METALS. 



457 



by the workmen as an indication of the pres- 

 ence of copper. Only 240 Ibs. of iron re- 

 mained, the rest having been lost in the scales 

 and slag. Analysis showed the original pig- 

 iron to contain 1-32 per cent, silicon, 0-28 sul- 

 phur, 3'56 manganese, and 0'35 copper, and 

 that removed from the furnace 0'20 sulphur, 

 0'4S manganese, and 0-57 copper, showing that 

 none of the copper was removed by the pud- 

 dling. 



Malleable Iron. The same number contains 

 an abstract of the experiments made in 1857 by 

 H. Tissier, director of the aluminium works at 

 Amfreville, in France, on the action of carbon- 

 ate of soda on cast-iron. He found that mal- 

 leable iron, heated with it alone, suffered no 

 change, while cast-iron lost its carbon and sili- 

 cium, and was converted into malleable iron ; 

 and suggests that the process of annealing or 

 the conversion of cast into malleable iron, now 

 accomplished by heating the articles for a long 

 time with substances rich in oxide of iron, 

 might be replaced by a heating with carbonate 

 of soda, with the advantage that the metal may 

 be withdrawn from time to time to watch the 

 progress of the conversion into steel or malle- 

 able iron. He was in hopes of being able, in 

 this way, to obtain large masses of malleable 

 iron, such as heretofore have been obtained 

 only by forging ; but the length of time re- 

 quired, and the porosity of the iron obtained, 

 demand some further modifications of the pro- 

 cess. With smaller castings, however, the ac- 

 tion, even when superficial, imparts great 

 toughness, removing the liability to fracture. 



Copper in Canada. M. Gauldr6e Boileau, 

 French consul at Quebec, states, in a despatch 

 dated Jan. 1861, that new discoveries of copper 

 continued to be made between Richmond and 

 Quebec, and that it appeared every day more 

 evident that the beds at Acton were not isolat- 

 ed, but constituted part of a vast copper-bear- 

 ing formation, the outcrops of which have al- 

 ready been exposed at many points, as at St. 

 FlavSen, in the county of Lothiniere, at Mel- 

 bourne, and in the immediate vicinity of Rich- 

 mond. He states the ores to contain enough 

 silver to render its extraction advantageous, 

 and says that the establishment of works for 

 the treatment on~ a large scale of the ores of 

 Acton, Richmond, &c., has been projected at 

 Longneil, opposite Montreal. To this would be 

 attached sulphuric acid works, so as to make 

 use of the gases produced. 



Zin>*. A very interesting paper on the im- 

 purities of commercial zinc was contributed to 

 the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts 

 and Sciences (vol. viii.) by Messrs. C. W. Eliot 

 and Frank H. Storer. The specimens exam- 

 ined were, 1st, Silesian, 2d, Vieille Montasrne, 

 3d, Ne\v Jersey. 4th. Pennsylvanian, (from 

 Penn. and Lehigh Works. Bethlehem,) 5th, Vi- 

 eille Montagne, (such as used at United States 

 Mint,) 6th, a sample bought in Paris, labelled 

 " zinc pur," 7th, of unknown origin, 8th, 9th, 

 10th, and llth, "English zinc," from different 



works in Wales. The chief impurity of all 

 these proved to be metallic lead, of which No. 

 1 contained 1-46 per cent., 2d, 0'292, 3d, 0'079, 

 4th, none, 5th, 0'494, 6th, 0-106, 7th, 1-297, 

 and the English ones, 1-192, 0'823, 1-C61. and 

 1-516 respectively. Minute traces of cadmium 

 and tin were found in si-veral samples, but 

 never amounting to ^ of 1 per cent., except 

 No. 3, which gave decided indications of tin. 

 Copper was found only in No. 3, which con- 

 tained 0-1298 per cent. The occurrence of iron 

 generally forming less than 0'2 per cent, having 

 before been shown, Messrs. Eliot and Storer 

 did not investigate particularly. No. 3 con- 

 tained 0-2088 per cent. Nickel, cobalt, and 

 manganese, which have been asserted to some- 

 times occur in zinc, they are of opinion are 

 never to be found, unless accidentally, and then 

 in very minute quantity. Carbon seems either 

 not to occur at all, or only in infinitesimal quan- 

 tity. The presence of sulphur in extremely min- 

 ute but appreciable quantity, was ascertained 

 in every sample examined. But the most im- 

 portant though somewhat unexpected resnlt 

 obtained, was that much of the zinc of com- 

 merce is free from arsenic, or, at least, contains 

 too small a quantity to be detected by the most 

 delicate tests known, and that in many cases 

 its supposed detection by Marsh's test has aris- 

 en from the impurity of the acids used a resnlt 

 of the highest importance to persons engaged 

 in the examination of cases of alleged arsenical 

 poisoning. Some specimens of the Yieille Mon- 

 tagne and Pennsylvania zincs gave no trace 

 after the current of gas had been maintained 

 for more than one hour in the very delicate 

 apparatus employed, which was proved by di- 

 rect experiment to be capable of detecting ar- 

 senic when forming only one ten-millionth of 

 either the zinc or the liquid. Inferior samples 

 of both, as well as those from Silesia and Paris, 

 yielded, after long trial, exceedingly minute 

 traces. The New Jersey and English speci- 

 mens yielded very considerable indications of 

 arsenic. The authors conclude their paper with 

 a comparative view of the origin and probable 

 impurities of the principal varieties of zinc, of 

 which the Silesian and Belgian alone enter ex- 

 tensively into foreign commerce, the French, 

 English, and American being used at home. 



The Silesian is for the most part made from 

 the silicate and carbonate of zinc, and these ores 

 furnish metal of great purity ; but whenever 

 ores containing blende, or the impure oxide of 

 zinc from other metallurgic processes, are mixed 

 with them, arsenic, &c., may be expected. In 

 German zinc generally, previous researches, 

 confirmed by those of Messrs. E. and S., had 

 shown lead to be the principal impurity, with 

 frequently a little cadmium, and they found, 

 even in the best samples, traces of sulphur and 

 arsenic. The Belgian is also made from sili- 

 cate and carbonate, and when made with care 

 from selected ores, contains very little lead and 

 no arsenic, but differs a good deal, probably 

 from imperfect picking of the ores. The Eng- 



