Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
The injurious effects of " competitions " upon art , so much felt in the architecture of the day , seem to be gradually manifesting themselves through the art of the sculptor . Great outcry is raised in Manchester against the choice of the artist for the statue of the Duke of Wellington , by a small committee ; and from the information which has reached us , AVO do not think the merchants and manufacturers ofthe town would have done worse had thoy kept the selection in their own hands , —for even in
the warehouses we notice more of living art than is to be generally seen elsewhere . From the artistic we pass to the scientific , and under this head notice an invention which bids fair to work a revolution in tho value of gold , by making its extraction from soils in which it has been knoAvn to exist , but which have been never hitherto thought rich enough to Avork , profitable . It is the invention of an American mechanical engineer , of the
name of "Berdan , " who has exhibited it hitherto in private only , and at the Society of Arts , who have reported most favo \ irably of it , through the mouth of Professor Ansted . The machine performs at one operation , the pulverizing , washing , and amalgamating of the ore , and so perfectly does it exhaust it of the precious metal , that eminent assayers and chemists have certified that no trace of gold was to be found in the tailings of the auriferous quartz that had
passed through the machine . The construction of the apparatus is simple . It consists of a cast-iron basin , seven feet in diameter , revolving upon an inclined axis or shaft . In this basin are placed two cast-iron balls , the larger one 3 < 1 inches in diameter , and weighing two and a half tons ; the smaller one 24 inches in
diameter , and weighing one ton . Under the basin , and attached to and revolving with it , is a furnace of conical form . The whole , being hung in a strong framework of timber , receives motion from hand , horse , or steam power , by means of a simple cog-gearing . The operation is as follows : — Eire is made in the furnace beneath the basin ; quicksilver is placed in the basin , and the auriferous ore thrown in , in lumps of considerable size . The apparatus is then set in motion ; the balls , by their gravityrevolving in a direction opposite to that of the
, basin . The two balls , moving in contact with each other and with the inclined bottom of the basin , receive a spiral as well as a rotary motiona combination which is found to possess the greatest efficiency in the pulverization of the ore . The ore is brought under the balls , and instantly crushed to an impalpable powder . The crushing is effected , of course , at the point of contact between the large ball and the basin , and below the surface of the mercury . Thusthe moment tho gold is disengagedit
, , comes in contact with pure and heated mercury , which seizes upon it , and secures every particle . The refuse powder rises to the surface of the quicksilver , whence it is carried off , in the form of a thin paste , by a small stream of water , which runs in at the upper side of the basin , and escapes through suitable openings , just below its rim , into a trough placed for the purpose . The tailings may thus be preserved for analysis if desired . The novel features of the machine are both mechanical and chemical .
Thc arrangement of an inclined revolving basin in connection with balls of corresponding size and wei ght , produces a rolling and grinding motion never heretofore attained , and as efficient as it is new . The chemical novelty consists in the heating of the mercury , which greatly increases its affinity for the gold . The result of the combination of these features is , that every particle of gold is secured .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
The injurious effects of " competitions " upon art , so much felt in the architecture of the day , seem to be gradually manifesting themselves through the art of the sculptor . Great outcry is raised in Manchester against the choice of the artist for the statue of the Duke of Wellington , by a small committee ; and from the information which has reached us , AVO do not think the merchants and manufacturers ofthe town would have done worse had thoy kept the selection in their own hands , —for even in
the warehouses we notice more of living art than is to be generally seen elsewhere . From the artistic we pass to the scientific , and under this head notice an invention which bids fair to work a revolution in tho value of gold , by making its extraction from soils in which it has been knoAvn to exist , but which have been never hitherto thought rich enough to Avork , profitable . It is the invention of an American mechanical engineer , of the
name of "Berdan , " who has exhibited it hitherto in private only , and at the Society of Arts , who have reported most favo \ irably of it , through the mouth of Professor Ansted . The machine performs at one operation , the pulverizing , washing , and amalgamating of the ore , and so perfectly does it exhaust it of the precious metal , that eminent assayers and chemists have certified that no trace of gold was to be found in the tailings of the auriferous quartz that had
passed through the machine . The construction of the apparatus is simple . It consists of a cast-iron basin , seven feet in diameter , revolving upon an inclined axis or shaft . In this basin are placed two cast-iron balls , the larger one 3 < 1 inches in diameter , and weighing two and a half tons ; the smaller one 24 inches in
diameter , and weighing one ton . Under the basin , and attached to and revolving with it , is a furnace of conical form . The whole , being hung in a strong framework of timber , receives motion from hand , horse , or steam power , by means of a simple cog-gearing . The operation is as follows : — Eire is made in the furnace beneath the basin ; quicksilver is placed in the basin , and the auriferous ore thrown in , in lumps of considerable size . The apparatus is then set in motion ; the balls , by their gravityrevolving in a direction opposite to that of the
, basin . The two balls , moving in contact with each other and with the inclined bottom of the basin , receive a spiral as well as a rotary motiona combination which is found to possess the greatest efficiency in the pulverization of the ore . The ore is brought under the balls , and instantly crushed to an impalpable powder . The crushing is effected , of course , at the point of contact between the large ball and the basin , and below the surface of the mercury . Thusthe moment tho gold is disengagedit
, , comes in contact with pure and heated mercury , which seizes upon it , and secures every particle . The refuse powder rises to the surface of the quicksilver , whence it is carried off , in the form of a thin paste , by a small stream of water , which runs in at the upper side of the basin , and escapes through suitable openings , just below its rim , into a trough placed for the purpose . The tailings may thus be preserved for analysis if desired . The novel features of the machine are both mechanical and chemical .
Thc arrangement of an inclined revolving basin in connection with balls of corresponding size and wei ght , produces a rolling and grinding motion never heretofore attained , and as efficient as it is new . The chemical novelty consists in the heating of the mercury , which greatly increases its affinity for the gold . The result of the combination of these features is , that every particle of gold is secured .