Volume 12 (1866) (428 pages)

She Aining and Scientific Press. went; onr destruction and slow depreciation, a3 a mineral revlon, in the cuttinuance of inexperienced men experimevting. By the present inode of preceeding we shalt continue to sink and depreciate until we shill be led to believe, even against our will and the knowledge of thw vast richweas of this section, that we ure “a total wreck, and that mineral is uot and never wus fyund here. This -tate of alfuirs is truly provoking, and particularly to those conversant with the present plate of miniag matters. Superiateudents then. Belvis acknuwledse the trae stete of nffuirs, but they argue very sensibly lor their interest that their sulary is uv good and better to them than te another. Spine few mines noder the supervision of Miners 7 of long experience, and who can and do take ltoll themselves, are doing well, and the wok sane thereon is a credit to those int hare. Atthouch Toaat net peeniarly inrested myselt, nud not requested sv te do, L ici» one Or two instunves wherein there Pave been good results shewo through a proper tuarse af working. Vhe savuge coinpany, situded on Lander Hull. under che snpervision of WO. Habbard, fornia well with a saficiency of ore for her Capacity (YO stantps), aml of n very superior qailiy, ‘Through enetyy sant jadyment one Tits this result been attained. VPhis mine ships folly tall! che bullion leaving Reese River ut reread. The Metacum mine is another instance of the frait of experience nud judgment ia mining Vhis mine is situated about Jour miles northecly Irom this city, und contains 800 leet ; and ander the superintendence of an experienced ttiner, of long standing, Mr. Jolin Howell, it shows a system in working und a thorough development of the mine second to none as yet shown in this district. ‘The ledge is cut by a finoel ut a depth of 124 leet Irom the surface, from which pvint of tunnel there has been a shift raised to the surface, showing a ledge withoutn flaw the whole depth of froin eighteen inches to two and a half Icet in thickness. Front said point or terminus of tunnel there has been a level run, both northerly und southerly, over 150 fect, uncovering the ledge, and at no point in snid level is the ledge at lault ; thereby laying open over 300 fect in leneth by 124 fect in depth of ledye.and ready lor the mill. ‘This body of ore will average, per mill Working, at a safe csatimate, $125 per ton. Work is still heme prosecuted Loth in the levels and in sinking perpendicnlarly on the vein, the ledge increasing tu width aud richness as depth is attained; and Tnrther, not until there was moncy sufficient (in ore) found Was there a mnill coutracted for. ‘The company fave a mill poo the groand, and now in course of erection, and hy the lst of August it will be hammering away on the known produce of their own mine, and will be founded, as Many others here are not, on a solid founda. tion. Others . could name, and many a competent man to fill the places with success, now Occupied by those incompetent to fill them, either to the advantage ol their cniployers, or to their own credit as managers, And I will further say without reserve, that until alteration is niade, we shall continue to “ drag,” as we huve—to use a homely expression—the “cart being before the horse.” Progress. Austin, April 7, 1866. Coprrr Discovery.cThe Nevada Gazette Says that great excitement is raging in Little York townsiip, caused by the discovery of a copper ledge, believed to be immensely rich. This ledge was discovered several months ago hy John Thorp, who resides at Nermitage Rauch, while hunting on the other side of Greeuhoro. He made a location, and has sunk a shaft some teu feet in deptb upon the ledye, finding copper ore of extraordinary richuess. The ledge has been traced from /Thorp’s location in a southerly direction to Bear river, and nourtherly to Deer Mountain, withia three miles of Nevada, a distance of five or six miles. Numervas extensious have been located, and the country between Greenhorn and Bear Stiver is full of prospectors. Specimens taken from Thorp's shalt, look exceedingly well, conjtaining inuch black oxide of copper and peacock ore. An assay of ore, made a few days ago, yielded thirty seven per cent. of cupper; but this was probably a choice specimen. This is the most promising copper prospect that has yet been discovered in the county, and jthe indicutions ure that the ledze will prove Valuuble, Many of the locators think they have a fortune secnre, and seme ol them have heretofore been interested in copper prospecting, aud are uot likely to be easily excited. Mors than one million of Webster's spelling April, aud the demand isso much greater thaa the supply that the publishers have sent to Englaud to get it printed, , is a producing mine, anid ia supplying the Cali‘properties of which are not less remarkable books have been suld to the South since last . ~ Hardening and Tampering Steel, When steel is heated to a cherry-red color, and then plunged into cold water, it becomes