^, A^ ^ "-< ^. <> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // III 1.0 I.I ^l^jS 125 *^ lU 12.2 IL25 i 1.4 .6 6" P> ^- ^^** .« ■> '/ fliotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WeST MAIN STMIT WIBSTM.N.Y. U9M (716) •7'>-4S03 , -.' f> .. I V crr=; ,L. - -l!^- ' - -— (! ^; ■ V-': . ■ ■;, ^ s :^i^.'l■. ■ ,[ " ^'VA" •' '> - •■■. ■ ' ■; NATURAL PHOSPHATES. ' ..n'rvil ■s •, ■ ' i / .'A .f^ '^.■* tK ]^^. Paper read by J. LA/NSON WILLS, F. C. 5;W^\| '*, %-' ;». •# * i *" , '. 1 .*v. , 12 March, i8g2. , ,, , . ''^' ' , • f ;^'" l:^;^ ;;> tCbc Ottawa flelb-'WaturaliW ■ :i^rm- -m *£■■■ 'i^ 1'^ m^\ ■■■■ fjf- .,;4-. '. ■■■• **> "V. . I • J. *. . •> - ^ ■(.. (■ ( K /I' • A - , I (Kcprintetl from 'I'll: Ottawa Naiikai ist, May, iSjj.l ON NATURAL THOSPH VIKS. IJy J. Lainson Wills, F.C.S. {^Delivered 1 2th Afmch, iSij2.) Wlien your President and Treasurer did uie the honour to request me to read a pa[)er on " I'hosphates " before the Ottawa K.eld Naturahsts' C^lub, I hesitated in romplying. " Phosphates" in a gen,;ral way, as we en)i)loy the wf)rd in this locahty, implies the crystaNized Mineral Apatite, so abundant in certain |)arts of our Laurentian formation. The good work done by the (leological Survey, has from time to time, through its officers, Ivept us well informed of the localities and peculiarities of the occurence of the Canadian Apatite, by valuable contributicms form the [)ens of Sir \Vm. Logan, Sterry Hunt, Vennor, Dr. Geo. I)awsf)n, ■|(;rratice, I )r Robert Bell and others. .At the present lime, I understand that Mr. li gall also, who has been in charge of a special study of onr (Canadian .\i>aiiie fields, is about to terminate and publish his preUminary report, so v ah deference to his o|)portunities and approaching ])ubiication, I could not presume to undeaake a paper purely on Canadian Phosphates or Apatites as was proposed, l)Ut thought it might be acceptable to our members here, to give their attention to a more extended and general consideration of natural mineral Phosphates, and hence the title of my paper this evenmg, ins'ead of being " Canadian .Apatite " is "Natural Phosphates" in a general way. My present occupation prevents me from giving much time and study to the i)reparation of this work, but if by some generalization of facts, we can awaken a heahhy discussion and exchange of ideas, my humble attempt will not have been useless. Natural phosphates owe their commercial value to the proportion of phosphoric element contained in them, and ate employed as raw material for the manufacture of phos|)hatic fertilizers, being also some times applied in the natural and raw state direct to the soil by the farmer. They are also in demand for the manufacture of phosphorus, baking powders and some other chemical products. Py far the greatest demand for them, however, is made by the manure manufacturers for 1^ i.-'t-^,-'-' agricultiirnl requirements, and this demand is yearly increasing at a very rapid r.ite. The occurente of natural phosphates i)resents the most v.iried and interesting modes of formation, as may be surmised by find- ing their deposits, not only in luarly every geological system, but in many different series of the same system. Now in beds which may be, have a fresh water or marine origin, now appearing as hardened conglomerate or rocks, and sometimes as sand and loose gravel : then again in vein formation or pockets, some- times amorphous, at other time cystalli/ed. In the matter of texture, colour and other physical characters, we lind the same endless variation. The origin of the demand for Lhese phoshatizcd products is com- paratively of recent date. It was only in the commencement of the present cjniury that crushed bones were employed as a fertilizer in agriculture, and strange to say, only then on occount of the gelatine or organic matter they might contain. The following curious statement which appeared in a scientific journal in the year 1830, a ptof^os of the employment of crushed bonis in England, exposed the gnorance on the subject at that day and reads as follows :-" As to earthy matter or phosphate of lime