The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-02
PRECIOUS METALS.
q Of the Metals Which Have q
Higher Value Than Gold

y =
,isd as the king of metals it is not by any
y .sns the most precious of them-though,
-bans. it is the metal having the highest
line from a general commercial stand
int The cost of production of many of
- rarer metals is so enormous as to pre-
Jude the possibility OF their becoming gen
.-olly useful unless new and simpler
l. erbods Of Transportation become known.
,eir prices, therefore, really represent no
neral COMMERCIAL values, but, as rule,
L srelv their cost of production.
Taking the price of gold, which is s20.67
/ ,r ounce, as a standard of value, one can
/. adil7 see, by comparison, how entirely
|, in 1t would be to attempt to adapt some
+ the rarer metals to commercial uses.
al the pleasure, not long ago, of meeting
n f. \. Riotte, a scientific gentleman
10 is a veritable encyclopedia of matters
Eetal .urgical, and in the course of con-
4 rsation with him obtained some informa-
IN regarding the rarer metals which NAV
4, Of interest to the general reader.
Aluminum-one of the most difficult
l. etals to obtain-is used for making alloys
4 IN various other metals, on account of
4 "a very great tensile strength it imparts,
I'd which, coupled with its light weight,
makes it Of great desirability and gives il
yarv high commercial value. 1t is as COM
non as the earth itself-thousands of tons
|Srround us on all sides, but the difficulty
4 IN obtaining it in its pure state A few
FEARS ago, owing to the expense attending
Is production, its value was $l2 per pound.
|1his placed it outside the pale of very
|srrenSive use. Lately, however, such inn
|,rotements have been made in the process
K developing it as to bring it down
b So per pound. 1t is easily dissolved by
most acids, resisting only nitric acid very
yell. Common soap also disSolves it, and it
annot resist ammoniacal vapors. The
Euminum weights of a certain metallur-
heal works in the city are ruined periodi-
Eallv by the proximity of stable. On &C
ount of its present reduced price a general
gss of aluminium amalgam is suggested.
b acts the same way chemically as sodium
smalgam, and as it is not nearly so rapidly
decomposed by water, and scarcely at all
BY air, and will spread its beneficial effect
over a much greater expanse of tin, its use
fitness in this direction is apparent.
Arsenic is bf no use as a metal. Its price
i but SO cents an ounce. 1t has the pecu-
Larity of volatilizing without melting Its
alloys with lead are Of great Importance,
as it makes the lead hard and more easily
melted. 1t is used principally in type
metal, Rabbit metal, electrotype metal, and
in other metallic combinations.
Barium is light yellow metal. 1t costs
Sl66 an ounce, but is not commercially
valuable.
Bismuth is brilliant white metal of
slightly reddish cast 1t is very brittle at
ordinary temperature. It is used in making
sasily fusible alloys. An alloy with potas-
dum decomposes water, generating hydro
yen. Its compounds with oxygen are used
IN the arts, as in paints and cosmetics. Its
market value is only % cents an ounce.
Cadmium, whose cost of production is Q
tents an ounce, is also used in the arts and
for making easily fusible alloys. Cerlum
costs $2lS rs an ounce; didymium, 1862 80.
and erbium, S21S rs. These metals are
hardly known in a perfectly pure state,
SEPARATED from each other. They have the
peculiar faculty Of decomposing water at
boiling heat.
Chromium is known only as a gray crys-
talliue powder, and is non-magpetic. In
combination with iron it makes steel of
peculiar excellence. Great quantities of it
ire used for this purpose. Compounded
With oxygen it is used to make brilliant
,olors
Indium is a silver-white metal, very soft
Ind ductile; its cost OF production is 81 an
)unce, but 1t has no commercial value.
Lithium, which is the ightest of all
metals, is silver white. 1t will swim on
cal oil and melt at $50 degrees. 1t is not
lsed as a metal. Its compounds with oxy-
zen are used in the manufacture of fire.
works, the most beautiful red light being
reduced by it. As metal it costs 1921. 66
\ ounce.
Magnesium is also silver white metal.
t is easily ignited. either in the shape of
owder, sheet. or wire, and produces an
intense light, rich in violet rays. 1t is used
argely in flash lights, and also in photo
Taphing in mines OF caves. 1t costs but
{ cents an ounce.
Manganese is very hard and brittle-it is
ven harder than the hardest steel. 1t has
cen used in enormous quantities lately In
he manufacture of Bessemer steel, and in
ne high grades of car wheels Manganese
now very important article of COM
nerce and mining. Its market price is 9
ents an ounce in its metallic form. When
1emically pure it brings $40 an ounce.
Molybdenum is nearly silver whito
netal. 1t is probably infusible; in fact, it
; certainly more refractory than platinum.
oV yet used for any purpose at ALL AS a
uriosity it is worth $14 IS an ounce
Osmlum Is an infusIble black powder. 1t
gnltes and burns in the air, and is ex-
remedy poisonous. 1t costs S65 an ouncs.
Flatlnum, pure and in alloy with iridium
nelly. but also with other metals of the
'!atlnum group, is used in the manufacture
I vessels used by chemists, ana also for
lectflcal apparatus. 1t was used at one
ime In making coins and coin alloys. It is
ne heaviest known metal Platinum is
poken of by metallurgists as most noble
leJal, having many advantages beyond
ven gold. 1t is almost infusible, cannot be
lssolved by any single acid, and Yields
aslly, like iron. Large boilers for con-
uclng sulphuric acid are made of it. as
re also weights of very delicate precision.
.hemlstry would be very badly off without
/. 1t is worth SO per ounce.
Potassium is a sllver-white natal which
urns vehemently on cold water and eY-
lodes on warm. 1t was used in the MANI
acture of torpedoes, but has been replaced
y other compounds having similar ouaIi-
es. 1t costs 50 SO an ounce.
Selenlum (metallic) is a substance like
llphur chemically. It's color is black with
reddish tinge. 1t is non-conductor Of
ectrlclty, and is used where a Monsoon
ucting metallic substance is wanted. II
0sts 81 80 an ounce.
Sodium costs but 81 cents an ounce. tits
sed extensively in the manufacture of
or Of sodium amalgam for metal
lrgical purposes.
The following substances, in their me-
lliic form, are of little, if any, use. The
rice following each metal refers to oun CO
uantities Calcium, 1921 Go; cobalt. 80
ents; erbium, S218 IS; gallium, 81, OS3 "a;
iucinum, $40 90; iridium 81; lanthanum,
vi GO; nlobium, S145 So; rhodium, $l45 So:
,65idium, $50 50; strontium, Sl7 so; tan,