vo extremely bard ond brittle as to be ankt for ulmost any practical pnrpose. it from its extreme bardiess is callud by the woikmen fempering, utd is effected by uguiu heating the steel te i cortain point. “Vhe sarfice being a littl brightened, exhibits, when ‘ heated, varions colors, depending upan the lormation of thin litus of oxide*, which constuntly change a> the temperitare is incrensed, ani by these colours it has heen customary to judge of the temper of the steel. Bata more necurate, 1s Well us conventent method, is to uve a bath and therinemeter ; the bath may be of mercury, or of the fusibla mixtare of lead,. tit, and bismuth, or, indeed, of any uid whose! boiling-point is fot much under 600%. Lute this buth the articles to be tenipered are put together with the batb of a thermometer grdu. nted to the builing point of mereury. ‘The corre-potding degrees at which the various colours! pppear ure trom 430° to GbOS, ‘The first change is at abont 430°, but this is tou faint to be distinguished, except by comparison with another piece of untempered polished steel. At 460° the color is série, becoming deeper as the tcinperature is increased ; at 500° the color ix brown; this is followed by a ved tinge with streaks of purple, then pu ple, and vt nently GU0° it is lee. ‘The deg:ees at which the respective colours ure jroduced being thus known, it lollows that the workman hus oaly to heat the bath, with its contents, up to the required point. For example, suppose the blade of a penknife (or one hundred of them) to require tempering: they are suffered to remiain in the bath until the mereary in the thermuinetor rises to 460°, and no longer, that beiug the heat at which the kuile (supposing it to be made of tbe best Hoglish cust-steel) will be sufficiently tempered. ‘lhe advantages attending this method are obvioas; the heat is equally applied to the whole; and the worknan, tnstend of attending to the color of each blade, has oaly to observe the thermumeter. Jt has been foand that steel, lor vertain uses, igs saffici ntly tempered long before it is heated to produce any change of color, a circumstance which gives ndditional value to the process by a thermometer. ‘I'he knile-edges attached to a pendulnm described by Capt. Kater, (Pil. Trans., 1818, p. 38,) were lorged by Mr. Stodart from a piece of fine wootz [a vanety known ns Indian steel, asuatly containing a small percentage of tungsten, and Irom which the lamous Damascus sword blades were supposed tobe made]. ‘They were carefuily hundred, and tempered in the bath at 43u°; on trial they were found too soft. ‘They were asecond time hardened, and then heated to 212%, The intention was to increase the heat from that point, trying the temper at the advance of about every ten degrees. In the present instance this was not oecessary, the heat of boiling water proving to he the exact point at which the knile-edges were admirably tempered. It is highly probable that steel, for many ases, may be sufficiently tempered iu a yange so extensive as from 212° to 4309, and, hy tbe thermometer, all the intervening degrees may be, certuinly ascertained. But it is not the temperature only, but also the time duriug which the steel is exposed to it, which iuflucnces its hardness or temper. What may be the changes effected in the molecular constitution of steel by the operation of hardening is an important, bata very difficult and undecided question ; that they are considerable, there cao be no dvabt, but that they extend beyond mechanical arrugemeut, and affect chemical composition, according to the notions of Karsten, is a theory which requires muuch more satisfactory proof than it has hitherto received; nor are the changes which other substances andergo by u similar operation in any way illustrative of or applicable to those of stcel, the electro-magnetic than the coarser echauical changes which it sustains, and which are in all probability someway related to each other, and to the more ubstruse causes of crystalline peculiarities. There is certainly in many points an aualogy hetween anannealed or saddenly cooled glass and tempered or hardened steel, and the extraordinary molecalar and crystalline peculiarities of glass, when more correctly nnderstood, may, perhaps, tend to throw some light upon the niore obseare saliject of steel, but as yet this is not the case. tis, however, by 00 means uncommon to fiad the same unstable arrangement of particles and inequality of tensiou in-a mass of hardened steel, as in a luinp of glass which has sohdificd in cold water; from the sutfuce to the interior, successive crusts or cunts of variable texture and hardness present themselves. Sumetimes a steel dic, alter it has been for some time hardencd and apparently sale, will split with au andible report, and its * That the color preduced on the surfree of heated stecl is Uhe effect of oxydation, iz proved from the clreumstauce that when stucl as heated and suffered 10 cool uader mercury or oil, none of the colors sppear 5 nor do they when it is heated In