June 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



ON MAGNESIUM. 491 



II. In the second stage, that curious metal— sodium, used likewise 

 in the reduction of aluminium, comes into play. Common table salt is 

 sodium plus chlorine— released from chlorine we have sodium. It is a 

 white metal, but quickly grows dim on exposure to the moisture of the 

 atmosphere. If cast upon water it floats and burns fiercely, almost like 

 potassium. Such is its affinity for oxygen, that it has to be kept in air- 

 tight vessels or under oil. It may be cut with a knife, somewhat like 

 tough cheese. 



In a crucible are deposited five parts of the dry chloride of magne- 

 sium, with one part of sodium. The crucible is covered and heated to 

 redness, when the chlorine deserts the magnesium and flies over to the- 

 sodium. The crucible is allowed to cool and its contents removed in 

 block, which when broken up reveals magnesium in nuggets of various 

 sizes and shapes, like eggs, nuts, buttons, and in minute granules. This 

 product is styled crude magnesium. 



III. The distillation of the crude magnesium is effected in a crucible 

 through which a tube ascends to within an inch of the lid. The tube 

 opens at the bottom into an iron box placed beneath the bars of the 

 furnace, so that it may be kept cool. The crucible is filled with the 

 crude metal to the level of the mouth of the tube, the lid is carefully 

 luted down, and the atmospheric air expelled by the injection of hydro- 

 gen. As the crucible becomes heated, the magnesium rises in vapour 

 freed from any impurities, and descends through the upright tube in 

 the centre into the box below, -where, on the completion of the opera- 

 tion, it is found in the form of a mountain of drippings. It is subse- 

 quently melted, and cast into ingots, or into any other form that may 

 be desired. 



In this broad sketch of the process of manufacture, the reader will 

 perceive how fully Mr. Sonstadt's ideal has been realized. Scarcely a 

 month elapses in which some detail is not reduced to greater simplicity 

 and some new economy discovered in the works of the Magnesium Metal 

 Company. The new art has made great progress since its establish- 

 ment ; experience suggests constant improvements : as the old copy -head 

 runs — Practice makes perfect. 



When the magnesium company commenced manufacturing, the 

 question presented itself, In what form should the metal be offered to 

 the public ? As there was no known use for it except as a light, it was 

 determined to vend it in the form of wire ; but here arose a difficulty — 

 How to make wire. The metal was not ductile, and could not, like 

 iron or copper, be drawn out. Dr. Matthiessen and others had pressed 

 small quantities into wire, but when experiments were made on a large 

 scale, the magnesium was found capricious ; sometimes it worked 

 readily, but at others it resisted enormous pressure, and the rams broke 

 down under the strain. Mr. William Mather, of Salford, had taken the 

 matter in hand, and with admirable resolution declined to be baffled ; 

 through costly disasters he persevered, tried, and tried again, and 



