390 



ANTIMONY. 



As a source of metallic antimony, this ore, although so rich, will not 

 sell in the English market ; but a limited demand has recently sprung up 

 for it for the manufacture of an antimony paint. Oxide of antimony, 

 prepared artificially from the sulphuret, has been adopted for this purpose 

 for many years, though only on a small scale. It has been cheaper than 

 white lead, is not so apt to lose its colour, has more body, and an equal 

 weight will spread over a larger siurface. The new paint from the natural 

 oxide is of a pale brown or stone colour, and appears well adapted for 

 outside house-painting. The yellow oxide of antimony, prepared from the 

 sulphuret, is used for enamel and porcelain painting, also in the manu- 

 facture of some of the artificial gems. It is likewise one of the ingredients 

 of Naples yellow, a preparation applied to the bronzing of metals, and 

 especially works in iron. 



The most important ore of antimony — indeed, the only really available 

 one — is the sulphuret or sulphide ; and it is found in almost every quarter 

 of the globe ; — in Trance and Hungary, where it is smelted ; also in Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, the United States, West Africa, the East Indies, China, Aus- 

 tralia, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo. Of the sulphuret of antimony there 

 are numerous varieties ; but it will be sufficient for our present purpose if I 

 describe the ordinary commercial kinds, as either compact and granular, or 

 fibrous and laminated : — Colour lead grey, highly metallic, resembling 

 galena. Sp. gr. 4 - 13 to 4-51, fusible at a low red heat. They vary in rich- 

 ness from 40 to 75 per cent, of metallic antimony, according to the purity of 

 the ore ; and the following table will evidence the opinion of several 

 chemists as to the constituent parts of the sulphides when separated from 

 the matrix. 



Name of Chemist. 



Antimony. 



Sulphur* 



Totals, 



Bergmann - 



Dana - - 



Thomson - 



DaA^y - 



Brande - - - - - 



74-00 

 73-00 

 73-77 

 74-06 

 73-5 



26.00 

 27-00 

 26-23 

 25-94 

 26-50 



100 



In Italy, large deposits of sulpiride of antimony are found at Montanto 

 and Pereta, in Tuscany. At the former place the mineral is extracted with 

 great facility, the lodes lying in the superficial stratum ; but at Pereta the 

 works are underground. These mines together yield about 260 tons of 

 ore annually, and much of this finds its way to England. Sulphide of 

 antimony also exists abundantly in the province of Minho, district of 

 Porto, in the parish of Vallongo, Portugal ; and as we receive ores of this 

 metal from that country, I presume this is the source from whence it 

 comes. 



Spain likewise aids considerably in the supply of our markets with 

 sulphide of antimony ; but Borneo is, and must continue to be, the chief 

 available repository of this metal. It is found in several parts of that 

 island, more especially on the west coast, in the interior of Sambas, at 



