64 INTRODUCTION. 



" Sons of the rock and nurselings of the surge, 

 Around the kiln, their daily labours urge, 

 O'er the dried weed the smokv volume coils, 

 And deep beneath the precious kali boils."* 



But we pass over all this, and follow the material to 

 Glasgow ; and it will give some idea of the employment that 

 it there gives, when we state that there are at present twenty 

 establishments in Glasgow, some of them very extensive, 

 for the lixiviation of kelp and manufacture of iodine, &c., 

 working up in Glasgow alone about 3,000 tons a year. 



From the ample materials furnished by Mr. Glassford, who 

 has had opportunities of obtaining great practical as well as 

 scientific knowledge of all the processes from first to last, 

 I shall select some brief notices. The object of the chemical 

 manufacturer, or lixiviator, as he is called, is to separate the 

 various salts which the kelp contains. The most insoluble 

 are those which are first separated, consisting of the Sulphate 

 of Potash, the Carbonate, Muriate, and Sulphate i)i Soda, and 

 the Muriate of Potash. The most soluble remain in the 

 solution. In tlie solution, the Iodides and other very 

 soluble salts are found, and it is from this liquor, called the 

 mother liquor, that Iodine is extracted. This is easily done 



* Is it neccssarj' to tell our Scottish readers, that kail does not mean kale ? 



