Jordantype, otherwise called 'electrotype : its early history, being a vindication of the claims of C.J. Jordan as the inventor of electrometallurgy / by Henry Dircks.

  • Henry Dircks
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Jordantype, otherwise called 'electrotype : its early history, being a vindication of the claims of C.J. Jordan as the inventor of electrometallurgy / by Henry Dircks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    10 tilso was successful: the reduced copper coated that portion of the type immersed in the solu¬ tion. This, when removed, was found to be a perfect matrix, and might be employed for the purposes of casting. It appears, therefore, that this discovery may be turned to some practical account. It may be taken advantage of in procuring casts from various metals, as above alluded to. For in¬ stance, a copper die may be formed from a cast of a coin in silver, type-metal, or lead, &c., which may be employed in striking impressions in soft metals. Casts may probably be obtained from a plaster surface surrounding a plate of copper; tubes [not 'tubs5], or any small vessel, may also be made by precipitating the metal around a wire, or any kind of surface, to form the interior, which may be removed mechani¬ cally, by the aid of an acid solvent, or by heat. May 22, 1839. C. J. JORDAN. I was aware of Mr. Jordan's letter at the time of its publica¬ tion, and have frequently been surprised since that his name has not transpired in any discussion I have read on the subject. No¬ thing certainly can be clearer than his reasoning, the details of his experiments, and his several concluding suggestions. It was particularly in September and October, 1837, that seve¬ ral parties attached to scientific pursuits, in Liverpool, were en¬ gaged in repeating the experiments of Dr. Golding Bird, published in the Phil. Trans, for 1837, and of which he gave an account before the Chemical Section of the British Association, at its Meeting in Liverpool. The apparatus used on these occasions by myself and others, was that employed by Dr. Bird. I was at that time a good deal in communication with Mr. John Dancer, philosophical instrument maker, of Liverpool, now of the firm of Messrs, Abraham and Dancer, of Manchester, and these experiments were a frequent subject of conversation. It was about October, of the year following (1838) that Dr- Brett was giving lectures upon electricity and galvanism at the Medical Institution, Liverpool, and being in communication with Mr. Dancer respect¬
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