31) s Vil&tilTzcd Silcx.-^Palenls. 



naces : the followirtg is the account given of this phasno- 

 uienon bv M. Vauqudiji : 



" In melting iron ores there are frequently portions of 

 the ore which, \v\wn ihey begin to assume the character 

 of iron, are fixed bifore the nion>cnt of flowing, and con- 

 sequently remain attached to the sides of the furnace. In 

 these |>iece3 of iron, cavities are found which are filled with 

 a white filamentous substance like flexible amianthus. 



•' Several mctallcirgists have noticed this substance, and 

 it has been uniformly regarded as an oxide of zinc ; but as 

 I boiled it in various acids, which had no action on it, I 

 thought myself warranted in concluding that there was not 

 an atom of zinc present. The following experiment wai 

 therefore made with a view to ascertain the real nature of 

 the substances in question : 



" Having heated this substance with three parts of caustic 

 potash in a silver crucible, it was perfectly fused, and the 

 mass that resulted was entirely dissolved by water. 



" This solution, when supersaturated with dilute mu- 

 riatic acid, did not become turbid ; but on evaporation it 

 was transformed into a white and transparent jelly, which 

 never happens with zinc. 



" The matter was perfectly desiccated, and the residue 

 treated with water, when I obtained a white powder which 

 presented all the characters of pure silex : in the liquor 

 from which I obtained it, I found nothing else, not even 

 oxide of iron. How does it happen that silex, which is 

 always mixed, either in iron ores or in fluxes, with alumine 

 and lime, is separated from these earths in a slate of purity 

 so perfect that no foreign matter is to be found \ 



" The filamentous, and, as it were, crystallized state of 

 the silex ghows that it had been reduced into vapours by 

 the violence of the fire, and afterwards gently condensed 

 in the cooler parts of the furnace. 



" This experiment would seem to prove, not only that 

 silex is volatile at a certain temperature, but also that it is 

 more 30 than alumine or lime; unless we suppose these 

 last to have been carried up much higher in the furnace; 

 which is not very probable." 



LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INViiNTIONS. 



To Joseph Brainah, of Pimlico, engineer, for certain im- 

 provements in the constructing and making wheels for al) 

 kinds of carriages j and also a new method of locking or 

 sliding the wheels of carriages when pas:<ing down steep de- 

 clining hills. — November 2, ISOy. 



To 



