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Handbook of Advanced
Industrial and Hazardous
Wastes Management
Advances in Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Treatment Series
Series Editor: Lawrence K. Wang
Edited by
Lawrence K. Wang
Mu-Hao Sung Wang
Yung-Tse Hung
Nazih K. Shammas
Jiaping Paul Chen
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
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Contents
Preface...............................................................................................................................................ix
Editors................................................................................................................................................xi
Contributors.................................................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1 Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo),
Silver (Ag), and Rare Earth Elements in the Environment...........................................1
O. Sarafadeen Amuda, A. Olanrewaju Alade, Yung-Tse Hung, Lawrence
K. Wang, and Mu-Hao Sung Wang
Chapter 3 Recycling of Filter Backwash Water and Alum Sludge from Water Utility for Reuse..... 49
Mu-Hao Sung Wang, Lawrence K. Wang, Nazih K. Shammas, and Milos Krofta
Chapter 4 Selection of Remedial Alternatives for Soil Contaminated with Heavy Metals......... 75
Nazih K. Shammas
Chapter 11 Site Assessment and Cleanup Technologies of Metal Finishing Industry................ 365
Nazih K. Shammas
v
vi Contents
Chapter 15 Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Selenium, Nickel, and Beryllium in the
Environment.............................................................................................................. 483
Joseph F. Hawumba, Yung-Tse Hung, and Lawrence K. Wang
Chapter 16 Safety and Control for Toxic Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes.............................. 513
Nazih K. Shammas and Lawrence K. Wang
Chapter 26 Treatment of Wastes from the Organic Chemicals Manufacturing Industry............ 839
Debolina Basu, Sudhir Kumar Gupta, and Yung-Tse Hung
Chapter 27 Toxicity and Sources of Pb, Cd, Hg, Cr, As, and Radionuclides in the
Environment.............................................................................................................. 855
Ghinwa M. Naja and Bohumil Volesky
Chapter 28 Environmental Behavior and Effects of Engineered Metal and Metal Oxide
Nanoparticles.............................................................................................................905
Bernd Nowack
ix
x Preface
wastes, poultry processing wastes, storm-runoff, combined sewer overflows, chlor-alkali industrial
wastes, restaurant wastes, textile wastes, organic chemicals manufacturing wastes, and laboratory
wastes; recycling of filter backwash water and alum sludge from water utility for reuse; safety and
control for toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes; industrial water and wastewater treatment using
dissolved air flotation, activated carbon adsorption, nanotechnology, granular sludge biosorption,
exopolysaccharide-producing cyano-bacterial process, etc.; and control, treatment, and manage-
ment of metal emissions from motor vehicles.
Special efforts were made to invite experts to contribute chapters in their own areas of expertise.
Since the field of industrial hazardous waste treatment is very broad, no one can claim to be an
expert in all industries; collective contributions are better than a single author’s presentation for a
handbook of this nature.
This 2018 Handbook of Advanced Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Management, is a collection
of the existing chapters from three small CRC Press books: (1) Heavy Metals in the Environment,
(2) Remediation of Heavy Metals in the Environment, and (3) Waste Treatment in the Service and
Utility Industries. The publisher prints this 2018 Handbook as well as its two accompanying hand-
books (the 2004 Handbook of Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Treatment, and the 2010 Handbook
of Advanced Industrial Hazardous Wastes Treatment) in very small quantities mainly for the uni-
versity library collection worldwide. Three handbooks together (2004, 2010, and 2018) form a
complete set of reference handbooks for the environmental professionals. They feature the major
industries and hazardous pollutants that have significant effects on the environment. Professors,
students, and researchers in environmental, civil, chemical, sanitary, mechanical, and public health
engineering and science will find valuable educational materials here. The extensive bibliographies
for each industrial waste treatment or management should be invaluable to environmental managers
or researchers who need to trace, follow, duplicate, or improve on a specific industrial hazardous
waste treatment practice.
A successful modern hazardous industrial waste treatment and management program for a par-
ticular industry will include not only traditional water pollution control but also air pollution con-
trol, noise control, soil conservation, site remediation, radiation protection, groundwater protection,
hazardous waste management, solid waste disposal, and combined industrial–municipal waste
treatment and management. In fact, it should be a total environmental control program. Another
intention of this handbook series is to provide technical and economical information on the
development of the most feasible total environmental control program that can benefit both industry
and local municipalities. Frequently, the most economically feasible methodology is a combined
industrial–municipal waste treatment and management.
Lawrence K. Wang
Newtonville, New York, USA
Yung-Tse Hung
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Nazih K. Shammas
Pasadena, California, USA
Mu-Hao Sung Wang has been an engineer, an editor, and a professor serving private firms,
governments, and universities in the United States and Taiwan for over 25 years. She is a licensed
professional engineer, and a diplomate of American Academy of Environmental Engineers. Her
publications have been in the areas of water quality, modeling, environmental sustainability, waste
management, NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System), flotation, and analytical
methods. Dr. Wang is the author of over 50 publications and an inventor of 14 US and foreign patents.
She earned her BSCE degree from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, ROC, her MSCE degree
from the University of Rhode Island, USA, and her PhD degree from Rutgers University, USA. She is
the co-series editor of the Handbook of Environmental Engineering series (Springer), and a member
of American Water Works Association, New England Water Works Association, Water Environment
Federation, and Overseas Chinese Environmental Engineers and Scientists Association.
Yung-Tse Hung has been a professor of civil engineering at Cleveland State University since 1981.
He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and has taught at 16 universities in 8
countries. His research interests and publications have been involved with biological processes and
industrial waste treatment. Dr. Hung is credited with over 470 publications and presentations on
water and wastewater treatment. He earned his BSCE and MSCE degrees from National Cheng-
Kung University, Taiwan, and his PhD degree from the University of Texas at Austin, USA. He is
the editor of International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, International Journal
of Environmental Engineering, and International Journal of Environmental Engineering Science.
Nazih K. Shammas is an environmental consultant and professor for over 45 years. He is an ex-
dean/director of the Lenox Institute of Water Technology, and an advisor to Krofta Engineering
Corporation, USA. Dr. Shammas is the author of over 250 publications and 15 books in the field
of environmental engineering. He has experience in environmental planning, curriculum develop-
ment, teaching, scholarly research, and expertise in water quality control, wastewater reclamation
and reuse, physicochemical and biological processes and water and wastewater systems. He earned
his BE degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, his MS degree from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his PhD degree from the University of Michigan, USA.