hydrogen or nitrogen. fracture will then exbibit a soft coro covered by successive coats or layers. increasing in hiurduess from the center tovards the exterior. In addition to the difficulties arisiug out of the mass with whicl he laa tu deal, end the To rednee . changes of texture, if not of coinposition, which it bus necessarily been subjected to in the vuriuns operations of perleeting the impression Irom the punch in the press, the oanatnctrer ol dies for medals or coinage has anuther obstacle to contend with, which is the necessity ol keeping the fuce or work of the die perfectly clean and free Irom senles and oxydizement, sv that it may not only be withent any obviaus blemish, but present that pecntiar velvety line which sv much enhances the beauty of the snbsequent itapresaions in gold, silver, or capper: to this end the choreoat in which the die is imbedded, when it is lented previous te hardening, must be carefully looked toy it shoul] be animal chureevut, und eyanogen, if present, is rather favorable than otherwise to the ultimate result; moisture, uir, potassinm, sulphur, and other things sunetimes present in charcoal, are iiguriens ; and when the die is at a proper heat and ready to be ptuayed into the hardening cistern, or submitted to the suddeu action of a gush of water, all contact of air with the lice of the die mist be scrupulously avuided. Drotecting pastes are scldom of much use. : ‘Vhe degree of hardness attainable by stecl will depend upon the heat to which it had beeu raised, and the coldness of the water or other medium into which it is plunged ; so that when very cold water cannot be procured, the die or other art cle inust be heated proportionately high; adult red heat into water ut 349, a clierry red into water at 50°, an orange heat into water at 80°, and a dull white heat into water at 100°, produce nearly the snine effects ; but the real hardness uttaimed in water which is warm never equals that given hy cold water ; a red heat and water at 45° is the inost desirable fur die hardening ; and although by subsequent tampering the die nay, if necessary, be brought down, or softened, it is always safest to give it, if possible, its due hardness by thie first operation. ‘T'be risk of injuring the lace of a die by oxydizement or scaling, or ol burn‘ing the die, as it is usually called, increases vreatly with a high temperatnte, and this is another reason why, in this particular branch, a moderate heat and very cold water is greatly to be preferred toa higher heat and warmer water, The hardening of steel when in thiu bars, or other regular Torm, and where extreme cleanliness of surlace is dispensed with, is comparatively an easy and certuin operatian. "The aspect of steel when so hroken as to exhibit a clean fracture, varies from an uniform ailkp and even surface of an almost silvery whiteness, to a fine or even coarse grained textnre, of a more blue or iron-like aspect ; the finer-grained varieties are generally preferred. but no very important or at least unerring conclusions respecting its quality can he drawn either from texture or color. ‘fhe microscope, however, enables us to observe some remarkable peculiarities in steel. not only in its vary ing texture as it comes from the manufacturer, but also before and alter hardening. The lact of its dimunition of density after hardening, or in other words, the increase of hulk which it then sustains, has long been known. Steel, of the specific gravity of 7.738, was found by Hawksbee to be thus reduced to 7,74. Brisson found the density of good English steel. to be increased by hammering from 7.833 to 7.872. . After hardening, the former had decreased to 7.816, and the latter to 7.818. Dr. ‘Thomson found the density of good blistered-steel to be 7.823 ; when heated to redness and suddenly plunged iuto cold water its density wus rednced to 7.747. The speclfic gravity of a piece of .cast-steel he found == 7.8227; but when hardened only = 7.7532. (Inorg. Chem.i. 497.) I have found even greatee differeuces ; and, in fact, the higher the heat to which the steel is raised, and tbe colder the medium in which it is cooled, the greater will be the resulting difference of density ; for it is probable that the inerezsed bulk attained by the steal under the expausive influence of heat, is retained by the suddenly cooled mass, and hence the peculiar state of tension into which it must be thrown when it has ultimately cooled down to the temperatnre of the atmosphere; and, indeed, it is sarprising that masses of steel, which have undergone the process of hardening, are not more brittle and ancertain than experience proves them tobe. According to Regnanlt, the mean specific heat of soft steel is 0.1165; that of hardened steel, 0.1175. The quality of steel is sometimes tested. by washiny over its clean surface with ditnte nitric acid, which ought to produce an uniform grey or blacklsh color; if the steel is imperlect, and contaius veins or pias of iron, they become. evident by their difference of color, When some