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Chief Inspector of Mines. fliend March 9//<, 1885.; J)UHING a visit to the Glace Bay Coal Mines, in Cape Breton County, I had .specimens of Melanterite, or Green Vitriol, and a few pieces of a white fibrous mineral brought to nie from some heaps of shale and slack coal, which were being removed from the pit. The iormer mineral is not unfrequentl^' met with, the latter being new to me I made two analyses of it, and thought that the results might interest some of the members of the Institute. The mineral is of a white colour, turning brown on exposure, and of a delicate fibrous structure. It is soluble in water and The analyses gave : Protoxide of Iron 10.570 Alumina 9.131 Sulphuric Acid 39.715 Water 35.097 Silica Traces Magnesia do Lime do 100.513 ♦ •K This analysis, while not agreeing exactly with any given in Dana's mineralogy, would appai-ently place the mineral in the Halotrichite group. The following table shews the composition of a number of .specimens of Halotrichite compared with that of the mineral under consideration. I7() FEATHER-AIJJM — (iirj'iy. Locality. Sulphniic Alumina. Ferrous. Wuter. Acid. O^ido. Moorfieia.....'](;.08 10.!) 1 0.:i7 42.0.S Hurlct 85.00 7.12 I'lofi 4.S.71 .moo 5.20 20,70 4.3.20 28.0:1 2.85 1U.:^5 48.58 Freyenvvalde 4.3.00 15.25 7.50 .33.10 Glace Buy ..30.71 0.13 16..57 35.00 It would be intcr{!stin£^ to know how much time was occu- pied in the formation of this mineral nt the (Jlaee Bay Mines, some of the fibres Ijeing one-third of an incli in len ,'th. It can, however, only be remaiked that the gallery in which it occurred, had been excavated about twtilve yeais ago. Another hydrous sulphate, found as a product of decoir)position in Coal Mines, is known as Alunogen. The following analysis of a s|XHMmen occun-ing as an efflor- escence at the Scotia Mine in Cumlx^rland County, is taken front the repoit of the Canadian Geological Survey for the year 1878-70. Sulphuric Acid 30035 Alumina 13.470 Feriic Oxide 2.888 Ferrous Oxide 1 57 Water 45.100 Lime 140 Magnesia .138 Potash 087 Sulphur 131 Insoluble .235 00.200 Some years ago a hydrous sulphate of Alumina and Magnesia of similar origin was found on Silurian Slates at Newport, and was sliown by the late Professor How to be identical with Pickeringite, a mineral up to that time known only in Peru. KEATI!KI{-AI,UM — GILl'IN. 177 \ i Melanteritf, tlio first of the niinoinls iiiontionod iji this paper, belongs to the Copperas jjjroup, wliicli contains anioni;- its more noteworthy species, tlie liyih-oiis sulphates of Tion, Zinc, and Coppo)' The first named occurs in nature as a prochict of the decoMiposition of iron p^-i'ites, and is largely made fiom the waste oil of vitriol from wire and <j;alvanisin^f works, with scrap iron, and from alum sliale. The production of Copperas in the United States- in th.? year 1SS2 was estimated at 1."), 000,000 pounds, valued at thiee (pLirters of a cent per pound. It is lar|L,'ely used by tanners and lyers on account of its f(»i'min<,' a black colour with tannic acid. It is also nseil in paper mills, bleacheries, paint and ink manufactories, and as a disinfectant. White Vitiiol is a siMiilar compound, forme(l naturally fiom the oxidation of Zinc Sulphide, and connuercially by the action of Sulphuric acid on Zinc. As met in the Aits, White Vitriol is a form made by melting- the Crystallised Sulphate and agitatino* it until it cools in a gi'anular state. Blue or Copper Vitriol is used in many dyeing and other chemical f)perations. When it occurs in nature in solution, as in the water flowing fiom copper lodes, large ([uantities of the uietal are obtained hy exposing it to the action of iron, when it is precipitated as a led mud, easily smelted and refined. Tlie minerals Feather-Aluui and Pickerin'rite mark further steps ill this chemical action of air and moisture on Sulphur. They may, broadly speaking, bo considered as belonging to the native Alum group, the members of which contain watei' and sulphate of Alumina and some other sulphate. In Potash Alum, the counuon Alum of the shops, this other sul])hate is a sulphat/- of potash. The correspondiug sulphate in the other Alums is that of