The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-04-03 00:00:00

.what is- the reason of Aare-I'6)6e 'oriiiCkFiihich 'are said to
Piave one common ? In the first place we must mention
that the unstrai died rocks preSent• oifferences .froni the follow
tug,circutustances. In the first • place they differ in their ori-
ginal compositiou. The granite is composed of quartz. felspar,
and mica —the•syenite of quartz, 'felspar, and hornblende.' the.
whole difference being that roue contains hornblende and the
other mica. This difference is very unimportant in a geologi-
cal point. of view. Sometimes when 'the -granite occars in
Veins it forms a very beautiful substance called graphic granite,
because it appears to be inscribed with a number of Hebrew
aud Arabic characters. In the granite, syenite, and other tucks
of that class, silica predominates, whilst in the trap rocks silica
is very rare. In the trap rocks we find magnesia and iron to
predominate. This is a very important 'circitintan-ce •to re-
nem tier, as it leads to a very important point •of theory, which,
however is not universally received. We have two kinds of
erupted rocks dependent upon differences of original deposi-
tion. If we look where a vein cuts through clay slate, we find
where trap cuts through it, that it is changed in hardness. If
''we look at gneiss, we find a regular slaty structure. We see
when, granite approaches the rock gneiss, it converts it into
granite. When it approaches a clay slate it converts it into a
Suhstance very ranch like trap. The igneous rocks are merely
.the lower stratified rocks changed in their chemical hatme by
fire. This monition has the sanction,of many eminent na:nes iu
.
science.
~enl
There is one very important fact which
goes very far to confirm this view. Certain silicions shales, as
they are called, resemble so much the structure of trap, that it_
was a subject of discussion with geologists whether they were
shalesair trap •rocks. Here,. ther-eflre, we have a perfect ides-•
trationof the origin of our trap rocks and poyphyries. froin the
fusion of slate rocks, and of the granites from the fusion of,
tweissand mica schist. Tbis'subject naturalfyappertains to che-
mistry, and is subject every, day to new modifications, as.our
kniiiiiedge of Mitieraliery advances.
It is obvious that all the ignehui" roCki have not cooled with
equal. rapidity. Hence the quickness and slowness of cooling
has excited
.a very iitriortant influence upon the appearance of
the igneous rinks. Of this we have very beautiful instanees in
the minerals pyriscene and hornblende, as we have tviticed in
a previous-lecture. If a rock cools With great rapidity, it will
form an obstdium or pitch Wine: Instances' of these rocks
occur in Warwickshire, end their origin is readily. traced to.the
shove causes. Dr. 111•Cullock quotes a case in which there is a
-vein of trip, seven feet in thickness, which ramifies into lery
small branches. The terminating portions are iftiumL to: be
composed of pitch stone, whilst the other. portionsare of trap
rock. This shows the influence'of cooling. If gneiss rock lie ex-
,posed to verv.simv cnoling, under a severe.pressure, it forMs a
flue and close granite rock ; ifexposed to little pressure it will
forth a very porouS stone; and if cooled very rapidly indeed,
.under ;no pressure, it forms a pumice stone.

LECTURES BY DR. EPPS, ON MURIATIC ACID GAS.

' ( From the Liverpool Journal.)
Dr. Epps delivered a lecture on Frideif evening at the Music
• Hall, on •• Muriatic Acid Gas—the White Vapour."
The lecture-was well attended, there being, we should think,
at leapt three hundred persons present. As it lasted upwards
of an hour and a•half,. and was delivered with great rapidity,
it is, of course, impossible for us to give anything like a verha-'
tim report of it. The principal object of the lecturer seemed to
be to. amuse his audience, and lir •ridicule'the evidence for the
crown on the late indictment, and, to a certainty; he fully suc-
ceeded iu exciting laughter. Our limits entirely preclude our
giving the ornamental parts of 'his discOurse, but we shall en-
deavour to condense such substantial matter as it contained.

•
The lectifrer said they had met for the purpose of having their
attention drawn to a sulkier:lA great interest-the great subject
which now occupied public attention, and which was continually
pas-sing, under their very noses. Wherever they went they met
Willi this white gas. It' was' presented to them so-constantly
that there was no subject they were so well acquainted with. or
in whiCh they took so deep an interest. There was no question
'as Or the affecting-noses, fire irons, and beautiful brass Olates.
