William Bingley

“ Steel, if heated to redness, and suffered to cool slowly, becomes soft; but if plunged, whilst hot, into cold water, it acquires extreme hardness. It may be rendered so hard as even to scratch glass; and at the same time, it becomes more brittle and elastic than it was before. Although thus hardened, it may have its softness and ductility restored, by being again heated, and suffered to cool slowly. A piece of polished steel, in heating, assumes first a straw-yellow colour, then a lighter yellow, next becomes purple, then violet, then red, next deep blue, and at last of all bright blue. ”

“ Caloric.—Every one is acquainted with the different sensations of heat and cold. That matter which produces on our bodies the sensation of heat has the name of Caloric; heat being only an effect, of which caloric is the cause. This is extended in a greater or less degree through the whole extent of space, and penetrates into the interior of even the most solid bodies: in so doing it expands the particles of which they are composed, augments their bulk, and diminishes their solidity. The sun is the principal fountain from which the earth is supplied with this fluid ”

“ As gold is not liable to tarnish or rust, it is frequently employed for ornaments of dress. But, beyond its use in the coinage, its most important uses are for goldsmith’s work, in jewellery, and for gilding. In each of these its standard or purity is different. That denominated coinage, or sterling gold, consists of an alloy of about twenty-two parts of gold with two parts of copper; whilst gold of the new standard, of which gold plate, watch-cases, and many other articles are made, consists of only eighteen parts of gold, and six parts of copper. ”

“ ANTIMONY is a compact metallic substance of brilliant and slightly bluish white colour, destitute of ductility, and about seven times heavier than water.
Its texture is laminated, the plates crossing each other in almost every different direction. It is as hard as silver, and so brittle that it may easily be reduced to powder, in a mortar.
In the state of the Connecticut, North America, it is said that antimony, in a pure metallic form, is found in such abundance that, in some places, large masses of it may be seen lying on the surface of the ground. ”

“ It occurs in beds of considerable magnitude, but never appears in distinct and well-defined strata.
There are many beautiful and splendid works in porphyry. Obelisks, statues, and columns, wrought in it, have had great celebrity. It is susceptible of a polish as high as that of marble, but is so hard, that the expense of working it has caused it to be much neglected by the moderns. This hardness, however, renders it very durable, and also constitutes it a material of great utility for mortars, slabs for grinding colours upon, and for several other purposes. ”

“ COMMON LIME is a variety of carbonat of lime, or of lime in combination with carbonic acid (26) , which is harder and heavier than chalk, usually of a greyish colour, and is always found in a massive state.
Vast mountains of limestone occur in several countries of the globe; but no where is lime more abundant than in some parts of England and Wales. It forms, in particular, nearly the whole mountainous districts of Derbyshire and Shropshire, and encloses, in its substance, numerous veins of lead ore, calamine, and other important mineral productions. ”

“ The PRECIOUS, or NOBLE GARNET, is a gem of crimson colour, which, when crystallized, has the form of a twelve-sided solid (Pl II, Fig. 11, 12) . It is sufficiently hard to scratch quartz, and is about four times as heavy as water.
This stone is found abundantly in many mountains (particularly of primitive rock) , in different parts of the world. But garnets of the hardest and best quality are brought from Bohemia, where there are regular mines of them; and a great number of persons are there employed in collecting, cutting, and boring them. ”

“ Bronze and bell metal are not, however, always made of copper and tin only. They frequently have other admixtures, consisting of lead, zinc, or arsenic. Bell-makers sometimes abuse the vulgar credulity by pretending that they add a certain quantity of silver to the alloy, for the purpose of rendering the bells more melodious: but they are better acquainted with their business than to employ so valuable a metal in the operation.
White Copper is an alloy composed of equal parts of copper and arsenic (242) . The metal produced by this mixture is of a whitish colour, but with a coppery tinge. ”

