1854.J 



PiiODUCT OF PiiECIOUS METALS.— INVESTIGATIONS OF M. VICAT. 



41 



turf consumed, when the factory is in regular irork, for the foUomng 

 reasons : — In the first phico, on tlie fm-nacos being lighted the expan- 

 sion in them was very considerable, and for some weeks I believe that 

 the greater proportion of the products escaped through theinumer- 

 able openings thus formed ; this evil gradually abated as the furnaces 

 became viti-ilied : 4 or 5 tons of tar may be considered as having been 

 lost on first starting by the coating which the various tubes through 

 which it passes have taken up ; but a far greater source of loss in 

 products tha-n either of tliese has been caused by the constant necessity 

 of blowing out the fui-naoes from the front, in order to keep the bot- 

 toms of the furnaces sufficiently heated to prevent the slag from 

 choking them. . The great cause of this having been so constantly 

 requisite, has been the excessive ij-regularity of burning, consequent 

 upon the iuetHcieucy of the blowing machine. 



Gas. — For the last week or ton days since the blowing machine has 

 been put in somevriiat more cflioient condition, the amount of gas has 

 been very satisfactory. We have frequently had more gas than we 

 reciuired, though only working with two cylinders. Previously to this, 

 tliere has been generally a deficiency of gas, and we have not, tkerofore 

 attempted as yet to make .any charcoal. 



Iron Ore. — A considerable quantity of iron ore, both clay-band, 

 nnd brown heraiitite, is calcined, and ready for putting into the fui'- 

 naces, as soon as ym can again get them sufficiently hot for smelting. 

 Tiiis, however, cannot bo, until we have had the four cylinders of the 

 blowing machine continuously at work for a considerable period. 



TuKF CniTiNfi. — We have cut this season up to the present time 

 about 10,000 tons — -1100 of which is now clamped. The excessive 

 quantity of rain for the last mouth has prevented a grcateV proportiOa 

 from being clamped. \Va have still on hand from last year's cutting 

 lliOO tons of tm-f. The dillicvdty in procuring labourers for turf cut- 

 ting has been this year unparalleled thi'oughout the country. 



1 have strictly confined myself in this report to plain st.atistical 

 f;icts, for these .are what all will look to ; but liad the gener.al meeting 

 been a month later, I feel confident, provided no unforeseen accident 

 sliould occur, that I sbould have been enabled to form statistics re- 

 lative to the further purifying of the products, that would have been 

 much more satisfactory to the meeting than those I am at present en- 

 abled to atford — I allude more especially to the amount of pure parafiue, 

 and also of valuable oil that we now expect to obtain from a given 

 quautity of tar. I ti'ust, however, that the unvarnished statements 

 which I have now given will be satisfactory as far as they go. — [I. F. 

 Powell. 



Exported from the country between January, 

 1 849, and January, 1854 



112,09o,.574 



Procl^ict of the Precious Metals tJirougliosit tUc "World In 1853t 



America 



Europe 



Asia 



Africa, &o. &c. 

 Australia. . . . 



GOLD. 



Grand total. 



§109,150,748 



22,138,914 



19,847,058 



4,000,000 



96,000,000 



SILVER. 



!329,807,456 

 8,648,937 

 5,197,218 



lor.vL. 



S251. 143.320 1 343.653,611 



$138,964,204 



30,787,851 



25,044,876 



4,000,000 



96,000,000 



8294,796,931 



The following will exhibit the annual product at various pei-iods 

 prior to above : 



1492 ¥250,000 



1.500 3,000,000 



1600 11,000,000 



1700 23.000.000 



iSUO !sia2,520,867 



1842 69,987,681 



1848 80,601,000 



1851 180,173,873 



The statistics lately collected by the Secretary of the Treasury (U. S.) 

 present some interesting facts. According to the statement of Mr. 

 (Crawford, the amount of specie in the country in 1820 was only 

 !S37,O00,O0O. 



