100 



Correspondence of J. Nickles. 



only have given sulphuret of sodium. Leblanc was aware of this, and 

 according to Dize, trials were made by himself and Leblanc to decompose 

 this sulphuret by means of carbonic acid. This process, taken up by 

 Pelletan in 1827, became the basis for establishing a manufactory in 

 Paris ; but the enterprise was not successful, and up to this time the 

 method is not employed. 



These processes were brought forward in consequence of competition 

 for a prize offered by the old Academy of Sciences to the best work on 

 the fabrication of soda from marine salt. The object was to protect 

 the arts of bleaching, glass-making and soap-making against the evil 

 effects of a rise in the price of pearlashes produced by the Revolutionary 

 War in the United States, and also a rise in the native sodas of Spain, 

 and the scarcity of beds of native natron. The prize was not awarded. 

 The production of artificial soda, like so many other inventions, was to 

 be accomplished only after obstinate trials, the theory of which was not to 

 precede the results. It was not foreseen that in calcining the sulphate of 

 soda with chalk and charcoal, an insoluble oxysulphuret would be ob- 

 tained containing all the sulphur, and capable of yielding to water all the 

 carbonate of soda contained in the product. 



This is the discovery of Leblanc. It belongs entirely to him as M. 

 Dumas has established by means of written documents of incontestable 

 authenticity, from which it appears that on the 12th February, 1*790, 

 there was formed before a notary a company for carrying out the inven- 

 tion, a company composed of M. Leblanc, Dize, and as loaner of the 

 funds, the Duke of Orleans. 



To the fabrication of artificial soda, the making of sal ammoniac, and 

 of white lead were added, processes of which Dize was the author. 



The Company was established at St. Denis near Paris, in a factory 

 called Franciade, and the manufacture commenced but without much 

 success. The events of the Revolution soon caused the sequestration of 

 the property of the Duke of Orleans and consequently that of the soda 

 factory in which he was the capitalist. 



At the same time, upon the proposition of a member of the national 

 convention, Citizen Carny, possessor of a process for the extraction of 

 soda, an appeal was made to all Frenchmen to make within three months 

 a surrender of their private interests and to deposit upon the altar of 

 their country the processes which would allow the manufacture of soda 

 from a product drawn from French soil and which would thus relieve 

 the country from th« tax paid abroad. 



Twelve processes were sent to the Committee of Public Safety, that of 

 Leblanc among them. It was recognized as the best, and the Convention 

 ordered the publication of his brevet d 'invention taken in 1791, but ac- 

 knowledging his rights to a fair indemnity which the misfortunes of the 

 time did not allow to be paid. The hour of reparation has at last arrived. 

 The section of Chemistry in the Academy has decided as follows : 



" 1. The important discovery of the process by which soda is extracted 

 from marine salt belongs wholly to Leblanc. 



" 2. Dize made researches in common with Leblanc only for the pur- 

 pose of determining the best proportions of the materials to be employed 

 in the manufacture of soda, and for establishing the factory at St. Denis. 



