JOURNAL OF TflE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY, 

 TOKYO, JAPAN. 



VOL. XXV., ARTICLE 15. 



Preliminary Note on a New Element 

 in Thorianite. 



By 

 Masataka Ogawa, Rigakushi. 



AVhile working on thorianite in University College, London, 

 under Sir William Eamsay's direction a few years ago, an 

 element believed to be new was met with in the iron group in 

 the usual course of analysis, but, owing to the small quantity, its 

 nature could not be fully established. The subject has been 

 resumed since my return to Japan, and it has fortunately been 

 found that the same element also occurs in other minerals, such 

 as reinite and molybdenite, both found in this country. This 

 somewhat incomplete paper is now published as a preliminary 

 notice of the work, which is still going on. 



Treatment of Thorianite. 



Préparation of the oxide. Finely powdered thorianite was 

 treated with boiling concentrated nitric acid and the solution 

 decanted off, this process being repeated until the fresh nitric 

 acid was no longer coloured yellow. The residue, amounting to 

 about 3 per cent and now nearly free from the chief constituents 



