} 
228 
process of making Chlorine, Hydrochloric Acid, when freed 
and dried, is exposed to extended surfaces containing a 
slight amount of Copper Salt. These surfaces are made of 
burnt clay or other material. The Chlorine that is formed 
is passed through a washing apparatus to remove any 
undecomposed Hydrochloric Acid, and being dried, is con- 
veyed to the bleaching-powder chambers. These chambers 
are very different from those used in the old places, which 
were simply large enclosed spaces. Mr. Deacon’s chambers 
are filled with layers of shelves placed one above another : 
on these the lime is laid, and the Chlorine is passed slowly 
over them one after another. 
Mr. Deacon was a man of great activity, taking an inter- 
est not only in chemical manufactories and science, but also 
in the prosperity and comfort of the inhabitants of the dis- 
trict in which he lived. He was chairman of the first Local 
Board, and of the first School Board, and his judgment on 
all points connected with the welfare of Widnes, as well as 
of the alkali trade, was justly considered worthy of the 
highest attention and respect. He also attended as a magis- 
trate of the county with great diligence. For several years 
his health had been very uncertain, but his own belief was 
that his constitution had surmounted the difficulty with 
which it was struggling, when he was seized with an attack 
of typhoid fever, of which he died, after only a week’s ill- 
ness, on the 23rd of July, 1876, at the age of 53. 
The late Dr. Dalton’s apparatus and instruments lent to 
the Loan Exhibition at South Kensington have been safely 
returned, and the Council are taking steps for their perma- 
nent preservation and exhibition in the Society’s Booms. 
In December last the Council forwarded to the Boyal 
Commissioners of the Great Exhibition of 1851 a memorial 
praying for a grant of £10,000 out of the surplus funds of 
the Exhibition to be applied for the benefit of the Society ; 
and in reply they have been informed that the Commis- 