Product of the mines from that date to 1849 $37,705,250 



Import of specie from 1820 to 1849 amounted 



to §2.52,109,841 



Exported during the same time. . '. . 180,462,400 

 Leaving an excess of imports over exports 



of specie to 1849 of. 71,707,435 



In the country on the l.st of January 1849 §122,412,085 



Supply from the mines from 1849 to 18-54 194,363,117 



Imported in same time 20,508,774 



Specie in the country, in January, 1 854 .$230,589,502 



— being one hundred and eight millions of dollars more in the counti-y 

 nov? than in 1849. But tliere are large amounts of money 

 brought into the country that cannot appear in statistical 

 tables. It is estim.ated that over §30,000,000 in coin have been 

 brought in by immigrants since 1849. Of the two hundred and thirty 

 millions in specie in the cuuutry now, a little less than sixty millions 

 is in the banks ; a little more than twenty seven miilions in the 

 national treasvu-y ; and the balance is in circulation, or hcardedupby 

 private owners. The gold and silver in circulation is over one hnu- 

 di'ed and forty-three millions of dollars now, and the circulation of bank 

 paper is over one hundi-ed and ninety-four millions of dollars. To- 

 gether they make over three hundred and thirty-eight million, dollars 

 as the active money of the country at the present time. 



Iicsi!lt.s ol some recent IiLVcstij^ations of HI. "I'icaCj 



Upon the Desiruciive Action tcliich Sea Water exerts on the Siltcalvs 

 laioii-nin the Arts as Hydraulic Mortars, Cements, and Puozzolanas. 



5343,294,570 



M. Vicat, to whom we are so much indebted for our knowledge of 

 tlie preparation of cements, has recently presented to the French 

 Academy of Sciences the following resume of the chief general results 

 to which a very long course of experiments upon that very iujporlant 

 subject, the durability of cements in marine construction, has led 

 him: — 



1. That the double hydrated silicates of lime and alumina just 

 mentioned are very unstable compounds. 



2. That pure water, when poured upon all of them in the state of as 

 fine powder as can be produced by ordinary means, no matter what 

 might be their age or hardness, will dissolve a portion of their lime, 

 provided they have not been in any way, or at least a very slight de- 

 gree, exposed to the action of carbonic acid. 



3. That if, mider the same circumstances, a very dUute solution 

 of sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salt be substituted for the pure 

 water, the greater part, and often the whole, of the lime existing as 

 silicates passes into the condition of sulphate. If any carbonic acid 

 had previously acted upon it, the carbonate of lime thus formed is not 

 decomposed by the sulphate of magnesia. 



4. Th.at all puozzolanas, no matter what might be their ages, require 

 for their complete satui-ation a very much smaller quantity of lime 

 than is added in practice, especially when we take into account their 

 very imperfect state of division from the rough way in which tlsey 

 are usually prepared. 



5. That the affinity of carbonic acid for the lime in combination in 

 these various silicates is so strong, that it is possible, with the aid of a 

 liltlc moistirre, to completely neutralise it, wherever it can penetrate, 

 and thus leave all the other constituents of the cement, whether in 

 combination or not among themselves, as mere mixtures in the mass. 



It follows, from these results, that sea-water will destroy every 

 cement, mortar, or puozzalana, if it can penetrate into the mass im- 

 mersed in it. As, however, certain of these compounds are perfectly 

 durable when constantly immersed in sea-water, they cannot have 

 been pencti-ated by it. Its penetration has been prevented by the 

 siu-faces, and the source of this inability to penetrate is chiefly caused 

 by a superficial coating of carbonate of lime, which has foi-med either 

 anteriorly orposteriorly to their immersion, and which in time augments 

 in thickness. The cIVect of a kind of cementation produced by the 

 decomposition of the sulphate of magnesia, of the sea-water, 

 and the deposition of carbonate of magnesia in the superficial tissue 

 of the mass, and the formation of incrustations nnd of sub- 

 marine vegct;ition, contributes also to this impermeability. But 

 all such superficial irapermcal.)lo coatings are not attached wiUi tlio 

 same force to the mass which they envelope. The differences which 

 have been observed in this respect depend in some cases upon the 

 chemical constitution, nnd upon the peculiar cohesion of the silicates, 

 and in others upon the subnuirino situation, relative to the action of 

 the waves and the rolling or dashing of shingle upon them. Hence the 

 differences which have been observed by engineers in the durability of 

 concretes of which such silicates form the ganguc. 



