To the first method belong
the results of the observations of Mitscherlich upon the mineral
species which are naturally produced in furnaces where metals are
reduced ; the direct reproduction of several minerals by Berthier; and,
above all, the fusion of alumina and of silica, by M. Gaudin.
The second method comprehends
the remarkable results of Ebelman; that which M. de Sénarmont has
employed, but in which intervenes a new element, that of a very strong
compression ; and lastly, that of M. Becquerel, but with still another
element, the action of a feeble electric current.
The third method includes the results obtained by MM. Daubrée, Ebelman, Durocher, Henri Sainte-Claire Deville and Caron, &c.
FIRST METHOD.
If
any one should say—I am going to produce a fire of enormous power,
without employing any substance'but water, he would run the risk of
being considered a fool, since fire and water have always been
considered the antipodes of one another. Even modifying the
announcement, and saying— I am about to produce an intense fire by
means of elements derived exclusively from water, hardly makes the
proposition appear more plausible, yet nothing can be more rigorously
exact.
