New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-05-25

course Of experiments upon the copper yellow metal
with which the bulls Of vessels are shesthed. HIS
knowledge 0: chemistry told him that il tue sea
tanned silver he would in all probability find the metal
On the bottoms of vessels that had been At sea- He
soon had opportunity Of testing the correctness Of
his suTnise. The Ana Gusnarasns, q large vessel
under the Gillian flag hauled down 10 be repaired
near Coqulmbo, where Mr.. Field resides. The ship
had been seven years st and trading the whole Of
m. time in the Pacific Ocean; that if silver
existed in any ships bottom Il certainly would
in the Ana GGmaraens few ounces Of the
metal shea,hng were taken, and after Q
careful analysis, Mr.. Field obtained from 5000
Grains trifie than two grains Of silver which Is
equal to one pound one ounce two pennywelghts H.
teen grains in the tin. There no yesw metal on
beard the ship by which comparison could De made
with that which had been exposed to the salt water
Bat shortly afterward another vessel came INTO dock,
ard from her cabin piece OF metal was taken whoa
had never been exposed 10 sea water, ana announcer
niece of equal weight renewed from the hulI,
which had been three years arOat, The metal roso
the huh Welded eight times as much silver as tnss
taken from the cabin. Similar comparative analyses
were made on other vessels, and dnerence eesween
the two metals was invariably found-the difference
VARYING according to the length Of time the ship had
been az In those ships that bad been the shortest
time at the difference least, and t-ce rrsd.
But why should there be any silver IN the brass and
copper used in the cabins Wen, il appears that in
these metals there is generally little sver-two or
three pernyweigh;s per tun; and beyond this Mr..
Field accounts for IL ffom the employment OF masses
of metal melted down from old sheathngs, which de-
rive their silver from former voyages One other
pertinent Mr.. Field is at present carrying out He has
ersnulsted some very pure copper-a portion is re-
served in bottle to be compared al a future PERIOD
with the Other portion, which Is floating ~ wooden
box perforated on ell Sides few feet below the sur
face Of the Pacific. When good. humored captain
puts into Coquimbo, he takes the box IN TOW and
drags il at the stern Of his vessel up and down the
coast Of Chill. just as you have tined TO catch
mackertls tail. is Mr.. Field trying 10 catch snver
his
The curious discovery of sea.water silver gives rise
to one or two questions Where, for instance, does
the silver come irom Has il been extracted from the
earth by artificial means, the waste OF man dig9ngs,
borne TO the bosom Of the ocean by rivers, which, like
giant arteries burst from the heart OF the earth IL
could scarcely be that man, avaricious man, could
have let two mlsrs of tons OF silver 80 shp through
his fingers No we may acQut the world Of 80 eyre
gious blunder. That the presence OF silver IN tho
sea is more ancient than human folly or cupdity, NJ.
Durooher and his friends who first called attention to
the subject, have proved by procuring .ne precious
metal fiom crystals of rock sat which had been de
posted anterior to the existence OF man upon this
earth. -, =,
One experiment leads TO another. Ii the sea could
be made TO yield silver where might not the metal Do
found The wood of the oak, birch, beech horn
beam aspen, apple and ash, grown at long distances
from the sea- and which had never been manared with
salt or seaweed has been burnt and 10 the ashes all
yer has been detected. But il plants contained silver
il was not difficult to infer that il existed also IN AMI
malls This was proved TO be the case by an expert
ment which brought these remarkable researches TO
triumphant conclusion. An OK sacrificed TO
science, and in his blood was discovered the same
valued metal
The explanation of these phenomena is not very diff
fcu!t lie suphide Of silver, silver In combinations
with sulphur, is very widely diffused in nature. Salt
water attacks the suphde and converts into chloride
of silver which Il dssolves by the agency Of common
salt So Also the salt contained In the water
If the earth acts in similar manner, dssclvng out
small quantities Of metal, which it carries of and
transfers to plants and, from plants IL Is received
by animals in their food.
What the value of the discovery may be, remains
TO be proved. Wseacres may shake their heads and
pronounce it useless. But, if attempt be made TO
turn il to account one Of two things will be clearly
shown either that silver not scarce some people
would make us believe or else we can do very wen
without IT, Household Words