[936 If we rightly understand, M. le Baron Bignon was not only in the service of Chemical Essays, principally relating Bonaparte as envoy Extraordinary to different courts on the Continent; but during the short period of confusion in perfection, previous to the second restoration of the King, he held the portfolio of Minister for Foreign Affairs, for France. From this, we infer his attachments ;—but, it also confirms our opinion of his opportunities for obtaining information. If any discrepancy between his statements and those of Louis's Ministers should appear, he, not we, must answer for it. He thinks four years might restore France to credit:that twelve years would be necessary for England;-from twelve to fifteen years for Austria ;-for Prussia, about seven or eight-for Russia, he does not venture to conjecture. But, the British politician after reflecting on the facts stated, will not wonder that his country has been the life and soul of the European alliance. He will see, energy, courage, hatred to oppression, deep sense of honour, with every thing that can move the human mind to action, paralyzed by poverty. He will see absolute penury penetrating every corner of the Continent, and every corner of the Continent turning its wistful eyes, and stretching cut its imploring hands to Britain: not because it is unwilling to exert itself in its own behalf, but because it cannot maintain without assistance, those exertions which are necessary to accomplish the purpose desired. A momentary insurrection against tyranny was not all: it could not effect the overthrow of the colossal power that, bestrode the nations. Providence struck the first blow, in its own time, in its own manner. Providence endued Britain with the necessary strength to ensure perseverance; and her statesmen would not have discharged their duty to their country, and to the world, if they had not supplied that warlike ingredient in which Europe at large was miserably deficient. What France may become under competent management, it is impossible to foretell. We heartily wish that country well; but, our wishes are far from being gratified, by present appearances. VOL. II. Lit. Pun. New Series. Sept. 1. to the Arts and Manufactures of the British Dominions. By Samuel Parkes, F.L.S. &c. 5 vols. sm. 12 mo. Price £2 2s. For the Author. Baldwin and Co. Loudon, 1815. DIFFERENT qualities impart values of entirely distinct kinds to Books. Some are the offspring of fancy; others are the records of facts. Nobody expects a Poem to maintain such a strict regard to truth, and to the order of events forming that truth, as all demand in regular History, for the purposes of public justice. On the other hand, the most scrupulous attention to accuracy is necessary in works proposed as records of facts: of Philosophical enquiry. especially if those facts embrace objects enough, to say with Voltaire, "the batIt is not tle was fought either the day I have assigned to it, the day before, or the day after": because, the before or after makes a wonderful difference in the result; and an experimentalist would find all his labour lost, who did not attend to the order in which his processes are to follow one another. quence of variations suggested by ingeImprovement in Art is the consenuity, and continued with perseverance. To the world, it is the result of selection of the few which have succeeded, failed. Whoever has any practical acfrom among the thousands which have quaintance with the Arts, knows, that the most promising plans, beforehand, such as appear almost mathematically infallible, do, nevertheless, very often deceive expectation, and mock the depending anticipations of their author. the most occult or incomprehensible of The slightest of all possible oversights, causes, shall effect this and the world is infinitely obliged to the man who possesses courage sufficient to acknowledge want of success under that mode of operation to which his judgment had inclined. place him who communicates the more On the same rank we must fortunate results of his labours, for the benefit of others. It is the practical man who does the community service; 2 K the Artist who has laboured skilfully and diligently, Till long experience do attain To something like Prophetic strain. It must, however, be admitted, that Fortune sometimes effects more than labour; that the habit of observation, occasionally, takes a hint, not visible to others, and that one hint propagates a thousand.- That such favours should be offered to the ignorant, is not credible: but, this is certain, that if they are offered, the ignorant take no advantage of then they can hardly be said to slight them, for, in fact, they do not discern them. But, practice, infallibly in time, shakes off erroneous or preposterous modes of operation. The stream is purified by the length of its course. Inventions more immediate, more prompt, are the consequences of gradual improvements, and renovations. The history of these is always interesting to the intelligent; while hints at others afford suggestions infinitely valuable to proprietors and workmen. Mere labourers in any process seldom see, or know, more than that identical operation in which they are employed; their absolute ignorance, when taken out of that particular line of practice in which they have passed their