IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF AMALGAMS OF QUICK- SILVER OR MERCURY, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF SUCH AMALGAMS. TO VARIOUS PURPOSES IN THE ABTS
Year: 1865

page_text: 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF AMALGAMS OF QUICK-
SILVER OR MERCURY, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF SUCH AMALGAMS. TO VARIOUS
PURPOSES IN THE ABTS."-A communication by Henry Wurtz, of the City
of New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 21st November 1865, and dated the 28th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th June 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 THE PREPARATION OF AMALGAMS. OF
QUICKSILVER OR MERCURY, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF SUCH AMALGAMS.TO VARIOUS
PURPOSES IN THE ARTS," to be as follows:-
The amalgam of quicksilver or mercury which it is proposed to use for the
purposes of this Invention is made by adding to quicksilver or any amalgam a
minute quantity of one or more of the highly electro-positive metals of the
Price 8d.]
1

page_text: alkalies or alkaline earths, namely sodium, potassium, lithium, rubidium, caesium,
barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, or other metal of this class, the quick-
silver is used in any of those arts and processes in which the object is to
amalgamate, enfilm, coat, or combine with it in any manner another metal or
alloy, and in imparting by this addition to quicksilver or to any amalgam a
greatly enhanced adhesion, attraction, or affinity for other metals. For con-
venience and economy it is desirable that the aforesaid electro-positive metals
should be previously converted into amalgams with a portion of quicksilver,
thus allowing the addition of the electro-positive metal in minute quantities to
the mass of quicksilver to be made use of.
The Invention is applicable to all arts and operations in which amalga-
mation by quicksilver can be made available in recovering particles of quick-
silver itself, copper, tin, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc, antimony, bismuth from
ores as well as from slags, scoria, and similar artificial or other accidental
mixtures.
Also, in operations in which amalgamation by quicksilver in conjunction with
reducing metals such as iron or zinc can be made available in recovering
metals from their soluble or insoluble saline compounds, such as lead from its
sulphate or chloride, quicksilver itself, copper, nickel, tin, cadmium, bismuth,
or antimony from their soluble compounds.
Also, in operations in which amalgamation by quicksilver may be made
available in the recovery of copper or tin from surfaces of coppered or tinned
iron, in the recovery of tin and other metals from broken mirrors and the like.
Also, in operations in which amalgams of tin, copper, or zinc may be
made available in the coating of iron or any other metal with gold, silver,
tin, copper, zinc, or alloys of two or more of these; the most important
of these cases being the fire-gilding of iron, aluminium, and other metals
which are impermeable.and non-amalgamable by quicksilver.
Also, in operations in which the cleaning or polishing of rusty. greasy, or
dull surfaces of non-amalgamable metals is required, such metals being iron,
steel, platinum, and aluminium.
Also, in cases in which lubrication or prevention of the friction of iron
or steel journals and bearings of machinery is to be effected.
Also, in the amalgamation of the surfaces of the zinc in voltaic batteries
of the surfaces of copper plates used in the saving of metals from ores of the
tinfoil in the operation of coating mirrors.
Also, in the reduction of quicksilver into solid forms for the more con-
venient transportation of it.

