Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1869-08-27
: Spectrum Analysis.

BEYOND all comparison, the most bril-
liant and startling conquest which the
human mind hasyet made over the domain
of nature, consists of that group of dis
coveries which is described by the term
Spectrum AndLysis 1t. provokes amaze
ment in every aspect, In the first place,
the developments have been made with a
rapiditY that is almost astounding; the
whole thing has been done in ten years.
DIR. Wollaston discovered, in the year 1902,
that by looking carefully ct the solar spec
trum with sjy-glass dark lines could be
seen crossing It, In 1915, Fraunhofer a
German optician, rediscovered and made
n map of several hundreds of them, and
from that time they were called, after him,
FruuRhQf6r'S lines. But few supposed that
there was the slightest possible signiti-
canoe in them; they were regarded as
mere optical curiosities, having no higher
use than to serve as landmarks for meas
uring the spaces Of the colored spectrum.
But, in 1859, the two German chemists,
Kirchof and Bunsen, made the capital dis
covery that each chemical element, when
burning in flame, gave out a light that
had its peculiar marks or lines, so that
these lines could become means of de-
tectlng the element. A totally new mode
far more delicate than anything hitherto
known, and method, moreover, which
was capable of becoming reoelat0r Of the
constitution Of the unirerSe. Chemistry, at
a single stroke, was fused with astronomy,
and the universal agent of light became
| the powerful servant of the laboratory.
AT the very first step, several new ele.
ments were discovered, the existence OF
which had never before been suspected.
Examining with the spectrum the ash of
some mineral waters, Prof. Bunson thought
| he saw some lines which did not belong to
the substances already known. He then
boiled down fortyfour tons of Durkheim
spring water, and got a couple of hundred
grains of residue, from which he extracted
two new metals, C9sium and Rubdium
which resemble potassium. This Rubi
dium has since been found in the ash OF
oak, of beet-root, of tobacco, coffee, tea
and cocoa. TrrEf -s@
The spectrum analysis, however, is moi
q mere instrument of original chemical
research it has a practical applicability
The Bessemer process, as it is called, is q
method of converting cast iron directly
into steel. Cast iron contains more carbon
than steel, and it is converted into steel by
burning this carbon out of the molter
] White-hot mass by blast of atmospheric
air. In this operation five tons of cas-
iron are converted in twenty minutes into
five tons of cast steel. But the success o
the process depends upon being able t.
stop it at Just the right time. If eontin
ued ten seconds too long, or stopped tel
seconds too quickly, the batch is spoiled
The flame, of course, is an index of thu
advance of the combustion, and, by watch
ing It with the spectroscope, the appear
ance and disappearance of the lines lndi
cate the exact moment at which the opera
tion is to be arrested.
4 The spectrOscope promises also TO be
come very valuable Instrument in medico
legal investigations into the evidences Q
criminality. Blood stains may be detect
ed by it with extreme delicacy. Mr.. Sorb
has shown that the one-thousandth part c
grain of the red-c -coloring matter of blood
stain may be detected with the creates
certainty. Il
But 1t is in its celestial applications tina
the spectroscope has performed its mos
wonderful achievements. The constitl
: tion of the sun, for example, which, ten yeal
, ago, wasa matter of the purest conjecture
is now matter of definite and pOsitiy
, knowledge. We know what it is compose
of-itS chemical constituents-not as con
pletely, but with the same certainty, as "
know the chemical constitution of I'll
$ earth. Sixteen of the elements with whiC
I we are familiar upon earth, are prove
D also to exist in the atmosphere of the su
. They are the following sodium, calcium
: barium, magnesium, iron, chromium
4 nickel, copper, zinc, strontium, cadmium
L cobalt, hydrogen, manganese, aluminium
q titanium.
e The stars have also been subjected
: spectroscopic study with equal succe'
v They are shown TO resemble our sun, the
b light coming from white-hOt matter
e their atmospheres. About eighty lines
the spectrum Of the light from Aldebari
e have been mapped, and it has been ascC
If tanned that the atmosphere of this st
It contains sodium, magnesium, hydroge
IS bismuth, tellurium, antimony and pereur
' Sirius contains sodium, magnesium, irC
e and hydrogen. About sixty other ST..
s have been examined, andall seem to ha
d some chemical element known on earth,
e I HAppIetOn'S Journal.