contained in the bones, we may disregard it. It is insoluble and indestructible, and cannot senu as a manuie, even in damp soil, and in immedi;ite contact with the rootlets of the plant. " I'he suggestion of Liebig, to treat the bones with sulphuric acid, opened a new eia, to the utilisation of jjhosphaiic materials in agricul- ture and the manufacture of artificial manure was soon establi^hed. The illustrious I'Jie de Beaumont thus expressed himself with reg- ard to the commencement of the mining of mineral phosphates. *** Colbert has said that France would be lost for want of forests, and everyone jierceives that without coal his prediction would soon be accomplished In his day, one would have failed to comprehend how a great country might disappear." NATURAL PHOSl'HATIC r>F,POSITS. These valuable provisions of nature are the result of various causes and agencies familiar to the geological observer and their contained *Jean Baptiste Colbert, born 1619, Minister of Finance to Louis XIV. rr \n I l i i i wi ii ) i m — mi l 7C- 9 yy mi i m nll i i i iwiiniiniUMi i i w n IP 3 phospliorir nnd is mostly due to animal life ; and when wo sny '• due " to animal life we wish to imply that animal life is the assimilatinii and con < entrat.vc medium of pre existing phosphoric acid : whether as sea and fresh water shells, as fish and animal hones, as excreta of birds and saiirians, etc., animal orj^anisms have been from the beginning of life and still are, the silent but mighty laboratory of nature, never resiiny fn collect and store up llie dispersed molecules of pho-phoric acid. Among such are the guano beds of recent epochs, cojirolite deposits, bone beds, shell beds, etc. Nature's operations of bringing these materials or their debiis together tf) form whole geological areas are ecjually varied, but the estuaries and depres'^ions of the sea-bottt.ms of the different and respe( - tive geological periods, are recognized to have been the receptacles or storehouses of these wonderi'ul supplies. A curious disposition to concretionary action, displayed by nuclei of certain organisms to absorb and aicumulate phosphatic matter, with which the ancient seas abounded, is more easily seen in its effects than ex[)laincd. Surh is the origin of many odd species of nodules, some varieties of which exist in '.nmetise i}uantities. The abiupt or imperceptible, but never ceasing operations of geo- logical rearrargement, follow the afore mentiont;d accumulations, and we then have new forms of mineralized phosphaiic matter, giving rise to conglomerates, breccias, phosphaiic limestone, shells and marls, sandy and ablation deposits, etc., and most of the known natural de- posits of mineralized phosphate display examples of two or more of these products. Kor iwstatice, the perplexities experienced just now with some of the exploratory workings of the lately discovered I'lorida deposits, are chiefly occasioned by the character of these beds contain- ing boulders, and nodules from pea size to masses of several hundred pounds in weight, fish bones, sharks' teeth and fossil bones, in fact debris from several geological epochs, each of these materials naturally varying in purity, and therefore also in commercial value, so thjit the more successful enterprises may be looked for where regular and hom(;genous deposits occur, or some cheap and eflrtcient r ^chanical means are a|)plicd for the separation of the marketable products from the less valuable or worthless intermixtures. riic rl.isification of naliir;il phosphates of lime is, as remarked 1))' l>r. Penrose in Miilletin No. 4O i)i the L'. S. (leological Survey, "a matter attended with many diffuiilties, not only on account of the ^reat variety of forms in which phosphate of hme occurs, but also hetause many varieties hiend into one another, thus often rendering it uncertain to whi< h (lass a s[)ecial deposit should he referred," and he adt)pt3 the following clas^ifl(ation, based mainly on the chemical composition of the deposis, and grouped under the headings thus : — Mineral Phosphate / Aitatiles I I'h(jsi)horites l"'luor- Apatites Chlor-Apatites