The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-04-19
DEVOURS LIKE FIRE.
THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS PRoDuo-
ED BY FLUORlNE.

THE WONDERFUL EFFECTS PRODUo-
ED BY FLUORlNE.
The Diamond Only Able to Absolutely Re
sist This Powerful Solvent Researches
Into the Nature of a Hitherto Poorly
Known Chemical Element.
The alchemists of the middle ages be-
lieved that somewhere in the universe
was to be found universal solvent
which would dissolve the most refrao-
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 philosopher
stone was spent in the endeavor to OBJ
tain it. Science has yet to prove, by the
way, that there was not more method
In the madness of the alchemists than
is generally supposed, for in the re-
markable substance f1uorine chemists
possess material that approximates very
closely to universal solvent. Its chem
ical energy is SO fierce that, except gold
anu AObu1Le5 OeA IOSAoO ~, anu
even gold and platinum succumb to
huorine in time. The mere contact of
most substances with huorine is suffi-
Gent to cause not mere solution, but
light, fame and fierce detonations.
Dull, inert flint takes fire when exposed
to duorine vapor and becomes a bril-
liant incandescent mass. Lampblack
re io@ xuhi1o oh roouI h,1r &c,
with bright scintillations. Only the
diamond is able to resist this powerful
solvent, to which it does not succumb
even at high temperature. The similar
element silicon, which can be obtained
in crystalline form closely resembling
the diamond, gives magnificent dis
play in the presence of fiuorine, the
crystals becoming white hot and throw
ing showers of fiery spangles in all di-
rections. The heat is SO intense that the
crystals melt, showing that their tenn
perature has reached 1900 degrees G.
Phosphorus combines fiercely with
fluorine. Prussian blue, ON account of
the cyanogen it contains, burns with a
beautiful pink flame; while from a
crystal of iodine placed in fluorine vapor
a heavy liquid distills with pale fame.
This liquid-an iodide of fuorine-
etches glass, and if thrown into water
misses like hot iron. The last named
metal becomes white hot when exposed
to f1uorine; even iron rust behaves in a
similar manner. Nearly all metals are
raised to vivid inoandescence in cur
Of tho
beautiful, especially aluminium and
zinc. If the latter be slightly warmed,
it bursts into white fame too dazzling
to gaze at or describe.
Although it has been known in vari-
GUS states of combination for many
years. having been first discovered by
! Schwankhardt of Nuremberg, in 1870,
and rediscovered by Scheele in 1911,
f1uorine was not obtained as fluorine in
the free state until about six years ago,
when the French chemist Moissan sue
ceeded in isolating it by employing a
current of electricity from rs or %
Bunsen batteries The current was pass
ed through the compound of fuorine
and hydrogen known as hydrofuoric
acid. To improve the conductivity of
the hydrofluoric acid it was necessary
to dissolve another fiuorine compound
in the liquid. AS will readily be imag-
ined, it is not SO difficult to obtain free
huorine as to keep it when obtained.
Every part of the apparatus used by M.
Moissan was made of platinum, with
screw joints and washers of lead, which
swell on contact with fiuorine, all the
shoppers being of huorspar. Fluorine
has powerful affinity for silicon, one
of the principal constituents of glass, so
that it was impossible to use glass yes
sells or tubes to contain the gas.
AS regards the chemical nature Of
fuorine, it is a gas at ordinary temper
allure and is the lightest member of the
series of elements containing chlorine,
bromine and iodine. The attraction of
fuorine for hydrogen exceeds that of
chlorine and is so great that if a slow
current Of f1uorine gas be passed into a
tube of fiuorspar containing drop of
water dark fog is produced, which
changes presently to blue vapor con-
cAs11ue VI OAOA0-Gu0 COAO6uhou lOIlu VI
oxygen. The last named substance ap-
pears to be one of the few materials
which has no affinity for fuorine. Moth
ing is observed to take place between
them even when they are heated up to
1000 degrees F.
So far all experiments had been con-
Quoted with huorine 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 no
laboratory-such as that at the Royal
notwithstanding powerful machinery
for producing liquid air or liquid oxy-
gen at the command of the investigator.
In fact, liquid air itself was practically
unknown. By the aid of this weapon
Professors Dewar and Moissan have sue
oeeded in liquefying fuorine. At the
extremely low temperature of liquid
oxygen it was found that fuorine did
not attack glass, and it was possible to
use glass vessels to hold the newly lique-
fed element &C. F. Townsend in
knowledge.