms a body in which much aggregate matter is 
 compressed; but where, being less firmly united, the accession of strength acquired by the 
 accumulation of materials is partially counteracted by the want of equal firmness of 
 junction. 
 The second quality of the tweeled fabric, susceptibility of receiving ornament, arises 
 1437 from its capability of being inverted at 
 
 li«sM5--mAa>-^^aas»/ej(-t~-.Qfl_0£QC = ° pleasure, as in fig. 1437. In this figure 
 
 "a^ffi^llllh^aa RSS3 tt s==lBB J<iiW we have, as before, four threads, and one 
 
 * a J ■» alternately intersected; but here the 
 
 Vol. II. 54 
 
880 
 
 TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 four threads marked 1 and 2 are under the woof, while thoBe marked 8 and 4 arc 
 
 AilOTfi 
 
 Fiq 1438 represents that kind of tweeled work which produces an ornamental effect, 
 and adds even to the strength of a fabric, in so far as accumulation of matter can be 
 1438 considered in that light The figure 
 
 represents a piece of velvet cut in 
 section, and of that kind which, be- 
 ing woven upon a tweeled ground, 
 is known by the name of Genoa velvet. 1st, Because, by combining a great quantity 
 of material in a small compass, they afford great warmth. 2d. From the gresl resist 
 ance which they oppose to external friction, they are very durable. And 3d. Because, 
 from the very nature of the texture, they afford the finest means of rich ornamental deco- 
 ration. 
 
 The use of velvet cloths in cold weather is a sufficient proof of the truth of the first. 
 The manufacture of plash, corduroy, and other stuffs for the dress of those exposed to the 
 accidents of laborious employment, evinces the second ; and the ornamented velvets and 
 Wilton carpeting are demonstrative of the third of these positions. 
 
 In the figure, the diagonal form which both the warp and woof of cloth assume, is very 
 apparent from the smallness of the scale. Besides what this adds to the strength of the 
 cloth, the flushed part, which appears interwoven at the darkly shaded intervals, 1, 2, &c, 
 forms, when finished, the whole covering or upper surface. The principle, in so far as 
 regards texture, is entirely the same as any other tweeled fabric. 
 
 Fig. 1439, which represents cordcr:y, or king's cord, is merely striped velvet. The 
 
 principle is the same, and the figure shows that the one is a copy of the other. The re- 
 
 ijgg inaining figures represent those kinds of 
 
 .vork which are of the most flimsy and 
 
 , open description of texture ; those in 
 
 which neither strength, warmth, nor du- 
 
 2 Z * s 6 7 a lability is much required, and of which 
 openness and transparency are the chief recommendations. 
 
 Fig. 1440 represents common gauze, or linau, a substance very much used for various 
 purposes. The essential difference between this description of cloth and all others, con- 
 sists in the warp being turned or twisted 
 like a rope during the operation of weav- 
 ing, and hence it bears a considerable 
 analogy to lace. The twining of gauze is 
 not continued in the same direction, hut is alternately from right to left, and cxe versa, 
 between every intersection of the woof. The fabric of gauze is always open, dimsy, and 
 transparent ; but, from the turning of the warp, it possesses an uncommon degree of 
 strength and tenacity in proportion to the quantity of material which it contains. This 
 quality, together with the transparency of the fabric, renders it peculiarly adapted for or- 
 namental purposes of various kinds, particularly for flowering or figuring, either in the 
 loom, or by the needle. In the warp of gauze, there arises a much greater degree of 
 contraction during the weaving, than in any other species of cloth ; and this is produced 
 by the turning. The twisting between every intersection of weft amounts precisely to one 
 complete revolution of both threads ; hence this difference exists between this and every 
 1441 other species of weaving, namely, that the one 
 
 =^ 3 ^^ s *^ fcs ^* s *^ 6S ^ afe ^ a ^ B = the contiguous thread is always below. 
 
 Fig. 1441 represents a section of another species of twisted cloth, which is known by 
 the name of catgut, and which differs from the gauze only by being subjected to a greater 
 degree of twine in weaving ; for in place of one revolution between each intersection, a 
 revolution and a half is always £iven; and thus the warp is alternately above and below, 
 as in other kinds of weaving. 
 
 Fig. 1442 is a superficial representation of the most simple kind of ornamental net-work 
 produced in the loom. It is called a whip-net by weavers, who use the term whip for 
 
 any substance interwoven in cloth for 
 ornamental purposes, when ft is dis- 
 tinct from the ground of the fabric. 
 In this, the difference is merely in 
 the crossing of the warp; for it 
 very evident that the crossings at 1, 
 2, 3, 4, and 5, are of different threada 
 from those at 6, 7, 8, and 9. 
 Fig. 1443 represents, superficially, what is called the mail-net, and is merely a combi- 
 nation of common gauze and the whip-net in the same fabric. The gauze here being in 
 
 1440 
 
 1442 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 827 
 
 1443 the same direction as the dotted line 
 
 in the former figure, the whole falrio 
 is evidently a continued succession of 
 right-angled triangles, of which the 
 woof forms the basis, the gauze part 
 the perpendiculars, and the whip part 
 the hypotenuses. The contraction here being very different, it is necessary that the 
 gauze and whip parts should be stretched upon separate beams. 
 
 In order to design ornamental figures upon cloths, the lines which are drawn from the 
 lop to the bottom of the paper may be supposed to represent the warp ; and those drawn 
 across the woof of the web; any number of threads being supposed to be included be- 
 tween every two lines. The paper thus forms a double scale, by which, in the first in- 
 stance, the size and form of the pattern may be determined with great precision ; and 
 the whole subsequent operations of the weaver regulated, both in mounting and working 
 his loom. To enable the projector of a new pattern to judge properly of its effects, 
 when transferred from the paper to the cloth, it will be essentially necessary that he 
 should bear constantly in his view the comparative scale of magnitudo which the design 
 will bear in each, regulating his ideas always by square or superficial measurement. 
 Thus, in the large design, jig. 1444, representing a bird perched upon the branch of a 
 tree it will be proper, in the first place, to count the number of spaces from the point 
 of the bill to the extremity of the tail ; and to render this the more easy, it is to be 
 observed that every tenth line is drawn considerably bolder than the others. This 
 number in the design is 135 spaces. Counting again from the stem of the branch to 
 the upper part of the bird's head, he will find 76 spaces. Between these spaces, there- 
 
 1444 
 
 
 p§3S§p :>' .. -; 
 
 -jSiaii~i? :SiiB!! " !ii si F r 
 
 !;« ' i ■ 
 
 
 $;.'.i!.' 
 
 5KBmi 
 
 
 i 
 
 MB ■<■■■- > ; : l, k d i :± ataJM i 
 
 fore, the whole superficial measure of the pattern is contained. By the measure of the 
 paper, this may be easily tried with a pair of compasses, and will be found to be nearly 
 
 6* inohes in length by 3— 3 - inches in breadth. Now, if this is to be woven in a reed 
 
 To . . .-,18. , ' 
 
 containing 800 intervals in 37 inches, and if every interval contains five threads, sup- 
 posed to be contained between every two parallel lines, the length will be 6'24 inches, 
 and the breadth 3'52 inches nearly; so that the figure upon the eloth would be very 
 nearly of the same dimension as that upon the paper ; but if a 1200 reed were used, 
 instead of an 800, the dimensions would be proportionally contracted. 
 
 A correct idea being formed of the design, the weaver may proceed to mount his 
 loom according to the pattern ; and this is done by two persons, one of whom takes 
 from the design instructions necessary for the other to follow in tying his cords. 
 
 Fig. 1445 is a representation of the most simple species of table-linen, which is merely 
 
 SB 
 
 
 1445 B ^Sli 
 
 l!ll!|:iBa;iiHli::|lli 
 
 
 
 
 in imitation of checker-work of various sizes : and is known in Scotland, where the 
 manufacture is chiefly practised, by the name of Dornock. When a pattern is formed 
 upon tweeled cloth by reversing the flushing, the two sides of the fabric being dis- 
 similar, one may be supposed to be represented by the black marks, and the other by the 
 part of the figure which is left uncolored. By such a pattern as this, two sets of 
 common tweeled-heddles, moved in the ordinary way, by a double succession of heddles, 
 are sufficient The other part of^. 1445 is a design of that intermediate kind of 
 ornamental work which is called diaper, and which partakes partly of the nature of the 
 dornock, and partly of that of the damask and tapestry. The principle upon which all 
 these descriptions of goods are woven is entirely the same, and the only difference is in the 
 
828 TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 BIBllii^SSt-lslii'SiilSlifeaE:' ■ 
 
 
 extent of the design, and the means by which it is executed. Fig. 1446 is a design U,t 
 a border of a handkerchief or napkin, which may be executed either in the manner »J 
 damask, or as the spotting is practised in the lighter fabrics. 
 
 Textile fibres condensed. Mr. John Mercer's noTel plan of transforming cotton .and 
 flax into fibres of a fine silky texture, while their-strength and substance are increased, 
 has recently excited much interest. He subjects them to the action of caustic alkaline 
 lye, sulphuric acid, or to solution of chloride of zinc, of such strength and at such a 
 temperature as produces certain remarkable changes in them, quite the reverse of what • 
 most people would have expected. The mode of operating according to this invention, 
 upon cloth made wholly or partially of any vegetable fibres and bleached, is as follows: 
 — The cloth is passed through a padding machine charged with caustic soda or caustic 
 potash at 60° or 70° of Twaddle's hydrometer, at the common temperature of the atmo- 
 sphere (say 60° Fahr. or under) ; then, without being dried, it is washed in water; and, 
 after this, it is passed through dilute sulphuric acid, and washed again. Or the ajoth 
 is conducted over and under a series of rollers in a cistern containing caustic soda or 
 caustic potash at 40° to 50° Twaddle, at the ordinary temperature (the last two rollers 
 being set so as to squeeze the excess of soda or potash back into the cistern) ; and then 
 it is passed over and under rollers placed in a series of cisterns, which are charged at 
 the commencement of the operation with water only ; so that when the cloth arrives 
 at the last cistern, nearly all the alkali has been washed out of it After the cloth has 
 either gone through the padding machine or through the cisterns, it is washed in water, 
 passed through dilute sulphuric acid, and again washed in water. 
 
 When grey or unbleached cloth, made from the above mentioned fibrous material, « 
 to be treated, it is first boiled or steeped in water, so as to wet it thoroughly; then 
 most of the water is removed by the squeezer or hydro-extractor; and, after this, it is 
 passed through the soda or potash solution, &c, as before subscribed. 
 
 Warps, either bleached or unbleached, are treated in the same manner ; but, after 
 passing through the cistern containing the alkali, they are passed through squeezers or 
 through a hole in a metal plate, to remove the alkali; and then the warps are con- 
 ducted through the water cisterns, " soured," and washed, as before subscribed. 
 
 When thread or hank yarn is to be operated upon, the threads or yarns are im- 
 mersed in the alkali and then wrung out (as is usually done in sizing or dyeing them); 
 and afterwards they are subjected to the above-mentioned operations of washing, 
 souring, and washing in water. 
 
 When any fibre in the raw state, or before it is manufactured, is to be treated, it is 
 first boiled in water, and then freed from most of the water by the hydro-extractor or 
 a press ; after which, it is immersed in the alkaline solution, and the excess of alkali 
 is removed by the hydro-extractor or a press ; then it is washed in water, soured with 
 dilute sulphuric acid, and washed again; and finally the water is removed by the 
 hydro-extractor or a press. 
 
 The following are the effects produced by the above operations upon cloth made of 
 vegetable fibrous material, either alone or mixed with animal fibrous material: — the 
 cloth will have shrunk in length and breadth, or have become less in its external di- 
 mensions, but thicker and closer ; so that by the chemical action of caustic soda or 
 caustic potash on cotton and other vegetable fabrics, an effect will be produced some- 
 what analogous to that which is produced on woollen by the process of fulling or mill- 
 ing ; the cloth will likewise have a jquired greater strength and firmness, — greater force 
 being required to break each fibre, — it will be found to have become heavier than it 
 was previously to being acted upon by the alkali ; if in both cases it be weighed at the 
 temperature of 60° Fahr., or under. It will also have acquired greatly augmented and 
 improved powers of receiving colors in printing and dyeing. 
 
 The effects resulting from the above treatment of the vegetable fibre, in any of its 
 various stages, before it is made into cloth, will be readily understood from the state- 
 ment of the effects produced on cloth, composed of such fibre, by treating it according 
 to this invention. 
 
 Secondly, the patentee employs diluted sulphuric acid, at 105° Twaddle, and at 60° 
 Fahr. or under, instead of caustic soda or caustic potash, the operation being the same 
 as when soda or potash is used, except the last souring, which is now unnecessary 
 
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 829 
 
 Thirdly, the patentee uses a solution of chloride of zinc, at 146° Twaddle, and from 
 150° to 100° Fahr., instead of the soda or potash, and in the same manner. 
 
 When operating on mixed fabrics, composed partly of vegetable fibres and partly of 
 silk, wool, or other animal fibres, such as,delaiues, it is preferred that the strength of 
 the alkali should not exceed 40° Twaddle, nor the temperature be above 50° Fahr., 
 lest the animal fibre should be injured. 
 
 The apparatus and the temperature and strength of the soda or potash, sulphuric 
 *eid, or chloride of zinc solution, may be varied to a considerable extent, and will pro- 
 duce proportionate effects; for instance, the soda or potash may be used at a strength 
 even as low as 20° Twaddle, and still give improved properties to cotton, etc., for re- 
 ceiving colors in printing and dyeing, particularly if the temperature be low ; for the 
 lower the temperature, the more effectually the soda or potash acts on the fibrous ma- 
 terial. The patentee does not, therefore, confine himself to any particular strength or 
 temperature ; but he prefers the strength, heat, and process above described, 
 
 He claims as his invention, the subjecting of cotton, linen, and other vegetable 
 fibrous material, either in the fibre or any stage of its manufacture, either alone, or 
 mixed with silk, woollen, or other animal fibrous material, to the action of caustic soda 
 or caustic potash, dilute sulphuric acid, or solution of chloride cf zinc, of a tempera- 
 ture and strength sufficient to produce the new effects, and gives to them the new pro- 
 perties above described, either by padding, printing, or steeping, immersion, or any 
 other mode of application. — Newton's Journal, xxxviii., p. 466. 
 
 For washing textile fabrics, Messrs. M'Alpin, of Hammersmith, have combined a 
 rotating (centrifugal) wash vessel with vertical beaters; a very effective contrivance 
 which may be seen at work at any time. 
 
 Textile Manufactures. — Commencing at the extreme west of the Great Exhibition we 
 observe the extensive series contributed by Messrs. Hibbert, Piatt, & Co., of Oldham, 
 in illustration of the various operations in preparing and spinning cotton. The first 
 operation is that of opening the entangled locks, and of partially freeing the fibres from 
 extraneous substances. Instead of the " willy" commonly employed for this purpose, 
 Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt exhibit a novel apparatus of American origin. The principle 
 cf action in this machine is, that it draws the cotton between spiked and fluted rollers, 
 so as to loosen the matted fibres by drawing action, instead of by a rapidly revolving 
 beater; the portions of seed and other impurities being separated by the rotation of other 
 fluted rollers, which revolve against the fibres as they are held by the spikes, and thus 
 effect the required cleaning. The cotton, as it comes from the bale, is spread upon an 
 endless travelling apron, which carries it forwards and delivers it into the machine. 
 
 In the next machine, for further opening and cleansing the material, two arrange- 
 ments are included, which are not generally employed, except by this firm. The scutch- 
 ing action is accomplished in the ordinary manner, the impurities falling below through 
 an iron grating; the opened looks, however, having arrived at the other end of the 
 machines pass over, instead of under, the exhausting apparatus, so that the dust re- 
 moved therefrom by the draft is not compelled to pass through the sheet of cotton. 
 There is also a peculiar arrangement of rollers, between and partly around which the 
 web of cotton is conducted previously to being wound into a lap ; the design being to 
 effect a more perfeet calendering or consolidating of the fibres. 
 
 Six carding machines, which effect the next process, are exhibited; two of these 
 only, however, are necessary to complete the perfect operation they are designed to 
 effect^ the remaining four being added merely for the purpose of supplying a suffi- 
 cient quantity of carded cotton to meet the demand of the machining subsequently 
 used. Referring then to two of these: the first used is called a breaker, and the lap 
 of cotton from the last machine is placed so as to revolve in a portion of the frame- 
 work, to effect an unwinding. According to the usual method, the material would 
 pass through a pair of rollers, which, by their revolution, bring it under the action 
 »f the machine ; here, however, the " patent feeder" is employed, consisting of a 
 roller and eoncave surface, between which the sheet of cotton passes, and is from thence 
 taken by a roller, called the "lieker-in," covered with wire cards. From this roller the 
 fibres ire stripped by the revolution of the large central carding cylinder, and again 
 '.eased and straightened by the action of other revolving carding surfaces. In many 
 instances the whole process is accomplished by these means. In the case, however, of 
 the exhibited machinery now under notice, there are in addition to the rollers a series 
 of stationary surfaces, covered with wire cards, and having no concave form, corre- 
 sponding to the periphery of a large revolving cylinder. The material passing between 
 these combining surfaces, the one brushing over the other, becomes further straightened 
 and separated, so as to be regularly diffused over the main carding surface ; it is then 
 removed therefrom by the doffer, and subsequently stripped in the form of a light fleecy 
 sheet by the rapid chopping action of the doffer-comb. A trumpet-6haped orifice then 
 Barrows the sheet of cotton into a spongy cord which is delivered by a set of revolving rol- 
 
830 TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 
 
 lers into a receiver place below. This in many instances is simply a cylindrical can, 
 sometimes provided with a rising and falling plunger, which, by pressing upon the top of 
 the material, effects the stowage of a greater quantity than could otherwise be received 
 into the can. Messrs. Tathan and Cheetham's patent "coiler" is now, however, fast 
 superseding the old arrangements; and the estimation in which it is held is evinced by 
 the fact of its application, instead of the old system, to all the preparing machinery in 
 motion at the Exhibition. The construction of this apparatus, a3 adopted "by Messrs. 
 Hibbert and Piatt, somewhat differs from that of the original patentees, but the principle 
 of construction is the same. The sliver delivered by the rollers passes through revolv- 
 ing surfaces, which thus carry it round, and deposit it in circles within a can placed 
 below: this can, however, not being stationary but revolving upon a centre, eccentric 
 to the centre of motion of the delivering surfaces, carries onward the sliver, as it falls- 
 and thereby, instead of allowing it to form a cylinder of cotton, disposes it in a series 
 of coils throughout the area of the can. As the can becomes filled, the material rises 
 against a plate at top ; and the operation still proceeding, effucts a pressing-down of tha 
 sliver, so as to produce a condensation of the coils. A number of cans thus filled are 
 taken to a machine, which will be observed on the north side of the compartment of 
 cotton machinery. Here a sufficient number of slivers are drawn by a pair of rollers 
 from their cans, and wound side by side upon an axle, ?o as to form a lap ; the fibres in 
 some measure adhering to each other, and thus constituting a sheet of the material. 
 Laps, thus formed, are taken to the other range of carding engines, and there undergo 
 another operation of teasing and straightening ; and then pass off through a conical tube, 
 60 as to be narrowed, as before, into a spongy cord. The slivers which constitute thfc 
 lap for feeding this machine, are.from 30 to 40 in number; but are admitted so slowly 
 as to be carded down to such an extent that the sliver removed from the doffer is equal 
 to one only of the number of slivers which entered; and thus any irregularity that 
 might have existed in a portion of the feed is so much diffused as to be nearly, if not 
 entirely lost. 
 
 We have before spoken of the drawing-frame ; the next employed is of vast importance 
 to the cotton manufacture. This machine has since its introduction undergone great 
 improvement, principally by the application of a " stop-motion," which arrests the 
 action of the machine immediately as the breakage of a sliver takes place : this arrange- 
 ment is applied to all the exhibited drawing frames. A number of the cans from the 
 finishing carding engine are arranged at the back of the machine ; the slivers from these 
 pass over a series of conductors, termed "spoons," several slivers being drawn over 
 together. These instruments are weighted guide levers, mounted so as to be capable 
 of turning upon centres; but during the proper working of the machine are kept in a 
 certain position by the tension of the slivers which are in process of being drawn. 
 Upon the breakage taking place, therefore, or upon a can becoming empty, the 
 equilibrium will be destroyed, and a part projecting from the under side of the spoon 
 will, on the spoon falling, intercept the motion of a vibrating bar, which, being thus 
 arrested, effects, by an arrangement of apparatus designed for the purpose, the shifting 
 of the driving strap from the driving to the loose pulley, and thereby stops the action 
 of the machine. To this machine the patent coiler mentioned in reference to the card- 
 ing-engine is also applied, the drawn slivers being again deposited in revolving cans. 
 
 These slubbing and roving-frames next come under notice. Those exhibited by 
 Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt are three in number; the first two being distinguished by 
 the term slubbing-frames, and the other by that of the roving-frame. The operation 
 and arrangement of machinery, however, are substantially the same ; the only object oi 
 the processes being gradually to reduce the sliver, and impart to it a sufficient amount 
 of solidity suitable for the action of the spinning frames. This class of machines is most 
 fully represented in the Exhibition, and the particular point to which the stream of 
 inventive genius is now directed is distinctly shown. The beautiful mechanism of the 
 Blubbing or roving-frame appears, as far as its simplicity of construction and efficiency 
 of working are concerned, to have arrived at a point beyond which there is but little to 
 desire. Invention has therefore of late been directed solely to increase its quantitative 
 producing power. The limit to this had been the velocity at which the revolving 
 spindles and their "flyers" could be driven. In three out of the four exhibitors of 
 cotton preparing machinery in motion, we find evidence of an earnest attention to this 
 BubjecL In the series now under review, the desired end is sought to be accomplished 
 in two ways; first, by reducing the top of the flyer so as to enable the bobbin to 
 traverse higher than usual, and thus avoid the necessity of carrying the fly er legs so far 
 downwards ; which, being thus reduced in length, will admit of being driven at a higher 
 speed without increasing the vibration. The second method is by placing the bevel- 
 pinion, which drives the bobbin, upon a fixed socket instead of upon the spindle, by 
 which method the vibration and the wear of the spindle are diminished. These im. 
 wovements are said to enable the manufacturers to increase the driving speed of tha 
 
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 83\ 
 
 spindles one fifth beyond the ordinary velocity attained. To the slubbing-fiames of 
 Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt is attached a stop motion similar to that we have mentioned 
 as commonly applied to the drawing-frame. The motion of the machine is therefore 
 arrested immediately upon the breakage of a sliver. In our general description of the 
 cotton manufacture we spoke of the sliver as proceeding direct from the leg of the flyer 
 to the bobbin. This plan is frequently adopted, and particularly in mills where the 
 finest yarns are spun. In those machines, however, now under review the presser 
 principle is adopted. On this plan, the legs of the flyers carry an arm called a " presser," 
 which receives an inclination to move inward by the action of a spring, so as to bear 
 against the surface of the bobbin. The slivers pass down the legs ot the flyers, and are 
 coiled along their respective arms, threaded through eyes formed therein, and from 
 thence are conducted to the bobbins. The action of the spring-presser is to consolidate 
 the roving, and thereby to increase the capacity of the bobbin for holding the roving, 
 and prevent the necessity for frequently changing the bobbin. This arrangement is 
 distinguished as the presser bobbin ; and the other as the soft bobbin. 
 
 The next in order of the machines to be noticed are those for spinning, both principles 
 of which, viz., the mule and the throstle, are exhibited in this series; the former also 
 being illustrated by two machines, the one for the production of weft, and the other for . 
 warp. We have already in our article Cotton Spinning explained the peculiarities of 
 these two constructions of machines, the operation of the throstle being continuous, 
 and having its spindles mounted in a stationary frame, and the spindles of the mule being 
 mounted on a carriage which alternately approaches to and recedes from the delivering 
 rollers. The throstle exhibited by Messrs. Hibbert and Piatt presents no features that 
 call for particular comment; but in the mules we notice a peculiar arrangement of 
 " scavenger" is applied. The object of this apparatus is to clear particles of waste 
 from the top of the carriage, and the operation is effected by means of a roller, which, 
 instead of sweeping the refuse toward the cops, moves it away in an opposite direction. 
 The construction of these mules is on the principle of Sharp and Roberts' patent; 
 they are provided with an adjustable cam for "backing off," and also an apparatus 
 applied to the front roller, for preventing the threads from becoming snarled. 
 
 Messrs. Pair, Curtis, and Madely, of Manchester, exhibited several preparing and 
 spinning machines. The first of these, the carding-engines, is provided with a motion 
 for traversing the conical tube which conducts the sliver from the doffer cylinder, ,and 
 thereby causes it to be taken up by the delivering rollers at varying parts of their lengths ■ 
 this is the patent of Messrs. Lakin and Rhode. 
 
 In the drawing-frame there is a peculiar arrangement of spoon for the stop motion ; 
 the lower part is formed as a fork; and under the space between the prongs stands out 
 a projection from the vibrating shaft, which, when arrested in its motion, causes the 
 stoppage of the machine. The spoons held up by passing the sliver fall vertically upon 
 a breakage taking place, and thereby intercept the vibrating projection with one or 
 other of their prongs, and consequently arrest the motion of the machine. 
 
 In the slubbing-frame a spring is applied to the presser, differing from those commonly 
 employed; it being, in this instance, formed as a coiled watch-spring. This arrange- 
 ment is intended to effect a more equal pressure, and a reduction in the weight of the 
 flyer. In this machine also the tension weight, for tightening the cone-strap, is carried 
 by a frame, which moves on a part attached to the beam, instead of allowing it to rest 
 upon the grooved shaft; there is also an application of geaiing to the shortening and 
 traverse motions. All of the improvements are shown applied to a roving frame. Upon 
 approaching one of these machines, the visitor is struck by the comparatively little noise 
 made by their working; and upon inquiry, he finds that the toothed wheels, which 
 drive the bobbins, are composed of gutta-percha: this is the patent of Messrs. Tatham 
 and Cheetham ; and if, as at present seems probable, the material should be found 
 sufficiently lasting, a most desirable end will be accomplished by its introduction. 
 
 There are three self-acting mules, exhibited by Messrs. Pair, Curtis, and Madely. 
 In one of these the apparatus generally adopted for producing the changes required for 
 spinning, is substituted by an arrangement which is positive in its action ; and thereby 
 prevents the common breakages of bands, and the general injury of the machine. The 
 eords are also prevented from rubbing against each other, and thus rendered more 
 durable by the application of an extra scroll. 
 
 Another improvement belonging to this mule relates to the arrangement for putting 
 down the yarn by the " faller ;" the object being to prevent a coil when the " backing 
 off" takes place; thus preventing a snarling or damage of the yarn. The "squaring 
 shaft" is, in this machine, driven by gearing instead of bands, as usual. 
 
 Another self-acting mule exhibits an improvement upon that principle known as 
 Smith and Orr's. The present construction dispenses with the friction or differential 
 motion for winding on the yarn, and substitutes an application of the radial arm, 
 arranged so as to prevent breakages of the mangle-wheel. The rollers driven inde- 
 
832 TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 
 
 pendently of the mangle- wheel, necessarily prevent a Btrain thereon ; they may be pir 1 
 in motion or Btopped at pleasure ; and as they derive their rotation from the driving 
 pinion, a more uniform action is obtained. This mule also is driven by one strap instead 
 of two. \ 
 
 The third mule contains a new arrangement of the patented improvements of this 
 firm, a new motion for winding on the yarn with a self-regulator being applied; the 
 design being to enable a person, capable of "piecing ends," to superintend the machine, 
 and reduce the making of a set of cops to as easy a task as the making a set of bobbins 
 on a roving frame. 
 
 We next arrive at the machinery of Mr. John Mason, of Eochdale: here we find a 
 drawing frame, with patent coiler; and also slubbing and roving-frames. The two 
 last-mentioned machines are fitted with improvements for obtaining a greater velocity 
 in the rotation of the spindles. This consists in firmly attaching to the copping-rail, 
 tubes, over which the bobbins pass, they being hollowed out sufficiently large for that 
 purpose. The spindles pass through the tubes, and run in contact with the internal 
 periphery thereof at top and bottom ; by which arrangement, two bearings are obtained 
 a considerable distance apart, affording a support productive of great steadiness of action. 
 It is stated that, with the application of this arrangement, ibe spindles of roving 
 machines, where the lift of the bobbin is six or seven inches, may make from 1,200 to 
 1,400 revolutions per minute. This improvement is exhibited as applied to a frame 
 where pressers are used; and also to one arranged for the production of soft bobbins. 
 
 Another improvement in these machines is the application of a plate, situated before 
 the delivering rollers, and through which the rovings pass on their way to the bobbins ; 
 this is for the purpose of preventing an entanglement when an end becomes broken, au 
 inconvenience which frequently occurs in the ordinary-arrangements. The perforated 
 plates effect this by forming a shield, which keeps the broken roving from falling down 
 ward to the other threads. To these machines an apparatus is also applied for 
 disengaging the parts which drive the bobbins or spindles from the other parts of the 
 machines: so that the whole series may be turned at once by hand when the bobbins are 
 full, for the purpose of unwinding a sufficient length of each thread, for formiDg an at- 
 tachment to the fresh bobbins. 
 
 In front of Mr. Mason's machinery will be found that of Messrs. Higgins and Sons, of 
 Salford. The roving frame of this firm exhibits another instance of the attention paid to 
 a gain of speed in the revolution of the spindles. According to the usual practice the 
 spindles are formed of the same diameter throughout the upper part of their length ; but 
 in the roving-frame now spoken of, the spindles are formed of varying diameters, de- 
 creasing toward the top, which configuration admits of their being driven at a greatly 
 increased velocity, without an extended vibration : the flyers also are so attached that 
 the bobbin may traverse to a higher point that usual ; and thus the legs are decreased 
 in length, and consequently reduced in weight, possessing at the same time a stiffness 
 which will bear an increased revolution. The conical pulley is mounted upon a frame 
 which Bwings upon centres, so that at whatever diameter the strap may be situated it 
 will always be distended. 
 
 In the compartment containing the machinery we have described are some cases of 
 spindles and flyers of various constructions now in use : amongst these is one which, as 
 it bears upon the subject of increased speed, we will particularize ; this is the invention 
 of Mr. William Maclavdy, of Macchester. The object sought is here attained by causing 
 the spindle to run in a top bearing, so as to effect a greater steadiness of action ; and in 
 order to provide for the removal of the fill bobbins, the spindle is formed in two por- 
 tions which are temporarily connected together; their separation is accomplished bv 
 lifting the upper part of its top bearing ; when, the lower end being turned in its bottom 
 bearing, so as to occupy a position out of a right line, the filled bobbing may be slipped 
 off. We are informed that these spindles are running at a considerably increased 
 velocity. 
 
 Messrs. Sharp, Brothers, of Manchester, exhibited » throstle spinning frame on the 
 " ring and traveller " principle. This machine is of American origin, and, although used 
 to a considerable extent in that country, has made but little progress here. The thread, 
 instead of passing on to the bobbin through a flye:-, as in other throstles, is conducted 
 throftgh a fine metallic loop, mounted so as to revolve upon arms which project from 
 the copping rail : this loop is dragged round by the traction of the thread. The bobbin 
 does not in this case rise and fall, to distribute the yarn upon its surface, but the same 
 effect is produced by the upward and downward motion of the ring. This machine 
 exhibits an arrangement of friction surfaces in place of the ordinary driving toothed 
 wheels. 
 
 In the French department was exhibited a machine called the "Epurator," the design 
 of which is to supersede the use of the? ordinary scutching machine, and effect by one 
 operation the cleaning and carding of the material. When practice has confirmed the 
 
TEX1TLE MANUFACTURES 
 
 833 
 
 use of two distinct processes, it rarely occurs that the final object can be achieved by one : 
 all endeavors, however, to arrive at a simplification of operations should be viewed 
 with consideration. The material to be operated upon by this machine is formed into 
 laps, by a spreading apparatus, a number of which laps (five in the exhibited machine) 
 are placed so as to be simultaneously fed by revolving fluted rollers to the cleaning and 
 cardiDg cylinder. This cylinder is 4 feet in diameter, and revolves at the rate of from 
 250 to 270' revolutions per minute, its periphery is provided with a series of strips of 
 wire eards,_ with strong teeth, between which strips are placed flexible metallic brushes, 
 the extremities of which project slightly beyond the surface of the cards. The grooved 
 feeding rollers revolve slowly, and therefore present the cotton gradually to the action 
 of the revolving cards and brushes; the effect of which is Baid to be the combined 
 operation of scutching and carding, the impurities being separated by centrifugal force, 
 and the loosened fibres laid side by side without being broken by the action of revolvin" 
 beaters. Beneath each pair of feeding rollers there are gratings, through which the 
 separated extraneous matters fall. There are three different cylinders to this machine, 
 for the more perfect removal of the cotton ; each one of which is provided with the 
 usual doffing combs for the removal of the slivers, which are then guided so as to unite 
 into one. The exhibitor states that this machine will produce from 220 to 260 lbs. of 
 prepared cotton in 12 hours, — one workman superintending two or three machines; 
 and that if coarser numbers are to be Bpun, a subsequent carding is unnecessary, the 
 cotton being taken from the epurator direct to the drawing frame. 
 
 Near the machine last described will be seen a roving-frame of French ajinufacture, 
 in which the arrangement of wheels for driving the spindles and bobbins is different .from 
 that commonly employed in England. Instead of the two shafts, carrying their series 
 of bevel-wheels, one only is employed, which drives a pinion mounted upon a loose col- 
 lar. On the upper end of this, there is a spur-wheel, which takes into the teeth of two 
 spur-pinions, each of which is used for driving a bobbin or spindle, as the case may be. 
 In the Belgian department a willow i3 exhibited by the Societe du Phoenix, of Ghent. 
 The peculiarity of this machine consists in the employment of a revolving shaft, provided 
 with a series of projecting arms, arranged in a spiral form. This shaft is enclosed within 
 a casing, the internal surface of which is provided with an iron grating. The cotton is 
 fed in through an aperture at one end of the casing, and beaten by the spirally-arranged 
 revolving arms, which, at the .same time, carry it forward to be delivered out at the 
 other end, the separated impurities falling through the surrounding grating. 
 
 From Belgium we have also a roving frame possessing a feature not entirely new to 
 us, but as yet unemployed. This consists in the employment of toothed segments, of 
 decreasing diameter, which constitute conical wheels, and are intended to displace the 
 conical pulleys now ordinarily used ; the segments are locked, one after the other, to 
 their shafts, so as to effect the required rotation at the necessary variable speed ; this 
 invention is the subject of a patent in England granted to Messrs. Fairbairn and 
 Hetherington. 
 
 The Exhibition does not illustrate fully the manufacture of woollen fabrics ; a system 
 of producing woollen yarns is, however exhibited by Mr. J. Mason, of Rochdale, and 
 claims particular attention. The machinery to which we refer has been for some years 
 in general operation in France and Belgium ; but the slowness with which an entire 
 change of system is received in England, has prevented it from becoming so extensively 
 employed as its merit seems to demand. In order that this machinery may be properly 
 understood, we must, in the first place, briefly describe the usual processes employed for 
 the production of woollen yarns, premising that our present notice refers to that branch 
 of the manufacture relating to the class of goods technically distinguished as " woollens" 
 in distinction to "worsteds," comprising broad-cloth, flannels, <Stc, and made from 
 shorter descriptions of wools. 
 
 The material is first cleaned by a machine similar to the willow of the cotton manu- 
 facture, and is then subjected to the process of carding, called, in this instance, "scrib- 
 bling." After this, another card operation follows, the wool being doffed therefrom, not in 
 a continuous film, as described in reference to cotten, but in short spongy cards, equal 
 in length to the width of the carding engine; these "cardings" are then taken to the 
 " billy" (a machine operating upon the principle of the mule), where they are joined 
 one to another, generally by hand, so as to form continuous lengths, and twisted pre- 
 viously to being wound into cops, which are to be transferred to the spinning machine. 
 According to the system exhibited by Mr. Mason, the wool as it is taken by the 
 ordinary action of the doffer comb from the first carding machine, is gathered into a 
 narrow band, and after passing through a revolving tube, which imparts a certain 
 amount of false twist is wound upon a roller, so as to constitute a lap, about 16 inches 
 in diameter, and 4 or 5 inches in breadth. When the required quantity is wound on, 
 an arrangement of apparatus, by ringing a bell, gives notice to the attendant; imme 
 diatelv after which, the winding machinery, by a self-acting motion, disengages the lap ; 
 
834 THEINE. 
 
 bo that a determinate quantity of material is always wound upon the roller. Several oi 
 these narrow laps are placed, side by side, upon a framework attached to a second 
 carding machine ; and their rollers are mounted so as to be capable of revolving, in 
 order to unwind the carded wool, which unwinding is effected through the agency of 
 surface rollers, placed in contact with the lapped material. The slivers, constituting 
 the laps, are applied in such a number, Uat their aggregate width shall be equal to that 
 of the required feed ; and they are conducted through guides, so as to bring their 
 edges together, and thus form a continuous Bheet as they are fed into the second card- 
 ing engine. 
 
 The wool having been carded as usual, is removed by the agency of two doffer , 
 cylinders, each of which has alternate rings of wire cards and blank places; the rings 
 of cards on the one doffer being opposite to the spaces on the other, and vice vend. By 
 this arrangement, each doffer removes a series of narrow strips of wool, which, being 
 conducted therefrom by stripper rollers, form endless spongy cords, instead of the short 
 cardings before referred to. These endless cords are then conducted between travel- 
 ling straps, placed at right angles to the line of progress of the cords, which straps by 
 their rubbing action, condense the material previously to its being wound upon rol- 
 lers, and sufficiently to admit of its being taken direct to the spinning machine. 
 
 It will be understood from the foregoing statement, that this system effects a great 
 economy of labor ; the feeding being self-acting, and the piecing and slubbing being 
 dispensed with. This simplification, however, is not the only advantage ; the self- 
 feeder supplies the machine in a much more regular manner than can be attained by 
 hand ; and the " cardings" are, consequently, more even ; the manufactured threads are 
 also more "nappy," which increases the felting quality in milling, and affords a rich- 
 ness of appearance in the woven cloth not attained in the usual course of manufacture. 
 In manufacturing warps on this system, it is merely necessary to double the slivers of 
 wool upon an intermediate engine, and draw the slubbing more in the "condenser" and 
 mule, to obtain that straightness of fibre which gives strength to the thread. If the 
 first process of obtaining narrow laps be repeated, so that two carding engines are fed 
 by a number of these, a doubling, not attainable under the old system, may be effected, 
 which will of course add to the regularity of the yarn. That this system is not 
 universally adopted may be attributed, in great measure, to the failures which have 
 taken place in other attempts to obtain endless cardings. Mr. Mason's machinery is 
 now, however, employed by some of the most eminent firms of the north and west of 
 England ; and therefore may be looked upon as making its way towards that position 
 which its merits entitle it to attain. 
 
 The French department contains an example of an endless carding machine con- 
 tributed by Messrs. Merciere & Co., of Louviers ; the chief distinction from that we 
 have above described being the employment of series of revolving tubes for consolida- 
 ting the cardings, instead of the travelling straps of Mr. Mason. In the " first" carding 
 engine exhibited with this endless carding engine, the feed apron is divided into two 
 parts, and the sliver is removed from the doffer in the same number of distinct webs, 
 which pass through separate conical apertures, but are finally united upon the same 
 lap roller. The object of this is to work the machine with different colors of wool, 
 which, becoming mixed at the next operation, afford a parti-colored carding. In con 
 nection with these machines is also a hand woollen mule ; it does not, however, ap- 
 pear to possess any novelty which demands notice. 
 
 THEINE, ths principle of tea. It may be conveniently prepared by sublimation in 
 the apparatus of Mchr, for preparing benzoic acid, which consists of a shallow iron 
 pan, having its mouth covered with tissue paper secured tight round the edges; and 
 the whole then surmounted with a conical paper cap. 
 
 A decoction of the tea is precipitated by acetate of lead, the liquor filtered hot and 
 evaporated to dryness. The dry extract is sublimed as above described. 
 The following proportions of theine were obtained from different kinds of tea : — 
 
 From green hyson 1-05 per cent 
 
 " black Congo - ... J.Q2 
 
 " " Assam - - - l - 37 
 
 " twankay (green) ..... o*98 
 
 Theine was obtained from coffee by the same process slightly altered. The active 
 properties of tea are due to this principle. 
 
 The decoction of Paraguay tea was precipitated first by acetate of lead, and then the 
 filtered liquor by subacetate of lead; and the liquid drawn off and evaporated to dry. 
 ness. When the extract was submitted to distillation, it gave long flat crystals exactly 
 resembing theine. The sublimate also resembled theine in its odor and relations t» 
 water, aleohol, and ether. It also answered to the following new test of theine. 
 
THERMOMETER. 836 
 
 Theine is boiled for a few minutes with twice its weight of fuming nitric acid, by 
 which a bright yellow solution is obtained. This liquid, gently evaporated to dryness, 
 leaves a deep yellow mass. A drop of ammonia is let fall upon this, and a gentle heat 
 applied, when a splendid purple color is immediately produced, similar to that from 
 uric acid. 
 
 The carbon and hydrogen in the theine of Paraguay tea were also determined : — 
 
 Found. Calculated. 
 
 Carbon ..... 49-06 49-79 
 
 Hydroged - - - 5-145 5'08 
 
 From want of material the nitrogen was not determined. There is no doubt that 
 Paraguay tea contains theine, although the proportion is small. ( 
 
 The leaves of the Camellia Japonica and of the holly were examined for theine, and 
 found to contain none. See Tea. 
 
 THENARD'S BLUE, or COBALT BLUE, is prepared by digesting the oxide of co- 
 balt used in the potteries, with nitric acid, evaporating the nitrate almost to dryness, 
 diluting it with water, and filtering, to separate some arseniate of iron, which usually 
 precipitates. The clear liquor is to be poured into a solution of phosphate of soda, 
 whence an insoluble phosphate of cobalt falls. This being well washed, is to be in- 
 timately mixed in its soft state with eight times its weight of well-washed gelatinous 
 alumina, which has been obtained by pouring a solution of alum into water of ammonia 
 in excess. The uniformly colored paste is to be spread upon plates, dried in a [-tove, 
 then bruised in a dry mortar, enclosed in a crucible, and subjected to a cherry-red heat 
 for half an hour. On taking out the crucible, and letting it cool, the fine blue pigment 
 is to be removed into a bottle, which is to be stoppered till used. 
 
 The arseniate of Cobalfcmay be substituted, in the above process, for the phosphate, but 
 it must be mixed with sixteen times its weight of the washed gelatinous alumina. The 
 arseniate is procured by pouring the dilute nitrate of cobalt into a solution of arseniate 
 of potassa. If nitrate of cobalt be mixed with alumina, and the mixture be treated as 
 above described, a blue pigment will also be obtained, but paler than the preceding, 
 showing that the color consists essentially of alumina stained with oxide of cobalt. 
 
 THEOBROMINE, is a chemical principle found in cocoa beans, and identical with 
 caffeine and theine as obtained from tea and coffee. It is extracted by boiling with 
 water,, filtering, precipitating with acetate of lead, filtering the precipitate after wash- 
 ing it, then decomposing it by sulphuretted hydrogen; or boiling it with alcohol, from 
 which, on cooling, the theobromine separates in a crystalline powder. It is purified by 
 re-crystallization. It is little soluble in water or alcohol. 
 
 THERMOMETER, signifies the measure of heat. Its description belongs to a treatise 
 on chemical physics. 
 
 Philosophers have been always much troubled by the failures of the maximum self- 
 registering thermometers, especially those exposed to the sun ; the part of the tube in 
 which the index ought to slide becomes foul, apparently lined with a coat of metal, and 
 the index is immovable. A construction invented by Messrs. Negretti & Zambra ap- 
 pears likely to evade this difficulty. The mercury in its expansion is forced past an ob- 
 struction in the tube, aud does not return past it in its contraction. No index is re- 
 quired in this construction. " The specimens of this instrument which we have tried 
 answer well," says the Astronomer Royal. 
 
 In the Quarterly Report of the Registrar General, there is the following annotation :— 
 
 "The form of instrument adopted during the past quarter for maximum temperature 
 is that of Negretti & Zambra, which is found to act admirably." 
 
 Its construction is as follows: a small piece of glass is inserted near the bulb and 
 within the tube, which it nearly fills ;— on an increase of temperature, the mercury 
 passes this piece of glass, but on a decrease of heat, not being able to repass it, remains 
 in the tube, and thus indicates the maximum temperature. After reading, it is easily 
 adjusted. 
 
 Directions for using Negretti & Zambra's Self-Registering Maximnm Tliermometer. — 
 For determination of the maximum temperature of ike air. — Suspend the thermometer 
 by means of the two brass plates attached for that purpose, in such manner that the 
 bulb is a little lower than the other part of the instrument, and so placed that it is in 
 the shade, with the air passing freely to it from all sides : then on an increase of heat, 
 the mercury will pass up the tube as in an ordinary thermometer, and continue doing 
 so as long as the heat increases. 
 
 On a decrease of heat, the contraction of mercury will take place below the bend in 
 the tube, leaving the whole column of mercury in the tube, thus registering the highest 
 temperature, and showing such till the instrument is disturbed. 
 
 To prepare the instrument for future observation, it is simply necessary to remove 
 
836 
 
 THERMOMETER. 
 
 that end from its hook which is the farthest from the bulb; to raise it, till the instra. 
 ment is nearly perpendicular; and then to slightly agitate it while the brass plate.tha 
 nearest to the bulb is still suspended from its hook. The mercury will descend in the 
 tube, and indicate the temperature of the air at that time, and when again suspended 
 from its hook, is prepared for future observation. 
 
 For determination of the solar radiation,— The instrument for this purpose must 
 have n black bulb ; it should be placed nearly horizontal, with its bulb in the full rays 
 of the sun, and if possible, so that lateral wind should not strike the bulb. the direc- 
 tions for use are identical with that for the determination of the temperature of the 
 
 8 THERMOMETER, SELF-REGISTERING, by Mr. Brooke. The Exhibition con- 
 taiucdawetand dry bulb thermometer, and apparatus for registering the tempera- 
 ture they indicate. The registering apparatus consists of a pair of vertical concentric 
 cylinders, supported on a table. The bulbs of the thermometers are underneath the 
 table, through which the stems pass vertically, and are placed between the opposite 
 sides of the cylinders and two lights. A narrow vertical line of light brought to a toons 
 by a cylindrical lens falls on the stem of the thermometer, and passing through the 
 empty portion of the bore affects the paper. The boundary between the darkened 
 and undarkened portion indicates the position of the mercury in the stem of the ther- 
 mometer. Fine wires are placed across the slit in the frame, through which light 
 falls on the stem. They intercept narrow portions of the light, and thus the scale 
 of the thermometer is continuously impressed on the register, as well as the tempera- 
 ture, a, b, fig. 1447, are camphine lamps; ' ''■ 
 e, d, cylindrical lenses, by which a bright 
 focal line of light is obtained; e, the psychro- 
 meter or wet bulb thermometer ; / the' dry 
 bulb thermometer; g, two concentric cylin- 
 ders, between which the photographic paper 
 is placod ; A, the register, as it appears after 
 the impression is developed; i, one of the 
 rollers of a turn-table, on which the cylinders 
 rest; j, the frame which contains the time- 
 piece; k. a bent pin, or carrier, attached to 
 ths axis of the cylinders; this is carried round 
 by a fork at the end of the hour hand of the 
 time-piece. As this apparatus is necessarily 
 placed in theopen air, when in actual opera- 
 tion it is provided with, 1, an inner cylin- 
 drical zinc case, with sliding doors, to protect 
 the sensitive paper from light, when the cy- ■ 
 linder is removed from, and brought back to { 
 the photographic room ; 2, an outer wind 
 and water-tight zinc case, with water-tight 
 doors for removing and replacing the cylin- 
 ders, and for trimming the lamps, if lamps 
 are used. 
 
 The skilful application of photography by 
 Mr. Brooke to register natuVal phenomena, 
 with no more labor than that of supplying the cylinder punctually with prepared pa- 
 per, is one of the most useful and beautiful uses to which photography has as yet been 
 applied. The paper is prepared so as to render it extremely sensitive to light, being 
 first washed with a solution of isinglass, bromide of potassium and iodide of potassium, 
 in the proportion of 1, 3, and 2, respectively; and when required for use, it is washed 
 with an aqueous solution of nitrate of silver, which causes the paper to be sufficiently sen- 
 sitive to the action of light, so that if a beam of light be allowed to fall upon it, an im- 
 pression is made upon that part where the light falls, which becomes visible on being 
 washed with a solution of gallic acid, with a small admixture of acetic acid. A light is 
 placed near a small aperture, through which rays pass and fall upon a concave mirror 
 carried by a part of the suspension apparatus of the magnet, and this reflection falls 
 upon a piano-cylindrical lens of glass placed at the distance of its focal length from the 
 paper on the cylinder. As the magnet is ever varying and making small excursions on 
 one or other side of its mean position, the point of light traces a corresponding zigzag 
 on the paper. The thermometer apparatus has no mirror and no reflector, the mercury 
 in the tubes themselves, intercepting the pencils of light; and thus thiB apparatus, 
 throughout the day and night, is constantly recording the slightest change of position 
 of the magnets and the smallest changes of temperature. 
 The object of this self-registering magnetometer above described is to determine the 
 
THERMOMETER. 837 
 
 direction and intensity of the earth's magnetism. Its direction is generally found by 
 suspending a piece of steel previously magnetized, or in other words a magnet, by 
 parallel threads of untwisted silk, and the bar settles in that position in which mag- 
 netism causes it to rest, and which is called the magnetic meridian. The angle between 
 the astronomical meridian and the magnetic meridian gives the magnetic declination 
 which is the subject of research with the declination magnetometer; at present, this 
 value in London is about 22§° west of the astronomical meridian. 
 
 Having determined the declination, the vertical plane is determined in which the 
 force of magnetism is exerted. 
 
 The angle which the magnet makes when freely suspended on this plane from the 
 horizon is termed the dip. At present the dip at London is about 68° 40'. The force 
 of magnetism exerted in this inclined direction can be resolved into two forces, the one 
 acting in a horizontal direction, the other in a vertical direction, eo that conjointly they 
 shall produce exactly the same force as the single force. The.biplar, or horizontal 
 force magnetometer is intended for measuring the variations of the horizontal com- 
 ponent of the variations of the <brce of magnetism. It consists of a magnet suspended 
 by two halves of a skein of untwisted silk, kept at a certain distance apart. If an ut- 
 magnetized bar were thus suspended, it would remain at rest only in that position ii 
 which the two parts of the suspension skein were without twist, and if it were turned 
 out of this position, it would endeavor to resume its former position with a force pro- 
 portionate to its weight, and the angle through which it had been turned. This prin- 
 ciple is made the means of measuring the force of magnetism. A freely suspended 
 magnet always endeavors to rest in the magnetic meridian. 
 
 The variations in the vertical component of the magnetic dip are the subjects of in- 
 vestigation with the vertical force magnet, which is a magnet placed nearly at right 
 angles to the magnetic meridian. It is kept horizontal, or nearly so, by weights balanced 
 with extreme accuracy, and made to vibrate like a balance; and from its different in- 
 clination the variation of the vertical force of magnetism is determined. 
 
 Thermometrical Table, by Alfred 8. Taylor, Esq. — The accompanying thermometrical 
 table of Mr. A. Taylor, has been copied from a thermometer in his possession, graduated 
 on the scales of Fahrenheit and Celsius. It has been designed to obviate the necessity 
 for those perplexing calculations, so often rendered necessary by the use of different 
 methods of graduation in England and on the Continent. In most chemical works, we 
 find, besides the rules given for the conversion of the degrees of one Scale into those of 
 another, comparative tables, which, however, convey no information beyond the bare 
 fact of the correspondence of certain degrees. In this table, the attempt has been made 
 to make it convey information on numerous interesting points, connected with temper- 
 ature in relation to climatology, physical geography, chemistry, and physiology. 
 
 There is another advantage which a table of this kind must possess over those hitherto 
 published in works on chemistry. In the latter, the degrees on one scale only run in 
 arithmetical progression, while the corresponding degrees on the other scale, are neces- 
 sarily given in fractional or decimal parts, and at unequal intervals. Thus, in some of 
 the best Works on chemistry, a comparative table is printed, which is only fitted for the 
 conversion of the Centigrade into Fahrenheit degrees, so that a person wishing to convert 
 the Eahrenheit into Centigrade degrees, would have to revert to one of the old formulas 
 of conversion. This process must also be adopted whenever the Centigrade degrees are 
 given in decimal parts, for all the tables yet published in English works, wrongly 
 assume thpt the Centigrade degrees are always given in whole numbers. The present 
 table renders stich calculations unnecessary, since the value of any degree, or of any 
 part of a degree on one scale, k immediately found on the other by looking at the 
 degree in a parallel line with it. The main divisions will, I believe, be found perfectly 
 accurate: — in single degrees a little inequality may be occasionally detected ; but 1 
 have not found the error to be such as to affect the calculated temperature. 
 
 Although the Fahrenheit and Centigrade scales are the two which are chiefly used in 
 Europe, it has been thought advisable to carry out the parallel degrees of Reaumur's 
 scale, by dots on the drawing of the tube. This table, therefore comprises in itself 
 six distinct tables, assuming the necessity for each scale to be represented in whole 
 degreeS — with the additional advantages: 1st, that the space occupied is smaller, and 
 2nd, the value of any fractional part of a degree on one may be at onceijlpternjined on 
 the other two scales. 
 
 It is extraordinary, considering the great advances which have been recently made 
 in physical science, and in the manufacture of philosophical instruments, that the makers 
 of thermometers should still adhere to the old and absurd practice of marking on tha 
 Farenheit scale, the unmeaning words Temperate, Summer-heat, Blood-heat, Fever- 
 heat, Spirits boil, (fee, when the instrument might be easily made to convey a large 
 amount of information, in respect to climate, as it is dependent on temperature. Thus the 
 mean temperature of England, Ireland, and Scotland, with the maxima and minima, as 
 
838 
 
 CENTIGRADE. 
 
 THERMOMETER. 
 REAUMUR 
 
 FAHRENHEIT. 
 
 Chlor. Cyanogen voL 190 . 
 
 Tin and lead, p te. in. ; also Alloy BT.lL 
 (Platnbera' Bolder]. 
 
 Sat boL Chloride zinc boils. 
 
 Alloy 4T.lL.rn. 
 
 Oxalic ether, b. I -09. 
 Sulphuric acid, 1*67 boits. 
 
 pr. steam, 10 at 
 
 180 - 
 
 Pvacaphthaline, m., alloy 12 T. 4 L. melts. 
 Oil or oranges, b. 0'835, 
 
 Starch converted to dextrine. 
 
 pr. steam, 9 at 
 Blast Turp., v. 63'S. Sulphuric acid 1-65 boils. 
 
 Alloy 10 T. 4 L. m. _ 
 
 Alloy 9T.4L m. 
 pr. Bteam, 8 at. 
 Alloy 8 T. 4 L. m, 
 Alloy 7 T. 4L, m. J7Q — 
 
 S: steam 7 - fi at. 
 oy 1 B. 2 T. m. 
 
 pr. steam, 12 at 
 372 z ' nc putarfe&bfo- 
 
 Arsenions acid vol. ; Saliculoas acid a, 
 
 Dichlor. carbon, b. d. ▼. 4*7. 
 pr. ete-ira, li at 
 Fulminating mercury explode*. 
 Alloy 16 T. 4 L. m. 
 
 .363 Alloy 14 T. 4 T* m, 
 Blast. Turn. V. 60.8. 
 
 Alloy 13 T. 4 L. m. 
 
 Arsenic vol.; sugar melts; bydruretof 
 Succinic acid melts. 
 
 Alloy 8 E. 32 L. 34 T. m. ; Cttrilene b. 86. 
 
 2 Alloys 6 T. 4 L., and II T. 4 L. m. 
 
 Sulphuret solid; iodine boils, it r. 8*69. 
 
 Malic acid m. 
 
 Alloy 8 15.32 L. 26 T. m. 
 
 Oil or lemons boils,0*848. 
 Oil or Csscarilla b. 0938. 
 Alloy 8 B. oU L. 24 T. m. 
 
 • 342 Caoutchoncine boils. 
 Elast Turp. V. 47 ■& 
 
 Sat. acet potash boils ; enpion b. 
 Alloy 6 T. 4 L. m. 
 
 pr. steam, 7 nt. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 28 L. 24 T. m. 
 Oilelemi, b. 0-853. 
 
 pr. steam, 6 i 
 
 j Alloy 8 B, 32 L. 28 T. m. 
 Oxalic acid vol.; elast. turp. V 4S'l 
 Alloy 8 E. 32 L 30 T. m. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 32 L. 40 T. m. 
 
 Elast, A. V. 137.28. 
 
 (aT. stM II 8 It Fusible. Alloy 8 B. 32 J,. 36 T. m. ]QQ , 
 Alloy 8 B. 32 L. 3 1 T. ni. 
 
 Elast A. V. 13167. 
 
 culminating silver explodes. 
 
 pr. steam, S'5 at 
 
 Elast A. V. 125.85. 
 
 Elast. Turp. v. 33-fi. 
 
 pr. steam, 6 at. 
 
 Elast A, V. 120.03. 
 
 4 
 
 .blast Turp. v. 30, Sat nit lime boils. 
 Sulphur burns feebly, 
 
 Elast A. V. 114-lft. 150 . 
 
 Terbromide Silicon, b. 
 
 sutBburc acid, and pt water mixed ; pr, steam, 4-6 at 
 
 Masticli resin, m. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 16 L, 18 T. m. 
 
 Blist A. V. 108-31 ; Temp, of certain factories. 
 
 Nicotine distils. 
 
 pr, steam, 4 at. 
 
 Elast A. V. 102.45. 
 
 Fulminating gold explodes. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 16 L. 14 T. m. 
 
 , Alloy 8 B. 32 L. 38 T. m 
 Naphtha boils ; alloy 8 B. 26 L. 24 T. m. , also 5 B. S3 I* 38 ». 
 Prussian blue decomposed. 
 Alloy 8 B. 16 L. 24 T. m. 
 Oil of turpentine boils 0'86 ; dens. T. 4 '7. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 16 L. 22 T. m. 
 
 - ol*£ Quinine ra. 
 Alloy 8 B, 20 L. 24 T. m. ; oil juniper b 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 22 L. 24 T. m. 
 
 Rect petroleum b. 
 
 Carii not sat hnils. 5 A1,ova 8 B. 16 L, 10 T. 
 
 (MB- P i and 8 B - 16 L - s0 T - m - 
 
 - 302 ETSERIF1CAT ION ends; latent heat; ether ran. 
 
 Alloy S B. 16 L. 8 T. m. ; camphilene b. 86i ; aufcnr of roja t> 
 
 Asphaltum melts; camphor melts, d. v. 6 ■&.. 
 Zinc malleable. 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 16L. 12 T, m. 
 
 2 Alloy 8 B. 16 L. 16 T. m. 
 Gypsum converted to plaster. 
 Sulphuric acid, 1*52 b. 
 
 pr. steam, 3*6 at. 
 Cblov. cyanogen, m. ; S. G. 1-32. 14Q ^_ 
 Grape sugar to Caramel. 
 Elast A. V. 90,99, 
 
 Elast a. V. 96-64. 
 
 Tin and bismuth, p. a>, melt; succ acid vol. 
 pr. Bteam locomotive boilers. 
 _ 2g2 ETHEB.IFICAT10N begins. 
 
 Sst sit ammonia boils. 
 
 pr. steam, 3 at 
 acid, ra. ; Elast A. V. 79 ■94. 
 
 CholeBterine melts, 
 Elast A. V. 85-47. 
 
 Oil black mustard b. ; maleic acid ra. 
 Peucylb. 86. 
 
CENTIGRADE. 
 
 THERMOMETER. 
 REAUMUR. 
 
 830 
 
 FAHRENHEIT. 
 
 Chloride bonzole, m. 
 
 ridxino solid. Alloy, 8 B. 10 L. 8. T. in. ioq — 
 Camphoric acid v. 
 
 pr, steam, 2-6 at 
 
 Elast A. V. 69'72, 
 Sebacic acid m.; Elaat. alcli. t. 156-2, ~ 
 
 Sat raur. ammonia boils 
 
 Sat acet boda boils. 
 
 Pyromeronic acid m. 
 Blast. A V. 60-05. 
 pr. steam, 2. at 
 Sat. ait soda boils. ; 
 
 Ciminmic acid m.; caoutchouc melts. 120 ■ 
 Alloy BB.IL4 T. m. 
 
 Si.it. chlor. strontium boils. 
 Elast. A. V. 61-34. 
 
 ftprat *m s t-ti per cent ; color, calcium snt. boils. ■ 
 
 Eiaat. A. V. 47"2. . 
 
 Alloy 8 B. 8 L. 4 T. m. 
 
 Chloric ether 1,227 boils ; pr. steam, 1 *5 at 
 Elast A. V. 43-34. 
 
 Elaeue b. ; Elast alch. v. 94*1. HO ' 
 l'hloridzine m. 
 Elast. A. V. 39-59. 
 Alloy, SB. 8L. 3 T. m. 
 
 Oxalhydric acid, b, 1 -375. 
 Water of tbe Dead Sea boils. 
 at. earn, KOtla, chlor. of barium, and chlorate potash boil. . 
 
 Suliciae m. ; nitric acid, l'lb' b. 
 
 Mur- acid, 1*136 b. 
 Syrup boils 52 per cent sugar. ■ 
 
 titter., alumina boils; water boils, bar. 31 213'76. . 
 
 Glauber salt sat boils. a 
 
 t « i i pt ice; 4 sulphuric acid ; pr. Bteam, 1 at. JQO- 
 
 lOO«irat32''=137-6.] 
 
 Blast A V.=30 S. G. 625.] Water boils bar. 29 in. " 
 
 Perox. chlor. explodes. . 
 
 W. B. MADRID. 
 W. B. KL 5ATTRE (between Dead Sea and Akabah,) • 
 
 COMAGJLLAS. Mexican Springs. f 
 
 W. B. GAVARNIE PYRENEES. 
 Tukwnic mud; JORULLO, S. AMERICA. ~" 
 
 Oxycliloiocarboiiic ether b. _ 
 
 Kl.t-l. ether vap. lb"6j Elast A. V, 23 "64. 
 W. B. MEXICO. 
 7471 ft el. 
 
 W. B. SANTA FE DE BOGOTA, 
 8730 ft el 
 
 Water boils; CONVENT ST. BERNAND. 
 9734 ft el. 
 
 VV B. FARM OF ANTLSANA Andes, 13,000 ft el. 
 
 Chloric ether b. 1-24. 
 W B source oT Oxus, CEKTKAL ASIA. 
 (15,600 ft elev.\ 
 
 Elast A. V. 15-15. 
 
 Geyser Springs, Ireland. 
 Elaat A. V. 14-2. 
 
 Heat of flui 1. beeswax. 
 Elut. Blch. T»p. 30 in. 3. G. -813. 
 
 Syrup sat boils. 
 
 Corrosive sublimate volatilized 
 
 Elast. A. V. 74 79. 
 Margaritic acid ; castor oil m. 
 Blast, alch V. 166-1. 
 Syrup boils 80 per cent sugar. 
 2 Sat tartrate potass boils. 
 
 Sat nitrate potass boils: heat borne by Sir J. Ranks and Dr 
 
 [Blapk* 
 Hydriodic acid boils 1 -7 ; also hydrofcroni. acid 1 -£. 
 Elast A. V. 64-82; pimaric acid m. 
 
 Alloy 8B.SL.6T. m. 
 2 Nitric ncid 1-42 boils. 
 Elast alch. V. 132-3. ; dichl. carbon v. 
 
 Benzine melts ; hyd. acet. acid boils (Turner). 
 Elast A. V. 65 '64. 
 Heavy muriatic ether b, 
 Elast alch. V. 113-2. 
 
 H - 2 Alloy 8 B. 8 L. 6 T. m. 
 
 I" Sulphuric acid l'3Q_b. ; pyrogallic acid m. 
 
 Verntrine and benzamide m. 
 Ill"" Accumulated temp, of air, EDINBURGH 
 
 11 '' Acet ncid 1-063 boils; nit acid 1"30 b. 
 
 ) Syrup boils 84 per cent, sugar. 
 
 "'232 Sulphur melts, o*. v. 6-65; beuzoine m. 
 Benzoic ncid melts, d, v. 4"27. 
 Snlicine m. 
 Zinc malleable; heat borne by Delaroche. 
 
 Sat. chlor. sod. boils, 
 Sat chlor. pot boils. 
 Sat. plioa. soda boils. 
 
 Muriatic acid 1047 b. ; Elast. A. V. 3625. 
 "222 Accumulated temp, of air, GENEVA. 
 
 Asphaltuin BOft; iodine melts; elast ether V. 240. 
 
 Elast A. V. 33-09 inches mercury ; grape sugar m. 
 
 Osmic ncid volatilized. 
 
 Sylvic acid m. 
 
 Water boils 1054 ft. dep. ; selenhm melts; water hoiis oar 3L 
 ' Water boils, 328 dep. ; W. B. DjSAD SEA and SEA vf T1BK 
 
 ' oin Water boils bar. 30. [MAS, 
 
 «*■£ Water boils 531 ft elevation 
 
 Water boifa 1064 ft. elevation; osmic acid melts. 
 
 Water boils 1600 ft. elevation; Reikiavik spr. 
 
 Water boils 2138 ft, elevation. 
 
 Water boils 2678 ft. elevation ; alloy 8 B. 6 L. 3 T. m 
 c Water boils 322 1 ft. elevation. 
 
 Water boils 3766 ft. elevation. 
 
 Water boils 4313 ft. elevation. 
 
 Water boils 4863 ft elevation. 
 -20^ Water boils 6415 ft. elevation. 
 
 Fusible metal, 8 B. 5 L.3 T. ra. ; chloral b d. v. fi. 
 
 Elast alch. vaps. 53. 
 
 W. B. St Gothard, 6807 ft. elevation. 
 
 I|_ W. B. Mt William, AUSTRALIA, S200 ft eL 
 
 Water boils at Quito, 9341 ft. el. 
 
 Sodium melts; Trincbera springs S. AMERICA. 
 
 - 192 Water boils summit of Etna, 10,955 ft, elev. 
 Elast ether vap. 124-8; alch. vap. 43-2. 
 
 Alcohol b. 0-967, 25 per cent. 
 
 Nitric acid 1*632 boils; alcohol b. 0-958, 30 pi. «. 
 
 Ozokerite la. 
 
 1 R2 Water boils Mont Blanc summit, 15,630 ft. el. 
 " San Germano bath, NAPLES. 
 
 Starch dissolves; alch. b. 0"870, 71 per cent 
 AIX LA CHAPELLE, spr. max. t 
 Latent heat, petroleum vap., also oil turp. 
 
 T Alcohol boils, 0-735, 85 per cent 
 
 Thermal spr., I. LUCON. 
 
 Alcohol boils, 0-794, also 0*818-, M par coot. Lc . & 
 173 Naphthaline melts. 
 
840 
 
 CENTIGRADE. 
 
 THERMOMETER. 
 REAUMUB. 
 
 FAHRENHEIT. 
 
 Pitch melts. 
 
 Vapor bath, FINLAND, max. t. 
 
 Perchlor. carbon vap. l"fiS. 
 
 Helenine m. 
 
 Blast A. V. 9-48; ether vap. 80.3. 
 
 Starch converted to sugar. 
 
 70 
 
 Baden Baden Springs, max. t 
 
 CALPEE, INDIES, max. t. 
 BAGNERES DE LUGHON, spr. 
 
 Shut A. V. 7-42., S. G. 0-17; ether, vap. 67-6. 
 
 Albumen opaline. 
 
 Elast A. V. 6-87. 
 
 Heat of fluidity Spermaceti. 
 
 Heat of fluidity sulphur. 
 Vapor batb, RUSSIA. 
 Chloroform, b. d. v. 4*2. 
 Nitric acid (I '6) 68 pts. water, 12 pt». from 60°. 60 
 
 Mariana springs, S. AMERICA. •— 
 
 Elast ether, vap. 61.9. 
 
 BARBARY, max. t 
 
 Abietic acid m. 
 
 Ammonia 0-936 b. 
 
 Elast. A. V. 4-2. 
 
 OASIS OF MOORZOUK, max. t 
 
 FEZZAN, AFRICA, mnx. t. 
 
 Tercli lor. silicon, b. 
 BAGNERES DE B1GORRE, spr. 
 Amalgam 8 B. 6 L. 3 T. and 3 mercury ra. 5 
 Concent, sulphuric acid evaporates. 
 
 Palmitic acid m. 
 
 Ham man Ali springs, BARBARY, 
 
 PAMPAS, SOUTH AMERICA. 
 
 CESTRAL AFRICA, ft. t; BASSORA, max. t 
 
 PONDICHERRY max. t 
 
 Chloronapbthnlese m. 
 
 FHILOE, EGYPT, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, max. t. 
 
 M Vrtle wax m. 
 
 SENEGAL, s.t. 
 
 BAREGE, spr. 
 
 MADRAS, CAIRO, max. U 
 
 A, 
 
 O urn a rto t Bpring, GREENLAND. 
 
 GDADALOUPE, max. t, 
 
 PARIS 1793, EQUATOR, max. t 
 
 Eupion, b *66. 
 
 GUANAXUATO MINES. 1700 ft. deep, 7034 ft. el. 
 
 MEXICAN MINES, max t. 
 
 STRA3BURG, VIENNA, max. t *Man, min. t 
 
 ■ TEXAS, s. t 
 
 MARTINIQUE, max. t 
 
 STOCKHOLM, max. t 
 
 Consol mines, CORNWALL, 1740 ft 
 
 COPENHAGEN, WARSAW, max. t. 
 
 EAUX BONNES, Pyrenees. 
 
 max. to<" SURINAM. 
 
 ROC HAT, spr. 
 
 CAIRO, s. t 
 
 IS. MALTA, EGYPT, m.s. t. «, 
 
 PONDICHERRY, m. t. Jl 
 
 Schlangenbad Spa. 
 
 CUM ANA, m. t. 
 
 BRAZILS, m. t • BARBARY m. a. t 
 
 CEYLON, SENEGAL, BATAVIA.m. t 
 
 MADRAS m. t. 
 
 CONGO, MANILLA, BENARES, HAVANIfA, m. t, 
 
 BOMBAY, m. t; ITALY, m. s. t Date tree, VERA CRUZ. 
 
 Artesian well (200 ft), BRAZILS, JAMAICA, m. t 
 
 RIO JANEIRO, m. t 
 
 CANTON, MACAO, m. t 
 
 BAGDAD, ra. t 
 
 Aldehyde, b.f CABACCAS, CAIRO, ra, t. 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 Seychelles, max. t 
 
 If 
 
 Elast ether vap. 92*8, Rich. b. 92 per cant O -617 
 
 Elast A. V. 11-6. 
 
 Phosphorus barns violently ; acetic ether b. 
 Oil of cedar melts, Carlsbad Spa. 
 
 Elaat A. V. 10-4. 
 2 Heat of fluidity lead. 
 
 Albumen coaguL; acetic ether boils; Pisciarelli up rings, NAP LBS 
 
 Kocbbmnnen, Wisbaden. 
 Stearic acid melts. 
 
 Elast A." V 8"4 
 
 STEAMBOAT'S ENGINE-ROOM, W. INDIES. 
 
 HECLA, EARTH AT SUMMIT. 
 
 Thermal spr., TAJUR AH AND 5HOA. 
 
 Whits wax melts ; pyrox. spirit boils. 
 Wiesbaden Spa; hydriod ether b. r S. G. 1-92. 
 Flombieres epr. 
 
 Ambergris spr. 
 
 Ischia springs, NAPLES ; Leuker spr. 6000 ft. el. 
 Aix-la-Chapelle Spa. 
 2 Yellow wax melts. 
 Ammonia 0*94 boils; pyroxylic sp„ b. 0*832; elast A. V. 6'7* 
 Muriatic acid 1 ■ 19 boils. * 
 
 UPPER EGYPT, iu a tent ; Aries spr. 
 Elast A. V. 6-14. 
 
 Margaric acid melts. 
 Formic ether b. S. G. 915. 
 
 2 Acetone boils (pyroacetic spirit). 
 Oleene boils. 
 
 Potassium melts ; vapor bath ends. 
 
 Berger in vapor bath 12 min. 
 
 Jorullo Bprings, S.AMERICA; MYNPOOREE, max. t 
 
 Sands at S. Fernando, S. AMERICA, air 101° 
 
 Stearic and oleie acids (mixed) melt, BELBE1S, EGYPT 
 
 Mutton suet melts; Cauterets spr. 
 
 Kntakekaumene spr. 
 
 3 Styracine m. 
 
 Stearine and cetine melt; myristic acid m.; e-lasu A. V. !■ J3. 
 
 Palmitic ncid m. 
 "Bath springs, max. t; supposed deptb 3,350 ft. *Lark. 
 
 Bromine boils ; hot pump at Bath, dens. Br. V. 5*54. 
 
 Elms Spr." max. t. 
 
 King's bath at Bath, laurine m. 
 
 Sol. ammonia boils 0-91. 
 2 Spermaceti melts j Muscat opringe, 
 
 *Duck, *guinea fowl, *raven. 
 
 *Pigeon; PEKIN, max. t ; Vichy spr. max. t 
 
 C. fowl j Cross bath at Bath. 
 
 *Birds, 108°, 111". 
 
 Sulpb. carbon boQa. 
 
 Cold-blooded animals die. 
 
 Temp, for incubation; elast ether rap, 30 inches 
 
 *Sbeep and pig, owl ; phosphorus melts, 
 r, *Ape, dog, goat; artificial incubation. 
 - * Animals", man, max. t. ; ox, infant child. 
 
 *S<]uirrel, rat, cat, jackal, panther. 
 
 *Bat, bare, tiger, liorse, elephant ; elast A. V, l-fjft. 
 
 Warm bath ends, vapor bath commences. 
 
 *Temp. man, kite (birds). . 
 
 Blood heat, hedgehog, dormouse. [' V. : *3 
 
 Tepid bath ends, warm bath begins ; Ether bo,ls 0724 ; deua 
 
 Oil of rosea melts ; cocoic acid m, 
 
 PUTREFACTION rapid. Old palm oil m. 
 
 1 VALENCIANA MINE, MEXICO; Grenelle well, 1,794 ft. 
 Elast A. V. 1-36; Pohlicemine. 
 
 Tallow melts. 
 
 ACETOUS FERMENTATION. 
 
 PETERSB URG, max. t ; oil nutmegs m. 
 
 Knisareyeh, ASIA MINOR, 4,200 it. el. 
 
 Tepid batb begins, Cacao butter m. [ I -i-: i it 
 
 *Tortoise, Cornish mines, Buxton Spa, DAI.COATH M1NH 
 
 "Serpents, SEA EQUATOR, 83-7. 
 ■) Nitrous acid 1'42 boils; Buxton bath. ALGIERS, s. t 
 * EQUATOR, m. t.81*5j. *oyster t snail (Tropics). 
 
 Phosphorus luminous iu pure oxygen; NAPLES, *. t. 
 
 Frussic acid boils 0-63. [El. A. V. I 
 
 Frog, shark, flying fiBh, scorpion (Tropics). 
 
 Insects, Bilk worms hatched, germination. 
 
 Bristol Spa, temp., wasp. 
 
 MEXICAN MINES 1,650ft. deep; SYDNEY,*, t 
 
 Glow worm, cricket; PRUSSIAN MINES, 880 ft 
 
 Artesian well, GRENELLE, 1,300 ft deep. 
 > MONKWEARMOUTH MINE, 1,600 ft. deep. 
 
THERMOMETER 
 
 S4i 
 
 CENTIGRADE. 
 
 REAUMUR. 
 
 3ASTA CHUZ, TENER1FFE. 
 
 Hypoo. auer b. ; loiline vnporised. 
 
 Elnal. A. V. 0-731. 
 
 Cotton tree; ALGIERS, m. t. 
 
 Ginps hml. AUSTUAIJA, MALTA, m. I. 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOl'K, FUNCHAL, m. t 
 
 £laau A. V. 0-616. 
 
 Cultivation of vine ends, 
 
 ENGLAND, in. e. t. 62-6. 
 
 TOULON, m. t. 
 
 ElaBt. A. V. 0-62; ROME, NICE, m. t. 
 
 MELVILLE, L (mai. t.) NISMP.S, GENOA, LUCCA, in. t. 
 
 I'EKIMGNAN, MONTPEL1EK, m. t. 
 
 Waterfall minoa, 774 It. den. MARSEILLES, in. t 
 
 LISBON, BOLCGNA, BORDEAUX, AIX, VENICE, m. X. 
 
 LYONS, VEKONA, MILAN, in. t, 
 
 PAU, 111. t. LOWER EGYPT, w. t, 
 
 AJV3TERDAM, PEICIN, NEW YORK, m. t. 
 
 m. t. NANTES, ST. MALO. 
 
 MALTA, w. t. ; m. t. BRUSSELS. 
 
 PENZANCE, in u 
 
 Cultivation >? vine begins, PARIS, LONDON, m. t. 
 
 Elsst. A. V. 0-37, S. G. 01. 
 
 Salt mines CRACOW, 730 ft ; Muriittic acid, 40 at. Liq, I 
 
 Sulnliur. In-d. 17 at; ammonia, 6-6 at. J 
 
 * EDINllUltGH, 11ELIL1N, DUBLIN, in. t. 
 
 INVERNESS, COPENHAGEN, in. t. 
 
 COVE COUK, w. u, m. t. TORONTO. 
 
 MONT I'EltllU, PYRENEES, 11,265 ft. el 
 
 UPSAL, STOCKHOLM, QUEBEC, m. t. 
 
 CANADA, m. L 'Blast. A. V. 0-263. 
 
 CUIUS 1'lANl .1, DRONTHEIM, in. t. 
 
 Hybernation of animals. 
 
 PETERSBURG, m. t; Etna sum. 10.955 ft. el. 
 
 KASAN, ill. t. 
 
 POLAR SEAS 360 ft. deep. 
 
 BERGEN, PADUA, COLUMBIA, r. *v. t. 
 
 MOSCOW, m. t ; oils freeze. ALTEN, NORWAY, m. t. 
 
 G4boaic.acidliq.36at.), N. CAPE LAPLAND, LABRADOR. 
 
 Blast, A. V. 0-2 indies, S. G. 005. 
 
 CUMBERLAND, HO. N. A. m. t. 
 
 Eilrtll, YAKUTSK, 350 to 382 ft. dep. 
 
 CH1MBORAZO, 18,500 ft. el. 
 
 ' MONT BLANC, 1 5,630 II. 
 
 HIMALAYAS, 18,000 ft. el. 
 
 IRKUTSK, m. t. 
 
 SIBERIA, m. t. 
 
 Earth YAKUTSK, 77 ft. dep 
 
 AIR, m t POLAR SEA 
 
 NOVA ISM 8 1, », in. t., PORT ENTERPRISE, w. t. 
 
 Anliyd. sulphurous acid boils. 
 Oil of turpentine freezes. 
 
 Love**. jtfV.a:L «mperature at YAKUTSK in Siberia. 
 — 72=84° below this scale. 
 
 CE^^RADE TO FAHRENHEIT. 
 
 Abovo i 73. between Ice a nd Zero. 
 
 CXI 8+32. 32 (CX1-8). 
 
 Below Zero. 
 
 CX1-8— 32. 
 
 FAHRENHEIT. 
 
 Water boils in vncuo, *craf>. 
 
 VINOUS FERMENTATION, bntyrihe meltB, CA1IIO WKj I 
 
 DURHAM COAL MINES, WHO ft [-210 It. tie*)!. 
 
 Cocoa nut oil liquid, Matlock bath, Grctto dol Cnns. 
 
 CORDILLERAS, ANDES, m. t. fi,00ti ft. el. 
 
 Matlock springs, CUMBERLAND COAL MIKES, iW ft. 
 
 SAXON MINES, l,'24B It."; BnkewHI nprin^s. [de-- 
 
 ( iVADKlllA, nv n. t. ; air centre of All. walirra of tie Scwutu.' 
 
 ) NAPLES, m. L Temp, for sick room*. 
 
 DEEP MINES, EUROPE; sen b-tnk or Agnlla&. 
 
 PARAMATTA, N. S. W. m. t. ; ALGIERS w.t; wa A«m« 
 
 Fluoric acid buda, nnhyd. chlorine liqfil. 4 at 
 
 Acetic aciii cryat, : Puy tie Dome, 3,ri00 ft. 
 
 CAIRO w. t.. MINES OF BRITTANY fiOM*.. t BERGZN a-! 
 
 *Trout, MEDITERRANEAN SEA 2.00C f\ deep. 
 
 Vaucluse fountain, 3ti0 ft. el. 
 
 Artesian well VIENNA, 200 ft. ; Hnnwell.WO ft. 
 
 Camphor floats, eiaet. A. V. 0-44. 
 
 PIC DU MIDI, 9,nW ft, ; JERSEY, m. t. 
 
 Oil of aniseed solid, muriatic etlier boila. 
 
 CLERMONT, m. t. ; Columbia r. m. t. [begins. 
 
 ITALY, m. w. t.; VIENNA, m. t. fiOft; PUTREFACTION 
 
 I.iq. amnion, boils, Snt. hi. 32; STRASUURG, in. t. 
 
 WARSAW, IlKli.SK, m. t. [PRAGUE, GENEVA, m. t 
 
 TENER1FFE PEAK, 12,072 ft. el. 
 
 HURXCH, GOTT1NGEN, LABRADOR, c. t. 
 
 Sulphurous iiL'id liqfd. 2 nt. ; protox. nit. 60 at.; Cyanogen, 30 at 
 
 SEA EQUATOR, 2,400 ft. deep. 
 
 DEKP SJEA, common Boringa, HASTINGS, w. t, 
 
 4,AKE OK GENEVA, 1,000 ft. deep ; ROME, w. r. 
 
 LAKE LUCERNE,nfiOft.deep; ^beetle, PAU, w. t 
 
 St ncid freezes ; CARPATH. MOUNTAINS ; mercury evap 
 
 CAPE HORN SURFACE OF SEA, max. density of water. 
 
 EDINUURGH, w. t. ENGLAND, m. w. t. 37'«. [w. t 
 
 Alcoliol boila in vacuo; NOVA ZEMBLA s. t., SHETLANP 
 
 Fixed oils freeze; SOUTH SEA, W.430 ft. deep. 
 
 CAPE HORN SEA, fi,400 ft deep. 
 
 Mount ArgEcus, ASIA MINOR, 10,300 ft el. 
 
 ICE, chlor wr. freezes, ec. ad, 3rd., hydr. frees*" 
 
 POLAR SEA, 2,300 ft. deep; earth YAKUTSK, 383 ft, deep. 
 
 Milk freezes. 
 
 CARTHAGENA, SPAIN, w. t. 
 
 Suit water freezes, 1,026 ; vinegar freezes ; formic acid fremat 
 
 Earth YAKUTSK, 217 ft. deep. 
 
 JUNGFRAU, summit, 12,72fi ft. 
 
 Blood freezes, earth YAKUTSK, 119 ft. deep. 
 
 Eluin freezes, HECLA (Air) at summit, 6,110 ft. el 
 
 Oil bergamut freezes. 
 
 Oil cinnamon freezes, oleic acid (castor cjI) freezes. 
 
 Wine freezes. 
 
 Earth YAKUTSK, 50 ft. dep. 
 
 GULFBOTHN1A AIR, m. w. t.: Great BeKr Lnko, m * 
 
 AIR 23,000 feet elevation above PARIS (at surface 8T°» 
 
 Salt water freezes, 1 ■ 104. 
 RUSSIA, m. w. t. 
 Prussic acid cryst. - 69 S. G. 
 ALTEN, NORWAY, w. t, 
 N. POLE, m. 1. 13 below zero (calc). 
 
 Merrury freezes. ) 40° below nero, m. w. t., a'. NOVci 
 
 Etlier boils in vacuo. J ZEMBLA AND YAKUTSK 
 
 Carbonic acid freezes 148° below zero. 
 I Lowest artificial cold 187° below zero. 
 
 FAHRENHEIT TO CENTIGRADE. 
 Above Ice. Between Ice and Zero 
 
 F-32 32- F 
 
 Below Zero 
 F+32 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS. 
 
 m melts, m. t. mean temperature, w. winter, s. summer, at. atmosphere, b. boils, v, volatilized, liq. liquid, 
 liqfd. liqiieled Ad. acid. max. maximum, min. minimum. Sol. solution. W. B. water boils, el. elevation. In 
 reference to fusible alloys. B. Bismuth. T. tin. L. lead. pr. pressure. . dep. depression. I. Island. Vnpr. Vapor 
 Flast Elasticity. Fluid. Fluidity. Alch. Alcohol. Turp. Turpentine, dens, density. In regard to places meaD 
 t«Mnp" is implied where not expressly stated, r. river, spr. spring, fr. freezes. A. V. Aqueous vapor, d v 
 density of vapor. 8. G. specific gravity. The Elasticity of Vapors is given in inchefj of Mercury. 
 
 TEMPERATURES ABOVE THE SCALE. 
 
 Tin and Cadmium m. 442°. Tempered Steel (straw color) 460". Sc. ad. 178 b. 467°. Bismuth nr 476° Tempered 
 ateel (brown) 500°. Fixed Oils b. 530°. Tempered Steel (red and purple) 550°. The same (blue) 600". Lea(T m. 612" 
 «c ad 1-85 b 643 s Mercury b. 6G2°. Zinc m. 680°. Gunpowder explodes 700°. Antimony m 810°. Red heat 
 98f> ' Flint glass m. 1000°. Heat of common fire 1141°. Brass m. 18G9 . Silver m. lS73\_^Copper m. lDSfiP 
 rit&& in. 2016° Cast Iron 2786°. Pure iron and Platina m. 3230°. 
 
 Vol. II. ^ 
 
 Wind furnace white heat 3300°. 
 
842 THERMOMETER. 
 
 well as the mean range of the thermometer throughout the year, might easily find a 
 place in all the common scales. When the length of the scale would admit of such an 
 arrangement the mean temperatures of the principal cities and towns of Great Britain 
 as well as of foreign climates, might be attached, with many interesting points m ani- 
 mal and vegetable physiology. The extensive tables on temperature, collected and 
 arranged by Sir James Clark, in his excellent treatise on Climate, would here serve as 
 a useful guide. 
 
 It will be seen that the table now for the first time published, ranges from 12° to 
 874° Fahr., from— 11° to + 190° Centigrade, and from -9° to -(- 152° Reaumur. It 
 might have been extended, but this, it was considered, would have rendered it of very 
 inconvenient size ; and besides, the range here selected comprises all the most remark- 
 able phenomena connected with heat. The more important facts relating to tempera- 
 ture above and below this range, will be found inserted in distinct paragraphs, on the 
 table, with formula for the conversion of the degrees of Centigrade into those of Fah- 
 renheit, and vice versa. 
 
 , It will be only necessary to state generally those facts which the table is intended to 
 illustrate. They will be found arranged opposite to their respective degrees, either on 
 the Centigrade or Fahrenheit side, according to the Bpace afforded. Some points have 
 been necessarily omitted, in order not to render the table confused. 
 
 Thus it has been impossible to introduce all the maxima and minima of temperature 
 in respect to climate, owing to the spaces being already occupied, but a sele'etion has 
 been made of some of the most important of these. The facts connected with tempera- 
 ture, placed on the scale, may be arranged under the heads of Climatology, Physical 
 Geography, Chemistry, and Physiology. - 
 
 Climatology. 1. The mean temperatures of the principal countries, towns, and cities 
 in the world, with the maxima and minima, as well as the mean summer and winter 
 <emperature of some of the most important localities. 
 
 2. The maximum degrees of heat, and the minimum degrees of cold, observed on 
 the surface of the globe, including the accumulated temperatures of air at Edinburgh 
 and Geneva. 
 
 Physical Geography. 1. The temperature of the atmosphere, as observed on the 
 summits of the principal mountains of the Old and New World, wjth the respective 
 elevation attached — at the sea level in various latitudes, from the Arctic to the An- 
 tartic seas, as well as in deep mines and other excavations in Europe and America. 
 
 2. The temperature of the ocean at the surface, and at various depths 12,420 feet, 
 including the temperature of the Polar Seas, of the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific, 
 with the temperature of the Gulf stream. 
 
 8. The temperature of the waters of lakes and rivers at various depths, with the re- 
 spective fathomings attached. 
 
 4. The temperature of the strata of the earth at various depths, observed in some of 
 the deepest mines in the Old and New World. 
 
 5. The tempo.-ature of water raised in Artesian wells in Europe, from depths 
 varying from 250 to 1794 feet. 
 
 6. The temperature of the principal thermal springs and baths observed in Europe, 
 Africa, the West Indies, and South America. 
 
 7. The temperature at which water boils at all the elevated and inhabited spots in 
 the world, including the summits of the mountains of Switzerland, South America, and 
 Central Asia; the boiling point for all elevations up to 5415 feet, and for 1054 feet de- 
 pressfon below the level of the sea. 
 
 Chemistry. 1. The evaporating, boiling, fusing, melting, subliming, and congealing 
 points of all solids and liquids in chemistry, from 12° to 374° Fahr., from — 11° to 
 -f-190° Cent and from — 9 to -\- 155° Reau., including the boiling points of the 
 saturated solutions of numerous salts, and (he melting points of a large number of 
 alloys. 
 
 2. The temperature for fermentation of various kinds, malting, putrefaction, etherifi- 
 cation. and other chemical processes 
 
 8. The boiling points of alcohol and acids of various specific gravities, with the re- 
 spective densities cf the vapors. 
 
 4. The pressure or elastic force of the vapor of water, alcohol, oil of turpentine, tmi 
 ether, at various temperatures. 
 
 6. The temperatures, with the corresponding pressures required for the liquefaction 
 of the gases. 
 
 6. The temperature for the explosion and ignition of fulminating and combustible 
 lubstances. 
 
 Physiology. 1. The maximum degrees of natural and artificial heat, and minimum 
 iegrees of cold, borne by man and animals. 
 
THERMOSTAT. 
 
 843 
 
 2. The temperature of the body in man, mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, and 
 insects. 
 
 8. The temperature at •which hybernation takes place in certain animals. 
 
 4. The temperature for the germination of seeds, incubation, the artificial hatching of 
 the ova of birds, fishes and insects. 
 
 5. The temperature for the growth of the sugar-cane, date, indigo, cotton tree, and 
 for the cultivation of the vine. 
 
 6. The temperature for warm, tepid, and vapor baths; the vapor baths of Russia 
 and Finland. 
 
 As the value of a table of this kind, depends less on the compiler than on the 
 observers on whom he relies, I feel bound to state that I am chiefly indebted to the 
 following authorities; — for Climatology and Physical Geography; to Humboldt, 
 Bonpland, Saussure, Boussingault, Rose, Ermann, Baer, Von Wrangell, Breislak, 
 Phipps, Scoresby, Franklin, Parry, Back, Ross, Pachtusoff. Zivolka, Cordier, Gay- 
 Lussac, Pouillet, Biot, Arago, Bertrand, Desfontaincs, Gerard, Lhotsky, Schomburglc, 
 Davidson, Forbes, Brewster, D'Abbadie, Moore, and Beke; — for Chemistry and Physi- 
 ology ; .to Berzelius, Dumas, Mitscherlich, Gaultier de Claubry, Peligot, Davy, Fara- 
 day, Ure, Brande, Graham, Turner, Dr. Davy, and Liebig. In respect to the 
 department of Physical Geography, I am much indebted to the foreign correspondence 
 of the Athenaeum. 
 
