PLATINA. 
GENERIC CHARACTER. 
Colour while, between tin and silver. 
Soluble only in aqua regia. 
Malleable and ductile as gold. 
Infusible in the fire of a furnace, but yielding to the heat 
of a powerful burning glass. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
Platina granulata. Platina. Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel . 3. 
p. 383. 
Platina del Pinto. Waller. Syst. Miner. 2 . 
p. 365. no. 7 . 
Platine natif ferrifere. Haiiy. 
Platina. .... Cronst. Miner. 2. p. 567. Kirwan, 2. 
p. 103. Patrin, Hist, des Miner. 4. 
p. 323. Brogn. Miner. 2. p. 2 75 . 
-This singular metal, which we have scarcely known 
for more than half a century, is brought to us from 
Pei u in a granular state. It is of a whitish iron- 
gray coloui, is mixed with quartz and ferruginous 
sand in different proportions, and often contains 
particles of gold or quicksilver. In a state of purity 
it is the heaviest of all metals, its specific gravity 
