Since it has been shown by Professor Scheibler, of Berlin, that
strontium is the most powerful medium of extraction in sugar refining,
owing to its capacity of combining with three parts of saccharate, the
idea suggests itself that the same medium might be successfully
employed in the arts, and form a most interesting subject of
experiment for the chemist.
Hitherto native strontianite, that is, the 90 to 95 per cent. pure
carbonate of strontium (not the celestine which frequently is mistaken
by the term strontianite), has not been worked systematically in
mines, but what used to be brought to the market was an inferior stone
collected in various parts of Germany, chiefly in Westphalia, where it
is found on the surface of the fields. Little also has been collected
in this manner, and necessarily the quality was subject to the
greatest fluctuations.
By Dr. Scheibler's important discovery, a new era has begun in the
matter of strontianite. Deposits of considerable importance have been
opened in the Westphalian districts at a very great depth, and the
supply of several 10,000 tons per annum seems to be secured, whereas
only a short time ago it was not thought possible that more than a few
hundred tons could in all be provided.--_Chemist and Druggist._
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