458 
ANTISEPTIC  PROPERTIES  OF  AMMONIA. 
covered  the  method  of  obtaining  it  on  a  commercial  scale.  They 
have  learned  to  forge  aluminium,  to  file,  roll,  punch  and  to  en- 
grave it  with  any  design  the  workman  may  select.  The  method 
of  drawing  it  into  fine  wire  has  remained  hitherto  an  unsolved 
problem,  though  not  for  the  want  of  diligent  efforts  to  accom- 
plish it.  The  superintendents  of  the  two  manufactories  of  alu- 
minium ingots,  comprehending  the  importance  of  being  able  to 
draw  this  metal  into  fine  wire  have  made  great  sacrifices  to  re- 
solve the  problem.  They  have  applied  to  the  manufacturers  of 
gold  wire  both  at  Paris  and  at  Lyons,  but  all  their  efforts  have 
failed.  The  aluminium  has  so  little  density  that  its  texture  is 
at  once  broken  up  and  it  becomes  as  friable  as  glass,  so  that  it 
leaves  upon  the  draw-plate  the  superficial  molecules  which  are 
in  contact  with  the  instrument. 
The  problem  of  drawing  aluminium  into  wire  has,  however, 
just  been  resolved  by  M.  Garapon,  an  artisan  of  Paris,  who  now 
conducts  the  operation  in  a  truly  workmanlike  manner.  He 
furnishes  the  aluminium  wire  at  from  60  to  100  per  cent, 
cheaper  than  silver  wire  of  the  same  length.  The  price  of  alu- 
minium is  always  about  200  francs  per  kilogram.  For  the  pur. 
pose  of  drawing  it  into  wire  they  commence  with  rods  of  alumi- 
nium of  one  metre  in  length  and  12  millemetres  diameter;  these 
the  inventor  easily  reduces  to  wires  of  the  size  of  a  hair  and 
many  hundred  kilometres  in  length.  These  products  appear  in 
the  London  Exposition,  where  are  seen  articles  of  lace-work, 
such  as  epaulettes,  embroideries,  textile  fabrics,  entire  head- 
dresses,  with  mounting  and  ornaments  constructed  entirely  of 
aluminium.  These  articles  are  remarkable  for  their  lightness, 
and  they  show  that  a  novel  manufacture  has  been  created  by  the 
new  process  of  drawing  aluminium  into  very  fine  wire.  For  the 
details  we  must  await  the  result  of  the  London  Exposition. — - 
Americayi  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  July,  1862. 
ANTISEPTIC  PROPERTIES  OF  AMMONIA. 
By  Dr.  Richardson. 
In  a  paper  read  before  the  Medical  Society  of  London,,  Dr.  R. 
states  that  his  earliest  researches  were  directed  to  the  study  of  the 
antiseptic  properties  of  gases,  and  recalled  attention  to  the  com- 