Rock Phosphates /. , J I ( I -oose nodules. I Amorphous nodules - ,. . ■ / 1 I ' I Cemented (conglo I Phosjjhoric limestone beds I Ciuanos V Hone l)cds. merates) I Soluble guanos ( Leached gu..nos We sh;ill recognise as we proceed with the study of the various phosphatic deprsi.s, t'ornied during the different geologic periods, that by Inr the greater part owe their origin to animal or organic remains, and we shall see that as soon as the organic comp )unds of a guano, for excmple. are dissipated and resolved into their elements, we niav consider that the residual products, to all intents and purposes, revert to the mineral state, in accordance' with the lamiliar expression " earth to earth." We pass over, for the prfesent. the guano of various localities, which however will be observed to lie mostly within 10 to 20 degrees of the ecpiator. We should remember, however, that this product has attained its zenith, both as to (piality and ([uantity, and n»ust cede its commercial importance ultimately to the mineral resources ot phosphoric acid, which are before us for our more particular consideration. We shall find the diagrani on the wall which shows the approximate geological position of age of the different phosphate de|)osits, very use- ful to our present purpose, and we will commence with the more recent- ly formed or niinerali/ed products. .•i*..;*ws-.-. &.i;.e:':.;»!i. 5 OrrUREN( K OK NATUK.M. PHOSIMIATES IV TMK KKOl O^Mr \| KpfrtllS. Poit-tertian or Qiuntcrnary S\s(t>n. 'I'ruc g'janos. Crust or " leached " guanos. West Indian and I'anfic I'hosphates. Tertiaty System. \\'est Indian Kodc I'hospliates. Nassau or I.ahn nodular concretions. Suffolk Coprolites in the Red Crag and Coralline CraL'. (Repos- ing on the Lower Kocene ) ^ \ i S. (Carolina beds, resting upon Korenc. Deposition of Florida phos|)l)ate dehris and organic remains. N. Carolina overlying Kocene uiarl. I'undainental ro( k of l-'loriila Phosphate deposits. Clays and drbtis ) Ciply nodules (Maestriclit beds) SoMune dep(;sits, arenaceous and nodules. Russian ".Samorod" nodules Desna Don. C.imbridgeshire and Hedfordshire Coprolites. French nodules of Ardennes. Meuse. " Montpellier and Bellegrade. Oolitic or /urassic System. Bordeaux Phosphorites and nodules overlain by Tertiarv(Foc -le) days and dcf>n's. ^ ' ' ' Algerian Phosphates. Triassic System. Highly i)hosphatic beds (between Trias and below I. ias) con- taining exuviae of huge reptiles as well as remains of fish at-.d crusta- ceans. Permian System. (Appearance of reptilia.) Carboniferous System. (Appearance of Amphibia.) Devonian or Old Red Sandstone. Hignly phosphatic beds in conjunction with Fower Carboniferous Highly phosphatised beds in Shropshire, containing oldest known remains of vertebrate life associated with crustaceans 6 Siiuritiii SysUiii. (A|)pcarai\(:t' of vcrtchrata.) W'clsli IJnIa beds. Herwyn Phosphate mine. I.ingula flans (()iichc() 40 tnbasii". Anj;( rs slatt's {I'rancc). I*h(jsj»hate I nu stone of KLntucky. Lnnrosan (Spain) rhos|)horiiics (Apatites?) Cartri's (Sp.iin) '* Portugal " Ciiinhrian Srstem. (Appearance of Protozoa, Mollusra, Anmiloida, and Crustacea.) Liiurefitiati S\ stein, x.\in.ulian Apatite. Norwegian .Apatiie. Tims at the pre-ent time, we have Mineral pliospliates of lime in proixss of formation, and principally known in commerce as " (Jrust guano "'. L'xiking at the chemical c()m|)osi(ion of aver.ige IJird guano, we lirul It to be c imposed ol the following constituents : — Moisture 15.8 Organic matter and .Ammoniacal Salts S^S Phosphates of lime 19.5 Phosphates of Iron and Alumina 3.1 Alkaline Salts 7.6 Silica and Sand . 1.5 This typical analysis is from the average of 15 samples, made by Nesbit on the Chinchas Inland Ijuano. An elementary knowledge of chemistry will assist us to perceive what a lar<;e proportion of the above constituents will be leached out by water, or dissipated by prolonged exposure to ordinary atmospheric influences, especially when we remember that the organic matter above mentioned comprises uric, oxalic and phosphoric salts of alkalies and ammonia, and even about one third of the phosphates of lime is found to be soluble m water. CJiven a deposit of guano on a limestone soil or rock, and it is readily perceived that every shower will contribute to the steady but continual process of the transmutation of the carbonate of lin-e into phos[)hate f-f lime, in consequence of the discharge of the weaker carbonic acid, by the stronger phosphoric acid. ■.l-V..