830 THACKERAY, WILLIAM M. 



THALLIUM. 



banter and indifference, characteristic of the 

 periodical in which they appeared, which was 

 at that time sarcastic and unscrupulous. But 

 the germs of that delicate irony, and playful, 

 yet chaste and vigorous style, for which he af- 

 terward became famous, are also clearly in- 

 dicated. 



The establishment of "Punch" in 1841 

 opened to Thackeray a new and congenial field 

 of labor, in which some of his happiest efforts 

 were achieved. With his connection with this 

 periodical his contributions also became more 

 tempered by feeling and taste, and he evidently 

 discovered a purpose worthy if guiding and 

 influencing his pen. In '-Punch" appeared 

 his "Snob Papers," his "Prize Novelists," his 

 " Jeames's Diary," &c., beside many excellent 

 lyrics and ludicrous ballnds, all illustrated by 

 quaint designs from his own pencil. It was the 

 publication of " Vanity Fair " (1846-'48), how- 

 ever a work declined by many^ publishers 

 that gave Thackeray his place among the chief 

 novelists of modern times. It was succeeded 

 in due course of time by three other novels 

 of modern society, " Pendennis," " The New- 

 comes," and " Philip," and by two other tales 

 illustrating an elder world of manners, " Es- 

 mond, 11 and " The Virginians," of which the for- 

 mer is considered the most artistically complete 

 and scholarly of any of his larger works. They 

 have obtained, for the most part, a very wide 

 popularity in Europe and America, and as 

 striking pictures of social life in England, 

 impregnated with kindly satire of prominent 

 social faults, their excellence can be scarcely 

 overrated. The characters are among the most 

 real ever drawn by novelist, and the style is 

 clear, admirably void of affectation and thor- 

 oughly English. A prominent feature of these, 

 and, indeed, of most of his works, is the char- 

 acteristic illustrations by himself. 



Among his numerous minor works may be 

 mentioned a series of Christmas books, includ- 

 ing "Mrs. Perkins's Ball," "Our Street," "Dr. 

 Birch," "The Kickleburys on the Khine," 

 " The Kose and the Ring," and " Rebecca and 

 Rowena," all reflecting with equal force, though 

 on a lesser scale, the qualities of his novels. In 

 1851-'52 he lectured to delighted audiences in 

 England and America on the "English Humor- 

 ists," and also in 1852-'56 on the "Four 

 Georges." Both series of lectures were pub- 

 lished in book form, and have added not a lit- 

 tle to his reputation as an author. In 1860 the 

 " Cornhill Magazine " was commenced under 

 his editorship, and during the two years that 

 he remained in that capacity, he published in 

 the magazine " Lovel the Widower," and " The 

 Adventures of Philip." Here also appeared a 

 number of charming essays by him, lately pub- 

 lished under the title of "The Roundabout 

 Papers." He had commenced a new serial tale 

 when death overtook him, respecting which we 

 have the statement of Charles Dickens that " in 

 respect of earnest feeling, far-seeing purpose, 

 character, incident, and a certain picturesque 



blending of the whole, it was much the best 

 of all his works." He was found dead in his 

 bed on the morning of December 24th ; leav- 

 ing two daughters, of whom one has already 

 shown literary talents worthy of her name. 

 His domestic happiness was saddened by the 

 insanity of his wife, brought on many years 

 ago by a fit of illness. Of hte private character 

 it is sufficient to say, that the death of no au- 

 thor, during the present century, has called 

 forth more universal and genuine expressions 

 of regret from all classes of the community. 

 .THALLIUM. The contest between Mr. 

 Crookes and M. Lamy in reference to priority 

 of discovery of this metal, has been carried on 

 during, the past fourteen months, and chiefly by 

 a paper read, Dec. 15th, 1862, by M. Dumas, be- 

 fore the French Academy, advocating the claim 

 of Lamy, and by a reply in the Chemical News, 

 Jan. 10th, 1863, by Mr. Crookes, in wlpch latter 

 admitting that the exposure of the labelled 

 metal in the International Exhibition (of 1862) 

 constituted publication Mr. Crookes' prece- 

 dence in the discovery, not merely of a new 

 element, but also of its metallic character, is 

 clearly established. M. Lamy's first communi- 

 cation was published, May 16th, 1862. Mr. 

 Crookes 1 specimen of thallium, labelled as " a 

 new metallic element," smd on a card described 

 also as a "heavy metal, forming compounds 

 which are volatile below a red heat," &c., was 

 exposed to the view of scientific men in attend- 

 . ance on the exhibition, as e.arly as May 1st of 

 the same year. The same author had previous- 

 ly published the discovery of a new element, 

 though at the dates of those earlier papers sup- 

 posing it a metalloid. 



Mr. Crookes has still more recently deter- 

 mined by means of spectrum observations the 

 presence of thallium in varying proportions in 

 many specimens of pyrites, sulphur, zinc, cad- 

 mium, sulphide of cadmium, and copper and 

 bismuth ores. A native sulphur from Lipari 

 contained so much thallium as almost to take 

 rank as a new mineral. 



The spectrum of thallium has been said to be 

 characterized by a single bright green line, 

 nearly coincident with Ba 8. This, owing to 

 volatility of the thallium compounds, is usually 

 perceived but a moment ; hence its intensity 

 and duration do not safely indicate the rich- 

 ness in thallium of the material thus ex- 

 amined. Usually, however, thallium is by the 

 spectroscope at once determined in pyrites, 

 flue-dust, and the sediment of the lead-cham- 

 ber in sulphuric acid manufacture; and the 

 metal is now much sought in such sources. 

 Prof. W. A. Miller does not agree in respect to 

 the simplicity of the thallium spectrum. Hav- 

 ing obtained this spectrum by the induction 

 of spark in hydrogen gas, and secured a photo- 

 graph of it on a collodion surface, he states 

 that it is marked by several very characteris- 

 tic groups of lines, recalling features of the 

 spectra of cadmium, zinc, and less strongly, of 

 lead. 