Jiaping Paul Chen has been a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
in the National University of Singapore (NUS) since 1998. His research interests are physicochemi-
cal treatment of water and wastewater and modeling. He has published three books, more than
150 journal papers and book chapters with citations of above 6000, and H-index of 43. He holds seven
xi
xii Editors
patents in the areas of adsorption and membrane technologies, and ballast water management sys-
tems. He has received various honors and awards, including the Sustainable Technology Award from
the IChemE, Guest Professor of the Huazhong University of Science & Technology and Shandong
University, China, and Distinguished Overseas Chinese Young Scholar of National Natural Science
Foundation, China. He has been recognized as an author of hot papers and highly cited papers (Web
of Science). Professor Chen earned his MEng degree from Tsinghua University and his PhD degree
from Georgia Tech., USA in 1991 and 1997, respectively. He is a chartered chemical engineer (UK).
Contributors
Hj. Mohd Nordin Adlan Roberto De Philippis
School of Civil Engineering Department of Agricultural Biotechnology
Universiti Sains Malaysia University of Florence
Pulau Pinang, Malaysia Florence, Italy
xiii
xiv Contributors
CONTENTS
Abstract...............................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................................2
1.2 Copper.......................................................................................................................................3
1.2.1 Copper and Its Compounds...........................................................................................3
1.2.2 Characteristics of Copper..............................................................................................3
1.2.3 Industrial Production of Copper.................................................................................... 3
1.2.4 Industrial Applications of Copper................................................................................. 3
1.2.5 Toxicity and Related Hazards........................................................................................4
1.2.5.1 Route of Exposure...........................................................................................4
1.2.5.2 Toxicity of Copper..........................................................................................4
1.2.6 Interaction of Copper with Other Elements................................................................... 5
1.3 Zinc............................................................................................................................................5
1.3.1 Zinc and Its Compounds................................................................................................5
1.3.2 Characteristics of Zinc...................................................................................................6
1.3.3 Production of Zinc.........................................................................................................6
1.3.4 Application of Zinc........................................................................................................6
1.3.5 Toxicity and Related Hazard.........................................................................................7
1.3.5.1 Route of Exposure...........................................................................................7
1.3.5.2 Toxicity...........................................................................................................7
1.3.6 Interaction of Zinc with Other Elements.......................................................................7
1.4 Silver..........................................................................................................................................9
1.4.1 Silver and Its Compounds..............................................................................................9
1.4.2 Characteristics of Silver............................................................................................... 10
1.4.3 Production of Silver..................................................................................................... 10
1.4.4 Application of Silver.................................................................................................... 11
1.4.5 Toxicity and Related Hazards...................................................................................... 11
1.4.5.1 Route of Exposures....................................................................................... 11
1.4.5.2 Toxicity of Silver........................................................................................... 11
1.4.6 Interactions of Silver with Other Elements.................................................................. 12
1
2 Handbook of Advanced Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Management
1.5 Molybdenum............................................................................................................................ 12
1.5.1 Molybdenum and Its Compound................................................................................. 12
1.5.2 Characteristics of Molybdenum................................................................................... 14
1.5.3 Production of Molybdenum......................................................................................... 14
1.5.4 Application of Molybdenum........................................................................................ 14
1.5.5 Toxicity and Related Hazards...................................................................................... 14
1.5.5.1 Route of Exposure......................................................................................... 14
1.5.5.2 Toxicity of Molybdenum............................................................................... 15
1.5.6 Interactions of Molybdenum with Other Elements..................................................... 15
1.6 Rare Earth Elements................................................................................................................ 15
1.6.1 Characteristics of REEs............................................................................................... 15
1.6.2 Production of REEs..................................................................................................... 16
1.6.3 Application of REEs.................................................................................................... 16
1.6.4 Toxicity and Related Hazards Caused by REEs.......................................................... 16
1.6.4.1 Exposure Route............................................................................................. 16
1.6.4.2 Toxicity REEs............................................................................................... 17
1.6.4.3 Interaction of REEs with Other Elements.................................................... 17
1.7 Control of Selected Heavy Metals and REEs.......................................................................... 17
1.7.1 Control of Solid Metal Containing Wastes in the Environment.................................. 17
1.7.2 Control of Liquid Metal Containing Wastes in the Environment............................... 18
1.8 Summary................................................................................................................................. 19
References......................................................................................................................................... 19
ABSTRACT
There are more than 20 heavy metal toxins contributing to a variety of adverse health effects in
humans. Exposed individuals experience different behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes
depending on the type of the toxin and the degree of exposure by the individual. This chapter pres-
ents the sources of exposure, toxicity, and control technologies of Cu, Zn, Mo, Ag, and rare earth
elements in the environment.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Toxic substances are generally poisonous and cause adverse health effects in both man and animals.
Some chemical substances can be of use at certain concentrations, beyond which they become toxic.
The toxicity of a substance is based on the type of effect it causes and its potency. Exposure to such
toxic substance is via inhalation, ingestion, or direct contact. Both long-term exposure (chronic)
and short-term exposure (acute) may cause health effects that manifest immediately or later in life.
The concentration of trace metals is increasing as a result of releases into the air and water as well
as their heavy use in products for human consumption. The impact of these heavy metals at toxic
concentration produces behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes in an exposed individual.
These impacts are well documented based on reports of accidental human exposure and animal
studies (1–120). Most agencies that specialize in the study of toxicity of substances, which are either
consumed or not consumed by human, terrestrial, and aquatic animals as well as plants, have set
lower and upper allowable concentrations of the substances. Concentrations above the upper limit
and beyond exposure time are toxic and exhibit health effects ranging from intestinal and neurotic
to death.
In this chapter, the toxicity, sources, environmental issues (121–134), and specific control tech-
nologies (121–141) of selected heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ag, and Mo) and rare earth elements (REEs)
are discussed.
Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo), Silver (Ag) 3
1.2 COPPER
1.2.1 Copper and Its Compounds
Copper is a malleable light reddish-brown metallic element. It is represented by the symbol “Cu”
and assigned with atomic number of 29 and atomic weight of 64 on the periodic table of elements
(1,2). Copper occurs naturally in rock as a wide range of mineral deposits either in its pure or com-
pound form. It has also been found in soils, water, and sediments (3,4). It can also be found in areas
designated for municipal incineration, metal smelting sites (4), foundries, and power plants as a
result human activities (1).
