The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-08-08
Some Strange Metals.


Some of the metals which seem ia
miliar enough to the chemist, though
rarely seen outside his laboratory, have
| 80 little in common with the metals OF
every day life as to scarcely seem to be-
long to the same class of substances.
We commonly think of a metal as being
heavy, yet sodium and potassium will
float on water, and lithium is the light
| est of all known solids. The fact IS
that the word ''metal" is II Of the
hardest in the language to define. The
metals all have q peculiar lustre, to be
sure, which from its association, has
come to be called metallic; but many
minerals, as galena and hlack-lead,
which most certainly are not metals,
have the same appearance, and SO on
through the list of properties. The
| chemical relations ofthe metals give good
reasons for placing these substances by
themselves, though even here the lines
are not clearly marked.
One of the most distinctive properties
of the metals is their power to form,
when combined with acids, a class of
bodies called salts,-on account Of their
resemblance to the common salt, which
contains about forty per cent. of the
metal sodium. This metal is a blush
white, waxy solid, and has such a great
tendency to rust, or unite with the oxy-
gen in the air, that it must be kept in
| some oil, like petroleum, which contains
no oxygen.
Ii a bit of sodium be thrown upon q
piece of ice, the metal takes fire, and
any attempt to put it out by pouring
water on it would only be adding fuel
to the flame.
The sodium-match is an application
of this peculiar property of the metal.
1t is merely a bit of wood tipped with
sodium, and which can, of course, be
lighted on the stormiest day by the
mere contact of a rain drop. The
matches are, however, decidedly danger
Gus, and their manufacture is generally
prohibited.
Potassium, which is obtained from
potash, is another metal very similar to
sodium, and will take fire upon ice
or water wen more rapidly than this
last-named metal. A. small piece of
potassium thrown into a jar Of water
apparently takes fire at once, and
swims about with great rapidly, burn.
ing all the time with q brilliant violet
flame.
One may be forgiven if his ideas on
combustion are somewhat upset by the
first sight of this phenomenon, but there
is really nothing very strange about it.
Water is a compound of hydrogen and
oxygen, and these metals, sodium and
potassium, have so strong IN attraction
for oxygen that they will take it wher-
ever they can find it, even from water.
This, of course, sets the hydrogen
free, which is set on fire by the heat
given off when the potassium and
oxygen unite, and burns with a violet
color because of the vapor of the metal.
The same is true in the case of sodium;
the flame is due to the burning hydro
gen rather than the metal.
Sodium, potassium and lithium, with
several other metals, form group known
as tue alkali metals. There is an
other group, to which iron belongs,
which contains an interesting member
called aluminium, alumni
nm,-from its occurrence in common
alum
Aluminium is a beautiful metal, much
like silver in appearance, and possess
ing many valuable properties. 1t is very
sonorous, easily worked, does not tarnish
in the Dir, and is only about one-fourth as
heavy rs silver. 1t conducts eight times
better than iron.
Added to this, it occurs in greater
| u,rp1,fIfv .{1n, n,,,. o41,,s 49, - H.
world. Every clay-bank, every granite
bed, is q mine of aluminium, but as vet
no cheap and ready means of obtaining
the metal has been found, in spite of ali
attempts.
Napoleon offered a large reward to
any Il discovering such a process, as,
on account of its lightness, he wished
to use the metal in his army for helmets
and cuirasses.
1t is hardly possible to give m exact
statement OF the amount of aluminium
IN different clays, since the composition
Of these earths varies greatly. Clays
are impure s~ilicates of aluminium, and,
generally speaking, a good brick clay
contains a tenth or more by weight Of
The metal. This would be sufficient to
plate the upper surface of the bricks,
as they are commonlylaid in sidewalks,
with a layer of metallic aluminium q
fifth of an inch deep.
Or this same amount of metal would
form a layer one-third Of an inch deep
on the outside of the bricks as they are
laid in our houses. So we find this hid
den metal everywhere about us, and a
princely fortune awaits the man who