Germanium

Germanium (Ge) a metallic element discovered by Winkler (1886), in a rare mineral called aryyrodite. It is a greyish-white, brittle metal of sp. gr. 5-47, and has the atomic weight 72-3. If heated in air it forms the oxide Ge02, and melts at 900° C. It is unacted upon by most acids. As yet it has not been completely investigated, but the properties mentioned are what had been predicted by Mendeleef (1871) as those of a then unknown metal, which he termed Eka Silicon, and whose existence he prophesied upon the grounds of the Periodic Law (q.v.), to which therefore the discovery of the metal added confirmation.