Copper sulfate and copper oxide are the most widely distributed naturally form of copper com-
pound, Table 1.1, however, it combines with other metals like zinc and tin to form alloys such as
brass and bronze, respectively (1,2).
TABLE 1.1
Concentration and Distribution of Copper in Environment
Distribution Concentration (ppm)
Earth’s crust 50
Soil 2–250
Copper production
Facilities 7,000
Plants (dry weight basis) 10
form an essential component in ceramic, glaze, and glass works. In the form of Fehling’s solution,
copper compounds have application in chemistry for the determination of reducing sugars.
TABLE 1.2
Health Effects of Chronic Toxicity of Copper in Humans and Animals
Health Effect Victims References
Acute hemolytic anemia Humans; sheep (13)
Cessation of menstruation and osteoarthritis Humans (14)
Neurological abnormalities Rats (15,16)
Prevention of embryogenesis Women (17,18)
Enhancement of endogenous
Oxidative reaction leading to DNA damage Humans (19,20)
Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo), Silver (Ag) 5
TABLE 1.3
Acute Copper Toxicosis Resulting from Oral Exposure (Ingestion)
Copper Exposure
Exposure Cases Health Effect Measurement (mg/L) References
43 individuals in single point source contact in hotel Acute illness 4.0–70 (9)
5 drank water with over night build up of copper Abdominal symptoms >1.3 (10)
60 adult women of low socio-economics status Gastrointestinal effect ≥3
No symptoms >5 (11)
TABLE 1.4
Maximum Limits of Copper for Environmental Releases and Human Exposure
Medium Individual Concentration Body Responsible
Lakes and streams Aquatic organisms 1.0 ppm US EPA
Drinking water Humans 1.3 ppm US EPA
Workroom air Humans (workers) 0.2 mg/m3 (copper fume) OSHA
1.0 mg/m3 (copper dust) OSHA
Workplace air Workers 0.1 mg/m3 (copper fumes) NIOSH
1.0 mg/m3 (copper mist) NIOSH
Dietary (RDA) Adult 0.9 mg/day NAIM
Dietary (RDA) Lactating women 1.3 mg/day NAIM
Dietary (RDA) Children (0–3 years) 0.34 mg/day NAIM
Dietary (RDA) Children (4–8 years) 0.44 mg/day NAIM
Source: The facts on copper, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, http://www.dartmouth.edu/, 2015.
Note: US EPA—US Environmental Protection Agency; OSHA—Occupational Safety and Health
Administration; NIOSH—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and NAIM—
National Academics Institute of Medicine.
1.3 ZINC
1.3.1 Zinc and Its Compounds
Zinc, one of the most common elements in the Earth’s crust, is found in the air, soil, and water and
is present in all foods. Zinc in its pure elemental (or metallic) form is a bluish-white, shiny metal.
Zinc is commonly used in the industry to coat steel and iron as well as other metals to prevent rust
and corrosion; this process is called galvanization. Metallic zinc, when mixed with other metals
forms alloys such as brass and bronze. A zinc and copper alloy is used to make pennies in the United
States. Metallic zinc is also used to make dry cell batteries (33).
Zinc can combine with other elements, such as chlorine, oxygen, and sulfur, to form zinc com-
pounds such as zinc chloride, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and zinc sulfide. Most zinc ore found naturally
6 Handbook of Advanced Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Management
TABLE 1.5
Effect of Interaction of Copper with Other Essential Elements
Combination Effects References
Zinc and copper Induction of intestinal metallothionein synthesis leading to poor systemic (26)
absorption of copper
Reductions in erythrocyte superoxide dismutase in women (27)
Molybdenum and copper Decrease in copper uptake leading to copper utilization and toxicity (28,14)
Ferrous iron and copper Decrease in copper absorption in intestine (12,29)
Stannous tin and copper Decrease in copper absorption in the intestine (12,30)
Selenium and copper No significant hepatic and histological alterations in rats subjected to study (31,32)
in the environment is present in the form of zinc sulfide. Zinc sulfide and zinc oxide are used to
make white paints, ceramics, and other products. Zinc enters the air, water, and soil as a result of
both natural processes and human activities. Zinc, in most cases enters the environment through
mining, purifying of zinc, lead, and cadmium ores, steel production, coal burning, and burning of
wastes. These activities can increase zinc levels in the environment. Waste streams from zinc and
other metal manufacturing and zinc chemical industries, domestic waste water, and run off from
soil containing zinc can discharge zinc into waterways. The level of zinc soil increases mainly from
disposal of zinc wastes from metal manufacturing industries and coal ash from electric utilities (33).
Zinc is present in the air mostly as fine dust particles, which eventually settles over land and water.
Zinc in lakes or rivers may settle on the bottom, dissolve in water, or remain as fine suspended
particles. Fish can ingest zinc in from the water and from their feeding habits. Depending on the
type of soil, some zinc from hazardous waste sites may percolate into the soil and thus cause con-
tamination of groundwater. Zinc may be ingested by animals through feeding or drinking of water
containing zinc.
1.3.3 Production of Zinc
Zinc is essentially produced from its ore excavated from both underground and open pits through
an electrolytic process involving the leaching of zinc oxide, from calcined ore, with sulfuric acid,
leading to the formation of zinc sulfate solution. The solution is then subjected to electrolysis after
which zinc deposits are collected on cathode electrodes (38). About 90% of the zinc production
comes from zinc sulfide, ZnS (sphalerite) (35). In 2001, world production of zinc was 8,850,000
metric tons and the United States contributed about 799,000 metric tons (39).
1.3.4 Application of Zinc
Industrially, zinc is widely used as protective coating on metals such as iron and steel that are highly
susceptible to corrosion. It is also used in the production of zinc-based alloys involving other metals
Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo), Silver (Ag) 7
such as aluminum, copper, titanium, and magnesium. In 2002, over 50% of the zinc produced in the
United States was used for galvanizing, while about 20% was used for zinc-based alloys, and the
remaining specifically went for the production of bronze and brass (40). Other applications of zinc
include production of campaigned zinc which is used in a wide range of industries as an essential
material for production (35,37,38).
