412 
THE  PRODUCTION  OF  SULPHUR  IN  ITALY. 
Grilding  of  Leather. — The  usual  mode  of  ornamenting  leather 
with  gold  is  to  apply,  in  such  parts  as  are  desired,  a  thick  so- 
lution of  albumen,  covering  those  parts  with  gold  leaf,  and  ap- 
plying a  hot  iron,  when  the  albumen  is  coagulated  and  fixes  the 
gold.  This  plan  is  objectionable  when  the  goods  are  intended 
for  shipment,  and  the  following  method,  lately  proposed,  is  far 
preferable  : — On  the  parts  required  to  be  gilt,  a  mixture,  com. 
posed  of  five  parts  of  copal  and  one  of  mastic,  are  spread  ;  a 
gentle  heat  is  applied,  and  when  the  resins  are  melted  the  gold 
leaf  is  spread  upon  them. — Lond.  Chem.  News,  July  23,  1864. 
THE  PKODUCTION  OF  SULPHUR  IN  ITALY. 
By  M.  P.  Bianchi. 
The  sulphur  at  present  produced  in  Italy  amounts  to  no  less 
than  300,000  tons  a  year,  the  value  of  which  in  the  rough 
state  is  30,000,000  francs.  This  yield,  which  has  increased 
tenfold  since  1830,  is  furnished  in  great  part  by  Sicily.  The 
quantity  produced  in  Romagna,  formerly  but  small,  has  since 
increased  to  8000  tons  per  annum. 
During  the  last  ten  years  great  improvements  have  been  in- 
troduced in  the  method  of  extracting  sulphur  from  its  calcareous 
gangue.  It  is  always  obtained  by  liquefaction  by  burning  a 
portion  of  the  ore  ;  but  this  operation  formerly  performed  in 
small,  open,  cylindrical  furnaces  (palcarelle)  is  now  effected  by 
simply  heaping  the  stones  and  covering  them  with  earth  as  in 
charcoal  burning.  These  heaps,  called  calearoni,  are  of  con- 
siderable size,  often  four  hundred  times  larger  than  the  old 
furnaces.  This  new  mode  of  operating  has  the  advantage  of 
diminishing  the  losses  occasioned  by  the  production  of  sulphur- 
ous acid,  so  that  the  yield  of  sulphur  is  increased  by  one-fifth  ; 
besides  sulphur  can  be  burnt  in  this  way  near  houses  and 
gardens,  which  with  the  old  method  was  out  of  the  question. 
Formerly  it  was  burnt  only  at  certain  periods  of  the  year,  now 
it  can  be  burnt  at  any  time,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  necessary 
to  accumulate  large  quantities  of  ore.  Finally,  the  operation, 
which  used  to  be  very  frequently  fatal  to  the  workmen,  is  now 
almost  harmless.  ■ 
Sulphur  of  Romagna  and  the  Marshes — At  Bologna  there  is 
a  society  called  "  Societe*  des  Mines  de  Soufre  des  Romagnes," 
