Show THE MOST ABUNDANT METAL aluminum is the most abundant of all the metals in the form of its oxide it constitutes about 15 per cent of the earths crust according to the united unite d states geological sur vey yet until recent recen t yem years it was a curiosity there were only a few hundred or few thousand pounds in existence and its value was 14 or 15 a pound within a generation it has become very useful now selling at about 20 cents a pound the entry of aluminum into the field of useful metals came with the discovery that it could be extracted from the mineral bauxite a substance this mineral itself is by no means plentiful but known deposits are sufficient to make aluminum an important competitor of certain metals such as copp copper erand and tin in a good many lines of work already aluminum has displaced steel in certain classes of construction st where strength is required in combination with extreme lightness such as in the manufacture of flying machines an alloy known as containing about 95 per cent of aluminum is claimed to have qualities as good as those of good bessemer steel although it is only one third as heavy this alloy possesses great hardness when annealed and its melting poin point t is above 1200 degrees F the great future of aluminum lies in the perfection of a process whereby it can be commercially extracted from the unlimited deposits of rich clays and rocks which exist in all parts of the world the day which shall yield really cheap aluminum holds out boundless possibilities the chemist or investigator who can devise the needed process of ican extraction will not be forgotten by succeeding generations |