Mineral Fusible Cement. 81 



Art. IX. — Kotice of the Mineral Fusible Cement of H. Fit z Lowitz. 



We have received from a respected correspondent, the following 

 account of a composition whose properties appear, from the state- 

 ment, to be sufficiently important to entide it to a place in this Jour- 

 nal. The account of die properties has been already printed 5 but 

 that of the use, tools, &£C. has been communicated for this Journal in 

 a lithographic copy. 



In announcing the Mineral Fusible Cement for sale in England, it 

 is right to state that it has been for some years in use on the Conti- 

 nent ; particularly in Sweden and Denmark, whose engineers, after 

 repeated trials, recommended it to their respective governments. 



The Honorable Board of Ordnance in England, directed various 

 trials of it to be made at the King's Mews, Pall Mall East, in August 

 last ; in the presence of several officers of the Royal Engineers, and 

 other scientific gentlemen. The experiments were conducted under 

 Captain Smith of the Royal Engineers ; who was of opinion after 

 repeated trials, that it was impervious to ivater, and that its adhesive 

 qualities were greater than any cement he had ever known. 



We shall only cite a few of the numerous trials made at the King^s 

 Mews, to shew its resistance to water and damp, and its powers of 

 adhesion. 1st. A case of wood was united with the cement only, 

 and lined ^vith it ; and in less than half an hour filled with water ; it 

 was perfectly tight. 2d. To shew its adhesive qualities, two plates 

 of iron, four inches square, with a hook in each, were united with the 

 cement by a seam or joint of one eighth of an inch ; on being sus- 

 pended, it bore a weight of upwards of eight hundred pounds Isefore 

 they separated. 3d. The fiat side of a brick was united to an up- 

 right board by this cement, another to that, and so on, until the twen- 

 tieth brick was attached ; when one of the bricks split, but none of 

 the joints gave way. This experiment was repeated frequently, but 

 in every instance the cement proved stronger than the bricks. 4th. 

 A piece of iron, with a hook at the upper end and shank three inches 

 long, was inserted in a hole in a block of granite, and there fixed 

 widi this cement instead of lead ; the block of granite was attached 

 by the cement to another of the same size, weighing together about 

 three hundred pounds ; the two were suspended by the hook, and 

 loeights to the extent of three hundred pounds were placed on the 

 upper stone, but nothing gave way: the iron was not dovetailed at 



Vol. XVII.— No. K 11 



