I therefore propose to state, as well as I can, what the
principles are on which M. Deville proceeds, by means of drawings, and
some subordinate or inferior experiments. The metal platinum, of which you
see some very fine specimens on the table, has been known to us about a
hundred years. It has been wrought in a beautiful way in this country, in
France, and elsewhere, and supplied to the consumer in ingots of this
kind, or in plates, such as we have here, or in masses, that by their very
fall upon the table indicate the great weight of the substance, which is,
indeed, nearly at the head of all substances in that respect. This
substance has been given to us hitherto mainly through the philosophy of
Dr. Wollaston, whom many of us know, and it is obtained in great purity
and beauty. It is a very remarkable metal in many points, besides its
known special uses. It usually comes to us in grains. Here is a very fine
specimen of native platinum in grains. Here is also a nugget or ingot, and
here are some small pieces gathered out of certain alluvial soils in
Brazil, Mexico, California, and the Uralian districts of Russia.
It is strange that this metal is almost always found associated with some
four or five other metals, most curious in their qualities and
characteristics.
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