1.3.5.2 Toxicity
The exposure of animals and humans to acute concentration of zinc and its compounds often results
in adverse health effects. The inhalation of a high concentration of zinc dust for a prolonged periods
of time results in flu like symptoms, fever, sweating, headache, and subsequent weakness (44). Oral
exposure to zinc often interferes with the essential body metabolism of copper and this may result in
hematological and gastrointestinal effects as well as decrease in cholesterol levels in the body. Zinc
is often absorbed in the small intestine and its uptake from a normal diet ranges from 26% to 33%
when taken with food (45,46). Zinc in animal blood does not undergo metabolism, but interacts with
protein or forms soluble chelating complexes. Recent cases of accident and research-based studies
of zinc toxicity are reported in Table 1.6.
Generally ingestion of zinc at a high concentration causes decrease in cholesterol levels and cop-
per metalloenzyme activity (51,52) and other health effects such as hematological gastrointestinal
and immunotoxicity (53) (Table 1.7).
Inhalation of zinc, in the form of zinc oxide fumes or zinc chloride from the smoke of bombs,
shows different adverse health effects including dryness and irritation of the throat, and other
effects, which manifest after hours when exposure persists for 1 or 2 days (35) (Table 1.8).
Zinc is essentially needed in human nutrition; the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is
given in Table 1.9.
TABLE 1.6
Zinc Toxicity Resulting from Oral Exposure
Zinc Exposure
Exposure Cases Health Effect (mg/day) References
21 men and 26 woman fed Abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting 2–15 (47,48)
with zinc for 6 weeks
31 men and 38 women fed Lower mean serum certainties, lower total serum 20–150 (49)
with zinc for 1 year protein, lower serum curare acid and higher mean
corpuscular hemoglobin (Hb)
9 men and 11 women fed Increase in plasma zinc concentration and decrease in 45 (50)
with zinc for 8 weeks DNA oxidation
TABLE 1.7
Health Effect of Chronic Toxicity of Zinc in Animals
Health Effects Species References
Decrease in erythrocytes and Hb levels; total and differential 13 males and 16 females and (62)
leukocyte levels. Percentage increase in reticulocytes and Wistar rats
polychromatophilic erythrocytes
Decrease in Hb level and serum capper. Increase in serum and tissue 7–8 male New Zealand white (63)
rabbits
Negative effect on retention of learned behavioral response A group of 9–12 male and female (64)
Swiss mice
Increase in lavage fluid parameters Hartley Guinea pigs and 344 (57)
Fischer rats
Distortion of chromosome structure of sperm 10 male Sprague-Dawley rats (65)
TABLE 1.8
Zinc Toxicity Resulting from Inhalation Exposure
Concentration
Exposure Case Health Effect of Zinc References
Shipyard workers who sprayed zinc onto steel Aches and pains, dyspnea, dry – (54)
surfaces cough, lethargy, and fever
Workers exposed to zinc oxide fumes Impaired lung function – (55,56)
4 adults exposed to zinc oxide fumes for 2 h Chills, muscle/joint pain, chest 5 mg/m3 (57)
tightness, dry throat, and headache
A group of 13 healthy nonsmoking individuals Fatigue, muscle ache, and cough 0–5 mg/m3 (58)
exposed to zinc oxide fumes for 2 h
20 Chinese workers exposed to zinc oxide over No significant health effect detected 0–36.3 mg/m3 (59)
a single 8 h workday or reported
13 soldiers exposed to zinc chloride smoke Decrease in lung diffusion capacity, Unknown (60)
during combat exercise plasma level of fibrinogen elevated
at 1–8 weeks postexposure
3 patients exposed to zinc chloride for 1–5 min Two died of edema, pulmonary Unknown (61)
sepsis, emphysematic changes, and
necrosis. The third revealed severe
restrictive pulmonary dysfunction
Toxicity, Sources, and Control of Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Molybdenum (Mo), Silver (Ag) 9
TABLE 1.9
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
Requirement of Zinc at Various Life
Stages and Gender
RDA (mg/day)
Life Stage
Group Male Female
0–12 months ≤3 ≤3
1–3 years 3 3
4–8 years 5 5
9–13 years 8 8
14–18 years 11 9
19–50 years 11 8
Above 50 years 11 8
Pregnant women – 11
Lactating women – 12
TABLE 1.10
Effects of Interaction of Zinc with Other Essential Elements
Combination Effect References
Copper and zinc Induction of intestinal metallothionein synthesis leading to poor systemic absorption (67)
of copper
Calcium and zinc No significant interference with absorption of zinc nor changes in hair or serum zinc (68,69)
Iron and zinc Significant lower percentage zinc absorption particularly in pregnant women (70)
Increased dietary iron intake result in diminished absorption of zinc (71)
Cadmium and zinc Likely decrease of toxicity and carcinogenicity of cadmium (72,73)
Inhibition of zinc absorption toxic at level of cadmium is possible (44,68)
Lead and zinc No significant evidence of possible interference of absorption of zinc by lead and (74,75)
vice versa
Cobalt and zinc Study animals (rats) demonstrated protection against the testicular toxicity of cobalt (76)
in the presence of zinc
1.4 SILVER
1.4.1 Silver and Its Compounds
Silver is a ductile and white metallic element represented by the symbol Ag and assigned with
atomic number 47 and atomic weight 247.8014 on the periodic table of the element. It is found in
the environment mostly as silver sulfide (AgS) or in combination with other metals (77). Its primary
source is the ore while other sources include new scrap generated in the manufacturing of silver-
containing products (Table 1.1). The anthropogenic sources of silver in the environment include
smelting operations, coal combustion, production and disposal of silver-based photographic and
10 Handbook of Advanced Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Management
TABLE 1.11
Maximum Concentration of Silver Distribution in the
United States
Destination Concentration Sites References
Air near smelter 36.5 ng/m 3 Idaho (78)
Seawater 8.9 μg/L Galveston (79)
Soil 31 mg/kg Idaho (78)
Liver of marine mammals 1.5 mg/kg – (80)
Mushrooms 110 mg/kg – (81)
electrical materials, and cloud seeding (78). The larger percentage of the lost silver is immobilized
in the form of minerals, metals, or alloys in the terrestrial ecosystem which serve as their destination
(Table 1.11). About half of the emitted silver into the environment is precipitated some kilometers
away from its point source (77).
