Show aluminum the most abundant metal Alu minim is the most abundant ot of all the metals 4 2 in the form of its oxide it constitutes about 15 per cent of the them earth earths crust ac cording to thel the united states geologic cal survey yet until recent years it was mas a curiosity it there were only a few hundred or few thousand po ands in existence and its value was as 14 or 15 a pound a generation it has become veryl useful now selling at about 20 ecriss ct nta a pound the en try of the field of use ful metals camel with the descove discovery ry that it could from the mineral bauxite a substance this mineral itself is by no means plentiful but known knon deposits are suf f siept chent to makii makis aluminum an imbor i tant competitor of certain metals a sich ich as copper and tin in a good many lines of florl already aluni aluminum nuta has displaced steel in of construction whre strength is aired in combi nation with extreme lightness such uch as in the manufacture of flying ma chines an alloy known knon as duraku mm min contain containing trip about 90 per cent of aluminum is claimed to have quail ties as good aar aar those of bessemer steel although it is only one third as heavy this fhi alloy possesses great Lard hardness ness when annealed and its mel tag trig lont 10 nt is above 1200 degrees F the gre t alu aluma minim im lies in th perfection ok oka a process whereby it cen be commercially extracted from the unlimited deposits of rich clays an brocks which exist in all parts of theirld the world orld the day which shall yield icalla cheap aluminum holds out boundless bound lesi possibilities the day chemist or investigator ator who can devise the needed process of extrac tion will not be forgotten by succeed ing generations A i |