The Washington times., 1901-10-20
SOME UNCOMMON MINERALS.
CryOIite, Benuxite, Monazite, and
SeIeniuni, and Their Uses.

The announcement made few days ago
by the press of the loss of Il shin which
had gone to Greenland for a cargo of
cryolite brought into fresh notice min
eral with a rather unfamiliar name, and
one which is now rather less in demand
than it was few years ago. Cryolite, or
kryolite, as 1t is some times spelled. is
q salt containing both sodium and alumni
mum. Colorado and the Ural mountains
produce It in limited quantities. but the
largest and most available deposits yet
found are in Greenland.
Aluminium is made from alumina, which
formerly was manufactured from cryolite
At present, however, practically Ill of the
alumina made in this country-at least
that which is converted INTO aluminium
is derived from an entirely different ore,
beauxite.
Caustic soda, much used in the indus
tries and especially in the production of
lye for soap, was formerly made by boil
ing slaked lime with cryolite. But mod
ern processes of manufacturing coda from
common salt-chloride of sodium-are
now rapidly displacing that method.
again, the pure metal sodium is obtained
mere cheaply from cryOlite than from
otker sources.
CryoIite is 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 variousiy known
as hot cast porcelain" and "cryoIite
glass;
Beauxite, sometimes spelled bauxite,
takes its name from the place where it
was first discovered in considerable guam
| titles, Beaux, France. few years ago
Alabama and Georgia were the chief pro-
ducers. but the supply in that quarter is
falling off, while Arkansas is yielding
/ bountifully and seems to have almost un-
limited deposits.
| Another mineral which has come into
notice within the last few years in con-
sequence OF it's 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,
mixe 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.
Selenium is not only very rare, but thus
far has found little use in the arts. One
of its most unique qualities, the variable
ity of it's electric cOnductvity under the
influence of light, has been turned to ae-
count by many inventors who We're try
ing to transmit pictures by telegraph. Sc
Ienium costs about sl3 a pound just now
and is. therefore, more valuable than sill
yer.
In the whole catalogue of chemicals,
minerals and rare elements" 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
nitroglycerine 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.
Infusorial earth is composed of the sill
ceous shells of minute vegetable organ
isms. diatoms which reveal wonderfully
complicated and beautiful structures un-
dor the miscrOscope. 1t is found in mod
crate ,itz-tities 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.