The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-04-01
A BRILLIANT DISCOVERY.
The New Metal, Eeiiun, History Of IFS
discovery.


What material il this Mr. AbbottY'
That" answered the gentleman thus ques-
TONED; "fhat il problem. S4Yp1ge you Try TO
sJlyo 1t. What shogld you think IL is 2"
Mr, Abbo :, IS all the world Knows. is hs popu-
lar gtntloman Of that name ut Grswold's great
ieRcIfy establishment The article referred to
gas tho raatesial Of which several very beautiful
ornaments were composed. 1t was something
entirely new to me--somothtpg entirely different
from any thing / Aad ever seen before. AT ir5t l
though It was o gem or precious stone OF come
kiud, as 1T had what appeared to bo q vitreous
sutface, end possessed D cerlain reffaet-
lag power which lent peculiar
iliiesceuoe to ia aeeting shimmor of prjsmatic
hues which fascinated whilst it tantazgd the
eye A closer inspection, however, showed that
this prismatic eff ct Was due ~ strated surface.
like that OF mother Of pesrl. The general color
sas pale sea-green. 1 took up the objects-there
were only three or four Of them--snd examined
them attentivey. 'Pelhaps il is worked malachi
te," thought, sand the play Of light on tho sur
face is due to the working in Of great number
of fine lines or grooves" / hazarded thik sugges-
tion, but OF course it was all wrong
SIT is not Stone at all" said mr. Abbott, sit is
metal"
ran over in my mind tho list OF recondite
m tails discovered by Davy and Farradsy and
those, such as caesium, rubidium, etc, which
the specroscope had revealed to Eunsen, Kir-
choff and Crookes. As many Of these az could
think of l named.
mo-" said Mr.. Abbott, snone OF those. In fact
don't know what ii is myself. II has queer
nsme--a Greek name, l believe; but / haven't
the most distant idea what it means. The dis.
coverer can toll you a about 1t, IL he will but it
is scarcely likely that ne will let you know any
thing but the name by which he calls 1T. It's
great secret ss yet; and he thinks he is going to
make fortune out OF It,"
asked Mr.. Abbott to give me an opportunity
to exam ne further into the subject, for my curl
osity was now thoroughly aroused, and resolved,
il possible, to satisfy it. My request was cheer
fu 1y granted, though with q repetition OF the
warning that perhaps snould have my trouble
for my pains. In few moments found myself
in small apartment which bad the appearance
OF chemical laboratory. Retorts, aembics,
vessels Of wedgewood ware, and, in short, all The
apparatus OF the chemist were scattered about.
But woat principally attracted my attention we're
two spsctroscopes, both of them beautiful instru-
was man perhaps thirty five y ars OF age. He
was bending over table when enterei, so that
his ace was, for moment, concealed from me-
He looked up, h wever, at once, and l saw that
| he was no ordinary person. His face was pale,
not pallid with disease, but colorless the fac
OF close students usually are. and it wore an ex-
preston Of Intelligence which might have been
an ind. TO poetical fancy or q nind devoted "
scientific reasonng-perhap q combination OF
| both. His eyes and hair were dark; but his
| moustache was blonde, q contrast which gave
him unique but not naPleaslng look. His first
| glance 40 entered seemed to convey an inquiry
which answered by presen ing hit Abbotps
| card Of introduction. He read the card and then,
after appearing 10 consider for momeht. he
said
| $50 Mr.. Abbott has been telling you Of my dis-
coyery, has hs2 W1il. fortunately he knows very
little about 1t. He has never before asked me 10
speak of it to nes and, IN fact, have al Ways
| cautioned him against referring 10 1t till the
proper time. However, It makes very little DIFF
| i,rsnce now. / have the pat. nt for my method
The papers arrived yes.e day, ana tue time hss
come when | may eDj not only the profits,
| but the fame aud glory OF my labors."
| / suggested to him that had 10 intention OF
| asking him to dlsciose bis prece-ser. / had come
only TO safety my curl ,sity as TO ,he nature of
the strange and beautiful substance which had
been exhibited TO me.
.sAs to that he remarked, 'he7 could have
told you the name In the store. / have told 1t
to them hundred times. In truth, every man
OF education knows it. ] have Lo doubt you
kno it Yourself"
"Why, was informed" ssid, "that this was
discovery Of your own-that you had found q
new metal"
"Ia one sense that ia true" he answered; Sin
another sense 1t is not true. did not invent The
A..
found it, though before l found ii 1t Was known
to exist. Have you ever examined the solar spec
trum?"
Il have, but that does not helpme."
Don be so sure OF that" BE exclaimed
"Nait moment till go through with q simple
experiment and perhfps you may be able to
guess"
He rose from the ts bic aHd darkened the room
He then arrayed an electric lighf, q Bunsen
burner and q spectroscope. and after completing
his preparations he took mp a light grs en- powder
which, being subjected to the spectre cope
flashed q single brilliant line of light on tn.
white screen.
"Thas,, I presume, is the spectrum OF you,
} SIT H." he replied. But now mark its place
Do you think you would recogn q il az ain Ii yor
should see it In the s3lar spectrum Let us try
He drew aside curtain VIII ch fell before Q
closed window, and bright beam OF sunleht
streamed through narrow slit in the shutter
This beam passed throush the prisms Of the
spectroscope, and the well known solar spectrum
with Its inhnity of darkness and brilliant colors
, fell upon the white screen.
. s.Look at this line, he raid, indicating one o
the oark bands. Snow look on this chart Ct ths
solar spectrum-Frsuenhofer's it is, No
1884," and he looked at me with an expectant air
SWELL" said, mo. 1884. What is No. 1484?'
"No. 1884 is the line representing heliuna -tbs
unkaogn metal-the riddle of science What
was unknown | have made known; what W.
mysterious L have explained; what was hidden
have revealed"
Then I remembered that tnis Inc 1884 repre-
sented indeed an b. potheticsl metal, supp rec
TO exist in The sup one, and that because OF thit
fact tine NJ me OF helium had been given to il
He seemed to interpret my look.
'Yes," he exclaimed, ''an il fonnd it no hu
man eye had ever rested on it. II seemed tt
have been banished from the category If terres
trial elements, and to be the product only Of tie