1.4.3 Production of Silver
The current world estimate of mine production of silver is given as 15.5 million kg (83) and their
distribution is given in Table 1.12.
TABLE 1.12
World Major Mine Producers of Silver
Country Percentage Production (%)
Mexico 17
USA 14
Peru 12
USSR (former) 10
Canada 9
Others 38
The open pit or underground mining methods are the predominantly used methods for the min-
ing of silver. The excavated ore is upgraded through floatation, smelting, and a series of other pro-
cesses; the pure silver is extracted using an electrolytic process (electrolysis) (77).
1.4.4 Application of Silver
The use of silver has been dated back to the historical period of man’s civilization where it was used
in ornamental materials, utensils, coinage, and even as basis of wealth. It has, however, been used
in recent times as raw material for the production of a variety of other products. The industrial use
of silver in the United States is summarized in Table 1.13.
Silver is also used in the water purification process because of its bacteriostatic property; it has
equally been employed in food and drugs processing (77). Silver is used medically for the treatment
of burns and as an antibacterial agent. It is also used as catalyst in the industrial production of some
chemicals such as formaldehyde and ethylene oxide.
TABLE 1.13
Use of 50% of Refined Silver Produced in the United States (1990)
Product Percentage Used
Photographic and x-ray 50
Electrical and electronic 25
Electroplated ware, sterling ware, and jewelry 10
Brazed alloys 5
Others use (products) 10
Source: ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Silver. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (TP-90-24), 1990.
12 Handbook of Advanced Industrial and Hazardous Wastes Management
TABLE 1.14
Acute Silver Toxicosis Resulting from Exposure
Exposure Cases Health Effect Exposure Level
112 workers exposure to work place Rise in blood silver 0.6 μg silver/100 mL blood 0.039–0.378 mg silver/m3
silver nitrate and silver oxide
Workers at photographic facility Presence of silver in blood, urine, and fecal samples 0.001–0.1 mg/m3
Source: ATSDR. Toxicological Profile for Silver. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (TP-90-24), 1990.
TABLE 1.15
Effect of Toxicity of Silver on Terrestrial Plants
Plant Species Effect Exposure Level References
Lettuce Adverse effect on germination 0.7 mg silver/L (88)
Rye grass Adverse effect on germination 7.5 mg silver/L (88)
Seeds of corn, oat, turnip, soybean, No adverse effect on germination 106 mg silver/kg dry soil (89,90)
spinach in silver rich soil
Seed of Chinese cabbage and lettuce Adverse effect on germination 106 mg silver/kg dry soil (89,90)
AgO, may cause trachea-related problems like lung and throat irritation as well as stomach pain.
Skin contact with silver demonstrates rashes, swelling, and inflammation (77). Silver demonstrates
high level of toxicity to aquatic plants and animals particularly in its ionic state (86,87). Recent
cases of accident and research-based studies of silver toxicity are reported in Table 1.14.
Generally, the accumulation of silver is higher in aquatic media than in soils and thus, aquatic
animals are expected to be more affected by the toxicity of silver than terrestrial animals (87,88).
Most aquatic organisms demonstrate a high accumulation of silver at nominal concentration of
0.5–4.5 μg/L and corresponding health effects include stunted growth, muting, and histopathol-
ogy (78). Studies have shown that silver accumulations in aquatic organisms such as marine algae
are due mainly to adsorption rather than uptake (88). Accumulation of silver by terrestrial plants is
relatively slow and only affects the plant growth but higher concentration may eventually lead to the
plant’s death. Tables 1.15 through 1.17 report cases of toxicity of silver in terrestrial plants.
1.5 MOLYBDENUM
1.5.1 Molybdenum and Its Compound
Molybdenum is a transition metallic element existing in five oxidation states (II–VI). It has a silvery
white color in its pure metal form and is more ductile than tungsten (101). It has a melting point of
2623°C (102) but boils at a temperature above 600°C (103). Molybdenum largely exists in associa-
tion with other elements and molybdate anion (MoO42−) is its predominant form found in soil and
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“It must be because Di has such a vivid imagination,” continued her
sister musingly. “She sees what he might have been, what he probably was
meant to be——”
“And what he would still be,” put in Jellaby, “if only he would allow his
nice wife to influence him a little.”
“But John,” thought I, “in that is right. Let us be fair and admit his good
sides. A wife should never, under any circumstances, be allowed allowed
——”
Then, suddenly struck by the point of view, by the feminine idea
(Socialists have the minds of women) of a man’s being restored to what he
was primarily intended to be when he issued newly-made (as poets and
parsons would say) from the hands of his Maker through the manipulations
of Mrs. Menzies-Legh, my sense of humour played me a nasty trick (for I
would have liked to have heard more) and I found myself bursting into a
loud chuckle.
“What’s that?” exclaimed Jellaby, jumping up.
He soon saw what it was, for I immediately put my head round the edge
of the pillar.
They both stared at me in a strange alarm.
“Pray do not suppose,” I said, smiling reassuringly, “that I am a ghost.”
They stared without a word.
“You look as though I might be.”
They went on staring.
“I could not help, as I sat here, hearing what you were saying.”
They stared as speechless as though they had been caught killing
somebody.
“I really am not a spirit,” said I, getting up. “Look—do I look like one?”
And striking a match I playfully passed it backward and forward across
my features.
But its light at the same time showed me a flush of the most attractive
and vivid crimson on Frau von Eckthum’s face, colouring it from her hair to
her throat. She looked so beautiful like that, she who was ordinarily white,
that immediately lighting another I gazed at her in undisguised admiration.
“Pardon me,” I said, holding it very near her while her eyes, fixed on
mine, still seemed full of superstitious terror, “pardon me, but I must as a
man and a judge look at you.”
Jellaby, however, unforgivably ill-bred as ever, knocked the match out of
my hand and stamped on it. “Look here, Baron,” he said with unusual heat,
“I am very sorry—as sorry as you like, but you really mustn’t hold matches
in front of somebody’s face.”
“Why sorry, Jellaby?” I inquired mildly, for I was not going to have a
scene. “I do not mind about the match. I have more.”
“Sorry, of course, that you should have heard——”
“Every word, Jellaby,” said I.
“I tell you I’m frightfully sorry—I can’t tell you how sorry——”
“You may be assured,” said I, “that I will be discreet.”
