78 
Chemical  Notes. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1       Feb.,  1879. 
in  the  violet  (^=400  to  405),  attributed  by  Soret  to  terbium,  the 
author  thinks  may  belong  to  a  new  element  coming  between  terbium 
and  erbium. — C.        87,  559. 
On  the  New  Element  Decipium. — Delafontaine  announces  the  discovery 
of  a  second  new  element  in  the  mineral  samarskite  from  North  Carolina, 
to  which  he  gives  the  name  Decipium,  from  decipiens,  deceiving.  The 
protoxide,  DpO,  has  a  molecular  weight  of  122;  as  it  has  not  yet  been 
obtained  perfectly  free  from  didymium  oxide,  the  author  cannot  say 
whether  its  oxide  is  white,  though  its  salts  are  colorless;  the  acetate 
crystallizes  easily,  being  less  soluble  than  that  of  didymium,  but  more 
so  than  that  of  terbium.  The  nitrate  gives  an  absorption  spectrum 
•consisting  of  three  bands  in  the  blue  and  indigo.  The  most  refrangi- 
ble of  these  is  less  broad  than  that  of  philippium,  is  dark,  and  corres- 
ponds to  a  wave  length  near  416,  being  about  half  way  between  G. 
and  H.  The  second  band  corresponds  to  a  wave  length  of  478. 
Finally,  a  little  to  the  right,  and  nearly  to  the  limit  of  the  blue  and 
green,  is  an  appearance  of  the  third.  The  earths  of  samarskite,  as  now 
known,  are  given  by  the  author  in  the  following  tabular  form  : 
Name. 
Yttria 
Philippia 
Didymia 
Terbia 
Decipia 
Erbia 
Thoria 
Ceria 
—  C.  R. 
Color. 
White 
Yellow 
Brownish 
Orange 
White  ? 
Rose 
White 
Pale  yellow. 
87,  632. 
Molec.  weight.  Wave  length  of  band. 
YO=74*5  (Delafontaine)  none. 
PpO=9o  about  (Delafontaine)  449  about. 
DiO=ii2toii4  (Marignac-Cleve)  572  to  577. 
TbO=ii4  to  115  (Delafontaine-Marignac)    400  about. 
DpO  =  i22  about  (Delafontaine)  416. 
ErO=i3o  (Bunsen-Cleve)  52010522. 
Th02=267'5  (Delafontaine)  none. 
On  the  New  Element  Ytterbium. — Marignac  has  announced  the  exist- 
ence of  a  new  element  in  gadolinite  from  Ytterby,  Sweden,  where  it 
is  found  associated  with  yttrium  and  erbium.  The  earth  was  gotten 
perfectly  white,  forming  colorless  salts,  and  showing  no  absorption 
bands  in  its  spectrum.  The  purest  preparation  of  oxide  possessed  a 
molecular  weight  of  130-8,  so  that  Marignac  assumes  131  as  the 
molecular  weight  of  the  purified  oxide.  Its  sulphate  is  easily  soluble 
without  residue  in  a  saturated  solution  of  potassium  sulphate.  All  of 
these  properties  easily  distinguish  it  from  thoria,  which  is  the  only 