 Many of the facts I was enabled to collect or verify by personal observation during a 
 journey through France, Italy, and Switzerland. Some of the chemical phenomena 
 have also been derived from direct experiment. It is very probable that a few of the 
 temperatures, in each department, will be found to differ from those given in some 
 works on Chemistry ; and, on this point, I have one remark to make, namely, that the 
 greatest discrepancies will often bo found among respectable authorities in regard to 
 temperature. It is impossible here to enter into the causes of these discrepancies. 
 I have invariably acted on the principle of selecting the best authorities; and where these 
 differed, I have endeavored to arrive at an approximation to the truth by experiment, 
 or where this was impossible, by seeking for corroborative circumstances. A large 
 number of observations, made by travellers, I have been obliged to reject, in some 
 instances, owing to the omission or confusion of the -(-and — signs; and in others, owing 
 to the observers having omitted to state what thermometers they employed. During the 
 researches into which the compilation of this table has led me — occupying as it has done 
 the occasional leisure of four years — my mind has been strongly impressed with the 
 benefits which would accrue to science, if the philosophers of Europe would agree to 
 employ only one scale, with small degrees, and so adjusted as to render entirely un- 
 necessary the use of the -f- and — signs. 
 
 THERMOSTAT, is the name of an apparatus for regulating temperature, in va- 
 porization, distillation, heating baths or hothouses, and ventilating apartments, <fec. ; 
 
 for which I obtained a patent in the year 1831. 
 It operates upon the physical principle, that 
 when two thin metallic bars of different expansi- 
 bilities are riveted or soldered facewise together, 
 any change of temperature in them will cause a 
 sensible movement of flexure in the compound 
 bar, to one side or other; which movement may 
 be made to operate, by the intervention of levers, 
 Ac, in any desired degree, upon valves, stopcocks, 
 stove-registers, air-ventilators, &c. ; so as to regu- 
 late the temperature of the media in which the 
 said compound bars are placed. Two long rulers, 
 one of steel, and one of hard hammered brass, 
 riveted together, answer very well; the object 
 being not simply to indicate, but to control or 
 modify temperature. The following diagrams 
 will illustrate a few out of the numerous appli- 
 cations of this instrument: — 
 
 Fig. 1448 a, b, is a single thermostatic bar, 
 consisting of two or more bars or rulers of 
 differently expansible solids (of which, in certain 
 cases, wood may be one): these bars or rulers 
 are firmly riveted or soldered together, face to 
 face. One end of the compound bar is fixed 
 by bolts at a, to the interior of the containing 
 eistera, boiler, or apartments, a I m b, whereof the temperature has to be regulated, 
 
 #"-.. 
 
844 THERMOSTAT. 
 
 •nd the other end of the compound bar at 6, is left free to more down towaid e, bj 
 the flexure which will take place when its temperature is raised. 
 
 The end 6, is connected by a link, b d, with a leTer d e, which is moved by the 
 flexure into the dotted position b o, causing the turning-valve, air-ventilator, or re- 
 gister o n, to revolve with a corresponding angular motion, whereby the lever will 
 raise the equipoised slide-damper- h i, which is suspended by a link from the end t, 
 of the lever « d, into the position h h. Thus a hothouse or * water-bath may hare 
 its temperature regulated by the contemporaneous admission of warm, and discharge 
 >f cold air, or water. . , , , 
 
 Fig 1449 a b c is a thermostatic hoop, immersed horizontally beneath the surface of 
 the water-bath of a still. The hbop is fixed at a, and the two ends b, e, are connected by 
 two links b d, e d, with a straight sliding rod d h, to which the hoop will give an end wise 
 motion, when its temperature is altered; e, is an adjusting screw-nut on the rod d h, lor 
 setting the lever / a, which is fixed on the axis of the turning-valve or cock /, at any 
 desired position, so that the valve may be opened or shut at any desired temperature, 
 corresponding to the widening of the points b, e, and the consentaneous retraction ot 
 the point d, toward the circumference a b e of the hoop, g h, is an arc graduated by a 
 thermometer, after the screw-piece e has been adjusted. Through a hole at A, the guide- 
 rod passes ; i, is the cold-water cistern ; i f k, the pipe to admit cold water ; 1, the over- 
 flow pipe, at which the excess of hot water runs off. 
 
 Fig. 1 450 shows a pair of thermostatic bars, bolted fast together at the ends a. The tree 
 ends b, c, are of unequal lengths, so as to act by the. cross links d,f, on the stopcock e. 
 The links are jointed to the handle of the turning plug of the cock, on opposite sides 
 of its centre; whereby that plug will be turned round in proportion to the widening of 
 the points be. h g is the pipe communicating with the stopcock. 
 
 Suppose that for certain purposes in pharmacy, dyeing, or any other chemical art, a 
 water-bath is required to be maintained steadily at a temperature of 150 F. j let the 
 eombined thermostatic bars, hinged together at e,f, fig. 1451, be placed in the bath, be 
 
 tween the outer and inner vessels a, o, c, d, 
 1451 being bolted "fast to the inner vessel at g; 
 
 and have their sliding rod fe, connected by a 
 link with a lever fixed upon the turning plug 
 of the stop-coek i, which introduces cold 
 water from a cistern m, through a pipe m, 
 i, n, into the bottom part of the bath. The 
 length of the link must be so adjusted that 
 the flexure of the bars, when they are at a 
 temperature of 150°, will open the said stop- 
 cock, and admit cold water to pass inlo the 
 bottom of the bath through the pipe i, n. 
 whereby hot water will be displaced at the 
 top of the bath through an open overflow, 
 pipe at q. An oil bath may be regulated on 
 the same plan ; the hot oil overflowing from 
 q, into a refrigeratory worm, from which it 
 may be restored to the cistern m. When a 
 water bath is heated by the distribution of a 
 tortuous steam pipe through it, as i, n, o, p, it will be necessary to connect the link of the 
 thermostatic bars with the lever of the turning plug of the steam-cock, or of the throttle 
 valve i, in order that the bars, by their flexure, may shut or open the steam passage 
 more or less, according as the temperature of the water in the bath shall tend more or 
 less to deviate from the pitch to which the apparatus has been adjusted. The water of 
 the condensed steam will pass off from the sloping winding-pipe i, n, o, p, through the 
 sloping orifice p. A saline, acid, or alkaline bath has a boiling temperature proportional 
 to its degree of concentration, and may therefore have its heat regulated by immersing a 
 thermostat in it, and connecting the working part of the instrument with a stop-cock i, 
 which will admit water to dilute the bath whenever by evaporation it has become c jncen- 
 trated, and has acquired a higher boiling point. The space for the bath, between the 
 outer and inner pans, should communicate by one pipe with the water-cistern m; and by 
 another pipe, with a safety cistern r r into which the bath may be allowed to overflow du- 
 ring any sudden excess of ebullition* 
 
 Fig. 1454 is a thermostatic apparatus, composed of three pairs of bars, d, d, d, which 
 are represented in a state of flexure by heat ; but they become nearly straight and parallel 
 when cold, a b c is a guide rod*, fixed at one end by an adjusting screw «, in the 
 strong frame / e, having deep guide grooves at the sides. / g, is the working-rod, 
 which moves endways when the bars d, d, d, operate by heat or cold. A square re- 
 gister-plate A g, may be affixed to the rod fg, so as to be removed backward and for 
 
THIMBLE. 
 
 645 
 
 1454 
 
 1 ' ! ward thereby, according to the varktionj 
 
 of temperature; or the rod /, g, may cause 
 the circular turning air-register, t, to re- 
 volve by rack and wheel-work, or by a chain 
 an" pulley. The register-plate h g, or 
 turning register i, is situated at the ceiling 
 or upper part of the chamber, and serves 
 to let>out hot air. k, is a pulley,.over which 
 a cord runs 1 to raise or lower a hot-air 
 register I, which may be situated near the 
 floor of the apartment or hot-house, to admit 
 hot air into the room. «, is a milled head, 
 for adjusting the thermostat, by means of 
 the screw at e, in order that it may regulate 
 the temperature to any degree. 
 
 Fig. 1455 represents a chimney, furnished 
 with a pyrostat a b c, acting by the links 
 6, d, e, c, on a damper / h g. The more 
 expansible metal is in the present example 
 supposed to be on the outside. The plane of the damper-plate will, in this case, be 
 turned more directly into the passage of the draught through the chimney by increase 
 of temperature. 
 
 Fig. 1453 represents a circular turning register, such as is used for a stove, or stove- 
 grate, or for ventilating apartments ; it is furnished with a series of spiral thermostatia 
 bars, each bar being fixed fast at the circumference of the circle b, c, of the fixed plate 
 of the air-register; and all the bars act in. concert at the centre a, of the 
 twining part of the register, by their ends being inserted between the 
 teeth of a small pinion, or by being jointed to the central part of the turn- 
 ing plate by small pins. 
 
 fig. 1452 represents another arrangement of my thermostatic apparatus 
 applied to a circular turning register, like the preceding, for ventilating 
 apartments. Two pairs of compound bars are applied so as to act in concert, 
 by means of the links a c,b c, on the opposite ends of a short lever, which 
 is fixed on the central part of the turning plate of the air-register. The 
 two pairs of compound bars a b, are fastened to the circumference of 
 the fixed plate of the turning register, by two sliding rods a d,b e, which 
 are furnished with adjusting screws. Their motion or flexure is trans- 
 mitted by the links a c, and b c, to the turning plate, about its centre, for 
 the purpose of shutting or opening the ventilating sectorial apertures, 
 more or less, according to the temperature of the air which surrounds the thermostatic 
 taming register. By adjusting the screws a. d, and b c, the turning register is made 
 to close all its apertures at any desired degree of temperature ; but whenever the air is 
 above that temperature, the flexure of the compound bars will open the apertures. 
 
 THIMBLE (De a coudre, Ft. ; Fiagerhut (fingerhat), Germ.), is a small truncated 
 metallic cone, deviating little from a cylinder, smooth within, and symmetrically pitted 
 on the qutside with numerous rows of indentations, which is put upon the tip of the 
 middle finger of the right hand, to enable it to push the needle readily and safely 
 through oioth or leather, in the act of sewing. This little instrument is fashioned in 
 two ways ; either with a pitted round end, or without one ; the latter, called the open 
 thimble, being employed by tailors, upholsterers, and, generally speaking, by needle-men. 
 The following ingenious process for making this essential implement, the contrivance of 
 MM. Rouy and Berthier, of Paris, has been much celebrated, and very successful. 
 Sheet-iron, one twenty-fourth of an inch thick, is cut into strips, of dimensions suited 
 to the intended size of the thimbles. These strips are passed under a punch-press, 
 whereby they are cut into discs of about 2 inches diameter, tagged together by a tail. 
 Each strip contains one dozen of these blanks. A child is employed to make them red- 
 hot, and to lay them on a mandril nicely fitted to their size. The workman now strikes 
 the middle of each with a round-faced punch, about the thickness of his finger, and thus 
 sinks it into the concavity of the first mandril. He then transfers it successively to an- 
 other mandril, which has five hollows of successively increasing depth ; and, by striking 
 it into them, brings it to the proper shape. 
 
 A second workman takes this rude thimble, sticks it in the chuck of his lathe, in order 
 to polish it within, then turns it outside, marks the circles for the gold ornament, and 
 indents the pits most cleverly with a kind of milling tool. The thimbles are next an- 
 nealed, brightened, and gilt inside, with a very thin cone of gold leaf, which is firmly 
 united to the surface of the iron, simply by the strong pressure of a smooth steel man- 
 
846: 
 
 THREAD MANUFACTURE. 
 
 dril. A gold fillet is applied to the outside, in an annular space turned to receive it| 
 Vieing fixed, by pressure at the edges, into a minute groove formed on the lathe. 
 
 Thimbles are made in this country by means of moulds in the stamping-machine. Set 
 Stamping of Metals. m 
 
 THORINA is a primitive earth, with a metallic basis, discovered in 1828, by Ber- 
 zclius. It was extracted from the mineral thorite, of which it constitutes 58 per cent., 
 and where it is associated with the oxydes of iron, lead, manganese, tin, and uranium, 
 besides earths and alkalis, in all 12 substances. Pure thorina is a white powder, without 
 taste, smell, or alkaline reaction on litmus. When dried and calcined, it i3 not affected 
 hy either the nitric or muriatic acid. It may be fused with borax into a transparent 
 glass, l>ut not with potash or soda. Fresh precipitated thorina is a hydrate, which dis- 
 solves readily in the above acids, as well as in solutions of the carbonates of potash, soda, 
 and ammonia, but not in these alkalis in a pure state. This earth consists of 74'5 parts 
 of the metal thorinum, combined with 100 of oxygen. Its hydrate contains one equiva- 
 lent prime of water. It is hitherto merely a chemical .curiosity, remarkable chiefly for a 
 density of 9-402,' far greater than that of all the earths, and even of copper. 
 
 THREAD MANUFACTURE. The doubling and twisting of cotton or linen 
 yarn into a compact thread, for weaving bobbinet, or for sewing garments, is performed 
 by a machine resembling the throstle of the cotton-spinner. Fig. 1456 shows the 
 thread-frame in a transverse section, perpendicular to its length, a, is the strong 
 framing of cast-iron ; 6, is the creel, or shelf, in which the bobbins of yarn I, I, are set 
 loosely upon their respective skewers, along the whole line of the machine, their lowei 
 ends turning in oiled steps, and their upper in wjre eyes ; c, is a glass rod, across which 
 .he yarn runs as it is unwound ; d, d, are oblong narrow troughs, lined with lead, and 
 filled with water, for moistening the thread during its torsion ; the threads being made 
 to pass through eyes at the bottom of the fork e, which has an upright stem for lifting 
 it out, without wetting the fingers, when anything goes amiss ; /, /, are the pressing 
 rollers, the under one g, being of smooth iron, and the upper one A, of box-wood; the 
 former extends from end to end of the frame, in lengths comprehending 18 threads, 
 which are joined by square pieces, as in the drawing-rollers of the mule-jenny. The 
 necks of the under rollers are supported, at the ends and the middle, by the standards i, 
 secured to square bases j, both made of cast iron. The upper cylinder has an iron axis, 
 and is formed of as many rollers as there are threads; each roller being kept in its place 
 upon the lower one by the guides k, whose verticle slots receive the ends of the axea 
 
 The yarn delivered by the bobbin /, glides over the rod e, and descends into the trough 
 d e, where it gets wetted : on emerging, it goes along the bottom of the roller g, turns 
 up, so as to pass between it and A, then turns round the top of h, and finally proceeds 
 obliquely downward, to be wound upon the bobbin m, after traversing the guide-eye n. 
 These guides are fixed to the end of a plate which may be turned up by a hinge-joint 
 at o, to make room for the bobbins to be changed. 
 
 There are three distinct simultaneous movements to be considered in this machine 
 1, that of the rollers, or rather of the under roller, for the upper one revolves merely by 
 friction; 2, thai of the spindles m, »'; 8, the up-and-down motion of the bobbins upon 
 the spindles. 
 
 The first of these motions is produced by means of toothed wheels, upon the right 
 hand of the under set of rollers. The second motion, that of the spindles, is effected by 
 the drum «, which extends the whole length of the frame, turning upon the shaft v, and 
 communicating its rotary movement (derived from the steam pulley) to the whorl J' 
 of the spindles, by means of the endless band or cord a'. Each of these cords turns four 
 spindles, two upon each side of the frame. They are kept in a proper state of tension 
 by tlie weights e', whict act tangentially upon the circular arc df, fixed to the extremity 
 of the bell-crank lever t/ f g 1 , and draw in a horizontal direction the tension pulleys 
 A, embraced by the cords. The third movement,or the vertical traverse of the bobbins, 
 along the spindles m, takes place as follows: — 
 
 The end of one of the under rollers carries a pinion, which takes into a carrier wheel 
 that communicates motion to a pinion upon the extremity of the Bhaft m', of the heart- 
 shaped pulley »'. As this eccentric revolves, it gives a reciprocating motion to the 
 levers o', o', which oscillate in a vertical plane round the points p', p'. The extremities 
 of these levers on either side act by means of the links g', upon the arms of the sliding 
 sockets r 1 , and cause the vertical rod »', to slide up and down in guide-holes at *', «', along 
 with the cast-iron step »', which bears the bottom washer of the bobbins. The periphery 
 of the heart-wheel «', is seen to bear upon friction wheels x, x', set in frames adjusted 
 by screws upon the lower end of the bent levers, at such a distance from the point »', 
 as that the traverse of the bobbins may be equal to the length of their barrel. 
 
 By adapting change pinions and their corresponding wheels to the rollers, the delivery 
 »f the yarn may be increased or diminished in any degree, so as to vary the degree of 
 
THUNDER CONDUCTORS. 
 1456 
 
 847 
 
 twist put into it by the uniform rotation of the drum and spindles. The heart motion 
 being derived from that of the rollers, will necessarily vary with it. 
 
 Silk thread is eommonly twisted in lengths of from 50 to 100 feet, with hand reels, 
 somewhat similar to those employed for making ropes by hand. 
 
 THUNDER CONDUCTORS. The several nautical and scientific conditions which 
 the system of lightning conductors in ships professes to satisfy, are as follows: — 
 
 The conductors are capacious and always in place, consequently ready to meet the 
 most unexpected danger at all times and under any circumstances in which the general 
 fabric in all its casualties may become placed. This system of conductors, whilst being 
 permanently fixed throughout their T'hole extent, still admit, upon demonstrable prin- 
 ciples of electrical action, the perfect motion of the sliding masts one upon the other, or 
 of any part of the mast being removed, either by accident or design, without for an 
 instant interfering with the protecting power. The conductors are independent of the 
 officers or crew of the ship ; so that the sailors are never required to handle or replace 
 them, often a very perilous and annoying service. The conducting plates are quite clear 
 of the Btanding and running rigging; the whole series is calculated to resist external 
 violence, and at the same time yield to any flexure or strain incidental to the spars to 
 which they are applied. Finally, the whole system is so arranged that a discharge of 
 lightning falling on any part of the ship could scarcely enter upon any circuit in its 
 course to the sea of which the conductors did not form a part; hence has arisen that 
 perfect security which experience has shown to be derived from such a system. 
 
 In the original conception of this system Sir Snow Harris was led to consider the elec- 
 trical discharge, as seen in the phenomenon of lightning, to be an explosive form of the 
 action of some unknown agency in nature when forcing its way through resisting matter 
 such as air, all vitreous and resinous bodies, and some other kinds of matter : whilst in 
 traversing other bodies offering but a very small resistance to its progress, this explosive 
 
848 
 
 TIN. 
 
 torra of action we call lightning becomes transformed into a sort of comparatively 
 quiescent current. The attempt was therefore to bring a ship as far as possible into that 
 passive or non-resisting state which she could possess as regards the electrical discharge 
 supposing tbe entire mass were metallic throughout; so that from the instant the agency 
 of lightning struck upon any portion of the masts aloft, the explosive action would vanish. 
 au<! the electrical discharge be prevented from traversing the vessel under the form of 
 lightning. The following extract from the official journal of H. M. S. Conway, 23, whilst 
 pre ring with a great natural experiment in common with numerous other cases the 
 tr'-ta of this deduction, is ot no ordinary interest in practical science: — 
 
 "Port Louis, Isle of France, 9th March, 1846, 11 45 A. M. The pendant staff at 
 main-top-mast-head was shivered in pieces by lightning, Harris's conductor carrying 
 off the fluid without further damage." 
 
 The ship was refitting at this time, and the top-gallant masts on deck, so that a small 
 spai was set up at the top- mast-head as a temporary support for the pendant; this spar 
 had not consequently any conductor on it. It is seen by the ship's journal that the spai 
 was shivered in pieces by the explosive action, which became immediately transformed 
 into a comparatively quiescent current on reaching the line of conduction. 
 
 The report of the thunder was as if one of the main-deck guns had been fired. The 
 gunner, who was sitting in his berth immediately under one of the lateral branches of 
 the conductor passing through the ship, saw, through the scuttle port, a brilliant blaze 
 of light from the ship upon the sea, but experienced no inconvenience. 
 
 TILES. See Bricks. 
 
 TILTING OF STEEL. See Steel. Rees's Cyclopaedia contains an excellent arti Je 
 on this subject. 
 
 TIN (Etain, Fr. ; Zinn, Germ.), in its pure state, has nearly the color and lustre 
 of silver. In hardness it is intermediate between gold and lead; it is very malleable, 
 and may be laminated into foil less than the thousandth of an inch in thickness ; it 
 has an unpleasant taste, and exhales on friction a peculiar odor ; it is flexible in rods 
 or straps of considerable strength, and emits in the act of bending a crackling sound, as if 
 sandy particlts were intermixed, called the creaking of tin. A small quantity of lead, 
 or other metal, deprives it of this characteristic quality. Tin melts at 442° Fahr., and is 
 very fixed in the fire at higher heats. Its specific gravity is 7-29. When heated 
 to redness with free access of air, it absorbs oxygen with rapidity, and changes 
 first into a pulverulent gray protoxyde, and by longer ignition, into a yellow-white 
 powder, called putty of tin. This is the peroxyde, consisting of 100 of metal -}- 27-2 
 of oxygen. , • 
 
 Tin has been known from the most remote antiquity ; being mentioned in the books 
 of Moses. The Phoenicians carried on a lucrative trade in it with Spain and Cornwall. 
 
 There are only two ores of tin ; the peroxyde, or tin-stone, and tin pyrites ; the 
 former of which alone has been found in sufficient abundance for metallurgic purposes. 
 The external aspect of tin-stone has nothing very remarkable. It occurs sometimes in 
 twin crystals ; its lustre is adamantine ; its colors are very various, as white, gray, 
 yellow, red, brown, black; specific gravity 6-9 at least; which is, perhaps, its most 
 striking feature. It does nc; melt by itself before the blowpipe; but is reducible in 
 the smoky flame or on charcoa,. It is insoluble in acids. It has somewhat of a greasy 
 aspect, and strikes Are with steel. 
 
 Tin-stone occurs disseminated in the ancient rocks, particularly granite ; also in beds 
 and veins, in large irregular masses, called stockwerks ; and in pebbles, an assemblage 
 of which is called stream-works, where it occasionally takes a ligneous aspect, and is 
 termed wood-tin. 
 
 This ore has been found in few countries in a workable quantity. Its principal locali- 
 ties are, Cornwall, Bohemia, Saxony, in Europe ; and Malacca and Banca, in Asia. 
 The tin-mines of the Malay peninsula lie between the 10th and 6lh degree of south lati- 
 tude ; and are most productive in the island of Junck-Ceylon, where they yield sometimes 
 800 tons per annum, which are sold at the rate of 48/. each. The ores are found in large 
 caves near the surface ; and though actively mined for many centuries, still there is easy 
 access to the unexhausted parts. The mines in the island of Banca, to the east of 
 Sraatra, discovered in 1710, are said to have furnished, in some years, nearly 3500 tons 
 of tin. Small quantities occur in Gallicia in Spain, in the department of Haute Vienne 
 m France, and in the mountain chains of the Fichtel and Riesengebiirge in Germany. 
 The columnar pieces of pyramidal tin-ore from Mexico and Chile, are products of stream- 
 works. Small groups of black twin crystals have been lately discovered in the albite rock 
 of Chesterfield in Massachusetts. 
 
 The Cornish ores occur— 1. in small strata or veins, or in masses ; 2. in stockwerks, 
 or congeries of small veins ; 3. in large veins ; 4. disseminated in alluvial deposites. 
 
 The stanniferous small veins, or thin flat masses, though of small extent, are some- 
 times very numerous, interposed between certain rocks, parallel to their beds, and ejte 
 »ommonly called tin-floors. The same name is occasionally given to stockwerks. In 
 
TIN. 819 
 
 the mine of Botlalaek, a tin-flow has been found in the killas (pi.*nitive schistose rock), 
 thirty -six fathoms below the level of the sea ; it is about a foot and a half thick, and occu- 
 pies the space between a principal vein and its ramification ; but there seems to be no 
 connexion between the floor and the great vein. 
 
 2. Stockwerks occur in granite and in the feldspar porphyry, called in Corn-wall, 
 than. The most remarkable of these in the granite, is at the tin-mine of Carclase, 
 near St. Austle. The works are carried on in the open air, in a friable granite, con- 
 taining feldspar, disintegrated into kaolin, or china clay, which is traversed by a great 
 many small veins, composed of tourmaline, quartz, and a little tin-stone, that form black 
 delineations on the face of the light-gray granite. The thickness of these little veins 
 rarely exceeds 6 inches, including the adhering solidified granite, and is occasionally 
 much less. Some of them run nearly east and west, with an almost vertical dip ; 
 others, with the same direction, incline to the south at an angle with the horizon of 70 
 degrees. 
 
 Stanniferous stockwerks are much more frequent in the elvan (porphyry), of which the 
 mine of Trewidden-ball is a remarkable example. It is worked among flattened masses 
 of elvan, separated by strata of killas, which dip to the east-north-east at a considerable 
 angle. The tin ore occurs in small veins, varying in thickness from half an inch to 8 or 
 9 inches, which are irregular, and so much interrupted, that it is difficult to determine 
 either-their direction or their inclinatiqn. 
 
 3. The large and proper metalliferous veins are not equally distributed over the surface 
 of Cornwall and the adjoining part of Devonshire ; but are grouped into three districts ; 
 namely, 1. In the south-west of Cornwall, beyond Truro; 2. In the neighborhood of 
 St. Austle ; and 3. In the neighborhood of Tavistock in Devonshire. 
 
 The first group is by far the richest, and the best explored. The formation most 
 abundant in tin mines is principally granitic ; whilst that of the copper mines is most 
 frequently schistose or killas ; though with numerous exceptions. The great tin veins 
 are the most ancient metalliferous veins in Cornwall ; yet they are not all of one forma- 
 tion, but belong to two different systems. Their direction is, however, nearly the same, 
 but some of them dip towards the north, and others towards the south. The first are 
 older than the second ; for in all the mines where these two sets of veins are associated, 
 the one which dips to the north, cuts across and throws out the one which dips to the 
 south. See Mines, p. 171. 
 
 At Trevannance mines, the two systems of tin veins are both intersected by the oldest 
 of the copper veins; indicating the prior existence of the tin veins. In Jig. 1457, 
 
 6, marks the first system of tin veins ; c, the second ; 
 and d, the east and west copper veins. Some of 
 these tin veins, as at Poldice, have been traced 
 over an extent of two miles ; and they vary in 
 thickness from a small fraction of an inch to 
 several feet, the average width being from 2 to 4 
 feet; though this does not continue uniform for 
 any length, as these veins are subject to continual 
 narrowings^tnd expansions. The gangue is quartz, 
 chlorite, tourmaline, and sometimes decomposed 
 granite and fluor spar. 
 
 4. Alluvial tin ore, dream tin. — Peroxyde of tin occurs disseminated both in the 
 alluvium which covers the gentle slopes of the hills adjoining the rich tin-mines, and 
 also in the alluvium which fills the valleys that wind round their base; but in these 
 numerous deposites the tin-stone is rarely distributed in sufficient quantities to make it 
 worth the working. The most important explorations of alluvial tin ore are grouped 
 in the environs of St. Just and St. Austle; where they are called stream-works ; because 
 water is the principal agent employed to separate the metallic oxyde from the sand and 
 gravel. 
 
 The tin. mine of' Altenberg, in Saxony (fig. 1458, which is a vertical projection in a 
 plane passing from west to east), is remarkable for a stockwerk, or interlaced mass 
 of ramifying veins, which has been worked ever since the year 1458. The including 
 rock is a primitive porphyry, superposed upon gneiss; becoming very quartzose as it 
 approaches the lode. This Is usually disseminated in minute particles, and accom- 
 panied with wolfram, copper, and arsenical pyrites,/er oligiste, sulphuret of molybdenum, 
 and bismuth, having gangues of lithomarge, Huor spar, mica, and feldspar. The spaie 
 which the ore occupies in the heart of the quartz, is a kind of daedalus, the former being 
 oflen so dispersed among the latter as to seem to merge into it ; whence it is called by 
 the workmen zwitter, or ambiguous. In 1620, the mine was worked by 21 independent 
 companies, in a most irregular manner, whereby it was damaged to a depth of 170 fathoms 
 by a dreadful downfall of the roofs. This happened on a Sunday, providentially, when the 
 pious miners were all at church. The depth of this abyss, marked by the curved line 
 
850 
 
 TIN. 
 
 i, h, b, is 66 falhoms ; but the devastation is manifest to a depth of 95 fathoms below thai 
 curve, and 35 fathoms below the actual workings, represented at the bottom of the shafl 
 under b. The parts excavated are shaded b.ack in the 
 figure. There are two masses of vore, one under the 
 shaft j3, and another under the shaft c ; which at the 
 levels 5 and 10 are in communication, but not at 6, 7. 
 There is a direct descent from 8 to 9. The deposites 
 are by no means in one vertical plane, but at a consider- 
 able horizontal distance from each other, a is the de- 
 scending shaft ; b is the extraction shaft, near the mouth 
 of which there is a water-wheel ; c is another extraction 
 shaft, worked also by means of a water-wheel, a and 
 c are furnished with ladders, but for b the ladders are 
 placed in an accessory shaft 6'; under D a shaft is sunk 
 for pumping out the water, by means of an hydraulic 
 wheel at n j E is the gallery or drift for admitting the 
 water which drives the wheels. This falls 300 feet, and 
 ought to he applied to a water-pressure engine, instead 
 of the paddles of a wheel. At n is the gallery of dis- 
 charge for the waters, which serves also to ventilate the 
 mine, being cut to the day, through 936 toises of syenilic 
 porphyry and gneiss. J is a great vaulted excavation. 
 The mine has 13 stages of galleries, of which 11 
 serve for extracting the ore; 1 is the mill-course; the 
 rest are marked with the numbers 2, 3, 4, &c. ; each 
 having besides a characteristic German name. The rare 
 mineral called topaz pycaite is found in this mine, above 
 10, between the shafts c and d.' 
 
 The only rule observed in taking ore from this 
 mine has been to work as much out of each of these 
 levels as is possible, without endangering the super- 
 incumbent or collateral galleries; on which account 
 many pillars are constructed to support the roofs. The 
 mine yields annually 1600 quintals (Leipzick) of tin, 
 being four fifths of the whole furnished by the district 
 of Allenberg ; to produce which, 400,000 quintals of ore are raised. 1000 parts of 
 the rock yield 8 of concentrated schlich, equivalent to only 4 of metal ; being only 1 in 
 250 parts. 
 
 But the most extensive and productive stream-works are those of Pentowan, near 
 St. Austle. 
 
 Fig. 1459 represents a vertical section of the Pentowan mine, taken from the 
 slreum^woik, Happy Union. A vast excavation, B, T, u, «, has been hollowed out in 
 
 the open air, in quest of the alluvial tin 
 145w jt to is to 25 fli> orej T) which occurs here at an unusual 
 
 depth, below the level of the strata b, s. 
 Before getting at this deposite, several 
 successive layers had to be sunk through ; 
 namely, 1, 2, 3 ; the gravel, containing in 
 its middle a band of ochreous earth 2, or 
 ferruginous clay ; 4, a black peat, per- 
 fectly .combustible, of a coarse texture, 
 composed of reeds and woody fibres, ce- 
 mented into a mass by a fine loam ; 5, 
 coarse sea-sand, mingled with marine shells ; 
 6, a blackish marine mud, filled with shells. Below these the deposite of tin-stone occurs, 
 including fragments of va; ious size, of clay slate, flinty slate, quartz, iron ore, jasper ; 
 in a word, of all the rocks and gangues to be met with in the surrounding territory, with 
 the exception of granite. Among these fragments there occur, in rounded particles, a 
 coarse qdartzose sand, and the tin-stone, commonly in small grains and crystals. Beneath 
 the bed t, the clay slate occurs, called killas, (A, x, v,) which supports all the deposites 
 of more recent formation. 
 
 The systen of mining is very simple. The successive beds, whose thickness is shown 
 in the figure, ire visibly cut out into steps or platforms. By a level or gallery of efflux, 
 fc, the waters flow into the bottom of the well I, m, which contains the drainage pumps; 
 »nd these are put in action by a machine, j, moved by a water-wheel. The extraction o/ 
 the ore is effected by an inclined plane, i, cut out of one of the sides of the excavation. 
 M an angle of about 45 degrees. At the lower end of this sloping pathway there is a 
 
TIN. 85] 
 
 place of loading; and at its upper end h, a horse-gin, for alternately raising and lowering 
 the two baskets of extraction on the pathway i. 
 
 Mine tin requires peculiar care in its mechanical preparation or dressing, on ac- 
 count of the presence of foreign metals, from which, as we have stated, the stream tin 
 is free. 
 
 1. As the mine tin is for the most part extremely dispersed through the gangue, it 
 must be all stamped and reduced to a very fine powder, to allow the metallic particles to 
 be separated from the stony matters. , 
 
 3. As the-density of tin-stone is much greater than that of most other metallic ores, it 
 is less apt to run off in the washing; and may, therefore, be dressed so as to be completely 
 stripped of every matter not chemically combined. 
 
 3. As the peroxyde of tin is not affected by a moderate heat, it may be exposed to cal- 
 cination ; whereby the specific gravity of the associated sulphurets and trseniurets is so 
 diminished as to facilitate their separation. 
 
 We may therefore conclude, that tin ore. should be first of all pounded very line in the 
 etamp-mill, then subjected to reiterated washings, and afterwards calcined. The order of 
 proceeding in Cornwall is as follows : — . 
 
 1. Cleaning the ore. — This is usually done at the mouth of the gallery of efflux, by agi- 
 tating the ore in the stream of water as it runs out. Sometimes the ore is laid on a gra- 
 ting, under a fall of water. 
 
 2. Sorting. — The ore thus cleaned, is sorted on the grate, into four heaps : 1. stones 
 rich in tin ; 2. stones containing both tin and copper ore ; 3. copper ore ; 4. sterile 
 pieces, composed in a great measure of stony gangue, with iron and arsenical pyrites. In 
 those veins where there is no copper ore; the second and third heaps are obviously absent. 
 When present, the compound ore is broken into smaller pieces with a mallet, and. the 
 fragments are sorted anew. 
 
 3. Stamping. — The stanniferous fragments (No. 1) are stamped into a sand, of greater 
 or less fineness, according to the dissemination of the tin-stone in the gangue. The de- 
 termination of the size of the sand is an object of great importance. It is regulated by 
 a copper plate pierced with small holes, through which every thing from the stamping- 
 mill must run off with the rapid stream introduced for this purpose. This plate forms the 
 front of the stamp cistern. 
 
 Several years ago, all the stamp-mills were driven by water-wheels, which limited the 
 quantity of ore that could be worked to the hydraulic power of the stream or waterfall , 
 but since the steam engine has been applied to this purpose, the annual product of tin 
 has been greatly increased. On the mine of Huel Vor, there are three' steam engines 
 appropriated to the stamping-mills. Their force is 25. horses at least. One of these 
 machines, called south stamps, drives 48 pestles; a second, called old stamps, drives 36; 
 and a third, 24. The weight of these pestles varies from 370 to 387 pounds ; and they 
 generally rise through a space of 10| inches. The machine called south stamps, the 
 strongest of the three, gives 17| blows in the minute, each pestle being lifted twice for 
 every stroke of the piston. The steam engine of this mill has a power of 25 horses, and 
 it consumes 1062 bushels of coals in the month. Three pestles constitute a battery, or 
 stamp-box. 
 
 Washing and stamping of tin ores at Polgooth, near St. duslle. — The stamps or pestles 
 are of wood, 6 inches by 5£ in the square : they carry lifting bars b, secured 
 1460 w jih a wooden' wedge and a bolt of iron, and they terminate below in a 
 I lump of cast iron A, called the head, which is fastened to them by a tail, 
 3_ and weighs about 2£ cwls. The shank of the pestle is strengthened with 
 __ iron hoops. A turning-shaft communicates motion to the stamps by cams 
 J stuck round its circumference, so arranged that the second falls while the 
 first and third of each set are uplifted. There are 4 cams on one periphery, 
 and the shaft makes 7 turns in the minute. Each stamp, therefore, gives 
 28 strokes per minute, and falls through a space of 7| inches. The stamp 
 chest is open behind, so that the ore slips away under the pestles, by its 
 weight, along the inclined plane with the stream of water. The bottom oi 
 the troughs consists of stamped ores. With 6 batteries of 6 pestles each, al 
 Poldice, near Redruth, 120 bags ofore are stamped in 12 hours ; each bag 
 containing 18 gallons of 282 cubic inches; measuring altogether 352 cubic 
 feet, and 864 cubic inches. 
 The openings in the front sides of the troughs are nearly eight inches by seven and a 
 half; they are fitted v/ith an iron frame, which is closed with sheet iron, pieieeJ with auout 
 160 holes in the square inch, bored conically, being narrower within. The ore. fa issuing, 
 dcposiles its rough in the first basin, and its slimes in the following basins. The rough is 
 washed in buddies (sec Lead, page 42), and in tossing-tubs ; the slimes in trunks, and up 
 on a kind of twin tables, called racks. Into the iossing-tnb, or dolly, fig. 1461, the stamp 
 ed oie is thrown, along with a certain quantity of water, and a workman stirs it abo*',,) 
 
852 
 
 TIN. 
 
 1 
 
 1461 
 
 .f«" 
 
 I 
 
 1462 
 
 Wri: 
 
 rnn/f/mMMMM/mmmmmmmMnff 
 
 with an iron shovel for three or four minutes. He then removes a little of the watei 
 with a handled pitcher, and strikes the sides of the tub for 8 or 10 minutes with a hammer, 
 which hastens the subsidence of the denser parts. Thewatei 
 is next poured off by inclining the tub to one side. In one 
 operation of this kind, four distinct strata of the ores may be 
 procured, as indicated by the lines a b, c d,e f g, h i k, in 
 the figure. The portion b is to be washed again in the 
 tmnking-box, figs. 1462, 1463; e is to be washed upon the 
 German chests or racks, fig. 1464 ; c, the most considerable, 
 is put aside, as schlich lit for the market ; d, forming a nucleus 
 in the centre of the tub, is to be passed through sieves of 
 copper wire, having 18 meshes in the square inch. This 
 product thus affords a portion d', which passes through the 
 sieve, and d" which remains upon it ; the latter is sometimes thrown away, and at others is 
 subjected to the operation called the tie, viz., a washing upon the sloping bottom of a 
 long trough. 
 
 The slimes are freed from the lighter mud in the tiunking-box, figs. -1462, 1463 ; 
 which is from 7 to 8 feet long. Being accumulated at m, the workman pushes them 
 
 back with a shovel from a towards b. 
 The metallic portion is carried off, and 
 deposited by the stream of water upon 
 the table ; but the earthy matters are 
 floated along into a basin beyond it. 
 The product collected in the chest is di- 
 vided into two portions ; the one of 
 which is washed once, and the other 
 twice, upon the rack, fig. 1464. Thi« 
 is composed of a frame c, which carries 
 a sloping board or table, susceptible or 
 turning round to the right or left upon 
 two pivots, k, k. The head of the 
 table is the inclined plane t. A small 
 board f, which is attached by a band 
 of leather l, forms the communication with the lower table c, whose slope is generally 
 5 inches in its whole length of 9 feet ; but this may vary with the nature of the ore, 
 being somewhat less when it is finely pulverized. The ore is thrown upon T, in small 
 
 portions of 20 or 
 25 lbs. A woman 
 spreads it with 
 a rake, while a 
 stream of water 
 sweeps a part of 
 it upon the table, 
 where it gets 
 washed. The fine 
 mud falls through 
 a cross slit near 
 the lower end, 
 . r, — - into a basin B. 
 
 After working for a few minutes, should the schlich seem tolerably rich, the operative 
 turns the table round its axis K, k, so as to tumble it into the boxes below. The mud 
 
 i.Hi»h ! «*r lmpUr ?- SChlchl , n B '> which mui * »>e washed again upon the rack; and a 
 schlich fit for roasting in b". ,«•■*<• 
 
 feet." 16 Sl ° Pe ° f ^ rack - table for washin S the "<"<«* tin ore, is 7| inches in the nine 
 
 J2^^£.^<!**^^^ W '^ , > mareA on a railway by an endless 
 rope, bring the ore to be crushed immediately over the rolls, as shown in fe. 1465 
 
 re" a see aw ™Z V • W '" » yh f er * C > C > and next u P on the sieve n, which 
 uprrtt turnin^aft Th,° r fi ZOnlalI ^- by T" 8 ° f the rod L > and «"> crank of the 
 formfthenea^s Th~ JJlir J *™ ° f T> * hich P asSes throu S n that sieve > 
 between the cvlinders^ r' nLI, T * , t0SS , ed °™- «* edge of the sieve, and falls 
 and "" rf^SfiRl ' P " a l0W6r leVe1 ' and f0rms lhe second hea P * ° f *«. 
 The holes of the sieves r, »', being of the same size, the products s s' are of the same 
 
TIN. 
 
 853 
 
 The diameter and length of the tinder rolls (see fig. 146G) are each 16 incnes, 
 
 « b, is the square end of the gudgeon t, which prevents the shaft shifting laterally on 
 
 i, ji ii a a ' of its place. The di- 
 
 1465 AijuLU A ameter of the upper 
 
 rolls is 18 inches, but 
 their length is the 
 same. Both are made 
 of white cast iron, 
 chilled or case-harden, 
 ed by being cast in 
 iron moulds instead of 
 sand; and they last a 
 month, at least, when 
 of good quality. They 
 make from 10 to 15 
 turns in a minute, ac- 
 cording to the hard- 
 ness of the ores of tin 
 or copper; and can 
 grind about 50 tons of rich copper ore in 12 hours ; but less of the poorer sort. 
 
 The next process is the calcination in the burning-house; which includes several 
 .1466 1 l reverberalory furnaces, At the mine of Poldice, they are 4 or 
 
 | , 5 yards Ions, by from 2| to 3 yards wide. Their hearth is hori- 
 zontal; the elevation, about 26 inches high near the fireplace, 
 sinks slightly towards the chimney. There is but one opening, 
 which is' in the front; it is closed by a plate-iron door, turning 
 on hinges. Above the door there is a chimney, to let the sulphurous arid arsenical 
 vapors" fly off, which escape out of the hearth, without annoying the workmen. This 
 chimney leads to horizontal flues, in which the arsenious acid is condensed. 
 
 Six hundred weights, of ore are introduced ; the calcination of which takes from 12 to 
 18 hours, according to the quantity of pyrites contained in the ore. ' At the beginning 
 of the operation, a moderate heat is applied ; after which it is pushed to a dull red, and 
 kept so during «everal hours. The door is shut; the materials are stirred from time to 
 time with an iron rake, to expose new surfaces, and prevent them from agglutinating or 
 kerning, as the workmen say. The more pyriles is present, the more turning is neces- 
 sary. Should the ore contain black oxyde of iron, it becomes peroxydized, and is then 
 easily removed by a subsequent washing. 
 
 Figs. 1467, 1468 represent the furnace employed at Altenberg, in Saxony, for roasting 
 tin ores, a is the grate ; b, the sole of the roasting hearth ; c, an opening in the arched 
 
 1467 
 
 roof for introducing the dried schlich (the ground 
 and elutriated ore) ; d, is the smoke-mantle or 
 chimney-hood, at the end of the furnace, under 
 which the workmen turn over the spread schlich, 
 with long iron rods bent at their ends ; c, is the 
 poison vent, which conducts the arsenical vapors 
 to the poison chamber (gifihans) of condensa- 
 tion. 
 
 When the ore is sufficiently calcined, as is 
 shown by its ceasing to exhale vapors, it is 
 taken out, and exposed for some days to the 
 action of the air, which decomposes the sul- 
 phurets, or changes them into sulphates. The 
 ore is next put into a tub filled with water, 
 stirred up with a wooden rake, and left to settle ; 
 by which means the sulphate of copper that may 
 have been formed, is dissolved out. After some 
 time, this water is drawn off into a large tank, 
 and its copper recovered by precipitation with 
 pieces of old iron. In this way, almost all the 
 copper contained in the tin ore is extracted. 
 The calcined ore is sifted, and treated again on the racks, as above described. 
 The pure schlich, called black tin, is sold under this name to the smelters ; and thai 
 which collects on the middle part of the inclined wash-tables, being much mixed with 
 wolfram, is called mock lead. This is passed once more through the stamps, and washed ; 
 when it also is sold as black tin. , , 
 
 Stream tin is dressed by similar methods; 1. by washing in a trunking-box, ot sucn 
 dimensions that the workman stands upon it in thick boots, «nd makes a skiliul usf 
 
854 
 
 TIN. 
 
 jf the rake; 2, by separating the larger conglomerate pebbles from the smaller pur« 
 ones j picking, stamping, and washing, on a kind of sleeping-tables. See Metallurgy. 
 figs. 910, 911. 
 
 The tin ores of Cornwall and Devonshire are all reduced within the counties whert 
 •they arc mined, as the laws prohibit their exportation out of them. Private -interests suf- 
 fer no injury from this prohibition ; because the vessels which bring the fuel from Wales, 
 for smelting these ores, return to Swansea and Neath loaded with copper ores. 
 
 ,The smelting-works belong in general to individuals who possess no tin mines, but 
 who purchase at the cheapest rate the ores from the mining proprietors. The ores are 
 appraised according to their contents in metal, and its fineness; conditions which they 
 cetermine by the following mode of assay : — When a certain number of bags of ore, ol 
 nearly the same quality, are brought to the works, a small sample is taken from each bag, 
 and the whole are well blended. Two ounces of this average ore are mixed with about 
 four per cent, of ground coal, put into an open earthen crucible, and heated in an air 
 furnace (in area about ten inches square) till reduction takes place. As the furnace is 
 very hot when the crucible is introduced, the assay is finished in about a quarter of an 
 hour. The metal thus revived is poured into a mould, and what remains in the crucible 
 is pounded in a mortar, that the grains of tin may be added to the ingot. 
 
 This method, though imperfect in a chemical point of view, serves the smelter's pur- 
 pose, as it affords him a similar result to what he would get on the great scale. A more 
 exact assay would be obtained by fusing, in a crucible lined with hard-rammed charcoal, 
 the ore mixed with five per cent, of ground glass of borax. To the crucible a gentle heat 
 should be applied during the first hour, then a strong heat during the second hour, and, 
 lastly, an intense heat for a quarter of an Hour. This process brings out from four to five 
 per cent, more tin than the other ; but it has the inconvenience of reducing the iron, should 
 any be present; which by subsequent solution in nitric acid will be readily shown. This 
 assay wiiuld be too tedious for the smelter, who may have occasion to try a great many 
 samples in one day. 
 The smelting of tin ores is effected by two different methods: — 
 In the first, a mixture of the ore with charcoal js exposed to heat on the hearth of a 
 reverberatory furnace fired with coal. 
 
 In the second, the tin ore is fused in a blast furnace, called a blowing-house, supplied 
 with wood charcoal. This method is practised in only a few works, in order to obtain a 
 very pure quality of tin, called grain tin in England, and itain en larmes in France ; a 
 metal required for certain arts, as dyeing, &c. This method is applied merely to stream 
 tin. 
 
 In the smelting-houses, where the tin is worked in reverberatories, two kmds of furna- 
 ces are employed ; the reduction and the refining furnaces. 
 
 Figs. 1469, 1470, represent the furnaces for smelting tin at St. Austle, in Cornwall; 
 
 the former being a longitudinal section, 
 the latter a ground plan, a, is the fire- 
 door, through which pitcoal is laid upon 
 the grate b ; c, is the fire-bridge ; d, the 
 door for inlroducing the orej c, the door 
 through which the ore is worked upon 
 the hearth/; g, the stoke-hole; h, an 
 aperture, in the vault or roof, which is 
 opened at the discharge of the waste 
 schlich, to secure the free escape of the 
 fumes up the chimney;, i, i, air channels 
 for admitting cold air under the fire- 
 bridge and the sole of the hearth, with 
 the view of protecting them from injury 
 by the intensity of the heat above, k, k, 
 are basins into which the melted tin is 
 drawn off; I, the flue ; m, the chimney, 
 from 35 to 50 feet high. The roasted 
 and washed schlich is mixed with small 
 coal or culm, along with a little slaked 
 lime, or fluor spar, as a flux; each 
 charge of ore amounts to from 15 to 24 
 cwts., and contains from 60 to 70 per 
 cent, of metal. 
 
 Fig. 1471 represents in a vertical sec- 
 tion throush the tuyere, and Jig. 1472, in 
 a horizontal section, in the dotted line x, 
 •*'> of fig- 1471, the furnace employed 
 
TIN. 
 
 855 
 
 1471 
 
 1472 
 
 for smelting tin at the Erzegebirge mines, in Saxony, a, are the furnace pillars, o! 
 gneiss; 6, b, are shrouding or casing walls; c, the tuyere wall; d, front wall, both of 
 granite ; as also the tuy6re e. f, the sole-stone, of granite, hewn 
 out basin-shaped ; g, the eye, through which the tin and slas 
 are drawn off into the fore-hearth h; i, the'stoke-hearth ; k, k, 
 the light ash chambers ; I, the arch of the tuyere ; m, m, the 
 common flue, which is placed under the furnace and the hearths, 
 and has its outlet under the vault of the tuyere. 
 
 In the smelting furnaces at Geyer, the following dimensions 
 are preferred :— Length of the tuyere wall, 11 inches; of the 
 breast wall, 11 inches; depth of the furnace, 17 inches. High 
 chimney-stalks are advaptageous where a great quantity of ores 
 is tp be reduced, but not otherwise. 
 The refining furnaces are similar to those which serve for re- 
 ducing the ore ; only, instead of a 
 basin of reception, they have a 
 refining basin placed alongside, 
 into which the tin is run. This 
 basin is about four feet in diame- 
 ter, and thirty-two inches deep; 
 it consists of an iron pan, placed 
 over a grate, in which a fire may 
 be kindled. Above this pan there 
 is a turning gib, by means of which 
 a billet of wood may be thrust 
 down into the balh of metal, and 
 kept there by wheeling the gibbet 
 over it, lowering a rod, and fixing it in that position. 
 
 The works in which the blast furnaces are employed, are called blowing-houses. The 
 smelling furnaces are six feet high, from the bottom of the crucible (concave hearth) to 
 the throat, which is placed at the origin of a long and narrow chimney, interrupted by a 
 chamber, where the metallic dust, carried, off by the blast, is deposited. This chamber 
 is not placed vertically over the furnace ; but the lower portion of the chimney has an 
 oblique direction from it. The furnace is lined with an upright cylinder of cast iron, 
 coaled internally with loam, with an opening in it for the blast. This opening, which 
 corresponds to the lateral face opposite to the charging side, receives a tuyere, in which 
 the nozzles of two cylinder single bellows, driven by a water-wheel, are planted. The 
 tuyire opens at a small height above the sole of the furnace. On a level with the sole, 
 the iron cylinder presents a slope, below which is the hemispherical basin of reception, 
 set partly beneaih the interior space of the furnace, and partly without. Near the corner 
 of the building there is a second basin of reception, larger than the first, which can dis« 
 charge itself into the former by a sloping gutter. Near this basin there is another, for 
 the refining operation. These are all made either of brick or cast iron. 
 
 The quality of the average ground-tin ore prepared for smelting is such, that 20 parts 
 of it yield from 12J to 13 of metallic tin, (62J to 65 per cent.) The treatment consists 
 of two operations, smelting and refining. 
 
 First operation; deoxydization of the ore and fusion of the tin. — Before throwing the 
 ore into the smelting furnace, it is mixed with from one fifth to one eighth of its weight 
 of blind coal, in powder, called culm; and a little slaked lime is sometimes added, to ren- 
 der the ore more fusible. These matters are carefully blended, and damped with water, 
 to render the charging easier, and to prevent the blast from sweeping any of it away at 
 he commencement. From 12 to 16 cwts. are introduced at a charge ; and the doors are 
 immediately closed and luted, while the heat is progressively raised. Were the fire too 
 strong at first, the tin oxyde would unite with the quartz of the gangue, and form an 
 enamel. The heat is applied for 6 or 8 hours, during which the doors are not opened ; 
 of course the materials are not stirred. By this time the reduction is, in general, finish! 
 ed; the door of the furnace is removed, and ihe melted mass is worked up to complete 
 ■ the separation of the tin from the scorice, and to ascertain if the operation be in sufficient 
 forwardness. When the reduction seems to be finished, the scories are taken out at the 
 same door, with an iron rake, and divided into three sorts; those of the first class A, 
 which constitute at least three fourths of the whole, are as poor as possible, and may be 
 thrown away; the scoria? of the second class B, which contain some small grains of tin, 
 are sent to the stamps; those of the third class c, which are last removed "from the sur- 
 face of the balh of tin, are set apart, and re-smelted, as containing a considerable quan- 
 tity of metal in the form of grain tin. These scoriae are in small quantity. The stamp 
 (lag contains fully five per cent, of metallic tin. 
 As soon as the scoria; are cleared away, the channel is opened which leads to the 
 
856 
 
 TIN. 
 
 basin of reception, into which the tin consequently flows out. Here it is left for some 
 time that the scoria which may be still mixed with the metal, may separate, in virtue 
 of the difference of their specific gravities. When the tin has sufficiently settled, it is 
 lifted out with ladles, and poured into cast-iron moulds, in each of which a bit of wood is 
 fixed, to form a hole in the ingot, for the purpose of drawing it out when it becomes cold. 
 
 Refining of tin.— The object of this operation is to separate from the tin, as completely 
 as possible, the metals reduced and alloyed along with it. These are, principally, iron, 
 copper, arsenic, and tungsten ; to which are joined, in small quantities, some sulphurets 
 and arseniurets that have escaped decomposition, a little unreduced oxyde of tin, and also 
 some earthy matters which have not passed off with the scoriae. 
 
 Liquation.— The refining of tin consists of two operations; the first being a liquation, 
 which, in the interior, is effected in a reverberatory furnace, similar to that employed in 
 smelting the ore, (figs. 1469, 1470.) The blocks being arranged on the hearth of the 
 furnace, near the bridge, are moderately heated; the tin melts, and flows away into the 
 refining-basin ; but, after a certain time, the blocks cease to afford tin, and leave on the 
 hearth a residuum, consisting of a very ferruginous alloy. 
 
 Fresh tin blocks are now arranged on the remains of the first ; and thus the liquation 
 is continued till the refining-basin be sufficiently full, when it contains about five tons. 
 The residuums are set aside, to be treated as shall be presently pointed out. 
 
 Refining proper.— Now begins the second part of the process. Into the tin-bath, 
 billets of green wood are plunged, by aid of the gibbet above described. The dis 
 en»a»ement of gas from the green wood produces a constant ebullition in the tin ; 
 bringing up to its surface a species of froth, and causing the impurest and densest 
 parts to fall to the bottom. That froth, composed almost wholly of the oxydes of 
 tin and foreign metals, is successively skimmed off, and thrown back into the furnace. 
 When it is judged that the tin has boiled long enough, the green wood is lifted out, and 
 the bath is allowed to settle. It ' separates into different zones, the upper being the 
 purest; those of the middle are charged with a little of the foreign metals; and the 
 lower are much contaminated with them. When the tin begins to cool, and when a 
 more complete separation of its different qualities cannot be looked for, it is lifted out in 
 ladles, and poured into cast-iron moulds. It is obvious, that the order in which the sue- 
 cessive blocks are obtained, is that of their purity; those formed from the bottom of the 
 basin being usually so impure, that they must be subjected anew to the refining process, 
 as if they had been directly smelted from the ore. 
 
 The refining operation takes 5 or 6 hours ; namely, an hour to fill the basin, three hours 
 to boil the tin with the green wood, and from one to two hours for the subsideme. 
 
 Sometimes a simpler operation, called tossing, is substituted for the above artificial 
 ebullition. To effect it, a workman lifts some tin in a ladle, and lets it fall back into 
 the boiler, from a considerable height, so as to agitate the whole mass. He continues 
 this manipulation for a certain time ; after which, he skims with care the surface of 
 the bath. The tin is afterwards poured into moulds, unless it be still impure. In this 
 case, the separation of the metals is completed by keeping the tin in a fused state in the 
 boiler for a certain period, without agitation ; whereby the upper portion of the bath (at 
 least one half) is pure. enough for the market. 
 
 The moulds into which the tin blocks are cast, are usually made of granite. Their 
 capacity is such, that each block shall weigh a little more than three hundred weights. 
 This metal is called block tin. The law requires them to be stamped or coined by public 
 officers, before being exposed to sale. The purest block tin is called refined tin. 
 
 The treatment just detailed gives rise to two stanniferous residuums, which have tr 
 be smelted again. These are — 
 
 1. The scoriae e and c, which contain some granulated particles of tin. 
 
 2. The dross found on the bottom of the reverberatory furnace, after re-melting the tin 
 te refine it. 
 
 The scoria? c, are smelted without any preparation ; but those marked b, are stamped 
 is the mill, and washed, to concentrate the tin grains ; and from this rich mixture, called 
 prillion, smelted by itself, a tin is procured of very inferior quality. This maybe readily 
 imagined, since the metal which forms these granulations is what, being less fusible than 
 the pure tin, solidified quickly, and could not flow off into the metallic bath. 
 
 Whenever all the tin blocks have thoroughly undergone the process of liquation, the 
 fire is increased, to melt the less fusible residuary alloy of tin with iron and some other 
 metals, and this is run out into a small basin, totally distinct from the refining basin. 
 After this alloy has reposed for some time, the upper portion is lifted out into block 
 moulds, as impure tin, which needs to be refined anew. On the bottom and sides of the 
 basin there is deposited a white, brittle alloy, with a crystalline fracture, which contains 
 so great a proportion of foreign metals, that no use can be made of it. About three and 
 a half tons of coal are consumed in producing 2 of tin. 
 
 Smelting of tin by the blast furnace. — This mode of reduction employs only wood 
 
TIN. 857 
 
 charcoal, and its object is to obtain tin of the maximum purity to which it can be brough 
 by manufacturing- processes. The belter ores of the stream-works, and the finer tin sands, 
 are selected for this operation. The washings being always well performed, the oxyde 
 of tin is exempt from every arsenical or sulphurous impurity, and is associated with no- 
 thing but a little hematite. It is therefore never calcined. 
 
 The smelting is effected without addition; only, in a few cases, some of the residuary 
 matters of a former operation are added to the ore. About a ton and six tenths of wood 
 charcoal are burned for one ton of fine smelted tin. The only rule is, to keep the furnace 
 always full of charcoal and ore. The revived tin is received immediately in the first 
 basin; then run off into the second, where it is allowed to settle for some time. The 
 scoria; that run off into the first basin, are removed as soon as they fix. These scoria; 
 are divided into two classes; namely, such as still retain tin oxyde, and such as hold 
 none of the metal in that state, but only in granulations. The metallic balh is divided, 
 by repose, into horizontal zones, of different degrees of purity ; the more compound and 
 denser matters falling naturally to the bottom of the basin. The tin which forms the su- 
 perior zones, beipg judged to be pure enough, is transvased by ladles into the refining 
 basin, previously heated, and under which, if it is of cast-iron, a moderate fire is applied. 
 The tin near the bottom of the receiving basin is always laded out apart, to be again 
 , smelted; sometimes, indeed, when the furnace is turning out very mpure tin, none of it 
 is transvased into the second basin ; but the whole is cast into moulds, to be again treated 
 in the blast furnace. 
 
 In general they receive no other preparation, but the green wood ebullition, before 
 passing into the market. Sometimes, however, the block of metal is j.eated till it be- 
 comes brittle, when it is lifted to a considerable height, and let fall, by which it is broken 
 to pieces, and presents an agglomeration of elongated grains or tears ; whence it is called 
 grain tin. 
 
 On making a comparative estimate of the expense by the blowing-hcuse process, and 
 by the reverberatory furnace, it has been found that the former yields about 66 per cent. 
 of tin, in smelting the stream or alluvial ore, whose absolute contenls are from 75 to 78 
 parts of metal in the hundred. One ton of tin consumes a ton and six tenths of wood 
 charcoal, and suffers a loss of 15 per cent. In working with the reverberatory furnace, 
 it is calculated that ore whose mean contents by an exact analysis are 70 per cent., yields 
 65 per cent, on the great scale. The average value of tin ore, as sold to the smelter, is 
 50 pounds sterling per ton ; but it fluctuates, of course, with the market prices. In 1824, 
 the ore of inferior quality cost 302., while the purest sold for 602. One ton of tin, ob- 
 tained from the reverberatory furnace, cost — 
 
 1 1 tons of ore, worth - - £75 
 
 If tons of coals, at 10s. per ton - - 17 6 
 
 Wages of labor, interest on capital, &c. - - 3 
 
 78 17 6 
 
 On comparing these results with the former, we perceive that in a blowing-house the 
 loss of tin is 15 per cent., whereas it is only 5 in the reverberatory furnace. The ex- 
 pense in fuel is likewise much less relatively in the latter process ; for only If tons of 
 coals are consumed for one ton of tin ; while a ton and six tenths of wood charcoal are 
 burned to obtain the same quantity of tin in the blowing-house ; and it is admitted that 
 one ton of wood charcoal is equivalent to two tens of coal, in calorific effect. Hence every 
 thing conspires to turn the balance in favor of the reverberatory plan. The operation 
 is also, in this way, much simpler, and may be carried on by itself. The scoriae, besides, 
 from the reverberatory hearth, contain less tin than those derived from the same ores 
 treated with charcoal by the blast, as is done at Altenberg. It must be remembered, how- 
 ever, that the grain tin procured by the charcoal process is reckoned to be finer, and 
 fetches a higher price ; a superiority partly due to the purity of the ore reduced, and 
 partly to the purity of the fuel. 
 
 To test the quality of tin, dissolve a certain weight of it with heat in muriatic acid ; 
 should it contain arsenic, brown-black flocks will be separated during the solution, and 
 arseniureted hydrogen gas will foe disengaged, which, on being burned at a jet, will 
 deposite the usual gray film of metallic arsenic upon a white saucer held a little way 
 above the flame. Other metals present in the tin are to be sought for, by treating the 
 above solution with nitric acid of spec. grav. 1-16, first in the cold, and at last with heat 
 and a small excess of acid. When the action is over, the supernatant liquid is to be de- 
 canted off the peroxydized tin, which is to be washed with very dilute nitric acid, and both 
 liquors are io be evaporated to dissipate the acid excess. If, on the addition of watei 
 lo the concentrated liquor, a white powder falls, it is a proof that the tin contains 
 bismuth ; if on adding sulphate of ammonia, a white precipitate appears, the tin con- 
 tains lead ; water of ammonia added to supersaturation, will occasion reddish-brown 
 
 Vol. II. 56 
 
858 TIN. 
 
 flocks, if iron is present; and on evaporating the supernatant liquid to dryness, th« 
 copper will be obtained. 
 
 The uses of tin are very numerous. Combined with copper, in different proportions, 
 it forms bronze, and a series of other useful alloys ; for an account of which see Copper. 
 With iron, it forms tin-plate ; with lead, it constitutes pewter, and solder of various 
 kinds (see Lead). Tin-foil coated with quicksilver makes the reflecting surface of glass 
 mirrors. (See Glass.) Nitrate of tin 'affords the basis of the scarlet dye on wool, and 
 of many bright colors to the calico-printer and the eotton-dyer. (See Scarlet and Tin 
 Mordants.) A compound of tin with gold gives the fine crimson and purple colors to 
 stained glass and artificial gems. Bee Purple of Cassius. Enamel is made by fusing 
 oxide of tin with the materials of flint glass. This oxide is also an ingredient in the 
 white and yellow glazes of pottery-ware. 
 
 The Exhibition contained a series of specimens, illustrative of an improved process 
 for dressing ores of tin containing wolfram (the tungstate of iron and manganese, in- 
 vented by Mr. R. Oxland, of Plymouth, for the separation of the wolfram from the ores 
 of the Drake Walls tin mine, on the Cornish side c the river Tamar. • This process is 
 now in regular operation at the mine. In consequence of the specific gravity of wolf- 
 ram, which is from 7'100 to 7 '500, being greater than that of the black tin of the mines 
 or the pure native oxide of tin, which is only from 6 - 3 to 7"0, it has been found impos- 
 sible to separate the wolfram from the tin oxide by tb<> usual mechanical process of 
 washing in a stream of water. This led to the necessity of adopting the patent chemi- 
 cal process explained, with the description of the series of specimens. 
 
 No. 1, "Tin witts:" the ore obtained from the stamp-floors, where, subsequently to 
 its having been crushed or stamped down to a suitable size, it has been washed in a 
 stream of water, in order to separate the ear-thy particles with which it was associated. 
 The clean "witts" contain the native oxide of tin; black tin or resin tin, and wolfram 
 with iron and arsenical pyrites, generally containing some copper. In the course of 
 washing, the " witts" are sorted into different parcels, according to the 6ize of the 
 particles, and are known as jigged, marked A; flucan, B; smalls, or "smales,"C: 
 slime, D; roughs or rows, E. The " witts" arc calcined in a reverberatory furnace, 
 usually constructed of fire-bricks throughout. The calcination is continued until all 
 the sulphur and arsenic is evolved. 
 
 The residue of No. 2 contains black tin or native tin oxide, peroxide of iron, wolfram, 
 some sulphate of copper, and a small quantity of earthy matter. By a series of wash- 
 ing operations on the burning house floors, the peroxide of iron, sulphate of copper, 
 and earthy matters, are removed, and the product obtained is No. 3, which consists of 
 oxide of tin, with most of the wolfram. The process is in the next place employed for 
 the removal of the wolfram. Its proportion having been ascertained by analysis, a 
 quantity of sulphate of soda or salt cake is mixed with the ore, sufficient to supply a 
 slight excess equivalent of soda for the quantity of tungstic acid present; but with the 
 sulphate of soda must be mixed sufficient coal dust or charcoal to afford carbon or car- 
 buretted hydrogen, for the decomposition of the sulphuric acid and the conversion of 
 sulphate of soda into sulphide of sodium. The mixture is exposed to heat on the bed 
 of the furnace described below; a smoky or reducing flame is at first employed, but 
 after the whole of the charge has been at a red heat for some time an oxidating flame 
 is necessary to complete the operation. Thus the sulphate of soda is first converted 
 into sulphide of sodium, then the tungstic acid of the wolfram combines with the soda, 
 producing tungstite of soda, setting the sulphur free as sulphurous acid, and leaving the 
 iron in the condition of a light, finely divided peroxide. 
 
 The product No. 4 is drawn from the furnace into the wrinkle or chamber beneath, 
 and is thence removed whilst still hot into tanks containing water, which quickly dis- 
 solves the tungstate of soda. The solution is run off into receivers, and the residue is 
 removed to the burning house floors, where "by a series of washings the peroxide is re- 
 moved, and the native oxides of tin obtained pure and ready for the smelting house as 
 Eeen iu No. 5: an ore which had fetched only 421. per ton has by this operation been 
 so much improved in quality as to obtain 561 per ton. 
 
 ■ The tungstate of soda, No. 6, is obtained in the crystalline form by the evaporation 
 to the crystallizing point of the solution in which it was separated from the tin. It is 
 proposed to be used as a substitute for stannite of soda, a mordant for dyeing 
 .purposes. 
 
 Tungstic acid, No. 7, may be employed for the same purpose or for the manu- 
 facture of tungstate of the tungstous oxide with soda, a compound much resembling 
 gold. 
 
 The tungstate of lead, No. 8, and tungstate of lime, No. 9, are good white pigments 
 (manufactured from the tungstate of soda), from which was also obtained the metallio 
 tungsten, No. 10, and sulphuret of tungsten, No. 11. The former is for use in the 
 manufacture of metallic alloys; the latter has been proposed as a substitute for black 
 
TIN. 859 
 
 lead. The furnace is composed in the usual manner, excepting that a cast-iron bed 
 has been employed to prevent the loss that would arise from the reaction of the silica 
 of the bricks, the soda and the tin oxide on each other. The fire after passing over the 
 lied is made to circulate beneath it before passing away to the chimney. 
 
 In all great smelting works of this class, the smoke arising from the furnace is 
 slightly charged with noxious vapors, containing besides other poisonous matters a largo 
 quantity of lead; many attempts have been made to obviate this nuisance; and the 
 system adopted by the exhibitor has been found to be very successful. 
 
 An oblong building in solid masonry, about 80 feet in height, is divided by a parti- 
 tion wall into two chambers, having a tall chimney or tower adjoining, which com- 
 municates with one of the chambers at the bottom. The smoke from the various 
 furnaces, 8 in number and about 100 yards distance from the condenser, is carried by 
 separate flues into a large chamber; from thence by a large flue it enters the first 
 chamber of the condenser at the very bottom, and is forced upward in a zigzag course 
 towards the top, passing four times through a 6hower of water, constantly percolating 
 from a pierced reservoir at the summit of the tower. The smoke is again compelled to 
 filter a fifth time through a cube of coke some two feet square, through wh?oh a stream 
 of water filters downwards, and which is confined to its proper limits by a vertical 
 grating of wood. 
 
 The smoke having reached the top is now opposite the passage into the second or 
 vacuum chamber. This is termed the exhausting chamber, and is about 5 feet by 1 
 feet inside, and 30 or more feet in height. On its summit is fixed a large reservoir 
 supplied by an ample stream of water, always maintaining a depth of 6 to 10 inches. 
 
 The bottom of this tank is of iron having several openings or slots, 12 in number and 
 about an inch in width, and extending across the whole area of the reservoir, commu- 
 nicating directly with the chamber beneath. On this iron plate woi'ks a hydraulic 
 side-plate with openings corresponding in one position with those in the reservoir. This 
 plate receives a horizontal reciprocating motion from a water wheel or other power, 
 driven by means of a connecting rod and crank. 
 
 In the middle of every stroke the openings in the plate correspond with those in the 
 bottom of the reservoir, and a powerful body of water falls as a shower bath, the whole 
 length of the vacuum chamber, and in doing so sweeps the entire inside area, carrying 
 with it every particle of insoluble matter held suspended in the vapors coming from 
 the furnaces. 
 
 The atmospheric pressure of course acts in alternate strokes, as a blast at the furnace 
 mouths, and causes a draught sufficiently strong to force the impure vapors through the 
 various channels in connection with the water; the wet coke, and exhausting chamber, 
 until it passes purified and inert, into the atmosphere. 
 
 The water saturated with particles of lead, <fcc, held in mechanical solution, finally 
 passes into great dykes or reservoirs, excavated for the purpose, and there deposits its 
 rich charge of metal. 
 
 The results of this arrangement are most apparent and beneficial to the surrounding 
 neighborhood. Formerly the noxious fumes passing from the shafts of the furnaces 
 poisoned the neighborhood ; the heather was burnt up, vegetation destroyed, and no 
 animal could graze, or bird feed near the spot. Now the heather is seen in luxuriance 
 close around the establishment, sheep graze within a stone's throw of the chimney base, 
 and game on all sides take shelter. 
 
 The county of Cornwall is the most important mineral district of the United King- 
 dom, for the number of its metalliferous minerals, many of which are not found in any 
 other part of the island. At a very early period of our history, mines were worked 
 aVound the sea-coasts of Cornwall, of which the evidences are still to be seen at Tol- 
 peddin-Penwith, near the Land's End;- in Gwemnap, near Truro; and at Cadwith, 
 near the Lizard Point. The traditionary statements, that the Phoenicians traded for 
 tin with the Britons in Cornwall, are very fairly supported by corroborative facts; and 
 it is not improbable that the Ictes, or Iktis, of the ancients was St. Michael's Mount 
 near Penzance. 
 
 In the reign of King John, the mines of the western portion of England appear to 
 have been principally in the hands of the Jews. The modes of working must have 
 been very crude, and their metallurgical process exceedingly rough. From time to time 
 remains of furnaces, called Jews' houses, have been discovered, and small blocks of tin, 
 known as Jews' tin, have not unfrequently been found in the mining localities. 
 
 Till a comparatively recent date, tin was the only metal which was sought for ; and 
 in many cases the mines were abandoned when the miners came to the "yellows," that 
 is, the yellow sulphuret of copper. .The greatest quantity of tin has been produced by 
 " streaming" (as washing the debris in the valleys is termed) ; and this variety, called 
 "stream ;in," produces the highest price in the market. 
 
 The conditions under which these deposites occur are curicus and instructive. At the 
 
860 
 
 TIN. 
 
 Carnon Tin Stream Works, near of Falmouth, the rounded pebbles of tin are found 
 at a depth of about 50 feet from the surface, beneath the bottom of an estuary, where 
 trees are discovered in their place of growth, together with human skulls., and the 
 remains of deer, amidst the vegetable accumulation which immediately covers the 
 stanniferous beds. According to Mr. Henwood's measurement, the section presents 
 first about SO feet of schlich and gravel; then a bed of 18 inches in thickness of wood, 
 leaves, nuts, &c, resting on the tin ground, composed of the debris of quartz, slate, and 
 granite, and the tin ore. At the Pentuan Works, near St Austell, similar deposits, 
 occur, proving a material alteration in the level, during the period expended in the 
 formation of this deposit Tin is also worked out of the lode in many parts, the ore 
 occurring both in the slate and granite formations. The modes of " dressing" the tin 
 ore, preparing it for the smelter, and the process of smelting, were illustrated in the Ex- 
 hibition. , .. 
 There has been a remarkable uniformity in the quantity of tin produced in Cornwall, 
 during a long period, as will be seen from the following table: — 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Fricea per cwt. 
 
 
 
 * s. 
 
 1750 
 
 1,600 
 
 
 1760 
 
 1,800 
 
 
 mo 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 1780 
 
 1,800 
 
 3 
 
 1790 
 
 2,000 
 
 3 15 
 
 1800 
 
 1,500 
 
 5 
 
 1810 
 
 1,400 
 
 7 
 
 1820 
 
 1,700 
 
 8 5 
 
 1830 
 
 3,500 
 
 3 
 
 1840 
 
 5,000 
 
 3 15 
 
 The produce of this metal within the last few years has been as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tods. 
 
 1844 
 
 7,507 
 
 1845 
 
 7,739 ' 
 
 1846 
 
 8,945 
 
 1847 
 
 10,072 
 
 1848 
 
 10,176 . 
 
 1849 
 
 10,719 
 
 Since 1838 the quantity cannot be accurately ascertained, the trade in tin being in 
 the hands of a few, and the purchase of ore being usually made by private contract- 
 See Metallic Statistics. 
 
 Tin coating of iron and zinc, by Mr, Morries Sterlings patent process. The nrst 
 improvement in coating metals or alloyB of metals with other metals or their alloys, 
 relates to coating iron with tin or its alloys after the iron has been coated with zinc 
 For this purpose the sheet, plate, or other form of iron, previously coated, with zinc, 
 cither by dipping or by depositing from solutions of zinc, is taken, and after cleaning 
 the surface by washing in acid or otherwise, so as to remove any oxide or foreign mat- 
 ter which would interfere with the perfect and equal adhesion of the. more fusible 
 metal or alloy with which it is to be coated, it is dipped iuto melted tin, or any suita- 
 ble alloy thereof, in perfectly fluid state, the surface of which is covered with any 
 suitable material such as fatty or oily matters, or the chloride of tin, so as to keep the 
 surface of the metal from oxidation; and such dipping is to be conducted in a like 
 manner to the process of making tin plate or of coating iron with zine. When a fine 
 surface is required, the plates or sheets of iron coated with zinc may be passed between 
 polished rolls (as already described) before and after, or either before or after they are 
 coated with tin or other alloy thereof. It is preferred in all cases to use for the coat' 
 ing pure tin of the description known as grain tin. 
 
 Another part of the invention consists in covering either (wholly or in part) zinc and 
 its alloys with tin, and such of its alloys as are sufficiently fusible. To effect this, the 
 
TIN. 861 
 
 following is the process adopted: — A sheet or plate of zinc (by preference such as has 
 been previously rolled, both on account of its ductility and smoothness) is taken, and 
 after cleaning its surface by hydrochloric or other acid, or otherwise, it is dried, and 
 then dipped or passed in any convenient manner through the melted tin, or fusible 
 alloy of tin. It is found desirable to heat the zinc, as nearly as may be, to the temper- 
 ature of the melted metal, previous to dipping it, and to conduct the dipping, or passing 
 through, as rapidly as is consistent with thorough coating of the zinc, to prevent as 
 much as possible the zinc becoming alloyed with the tin. It is recommended also that 
 the tin or alloy of tin should not be heated to a higher temperature than is necessary 
 for its proper fluidity. The metal thus coated, if in the form of sheet, plate, or cake, can 
 then be rolled down to the required thickness; and should the coating of tin or alloy be 
 found insufficient or imperfect, the dipping is to be repeated as above described, and the 
 rolling also if desired, either for smoothing the surface or further reducing the thickness. 
 
 Another part of the invention consists in coating lead or its alloys with tin or alloys 
 thereof. The process is to be conducted as before described for the coating of zinc, and 
 the surface of lead is to be perfectly clean. The lead may, like the zinc, be dipped more 
 than once, either before or after being reduced in thickness by rolling. The hydraulic 
 press may be advantageously employed in the process of coating lead or its alloys with 
 tin or its alloys ; and this process is already practised and well understood, as applied 
 to the coating of lead pipe with tin; it is only necessary to remark that a die or orifice 
 must be used of such length and width as will allow an ingot cake or sheet to be formed. 
 On both sides of this cake or sheet, melted tin is to be poured into a suitable receptacle, 
 as is well understood in the making of pipe ; but where only one side or portion of the 
 cake, ingot, or sheet, is to be tinned, a partition or division should be placed to confine 
 the melted tin, so that it shall only be applied to that portion of the lead which is re- 
 quired to be tinned. Where a smooth surface is required, the cake or other form of 
 lead is to be passed, while in a heated state, through a collar of suitable hard and 
 smooth material, such as hardened steel or iron, kept as cool as may be. Where a 
 strong coating of tin is required, the lead so coated is to.be passed through melted tin. 
 Such coated lead, or its alloys, may be reduced by rolling; and where the lead so coated 
 is to be reduced to extreme thickness, the further coating is advantageously given after 
 the coated metal has been reduced to some extent by rolling. Any number of addi- 
 tional coatings may, in a similar manner, be given, according to the purpose for which 
 the coated lead is required. In coating lead or its alloys with tin, it is recommended 
 that, for purposes where a surface of lead is to be avoided, pure tin should be used. 
 When lead is alloyed with antimony, zinc, tin, or any other metal, to render the lead 
 more hard than lead in its ordinary state, the tin coating may also be somefwhat hard- 
 ened by alloying with zinc or other suitable hardening metal. 
 
 Lead and its alloys may also be coated with tin or its alloys of greater fusibility than 
 the metal to be coated as follows : — The cake, or other form to be coated, is to be placed 
 as soon after easting as may be in an iron, gun metal or other suitable mould, or if this 
 can not be conveniently done, the surfaces are to be cleansed and prepared, for the 
 reception of the coating metal, either by previously tinning the surface, or by applying 
 other suitable material to facilitate the union, as heretofore practised. At one end of 
 the mould is to be attached chambers, of more than sufficient capacity to contain the 
 quantity of metal to be used for coating, which may with advantage form an integral 
 part of the mould, or such chamber may surround the mould, and by one or more sluices 
 or valves in such chamber or chambers, the melted metal is to be allowed to run on to 
 the surface of the metal to be coated, when the metal is to be coated on one side only. 
 When it is intended to coat the metal on both sides, the vertical position will be found 
 convenient, and the coating metal is to be formed into a chamber or chambers attached 
 to the mould, and to be introduced into the lower part of the mould by opening a sluice 
 or valve, sufficient space being left on each side of the cake or other form to allow of the 
 coating being of the required thickness ; the sluice or valve should be of nearly the width 
 or length of the cake or other form, and the melted metal should be allowed to flow into 
 the bottom of the mould (Mr. Stirling here observes, that he is aware that lead has 
 been previously coated with tin by pouring tin upon the lead, and also by pressure, and 
 that he does not therefore claim the coating of lead by BHeh means). The surface of the 
 plate or cake ought to be smooth and true, and the mould, if horizontal, to be perfectly 
 so, and if upright, quite perpendicular, so as to insure in either case an equal footing. 
 The surface of the lead should also be clean, and it will be found advantageous to raise 
 its temperature to a point somewhat approaching the melting point of tin or of the alloy 
 employed for coating, as ty this means the union of the two metals is facilitated. It is 
 recommended also, that a somewhat larger quantity of the tin or alloy than is necessary 
 for the coating of the lead or other metal, or alloy, should be employed, and that when 
 the requisite thickness of coating has been given, the flow of the coating metal be stopped, 
 as by this means the impurities . on the surface of the tin will be prevented passing 
 
862 TIN-PLATK. 
 
 through the opening on to the surface of the cake: the chamber or chambers shoulc 
 be kept at such temperature as to ensure the proper fluidity of the coating metal 
 Zinc and its alloys may in like manner be coated with tin and its alloys, by employing 
 a like apparatus to that just described for coating lead and its alloys, and it constitutes 
 a part of this invention thus to coat zinc. The coating of zinc with tin, however, is 
 not claimed, that having been done by pouring on tin. 
 
 Another part of the invention consists in coating zinc and its alloys with tin and its 
 alloys by pressure. For this purpose Mr. Stirling takes a suitable piece of zinc or 
 alloyed zinc (by preference previously rolled), and when it is desired to coat it on 
 both sides with tin or alloyed tin, of sufficient dimensions to completely cover the zinc. 
 He then subjects the metal so placed to pressure, to obtain perfect contact; and for 
 this purpose, when making sheets, he employs rolls, and rolls out the two metals to the 
 extent desired. 
 
 The last part of the invention relates to the employment of zinc when welding to- 
 gether plates or other forms of iron, which is principally applicable when piling iron. 
 Thin sheet zinc, placed between the layers, has been found to answer well ; but the 
 use of calamine, in the form of powder or paste, is preferred. In the latter case the 
 paste may be formed with water, to which a small quantity of borax may be added ; 
 the paste can be then applied with a brush or otherwise, to the surface of the plates 
 or other forms of iron. Additional stiffness and toughness are produced by this process, 
 and cold short iron is believed to be more particularly benefited thereby. 
 
 TINCAL, crude borax. 
 
 TINCTORIAL MATTER. One of the most curious and valuable facts ascertained 
 upon this subject, is, that madder kept in casks, in a warm place, undergoes a species of 
 fermentation, which, by ripening, or rather deoxydizing the coloring-matter, increases its 
 dyeing power by no less than from 20 to 50 per cent. See M. H. Schlumberger's memoir 
 read to the Societi Industrielle de Mulhausen, 24 November, 1837. 
 
 TINCTURE is a title used by apothecaries to designate alcohol, in a somewhat 
 dilute slate, impregnated with the active principles of either vegetable or animal 
 substances. 
 
 TIN-GLASS is a name of bismuth. 
 
 TIN MORDANTS, for dyeing scarlet :— 
 
 Mordant A, as commonly made by the dyers, is composed of 8 parts of aquafcrus, . 
 part of common salt or sal ammoniac, and 1 of granulated tin. This preparation it very 
 uncertain. 
 
 Mordant b. — Pour into a glass globe, with a long neck, 3 parts of pure nitric acid a 
 30° B. ; and 1 part of muriatic acid at 17° ; shake the globe gently, avoiding the corro 
 sive vapors, and put a loose stopper in its mouth. Throw into this nitro-muriatic acid 
 one eighth of its weight of pure tin, in small bits at a time. When the solution is com- 
 plete, and settled, decant it into bottles, .and close them with ground stoppers. It should 
 be diluted only when about to be used. 
 
 Mordant c, by Dambourney. — In two drachms Fr. (144 grs.) of pare muriatic acid, dis- 
 solve 18 grains of Malacca tin. This is reckoned a good mordant for brightening or 
 fixing the color of peachwood. 
 
 Mordant n, by Hellot. — Take 8 ounces of nitric acid, diluted with as much water; 
 dissolve in it half an ounce of sal ammoniac, and 2 drachms of nitre. In this acid solution 
 dissolve one ounce of granulated tin of Cornwall, observing not to put in a fresh piece 
 till the preceding be dissolved. 
 
 Mordant e, by Scheffer. — Dissolve one part of tin in four of a nitro-muriatic acid, pre- 
 pared with nitric acid diluted with its own weight of water, and one thirty-secondth of 
 sal ammoniac. 
 
 Mordant r, by Poerner. — Mix one pound of nitric acid with one pound of water, and 
 dissolve in it an ounce and a half of sal ammoniac. Stir it well, and add, by very slow 
 degrees, two ounces of tin turned into thin ribands upon the lathe. 
 
 Mordant g, by Berthollet.— Dissolve in nitric acid of 30° B. one eighth of its weight 
 of sal ammoniac, then add by degrees one eighth of its weight of tin, and dilute the solu- 
 tion with one fourth of its weight of water. 
 
 Mordant K, by Dambourney.— In one drachm (72 grs.) of muriatic acid at 17°, one of 
 nitric acid at 30°, and 18 grains of water, dissolve, slowly and with some heat, 18 grains 
 of fine Malacca tin. 
 
 Mordant h is the birch bark prescribed by Dambourney. — This bark, dried and ground, 
 ■s said to be a very valuable substance for fixing the otherwise fugitive colors produced 
 by woods, roots, archil, &c. 
 
 TIN-PLATE. The only alloy of iron interesting to the arts is that with tin. in the 
 formation of tin-plate or white-iron. 
 
 The sheet iron intended for this manufacture is refined with charcoal instead of coke, 
 subsequently rolled to various degrees of thinness, and cut into rectangles of different 
 
TIN-PLATE. 863 
 
 Bizea, by means of a shearing-machine driven by a water- wheel, -which will turn out 108 
 boxes a day, or four times the number out by hand labor. The first step toward tin- 
 ning is to free the metallic surface from every particle of oxyde or impurity, for any sucl 1 
 would inevitably prevent the iron from alloying with the tin. The plates are next bent 
 separately by hind into a saddle or ^ shape, and ranged in a reverberatory oven, so tha* 
 the flame may play freely among them, and heat them to redness. They are then 
 plunged into a bath, composed of four pounds of muriatic acid diluted with three gallons 
 of water, for a few minutes, taken out and drained on the floor, and once more exposed 
 to ignition in a furnace, whereby they are scaled, that is to say, cast their scales. The 
 above bath will suffice for scaling 1800 plates. When taken out, they are beat level and 
 smooth on a cast-iron block, after which they appear mottled blue and white, if the 
 scaling has been thorough y done. They are next passed through chilled rolls or cast- 
 iron cyl nders, rendered very hard by being cast in thick iron moulds, as has been long 
 practised by the Scotch founders in casting bushes for cart-wheels. After this process 
 of cold rolling, the plates are immersed, for ten or twelve hours, in an acidulous ley, 
 made by fermenting bran-water, taking care to set them separately on edge, and to turn 
 them at least once, so that eaeh may receive a due share of the operation. From this 
 ley-steep they are transferred into a leaden trough, divided by partitions, and charged with 
 dilute sulphuric acid. Each compartment is called a hole by the workmen, and is calcu 
 lated to receive about 225 plates, the number afterwards- packed up together in a box. 
 In this liquid they are agitated about an hour, till they become perfectly bright, and fref 
 from Buch black spots as might stain their surface at the time of immersion. This pro- 
 cess, called pickling, is both delicate and disagreeable, requiring a good workman, at high 
 wages. The temperature of the last two steeps should be at least 90° or 100° F., which 
 is kept up by stoves in the apartments. The plates are finally scoured with hemp and 
 sand in a body of water, and then put aside for use in a vessel of pure water, under 
 which they remain bright and free from rust for many months, a very remarkable cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 The tinning follows these preparatory steps. A range of rectangular cast-iron pots 
 is set over a fire-flue in an apartment called the stow, the workmen stationing themselves 
 opposite to the narrow ends. The first rectangle in the range is the tin-pot ; the second 
 is the wash-pot, with a partition in it ; the third is the grease-pot ; the fourth is the pan, 
 grated at bottom; the fifth is the list-pot, and is greatly narrower than any of the rest : 
 they are all of the same length. 
 
 The prepared plates, dried by rubbing bran upon them, are first immersed one by one 
 in a pot filled with melted tallow alone, and are left there for nearly an hour. They 
 are thence removed, with the adhering grease, into pot No. 1, filled with a melted 
 mixture of block and grain tin, covered with about four inches of tallow, slightly car- 
 bonized. This pot is heated by a fire, playing under its bottom and round its sides, till 
 the metal becomes so hot as nearly to inflame the grease. Here about 340 plates 
 are exposed, upright, to the action of the tin for an hour and a half, or more, according 
 to their thickness. They are next lifted out, and placed upon an iron grating, to let 
 the superfluous metal drain off; but this is more completely removed in the next process, 
 called washing. 
 
 Into the wash-pot No. 2, filled with melted grain tin, the workman puts the above 
 plates, where th 1 heat detaches the ribs, and drops. There is a longitudinal partition 
 in it, for keeping the drop of tin that rises in washing from entering the vessel where 
 the last dip is given. Indeed, the metal in the wash-pot, after having acted on 60 or 
 70 boxes, becomes so foul, that the weight of a block (300 cwts.) of it is transferred 
 into the tin-pot, No. 1, and replaced by a fresh block of grain tin. The plates being 
 lifted out of the wash-pot, with tongs held in the left hand of the workman, are scrubbed 
 on each side with a peculiar hempen brush, held in his right hand, then dipped for a 
 moment in the hot tin, and forthwith immersed in the adjoining grease-pot, No. 3. This 
 requires manual dexterity ; and though only three-pence be paid for brushing and tin- 
 washing 225 plates, yet a good workman can earn six shillings and three-pence in twelve 
 hours, by putting 5625 plates through his hands. The final tin-dip is useful to remove 
 the marks of the brush, and to make the surface uniformly bright. To regulate the 
 temperature of the tallow-pot, and time during which the plates are left in it, requires 
 great skill and circumspection on the part of the workman. If kept in it too long, they 
 would be deprived, to a certain extent, of their silvery lustre ; and if too short, streaks 
 of tin would disfigure their surface. As a thick plate retains more heat after being 
 lifted out of the washing-pot, it requires a proportionally cooler grease-pot. This pot 
 has pins fixed within it, to keep the plates asunder ; and whenever the workman has 
 transferred five plates to it, a boy lifts the first out into the cold adjoining pan, No. 4 ; as 
 soon as the workman transfers a sixth plate, the boy removes the second ; and so on. 
 The manufacture is completed by removing the wire of tin left on the under edge of the 
 plates, in consequence of their vertical position in the preceding operations. This is the 
 
864 
 
 TIN-PLATE. 
 
 business of the list-boy, who seizes the plates when they are cool enough to handle, and 
 puts the lower edge of each, one by one, into the list-pot, No. 5, which contains a Very 
 little melted tin, not exceeding a quarter of an inch in depth. When he observes the 
 wire-edge to be melted, he takes out the plate, and, striking it smartly with a thin stick, 
 detaches the superfluous metal, which leaves merely a faint stripe where it lay. This 
 .mark may he perceived on every tin-plate in the market. 
 
 The plates are finally prepared for packing up in their boxes, by being well cleansed 
 from the tallow, by friction with bran. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Morgan obtained a patent, in September, 1829, for clearing the sheet-iron 
 plates with dilute sulphuric acid in a hole, instead of scaling them in the usual wayj pre- 
 vious to their being cold rolled, annealed, and tinned; whereby, he says, a better article 
 is produced at a cheaper rate. 
 
 Crystallized tin-plate, see Moibee Metallique. It would seem that the acid merely 
 lays bare the crystalline structure really present on every sheet, but masked by a film of 
 redundant tin. Though this showy article has become of late years vulgarized by its 
 cheapness, it is still interesting in the eyes of the practical chemist. The English tin- 
 plates marked r answer well for producing the Moiree, by'the following process. Place 
 the tin-plate, slightly Heated, over a tub of water, and rub its surface with a sponge 
 dipped in a liquor composed of four parts of aquafortis, and two of distilled water, 
 holding one part of common salt or sal ammoniac in solution. Whenever the crystal- 
 line spangles seem to be thoroughly brought out, the plate must be immersed in water, 
 washed either with a feather or a little cotton (taking care not to rub off the film of tin 
 that forms the feathering), forthwith dried with a low heat, and coated with a lacker 
 varnish, otherwise it loses its lustre in the air. If the whole surface is not plunged at 
 once in cold water, but if it be partially cooled by sprinkling water on it, the crystalli- 
 zation will be finely variegated with large and small figures. Similar results will be 
 obtained by blowing cold air through a pipe on the tinned surface, while it is just passing 
 from the fused to the solid state ; or a variety of delineations may be traced, by playing 
 over the surface of the plate with the pointed flame of a blowpipe. 
 
