Chapter IV: Third Day (4)

_Mercury_, in the temperature of our atmosphere, is a fluid metal, having the appearance of melted silver: in this state it is neither ductile nor malleable; very volatile when heated; extremely divisible; and is the heaviest of all metals except platina and gold. We see it always in a fluid state, because it is so fusible that a small portion of caloric will keep it in a state of fluidity; but when submitted to a sufficient degree of cold, is similar to other metals, and may be beaten into plates. It has been determined, that at 39 degrees below zero of Fahrenheit’s thermometer is the point at which the congelation of mercury takes place. In the winter of 1799, Mr. Pepys froze 56 pounds of it into a solid and malleable mass. At Hudson’s Bay, frozen mercury has lately been reduced to sheets as thin as paper, by beating it upon an anvil that had previously been reduced to the same temperature. It is a substance so volatile that it may be distilled like water; and is sometimes purified in this way from mixture with other metals, being often adulterated with lead and bismuth. It is also so elastic when in a state of vapor, that it is capable of bursting the strongest vessels. According to Mr. Biddle, its specific gravity at 47 degrees above zero is 13.545; but when frozen into a solid at 40 below zero, 15.612.

This metal is brought to Europe from the East Indies and Peru; but is found in greater abundance at Almaden in Spain, where it is extracted from the ore by distillation. The quicksilver mine of Guanca Velica, in Peru, is 170 fathoms in circumference, and 480 deep. In this profound abyss are streets, squares, and a chapel where religious mysteries on all festival occasions are celebrated. Millions of flambeaux are continually burning to enlighten this subterranean abode. This mine generally affects those who work in it with convulsions. Notwithstanding this, the unfortunate victims of an insatiable avarice are crowded all together, and plunged _naked_ into this abyss. Tyranny has invented this refinement in cruelty, to render it impossible for any thing to escape its restless vigilance.

“Thus in the dark Peruvian mine confin’d,
Lost to the cheerful commerce of mankind,
The groaning captive wastes his life away,
For ever exil’d from the realms of day;
While, all forlorn and sad, he pines in vain
For scenes he never shall possess again.”

Mercury is raised in such abundance in Spain, that in the year 1717 there remained above 1,200 tons of it in the magazines at Almaden, after the necessary quantity had been exported to Peru for the use of the silver mines there. The quicksilver mines of Idria, a town in the circle of Lower Austria, have been wrought constantly for 300 years, and are thought on the average to yield above 100 tons of quicksilver annually. Mercury is found also in Hungary and China; it occurs most commonly in argillaceous schistus, lime-stones, and sand-stones. It is likewise found in Sweden, amalgamated with silver, and frequently combined with sulphur. Running mercury is seen in globules, in some earths and stones in America, and is collected from the clefts of rocks. Cinnabar, or sulphuret of mercury, is also generally found in those countries which produce the fluid metal.[108]

_Copper_ is of a red color, very sonorous and elastic, and the most ductile of all metals, except gold. A wire 1-10th of an inch will support near 300 pounds. Its specific gravity is 8.66. It will not burn so easily as iron; which is evident from its not striking fire by collision. Copper-mines have been worked in China, Japan, Sumatra, and in the north of Africa. Native copper is generally found in Siberia, Sweden, Hungary, and some parts of France. Copper is found in several parts of England and Wales, particularly in Cornwall, and the Isles of Man and Anglesea. The copper pyrites found in Cornwall are _sulphuret_ of copper. Anglesea formerly yielded more than twenty thousand tons of copper annually: the vein of metal was originally more than seventy feet thick. Copper mines have not been worked in England above 160 years. Before that period, whenever the workmen met with copper ore in the tin mines of Cornwall, they threw it aside as useless, no English miner at that time knowing how to reduce it to a metallic state. To chemical science, therefore, we are indebted for such an ample supply of this valuable metal. It is asserted, that a large copper mine has been worked for some time in the state of New-Jersey in America, and that the ore raised there is brought to this country to be smelted. Native oxides of copper are found in Cornwall and in South America. Carbonate of copper occurs as a natural production in two varieties, called _malachite_ and _mountain green_. Sulphate of copper, of a very rich quality, is also found in the state of Connecticut. The stream in its course destroys vegetation; and where it settles in places near the spring, large lumps of metallic salt are collected. Bishop Watson relates, that the waters which issue from the copper mines in the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, are so impregnated with sulphate of copper, that one of the workmen having accidentally left a shovel in this water, found it some weeks after so incrusted with copper, that he imagined it was changed into copper. The proprietors of the mines, in pursuance of this hint, made proper receptacles for the water, and now find these streams of as much interest to them as the mines. When miners wish to know whether an ore contains copper, they drop a little nitric acid upon it; after a short time they dip a feather into the acid, and then wipe it over the polished blade of a knife; and if there be the smallest quantity of copper in it, the copper will be precipitated on the knife.[109] A mass of _native_ copper has been found in a valley in the Brazils, containing 2,666 pounds weight. The description of it in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon is said to be very interesting, as the largest specimen ever found before this weighs only ten pounds. In the museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh, is a piece of native malleable copper of extraordinary magnitude, found on the copper island lying to the east of Kamschatka.[110] The Romans were acquainted with this metal; for the only money used by that people, till the 485th year of their city, was made of it, when silver began to be coined. In Sweden, houses are covered with copper.[111]

_Iron_ is of a livid blueish color, and one of the hardest and most elastic of all metals. When dissolved, it has a nauseous styptic taste, and being strongly rubbed emits a peculiar smell. It is attracted by the magnet, and has the property of becoming itself magnetic. It is fused with great difficulty, but gives fire by collision with flint. An iron wire only one-tenth of an inch in diameter, will carry a weight of 450 pounds without breaking; and a wire of tempered steel, of the same size, will carry one of about 900 pounds. Iron becomes softer by heat, and has capability of being welded to another piece of the same metal so as to form one entire mass; and this may be done without melting either of the pieces. No other metal, except platina, possesses this singular properly, which renders it most suitable for every common purpose. Its specific gravity varies from 7.6 to 7.8.

