CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 211 



tured much cheaper than common boxes, their use on railroads and every 

 species of machinery, would probably effect an important economy." 



OX ALLOYS OF IRON, POTASSIUM, AXD ALUMIXUM XOT SUBJECT 



TO OXYDATIOX. 



Professor Calvert at the British Association stated that he had succeeded 

 in preparing the following alloys of iron and aluminum : 1st alloy, 4 equiva- 

 lents of iron ; 1 do. of potassium : 2d alloy, 6 equivalents of iron ; 1 do. of 

 potassium. These alloys were prepared with a view of solving one of the 

 great chemical and commercial questions of the day namely, that of render- 

 ing iron less oxydable when exposed to a damp atmosphere ; as it is believed 

 that no kind of coating can be discovered which will resist the constant fric- 

 tion of water, as in the case of iron steamers. Professor Calvert has also 

 succeeded hi producing two new alloys, composed of iron, combined with that 

 most valuable and extraordinary metal, aluminum. These alloys are com- 

 posed as follows: 1st, 1 equivalent of aluminum; 5 do. of iron; 2d, 2 equiv- 

 alents of aluminum ; 3 do. of iron. The last alloy presents the useful 

 property of not oxydizing when exposed to a damp atmosphere, although it 

 contains 75 per cent, of iron. 



OX THE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT OF EARTHY METALS. 



The great affinity of aluminum for carbon, with which it forms a very 

 stable and exceedingly hard alloy, renders it valuable in the manufacture of 

 steel. It serves to fix the carbon in the metal, so that the same piece of steel 

 may be heated and tempered several times without alteration. Aluminum 

 generally gives steels and alloys of great hardness very white, dull, and 

 damasked. These alloys are ductile and malleable. The alloys of silicium, on 

 the contrary, have a short granular fracture, are of a dull white, without any 

 luster. They are excessively hard but brittle, and become more and more so 

 in proportion as the quantity of silicium is increased. 5 or 6 per cent, of sili- 

 cium renders metals and alloys capable of being pounded like stones "under 

 the pestle. Comptes JRendus. 



OX THE ELECTROLYTIC PREPARATION OF THE ALKALINE AND 

 EARTHY METALS, BY DR. MATTHIESSEN. 



Induced by Bunsen's experiments upon the alkaline and earthy metals, the 

 author has endeavored to prepare these bodies by electrolysis in Bunsen's 

 laboratory. The treatment of chloride of calcium, chloride of barium, and 

 chloride of strontium, between two large plates of charcoal, presented peculiar 

 difficulties which required to be got rid of. These arise from the circumstance 

 that the metallic granules deposited upon the anode are carried over to the 

 cathode by the currents produced by the evolution of chlorine at the latter. 

 The metals burn at both poles with flames. At the metallic pole oxyd is 

 separated from the protochloride, which becomes basic, from the action of the 



