Bunsen and Kirchhoff new they had new elements from the spectral lines, and during the isolation process would check the two phases of a fractionation
operation (chloroplatinates I think) for the intensity of the target lines in each phase; the one with the most intense lines would be carried on.
It's possible that the less concentrated portion was not recycled back a step or two for further fractionation, but simply set aside. This would lead
to considerable inefficiencies with corresponding reduction in final yields.
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