JAMES SHANKS 221 



minimum of decomposition ; greatest con- 

 centration. 



As the arrangement is capable of extended 

 application, we draw attention to Lunge's 

 remarks (II., page 468), where he says, "In 

 the soda manufacture, and following its 

 example, in many other cases the circulation 

 of the liquid is caused without any mechan- 

 ical assistance, simply by its hydrostatical 

 pressure. Singularly enough, this matter, 

 extremely simple as it is, is wrongly explained 

 in Hofmann's Report by the Juries. There 

 the principle of the liquor motion is reduced 

 to the fact that solutions become heavier as 

 they become richer, and that any given 

 column of a weak solution is balanced by a 

 shorter column of a dense one. Hence, in a 

 series of horizontally disposed lixiviating 

 vats, the water level will be lower in each 

 successive vat, viz., highest in that receiving 

 pure water, lowest in that containing satur- 

 ated liquor. Thus, though the vats be hori- 

 zontal, a "working declivity" of from 12 to 

 15 inches is stated to be gained. Now, 

 a declivity, of course, exists, but not a 

 "working" one; the liquor cannot flow from 

 the weaker tanks to the stronger ones, 

 although their level may be very different 



