Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-03-10
vANA0IUM AND ITS USES.


III AN irresistible force strike an i'm
movable object. what will happen?"
Ihat may be an ancient trap for The
Youthful logician and philosopher. but
'hc development of.modcrn warfare hav,
almost made Il Il practical question. The
hortS to produce an irresistible steel pro
lcctIlc have at least until very recently.
been we'll cou~htrabalanccd hv those
seeking To produce an indcStructihle m
NOR 10 resist them. out of this situation
hrSi grew the Importance Of what \ few
years ago was a comparatively little
known substance. This substance il the
metallic element known a. vanahinm. In
lNlb Nanadium steel was used in the pro
duciion of some armor plates in France.
Tests Of these plates demonstrated that
They were much tougher and more highly
resistant than like plates made without
the use Of vanldium. At once the Gle
ment became important and the demand
Tor II grew. further uses for ii were dis
covered and now vauadiUm steel is one
OF the most important products of the
iron industry.
According a. an instructive article in
The March number Of the Monthly Bullet
M of the Pan American Union. Washing
ton. II. a.. vanadium H. not such a recent
discovery a> many persons think. II
seems that had he not himself repudiated
his " discovery. the honor of finding
the new element wuld have been accord
ct 60 Andres Manuel Dcl Rio. Il profess
or of mncTaloey i'm the R0yal School of
Mino> If the City of Mexico. Ia 1901 the
professor. ~ examining son brown lead
ores from the mines ~ /imapan. i'll what
- o known ~ the state Of IIidal.o. be
ileNed that he had discovered a new elc.
nlenl different from chromium and urani
ull. and this hr named critrunium. III
was M reality what we now know ~ va
nadium. The discovery Was a g%cnuint
one. but unfortunately the professor was
= lltilr too much under the glamor III the
French school. and when Collet pcSco>
tlS published an article i'm which he stat
lcd that del RI U|Fitrnnium was moth
ing more than impure chromium Del Rio
accepted the French professors iud.
mcnt ami ~ 1901 diSavOwed his claim of
discovery and admitted that The SuhStan
&C. was y lc1d chromatr. Subsequent a.
cnts showed that del Rio originally was
right and the element does not even Ia.
Ion" ~ the chromium group. ID was not
until 1870 that The Swedish scientist. y
q. Sef>trom. rcdiScuycrcd thr element
anon. the >lagS OF the Tahcre iron ores
AMI gave n the name ~ vanadium. Il
name probably derived from what might
he termed Il family name ia Morse myth
ol"gy. Nanir or Wanna. To which group
freNia. the Morse Venus. belonged.
Nanadium - 4 silver white metal
which readily oXidize>: il has an atomic
weight of Sip. is non magnetic. hos a ",
~ high electrical cSiStivitN and mcltS ND
iboEt 1859 degrees &. ~ aH ailo, vi
iron. however. lis melting point is about
3nn degrees lower. II j. one oi the most
widely disseminated elements. although
commercially available deposits are com
paratiycly rare. 1t has been found in
several Of the western states Of United
States. ia Sweden. Australia. Spain. Eng
land. Argentine. Chile and in Ptm. NJ
is upon the last named country. however
that The worlds commercial supply dc
ponds. The aSphaltitc deposits from
which the Peruvian vanadium il obtain
ed are located at Vault. Matucan. Casa
lapca. %liuari, lluanclyo. and last and lar
gr~t. at MinaS Ragra. The dr. from the
u igra mines. which looks like a hard
Slaty coal. confirms about ~ per cent va
nadium >ulphidc. 80 per cent free sui
phur. III per cent SILICA. 1 per cent iron
Snlphidc. etc. and after burning u the
free sulphur the ore contains about -
pr cent vlnadium oxide.
Until the recent Development ~ vanad
ium ia the steel industry its commercial
use WAS largely confined Ia ink making
aud cnloring fabrics and leather. The
ink IL made NJ 4 mixture NJ 4 neutral M
luton uf ammonium vanadatc. gum water.
and - solution of .allic acid. Neither ac-
ids nor ~alctlic~ can destroy il. nor can
IL hc hrachrl ont with chloride About
1905 the supply uf Nanadium. owing "a
the development Of the MiuaS I.agraS
and other mines IA Peru. began ~ in
crease. From having 4 rare metal. ii he
came available in quantities claimed a.
he unlimited a. II steel making metal.
The claims Of it, users that il has az
compliShcd wonders in crurihlc and In
open hearth steel. that IL gives east iron
Greater strength and endurance. and that
copper and aluminium arc improved
for certain purposes TN it> addition. ID
j. used in steel for engine aNlcS and
frames in transmission shafts and gears
~ wire springs. piston rods. hydraulic
cylinders. tires. tools. boiler plates. gun
shields proicciilcS armor plates, gUn bar
t0rgingS generally. One of the great al
vlntagcS Of the use 1T yanldium steel in
the future viii me- doubt hc IN enabling
the steel factors 10 reduce weight in such
constructions aud locomotives. ears ma
chincrN. etc. H. greater durability being
another important fcaturc.
Q