Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-08-10
MERCURY, THE
LIQUID METAL
Plays An Important Part in Electrical
Inventions and In War.

Plays An Important Part in Electrical
Inventions and In War.
Mercury is one Of the most talked Of
metals We use. IT is what the mercury
says that tells us the number of de-
grees Fahrenheit it takes TO wilt crops
in August or to freeze water in Deem
her. But the mercury thermometer is only
a single nee for a wonderful metal which
is used in hundred arts and trades to day
Mercury is one of the most modern met
ais in scientific discovery, and electric
research and investigation. Without it
the Mazda lamp. the mercury vapor
lamp. the Coolidge vacuum tube, and
many other modern electrical conven-
fences could never have approached their
present efficiency and utility. The skill
full surgeon, up-todate dentist, engineer.
photographer, chemist all use mercury
or instruments which contain It. II en-
ahles the United States Weather Bureau
TO take its observations in many places
and publish their forecasts throughout
the country. Yet despite these modern
applications. mercury is a metal which
has been known 70 scientists Of all ages.
At first not recognized as a true metal,
mercury nevertheless played an impor-
tant part in the work of the alchemists
of the middle ages who first succeeded
in isolatlng it in metallic form.
LONG IN Use
Mercury occurs in nature as red sui
nhide or cnnebar, a substance which the
North American Indian first used as
facial pigment long before the present
day cosmetic came into use Its dis
covery dates back to 800 years before the
Christian era when the early alchemists
separated it from Cinnebar with copper
and vinegar, Soon afterward powerful
compounds of mercury We're discovered
and first used by Arabian physicians.
From the beginning, mercury has be-
come an important and valuable article
Of commerce to-day. The early alche-
mists maintained mercury was not met
al because no other metal assumed the
form Of a liquid az normal temperature
This may he disproved by immersng a
| quantity Of mercury In liquid air. The
| intense cold soon freezes the mercury
| into a solid block and its metallic nature
may be established by driving nails into
| he hardest wood. the frozen mercury
producing a ring like steel against the
| nail head.
The earliest supplies Of mercury We're
all obtained abroad from Amaden and
| Idrian mines. Later, deposits Of chime
bar we're discovered in this country and
to-day California and Texas are the
main sources of the countrys supply,
Utah, Nevada, oregon and Arizona also
produce the metal. while Spain, Austria
Hungary, Russia Italy and Mexico are
other countries where large amounts Of
the metal are extracted. BY far the
largest quantities mined to-day are
| manufactured into explosives. This has
forced the price UP to a point where the
metal has often changed hands al two
and three times it's normal value. 1t is
reported that 1000 TASKS OF the metal
We're exported from this country TO Great
Britain in 1915 II is shipped in steel bot
ties or TASKS, each flask containing IS
pounds. Smaller reducing plants send
out mercury in small sheepskin bags.
each bag containing about IS pounds of
metal After shipment superficial i'm
purities are removed by forcing IL
through channels skin,
Compared with the difficulties en-
countered in the separation Of other
metals from their ores, the reduction OF
mercury from cinnehar is simple
process. Two methods Of extraction are
used Heat is the reducing agent in
both cases In one method the heat is
applied to cinnehar in the presence of
air; in the other the air is excluded and
the cinnehar is heated in a vessel con-
| tanning lime or iron, Roth methods are
conducted with heat sufficient to change
the mercury into vapor which Ia later
condensed and purified. The process In
which air is excluded yields the largest
amount of mercury and therefore a
greater profit. hut this process is exceed.
inEly dangerous to workmen.
| Metallic mercury as II comes from the
reducing plant is used for a variety OF
purposes To-day the greater part of II
Is manufactured into illuminate for de
tonatins explosives This is a substance
the preparation Of which Is fraught Will
the greatest danger. illuminate Is made
by dissoving mercury in nitric acid. Tit