544  Germanium  and  its  Compounds.  {AmN?vr'i?6arm* 
GERMANIUM  AND  ITS  COMPOUNDS. 
Translated  from  Chemiker-Zeitung,  1886,  No.  69,  Page  1058, 
By  Geo.  H.  Ochse,  Ph.G: 
Germanium. — Most  of  the  salts  of  germanium  are  very  soluble, 
hence,  solutions  of  these  salts  do  not  yield  precipitates  with  reagents, 
or  the  precipitates  when  formed  are  dissolved  by  washing  with  water. 
By  fusing  the  mineral  (Argyrodite)  with  sulphur  and  carbonate  of 
sodium,  throwing  into  water  and  decomposing  the  resulting  solution 
with  acid,  nothing  but  sulphur  was  obtained,  whilst  the  filtrate  when 
treated  with  sulphuretted  hydrogen  or  other  reagents,  did  not  yield 
a  precipitate.  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  the  germanium  re- 
mained in  solution  with  sodium  sulphide,  but  was  precipitated  when 
the  acid  was  added  largely  in  excess.  To  free  it  from  the  accompany- 
ing sulphur  the  precipitate  was  treated  with  diluted  ammonia,  which 
dissolved  the  germanium  sulphide  together  with  traces  of  arsenic 
and  antimony  ;  by  gradually  adding  hydrochloric  acid,  antimony  and 
arsenic  sulphides  were  precipitated  in  the  order  named,  and  by 
adding  more  acid  to  the  filtrate  snow-white  sulphide  of  germanium 
wTas  obtained.  There  is  now  no  doubt  but  that  germanium  is  the 
ekasilicium  of  Mendel  ejeff. 
Argyrodite  has  a  metallic  lustre ;  when  broken  it  is  of  a  reddish 
color,  becoming  violet  by  age;  opaque;  hardness  2'5,  sp.  gr.  6*085  at 
15°  C,  brittle,  crystalline  system  monoclinic.  When  heated  in  glass 
tubes  it  yields  a  black  sublimate  resembling  sulphide  of  mercury  very 
much  ;  by  continuing  the  heat  it  fuses.  The  composition  of  argyro- 
dite is  as  follows  : — 
Ag  74-72  per  cent.,  Ge  6*93  per  cent.,  S  1713  per  cent,,  Fe  066 
per  cent.,  Zn  0  22  per  cent.,  Hg  0'31  per  cent. 
The  effect  produced  by  heating  the  mineral  in  a  current  of  hydro- 
gen is  very  characteristic,  sulphuretted  hydrogen  being  evolved  and  a 
dark  glossy  mirror  of  crystalline  sulphide  of  germanium  being  formed, 
accompanied  by  a  reddish-brown,  pulverulent,  amorphous  sulphide  of 
germanium,  the  residue  consisting  mainly  of  metallic  silver.  The 
j:>rocess  for  obtaining  germanium  is  as  follows :  Argyrodite  is  fused 
with  an  equal  weight  of  a  mixture  of  calcined  soda  and  flowers  of 
sulphur,  the  fused  mass  treated  with  water  and  the  solution  neutral- 
ized with  sulphuric  acid,  which  precipitates  the  sulphur  together  with 
the  sulphides  of  antimony  and  arsenic ;  the  filtrate  is  treated  with 
