The Boy's Playbook of Science / Including the Various Manipulations and Arrangements of Chemical and Philosophical Apparatus Required for the Successful Performance of Scientific Experiments in Illustration of the Elementary Branches of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy

by John Henry Pepper

SELENIUM.

Selenium (σεληνη, the Moon[B]); symbol, Se; combining proportion, 39.5.

This new metallic element is allied to sulphur, and is a species of chemical curiosity, being found in minute quantities in various minerals; it may be melted and cast into any form. Medallions of the discoverer (Berzelius) of selenium, in little cases, are imported from Germany, for the cabinets of the curious.

[B] Called selenium on account of its strong analogy to the metal tellurium (tellus, the earth).