page_text: In preparing the amalgam for different purposes, I use two different
amalgams containing different proportions of sodium, the one containing
1 part of sodium to 25 or 30 parts of quicksilver and the other not more than
1 part of sodium to 50 or 60 of quicksilver. The first amalgam containing
about 3 or 4 per cent. by weight of sodium is solid, brittle, and nearly as
hard as cast zinc, while the second containing only 2 per cent. or less of
sodium is also solid, but in warm weather somewhat pasty and plastic in
its consistence. In the preparation of these magnetic amalgams a given
quantity, say one ounce, of sodium is cut into pieces not larger than a hazel
nut. The requisite quantity of quicksilver is placed in an iron pot or other
deep iron vessel, and the fragments of sodium thrown one by one on its
surface, cach fragment being touched or stirred about slightly with a glass rod
or iron wire, the ends of which has been dipped in water.. Each fragment
will amalgamate under these circumstances with a slight explosion. As the
compound becomes richer in sodium the temperature is very likely to become
sufficiently depressed to cause the mass to become wholly or partially solidified.
It is then necessary to apply a gentle heat during the addition of the
remainder of the sodium. Finally, the amalgam is kept melted' for a short
time, stirring with an iron rod or spoon until any lumps of hard amalgam
which may have been formed are dissolved, and the mass rendered uniform in
composition. It may then be poured out upon a cold stone to form it into a
thin sheet, or it may be cast into sticks, rods, or pellets in suitable moulds.
A quantity of one of these amalgams dissolved in one hundred times its weight
or more of quicksilver communicates to the whole a greatly enhanced power of
adhering to metals, and particularly to those which lie towards the negative
end of the electro-chemical scale. Such quicksilver, unlike ordinary quick-
silver, adheres strongly to surfaces of iron, platinum, and aluminium, and
therefore to the use of iron moulds in casting the amalgams must be avoided.
This adhesion to the three metals mentioned is not however of the nature of
true amalgamation, there being no penetration into the substance of the metal.
In wet processes of amalgamation the hard amalgam should be used, as
it dissolves with slowness and difficulty in the quicksilver, and therefore keeps
it in the magnetic condition for a long time, in spite of the slow oxidation of
the sodium by the water. In amalgamation processes in the dry way, in which
a very minute quantity of sodium goes a great way, the soft amalgam should
be used, as it dissolves in the quicksilver with much greater rapidity. The
frequency with which these additions of magnetic amalgam are to be made
cannot be precisely specified, as it will depend on many circumstances, such

page_text: as the temperature and other conditions of the water, the nature of the
process used, but experience will readily determine in each individual case
how often the additions are to be made.
In the common method of amalgamation by causing pulverized materials
to pass over amalgamated plates of copper or other metal a great economy is
effected by using in connection with the magnetic amalgam iron plates instead
of copper. In this case the amalgam is best crushed to coarse powder, and
sprinkled from time to time over the enfilmed surface. The power which
these magnetic amalgams communicate to quicksilver of coating or enfilming
surfaces of iron renders them of peculiar value in every form of drastra, drag
mill, or other amalgamating apparatus which has internal surfaces of iron,
such surfaces thus becoming coated with quicksilver, and immensely enlarging
its surfaces of contact with the particles of the ore, and particularly with those
particles which are so fine as to remain suspended in the water.
Other valuable modifications arise out of this power of enfilming iron
surfaces, which are used in crushing ores continually coated with quicksilver.
Quicksilver possessed of the magnetic quality may be kept dropping or
trickling upon the surfaces of crushing rollers, or in those forms of machinery
in which heavy iron balls are kept in motion rolling over the ore; the surfaces
of these balls may be kept enfilmed.
Another valuable quality communicated to quicksilver by these magnetic
amalgams is a far greater cohesive attraction for its own particles. It is
rendered more viscid, more difficult to divide mechanically, and when thus
divided runs together again instantly upon contact. It follows that the granu-
lation or "flouring" of the quicksilver during the amalgamation of ores, which
usually gives rise to so important a loss of this costly agent, is reduced to a
minimum or altogether prevented. It will generally be found desirable (as in
other cases where quicksilver is used, and ores containing arsenic or sulphur
operated upon) to remove as much as practicable of the arsenic or sulphur by
previous roasting or other chemical treatment. A small addition of magnetic
amalgam wholly prevents the flouring of the quicksilver; amalgamation is
therefore at once rendered by its use the most rapid and economical mode of
extracting from their ores such metals as frequently occur therein in a metallic
state though in minutely subdivided form, such as quicksilver, copper, bismuth,
antimony. It frequently happens also in metallurgical operations that these as
well as other metals are obtained diffused throughout the substance of slags or
scoria in forms so minutely subdivided that but little can be recovered by the
usual processes of washing with water, while at the same time the rapid oxida-

