2o Origin of German-silver manufacture. 



various modern trades and manufactures have first 

 arisen, we shall come to the conclusion that all 

 manufactures and improvements in manufacturing 

 processes, must have been first produced by the 

 same general means, viz., new observations, although 

 the special circumstances connected with the origin 

 of each were different. 



Let us consider German-silver and its manufacture. 

 That substance is an alloy of copper, zinc, and 

 nickel ; it owes its peculiar whiteness or " silver-like" 

 appearance to the latter metal, and cannot be made 

 without it ; it is certain, therefore, that by whatever 

 means that metal or the alloy was discovered, the 

 discovery was the origin of the German-silver manu- 

 facture, and was essential to all manufactures, pro- 

 cesses, or appliances in which German-silver, nickel, 

 or any of its compounds are used. Nickel was 

 discovered by Cronstedt during the year 1751, and 

 its compounds were chiefly investigated by English 

 and foreign chemists. Cronstedt found it as a 

 peculiar metal in the mineral called kupfernickel, 

 whilst chemically examining the properties of that 

 substance. The general method by which he dis- 

 covered it was careful experiment, observation, and 

 study of the properties of matter. 



It is stated that the Chinese and other nations 

 made alloys of nickel long before nickel itself was 

 known to be a distinct metal ; they had found, by 

 experiment, that when ores of copper and zinc were 

 mixed with a particular kind of mineral and smelted, 