He stared, with a face of stupid surprise.
“Discreet?” said he.
“Discreet, Jellaby. And it may be a relief to you to know,” I continued,
“that I heartily endorse your opinion.”
Jellaby’s mouth dropped open.
“Every word of it.”
Jellaby’s mouth remained open.
“Even the word bounder, which I did not understand but which, I
gathered from your previous remarks, is a very suitable expression.”
Jellaby’s mouth remained open.
I waited a moment, then seeing that it would not shut and that I had
really apparently shattered their nerves beyond readjustment by so suddenly
popping round on them in that ghostly place, I thought it best to change the
subject, promising myself to return to it another time.
So I picked up my hat and stick from the chair I had vacated—Jellaby
peered round the pillar at this piece of furniture with his unshut mouth still
denoting unaccountable shock—bowed, and offered my arm to Frau von
Eckthum.
“It is late,” said I with tender courtliness, “and I observe an official
approaching us with keys. If we do not return to the camp we shall have
your sister setting out, probably on angelic wings”—she started—“in search
of you. Let me, dear lady, conduct you back to her. Nay, nay, you need have
no fears—I really can keep a secret.”
With her eyes fixed on mine, and that strange look of perfect fright in
them, she got up slowly and put her hand on my proffered arm.
I led her away with careful tenderness.
Jellaby, I believe, followed in the distance.
CHAPTER XX
L IFE is a strange thing, and full of surprises. The day before, you think
you know what will happen on the morrow, and on the morrow you find
you did not. Light as you may the candle of your common sense, and
peer as you may by its shining into the future, if you see anything at all it
turns out to have been, after all, something else. We are surrounded by
tricks, by illusions, by fluidities. Even when the natural world behaves
pretty much as experience has led us to expect, the unnatural world, by
which I mean (and I say it is a fair description) human beings, does nothing
of the sort. My ripe conclusion, carefully weighed and unattackably mellow,
is that all one’s study, all one’s thought, all one’s experience, all one’s
philosophy, lead to this: that you cannot account for anything. Do you, my
friends, interrupt me here with a query? My answer to it is: Wait.
The morning after the occurrences just described I overslept myself, and
on emerging about ten o’clock in search of what I hoped would still be
breakfast I found the table tidily set out, the stove alight, and keeping coffee
warm, ham in slices on a dish, three eggs waiting to be transferred to an
expectant saucepan, and not a single caravaner in sight except Menzies-
Legh.
Him, of course, I now pitied. For to have a treacherous friend, and a
sister-in law of whom you are fond but who in her heart cannot endure you,
to be under the delusion that the one is sincere and the other loving, is to
become a fit object for pity; and since no one can at the same time both pity
and hate, I was not nearly so much annoyed as I otherwise would have been
at finding my glum-faced friend was to keep me company. Annoyed, did I
say? Why, I was not annoyed at all. For though I might pity I was also
secretly amused, and further, the feeling that I now had a little private
understanding with Frau von Eckthum exhilarated me into more than my
usual share of good humour.
He was sitting smoking; and when I appeared, fresh, and rested, and
cheery, round the corner of the Elsa, he not only immediately said good
morning, but added an inquiry as to whether I did not think it a beautiful
day; then he got up, went across to the stove, put the eggs in the saucepan,
and fetched the coffee-pot.
This was very surprising. I tell you, my friends, the moods of persons
who caravan are as many and as incalculable as the grains of sand on the
seashore. If you doubt it, go and do it. But you cannot reasonably doubt it
after listening to the narrative. Have I not told you in the course of it how
the party’s spirits were up in the skies one hour, and down on the ground the
next; how their gaiety some days at breakfast was childish in its folly, and
their silence on others depressing; how they quoted poetry and played at
Blind Man’s Buff in the morning, and in the afternoon dragged their feet
without speaking through the mud; how they talked far too much
sometimes, and then, when I wished to, would not talk at all; how they were
suddenly polite and attentive, and then as suddenly forgot I could possibly
want anything; how the wet did not damp their hilarity one day, and no
amount of sunshine coax it forth the next? But of all their moods this of
Menzies-Legh’s in the field above Canterbury was the one that surprised me
most.
You see, he was naturally so very glum. True at the beginning there had
been gleams of light but they soon became extinguished. True, also, at
Frogs’ Hole Farm, when demonstrating truths by means of tea in glasses, he
had been for a short while pleasant—only, however, to plunge immediately
and all the deeper into gloom and ill-temper. Gloom and ill-temper was his
normal state; and to see him attending to my wants, doing it with
unmistakable assiduity, actively courteous, was astonishing. I was
astonished. But my breeding enabled me to behave as though it were the
most ordinary thing in the world, and I accepted sugar from him and
allowed him to cut my bread with the blank expression on my face of him
who sees nothing unusual or interesting anywhere, which is, I take it, the
expression of the perfect gentleman. When at length my plate was
surrounded by specimens of all the comforts available, and I had begun to
eat, he sat down again, and leaning his elbow on the table and fixing his
eyes on the city already sweltering in heat and vapour below, resumed his
pipe.
A train puffed out of the station along the line at the bottom of our field,
jerking up slow masses of white steam into the hot, motionless air.
“There goes Jellaby’s train,” said Menzies-Legh.
“Jellaby’s what?” said I, cracking an egg.
“Train,” said he.
“Why, what has he got to do with trains?” I asked, supposing with the
vagueness of want of interest, that Jellaby, as well as being a Socialist, was
a railway director and kept a particular train as another person would keep a
pet.
“He’s in it,” said Menzies-Legh.
I looked up from my egg at Menzies-Legh’s profile.
“What?” said I.
“In it,” said he. “Obliged to go.”
“What—Jellaby gone? First Lord Sidge, and now Jellaby?”
Naturally I was surprised, for I had heard and noticed nothing of this.
Also the way one after the other left without saying good-bye seemed to me
inconsiderate—at least that: probably more.
“Yes,” said Menzies-Legh. “We are—we are very sorry.”
I could not, however, honestly join in any sorrow over Jellaby, so merely
remarked that the party was shrinking.
“Yes,” said Menzies-Legh, “that’s rather our feeling too.”
“But why has Jellaby——?”
“Oh, well, you know, public man. Parliament. And all that.”
“Does your Parliament reassemble so shortly?”
“Oh, well, soon enough. You have to prepare, you know. Collect your
wits, and that sort of thing.”