The lecturer here ironically recounted the noxious effects attri-
buted to it on a late occasion. -But he scarcely knew any sub-
stance which could produce such wonderful effects—it was a
monstrosity unknown to nature—he never heard ill such a mom-
strOus beast as this gas. These alkali manufacturers must be
extraordinary'people, and partake themselves of the monstrous
and deadly nature of -what they produCed. lie hoped they.
would think him justified in enquiring la;riv far this gas was
deadly, and how far those who said so were misled by ignorance
and prejudice. Some of the Most disgusting trash had been
uttered on the subject that ever was delivered in a court of law.
Ile would now investigate the nature of the gas, and then enter
into the consideration of the nature of oilier gases, and then
strove them that all contributed to certain effects, and that no
one gas was ever created which could produce the effects attii-
buted to this. First, with respect to the importance of the ma•
.nufacture. The lecturer here repeated a conversation he had
'in ournibuS with some Ltindon soap-boilers, and the retnatks
.made by one of them. anticipating an improvement in their
trade from the destruction of that of Liverpool by these indict.
inents. People at a distance looked' with intense Interest tuthe
decision of such a question in. 'the county of Dalton ; they ex-
pected that the countrymen of that illestrious chemist wound not
be influenced by mete prejudice, but would go forth in the
strength of science, and that nobleness of heart which resulted
'from it, unbiassed by the noses, or smell, or taste, or notions it
other people. The process was • important in a commercial
point of view. The Lade since its invention had assumed quite
a different character. The importation of palm on from a few
1-tons had reached 1000 tens; and within the last few weeks
Isonic persons had realized from £8 ORO to EWA°. each (rota.
their purchase of that commodity. They might look to a pro-
gressive augmentation of the soap trade, and, if not interrupted,
the community would go on increasing in health and wealth.
The amount of capital employed was very great. He had heard
it-on good authority-stated at .E 160.000, even-inthe- mere• pro-
, ductioa of the alkali. Then there was the multitude of persons
• employed in making the sulphuric acid, and providing the std.
phur and nitre. Eery article connected with the trade had
augmented in demand. Formerly kelp was used for making
seep, containing 4 per cent. of alkali, and its value was or is
(we were not sure which) £l5 a ton. Belida contained 18 per
cent., and sold for £3l per ton. But the persons who were about
to•he driven away, to take their resting 'dace in some other
land, whence they might send us the articte which we now ex-
port, produced whit eontaitied 41) to 50'per cent. of pure alkali
—which they sold at £ls—eheaper than the barida. They did
.• this by Means of the chimneyS, which sent out white vapour, and
this was the means by which 'Liverobid was _prosperous as re-
gards the soap trade. Let this go on.. Common sense would
tell them people would come la buy the article produced. more
wages would be paid, more: money spent in the localite,,even St.
Martin's market be tilled. The lecturer here adverted to souse
of the evidence relating to the condition of this market. There .
was no question the trade was a source.of great revenue, and
they might naturally expect some inconveniences. The people
near would enjoy Much better -health with well-filled pockets
and the " white vapour," than if-without the as With empty
packets.. The lecturer here described the augmentation of the
imports of: palm oil, expatiated trit the miseries of the •slave.
trade, the threatened ruin to Liverpool by its
.abolition, and
the benefit to be -conferred-on. the West coast of 'Africa by:
introducing commerce, and wills it knowledge anti liberty.
• Ile' hoped the manufacture would extend,. more- alkali would
• be made, mere palm oil would be imported,•and commerce
extend fuither along that Coast. doubt people did not
like to be made to cough. They said "get away,' you nasty
I fellow." But it did not follow that -that Was the language of
,truth. Snuff irritated the nose when it was first taken. .and
cigars :when smoked for the first time made people sick, but
that was no reason why the tobacieinists should be indicted.
He would now enquire what was the nature of the gas so Vividly
described: by the Welsh woman when she espied it and cried
" John, the vitriol's coming !" and John. threw over the meat
the Magical cloth which the gas could not penetrate. Ile then
described the composition of touristic gas, resulting from the
action Of sulphuric acidon salt. ' He' t rusted to be able to show
that it did• not eessess the deleterious qualities represented. It
-
was colourless, but became coloured from two causes; the con-
tact of watery or of kinunciniacal vaphurs. Mr. Rogerson had
stated that, tidied with atinospherieair in the proportion of Ito
1,500, it ceased to be noxious to plants or animals. He was
obliged to him for the experiment.* It established the fact of
the precise degree of its deleteriousness. The question was,
Was the quantity disengaged likely to be less or more diluted ?
