New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-04-04
INDUSTRIAL AND SCIENTIFIC NILL~
LIGENCE.

Aiunrsux The metal aluminium, sith the gener''
pr pe,ties Of which the maj rity OF psrsons Ae NOS
pob.bly familiar and whico promises soon 70 oecono
an article ,f manufacture. WAS first isolated oy the
w.llknown chemist, Woehl'r; and altoousn TO nih
belongs the honor of having fret laid the metallic oase
Of vi liza before the scientific world, yet u without
ooubt owing the recent researches aud puohcaons
Of the French chemist Devile upon the same metal,
that the generality OF p'rOrs are Indebted Tor the
kDo they pOtsess Of some OF the most chhcte-
;,t,c prpeer1ies Of aluminium TDs metal c)nbDed
with OK, " o. or 10 other words 10 an oxydlzed state,
in which il forms the wel-kDown substance c.led
aluuips is foui very abundantly indeed In natnre-a
fact which very evident when we reflect that ths
earth .xr's IN all clsys in fespar, and that u often
found in the pure state. ALUMINIUM has heretofore been
prepared by heating the chloride of aluminium with
potassum this latter substance being Converted INTO
vop,r deoomposes the ch oride Of aluminium ana the
nlsss upon berg wsshed leaves the aluminium By
tbis method the metal obtsined with great Diff
Guilty. and N small quantity, 30 th't not long rinse one
tound Of alumni u was valued at almost 81 O0O much
uo,e than the value OF an equal weight Of gold. Toe
metal alumipum possesses many valuable properties,
ano amor others may be mentioned that 1t does not
oxyd Re when exposed to the atmosphere az the ord-
pan temperature, and even at high temperature
oIydaton is hunted, owing to the thin layer OF sunoa
winch forms upon the surface Of the metal II ad'
mts of beng drawn out to as great degree OF hoe
pett ss either silver cooper while It can aso be
lsninsIed whh as great facility either tia or silver.
On account Of its possessing hese valuable properties,
cheuits we're Naturally derroos TO ace n the hands
of toe mar ufactur-r article which might ,e applied
to many useful purposes, bat which, from It's being
essentially UeTy chemical product, Wa lost Gu
tely 10 Industry The wei kDo IN fact that toe prog
re,s Of chemical scerce cobssy SHOWS as tn At suo-
stances regarded the rrest and most diff To pro
ouce become in short time commoo aud familiar arti'
cles, is well e1empia.d by aluminium; for hessn Do
vile aid Roussesu have, by submitting aamns, seq
salt snd charto a 10 the action of choroe instead OF
eaposiig alumina and charcoal to the acton of tho
ssme 81. mepr, obtained double chorde Of aamnum
and SODIUM, which is volatile and qu-f.ole but which
b.cmes toid when cold. BY this mode of opera iag
together with some notifications of the methods at
prestbt il use, they will be enabled to produce tais
her. fore rare me'a at about $40 Ger pound Aaothei
important point in this new method is the eass AMI Id
cilty with which the operation is Carried on. At the
price OF $40 per pound aluminium may 90 considerable
the light Of al article of maoufacture aud its uefal
proptr es now adult Of berg sppl ed to various pur-
pores al is most probable that ere long by p-rtect-
,pe upon this pew nen,d, t vi be produced at even
less price, and will 10 doubt become common arti-
Gle Of industry.
Avery important fact connected with aluminium, and
which tends to increase in agreat measure It's vaue,
il that i,s aloyr are Of such TO admit Of va
Iious sppl cations in the arts and manufactures The
f. flowing ale rome Of the alloys Of this metal together
with e, me Of the general properties of the same 40
alloy composed Of 80 parts of copper aad 10 Of alumni
b.s hsr than bronza and
be early worked when hot: email proportion of
tin, silver and platinum render aluminium more brilliant
and somewhat less hare; the alloy composed Of emo
spd sluminum il the nost interesting, it being a little
barber than the metal itself while 1t is at the same
time very mslleable With 10 per cent of copper the
nsle ability Of aluminium is dilninished With so per
cent Of copper the compound becomes white and Init
tie Al alloy composed Of psIts of silver aud 81 of
aluminpm possesses fine color, whle g substance
formed Of part Of silver and part Of aluminium
haro as oroiIary bronze; 80 parts Of gold and OF
.Iuminnm produces alloy which lie very hard, but
il 81. able the cor Of Sbcb is that of greeni'h gold
but with 10 Of aluminium instead Of |, the aof be-
comes crystalline and 10 consequence brittle. TIE new
metal has been aPpieo To many purpos such IS
chemical balances sextaDs, &c, aud, from its being
more orous than bronze, dapasOns have been mace
which have answered soDiraby and if 1t is renem-
beItd that weighs four tunes ss than silver the
sc'us price of which metal about t22 per pound-it
viii be teen that is really much sneaper than this
precious metal, over which it has many chemical ad
vADtegss. plate of silver worth $40, would not cost
| more tbsn g in alu Iinum The mineral knoSn TO
nnerologlsis by the Of cry lite kryolte, aud
which is double fuoride Of sodium and aluminium,
has recently been imported into England In large
| quantities for the purpote Of extracting aluminium
This mineral is found only at Neviansk IN the Ursls,
and at Evigtk, In Greenland, where it exists IN
| g,eat abundance. The uypar part Of the bed Of
this mineral Is white but at depth II sbou fifteen
feet assumes dark hue 30 that ~ little grea'er
| depth 1t vii probstly be obtained very dark. The
white color is wing the action Of lod upon sui
mturg The oaIk variety TO lie acton II assumes wne
color Cr,ot- has been up TO the present time Of h.
tie use; the Geeplanders, ho~ever, make ue of il OR
a suepge purp sc, nsuey, IL rlaking snuff; the to.
b>cco-esi L. ground between two pieces Of the maera
and the snuff prepared contains about one-naf Of its
weight of cryoe powder, and il preferred BY u.s.
| tves to any other The recent mode OF preparing
scnn um will however render CT. olte valuable as an
! ore ,f that metal.
EXPERIMENTS IN ELEcTRcITr.-The excitement
of el,ohsiy by secondary discovered Dot
many years ago by Professor Fsrad.y. LACEY
large apparatus constructed that priOcple, witch
the small medical coil is an application, w.s built
| by Nj. Rubnkorf Of Pans. Soon after. the M.
| chue was so much improved by Mr. Hearder of
| Plymouth Eng, as to astonsh Farsisy himself. Ia
this improvement of the induction co., the thick wire
through Shch the voltaic current is Transmitted is
wound round hollow wooden core, about 10
inches long, and over this 10 placed gu;,aperchs
| tube, upon which there is wound about
three miles of fine copper wire, about the
thickness Of sewngsilk, well insulated by alx