Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-31
OF WORLDWIDE INTEREST
METALS RARER THAN GOLD
BY FREDERIC }. HAskIN

I anu nlODluln ana fnoulum are each
worth $245O per pound.
| Barium is worth 1880 per pound.
Barium hydrate is made in large guam
titles at Niagara Falls by eleetrolysis
of the soluble salts of barium 1t is
used extensively In sugar refining, and
| Is said to be superior to lime for that
purpose. 1t Is also said to be valuable
in the prevention of scale in boilers
caused by the calcium deposits from
wafer. The artificial sulphate of BARI
um is widely used In permanent
white paint, making 1t retain it's
luster for a long time.
Titanium is valued at $11O2 per
pound. 1t is used In the making of
fine steel, and gives 1t toughness and
tensile strength, which make titanium
steel widely noted. zirconium also has
place in the world OF usefulness IN
spite of its great value, which .s
$1040 per pound. 1t forms white
powder or amorphous Jumps, and has
both basic and acid properties. 1t
possesses the property of being ex-
tremely refractory toward heat, not
being changed even by the flames of
the oxy-hydrogen blowpipes. 1t glows
with an intense white light when made
In the shape of a cone and played upon
by such flame. This property makes
it useful where fine light is essential,
and it is used a great deal in light
houses and lightships.
Osmium Is one of the noble metals.
and Is the least fusible of them all,
the oxy-hydrogen jet volatilizing but
not fusing it. When heated to s de-
grees above the boiling point of water
1t gives off very irritating and ire
spirable vapor and hence derived it's
name from the Greek word, osne,
aAaa ar.t. Irnxr Ia IN.
idium, osmium is used widely asa sub
stance for tipping gold pens, and it is
in this form that man can carry
around day after day metal worth
more than three tines its weight i'll
gold.
Next on the scale of metals in point
of value is uranium. 1t would require
$3.50 worth of good American gold to
buy a pound of 1t. A compound of
this metal Is used extensively in glass
and china painting, and in the manu-
facture of the beautiful fuorescent
uranium glass. 1t is from the residue
IN the gathering of uranium that ra-
dunn is refined. Palladium is valued
at $500 per pound. 1t has been ap-
piled in a few cases to the construc-
tion bf graduated scales for astro-
instruments, for which its
whiteness. hardness and unalterability
in the air peculiarly adapt 1t. Its
scarcity, however, prevents its gem
eral use for this purpose. 1t is chiefly
obtained from an alloy which 1t forms
with gold in certain mines in Brazil.
The value of tellurium is $490 per
pound. When it was discovered in ex-
with its salts 1t was found
that even when administered to a
healthy person in the small dose of
one quarter of q grain 1t would impart
to the breath and perspiration dis
gusting odor making the object of the
test a nuisance to everyone he APP
preached. Telurium is found in con-
siderable quantities in Boulder county.
Colorado.
Chromium is also valued at $490 per
pound, or nearly two.thirds more than
gold. 1t derives its name from the
many colored compounds it's produces.
Chronic iron is found in Pennsylvania
and Maryland. Biehromate> of potash
is it's principal compound. 1t is used in
agent for bleaching palm oil and other
oils and fats.
1t is interesting to note that probably
three fourths of these metals were dis.
covered within ten years of the close of
the eighteenth century, and ten years
after the beginning OF the nineteenth
century. ABOUT Iudl tlIlle tHeI6 was dll
awakening in the chemical world that
led to hundreds of important discover
les in chemistry. Some of these dis
coveries were almost as remarkable as
those made in the astronomical world.
Long before the eye of man had ever
seen them, an astronomer figured out
that the planetoids existed. Another
student of the heavens forecasted the
appearance of the great planet Neputne
before mortal man had known that
such a planet was whirling through
space. That astronomer saw that there
was some cause for the agitation of tse
olahet Uranus, and It's deviation from
It's usual orbit. Taking the known laws
1f his science he figured out the pres
snce of another planet, and forecasted
when and where it would become visi-
ole His forecast worked out to the
lot. and stands today as one of the
greatest achievements OF the astrono-
nical world.
Likewise, when the chemist was eX-
)erimenting with the strange, elusive
md wonderful metals then known, he
ou.ld gap between two of them. He
concluded that somewhere in the uni
yerse there was another metal that
vol7l fill that gap Acting on that
conclusion he proceeded to hunt for it.
md success at last crowned his efforts.
howing that after all men may make
themselves pretty familiar with the
avs of nature.