IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AMALGAMS OR ALLOYS OF METALS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AMALGAMS OR ALLOYS OF
METALS" A communication from abroad by Henry Wurtz, of the
City of New York, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th November 1865.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AMALGAMS OR ALLOYS OF
METALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new mode of combining sodium and other alkaline.
metals with quicksilver and other metals and alloys. The combination of'
the metals is effected with uniformity, rapidity, and convenience, and without
explosion, danger, or loss.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention a quantity of a poorer amalgam or alloy of
the metal to be operated on is first produced by any known mode, or preferably
by melting up with fresh quicksilver or other metal a portion of a richer sodium
amalgam or alloy, keeping this poorer sodium compound fused by a gentle
heat. An additional weighed quantity of sodium is then added gradually in
fragments, each of which fragments will then combine without flame, noise, or
smoke, and form a solid cake of rich crystalline amalgam or alloy,
floating in or upon the fused mass. The addition of sodium is regulated.
in quantity so that the heat developed by the combination may just suffice
to keep the mass melted without elevating it sufficiently to admit of explosive
combination. Each solid cake of rich compound is removed from the fluid
mass as soon as formed, and dropped after cooling into petroleum or melted
paraffine. To obtain a homogeneous compound of definite composition these
cakes of rich amalgam or alloy may be all melted together (with the mass
remaining in the vessel), paraffine being added as a flux. Should the compound
be too rich in sodium, additional weighed quantities of quicksilver or of other
The whole
metal, as the case may be, are added during this final fusion.
mass may then be cast into sticks or ingots, which may then be preserved by
packing them in calcined plaster of Paris, powdered quicklime, or other dry
powder which absorbs atmospheric moisture. Such sticks or ingots may also
be preserved in petroleum in wooden kegs, or in bottles, the corks of which
are made petroleum-tight by means of glue. As a flux for these compounds,
instead of paraffine, cyanide of potassium is sometimes used.
Another mode of combining sodium with other metals or alloys is to add
some rich amalgam of sodiumn previously formed by the above-described
method to the metal or alloy while in a state of fusion. The adhesion of any
metal or alloy in a melted state to other metallic surfaces is very much increased
when sodium is introduced into its composition by either of the above-described
processes. Sodium is therefore employed in this way in all processes of coat-
ing metals with other metals or alloys which are fusible at a moderate heat. In
all processes also of soldering together iron or other metals by means of any
metallic solder or alloy, sodium or an amalgam thereof may be combined with
such soldering metal; also in the process of burning together" without
solder the edges of sheets of metal an amalgam of sodium is previously
applied to the joints. In all these cases of coating and plating metals, and
of soldering and burning together metallic surfaces, paraffine or cyanide of
potassium is used as a flux. Instead of sodium alone, a fluid alloy of sodium
and potassium may be used, to prepare which I simply substitute in the
ordinary processes of making sodium for pure carbonate of soda a mixture of

page_text: the same with carbonate of potash. The manufacture of the amalgam of
sodium may be accomplished in a series of iron pans, say five to ten in number,
set at an inclination, the combination of the metals being effected in the
deeper parts of the vessels and the cooling of the cakes of amalgam on the
elevated inclined portions. It is advisable also to keep a portion of the
poorer amalgam in a partially cooled and pasty condition upon the upper
portion of the incline, and additions of this poor amalgam from time to time
will readily control the temperature and the intensity of the action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66. Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AMALGAMS OR ALLOYS OF METALS,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Henry Wurtz, of the City of New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The intense heat usually evolved during the union of quicksilver .or other
fluid metal with the alkaline metals always gives rise (unless precautions be
adopted) to an action of a violent and explosive character) involving danger,
loss of material, and want of uniformity in the products. The improved
modes of combining alkaline metals with quicksilver and other fluid and fused
metals and alloys consist,-
First, in first producing a quantity of poorer amalgam or alloy of the metal
operated on (say of sodium) by any known mode, or preferably by melting up
with quicksilver (or other metal) a portion of a richer sodium amalgam (or
alloy) obtained as described below. The poorer sodium amalgam which is
most advantageous to commence with is formed by melting up a three and a
half or four per cent. of amalgam with such additional proportion of quick-
silver as will reduce the proportion of sodium to two per cent. or a little less.
