BORON.
The white substance called borax has long been known to exist as a
solid deposit in the earth of many parts of the ancient East. But
its uses have increased a thousand fold as the result of the modern
discovery of new and far more abundant sources of it. Thus in the
manufacture of porcelain and in other of the industrial arts, and as a
remedial agency in medicine, borax has now come to be an important and
truly useful substance to mankind.
The knowledge of its composition is referable to a very recent date;
only in the present century its character as a true chemical salt was
fully made out. Borax is now recognized as sodic borate, which usually
exists in a form holding ten molecules of water of crystallization;
accordingly the chemical formula is Na₂B₄O₇ + 10 H₂O. From this it
appears that, in addition to the well-known substances sodium and
oxygen, borax contains a special and peculiar element called boron—a
name evidently derived from borax. Again, being a salt, the substance
must be viewed as containing an acid—or more properly speaking, the
representative of an acid. That this is indeed the fact may be readily
proved. If borax is dissolved in water in such a way as to form a
concentrated solution, then, upon addition of chlorohydric acid, a
solid substance separates out in pearly flakes; this upon subsequent
examination is found to be an acid. This solid acid has received the
name boric acid, and it may be represented by the formula H₃BO₃.
[Illustration: FIG. 49.—View among the Tuscan lagoni before the
introduction of the borax industry.]
[Illustration: FIG. 50.—View in Tuscany after the establishment of the
borax industry.]
Sources of Borax in Nature.
For a long time the only known source of borax was the natural crusts
of this substance found principally in the ground in certain parts of
Asia. At the present day, however, borax is obtained from Borax Lake,
in California, in very large quantities. In fact the commercial needs
of the United States for this substance, are readily supplied from
borax found within its own borders. The most interesting and important
step in connection with the preparation of borax dates back to about
the year 1776, when the fact was made public that certain lagoons in
Tuscany contained boric acid in their water. It was not until about
the year 1828, however, that the manufacture of boric acid from this
source was successful upon a large scale. In some of the Tuscan valleys
there are volcanic crevices in the earth, called _suffioni_. From
them steam escapes charged with certain compounds of boron. When this
steam is brought in contact with water, boric acid is liberated in the
water. The method of securing the acid is as follows: A ring of masonry
is built in a suitable place and so as to include several suffioni.
Sometimes new suffioni are artificially bored within this ring. Into
the basin so produced, water from some convenient spring is conducted.
The steam from the suffioni passing into the water, produces boric acid
there. When the water is sufficiently charged, it is made to flow as a
gentle cascade over a long series of shallow pans. The liquid readily
evaporates from these pans for under them also, steam from suffioni is
turned. It is indeed this last mentioned step in the manufacture, that
became the turning point which has lead to its successful prosecution.
The great cost of fuel for artificially evaporating the acid liquors,
rendered unprofitable the earlier attempts to utilize this source of
boric acid. A French gentleman, M. Larderel, suggested the use of steam
from suffioni for the evaporation of the liquids produced, and the
process was so successful that he quickly derived a colossal fortune
from its employment. At the same time he enriched the territory that
was previously not only desert and unproductive, but also was looked
upon by the inhabitants with superstitious dread and as little better
than the gate of the infernal regions. As a result of these inventions,
a barren and unfrequented territory has been changed to a seat of
thriving and beneficial industry. Finally, it is interesting to note
that for his services in developing the boric acid industry M. Larderel
was created Count of Monte-Cerboli by the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
READING REFERENCES.
Boric Acid, Manufacture of, etc.
=Payen.=—Annales de Chimie et de Physique. 3 Sér. i, 247;
ii, 322.
=Dieulafait=, L.—_loc. cit._ 5 Sér. xii, 318; xxv, 145.
Borax Lagoons of Tuscany.
=Harper’s= Magazine. i, 397.