Soda, Magnesia, Annnonium, lion or Manganese, and finally we have Alunogen, a'ready ix'fened to, a simple hydrous sulphate of Alumina. We have abea<ly nnnarked on tlie formation of Sulphate of Iron b}' the oxidation of iron pyrites. When this action takes place in the pr(!sence of clays, largeh* composed of Silicate of Alumina part of the Sulphuric Acid unices with the Alumina, and tlie commonest resulting form is that of a liy<lrous sulphate I ' 17S FKATIIEIl-ALUM — fiFI.l'fX. of Ti'on and Alumina, such as tlio mineral formino- the .snl»joctof tliis paper. As the alkalies are fretjiiently present in appreciate (liiantities in clays, true F^otash or Soda Alums are often forme(|. When clay slates arc; impre^aiated with these sulphates they are termed Aluminous, and are sometimes rich enough to yield Alum on the connnercial scale. The followinj,^ outline of the process is from Dana's Miniiralooy, p. 12H. The rock is first slowly heated, after pilin*^- it in hfaps, in order to deeomposc fidly the pyrites, and ti-ansfrr the Sulphuric Acid of any Sul- phate of Iron to the Alumina, and thus produce the largest amount possible of Sulphate of Alumina. It is next lixiviated in stone cisterns. The lye eontainini;- this sulphate is afterwards concentrated by evaporation, and then the requisite proportion of Potasli (sulphate or chloride, alum containinuf potash as well as alumina) is added to the li(iuid. A precipitate of Alum falls which is afterwards washed and crystalised. In France Ammoniacal Salts are used instead of Potash, and an Anniioniacal Alum is formed. At Whitby, in Yorkshire, the business of Alum making is a very old one, having been commenced by Sir Thomas Challoner in 1400, who brought workmen from France where the process had long been kept secret as a privilege of t\w ecclesiastical powers. The Alum shale occurs in strata of Liassic age, and is overlaid by a hard compact stone, known locally as "dogger." The Shale bed is about 200 feet thick, and is a hard bluish gray shaly clay which rapi<lly crumbles on exposure. The wdiole deposit al)ounds in iron pyi-ites, but only the richer portions are excavated for treatment. About G5 tons of the Shale yield a ton of Alum. It would unduly extend the limits of this paper to ijive the full details of the manufacture, which is based on that already outlined. In the United States there are no deposits of Alum Shale of any counneicial value, but the salt is manufactured to the extent of 20,000 tons annually, valued at about SSOO,000. It is nearly all made from alum clays impoited from France and England. The process of manufacture is very simple and consi.'; ' ly M' • ■ 10 the Aluni Shale with Sulphuric Aci<l, dissolving out the resulting FEATHKR-ALUM — GILPIN. 179 ' !f Sulphate of Alumina, addin-- an Alkali Sulphate anil crystallis- ing^ the resultinj,' salt. ]')oinestic records show that through long ages the natural supplies of Copperas and Alum equalled the demands of the dyer and manufacturer. When this source was no longer adequate the chemist showed ho\v the slow opeiations of nature could l)e hastened, and now these useful chemicals are produced with readiness, and at a price formerly deemed unattainable. These minerals, however, are highly interesting from a differ- ent stand-point. Hitherto we have regarded them as the source of agents which have become indispensable to our comfort, and litemlly the foundation of many of the varied hues that man affects in his dress. But the study of their origin and natural transmutations give an instinctive insight into some of the changes that are continually going on in the earth. We see them marking several of the alterations which have led to the disintegration of rocks, the formation of soils, of economic ores, etc. In conclusion I may mention that the manufacture of these commercial Salts has not been undertaken in Canada. The total value of textile fabrics, which may call for various pro- cesses of dyeing, manufactured in the Dominion, was according to the last census nearly S20,000,000. There would therefore appear to be a field for the manufacture of these Copperas and Alum Salts, in this country, and some of the shales of our coal fields may be found well adapted tor the purpose.