In 1875, the element gallium was discovered by P.E. Lecoq de Boisbaudran. In an article in the Annales de Chimie in 1877, he said his search started 15 years earlier, but with inadequate resources. Even with a new laboratory (1863) he had no success until he realized he was using too little material, and in Feb 1874 started with 52 kg of a mineral from Pierrefitte mine. He finally isolated a tiny sample: "On August 27, 1875, between three and four at night, I perceived the first indications of the existence of a new element that I named gallium in honor of France (Gallia)." His first spectroscopic analysis of the tiny amount (he estimated 1/100 mg) of the prepared sample showed a previously unknown violet line at 417.0 indicating a new element.

Wikiedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium