THE DETECTION AND WIDE DISTRIBUTION OP YTTRIUM. 
903 
The sought-for body one of the yttrium family. 
40. The yttria earths form a somewhat numerous family. Fortunately for chemists, 
a mineral rich in yttria earths—samarskite— has been found in large quantity in 
Mitchell County, North Carolina, and to this mineral I accordingly now directed my 
attention. 
The following list of elements of the yttrium and its allied families, said to occur 
in samarskite and similar minerals, may be considered complete to the present time. 
Name. 
Absorption 
Spectrum. 
Hydrogen 
equivalent of 
Metal. ( x ) 
(Type of Oxide 
M 2 0.) 
Cerium . 
No 
47U (=) 
Columbium( 3 ). 
Yes 
— 
Decipium. 
Yes 
57-0( 4 ) 
Didymium. 
Yes 
4S\5( 5 ) 
Didymium /3 . 
Yes 
47-0( G ) 
Erbium . 
Yes 
55-3( 7 ) 
Holmium ( 8 ). 
Yes 
54-0( 9 ) 
Lanthanum. 
No 
46-0( 10 ) 
(b As it is at present doubtful whether the oxides of several of the metals in this table belong to the 
type M 2 0, M 2 0 3 , or MO, I have, for the sake of uniformity and simplicity, in calculating the values from 
the composition of their salts, by which these metals are chiefly discriminated, taken the type of oxide 
to be M 2 0. 
( 2 ) Buhrig, ‘ J. Pr. Chem.,’ ser. 2, vol. xii., p. 209. 
( 3 ) Dr. J. Lawrence Smith in a paper read before the United States National Academy of Sciences in 
1879, announced the discovery in Samarskite of two new elements, which he named Columbium and 
Rogerium (‘ Nature,’ vol. xxi., p. 146). I have failed to find any further notice of these elements. This 
Columbium must not be confounded with the well-known Columbium, sometimes called Tantalum. 
( 4 ) De la fontaine, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxxvii., p. 632, vol. xciii., p. 63; ‘ Chemical News,’ 
vol. xxxviii., p. 223, vol. xliv, p. 67. 
( 5 ) Cleve, ‘ Bull. Soc. China.,’ ser. 2, vol. xxi., p. 246 ; Brauner, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. xciv., 
p. 1718 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xlvii., p. 175. 
( 6 ) Cleve, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. xciv., p. 1528 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xlv., p. 273. Brauner, 
‘Comptes Rendus,’ vol. xciv., p. 1718 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xlvi., p. 16. 
( 7 ) Cleve, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. xci., p. 381 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xlii., p. 199. Lecoq de 
Boisbaudran, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxxix., p. 516 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xl., p. 147. 
( 8 ) Called by Soret, the first discoverer, “X.” Subsequently Cleve discovered the same metal and 
called it holmium. Soret has now adopted Cleve’s name. ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxxix., p. 708, and 
vol. xci., p. 378; ‘Chemical News,’ vol. xl., p. 224, and vol. xlii., p. 199. 'Lecoq de Boisbaudran, 
‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxxix,, p. 516 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xl., p. 147. 
( 9 ) Cleve, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. lxxxix., p. 478 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xl., p. 125. 
I) 10 ) Brauner, ‘ Comptes Rendus,’ vol. xciv., p. 1718 ; ‘ Chemical News,’ vol. xlvi., p. 16. 
5 z 2 