-,^.:»**;',Li;.:. .,,'4jf-*i!'.vr!t lii:. ;^.= '..:^^:i^^.4L!^?)f^A^;^.i■ The exhaus'ed ^ii.mo tln'ti !«.•( ones phusphntic in distinctioji to htinu trtroj^'cndus and aminoni.unl '"lca( hed"), and tlu- suhjarrnt Innestono iindfrj»()cs a inctainoi pilosis by a d(,ublc decomposition, into phosphate of Mnie. If trie absorbing htncstont' is pure, the phosphate of hnie formed (hereby will be corrcspondinj^ly i)ure ; and on the other hand, if the calcareous base is intermixed with clay or sand or ferruginous material, the newly formed product will contam alumina, silica, oxide of iron, etc., in like proportions. Such has been the undoubted origin of the deposits of Aruba Rock phosphate, ^amples of which are on the table, and whi( h are typical of this kind of metamor[).iosis and will serve to illustrate many similarly formed deposits, notably those of Curacao, Sombrero, Navassa and Redond(i,(in which latter case the subsoil must have been aluminous, since the mineral is a phosphate of alumina). In some cases the i)hosphatic principle may have b«.en derivid from animal dehrii^ such as bones. The comi)osition of animal bones varies .somewhat, according to the animal furnishing them, and even with the particular part of the same .mimal, but the lollowuig analysis, e.^presseu in loo parts, may be taken ns an average :- - (Jreen Uones. lU.ne .\>h. ly (K^latine) Moisture I Organic matter f IMujsphate of lime I'hospli'ite of Magnesia Carlicmate of Calcium Alkaline Salts Silica 56 3 4 / 70-75/, The bones of birds are even richer in [)hosphoric acid than those of animals, but bones of amphibia and fish conta'n less thai, those of birds and animals. Amongst other animal organisms rich in phosphoric acid or uhosphate of lime may be mentioned certain shell fish, or rather their shell remains, notably the shells of Lini;ula and Otbiaila, which consist for the greater part of phosphate of lime, and are found in accumulated beds in the Lower Silurian rocks, being thus described by Sir Wm. Logan ((neology of Canada, 1863) : n>|?;U,wf i„ri_ Those coming frcin the Cha/.y formation at Alumette Island, left after calcination 6i% of fixed residue, consistini^; of: Phosphite of lime 85 7 Carbonate of lime i r 7 Magnesia 2 6 100 o and analysis of the original material gave as follows : — Alumette. Phosphate of lime 3^-3^ Car!)onate of lime and some fluorine .... 5 • oo Carbonate ot Magnesia Oxide of Iron and Alumina 7.02 Magnesia Insoluble 49 •9c Volatile by heal i . 70 awkesljury. R. Ouelle. 44.70 40.34 6.6c 514 4.76 9.70 8 . 60 12.62 ^7.90 25 44 5.00 2.13 100.00 97 56 95-37 We here observe an average of 40% of phosphate of lime. It would appear that our knr »dge of the proportion of phosphatic element in similiar animal .jmains is very imperfect, so that upon further investigations, we may evpe' t to meet with many other similar accumulated supplies ot phosphoric acid. Some authorities attribute a large portion of the phosphate of lime in the Charleston fieldii to such molluscs and principally Lini^ula pyramidata, which are found abundantly on the present coast. CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL PHOSPH.^TES. I prefer for all practical purposes and from rational observation 10 modify the classification proposed by Dr. Penrose, thus : — Apatites Mineral and Rock Phosphates I Fluor-Apatites. ( Chlor-Apatites. ^ Phosphorites. I Nodules, Coprolites. ] Concretions. [ Conglomerates. Phosphatic Limestone. Phosphatic Marls. Crust Guanos. \ \ I \ ■ 1= .