ON BLEACHING. 135 



I succeeded best by fluxing the pulverised mineral with a mixture of 

 charcoal, bitartrate of potash, and carbonate of soda. 



It occurred to me that by mixing equivalent proportions of Stibiconise 

 and Stibine, and applying heat, I should get metallic antimony thus : — 

 2SbS 3 + 3SbO* = 5Sb + 6S0 2 



Stibine. Stibiconise. Antimony. Sulphurous acid. 



But such is not the case : If the air has free access into the crucibles, the 

 sulphide is converted in Sb O 3 which volatilises ; and if the crucibles are 

 nearly closed the whole melts and forms a mobile licprid, which, in cooling 

 forms a bluish, metallic, crystalline mass, giving a brown powder when 

 pulverised The compound thus formed I ascertained to be an oxy-sul- 

 phide of antimony, analogous to what is called mineral kermes. 



The Borneo Stibiconise has lately been employed as an oil paint ; for 

 which purpose, as recommended by Dr Stenhouse, it is calcined and pul- 

 verised It is said to possess certain peculiar advantages for house-paint- 

 ing, &c. According to what I have said above, the purer portions of the 

 mineral constitute an ore of antimony of greater value than the sulphide 

 which is generally used as such. 



ON BLEACHING 



BY HENKY ASHWORTH. 



The art of bleaching may be considered to have taken date from the 

 earliest ages, probably from the time when human knowledge had become 

 extended to the fabrication of clothing ; and the inventor may have been 

 the first housewife whose personal feelings induced the desire to enjoy the 

 comeliness and the comfort of clean linen. Primarily, the operation has 

 been accomplished by soap and water, the friction of the human hands, 

 and exposure to the whitening effect of the atmosphere. Theoretically 

 speaking, the bleaching of the present day, in all its enlarged proportions, 

 is accomplished out of the same elements, although in their application 

 they may have been altered and modified to suit the economy of modern 

 chemistry, and the mechanical appliances which now supersede the 

 manipulations of a bygone age. The interesting character of the progress 

 of these changes it will be our province to endeavour to trace. The ancient 

 writers do not appear to have left us any details on the subject, and the 

 knowledge we possess extends only as far back as the middle of the last 

 century. Previous to that time, the cotton manufacture was scarcely 1 known, 

 and the linen manufacturers of the north, who knew nothing of bleaching, 

 used to send their brown fabrics to be bleached in Holland, and they weie 

 received again in the course of eight months, and sold under the definition 

 of Brown Holland. In the year 1749, the practice of lime-bleaching was 

 introduced, and the cloth was then steeped in alkaline lye, which was 