To this poorer sodium compound there is then added gradually in fragments
an additional known weight of sodium. Each of these fragments will then
combine usually without flame, noise, or smoke, and will form a solid cake of
very rich crystalline hard amalgam (or alloy) floating in or upon the fused
mass. These cakes, when the material operated upon has been quicksilver,
constitute what I call "magnetic amalgam No. 3."
The Invention consists, secondly, in removing from the fluid each cake of
rich compound immediately upon its solidification, leaving the fluid surface
free to absorb another fragment of the alkaline metal; it is advisable to throw
these cakes after cooling into deoxidized rectified petroleum or into fused
paraffine.
Thirdly, in using for the convenient accomplishment of these methods
vessels having bottoms so shaped that one portion is higher than the rest, so
that the level of the surface of the fluid amalgam (or alloy) may be kept
lower than this elevated portion of the bottom, thereby allowing the concreted
cakes of rich compound to be easily removed from the fluid metal and cooled
upon this elevated portion. Common sheet iron is a suitable material for such
vessels, at least in the preparation of amalgams, and ordinary flat-bottomed
bakers' pans have been found to answer well, though it is more convenient to
have the lower end of the pan which contains the fused metal stamped or
beaten into a spheroidal or basin form. The upper end of the pan should
have no rim to facilitate the removal of the cakes of No. 3 amalgam, and the
inclination of the upper flat part of the bottom should be about ten or fifteen
degrees from the horizontal.

page_text: The Invention consists. fourthly, in so controlling and regulating the heat as
to prevent the fused metal from becoming cool enough to be too thick and
pasty or hot enough to admit of explosive combination by the following
devices, each or all of which may be resorted to as occasion or circumstances
may offer or admit-First, the precaution of a readily controlled source of
heat. In the absence of gas alcohol lamps may be used. If, however, the
process be conducted precisely as herein specified, the application of additional
heat will rarely be necessary after the first, fusion of the poorer amalgam at
the start.
Second, the use simultaneously of a number of pans, say five or
ten, the sodium being added to each in rotation, thus giving time for the
intense heat developed by the combination to subside in each pan before the
next addition. Third, division of the alkaline metal into fragments of various
dimensions, so that when the heat of the liquid is too great smaller fragments
may be added.
The fragments may usually be of the bulk of half a hen's
egg, or even larger, but some should be provided of the size of a hazel nut, to
be used for testing the temperature when a pan is suspected to be too hot.
The best shape for the larger fragments is that of a flat slab from one quarter
to one half inch thick and one inch or an inch and a half square. The
adherent petroleum should be removed from each fragment by pressing
slightly with a dry towel before laying it upon the metal in the pan, and the
film of fused paraffine on the surface of the amalgam should be drawn to one
side with a bent poker. The most convenient tool for cutting sodium is a
common "chopping knife" with semicircular edge, such as are familiarly
known in kitchens. A little practice with this instrument will enable one to
cut up large masses of sodium with great facility. Fourth, deposition of a
portion of the poorer amalgam upon the more elevated portion of the inclined
bottom, where it can assume a partially cooled and pasty condition, additions
of which to the hotter fluid portion may be made when desirable. The proper
time for the addition of one of the larger pieces of sodium is indicated by
a slightly pasty consistence of the whole mass due to an incipient solidification.
Towards the close of the operation, however, as the body of fluid in each pan
diminishes, it will be found to become richer in sodium, and the fragments of
sodium may be added at a higher temperature without danger of explosion.
