100(5
AUSTRIA.
1 Miesbach, Alois , Vienna —Proprietor.
Coals, brown coals, and lignite, from Lower Austria ,Upper Austria, Styria, Moravia, and Hungary .
[The coal mines of this exhibitor are the most extensivein the empire : his thirty mines contain a store of at least900,000,000 cwt. of coal, whereof 864,000,000 have beendiscovered by himself. They give direct employment to1,961 men, produce annually 2,750,000 cwt. of coal, andare already in a condition to furnish four times thatquantity, although the greater part of them are only nowbeing opened and prepared for working.
Coal is found in Austria in constantly increasing quanti-ties, particularly in Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, LowerAustria, and Hungary. Bohemia takes the first place asto the quantity, and partly, also, as to the quality of itscoal, nearly half of the total quantity of the coal andbrown coal produced in Austria being Bohemian. Con-sidered generally, however, the production of coal is onlytrifling at present.
The production of coal, in 30 years, has increasedtenfold ; and at a rapid ratio. The prices of wood andcharcoal are constantly increasing, with an annually in-creasing demand for fuel to be consumed in factories,&c. It is, therefore, very probable that the collieries ofAustria will, at no distant period, be worked to a fargreater extent than at present. Scarcely 100,000 cwt. ofcoals are extracted in a year from coal-fields that areknown to contain as much as 1,500 millions of cwt. Theexports of Austrian exceed the imports of foreign coal byabout 300,000 cwt. A large proportion of the fuel ob-tained in Austria is lignite. This substance, wliich isintermediate in its character between wood and coal, andis of a brown colour, possesses considerable value as acalorific agent, although it is in this respect inferior to theordinary coal of Great Britain. Its importance to thecountries and districts where it is found can scarcely beexaggerated, and its abundance justifies the belief thatthe enormous thick detached beds in which it occurs willere long be fully worked. The lignite not unfrequcntlypresents those evidences of its origin from the decomposi-tion of coniferous trees, from wliich the geologist drawshis most accurate inferences.—R. E.]
Specimens of alum.
Mercury and cinnabar, and ores of the same, from Idria.
[A large quantity of mercury or quicksilver is annuallyproduced at Idria, a town in the duchy of Carniola , theinhabitants of which are chiefly occupied in its extraction.The quicksilver mines are extremely productive. Thecinnabar ore yields when very rich fifty per cent, of thismetal. This ore is a sulphuret of mercury, and gives upthe latter metal by sublimation.
With the quicksilver mines of Idria is connected amanufactory of vermilion, which produced, in the year1847, 981 cwt. of that pigment. The residue of thequicksilver is used up to some small extent, about 300cwt., for technical purposes and preparations, but thegreater portion of it is sent abroad. The exports ofquicksilver amount to an annual average of 2,341 cwt.(in the year 1846 they reached 5,478 cwt.), and ofpreparations derived from it, such as corrosive sublimate,calomel, &c., to 41 cwt. By the consumption of quick-silver, for the manufacture of vermilion and for othertechnical purposes, the value of the annual produce of theraw material is greatly increased. The mines have been
worked for upwards of three centuries and a half, andwere originally discovered by an accident.—R. E.]
Sulphur, from Szwoszowic in Galicia , and Radoboj inCroatia .
Rosette-copper, from Agordo in the province of Veniceand Moldava .
Blistered copper, from Sclimollnitz in Hungary .
Tin, from Schlaggenwald in Bohemia .
[Tin, a metal which of late years has become of somuch importance in the occupations of manufacturingindustry, is not found within the Austrian monarchy insufficient quantity to meet the demand for it. The im-ports of tin from abroad during the same period of fiveyears, 1843 to 1847, amounted on an average to 3,785cwt. annually, whilst the exports of this article were but90 cwt., value 4,500 florins. But, whereas the importsof tin wares were, for the same time, inconsiderable, theexports under this head amounted to 304 cwt.]
Litharge, from Pzribram in Bohemia .
Zinc, antimony, and similar mining produce.
3 Upper Hungarian Mining Association,Schmollnitz , Hungary .
Quicksilver, refined copper, block copper, and variousother similar productions for smelting.
[The whole quantity of raw copper raised in Austria isnot used there. Until the year 1847, indeed, the importsof copper into Austria were greater than the exports fromit; the excess of the former, as compared with the latter,during the years 1843 to 1846, averaging about 3,000 cwt.annually; but since 1847 these exports have been con-siderably in excess of the imports. In the year 1847 theimports reached 8,667 cwt., while the exports were 28,254cwt.; but in the year 1848, for 3,891 cwt. imported therewere 5,489 cwt. exported, so that, out of the whole pro-duction of that period, 58,568 cwt. remained in Austria .It should, however, be borne in mind that the copperfound in Austria does not equal the Russian or theSwedish copper in quality, and that it is therefore indis-pensable to draw a supply of the finer sorts from abroad.Of the quantity produced beyond the amount that sheexports, about 40,000 cwt. are converted at the copper-mills and rolling-works into 38,400 cwt. of copper sheet-ing and hollow ware (the Government establishmentsproduced, in the year 1847, 6,562 cwt. of such ware andcopper sheeting), and the remaining 18,568 cwt. wereused for various alloys and other purposes. Copper ac-quires its highest increase of value when employed in themanufacture of percussion-caps, galvano-plastic produc-tions, and brass hardware. Austria drives a brisk tradein articles of copper and brass with foreign customers.]
4 Szumrak, Johann Eriedrich, NeusoH , Hungary—Proprietor.
Cobalt and nickel ores, from Bocza, together with theresidue obtained from the same.
Calcareous slate, from Molcsa in Hungary .
Analysis of the above residue :—
Ferdinand Level.
The raw ore contains 61*8per cent, residue.
The residue:—
Nickel. 22*546
Cobalt.19-886
Copper . , . . 9*719Iron.15-403
Arsenic, sulphur, &c. 32*446100 -
Dreibriider Level.
The raw ore contains 54*8per cent, residue.
The residue:—
Nickel ..... 17'224
Iron.8-102
Bismuth .... 7*644Copper .... 2-101Arsenic, sulphur, &c. 48*499
100*