The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-08-05
silver In the Sea.

: silver In the Sea.
The poet tells of the gems that shine
with spurest ray serene in dark unfath-
omed caves Of ocean; but it is not in,
those inaccessible depths alone that the
treasure of the sea is hidden. There is
untold wealth diffused throughout the
immensity of its waters, as secure from
human avarice as if it were in the abysses
which plummet never sounded. Its
very diffusion puts 1t out Of orz -5.-cf>--
The fact that it is everywhere makes it
practically nowhere. Some years ago,
certain French chemists demonstrated
that sea-water contains nm apprcciable
amount of silver. They decided that
if it is equally distributed, there must be
at least two million tons of tho precious
metal in the whole ocean, or moro than
has ever been dug from the earth. And
experiments made at widely distant
points, prove that the metal is thus uni
formly diffused. The water of the Pacific,
off the coast of Chill, as analysed by an
English chemist, gives the same result as
the Frenchman had obtained from the
waters of the British Channel.
The silver in the sea is only one out Of
a thousand illustrations of solid substan-
ces made visible by chemical processes.
And we must not suppose that it is only
minute quantities of matter that can be
thus lost to sight in Transparent liquid
A silver dollar Ca mythical piece of money
to our young readers, but the old folks
can tell them how large it is, or was),
can be dissolved in very small amount
Of nitric acid, which if pure, is color
less liquid Coin soon vanishes, and the
liauid is as clear and transparent as over.
- any 2lDaxp .xTcrth Of silver might thus
be concealed In gallon Of what would
seem to be nothing but water. Other
metals, and, indeed, solid substances Of
all kinds, may be dissolved and made to
disappear in similar way. There is NO
visible form of matter which chemical
agencies may not render Invisible What
we commonly call the destruction of mat
ter, is merely::the metamorphosis from the
seen to the unseen. When wood or any
thing else is burned, it has simply UNDER
gone chemical change which removes
It from our sight. Not q particle Of
matter can really be destroyed, unless by
the power that called it into existence.
The silver in our transparent liquid is not
annihilated If we pour it into the sea !, il
is lost to us but the silver is there, like
the millions of tons Of kindred metal that
we're already mingled with the wateys.
In like manner, the coal and wood we
burn, except the small residum of ashes,-
have become viewless gases, and are
blended with the aerial ocean of the
atmosphere. On the clearest day, the
air above us is laden with thousands of {
tons Of carbon, in this transparent soHai-
ton. It-is there, though we cannot see
it, and plants are continually turning it
back into visible form again. This 10
the key to the mystery of their growth.
which is mainly the Withdrawing OF
carbon from its gaseous state OF carbonic
acid and making it a part of their own
structure. We have said that silver In
the sea is useless, because it is difused-
through 80 vast q bulk Of fluid But
the fact that it has been possible to de-
tect it, when thus diffused, shows that IT
chemical agencies can make solid sabstan-'
ces vanish from our sight, they can ON
the other-hand, compel body thus con-
cealed to show itself, even when it forms
only the minutest proportions OF ths'
mixture The delicacy Of chemical tests
is almost beyond belief. A single drop
of colorless liquid, added to gallon OF
colorlcss liquid, may instantaneously
) produce . we'll defined red, or blue or.
. yellow throughout the entire mass OF
the latter; and yet it may be less tnan q
hundredth part Of some solid substance
: in solution, that is made to give sucn
: unmistakable evidence OF its presence.