The Washington times., 1901-10-16
SOME UNCOMMON M1NERALs
oryoite, Beauxite, Monazite, and
SeIenium, and Their U.as

| me announcement made a few davs aro
| by the press of the loss of a shin which
had gone to Greenland for a cargo of
| cryolite brought into fresh notice a min
eral with rather unfamiliar name and
| one which is now rather less in demand
than 1t was few years ago. Cryolite. or
Hryolite, as it is some times spelled is
q sait containing both sodium and alumni
num- Colorado and the UraI mountains
produce 1t in limited quantities but the
largest and most available deposits vet
found are in Greenland.
Aluminium is made from alumina. which
formerly was manufactured from cryolite
AT present, however. practically Ill of the
aiuinlna made in this country-at least.
that which is converted into aluminium
is derived from an entirely different ore,
beauxite.
Caustlc soda, much used in the indus
lrles and especially III the production of
iye for soap, was formerly made by boil
ing siaked lime with cryoIite, But mod
erh processes Of manufacturing soda from
coininon Salt-chIOride of Sodiuul-are
now rapidly displacing that method.
Again, the pure metal sodium is obtained
more cbeaply from cryolite than from
other sources.
Cryolite is a lustrous material often oF
pure or greyish white, but sometimes
possessing a yellow tint Combined with
silica by melting, it is wrought into glass
resembling porcelain, and yariously known
ss hot cast porcelain" and !.cryoIite
glass"
Beauxite, sometimes spelled bauxite.
taxes its name from the place where il
was first discovered in considerable ouan-
titles, BeauX. France. A few years ago
Alabama and Georgia were the chief pro-
ducers, but the supply in that quarter is
iaIllng on, while Arkansas is yielding
Dountfully and seems to have almost un-
limited deposits.
Another mineral which has come into
notice within the last few years in con-
sequence of its industrial application is
monazite, from which the obtained the
rare metals thorium. lanthanum, and did
ymium, used In the manufacture of Wells
bach mantels for gas lighting Monazite
Is found in the form of small crystals
mixed with sand in the beds of streams
where d certain class of granite rocks
have disintegrated. The workable depos-
its in the United States are limited TO
four or five counties in North Carolina
and three in South Carolina. The precious
grains are discovered by washing the riv-
er beds as in gold placer mining.
Seleuium is not only very rare, but thus
far has found little use in the arts. one
of its most unique qualities. the variable
fty of its electric conductvity under the
influence of light, has been turned to ac-
count by many inventors who were try
ing to transmit pictures by telegraph. Sc
lenium costs about $i3 pound just now,
and is, therefore. more valuable than sill
Yer.
In the whole catalogue of chemicals.
minerals and rare clements the price of
which are quoted every week by trade
journals. perhaps no name is more puz-
zlng to the unintiated than ''infusorial
earth Still. If he knows much about dy-
Mantle he is aware that this is the stuff
employed as an absorbent to hold the
nitrOglyceTine of that famous explosive.
1t was Nobel, the great Swedish engineer,
who founded a number of attractive
prizes to encourage scientific progress.
who first discovered the trick by which
nitroglycerine could be safely handled.
lnfusOrial earth is composed of the sill
isIns, diatoms which reveal wonderfully
complicated and beautiful structures un-
der the misc-oscope 1t is found in mod
crate quantities in Maryland. Virginia,
North Carolina. and New Hampshire An
other use to which this material is put is
the manufacture of polishing powders
Kansas City Star.