page_text: tion which is incidental to such washing is an additional obstacle. In such
cases a resort to amalgamation with magnetic quicksilver will be found highly
advantageous. Also in cases of lean ores of easily reducible metals, in which
the metal in the form of oxide or sulphide is minutely diffused throughout a
large proportion of gangue, it will often be found advantageous- to first treat
the crushed ironstone in such way as to reduce the diffused particles of ore to
the metallic form, and afterwards to amalgamate with magnetic quicksilver.
The previous reduction of the ore to metal may be effected in either of two
ways, according to circumstances; that is, either by exposing the crushed ore
to the action of deoxidizing gases at a temperature too low to produce any
fusing effect upon the ironstone, or by mixing the ore with suitable deoxidizing
or desulphurizing fluxes, and heating the mixture to a pasty or incipient fusion
upon a furnace, hearth, or otherwise. In the latter case the mass after cooling
will of course require recrushing before amalgamating. Many ores of copper,
tin, lead, bismuth, and antimony belong to the class suitable for the applica-
tion of this process of reduction and subsequent amalgamation. It is to be
remarked also that many of the cases included under this head are such as
are suitable for the application of processes of amalgamation in the dry way.
In cases of easily reducible metals in solution, such as copper, nickel, tin,
cadmium, bismuth, and antimony, conversion into amalgams by magnetic
quicksilver and iron, will be found the most speedy and economical treatment.
In all cases in which it is desirable to recover on a large scale amalgamable
metals from surfaces of iron, glass, or other material impermeable by quick-
silver, the use of the magnetic amalgams is to be recommended. Such surfaces
are those of tinned or coppered iron plate, and common looking-glasses.
In the great arts of fire-gilding and fire-silvering by means of amalgams,
the use of the amalgams the fire-gilding and fire-silvering of iron, steel,
platinum, aluminium, and such other metals as are not susceptible of being
enfilmed by ordinary quicksilver, become possible and practicable. In, the
fire-gilding of iron or other non-amalgamable. metal by amalgamation, the
proportion of magnetic sodium amalgam added to the gold amalgam must
be considerable, and the expulsion of the quicksilver from the surface must
not be delayed too long after the application of the compound amalgam. It
is well also to dip the gilt articles after driving off the quicksilver by heat and
before burnishing into lime water for some time, in order to oxidize and
remove traces of sodium that may remain with the gold. Similar remarks
apply of course to fire-silvering by amalgamation.
The magnetic amalgams possess an extraordinary power to detach films of

page_text: oil, grease, oxide, or other tarnishing matter from the surfaces of such metals"
as iron, steel, aluminium, and platinum. When a surface of either of these
metals which is dull, rusty, or encrusted with oxide, grease, or other foreign
material is rubbed with magnetic amalgam, or with a wet rag smeared
therewith, the foreign material quickly disappears and is replaced by a
coating of the amalgam itself. This latter is in its turn readily removed
(except an infinitesimal film) by wiping with a clean dry rag, and there is
left a clean bright metallic surface. If there should be depressions in the
surface of the metal which retain small portions of the amalgam and prevent
such portions from being entirely removed by rubbing, an immersion in lime
water will readily remove the sodium and destroy all the adhesion of the
amalgam.
.
Quicksilver is the most powerful and lasting of lubricators when applied
between amalgamable surfaces. A magnetic quicksilver which will enfilm and
adhere to the surface of an iron journal must bring fully into play the lubricating
qualities of the fluid metal. Means of preventing the too rapid loss of the
magnetic power through the oxidation of the sodium by the moisture of the
atmosphere must be provided for by the simultaneous application to the journal
of a little rectified petroleum, which will form a film over the amalgam and pro-
tect it from the action of the air. Whenever the journals begin to heat it will
only be necessary to add a small pellet of one of the solid magnetic amalgams.
The quicksilver itself will very seldom need renewal, as it is non-volatile, and
indestructible by any agency that comes into play under the circumstances.
In all cases in which it is an object to save time and labour in the coating of
surfaces of other metals with quicksilver, of which one of the most important
is the preparation of the zinc plates or cylinders of voltaic batteries, the
magnetic amalgams will form a perfect and continuous coating of greater
chemical and voltaic activity than mercury alone. By virtue of the adhesion
to iron imparted by the magnetic amalgams, quicksilver or fluid amalgams
may be applied to any surface with great rapidity and facility with a brush
after the fashion of a paint, the material of such brushes being fine wire of
iron, steel, aluminium, or platinum. The ordinary mode of packing and
It
transporting quicksilver in bulk is very expensive and troublesome.
will be found very convenient to convert it into solid forms susceptible of
transportation in vessels of lighter and cheaper material than the ordinary
wrought-iron bottles; such, for instance, as earthenware or glass jars, wooden
kegs, bags, or bottles of caoutchouc or gutta percha.
The solidification of the liquid quicksilver is effected by adding some of the