■'-'-'■-T^-*--«',t*^ i / I i, 9 I \ f I Guanos Animal remains ) Nitrogenous. - Phosphatic, or "leached. ) Bat (iuano. ) Bone beds. ■ Shell beds. I .Animal exuviic. We will now ]jrocet.d to trace in a cursory way the commercially known deposits, commencing with the most recent, and passing stratigraphically in descending order to the more ancient formations. GUANOS. Cluanos are of two kinds— Nitrogenous or those containing their original manurial qualitieb, and phosphatic or "leached," the latter being in a more or less mineralized condition by exposure to weathering. Among the Nitrogenous guanos, we have the Peruvian, Ichaboe, Pamgonian and Falkland Islands. The phosphatic or weathered guanos include those of the Pacific or Polynesian Islands, Sidney, Phcenix, Starbruck, Bake--, Howland, Jarvis, E^nderbury, Maiden, Lacepede and Arbrohlos Islands. Some of these deposits are more or less exhausted, and new Islands furnishing similar products are from time to time worked. The West Indian guanos are from Aves, Mona, Tortola. Other South American are Patos Islands, M- gillones. Rata. From Africa, r)aldanta Bay and Kuiia Muria Islands. Bat Guano, the product from the floors of caverns inhabited by bats, have sometimes been sent to market as a rich fertilizer. It is found notably in Cuba (W. I.) and in N. Borneo. It possesses a char- acteristic dark brown colour and exhibits the undigested parts of beetles wings and insect debris. BONE PEDS. These are found in nearly all sedimentary strata, from the Devo- nian up to the present !ime, but with the appearance of those remark- able reptilia in the Permian age, we find that these kinds of phosphatic provisions of nature took enormous developments, augmenting the resources previously furnished by the amphibia of the Carboniferous epoch. 10 B( ne bed>^, however, in their original stale have furnished little to commercial supplies of ph'^sphatic products, ex^-ept those found in the Tertiary and Quarternary ages, such as Bordeaux, Carolina, Florida and Soiubrtro (breccia). SHFXL IJKDS. Since these must have existed from a time well into the Paleozoic perioL.s, or that is to say, from the Cambrijn age, we may expect and do find these mollusca remains, through a wide range of systems and strata and n[) to recent times. The Silurian Lingula beds are remarkable, and have been already particularized as a probable abundant source of phosphoric acid. The Welsh Silurian beds, anc' the French Bellegarde and Ardenn(;s dejjosits in the lower (Jreen-sand (Cretaceous), exhibit evidence of this origin, while the Tertiary and Quaternary phosphates contain very fre(]uently these marine and fluvatile remains as a contribution to their value in jjhosjjhate of lime. Some very interesting specimens are on the table from the Dutch West Indies, containing from 75 to 80% of tribasic phosphate of lime, and exhibiting in some cases, on ^ mass of shells belonging to recent times. COPROIJTKS Owe their name to Professor Ilenslow, and should be applied only to the fossil exuviae of animals. The nppelntion has extended itself to many rolled or gravelly products, chiefly found in the Cretaceous form- ation, In England they have been worked 10 a large extent in Bedford- sViire and Cambridgeshire, where they ap|)ear in the (Neocomian) strata, between the chalk and the subjacent Jurassic system, in nodules and pebbles of size from a pea to a hen's egg, and sometimes cemented by ferruginous sand into a hard conglomerate; organic remains are present, and ( asts and fragments of fossils with abundance of ammonites, vegetable remains and other debris of the Jurassic epoch, {Iguanodon and Megdlosautus, etc.). The comr .ercial products contain from 45 to 55% phosphate of lime. The Coprolites of Suff )lk occur in the Tertiary, being in the older Pliocene (the Red Crag and Coralline Crag). They are pooier in phosphate of lime, more ferruginous and harder in texture. ■ i;i.>.;.^.i.a.