The Invention consists, fifthly, in finally producing homogeneous amalgams
(or alloys) of definite compositions by melting together in an iron pot over an
open fire these cakes of rich compound with the remainder of the mass in .the
pan or pans, adding if necessary additional weighed portions of quicksilver
or other metal or alloy, as the case may be. When the hard rich No: 3

page_text: *
amalgam is wanted, I melt down the hard concrete cakes alone, an amalgam
containing five per cent. or more of sodium being thus producible if care be
taken in the manufacture. The fusion of No. 3 amalgam, however, requires a
higher heat than is sometimes convenient. By the addition of sufficient quick-
silver to bring the proportion of sodium down to about three and a
half or four per cent. there is produced what designate as mag-
netic amalgam No. 2," which fuses at a much lower temperature, and is, there-
fore, much more readily cast, while at the same time it is very hard, and retains
its hardness at any atmospheric temperature. A third compound, called "mag-
netic amalgam No. 1," which is usually highly crystalline and somewhat pasty
or plastic at ordinary temperatures (and which on account of its ready solu-
bility and easy miscibility with quicksilver is highly useful for some purposes),
is formed by reducing the proportion of the sodium to about two per cent.
In all operations of fusing and casting these compounds paraffine is used as a
flux, except when operating on amalgam No. 3. or upon alloys whose fusing
point is higher than the vaporizing point of paraffine, in which
cases cyanide of potassium is used as a flux. Instead of sodium alone it is
sometimes convenient to substitute in the above operations one of the fluid
alloys of sodium with potassium prepared by substituting for pure carbonate
of soda (in the ordinary process of making sodium) a mixture of the same
with carbonate of potash, or better probably by a recurrence to the original
methods of Gay Lussac and Thenard (by which these fluid alloys were dis-
covered), the decomposition by metallic iron of mixtures of the hydrates of
potash and soda. These compounds are conveniently preserved for trans-
portation and use in the forms of sticks, ingots, or pellets, which may be cast
in polished iron or steel moulds smeared with melted paraffine. Their pro-
tection from the deteriorating action of damp air is accomplished in several
ways. First, they may be enclosed in glass vessels securely stopped and
filled nearly up to the stoppers with dense rectified petroleum (previously
deoxidized, if necessary, by digestion with sodium, or better with a strong
fluid amalgam thereof). Second, they may be enclosed in glass or earthen-
ware vessels carefully stopped, in which is also placed some solid substance
(like quicklime or burnt gypsum), which powerfully attracts and solidifies
atmospheric moisture. Quicklime in small lumps is most convenient, and it
is best to pack these lumps up loosely in porous paper, and place them in
the centre of the package, surrounded by the sticks or ingots of amalgam.
Third, the ingots, sticks, or pellets may be packed in small paint kegs or
other strong tight vessels of wood or other suitable material, and surrounded

page_text: by powdered quicklime or burnt gypsum. or other dry highly hygroscopic
powder. The wooden vessel should be smeared inside and out, and its joints
cemented with melted paraffine. Such packages may be further secured from
moisture and mechanical injury by enclosing them in tight fitting envelopes
of vulcanized rubber or rubber cloth. The common jars called "air-tight
jars" used for preserving fruits and berries, and which close with a screw
clamp and rubber washer, are also convenient for this purpose. When
petroleum is put into these. there must be substituted for the rubber, which
is a material quickly destroyed by petroleum), a washer composed of glue
rendered soft and elastic by combination with a little glycerine. Glue alone
and this compound thereof are very efficient and convenient materials for
securing corks of glass bottles or jars containing these compounds packed in
petroleum. The corks may be tied over with bladder, first soaked in glycerine
somewhat diluted with water. For the above purposes the most highly
rectified light-colored American petroleum should be used, the boiling point
of which is far above that of water, and which does not evaporate or oxidize
sensibly at ordinary temperatures, and will not burn without a wick. Traces
of water, which always occur in it, can be removed by fluid amalgam of sodium
as aforesaid. Fourth, it is convenient and economical at times to utilize the
empty iron quicksilver flasks for packing and storing, and even for transporting
the soft amalgam No. 1. This may be done by simply filling them with this
amalgam in a melted state, and screwing in the screw plug as usual. As this
amalgam melts below two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. it can
easily be removed from the flasks by immersing the latter in boiling water, or
otherwise gently heating them. The harder and richer amalgams are not con-
veniently packed in this way, because of their very high fusing points. In
order to remove from cakes, ingots, or other masses of amalgam before packing
any dross or tarnish which may have formed by exposure to damp, they should
be washed with fluid quicksilver, which quickly makes the surface bright and
clean. All dross and scoriae which may form during the processes of making,
fusing, and casting the amalgams, and which consist of mixtures of the
amalgam with metallic quicksilver and hydrate of soda, may be thrown into
an iron kettle of hot water, in the bottom of which the contained quicksilver
will soon collect and incorporate. Such scoriaceous matter, which is some-
times very hard in consequence of the fusion and subsequent solidification of
the hydrate of soda, may also be crushed up in an iron mortar with quick-
silver, by which the sodium contained therein will also be recovered.
