Tungsten
TUNGSTEN received its name from Swedish words meaning "heavy stone." Its other name is also its chemical symbol, W, which stands for "wolfram." This name was given to the metal by German medieval smelters, who found that tin ores containing tungsten had a much lower yield, "devouring the tin like a wolf." The metal was isolated in 1783 by two Spanish chemists. It has the highest tension strength and melting point of all the metals. The first recorded poisoning was that of a French soldier who drank wine out of his freshly fired gun barrel (containing tungsten, known for its hardness). He promptly went into sustained seizures and, although he lived, suffered renal failure and extreme kidney damage (Lancet 348, Oct. 19:1070). It is also known as element 74. Deficiency symptoms are still being researched. The role it plays in nutrition seems to be its ability to replace molybdenum in several enzymes, disrupting their functioning.
