Coal: A
solid, opaque, inflammable substance found in the earth and formed by
vast prehistoric deposits of vegetable matter. It is equally divided
into three chief varieties, namely; Anthracite or hard coal,
Bituminous or soft coal, and brown coal or lignite. Is principally
employed as a fuel.
Cobalt:
A metal of reddish-gray or grayish-white color, very brittle, of a fine
close grain and easily reducible to powder. It is never found in the
pure state but usually as an oxide or combined with arsenic. The
greatest use for Cobalt is to give a permanent blue color to glass and
enamels upon metals, porcelains and earthenware. The use of this metal,
has been suggested as a material for coinage in place of nickel.
Cobaltite: Sulpharsenide
of Cobalt. This is a silver-white or steel-gray mineral occurring in
massive forms and distinct crystals. It usually contains some iron and
a little nickel and
other cobalt compounds. It is used by jewelers in the production of
blue enamel, to be placed on gold ornaments. It is also employed in
the manufacture of blue and green pigments.
Colemanite: A
Hexaborate. A colorless, milky-white or gray mineral, first discovered
in the Death Valley in California in 1882. It occurs both massive and
crystallized, beautiful crystals, sometimes two or three inches long
lining geodes in the massive mineral. The crude material as mined
contains 5 to 35% of anhydrous boric acid. This is crushed and roasted
and broken into a white powder, which is purified by screening, and
then bagged and shipped to refineries where it is manufactured into
Borax and Boracic Acid Colemanite is the source of all the Borax now
manufactured in the United States, where the production is about half
that of the entire world. It is named after Wm. T. Coleman, of San
Francisco.
Copper: One
of the metallic elements. It is very malleable, ductile, and tenacious;
an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and is widely diffused
in the mineral kingdom. Copper finds many and extensive uses in the
arts, particularly those connected with electricity. Both as a metal
and in the form of its alloys, it has been used for utensils and war
implements, since the earliest times. It is employed extensively in
electroplating by all the great newspapers and publishers. In the past
century, one of its principal uses has been for making telegraph,
telephone and trolley wires. Its use for coinage is well known. The
largest single mass ever found was in the Lake Superior region and
weighed 420 tons. The United States produces nearly one half of the
world's supply.