-, f 11 l""rance also pr-ssesses some deposits of this character at Bellegarde, near the Swiss frontier, and also at Montpellier and Avignon, yielding 54% tribasic phosphate of lime. NODUl.AR, CONCRETIONARY AND ARENACEOUS PHOSPHATES. OAJU 'rhesej:)y far the most important of nature's phosphatic reserves, comprising as they do, the South Carolina deposits, the French dejjosits of the Somme, Ardennes and Meuse, the Belgian fields of Mons and those more lately opened up at Litge (Hesbaye). The so-called "Bor- deaux Phosphates," because being formerly shipped from that port, but having their leal origin in the region of Quercy, comprising portions of the departments of the Lot, i'arn and (laronne and Aveyron, also fur nish a considerable c[uantity of nodular or phosphatic concretions of kidney shape of great purity (88^/), and curious geo'ogical interest. These are well represented by specimens on the table, and coming from the crevices in the Oolitic limestones, accompai^ied by //f/>ris of Tertiary age (Eocene), the walls of the crevices or fissure-- being at the same time incrusted with priosphorite of a high degree of purity attain- ing 8o% of tribasic phosphate of lime. We must not omit here the Florida nodular beds of land and river formation, which are now enjoying such a glorious boom. As a peculiarity of this Bordeaux phosphorite, we may mention that it contains a very appreciable proportion ot iodine. The Russian deposits, situated between the Rivers Desna and Don, occur in the Cretaceous system, at about the same horizon as the Cam- bridgeshire coprolites and may be described as nodular. The Nassau or Lahn concretions in clay are of Tertiary age, and although not exhibiting signs of organic remains are generally believed to be of animal origin, they attain 6o to 75% phosphate of lime, but too ferruginous to be much in retjuest for superphosphate manufacture. The Belgian (Ciply) deposits, which have furnished over 150,000 tons per annum of a 40 to 50% product, are of a nodular character, although the grains are often so fine as to be considered more correctly arenaceous. The same may be said of the very remarkablfe French deposits, discovered near Amiens in 1886, and known as the Somme phosphates. 12 These are granular or arenaceous, and to this feature as well as to their ri( hness (65-80^ j may be attributed the enormous development which they have enjoyed in such a short period, attainintr the annual produciien of ioo,ooo tons. COi\(;LOMI'.KATIvS AND BRF.CCIAS. Phosphatic beds may also assume these characters, sometimes with the cementing material as the phosphatic element, and at others wuh the enclosed pebbles or angular fragments as the valuable portion for comuiercial sup]-Jies. Thus the Cambridgeshire coprolite fields furnish a conglomerate of phosphatic pebbles, cemented by ferruginous sand, while in the Ardennes district (France), is found a peculiar agglomeration of granules of chlorite in a phosphatic cement, the whole yielding 40 to 45% phosphate of lime. The Belgian (Cipley) deposits yield nbundant supplies of a mass of phosphatic noduks, shells casts and fossils, cemented in a calcareous matrix, to utilize which, has puzzled the ingenuity of many an " ixploitantr I'HdSI'HATIC LIMKSTONK AND M\RLS. Are found m u.ost strata from the Silurian epoch down to more recent time. The metariiorphosis or transmutation of earthy carbonates into phosphates, is a very sim|)le and comparatively rapid process, and the evidence of Dr. R. Ledoux in the following description is instructive. He says in a recent article on Phosphates :—" Some clients of mine sent a ship to a coral island in the Southern Pacific to bring away a cargo of bird guano. The birds were still in countless thousand.s. The captain had been there for a load 20 years before, and since that time- no guano had been removed. At his first visit the crew had cleaned off a space and made a house of coral rock, covering it with a sail and had used it for a shelter and storehouse while at work. On leaving, the sail was taken away and the walls and board floor left. On the return, 20 years after, there was an ;ivera.:e depth of 20 inches over the floor--an inch a year. Fhe undei;ying limestone was altered into Phosphate for a depth of several feet, but the conversion of carbonate into phosphate gradually became less perfect as depth from surface was attained." I 13 I have observed the same effect myself taking place in the West Indies, where the surface ol the coral rock is speedily converted into phosphate of lime, wherever the seabirds are in the hubit of congregaJiig. Such indeed is the simple origin of some of the most important deposits of phosphate in that p.