155 



May 14, 1849. 



J. B. YATES, Esq., in the Chair. 



Messrs. W. Burke, Thomas Laker, and Henry Morley, 

 were elected members of the Society. 



Mr. Edwards exhibited some glass vessels coated with 

 copper by the electrotype process. The process had been 

 exhibited at the Society of Arts, at Paris, in 1844, and 

 patented in this country by Mr. Spencer, and since then had 

 been extensively employed. The vessels so coated were more 

 durable than ordinary glass, as they were not so liable to be 

 broken by violence or by the application of heat ; and their 

 value in the laboratory is much enhanced by the facility with 

 which they effect the solution of bodies, as well as the rapidity 

 with which distillation is conducted in them. A very thin 

 coating of rosin existed between the metal and the glass, and 

 this appeared to prevent the effects which would otherwise 

 ensue from the unequal expansion and contraction of the two. 

 Some that had been in constant use for some years were still 

 uninjured. 



Also a retort, which was silvered in the interior by a process 

 recently patented by Drayton, of Regent-street, London, the 

 silver being de-oxidized and precipitated by essential oils, and 

 an additional coating being afterwards deposited by electricity. 

 These vessels effectually prevent that troublesome bumping 

 which occurs in the distillation of many organic substances. 



He then made some remarks upon the process of Electrotyp- 

 ing plated goods. According to the original process, the silver 

 was deposited in a fine and compact state, but required to 

 have a polish imparted to it, as it was otherwise dull and 



