The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-01-21
UNFAMILIAR MINERALS
STRANGE USES FOUND FOR cRYo.
LITE, 8EAUxlTE AND SELENlUM.

the mRnutacturc OF Alumfnum-BeauN-
tie Mined I'm Alabama. Georgia and Ar
Kansas "lnfusorlni Earth" "a Puzzle.
The announcement made a few days
ago by the press of the loss OF a ship
which had gone To- Greenland for
cargo of cryolitc brought into fresh
notice a mineral with a rather unfa.
miliar name, and one which is now
rather less i'm demand than it was a
few years ago. Cryollte. or kryollte.
as it is sometimes spelled. is n salt
containing both sodium and aluminium.
Both of the latter and some OF their
compounds have been obtained from
that source. Colorado and the Ural
Mountains produce It in limited guam
titles. but the largest and most avail
able deposits yet found are in Green
land. near the west coast. and this re
gion has been the chief. If not the
sole, reliance OF commerce.
Aluminium is made from alumina.
the oxide of aluminium, and the pro
cess Of getting rid of the oxygen is
called reducing. In this country the
business is controlled by the Pittsburg
Reduction Company, which for a long
time purchased its alumina from the
Pennsylvania Salt Company. and the
latter manufactured the article from
cryolitc, which it imported from Ivig-
tut, Greenland. At present. however.
practically all of the alumina made in
this country-at least. that which is
converted into aluminum-is derived
from an entirely different ore beauX-
lite, of which more anon.
Still in the final separation of the
aluminium and oxygen by the Ameri-
can system cryolitc is used as an i'm
portant auxiliary. The alumina TO be
treated is dissolved in a bath of the
Greenland mineral melted, and an
electric current of enormous volume
passed through the fluid In this OPP
GRAFTON there is little or no waste of
cryolite. 1t is the alumina which
needs constant renewal.
Caustic soda. or the hydrated oxide
Of sodium, much used in the indus
tries, and especially in the production
of I've for soap, was formerly made by
boiling slaked lime with cryolite. But
the Solvay and other modern pro
cesses of manufacturing soda from
common salt-chloride of sodium-are
now rapidly displacing that method.
Again, the pure metal sodium is OBJ
tanned more cheaply from cryolite than
from other sources.
Cryolite is n lustrouS material. often
of pure or grayish white, but some
times possessing a yellow tint Com
bined with silica by melting. il is
wrought into glass resembling porce-
lain, and variously known as hot
cast porcelain" and "cryolite glass"
BeauXite, sometimes spelled bauXite,
takes it's name from the place where
it was first discovered i'm considerable
quantities, BeauX, France 1t is now
found abundantly in the southern part
OF this country. a few years ago Ala
bama and Georgia were the chief pro
ducers. But Edward w. Parker. man
aging editor of the Engineering and
Mining Journal, remarked that the
supply in that quarter was falling off
while Arkansas is yielding bountifully
and seems to have almost unlimited
deposits.
Another mineral which has come
into notice within the last few years
in consequence of its Industrial appli-
cations is mOnazite, from which are
obtained the rare metals thorium. Ian
thanum and didymium. used in the
manufacture of nantes for gas light
ing. MOnazite is found in the form of
small crystals. mixed with sand. i'm the
beds of streams where a certain class
OF granite rocks have disintegrated,
and both in Europe and America it
seems TO be confined to those regions
which have escaped glacial action.
Something OF sensation was created
In England year or so ago by the
widespread sickness which apparent
~ resulted from drinking cheap beer.
1t was believed that the trouble came
from the use by the brewers of glu-
cose from which the sulphuic acid
had not been altogether eliminated.
The acid i'm turn, was suspected OF
being tainted with arsenic, common
impurity in that article when manu-
featured out of Spanish pyrites Since
the first sensation over the trouble
subsidized the theory has been advanced
that It. was selenium and not arsenic
which poisoned the beer. That sub
stance is also present in Spanish py-
rites and has been recently found I'm
some of the products of British brew
cries. Thus another comparatively
unknown metal has been brought to
public attention. Selenium is not only
very rare. but thus far has found lit
tie use i'm the arts one of It's Ouali-
ties the variability of its electric CON.
ductivity under the influence of light
has been turned to account 10y many
inventors who were trying to transmit
pictures by telegraph Sclcnium costs
about $13 q pound just now. and is.
therefore. more valuable than silver
In the whole catalogue OF "chcm.-
Gals, minerals and rare elements" the
prices of which are quoted every wcp,
hy trade journals. perhaps mo- name is
moro pulling to- the uniuitiatcl than
"iufuSorial EARTH Stil. if Doc knows
much about dynamite. hc is aware
that Ibis is lbg stuff employed aus au
-orbcnt 90 hold iEc nitro glycoriuo
Cf that famous explosive III was $50.
bel. the great Swedish engineer who
founded number of attractive prizes
to encourage scientific progress. who
first discovered tine trick by which ui.
tro-glyceriue could hr safely handled
lnfusorial earth is composed of tho
eilfrfDue lhnil1 off nlfuuf. y.rsI, Gala. l..