This valuable metal is plentifully diffused throughout nature, pervading almost every thing, so as to be detected even in plants and animal fluids, and is the chief cause of color in earths and stones. It is found in large masses, and in various states, in the bowels of the earth. In the museum of the Academy of Sciences at Petersburgh is a mass of native iron twelve hundred pounds weight. In the northern parts of the world whole mountains are formed of iron ore, and many of these ores are magnetic. Of the English ores, the common Lancashire hematite produces the best iron. This metal is found in solution in many natural springs, and gives the character to all our chalybeate waters: besides which, there are some springs which contain iron in combination with sulphuric acid. These are called vitriolated waters. There are several in this land; but those at Chadwell near London, and at Swansea in Glamorganshire, are probably the most important.

As this metal possesses so many properties, exists in so many different states, and is capable of being applied to such a variety of excellent purposes, it is certainly the most useful of all the products of the mineral kingdom. It was used in the time of Moses, in whose writings Canaan is mentioned as “a land whose stones were iron.” The Greeks understood the method of tempering it. Homer, in the ninth book of his Odyssey, describes the fire-brand driven into the eye of Polyphemus, as hissing like hot iron immersed in water. The advantages which we derive from the magnetic property of iron are incalculable. To this we are indebted for the _mariner’s compass_, by which man is enabled to traverse the ocean, open a friendly or commercial intercourse with every quarter of the globe, and to steer his course with the utmost accuracy.

“Tall navies hence their doubtful way explore,
And ev’ry product waft from ev’ry shore;
Hence meagre want expell’d, and sanguine strife,
For the mild charms of cultivated life.”

Iron may be moulded by the hammer into any form, and united into as many parts as the workman pleases, without rivets or solder. Were it not for this peculiar quality, many works of great importance could never have been executed. A most stupendous fabric, achieved by means of welded iron is the Chinese bridge of chains, hung over a dreadful precipice in the neighborhood of Kingtung, to connect two high mountains. The chains are twenty-one in number, stretched over the valley, and bound together by other cross chains, so as to form a perfect road from the summit of one immense mountain to that of the other.

Some idea of the extent and importance of the iron trade may be conceived from the following account, abridged from Malkin’s Scenery, &c, of South Wales. “Merthyr Tydvill was a very inconsiderable village till the year 1755, when the late Mr. Bacon obtained a lease of the iron and coal-mines of a district at least eight miles long, and four wide, for 99 years. Since then these mines have been leased by him to four distinct companies, and produce to the heirs of Mr. Bacon a clear annual income of ten thousand pounds. The part occupied by Mr. Crawshay contains now the largest set of iron works in the kingdom. He constantly employs more than two thousand workmen, and pays weekly for wages, coal, and other expenses of the works, twenty-five thousand pounds. The number of smelting furnaces belonging to the different companies at Merthyr is about sixteen. Around each of these furnaces are erected forges and rolling-mills, for converting pig into plate and bar-iron. These works have conferred so much importance on the neighborhood, that the obscure village of Merthyr Tydvill has become the largest town in Wales, and contains more than twelve thousand inhabitants.”

_Tin_ is white, a little elastic, and so exceedingly soft and ductile, that it may be beaten out into leaves thinner than paper. It is much more combustible than many of the metals; and is soluble in all the mineral acids. Its specific gravity is 7.291, or about 516 pounds to the cubic foot. This metal is found in Germany, Saxony, South America, the East Indies, and in England, chiefly in Cornwall and Devonshire. It must have been known very early, as it is mentioned in the books of Moses. Homer in his Iliad mentions the use of tin.

Pliny says, that the Romans learned the method of tinning their culinary vessels from the Gauls. They used tin to alloy copper, for making those elastic plates which they employ in shooting darts from their warlike machines. The addition of tin to copper renders that metal more fluid, and disposes it to assume all the impressions of the mould. It was probably with a view to this, that it was used by the ancient Romans in their coinage. Many of the imperial _large brass_, as they are called, are found to consist of copper and tin alone. Antique coins frequently occur, made by forgers in the different reigns, in imitation of the silver currency, which contain a very large proportion of tin. There are coins of Nero which are of a most debased and brittle brass.

According to Aristotle, the tin mines of Cornwall were known and worked in his time. Diodorus Siculus, who wrote about forty years before the Christian era, gives an account of working these mines: he says, that their produce was conveyed to Gaul, and thence to different parts of Italy. The miners of Cornwall were so celebrated for their knowledge of working metals, that, about the middle of the seventeenth century, the renowned Becher, a physician of Spire, and tutor of Stahl, came over to this country on purpose to visit them; and it is reported of him, that, when he had seen them, he exclaimed, He who was a _teacher_ at home, was a _learner_ when he came there. About 3,000 tons of tin are furnished annually in Cornwall, two-fifths of which are usually exported to India by the East India Company. There are two kinds of tin known in commerce, namely, _block_ tin, and _grain_ tin. Block tin is procured from the common tin ore, and usually cast in blocks of about 320 pounds weight. It is taken to the proper offices to be assayed, where it receives the impression of a lion rampant, being the arms of the Duke of Cornwall, pays a duty of four shillings per hundred weight to the Duke, and then becomes legally salable. Grain tin is found in small particles, in what is called the _stream tin ore_. It appears to have been washed from its original bed in remote ages. This kind of tin owes its superiority, not only to the purity of the ore, but to the care with which it is washed and refined.