lives, is astonishing. But, the superiors of any manufactory can scarcely ever rise to eminence, without acquaintance with the objects and endeavours of others. The mind is opened by such acquaintauce; it receives ideas, it reflects, it speculates, it applies. the man who sits down supinely conBut, this demands a caution: though tented with the routine of mere practice will never attain distinction, yet the lead the judgment. Many meet their imagination must not be allowed to misruin in their uncontroulable determina tion to accomplish the impracticable. that he has for many years, in the No better way of obtaing useful knowledge can be followed: nor any better way of rendering knowledge useful, than fruits of his own ingeuuity and expeby repaying this information with the This, in fact, is the real merit of these volumes. They relate in a clear manner much that has already been done; and they contain thoughts, hints, or suggestions, such as struck the writer, concerning many other things, which it is desirable should be reduced to practice. We recommend them to the patrons of those manufactories, on which at this moment our national prosperity eminently depends. They will find much worthy to employ their ingenuity they must realize what Mr. Parkes can only desire, or recommend. Moreover, there are among us a number of liberal minds, active in pursuit of knowledge, who desire acquaintance Utility of Chemistry to the Arts and MaThe subjects treated on are,with the processes employed in manu-nufactures.-On Temperature-On Spefactures to which they are beholden for cific Gravity.-On Calico Printing. the comforts of life; gentlemen, who On Barytes.-On Carbon.-On Sulexercise their talents in doing that for amusement, which others do for bread; fixed Alkalies-On Earthen Ware and phuric Acid.-On Citric Acid.—On the to such amateurs these Essays will af- Porcelain.-On Glass.-On Bleaching. ford delight. The instruction they con-On Water.-On Salammoniac.-On tain, it is true, is not always within the reach of private students; yet they lumes: the fifth is composed of addiEdge Tools. These occupy four vo may find much, susceptible of repetitional notes, and corrections, or furtion, on a moderate, or on a limited ther illustrations, &c. scale. rience. -the of the new and important process, adopted about that time by Dr. Roebuck for mann facturing sulphuric acid, which reduced that acid to one fourth of its original price. in bleaching, than it was discovered that No sooner was this new agent employed one souring with sulphuric acid might be finished in 12, 18, or, at most, in 24 hours; whereas every souring by the milk process required always from two to six weeks, ac other adventitious circumstances. The introduction of sulphuric acid occasioned, indeed, such an improvement in the art of then have been easily finished in four bleaching, that the whole process might months, though it had formerly required seven or eight months for its completion.. Every body in this country wears linen; and the major part of respecta-cording to the state of the weather and to ble people wear linen of a fine texture, and a brilliant whiteness; but this is not natural to the plant which affords the raw material: how is it produced? In this, too, we have regard to the fenale part of our readers ;-whom we hope on some future occasion to oblige, by no despicable service; as Mr. Parke has fitted up a domestic bleachery, for the purpose of facilitating the process of washing. The results he will certainly communicate pro bono publico; and we, as certainly, shall circulate them with the greatest readiness. The most important discovery, however, in this business is that of the oxy-muriatic acid, and of its application in whitening goods made either of linen or cotton. The introduction of this article forms absolutely a new era in the history of this art; for it not only expedites the progress surprisingly, but has become the means of reducing the practice of bleaching to a perfect science. For this most important discovery we are indebted to Mr. Scheele, who in the year 1774 first formed the oxymuriatic acid by art, and ascertained its power in destroying vegetable colours; although it its nature more as a matter of curiosity appears that at this time he investigated than of use. Bleaching is an important part of the linen manufacture. It was formerly thought, that in Holland, only, could this process be conducted to perfection; and this was popularly attributed to the slimy water of the Meer of Haerlem :to which ought to have been added, the extreme cleanliness of the workmen employed. Several years seem to have elapsed beThe method, was by alternate wash-fore any one thought of applying the pecuing, drying, exposure to the air and sun, on the grass, which was called croft-i.e. meadow bleaching: liar properties of this singular gas to any important purpose, and, I presume it was uot suspected that this powerful agent might be employed in the process of bleaching of linen or cotton, until about the year 1784. The first who made experiments upon this gas, with a view to its successful application in the arts, was that respectabie French chemist M. Berthollet, who in the Journal de Physique for June 1785, and again in the number for August 1786, explained the nature of its action on vegetable