THE NEW ELEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18317, 6 February 1923, Page 9

THE NEW ELEMENT.

STORY OF ITS DISCOVERY. V ANTECEDENT INVESTIGATION. SOME INTERESTING ASPECTS. The cabled announcement that a new element named Haenium had been isolated in London from black sand sent, there from New Zealand, is attracting considerable interest- in the Dominion. The commercial properties of Taranaki ironsand have . long formed a subject of much speculation, and the association of the sand with the newly-discovered element naturally arrests' attention.

Of topical iuLerest, therefore, are the comments of Professor F. P. Worley, professor of chemistry, at the Auckland University College. Interviewed yesterday, he stated that it was known for a. number of years that there was a missing element of atomic number 72, related to titanium and zirconium. This was firmly established by Moseley's classical investigation on X-ray analysis, and his establishment of the theory of atomic numbers in 1914. Even prior to this, indications of the existence of a new element associated with ytterbium had been found by Professor Urbain. The provisional name of celtium was given 'to this element, and Moseley himself put forward the hypothesis that'celtium and the element with atomic number 72 were one and the same. Early la*t year a French chemist, M, A. Dauvillier, claimed' to have showr conclusively the identity of celt«2<lTi wit! the missing element 72. The method em ployed was Moseley's X-ray analysis— th< name as was recently used by Professor; Coster and Havsey, the Danish chemists, whose investigations were reported in the cablegram. " The Cornish investigators havo apparently filly confirmed Dauvillier's discovery," declared Professor Worley. 'The jew "element is chemically allied to titanium and zirconium, and should have an atomic weight of about. 179. titanium being 48 and zirconium 91. Many of its properties, and those of its compounds, can be predicted with considerable certainty. Belonging to the same family as titanium, it is not improbable that it should be found associated with titanium —an important consituent of the. Taranaki ironsand. As there are large deposits of titanifcerous ironsand in various parts of. the world the new element may eventually be found to be by no means rare. It is at present impossible to foretell whether it will be commercially valuable. If it can be produced sufficiently cheaplv, uses will undoubtedly be found for' it, since its oxide is likely to be extremely refractory. It should, as mentioned in the cablegram, be valuable for making unmeltable crucibles and for other purposes where a highly refractory material is required." The new element, although metallic, exhibits certain non-metallic properties in its compounds. It will probably prove exceedingly difficult to isolate in blast furnaces as it would form very stable compounds, both with carbon and nitrogen. These compounds, in crystalline condition, will probably be exceptionally hard. It will form a crystalline tetrachloride and tetro-fluoride. It will probablv form several oxides, the most- stable of "which, the dioxide, will probably be faintly coloured or possibly white, will be exceedingly refractory, and may possibly have considerable commercial ; value if sufficient can be obtained for industrial purposes. I " The results of X-ray analysis," continued Professor "Worley, " shov/ thai there are still three elements to be dis covered, between hydrogen of , atomic weight 1 and bismuth of atomic weigh! 208. One of these belongs to the ran earth metals and two are closely relatec to manganese. It has long been my Intention," he added, " to look for these two elements of atomic numbers 43 anc 75 in the manganese ores which occui close to Auckland. There, is little doubt that one or both will be discovered in the near fntnre, and that they will b< highly interesting and probably usefu elements."