“Ah, yes. Jellaby should not leave that to the last minute. But he might,”
I added with a slight frown, “have taken leave of me according to the
customs of good society. Manners are manners, after all is said and done.”
“He was in a great hurry,” said Menzies-Legh.
There was a silence, during which Menzies-Legh smoked and I
breakfasted. Once or twice he cleared his throat as though about to say
something, but when I looked up prepared to listen he continued his pipe
and his staring at the city in the sun below.
“Where are the ladies?” I inquired, when the first edge of my appetite
had been blunted and I had leisure to look about me.
Menzies-Legh shifted his legs, which had been crossed.
“They went to the station with Jellaby to see the last of him,” said he.
“Indeed. All of them?”
“I believe so.”
Jellaby then, though he could not have the courtesy to say good-bye to
me, could take a prolonged farewell of my wife and of the other members
of our party.
“He is not what we in our country would call a gentleman,” I said, after a
silence during which I finished the third egg and regretted there were no
more.
“Who is not?” asked Menzies-Legh.
“Jellaby. No doubt the term bounder would apply to him quite as well as
to other people.”
Menzies-Legh turned his sallow visage to me. “He’s a great friend of
mine,” he said, the familiar scowl weighing down his eyebrows.
I could not help smiling and shaking my head at that, all I had heard the
night before so very fresh in my memory.
“Ah, my dear sir,” I said, “be careful how you trust your great friends.
Do not give way too lavishly to confidence. Belief in them is all very well,
but it should not go beyond the limits of reason.”
“He’s a great friend of mine,” repeated Menzies-Legh, raising his voice.
“I wish then,” said I, “you would tell me what a bounder is.”
He glowered at me a moment from beneath black brows. Then he said
more quietly:
“I’m not a slang dictionary. Suppose we talk seriously.”
“Certainly,” said I, reaching out for the jam.
He cleared his throat. “I got a lot of letters and telegrams last night,” he
said.
“How did you manage that?” I asked.
“They were waiting for me at the post-office here. I had telegraphed for
them to be forwarded. And I’m afraid—I’m sorry, but it’s inevitable—we
shall have to be off.”
“Off what?” said I, for a few of the more intimate English idioms still
remained for me to master.
“Off,” said he. “Go. Leave this.”
“Oh,” said I. “Well, we are used to that. This tour, my dear sir, is surely
the very essence of what you call being off. Where do we go next? I trust to
a place with trees in it.”
“You don’t understand, Baron. We don’t go anywhere next as far as the
caravans are concerned. My wife and I are obliged to go home.”
I was, of course, surprised. “We are, indeed,” said I, after a moment,
“shrinking rapidly.”
Then the thought of being rid of Mrs. Menzies-Legh and her John and
Jellaby at, so to speak, one swoop, and continuing the tour purged of these
baser elements with the tender lady entirely in our charge, made me unable
to repress a smile of satisfaction.
Menzies-Legh looked in his turn surprised. “I am glad,” he said, “that
you don’t mind.”
“My dear sir,” I said courteously, “of course I mind, and we shall miss
you and your—er—er—” it was difficult on the spur of the moment to find
an adjective, but Frau von Eckthum’s praises of her sister the night before
coming into my mind I popped in the word suggested suggested—“angelic
wife——”
He stared—ungratefully I thought, considering the effort it had been.
“But,” I continued, “you may be very sure we shall take every care of
your sister-in-law, and return her safe and well into your hands on
September the first, which is the date my contract with the owner of the
Elsa expires.”
“I’m afraid,” said he, “I wasn’t clear. We all go. Betti included, and
Jumps and Jane too. I’m very sorry,” he interrupted, as I opened my mouth,
“very sorry indeed that things should have turned out so unexpectedly, but it
is absolutely impossible for us to go on. Out of the question.”
And he set his jaws, and shut his mouth into a mere line of opposition
and finality.
Well, my friends, what do you say to that? What do you think of this
example of the surprises life has in store for one? And, incidentally, what do
you think of human nature? Especially of human nature when it caravans?
And still more especially of human nature that is also English? Not without
reason do our neighbours label the accursèd island perfide Albion. It is true
I am not clear about the Albion, but I am very clear about the perfide.
“Do you mean to tell me,” I said, leaning toward him across the table
and forcing him to meet my gaze, “that your sister-in-law wishes to go with
you?”
“She does,” said he.
“Then, sir——” I began, amazement and indignation struggling together
within me.
“I tell you, Baron,” he interrupted, “we are very sorry things have turned
out like this. My wife is most genuinely distressed. But she too sees the
impossibility—unforeseen complications demand we should go home.”
“Sir——” I again began.
“My dear Baron,” he again interrupted, “it needn’t in the least interfere
with you. Old James will stay with you if you and the Baroness would like
to go on.”
“Sir, I have paid for a month, and have only had a week.”
“Well, go on and finish your month. Nobody is preventing you.”
“But I was persuaded to join the tour on the understanding that it was a
party—that we were all to be together—four weeks together——”
“My dear fellow,” said he (never had I been addressed as that before),
“you talk as if it were a business arrangement, a buying and selling, as if we
were bound by a contract, under agreement——”
“Your sister-in-law inveigled me into it,” I exclaimed, emphasizing what
I said by regular beats on the table with my forefinger, “on the definite
understanding that it was to be a party and she—was—to be—a—member
of it.”
“Pooh, my dear Baron—Betti’s definite understandings. She’s in love,
and when a woman’s that it’s no earthly use——”
“What?” said I, startled for a moment out of all self-possession.
“Well?” he said, looking at me in surprise. “Why not? She’s young. Or
do you consider it improper for widows——”
“Improper? Natural, sir—natural. How long——?”
“Oh, before the tour even started. And propinquity, seeing each other
every day—well,” he finished suddenly, “one mustn’t talk about it, you
know.”
But you, my friends, what do you say to that? What do you think of this
second example of the surprises life has in store for us? I have been in two
minds as to whether I would tell you this one at all, but to a law-abiding
man, calm and objective as I know myself to be and as you by now must
know me too, such an incident though pleasurable could not in any way
affect or alter my conduct. Strictly Menzies-Legh was to be censured for
mentioning it; however that, I suppose, was what Jellaby called the bounder
coming out in him, and I perceived that whatever they exactly may be
bounders have their uses. I repeat, I make no attempt to deny that it was a
pleasurable incident, and although I am aware Storchwerder never liked her
(chiefly, I firmly believe, because she would not ask it to her dinners) I am
convinced that not one of you, my friends, and I say it straight in your
faces, but would have been glad to stand at that moment in my shoes. I did
not forget I was a husband, but you can be a husband and yet remain a man.
