the laboratory of the Normal School, Paris, were afterwards continued on a larger scale, thanks to the liberality of the Emperor Napoleon III., at the chemical works of Javel. At this works were made the ingots and divers objects of aluminium which figured at the Paris Exhibition in 1855. Later, after new experiments made together at the Normal School, Deville, H. Debray, and P. Morin set up a plant to make aluminium on a large scale at Messrs. Rousseau Brothers' works at Glacière. The primary method there received many improvements. Later on it was still further improved under the direction of P. Morin at the works in Nanterre. At last, in the works of Messrs. Merle & Co., at Salindres, it has reached its present stage of advancement.

These

Tissier Bros. wrote and published a book entitled Recherches sur l'Aluminium' in 1858. brothers were employed in the experiments which Deville superintended at the laboratory of the Normal School, Paris, and Deville charges that after learning the important results of his experiments they suddenly left him, taking drawings of furnaces, details of processes, etc., and started works themselves. Deville was very bitter against them, and this ill-feeling was increased by the following incident: Deville was collecting material to write a book on the subject, which he almost regarded as his prerogative, seeing that he had, so to speak, created the industry; but, before he had completed

it, Tissier Bros. published theirs. In order not to be too far behind, Deville hastened the completion of his book, by doing which he was unable to make it as full as he had wished, and published it in September, 1859. Several sharp letters passed between Deville and the Tissiers, which may be seen in the Compt. Rend. or Ann. de Chem. et de Phys. A. Tissier, in his book, thus describes the formation and history of his works: In July, 1855, Messrs. Malétra, Chanu, and Davey, of Rouen, formed a company to produce aluminium, and we were entrusted with the organization and special charge of the industry. The commencement was beset with difficulties, not only in producing, but in using the metal. It then sold at $200 per kilo, the price being an insurmountable obstacle to its employment in the arts. The small capital at our disposal was not enough to start the industry, to pay general expenses, and the losses occasioned by the many experiments necessary. On February 28, 1856, the society was dissolved. In April, the same year, Mr. William Martin, struck by the results already obtained, and sanguine of greater success, united with us. From that time daily improvements confirmed M. Martin's hopes, and in 1857 the works at Amfreville-la-mi-Voie, near Rouen, sold the metal at $60 per kilo ($2.00 per oz.). The laboratory of this works was devoted to researches on everything concerning the production and application of aluminium. M. Martin

has our sincere gratitude for the kindness with which he so willingly encouraged and contributed to the progress of the manufacture of "this wonderful metal."

Deville, as stated above, published his book in September, 1859, and he concludes it with these words: "I have tried to show that aluminium may become a useful metal by studying with care its physical and chemical properties, and showing the actual state of its manufacture. As to the place which it may occupy in our daily life, that will depend on the public's estimation of it and its commercial price. The introduction of a new metal into the usages of man's life is an operation of extreme difficulty. At first, aluminium was spoken of too highly in some publications, which made it out to be a precious metal; but later these estimates have depreciated even to the point of considering it attackable by pure water. The cause of this is the desire which many have to see taken out of common field mud a metal superior to silver itself; the opposite opinion established itself because of very impure specimens of the metal which were put in circulation. It seems now that the intermediate opinion, that which I have always held and which I express in the first lines of my book, is becoming more public, and will stop the illusions and exaggerated beliefs which can only be prejudicial to the adoption of aluminium as a useful metal. Moreover, the in

dustry, established as it now is, can be the cause of loss to no one; as for myself, I take no account of the large part of my estate which I have devoted, but am only too happy, if my efforts are crowned with definite success, in having made fruitful the work of a man whom I am pleased to call my friend-the illustrious Wöhler."

As early as 1856 we find an article in an American magazine* showing that there were already chemists in the United States spending time and money on this subject. The following is the substance of the article alluded to: "Within the last two years Deville has extracted 50 to 60 lbs. of aluminium. At the present time, M. Rousseau, the successor of Deville in this manufacture, produces aluminium which he sells at $100 per pound. No one in the United States has undertaken to make the metal until recently Mons. Alfred Monnier, of Camden, N. J., has, according to the statement of Prof. James C. Booth in the 'Penn. Inquirer,' been successful in making sodium by a continuous process, so as to procure it in large bars, and has made aluminium in considerable quantity, specimens of which he has exhibited to the Franklin Institute. Mons. Monnier is desirous of forming a company for the manufacture of aluminium, and is confident that by operating in a large way he can produce it at a much less cost than has hereto

* Mining Magazine, 1856, vii. 317.

fore been realized. We would suggest the propriety of giving aid to this manufacturer at the expense of the government, for the introduction of a new metal into the arts is a matter of national importance, and no one can yet realize the various and innumerable uses to which this new metal may be applied. It would be quite proper and constitutional for Congress to appropriate a sum of money, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury in the improvement of this branch of metallurgy, and in testing the value of the metal for coinage and other public use."

6

In the next volume of the Mining Magazine'* there is a long article by Mr. W. J. Taylor, containing nothing new in regard to the metallurgy of aluminium, but chiefly concerned in calculating theoretically the cost of the metal from the raw materials and labor required by Deville's processes, and concluding that it is quite possible to make it for $1.00 per pound.

In 1874 we have the following résumé by Kerl & Stohman: "Deville first worked under the direction of the Paris Academy; later, the Emperor Napoleon gave him great encouragement, by means of which he succeeded in producing several kilos of aluminium, which were shown at the exhibition in Paris, 1855. With the experience thus gained, Deville took possession of Rousseau Bros.' chemi

* Mining Magazine, viii. 167 and 228. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., Jan. 1857.