Amalgam

(a-mal'găm.) (Chem.) The combination of mercury with some other metal. A. are used either to render ame tal fit to be spread out, as in gilding, or else to reduce it to powder. Two methods are generally employed in making A. The first is merely trituration in am or tar, and without heat; the second is fusing the metal which is to be amalgamated, and adding to it, when fused, the intended quantity of mercury. An A. of tin and mercury is used for looking-gla es: Medallists consider any soft alloy as an A. The extraction of particles of gold from sand or stamped rock is usually effected by means of mercury, and called amalgamation. The mercury is afterwards vaporized by heat, and then condensed for future use. Amand,(St.,)(sāhnt ah'mong,) a town of France, dep. Cher, 26 m. from Bourges. It is the most commercial town of the dep. Pop. 8,607. [s. 24]