Februaby 1, 1893.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



27 



nobles, with thy horses, and with thy chariots, and may 

 there be great peace in thy land ; and with me may it be 

 well, with my government, with my wives, with my 

 children, with my nobles, witli my horses, and with my 

 chariots, and with my troops, and may there be great 

 peace in my land." In a previous letter, it would seem 

 Amenophis had requested of Kallima Sin the hand of his 

 youngest daughter, Sukharti, in marriage. Kallima Sin 

 had replied : — " Thou wishest for my daughter to wife ; 

 but from the time w'hon my father gave thee my sister to 

 wife no man hath seen her, and none knoweth whether 

 she be alive or dead." 



Kallima Sin, in his despatch, had stated that " it was 

 his custom to give his daughters in marriage to the Kings 

 of Assyria, and that the messengers who took them to 

 their future homes were treated with generous hospitality, 

 and handsome gifts were sent in return by the husband's 

 relatives." A fairly broad hint, and apparently producing 

 the desired result, as in this letter Amenophis III. replies 

 " that whatever the great kings and nobles of Babylon 

 may possess, and are willing to give to Kallima Sin as 

 dowries for his daughters, he not only possesses, but is 

 willing to give far more than they all." It further appears 

 that during the reign of his father, Thothmes IV., a 

 similar application for an Egyptian princess in marriage, 

 from a potentate of Babylon, had been received at the 

 Egyptian court most ungraciously. Thothmes had 

 replied — " The daughter of the King of the land of Egypt 

 hath never been given to a nobody." Kallima Sin, in his 

 letter, had quoted this unfortunate remark. Amenophis 

 III. " declines to discuss " the words spoken by his father, 

 and asks that they may be forgotten, as he wishes for 

 " brotherhood." " Now let us two be brethren," he says, 

 and proceeds to sketch out the main features of a commercial 

 treaty between the two countries, but concluding with the 

 renewed request that Kallima Sin would send him his 

 youngest daughter, Sukharti, to wife. 



In the end, the correspondence between the two kings 

 resolves itself mainly into a (juestion of dowry. From one 

 of the tablets at Gizeh we find Kallima Sin writing to 

 Amenophis as follows: — "With reference to thy request 

 that my daughter Sukharti be given to thee to wife, my 

 daughter Sukharti hath now come to the age of puberty 

 and ma)' be married ; if thou will write unto me she shall 

 be brought unto thee." The letter of Amenophis III. is 

 probably a copy of the original sent to the King of 

 Babylon. 



Those interested in seeing the tablets in question will 

 find seven specimens in the fourth Egyptian Room at the 

 British Museum, placed in a glass case, and with descriptive 

 notes in English attached. 



RIVAL ALKALI MANUFACTURES. 



By C. F. Tow.NSEND, F.C.S. 



THE manufacture of alkali is the most extensive 

 chemical industry we possess. Alkali, in one 

 form or another, is used in the production of 

 nearly every article of commerce, and, owing to 

 its vast importance, competition amongst rival 

 makers is unusually keen. The struggle for commercial 

 supremacy between our own and Continental countries has 

 raged very fiercely round this particular trade during the 

 last few years, and the contest promises to become still 

 more acute. The quantity of salt decomposed in the 

 manufacture of hydrate, carbonate, and bicarbonate of 

 sodium, which are all included under the term " alkali," 



amounted in 1891 to more than eight hundred and forty 

 thousand tons. Anything that gave a preponderating 

 advantage to our Continental rivals would be little short of 

 a national disaster, and it may prove interesting to take 

 a glance at the existing state of affairs. 



At present, there are two processes chiefly employed for 

 turning out the different soda compounds, and a third is 

 just beginning to enter the field. The oldest, the Leblanc 

 system, may be described as indigenous and peculiar to 

 these islands. In this process salt is heated with sulphuric 

 acid, and the sulphate thus produced, after admixture with 

 chalk and coal dust, is carried to a high temperature in a 

 revolving furnace. By the last operation, technically 

 known as the "black-ash process," carbonate of soda is 

 formed (Na./JOj), together with calcium sulphide (CaS). 

 This last body, after all the soda has been dissolved out of 

 the mass, constitutes " alkali waste." It contains all the 

 sulphur originally present in the sulphuric acid, and, until 

 recently, was deposited on the waste ground adjoining the 

 works. Hei-e it has gone on accumulating until hundreds 

 of acres are covered to a depth of more than ten feet with 

 evil-smelling sludge. In spite of all precautions, a dis- 

 gusting yellow liquid oozes from the mass. Getting into 

 the drains, it meets with acids and gives out sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, the disgusting odour of rotten eggs. Great 

 expense is incurred in keeping it oat of the rivers, ami it 

 has even been known to percolate into quarries and coal 

 workings. 



Not only is the waste an intolerable nuisance, but it 

 contains millions of tons of sulphur, which are now lost. 

 After years of research and a large expenditure of capital, 

 a means has been discovered for recovering the sulphur in 

 the calcium sulphide, and removing the trouble completely. 

 The invention, due to Messrs. Chance of Oldbury, who are 

 justly rewarded for their skill in overcoming great mecha- 

 nical difficulties, is so successful that the alkali inspectors 

 have enforced its adoption in all Leblanc soda works. 

 Carbonic acid, obtained from the lime-kilns, is the active 

 agent in the process. The gas is driven through the 

 finely-ground waste by powerful compressors, and replaces 

 the sulphuretted hydrogen, which passes on to a kiln 

 invented by Mr. C. F. Claus. Here it is mixed with just 

 enough air to burn the hydrogen without oxidizing the 

 sulphur. The heat given out is sufficient to keep the kiln 

 red-hot, and the sulphur is deposited in either the liquid or 

 the solid state, according to its distance from the kiln. 

 The system is not an expensive one to woi'k, and it is 

 expected that in a short time 100,000 tons of sulphur, 

 valued at about i;400,000, will be added to our national 

 wealth every year. 



The Leblanc process has a hard fight to maintain its 

 very existence in the face of competing methods. Every 

 year witnesses fresh prophecies as to its speedy demise ; 

 but it dies very hard, and contests every inch of the way. 

 Sulphur recovery will lend it a further prop, and may 

 serve to avert for a considerable period the dislocation 

 which would ensue if the large capital sunk in the old 

 industry had to be abandoned. 



The Solvay, or ammonia-soda process, works on entirely 

 different lines to that just described. The whole reaction 

 is carried out with materials in a state of solution, brine 

 being used instead of crystallized salt. In this wet method, 

 ammonia and carbonic acid gases are blown through hot 

 brine together. Chemically, it is equivalent to using 

 ammonium bicarbonate ; sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO ) 

 being formed in the solution, together with ammonium 

 cliloride. The crystals of bicarbonate are converted into 

 the ordinary carbonate (Na^CO;;) by heating, and are much 

 cleaner than Leblanc soda. As the market value of all 