 The following Table shows the several sizes of tin-plates, the marks by which thev are 
 distinguished, and their current wholesale prices in London : — 
 
 Names. 
 
 Sizes. 
 
 No. in 
 
 a box 
 
 Weight of 
 each box. 
 
 Marks on 
 the boxes. 
 
 Prices per box, in 
 
 1823. 
 
 1638. 
 
 
 Inches. 
 
 
 cwt. qrs. lbs. 
 
 
 5. 
 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Common, No. 1 
 
 13f by 10 
 
 225 
 
 1 
 
 CI. 
 
 47 
 
 
 35 
 
 Ditto 2 
 
 13J— 91 
 
 - 
 
 3 21 
 
 CM. 
 
 45 
 
 
 33 6 
 
 Ditto 3 
 
 12|— 9J 
 
 - 
 
 3 16 
 
 on. 
 
 43 
 
 
 32 9 
 
 Cross, No. 1 
 
 I3£— 10 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 XI. 
 
 53 
 
 
 40 2 
 
 Two crosses, 1 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 1 21 
 
 XXI. 
 
 58 
 
 
 43 2 
 
 Three crosses, 1 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1 2 14 
 
 XXX. I. 
 
 63 
 
 
 47 
 
 Four crosses, 1 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 3 7 
 
 XXXX. I. 
 
 
 
 
 Common doubles - 
 
 16| — 12| 
 
 100 
 
 3 21 
 
 CD. 
 
 64-61 
 
 ii0 
 
 48 6 
 
 Cross doubles 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 14 
 
 XD. 
 
 73-6 
 
 sheets 
 
 56 
 
 Two cross do. 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 1 7 
 
 XXD. 
 
 81 
 
 in 
 
 60 6 
 
 Three cross do. 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 2 
 
 XXXD. 
 
 88-6 J 
 
 each. 
 
 65 
 
 Four cross do. 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 2 21 
 
 XXXXD. 
 
 
 
 
 Com. small doubles - 
 
 5—11 
 
 200 
 
 1 2 
 
 CSD. 
 
 69 
 
 51 6 l 
 
 Cross do. do. 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 2 21 
 
 XSD. 
 
 75 
 
 56 
 
 Two cross do. 
 
 
 
 1 3 14 
 
 XXSD. 
 
 80 
 
 
 59 6 
 
 ■ Three do. do. 
 
 . 
 
 
 2 7 
 
 XXXSD. 
 
 
 
 
 i Four do. do. 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 2 1 
 
 XXXXSD. 
 
 
 
 
 : Waster's com. No. i 
 
 3 J— 10 
 
 225 
 
 1 
 
 WCI. 
 
 44 
 
 
 32 9-. 
 
 1 Ditto cross, 1 
 
 1 ditto 
 
 - 
 
 1 1 
 
 TVXI. 
 
 50 
 
 
 47 3 
 
 These are the cash prices of one wholesale warehouse in Thames street ; an imme- 
 diately adjoining warehouse charges fully Is. more upon the standard or, and propor- 
 tionally upon others. 
 
 Tin plate working in the Exhibition. Jackson, W., Birmingham, manufacturer. Anvil 
 for planishing tin plate. Hammers assorted for tin and copper work. Crease-iron 
 or wireihg stake for, tin. General swage to hold different tools, for beading tin. Bick- 
 iron for tin plate, and side stake for tin or copper work. Bottom stake, for planishing 
 eopper. Pair of stock shears and hand shears for cutting tin, copper, Ac. Model of 
 % raising machine for raising dish covers, 1 J inch in scale. 
 
TOBACCO. 8CS 
 
 Many of the requisites for the tin plate making are enumerated in the above eolleetioi 
 of articles, and though "raising" by means of "spinning" and stamping has to a great 
 extent superseded the older methods of tin plate working, the polished anvil stakes or 
 back iron, with their corresponding planishing-fieed hammers of various forms, cannot 
 yet be dispensed with. In the new mode of production seam-soldering is entirely 
 avoided. Spinning imparts to tin goods a considerable degree of firmness and solidity 
 with denseness of texture. Moulding is still necessary in the manufacture of certain 
 articles ; to effect this, stakes, anvils, and wages, must be put into requisition. Dish 
 covers were originally formed by hammering out of flat sheets of metal ; many of them 
 here are raised by the stamp, and present a brilliant polish. Tin-plate making and tool 
 making for the same give employment to hundreds of arlizans in and round Birmingham. 
 
 TITANIUM is a rare metal, discovered by Klaproth, in menachanite, in 1794. It has 
 been detected since in the form of small cubes of a copper-red color, in some of the blast 
 furnaces in Yorkshire. According to Hassenfratz, its presence in small quantity does 
 not impair the malleability of iron. It is very brittle, so hard as to scratch steel, and 
 very light, having a specific gravity of only 5-3. It will not melt in the heat of any fur- 
 nace, nor dissolve, when crystallized, even in nitro-muriatic acid; but only when in fine 
 powder. By calcination with nitre, it becomes oxygenated, and forms titanate of potassa. 
 Traces of this metal may be detected in many irons, both wrought and east. The prin- 
 cipal ores of titanium are sphene, common and foliated, rutile, {serine, menachanite, and octa- 
 hedriie or pyramidal titanium ore. None of them has been hitherto applied to any use. 
 
 TOBACCO. It is said that the name tobacco was given by the Spaniards to the plant, 
 because it was first observed by them at Tabasco, or Tabaco, a province of Yucatan in 
 Mexico. In 1560, Nicot, the French ambassador to Portugal, having received some 
 'obacco from a Flemish merchant, showed it, on his arrival in Lisbon, to the grand prior, 
 and, on his return into France, to Catherine of Medicis, whence it has been called 
 Nicoliana by the botanists. Admiral Sir Francis Drake, having, on his way home from 
 the Spanish Main in 1586, touched at Virginia, and brought away some forlorn colonists, 
 is reported to have first imported tobacco into England. But, according to Lobe], this 
 plant was cultivated in Britain before the year 1570 ; and was consumed by smoking in 
 pipes by Sir Walter Raleigh and companions, so early as the year 1584. 
 
 The plants are hung up to dry during four or five weeks ; taken down out of the sheds 
 in damp weather, for in dry they would be apt to crumble into pieces; stratified in heaps, 
 covered up, and left to sweat for a week or two, according to their quality and the state 
 of the season ; during which time they must be examined frequently, opened up, and 
 turned over, lest they become too hot, take fire, or run into putrefactive fermentation. 
 This process needs to be conducted by skilful and Attentive operatives. An experience 
 negro can form a sufficiently accurate judgment of the temperature, by thrusting his hor>- 
 down into the heap\ 
 
 The tobacco thus prepared, or often without fermentation, is sent into the market ; but, 
 before being sold, it must undergo the inspection of officers, appointed by the state with 
 very liberal salaries, who determine its quality, and brand an appropriate stamp upon its 
 casks, if it be sound ; but if it be bad, it is burned. 
 
 Our respectable tobacconists are very careful to separate all the damaged leaves, before 
 they proceed to their preparation, which they do by spreading them in a heap upon a stone 
 pavement, watering each layer in succession with a solution of sea salt, of spec. grav. 1-107, 
 called sauce, till a ton or more be laid ; and leaving their principles to react on each other for 
 three or focr days, according to the temperature, and the nature of the tobacco. It is highly 
 probable that ammonia is the volatilizing agent of many odors, and especially of those 
 of tobacco and musk. If a fresh green leaf of tobacco be crushed between the fingers, it 
 emits merely the herbaceous smell common to many plants ; but if it be triturated in a 
 mortar, along with a little quicklime or caustic potash, it will immediately exhale the- 
 peculiar odor of snuff. Now analysis shows the presence of muriate of ammonia in this 
 plant, and fermentation serves further to generate free ammonia in it ; whence, by means 
 of this process, and lime, the odoriferous vehicle is abundantly developed. If, on the other 
 hand, the excess of alkaline matter in the tobacco of the shops be saturated by a mild dry 
 acid, as the tartaric, its peculiar aroma will entirely disappear. 
 
 Tobacco contains a great quantity of an azotized principle, which by fermentation 
 iroduces abundance of ammonia ; the first portions of which saturate the acid juices of 
 the plant, and the rest serve to volatilize its odorous principles. The salt water is useful 
 chiefly in moderating the fermentation, and preventing it from passing into the putre- 
 factive stage; just as salt is sometimes added to saccharine worts in tropical countries, 
 to temper the fermentative action. The sea saft, or concentrated sea water, which con- 
 tains some muriate of lime, tends to keep the tobacco moist, and is therefore preferable 
 to pure chloride of sodium for this purpose. Some tobacconists mix molasses with the 
 salt sauce, and ascribe to this addition the violet color of the macouba snuff of Mar- 
 
866 TOBACCO. 
 
 tinique ; and others add a solution of extract of liquorice. The following prescription is 
 that used by a skilful manufacturer : — In a solution of the liquorice juice, a few £ gs are 
 to be boiled for a couple of hours ; to the decoction, while hot, a few bruised anise-seedi 
 are to be added, and when cold, common salt to saturation. A little silent spirit of win* 
 being poured in, the mixture is to be equably, but sparingly, sprinkled with the rose of 
 a watering-pot, over the leaves of the tobacco, as they are successively stratified upon the 
 preparation floor. 
 
 The fermented leaves, being next stripped of their middle ribs by the hands of chil- 
 dren, are sorted anew, and the large ones are set apart for making cigars. Most of the 
 tobaccos on sale in our shops are mixtures of different growths : one kind of smoking 
 tobacco, for example, consists of 70 parts of Maryland, and 30 of meager Virginia ; and 
 one kind of snuff consists of 80 parts of Virginia, and 30 parts of either Humesfort or 
 Warwick. The Maryland is a very light tobacco, in thin yellow leaves j that of Vir- 
 ginia is in large brown leaves, unctuous or somewhat gluey on the surface, having n 
 smell somewhat like the figs of Malaga ; that of Havana is in brownish, light leaves, 
 of an agreeable and rather spicy smell; it forms the best cigars. The Carolina tobacco 
 is less unctuous than the Virginian ; but in the United States it ranks next to the 
 Maryland. 
 
 The shag tobacco is dried to the proper point upon sheets of copper. 
 Tobacco is cut into what is called shag tobacco by knife-edged chopping stamps, a ma- 
 chine somewhat similar to that represented under Metallurgy, ./ig. 903. For grinding 
 the tobacco leaves into snuff, conical mortars are employed, somewhat like that used by the 
 Hindoos for grinding sugar-canes, fig. 1390 ; but the sides of the snuff-mill have sharp 
 ridges from the top to near the bottom. 
 
 Mr. L. W. Wright obtained a patent in August, 1827, for a tobacco-cutting machine, 
 which bears a close resemblance to the well-known machines with revolving knives, for 
 cutting straw into chaff. The tobacco, after being squeezed into cakes, is placed upon a 
 smooth bed within a horizontal trough, and pressed by a follower and screws to keep it 
 compact. These cakes are progressively advanced upon the bed, or fed in, to meet the 
 revolving blades. The speed of the feeding-screw determines the degree of fineness of the 
 sections or particles into which the tobacco is cut. 
 
 I was employed some years ago by the Excise to analyze a quantity of snuff, seized 
 on suspicion of having been adulterated by the manufacturer. I found it to be largely 
 drugged with pearl ashes, and to be thereby rendered very pungent, and absorbent of 
 moisture ; an economical method of rendering an effete article at the same time active and 
 aqueous. 
 
 According to the recent analysis of Possett and Reimann, 10,000 parts of tobacco- 
 leaves contain — 6 of the peculiar chemical principle nicotine; 1. of nicotianine; 287 of 
 slightly bitter extractive ; 174 of gum, mixed with a little malic acid ; 26-7 of a green 
 resin ; 26 of vegetable albumen ; 104-8 of a substance analogous tg gluten ; 51 of 
 malic acid; 12 of malate of ammonia; 4'8 of sulphate of potassa; 6'3 oi chloride of 
 potassium; 9 - 5 of potassa, which had been combined with malic and nitric acids; 
 16"6 of phosphate of lime; 24'2 of lime, which had been combined with malic acid; 
 8 - 8 of silica; 496.9 of fibrous or ligneous matter; traces of starch; and 88'28 of water. 
 Nicotine is a transparent colorless liquid, of an alkaline nature. It may be dis- 
 tilled in a retort plunged into a bath heated to 290° Fahr. It has a pricking, burning 
 taste, which is very durable; and a pungent disagreeable smell. It burns by means of 
 a wick, with the diffusion of a vivid light, and much smoke. It may be mixed with 
 water in all proportions. It is soluble also in acetic acid, oil of almonds, alcohol, and 
 ether, but not in oil of turpentine. It acts upon the animal economy with extreme 
 violence ; and in the dose of one drop it kills a dog. It forms salts with the acids. 
 ^ About one part of it may be obtained by very skilful treatment from one thousand of 
 good tobacco. 
 
 Virginia leaf coats in bond Sid. per lb., the duty is 1,100 per cent 
 
 Ditto strips " Sid. " 700 " 
 
 Kentucky leaf " Sid. " 1,200 " 
 
 Ditto strips " 4jA " 800 
 
 Havanna cigars " 8s. " 112 " 
 
 Manilla cheroots " 6s. " 150 " 
 
 East India cheroots Is. " 900 " 
 
 Negrohead and Cavendish ed. " 1,800 " 
 
 Rates of duty on tobacco in foreign countries: — 
 
 Fer English 
 Pound. 
 Austria— leaf tobacco - 3d. 
 
 Belgium ditto - - - -id. 
 
 Bremen ditto, £ per cent, ad valorem. 
 Denmark leuvea and stems - \d. 
 
 Prussia 1 
 
 Saxony 
 
 Bavana J Zoll-Verein > 
 
 Brunswick | States. > 
 
 Wirtemberg | 
 
 Frankfort on the Maine J 
 
 2d. 
 
 Per Engl-'ol 
 Found. 
 
 Other German States - j& 
 
 Hamburgh S per cent, ad valorem. 
 Holland 2 per cent, ad valorem. 
 
 Ditto, cigars 2d. 
 
 Ionian islands, leaf stems 2d. 
 
 Ditto manufactured 3d. 
 
 KaBsia 30 per cent, ad valorem 
 
 on foreign. 
 Sweden and Norway - about 14 
 
TOBACCO-PIPES. 
 
 867 
 
 A strict royal monoply (regie) exists in Austria Proper, France, Sardinia, the Duchiea 
 of Parma and Lucca, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany ; and in Portugal, Spain, Naples, 
 and the States of the Church, the license to manufacture is periodically sold to com- 
 panies, which regulate the price of tobacco as they please. It will be found that the 
 situation of all these countries where the monopolies and high prices are kept up, is 
 nearly the same, as to illicit trade in tobacco, as in England. No measure short of a 
 reduction of the duty to Is. per lb. can put a stop to it. 
 
 The following analysis of 10,000 parts of fresh tobacco, by Posselt and Eeimann, will 
 show the exceeding complexity of this substance: — 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 287 
 
 . 
 
 174 
 
 . 
 
 26-7 
 
 . 
 
 26-0 
 
 - 
 
 104-8 
 
 - 
 
 51-0 
 
 
 120 
 
 
 4-8 
 
 6-3 
 9-5 
 166 
 
 Chloride of potassium - 
 
 Potash combined with melic and nitric acids 
 Phosphate of lime .... 
 Lime in union with malic acid 
 
 Silica 8-8 
 
 Woody fibre 4969 
 
 Water (traces of starch) . - 8.82B-0 
 
 10,000-0 
 
 Nicotine . - - - 
 
 Nicotianine - - . - 
 
 Extractive matter, Blightly bitter 
 Gum with a liLtle malate of lime 
 Green resin ... 
 
 Vegetable albumen 
 Substances analogous to gluten - 
 Malic acid - - - - 
 
 Malate of ammonia 
 Sulphate of potash 
 
 In Silliman's Journal, vol. vii. p. 2, a chemical examination of tobacco is given by Dr. 
 Covell, which shows its components to have been but imperfectly represented in the 
 above German analysis. He found, 1, gum ; 2, a viscid slime, equally soluble in water 
 and alcohol, and perceptible from both by subacetate of lead ; 3, tannin ; 4, gallic acid ; 
 5, chlorophyle (leaf-green); 6, a green pulverulent matter, which dissolves in boiling 
 water, but falls down again when the water cools ; 7, a yellow oil, possessing the smell, 
 taste, and poisonous qualities of tobacco; 8, a large quantity of a pale yellow resin; 
 9, nicotine; 10, a white substance, analogous to morphia, soluble in hot, but hardly 
 in cold, alcohol; 11, a beautiful orange-red dye stuff soluble only in acids: it defla- 
 grates in the fire, and seems to possess neutral properties; 12, nicotianine. In the 
 infusion and decoction of the leaves of tobacco, little of this substance is found ; but 
 after they are exhausted with ether, alcohol, and water, if they be treated with sul- 
 phuric acid, and evaporated near to dryness, crystals of sulphate of nicotianine are ob- 
 tained. Ammonia precipitates the nicotianine from the solution in the state of a yel- 
 lowish white, soft powdering matter, which may be kneaded into a lump, and is void 
 of taste and smell, as all its neutral saline combinations also are: its most characteristic 
 property is that of forming soluble and uncrystallisable compounds with vegetable 
 acids. 
 
 According to Buchner, the seeds of tobacco yield a pale yellow extract to alcohol, 
 which contains a compound of nicotine and sugar. Kepertoriwm fur die Pharmacie, 
 vol. xxxiii. 
 
 MM. Henry and Boutron Charlard found in 
 1000 parts of Cuba tobacco 
 Maryland 
 Virginia 
 He et Vilaine 
 Lot et Garonne 
 more than were obtained by Posselt and Reimann, 
 
 The total quantities of tobacco retained for home consumption in 1842, amounted to 
 nearly 17,000,000 pounds. Professor Schleiden gives a singular illustration of the 
 quantity of tobacco consumed. North America alone produces annually upwards of 
 200,000,000 of pounds of tobacco. The combustion of this mass of vegetable material 
 would yield about 340,000,000 pounds of carbonic acid gas, so that the yearly produce 
 of carbonic acid gas, from tobacco smoking alone, cannot be estimated at less than 
 1,000,000,000 pounds; a large contribution to the annual demand for this gas made 
 upon the atmosphere by the vegetation of the world. 
 
 Tobacco imported into the United Kingdom, viz.: — unmanufactured, in 1850, 
 35,166,358 lbs.; in 1851, 31,061,953 lbs.; — manufactured, and snuff, in 1850, 
 1,557,518 lbs. ; in 1851, 2,331,886 lbs. Retained for home consumption, unmanufac- 
 tured, in 1850, 27,538,104 lbs. ; in 1851, 27,853,390 lbs. ;— manufactured, and Bnuff, in 
 1850, 196,681 lbs.; in 1851, 209,588 lbs. Duty received,— on unmanufactured tobacco, 
 in 1850, 4,837,258/. ; in 1851, 4,386,910/. ; on manufactured tobacco, and snuff, in 1850, 
 92,873/.; in 1851. 98,858/. 
 
 TOBACCO-PIPES. The practice of smoking tobacco has become so general in 
 many nations as to render the manufacture of tobacco-pipes a considerable branch of 
 industry. Some seek in the inhalation of tobacco-smoke a pleasurable narcotism ; others 
 imagine it to be beneficial to their health; but, in general, smoking is merely a dreamy 
 lesource against ennui, which ere long becomes an indispensable stimulus. Th« 
 
 8 '64 of nicotine; 
 
 6 '28' 
 10-00 
 11-20 
 
 820; quantities from 12tol9times 
 
80S 
 
 TOBACCO-PIPES. 
 
 Ilthiness of this habit, the offensive odor which persons under its influence emit from theil 
 mouths and clothes, the stupor it too often occasions, as well as the sallow complexion; 
 black or carious teeth, and impaired digestion, all prove the great consumption of tobacco 
 to. be akin in evil influence upon mankind to the use of ardent spirits. 
 
 Tobacco-pipes are made of a fine-grained plastic white clay, to which they have given 
 the name. It is worked with water into a thin paste, which is allowed to settle in pits, 
 or it may be passed through a sieve, to separate the silicious or other stony impurities ; 
 the water is afterwards evaporated till the clay becomes of a doughy consistence, when 
 it must be well kneaded to make it uniform. Pipe-clay is found chiefly in the isle of 
 Purbeck and Dorsetshire. It is distinguished by its perfectly white color, and its great 
 adhesion to the tongue after it is baked; owing to the large proportion of alumina which 
 it contains. 
 
 A child fashions a hall of clay from the heap, rolls it out into a slender cylinder upon 
 a plank, with the palms of his hands, in order to form the stem of the pipe. He sticks 
 a small lump to the end of the cylinder for forming the bowl ; which having done, he 
 lays the pieces aside for a day or two, to get more consistence. In proportion as he 
 makes these rough figures, he arranges them by dozens on a board, and hands them to the 
 pipemaker. 
 
 The pipe is finished by means of a folding brass or iron mould, channelled inside of the 
 shape of the stem and the bowl, and capable of being opened at the two ends. It is formed 
 of two pieces, each hollowed out like a half-pipe, cut as it were lengthwise ; and these two 
 jaws, when brought together, constitute the exact space for making one pipe. There are 
 small pins in one side of the mould, corresponding to holes in the other, which serve as guides 
 for applying the two together with precision. 
 
 The workman takes a long iron wire, with its end oiled, and pushes it through the 
 soft clay in the direction of the stem, to form the bore, and he directs the wire by feeling 
 with his left hand the progress of its point. He lays the pipe in the groove of one of 
 the jaws of the mould, with the wire sticking in it ; applies the other jaw, brings them 
 smartly together, and unites them by a clamp or vice, which produces the external 
 form. A lever is now brought down, which presses an oiled stopper into the bowl of 
 the pipe, while it is in the mould, forcing it sufficiently down to form the cavity ; the 
 wire being meanwhile thrust backwards and forwards so as to pierce the tube completely 
 through. The wire must become visible at the bottom of the bowl, otherwise the pipe 
 will be imperfect. The wire is now withdrawn, the jaws of the mould opened, the pipe 
 taken out, and the redundant clay removed with a knife. After drying for a day or 
 two, the pipes are scraped, polished with a piece of hard wood, and the stems being b°nt 
 into the desired form, they are carried to the baking kiln, which is capable of firing fifty 
 gross in from 8 to 12 hours. A workman and a child can easily make five gross of pipes 
 in a day. 
 
 No tobacco-pipes are so highly prized as those made in Natolia, in Turkey, out of 
 
 meerschaum, a somewhat plastic magnesian stone, of a soft greasy feel, which is formed 
 
 into pipes after having been softened with water. It becomes white and hard in the kiln 
 
 A tobacco-pipe kiln should diffuse an equal heat tc every part of its interior, while 
 
 it excludes the smoke of the fire. The crucible, or large sagger, A, A, figs. 1473 and 
 
 1474, is a cylinder, covered in with a dome. It is placed 
 
 over the fireplace b, and enclosed within a furnace of ordinary 
 
 brickwork d, r>, lined with fire-bricks e, e. Between this lining 
 
 and the cylinder, a space of about 4 inches all round is left 
 
 for the circulation of the flame. There are 12 supports or 
 
 ribs between the cylinder and the furnace lining, which form 
 
 so many flues, indicated by the dotted lines x, in Jig. 1474 
 
 (the dotted circle representing the cylinder). These ribs are 
 
 perforated with occasional apertures, as shown in Jig. 1473, 
 
 for the pnrpo&e of connecting the adjoining flues ; but the main 
 
 1474 
 
 bearing of the hollow cylinder is given 
 by five piers, 6, 4, c, formed of bricks 
 projecting over and beyond each other. 
 One of Cnese piers c, is placed at the 
 back of the fireplace, and the other four 
 at the sides 6, 6. These project nearly 
 into the centre, in order to support and 
 strengthen the bottom ; while the flues 
 pass up between them, unite at the top 
 of the cylinder in the dome l, and dis- 
 charge the smoke by the chimney n. 
 The lining f, e, e, of the chimney is 
 
TOOTH FACTORY. 369 
 
 open on one side to form the door, by which the cylinder is charged and discharged. 
 The opening is permanently closed as high as h, fig. 1473, by an iron plate plastered 
 with fire-clay ; above this it is left open, and shut merely with temporary brick-work 
 while the furnace is going. When this is removed, the furnace can be filled or emptied 
 through the opening, the cylindric crucible having a correspondent aperture in its side, 
 which is closed in the following ingenious way, while the furnace is in action. The 
 workman first spreads a layer of clay round the edge of the opening, he then sticks the 
 stems of broken pipes across from one side to the~other, and plasters up the interstices 
 with clay, exactly like the lath-and-plaster work of a ceiling. The whole of the cylinder, 
 indeed, is constructed in this manner, the bottom being composed of a great many 
 fragments of pipe stems, radiating to the centre ; these are coated at the circumference 
 with a layer of clay. A number of bowls of broken pipes are inserted in the clay; in 
 these other fragments are placed upright, to form the sides of the cylinder. The ribs 
 round the outside, which form the flues, are made in the same way, as well as the dome 
 L; by which means the cylindric case may be made very strong, and yet so thin as to 
 require little clay in the building, a moderate fire to heat it, while it is not apt to split 
 asunder. The pipes are arranged within, as shown in the figure, with their bowls rest- 
 ing against the circumference, and their ends supported on circular pieces of clay r, which 
 are set up in the centre for that purpose. Six small ribs are made to project inwards all 
 round the crucible, at the proper heights, to support the different ranges of pipes, without 
 having so many resting on each other as to endanger their being crushed by the weight. 
 By this mode of distribution, the furnace may contain 50 gross, or 7200 pipes, all baked 
 within 8 or 9 hours ; the fire being gradually raised, or damped if occasion be, by a plate 
 partially slid over the chimney top. 
 
 TODDY, Sara, Mee-ra, sweet juice. — The proprietors of cocoa-nut plantations in 
 the peninsula of India, and in the Island of Ceylon, instead of collecting a crop of nuts, 
 frequently reap the produce of the trees by extracting sweet juice from the flower- 
 stalk. When the flowering branch is half shot, the toddy-drawers bind the stock round 
 with a young cocoa-nut leaf in several places, and beat the spadix with a short baton of 
 ebony. This beating is repeated daily for ten or twelve days, and about the end of that 
 period a portion of the flower-stalk is cut off. The stump then begins to bleed, and an 
 earthen vessel (chatty) or a calabash is suspended under it, to receive the juice, which 
 is by the Europeans called toddy. 
 
 A thin slice is taken from the stump daily, and the toddy is removed twice a day. 
 A cocoa-nut frequently pushes out a new spadix once a month; and after each spadix 
 begins to bleed, it continues to produce freely for a month, by which time another is 
 ready to supply its place. The old spadix continues to give a little juice for another 
 month, after which it withers; sa that th;re are sometimes two pots attached to a tree 
 at one time, but never more. Each of these spadices, if allowed to grow, would pro- 
 duce a bunch of nuts from two to twenty. Trees in a good soil produce twelve 
 bunches in the year ; but when less favorably situated, they often do not give more 
 than six bunches. The quantity of six English pints of toddy is sometimes yielded by 
 a tree daily. 
 
 Toddy is much in demand as a beverage in the neighborhood of villages, espe- 
 cially where European troops are stationed. When it is drunk before sunrise, it is n 
 cool, delicious, and particularly wholesome beverage; but by eight or nine o'clock fer- 
 mentation has made some progress, and it is then highly intoxicating.* 
 
 TOLU, is a brownish-red balsam, extracted from the stem of the Myroxilon 
 toluiferum, a tree which grows in South America. It is composed of resin, oil, 
 and benzoic acid. Having an agreeable odor, it is sometimes used in perfumery. 
 It has a place in the Materia Medica, but for what good reason I know not. 
 
 TOMBAC, is a white alloy of copper. 
 
 TONKA BEAN', the fruit of the Dipterix odorata, affords a concrete crystalline 
 volatile oil (stearoptene), called coumarine by the French. It is extracted by diges- 
 tion with alcohol, which dissolves the stearoptene and leaves a fat oil. It has an 
 agreeable smell, and a warm taste. It is' fusible at 122° Fahrenheit, and volatile at 
 higher heats. 
 
 TOOTH FACTORY. Pure crystallized quartz is calcined by a moderate heat. 
 When taken from the fire it is thrown immediately into cold wate:, which breaks it 
 into numberless pieces. The larger pieces are broken into smaller, and the whole 
 put into a mill, which is itself made of quartz. Here the pieces of calcined quartz 
 are ground up into fine powder. Next fiuor spar, free from all impurities, is ground 
 up in like manner into a fine powder. Artificial teeth are composed of two parts, 
 
 * Contributions to tlv: History o r the Cocoa-nut Tree. By Henry Marshall, Esq., Deputy Inspectoi 
 aA Hospitals. 
 
870 
 
 TORTOISE-SHELL. 
 
 called the body and enamel. The body of the tooth is made first, the enamel is added 
 last. 
 
 The next step is to mix together nearly equal parts, by weight, of the powdered 
 spars and quartz. This mixture is again ground to a greater fineness. Certain metallic 
 oxides, as of tin, are now added to it, for the purpose of producing an appropriate color, 
 and water and china clay to make it plastic and give it consistence. This mixture 
 resembles soft paste, which is transferred to the hands of females, who are engaged in 
 filling moulds with it, or otherwise working upon it. After the paste has been moulded 
 into proper shape, two small platina rivets are inserted near the base of each tooth, for 
 the purpose of fastening it (by the dentist) to a plate in the mouth. They are now 
 transferred to a furnace, where they are " cured," as it is technically called ; that is, half 
 baked or hardened. The teeth are now ready to receive the enamel, which is done by 
 women ; it consists of spar and quartz which has been ground, pulverized, and reduced 
 to the state of a soft paste, which is evenly spread over the half baked body of the tootb 
 by means of a delicate brush. The teeth must be next subjected to an intense heat. 
 They are put into ovens, lined with platina and heated by a furnace, in which the 
 necessary heat is obtained. The baking process is superintended by a workman, who 
 occasionally removes a tooth to ascertain whether those within have been sufficiently 
 baked. This is indicated by the appearance of the tooth. When they are done, the 
 teeth are placed in jars ready for use. An experiment tests the hardness of these 
 artificial teeth. One of them taken indiscriminately out from a jar-full is driven 
 without breaking into a fine board, until it is even with the surface of the wood. 
 
 TOPAZ. See Lapidaky. 
 
 TORTOISE-SHELL, or rather scale, a horny substance, that covers the hard 
 strong covering of a bony contexture, which encloses the Testudo imbricata, Linn. The 
 lamella? or plates of this tortoise are thirteen in number, and may be readily separated from 
 the bony parts by placing fire beneath the shell, whereby they start asunder. They vary 
 in thickness from one eighth to one quarter of an inch, according to the age and size of , 
 the animal, and weigh from 5 to 25 pounds. The larger the animal, the better is the 
 shell. This substance may be softened by the heat of boiling water ; and if compressed 
 in this state by screws in iron or brass moulds, it may be bent intq,any shape. The 
 moulds being then plunged in cold water, the shell becomes fixed in the form imparted 
 by the mould. If the turnings or filings of tortoise-shell be subjected skilfully to grad- 
 ually increased compression between moulds immersed in boiling water, compact 
 objects of any desired ornamental figure or device may be produced. The soldering of 
 two pieces of scale is easily effected, by placing their edges together, after they are nicely 
 filed to one bevel, and then squeezing them strongly between the long flat jaws of hot 
 iron pincers, made somewhat like a hairdresser's curling-tongs. The pincers should be 
 
TRIPOLI. S71 
 
 •trong, thick, and just hot enough to brown paper slightiy, witriout burning it. They may 
 be soldered also by the heat of boiling water, applied along with skilful pressure. But 
 in whatever way this process is attempted, the surfaces tj be united should be made very 
 smooth, level, and clean ; the least foulness, even the toucll of a finger, or breathing upon 
 them, would prevent their coalescence. See Hokn. 
 
 Tortoise-shell is manufactured into various objects, partly by cutting out the shapes and 
 partly by agglutinating portions of the shell by heat. When the shell has become soft 
 by dipping it in hot water, and the edges are in the cleanest possible state without 
 grease, they are pressed together with hot flat tongs, and then plunged into cold water, 
 to fix them in their position. The teeth of the larger combs are parted in their heated 
 state, or cut out with a thin frame saw, while the shell, equal in size to two combs, 
 with their teeth interlaced, as in fig. 1477, is bent like an arch in the direction of the 
 length of the teeth, as in fig. 1476. The shell is then flattened, the points are separated 
 mth a narrow chisel or pricker, aud the two combs are finished, while flat, with coarse 
 single-cut files and triangular scrapers. They are finally warmed, and bent on the knee 
 over a wooden mould, by means of a strap passed round the foot, just as a shoemaker 
 fixes his last. Smaller combs of horn and tortoise-shell are parted, while flat, by an 
 ingenious machine, with two chisel-formed cutters placed obliquely, so that each cut 
 produces one tooth. See Rogers' comb-cutting machine, Trans. Soc. Arts, vol. xlix., 
 part 2, since improved by Mr. Kelly. In making the frames for eye-glasses, spec- 
 tacles, &c, the apertures for the glasses were formerly cut out to the circularform, with 
 a tool something like a carpenter's centre-bit, or with a crown saw in the lathe. The 
 discs so cut out were used for inlaying in the tops of boxes, &c. This required a piece 
 of shell as large as the front of the spectacle ; but a piece one third of the size will now 
 suffice, as the eyes are strained or pulled. A long narrow piece is cut out, and two slits 
 are made in it with a saw. The shell is then warmed, the apertures are pulled open, 
 and fastened upon a taper triblet of the appropriate shape ; as illustrated by figs. 1478, 
 1479, aud 1483. The groove for the edge of the glass is cut with a small circular cutter, 
 or sharp-edged saw, about three eighths or half an inch in diameter ; and the glass is 
 sprung in when the frame is expanded by heat. 
 
 In making tortoise-shell boxes, the round plate of shell is first placed centrally over 
 the edge of the ring, as in fig.U75: it is slightly squeezed with the small round edge- 
 block g, and the whole press is then lowered into the boiling water : after immersion 
 for about half an hour, it is transferred to the bench, and g is pressed entirely down, so 
 as to bend the shell into the shape of a saucer, as at fig. 1482, without cutting or injuring 
 the material ; and the press is then cooled in a water-trough. The same processes are 
 repeated with the die d, which has a rebate turned away to the thickness of the shell; 
 and completes the angle of the box to the section fig. 1481, ready for finishing in the 
 lathe. It is always safer to perform each of these processes at two successive boilings 
 and coolings. Two thin pieces are cemented together by pressure with the die e, and n 
 device may be given by the engraved die /. — See Holtzapffel's Turning and Mechanical 
 Manipulation, vol. i., p. 129. 
 
 TOUCH-NEEDLES, and TOUCH-STONE, are means of ascertaining the quality of 
 gold trinkets. See Assay. 
 TOW. See Flax. 
 
 TRAGACANTH, GUM. (Gomme adracante, Fr. ; Traganth Germ.) See Gum. 
 TRAVERTINO. See Tufa. 
 
 TREACLE, is the viscid brown uncrystallizahle sirup which drains from the sugar-re- 
 fiiiug moulds. Its specific gravity is generally 1-4, and it contains upon an average 75 
 pc: cent, of solid matter, by my experiments. 
 
 TRIPOLI (Terre pourrie, Fr. ; Tripel, Germ.), rotten-stone, is a mineral of an 
 earthy fracture, a yellowish-gray or white color, composition impalpably fine, meager 
 to the touch, does not adhere to the tongue, and burns white. Its analogue, the 
 Polierschiefer, occurs in thin flat foliated pieces, of the above colors, occasionally striped ; 
 soft, absorbent of water; spec. grav. 1-9 to 2-2. 
 
 M. Ehrenberg has shown that both of these friable homogeneous rocks, which consist 
 almost entirely of silica, are actually composed of the exuviae or rather- the skeletons of 
 infusoria (animalmla) of the family of Barcillarice, and the genera Cocconema, Gonphonema, 
 &c. They are recognised with such distinctness in the microscope, that their analogies 
 with living species may be readily traced ; and in many cases there are no appreciable 
 differences between the living and the petrified. The species are distinguished by the 
 number of partitions or transverse lines upon their bodies. The length is about J of a 
 line. M. Ehrenberg made his observations upon the tripolis of Billen in Bohemia, of 
 Santafiora in Tuscany, of the Isle of France, and of Francisbad, near Eger. 
 
 The meadow iron ore (Fer limoneux des marais) is composed almost wholly of the 
 Gaellonella ferruginea. Most of these infusoria are lacustrine ; but others are marine, 
 particularly the tripolis of the [sle of France. 
 
872 TUBULAR CRANE. 
 
 According to the chemical analysis of Bucholz, tripoli consists of — silica, 81 ; alumina, 
 1"5; oxide of iron, 8; sulphuric acid, 3'45 ; water, 4'55. This specimen was probably 
 found in a coal-field. The' tripoli of Corfu is reckoned the best for scouring or brighten- 
 ing brass and other metals. Mr. Philips found in the Derbyshire rotten-stone (near 
 Bakewell), 85 of alumina, 4 of silica, and 10 of carbon — being a remarkable difference 
 in composition from the Bohemian. 
 
 TUBES OF BRASS. Brass or other tubes are formed of rolled metal, which is cut 
 to the required breadth by means of revolving discs ; in the large sizes of tubes, the metal 
 is partially curved in its length by means of a pair of rolls ; when in this condition it is 
 passed through a steel hole or a die, a plug being held in such a position as allows the 
 metal to pass between it and the interior of the hole. Oil is used to lubricate the 
 metal; the motion is communicated by power, the drawing apparatus being a pair of 
 huge nippers, which holds the brass, and is attached to a chain and revolves round a 
 windlass or cylinder. The tube in its unsoldered state is annealed, bound round at 
 intervals of a few inches with iron wire, and solder and borax applied along the seam. 
 The operation of soldering is completed by passing the tube through an air stove, 
 heated with "cokes" or "breezes," which melts the solder, and unites the two edges of 
 the metal, and forms a perfect tube; it is then immersed in a solution of sulphuric acid, 
 to remove scaly deposits on its surface, the wire and extra solder having been 
 previously removed : it is then drawn through a "finishing hole plate," when the tube 
 is completed. 
 
 Mandril drawn tubes, as the name indicates, are drawn upon a very accurately turned 
 steel mandril ; by this means the internal diameter is rendered smooth ; the tube formed 
 by this process is well fitted for telescopes, syringes, small pump-cylinders, &c 
 
 Brass solder is composed of almost equal quantities of copper and zinc; its properties 
 should be that of melting at such a temperature as will allow the article to be soldered 
 to be sufficiently heated, but yet some degrees from the melting point. Solder is al- 
 ways used in connection with borax, the cleansing properties of which appear to facili- 
 tate the fusion of the metal. 
 
 TUBULAR CRANE. Under the title Crane, that elegant mechanical invention 
 of William Fairbairn, Esq., F. R. S., Member of the French Institute, is described ; and 
 here an analysis of its structure by Sir D. Brewster may be inserted, as laid before 
 the meeting of the British Association for 1851. These structures indicate some ad 
 ditional examples of the extension of the tubular system, and the many advantages 
 that may yet be derived from a judicial combination of wrought iron plates, and a 
 careful distribution of the material in all those combinations which require security, 
 rigidity, and strength. 
 
 The projection or radius of the jib of these cranes is 32 feet 6 inches from the centre 
 of the stem, and its height 30 feet above the ground. It is entirely composed of wrought 
 iron plates, firmly riveted together on the principle of the upper side being calculated 
 to resist tension, and the under, or concave side, which embodies the cellular construction 
 to resist compression. The form is correctly that of the prolonged vertebras of the bird 
 from which this machine for raising weights takes its name; it is truly the neck of the 
 crane, tapering from the point of the jib, where it is 3 ft deep by 18 inches wide, to the 
 level ofthe ground, where it is 5 ft deep and 3 ft 6 inches wide. From this point it 
 again tapers to a depth of 18 ft under the surface, where it terminates in a cast-iron 
 shoe, which forms the toe on which it revolves. The lower or concave side, which is 
 calculated to resist compression, consists of plates forming three cells, and varying in 
 thickness in the ratio of the strain ; as also the convex top, which is formed of long plates 
 chain riveted with covers; but the sides are of uniform thickness, riveted with T iron, 
 and covering plate 4j| inehes wide over each joint. This arrangement of the parts and 
 distribution of the materials constitute the principal elements of strength in the crane. 
 The form of the jib, and the point at which the load is suspended, are probably not the 
 most favorable for resisting pressure. It nevertheless exhibits great powers of re- 
 sistance ; and its form, as well as the position, may safely be considered as a curved 
 hollow beam having one end immoveably fixed at a, and the other end c, the part to 
 which the force is applied. Viewing it in this light, the strengths are easily determined , 
 and taking the experiments herein recorded, we have by the formula,* which was 
 originally framed for the calculation of the ultimate strength of tubular beams, that a 
 load of 63 tons would be required to break the crane. With 20 tons the deflection was 
 3-97— -64 of a permanent set = 3 -33 inches, tl>e deflection of the jib due to a load of 
 20 tons. The following constitutes the experiments made at Keyham docks. 
 
 * W=— ; — i where W= breaking weight in tons; a the sectional area of the bottom of beam snb 
 
 /oct tn tension ; d the depth of beam-; C (80). a constant derived from experiment, and 7 the length ol 
 beam — all in inches. 
 
TURF. 873 
 
 Experiments. made to ascertain the resisting Powers of a new wrought-iron tubular Crane 
 erected at Keyham Dockyard, Devonport, November 8, 1850. 
 
 Weight of cargo 
 
 Deflection at the point of 
 
 in tons. 
 
 the jib in inches. 
 
 2 
 
 •82 
 
 3 
 
 •50 
 
 4 
 
 •65 
 
 5 
 
 •90 
 
 6 
 
 1-05 
 
 1 
 
 1-20 
 
 8 
 
 1-35 
 
 9 
 
 1-50 
 
 10 
 
 1-10 
 
 With 5 tons suspended, the crane was turned completely round, without any alteration 
 *n the deflection. 
 
 With this weight the crane was again turned round; the deflection is 8 minutes 
 increasing to l - 85 inches, when it became permanent, after sustaining the load during 
 the whole of the night, a period of about 16 hours. 
 
 On the 9th November the experiments were resumed as follows : — 
 
 ight of cargo 
 
 Deflection at the point of 
 
 in tons. 
 
 the jib in inches. 
 
 11 
 
 2-05 
 
 12 
 
 2-22 
 
 13 
 
 2-40 
 
 14 
 
 2-60 
 
 15 
 
 2-80 
 
 16 
 
 3-00 
 
 17 
 
 3-20 
 
 18 
 
 3-60 
 
 19 
 
 s-73 
 
 20 
 
 3-97 
 
 On again turning the crane round with a load of 20 tons there was no perceptible 
 alteration in the deflection, and the permanent set, after removing the load, was - 64 
 inches. 
 
 From the above experiments, it appears that the ultimate strength of the crane is 
 much greater than is requisite either in theory or practice, and, although tested with 
 nearly a double load, it is still far short of its ultimate powers of resistance, which it 
 will be observed are five times greater than the weight it is intended to bear. 
 
 The advantages claimed for this construction are its great security, and the facility with 
 which bulky and heavy bodies can be raised to the very top of the jib without failure. 
 It moreover exhibits, when heavily loaded, the same restorative principle of elasticity 
 strikingly exemplified in the wrought-iron tubular girder. These constructions, although 
 different in form, are nevertheless the same in principle, and undoubtedly follow the 
 same law as regards elasticity and their powers of resistance to fracture. They all do 
 great honor to the mechanical genius U 1 Mr. Fairbairn. 
 
 TUFA, or TTJF, is a gray deposite of calcareous carbonate, from springs and streams. 
 
 TULA METAL, is an alloy of silver, copper, and lead. 
 
 TUNGSTEN (Eng. and Fr. ; Wolfram, Germ.), is a peculiar metal, which occurs in 
 the state of an acid (the tungstic), combined with various bases, as with lime, the oxydes 
 of iron, manganese, and lead. The metar is obtained by reduction of the ore, or the de- 
 oxydizement of the acid, in the form of a dark steel-gray j-owder, which assumes under 
 the burnisher a feeble metallic lustre. Its specific gravity is .7-22. 
 
 TURBITH MINERAL, is the yellow subsulphate of mercury. 
 
 TURF (Peat, Scotch; Tourbe, Fr. ; Torf, Germ.), consists of vegetable matter, chiefly 
 of the moss family, in a state of partial decomposition by the action of water. Cut, 
 during summer, into brick-shaped pieces, and dried, it is extensively used as fuel by the 
 peasantry in every region where it abounds. The dense black turf, which forms the lowev 
 stratum of a peat-moss, is much contaminated with iron,, sulphur, sand, &c, while 
 the lighter turf of the upper strata, though nearly pure vegetable matter, is too bulky for 
 transportation, and too porous for factory fuel. These defects have been happily 
 removed by Mr. Williams, managing director of the Dublin Steam Navigation Company, 
 who has recently obtained a patent for a method of converting the lightest and purest 
 .Vol. II. •" 
 
674 TURPENTINE. 
 
 beds of peat-moss, or bog, into the four following products : 1, A brown combustibl. 
 Bolid, denser than oak; 2, A charcoal, twice as compact as that of hard wood 
 S, A factitious coal ; and 4, A factitious coke ; each of which possesses very valuable 
 properties. 
 
 Mr. D'Ernst, artificer of fire-works to Vauxhall, has proved, by the severe test of co 
 lored fires, that the turf charcoal of Mr. Williams is 20 per cent, more combustible than 
 that of oak. Mr. Oldham, engineer of the Bank of England, has applied it in softening 
 his steel plates and dies, with remarkable success. But one of the most important results 
 of Mr. Williams's invention is, that with 10 cwls. of pitcoal, and 2| cwts. of his factitious 
 coal, the same steam power is now obtained, in navigating the Company's ships, as witk 
 17 £ cwts. of pitcoal alone ; thereby saving 30 per cent, in the stowage of fuel. What a 
 prospect is thus opened up of turning to admirable account the unprofitable bogs of Ire- 
 land ; and of producing, from their inexhaustible stores, a superior fuel for every purpose 
 of arts and engineering ! 
 
 The turf is treated as follows: — Immediately after being dug, it is triturated under re- 
 volving edge-wheels, faced with iron plates perforated all over their surface, and is for- 
 ced by the pressure through these apertures, till it becomes a species of pap, which is 
 freed from the greater part of its moisture by squeezing in a hydraulic press between 
 layers of cava clotty, then dried, and coked in suitable ovens. — (See Charcoal, and Pit- 
 coal, coking of.) Mr. Williams makes his factitious coal by incorporating with pitch 
 or rosin, melted in a caldron, as much of the above charcoal, ground to powder, as will 
 form a doughy mass, which is moulded into bricks in its hot and plastic state. From the 
 experiments of M. Le Sage, detailed in the 5th volume of "The Repertory of Arts," 
 charred ordinary turf seems to be capablu of producing a far more intense heat than com- 
 mon charcoal. It has been found preferable to all other fuel for case-hardening iron, 
 tempering steel, forging horse-shoes, and welding gun-barrels. Since turf is partially 
 carbonized in its native state, when it is condensed by the hydraulic press, and fully char- 
 red, it must evidently afford a charcoal very superior in calorific power to the porous sub- 
 stance generated from wood hy fire. 
 
 TURKEY RED, is a brilliant dye produced on cotton goods by Madder. 
 TURMERIC, Curcuma, Terra merita, (Souchet, or Safrandes Indes, Fr. ; Gelbwurzel, 
 Germ.), is the root of the Curcuma longa and rotunda, a plant which grows in the East 
 Indies, where it is much employed in dyeing yellow, as also as a condiment in curry sauce 
 or powder. The root is knotty, tubercular, oblong, and wrinkled ; pale-yellow without, 
 and brown-yellow within ; of a peculiar smell, a taste bitterish and spmewhat spicy. It 
 contains a peculiar yellow principle, called curcuminc, a brown coloring-matter, a volatile 
 oil, starch, &c. The yellow tint of turmeric is changed to brown-red by alkalis, alka- 
 line earths, subacetate of lead, and several metallic oxydes; for which reason, paper 
 stained with it is employed as a chemical test. 
 
 Turmeric is employed by the wool-dyers for compound colors which require an admix- 
 ture of yellow, as for cheap browns and olives. As a yellow dye, it is employed only 
 upon silk. It is a very fugitive color. A yellow lake may be made by boiling tur- 
 meric powder with a solution of alum, and pouring the filtered decoction upon pounded 
 chalk. 
 TURNSOLE. See Archil and Litmus. 
 
 TURPENTINE (Terebinthine, Fr. ; Terpenlhin, Germ.); is a substsnee which flows 
 out of incisions made in the stems of several species of pines. It has the consistence 
 and gray-yellow color of honey. It has a smell which is not disagreeable to many 
 persons, a warm, sharp, bitterish taste; dries into a solid in the air, with the evapora- 
 tion of its volatile oil. It becomes quite fluid at a moderate elevation of temperature, 
 and burns at a higher heat, with a bright but very fuliginous flame. There are several 
 varieties of turpentine. 
 
 1. Common turpentine, is extracted from incisions in the JPinus abies and Pinus sit- 
 vestris. It has little smell ; but a bitter burning taste. It consists of the volatile oil 
 
 —of turpentine to the amount of from 5 to 25 per cent. ; and of rosin or colophony. 
 
 2. Venice turpentine, is extracted from the Pinus larix (larch) and the French tur- 
 pentine from the Pinus maritima. The first comes from Styria, Hungary, the Tyrol, 
 and Switzerland, and contains from 18 to 25 per cent, of oil ; the second, from the south 
 of France, and contains no more than 12 per cent of oil. The oil of all the turpen- 
 tines is extracted by distilling them along with water. They dissolve in all proportions 
 in alcohol, without leaving any residuum. They also combine alkaline lyes, and in 
 general with the salifiable bases. Venice turpentine contains also succinic acid. 
 
 8. Turpentine of Strasbourg is extracted from the Pinus pieea and Abies excel sa. 
 It affords S3'5 per cent of volatile oil, and some volatile or crystallisable resin, with 
 jxtractive matter aud succinic acid. 
 
 i. Turpentine of the Carpathian mountains, and of Hungary; the first of which 
 
TYPE. 
 
 875 
 
 eomea from the Pinus cembra, and the second from the Pinus mugos. They resemble 
 that of Strasbourg.- 
 
 5. Turpentine of Canada, called Canada balsam, is extracted from the Pinus cana- 
 densis and balsamea. Its smell is much more agreeable than that of the preceding 
 species. 
 
 6. Turpentine of Cyprus or Chio is extracted from the Pistacea terebinthus. It has 
 a yellow, greenish, or blue-green color. Its smell is more agreeable, and taste less 
 acrid, than those of the preceding sorts. 
 
 TURPENTINE, OIL OF, sometimes called essence of turpentine. As found in 
 commerce, it contains more or less rosin, from which it may be freed by re-distillation 
 along with water. It is colorless, limpid, very fluid, and possessed of a very peculiar 
 smell. , Its specific gravity, when pure, is - 870; that of the oil commonly soid in 
 London is 0'875. It always reddens litmus paper, from containing a little succinic 
 acid. According to Opermann, the oil which has been repeatedly rectified over 
 chloride of calcium, consists of 84'60 carbon, 11-733 hydrogen, and 3"67 oxygen. 
 When oil of turpentine contains a little alcohol, it burns with a clear flame; but other- 
 wise it affords a very smoky flame. Chlorine inflames this oil ; and muriatic acid con- 
 verts it into a crystalline substance, like camphor. It is employed extensively in var- 
 nishes, paints, &.c, as also in medicine. 
 
 TURPENTINE, SPIRITS, ESSENCE OR OIL OP. Camphen is the new name 
 given by the continental chemists to every etherous or volatile oil which is composed 
 of 5 atoms of carbon and 8 of hydrogen, and which combines directly with hydro- 
 chloric acid, either into a solid or a liquid compound, resembling camphor. Under this 
 title the following oils are included: — turpentine, citron, or lemon, orange-flower, 
 copaiva, balsam oil, juniper, cubebs, and pepper. Some add to this last, — the oils of 
 cloves, valerian, and bergamot. As the new patent lamps burn spirits of turpentine, 
 they have been called Camphine. See Lamps. 
 
 Common turpentine imported into the United Kingdom, in 1860, 437,121 cwts.- 
 in 1851, 431,950 cwts. 
 TURQUOIS. See Lapidart. 
 TUTENAG, is an alloy of copper and zinc. 
 
 TYPE (Caractere, Fr. ; Druckbuchstabe, Germ.) The first care of the letter-cutter 
 is to prepare well tempered steel pundies, upon which he draws or marks the exact 
 shape of the letter, yith pen and ink if it be large, but with a smooth blunted point of 
 a needle if it be small ; and then with a proper sized and shaped graver and sculpter, 
 he digs or scoops out the metal between the strokes upon the face of the punch, leaving 
 the marks untouched and prominent. He next works the outside with files till it be 
 fit for the matrix. Punches are also made by hammering down the hollows, filing 
 up the edges, and then hardening the soft steel. Before he proceeds to sink and justify 
 the matrix, he provides a mould to justify them by, of which a good figure is shown in 
 plate xv., Miscellany, figs. 2, S, of Rees's Cyclopaedia. 
 
 A matrix is a piece of brass or copper, about an inch and 
 a half long, and thick in proportion to the size of the letter 
 which it is to contain. In this metal the face of the letter 
 intended to be cast is sunk, by striking it with the punch to 
 a depth of about one eighth of an inch. The mould, fig. 
 1483, in which the types are cast is composed of two parts. 
 Theouter part is made of wood, the inner of steel. At the 
 top it has a hopper-mouth a, into which the fused type-metal 
 is poured. The interior cavity is as uniform as if it had been 
 hollowed out of a single piece of steel ; because each half, 
 which forms two of the four sides of the letter, is exactly fit- 
 ted to the other. The matrix is placed at the bottom of the 
 mould, directly under the centre of the orifice, and is held in 
 its position by a spring 6. Every letter that is cast can be 
 loosened from the matrix only by removing the pressure on 
 the spring. 
 
 A good type-foundry is always provided with several fur- 
 naces, each surmounted with an iron pot containing the melt- 
 ed alloy, of 3 parts of lead and 1 of antimony. Into this pot 
 the founder dips the very small iron ladle, to lift merely as 
 much metal as will east a single letter at a time. Having poured in the metal with 
 his right hand, and returned the ladle to the melting-pot, the founder throws up his left 
 hand, which holds the mould, above his head, with a sudden jerk, supporting it with his 
 right hand. It is this movement which forces the metal into all the interstices of the 
 matrix : for without it, the metal, especially iu the smaller moulds, would not be able 
 
876 
 
 TYPE. 
 
 to expel the air and reach the bottom. The pouring in the metal, the throwing up tin 
 mould, the unclosing it, removing the pressure of the spring, picking out the cast letter, 
 closing the mould again, and re-applying the spring to be ready for a new operation, 
 are all performed with such astonishing rapidity and .precision, that a skilful workman 
 ■will turn out 500 good letters in an hour, beiDg at the rate of one every eighth part 
 of a minute. A considerable piece of metal remains attached to the end of the type aa 
 it quits the mould. There are nicks upon the lower edge of the types, to enable the 
 compositor to place them upright without looking at them. , 
 
 From the table of the caster, the heap of types turned out of his mould, is transferred 
 from time to time to another table, by a boy, whose business it is to break off the super- 
 fluous metal, and that he does so rapidly as to clear from 2000 to 5000 types in an hour; 
 a very remarkable despatch, since he must seize them by their edges, and not by thei» 
 feeble flat sides. From the breaking^off boy, the types are taken to the rubber, a man 
 who sits in the centre of the workshop With a grit-stone slab on a table before him, and 
 having on the fore and middle finger of his right hand a piece of tarred leather, passes 
 each broad side of the type smartly over the stone, turning it in fie movement, and that 
 so dexterously, as to be able to rub 2000 types in an hour. 
 
 From the rubber, the types are conveyed to a boy, who, with equal rapidity, sets them 
 up in lines, in a long shallow frame, with their faces uppermost and nieks outwards. 
 This frame, containing a full line, is put into the dresser's hands, who polishes them on 
 each side, and turning them with their frees downwards, cuts a groove or channel in 
 their bottom, to make them stand steadily on end. It is essential that each letter be per- 
 fectly symmetrical and square; the least inequality of their length would prevent them 
 from making a fair impression ; and were there the least obliquity in their sides, it would 
 be quite impossible, when 200,000 single letters are combined, as in one side of the Time) 
 newspaper, that they could hold together as they require to do, when wedged up in the 
 chases, as securely as if that side of type formed a solid plate of metal. Each letter is finally 
 tied up in lines of convenient length, the proportionate numbers of each variety, small 
 letters, points, large capitals, small capitals, and figures, being selected, when the fount 
 of type is ready for delivery to the printer. 
 
 The sizes of types cast in this country vary from the smallest, called diamond, of which 
 205 lines are contained in a foot length, to thosj letters employed in placards, of which a 
 single letter may be three or four inches high. The names of the different letters and 
 their dimensions, or the number of lines which' each occupies in a fooj, are stated in the 
 following table : — 
 
 Double Pica, 
 
 Paragon, 
 
 Great Primer, - 
 
 English, 
 
 Pica, 
 
 T. Aspinwall, Esq., the American Consul, obtained, in May, 1828, a patent for an im- 
 proved method of casting printing types by means of a mechanical process, being a com- 
 munication from a foreigner residing abroad. The machine is described, with six expla- 
 natory figures, in the second series of Newton's Journal, vol. v. page 2,12. -The patentee 
 does not claim, as his invention, any of the parts separately, but the general process and 
 arrangement of machinery; more particularly the manner of suspending a swing table 
 (upon which the working parts are mounted) out of the horizontal and perpendicular po- 
 sition ; the mode of moving the table with the parts of the mould towards the melting 
 pot; the manner of bringing the parts of the mould together, and keeping them closed 
 during the operation of casting the types. Several other mechanical schemes have been 
 proposed for founding types, but I have been informed by very competent judges, Messrs. 
 Clowes, that none of them can compete in practical utility with that dexterity and precision 
 of handiwork, which I have often seen practised in their great printing establishment in 
 Stamford street. 
 
 - 41| 
 
 Small Pica, - 
 
 - 83 
 
 Nonpareil, - 
 
 - 143 
 
 44| 
 
 Long Primer, 
 
 89 
 
 Agate, 
 
 166 
 
 - 51$ 
 
 Bourgeois, 
 
 - 102| 
 
 Pearl, - 
 
 - 178 
 
 64 
 
 Brevier, 
 
 112| 
 
 Diamond, - 
 
 205 
 
 - 71| 
 
 Minion, 
 
 - 128 
 
 
 
ULTRAMARINE. 877 
 
 U. 
 
 ULTRAMARINE (Outremer, Fr. ; Ultramarim, Germ.), is a beautiful blue pigment 
 »btaincd from the variegated blun mineral, called lazulite {lapis lazuli), by the follow, 
 mg process: — Grind the stone to fragments, rejecting all the colorless bits, calcine at a 
 red heat, quench in water, and then grind to an impalpable powder along with water, in 
 a puint-mill (see Paints, grinding op), or with a porphyry slab and muller. The paste, 
 being dried, is to be rubbed to powder, and passed through a silk sieve. 100 parts of it 
 are to be mixed with 40 of rosin, 20 of white wax, 25 of'linseed oil, and 15 of Burgundy 
 pilch, previously melted together. This resinous compound is to be poured hot into cold 
 water; kneaded well first with two spatulas, then with the hands, and then formed into 
 one or more small rolls. Some persons prescribe leaving these pieces in the water during 
 fifteen days, and then kneading them in it, whereby they give out the blue pigment, ap- 
 parently because the ultramarine matter adheres less strongly than the gavgue, or merely 
 silicious matter of the mineral, to the resinous paste. MM. Clement and Desormes, who 
 were the first to divine the true nature of this pigment, think that the soda contained in the 
 lazulite, uniting with the oil and the rosin, forms a species of soap, which serves to wash 
 out the coloring-matter. If it should not separate readily, water heated to about 150° F. 
 should be had recourse to. When the water is sufficiently charged with blue color, it 
 is poured off and replaced by fresh water; and the kneading and change of water are 
 repeated till the whole of the color is extracted. Others knead the mixed resinous mass 
 under a slender stream of water, which runs off with the color into a large earthen pan. 
 The first waters afford, by rest, a deposite of the finest ultramarine; the second, a 
 somewhat inferior article, and so on. Each must be washed afterwards with several 
 more waters, before they acquire the highest quality of tone; then dried separately, and 
 freed from any adhering particles of the pitchy compound by digestion in alcohol. The 
 remainder of the mass being melted with oil, and kneaded in water containing a little 
 soda or potash, yields an inferior pigment, called ultramarine ashes. The best ultrama- 
 rine is a splendid blue pigment, which wAks well with oil, and is not liable to change by 
 time. Its price in Italy was five guineas the ounce, a few years ago, but it is now greatly 
 reduced. 
 
 The blue color of lazulite had been always ascribed to iron, till MM. Clement and 
 Desormes, by a most careful analysis, showed it to consist of— silica, 34; alumina, 33; 
 sulphur, 3; soda, 22; and that the iron, carbonate of lime, &c, were accidental ingre- 
 dients, essential neither to the mineral, nor to the pigment made from it. By another 
 analyst, the constituents are said to be — silica, 44; alumina, 35 ; and soda, 21 ; and by a 
 third, potassa was found instead of soda, showing shades of difference in the composition 
 of the stone. 
 
 Till a few years ago, every attempt failed to make ultramarine artificially. At length, 
 in 1828, M. Guimet resolved the problem, guided by the analysis of MM. Clement and 
 Desormes, and by an observation of M. Tassaert, that a blue substance like ultramarine 
 was occasionally produced on the sandstone hearths of his reverberatory soda furnaces. 
 Of M. Guimet's finest pigment I received a bottle several years ago, from my friend M. 
 Merimee, Secretary of the Ecole de Beaux Arts, whieh has been found by artists little, if 
 any, inferior to the lazulite ultramarine. M. Guimet sells it at sixty francs per pound 
 French, — which is little more than two guineas the English pound. He has kept 
 his process secret. But M. Gmelin, of Tubingen, has published a prescription for 
 making it; which consists in enclosing carefully in a Hessian crucible a mixture of two 
 parts of sulphur, and one of dry carbonate of sodaj heating them gradually to redness till 
 the mass fuses, and then sprinkling into it by degrees another mixture, of silicate of soda, 
 and aluminate of soda; the first containing seventy-two parts of silica, and the second 
 seventy parts of alumina. The crucible must be exposed after this for an hour to the fire. 
 The ultramarine will be formed by this time; only it contains a little sulphur, which can 
 be separated by means of water. M. Persoz, professor of chemistry at Strasbourg, has 
 likewise succeeded in making an ultramarine, of perhaps still better quality than that of 
 M. Guimet. Lastly, M. Robiquet has announced, that it is easy to form ultramarine, 
 by heating to redness a proper mixture of kaolin (China clay), sulphur, and carbonate 
 of soda. It would therefore appear, from the preceding details, that ultramarine may 
 be regarded as a compound of silicate of alumina, silicate of soda, with sulphuret of 
 sodium; and that to the reaction of the last constituent upon the former two, it owes its 
 color. 
 
878 
 
 ULTRAMARINE. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF TJLTKAMAKINE BY WABKENTRAF 
 
 Lapis 
 
 Lazuli. 
 
 Artificial from 
 Meissen 
 
 EL 
 Blue. 
 
 sner. 
 
 Green. 
 
 Potash 
 
 
 1-75 
 
 
 
 Soda 
 
 9-09 
 
 21-47 
 
 40-0 
 
 25-5 
 
 Alumina 
 
 3107 
 
 23-30 
 
 29-5 
 
 30-0 
 
 Silica 
 
 42-50 
 
 4500 
 
 400 
 
 89-9 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 0-95 
 
 1-68 
 
 40 
 
 4-6 
 
 Lime 
 
 8-52 
 
 002 
 
 
 
 Iron 
 
 0-86 
 
 106 
 
 10 
 
 0-9 
 
 Chlorine 
 
 0-42 
 
 
 
 
 Sulphuric 
 
 Aeid 5-89 
 
 • 3-83 
 
 8-4 
 
 0-4 
 
 Water 
 
 0'12 
 
 
 
 
 ULTRAMARINE, ARTIFICIAL. Till within these last 16 or 18 years, the only 
 source of this beautiful pigment was the rare mineral lapis lazuli. The price of tha 
 finest ultramarine was then so high as five guineas the ounce. Since the mode of 
 matin" it artificially has been discovered, however, its price has fallen to a few shillings 
 per pound, and even to a little more than one shilling wholesale, for a fair article. Arti- 
 ficial ultramarine is now manufactured to a very considerable extent on the Continent, 
 and also in London. The chief French manufactories of ultramarine are situated in 
 Paris, and the two largest ones in Germany are those of Meissen in Saxony, and of 
 Nuremberg in Franconia. Three kinds of ultramarine occur in commerce, the blue, 
 the green, and the yellow. The first two only are true ultramarines; that is, Bulphur 
 compounds ; the yellow is merely ehromate of baryta. 
 
 Both native and artificial ultramarine have been examined very carefully by several 
 eminent chemists, who. however, have been unable to throw much light upon their true 
 nature. Chemists have undoubtedly ascertained that ultramarine always consists of silica, 
 alumina, soda, sulphur, and a little oxide of iron; but no two specimens, either of the 
 native or artificial ultramarine, contain these ingredients in at all similar proportions. 
 In fact the discrepancies between the analysis are so great, as to render it impossible to 
 deduce from them any formula for the constitution of ultramarine ; if indeed it does 
 possess any definite composition. The following are a few specimens of these analyses, 
 and others equally discordant might easily be added. 
 
 Soda _ 
 Alumina - 
 Silica 
 Sulphur 
 Carbonate of lime - 
 
 Soda and potash - 
 
 Lime ... 
 
 Alumina - - - 
 
 Silica ... 
 
 Sulphuric acid 
 
 Resin, sulphur, and loss - 
 
 Lapis Lazuli, by Clement and 
 Desormes. 
 
 - 23-2 
 
 - 24 8 
 
 - 35-8 
 
 - 3-1 
 
 - 3-1 
 
 Parisian artificial nltmmine, 
 by C. O. Gmelin. 
 
 - 12-863 . 
 
 - 1546 
 
 - 22-000 
 
 - 47-306 
 
 - 4-679 
 
 - 12-218 
 
 Dr. Eisner published a very elaborate paper upon ultramarine in the 23rd number 
 of ErdmanrCs Journal for 1841. The first part oi Dr. Eisner's paper is historical, and 
 contains an account of the accidental discovery of artificial ultramarine by Tassaert and 
 Kuhlman in 1814, and of the labors of subsequent chemists. He then gives a detailed 
 account of his own experiments, which have been very numerous, and from these he 
 deduces the following conclusions: 1st, that the presence of about 1 per cent of iron is 
 indispensable to the production of ultramarine ; he supposes the iron to be in a state 
 of sulphuret 2d, that the green ultramarine is first formed, and that as the heat is in- 
 creased, it passes by degrees into the blue. The cause of this change is. he affirms, that 
 part of the sodium absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere, as the operation is conducted 
 in only partially closed vessels, and combines with the silica, while the rest of the sodium 
 passes into a higher degree of sulphuration. Green ultramarine, therefore, contains 
 simple sulphurets, and blue, polysulphurets. 
 
 Dr. Eisner's paper does not, however, furnish any details by which ultramarine could 
 be manufactured successfully on the great scale. Thus, for example, in regard to th« 
 
VACUUM-MADE LIQUEURS. 879 
 
 necessary degree of hi \.t, perhaps the most important circumstances in the process, ha 
 gives no directions whatever. We know however, from other sources, that it should 
 be a low red heat, as at much higher temperatures both native and artificial ultrarrlk 
 rines soon become colorless. Dr. Eisner, indeed, does not affirm that he was able to 
 procure ultramarine in quantity of a uniformly good color. In fact, the pi'ocess of 
 Robiquet, published nearly ten years ago, is the best which scientific chemists possess, 
 though undoubtedly the manufacturers have greatly improved upon it. Robiquet's 
 process consists in heating to low redness a mixture of one part porcelain clay, one and 
 a half sulphur, and one and a half parts anhydrous carbonate of soda, either in an earth- 
 enware retort or covered crucible, so long as vapors are given off. When opened, the 
 crucible usually contains a spongy mass of deep blue color, containing more or less ul- 
 tramarine mixed with the excess of sulphur employed, and some unaltered clay and 
 soda. The soluble matter is removed by washing, and the ultramarine separated from 
 the other impurities by levigation. It is to be regretted, however, that the results of 
 Eobiquet's process are by no means uniform ; one time it yields a good deal of ultra- 
 marine of excellent quality, and perhaps, at the very next repetition of the process in 
 circumstances apparently similar, very little ultramarine is obtained, and that of an in- 
 ferior quality. 
 
 The fabrication of ultramarine is a subject which well deserves the attention of English 
 chemical manufacturers, as it could be carried on with peculiar advantage in this coun- 
 try. The chief expense of the process is the fuel required, which can be purchased 
 in Great Britain for less than half the money it would cost either in France or Ger- 
 many. 
 
 UMBER, is a massive mineral ; fracture large and flat; conchoidal in the great, very 
 fine earthy in the small ; dull ; color, liver, chestnut, — dark yellowish brown ; opaque ; 
 does not soil, but writes ; adheres strongly to the tongue, feels a little rough and meagre, 
 and is very soft; specific gravity 2'2. It occurs in beds with brown Jasper in the island 
 of Cyprus, and is used by painters sis a brown color, and to make varnish dry quickly. 
 
 URANIUM, is a rare metal, first discovered by Klaproth, in the black mineral called 
 pechblende, found in a mine near Johan-Georgen-Stadr, in Saxony, and which is a 
 sulphuret of uranium. A double phosphate of uranium and copper, called green 
 uvanile, and uran Thica, occurs in Cornwall. It has been reduced to the metallic state 
 by various devices, but it has hardly the appearance of metal to the naked eye, and 
 from the rarity of its ores is not likely to be of any importance in the arts, except to 
 color glass. 
 
 URAO, is the native name of a sesquicarbonate of soda found at the bottom of cer- 
 tain lakes in Mexico, especially to the north of Zacatecas, and in several other provinces; 
 also in South America at Colombia, 48 English miles from Merida. 
 
 UREA. The quantity of urea present in urine may be estimated with great facility 
 by treating the urine with a standard solution of the pernitrate of mercury. A copious 
 white precipitate, resembling the chloride of silver, with liberation of nitric acid, falls. 
 As this acid prevents the further action of the nitrate, it must be neutralized by water 
 of bary tes. A further quantity of the nitrate of mercury is to be now added, and so on, 
 by repeated additions of the test, and subsequent neutralization with barytes, till the 
 whole urea is precipitated. The addition of more of the nitrate of mercury produces a 
 yellow precipitate of binoxide of mercury. The quality of urea present in a given 
 sample of urine, may thus be readily deduced 4^om the quantity of a solution of nitrate 
 of mercury required for its precipitation. TI13 urine should be fresh. 
 
 V. 
 
 VACUUM-MADE LIQUEURS. Samples of brandy made of alcohol and fruits ot 
 various kinds by distillation in a vacuum. 
 
 In this manufacture about 200 lbs. of these fruits yield nearly 1 quarts of black cherry 
 brandy, having the flavor of prussic elher. 
 
 These brandies may serve as the basis of all compositions of fruit tafias, without pre- 
 judice to the delicacy of the flavor. The brandy has the taste and flavor of the fruit. 
 It is mild and destitute of the burning taste common to wine brandy. -Pure or mixed 
 with water it is an agreeable drink, and may from its variety, taste, and flavor, advan- 
 tageously replace other spirituous mixtures. 
 
BS0 VANILLA. 
 
 The liqueurs prepared from these various sorts of brandy are called marnsquin, on 
 account of their analogy to those of Venice and Trieste. They are manufactured from 
 the fruit of a variety of laurels (cherry bay), called in Italy mirasca. 
 
 The distillation in vacuo deprives the mixture of the coarse essential oil -which 
 remains after ordinary distillation, and which contains the resinous and heterogenecui 
 substances so disagreeable to the palate and injurious to *e stomach. The d.stdat.oL 
 in vacuo is carried on at from 40° to 50° of temperature, instead of 120° to 150° in tin 
 
 ^This'marasqum from the wUd or brandy cherry is a cephalic. The cherry.is tonic 
 and mild. The peach approximates to the cherry. The strawberry is_ diuretic and 
 beneficial in phthisical complaints and weak constitutions. The raspberry is cooling and 
 antiscorbutic ; mixed with water it is a sweet and agreeable beverage. The flavor ot 
 the black currant is very superior, and the operation of the vacuum, instead of weaken- 
 in& concentrates the properties of the fruit. An Exhibition puff. 
 
 VALONIA, is a kind of acorn, imported from the Levant and the Morea for tne use 
 of tanners, as the husk or cup contains abundance of tannin The quantity imported 
 for home consumption in 1836, was 80,511 cwts.; of which Turkey furnished 38,724, 
 Italy and the Italian islands, 7209. , , , 
 
 VANADIUM, is a metal discovered by Sefstrom, in 1830, in a Swedish iron, remaika- 
 ble for its ductility, extracted from the iron mine of Jaberg, not far from Jonkoping. 
 Its name is derived from Vanadis, a Scandinavian idol. This metal has been found in 
 the state of vanadic acid, in a lead ore from Zimapan, in Mexico. The finery cinders oi 
 »he Jaber» i ro n contain more vanadium than the metal itself. It exists in it as vanau:? 
 acid Fo°r the reduction of this acid to vanadium, see Berzelius's TraiU de Chimw, vol, 
 iv n 644. Vanadium is white, and when its surface is polished, it resembles silver oi 
 molybdenum more than any other metal. It combines with oxygen into two oxydes and 
 
 """The 'vanadate of ammonia, mixed with infusion of nutgalls, forms a black liquid, 
 which is the best writing-ink hitherto known. The quantity of the salt requisite is so 
 small as to be of no importance when the vanadium comes to be more extensively ex- 
 tracted The writing is perfectly black. The acids color it blue, but do not remove 
 it as tliey do tannate of iron: the alkalis, diluted so far as not to injure the paper, do not 
 dissolve it ; and chlorine, which destroys the black color, does not, however, make the 
 traces illegible, even when they are, subsequently washed with a stream of water. It is 
 perfectly fluent, and, being a chemical solution, stands in want of no viscid gum to sus- 
 pend the color, like common ink. The influence of time upon it remains to be 
 
 VANILLA, is the oblong narrow pod. of the Epidendron vanilla, Linn., of the natural 
 family Orchidece, which grows in Mexico, Colombia, Pern, and on the banks of the 
 Oronoco. • , 
 
 The best comes from the forests round the village of Zentila, in the intendancy of 
 
 The vanilla plant is cultivated in Brazil, in the West Indies, and some other tropical 
 countries, but does not produce fruit of such a delicious aroma as in Mexico. It clings 
 like a parasite to the trunks of old trees, and sucks the moisture which their bark de- 
 rives from the lichens, and other cryptogamia, but without drawing nourishment from 
 the tree itself, like the ivy and mistletse. The fruit is subcylindric, about 8 inches 
 long, one-celled, siliquose, and pulpy within. It should be gathered before it is fully 
 
 When about 12000 of these pods are collected, they are strung like a garland by their 
 lower end, as near as possible to the foot-stalk ; the whole are plunged for an instant 
 in boiling water to blanch them ; they are then hung up in the open air, and exposed 
 to the sun for a few hours. Next day they are lightly smeared with oil, by means of a 
 feather, or the fingers; and are surrounded with oiled cotton, to prevent the valves from 
 opening. As they become dry, on inverting their upper end, they discharge a viscid 
 liquid from it, and they are pressed at several times with oiled fingers to promote its 
 flow. The dried pod? lose their appearance, grow brown, wrinkled, soft, and shrink 
 into one fourth of their original size. In this state they are touched a second time 
 with oil, but very sparingly ; because, with too much oil, they would lose much of their 
 delicious perfume. They are then packed for the market, in small bundles of 50 or 
 100 in each, enclosed in lead foil, or tight metallic cases. As it comes to us, vanilla is 
 a capsular fruit, of the thickness of a swan's -quill, straight, cylindrical', but somewhat 
 flattened, truncated at the top, thinned off at the ends, glistening, wrinkled, furrowed 
 lengthwise, flexible, from 5 to 10 inches long, and of a reddish-brown color. It eon- 
 tains a pulpy parenchyma, soft, unctuous, very brown, in which are imbedded black, 
 brilliant, very small seeds. Its smell is ambrosiacal and aromatic ; its taste hot, and 
 
VARNISH. 881 
 
 rather sweetish. These properties seem to depend upon an essential oil, and also upot 
 benzoic acid, which forms efflorescences upon the surface of the fruit. The pulpy pari 
 possesses alone the aromatic quality ; the pericarpium has hardly any smell. 
 
 The kind most esteemed in France, is called leq vanilla j it is about 6 inches long, 
 from | to I of an inch broad, narrowed at the two ends, and curved at the base; 
 somewhat soft and viscid, of a dark-reddish color, and of a most delicious flavor, like 
 that of Balsam of Peru. It is called vanilla givrees, when it is covered with efflorescences 
 of benzoic acid, after having been kept in a dry place, and in vessels not hermetically 
 closed. 
 
 The second sort, called vanilla simarona, or bastard, is a little smaller than the pre- 
 ceding, of a less deep brown hue, drier, less aromatic, destitute of efflorescence. It is 
 said to be the produce of the wild plant, and is brought from St. Domingo. 
 
 A third sort, which comes from Brazil, is the vanillon, or large vanilla of the French 
 market ; the vanilla <pamprona or bova of the Spaniards. Its length is from 5 to 6 inches ; 
 its breadth from one half to three quarters of an inch. It is brown, soft, viscid, almost 
 always open, of a strong smell, but less agreeable than ttie'leq. It is sometimes a little 
 spoiled by an incipient fermentation. It is cured with sugar, and enclosed in tin-plate 
 boxes, which contain from 20 to 60 pods. 
 
 Vanilla, as an aromatic, is much sought after by makers of chocolate, ices, and creams j 
 by confectioners, perfumers, and liquorists, or distillers. It is difficultly reduced to fine 
 particles ; but it may be sufficiently attenuated by cutting it into small bits, and grinding 
 these along with sugar. The odorous principle can, for some purposes, be extracted by 
 alcohol. Their analysis by Bucholz is unsatisfactory, and refers obviously to the coarsest 
 sort. Berzelius says that the efflorescences are not acid. 
 
 VAPOR (Vttpeur, Fr. ; Damp/, Germ.), is the state of elastic or aeriform fluidity 
 into which any substance, naturally solid or liquid at ordinary temperatures, may be 
 converted by the agency of heat. See Evaporation. 
 
 VARNISH (Virnis, Fr. ; Firniss, Germ.), is a solution of resinous matter, which is 
 spread over the surface of any body, in order to give it a shining, transparent, and hard 
 coat, capable of resisting, in a greater or less degree, the influences of air and moisture. 
 Such a coat consists of the resinous parts of the solution, which remain in a thin layer 
 upon the surface, after the liquid solvent has either evaporated away, or has dried up. 
 When large quantities of spirit varnish are to be made, a common still, mounted with its 
 capital and worm, is the vessel employed for containing the materials, arid it is placed in a 
 steam or water bath. The capital should be provided with a stuffing-box, through which 
 a stirring-rod may pass down to the bottom of the still, with a cross-piece at its lower 
 end, and a handle or winch at its top. After heating the bath till the alcohol boils and 
 begins to distil, the heat ought to be lowered, that the iolutson may continue to proceed 
 in an equable manner, with as little evaporation of spirit as possible. The operation may 
 be supposed to be complete when the rod can be easily turned round. The varnish must 
 be passed through a silk sieve of proper fineness ; then filtered through porous paper, or 
 allowed to dsar leisurely in stone jars. The alcohol which has come over should be 
 added to the varnish, if the just proportion of the resins have been introduced at first. 
 The following are reckoned good French redpes for varnishes : — 
 
 While spirit varnish. — Sandarach, 250 parts; mastic in tears, 61; elemi resin, 32; 
 turpentine (Venice), 64 ; alcohol, of 85 per cent., 1000 parts by measure. 
 
 The turpentine is to be added after the resins are dissolved. This is a brilliant 
 varnish, but not so hard as to bear polishing. 
 
 Varnish for the wood toys tf Spa. Tender copal, 75 parts ; mastic, 12-5 ; Venice 
 turpentine, 6-5 ; alcohol, of 95 per cent., 100 parts by measure ; water ounces, for ex- 
 ample, if the other parts be taken in ounces. ' 
 
 The alcohol must be first made to act upon the copal, with the aid of a little oil of 
 lavender or camphor, if thought fit ; and the solution being passed through a linen cloth, 
 the mastic must be introduced. After it is dissolved, the Venice turpentine, previously 
 melted in a water-bath, should be added ; the lower the temperature at which these 
 operations are carried on, the more beautiful will the varnish be. This varnish ought 
 to be very white, very drying, and capable of being smoothed with pumice-stone and 
 polished. 
 
 Varnish for certain parts of carriages. — Sandarach, 190 parts; pale shellac, 95; rosin, 
 125 ; turpentine, 190 ; alcohol, at 85 per cent., 1000 parts by measure. 
 
 Varnish for cabinet-makers. — Pale shellac, 750 parts ; mastic, 64 ; alcohol, of 90 per 
 cent., 1000 parts by measure. The solution is made in the cold, with the aid of frequent 
 gtirring. It is always muddy, and is employed without being filtered. 
 
 With the same resins and proof spirit a varnish is made for the bookbinders to do ovei 
 their morocco leather. 
 
 The varnish of Watin,for gilded articles.— Gum lac, in grain, 125 parts; gamboge, 
 125; dragon's blood, 125; annotto, 125; saffron, 32. Each resin must be dissolve* in 
 
882 VARNISH. 
 
 1000 parts by measure, of alcohol of 90 per cent. ; two separate tinctures must be 
 made with the dragon's blood and annolto, in 1000 - parts of such alcohol; and a propel 
 proportion of each should be added to the varnish, according to the shade of golden colot 
 wanted. 
 
 For fixing engravings or lithographs upon wood, a varnish called mordant is used is 
 France, which differs from others chiefly in containing more Venice turpentine, to mak« 
 it sticky j it consists of— sandarach, 250 parts; mastic in tears, 64; rosin, 125; Venicf 
 turpentine, 250 ; alcohol, 1000 parts by measure. 
 
 Copal varnish. — Hard copal, 300 parts; drying linseed or nut oil, from 125 to 250 
 parts; oil of turpentine, 500; these three substances are to be put. into three separate 
 vessels; the copal is to be fused by a somewhat sudden application of heat; the drying 
 oil is to be heated to a temperature a little under ebullition, and is to be added by small 
 portions at a lime to the melted copal. When this combination is made, and the heat a 
 little abated, the essence of turpentine, likewise previously heated, is" to be introduced by 
 degrees ; some of the volatile oil will be dissipated at first ; but more being added, the 
 union will take place. Great care must be taken to prevent the turpentine vapor from 
 catching tire, which miaht occasion serious accidents to the operator. When the varnish 
 is made, and has cooled down to about the 130th degree of Fahr., it may be strained 
 through a filter, to separate the impurities and undissolved copal. 
 
 Almost all varnish-makers think it indispensable to combine the drying oil with the 
 copal, before adding the oil of turpentine ; but in this they are mistaken. Boiling oil of 
 turpentine i umbines very readily with fused copal ; and, in some cases, it would probably 
 be preferable to commence the operation with it, adding it in successive small quantities. 
 Indeed, the whitest copal varnish can be made only in this way ; for if the drying oil have 
 been heated to nearly its boiling point, it becomes colored, and darkens trie varnish. 
 
 This varnish improves in clearness by keeping. Its consistence may be varied by 
 varying the proportions of the ingredients, within moderate limits. Good varnish, ap- 
 plied in summer, should become so dry in 24 hours that the dust will not slick to it, nor 
 receive an impression from the fingers. To render it sufficiently dry and hard for polish- 
 ing, it must be subjected for several days to the heat of a stove. 
 
 Milk of wax is a valuable varnish, which may be prepared as follows: — Melt in a 
 porcelain capsule a certain quantity of white wax, and add to it, while in fusion, an equal 
 quantity of spirit of wine, of sp. grav. 0-830 ; stir the mixture, and pour it upon a large 
 porphyry slab. -The granular mass is to be converted into a paste by the rnuller, with 
 the addition, from time to time, of a little alcohol ; and as soon as it appears to be smooth 
 and homogeneous, water is to be introduced in small quantities successively, to the amount 
 of four times the weight of'the wax. This emulsion is to be then passed through canvass, 
 in order to separate such particles as may be imperfectly incorporated. 
 
 The milk of wax, thus prepared, may be spread with a smooth brush upon the surface 
 of a painting, allowed to dry, and then fused by passing a hot iron (salamander) over 
 its surface. When cold, it is to be rubbed with a linen cloth to bring out the lustre. It 
 is to the unchangeable quality of an encaustic of this nature, that the ancient paint- 
 ings upon the walls of Herculaneum and Pompeii owe their freshness at the present 
 day. 
 
 The most recent practical account of the manufacture of varnishes, is that communi- 
 cated by Mr. J. Wilson Neil to the Society of Arts, and published in the 49th volume of 
 their " Transactions." 
 
 The building or shed wherein varnish is made, ought to be quite detached from any 
 buildings whatever, to avoid accidents by fire. For general purposes, a building about 
 18 feet by 16 is sufficiently large for manufacturing 4000 gallons and upwards annually, 
 provided there are other convenient buildings for the purpose of holding the utensils, and 
 warehousing the necessary stock. 
 
 Procure a copper pan, made like a common washing-copper, which will contain from 
 fifty to eighty gallons, as occasion may require; when wanted, set it upon the boiling 
 furnace, and fill it up with linseed oil within five inches of the brim. Kindle a fire in 
 the furnace underneath, and manage the fire so that the oil shall gradually, but slowly, 
 increase in heat for the first two hours ; then increase the heat to a gentle simmer ; and if 
 there is any scum on the surface, skim it off with a copper ladle, and put the skimming 
 away. Let the oil boil gently for three hours longer ; then introduce, by a little at a lime, 
 one quarter of an ounce of the best calcined magnesia for every gallon of oil, occasionally 
 stirring the oil from the bottom. When the magnesia is all in, Jet the oil boil rather 
 smartly for one hour ; it will then be sufficient. Lay a cover over the oil, to keep oat 
 the dust while the fire is withdrawn and extinguished by water; next uncover the oil, ami 
 leave it till next morning; and then, while His yet hot, ladle it into the carrving-jack, 
 or let it out through the pipe and cock ; carry it away, and deposite it in either a tin 
 or leaden cistern, for wooden vessels will not hold it ; let it remain to settle for at least 
 Juee months. The magnesia will absorb all the acid and mucilage from the oil, and 
 
VA11NISH. 883 
 
 Jail to the bottom of the cistern, leaving the oil clear and transparent^ and fit for use. 
 Recollect, when the oil is taken out, not to disturb the bottoms, which are only fit fot 
 black paint. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING VARNISHES.. 
 
 Set on the boiling-pot with 8 gallons of oil; kindle the fire; then lay the fire in the 
 gum-furnace; have as many 81b. bags of gum-copal all ready weighed up, as will be 
 wanted ; put one 81b. into the pot, put fire to the furnace, set on the gum-pot ; in three 
 minutes (if the fire is brisk) the gum will begin to fuse and give out its gas, steam, and 
 acid; stir and divide the gum, and attend to the rising of it, as before directed. 
 Eight pounds of copal take in general from sixteen to twenty minutes in fusing, from the 
 beginning till it gets clear like oil, but the time depends very much on the heat of the 
 fire, and the attention of the operator. During the first twelve minutes, while the gum 
 is fusing, the assistant must look to the oil, and bring it to a smart simmer ; for it ought 
 to be neither too hot, nor yet too cold, but in appearance beginning to boil, which he 
 is strictly to observe, and, when ready, to call out, " Bear a hand ]" Then immediately 
 both lay hold of a handle of the boiling-pot, lift it right up, so as to clear the plate, 
 carry it out and place it on the ash-bed, the maker instantly returning to the gum-pot, 
 while the assistant puts three copper ladlefuls of oil into the copper pouring-jack, 
 bringing it in and placing it on the iron plate at the back of the gum-pot to keep hot 
 until wanted. When the maker finds the gum is nearly all completely fused, and that 
 it will in a few minutes be ready for the oil, let him call out, " Ready oil !" The assist- 
 ant is then to lift up the oil-jack with both hands ; one under the bottom and the other 
 on the handle, laying the spout over the edge of the pot, and wait until the maker calls 
 out, " Oil !" The assistant is then to pour in the oil as before directed, and the boiling 
 to be continued until the oil and gum become concentrated, and the mixture looks 
 clear on the glass; the gum pot is now to be set upon the brick-stand until the 
 assistant puts three more ladlefuls of hot oil into the pouring-jack, and three more into 
 a spare tin for the tnird run of gum. There will remain in the boiling-pot still 3J 
 gallons of oil. Let the maker put his right hand down the handle of the gum-pot near 
 to the side, with his left hand near the end of the handle, and with a firm grip lift the 
 gum-pot, and deliberately lay the edge of the gum-pot over the edge of the boiling-pot 
 until all its contents run into the boiling-pot. Let the gum-pot be held, with its 
 bottom turned upwards, for a minute right over the boiling-pot. Observe, that when- 
 ever the maker is beginning to pour, the assistant stands ready with a thick piece of 
 old carpet, without holes, and sufficiently large to cover the mouth of the boiling-pot 
 should it catch fire during the pouring, which will sometimes happen if the gum-pot is 
 very hot ; should the gum-pot fire, it has only to be kept botlom upwards, and it will 
 go out of itself; but if the boiling-pot should catch fire, during the pouring, let the 
 assistant throw the piece of carpet quickly over the blazing pot, holding it down all 
 round the edges ; in a few minutes it will be smothered. The moment the maker has 
 emptied the gum-pot, he throws into it half a gallon of turpentine, and with the swish 
 immediately washes it from top to bottom, and instantly empties it into the flat tin jack : 
 he wipes the pot dry, and puts in 8 pounds more gum, and sets it upon the furnace ; pro- 
 ceeding with this run exactly as with the last, and afterwards with the third run. 
 There will then be 8 gallons of oil and 24 pounds of gum in the boiling-pot, under which 
 Veep up a brisk strong fire until a scum or froth rises and covers all the surface of the 
 contents, when it will begin to rise rapidly. Observe, when it rises near the rivets of 
 the handles, carry it from the fire, and set it on the ash-bed, stir it down again, and 
 scatter in the driers by a little at a time ; keep stirring, and il the frothy head goes 
 down, put it upon the .furnace, and introduce gradually the remainder of the diiers, 
 always carrying out the pot when the froth rises near the rivets. In general, if the fire 
 be good, all the time a pot requires to boil, from the time of the last gum being poured 
 in, is about three and a half or four hours ; but time is no criterion for a beginner to 
 ;udge by, as it may vary according to the weather, the quality of the oil, the quality of 
 the gum, the driers, or the heat of the fire, &c. ; therefore, about the third hour of 
 boiling, try it on a bit of glass, and keep it boiling until it feels strong and stringy be- 
 tween the fingers; it is then boiled sufficiently to carry it on the ash-bed, and to be stirred 
 down until it is cold enough to mix, which will depend much on the weather, vary- 
 in" from half an hour, in dry frosty weather, to one hour in warm summer weather. 
 Previous to beginning to mix, have a sufficient quantity of turpentine ready, fill the 
 pot, and pour in, stirring all the time at-the top or surface, as before directed, until 
 there are fifteen gallons, or five tins of oil of turpentine introduced, which will leave il 
 quite thick enough if the gum is good, and has been well run ; but if the gum was of 
 a weak quality, and has not been well fused, there ought to be no more than twelve 
 gallons of turpentine mixed, and even that may be too much. Therefore, when twelve 
 falljns of turpentine have been introduced, have a flat saucer at hand, «d pour into il 
 
884 VARNISH. 
 
 a portion of the varnish, and in two or three minutes it will shew whether it is too 
 thick ; if not sufficiently thin, add a little more turpentine, and strain it oft' quickly. 
 As soon as the whole is stored away, pour in the turpentine washings, with which the 
 gum-pots have been washed, into the boiling-pot, and with the swish quickly wash 
 down all the varnish from the pot sides ; afterwards, with a large piece of woollen rag 
 dipped in pumice-powder, wash and polish every part of the inside of the boiling-pot, 
 performing the same operation on the ladle and stirrers ; rinse them with the turpen. 
 tine washings, and at last rinse them altogether in clean turpentine, which also put tc 
 the washings ; wipe dry with a clean soft rag the pot, ladle, stirrer, and funnels, and 
 lay the sieve so as to be completely covered with turpentine, which will always keep it 
 from gumming up. The foregoing directions concerning running the gum, and pouring 
 in the oil, and also boiling off and mixing, are, with very little difference, to be observed 
 in the making of all sorts- of copal varnishes, except the differences of the quantities of 
 oil, gum, &c, which will be found under the various descriptions by name, which will be 
 hereafter described. 
 