_Lead_ is of a blueish white color, scarcely sonorous, unelastic, and, being the softest of all metals, yields readily to the hammer. It generally contains a small quantity of silver. An alloy of this metal with tin forms pewter, and in different proportions soft solder. Its specific gravity is 11.35. Lead ore is very abundant in Scotland, the western parts of Northumberland and Durham, Derbyshire, and many other parts of the world. The lead found in these counties occurs on the estates of Colonel Beaumont, and of those of the late Lord Derwentwater: the last of these were forfeited to Government; and are now in the possession of Greenwich Hospital. Lead was known in the time of Moses, and was in common use among the ancients. The Romans sheathed the bottoms of their ships with it, fastened by nails made with bronze. During the first century, at Rome, it was twenty-four times the price it is now in Europe; whereas tin was only eight times its present price.

_Nickel_ is white, ductile and malleable, but of difficult fusion. It is attracted by the magnet, and has itself the property of attracting iron: but as the nickel of commerce always contains iron, this may disguise its properties, and prevent its nature being exactly known, Richter, in his Annales de Chimie, asserts, that this metal, in its pure state, is nearly as brilliant as silver, and more attractable by the loadstone than iron; that it is not liable to be altered by the atmosphere; and that its specific gravity when forged is 8.666. The ore of nickel is procured from various parts of Germany, and is often found with cobalt. It is chiefly used in China; and it is said, that the manufacturers of Birmingham combine it with iron, and melt it with brass, with great advantage.

_Zinc_ possesses but a small degree of malleability and ductility, except under certain circumstances. When broken, it appears of a shining blueish white; and when exposed to the air, becomes covered with a pellicle which reflects various colors. If beaten out into thin leaves, it will take fire from the flame of a common taper. Its filings are mixed with gunpowder, to produce those brilliant stars and spangles which are seen in the best artificial fire-works. It is also one of the metals employed to form Galvanic batteries. It is the most combustible metal we have. It will decompose water without the assistance of heat. Next to manganese, it has the strongest affinity for oxygen of all the metals. Its specific gravity is 6.861. Its nature is such, that it seems to form the link between brittle and malleable metals. Some mineralogists consider zinc to be the most abundant metal in nature, excepting iron. Calamine, or lapis calaminaris, which is a native oxide of zinc, combined with carbonic acid, is found both in masses and in a crystallized state, and is generally combined with a large portion of silex. Zinc is also found in an ore called _blend_, in which state it is mineralized by sulphur. The miners call it Black Jack--a mineral employed till lately in Wales for mending the roads. Zinc is generally called by our artists _spelter_; and in England and elsewhere it is extracted from calamine, and other ores, by distillation. This metal abounds in China, where it is used for current coin, and for that purpose is employed in the utmost purity. These coins have frequently Tartar characters on one side, and Chinese on the other. They have generally a square hole in the centre, that they may be carried on strings, and more readily counted.

_Antimony_ is of a dusky white color, brilliant, brittle, and destitute of ductility. Though seemingly hard, it may be cut with a knife. Its specific gravity, according to Bergman, is 6.86. It is procured from an ore which is found chiefly in Hungary and Norway. Native antimony, alloyed with a small portion of silver and iron, has been found in Sweden. And it is said, that it has been found in the state of Connecticut, in America, nearly in a pure metallic form. There are five distinct ores of antimony, but the grey is the only one found in sufficient quantity for the manufacturer; it is a sulphuret of antimony. Perhaps we have no metal more valuable as a medicine than this, or one which is applied in such various ways.

_Bismuth_ is of a yellowish white color, lamellated texture, and moderately hard, but not malleable. It is so brittle that it breaks readily under the hammer, and may be reduced to powder. It has the singular property of _expanding_ as it cools. Hence, probably, its use in the metallic composition for printers’ types; as from this expansive property are obtained the most perfect impressions of the moulds in which the letters are cast. In manufactories this metal is known to the workmen by the name of _tin glass_. It is one of the metals which will inflame when suspended in oxymuriatic acid gas. It is generally found with cobalt in the cobaltic ores of Saxony and England. Native bismuth, and sulphuret of bismuth, are found on the continent; and a sulphuret of bismuth has been discovered in Cornwall; but this is not an abundant metal. If 8 parts of bismuth, 5 of lead, and 3 of tin, be melted together, the mixed metal will fuse at a heat no greater than 212°. Tea-spoons made of this alloy are sold in London, to surprise those who are unacquainted with their nature. They have the appearance of common tea-spoons, but melt as soon as they are put into hot tea.

_Arsenic_, when reduced to its pure metallic state, is a friable brilliant metal, of a blueish white color, easily tarnishing, or oxidizing, by exposure to the air. In all its states it is extremely poisonous. It may be known by the smell of garlic, and by the white fumes which it exhales when thrown upon a piece of red-hot coal. Its specific gravity is 8.310. It is found in Bohemia, Hungary, Saxony, and other places on the continent; and in combination with acids, sulphur, or oxygen. The arsenic of commerce is prepared in Saxony, in the operation of roasting the cobalt ores for the manufacture of zaffre. The reverberatory furnace in which the ores are roasted terminates in a long horizontal chimney; and in this chimney the arsenical vapors are condensed, forming a crust, which at stated times is cleared off by criminals, who are condemned to this work.

