Miller process Miller process The Miller process is an industrial-scale chemical procedure used to refine gold to a high degree of purity (99.95%). It was invented by Francis Bowyer Miller ( patented 1867). This chemical process involves blowing a stream of pure chlorine gas over and through a crucible filled with molten, but impure, gold. This process purifies the gold because nearly all other elements will form chlorides before gold does, and they can then be removed as salts that are insoluble in the molten metal. When all impurities have been removed from the gold (observable by a change in flame color)
Purity and Danger contexts. What is regarded as dirt in a given society is any matter considered out of place. (Douglas took this lead from William James.) She attempted to clarify the differences between the sacred, the clean and the unclean in different societies and times. But this does not entail judging religions as pessimistic or optimistic in their understanding of purity or dirt—e.g., as dirt-affirming or otherwise. Through a complex and sophisticated reading of ritual, religion, and lifestyle, Douglas challenged Western ideas of pollution, making clear how the context and social history is essential. As an example of this approach, Douglas first