Osmium

“ Potassium osmiate, K2OsO42H2O, formed when an alkaline solution of the tetroxide is decomposed by alcohol, or by potassium nitrite, crystallizes in red octahedral. It is stable in dry air, but in moist air rapidly decomposes. The tetroxide, OsO4, is formed when osmium compounds are heated in air, or with aqua regia, or fused with caustic alkali and nitre. ”

“ So with iridium and rhodium, and osmium and ruthenium, which are so closely allied that they make pairs, being separated each from its own group. Then these metals are the most infusible that we possess. Osmium is the most difficult to fuse: indeed, I believe it never has been fused, while every other metal has. Ruthenium comes next, iridium next, rhodium next, platinum next (so that it ranks here as a pretty fusible metal, and yet we have been long accustomed to speak of the infusibility of platinum) , and next comes palladium, which is the most fusible metal of the whole. ”

“ At last he spoke.
“Darling, it has just occurred to me that there must be another isotope of osmium.”
“I’ll bet,” she smiled, “that there is.”
He was silent again for another age.
“Darling, why should one uranium live six million years while another lives only two?” ”

“ The greater part of the metals fuse when submitted to the heat of the blowpipe, and if exposed to the outer flame, they oxidize. These metals, termed the noble metals, do not oxidize, but they fuse. The metals platinum, iridium, rhodium, osmium and palladium do not fuse. The metal osmium, if exposed to the flame of oxidation, fuses and is finally dissipated as osmic acid. In the latter flame, the salts of the noble metals are reduced to the metallic state, and the charcoal is covered with the bright metal. ”

“ P2O3, P2O5; CO, CO2, &c., we observe a converse phenomenon; the higher oxides are less volatile than the lower. In the case of osmium all the oxides, with the exception of the highest, are non-volatile, and it may therefore be thought that this higher form is more simply constituted than the lower. It is possible that osmic oxide, OsO2, stands in the same relation to the anhydride as C2H4 to CH4—i.e. ”

“ Osmium, ōs′mi-um, n. a gray-coloured metal found in platinum ore, the oxide of which has a disagreeable smell.—adjs. Os′mic, Os′mious. [Gr. osmē, smell, orig. od-mē—ozein, to smell.]
Osmose, os′mōs, n. the tendency of fluids to mix or become equally diffused when in contact, even through an intervening membrane or porous structure—also Osmō′sis.—adj. Osmot′ic, pertaining to, or having, the property of osmose.—adv. Osmot′ically. [Gr. ōsmos=ōsis, impulse—ōthein, to push.] ”

“ Of course it is difficult to appraise the relative abundance in Nature of different elements; more especially from the circumstance of those which are put to commercial uses being everywhere sought for, and those not put to commercial uses being habitually neglected—save indeed by the man of science, to whom the peculiar properties of some of the less familiarly known elements, as palladium, osmium, erbium, didymium, uranium, and thallium, render them objects of the highest interest. ”

“ Whilst near to osmium, iridium, and platinum, gold at the same time is able, like copper and silver, to form compounds which answer to the type RX—that is, oxides of the composition R2O. Cuprous chloride, CuCl, silver chloride, AgCl, and aurous chloride, AuCl, are substances which are very much alike in their physical and chemical properties. [28 bis] They are insoluble in water, but dissolve in hydrochloric acid and ammonia, in potassium cyanide, [443] sodium thiosulphate, &c. ”

“ The native alloy of osmium and iridium does not alloy with gold, however, but falls to the bottom of the molten metal. It shows itself in the subsequent parting as a black spot or streak on the under surface.
The buttons are removed from the cupel with a pair of pliers and then brushed to remove adherent litharge and bone-ash. Some assayers advise cleaning by dipping in warm dilute hydrochloric acid followed by washing in water and drying. The button is next weighed. When the quantity of silver obtained is not required to be known the weighing may sometimes be omitted. ”