In addition to the new uses of the alkaline metals described by me in my

page_text: former Patent, dated June the Twenty-eighth, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-five, No. 1779, these agents may be employed to the following additional
uses:-
First, applications to the coating of metals by immersion.-If to any metal
or alloy which is fusible at a moderate temperature, such as tin, zinc, lead,
copper, bismuth, antimony, cadmium, aluminium, or alloys of any two or more
of these, or alloys of any of these with gold, silver, or platinum, a little mag-
netic amalgam be added, it will impart thereto its own property of forcible
adhesion to metallic surfaces. The more important arts coming under this
head are the tinning of copper, the tinning, coppering, and zincing of iron, &c.
In all cases the previous preparation of the surface to fit it for the reception
of the coating will be much simplified by reason of the far greater adhesive
forces here brought into play. It is to be remarked that it will frequently
be necessary to employ two successive baths of the fused metal or alloy (the
first bath only being rendered magnetic), and the object of the second bath
is simply the removal or rinsing out from the coating of the small quantities
of quicksilver and sodium brought with it from the first bath. Instead of the
melted tallow or rosin generally used in these operations as baths and pro-
tective coatings for the fused metals, paraffine may be substituted.
Second, applications to uniting metallic surfaces.-Solders to which some
magnetic amalgam or alloy has been added, and which are thus caused to
adhere much more readily and forcibly to iron and other metals, may for con-
venience be called magnetic solders. With common "soft solders" thus pre-
pared sheets of iron may be easily united. As fluxes for the magnetic solders
paraffine is used, though in some cases chloride of zinc and cyanide of potas-
sium have been found useful. In the operations of "burning" together or
uniting without solder the sheets of lead, of which sulphuric acid chambers
and tanks for refining petroleum are formed, soft magnetic amalgam may be
previously applied to the edges of the sheets to be joined; also in plating one
metal with another, as iron or copper with silver, for instance, a coating of
magnetic amalgam first applied to the surface of the iron or copper serves a
very valuable purpose.
Third, applications to the making of metallic alloys.-In many cases metals
are not easily made to mingle so as to form alloys; this arises in some cases
through differences in fusing points or specific gravities; in other cases through
a natural repulsion between their surfaces, like that of native gold for quick-
silver; sometimes (as in the case of iron) through a tendency to become
enfilmed with a compact and infusible oxide; at other times, as seen in the

page_text: combination of zinc with fused copper to form brass, through a volatilization
at or below the temperature required to produce the combination. In many
of these cases the addition of a magnetic amalgam or alloy to the mixture will
greatly augment the adhesion between the surfaces, thus causing complete
incorporation to be effected in shorter times and at lower temperatures, and
preventing loss by oxidation. volatilization, or otherwise. As the modes of
proceedings and the proportions suitable will vary in almost every case, no
general rules can be laid down.
