The Sauk Centre herald., 1903-09-10
sta.:fWE PLATINUM,
Thc 'ss;u:s:,.," A3.-..t:. "x;rs,etes From
TI2l3 Pc. Wiz >.-.&t:ance. s.

Ez1ac ''::us-~-" A..-..t. N tr,,ctcS From,
Tt2l3 Pc, Wiz >.-D%tance- =
On the slopes OF ;',e Ural mountains
and in Dr;iz:l. Ga. !r:,::a. Australia,
Canada and lI>;3T o.4.,r countries a pc
culiar S;.JS,;>..ur &;!0N,-:I IS naive pfah-
mum is found. Ills i: an alloy of the
metals platinum, l.Gd.In. iridium,
osmium, rhodium and ruth"niunl, to-
gether with q little cold and iron. All
of these except tno .ASt mentioned arc
thea noble metals. TLey Go not tar
nish i'll the air and air not soluble in
any single acid. Tho most plentiful
metal Cccuxr.Ng ia uitive platinum is
that from which It $.tkos is name.
This metal is OF :; @rIyi&h cC!or and
with one exception = tlc heaviest sub
stance known. It's fusinS point is eX-
tremely high and t.I:s property, to-
gether with its f:ocC'M ."1!N t;;rnish-
ing. causes it to be largely used for the
manufacture Of c5Uci-itS and other
vessels required By scientists to stand
a very high temperature. It is also
sometimes used as 4 substitute for gold
in photography, and when deposited in
a thin film on the interior of the tubes
Of telescopes it forms a dead black
surface, which preTents>the light from
being reflected by the polished sides.
Palladium is OF "a lustrous white
color. 1t is the most easily fused Of
the metals found in platinum ore. and
can even be volatiIized. A curious
quality which this metal possesses Is
that when heated to redness It Is
porous to hydrogen gas, allowing it to
pass through somewhat in the same
manner that bIotting paper permits the
passage Of water. The siixery white
color Of palladium and dts freedom
from furnishing render II useful for
making scales and division marks on
scientific Instruments. A mixture OF
this metal with mercury De sometimes
used for filling teeth. Osmium is a
metal which possesses two remarkable
properties-it is the most refractory
Of the metals, resisting fusion at the
most intense heat, and 1t is also the
heaviest substance KNOWN. being twen-
ty-two and a half times heavier than
water Together with iridium., 1t oc-
ours principally in peculiar variety OF
native platinum called osmiridfum.
This mineral differs from ordinary
platinum ore in that it contains
larger proportion of oslnium and irid-
ium than platinum. Osmiridlum Is
found in small particles, varying in
weight from one-sixth to 'one-third OF
a grain. These particles are extremely
hard and are used for pointing non
wearing pens
Metallic iridium possesses white
steeklike appearance The knife edges
of delicate balances and other bearings
which require extreme hardness are
.sfte1i made Of it Ar alloy OF 10 per
cent iridium and so per cent platinum
has been found to be very little affected
in volume by changes of temperature
and is the substance of which the
standard meter kept ia the internatiOn-
al metric bureau at Paris is made
Rhodium and ruthenium are metals Of
little practical use The former occurs
in platinum ore to the extent of 5 to 8
per cent. The latter is found only in
Osmiridium and averages about per
cent of that mineral. The metal which
ranks next to platinum ia price is Zlr-
.conium which occurs in hy&cinth and
some other rare minerals. Uranium is
remarkable for its high atomic weight.
the heaviest knoWn.-Chambers' Jour
ma