_Cobalt_ is a whitish-grey, brittle metal, nearly resembling fine hardened steel; is difficult of fusion, but obedient to the magnet. According to Bergman, its specific gravity is about 7.700; though Tassaret makes it 8.538. Formerly all our cobalt came from Saxony. The cobalt ores of Hesse produce a nett profit of £14,000 a year, as stated in Born’s Travels; though once they were used for no other purpose than to repair the roads. But now cobalt is found abundantly in the Mendip hills in Somersetshire, and in a mine near Penzance in Cornwall. Zaffre is now made from the cobalt ores found in these hills. Had it not been for the rapid promulgation of chemical science in these kingdoms, this important metal might have lain in the bowels of the earth undiscovered for ages yet to come. Formerly miners not only threw cobalt aside as useless, but they considered it so troublesome when they found it among other ores, that, as stated in Beckmann’s History of Inventions, a prayer was used in the German church, that God would preserve miners from _cobalt_ and from _spirits_. It is now very valuable to the manufacturers of porcelain.

_Manganese_ is of a dark grey color, brilliant, very brittle, of considerable hardness, and difficult fusibility. Its specific gravity has been estimated by Bergman at 6.850, and by Hielm 7.00. It is never found native. It was first procured in its pure metallic form by Kaim and Gahn between 1770 and 1775. It abounds in America, and in various parts of the continent. The manganese which is used in England, is obtained in a state of black oxide from Somersetshire and Devon. It is found either in the state of an oxide or a salt. But the discovery of mines of it in this country is a new acquisition, owing to the spirit of chemical research. Dr. William Dyce, of Aberdeen, has lately communicated to the Society for the Promotion of Arts, &c, the discovery of a mine of great extent, and very fine quality, in the vicinity of that town: for which the gold medal of the Society was sent him. Professor Beattie, of the same place, has also discovered manganese in his neighborhood, on the river Don, of good quality. Scheele discovered this metal in the ashes of burnt vegetables. Proust has lately announced the discovery of a native sulphuret of manganese. That from the Bristol and the Mendip hills generally contains lead.

_Tungsten_ is a heavy metal, but its properties are not much known. It is procured from a mineral found in Sweden, and from an ore called _wolfram_, found in Cornwall, Germany, &c. It has been used in France for making vegetable lakes; but is not used here. Though it has been recommended as a proper basis for colors, it shows in some instances a strange fugacious disposition. Its specific gravity is 17.60.

The same may be said of the other metals, their properties not being much known. _Molybdenum_ was first procured in a metallic state by Hielm, in the year 1782; and, it is believed, has been employed in some processes of dyeing in Germany. As the ore may be had in great plenty, it will probably, some time hence, come into general use here. At present it is not used in any of the arts. Its specific gravity is 8.61. _Uranium_ was discovered by Klaproth in 1789, in a mineral called pechblend; and has since been found combined with carbonic acid, in the common green mica. _Titanium_ was first noticed in the year 1781, by Mr. Macgregor, in a greyish black sand, found in the vale of Menachan in Cornwall; but has since been discovered by Klaproth in several other minerals. An ore of it occurs in Transylvania, which very much resembles yellow sand. This metal has been used in France for painting porcelain. _Tellurium_ was discovered by Klaproth in the year 1798, in a particular kind of gold ore. It has hitherto been found in quantities too small to allow of its being employed in the arts. Its specific gravity is only 6.115. _Chromium_ received its name from a property it has of imparting a lively color to a variety of other bodies. The emerald is colored by an oxide of this metal. _Columbium_ was discovered in a mineral sent from Massachusetts in North America. _Tantalium_ was found in an ore from Swedish Lapland: but Dr. Woollaston has lately discovered that this and columbium are identically the same metal. _Cerium_ had not been seen in a metallic form till Sir Humphrey Davy procured it from some oxide discovered by Hissinger and Berzelius in 1804. Its scarcity will prevent its being applied to any useful purpose.

The metals are simple substances, distinguishable from all other bodies by their lustre, great specific gravity, perfect opacity, and superior power of conducting electricity. They are the great agents by which we are enabled to explore the bowels of the earth, and examine the recesses of nature. Their uses are so multiplied, that they are become of prime importance in every occupation of life.

The reason why one metal possesses such opposite and specific differences from those of another, is not to be attributed to chance, but must certainly be the effect of consummate wisdom and contrivance. These metals differ so much from each other in their degrees of hardness, lustre, color, elasticity, fusibility, weight, malleability, ductility, and tenacity, that the Author of nature appears to have had in view all the necessities of man coming within the range of their operation.[112]

[It is now generally admitted that there are FORTY
_distinct metals_.

Some of these metals are the _bases_ of the _alkalis_,
_alkaline earths_, and _earths_. And as _this_ class of metals
is but little known to the great mass of readers, some remarks
will be acceptable: they are recommended to his special
attention, as they form the base of the only satisfactory
theory of _volcanos_ and _earthquakes_. The number of metals in
this class are _twelve_.

1. The bases of the three alkalis, _potash_, _soda_, and
_lithia_.

The base of _potash_ is POTASIUM. This metal was discovered
in 1807 by Sir H. Davy. Its texture is crystalline; color
and lustre similar to mercury. It is solid at the ordinary
temperature of the atmosphere; somewhat fluid at 70°, melts
at 150°. Its affinity for oxygen is so great that it oxidizes
rapidly in the air; and decomposes water instantly upon
contact, emitting heat, flame, and light, as it swims on the
surface of the water, being the _lighter_ substance. In these
cases it oxidizes and becomes potash, by abstracting oxygen
from the air and water.

