CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 195 



NEW METALLIC ELEMENT. 



Von Kobell has discovered in euxenite, jeschynitc, and samarskite, and a 

 tantalise from Taramela, a new metallic acid, belonging to the same group 

 with tantalic and niobic acids. To the new metal contained in this acid the 

 author has given the name of Dianium. 



ALUMINUM LEAF. 



A Parisian gold-beater, Degousse, has succeeded in obtaining leaves of 

 aluminum as thin as those from gold and silver. The aluminum must be 

 reheated repeatedly over a chafing-dish during the process of beating. This 

 leaf is less brilliant than that of silver, but it is not so easily tarnished as the 

 latter. It is easily combustible, taking fire when held in the flame of a can- 

 dle, and burning with an exceedingly intense white flame. 



According to Fabian, the chemical lecturer will find aluminum leaf to be 

 well adapted for exhibiting the characteristic properties of the metal. It 

 dissolves, for example, with surprising rapidity in a solution of caustic alkali. 



NEW METHOD OF PREPARING THE METAL CALCIUM. 



Caron has succeeded in preparing large quantities of calcium by the fol- 

 lowing process : A mixture of 300 parts of fused and pulverized chloride 

 of calcium, with 400 parts of granulated, distilled zinc, and 100 parts of 

 sodium in pieces, is to be heated to redness in a crucible. The reaction is 

 feeble, and after some time flames of zinc appear. The heat is then to be 

 moderated, the temperature remaining as high as possible without volatiliz- 

 ing the zinc ; after a quarter of an hour the crucible may be withdrawn from 

 the fire. It contains a well-fused metallic mass, which is highly crystalline, 

 and which contains from 10 to 15 per cent of calcium. The alloy is then to 

 be placed in a crucible of gas-retort carbon, and the zinc expelled by heat. 

 In this manner Caron obtained masses of 40 grammes at a single operation, 

 and containing only the impurities of the zinc employed. As thus employed, 

 calcium has a brass-yellow color, and a density of from 1.6 to 1.8. It is not 

 sensibly volatile, but filings of the metal burn with red sparks of remarkable 

 beauty, without formation of vapor, which seems to show that the metal is 

 not volatile at the temperature of its combustion. The author promises to 

 communicate the results of similar experiments in the preparation of barium, 

 strontium, etc. Comptes Rendus. 



THE METALLURGY OF PLATINUM. 



The metallurgy of platinum is altogether a modern art, the introduction 

 of the metal into the laboratories of science and industry dating but from a 

 few years back; and although particularly deserving of the attention of 

 chemists, the metallurgy of platinum and its associated metals is, in general, 

 but little known. Except for chemical purposes, platinum has not hitherto 

 received any important application ; but when we know better where to look 

 for its ores, and when the deposits already known are more extensively 

 worked, the ores of platinum will, perhaps, become no rarer than gold; and 

 as the metal is almost indestructible, and as its value protects it from losses 

 and accidents of all kinds, it must in time accumulate, and thus become 



