46

1.55

manganese, 16.08 10.25 10.34

These ores contained a little phosphoric acid.

The following are the results of the analyses of three samples of this pig; the titanium being determined as in the other analysis of pig given:

Samples 1. and II. were made with a mixture of Cornish, Irish bog-ore, hematite; and sample 1, Irish bog-ore, Cornish ore. The Irish bog-ore contained 7 to 9 per cent of manganese.

These samples of pig were numbers 1 and 2, with here and there patches of bright iron. Nos. 1 and 2 were drilled, but were rather hard; No. 3 was too hard to drill, or could only be drilled with great difficulty. They were made specially to see to what extent, on a large scale, manganese could be made to alloy with iron; and also if a pig could not be made in this country similar to "Spiegeleisen," and adapted for the purpose of carbonizing the iron after blowing by the Bessemer process. The percentage of manganese in the analysis of sample III. is the highest that has ever come under my notice in grey pig-iron.

The

The question now becomes-In what state does the titanium exist in the pig is it, or is it not, alloyed with it? The pig itself has been carefully examined with the microscope to see if any red nitrid crystals could be discovered, but no indications of them have been seen. residue, after dissolving the pig in chlorhydric acid, washing out all soluble matter, and drying, has also been examined, but only distinct graphite plates could be seen, with transparent gelatinous silica, having the appearance of chalcedony; and also some of this residue, after the silica had been separated, was examined, but no indication of any other substance besides the graphite could be seen. From the above it is evident that the titanium must be either disseminated through the pig in a finely divided amorphous condition, or it must be alloyed with it.

Samples of Mr. Mushet's steel, in the manufacture of which titaniferous ores had been used, were also examined, but in no case has any evidence of the presence of titanium been detected. Several experiments conducted on a small scale with titaniferous iron ores show that no increase in the yield of iron is obtained by the presence of titanic acid, and that when this substance is present in any quantity it is very diffi

cult to flux or to get a good cinder; so that it is always necessary to have a large amount of an easily fusible silicate before satisfactory results can be obtained in the reduction of ores containing titanic acid. The following are the results of the dry assays of some titaniferous iron ore, containing by wet assay 39.08 per cent of iron:

The two assays marked 1 were perfect, and a good button of iron obtained, yielding 37.76 per cent of iron in the ore, the cinder being of a dark blue color; but in the assays marked 2, the cinder was almost black, semi-fused, and contained cavities with acicular crystals.

It must, however, be admitted that when titanic acid is present in iron ores, it appears to impart a steely nature to the iron reduced from them, somewhat similar to that obtained by the use of manganese; and fluxes that have been used with advantage at Sheffield have, on analysis, been proved to contain a high percentage of titanic acid. The pig iron made with 7 per cent of titaniferous iron ore, of which the analysis is given, proved also to be an iron of very great strength, and excellent quality both for castings and for the Bessemer process.

In conclusion, my opinion as to the use of titanium is, that it appears to have some beneficial effect in the manufacture of iron and steel, and to act somewhat similarly to manganese. The rationale of its action possibly is that the titanium acts as a carrier of cyanogen to the steel, from its known affinity for carbon and nitrogen. The action, however, of manganese is by no means well understood; the same may be said of the cyanids; and to determine it requires the experiments to be more carefully conducted than has been hitherto done, before we can solve the question as to the part (if any) that nitrogen plays in the manufacture of steel. The above points are at the present time engaging my attention; but my object in this paper is to prove that under certain conditions titanium is a constituent part of pig-iron, and not to enter into theoretical considerations on the composition of iron and steel.

