ON A PROCESS FOR UTILIZING WASTE PRODUCTS AND ECONOMIZING FUEL IN THE EXTRACTION OF COPPER

J. Dixon
1881 Science  
SCIENCE. FIG. 6. "With the spark," says M. PlantC6, 'the distribution o'f negative electricity presents a curious cratb-shaped appearance (Fig. 6 .) With the aigrette, the electric movement around this same negative pole gives us the no less bizarre form of a polypus wvhose tentacles extend' towardls the positive pole, but dlo not reach it." (Fig. 5.) From these results andI other experimients quoted by MI. Plant,&, he concludes that a blending of the two electricities mnay exist at each pole.
more » ... his,would inifer that with electric currenits ot sullicient tenision to obtain a continued series of discharges of static electricity, we couild have a camplete dlecoml)osition of the wvater at each pole aind conisequtenitly a miixture of hyd(rogeni an(I oxygen. P~ushing the study of these sparks still furthier, we findi thlat the movement proc'eeding from the positive l)ole. externally. enivelopes the negative electric movement like a bundle of curved sky-rockets.llowcver, we often see at the samie time an inward flux of positive electricity arouni(l the line of the spark bt:tween the positive currcntt enveloping the exterior, and between both, the negative electric currenit wvhich appears -is thiough inhaledi by the positive pole. Th'Iis ledi MN. PlanWi to suppose that the negative electricity, or else the poniderable imatter which it carries wvith it, moves in ani annular space furnishedi by thle electrifie-d ma-tter proceedinig from the positive l)ole. Akccordling to himi, it wvould follow that the aspiratory or ascendant effects of the water obtained by electric currenits of highi tension mighit explain the ascension of water in a cloudy) form as seeni in water-spouts. In a forthicomiiig article we wvill studty othier pheilnomena nio less remarkable, whiich have been revealed by M. 1l1ant6's rhieostatic matchinie. Amiong these are coloredi sp)arks andI vibrations dletermiinedi in a lplatinum wire traversed by a current of-interrupted qluantity, a phenomenion wliich cani account for the tlfects pioduced in telephones by a simple wire crossed by a current. TH. DcT MARCEL. To he continm'd. This paper conitainis an account of a process for extracting copper from sulp)hurous ores, in which thie heat generated by the comibination of the oxygen of the air with th-e sulphur of the ore is utilized for the smelting of the ore. This process is basedI upon experiments, wvhich, although the author regar(ls as incomiplete, show (in) that thie charge grows vikibly liotter by simply blowving air thiroughl it ; (2 that the linelinig ot the raw ore or *1,rit61% A soc.itioi, i881. 481 regulus and its reduction can be caried on in the same furnace; (3) that if the ore is in lumps, and fed at the top whilst the air is admitted by the side, a practically clean slagg can be obtained; but if added in a coarse powder, as it is generally found in the market, it either blows out again or chokes the furnace; (4) that a rough copper of about 96 per cent pure metal can be obtained by the successful working of this process. ON The author drew attention to the extremely rare instances of such action hitherto observed, showving how many of these might be explained on the supposition that combination actually occurred between the bodies either in solution or in a state of gas. For example, the formation of cement steel, by the combination of carbon with iron, which had long been adduced as an example of such combination between solids, was now explaine(d by the fact that iron at a high temperature was permeable to gases, an(d that in the actual process of cementation oxides of carbon were formed. which were in reality conveyors of carbon to the metal. He then illustrated by experiments the formation of several compoun(ds by bringing together the components in solid form, choosing as examples such ats would manifest their forimiation by characteristic coloring. Thus, as instances, potassium iodli(le and meicuric chlorile, potassium io(di(de and lhad nitrate, a;nd( silver nitrate anid lpotassium chromate, were l)owu ere(l together in a miortar, anid in each case evidenice of an action wvas exhibited by the proutiction of characteristic colors of the product of the reaction ot these compounds. The author referred to the menmoir of the Belgian ph) cisist, Prof. Spring, on the same subject, some ot whose experiments he had repeated and in the main confirmcd. One of the most remarkable results obtained by the Belgian professor was the formation of coal from peatt by sul)iecring the latter material to a high pressure. 1'eat Irom hlolland and IBelgium, when exposed to a pressure of about 6,coo atmospheres, wvas, accor(ding to Spring, chAnged into a mass which in all physical characters resenmbled ordinary coal. Experiments of the samnie nature ma(le by Dr. Thorpe with various samples of British peat yielded, however, a very (lissimilar result. These experiments were ma(le with pressures which were considerably less and! miore tlhan those employed by Spring. Although solidi, c)mpact miiasses, hard and very nmuch changed in structure, were attilned, in no case wsas an) pro(luct obtained which cotul(d he confotun(lcdd with bituminous coal. lie said( it vas high;y improblible, on l)urely chemiical groun(ds, that muere pressure hlad been little nmore tlhaln an importa;nt lactor in the transtormation of woody nmatter into coal.
doi:10.1126/science.os-2.68.481-b pmid:17779467 fatcat:p5oqp3hepjct7lel2grgnwyyhu