 The choice of linseed oil is of peculiar consequence to the varnish-maker. Oil from 
 fine full-grown ripe seed, when viewed in a vial, will appear limpid, pale, and brilliant; 
 it is mellow and sweet to the taste, has very little smell, is specifically lighter than im- 
 pure oil, and, when clarified, dries quickly and firmly, and does not materially change the 
 color of the varnish when made, but appears limpid and brilliant. 
 
 Copal varnishes for fine paintings, #c. — Fuse 8 pounds of the very cleanest pale African 
 gum copal, and, when completely run fluid, pour in two gallons of hot oil, old measure ; 
 let it boil until it will string very strong ; and in about fifteen minutes, or while it is 
 yet very hot, pour in three gallons of turpentine, old measure, and got from the top of 
 a cistern. Perhaps, during the mixing, a considerable quantity of the turpentine will 
 escape ; but the varnish will be so much the brighter, transparent, and fluid ; and will work 
 freer, dry more quickly, and be Very solid and durable when dry. After the varnish has 
 been strained, if it is found too thick, before it is quite cold, heat as much turpentine, and 
 mix with it, as will bring it to a proper consistence. 
 
 Cabinet varnish. — Fuse 7 poundsof very fine African gum copal, and pour in half a 
 gallon of pale clarified oil ; in three or four minutes after, if it feel stringy, take it out 
 of doors, or into another building where there is no fire, and mix with it three gallons 
 of turpentine ; afterwards strain it, and put it aside for use. This, if properly boiled, 
 will dry in ten minutes ; but if too strongly boiled, will not mix at all with the turpen- 
 tine ; and sometimes, when boiled with the turpentine, Will mix, and yet refuse to incor- 
 porate with any other varnish less boiled than itself: therefore it requires a nicety which 
 is only to he learned from practice. This varnish is chiefly intended for the use of ja- 
 panners, cabinet-painters, coach-painters, &c. 
 
 Best body copal varnish for coach-makers, SfC. — This is intended for the body parts of 
 coaches and other similar vehicles, intended for polishing. 
 
 Fuse 8 lbs. of fine African gum copal ; add two gallons of clarified oil (old measure) ; 
 boil it very slowly for four or five hours, until quite stringy ; mix with three gallons and 
 a half of turpentine ; strain off, and pour it into a cistern. As they are too slow in dry- 
 ing, coach-makers, painters, and varnish-makers, have introduced to two pots of the ore- 
 ceding varnish, one made as follows : — 
 
 8 lbs. of fine pale gum anime; I 3 J gallons of turpentine. 
 
 2 gallons of clarified oil ; [ To he boiled four hours. 
 
 Quick drying body copal varnish, for coaches, fyc. 
 
 (1.) 8 lbs. of the best African copal ; 
 2 gallons of clarified oil ; 
 \ lb. of dried sugar of lead ; 
 3 1 gallons of turpentine. 
 Boiled till stringy, and mixed and 
 strained. 
 
 To be mixed and strained while hot into the other pot. These two pots mixed togetnei 
 will dry in six hours in winter, and in four in summer ; it is very useful for varnishing 
 old work on dark colors, &c. 
 
 (2.) 8 lbs. of fine gum anime j 
 2 gallons of clarified oil ; 
 } lb. of white copperas ; 
 3§ gallons of turpentine. 
 Boiled as before. 
 
 (1.) 8 lbs. 2d sorted African copal; 
 2J gallons of clarified oil. 
 Boiled till very stringy. 
 J lb. of dried copperas ; 
 | lb. of litharge; 
 5| gallons of turpentine. 
 Strained &c. 
 
 Best pale carriage varnish. 
 
 (2.) 8 lbs. of 2d sorted gum anime; 
 2J gallons of clarified oil ; 
 J lb. of dried sugar of lead ; 
 j lb. of litharge ; 
 5| gallons of turpentine. 
 Mix this to the first while hob 
 
VARNISH. 
 
 885 
 
 This varnish will dry hard, if well boiled, in four hours in summer, and in six in win- 
 ter. _ As the name denotes, it is intended for the varnishing of the wheels, springs, and 
 carriage parts of coaches, ahaises, &c. ; also, it is that description of varnish which is 
 generally sold to and used by house-painters, decorators, &c. ; as from its drying quality 
 and strong gloss, it suits their general purposes well. 
 
 8 lbs. of 2d sorted gum anime ; 
 2£ gallons of fine clarified oil ; 
 5{ gallons of turpentine ; 
 J*lb. of litharge; 
 
 8 lbs. of 2d sorted gum anime ; 
 3 gallons of clarified oil ; 
 | lb. of litharge ; 
 £ lb. of dried sugar of lead ; 
 
 Second carriage varnish. 
 
 J lb. of dried sugar of lead; 
 J lb. of dried copperas. 
 Boiled and mixed as before. 
 
 Wainscot varnish. 
 
 5i gallons of turpentine. 
 To be well boiled until it strings 
 very strong, and then mixed and 
 strained. 
 
 Mahogany varnish is made either with the same proportions, with a little darker gum ; 
 otherwise it is wainscot varnish, with a small portion of gold size. 
 
 Black japan is made by putting into the set-pot 48 pounds of Naples, or any other of 
 the foreign asphaltums, (except the Egyptian.) As soon as it is melted, pour in 10 gal- 
 Ions of raw linseed oil; keep a moderate fire, and fuse 8 pounds of dark gum anime in 
 the gum-pot; mix it with 2 gallons of hot oil, and pour it into the set^pot. Afterwards 
 fuse 10 pounds of dark or sea amber in the 10 gallon iron pot; keep stirring it while 
 fusing; and whenever it appears to be overheated, and rising too high in' the pot, lift it 
 from the fire for a few minutes. When it appears completely fused, mix in 2, gallons of 
 hot oil, and pour the mixture into the set-pot; continue the boiling for 3 hours longer, 
 and during that time introduce the same quantity of driers as before directed ; draw out 
 the fire, and let it remain until morning ; then boil it until it rolls hard, as before directed ; 
 leave it to cool, and afterwards mix with turpentine. 
 
 Pale amber varnish. — Fuse 6 pounds of fine picked very pale transparent amber in 
 the gum-pot, and pour in 2 gallons of hot clarified oil. Boil it until it strings very strong. 
 Mix witli 4 gallons of turpentine. This will be as fine as body copal, will work very 
 free, and flow well upon any work it is applied to ; it becomes very hard, and is the most 
 durable of all varnishes ; it is very excellent to mix in copal varnishes, to give them a 
 hard and durable quality. Observe; amber varnish will always require a long time be- 
 fore it is ready for polishing. 
 
 Best Brunswick black. — In an iron pot, over a slow fire, boil 45 pounds of foreign 
 asphaltum for at least 6 hours ; and during the same time boil in another iron pot 6 gal- 
 lons of oil which has been previously boiled. During the boiling of ihe 6 gallons, intro- 
 duce 6 pounds of litharge gradually, and boil until it feels stringy between the fingers ; 
 then ladle or pour it into the pot containing the boiling asphallum. Let the mixture boil 
 until, upon trial, it will roll into hard pills ; then let it cool, and mix it with 25 gallons of 
 turpentine, or until it is of a proper consistence. 
 
 Iron-work black. — Put 48 pounds of foreign asphaltum into an iron pot, and boil for • 
 4 hours. During the first 2 hours, introduce 7 pounds of red lead, 7 pounds of litharge, 
 3 pounds of dried copperas, and 10 gallons of boiled oil; add 1 eight-pound run of dark 
 gum, with 2 gallons of hot oil. After pouring the oil and gum, continue the boiling two 
 hours, or until it will roll into hard pills like japan. When cool, thin it oft' with thirty 
 gallons of turpentine, or until it is of a proper consistence. This varnish is intended for 
 blacking the iron-work of coaches and other canrages, &c. 
 
 A cheap Brunswick black. — Put 28 pounds of common black pitch, and 28 pounds of 
 common asphaltum made from gas tar, into an iron pot; boil both for 8 or 10 hours, 
 which will evaporate the gas and moisture ; let it stand all night, and early next morn- 
 ing, as soon as it boils, put in 8 gallons of boiled oil; then introduce, gradually, 10 
 pounds of red lead, and 10 pounds of litharge, and boil for 3 hours, or until it will roll 
 very hard. When ready for mixing, introduce 20 gallons of turpentine, or more, unlil 
 of a proper consistence. This is intended for engineers, founders, ironmongers, &c. ; it 
 will dry in half an hour, or less, if properly boiled. 
 
 Axioms observed in ihe making of copal va-nishes. — The more minutely the gum is 
 run, or fused, the greater the quantity, and the stronger the produce. The more 
 regular and longer the boiling of the oil and gum together is continued, the more fluid 
 or free the varnish will extend on whatever it is applied to. When the mixture of oil and 
 gum is too suddenly brought to string by too strong a heat, the varnish requires more 
 than its just proportion of turpentine to thin it, whereby its oily and gummy quality is 
 reduced, which renders it less durable ; neither will it' flow so well in laying on. The 
 greater proportion of oil there is used in varnishes, the less they are liable to crack, 
 because the tougher and softer they are. By increasing the proportion of gum in varnishes, 
 
 L 
 
886 VARNISH. 
 
 the thicker will be the stratum, the firmer they will set solid, and the quicker they wil 
 dry. When varnishes are quite new made, and must be sent out for use before they are 
 of sufficient age, they must always be left thicker than if they were to be kept the proper 
 time. Varnish made from African copal alone possesses the most elasticity and transpa- 
 rency. Too much driers in varnish render it opaque and unfit for delicate colors. Cop- 
 peras does not combine with varnish, but only hardens it. Sugar of lead does combine 
 with varnish. Turpentine improves by age; and varnish by being kept in a warm place 
 All copal or oil varnishes require age before they are used. 
 
 Concluding observations. — All body varnishes are intended and ought to have 1| lb3. cf 
 gum to each gallon of varnish, when the varnish is strained off, and cold; but as the thin- 
 ning up, or quantity of turpentine required to bring it to its proper consistence, depends 
 very much upon the degree of boiling the varnish has undergone, therefore, when the gum 
 and oil have not been strongly boiled, it requires less turpentine for that purpose ; whereas, 
 when the gum and oil are very strongly boiled together, a pot of 20 gallons will require 
 perhaps 3 gallons above the regular proportionate quantity; and if mixing the turpentine 
 5s commenced too soon, and the pot not sufficiently cool, there will be frequently above a 
 gallon and a half of turpentine lost by evaporation. 
 
 All carriage, wainscot, and mahogany varnish ought to have fully one pound of gum for 
 each gallon, when strained and cold ; and should one pot require more than its proportion 
 of turpentine, the following pot can easily be left not quite so strongly boiled ; then it 
 will require less turpentine to thin it up. 
 
 Gold sizes, whether, pale or dark, ought to have fully half a pound of good gum copal to 
 each gallon, when it is finished ; and the best black japan, to have half a pound of good 
 gum, o.i jtpwards, besides the quantity of asphaltum. 
 
 Fine ntastic, or picture varnish. — Put 5 pounds of fine picked gum mastic into a new 
 four-gallon tin bottle; get ready 2 pounds of glass, bruised as small as barley; wash it 
 several times; afterwards dry it perfectly, and put it into the bottle with 2 gallons of tur- 
 pentine that has settled some time ; put a piece of soft leather under the bung ; lay the 
 tin on a sack upon the counter, table, or any thing that stands solid ; begin to agitate the 
 tin, smartly lolling it backward and forward, causing the gum, glass, and turpentine, to 
 work as if in a barrel churn for at least 4 hours, when the varnish may be emptied out into 
 any thing sufficiently clean, and large enough to hold it. If the gum is not all dissolved, 
 return the whole into the bottle, and agitate as before, until all the gum is dissolved ; 
 then strain it through fine thin muslin into a clean tin bottle: leave it uncorked, so that 
 the air can get in, but no dust ; let it stand for 9 months, at least, before it is used ; for 
 the longer it is kept, the tougher it will be, and less liable to chill or bloom. To prevent 
 mastic varnish from chilling, boil one quart of river sand with two ounces of pearl-ashes ; 
 afterwards wash the sand three'or four times with hot water, straining it each time; put 
 the sand on a soup-plate to dry, in an oven ; and w,hen it is of a good heat, pour half a 
 pint, of hot sand into each gallon of varnish, and shake it well for five minutes ; it will 
 soon settle, and carry down the moisture of the gum and turpentine, which is the general 
 cause of mastic varnish chilling on paintings. 
 
 Common mastic varnish. — Put as much gum mastic, unpicked, into the gum-pot as may 
 be required, and to every 2f pounds of gum pour in 1 gallon of cold turpentine ; set the 
 pot over a very moderate fire, and stir it with the stirrer;, be careful, when the steam of 
 the turpentine rises near the mouth of the pot, to cover it with the carpet, and carry it 
 out of doors, as the vapor is very apt to catch fire. A few minutes' low heat will perfectly 
 dissolve 8 pounds of gum, which will, with 4 gallons of turpentine, produce, when strain- 
 ed, 4£ gallons of varnish ; to which add, while yet hot, 5 pints of pale turpentine varnish, 
 which improves the body and hardness of the mastic varnish. 
 
 Crystal varnish, may be made either in the varnish-house, drawing-room, or parlor. 
 Procure a bottle of Canada balsam, which can be had at any druggist's ; draw out the 
 cork, and set the bottle of balsam at a little distance from the fire, turning it round several 
 times, until the heal has thinned it : then have something that will hold as much-as double 
 the quantity of balsam ; carry the balsam from the fire, and, while fluid, mix it with the 
 same quantity of good turpentine, and shake them together until they are well incorpora- 
 ted; in a few days the varnish is fit for use, particularly if it is poured into a half-gallon 
 glass or stone bottle, and kept in a gentle warmth. This varnish is used for maps, prints, 
 charts, drawings, paper ornaments, &c. ; and when made upon a larger scale, requires 
 only warming the balsam to mix with the turpentine. 
 
 White hard spirit-of-wine varnish. — Put 5 pounds of gum sandaraeh into a four-gallon 
 tin bottle,'with 2 gallons of spirits of wine, 60 over proof, and agitate it until dissolved, 
 exactly as directed for the best mastic varnish, recollecting, if washed glass is used, that 
 it is convenient, to dip the bottle containing the gum and spirits into a copperful of hot 
 water every 10 minutes — the bottle to be immersed only 2 minutes at a time — which will 
 greatly assist the dissolving of the gum ; but, above all, be careful to keep a firm hold 
 •vcr the cork of the bo«.le, otherwise the rarefaction will drive the cork out with th« 
 
VARNISH. 
 
 887 
 
 foice of a shot, and perhaps set fire to the place. The bottle, every time it is heated, 
 ought to be carried away from the fire; the cork should be eased a liltle, to allow the 
 rarefied air to escape ; then driven tight, and the agitation continued in this manner 
 until all the gum is properly dissolved; which is easily known by having an empty tin 
 can to pour the varnish into, until near the last, which is to be poured into a gallon mea- 
 sure. If the gum is not all dissolved, leturn the whole into the four-gallon tin, and con- 
 tinue the agitation until it is ready to be strained, when every thing ought to be quite 
 ready, and perfectly clean and dry, as oily tins, funnels, strainers, or any thing damp, or 
 even cold weather, will chill and spoil the varnish. After it is strained off, put into the 
 varnish onu quart of very pale turpentine varnish, and shake and mix the two well 
 together. Spirit varnishes should be kept well corked; they are fit to use the day after 
 being made. 
 
 Brwm hard spirit varnish, is made by putting into a bottle 3 pounds of gum sandarach, 
 with 2 pounds of shellac, and 2 gallons o? spirits of wine, 60 over proof; proceeding 
 exactly as before directed for the white hard varnish, and agitating it when cold, which - 
 requires about 4 hours' time, without any danger of fire; whereas, making anv spirit 
 varnish by heat is always attended with danger. No spirit varnish ought to be made 
 either near a fire or by candle light. When this brown hard is strained, add one quart of 
 turpentine varnish, and shake and mix it well : next day it is fit for use. 
 
 The Chinese varnish, comes from a tree which grows in Cochin-China, China, and 
 Siam. It forms the best of all varnishes. 
 
 Gold lacker. — Put into a clean four-gallon tin, 1 pound of ground turmeric, li ounces 
 of powdered gamboge, 3| pounds of powdered gum sandarach, £ of a pound of shellac, and 
 2 gallons of spirits of wine. After being agitated, dissolved, and strained, add 1 pint of 
 turpentine varnish, well mixed. 
 
 Red spirit lacker. 
 
 2 gallons of spirits of wine; 
 
 1 pound of dragoi's blood; 
 
 3 pounds of Spr..iish annotto; 
 3| pounds of gum S5ndarach; 
 
 2 pints of turpentine. 
 
 Made exactly as the yellow gold lacker. 
 
 Pale brass lacker. 
 
 2 gallons of spirits of wine ; 
 
 3 ounces of Cape aloes, cut small; 
 1 pound of fine pale shellac; 
 
 1 ounce gamboge, cut small. 
 No turpentine varnish. Made exactly as 
 before. 
 
 B it observe, that those who make lackers, frequently want some paler, and some darker, 
 and sometimes inclining more to the particular tint of certain of the component ingredi- 
 ents. Therefore, if a 1 four-ounce vial of a strong solution of each ingredient be .prepared, 
 a lacker of any tint can be produced at any time. 
 
 Preparation of linseed oil for making vanishes. — Put 25 gallons of linseed oil into an 
 iron or copper pot that will hold at least 30 gallons; put a fire' under, and gradually in- 
 crease the heat, so that the oil may only simmer, for 2 hours ; during that time the great- 
 est part of its moisture evaporates; if any scum arises on the surface, skim it off, and 
 put that aside for inferior purposes. Then increase the fire gradually, and sprinkle in, 
 by a little at a time, 3 lbs. of scale litharge, 3 lbs. of good red lead, and 2 lbs. of Turkey 
 umber, all well dried and free from moisture. If any moist driers are added, they will 
 cause the oil to tumefy ; and, at the same time, darken it, causing it to look opaque and 
 thick, ropy and clammy, and hindering it from drying and hardening in proper time ; be- 
 sides, it will lie on the working painting like a piece of bladder skin, and be very apt to 
 rise in blisters. As soon as all the driers are added to the oil, keep quietly stirring the 
 driers from the bottom of the pot ; otherwise they will burn, which will cause the oil to 
 blacken and thicken before it is boiled enough. Let the fire be so regulated that the oil 
 shall only boil slowly for three hours.from the time all the driers were added; if it then 
 ceases to throw up any scum, and emits little or no smoke, it is necessary to test its tem- 
 perature by a few quill tops or feathers. Dip a quill top in the oil every two minutes, 
 for when the oil is boiled enough, the quill top will crackle or cud up quite burnt ; if so, 
 draw out the fire immediately, and let the oil remain in the pot. at least from 10 Co 24 
 hours, or longer if convenient, for the driers settle much sooner when the oil is ltft to 
 cool in the pot, than when it is immediately taken out. 
 
 Poppy oil.— Into four pints of pure soft water, put two ounces of foreign white vitriol; 
 Warm the water in a clean copper pan, or glazed earthen jar, until the vitriol is dissolv- 
 ed; pour the mixture into a clean glass or stone bottle, large enough to contain three 
 gallons; then add to the solution of vitriol one gallon and a half of poppy oil, cork and 
 agitate the bottle regularly and smartly for at least two he urs ; then pour out the contents 
 into a wide earthenware dish : leave it at rest for eight days, when the oil will be cleai? 
 and brilliant on the surface, and may be taken off with a spoon or flat skimmer, and pu« 
 up in a glass bottle and exposed to the light, which in a few weeks renders the oil exceed- 
 ingly limpid and colorless. 
 
888 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 Nut-oil, or oil of walnuts, is extracted by expression ; and that which is extracted 
 •without heat, is certainly the most pale, pure, and nutritive seasoning, and retains an 
 exquisite taste of the fruit. That designed for the arts is of inferior quality, and is 
 plentifully imported to us from France; the heat it undergoes in its.torrefaction, pre- 
 vious to its expression, disposes it to dry more quickly than that expressed by the cold 
 process ; but, at the same time, the heat, though it frees it from its unctuous quality, 
 gives it more color. When it has been extracted by the cold process, it may be pre- 
 pared in the same way as directed for the poppy oil. 
 
 In the above article I have retained the workmen's names — gum, white vitriol, &c, 
 instead of resin, sulphate of zinc, Ac. 
 
 VARNISH; Green. Grind Chinese blue with double the quantity of finely pow- 
 dered chromate of potash and copal varnish, thinned with turpentine. The proportions 
 of blue and chromate may be varied. This varnish produces a striking effect on 
 japanned goods, <fec. 
 
 VEGETABLE ACIDS. The term vegetable is now; nearly superseded by the word 
 organic, though the distinction must always be maintained between acids of animal and 
 vegetable origin. 
 
 The following are the most prominent vegetable acids. 
 
 Aconitic 
 
 Citric 
 
 Acrylic 
 
 Cocinic 
 
 Benzilic 
 
 Cominic ' 
 
 Benzoic 
 
 Coumario 
 
 Bilic 
 
 Cuminic 
 
 Boletic 
 
 Ellngic 
 
 Campholic 
 
 Erythric 
 
 Camphoric 
 
 Fumaric 
 
 Carbolic 
 
 Fungic 
 
 Cevadic 
 
 Gallic 
 
 Chelidonic 
 
 Hippuric 
 
 Cinnamic 
 
 Isatic 
 
 Citraconic 
 
 Itaconic 
 
 Krameric 
 
 Lactic 
 
 Meconic 
 
 Metagallic 
 
 Mucic 
 
 Nitro-picric 
 
 (Enanthic 
 
 Fara tartaric 
 
 Pectic 
 
 Pyrocitric 
 
 Pyrogallic 
 
 Pyrotartario 
 
 Quinic 
 
 Eacemic 
 
 Eoccellic 
 
 Saccharic 
 
 Suberic 
 
 Succinic 
 
 Tannic 
 
 Tartaric 
 
 Tartralic 
 
 Tartrelic 
 
 Valeric 
 
 Veratric 
 
 Xanthio 
 
 VEINS (Filons, Fr. ; Gange, Germ.); are the fissures or rents in rocks, which are 
 filled with peculiar mineral substances, most commonly metallic ores. 
 
 VEIN STONES, or GANGUES, are the mineral substances which accompany, and 
 frequently enclose, the metallic ores. 
 
 VELLUM, is a fine sort of Parchment, which see. 
 
 VELVET ( Velours, Fr. ; Sammet, Germ.); & peculiar stuff, the nature of which is 
 explained under Fustian and Textile Fabrics. 
 
 VENETIAN CHALK, is Steatite. 
 
 VENTILATION, or the renewal of fresh air in stagnant places, is nowhere exhibited 
 to such advantage as in the coal mines' of Northumberland and Durham, where 
 Mr. Buddie has carried well nigh to systematic perfection the plan of coursing the 
 air through the winding galleries, originally contrived about the year 1760, by Mr. James 
 Spedding, of Workington, the ablest pitman of his day.* He converted the whole of 
 the passages into air-pipes, so to speak, drew the current of air from the downcast pit, 
 then traversed it up and down, and round about, through the several sheaths of the 
 workings, so that no particular gallery was left without a current of air. He 
 thereby succeeded in actually expelling the noxious gases 'from the mines;, those 
 demons, which in Germany, at no remote era, were wont to be combated by the priests 
 with impotent exorcisms or pious frauds. Before Mr. Buddie introduced his im- 
 provements, he has known the air to be led through a series of workings, thirty miles 
 long, before it made its exit. There is in every coal mine an experienced corps, called 
 wastemen, because they travel over the waste, or the exhausted regions, who can tell at 
 once, by the whistling sound which the air makes at the crevices in certain partitions a,nd 
 doors, whether the ventilation be in good condition or not. They hear these stoppings 
 begin to sing or call, as they say, whenever an interruption takes place in any point of the 
 labyrinthian line. Another indication of something being wrong, is when the doors get so 
 heavy, that the boys in attendance upon them find them difficult to shut or open. The 
 instant such a defect is discovered by any one, he cries aloud, " Holloa, there is something 
 wrong — the doors are calling \" 
 
 In Mr. Spedding's system, the whole of the return air came in one current to his 
 rarefying furnace (see letter c,ftg. 1484), whether it was at the explosive point or not. 
 This distribution was often fraught with such danger, that a torrent of water had to bs 
 
 * Mining engineers use the term good pitman, as admirals do good seaman, to denote a proficient in 
 bis calling. 
 
VENTILATION. 
 
 889 
 
 kept in readiness, under the name of the waterfall, to be let down to extinguish the fire 
 in a moment. Many explosions at that time occurred, from the furnaces below, and 
 also down through tubes from the furnaces above-ground. 
 
 About the year 1807, Mr. Buddie had his attention intensely occupied with this most 
 important object, and then devised his plan of a divided current, carrying that portion 
 through the active furnace c,fig. 1484, and the portion of the air from the foul workings 
 of the air which, descending in the downcast pit A, coursed through the clean workings, 
 ip the dumb, furnace d, till it reached a certain elevation in e, the upcast pit, above the 
 fireplace. The pitmen had a great aversion, however, at first, to adopt this plan, as they 
 thought that the current of air, by being split, would lose its ventilating power ; but 
 they were, ere long, convinced by Mr. Buddie to the contrary. He divides the main 
 current into two separate' streams, at the bottom of the pit A, as shown by darts in the 
 figure ; the feathered ones, representing that part of the pit in which the course of the 
 current of air is free from explosive mixture, or does not contain above one thirtieth 
 of carbureted hydrogen, as indicated by its effect upon the flame of a candle. The 
 naked darts denote the portions of the mine where the air, being charged to the firing 
 point, is led off towards d, the dumb furnace, which communicates with the hot upcast 
 shaft, out of reach of the flame, and thence derives its power of draught. By suitable alter- 
 ations in the stoppings (see the various transverse lines, and the crosses), any portion of 
 the workings may, by the agency of the furnace, be laid out of, or brpight within, the 
 course of the vitiated current, at the pleasure of the skilful mine viewer ; so that, if he 
 found it n.xessary, he could confine, by proper arrangements >f his furnace, all the 
 vitiated current to a mere gas-pipe or drift, and direct it wholly :hrough the dumb fur- 
 nace. During a practice of twenty years, Mr. Buddie has not met with any accident in 
 consequence of a defect in tne stoppings preventing the complete division of the air. 
 The engineer has it thus within his power to detach or insulate those portions of the 
 mine in which there is a great exudation of gas, from the rest ; and, indeed, he is con- 
 tinually making changes, borrowing and lending currents, so to speak ; sometiineslaying 
 one division or panel upon the one air-course, and sometimes upon the other, just to 
 suit the immediate emergency. As soon as any district has ceased to be dangerous, by 
 the exhaustion of the gas-blowers, it is transferred from the foul to th e pure air course, where 
 gunpowder may be safely used, as also candles, instead of Davy's lamps, which give less 
 light. 
 
 The quantity of air put down into the Wallsend uolliery, at the time of the last dreadful 
 iccident, 18lh June, 1835, was not less than 5000 cubic feet per minute, whence it has been 
 justly inferred that the explosion was caused by the rashness of a wasteman carrying a 
 light through a door into a foul drift. 
 
 Till the cutting out of the pillars commences (see. the right end of the diagram), the 
 ventilation of the several passages, boards, See., may be kept perfect, supposing the 
 working extended no further than a, or b; because, as long as there are pillars standing, 
 
 every passage may be converted into an air-conduit, for leading a current of air in any 
 direction, either to c, the burning, or r, the dumb furnace. But the first pillar that is 
 removed deranges the ventilation at that spot, and takes away the means of carrying the 
 air into the further recess towards c. In taking out the pillars, the miners always work to 
 windward, that is to say, against the stream of air; so that whatever gas may be evolved 
 shall be immediately carried off from the people at work. When a range of pillars has 
 Vol. II. 58 
 
890 
 
 VENTILATION. 
 
 been removed, aa at d, e,f, no power remains of dislodging the gas lrom the section 
 of the mine beyond a, b ; and as the pillars are successively ent away to the left hand 
 of the line o, b, the size of the goaf, or void, is increased. This vacuity is a true 
 gas-holder, or reservoir, continually discharging itself at the points g, h, i, into the 
 circulating current, to be carried off by the gas-pipe drift at the dumb furnace, but 
 not to be suffered ever to come in contact with flame of any description. The next 
 range of working is the line of pillars to the left of a, b ; the coal having been entirely 
 cleared out of the space to the right, where the place of the pillars is marked by dotted 
 lines. The roof in the waste soon falls down, and gets fractured up to the next seam 
 of coal, called the yard-coal seam, which, abounding in gas, sends it down in large 
 quantities, and keeps the immense gasometer, or goaf below, continually replenished. 
 See Stove. 
 
 There are two general plans in use for at once diffusing heat and renewing the air 
 in extensive buildings, which plans differ essentially in their principles, modes of action, 
 and effects. The oldest, and what may be called, the vulgar method, consists in planting 
 stoves in the passages or rooms to give warmth in cold weather, and in constructing 
 large and lofty chimney-stalks, to draw air in hot weather out of the house by suction, 
 so to speak, whereby fresh air flows in to maintain, though imperfectly, an equilibrium 
 of pressure. In apartments, thus warmed and ventilated, the atmosphere is necessarily 
 rarer than it is out of doors, while, in cold weather, the external air rushes in at every 
 opening and erevice of door, window, or chimney — the fruitful source of indisposition 
 to the inmates. 
 
 The evils resulting from the stove-heating and air-rarefying system were, a few years 
 ago, investigated by me, in a paper read before the Koyal Society,* and afterward 
 published in several scientific and technological journals. It is there said that the ob 
 servations of Saussure, and other scientific travellers in mountainous regions, demon, 
 strate how difficult and painful it is to make muscular or mental exertions in rarefied air, 
 Even the slight rarefaction of the atmosphere, corresponding to a low state of the bar- 
 ometer, at the level of the sea, is sufficient to occasion languor, lassitude, and uneasi- 
 ness, in persons of delicate nerves ; while the opposite condition of increased pressure 
 as indicated by a high state of the barometer, has a bracing effect upon both body and 
 mind. Thus, we see how ventilation, by the powerful draught of a high chimney-stalk, 
 as it operates by pumping out, exhausting and attenuating the air, may prove detrimen- 
 tal to vivacity and health ; and how ventilation, by forcing in air with a fan or a pump, 
 is greatly to be preferred, not only for the reason above assigned, but because it pre- 
 vents all regurgitation of foul air down the chimneys, an accident sure to happen in the 
 former method. Genial air thrown in by a fan, in the basement story of a building, 
 also prevents the stagnation of vapors from damp and miasmata, which lurk about the 
 foundation of buildings and in sewers, and which are sucked in by the rarefying plan. 
 Many a lordly mansion is rendered hardly tenantable from such a cause, during certain 
 vicissitudes of wind and weof.her. 
 
 The condensing plan, as executed by the engineers, Messrs. Easton and Amos, at the 
 Reform Club House, consists of a large fan, revolving rapidly in a cylindrical case, and 
 is capable of throwing 11,000 cubic feet of air per minute, into a spacious subterranean 
 tunnel, under the basement story. The fan is driven by an elegant steam-engine, worked 
 on the expansion principle, of 5 horses' power. It is placed in a vault, under the flag- 
 pavement, in front of the building ; and as it moves very smoothly, and burns merely 
 cinders from the house fires, along with some anthracite, it occasions no nuisance of 
 any kind. The steam of condensation of the engine supplies 3 cast-iron chests with 
 the requisite heat for warming the whole of the building. Each of these chests is a 
 cube of 3 feet externally, and is distributed internally into 1 parallel- cast-iron cases 
 
 I486 1487 
 
 1485 
 
 - 
 
 •I had been professionally employed by a committee of the officers of the customhouse, to ex 
 linine the nature of the malaria which prevailed there, but I had no concern in erecting the stove« 
 which caused it. e 
 
VENTILATION. 
 
 891 
 
 each about 8 inches wide, -which are separated by parallel alternate spaces, of the same 
 ■width, for the passage of the air transversely, as it is impelled by the fan. 
 
 Fig. 1485 is a transverse vertical section of the steam chest, for heating the air; fig. 
 1486 is a plan of the same ; and fig. 148 1 ? is » perspective view, showing the -outside 
 easing, also the pipe a, for admitting the steam, and the stop-cock 6, for allowing the 
 condensed water to escape. 
 
 This arrangement is most judicious, economizing fuel to the utmost degree; becausa 
 the steam of condensation which, in a Watt's engine, would be absorbed and carried oil 
 by the air-pump, is here turned to good account, in warming the air of ventilation du- 
 ring the winter months. Two hundred weight of fuel suffice for working this steam- 
 engine during twelve hours. It pumps water for household purposes, raises the coals 
 to the several apartments on the upper floors, and drives the fan ventilator. The air, 
 in flowing rapidly through the series of cells, placed alternately between the steam- 
 cases, can not be scorched, as it is generally with air stoves ; but it is heated only to the 
 genial temperature of from 75° to 85° Fahr., and it thence enters a common chamber of 
 brickwork in the basement story, from which it is let off into a series of. distinct flues, 
 governed by dialled valves or registers, whereby it is conducted in regulated quantities 
 to the several apartments of the building. I am of opinion that it would not be easy to 
 devise a better plan for the purpose of warming and ventilating a large house ; and I 
 am only sorry to observe, that the plan projected by the engineers has been injudiciously 
 counteracted in two particulars. 
 
 The first of these is, that the external air, which supplies the fan, is made to traverse 
 a great heap of coke before it can enter that apparatus, whereby it suffers such friction 
 as materially to obstruct the ventilation of the ho-;we. The following experiments, which 
 I made recently upon this point, will place the t/il in a proper light : Having fitted 
 up Dr. Wollaston's differential barometer, as an anemometer, with «il, of specific gravity 
 3-900 in one leg of its syphon, and water of 1-000 in the other, covered with the said oU 
 .n the two cisterns at top, I found that the stream of air produced by the fan, in a ce» 
 tain pai t of the flue, had a velocity only as the number 8, while the air was drawn 
 through the coke, but that it had a velocity in the same place as the number 11, when- 
 ever the air was freely admitted to the fan by opening a side door. Thus, three 
 elevenths, both of the ventilating and warming effect of the fan, are lost. I can not 
 divine any good reason for making the members of the Reform Club breathe an atmo- 
 sphere, certainly not improved, but most probably vitiated, by being passed in a moist 
 state through a porous sulphurous carbon, whereby it will tend to generate the two 
 deleterious gases, earbonie oxide and sulphuretted hydrogen, in a greater or less de- 
 gree. It is vain to allege that these gases may not be discoverable by chemical analy- 
 sis — can the gaseous matters, which generate cholera, yellow fever, or ague, be detected 
 by chemical reagents ? No, truly ; yet every one admits the reality of their specific 
 virus. I should propose that the air be transmitted through a large sheet of wire-cloth 
 before it reaches the fan, whereby it would be freed from the grosser particles of 
 soot that pollute the atmosphere of London. The wire-cloth should be brushed every 
 morning. 
 
 The second particular, which counteracts in some measure the good effects of the fan 
 in steam ventilation, is the huge stove placed in the top story of the building. This 
 potent furnace, consuming, when in action, 3 cwt. of coals per day, tends to draw down 
 foul air, for its own supply, from the chimneys of the adjoining rooms, and thus to 
 impede the upward current created by the fan. I have measured, by Dr. Wollaston's 
 differential barometer, the ventilating influence of the said furnace stove, and find it to 
 be perfectly insignificant — nay, most absurdly so — when compared with the fan, as to 
 the quantity of fuel which each requires per day. The rarefaction of air in the stove 
 chamber, in reference to the external air, was indicated by a quarter of an inch differ- 
 ence of level in the legs of the oil and water syphon, and this when the door of the 
 stove-room was shut, as it usually is ; the tube of the differential barometer being 
 inserted in a hole in the door. The fan indicates a ventilating force equal to 2 inches 
 of the water syphon, which is 20 inches of the above oil and water syphon, and there- 
 fore 80 times greater than that of the sto\e furnace; so that, taking into view the 
 smaller quantity of fuel which the fan requires, the advantage in ventilation, in favor 
 of the fan, in the enormous ratio of 120 to 1, at the lowest estimate. The said stove, 
 in the attic, seems to me to be not only futile, but dangerous. It is a huge rectangular 
 cast-iron chest, having a large hopper in front, kept full of coals, and it is contracted 
 above into a round pipe, which discharges the burnt, air and smoke into a series of hori- 
 zontal pipes of cast-iron, about 4 inches diameter, which traverse the room under the 
 ceiling, and terminate in a brick chimney. In consequence of this obstruction, the 
 draught through the furnace is so feeble, that no rush of air can be perceived in its ash- 
 pit, even when this is contracted to an area of 6 inches square : nay, when the ash-pit 
 was momentarily luted with bricks and clay, and the tube of the differential barometer 
 
892 VENTILATION. 
 
 ■was introduced a little way under the grate, the level of the oil and water syphon in thai 
 instrument was displaced by no more than one-tenth of an inch, which is only one-hun- 
 dredth of an inch of water — a most impotent effect under a daily consumption of 3 cwt. 
 of coals. In fact, this stove may be fitly styled an incendiary coal-devourer, as it has 
 already set fire to the house ; and though now laid upon a new floor of iron rafters and 
 stone flags, it still offers so much danger from its outlet iron pipes, should they become 
 ignited from the combustion of charcoal deposited in them, that I think no premium of 
 insurance adequate to cover the imminent risk of fire. The stove being, therefore^ a 
 superfluous and dangerous nuisance, should be turned out of doors as speedily as pos- 
 sible. Its total cost, with that of its fellow in the basement story, can not be much less 
 than the cost of the steam-engine, with all its truly effectual warming and ventilating 
 appurtenances. 
 
 I take leave to observe, that the system of heating and ventilating apparatus, con- 
 structed by Messrs. Easton and Amos, in the Reform Club House, offers one striking 
 and peculiar advantage. It may be modified at little expense, so as to become the ready 
 means of introducing, during the sultriest dog-days, refreshing currents of air, at a tem- 
 perature of 10, 20, 30, or even 40 degrees under that of atmosphere. An apparatus of 
 this nature, attached to the houses of parliament and courts of law, would prove an in- 
 estimable blessing to our legislators, lawyers, judges, and juries. Of such cool air a 
 very gentle stream would suffice to make the most crowded apartments comfortable, 
 without endangering the health of their inmates with gusts of wind through the doors, 
 windows, and floors. 
 
 It is lamentable to reflect how little has been done for the well-being of the sentient 
 and breathing functions of man in the public buildings of the metropolis, notwithstand- 
 ing our boasted march of intellect, and diffusion of useful knowledge. Almost all our 
 churches are filled on Sundays with stove-roasted air ; and even the House of Commons 
 has its atmosphere exhausted by the suction of a huge chimney-stalk, with a furnace 
 equal, it is said, to that of a 40-horse steam-boiler. To gentlemen plunged in air' so 
 attenuated, condensation of thought and terseness of expression can hardly be the ordei 
 of the day. 
 
 Nearly seven years have elapsed since I endeavored to point public attention to this 
 important subject in the following terms : " Our legislators, when bewailing, not long 
 ago, the fate of their fellow-creatures, doomed to breathe the polluted air of a factory, 
 were little aware how superior the system of ventilation adopted in many cotton-mills 
 was to that employed for their own comfort in either house of parliament. The engi- 
 neers of Manchester do not, like those of the metropolis, trust for a sufficient supply of 
 fresh air into any crowded hall, to currents physically created in the atmosphere by the 
 difference of temperature excited by chimney-draughts, because they know them to be 
 ineffectual to remove, with requisite rapidity, the dense carbonic acid gas generated by 
 many hundred powerful lungs."* At page 382 of the work just quoted, there is an 
 exact drawing and description of the factory ventilating fan. 
 
 On the 6th of June, 1836, 1 took occasion again, in a paper read before the Eoyal 
 Society, upon the subject of the malaria which then prevailed in the customhouse, to 
 investigate the principles of ventilation by the fan, and to demonstrate, by a numerous 
 train of experiments, the great preference due to it, as to effect, economy, and comfort, 
 over chimney-draught ventilation. Yet at this very time, the latter most objectionable 
 plan was in progress of construction, upon a colossal scale, for the House of Commons. 
 About the same period, however, the late ingenious Mr. Oldham, engineer of the bank 
 of England, mounted a mechanical ventilator and steam-chest heater, for supplying a 
 copious current of warm air to the rooms of the engraving and printing departments of 
 that establishment. Instead of a fan, Mr. Oldham employed a large pump to force the 
 air through the alternate cells of his steam-chest. He had introduced a sinilar system 
 into the bank of Ireland about ten years before, which is now in full action. 
 
 About two years ago, Messrs. Easton and Amos were employed to ventilate the letter 
 carriers' and inland office departments of the general post-office, of which the atmo- 
 sphere was rendered not only uncomfortable but insalubrious, by the numerous gas- 
 lights required there in the evenings. This task has been executed to the entire satis- 
 faction of their employers, by means of fans driven by steam-engine power. The said 
 engineers made, about the same time, a set of machinery similar to that erected at the 
 bank of England, for warming and ventilating the bank of Vienna. They are justly 
 entitled to the credit of having been the first to execute, in all its bearings, the system 
 of heating and ventilating buildings, having special respect to the health of their inmates, 
 which I urged upon the public mind many years ago. 
 
 As fans of sufficient size, driven by steam power with sufficient velocity to warm in 
 winter, and ventilate at all times, the most extensive buildings, may be erected upon the 
 
 'Philosophy of Manufactures, p. 380, published by Charles Knight-London, 1835. 
 
VENTILATION. 89a 
 
 principles above described, without causing any nuisance from smote, it is be hoped 
 that the Chapel of Henry VII. will not be desecrated by having a factory "Vesuvius 
 reared in its classical precincts, and that the noble pile of architecture of the new 
 houses of parliament will not be disfigured with such a foul phenomenon. 
 
 The cheering and bracing action of condensed air, and the opposite effects of rarefied 
 air upon human beings, formed the subject of several fine physiological experiments, 
 made a few years ago by M. Junot, and described by him in the ninth volume of the 
 Archives Generates de Midecine : "When a person is placed," says he, ",in condensed 
 air, he breathes with a new facility ; he feels as if the capacity of his lungs was en- 
 larged ; his respirations become deeper and less frequent ; he experiences, in the course 
 of a short time, an agreeable glow in his chest, as if the pulmonary cells were becoming 
 dilated with an elastic spirit, while the whole frame receives, at each inspiration, fresh 
 vital impulsion. The functions of the brain get excited, the imagination becomes vivid, 
 and-the ideas flow with a delightful facility; digestion is rendered more active, as after 
 gentle exercise in the air, because the secretory organs participate immediately in the 
 increased energy of the arterial system, and there is therefore no thirst." 
 
 In rarefied air the effects on the living functions are just the reverse. The breathing 
 is difficult, feeble, frequent, and terminates in an asthmatic paroxysm ; the pulse is quick 
 and most compressible ; hemorrhages often occur, with a tendency to fainting ; the 
 secretions are scanty or totally suppressed, and at length apathy supervenes. 
 
 These striking results obtained on one individual at a time, with a small experimental 
 apparatus, have been recently reproduced, on a working scale, with many persons at 
 once enclosed in a mining-shaft, encased with .strong tubbing, formed of a series of 
 large sheet-iron cylinders, riveted together, and sunk to a great depth through the bed 
 of the river Loire, near Languin. The seams of coal, in this district of France, lie 
 under a stratum of quicksand, from 18 to 20 metres thick (20 to 22 yards), and they 
 had been found to be inaccessible by all the ordinary modes of mining previously prac- 
 tised. The obstacle h,ad been rcgaided o be so perfectly insurmountable, that every 
 portion of the great coa.-basin, that extends under these alluvial deposites, though wcj 
 known for centuries, had remained untouched. To endeavor, by the usual workings, 
 to penetrate through these semi-fluid quicksands, which communicate with the waters 
 of the Loire, was, in fact, nothing less than to try to sink a shaft in that river, or to 
 drain the river itself. But this difficulty has been successfully grappled with, through 
 the resources of science, boldly applied by M. Triger, an able civil engineer. 
 
 By means of the above frame of iron tubbing, furnished with an air-tight ante- 
 chamber at its top, he has contrived to keep his workmen immersed in air, sufficiently 
 condensed by forcing-pumps, to repel the water from the bottom of the iron cylinders, 
 and thereby to enable them to excavate the gravel and stones to a great depth. The 
 compartment at top has a man-hole door in its cover, and another in its floor. The 
 men, after being introduced into it, shut the door over their heads, and then turn the 
 stop-cock upona pipe, in connexion with the condensed air in the under shaft. An 
 equilibrium of pressure is soon established in the ante-chamber, by the influx of the 
 dense air from below, whereby the man-hole door in the floor may be readily opened, 
 to allowthe men to descend. Here they work in air, maintained at a pressure of three 
 atmospheres, by the incessant action of leathern-valved pumps, driven by a steam-engine. 
 While the dens .i air thus drives the waters of the quicksand, communicating with the 
 Loire, out of the shaft, it infuses at the same time such energy into the miners, that 
 they can easily excavate double the work without fatigue which they could do in the 
 open air. Upon many of them the first sensations are painful, especially upon the ears 
 and eyes, but ere long they get quite reconciled to the bracing element. Old asthmatic 
 men hecome here effective operatives ; deaf persons recover their hearing, while others 
 are sensible to the slightest whisper. The latter phenomenon proceeds from the stronger 
 pulses of the dense air upon the membrane of the drum of the ear. 
 
 Much annoyance was at first experienced from the rapid combustion of the candles, 
 but this was obviated by the substitution of flax for cotton thread in the wicks. The 
 temperature of the air is raised a few degrees by the condensation. 
 
 Men who descend to considerable depths in diving-bells, experience an augmentation 
 of muscular energy, similar to that above described. They thereby acquire the power 
 of bending over their knees strong bars of iron, which they would find quite inflexible 
 by their utmost efforts when drawn up to the surface. 
 
 These curious facts clearly illustrate and. strongly enforce the propriety of ventilating 
 •partments by means of condensed air, and not by air rarefied with large chimney- 
 draughts, as has been hitherto most injudiciously, wastefully, and filthily done, in too 
 many cases. , 
 
 As the subjeet of ventilating and warming the public buildings in Liverpool, and 
 particularly the new Custom-house, has been under discussion, we extract from the 
 Architectural Journal the following paper by Mr. C. W. Williams. 
 
 "Doctor Ure, in his inquiry into the modes of warming and ventilating, observes, 
 
394 VENUS. 
 
 that the great principle of ventilation is, never to present the same portion of air twic« 
 over to the human lungs, but to supply them at each fresh inspiration with pure aerial 
 particles in a genial thermometric and hygrometric condition.' 
 
 " Where heating is alone attended to, as in the ease of heat conveyed by steam, in 
 metal pipes, it becomes necessary to provide currents of cold air, to supply the required 
 continued change in the apartments for the purposes of ventilation. It is manifest then, 
 that the best principle must be, first, to heat the required volume of fresh air, and then 
 to introduce it to the apartments to be heated and ventilated, instead of effecting this 
 double object by two distinct processes. The modus operandi is as follows :— A body of 
 pure air, of any required volume, and passing at any required velocity, is forced, by the 
 aid of an air-condensing pump, into a chamber or chest, where it ia heated in an- ingeni- 
 ously contrived, but extremely simple apparatus, by means of cross currents of steam. 
 The peculiarity of this contrivance is, that an ascending body of air, on entering this 
 chest, divides itself spontaneously into any reauired number of thin horizontal films, 
 by- which a very extending surface is exposed* to corresponding steam-heated metal 
 surfaces. Instead, therefore, of passing the steam through a series of pipes, along 
 which, but in an opposite direction, the condensed water has to return, it is conveyed 
 at once from the boiler into the chest, or condenser, which, in fact, it is,) where, on 
 having parted with its heat to the air as above described, it is condensed, and returned 
 directly to the boiler. The chest or condenser, in the apparatus at the Bank of England, 
 is but 3 feet square, yet the body of air to be heated, while passing over but 3 lineal 
 feet, spreads itself over no less than 154 superficial feet, and, coming in contact with a 
 corresponding superficies, heated by the steam, it necessarily receives a very large sup- 
 ply of heat in a short space of time. 
 
 "The apparatus in the Bank of England, independently of heating and ventilating 
 several large apartments, is put to the severest test, namely, that of evaporating the 
 moisture from a series of 400 large mill-boards, with a surface of 1600 feet, and which 
 moisture they have absorbed from the fresh printed bank notes which are daily dried 
 by this process. 
 
 " With respect to the quantity of heat which this small apparatus is capable of im- 
 parting to the air, this is accurately tested by the quantity of water which is con- 
 densed, and which amounts hourly to twelve gallons. 
 
 "Of the efficacy of an artificial current produced by means of a fan or cylinder, Dr. 
 Ure observes, that 'it has been ascertained that a power equivalent to one horse, in a 
 steam engine, will drive at the rate of 80 feet per second a fan, the effective surfaces of 
 whose vanes, and whose inhaling conduits, have each an area of 18 inches square, equal 
 to that ofa large steam boiler chimney. The velocity of air in the chimney, produced 
 by a consumption of fuel equivalent to the power of twenty horses was no more than 
 35 feet per second; while that of the fan, as impelled by the power of one horse, was 
 66 feet per second. Hence it appears that the economy of ventilation by the fan is to 
 that by the chimney draught, as 66 X 20 is to 35, or 38 to 1. It is obvious, therefore, 
 that, with one bushel of coals consumed in working a steam-impelled eccentric fan, we 
 can obtain as great a degree of ventilation, or we can displace as great a volume of air, 
 as we could with 38 bushels of coals consumed in creating a chimney draught. Econo- 
 my, cleanliness, and compactness of construction, are not, however, the sole advantages 
 which the mechanical system of ventilation possesses over the physical. ' It is infallible, 
 even under such vicissitudes of wind and weather as would essentially obstruct any 
 chimney draught ventilation, because it discharges the air with a momentum .quite 
 eddy proof; and it may be increased, diminished, or stopped altogether, in the twink 
 ling of an eye, by the mere shifting of a band from one pulley to another. No state of 
 atmosphere without, no humidity of air within, can resist its power. It will impel the 
 air of a crowded room, loaded with the vesicular vapors of perspiration, with equal 
 certainty as the driest and most expansive." 
 
 After so clear and practical an exposition of the advantages of a current, mechani 
 cally created, nothing further need be said of natural currents arising from mere in- 
 crease of temperature, excepting that, by the adoption of the pump instead of the fan, u 
 very considerable power is saved, and the operation performed much more effectively. 
 Another peculiarity of Mr. Oldham's apparatus here merits attention. The large 
 volume of air heated and passed off to the required apartments is, previously to its 
 being received into the heating chest, filtered and purified, by being deprived of all 
 that noxious floating matter with which the atmosphere, particularly that of London, 
 is at all times charged, and which, if heated and sent into the apartments with the air, 
 would but increase that noxious character, and render it still more injurious to the res- 
 piration of human beings. Not only, indeed, are these offensive impurities which are 
 Boating in the atmosphere effectually separated, but a power is given of charging it 
 with aromatic or antiseptic matter, thus rendering it not only the medium of warmth 
 nd ventilation, but of purifying and healthful influences. 
 VENUS, is the mythological name of copper. 
 
VERDIGRIS. 895 
 
 VERATRINE, is a vegetable alkali, of a poisonous nature, extracted from the seeds 
 of the Veratrum sabadilla, the roots of the Veratrum album, or while hellebore, and of 
 Colchicum autumnale, or meadow saffron, in which plants it exists combined chiefly with 
 gallic acid. It is obtained in the form of a white powder. It has an acrid, burning 
 taste, but without any bitterness; it has no smell; but when snuffed into the nostrils, 
 it excites violent and dangerous Bneezing. It melts at a heat of 122° F., and concretes, 
 on cooling, into a transparent yellowish mass. It restores the blue color of reddened 
 litmus paper. It is hardly soluble in water or ether, but abundantly in alcohol. It 
 consists of — carbon 6675, hydrogen 8'54, nitrogen 5'04, and oxygen 19'60. Its saline 
 compounds have an acrid and burning taste. Veratrine resembles strychnine and brucine, 
 in. its effects upon living bodies, producing tetanus and death in a moderate dose; not- 
 withstanding which, it has been prescribed by some of our poison doctors, especially 
 mixed with hog's lard, in the form of frictions on the forehead, for nervous maladies ; 
 but seldom, I believe, with any good effects. 
 
 VERDIGRIS. (Vert-de-gris, Fr. ; Grunspan, Germ.) The copper used in. this 
 manufacture, is formed into round sheets, from 20 to 25 inches diameter, by one twenty- 
 fourth of an inch in thickness. Each sheet is then divided into oblong squares, from 4 
 to 6 inches in length, by 3 broad ; and weighing about 4 ounces. They are separately 
 beaten upon an anvil, to smooth their surfaces, to consolidate the metal, and to free it 
 from scales. The refuse of the grapes, after the extraction of their juice, formerly 
 thrown on to the dunghill, is now preserved for the purpose of making verdigris. It is 
 put loosely into earthen vessels, which are usually 16 inches high, 14 in diameter at 
 the widest part, and about 12 at the mouth. The vessels are then covered with lids, 
 which are surrounded by straw mats. In this situation the materials soon become 
 heated, and exhale an acid odor ; the fermentation beginning at the bottom of the cask, 
 and gradually rising till it actuate the whole mass. At the end of two or three days, 
 the manufacturer removes the fermenting materials into other vessels, in order to check 
 the process, lest putrefaction should ensue. The copper plates, if new, are now pre- 
 pared, by rubbing them over with a linen cloth dipped in a solution of verdigris; and they 
 are laid up alongside of one another to dry. If the plates are not subjected to this 
 kind of preparation, they will become black, instead of green, by the first operation. 
 When the plates are ready, and the materials in a fermenting state, one of them is put 
 mto the earthen vessel for 24 hours, in crder to ascertain whether it be a proper period 
 to proceed to the remaining part of the process. If, at the end of this period, the plate 
 be covered with a uniform green layer, concealing the whole copper, everything is 
 right; but if, on the contrary, liquid drops hang on the surface of the metal, the work- 
 nen say the plates are sweating, and conclude that the heat of the fermented mass has 
 been inadequate ; on which account another day is allowed to pass before making a simi- 
 lar trial. When the materials are finally found to be ready, the strata are formed in the 
 following manner. The plates are laid on a horizontal wooden grating, fixed in the 
 middle of a vat, on whose bottom a pan full of burning charcoal is placed, which heats 
 them to such a degree, that the women who manage this work are obliged to lay hold 
 of them frequently with a cloth when they lift them out. They are in this state pu' 
 into earthen vessels, in alternate strata with the fermented materials, the uppermost 
 and undermost layers being composed of the expressed grapes. The vessels are covered 
 with their straw mats, and left at rest. From 30 to 40 pounds of copper are put into 
 one vessel. 
 
 At the end of 10, 12, 15, or 20 days the vessels are opened, to ascertain, by the 
 materials having become white, if the operation be completed. 
 
 Detached glossy crystals will be perceived on the surface of the plates ; in which 
 case the grapes are thrown away, and the plates are placed upright in a corner of the 
 verdigris cellar, one against the other, upon pieces of wood laid on the ground. At the 
 end of two or three days they are moistened by dipping in a vessel of water, after which 
 they are replaced in their former situation, where they remain seven or eight days, and 
 are then subjected to momentary immersion, as before. This alternate moistening and 
 exposure to air is performed six or eight times, at regular intervals of about a week. As 
 these plates are sometimes dipped into damaged wine, the workmen term these immer- 
 sions, one wine, two wines, &c. 
 
 By this treatment, the plates swell, become green, and covered with a stratum ot 
 verdigris, which is readily scraped off with a knife. At each operation every vessel yields 
 from five to six pounds of verdigris, in a fresh or humid state ; which is sold to whole- 
 sale dealers, who dry it for exportation. For this purpose, they knead the paste in 
 wooden troughs, and then transfer it to leathern bags, a foot and a half long, and ten 
 inches in diameter. These bags are exposed to the sun and air till the verdigris has at- 
 tained a sufficient degree of hardness. It loses about half its weight in this operation; 
 and it is said to be knife-proof, when tin* t instrument, plunged through the leathern bag, 
 cannot penetrate the loaf of verdigris. 
 
896 VERDITER. 
 
 The manufacture of verdigris at Montpellier is altogether domestic. la most wine 
 farm- houses there is a verdigris cellar ; and its principal operations are conducted by the 
 females of the family. They consider the forming the strata, and scraping off the ver- 
 digris, the most troublesome part. Chaptal says that this mode of making verdigris 
 would admit of some improvements: for example, the acetification requires a warmer 
 temperature than what usually rises in the earthen vessels; and the plates, when set 
 aside to generate the coat of verdigris, require a different degree of heat and moistore 
 from that requisite for the other operations. 
 
 Verdigris is a mixture of the crystallized acetate of copper and the sub-acetate, in 
 varying proportions. According to Vauquelin's researches, there are three compounds 
 of oxide of copper and acetic acid ; 1, a subacetate, insoluble in water, but decomposing 
 in that fluid, at common temperatures changing into peroxide and acetate ; 2, a neutral 
 acetate, the solution of which is not altered at common temperatures, but is decomposed 
 by ebullition, becoming peroxide and superacetate ; and, 3, superacetate, which in 
 solution is not decomposed, either at common temperatures or at the boiling point j ami 
 which cannot be obtained in crystals, except by slow spontaneous evaporation, in air oi 
 in vacuo. The first salt, in the dry slate, contains 66-51 of oxyde; the second, 44-44; 
 and the third, 33-34. 
 
 Mr. Phillips has given the following analyses of French and English verdigris; 
 Annals of Philosophy, No. 21. — 
 
 Frenrh Veidigris. English Verdigris. 
 Acetic acid 29-3 29-62 
 
 Peroxyde of copper 4o-5 44-25 
 
 Water - - 25-2. 25-51 
 
 Impurity - 20 062 
 
 100-0 100-00 
 
 Distilled verdigris, as it was long erroneously called, is merely a binacetate or super- 
 acetate of copper, made by dissolving, in a copper kettle, one part of verdigris in two of 
 distilled vinegar ; aiding the mutual action by slight heat and agitation with a wooden 
 spatula. When the liquor has taken its utmost depth of color, it is allowed to settle, 
 and the clear portion is decanted off into well-glazed earthen vessels. Fresh vinegar is 
 poured on the residuum, and if its color does not become deep enough, more verdigris is 
 added. The clear and saturated solution is then slowly evaporated, in a vessel kept 
 uniformly filled, till it acquires the consistence of sirup, and shows a pellicle on its sur- 
 face ; when it is transferred into glazed earthen pans, called oulas in the country. In 
 each of these dishes, two or three sticks are placed, about a foot long, cleft till within 
 two inches of their upper end, and having the base of the cleft kept asunder by a bit of 
 wood. This kind of pyramid is suspended by its summit in the liquid. All these vessels 
 are transported into crystallizing rooms, moderately heated with a stove, and left in the 
 same state for 15 days, taking care to maintain a uniform temperature. Thus are ob 
 tained very fine groups of crystals of acetate of copper, clustered round the wooden rods , 
 on which they are dried, taken off, and sent into the market. They are distinctly rhom- 
 boidal in form, and of a lively deep blue color. Each cluster of crystals weighs fror/ 
 five to six pounds ; and,' in general, their total weight is equal to about one third of the 
 verdigris employed. 
 
 The crystallized binacetate of commerce consists, by my analysis, of— acetic acid, 52 ; 
 oxyde of copper, 39-6 ; water, 8-4, in 100. I have prepared crystals which contain no 
 water. There is a triple acetate of copper and lime, which resembles distilled verdigris in 
 color. It was manufactured pretty extensively in Scotland some years ago, and fetched a 
 high price, till I published an analysis of it in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. Il 
 is much inferior, for all uses in the arts, to the proper binacetate. 
 
 VERDITER, or BLUE VERDITER. This is a precipitate of oxyde of copper with 
 lime, maae by adding that earth, in its purest state, to the solution of nitrate of copper, 
 obtained in quantities by the refiners, in parting gold and silver from copper by nitric 
 acid. The cupreous precipitate must be triturated with lime, after it is nearly dry, to 
 bring out the fine velvety blue color. The process is delicate, and readily misgives in 
 unskilful hands. 
 
 The cendres bleues en pate of the French, though analogous, are in some respects a dif- 
 ferent preparation. To make it, dissolve sulphate of copper in hot water, in such pro- 
 portions that the liquid may have a density of 1-3. Take 240 pound measures of this so- 
 lution, and divide it equally into 4 open-headed casks; add to each of these 45 pound 
 measures of a boiling-hot solution of muriate of lime, of specific gravity, 1-317, whereby 
 a double decomposition will ensue ; with the formation of muriate of copper and sulphate 
 of lime, which precipitates. It is of consequence to work the materials well together 
 at the moment of mixture, to prevent the precipitate agglomerating in unequal masses. 
 
VERDITER. 
 
 897 
 
 After leaving it to settle for 12 hours, a small quantity of the clear liquor may be ex- 
 amined, to see whether the just proportions of the two salts have been employed, which 
 is done by adding either sulphafe of copper or muriate of lime. Should cither cause 
 much precipitation, some of the other must be poured in till the equivalent decompo- 
 sition be accomplished; though less harm results from an excess of sulphate of copper 
 than of muriate of lime. 
 
 The muriate of copper is to be decanted from the subsided gypsum, which must be 
 drained and washed in a filter ; and these blue liquors are to be added to the stronger ; 
 and the whole distributed, as before, into 4 casks ; composing in all 670 pound measures 
 of a green liquor, of 1'151 specific gravity. 
 
 Meanwhile, a magna of lime is to be prepared as follows: — 100 pounds of quick- 
 lime are to be mixed up with 300 pounds of water, and the mixture is to be passed 
 through a wire-gauze sieve, to separate the stony and sandy particles, and then to be 
 ground in a proper mill to an impalpable paste. About 70 or 80 pounds of this mix- 
 ture (the beauty of the color is inversely as the quantity of lime) are to be distributed 
 [n equal portions between the four casks, strongly stirring all the time with a wooden 
 spatula. It is then left to settle, and the limpid liquor is tested by ammonia, which 
 ought to occasion only a faint blue tinge; but if the color be deep blue, more of the 
 lime paste must be added. The precipitate is now to be washed by decantation, em- 
 ploying for this purpose the weak washings of a former operation ; and it is lastly to be 
 trained and washed on a cloth filler. The proportions of material prescribed above, 
 furnish from 500 to 540 pounds of green paste. 
 
 Before making farther use of this paste, the quantity of water present in it must be 
 determined by drying 100 or 200 grains. If it contain 27 per cent, of dry matter, 12 
 pounds of it may be put into a wooden bucket (and more or less in the ratio of 12 to 
 27 per cent.) capable of containing 17| pints ; a pound (measure) of the lime paste is then 
 to be rapidly mixed into it; immediately afterwards, a pint and a quarter of a watery so- 
 lution of the pearlash of commerce, of spec. grav. M14, previously prepared; and the 
 whole mixture is to be well stirred, and immediately transferred to a color-mill. The 
 quicker this is done, the more beautiful is the shade. 
 
 On the other hand, two solutions must have been previously made ready, one of sal- 
 ammoniac (4 oz. troy dissolved in 3 \ pints of water), and another of sulphate of copper 
 (3 oz. troy dissolved in 3| pints of water). 
 
 When the paste has come entirely through the mill, it is to be quickly put into a 
 jar, and the two preceding solutions are to be simultaneously poured into it; when a 
 cork is to be inserted, and the jar is to be powerfully agitated. The cork must now be 
 secured with a fat lute. At the end of four days this jar and three of its fellows are to 
 be emptied into a large hogshead nearly full of clear water, and stirred well with a 
 paddle. After repose, the supernatant liquid is run off; when it is filled up again with 
 water, and elutriated several times in succession, till the liquid no longer tinges turmeric 
 paper brown. The deposite may be then drained on a cloth filter. The pigment is 
 sold in the state of a paste ; and is used for painting, or printing paper-hangings for the 
 walls of apartments. 
 
 The above prescribed proportions furnish the superfine blue paste: for the second 
 quality, one half more quicklime paste is used ; and for the third, double of the lime and 
 aal ammoniac ; but the mode of preparation is in every case the same. 
 
 This paste may be dried into a blue powder, or into crayons for painters, by exposing 
 : t on white deals to a very gentle heat in a shady place. This is called cmdns bleuei 
 m pierre. 
 
 VERDITER, or BREMEN GREEN. This pigment is a light powder, like magnesia, 
 having a blue or bluish green color. The first is most esteemed. When worked up with 
 oil or glue, it resists the air very well ; but when touched with lime, it is easily affected, 
 provided it has not been long and carefully dried. A strong heat deprives it of its lustre, 
 and gives it a brown or blackish-green tint. 
 
 . The following is, according to M. J. G. Gentele, the process of fabrication in Bremen, 
 Cassel, Eisenach, Minden, &c. : — 
 
 a. 225 lbs. of sea salt, and 222 lbs. of blue vitriol, both free from iron, are mixed in the 
 dry state, then reduced between mill-stones with water to a thick homogeneous paste. 
 
 6. 225 lbs. of plates of old copper are cut by scissors into bits of an inch square, then 
 thrown and agitated in a wooden tub containing two lbs. of sulphuric acid, diluted with 
 a sufficient quantity of water, for the purpose of separating the impurities ; they are after- 
 wards washed with pure water in casks made to revolve upon their axes. 
 
 c. The bits of copper being placed in oxydation-chests, along with the magma of 
 common salt and blue vifriol previously prepared in strata of half an inch thick, they are 
 .eft for some time to their mutual reaction. The above chests are made of oaken 
 
p9S VERMICELLI. 
 
 planks joined witl.oul iron nails, and set aside in a cellar, or other place of moderate 
 temperature. 
 
 The saline mixture, which is partially converted into sulphate of soda and chloride 
 of copper, absorbs oxygen from the air, whereby the metallic copper passes into a 
 hydrated oxide, with a rapidity proportioned to the extent of the surfaces exposed to 
 the atmosphere. In order to increase this exposure, during the three months that 
 the process requires, the whole mass must be turned over once every week, with n 
 copper shovel, transferring it into an empty chest alongside, and then back into Qu 
 former one. 
 
 At the end of three months, the corroded copper scales must be picked out, and the 
 saline particles separated from the slimy oxide with the help of as little water as 
 
 d. This oxidised schalm, or mud, is filtered, then thrown, by means of a bucket con- 
 taining 30 pounds, in a tub, where it is carefully divided or comminuted. 
 
 e. For every six pailfuls of schalm thus thrown into the large tub, 12 pounds of 
 muriatic acid, at 15° Baume, are to be added; the mixture is to be stirred, and then 
 left at rest for 24 or 36 hours. 
 
 /. Into another tub, called the blue back, there is to be introduced, in like manner 
 for everv six pailfuls of the acidified schlam, 15 similar pailfuls of a solution of colorless 
 clear caustic alkali, at 19° Baume. • 
 
 g. When the back (c) has remained long enough at rest, there is to be poured into it 
 a pail of pure water for every pail of schlam. 
 
 h. When all is thus prepared, the set of workmen who are to empty the back (e), and 
 those who are to stir (/), must be placed alongside of each. The first set transfer the 
 schlam rapidly into the latter back ; where the second set mix and agitate it all the lime 
 requisite to convert the mass into a consistent state, and then leave it at rest from 36 to 
 48 hours. 
 
 The whole mass is to be now washed ; with which view it is to he stirred about with 
 the affusion of water, allowed to settle, and the supernatant liquor is drawn off. This 
 process is to be repeated till no more traces of potash remain among the blue. The 
 deposite must be then thrown upon a filter, where it is to be kept moist, and exposed 
 freely to the air. The pigment is now squeezed in the filter-bags, cut into bits, and dried 
 in the atmosphere, or at a temperature not exceeding 78° Fahr. It is only after the 
 most complete desiccation that the color acquires its greatest lustre. 
 
 VERMICELLI, is a paste of wheat flour, drawn out and dried in slender cylinders, 
 more or less tortuous, like worms, whence the Italian name. The gruau of the French 
 is wheat coarsely ground, so as to free it from the husk ; the hardest and whitest part, 
 being separated by sifting, is preferred for making the finest bread. When this gruau 
 is a little more ground, and the dust separated from it by the bolting-machine, the 
 granular substance called semoule is obtained, which is the basis of the best pastes. 
 The softest and purest water is said to be necessary for making the most plastic ver- 
 micelli dough ; 12 pounds of it being usually added to 50 pounds of semoule. It is 
 better to add more semoule to the water, than water to the semoule, in the act of 
 kneading. The water should be hot, and the dough briskly worked while still warm. 
 The Italians pile one piece of this dough upon another, and then tread it well with 
 their feet for two or three minutes. They afterwards work it for two hours with a 
 powerful rolling-pin, a bar of wood from 10 to 12 feet long, larger at the one end than 
 the other, having a sharp cutting edge at the extremity, attached to the large kneading- 
 trough. 
 
 When the dough is properly prepared, it is reduced to thin ribands, cylinders, or 
 tubes, to form vermicelli and macaroni of different kinds. This operation is performed 
 by means of a powerful press. This is vertical, and the iron plate or follower carried by 
 the end of the screw fits exactly into a cast-iron cylinder, called the bell, like a sausage- 
 machine, of which the bottom is perforated with small holes, of the shape and size in- 
 tended for the vermicelli. The bell being filled, and warmed with a charcoal fire to thin 
 the dough into a paste, this is forced slowly through the holes, and is immediately cooled 
 and dried by a fanner as it protrudes. When the threads or fillets have acquired the 
 length of a foot, they are grasped by the hand, broken off, and twisted, while still flexi- 
 ble, into any desired shape upon a piece of paper. 
 
 The macaroni requires to be made of a less compact dough than the vermicelli. The 
 former is forced through the perforated bottom, usually in fillets, which are afterwards 
 formed into tubes by joining their edges together before they have had time to become 
 dry. The lazagnes are macaroni left in the fillet or riband shape. 
 
 Vermicelli is made with most advantage from the flour of southern countries, which 
 is richest in gluten. It may also be made from our ordinary flour, provided an addition 
 of gluten be made to the flour paste. Vetmicelli prepared from ordinary flour is apt 
 
VERMILLION. 899 
 
 to melt into a paste when boiled in soups. It may, however, be well made economically 
 by the following prescription : — 
 
 Vermicelli or Naples flour - - - 21 lbs. 
 
 "White potato flour - 14 — 
 
 Boiling water. - - - 12 — 
 
 Total - 47 lbs. 
 
 Affording 45 lbs. ot dough, and 30 of dry vermicelli. With gluten, made from common 
 flour, the proportions are : — 
 
 Flour as before - - - - SO lbs. 
 
 Fresh gluten - - ' - - 10 — 
 
 Water ... >j _ 
 
 Total 47 lbs. 
 
 Affording 30 lbs. of dry vermicelli or muearoni. 
 
 VERMILLION, or Cinnabar, is a compound of mercury and sulphur in the proportion 
 of 100 parts of the former to 1 6 of the latter, which occurs in nature as a common ore of 
 quicksilver, and is prepared by the chemist as a pigment, under the name of Vermilion. 
 It is, properly speaking, a. bisulphuret of mercury. This artificial compound being ex- 
 tensively employed, on account of the beauty of its color, in painting, for making red 
 sealing-wax, and other purposes, is the object of an important manufacture. When ver- 
 milion is prepared by means of sublimation, it concretes in masses of considerable 
 thickness, concave on one side, convex on the other, of a needle-form texture ; brown- 
 ish-red in the lump, but when reduced to powder, of a lively red color. On exposure 
 to a moderate heat, it evaporates without leaving a residuum, if it be not contaminated 
 with red lead ; and at a higher heat, it takes fire, and burns entirely away, with a blue 
 flame. 
 
 Holland Ions kept a monopoly of the manufacture of vermilion, from being alone in 
 possession of the art of giving it a fine flame color. Meanwhile the French chemists 
 examined this product with great care, under an idea that the failure of other nations 
 to rival the Dulch arose from ignorance of its true composition ; some, with Berthollet, 
 imagined that it contained a little hydrogen ; and others, with Fourcroy, believed that 
 the mercury contained in it was oxydized ; but, eventually, Seguin proved that both of 
 these opinions were erroneous; having ascertained, on the one hand, that no hydro- 
 genous matter was given out in the decomposition of cinnabar, and on the other that 
 sulphur and mercury, by combining, were transformed into the red sulphuret in close 
 vessels, without the access of any oxygen whatever. It was likewise supposed that 
 the solution of the problem might be found in the difference of composition between 
 the red and black sulphurets of mercury ; and many conjectures were made with this 
 view, the whole of which were refuted by Seguin. He demonstrated, in fact, that a 
 mere change of temperature was sufficient to convert the one sulphuret into the other, 
 without occasioning any variation in the proportion of the two elements. Cinnabar, 
 moderately heated in a glass tube, is convertible into ethiops, which in its turn is changed 
 into cinnabar by exposing the tube to a higher temperature ; and thence he was led to con 
 ' elude that the difference between these two sulphurets was owing principally to the state of 
 the combination of the constituents. It would seem to result, from all these researches, 
 that cinnabar is only an intimate compound of pure sulphur and mercury, in the propor- 
 tions pointed out by analysis; and it is therefore reasonable to conclude, that in order 
 to make fine vermilion, it should be sufficient to effect the union of its elements at a 
 high enough temperature, and to exclude the influence of all foreign matters; but, 
 notwithstanding these discoveries, the art of making good vermilion is neatly as 
 much a mystery as ever. M. Seguin, indeed, announced in his Memoirs, that he had 
 succeeded in obtaining, in his laboratory, as good a cinnabar as that of Holland, and 
 at a remunerative price ; but whatever truth may be in this assertion, or howevei 
 much the author may have been excited by the love of honor and profit, no manu- 
 facture on the great scale sprung up under his auspices. France is still as tributary a:j 
 ever to foreign nations for this chemical product. At an exposition some years ago, 
 indeed, a sample of good French vermilion was brought forward to prove that the 
 problem was nearly solved ; but that it is not so completely, may be inferred from the 
 silence on this subject in M. Dupin's report of the last exposition, in 1834, wbere we 
 See so many chemical trifles honored with eulogiums and medals by the judges of the 
 fhow. The English vermilion is now most highly prized by the French manufacturers 
 of sealing-wax. 
 
 M. Tuckert, apothecary of the Dutch court, published, long ago, in )he Jhmales de 
 Ckimie, vol. iv., the best account we yet have of the manufacture of vermilion in Holland ; 
 
900 
 
 VERMILLION. 
 
 one which has been since verified by M. Paysse, who aaw the process practised on ths 
 great scale with success. 
 
 " The establishment in which 1 saw, several times, the fabrication of sublimed sul 
 phuret of mercury," says M. Tuckert, "was that of Mr. Brand, at Amsterdam, beyond 
 the gate of Utrecht ; it is one of the most considerable in Holland, producing annually, 
 from three furnaces, by means of four workmen, 48,000 pounds of cinnabar, besides other 
 mercurial preparations. The following process is pursued here : — 
 
 "The ethiops is first prepared by mixing together 150 pounds of sulphur, with 1080 
 pounds of pure mercury, and exposing this mixture to a moderate heat in a flat polished 
 iron pot, one foot deep, and two feet and a half in diameter. It never takes fire, pro- 
 vided the workman understands his business. The black sulphuret, thus prepared, is 
 ground, to facilitate the filling with it of small earthen bottles capable of holding about 
 94 ounces of water ; from 30 to 40 of which bottles are filled beforehand, to be ready 
 when wanted. 
 
 " Three great subliming pots or vessels, made of very pure clay and sand, have been 
 previously coated over with a proper lute, and allowed to dry slowly. These pots are set - 
 upon three furnaces bound with iron hoops, and they are covered with a kind of iron 
 dome. The furnaces are constructed so that the flame may freely circulate and play 
 upon the pots, over two thirds of their height. 
 
 " The subliming vessels having been set in their places, a moderate fire is kindled in 
 the evening, which is gradually augmented till the pots become red. A bottle of the 
 black sulphuret is then poured into the first in the series, next into the second and 
 third, in succession ; but eventually, two, three, or even more, bottles may be emptied 
 in at once; this circumstance depends on the stronger or weaker combustion of the 
 sulphuret of mercury thus projected. After its introduction, the flame rises 4 and 
 sometimes 6 feet high ; when it has diminished a little, the vessels are covered with a 
 plate of iron, a foot square, and an inch and a half thick, made to fit perfectly close. 
 In this manner, the whole materials which have been prepared are introduced, in 
 the course of 34 hours, into the three pots ; being for each pot 360 pounds of mercury, 
 and 50 of sulphur; in all, 410 pounds." 
 
 The degree of firing is judged of, from time to time, by lilting off the cover; for if 
 the flame rise several feet above the mouth of the pot, the heat is too great ; if it be 
 hardly visible, the heat is too low. The proper criterion being a vigorous flame play- 
 ing a few inches above the vessel. In the last of the 36 hours' process, the mass should 
 be dexterously stirred up every 15 or 20 minutes, to quicken the sublimation. The 
 subliming pots are then allowed to cool, and broken to pieces in order to collect all the 
 rermilion incrusted within them ; and which usually amounts to 400 lbs., being a loss ot 
 0EI7 60 on each vessel. The lumps are to be ground along with water between honzonta. 
 stones, elutriated, passed through sieves, and dried. It is said that the rich tone of the 
 Chinese vermilion may be imitated by adding to the materials for subliming one per 
 cent, of sulphuret of antimony, and by digesting the ground article first in a solution of 
 sulphuret of potassa, and, finally, in diluted muriatic acid. 
 
 The humid process of Kirchoff has of late years been so much improved, as to 
 furnish a vermilion quite equal in brilliancy to the Chinese. The following process 
 has been recommended. Mercury is triturated for several hours with sulphur, in the 
 cold, till a perfect ethiops is formed ; potash ley is then added, and the trituration is 
 continued for some time. The mixture is now heated in iron vessels, with constant, 
 stirring at first, but afterwards only from time to time. The temperature must be 
 kept up as steadily as possible at 130° Fahr., adding fresh supplies of water as it eva- 
 porates. When the mixture which was black, becomes, at the end of some hours, 
 brown-red, the greatest caution is requisite, to prevent the temperature from being raised 
 above 1 14°, and to preserve the mixture quite liquid, while the compound of sulphur 
 and mercury should always be pulverulent. The color becomes red, and brightens in its 
 hue, often with surprising rapidity. When the tint is nearly fine, the process should be 
 continued at a gentler heat, during some hours. Finally, the vermilion is to be elutri 
 ated, in order to separate any particles of running mercury. The three ingredients should 
 be very pure. The proportion of product varies with that of the constituents, as we see 
 from the following results of experiments, in which 300 parts of mercury were always ero 
 ployed, and from 400 to 450 of water : — 
 
 Sulphur. Potash. Vermilion obhdned. 
 
 114 75 330 
 
 115 75 331 
 120 120 321 
 150 152 382 
 120 180 245 
 100 180 244 
 
 60 180 142 
 
VINEGAR. 901 
 
 The first proportions are therefore the most advantageous ; the las^ which are those of 
 M. Kirchoff himself, are not so good. 
 
 Brunner found that 300 parts of quicksilver, 1J4 of sulphur, 75 of caustic potassa, and 
 from 400 to 450 of water, form very suitable proportions for the moist process ; that the 
 best temperature was 113° F. ; and that 122° was the highest limit of heat compatible 
 with the production of a fine color. ^ 
 
 The theory of this process is by no means clear. We'teay suppose that a sulphuret 
 it potassium and mercury is first formed, which is eventually destroyed, in proportion as 
 the oxygen of the air acts upon the sulphuret of potassium itself. There may also be pro. 
 duced some hyposulphite of mercury, which, under the same influence, would be trans- 
 formed into sulphuret of mercury and sulphate of potash. 
 
 Sulphuret of potassium and mercury furnish also vermilion, but it is not beautiful. 
 Red oxyde of mercury, calomel, turbith mineral, and the soluble mercury of Hahnemann, 
 treated with the sulphuret of potassium, or the hydrosulphuret of ammonia, are all capa- 
 ble of giving birth to vermilion by the humid way. 
 
 The vermilion of commerce is often adulterated with red lead, brickdust, dragon's 
 blood, and realgar. The first two, not being volatile, remain when the vermilion is 
 heated to its subliming point ; the third gives a red tincture to alcohol j the fourth 
 exhales its peculiar garlic smell with heat ; and when calcined in a :rucible with carbon- 
 ate of soda, and nitre in excess, affords arsenic acid, which may be detected by the usual 
 chemical tests. 
 
 VINEGAR. The gross revenue derived from vinegar manufactured in England in 
 the year 1845, amounted to 284,317£ yielding a nett revenue of 57,182Z. The gross 
 revenue from vinegar manufactured in the United Kingdom, in the same year, amounted 
 to 311,61 11., producing a nett revenue of 62,936/. 
 
 Vinegar ; to detect sulphuric acid in. — Add a few drops of a concentrated solution of 
 chloride of calcium (muriate of lime) to the vinegar in question, not the least turbid- 
 ness will ensue, even at a boiling heat. But if free sulphuric acid be present in the 
 vinegar, a very considerable turbidness will appear, followed by a precipitate of sulphate 
 of lime. If the proportion of the sulphuric acid in the vinegar is larger than T7j lju part, 
 the precipitate will appear even before it has become perfectly cold. 
 
 In addition to the article Aoetio Aoid, I avail myself of this opportunity of describ- 
 ing the recent invention of Anhydrous Acetic acid as made by Mr. Gerhardt. It is 
 obtained by mixing perfectly dry fused acetate of potash with about half its weight of 
 chloride of benzoyle, and applying a gentle heat; when a liquid distils over, which, 
 after being rectified, has a constant boiling point of 27 9° F., is heavier than water, with 
 which it does not mix until after it has been agitated with it for some time. It dis- 
 solves at once in hot water, forming acetic acid. 
 
 Ohlorlenzoyle, is prepared by transmitting dry chlore gas through pure oil of bitter 
 almonds, till this at a boiling heat affords no more hydrochloric acid. The chlor- 
 benzpyle is a limpid colorless fluid of 1-196 specific gravity. It has a peculiar, very 
 penetrating smell, drawing tears from the eyes, as horseradish does. It has a high 
 boiling point, and burns with a smoky flame. It dissolves sulphur and phosphorus 
 with the aid of heat, and combines with sulphuret of carbon in all proportions. 
 
 Vinegar ; new Method for manufacturing pure. — The decomposition of acetate of lime 
 or lead by means of sulphuric acid has many inconveniences, and there is danger of the 
 .product being contaminated with sulphuric acid. Christl* was therefore induced to 
 employ hydrochloric acid as a decomposing agent, and lias found that when this acid 
 is not used in excess, the distillate contains scarcely an appreciable trace of chlorine. A 
 mixture of 100 lbs. of raw acetate of lime, obtained from the distillation of wood, and 
 containing 90 per cent, of neutral acetate, with 120 lbs. of hydrochloric acid (20° Baumfi) 
 is allowed to stand during a night, and then distilled in a copper vessel. The application 
 of heat requires to be gradual, in order to prevent the somewhat thick liquor from 
 running over. The product of acetic acid amounted to 100 lbs. of 8° Baum<5; it had 
 a faint yellow color and empyreumatic odor, which may be perfectly removed by 
 treatment with wood-charcoal and subsequent rectification. 
 In order to obtain the acetate of lime sufficiently pure, Volckelf adopts the following 
 
 firoeess: — The raw pyrolignous acid is saturated with lime without previous distil- 
 ation. A part of the resinous Bubstanees dissolved in the acid are thus separated in 
 combination with lime. The solution of impure acetate of lime is either allowed to 
 ttand until it becomes clear or filtered, | then evaporated in an iron pan to about one 
 naif, and hydrochloric acid added until a drop of the-tcooled liquid distinctly reddens 
 litmus-paper. The addition of acid serves to separate great part of the resin still held 
 
 * Dingler's Polytech. Journ. 
 
 t Ann. der Chem. und Pharm. 
 
 i A part is distilled off in a copper still in order to obtain wood-spirit 
 
902 VINEGAR. 
 
 in solution, which collects together in the boiling liquid, and may be skimmed off, anC 
 likewise decomposes the compounds of lime with creosote, and some other imperfectly- 
 known volatile substances, which are driven off by further evaporation. As these vol- 
 atile substances have little or no action upon litmus-paper, it being reddened by the 
 liquor is a sign that not only are the lime compounds of these substances decomposed, 
 but also a small quantity of*|cetate of lime. The quantity of acid necessary for this 
 purpose varies, and dependsTipon the nature of the pyrolignous acid, which is again 
 dependent upon the quantity of water in the wood from which it is obtained. 150 
 litres of wood-liquor require from 4 to 6 lbs. of hydrochloric acid. 
 
 The solution of acetate of lime is evaporated to dryness, and a tolerably strong heat 
 applied at last, in order to remove allvolatile substances. Both operations may be 
 
 Eerformed in the same iron pans ; but when the quantity of salt is large, the latter may 
 e more advantageously effected upon cast-iron plates. The drying of the salt requires 
 very great care, for the empyreumatic substances adhere very strongly to the acetate 
 of lime, as well as to the compound of resin and acetic acid mixed with it, and when 
 not perfectly separated, pass over with the acetic acid in the subsequent distillation 
 with an acid, communicating to it a disagreeable odor. The drying must therefore be 
 continued until upon cooling the acetate does not smell at all, or but very slightly. It 
 then has a dirty brown color. The acetic acid is obtained by distillation with hydro- 
 chloric acid in a still with a copper head and leaden condenser ; when proper precau- 
 tions are taken, the acetic acid does not contain a trace of either metal. The quan- 
 tity of hydrochloric acid required cannot be exactly stated, because the acetate of Hme 
 is mixed with resin, and already formed chloride of calcium. In most instances 90 or 
 95 parts by weight of acid, 1-16 spec, grav., are sufficient to decompose completely 100 
 t arts of the salt, without introducing much hydrochloric acid into the distillate. 
 
 The distilled acetic acid possesses only a very faint empyreumatic odor, very different 
 from that of the raw pyrolignous acid ; it is perfectly colorless, ajid should only become 
 slightly turbid on the addition of nitrate of silver. If the acid has a yellowish color, 
 this is owing to resin having been spirted over in the distillation. It is therefore ad- 
 visable to remove the resin, which is separated on the addition of hydrochloric acid, 
 and floats upon the Biirface of the liquid, either by skimming or filtration through a 
 linen cloth. The distilled acid has a specific gravity ranging between 1-058 and 1-061, 
 containing upwards of 40 per cent of anhydrous acetie acid. It is rarely that acid of 
 this strength is required ; and as the distillation is easier when the mixture is less con- 
 centrated, water maybe added before or towards the end of the distillation. Volekel 
 recommends as convenient proportions — 
 
 100 parts of acetate of lime, 
 90 to 95 hydrochloric acid, 
 25 parts of water, 
 
 which yield from 95 to 100 parts of acetie acid of 1-105 spec. grav. ; 150 litres of raw 
 pyrolignous aeid yield about 60 lbs. of acetie acid of the above specific gravity. 
 
 The acid prepared in this way may be still further purified by adding a small quan- 
 tity of carbonate of soda and redistilling; it is thus rendered quite free from chlorine, 
 and any remaining trace of color is likewise removed. The slight empyreumatic smell 
 may be removed by distilling the acid with about 2 or S per cent, of acid of chromate 
 of potash. Oxide of manganese is less efficacious as a purifying agent. 
 
 Although pure acetie aeid may be procured by the distillation of vinegar, the whole 
 of the acid cannot be obtained except by distilling to dryness, by which means the ex- 
 tractive substances are burnt, and the distillate rendered impure. In order to obviate 
 this difficulty, Stein* proposes to add 30 lbs. of salt to every 100 lbs. of vinegar ; the 
 boiling-point is thus raised, and the acid passes over completely. 
 
 By the quick process of Ham,, when the fermentation is finished, the greatest care 
 ought to be taken that all access of air is excluded from the wash, and that its tempe- 
 rature be reduoed to, and maintained at a heat below the point where aeetification com- 
 mences. Those who, like Messrs. Evans, Hill, & Co., of Worcester, attach great im- 
 portance to the fabrication of the best keeping vinegars, are in the habit of filtering the 
 fermented wash, and also of stowing it away for many months in a cool situation ere 
 it is passed through the aeetifier: and there cannot be a moment's doubt concerning 
 the great value of this practice, not only as regards the appearance and flavor of the 
 resulting vinegar, but also in rgspect to its dietetic and sanitary properties. 
 
 All recently.fermented wash contains a quantity of partially decomposed gluten, 
 Borne of which is mechanically suspended merely, but by far the larger portion exists 
 in a state of solution through the agency of carbonic acid gas. 
 
 * Polytech. Centrolblntt, 1852, p. 395. 
 
VINEGAR. 
 
 903 
 
 A filter will remove the former, but time alone can dissipate the carbonic acid and 
 lead to the deposition of the latter. At all events, time is the only available remedy, 
 for though heat would expel the carbonic acid, yet it would at the same time drive off 
 the alcohol; and agitation in contact with air, though it removed the carbonic acid, 
 would tend to the formation of acetic acid, by which the gluten would be kept in solu- 
 tion more decidedly than before, and thus lead to the production of a turbid, ropy and 
 impure vinegar, extremely liable to decompose and undergo the putrefactive fermenta- 
 tion. It is obvious therefore that the theoretical conditions needed in the treatment 
 of fermented wort by the vinegar-mater are precisely those which we have shown to 
 be in use at Worcester. That is to say, the gluten, when insoluble, should be removed 
 by a filter, and when held in solution by carbonic acid, this must be slowly expelled by 
 keeping at a temperature too low for acetification to take place, and which may be as- 
 sumed at les3.than 55° Fahr. Fermented wort stowed away at this temperature for 
 Bix months will flow to the acetifier perfectly limpid and bright ; it will cause no de- 
 position of gluten upon the birch twigs, and thus secure complete oxidation; it will 
 rapidly take on the grateful flavor of acetic ether, and never become tainted by the 
 formation of that nauseous and noxious product aldehyde, which so frequently con- 
 taminates ill-made vinegar. 
 
