Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-09-27
ABOUT QUICKSILVER.
One of the Chief Sources of the Great In
come of the kathschilGs.


One of the Chief Sources OF the Great In
come of the Rathsehilds.
Everybody knows what quicksilver Is,
but very few people know anything about
it." said chemist, To New Yors Mail
and Express man. at is one of the six
of seven primary substances knoEn In
mattsr add is the ouly liquid metal. 1t
is found in considerable quantities only
in two places on earth, the entire find
Cuisine of th0se two places being less
than per cent. of the supply the world
has. These two places are Almsdan, In
Spain, and New Almadan, in Mexico.
In the mines in both places, it is found
in vast beds of cinnabsr, which is the
common name for sulphurate OF mercury
or Quicksilver. Both mines are owned,
and have been owned for many years,
by the Rothsohi,d family, and forms one
of the chief sources of their royal in-
come. As thei. output is more than
nineteen tweutieths of tho entire supply
of the world, they 6re able 60 fix the
price of the metal in all markets, aud
they extract about $2,000,000 yesr from
the Spanish mine, AID about S2600o00
from the Mexican mines, This is net
profit, the gross sales being greatly in ex
cess of those figures
Mercury ia the dsadliest of metals.
You know how often you hear people say
iodide of mercury and
When the reporter recovered CON
seriousness the chemist was still oabbling
out; Mercury is an active poison IN
every known form, which is not the case
with lead. IL is used in very numerous
variety of industries, but it ia 80 poison
Gus that the the workmen who handle il
in any form live only six or seven years
after they begin the banding. II has,
naturally, been very carefully studied by
chemists, and for every case OF Gccideu-
tai poisoning by its use; there is speci-
f,c anhdote, but for the cumulative
poisoning that comes lron constantly
using it there is no care. The ylitins
suffer al ways in the same manner; FIRST
from CHASTITY and loathsome ulcers, then
from gradual rotting away Of the bones
aud hard Tissues OF the body, aud then
from death, results from eutire debiita-
tion."
TO tell all its uses would fill book.
The cOmmonest are in the manufacture
of thermometers and barometers, the
backing OF mirrors, the amRlgamation of
GOLD and silver, tne manufacture of oor-
rosive sublimate, calomel, blue mass, aud
other drugs, the making of ccors, etc.
In cOiors, i0dide OF mercury makes the
most brilliant verUilhJn kuo gn. In
another form, with ths sulphRte OF oya-
nide. ii forms the basis of those queer
toys that swell and squirm like worms
when ignited. They are called Phgro'5
eggs and are exceedingly amusing play.
things. The nitsate i used as caustio
"a new use for the iodide farm has
been recently discovered in the leather
industry. Tire addition OF a small guam
/ tity of il to skins has been 20 efectually
prevent fermentation setting in, and at
/ the same time TO produce no injurious
effects in the suisse ueut tanning opera
tioEs. IL is said that the mercury salts
act "a preventative of the constituents
Of the tanning liquors, and the leather
produced from skins that have been pre-
/ viously treated in this manner, is superior
/ to that tanned in the ordinary way.
| Messrs. Colin L. Benuist, the French
chemists, who have ex Experimental with
this anti fcrment, states that 10 com.
pletely prevents the liquefac5ioD Of the
gelatine, winch takes place in purifying
hides, and thus saves them from this
! loss. A saving is also effected by It's use
in abe prevention of the decomposition
of the tanning in the tanning liquid,
which is usually fastened by the intro.
duction of the hides when IL a state of
decomposition. The amount Of iodide
of mercury required is SO email that it g
claimed that there ia no Improbable
danger from poisoning, either to the
workmen or to those subseq uently nsing
| the leather.
In some respects, however, mercury Is
not ss important factor in human in
dustry as it was formerly The best
mirrors for example, are now made with
metallic backing of silver, which Is pre-
cipitated with sugar. In medical science
/ il has been to some extent superseded by
! Edson's inventions, and in me'alurgy
by wet Saying and certain new German
| processes"