particular kinds of iron or steel are thus tested, a mottled appearance is produced, as if it were composed ol layers or wires of iron and steel welded together; henec i8 supposed to . arise the peculiar character of the celebrated Damascus sword-blades. On @ New Sulphid of Carbon, Low, a Gerinan chemist, has described a new sulphid of cnrbon obtaiued by the action of an analzain uf sodium opon the hisulphid. When senti Haid amalguin of sodium is shaken with bisnlplid of carbon in a well-corked buttle the teniperntare of the imixtare rises, and the process is complete, when after repented addition of the bisulphid heat ts no longer evolved. If the mixture be then thrown into water, a blood-red solution is formed, which, after filtering, contains much mercury ; by passing sulphureted hydrogen for some time inte the solution, this muy be removed. The dark-red solution is then to be poured into dilute chlorhydric acid with constaut stirring. A Hocky red substunce is separated which agzregates toa tvagh resin, while much sulphurcted hydroyen is given off. ‘Ihe resiuous mass is to be washed continuonsly with hot water us long as it smells of sulphareted hydrogen. On cvoliny it becomes brittle, and then yields a violetbrown glistening power which muy he purified by solution in bisulphid of cnrbon, filtration and evaporation. ‘The new sulphid is hat slightly soluble in aleohol and cther, but is readily soluble in bisnlphid of carbon with a red color. Jt dissolves in the pure alknlies, as well as their carbonates, with partial decomposition, but appears to be taken up by alkaline sulphids without ulteration. Concentrated sulphuric acid disgolves it with ared color and water precipitates it lroin this solutiou. Nitric acid of 1.5 nuttacks it violently and appears to form anew ncid. Lleated in a closed tube to 100°, the new sulphid melts to a tough resin, and remains in this state after the temperature rises to 150°. Sulphureted hydrogen is then given off. At 200° an amorplious yellow body sublimes, and on further heating much voluminous carbon remains. Analysis gave for tbe new body the formula C, Ss H. The autbor explains its formation by the following equations : I. 2C, S44 NuHe=2NaCs S83 + NaS, Hes. IL 2NaC; Ss + NaS.HeS+HS =2NuCz Ss + NaS. HS+HgS. Ill. 2NaC, Ss + NaS. HS+8HCl =3NaCl+2HS+2HC; S3. Low regards the body C, Ss as a radical analogous to cyanogen or methyl. ‘Phe compounds of this radical with the alkaline metals are dark red to black and easily solubie in water; those with thé heavy metals are brown or black precipitates.— Wittstein's Vierteljuhresbericht, 1865, vol. 14, p 483. Oit Bortna ix Couvsa Covnty.—We are indebted to M.S. Whiting, in 1863 State Senator from this city, for some information about oil boring at Oil Center, Colusa county, twentythree miles in tbe foot-litls of the Contra Costa range, about 200 leet above the level of the Sacramento river, at the town of Colusa, which is twenty-three miles distant eastward. He is engaged with several gentlemen of this city in boring a well, which is uow down 460 feet, and which hag cost so far $30,000. The greater part of the distauce the auger bas passed through sandstone and shale. At a depth of fifty feet a vein of lubricating cil was struck ; at 112 feet another vein ; 217 another, and at 361 feet some shale, with the new color, known as Humboldt Blue, At196 feet and at 380 feet again, specimens of petrified oak wood were found. ‘The boring is still in progress, The well .s filled with a strong salt water, the supply ol which is not known, no attempt haying been made to pump the well for fear of injuring it. ‘Through this salt water there nre Irequent escapes of gas, which throw the water out of the well. For a period of thirty days while the auger was passing from a depth of 175 to one of 260 feet, the water rose tliree feet about 3 P.M.,and agaiu at 6 Pp. and goon after fell to the ordluary level. There is no koowa explanation for this tidal movement. After the aager passed a depth of 260 feet no tide was observed. In Antelope Valley eighteen mites north of Oil Center, theve is‘a salt pand, and in the vicinity is Salt Creek, which is saturated with sa}t abont June, and becomes entirely dry in Angust, and during the rainy sea, gon bus a barely perceptible saline flavor. The less the water the greater the “proportion of salt. In Bear Valley, six miles west of Oil Center, a large deposit ol sulphur has been found, and it is said that some has been sold to merchants iu San Francisco.— Alla. Barzsarous Laws.—Asa specimen of the barbarity of some Haglish laws, it is recorded that recently au old maa comnntted saicide, being unable to ‘andure the loss of his wife. He was buried at midnight, in contumely and disgrace, his property confiscated to the Crown, and his daughter left penniless. A story is told.of a Quaker volunteer who was in a skirmish. Coming in pretty close contact with one of the enemy, he remarked, ‘Friend, it’s unfortunate, bat thee stands just where Iam guing to shoot,’ and blazing away, down came the obstruction.

