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Article: The history and apparatus of blowpipe analysis. (blowpipe used by mineralogists in the 18th century)
- Article from:
- The Mineralogical Record
- Article date:
- July 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 The Mineralogical, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The use of the blowpipe dates back to antiquity. Its applications to mineral analysis were pioneered in Sweden by a small band of 18th-century scientists. Their methods were further refined at the Freiberg Mining Academy in the middle-1800's. Blowpipe apparatus was constantly improved and modified until the 1860's, when it was finally replaced by the Bunsen burner and spectral analysis. Many portable blowpipe analysis systems, from small "pocket" kits to full-scale field laboratories, have survived.
INTRODUCTION
In the modern-day education of mineralogists, metallurgists and chemists the study of blowpipe analysis is treated only as an historical ...