The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-04-27
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES


have been found only in tritling Quantl-
ties. They must be present somewhere
tn large quantities, and it is only
Ease of search and you will find.
Altogether there are thirty to forty
of these rare earths which fetch Dig
price in the market. Many OF them are
bought. merely for museums or Scien-
tifc experiment.: but others are very
valuable substances commercially.
! Uranium, for instance. from which
The magic element radium has been
separated. is worth. when chemically
nure. over $50 per pound. A ton OF
ten per cent ore would fetch between
ESQ and EGO. q.
} THE PARENT OF 2ADIUM.
Uranium is very valuable in the
manufacture OF gun-metal for heavy
caunon and arrnor plate. 1t gives
beautiful fuore>crnt green hue to
igIassware and 4 me velvety black to
porcelain.
AS every one is aware, this precious
metal is found in Cornwall pitchb!ende.
How is any one to recognize it when
found? That is not an easy matter.
but there should he no great difficulty
in recognizing mauy of the rare metals.
Each responds. OF course. to tests Pc
tculiar to itself, and one of the tests for
q uranium compound is that, When
mixed with little borax and micro
cosmic salt, and placed in the familiar
blowpipe fame. it forms a green head
lin the inner fame. and a yellow head
lin the outer fame. which becomes yell
|lowish-green on cooling.
Some Of the metals used in making
incandescent light are thorium and
lcerium,, or, rather. their oxides-thorla
land ceria. Cerium was discovered a
|ceutury ago Qs03,. and yet it is still
rare. It is twice rs dear as uranium.
IThorium, an iron-gray metal. was
found in 1928. Both are much sought
for, with the result that the latter has
fallen in price during the last ten years
|from esq to only 4 few shillings per
pound. .iL
III, LOOK FOR ZIRCONIUM.
7 "A curious thing in connection with
these metals is that the brilliant white
incandescent light which they give
when mixed is not natural to either
lof them alone. Either Of them sep
arateIy give a yel!owish light of very
little power. Cerium has other uses.
lin medicine it is cure for hysteria
and seasickneSS And it is also used
lin the development Of analine black.
+ Another very valuable and very rare
metal used for lighting purposes is
Izircouium. This was discovered 11o
Years ago, yet no one has yet had the
lgood fortune to fiud such deposit as
would make him j millionaire. 1t is
present in several Strange-named min
erals. such as eudiolyte, polymignite,
6yaciuth, etc. One valuable property
of this rare metal is that very intense
beat does not destroy it. Hence it
bs used to maxi the cylinders Of the
Drummond light for lighthouses. being
made to glow by the tremendous heat
of the oxyhydrogen fame. The cylin-
der remains as good as ever. after
Months Of use. Metallic chromium is
worth about ten Shillings per gramme.
One ton Of it would bring to its owner
over half a million of money. But
some of the natural compounds of zir-
coma are splendid gems worth f2 per
carat or $500 per ounce.
Then there is molybdenum. which
forms q most remarkable compound
with both steel and nickel Molybde
mum nickel-steei cannot be beaten for
hardness. and Yet at the same time it
Is exceedingly ductile, and fine alloy
for wire drawing. Large crankS Of
great strength are made of it. propeller
shafts, heavy guns. rifle barrels. boilers
for torpedo boats. and armOr-piercing
shells. 1t is, or was some time ago.
worth f9 per pound weight.
Vanadium, another scarce metal. has
also the curious property of hardening
steel. and it is much used in armor
|plate. So sma! quantity as one
pound. added to 200 pounds of steel.
INCREASES its strength from seven tons
and a half to thirteen tons per square
inch.
SOFT, But PRECIOUS.
\ Thallium, discovered by Sir William
lCrookes, was up to very recent date
|priced at the rate of 931, 900 per ton. It
( is very soft, and can be cut with 4
5lenife. One Of its curious properties
4 is that it makes I mark on paper like a
Head pencil, which is blue at first. then
8turns yellow, and in day or two fades
away altogether.
A metal whose supply has never yet
eQualled the demand, although it was
discovered nearly two centuries ago
h735-is platinum. Only about four
tons and a half was found in the year
19OO. chiefly in Russia. and it was sold
bat the rate of :la3,G00 per ton. The
value of platinum arises from its re-
sistance to hear and acids. 1t does not
melt until a temperature Of $3.50 de-
greeS Fahrenheit is reached, and is
therefore most useful in making chem
6cal apparatus-such as crucibles. foil
and wire New Zealand, New South
1Wales and British Columbia are good
bunting grounds ior this treasure.
- A few of the other rare elements
which are turned 10 useful account are
palladium, iridium. gallium. lithium
: hnd menachin Or Iitanium.
Lithium, the lightest Of all metals
[only about half the weight of water)