The Placer herald., 1872-01-27
Written for the Herald y ,-cvs
ANTIQUITY AfD '''--0
No o SILVER

Has been known from Tue e'iteS :. 10
ci6c gravity is 1915, being inferior III N''o
,lot;num. gold, mercury, lead tungsten anu '''
lod;nm but heavier than copper, ron Hn'' -,
others, Silver is tasteless and Toid ol o'oi'
i more elastic than gold, and III naile'oi''J
aeoo,,d only to that metal. 1t may be oe''eH
-. ;rt, 1eoves Of one ten thousandth OF an men
:, ,1,;olness A vessel capable of holding an
oupce Of water may be made OF gram oi ''.',''
In tenacity it surpasses gold, though !. - i'!'
rior to iron, copper or platinum s'iNe4
,,o tortb of an inch in diameter will sustain
weight of 250 pounds. Native silver cry'''iiiNe'
in cubes and octohedrons, but is also more ooi4i-
monty fonnd in irregular masses sometimes oi
o,s;aarab,a size. In 1850 mass OF silver
waiobin9 40 pounds was found in the hine al
Himmelsfurst, in Saxony, and another equuN!
az large in WI. IN 1873 rich VEN OF S'lNei
ore vas discovered at Schneeberg, IN odXohs'
| and SO large mass Of native metal was cut o"'
| that it served rs dining-tabe for Duke Aioer''
| ybo descended into the mine to visit It, heh
smel,ea il welded Al, 600 pounds Of metal. An
other mass Of native silver coo pounds in weight
was obtained from the Swedish mine at HonlSs-
berg. Silver, which is much more extensively
used for coin than gold, is always alloyed 1t be-
ing. in its pure state, too soft to be durable
The alloy used in the silver coinage of England
consists Of Ill parts Of pure silver and nine
parts Of copper. A pound (tloy weight OF the
alloy is coined into sixty-six shlings, so that
money pound Of twenty shillinGs contains l745.
/ 45f grains of standard silver, Of which l6li.ia4
! are pure metal. Silver for articles Of domestic
! use, furniture and ornaments, is of about the
same standard as that employed for money.
Articles made of inferior metals are very genor-
ally in use They are covered with thin coat
! ing of silver and are said to be plated. in the
best kind Of plated goods, made from silvered
copper, the prominent edges, which from expo
sure to constant rubbing would soon wear out,
and thus show the copper, are made OF sohd sll-
yer. These parts are formed separately and put
on afterwards with solder Although, vast
amount of skill has been exercised, and very
| beautiful articles have been produced-but 10y
! the eectropating process the coating Of silver is
more evenly applied its adhesion is more per-
feet and the finish of the surface more exactly
resembles that Of real II te. The brass dads Of
clocks the faces Of baIometers and thermome-
ters, and many similar articles, are slyered by
rubbing them with a compound of chloride Of
silver, whiting and pearlash. Luna caustic, en-
ployed by surgeons for eanterizing, or, it is
called, burning away the diseased flesh in
wounds is nitrate OF silver, salt formed by dis
solving silver in nitric acid. It stains the skin
and all animal matter ndeibly black, and liter
ally burns it, by The tendency Of the salt 70 re
cover the metallic form by parting with its oxy-
gen. Ten grains Of lunar caustic dissolved IN
gunwater make an excellent marking ink for
IInen which is never efaced by washing
Crystallized nitrate OF silver is extensively used
in photography. Many thousands Of ounces are
required annually for this beautiful art Two
very dangerous explosive compounds, called
| Illuminating powders, are prepared from silver.
| One of them is SO formidable that a carriage
passing along the street By shaking the room
has been known to explode it; and it often ex-
plodcs spontaneously during the process of
preparation.
This metl is Of great antiquity, and is fire.
/ quenily mentioned in the Mosaic writings II is
of n bluoish- ray color, with specific gravity ot
! II a5, or nearly eleven and onehaf times heavier
than water. 1t is the softcst of all the durable
metals. II can be scratched with the nail and
easily eut with knife. II has little taste, but
! perceptible odor ON being rubbed. As regards
| elasticity, ductility and tenacity, lead stands
comparatively low in the scale It cannot be
drawn into Il wire thinner than line one-twelfth
Of an i'll iuch in diameter, and of that thickness
only with great care a wire Of that size vii
not support more than 20 pounds, and it would
require one Of two and oue-half inches to sup
| port 100 pounds. l. ad is very malleabc, and
can be hammered into thin leaves. but from its
imperfect tonacty these are easily torn and split
| The salts OF lead are numerous and important.
Acetate Of lead, or the oxide united with acetic
acid, is called sugar Of lead and is used in medi-
cine and in dyeing, aud another combination
with the same acid is tho bass Of the cosmetic
called Goulard water. All the salts OF this metal
are poisonous in a high degree From their
sweat taste they have been used by unprincipled
persons to correct or conceal the acditv of wines
when passing from the vinous into the actions
fermentation. This ad-lt ration may be detected
by means OF the following liquid: Dissolve n
! grains of suphuret of lime. and $50 grains Of
supertartiate of potash III l6 ounces of distilled
water by repeated shaking; when perfectly dis
| solved leave the mixture to settle and pogr off
the clear liquid into clean yias, adding abont 70
drops OF hydrochloric acid to each. A small
portion of this test added to q glass OF the sus
pe3ted VINE Will detect the presenc of the lcas
quantity OF lead, by causing a black precipitate
Lead unites with many metals, forming valunbl.
alloys. or these, one of the most important 4,
that used in type founding, and consists of lead
and antimony, in different proportions. Tbis
alloy Is sold, malleable, harder than lead md
very, fusible Solder, used by plumbers. 4,
nm alloy OF one part of tin and two OF lead Fine
solder more fuslbie than the former, is made Of
two parts Of tin and one OF lead. If solJer ~
heated to read heat it takes fire and burns and
becomes converted into IA white oxide. nsod in
enameshng. The thin plates which line tha
CHESTS IN which tea is imported are formed Of NJ,
alloy OF nlne parts OF lead and one of I'm Ar
&loy OF eight parts of bismutb, five Of lend and
three OF tin, forms fnsible metal. If a,nau ,1ra
tItlTN rs.