The base of _soda_ is SODIUM. This metal was discovered
by the same chemist the same year. It has the strong metallic
lustre of silver. It fuses at 200°, and evaporates at a full
red heat. It decomposes both air and water, but not so rapidly
as potasium. When thrown on water it effervesces strongly; and
inflames with light, when thrown on boiling water. In these
cases soda results, which is the _oxide of sodium. This metal
is the base of common salt._

The base of _lithia_ is LITHIUM. This metal was discovered
in Sweden in 1818, by Arfwedson. It is of a white color, like
sodium; but oxidizes so rapidly as not to be kept in its pure
metallic state. Its peculiar properties are, therefore, not so
certainly known. Its alkaline quality is well ascertained, when
in combination with oxygen, in which form it commonly appears.

2. The bases of the four alkaline earths, _baryta_,
_strontia_, _lime_ and _magnesia_.

The base of _baryta_ is BARIUM. This metal was discovered
by Sir H. Davy, in 1808. It is of a dark gray color, very
heavy, and attracts oxygen very strongly from the air, and from
water, with effervescence, caused by the escape of hydrogen
gas, and thus becomes an oxide which is the pure earth baryta,
of a white color, and very heavy. Its intimate properties are
not yet well known.

The base of _strontia_, is STRONTIUM. This metal is very
much like barium, in color, weight, and power of decomposing
air and water, and thus becoming an oxide, which is the earth
strontia. Yet it is satisfactorily distinguished from barium.

The base of _lime_ is CALCIUM. This metal was
satisfactorily obtained first by Sir H. Davy. It is of a
whiter color than the two last mentioned metals; and like them
decomposes the air and water, and thus becomes lime, which is
an _oxide of calcium_. The _base_ of common _limestone is_, of
course, _a metal_.

The base of _magnesia_ is MAGNESIUM. This metal was
discovered by Sir H. Davy, but in very small quantities;
sufficient, however, to determine its strong affinity for
oxygen, so as to decompose water, and thus oxidize, and become
the earth magnesia, which is a metallic oxide. The base of
common magnesia is, of course, a metal.

3. The bases of the five earths, _alumina_, _glucina_,
_yttria_, _zirconia_, and _silica_.

The base of _alumina_ is ALUMINIUM. The existence of this
metal was pretty satisfactorily ascertained by Sir H. Davy,
and subsequently _established_ by Wöhler. It is very difficult
to obtain it, as the preparation is attended with intense heat
and light. When obtained it is generally in small scales of
a metallic lustre. It requires a great heat to fuse it; and
when heated to redness in the open air, it burns with a bright
light, and the product is an _oxide of aluminium_, which is
_pure clay_, of a white color, and quite hard.

This oxide, or pure clay, is very abundant in the
composition of the earth, though generally very much
adulterated. It is found in all countries and used for making
bricks, porcelain ware, pipes, &c. When pure it sometimes
crystallizes. Hence it is capable of forming some of the most
beautiful _gems_: as the sapphire and ruby, which are pure
crystallized clay. _Clay, then, has a metallic base._

The base of _glucina_, is GLUCINIUM. Glucina was first
discovered by Vauquelin in 1798, and by analogy its base was
_supposed_ to be metallic, which has since been confirmed by
Dr. Wöhler, who has obtained the base in the form of a metal.
_An. de ch. et de ph. Sept. 1828, as quoted by Dr. Bache,
Turner’s Chem. p. 303._

The base of _yttria_ is YTTRIUM. This metal was obtained in
a separate state by Dr. Wöhler, (See last quoted authority,)
though its existence was inferred by Godolin who discovered the
earth which is an oxide of this metal.

The base of _zirconia_ is ZIRCONIUM. The earth was
discovered by Klaproth in 1789, and its metallic base clearly
established by Berzelius 1824.

The base of _silica_ is SILICIUM. There exists some doubts
among chemists whether this base is indeed a _metal_; but
there is no doubt but that it is _combustible_, and that the
earth silica, (or silex,) is an _oxide_. From _analogy_ it
would be inferred this base is metallic, and the _evidence_
preponderates on this side. This oxide, or earth, is very
abundant. It is more commonly called _silex_. It is the base
of the whole class of primitive rocks, and almost altogether
constitutes quartz, flint, &c.

The reader is now desired to recollect that this class of
metals constitutes the _bases of the alkalis, and earths_;
which are simply _metallic oxides_ or a combination of oxygen
with the metals. Recollect also that _all these metals are
inflammable_, and some of them simply upon exposure to air and
water. Now as the earths at the surface of our globe are the
results of _chemical action_, in which the oxygen combined with
the metals, it is beyond a doubt that these substances were
created in their elementary and uncombined state; and that
the act of combining would produce an inconceivable amount of
heat, so as to fuse completely the whole mass of our earth; and
in this state of fusion the oxides would commence forming at
the _surface chiefly_; and thus by oxidizing the metals would
form the earths, rocks, &c, which constitute, principally,
the _crust_ of our globe. When this crust became sufficiently
thick it would protect the _interior_ parts of the earth from
oxidation, by preventing the access of air and water; and they
would of course remain in a pure metallic state. But, (as is
most probable,) if the materials, being promiscuously mixed
throughout the mass at the commencement of the chemical action,
should oxidize throughout, then the indurating of the crust,
by cooling, would inclose the _interior_ parts _in a state of
fusion_, and in that state they remain to the present time. Nor
is this astonishing when we recollect the _earths_ are almost
perfect _non-conductors of caloric_: of course it could not
escape at all through the _crust_ of the earth, formed of many
strata of earths, in the shape of rocks, which, taken together,
may be about eight miles thick.