2. On Aluminum and Aluminum-bronze; by I. L. BELL, the Mayor of Newcastle. The progress of the manufacture of this, so far as the arts are concerned, new metal has scarcely been such as to require much to be added to those admirable researches bestowed upon the process by the distinguished chemist, M. St. Clair Deville, of Paris. Upon the introduction of its manufacture at Washington, (Eng.), three and a half years ago, the source of the alumina was the ordinary ammonia alum of commercea nearly pure sulphate of alumina and ammonia. Exposure to heat drove off the water, sulphuric acid and ammonia, leaving the alumina. This was converted into the double chlorid of aluminum and sodium by the process described by the French chemist and practised in France, and the double chlorid subsequently decomposed by fusion with sodium. Faint, however, as 'the traces might be of impurity in the alum itself,

they to a great extent, if not entirely, being of a fixed character when exposed to heat, were to be found in the alumina, from which, by the action of the chlorine on the heated mass, a large proportion, if not all, found their way into the sublimed double chlorid, and once there, it is unnecessary to say that under the influence of the sodium any silica, iron, or phosphorus found their way into the aluminum sought to be obtained. Now, it happens that the presence of these impurities in a degree so small as almost to be infinitesimal, interferes so largely with the color as well as with the malleability of the aluminium, that the use of any substance containing them is of a fatal character. Nor is this all, for the nature of that compound which hitherto has constituted the most important application to this metal-I mean aluminium-bronze-is so completely changed by using aluminium containing the impurities referred to, that it ceases to possess any of those properties which render it valuable. As an example of the amount of interference exercised by very minute quantities of foreign matters, it is perhaps worthy of notice that very few varieties of copper have been found susceptible of being employed for the manufacture of aluminium; and hitherto we have not at Washington, nor have they in France, been able to establish in what the difference consists between copper fit for the production of aluminiumbronze and that which is utterly unsuitable for the purpose. These considerations have led us both here and in France to adopt the use of another raw material for the production of aluminium, which either does not contain the impurities referred to as so prejudicial, or contains them in such a form as to admit of their easy separation. This material is Bauxite, so called from the name of the locality where it is found in France. It contains

The bauxite is ground and mixed with the ordinary alkali of commerce, heated in a furnace. The metal is so extensively used in the arts as to keep the only work in England, namely, that at Washington, pretty actively employed. As a substance for works of art, when whitened by means of fluohydric and phosphoric acid it appears well adapted, as it runs into the most complicated patterns, and has the advantage of preserving its color from the absence of all tendency to unite with sulphur or become affected by sulphuretted hydrogen. A large amount of the increased activity in the manufacture referred to is due to the exceeding beauty of its compound with copper, which is so like gold as scarcely to be distinguishable from that metal, with the additional valuable property of being nearly as hard as iron.-Chemical News, No. 202, Oct. 17th, 1863.

3. Processes of Silver and Gold Extraction; by GUIDO KUEstel. 8vo. 327, with 7 lithographic plates. (Carlton) San Francisco, 1863.From the title page we learn that this work treats of the processes in use

in Nevada and California for the extraction of gold and silver, and is intended especially for the mining public of California and Nevada. The first part contains a chapter on the blowpipe, a description of gold and silver ores and the methods of assaying them, besides the extraction processes above alluded to. Part second, is a treatise on the general metallurgy of silver ores and is translated from Kerl's "Hüttenkunde." It contains further, a valuable series of tables showing the amount of fine silver per ton of ore and the values of silver and gold per ounce in the bar. The book seems to have been written and arranged with considerable care by one who evidently understands his subject, and from our examination of it we should think it to be well adapted for the purpose for which it was prepared.

IV. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

1. Die Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie, von JUSTUS von LIEBIG. In zwei Theilen. Siebente Auflage. Erster Theil: -Der Chemische Process der Ernährung der Vegetabilien. Zweiter Theil: -Die Naturgesetze des Feldbaues. Braunschweig, 1862. Also The Natural Laws of Husbandry, by JusTUS VON LIEBIG. Edited by JOHN Blyth, M.D. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1863.-The seventh edition of Liebig's great work on Agricultural and Physiological Chemistry appeared in 1862, in two volumes of nearly 1100 pages 12mo. The first of these is essentially a revision of the 6th edition, save that the chapter on Eremacausis is omitted, and a voluminous table of ash-analyses is appended. The whole is prefaced by a long introduction (156 pp.), which is occupied with some historical matters and the author's justification of his own course in reference to agricultural science.

