The Daytona daily news. [volume] (Daytona, Fla.) 1903-1926, 1913-03-24

SCIENCE m THE STAR ROLE,


Noeet0 - 3ea0o propeFxteep Ihey
Scored brilliant Sueesss-
Even the United States government
has become possessed OF the present
day fever to eliminate any waste and
stop leaks In the methods OF doing
things The results, particularly In
the mints and assay Offices. have been
remarkable.
For instance. the old method of ex-
tracing gold from haser metals when
II came from the mint consisted merely
of treating the smelter bars of golo
with nitric acid. which dissolved our
the baser metals. leaving the gold with
snlail percentage of impurities that
could be removed by fusing with inter
Germany went the United States ons
better In this. The professors over
there. men whose genius for scientific
detail il unsurpassed by those OF any
other nation. perfected a process Tor
refining by electricity. simply stated.
IL Is nothing more nor less than electric
plating. The smelter bars are placed
in the plating bath. and the gold is de
posited IN an absolutely pure state.
leaving the base metals behind In sclu-
fion.
Il was this residue that interested
the high brow professors The fact
that platinum b frequently found with
gold has been recognised ever since
the science Of metallurgy MAS In swad-
ding clothes: also the fact that goiC
and platinum have one quality In com.
mon-l g. that no single acid known
win dissolve them Il takes comb.
nation of nitric and muriatic acids to
set either or these two metals in solu-
tion- Silver. on the other hand. L
readily soluble In nitric acid. No one
ever thought OF testing q nitric acid
solution OF silver for the presence Of
platinum because OF the theory. sound
as religion. that platinum could not b
dissolved BY nitric acid Therefore. il
was argued. II there wasn't enough
silver IN the solution TO make ii worth
while 10 extract il. then. OF course.
there could not be any platinum. -
into the sewer il went
The professors began TO experiment
1t the FIRST step they uncovered tie
dusky gentleman In the wood nilr
They discovered curious fact nanse-
II. that. while platinum alone was not
soluble in nitric ned, some Of its At
loys with silver were soluble. For
Instance. a composition Of 5 per cent
platinum IN silver is readily soluble
Right there was the clezv leading 70 the
discovery that for years out o. mem
ory untold quantities OF the precious
metal. essential above ali others ia
electrical manufactures. had been rss
ming into the sewer. AL solutions were
carefully tested Salts Of iron were
added. precipitates supposedly OF silver
were analysed. and since then plati-
nun at the rate OF 5000 a month has
been offered for sale By Uncle Same
y IS Interesting 70 trace the sources
Of this gold il thst the facts ssazges1
that sooner or later deposits OF plat
mum Ii large quantities are going 10
be found Little OF the gold consng
from the western United states and
Alaska contains p.asiHum Ii IS found
almost entirely IN the gold mined in
Mexico and South America Gold from
these districts IS coming IN larger
quantities year after year. IL Is found.
for Instance. IN what IS popularity
known SIS Guinea gold Guinea gold
has s peculiar lCster 81 its own. II Is
highly priced IN the 3ewelry trade for
this same peculiar color
In South America that flied with
uaiashnEc swamps and lurid sarages
armed with poisoned arrows. have .
far resisted the advance Of the white
man II seems not too much % exDees
thar sooner o. later. when these dis
trlets are exploited platinum II large
quantities VIII be discoTe-esf Some
Bret HarEe Is probably a-torai1g now
% sing the romance Of Platinum Eulch-
The romance OF gold i founded or the
material consideration O. S20-57 81
ounce. which the governments q tie
earth have decree5 must be its price
Row ard for eve-Eo-e They wiz
have 10 bald = second S1o-y e11ea
sion On the romance o. the metal that
7 Is wo-th twice as much Is guild
Ncw that Cncle Sam Is finding tn
+ mine OF Platinum II the supposedly II
alloyed bars that the aig refining com
s panSes are se2dzns = sro1 thesr sDels
srs. the interesting GueS1o1 Is srzslE-
+ Who ewas tie platinum Uncle sam @
tie 7e6Cezssss Cnc2e Sam bought rae-s
i sod. rs1ned Il Ter them 81 Gust za
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