242 MILDEW, MANCHESTER 



arranged in pairs, back to back, so as to expose only one side to the coating solution. 

 This latter is tolerably well known, and is made by dissolving 1 oz. of nitrafe of silver 

 in a quart of distilled water, and in a separate vessel 1 oz. of glucose in a quart of 

 distilled water. When the silver has dissolved, a small quantity of liquor ammonia? 

 is added, and the solution becomes cloudy, the cloudiness disappearing on the addition 

 of a little more ammonia. When this stage has been arrived at, the two solutions 

 are mixed together and poured into the bath containing the mica plates, the bath 

 being placed in a warm room, to facilitate the deposition of the silver. When the 

 mica plates are sufficiently coated they are withdrawn from the bath, thoroughly 

 rinsed in water and stood away to dry, after which they may, if deemed necessary, be 

 coated with spirit-varnish. 



The mica plates thus prepared may be mounted on frames of tin, sheet iron, paper, 

 or plastic composition. Many other applications of these mica reflectors will suggest 

 themselves to our readers, though their principal use is undoubtedly for illuminating 

 purposes." 



MICACEOUS IRON. One of the varieties of haematite ; so called from its mica- 

 ceous structure. See IRON*. 



MICA-SLATE or SCHIST. (Sckisma, Ger. a splitting.) A foliated rock com- 

 posed of mica and quartz. The first name is not correctly applied. 



1VIICR.OCOSIVIIC SALT. A term given to a salt extracted from human urine. 

 It is a phosphate of soda and ammonia ; and is now prepared b} r mixing equivalent 

 proportions of phosphate of soda and phosphate of ammonia, each in solution, evapo- 

 rating and crystallising the mixture. A small excess, of ammonia aids the crystal- 

 lisation. 



IKIIiDEW, MANCHESTER. From imperfect manufacture or from corrupt 

 practices it appears that a peculiar mildew has often developed itself in cotton goods 

 sent to India, to which this name has been given. The Manchester Chamber of 

 Commerce has just (1874) received a letter from the Shanghai General Chamber of 

 Commerce respecting ' mildewed shirtings,' which will probably open the eyes of those 

 concerned in the matter to the fact that, after all, honesty is perhaps the best policy, 

 and that there is a point beyond which swindling cannot be carried without its evil 

 effect recoiling on its authors. The Chairman of the Shanghai Chamber, writing on 

 December 17, 1872, calls attention to the widespread deterioration by mildew of 

 cotton piece goods imported to China from Manchester. The losses from this cause 

 have for some time been very large ; but towards the end of 1871 parcel after parcel of 

 grey shirtings, principally if not wholly consisting of second and lower qualities, were 

 rejected by the Chinese buyers as ' spotted,' and during the past year the evil has 

 become so general that in September last it was estimated that 75 per cent, of the 

 entire stock of grey shirtings and T cloths in Shanghai were unmerchantable as sound 

 goods. The trade was, in fact, completely disorganised. The cause of the deterioration 

 is, there is strong reason to believe, owing to the use of ' size ' in undue quantity and 

 of a nature deleterious to the fabric employed to work up inferior cotton and to increase 

 the weight of the cloth. The results of the extensive importations of unsound goods 

 into China are that large quantities of cloth are forced off at reduced and irregular 

 prices, by which means the tone of the market is lowered and the value of even sound 

 goods is depreciated. Bales are no longer, as was once the case, accepted unopened 

 on the faith of the sample, but the wrappers have to bo cut into in order that the con- 

 dition of every package may bo ascertained. The inconvenience, delay, and loss arising 

 from this practice are obvious. The trouble and waste of time entailed by the necessity 

 of minute inspection, the frequent resales of rejected parcels, and the uncertainty as to 

 the completion of any sale, until full examination of the contents of the packages has 

 been made, all represent a positive burden on the trade. The destruction of the pack- 

 ages is, moreover, a loss to the native merchant, who can never again pack his goods 

 so securely for inland transport. More important, perhaps, than all, is the fact that 

 the confidence of native dealers and merchants in foreign goods is shaken ; for they 

 are no longer sure of carrying their purchases to the end of a long journey in a mer- 

 chantable condition. Such general want of confidence in the soundness of foreign 

 cotton goods must tend, it is urged, to render them unpopular among the Chinese ; and, 

 considering that foreign imports, though cheaper, have great difficulty even under 

 favourable circumstances in competing with the more durable native manufactures, 

 the trade is not in a position to bear any additional burden. Although, therefore, the 

 first losses from mildew fall upon the importing merchant, while the manufacturers 

 appear to escape altogether, yet such an unequal distribution of the responsibility 

 cannot continue, if for no better reason than that the magnitude of the losses will soon 

 put it beyond the power of the merchants to bear them, were they ever so willinir. 

 The result will, therefore, ultimately affect the Manchester manufacturers as seriously 

 as the China merchants, and the latter urge the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to 