 Presuming, however, that all the necessary precautions, with respect to care in wash- 
 ing, fermenting, and keeping the wort, have been attended to, we may now pass on to 
 the acetifier, that is to say Ham's acetifier. 
 
 This is a wooden vat or vessel (see sketch) about 12 feet in height, and from 1 to 8 
 
 1488 
 
 KMTM 
 
 feet in diameter, closed at top and bottom, except at the openings for the introduction of 
 the wash and the exit of the vinegar. The sides are perforated by a few small- holes 
 for the admission of air, and within are three floors or partitions perforated with nu- 
 merous koles for the passage of the wash through them. • Upon these floors are laid 
 bundles of birch twigs, to favor the dispersion and division of the fluid which passes 
 through the acetifier, and is thus brought into the most intimate contact with th« oxy 
 gen contained in the vessel, or admitted through the openings in its sides. The fluid 
 or wash is of course admitted at the top of the acetifier, and suffered to trickle slowly 
 through the masses of birch twigs and through the partitions, thus causing a rapid ab- 
 sorption of oxygen, and consequent production of vinegar, which with any undecom- 
 posed wash flows out at the bottom of the vessel, and is again pumped up to the top, 
 and so on until the process is finished. If we examine the circumstances connected with 
 the formation of vinegar in this way, we shall perceive at once, that it is a ease of par- 
 tial combustion, or, in other words, an example in which an organic compound is oxi- 
 dized at a temperature and under conditions which prevent complete oxidation. 
 
 Every one must have observed that when common coals are thrown upon a fire, a part 
 immediately bursts into flame, from which copious particles of soot or carbon are thrown 
 off unburnt, though of the other constituent of the coal, that is to say, the hydrogen gas 
 
904 VINEGAR. 
 
 no particle escapes unoxidized. This arises from the fact that, except at very high 
 temperatures, hydrogen has a greater affinity for oxygen than carbon has ; consequent- 
 ly, as the supply of oxygen from the atmospheric air in the immediate neighborhood is 
 limited, the hydrogen seizes upon its equivalent to the exclusion of the carbon, -which, 
 therefore remains and constitutes soot. Exactly in the same way the hydrogen of the 
 alcohol in the wash oxidizes to the exclusion of the carbon, and vinegar is formed from 
 the remaining or carbonaceous element, which becomes itself slightly oxidized. Thus 
 2 atoms of alcohol are composed of: — 
 
 atoms. 
 Carbon - - - - - - -4 
 
 Hydrogen - - - - - - -6 
 
 Oxygen - - - - - -2 
 
 whilst acetic acid or pure radical vinegar contains of — 
 
 atoms. 
 Carbon - - - - - - -4 
 
 Hydrogen - ... 3 
 
 Oxygen - - - - 3 
 
 If, therefore, we suppose the contact of air with alcohol to have led to the absorption 
 of oxygen, so as to have oxidized three atoms of hydrogen, and thus produced three 
 atoms of water, we have left 
 
 atoms. 
 Carbon - - - - - - -4 
 
 Hydrogen ------ 3 
 
 Oxygen - - - - - - -2 
 
 which, by the mere absorption of another atom of oxygen, becomes 
 
 atoms. 
 Carbon - - - - - - -4 
 
 Hydrogen - - - - - - -3 
 
 Oxygen - - - - 3 
 
 or pure acetic acid, with which the water produced from the hydrogen remains in union 
 and forms vinegar. From the above it follows, that as the oxidization of hydrogen 
 generates heat or caloric, there ought to be a very appreciable rise in temperature 
 during the passage of the wort through the acetifier. And, in practice, this is found to 
 be the case ; so that precautions are needed to prevent the neat from rising so high as to 
 vaporise the remaining alcohol of the wash. The temperature sought to be obtained 
 is about 90° or 92° Fahr., at which oxidation goes on freely, and the loss of alcohol is 
 moderate. In using the word moderate, we speak practically rather than chemically ; 
 for in reality the loss is very serious with strong worts. From practical results, con- 
 ducted with more than ordinary care, we have ascertained that about one-third of all 
 the extractive matter of the malt and grain is lost or dissipated during the processes of 
 fermentation and acetification. Thus, a wort having a specific gravity of l p 072, or, in 
 technical language, weighing about 26 lbs. per barrel, afforded a vinegar containing 54 
 per cent, of pure acetic acid, and a residuary extract of 10 lbs. from 36 gallons. The 
 former of these would indicate 35 lbs. of sugar, or 13 '7 lbs. per barrel of gravity; 
 whilst the latter shows 3 ■& lbs. per barrel; the two united being only 17 '5 lbs. instead 
 of 26, the original weight The loss, therefore, has been 8'5 lbs., or from a specific 
 gravity of 1 '072 to less than r050. The prodigious destruction of extract seems to im- 
 ply that great improvements may yet take place in the manufacture of vinegar. 
 
 The manufacture of vinegar, by Ham's process, is an extremely interesting operation, 
 and when conducted with proper care furnishes results of the most satisfactory and 
 uniform character. These, however, are not to be obtained without a vast amount of 
 experience and the most vigilant attention on the part of the manufacturer. Thus a 
 difference in the water, in the malt, in the mode of washing, in the cooling of the wort 
 or in the fermentation of the wort, will each give rise to modifications in the acetifying 
 process which no subsequent skill or labor can afterwards rectify. There seems no 
 doubt that the most important points in Ham's method are the cooling and fermentation 
 of the wort, though, where perfection is sought for, no one of the other conditions can 
 be omitted or neglected with impunity. We shall, therefore, proceed to treat of these 
 conditions seriatim, rather than in the order of their importance. At first sight it might 
 be supposed that the purer the water the better, that is to say, the less the amount of 
 
VIOLET DYE. 90S 
 
 earthy or saline constituents the more valuable the water would be for making vinegar. 
 Experience, however, teaches us the contrary, and seience confirms the truth of this 
 teaching, by pointing out the real nature of the operation. When pure water is made to 
 act at a high temperature upon the ordinary ingredients of a vinegar-maker's mash tun, 
 it is not alone the sugar, gum, and starch of the grain which enters into solution, for 
 under such circumstances the gluten is also dissolved. But this gluten is composed of 
 vegetable albumen and vegetable gelatine, the former of which, as is well known, is 
 capable of being decomposed and precipitated by many earthy and metallic salts, of 
 which the sulphate of lime is one. If, therefore, this salt exists in the water employed 
 for the fabrication of vinegar or of ale or beer, the wort will contain little or no vegeta- 
 ble albumen ; consequently, the vinegar or beer made with such water never becomes 
 cloudy or roapy, as happens when pure water is used, for these defects arise from an 
 excess of albuminous matter. The water used for making the celebrated Burton ale 
 contains a great deal of sulphate of lime, and the spring water of Worcester, which is 
 employed by the extensive firm of Hill, Evans and Co., in that city, vinegar-makers,- 
 contains also a very large amount of sulphate of lime, and no doubt contributes much 
 toward maintaining the well-established reputation of that firm. Whenever, therefore, 
 much sulphate of lime exists in water, without thepresence of any noxious ingredient, 
 such water may always be relied upon as favorable for the production of good beer and 
 vinegar. 
 
 As regards the malt, or rather the mixture of malt and jrain, employed for \,he pro- 
 duction of wort, the common Scotch distiller's formula is the best, containing, as it always 
 does, a considerable per-centage of oats, for the long husk of the oat greatly facilitates 
 the operation of draining, and thus secures the thorough separation of the wort from the 
 spent grains. 
 
 In practice it is found necessary to ferment only two gravities, a high and a low, 
 all the other qualities of vinegar being made by mixing or diluting these after 
 ace titieation. 1 he most common, and unquestionably the best, gravity for fermentation 
 is that which in technical language weighs about 20 lbs., or has a specific gravity of 
 1"056 ; the other, or that intended for strong or proof vinegar, being of spec. grav. 1.U72 ; 
 this latter affords a vinegar containing about 5J per cent, of anhydrous aeetie acid. 
 
 In every instance the fermentation must be carried to its utmost limit, or to zero at 
 least, and in cooling the wort prior to fermentation, great eare must be used to prevent 
 the accession of the acetous fermentation before the yeast is added ; for if this happens to 
 any considerable extent, the nitrogenized matter of the yeast is then permanently retained 
 in solution by the aeetie acid, and this may give rise to the inconvenience called the 
 " mother." To secure a perfect vinegar by Ham's process, as much attention is required, 
 during the cooling and fermentation, as for the finest ale, and this axiom cannot be 
 too strongly inculcated into the minds of vinegar-makers. The heat of the fermenting 
 tun should not exceed 75° Fahr., as the alcohol formed by the process is apt at higher 
 temperatures to pass off in considerable quantity with the carbonic acid, and thus give 
 rise to a loss of vinegar. Presuming that the fermentation has been well conducted, and 
 that the specific gravity of the wash is as low as water, or 1 "000, the next step is to pass it 
 through that apparatus which constitutes the great peculiarity of Ham's process. This 
 apparatus is called the acetifier. See Acetic Acid. 
 
 VIOLET DYE, is produced by a mixture of red and blue coloring-matters, which are 
 applied in succession. Silk is dyed a fugitive violet with either archil or Brazil wood ; 
 but a fine fast violet, first by a crimson with cochineal, without tartar or tin mordant, and 
 after washing, it is dipped in the indigo vat. A finish is sometimes given with archil. 
 A violet is also given to silk, by passing it through a solution of verdigris, then through 
 a bath of logwood, and, lastly, through alum water. A more beautiful violet may be 
 communicated by passing the alumed silk through a bath of Brazil wood, and after wash- 
 ing it in the river, through a bath of archil. 
 
 To produce violets on printed calicoes, a dilute acetate of iron is the mordant, and the 
 dye is madder. The mordanted goods should be well dunged. 
 
 A good process for dyeing cottons violet, is — first, to gall, with 18 or 20 pounds of nut- 
 galls for every 100 pounds of cotton ; second, to pass the stuff, still hot, through a mordant 
 composed of— alum, 10 pounds; iron-liquor, at 1" B., and sulpnate of copper, each 5 or 
 6 pounds ; water, from 24 to 28 gallons ; working it well, with alternate steeping, squeez- 
 ing, airing, dipping, squeezing, and washing; third, to madder, with its own weight of 
 the root ; and fourth, to brighten with soap. If soda be used at the end, instead of soap, 
 the color called prune de monsieur will be produced ; and by varying the doses of the in 
 gredients, a variety of violet tints may be given. 
 
 The best violets are produced by dyeing yarn or cloth which has been prepared with 
 oil as for the Turkey-red process. See Madder. 
 
 For the violet prwneau a little nitrate of iron is mixed with the alum mordant, which 
 
 Vol. II. 59 
 
906 VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 ■makes a black; but this is changed into violet prunecai, by a madder-bath, followed by 
 a brightening with soap. 
 VITRIFIABLE COLORS ; see Enamels, Pastes, Pottery, and Stained Glass. 
 
 VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. The art of painting with verifiable pigments has not 
 kept pace with the progress of science, and is far from having attained that degree of 
 perfection of which it is capable. It still presents too many difficulties to prove a 
 fertile field to the artist for his labors : and its products have, for this reason, never 
 held that rank in art which is due to them from the indestructibility and brilliancy of 
 the colors. The reason of this is attributable to the circumstance that the production 
 of good vitrifiable pigments is mere chance work; and notwithstanding the numerous 
 paperB published on this subject, is still "the secret of the few. »The directions given in 
 larger works and periodica-^ are very incomplete and indefinite ; and even in the other- 
 wise highly valuable Traite dss Arts Giramiques of Brongniart, the chapter on the 
 preparation of colors is far from satisfactory," and is certainly no frank communication 
 of the experience gathered in the royal manufactory of Sevres. 
 
 Now it is equally important to art and science that as many persons as possible should 
 contribute to develop this art : but so long as every individual about to engage in the 
 subject finds himself compelled, as I was on commencing, to discover the knowledge al- 
 ready acquired by others, but kept secret, the cost of time and trouble requisite is suf- 
 ficient to frighten most persons, and, what is of greatest injury to the art, especially 
 the scientific chemist, from working on the subject • 
 
 The branch of painting with vitrifiable pigments which has acquired its greatest de- 
 velopment is the art of painting on porcelain. The glaze of hard felspar porcelain, 
 owing to its difficult fusion, produces less alteration upon the tone of a color of the 
 easily fusible pigments than is the case in painting upon glass, enamel, fayence, &e. 
 The colors for painting upon porcelain are all of them, after the firing, colored lead- 
 glasses throughout ; but before this operation, most of them are mere mixtures of col- 
 orless lead-glass, the flux, and a pigment. In the so-called gold colors, purple, violet, 
 and pink, the pigments are preparations of gold, the productions of which has hitherto 
 been considered as especially difficult and uncertain. The following are the processes 
 which I employ: — 
 
 Light Purple. — 6 grammes of tin turnings are dissolved in boiling nitromuriatic acid, 
 the solution concentrated in the water bath until it solidifies on cooling. The per- 
 chloride of tin prepared in this manner, and which still contains a slight excess of mu- 
 riatic acid, is dissolved in a little distilled water, and mixed with two grammes of so- 
 lution of protoehloride of tin of 1 100 sp. gr., obtained by boiling tin turnings in excess 
 with muriatic acid to the required degree of concentration. This mixed solution of tin 
 is poured into a glass vessel, and gradually mixed with 10 litres of distilled water. It 
 must still contain just so much acid that no turbidness results from the separation of 
 oxide of tin ; this may be ascertained previously by taking a drop of the concentrated 
 solution of tin upon a glass rod, and mixing it in a watch glass with distilled water. A 
 clear solution of O'S grammes gold in nitromuriatic acid, which must be as- neutral as 
 possible, is poured into the solution of tin diluted with 10 litres of water, constantly 
 agitating the whole time. The gold solution should have been previously evaporated 
 nearly to dryness in the water bath, then diluted with water, and filtered in the dark. 
 
 On adding the gold solution, the whole liquid acquires a deep red color, without, 
 however, any precipitate being formed ; this instantly separates upon the addition of 
 50 grammes of solution of ammonia. But if no precipitate should result, which may 
 happen if the amount of ammonia was too great in proportion to the acid contained in 
 the liquid, and in which case the liquid forms a deep red solution, the precipitate im- 
 mediately results upon the addition of a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid. It 
 subsides very quickly. The supernatant liquid should be poured off from it as soon as 
 possible, and replaced 5 or 6 times successively by an equal quantity of fresh spring 
 water. When the precipitate has been thus sufficiently washed, it is collected upon a 
 filter; and as soon as the water has drained off cdmpletely, removed while still moist 
 with a silver spatula, and mixed intimately upon a ground plate of glass by means 
 of a spatula and grinder with 20 grammes of lead-glass, previously ground very fine 
 upon the same plate with water. The lead-glass is obtained by fusing together 2 parts 
 of minium with 1 part of quartz sand, and 1 part of calcined borax. 
 
 The intimate mixture of gold-purple and lead-glass is slowly dried upon the same 
 glass plate upon which it had been mixed in a moderately warm room, carefully pro- 
 tected from dust, and when dry, rubbed to a fine powder, and mixed with three 
 grammes of carbonate of silver. 
 
 In this manner we obtain 33 grammes of light purple pigments from 0'6 gramme 
 gold. 
 
 The above proportion of lead-glass and carbonate of silver to the gold precipitate hold* 
 
VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 90* 
 
 good only for a certain temperature, at which the color must be bnmt-in upon the por- 
 celain, and which is situated very near the fusing point of silver. 
 
 To obtain the color with a less degree of heat, the amount of lead-glass added to the 
 gold must be greater, but that of the carbonate of silver less. The same holds good 
 with respect to the preparation of the purple pigment for glass painting. 
 
 The best purple may be spoiled in the baking in the muffle. When this is done at 
 too low a temperature, the color remains brown and dull; but if the right degree of 
 temperature has been exceeded, it appears pale and bluish. Reducing, and especially 
 acid, vapors, vapors of oxide of bismuth, <fcc., have likewise an injurious effect upon it. 
 
 Dark purple. — The clear neutral solution of 0'5 of gramme gold in nitromuriatic acid 
 is diluted in a glass vessel with 10 litres of distilled water, and mixed under constant 
 agitation with 7 -6 grammes of the solution of protochloride of tin of l^OO sp. gr. pre- 
 pared in the manner described above. The liquid is colored of a dark-brownish red , 
 but the precipitate is only deposited on the addition of a few drops of concentrated sul- 
 phuric acid. The supernatant liquor is poured off, and replaced five or six times suc- 
 cessively with an equal amount of spring water. The precipitate, which is sufficiently 
 washed, is collected on a filter ; ana after the excess of water is drained off, removed 
 while still moist with a spatula, and mixed, exactly as described for the light purple, 
 upon a glass plate with 10 grammes of the above lead-glass, dried, then reduced to a 
 fine powder, and mixed with 0-5 grammes carbc.nate of silver; it furnishes about 13 
 grammes of dark purple pigment. The 6tated proportion of lead-glass and carbonate 
 of silver to the gold is for the same temperature of firing as given for the mixture of 
 light purple ; for a lower temperature and also for painting upon glass, the quantity 
 of lead-glass must be increased and that of the silver salt diminished. 
 
 Red Violet. — The gold precipitate from 0'5 gramme gold is prepared in the same 
 manner as for the dark purple, and whilst moist taken from the filter, and mixed in- 
 timately upon the plate" of glass with 12 grammes of a lead glass prepared by fusing 4 
 parts of minium with 2 parts of quartz sand and 1 part calcined borax; it is then dried 
 as above, and reduced to a fine powder upon a plate of glass, but without any addition 
 of silver. The proportion of lead-glass to gold applies likewise for the same'degree of 
 temperature as fn the case of the light and dark purple pigments ; a lower temperature 
 requires a larger proportion of lead-glass. A slight addition of silver to this pigment 
 converts the red violet into a dark purple ; and when employed alone for painting upon 
 glass, it gives a very excellent purple. 
 
 Blue Violet. — This same gold precipitate of 0'5 grammes gold is mixed, while still 
 moist, upon the glass plate with 10 p 5 grammes of a lead glass, obtained by fusing 4 parts 
 of minium with 1 of quartz sand, 4rying it slowly in the manner above mentioned, and 
 then reducing it to a fine powder upon the glass plate. When the pigment is burnt-in 
 at a lower temperature, a larger addition of lead-glass is required. This blue violet 
 pigment is more especially adapted for mixing with blue pigments. It is not applicable 
 to glass painting. The most important requisite in the preparation of good purple and 
 violet vitrifiable pigment is the very minute state of division of the gold in the gold 
 precipitate, and the latter in the lead-glass, which is accomplished by mixing the moist 
 precipitate with the glass. 
 
 By mixing the light purple with the dark purple or with the red violet, or the red 
 violet with the dark purple, in different proportions, the artist is able to produce every 
 possible tint of purple and violet. The light purple, without any additional silver, 
 furnishes an amaranth-red color, like that seen upon most of the porcelains of the pre 
 ceding century, when the peculiar property of silver, of converting the amaranth-red 
 into a rose-red color, does not appear to have been known. Dr. Richter, who at the 
 commencement of this century prepared the pigments for the Royal Berlin manufactory 
 of porcelain, appears, however, to have employed it for his purple, as a very beautiful 
 rose polor may be seen upon the painted porcelain of that time. 
 
 Pink. — One gramme of gold is dissolved in nitromuriatic acid ; the solution mixed 
 with one of 50 grammes of alum in 20 litres of spring water; then mixed, constantly 
 agitating, with T'5 gramme solution of protochloride of tin of l'^OO specific gravity, 
 and so much ammonia added until all the alumina is precipitated. When the precipitate 
 has subsided, the supernatant liquor is poured off, and replaced about 10 times succes- 
 sively by an equal amount of fresh spring water; the precipitate is then collected on 
 a filter, and dried at a gentle heat. It weighs about 13'5 grammes; and to prepare 
 the pigment is mixed with 2'5 grammes carbonate of silver, and -70 grammes of the 
 same load-glass described under light purple (2 minium, 1 quartz sand, 1 calcined 
 borax), and reduced to a fine powder on the glass plate. 
 
 This color is adapted only for the production of a light pink ground upon porcelain, 
 and must only be applied in a thin layer; when laid on a thick layer, the gold 
 separates in a metallic state, and no color is produced. 
 
 All the gold colors above described do not furnish, when fused alone in a crucible, 
 
908 VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 red or violet glasses, as might be expected, bat dirty brown or yellowish glasses, whieft 
 appear troubled from the separation of metallic gold and silver; this peculiar beautiful 
 tint is only developed when they are fused upon the porcelain glaze in a layer, whi«h 
 must not be too thick; they then color it through and through, as a piece of porcelain 
 painted with it shows distinctly in the fracture. If the layer exceeds a certain thick- 
 ness, the gold and silver separate in a metallic state; and they produce either a liver 
 color, as for instance the purple and violet pigments, or no color at all, as is the case 
 with the more fusible pink pigment 
 
 Yellow Pigments for painting upon Porcelain. — The yellow verifiable pigments are 
 lead-glasses, colored either by antimonic acid or oxide of uranium. The antimoniate 
 of potash is prepared by igniting 1 part of finely powdered metallic antimony with 2 
 parts of nitre, in a red-hot Hessian crucible, and washing the residue with water. The 
 oxide of uranium is obtained in the fittest state, by heating the nitrate until the whole 
 of the nitric acid is expelled. 
 
 Lemon Yellow. — 8 parts antimoniate of potash, 2| parts oxide of zinc, 36 parts of 
 lead-glass (prepared by fusing together 5 parts minium, 2 parts of white sand, and 
 1 part of calcined borax), are intimately mixed, and heated to redness in a porcelain 
 crucible, which is placed in a Hessian crucible, until the mixture forms a paste; it is 
 then taken out with a spatula, pounded after cooling, and ground upon a plate glass. 
 If the pigment is fused longer than requisite for the perfect union of the ingredients, 
 the yellow color is converted into a dirty gray by the destruction of the antimoniate 
 of lead. 
 
 Light Yellow. — 4 parts antimoniate of potash, 1 part oxide of zinc, and 36 parts of 
 lead-glass (prepared by fusing together 8 parts of minium and 1 part of white sand), 
 are well mixed, fused in a Hessian crucible, and after cooling, pounded and ground. 
 In the preparation of this color, long fusion is less injurious y*an with the preceding 
 one, owing to the absence of the borate of soda in the lead-glass. The color itself is 
 more intensely yellow than the preceding one, and is extremely well adapted for mix- 
 ing with -red and brown pigments; but it does not furnish such pure tints as that when 
 mixed with green ; owing to its higher specific gravity, it flows more freely from the 
 brush, and may be laid on in a thicker layer, without scaling off after the firing. 
 
 Dark Yellow, 1.— 48 parts minium, 16 parts sand, 8 calcined borax, 16 antimoniate 
 of potash, 4 oxide of zinc, and 5 parts peroxide of iron (caput mortuum), are intimately 
 mixed and fused in a Hessian crucible, until the ingredients have perfectly combined, 
 but no longer; otherwise the golden yellow color is converted -into a dirty gray, as in 
 the caso of the lemon-yellow pigment. 
 
 Dark. Yellow, 2. — 20 parts of minium, 2| white sand, 4j antimoniate of potash, 1 part 
 peroxide of iron (caput fnortuum), and 1 part oxide of zinc, are well mixed and fused 
 in a Hessian crucible. Long fusion is less injurious in this case than in the preceding. 
 Iron-rod pigment may be laid on and near this dark yellow 2, without its being 
 destroyed, or the harmony of the tints injuriously affected. 
 
 For landscape and figure painting, the above-mentioned yellow pigments should be 
 made less readily fusible, in order to paint with them upon or beneath other colors, 
 without any fear of what has been painted being dissolved by the subjacent or super- 
 posed pigment. This property is given to it by the addition of Naples yellow, which 
 is best prepared for this purpose by long-continued ignition of a mixture of 1 part 
 tartar-emetie, 2 parts nitrate of lead, 4 parts of dry chloride of sodium, in a Hessian 
 crucible, and washing the pounded residue with water. Very useful yellow colors 
 are likewise obtained by mixing this Naples yellow with lead-glass; they are, however, 
 more expensive than those above given. A very excellent yellow for landscape paint- 
 . ing may be prepared, for instance, by mixing 8 parts Naples yellow and 6 parts lead- 
 glass (obtained by fusing 2 parts of minium with 1 of white sand and 1 of calcined 
 borax). • i 
 
 The yellow pigments obtained with antimony, after being burnt-in upon the porce- 
 lain, appear under the microscope to be mixtures of a yellow transparent substance 
 (antimoniate of lead?), and a colorless glass, and not homogeneous yellow glasses. 
 
 Uranium Yellow. — 1 part oxide of uranium, 4 parts lead-glass (prepared by fusing 
 8 parts minium with 1 part white sand), are intimately mixed and ground upon a glass 
 plate, This color is not adapted for mixing with otherB, with which it produces dis- 
 cordant tints. It may be shaded with dark purple or violet. 
 
 Uranium Orange.— 4 parts oxide of uranium, 1 part chloride of silver, and 3 parts 
 bismuth glass (prepared by fusing 4 parts of oxide of bismuth with 1 part of crystal- 
 ized boracic acid), are intimately mixed and ground upon a plate glass. This orange 
 is not adapted any more than the yellow pigment, for being mixed with other colors. 
 When examined under the microscope, after being burnt-in upon porcelain, the 
 uranium pigments appear as pale yellow-colored glasses, in which unaltered oxide 
 
VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 909 
 
 »f uranium is suspended. Only a small portion, therefore, of the oxide of uranium has 
 dissolved in the fusing. 
 
 Green Pigments for painting upon Porcelain. Blue Green. — 10 parts of the chromate 
 of protoxide of mercury and 1 part of chemically pure oxide of cobalt are ground upon 
 a glass plate, in order to produce as intimate a mixture as possible ; the mixture is 
 then heated in a porcelain tube, open at both ends, until the whole of the mercury is 
 expelled. The beautiful bluish-green powder thus obtained is then transferred into 
 a porcelain crucible, arid the lid cemented to it with glaze. The full crucible is 
 exposed to the highest temperature of the porcelain furnace duriDg one firing, the 
 crucible carefully^ broken after the cooling, and the pigment washed with water, to 
 remove a small quantity of chromate of potash. In this manner a compound of oxide 
 of chromium and oxide of cobalt is obtained in nearly equivalent proportions, which 
 possesses the bluish-green color of verdigris. 
 
 The blue-green pigment consists of a mixture of 1 part of the above compound of 
 oxide of chromium and oxide of cobalt, J part of oxide of zinc, and 5 parts of lead-glass 
 (prepared by fusing together 2 parts minium, 1 part white sand, and 1 part calcined 
 borax), which are mixed and ground upon the glass plate. By mixing this blue-green 
 with lemon-yellow, any desired intermediate tint may be produced. 1 part of blue- 
 green to 6 parts of lemon-yellow, furnishes a beautiful grass-green. 
 
 Dark Green. — The chromate of mercury is treated separately in the same way as 
 the mixture of it with oxide of cobalt for the blue-green ; and 1 part of the beautiful 
 green oxide of chromium thus obtained is mixed with 3 parts of the same lead-glass, as 
 given under blue-green, and ground upon the glass plate. 
 
 Green for shading. — 8 parts chromate of mercury arid 1 part oxide of cobalt are 
 intimately mixed, and exposed in a shallow dish to the strongest heat of the porcelain 
 furnace, during one of the bakings. In this manner, a compound of oxide of chromium 
 and oxide of co-bait is obtained, of a greenish-black color, which, mixed with twice the 
 weight of the lead-glass directed for the blue-green, furnishes a very infusible blackish- 
 green color, for shading other green colors. 
 
 When thin splinters of the green pigments of chromium, burnt-in upon porcelain, are 
 examined under the microscope, it is distinctly seen that particles of the oxide of 
 Sbromium, or of the oxide of chromium and cobalt, as suspended, undissolved, in the 
 eolorless lead-glass. 
 
 Blue Pigments for painting upon Porcelain. Dark Blue.—l part chemically pure 
 oxide of cobalt, 1 part oxide of zinc, 1 part lead-glass (prepared by fusing together 
 2 parts of minium and 1 of white sand), are well mixed and fused in a porcelain 
 crucible, for at least 3 hours at a red heat : then poured out, reduced to powder, and 
 ground upon the glass. When this pigment cools slowly, it solidifies to a mass of 
 acieular crystals. Long-continued fusion, at not too high a temperature, is requisite 
 to obtain a beautiful tint; this is best attained by fusing it, during one of the bakings, 
 in the second floor of the porcelain furnace; this is also the cheapest and best way of 
 fusing the lead glasses. 
 
 Light Blue. — 1 part oxide of cobalt, 2 parts oxide of zine, 6 parts lead-glass (pre- 
 pared by fusing together 2 parts of minium and 1 of white sand), and lj part lead- 
 glass (prepared by fusing together 2 parts of minium, 1 part white sand, and 1 part 
 calcined borax), are well mixed and fused, as directed for the dark blue. 
 
 Blue for shading. — 10 parts oxide of cobalt, 9 parts oxide of zinc, 26 parts of lead- 
 glass (obtained by fusing 2*parts of minium and 1 of white sand), and 6 parts of 
 lead-glass (prepared by fusing together 2 parts of minium, 1 part of white sand, and 
 1 part of calcined-borax), are mixed and fused, as directed for the dark blue. The 
 iolor is only used for shading, or to be applied upon, or beneath, the two preceding 
 blue pigments, for which purpose it is admirably suited from its being very difficult 
 »f fusion. 
 
 Sky Blue. — 2 parts of park blue, 1 part oxide of zinc, and 4 parts of lead-glass (pre- 
 pared by fusing 4 parts minium with 1 of white sand), are intimately mixed and 
 ijreund upon the glass plate. This pigment is employed, either alone, or mixed with 
 other colors, only for painting the sky in landscape. 
 
 The blue pigments described likewise appear under th3 microscope, after having 
 been burnt-in upon the porcelain, not to be homogeneous blue glasses, but mixtures of 
 a transparent blue substance (silicate of cobalt and zinc J), and a colorless glass. 
 
 Turquoise Blue. — 3 parts of chemically pure oxide of cobalt, and 1 part of pure 
 oxide of, zinc, are '"dissolved together in sulphuric acid ; then an aqueous solution of 
 40 part's ammonia-alum added, the mixed solutions evaporated to dryness, and the 
 residue heated to expel the whole of the water ; then reduced to a powder, and exposed 
 in a crucible to an intense red heat for several hours. The color is most beautiful, 
 when it has been exposed, during one firing, to the heat of the porcelain furnace. It 
 is a combinalion of nearly 4 equivs. alumina, 3 equivs. oxide of cobalt, and 1 equiv. 
 
910 VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 oxide of zinc, and is of a beautiful turquoise-blue color. When the oxides are mixed 
 in other proportions than those above given, they do not furnish such beautiful 
 colored compounds. To impart to it a slightly greenish tint, a little moist recently 
 precipitated protochromate of mercury is mixed with the above described solution of 
 ammonia-alum, zinc, and cobalt; .with the above quantities, JU part of the chromate, 
 calculated in the dry state, suffices. 
 
 The turquoise-blue vitrifiable pigment is prepared by mixing 1 part of the compound 
 of alumina-oxide of zinc and cobalt with two parts of bismuth glass (prepared by fu- 
 sing 5 parts of oxide of bismuth with 1 part of crystallized boracic acid). 
 
 The receipt for the preparation of the turquoise-blue pigment, communicated in the 
 TraitS des Arts Ciramiques by Brongniart, is incorrect ; for a lead-glass of the compo- 
 sition there given (3 parts minium, 1 part sand, 1 part boracio acid) destroys the tur- 
 quoise-blue pigment entirely on fusion, and only a dirty bluish gray color is produced. 
 On examining under the microscope the turquoise-blue pigment burnt-in upon porcelain, 
 it appears to be a mixture of a transparent blue substance and a colorless glass. The 
 transparent blue substance in all probability is the above described compound of oxide 
 of cobalt and alumina, which is of itself transparent under the microscope, but the 
 transparency of which is increased by the surrounding fused glass of bismuth, just 
 like the fibres of paper by oil. This is probably the case also with the microscopie 
 blue constituent of the other blue vitrifiable figments, and which is probably silicate 
 of zinc and cobalt ; for this, when prepared separately, forms a pure blue transparent 
 powder. 
 
 Black and Gray Colors for painting upon Porcelain. Iridium Black. — Iridium as ob- 
 tained in commerce from Russia in. the state of a fine gray powder, is mixed with an 
 equal weight of calcined chloride of sodium, and heated to a faint red in a porcelain tube, 
 through which a current of chlorine is passed. In this manner a portion of the iridium 
 is converted into the bichloride of iridium and sodium, which is dissolved'ontwith water 
 from the ignited mass. The aqueous solution of the double salt is evaporated to dryness, 
 with carbonate of soda, and then extracted with water, which furnishes, black sesquioxide 
 of iridium. This is dried and mixed with twice its weight of lead-glass (prepared by 
 fusing together 12 parts of minium, 3 parts of white sand, and 1 part of calcined borax); 
 and ground upon a plate of glass. The iridium, which remained undecomposed in the 
 first treatment with sea salt and chlorine, is again submitted to the same treatment. 
 
 Iridium Gray. — 1 part.of the sesquioxide of iridium, 4 parts of oxide of zinc and 22 
 parts of lead glass (prepared by fusing together 5 parts of minium, 2 parts of sand and 
 I part of calcined borax) are intimately mixed and ground fine upon a plate of glass. 
 On microscopical examination of the iridium pigments after they have been burnt-in 
 upon porcelain, the sesquioxide iridium is seen to be suspended in the transparent 
 fused lead-glass. It is owing to the unalterability of the sesquioxide of iridium that it 
 admits of being mixed with all other vitrifiable colors without injuriously affecting the 
 tints, as is the case with all the other vitrifiable gray and black pigments. 
 
 Black from Cobalt and Manganese. — 2 parts of sulphate of cobalt deprived of its water 
 of crystallization, 2 parts of dry protosulphate of manganese, and 5 parts of nitre, are 
 intimately mixed, and heated to redness in a Hessian crucible until the whole of the 
 nitre is decomposed. The calcined mass, exhausted with boiling water, furnishes n 
 deep black powder, which consists of a combination of oxide of cobalt and oxide of 
 manganese. 1 part of this compound is mixed with 2J pa*ts of lead glass (prepared 
 by fusing together 5 parts of minium, 2 parts of sand, anci 1 part calcined borax), and 
 ground fine upon a plate of glass. " 
 
 Gray from Cobalt and Manganese. — 2 parts of the above compound of tne oxide of 
 cobalt and manganese, 1 part oxide of zinc, and 9 parts of lead-glass (prepared by fu- 
 sing together 5 parts of minium, 2 parts of sand, and 1 part of calcined borax) are mixed 
 and ground fine. 
 
 These black and gray pigments are far less expensive to prepare than those from irid- 
 ium, and are not inferior to them in color ; but they do not mix so well with other 
 colors, and when baked several times they vary their tint somewhat, which renders 
 their application less certain. When these colors burnt-in upon porcelain are ex- 
 amined under the microscope, it is seen that the oxide of cobalt and manganese is not 
 'dissolved by the lead-glass, but merely suspended in it. 
 
 Besides these colors a very infusible black is used in painting, which is not acted 
 upon by the superposed colors in the fusion ; it is the 
 
 Ground Black, which consists of 5 parts of blue violet (gold purple). If part of oxide 
 of manganese and cobalt, and If part of oxide of zine ; these are intimately mixed and 
 ground fine upon a plate of glass. 
 
 White for covering.—! part minium, 1 part white sand, and 1 part crystallized boiacifl 
 acid, are well mixed, and fused in a porcelain crucible. This white enamel has the pe- 
 culiarity o" forming colorles&.clear glass when quickly cooled for instance, when poured 
 into water while, when slowly cooled, it remains perfectly white and opaque. On heat- 
 
VITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 911 
 
 log the clear glass to its melting point, it loses its transparency, and becomes opaque as 
 before. This property it possesses in common with the enamels, the opacity of which 
 is produced by arsenic or tungstic acid : probably the opacity in the present case ia 
 produced by the separation of silicate of lead, as in the white enamels by arseniate or 
 tungstate of potash or by oxide of zinc. It is, however, of excessive minuteness; for 
 under the microscope, even with the highest power, the glass merely exhibits a yellow- 
 ish turbidness, and no individual particles are visible. 
 
 This white serves for marking the lightest part of the pictures, where it is impossible 
 to produce them by exposing the bare surface of the white porcelain ; it is also frequently 
 mixed in small quantity with the yellow and green pigments, to make them cover well. 
 
 Lead Flux. — A colorless lead-glass for touching-up those parts of the painting which 
 have remained dull, and for mixing with those pigments which are not easy of fusion, 
 is obtained by mixing together 5 parts of minium, 2 parts of white sand, and one part 
 of calcined borax. 
 
 Red and Brown virtrifiable Pigments derived from Peroxide of Iron for painting upon 
 Porcelain. — Yellow Red. — Anhydrous sulphate of the peroxide of iron is heated to red- 
 ness on a dish in an open muffle, and constantly stirred with an iron spatula until the 
 greater portion of the sulphuric acid has been expelled and a sample mixed with water 
 upon a glass-plate exhibits a beautiful yellowish-red color ; after cooling, the peroxide 
 of iron is freed by washing with water from any undecomposed sulphate, and dried. 
 To prepare the pigment, 1 parts of the yellowish-red peroxide of iron are well mixed 
 with 24 parts of lead-glass (prepared by" fusing together 12 parts of minium, S parts of 
 sand, and 1 part of calcined borax) and ground fine upon a plate of glass. 
 
 Brown Red. — When the persulphate of iron is heated to redness until the whole of 
 the sulphuric acid is expelled, and a sample exhibits a dark red color, the peroxide of 
 iron is well suited for a brownish red pigment, which is prepared in the same manner 
 as directed for the yellowish red. 
 
 Bluish Red (Pompadour).— When the persulphate is heated still more strongly, it is 
 deprived of its loose consistence, becomes heavier, and acquires a bluish red color. To 
 hit this point exactly when the oxide of iron has assumed the desired carmine tint is 
 not so easy, as it changes very rapidly at these temperatures. 
 
 The pigment is prepared by mixing 2 parts of the purple colored peroxide of iron 
 with 5 parts of lead-glass, obtained by fusing together 5 part's of minium, 2 parts of sand, 
 and one part of calcined borax. 
 
 Chestnut Brown. — This color of various shades, even to black, is acquired by the 
 peroxide of iron, at still higher degrees of heat than required for the preparation of red 
 colors; the pigments are prepared by mixing 2 parts of the chestnut-brown peroxide 
 of iron with 5 parts of lead glass, prepared by fusing together 12. parts of minium, 3 
 parts of sand, and 1 part of calcined borax. 
 
 Chamois. — 1 part of the hydrate of the peroxide of iron, prepared by precipitating 
 the peroxide of iron with ammonia, is mixed -with 4 parts of the lead-glass, described 
 in the preceding, and the mixture ground fine on a plate of glass. This color is laid 
 on very thin, and serves to produce a yellowish brown ground. 
 
 .-. Flesh color. — 1 part red peroxide of iron, 4 parts of dark yellow 2, and 10 parts of 
 lead-glass, prepared as described under chestnut-brown, as well mixed and ground 
 fine upon a plate of glass. This color can also only be employed in a thin layer. 
 Various tints may be given to it by mixing it with a red peroxide of iron, sky-blue 
 or dark yellow 2. The red of the cheeks and lips are painted upon it with Pompa- 
 dour red. 
 
 When the above colors are burnt-in upon porcelain, it is distinctly seen under the 
 mieroseope that the peroxide of iron is suspended unaltered in their clear lead-glass; 
 at least the quantity dissolved by the fused lead-glass is so small that it is not percepti- 
 bly colored. . 
 
 Various Brown Pigments for painting upon Porcelain. — Liaht Brown 1. — 6 parts of 
 dry protosulphate of iron, 4 parts of dry sulphate of zinc, and 13 parts of nitre are well 
 mixed and heated to redness in a Hessian crucible, until the whole of the nitre is de- 
 composed. ' When cold, the crucible is broken, the residue removed, and separated by 
 boiling with water from soluble matters. A yellowish brown powder remains, which 
 is a combination of oxide of zinc with peroxide of iron. The pigment is made by mix- 
 ing 2 parts of this compound with 6 parts of lead-glass, prepared for fusing together 12 
 parts of minium, 3 parts of sand, and one part of calcined borax. _ 
 
 Light Brown 2.-2 parts of dry sulphate of iron, 2 parts of dry sulphate of zinc, and 
 5 parte of nitre, are treated in the same manner as above described for light brown 1. 
 The resulting compound of oxide of zinc and iron is of a higher tint; the pigment is 
 prepared from it as above. . , 
 
 Light Brown S.— 1 part of dry sulphate of iron, 2 parts of dry sulphate of zinc, and 
 4 parte of nitre are treated as directed for 1 and 2. 
 
9L2 
 
 , \ ITRIFIABLE PIGMENTS. 
 
 The light brown colors, after having been burnt-in upon porcelain, exhibited undei 
 the microscope the transparent particles of the yellowish oxide of iron and zinc sus 
 pended in the colorleBS lead-glass. 
 
 Bistre Brown, 1. — 1 part dry sulphate of manganese, 8 parts of dry sulphate of zinc, 
 12 parts dry sulphate of iron, and 26 parts nitre, are treated as directed for light brown, 
 ], and the resulting dark brown powder (a combination of the oxides of zinc, iron, and 
 manganese), mixed with 2 \ times its weight of lead-glass of the same composition as for 
 light brown, 1. 
 
 Bistre Brown, 2.-^1 part dry sulphate of manganese, 4 parts dry sulphate of iron, 4 
 parts dry sulphate of zinc, 12 parts nitre, are treated as for bistre brown, 1. The color 
 is somewhat darker. 
 
 Sepia Brown, 1. — 1 part dry sulphate of iron, 1 part dry sulphate of manganese, 2 
 parts dry sulphate of zinc, and 5 parts nitre, are treated as directed for light brown, 1, 
 and the grayish brown pigment thus obtained nixed with 2| times its weight of lead' 
 glass of the above composition. 
 
 Sepia Brown, 2. — 1 part calcined sulphate of iron, 2 parts calcined sulphate of 
 manganese, 6 parts calcined sulphate of zinc, and 10 parts nitre, are treated as for 
 sepia, 1. 
 
 • Dark Brown. — 1 part dry sulphate of cobalt, 4 parts dry sulphate of zinc, 4 parts dry 
 sulphate of iron, and 10 parts of nitre, are mixed and treated as directed for light 
 brown, 1. The resulting beautiful dark reddish brown combination of the oxides of 
 cobalt, zinc, and iron, is mixed with 2§ times its weight of the same lead-glass as for 
 the preceding colors. 
 
 Chrome Brown. — 1 part of hydrated peroxide of iron is intimately mixed with 2 parts 
 of the chromate of the protoxide of mercury, and then heated to redness in a dish, in 
 an open muffle, to expel the whole of the mercury. The dark reddish brown compound 
 of the oxides of chromium and iron is mixed with 3 times its weight of lead glass, 
 
 Erepared by fusing together 5 parts of minium, 2 parts of sand, and 1 part of calcined 
 orax. 
 
 When examined under the microscope, after being burnt-in upon porcelain, these 
 different brown colors also show that the dark compounds are merely suspended in 
 the lead-glass, and not, or merely to a small extent, dissolved. The direction above 
 given for preparing the colored combinations of the oxides in the dry way, for the 
 bodies which constitute the different brown pigments, is cheaper and more certain than 
 the precipitation of the mixed solutions by carbonate of soda and calcination of the 
 washed precipitate, which also answers. If, however, the several oxides were to be 
 mixed with the lead-glass separately, instead of combined, the colors would not be 
 pure, that is to say they would exhibit after the firing different tints in a thick and 
 thin layer; they would moreover possess a totally different color before the burning 
 from that which they acquire after that operation, and would thus contribute to de- 
 ceive the artist. 
 
 Gold Purple is obtained, according to the process of Ladersdorff, by mixing a solution 
 of 1 part .ducat of gold, in 4 parts aqua regia, with 1 drachm of tin salt dissolved in 
 4 ozs. distilled water, and a solution of 1 drachm of gum in 3 ozs. of water in the fol- 
 lowing proportions : — 
 
 Distilled water 
 Solution of gum-arabic 
 
 do of tin salt 
 
 do of gold 
 
 8 ozs. 
 28 grs. 
 14 „ 
 23 „ 
 
 and adding alcohol of 0-863 spec grav., until the liquid begins to grow turbid. The 
 purple is deposited and washed with spirit of 0"958. The dried precipitate has a 
 brownish color, and furnishes, when all the gum has been carefully removed by wasb> 
 ing, a very beautiful purple after the firing. 
 
 According to Fuchs, 1 oz. Uq.ferri muriat. oxydati, Ph. bor., is mixed with three ozs; 
 of distilled water, and a solution of 1 oz. protoehloride of tin in 6 oz. distilled water, 
 and 10 drops of muriatic acid added until the whole has acquired a greenish color, 
 when a further addition of 16 oz. of distilled water is made. 
 
 On the other hand, some ducat gold is heated to boiling with pure nitric aeid until 
 all the gold is dissolved. An excess of acid should be avoided. 360 parts distilled 
 water are added to this solution of gold; and then the above solution of iron and tin 
 gradually poured into it until the whole of the purple is precipitated. This precipitate 
 has likewise a brownish tint after drying, but furnishes a beautiful purple after burning. 
 
 It has been found however, that gold purple prepared according to the following 
 process is preferable, especially as regards the external appearance. A mixture of 4 
 Darts pure^nitric acid of 1-24 spec, grav., and 1 part pure muriatic acid, which is mixed 
 with half as much pure alcohol of 0863. and chemically pure tin, gradually added in 
 
VORTEX WATER WHEEL. 913 
 
 small portions until no more is dissolved ; the solution must be effected slowly, on 
 which account the vesBel containing the mixture should be placed in snow or cola 
 water. The carefully decanted solution is diluted with 80 times its weight of distilled 
 water, and mixed with a solution of gold, prepared according to the above directions. 
 The precipitate is purple-red, and remains so after drying. The tin solution for this 
 purpose cannot be preserved long, otherwise nitric ether is formed ; and the higher 
 oxidation of the tin salt no longer furnishes such beautiful precipitates with gold as the 
 recently prepared solution. 
 
 For mixing with the purple in order to produce a rose color, the author does not 
 employ carbonate of silver, but the metal in a very minute state of division, obtained 
 by mixing the finest silver leaf with honey and a few drops of ether, and well grinding 
 it, when the honey is washed out with water. Mr. Waechter uses as a flux for th« 
 purple colors a lead-glass, consisting of 6 parts minium, 2 parts silica, and 2 parts cal- 
 oined borax. 
 
 With respect to the chrome colors, he observes, that the expensive method for their 
 preparation by means of the chromate of the protoxide of mercury is still the only one 
 by means of which a fine color can be obtained. 
 
 Cobalt Colors. — In purifying the cobalt for porcelain colors, the removal of the 
 whole of the arsenic is of less consequence than that of the iron. Cobalt ores from 
 various localities, Tunaberg, Saxony, and Thuringia, are treated in the following man- 
 ner. The mineral is reduced to a fine power in an iron mortar, kept for the purpose, 
 and mixed with 1-5 its weight of charcoal powder ; then exposed in Hessian crucibles to 
 a red heat under a chimney with a good draught or in the open air, and roasted as 
 long as arsenical vapors escape, u very disagreeable operation, -which lasts several 
 hours. The ore th,us prepared is now boiled over the fire with a mixture of 4 parts 
 nitre, and 1 part muriatic acid, 1 part of which is diluted with 2 parts of water. This 
 operation is repeated about 3 times, with less acid. The liquids are allowed to settle, 
 the clear portion decanted, the remainder diluted with water and filtered, and the solu- 
 tion evaporated to dryness. The dry mass is mixed with some water, heated, and 
 separated by filtration from the residue of arseniate of iron. The green liquid, which 
 now contains more or less cobalt, iron, nickel, and manganese, is mixed with a filtered 
 solution of pearlash, until the dirty reddish precipitate begins v to turn blue. Care and 
 experience in this operation are requisite, otherwise a loss of cobalt might result. 
 The precipitate of arseniate and carbonate of iron, which at the same time contains 
 nickel and manganese, is separated by filtration, and the beautiful red liquid mixed 
 with more of the solution of pearlash until the whole of the cobalt is precipitated; the 
 precipitate is carefully washed and dried. The hydrated oxide of cobalt is sufficiently 
 pure for technical purposes, and answers just as well as that prepared from oxalate of 
 cobalt or by caustic ammonia. 
 
 For painting, the oxide of cobalt is heated in a Hessian crucible with 1 part silica, 
 and \\ part of oxide of zinc for two hours in a blast furnace, then reduced to a fine 
 powder in a porcelain mortar, and mixed with an equal weight of lead-glass. 
 
 Yellow color. — A beautiful yellow is obtained from 2 oz. minium, \ oz. Bijih. oxydat. 
 alb. abl., 2 drms. oxide of zinc, 2 drms. 2 scruples calcined borax, J oz. silica, J drm. 
 dry carbonate of soda, and 1 scruple ferr. oxydat. fuscum. which are well mixed, fused 
 in a crucible, and then ground fine. — Waechter. 
 
 VITRIOL, from vitrum, glass, is the old chemical, and still' the vulgar appellation of 
 sulphuric acid, and of many of its compounds, which in certain states have a glassy 
 appearance : thus — 
 
 Vitriolic acid, or oil of vitriol, is sulphuric acid ; blue vitriol, is sulphate of copper ; 
 green vitriol, is green sulphate of iron ; vitriol of Mars, is red sulphate of iron ; and 
 white vitriol, is sulphate of zinc. 
 
 VOETEX WATER WHEEL. Numberless are the varieties, both of principle 
 and of construction, to be met with in the mechanisms by which motive power may 
 be obtained from falls.of Water. The chief modes of action of the water are, however, 
 reducible to three, as follows. First:— The water may act directly, by its weight, on 
 a part of the mechanism which descends while loaded with'water, and ascends while 
 free from load. The most prominent example of the application of this mode is 
 afforded by the ordinary bucket water wheel. Second : The water may act by fluid 
 pressure, and drive. before it some part of the vessel, by which it is confined. This is 
 the mode in which the water acts in the water-pressure-engine, analogous to the 
 ordinary high pressure steam-engine. Third: The water, having been brought to its 
 place of action, subject to the pressure due to the height of its fall, may be allowed to 
 ■issue through small orifices with a high velocity, its inertia being one of the forces 
 essentially involved in the communication of the power of the mechanism. Throughout 
 the general class of wheels called Turbines, which is of wide extent, the water acts 
 according to some of the variations of which this third mode is susceptible. The name 
 
414- 
 
 VORTEX WATER WHEEL. 
 
 1489 
 
 Turbine is derived from the Latin word turbo, a top, because the wheels to which it ii 
 applied almost all spin round a vertical axis, and so bear some considerable resemblance 
 to the top. In our own country, and more especially on the continent, turbines have 
 attracted much attention, and many forms of them have been made known, by pub- 
 lished descriptions. The object of the present article is to give an account of anew 
 water wheel, belonging to the same general class, which has been recently invented, 
 patented, and brought successfully into use, by Mr. James Thompson of Belfast. In this 
 machine, the moving wheel is placed within a chamber of a nearly circular form. The- 
 water is injected into the chamber tangentially at the circumference, and thus it 
 receives a rapid motion of rotation. Retaining this motion, it passes towards the 
 centre, where, alone, it is free to make its exit. The wheel, which is placed within 
 the chamber, and which almost entirely fills it, is divided by thin partitions into a grea 
 number of radiating passages. Through these passages the water must flow in its 
 course towards the centre ; and, in doing so, it imparts its own rotatory motion to the 
 wheel. The whirlpool of water, acting within the wheel chamber, being one principal 
 feature of this turbine, leads to the name Vortex, as a suitable designation for the 
 machine as a whole. 
 
 The vortex admits of several modes of construction ; but the two principal forms are 
 
 the one adapted for high falls, and one for low falls. The former may be called the 
 
 high pressure vortex, and the latter the low pressure vortex. An example of each of 
 
 these two kinds is delineated in the accompanying figures. 
 
 Figs. 1489 and 1490 are respectively a vertical section and a plan of a vortex recently 
 
 constructed for employing a very 
 high fall near Belfast to drive 
 a flax-mill.* a a. is the water 
 wheel. It is fixed on the up- 
 right shaft B, which conveys 
 away the power to the machi- 
 nery to be driven. The water 
 wheel occupies the central part 
 of the upper division of a strong 
 cast-iron case o c. This part of 
 the case is called the wheel 
 chamber, v D is the lower 
 divison of the case, and is 
 called the supply chamber. It 
 receives the water directly from 
 the supply j)ipe, of which the 
 lower extremity is shown at E, 
 and delivers it into the 'outer 
 part of the upper division by 
 four large openings F, in the 
 partition between the two divisions. This outer part of the upper division is called 
 the guide-blade chamber, from its containing four guide blades, g, which direct the water 
 tangentially into the wheel chamber. Immediately after being injected into the wheel 
 1490 chamber the water is received 
 
 by the curved radiating passages 
 of the wheel, which are partly 
 to be seen in Jig. 1490 at a place 
 where both the cover of the 
 wheel chamber, and the upper 
 plate of the wheel, are broken 
 away for the purpose of expos- 
 ing the interior to view. The 
 water on reaching the inner 
 ends of these curved passages, 
 having already done its work, 
 is allowed to make its exit by 
 two large central orifices shown 
 distinctly on the figures at or 
 adjacent to the letters L l, the 
 one leading upwards and the 
 other downwards. Close jointe 
 between the case and the wheel 
 
 * In thsse figures, as also in figs. 1491, 1492, some unimportant modifications are mnde for the purposs 
 3f simp\L!ying the drawings, and rendering them more easily understood than they would other 
 trise be. 
 
VORTEX WATER WHEEL. 
 
 915 
 
 to hinder the escape of water otherwise than through the radiating passages, are made 
 by means of two annular pieces L, L, called joint rings, fitting to the central orifices of 
 the case, and capable of being adjusted, by means of studs and nuts so as to come clos« 
 to the wheel, without impeding its motion by friction. The four openings, h, n, fig. 1490, 
 through which the water flows into the wheel chambers, each situated between the point 
 or edge of one guide-blade and the middle of the next, determine, by their width, the 
 quantity of water admitted, and consequently the power of the wheel. To render this 
 power capable of being varied at pleasure, the guide blades are made moveable round 
 gudgeons or centres near their points; and a spindle k, worked by a handle in any con- 
 venient position, is connected with the guide-blades by means of links, cranks, (fee. (sea 
 the figures) in such a way that when the handle is moved, the four entrance orifices are 
 all enlarged or contracted alike. The gudgeons of the guide-blades, seen in fig. 1490 as 
 small circles near the points, are sunk in sockets in the floor and roof of the guide-blade 
 chamber, and so they do not in any way obstruct the flow of the water. M is the pivot 
 box of the upright shafts and is constructed with peculiar provisions for oiling the pivot, 
 which, by reason of its being under water, does not admit of being oiled by ordinary 
 means, n is a hanging bridge which forms the fixture of the pivot. 
 
 This vortex is calculated for 50 horse-power, with a fall varying from 90 to 100 feet. 
 On account of the great height of the fall, the machine comes to be of very small dimen- 
 sions; the diameter of the water wheel itself being only about 15 inches, and the 
 extreme diameter of the case 3 feet 9 inches. The speed for which the wheel is calcu- 
 lated, in accordance with its diameter and the velocity of the water entering its chamber, 
 is "768 revolutions per minute. 
 
 Alow pressure vortex constructed for another mill near Belfast is represented in vertical 
 J*. section and plan, Jigs. 1491 and 
 
 1491 II 
 
 . . |- 
 
 
 1492. This is essentially the same 
 in principle as the vortex already 
 described, but it differs in the 
 material of which the case is con- 
 structed, and in the manner in 
 which the water is led to the guide 
 blade chamber. In this the case is 
 almost entirely composed of wood. 
 The water flows with a free upper 
 surface w w, into this wooden case, 
 which consists chiefly of two tanks, 
 a a, and b B, one within the other. 
 The water-wheel chamber, and the 
 guide-blade chamber, are situated 
 in the open space between the 
 bottom of the outer and that of 
 the inner tank, and will be readily 
 distinguished by reference to the 
 figures. The water of the head' 
 race, having been led all round the 
 outer tank in the space o o, flows inward over its edge, and passes downward by the 
 space D d, between the sides of the two tanks. It then passes through the guide-blade 
 chamber and the water-wheel, just in the same way as was explained in respect to the 
 high pressure vortex already described ; and in this one likewise it makes its exit by two 
 
 HI 
 
 ■Mini 
 
 
 II 
 
 II] 
 
 1492 
 
 central orifices, the one discharging 
 upward, and the other downward. 
 The part of the Vater which passes 
 downward flows away at once to 
 the tail race, and that which passes 
 upward into the space e, within 
 the innermost tank, finds a free 
 escape to the tail race through 
 boxes and other channels, f and G, 
 provided for that purpose. The 
 wheel is completely submerged 
 under the surface of the water in 
 the tail race, which is represented 
 ^jfSHI a * > ts ordinary level at T v, fig. 1491, 
 ~ although in floods it may rise to a 
 much greater height. The power 
 of the wheel is regulated in a 
 similar way to that already de- 
 scribed, in reference to the high 
 
916 WAFER1S. 
 
 pressure vortex. In this ease, however, as will be seen by the figures, the guide-blades 
 are not linked together, but each is provided with a hand wheel H, by which motion is 
 communicated to itself alone. 
 
 The foregoing descriptions are sufficient to explain the principal points in the struc- 
 tural arrangements of these new water wheels. 
 
 And' now a few words more in respect to their principles may be added. In these 
 machines, the velocity of the circumference of the wheel is made the same as the velocity 
 of the entering water, and thus there is no impact between the water and the wheel; 
 but, on the contrary, the water enters the radiating conduits of the wheel gently, that ia 
 to say,, with scarcely any motion in relation to their mouths. In order to attain tie 
 equalization of these velocities, it is necessary that the circumference of the wheel should 
 move with the velocity which a heavy body would attain in falling through a vertical 
 space equal to half the vertical fall of the water, or, in other words, with the velocity 
 due to half the fall; and that the orifices through which the water is injected into the 
 wheel chamber should be conjointly of such an area, that, when all the water re- 
 quired is flowing through them, it akso may have the velocity due to hall the fall. 
 
 Thus one half only of the fall is employed in producing velocity in the water ; and, 
 therefore, the other half still remains, acting on the water within the wheel chamber at 
 the circumference of the wheel, in the condition of fluid pressure. Now, with the 
 velocity already assigned to the wheel, it is found that this fluid pressure is exactly that 
 which is requisite to overcome the centrifugal force of the water in the wheel, and to 
 bring the water to a state of rest at its exit, the mechanical work due to both halves of 
 the fall being transferred to the wheel during the combined action of the moving water 
 and the moving wheel. In the foregoing statements, the effects of fluid friction, and of 
 some other modifying influences, are for simplicity left out of consideration. 
 
 The discussion of such intricate matters would be unsuitable for the present article, 
 the object of which was to give a full and clear description of the leading features of aD 
 invenMon, which is giving great satisfaction. 
 
 w. 
 
 WACKE, is a massive mineral, intermediate between claystone and basalt. It is of a 
 greenish-gray color ; vesicular in structure ; dull, opaque ; streak shining ; soft, easily 
 frangible"; spec. grav. 2-55 to 2-9 ; it fuses like basalt. 
 
 WADD, is the provincial name of plumbago in Cumberland; and also of an ore of 
 manganese in Derbyshire, which consists of the peroxyde of that metal, associated with 
 nearly its own weight of oxyde of iron. 
 
 WADDING (Ouate, Fr. ; Watte, Germ.), is the spongy web which serves to line 
 iadies' pelisses, &c. Ouate, or Wat, was the name originally given to the glossy downy 
 tufts found in the pods of the plant commonly called Apocyn, and by botanists Asclepiat 
 Syriaca, which was imported from Egypt and Asia Minor for the purpose of stuffing curti 
 ions, &c. Wadding is now made with a lap or fleece of cotton prepared by the carding- 
 engine (see Carding, Cotton Manufacture), which is applied to tissue paper by a coat 
 of size, made by boiling the cuttings of hare-skins, and adding a little alum to the gelatin- 
 ous solution. When two laps are glued with their faces together, they form the most 
 downy kind of wadding. 
 
 WAFERS. There are two manners of manufacturing wafers: 1, with wheat flour 
 and water, for the ordinary kind ; and 2, with gelatine. '1. A certain quantity of fine 
 flour is to be diffused through pure water, and so mixed as to leave no clotty particles. 
 This thin pap is then colored with one or other of the matters to be particularly 
 described under the second head ; and which are, vermilion, sulphate of indigo, and 
 gamboge. The pap is not allowed to ferment, but must be employed immediately after i! 
 j mixed. For this purpose a tool is employed, consisting of two plates of iron, which 
 come together like pincers or a pair of tongs, leaving a certain small definite space 
 betwixt them. These plates are first slightly heated, greased with butter, filled with 
 the pap, closed, And then exposed for a short time to the heat of a charcoal fire. The 
 iron plates being allowed to cool, on opening them, the thin cake appears dry, solid, 
 brittle, and about as thick as a playing-card. By means of annular punches of different 
 sizes, with sharp edges, the cake is cut into wafers. 2. The transparent wafers are 
 made as follows: — 
 
 Dissolve fine glue, or isinglass, in such a quantity of water that the solution, when 
 cold, may be consistent. Let it be poured hot upon a plate of mirror glass (previously 
 warmed with steam, and slightly greased), which is fitted in a metallic frame with edges 
 just as high as the wafers should be thick. A second plato of glass, heated and 
 greased, is laid on the surface, so as to touch every point of the gelatine, resting on the 
 edges of the frame. By this pressure, the thin cake of gelatine is made perfectly 
 
"WASH. 917 
 
 uniform. When the two plates of glaas get cold, the gelatine becomes solid, and may 
 easily be removed. It is then cut with proper punches into discs of different sizes. 
 
 The coloring matters ought not to be of an insalubrious kind. 
 
 For red wafers, carmine is well adapted, when they are not to be transparent ; but 
 this color is dear, and can be used only for the finer kinds. Instead of it, a decoction 
 of brazil wood, brightened with a little alum, may be employed.' 
 
 For yellow, an infusion of saffron or turmeric has been prescribed; but a decoction 
 .of weld, fustic, or Persian berries might be used. 
 
 Sulphate of indigo, partially saturated with potash, is used for the blue wafers ; and 
 this mixed with yellow, for the greens. Some recommend the sulphate to be nearly 
 neutralized with chalk, and to treat the liquor with alcohol, in order to obtain the beBt 
 blue dye for wafers. 
 
 Common wafers are, however, colored with the substances mentioned at the begin- 
 ning of the article; and for the cheaper kinds, red lead is used instead of Vermillion, 
 and turmeric instead of gamboge. 
 
 Three new methods of manufacturing wafers were made the subject of a patent by 
 Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontainemoreau, in April, I860; the chief feature of which 
 is a layer of metal foil. In the first of the three forms described, the metal slip or band 
 is to be coated with the ordinary farinaceous paste used for making wafers, for which 
 , purpose the slip is laid on one of the jaws of the ordinary iron mould, then a spoonful of 
 paste is poured on it, the mould is shut, and the paste baked as usual. The metal.band 
 IB lastly punched into wafers, either plain or ornamental. 
 
 The second method is to stick these slips to paper with paste, then to dry and punch 
 them out. 
 
 By the third plan, strips of gummed paper are affixed to the slips, and a resinous 
 cement is put on the other side. The first two methods require moistening, the third 
 heating. This contrivance is susceptible of much variety of decoration. 
 
 "WALNUT HUSKS, or PEELS (Brout des noix, Fr.); are much employed by the 
 French dyers for rooting or giving dun colors. 
 
 WARES (HARD). Birmingham has long been connected with the manufacture of 
 hardware of every kind, to such a degree that the name of the town has often become 
 associated with these articles. Some departments of the trade are likewise vigorously 
 pushed at Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Sheffield; but Birmingham may be legiti- 
 mately considered as the metropolis for hardware generally; and the enormous exten- 
 sion of its trade, 'attributable in a large measure to these manufactures, indicates the 
 momentous results to which the production in quantities of the most trivial objects may 
 give rise. In 40 years the population of Birmingham has increased by nearly 150 per 
 cent. ; and what is highly instructive and remarkable, is the fact that in proportion to 
 tho increase of production has been the decrease in price, until there has been a reduc- 
 tion in the same period of about 62 per cent., and in some articles to 85 per cent. The 
 exports likewise immensely increased in the same time; at its commencement they 
 slightly exceeded 5,800 tons annually; in 1849 the exports amounted to 23,421 tons, the 
 value of whieh has been estimated at about £2,201,315 sterling. This relates nearly to 
 the iron manufactures: of the brass and copper manufactures were exported in 1849 to 
 the value of £1, 875,865 ; and it deserves notice that the greatest proportion of these 
 manufactures absorbed by any country is that annually imported' by Hindostan, a coun- 
 try whose early reputation in metal manufactures is a subject of familiar knowledge. 
 
 The system of the manufacture of hardware in Birmingham is peculiar, and presents 
 a striking contrast to that adopted in Manchester and other large manufacturing places: 
 the operatives are themselves the manufacturers. Hiring a workshop in which steam- 
 power is laid on, and which is specially fitted up by the owner of the building, in which 
 many such workshops are contained, the artizan plies his peculiar trade, manufactures 
 his articles, carries them home to the merchant, and receives the weekly payment for 
 them, which enables him to procure fresh materials, and proceed in the ensuing week 
 with his regular labors. A very large proportion of hardware is thus manufactured. 
 But this system is not universal, and regularly organized factories employing a large 
 number of workpeople, and possessing all the distinguishing features of a great pro- 
 ducing establishment, exist and are in active operation. 
 
 WARP (Chaine, Fr. ; Kette, Anschweif, Zettel, Germ.); is the name of the longitudi- 
 nal threads or yarns, whether of cotton, linen, silk, or wool, which being decusated 
 at right angles by the woof or weft threads form a piece of cloth. The warp yarns 
 are parallel, and continuous from end to end of the web. See Weaving, for a descrip- 
 tion of the wafping-mill. 
 WASH, is the fermented wort of the distiller. 
 WASHING. See Bleaching and Scouring. 
 WATERING OF STUFFS (Moirage, Fr.;) is a process to which silk ana 
 
918 WATERS, MINERAL. 
 
 other textile fabrics are subjected, for causing them to exhibit a variety of undulated 
 reflections, and plays of light. It is produced by sprinkling water upon the goods, and 
 then passing them through a calender, either with cold or hot rollers, plain or variously 
 indented. 
 WATER-PROOF CLOTH. See Caoutchouc, and Gelatine. 
 A patent was obtained, in August, 1830, by Mr. Thomas Hancock, for rendering tex- 
 tile fabrics impervious to water and air, by spreading the liquid juice of the caoutchouc 
 tree upon the surfaces of the goods, and then exposing them to the air to dry. It doe? 
 not appear that ihis project has been realized in our manufactures. 
 
 Mr. William Simpson Potter proposes, in his patent of April, 1835, to render fabrics 
 water-proof by imbuing them with a solution of ising-glass, alum, and soap, by means of 
 a brush applied to the wrong side of the cloth, distended upon a table. After it is dry, it 
 must be brushed on the wrong side, against the grain. Then the brush is to be dipped in 
 clean water, and passed lightly over the cloth. The gloss caused by the above application 
 can be taken off by brushing the goods when they s re dry. Cloth so prepared is said to 
 be impervious to water, but not to air. 
 
 I have examined woollen cloth now on sale in a shop in the Strand, which may be 
 breathed through with the greatest facility, but which retains water upon its surface, as 
 is evinced by a body of water standing upon a concave piece of it tied over a show-glass 
 in the window. 
 
 Mr. Sievier's plan of rendering cloth water-proof, for which he obtained a patent in 
 December, 1835, consists in spreading over it, with a brush, a solution of India rubber in 
 spirits of turpentine, at one or more applications, ana then applying a similar solution 
 mixed with acetate of lead, litharge, sulphate of zinc, gum maslie, or other drying mate- 
 rial. He next takes wool, or other textile material, cut into proper lengths, and spreads i! 
 upon the surface of the fabric varnished in this manner, for the purpose of forming the 
 nap or pile. He then presses the cloth by means of rollers, or brashes, so as to fix the 
 nap firmly to its surface. 
 
 Water-proof fustians are made on the patent process of Mr. Charles Townsend as 
 follows: 20 lbs. of British gum are made into a paste with S gallons of water; then 10 
 lbs. of white soap are dissolved in 8 gallons of boiling water, and the two liquids are 
 mixed with a pint of logwood liquor, and the whole boiled together ; 3 lbs. of alum 
 dissolved in 1 gallon of water are added, and the mixture after boiling for a few minutes 
 is ready for use, or for applying by immersion to the cloth. He also uses sometimes 
 two different solutions in succession, the one of which is 6 pounds of sulphate of zinc, 
 dissolved in 9 gallons of boiling water, the other is the above mixture of gum and soap 
 in solution. This combination will in my opinion make a preferable water-proofing 
 application. The logwood may be left out for ordinary fabrics. 
 
 Water-proofing fleeces of sheep. The late Mr. James Smith, of Deanston, proposed to 
 render the fleece of living sheep water-proof, by impregnating it first with a solution of 
 alum, (20 pounds of alum to 40 gallons), and then with one of 30 pounds of soft soap 
 in 40 gallons of hot water. The sheep are to be dipped in a trough, about 4 feet long, 
 and 2j feet wide ; containing about 20 gallons of the solution of alum. The dipping 
 is most conveniently performed by three men ; two to hold the legs, and the other to 
 hold the head out of the solution when the body is immersed. The sheep is to be held 
 with its legs upward, and the body dipped and moved about in the solution. The men 
 who hold the legs must use one hand to rub the solution in amongst the fleece, and cars 
 should be taken to cause the solution to enter thoroughly in amongst the fibres. The 
 operation of dipping a sheep will take about half a minute. It is then to be lifted out, 
 and placed upon a board at the side of the trough, so arranged that the solution which 
 drains off may run back into the trough, and the men are to press the liquid as much 
 as possible out of the wool. After this the sheep is allowed to stand till its. coat is 
 nearly dry, which will be in about 2 hours, and then it is to be dipped in the solution 
 of soap in the same manner as it was dipped in the alum solution. When the last 
 dipping is completed, the sheep may go to its pasture. If the dipping is daily performed, 
 each fibre of the fleece will possess the quality of repelling water, and thus the wool 
 will be kept dry, the animal healthy and comfortable, and the wool improved for manu- 
 facturing purposes. 
 
 Instead of the solution of soap, a solution of glue or other gelatinous matter may be 
 employed: arsenic, and preparations of sulphur for .repelling insects, may be employed 
 in conjunction with the above rain repellents, alternately, or mixed together, 
 The above invention is patented in the name of Alexander Mein, and enrolled June, 
 1851. — Newton's Journal, xxxix. 154. 
 
 WATERS, MINERAL. The following Tables exhibit the Nature and Compo- 
 sition of the most celebrated Mineral Waters of Germany, according, to the best 
 Analyses. The symbol N denotes Nitrogen or Azote ; O, Oxygen ; CO s , Carbonic 
 Acid ; SH, Sulphuretted Hydrogen. Therm. ; cent scale ; if not, R for Reaumur. 
 

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928 
 
 WATERS. 
 
 Mineral waters may, in most cases, be artificially prepared, by the skilful application 
 of the knowledge derived from analysis, with such precision as to imitate very closely 
 the native springs. When the various earthy or metallic constituents are held in solu- 
 tion by carbonic acid, or sulphuretted hydrogen, they should be placed along with 
 their due proportions of water, in the receiver of the aerating machine (see Soda Water), 
 and then the proper quantity of gas should be injected into the water. Sufficient agi- 
 tation will be given by the action of the forcing pump to promote their solution. 
 
 Analysis of the Bromine Mineral Spring or Well of Tenbury, Worcestershire, tht 
 Property of S. Holmes Godson, Esq. By methods somewhat similar to those described 
 in my paper on the "Analysis of the Moira Brine Spring," which the Koynl Society 
 honored with a place in their Transactions for 1834, part ii., I obtained the following 
 results from one gallon=™70,0'l0 water-grain measures=l gallon: — 
 
 1. Chlorsodium (muriate of soda) 
 
 2. Chlorealcium (muriate of lime) 
 
 3. Chlormagnesium (muriate of magnesia) 
 
 4. Sulphate of lime - 
 
 6. Protocarbonate of iron 
 
 6. Bromide of sodium (bromsodium) 
 
 groins. 
 
 3801-4 
 
 425-6 
 
 51-3 
 
 6-0 
 
 1-5 
 
 162 
 
 Total saline contents-=1802-0 
 Specific gravity of the water at 60° F.=1'0208 
 Taste, bitter saline, but not unpleasantly so. 
 
 This water has been long prized for its medicinal virtues as a deobstruent. In 
 reference to the bromine constituent, it is doubly richer than the Moira spring water. 
 
 The determination of the presence and approximate proportion of bromine in such \ 
 saline water is attended with no difficulty. Having concentrated a considerable quan- 
 tity of it by evaporation to so such a pitch as to separate the greater part of the readily 
 crystallizable muriate of soda, add to the filtered mother-water a small portion of pretty 
 strong chlorine- water. The bright golden yellow color immediately produced indicates 
 the bromine now eliminated from its state of hydrobromio acid. Ether being poured 
 into the bottle partially filled with the saline solution, and agitated therewith, seizes 
 the bromine, and on repose rises with it, and floats in a rich crimson solution on the 
 top of the decolored liquor. Care must be taken that chlorine has not been used in 
 excess, otherwise the next process would be vitiated, which consist, first, in decanting 
 the ethereous compound, and saturating it with pure potash lye, so as to form bromide 
 of potassium. This solution being evaporated, and gently ignited, is to be supersatur- 
 ated with nitric acid, the bromine precipitated with nitrate of silver, and the brown 
 silver bromide washed; filtered, dried, and gently ignited. 100 parts of that bromide 
 represent 41-5 of bromine. In Mr. Godson's mineral spring, there are very nearly 12$ 
 grains of bromine per gallon, which are therefore worth extracting on the large scale 
 from the water. 
 
 The ether, which has been stripped of its bromine by potash lye, may be nearly all 
 recovered, with proper precautions, so as to be repeatedly applied to fresh quantities 
 of chlorified mother-water. If the bromide of potassium be mixed with one-third of its 
 weight of peroxide of manganese, and the mixture distilled with its own weight of sul- 
 phuric acid, diluted with half its weight of water, from a retort whose beak dips into A 
 receiver containing jvater, the bromine which comes over falls to the bottom, and 
 may be entirely de-hydrated by re-distillation over-chlorcalcium (calcined muriate of 
 lime). ' 
 
 The bromine may also be extracted, and that very economically, by distilling the 
 chlorified mother-water of the spring with the mixture of manganese and oil of vitriol. 
 The bromine which passes over may be afterwards purified by washing with water, 
 and then by the process above described, with potash, nitric acid, <fec. — Dr. Vre in 
 Pharmaceutical Journal, 1848, vol. viii. No. 4. 
 
 Nanheim, a Bpa recently discovered on the south-eastern declivity of Johannisberg, 
 about an hour from Frankfort-on-the-Mayne by railway, displays the phenomenon 
 called soonel sprudel, or salt water jet; a column of white foam bubbling up 2 or 3 feet, 
 with carbonic acid gas, 670 feet above the level of the sea. It is an Artesian well; 
 the water has a specific gravity of 1-Q01 at '72-8° Fahr. Its chief constituents are 
 muriate of soda, with some muriate of potash, magnesia, and lime ; the last abundant, 
 with bromide of sodium. 
 
 A saline spring containing in 16 oz. 256 grains of sea salt, 8i of muriate of magnesia, 
 with sulphates of magnesia and lime in considerable quantity, and of spec. grav. 1-01T, 
 has been a few years ago discovered at Oeynhausen, near Minden upon the Weser. It 
 13 in the immediate vicinity of an immense brine spring which throws up 54 cubic feet 
 
WAX. 929 
 
 of salt water containing 416 grains in 10,000 of saline matter at, a temperature of 95° 
 Fahr. Tins spring contains also some bromine, and throws out jets of carbonic acid gas. 
 This well has the prodigious depth of 1994 feet below the level of the sea ; and its mouth 
 is 217 feet above it. Here there have been 67 baths of different classes established. The 
 whole has been well investigated and placed under the superintendence of Dr. Bischoff, 
 Professor of Chemistry in Bonn. 
 
 WAX (Cire, Fr. ; Wachs, Germ.), is the substance which forms the cells ol bees. 
 It was long supposed to be derived from the pollen of plants, swallowed by these 
 insects, and merely voided under this new form ; but it has been proved by the experi- 
 ments, 'first of Mr. Hunter, and more especially of M. Huber, to be the peculiar 
 secretion of a certain organ, which forms a part of the small sacs, situated on the sides 
 of the median line of the abdomen of the bee. On raising the lower segments of the 
 abdomen, these sacs may be observed, as also scales or spangles of wax, arranged in 
 pairs upon each segment. There are none, however, under the rings of the males and 
 the queen. Each individual has only eight wax sacs, or pouches ; for the first and the 
 last ring are not provided with them. M. Huber satisfied himself by precise experi- 
 ments that bees, though fed with honey, or sugar alone, produced nevertheless a very 
 considerable quantity of wax; thus jxoving that they were not mere collectors of this 
 substance from the vegetable kingdom. The pollen of plants serves for the nourishment 
 of the larvse. 
 
 But wax exists also as a vegetable product, and may, in this point of view, be 
 regarded as a concrete fixed oil. It forms a part of the green fecula of many plants, 
 particularly of the cabbage ; it may be extracted from the pollen of most flowers ; as 
 also from the skins of plums, and many stone fruits. It constitutes a varnish upon the 
 upper surface of the leaves of many trees, and it has been observed in the juice of the 
 cow-tree. The berries of the Myrica angusti/olia, latifolia, as well as the cerifera, afford 
 abundance of wax. 
 
 Bees' wax, as obtained by washing and melting the comb, is yellow. It has.a peculiar 
 smell, resembling honey, and derived from it, for the cells in which no honey has been de- 
 posited, yield a scentless white wax. Wax is freed from its impurities, and bleached, by 
 melting it with hot water or steam, in a tinned copper or wooden vessel, letting it 
 settle, running off the. clear supernatant oily-looking liquid into an oblong trough with 
 a line of holes in its bottom, so as to distribute it upon horizontal wooden cylinders, 
 made to revolve half immersed in cold water, and then exposing the thin ribands or 
 films thus obtained to the blanching action of air, light, and moisture. For this pur- 
 pose, the ribands are laid upon long webs of canvass stretched horizontally betwfen 
 standards, two feet above the surface of a Sheltered field, having a free exposure to the 
 sunbeams. Here they are frequently turned over, then covered by nets to prevent their 
 being blown away by winds, and watered from lime to time, like linen upon the grass 
 field in the oil method of bleaching. Whenever the color of the wax seems station- 
 ary, it is collected, remelted, and thrown again into ribands upon the wet cylinder, in 
 order to expose new surfaces to the blanching operation. By several repetitions of 
 these processes, if the weather proves favorable, the wax eventually loses its yellow 
 tint entirely, and becomes fit for forming white candles. If it be finished under rain, it 
 will become gray on keeping, and also lose in weight. 
 
 In France, where the purification of wax is a considerable object of manufacture, about 
 four ounces of cream of tartar, or alum, are added to the water in the first melting- 
 copper, and the solution is incorporated with the wax by diligent manipulation. The 
 whole is left at rest for some time, and then the supernatant wax is run off into a 
 settling cistern, whence it is discharged by a stopcock or tap, over the wooden cylinder 
 revolving at the surface of a large water-cistern, kept cool by passing a stream con- 
 tinually through it. 
 
 The bleached wax is finally melted, strained through silk sieves, and then run into 
 circular cavities in a moistened table, to be cast or moulded into thin disc pieces, weigh- 
 ing from two to three ounces each, and three or four inches in diameter. 
 
 Neither chlorine, nor even the chlorides of lime and alkalis, can be employed with any 
 advantage to bleach wax, because they render it brittle, and impair its burning quality. 
 
 Wax purified, as above, is white and translucent in thin segments j it has neither taste 
 nor smell ; it has a specific gravity of from 0-960 to 0-966 ; it does not liquefy till it be 
 heated to I54|° F. ; but it softens at 86°, becoming so plastic, that it may be moulded by 
 the hand into any form. At 32° it is hard and brittle. 
 
 It is not a simple substance, but consists of two species of wax, which may be easily 
 separated by boiling alcohol. The resulting solution deposites, on cooling, the waxy 
 Body called cerine. The undissolved wax, being once and again treated with boiling 
 alcohol, finally affords from 70 to 90 per cent, of its weight of cerine. The insoluble 
 rcsiJuum is the myricine of Dr. John, so called because it exists in a much larger pre- 
 
930 
 
 WEAVING. 
 
 portion in the wax of the Mynca ce.rift.ra. It is greatly denser than wax, being of th« 
 same specific gravity as water ; and may be distilled without decomposition, which cerine 
 undergoes. See these two articles. 
 
 Wax is adulterated sometimes with starch j. a fraud easily detected by oil of turpen 
 tine, which dissolves the former, and leaves the latter substance ; and more frequently 
 with mutton suet. This fraud may be discovered by. dry distillation ; for wax does not 
 thereby afford, like tallow, sebacic acid (benzoic), which is known by its occasioning a 
 precipitate in a solution of acetate of lead. It is said that two per cent, of a tallow 
 sophistication may be discovered in this way. i 
 
 Bees' wax imported for home consumption : — in 1835, unbleached, 4,449 - cwts. ; 
 bleached, 243 cwts. ;— in 1836, unbleached, 4,673 cwts. ; bleached, 121 cwts. Duty, 
 when from British possessions, 10s. ; from foreign, 30s. 
 
 WAX, MINERAL, or Ozocerite, is a solid, of a brown color, of various shades, 
 translucent, and fusible like bees' wax ; slightly bituminous to the smell, of a foliated 
 texture, a conchoidal fracture, but wanting tenacity, so that it can be pulverized in 
 a mortar. Its specific gravity varies from 0-900 to 0-953. Candles have been made 
 of it in Moldavia, which give a tolerable light. It occurs at the foot of the Carpathians 
 near Slanik, beneath a bed of bituminous slate-clay, in masses of from 80 to 100 pounds 
 weight. Layers of brown amber are found in the neighborhood. It is associated with ' 
 variegated sandstone, rock salt, and beds of coal (lignite ?). It is analogous to hntdieline. 
 Something similar has been discovered in a trouble at Urpeth colliery, near Newcastle, 60 
 fathoms beneath the surface. Ozocerite consists of different hydro-carbureted compounds 
 associated together ; the whole being composed, ultimately, of— hydrogen 14, carbon 86, 
 very nearly. • 
 
 WEAVING (Tissage, Fr.; Weberei, Germ.), is performed by the implement 
 called loorii in English, mllier a tisser in French, and webersiuhl in German. The pro- 
 cess of warping must always precede weaving. lis object is to arrange all the longi- 
 tudinal threads, which are to form the chain of the web, alongside of each other in one 
 parallel plane. Such a number of bobbins, filled with yarn, must therefore be taken as 
 will furnish the quantity required for the length of the intended piece of cloth. One 
 sixth of that number of bobbins is usually mounted at once in the warp mill, being set 
 loosely in a horizontal direction upon wire skewers, or spindles, in a square frame, so 
 that they may revolve, and give off the yarn freely. The warper sits at A, fig. 1493, 
 and causes the reel B to revolve, by turning round with his hand the wheel c, with the 
 
 endless rope or band r>. 
 The bobbins filled with 
 yarn are placed in the 
 frame E. There is a sliding 
 piece at r, called the heck 
 box, which rises and falls 
 by the coiling and uncoil- 
 ing of the cord G, round 
 the central shaft of the reel 
 H. By this simple contri- 
 vance, the band of warp- 
 yarns is wound spirally, 
 from top to bottom, upon 
 the reel. I, I, i, are wood- 
 en pins which separate the 
 different bands. Most 
 warping mills are of a 
 prismatic form j having 
 twelve, eighteen, or more 
 sides. The reel is com- 
 monly about rix feet in 
 diameter, and seven feet 
 in height, so as to serve for measuring exactly upon its periphery the total length of 
 the warp. All the threads from the frame E, pass through the heck r, which consists 
 of a series of finely-polished hard-tempered steel pins, with a small hole at the upper 
 part of each, to receive and guide one thread. The heck is divided into two parts, 
 either of which may be lifted by a small handle below, while their eyes are placed 
 slternately. Hence, when one of them is raised a little, a vacuity is formed between 
 .he two bands of the warp j but when the other is raised, the vacuity is reversed. In 
 this way, the lease is produced at each end of the warp, and it is preserved by appro- 
 priate wooden pegs. The lease being carefully tied up, affords a guide to the weaver 
 for inserting his lease-rods. The warping mill is turned alternately from right to left, 
 End from left to right, till a sufficient number of yarns are coiled round it to form the 
 
WEAVING, BY HAND. 
 
 931 
 
 breadth that is wanted ; the warper's principal care being to tie immediately every thread 
 as it breaks, otherwise deficiencies would be occasioned in the chain, injurious to the ap- 
 pearance of the web, or productive of much annoyance tp the weaver. 
 
 The simplest and probably the most ancient of looms, now to be seen in action, is 
 that of the Hindoo tanty, shown in Jig. 1494. It consists of two bamboo rollers; one for 
 
 the warp, and another for the 
 woven cloth ; with a pair of 
 heddles, for parting the warp, 
 to permit the well to be drawn 
 across between its upper and 
 under threads. The shuttle is 
 a slender rod, like a large net- 
 ting needle, rather longer than 
 the web is broad, and is made 
 use of as a batten or lay, to 
 strike home or condense each 
 successive thread of weft, 
 against the closed fabric. The 
 ^BlSS " "iiPisI "~' S= ^^^^EK Hindoo carries this simple im- 
 
 «BjIIl , jlBSlIfi&'^ r"^Tr p]ement,withhiswaterpilclier, 
 
 rice pot, and hooka, to the foot 
 of any tree whichcan afford him 
 a comfortable shade; he there 
 digs a large hole, to receive his 
 legs, along with the treddles or lower part of the harness ; he next extends his warp, 
 by fastening his two bamboo rollers, at a proper distance from each other, with pins, 
 into the sward j he attaches the heddles to a convenient branch of the tree overhead ; 
 inserts his great toes into two loops under the gear, to s,erve him for treddles ; lastly, he 
 sheds the warp, draws through the weft, and beats it close up to the web with his rodshultle 
 or batten. 
 
 The European loom is represented in its plainest state, as it has existed for several 
 centuries, im Jig. 1495. A is the warp-beam, round which the chain has been wound ; b 
 represents the. flat rods, usually three in number, which pass across between its threads, 
 to preserve the lease, or the plane of decussation for the weft ; c shows the heddles or 
 healds, consisting of twines looped in the 'middle, through which loops the warp yarns 
 are drawn one half through the front heddle, and the other through the back one ; by 
 
 1495 
 
 moving which, the decussation is readily 
 effected. The yarns then pass through 
 the dents of the heed under r>, which 
 is set in a moveable swing-frame E, 
 called the lathe, lay, and also batten, 
 because it beats home the weft to the 
 web. The lay is freely suspended to a 
 cross-bar f, attached by rulers, called 
 the swords, to the top of the lateral 
 standards of the loom, so as to oscillate 
 upon it. The weaver, sitting on the 
 bench g, presses ■ down one of the tred- 
 dles at h, with one of his feet, whereby 
 he raises the corresponding heddle, 
 but sinks the alternate one ; thus sheds 
 the warp, by lifting and depressing each 
 alternate thread, through a little space, 
 and opens a pathway or race-course 
 for the shuttle to traverse the middle of the warp, upon its two friction rollers m, m. For 
 this purpose, he lays hold of the picking-peg in his right hand, and, with a smart jerk of 
 his wrist, drives the fly-shuttle swiftly from one side of the loom to the other, between 
 the shed warp yarns. The shoot of weft being thereby left behind from the shuttle pirn 
 or cop, the weaver brings home, by pulling, the lay with its reed towards him by his leil 
 hand, with such force as the closeness of the texture requires. The web, as thus woven, 
 is wound up by turning round the cloth beam I, furnished with a ratchet-wheel, which 
 takes into a holding tooth. The plan of throwing the shuttle by the picking-peg and cord, 
 ,s a great improvement upon the old way of throwing it by hand. It was contrived exactly 
 a century a»o, by John Kay, of Bury in Lancashire, but then resident in Colchester, and 
 was called the fly-shuttle, from its speed, as it enabled the weaver to make double tne 
 auantity of narrow cloth, and much more broadcloth, in the same time. 
 The cloth is kept distended, during the operation of weaving, by means oi two piecei 
 
332 
 
 WEAVING, BY POWER. 
 
 of hart wood, called a templet, furnished with sharp iron points in their ends, which talu 
 hold of the opposite selvages or lists of the web. The warp and web are kept longitudinally 
 stretched by a weighted cord, which passes round the warp-beam, and which tends con. 
 tinually to draw back the cloth from its beam, where it is held fast by the ratchet tooth, 
 See Fustian, Jacquard Loom, Reed, and Textile Fabrics. 
 The greater part of plain weaving, and much even of the figured, is now performed bl 
 
 1498 1496 
 
 the power loom, called 7n£tier mecanique a tisser, in French. Fig. 149C, represents th* 
 east-iron power loom of Sharp and Roberts. a, a', are the two side uprights, or 
 standards, on the front of the loom. D, is the great arch of cast iron, which binds the 
 two sides together, e, is the front cross-beam, terminating in the forks e, e ; whose 
 
WEAVING, BY POWER. 933 
 
 ends are bolted to the opposite standards A, a', so as to bind the framework most firmlj 
 together, g', is the breast beam, of wood, nearly square ; its upper surface is sloped a 
 little towards the front, and its edge rounded off, for the web to slide smoothly over it, in 
 its progress to the cloth beam. The beam is supported at its end upon brackets, and is 
 secured by the bolts g', g'. H, is the cloth beam, a wooden cylinder, mounted with 
 iron gudgeons at its ends, that on the right hand being prolonged to carry the toothed 
 winding wheel h'. 7c', is a pinion in gear with h'. h", is a ratchet' wheel, mounted 
 upon the same shaft h'", as the pinion h'. h', is the click of the ratchet wheel h". h'", 
 is a long bolt fixed to the frame, serving as a shaft to the ratchet wheel h", and the 
 pinion h'. i, is the front heddle-leaf, and i', the back one. J, J, j', j', jacks or pulleys 
 and straps, for raising and depressing the leaves of the heddles. j", is the iron shaft 
 which carries the jacks or system of pulleys j, 3, f, j'. x, a strong wooden ruler, con- 
 necting the front heddle with its treddle. l, l', the front and rear marches or treddle- 
 pieces, for depressing the heddle leaves alternately, by the intervention of the rods k, 
 (and 7c', hid behind k). m, m, are the two swords (swing bars) of the lay or batten, n, 
 is the upper cross-bar of the lay, made of wood, and supported upon the squares of the 
 levers n, n', to which it is firmly bolted, n', is the lay-cap, which is placed higher or 
 lower, according to the breadth of the reed ; it is the part of the lay which the hand- 
 loom weaver seizes with his hand, in order to swing it towards him. n' is the reed 
 contained between the bar N, and the lay-cap k'. o, o, are two rods of iron, perfectly 
 round and straight, mounted near the ends of the batten-bar n, which serve as guides to 
 the drivers or peckers o, o, which impel the shuttle. These are made of buffalo hide, 
 and should slide freely on their guide-rods, o', o', are the fronts of the shuttle-boxes j 
 they have a slight inclination backwards, p, is the back of them. See figs. 1497 and 1498. 
 o", o", are iron plates, forming the bottoms of the shuttle-boxes, p, small pegs or pins, 
 planted in the posterior faces p (fig. 1498) of the boxes, round which the levers p' turn. 
 These levers are sunk in the substance of the faces p, turn round pegs p, being pressed 
 from without inwards, by the springs p\ i",fig. 1496, (to the right of k,) is the whip 
 or lever, (and q", its centre of motion, corresponding to the right arm and elbow of the 
 weaver,) which serves to throw the shuttle, by means of the pecking-cord p", attached at 
 its other end to the drivers o, o. 
 