page_text: amalgam thereto, and quicksilver may then be packed, stored, transported,
and sold in convenient forms, such as bars, ingots, cylinders, blocks, cubes,
spheres, or pellets of definite sizes or weights. When the quicksilver is to
be used it will merely require admixture with some fluid quicksilver, and
when it is to be used as pure quicksilver the sodium may be readily and
rapidly removed by throwing the solid amalgam in fragments into hot or
boiling water mixed with a little sulphuric acid.
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 28th December 1865.
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 Twenty-eighth day of June, 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 THE PREPARARATION OF AMALGAMS OF
QUICKSILVER OR MERCURY, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF SUCH AMALGAMS TO VARIOUS
PURPOSES IN THE ARTS," being a communication to me by Henry Wurtz, of the
City of New York, in the 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.

page_text: 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
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The amalgam of quicksilver or mercury which it is proposed to. use
for the purposes of this Invention is made by adding to quicksilver or any
amalgam a minute quantity of one or more of the highly electro-positive
metals of the alkalies or alkaline earths, namely, sodium, potassium, lithium,
rubidium, caesium, barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, or other metal of
this class. The quicksilver is used in any of those arts and processes in which
the object is to amalgamate, enfilm, coat, or combine with it in any manner
another metal or alloy, and to impart by this addition to quicksilver or to
any amalgam a greatly enhanced adhesion, attraction, or affinity for other
metals. For convenience and economy it is desirable that the aforesaid
electro-positive metals should be previously converted into amalgams with
a portion of quicksilver, thus allowing the addition of such electro-positive
metal in minute quantities to the mass of quicksilver to be made use of.
The Invention is applicable to all those arts and operations in which
amalgamation by quicksilver can be made available in recovering particles of
quicksilver itself, copper, tin, cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc, antimony, bismuth,
from ores as well as from slags, scoria, and similar artificial or other accidental
mixtures.
Also, in operations in which amalgamation by quicksilver in conjunction
with reducing metals, such as iron or zinc, can be made available in recovering
metals from their soluble or insoluble saline compounds, such as silver, from
its chloride or hyposulphite, lead from its sulphate or chloride, gold from its
chloride or other solution, quicksilver itself, copper, nickel, tin, cadmium,
bismuth, or antimony from their soluble compounds.
Also, in operations in which amalgamation by quicksilver. may be made
available in the recovery of copper or tin from surfaces of coppered or tinned
iron, and in the recovery of tin and other metals from broken mirrors and the
like.
Also, in operations in which amalgams of tin, copper, or zinc may be made
available in the coating of iron or any other metal with gold, silver, tin, copper,
or zinc, or alloys of two or more of these, the most important of these cases
being the fire-gilding of iron, aluminium, and other metals, which are imper-
meable and non-amalgamable by quicksilver.
Also, in operations in which the cleaning or polishing of rusty, greasy, or dull

page_text: surfaces of non-amalgamable metals is required, such metals being iron, steel,
platinum, and aluminium.
Also, in cases in which lubrication or prevention of the friction of iron or
steel journals and bearings of machinery is to be effected.
Also, in the amalgamation of the surfaces of the zinc in voltaic batteries, of
the surfaces of copper plates used in the saving of metals from ores, of the
tinfoil in the operation of coating mirrors.
Also, for the reduction of quicksilver into solid forms for the more convenient
transportation of it.
:
I will now proceed to describe the inanner of preparing the amalgams of
sodium and potassium, (those two electro-positive metals which for the sake
of economy and convenience are selected), some care and precaution being
requisite in this preparation in consequence of the intense heat evolved during
the union of these metals with quick-silver, which gives rise to an explosive
evolution of vapour. A deep iron vessel is the best in which to effect the
union. In preparing the amalgam for different purposes I use different
amalgams, containing different proportions of sodium, the one containing one
part of sodium to twenty-five or thirty parts of quicksilver, and the other not
more than one part of sodium to fifty or sixty of quicksilver; the first
amalgam containing about three or four per cent. by weight of sodium is solid,
brittle, and nearly as hard as cast zinc, while the second, containing only two
per cent., or less, of sodium, is also solid, but in warm weather somewhat
pasty and plastic in its consistence. For the purposes of the Invention,
and for convenience of designation, these two amalgams may be called
magnetic amalgams Nos. 1 and 2, No. 1 being that which contains not more
than four per cent. of sodium, and No. 2 that which contains not more than
two per cent. In the preparation of these magnetic amalgams a given quantity,
say one ounce, of sodium is cut into pieces not larger than a hazel nut. The
requisite quantity (according as to which of the two amalgams is required)
of quicksilver is placed in an iron pot or other deep iron vessel, and the
fragments of sodium thrown one by one on its surface, each fragment being
touched or stirred about slightly with a glass rod or iron wire, the end of
which has been dipped in water. Each fragment will amalgamate under
these circumstances with a slight explosion. Care must be taken not to
inhale the fumes which arise during this operation, as they consist of a
mixture of mercurial and caustic soda smoke. As the compound becomes
richer in sodium, especially when amalgam No. 1 is being prepared, the
temperature is very likely to become sufficiently depressed to cause the mass

