The inferior varieties of commercial "white lead" are produced by mixing the genuine article with more or less of finely powdered heavy spar or occasionally zinc-white (ZnO).
Scheele, in examining a specimen of pyrolusite, found a new substance to be present in the mineral, for on treatment with sulphuric acid it gave an insoluble salt which was afterwards shown to be identical with that contained in heavy spar.
Barium hydroxide, Ba(OH) 2, is a white powder that can be obtained by slaking the monoxide with the requisite quantity of water, but it is usually made on the large scale by heating heavy spar with small coal whereby a crude barium sulphide is obtained.
Barium chloride, BaCl 2.2H 2 O, can be obtained by dissolving witherite in dilute hydrochloric acid, and also from heavy spar by ignition in a reverberatory furnace with a mixture of coal, limestone and calcium chloride, the barium chloride being extracted from the fused mass by water, leaving a residue of insoluble calcium sulphide.
The black variety of cochineal is sometimes sold for silver cochineal by shaking it with powdered talc or heavy-spar; but these adulterations can be readily detected by means of a lens.