The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-08-01
TIE METALS OF THE FUTURE.

ldh MblADo VI ldb lUlUhh,
On the evening of Friday, May g. the lecture
theatre Of the Roya Institution was the scene of
a most striking and memorable incident The
lecturer of the evening was Professor Roscoe ;
his subject, "The New Metal Indium, aud re.
cent ReseaIches in Spectral Analysis" After
relating the very few particulars at present as
certHinId respecting the very rare metal-the
latest discoN eruu ana Is yet least known OF all
the elCmCnts-whch thus formed the primary
subject OF his discourse, and then exhibiting its
beautiful spec rum, and also tho speCtrl Uf the
three other recently discovered meals, ossium,
rubldIum, and tballium-fur our knJwie ige of
the existence Of which we are indebted 10 spec
nal analysis, the lecturer directed the attention
Of his audience 70 the meta magnesium, of which
some wsgnihcent specimens were on the table
before him, one Of Them weighing not less tnan
two pounds and bali. By way of Crowning
illustration of tie remarkable properties OF the
btaDufHl light produced Dy the cumOu 'ti0n VI
metallic magI esium, lie wound up series OF
most brilliant perments by taking by It's means,
within a couple Of hours of midnight, in face of
the whole audience, Photographic portrait OF
Professor Faladay. This portrait was then thrown
the screen that all might see IL, and certainly
no sun.picture was ever more perfect
1t was in the very building in which this re-
markabe experiment was performed last Friday
evening week that mugnes um was first seen by
human eJ es, little more than an ordinary lifetime
ago. He who frst saw Il Was Mr. FdradaJ great
pIedece> sor, Sir HumphTy Dayy. Unlil the year
1907, no one had suspected thaG eltner the AKA
lies or the ea,ths were other than "simple" or
elementary" undeIomposable substances; but
IN that year Sir Humphry Davy took the first
step into new world, teem,ng with materials for
new ar,s, by the discovery Of the true cOnstitu-
tion OF oda aud potash
Having found that those alkalies are really
oxides of meiallic bases, compounds of oxygen
with the metals sodium and potassium, he was
led TO conceive that the earths, lime, msgnesia,
baryta, sironIa, and alumina, and also silica,
| which he classed with the esrths, were probably
| similarly Cousti uted. He soon established that
they are 30, IT. the following year, 1903, he sue
| ceeded in eliminating from lime, maguesia,
b,Tyta and strOnt0, their metallic bases, cal III IN,
magDt stun, binum, and strOntium and although
/ be was moi quite So successful as regards alumi IA
and silica, he yet demonstrated conciu,iyely mat
| they also are rXdes.
| Oithe oxides above enumerated, four namely,
| lime, alumina, magnesia, aud silca-maSe up at
| least four. irths (pTOaahy mOle) of the earth'S
crust. Sir HnmpbTy Dlvy regarded the ba OF
SILICA as M tiilic, aud accOid dinghy named 1t Sill
| cium but mCaSri chemists consider II as re-
! semuiiHg ca, bon and boron rather thah tle
| metalF, and therefore prefer 70 call II siiic Il
| The bases of lime, al1mina, and mignesia, how
ever, are undoubtedly metallic, and It IS % the
| bases, the metals calcium, aluminium, and nag
| nesium, that we venture to apply the de>igna
tion, "The Metals OF The Future" Each D
! these metals exists in immensely greater abund
| auce than either gold, silver, copper, iron, cad
tin, or zinc, or indeed than all the iamlliarl,
I "
he Il law of the universe that, IN proportion 70 tn
| abundance in which things exist, so nave the
giest ana impo tant uses in every form IN whic
they ale capable Of remaining permanently, "
| cnunOt doubt that the extraction of these me al;
and their pr, pararion for purposes Of manutac
| ture, are destined yet TO become, and perhaps b.
| fore very long, among the most widely practise
OF metulurpl al processes.
