440 ANNUAIj report OF THE Off. Doc. 



kill, the first in the form of siniimite and uraninite, or pitchblende, 

 and the latter as ••unnnite and uranophane. Radio-activity has 

 been noticed in some of the spring waters, but much more investiga- 

 tion will be necessary before a full report can be made. Radium 

 possesses a double interest now, since it has been determined by 

 Sir Wni. Ramsay, of London, and others, that it can be gradually — 

 in part at least — transmuted into another element known as 

 helium. This opens a wide door for investigation whether lead 

 can be changed to zinc, iron to copper, and silver to gold; or the old 

 alchemist theory revived after centuries of slumber and sleep. 



CARBORUNDUM. 



The gigantic electric power at Niagara Falls, N. Y., is doing grand 

 work with the mineral products of Pennsylvania. Some of our 

 bituminous coal is first coked here, giving employment to many 

 people, and then shipped to Niagara. Possibly in the same freight 

 train there will be several cars loaded with our best silica sand from 

 Mifflin, or Huntingdon or Indiana or other counties. The coke and the 

 sand are properly mixed together at their destination, and, fresto! 

 under the magic influence of the electric current they are turned into 

 a blackish, or bluish and peacock-colored substance, chemically 

 known as carbide of silicon, and commercially sold as carborundum, 

 the best abrasive known, far excelling in utility and usefulness the 

 world-wide famed emery of Greece or Asia Minor. 



ARTIFICIAL GRAPHITE. 



Some of our cast-off coal, too hard for fuel, is sent to Niagara 

 Falls, and again the magic play of that wonderful power, electricity; 

 and there is returned to us an artificial graphite better for cruci- 

 bles, and better for the arc light, than any natural product known. 



OTHER WONDERS. 



We take some of the sand found on the crests of a thousand hills 

 OP mountains of our Commonwealth, ship that to the Falls; another 

 charge of electricity, with thousands of voltage in the power, thou- 

 sands of amperes in the intensity of the current, thousands of ohms 

 in resistance, and thousands of watts of energy; and, lol there is 

 returned to us the metal Siloxicon, as white as pure silver, as durable 

 as the ages, and with a heat resistance of 7,000 degrees, Fahrenheit, 

 or 1,000 degrees more than was believed only ten years ago would 

 produce perfect combustion. 



Then w^e ship there a carload, say, of our cheapest clays from 

 one of our least prized deposits. Again the electrical manipula- 

 tion takes place, and there is sent back to us a bluish-gray metal 

 better suited for cooking utensils than iron or copper, or any other 

 substance; and also for a thousand other different uses. The 

 modest name of this newly discovered metal is "Egyptianized Clay." 

 It should not be mistaken for aluminum, or aluminium, though it 

 somewhat resembles it; for it is much lower in price, and can be 

 used in various ways where aluminum could not possibly compete 

 wit^ it. 



