The Alkali Experiments of James Watt and James Keir, 1765–1780

NOTES AND REFERENCES

• There are many sources of information about the Industrial Revolution. P. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation. (Routledge, London, 1996 edn.), and B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane, Abstract of British Historical Statistics. ( Cambridge, 1971), are recommended.
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• T. Tooke, F.R.S. A History of Prices. (London, 1838), vol. I, p. 397.
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• Watt formed a lifelong friendship with Black, then a lecturer, when he was appointed mathematical instrument-maker to Glasgow University in 1757. John Roebuck also had an interest in the project. He backed Watt financially in the early stages of developing the steam engine, and was hoping to operate the envisaged alkali process. In 1746, with Samuel Garbett, he had been the first to use a lead chamber to make sulphuric acid.
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• J. R. Partington, A History of Chemistry. Vol. 2, ( London, 1961), p. 350.
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• J. G. Smith, The Heavy Chemical Industry in France. (Oxford, 1979), p. 194.
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• J. U. Nef, The Rise of the British Coal Industry. (London, 1932, 2nd Impression, 1966) Vol. 1, p. 11.
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• J. R. Partington, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 21, 294.
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• J. R. Partington, op. cit., Vol. 3, ( London, 1962), p. 136.
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• V. Biringuccio, The Pirotechnia ( Venice, 1540), trans. by C. S. Smith and M. T. Gnudi, ( New York, 1942), p. 404.
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• A. E. Musson and E. Robinson, Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution. (Manchester, 1969), p. 353–4. ( Watt to Roebuck, 19 February 1766).
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• ibid.
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• E. Robinson and D. McKie, Partners in Science. ( London, 1970), p. 18. ( Watt to Black, 27 and 28 January 1769).
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• Musson and Robinson, op. cit., p. 358. ( Roebuck to Boulton, 10 February 1770).
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• R. E. Schofield, The Lunar Society of Birmingham. ( Oxford, 1963), p. 77. (Small to Watt, 18 October 1769). William Small (physician, chemist, mathematician), Watt, Keir and Boulton were members of the Lunar Society which met convivially to discuss matters of scientific interest. Watt first met Small when he was shown round Boulton's works at Soho, Birmingham in 1767. Keir studied medicine at Edinburgh University but did not graduate. In 1757 he was commissioned in 61st Regiment of Foot and served until 1768. He settled near Birmingham where he met and impressed Watt as 'a mighty chemist', and began work on a synthetic alkali project. (N. G. Coley, 'James Keir, F.R.S. . . .', West Midlands Studies, vol. 4, (1970/71), pp. 1–22; J. L. Moilliet and B. M. D. Smith, 'James Keir of the Lunar Society', Notes and Records of the Royal Society, Vol. 22, (Nos. 1 and 2), pp. 144–153; and A Mighty Chemist. (Private Circulation, 1982).
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• House of Commons Journal, 1778–80, vol. 37, pp. 891, 915.
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• Robinson and McKie, op. cit., p. 25. ( Keir to Watt, 14 December 1771).
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• House of Commons Journal, op. cit., pp. 865–866, 891–897, 908–910, 912–917, 929–930. The evidence is considered later in relation to Keir's petition.
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• Robinson and McKie, op. cit., p. 93. ( Watt to Black, 9 June 1780).
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• Musson and Robinson, op. cit., p. 363. ( Watt to Mrs. Watt, 24 June 1780).
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• Alexander Fordyce, Dictionary of National Biography.
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• Robinson and McKie, op. cit., p. 106. ( Watt to Black, 8 March 1781).
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• Musson and Robinson, op. cit., p. 369–371, ( Appendix contributed by Drs. W. V. Farrar and Kathleen R. Farrar).
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• R. L. Sherlock, Rock-Salt and Brine, Memoirs of the Geological Survey. Special Reports on the Mineral Resources of Great Britain. (H.M.S.O. London, 1921), Vol XV HI. There is no reference to a salt deposit in Scotland.
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• Sherlock, op. cit., pp. 11, 12.
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• Amelia Moilliet, Sketch of the Life of James Keir, Esq. F.R.S. (London, 1868), pp. 75, 76.
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• Partington, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 231. Partington made no reference to discovery by Keir.
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• A. Fordyce, Patent 1303, (1 August 1781). 'Separation of Alkalies from Marine and Vitriolic Acid'.
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• R. Padley, 'The Beginnings of the British Alkali Industry', University of Birmingham Historical Journal, Vol. 3(1) (1951–52), p. 72. (Watt to Keir, 15 January 1782).
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• W. Ramsay, The Life and Letters of Joseph Black, (London, 1918), pp. 66, 67. (Keir to Black, 8 August 1782).
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• B. Neumann and E. Karwat, 'Die Kaustizierung des Natriumsulfats'. Zeitschrift fiir Elektrochemie. Vol. 27 (1921), pp. 114–124. Table of results p. 121.
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• J. L. Moilliet, 'Keir's Caustic Soda Process-an Attempted Reconstruction', Chemistry and Industry, no. 10 (1966), pp. 405–408. Keir was Dr. Moilliet's great-great-great-grandfather.