If, by any concussion, or by percolation, water, or air
should reach these metals in the interior, or these fused
masses of matter, the consequence would be _decomposition_,
and the production of a great amount of gas, and heat, which
operating conjointly, first produce earthquakes by struggling
to escape from the caverns in which they are generated; and
when they find a passage, they would break forth into volcanos.
This is the only true and satisfactory theory of earthquakes
and volcanos.

It may be added, that this action would naturally bring to
its aid the astonishing powers of electricity and galvanism.

The _forty_ metals mentioned above, may be classed
scientifically into _two_ classes.

1. _The bases of the alkalis, alkaline earths, and earths._
These are twelve: potasium, sodium, and lithium; bases of the
alkalis--barium, strontium, calcium, and magnesia; bases of the
alkaline earths--aluminium, glucinium, yttrium, zirconium, and
silicium; bases of the earths.

2. Metals, the oxides of which are neither alkalis, or
earths. These are _twenty-eight_ in number, and may be set down
in the following order: gold, silver, iron, copper, mercury,
lead, tin, antimony, zinc, bismuth, arsenic, cobalt, platinum,
nickel, manganese, tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, uranium,
titanium, chromium, columbium, palladium, rhodium, iridium,
osmium, cereum, and cadmium.

Not only the _first_ class of metals are _combustible_,
but the _last_ also. _All_ the metals are now well known to
be combustible bodies, _and may be made to burn as really as
wood_.]

_Gems_ are of a higher order than metals, of a more refined nature, and consist of two classes, the pellucid and semi-pellucid. Those of the first class are bright, elegant, and beautiful fossils, naturally and essentially compound, ever found in small detached masses, extremely hard, and of great lustre. Those composing the second class are stones naturally and essentially compound, not inflammable nor soluble in water, found in detached masses, and composed of crystalline matter debased by earth: however, they are but slightly debased, are of great beauty and brightness, of a moderate degree of transparency, and usually found in small masses.

The knowledge of the gems depends principally on observing their hardness and color. Their _hardness_ is commonly allowed to stand in the following order: the diamond, ruby, sapphire, jacinth, emerald, amethyst, garnet, carneol, chalcedony, onyx, jasper, agate, porphyry, and marble. This difference, however, is not regular and constant, but frequently varies. In point of _color_, the diamond is valued for its transparency, the ruby for its deep red, the sapphire for its blue, the emerald for its green, the jacinth for its orange, the amethyst for its purple, the carneol for its carnation, the onyx for its tawny, the jasper, agate, and porphyry, for their vermillion, green, and variegated colors, and the garnet for its transparent blood-red.

There is not a unity of opinion concerning the cause of this difference. “Their colors,” says Cronstedt, “are commonly supposed to depend upon metallic vapors; but may they not more justly be supposed to arise from a phlogiston united with a metallic or some other earth? because we find that metallic earths which are perfectly well calcined give no color to any glass; and that the manganese, on the other hand, gives more color than can be ascribed to the small quantity of metal which is to be extracted from it.” M. Magellan is of opinion, that their color is owing chiefly to the mixture of iron which enters their composition; but approves the sentiment of Cronstedt, that phlogiston has a share in their production, it being well known that the calces of iron when dephlogisticated, produce the red and yellow colors of marble, and when phlogisticated to a certain degree produce the blue or green colors.

With regard to the texture of gems, M. Magellan observes, that all of them are foliated or laminated, and of various degrees of hardness. Whenever the edges of these laminæ are sensible to the eye, they have a fibrous appearance, and reflect various shades of color, which change successively according to their angular position to the eye. These are called by the French _chatorantes_; and what is a blemish in their transparency, often enhances their value on account of their scarcity. But when the substance of a gem is composed of a broken texture, consisting of various sets of laminæ differently inclined to each other, it emits at the same time various irradiations of different colors, which succeed one another according to their angle of position. This kind of gems has obtained the name of _opals_, which are valued in proportion to the brilliancy, beauty, and variety of their colors. Their crystallization, no doubt, depends on the same cause which produces that of salts, earths, and metals: but as to the particular configuration of each species of gems, we can hardly depend upon any individual form as a criterion to ascertain each kind; and when we have attended with the utmost care to all that has been written on the subject, we are at last obliged to appeal to chemical analysis, because it very often assumes various forms.[113]

* * * * *

The rich treasures of the earth are within it, observes a worthy author, so that they cannot be discovered and brought to the surface without the labor of man; yet they are not placed so deep, as to render his exertion ineffectual. Thus nothing but what is comparatively worthless is to be found by the indolent on the surface of life. Every thing valuable must be obtained by diligent research and sedulous effort. All wisdom, science, art and experience, are hidden at a proper depth for the exercise of intellect, and they who bend their attention to any of these objects shall not be disappointed in their pursuit.

The treasures of wisdom, which are displayed in the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, and recorded in the Divine Oracles, do not lie upon the surface of the letter, for every superficial reader to observe them: therefore our Lord says, “Search the Scriptures.” The word ερευνατε, compounded of ερεω, _I seek_, and ευνη, _a bed_, is, says St. Chrysostom, “a metaphor taken from those who dig deep and search for metals in the bowels of the earth. They look for the bed where the metal lies, and break every clod, and sift and examine the whole, in order to discover the ore.” In Leigh’s Critica Sacra, we meet with these observations, illustrative of the Greek word--“_Search_; that is, shake and sift them, as the word signifies: search narrowly, till the true force and meaning of every sentence, yea, of every word and syllable, nay, of every letter and yod therein, be known and understood. Confer place with place; the scope of one place with that of another; things going before with things coming after: compare word with word, letter with letter, and search it thoroughly.”

