﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  A 
  New 
  Process 
  for 
  the 
  Extraction 
  of 
  Boracic 
  Acid. 
  

  

  BY 
  F. 
  GUTZKOW. 
  

  

  I 
  beg 
  to 
  bring 
  to 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  Acaclemy 
  a 
  process 
  for 
  the 
  working 
  of 
  

   Borate 
  of 
  lime, 
  which, 
  besides 
  that 
  I 
  consider 
  it 
  to 
  have 
  some 
  claims 
  as 
  to 
  prac- 
  

   ticability, 
  presents 
  also 
  some 
  scientific 
  points, 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  sufficiently 
  interest- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  members 
  as 
  to 
  warrant 
  me 
  in 
  drawing 
  their 
  attention 
  thereto. 
  

  

  The 
  Academy 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  made 
  aware 
  before 
  of 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  

   State 
  of 
  Nevada, 
  lately, 
  large 
  masses 
  of 
  borate 
  of 
  lime 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  ia 
  

   different 
  places 
  in 
  Churchill, 
  Esmeralda 
  and 
  other 
  counties. 
  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  

   because 
  boracic 
  acid 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  very 
  profusely 
  distributed 
  on 
  the 
  earth's 
  

   surface, 
  and 
  borate 
  of 
  lime 
  in 
  particular 
  has, 
  until 
  now, 
  only 
  been 
  found 
  near 
  

   the 
  celebrated 
  nitrate 
  of 
  soda 
  deposits 
  of 
  Iquiqui 
  in 
  South 
  America. 
  The 
  min- 
  

   eral 
  found 
  in 
  Nevada 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  the 
  South 
  American. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  true 
  

   borate 
  of 
  hme, 
  but 
  the 
  boronatrocalcite, 
  a 
  combination 
  of 
  borate 
  of 
  soda 
  with 
  

   borate 
  of 
  lime. 
  An 
  analysis 
  made 
  by 
  myself 
  gave, 
  in 
  round 
  numbers 
  : 
  

   42 
  Boracic 
  acid, 
  

  

  8 
  Soda, 
  

   13 
  Lime, 
  

   37 
  Water. 
  

  

  There 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  some 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  impurities 
  found 
  with 
  it. 
  In 
  Ne- 
  

   vada 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  principally 
  clay, 
  while 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  gypsum 
  is 
  

   always 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  found 
  intermixed. 
  

  

  Owing 
  to 
  those 
  impurities, 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  experienced 
  some 
  difficulties 
  in 
  

   working 
  the 
  mineral 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  France; 
  but 
  still 
  more 
  has 
  the 
  expectation 
  

   that 
  the 
  South 
  American 
  borate 
  of 
  lime 
  would 
  give 
  a 
  prolific 
  source 
  of 
  borax 
  

   been 
  reduced 
  by 
  the 
  circumstance, 
  that 
  the 
  shipments 
  from 
  Iquiqui 
  turned 
  out 
  

   .to 
  be 
  of 
  very 
  unequal 
  nature 
  as 
  to 
  quality, 
  which 
  with 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  ascertain- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  true 
  proportion 
  of 
  boracic 
  acid 
  by 
  an 
  easy 
  assay, 
  rather 
  demoralized 
  the 
  

   market 
  for 
  the 
  substance 
  in 
  question. 
  

  

  In 
  this 
  country 
  the 
  process 
  used 
  for 
  working 
  it 
  consists 
  in 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  concen- 
  

   trating 
  operation, 
  by 
  which, 
  with 
  an 
  enormous 
  loss 
  in 
  substance, 
  the 
  borate 
  of 
  

   lime 
  is 
  freed 
  from 
  the 
  impurities. 
  Then 
  it 
  is 
  boiled 
  with 
  a 
  solution 
  of 
  carbonate 
  

   of 
  soda, 
  and 
  the 
  solutions 
  obtained 
  worked 
  for 
  a 
  crude 
  borax, 
  to 
  be 
  refined 
  after- 
  

   ward 
  by 
  recrystallization. 
  This 
  process 
  has 
  several 
  important 
  drawbacks. 
  In 
  

   the 
  first 
  place, 
  the 
  high 
  price 
  of 
  soda 
  on 
  this 
  coast 
  interferes 
  seriously. 
  Al- 
  

   though 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  Nevada 
  possesses 
  large 
  deposits 
  of 
  crude 
  soda, 
  it 
  becomes 
  

   so 
  dear 
  by 
  the 
  high 
  cost 
  of 
  transportation, 
  that 
  in 
  this 
  city 
  it 
  is 
  about 
  as 
  ad- 
  

   vantageous 
  to 
  employ 
  the 
  English 
  sal-soda, 
  which 
  is, 
  besides, 
  a 
  much 
  purer 
  ar- 
  

   ticle. 
  Furthermore, 
  the 
  decomposition 
  of 
  the 
  borate 
  of 
  lime 
  is 
  not 
  complete 
  by 
  

   soda, 
  and 
  the 
  residue 
  will 
  always 
  contain 
  some 
  undecomposed 
  mineral, 
  unless 
  a 
  

   very 
  large 
  quantity 
  of 
  water 
  is 
  used. 
  As 
  the 
  borate 
  of 
  lime 
  is 
  cot 
  insoluble 
  in 
  

   water, 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  extract 
  by 
  water 
  alone 
  all 
  traces 
  of 
  the 
  mineral 
  ; 
  but 
  on 
  

  

  