Bismuth is an elemental metal which has an atomic number of 83, an atomic weight of 208.98 and is designated by the atomic symbol Bi. The element's original name-- weissemasse, or " white mass"--comes from its physical appearance. It is a white, brittle, crystalline material with a faint pinkish cast. It melts at 520.5°F (271.4°C) and boils at 2,847.2 ± 9°F (1,564 ± 5°C).

Many early scholars believed that metals grew inside the Earth, under the influence of the planets and stars. The least developed form of metal, they thought, was lead. The most highly developed were gold and silver. Because of this belief, scholars often confused metals with each other, thinking that all were somehow related to each other.

Bismuth was one metal about which such confusion existed. Scholars thought that tin was a more developed form of lead, and bismuth and even more highly developed form of tin...