The Holy Scriptures contain the most invaluable treasures, a complete collection of doctrines, precepts, and promises, necessary to everlasting happiness. In this respect they have a peculiar advantage above all the writings of the most distinguished philosophers in the heathen world. The Bible presents an exact model of religion, for the instruction and common benefit of mankind. Here we have, in a narrow compass, all the things necessary to be known, believed, and practised, in order to our salvation; for it is, “a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.” We are taught the knowledge of the only living and true God, his spiritual nature, adorable perfections, and endearing relations to his rational creatures: so that the meanest Christian who can read, may arrive at more true and just notions of him, than the wisest heathen sages could attain, who as the Apostle intimates, did only grope after him in the dark.--We are informed how Adam was created, how he fell, and what is the consequence of his transgression to all his posterity: the most celebrated heathens were not able to account for the origin of moral evil, as affecting the human race. The glorious plan of redemption by Jesus Christ is set before us, in its commencement, progress, and completion; which is the highest display of the moral perfections of God, and attended with the most beneficial advantages to man.--The rules of duty, all the agenda of religion, or things to be done, are plainly stated, and properly enforced. Promises, containing pardon, adoption, sanctification, and eternal life, are every where interspersed, and are “yea, and amen, in Christ.”

Our obligation to search the Scriptures, and by that means acquaint ourselves with their valuable contents, appears from the _necessity_ and _design_ of committing them to writing. St. Paul says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” But how can they contribute to these important ends without being read? What effect could the mere writing of them have on mankind, to inform the judgment and regulate the life? How could Christian motives have proper influence, if the Sacred Volume were neglected? Is it not an insult to common sense, to assert that the Scriptures were written for our instruction and admonition, but it is not necessary to peruse them to learn what they teach? To have a Bible, and not to read it, for direction in the way of truth and holiness, would not be attended with any peculiar advantage. Precious metals, deposited in the earth, must be procured to be rendered beneficial. The Holy Scriptures contain the revelation of God to mankind, declare his will with certainty, and are the prescribed means of salvation: the Apostle says, “they are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

* * * * *

Footnotes - Chapter IV

[74] Benson on Gen. i, 9, 10.

[75] Contemplative Philosopher, vol. ii, pp. 177-179.

[76] M. Savary, in his instructive and entertaining Letters
on Greece, has the following pertinent reflections: “We enjoy
the finest weather imaginable; not a cloud obscures the sky,
and a south-east wind wafts us directly towards the port to
which our wishes tend. We have now entirely lost sight of land,
and, as far as the eye can reach, only view the immense abyss
of the waters, and the vast expanse of the heavens. How awful
is this sight! How does it inspire the mind with great ideas!
How adventurous is man, who trusts his fortune and his life
to this frail vessel he has built, which a worm may pierce,
or a single blast dash to pieces against a rock. Yet in this
he braves the fury of the ocean! But how admirable is his
ingenuity! He commands the winds, enchains them in the canvas,
and forces them to conduct him where he pleases. He sails from
one end of the world to the other, and traverses the immense
liquid plains without any signals to direct him. He reads his
course in the heavens. A needle, which wonderfully points
perpetually to the pole, and the observation of the stars,
inform him where he is. A few lines and points mark out to him
the islands, coasts, and shoals, which his skill enables him
to approach or avoid at pleasure. Yet has he cause to tremble,
notwithstanding all his science and all his genius! The fire
of the clouds is kindling over his head, and may consume his
dwelling. Unfathomable gulfs are yawning beneath his feet,
and he is separated from them only by a single plank. His
confidence might make us imagine he knew himself immortal; yet
he must die--die never to revive again, except in another state
of being.”

[77] As it is sometimes necessary to preserve sea water
in casks for bathing and other purposes, it is of importance
to know how to keep it from putrefaction. Dr. Henry from
many experiments made by him for the preservation of sea
water from putrefaction, has concluded, that two scruples of
quick-lime are sufficient to preserve a quart of sea water.
The proportions, however, may vary a little according to the
strength of quick-lime employed.

[78] “Frosts often occasion a scantiness of water in our
fountains and wells. This is sometimes erroneously accounted
for by supposing that the water freezes in the bowels of
the earth. But this, as Dr. Robison remarks, is a great
mistake: the most intense cold of a Siberian winter would not
freeze the ground two feet deep; but a very moderate frost
will consolidate the whole surface of a country, and make
it impervious to the air; especially if the frost have been
preceded by rain, which has soaked the surface. When this
happens, the water which was flittering through the ground is
all arrested, and kept suspended in its capillary tubes by the
pressure of the air.” Haüy’s Nat. Phil. p. 198.

[79] Dr. Black’s Lectures, vol. i. p. 69.

[80] See Ellis’s voyage to Hudson’s Bay.

[81] St. Pierre’s Studies, vol. i, pp. 129-132.

[82] See 21st volume of the Philosophical Magazine.

[83] The specific gravity of water is as follows; a
wine-pint measure weighs one pound; consequently a cubic foot
of water weighs about 1,000 ounces, or 62½ pounds, avoirdupois.
It is 816 times heavier than atmospheric air.

[84] Parkes’s Chemical Catechism, p. 108.

