negative pole of the
battery terminating in an iron plate, which replaces the copper in the
liquid mass. The second method is an improvement on this. From some
experiments made at the School of Mines in Paris, it was shewn that
metallic iron alone, without the aid of the battery, was capable of
precipitating copper from the silicates in a state of fusion, just as
it does in saline solutions at ordinary temperatures. But in applying
this last method to practice--for the electricity was obviously
rendered unnecessary by the discovery--it was found that the
expenditure of iron was so great, that it could not be profitably
applied except as a means of assisting the reduction.

'Still,' said Mr Morgan, when commenting on these methods, 'this, in
point of fact, is precisely what we do. We add, as you have seen, a
great proportion of slag to the melting of the calcined ore, which
consists chiefly of the oxide of iron; while at the same time we
derive the additional advantage of employing an excellent flux--an
advantage which metallic iron does not possess. But, irrespective of
these considerations, the plain fact of the matter is, that _it will
not pay_ to smelt copper expeditiously. We don't wish to do so. It is
quite a matter of choice with us those continued operations; and their
great advantage lies in this, that we are enabled to extract every
particle of copper from the ore. By any of these other methods--very
philosophical they are, I admit--we could not accomplish this. The
slags would all contain more or less metal; and when I inform you,
that we can afford to remelt those slags if they contain only a half
per cent. of copper, you will perhaps understand our reasons for still
adhering to our venerable system.'

Thus we discovered that the smelting of copper by electricity, and of
reducing it with metallic iron, would not pay.

Our statistics are short, but they are heavy: about 300,000 tons of
copper-ore are annually smelted at Swansea; 28,000 tons of copper are
annually produced; and 600,000 tons of coal are annually burned. The
value of the ore is about L.2,000,000; of the copper, L.2,600,000; of
the coal, we have no correct means of ascertaining. Of the population
of Swansea, about one-fourth are dependent on the smelting-works; and
of these, about 3500 are directly engaged in the business. The
probable amount of wages paid by the smelters is about L.135,000; and
the current expenditure of the copper-works in t