On pure Nickel. 139 



quires the longest time to bake it, the matter underwent no 

 change but that of being coagulated. In the other crucibles 

 the matter had fused, but not so as to be complete!} liquid: 

 the crucibles themselves had also partly experienced the same 

 effect : here and there in the melted mass metallic globules 

 were found, the largest of which were the size of a small 

 nut, and the least that of a cherry-stone. Their brilliancy 

 was a mean between that of silver and that of English tin. 

 The scoriae were greenish brown, mixed with 'an amethyst 

 colour, and in some places a deep blue entirely like fused 

 oxide of cobalt. The brown colour arose from the oxide 

 of copper, which was completely vitrified, and the blue 

 from that of cobalt. The green, on the contrary, proceeded 

 from arseniatc of nickel, which, as experience has taught 

 me, stronirly resists fusion unless some combustible sub- 

 stance be added to it. 



To my great satisfaction on, trying the inetallic globules 

 with a hammer, I found that they possessed a considerable 

 (1 eofree of malleability. 



As I found it impossible to separate with a hammer 

 the scoriae from the little globules to which they adhered, I 

 collected them together by trituration and decantation, and 

 exposed them to fusion afresh. It was again complete 

 only in the places of the fiirnace most heated. 



These experiments having convinced me that nickel is 

 reducible in the fire, withoiit the additicm of any combus- 

 tible matter, I attempted to reduce some oxide of this metal, 

 obtained by the decomposition of the triple ammoniacal 

 salt of nickel, which during an uninterrupted labour of 

 ei<'"bteen months T had procured in a very large quantity. 

 On this occasion the same pha;nomena occurred as in the 

 preceding reductions. 



The melting I repeated till the metal had undergone a 

 complete fusion, and was found collected together in a 

 button at the bottom of the crucible. In one crucible 

 which had been exposed to the strongest heat, I obtained a 

 button that weighed an ounce and a half. I was less suc- 

 cessful in mv fusion when I mixed the oxide of nickel with 

 porcelain glaze, or when I simply covered it with this glaze; 

 so that I was convinced the best process was to redu'-e the 

 oxide of nickel directly. After much time and patience, f 

 succeeded in obtaining several ounces of nickel, which I 

 must consider as absolutely pure -. and I shall now pro- 

 ceed to describe the principal characters that I have per- 

 ceived in it in this state. — To begin with the external cha- 

 racters. 



The 