 On the axis of q", a kind of eccentric or heart wheel is mounted, to whose concave 
 part, the middle of the double band or strap r, being attached, receives impulsion ; its 
 two ends are attached to the heads of the bolls ?■', which carry the stirrups r", that may 
 be adjusted at any suitable height, by set screws. 
 
 s (see the left-hand side of fig. 1496) is the moving shaft, of wrought iron, resting on 
 the two ends of the frame, s' (see the right-hand side) is a toothed wheel, mounted ex- 
 teriorly to the frame, upon the end of the shaft s. s" (near s') are two equal elbows, in the 
 same direction, and in ihe same plane, as the shaft s, opposite to the swords m, m, of the lay. 
 
 i, is the loose, and z', the fast pulley, or riggers, which receive motion from the sleam 
 shaft of the factory, z", a small fly-wheel, to regulate the movements of the main shaft 
 of the loom. 
 
 t; is the shaft of the eccentric tappets, cams, or wipers, which press the treddle levers 
 alternately up and down ; on its right end is mounted' t', a toothed wheel in gear with 
 the wheel s', of one half its diameter, t", is a cleft clamping collar, which serves to sup- 
 port the shaft t. 
 
 u, is a lever, which turns round the bolt u, as well as the click h"- u', is the click of 
 traction, for turning round the cloth beam, jointed to the upper extremity of the lever u; 
 its tooth u', catches in the teeth of the ratchet wheel h". «", is a long slender rod, 
 fixed to one of the swords of the lay m, serving to push the lower end of the lever u, when 
 the lay retires towards the heddle leaves. 
 
 x, is a wrought-iron shaft, extending from the one shuttle-box to the other, supported 
 at its ends by the bearings x, x. 
 
 y, is a bearing, affixed exteriorly to the frame, against which the spring bar z, rests, 
 near its top, but is fixed to the frame at its bottom. The spring falls into a notch in the 
 bar y, and is thereby held at a distance from the upright A, as long as the band is up"pn 
 the loose pulley z' ; but when the spring bar is disengaged, it falls towards A, and carries the 
 bend upon the fast pulley a, so as to put the loom in gear with the steam-shaft of the factory. 
 
 Weaving, by this powerful machine, consists of four operations ". 1. to shed the warp 
 fcy means of the heddle leaves, actuated by the tappet wheels upon the axis o.', the rods 
 It, k', the cross-bar e, and the eyes of the heddle leaves i, i' ; 2. to throw the shuttle (see 
 fig. 1495), by means of the whip lever p", the driver cord p, and the pecker o ; 3. to drive 
 home the weft by the batten N, N'; 4. to unwind the chain from the warp beam, and to 
 draw ;t progressively forwards, and wind the finished web upon the cloth beam H, by 
 the click and toothed wheel rrechanism at the right-hand side of the frame. For 
 
934 
 
 WELD. 
 
 more minute details, the reader may consult The Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain, 
 
 V °WEAVING OF HAIR CLOTH. In addition to the description of this art, 
 under " Hair" in the Dictionary, I shall give here a short notice of the best kind of 
 shuttle for weaving hair. Fig. 1499, shows in plan A, and in longitudinal section JJ, i 
 c c_ 
 
 shuttle which differs from that of the common cloth weaver only in not having a pirn 
 enclosed in the body of the box-wood, but merely an iron trap a, which turns in the 
 middle upon the pin 6. This trap-piece is "pressed up at the one end, by the action of 
 the spring c, so as to bear with its other end upon the cleft of the iron plate d, which 
 is intended to hold fast the ends of the hair-weft : d and c together are called the jaw 
 or mouth, whence the popular name of this shuttle. The workman opens this jaw 
 by the pressure of his thumb upon the spring end of. the trap a, introduces with the 
 other hand one or more' hairs (according to the description of hair cloth) into the 
 mouth-, and removing his thumb, lets the hair be seized by the force of the spring. 
 The hairs having one end thus made fast are passed across the warp by the passage of 
 the shuttle, which is received at the other end by the weaver's left hand. The friction 
 rollers, x, x, are like those of fly-shuttles, but are used merely for convenience, as. the 
 shuttle can not be thrown swiftly from side to side. The hand which receives the 
 shuttle opens at the same time the trap, in order to insert another hair, after the 
 preceding has been drawn through the warp on both sides and secured to the list. 
 A child attends to count and stretch the hairs. This assistant may, however, be dis- 
 pensed with by means of the following implement, represented fn fig. 1500. C, C, is 
 the view of it from above, or the plan ; D, is a side view ; E, a longitudinal section, 
 and F, an oblique section across. The chief part consists in a wooden groove, or 
 chamfered slip of wood, open above, and rounded on the sides. It is about twenty-one 
 inches in length, about as long nearly as the web is broad, therefore a little shorter 
 than the horse-hairs inserted in it, which project about an inch beyond it at each end. 
 They are therein pressed by elastic slips e, of Indian rubber, so that the others 
 remain, when one or more are drawn out by the ends. The ends of the grooves are 
 flat where the Indian rubber spring exerts its pressure, as shown by the dotted line at 
 F. The spring is formed by cutting out a double piece from the curvature of the necK 
 of a caoutchouc bottle or flask, fastening the one end of the piece by a wire staple in 
 the groove of the shuttle, whereby the other end, which alone can yield, presses upon 
 the inlaid hairs. Wire staples like/ (in the section E) are passed obliquely through 
 two plates of the groove or gutter, to present the hairs from springing up in the middle 
 of the s) ■ ttle, which is suitably charged with then:-, The workman shoves the tool 
 across tht ^ened warp with the one hand, seizes with the other the requisite number 
 of hairs b> e projecting ends, and holds them fast, while he draws the shuttle once 
 more through the warp. The remaining hairs are retained in the groove by the springs, 
 and only those for the single decussation remain in the web, to be secured to the list 
 on either side. A weaver with this tool can turn out a double length of cloth of what 
 he could do with the mouth-shuttle. 
 
 WEFT (Trame, Fr. ; Eintrag, Germ.), is the name of the yarns or threads which 
 run from selvage to selvage in a web. 
 
 WELD (Vouede, Fr. ; Wau, Gelbkraut, Germ.), is an annual herbaceous plant, 
 which grows all over Europe, called by botanists Reseda luteola. The stems and the 
 leaves dye yellow; and among the dyes of organic nature, they rarfk next to the Persian 
 berry for the beauty and fastness of color. The whole plant is cropped when in seed, at 
 which period its dyeing power is greatest ; and after being simply dried, is brought into 
 the market. 
 
 Chevreul has discovered a yellow coloring principle in weld, which he has called 
 
WELLS, ARTESIAN. 935 
 
 luteoline. It may be sublimed, and thus obtained in long needle-form, transparent, 
 yellow crystals. Luteoline is but sparingly soluble in water; but it nevertheless dyes 
 alumed silk and wool of a fine jonquil color. It is soluble in alcohol and ether; it com. 
 bines with acids, and especially with bases. 
 
 When weld is to be employed in the dye-bath, it should be boiled for three quarters 
 of an hour; after which the exhausted plant is taken out, because it occupies too much 
 room. The decoction is rapidly decomposed in the air, and ought therefore to be made 
 only when it is wanted. It produces, with 
 
 Solution of ising-glass - a slight turbidity. 
 
 Litmus^ paper a faint reddening. 
 
 Potash ley a golden yellow tint. 
 
 Solution of alum ..... a faint yellow. 
 
 Protoxyde salts of tin - - - - a rich yellow } 
 
 Acetate of lead ..... ditto > precipitation. 
 
 Salts of copper ..... a dirty yellow-brown ) 
 
 Sulphate of red oxyde of iron - - - a brown, passing into olive. 
 A lack is made frotn decoction of weld with alum, precipitated by carbonate of sajc'ii or 
 potassa. See Yellow Dye. 
 
 WELDING (Souder, Fr. ; Schweissen, Germ.), is the property which pieces of 
 wrought iron possess, when heated to whiteness, of uniting intimately and permanently 
 under the hammer, into one body, wilhout any appearance of junction. The welding 
 temperature is usually estimated at from 60° to 90° of Wedgewood. When a skilful 
 blacksmith is about to perform the welding operation, he watches minutely pie efTect of 
 the heat in his forge-fire upon the two iron bars; and if he perceives them beginning 
 to burn, he pulls them out, rolls them in sand, which forms a glassy silicate of iron 
 upon the surface, so as to prevent further oxydizement ; and then laying the one pro- 
 perly upon the other, he incorporates them by his right-hand hammer, being assisted 
 by another workman, who strikes the metal at the same time with a heavy forge- 
 hammer. 
 
 Platinum is not susceptible of being welded, as many chemical authors have erroneous- 
 ly asserted. 
 
 Mr. T. H. Russell, of Handsworth, near Birmingham, obtained a patent, in May, 1836, 
 for manufacturing welded iron tubes, by drawing or passing the skelp, or fillet of sheet 
 iron, five feet long, between dies or holes, formed by a pair of grooved rollers, placed 
 with their sides contiguous ; for which process, he does not previously turn up the skelp 
 from end to end, but he does this so as to bring the edges together at the lime when the 
 welding is performed. He draws the skelp through two or more pairs of the above 
 pincers or dies, each of less dimension than the preceding. In making tubes of an inch 
 of internal diameter, a skelp four inches and a half broad is employed. The twin rollers 
 revolve on vertical axes, which may be made to approach each other to give pressure ; 
 and they are kept cool by a stream of water, while the skelp, ignited to the welding heat, 
 is passed between them. They are affixed at about a foot in front of the mouth of the 
 furnace, on a draw-bench ; there being a suitable stop within a few inchesl of the 
 rollers, against which the workman may place a pair of pincers, having * bell- 
 mouthed hole or die, for welding and shaping the tube. In the first passage between the 
 rollers, a circular revolving plate of iron is let down vertically between them, to prevent 
 the edges of the skelp from overlapping, or even meeting. The welding is performed at 
 the last passage. 
 
 WELLS, ARTESIAN. See also Artesian Wells. The following account of a 
 successful operation of this kind, lately performed at Mortlake, in Surrey, deserves to 
 be recorded. The spot at which this undertaking was begun, is within 100 feet of the 
 Thames. In the first instance, an auger, seven inches in diameter, was used in pene- 
 trating 20 feet of superficial detritus, and 200 feet of London clay. An iron tube, 8 
 inches in diameter, was then driven into the opening, to dam out the land-springs and 
 the percolation from the river. A 4-inch auger was next introduced through the iron 
 tube, and the boring was continued until, the London clay having been perforated to 
 the depth of 240 feet, the sands of the plastic clay were reached, and water of the softest 
 and purest nature was obtained ; but the supply was not sufficient, and it did not reach 
 the surface.- The work was proceeded with accordingly ; and after 55 feet of alternating 
 beds of sand and clay had been penetrated, the chalk was touched upon. A second 
 tube, 4jj inches in diameter, was then driven into the chalk, to stop out the water of 
 the plastic sands ; and through this tube an auger, 3 J inches in diameter, was introduced, 
 and worked down through 35 feet of hard chalk, abounding with flints. To this succeeded 
 a bed of soft chalk, into which the instrument suddenly penetrated to the depth of li? feet. 
 On the auger being withdrawn, water gradually rose to the surface, and overflowed. 
 The expense of the work did not exceed 300Z. The general summary of the strata pene. 
 
936 WHALEBONE. 
 
 trated is as follows: — Gravel, 20 feet; London clay, 250,' plastic sands and clays, 65' 
 hard chalk with flints, 35; soft chalk, 15=375 feet 
 
 WHALEBONE (Baleine, Fr.; Fischbeine, Germ.), is the name of the horny 
 laminae, consisting of fibres laid lengthwise, found in the mouth of the whale, which, by 
 the fringes upon their edges, enable the animal to allow the water to flow out, as through 
 rows of teeth (which it wants), from between its capacious jaws, but to caich and 
 detain the minute creatures upon which it feeds. The fibres of whalebone have little 
 lateral cohesion, as they are not transversely decussated, and may, therefore, be readily 
 detached in the form of long filaments or brisiles. The blades, or scythe-shaped plates, 
 are externally compact, smooth, and susceptible of a good polish. They are connected, 
 in a parallel series, by what is called the gum of the animal, and are arranged along each 
 side of its mouth, to the number of about 300. The length of the longest blade, which 
 is usually found near the middle of the series, is the gauge adopted by the fishermen to 
 designate the size of the fish. The greatest length hitherto known has been 15 feet, 
 but it rarely exceeds 12 or 13. The breadth, at the root end, is from 10 to 12 inches; 
 and the average thickness, from four to five tenths of an inch. The series, viewed 
 altogether in the mouth of the whale, resemble, in general form, the roof of a house. 
 They are cleansed and softened before cutting, by boiling for two hours in a long 
 copper. 
 
 Whalebone, as brought from Greenland, is commonly divided into portable junks or 
 pieces, comprising ten or twelve blades in each ; but it is occasionally subdivided into 
 separate blades, the gum and the hairy fringes having been removed by the sailors 
 during the voyage. The price of whalebone fluctuates from" 50Z. to 150/. per ton. 
 The blade is cut into parallel prismatic slips, as follows: — It is clamped horizontally, 
 with its edge up and down, in the large wooden vice of a carpenter's bench, and is thea 
 planed by the following tool : fig. 1501, a,-b, are its two handles j c, d, is an iron 
 plate, with a guide-notch e ; t, is a semicircular knife, screwed firmly at each end to 
 the ends of the iron plate c, D, having its cutting edge 
 adjusted in a plane, so much lower than the bottom of the 
 notch E,as the thickness of the whalebone slip is intended 
 to be ; for different thicknesses, the knife may be set by 
 the screws at different levels, but always in a plane parallel 
 to the lower guide surface of the plate c, d. The. work- 
 man, taking hold of the handles A, B, applies the notch 
 of the tool at the end of the whalebone blade furthest from 
 him, and with his two hands pulls it steadily along, so as to shave off a slice in the di- 
 rection of the fibres ; being careful to cut none of them across. These prismatic slips 
 are then dried, and planed level upon their other two surfaces. The fibrous matter detached 
 in this operation, is used, instead of hair, for stuffing mattresses. 
 • From its flexibili'r, strength, elasticity, and lightness, whalebone is employed for many 
 purposes : for ribs to umbrellas or parasols ; for stiffening stays ; for the frame-work of 
 hats, &c. When heated by steam, or a sand-bath, it sofjpns, and may be bent or moulded, 
 like horn, into various shapes, which it retains, if cooled under compression. In this way, 
 snuff-boxes, and knobs of walking-sticks, may be made from the thicker parts of the blade. 
 The surface is polished at first with ground pumice-stone, felt, and water ; and finished 
 with dry quicklime, spontaneously slaked and sifted. 
 
 A patent was granted to Mr. Laurence Kortright in March, 1841, for improvements 
 in the treatment of whalebone, which consist in compressing the strips in width to 
 increase their thickness, so as to render the material applicable forming walking- 
 sticks, whip handles, parasol and umbrella sticks, ramrods, archery bows, <tc. He 
 accomplishes this by bending the strips together, introducing them into a steam chest, 
 thereby softening them, and in that state compressing them into a compact mass by ap- 
 propriate machinery ; for a description, with figures, of which, see Newton's Journal, C. 
 a, xxi, 444. 
 
 Although all the species of Balaena possess this substance, it is furnished in the largest 
 quantities, and of the finest quality, by the Balama mysticetus, which is the object of 
 incessant and eager pursuit, not only for the value of this substance, but for the 
 imtaense supply of oil which is obtained from the thick layer of blubber, or cutaneous 
 fat, in which the body is enveloped. The length of the largest piece of baleen in a 
 whale 60 feet long, is frequently as much as 12 feet, and the laminae are arranged in 
 two series, each containing about 300 in number. 
 
 The fins or plates of baleen, or whalebone, of an inequilateral form, the largest^ 
 which are of most value in commerce,. being arranged in a single longitudinal series on 
 each side of the upper jaw of the " whalebone wbaleB," (Balamidai) descending vertically 
 and ending in a fringe of bristles: the smaller plates are arranged in oblique scries, 
 internal to the marginal ones. The base of each plate is hollow, and is fixed upon a 
 pulp developed from a vascular germ, which is attached to a broad and shallow de- 
 
WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 937 
 
 prossion occupying the whole of the palatal surface of the maxillary bonea. The 
 plates are so disposed as that their fringed terminations are directed downward and 
 inclining toward the back part of the mouth, and they prevent the escape of the small 
 marine animals which, constitute the food of the great whales (Balsense), for the 
 prehension of which this singular substitute is adapted. The baleen plates are smallest 
 at the two extremities of the series; the large intermediate one sometimes attains the 
 length of 15 feet, being above a foot broad at the base. There are about 200 plates in 
 outer row on each side of the mouth in the " true whale" {Balatna mysticetus). Each 
 plate consists of a central coarse fibrous substance and an exterior compact fibrous 
 layer: but this reaches to a certain extent only, beyond which the central part projects 
 in the form of a fringe of bristles. The chemical base of baleen is albumen hardened 
 by a small proportion of phosphate of lime. The baleen plates of the finners or hump- 
 backed whales (Balamotera) are smaller and of less value than those from the true 
 whale (Balcena mysticetus). 
 
 WHEAT. {Triticum vulgare, Linn.; Froment, Fr.; Waizen, Germ.) See Bbead, 
 Gluten, and Staeoh. 
 
 Wheat Flour; to detect adulteration of. Potato starch is insoluble ,'n cold water, 
 unless it be triturated in thin portions in a mortar. If pure wheat flour be thus triturated, 
 it affords no trace of starch to iodine, as the former does, because the particles of wheat 
 starch are very minute and are sheathed in gluten. 
 
 Bean flour digested with water at « heat of 68° Fahr. and triturated affords on 
 filtration a liquid which becomes milky on the addition of a little acetic acid, by its 
 reaction on the legumine present in the beans. 
 
 WHEEL CARRIAGES. Though this manufacture belongs most properly to 
 a treatise upon mechanical engineering, I shall endeavor to describe the parts of a 
 carriage, so as to enable gentlemen to judge of its make and relative merits. The 
 external form may vary with every freak of fashion ; but the general structure of a 
 vehicle, as to lightness, elegance, and strength, may be judged of from the following 
 figure and description. 
 
 Fig. 1502 shows the body of a chariot, hung upon an iron carriage, with iron wheels, 
 axletrees, and boxes ; the latter, by a simple contrivance, is close at the out-head, by 
 which means the oil cannot escape ; and the fastening of the wheel being at the in-head, 
 as will be explained afterward, gives great security, and prevents the possibility of the 
 wheel being taken off by any other carriage running against it. 
 
 Fig. 1603 shows the arm of an axletree, turned-perfectly true, with two collars in 
 the solid, as seen at G-and h. The parts from g to b are made cylindrical. At E is a 
 screw nail, the purpose of which will be explained in Jig. 1 507 
 1502 
 
 Fig. 1504, is the longitudinal section of a metal nave, which also forms the bush, loi 
 Jie better fitting of which to the axletree, it is bored out of the solid, and made quite air 
 jght upon the pin ; and for retaining the oil, it is left close at the out-head r>. 
 
 Fig. 1505, represents a collet, made of metal, turned perfectly true the least diameter 
 
 Vol. II. 61 
 
938 
 
 WHEEL JARRIAGES. 
 
 of which ia made the same with that part of the axletree n,fig.. 1503, and its greatest 
 diameter the same with that of the solid collar a,'fig. 1503. This collet is made with a 
 joint at s, and opens at p. Two grooves are represented at qq, qq, which are seen 
 at the same letters in fig. 1506, as also the dovetail r, in both figures. 
 
 Mg. 1506 is an edge view of the collet, fig. 1505. 
 
 Mg. 1507 is a longitudinal section of an axletree arm, nave or bush, and fastening. 
 a b, is the arm of the axletree, bored up the centre from b to e. cod, the nave, which 
 1505 1506 1507 
 
 answers also for the hush, p, s, the collet (see figs. 1505 and 1506), put into its place. 
 q, q, two steel pins, passing through the in-head of the bush, and fillirjg up the grooves 
 in the collet, w, w, a caped hoop, sufficiently broad to cover the ends of said pins, and 
 made fast to the bush by screws. This hoop, when so fastened to the bush, prevents 
 the possibility of the pins q, q, from getting out of their' places, u, u, is a leather 
 washer, interposed betwixt the in-head of the bush and the larger solid collar of the 
 axletree, to prevent the escape of oil at the in-head, k, is a screw, the head of which 
 is near the letter k, in fig. 1503. This screw being undone, and oil poured into the 
 hole, it flows down the bore in the centre of the axletree arm, and fills the space B, left 
 by the arm, being about one inch shorter than the bore of the bush, and the screw, being 
 afterwards replaced, keeps all tight. In putting on the wheel, a little oil ought to be 
 put into the space betwixt the collet p, s, and the larger collar. The collar p, s, being 
 moveable round the axletree arm, and being made fast to the bush by means of the two 
 pins g, q, revolves along with the bush, acting against the solid collar G, of the arm, and 
 keeps the wheel fast to the axletree, until by removing the caped hoop Vf, w, and driving 
 out the pins q, q, the collet becomes disengaged from the bush. 
 
 The dovetail, seen upon the collet at r, fig. 1506, has a corresponding groove cut in the 
 bush, to receive it, in consequence of which the wheel must of necessity be put on so that 
 the collet and pins fit exactly. These wheels very rarely require to be taken off, and they 
 will run a thousand miles without requiring fresh oiling. 
 
 The spokes of the wheel, made of malleable iron, are screwed into the bush or nave at 
 c, c,figs. 1504, 1507, all round. The felloes, composed merely of two bars of iron, bent 
 into a circle edgeways, are put on, the one on the front, the other on the hack, of the 
 spokes, which have shoulders on both sides to support the felloes, and all three are attached 
 .ogether by rivets through them. The space between the two iron rings forming the felloes, 
 should be filled up with light wood, the tire then put on, and fastened to the felloes by bolts 
 and glands clasping both felloes. 
 
 This is a carriage without a mortise or tenon, or wooden joint of any kind. ' It is, at an 
 average, one seventh lighter than any of those built on the ordinary construction. 
 
 The design of Mr. W. Mason's patent invention, of 1827, is to give any required 
 pressure to the ends of what are called mail axletrees, in order to prevent their shaking 
 in the boxes of the wheels. This object is effected by the introduction of leather collars 
 in certain parts of the box, and by a contrivance, in which the outer cap is screwed up, 
 so as to bear against the end of the axletree with any degree of tightness, and is held in 
 that situation, without the possibility of turning round, or allowing the axletree to become 
 loose. 
 
 Fig. 1508 shows the section of the box of a wheel, with the end of the axletree 
 secured in it. The general form of the box, and of the axle, is the same as other mail 
 axles, there'being recesses in the box for the reception of oil. At the end of the axle, 
 a cap a, is inserted, with a leather collar enclosed in it, bearing against the end of the 
 axle; which cap, when screwed up sufficiently tight, is held in that situation by a pin 
 or screw passed through the cap a, into the end of the iron box ; a representation of this 
 end of the iron box being shown at Jig. 1509 
 
WHEEL CARRIAGES. 939 
 
 1508 1509 
 
 i ■" 
 
 la Ihe cap a, there is also a groove for conducting the oil to the interior of the box, with 
 a screw at the opening, to prevent it running out as the wheel goes round. 
 
 The particular claims of improvement are, the leather collar against the end of the axle ; 
 the pin going through one of the holes in the end of the box, to fix it ; and the channel foi 
 conducting the oil. 
 
 Mr. Mason's patent, of August, 1830, applies also to the boxes and axles of that con- 
 struction of carriage wheels which are fitted with the so called mail-boxes ; but part of the 
 invention applies to other axles. 
 
 Fig. 1510, represents the nav« of a wheel, with the box for the axle within it, both 
 shown in section longitudinally; fig. 1511, is a section of the axle, taken in the same 
 direction ; and fig. 1512, represents the screw cap and oil-box, which attaches to the outer 
 extremity of the axle-box. Supposing the parts were put together, that is, the axle inserted 
 into the box, then the intention of the different parts will be perceived. 
 
 The cylindrical recess a, in the box of the nave, is designed to fit the cylindrical part 
 of the axle 6 ; and the conical part c, of the axle, to shoulder up against a corresponding 
 conical cavity in the box, with a washer of leather lo prevent its shaking. A collar d, 
 formed by a metallic ring, fits loosely upon a cylindrical part of the axle, and is kept there 
 by a flange or rim, fixed behind the cone c. Several strong pins /,/, are cast into the 
 back part of the box ; which pins, when the wheel is attached, pass through corresponding 
 holes in the collar d ; and nuts being screwed on to the ends of the pins/, behind the collar, 
 keep the wheel securely attached to the axle. The screw-cap g, is then inserted into the 
 recess h, at the outer part of the box, its conical end and small tube t, passing into the recess 
 fe, in the end of the axle. 
 
 The parts being thus connected, the oil. contained within the cap g, will flow through 
 the small tube i, in its end, into the recess or cylindrical channel I, within the axle, and will 
 thence pass through a small hole in the side of the axle, into the cylindrical recess a, of 
 the box ; and then lodging in the groove and other cavities within the box, will lu- 
 bricate the axle as the wheel goes round. There is also a small groove cut on the out- 
 side of the axle, for conducting the oil, in order that it may be more equally dis- . 
 
 tributed over the surface and the bear- 
 ings. This construction of the box and 
 axle, as far as the lubrication goes, may 
 be applied to the axles of wheels in 
 general ; but that part of the invention 
 which is designed to give greater secu- 
 rity in the attachment of the wheel to 
 the carriage, applies particularly to mail 
 axles. 
 
 Mr. William Mason's patent in- 
 vention for wheel carriages, of August, 
 1831, will be understood by reference 
 to the annexed figures. Fig. 1513, is a 
 plan showing the fore-axletree bed a, a, 
 of a four-wheeled carriage, to which 
 the axlelrees b, b, are jointed at each 
 end ; fig. 1514 is an enlarged plan ; ana 
 fig. 1515 an elevation, or side view of one 
 end of the said fore-axletree bed, having 
 a Collinge's axletree jointed to the 
 axletree bed, by means of the cylindrical pin or bolt e, which passes through and turns 
 In a cylindrical hole d, formed at the end of the axletree bed, shown also in the plan 
 new, Jiff. 1516, and section,/^. 1517. 
 
 The axletree 6, is firmly united with the upper end e, of the pin or bolt e ; and to the 
 lower end of it, which is squared, the guide piece f is also fitted, and secured by the 
 3crew^, and cap or nut h, seen in Jiff. 1515, and in section iny«jr. 1518. There are leather 
 tvashers i, i, let into recesses made to receive them in the parts a, 6, and/ the intent of 
 
 1510 
 
940 
 
 WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 1522 
 
 1518 1517 1516 15I4- 
 
 V 
 
 1523 
 
 1525 
 
 f 
 
 .. 
 
 _ 
 
 which is to prevent the oil from escaping that is introduced through the central perpen- 
 dicular hole seen'in fig. 1518, whiclrhole is closed by means of a screw inserted mtc 
 it. The oil is diffused, or spread over the surface of the cylinder c, by means of a side 
 branch leading from the bottom of the hole into a groove formed around the cylinder, 
 and also by means of two longitudinal gaps <Jr cavities made within the hole, as shown 
 in figs. 1516 and IBIT. The guide piece /, is affixed at right angles with the sub- 
 tree b, as shown in fig. 1514, and turns freely and steadily in the cylindrical hole d, 
 made to receive one end of the iron fore-axletree bed a. In like manner, the op- 
 posite fore axletree 6, fig. 1513, is jointed to the other end of the iron fore-axletree bed. 
 The outer ends of the guide pieces // are jointed to the splinter-.bar n,fig. 1517, as 
 follows:— i%. 1519 is a plan, and fig. 1520 a section of the joint o, in fig. 1513, shown 
 on an enlarged scale; a cylindrical pin in bolt c, is firmly secured in the splinter-bar, 
 and round the lower part of the said pin or bolt the guide piece /, turns, and is 
 made fast in its place by the screw g, and screwed nut h. 
 
 Oil is conveyed to the lower part of the cylindrical, pin c,in a similar manner to that 
 already described, and two leather washers are'likewise furnished, to prevent its escape, 
 The connecting joint at the. opposite end of the splinter bar n, is constructed in a 
 similar manner. The ftitcbel or socket p, p, for the pole of the carriage, must also be 
 jointed to the middle of the fore-axletree bed aod splinter-bar, in a similar manner. The 
 awingletrees q, q,fig. 1513, are likewise jointed in the same -way to the splinter-bar. 
 Fig. 1521 is a side view of these parts. The fore-wheels of the carriage, fig. 1513, are 
 furnished With cast iron boxes, as usual. The dotted lines show the action of the pole 
 p, p, upon the splinter-bar n, and as communicated through the latter to the guide 
 pieces /, f, connected with the axletrees 6, 6, so as to lock the wheels r, r, as shown in 
 that figure. 
 
 The axletree may be incased in the woodwork of the fore-bed of the carriage, as 
 usual, and as shown by dotted lines in the back end view thereof,^. 1522; and the 
 framing s,fig. 1523, may be affixed firmly upon the said woodwork, in any fit and 
 proper manner, as well as the fore-springs t, t, shown in figs. 1522 and 1523,'and like- 
 wise in the side view, fig. 1524. In certain cases it may be desirable to fix the cylin- 
 drical pin or bolt c, firmly in the splinter-bar ?i,in the manner shown in figs. 1525 and 
 1526; the swingletrees g, g, and guide pieces /J /,: turning freely above and below upon 
 the said pin or bolt, and secured in their places thereon by screws and Bcrewed nuts, 
 oil being also supplied through holes formed in both ends of the said pin or bolt, and 
 leather washers provided, bb in the above-described instances. 
 
 Mr. Gibbs, engineer, and Mr. Chaplin, coach-maker obtained a patent, in 1832, for 
 the construction of a four-wheeled carriage which shall be enabled to turn within a 
 
WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 941 
 
 smajl compass, by throwing the axles of all the four wheels simultaneously into different 
 positions. They effect this object by mounting each wheel upon a separate jointed 
 
 axle, and by connecting the freo 
 ends of the four axles by jointed rods 
 or chains, with the pole and splinter- 
 bar in front of the carriage. 
 
 To fix the ends of the spokes of 
 wheels to the felloe or rim, with 
 greater security than had been ef- 
 fected by previous methods, is the 
 object of a contrivance for which 
 William Howard obtained a patent, 
 in February, 1830. Fig. 1527 shows 
 a portion of a wheel constructed on 
 this new method; a, is the nave, 
 of wood ; b, b, b, wooden spokes, 
 inserted into the nave in the usual 
 way; c, c, is the rim or felloe, in- 
 tended to be formed by one entire circle of wrought iron ; d, and e, e, are the shoes 
 or blocks, of cast iron, for receiving the ends of the spokes, which are secured by bolts 
 to the rim on the inner circumference. The cap of the block d, is removed, for the 
 purpose of showing the internal form of the block ; c, e, have their caps fixed on, as 
 they would appear when the spokes are fitted in. One of the caps or shoes is shown 
 detached, upon a larger scale, at fig. 1528, by which it will be perceived that the end 
 1528 of the spoke is introduced into the shoe on the side. It is proposed 
 
 that the end of the spoke shall not reach quite to the end of the 
 recess formed in the block, and that it shall be made tight by a 
 wedge driven in. The wedge piece is to be of wood, as fig. 1529, 
 with a small slip of iron within it ; and a hole is perforated in the 
 back of the block or shoe, for the wedge to be driven through. When this is done, the 
 ends of the spokes become confined and tight; and the projecting extremities of the 
 1529 wedges being cut off, the caps are then attached on the face of the block, as at 
 p^a e, e,"by pins riveted at their ends, which secures the spokes, and renders it 
 '-^ impossible for them to be loosened by the vibrations as the wheel passes 
 over the ground. One important use of the wedges, is to correet the eccentric figure of 
 the wheel, which may be readily forced - out in any part that may be out of the true 
 form, by driving the wedge up further; and this, it is considered, will be a very im- 
 portant advantage, as the nearer a wheel can be brought to a true circle, the easier it 
 will run upon the road. The periphery of the wheel is to be protected by a tire, 
 which may be put on in piecesj and bolted through the felloe; or it may be made in one 
 ring, and attached, while hot, in the usual way. 
 
 Mr. Reedhead's patent improvements in the construction of carriages, are represented 
 in the following figures. They were specified in July, 1833. 
 
 Fig. .1530, is a plan or horizontal view of the fore part of a carriage, intended to be 
 drawn by- horses* showing the fore wheels in their position when running in a straight 
 course ; fig. 1531, is a similar view, showing the wheels as locked, wheii in the act of 
 1530 1531 
 
 mi v • ft,". 1532, is a front end elevation of the same ; fig. 1533, is a section taken 
 throu°-h'fne D centre of the fore axletree ; and fig. 1534, is a side elevation of the general 
 
942 
 
 WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 appearance of a stage-coach, with the improvements appended ; a, a, are two splinter- 
 bars, with their roller bolts, for connecting the traces of the harness ; these splinter bars 
 are attached, by the bent irons 6, 6, to two short axletrees or axle-boxes c, c, which earrj 
 the axles of the fore wheels d, d, and turn upon vertical pins or bolts e, e, passed through 
 the fore axletree /, the splinter-bars and axle-boxes being mounted so as to move 
 parallel to each other, the latter partaking of any motion given to the splinter-bars by 
 the horses in drawing the carriage forward, and thereby producing the locking of the 
 wheels, as shown in fig. 1531 ; and in order that the two wheels, and their axles and 
 axle-boxes, together with'the splinter-bars a, a, may move simultaneously, the latter aro 
 connected by pivots to the end of the links or levers g, g, which are attached to the arms 
 t, i, which receive the pole of the coach by a hinge-joint or pin ft ; the arms i, i, turning 
 on a vertical fulcrum-pin k, passed through the main axletree/, as the pole is moved from 
 one side to the other. 
 
 The axles o, o, are firmly fixed into the naves of the'wheels, as represented in the side 
 view of a wheel detached, axfig. 1536, the axles being mounted so as to revolve within 
 their boxes in the following manner : — The axle-boxes, which answer the purpose of 
 short axletrees, are formed of iron, and consist of one main or bottom plate l, seen best 
 in figs. 1536 and 1535 ; upon this bottom plate is formed the chamber m, m, carrying 
 the two anti-friction rollers n, n, which turn on short axles passed through the sides and 
 partition at the upper part of the chambers. These anti-friction rollers bear upon the 
 cylindrical parts of the axle o, of each wheel, and support the weight of the coach ; p, is 
 a bearing firmly secured in the axle-box to the plate I, for the end of the axle o to ma 
 1532 1533 
 
 1536 
 
 in, the axle being confined in its proper situation by a collar and screw-nut on its eniij 
 t, is the vertical pin or bolt before mentioned, upon which the axle-bar turns when the 
 wheels are locking, which bolt is enlarged within the box, and has an eye foi the axl« 
 to pass through, being firmly secured to the plate I, and also to the sides of the box. Fig. 
 1536, is a plan or horizontal view of an axle and its box, belonging 
 to one of the fore wheels j a piece g, is fixed to the under side of the 
 main axletree, which supports the ends of the plates /, and thereby 
 relieves the pins «, e, of the strain they would otherwise have to 
 withstand. The axles of the hind wheels are mounted upon similar 
 plates I, I, with bearings and chambers with anti-friction rollers; 
 but as these are not required to lock, the plates I, I, are fixed on to 
 the under side of the hind axletree by screw-nuts j there are small 
 openings or doors, which can be removed for the purpose of un- 
 screwing the nuts and collars of the bearings p, when the wheel is 
 required to be taken off the carriage, when the axle ean be with- 
 drawn from the boxes. If it should be thought necessary, other 
 chambers with friction rollers may be placed on the under side ol 
 the plate I, to bear up the end of the axles, and relieve the bearing 
 p. In order to stop or impede the progress of a earriage in passing 
 down hills, there is a grooved friction or brake wheel t, fixed, by 
 clamps or otherwise, on to the spokes of one of the hind wheels ; 
 », is a brake-band or spring, of metal, encircling the friction wheel, one end of which 
 band is fixed into the standard v, upon the hind axletree, and the other end con- 
 nected by. a joint to the shorter end of the lever w, which has its fulcrum in the standard 
 v; this lever extends up to the hind seat of the coach, as shown in fig. 1534, and is in- 
 .ended to be under the command of the guard or passengers of the coach, and when de. 
 scending a hill, or on occasion of the horses running away, the longer end of the lever is 
 to be depressed, which will raise the shorter end, and, consequently, bring the band oi 
 spring u, in contact with the surface of the friction wheel, and thereby retard its revolu- 
 
WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 943 
 
 tion, and prevent the coach travelling too fast ; or, instead of attaching the friction 
 brake to the hind vheel, as represented in fig. 1534, it may be adapted to the fore 
 
 1635 
 
 1534 
 
 wheels; and the end of the lever brought up to the side of the foot-board, or under it, 
 and within command of the coachman, the standard which carries the fulcrum being 
 made to move upon a pivot, to accommodate the locking of the wheels. It will be 
 observed, that by these improved constructions of the carriage and mode of locking, the 
 patentee is enabled to use much larger fore wheels than in common, and that the 
 splinter-bars will always be in the position of right angles with the track or way of the 
 horses in drawing the carriage, by which they are much relieved, and always pull in a 
 direct and equal manner. 
 
 A manifest defect in all four-wheeled carriages, involving vast superfluous fnction, .s 
 the small size of the front wheels ; a defect which has existed ever since Walter Bippon 
 made " the first hollow turning coach with pillars and arches for her majesty Queen 
 Mary, being then her servant," until the railroad era, when our engineers remedied the 
 defect by equalizing the wheels, at the expense of another defect — sacrificing the power 
 of turning, and thus producing great lateral friction ; whence a train of evil consequences 
 result : — necessarily increased strength, and consequently increased weight of the carria- 
 ges; increased power and weight of the engine to draw them, and overcome the friction ; 
 and, of course, increased strength of rails, and greater solidity of railway. 
 
 These defects are at last remedied by an invention patented by Mr. William Adams, 
 author of a work entitled "English Pleasure Carriages." Instead of placing the perch- 
 bolt, or turning centre, as is commonly done, over the front axle, he places it at a con. 
 venient distance between the front and hind axles ; so that when turning the carriage the 
 front wheels, instead of turning beneath the body, as is common, turn outside of it, ano 
 the driver's seat turns with them,; thus giving him a perfect command over his horses in 
 all positions, instead of the usual dangerous plan, which renders a driver liable to be 
 pulled off his bos by a restiff horse, when in the act of turning. A carriage constructed 
 on Mr. Adams's plan may also be driven round a corner at full speed, without any risk of 
 overturning, as the weight is equally poised on the axles in all position's. It is well known 
 that the oversetting of stage coaches usually takes place when turning a corner, the 
 momentum urging, the vehicle in a right line, while the horses are pulling at an angle. 
 By the new arrangement the front wheels may be made equal to the hind ones, or of any 
 desirable height, and at the same time the body may be kept as low as may be thought 
 convenient, even almost ciose, to the ground, if desired. Thus two important objects, 
 hitherto deemed incompatible, are combined — high wheels and a low centre of gravity. 
 These carriages are therefore essentially safety carriages, while the friction is reduced to 
 a minimum. The principle, in its various modifications, is applicable to every variety of 
 carriage, both those of the simply useful kind, and those where beauty of form and color 
 are prime requisites. 
 
 Andther most important part of Mr. Adams's invention, is his new mode of spring sus- 
 pension ; applying the principle of the bow and string, for the first time, to obviate the 
 effects of concussion in wheel carriages. All the springs hitherto in use for wheel carria 
 ges, have been friction springs, composed of long sliding surfaces, uncertain in their ac 
 tion, and liable to quick destruction by rust. Bat Mr. Adams's springs are essentially 
 elastic, being formed of single plates abutting endways, so that all friction is removed, 
 and they can be hermetically sealed within paint to prevent their corrosion. He has 
 various modes of applying the bow, either single or double, above or below the axle ; but 
 ope most important feature is, that the axle being attached to the flexible cords or braces, 
 the concussion which affects the wheels, either laterally, vertically, or in the line of pro- 
 
944 
 
 "WHEEL CARRIAGES. 
 
 cress is perfectly intercepted, without the unpleasant oscillation experienced in car- 
 nage's where the same purpose is accomplished by the use of the curved or C spring. 
 Mr Adams' brace being, at the same time, a non-conductor of sound, the rattling ot the 
 wheels does not annoy the rider as in ordinary carriages. His springs are equally 
 applicable to vehicles with two and four wheels. _ 
 
 The advantages of these carriages may be thus summed up:— A great diminution of 
 the total weight; a diminution of resistance in draught equal to about one third; in- 
 crease of safety to the riders; increased durability of the vehicle; absence of noise and 
 vibration ; absence of oscillation. 
 
 To these qualities, so desirable to all, and especially those of delicate nervous tem- 
 perament, may be added— greater economy, both in the first cost and maintenance. 
 
 The whirling public so blindly follows fashionable caprice in the choice of a carnage, 
 as to have hitherto paid too little attention to this fundamental improvement ; but many 
 intelligent individuals have fully verified its practical reality. Having inspected various 
 forms of two-wheeled and four-wheeled carriages, in the patentee s premises in Drury 
 Lane I feel justified in recommending them as being constructed on the soundest me- 
 chanical principles; and have no doubt, that if reason be allowed to decide upon their 
 merits, they will ere long be universally preferred by all who seek for easy-moving, 
 safe, and comfortable vehicles. . . 
 
 Among the wheel carriages displayed in the Exhibition one of the most remarkable 
 was the amempton (unblamable) of E. Kesterton, Long Acre. It is a close double-seated 
 carriage, which by a simple contrivance can be converted in a light, open, step-piece, 
 barouche, adapted for summer and winter. Fig. 1537 represents the carnage closed, or 
 
 1537 
 
 what is termed the amempton, which can be readily converted into a step-piece baronche. 
 Fig. 1538 is the Carriage thrown completely opeD, and constructed as an ordinary open 
 
 1538 
 
 iJBL 
 
 carriage, with a half head, which is raised and lowered in the usual manner, with a solid 
 folding knee flap. The front portion of the amempton is formed of a framework with 
 circular front glasses, and furnished with doors. The door glasses and front glasses are 
 made to rise and fall at pleasure, and are furnished with silk spring curtains, the whole 
 being surmounted or covered with a roof. This framework is Becured to the head with 
 a new kind of fastening; the door glasses when down are received into the lower part 
 of the doors ; the back, instead of being flat, is of a curved form. 
 
 WHETSLATE, is a massive mineral of a greenish-gray color; feebly glimmering; 
 fracture, slaty 6r splintery; fragments tubular; translucent on the edges; feels rather 
 greasy; and has a spec. grav. of 2-722. It occurs in beds, in primitive and transition 
 slates. Very fine varieties of whetslate are brought from Turkey, called honestonca 
 which are in much esteem for sharpening steel instruments. 
 
WHITE LEAD. 945 
 
 WHEY (Petit lait, Fr. ; Molken, Germ.), is the greenish-gray liquor -which exudes from 
 the curd of milk. Scheele states, that when a pound of milk is mixed with a spoonful of 
 proof spirit, and allowed to become sour, the whey filtered off, at the end of a month or a . 
 little more, is a good vinegar, devoid of lactic acid. 
 
 WHISKEY, is dilute alcohol, distilled from the fermented worts of malt or grains. 
 
 WHITE LEAD, Carbonate of lead, or Ceruse. (Blanc de plomb, Fr. ; Bleiweiss, Germ.) 
 This preparation is the only one in general use for painting wood and the plaster walls of 
 apartments white. It mixes well with oil, without having its bright color impaired, 
 spreads easily under the brush, and gives a uniform coat to wood, stone, metal, &c. It 
 is employed either alone, or with other pigments, to serve as their basis, and to give them 
 body. This article has been long manufactured with much success at Klagenfurth in 
 Carinthia, and its mode of preparation has been lately described with precision by 
 Marcel de Serres. The great white-lead establishments at Krems, whence, though 
 incorrectly, the terms white of Kremnitz became current on the continent, have been 
 abandoned. 
 
 1. The lead comes from Bleyberg; it is very pure, and particularly free from contanu- 
 nation with iron, a point essential to t*e beauty of its factitious carbonate. It is melted 
 in ordinary pots of cast iron, and cast into sheets of varying thickness, according to the 
 pleasure of the manufacturer. These sheets are made by pouring the melted lead upon 
 an iron plate placed over the boiler ; and whenever the surface of the metal begins to 
 consolidate, the plate is slightly sloped to one side, so as to run cf the still liquid metal, 
 and leave a lead sheet of the desired thinness. It is then lifted oil like a sheet of paper; 
 and as the iron plate is cooled in water, several hundred weights of lead can be readily 
 cast in a day. In -certain white-lead works these sheets are one twenty-fourth of an 
 inch thick ; in others, half that quantity ; in some, one of these sheets takes up the whole 
 width of the conversion-box ; in others, four sheets are employed. It is of conse- 
 quence not to smooth down the faces of the leaden sheets ; because a rough surface pre- 
 sents more points of contact, and is more readily attacked by acid vapors, than a polish- 
 ed one. 
 
 2. These plates are now placed so as to expose an extensive surface to the acid fumes, 
 by folding each other over a square slip of wood. Being suspended by their middle, like 
 a sheet of paper, they are arranged in wooden boxes, from 4| to 5 feet long, 12 to 14 
 inches broad, and from 9 to 1 1 inches deep. The boxes are very substantially construct- 
 ed ; their joints being mortised; and whatever nails are used being carefully covered. 
 Thmr bottom is^made tight with a coat of pitch about an inch thick. The mouths of the 
 boxes are luted over with paper, in the works where fermenting horse-dung is employed 
 as the means of procuring heat, to prevent the sulphureted and phosphureted hydrogen 
 from injuring the purity of the white lead. In Carinthia it was formerly the practice, 
 as also in Holland, to form the lead sheets into spiral rolls, and to place them so coiled 
 up in the chests ; but this plan is not to be recommended, because these rolls present 
 obviously less surface to the action of the vapors,, are apt to fall down into the liquid at 
 the bottom, and thus to impair the whiteness of the lead. The lower edges of the sheets 
 are suspended about two inches and a half from the bottom of the box ; and they must 
 not touch either one another or its sides, for fear of obstructing the vapors in the first 
 case, or of injuring the color in the second. Before introducing the lead, a peculiar acid 
 liquor is put into the box, which differs in different works. In some, the proportions are 
 four quarts of vinegar, with four quarts of wine-lees ; and in others, a mixture is mads 
 of twenty pounds of wine-lees, with eight and a half pounds of vinegar, and a pound ol 
 carbonate of potash. It is evident. that in the manufactories where no carbonate of pot- 
 ash is employed in the mixture, and no dung for heating the boxes, it is not necessary to 
 lute them. 
 
 3. The mixture being poured into the boxes, and the sheets of lead suspended within 
 them, they are carried into a stove-room, to receive the requisite heat for raising round 
 the lead the corrosive vapors, and thus converting it into carbonate. This apartment is 
 heated generally by stoves, is about 9 feet high, 30 feet long, and 24 feet wide, or of such 
 a size as to receive about 90 boxes. It has "only one door. 
 
 The heat/ should never be raised above 86° Fahr. ; and it is usually kept up for fifteen 
 days, in which time the operation is, for the most part, completed. If the heat be too 
 high, and the vapors too copious, the carbonic acid escapes in a great measure, and the 
 meta'llic lead, less acted upon, affords a much smaller product. 
 
 When the process is well managed, as much carbonate of lead is obtained, as there 
 was employed of metal; or, for 300 pounds of lead, 300 of ceruse are procured, besides a 
 certain quantity of metal after the crusts are removed, which is returned to the melting- 
 pot. The mixture introduced into the boxes serves only once ; and if carbonate of potash 
 has-been used, the residuary matter is sold to the hatters. , 
 
 4 When the preceding operation is supposed to be complete, the sheets, being removed 
 fr m the boxes Vre found to have grown a quarter of an inch thick, though previously 
 
946 WHITE LEAD. 
 
 nbt above a twelfth of that thickness. A few pretty large crystals cf acetate of lead 
 are sometimes observed on their edges. The plates are now shaken smartly, to cause 
 the crust of carbonate of lead formed on their surfaces to fall off. This carbonate is 
 put into large cisterns, and washed very clean. The cistern is of wood, most com- 
 monly of a square shape, and divided into from seven to nine compartments. These 
 are of equal capacity, but unequal height, so that the liquid may be made to overflow 
 from one to the other. Thereby, if the first chest is too full, it decants its excess into 
 the second, and so on in succession. See Rinsing Machine. 
 
 The water poured into the first chest passes successively into the othera-. a slight 
 agitation being meanwhile kept up, and there deposits the white- lead diffused in it pro- 
 portionally, so that the deposit of the last compartment is the finest and lightest 
 After this washing, the white lead receives another, in large vats, where it is always 
 kept under water. It is lastly lifted out in the state of a liquid paste, with wooden 
 spoons, and laid on drying-tables to prepare it for the market. 
 
 The white lead of the last compartment is of the first quality, and is called on the 
 continent silver white. It is employed in fine painting. 
 
 When white lead is mixed in equal quantities with ground sulphate of barytes, it is 
 known in France and Germany by the name of Venice white. Another quality, 
 adulterated with double its weight of sulphate of barytes, is styled Hamburgh white ; 
 and a fourth, having three parts of sulphate to one of white lead, gets the name of 
 Dutch white. When the sulphate of barytes is very white, like that of the Tyro), 
 these mixtures are reckoned preferable for certain kinds' of painting, as the barytes 
 Communicates opacity to the color, and protects the lead from being speedily darkened 
 by sulphurous smoke or vap'ors. 
 
 The high reputation of the white lead of Krems was by no means due to the barytesj 
 for the first and whitest quality was mere carbonate oflead. The freedom from silver ol 
 the lead of Villach, a very rare circumstance, is one cause of the superiority of its car- 
 bonate ,■ as well as the skilful and laborious manner in which it is washed, and separated 
 from any adhering particle of metal or sulphuret. 
 
 In England, lead is converted into carbonate in the following way : — The metal is cast 
 into the form of a net-work grating, in moulds about fifteen inches, long, and four or five 
 broad. Several rows of these are placed over cylindrical glazed earthen pots, about four 
 or five inches in diameter, containing some treacle-vinegar, which are then covered with 
 straw; above these pots another range is piled, and so in succession, to a convenient 
 height. The whole are imbedded in spent bark frpm the tan-pit, brought into a ferment- 
 ing state by being mixed with some bark used in a previous process. The pots are left 
 undisturbed under the influence of a fermenting temperature for eight or nine weeks. In 
 the course of this time the lead gratings become, generally speaking, converted through- 
 out into a solid carbonate, which when removed is levigated in a proper mill, and elutri- 
 ated with abundance of pure water. The plan of inserting coils of sheet lead into earthen- 
 ware pipkins containing vinegar, and imbedding the pile of pipkins in fermenting horse- 
 dung and litter, is now little used ; because the coil is not uniformly acted on by the acid 
 vapors, and the sulphureted hydrogen evolved from the dung is apt to darken the white 
 lead. 
 
 In the above processes, the conversion of lead into carbonate seems to be effected by 
 keeping the metal immersed in a warm, humid atmosphere, loaded with carbonic and acetic 
 acids ; and hence a pure vinegar does not answer well ; but one which is susceptible, by 
 its spontaneous decomposition in these circumstances, of yielding carbonic acid. Such 
 arc tartar, wine-lees, molasses, &c. 
 
 Another process has lately been practised to a considerable extent in France, though it 
 does not afford a white lead equal in body and opacity to the products of the preceding 
 operations. M. Thenard first established the principle, and MM. Brechoz and Leseur 
 contrived the arrangements of this new method, which was subsequently executed on a 
 great scale by MM. Roard an*d Brechoz. 
 
 A subacetate of lead is formed by digesting a cold solution of uncrystallized acetate, 
 over litharge, with frequent agitation. It is said that 65 pounds of purified pyroligneous 
 acid, of specific gravity 1-056, require, for making a neutral acetate, 58 pounds of litharge ; 
 and hence, to form the subacetate, three times that quantity of base, or 174 pounds, must 
 be used. The compound is diluted with water as soon as it is formed, and being decanted 
 off quite limpid, is exposed to a current of carbonic acid gas, which, uniting with the two 
 extra proportions of oxyde of lead in the subacetate, precipitates them in the form of a 
 white carbonate, while the liquid becomes a faintly acidulous acetate. The carbonic acid 
 may be extricated from chalk, or other compounds, or generated by combustion of chai- 
 coal, as at Clichy; but in the latter case, it must be" transmitted through a solution of 
 acetate oflead before being admitted into the subacetate, to deprive it of any particles o. 
 sulphureted hydrogen. When the precipitation of the carbonate oflead is completed, and 
 well settled down, the supernatant acetate is decanted off, and made to act on another 
 
WHITE LEAD. 
 
 947 
 
 lose of litharge. The deposit being first rinsed -with » little -water, this washing is 
 added to the acetate; after which the white lead is' thoroughly elutriated. This repe- 
 tition of the process may be indefinitely made; but there is always a small loss of 
 acetate, which must be repaired, either directly or by adding some vinegar. 
 
 In order to obtain the finest white lead by the process with earthen pots containing 
 vinegar buried in fermenting tan, and covered by a grating of lead, the metal 
 should be so thin as to be entirely convertible into carbonate; for whenever any 
 of it remains, it is apt to give a gray tint to the product: if the temperature of the 
 fermenting mass is less than 90° Fahr., some particles of the metal will resist the action 
 of the vinegar, and degrade the color; and if it exceeds 122°, the white verges into 
 yellow, in consequence of some carbonaceous compound being developed from the 
 principles of the acetic acid. The dung and tan have been generally supposed to act in 
 this proeSss by supplying carbonic acid, the result of their fermentation ; but it is now said 
 that this explanation is inexact, because the best white lead can be obtained by the entire 
 exclusion of air from the pots in which the carbonation of the metal is carried on. 
 "We are thence led to conclude that the lead is oxidized at the expense of the oxygen of 
 the vinegar, and carbonated by the agency of its oxygen and carbon ; the hydrogen of 
 the acid being left to associate itself with the remaining oxygen and carbon, so as to con- 
 stitute an ethereous compound : thus, supposing the three atoms of oxvgen to form, with 
 one of lead and one of carbon, an atom of carbonate, then tiie remaining three atoms of 
 carbon and three of hydrogen would compose olefiant gas. 
 
 ft is customary on the continent to mould the white lead into cornel loaves, before 
 sending them into the market. This is done by stuffing well-drained white lead into 
 unglazed earthen pots, of the requisite size and shape, and drying it to a solid mass, by 
 exposing these pots in stove-rooms. The moulds being now inverted on tables, discharge 
 their contents, which then receive a final desiccation ; and are afterwards put up in pale- 
 blue paper, to set off the white color by contrast. Nothing in all the white-lead process 
 is so injurious as this pot operation; a useless step, fortunately unknown in Great Britain. 
 Neither greasing the skin, nor wearing thick gloves, can protect the operators from the 
 diseases Induced by the poisonous action of the white lead; and hence they must be soon 
 sent off to some other department of the work. 
 
 It has been supposed that the differences observed between .the ceruse of Clichy and 
 the common kinds, depend on the greater compactness of the particles of the latter, pro- 
 duced by their slower aggregation; as also, according to M. Robiquet, on the former 
 containing considerably less carbonic # acid. See infri. 
 
 Mr. Ham proposed, in a patent dated June, 1826, to produce white lead with the aid of 
 the following apparatus, a, a (fig. 1539) are the side-walls of a stove-room, constructed of 
 
 bricks ; 6, is the floor of bricks laid in Roman 
 cement; c, c, are the side-plates, between 
 which and the walls, a quantity of refuse 
 tanner's bark, or other suitable vegetable 
 matter, is to be introduced. The, same ma- 
 terial is to be put also into the lower part 
 at d (upon a false bottom of grating ?) Tha 
 tan should rise to a considerable height, 
 and have a series of strips of sheet lead e, e, e, 
 placed upon it, which are kept apart by 
 blocks or some other convenient means, 
 with a space open at one end of the plates, 
 for the passage of the vapors; but above 
 the upper plates, boards are placed, and 
 covered with tan, to confine them there. In 
 the^ow^pwUrf the chamber, coils of steam-pipe/,/, are laid in different directions to 
 distribute heat ; g, is a fiinnel-pipe, to conduct vinegar into the lower part of the vessel ; 
 and h, is a cock to draw it off, when the operation is suspended. The acid vapors raised 
 by the heat, pass up through the spent bark, and on coming into contact with the sheets 
 of lead, corrode them. The quantity of acid liquor should not be in excess ; a point to 
 be ascertained by means of the small tube i, at top, which is intended for testing it by the 
 ton»ue. 7c, is a tube for inserting a thermometer, to watch the temperature, which should 
 not'exceed 170° Fahr. I am not aware of what success has attended this patented ar- 
 ran^ement. The heat prescribed is far too great. 
 
 A magnificent factory has been recently erected at West Bromwich, near Birming- 
 ham, to work a patent lately granted to Messrs. Gossage and Benson, for making white 
 lead by mixing a small quantity of acetate of lead in solution with slightly damped 
 lithar«e, contained in a Ion? stone trough, and passing over the surface of the trough 
 currents of hot carbonic acid, while its contents are powerfully stirred up by a tra- 
 vellin°-wheel jiechanism. The product is afterwards ground and elutriated, as usual. 
 
 1539 
 
948 WHITE LEAD. 
 
 The carbonic acid gaa is produced from the combustion of coke. I am told that 4J 
 tons of excellent white lead are made weekly by these chemico-mechanical operations 
 The factory has since proved abortive. 
 
 Messrs. Button and Dyer obtained a patent a few years ago, for making white leac* 
 by transmitting a current of purified carbonic acid gas, from the combustion^ of coke, 
 through a mixture of litharge and nitrate of lead, diffused and dissolved in water, 
 which is kept in constant agitation and ebullition by steam introduced through a 
 perforated coil of pipes at the bottom of the tub. The carbonate of lead is formed her» 
 upon the principle of Thenard's old process with -the subacetate ; for the nitrate of leai 
 forms with the litharge a subnitrate, which is forthwith transformed into carbonate anA 
 neutral nitrate, by the agency of the carbonic acid gas. I have discovered that all sortt , 
 of white lead produced by precipitation from a liquid, are in a semi-erystalline con- 
 dition ; appear, therefore, semi-transparent, when viewed in the microscope ; and do not 
 cover so well as white lead made by the process of vinegar and tan, in which the lead 
 has remained always solid during its transition from the blue to the white state; and 
 hence consists of opaque particles. 
 
 A patent was obtained, in December, 18S3, by John Baptiste Constantine Torassa, . 
 and others, for making white lead by agitating the granulated metal, or shot, in trays 
 cr barrels, along with water, and exposing the mixture of lead-dust and water to the 
 air, to be oxidized and carbonated. It is said that upward of 100,000i have been 
 expended at Chelsea, by a joint-stock cpmpany, in a factory constructed for executing 
 the preceding most operose and defective process ; which has been, many years ago, 
 tried without success in Germany. I am convinced that the whole of these recent pro- 
 jects for preparing white lead are inferior in economy, and quality of produce, to the 
 old Dutch process, which may be so arranged as to convert sheets of blue lead 
 thoroughly into the beet white lead, within the space of 12 days, at less expense of labor 
 than by any other plan. 
 
 White lead, as obtained by precipitation from the acetate, subacetate, and subnitrate, 
 is a true carbonate of the metal, consisting of one prime equivalent of lead 104, one of 
 oxygen 8, and one of carbonic acid 22; whose sum is 134, the atomic weight of the 
 compound; or, of lead, ll'S; oxygen, 6; carbonic acid, 16'4; in 100 parta It has 
 been supposed, by some authors, that the denser and better-covering white lead of 
 Krems and Holland is a kind of subcarbonate, containing only 9 per cent, of carbonic 
 .acid; but this view of the subject does not accord with my researches. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Richardson, of Newcastle, obtained a patent in December, 1839, for u 
 preparation of sulphate of lead, applicable to some of the purposes to which the car- 
 bonate is applied. His plan is to put 56 pounds of flake litharge into a tub, to mix it 
 with onepoundofaceticacid(and water) of specific gravity 1 • 46, and to agitate the mix- 
 ture till the oxide of lead becomes an acetate. But whenever this change is partially ef- 
 fected, he pours into the tub, through a pipe, sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1-5975, at 
 the rate of about 1 pound per minute, until a sufficient quantity of sulphuric acid has 
 been added to convert all the lead into a sulphate; being about 20 parts of acid to 112 
 of the litharge. The sulphate is afterward washed and dried in stoves for the market. 
 I have examined the particles of this white lead with a good achromatic microscope, 
 and found them to be semi-crystalline, and semi-transparent, like all the varieties of 
 carbonate precipitated from saline solutions of the metal. 
 
 Mr. Leigh, surgeon in Manchester, prepares his patent white lead, by precipitating 
 a carbonate from a solution of the chloride of the metal by means of carbonate of 
 ammonia. On this process, in a commercial poin{ of view, no remarks need be made. 
 In Liebig and Woehler's Annalen for May, 1843, Chr. Link has communicated his 
 investigation of two sorts of lead, prepared in the Dutch way, by the slow action of 
 vinegar and carbonic acid upon metallic lead, under the heat of fermenting horse-dung. 
 The one sort was manufactured by Sprenger, the other by Klagenfurfh of Krems. 
 He also examined 3 specimens of the Offenbach white lead. They all agreed in com- 
 position; affording 11-29 per cent, of carbonic acid, and 2*23 of water; correspond. 
 ing to the formula, 2 (PbO, C0 2 )4-PbO, H 2 0; that is, in words, 2 atoms of 
 carb onate of lead with 1 atom of oxide and 1 atom of water — in round numbers, 
 thus, 2X134 + 112 + 9. 
 
 Mulder observed specimens of white lead, of different atomic proportions of car. 
 bonate, oxide, and water, from the above, and discovered that the quality improved as 
 the carbonate increased. The white lead by the Dutch process, as made by Messrs. 
 Blackett of Newcastle, is certainly superior as a covering oil pigment to all others. 
 Its .particles are amorphous and opaque. 
 
 A patent was granted to Mr. Hugh Lee Pattinson in September, 1841, for improvements 
 in the manufacture of white lead, &c. This invention consists in dissolving carbonate 
 of magnesia in water impregnated with carbonic acid gas, by acting upon magnesian 
 limestone or other earthy substances containing magnesia in a soluble form, or upo» 
 
WHITE LEAD. 949 
 
 rough hydrate .of magnesia in the mode hereafter described, and in applying this solu- 
 tion to the manufacture of magnesia and its salts, and the-precipitation of carbonate 
 of lead from any of the soluble salts of lead, hut particularly the chloride of lead ; in 
 •which latter case the carbonate of lead, so precipitated, is triturated with a solution of 
 caustic potash or soda, by which a small quantity of chloride of lead contained in it 
 is converted into hydrated oxide of lead, and the whole rendered similar in composition 
 to the best white lead of commerce. The manner in which these improvements are 
 carried into effect is thus described by the patentee : I take magnesian limestone, 
 which is well known to be a mixture of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, 
 in proportions varying at different localities; and on this account I am careful to 
 procure it from places where the stone is rich in magnesia. This I reduce to powder, 
 and sift it through a sieve of forty or fifty apertures to the linear inch. I then heat it 
 red hot, in an iron retort or reverberatory furnace, for two or three hours, when, the 
 carbonic acid being expelled from the carbonate of magnesia, hut not from the car- 
 bonate of lime, I withdraw the whole from the retort or furnace, and suffer it to cool. 
 The magnesia contained in the limestoae is now soluble in water impregnated with 
 carbonic acid gas, and to dissolve it I proceed as follows : I am provided with an iron 
 cylinder, lined with lead, which may be of any convenient size, say 4 feet long by 
 2j feet in diameter ; it is furnished with a safety-valve and an agitator, which latter 
 may be an axis in the centre of the cylinder, with arms reaching nearly to the circum- 
 ference, all made of iron and covered with lead. The cylinder is placed horizontally, 
 and one extremity of this axis is supported within it by a proper carriage, the other 
 extremity heing prolonged, and passing through a stuffing-box at the other end of the 
 cylinder, so that the agitator may be turned round by applying manual or other power 
 to its projecting end. A pipe, leading from a force-pump, is connected with the under 
 side of the cylinder, through which carbonic acid gas may be forced from a gasometer 
 in communication with the pump, and a mercurial gauge is attached, to show at all 
 times the amount of pressure within the cylinder, independently of the safety-valve. 
 Into a cylinder of the size given I introduce from 100 to 120 lbs. of the calcined lime- 
 stone, with a quantity of pure water, nearly filling the cylinder ; I then pump in car- 
 bonic acid gas, constantly turning the agitator, and forcing in more and more gas, till 
 absorption ceases, under a pressure of five atmospheres. I suffer it to stand in this 
 condition three or four hours, and then run off the contents of the cvlinder into a 
 cistern, and allow it to settle. The clear liquor is now a solution of carbonate 01 
 magnesia in water impregnated with carbonic acid gas, or, as I shall hereafter call it, 
 a solution of bicarbonate of magnesia, having a specific gravity of about 1-028, and 
 containing about 1,600 grains of carbonate of magnesia to the imperial gallon. 
 
 I consider it the best mode of obtaining a solution of bicarbonate of magnesia from 
 magnesian limestone, to operate upon the limestone after being calcined at a red heat 
 in the way described ; but the process may he varied by using in the cylinder the 
 mixed hydrates of lime and magnesia, obtained by completely burning magnesian 
 limestone in a kiln, as commonly practised, and slaking it with water in the usual 
 manner; or, to lessen the- expenditure of carbonic acid gas, the mixed hydrates may 
 be exposed to the air a few weeks till the lime has become less caustic by the absorp- 
 tion of carbonic acid from the atmosphere. Or the mixed hydrates may be treated 
 with water, as practised by some manufacturers of Epsom salts, till the lime is wholly 
 or principally removed ; after which the residual rough hydrate of magnesia may be 
 acted upon in the cylinder, as described; or hydrate of magnesia may be prepared for 
 solution in the cylinder, by dissolving magnesian limestone in hydrochloric acid, and 
 treating the solution, or a solution of chloride of magnesium, obtained from sea-water 
 by salt-makers in the form of bittern, with its equivalent quantity of hydrate of lime, or 
 of the mixed hydrates of lime and magnesia, obtained by completely burning magnesian 
 limestone, and slaking it as above. When I use this solution of bicarbonate of magnesia 
 for the purpose of preparing magnesia and its salts, I evaporate it to dryness, by which a 
 pure carbonate of magnesia is at once obtained, without the necessity of using a carbonated 
 alkali, as in the old process ; and from this I prepare pure magnesia by calcination in the 
 usual manner; or, instead of boiling to dryness, I merely heat the solut.'.n for some time 
 to the boiling point, by which the excess of carbonic acid is partly driv en off, and pure 
 carbonate of magnesia is precipitated, which may then be collected, and dried in the 
 same way as if precipitated by a carbonated alkali. If I require sulphate of magnesia, 
 I neutralize the solution of bicarbonate of magnesia with sulphuric acid, boil down, 
 and crystallize ; or I mix the solution with its equivalent quantity of sulphate of iron, 
 dissolved in water, heated to the boiling point, and then suffer the precipitated car- 
 bonate of iron to subside; after which I decant the clear solution of sulphate of mag- 
 nesia, boil down, and crystallize as before. When using this solution of bicarbonate 
 of magnesia for the purpose of preparing carbonate of lead, I make a saturated solution 
 of chloride of lead in water, which, at the temperature of 50° or 60° Fahr., has a specific 
 
9£>0 "WHITE LEAD. 
 
 gravity of about 1 008, and consists of 1 part of chloride of lead dissolved in 126 parts 
 of water. I then mix the two solutions together, when carbonate of lead is imme- 
 diately precipitated ; hut in this operation I find it necessary to use certain precautions, 
 otherwise a considerable quantity of chloride of lead is carried down along with the 
 carbonate. These precautions are, first, to use an excess of the solution of magnesia, 
 and secondly, to mix the two solutions together as rapidly as possible. As to the 
 first, when using a magnesian solution, containing 1,600 grs. of carbonate of magnesia 
 per imperial gallon, with a solution of chloride of lead saturated at 55° or 60° Fahr.,< 
 1 measure of the former to 8| of the latter is a proper proportion ; in which case there 
 is an excess of carbonate of magnesia employed, amounting to about an eighth of the 
 total quantity contained in the solution. When either one or both the solutions vary 
 in strength, the proportions in which they are to be mixed must be determined by 
 preliminary trials. It is not, however, necessary to be very exact, provided there is 
 always an excess of carbonate of magnesia amounting to from one eighth to -one 
 twelfth of the total quantity employed. If the excess is greater than one eighth no 
 injury will result except the unnecessary expenditure of the magnesian solution. 
 As to the second precaution, of mixing the two solutions rapidly together, it may be 
 accomplished variously; but I have found it a good method to run them in two 
 streams, properly regulated in quantity, into a small cistern in which they are to be 
 rapidly blended together by brisk stirring, before passing out, through a hole in tfte 
 bottom, to a large cistern or tank, where tire precipitate finally settles. The pre- 
 cipitate thus obtained is to be collected, washed and dried in the usual manner. 
 It is a carbonate of lead, very nearly pure, and suitable for most purposes ; but it 
 always contains a small portion of chloride of lead, seldom less than from 1 to 2 
 per cent., the presence of which, even in so small a quantity, is somewhat injurious 
 to the color and body of the whife lead. I decompose this chloride, and convert 
 it into a hydrated oxide of lead by grinding the dry precipitate with a solution 
 of caustic alkali, in a mill similar to the ordinary mill used in grinding white 
 le'.d with oil, adding just so much of the ley as may be required to convert the pre- 
 cipitate into a soft paste. I allow this paste to lie a few days, after which, the chloride 
 of lead being entirely, or almost entirely decomposed, I wash out the alkaline chloride 
 formed by the reaction, md obtain a white lead, similar in composition to the best 
 white lead of commerce I prepare the caustic alkaline ley by boiling together, in a 
 leaden vessel, for an hour or two, 1 part by weight of dry and recently-slaked lime, 
 2 parts of crystallised carbonate of soda (which, being cheaper than carbonate of 
 potash, I prefer) and 8 parts of water. The clear and colorless caustic lye, obtained 
 after subsidence, will have a specific gravity of about 1 - 090, and when drawn off from 
 the sediment, must be kept in a close vessel for use. 
 
 As we have before hinted, the manufacture of white lead by the Dutch process is one 
 the nature of which seems yet enveloped in considerable obscurity. So far as appearances 
 go, the action would seem to consist ; first, in the oxidation of metallic lead by the atmo- 
 sphere, under the influence. of the vapor of acetic acid; secondly, in the production of 
 acetate of lead, by the combination of the oxide of lead with the acetic acid ; and, thirdly, 
 in the displacement of the aeetie acid from its union with the oxide of lead, by the 
 action of carbonic acid, and the consequent formation of white lead. But this in no way 
 accounts for the fact, that, when acetate of lead is decomposed by carbonic acid, it is car- 
 bonate of lead, and not white lead, which is formed. Nor can we conceive how an acid 
 like the acetic is capable of being wholly expelled from a metallic oxide by a quantity of 
 another acid incapable of completely saturating the oxide. In other words, as white lead 
 contains free or uncombined oxide of lead, how happens it that the free acetic acid does 
 not remain united to this 1 We confess our inability to reconcile the facts of the ease 
 with the preceding hypothesis, and therefore pass on to another, in which we will 
 assume that acetate of lead, but not the neutral acetate, is formed as we have already 
 supposed. Now there are two subacetates; one composed of six atoms of oxide of lead 
 to one atom of acetic acid ; and the other consisting of three atoms of oxide of lead to 
 one of acetic acid. We select, in preference, the former, as it is the one which forms 
 naturally when acetic acid acts, at common temperatures, on an excess of oxide of lead. 
 The composition of this salt is such, that, if we can conceive slow combustion to take 
 place, or that its aeetie acid combining with the oxygen of the air is resolved into water 
 and carbonic acid, then the carbonic acid produced would be exactly sufficient to saturate 
 four atoms of the oxide of lead, and leave a compound of the precise composition of 
 white lead. On this view, the first action in a white lead stack would be the production 
 of sex-basic acetate of lead ; and the next would be the destruction of this by eremacausis, 
 and the formation of white lead. 
 
 The apparatus employed in the manufacture of white lead is extremely simple, and 
 consists merely of certain large enclosures or spaces, called beds, in which the stacks are 
 Duilt up; together with the earthenware pots needed for holding the vinegar, and th« 
 
WHITE LEAD. &81 
 
 machinery used in casting the lead and grinding the white lead, so as to fit it for the 
 ■ market. The metallic lead was formerly used in the shape of sheets or coils, which 
 were placed perpendicularly over the vinegar pots ; but this practice has been almost 
 everywhere abandoned, and at present the lead is generally cast into what are called 
 crates or "grates," of about 9 inches square, and having the appearance of lattice, 
 work; the object being to expose as large a surface as possible of metallic lead to the 
 action of the vapor of the vinegar. The beds are of considerable size ; and, in this re- 
 spect, some diversity of opinion prevails amongst practical men ; but it seems pretty 
 certain that no advantage is gained when the area of a bed comes to exceed 300 square 
 teet; and there are many reasons for believing, that, with beds of twice this area, the 
 gain in point of diminished labor, is much more than compensated for by the reduced 
 produce in white lead. Nevertheless, each manufacturer seems to entertain an opinion 
 of his own in respect to this matter; and there are even some pretensions to secresy 
 concerning it In fact, everything depends upon the construction of the bed, for it is 
 this winch regulates the production of white lead ; and as a proof of the great im- 
 portance connected with this circumstance, we may here mention, that, whilst one 
 manufacturer has produced as much as 65 per cent, of corrosion during a long course 
 of years, another in his immediate neighborhood has nevos been abled to exceed 52 per 
 cent. The beds of the former are 16 feet square, whilst those of the latter are 19J feet 
 square; and, in dwelling upon the details of this operation, we shall find that theo- 
 retically a bed may be too large, as the above practical fact indicates. Similarly it 
 can be shown that a stack (which is merely a series of beds) may be too large ; and ex- 
 perience has convinced us that a stack containing more than eight beds is to be con- 
 demned ; and, as a general rule, six should be preferred, except where want of space 
 renders a different line of manufacture indispensable. 
 
 In forming a stack, it is necessary to begin by laying, in the first instance, a bed of 
 spent tanner's bark, 8 feet in thickness, over the surface of the bed ; and upon this are 
 placed the earthenware pots containing the vinegar. These are arranged, side by side, 
 and filled to about one-third of their contents with vinegar, of a strength equal to 6 per 
 cent, of anhydrous acetate acid. Upon these pots are placed the crates of lead, and over 
 all a series of boards are arranged, which form a floor for the next layer of spent tan. 
 Such an arrangement as we have described, is denominated "a bed," but there is this 
 difference between the beds, viz., that the lowest or bottom bed has a bed of tan 3 feet 
 in thickness, whereas but 1 foot is needed in the others. Having finished the lowest 
 bed, 12 inches of spent tan are now placed upon the boards, and a similar arrangement 
 of pots, crates, and boards,' takes place, which constitutes the second bed ; this is fol- 
 lowed by a third, a fourth, and so on, until at last the uppermost bed is finished ; when 
 a layer of spent tan, 30 inches in thickness, is placed over the whole, and the operation 
 may be said to commence. In six or eight days the tan begins to ferment and evolve 
 heat; and this goes on increasing for some weeks, when it gradually diminishes, and 
 at the end of about three months the whole has become cool, and the stack is fit to be 
 taken down. When examined, the pots, which formerly contained vinegar, will row- 
 be found to be quite empty, or to hold a little water merely, but no acetic acid; the 
 leaden crates will .be discovered to have increased sensibly in bulk, to have become 
 coated with a thick and dense incrustation of white lead, and in some places even to 
 have become altogether converted into this substance; whilst the tan, having lost its 
 fermentative quality, is now useless, except for fuel. 
 
 The successive beds constituting the entire stack are next carefully removed, so as to 
 obtain the white lead with the least possible admixture of the tan ; and as a portion of 
 this substance always adheres to the crates, these are washed in a kind of wear or trough, 
 by which the whole of the tan is thoroughly separated. When this is seen to be com- 
 plete, the corroded part of the plate or "white lead" is detached from the uncorroded 
 or "blue lead," by means of slight taps or blows with a mallet. The blue lead- is 
 weighed, and, for the most part, remelted and again cast into crates; whilst the white 
 lead is first crushed, and afterwards ground in water into a fine powder, when it is col- 
 lected by elutriation and deposition, and dried in stoves, a little below the boiling heat 
 of water. Formerly this grinding was performed in the dry way, and much injury to 
 the health of the workmen thus resulted; but, during the last 20 years, the wet mode 
 of grinding has become general, and is greatly to be preferred. 
 
 The conversion of white lead into paint is a simple mechanical operation, though, as 
 we have before remarked) it is followed by chemical results; for there can be no doubt 
 that the surplus oxide in the white lead combines with part of the oil employed to form 
 the paint, and gives rise to a true plaster or metallic soap. The proportions of oil and 
 white lead vary with different manufacturers; nor does it matter much what these 
 proportions are: the principal point is to obtain a thorough intermixture of the two 
 ingredients; and this is done by grinding them together beneath heavy stones or 
 "runners," for several hours, at the end of which time the mixture will be found 
 homogenous. 
 
952 
 
 WINDLASSES. 
 
 If we examine the process of white lead making with a view to discover its chemical 
 peculiarities, we perceive at once that it presents no salient (feature to guide our inquiry. 
 The roost probable explanation is certainly that before given, and which supposes the 
 pre-existenee of sex-basic acetate of lead. At the same time there. are no experiments 
 which prove that this substance is capable of undergoing the slow combustion requisite 
 to complete the argument But then this is precisely the question which now calls for 
 solution; and there are many analogous facts in chemistry that warrant the kind of 
 eremacausis or combustion here hinted at And presuming this to be correct, then one 
 atom of the sex-basic acetate of lead and eight -atoms of atmospheric oxygen, would 
 unite as in the following diagram, and produce two atoms of white lead, and three 
 atoms of water, two atoms of which would remain united to the white lead thus: — 
 
 ( sex 
 
 1 < ace 
 
 (of] 
 
 f sex-basic 
 1 i acetate 
 flead 
 
 consists of 
 6 oxide of lead 
 4 carlon 
 3 hydrogen 
 3 oxygen 
 
 8 oxygen 
 
 2 hydrated basic 
 carbonate of lead 
 or white lead 
 
 i carbonic acid. 
 
 It remains, however, to be demonstrated, whether this kind of sub-acetate of lead, 
 and which is readily formed by boiling acetic acid with a large excess of litharge, can, 
 under the influence of a gentle heat, become thus converted into white lead. 
 
 Connected with this subject is the fabrication of an article called the sub-chloride of 
 lead or oxychloride, which is now coming into use as a substitute for white lead. The 
 oxyehloride is so constituted, that, if for two atoms of carbonate of lead in white lead, 
 we substitute two atoms of chloride of lead, the result will be the new compound, arid 
 which has been made the subject of a patent by Mr. H. Pattinson, of Newcastle-upon- 
 Tyne. Now it is a very remarkable fact, and strongly corroborative of the views which 
 we have here advanced, that the new paint "covers" equally well with the best white 
 lead, just as its basic composition would .indicate ; and the probability is, that the oxide 
 of lead contained in it unites to part of the oil of the paint, forming as before a metallic 
 soap ; whilst the chloride of lead remains interspersed in the mass, and communicates 
 opacity and whiteness. An observation made, we believe, in the first instance by Dr, 
 TJre, shows the correctness of such a conclusion ; for, although, when alone, the oxy 
 chloride of lead be quite insoluble in water, yet, after admixture with oil, boiling water 
 readily dissolves from the mass the chloride of lead, and leaves the oxide combined with 
 the oil. This circumstance, which can be easily demonstrated, seems also to show, 
 that paint made with an insoluble salt, like carbonate of lead, is preferable to one made 
 with a soluble salt, like the chloride. Experience, however, alone can decide the cor- 
 rectness 'of this assertion. — Mr. Lewis Thompson. 
 
 WICK (Meche, Fr. ; Docht, Germ.) ; is the spongy cord, usually made of soft spun 
 cotton threads,~which by capillary action draws up the oil in lamps, or the melted tal- 
 low, or wax in candles, in small successive portions, to be burned. In common wax 
 and tallow candles, the wick is formed of parallel threads ; in the stearine candles, the 
 wick is plaited upon the braiding machine, moistened with a^very dilute sulphuric acid, 
 and dried, whereby, as it burns, it falls to one side and consumes without requiring to 
 be snuffed ; in-the patent candles of Mr. Palmer, one tenth of the wick is first imbued 
 with subnitrate of bismuth ground up with oil ; the whole is then bound round in the 
 manner called gimping ; and of this wick, twice the length of the intended candle is 
 twisted double round a rod, like the caducetis of Mercury. This rod with its coil being 
 inserted in the axis of the candle mould, is to be enclosed by pouring in the melted tal- 
 low ; and when the tallow is set, the rod is to be drawn out at top, leaving the wick in 
 the candle. As this candle is burned, the ends of the double wick stand out sideways 
 beyond the flame; and the bismuth attached to the cotton being acted on by the oxy- 
 gen of the atmosphere, causes the wick to be completely consumed, and, therefore, saves 
 the trouble of snuffing it. 
 
 WINCING-MACHINE, is the English name of the dyer's reel, which he suspends 
 horizontally, by the ends of its iron axis in bearings, over the edge of his vat, so that 
 the line of the axis, being placed over the middle partition in the copper, will permit 
 the piece of cloth which is wound upon the reel, to descend alternately into either com- 
 partment of the bath, according as it is turned by hand to the right or the left For an 
 excellent self-acting or mechanical wince, see Dying. 
 
 WINDLASSES. (Exhibition.) John Gladstone, Jun. & Co., Liverpool, Manufac- 
 turers. Model of a ship's windlass purchase, for raising anchors, chain-cables, and other 
 heavy weights on board ships, sufficient to ride the ship without the possibility of 
 having the windlass upset With this machine less than half the usual number of hands 
 are required to weigh the anchor, <Scc. The ordinary ship's windlass is a spindle-shaped 
 
WINES. 953 
 
 beam, polygonal in transverse section, acting horizontally at right angles to a line bi- 
 secting the ship from stem to stern, and working in, and bearing upon, stancheone, 
 called "knight-heads," strongly fixed to the ship's deck and deck-timbers immediately 
 abaft the foremast. The use of the windlass is to raise or weigh the anchor, by means 
 of the cable, which is made to take a turn round the windlass beam, whose spindle shape 
 enables it to present itself at right angles to a line drawn from either hawshole, under 
 which the anchor may lie, for the ship is hove short upon her anchor by means of the 
 more quickly moving, but less powerful capstan, before the windlass is called into action. 
 The "purchase" of a windlass is the power applicable to work it, or rather the means 
 provided, as the handspike levers in ordinary use, of applying, the power of the men to 
 turn the beam, and wind or hoist up the anchor by its cable. Nothing can exceed the 
 simplicity or strength of the ordinary ship's windlass, having regard to the size and 
 strength of the ship herself: but there is room for improvement in the power and in the 
 speed of a windlass, and the means of doing the same work with fewer hands would be 
 a great advantage. 
 
 iVTNE, is the fermented juice of the grape. In the more southern states of Europe, 
 the grapes, being more saccharine, afford a more abundant production of alcohol, and 
 stronger wines, as exemplified in the best port, sherry, and madeira. The influence 
 of solar heat upon the vines may, however, be mitigated by growing them to moderate 
 heights on level ground, and by training them in festoons under the shelter of trees. 
 In "the more temperate climates, such as the district of Burg* ndy, the finer flavored 
 wines are produced; and there the vines are usually grown upon hilly slopes front- 
 in" the south, with more or less of an easterly or westerly direction, as on the Cote 
 d'Or, at a distance from marshes, forests, and rivers, whose vapors might deteriorate 
 the air. * The plains of this district, even when possessing a similar or analogous 
 soil, do not produce wines of so agreeable a flavor. The influence of temperature be- 
 comes very manifest in countries farther north, where, in consequence of a few de- 
 grees of thermometric depression, the production of generous agreeable wine becomes 
 impossible. , 
 
 The land most favorable to the vine is light, easily permeable to water, but some- 
 what retentive by its composition ; with a sandy subsoil, to allow the excess of moisture 
 to drain readily ofT. Calcareous soils produce the highly esteemed wines of the Cote 
 d'Or ■ a "ranite debris forms the foundations of the lands where the Hermitage wines 
 are grown • silicious soil interspersed with flints furnishes the celebrated wines of 
 Ch£teau-Neuf, FertS, and La Gaude ; schistose districts afford also good wine,_as that 
 called la Malgne. Thus we see that lands differing in chemical composition, but 
 possesseJ of the. proper physical qualities, may produce most agreeable wines ; and so 
 also may lands of like chemical and physical constitution produce various kinds oi 
 wine, according to their varied exposure. As a striking example of these effects, we 
 may adduce the slopes of the hills which grow the wines of Montrachet. The insulated 
 part towards the top furnishes the wine called Chevalier Montrachet, which is less 
 esteemed, and sells at a much lower price, than the delicious wine grown on the middle 
 height, called true Montrachet. Beneath this district, and in the surrounding plains, 
 the vines afford a' far inferior article, called bastard Montrachet. The opposite side of 
 the hills produces very indifferent wine. Similar differences, in a greater or less degree, 
 are observable relatively to the districts which grow thePomard, Volnay,3eaune, Nuits, 
 Vougeot, Chambertin, Romanee, &c. Everywhere it is found, that the reverse side of 
 the hill, the summit, and the plain, although generally consisting of like soil, afford infe- 
 rior wine to the middle southern slopes. 
 
 Amelioration of the soil.— When the vine lands are too light or too dense, they may 
 be modified, within certain limits, by introducing into them either argillaceous or sili- 
 cious matter. Marl is excellent for almost all grounds which are not previously too 
 calcareous, being alike useful to open dense soils, and to render porous ones more reten- 
 
 Manure.—Fcr the vine, as well as all cultivated plants, a manure supplying azotized 
 or animal nutriment may be used with great advantage, provided care be taken to 
 ripen it by previous fermentation, so that it may not, by absorption in too crude a 
 state, impart any disagreeable odor to the grape ; as sometimes happens to the vines 
 grown in the vicinity of great towns, like Paris, and near Argenteuil. There is a com- 
 post used in France, called animalized black, of which from one fifth to one half of a litre 
 'old English quart) serves sufficiently to fertilize the root of one vine, when applied every 
 year, or two years. An excess of manure, in rainy seasons especially, has the enect ot 
 rendering the grapes large and insipid. , 
 
 The ground is tilled at the same time as the manure is applied, towards the monin 01 
 March T the plants are then dressed, and the props are inserted. The weakness of the 
 plants renders this practice useful; but in some southern districts, the stem of the yine, 
 when supported at a proper height, acnuires after a while sufficient size and strength to 
 
 Vol. II. 62 
 
954 WINES. 
 
 stand alone. The ends of the props or poles are either dipped in tar, or charred, to 
 prevent their rotting. The bottom of the stem must be covered over with soil, after 
 the spring rains have washed it down. The principal husbandry of the vineyard con- 
 sists in digging or ploughing to destroy the weeds, and to expose the soil to the influence 
 of the air, during the months of May, June, and occasionally in August 
 
 The vintage, in the temperate provinces, generally takes place about the end ot 
 September ; and it is always deteriorated whenever the fruit is not ripe enough befora 
 the 15th or 20th of October ; for, in this case, not only is the must more acid, and lesl 
 saccharine, but the atmospherical temperature is apt to fall so low during the nights, as 
 to obstruct more or less its fermentation into wine. The grapes should be plucked in 
 dry weather, at the interval of a few days after they are ripe; being usually 
 gathered in baskets, and transported to the vats in dorsels, sufficiently tight to prevent 
 the juice from running out. Whenever a layer about 14 or 15 inches thick has been 
 spread on the bottom of the vat, the treading operation begins, which is usually 
 repeated after macerating the grapes for some time, when an incipient fermentation 
 has softened the texture of the skin and the interior cells. When the whole bruised 
 grapes are collected in the vat, the juice, by means of a slight fermentation, reacts, 
 through the acidity thus generated, upon the coloring matter of the husks, and also 
 upon the tannin contained in the stones and the fruit-stalks. The process of fermenta- 
 tion is suffered to proceed without any other precaution, except forcing down from time 
 to time the pellicles and pedicles floated up by the carbonic acid to the top; but it would 
 be less apt to become acetous, were the mouths of the vats covered. With this view, 
 M. Sebille Auger introduced with success his elastic bung in the manufacture of wine in 
 the department of the Maine-et-Loire. 
 
 With whatever kind of apparatus the fermentation may have been regulated, as soon 
 as it ceases to be tumultuous, and the wine is not sensibly saccharine or muddy, it must 
 be racked off from the lees, by means of a spigot, and run into the ripening tuns. The 
 marc being then gently squeezed in a press, affords a tolerably clear wine, which is dis- 
 tributed among the tuns in equal proportions ; but the liquor obtained by stronger pres- 
 sure is reserved for the casks of inferior wine. 
 
 In the south of France the fermentation sometimes proceeds too slowly, on account of 
 the must being too saccharine ; an accident which is best counteracted by maintaining 
 a temperature of about 65° or 68° F., in the tun-room. When the must, on the other 
 hand, is too thin, and deficient in sugar, it must be partially concentrated by rapid boil- 
 ing, before the whole can be made to ferment into a good wine. By boiling up a part of 
 the must for this purpose, the excess of ferment is at the same time destroyed. Should 
 this concentration be inconvenient, a certain proportion of sugar must be introduce], im- 
 mediately after racking it off. 
 
 The specific gravity of must varies with the richness and ripeness of the grapes which 
 afford it; being in some cases so low as 1-0627, and in others so high as 1-1283. This 
 happens particularly in the south of France. In the district of the Necker in Germany, 
 the specific gravity varies from 1-050 to 1-090 ; in Heidelberg, frcm 1-039, to 1-091 ; but 
 it varies much in different years. 
 
 After the fermentation is complete, the vinous part consists of water, alcohol, a 
 coloring-matter, a peculiar aromatic principle, a little undecomposed sugar, bitartrate and 
 malate of potash, tartrate of lime, muriate of soda, and tannin; the latter substances be- 
 ing in small proportions. 
 
 It is known that a few green grapes are capable of spoiling a whole cask of wine, and 
 therefore they are always allowed to become completely ripe, and even sometimes to 
 undergo a species of slight fermentation, before being plucked, which completes the 
 development of the saccharine principle. At other times the grapes are gathered when- 
 ever they are ripe, but are left for a few days on wicker-floors, to sweeten, before being 
 pressed. 
 
