1854.] 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



281 



Deposition of Aluminium and Silicium by tile Electrotype 



Process- 

 Mr. Gore, of Birmingham, has succeeded in depositing aluminium and 

 silicium upon copper, by the electrotype process. To obtain the former, he 

 boils an excess of dry hydrous alumina in hydrochloric acid for one hour, 

 then, pouring off the clear liquid, adds one-sixth its volume of water. In 

 this mixture was set an earthern porous vessel, containing sulphuric acid, 

 diluted with 12 parts of water, with a piece of amalgamated zinc plate in 

 it. In the chloride of aluminium solution was immersed a plate of copper, 

 of the same amount of immersed metallic surface as that of the zinc, and 

 connected with the zinc by a copper wire. The whole was then set aside 

 for some hours, and, when examined, the copper was found coated with a 

 lead-coloured deposit of aluminium, which, when burnished, possessd the 

 same degree of whiteness as platinum, and did not readily tarnish, either by 

 immersion in cold water, or by the action of the atmosphere, but was acted 

 on by sulphuric and nitric acid, whether concentrated or dillule. If the 

 apparatus is kept quite warm, and a copper plate much smaller than the 

 zinc plate is employed, the deposit appears in a very short time — some- 

 times in half-a-minute ; if the chloride solution is not diluted with water, 

 the deposit is equally, if not more rapid. 



The author has also succeeded in obtaining a quick desposit of aluminium, 

 in a less pure state, by dissolving common pipe-clay in boiling hydrochloric 

 acid, and using the clear liquid undiluted in place of the above-mentioned 

 chloride. Similar deposits were obtained from a strong aqueous solution of 

 acetate of alumina, and from common alum, but more slowly. With each 

 of the solutions named, the deposit was hastened by putting from one to 

 three small Smee's batteries in the circuit. 



To obtain the deposit of silicium, monosilicate of potash (prepared by 

 melting together 1 part silica with 2£ parts carbonate of potash), was dis- 

 solved in water, in the proportion of 40 grains to one ounce measure, pro- 

 ceeding as with aluminium, the process being hastened by interposing a 

 Smee's battery in the circuit. With a very slow and feeble action of the 

 battery, the colour of the deposited metal closely resembled that of silver. — 

 Artizan. 



On Soap as a Means of Art. * 



By Ferguson Branson, M.D., Sheffield. 



Several years ago, I was endeavoring to find an easy substitute for 

 wood engraving, or rather to find out a substance more readily cut than 

 wood, and yet sufficiently firm to allow of a cast being taken from the sur- 

 face when the design was finished, to be re-produced in type metal, or by 

 the electrotype process. After trying various substances, 1 at last hit upon 

 one which at first promised success, viz., the very common substance called 

 soap, but I found that much more skill than I possessed was required to 

 cut the fine lines for surface printing. A very little experience with the 

 material convinced me that, though it might not supply the place of wood 

 for surface printing, it contained within itself the capability of being ex- 

 tensively applied to various useful and artistic processes in a manner hitherto 

 unknown. Die-sinking is a tedious process, and no method of die-sinldng 

 that I am aware of admits of freedom of handling. A drawing may be 

 executed with a hard point on a smooth piece of soap almost as readily, as 

 -freely, and in as short a time as an ordinary drawing with a lead pencil. 

 Every touch thus produced is clear, sharp, and well defined. When the 

 drawing is finished a castmay be taken from the surface in plaster, or, 

 better still, by pressing the soap firmly into heated gutta percha. In gutta 

 percha several impressions may be taken without injuring the soap, so as to 

 admit of" proofs" being taken and corrections made — a very valuable and 

 practical quality in soap. It will even bear being pressed into melted 

 sealing-wax without injury. I have never tried a sulphur mould, but I . 

 imagine an impression from the soap could easily be taken by that method. 

 The accompanying specimens will show that from the gutta percha or 

 plaster cast thus obtained a cast in brass, with the impression either sunk 

 or in relief, can at once be taken. If sunk, a die is obtained capable of 

 embossing paper or leather ; if in relief, an artistic drawing in metal. This 

 suggests a valuable application. The manufacturer may thus employ the 

 most skilful artist to make the drawing on the soap, and a fac-simile of the 

 actual touches of the artist can be reproduced in metal, paper, leather, 

 guttapercha, or any other' material' capable of receiving an impression. 

