Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1859-04-14

Something Useful about Clay.
OF the various substances on the face Of
the earth few, if any. are 30 generally use.
full as clay. 1t il more than probable that
the first substance which man began to
fashion, TO shape, or mould, was clay
The inspired writer's repeatedly use the
word clay in fgurative sense in refer
ence to the shaping of the body. "Thou
hass made me as the clay your bodies
are as the bodies Of clay Job. K, 9; XII,
l2.) Whether the clay was burned as
bricks, Or not, cannot positively be decided;
but references are directly made to "them
that dwell in houses of clay at that time.
More than 1900 years B. c. "the potters
power over clay" was perfectly familiar so
that by analogy we fairly reason tha. the
clay for houses may have been hardened
by fire. AS far as We can ascertain. pot,
terry is one of the most ancient of arts.
Man having obtained "power over the
clay" he began to get power over the met
ais. This early adaptation of clay to do
nestle wants arose from the intrinsic mer-
its of the clay itself. Its property to har-
den from mere exposure 10 air and sun,
was quite enough to render it serviceable;
but when it was ascertained that fire turn
ed it into more durable material than
stone, it gave, Of course, great impetus to
its workers. The potter's wheel or tool
for fashioning clay is the same now that
was used three thousand years ago. Clay
is not.only useful in pottery, but is applied
in many arts, sach as dyeing, where alum
q compound Of clay) is extensively used
for fixing colors, in preparing leather, and
many other arts and manufactures. "But
what is clay?" many will ask and the
labaratorian chemist replies at is the rust
Of a beautiful metal" Not many years
ago all the fashionable world Of London
focked to Albermar Street to see young
Humphrey Davy produce metals from
earth. Prior to this all earths, clays in
particular, were considered primitive and
Interchangeable bodies; his genius, howey.
er penetrated these mysteries, and the re.
suit was that we now know that all earthly
bodies are but metallic rusts of one kind
and another. Sir Humphrey Dayy mere.
ly showed the worll that the earthly bodies
were of metallic origin. N. Develle, of
Paris, under the patronage Of the present
Emperor, has separated the metallic base
Of clay to such an extent that it is now an
article Of commerce. Aluminium is now
| used for jewelry, especially bracelets, pins
and combs; in cabinet making, it is excel
lent for inlaid work its lightness renders
| it extremely conyenien: for pencil. holders,
| thimbles, seals. small statues, medallions,
vases, and the like; for spectacles also, as
it does not blaeken the skin like silver
But one Of its most useful applications
consists in using it for refectors Of gas
lamps, since it resists the effects Of sulphu
rous emanations, which silver and brass
| do not. The chemical na me Of clay is al.
umina, and the metal obtained from it al
minimum. Most metals are characteristic
of being very heavy; but aluminium is re.
markably light; and though it has sill
very white metallic lus're, ys. such is the
| Eghtness that one can scarcely believe it
to be metal, but it assuredly is 50. Beau
titul spoons and forks are made with it,
and at no distant period it will become as
common as zinc, though Of more value
| II chemistry deserves well of US, il is in
this case. 1t has row taught us that the
very walls of our houses and the tiles OF
their roofs teen with brilliant metal
which we can turn to useful purposes
Some metals, such as iron, become earthly
very rapidly but aluminium does not do
so; yet it can be rusted, and the result is
that the earth clay is produced. All
these facts prove that what was thought to
testify Gguratiyely the value Of clay by the
writer's Of he Scriptures is now known to
| be truth IN its real and intrinsic sense
! Thus every experiment in the laboratory
tends to illustrate the sublime truth Of ev.
cry assertion in the Hoy Volume With
in the outward body Of clay there is an e.-
,u'gcat metallic spirit. IS p'inils Ptesse.