The Washington herald., 1912-01-21

OF Ine uOsl renarkaDle depOsll cA ulcldt-
liferous earths known anywhere in
the world. This deposit occurs in Barin-
ger Hill, in Central Texas. about 100
miles west Of the city Of Austin The
hill Is q mere knoll. which, through ge-
ologic accident. has been made q verIta-
BILE storehouse OF treasures Of the kind
the metals, such as yttrium,' being
found there In disguised shape, as earths
which have TO be put through complex
processes in order TO obtain them In a
pure form
ages ago a plutonic convulsIon brought
the substances In question up from the
bowels OF the planet TO the surface
through a crack In the rocks. 90 that to-
day the formation remains to excite the
wonder OF geologists- Some OF the earths
occur in large masses. especially yttria.
In fact, the knoll Of which speak IS
the principal source in this country OF
the rare metal yttrfum. used In the max
ing Of the Nernst incandsscent lamps,
which glow not in q vacuum. like ordi-
nary electric lamps. but in the open air.
'Yttrium Is a very remarkable sub
stance, and much yet remains to be
learned about it Apparently IL Is q whole
bunch OF rare metals IN itself, which.
up at the present time, have not been
separated When. at a future day, in
genicTs chemists have succeeded IN tax
ing II 10 pieces, some OF the elements OF
which It Is composed may individually
prove OF great value to mankind.
THE reduction OF most Of the newly
discovered metals to their pure forms
would have been utterly impracticabi5 e
an earlier day. It has been accomplished
through the development OF the electric
furnace, which Is able to generate enor-
mously high temperatures, running up to
100 degrees Fahrenheit Such tempera-
lures. indeed. are almost Celestial ap-
preaching those which are supposed to
exist on the sun and other stars.
The graphite electrodes used in eiec-
tric furnaces, by the way, are sometimes
as much as six or even eight feet long.
and are made at Niagara Falls by Ed
ward G. Acheson, the inventor, who, by
the employment OF high temperatures.
has produced the extraordinary substance
ond in hardness only to the diamond
The electric furnace has enabled
chemists TO obtain in pure form the new
metal 'tantalum'-so called because IL
so long resisted all efforts to separate IL
from the elements with which it Is found
combined IN nature. One OF its most
notable properties Is its resistance to
corrosion- It resists the chemical action
Of iEk. and Of the atmosphere, as well as
bOl0s anu PCho NAAAAA A1AAy sN-
perior to gold pens IN elasticity and
hardness) have already made their ap-
pearence on the market
Another new metal, chromium has
found a most important usefulness in
the manufacture OF chrome-nickel steel,
which at the present time Is deemed su-
perior to anything else for the armor
OF war ships. The Introduction Of a
small percentage Of Il into steel enables
- NaN 20 - Na-snarad rT7TFrh faona-
so that a bar. instead OF acquiring merely
a surface hardening, Is tempered clear
through.
"Our supplies Of chromium come large,
ly from Turkey, but there are enormous
deposits Of II in New Caledonia. In the
South Seas. In nature IL furnishes the
coIoring matter to rubies (the most high
ly valued Of all precious stones). and In
this connection you may be interested TO
learn that chemists are employing II very
successfully in the production of artificial
rubies by heating It with corundum (the
material Of the natural gem) in the cleo
tric furnace.
salts OF the new metal uranium are
used in the manufacture Of iridescent
glass. and those Of tzoolybdenum' (Which
looks somewhat like aluminum) give Q
fine blue color to pottery Eiazes. Va
nadic acid, q new discovery (from vsna-
dunn, when mixed as a fins powder with
varnishes, affords a cheap and admtrabls
substitute for gold broRze,' giving most
decorative effects.
"Titanium has an important usefulness
in adding strength and elasticity 70
steel. and rails containing a percentags
of it are the best in tho market. An
ore Of 1t called rutile, which occurs in
pretty yellowish and brownish crystals,
Is utilized by manufacturers OF dental
goods for initiating. in porcelain, the
tints of natural teeth. All artificial
teeth are colored with II, Rutile costs
about s. pound, and most Of II comes
from the neighborhood Of Lancaster, Pa.
"Selenium Cof which have already
made mention) Is now being used in the
form OF an oxide, as the result Of re-
cent discovery, to give a beautiful ruby
color to Subsequently, for railroad and
other signal lights. II has been employed
by Prof. Alexander Graham Bell in his
photophone for telephoning along q ray
OF light The commercial supply Of Il is
derived mainly from the shines, which
are the residuum OF the processes OF the
electrolytic refining Of copper bullion.
And the same Is true OF 'tellurium'-a
rare metal which resembles zinc.
AN odd point about tellurium Is that
its compounds have so frightful an odor
that chemists who make experiments with
II are obliged Rfterward TO get rid of
their clothing by burial Its effect upon
the breath when taken internally Il such
that physicians have been known to COM
pei female patients to desist from the
fatigue OF social amusements by pre-
scribing few tellurium pIlls-thus abSo-
lutely incapacitating them for appearance
in the drawing room or at the dinner
table.
'UndsnlabIy the most interesting metal
ever discovered IL radium, which, accord
ing to a very recent announcement by
Nine. Curie. has at last been obtained
in a pure form, the radium hitherto
known having been an alloy with
'barium.' Among tie phencmena exhib-
tied by radium not least extraordinary
is that OF yielding light without heat,
though IN order TO render It's rays visible
as light they must be made to impingo
upon zinc silicate" RENE BACHR