“ In its pure state it is not acted upon by any of the acids, but it is oxidised by fusion and nitre, and by ignition to redness in the air. An ingot of iridium, weighing 273⁄4 oz., melted by Deville’s process, was displayed in Messrs Johnson and Matthey’s case at the International Exhibition of 1862. An alloy of iridium and osmium (artificial or native) has been employed for tipping the nibs of gold pens (everlasting pens) . ”

“ Ranvier and Vignal’s Osmium Mixture.—Fix tissues in a freshly-prepared mixture of equal volumes of 1 per cent. osmic acid and 90 per cent. alcohol, then wash out in 80 per cent. alcohol, next with water, and stain for 48 hours with picro-carmine or hæmatoxylin. This method has been applied to the histology of insects.
Renaut’s Glycerine Hæmatoxylin.—To a saturated solution of potash alum in glycerine, add a saturated solution of homatoxylin in 90 per cent. alcohol drop by drop, so as to form a deeply coloured solution. Expose to daylight for a week, and then filter. ”

“ The affinity of metals for oxygen is in an inverse ratio to their specific gravity, as can be ascertained by experiment, when the heaviest metal will be the least ready to oxidise. Metals differ in other respects, and thus classification and division become easier. The fusibility of metals is of a very wide range, rising from a temperature below zero to the highest heat obtainable in the blow-pipe, and even then in the case of osmium there is a difficulty. ”

“ The osmiates, corresponding to the unknown trioxide OsO3, are red or green coloured salts; the solutions are only stable in the presence of excess of caustic alkali; on boiling an aqueous solution of the potassium salt it decomposes readily, forming a black precipitate of osmic acid, H2OsO4. ”

“ Iron 72 Palladium 136 Nickel 74 Osmium 245 Cobalt 76 Iridium 247 Ruthenium 132 Platinum A 249 Rhodium 134 Platinum B 257
It will be noticed (Plate XVII, 3, 4, 5,) that each bar has two sections, and that the three lower sections in iron, cobalt and nickel are identical; in the upper sections, iron has a cone of twenty-eight atoms, while cobalt and nickel have each three ovoids, and of these the middle ones alone differ, and that only in their upper globes, this globe being four-atomed in cobalt and six-atomed in nickel. ”

“ It seems equally reasonable to believe that osmose would take place through both the outer coating of the body and the cell-walls of the animal's body. As long as the oyster stays in the salt water, the solution of salts within its body would naturally be in equilibrium with the water outside. When the animal is brought into fresh or brackish water, i. e., into a more dilute solution, we should expect the salts in the more concentrated solution within its body to pass out, and a larger amount of fresh water to enter, and produce just such a distention as actually takes place in the floating. ”

“ For this purpose the mineral is evaporated with sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, or fused with potassium bi sulphate, and the residue extracted with water. The solution of chlorides or sulphates thus obtained is treated with sulphuretted hydrogen, to remove copper, bismuth and molybdenum, and the filtrate, after the ferrous iron has been oxidized with chlorine, is precipitated with oxalic acid. The oxalates (and also thorium oxalate) may be converted into oxides by direct heating, into nitrates by dissolving in nitric acid, or into hydroxides by boiling with potash solution. ”

“ Ozone is insoluble in water, and oxidizes silver and lead leaf, finely powdered arsenic and antimony; it is a poison when inhaled in a concentrated state, whilst diluted, and generated by natural processes, it is a beneficent and beautiful provision against those numerous smells originating from the decay of animal and vegetable matter, which might produce disease or death: ozone is therefore a powerful disinfectant. The test for ozone is made by boiling together ten parts by weight of starch, one of iodide of potassium, and two hundred of water ”

“ Osmazome is the most meritorious ingredient of all good soups. This portion of the animal forms the red portion of flesh, and the solid parts of roasts. It gives game and venison its peculiar flavor.
Osmazome is most abundant in grown animals which have red or black hair; it is scarcely found at all in the lamb, sucking pig, chicken, and the white meat of the largest fowls. For this reason true connoisseurs always prefer the second joint; instinct with them was the precursor of science. ”

