S48 Ow the Alkalies of Commerce. 



to b;; tried under your own inspection one hundred speci* 

 mens in a day, and thus veriiy the qualities I announce to 

 you in my prices current, and which are marked upon my 

 casks and packages," It cannot be doubted that the mer- 

 chant who could deal in this nsanner would obtain a great 

 preference, and ullimatelv others would be induced to pursue 

 the same course. I shall now proceed with mv detail of the 

 method of accomplishing this process, beginning with the 

 Graduation of Potashes. 



Suppose there are in a storehouse 100 casks of potash, 

 containing about 400 kilogrammes each : we may give all 

 of them the same alkaline strength, and mav afterwards 

 ascertain it, and point it out in a precise manner. 



Each of the casks is opened at one end, and the potash it 

 contains is emptied upon the ground. We must afterwards 

 break, with a long-handled mallet, all the masses which are 

 •larger than a large nut; the whole must then be mixed 

 equally, which niav be done in five minutes by tvvo men 

 furnished with wooden shovels. The potash must be after- 

 wards replaced in the casks, arranging the bnsiness so that 

 the casks, whether full or not, shall contain the same num- 

 ber of pailfuls or measures. All these casks having been 

 thus opened, their contents broken and mixed up, a comrnon 

 mixture may be once more made of all their contents. 



For this purpose, a place being set apart on the floor of 

 the store-roorn, we must bring, one after another, a pailful 

 of the potash ffom each barrel alternately ; a sufficient nurn- 

 ber of men being furnished with wooden shovels, the whole 

 mass may be mixed up as exactly as possible. The casks are 

 afterwards filled ; and by this means we may ascertain that 

 their contents have an equal dcsree of alkaline strength, 

 which may be proved by a single trial. 



This trial must be done with exactitude, and in the fol- 

 lowing manner : we must put about two kilogrannnes of the 

 general mixture into a mortar, and pound them until no 

 piece remains larger than a grain of wheat. One deci- 

 gramme must then be weighed exactly, which, upon being 

 subjected to the proof by the alkali-meter, will indicate the 

 alkaline strength of the whole potash in the casks. 



It 



