LAMY, CLAUDE-AUGUSTE ET AL.- THE ISOLATION OF THALLIUM.

De l'Existence d'un nouveau Métal. le Thallium. (+) Rapport fait à l'Academie des Sciences sur un Mémoire de K. Lamy relatif au Thallium. Commisaires Pelouze, H. Sainte-Claire, Dumas rapporteur. (+ regnault:) Sur la Chaleur specifique de Thallium. (+) FRED. KUHLMANN:) Note sur le Sels organiques de Thallium.

Paris, Victor Masson et Fils, Imprimerie Gauthier-Villars, 1863. Without wrappers. In "Annales de Chimie et de Physique", Troisieme Series - Tome 67, Cahier Avril. Titlepage to tome 68. Pp. 385- 512 pp. and 1 folded colour plate (Spectre solaire, Spectre Thallium, showing the green line). (The entire issue offered). The papers on Thallium: pp. 385-434. Smal, stamps on verso of titlepage. Lamy's paper: pp. 383-417.

William Crookes was the first to observe Thallium (1861) as he found a new green line in a selenium sample, but Lamy was the first to isolate it and to prove that it was a metal (1862). The paper offered is Lamy's full description of his discovery, a shorter announcement was published in "Comptes rendus", 23 June 1862.

Claude-Auguste Lamy (1820-1878) examined some slime from a sulfuric acid plant at Loos which was using Belgian pyrite and observed the green spectral line. He extracted thallium sesquichloride and isolated the metal new by electrolysis. Only after his discovery, he found out that Crookes had earlier discovered and named the new element, and gave Crookes the honour. Crookes presumed that his Thallium was something of the order of Sulphur, Selenium or Tellurium but Lamy found it to be a metal. In April 1862 he reported to the French Académie des sciences. (Timeline of chemical elements).

Order-nr.: 44119