This section is from the "Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas Recipes Processes" encyclopedia, by Norman W. Henley and others.
Gold amalgam is chiefly used as a plating for silver, copper, or brass. The article to be plated is washed over with diluted nitric acid or potash lye and prepared chalk, to remove any tarnish or rust that might, prevent the amalgam from adhering. After having been polished perfectly bright, the amalgam is applied as evenly as possible, usually with a fine scratch brush. It is then set upon a grate over a charcoal fire, or placed into an oven and heated to that degree at which mercury exhales. The gold, when the mercury has evaporated, presents a dull yellow color. Cover it with a coating of pulverized niter and alum in equal parts, mixed to a paste with water, and heat again till it is melted, then plunge into water. Burnish up with a steel or bloodstone burnisher.
 
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