colours, and directed how it might be employed with advantage in any of the existing establishments. This method of bleaching was extremely tedious, so much so, that if the first operation was begun in the month of March, the goods were seldom finished before September; and such as were laid on the grass for the first time at midsummer, were only about half bleached that year, and were laid by to be finished in the spring of the following year. The probable reason why the proprietors of bleaching grounds took no measures to prevent this interruption of the process, was, because they had found by experience that the atmosphere In a following year (1788) Dr. Taylor during the months of March, April, and then of Manchester, but now of the Adelphi, May, acted more efficaciously in whitening in conjunction with Mr. Thomas Cooper, the goods. About the middle of the last also of Manchester, bleached a whole century, these tedious operations were, piece of cotton by the new process, and however, much shortened by the employ-printed and calendered it fit for the market ment of sulphuric acid in bleaching, instead of sour milk; an improvement first suggested by Dr. Home, in consequence in less than three days. The success of this experiment was so decisive and unexceptionable, that Mr. Cooper and some 2 K 2 other neighbouring gentlemen were induced to establish at Raikes, near Bolton, in Lancashire, a bleaching concern of very considerable magnitude. some distance from the town, which had all the necessary conveniences for the business. Here a large establishment was formed in the course of the year 1788; but Little doubt could now be entertained notwithstanding the support which the but that the new process would eventually proprietors had thus received, the opposibe brought into general use. Therefore, tion of the old bleachers, and the inveterate in the year 1789 (a year after Dr. Taylor prejudices of the neighbourhood were so had exhibited in Manchester such a favour-great, that Mons. Bonjour was under the able specimen of the facilities of the new method) Berthollet published a very cir cumstantial account of the system, with ample directions to the manufacturers, respecting the construction of an improved apparatus for the purpose of preparing the bleaching liquid. From this memoir it appears, that gasbleaching was now adopted in various parts of France, and that the chief obstacle to its being brought into general use was the want of a convenient and safe apparatus for the production of the oxymuriatic acid. This desideratum was accomplished by Berthollet, and it formed the main object of his memoir to explain very minutely the construction and principle of the paratus he had contrived, together with the proportion of the materials for distillation, so as to render the practice of chemical bleaching general and efficacious. His directions are, to use ap 6 ounces of pulverized oxide of manganese. 1 lb. of sea salt. 12 ounces of sulphuric acid, and 12 ounces of water. When the excellence of this process was thus established, he repeated the experiments in the presence of the celebrated Mr Watt; and he adds, that soon afterwards Mr. Watt wrote him from England that he had applied his discovery, and in his first attempt had bleached 500 pieces of cloth in Mr. Mac Gregor's large bleach ground at Glasgow, and that this eminent manufacturer had determined to continue the process. In the mean time, a M. Bonjour, who had been an assistant to Berthollet in his first experiments, connected himself with a M. Constant, a cloth finisher at Valenciennes, for the purpose of forming a bleaching establishment at that town; but, owing to the violent opposition of the neighbouring bleachers, they were unable to procure ground for the purpose on any reasonable terms. In this difficulty, a patriotic French nobleman, the Count de Bellaing, who favoured the enterprize, and was made acquainted with the extent of the opposition, gave them possession of a piece of land at necessity of addressing the National Bureau of Commerce on the occasion. Soon after this period, some manufac turers at Javelle near Paris announced in several Journals, that they had discovered a particular liquor which they called the Lye of Javelle, having the property of bleaching cloth by a few hours immersion. This composition, which was immediately analysed by Berthollet, was found to be nothing more than a solution of the oxymuriate of potash; and, on is attempting to prepare the solution, he unmediately perceived that the addition of the potash to the water caused it to imbibe the gas sooner, and that it likewise formed a more concentrated liquor. The manufacturers of Javelle, before mentioned, having been disappointed in their commercial prospects at home, came over to England, and settled at Liverpool for the purpose of manufacturing the solution of oxy-muriate of potash, which they proposed to sell to the English bleachers in bottles, and which they still Jenominated the Liquor de Javelle. These men, although they had been unable to introduce their article in France, sufficient quantities to answer their purso that it might have been consumed in pose, were so sanguine respecting the sale of it in England, that they applied to the British Parliament for an exclusive right Fortunately, however, one of