She Aining and Scientific Press. went; onr destruction and slow depreciation, a3 a mineral revlon, in the cuttinuance of inexperienced men experimevting. By the present inode of preceeding we shalt continue to sink and depreciate until we shill be led to believe, even against our will and the knowledge of thw vast richweas of this section, that we ure “a total wreck, and that mineral is uot and never wus fyund here. This -tate of alfuirs is truly provoking, and particularly to those conversant with the present plate of miniag matters. Superiateudents then. Belvis acknuwledse the trae stete of nffuirs, but they argue very sensibly lor their interest that their sulary is uv good and better to them than te another. Spine few mines noder the supervision of Miners 7 of long experience, and who can and do take ltoll themselves, are doing well, and the wok sane thereon is a credit to those int hare. Atthouch Toaat net peeniarly inrested myselt, nud not requested sv te do, L ici» one Or two instunves wherein there Pave been good results shewo through a proper tuarse af working. Vhe savuge coinpany, situded on Lander Hull. under che snpervision of WO. Habbard, fornia well with a saficiency of ore for her Capacity (YO stantps), aml of n very superior qailiy, ‘Through enetyy sant jadyment one Tits this result been attained. VPhis mine ships folly tall! che bullion leaving Reese River ut reread. The Metacum mine is another instance of the frait of experience nud judgment ia mining Vhis mine is situated about Jour miles northecly Irom this city, und contains 800 leet ; and ander the superintendence of an experienced ttiner, of long standing, Mr. Jolin Howell, it shows a system in working und a thorough development of the mine second to none as yet shown in this district. ‘The ledge is cut by a finoel ut a depth of 124 leet Irom the surface, from which pvint of tunnel there has been a shift raised to the surface, showing a ledge withoutn flaw the whole depth of froin eighteen inches to two and a half Icet in thickness. Front said point or terminus of tunnel there has been a level run, both northerly und southerly, over 150 fect, uncovering the ledge, and at no point in snid level is the ledge at lault ; thereby laying open over 300 fect in leneth by 124 fect in depth of ledye.and ready lor the mill. ‘This body of ore will average, per mill Working, at a safe csatimate, $125 per ton. Work is still heme prosecuted Loth in the levels and in sinking perpendicnlarly on the vein, the ledge increasing tu width aud richness as depth is attained; and Tnrther, not until there was moncy sufficient (in ore) found Was there a mnill coutracted for. ‘The company fave a mill poo the groand, and now in course of erection, and hy the lst of August it will be hammering away on the known produce of their own mine, and will be founded, as Many others here are not, on a solid founda. tion. Others . could name, and many a competent man to fill the places with success, now Occupied by those incompetent to fill them, either to the advantage ol their cniployers, or to their own credit as managers, And I will further say without reserve, that until alteration is niade, we shall continue to “ drag,” as we huve—to use a homely expression—the “cart being before the horse.” Progress. Austin, April 7, 1866. Coprrr Discovery.cThe Nevada Gazette Says that great excitement is raging in Little York townsiip, caused by the discovery of a copper ledge, believed to be immensely rich. This ledge was discovered several months ago hy John Thorp, who resides at Nermitage Rauch, while hunting on the other side of Greeuhoro. He made a location, and has sunk a shaft some teu feet in deptb upon the ledye, finding copper ore of extraordinary richuess. The ledge has been traced from /Thorp’s location in a southerly direction to Bear river, and nourtherly to Deer Mountain, withia three miles of Nevada, a distance of five or six miles. Numervas extensious have been located, and the country between Greenhorn and Bear Stiver is full of prospectors. Specimens taken from Thorp's shalt, look exceedingly well, conjtaining inuch black oxide of copper and peacock ore. An assay of ore, made a few days ago, yielded thirty seven per cent. of cupper; but this was probably a choice specimen. This is the most promising copper prospect that has yet been discovered in the county, and jthe indicutions ure that the ledze will prove Valuuble, Many of the locators think they have a fortune secnre, and seme ol them have heretofore been interested in copper prospecting, aud are uot likely to be easily excited. Mors than one million of Webster's spelling April, aud the demand isso much greater thaa the supply that the publishers have sent to Englaud to get it printed, , is a producing mine, anid ia supplying the Cali‘properties of which are not less remarkable books have been suld to the South since last . ~ Hardening and Tampering Steel, When steel is heated to a cherry-red color, and then plunged into cold water, it becomes vo extremely