page_text: to become wholly or partially solidified. It is then necessary to apply a
gentle and carefully regulated heat during the addition of the remainder of
the sodium. Finally, the amalgam is kept melted for a short time, stirring
with an iron rod or spoon until any lumps of hard amalgam which may have
been formed are dissolved, and the mass rendered uniform in composition.
It may then be poured out upon a cold stone to form it into a thin sheet, or it
may be cast into sticks, rods, or pellets, in moulds composed of glass, earthen-
ware, soapstone, or other stone, plaster, or other non-metallic substance, as
these moulds must never be made of iron or other metal. When cold the
amalgam sticks, pellets, or sheets may be preserved in corked bottles. In
dry air these amalgams keep indefinitely without change, but dampness
gradually impairs their value for the purposes of the Invention.
In very
damp climates therefore it is well to place in the same bottle with the
amalgam a lump of dry quicklime enclosed in a roomy bag made of stout
paper, or two thicknesses of fine linen cloth. This lime will keep the air of
the interior of the bottle perfectly dry. In some cases it may be found
desirable to prevent all contact of the air with the amalgam by filling or
partly filling the bottle containing it with deoxydized petroleum, benzole, or
naphtha. Rectified petroleum or other hydrocarbon liquid used is readily
deoxydized and rendered suitable for this purpose by previous agitation with
a few thin slices of sodium until the latter is no longer tarnished, and then
allowing to settle and pouring off the clear liquid.
Another plan to protect these amalgams from moisture is to coat the sticks
or fragments with paraffine, or a plastic compound thereof, with rectified
petroleum, by dipping them into the substance or compound in a melted
state. Under most circumstances, however, the amalgam No. 2 will be found
to require no other protection than being kept corked up, but in case of No. 1
additional protection from moisture may sometimes be desirable, the most
reliable being immersion in rectified petroleum which has been deoxydized as
described. It is well to remark that the substitution for a portion of the
sodium of some potassium communicates to these amalgams still greater
hardness and permanency. A quantity of one of these amalgams dissolved
in one hundred times its weight or more of quicksilver communicates to the
whole a greatly enhanced power of adhering to metals, and particularly to
those which, like gold and silver, lie towards the negative end of the electro-
chemical scale. This power of adhesion is in some cases so great that the
resistance which their surfaces, when in the native state, usually oppose to
amalgamation (a resistance which is much greater and more general than has

