Abstract
YEARS ago, before the discovery of terrestrial helium, W. F. Hillebrand isolated this gas with nitrogen, in his work on rock analyses. Because a large amount of nitrogen was obtained he attributed all of the gaseous constituent to this source. Some of his analyses are described in the American Journal of Science, vol. 140, pp. 384–94, 1890, under the title, “On the Occurrence of Nitrogen in Uraninite and on the Composition of Uraninite in General,” and more fully in Bulletin U.S. Geological Survey, No. 78, pp. 43–79, 1890. He concluded that “nitrogen exists in uraninite in quantities up to over 2.5 per cent., and seems generally to bear a relation to the amount of UO2 present. This is the first discovery of nitrogen in the primitive crust of the earth.” “The nitrogen is liberated from the mineral as nitrogen gas by the action of a non-oxidising inorganic acid and by fusion with an alkaline carbonate and probably also caustic alkalies in a current of CO2.” “In a Geissler tube under a pressure of 10 mm. and less, the gas afforded the fluted spectrum of nitrogen with great brilliancy.” That uraninite is actually the source of the nitrogen is not open to doubt. Ramsay later confirmed Hillebrand's discovery. The chemical evidence suggests that the nitrogen was present in the mineral in the free state, as occluded gas. The question therefore arises as to how such a quantity of gas could accumulate. The unknown nature of its origin has been frequently mentioned by Dr. Hillebrand during the past thirty years.
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