New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-28

metal may be taken as an index Of the later prog
ress OF civilization In the sense that modern tech
meal achievements have been largely attained
through its instrumentay
Eminent statisticians have been accustomed to
measure human progress In the terms OF pounds
OF iron consumed per capita 1t is TO the chemist
however, that mankind Is chiefly indebted for the
great strides made In the production OF iron and
steel in recent years. but without platinum uten-
sis the chemist would have been practically help
less without platinum 1t would be Impossible In
many cases to make an analysis OF a mineral
Vessels OF glass. porcelain and Of all non-netallic
substances are destroyed by the means employed
in the analysis OF an ORE
"Crucibes OF gold and silver melt at the high
temperatures required, but platinum is harder and
more durable than either. and Is infusibe at the
highest temperature attained in chemical analysis
and is unaffected by the reagents employed. 1t Is
therefore pre-eminenty the metal OF the chemist.
and no laboratory is completely equipped without
q varied assortment OF platinum apparatus, repre-
senting far from a modest proportion Of the total
capital invested Fortunes are. In fact. annually
invested by manufacturing chemists for platinum
retorts used In the concentration of oil OF vtrol
But while platinum found It's first practical use
In chemical operations, new and wider fields OF
utility have appeared with each advance in the
construction Of appliances adapted to mans COM
fort and health. To-day II is used In jewelry for
ornamentation especially in diamond settings; upon
silverware for producing dead black effects. In
artificial teeth rivets for attachment to sup
ports In the electric incandescent lamp as fine
wire for conveying the electric current through
the glass walls of the bulb TO the light giving car
bon hlament within; in telegraph. telephone and
other electric apparatus as non-corroding contact
points: in warfare in the form OF fine wires TOT
exploding torpedoes and submarine mines; IN pyro-
meters for the measurement OF the temperature
OF blast furnaces and for determining the fusng
point of other metals; In cauteres and surgical
instruments, for the treatment OF WOUNDS where
tube as eadingin Wires and as Of excl
taton of the rays; in X-ray screens IN the FORM
in photography in the production OF platinotypes,
noted for the artistic effects produced and the per
few Of The many applications OF this metal and Its
salts but enough are enumerated to Illustrate rs
wide and varied applications applications IN m'n's'er'ns u
"it might be asked what are the peculiar proper
UNIQUE position. Some OF them are as follows:
When pure and in compact form It Is tno"nit te
dead black II is oxdzed at any tsmpe nS Sa
the highest fusing point Of any metal in commer-
ciaI use unalloyed. II Is nearly as soft as copper
n nands and Contracts at practically the same
as glass and is for this reason the only metal that
paratus Chemists dentists, jewellers. electricians
and incandescent lamp. manufacturers all use II;
silver. platinum and aluminium; OF equal size ,pin'
relative weights are Cod lGs ounces Woron s
1896; aluminium 1871 ounces. cents. Just llft hrst
the platinum rod and then me aIumihum' ana
while found I'm paying quantities In few local-
ties the platinum OF commerce has been obtained
entirely from alluvial deposits. although 1t has
been reported in limited quantities In stu. We
find nearly 50 per OF the present supply In the
Ural Mountains Nearly all the collaborating gravel
beds yield platinum but the black sand workings
thrown away. and with them undoubtedly
platinum ore that Is valuable. There Is platinum
in the gold-bearng sands Of California, Oregon
Alaska on the Yukon River. Mexico. Canada. Co
lombia and Brazil and South America show up
well. Then. too. nearer home. Georgia and North
"a
and perseverng development with enough pa
thence thrown In 10 find out just what they Will
yield.
Russia is the only country. excepting possibly
New South Wales that at the present time mines
platinum for itself alone
That nugget? We don't know who discovered
II. II had probably been transferred many times
We got IL from the OF South America
February. 1897 and appreciate II sufficiently
to think the big safe the safest place for it