I think I behaved very creditably. Only for an instant was there the least
little lapse from complete self-possession. Immediately I became and
remained perfectly calm. Edelgard; duty; my position in life; my beliefs; I
remembered them all. It also occurred to me (but I could not well tell
Menzies-Legh) that having regard to the behaviour throughout the tour of
his wife it was evident these things ran in families. I could not tell him, but
I felt myself inwardly in every way tickled. All I could do, indeed all I did
do, was to say “Strange, strange world,” and get up from my chair because I
found myself unable to continue sitting in it.
“But what do you propose to do?” Menzies-Legh asked, after he had
watched me taking a hasty turn or two up and down in the sun.
“Behave,” said I, stopping in front of him, “as an officer and a
gentleman.”
He stared. Then he got up and said with a touch of impatience—a most
unreliable person as regards temper: “Yes, yes—no doubt. But what shall I
tell old James about your caravan? Are you going on or not? If not, he’ll
pilot it home for you. I’m afraid I must know soon. I haven’t much time. I
must get away to-day.”
“What? To-day?”
“I must. I’m very sorry. Obliged to, you know——”
“And the Ailsa?”
“Oh, that’s all arranged. I telegraphed last night for one of the grooms.
He’ll be down in an hour or two and take charge of it back to Panthers.”
“And the Ilsa?”
“He’ll take that too.”
“No, my dear sir,” said I firmly. “You leave the Ilsa in our charge—it and
its contents.”
“Eh?” said he.
“It and its contents—human and otherwise.”
“Nonsense, Baron. What on earth would you do with Jane and Jumps?
They’re going up to town with me by train. And my wife and Betti—oh,
yes, by the way, my wife gave me instructions to tell you how very sorry
she was not to be able to say good-bye to you. I assure you she was really
greatly distressed, but she and Betti are motoring up to London and felt they
ought to start as early as possible——”
“But—motoring? You said they had gone to the sta——”
“So they did. They saw Jellaby off, and then were picked up by a motor I
ordered for them last night in the town, and went straight from there——”
I heard no more. He went on speaking, but I heard no more. The series
of surprises had done their work, and I could attend to nothing further. I
believe he continued to express regret and offer advice, but what he said fell
on my ear with the indifferent trickling of water when one is not thirsty. At
first anger, keen resentment, and disappointment surged within me, for why,
I asked myself, did she not say good-bye? I walked up and down on the hot
stubble, my hands deep in my pockets and myself deep in conflicting
emotions, while Menzies-Legh supposing I was listening regretted and
advised, asking myself why she did not say good-bye. Then, gradually, I
could not but see that here was tact, here was delicacy, the right feeling of
the truly feminine woman, and began to admire her all the more because
she had not said it. By degrees composure stole upon me. Reason returned
to my assistance. I could think, arrange, decide. And before Edelgard came
back with the two children, mere heated débris of that which had lately
been so complete, what I had decided with the clear-headed rapidity of the
practical and sensible man was to give up the Elsa, lose my money, and go
home. Home after all is the best place when life begins to wobble; and
home in this case was very near the Eckthum property—I only had to
borrow a vehicle, or even in extremity take a droschke, and there I was.
There too the delightful lady must sooner or later be, and I would at least
see her from time to time, whereas in England among her English relations
she was entirely and hopelessly cut off.
Thus it was, my friends, that I did not see Frau von Eckthum again. Thus
it was our caravaning came to an untimely end.
You can figure to yourselves what kind of reflections a man inclined to
philosophize would reflect as the reduced party hastily packed, in the heat
and glare of the summer morning, that which they had unpacked a week
previously amid howling winds and hail showers in the yard at Panthers.
Nature then had frowned, but vainly, on our merriment. Nature now was
smiling, equally vainly on our fragments. One brief week; and what had
happened? Rather, I should say, what had not happened?
On the stubble I walked up and down lost in reflection, while Edelgard,
helped (officiously I thought, but I did not care enough to mind) by
Menzies-Legh, stuffed our belongings into bags. She had asked no
questions. If she had I would not have answered them, being little in the
mood as you can imagine to put up with wives. I just told her, on her return
from seeing Jellaby off, of my decision to cross by that night’s boat, and
bade her get our things together. She said nothing, but at once began to
pack. She did not even inquire why we were not going to look at London
first, as we had originally planned. London? Who cared for London? My
mood was not one in which a man bothers about London. With reference to
that city it can best be described by the single monosyllable Tcha.
I will not linger over the packing, or relate how when it was finished
Edelgard indulged in a prolonged farewell (with embraces, if you please) of
the two uninteresting fledglings, in a fervent shaking of both Menzies-
Legh’s hands combined with an invitation—I heard it—to stay with us in
Storchwerder, and the pressing upon old James in a remote corner of
something that looked suspiciously like a portion of her dress-allowance; or
how she then set out by my side for the station steeped in that which we call
Abschiedsstimmung, old James preceding us with our luggage while the
others took care for the last time of the camp; or with what abandonment of
apparent affectionate regret she hung herself out of the train window as we
presently passed along the bottom of the field and waved her handkerchief.
Such rankness of sentiment could only make me shrug my shoulders, filled
as I was by my own absorbing thoughts.
I did glance up, though, and there on the stubble, surrounded by every
sort of litter, stood the three familiar brown vehicles blistering in the sun,
with Menzies-Legh and the fledglings knee-deep in straw and saucepans
and bags and other forlorn discomforts, watching us depart.
Strange how alien the whole thing seemed, how little connection it
seemed to have with me now that the sparkling bubbles (if I may refer to
Frau von Eckthum as bubbles) had disappeared and only the dregs were
left. I could not help feeling glad, as I raised my hat in courteous
acknowledgment of the frantic wavings of the fledglings, that I was finally
out of all the mess.
Menzies-Legh gravely returned my salute; our train rounded a curve;
and camp and caravaners disappeared at once and forever into the
unrecallable past.
CHAPTER XXI
THE END
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