69 



Nickel is a comparatively new metal for it was not recognized as 

 an element till 1751, when Cronstedt, the Swedish mineralogist, in 

 examining the ores of certain veins in the German Copper mines made 

 the discovery of the two new metals, nickel and cobalt, which names 

 he retained as they were in use amongst the miners. Nickel in its 

 pure state is silver white in colour, hard, tough, fusible with difficulty, 

 and is susceptible to magnetism, although not to the same extent as 

 iron. Its use in the industrial arts has rapidly increased since it has been 

 produced in a pure state, as it formerly existed only as an impure alloy 

 and so could not be so suitable for the pnrposes for which it is now 

 used. The. demand has only grown at a moderate rate as compared 

 with the growth and demand for other useful metals, and a decrease in 

 price from $2.60 per pound in 1876 to the present price, which varies 

 from 50 to 60 cents per pound, seems to have had no very important 

 influence in increasing that demand. The-^suppjy of late years has 

 been more than sufficient for the demand and new deposits have always 

 been found in advance of any necessity for their product. The first 

 chief demand for this metal was for making nickel or german silver as 

 a substitute for the more precious metal in making spoons and forks 

 and other ware in general for which silver had been previously used' 

 and its whiteness and the facility with which it received and held the 

 silver, after the process of what is known as electro-plating was intro- 

 duced cause it to be still more widely used. It is also made use of to 

 plate iron, zinc, &c., and also in alloy with copper for the manufacture 

 of small coins, which are used so extensively in the United States, Ger- 

 many, Belgium, and other countries. The proposition to use rolled 

 nickel plate as an advance over ordinary tin plate, is one which is re- 

 ceiving attention at present. It has also been recommended for making 

 nickel crucibles to replace those of silver used in chemical manipulations 

 as they would cost less and have the great advantage of melting at a 

 higher temperature. 



Nickel plated kitchen utensils are coming into general use as in 

 Germany, and as it is well known that acids have a more or less solvent 

 action on nickel, an investigation was undertaken which showed that 

 7^ grains of nickel could be taken into the stomach and repeated for a 

 long time without any noticeably bad effects. There is thus no ground 



