caves and mines

[LeoRetilus]

Hi all,

I found this article today, its very informative and collaborates what I have found in nature concerning gold deposits and their associations with sulphides,silicates, and antimoniacal waters in forming hydrothermal deposits, a very interesting read.

And in particular I'd like to pull out one paragraph that I need help with, somewhere in one of those old books, a path or process is mentioned that one can use to obtain a substance the, "color of the sky". I can't remember where I read it but at the time I wasn't aware of gold being able to take on the color of blue except by the disagregation of the metals to a certain size so I for the most part overlooked it but its been at the back of my mind for a while.

Does anyone recognize reading about what is described here:

".......was carried out by Professor Bischof some years ago. He, having prepared a solution of chloride of gold, added thereto a solution of silicate of potash, whereupon, as he states, the yellow colour of the chloride disappeared, and in half an hour the fluid turned blue, and a gelatinous dark-blue precipitate appeared and adhered to the sides of the vessel. In a few days moss-like forms were seen on the surface of the precipitate, presumably approximating to what we know as dendroidal gold--that is, having the appearance of moss, fern, or twigs"

I don't know if this guy knew what he had done, when he obtained the blue colored precipitate and the moss-like growth.