 In general the whole vintage of the day is pressed in the evening, and the resulting 
 must is received in separate vats. At the end usually of 6 or 8 hours, if the tempera- 
 ture be above 50° F., and if the grapes have not been too cold when plucked, a froth 
 or scum is formed at the surface, which rapidly increases in thickness. After it 
 acquires such a consistence as to crack in several places, it is taken off with a skimmer 
 and drained; and the thin liquor is returned to the vat. A few hours afterwards 
 another coat of froth is formed, which is removed in like manner, and sometimes a 
 third may be produced. The regular vinous fermentation now begins, characterized 
 by air-bubbles rising up the sides of the staves, with a peculiar whizzing as they break 
 at the surface. At this period all the remaining froth should be quickly skimmed off, 
 and the clear subjacent must be transferred into barrels, where it is left to ripen by a 
 regular fermentation. 
 
 The white wines, which might be disposed to become stringy, from a deficient supply 
 »f tannin, may be preserved from this malady by a due addition of the footstalks of ripe 
 
WINES. Mi 
 
 grapes, The tannin, while it tends to preserve the wines, renders them also more easy 
 to clarify, by the addition of white of egg, or isinglass. 
 
 The white wines should be racked off as soon as the first frosts have made them clear, 
 and at the latest by the end of the February moon. By thus separating the wine from 
 he lees, we avoid, or render of little consequence, the fermentation which takes place on 
 the return of spring, and which, if too brisk, would destroy all its sweetness, by decom- 
 posing the remaining portion of sugar. 
 
 The characteristic odor possessed by all wines, in a greater or less degree, is pro- 
 duced by a peculiar substance, which possesses the characters of an essential oil. As it 
 is not volatile, it cannot be confounded with the aroma of wine. When large quan- 
 tities of wine are distilled, an oily substance is obtained towards the end of the oper- 
 ation. This may also be procured from the wine lees which are deposited in the 
 casks after the fermentation has commenced. It forms one forty thousandth part of the 
 wine) and consists of a peculiar new acid, and ether, each of which has been called the 
 tmanthic. The acid is analogous to the fatty acids, and the ether is liquid, but insoluble 
 in water. The acid is perfectly white when pure, of the consistence of butter at 60°, 
 melts with a moderate heat, reddens litmus, and dissolves in caustic and carbonated alkar 
 lis, as well as in alcohol and ether. CEnanthic ether is colorless, has an extremely strong 
 smell of wine, which is almost intoxicating when inhaled, and a powerful disagreeable 
 taste. Liebig and Pdoaze/. 
 
 Sparkling wines.— In the manufacture of these, black grapes of the first quality are 
 usually employed, especially those gathered upon the vine called by the French noirkn, 
 cultivated on the best exposures. As it is important, however, to prevent the coloring- 
 matter of the skin from entering into the wine, the juice should be squeezed as gently and 
 rapidly as possible. The liquor obtained by a second and third jessing is reserved for 
 inferior wines, on account of the reddish tint which it acquires. The marc is then mixed 
 with the grapes of the red-wine vats. 
 
 The above nearly colorless must is immediately poured into tuns or casks, till about 
 three fourths of their capacity are filled, when fermentation soon begins. This is allowed 
 to continue under the control of the elastic bung, above mentioned, for about 15 days, 
 and then three fourths of the casks are filled up with wine from the rest. The casks are 
 now closed by a bung secured with a piece of hoop iron nailed to two contiguous staves. 
 The casks should be made of new wood, but not of oak— though old white wine casks 
 are occasionally used. , 
 
 In the month of January the clear wine is racked off, and is fined by a small quan- 
 tity of ising-glass dissolved in old wine of the same kind. Forty days afterwards a 
 second fining is required. Sometimes a third may be useful, if the lees be considerable. 
 In the month of May the clear wine is drawn off into bottles, taking care to add to 
 each of them a small measure of what is' called liquor, which is merely about 3 per cent. 
 of a sirup made by dissolving sugar-candy in white wine. The bottles being nllea, 
 and their corks secured by packthread and wire, they are laid on their sides, in this 
 mon'h, with their mouths sloping downwards at an angle of about twenty degrees, in 
 order that any sediment may fall into the neck. At the end of 8 or 10 days, the inclina- 
 tion of the bottles is increased, when they are slightly tapped, and placed ma vertical 
 position: so that after the lees are all collected in the neck, the cork is^partially removed 
 for an instant, to allow the sediment to be expelled by the pressure of the gas. If the 
 wine be still muddy in the bottles, along with a new dose of liquor, a small quantity ot 
 finin" should be added to each, and the bottles should be placed again in the inverted 
 position. At the end of 2 or 3 months, the sediment collected over the cork is dexte- 
 rously discharged j and if the wine be still deficient in transparency, the same process oi 
 fining must be repeated. . . . 
 
 Sparklin" wine Coin mousseux), prepared as above described, is ht lor drinking usually 
 at the end = of from 18 to 30 months, according to the state of the seasons. It is in 
 Champagne that the lightest, most transparent, and most highly flavored wines have 
 been hitherto made, the breakage of the bottles in these sparkling wines amounts 
 frequently to thirty per cent., a circumstance which adds greatly to their cost of pro- 
 
 "weak wines of bad growths ought to be consumed within 12 or 15 months after being 
 manufactured; and should be kept meanwhile in cool cellars. White winos of middling 
 strerwtb. ought to be kept in casks constantly full, and carefully excluded from contact 
 of air", and the racking off should be done as quickly as possible. As the most of them 
 are in ared by too much fermentation, this process should be so regulated as always to 
 leave a little sugar undecomposed. It is useful to counteract the absorption of oxygen, 
 and the consequent tendency to acidity, by burning a sulphur match in the casks into 
 which they are about to be run. This is done by hooking the match to a bent wire kindling 
 and su pending it within the cask through the bung-hole. Immediately on withdrawing 
 the match, the cask should be corked, if the wine be not ready for transfer. If 
 
956 WINES. 
 
 the burning sulphur be extinguished on plunging it into the cask, it is a proof of the 
 cask being unsound, and unfit for receiving the wine; in which case it should be well 
 cleansed, first with lime-water, then with very dilute sulphuric acid, and lastly with 
 
 "wtae-ceilara ou"ht to be dry at bottom, floored with flags, have windows opening to the 
 north be so much sunk below the level .of the adjoining ground as to possess a nearly 
 uniform temperature in summer and winter ; and be at such a distance from a frequented 
 highway or street as not to suffer vibration from the motion of carriages. 
 
 Wines should be racked off in cool weather; the end of February being the fittest tune 
 for li»ht wines. Strong wines are not racked off till they have stood a year or eighteen 
 months upon the lees, to promote their slow or insensible fermentation. A syphon well 
 managed serves belter than a faucet to draw off wine clear from the sediment. White 
 wines, before being bottled, should he fined with ising-glass; red wines are usually fined 
 with whites of eggs beat up into a froth, and mixed with two or three times their bulk oJ 
 water. But some strong wines, which are a little harsh from excess of tannin, are fined 
 with a little sheep or bullock's blood. Occasionally a small quantity of sweet glue is used 
 
 for this purpose. ,. 
 
 The following maladies ofmnes, are certain accidental deteriorations, to which remedies 
 
 should be speedily applied. . , , 
 
 La-pousse (pushing out of the cask), is the name given to a violent fermentative move- 
 ment, which occasionally supervenes after the wine has been run off into the casks. If 
 these have been tightly closed, the interior pressure may increase to such a degree 
 as to burst the hoops, or cause the seams of the staves or ends to open. The elastic 
 bungs already described will prevent the bursting of the casks; but something must be 
 done to repress the fermentation, lest it should destroy the whole of the sugar, and make 
 the wine unpalatably harsh. One remedy is, to transfer the wine into a cask previously 
 fumigated with burning sulphur ; another is, to add to it about one thousandth part of 
 sulphite of lime ; and a third, and perhaps the safest, is to introduce half a pound of mus- 
 tard-seed into each barrel. At any rate, the wines should be fined whenever the move- 
 ments are allayed, to remove the floating ferment which has been the cause of the mis- 
 chief. . . . 
 
 Turning sour.— The production of too much acid in a wine, is a proof of its containing 
 originally too little alcohol, of its being exposed too largely to the air, or to vibrations, 
 or to too high a temperature in the cellar. The best thing to be done in this case is, to 
 mix it with its bulk of a stronger wine in a less advanced state, to fine the mixture, to 
 bottle it, and to consume it as soon as possible, for it will never prove a good keeping 
 wine. This distemper in wines formerly gave rise to the very dangerous practice of add- 
 ing litharge as a sweetener ; whereby a quantity of acetate or sugar of lead was formed 
 in the liquor, productive of the most deleterious consequences to those who dranK 
 of it. In France, the regulations of police, and the enlightened surveillance of the 
 council of salubrity, have completely put down this gross abuse. The saturation of the 
 acid by lime and other alkaline bases has generally a prejudicial effect, and injures more 
 or less the vinous flavor and taste. 
 
 Ropiness or viscidity of wines. — The cause of this phenomenon, which renders wine unfit 
 for drinking, was altogether unknown, till M. Francois, an apothecary of Nantes, demon- 
 strated that it was owing to an azotized matter, analogous to gliadine (gluten) ; and in 
 fact it is the white wines, especially those which contain the least tannin, which are sub- 
 ject to this malady. He also pointed out the proper remedy, in the addition of tannin 
 under a rather agreeable form, namely, the bruised berries of the mountain-ash (sorbier), 
 in a somewhat unripe state; of which one pound, well stirred in, is sufficient for a barrel. 
 After agitation, the wine is to be left in repose for a day or two, and then racked off. 
 The tannin by this time will have separated the azotized matter from the liquor, and re- 
 moved the ropiness. The wine is to be fined and bottled off. 
 
 The taste of the cask, which sometimes happens to wine put into casks which had re- 
 mained long empty, is best remedied by agitating the wine for some time with a spoonful 
 of olive oil. An essential oil, the chief cause of the bad taste, combines with the fixed 
 oil, and rises with it to the surface. 
 
 According to a statement in the Dictionnaire Technologique, the annual produce of a 
 hectare of vineyard, upon the average of 113 years, in the district of Volnay, is 1779 
 litres, which fetch 0'877 francs each, or 200 francs the piece of 228 litres, amounting in 
 all to 1672 francs. Deducting for expenses and taxes {contributions) 572 francs, there 
 remain 1,100 francs of net proceeds ; and as the value of the capital may be estimated at 
 23,000 francs, the profit turns out to be no more than 5 per cent. The net proceeds in 
 the growths of Beaune, Nuits, &c, does not exceed 600 francs per hectare (2 - 4 acres), 
 and therefore is equivalent to only 2| per cent, upon the capital. 
 
 The quantity of alcohol contained in different wines, has been made the subject of ela- 
 borate experiments by Brande and Fontenelle j but as it must evidently vary with differ- 
 
WINES. 
 
 957 
 
 snt seasons, the results can be received merely as approximate. The only apparatus 
 required for this research is a small still and refrigeratory, so well fitted up as to permit 
 none of the spirituous vapors to be dissipated. The distilled liquor should be received in 
 a glass tube, graduated into one hundred measures, of such capacity as to contain the 
 whole of the alcohol which the given measure of wine employed is capable of yielding. 
 In the successive experiments, the quantity of wine used, and of spirit distilled over, be- 
 ing the same in volume, the relative densities of the latter will show at once the relative 
 strengths of the wines. A very neat small apparatus has been contrived for the purpose 
 of analyzing wines in this manner, by M. Gay Lussac. It is constructed, and sold at a 
 moderate price, by M. Collardeau, No. 56, Rue Faubourg St. Martin, Paris. The pro- 
 portion given by Brande (Table I.), has been reduced to the standard of absolute alcohol 
 by Fesser; and that by Fontenelle (Table II.), to the same standard by Schubarth; as 
 in the following tables ; — 
 
 Table I. 
 
 Name of the wine. 
 
 Port Wine, 
 
 Port Wine, 
 
 Mean, 
 
 Madeira, 
 
 Madeira, 
 
 Sherry, 
 
 Sherry, 
 
 Bordeaux, Claret, . . . 
 Bordeaux, Claret, ... 
 
 Calcavella, 
 
 Lisbon, 
 
 Malaga, 
 
 Bucellas, 1 
 
 Bed Madeira, 
 
 Malmsey, 
 
 Marsala, 
 
 Marsala, 
 
 Champagne, frose],. . 
 Champagne, [white], 
 
 Burgundy 
 
 Burgundy, 
 
 White Hermitage,. . . 
 
 Red Hermitage, 
 
 H«ck, 
 
 Hock, 
 
 Vin de Grave 
 
 
 100 measures 
 
 Sp. grav. 
 
 contain at 60° P. 
 
 
 
 
 Alcohol 
 
 Absolute 
 
 
 of 0-825. 
 
 alcohol. 
 
 0-97616 
 
 21-40 
 
 19-82 
 
 0-97200 
 
 25-83 
 
 23 92 
 
 0-97460 
 
 23-49 
 
 21-75 
 
 0-97810 
 
 19-34 
 
 17-91 
 
 097333 
 
 21-42 
 
 22-61 
 
 0-97913 
 
 18-25 
 
 17-00 
 
 0-97700 
 
 19-83 
 
 18-37 
 
 0-97410 
 
 12-91 
 
 11-95 
 
 0-97092 
 
 16-32 
 
 15-11 
 
 0-97920 
 
 1810 
 
 16-76 
 
 0-97846 
 
 18-94 
 
 17-45 
 
 0-98000 
 
 17-26 
 
 15-98 
 
 0-97890 
 
 18-49 
 
 17-22 
 
 0-97899 
 
 18-40 
 
 1704 
 
 0-98090 
 
 16-40 
 
 15-91 
 
 0-98190 
 
 15-26 
 
 14-31 
 
 0-98000 
 
 17-26 
 
 15-98 
 
 O-98608 
 
 11-30 
 
 10-46 
 
 0-98450 
 
 12-80 
 
 11-84 
 
 0-98300 
 
 14-53 
 
 13-34 
 
 0-98540 
 
 11-95 
 
 1106 
 
 0-97990 
 
 17-43 
 
 1614 
 
 0-98495 
 
 12-32 
 
 11-40 
 
 0-98290 
 
 14-37 
 
 13-31 
 
 0-98873 
 
 8-88 
 
 800 
 
 0-98450 
 
 12-60 
 
 11-84 
 
 Name of the wine. 
 
 Frontignac, 
 
 Cote-Roti, 
 
 Roussillon 
 
 Cape Madeira, 
 
 Muscat, ...; 
 
 Constantia, 
 
 Tinto 
 
 Schiraz, 
 
 Syracuse, 
 
 Nice, 
 
 Tokay, 
 
 Raisi n Wine, 
 
 Drained grape Wine,.. 
 Lachryms Christi, 
 
 Currant Wine, 
 
 Gooseberry Wine, 
 
 Elder Wine, 
 
 Cider, 
 
 Perry, 
 
 Brown Stout, 
 
 Ale, 
 
 Porter 
 
 Rum, 
 
 Hollands, 
 
 Scotch Whiskey,, . 
 Irish Whiskey,. . . , 
 
 
 1 00 measures 
 
 Sp. grav. 
 
 contain at 60° F. 
 
 
 
 
 Alcohol 
 
 Absolute 
 
 
 of 0-825. 
 
 alcohol. 
 
 0-98452 
 
 17-79 
 
 11-84 
 
 0-98495 
 
 12-27 
 
 11-36 
 
 0-98005 
 
 17-24 
 
 15-96 
 
 0-97924 
 
 18-11 
 
 16-77 
 
 0-97913 
 
 18-25 
 
 17-00 
 
 0-97770 
 
 19-75 
 
 18-29 
 
 0-98399 
 
 13-30 
 
 12-32 
 
 0-98176 
 
 15-52 
 
 14-35 
 
 0-98200 
 
 15-28 
 
 1415 
 
 0-98263 
 
 14-63 
 
 13-64 
 
 0-98760 
 
 9-88 
 
 915 
 
 0-97205 
 
 25-77 
 
 2386 
 
 0-97925 
 
 18-11 
 
 16-77 
 
 — 
 
 19-70 
 
 18-24 
 
 0-97696 
 
 20-55 
 
 1903 
 
 0-98550 
 
 11-84 
 
 10-96 
 
 0-98760 
 
 9-87 
 
 914 
 
 0-99116 
 
 6-SO 
 
 6-30 
 
 0-98873 
 
 8-88 
 
 8-00 
 
 — 
 
 4-20 
 
 3-89 
 
 0-93494 
 
 53-68 
 
 49-71 
 
 0-93855 
 
 51-60 
 
 47-77 
 
 — 
 
 54-32 
 
 50-20 
 
 — 
 
 5390 
 
 49-91 
 
 
 
 Table II 
 
 
 
 
 Name of the Wine. 
 
 Absolute 
 alcohol. 
 
 Name of the Wine. 
 
 Absolute 
 alcohol. 
 
 Name of the Wine. 
 
 Absolute 
 alcohol. 
 
 Roussillon (Eastern 
 
 
 Sijeau 8 yrs, old 
 
 8-035 
 
 Montpellier 5 yrs. old 
 
 7413 
 
 Pyrenees.) 
 
 
 Narbonne 8 " 
 
 8-379 
 
 Lunel B " 
 
 7-564 
 
 Rive-saUes 18 yrs.old 
 
 9-156 
 
 Lezignan 10 " 
 
 8-173 
 
 Frontiguan 5 " 
 
 7-098 
 
 BanyullB 18 " 
 
 9-223 
 
 Mirepeisset 10 " 
 
 8-589 
 
 Red Hermitage 4 " 
 
 5-838 
 
 Collyouvre 15 " 
 
 9-080 
 
 Carcasonne 8 " 
 
 7-190 
 
 White do. 
 
 7-056 
 
 Salces 10 " 
 
 8-580 
 
 
 
 Burgundy 4 " 
 
 6-195 
 
 
 
 Department of VHe- 
 
 
 Grave 3 " 
 
 5-838 
 
 Department of the 
 
 
 rav.lt. 
 
 
 Champagne (sparkling) 
 
 5-880 
 
 Aude. 
 
 
 Nissau 9 " 
 
 7-896 
 
 Do. white do. 
 
 5145 
 
 Fifcou and Leu - 
 
 
 Beziers 8 *' 
 
 7-728 
 
 Do. rose 
 
 4-956 
 
 catfi 10 yrs. old 
 
 8-568 
 
 Montagnuc 10 " 
 
 8-108 
 
 Bordeaux 
 
 6-186 
 
 Lapalme 10 " 
 
 8-790 
 
 M&ze 10 " 
 
 7-812 
 
 Toulouse 
 
 5-027 
 
 WINES. In a case tried before the Court of Exchequer, at the instance of the 
 Board of Customs, iu December, 1843, of an attempt to obtain the drawback upon a 
 large quantity of damaged claret offered for exportation, I had observed, in my examin- 
 ation of the wine, that on the addition to it of water of ammonia to supersaturate its 
 acidity, a large flocculent precipitate of decomposed gluten fell, and the supernatant 
 liquor lost its ruby color, and became yellow-brown. I have tried sound samples of 
 genuine claret, very old, as well as new, by the same test, and I have found the ruby 
 color to remain but little impaired ; contrary to the allegation of the chemist of the 
 
958 WINES. 
 
 defendants in the lawsuit The wine was declared by the verdict of a jury and the 
 decision of the judge to be unworthy of being admitted for drawback, and therefor? 
 forfeited to the Crown. 
 
 WINES, BRITISH, are made either from infusions of dried grapes (raisins) or froir 
 the juices of native fruits, properly fermented. These wines are called sweets in the 
 language of the Excise, under whose superintendence they were placed till 1834, when 
 the duties upon them were repealed, as onerous to the trade and unproductive to the 
 revenue. The raisins called Lexias are said to produce a dry flavored wine ; the 
 Denias a sweet wine ; the Black Smyrnas a strong-bodied wine, and the red Smyrnas 
 and Yalencias a rich and full wine. The early spring months are the fittest time for 
 the wine manufacture. The masses of raisins, on being taken out of the packages, are 
 either beaten with mallets or crushed between rollers in order to loosen them, and are 
 then steeped in water in large vats, between a perforated board at bottom and another 
 at top. The water being after some time drawn off the swoln and softened fruit, pres- 
 sure is applied to the upper board to extract all the soluble sweet matter, which passes 
 down through the false bottom, and flows off by an appropriate pipe into fermenting 
 tuns. The residuary fruit is infused with additional water, and then squeezed ; a pro- 
 cess which is repeated till all the sweets are drained off, after which the " rape" is sub- 
 jected to severe pressure in a screw or hydraulic press. The wine, in the process of 
 the vinous fermentation is occasionally passed through a great body of the rape to im- 
 prove its flavor, and also to modify the fermentative action ; it is afterwards set to 
 ripen in casks, clarified by being repeatedly raked off, and fined with isinglass. 
 
 WINES, DEACIDIFICATIOtf OF. Under a somewhat similar title, Professor 
 Liebig* published in his AnncUen for last March, "a mean" (ein mittel) for effecting 
 that valuable object on old stored (alte abgelagerte) Rhine "wines. "Most of these 
 wines," he says, " even of the most propitious growths, and in the best condition, con- 
 tain a certain quantity of free tartaric acid, on whose presence many of their essential 
 properties depend. The juice of all sorts of grapes contains bitartrate of potash, and 
 that of those of the young shoots, in good years, is saturated with it. When the must 
 of these sorts of grapes becomes fermented, the tartar diminishes in solubility pro- 
 portionally as the alcohol increases, and a part of it falls along with the yeast. This 
 deposit of tartar increases during the first years of the vatting; the sides of the casks 
 becoming encrusted more and more with its crystals, in consequence of the continual 
 addition of the new wine to replace what of the liquid is lost by evaporation, so as to 
 keep the casks full, and prevent the destruction of the whole. v But this deposition has 
 a limit. By the filling up, the wine receives a certain quantity of free tartaric acid, and 
 thereby acquires, at a certain point of concentration, the faculty of re-dissolving the 
 deposited tartar. In the storing of many of the finer wines, the tartar again disappears 
 at a certain period. By progressive filling up, the proportion of acid proportionally 
 augments, the taste and flavor of the wine are exalted, but the acid contents make the 
 wine less agreeable in use. Amateurs and manufacturers should therefore welcome a 
 mean of taking away the free tartaric acid without altering in any respect the quality 
 of the wine. This mean is pure neutral tartrate of potash. When this salt, in con 
 centrated solution, is addsd to such a fluid as the above, there results the sparingly 
 soluble tartar (one part of which requires from 180 to 200 parts of water of ordinary 
 temperature for its solution), the free acid combines with the neutral salt, and separates 
 as bitartrate from the liquid. If we add to 100 parts of a wine which contains one part 
 of free tartaric acid, one and a half parts of neutral tartrate of potash, there will sepa- 
 rate by rest at 18° — 19° C, two parts of crystalline tartar, and the wine contains now 
 one half part of tartar dissolved, in which there are only 0-2 parts of the original free 
 acid. In this case, 0"8 of the free acid have been withdrawn from the wine." 
 
 Such is the Professor's statement of the disease and its remedy, and were the fact 
 proved that the sourness of old vatted wines, either of the Rhine or other vintages, 
 proceeded from excess of tartaric acid, his mean would be equally useful as it is in- 
 genious. In the London Docks, among the many thousand pipes and hogsheads of 
 wine there stored up, numbers remain, from various circumstances, till they become so 
 sour as to be hardly potable. Samples of such damaged wines have been brought to 
 me for analysis and amelioration. My first object was to ascertain the amount and 
 nature of the acidity. That point was approximately estimated by the proportion of a 
 test alkaline solution that was saturated by a given quantity of the wine. Another 
 portion of it being distilled nearly to dryness with the heat of a liquid bath, at the 
 temperature of about 235° Fahr., the whole acetic acid was obtained, along with the 
 alcohol and a trace of ammonia (in the form of acetate) present in many wines from 
 decomposition of the gluten. The residuum in the retort was generally found to consist 
 »f bitartrate of potash, mixed with coloring and extractive matter. It was digested in 
 
 * See Pharm. Journ., page 90. 
 
WINE. 
 
 959 
 
 water, filtered, and tested by Liebig's plan, -with a concentrated solution of neutral tar 
 Irate of potash, but no precipitate of Ditartrate ensued, proving that no free tartaric 
 acid was present In fact, during the slow fermentation of old vatted wines, much of 
 the alcohol and of the saccharine matter, with the whole of the easily decomposed free 
 tartaric acid, seems to be acetified, which accounts for the large proportion of vinegar 
 obtained in the distillation of such wines. When a little of that distilled liquor is re- 
 stored to the filtered solution of the residuum, the mixture acquires the property of de- 
 composing neutral tartrate of potash, just as pure vinegar, or malic acid does, by seizing 
 a portion of the potash, and favoring the formation and precipitation of the bitartrate. 
 In fact, the feeblest free acid is adequate to produce this result, on the great principle 
 which forms the ground-work of Berthollet's Chemical Statics, a work too littie studied 
 by the modern race of chemists. If to the acidulous wines in the London Docks (the 
 veritable alte abgelagerte of Liebig) solution of tartrate of potash be added as long as any 
 precipitate of tartar takes place, much of the neutral salt is required, and of course much 
 acetate of potash is formed, which being very soluble remains in the wine, and vitiates 
 its taste. From these facts, which any one may easily verify, it appears to me that the 
 Professor's Mittel sur enlsauerung alter abgelagerter Rheinweine is of no practical use. 
 If the recent must contains a hurtful excess of free tartaric acid, it may no doubt be 
 got rid of by his method. 
 
 I found that one part of bitartrate of potash iB soluble in 151 parts of water at 65° 
 Fahr. (about 18° C.) instead of in 180 to 200 as he stated. The specific gravity of the 
 solution is 1-0034. — Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. viii. No. 2. 
 
 WINES, RHINE. 
 
 
 
 
 100 parts yielded. 
 
 Place of Growth. 
 
 Sort of 
 Grapes. 
 
 Specific 
 Gravity. 
 
 Absolute 
 
 Dry 
 
 Residue. 
 
 
 
 
 Alcohol. 
 
 Steinberg 
 
 Riesling 
 
 1-0025 
 
 10-87 
 
 9-94 
 
 Riidesheim 
 
 Orleans 
 
 1-0025 
 
 12-65 
 
 6-39 
 
 Marksbrunn - 
 
 Riesling 
 
 0-9985 
 
 11-60 
 
 5-10 
 
 Gersenheim 
 
 - 
 
 0-9935 
 
 12-60 
 
 3 05 
 
 Dirnheim 
 
 . 
 
 0-9925 
 
 9 84 
 
 2-18 
 
 Weinheim Hulberg - 
 
 
 09925 
 
 11-70 
 
 2-18 
 
 Worms, Liebfrauenmilch 
 Bingen, Scharlachberg 
 
 . 
 
 0-9930 
 f not deter- ) 
 ( mined y 
 
 1062 
 12-10 
 
 2-27 
 ( not deter- ) 
 \ mined J 
 
 Eisler, Kleimberger 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 11-90 
 
 
 Wiesbaden - - ) 
 Neroberg - - ) 
 
 
 0-9950 
 
 10-83 
 
 2-78 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wiesloch 
 
 " 
 
 0-9945 
 
 9-83 
 
 2-48 
 
 From the known prices of these wines, it is obvious that the proportion of alcohol, 
 although one factor in determining the value of a wine, is not the only absolute one, 
 nor does it stand in any fixed relation to the commercial value of the wine. It is re- 
 markable that the finest sorts of wine contain a much greater proportion of solid sub- 
 stances in solution than the inferior sorts; and that the weight of the residue, which 
 the Rhenish wines yield on evaporation, offers a safer criterion for determining their 
 commercial value, than the proportion of alcohol. These solids disguise the acid, take 
 off the acrid taste, and at the same time impart body, mellowness, and oiliness. Among 
 the extractive matters of new wines are sugar, which gradually disappears by keeping; 
 and also some imperfectly known gummy substances, which become brownish When 
 ' the wine is submitted to evaporation. The presence of these in wine appears chiefly to 
 be determined by the soil, and the condition and locality of the vineyard ; and it is 
 obvious that the qualities dependent upon these extractive matters cannot be replaced 
 
 ^ms of importance that the free acid be not removed before the fermentation, because 
 on its presence during this process, as well as during the storing, depend the taste and 
 
 Pr WINE ^AMILY, may be made by the following recipe:— Take black, red, white 
 currants, 'ripe cherries (black hearts are the best), and raspberries of each an equal 
 fluantity. To 4 pounds of the mixed fruit, well bruised, put 1 gallon of clear soft 
 water- steep three days and nights, in open vessels, frequently stirring up the magma 
 tTien strata Through ahair sievel press the residuary pulp to dryness, and add itsju.ee 
 
960 
 
 WIRE-DRAWING. 
 
 to the former In =aeh gallon of tbe mixed liquors dissolve S pounds of good yellow 
 muscovado sugar; let the solution stand other three days and nights, frequently skim 
 tning and stirring it up ; then tun it into casks, which should remain full, and purging 
 at the bung-hole, about two weeks. Lastly, to every 9 gallons, put 1 quart of good 
 Cognac brandy (but not the drugged imitations made in London with grain whiskey) 
 and bung down. If it does not soon become fine, a steeping of isinglass may be stirred 
 into the liquid, in the proportion of about half an ounce to 9 gallons. I have found 
 jhat the addition of 1 oz. of cream of tartar to each gallon of the fermentable liquor, 
 improves the quality of the wine, and makes it resemble more nearly the produce of 
 the grape. 
 
 Description. 
 
 Imported. 
 
 Retained for 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 Duty received. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
 Cape - - galls. 
 
 French - - galls. 
 
 Canary, Fayal, Madeira, 
 
 : Portugal, Rhenish, 
 
 and Spanish - 
 
 Total 
 
 234,779 
 600,243 
 
 8,469,290 
 
 407,153 
 764,931 
 
 7,836,336 
 9,008,420 
 
 246,498 
 365,483 
 
 6,072,687 
 
 234,794 
 468,486 
 
 5,851,149 
 6,554,429 
 
 £ 
 35,606 
 105,277 
 
 1,152,033 
 
 £ 
 33,914 
 134,812 
 
 1,687,605 
 1,856,331 
 
 9,304,312 
 
 6,684,666 
 
 1,892,916 
 
 WINE-STONE is the deposile of crude tartar, called argal, which settles on the sii'.es 
 and bottoms of wine casks. 
 
 WIRE-DRAWING. (Tr.efiUrie, Fr. ; Draht-ziehen, Drahtzug, Germ.) When an 
 oblong lump of metal is forced through a series of progressively diminishing apertures in 
 a steel plate, so as to assume in its cross section the form and dimensions of the last 
 hole, and to be augmented in length at the expense of its thickness, it is said to he wire- 
 drawn. The piece of steel called the draw-plate is pierced with a regular gradation of 
 holes, from the largest to the smallest ; and the machine for overcoming the lateral adhe- 
 sion of the metallic particles to one another, is called the draw-bench. The pincers which 
 lay hold «f the extremity of the wire, to pull it through the successive holes, are adapted 
 to bite it firmly, by having the inside of the jaws cut like a file. Tor drawing thick rods 
 of gilt silver down into stout wire, the hydraulic press has been had recourse to with 
 advantage. 
 
 Fig. 1540 represents a convenient form of the draw-bench, where the power is applied 
 by a toothed wheel, pinion, and rack-work, moved by the hands of one or two men work. * 
 
 ing at a winch; the motion being so 
 regulated by a fly-wheel, that it does 
 not proceed in fits and starts, and cause 
 inequalities in the wire. The metal 
 requires to he annealed, now and then, 
 between successive drawings, other- 
 wise it would become too hard and 
 brittle for further extension. The reel 
 upon which it is wound is sometimes 
 mounted in a cistern of sour small 
 beer, for the purpose of clearing off, 
 or loosening at least, any crust of 
 oxyde formed in the annealing, before the wire enters the draw-plate. 
 
 When, for very accurate purposes of science or the arts, a considerable length of uni- 
 form wire is to be drawn, a plate with one or more jewelled holes, that is, filled with one 
 or more perforated rubies, sapphires, or chrysolites, can alone be trusted to, because the- 
 holes even in the best steel become rapidly wider by the abrasion. Through a hole in s 
 ruby, 0-0033 of an inch in diameter, a silver wire 170 miles long has been drawn, which 
 possessed at the end the very same section as at the beginning; a result determined by 
 weighing portions of equal length, as also by measuring it with a micrometer. The hole in 
 an ordinary draw-plate of soft steel becomes so wide by drawing 14,000 fathoms of brass 
 wire, that it requires to be narrowed before the original sized wire can be again obtained 
 Wire, by being diminished one half, one third, one fourth, <Stc, in diameter is au^ 
 mented in length respectively, four, nine, sixteen times, &c The speed with which it 
 bay be prudently drawn out, depends upon the ductility and tenacity of the metal • but 
 
WOLFRAM. ,-*61 
 
 may be always increased the more the wire becomes attenuated, because :te particles 
 progressively assume more and more of the filamentous form, and accommodate them 
 selves more readily to the extending force. Iron and brass wires, of 0*3 inch in diame 
 ler,- bear drawing at the rate of from 12 to 15 inches per second ; but when of 0-025 (-L) 
 of an inch, at the rate of from 40 to 45 inches in the same time. Finer silver and cop- 
 per wire may be extended from 60 to 70 inches per second. 
 
 By enclosing a wire of platinum within one of silver ten times thicker, and drawing 
 down the compound wire till it be _1_ of an inch, a wire of platinum of «-gW of an 
 inch will exist in its centre, which may be obtained apart, by dissolving the silver away 
 (n nitric acid. This pretty experiment was first made by Dr. Wollaston. 
 
 The French draw-plates are so much esteemed, that one of the best of them used to 
 be sold in this country, during the late war, for its weight in silver. The holes are 
 formed with a steel punch ; being made large on that side where the wire enters, and 
 diminishing with a regular taper to the other side. In the act of drawing, they must be 
 well supplied with grease for the larger kinds of wire, and with wax for the smaller. 
 
 WOAD (Vouede, Pastel, Fr. ; Waid, Germ.; Isatis tindoria, Linn.), the glastum of 
 the ancient Gauls and Germans, is an herbaceous plant which was formerly much culti 
 vated, as affording a permanent blue" dye, but it has been in modern times well nigh 
 superseded by indigo. Pliny says, " A certain plant which resembles plantago, called 
 glastum, is employed by the women and girls in Great Britain for dyeing their bodies all 
 over, when they assist at certain religious ceremonies; they have then the color of 
 Ethiopians." — Hist. Nat. cap. xxii. § 2. 
 
 When the arts, which had perished with the Roman empire, were revived, in the middle 
 ages, woad began to be generally used for dyeing blue, and became an object of most 
 extensive cultivation in many countries of Europe. The environs of Toulouse and 
 Mirepoix, in Upper Languedoc, produced annually 40,000,000 pounds of the prepared 
 woad, or pastel, of which 200,000 bales were consumed at Bordeaux. Beruni, a rich 
 manufacturer of this drug, became surety for the payment of the ransom of his king, 
 Francis I., then the prisoner of Charles V. in Spain. 
 
 The leaves of woad are fermented in heaps, to destroy certain vegetable principles 
 injurious to the beauty of the dye, as also to elaborate the indigoferons matter present, 
 before they are brought into the market ; but they should be carefully watched during 
 this process. Whenever the leaves have arrived at maturity, a point judged of very dif- 
 ferently in different countries, they are stripped off the plant, a cropping which is repeated 
 as often as they shoot, being three or four times in Germany, and eight or ten times in 
 Italy. The leaves are dried as quickly as possible, but not so much as to become black ; 
 and they are ground before they get quite dry. The resulting paste is laid upon a sloping 
 pavement, with gutters for conducting the juice, which exudes into a tank ; the heap 
 being tramped from time to time, to promote the discharge of the juice. The woad fer- 
 ments, swells, and cracks in many places, which fissures must be closed ; the whole being 
 occasionally watered. The fermentation is continued for twenty or thirty days, in cold 
 weather; and if the leaves have been gathered dry, as in Italy, for four months. When 
 the fermented heap has become moderately dry, it is ground again, and put up in cakes 
 of from one to three pounds ; which are then fully dried, and packed up in bundles for 
 the market. Many dyers subject the pastel to a second fermentation. 
 
 1,600 square toises (fathoms) of land afford in two cuttings at least 19,000 pounds of 
 leaves, of which weight four fifths are lost in the fermentation, leaving 3,880 pounds of 
 pastel, in loaves or cakes. When good, it has rather a yellow, or greenish-yellow, than 
 a blue color ; it is light, and slightly humid ; it gives to paper a pale-green trace ; and 
 improves by age, in consequence of an obscure fermentation ; for if kept four years, it 
 dyes twice as much as after two years. According to Hellot, 4 pounds of Guatimala in- 
 digo produce the same effect as 210 pounds of the pastel of Albi. At Quins, in Pied- 
 mont, the dyers estimate that 6 pounds of indigo are equivalent to 300 of pastel ; but 
 Chaptal thinks the indigo underrated. 
 
 Pastel will dye blue of itself, but it is commonly employed as a fermentative addition 
 to the proper blue vat, as described under Indigo. 
 
 Fresh woad, analyzed by Chevreul, afforded, in 100 parts, 65-4 of juice. After being 
 steeped in water, the remaining mass yielded, on expression, 29-65 of liquid ; being in 
 whole, 95-05 parts, leaving 4-95 of ligneous fibre. The juice, by filtration, gave 1-95 of 
 green fecula. 100 parts of fresh woad, when dried, are reduced to 13-76 parts. Alco- 
 hol, boiled upon dry woad, deposites, after cooling, indigo in microscopic needles ; but these 
 cannot be separated from the vegetable albumine, which retains a greenish-gray color. 
 
 WOLFRAM is the native tungstate of iron and manganese, a mineral which occurs 
 in primitive formations, along with the ores of tin, antimony, and lead, in the Bohemian 
 Erzegebirge, in Cornwall, Switzerland, North America &c. It is used by chemists for 
 obtaining tungstic acid and tungsten. 
 
962 
 
 WOOD. 
 
 WOOD (Bois, Fr. ; Hobs, Germ.), is the hard but porous tissue between- the pitlr 
 and the bark of trees and shrubs, through which the chief part of the juices is con- 
 ducted from the root towards the branches and leaves, during the life of the vegetable. 
 The ligneous fibre is the substance which remains, after the plant has been subjected to 
 the solvent action of ether, alcohol, water, dilute acids, and caustic alkaline leys. It is 
 considered by chemists that dry timber consists, on an average, of 96 parts of fibrous, 
 and 4 of soluble matter, in 100; but that these proportions vary somewhat with the sea- 
 sons, the soil, and the plant. All kinds of wood sink in water, when placed in a basin 
 of it under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump ; showing their specific gravity to be 
 greater than 1-000. That of fir and maple is stated, by chemical authors, to be 1-46; 
 and that of oak and beech, at 1-53; but I believe them to have all the same spec. grav. 
 as the fibre of flax; namely, 1-50, as determined by me some years ago.* 
 
 Wood becomes snow-white, when exposed to the action of chlorine ; digested with 
 sulphuric acid, it is transformed first into gum, and, by ebullition with water, afterwards 
 into grape-sugar ; with concentrated nitric acid, it grows yellow, loses its coherence, falls 
 into a pulverulent mass, but eventually dissolves, and is converted into oxalic acid ; with 
 strong caustic alkaline leys, in a hot state, it swells up excessively, dissolves into a 
 homogeneous liquid, and changes into a blackish-brown mass, containing oxalic and 
 acetic acids. 
 
 The composition of wood has been examined by Gay Lussac and Thenard, and Dr. 
 Pront. The first two chemists found it to consist, in 100 parts, of— 
 
 Oak. Beech 
 
 Carbon .... 52-53 51-45 
 
 Hydrogen - -5-69 5-82 
 
 Oxygen .... 41-78 42-73 
 
 According to Dr. Prout, the oxygen and hydrogen are in the exact proportions to form 
 water. Willow contains 50, and box 49-8 per cent, of carbon ; each containing, there- 
 Tore, very nearly 44-444 of oxygen, and 5-555 of hydrogen. In the analyses of Gay 
 Lussac and Thenard, there is a great excess of hydrogen above what the oxygen requires 
 '.o form water. Authenrieth stated, some years ago, that he found that fine sawdust 
 
 Table of the Distillation of One Pound of Wood, dried, at 86° Fahr. 
 
 Name of the wood. 
 
 Weight of 
 wood acid. 
 
 One ounce of the 
 
 acid saturates of 
 
 * .carbonate of ' 
 
 potash. 
 
 Weight of the 
 
 combustible 
 
 oil. 
 
 Weight or the 
 charcoal. 
 
 White birch .... 
 Red beech ... 
 Prick wood (spindle tree) 
 Large leaved linden - 
 Red or scarlet oak 
 White beech 
 Common ash 
 
 Horse chestnut - - - 
 Italian poplar - - 
 Silyer poplar - 
 White willoTT 
 
 Root of the 3assafras laurel 
 Wild service tree ... 
 Basket willow ... 
 Dogberry tree ... 
 Buckthorn ... 
 Logwood .... 
 Alder .... 
 Juniper . . . 
 White fir (deal) 
 Common pine wood 
 Savine tree' ... 
 Red deal (pine) - 
 , Guiac wood - .— 
 
 Ounces. > 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 n 
 
 6f 
 
 7 
 
 6| 
 
 74 
 7i 
 
 7| 
 
 7i 
 
 7i 
 
 6f 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 74 
 7| 
 
 n 
 
 7| • 
 
 6i 
 
 6| 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 Grains. 
 44 
 44 
 40 
 41 
 40 
 40 
 34 
 31 
 30 
 30 
 28 
 29 
 28 
 27 
 27 
 26 
 26 
 22 
 23 
 23 
 22 
 20. 
 18 
 16 
 
 Ounces. 
 H 
 14 
 If 
 2 
 
 If 
 If 
 
 14 
 if 
 
 n 
 
 14 
 if 
 if 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 if 
 2f 
 if 
 if 
 
 2i 
 24 
 
 Ounces. 
 3f 
 3| 
 
 34 
 3f 
 
 4i 
 3f 
 34 
 34 
 3f 
 3f 
 34 
 4* 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 4 
 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 34 
 3! 
 
 3i 
 
 4 
 
 * ',', ^? m T the "■""? d i ff f e ?v B f°^\ h l e T iliment ^tween the specific gravity of flax II' 
 " ' 1 '<! L™ i no lned '° *»* "»' *• £™p °f both may be considered to be emial,*' 
 rophy of Manufactures, 2d edition, pp. 87. 98. 99. o'!mu> 
 
 ton 
 GMophy 
 
 50) and of cot 
 ' 50— PM 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 963 
 
 mixed with a sufficient quantity of wheat flour, made a coherent dough with water 
 which formed an excellent food for pigs; apparently showing that the digestive organs 
 of the animal could operate the same sort of change upon wood as sulphuric acid does. 
 
 WOOD-PRESERVING. Mr. Bethell's invention consists in impregnating wood 
 throughout with oil of tar and other bituminous matters, containing creosote, and also 
 with pyrolignite of iron, which holds more creosote in solution than any other watery 
 menstruum. 
 
 The wood is put in a close iron tank, like a high-pressure steam-boiler, which is then 
 closed and filled with the tar oil or pyrolignite. The air is then exhausted by air- 
 pumps, and afterward more oil or pyrolignite is forced in by hydrostatic pumps, until a 
 pressure equal to from 100 to 150 pounds to the inch is obtained. This pressure is 
 kept up by the frequent working of the pumps during six or seven hours, whereby the 
 wood becomes thoroughly saturated with the tar oil, or the pyrolignite of iron, and 
 will be found to weigh from 8 to 12 pounds per cube foot heavier than before. 
 
 In a large tank, like one of those used on the Bristol and Exeter railway, 20 loads 
 of timber per day can be prepared! 
 
 The effect produced is that of perfectly coagulating the albumen in the sap, thus pre- 
 venting its putrefaction. For wood that will be much exposed to the weather, and al- 
 ternately wet and dry, the mere coagulation of the sap is not sufficient ; for although 
 the albumen contained in the sap of the wood is the most liable and the first to pu- 
 trefy, yet the ligneous fibre itself, after it has been deprived of all sap, will, when ex- 
 posed in a warm damp situation, rot and crumble into dust. To preserve wood, there- 
 fore, that will be much exposed to the weather, it is not only necessary that the sap 
 should be coagulated, but that the fibres should be protected from moisture, which is 
 effectually done by this process. 
 
 The atmospheric action on wood thus prepared renders it tougher, and infinitely 
 stronger. A post made of beech, or even of Scotch fir, is rendered more durable, and 
 as strong as one made of the best oak ; the bituminous mixture with which all its pores 
 are filled acting as a cement to bind the fibres together in a close tough mass; and the 
 more porous the" wood is, the more durable and tough it becomes, as it imbibes a 
 greater quantity of the bituminous oil, which is proved by its increased weight. The 
 materials which are injected preserve iron and metals from corrosion ; and an iron bolt 
 driven into wood so saturated, remains perfectly sound and free from rust. It also 
 resists the attack of insects ; and it has been proved by Mr. Pritchard, at Shoreham Har- 
 bor, that the teredo navalis, or naval worm, will not touch it. 
 
 Wood thus prepared for sleepers, piles, post, fencing, &c, is not at all affected by 
 alternate exposure to wet and dry ; it requires no painting, and after it has been ex- 
 posed to the air for some days it loses every unpleasant smell. 
 
 This process has been adopted by the following eminent engineers, viz. : Mr. Robert 
 Stephenson, Mr. Brunei, Mr. Bidder, Mr. Brathwaite, Mr. Buck, Mr. Harris, Mr. Wick- 
 stead, Mr. Pritchard, and others; and has been used with the greatest success on the 
 Great Western railway, the Bristol and Exeter railway, the Manchester and Birming- 
 ham railway, the North Eastern, the South Eastern, the Stockton and Darlington, and 
 at Shoreham Harbor; and lately, in consequence of the excellent appearance of the 
 prepared sleepers, after three years' exposure to the weather, an order has been issued 
 by Mr. Robert Stephenson, that the sleepers hereafter to be used on the London and Bir- 
 mingham railway are to be prepared with it before being put down. 
 
 The expense of preparing the wood varies from 10s. to 15*. per load, according tc 
 situation, and the distance from the manufactories where the material is made. 
 
 Mr. Bethell supplies the material at a low price from his manufactories, either at 
 Nine Elms, Vauxhall; Bow Common ; or Birmingham ; and parties prepare the timber 
 themselves* 
 
 For railway sleepers it is highly useful, as the commonest Scotch fir sleeper, when 
 thus prepared, will last fo centuries. Those which have been in use 3 years and up- 
 ward, look much belter now than when first laid down, having become harder, more 
 consolidated, and perfectly waterproof; which qualities, combined with that of per- 
 fectly resisting the worm, render this process eminently useful for piles, and all other 
 woodwork placed under water. Posts for gates or fencing, if prepared in this manner, 
 may be made of Scotch fir, or the cheapest wood that can be obtained, and will not de- 
 cay" like oak posts, which invariably become rotten near the earth after a few years. 
 
 WOOF, is the same as Weft. 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. In reference to textile fabrics, sheep s wool is 
 of two different sorts, the short and the long-stapled; each of which requires different 
 modes of manufacture in the preparation and spinning processes, as also in the treatment 
 of the cloth after it is woven, to fit it for the market. Each of these is, moreover, dis- 
 tinguished in commerce by the names of fleece wools and dead wools, according as they 
 
96-1 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 have been shorn at the usual annual period from the living animal, or are cut from iU 
 skin after death. The latter are comparatively harsh, weak, and incapable of imbibing 
 the dyeing principles, more especially if the sheep has died of some malignant distemper. 
 The annular pores, leading into the tubular cavities of the filaments, seem, in this case, 
 to have shrunk and become obstructed. The time of year for sheep-shearing most favor- 
 able to the quality of the wool, and the comfort of the animal, is towards the end of 
 June and beginning of July ;— the period when Lord Leicester holds his celebrated rura. 
 fete for that interesting purpose. _ 
 
 The wool of the sheep has been surprisingly improved by its domestic culture. The 
 moufion (Ovis arks), the parent stock from which our sheep is undoubtedly derived, 
 and which is still found in a wild itate upon the mountains of Sardinia, Corsica, Barbary, 
 Greece, and Asia Minor, has a very short and coarse fleece, more like hair than wool. 
 When this animal is brought under the fostering care of man, the rank fibres gradually 
 disappear; while the soft wool round their roots, little conspicuous in the wild animal, 
 becomes singularly developed. The male most speedily undergoes this change, and con- 
 tinues ever afterwerds to possess far more power in modifying the fleece of the offspring, 
 than the female parent. The produce of a breed from a coarse-woolled ewe and a fine- 
 woolled ram is not of a mean quality between the two, but half-way nearer that of the 
 sire. By coupling the female thus generated with such a male as the former, another 
 improvement of one half will be obtained, affording a staple three fourths finer than that 
 of the grandam. By proceeding inversely, the wool would be as rapidly deteriorated. 
 It is, therefore, a matter of the first consequence in wool husbandry, to exclude from the 
 floek all coarse-fleeced rams. 
 
 Long wool is the produce of a peculiar variety of sheep, and varies in the length uf 
 its fibres from 3 to 8 inches. Such wool is not carded like cotton, but combed like flax, 
 either by hand or appropriate machinery. Short wool is seldom longer than 3 or 4 
 inches ; it is susceptible of carding and felting, by which processes the filaments become 
 first convoluted, and then densely matted together. The shorter sorts of the combing 
 wool are used principally for hosiery, though of late years the finer kinds have been 
 extensively worked up into Merino and mousseline-de-laine fabrics. The longer wools 
 of the Leicestershire breed are manufactured into hard yarns, for worsted pieces, such as' 
 waistcoats, carpets, bombazines, poplins, crapes, &c. 
 
 The wool of which good broadcloth is made should be not only shorter, but, generally 
 speaking, finer and softer than the worsted wools, in order to fit them for the fulling pro- 
 cess. Some wool-sorters and wool-staplers acquire by practice great nicety of discern- 
 ment in judging of wools by the touch and traction of the fingers. Two years ago, I 
 made a series of observations upon different wools, and published the results. The 
 filaments of the finer qualities varied in thickness from j^g to yJg-g- of an inch j their 
 jtructure is very curious, exhibiting, in a good achromatic microscope, at intervals of about 
 
 ' of an inch, a series of serrated rings, imbricated towards each other, like the joints 
 of Mquisetum, or rather like the scaly zones of a serpent's skin. See Philosophy of 
 Manufactures, gs. 11, 12, page 91, second edition. 
 
 There are four distinct qualities of wool upon every sheep ; the finest being upon the 
 spine, from the neck to within 6 inches of the tail, including one third of the breadth of 
 the back ; the second covers the flanks between the thighs and the shoulders ; the third 
 clothes the neck and the rump ; and the fourth extends upon the lower part of the neck 
 and breast down to the feet, as also upon a part of the shoulders and the thighs, to the 
 hottom of the hind quarter. These should be torn asunder, and sorted, immediately after 
 the shearing. 
 
 The harshness of wools is dependant not solely upon the breed of the animal, or the 
 climate, but is owing to certain peculiarities in the pasture, derived from the soil. It is 
 known, that in sheep fed upon chalky districts, wool is apt to get coarse ; but in those 
 upon a rich loamy soil, it becomes soft and silky. The ardent sun of Spain renders the 
 fleece of the Merino breed harsher than it is in the milder climate of Saxony. Smearing 
 sheep with a mixture of tar and butter is deemed favorable to the softness of their 
 wool. 
 
 All wool, in its natural state, contains a quantity of a peculiar potash-soap, secreted 
 by the animal, called in this country the yolk , which may be washed out by water alone, 
 with which it forms a sort of lather. It constitutes from 25 to 50 per cent, of the wool, 
 being most abundant in the Merino breed of sheep ; and however favorable to the 
 growth of the wool on the living animal, should be taken out soon after it is shorn, lest 
 it injure the fibres by fermentation, and cause them to become bard and brittle. After 
 being washed in,water, somewhat more than lukewarm, the wool should be well pressed, 
 und carefully dried. 
 
 Mr. Hicks, of Huddersfield, obtained a patent some years ago for a machine for 
 cleaning wool from burs. It consists of 4 rotary beaters, which act in succession. The wool 
 having been opened and spread upon a feeding cloth is carried by it to the drawing rollers, 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 965 
 
 and is then delivered to the action of the heater, by which it is carried along a carved 
 grating to the feed cloth of another beater, so as to be made eventually quite clean. 
 
 England grows annually about 1,000,000 packs of wool. The quantity imported 
 into the United Kingdom, in 1850, was 72,674,483 lba; in 1801, 81,063,679 lbs.; of 
 which, 48,240,629 lbs. and 51,993,463 lbs. respectively were from British possessions. 
 
 . Having premised these general observations on wool, I shall now proceed to treat of 
 its manufacture, beginning with that of wool-combing, or 
 
 THE WORSTED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 In this branch of business, a long stapled and firm fibre is required to form a smooth 
 level yarn, little liable to shrink, curl, or felt in weaving and finishing the cloth. It must 
 not be entangled by carding, but stretched in lines as parallel as possible, by a suitable 
 evstem of combing, manual or mechanical. 
 
 When the long wool is brought into the worsted factory, it is first of all washed by 
 men with soap and water, who are paid for their labor by the piece, and are each assisted 
 by a boy, who receives the wool as it issues from between the drying squeezers, (see Bleach- 
 ing.) The boy carries off" the wool in baskets, and spreads it evenly upon the floor of 
 the drying-room, usually an apartment over the boilers of the steam-engine, -which is thus 
 economically heated to the proper temperature. The health of the boys employed in this 
 business is found to be not at all injured. 
 
 The wool, when properly dried, is transferred to a machine called the plucker, which 
 is always superintended by a bt-y of 12 or 14 years of age, being very light work. He 
 lays the tresses of wool pretty evenly upon the feed-apron, or table covered with an 
 endless moving web of canvass, which, as it advances, delivers the ends of the long tufts 
 to a pair of fluted rollers, whence it is introduced into a fanning apparatus, somewhat 
 similar to the willow employed in the cotton manufacture, which see. The filaments 
 are turned out, at the opposite end of this winnowing machine, straightened, cleaned, 
 and ready for the combing operation. According to the old practice of the trade, and still 
 
 1541 
 
 for the finer descriptions of the long staple, 
 according to the present practice, the wool 
 is carded by hand. This is far more severe 
 labor than any subservient to machinery, 
 and is carried on in rooms rendered close 
 and hot by the number of stoves requisite 
 to heat the combs, and so enable them to 
 render the fibres soft, flexible, and elastic. 
 This is a task at which only robust men 
 are engaged. They use three implements ; 
 
 1 . a pair of combs for each person ; 2. a post, to which one of the combs can be fixed ; 
 
 3. a comb-potj or small stove for heating the teeth of the combs. Each comb is composed 
 
 1542 
 
 either of two or three rows of pointed tapering steel teeth 6, 
 fig. 1541, disposed in two or three parallel planes, each row being 
 a little longer than the preceding. They are made fast at the 
 roots to a wooden stock or head t, which is covered with horn, 
 and has a handle d, fixed into it at right angles to the lines of the 
 teeth. The spaces between these two or three planes of teeth, 
 is about one third of an inch at their bottoms, bat somewhat 
 more at their tips. The first combing, when the fibres are most 
 entangled, is performed with the two-row toothed combs ; the 
 second, or finishing combing, with the three-row toothed. 
 
 In the workshop a post is planted {fig. 1542), upright, for 
 resting the combs occasionally upon, during" the operation. 
 An iron stem g, projects from it horizontally, having its end 
 turned up, so as to pass through a hole in the handle of the 
 comb. Near its point of insertion into the post, there is an- 
 other staple point h, which enters into the hollow end of the 
 handle ; which, between these two catches, is firmly secured to 
 the post. The stove is a very simple affair, consisting merely ol 
 a flat iron plate, heated by fire or steam, and surmounted with a 
 similar plate, at an interval suflicient to allow the teeth to be \ 
 
 inserted between them at one side, which is left open, while the space between their 1 
 
 edges, on the other sides, is closed to confine the heat. 
 
 • In combing the wool, the workman takes it up in tresses of about four ounces each, 
 
 sprinkles it with oil, and rolls it about in his hand?, to render all the filaments equally 
 
dOR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 unctuous. Some ha-.-sh dry wools require one sixteenth their weight of oil, others m 
 more than a fortieth. He next attaches a heated comb to the post, with its teeth pointed 
 upwards, seizes one half of the tress of wool in his hands, throws it over the teetli. then 
 draws it through them, and iLus repeatedly, leaving a few straight filaments each time upon 
 the comb. When the comb has in this way collected all the wool, it is placed with its points 
 inserted into the cell of the stove, with the wool hanging down outside, exposed to 
 the influence of the heat. The other comb, just removed in a heated state from the 
 stove, is planted upon the post, and furnished in its turn with the remaining two-ounce 
 tress of wool ; after which it supplants the preceding at the stove. Having both combs 
 now hot, he holds one of them with his left hand over his knee, being seated upon a l:iw 
 stool, and seizing the other with his right hand, he combs the wool upon the first, by 
 introducing the teeth of one comb into the wool stuck in the other, and drawing them 
 through it. This manipulation is skilfully repeated, till the fibres are laid truly parallel, 
 like a flat tress of hair. It is proper to begin by combing the tips of the tress, and to 
 advance progressively, from the one end towards the other, till at length the combs are 
 worked with their teeth as closely together as is possible^ without bringing them into col- 
 lision. If the workman proceeded otherwise, he would be apt to rupture the filaments, 
 or tear their ends entirely out of one of the combs. The flocks left at the end of the 
 process, because they are too short for the comber to grasp them in his hand, are called 
 noyls. They are unfit for the worsted spinner, and are reserved for the coarse cloth 
 manufacture. 
 
 The wool finally drawn off from the comb, though it may form a uniform tress of 
 straight filaments, must yet be combed again at a somewhat lower temperature, to pre- 
 pare it perfectly for the spinning operation. From ten to twelve slivers are then arranged 
 in one parcel. 
 
 To relieve the workman from this, laborious and not very salubrious task, has been 
 the object of many mechanical inventions. One of these, considerably employed in this 
 country and in France, is the invention of the late Mr. John Collier, of Paris, for which 
 a patent was obtained in England, under the name of John Piatt, of Salford, in 
 November, 1827. It consists of two comb-wheels, about ten feet in diameter, having 
 hollow iron spokes filled with steam, in order to keep the whole apparatus at a proper 
 combing heat. The comb forms a circle, made fast to the periphery of the wheel, the 
 teeth being at right angles to the plane of the wheel. The shafts of the two wheels are 
 mounted in a strong frame of cast iron ; not, however, in horizontal positions, but inclined 
 at acute angles to the horizon, and in planes crossing each other, so that the teeth of one 
 circular comb sweep with a steady obliquity over the teeth of the other, in a most 
 ingenious manner, with the effect of combing the tresses of wool hung upon them. The 
 proper quantity of long wool, in its ordinary state, is stuck in handfuls upon the wheel, 
 revolving slowly, by a boy, seated upon the ground at one side of the machine. When- 
 ever the wheel is dressed, the machine is made to revolve more rapidly, by shifting its 
 driving-band on another pulley; and it is beautiful to observe the delicacy and precision 
 with which it smooths the tangled tress. When the wools are set in rapid rotation, the 
 loose ends of the fleece, by the centrifugfcl force, are thrown out, in the direction of radii, 
 upon the teeth of the other revolving comb-wheel, so as to be drawn out and made truly 
 straight. The operation commences upon the tips of the tresses, where the wheels, by 
 the oblique posture of their shafts, are at the greatest distance apart ; but as the planes 
 slowly approach to parallelism, the teeth enter more deeply into the wool, till they pro- 
 gressively comb the whole length of its fibres. The machines being then thrown out of 
 gear, the teeth are stripped of the tresses by the hand of the attendant ; the noyh, or short 
 refuse wool, being also removed, and kept by itself. 
 
 This operation being one of simple superintendence, not of handicraft effort and skill, 
 like the old combing of long wool, is now performed by boys or girls of 13 and 14 years 
 of age ; and places in a striking point of view the influence of automatic mechanism, in 
 so embodying dexterity and intelligence in a machine, as to render the cheap and tracta- 
 ble labor of children a substitute for the high-priced and often refractory exertions of 
 workmen too prone to capricious combinations. The chief precaution to be taken with 
 this machine, is to keep the steam-joints tight, so as not to wet the apartments, and to 
 pruvide due ventilation for the operatives. 
 
 The following machine, patented by James Noblej of Halifax, worsted-spinner, in 
 February, 1834, deserves particular notice, as its mode of operation adapts it well also for 
 heckling flax. In Jig. 1543 the internal structure is exhibited. The frame-work a, a, 
 supports the axle of a wheel, 6, 6, in suitable bearings on each side. To the face of this 
 whee. is affixed the eccentric or heart-wheel cam e, c. On the upper part of the periphery 
 of this cam or heart- wheel, a lever d, d, bears merely by its gravity; one end of 
 which lever is connected by a joint to the crank e. By the rotation of the crank e, i( 
 will be perceived that the lever d, will be slidden to and fro on the upper part of the 
 periphery of the eccentric or heart- wheel cam c, the outer end of the lever d, carrying 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 P67 
 
 the upper or working comb or needle-points /, as it moves, performing an elliptical 
 1543 curve, which curve 
 
 will be dependant 
 upon the position 
 of the heart-wheel 
 cam c, that guides 
 it. A moveable 
 frame g, carries a 
 series of points h, 
 which are to con- 
 stitute the lower 
 comb or frame of 
 needles. Into these 
 lower needles the 
 rough uncombed 
 
 wool is to be fed by hand, and to be drawn out and combed straight by the movements 
 of the upper or working comb. 
 
 As it is important, in order to prevent waste, that the ends of the wool should be 
 first combed out, and that the needle-points should be made to penetrate the wool pro- 
 gressively, the moveable frame g, is in the first instance placed as far back as possible ; 
 and the action of the lever d, during the whole operation, is so directed by the varying 
 positions of the cam-wheel, as to allow the upper comb to enter at first a very little 
 way only into the wool ; but as the operation of combing goes on, the frame with the 
 lower combs is made to advance gradually, and the relative positions of the revolving 
 heart cam-wheel c, being also gradually changed, the upper or working needles are at 
 length allowed to be drawn completely throngh the wool, for the purpose of combing out 
 straight the whole length of its fibre. 
 
 In order to give to the machine the necessary movements, a train of toothed wheels 
 and pinions is mounted, mostly on studs attached to the side of the frame; which 
 train of wheels and pinions is shown by dots in the figure, to avoid confusion. The driving 
 power, a horse or steam-engine, is communicated by a band to a rigger on the short axle 
 i ; which axle carries a pinion, taking into one of the wheels of the train. From this 
 wheel the crank e, that works the lever d, is driven ; and also by gear from the same 
 pinion, the axle of the wheel 6, carrying the eccentric or heart-wheel cam, is also actuated, 
 but slower than the crank-axle. 
 
 At the end of the axle of the wheel b, and cam c, a bevel pinion is affixed, which 
 
 gears into a corresponding bevel pinion on the end of the lateral shaft k, The reverse 
 
 end of this shaft has a worm or endless screw ^taking into a toothed wheel m; and 
 
 this last-mentioned toothed wheel gears into a rack at the under part of the frame g. 
 
 It will hence be perceived, that by the movements of the train of wheels, a slow 
 
 motion is given to the frame g, by which the lower 
 needles carrying the wool are progressively ad- 
 vanced as the operation goes on ; and also, that by 
 the other wheels of the train, the heart-wheel cam 
 is made to rotate, for the purpose of giving such 
 varying directions to the stroke of the lever which 
 slides upon its periphery, and to the working 
 comb, as shall cause the comb to operate gradual- 
 ly upon the wool as it is brought forward. The 
 construction of the frames which hold the needles, 
 and the manner of fixing them in the machine, pre- 
 sent no features of importance ; it is therefore un- 
 necessary to describe them farther, than to say, 
 that the heckles are to be heated when used for 
 combing wool. Instead of introducing the wool to 
 be combed into the lower needles by hand, it is 
 sometimes fed in, by means of an endless feeding- 
 cloth, as shown in fig. 1544. This endless cloth is 
 distended over two rollers, which are made to re- 
 volve, for the purpose of carrying the cloth with 
 the wool forward, by means of the endless screw 
 and pinions. 
 
 A slight variation in the machine is shown at 
 fig. 1545, for the purpose of combing wool of long 
 fibre, which differs from the former only in placing 
 the combs or needle points upon a revolving cy- 
 linder or shaft. At the end of the axle of this shaft 
 there is a toothed wheel, which is actuated by an 
 
 fe. 1544 
 
 
 
 
 ■ ■r 1 \ 
 
 
 r 
 
 1545 
 
968 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 endless screw upon a lateral shaft. The axle of tfie cylinder on -which the needles aw 
 fixed, is mounted in a moveable frame or carriage, in order that the points of the needlei 
 may, in the first instance, be brought to act upon the ends of the wool only, and ultimately 
 be so advanced as to enable the whole length of the fibres to be drawn through. The 
 progressive advancement of this carriage, with the needle cylinder, is effected by the 
 agency of the endless screw on the lateral shaft before mentioned. 
 
 Some combing-machines reduce the wool into a continuous sliver, which is ready 
 for the drawing-frame; but the short slivers produced by the hand combing, must be 
 first joined together, by what is called planking. The slivers are rolled up by the 
 combers ten or twelve together, in balls called tops, each of which weighs half a 
 pound. At the spinning-mill these are unrolled, and the sliders are laid on a long plank 
 or trough, with the ends lapping over, in order to splice the long end of one sliver into 
 the short end of another. The long end is that which was drawn off first from the comb, 
 and contains the longer fibres ; the short is that which comes last from the comb, and 
 contains the shorter. The wool-comber lays all the slivers of each ball the same way, 
 and marks the long end of each by twisting up the end of the sliver. It is a curious 
 circumstance, that when a top or ball of slivers js unrolled and stretched out straight, 
 they will not separate from each other without tearing and breaking, if the separation 
 is begun at the short ends ; but if they are first parted at the long ends, they will readily 
 separate. 
 
 The machine for combing long wool, for which Messrs. Donisthorpe and Eawson 
 obtained a patent in April, 1835^ has been found to work well, and therefore merits 
 
 a detailed description : — 
 
 Fig. 1546, is an elevation ; Jig. 
 1547 an end view ; and fig. 1548 
 a plan; in which a, a, is the 
 framing ; 6, the main shaft, bear 
 ing a pinion which drives tht 
 wheel and shaft c, in gear with the 
 wheel d, on the shaft e. Upon 
 each of the wheels c and d, there 
 are two projections or studs /, 
 which cause the action of the 
 combs g, g, of which ft, ft, are the 
 tables or carriages. These are ca- 
 pable of sliding along the upper 
 guide rails of the framing a. 
 Through these carriages or tables 
 h, ft, there are openings or slits, 
 shown by dotted lines, which act 
 as guides to the holders i, i, of the 
 combs g, g, rendering the holders 
 susceptible of motion at right 
 angles to the course pursued by the 
 tables ft. The combs are retained in the holders i, i, by means of the lever handles j, j, 
 which move upon inclined surfaces, and are made to press on the surface of the heads 
 of the combs g, g, so as to be retained in their places ; and they are also held by studs 
 affixed to the holders, which pass into the comb-heads. From the under side of the 
 tables, forked projections i, i, stand out, which pass through the openings or slits formed 
 in the tables A ft ; these projections are worked from side to side by the frame k, fc, 
 which turning on the axis or shaft I, I, is .caused to vibrate, or rock to and fro, by the 
 arms m, moved by the eccentric groove n, made fast to the shaft e. The tables ft, are 
 drawn inwards, by weights suspended on cords or straps o, o, which pass over friction 
 pulleys p, p ; whereby the weights have a constant tendency to draw the combs into the 
 centre of the machine, as soon as it is released by the studs /, passing beyond the 
 projecting arms g, on the tables. On the shaft c, a driving-tooth or catch r, is fixed, 
 which takes into the ratchet wheel s, and propels one of its teeth at every revolution 
 of the shaft c. This ratchet wheel turns on an axis at t ; to the ratchet the pulley v is 
 made fast, to which the cord or band w is secured, as also to the pulley x, on the shaft 
 y. On the shaft y, there are two other pulleys z, z, having the cords or bands a, a, 
 made fast to them, and also to the end of the gauge-plates b, furnished with graau- 
 ated steps, against which the tables h, ft, are drawing at each operation of the machine. 
 In proportion as these gauge-plates are raised, the nearer the carriages or tables ft, will 
 be able to advance to the centre of the machine, and thus permit the combs g, g, 
 to lay hold of, and comb, additional lengths of the woolly fibres. The gauge-plates B, 
 are guided up by the bars c, which pass through openings, slots, or guides, made in 
 the framing a, as shown by d. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 969 
 
 1547 
 
 To the ratchet wheel s, an inclined projection e, is made fast, which in the course of 
 sfce rotation of the ratchet wheel, comes under the lever f, fixed to the shaft g, that turns 
 in hearings h. To this shaft the levers i and J, are also fixed j i serv- 
 ing to throw out the click or catch k, from the ratchet wheel, by which 
 the parts of the machine will be released, and restored to positions 
 ready for starting again. The lever j, serves to slide the drum upon 
 the driving shaft b; out of gear, by means of the forked handle L, when 
 the machine is to be stopped, whenever it has finished combing a cer- 
 tain quantity of wool. The combs which hold the wool have a motion 
 upwards, in order to take the wool out »f the way of the combs g, g, 
 as these are drawn into the centre of the machine; while the holding 
 combs descend to lay the wool among the points of the combs g, g. 
 For obtaining this upward and downward motion, 
 the combs m, m, are placed upon the frame k, and 
 -etained there just as the combs g, g, are upon the 
 nolders i, i. The framing n is made fast to the ba. 
 or spindle o, which moves vertically through open- 
 ings in the cross-head p, and the cross-framing of 
 the machine Q ; from the top of which, there is a 
 strap passes over pulleys with a weight suspended 
 to it ; the cross-head being supported by the two 
 guide-rods e, fixed to the cross-framing Q. It is by 
 the guide-rods r, and the spindle o, that the frame 
 N is made to move up and down ; while the spindle 
 is made to rise by the studs/, as the wheels c and u 
 come successively under the studs s, on the spin- 
 dle o. 
 
 A quantity of wool is to be placed on each of the 
 combs g, g, and m, m, the machine being in the po- 
 sition shown in fig. 1548. When the main shaft b, 
 is set in motion, it will drive by its pinion the tooth- 
 ed wheel c, and therefrom the remaining parts of 
 the machine. The first effect of the movement will 
 be to raise the combs m, m, sufficiently high to 
 remove the wood out of the way 
 of the combs g; g, which will be 
 drawn towards the centre of the 
 machine, as soon as they are re- 
 leased by the studs/, passing the 
 projecting arms q, on the tables 
 ft; but the distance between the 
 combs g, g, and the combs h, h, 
 will depend on the height to 
 which the gauge-plates b, have 
 been raised. These plates are 
 raised one step at each revolu- 
 tion of the shaft c ; the combs g, 
 g, will therefore be continually 
 approaching more nearly to the 
 combs M, m, till the plates B, are so much raised as to permit the tables h, to ap- 
 proach the plates B, below the lowest step, or graduation, when the machine will 
 continue to work. Notwithstanding the plates b, continuing to rise, there being only 
 pnrallel surfaces against which the tables come, the combs g, g, will successively come 
 to the same position, till the inclined projection e, on the ratchet wheel s, comes under 
 the lever r, which will stop the machine. The wool which has been combed is then to 
 be removed, and a fresh quantity introduced. It should be remarked, that the combs g, 
 g, are continually moving from side to side of the machine, at the same time that they are 
 combing out the wool. The chief object of the invention is obviously to give the above 
 peculiar motions to the combs g, g, and m, m ; which may be applied also to combing goat- 
 
 For the purposes of the worsted manufacture, wool should be rendered inelastic to a 
 considerable degree, so that its fibres may form long lines, capable of being twisted into 
 straight level yarn. Mr. Bayliffe, of Kendal, has sought to accomplish this object, 
 first "by introducing into the drawing machine a rapidly revolving wheel, in contact with 
 the front drawing roller, by whose friction the filaments are heated, and at the same 
 time deprived of their curling elasticity; secondly, by employing a moveable regulating 
 toller, by which the extent of surface on the periphery of the wheel that the lengths ol 
 
 Vol. II. 63 
 
970 
 
 "WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 wool is tj act upon, may be increased or diminished at pleasure, and, consequently, tht 
 effect regulated or tempered as the quakty of the wool may require ; thirdly, the em- 
 
 ployment of steam in a rotatory drum, or hoi- 
 
 1549 lowed wheel, in place of the wheel first de- 
 
 . v scribed, for the purpose of heating the wool, 
 
 /58§ill» ^C€\ **, in the process of drawing, in order to facili- 
 tate the operation of straightening the 
 fibres. 
 
 These objects may be effected in several 
 ways ; that is, the machinery may be vari- 
 ously constructed, and still embrace the 
 principles proposed. Fig. 1549, shows one 
 mode: — a, is the friction wheel; b, the 
 front drawing roller, placed in the drawing 
 frame in the same way as usual ; the larger 
 wheel a, constituting the lower roller of the 
 pair of front drawing rollers ; c, and d, are 
 the pair of back drawing rollers, which are 
 actuated by gear connected to the front roll- 
 ers, as in the ordinary construction of draw- 
 ing machines, the front rollers moving very considerably faster than the back rollers, and, 
 consequently, drawing or extending the fibres of the sliver of wool, as it passes through 
 between them ; e, is a guide roller, bearing upon the periphery of the large wheel ; /, is 
 a tension roller, which presses the fibres of the wool down upon the wheel a. 
 
 Now, supposing the back rollers c and d to be turned with a given velocity, and the 
 front roller 6 to be driven much faster, the effect would be, that the fibres of wool consti- 
 tuting the sliver, passing through the machine, would be considerably extended between 
 b and d, which is precisely the "effect accomplished in the ordinary drawing frame ; but 
 the wheel a, introduced into the machine in place of the lower front drawing roller, be- 
 ing made to revolve much faster than 4, the sliver of wool extended over the upper part 
 of its periphery from b, to the tension roller /, will be subjected to very considerable 
 friction from the contact ; and, consequently, the natural curl of the wool will be taken 
 out, and its elasticity destroyed, which will enable the 'wool to proceed in a connected 
 roving down to the spindle or flier ft, where it becomes twisted or spun into a worsted 
 thread. 
 
 In order to increase or diminish the extent to which the fibres of wool are spread over 
 the periphery of the wheel a, a regulating roller is adapted to the machine, as shown at 
 g, in place of the tension roller /. This regulating roller g, is mounted by its pivots in 
 bearings on the circular arms ft, shown by dots. These circular arms turn loosely upon 
 the axle of ths wheel a, and are raised Or depressed by a rack and a winch, not shown in 
 the figure ; the rack taking into teeth on the periphery of the circular arms. It will 
 hence be perceived, that by raising the circular arms, the roller g, will be carried back- 
 wardj and the fibres of wool pressed upon the periphery of the wheel to a greater extent. 
 On the contrary, the depression of the circular arms will draw the roller g, forward, and 
 cause the wool to be acted upon by a smaller portion of the periphery of the wheel a, and 
 consequently subject it to less friction. 
 
 When it is desired to employ steam for the purpose of heating the wool, the wheel a, 
 is formed as a hollow drum, and steam from a boiler, in any convenient situation, is con- 
 veyed through the hollow axle to the interior of the drum, which, becoming heated by 
 that means, communicates heat also to the wool, and thereby destroys its curl and elas- 
 ticity. 
 
 Breaking-frame. — Here the slivers are planked, or spliced together, the long end of one 
 to the short end of another ; after which they are drawn out and extended by the rollers 
 of the breaking- frame. A sketch of this machine is given in fig. 1550. It consists ol 
 4 pairs of rollers, A, b, c, d. The. first pair a, receives the wool from the inclined trough 
 js, which is the planking-table. The slivers are unrolled, parted, and hung loosely over 
 a pin, in reach of the attendant, who takes a sliver, and lays it flat in the trough, and the 
 end is presented to the rollers A, which being in motion, will draw the wool in ; the sliver 
 is then conducted through the other rollers, as shown in the figure : when the sliver has 
 passed half through, the end of another sliver is placed upon the middle of the first, and 
 they pass through together; when this second is passed half through, the end of a third 
 is applied upon the middle of it, and in this way the short slivers produced by the comb- 
 ing are joined into one regular and even sliver. 
 
 The lower roller c receives its motion from the mill, by means of a pulley upon the 
 end of its axis, and an endless strap. The roller which is immediately over it, is borne 
 down by a heavy weight, suspended from hooks, which are over the pivots of the upper 
 oiler.' The fourth pair of rollers rj, moves with the same velocity as c, being turned 
 
WOO-LLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 971 
 
 fcy n.eans of a small wheel upon the end of the axis of the roller c, which turns awhee 
 K the same size upon the axis of the roller d, by means of an intermediate wheel d 
 vhich makes both rollers turn the same way round. The first and second pairs of 
 
 rollers, A and », 
 move only one 
 third as quick as 
 c and d, in order 
 to draw out the 
 sliver between B 
 and c to three 
 times the length 
 it was when put 
 on the planking- 
 table. The slow 
 motion of the roll- 
 ers A, is given 
 by a large wheel 
 a, fixed upon the 
 axis of the roller 
 A, and turned by 
 the intermediate 
 cog-wheels b, c, 
 and d ; the latter 
 
 communicates between the rollers c and d. The pinions on the rollers c and d being only 
 one third the size of the wheel a, c and d turn three times as fast as A, for 6, c, and d, are 
 only intermediate wheels. The rollers n turn at the same rate as a. The upper roller 
 e is loaded with a heavy weight, similar to the rollers a ; but. the other rollers, b and d, 
 are no further loaded than the weight of the rollers. 
 
 The two pairs of rollers A, b, and c, d, are mounted in separate frames ; and that frame 
 Which contains the third and fourth pairs c, d, slides upon the cast-iron frame r, which 
 supports the machine, in order to increase or diminish the distance between the rollers 
 B and c. There is a screw/, by which the frame of the rollers is moved, so as to adjust 
 the machine according to the length of the fibre of the wool. The space between b and 
 c should be rather more than the length of the fibres of the wool. The intermediate 
 wheels b and c, are supported upon pieces of iron, which are moveable on centres ; the 
 centre for the piece which supports the wheel 6 is concentric with the axis of the roller 
 A; and the supporting piece for the wheel c is fitted on the centre of the wheel d. By 
 moving these pieces the intermediate wheels b and c can be always kept in contact, al- 
 though the distance between the rollers is varied at times. By means of this breaking- 
 frame, the perpetual sliver, which is made up by planking the sliver together, is equal- 
 ized, and drawn out three times in length, and delivered into the o»n G. 
 
 Drawing-frame. — Three of these cans are removed to the drawing-frame, which is 
 similar to the breaking-frame, except that there is no planking-table e. There are 
 five sets of rollers, all fixed upon one common frame f, the breaking-frame, which we 
 have described, being the first. As fast as the sliver comes through one set of rollers, it 
 is received into a can, and then three of these cans are put together, and passed again 
 through another set of rollers. -In the whole, the wool" must pass through the breaker 
 and four drawing-frames before the roving is begun. The draught being, usually four 
 times at each operation of drawing, and three times in the breaking, the whole will be 
 3X4X4X4X4 = 7 68 > * ut to suit different sorts of wool, the three last drawing- 
 frames atE capable of making a greater draught; even to five times, by changing the pin- 
 ions ; accfdingly the draught will be 3X4X5X5X5 = 1500 times. 
 
 The size of the sliver is diminished by these repealed drawings, because only three 
 slivers are put together, and they are drawn out four times ; so that, in the whole, the 
 sliver is reduced to a fourth or a ninth of its original bulk. 
 
 The breaking-frame and drawing-frame which are used when the slivers are pre- 
 pared bv the combing-machines, are differently constructed ; they have no planking- 
 table but receive thjee of the perpetual slivers of the combing-machine from as many 
 tin cans, and draw them out from ten to twelve times. In this case, all the four 
 rollers contribute to the operation of drawing: thus the second rollers b, move 2i 
 times as fast as the rollers A ; the third rollers c, move 8 times as fast as A ; and the 
 fourth rollers E, move 101 times as fast as a. In this case, the motion is given to the 
 different rollers by means of bevelled wheels, and a horizontal axis, which extends 
 across the ends of all the four rollers, to communicate motion from one pair of rollers to 
 
 ""ihS are three of these systems of rollers, which are all mounted on toe same 
 frame; and the first one through which the wool passes, is called the breaking-frame- 
 
972 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 But it does not differ from the others, which are called drawing-frames. The sliven 
 which have passed through one system of rollers, are collected four or five togethei, an s 
 put through the drawing-rollers. In all, the slivers pass through three drawings, and 
 the whole extension is seldom less than 1000 times, and for some kinds of wool much 
 greater. 
 
 After the drawing of the slivers is finished, a pound weight is taken, and is measured 
 by means of a cylinder, in order to ascertain if the drawing has been properly conducted ; 
 -if the sliver does not prove of the length proposed, according to the size of worsted which 
 is intended to be spun, the pinions of some of the drawing-frames are changed, to make 
 the draught more or less, until it is found by experiment that one pound of the sliver 
 measures the required length. 
 
 Roving-frame. — This is provided with rollers, the same as the drawing-frames ; it takes 
 in one or two slivers together, and draws them out four times. By this extension, the 
 sliver becomes so small, that it would break with the slightest force, and it is therefore 
 necessary to give some twist ; this is done by a spindle and flier. See Saving, under 
 Cotton Manufacture. 
 
 Spinning-frame. — This is so much like the roving-frame, that a short descriptkm 
 will be sufficient. The spindles are more delicate, and there are three pairs of rollers, 
 instead of two ; the bobbins, which are taken off from the spindles of the roving- 
 frame, when they are quite full, are stuck upon skewers, and the roving which proceeds 
 from them is comfcicled between the rollers. The back pair turns round slowly; the 
 middle pair turns about twice for once of the back rollers ; and the front pair makes 
 from twelve to seventeen turns for one turn of the back roller, according to the degree of 
 extension which is required. 
 
 The spindles must revolve very quickly in the spinning-frame, in order to give the 
 requisite degree of twist to the worsted. The hardest twisted worsted is called tammy 
 warp ; and when the size of this worsted is such as to be 20 or 24 hanks to the pound 
 weight, the twist is about 10 turns in each inch of length. The least twist is given to 
 the worsted fdr fine hosiery, which is from 18 to 24 hanks to the pound. The twist is 
 from 5 to 6 turns per inch. The degree of twist is regulated by the size of the whirls or 
 pulleys upon the spindle, and by the wheel-work which communicates the motion to the 
 front rollers from the band-wheel, which turns the spindles. 
 
 It is needless to enter more minutely into the description of the spinning machinery, 
 because the fluted roller construction, invented by Sir Richard Arkwright, fully described 
 under Cotton Manufacture, is equally applicable to worsted. The difference be- 
 tween the two is chiefly in the distance between the rollers, which, in the worsted-frame, 
 is capable of being increased or diminished at pleasure, according to the length of the 
 fibres of the wool ; and the draught or extension of the roving is far greater than in the 
 cotton. 
 
 Reeling. — The bobbins of the spinning-frame are placed in a row upon wires before 
 a long horizontal re#, and the threads from 20 bobbins are wound off together. The 
 reel is exactly a yard in circumference, and when it has wound off 80 turns, it rings a 
 bell j the motion of the reel is then stopped, and a thread is passed round the 80 turns 
 or folds whieh each thread has made. The reeling is then continued till another 80 
 yards is wound off, which is also separated by interweaving the same thread ; each of 
 these separate parcels is called a ley, and when 7 such leys are reeled, it is called a hank, . 
 which contains 560 yards. When this quantity is reeled off, the ends of the binding 
 thread are tied together, to bind each hank fast, and one of the rails of the reel is struck 
 to loosen the hanks, and they are drawn off at the end of the reel. These hanks are 
 next hung upon a hook, and twisted up hard by a stick ; then doubled, and the two parts 
 twisted together to make a firm bundle. In this state, the hanks are weighed by a small . 
 index machine, which denotes what number of the hanks will weigh a pound, and they 
 are sorted accordingly into different parcels. It is by this means that the number of the 
 worsted is ascertained as the denomination for its fineness : thus No. 24 means, that 24 
 hanks, each containing 560 yards, will weigh a pound, and so on. 
 
 This denomination is different from that used for cotton, because the hank of cotton 
 contains 840 yards, instead of 560 ; but in some places the worsted hank is made of the 
 same length as the cotton. 
 
 To pack up the worsted for market, the proper number of hanks is collected to make 
 a pound, according to the number which has been ascertained ; these are weighed, as a 
 proof of the correctness of the sorting, then tied up in bundles of one pound each, and 
 four of these bundles are again tied together. Then 60 such bundles are packed up in a 
 sheet, making a baleof 240 pounds, ready for market. 
 
 Of the treatment of short wool for the cloth manufacture. — Short wool resembles cotton 
 not a little in the structure of its filaments, and i^ cleaned by the willy, as cotton is by 
 the willow, which orens up the matted fleece of the wool-stapler, and cleans it from 
 accidental impurities. Sheep's wool for working into coarse goods, must be passed re. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 97c 
 
 peatedly through this machine, both before and after it is dyed; the second last time fbi 
 the purpose of blending the different sorts together, and the last for imbuing the fibres 
 intimately with oil. .The oiled wool is next . subjected to a first carding operation called 
 scribbling, whereby it is converted into a broad thin fleece or lap, as cotton is by the 
 breaker-cards of a cotton mill. The woollen lap is then worked by the cards proper, 
 which deliver it in a narrow band or sliver. By this process the wool expands greatly 
 in all its dimensions ; while the broken or short filaments get entangled by crossing in 
 every possible direction, whieh prepares them for the fulling operation. See Carding, 
 Under Cotton Manufacture. 
 
 The dubbing machine, or billy, reduces the separate rolls of cardings into a continuous 
 slightly twisted spongy cord, which is sometimes called a roving. Fig. 1551 is a per- 
 
 spective representation of the slubbing machine in most common use. A, A, is the 
 wooden frame ; within which is the moveable carriage d, d, which runs upon the lower 
 side rails at a, a, on friction wheels at 1, 2, to make it move easjjy backwards and for. t 
 wards from one end of the frame to the other. The carriage contains a series of steel 
 spindles, marked 3, 3, which receive rapid rotation from a long tin drum f, by means of 
 a series of cords passing round the pulley or whorl of each spindle. This drum, 6 inches 
 in diameter, is covered with paper, and extends across the whole breadth of the carriage. 
 The spindles are set nearly upright in a frame, and about 4 inches apart; their under 
 ends being pointed conically, turn in brass sockets called steps, ani are retained in their 
 position by a small brass collet, which embraces each spindle at about the middle of 
 its length. The upper half of each spindle projects above the top of the frame. _ The 
 drum revolves horizontally before the spindles, having its axis a little bejow the line of 
 the whorls ; and receives motion, by a pulley at one of its ends, from an endless band 
 which passes round a wheel e, like the large domestic wheel formerly used in spinning 
 wool by hand, and of similar dimensions. This wheel is placed upon the outside of 
 the main frame of the machine, and has its shafts supported by upright standards upon 
 the carriage d. It is turned by the spinner placed at o_, with his right hand applied to a 
 winch k, which gives motion to the drum, and thereby causes the spindles to revolve 
 with great velocity. 
 
 Each spindle receives a soft cylinder or carding of wool, which comes through beneath 
 a wooden roller c, c, at the one end of the frame. This is the billy roller, so much talked 
 of in the controversies between the operatives and masters in the cotton factories, as an 
 instrument of cruel punishment to children, though no such machine has been used in 
 cotton mills for half a century at least. These woollen rolls proceed to the series of 
 spindles, standing in the carriage, in nearly a horizontal plane. By the alternate advance 
 and retreat of the carriage upon its railway, the spindles are made to approach to, and 
 recede from, the roller c, with the effect of drawing out a given length of the soft cord, 
 ■with any desired degree of twist,, in the following manner : — 
 
 The carding rolls are laid down straight, side by side, upon the endless cloth, 
 strained in an inclined direction between two rollers, one of which is seen at b, and tn« 
 
974 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 other lies behind c. One carding is allotted to a rpindle ; the total number of each in 
 one machine being from 50 to 100. The roller c, of light wood, presses gently with 
 its weight upon the cartings, while they move onwards over the endless cloth, with the 
 running out of the spindle carriage. Immediately in 'front of the said roller, there is a 
 horizontal wooden rail or bar g, with another beneath it, placed across the frame. The 
 carding is conducted through between these two bars, the moveable upper one being 
 raised to let any aliquot portion of the roll pass freely. When this bar is again let 
 downj it pinches the spongy carding fast ; whence this mechanism is called the clasp. 
 It is in fact the clove, originally used by Hargreaves in his cotton-jenny. The moveable 
 upper rail G, is guided between sliders, and a wire 7, descends from it to a lever c. 
 When the spindle carriage d, D,.is wheeled close home to the billy roller, a wheel 5, lifts 
 the end 6 of the lever, which, by the wire 7, raises the upper bar or rail G, so as to open 
 the clasp, and release all the card rolls. Should the carriage be now drawn a little way 
 from the clasp bars, it would tend to pull a corresponding length of the cardings forward 
 from the inclined plane b, c. There is a small catch, which lays hold of the upper bar 
 of the clasp G, and hinders it from falling.till the carriage has receded to a certain dis- 
 tance, and has thereby allowed from 7 to 8 inches qf the cardings to be taken out. A 
 stop upon the carriage then comes against the catch, and withdraws it ; thus allowing the 
 upper rail to fall and pinch the carding, while the carriage, continuing to recede, draws 
 out or stretches that portion of the roll which is between the clasp and the spindle points. 
 But during this time the wheel has been turned to keep the spindles revolving, communi- 
 cating the proper degree of twist to the cardings in proportion to their extension, so as to 
 prevent them from breaking. 
 
 It might be imagined that the slubbing cords would be apt to coil round the spindles; 
 but as they proceed in a somewhat inclined direction to the clasp, they receive merely a 
 twisting motion, continually slipping over the points of the spindles, without getting 
 wound upon them. Whenever the operative or slubber has given a due degree of twist 
 to the rovings, he sets about winding them upon the spindles into a conical shape, for 
 which purpose he presses down the faller-wire 8, with his left hand, so as to bear it down 
 from the points of the spindles, and place it opposite to their middle part. He next makes 
 the spindles revolve, while he pushes in the carriage slowly, so as to coil the slubbing 
 upon the spindle into a conical cop. The wire 8, regulates the winding-on of the whole 
 series of slubbings at once, and receives its proper angle of depression for this purpose 
 from the horizontal rail 4, which turns upon pivots in its ends, in brasses fixed on the • 
 standards, which rise from the carriage n. By turning this rail on its pivots, the wire 8 
 may be raised or lowered in any degree. The slubber seizes the rail 4 in his left hand, 
 to draw the carriage out ; but in returning it, he depresses the faller-wire, at the same 
 time that he pushes the carriage before him. 
 