“ Even lead can thus be oxidised, but requires more care as it melts nearly as readily as antimony and is much less volatile. The oxides in the thoroughly roasted ore will not amalgamate with mercury, and are not acted on by chlorine or cyanogen.
To effect the oxidation of sulphur, it is necessary not only to bring every particle of sulphur into contact with the oxygen of the air, but also to provide adequate heat to the particles sufficient to raise them to the temperature that will induce oxidation. ”

“ One kind of Osmia will scoop out the pith from a piece of bramble-stem and make cells in it composed of minced-up bits of wood or leaves. Another kind will choose an empty snail-shell and fill it up most cleverly with little cells to hold her eggs. A third species of Osmia thinks a keyhole is a most suitable place for her nursery, and will so fill it up with plastered earth, eggs and pollen, that the lock is rendered perfectly useless. ”

“ The presence of chalk can only be ascertained after separating the lead. This is best done by adding ammonia solution to the nitric acid solution until alkaline, then sulphate of ammonia in excess, and boiling for five minutes. Filter off the black precipitate which is formed, and to the filtrate, first tested with an additional drop or two of sulphate of ammonia to insure the removal of the whole of the lead, add ammoniac oxalate. If a white precipitate appear, it is calcic oxalate. ”

“ If a soil contain much calcium carbonate larger quantities of acid must be used. Two hundred cubic centimeters of the filtrate are placed in an evolution flask, connected with an azotometer, with five grams of freshly burned magnesia. The mixture is then oxidized as follows: Ozone is generated by adding three parts by weight of sulfuric acid to one part of dry and powdered potassium permanganate. A stream of air is drawn through the ozone generator by an aspirator, and the ozone is conducted into a flask containing the hydrochloric acid extract of the soil and magnesia. ”

“ The iron ore, in the district referred to, is found in bunches or nodules, near the surface of the ground; and in order to get it, the peasants dig out pits about seven or eight feet in depth, and then burrow, rabbit-like, into the surrounding earth in all directions below. When all the ore is got out from one spot, they dig another pit further afield, and so they go on until the particular patch of ground they are working on is exhausted. On the occasion referred to, [Pg 14] some of our men, in their burrowing, threw out a considerable quantity of asbestos. ”

“ If the zinc oxide dissolves with effervescence, white lead or whiting may be present; the solution should give no precipitate of black sulphide of lead on passing sulphuretted hydrogen through it. On neutralising the solution in nitric acid with sufficient ammonia, and adding ammonia sulphide to precipitate all the zinc (the precipitate should be white, any other colour would show some impurity) , filtering off and adding a little oxalate of ammonia, no white precipitate of calcium oxalate should be obtained; such a precipitate would show presence of whiting or gypsum. ”

“ In consequence of the dissipation of the watery juices, the fibrous portion becomes gradually corrugated, and, if not attentively watched, its texture is destroyed, and it becomes rigid. Chemists prove that the peculiar odour and taste of roasted meat depends on the development of the principle which has been called osmazome, or the animal extractive matter of the old chemist, a substance which differs very much from every other constituent part of animal matter chemically, in being soluble in alcohol—and to the senses, in being extremely savoury or sapid. ”

“ OSMAZOME is soluble even when cold, and is that part of the meat which gives flavour and perfume to the stock. The flesh of old animals contains more osmazome than that of young ones. Brown meats contain more than white, and the former make the stock more fragrant. By roasting meat, the osmazome appears to acquire higher properties; so, by putting the remains of roast meats into your stock-pot, you obtain a better flavour.
101. ALBUMEN is of the nature of the white of eggs; it can be dissolved in cold or tepid water, but coagulates when it is put into water not quite at the boiling-point. ”

“ The rare earth metals are found in the minerals gadolinite, samarskite, fergusonite, euxenite and cerite. They are separated from the minerals by converting them into oxalates, which by ignition give the corresponding oxides. The oxides are then converted into double sulphates which are separated from each other by repeated fractional crystallization or by fractional precipitation with ammonia or some other base. Erbium forms rose-coloured salts and a rose-coloured oxide. The oxide dissolves slowly in acids; it is not reduced by hydrogen and is infusible. ”