the gentleto the invention, for the term of 28 years. acid to the purposes of bleaching in this men who first applied the oxy-muriatic country, happening to be in the gallery of application was made in behalf of these the House of Commons at the time the foreigners, he took immediate measures to inform the principal members that this was long ago prepared an article equally efficanot a new process; that he himself had stantiate the truth of his statement when cious, and that he would be ready to subrequired. Their purpose was thus defeated, and the act was not obtained. The peculiar advantages of combining consists in this circumstance, that the sathe oxy-muriatic gas with lime or potash, the goods which require bleaching, but line solution gives out its acid gradually to does not give it out with facility to the at mosphere. In consequence of this, the operation of bleaching is now not injurious, nor even disagreeable to the workmen ; whereas in the former process, when the gas was merely received into water, it was given out again so freely that no man could long endure to work in it, or even for any considerable time to superintend the operation. vise no one to make too free with them; especially, no one who has not an abunddamages are by comparison; for cloth ance of water at command. After all, bleached on the grass is exposed to va-, rious misadventures; sometimes to its great injury. We turn now to another subject, which demonstrates the advantage of chemical knowledge, more than a thou In addition to these advantages, the saving in interest of capital is incalculable, as will appear from one or two considera-sand theoretical arguments could do. tions. We shall suffer Mr. P.'s history to tell its own tale, in the author's words. In bleaching linen goods, in a great work, where one large parcel follows another, in regular succession, and through the different operations, five weeks is as much as is now ever allowed for the com pletion, and a small parcel can be begun and finished in a few days; whereas, by the old process, the effect could never be fully produced in less than eight months, as I have before mentioned. ponderous spar, and many other names, Barytes is a heavy mineral, called found in large masses in the Derbyshire mines, &c. in a great variety of forms. lead mines, in the Cornwall copper The artificial sulphate of barytes is the permanent_white of painters in was ter colours. Barytes is usually found in the state of carbonate. Says Mr. P. speaking of the once famous lead mines of Anglezark, in Lancashire, Moreover, the bleaching of linen was formerly very seldom accomplished with less than from S3 to 35 per cent. of waste, whereas the waste now, is not more than 26 or 27 per cent. This, of itself, is a pre- these mines is immense, much greater, I The quantity of carbonate of barytes in sumptive proof that the goods are less in-understand, than that of the lead ore jured, and evinces the superiority of the present practice. (five to one, as our guide supposed); but as the metallic ore was raised, this was always left behind in the mine, being considered of no value. The workmen called it spar. Such are the principal points in the History of Bleaching: but, the reader is to conceive of many failures, and great damages done, before this system was Some of the best informed people in the perfected. We speak from experience; town of Chorley say, that the first time for, the same process being adopted at any idea was given of the value of this the paper mills; it was our lot to wit-spar, was by the arrival of two Frenchmen ness the destructive effects of this acid about twenty-eight years ago. It appears on several parcels of paper, out of which that they were in the town some days the corrosive principle had not been suspected, till it was at last discovered without the nature of their business being sufficiently washed: these, while dry, that they had been at the lead mines, and appeared fair to the eye; but, when had filled two boxes with the spar, which wetted, the acid resumed its activity, they secured with great care, and sent off and in a few weeks the paper cracked by the carrier before they left the town. and crumbled to rottenness. We are not quite free from suspicion that somewhat of the same kind occasionally takes place in Domestic linen, which good housewives affirm, with an expressive gravity of countenance, does not now last so long, or wear so well, as formerly. At this we hinted, in our considerations on the Report of the Committee appointed to consider the propriety of favouring the manufacturers of Bleaching Salts: they may be advantageous oh the whole, under good management; but, with Mr. P. we ad At this, Mr. Tatham, the steward of Sir Frank Standish, immediately took an that in future no one should be suffered to alarm; and having given strict orders take away any of the spar, set himself to make every inquiry he could into its nature; to learn, if possible, to what uses these foreigners intended putting it; and whether some methods might not be discovered for consuming it in this country. In prosecuting these objects of inquiry, however, he never succeeded. actions by Dr. Withering and Mr.CrawThe papers in the Philosophical Transford on the carbonate of barytes had now drawn the attention of all the chemists of |