Fourth, applications to the smelting of the ores of the precious metals.-
The familiar methods (so ancient and yet still so widely in use) of extracting gold
and silver from their ores, alloys, and other materials by smelting with certain
metals which burn easily to fusible oxides, such as lead, bismuth, antimony,
&c., and subsequent cupellation, may be facilitated and rendered more per-
fect by the use of magnetic alloys. The same may be said of any method in
which either of these metals in fusion, or any fused alloy of these metals, or
any fusible alloy whatever, is used as the medium for extracting gold or silver
from
materials
caused
other materials, whether such
ог
to pass over or under or through the body of such fused metal or alloy. Such
methods must be rendered much more rapid and thorough by the previous com-
bination with such fusible metal or alloy by one of the methods specified above,
of adding a little alkaline metal or alloy thereof.
ores
described the Invention of improvements
are
Having now
in making
amalgams or alloys of metals, which has been communicated to me as afore-
said, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
claim,-
First, the prevention of explosive action in the combination of quicksilver
or other fluid or fused metal with sodium or other alkali metal by first com-
bining the quicksilver or other fluid metal with a portion of a rich amalgam
or alloy of sodium or other alkaline metal previously formed. as above set
forth.
Second, in the manufacture of rich amalgams of sodium and other alkaline
metals, I claim the removal from the fused amalgam of the solid cake of rich
amalgam formed on the addition of each successive portion of alkaline metal,
as above set forth.
Third, to facilitate this removal I claim the use of vessels one portion of
whose bottoms is more elevated than the rest, as above set forth.
Fourth, the prevention of explosive action in the combination of alkaline
metals with fused amalgams thereof by previous additions to the latter of a
cooled amalgam thereof, as above set forth.

page_text: Fifth, the use as a flux in fusing and casting amalgams and alloys of alkaline
metals of paraffine, as above set forth.
Sixth, the use as a flux in fusing and casting amalgams and alloys of the
alkaline metals of cyanide of potassium, as above set forth.
Seventh, in the solidification of quicksilver by combination with the alkaline
metals I claim the use, instead of a solid alkaline metal, of one of the fluid
alloys of sodium and potassium, as above set forth.
Eighth, the preservation from moisture of solid amalgams and alloys of the
alkaline metals by the enclosure in the same package therewith of solid sub-
stances, which combine with and solidify the water contained in the atmo-
sphere, as above set forth.
Ninth, the preservation from moisture of amalgams of the alkaline metals
by using, instead of naphtha for covering the same, rectified petroleum suffi-
ciently dense to be incombustible without a wick, and previously deoxidized
by an alkaline metal, or an amalgam thereof, as above set forth.
Tenth, the convenient and economical package of amalgams of the alkaline
metals by pouring them in a melted state into empty iron quicksilver flasks, as
above set forth.
Eleventh, the removal of tarnish, dross, or scoriæ from amalgams of
alkaline metals by washing or crushing them with liquid quicksilver, as above
set forth.
Twelfth, in the coating of metals with fused metals or alloys I claim the
addition to the latter of an amalgam of an alkaline metal, as above set
forth.
Thirteenth, when a metal has been coated with a fused alloy containing
quicksilver or an alkaline metal, or both, I claim the removal of the quick-
silver and alkaline metal by immersion in a second bath of fused metal, as
above set forth.
Fourteenth, in all processes of soldering together metallic surfaces with any
metallic solder, I claim the combination with the said solder of an alkaline
metal, or an amalgam thereof, as above set forth.
Fifteenth, in all processes of plating or burning together metallic surfaces I
claim the previous application to such surfaces of an amalgam or alloy of an
alkaline metal (as above set forth).
Sixteenth, in all cases in which a solid metal is to be combined by melting
or dissolving in a fused metal or alloy I claim the addition to the latter of an
alkaline metal, or an amalgam or alloy thereof, as above set forth.
Seventeenth, in all cases in which an ore or other material containing
gold or silver is subjected to the action of any fused metal or alloy in order

page_text: to extract gold or silver from such material, I claim the addition to such fused
metal or alloy of an alkaline metal, or an amalgam or alloy thereof, as above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of May. in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT.
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)