POTASSIUM ANE SODIUM. 
the surface, or through the mass (according as the induction, 
pipes may dip or not below the surface) of potash, or soda ? 
or other compound of potassium or sodium (capable, under 
the circumstances, of setting free its metallic base) in a state 
of fusion by heat, and mixed with charcoal or other form of 
carbon in powder, and in such proportion as to be adequate 
to effect, without destroying by its bulk, the fluid, semi-fluid 
or pasty condition of the resulting mass. And, further, he 
claims, for the process or processes of this invention, the 
sole use of ammonia, or mixture, or combination of ammo- 
nia with other gases or vapours, whatever be the source 
from which it is obtained ; provided always that in such 
mixture or compound there be no substance present capa- 
ble, by its nature, of preventing the desired result. He 
claims, for example, the application to this invention of am- 
monia or carbonate of ammonia, obtained from gas- water,, 
from urine, from the liquor condensed in the distillation of 
bones or other animal matter, or from one or other of the 
salts of ammonia, or a solution of ammonia ; and also the 
ammonia or carbonate of ammonia which is obtained di- 
rectly, mixed with other gases, in the carbonisation of 
bones, and other animal matters, arid in the chemical treat- 
ment of guano. Whatever be the source from whence 
the ammonia is obtained, it is desirable that it should 
be made as free from the vapour of water as possible 
before it is introduced to the fused materials; for this pur- 
pose the substances from which it is to be eliminated may 
be dried, or else the ammonia may be passed, in an elastic 
state, in contact with some substance known to chemists to 
be convenient for desiccating that gas. 
Instead of obtaining the ammonia by a separate process, 
or from a distinct vessel, the inventor sometimes causes it to 
be given off from animal matter contained in the vessel or 
vessels in which the cyanide is formed. For this purpose 
it is better to use the potash or the soda in a caustic state, 
causing it, while in that condition, to dissolve the animal 