 The cardings are so exceedingly tender, that they would readily draw out, or even 
 break, if they were dragged with friction upon the endless cloth of the inclined plane. 
 ♦To save this injurious- traction, a contrivance is introduced for moving the apron. A cord 
 is applied round the groove in the middle part of the upper roller, and after passing over 
 pulleys, as shown in the figure, it has a heavy weight hung at the one end, and a light 
 weight at the other, to keep it constantly extended, while the heavy weight tends to 
 turn the rollers with their endless cloth round in such a direction as to bring forward 
 the rovings, without putting any strain upon them. 'Every time that the earriage is 
 pushed home, the larger weight gets wound up ; and when the carriage is drawn out, 
 the greater weight turns the roller, and advances the endless apron, so as to deliver the 
 carding at the same rate as the carriage runs out ; but when the proper quantity is de- 
 livered, a knot in the rope arrives at a fixed stop, which does not permit it to move any 
 further ; while at the same instant the roller 5 quits the lever 6, and allows the upper rail 
 g, of the clasp to fall, and pinch the carding fast ; the wheel e, being then set in motion, 
 makes (be spindles revolve; and the carriage being simultaneously drawn out, extends 
 the slubbings while under the influence of twisting. In winding up the slubbings, the 
 operative must take care to push in the carriage, and to turn the wheel round at such 
 rates that the spindles will not take up faster than the carriage moves on its railway, 
 or he would injure the slubbings. The machine requires the attendance of a child, to 
 bring the cardings from the card-engine, to place them upon the sloping feed-cloth, and to 
 join the ends of the fresh ones carefully to the ends of the others newly drawn under the 
 roller. Slubbings intended for Warp-yarn must be more twisted than those for weft ; 
 but each must receive a degree of torsion relative to the quality of wool and of the cloth 
 intended to be made. In general, however, no more twist should be given to the slub- 
 bings than is indispensable for enabling them to be drawn out to the requisite slender- 
 ness without breaking. This twist forms no part of the twist of the finished yarn, foi 
 the slubbing will be twisted in the contrary direction, when spun afterwards in the jenny 
 or mule. 
 I may here remark, that various machines have been constructed of late years foi 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 97;: 
 
 making continuous card-ends, and slubbings, in imitation of the carding and roving of 
 the Cotton Manufacture ; to which article I therefore refer my readers. The wool 
 slubbings are now spun into yarn, in many factories, by means of the mule. Indeed, 1 
 have seen in France the finest yarn, for the mousseline^de-laine . fabrics, beautifully spun 
 upon the self-actor mule of Sharp and Roberts.* 
 
 Tentering.—Whea the clolh is returned from the fulling-mill (which see), it is stretched 
 upon the tenter-frame, and left in the open air till dry. 
 
 In the woollen manufacture, as the cloth suffers, by the operation of the fulling-mill, a 
 shrinkage of its breadth to well nigh one half, it must at first be woven of nearly double 
 its intended width when finished. Superfine six-quarter broad cloths must therefore be 
 turned out of the loom twelve quarters wide. 
 
 Burling is the name of a process, in which the dried cloth is examined minutely in every 
 part, freed from knots or uneven threads, and repaired by sewing any little rents, or in- # 
 serting sound yarns in the place of defective ones. 
 
 Teasling. — The object of this operation is to raise up the loose filaments of the 
 woollen yarn into a nap upon one of the surfaces of the cloth, by scratching it either 
 with thistle-heads, called teasels, or with teasling-cards or brushes, made of wire. The 
 natural teasels are the balls which contain the seeds of the plact called Dipsacus ful- 
 lorum; the scales which form the balls project on all sides, am! end in sharp elastic 
 points, that turn downwards like hooks. In teasling by hand, a number of these balls 
 are put into a small wooden frame, having crossed handles, eight or ten inches long ; 
 and when thus filled, form an implement not unlike a curry-comb, which is used by 
 two men, who seine the teasel-frame by the handles, and scrub the face of the clotn, 
 hung in a vertical position from two horizontal rails, made fast to the ceiling of the 
 workshop. First, they wet the cloth, and work three times over, by strokes in the 
 direction of the warp, and next of that of the weft, so as to raise all the loose 
 fibres from the felt, and to prepare it for shearing. In large manufactories, this 
 dressing operation is performed by a machine called a gig-mill, which originally con- 
 sisted, and in most places still consists, of a cylinder bristled all over with the thistle- 
 heads, and made to revolve rapidly while the cloth is drawn over it in a variety of 
 directions. If the thistle be .drawn in the line of the warp, the points act more effi- 
 caciously upon the weft, being perpendicular to its softer spun yarns. Inventors who 
 have tried to give the points a circular or oblique action between the .warp and the 
 weft, proceed apparently upon a false principle, as if the cloth were like a plate of 
 metal, whose substance could be pushed in any direction. Teasling really consists in 
 drawing out one end of the filaments, and leaving the body of them entangled in the 
 cloth ; and it should seize and pull them perpendicularly to their length, because in 
 this way if acts upon the ends, which being least implicated, may be most readily 
 disengaged. 
 
 When the hooks of the thistles, become clogged with flocks of wool, they must be 
 taken out of the frame or cylinder, and cleaned by children with a small comb. Moisture, 
 moreover, softens their points, and impairs their teasling powers j an effect which needs 
 to be counterbalanced, by taking them out, and drying them from time to time. Many 
 contrivances have, therefore, been proposed in which metallic teasels or'an unchangeable na- 
 ture, mounted in rotatory machines, driven by power, have been substituted for the vege- 
 table, which being required in prodigious quantities, becomes sometimes excessively scarce 
 and dear in the clothing districts. In 1818, several schemes of that kind were patented in 
 France, of which those of M. Arnold-Merick, and of MM. Taurin freres, of Elbceuf, are 
 described in the 16th volume of Brevets d'Invention expires. Mr. Daniell, cloth manufac- 
 turer in Wilts, renewed this invention under another form, by making his rotatory cards 
 with two kinds of metallic wires, of unequal length ; the one set, long, thin, and delicate, 
 representing the points of the thistle ; the other, shorter, stiffer, and blunter, being in- 
 tended to stay the cloth, and to hinder the former from entering too far into it. But none 
 of these processes have succeeded in discarding the natural teasel from the most eminent 
 manufactories. 
 
 The French government purchased, in 1807, the patent of Douglas, an English me- 
 chanist, who had, in 1802, imported into France the best system of gig-mills then used 
 in the west of England. A working set of his machines having been placed in the Con- 
 urvatoire des Arts, for public inspection, they were soon introduced into most of the 
 French establishments, so as generally to supersede teasling (lainage) by hand. A de- 
 scription of them was published in the third volume of the Brevets d'Invention. The follow- 
 ing is an outline of some subsequent improvements : — 
 
 1. As it was imagined that the seesaw action of the hand operative was in some re. 
 spects more effectual than the uniform rotation of a gig-mill, this was attempted to be 
 imitated by an alternating movement. 
 
 * See this admirable machiae fully dencribed and delineated in my Cotton Manufacture of Great Britain, 
 rol ft. ■ 
 
976 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 2. Others conceived that the seesaw motion was not essential, but that it was advan. 
 tagebus to make the teasels or cards act in a rectilinear direction, as in working by hand i 
 this action was attempted by placing the two ends of the teasel-frame in grooves formed like 
 the letter d, so that the teasel should act on the cloth only when it came into the rectil- 
 inear part. Mr. Wells, machine-maker, of Manchester, obtained a patent, in 1832, for 
 this construction. 
 
 3. It was supposed that the teasels should not act perpendicularly to the weft, but 
 obliquely or circularly upon the face of the cloth. Mr. Ferrabee, of Gloucester, patent- 
 ed, in 1 830, a scheme of this kind, in which the teasels are mounted upon two endless chains, 
 which traverse from the middle of the web to the selvage or list, one to the right, and 
 another to the left hand, while the cloth itself passes under them with such a velocity, 
 that the effect, or resultant, is a diagonal action, dividing into two equal parts the rec- 
 
 .tatisle formed by the weft and warp yarns. Three patent machines of Mr. George Old- 
 land — the first in 1830, the second and third in 1832 — all proceed upon this principle 
 In the first, the teasels are mounted upon discs made tp turn flat upon the surface of the 
 cloth ; in the second, the rotating discs are pressed by corkscrew spiral springs against 
 the cloth, which is supported by an elastic cushion, also pressed against the~discs by 
 springs ; and in the third machine, the revolving discs have a larger diameter, and they 
 turn, not in a horizontal, but a vertical plane. 
 
 4. Others fancied that it would be beneficial to support the reverse side of the cloth 
 by flat hard surfaces, while acting upon its face with cards, or teasels. Mr. Joseph 
 Cliseld Daniell, having stretched the cloth upon smooth level stones, teasels them by 
 hand. 5. Messrs. Charlesworth and Mellor obtained a patent, in 1829, for supporting 
 the back of the cloth with elastic surfaces, while the part was exposed to the teasling 
 action. 6. Elasticity has also been imparted to the teasels, in the three patent inven- 
 tions of Mr, Sevill, Mr. J. C. Daniell, and Mr. R. Atkinson. 7. It has been thought 
 useful to separate the, teasel-frames upon the drum of the gig-mill, by pimple rollers, or 
 by rollers heated with steam, in order to obtain the combined effect of calendering 
 and teasling. Mr. J. C. Daniell, Mr. G. Haden, and Mr. J. Rayner, have obtained 
 patents for contrivances of this kind. 8. Several French schemes have been mounted 
 for making the gig-drum act upon the two sides of the cloth, or even to mount two drums 
 on the same machine. 
 
 Mr. Jones, of Leeds, contrived a very excellent method of stretching the cloth, so as 
 to prevent the formation of folds or wrinkles. (See Newton's Journal, vol. viii., 2d 
 series, page 126.) Mr. Collier, of Paris, obtained a patent, in 1830, for a greatly 
 improved gig-mill, upon Douglas's plan, which is now much esteemed by the French 
 clothiers. The following figures and description exhibit one of the latest and best teasling 
 machines. It is the invention of M. Dubois and Co., of Louviers, and is now doing ex. 
 cellent work in that.celebrated seat of the cloth manufacture. 
 
 In the fulling-mill, the woollen web acquires body and thickness, at the expense of 
 its other dimensions ; for being thereby reduced about one third in length, and one half 
 in breadth, its surface is diminished to one third of its size as it comes out of the loom ; 
 and it has, of course, increased threefold in thickness. As the filaments drawn forth 
 by teasling are of very unequal lengths, they must be shorn to make them level, and 
 with different degrees of closeness, according to the quality of the stuff, and the ap 
 pearance it is desired to have. But, in general, a single operation of each kind is in- 
 sufficient ; whence, after having passed the cloth once through the gig-mill and once 
 throush the shearing-machine (tondeuse), it is ready to receive a second teasling, deeper 
 than the first, and then to suffer a second shearing. Thus, by the alternate repetition 
 of these processes, as often as is deemed proper, the cloth finally acquires its wished-fo» 
 appearance. Both of these operations are very delicate, especially the'first ; and if thej 
 be ill conducted, the cloth is weakened, so as to tear or wear most readily. On the othei 
 hand, if they be skilfully executed, the fabric becomes not only more sightly, but it ac- 
 quires strength and durability, because its face is changed into a species of fur, which 
 protects it from friction and humidity. 
 
 Figs, 1552, 1553, represent the gig-mill in section, and in front elevation. A, b, o, d, 
 a , b , c , d , being the strong frame of iron, cast in one piece, having its feet enlarged 
 a little more to the in S1 de than to the outside, and bolted to large blocks in the stone 
 pavement. The two uprights are bound together below by two cross-beams a", 
 being fastened with screw-bolts at the ears a", a"; and at top, by the wrought-iron 
 stretcher-rod d, whose ends are secured by screw-nuts at d, r>\ The drum is mounted 
 upon a wrought-iron shaft f; which bears at its right end (fi ? . 1553), exterior to the 
 frame, the usual riggers or fast and loose pulley, .#",/• which" give mot.on to the 
 machine by a band from the main shaft of the mill. On its right end, within the frame! 
 the shaft F, has a bevel wheel F ', for transmitting movement to the cloth, ns shall bl 
 afterwards explained Three crown wheels g, of which one is shown in the section, 
 H 1552, are, as usual, keye<? by a wedge to the shaft f. Their contour is a sinuous 
 
978 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 band, with six semi-cylindrical hollows, separated alternately by as many portions of 
 the periphery. One of these three wheels is placed in the middle of the shaft f, and thi 
 other two, towards its extremities. Their size may be judged of, from inspection of fig. 
 1552. After having set them so that all their spokes or radii correspond exactly, the 16 
 sides h, are made fast to the 16 portions of the periphery, which correspond in the three 
 wheels. These sides are made of sheet iron, curved into a gutter form, fig. 1552, but round- 
 ed off at the end, fig. 1553, and each of them is fixed to the three felloes of the wheels b. 
 three bolts h. The elastic part of the plate iron allows of their being sufficiently well ad 
 justed, so that their flat portions furthest from the centre may lie pretty truly on a cylindrical 
 surface, whose axis would coincide with that of the shaft f. 
 
 Between the 16 sides there are 16 intervals, which correspond to the 16 hollowings 
 of each of the wheels. Into these intervals are adjusted, with proper precautions, 
 16 frames bearing the teasels which are to act upon the cloth. These are fitted in as 
 follows : — Each has the shape of a rectangle, of a length equal to that of the drum, 
 but their breadth only large enough to contain two thistle-heads set end to end, 
 thus making two rows of parallel teasels throughout the entire length, (see the contour 
 in fig. 1552 ) A portion of the frame is represented in fig. 1554. The large side I, 
 against which the tops of the teasels rest, is hollowed out into a semi-cylinder, and its 
 
 k 
 
 i at 
 
 j 
 
 1554 
 
 ..£ 
 
 1 1 1 i r f f i 
 
 liiiijgjiiiii 
 
 F 
 
 uuuuuuuu u innr 
 
 i' 
 
 opposite side is cleft throughout its whole 
 length, to receive the tails of the teasels, 
 which are seated and compressed in it. There 
 are, moreover, cross-bars i, which serve to 
 maintain the sides of the frame i, at an inva- 
 riable distance, and to form short compart- 
 ments for keeping the thistles compact. The 
 
 1555 
 
 c 
 
 T i/nr^ 
 
 1556 
 
 ends are fortified by stronger bars fc, fc, with projecting bolts to fasten the frames 
 between the ribs. The distance of the sides of the frame i, i', ought to be such, that 
 if a frame be laid upon the drum, in the interval of two ribs, the side i will rest upon 
 the inclined plane of one of the ribs, and the side i' upon the inclined plane of the 
 other (see fig. 1552) ; while at the same time the bars fc, of the two ends of the frame, 
 
 rest upon the flat parts of the ribs themselves. This 
 point being secured, it is obvious, that if the ends of 
 
 1 the bars k be stopped, the frame will be made fast. 
 
 ' But they need not be fixed in a permanent man- 
 ner, because they must be frequently removed 
 and replaced. They are fastened by the clamp 
 ■ s- — — — I (fig*- 1555, 1556), which is shut at the one end, and 
 
 , n , „ - to furnished at the other with a spring, which can be 
 
 opened or shut at pleasure. 2 and 4, in fig. 1553 
 
 (near the right end of the shaft p), shows the place of 
 
 the clamp, figs. 1556, 1556. The bar of the right hand is first set in the clamp, by holding 
 up its other end ; the frame is then let down into the left-hand clamp. 
 
 The cloth is wound upon the lower beam Q, fig. 1552 ; thence it passes in contact 
 with a wooden cylinder T, turning upon an axis, and proceeds to the upper beam p, on 
 to-which it is wound : by a contrary movement, the cloth returns from the beam p to ft, 
 over the cylinder t ; and may thus go from the one to the other as many times as shall 
 be requisite. In these successive circuits it is presented to the action of the teasels, 
 under certain conditions. In order to be properly teasled, it must have an equal 
 tension throughout its whole breadth during its traverse ; it. must be brought into 
 more or less close contact with the drum, according to the nature of the cloth, and 
 the stage of the operations ; sometimes being a tangent to the surface, and sometimes 
 embracing a greater or smaller portion of its contour, it must travel with a determinate 
 speed, dependant upon the velocity of the drum, and calculated so as to produce the best 
 result : the machine itself must make the stuff pass alternately from one winding beam to 
 the other. s 
 
 In fig. 1553, before the front end of the machine, there is a vertical shaft l, as high 
 as the framework, which revolves with great facility, in the bottom step I, the middle 
 collet V, and top collet I", in the prolongation of the stretcher d. Upon this upright 
 shaft are mounted — 1. a bevel wheel l' ; 2. an upper bevel pinion M, with its boss m' j 
 3. a lower bevel pinion N, with its boss n'. The bevel wheel l' is keyed upon the shaft 
 1, and communicates to it the movement of rotation which it receives from the pi.O_a 
 /, with which it is in gear ; but the pinion /, which is mounted upon the shaft f of the 
 drum, participates in the rotation which this shaft receives from the prime mover, by 
 means of the fast rigger-pulrey /'. The upper pinion m is independent upon the shaft 
 L; that is to say, it may be slidden along it, up and down, without being driven by it j 
 but it maj he turned in an indirect manner by means of six curved teeth, projecting from 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 979 
 
 its bottom, and which may be rendered active or not, at pleasure; these curved teeth, 
 and their intervals, correspond to similar teeth and intervals upon the top of the boss 
 m', which is dependent, by feathered indentations, upon the rotation of l, though it can 
 slide freely up and down upon it. When it is raised, therefore, it comes into gear with 
 K. The pinion N, and its boss, have a similar mode of being thrown into and out of geai 
 with each other. The bosses m' and n', ought always to be moved simultaneously, in 
 order to throw one of them into gear, and the other out of gear. The shaft l serves te 
 put the cloth in motion, by means of the bevel wheels p" and q", upon the ends of the 
 beams p, q, which take into the pinions m and n. 
 
 The mechanism destined to stretch .the cloth is placed at the other end of the 
 machine, where the shafts of the beams p, Q, are 'prolonged beyond the frame, and bear 
 at their extremities p' and q', armed each with a brake. The beam p (fig. 1552), turns 
 in an opposite direction to the drum ; consequently i-he cloth is wound upon p, and 
 unwound from q. If, at the same time as this is going on, the handle n', of the brake- 
 shaft, be turned so as to clasp the brake of the pulley q', and release that of the pulley p', 
 it is obvious that a" greater or smaller resistance will be occasioned in the beam Q, and 
 the cloth which pulls it in unwinding, will be able to make it turn only when it has 
 acquired the requisite tension; hence it will be necessary, in order to increase or 
 diminish the tension, to turn the handle e' a little more or a little less in the direction 
 which clasps the brake of the pulley q' ; and as the brake acts in a very equable manner, 
 a very equable tension will take place all the time that the cloth takes to pass. Besides, 
 should the diminution of the diameter of the beam Q, render the tension less efficacious 
 in any considerable degree, the brake would need to be undamped a very little, to re- 
 . store the primitive tension. 
 
 When the cloth is to be returned from the beam p, to the beam q, z must be 
 lowered, to put the shaft l out of gear above, and in gear below ; then the cloth-beam 
 q, being driven by that vertical shaft, it will turn in the same direction as the drum, and 
 will wind the cloth round its surface. In order that it may do so, with a suitable tension, 
 the pulley q' must be left free, by clasping the brake of the pulley p', so as to oppose an 
 adequate resistance. 
 
 The cloth is brought into more or less close contact with the drum as follows :— There 
 is for this purpose a wooden roller t, against which it presses in passing from the one 
 winding beam to the other, and which may have its position changed relatively to the 
 drum. It is obvious, for example, that in departing from the position represented in 
 fig. 1552, where the cloth is nearly a tangent to. the drum, if the roller V be raised, 
 the cloth will cease to touch it ; and if it be lowered, the cloth will, on the contrary, 
 embrace the drum over a greater or less portion of its periphery. For it to produce 
 these effects, the roller is borne at each end, by iron gudgeons, upon the heads of an 
 arched rack t" (fig, 1552), where it is held merely by pins. These racks have the same 
 curvature as the circle of the frame, against which they aire adjusted by two bolts ; and 
 by means, of slits, which these bolts traverse, they may be slidden upwards or down- 
 wards, and consequently raise or depress the roller t. But to graduate the movements, 
 and to render them equal in the two racks, there is a shaft u, supported by the uprights 
 of the frame, and which carries, at each end, pinions u', u", which work into the two 
 racks t', t" ; this shaft is extended in front of the frame, upon the side of the head of the 
 machine (fig. 1553), and there it carries a ratchet wheel «,and a handle u'. The work- 
 man, therefore, requires merely to lay hold of the handle, and turn it in the direction of 
 the ratchet wheel, to raise the racks, and the roller T, which they carry ; or to lift the 
 click or catch, and turn the handle in the opposite direction, when he wishes to lower the 
 roller, so as to apply the cloth to a larger portion of the drum. 
 
 CLOTH CHOPPING. 
 
 Of machines for cropping or shearing woollen cloths, those of Lewis and Davis have 
 been very generally used. ..»,.. 
 
 Fig. 1557 is an end view, and fig. 1558 is a side view, of Lewis's machine for shearing 
 cloth from list to list. Fig 1559 is an end view of the carriage, with the rotatory cutter de- 
 tached from the frame of the machine, and upon a larger scale ; a, is a cylinder of metal, 
 on which 1 is fixed a triangular steel wire; this wire is previously bent round the cylinder 
 in the form of a screw, as represented at a, a, in fig. 1557, and, being hardened, is intended 
 to constitute one edge of the shear or cutter. _ 
 
 The axis of the cylindrical cutter a, turns in the frame 6, which, having proper ad- 
 iustments, is mounted upon pivots c, in the standard of the travelling carriage d, d; and 
 e is the fixed or ledger blade, attached to a, bar /, which constitutes the other edge of 
 the cutter; that is, the stationary blade, against which the edges of the rotatory cutter act ; 
 f and g, are ffat springs, intended to keep the^cloth (shown by dots) up against the 
 eutting edges. The form of these flat springs /, g, is shown at figs. 1560 and 1561. 
 
980 
 
 WOOL LEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 as consisting of plates of thin metal cut into narrow slips (fig. 1560), or perforata 
 with long holes, (Jig, 1561.) Their object is to support the cloth, which is intended tt 
 pass between them, and operate as a spring bed, bearing the surface of the cloth against 
 
 the cutters, so that its 
 pile or nap may be 
 cropped off or shorn as 
 the carriage d is drawn 
 along the top rails of 
 the standard or frame 
 of the machine h, h, by 
 means of cords. 
 
 The piece of clot* 
 to be shorn, is woual 
 upon the beam k, and 
 its end is then con- 
 ducted through the 
 machine, between the 
 flat springs / and g (}s 
 shown in fig. 1559), tc 
 the other beam I, and is 
 
 then made fast; the 
 
 Aides or lists of the cloth being held and stretched by "small hooks, called habiting 
 hooks. The cloth being thus placed in the machine, and drawn tight, is held dis- 
 
 1561 
 
 tended by means of ratchets on the ends of the beams fc and I, and palls. In commenc- 
 ing the operation of shearing, the carriage d, must be brought back, as in fig. 1559, so 
 
 that the cutters shall be close to 
 the list ; the frame of the cutters 
 is raised up on its piyots as it 
 recedes, in order to keep the 
 cloth from injury, but is low- 
 ered again previously to being 
 put in action. A band or winch 
 is applied to the rigger or pul- 
 ley 77i, which, by means of an 
 endless cord passed round the ' 
 pulley 7i, at the reverse end of 
 the axle of m, and round the 
 other pnlleys o and p, and the 
 small pulley q, on the axle of 
 the cylindrical cutter, gives the 
 cylindrical cutter a very rapid 
 rotatory motion; at the same 
 time a worm, or endless screw, 
 on the axle of m and n, taking 
 into the teeth of the large wheel r, causes that wheel to revolve, and a small drum », 
 upon its axle, to coil up the -cord, by which the carriage d, with the cutters a and e, and 
 the spring bed / and g, are slowly, but progressively, made to advance, and to carry the 
 cutters over the face of the cloth, from list to list ; the rapid rotation of the cutting cylin- 
 der a, producing the operation of cropping or shearing the pile. 
 
 Upon the cutting cylinder, between the spiral blades, it is proposed to place stripes cf 
 plush, to answer the purpose of brushes, to raise the nap or pile as the cylinder goal 
 wound, and thereby assist in bringing the points of the wool up to the cutters. 
 -The same contrivance is adapted to a machine for shearing the cloth lengthwise. 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 981 
 
 Fig. 1569, is a geometrical elevation of one side of Mr. Davis's machine. Fig. 1563, 
 a plan or horizontal representation of the same, as seen in the top; and fig. 1564, a sec- 
 tion taken vertically across the machine near the middle, for the purpose of display- 
 ing the working parts more perfectly than in the two preceding figures. These 
 three figures represent a complete machine in working condition, the cutters being 
 worked by a rotatory motion, and the cloth so placed in the carriage as to be cut from 
 list to list, o, a, a, is a frame or standard, of wood or iron, firmly bolted togetner by 
 cross braces at the ends and in the middle. > In the upper side-rails of the standard. 
 
 there is a series of axles carrying anti-friction wheels b, b, b, upon which the side-rails 
 c, c, of the carriage or frame that bears the cloth runs, when it is passing under 
 the cutters in the operation of shearing. -The side-rails c, c, are straight bars of iron, 
 formed with edges v, on their under sides, which run smoothly in the grooves of the 
 rollers b, b, b. These side-rails are firmly held together by the' end stretchers d, d. 
 
 a 
 
 The sliding frame has attached to it the two lower rollers e, e, upon which the cloth 
 intended to be shorn is wound ; the two upper lateral rollers/,/, over which the cloth is 
 conducted and held up j and the two end rollers g, g, by which the habiting rails h, A, are 
 irawn tight. 
 
 In preparing to shear a piece of cloth, the whole length of the piece is, in the first 
 place, tightly rolled upon one of the lower rollers e, which must be something longer 
 than the breadth of the cloth from list to list. The end of the piece is then raised, 
 and passed over the top of the lateral rollers /, /, whence it is carried down to the 
 other roller e, and its end or farral is made fast to that roller. The hooks of the ha- 
 biting rails ft, ft, are then put into the lists, and the two lower rollers e, e, with the two 
 end rollers g, g, are then turned, for the purpose of drawing up the cloth, and straining 
 it tight, which tension is preserved by ratchet wheels attached to the ends of the re- 
 spective rollers, with palls dropping into their teeth. The frame carrying the cloth is 
 now slidden along upon the top standard rails by hand, so that the list shall be brought 
 
982 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE 
 
 nearly, up to the cutter i, i, ready to commence the shearing operation ; the bed is then 
 
 raised, which brings the cloth up against the edges of the shears. 
 
 The construction of the bed will be seen by reference to the cross section,^. 1564 
 
 „ It consists of ai- 
 
 '' iron or othei 
 
 metal roller fe, fe, 
 turned to a truly 
 cylindricalfigure, 
 and covered with 
 cloth or leather, 
 to afford a small 
 degree of elas. 
 ticity. This roller 
 is mounted upon 
 pivots in a frame 
 I, I, and is suppor- 
 ted by a smaller 
 rollerm, similarly 
 mounted, which 
 roller m, is in- 
 tended merely to 
 prevent any 
 
 bending or de- 
 pression of the 
 central part of 
 the upper roller or bed fe, fe, so that the cloth may be kept in close contact with the whole 
 length of the cutting blades. 
 
 In order to allow the bed fe to rise and fall, for the purpose of bringing .the cloth up to 
 the cutters to be shorn, or lowering it away from them after the operation, the frame 1, 1, 
 is made to slide np and down in the grooved standard n, n, the moveable part enclosed 
 within the standard being shown by dots. This standard n, is situated about the middle 
 of the machine, crossing it immediately under the cutters, and is made fast to the frame a, 
 by bolts and screws. There is a lever o, attached to the lower cross-rail of the standard, 
 which turns n pon a fulcrum-pin, the extremity of the shorter arm of which lever acts under 
 the centre of the sliding-frame, so that by the lever o, the sliding-frame, with the bed, may 
 be raised or lowered, and when so raised, be held up by a spring catch j. 
 
 It being now explained by what means the bed which supports the cloth is constructed, 
 and brought up, so as to keep the cloth in close contact with the cutters, while the oper- 
 ation of shearing is going on ; it is necessary in the next place to describe the construction 
 of the cutters, and their mode of working ; for which purpose, in addition to what is shown 
 in the first three figures, the cutters are also represented detached, and upon a larger scale, 
 in fig. 1565. 
 
 In this figure is exhibited a portion of the cutters in the same situation as in fig. 
 r 1565 it / «k 1559 ; and alongside of it is a section of 
 
 f jljBo-i v/'3 tne same, taken through it at right 
 >^&«sll j / angles to the former ; p, is a metallic 
 bar or rib, somewhat of a wedge form, 
 which is fastened to the top part of the 
 standard a, a, seen best in fig. 1558. 
 To this bar a straight blade of steel g, is attached by screws, the edge of which stands 
 forward even with the centre or axis of the cylindrical cutter i, and forms the le'dger blade, 
 or lower fixed edge of the shears. This blade remains stationary, and is in close contact 
 with the pile or nap of the cloth, when the bed fe is raised, in the manner above described. 
 The cutter or upper blade of the shears is formed by inserting two or more strips of 
 plate steel r, r, in twisted directions, into grooves in the metallic cylinder i, i, the edges 
 of which blades r, as the cylinder i revolves, traverse along the edge of the fixed or ledger 
 blade g, and by their obliquity produce a cutting action like shears ; the edsjes of the two 
 blades taking hold of the pile or raised nap, as the cloth passes under it, shaves off the 
 superfluous ends of the wool, and leaves the face smooth. 
 
 Rotatory motion is given to the cutting cylinder i, by means of a band leading from the 
 wheel s, which passes round the pulley fixed on the end of the cylinder i, the wheel s being 
 driven by a band leading from the rotatory part of a steam-engine, or any other first mover, 
 and passed round the rigger /, fixed on the axle a. Tension is given to this band by a 
 tightening pulley u, mounted on an adjustable sliding-pieceu, which is secured to the stand- 
 ard by a screw; and this rigger is thrown in and out of gear by a clutch-box and lever, which 
 sets the machine going, or stops it. 
 
 In order to give a drawing stroke to the cutter, which will cause the piece of cloth 
 to be shorn off with better effect, the upper cutter has a slight lateral action, produced 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 983 
 
 by the axle of the cutting cylinder- being made sufficiently long to allow of its sliding 
 laterally about an inch in its bearings ; which sliding is effected by a cam w, fixed at 
 one end. This cam is formed by an oblique groove, cut round the axle (see w,fig. 1565), 
 and a tooth x, fixed to the frame or standard which works in it, as the cylinder revolves. 
 By means of this tooth, the cylinder is made to slide laterally, a distance e^ua] to the 
 obliquity of the groove w, which produces the drawing stroke of the upper shear. In 
 order that the rotation of the shearing cylinder may not be obstructed by friction, the 
 tooth* x, is made of two pieces, set a little apart, so as to afford a small degree of elasticity. 
 
 The manner of passing the cloth progressively under the cutters is as follows : — On 
 the axle of the wheel s, and immediately behind that wheel, there is a small rigger, from 
 which a band passes to a wheel y, mounted in an axle turning in bearings on the lower 
 tide-rail of the standard a. At the reverse extremity of this axle, there is another small 
 rigger 1, from which a band passes to a wheel 2, fixed on the axle 3, which crosses near 
 the middle of the machine, seen in/ig. 1564. Upon this axle- there is a sliding pulley 4, 
 round which a cord is passed several times, whose extremities are made fast to the ends 
 of the sliding carriage d; when, therefore, this pulley is locked to the axle, which is done 
 by'a clutch box, the previously described movements pf the machine cause the pulley 4 
 to revolve, and by means of the rope passed round it, io draw the frame, with the cloth, 
 slowly and progressively along under the cutters. 
 
 It remains only to point out the contrivance whereby the machinery throws itself out 
 of gear, and stops its operations, when the edge of the cloth or list arrives at the cutters. 
 
 At the end of one of the habiting rails h, there is a stop affixed by a nut and screw 5, 
 which, by the advance of the carriage, is brought up and made to press against a'lever 
 6 ; when an arm from this lever 6, acting under the catch 7, raises the catch up, and 
 allows the hand-lever 8, which is pressed upon by a strong spring, to throw the clutch- 
 box 10, out of gear with the wheel 8 ; whereby the evolution of the machine instantly 
 ceases. The lower part of the lever 6, being connected by a joint to the top of the lever 
 /, the receding of the lever 6, draws back the lower catchy, and allows the sliding frame 
 I, I, within the bed 7c, to descend. By now turning the lower rollers e, e, another portion 
 of the cloth is brought up to be shorn ; and when-it is properly habited and strained, by 
 the means above described, the carriage is slidden back, and, the parts being all throve 
 into gear, the operation goes on as before. 
 
 Mr. Hirst's improvements in manufacturing woollen cloths, for which a patent was ob- 
 tained in February, 1830, apply to that part of the process where a permanent lustre is 
 given usually by what is called roll-boiling; that is, stewing the cloth, when tightly 
 wound upon a roller, in a vessel of hot water or steam. As there are many disadvanta- 
 ges attendant upon the operation of roll-boiling, such as injuring the cloths, by over- 
 heating them, which weakens the fibre of the wool, and also changes some colors, ho 
 substituted, in place of it, a particular mode of acting upon the cloths, by occasional or 
 intermitted immersion in hot water, and also in cold water, which operations may be per- 
 formed either with or without pressure upon the cloth, as circumstances may require. 
 
 The apparatus which he proposes to employ for carrying on his improved process, ia 
 shown in the accompanying drawing. Fig. 1566, is a front view of the apparatus, com- 
 
 1566 
 
 if 
 
 plett, and in working order; fig. 1567, is a section, taken transversely through the mid- 
 dle of the machine, in the direction of fig. 1568 ; and fig. 1568, is an end view of the 
 same ; a, a, a, is a vessel or tank, made of iron or wood, or any other suitable material : 
 sloping at the back and front, and perpendicular at the eniils. This tank rnus be suffi- 
 
984 
 
 WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 eiently large to admit of half the diameter of the cylinder or drum 6, b, b, being immersed 
 mto it, which drum is about four feet diameter, and about six feet long, or something 
 more than the width of the piece of cloth intended to be operated upom Tta^Uote 
 
 ed by combining segments 
 of wood cut radially on 
 their edges, secured by 
 screw-bolts to the rims of 
 the iron wheels, having 
 arms, with an axle pass- 
 ing through the middle. 
 
 The cylinder or drum 
 being thus formed, ren- 
 dered smooth on its pe- 
 riphery, and mounted up- 
 on its axle in the tank, 
 the piece of cloth is 
 wound upon it as tightly 
 as possible, which is done 
 by placing it in a heap 
 upon a stool, as at c, Jig. 
 1567, passing its end over 
 and between the tension- 
 rollers d, e, and then securing it to the drum, the cloth is progressively drawn from the 
 heap, between the tension-rollers, which are confined by a pall and ratchet, on to the 
 periphery of the drum, by causing the drum to revolve upon its axis, until the whole 
 piece of cloth is tightly wound upon the drum; it is then bound round with canvass or 
 other wrappers, to keep it secure. ^ 
 
 If the tank has not been previously charged with clean and pure water, it is now filled 
 to the brim, as shown at Jig. 1567, and opening the stop-cock of the pipe /, which leads 
 
 from a boiler, the steam is allowed to blow 
 through the pipe, and discharge itself at 
 the lower end, by which means the tern 
 perature of the water is raised in the tank 
 to about 170° Fahr. Before the tempera- 
 ture of the water has got up, the drum is 
 set in slow rotatory motion, in order that 
 the cloth may be uniformly heated through- 
 out ; the drum making about one rotation 
 per minute. The cloth, by immersion in 
 the hot water, and passing through the 
 cold air, in succession, for the space of 
 about eight hours, gets a smooth soft face, 
 the texture not being rendered harsh, or 
 otherwise injured, as is frequently the case 
 by roll-boiling. 
 
 Uniform rotatory motion to the drum is 
 shown in Jig. 1566, in which g is an end- 
 less screw or worm, placed horizontally, 
 and driven by a steam-engine Or any other 
 first mover employed in the factory. This endless screw takes into the teeth of, and 
 drives, the vertical wheel h, upon the axle of which the coupling-box i, t, is fixed, and, 
 consequently, continually revolves with it. At the end of the shaft of the drum, a pair 
 of sliding clutches fc, fc, are. mounted, which, when projected forward, as shown bf dots 
 in fig. 1566, produce the coupling or locking of the drum-shaft to the driving wheel, by 
 which the drum is put in motion ; but on withdrawing the clutches 7c, fe, from the coup- 
 i ling-box i, i, as in the figure, the drum immediately stands still. 
 
 After operating upon the cloth in the way described, by passing it through hot water 
 for the space of time required, the hot water is to be withdrawn by a cock at the bottom, 
 sr otherwise, and cold water introduced into the tank in its stead j in which cold water 
 the cloth is to be continued turning, in the manner above described, for the space of 
 twenty-four hours, which will perfectly fix the lustre that the face of the cloth has ac- 
 quired by its immersion in the hot water, and leave the pile or nap, to the touch, in a soft 
 silky state. 
 
 In the cold-water operation he sometimes employs a heavy pressing roller I, which, 
 being mounted in slots in the frame or standard, revolves with the large drum, rolling 
 over the back of the cloth as it goes round. This roller may be made to act upon the 
 
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 985 
 
 cloth with any required pressure, by depressing the screws m, m, or by the employ- 
 ment of weighted levers, if that should be thought necessary. 
 
 Pressing is the last finish of cloth to give it a smooth level surface. The piece is 
 folded backwards and forwards in yard lengths, so as to form a thick package on the 
 board of a screw or hydraulic press. Between every fold sheeta of glazed paper are 
 placed to prevent the contiguous surfaces of the cloth from coming in contact ; and at 
 the end of every twenty yards, three hot iron plates are inserted between the folds, the 
 plates being laid side by side, so as to occupy the whole surface of the folds. Thin 
 sheets of iron not heated are also inserted above and below the hot plates to moderate 
 the heat. When the packs of cloth are properly folded, and piled in sufficient number 
 in the press, they are subjected to a severe compression, and left under its influence till 
 the plates get cold. The cloth is now taken out and folded again, so that the creases 
 of the former folds may come opposite to the flat faces of the paper, and be removed 
 by a second pressure. In finishing superfine cloths, however, a very slight pressure is 
 given with iron plates but moderately warmed. The satiny lustre and smoothness 
 given by strong compression with much heat is objectionable, as it renders the surface 
 apt to become spotted and disfigured by rain. 
 
 Rosa's patent improvements in wool-combing machinery, March 13, 1851. — The first 
 improvements described have relation to the machine for forming the wool into sheets 
 of a nearly uniform thickness, technically known as the "sheeter," and consist chiefly 
 in combining with the ordinary Bheeting drum or cylinder rollers, designated, from their 
 resemblance to porcupine quills, porcupine rollers; these rollers having their teeth or 
 quills set in rows, and the rows of one roller gearing or taking into the spaces between 
 the rows of the other. 
 
 Fiq. 1569 is an elevation of a sheeting machine thus constructed: — ff is the gen- 
 
 eral frame work upon which the several working parts of the machine are mounted. 
 A is the main or sheeting drum or cylinder, which is studded with rows of comb or 
 " porcupine " teeth a, a, a, the length and fineness of which are varied according to 
 the length of the staple of the wool or other material to be operated upon. Instead of 
 the rows consisting each of a single set of teeth, two, three, or more sets may be com- 
 bined together. The number of wires which may be placed on one line should vary 
 with the quality of the wool or other material. In long staple machines, the number 
 may vary from four to ten or more, and in short staple machines from five to twenty 
 and more per inch, b, b, are two fluted feed-rollers, q, o, two porcupine combing rol- 
 lers, by which thewoolis partly combed while passing from the feed rollers to the 
 surface of the sheeting drum ; an end elevation of the porcupine combing rollers on an 
 enlarged scale is given at Jig. 15Y0. The teeth e, c, are set in rows, and the rows of 
 one roller take or gear into the spaces between the rows of the other, n is a grooved 
 guide roller for preventing the wool or other material escaping the combing action. 
 The wool or other material is laid by the attendant evenly upon the upper surface 
 of an endless webb a, which works over the under feed rollers, and a plain roller B, 
 which is mounted in bearings on the front of the machine. The feed rollers gradually 
 supply the wool thus spread upon the endless web to the two porcupine combing rol- 
 lers, where it is partly combed and separated, and being so prepared, it is laid hold 
 of by the teeth of the sheeting drum, by which it is still further drawn out on account 
 •f the greater velocity with which the surface of the sheeting drum travels. When a 
 Vol. II. 64 
 
986 
 
 "WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 sufficient quantity of the wool or other material has been thus collected on the sur- 
 face of the drum, it is removed by the attendant passing a hooked rod across the sur- 
 face of the drum, and raising up one end of the sheet, when the whole may be easily 
 itripped off and removed, being then in a fit state for being supplied to the comb-filling 
 machine, next to be described. _ 
 
 A modification of this sheeting machine is represented in figs. 1511, 1512, which differ? 
 
 from it in this, that it is fed from both ends. In this modification a double set of feed- 
 ing rollers is employed, so that the machine maybe fed from both ends. These rollers 
 are grooved and gear into porcupine combing rollers similar to those before described, 
 which are followed by brush cylinders or grooved guide rollers. A is the sheeting drum 
 as before; b, b, the fluted feed-rollers, c, o, the porcupine combing rollers, which gear into 
 the fluted ones; d, d, are the grooved guide rollers; r, f, are brush cylinders, which 
 may in case of long work be dispensed with ; g, g, are the endless webs upon which 
 the wool is laid. The framing and gearing by which the several parts are put in mo- 
 tion are omitted in the drawings, for the purpose of clearly exhibiting tbe more impor- 
 tant working parts of the machine. The arrangement of sheeting machines just de- 
 scribed, in so far as regards the employment of a fluted feed roller in conjunction with 
 a porcupine combing roller, and grooved guide roller, is more especially applicable to 
 sheeting fine short wool, but may also be applied with advantage to wool or other ma- 
 terial of a longer staple. In the case of fine short wool, the sheet may be drawn off 
 by means of rollers, in the manner represented in Jig. 1672 : B, h. are the drawing or 
 straightening rollers, and I the receiving rollers. During the operation of drawing the 
 wool and winding it on the receiving roller, the sheeting cylinder must have a motion 
 imparted to it in the reverse direction. 
 
 The next head of Mr. Boss's specification embraces several improvements in comb- 
 filling machines, which have for their common object the partial combing of the wool 
 while it is in the course of being filled into the combs. We select for exemplification 
 what the patentee regards as the best of these arrangements :fig. 15*78 is a side elevation 
 of a comb-filling machine as thus improved, a, a, is a skeleton drum, which is composed 
 
WORSTED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 987 
 
 ■f two rings a a, affixed to the arms b b, which last are mounted upon the main shaft 
 f the machine, which has its bearings upon the general frame it, f; b 1 , b2 are the por- 
 upine combing rollers, and c 1 , c2 brushes by which the porcupine combing rollers 
 ileansed from the wool that collects upon them, and by which the wool is again de 
 livered to the combs e, e; I), D, are the feed-rollers, and E an endless web which runs 
 over the lower feed-roller and the plain roller o, which is situated at the front of the 
 machine; f, h, are the driving pulleys, by which the power is applied to the machine, 
 and I, I, I, the wheel gearing by which motion is communicated to the different parts. 
 The wool which has undergone the process of sheeting in the machine first described is 
 spread upon the endless web e, and in passing between the feed-rollers, and between pl- 
 under or over the porcupine combing rollers, is taken hold of by the combs e, e, as they 
 revolve, and, being drawn under the first porcupine roller B 1 and the brush cl, the 
 continued revolution of the drum and combs causes the wool to be brought into contact 
 with the other porcupine combing roller b2 and brush c2. As the combs get filled, 
 the wool is thus continuously being brought under the action of the porcupine combing 
 rollers and brushes ; and each new portion of the wool taken up is instantly combed 
 out. For some purposes the combing will be found carried so far by this operation that 
 the wool will require no further preparation previous to being formed into slivers in the 
 machine just described, and which is calculated for filling the combs and combing the wool 
 or •other fibrous material, when the staple is 6ome considerable length (say from 4 to 
 16 inches), there are two porcupine comb rollers with their brushes employed; but I 
 do not confine myself to that number, as in some cases a single porcupine combing roller 
 and brush will be found sufficient for the purpose of facilitating the process of combing 
 and filling the combs; three or more rollers and brush cylinders may be used with ad- 
 vantage; such as where the staple is short, or where the fibrous material operated upon 
 is very close, and separated with difficulty. 
 
 Mr. Ross next describes some improvements in the combing machine of his invention 
 patented in 1841, and now extensively used. The following general description will 
 indicate with sufficient distinctness to those familiar with the machine, the nature of 
 the improvements. 
 
 "First. I give to the saddle combs in the said machine a compound to-and-fro and 
 up-and-down movement, whereby they recede from and advance towards the comb 
 gates, and simultaneously therewith alternately rise and fall, so that each time the 
 comb gates pass the saddle combs, they do so in a different plane, and thus the position 
 of the combs in relation to each other, as well as to the hold they take of the wool or 
 other material^ is constantly being changed. Secondly, I employ a fan to lash the 
 wool in the comb gate or flying comb up against the saddle comb, which renders it im- 
 possible for the wool to pass by the saddle comb without being acted upon by it. 
 Thirdly, I attach the springs by which the gates are actuated to the lower arms of the 
 combing gates, instead of their being placed parallel to the upright shaft of the machin« 
 as formerly, whereby a considerable gain in Space and compactness is effected ; and, 
 fourthly, I us& brakes to prevent the sudden jerk which is caused when the wool in the 
 comb gate leaves its hold of the saddle comb or incline plane, and also to counteract 
 the sudden recoil of the springs by which the! comb gates are pressed in when these 
 springs are released from the grip or pressure of the incline plane." 
 
 Mr. Eoss concludes with a description of an improved method of heating the combs 
 which has for its object "the economizing of fuel, the better heating of the combs, and 
 
988 YEAST. 
 
 the prevention of mistake in removing the combs before they have been a sufficient 
 time exposed to the heat." 
 
 The body of the heating box or stove is divided by a partition into two portions, 
 which communicate together at the back or further end of the stove, so that the flams 
 and heated vapors, after having circulated under and along the sides of the two lower 
 comb chambers, ascend into the upper portion of the stove, where they have to traverse 
 along the sides and over the top of the two upper chambers, ultimately escaping into 
 the chimney through a pipe. The length of the heating box, or the chambers, Bhould 
 be about double the length of the combs. The cold combs are inserted at one end, and 
 on being put into their places push the more heated combs towards the other end of 
 the chambers, from which they are removed. 
 
 WOOTZ, is the Indian name of steel. 
 
 WORSTED and WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 312,500 people- employed ; pro- 
 ducing an annual value of £25,000,000. Dewsbflry is famous for tearing up old worn 
 cloth and working the woollen Btuff into new goods of a cheap description. 
 
 Alpaca is an animal of the Llama tribe, inhabiting the mountain region of Peru. 
 The wool or hair is of various shades of black, white, gray, brown, <fce., and is remark- 
 able for brightness of luBtre, great length of staple, and extreme softness. This wool 
 was brought into general use in this* country aboutJ6 years ago, by the Earl of Derby. 
 Since that time the various obstacles in the way of its successful working have been 
 overcome, and the alpaca manufacture now ranks as one of the most important branches 
 of the Bradford worsted stuff trade. The articles produced from alpaca in combination 
 with Bilk are especially noticeable for their softness and brilliancy. The bulk of the 
 goods, however, is made with cotton warp, and when dyed and finished approach in 
 lustre to silk. The following is the average yearly importation of alpaca wool into 
 England since its first introduction, viz. : 
 
 Annual. 
 From 1836 to 1840 .... ?,000 bales 
 
 1841 1845 - - - 13,000 
 
 1846 1850 --. - 20,000 
 
 being supposed to be the ultimate limit of the Peruvian production. 
 
 Mohair or goafs wool is produced exclusively in Asia-Minor. In its raw state it is 
 superior in lustre to alpaca, and it is wrought into many beautiful fabrics. The impor- 
 tation of this article has increased from 5,621 bales in 1841 to 12,884 in 1850. 
 
 WORT, is the fermentable infusion of malt or grains. See Beer, and Malt. 
 
 WOULFES APPARATUS, is a series of vessels, connected by tubes, for the 
 
 Surpose of condensing gaseous products in water. See Acetic Acid, Jig. 1 ; also 
 [tmiATio Acid. 
 
 X. 
 
 XANTHINE, is the name given by Kuhlmann to the yellow dying matter contained 
 in madder. 
 
 T. 
 
 YEAST, is the froth of fermenting worts. See Beer and Fermentation. 
 
 Dr. Ludersdorff supports the theory that yeast is an organic body, and acts by means 
 of its organs on sugar, in contradistinction to the theories of its action by mere contact, 
 or by its own state of decomposition inducing a similar state in the saccharine solution 
 by the following experiment:— 
 
 A portion of yeast was rubbed between ground glass plates until the globules, of 
 which it is composed, Could no longer be distinguished by the microscope, and its organic 
 structure therefore was destroyed. An equal portion was exposed, moistened in a thin 
 layer to the air, whilst the other was being thus treated. Both portions were now 
 mixed separately with equal quantities of grape sugar, dissolved in 10 parts of water, 
 and exposed to a temperature of 95° F. The portion containing the uninjured yeast 
 began to ferment in half an hour, and continued to do so until the whole of the sugar 
 was decomposed. The mutilated yeast did not produce a single gas bubble in the fluid 
 containing it during the whole of this time. 
 
 YEAST, ARTIFICIAL. Mix two parts, by weight, of the fine flour of pale 
 barley malt with one part of wheat flour. Stir 50 pounds of this mixture gra- 
 
ZIMOME. 989 
 
 dually into 100 quarts of cold water, with a, wooden spatula, till it forms a smooth 
 pap. Put this pap into a copper over a slow fire ; stir it well till the temperature rise 
 to fully 565° to 160°, when a partial formation of sugar will take place, but this sweet- 
 ening must not be pushed too far; turned out the thinned paste into a flat cooler, and 
 stir it from time to time. As soon as the wort has fallen to 59° Fahr., transfer it to 
 a tub, and add for every 50 quarts of it, 1 quart of good fresh beer-yeast, which will 
 throw the wort into brisk fermentation in the course of 12 hours. This preparation 
 will be good yeast, fit for bakers' and brewers' usee, and will continue fresh and active 
 for three days. It should be occasionally stirred. 
 
 When beer-barm has become old and flat, but not sour, it may be revived by mixing 
 with every quart of it a small potato, boiled, peeled, and rubbed down into a paste. 
 The mixture is to be plaeed in a warm situation, where it will speedily show its 
 renewed activity, by throwing up a froth upon its surface. It must be forthwith 
 incorporated with the dough, for the purpose of baking bread. When the barm has 
 become sour, its acid should be neutralised with a little powdered carbonate of soda, 
 and then treated as above, when it will, in like manner, be revived. A bottle of brisk 
 small beer may furnish ferment enough to form, in this way, a supply of good yeast 
 for a small baking. 
 
 The German yeast imported into this country in large quantities, and employed by 
 our bakers, in baking cakes, and other fancy bread, is made by putting the unterhefe 
 (see Beer, Bavarian) into thick sacks of linen or hempen yarn, letting the liquid part, 
 or beer, drain away ; placing the drained sacks between boards, and exposing them to 
 a graduallly increasing pressure, till a mass of a thin cheesy consistence is obtained. 
 This cake is broken into small pieces, which are wrapped in separate linen cloths; 
 these parcels are afterward enclosed in waxed cloth, for exportation. The yeast eake 
 may also be rammed hard into a pitched cask, which is to be closed air-tight In 
 this state, if kept cool, it may be preserved active for a considerable time. When this 
 is to be used for beer, the proportion required should be mixed with a quantity of 
 worts tit 60° Fahr., and the mixture left for a little to work, and send up a lively froth; 
 when it is quite ready for adding to the cooled worts in the fermenting back. 
 
 Yeast, Patent. Boil 6 ounces of hops in 3 gallons of water 3 hours: strain it off. 
 and let it stand 10 minutes; then add half a peek of ground malt, stir it well up, and 
 coyer it over; return the hops, and put the same quantity of water to them again, 
 boiling them the same time as before, straining it off to the first mash ; stir it up, and 
 let it remain 1 hours, then strain it off, and set it to work at 90°, with 3 pints of patent 
 yeast; let it stand about 20 hours ; take the scum off the top, and strain it through 
 a hair sieve; it will be then fit for use. One pint is sufficient to make a bushel of 
 bread. 
 
 YELLOW DYE. (Teinture jaune, Fr. ; Gelbfarben, Germ.) Aimotto, dyer's-broom, 
 {Genista tinctoria,) fustic, fustet, Persian or French, berries, quercitron bark, saw-wort, 
 (Serratula tinctoria,) turmeric, weld, and willow leaves, are the principal yellow dyes 
 of the vegetable kingdom ; chromate of lead, iron-oxyde, nitric acid, (for silk,) sulphuret 
 of antimony, and sulphuret of arsenic, are those of the mineral kingdom. Under these 
 articles, as also under Calico-printing, Dyeing, and Mordants, ample instructions 
 will be found for communicating this color to textile and other fibrous substances. 
 Alumina and oxyde of tin are the most approved bases of the above vegetable dyes. A 
 nankin dye may be given with ballah, especially to cotton oiled preparatory to the Turkey 
 red process. See Madder. 
 YELLOW, KING'S, is a poiso.»us yellow pigment. See Arsenic and Orpiment. 
 YTTRIA, is a rare earth, extracted from the minerals gadolinite and yttrotantalite, 
 being an oxyde of the xaetA yttrium. 
 
 ZAFFRE. See Cobalt. 
 
 ZEDOARY, is the root of a plant which grows in Malabar, Ceylon, &c. It occurs 
 n wrinkled pieces, externally ash-colored, internally brownish-red ; possessed of a fra 
 nant odor, somewhat resembling camphor; and of a pungent, aromatic, bitterish taste. 
 It contains, according to Bucholz, 1-42 of volatile oil, of a burning camphorated taste; 
 3-60 of a soft, bitter, aromatic resin; 11-75 of a bitter aromatic extract, mixed with a 
 little resin and potash-salts; 4-5 of gum; 9 of vegetable mucilage; 3-60 of starch; 
 S-0 of a starchy extract from the woody fibre, by means of caustic potassa, along with 
 31-2 of another matter, 12-89 of woody fibre, and 15 of water. According to Morin. 
 this root contains, besides, an azotized substance, analogous to the extract of beef. 
 
 ZIMOME, is a principle supposed by Taddei to exist in the gluten of wheat-flour, 
 tts identity is not recognised by later 2hemists. 
 
990 ZINC. 
 
 ZINC, is a metal of a bluish-white color, of considerable lustre when broken 
 across, but easily tarnished by the air; its fracture is hackly, and foliated with small 
 facets, irregularly set. It has little cohesion, and breaks in thin plates before the ham- 
 mer, unless it has been previously subjected to a regulated process of lamination, at the 
 temperature of from 220° to 300° F., whereby it becomes malluable, and retains its mal- 
 leability and ductility afterwards. On this singular property, a patent was taken out by 
 Messrs. Hobson and Sylvester, of Sheffield, many years ago, for manufacturing sheet zinc,, 
 for covering the roofs of houses, and sheathing ships ; but the low price of copper at that 
 time, and its superior tenacity, rendered their patent ineffective. The specific gravity of 
 zinc varies from 6-9 to 7-2, according to the condensation it has received. It melts 
 under a red heat, at about the 680th or 700th degree of Fahrenheit's scale. When ex- 
 posed to this heat with contact of air, the metal takes fire, and burns with a brilliant 
 bluish-white light, while a few flocculi, of a woolly-Ntoking white matter, rise out of the 
 crucible, and float in the air. The result of the combustion is a white powder, formerly 
 called flowers, but now oxyde of zinc; consisting of 34 of metal, and 8 of oxygen, being 
 their respective prime equivalents ; or, in 100 parts, of 81 and 19. 
 
 The principal ores of zinc are, the sulphuret called blende, the silicate called calamine, 
 and the sparry calamine, or the carbonate. 
 
 1. Blende crystallizes in the garnet-dodecahedron ; its fracture is highly conchoidal; 
 lustre, adamantine ; colors, black, brown, red, yellow, and green ; transparent or trans- 
 lucent; specific gravity, 4. It is a simple sulphuret of the metal; and, therefore, con- 
 sists, in its pure state, of 34 of zinc, and 16 of sulphur. It dissolves in nitric acid, with 
 disengagement of sulphureted hydrogen gas. It occurs in beds and veins, accompanied 
 chiefly by galena, iron pyrites, copper pyrites, and heavy spar. There is a radiated 
 variety found at Przibram, remarkable for containing a large proportion of cadmium. 
 Blende is found in great quantities in Derbyshire and Cumberland, as also in Cornwall, 
 
 2. Calamine, or silicate of zinc, is divided into two species ; the prismatic or electric 
 calamine, and the rhomboidal ; though they both agree in metallurgic treatment. The 
 first has a vitreous lustre, inclining to pearly; color, white, but occasionally blue, 
 green, yellow, or brown ; spec. grav. 3-38. It often occurs massive, and in botroidal 
 shapes. This species is a compound of oxyde of zinc with silica and water; and its 
 constituents are— zinc oxyde, 66-37 ; silica, 26-23 ; water, 7-4 ; in 100 parts. Eeduced 
 to powder, it is soluble in dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, and the solution gelatinizes 
 on cooling. It emits a green phosphorescent light before the blowpipe. The second 
 species, or rhombohedral calamine, is a carbonate of zinc. Its specific gravity is 4-442, 
 much denser than the preceding. It occurs in kidney-shaped, botroidal, stalactitic, and 
 other imitative shapes ; surface generally rough, composition columnar. Massive, with 
 a granular texture, sometimes impalpable ; strongly coherent. According to Smith- 
 son's analysis, Derbyshire calamine consists of — oxyde of zinc, 65-2 ; carbonic acid, 34-8 : 
 which coincides almost exactly with a prime equivalent of the oxyde and acid, or 42 -)- 
 22 = 64. 
 
 The mineral genus called zinc-ore, or red oxyde of zinc, is denser than either of the 
 above, its spec. grav. being 5-432. It is a compound of oxyde of zinc 88, and oxyde of 
 iron and manganese 12. It is found massive, of a granular texture, in large quantities, 
 in several localities, in New Jersey. It is set free in several metallurgic processes, and 
 occurs crystallized in six-sided prisms of a yellow color, in the smelting-works of Koenig- 
 shutte in Silesia, according to Mitscherlich. 
 
 The zinc ores of England, like those of France, Flanders, and Silesia, occur in two 
 geological locaO.ies. 
 
 The first is in veins in the carboniferous or mountain limestone. The blende and the 
 calamine most usually accompany the numerous veins of galena which traverse that 
 limestone ; though there are many lead mines that yield no calamine ; and, on the other 
 hand, there are veins of calamine alone, as at Matlock, whence a very considerable 
 quantity of this ore is obtained. 
 
 In almost every point of England where that metalliferous limestone appears, there 
 are explorations for lead and zinc ores. The neighborhood of Alston-moor in Cumber- 
 land, of Castleton and Matlock in Derbyshire, and the small metalliferous belt of Flint- 
 shire, are peculiarly marked for their mineral riches. On the north side of. the last county, 
 calamine is mined in a rich vein of galena at Holywell, where it presents the singular ap- 
 pearance of occurring only in the ramifications that the lead vein makes frort, east to west, 
 and never in those from north to south ; while the blende, abundantly present in this 
 mine, is found indifferently in all directions. 
 
 The second locality of calamine is in the magnesian limestone formation of the 
 English geologists, the alpine limestone of the French, and the zechstein of the 
 Germans. The calamine is disseminated through it in small contemporaneous veins, 
 which, running in all directions, form the appearance of network. These veins have 
 commonly a thickness of only a few inches ; but in certain cases they extend to four feet. 
 
ZINC. 
 
 991 
 
 in consequence of the union of several small ones into a mass. The explorations of 
 salamine in the magnesian limestone, are situated chiefly on the flanks of the Mendip 
 Hills, a chain which extends in a northwest and southeast direction, from the canal 
 ol Bristol to Erome. The calamine is worked mostly in the parishes of Phipham 
 and Koborough, as also near Rickford and Broadfleld-Doron, by means of a great multi- 
 tude of small shafts. The miners pay, for the privilege .of working, a tax of 11. sterling 
 per annum to the Lords of the Treasury ; and they sell the ores, mixed with a considera- 
 ble quantity of carbonate of lime, for 11. per ton, at Phipham, after washing it slightly in 
 a sieve. They are despatched to Bristol, where they receive a new washing, in order to 
 separate the galena. 
 
 OF THE SMELTING OF THE OBES OF ZINC. 
 
 The greater part of the zinc works are situated in the neighborhood of Birmingham 
 and Bristol. The manufacture of brass, which has been long one of the staple articles 
 of these towns, was probably the cause of the introduction of this branch of industry, 
 at the period when brass began to be made by the direct union of copper with metallic 
 zinc, instead of calamine. A few zinc furnaces exist also in the neighborhood of 
 Sheffield, amid the coal-pits surrounding that town. Bristol and Birmingham derive 
 their chief supply of ores from the Mendip Hills and Flintshire ; and Sheffield, from 
 Alston-moor. . . 
 
 The calamine, freed from the galena by sorting with the hand, is calcined before its in- 
 troduction into the smelting-furnaces, by being exposed, coarsely bruised, in reverberatory 
 ovens, 10 feet long, and 8 broad, in a layer 6 inches thick. In some establishments the 
 calcination is omitted, and the calamine, broken into pieces about the size of a pigeon's 
 egg, is mixed with its bulk of small coal. 
 
 Zinc is smelted in England, likewise from blende, (sulphuret of zinc.) This ore, 
 after being washed, and broken into pieces of the size of a filbert, was sold a few years 
 ago at the mine of Holywell for 3J. a ton, or half the price of calamine. It is roasted, 
 without any other preparation, in reverberatory furnaces ; which are about 8 feet wide, 
 and 10 long ; the distance between the roof and the sole being 30 inches, and the height 
 of the fire-bridge, 18. The layer of blende, which is placed on the hearth, is about 4 or 
 5 inches thick] and it is continually stirred up with rakes. One ton of it requires, for 
 roasting, four tons of coals ; and it suffers a loss of 20 per cent. The operation takes 
 from 10 to 12 hours. The mixture of reducing consists of one fourth part of the desul- 
 phureted oxyde, one fourth of calcined calamine, and one half part of charcoal; which 
 affords commonly 30 per cent, of zinc. 
 
 The English furnaces for smelting zinc ores are sometimes quadrangular, sometimes 
 round ; the latter form being preferable. They are mounted with from 6 to 8 crucibles or 
 pots (seefig. 1574), arched over with a cupola a, placed under a conical chimney 4, which 
 
 serves to give a strong draught, and to 
 carry off the smoke. In this cone there 
 are as many doors c, c, c, as there are pots 
 in the furnace; and an equal number of 
 vents d, d, d, in the cupola, through which 
 the smoke may escape, and the pots may 
 be set. In the surrounding walls there are 
 holes for taking out the pots, when they 
 become unserviceable ; after the pots are 
 set, these holes are bricked up. The pots 
 are heated to ignition in a reverberatory 
 furnace before being set, and are put in by 
 means of iron tong machinery supported 
 upon two wheels, as is the case with glass- 
 house pots, e, is the grate ; /, the door for 
 the fuel ; g, the ash-pit. The pots ft, ft, ft, 
 have a hole in the centre of their bottom, 
 which is closed with a wooden plug, when 
 they are set charged with calamine, mixed 
 with one seventh of coal ; which coal pre- 
 vents the mixture from falling through the 
 orifice, when the heat rises and consumes 
 the plug. The sole of the hearth i, i, upon 
 which the crucibles stand, is perforated 
 under each of them, so that they can be reached from below ; to the bottom orifice of the 
 pot, when the distillation begins, a long sheet-iron pipe fc, is joined, which dips at its end 
 Into a water vessel 7, for receiving in drops the condensed vapors ol the zinc. The pol 
 
392 
 
 ZINC. 
 
 is charged from above, through an orifice in the lid of the pot, which is left open aftes 
 'he firing till the bluish color of the flame shows the volatilization of the metal; 
 immediately whereupon the hole is covered with a fire-tile m. The iron tubes are 
 apt to get obstructed during the distillation, and must therefore be occasionally cleared 
 out with a redhot rod. When the distillation is finished, the iron pipes must be 
 removed ; the coaly and other contents of the pot cleared away. A pot lasts about foui 
 months upon an average. Five distillations may be made in the course of 14 days, in 
 which from 6 to 10 tons of calamine may be worked up, and from 22 to 24 tons of coals 
 consumed, with a product of two tons of zinc. The metal amounts to from 25 to. 40 per 
 cent, of the ore. 
 
 1, 2, is the level of the upper floor ; 3, 4, level of the lower ceiling of the lower floor. 
 
 Fig. 1232, ground plan on the level of 1, 2 ; only one half is here shown. 
 
 The zinc collected in this operation is in the form of drops, and a very fine powder, 
 
 mingled with some oxyde. It must be melted in an iron pot or boiler, set in a proper 
 
 furnace ; and the oxyde is skimmed off the surface, to be returned into the crucibles. 
 
 The metal is, lastly, cast into square bars or ingots. 
 
 The crucibles are discharged at the end of each operation, by withdrawing the conden- 
 ser, breaking with a rake the piece of charcoal which shuts their bottom, and then empty- 
 ing them completely, by shaking their upper part. In replacing the condenser-pipe k 
 (see second pot from the right hand, fig. 1230), the flange at its top is covered with a 
 ring of loam-lute, pressed against the conical bottom of the crucible, and secured in its 
 place by means of two parallel rods o, o, which can be clamped by screws projecting hori 
 zontally from the vertical tunnel. See their places, indicated by two open dots near o, o. 
 A smelter and two laborers are employed in conducting a furnace ; who make, with 
 a mixture of eq'ial parts of fire-clay, and cement of old pounds finely ground, the pots oi 
 crucibles, which last about four months. Five charges are made in 15 days ; these work 
 up from 6 to 10 tons of calamine, consume from 22 to 24 tons of coals, and produce 2 tons 
 of zinc, upon an average. The following estimate of prices was made a few years ago :— 
 3 tons of calamine, at £6 - - ... £18 
 
 24 ditto coal, at 5s. - 6 
 
 A smelter, at 2 guineas a week ------ 220 
 
 Two laborers, each at 4s. per day - ... 2160 
 
 Incidental expenses ----- 100 
 
 £29 18 
 The calamine of Alston-moor, used at Sheffield, is not so rich ;" it produces at most onlj 
 25 per cent, of zinc. The coals are laid down at a cost of 5s. 8<2. per ton ; and the cala 
 mine laid down there 51. ; whence the zinc will amount to 321. 14s. per ton. The con- 
 siderable importations of zinc from Belgium and Germany, for some years back, have 
 caused a considerable fall in its price. 
 
 At Liittich, where the calamine of Altenberg, near Aix-la-Chapelle, is smelted, a 
 reduction furnace, containing long horizontal earthen tubes, is employed. The roasted 
 calamine is finely ground, and mixed with from one third to two thirds its volume of coke 
 or charcoal, broken to pieces the size of nuts. 
 
 Fig. 1576 represents this zinc furnace in elevation ; and fig. 1577 in a vertical 
 section through the middle. From the hearth to the bottom of the chimney it is 
 
 9 feet high, and the chimney itself is 
 18 or 20 feet high, a, is the ash-pit; 
 b, the grate ; c, the fireplace ; d, the 
 hearth ; e, e, the laboratory ; /, the 
 upper arch, which closes in the labor- 
 atory ; /', the second arch, which 
 forms the hood-cap of the furnace ; g, 
 the chimney; ft, the fire-wall, which 
 rests against a supporting wall of the 
 smelting-house. Through the vaulted 
 hearth the flame of the fire draws 
 through ten flues i, i, two placed in 
 one line ; betwixt these five pairs of 
 draught-openings, upon the sole of Ok" 
 hearth, the undermost earthen tubes fc, 
 immediately rest. The second and 
 third rows of tubes fc, k, lie in a 
 parallel direction over each other, at 
 about one inch apart; in the sixth 
 row there are only two tubes ; so that 
 there are 22 tubes altogether in one furnace. At their two ends these tubes resi 
 
ZINC, 
 
 992 
 
 upon fire-tiles, which form, with the side-walls, a kind of checker-work I, I. The tubcj 
 are 4 feet long, 4 to 5 inches in diameter within, five fourths of an inch thick. The fire, 
 which arrives at the laboratory through the flues i, i, plays round the tubes, and passes 
 off through the apertures m, m, in both arches of the furnace, into the chimney, n, is 
 an opening in the front wall between the two arches, which serves to modify the draught, 
 by admitting more or less of the external air. 
 
 The two slender side walls o, o, of the furnace, are a foot distant from the checker- 
 work, so that on the horizontal iron bars q, q, supported by the hooks p, p, the iron 
 receivers r, r, may have room to rest at their fore part. These receivers are conical 
 pipes of cast iron, 1| foot long, posteriorly \\ inch, and anteriorly 1 inch wide at the 
 utmost. After the earthen tubes have been filled with the ore to be smelted, these 
 conical pipes are luted to them in a slightly slanting position. These cones last no 
 more than three weeks; and are generally lengthened with narrow-mouthed wrought- 
 iion tubes, to prevent the combustion of the zinc, by contact of air. When the furnace 
 is in activity, a blue flame is to be seen at the mouths of all these pipes. Every two 
 
 hours the liquefied metal is raked out into 3 
 shovel placed beneath ; and in 12 hours the charge 
 is distilled ; after which the tubes are cleared out, 
 and re-charged. 100 pounds of metallic zinc are 
 the product of one operation. It is remelted at a 
 loss of ten per cent., and cast into moulds for sale. 
 Fig. 1578 is a longitudinal section of the fur- 
 nace for calcining calamine in Upper Silesia; 
 ./ig. 3579 is a ground plan of the furnace, a, is the 
 orifice in the vault or dome, for the introduction 
 of the ore ; b, b, apertures in the side-walls, shu 
 with doors, through which the matter may b« 
 • turned over; c, the chimney; d, the fire-bridge; 
 e, the grate ; /, the feed opening of the fire, the 
 fuel being pitcoal. The calamine is stirred about 
 every hour ; and after being well calcined during 
 5 or 6 hours, it is withdrawn ; and a new charge 
 is put in. These Silesian furnaces admit of 30 
 :wls. at a time ; and for roasting every 100 cwts. 15 Prussian bushels of fuel, equal to 23 
 
 English bushels, are employed. 
 1580 
 
 1581 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 These calcining furnaces are sometimes built along 
 side of the zinc smelting-furnaces, and are heated by 
 the waste flame of the latter. The roasting is per- 
 formed in the Netherlands in shafts, like small blast 
 iron-furnaces, called schachtofen. 
 
 The hearth a, in figs. 1580, 1581, is constructed foi 
 working with 5 muffles, one of which is long, and four 
 short. The muffles are made upon moulds, of fire- 
 
 clay mixed with ground potsherds. The receivers 
 
 P>'; *?SH are stoneware bottles. The grate is ten inches be- 
 
 p^ ; - s ,■#/,#: w . _| p##g neath the level of the hearth, b, the firebridge, is 
 
 proportionally high to diminish the force of the flame 
 upon the hearth, that it may not strike the muffles. 
 c, is the opening through which the muffles are put 
 in and taken out; during the firing it is partly filled 
 with bricks, so that the smoke and flame may escape 
 between them ; d, d, are openings for adjusting the 
 positions of the muffles; e, cross hoops of iron, to 
 strengthen the brick arch ; /, is a bed of sand under 
 the sole of the hearth. ' During the first two days, the 
 fire is applied under the grating; the heat must be 
 very slowly raised to redness, at which pitch it must 
 be maintained during two days. From 8 to 10 days 
 are required for the firing of the muffles. 
 
 The furnace shown in figs. 1582, 1583, 1584. is for 
 the melting of the metallic zinc. Fig. .1583 is a 
 front view ; fig. 1582 a transverse section ; fig. 1584 
 a view from above ; a, is the fire-door ; 6, the grate ; 
 c, the 'fire-bridge; d, the flue; e, the chimney; 
 /■ /, /, cast-iron melting-pots, which contain each about 10 cwts. of the metal. The heat 
 is moderated by the successive addition of pieces of cold zinc. The inside of the pots 
 should be coated with loam, k prevent the iron beirg attacked by the zinc. When the 
 
 I 
 
 II, ! ' 
 i i 
 
 ' 1 
 
 J3 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 ~ET 
 
994 
 
 ZINC. 
 
 zinc is intended to be aminated, it should be melted with the lowest possible heat, and 
 poured into hot moulds. 
 When the zinc ores contain cadmium, this metal distils over in the form of brown 
 oxyde, with the first portions, being more volatile 
 than zinc. 
 
 Under Brass and Copper, the most useful alloys 
 of zinc are described. The sulphate, vulgarly called 
 white vitriol, is made from the sulphuret, by roast- 
 ing it gently, and then exposing it upon sloping 
 terraces to the action of air and moisture, as has 
 been fully detailed under Sulphate or Ikon. The 
 purest sulphate of zinc is made by dissolving the 
 metal in dilute sulphuric acid, digesting the solution 
 over some of the metal, filtering, evaporating, and 
 crystallizing. 
 
 Sulphate of zinc is added as a drier to japan var- 
 nishes. 
 
 The ordinary zinc found in the market is never 
 pure ; but contains lead, cadmium, arsenic, copper, 
 iron, and carbon ; from some of which, it may be 
 freed in a great degree by distillation ; but even after this process it retains a little lead, 
 with all the arsenic and cadmium. The separation of the latter is described under Cad- 
 mium. Zinc, free from other metals, may be obtained by distilling a mixture of charcoal 
 and its subcarbonate, precipitated from the crystallized sulphate by carbonate of soda. 
 By holding a porcelain saucer over the flame of hydrogen produced from the action of dilute 
 sulphuric acid upon any sample of the zinc of commerce, the presence of arsenic in it 
 may he made manifest by the deposite of a gray film of the latter metal. Antimony, how- 
 ever, produces a somewhat similar effect to arsenic. 
 
 Zinc is extensively employed for making water-cisterns, baths, spouts, pipes, plates 
 for the zincographer, for voltaic batteries, filings for fire-works, covering roofs, and a 
 great many architectural purposes, especially in Berlin ; because this metal, after it gets 
 covered with a thin film of oxyde or carbonate, suffers no further change by long expo, 
 sure to the weather. One capital objection to zinc as a roofing material, is its combusti- 
 bility. 
 
 Chloride of zinc has been recently used with great advantage as an escharotic for 
 removing cancerous tumors, and healing various ill-constitutioned ulcers. , It, as also the 
 nitrate, forms an ingredient in the resist pastes for the pale blues of the indigo vat. 
 
 ZINC. Mr. Nicholas Troughton, of Swansea, obtained a patent in MSiy, 1839 
 foi improvements in the manufacture of this metal. His invention relates to the appli- 
 cation of a peculiar apparatus in roasting the ores, and in smelting the zinc. Mg. 1585, 
 
 represents the section of a series of retorts for calcining zinc ores, arranged and con- 
 structed according to this invention. The retorts shown in this figure are composed of 
 a series of fire-tiles or parallelogram slabs, a, a, a, are the slabs or tiles, which' con- 
 stitute the bottoms of the retorts ; 6, 6, are the slabs, which constitute the upper sur- 
 faces or tops of the retorts ; and c, c, are slabs, placed vertically, to produce the sides of 
 the retorts. The back ends of the retorts are closed by similar tika or slabs, having a 
 hole through them for the passage of the vapors evolved from the ores ; these vapors 
 are conveyed in any direction by the flue at that end, and being thus separated from the 
 products of combustion, may be separately acted on, according to either of the patentee's 
 former inventions, which treat of the separated vapors of copper ores in the process of 
 -alcining or roasting such ores ; or the separated products of the ore may be allowed to 
 pass into the atmosphere. The patentee states, that by treating zinc ores in furnaces 
 ar retorts, such as are above described, considerable saving of fuel will result and the 
 line ore will be more evenly roasted or calcined. 
 
Z1JNC. 
 
 995 
 
 The front ends of the retorts are closed by means of tiles or doors, haying a small 
 hole or opening in each, for the passage of atmospheric air ; and the holes may be 
 closed, or more or less open, according to the object required. The retorts are charged 
 through the hoppers above, which have proper slides to close the openings into the 
 retorts ; the quantity charged into each retort being sufficient to cover the lower surface 
 thereof two or three inches deep. During the operation the ore must be raked from 
 time to time, to change the surfaces, and the retorts should be kept to a moderate red 
 heat. 
 
 The second part of this invention relates to an arrangement of apparatus or furnace 
 for calcining zinc ores, wherein the ore is subjected to the direct action of the products 
 of combustion. Fig. 1586, shows a longitudinal section of the furnace, which is so con- 
 
 structed that while one portion of the zinc ore is being heated in a manner similar to 
 the working of an ordinary calcining surface, other zinc ore is going through a pre- 
 paratory process by the heat that has passed away from the ore which is undergoing 
 the completing process of calcining. This furnace may^Be heated by a separate fire, to 
 burn by blast or by draught ; or the flue from the smelting furnace may be conducted into 
 the entrance of this furnace, and the otherwise waste heat of the smelting furnace will 
 be thus brought into useful application for calcining or roasting of zinc ore; and 
 this part of the invention is applicable, whether it be applied to the furnace, or 
 to the retorts herein-before explained, and will be found a means of saving much 
 fuel in the processes of obtaining zinc from ore. a, fig. 1586, represents the furnace, 
 which is suitable for blast, and a constant supply of fuel is kept up in the chamber b, 
 there being a close cover, with a sand-joint, c, is the bed or floor on which the ore is 
 spread, in like manner to an ordinary reverberatory furnace; the ore is stirred about 
 on the floor by passing the ordinary rakes or instruments through the openings, d, d ; 
 and when the process has been sufficiently carried on, the ore is discharged through the 
 openings e, e, which, at other times, remain closed by fire-tiles. The heat of the fire, 
 and the flame thereof, passing in contact with the ore on the floor or bed, c, also acts 
 on the roof,/, and that roof,/, being hot, reverberates the heat on to the floor or bed, 
 at the same time the heat, which passes through the roof, heats the ore in the upper 
 chamber, g ; and, in addition to such heat passing through the roof, the flame and 
 heat from the furnace, having passed over the zinc ore, in the lower compartment of the 
 apparatus, enters i,nto and passes over the ore in the chamber g ; and, in doing so, heats 
 the roof h, of that chamber, and also the ore contained therein; and it will be seen 
 that there is a third chamber, % ; the heat, therefore, which passes through the roof h, 
 heats the ore in t'ti chamber i. In working this arrangement of calcining furnace oj 
 
 apparatus, when the charge is withdrawn from the lower chamber, the charge in the 
 chamber g is to be raked into the lower chamber through the openings for that pur 
 pose, which, at other times, are kept covered with fire-tiles, as shown in the drawing; 
 and the charge in the chamber i is to be raked into the chamber g, and a fresh supply 
 of ore charged into the chamber i. 
 
996 
 
 ZINC. 
 
 1588 
 
 The third part of this nvention relates to a mode of arranging a series of retorts 
 side by side, and of applying heat thereto in the process of smelting or distilling zino 
 from the ore. According to the practice most generally pursued in smelting zinc, the 
 ore is submitted to the action of heat in crucibles, having descending iron pipes, which 
 enter into vessels containing water : all which is well understood, as well as the process 
 of smelting or distilling zinc from the ores. Fig. \5%1 is a side elevation of two sets of 
 furnaces and retorts, arranged according to this invention, 
 one of the furnaces being in section; and jig. 1588 is a 
 transverse section of the same, a, a, are a series of retorts 
 of fire-clay, arranged, side by side, on a shelf of slabs or 
 fire-tiles. These retorts are each closed at one end and 
 open at the other, such open end being closed, when in 
 operation, by a tile or door, b, fitting closely, and luted 
 with fire-clay, as will readily be traced in the drawing. 
 Each series of retorts is placed in a chamber, c, c, in such 
 a manner that the heat and llame of the fire will pass 
 from the fire-place or furnace, and act on one side 
 of the retorts ; and having passed along all the series, will proceed to the upper part 
 of the chamber, c, c, and heat the other side of the retorts ; and as the fires are main- 
 tained and urged by means of blasts of atmospheric air, the heat may be maintained 
 and regulated with great advantage, and at comparatively small cost. The blasts of 
 air may be produced by any ordinary blowing machinery, but rotatory blowers are 
 nreferred, and the air may be cool or heated. When anthracite coal is used as the 
 fuel, the patentee prefers adopting the hot blast, at a temperature of at least 500° Fahr., 
 and such heating may be performed by any of the well-known means now very gene- 
 rally resorted to for heating the blasts of air for smelting iron, d, d, are iron pipes; 
 descending from the retorts and entering into vessels containing *water, similar to the 
 apparatus at present in use forlike purposes. Each chamber, c, is heated by its separate 
 furnace or fire-place, which have openings, to be closed when at work ; and in order to 
 keep up a supply of fuel to the fire, each fire-place has an inclined chamber, e, which 
 is filled with fuel, and then closed air-tight by the cover,/, fitting into a sand-bath or 
 joint, in order to prevent draught upwards. By this means the lower portion only of 
 the fuel will be in an ignited state when at work, g, g, are a series of iron doors, one 
 opposite the mouth of each retort: these doors are capable of being removed by sliding 
 them upwards, till the portions cut out at the sides come opposite the dips or holders, 
 7i, A, when the doors may be removed, in order to get at the retorts, i, is a chamber 
 in which the ore is heated previous to its being placed in the retorts. The arrange- 
 ment of the brickwork, the construction and settling of the furnaces, being clearly 
 shown in the drawing, no further description need be given. 
 
 The patentee remarks, that he is aware attempts have been made to employ retorts 
 in the smelting of zinc, and he does not, therefore, claim the same generally; but he 
 does claim, in respect to the third part of this invention, the mode of placing a series 
 of retorts in a chamber, c, and causing the heat and flame to pass along, under and over, 
 such series of retorts, as above described ; and he also claims the m,ode of smelting zinc 
 by means of blast, whether the heat of the fuel is caused to act on a series of retorts or 
 vessels, in the manner shown, or on other arrangements of retorts or vessels, placed in 
 a suitable chamber or chambers. — Newton's Journal, C. 8., xxiii. p. 81. 
 
 ZINC PURIFYING, may be effected by melting the impure metal with lead in equal 
 parts in a deep iron pot, stirring them well together, skimming off the impurities as 
 they rise, covering the surface with charcoal to prevent oxidation, and keeping them 
 in a fused state for three hours. The lead descends to the bottom by its greater den- 
 sity, and leaves the zinc above, to be drawn off by a pipe in the side of the melting- 
 pot This contrivance is the subject of a patent granted to Mr. William Godfrey Knel- 
 ler in 1844. 
 
 ZINC CASTING. The costliness of bronze precludes its employment as a material 
 applicable to the purposes of monumental statuary almost entirely. On this account 
 the extension of sculpture, with the increase in the number of private collections, has 
 been seriously impeded. This impediment, however, is now being rapidly removed by 
 the advances that havebeen made iu the art of zinc-casting. The working on this 
 metal as a medium for high art had at first to make good its progress against many pi eju- 
 dices, chiefly on the part of artists themselves. In this lay the cause which long re- 
 tarded its progress in connection with sulphur, whereas, in domestic architecture, its ap. 
 plication during the last eighteen years has superseded that of almost every other material. 
 Every doubt has now been dispelled as to the comparative durability of zine in the 
 open air, and under the influence of every variety of weather. Chemistry has demon- 
 strated this property of the metal. 
 Zinc is readily melted, liquefies very completely, and therefore is better adapted tc 
 
ZINC. 99? 
 
 Cover the smallest lines in the mould than metals of a harder and more compact tex 
 ture. The zinc casting is so pure and so finished, on being turned out of the mould, 
 that the work requires but very little subsequent chasing. This circumstance, combined 
 with the cheapness of the metal itself (the cost of a zinc cast being to a cast in bronze 
 only one-sixth or one-eighth), renders zinc an admirable material for statuary. But 
 the unfavorable color of the zinc proved, for a long time, a great obstacle in the way 
 of its application to these purposes. 
 
 This difficulty, however, through the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Kiss, «he founder 
 of this important branch of the art in Berlin, lias been completely overcome. He has 
 succeeded in imparting to the zinc a metallic surface, which gives to the cast the perfect 
 aspect of Florentine bronze. 
 
 The colossal group of the "Amazon," after Kiss of Berlin, cast in zinc and bronzed 
 by M. Geiss, presents a striking specimen of the perfection to which the latter has 
 brought this peculiar invention. 
 
 The model of this group, cast in zinc by Geiss of Berlin, and lately deposited, in the 
 Great Exhibition, will establish the superiority of zinc over any other metal for 
 similar purposes, so far as the elements of cheapness and solidity are concerned. 
 
 ZING PRINTING. Representations of the different departments of the Imperial 
 establishment, etched on zinc, chemityped and printed .with the common printing 
 press — a new invention by Piil, for etching on zinc in a raised manner. 
 
 If this art be not calculated to supersede wood engraving, it can be applied with great 
 advantage for certain purposes in the etching style, for maps, plans, drawingsof machines, 
 <fec. A zinc plate is covered with an etching ground, the drawing etched in the usual 
 manner with the needle, and bitten in. The etching ground is now removed, the deep 
 lines cleaned with acid, and then the whole plate, in a warm state, covered with an 
 easily fusible metal, with which, of course, the lines of the drawing are filled up. 
 When the metal thus laid on is cold and firm, the whole plate is planed until the ziDC 
 appears again, and only the lines of the drawing remain filled with the fusible metal, 
 which is easily distinguished by its white color from the gray of the zinc. The whole 
 plate is now etched several times; the former lines of the drawing, filled with this 
 easily fusible negative metal, are not affected by the acid while the pure zinc is eaten 
 away. In this manner a drawing for printing in the copper-plate press can be con- 
 verted into one in relief for use in the ordinary printing press. 
 
 ZINKING OF IRON. Iron may be conveniently coated, in the humid way, by 
 a solution of sulphate of zinc, or one Of the double salt of chloride of zinc and sal am 
 oniac, as now used in soldering and welding. To secure success, the zinc solution should 
 be weak, and only a weak galvanic current should be used, otherwise the zinc precipi- 
 tated will again separate from the iron in scales. "With proper precautions the deposit 
 may be made as thick as strong paper. The article must be well cleansed before un- 
 dergoing the operation. 
 
 The sulphate is prepared by saturating with sulphurous gas as much hydrate of car- 
 bonate of zinc, recently precipitated, as it will dissolve. For the compound salt, dis- 
 solve one part of zinc in hydrochloric acid, and to this solution add one part of sal 
 ammoniac. Evaporate the liquor, and crystallize. The crystals are colorless six-sided 
 prisms, translucid, easily soluble in water, and very deliquescent. 
 
 Zaiked Iron weldable. — With a view to put this question to the test of experiment in 
 the most severe manner, a piece of zinked iron wire rope was welded up into a bar, by 
 Mr. James Nasmyth. In the first place it was found, that although the iron wire was 
 quite covered with metallic zinc, which, although partially driven off in the process 
 of welding, yet, so far from the presence of the metal, or its oxide, presenting any 
 impediment to the welding of the iron (as in the case of lead), the iron wire welded 
 with remarkable ease: and the result was a bar of remarkably tough, silvery-grained 
 iron, which stood punching, splitting, twisting, and binding, in a manner such as to 
 show that the iron was not only excellent, but to all appearance, actually improved in 
 quality in a very important degree. _ 
 
 Encouraged by such a result, a still further and even more severe trial was made, 
 viz., by welding up a pile of clippings of galvanised iron plates, or sheet iron covered 
 with zinc, as in the former experiments. The presence of the zinc appeared to otter no 
 
 ' - ' - the fracture 01 
 
 presented a most remarKaoie ami ueuumu. ou.cij &'<"«> »•> g"«", « n0 ' superior, 
 ,„t t„ n,„ „„„„ fin^ Borrmles of " Low Moor" or "Bowling" iron, .blooms of 
 
 impediment to the welding, and the result was a bloom or bar of iron, the 
 which presented a most remarkable and beautiful silvery grain, as good, if not superior 
 ,n aspect to the very finest samples of "Low Moor" or "Bowling" iron Blooms of 
 this iron were rolled out into rods, and tested in the cable proving machine, and th« 
 
 result indicated from 5 to 10 percent, higher strength than the best samples of wrought 
 iron, thus establishing the fact, that, so far from the presence of zinc being destructive 
 
 o the strength and tenacity of wrought iron, the contrary is the case. 
 I may mention, that bars of iron were heated to a welding heat, prepared for sheatb, 
 
 ng, in the usual manner; and, on drawing them from the fire, for being welded, a 
 
 to 
 
9S& ZIRCONIA. 
 
 handful of zinc filings was thrown on the welding hot surface, and the welding j.ro- 
 needed with. In this severe test no apparent impediment to the process resulted ; the 
 iron welded as well as if no zinc had been present. Judging from the appearance of 
 the iron welded up from zinc covered iron scrapB not only as respects its clear silvery 
 aspect, but also the increased strength which such exhibited under proof, it may not be 
 unreasonable to infer, that some important improvement might be made in the manu- 
 facture of iron by the actual introduction of metallic zinc in some one or other of the 
 stages of its manufacture, such as in the puddling furnace. What the nature of the 
 action of the zinc is, we are not yet able to say; all we as yet know is, that, so far 
 from being prejudicial to the quality of the iron, it appears to have rather an improving 
 effect; and that to such an extent as to cause us to desire that the subject may receive 
 the attention of some of our intelligent iron manufacturers, so as to put the matter to 
 the test of actual experiment in the puddling furnace, or any other stage of the pro- 
 cess such as may appear to promise the best results. 
 
 I may name a curious corroborative fact, that the strongest cast-iron made in Belgi- 
 um, and selected for the casting of guns, is made from an iron ore in which the ore of 
 zinc forms a considerable portion. Whether the superiority of this iron is due to the 
 presence of zinc is a question ; but the result of the before named experiments tend to 
 lead to the supposition that such may be the case. 
 
 The small town of Stolberg, about four miles from Eschweiler, is a centre of great 
 manufacturing activity. Perhaps the most interesting establishment for strangers are 
 those for producing zinc from calamine. The best mines belong to the company of the 
 Marquis de Sesscnaye, a French gentleman, who established here zinc works on a large 
 scale, in -which the following system is adopted: — 
 
 A chimney of considerable width, but of moderate height, stands in the centre of each 
 batch of furnaces. In the middle, immediately adjoining the chimney, are two roasting 
 furnaces, in which the ore is calcined. To the right and left of these are two pairs of 
 reducing furnaces, or rather two large reverberatory furnaces, which are charged in the 
 middle from above, and which are open at the side towards the gangways. In the 
 space between the middle, or firing place, and these openings, are placed a series of 
 retorts of fire-proof clay, of elliptical shape, into which moveable necks are inserted, 
 that communicate with short perpendicular pipes, which fit into holes in the earthen- 
 plate, under which openings like an ash-pot are constructed. The ore having been 
 well calcined in the roasting furnaces, are turned from a carbonate into an oxide of 
 zinc, is first powdered. The oxide is then placed in the retorts, or muffles, as they are 
 called, and the furnaces are carefully closed with clay, and highly heated to throw off 
 the oxygen in the shape of gas. One result of the great heat in this process is that 
 a large proportion of the metal escapes with the oxygen, which finds its way through 
 the neck of the retort and down the tube connected with it, where the reduced metal 
 falls in small globular particles. The metal thus deposited is washed from the refuse 
 that falls from it, and is melted in furnaces placed at the extremity of the reverberatory 
 furnaces. The heat of these serve to melt the zinc that it may cast into thin blocks for 
 rolling into sheets. The production of these works is estimated at 10 tons per diem. 
 For this, a consumption of seven times the weight of coal is required, 
 
 ZIECOEN. See Hyacinth and Lapidab.y. 
 
 ZIBCONIA, is a rare earth, extracted from the minerals zircon and hyacinth ; it is 
 an oxide of zirconium, a substance possessing externally none of the metallic characters, 
 but resembling rather charcoal powder, which burns briskly, and almost with explosive 
 riolcnce. 
 
 THE END.