Travels from Vienna through lower Hungary : with some remarks on the state of Vienna during the Congress, in the year 1814 / by Richard Bright.

  • Richard Bright
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Travels from Vienna through lower Hungary : with some remarks on the state of Vienna during the Congress, in the year 1814 / by Richard Bright. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    Ch, v. Kremnitz.'] TRAVELS IN LOWER HUNGARY. the pulverized ore, about three hundred weight of water, and a small quantity of sheet-iron, which is added for the purpose of decomposing any muriate of silver which may have been form- ed during the process of roasting, and to prevent the subse- quent formation of any muriate of mercury. A gentle rotatory motion is communicated to the barrels for about an hour, to mix their contents intimately. Five hundred weight of quicksilver is then added to each, and the motion of the barrels accelerated to the rate of nearly twenty revolutions in a minute, and this is continued for sixteen hours. When, by assay, it is found that the separation of the silver is complete, the whole having formed an amalgam with the mer- cury, and none being left in union with the earthy parts or metallic oxyds, the barrels are entirely filled with water, and they are set in motion again for about an hour, but with much less velocity, that the amalgam may separate completely from the rest of the mass, and be allowed to subside. The amal- gam is then drawn off from the lowest side of the barrels, and conveyed along wooden channels to vessels prepared in an- other chamber to receive it. The remaining matter is washed from the barrels into reservoirs. The amalgam and surplus mercury, w^hich flow away to- gether, are put into leathern bags, which, being pressed, suffer the uncombined quicksilver to pass through the pores, leaving the amalgam, containing about one-eighth of its weight of sil- ver, in the form of a paste, composed of silvery globules. The washings of the barrels, which are collected in four large reservoirs, are kept in a continued agitation, during which the mercury which remained entangled with the refuse sub- sides, and, as this takes place, the upper strata of the water are successively removed, till the mercury and amalgam, if any, alone remain. This generally occupies about eight hours. 4
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