page_text: been hitherto recognized, and which is due to causes hitherto undiscovered) is
instantly overcome, whether their particles be coarse, fine, or even impalpable.
Even an artificial coating of oil or grease (which is such an enemy to amal-
gamation) forms not the slightest obstacle to instant amalgamation by this
magnetic quicksilver. The atoms of the quicksilver are, as it would seem,
put into a polaric condition by a minute addition of one of those metals which
range themselves towards the electro-positive end of the scale, so that its
affinity for the more electro-negative metals is so greatly exalted that it seizes
upon and is absorbed by their surfaces instantaneously, just as water is absorbed
by a lump of sugar or other substance soluble in it. Such quicksilver, unlike
ordinary quicksilver, adheres strongly to surfaces of iron, platinum, and alu-
minium, and therefore the use of iron moulds in casting the amalgams must
be avoided. This adhesion to the three metals mentioned is not however of
the nature of true amalgamation, there being no penetration into the substance
of the metal, so that the superficially adherent magnetic quicksilver may readily
be wiped off clean. In wet processes of amalgamation the hard amalgam
should be used, as it dissolves with slowness and difficulty in the quicksilver,
and therefore keeps it in the magnetic condition for a long time, in spite of
the slow oxydation of the sodium by the water. In amalgamation processes
in the dry way, in which a very minute quantity of sodium goes a great way,
the soft amalgam should be used, as it dissolves in the quicksilver with much
greater rapidity. The frequency with which these additions of magnetic
amalgam are to be made cannot be precisely specified, as it will depend on
many circumstances, such as the temperature and other conditions of the
water, and the nature of the process used, but experience will readily
determine in each individual case how often the additions are to be made.
In a sluice, and in many other cases, the quicksilver can be easily tested at
any time, to ascertain whether it still retains the magnetic quality; this can
be ascertained by throwing into it a grain or two of gold dust, which has
never before been subjected to amalgamation. In the common method of
amalgamation, by causing pulverized materials to pass over amalgamated
plates of copper or other metal, a great economy is effected by using in
In
connection with the magnetic amalgam iron plates instead of copper.
this case the amalgam is best crushed to coarse powder, and sprinkled from
time to time over the enfilmed surface. The power which these magnetic
amalgams communicate to quicksilver of coating or enfilming surfaces of iron
renders them of peculiar value in every form of arastra, drag mill, or other
amalgamating apparatus which has internal surfaces of iron, such surfaces

page_text: thus becoming coated with quicksilver, and immensely enlarging its surfaces
of contact with the particles of the ore, and particularly with those particles
which are so fine as to remain suspended in the water. Other valuable
modifications arise out of this power of enfilming iron surfaces, such as the
keeping of the iron surfaces which are used in crushing ores continually coated
with quicksilver. Quicksilver possessed of the magnetic quality may be kept
dropping or trickling upon the surfaces of crushing rollers, or in those forms
of machinery in which heavy iron balls are kept in motion rolling over the
ore, the surfaces of these balls may be kept enfilmed.
Another valuable quality communicated to quicksilver by these magnetic
amalgams is a far greater cohesive attraction for its own particles. It is
rendered more viscid, more difficult to divide mechanically, and when thus
divided runs together again instantly upon contact. It follows that the granula-
tion or "flouring" of the quicksilver during the amalgamation of ores which
usually gives rise to so important a loss of this costly agent is reduced to a
minimum or altogether prevented.
It will generally be found desirable, as in other cases where quick-
silver is used, and ores containing arsenic or sulphur operated upon, to
remove as much as practicable of the arsenic or sulphur by previous roasting,
or other chemical treatment.
It is clear that while these methods are peculiarly fitted for the treatment
of ores which contain metals in their native state they are suitable also for
the extraction of metals from artificial or accidental mixtures, such as
sweepings, old crucibles, bricks from furnaces and chimneys, gilt or silvered
surfaces.
It has heretofore been found impracticable to apply any process of
amalgamation to the ores of other metals than gold and silver, chiefly by
reason of the loss arising from the flouring of the quicksilver, which in the
presence of the baser metals becomes greater than under any other circum-
stances. A small addition of magnetic amalgam wholly prevents this flouring
of the quicksilver. Amalgamation is thus at once rendered by its use the
most rapid and economical mode of extracting from their ores such metals
as frequently occur therein in a metallic state, though in minutely subdivided
form, such as quicksilver, copper, bismuth, antimony. It frequently happens
also in metallurgical operations that these as well as other metals are
obtained diffused throughout the substance of slags or scoria in forms so
minutely subdivided that but little can be recovered by the usual processes
of washing with water, while at the same time the rapid oxydation which

