oftht State of New York. ^63 



There Is' another patent which deserves a more detailed notice, as 

 it contains a process much more extensively introduced and which in 

 in some respects is a real improvement upon the ordinary mode of 

 manufacture. At least the samples thus prepared, contain, as we 

 shall hereafter see, a larger proportion of alkali, than any at present 

 in market. 



The patent to which I now refer, was secured in July 1831. The 

 original specification may be found in the 9th volume of the Frank- 

 lin Journal. The process however, has recently been varied, and 

 now consists, essentially, in employing small leach tubs which are to 

 be prepared in the usual manner, by placing sticks, straw and quick- 

 lime at the bottom. Over this is to be placed a layer of ashes, of 

 about four inches in thickness, which is then to be treated with 

 a boiling liquor, prepared by adding eighteen pounds of salt, and 

 one bushel of quicklime to ninety gallons of w^ater. Another layer 

 of ashes is then to be added, which is to be treated with the liquor 

 as before, and so on until four layers of ashes have been introdu- 

 ced, — when cold water is to be added, and to remain five or six 

 hours. The lixivium is then to be boiled and " melted down" in 

 the usual way. 



It is asserted that by the above process of working, about one 

 half the quantity of ashes will be saved, the potash melts easily in 

 consequence of its purity, the kettles last much longer, and less fuel 

 is required in the melting than by the ordinary method. 



This patent, in its principal feature, closely resembles one obtain- 

 ed in England by Thomas Howard, in 1801 ; — the specification of 

 which is recorded in the Repertory of Arts, 1st Series Vol. 16. It 

 is entitled " specification of a patent for a method of making a Brit- 

 ish barilla and potash, and of obtaining a greater quantity of alkali 

 than hitherto discovered." In this process, quicklime, in large pro- 

 portion, is added to refuse alkaline salts, by which means their de- 

 composition is effected, and a large quantity of pure alkali obtained. 



I will now briefly state what I consider to be the advantages and 

 disadvantages attending the American process above described. 



Increased amount of alkali obtained from the ashes. — From the 

 certificate of a respectable gentleman which was submitted to the 

 committee of the Legislature, it appears, that in an experiment 

 which he tried, twelve bushels of ashes yielded upon the old or com- 

 mon plan, seventy eight pounds of potash, whereas the same quan- 

 tity of ashes treated according to the process in question, yielded 



