The Arvada enterprise., 1924-02-28
SYNTHETIC ROCKS
PRODUCED IN DAY
Laboratory Reproductions Equal
Earth's Finest Work-Use
Natures Processes.

the latest wonder of modern science Is
thetlc minerals, to be followed In q
few months by synthetic rocks. The
reproductions ure said to equal mother
eart1l's finest workmanship and to re-
I quire less than millionth part of the
estimated time needed by her.
They are the fruits Of years OF pa
tient research and laborious hours In
the laboratory; Of hazardous expert.
ments with powerful machines capable
OF exerting pressure of 100000 pounds
to the square inch-all carried to their
| present stage Of success at the geo.
physical laboratory Of the Carnegie In
stitute OF Washington.
To manufacture minerals and rocks
science is simply duplicating natures
processes, but Is accomplishing the
same results, on much smaller scale,
OF course. In single working day. Ma
ture took bewilderlng ages and smelt-
ed her wonders In the vast forges Of
the earth; science Is fabricating its
copies In few highly polished and In.
nocent-lOoklng little steel bombs"
Same Minerals Used.
Mother earth manufactured her
minerals and rocks, science has
learned. by means of extreme heat and
extreme pressure. First the minerals
known to be contained In the mineral
under experiment are poured into u
tiny tube made OF pure platinum, one
end OF which Is sealed by solid gold.
The opposite end Is then sealed and
this contalner placed In the bomb"
The bomb IL made OF the finest steel
obtainable. Its aperture is small and
its walls extremely thick In compari-
son. all making 1t capable of with
standing the terrific test 1t is about to
undergo. A small electric furnace
made Of the same. although impure,
constituents Of rubies, is placed In the
bomb" and the apparatus sealed.
Then 1t is ready for the ordeal Of scar
ing heat and gigantic pressures.
Both are applied gradually, the heat
sometimes being permitted to register
us high as $500 degrees Fahrenheit
and the pressure as much as GO,OOO
pounds to the square inch. Gradually
the gauges creep up, and up and up.
Suddenly they relax and the pressure
drops. The watchful attendants know
something" has happened inside the
bomb and the heat and pressure are
quickly turned or. When the platinum
container is cut open mineral particles
or rocks, whichever the case may he,
are found inside.
Rocks That viii Bend.
Not only are these minerals the rep
licas of natures own products, but In
many instances spurer-completely free
from the discoloring Impurities that
are found In the natural originals. For
Instance the jndelte made ut the geo
physical laboratory OF the Carnegie In
stitute Is light yellow IN color. Nat
ural Jade Is green. The green color
.ng. however. Is supplied by an I'm
purity. and the synthetic Jade readily
could be made the same shade by In
Guiding the impurity in Its constitu-
rnts.
n Its experiments. II has discovered
hat by injecting more wnter into the
rocks It can make them susceptible to
bending-gelatin.like II still more
water is forced Into them under heat
and pressure they are quite readily re-
luced to iIuid-liluld rock. In fact.
But when the uninit!atcd visitor to the
laboratory opens his eyes In wonder ut
such spectacles, the scientists simply
laugh and quite learnedly say: why.
thcrc's nothing 80 remarkable about
.hat."
Able to Compress Water.
Tests with hllSi pressure have also
disproved som. old theories. The first
is that water cannot be compressed.
Science has discovered that water can
not only be compressed, but that under
pressure of 10000 pounds to the
square inch 1t freezes into cake of
Ice SO thickly condensed that 1t sinks
like rock In water. Mercury. too-.the
"unfreczabc" mineral used In ther-
mometers-can be frozen under pres.
sure Of lIo,oco pounds to the square
lSSh.
Science HAS yet to learn. however, to
duplicate rhefvonders of nature at the
same cost before, I, can compete with
her In the commercial world. Mother
earth can do her work SO vastly cheap
cr In that respect. For instance, II
you We're determined to have syn
thetic tombstone. science could prob
ably make you II granite one-but It
would cost something like II billion
dollars, Fortunes spent In research
and past experiments must Of course
bc figured In "cost production" The
important fact. however, Is THAI man
cnn now make granite.
or far greater value for the present
are the laboratory's contributions TO
the study OF seismology. Its expert.
mcnts have resulted In scientists be.
Ing able to determine accurately the
neXIblli,y OF the various kinds OF
al h., Nfis NA,t t.l