bard ond brittle as to be ankt for ulmost any practical pnrpose. it from its extreme bardiess is callud by the woikmen fempering, utd is effected by uguiu heating the steel te i cortain point. “Vhe sarfice being a littl brightened, exhibits, when ‘ heated, varions colors, depending upan the lormation of thin litus of oxide*, which constuntly change a> the temperitare is incrensed, ani by these colours it has heen customary to judge of the temper of the steel. Bata more necurate, 1s Well us conventent method, is to uve a bath and therinemeter ; the bath may be of mercury, or of the fusibla mixtare of lead,. tit, and bismuth, or, indeed, of any uid whose! boiling-point is fot much under 600%. Lute this buth the articles to be tenipered are put together with the batb of a thermometer grdu. nted to the builing point of mereury. ‘The corre-potding degrees at which the various colours! pppear ure trom 430° to GbOS, ‘The first change is at abont 430°, but this is tou faint to be distinguished, except by comparison with another piece of untempered polished steel. At 460° the color is série, becoming deeper as the tcinperature is increased ; at 500° the color ix brown; this is followed by a ved tinge with streaks of purple, then pu ple, and vt nently GU0° it is lee. ‘The deg:ees at which the respective colours ure jroduced being thus known, it lollows that the workman hus oaly to heat the bath, with its contents, up to the required point. For example, suppose the blade of a penknife (or one hundred of them) to require tempering: they are suffered to remiain in the bath until the mereary in the thermuinetor rises to 460°, and no longer, that beiug the heat at which the kuile (supposing it to be made of tbe best Hoglish cust-steel) will be sufficiently tempered. ‘lhe advantages attending this method are obvioas; the heat is equally applied to the whole; and the worknan, tnstend of attending to the color of each blade, has oaly to observe the thermumeter. Jt has been foand that steel, lor vertain uses, igs saffici ntly tempered long before it is heated to produce any change of color, a circumstance which gives ndditional value to the process by a thermometer. ‘I'he knile-edges attached to a pendulnm described by Capt. Kater, (Pil. Trans., 1818, p. 38,) were lorged by Mr. Stodart from a piece of fine wootz [a vanety known ns Indian steel, asuatly containing a small percentage of tungsten, and Irom which the lamous Damascus sword blades were supposed tobe made]. ‘They were carefuily hundred, and tempered in the bath at 43u°; on trial they were found too soft. ‘They were asecond time hardened, and then heated to 212%, The intention was to increase the heat from that point, trying the temper at the advance of about every ten degrees. In the present instance this was not oecessary, the heat of boiling water proving to he the exact point at which the knile-edges were admirably tempered. It is highly probable that steel, for many ases, may be sufficiently tempered iu a yange so extensive as from 212° to 4309, and, hy tbe thermometer, all the intervening degrees may be, certuinly ascertained. But it is not the temperature only, but also the time duriug which the steel is exposed to it, which iuflucnces its hardness or temper. What may be the changes effected in the molecular constitution of steel by the operation of hardening is an important, bata very difficult and undecided question ; that they are considerable, there cao be no dvabt, but that they extend beyond mechanical arrugemeut, and affect chemical composition, according to the notions of Karsten, is a theory which requires muuch more satisfactory proof than it has hitherto received; nor are the changes which other substances andergo by u similar operation in any way illustrative of or applicable to those of stcel, the electro-magnetic than the coarser echauical changes which it sustains, and which are in all probability someway related to each other, and to the more ubstruse causes of crystalline peculiarities. There is certainly in many points an aualogy hetween anannealed or saddenly cooled glass and tempered or hardened steel, and the extraordinary molecalar and crystalline peculiarities of glass, when more correctly nnderstood, may, perhaps, tend to throw some light upon the niore obseare saliject of steel, but as yet this is not the case. tis, however, by 00 means uncommon to fiad the same unstable arrangement of particles and inequality of tensiou in-a mass of hardened steel, as in a luinp of glass which has sohdificd in cold water; from the sutfuce to the interior, successive crusts or cunts of variable texture and hardness present themselves. Sumetimes a steel dic, alter it has been for some time hardencd and apparently sale, will split with au andible report, and its * That the color preduced on the surfree of heated stecl is Uhe effect of oxydation, iz proved from the clreumstauce that when stucl as heated and suffered 10 cool uader mercury or oil, none of the colors sppear 5 nor do they when it is heated In hydrogen or nitrogen.

