Excerpt from Quicksilver Resources of California: With a Section on Metallurgy and Ore-Dressing The important uses of quicksilver are the recovery of gold and silver from ores by amalgamation, the manufacture of fulminate for explosive caps, of electrical appliances and scientific apparatus, and in the preparation of drugs, vermilion, and an anti-fouling paint for ships' bottoms. Another interesting use to which quicksilver is also put, though in which it is not 'consumed, ' is as a floating bearing for the re volving lenses of lighthouses. About 600 pounds of quicksilver are required (depending on the size of the light) - being placed in a ciren lar groove or channel. The lens or lighting unit is set on a pontoon which. In turn, rests and revolves on the mercury. As the metal is not consumed, the loss after installation is insignificant. By far the great est consumption of quicksilver is in the manufacture of fulminate and of drugs. The increased adoption of the cyanide process in place of amalgamation in the treatment of gold and silver ores has materially decreased that demand for quicksilver of recent years, particularly in the western United States and in Mexico. The newest use for quick silver is the introduction of a small amount into the cylinders of steam turbines to improve the vapor pressure and thus increase efficiency. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Exploring the development of California and the relationship between the built environments of the mercury-mining industry and the emerging ethnic identities and communities in California, Mercury and the Making of California brings mercury to its rightful place alongside gold and silver in their defining roles in the development of the American West. In this pioneering study, Andrew Johnston examines the history of California’s mercury-mining industry—and its defining role in the development of the American West. Mercury was crucial to refining gold and silver; therefore, its production and use were vital to creating and securing power and wealth in the west. The first industrialized mining in California, mercury mining had its own particular organization and structure shaped by powers first formed within the Spanish Empire, transformed by British imperial ambitions, and manipulated by groups made wealthy and powerful by controlling it. In addition, the landscapes of work and camp and the relations among the many groups—Mexicans, Chileans, Spanish, British, Irish, Cornish, American, and Chinese—throughout the industry’s history illustrate the complex history of race and ethnicity in the American West. Combining rich documentary sources with a close examination of the existing physical landscape, Andrew Johnston explores both the detail of everyday work and life in the mines and the larger economic and social structures in which mercury mining was enmeshed, revealing the significance of mercury mining to Western history.

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