| The first of these metals to be brought int
commerce was aluminium, proved 10 exist b
| Davy In 1903, but first actually obtained y
WOhl,r in ls21. Down TO 1851 aluminium hs
been obtained only in exceeding minute quar-
uty, ard oH in the form of "grey powder
The frrt compact piece, weighing more than
| Few grains, ever produced, was exhibited IN I'll
| French Departm, nj of the Hyde Park lntern
I tonal Exhibition. BY 1854 Sain'e cail
Deville had shown how 1t could be produced
, | ,imost any quantity, and soon the prOducto
| of aluminium, which had hitherto bee
confined 10 the laboratories of the most expe
) | of the brotherhood Of chemists, began 10 'at
4 | rank among the Industrial arts. Al the end
= 1854 the selling price Of aluminium was still
the rate Of Zoo per pound, but 10 1888 It's pr,
: was reduced To IS per pound In 1869 u
mGuuiacture Of this metal, under Deylle
patents, va, undeItal en- IN this c0unryb by NJ J
Bel, BIolheis, of n, wcastle-On-Tyne, who no
| produce II In considerable quantity, ana are
l. | pTes,nt selling il vt about E3 per pound
"A | ye', il has been applied to sea cely any b.
. | ornamental purposes, and TO these chiefly in
- alloy with COPPER, known as "Aluminiu
- BlOI re- OF these alloys OF alumni um Al
d copper tn re are lhrec in use, containing, resp,
- iYely, 3, rs, and 10 per cent. of alumiOium al
. selling rt A.. 6d., s.. Cd, and 6s. Cd. per pJun
- There alloys are $50 like gold as scarcely 70
% dis ngushable therefrOm, with the addition
1, Va uablC properly Of being aS hard rs iron" al
=, they are being very largely u.ed, nste I'd Of gol
L ior watch chains, watch'cases, Pene-cases, al
10 uirkCts generally, and also Tor articles Of Orn
70 neut for the table, Aluminium by itself h
y a. yet been used only in the construction
/ mathematical instruments, and as material (
the delicate weights OF chemists balances, al
)t also for statuettes and other small works of 1
J. produced by casting. Except for its duh col
N and inferior lustre-wbiCh however, are prot
y bly, due in part 20 impurities contained in
r metal as at present produced, so that We IN
re expect that metal much richer in cOl0r a
Id lustre will lie obtained when the metallurgy
ID aluminium shall have arrived at greater peri
8 tion-aluminium would be especially suit
{, for applications of the latter kind, sin
pt at requires much less intense HI
t. than silver for melting, and when melt
Of sOlidifes much more slowly, and is therett
particularly we'll adapted for castings Il
sp require 10 be executed with great delicacy
s, Considering how short time has elapsed sin
Jr the art of eliminating aluminium from its co
=, pounds had Its birth, me present selling price
" the metal Is marVellously lows but at the sal
Ve time II no doubt greatly restricts the use of
re metal. While present price continues, alur
ID mum will probably be confined 10 such apple
ID tions as those mentioned aboyei but at the
70 duced cost which is sure 70 be the result
ie improved processes of production, the area Of
d application will doubtless be very widely
p tended. It's lghtness (ts specific gravity bel
h oRly z56, or about one-fourh of that Of silver
i about One-tllird of the iroD); it's greater fr
I, | dom, as compared with conmOner metals, fr
: LIABILITY 20 discolor or oxidize by exposure TO
q atmosphere; its sOnorousness, "greatly exec
le ing tat Of silver as regards cleaSnessj" It's nS
4 liability 10 be acted upon by any Of the eleme
h- q ordinary foods, aud the nonrPoisonous natI
y o. ts aalIs-neg0tye qualities eminently ntti
ls ~ Tor use as material for vessels and utensils
lu De hten ior culinary purpOsesi and, hnAhy,
yr great tenaciiy and malleability of many Of
| alloys and the cxoeedinp hardnese on othera