The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1875-01-09
JAN. 9. 1875.
seven Metals

III NAlG dl-NNANGAN VI AAN AANAAA1 AiAFAA
first asserted their mastery over Ma
ture; yet the discovery il still pro-
crossing. Before the tftcenth cen
tury only seven were positively
known. They were each held sacred,
among the ancients, to some ruling
deity. Gold-indestructibie, mallea-
Bile, the richest in cOloring, the most
precious of decorations-Was conse-
Grated to Jupiter, or the sun, and
had already assumed the supremacy
which it has never lost. 1t was
coined into the heavy dnrics Of
Persia and the aurens of Imperial
Rome II was used to gild temples
and statues, was wrought into rich
jewellery, aud wOven in delicate
threads that enlivened the Powered
stuffs Of Baby Ion.
Gold mines and gold bearing
streams were found in Arabia, Syria,
Greece. Italy and Spain, and the
pursuit OF the precious metal was
carried ON with various success by
countless throngs of miners. The
richest mines, at least in later ages,
were those Of Spain and the ennr-
nous productiveness Of the Spanish
soil WAS slowly exhausted by the
successive labors of the Carthagenians
and the Romans. So successful was
their industry, that but little gold or
silver III now be found in a territory
where the precious metal once lay
scattered in bOundless profusion on
she surface OF the earth.
Silver ranked next to gold, and
was named from the soft light of the
moon. The richest silver mines
rel those Of Spain. Ii was wrought
into cups, vases, lamps; adorned the
helmets and shields OF warriors; and
formed the costly mirrors with which
the Roman ladies shocked the aus
terity of Lactantius or Jerome. The
beautiful silver coins of the Greek
and Roman cities fill modern coilec-
tions. Five other m~etals-iron, COP
per, mercury, lead and tin-were
employed by the ancients for various
purposes they made steel by a rude
process, and brass without discover
ing zinc.
For many ages no addition was
made tn the sacred seven. Three
thousand years passed away before IL
was suspected that the number could
be increased-a memorable example
Of the sluwneSs of human apprehen-
sion. At length, in 1870, anthony
was added to the metallic family /;
and not far off from the period of the
discovery of a new world, the chem
lists we're about tn enter upon fresh
fields of science, scarcely less bound
less or inviting.
A second metal, bismuth, came in
almost with the Reformation. Zinc,
perhaps the most important of the
new family, may have preceded the
others; it was certainly described
long before. 1t Is, indeed, quite curl
Gus to notice how the bright metal
had been constantly forcing itself
upon the attention of careful obSer-
vers. and had yet Been wholly over
looked, had been used by the an
clients, in the form OF an earth, TO
color copper into brass and give it n
shining surfare like gold, was seen
dropping from the furnaces of the
Middle Ages, or melted in rich flakes
from their walls.
Two magicians, or philosophers, at
laxt detected the error of ages; and
Albertus Magnus and P~aracelsus,
probably both discovered that zinc
was as i~ndestructible and as free from
foreign substances rs gold. Itseemed
n pure element. Paracelsus, who was
fond of penetrating TO the source OF
things, admits that he could not tell
how.the bright metal grew; nor, in
the height of their magic renuwn,
was it ever ~foreseen that the rare
substance the sorcereEs-4tad dis
covered would one day shed know
ledge, in tongues of fire, from London
TO Japan.
Two centuries followed, during
which no metallic substance was dis
covered. Paracelsus found no sue
ceSsOr; Alhertus, almost the first
man Of science in Europe, was re-
membered only rs a sOrceTer. 1t WAS
not until 1913, that the vast field oil
metallic discovery began TO open
upon man. Two valuable and WELL
known metals platinum and nickel
among several others, first appeared
about the middle of the eighteenth
century. The number of the metals
now rapidly enlarged; ghlvinism
lent its aid to dissolve the hardest
earths; and at length, in the open.
ing of the nineteenth century, a
cluster Of brilliant discoveries aroused
the curiosity of science.
Each eminent philosopher seemed
to produce new metals. BPrZellius
discovered three; Davy, the Paracei.
sus of his age, is the scientific parent
of ive-pOtassium, sodium, barium,
strontium, calcium. The number:
advanced, until already more than
fifty metals, of various Importance,
have been given to the arts. The
new experiments in light have added
cesium and rubidium T; and no limit
can now be fixed for the metallic
family, which for 70 many ages EN-
braced only v members, the EN-
blems of the ruling gods.-OHce q
Week.