ON  A  NEW  METALLIC  ELEMENT. 
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it,  no  one  had  attempted  to  discover  a  cheaper  method  of  get- 
ting it.  It  was  reserved  to  Bunsen  to  perceive  a  new  property 
in  this  metal,  and  to  suggest  a  practical  application  of  it.  Mag- 
nesium takes  fire  at  the  temperature  at  which  glass  melts,  and 
burns  with  a  steady  and  extremely  vivid  flame.  In  some  photo- 
chemical investigations  by  Bunsen  and  Roscoe,  experiments  were 
made  to  test  the  illuminating  capacity  of  a  magnesium  thread, 
when  Bunsen  discovered  that  the  splendor  of  the  sun's  disc  was 
only  524  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  thread.  Bunsen  also 
compared  the  magnesium  flame  with  ordinary  lights,  and  found 
that  a  burning  thread  of  0-297  millimetres  diameter  produces  as 
much  light  as  74  stearine  candles,  of  which  five  go  to  the  pound. 
It  is  plain  that  it  only  needs  a  mechanical  device  to  spin  mag- 
nesium, when  heated  into  the  form  of  a  thread,  upon  spools,  from 
which  they  can  be  run  off  like  the  strips  of  paper  in  Morse's  tele- 
graphic apparatus,  to  render  it  of  practical  use.  Such  a  mag- 
nesium lamp-wick  would  be  far  more  simple  and  complete  than 
the  preparations  for  the  use  of  the  electric  or  the  Drummond 
light.  A  spool  with  its  thread,  a  clock-work  to  wind  it  off,  with 
the  spirit  lamp,  would  be  easily  transportable.  A  rival,  there- 
fore, to  the  strong  lights  hitherto  used  is  like  to  spring  up  in 
Bunsen's  magnesium-lamp,  in  all  those  cases  where  the  item  of 
expense  is  likely  to  be  slightly  regarded  ;  for  example,  in  brilli- 
ant illuminations,  light-houses,  &c;  for  extraordinary  degrees 
of  illumination  may  be  obtained  by  burning  several  of  these 
threads  of  large  dimensions  at  once. — Ohem.  News,  London, 
June  9,  1860,  from  Engineer. 
ON  A  NEW  METALLIC  ELEMENT. 
Von  Kobellhas  discovered  in  euxenite,  aeschynite,  and  samar- 
skite,  and  a  tantalite  from  Tammela,  a  new  metallic  acid  be- 
longing to  the  same  group  with  tantalic  and  niobic  acids.  To 
the  new  metal  contained  in  this  acid,  the  author  has  given  the 
(not  very  well  selected)  name  of  Dianium.  When  dianic  acid, 
as  precipitated  by  ammonia  from  its  solution  in  chlorhydric 
acid,  is  boiled  with  chlorhydric  acid  and  metallic  tin,  a  beauti- 
ful deep  sapphire  blue  solution  is  produced,  which  remains  blue 
after  filtration.    When  tantalic  acid,  from  the  tantalite  of 
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