Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-27
DEvoURs LIKE FIRE.
Strange and Beautiful Effects Produced
by Fluorine.
&C. f. Townsend in Knowledge.)

". II IDNl9Gllu III INllpW iNuSEty
The alchemists of the middle ages be-
lieved that somewhere in the universe
was to be found universal solvent
which would dissolve the most refrac~
tory substances as readily as water dis
solves sugar. They named their solvent
liquor alkahest, and what time they
could spare from the search after the
elixir of life and the philosophers stone
was spent in the endeavor to obtain II.
Science has yet to prove, by the way,
that there was not more method in the
madness of the alchemists than is gem
orally supposed, for in the relnarSka ble
substance fluorine chemists possess q
material that approximates very close
ly to a universal solvent. Its chemical
energy is so fierce that, except gold and
platinum, nothing can resist it, and
even gold and platinum succumb to
fluorine in time. The mere contact of
most substances with fluorine Is suff1-
cient to cause, not mere solution, but
light, flame and fierce detonations. Dull
inert flint takes fire when exposed to
fiuorine vapor and becomes brilliant
incandescent mass. Lampblack bursts
into flame, while charcoal burns with
bright scintillations. Only the diamond
is able to resist this powerful solvent,
to which it does not succumb even at
high temperatures. The similar ele-
ment, silicon, which can be obtained in
a crystalline form closely resembling
the diamond, gives magnificent dis
play in the presence of huorine, the
crystals becoming white hot and throw
ing showers of fiery spangles in all di-
rections. The neat is so intense that
the crystals melt, showing that their
temperature has reached 1900 degrees
Centigrade Phosphorus combines
wit, hl1Oviun Ef-IISSi90 b1IIat
! account of the cyanogen it contains,
burns with a peculiar pink flame, while
I from a crystal of iodine placed in f1uor-
inc vapor heavy liquid dis
tils with a pale fame This
Iiquid-an iodine of fuorine-etches
glass, and if thrown into water Kisses
like hot iron. The last-named metal be-
| comes white hot when exposed to fluor-
inc; even iron rust behaves in a sim
liar manner. Nearly all metals are
raised to vivid incandescence in a cur
rent of the gas, many appearing very
beautiful, especially aluminium and zinc.
If the latter be slightly warmed it
bufsts into a white fame too dazzling
to gaze at or describe.
Although it has been known in vari-
Gus states of combination for many
wears. having been first discovered by
| Schwankhardt of Nuremburg, in 1870,
and rediscovered by Scheele in I'LL, flu
/ OrlDe WAS NOT ODldlIGu cS lllbIlllG LII
| free state until about six years ago.
when the French chemist, Moissan, sue
| ceeded in iselating it by employing a
current of electricity from rs to rs Bun
| sen batteries The current was passed
| through the compound fuorine and hy-
| drogen known as hydrofiuoric acid,
| which is similar to hydrochloric acid. To
| improve the eonductivity of the hydro
fiuorie acid it was necessary to dis
| solve another fluorine compound in the
| LIQUID. As will readily be imagined, ID
is not so difficult Co obtain free fiuorine
as to keep it when obtained. Every
| part Of the apparatus used by M. Mois-
san was made of platinum, with screw
/ joints and washers of lead, which swell
| on contact with fiuorine, all the shoppers
| being Of fiuorspar Fluorine has pow
| erful affinity for silicon one of the prin-
cipal constituents of glass, so that it was
/ impossible to use glass vessels or tubes
| that contain the gas.
AS regards the chemical nature of fius
| orine, it is a gas at ordinary temperaa
! ture, and is the lightest member of the
| series of elements containing chlorine,
! bromine and iodine. The attraction OF
| tluorine for hydrogen exceeds that OF
! chlorine, and is so great that if a slow
current of fiuorine gas be passed intd
tube Of fluorspar containing drop Of
water, a dark fog is produced which
| changes presently to a blue vapor con-
! sisting of ozone-the condensed form of
oxygen. The last-named substance ap-
1 pears to be one of the few materialG
which has no affinity for fluorine moth
| ing is observed to take place between
| them even when they are heated up to
/ 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
So far all experiments had been con-
| Quoted with fluorine gas which, at the
| time it was isolated, resisted all at
tempts to reduce it to the liquid state.
Six years ago, however, there was uo
laboratory-such as that at the Royal
| Notwithstanding powerful machinery
| for producing liquid air or liquid oxy-
I gen at the command of the investigators
I in fact, liquid air itself was practically
| unknown. BY the aid of this weapon,
/ Profs. Dewar and Moissan have sue
ceeded in liquifying fluorine At the
extremely low temperature Of liquid OK.
| ygen. it was found that fluorine did not
| attack glass, and it was possible to use
glass vessels to hold the. newly -liquified
! element,