The second volume, of which the English edition by Dr. Blyth is a faithful and spirited translation, is a new book whose scope may be imperfectly gathered from the following titles of its chapters:

Chap. I. The Plant; Chap. II. The Soil; Chap. III. Action of Soil on Food of Plants in Manure; Chap. IV. Farm-yard Manure; Chap. V. The System of Farm-yard Manuring; Chap. VI. Guano; Chap. VII. Poudrette-Human Excrements; Chap. VIII. Earthy Phosphates; Chap. IX. Ground Rape-Cake; Chap. X. Wood-Ash; Chap. XI. Ammonia and Nitric Acid; Chap. XII. Common Salt, Nitrate of Soda, Salts of Ammonia, Gypsum, Lime.

This work is written in the earnest captivating style which characterizes the productions of Liebig; it displays vast knowledge and will be of great service to the science of agriculture by exciting discussion and research.

The work is largely devoted to the advocacy of certain doctrines which are peculiar to the author, or which, at least, have been so developed and defended by him as to bear his stamp henceforth: doctrines which are fundamentally opposed to older views, and which, we may add, are every one of them capable of utter refutation. The chief heresies which are promulgated in the Natural Laws of Husbandry are-1. that the radication of plants is proved to account for their different adaptedness to different soils and fertilizers. 2. That the universally active process of gaseous and liquid diffusion (osmose) does not apply in full force to the

feeding of plants, whether land or aquatic. 3. That the soil has no solution of matters, nutritive to vegetation, circulating in it. 4. That plants acquire their food, as good as wholly, from the insoluble matters of the soil by the direct action of their rootlets. 5. That manures must be absorbed by the soil before they can be of use to plants. 6. That nitrogenous manures, especially salts of ammonia, act chiefly by solving the phosphates of the soil. 7. That artificial supplies of nitrogenous nutriment to agricultural plants are unnecessary and in the end hurtful. 8. That the so-called improved agriculture-the high farming-of the present day, is a system of robbery and spoliation. 9. That the common practice of agriculture in Europe and America is inevitably leading to the exhaustion of the soil, the poverty, starvation and final downfall of the nations. 10. That agriculture as practiced in China and Japan is, in the long run, superior to that of so called enlightened countries.

These doctrines, which represent the salient points of the work, are urged with wonderful vigor and apparently with great conclusiveness. The work however is not free from fallacious and sophistical reasoning, nor indeed from contradictions which destroy confidence in the author's conclusions. While no little display is made of the results of late researches, many statements are advanced and many facts are assumed, which late researches have made wholly untenable. The "Natural Laws of Husbandry" is an ingenious and learned effort, but not one, we are bound to say, which faithfully reflects the present state of agricultural

science.

S. W. J.

2. On a function of Roots.-HENRICI (Henneberg's Journal für Landwirthschaft, 1863, p. 280 et. seq.) has made some ingenious and interesting observations on the function of roots in supplying water to the plant, and on the development, under certain conditions, of special roots destined for this purpose. It is a matter of not infrequent occurrence that plants send roots into wells, cisterns, drain-pipes, &c. where they exist in continual contact with a body of water. In drain-pipes the roots of plants usually considered to be free from aquatic tendencies, such as rape (Brassica), sometimes accumulate to a surprising extent. Henrici surmised that the roots which most cultivated plants send down deep into the soil, even when the latter is by no means porous or inviting, are designed especially to bring up water from the subsoil for the use of the plant. The following experiment was devised for the purpose of establishing the truth of this view. On the 13th of May, 1862, a young raspberry plant, having but two leaves, was transplanted into a large glass funnel filled with garden-soil, the throat of the funnel being closed with a paper filter. The funnel was supported in the mouth of a large glass jar, and its neck reached nearly to the bottom of the latter, where it just dipped into a quantity of water. The soil in the funnel was at first kept moderately moist by occasional waterings. The plant remained fresh and slowly grew, putting forth new leaves. After the lapse of several weeks, four strong roots penetrated the filter and extended down the empty funnelneck through which they emerged, on the 21st of June, and thenceforward spread rapidly in the water of the jar. From this time on, the soil was not watered any more, but care was taken to maintain the supply in the jar. The plant continued to develope slowly, its leaves however did