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• Neumann und Karwat, op. cit., p. 124.
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• J. L. Moilliet, op. cit., p. 407.
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• Neumann und Karwat, loc. cit.
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• J. L. Moilliet, op. cit., p. 405.
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• Neumann und Karwat, loc. cit.
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• R. Kirwan, 'Experiments on the Alkaline Substances used in Bleaching, and on the Colouring Matter of Linen-Yarn', Transactions, Royal Irish Academy, vol. 3, (1790), pp. 27, 28. Kirwan practised law then engaged in chemical research. His findings on specific gravities and properties of various saline substances were a valuable contribution to the methods of analytical chemistry.
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• A. Moilliet, op. cit., p. 84. (Keir to Josiah Wedgwood, n.d. but appears to be about 1770). Wedgwood experimented and improved potteryware in the 1760s. He established the famous pottery business at 'Etruria', adjacent to the proposed route of the Grand Trunk Canal in 1766. His interest in the canal project brought him into membership of the Lunar Society.
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• Musson and Robinson, op. cit., p. 123.
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• J. Ellis, 'The Decline and Fall of the Tyneside Salt Industry, 1660-1790: A Re-examination', Economic History Review, Vol. xxxiii(i) (1980), pp. 46, 47.
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• House of Commons Journal, op. cit. Fordyce's alkali patent (No. 1303) of 1781, previously referred to, described also a process in which a mixture of Glauber's salt, charcoal and iron were strongly heated, a process essentially the same as that described by Malherbe in 1777.
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• House of Commons Journal, op. cit., Fordyce's petition p. 865; George Fordyce p. 893; Brown p. 895; Board of Trade p. 896. 1001bs of tallow requires about 141bs of caustic soda to make hard soap-G. Martin, The Modern Soap and Detergent Industry. 3rd edn., (London, 1950), p. 56. Brown used 9251bs of Tallow and 2091bs of Fordyce's alkali. This suggests that the sample of alkali he used may have been equivalent to about 60 per cent caustic soda.
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• House of Commons Journal, op. cit., Keir's petition p. 891; Whitehurst p. 913; Moore p. 914; Blair pp. 913, 914.
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• Robinson and McKie, op. cit., pp. 90, 91. (Watt to Black, 30 May 1780).
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• op. cit., p. 92. (Black to Watt, 3 June 1780).
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• op. cit., p. 93. (Watt to Black, 9 June 1780).
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• op. cit., p. 95. (Watt to Black, 15 October 1780).
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• op. cit., p. 106. (Watt to Black, 8 March 1781).
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• J. G. Smith, op. cit., p. 196. Malherbe revealed his discovery to the French minister of finance in 1777, and planned to go into production on the Brittany coast where salt duty was not levied. Malherbe hoped to export soda to England. English merchants showed interest and received samples. The project was abandoned in 1783.
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• Transactions of the Society of Arts, Vol. 1(1783), p. 118; Vol. 7 (1789), p. 147.
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• The lead chamber was said to have reduced the price of sulphuric acid 'to a fourth of its former cost'. ( John Roebuck, Dictionary of National Biography).
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• Salt duty was revived in 1732 at the rate of £6.67 per ton (5 George H c.6); it was raised to £8.33 in 1780 (20 George III c.34, s.1) (American War of Independence 1775–1781); to £10 in 1782 (22 George III c.39, s.1).
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• George III, c.39, s.2. (1782); 26 George III, c.90, s.1, 2. (1786).
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• C. Leadbetter, The Royal Gauger. Pt. II, (London, 1739), p. 31.
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• J. King and R. Turner, Patent 1246 (1780); J. Mitchell, Patent 1250 (1780).
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• R. Padley, op. cit., P. 74. ( Fry to Watt, 26 November 1780).
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• P.R.O. Customs 103/20, Excise Trials, Aslin v Gagen, July 1786. Gagen separated small amounts of soap residue from the spent lye before he extracted the alkali. It was alleged he had evaded soap duty. He was acquitted. Dr. Higgins was awarded M.D. degree by University of Leyden in 1765.He estab-lished a school of practical chemistry in London in 1774. He patented a process for 'Extracting Mineral or Vegetable Alkali', Patent 1302, (31 July 1781). Higgins used lead instead of iron to effect the reaction with sodium sulphate.
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• Keir had joined Boulton and Watt for a short period in 1778 as manager but declined to join them in partnership apparently because the firm was £42,500 in debt while 'total incomings' were only £4,000. Keir and Blair appeared to have leased land at Tipton from Lord Dudley and Ward, 27 October 1780. (Moilliet and Smith, Mighty Chemist, pp. 20, 30).
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• Journal of the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations. 1776–1787, Vol. 88. p. 391.
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• Schofield, op. cit., p. 157 ( quoting Thomas Day, Reflections upon the Present State of England, &c. ( London, 1783).
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• P.R.O. Customs 48/39, Excise and Treasury Letters, Petition from James Keir & Co., February 1806. They stated that they were 'soap makers at Tipton . . . where they have carried on that business upwards of twenty years'.
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• 28th Annual Report of the Inspector of Alkali Works. B.P.P. XX, 1892.
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