-riion of the world : i. t?., Curacao, Sombiero and Aruba, etc. The prospecting and first development of the latter named island having fallen to my own care and experience, I am able to "^^^^ produce some interesting specimens here, illustrating verv clearly the history onheir formation, by examination of their fossil organisms, originally carbonate of lime (coral rock), and now seen to be, by analysis, phosphate of lime of over 80/. 'J"he deposits of Florida and South Carolina would ap[)ear to owe much of their phosphatic wealth to i^d/fris of phosphati/.ed lime-tones and marls. (>ne of nature's operations, which is a factor in enr-'ching already- formed phosphate beds, may be here alluded to, namely, the property of spring waters (which often contain considerable proportions 01 bicarbonates and free carbonic acid) to disolve neutral carbonate of lime, even when j)resented to them in apparently as the most compact and impervious material. Such has been the origin of the maay remarkable caves existing in the limestone rock formations (Cheddar, Derby, Kentucky, etc.) This property applied to a calcareous phosphated miterial will, in course of time, ablate, as it were, more carbonate than phosphate, and to this action is attributed the value of many thousand tons of material, in such extensive beds as those of the Somme, Ciply, Liege, and probably of Florida. While speaking of these beds of the Cretaceous period, I may mention the recent opening up of another similar field in France. I refer to that in the department of the Pas de Calais, which would appear to be of the same nature as that of the Somme. APATITES. Although crystallized phosphate of lime is found as a component ot rock masses in more recent strata, yet we do not yet know of any -- •a*' -^-n'^jj^-ii ■^^,A^.^„>.^ — t^*/.. «w.'t;. ...''m 16 We may shortly generalize the foregoing facts and (jhservations. Of the sixty lour ■ elementary suhstances at i)resent known t.) com|)o;;e the material of our original globe, phosphoru:. is foimd to he among the twenty more ahiinJant elements, and is recognized to have been widely disseminated in all the original and ancient ro( k masses. With the excejttion of the segregations of crystallized Apatite in the Laurentian rocks, we do not find any marked local ac( umul .tion of |)hos|)hatic bases in any of the azoic formations, or intrusive rocks. The existence of the Eozoon Canadense is still debatable, and it is problematical whether the apatite of these older metamorphosed str.ua is not the mineralized product of orgarlc lemains, but passing from the 1-aureniian e|)och to the suc< eedmg and less altered rocks we are immediately in presence of abundant evidence of organized life, and cannot fail to remark how much more frecjuent are the accumulations of phosphatic beds. The function of organized life to assimilate and concentrate the disseminated phosphoric element is strikingly ap|)arert. 'I'he natural forces which are ever restless and continual in building up the varied geological strata of succeeding epochs (attrition, di position, cementation, ablatior. etc.) niay alter and vary the manner of presentation of the phosphatic deposits whit h we have been considering, but the silently working power of assinulation by the organized cell, would appear tc triumph over the mighty disruptive and more violent operations of nature, for the latter forces fail to re-disstininate the work accomplished by the former, but rather complete the task required to secure to man the |)rovidential supplies of phosphatic deposits with which we may satisfy our present demands, and therefore these economic sup|>lies are seen to be chiefly in the more recent gk ological formations :o:- • I " 'p'"-' i-" 'ii — • r • •'•' •,•<- ••*■' • V ', . ^ . . '. "^ '■ '^' ■ :f 'Wf; ••'/.• ,*-.«' .,• r. I?.:)^f.5^^, r^ ■ .--7 >■.:■ ^. k/ ^ .•^-f' A'^ r • * If . .■;■.„.■',' ": • ^ ■' • 4 ■ \ \ ■ .. 's ■ r •♦ ■ ',*•■"*■■. „ ■ m i-ii-^v.i «1>*. I. ..X*, ,.;f, i',vK^--i4ir... :.;' ■ %4 '