page_text: is incidental to such washing is an additional obstacle. In such cases a resort
to amalgamation with magnetic quicksilver will be found highly advantageous.
Also in cases of lean ores of easily reducible metals, in which the metal in the
form of oxide or sulphide is minutely diffused throughout a large proportion
of gangue, it will often be found advantageous to first treat the crushed
veinstone in such way as to reduce the diffused particles of ore to the metallic
form, and afterwards to amalgamate with magnetic quicksilver. The previous
reduction of the ore to metal may be effected in either of two ways, according
to circumstances, that is, either by exposing the crushed, ore to the action of
deoxydizing gases at a temperature too low to produce, any fusing effect upon
the veinstone, or by mixing the ore with suitable deoxydizing or desulphur-
izing fluxes, and heating the mixture to a pasty or incipient fusion upon a
furnace hearth or otherwise. In the latter case the mass after cooling will of
course require re-crushing before amalgamating. Many ores of copper, tin,
lead, bismuth, and antimony belong to the class suitable for the application
of this process of reduction and subsequent amalgamation. It is to be
remarked also that many of the cases included under this head are
such as are suitable for the application of processes of amalgamation
in the dry way.
In cases of easily reducible metals in solution, such as copper, nickel, tin,
cadmium, bismuth, and antimony, conversion into amalgams by magnetic
quicksilver and iron will be found the most speedy, and economical treatment,
particularly when the solutions to be operated upon are dilute.
In all these cases the greater rapidity and perfection of the precipitation
are obviously due to the absolute contact that is at once established with the
surface of the iron by the magnetic quicksilver, and the powerful voltaic
current, which necessarily ensues between the two. metals and the solution.
1
In all cases in which it is desirable to recover on a large scale amalgamable
metals from metallized surfaces, and more particularly from surfaces of iron
glass, or other material, impermeable by quicksilver, the use of the magnetic
amalgams will be advantageous; such surfaces are those of tinned or coppered
iron plate, common looking-glasses, gilt or silvered glass or porcelain. Under
this head also may be classed old gildings mentioned above.
In the great arts of fire-gilding and fire-silvering by means of amalgams,
the value of the magnetic amalgams will be obvious. By the use of the
amalgams the fire-gilding and fire-silvering of iron, steel, platinum, aluminium,
and such other metals as are not susceptible of being enfilmed by ordinary
quicksilver, become possible and practicable. In the fire-gilding of iron or

page_text: other non-amalgamable metal by amalgamation, the proportion of magnetic
sodium amalgam added to the gold amalgam must be considerable and the
expulsion of the quicksilver from the surface must not be delayed too long
after the application of the compound amalgam. It is well also to dip the
gilt articles after driving off the quicksilver by heat, and before burnishing,
into lime water for some time in order to oxydize and remove traces of sodium
that may remain with the gold. Similar remarks apply of course to fire-silvering
by amalgamation. The magnetic amalgams possess an extraordinary power to
detach films of oil, grease, oxide, or other tarnishing matter from the surfaces of
those metals which are impenetrable by quicksilver by virtue of the adhesive
force developed between the surfaces of such metals and the quicksilver. Such
metals are iron, steel, aluminium, and platinum. When a surface of either of
these metals which is dull, rusty, or encrusted with oxide, grease, or other
foreign material is rubbed with magnetic amalgam, or with a wet rag smeared
therewith, the foreign material quickly disappears and is replaced by a
coating of the amalgam itself; this latter is in its turn readily removed
(except an infinitesimal film) by wiping with a clean dry rag, and there is left
a clean bright metallic surface. If there should be depressions in the surface
of the metal which retain small portions of the amalgam and prevent such
portions from being entirely removed by rubbing, an immersion in lime water
will readily remove the sodium and destroy all the adhesion of the amalgam.
Such immersion in lime water after the amalgam has been rubbed off is indeed
advisable in every case, as otherwise a renewed tarnish is liable to form on the
surface of the cleaned metal.
Quicksilver is the most powerful and lasting of lubricators when applied
between amalgamable surfaces, and many attempts have been made to
use it for this purpose between iron and steel surfaces by mixing it intimately
with grease or other lubricating substance. It is obvious, however, that no
true lubrication by quicksilver can be effected in this manner, the grease
itself being the only lubricant. A magnetic quicksilver which will enfilm
and adhere to the surface of an iron journal must bring fully into play the
lubricating qualities of the fluid metal. Means of preventing the too rapid
loss of the magnetic power through the oxydation of the sodium by the
moisture of the atmosphere must, however, be provided for by the simultaneous
application to the journal of a little rectified petroleum, which will form a
film over the amalgam and protect it from the action of the air. Whenever
the journals begin to heat it will only be necessary to add a small pellet of one
of the solid magnetic amalgams. The quicksilver itself will very seldom need