“ Elastic bitumen appears to be a peculiar modification of petroleum, in its passage to asphalt: and probably owes its elasticity to its cellular texture, and to the moisture with which it is combined.
216. ASPHALT, or SOLID BITUMEN, is a brittle substance, of black or brownish black colour, and of consistence somewhat harder than pitch.
It has nearly the same weight as water, is smooth to the touch, does not stain the fingers, and has little or no smell unless it be rubbed or heated. When heated, it melts, swells and inflames; and, if pure, burns without leaving any ashes. ”

“ The uses of copper are numerous and important. When rolled into sheets, betwixt large iron cylinders, it is employed for the covering of houses, sheathing the bottoms of ships, and other purposes. As a covering for houses, copper is lighter than slate, but whether it be more durable has not been yet ascertained. The coppering of ships tends to facilitate their progress through the water, by presenting a smoother surface than that of wood, and not permitting shell animals to fasten to it as they do to wood. ”

“ The substance at the bottom, which is principally mercury, is then put into large iron retorts and the metal is obtained, free from all extraneous matters, by distillation.
It is the singular property of this metal, which has no other alliance whatever with silver than its appearance, to be capable of division, by the least effort, into an indefinite number of particles, each of which assumes a spherical form; and to be always in a fluid state in the common temperature of our atmosphere. Even during the most intense frost, it still retains its fluidity. ”

“ These constitute the rocks and soil of which the globe of the earth is composed; and the study of them is called GEOLOGY. The opinions of learned men relative to their structure, and original formation, have produced various systems denominated theories of the earth; but, when we consider that the greatest depth beneath the surface to which the art and industry of man have been able to penetrate, does not exceed 1/35000 part of the earth’s diameter, we must confess that this is very insufficient to allow of any correct opinion being thereby formed concerning the structure of the whole. ”

“ At Whitehaven, the principal entrance to the coalmine, both for men and horses, is by an opening at the bottom of a hill, through a long passage hewn in a rock. This, by a steep descent, leads to the lowest bed of coal. The greatest part of the descent is through spacious galleries, which intersect other galleries; all the coal having been cut away, except large pillars, which, in deep parts of the mine, are three yards high, and about twelve yards square at the base, such great strength being there required to support the ponderous roof. ”

“ There are valuable copper mines in every quarter of the world; and the use of copper is probably of greater antiquity than that of any other metal. It is mentioned in the Old Testament; and, at a very early period, domestic utensils and instruments of war were made of bronze, or a compound of copper and tin. Even during the Trojan war, as we learn from Homer, the combatants had no other armour than what was made of bronze. The Greek and Roman sculptors are said to have executed fine works of art in porphyry, granite, and other hard minerals, by means of copper instruments ”

“ When laid on a table, the tourmaline appears a dark and opaque stone; but, when held against the light, it has generally a pale brownish hue. It is sometimes cut, polished, and worn as a gem; but, on account of the muddiness of its colours, it is not in general much esteemed. Those persons who wear tourmalines set in rings consider them more as objects of curiosity than of elegance: they show them as small electrical instruments, which, after being heated a little while by the fire, will attract and repel light bodies. ”

“ The greyish white and yellowish white varieties of jargoon are valuable chiefly on account of their resemblance to the diamond. The darker-coloured varieties can be deprived of their colour by heat; and, in this state, though in lustre they are infinitely inferior to them, they are sometimes substituted for diamonds. Jargoons are now seldom used except for the jewelling of watches and time-pieces. About a century ago, they were much used in mourning ornaments, for which the dark tone of their colour, and their almost adamantine lustre, were supposed to be peculiarly appropriate. ”

“ The defect of caloric in any substance occasions the sensation called cold.
Were the world deprived of caloric, every species of organized being would, from that moment, cease to 10exist. It is the cause of all fluidity: to it every production of the earth has been most essentially indebted, even for its form and structure; and in no respect do the power and goodness of the Almighty appear more conspicuous than in the creation, dispersion, and continuance, of this most subtile and astonishing fluid. ”

“ MEERSCHAUM, or SEA-FROTH, is a singular kind of mineral, of yellowish or greyish white colour, sometimes so light as to float in water: when fresh dug it has nearly the consistence of wax.
If exposed to a strong heat, it becomes so hard as to yield sparks with steel. ”