fracture will then exbibit a soft coro covered by successive coats or layers. increasing in hiurduess from the center tovards the exterior. In addition to the difficulties arisiug out of the mass with whicl he laa tu deal, end the To rednee . changes of texture, if not of coinposition, which it bus necessarily been subjected to in the vuriuns operations of perleeting the impression Irom the punch in the press, the oanatnctrer ol dies for medals or coinage has anuther obstacle to contend with, which is the necessity ol keeping the fuce or work of the die perfectly clean and free Irom senles and oxydizement, sv that it may not only be withent any obviaus blemish, but present that pecntiar velvety line which sv much enhances the beauty of the snbsequent itapresaions in gold, silver, or capper: to this end the choreoat in which the die is imbedded, when it is lented previous te hardening, must be carefully looked toy it shoul] be animal chureevut, und eyanogen, if present, is rather favorable than otherwise to the ultimate result; moisture, uir, potassinm, sulphur, and other things sunetimes present in charcoal, are iiguriens ; and when the die is at a proper heat and ready to be ptuayed into the hardening cistern, or submitted to the suddeu action of a gush of water, all contact of air with the lice of the die mist be scrupulously avuided. Drotecting pastes are scldom of much use. : ‘Vhe degree of hardness attainable by stecl will depend upon the heat to which it had beeu raised, and the coldness of the water or other medium into which it is plunged ; so that when very cold water cannot be procured, the die or other art cle inust be heated proportionately high; adult red heat into water ut 349, a clierry red into water at 50°, an orange heat into water at 80°, and a dull white heat into water at 100°, produce nearly the snine effects ; but the real hardness uttaimed in water which is warm never equals that given hy cold water ; a red heat and water at 45° is the inost desirable fur die hardening ; and although by subsequent tampering the die nay, if necessary, be brought down, or softened, it is always safest to give it, if possible, its due hardness by thie first operation. ‘T'be risk of injuring the lace of a die by oxydizement or scaling, or ol burn‘ing the die, as it is usually called, increases vreatly with a high temperatnte, and this is another reason why, in this particular branch, a moderate heat and very cold water is greatly to be preferred toa higher heat and warmer water, The hardening of steel when in thiu bars, or other regular Torm, and where extreme cleanliness of surlace is dispensed with, is comparatively an easy and certuin operatian. "The aspect of steel when so hroken as to exhibit a clean fracture, varies from an uniform ailkp and even surface of an almost silvery whiteness, to a fine or even coarse grained textnre, of a more blue or iron-like aspect ; the finer-grained varieties are generally preferred. but no very important or at least unerring conclusions respecting its quality can he drawn either from texture or color. ‘fhe microscope, however, enables us to observe some remarkable peculiarities in steel. not only in its vary ing texture as it comes from the manufacturer, but also before and alter hardening. The lact of its dimunition of density after hardening, or in other words, the increase of hulk which it then sustains, has long been known. Steel, of the specific gravity of 7.738, was found by Hawksbee to be thus reduced to 7,74. Brisson found the density of good English steel. to be increased by hammering from 7.833 to 7.872. . After hardening, the former had decreased to 7.816, and the latter to 7.818. Dr. ‘Thomson found the density of good blistered-steel to be 7.823 ; when heated to redness and suddenly plunged iuto cold water its density wus rednced to 7.747. The speclfic gravity of a piece of .cast-steel he found == 7.8227; but when hardened only = 7.7532. (Inorg. Chem.i. 497.) I have found even greatee differeuces ; and, in fact, the higher the heat to which the steel is raised, and tbe colder the medium in which it is cooled, the greater will be the resulting difference of density ; for it is probable that the inerezsed bulk attained by the steal under the expausive influence of heat, is retained by the suddenly cooled mass, and hence the peculiar state of tension into which it must be thrown when it has ultimately cooled down to the temperatnre of the atmosphere; and, indeed, it is sarprising that masses of steel, which have undergone the process of hardening, are not more brittle and ancertain than experience proves them tobe. According to Regnanlt, the mean specific heat of soft steel is 0.1165; that of hardened steel, 0.1175. The quality of steel is sometimes tested. by washiny over its clean surface with ditnte nitric acid, which ought to produce an uniform grey or blacklsh color; if the steel is imperlect, and contaius veins or pias of iron, they become. evident by their difference of color, When some particular kinds