THE DISCOVERY OF THE ELEMENTS. XII. OTHER ELEMENTS ISOLATED WITH THE AID OF POTASSIUM AND SODIUM: BERYLLIUM, BORON, SILICON, AND ALUMINUM* MARYELVIRA WEEKS.THEUNIVERSITY ox UNSAS, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
The discovery of beryllium resulted from the Abbk Hauy's obsmation of Lhe close similarity and probable identity of beryl and the emerald. A t his suggest i a V u u p e l i n made some very careful chemical analyses of these two minerals, and found in 1798 that they are indeed identical, and that they contain a neur earth, which he named glucina, but which i s now k n m m as beryllia. The metal was isolated thirty years later by Wdhler and Bussy indepadently. Boron was isolated in 1808 by Gay-Lussac and T h r d in France and by Davy i n England by reduction of boric acid with potassium. Although amorphous silicon was prepared by Berzelius in 1823, the crystalline farm was not obtained until more than thirty years later, when Henri Sainte-Claire Deuille prepared i t by a n electrolytic method. Aluminum was isolated in 1825 by the Danish physicist, Oersted, and two years later W 6 h k prepared it by a better method. Successful commercial processes for the manufacture of this important metal were perfected by Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, by Charles Martin Hnll, and by Dr. Paul L. T . Hdroult.
. . . . . .
Aber neue Phenomena zu erkliren, dieses macht meine Sorgen aus, und wie.froh ist der Forscher, wenn er das so fieissig Gesuchte jindet, eine Ergdtzung wobei das Herz lacht (1). Beryllium
*
In speaking of the discovery of beryllium Fourcroy once said, "It is to geometry that we owe in some sort the source of this discovery; it is that [science] that furnished the ikst idea of it, and we may say that without it the knowledge of this new earth would not have been acquired for a long time, since according to the analysis of the emerald by M. Klaproth and that of beryl by M. Bindheim one would not have thought it possible to recommence this work without the strong analogies or even almost perfect identity that Citizen Haiiy found for the geometrical properties between these two stony fossils" (5). As a result of his analysis of a Pernvian emerald, Klaproth had stated that this gem has the following composition: S i l i ~ a ,"silcr"
Alumina, "olumina or orgil"
Ira" oxida
66.25%
31.25%
0.50%
To explain his extravagance he said, "For the specimen of emerald sacrificed to this analytical process, I am indebted to the liberal kindness of Prince Dimitri Gallitzin, whose zeal for the study of mineralogy is most honourably known" (22). * Illustrations collected by F. B. Dains of The University of Kansas. 1386
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Beryl had also been analyzed by Bergman, Achard, Bindheim, and Vauquelin, and was supposed to he a calcium aluminum silicate (23). The identity of beryl and the emerald was not suspected until the famous French mineralogist, the Abbe Hauy, made a careful study of their crystal forms and physical properties and was so struck by the similarity of the two minerals that he asked Vauquelin to analyze them chemically. Although the latter had previously overlooked the new earth because of its similarity to alumina, he found in 1798 that the hydroxide that precipitates when caustic potash is added to an acid solution of the heryl does not dissolve in an excess of the alkali. French mineralogist. He deduced It also differs from alumina in other the fundamental laws of crystallograohv. and exolained cleavare bv 00srespects, for i t forms no alum, it distuia
