502 



METALS. 



METHODISTS. 



points, provided the TJ-tnbe were made of 

 some refractory material, and a suitable py- 

 rometer substituted for the thermometer. 



The New Metal Lavomum. The discovery of 

 a new metal, called lavcesium, in honor of La- 

 voisier, was announced to the Bordeaux So- 

 ciety of Natural Sciences, by M. Prat. Lavoe- 

 sium is of a silvery-white color, malleable and 

 fusible. It forms crystallizable and colorless 

 salts. Some of its reactions are as follows : 

 When treated with potassa, a hydrated white 

 precipitate is obtained, insoluble in an excess 

 of the precipitant. Ammonia gives a precipi- 

 tate very soluble in excess. Ferrocyanide of 

 potassium gives a characteristic precipitate 

 similar to the color of the petals of roses du 

 Bengale. With hydrosulphuric acid, a brown 

 coloration is first obtained; the precipitate 

 afterward changes to a fawn color. Tannin 

 gives a deep yellow-green precipitate. In the 

 spectroscope the new metal gives : 1. In the 

 indigo-blue two sets of characteristic lines. 2. 

 In the bright-green two other sets of simpler 

 lines, also characteristic. 3. Some blue, violet, 

 and green secondary lines ; in all twenty-three 

 lines. These characteristic lines exactly coin- 

 cide with those of copper, which would seem 

 to show that the new metal contains copper. 

 Its silvery-white color, however, and some of 

 its reactions, especially those with ammonia 

 and ferrocyanide of potassium, constitute prop- 

 erties which distinguish it from any other 

 known metal. According to M. Prat this body 

 is much more common than he at first sup- 

 posed, it having been found in many minerals, 

 and especially in iron pyrites. 



Determination of Nickel. A new and ready 

 method for the estimation of nickel in pyrro- 

 tites and mattes is offered in the American 

 Journal of Science, by Margaret S. Cheney and 

 Ellen S. Richards. The authors point out the 

 difficulties, and disadvantages of the methods 

 in common use. These methods require con- 

 siderable analytical skill, and the operations 

 they involve are very tedious; besides, the 

 ore or matte to be operated on is limited to 

 inconveniently small quantities. Among the 

 numerous tests made by the authors for a 

 more ready way were those depending on the 

 solubility of the sulphates in alcohol, and upon 

 the behavior of the oxalate ; but no satisfactory 

 results were reached in this way. Finally, a 

 systematic series of tests were made with the 

 phosphates, in the course of which it was 

 found that phosphate of nickel is completely 

 soluble, while phosphate of iron is almost in- 

 soluble, in acetic acid, in the presence of an 

 excess of phosphate of soda. Upon this fact 

 the authors' process is based. It is as follows : 



The ore or matte is dissolved in hydrochloric 

 acid, with the addition of a little nitric acid. All the 

 metals of the arsenic and copper groups, if present, 

 are separated by means of hydrogen sulphide. The 

 filtrate is boiled to drive off the excess of hydrogen 

 sulphide, the iron is oxidized by nitric acid, and 

 ammonium hydrate is added until a permanent pre- 

 cipitate begins to form, but not until complete pre- 



cipitation is effected. Acetic acid is then added un- 

 til the precipitated ferric hydrate is redissolved, and 

 the liquid is of a deep-red color, though not trans- 

 parent. To this boiling-hot solution ordinary phos- 

 phate of soda is added in excess, and the nearly 

 white precipitate is filtered and washed with hot 

 water containing acetic acid. The filtrate is heated 

 nearly to boiling, and caustic potash added until the 

 odor of ammonia is distinctly perceptible. The 

 apple-green precipitate of phosphate of nickel is 

 partially washed, dissolved in a little diluted sul- 

 phuric acid, the solution rendered strongly alkaline 

 by ammonium hydrate, and the nickel precipitated 

 by the battery. If the ore contains more than 3 per 

 cent, of nickel, it is necessary to dissolve the pre- 

 cipitate of phosphate of iron in hydrochloric acid, 

 dilute this solution somewhat, render it nearly neu- 

 tral by ammonium hydrate, add 25 or 30 cubic cen- 

 timetres of acetic acid, and reprecipitate by phos- 

 phate of soda. The filtrate is added to the first 

 filtrate. The advantages of this method are : 1. The 

 concentration of the solution. It may contain 10 to 

 15 grammes of ferric oxide in a half litre, instead of 

 1 gramme as in the basic acetate method, and thus 

 larger quantities of a poor ore may be operated on. 

 2. A great saving of time. The nickel may be 

 weighed in 8 or 10 hours from the time the ore is 

 pulverized and ready for solution. This saving of 

 time is mainly due to two causes : 1. Less care is 

 required in case of precipitating as phosphate than 

 as basic acetate. 2. In precipitating phosphate of 

 nickel by caustic potash it is not necessary to con- 

 centrate the solution nor to expel all the ammonia as 

 is the case in precipitating as hydrated oxide. An 

 unexpected advantage is the more ready battery 

 precipitation of the nickel from the solution of th*e 

 phosphate. Two of the so-called quart carbon cells, 

 each half filled with the solutions (bichromate of 

 potassium and sulphuric acid) were found quite suffi- 

 cient to precipitate the nickel completely in 2 hourB. 

 If a strong current was used, the nickel was precipi- 

 tated in a black, spongy form. A solution contain- 

 ing .375 gramme Ni as chloride, and 1.183 gramme 

 Fe as chloride, was made up to 250 c. c. : 



To the first portion, the phosphate of soda was 

 added first, and the acetic acid afterward. 



METHODISTS. I. METHODIST EPISCOPAL 

 CHTJBOH. The following is a summary of the 

 statistics of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 

 as they are given in the " Annual Minutes of 

 the Conferences" for 1877: 