 By this means even high art can be applied in various ways — not a trans- 

 lation of the artist's work by another hand, as in die-sinking, but the 

 veritable production of the artist himself. One of the specimens sent is a 

 copy of Sir E. Landseer's " Highland Piper," a rude one, I must confess-, 



* Dr. Branson has also employed Bees' wax, white wax, sealing wax, lacs, as well as 

 other plastic bodies ; and in some of these cases a heated steel knitting needle or point 

 was substituted for the ivory knitting needle. — Ed. Jour. Soc. of Arts. 



though its rudeness does not militate against the principal involved in its 

 production. Suppose the drawing had been made by Sir E. Landseer 

 "himself; that accomplished artist's actual drawing might have been em- 

 bossed on various materials in common use, and disseminated amongst 

 thousands, thus familiarizing the eyes of the public with high art, and 

 giving a value to the embossed transcript which no translation by the die- 

 sinker, however skilful, could possibly give it. The raised gutta percha 

 impression of this specimen is from soap itself ; the sunk impression is 

 cast in gutta percha from gutta percha. The works in metal during the 

 14th, 15th, and 16lh centuries, owe then: excellence in a great degree to 

 the same individual of artist and artisan. The metal was finished by the 

 artist himself, who left the stamp of Iris genius unmistakably upon it. By 

 the plan just explained, something like a return to this combination might 

 be effected, and the artist would at least have the satisfaction of finding his 

 own "work accurately rendered, and not enfeebled in the translation; for 

 the art of casting in metal has of late been so much improved, that little 

 difference can be detected between the impression on the cast and the 

 mould which produced it. I wish to lay particular stress upon the fact 

 that drawing touches can be thus rendered,, and an effect rapidly produced, 

 unattainable by modelling. The larger plaster casts were taken from 

 drawings freely made — as the appearance of the touches will prove — in 

 common brown soap. The finer land of soap is of course better fitted for 

 fine work ; but should the process now described be adopted by the manu- 

 facturer — and I trust it may never become the subject of any patent — 

 soap better suited to the purpose than any now made will doubtless be 

 specially manufactured. In proof that fine lines can be drawn upon soap 

 as well as broad vigorous touches, I can state that one of Rembrandt's 

 etchings has been copied on soap, the soap pressed into gutta percha, and 

 an electrotype taken from the gutta percha cast from which a print has 

 been obtained very Utile inferior in delicacy to the original etching. 

 Doubtless persons engaged in manufactures will see applications of the 

 process which I have not contemplated, and I leave it to their ingenuity to 

 discover them, and I would particularly call the attention of ornamental 

 leather and paper manufacturers, book-binders, and, possibly, manufacturers 

 of china, to the process, for it must be remembered that soap when made 

 can be run into moulds of any form, so as to obtain curved as well as 

 flat surfaces for the artist to draw upon. It has also occurred to me that it 

 would prove a very ready and expeditious method of forming raised maps, 

 pictures, and diagrams for the use of the blind. The manipulation is very 

 simple. A leadpencil drawing if required , can readily be transferred to 

 the smoothed surface of the soap, by placing the face of the drawing on the 

 soap, and rubbing the back of the paper ; every line of the drawing is then 

 distinctly visible on the soap. The implements used are equally simple ; 

 all the specimens sent were drawn with ivory knitting-needles, and small 

 ivory netting meshes for scooping out larger and deeper touches. The 

 only caution necessary is to avoid under-cutting. Having felt the greatest 

 interest in the establishment of schools of design, so well calculated to re- 

 connect Fine Art with manufactures, it will afford me sincere gratifica- 

 tion if the simple process now pointed out — and I trust its simplicity will 

 be no bar to its being carefully tested — shall be hi the smallest degree in- 

 strumental in accomplishing the re-union. 



P.S. — The date 1850 is on some of the illustrative specimens. 



Rate of Transmission of Impressions made upon the Nerves, 

 by M. Helmholtz of Koniosberg. — The results of the author's 

 experiments upon the human subject were as follows : — The intelligence 

 of an impression made upon the ends of the nerves in communication with 

 the skin is transmitted to the brain with a velocity which does not. vary in 

 different individuals, nor at different times, of about 60 metres, or 195 feet 

 per second. Arrived at the brain an interval of about 1-1 0th of a second 

 passes before the will, even when the attention is strung to the uttermost, 

 is able to give the command to the nerves that certain muscles shall exe- 

 cute a certain motion. This interval varies in different persons, and de- 

 pends chiefly upon the degree of attention. It varies also at different times 

 in the case of the same person. When the attention is lax, it is very irregu- 

 lar, but when fixed very regular. The command travels probably with 

 the same velocity toward the muscle. Finally about the 1-1 00th of a second 

 passes after the receipt of the command before the muscle is in full activity. 

 In all therefore from the excitation of the sensitive nerves till the moving 

 of the muscle 1^ to two-tenths of a second are consumed. 



New Planet. — Mr. Marth, assistant at Mr. Bishop's observatoiy, Re- 

 gent's Park. London, discovered on the 2nd March last a new planet 

 close to the bright star Spica in Virgo. It appears as a star of the 10th 

 magnitude. The same object was discovered by Mr. Norman Pogson, 

 one'of the assistants of the Radcliffe observatory, Oxford, on the evening 

 of the 3rd March. 



