192 TKAXSACTIONS OF THE [mAKCH 15, 



new ones, and by novel applications of both these classes as well 

 as of waste materials. The necessity of ntmost condensation 

 precludes enumeration of even a centesimal ]iart of the processes 

 and products, nor would the mere catalogue be profitable. Omit- 

 ting for tlie present the prolific department of organic ciiemistry, 

 brief mention may be made of improvements in the metallurgy 

 of nickeP" (now known to be malleable aud ductile), of attempts 

 to cheapen the production of aluminium," of the revival of the 

 barium dioxide process for manufacturing oxygen on a large 

 scale," of novelties in artistic keramics, of the industrial produc- 

 tion and application of the rare metal vanadium, of the successful 

 introduction of water gas as an illuminating agent, and of con- 

 stant activity in the fascinating field of photography. 



No chemical manufactures are more important than those 

 grouped under the name: ''Alkali industry," which comprises 

 the production of those adjuncts of civilization, carbonate of 

 soda, caustic soda, bicarbonate of soda, and bleaching powder. 

 Conducted by the methods originated by the ill-fated Nicolas 

 Leblanc, they have, after a century's successful career, begun to 

 give way to a youthful rival. The struggle to maintain tlie su- 

 premacy of Leblanc's process has been severe, the problem being 

 a purely financial one. At first, the profits were made exclus- 

 ively on the soda, then the decreasing profits, as well as the neces- 

 sity of condensing the torrents of hydrochloric acid, led manu- 

 facturers to add to the production of alkali that of bleaching 

 powder, aud the latter then yielded tbe profits while the soda 

 became a bye-product. Shar]) competition in England and 

 France pushed prices below proli table production, and capitalists 

 with millions involved found their chemical ingenuity severely 

 taxed. Various economical methods of recovering waste bye- 

 products were adopted, and finally attention was turned to the 

 '•' burnt ore " or " pyrites cinders " obtained in roasting pyrites for 

 the sulphuric acid; this is now treated for copper, silver, and, to 

 some extent, for gold. A S])auish company owning enormous 

 deposits of pyrites on the Eio Tinto, plan to establish in France 

 alkali works with the intention of deriving their profits solely 

 from the residual oxide of iron and the copper. 



Forty-eight years ago alkali manufacturers might have seen a 

 cloud arising, no bigger than a man's hand, which gradually 

 grew darker and heavier, and now threatens to overwhelm the 

 Leblanc process. Dyer and Hemming patented the so-called 

 "ammonia process" for manufacturing soda in 1838; Schlossing 

 and Rolland attemjited to carry it out practically in 1855, but it 

 was not found prolitable. The credit of overcoming the practi- 

 cal difficulties, and placing the process on an economical basis, 

 belongs to Solvay, of Brussels, who began to manufacture so- 