“ The cutting and polishing of gems is the work of the lapidary, and is in general thus performed:—The shape most proper to be given to any particular gem being determined on, the stone is cemented to the end of a stick, and the different facets are formed by a mill contrived for the purpose. This mill is a plate of copper, or an alloy of lead and tin, to which an horizontal motion is given by very simple machinery, and the surface of which is charged either with diamond powder and oil, or with fine emery and water. ”

“ The arsenic of commerce is prepared to a great extent in Bohemia and Saxony, by roasting cobalt ores for the manufacture of zaffre (247) . White arsenic is made, by mixing the common oxide with potash, and submitting it to a certain degree of heat, in vessels adapted to the purpose; the arsenic, rising in fumes, is separated, leaving the sulphur behind, united to the potash. This process is called sublimation.
Of all substances with which we are acquainted this is perhaps the most deadly. If only a few grains of it be taken into the stomach, it proves fatal ”

“ FLUOR SPAR, or DERBYSHIRE SPAR, is a mineral formed by the combination of lime with fluoric acid (27) .
It sometimes occurs in a massive, and sometimes in a crystallized state; the primitive form of its crystals being a regular octohedron (Pl. II, Fig. 5) . Its colour is usually bluish, green, yellow, whitish, or a mixture of some of these.
When heated, this substance cracks, and shines brightly in the dark. But if kept hot for some time, it ceases to be luminous, and this property cannot be restored to it. If also two pieces be rubbed strongly together, they become luminous in the dark. ”

“ At Whitehaven the mines are of great depth, and are extended even under the sea, to places where there is above them sufficient depth of water for ships of great burthen, and in which the miners are able sometimes to hear the roaring of the water. On the contrary, in some parts of Durham the coal lies so near the surface of the earth that the wheels of carriages lay it open, and in such quantity as to be sufficient for the use of the neighbourhood. ”

“ When compared with the ruby, those even of finest quality have a very sombre appearance. The kinds most esteemed are such as have a clear and intense red colour, or a rich violet or purplish tinge. The best garnets are cut in the manner of other precious stones, and are usually set upon a foil of the same colour. To heighten the colour and transparency of certain garnets, jewellers either form them into what are called doublets, by attaching to the lower part of the stone a thin plate of silver, or they hollow them underneath. ”

“ Not being so apt to tarnish and rust as copper, and being, in other respects, better adapted for the purpose than that metal, it is much used for clock-work, and for mathematical and astronomical instruments. It is more ductile than either copper or iron, and hence is peculiarly fitted to be made into wire, for the strings of musical instruments, and other purposes. Sieves are woven with brass wire, after the manner of cambric weaving, and of such extreme fineness that similar ones could not possibly be made with copper wire. Brass wire, flatted and gilded, is sometimes made into lace. ”

“ It is also one of the hardest and most difficult to be melted, is of white colour, but darker and not so bright as silver, and is found only in small blunted and angular grains or scales in the sands of some of the rivers in South America.
If platina could be obtained in sufficient quantity, it would perhaps be the most valuable of all metals. The important uses to which it is applicable may easily be imagined when we state that it is nearly as hard as iron, and that the most intense fire and most powerful acids have scarcely any effect upon it. ”

“ As soon as all the earthy particles have been washed away, the gravel-like matter that remains is raked together, the stones are thrown out, and what diamonds happen to be present are found amongst the refuse that is left.
To ascertain whether a stone, that has been found, be really a diamond, the workmen have a mode of placing it upon a hard substance, and striking it with a hammer. If it either resists the blow or separate into leaves, it must be a diamond ”

“ As the mines frequently extend to great distances, horizontally, beneath the surface of the earth, peculiar care is necessary to keep them continually ventilated with currents of fresh air, for the purpose, not only of affording to the workmen a constant supply of that vital fluid, but also to expel from the mines certain noxious exhalations which are sometimes produced in them. ”