He believed it was nearer 1 in 50(X). One witoess•said that if
twenty tons a day were decomposed it would be sufficient to de-
stroy all Liverpool. The fact is that one manufacturer alone
decomposes forty tons a day, and here we are! These were
most extraordina y statements for men to make, and to pledge
their reputation on in a court of justice. 'Calculation' would
show that the gas was diluted six times below the point at which
it is declared to be harritless. He had no hesitation in saying '
that the gas. was a great blessing in freeing the atmosphere -
from ether more noxious gasses, and he had no doubt it would
he found, and the truth of his surmise- bight easily be- proved,
that the rate of mortality had actually decreased in the n'eigh-
bourhood since the establishment of the works. The lecturer
again ridiculed the statements relative to the effect of the gas on
iron and:brass works. He would show that other gases. did so
more effectually, and it was a great shame to lay all the blame
on the poor muriatic gas. Ile would go as far as he could to
night', and tit.lnurrow he would show them gases disengaged
odious enough to drive them all out of the room. The lecturer
here expati-ited on the deadly and offensive propeitieS of im-
pure :demoniacal gas, 'and much amused the audience by de-
scribing their mutual union, and tbe'innocent result. He then
pntfiee grain's' of'salt in a glass, and poured on it a little muri-
atic acid, and, placing it trader a bell-shaped cover; along with
a 'vessel of ammonia, showed the twice, sion of the colourless.
gas info white vapour. The experiment was made with all due
caution, but the audience was much amused by two or three
coughs, which the lecturer could not suppress. - This was that.
harmless- substance, the muriate of ammonia—this was the
". white gas." The lateness of the hour and our 'restricted
limbs (coupe{ us, to break off our report very abruptly. Dr.
Epps proceeded to describe anti to illustrate by experiment the
production and deleterious effects of .1 he carbonic •acid gas, of
which he 'aid twenty tons. Were daily sent out from the lime-
kilns, and which, from .its ',Weight, he contended, was more
likely to do mischief than the comparativeiy light annriatic gas;
of the sulphuretted hythogen from the gas works; tit the car-
buretter' hydrogen and carbonic. acid daiiy' vomited from the
chimneys of a hundred and fifty forges and foundries. All
these, lie said, were more or less deleterious;
.but the muriatie
acid least of all, as neutralizing and combiniug with some oft he
must offensive. With reference to the corrosion) of metals,
he produced a number or pieces of polished copper and
iron, and gilt metal, to show, in connadiction to the state-
ments made at the late trial, that metals exposed to 'Ol-
- hydrogen or .trinionical gas were corroded more in' a
few seconds than by as many minutes' exposure to muria tic gas.
It was impossible for the air of a great colninercial town to be
so pure as, in the country. Tiverton, for iostauce, like. Bromp-
too, had ceased to be iu tl►e country. The townhad grown up
to it, and all the impure air .of the town blew into it, but the
alkali works.were not paiticularly to blame. We must take the
advantages of such a charge with the disadvantages: The
burners must
works,the ammonia manufacture
•renniv.e, the ;OA-
ers, on the-same priocipte, that sent away., the soap-boilers.
Liverpool would, no doubt,_ ge generally improved. Its fetid
sewers wraild be meander) tog tiTnolo, beautiful trees and luxuriant
grass wou!d, grow in its streets, It might aspire to become a
fashiourride watering Ware, with tine country air. The lecturer
very worh, ridiculed the evidenee of one w itness, • who stated
the guns, horrid as Miltoo described Ilie.breatls of Satan, nipped
up his plants. and not the. north-west wind; of Soother who said
'that his horse was effected with a cough tu passing Mr. M us-
:pratt's- chiinney ; 'of bull her who said the gas pindured its effect
at a diStaneerif two miles ; and Of the pawitbreker who ettribrited
to it the erects of sulphuretted hydrogen. Next night he could'
mine down with a sledge haininer of proof. Het would show, uy
experiment and calculation the precise amriunt and effect of the
gas sent into the air. The people of Liverpool, driving in from
their eimntry houses and smelling the gas, were nevertheless
very willing to pocket the miroey which tesulted from the trade
=there- was no corrosion cif the gold. Much of the evidence
from Everton origiiiated with gardeners who wanted their rents
'reduced. and householders who wanted the satne, and of course
they' discovred that the place was unhealthy. The lecturer
concluded by severely ceirsering, the corporation of Liverpool
for fendingtheir whole weight to crush individuals wit houtbeing
prepared•to prove their case—without having competent.che-
mists, eminent professors, men like Dr. Dalton, whom they
easily might have had, to prove the precise composition of, the
atmosphere, It was a disgrace for the corporation of•Liverpoul
to o into. a court
..of kiw without sack pusi.lists proof, 1-14 ap