March 1, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



103 



tinued as an alloy, witli 2% or 3% of foreign matter, 

 suflBcient to destroy its malleability and ductility, and 

 prevent its usefulness in the arts. The first demand 

 for the metal was for nickel-plate, and next for mak- 

 ing coins; being first used for the latter purpose in 

 Switzerland in 1850, and in the United States in 1857, 

 although as early as 1853 Booth of Philadelphia had 

 made sample coins, and submitted them to the mint, 

 but they were not accepted. The alloy varied from 5 

 parts of nickel and 95 of copper to 30 of nickel and 70 

 of copper. This country first adopted the ratio of 12 

 to 88; and at present, in the five-cent nickel coins, 

 uses 25 parts of nickel to 75 of copper. Of these five- 

 cent pieces there were issued up to June 30, 1876, the 

 value of $7,000,000. Another large demand for the 

 metal was occasioned by the discovery of the possi- 

 bility of depositing it by the action of electricity. 



Nickel ores are extensively distributed through the 

 United States, more generally than is usually sup- 

 posed. It is found with chrome ores in serpentine 

 rocks which have a coating of nickel-oxide or emerald 

 nickel, and is also commonly associated with magnetic 

 pyrites ; particularly in Connecticut, by the Hudson 

 JRlver, in New Jersey, and it Lancaster Gap, Penn., 

 which is the chief source of the metal in this country. 

 The general diffusion of nickel is pointed out by Dr. 

 Hunt in the magnesian roclv at Quebec; at Silver 

 Harbor, on the shores of Lake Superior, is another 

 supply; and a valuable deposit has been found in 

 Nevada, whence last year there were shipped ten tons 

 of the ore to Swansea. Another deposit, closely re- 

 sembling that of New Caledonia, a hydrated silicate 

 of nickel oxide, and carrying as high as 10% of the 

 metal, has been discovered in Douglas County, in 

 southern Oregon; the Lancaster-Gap ore contains 

 only X^% to 2% of nickel, with magnetic pyrites. A 

 few years ago the discovery of the hydrated silicate 

 at New Caledonia attracted a great deal of attention. 

 It was at first thought that the deposit was small, and 

 would rapidly be exhausted ; but it has proved to be 

 of sufficient extent to supply now nearly all the works 

 of Europe, and is very pure. 



In 1876 a remarkable series of ob.iects was exhib- 

 ited at Philadelphia by Professor Wharton, being 

 nothing more nor less than a number of articles made 

 by that gentleman of pure wrought nickel. They did 

 not attract by any means the attention to which they 

 were entitled ; and the same fate befell them at Paris 

 in 1878, where they seemed insignificant beside the 

 splendid cases of alloyed products exhibited by the 

 French workmen, these cases containing, however, 

 not one piece of the pure metal of over three or fom' 

 grains weight. Professor Blake called the attention 

 of the chairman of the board of judges to these 

 wrouglit-niclcel goods. That ofiicial was inclined to 

 be incredulous, but cut a small piece off a square bar, 

 and took it to his laboratory. The next day he in- 

 formed his associates, that this exhibit of Professor 

 Wharton was beyond comparison, and that they were 

 in the presence of one of the most important results 

 of the age in this direction. This step paved the way 

 to greater advances; and experiments were begun in 

 Westphalia on the mechanical combination, or weld- 

 ing, of nickel with iron and steel. As a result there 

 have been produced sheets of iron and steel coated 

 with nickel on one or both sides, this end being ac- 

 complished by securing plates of the baser metal of 

 proper surface, on which are laid the plates of nickel : 

 these are then heated, and passed through rolls under 

 high pressure. The thickness of the nickel is a tenth 

 by weight on each side. The applications of this 

 coated metal will suggest themselves. It is chiefly 

 used in the manufacture of lioUow-ware, being readily 



spun and pressed; and its advantages of lightness, 

 strength, and infusibility, are apparent. These re- 

 sults have also been obtained by Professor Wharton 

 at Camden, N.J. ; who has also succeeded in making 

 objects of cast-nickel, the door-knobs in his residence 

 being of this material. There is a great futvue in 

 this industry, which gives additional importance to 

 all localities where nickel is found ; and it is also of 

 interest scientifically. A proposition has been made 

 to use pure nickel for the magnetic needle, and one 

 was exhibited at Paris in 1878. It was afterward 

 presented to the French government, and a commis- 

 sion was appointed to test it: their report has not 

 yet been made. 



Professor Blake exhibited to the members of tlie 

 institute several of the articles shown by Professor 

 Wharton at Philadelphia and Paris. They included 

 a knife, a bent bar, a horse-bit, etc. The bit, it was 

 explained, had not been rubbed or polished since it 

 was sent to Paris in 1878 ; yet it had not the slightest 

 appearance of tarnish about it. There were also 

 shown specimens of the hollow-ware made in West- 

 phalia. In reply to questions, Professor Blake stated 

 that these vessels were presumably harmless, as the 

 nickel is not easily attacked by vegetable acids; and, 

 fiu-ther, that the experiment had been tried of feed- 

 ing a dog on nickel-salts, on which the animal seemed 

 to thrive. It is more economic and more rapid to 

 coat the plates by rolling than by electrolysis. 



The Bower-Barff process. 



BY MK. BOWER OF ENGLAND. 



Mr. G. W. Maynard was announced to read a paper 

 on the ' Bower-BarH process; ' but he stated that Mr. 

 Bower of England, one of the discoverers of the 

 process, was present, and could do better justice to 

 the subject. Mr. Bower said, that any process which 

 has for its object the lareservation of iron and steel 

 from rust, and which will make these metals more 

 applicable than they now are to the requirements of 

 mankind, will be sure to meet with attention from 

 all those who are either engaged In the extraction of 

 the ore, its reduction to metal, or the subsequent 

 application of the metal itself. With iron and steel 

 rendered secure against corrosion, they will be used 

 to an infinitely greater extent than they now are. 

 The whole realm of science has therefore been ex- 

 plored in the attempt to discover some method by 

 which the formed article may be preserved, leaving 

 its strength undiminished by the action of rust. 

 Paints, oils, varnishes, glazes, enamels, galvanizing, 

 electro-depositing, and what is called ' inoxidizing,' 

 are among the many systems now in vogue to effect 

 the preservation of iron and steel from the corrosive 

 action of air and water. The object of this paper is 

 to show what may be done in protecting iron and 

 steel from rust by forming upon their surface a film 

 of magnetic oxide by an inexpensive process. Russian 

 sheet-iron is less affected by exposure than the ordi- 

 nary material because of this formation, but this was 

 not known imtil Dr. Percy discovered it. That such 

 a coating is produced is quite certain, but it is only 

 an accident of manufacture. To- Professor Barff is 

 due the credit of being the first to deliberately under- 

 take to coat iron and steel with magnetic oxide pro- 

 duced designedly for the purpose of protecting their 

 surfaces from rust. Some sixteen or seventeen years 

 ago my father was making a series of experiments in 

 the production of heating gases, one set of them being 

 on the decomposition of water by passing superheated 

 steam through masses of red-hot iron. He noticed 

 that the iron became less and less active, until it. 