[85] Haüy’s Natural Philosophy, vol. i. pp. 197, 198.

[86] Parkes’s Chemical Catechism, pp. 94, 95.

[87] Parkes’s Chemical Catechism, p. 92.

[88] Driessen on the Nature of Snow.

[89] Thomson’s Chemistry, vol. i, p. 365.

[90] “The English word _hail_, in Latin _grando_, in Greek
χαλαζα, gives us no information about the nature of the thing:
but, if we take the word ברד BeReD in Hebrew, it resolves
itself into ב..רד, which signifies _in descensu_, and so
describes to us the physiological formation of hail: which, as
philosophers agree, is first formed into drops of rain, and,
_as it falls_, is frozen into hail.” Jones’s Letter on the Use
of the Hebrew Language.

[91] Dr. Clarke on Exod. ix, 18.

[92] See Dr. Paley’s Natural Theology, p. 407.

[93] There are hot spouting springs of water in Iceland, of
which a traveller says, “Near Laugervatan, a small lake about
two days’ journey distant from Mount Hecla, we beheld the steam
of the hot springs rising in eight different places, one of
which of which continually threw up into the air a column of
water from eighteen to twenty-four feet high. The water was
extremely hot, so that a piece of mutton and some salmon trouts
were almost boiled to pieces in it in six minutes.

At Gyser, not far from Skallholt, one of the Episcopal
sees in Iceland, within the circumference of three English
miles, forty or fifty boiling springs are seen together; and
the largest, which is in the middle, particularly engaged our
attention the whole of the day that we spent here. The aperture
through which the water arose is nineteen feet in diameter; and
round the top is a basin nine feet higher than the conduit.
Here the water does not continually, but only by intervals
several times a day; and, as I was informed by the Icelanders,
in wet weather higher then at other times.

On the day we were there the water spouted ten different
times, between the hours of six and eleven in the morning, each
time the height of fifty or sixty feet. Before, the water had
not risen above the margin of the pipe; but now it began by
degrees to fill the upper basin, and at last to run over. Our
guides told us that the water would soon spout up much higher
than it had done.

Soon after four o’clock we observed that the earth began
to tremble in three different places; as well as the top of a
mountain which was about three hundred fathoms distant from the
mouth of the spring. We also frequently heard a subterraneous
noise, like the discharge of a cannon; and immediately
afterwards a column of water spouted from the opening, which at
a great height divided itself into several rays, and according
to our observation was ninety-two feet high. Our great surprise
at this uncommon force of the air and fire was increased, when
many stones which we had flung into the aperture wore thrown up
again with the spouting water.” _Troil._

[94] Savary, Newcomen, Cawley, Watt, and Boulton,
Englishmen; and Betancourt and the brothers Perrier, Frenchmen;
are names well known in the history of steam-engines. And
those persons who wish to acquaint themselves with the
principles and manner of operation of this most important
class of machines, says Dr. O. Gregory, may be referred to
the following work:--The Repertory of Arts and Manufactures,
the Philosophical Journal, and the Philosophical Magazine, in
various places; the second volume of Mr. Brewster’s edition
of Ferguson’s Select Lectures, the second volume of Gregory’s
Mechanics, and the second volume of Prony’s treatise entitled
Nouvelle Architecture Hydraulique.

[95] Plymouth Chronicle.

[96] Whitehurst’s Inquiry into the Original State and
Formation of the Earth.

[97] Examination of Dr. Burnet’s Theory of the Earth, pp.
92, 93.

[98] The substances of which vegetables are composed, now
amount to fifteen in number; but almost the whole of vegetable
substances are composed of four ingredients, namely, carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and azote. Of these, the last, namely, azote,
forms but a small proportion even of those vegetable substances
of which it is a constituent part, while, into many, it does
not enter at all.--Contemplative Philosopher, vol. i. p. 150.

[99] Of the efficacy of water in vegetation, we have
on record some remarkable instances. That vegetables will
grow in woollen cloth, moss, and in other insoluble media,
besides soils provided they be supplied with water, has been
repeatedly shown since the days of Van Helmont and Boyle: but
the experiments of a modern author, says Mr. Parkes, from
their apparent correctness, seem more highly interesting and
conclusive.

Seeds of plants were sown in pure river-sand, in litharge,
in flowers of sulphur, and even among metal, or common leaden
shot; and in every instance nothing employed for their
nourishment but distilled water. The plants throve, and
passed through all the usual gradations of growth to perfect
maturity. The author then proceeded to gather the entire
produce, the roots, stems, leaves, pods, seeds, &c. These were
accurately weighed, dried, and again weighed, then submitted to
distillation, incineration, lixivation, and the other ordinary
means used in a careful analysis. Thus he obtained from these
vegetables all the materials peculiar to each individual
species, precisely as if it had been cultivated in a natural
soil--viz. the various earths, the alkalies, acids, metals,
carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, nitrogen, &c. He concludes this
very important paper nearly in these extraordinary words:
“Oxygen and hydrogen, with the assistance of solar light,
appear to be the only elementary substances employed in the
constitution of the whole universe; and Nature, in her simple
progress works the most infinitely diversified effects by
the slightest modifications in the means she employs.”--See
Recherches sur la Force assimilatrice dans les Végétaux, par M.
Henri Braconnot, Annales de Chimie, Fev. et Mars, 1808.

[100] He was born at Verona, of an illustrious family; and
at the foot of Vesuvius, while attempting to ascertain the
cause of an extraordinary cloud issuing therefrom, was, by the
sulphureous exhalation from the burning lava, suffocated, A.D.
79.