BO'RON (from borax. of which it is a •om lment). A non-metallic element, which was iso lated in 1808 by Gay-Lussce and ThMiami in France. and by Sir Humphry Davy in England. Some of the compounds of boron were known to the ancients. The element is not found native, but occurs in combination in the following minerals: Sassolitc, a boric acid; borax, a sodium borate; boracite, a magnesium borate with magnesium chloride; and ulexite, a sodium and calcium hydrous borate. Boron was originally obtained by heating boric oxide with metallic potassium, then boiling the fused mass with hydrochloric acid to remove the soluble salts; while the resi due, consisting of amorphous boron. was washed with water and dried. It can also be obtained by the electrolysis of fused boric oxide. As thus prepared, boron (symbol B. atomic weight. 11.0) is an odorless, grayish-brown amorphous powder. It is a non-eondnetor of electricity and fuses only at a very high heat. It may he melted
by placing it between the poles of a battery of GOO Bunsen cells. The specific gravity of amor phous boron is upward of 1.84. A crystalline variety of boron was prepared by Williler and Neville in 1856. It may be obtained by heating the amorphous variety for two hours with me tallic aluminum to a temperature of from 1500° to 1600° C. Small monoclinic crystals arc pro duced by this process, which, however, contain a small amount of aluminum. These crystals have been called boron (Hanlon f loq, to their lustre and hardness, as they scratch both ruby and corundum. They have a specific gravity of 2 OS. Boron is the only non-metallic element that ferns no compound with hydrogen. its principal commercial compounds are boric acid, boric oxide, and certain borates, especially borax.