page_text: renewal as it is indestructible by any agency that comes into play under the
circumstances. It is clear that such lubricators may be employed ad-
vantageously only to cases where both journal and bearing are composed of
iron, steel, or other non-amalgamable metal. No brass or Babbit's metal or
other metal or alloy capable of absorbing the quicksilver into its pores is
admissible. Bearings of pure copper however, which it not easily penetrated
by quicksilver, may possibly be found available. In all cases in which it is
an object to save time and labor in the coating of surfaces of other metals
with quicksilver, of which one of the most important is the preparation of the
zinc plates or cylinders of voltaic batteries, the magnetic amalgams will form
a perfect and continuous coating of greater chemical and voltaic activity than
mercury alone.
By virtue of the adhesion to iron imparted by the magnetic amalgams
quicksilver or fluid amalgams may be applied to any surface with great'
rapidity and facility with a brush like paint, the material of such brushes
being fine wire of iron, steel, aluminium, or platinum.
The ordinary mode of packing and transporting quicksilver in bulk is very
expensive and troublesome, and in its ordinary fluid form its transfer from one
vessel into another is accompanied by great liability to loss, whatever is
dropped or spilled being usually lost beyond recovery. It will be found very
convenient to convert quicksilver into solid forms, so that it may be trans-
ported in vessels of lighter and cheaper material than the ordinary wrought-
iron bottles, such for instance as earthenware or glass jars, wooden kegs, bags,
or bottles of caoutchouc or gutta percha. The solidification of the liquid
quicksilver is effected by adding some of the amalgam thereto, and quicksilver
may then be packed, stored, transported, and sold in convenient forms such as
bars, ingots, cylinders, blocks, cubes, spheres, or pellets of definite sizes or
weights, the convenience of which will be at once obvious. When the quick-
silver is to be used for any of the above-mentioned purposes it will be already
in a suitable condition; it will merely require admixture with some fluid
quicksilver, and when it is to be used as pure quicksilver the sodium may be
readily and rapidly removed by throwing the solid amalgam in fragments into
hot or boiling water, mixed with a little sulphuric or acetic acid. When
such ingots of amalgam are to be long kept in damp climates, or exposed
frequently to a warm or damp atmosphere, it is advisable to adopt the
protective precautions heretofore described, namely, either the enclosure of
quicklime in the same package, immersion in rectified petroleum, or coating
with an adhesive cement of paraffine and petroleum, the latter being in this
case the most practicable mode of protection.

page_text: Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to
me as aforesaid, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent,-
First, the combination with quicksilver when used for the extraction by
amalgamation of the metals above mentioned from ores, or mixtures with
other materials of metallic sodium or metallic potassium, or any other highly
electro-positive, metal equivalent in its action thereto, as above set forth.
Second, in those amalgamators in which amalgamated plates of copper
or other metal are used I claim the substitution therefor of plates or surfaces
of iron coated with quicksilver, combined with sodium or other highly electro-
positive metal, as above set forth.
Third, I claim coating iron surfaces (between or under which ores or other
materials are crushed) with quicksilver, combined with sodium or other highly
electro-positive metal, as above set forth.
Fourth, the prevention of the granulation or flouring of quicksilver
when used in any method of amalgamating ores or other materials by
addition thereto of sodium or other highly electro-positive metal, as above set
forth.
Fifth, the combination with quicksilver (when used in conjunction with iron
or other reducing metal for reducing to an amalgam metals from any saline
compound) of sodium or other highly electro-positive metal, as above set
forth.
Sixth, in all cases in which iron or other metal is to be coated with any
amalgam, as in the fire-gilding of iron by amalgamation, I claim the combina-
tion with such amalgam of sodium or other highly electro-positive metal, as
above set forth.
Seventh, I claim the removal of tarnish, grease, oxide, or other films
from iron or other non-amalgamable metal by the application of quicksilver,
combined with sodium or other highly electro-positive metal as above set
forth.
Eighth, I claim the lubrication of the bearing surfaces of machinery by
applying quicksilver combined with sodium or other highly electro-positive
metal as above set forth.
Ninth, in all cases in which metallic surfaces as those of zinc in voltaic
batteries are to be amalgamated, I claim the use of quicksilver, combined with
sodium or other highly electro-positive metal, as above set forth.
Tenth, I claim the more rapid and convenient application of quicksilver to
surfaces with mettallic brushes by virtue of its previous combination with
sodium or other highly electro-positive metal, as above set forth.

page_text: Eleventh, I claim the more convenient transportation, handling, and sub-
division of quicksilver by converting it into solid forms, in the manner herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. L. NEWTON.
(L.S.)