of iron or steel are thus tested, a mottled appearance is produced, as if it were composed ol layers or wires of iron and steel welded together; henec i8 supposed to . arise the peculiar character of the celebrated Damascus sword-blades. On @ New Sulphid of Carbon, Low, a Gerinan chemist, has described a new sulphid of cnrbon obtaiued by the action of an analzain uf sodium opon the hisulphid. When senti Haid amalguin of sodium is shaken with bisnlplid of carbon in a well-corked buttle the teniperntare of the imixtare rises, and the process is complete, when after repented addition of the bisulphid heat ts no longer evolved. If the mixture be then thrown into water, a blood-red solution is formed, which, after filtering, contains much mercury ; by passing sulphureted hydrogen for some time inte the solution, this muy be removed. The dark-red solution is then to be poured into dilute chlorhydric acid with constaut stirring. A Hocky red substunce is separated which agzregates toa tvagh resin, while much sulphurcted hydroyen is given off. ‘Ihe resiuous mass is to be washed continuonsly with hot water us long as it smells of sulphareted hydrogen. On cvoliny it becomes brittle, and then yields a violetbrown glistening power which muy he purified by solution in bisulphid of cnrbon, filtration and evaporation. ‘The new sulphid is hat slightly soluble in aleohol and cther, but is readily soluble in bisnlphid of carbon with a red color. Jt dissolves in the pure alknlies, as well as their carbonates, with partial decomposition, but appears to be taken up by alkaline sulphids without ulteration. Concentrated sulphuric acid disgolves it with ared color and water precipitates it lroin this solutiou. Nitric acid of 1.5 nuttacks it violently and appears to form anew ncid. Lleated in a closed tube to 100°, the new sulphid melts to a tough resin, and remains in this state after the temperature rises to 150°. Sulphureted hydrogen is then given off. At 200° an amorplious yellow body sublimes, and on further heating much voluminous carbon remains. Analysis gave for tbe new body the formula C, Ss H. The autbor explains its formation by the following equations : I. 2C, S44 NuHe=2NaCs S83 + NaS, Hes. IL 2NaC; Ss + NaS.HeS+HS =2NuCz Ss + NaS. HS+HgS. Ill. 2NaC, Ss + NaS. HS+8HCl =3NaCl+2HS+2HC; S3. Low regards the body C, Ss as a radical analogous to cyanogen or methyl. ‘Phe compounds of this radical with the alkaline metals are dark red to black and easily solubie in water; those with thé heavy metals are brown or black precipitates.— Wittstein's Vierteljuhresbericht, 1865, vol. 14, p 483. Oit Bortna ix Couvsa Covnty.—We are indebted to M.S. Whiting, in 1863 State Senator from this city, for some information about oil boring at Oil Center, Colusa county, twentythree miles in tbe foot-litls of the Contra Costa range, about 200 leet above the level of the Sacramento river, at the town of Colusa, which is twenty-three miles distant eastward. He is engaged with several gentlemen of this city in boring a well, which is uow down 460 feet, and which hag cost so far $30,000. The greater part of the distauce the auger bas passed through sandstone and shale. At a depth of fifty feet a vein of lubricating cil was struck ; at 112 feet another vein ; 217 another, and at 361 feet some shale, with the new color, known as Humboldt Blue, At196 feet and at 380 feet again, specimens of petrified oak wood were found. ‘The boring is still in progress, The well .s filled with a strong salt water, the supply ol which is not known, no attempt haying been made to pump the well for fear of injuring it. ‘Through this salt water there nre Irequent escapes of gas, which throw the water out of the well. For a period of thirty days while the auger was passing from a depth of 175 to one of 260 feet, the water rose tliree feet about 3 P.M.,and agaiu at 6 Pp.. and goon after fell to the ordluary level. There is no koowa explanation for this tidal movement. After the aager passed a depth of 260 feet no tide was observed. In Antelope Valley eighteen mites north of Oil Center, theve is‘a salt pand, and in the vicinity is Salt Creek, which is saturated with sa}t abont June, and becomes entirely dry in Angust, and during the rainy sea, gon bus a barely perceptible saline flavor. The less the water the greater the “proportion of salt. In Bear Valley, six miles west of Oil Center, a large deposit ol sulphur has been found, and it is said that some has been sold to merchants iu San Francisco.— Alla. Barzsarous Laws.—Asa specimen of the barbarity of some Haglish laws, it is recorded that recently au old maa comnntted saicide, being unable to ‘andure the loss of his wife. He was buried at midnight, in contumely and disgrace, his property confiscated to the Crown, and his daughter left penniless. A story is told.of a Quaker volunteer who was in a skirmish. Coming in pretty close contact with one of the enemy, he remarked, ‘Friend, it’s unfortunate, bat thee stands just where Iam guing to shoot,’ and blazing away, down came the obstruction.