Cadmium: First Zinc Distillate Redistilled with a Quarter of Coal (Silesian Practice, Thorpe 1912)

Cadmium boils well below zinc, so it comes over first when zinc ore is distilled. Redistilling that first portion with coal at dull red heat sends the cadmium over again and leaves most of the zinc behind. Result: cadmium of 99.5 % or more, cast into sticks about ½ inch thick. Source: Thorpe, Dictionary of Applied Chemistry vol. 1 (1912), p. 595. Unknown: the cadmium-rich first distillate; no blueprint in the library collects it yet. Cadmium fume is poisonous. Picture drawn by Youblob.